Today we look at the
other Bouffalant,
the one I said was
better.
Read on to see
how much better or worse
it is.
Stats
Bouffalant
is a Colorless Basic
Pokémon. Being Colorless
isn’t much of a bonus
right now.
In fact we do
have one established
deck built around a
Colorless Resistant
Pokémon (Gengar)
that managed to keep its
key components through
the rotation.
Of course, it is
still a bit early to
tell if that deck is a
real contender.
What I can tell
you is that I haven’t
heard a peep about any
of the Colorless Weak
Pokémon anchoring a good
deck.
After this review
first went up I did find
out that at least one
was being used as an
attacker in a variant of
an established deck.
Specifically it
is
Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND
run in the “Magneboar”
deck based around
Magnezone (HS:
Triumphant 96/102)
and
Emboar (Black &
White 20/114).
Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND
has a Poké-Body (Space
Virus) that results in
an extra Prize being
taken when that Pokémon
KOs an opponent’s
Pokémon with the damage
from its attack.
This would seem
like a huge bonus for
Colorless Pokémon,
except this is actually
a finishing strategy,
and the Magneboar player
will strive to not even
let you see any pieces
of
Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND
until they are confident
that they will be able
to rapidly win the game.
That usually
means
dropping it only when
the opposing player is
down to two Prizes and
the Magneboar player can
instantly power up and
attack for game!
So in the
interest of completely
covering this fact I
will mention this, but
there won’t be a lot of
times when you’ll be
able to capitalize on
that Colorless Weakness.
There just isn’t
any actual support for
Colorless Pokémon right
now that means as a
type, so as a Type
Colorless Pokémon are
still a bit weak, but
not in a crippling
manner.
Bouffalant
doesn't Evolve: it is on
its own and will need
stat and/or effects
priced accordingly and
meeting a certain
threshold of usefulness.
The 100 HP is
good, though it can be
easy to think otherwise
when comparing it to
heavies like
Zekrom and
Reshiram, also from
the same set. As a
reference, Basic Pokémon
that do Evolve need at
least 50 HP to avoid
being considered
deficient in that area,
and even 60 is pretty
common now.
The Fighting
Weakness is unfortunate
but appropriate, though
having a Basic Pokémon
taken out by a OHKO
isn't as bad (fewer
cards invested than an
Evolution) and it is
still going to take 50
points of damage before
Weakness to do it. In
short it means
Donphan (HeartGold/SoulSilver
107/123) and
Machamp (HS:
Triumphant 95/102)
need to use their more
expensive attacks for a
OHKO and supporting
Fighting Types will
shave a turn off the
time a
Bouffalant can
survive.
No Resistance is
a disappointment as
always, but probably
won't hurt the card
seeing as how it is so
common. The two Energy
needed to Retreat is
fair given the cards
size.
Looking ahead
this is a card you're
going to want to drop,
attack with, then get it
out of your way and thus
the Retreat Cost will
still hurt.
Effects
So what are the attacks?
The opening move is also
the winner of the two
and what will get this
card into decks. Revenge
needs (CC) to go off,
and that's easy enough
with a single Double
Colorless Energy or
even two manual
attachments. Your reward
for this is 20 points of
damage, which is a poor
return, but the effect
turns it from chump to
champ: 70 additional
points of damage (90
points total for the
math impaired) if one of
your Pokémon were
Knocked Out by damage
from an opponent's
attack last turn.
That’s enough to
turn around and OHKO a
Cinccino - provided
of course it just KO’d
something of yours.
The second attack (Head
Charge) is much less
impressive, though I am
reluctant to call it
"bad". For (CCCC) you
can hit for 80 points of
damage, and you flip a
coin. If it comes up as
“tails”,
Bouffalant
does 20 points of damage
to itself.
As many of you
are well aware of, the
damage we get for Energy
invested is being scaled
back because the power
creep in the game was
clearly getting out of
control. Even taking
that into account, it is
just a little on the
weak side.
