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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Gold Potion (Boundaries Crossed) Coming in at #7 on our top 10 countdown is a representative of a brand new card type which was introduced with this set. ACE SPEC Trainers are just like any other Trainer-Item in that you can play as many as you like during your turn. The big difference is that you are restricted to playing only one ACE SPEC Trainer in your deck. With a restriction like that, you would expect the ACE SPEC Trainers to be extremely powerful and, by and large, you would be right to do so. Gold Potion, for example, has the effect of healing a massive 90 damage from your active Pokémon. That amount of damage is pretty much a magic number in the current format. Most EX Pokémon require two 90 damage attacks to KO them, and there are a ton of commonly played Pokémon who hit for that amount (Darkrai-EX’s Night Spear, Terrakion NVI’s Land Crush, Rayquaza’s Shred etc). Wiping out that damage at a stroke means your opponent just wasted an attack and will not get to take the KO they have been planning for. But . . . you have probably noticed that we already have a card that can do the same job: Max Potion. True, you have to discard all attached Energies, but then, unlike Gold Potion, you can also use it on Benched Pokémon (very useful if your opponent is trying to accumulate damage on a Bench-sitter like Eelektrik NVI). With Max Potion, you are not restricted to a single copy and, most important of all, it isn’t keeping another, better ACE SPEC Trainer out of your deck (and, no, I’m not talking about Crystal Edge). Y’know, if you didn’t happen to have a copy of that other, better ACE SPEC, then there would be no harm at all in putting this in your deck: it does have a really good effect. Looked at in isolation, Gold Potion is a very nice card indeed, but when you consider the opportunity cost of not playing a certain other ACE SPEC card (Crystal Wall Computer Search!), then it doesn’t seem like such a great idea to be playing it. Especially when other healing cards are also available. Rating Modified: 3 (it’s good, but you can and will use something better) Limited: 4.5 (use it wisely and it could set your opponent back a few turns)
virusyosh	Hello once again, Pojo readers! Today we've reached #7 on our countdown of Pojo's Top 10 Boundaries Crossed cards, and we're going to start off by reviewing a card of a new template. Today's Card of the Day is Gold Potion.   Gold Potion is an ACE SPEC Trainer Item, which has two meanings. As an Item card, you can play as many Gold Potions as you want during your turn, and the card is blocked by things like Gothitelle EP's Magic Room. Second, as an ACE SPEC, you are only allowed one ACE SPEC card per deck, so you can only run a single copy of Gold Potion in your deck, and if you do, you can't run cards like Computer Search, Crystal Edge, or Crystal Wall. Therefore, with this major restriction in mind, it's important that if you're going to use Gold Potion, that it can do a better job than the other ACE SPEC cards currently available.   Gold Potion's effect, while somewhat simple, is quite good in many decks. Gold Potion simply heals 90 damage for your Active Pokemon. While 90 damage isn't as much as Max Potion can heal, Gold Potion also lacks the drawback of having to discard all of the Energy attached when used. Likewise, Gold Potion works better than Super Scoop Up in most of these cases since you can heal the Active without giving up Energy or board position, making it a great choice for walling and tank decks. On the flip side, 90 damage is about the average attack damage in Modified right now (with some obvious exceptions dealing more), so Gold Potion will often buy you a single turn, which may not always be enough to determine the outcome of a game. Additionally, with the lack of viable Trainer recursion in the format (right now), you'll have to make that 90 HP bonus count. Overall, Gold Potion is a stronger card than it looks on first appearance, but you also have to know when to use it to maximize its effects.   Modified: 3/5 As previously stated, Gold Potion will pretty much buy your attacker of choice one more turn, which will work well in tank and stall decks (such as Terrakion variants that still pop up on occasion), but given the relatively fast pace of the format, most decks will usually be better off running Computer Search, especially if their attackers are weak to a commonly-played type, as Gold Potion can only work when the Active isn't being OHKO'd. Again, Gold Potion can work well in any deck, but make sure that you'll get more mileage out of it than you would with Computer Search before adding it to your list.   Limited: 5/5 Free, significant healing with no drawback. The only time I would consider not running Gold Potion here is if you pull Computer Search in your Limited pool as well, and even then, it's much more of a toss-up in this format. Amazing card here.
