Buzzwole-GX – #7 – Top 10 Crimson Invasion Cards

aroramage

URRRRRRRGH, OH YEAHHHHHHH, LET’S GO, GET PUMPED, GET HYPED, GET BUZZED ON!!

Buzzwole-GX is our second Ultra Beast on the list, and HE IS JUST SO STRONG, OOOOF!! LOOK AT DEM MUSCLES!!! Seriously, if I was just wandering around my house, and I saw a mosquito that was THAT FREAKING BUFF, I’d run out and cry myself to sleep inside a van down by the river cause I AM NOT MESSING WITH THAT SWOLE MOSQUITO!! Side note, props to the Pokemon company for taking a word like “swole” and mixing it into a giant buff mosquito from another dimension. I’m never going to swat another mosquito the same way again – I’m probably going to swat it harder.

In any case, Buzzwole-GX is a Fighting Ultra Beast with 190 HP – starting to notice a slight pattern with that, only to find that the other Ultra Beasts at least attempt to stay in range. Yeesh, thanks for raising my expectations, GUZZLORD-GX!! Still, Buzzwole-GX is an equally dangerous Ultra Beast, the least of which is his Type that gives him access to things like Strong Energy. As if we needed more damage buffs.

Jet Punch is his first move, and it ought to sound familiar. It does 1-for-30 and snipes for another 30 on a Benched Pokemon. If your thoughts went to Landorus-EX (BCR), you’re right, he DOES sound familiar! Now we get another sniping strike from a powerful Pokemon with lots of HP! And that’s just the beginning!

His next move is KNUCKLE IMPACT!! It’s really powerful at 3-for-160, and it comes with no other effects!…is what I imagine you’d want me to say to keep him in line with Guzzlord-GX, but come on, they don’t all have to be the same. No, Knuckle Impact is in fact way too strong a move, as Buzzwole-GX can’t attack at all on the turn after he uses it. Course, switching things around can alleviate that, and combined with other damage boosters, that attack can still deal a LOT of damage, but the drawback is pretty harsh.

You know what’s harsher still? Absorption GX. Like Guzzlord-GX, Buzzwole-GX’s GX Attack does something based around Prize cards. He actually gets power based on the number of Prize cards, and with a cost of 3 Energy, Absorption GX deals out 40 damage based on the number of Prize cards…that you have left.

I can hear it now, the sounds of angry flailing.

All things considered, this attack is not that bad. In fact, it’s hard to argue with a move that can hit as much as 240 in the early game. But I think you’d rather want a move that does that much in the LATE game as a finisher, so you can wipe out your opponent and win. This attack ends up only getting weaker, so it’s best to use it in the early game to get ahead rather than to use it later when it’s not as potent. It’s also not all bad news – remember that cards like Hala actually benefit from you having used your GX Attack at some point in the game, so you could use Buzzwole-GX to accelerate through your deck further and end up dominating through the game with his maneuvers.

…except that they stopped you from abusing Knuckle Impact with that clause. I find it hard to justify Buzzwole-GX’s power when he needs to use his (arguably) best move so early in the game, locking down whatever other GX moves you could use, and then for the rest of the game has to settle for Knuckle Impact at the right times and Jet Punching otherwise. I’m just saying, Jet Punch is not gonna win you game on its own – at some point, you’re gonna need Knuckle Impact to survive for a turn or at least keep you higher up on the Prize game. 

Buzzwole-GX though only requires 3 Energy max, so he can do a lot with that. They all have to be Fighting Energy to be useful for any of his attacks – kinda like Guzzlord-GX in a way – so keep that in mind when building around him. As for what he does, it’s something you’d need to build around and keep in mind while building around it. Kinda like Guzzlord-GX.

Go figure that the Ultra Beasts demand respect for using them.

Rating

Standard: 3.5/5 (all things considered, Jet Punch is one of those moves that historically has seen play and been useful)

Expanded: 3.5/5 (but man, it’s hard to justify Knuckle Impact)

Limited: 4.5/5 (at least Absorption GX you can make an argument for)

Arora Notealus: Buzzwole-GX has a lot of power going into his moves, but a lot of it comes down to just timing them out just right. A couple of good Jet Punches can line anything up for a KO with Knuckle Impact, but that clause really punishes you for delving deep into it. He’s pretty good, but I can’t really say he’s strictly the best. At least he doesn’t require a LOT of Energy the way Guzzlord-GX does.

