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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

 Azelf  

- Plasma Blast

Date Reviewed:
October 29, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.25
Limited: 1.25

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: See Below

Baby Mario
2010 UK National
Seniors
Champion

Azelf (Plasma Blast) 

Today we have a look at one of the Lake Trio Pokémon which have come back to the TCG in this set after a fairly long absence (though nowhere near as long as Huntail and Gorebyss). When we last saw them, way back in Legends Awakened, they were mighty powerful cards despite being low HP Basics (Uxie and Azelf even became staples). This time around they are still very weak Basics, but they almost certainly won’t be seeing much play. 

Azelf is actually the best of them, but it’s still a bit of a  gimmick card. Trading Places at least gives you a switching option, which is nice, but the attack most people will look at is Psyjamming. For the stiff cost of three Energy, this does no damage but allows you to move around your opponent’s Special Energy in any way you like. Obviously, it’s possible to see ways in which this attack would be both fun and hilarious. Rob Mewtwo EX of its DCE’s and pile them on a support Pokémon like Virizion EX or Mr Mime; shove all of your opponent’s Plasma and Blend Energy on to a Benched Deoxys EX. Even better if you can KO the Energy-laden Pokémon next turn and leave your opponent in a terrible board position. 

The trouble is that this is much harder to pull off in a real game than it is to imagine doing it in theory. Azelf’s pathetic HP and relatively heavy attack cost means that your opponent will have the opportunity to prepare for Psyjamming and likely more than enough time to KO Azelf. The erratum to Pokémon Catcher makes it a little more usable, but even then it is KO’d on the Bench in two turns by the snipe damage from Landorus EX, Darkrai EX, or Kyurem PLF. What’s more, most of the top decks at the moment are relatively unaffected by Azelf: Blastoise, Darkrai, and Genesect variants won’t much care about Psyjamming at all. 

Azelf is one of those fancy play cards: spectacular when it works, but won’t work often enough to earn its keep. 

Rating 

Modified: 2.25 (try it in casual play if you like, but approach with caution for real tournaments)

Limited: 1.25 (highly unlikely to be any use here)


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