Out of all the neat new supporters that RR has to offer
this has got to be one of the more situational ones...
Underground Expedition.. The ability to see the bottom 4
cards of your deck and then keep 2 of them is pretty
neat... but not always beneficial, look at Dusk Ball for
instance. An interesting way to follow up after using
Cosmic Power, or maybe after ridding yourself of an Uxie,
but situational at best. Some people may find a way to
utilize it in a way that would work well for them, but
then again some people claim to use Purugly well...
Modified- 2.3/5
A bit more useful in limited, but then again any draw
power is useful here
Limited- 4/5
Steel_Winger
Welcome back to the Pokemon COTD!
Today, we'll be looking at another one of the supporters
from Rising Rivals: Underground Expedition. This
Supporter allows you to check out the four cards at the
bottom of your deck. Two of those cards go to your hand,
and the other two go back on the bottom in any order.
It's not a bad card. Though It'll be overshadowed by
other supporters that tend to give you more card
advantage (Volkner's Philosophy being a prime example),
it at least gives you options as to what you can choose
from whatever is available. However, if you use Claydol
(GE) (and there are very, few people who don't if they
have one), I don't suggest using this in conjunction
with it. Claydol puts cards you don't need at the
bottom; why fish for those same useless cards later?
Well, it's okay to use if your deck gets shuffled a lot,
there are plenty of cards that make you shuffle after
you use them.
Want to know a good combo with this card? You know Uxie
(LA)? Every competitor does; it lets you draw to 7 when
it hits the bench from the hand. It also has an attack
that only costs 1 energy that puts it at the bottom of
the deck. ...You see where I'm going with this? If Uxie
is still at the bottom of your deck after you attack
with it during your turn and you need more cards, use
Underground Expedition to get this guy back to your hand
so you can refill your hand again. Of course, this combo
is 96% null and void if your deck gets shuffled by way
of Looker's Investigation. Also, if your opponent is
infatuated with Team Galactic's Mars and happened to
pick out an important card, use this to get it back.
Ratings:
Modified: 3/5 There are better ways of getting cards in
hand, but there are very few that get them from the
bottom of your deck. It's kinda like digging for buried
treasure... hence the name, I guess. And since it gives
you a choice, it's at least worth a look.
Limited: 4/5 You'll need all the Supporters you can get
here. Dig for whatever is lurking at the bottom to pull
those combos faster!
This is Steel_Winger, until next time!
Baby Mario Top 4 UK Nats
Underground Expedition
This is actually a reprint of an old card from Skyridge.
We have quite a few draw Supporters in the format now:
Professor Oak’s Visit, Team Galactic’s Mars, Felicity’s
Drawing, and the new Volkner’s Philosophy to name the
most obvious ones. These are the cards that Underground
Expedition has to compete with for a space in your deck.
With draw Supporters, two things are important: how many
extra cards do you draw, and how good a choice do you
get? Underground Expedition will only get you two cards,
which seems a poor return compared Professor Oak’s
Visit, which lets you get three and discard one from
your hand. Volkner CAN draw you as many as six, and
Felicity will reward you with three or four, as long as
your discard one or two cards first.
But where Underground Expedition has a slight advantage
is that it gives you a choice. For no discard, you get
to dig into four cards of your deck, and then choose to
keep two. In some circumstances this can actually be
better than the other Supporters and, unlike them, it
can combine with Claydol GE and Pokedex Handy to allow
you to put wanted cards at the bottom of your deck for
more draw, and then retrieve them.
If you’re running a deck that doesn’t benefit from
discarding (such as some Tyranitar SF or Hippowdon RR
builds) it’s certainly worth a second look if you need
some draw Supporters.
Rating
Modified: 2.75 (a solid draw card, you will probably
find Volkner’s to be slightly better though)
Limited: 5 (draw in Limited is gold)
Pokememan
Wednesday, June 24.
Underground Expedition
I really like this card for a number of reasons. It gets
you just as many cards as any other straight-draw
supporters, It lets you pick the ones you need most out
of four, and it was really useful back in the day of
Expedition/Aquapolis/Skyridge.
Sadly, Claydol has rendered this card all but useless.
It takes cards from the bottom, which you've likely put
there the turn before, and although that can sometimes
correct a mistake, it won't very often. It also draws
cards, something Claydol does at a much greater level,
and the same can be said for Uxie.
This card won't even be good next year, as Claydol is
coming back again, as is Uxie.
2/5 Modified
In limited, this is draw power. It is awesome.
5/5 Limited.