Next Time: Another mysterious entity appears!

21times

Buzzwole GX (Crimson Invasion, 104/111) makes its debut in the Pokemon Trading Card Game in the Crimson Invasion expansion set.  A 190 HP Fighting Pokemon, it has three attacks.  Jet Punch does thirty damage to the active AND thirty damage to a benched Pokemon as well.  Knuckle Impact does 160 damage, but this Buzzwole GX then can’t attack next turn.  Absorption GX does forty damage for each of your remaining prize cards.

I have not done any testing with Buzzwole GX.  I didn’t pull any (and I know I’m not the only one who was extremely disappointed with their pull ratios from CIN) and haven’t gotten around to trading for a set yet.  I have seen it most commonly paired with Garbodor (Breakpoint, 57/122).  I have also come across one video with Decidueye GX (Sun & Moon, 12/149).  Although I’m not usually a fan of this card, Rayquaza (Guardians Rising, 106/145) might make for a good combo as well.  Any video you watch extolls the praises of Jet Punch, and I’m not even going to begin to argue that it’s one of the best single attachment attacks in the game.  Throw a Strong Energy (Fates Collide, 115/124) and Fighting Fury Belt (Breakpoint, 99/122) on Buzzwole, and it’s now sixty to the active along with thirty to the bench.  However, I wouldn’t mind starting something else though that might power up Buzzwole quickly.  That GX attack KO’s anything in the game if either a Strong Energy or Fighting Fury Belt is attached (and you haven’t taken a prize yet).  You could then follow it with Knuckle Impact, and who knows?  You might have taken three or even four prizes at that point.  So while Jet Punch is a good starter attack, don’t sleep on coming in first with Absorption GX and following with an almost as potent Knuckle Impact.  Plus, I love GX’s that use their GX attack early because then you can tech in Hala (Guardians Rising, 143/145).  If you run Hala and Professor Sycamore (Steam Siege, 114/114), after you play your GX attack, one way or another, you’re getting seven cards in your hand every time you play a draw supporter.  I have used this strategy very successfully with Drampa GX (Guardians Rising, 115/145) and Solgaleo GX (Sun & Moon, 89/149) in the past.

If you don’t go the Garbodor BKP route, Zoroark (Breakthrough, 91/162) might be a good complement.  In addition to potentially being able to reset Knuckle Impact, it might function as an effective counter to Hoopa (Shining Legends, 55/73) and Alolan Ninetales (Burning Shadows, 28/147).

Rating

Standard: 3.5 out of 5

Conclusion

Buzzwole GX is definitely a good card.  I had it as number three on my top ten list.  The only thing holding it back for me is its Psychic weakness.  Garbodor (Guardians Rising, 51/145) needs only five items in the discard to OHKO it.  However, if it had Grass weakness (as many Fighting Pokemon do), that wouldn’t really be any better as Tapu Bulu GX (SM32) and Golisopod GX (Burning Shadows, 17/147) are still definitely meta decks that are very good and commonly found in whatever arena you’re playing in.  Still, I have no doubt that the “Protein Shake” (that’s what my son calls him, I have no idea why) will see action this weekend in London, and it might even find its way into the top eight.

Vince

Today’s 7th place pick is Buzzwole GX. Looking at this card, Buzzwole GX joins the myriad of very good Fighting type attackers that you can consider. Some other great Fighting type attackers include Landorus EX, Lucario EX, and Zygarde EX. So what does Buzzwole GX have to offer?

To start, being a Fighting type has some support in Standard such as Strong Energy (yes, it was reprinted in XY Fates Collide) and Brooklet Hill, which nabs either a Basic Water or a Basic Fighting from the deck to the bench. 190 HP is just as bulky as Zygarde EX and other 190 HP basics. Being weak to Psychic can hurt at times when you’re facing Garbodor (either version) or Mewtwo-EX cards. And to finish the attribute, a retreat cost of two is neither good nor bad, and falls short of being a legal target for Heavy Ball.

