Hello SixPrizers! Stephan here with another CotD! Well, today’s CotD is special. A member on the forums said he would write it if he had someone to do a grammar check and edit it, so I volunteered. Thanks to ussgordoncaptain for writing the majority of this article!
Today I will be talking about Bouffalant BLW 91. This card has been played somewhat throughout the format and most recently helped Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich win Wisconsin Regionals. Its use stems from the fact that it is one of the better techs in the current format. To explain why, let’s look at the base stats.
100 HP
pokemon-paradijs.com100 HP isn’t really anything special. It means that Zekrom BLW will get a KO with Bolt Strike, however it survives common attacks from Thundurus EPO and Tornadus EPO. However, Mewtwo-EX is pretty annoying since it only has to have 5 energy total between both Pokémon to 1HKO Bouffalant.
Attacks
The first attack, Retaliate, for 2 C Energy, does a measly 20 damage. However, if any of your Pokémon were KO’d on your opponent’s turn, it does 90 damage! 90 damage is significant against many commonly played Pokémon. For instance, Zekrom dies in one hit if previously used Bolt Strike without Eviolite. And with Tool Scraper coming out in July’s set, Eviolite shouldn’t be played much after that.
You can use Pokémon Catcher in order to 1HKO an Eelektrik or Celebi Prime. Costing 2 C Energy means that you can use DCE to power it up in one turn, or energy acceleration such as Celebi Prime can be used.
The second, and rarely used attack, is called Head Charge. For four C Energy, it does 80 damage, and then you flip a coin. If it is tails, Bouffalant does 20 damage to itself. This attack is unfortunately weak because it is extremely expensive and does little damage for its price.
Retreat/Weakness/Resistance/Typing
The Retreat Cost of 2 means that, even with Skyarrow Bridge, Bouffalant will have to retreat with an energy discard. However, Bouffalant can use the energy it used for Retaliate to retreat. Of course this is an expensive proposition because it quickly strains your supply of energy. Support from switch solves in this problem effectively.
A weakness to Fighting is bad in this format because we have Terrakion NVI running around. Whether it be Quadbulls, which is going to be bigger once DEX hits the scene, Troll, or just as a tech, there are going to be tons of Terrakion running around as long as we have Dark.Dek and Zeels.
It has no Resistance, and the Colorless typing gives it super effective coverage against, well… nothing really. Maybe RDL, but he isn’t being played much.
What decks can run this card?
pokemon-paradijs.comThis card is very splashable in any deck that runs DCE or energy acceleration. It’s splashable nature allows it to be run in a typical CMT list to great effect, because Bouffalant gives CMT something it previously lacked: a way to take the second prize without using Mewtwo EX against Zeels.
The Switches allow for both a fast retreat of Bouffalant and for Celebi shenanigans. Bouffalant disrupts Zeels by one hitting the Eelektrik, and unlike Terrakion NVI it does not require a reworking of the energy lines to be effective.
Zekrom/Eels can use Bouffalant to gain an advantage in the mirror. Unlike Terrakion NVI, Bouffalant does not require the use of F Energy and can combo well with DCE, making it a safer tech overall.
As you can see, it can be used for a wide variety of purposes, but I personally think it fits into CMT really well, just because it gives it that second prize against Zeels without using Mewtwo.
What will happen to it in HGSS/DEX?
With the use of PlusPower, it can 1HKO Zoroark DEX, which will be big. It can damage EXs to set them up for KOs, and it can 1HKO Absol Prime. It will be good against a lot of things, so it shouldn’t lose any playability.
Overall, Bouffalant makes a great addition to the two best decks in the current format. It makes a less painful tech than Terrakion NVI, because Bouffalant does not require the use of F Energy. 90 damage is a magic number in the current metagame because it allows for 1-shots against Eelektrik and a non-Eviolited Zekrom.
Rating: 8/10
I have rated it 8/10 because it fits so well in many decks. It can help both CMT and Zeels in their respective mirror, but is almost useless against things like Troll and QuadTerrakion.
Below are my takes on some lists with Bouffalant in them. Be warned, they are only meant to show how decks could use Bouffalant, they are not perfect.
