Leaf – Mythical Islands
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
The third best card of Mythical Island is Leaf (A1a 068, 082)! She’s a Trainer-Supporter that reduces the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokémon by two, until the end of this turn. Leaf is available at the ♦♦ and the ★★.
There are 23 Trainer cards in the Pokémon TCG Pocket at the time of writing. 12 of them are Supporters. Not bad, given the size of our cardpool and decks. There’s still competition to be worth running but nowhere near as much as there usually is in the full TCG. There’s also no general Trainer support or counters… which has usually been true in the full TCG, if memory serves. There’s also no effects that specifically benefit Supporters, either.
We do already have three anti-Supporter cards – Gengar (A1 122), Gengar ex (A1 123, 261, 277), and Psyduck (A1 057) – but they’re not massive parts of the competitive side of the game. They’re not missing parts, either; expect to bump into them on occasion. Finding yourself struggling to choose between another Supporter or using Leaf this turn is going to be a bigger issue, and that one isn’t too big.
Reducing the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokémon is not new. As far as I know, X Speed has been doing this since the game officially released. X Speed is a Trainer-Item, so it only has to compete based on raw deck space, but it also only decreases Retreat Costs by 1. Leaf a double X Speed, but in a single card that is a Supporter. Bad if you can’t spare a Supporter this turn, or needed two separate single (C) reductions in Retreat Cost instead of one for (C)(C). Good if you can spare your Supporter and need a more substantial Retreat Cost reduction…
…or if you need another way to reduce Retreat Costs. Looking at how Leaf has actually been used in decks that are supposed to be competitive, I’m seeing some sticking to X Speed, some just using Leaf, and some using both. There may have been a few using neither, but if those decks are competitive, then it is because they just don’t have room. It is at least plausible, but not a cut or omission I’d want to make. A free Retreat Cost is rare: Dodrio (A1 200), Electrode (A1 100, 235), Lumineon (A1a 021), Starmie (A1 075), and Starmie ex (A1 076, 0257) have it. Five out of the 281 unique Pokémon!
So you need to look at your deck’s Pokémon, it’s strategy, and even the strategies you think you’re most likely to encounter (or most likely to give you trouble) in the metagame, to decide whether or not you’re running X Speed, Leaf, both, or having to make do without either. Huh, still have some room, let’s discuss how Leaf would fare in the full TCG.
Poorly. She’d probably see little to no play, because her effect is something you’d find on a Pokémon Tool than on a Supporter. Albeit only working for the Pokémon with the Tool equipped (see Air Balloon). I mean, a mainstay that is regularly reprinted – to remain legal and easily available – is Switch. It’s a Trainer-Item that lets you just switch your Active Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon. It doesn’t even use up your retreat for the turn!
Rating: 3.75/5
It wasn’t until I went to type the Rating you just read that I decided on the number. I had originally planned on making Leaf a four-out-of-five card. It isn’t always the best choice for a deck, and it isn’t truly doing something “better”, or even “new”. You get a double X Speed, but since it costs your Supporter for the turn, you’re paying for it.
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