If it hit for 90
or 100, it'd be a
definite winner.
The first attack
is so strong that it
almost makes sense to
make the second, large
attack border on filler:
if it were too good,
we’d now have another
reasonably big, strong
Basic Pokémon that can
fit into almost any deck
and the format could
quickly degenerate into
something worse than
what we just left.
I’d also like to
point out that the
self-damaging aspect is
probably intended to
set-up for the next
Bouffalant.
You send up one
for a Revenge fueled KO,
and if your opponent
doesn’t take it down
quickly you can get
decent damage while all
but forcing them to KO
it, at which point you
bring up the next
Bouffalant.
Usage
The card has access to
some basic but strong
combos.
The first attack
of course just needs a
Double Colorless
Energy to go off in
one hit.
Double
Colorless Energy
isn't a deck staple, but
it is close enough and
coupled with
Bouffalant if may
very well become one.
Having a Basic
that with just a
Double Colorless Energy
can come from nowhere
and do 90 points of
damage is that useful.
Twins is a Supporter
that allows you to
search your deck for any
two cards when you have
more Prizes remaining
than your opponent,
which works perfectly
with Revenge:
Twins can be used
when last turn your
opponent KO’d something
of yours to pull ahead,
grabbing
Bouffalant and
Double Colorless Energy,
and then you use
Revenge!
Twins is still
relatively general
usage, and if you’re in
a deck that expects to
fall behind in Prizes
regularly, you might
also find room for
Black Belt.
If you already
have
Bouffalant and
Double Colorless
Energy handy (not
unlikely but requiring a
little forethought and
effort), then you can
tack
Black Belt onto the
combo (just hitting
three cards now) and do
130 points of damage
with Revenge!
The last general
combo comes from some
old favorites:
PlusPower and
Defender.
PlusPower of course
doesn’t spike the damage
as much as
Black Belt but it is
also much easier to use
in general.
There is also
nothing saying that a
deck basically built
around
Bouffalant couldn’t
use both!
Giving your
opponent a reason to
fear that you will
easily turnaround and
OHKO whatever they just
smashed you with can be
a powerful advantage,
even if accomplishing
the task is highly
unlikely.
Defender helps in
that if you are using
Bouffalant as a
recovery measure it will
be harder for your
opponent to turn around
and OHKO it back, and if
you find
Bouffalant actually
using its second attack
and want
Bouffalant to last,
you completely mitigate
the self-damage you
might do and enjoy all
the usual benefits of
Defender.
I will comment on what
is missing that this
card could have enjoyed
during the twilight of
the MD-On Modified
Format we thankfully are
done with, not because I
want these two cards
back but because it
tells you what to look
for in terms of future
support:
Vs Seeker and
Sableye (Stormfront
48/100).
I actually would
like
Vs Seeker back, and
it quite obviously
allows you to run fewer
copies of
Twins while still
enjoying multiple
comeback opportunities
in an otherwise general
deck (as opposed to a
come-from-behind deck).
If you never fall
behind,
Vs Seeker still
functions as useful card
recycling other
Supporters.
Sableye was pretty
broken when you combined
the current rules set
with the card pool, so a
card working well with
it is hardly surprising.
Sableye has some
specific qualities that
could be reproduced on a
better balanced card
that would still aid
Bouffalant.
Sableye was a great
opener, even without its
donk potential.
For no Energy
Sableye had an
attack that discarded a
Supporter from your deck
then duplicated that
Supporter’s effect.
This specifically
benefits
Bouffalant by being
a major threat your
opponent can reasonably
KO early on and is
motivated to do so
while also setting
your deck up and making
Vs Seeker
more useful in general.
With the Modified card
pool we do have, what
does this fit into as
more than single-copy
clutch surprise
attacker?
Zekrom (Black &
White 47/114,
114/114) decks can use
it to beef up their
count of strong,
attacking Basic Pokémon.