Jebulous Maryland Player	Gold Potion   Gold Potion is an item that heals 90 damage from your Active Pokemon.  It is also an ACE SPEC, so only 1 of those per deck.  My thoughts on Gold Potion... It's the second best ACE SPEC, and even then I don't feel the need to rush and get one.  Healing 90 damage for free is really good.  That makes a 'Night Spear' almost mull (minus the 30 spread).  Max Potion is what is being run to get rid of big damage, and that requires energy discards (unless worked around).  Super Scoop Up is another alternative, that that rests on a coin flip.  Now, I just read it carefully and it said 'from your Active'...  That makes this card not as good as I thought it was.  I thought that because it was an ACE SPEC that it would heal the 90 from any of your Pokemon.  That restriction can hurt, for example, an EX (with Energy, but not enough to attack) on your Bench is 30 damage away from a KO.  They have a Darkrai EX ready to attack.  You have a Gold Potion.  That means you have to retreat to the EX or you lose it (and possibly the match) next turn.  I know it's a scenario that might not happen too often, but you get the idea.  Healing on the Bench is important in a format that one of the biggest attackers hits the bench.   And now my other reason to not care about this card.  Computer Search.  We can only have 1 ACE SPEC per deck, and I choose Computer Search.  That'll let me get anything for that situation.  Gold Potion just heals.  What if I have no damage on the field?  They could be OHKOing everything of mine.  I prefer Computer Search.   Though I do give Gold Potion some credit.  It isn't Crystal Edge or Crystal Wall.  A one-of card that is an item?  Especially when a card last set was made to ruin it's day?  I know I'm going to have the bad luck of pulling one of those two...   Modified: 3.5/5 Limited: 4.5/5 Combos With:  ...   Questions, comments, concerns: jebulousthemighty@yahoo.com
Otaku	Today we look our what, according to the aggregate list created from the staff’s individual lists, is the seventh most anticipated card of BW: Boundaries Crossed, Gold Potion (140/149). Once again, I’ll forgo most of my normal formatting. Gold Potion is an Item, which is one of the three main forms of Trainers. What is special is that it is the first Ace Spec card we are officially reviewing. “Ace Spec” is a new but familiar mechanic; you are allowed one Ace Spec card per deck. Because of this, the effects on the Ace Spec cards are very, very powerful. Three other Ace Spec cards were released in this set, with all three being Items and two of those other three also being Pokémon Tools. Still, nothing about the mechanic flatly requires it apply only to Items or even Trainers. In the past we had other cards with a similar built-in restriction mechanic, but they haven’t stuck around. I have to say, for certain Pokémon, Stadiums, and Supporters (since the latter represents people); it fits the flavor for them not to be allowed in multiples. The effect of Gold Potion heals 90 points of damage off your Active Pokémon, basically erasing your opponent’s last attack, provided your Active Pokémon survived said attack. As we have a format of OHKOs and 2HKOs this is either useless or golden (pardon the pun). If your Pokémon is OHKOed, you obviously can’t heal it. If your Pokémon is going to be 2HKOed, it only matters if this extends it to a 3HKO… but given the output of most decks an extra turn is a huge, huge advantage. As a Trainer, you can snag this card with Skyla, and even recycle it with a few attacks; the most effect one is Junk Hunt, made famous by Sableye (BW: Dark Explorers 62/108). So, should you use it? Depends on what you’re running and what you own. One of the other Ace Spec cards is Computer Search, and we’ll be reviewing it sooner or later. It is another Ace Spec Item, and for the cost of discarding two cards from your hand, you can add any one card you want from your deck to said hand. For most decks, Computer Search is a strong candidate, and since healing has almost always required a “combo” to make it worthwhile in the TCG, the card most decks will be using. The two Pokémon Tool Ace Spec cards are for specific Pokémon, and we’ll be getting to those sometime as well. If you don’t have Computer Search, definitely run Gold Potion; essentially all decks have an “Ace Spec” slot now, and while not vital you should rarely fail to utilize it. If your deck is a “tank” deck, especially one that can’t utilize Max Potion or Super Scoop Up well, this is a godsend; if your attacker already soaks damage, Gold Potion might be nullifying two or more attacks! I am considering it for a deck I’ve been testing using Excadrill (BW: Dark Explorers 56/108), since it would basically allow me to heal 90 points of damage every turn. For Unlimited, you’re going to want to use Computer Search; here it is still quite the shake-up to not have access to Computer Search, and I don’t know the specifics of how the game plays out here now. Perhaps if enough suitable replacements are found for Computer Search, Gold Potion will have a chance to shine. For Limited play, Gold Potion is a must run unless you pull another Ace Spec. If you pull Computer Search alongside something worth searching out, run it instead; if not, go with Gold Potion. The two Pokémon Tool Ace Spec cards only worth with specific Pokémon-EX, but may be worth running over Gold Potion if you get the correct pairing. Since all of these cards on from higher rarities, this will almost never, ever come up. Now for some words of warning: first, I am leery of the Ace Spec mechanic. Since it is another card in your deck but usually not in a quantity to reliably build upon, this feels very “luck based”, feeding Yu-Gi-Oh style “powah playz!” where the main reason you won is you drew your Ace Spec at the right time… and yes that timing is important. Too late is obvious, but in a format where Professor Juniper is one of the primary draw cards, you don’t want to see Gold Potion too soon. That some decks will already have reason to run the right search (Skyla) and recursion (Sableye) in large quantities doesn’t make me comfortable with this either. The second involves a spoiler of a future card, so skip to the Ratings section if you don’t want to hear about it. For those still reading, the card in question is an upcoming Ace Spec, which will likely be known as Scramble Switch. If the sets aren’t shuffled around, it will likely be in our next set. It is another Item, and its effect is that it switches out your Active Pokémon with one on your Bench, but also transfers all Energy from the former Active to the new. Combine this with Max Potion and you simply have a superior form of healing, and Gold Potion likely becomes an even more niche usage card. Ratings Unlimited: 1/5 Modified: 3.5/5 Limited: 5/5 Summary Gold Potion is a surprisingly appropriate Ace Spec card, because like Potion it seems very suited for those still learning how to handle the concept. I expect its usage to mostly be until a player has a Computer Search handy, with the exception of decks that can’t handle discarding from the hand or really need the healing. For my own Top 10 list, Gold Potion actually just missed out and clocked in at #11. However I think I sold it a little short or was thinking ahead too much to what is to come and not what is, and probably should have placed it at about this spot.