Zekrom/Eels
|
Pokémon – 16 4 Tynamo NVI 39 3 Zekrom BLW |
Trainers – 31 4 Professor Juniper 2 N
3 Random Receiver |
Energy – 13 9 L |
CMT
|
Pokémon – 13 2 Tornadus EPO |
Trainers – 34 4 Professor Juniper 3 N
4 Pokémon Catcher
|
Energy – 13 9 G |
And now that the CotD is done, I want your opinion on something. What does everyone think of the new Shiny Pokémon Catcher? Answer in the comments, and remember to +1!
-Stephan!
Hmm shiny catcher. I like it but unless it’s in that theme deck I’m not going to buy it. Great article but give the credit to ussgordoncaptain and a bit to Vablakes.
Good job with the COTD, but Bouffalant really isn’t a card I like. you still did a good job, though, so +1. +1 when I can log in right again, that is.
Random Receiver in the deck lists? Without bothering with other cards in Dark Explorers?
Deck lists need work. And I know you said they are just showing how Bouffalant can be incorporated, but it’s just a one of tech, and nothing else is changed.
the deck lists are terrible IMO as well (writer here) I gave a differing set of decks, and i should have included Troll decks especially the one that was played by oscar morales. A better version of the zeels deck would have included 0 zekrom EX and 2 thundurus. My CMT was fairly similar but I did not run random receiver in any of my decks. All of mine had pokegear 3.0 and tyrogue. The point of my lists was to show how to put bouffalant in a deck that is well.. normal. Kyle sucevich’s decks from the top cut are better.
The review was decent enough. The Afro Buffalo definately has a very good place in many decks, and most people will likely ignore him just like they have since nationals (where pooka utilized him to great success).
However, the lists are really not that good. I don’t even think they are that good in a HGSS-NXD format, much less a HGSS-DEX format.
In addition, I don’t really like how this was published. It’s not your article. Yet, you are going to get credit for it in the WotM contest. The Captain wrote it, not you. You merely edited it. There are official editors to do that.
Also, Adam has publicly stated that they are trying to be more stringent on who gets to publish stuff. I’m not saying this is a bad article, but you are definitely avoiding the rules of the site. If the Captain wants to get it published he should go through the proper channels and get approval.
I agree, the original writer should be credited with writing it. Editors are merely editors, not wanting to downgrade what they do in any way, but a writer composes what we have just read. Just my two cents.
one shot against non-eviolited zekrom?
one shot against non-eviolited zekrom?
Only after they use bolt-strike for KO.
” However, Mewtwo-EX is pretty annoying since it only has to have 5 energy total between both Pokemon to OHKO Bouffalant.”
Not really. It makes the Mewtwo war easier for you.
“The first attack, Retaliate, for 2 Colorless Energy, does a measly 20 damage.”
Wrong Card. This isn’t a terra review.
And those lists aren’t great either.
The mewtwo war is relevent, but remember that while it seems like it would be strong to gain prizes using bouffalant against mewtwo remember that by virtue of the way bouffalant works the mewtwo opponent will typically have 4 prizes after taking the prize using mewtwo. As it was said previously the deck lists aren’t really supposed to be the best, for a better set of lists look at thetopcut.net
I don’t know about everyone else in the world. But personally, I think that the new Golden Catcher in DEX was a bad move (not necessarily bad, i just don’t like the idea). Because Emerging Powers came out in August of 2011, and Dark Explorers came out in May 2012. So unless there is some weird rotation in the next few years, were going to have catcher for an extra format (if the were planing on releasing a catcher in a newer set anyway, then this doesn’t really matter). I don’t think such a format defying card like catcher should not be in every format for the next 8 years like say Rare Candy or DCE. Because it makes fast decks so much better then there slower stage 2 counterparts. We need a format with a little less CMT ZPST and Zekeels and a little more of pokemon like emboar. But that’s just me.
I really think bouffalant is ready to bring the pain at any tournament he’s better than terrakion in most decks especially eels since it’s more space efficient and won’t be given away by fighting energies sneaking out onto the field, it can also be charged up with dynamotor.