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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Electabuzz - Sandstorm

Date Reviewed: 11.24.03

Ratings & Reviews below

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating.

Heidi Craig	Hello, Electabuzz Modified 2/5 Electabuzz has 60 hits points, not bad for a basic. It has resistance to steel but steel doesn't seem to be as popular anymore. It's weakness to fighting could cause you some problems. Plasma is a decent attack for one colorless energy, especially if you get a heads on the flip. Thunder Strike does allow you to hit the bench to take out those weak basics, I think it takes to long to power up to be able to use it effectively. With some trainers allowing Pokemon to evolve faster than normal you may not have this attack powered up quickly enough to get the knock out. In the right situations with some other card combos you could power this card up quickly and could knock out some weak basics but seem more trouble than its worth. Might be worth having as a back up to the main hitter in a deck that already uses the strategy to get energy on other Pokemon fast. Such as, a Riachu EX deck were you have the Pichu and Elekid to support Riachu Ex. Unlimited 1/5 I won't use this Pokemon there are better choices of Pokemon for this format. Thunder strike takes to long to power up and with energy removal good luck ever getting to ever use this attack. Draft 4/5 In draft this card should be good. Thunder Strike only needs one electric and two colorless energy which makes it easy to use this attack in multi energy draft decks. This attack is good in draft because it attacks the bench when your opponent retreats almost knocked out Pokemon. Forty damage for three energy is pretty good for this format.
Pscyhup	Yay! Murkrow is back! In an electric type with 10 more HP. Electabuzz SS is a force in the early game, can come in handy in the middle, and could be potentially hazardous in the late game. Overall a well rounded card. [Useless Note: I abbreviate electric energy as [L], but I say it and type it out as "electric energy", like the way its supposed to be. [E] just doesn't look quite right on the screen.] Electabuzz [L] 60 HP Basic Pokemon [C] Plasma 10 Flip a coin. If heads, take 1 basic energy card from your discard pile, if any, and attach it to Electabuzz. [L][C][C] Thunder Spear 40 Choose one of your opponent's Pokemon. This attack does 40 damage to that Pokemon. (Don't apply weakness and resistance for benched Pokemon). Weakness: [F] Resistance: --- Retreat Cost: [C] Wow, looks like I'll be playing electabuzz in this new format once again. To give you a little background, I started playing buzz with fable. At that time, fossil was just out, and I still was a little newbie. Then came modified. I used Neo Genesis Buzz in my Typhlosion/Ninetails deck to counter Horsea/Totodile, and it did rather well, especially with one retreat and the 70 HP. Now this new buzz can compete with the base set one, in the sense of its compatability with many different decks. This card has found 3 slots in my Flygon/Magneton deck. Why is it worth playing? Simple. It can pick of bench threats. With Elekid's attack that can find energy, electabuzz can attack turn 2 with thunder spear, killing or severely hitting any opponent's Pokemon that might be partially powered up on the bench at that early stage. In later parts of the game, your opponent might have found a way to retreat a heavy hitter, or you just need to pick off something weak on the bench for a free prize. Late game, same applies. Today, I played my friend mike (magnechu) over AIM, and it was pretty close, until I used Electabuzz unexpectedly to kill his benched Electabuzz ex, which I used Flygon to deal 60 to earlier in the game. Anyway, Electabuzz is a nice card with an important ability--- bench damage. However, I don't think it can compete with some of the oldies like Scyther, Base Buzz, Mewtwo ex/promo, or even Hitmonchan. The base buzz towers in formats where it's allowed and you can only have 4 Pokemon with the name "Electabuzz" in your deck, no matter what expansion they come from. Bench damage is a threat, but might not be worth 3 energy. Additionally, plasma isn't 100% attach like Rocket's Zapdos. That might also be a problem when you need to power it up in a hurry. Other than that, this card is solid and going to see a lot of game play. Unlimited: Not a great card. Murkrow is better for just the free retreat. Not much weak to it, but kills babies in one blow, useful at times. 1.5/5 Modified: I think its one of the best here. Better than Zangoose because of the posibilities, even though it has 10 less HP, something like Low Pressure System takes card of that problem. Plasma is just good here at times, but don't count on it. More importantly, it weaknes something like an ex getting powered on the bench. There are only 4 ways to heal an ex, that is Super Scoop Up, Potion, Oran Berry, and Xatu. 4/5 Limited: Bench damage is like whoa! This card is great. Draft it with Elekid, get it out, and you have the game set up. Even gets around Cacnea and Growlithe, two of the most annoying Pokemon in Limited Sandstorm. Overall great in this format, something I can't stress enough. 4/5 Thanks for reading! --- psychup2034
