Pokédex (004/P-A) – Promo Series A Pokémon Card of the Day

Welcome to our bonus Card of the Day!

If you started with this review instead of the other, my opening bit there is gonna feel even weaker than it actually is. What you need to know is that this is not the number one card for Promo Series A. When made a top five list out of the eight unique cards from the promos, today’s card did not make the cut. I toyed with making it a second Honorable Mention but… well… you’ll see.

Pin a Participation Ribbon on Pokédex (004/P-A, 008/P-A) of Promo Series A! Yes, this is yet another Trainer-Item. That is based on something from the full TCG. This time, Pokédex lets you look at the top three cards of your deck. How does that compare with the original? In the full TCG, Pokédex lets you look at the top five cards of your deck and put them back in whatever order you’d like. That… is some significant nerfing.

The full TCG’s old Pokédex was released all the way back in the Base Set, but it wasn’t used much by experienced players. The raw draw/search power of the day meant you’d see those cards when you drew them… or their order would change because you’d use a Computer Search. Keep in mind, I’m talking that turn; Computer Search was not an Ace Spec back then, and cards like Bill (Draw 2 cards.) and Professor Oak (Discard your hand. Draw 7 cards.) were not Supporters. In the days of Base Set, all Trainers functioned like Item cards!

That version of Pokédex would see some cards inspired by it released, with a similar-but-different effect. It would also see reprints, but no where near as many as cards like Potion and Switch. Unlike Potion (but like Switch), all that changed was Pokédex being printed as a Trainer-Item instead of just a “Trainer”. Maybe it saw some play, but I wouldn’t count on it. While there are times when we’d forget to review a good card, especially one we didn’t expect to be good, I couldn’t find any past reviews covering this Pokédex.

The old Pokédex would be an easy deck staple in Pocket. We aren’t exactly rolling in draw or search cards, let alone draw or search Trainer cards. Being able to see the top five cards of your deck and rearrange them as you wish would be “close enough” to draw/search. Especially with decks in Pocket being only 20 cards big, less a five card opening hand and Turn 1 opening draw. That’d be like the old Pokédex looking at the top 15 cards of your deck, not five, and also letting you rearrange them.

So I get that Pokédex had to be nerfed. As is, Pokédex still has seen some success in Pocket. It’ll come as no surprise that 18 Trainers run two copies of Pokédex. What did catch me by surprise is that the 4 Marowak variant of Marowak ex decks also runs Pokédex.

Rating: 2/5

Pokédex is almost worth running in many decks, making me almost raise it’s score. However, when I stop and think there are too many other “almost” cards I’d include before it, let alone the cards I do run instead of it. With draw and search so limited, just knowing what is coming for (up to) your next three turns, allows you to plan for those turns. Barring the few cards that make you (or lets your opponent make you) shuffle your deck.