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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Braviary  

- Plasma Storm

Date Reviewed:
April 24, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 1.67
Limited: 3.75

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

Back to the main COTD Page

Combos With: See Below

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Braviary (Plasma Storm) 

Generation V’s obligatory bird Pokémon was apparently designed to reflect the fact that the Unova region is based on the USA with its red, white, and blue colour scheme and clear inspiration from the bald eagle. It also has one of the more interesting name-changes from Japanese to English, with the Japanese name reflecting the Pokémon’s war-like qualities. Yep, you can see why they did that. 

Anyhoo, Braviary is a Colourless Stage 1 with a 100 HP that’s just on the wrong side of average for a Stage 1. It can enjoy its Weakness to Lighting for another two weeks until everyone starts playing Thundurus-EX, but the Fighting Resistance might just stay relevant. The Retreat cost of two is horrible. Not just because it’s a bird, but because it’s too much to want to pay and doesn’t let you use Heavy Ball. 

Braviary does come with a nice disruptive Ability. Big Wing may be used to force your opponent to switch their Defending Pokémon with the Benched Pokémon of their choice. Used in the right situation, it can function like a pseudo Catcher, dragging out Pokémon to inconvenience your opponent or help you take Prizes. It’s a good effect to have and its use is optional. The trouble is that it is let down by the rest of the card. For a start, Braviary must be Active to use the Ability, and with that retreat cost of two, it makes it tough to send up another attacker once you have used Big Wing. That in itself need not be a problem if Braviary didn’t have such a mediocre attack: three Energy for Wild Edge’s 60 damage, with the option to do 20 more if Braviary takes 20 itself? The output is below average, and the self-damage a terrible idea in most situations. 

Ok, so Big Wing is decent, but it’s hardly needed in a format where we have Catcher, Escape Rope . . . even Vanilluxe NEX’s Slippery Soles is better than this. On a good card it would have been a great bonus. On something as meh as Braviary, it’s a bit of a waste. 

Rating 

Modified: 1.75 (Needed a good attack or free retereat to stand the slightest chance)

Limited: 3.5 (Colourless is always good, and the disruption valuable)

virusyosh

Happy midweek, Pojo readers! Today we're continuing our reviews of Colorless Pokemon from Plasma Storm. Today's Card of the Day is Braviary.

Braviary is a Stage 1 Colorless Pokemon. As I've stated previously this week, Colorless Pokemon work well as support Pokemon, as they can fit well into many deck types. Braviary has 100 HP, which is standard for a Stage 1, and it should be able to take a weak hit, but probably not much more than that. Lightning Weakness will be a problem against the very hyped Thundurus-EX from Plasma Freeze; Fighting Resistance will work nicely against Landorus-EX; and a Retreat Cost of two can be paid for, even if you don't have Switch or Escape Rope.

Braviary has an Ability and a single attack. Big Wing can force your opponent to switch if Braviary is Active once per turn, making this Ability very similar to the old card Pokemon Circulator. The Ability is decent in Modified (where Pokemon Catcher is still better), but is great in Limited, where disruption of this kind is somewhat rare. Wild Edge is the attack, dealing 60 damage for three Colorless, with the extra option of doing 20 more in return for Braviary dealing 20 damage to itself. 60 damage for three Energy is very mediocre in Modified, but is usable in Limited. Likewise, 80 damage for three Energy is the bare minimum in Modified, but passable in Limited. As such, you'll probably be better off using Braviary in a Limited setting.

Modified: 1.5/5 Big Wing can be somewhat useful here, but Pokemon Catcher does a much better job and none of Braviary's stats or attacks are all that great. If you're looking for a Colorless attacker here, use Tornadus-EX with Pokemon Catcher.

Limited: 4/5 In contrast, Braviary is excellent in Limited. Big Wing forces switches to put your opponent into an unfavorable position, and while not stellar, Wild Edge can deal consistent damage to the opponent. If you manage to get one, it's probably worth running.


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