ADP players, explain it to me slowly and in detail, because I am ignorant, stubborn, and sometimes downright stupid:
The plan is to fetch three
Basic Pokémon and two
basic Energy cards at the cost of not only your Supporter for the turn, but a
massive* 5-card discard cost. Is this really better than running a touch more basic Energy search, or a few more copies of Basic Metal Energy...
without having to burn your Supporter for the turn? Yes, you can combo this with Dedenne-GX and Crobat V... but it isn't like this is the
only way to utilize those two cards. Quick Ball is a thing. Big draw power is a thing.
The 5-card discard cost seems to be
badly underestimated
but this could be my ignorance (or stubbornness or stupidity) speaking. Here's why it worries me:
Your opponent is goings first. Let us assume there were no Mulligans
and your opponent does
nothing to shrink or increase your hand size. Your seven card opening had had to contain at least
one Pokémon you could put into play as your Active. You get to draw a card at the start of your turn, so you're back up to a minimum hand of seven. Let us say it contains Sabrina & Brycen: that leaves six cards left. The discard cost is five. That means you're allowed to play
one card out of that opening hand. The rest has to be stuff your deck can do without, or wants in your discard pile. Can you use a non-Supporter effect, one which does
not end your turn, so long as it results in a net gain for cards-in-hand? Sure, but how many things do you run search for that you want in your hand or your discard pile, as opposed to actually using them?
I am
not saying it can never work. I'm just saying that, in terms of raw card count, this card is a -3, minimum. How'd get that number?
- The copy of Sabrina & Brycen is a -1...
- ...and another -2 because it is a Supporter.**
- 5 card discard cost is (duh) a -5
- You then search out up to five cards (+5).
Again, you may be able to search out additional combo elements, but if they work just as well from using a Quick Ball to fetch that specific bit, is this really a good deal?
Remember, if you don't have 5 cards you can afford to discard, this is Professor's Letter as a Supporter.
* Doesn't Professor's Research have a potentially higher discard cost? Yes, but the keyword is "potentially", and we also need to stress that you can use it if you have a hand with 0-4 cards in it.
**Wondering why being a Supporter is another -2? The "Draw 3 cards." Supporters aren't great, but they're consistently released, so we're using them as the minimum value for a Supporter. Edit: If you don't mind relying on XY-era releases, it is even easier to explain. Trevor is a Supporter which snags any Pokémon from your deck. Ultra Ball is a Trainer-Item that can do the same thing, but with a two-card discard cost. Still not perfect, but being a Supporter eliminates a -2.