Thundachu	Electabuzz(Sandstorm) Overview: Plasma for 1 Lightning energy lets you flip a coin and if heads attach one Lightning energy from your discard to Buzz. Then for 2 colorless and 1 lightning energy, Thunder Spear lets you chose any of your opponent's pokemon and do 40 damage to it. The draw back is that if you pick a benched pokemon, weakness and resistance dont apply. Weakness is Fighting like most Lightning pokemon and resistance of Metal is good if your going up against Steelix, or such. Unlimited: I would still use the Base/Best Of Electabuzz in place of this in this format. Still is better then this. 2.5/5 Modified: 3/5 Draft: 2/5
Hedge	Electabuzz This card is… interesting, at most. In fact, if it had just ten more HP, it would be quite strong. Resistance to metal, one retreat, 40 to any Pokemon for just LCC, very nice. Plasma can be a good start with Juggler too. Just needs 70Hp, as many good pokes do nowadays. Modified: 3/5 – Good here. If it’s up on third turn you can pick off weak basics that are begging for evolution. Unlimited: 1/5 – Got a few words for it here: Tyrouge, Base Electabuzz, Sneasel (two flips out of six), Rocket’s Zapdos, Hitmonchan, Wigglytuff, etc, etc, etc… 2 on 2: 3/5 – Same… Draft: 4/5 – Ah! Uncommon, big basic, low cost, strong bench damage. Very nice here. ~Hedge
Bullados	Strategy for Electabuzz (Sandstorm) Attributes: Only 10 HP shy of the "Magic Number" of 70. 60 is still very good here, as you'll probably be able to withstand at least one or two hits before you are KO'd. Fighting weakness again, and there are still very few fighting decks, and the ones that are out there are extremely powerful and have huge attacks that would KO Ebuzz even without the weakness, so it's really not something that you have to consider. Finally, a card with a resistance, even if that resistance is rather pathetic. The only decent Metal deck in Modified today is Aggron/Aggron ex. All the others are either too weak, or don't have enough HP. Retreat cost of [C] is amazing, especially given that he has the Plasma attack, which I believe is one of the ultimate first turn attacks. Pay this only if you don't have a Switch or Warp Point. Attack #1: Plasma Like I said above, I think that this is the ultimate first turn attack, especially when combined with Juggler and similar Trainers. The ability to attach 2 energy cards in one turn is amazing, and should be taken advantage of in many situations. Attack #2: "Thunde Spear" Can you say, "Broken"? Not only is this thing slightly undercosted, with the energy giving about 35 damage, but you can ALSO attack ANY of your opponent's Pokemon, even the ones on the bench!!! This is a HUGE attack in Modified, where people will bench things and leave them relatively untouched for extended periods of time while building for something else. Linoone is a prime example, as are any of the almost BBPs. The weakness and resistance is not that big of a drawback, unless the opponent has a ground type active. Ratings: Unlimited: You've still got the Base version of this guy, as well as Rocket's Zapdos, which has a BETTER version of Plasma. Also, it's extremely ER prone, with the attack requiring an flip to work. This is just a case of there being too much of better stuff for this to be played. 1.5/5 Modified: Almost broken. 40 damage a turn to ANYTHING, along with an energy grabbing attack, is nothing to sneeze at. This is a great piece of Electric TecH, and should be utilized whenever there is space for him. 4.5/5 Limited: TAKE THIS DUDE!!!!!!!!! There is very little that can stop him, and he is GOING to take AT LEAST 2 prizes before your opponent can take him down. Also, most of the Basics in SS are 40 HP or less, giving Electabuzz many targets to wax. 5/5 ~Bullados
Otaku	I just thought I’d mention someone I forgot about for the Suicune review: the Sandstorm Wailmer. If you can’t use either Water or Rainbow/Multi Energy in your deck, then this is a nice splashable Water basic as well, as it has a beefy 80 HP, and can do 20 for CC. It also can do 30 with Auto-Sleep for WCC, if you can spare some Water. I still prefer Suicune when I can get away with it, however, since I have a chance of better damage, and in Eon, I still won’t be getting any lucky FTKOs with its first attack and a DCE. It also has a retreat of 3, which can be a major hindrance for Eon. It is pretty good for Unlimited use though (in terms of a splashable Water Basic). I will tentatively drop Suicune’s Eon score to 3.25 since there is a beefier, quicker (but low retreat and softer hitting) alternative