Buzzwole-GX has three attacks. Jet Punch costs F for 30 damage, and also does 30 damage to one of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. If that effect sounds familiar, then it has also been seen on Landorus’s Hammerhead attack, which does the same. With Choice Band, Strong Energy, and Professor Kukui, Jet Punch would do 100 with the 30 snipe, faking an improved Night Spear! Using only Jet Punch for early game pressure is never a bad idea, since if you’re opponent can’t do anything in time, you’ll be eventually taking knockouts left and right! Knuckle Impact does 160 for FFF with the clause saying that this Pokémon can’t attack next turn……..unless you play around that effect via switching tactics such as Zoroark/Keldeo EX and Float Stone. That attack cost isn’t easy to meet, however. Then we get to the GX attack. It’s signature code name UB Absorption, costs FFF and it does 40 damage for each prize you have left. So with six prizes, you’ll do an awesome 240 damage, but if you’re about to win the game, then the damage output becomes terrible with 40 damage. It is possible to try to meet those attack costs with Max Elixir, but you have to be lucky with top decking.

There are few ideas that I can think of when using Buzzwole-GX. Fighting Bats or Decidueye-GX involves placing damage counters so that you can plan your knockouts in an efficient manner. This could be important on taking out Safeguard variants before it becomes a problem for Buzzwole GX, since they can “wall” against any GX or EX Pokemon. While you’re bench sitters do the work of placing damage counters, you just keep on spamming Jet Punch until their board position eventually wipes it out. Super Scoop Up could give you more opportunities to evolve your different Pokemon to re-trigger the coming-into-play abilities.

Another idea would be just using Fighting Pokemon with different weaknesses. Buzzwole-GX (weak to Psychic) takes over Lucario-EX while being run alongside Zygarde-EX (weak to grass) and Landorus-EX (weak to water). All three have a great one Energy attack. Carbink BREAK can help retrieve Energy cards (even Strong Energy) so that their respective Pokemon can have access to their three energy attacks. Unfortunately, we are lacking a Fighting Pokemon weak to Lightning. It used to be Hawlucha (XY Furious Fists), but even if this card is legal, EX Pokemon would have disappeared completely, rendering Flying Press useless.

Finally, an idea that I have is similar to the previous paragraph is the Fighting Engine, which gathers all Fighting type support designed to have a deck that can actually have a role to perform. Carbink Break and Buzzwole-GX are mentioned earlier, one as main attacker and the other being replenisher. Then there’s Regirock-EX whose ability lets Fighting Pokemon do 10 more damage to the Defending Pokemon (up to 40; it stacks, but the 4 per copy still exists).

I’m not saying that these ideas would revolutionize the competitive environment, but at least that gives you an idea on how to use Buzzwole-GX. These ideas were similarly mentioned on Otaku’s Zygarde EX review minus the fourth idea (there’s no similar card of Power Memory/All Cells Burn). As such, this is a card you’ll see some of the time in Standard and Expanded. In Limited, this is a very nice pull. Absorption GX may be slightly worse there (only 160 damage due to starting with 4 prizes), and Knuckle Impact can be used once every two turns, but Jet Punch is the saving grace. Just keep spamming Jet Punch until the point where you’re down to your last prize and use Knuckle Impact as a finishing attack.

Standard: 4/5
Expanded: 4/5
Limited: 5/5

——————————————————

This is a card that definitely needs to be looked at again.

Buzzwole-GX (SM: Crimson Invasion 57/111, 104/111, 115/111; SM: Black Star Promos SM69) was first reviewed as the 7th best card of the set. And by looking at what this card does, it’s easy to see why; it is very easy to use. It is a Basic Pokémon that can easily be put into play. It is a Fighting Type, which has most things going for it regarding type specific support. You’ve got Strong Energy that boosts damage output by 20 before weakness and resistance. There’s Regirock-EX and Diancie Prism Star whose ability boosts damage output by 10 and 20 respectively for fighting types. There’s also Brooklet Hill which lets you search your deck for a Basic Water or Fighting Pokemon and put it onto the Bench. Focus Sash to prevent OHKOs and leaves them with 10 HP left. It can exploit weakness found on Colorless, Darkness, and Lighting Pokemon which is pretty diverse. Being an Ultra Beast does allow certain cards to support it, mainly Beast Energy that can be attached to any Pokemon, but the full extent is reserved for Ultra Beasts: one unit of rainbow energy and a boost of dealing 30 more damage. Being weak to Psychic was one of the worst weakness when it came out due to Garbodor’s Trashalanche easily OHKOing it if you had five items in the discard pile. Whilst Garbodor is not seen frequently, you’ve now get to deal with Malamar variants, so looks like Psychic weakness is still the worst in my book. The retreat cost of two is a pain; you wouldn’t want to pay for it but you might once in a while.

