Pokémon Contest Hall is a fun Stadium that can be very
useful, allowing you to search out a Basic Pokémon every
turn, put it on your bench, and search your deck for a
Pokémon Tool to attach to it (sadly, it doesn’t work
with Unown G, which counts as a Pokémon while it is in
the deck). Unfortunately, you need to flip heads in
order to do this, but with Stadiums that isn’t so much
of a drawback as the card will probably have more than
just a one-time use. The real drawback is that your
opponent gets to use it as well, so you may be helping
them to set up as well . . . faster than you if they get
luckier with the coin flips.
The most obvious use for this card is in an SP deck,
especially the Toolbox varieties which rely on getting
out key Basic Pokémon to counter whatever the opponent
has in play. The fact that you can also search for an
Energy Gain is a real bonus: not only do you get your
Pokémon out, you also help get it ready to attack. There
are a few other decks that rely on Tools which might
also find this card useful: Mismagius SF and Mismagius
GL LV X both use Tools to determine the damage output of
their attacks (the LV X by using its power). Wailord
from GE also benefits from having Leftovers attached.
There are also some decks based around Electivire SW or
Rayquaza LA that make use of Energy Link.
If you are running one of those decks, then it may be
worth giving Pokémon Contest Hall a try, though beware
of it backfiring on you.
Rating
Modified: 2 (limited uses, and heavy potential drawback)
Limited: 3.75 (you have little or no search, so it’s a
great way of getting Pokémon in play)
Steel_Winger
Welcome back to the Pokemon COTD!
And for those of you who went to St. Louis for
Nationals, I hope you had a great time!
Today's card is one of two new Stadiums from Rising
Rivals: Pokemon Contest Hall. When in play, the turn
player (if his/her bench isn't full) can flip a coin. A
Heads gets you a Basic Pokemon of your choice to the
bench. You can also get a Pokemon Tool and attach it the
Pokemon you just retrieved.
This has the feel of an early-game card. Everyone can
use some Basic Pokemon at the start of every game. Sure,
it's a flip, and there are better, more reliable ways to
get Basics to the bench (Roseanne's Research, Bebe's
Search and Great Ball to name a few) but there are very
few cards that let you search out Tools as well. While
it can potentially help any deck that plays it, it'll
see its best use among SP Pokemon. They have Energy
Gain. Think about it: Dialga G can show up from out of
nowhere with an Energy Gain ready to Deafen somebody to
oblivion. Raichu GL appears as if by magic to compliment
Gallade 4 LV. X's Blade Storm. Everyone that's not an SP
has their choice of Leftovers, Amulet Coin, Bubble Coat,
and Memory Berry, but those tools are rarely played
generally. Of course, you don't HAVE to search for the
tools. It can be something like Poke Ball, but only for
basics.
Remember: you can't search for Unown [G] as a TOOL to
compliment what other Basic you retrieve. That doesn't
mean you can't search out Unown [G] as a Basic itself.
Also, your opponent can use this card's effect as well,
just like Speed Stadium (DP). They'll probably use it to
search for their own Unown [G]s if they're already set.
If you use this in your deck, be very wary if your
opponent uses SP Pokemon as main attackers.
Combos? I can think of a couple. Shiftry (RR), when
active, makes your opponent flip Tails whenever their
turn comes around. Meaning, they'll never be able to
utilize this card. Oh, the potential that can be
grasped, and yet, it cannot be reached!... But your
opponent can simply play another Stadium to discard
Pokemon Contest Hall. Here's another combo that might be
worth mentioning: Broken Time-Space. For those of you
who don't use SP Pokemon, if you succeed with PTH's
effect, you can simply play Broken Time-Space (but not
if you activated PTH in the same turn) and evolve
whatever you brought out instantly.
Ratings:
Modified: 3/5 SP Pokemon have yet another tool in their
arsenal, albeit a flippy one. It can make or break you,
so be careful.
Limited: 2/5 It's a searcher, which is good, but once
again it's flippy. A lower rating here due to the fact
that there are no Pokemon Tools in Rising Rivals.