The shared
Fighting Weakness hurts
this aspect a little,
but following up the
semi-suicidal
Zekrom with
Bouffalant and its
Revenge attack makes
total sense.
The entire point
of
Zekrom is to hit so
hard and fast that your
opponent can’t set-up,
but as Bolt Strike
damages yourself and
Outrage isn’t any good
until you’ve taken at
least 30 points of
damage
Zekrom will fall and
likely not to a beefy
main attacker.
This in turns
means
Bouffalant is more
likely to score a KO
with Revenge.
Further aiding
this approach is that
while
Bouffalant needs
four total Energy for
its second attack, it
can indeed do this with
the
Pachirisu(Call of
Legends 18/95)/Shaymin
(HS: Unleashed
08/95) combo that fuels
Zekrom, provided you
top it off with a
Double Colorless Energy
or can execute he combo
twice.
Not something I’d
want to use as a deck’s
focus, but as a fallback
where the only card I am
adding to the deck is
Bouffalant, it is
quite nice.
I think it would
clutter the deck too
much, but if you could
make room for it,
Defender even
provides some literal
damage control that both
Pokémon would enjoy.
It is so easy to
forget that the best
TCGs (and I consider
Pokémon to be among
them) use combinations
of cards with sometimes
negative returns that
together result in one
large positive!
A Reuniclus (Black
& White 57/114)
Damage Swap deck also
sounds plausible, using
Bouffalant
and a full
compliment of
Zekrom: instead of
“stalling” the whole
game open in a more
traditional manner and
right when your opening
wall is about to fall,
bench it, throw the
damage counters onto
Zekrom or
Reshiram (Black &
White 26/114,
113/114) along with a
Double Colorless Energy
and get quite
aggressive.
Then when
Zekrom/Reshiram
actually falls you bring
out a
Bouffalant. If your
opponent doesn't OHKO
Bouffalant
after a Revenge KO you
have two options: if
your opponent is still
reeling you can finish
powering up
Bouffalant and
slowly prep the next
Reshiram or
Zekrom while
attacking with Head
Charge, or if there are
already enough damage
counters to make for a
solid Outrage Retreat or
Switch out
Bouffalant and bring
up the next
Reshiram or
Zekrom.
Not a must run but as
another of the many
strong options for
Unlimited,
Bouffalant could see
some serious play.
You have a lot of
complicating factors
that can make using it
hard, such as “the Baby
Rule” and
Focus Band usage
combined with some great
older cards that might
fill this niche better
or that do something
else but are fighting
for the same spare deck
slot.
On the other hand
both strong attackers
and useful Bench-sitters
in this format often
clock in at less than 90
HP and unless someone
plays incredibly
conservatively a player
can’t have
Focus Band
protecting every Pokémon
in play.
Like so much of this
set,
Bouffalant
is great in Limited
play. Yes there are
strong, fast
Fighting-Type Pokémon in
this set but facing them
in Limited isn’t a
guarantee and it isn’t
like they’ll have any
better support than
Bouffalant.
HP and average
damage yield plummet in
Limited play due to the
difficulty of running
most Evolutions and even
some resource intensive
Basic Pokémon, making
Bouffalant truly
stellar in terms of
stats and
both attacks.
I can't think of
a real reason not
to run this card here:
unlike yesterday’s
version, this
Bouffalant
outperforms much of the
set in Limited play,
making it so improbable
as to effectively be
impossible you’d be able
to “crowd it out” with
better cards!
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.5/5
Modified: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
Combos with:
Twins,
Black Belt,
Zekrom
Summary
A well designed card
that probably would
border on broken if it
were any better, I
really think that a
single copy will become
a staple in Modified
barring the rare deck
that doesn’t already
have some form of Energy
acceleration (including
Double Colorless Energy).
Now does anyone
else think that TPC
realizes
Tauros is scamming
them out of an extra
paycheck with its
disguise of a wig and
jewelry?
Of course I am still
selling my former
possessions on eBay
here.
Pojo.com is not
responsible for any
transactions.