to it. I do like to add that I have tested Suicune quite a bit as anti-Fire TecH, as have some other players I know, and it worked more or less perfectly. Now for todays review. Name: Electabuzz Type: Electric Stage: Basic (can be evolved from Elekid) HP: 60 Weakness: Fighting Resistance: Metal Retreat: C Attack#1: (C) Plasma [10+] Flip a coin. If heads, search your deck for a (L) Energy card and attach it to Electabuzz. Attack#2: (LCC) Thunder Spear 40 Choose 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. This attack does 40 damage to that Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.) Name: Elekid Type: Electric Stage: Basic HP: 40 Weakness: Fighting Resistance: None Retreat: C Poké-POWER: Baby Evolution Once During your turn (before your attack), you may put Electabuzz from your hand onto Elekid (this counts as evolving Elekid) and remove all damage counters from Elekid. Attack#1: (L) Gather Energy Search your deck for a basic Energy card and attach it to 1 of your Pokémon. Shuffle your deck afterward. I've got a touch of stomach flu, so this will be fairly short. Attributes: A Basic Electric (Lightning) Pokémon, there is some nasty competition for it in Unlimited, but not so much for Eon: I’ll use Base Set Electabuzz for Unlimited Comparison’s and Skyridge Raikou and Electrike (53/109) from Ruby and Sapphire. Any “plain” version of Electabuzz has a pre-evolution available: Elekid. The new Sandstorm version of Elekid isn’t too bad (see the above text): it can help power up one or two Pokémon fast before evolving into ‘Buzz. In Unlimited, you can get the old-style Baby Elekid whose Pokémon Power lets it flip a coin to do 20 to the opposing active, has 30 HP, no W/R or Retreat, and the baby Rule (opponent’s have to flip to attack). Note that Power end’s its turn. Both can give you time to built up ‘Buzz. Electrike has an Evolution available and Raikou has neither. Back to the ‘mon itself. 60HP is 10 less than Base Set ‘Buzz, but is still pretty solid. It’s also 10 less than the Raikou we are looking at and 10 more than the Electrike. All have the same Fighting Resistance, which isn’t good, but rarely is for any Pokémon: in Unlimited, you’ll risk getting ‘rogued and in Eon the “Low kick” version of Mahukita or Solrock can OHKO you (let alone just about any Fighting Basic). Metal Resistance is nice: base ‘Buzz lacks it, as does Raikou, but Electrike has it. I fancy SS Steelix, and when you combine it (or just about anything big) with SS Xatu, it gets pretty nasty. Finally, Sandstorm Electabuzz has the same retreat, one, as Electrike and Raikou, which is one. That’s the second best retreat in the game. =D Base Set ‘Buzz got by with a retreat of 2. Abilities: It has Plasma, which helps it power up faster late game, and is slightly under priced: C buys 10, and this has a solid effect tacked on. Hat made me love this card is its next attack: Thunderspear. 40 to the opponent’s Pokémon of your choice. That is enough to OHKO a “classic” Baby: more importantly, to OHKO said Baby on the Bench. Many Smaller Basics or most “average” Pokémon that have been injured will also fear it. It’s appears to be worded so that Weakness and Resistance will be applied if you chose the Active (but never for a Benched Pokémon). How does that stack up? Well, in terms of raw Power and speed, Base Set ‘Buzz has it beat: for (L), it does 10 with a 50% chance of paralysis, and for (LC) it does 30 with a 50% chance of 10 to itself or another 10 to the opponent. Raikou is left in the dust: a negative Poké-Body that keeps you from attaching actual (L) Energy from your hand without having to discard an already attached Energy card and its attack does 40 only to the Active for the same price, though if you wish, you may discard all (L) energy attached to get a +20 per (L): kinda awkward given the Poké-Body restriction on Energy attachment. Electrike (whom I chose for needing no actual (L) energy and having the same bottom stats) can Paralyze each Defending Pokémon for (C) or do a straight 20 for (CC). Personally, when you look at the total packages, in Eon, Sandstorm ‘Buzz wins; in Unlimited, Base ‘Set Buzz trumps Sandstorm, but Sandstorm still beats the others. Uses/Combinations: Splashable Electric Pokémon and/or Bench Hitter. Ratings Unlimited: 2/5-why so high? It can “hide” in hand while you power up Elekid, which won’t fool anyone, but will keep it from being prematurely KO’d by Tyrogue. Bench hitter that OHKO Babies and can be either an Evolution or Basic are nice. If you already have an Elekid, might want to consider adding it. Modified: 3/5-Possibly the best splashable Electric Pokémon. Possibly the best Bench hitter too. Give it a try if you have the room for it in your deck even if you don’t think you need its talents. Limited: 3/5-Bench Hitter and splashable-too bad it’s in a set with a lot of Fighting. -Otaku

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