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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Bellossom  #1/90 HS Undaunted Date Reviewed: August 23, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 1.87 Limited: 2.25 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	Bellossom (Undaunted)   Hello and welcome to a new week of Pojo’s CotD. It’s good to be back after Worlds. I didn’t win anything, but I did ok, and had a brilliant time in Hawaii. Looks like we are reviewing the Undaunted cards now and although I missed the review for my favourite card of the set (Drifblim has some serious tech potential), I’m looking forward to seeing what else this set has to offer.   We start the week with Bellossom, a Pokémon that (with Vileplume) has a double Stage 2 Evolution: like Gardevoir and Gallade. Unlike Gardevoir and Gallade SW however, this combination from Undaunted does not bring two devastating, format-dominating attackers. Instead, you get a couple of techy Pokémon that are  more useful on the Bench than in the active position.   But with Vileplume getting the kind of hype that can easily make a card notorious, is it worth throwing in a Bellossom or two in a deck that runs it? Let’s take a look.   The first thing you notice is Bellossom’s worryingly low HP. 110 on a Stage 2 is way below par these days. The Fire Weakness may also become an issue as Fire decks are almost certain to see more play now that they have the best draw support in the format (goodbye Claydol, hello Ninetales HGSS). Resistance to Water is nice though, and the Retreat cost of one is very manageable.   Bellossom does boast a nice-ish PokePower.  Hustle Step removes a damage counter from each of your Pokémon on your turn. Obviously, this is far inferior to Nidoqueen RR which removes a counter between every turn and can’t be Power Sprayed. You wouldn’t run Bellossom for its healing ability alone then, so let’s see if its attack can give you another reason to use it.   At a cost of [G][C], Dance ‘til Dawn is pretty cheap. Unfortunately, it deserves to be. Basically, you get to flip 3 coins and do 30 damage for each heads. That’s very unreliable and on average will actually mean that the return on your Energy investment is poor. If that wasn’t bad enough, the attack comes with a completely undeserved drawback, sending Bellossom to Sleep after it has been used.   If you want an attacking Bellossom for some reason, then the one from Legends Awakened is vastly superior. For the same cost as Dance ‘til Dawn, it can do 60-100 damage plus flip for Burn. Outclassed by other cards both as an attacker and as a healing tech, players will need to look elsewhere for Pokémon to combo with Vileplume and its locking abilities.   Rating   Modified: 1.75 (decent Power, but not a competitive Pokémon) Limited: 2 (Power is even better in this low damage format, but the attack is still bad. And it’s a Stage 2)   Combos with . . .   Well, it can help boost the attack of Bellossom LA, I suppose.
virusyosh	Welcome back, Pojo readers! Today we are continuing our review of the HS Undaunted expansion by reviewing Bellossom. Bellossom is a Stage 2 Grass Pokemon. There are quite a few Grass types that see play, and most of them have really great supporting effects or can really pack a punch. That being said, the pool for usable Grass types is already quite large, so anything new will really have to stand out. 110 HP is a bit low for a Stage 2, especially in our high damage metagame. Fire Weakness and Water Resistance are standard for Grass types nowadays, so nothing really new there. Finally, a Retreat Cost of 1 is just about right: It can be paid if necessary without setting you back too much. As I said before, most Grass types have Powers and Bodies that make them good support Pokemon in some way, and Bellossom is no exception. Bellossom's Power, Hustle Step, allows you to remove a damage counter from each of your Pokemon once per turn. Now, healing is generally a good thing, as it keeps your Pokemon alive and protects against spread damage. However, Nidoqueen RR just simply does a better job, because it does it in between turns instead of once during your turn, leading to the healing happening twice as often. One key difference is that Nidoqueen's body can't be negated with Power Spray, although it can be turned off through Dialga G Lv. X. Both are relevant concerns in the modern metagame, though I would still probably go with Nidoqueen on most accounts. Bellossom's single attack, Dance 'til Dawn, is also rather unimpressive. for [GC], you flip three coins, and the attack does 30 damage times the number of heads. 90 damage for 2 energy is very good, however it won't happen very often. The biggest problem with the attack is that regardless of the outcome of flips, Bellossom becomes Asleep, which sets it up to be stuck against your opponent if you are unlucky and flip a lot of tails. Then again, since Bellossom is largely a support Pokemon, it probably shouldn't be attacking that much, anyway. Modified: 2/5 I think that Bellossom may be able to work as a one-of tech in decks that already use Vileplume that are worried about spread damage, but most other decks should use Nidoqueen. Limited: 2.5/5 The ability to heal all of your Pokemon at once is great here, but the attack is very unreliable and can turn things in your opponent's favor quickly even if it is cheap. Still, Bellossom might be worth checking out if you draft some Oddish and Gloom, especially because Fire is a relatively non-existent type in Undaunted.