The attributes is one story but the attacks are another story. Jet Punch is lauded for being one of the best attacks for a single energy. It does 30 damage to your opponent’s Active and 30 damage to one of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. If you’ve experienced a period of time where Landorus-EX did a similar thing, you’ll know why this was a good attack. It wasn’t just the attack alone, but it also had support regarding the Fighting Type. Put in most of cards mentioned above, at least for Standard, a Jet Punch backed with Beast Energy Prism Star, Diancie Prism Star, and a Choice Band means you’ll be dealing 110/30 against Defending Pokémon EX/GX Pokemon or 80/30 for single prize Pokémon, still needing a single energy. That’s what makes it easy to use. You have a spammable attack that consistently do this much damage that is good for any part of the game, whether it be early game pressure or just flat out heavily damaging them. Not to say that the other two attacks are useless; I’ve seen them to a certain extent, but doesn’t compare to what Jet Punch provides. Knuckle Impact does a nice 160 for FFF, which isn’t easy to meet sans Max Elixir, though not an option in Standard anymore. The hbest clause of not being to attack at all next turn can be reset by switching this Pokémon out and repromote it back to the Active. When you factor in small buffs, then Knuckle Impact can OHKO Basic EX/GX and even some Stage 1 EX/GX Pokemon. Absorption GX is another good early game attack as it costs FFF and does 40 damage for each prize card you have left. With six prizes in the beginning of the match, that’s 240 damage right there, almost OHKOing anything (Diancie Prism Star and others secure it). It also helps that using a GX attack early can make Hala draw you seven cards instead of four.

I’ve recalled mentioning some ideas on how to use it, but it didn’t really pan out. Looking at countless decks that placed in nearly all important tournaments during this card’s tenure, even Worlds, the partners that support Buzzwole-GX at the time was Lycanroc-GX for manipulating your opponent’s Pokemon and Octillery for ability based draw (which could be replaced with Zoroark-GX). Later releases include the non-GX Buzzwole, which had Sledgehammer that triggers if your opponent has exactly 4 prizes remaining. Most likely, after your initial Buzzwole-GX does down, you bring in baby Buzzwole and smack them with 120 damage (or more depending on boosts) which could reach 2HKO or OHKO potential. There is also Garbodor whose ability lock is valuable as ever. Though with different partners, however you see fit, it only claimed first place in the Junior Division at 2018 Worlds, so Buzzwole decks are far from unbeatable. The 1st place deck of both Senior and Masters contained Psychic types, which Buzzwole is weak to.

So after looking at its accomplishments, I still say Buzzwole-GX is a good card, but the Psychic weakness is troublesome than I thought, and still remains to be with Malamar running around. The Expanded format is extremely vast, and as Otaku had said, Night March will be the bane of Buzzwole’s staying power. However, it is still easy to use and is still a good choice to use in tournaments due to its features, good enough that I really don’t count it out. In Limited, this is a good pull for a +39 deck as you can chiefly spam Jet Punch over and over again until you feel like you can save Knuckle Impact as a finisher.

Standard: 3.5/5

Expanded: 3/5

Limited: 5/5

Conclusion: You might by wondering why I’d score lower than when I first reviewed it. There were things going for it, but more counters to keep it from being unbeatable. As such, I’ve got to even it somehow. I will still have fun using it despite what I think of this card.

Retro

Possibly the second most hyped Pokemon from this set; Buzzwole-GX comes through with a crack of buzz and hype, as it returned a well-proven meta package in a format where said meta is full of the things that it really thrives upon. 

Buzzwole-GX is a very respectable Fighting type, hitting 190 HP which is really big. Being a basic Fighting type, it is easy to search and get into play; you can use Bridgette (XY BKT) to get it to play, or use Brooklet Hill (SM GUR) to also get it to play quickly without burning your Supporter quota for the turn. It also has access to Fighting Fury Belt (XY BKP) to boost its health by 40 and it can deal an extra 10 damage with its attacks. But, it is weak to Psychic which isn’t nice, as again, Psychic decks are everywhere and a retreat cost of 2 is allright. Well, looking at it, it could have been a 3 retreat cost as it is bulky.

