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- cred: nago
682
- ↓ 0.04
- ꩜ 0.10
- ↑ 19.80
{C}{C} → Super Speed : 20
Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to this Pokémon during your opponent’s next turn.
illus. Akira Komayama
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If it flaps its wings really fast, it can generate shock waves that will shatter windows in the area.
Ambassador
This is the fourth time the attack Super Speed appears in the TCG, and the first time the attack is printed as doing damage. In so doing, it appears it’s missing the point of the attack coming into existence in the first place. Or at least, what the point of the attack seemed to be.
Originally appearing on AQ Doduo, Super Speed was an attack which was functionally identical to the oft-appearing attack Agility. The names of the attacks were even similar;
· Super Speed is originally ばいそくいどう [𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮]
· Agility is originally こうそくいどう [𝐊𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮]
Why bother to give it a different name from Agility? It appears to be because unlike all prior instances of Agility, Doduo’s attack wasn’t doing any damage. And so, to further differentiate it from the other attacks, they gave it a different name. Now, while I’m suggesting Yanma here has undone the entire point of Super Speed ever existing at all, it’s actually a much earlier card that undermined the entire thing – NBSP12 Pikachu’s 𝐊𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮/Agility attack does no damage but works like Agility, so it would’ve been a prime candidate to change its name to 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮/Super Speed, but it didn’t happen.
But, from what I can tell, that’s the only time they slipped up on 𝐊𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮/Agility – it’s always done some amount of damage ever since. On UPR Yanma, 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮/Super Speed is returning to the TCG after a very long absence (having last appeared on GE Swablu), and while it’s nice to see it again, it’s.. not quite right.