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)
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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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