Skip straight to the scores and summary for a
concise overview.
Name:
Blaziken
Set:
EX Emerald
Card#:
1/106
Type:
Fire
Stage:
2 (Evolves from Combusken
HP:
110
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
CC
Poké-Body:
Blaze
As long as Blaziken’s remaining HP is 40 or less,
Blaziken does 40 more damage to the Defending
Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance)
Attack#1:
(C) Searing Flame [10]
The Defending Pokémon is now Burned.
Attack#2:
(RRC) Damage Burn [50+]
If the Defending Pokémon already has any damage
counters on it, this attack does 50 damage plus
20 more damage.
Name:
Combusken
Set:
EX Emerald
Card#:
25/106
Type:
Fire
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Torchic)
HP:
70
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(RC) Lava Burn
Does 10 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched
Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for
Benched Pokémon.)
Attack#2:
(RCC) Sharp Claws [40+]
Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 40
damage plus 10 more damage.
Name:
Torchic
Set:
EX Emerald
Card#:
69/106
Type:
Fire
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Water
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack:
(R) Hypnotic Gaze
The Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.
Attributes:
The new Blaziken is a Stage 2, of course. As
usual, this means that it will take some effort to
get into play (a Torchic and either a
Combusken or a Rare Candy), so it is
allowed some very good attributes and powerful
abilities to compensate. It is a Fire Pokémon; this
is a good type, since Weakness isn’t uncommon but
Resistance is. It would have been interesting had
it been a Fighting Pokémon (Blaziken is both
types in the video game). It has the expecting
Weakness for Fire Pokémon: Water. This is bad, but
so are all logical choices for a Fire/Fighting
hybrid. Watch out for Water decks – most I see hit
hard and fast. No Resistance is rather annoying,
but at least it once again is understandable given
the odd type combination. Finishing off the bottom
stats is a Retreat Cost of two Energy. This is high
enough to discourage excessive retreating, but low
enough you should be able to afford it when it would
be useful.
I would be remiss if I didn’t cover the lower Stages
of Blaziken from this set. Combusken
has an adequate 70 HP for an “Evolvable”
Stage 1 with a nice, low Retreat Cost of one
Energy. It is also a Fire Pokémon. Unfortunately,
the attacks stink. The only thing going for them is
that you get more damage than you pay for. Bench
hitting for such a small amount isn’t that useful,
even though it combos with Blaziken’s second
attack (more on that later). Plus, needing at least
two Energy to attack is not too great for a Stage 1;
due to the vulnerability of being de-Evolved, you
really don’t want to toss a Double Rainbow Energy
onto it unless it is all you have or would score a
K.O. Water Weakness means it’s an easy KO for any
serious Water Pokémon – 40 points of damage
The Torchic is likewise pretty lame. It has
a solid 50 HP for a Basic that can Evolve twice, and
a nice, easy to manage Retreat Cost of one. That
same Water Weakness all but the weakest Water
Pokémon that can extinguish it in one shot. All
this is actually as good as it gets for Torchic,
so that isn’t what makes it bad. It is the attack.
Originally, when the game was first created, the
original Special Conditions were likely though to be
equal by TPC. However, after several sets, TPC
figured out that Sleep needed to be less
“expensive”: sure, it could incapacitate a Pokémon
for several turns, but half the time it was gone
after it was inflicted. So paying a full Fire
Energy for an auto-Sleep is far too expensive. You
should do 10 points of damage with auto-Sleep; most
other Special Conditions would require you do 10
points of damage and then flip to inflict at this
price.
Simply put, don’t use these two unless it’s for
Limited. ;)
Abilities:
Blaze is a pretty nifty Poké-Body, but hampered by
an overzealous restriction. You get a sweet, sweet
extra 40 points of damage, but only when you
have 40 or less HP. This is useful, but not
something to build a deck around. These kind of
powers really either need to kick in sooner… or
better yet, have a variable level. Example: “For
every two damage counters on this Pokémon, this
Pokémon does 10 more damage to the Defending
Pokémon.” Too bad TPC doesn’t read these, eh?
Blaziken’s
first attack, Searing Flame, may not seem too
impressive, but it is most likely designed as more a
fall back attack: if you need to bring out
Blaziken before it is powered. When Burn is
automatically inflicted, it’s pretty nice. Barring
extreme luck, you’ll either get the damage you’d
have gotten with Poison a little later, or a little
faster. Given how it works, it will rarely be less
useful; if the Defending Pokémon has 30 HP left, you
have a 50% chance of KOing it before the start of
its turn (remember, 10 damage is coming from the
actual attack). If the opponent flips heads then
flips tails after their turn, they are still KO’d,
as they would have been with Poison. So as long as
extreme instances of luck balance out and the HP
works out, you will at worst do what you would have
with Poison. Anyway, remember the Burn will shut
down Poké-Powers, which is another good reason to
like this attack.
Damage Burn is an improved version of Second
Strike. If the opponent is uninjured, they take 50
points of damage. The attack is priced such that
you are getting a slight discount (which Stage 2
Pokémon usually deserve). Now, that is when the
Defending Pokémon has no damage on it. If it has
any damage, the attack hits for 70! Very nice.
These abilities have fairly decent synergy. Blaze
makes both into fantastic deals, and practically
ensures that Blaziken will take something down with
it.
Uses and
Combinations:
The best use for this card is as TecH. Toss one
into your average Blaziken deck with Surprise!
Time Machine. When Blaziken/Blaziken
ex is hurt, switch out to this. It has more HP
than “Firestarter” Blaziken, and is obviously better
to lose than a Blaziken ex. If you swap out
a Blaziken ex with this Blaziken and
score a KO, you’ve effectively gained a two prize
advantage. Yes, this card can hit harder than even
Blaziken ex… at least to the Defending
Pokémon if it has at least one damage counter on it
and you have no more than 40 HP left.
Basically, this card is meant to be a back-up for
another Blaziken, not to fly solo. Also
remember the appropriate “default” combos for Fire
Pokémon, like High Pressure System, which
drops the retreat to a nice, easy to afford single
Energy.
Ratings
Unlimited:
1.75/5-If another Blaziken was better here,
then so too would this be better.
Modified:
3.5/5-Why so high? I personally think it can be a
good investment for Firestarter decks. Nothing
hurts like having a Blaziken ex not only
avoid being KO’d for two prizes, but also knowing
that it’s back in the deck where it can show up
again. Well, it is worse when it just goes to the
hand…
TMP:
3.75/5-Assuming you can reasonably assemble the
line, it is pretty slick here. Burn matters more.
Damage Burn is able to OHKO more Pokémon. Blaze has
a better chance of kicking in. Unfortunately, there
is a lot of good Water Pokémon in this set.
Summary
You’ll note that I am not really comparing this to
“Firestarter” Blaziken. That is because,
even despite being the same Pokémon, the cards serve
different functions. Firestarter Blaziken is
broken, even on its own. As such, we don’t really
want this to surpass or even match it. Instead,
having it compliment the card is much better.