Otaku	Today we look at Holo-Rare Bellossom from HS – Undaunted.  I’ll be frank: this is one of my “theoretical” reviews because I have enough time to write about Pokémon but neither the time nor resources to really play at the moment.  Since we are about to embark on the newest iteration of the Modified Format (DP-Majestic Dawn and later) there’s a lot that needs to be tested and retested.  I am hopeful that my past experience writing and reviewing will keep my CotDs useful, since being removed from the metagame can sometimes offer clearer perspective.   Bellossom is a Stage 2 Grass Pokémon.  Grass seems to be one of those Types that does produce a great Pokémon (and deck) occasionally, but it always seems to be up against something better or exists as a semi-rogue deck.  The deck you expect to face at a tournament, but can’t think of anyone you know running it for a serious event.   A 110 HP is at lower end of the spectrum for a modern, playable Stage 2: it isn’t bad, but it is no longer “good”, either.  The Weakness to Fire seems to be where it matters most: many Fire Pokémon not meant to be a deck’s main attacker will be able to OHKO Bellossom.  Attacks that hit for 60 damage or more are expected on a main attacker, and Fire is no exception.  Even the strongest “technical” attacks, normally played more for their effect than their damage, will be bumped into OHKO range.  At least the card balances this out with Water Resistance.  Water decks will have to slam a Bellossom with 130 damage to take it out in a single hit.  The single Energy needed to retreat is also useful: if you can’t afford it chances are your deck has issues.   All in all, I’d say that was a solid start for the Bellossom.  The Poké-Power also looks adequate: Hustle Step let’s you remove 1 damage counter from each of your Pokémon, once per turn as long as Bellossom isn’t afflicted with a Special Condition.  Bellossom can then be combined with another “tank” Pokémon to really frustrate an opponent.  Even a hard hitting deck can be thwarted if you just barely block a OHKO because they are counting on that OHKO!  Unfortunately an opponent whose strategy expects to score mostly 2-hit Knock Outs will be better insulated: the second attack has enough overkill to it to make up the difference.  It might be more useful for handling “kick” from your own attacks and abilities: removing irritating Bench Damage, for example, from your own Active’s big attack.   Bellossom has a second attack, and it is mediocre at best.  It requires one Grass and one of any Energy, so it will be possible for it to attack in most decks without dedicating major resources to it.  Unfortunately this is a pure support attack so that Bellossom can actually attack if it has to: 30 damage per heads from three coin flips.  It isn’t fast (you can’t use Double Colorless Energy).  It isn’t reliable (0, 30, 60, or 90 damage).  Worst of all, it puts Bellossom to Sleep!  All the normal drawbacks of that plus it clashes with Hustle Step!   At least in Limited play, if you can pull the line it’s a boon to most decks for the Poké-Power.  The attack is still weak even in this format!  After factoring in the difficulty of pulling and running a Stage 2 Pokémon, you still might pass.   The final nail in the coffin for this card comes from a pre-existing card just doing a better job all but some really obscure decks.  If you need this kind of healing, just use the superior Nidoqueen from Rising Rivals.  Unless you find the miracle card that is made by running a bench full of Bellossom with one Nidoqueen for erasing 60 points of damage between your attacks.  It sounds great… if you ignore the obscene resource commitment.   I’ll also remind everyone that my Modified score reflects the format as of September 1st, 2010 since that’s less than two weeks from now.   Ratings   Modified: 1.5/5   Limited: 2.5/5   Combos With: Vileplume.  Barely.   I am still selling quite a bit of my stuff 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.  I usually add new stuff on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for this and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auctions here. ;)
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Bellossom (HS Undaunted) This Pokemon always seems to be dancing around and decorating festivals, which is probably why it has never been much good for battling in either the cards or the video game. We get 110 HP (horrible, though Shaymin Lv X can fix that) with fire weakness, water resistance and 1 retreat. Nice stats, though you don't want to see this card in the active slot. A standard Grass tech in this format. We get an attack and a Pokepower, neither of which are brilliant because they work against each other. Dance 'til Dawn is tha attack, and seems a variation on Petal Dance. You get 3 flips at 30 damage per heads and suffer becoming Asleep at the end of the attack. The cost of GC is easy to pay, but the attack is unreliable and stops you using the power. Hustle Step is much better, allowing you to remove 1 damage counter from each of your Pokemon once per turn. Obviously Nidoqueen provides better healing, but in a Grass tank deck (coupled with Tangrowth Lv X and Shaymin Lv X) Bellossom could provide that extra healing boost to give more staying power. Unfortunately the power can't be used if Bellossom is affected by a Secial condition, so keep it benched and don't do any dancing unless you are really, REALLY desperate. On a side note, the card has good text (I like the names of the attack and power, even if the effects aren't brilliant) and the art is pretty, so this is a decent card to collect even if you never play it. Keep it aside for the future maybe. Modified: 2 (has a place, but a great deal of competition too) Limited: 3 (if you pull the line, the healing is awesome) Combos with: Vileplume UD, Tangrowth Lv X, Shaymin Lv X