Buzzwole-GX generates most of the buzz not from its wings, but from its 2 great attacks. Jet Punch is basically a rip off from the old Landorus-T EX (BW BCR)’s Hammerhead, which for a single Fighting energy deals 30 damage to the Active and 30 to one opposing benched Pokemon. Just like Lando-T, you can also buff this attack; using a combination of Fighting Fury Belt and Strong Energy (adds an extra 20 damage to a Fighting Pokemon’s attacks), you can deal 60 damage to the Active Pokemon and 30 to the bench, putting in the pressure to the lead Pokemon while softening up the ones on the bench for later knockouts against evolving basics. Knuckle Impact is also a ripoff of Lapras-GX (SM Base)’s Blizzard Burn; deals 160 damage for 3 Fighting Energies and Buzzwole can’t attack in the next turn. The difference between Buzzwole’s nuke and Lapras’ nuke is in the fact that Buzzwole has access to Strong Energy, which means that it can go beyond the 190 number that Lapras is stuck with. It can go up to 270/290 damage with boosts, making it very dangerous under the right circumstances.

Finally, its GX attack is a very powerful starting nuke when you can get it going; Absorption GX deals 40x the number of prize cards you have remaining. This means you can mostly guarantee yourself a prize where you normally can’t take on by just accelerating energy to a Buzzwole and using Absorption GX. Mostly well used to punish an opposing fully evolved Pokemon-EXs or Pokemon-GXs, Absorption GX can also help you take home that first lead. But remember, as you will almost secure a knock out with Absorption, you may need to take precautions.

Buzzwole-GX is a very strong Pokemon, but it does has checks similar to that of Nihilego-GX, so it’s mostly fine. But with such small faults, being potentially weak to one archetype of deck and strong potential, expect a lot of Buzzwole action in the coming seasons it will be legal in Standard.

Rating:

Standard: 4.2/5 (A well balanced package that jumps off in a very favorable meta; will see a lot of action as a strong lead attacker, if not for that annoying Psychic weakness.)

Expanded: 4.4/5 (Put your Landorus-EXs away in your binder, as between Strong Energy, Fighting Stadium, Muscle Band as an extra Tool option, and Korrina, this thing will be a beast in Expanded.)

Limited: 4.5/5 (Very good and solid Pokemon overall; use it when you can use it.)

Next in SM Crimson Invasion: 
How can a jellyfish caused an entire story to run? Only Pokemon knows…

Otaku

Normally we have Throwback Thursdays, a time to look at older cards, but we’re in the middle of a countdown right now. By the end of this review, though, I hope you’ll see how our seventh-place finisher Buzzwole-GX (SM: Crimson Invasion 57/111, 104/111, 115/111; SM: Black Star Promos SM69) is an homage to an older card. It is another of the new Ultra Beasts, which may have future significance given that their cards actually have a text box designating them as such; maybe they’ll never do anything with it, or maybe we’ll be seeing some Ultra Beast counters and/or support. It also is a Pokémon-GX, which already does mean a lot; Buzzwole-GX gives up an extra Prize when KO’d, can is excluded from certain beneficial effects, and is the target of certain counter cards specifically because it is a Pokémon-GX. It isn’t all bad news, though; Pokémon-GX have already gotten their first piece of support (Olivia), so far have always sported a decent bump to their HP scores (when compared to “regular” counterparts), and always have three effects (one being the coveted GX-attack).

Buzzwole-GX is a Basic Pokémon, so minimal space to run, minimal time to hit the field, natural synergy with certain effects, access to Basic-specific Stage support, and it can function as your opening Active, as well. The only drawback to being a Basic Pokémon are the Basic-specific counters. Buzzwole-GX is also of the [F] Type, which makes it great for striking Weakness, stacking damage bonuses, and working with some impressive attackers of the same Type. What isn’t so great is the abundance of Fighting Resistance, Fighting-specific counters, and how we just haven’t seen many successful Fighting decks prior to this set. The first two are, at most, minor issues but that last bit has been pretty significant; with all they can do, Fighting Pokémon are usually doing well to be splashed into an off-Type strategy.

Buzzwole-GX sports 190 HP; this is on the happy-side of “typical” for a Basic, Pokémon-GX and gives it a fairly good chance of surviving a hit. Weakness may be part of why Fighting Types keep struggling; Buzzwole-GX itself is Psychic Weak, a big problem as that Type has been maintaining a competitive presence with regularity for the last several years. Other Fighting Pokémon have different Weaknesses, but to Types that have also proven pretty potent. Garbodor (SM: Guardians Rising 51/145), multiple attackers in Night March, and Trevenant BREAK are just three of the major decks that can slap Buzzwole-GX silly thanks to Weakness. The lack of Resistance is typical, and while it would have been nice when backed with 190 HP, it still isn’t a huge loss. The Retreat Cost of [CC] is pretty middle-of-the-road; higher than you want to pay but low enough you’ll often be able to pay it if you must.

