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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Samurott #32 Black & White Date Reviewed: May 25, 2011 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 4.00 Limited: 3.50 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	Samurott #32/114 (Black and White) . . . and this is the reason why you would ever want to use either of the Dewotts we have looked at this week. Samurott is (in my opinion) by far the best-looking of the Generation V starters, even if it is a bit close to Swampert for comfort. Like the other two Gen V starters, you get two versions of Samurott in the Black and White set: one with an Ability and one without. While the other Samurott is possibly useful thanks to its cheap sniping attack, this is the one that has got all the attention so far. Samurott has a solid 140 HP,a Lightning Weakness that makes it fear Zekrom, and a Retreat cost of two that makes you want to run Switch. Its Ability, Shell Armor, should be familiar to anyone who has ever seen Donphan Prime: its effect is to reduce the damage that Samurott takes from any attacks by 20. Obviously, combined with the high HP, this is a pretty great Ability to have, making Samurott a tough KO for anything that can’t smack it for Weakness.The single attack, Hydro Pump (a classic from the video games!) has a deceptive cost of three Energy of any Colour and a base damage of 70. I say deceptive because you will only really want to use Samurott with Water Energy, as Hydro Pump does an extra 10 damage for each on that is attached. The fact that the attack needs a lot of Water Energy to be truly worthwhile (100 for three isn’t bad in HGSS-on), would normally push a card like this towards the binder, rather than the playing tables. However, a solution is at hand in the form of Feraligatr Prime, whose Rain Dance Power will let you attach as much Water Energy as you like from your hand to Samurott. This means that Samurott’s damage output is only limited by the amount of Energy you are holding, and that it is capable of Knocking Out pretty much anything. It’s not the fastest combo in the world (and some may think it’s inferior to Feraligatr/Blastoise), but it can be very effective once it gets going, with Samurott being a more than decent sweeper. Could it be competitive? Possibly. Fire is predicted to be one of the top deck types in HGSS-on, and Samurott counters it pretty effectively and is difficult for even Reshiram to one-shot. Only the non-Ability Emboar #19 could possibly give it a tough time. On the other hand, Zekrom decks may also be popular, and that is a very bad match up indeed. That said, Samurott is the kind of Pokémon that Feraligatr has always needed: a durable heavy hitter that makes great use of Rain Dance. I don’t think Samurott will be a top tier deck in HGSS-on, but I do expect it to see some tournament play, and it is certainly a deck worth trying out, especially in a Fire dominated metagame. Emboar/Reshiram beware! Rating Modified (HGSS-on) 3.5 (possibly the most competitive Water Pokémon we have for now) Limited: 3.5 (one of the best Stage 2s for Limited play. The Ability means it will last for ages against anything but Zekrom)
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Hey Bill, here is Wednesday's review. Good luck with the move!   Samurott 32/114 (Black & White)   Godd morning everyone! Today we review the third major Ability card in the set, Samurott!   Samurott is a Water type Stage 2 with 140 HP, Lightning weakness, A retreat cost of 2, an Ability and one attack.   By now you can probably quote verbatim what I'm going to say next (HP good, weakness to Zekrom bad, retreat cost okay) so I'm going to shake it up and say that being a Stage 2 is awesome with the ability to abuse Rare Candy. Even better, this is a Water Poke'mon that combos brilliantly with Feraligatr Prime, so I expect to see it around.   Shell Armour is the Ability and the effect is simple. Shell Armour reduces all incoming damage by 20 (only after applying weakness and resistance, dang it!) which, to put it simply, is perfect for this Poke'mon. Not only does Samurott look like it is wearing armour, but useful tanking abilities are thin on the ground and I have never seen a nonkattack effect like this on any Stage 2 (except for Metal types, but attaching the Special energy is a pain).   Effectively this means that an undamaged Samurott has to be hit with 160 damage in order for your opponent to get an OHKO, which is damned near impossible. Barring attacks that use coin flips or discard from the deck for damage (which, because they are very inconsistent, no-one in their right mind uses anyway) the most the top attackers of HGSS-on can do is 150 damage (Machamp Prime, BlitzBoar and Rayquaza & Deoxys Legend are all good examples). Tyranitar Prime can manage 160 damage with 4 Special Dark Energy and Samurott itself can reach 160 with 9 [w] energy, but everyone else is going to need Pluspower and/or Black Belt.   To put it all in simple terms, Healthy Samurott with Shell Armour = invincible against all but Lightning. For those lucky battery-eaters like Zekrom, Magnezone Prime and Entei & Raikou Legend you only need to reach 80 damage for an OHKO, something all of them can manage for only 2 energy (Zekrom will need some damage counters as well). I can see Entei & Raikou Legend becoming a popular tech next to Reshiram so it can use Detonation Spin to get rid of big Water based problems, and a Reshiram/Zekrom build using some Fire support and Rainbow Energy could also make an appearance. In the event you have to get rid of a Lightning type troublemaker, switch to Feraligatr Prime or possibly use Rainbow Energy with a 1-1 line of Donphan Prime.   