Choice Belt – Paldea Evolved
Date Reviewed:
June 20, 2023
Ratings Summary:
Standard: 4.50*
Expanded: 3.00
Limited: 3.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Vince
Choice Belt (SWSH Brillant Stars 135/172, SV Paldea Evolved 176/193) is another one of those cards that were in an expansion where I’ve taken a very long hiatus, and thankfully, Choice Belt got reprinted in Paldea Evolved! This is a Pokemon Tool that lets your Pokemon this card is attached to deal an extra 30 damage to Pokemon-V.
Damage boosting cards have seen competitive play in the past, and even now. When Choice Belt debuted, the Standard format is flooded with Pokemon-V of various stripes. It does count against Pokemon VMAX, Pokemon VSTAR, and Pokemon V-UNION, so they will feel the pain of taking extra damage. Depending on certain attackers that would benefit from Choice Belt, it could help reach certain OHKOs or 2HKOs. Yes, even a 340 HP body can still be taken down in one or two hits with the Tool. Looking at Limitless, Choice Belt’s usage is pretty high, as it has been used by many decks that I couldn’t list them down on this review. Even with Pokemon ex not being affected by Choice Belt, a lot of decks run them because the opponents that they face still used Pokemon-V.
But that would probably slowly change as time moves on. Because of the fact that Pokemon ex won’t be taking extra damage from Choice Belt, the usage may slowly decline. If future Pokemon ex cards emerge to be some of the top decks of the metagame, then one would wish they ran something else other than Choice Belt. Which got me thinking: There is no similar card that affects both Pokemon-V and Pokemon ex at once in a similar manner to Choice Band from Guardians Rising that dealt extra damage to Pokemon-GX and Pokemon-EX. Seems like Defiance Band is going to be the closest thing to an alternative damage boosting card. Imagine two rotations later from now, when the remains of Pokemon-V have been rotated out but Choice Band still being standard legal due to its recent printing? Then it will be completely useless when that time comes. But until then, enjoy dealing extra damage against some of the popular Pokemon-V decks that are still in the meta.
Ratings:
Standard: 4.5/5* (*At least for two more seasons of regulations “E” and “F”. Two rotations later if the Standard format’s regulation mark is “G” or higher, it’ll be a 1/5)
Expanded: 3/5 (Other older multi-prize Pokemon such as Pokemon-EX and Pokemon-GX won’t be affected, but they haven’t adapted to power creep.)
Limited: 3/5 (Not likely your opponent pulls a Pokemon ex, but if they do, this will be the best time to use it.)
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read our Pokémon Card of the Day Archive. We have reviewed more than 4700 Pokemon cards over the last 20 years!
