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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Absol (Prime) HS Triumphant Date Reviewed: Nov. 8, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 3.50 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:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Absol (Prime)   Hello and welcome to a week of Triumphant Primes on Pojo’s CotD! Everyone likes to see one of these when they open a pack, but which ones will make you extra glad you pulled them, and which will make you wish you got one of the others instead?   We kick off the week with Absol Prime, a Pokémon which always gets points for style.   This version comes with 80 HP which is  . . . ok, I suppose, considering it’s a Prime. Fighting Weakness will be an issue, thanks to Donphan and Toxicroak G Promo, but the Psychic Resistance is one of the best around. The Retreat cost of one is, as always, acceptable. Being a Dark type is one of the best things a Pokémon can be, giving access to the damage-boosting powers of Special Dark Energy.   Is it just me, or do Absol’s effects tend to be a bit on the mean and nasty side (think Absol SW and Absol G LV X)? I suppose that’s appropriate for the ‘Disaster’ Pokémon, and it’s certainly what you get from this card. Absol’s ‘Eye of Disaster’ PokeBody only works when it is active, but can have a pretty crippling effect on the opponent, forcing them to put two damage counters on any Basics they bench. Imagine this in combination with Miasma Valley, or any form of spread deck (Abomasnow SF, Gallade 4 etc). It’s not necessarily devastating in itself, but played early, and in the right deck, and it could put a lot of pressure on the opponent.   Absol’s only attack is Vicious Claw, and it costs [D][C] to use. Usually, I am not fond of Basics that don’t have a single Energy attack, and it does count somewhat against Absol. Nevertheless, Vicious Claw has a very nice base damage of 70, making it viable as an anti-Gengar tech (OHKO on the Prime or LV X). The (sort of) downside to Absol’s attack is that you need to send a Pokémon to the Lost Zone in order to use it. This may or may not be a problem: most decks have uneeded techs, starters or Stage 1s they can lose, but you won’t necessarily have them in hand or want to search them out. Generally you will want to plan for using Absol as a tech attacker rather than your main offence.   Of course, seeing as there is no actual downside to having Pokémon in the Lost Zone (as long as we don’t ever get the Lost World Stadium), you can make good use of Absol if you combine it with Mew Prime. Simply use Absol’s attack to Lost Zone Stage 2 Pokémon with cheap attacks, and then use Mew Prime to copy them. You would need to devote your whole deck to making the strategy work, but it would be an interesting one to try.   Rating   Modified: 3 (useful anti-Gengar tech with some nasty tricks) Limited: 4.25 (absol-utely (sorry) bosses Prereleases where there is always plenty to discard for the attack)   Combos with . . .   Mew Prime
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Absol Prime (HS Triumphant) Today is the start of Prime week here at Pojo! A lot of good reviews for this week ahead, I’m really glad I got reconnected in time! First off is Absol Prime, and this guy seems to be getting a mixed reception. Let’s start, as always, with the stats. Absol is a Dark Basic (warning: terrible computer pun!) with 80 HP, 1 retreat, Fighting weakness and Psychic resistance. Nice HP, and the Fighting weakness is good too due to the fact that Donphan and Machamp wouldn’t find it very difficult to KO Absol anyway, while Psychic resistance stops a lot of techs. Absol isn’t a tank, but it will very hard to donk which is really all you need. Now the abilities. Absol gets a Pokebody and an attack, both of which can be effectively put into a combo. The body is Eye of Disaster, and puts 2 damage counters on any Pokémon your opponent plays onto their Bench as long as Absol is your Active Pokémon. What I like about this ability is that you can combo it with Ampharos PT’s Damage Bind Pokebody to effectively destroy your opponent’s ability to use coming-into-play Pokepowers like Uxie’s Set Up, Azelf’s Time Walk and Crobat G’s Flash Bite. While there are certainly ways around this combo (Dialga G Lv X, KO Absol and/or Ampharos, or just force a switch) it can be abused to put your opponent behind in setup, as well as make them susceptible to sniping/spread attacks for a quick KO next turn. Even with Nidoqueen, you are still denying many crucial power uses to your opponent for only 4 cards (Absol, Mareep, Rare Candy and Ampharos). Now I’ll talk about the attack, which isn’t half bad either. Vicious Claw deals 70 damage for DC, which