Shell armour is ignored by Special Conditions, attacks/Poke-powers/Abilities that place damage counters and attacks that say they ignore effects on the Defending Poke'mon. So far there are no attacks or effects that stop Shell Armour from working, but I expect that to change with future releases. Still, reducing incoming damage is always a useful trait and being able to tank any number of small, cheap hits is awesome.   shell Armour is all good, so what does Hydro Pump do? For the cost of [c][c][c] you deal 70 damage, which is unimoressive, but for each [w] energy attached to Samurott you deal an extra 10 damage. With Feraligatr Prime letting you attach energy as soon as you draw them, you can deal as much damage as you need to from turn 2 onward (Rare candy is best kind fo candy!). For the 3 [w] you need to power the attack you deal 100 damage, which is quite acceptable, and each energy after that just makes you more powerful. The [c] cost of the attack also means you can speed things up with Double Colourless Energy if the fates are being unkind (but personally I'm going to use all [w] energy when I test this out).   The only problem with Hydro Pump is attaching enough energy to get OHKOs on the big Poke'mon you face. While techs, evolving Poke'mon, Donphan Prime and all of the Fire Poke'mon will easily fall, you will need a lot of [w] energy to take out the rest of the big hitters in the format with Hyrdo Pump. Forutnately the HP and Shell Armour mean you can risk that kind of investment but you will definitely need a some energy retrieval options for when Samurott gets beaten up and you have to build a replacement.   To finish my review, I have to say that this Samurott, alongside Balstoise UL and Lanturn Prime, will be a partner for Feraligatr Prime that might finally earn it the respect it deserves.   Modified 4.5 (Shell Armour is awesome on such a high HP Poke'mon and you can easily destroy both Reshiram and Donphan, even without [w] energy attached. Add that to the fact you can raise the damage to take out any Poke'mon in the game and you have a contender!)   Limited: 3.5 (being a Stage 2 hurts and the lower stages aren't worth much, and worse yet Zekrom rules here. Still, Shell Armour becomes an absolute beast with the lower average damage making a tank very viable and you don't even need [w] energy to use Hydro Pump. Also, you wipe out Reshiram if you get the first hit in so Samurott should be included in your Limited deck)   Combos with: Feraligatr Prime, Kingdra Prime (for extra damage) and a big bucket of beatdown! If Exploud SV was going to survive the rotation it would also fit here to remove that nasty Lightning weakness.
virusyosh	Happy midweek, Pojo viewers! Today we are continuing our Black and White reviews with the final evolution of the two cards we've reviewed earlier in the week, and chances are this might see some play. Today's Card of the Day is Samurott (#32) from Black and White. Samurott is a Stage 2 Water Pokemon. Stage 2s aren't great in the current MD-on Modified metagame right now, given the omnipresence of much faster builds such as SP, Gyarados, and various donk decks (like Sabledonk). 140 HP is great for a Stage 2, allowing it to take a few hits that aren't for Weakness. Lightning Weakness is terrible, making Samurott very vulnerable to Luxray GL Lv. X, Magnezone Prime, and Zekrom, which is easily one of the biggest shortcomings of the card. No Resistance and a Retreat Cost of 2 are pretty much as expected. Samurott has an Ability and a single attack. Shell Armor, the Ability, acts very similarly to Donphan Prime's Exoskeleton: Any damage done to Samurott by attacks is reduced by 20 after Weakness and Resistance. Overall this is a nice defensive Ability, and can certainly annoy your opponent if they don't have any very powerful attacks to deal with Samurott, and will sometimes turn 2HKOs into 3HKOs. Unfortunately, many big hitters, especially those that are Lightning-type (like Magnezone and Zekrom) will still probably get through for a OHKO, so be sure to have something in your deck to be able to deal with those. Samurott's single attack, Hydro Pump, is quite nice. For three Colorless Energy, starts at 70 damage, but increases by 10 for each Water Energy attached to Samurott. This means that if all three Energy are Water, this attack starts at 100 damage! 100 damage for 3 Energy is quite nice, and should be able to seriously dent most commonly played attackers, if not OHKOing them outright. As an example, due to their Water Weakness, Reshiram, Emboar, Typhlosion, and Donphan Prime are all taken out with no further investment, and even non-Weak attackers can be taken out with a bit more investment (many common things with 120-130 HP, like Zekrom). Given that this attack deals more damage based on the amount of Water Energy attached to Samurott, a natural partner for this card is Feraligatr Prime, which can Rain Dance lots of Energy onto Samurott while not sharing Samurott's terrible Lightning Weakness. Modified: 3.5/5 Samurott probably won't see a lot of play yet in a format with SP and many donks running about, but once we switch over to HGSS-on, Samurott is definitely a viable option for the Rain Dance build. While it is true that running two Stage 2s can be very slow, the amount of Reshiram/Emboar and Donphan Prime expected, Samurott can truly excel. Then again, Zekrom is also a problem, so watch out for that, too. Limited: 4.5/5 Samurott is wonderful in Limited. High HP, defensive Ability, and Colorless attack with possibility for scaling damage gives you a real winner in this format. While Zekrom is still a huge problem even in Limited, Samurott will be able to stand up to most of the format admirably and get you quite a few KOs. Combos With: Feraligatr Prime