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Upper Energy
Since we lost Double Rainbow, Scramble, and Boost Energy
in the last Rotation, we have been without any multiple
Energy cards, relying on cheap attacks (Kingdra LA, SP
Pokémon with Energy Gain) and Energy acceleration (Weavile
SW, Leafeon LV X) instead.
Now we have Upper Energy, which is like some weird cross
between all three.
Like Boost, Upper Energy only supplies Colourless Energy
(two of them, just like Double Rainbow!), but that isn’t
much of a problem, given that many three Energy attacks
now only require one Energy of a specific type (Gardevoir
SW’s Psychic Lock, Dialga G’s Second Strike, for
example). Colourless Pokémon such as Flygon obviously
benefit even more.
Like Scramble, Upper Energy only provides one Colourless
Energy UNLESS you are behind on prizes. This
re-introduces comeback-ability into the game, giving you
a chance to hit back after your opponent goes ahead on
prizes. This gives back some power to the slower, Energy
hungry Stage 2 decks which haven’t seen much play
recently. Maybe people will once again have to be
careful of going for the easy KO of a Basic Pokémon
(like with Machamp), for fear that an Upper Energy will
result in them losing their main attacker, which would
be a bad exchange for them.
Unlike the old multiple energy cards, however, Upper
Energy CAN be attached to a Basic Pokémon. This can
obviously used by SP Pokémon with expensive attacks like
Palkia G and Luxray GL, but it also makes a tech like
Ditto more viable. Now it can copy the defending
Pokémon’s powerful attacks for only two Energy drops
instead of three. In exchange for this, Upper Energy
only provides one Energy for LV X Pokémon, which,
together with the fact that it is Colourles-only, makes
the card a little more balanced than its predecessors.
If you are running Pokémon which can use the two
Colourless Energy it gives to speed up their attacks, it
would be silly not to play at least two in a deck.
Rating
Modified: 3.75 (a welcome return for a less broken
multiple Energy)
Limited: 4.5 (using big attacks fast wins games here)
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