can easily be boosted by Special Dark energy and Expert Belt (as well as Pluspower and now Black Belt). The trade-off is that you have to send a Pokémon from your hand to the Lost Zone. Of course, the potential for early kills with boosted damage is good, but Absol is too fragile to risk more than a single Special on and Expert Belt could cost you more than it helps you, especially since there isn’t any energy acceleration for Dark Pokémon at the moment (forcing you to attack turn 2, if you survive that long). Still, if you have multiple Absol you can Expert Belt the first and then take advantage of Black Belt to really bring the hurt with the second Absol. The other problem is having to sacrifice a Pokémon to the Lost Zone, since you can no longer use it. Even worse, you can’t attack if you don’t have a Pokémon in your hand to sacrifice which can lead to getting completely mulched by your opponent. At least Lost World isn’t in this set and isn’t likely to appear later, so the risk of an opponent declaring victory with that detestable stadium won’t be what stops Absol seeing play. On that note, I hate the very idea of Lost World. Stadiums are supposed to be double-edged swords that take skill to play effectively. You shouldn’t be able to drop one mid turn and declare yourself instantly the winner! The text should read “if at the start of your turn, this stadium is in play and there are at least 6 Pokémon in the Lost Zone, you may declare yourself the winner” along with the other stadium text so that there is a minor risk of your opponent using it themselves. I HATE THIS CARD! [/rant] All is not lost however. Mew Prime (reviewed last week) provides another combo! If you place a few copies of various 1-energy-killers in your deck without their pre-evolutions, you can sacrifice them with Absol to bring the pain then drop a Rainbow energy on Mew and bring even more misery to your opponent, while hitting for Psychic weakness instead! Viable sacrifices would include single copies of Machamp SF, Donphan Prime, Gengar SF, Jumpluff HGSS, Raticate PA and Shuppet PT all seem like candidates, alongside any other large Pokémon with a brutal single-energy attack and no useful support abilities. Drop a DCE after the Rainbow energy if Mew survives and really go to town! Alongside other disruption (like Vileplume UD and Weavile UD) you can totally ruin an opponent’s day. Sadly, the problem remains that Mew is easily KOed along with Absol, and Dialga G Lv X stops the Pokebodies that make this combo function. You could really mess up your opponent if you can get Absol to survive for a second energy attachment to attack and then surprise them later with Mew, but it is a fragile combo (due to the low HP rather than the number of cards involved like most other fragile uber-combos). In the end, Absol has some possibilities and I hope rogue deck builders get that rare sense of satisfaction that comes from surprising and routing a top tier deck with a combo the other player couldn’t see coming. Test against this deck, you’ll be glad to know whether or not you could take it on even if it never appears at tournaments. Modified: 3.5 (a big win for disruptors, if you can solve the energy problem then we have a real contender!) Limited: 4 (easy damage and plenty of filler to sacrifice, just watch for Machamp and others) Combos with: Mew Prime, Ampharos PT
RocketProf  Professor Six Feet Under Games League	Hello Poke folks!! This is RocketProf making a Triumphant return for a Prime Week of reviews (ok... enough puns... if there is such a thing)!! Today's COTD is Absol, a Basic Darkness type with 80HP (eh), a 2X fighting weakness (ouch... put you'll more than likely be otk'd by Machamp and Donphan anyway), a -20 Psychic resistance (nice) and a retreat cost of one (tolerable). Absol has a PokeBody, Eye Of Disaster, that says that as long as Absol is your active Pokemon whenever your opponent drops anything on their bench it takes 2 damage counters... this can combo well with Miasma Valley which has the same effect as EOD, but only if they're not P or G, and Metagross SV's PokeBody that gives all pokemon in play 20 less HP. This will make all of your opponent's Pokemon come into play down 60HP... which ko's lots of them instantly!! Absol's attack Vicious Claw hits for 70 for DC and requires a Pokemon from your hand to be placed in the Lost Zone or the attack fails... which is a great set up for Mew Prime's Lost Link PokeBody and if the D is paid with a Special Darkness Energy you can then be hitting for 80 which will make short work of most SP Pokemon. Modified 3.9/5 Playable but needs some good partners Limited 2.5/5 Not the best but pretty splashable... but i'm not too sure about sending too many Pokemon to the Lost Zone...
