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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Buffer Piece - Dragon


Date Reviewed: 01.06.04

Ratings & Reviews below

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Hedge  

Buffer Piece

 

Bah… Toned-down Defender. I guess they had to make strength charm’s brother…  Well, it doesn’t reduce dmg from your own attacks, so stuff like Selfdestruct and Double Edge doesn’t work. You also can’t attach more than one because it’s a tool. T_T  I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t like this card. -__-

 

            Modified: 2/5 – Really, what will you use it for? There will never be room for this

card in a good deck.

 

            Unlimited: .2/5 – You REALLY deserve to loose here if you play this card. Unless you started playing Pokemon from Dragons on, and have never ever heard of Defender (‘course, who plays that here either? -____- ) I will cut you no slack for using this card in unlimited. 20 dmg off of a Sneasel’s Beat Up is like -$20 from Bill Gate’s Bank account.

 

            2 on 2: 1/5 – You play this on one active, and it gets wasted when the other is attacked. -___________-

 

            Team: 1/5 – hmmmm….. I think it since it only lasts for one enemy attack, it kinda stinks…

 

            Draft: 3.5/5 – Take all of your trainers here. In this format this card becomes good when compared to the junk you usually get, like Energy Switch, for example.

 

            Written By:  ~Hedge

            Written JANUARY 1ST, 2004. HAPPY NEW YEARS EVEYONE!!!!

 

Thanks for posting Pojo.


Patriarch
 WOW!!! What a year! '03 is already over?! I still can't believe it...Well, one way or another, we end the year on a rather interesting note: With Buffer Piece, the new defender!

Unlimited (1.5/5): The problem with unlimited is that there's room for so many BETTER trainers. Ask yourself what will help you in the long run: a slight bit of prevented damage, or a full, new hand?

Modified (2.75/5): Now,  this tool is quite worthless for some decks, yet vital in others. If you are playing any dragons, then Buffer Pieces are a must, as you'll probably be targeted by some heavy-hitting colorless dude, or even worse, Wobbuffet! However, decks like Gardevoir are pretty straightforward, and many of their effects damage themselves, like Psy Shadow.

Draft (4.25/5): This can make or break games, folks! If you play this at a decisive moment, then you'll secure many a game for you. Unless you get draw power or a VERY solid Pokemon, then Buffer Piece is a 1st pull.
Otaku

Name: Buffer Piece

Type: Trainer

Sub-Type: Pokémon Tool

Text: Attach Buffer Piece to 1 of your Pokémon that doesn’t already have a Pokémon Tool attached to it.  If that Pokémon is Knocked Out, discard this card.

Damage done to the Pokémon Buffer Piece is attached to by an opponent’s attack is reduced by 20 (after applying Weakness and Resistance).  At the end of your opponent’s turn after you played Buffer Piece, discard Buffer Piece.

Attributes: It is a Trainer.  So the upside is you can put as many of them into play (presuming you have the Pokémon for them) as you got per turn.  Of course, there are many things that can foil Trainers: Chaos Gym and Neo Genesis Slowking will make you have to flip, and Dark Vileplume prevents their play completely.  This is a Pokémon Tool, so the upside is that you can have it in play to get around these things.  Of course, an Aerodactyl ex would still ruin it then anyway.  Being a Pokémon Tool (as opposed to an attached Trainer) is very limiting: using one prevents the immediate use of another, and you can’t “stack” like you can with attached Trainers.

Abilities: Well, simply put, after you have been hit by an attack and applied Weakness and Resistance, you then drop the damage by 20.  Not useless, but there is a catch: it goes away at the end of your opponent’s next turn (after having played Buffer Piece).  It also only blocks opposing attacks.

Uses/Combinations: If you have absolutely no Pokémon Tool you think could benefit you, then, early game, this can actually help a bit.  For example, say you do a common opening move: having a Wynaut use repeated Alluring Smiles to set up.  With this, those early attacks by opposing Pokémon won’t hurt as bad, and you can probably sneak in an extra Alluring Smile.  Yes, you could just use a different search Trainer, but most of those are Supporters and even do less than Smile does.  Much as a well timed Strength Charm can win you the game, a well timed Buffer Piece can wreck an opponent’s plans and yes, win you the game, by making them pursue the wrong Strategy.  If a big attack isn’t flip based, it usually includes some other detrimental effect, like Energy discards or self damage.  So, with this dropping after they have “gone for broke” and burned up these resources so that their last attack will be a guaranteed kill… well, it makes a comeback slightly easier.  Of course, pulling that off is probably less likely than getting SER2 to work.  Oh well, I tried.

Ratings

Unlimited: 1/5-Use Defender.  It lasts as long and can stack with itself.  Defender even blocks self damage, something Buffer Piece doesn’t do.  You can then attach Gold Berry or Focus Band as well.

Modified: 1.75/5-Like I said, an incredibly slight chance it can buy you the turn you need, but in the long run, 20 damage isn’t much, and your Pokémon Tool slot is better used for something else.

2-on-2: 1.5/5-Even worse here, since if you don’t play one on each of your Pokémon, then your opponent will just hit the other.  While you could use this to deter your opponent from attacking one of your actives, but its doubtful that it will often save something: like I said, it’s just 20 damage.

TMP: 1.5/5-More or less the same as above-too bad it doesn’t last until the beginning of your next turn; it’d be pretty good then.

Limited: 3/5-Finally, a place it can do some good!  Here, that 20 damage will often matter, enough to give whatever big (or not so big) attackers just one more shot.  Here, that can be enough to give you the game.

Summary: One of those “take an old Trainer and ruin it” cards.  If it didn’t get discarded at the end of the turn, it would be a good Tool, maybe on par with Gold Berry.  But as is, it’s more a joke than anything.

-Otaku ( nintendotaku@hotmail.com )

Ralphy
Ralphy-
Sorry about the long layoff in writting reviews again, filming for Thriller, a skate vid dropping in a store near you soon, has been tough, but I messed up my knee, so it looks like I'll be writting reviews more often now.
 
Buffer Piece is a card that I think can see some play in the current environment. But this card sound a lot like a previous card, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
 
Unlimited- Don't play this here, use Defender. It is more or less the same thing, and it doesn't prevent you from using Focus Band of Gold Berry. 1/5 here.
 
Modified- As far as I can tell, there is no Defender in Modified, unless it was reprinted in a serect set of promos or something. Not a bad card to use it you must put out a 50 HP basic, so you can prevent damage to get out it's big bad 100 HP+ evos. Also a good card to use to keep your Ex Pokes from getting knocked out like Tyson. Especially those Ex basics with low HP. I like that this card adds some extra defence for my Wailord Ex deck that plays almost every kind of healing imaginable. All jokes aside, there aren't too many good Pokemon Tools as of yet in Modified, so Buffer Piece can be easily tossed into any deck without any major drawbacks. 3/5
 
Limited- Preventing damage is good in any format, most importantly the limited format. Your not going to see too many great Pokemon Tools anyway, so take a chance on Buffer Piece. 3.25/5 here.

 


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