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So it's like a Puzzle of Trainers Mail. Look at 4, don't get to keep one, or just shuffle. It's like taking the worst part of both cards and hoping that mashing them into one makes it better. (It doesn't, by the way)
 
It's not good, but I think it's kind of cool they use a picture of the actual video game in the card.
 
I wish it were better. Could have been another card to find Pokemon.

Well then lucky for you this is a locking attack.
Seriously DDE is needed for the viability of dragons and there's no real reason why it shouldn't exist it's not like all dragons are broken

The Dragon type is broken, it's the reason their attack cost require two Energy types. They get powerful attacks in return for slower setup. DDE defeats this purpose.
 
First "Aether Paradise Conservation Area" and now "RotomDex Poke-Finder Mode"...They sure really like long names for cards this time :p
Sadly, as much as I like Rotom in general and the RotomDex from SM1, I don't see this being that good.
 
I think this card will be fine, post-rotation.
The way cards like this work, is.... if you only need to draw specific cards, you add cards like these to simultaneously increase your odds of drawing said cards, and to thin out the deck; further increasing the odds.

So it won't be played in things like Sylveon, where you can guarantee your cards, but...
We will have the spaces from Trainers' Mail freed up, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see this take up 1-2 of the spots.

Something nice to play before a Sycamore, to help you draw into the right cards~
Or, let's you drop a card while manipulating your draw for Oranguru.

Honestly, nothing really does what Trainers' Mail does.
I'd say we could see Random Receiver, but we have Tapu Lele for that niche.

It's up to the players to decide whether or not they want the added consistency.
I'll certainly be trying this out~
 
I wish it were better. Could have been another card to find Pokemon.



The Dragon type is broken, it's the reason their attack cost require two Energy types. They get powerful attacks in return for slower setup. DDE defeats this purpose.

I think the 'powerful attacks for slower setup' argument would be valid if that actually panned out. What dragon actually has a powerful enough attack to justify a 3 turn setup in the game as it stands, not to mention the inherent jank factor that running multiple kinds of basic energy generally adds to a deck? I don't think even Giratina would see play without DDE. I could see this argument if Dragons were running wild but the only dragon deck that has actually won anything in the past season is Darkrai/Dragons, and in that deck your dragons are just DDE containers half of the time anyways.

Anyways the rotomdex card is indeed absolutely worthless. puzzle of time +1 -the actually useful discard searching effect. It's a filler item, and not a particularly good filler item, coming in an era where they just printed a card specifically designed to punish people who load their decks with filler items.
 
I think the 'powerful attacks for slower setup' argument would be valid if that actually panned out. What dragon actually has a powerful enough attack to justify a 3 turn setup in the game as it stands, not to mention the inherent jank factor that running multiple kinds of basic energy generally adds to a deck? I don't think even Giratina would see play without DDE. I could see this argument if Dragons were running wild but the only dragon deck that has actually won anything in the past season is Darkrai/Dragons, and in that deck your dragons are just DDE containers half of the time anyways.

Anyways the rotomdex card is indeed absolutely worthless. puzzle of time +1 -the actually useful discard searching effect. It's a filler item, and not a particularly good filler item, coming in an era where they just printed a card specifically designed to punish people who load their decks with filler items.

That is the point, a Pokemon with full immunity to Mega Evolved Pokemon and a attack that prevents three card types from seeing play is a very overpowered card and a three turn setup for such an attack balances it. The reason Dragon type Pokemon aren't running wild is because of that balance. It doesn't matter what role the Pokemon plays in the deck, DDE shouldn't exist without some kind of drawback because of what they can do.
 
I think the 'powerful attacks for slower setup' argument would be valid if that actually panned out. What dragon actually has a powerful enough attack to justify a 3 turn setup in the game as it stands, not to mention the inherent jank factor that running multiple kinds of basic energy generally adds to a deck? I don't think even Giratina would see play without DDE. I could see this argument if Dragons were running wild but the only dragon deck that has actually won anything in the past season is Darkrai/Dragons, and in that deck your dragons are just DDE containers half of the time anyways.

Anyways the rotomdex card is indeed absolutely worthless. puzzle of time +1 -the actually useful discard searching effect. It's a filler item, and not a particularly good filler item, coming in an era where they just printed a card specifically designed to punish people who load their decks with filler items.

I 100% agree on your statements towards DDE, as we're not seeing any competitive Dragon-only decks, even with DDE in the format.
I've played quite a bit of DarkDragons, and most of the time... the DDEs really are just to boost Dark Pulse.
The dragons are actually a bit of a liability at times, as a single Lysandre could lose you the game.
Especially since their retreat costs are very restrictive, and their attacks are situational.

I would say, however, that the shuffling mechanic of Rotomdex shouldn't be overlooked.
In a format with no reliable card draw, we will have to rely on our supporters to get cards.

