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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

 Bronzong
- Phantom Forces

Date Reviewed:
Oct. 11, 2016

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Standard:
Expanded:
Limited:

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being horrible.  3 ... average.  5 is awesome.

Back to the main COTD Page


aroramage

Like Eeletrik before him, Bronzong made waves in the game in the form of Energy acceleration from the discard pile. Hammer In isn't that interesting, it's all about that Metal Links Ability. 

I think it goes without saying that this is good. This sort of effect is always good, usually being great overall and specifically better in certain decks, like how Eeletrik was with Rayquaza-EX. I don't much needs to be said aside from that - he'll be missed in Standard, for sure, especially by those Bronzong BREAK players. 

Rating 

Standard: N/A 

Expanded: 4/5 (he'll provide a good alternative to just Eeletrik and help boost decks that Eeletrik didn't) 

Limited: 4.5/5 (overall good stuff) 

Arora Notealus: BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS 

Next Time: Focus your mind...on this sash.


Otaku

Our 14th place finisher is Bronzong (XY: Phantom Forces 61/119; XY: Black Star Promos XY21).  This is a Stage 1 Metal Type Pokémon with 90 HP, Fire Weakness, Metal Resistance, Retreat Cost [CCC], the Ability “Metal Links”, and the attack “Hammer In”.  Changing up my usual review order because this Bronzong was our second place pick from XY: Phantom Forces and our 9th best card of 2014.  Still if you somehow missed it, this card is used because Metal Links allows you to attach an [M] Energy from your discard pile to one of your Benched Pokémon.  On its own this is a very good effect, and multiple copies stack which is usually where it becomes a great effect.  Still the rest of the card really needs to be viewed in relation to this.  Being a Metal Type matters most in how Metal Link naturally works better with Metal Type attackers than other Types… except Bronzong was often used to fuel non-Metal Types.  That doesn’t mean there was no natural synergy, just that you had some Dragon Types with [M] Energy requirements and plenty of attackers with sufficient [C] Energy costs that Bronzong was able to diversify.  The multiple solid Metal Type attackers still were useful to Bronzong, even if as a secondary attacker.  Metal Type support was sometimes a bonus for Bronzong, but as it hiding on the Bench ideally most of it wouldn’t matter.  It shouldn’t be attacking, so Metal Weakness and Resistance weren’t directly relevant (sometimes it mattered to the attackers being fueled). 

Being a Stage 1 kept the card from being too good, and any Stage other than Basic probably would have left the card too weak; two cards per copy, just one turn of waiting to Evolve meant it wasn’t too hard to get multiples into play.  90 HP kept it Level Ball legal but otherwise meant a Lysandre would often yield a quick OHKO.  It also meant the Fire Weakness was often unimportant simply because with 90 HP, Fire Types were already scoring a OHKO.  It also meant that Psychic Resistance was only useful on occasion, but better to have some Resistance than none at all.  That Retreat Cost of [CCC] is both better and worse than it looks thanks to the Ability; it meant you often had multiple targets (because you would Bench multiple Bronzong) your opponent could try to strand up front, but Metal Links also meant you could get some of the spent Energy back.  Most of the time, you would include multiple alternatives like Switch or Float Stone to deal with it.  As stated you weren’t likely to attack with this card; Hammer In costs [MMC] just to do 60 damage which is definitely underpowered.  Still for a vanilla filler attack it isn’t the worst we’ve seen.  Bad, but not the worse. 

Bronzong Evolves from Bronzor, of which there are four to consider: BW: Next Destinies 75/99, XY: Phantom Forces 60/119, XY: BREAKthrough 95/162, and XY: Fates Collide 60/124.  All are Basic Metal Types with Fire Weakness, Psychic Weakness, no Ancient Traits and no Abilities.  BW: Next Destinies 75/99 is Expanded legal, has 70 HP, Retreat Cost [CCC], the attack “Knock Away” for [MC] (does 10 damage and has you flip a coin; “heads” does 10 more damage), and the attack “Spinning Attack” for [MCC] (does 40 damage).  XY: Phantom Forces 60/119 is also Expanded only but has just 50 HP, a Retreat Cost of [C], and the lone attack “Tackle” for [M] to do 10 damage.  XY: BREAKthrough 95/162 is Standard or Expanded legal, has 60 HP, Retreat Cost [CC], and the lone attack “Payback” which does 10 damage, or 10+60 if your opponent is down to one Prize.  XY: Fates Collide 60/124 is both Standard and Expanded legal, has 60 HP, Retreat Cost [CC], the attacks “Iron Defense” for [M] (flip a coin and if “heads”, prevent all effects of damage done to Bronzor during your opponent’s next turn) and Hammer In (again), this time for [MC] and doing 20 damage.  BW: Next Destinies 75/99 has the best HP, XY: Phantom Forces 60/119 has the best Retreat Cost, and XY: Fates Collide 60/124 has the best attack because Iron Defense improves your odds of surviving to Evolve.  I’ve seen competitive lists using XY: BREAKthrough 95/162, but Payback has a very precise time when it can deliver a good hit, and that time is when you either take your final KO or your opponent KOs Bronzor next turn for a win. 