Buzzwole-GX has three attacks, all of which run on [F] Energy, making it difficult to splash into off-Type decks. For just [F], Buzzwole-GX can use “Jet Punch” to do 30 to the opponent’s Active and to one of his or her Benched Pokémon (your choice which). This is a good attack; the damage to either Active or Bench isn’t amazing, but both at once for just one Energy is a good deal. For [FFF], Buzzwole-GX can use either its “Knuckle Impact” or “Absorption-GX” attacks. The former does 160 damage, but the Pokémon who uses it can’t attack next turn; this is actually a pretty manageable drawback, even though it seems pretty restrictive at first blush. Not only is 160-for-three a good return for the Energy, it means Choice Band brings most basic Pokémon-EX/GX – let alone all the smaller targets – into OHKO range. Absorption-GX does 40 damage for each of your remaining Prize cards; before effects that alter damage or Prize counts, that means maximum damage of 240 in the Constructed Formats and 160 in Limited Format play. Even as a one time deal, even for [FFF], this is very good. Just remember, the longer the game goes on, the weaker this attack will become; you’ll lose before it goes down to zero, but it becomes situational even when you’ve still got three Prize cards remaining.

Why did I say this card feels like a throwback? Buzzwole-GX seems to be the revised version of Landorus-EX, which was a Basic, [F] Type Pokémon-EX with 180 HP, Water Weakness, Lightning Resistance, Retreat Cost [CCC], and the attacks “Hammerhead” and “Land’s Judgment”. Hammerhead is just Jet Punch by another name, while Land’s Judgment cost [FFC] to do 80 damage, plus another 70 if you discarded all [F] Energy attached to it. Buzzwole-GX has a (currently) more dangerous Weakness and lack of Resistance, but slightly better HP and Retreat Cost and probably better attacks, at least collectively. I’m not completely certain that Knuckle Impact is better than Land’s Judgment, but for sure Knuckle Impact plus Absorption-GX tops it. We can still get some idea of how to run Buzzwole-GX, though, from looking at what helped Landorus-EX.

Landorus-EX could exploit some of the come-from-behind effects that care about Prize card counts; simply spread a lot of damage, carefully taking KO’s so you’re technically behind, but can take multiple KO’s at once when the time is right. You might include additional ways of damaging an opponent’s Bench so that the spread was just that much more effective. Attacking for only a single Energy allowed Landorus-EX to use bounce effects as healing. Strong Energy is still a great way to add even more damage to the attacks of Fighting Pokémon, and you might use Choice Band, Fighting Fury Belt, or Muscle Band depending upon the expected metagame and Format. It is a bit easier to rapidly power-up something with an [FFF] cost now than than the[FFC] Landorus-EX needed [FFC] back then.  We’ve plenty of ways to shake the “Can’t attack” clause of Knuckle Impact; it still matters, but not dramatically. The longer you take to build to and use Absorption-GX, the weaker it is likely to become; if you find you can use it early often, Hala becomes a nice deck option.

There are three things that worry me about the future of Buzzwole-GX, with the one being the result of the other two. I needed to explain a little about Landorus-EX because it has fallen to being only marginally competitive as a deck… and maybe not even that. This happened in part because of Weakness. Water Weakness is far from the worst, but it makes Blue… er… Water Box, Greninja BREAK, and similar match-ups even less favorable, as well as the miscellaneous decks that splash in something like Seismitoad-EX. Power Creep seemed to hit this strategy fairly hard, as well.  Higher HP scores, more healing or pseudo-healing, and other spread decks all make the once might Landorus-EX look dated, because it is dated. Buzzwole-G shakes things up a little bit but has a pretty nasty Weakness.

Ratings

Standard: 3.25/5

Expanded: 3/5

Limited: 5/5

Conclusion

Buzzwole-GX has a future in the competitive scene, but I’m not sure how bright and for how long. I became a big fan of Landorus-EX and how it worked, but I remember that it doesn’t really work now. Other decks have me remembering how dangerous Psychic Weakness is at the moment. Night March alone justifies it scoring a bit lower in Expanded, while the obvious +39 deck makes it a real winner in the Limited Format. Buzzwole-GX secured seventh place by appearing on five out six individual Top 10 lists and racking up 26 voting points. It only edged out Gladion by two votes, and it only just made my personal list as my 10th place pick.