conical	11/8/10: Absol Prime(Triumphant) Last week, we reviewed the Trainers of the set. This week, we review the Primes that we haven't already reviewed. We start with Absol Prime, which huuurrrrrrrrrgggggh. ...See, I really want to rate this card well. I really do. I mean, look at its Poke-Body! Eye of Disaster puts two damage counters on any basic your opponent plays, which is really really good. Vicious Claw does 70 damage for 1D, with the only requirement being having to move a Pokemon in your hand to the Lost Zone, which, again, is really really good. And yet... What does this card do? No seriously, what benefits does this card give? Trying to abuse the Body? It has to be active. Trying to abuse the attack? There are far better attackers than Absol. Not only that, the attack has zero synergy with the Body, which makes the Body fairly superfluous. Of course, there has been talk thrown around about Absol being used to one-shot Gengar. It's a thought, but I don't like it. To start, which Gengar are you countering? Gengar SF? Vicious Claw doesn't OHKO, and if it does, you're still going to run into Fainting Spell. Yeah, it's been thrown around in Gyarados, where one could avoid risking a Belted Gyarados to Fainting Spell, but it seems like it'd be better not to attach Expert Belt to Gyarados the instant you see the Gastly. Gengar Prime? It probably won't see much play until if or when Lost World finally makes it overseas, and when it does, Absol actually helps Gengar towards its goal of getting Pokemon in the Lost Zone with Vicious Claw. Gengar AR? You likely won't be hitting Gengar AR, because it'll be on the Bench, and it won't be OHKO'd. The other Gengar AR and Gengar GL? No one plays those. I'd like for someone to try and abuse this card, because it has some interesting dynamics, but overall I don't think it's worth it. That said, use this in Limited if you pull it. You likely won't get more than one, but the cheap attacks and easy fodder in your hand to Lost Zone makes it worthwhile. Modified: 2.75/5 Limited: 4/5 Combos With: A better player than me should answer this.
Wes1234 Crazed Eeveelutionist	Hello again as we start off HS Triumphant Prime week #2, basically finishing off the rest of the interesting set of Prime pokemon that we got. We start the week off with a pokemon whom only saw a short spotlight period back about three-ish formats ago. That Absol was known for being a disruptive starter that sometimes made it impossible to come back... that is until Claydol came along and ruined its parade. The new Absol Prime in no way comes close to copying that in any way, but its the 2nd legal Absol thus far (I'm counting Absol G and its Lv X as one together). Will it too see some brief glory in the Spotlight as its SW counterpart did? Well, it is a bit hyped, and it's easy to see why. The two-energy attack on a dark-type pokemon (special dark energies, anyone?) is the main attraction. Two energies for 70 damage (not including Expert belt or special Dark energy bonuses) is very nice, as it will one-shot Gengar Prime when Lost World makes it to the scene. However, I think that its hype isn't as justified as it's put up to be. The nasty effect of sending a pokemon to the lost zone is what kills it. Yes, it can one-shot Gengar Prime. Yes, it's energy cost is cheap for the damage output, but you're only assisting your opponent in meeting the conditions for Lost World. In addition, your ammo relies on Pokemon IN YOUR HAND, which Gengar Prime specifically targets, mind you. It's like holding a Halo Rocket Launcher when you have no rockets left to fire. Therefore, it's not a true counter. It's better to Black Belt/Expert Belt another dark-type pokemon (even if it's Stage 1) and one-shot it that way. Both Umbreons from UD, Honchcrow w/ Riot, and Absol G Lv X are just a few examples of better suited counters. 80 HP for an unevolving basic is slightly above average, but this kind of "averagity" doesn't cut it in a format spammed with Garchomp C Lv X and Blaziken FB Lv X, as well as the other upcoming powerhouse decks out there such as Machamp/Donphan Prime decks. To make matters worse, fighting weakness makes it brittle with all the fighting-type pokemon out there. At least a psychic resistance saves it from a OHKO by an EB'd Uxie Lv X. As a starter in a format that isn't dealing with Lost World yet, though, it's an appealing choice, as its attasck, even with an EB or Special Darkness energy, is sure to put some early pressure on them. However, that's also the downside. You still have to provide the "poke-ammo" for its attack, which can slow your setup for other pokemon that you're trying to get out. Plus, cards like Twins and Black Belt can turn your early-pressure game tactic into one hellish nightmare. Overall, this card is a bit underwhelming. It has its perks in dishing out moderate damage for a cheap energy cost, but it's too brittle to abuse its Poke-Body for long. A combo with Mew Prime is intriguing, but I feel that such a combo is better on paper than in testing. If this card has any true chance to shine, now is the time while Lost World isn't ruining your day. Modified (before Lost World comes out): 3.5/5 (If you're a die-hard Absol Prime fan, abuse its time to "shine" while you can. Like Absol SW, its spotlight will only last a very short while.) Modified (after Lost World comes out): 2/5 (Very risky choice with Gengar Prime AND Lost World everywhere.) - Wes1234 Crazed Eeveelutionist