There are three other Bronzong from which to pick: BW: Next Destinies 76/99, XY: BREAKthrough 96/162, and XY: Fates Collide 61/124.  All three are Stage 1 Metal Type Pokémon with Fire Weakness, Psychic Resistance and no Ancient Traits.  BW: Next Destinies 76/99 is Expanded only, has 110 HP, Retreat Cost [CCCC], the Ability “Heal Block” (which blocks healing damage off of both players’ Pokémon), and the attack “Oracle Inflict” for [MCC] (does 30 damage plus 10 more for each card in your opponent’s hand).  XY: BREAKthrough 96/162 is legal for Standard or Expanded play, has 110 HP, Retreat Cost [CCC], and two attacks: for [CC] it places three damage counters on each of your opponent’s Pokémon with any damage counters already present, while for [MCC] its version of Knock Away does 70 damage, plus another 20 on a successful coin flip.  XY: Fates Collide 61/124 has is both Standard and Expanded legal, 100 HP, Retreat Cost [CCC], the Ability “Metal Fortress” (prevents damage and all effects done to your Benched Pokémon), and the attack “Guard Press” for [MCC] (does 60 damage, and damage done to Bronzong is reduced by 20 the next turn).  All of these cards have nice tricks, but only one might be worth playing, and that is alongside today’s Bronzong, and that is XY: Fates Collide 61/124: while the other three Bronzong accelera Energy from the discard, this one keeps them all safe (ideally).  Some might just prefer a fourth copy of the Metal Links version.   

There is also Bronzong BREAK to consider; the BREAK Evolution of a Stage 1, it is a Metal Type with 130 HP and grants the attack “Metal Rain” for [MC].  Metal Rain has you discard as much [M] Energy from Bronzong BREAK and you may place 30 damage on the Pokémon of one of your opponent’s Pokémon; it’s your choice how much Energy and which Pokémon, and you may select the same Pokémon more than once.  This has proven a handy little finisher when paired with today’s Bronzong, but I don’t think the others can really carry it.  Bronzong (XY: Fates Collide 61/124) was reviewed here while Bronzong BREAK was reviewed the day after.  Bronzong (XY: Phantom Forces 61/119; XY: Black Star Promos XY21) and the Energy acceleration it provides are so valuable that it should continue to back a variety of decks in Expanded.  So why will it be missed in Standard?  Although Garbodor (XY: BREAKpoint 57/122) and its “Garbotoxin” and a few others can leave a Bronzong deck in a lurch without Abilities, I still believe Bronzong could support multiple, competitive decks.  Indeed in a deck that already relies on basic Metal Energy or could work a few in, even as little as a 1-1 line of Bronzong might slip into some decks for just a little better Energy flow.  Oh and for Limited play?  Yeah you’re only skipping this if you pull a Basic Pokémon-EX worth running entirely solo. 

Ratings 

Standard: N/A 

Expanded: 4/5 

Limited: 4.75/5 

Summary: The power source for various decks, losing Bronzong means chunkier [M] and even [C] costs aren’t as easy to meet.  Bronzong will be missed, even if Abilities might be threatened in the current format.  It does help that it was already being combined with Max Elixir prior to rotation, which can help get an attacker up and running and possibly take out whatever is shutting down said Abilities. 

Bronzong earned 23 voting points, which means it tied with yesterday’s Head Ringer (and Jamming Net).  On my own list, Bronzong clocked in as the 8th place pick.  As such 14th place seems a bit low, but most of what ranked higher on our list clearly deserves it, so I won’t complain too much.


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