Here are some imaginary scenarios:
Of the cards in your hand, the supporters you have are Skyla, and Sycamore.
2 options, but what do you play?
You really need Altar of Moone this turn, to retreat your Pokemon, but you don't want to miss your energy attachment.
You play Rotomdex, and see that there is an Altar in your top 4.
This allows you to play the Sycamore over the Skyla.
Your opponent Ns you down to 2, leaving you with a Rotomdex, and an energy.
You play the Rotomdex.
If you see an out in your top 4, you can move it to the top of your deck.
OR
If you don't see anyway of fixing your hand in the next 4 draws, you can now shuffle your deck, and increase your odds of drawing an out.

One strength that Rotomdex has over Puzzle (aside from the shuffle mechanic), is that you don't need it for anything else.
By that, I mean, you don't lose anything from playing the card.
Wheras, you'd want to try and conserve your Puzzles for the secondary effect.

That is the point, a Pokemon with full immunity to Mega Evolved Pokemon and a attack that prevents three card types from seeing play is a very overpowered card and a three turn setup for such an attack balances it. The reason Dragon type Pokemon aren't running wild is because of that balance. It doesn't matter what role the Pokemon plays in the deck, DDE shouldn't exist without some kind of drawback because of what they can do.

I'm sorry that the game isn't linear enough, to where Mega Pokemon have no counters.
What of Carbink? Is Carbink overpowered? Surely his effect is stronger than Giratina's.
But... neither of them are a staple in every deck, why is that?
It's because abilities have counters as well.

On top of that, the abilities do nothing outside of their niche.
If Carbink walled every single Pokemon, and there was no way to shut-off abilities, that would be "overpowered."

But as it stands, almost everyone is running Hex Maniac, and some decks add in Non-EX/Non-Basics specifically to deal with walls.
That's how a meta works.
 
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1. Giratina being too strong is just not something I'm understanding. It's a good card, but its results aren't at all, from my perspective, indicative of a card that is 'very overpowered'. It's great against mega decks but hex maniac exists and the biggest mega decks all have a reasonable path to OHKOing Giratina with its ability turned off, especially with tool removal back in standard. I can see how you'd be a little sore towards the card if you were inclined to run one of the less viable megas though.

2. Without DDE Giratina would not be balanced, it would be useless. Running two different types of basic energy adds inherent inconsistency to your deck, the only standard deck that does it is Lurants/Solgaleo and that's only because Steel has poor energy acceleration options in standard. Your other option would be running rainbow energy, which has all of the disadvantages of special energy overreliance that dragons currently suffer from without any advantage, and in fact another disadvantage as it donks 10hp off of them.

3. DDE has significant drawbacks, it's a special energy. Can only run 4 in the deck, enhanced hammers, having to run special charge to recover it, no Carbink protection from disruption, special energy lock effects, makes X-Ball/Psychic style attacks do a lot of damage, ect.

If DDE isn't reprinted the number of viable dragons in the meta falls from 2 or 3 to 0 immediately. So obviously PCL needs to either seriously reconsider how it designs dragon cards going forward, provide better thought out support for dragon types (maybe through Guzzlord-GX or that horrible looking dragon type E4 challenger), provide a DDE reprint or simply accept that all dragon cards will be like Kommo-o GX, shitty filler cards that nobody enjoys pulling. Options 3 and 4 seem the most likely to me.
 
I'm sorry that the game isn't linear enough, to where Mega Pokemon have no counters.
What of Carbink? Is Carbink overpowered? Surely his effect is stronger than Giratina's.
But... neither of them are a staple in every deck, why is that?
It's because abilities have counters as well.

On top of that, the abilities do nothing outside of their niche.
If Carbink walled every single Pokemon, and there was no way to shut-off abilities, that would be "overpowered."

But as it stands, almost everyone is running Hex Maniac, and some decks add in Non-EX/Non-Basics specifically to deal with walls.
That's how a meta works.

Pokemon s unfortunately a linear game but I judge things like overpoweredness and brokenness on how it affects the card pool and what it forces a player to do. Feelings have no place in that system. Safeguard is an Ability that the game needs but Carbink doesn't have an attack that prevents play. It's Ability can be turned off via Silent Lab, meaning you don't have to play a Supporter. I also don't want to entertain what ifs because Carbink doesn't do anything like that. Safe Guard is a better Ability than what Giratina-EX has but you look at everything as a whole. Carbink isn't a 170 HP Basic with very disruptive attacks that has synergy with four decks while being a Bench sitter.

Difference here is Giratina-EX forces you to play a Hex Maniac and or Pokemon Ranger to do something in that turn, taking away another option from the opponent. Those players must draw like gods if they can see a Hex Maniac when they need it.

1. Giratina being too strong is just not something I'm understanding. It's a good card, but its results aren't at all, from my perspective, indicative of a card that is 'very overpowered'. It's great against mega decks but hex maniac exists and the biggest mega decks all have a reasonable path to OHKOing Giratina with its ability turned off, especially with tool removal back in standard. I can see how you'd be a little sore towards the card if you were inclined to run one of the less viable megas though.

The card has results. Being Overpowered means something is too good at its job or can do many good things at once. I also dont know what Field Blower or other Megas have to do with this?

2. Without DDE Giratina would not be balanced, it would be useless. Running two different types of basic energy adds inherent inconsistency to your deck, the only standard deck that does it is Lurants/Solgaleo and that's only because Steel has poor energy acceleration options in standard. Your other option would be running rainbow energy, which has all of the disadvantages of special energy overreliance that dragons currently suffer from without any advantage, and in fact another disadvantage as it donks 10hp off of them.