virusyosh	Welcome back once again, Pojo readers! This week we are covering 5 of the 8 Primes from the new HS Triumphant expansion. Our week is kicking off with a review of Absol Prime. Absol is a Basic Darkness-type Pokemon. Dark types see a fair amount of play in decks like Tyranitar, and there are common Dark leads such as Sableye SF and Spiritomb AR. Absol Prime as also received a lot of hype for a Lost Zone deck. But will it see play? First, its top and bottom stats. 80 HP is decent for a non-evolving Basic, but still low enough to worry about in the high-powered metagame that we have today. Fighting Weakness is also unhelpful in this regard, as Machamp is very common and will only become more prevalent as more people get their hands on Machamp Prime. Donphan Prime will also pose a problem. Psychic Resistance is great against things like Gengar and the pixies. Finally, a Retreat Cost of 1 is perfectly fine: Not too bad if you have to pay it. For the abilities, Absol Prime has a Poke-Body and a single attack. The body, Eye of Disaster, puts two damage counters on your opponent's Basic Pokemon when they play them from their hand to the Bench while Absol is active. This is important against all decks (as all decks need Basic Pokemon), however it is especially important against SPs because many commonly played SPs start with 80 HP or less, and putting them on the bench with 2 damage counters puts them within snipe-KO range of many Pokemon, such as Gengar SF. Other support Pokemon, such as Uxie, Azelf, Spiritomb, Sableye, and others will also be taken out fairly easily with 20 extra damage. The only real drawback here is that Absol must be active in order for this Body to be in effect, but its attack isn't so bad. Speaking of the attack, Vicious Claw costs [DC] and does 70 damage, but has the additional cost of taking a Pokemon card from your hand and putting it into the Lost Zone. 70 damage for 2 energy is pretty good, especially when Absol can make sure of Special Darkness Energy to further increase its damage output. However, removing the Pokemon from your hand to the Lost Zone can easily kill your hand advantage or leave you unable to attack, so in some ways Absol needs special consideration when being put into a deck, if not just having an entire deck built around it. Mew Prime can make use of the removed Pokemon's attacks, but its low HP is a massive problem. Modified: 3/5 I feel like Absol has a lot of potential, but it doesn't have a home yet. It doesn't fit terribly well into many of the current deck archetypes we have today, and the very hyped Gengar Prime/Absol/Palkia G type Lost World decks will have to wait until Lost World is finally released in the US (if ever). However, this is no reason to not use Absol: simply try it and see what works for you. Maybe as a secondary attacker in a Tyranitar deck? Who knows. Limited: 3.5/5 Absol is pretty good here. Eye of Disaster puts a lot of pressure on your opponent, and Vicious Claw is great in a slow format. Just make sure that you have enough Pokemon in your deck to be able to make sure you have lots of Pokemon in your hand for the Lost Zone requirement! Combos With: Mew Prime
Otaku	I expected this to be a very short review.  To be blunt, Absol Prime looked great at first, then like junk, and now I keep seeing combo after combo for it.  Especially after I talked to Bondiborg; he contributed a lot of ideas on how to use Absol and for that I thank him.   To begin, it will be hurt if/when we get Lost World because Absol only has one attack and it requires you send a Pokémon from your hand to the Lost Zone to use it.  Lost World allows either player to declare his/herself the winner if his/her opponent has six Pokémon in the Lost Zone.   Then I started seeing combos.  So many that this is my second draft: the first followed my normal protocols and I was running out of room!  To break down the actual card in short order, being a Basic Pokémon with a single Energy Retreat Cost is good.  Being a Darkness Type Pokémon with Psychic Resistance -20 is great!  80 HP and Fighting Weakness are somewhat bad (but not catastrophic).  The Poké-Body is great except for requiring Absol be Active and the attack is good but a bit slow since it needs two Energy and can fail if you have no Pokémon in hand to send to the Lost Zone.  The Poké-Body, which if you missed it places two damage counters on a Basic Pokémon your opponent plays from hand, is what makes this card so desirable.   The basic, easy to implement combos for this card are next.  