Was Gust of Wind as powerful as Pokemon Catcher?

Frezgle

Frezgle

Winged Death
Member
I'm pretty uninformed when it comes to the current competitive TCG, so when I heard all this business about how a certain "Pokemon Catcher" card was pretty much required in any tournament-worthy deck, and how expensive it was, I decided to look it up just to see what awesome effects it created.
And... It's the exact same card (albeit with a different name) as Gust of Wind from the Base Set. A card that I had more copies of than I knew what to do with.

So now I'm curious; was Gust of Wind just as good back when it was still tournament-legal? If not, what's different about the metagame now that makes Pokemon Catcher just so needed?

(Also if this is in the wrong board feel free to move it; I'm not really sure since the focus is on both the current and past metagame...)
 
Prior to its release, only a few cards, albeit Poké Power/Body, provided a player an opportunity to select and bring up a benched opponent's Poké to the active position. This was typically followed by a KO or somethimes used as a stall tactic. And those "Gust of Wind" Poké seem like they were around years ago (maybe 4 years?). Back in the early days, GoWs were "plentiful" in booster packs, unlike Pokémon Catchers.

When Catcher (pka Gust of Wind - lol) was released, it gave players that same ability, but without the downside of exposing your Poké for a potential, subsequent KO. Plus, you could run up to 4 in a deck! Now, Pokémon Catcher quickly became a staple in decks shortly after players realized how good it is. Unfortunately, Catchers have not been re-released in follow-on sets since Emerging Powers (about 6 sets ago); so, Catchers market value remains "high."

Can a player win games without Catchers? Maybe... but with much difficulty perhaps.
 
Gust of Wind was a top 10 card then and Pokemon Catcher is in the same boat. You need them to win due to all the dangerous bench threats, especially more now than ever. If your opponent drops Klinklang or Blastoise, the only way to slow them down really is to bring these cards up to take out in battle.
 
Gust of Wind was very powerful back then. However, there are some key differences:

- Back then, Supporters were the same as Items. Thus, Gust had more competitors. Also, because searching through your deck was easier thanks to that, you could do with fewer Gusts as you'd draw them anyway.
- Back then, the game was alot slower. Even Haymaker's speed is laughable compared to what decks do now. Gust/Catcher's strength is relative to the speed of your deck (Haymaker was one of the few decks that ran Gust in 4, slower decks ran it less).
 
GamerXYZ said:
Gust of Wind was very powerful back then. However, there are some key differences:

- Back then, Supporters were the same as Items. Thus, Gust had more competitors. Also, because searching through your deck was easier thanks to that, you could do with fewer Gusts as you'd draw them anyway.
- Back then, the game was alot slower. Even Haymaker's speed is laughable compared to what decks do now. Gust/Catcher's strength is relative to the speed of your deck (Haymaker was one of the few decks that ran Gust in 4, slower decks ran it less).
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I beg to differ.... consistent Turn 1 Articuno - Blastoise made games only a few turns short ;) Love that deck!
 
Gust of wind was even more powerful than pokemon catcher, because gust of wind was in the same format that pokemon flute was.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Flute_%28Base_Set_86%29

I ran a couple flutes in my charizard deck way back in the day. it was broken...
 
ashtavakra said:
Gust of wind was even more powerful than pokemon catcher, because gust of wind was in the same format that pokemon flute was.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Flute_%28Base_Set_86%29

I ran a couple flutes in my charizard deck way back in the day. it was broken...
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^

I myself play very frequently on Pokemon TCG GB, and several of my decks have 2 Pokemon Flute to combo with Gust of Wind for easy knockouts.

Talk about really easy prizes.
 
TuxedoBlack said:
Unfortunately, Catchers have not been re-released in follow-on sets since Emerging Powers (about 6 sets ago); so, Catchers market value remains "high."
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Actually P!P just recently released Catcher as a Player Rewards Promo so it may go down in price more because of it. At least it was their way of making up for not releasing it as a League Promo since the Unova Gym Badges and Badge Cases took their place in the current Modified League Season.
 
Card Slinger J said:
TuxedoBlack said:
Unfortunately, Catchers have not been re-released in follow-on sets since Emerging Powers (about 6 sets ago); so, Catchers market value remains "high."
Click to expand...

Actually P!P just recently released Catcher as a Player Rewards Promo so it may go down in price more because of it. At least it was their way of making up for not releasing it as a League Promo since the Unova Gym Badges and Badge Cases took their place in the current Modified League Season.
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Except there's 200~ copies of it, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was worth more than the SR one.
 
Blui said:
Card Slinger J said:
Actually P!P just recently released Catcher as a Player Rewards Promo so it may go down in price more because of it. At least it was their way of making up for not releasing it as a League Promo since the Unova Gym Badges and Badge Cases took their place in the current Modified League Season.
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Except there's 200~ copies of it, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was worth more than the SR one.
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600 total. 2 per player in the top 100 per division globally
 
The Player Rewards Catcher is worth ~$150.
 
I saw some of the Player Rewards Catcher's going for $120 and $110.97 for Buy It Now on eBay. I know it's a staple in almost every deck but I didn't expect it to get that high in price. When P!P released Pokemon Collector as a League Promo back in HGSS-On up to BW-On it wasn't going for nearly as much as what people are selling the Player Reward Catcher's for.
 
Card Slinger J said:
I saw some of the Player Rewards Catcher's going for $120 and $110.97 for Buy It Now on eBay. I know it's a staple in almost every deck but I didn't expect it to get that high in price. When P!P released Pokemon Collector as a League Promo back in HGSS-On up to BW-On it wasn't going for nearly as much as what people are selling the Player Reward Catcher's for.
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Collector wasn't a 4-of staple, and had much more copies than this Catcher.

@ Bo$$_89, forgot that there are 3 divisions, whoops!
 
I opened a box of EP and pulled 3 common catchers and 3 reverse, it would be a lot better if they were common. You usually pull enough for 1-2 decks in a whole box.
 
ThatPokemonCollector said:
I opened a box of EP and pulled 3 common catchers and 3 reverse, it would be a lot better if they were common. You usually pull enough for 1-2 decks in a whole box.
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You were very lucky, most of the people I know opened a box and only pulled 1 regular catcher, let alone RH. Also how is 3 RH of 1 card in a box possible?
 
Also... Gust of Wind was a common... and it even came in theme decks... I have tons of those in my collection...
 
pokémon catcher is better because there were more good trainers back when gust of wind was around for example energy removal, which does remove an energy card attached to one of your opponent's pokémon. Also comp. search. it is around now, but in ace spec form. Then there was no such thing as ace specs and supporters. Oak was like a juniper, but was not confined to "supporter". Therefore I think that catcher is better. I also agree with tuxedo black and his reasoning.
 
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