Giratina is balanced without DDE, like all the other Dragon types. Useless is very subject here. Like Hex Maniac, you have to run Hammers, which some players don't run so their disadvantages aren't there and if they run them, its only a single copy at most. Because the Dragon type exist, it doesn't mean DDE should.

3. DDE has significant drawbacks, it's a special energy. Can only run 4 in the deck, enhanced hammers, having to run special charge to recover it, no Carbink protection from disruption, special energy lock effects, makes X-Ball/Psychic style attacks do a lot of damage, ect.

Those are drawbacks. That is like saying running four Eevee is a drawback because you can't run more. A drawback would be it getting discarded after the end of the turn. Running Items too are a drawback too by this logic.

If DDE isn't reprinted the number of viable dragons in the meta falls from 2 or 3 to 0 immediately. So obviously PCL needs to either seriously reconsider how it designs dragon cards going forward, provide better thought out support for dragon types (maybe through Guzzlord-GX or that horrible looking dragon type E4 challenger), provide a DDE reprint or simply accept that all dragon cards will be like Kommo-o GX, shitty filler cards that nobody enjoys pulling. Options 3 and 4 seem the most likely to me.

So? There are only about a handful of Pokemon from each type that is "meta viable", though I don't think so. If you want to run Dragon Pokemon, you do so with the fact you're going to most likely be slower than some other deck. TPC designed Dragon Pokemon the way they did because they offer powerful effects that other types dont do.

Kommo-o-GX has a nuke GX attack, something other Pokemon don't have, as well as 130 Shred attack that is a staple with Dragon types. Most players write off Pokemon as "shitty" filler but things like Wailord-EX were also considered filler and has won events. You have to give the players more faith when it comes to things.
 
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Pokemon s unfortunately a linear game but I judge things like overpoweredness and brokenness on how it affects the card pool and what it forces a player to do. Feelings have no place in that system. Safeguard is an Ability that the game needs but Carbink doesn't have an attack that prevents play. It's Ability can be turned off via Silent Lab, meaning you don't have to play a Supporter. I also don't want to entertain what ifs because Carbink doesn't do anything like that. Safe Guard is a better Ability than what Giratina-EX has but you look at everything as a whole. Carbink isn't a 170 HP Basic with very disruptive attacks that has synergy with four decks while being a Bench sitter.

Difference here is Giratina-EX forces you to play a Hex Maniac and or Pokemon Ranger to do something in that turn, taking away another option from the opponent. Those players must draw like gods if they can see a Hex Maniac when they need it.

Your reply is drenched in bias, but I'll attempt to explain this one last time.

Basis for my opinion:
Giratina is not overpowered, because it's strengths only cater to specific niches.
As such, it can only ever be a supporting attacker.
A lot of decks have supporting attackers, but most do not use Giratina.

This is because it needs DDE to keep up, and the natural state of the meta allows players to play around the card.

Hex Maniac is not run because of Giratina.
Hex Maniac is run because it shuts off a lot of cards in the meta; same reason why people are running Wobb and Silent Lab.
Giratina being affected by this is another reason why the card is good, not the only reason.

Giratina as an Attacker:
Total energy cost = 4
Total attachments = 2-3
Potential damage = 100-130 (with Band)
Potential HP = 170-210 (with FFB)

These statistics are all average, or below average.
The effect of the attack is what makes the attack "good."

If you take away the effect, or take away DDE, the attack is no longer good.
The damage is outpaced by other Pokemon already (Lurantis, Volcanion, etc.)
These Pokemon also do not use special energy, and as such, will be able to outpace it even with the effect.

Giratina as a Wall:
Giratina is not effected by...
Megas
EXs
Basics
Evolution Pokemon
GXs


Being able to wall something is a "good" ability.
However, Giratina's walling is very situational.
and, unfortunately... Every competitively viable Mega will OHKO it when it's ability is off.
Mega Rayquaza, potential damage = 30-240
Mega Mewtwo, potential damage = 70+ (with Giratina's 4 energy cost, it will be OHKOd at it's base HP)
Mega Gardevoir, potential damage = 110-190x2 (Weakness)

Because of this, Giratina is not a reliable wall, and is mostly just used to hold DDEs.
It's attack and ability are what make it (arguably) the best dragon to do so.

You don't run Giratina to wall Megas, you run Giratina because it's a "good" card that can hold DDEs to boost your attack.
This is why we don't see solo-dragon decks.
They all need DDE, and most of them cannot keep up with opposing attackers as it is.
Cards like Giratina and Salamence are strong because of the meta.
They do well in very specific situations, and are able to hold DDE.
With these things combined, people have deemed them viable.
While they may see play in decks without DDE (Salamence in Volcanion), those are usually considered worse and/or less consistent variants.

I hope my post has allowed you to see the flaws of Giratina, and understand why it is a balanced card.
If not, then I have unfortunately wasted my time.

Either way, I feel like I cannot explain this with anymore clarity; so this will be my last statement on the matter~
 
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