Call Energy allows you to attack and aid your own set-up with a single Energy.  Miasma Valley grants two more damage counters for a total of four with Absol, unless the Pokémon are Grass or Psychic.  Twins and Black Belt can be used with a passive open to give your opponent a false lead: you have a killer set-up while all their Pokémon are damaged and all you’re out is a Call Energy and Absol.  As you are spreading damage, you might even risk doing a “stupid” move by slapping an Expert Belt on Absol: again, give them a false lead or go aggressive: 90 points of damage on your second (and later) turns against Pokémon you’ve already done 20 or 40 points of damage to means you might be able to afford it.  A clutch Seeker just makes it sting more, thinning their Bench and/or bouncing a now Benched Absol that has served its purpose if they try to be passive as well.   The next step for this card is selecting the rest of the deck.  The above might be interesting, but I realize it isn’t enough for most decks to bother with.  Now we start looking at semi-specific uses.  Damage spreading decks should consider this as an opener; especially Darkness-Type focused ones like Tyranitar.  Using the above generic combos Absol can set-up for at least one developed Tyranitar, maybe more.  That little bit should allow you to quickly go from a Prize deficit to a Prize lead, taking multiple Pokémon out at once.   Now for the really specific decks/partners for Absol: first is Metagross.  Use both the Supreme Victors version that lowers max HP by 20, and since that Poké-Body doesn’t stack use the other one from Legends Awakened to enjoy its Poké-Power that acts as a free, once-per-turn Pokémon Reversal.  Option two is again a tag team of the same Pokémon: Ampharos.  The Platinum version has a Poké-Body that shuts off Poké-Powers on Pokémon with at least one damage counter on them, adding control (and protection) for Absol.  Again it doesn’t stack so you should run one or two Ampharos Prime (from HeartGold SoulSilver): its Conductivity Poké-Power puts a damage counter on your opponent’s Pokémon each time your opponent attaches an Energy card to it from hand.   I’ll finally hit something my fellow CotD reviewers didn’t: attacking around your own Absol.  Several Pokémon have attacks that allow you to switch said Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon.  Absol isn’t much of a meat shield: it may not survive even a single attack.  Either the rest of the deck needs to cripple your opponent’s offensive, or your strategy shouldn’t require Absol survive long: opening the game and spreading damage those first few turns, then taking one more attack for the team (and your true main attacker).  If your opponent doesn’t or can’t KO Absol, then its low Retreat Cost should be easy enough to pay.  Forretress (HS – Undaunted), Gengar (Arceus), Gliscor Lv.X (Legends Awakened), Magnezone (Stormfront), Ninjask (Supreme Victors), Octillery (HS – Unleashed), Quagsire GL, Seviper (Platinum), Yanmega (Legends Awakened) and Yanmega (54/102, HS – Triumphant) all can attack then jump to the Bench, and all possess a second desirable trait as well as solid damage-to-Energy ratios.   You clearly can’t combine everything into a single deck, but you might be able to mix a few together.  For example, running a single Beldum and Metagross with Gravitation would be difficult but not impossible to squeeze into an Ampharos/Ampharos Prime deck that tries to open with Absol and Miasma Valley.  If you could cram it all together and get it to run reasonably smooth, you’d enjoy your opponent’s earliest Pokémon being shorted 60 HP (unless Grass or Psychic) and having their Poké-Powers shut off, plus getting hit for one or two damage counters (from one or two Ampharos Prime) for each Energy attached from hand.   Ratings   Modified: 2/5 – General rating; if used in a deck tailored for it, bump it up one to two points.  When/if we get Lost World, watch it plummet to one for general play or two in a dedicated build.   Limited: 4/5 – Big basic in a format of lower HP scores with ample fodder in your hand for the attack.  Opening is amazing and mid-to-late game it is still good.  Just mind the Weakness.   Summary What is left to say?  I’ve gushed on this card and rated it quite highly, because with a proper set-up you have a control-spread deck that can deal a sound beating for two Energy.  There are a lot of popular decks can still push through and wreck Absol, and with the threat of Lost World hanging over it, I don’t know if it is worth trying to find the ideal build I theorize.   I am still selling my former collectables on eBay.  I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years, so at various times I’ll have comic books, manga, action figures, and video games on the auction block.  You can take a look at what’s up for bids here.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for any transactions and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auctions here. ;)