Master Ball

What it does

Master Ball originally had a player look at the top 7 cards of the deck and choose a Basic Pokémon or Evolution card from among them, shuffling the rest back. Plasma Blast's wording changed this into a direct, guaranteed search of the whole deck for any Pokémon, a much stronger effect that the Temporal Forces printing carried forward as an ACE SPEC card.

Printing history

Master Ball first appeared as a glossy card in Japan before its English debut in Gym Challenge in 2000 with art by Keiji Kinebuchi, who illustrated every printing through the EX era's Power Keepers. 5ban Graphics illustrated the Plasma Blast printing that changed its effect, and Studio Bora Inc. illustrated the Temporal Forces ACE SPEC printing.

Trivia

Both the Gym Challenge and Expedition Base Set prints contain a grammatical error reading 'show it your opponent' instead of 'show it to your opponent,' which the EX Deoxys print corrected. The Master Ball is a type of Poké Ball in the games notable for guaranteeing a catch. Master Ball's original Japanese release was as a glossy card on Expansion Sheet 2, later reprinted as a non-glossy Holofoil card in both decks of the Quick Starter Gift Set, before its English debut in Gym Challenge carried Keiji Kinebuchi's artwork through several EX era reprints.

Cards to know

• Master Ball (Gym Challenge #116)

  Gym Challenge printing is Master Ball's first English appearance, illustrated by Keiji Kinebuchi

• Master Ball (Deoxys #88)

  Deoxys printing corrects the earlier 'show it your opponent' typo

• Master Ball (Plasma Blast #94)

  Plasma Blast printing changes Master Ball's effect to a direct search

• Master Ball (Temporal Forces #153)

  Temporal Forces printing is an ACE SPEC Rare treatment