Card of the Day: Random Receiver
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Random Receiver (DE # 99) {4/23/12}
- Thread starter Vulpix Yolk
- Start date
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First we were given PokeGear 3.0 in HS1. It was a pretty good card actually, and although underrated when it first came out, it's seen quite a bit use - just view your top 7, and if you find a Supporter you can pick one and add it to your hand. Pretty nifty, actually - except there was always a chance to whiff.
Next we get the Xtransceiver. It never saw play, however, since although it let you search your deck for a Supporter...you had to flip a coin for it. Coin flips are usually something to be dodged if you can help it, unless the whole point of your deck is to coin flip, but you don't do that on Trainers - just attacks. Thus this card was obscured in shadow.
Random Receiver hopes to solve both of those problems - you keep revealing your deck until the first Supporter comes up, and boom, it's yours. No coin flips involved, no chance of a whiff. We're all happy!
Or are we?
In truth, this card is a lot like Quick Ball from the DP format (except that looked for a Pokemon). Quick Ball wasn't really played very much not because it revealed your deck, but because there were other Pokemon searching methods at the time that didn't whiff. Will Random Receiver face the same fate? I think the answer is no.
Why is that? Well, people are afraid that when you use Random Receiver, your opponent will be able to see the cards in your deck, and thus it will supposedly be very obvious what deck you're playing. I think that's a flimsy argument, really. All you have to do is look at the playing field. Then it's pretty obvious what the other guy is playing. Sure you can argue that Random Receiver may tip your hand and reveal surprise techs or whatever, but even so what deck a person is playing can clearly be seen.
So will this card see play in the current format? I definitely believe so; people will start subbing out PokeGear for this because they're guaranteed a Supporter.
Will this card see play NEXT format, when the emphasis has shifted off Supporters? Most likely; there are still a few potent Supporters around, like N and Juniper. Granted, there aren't that many Supporters worth playing in BW-on, but they do exist, and lesser-known gems like Cilan may rise to the surface in the future. We'll see.
In the meantime, I recommend you guys run 3 in your deck if you get a chance.
Seriously, why am I the first to post this and it's almost 11pm Pacific Time?
Next we get the Xtransceiver. It never saw play, however, since although it let you search your deck for a Supporter...you had to flip a coin for it. Coin flips are usually something to be dodged if you can help it, unless the whole point of your deck is to coin flip, but you don't do that on Trainers - just attacks. Thus this card was obscured in shadow.
Random Receiver hopes to solve both of those problems - you keep revealing your deck until the first Supporter comes up, and boom, it's yours. No coin flips involved, no chance of a whiff. We're all happy!
Or are we?
In truth, this card is a lot like Quick Ball from the DP format (except that looked for a Pokemon). Quick Ball wasn't really played very much not because it revealed your deck, but because there were other Pokemon searching methods at the time that didn't whiff. Will Random Receiver face the same fate? I think the answer is no.
Why is that? Well, people are afraid that when you use Random Receiver, your opponent will be able to see the cards in your deck, and thus it will supposedly be very obvious what deck you're playing. I think that's a flimsy argument, really. All you have to do is look at the playing field. Then it's pretty obvious what the other guy is playing. Sure you can argue that Random Receiver may tip your hand and reveal surprise techs or whatever, but even so what deck a person is playing can clearly be seen.
So will this card see play in the current format? I definitely believe so; people will start subbing out PokeGear for this because they're guaranteed a Supporter.
Will this card see play NEXT format, when the emphasis has shifted off Supporters? Most likely; there are still a few potent Supporters around, like N and Juniper. Granted, there aren't that many Supporters worth playing in BW-on, but they do exist, and lesser-known gems like Cilan may rise to the surface in the future. We'll see.
In the meantime, I recommend you guys run 3 in your deck if you get a chance.
Seriously, why am I the first to post this and it's almost 11pm Pacific Time?
^ Part true, I don't want to argue with a Prof. but I disagre. Some decks that use random reciver might have a bad start with something like Cleffa, and Cleffa alone, they may have no Supporters in hand and are forced to play it, the opponent(s) can find out the deck quickly. This means they can set up a counter real quick. While this won't happen much, this could mess up decks with Tyrogue.
Any way,
Random Reciver is one of the better trainers out there, similar to Quick Ball from the DP format (sound like DNA don't I?). The card however is quite one-dimensional (in my opinion), as the card gives you one supporter and you have hardly any choice in which one. Pokegear 3.0from HS is a much better card as it has choice but has the downside of not having a guanteed way to get supportes (other then deck manipulation). Another down side is that your opponent can see te cards that are in your deck, and they can simply set up a counter.
That was alot of crits there, but, Random Reciver has to get you a supporter (unless prized). This is great because most of the supporters you will want (other than Twins/Black Belt when up on prizes).
Overall the card is a 7/10 from me.
The art however, I dislike, like most of 5ban's works the background is simple being 1 colour with a shading effect.
Art is a 4/10 D:>.
Any way,
Random Reciver is one of the better trainers out there, similar to Quick Ball from the DP format (sound like DNA don't I?). The card however is quite one-dimensional (in my opinion), as the card gives you one supporter and you have hardly any choice in which one. Pokegear 3.0from HS is a much better card as it has choice but has the downside of not having a guanteed way to get supportes (other then deck manipulation). Another down side is that your opponent can see te cards that are in your deck, and they can simply set up a counter.
That was alot of crits there, but, Random Reciver has to get you a supporter (unless prized). This is great because most of the supporters you will want (other than Twins/Black Belt when up on prizes).
Overall the card is a 7/10 from me.
The art however, I dislike, like most of 5ban's works the background is simple being 1 colour with a shading effect.
Art is a 4/10 D:>.
Don't be afraid to disagree.
While it's true bad starts can happen - and it sucks when they do - it's a necessary risk that needs to be taken. Every deck will suffer from a bad start every now and again; the key is trying to build the deck so that the bad starts happen as little as possible. And yeah, although a lone Cleffa start with just Random Receiver can tip your hand...again, it's a necessary risk. I'd also rather have Cleffa start with no Supporters/Basics and a Random Receiver than to have the same start with no Random Receiver at all!
That said, because of potential cases like that, people might start running Random Receiver AND PokeGear 3.0 until rotation hits, say 3 of one and 2 of the other. I think that's possible too, since the number of possible Supporter-searching slots has risen from 4 to 8. (I'm not including Xtransceiver in this because it's easier to fail than PokeGear.)
But that's just my opinion, of course.
I agree ;_;
Deus: Nightmare Autarch said:
I just wanted to comment on this portion and make the argument that the drop in the number of Supporter cards in BW-on actually makes Random Receiver a much more useful card. With only 3 or 4 main supporters played, the odds of getting a supporter that is useful increases by quite a bit. It will make random receiver a little less random and thus a better play for consistency's sake.
Random Receiver is great in decks with a Dual Ball search engine, but it's kind of outclassed by Pokegear in a Collector engine. Thankfully, Dual Ball has increased in popularity over States and Regionals, so this will be the Supporter search trainer of choice.
8/10
8/10