With Prismatic Evolutions hitting the shelves and people attempting to pick up boxes, lots of talk has happened on social media about the scariest card in Pokemon's newest set. When a new set releases people usually look at the ex's and trainers to be the cards that change up the format. Unlike other sets where these cards might dominate, the new card that looks to shape up standard is in a much smaller package, a common.

Budew looks to be the big bad coming out of the newest Pokemon set. Slower decks now have a chance to stall, while already fantastic decks such as Charizard ex and Gardevoir ex can take full advantage of playing Budew with almost no downside.

When looking at what makes Budew so good, we have to look at Budew's attack. For no energy, you can attack for 10 damage and stop your opponent from using items for the next turn. This strategy dubbed "item lock" has always been a strategy since the days of Seismitoad-EX.

Since Pokemon mostly is a game about setting up your board then attacking, disruption is very good in the meta game. The rise of Snorlax Stall required lists to start to playing cards that would get them out of having a Pokemon stuck in the active such as Professor Turo's Scenario and Penny. With Budew being introduced to the format, it looks like there's no easy way to deal with it, as any items that could deal with the ability are locked by it.

A second big thing to keep in mind about Budew is that it has no retreat cost! While this might seem like a small thing, at the end of the day it's very strong! The card by itself would've been fine with a 1 or 2 energy retreat cost, but being able to attack for free and retreat out of the active when you're finally set up is very strong in the current meta that runs very low energies.

Changing the Meta

The current standard meta will have to change to adapt. Pokemon without simple or low cost attacks will not be as commonly played since players will need to devote a whole turn to knocking out Budew. This means that when choosing something like Charmander for your Charizard ex deck, you'll have to choose if you want to be able to knock out the Budew, or have higher HP to dodge bench hits from cards such as Dragapult ex.

Winners and Losers

One of the biggest winners in the upcoming format seems to be Gardevoir ex. Gardevoir ex recently won a regionals at San Antonio, and is positioned to take full advantage of Budew. Gardevoir's weakness is its fragile setup in the early game. By being able to easily slot in Budew it will allow the list to lock the opponent in situations that may take a little while to set up. Brewers in the community have even floated the idea of Budew being played in lists that could use an extra bit of extra time to set up like Charizard ex.

While there are clear winners, the card does seem to be a big problem for certain decks in the format. For instance, the previously mentioned Snorlax Stall list will have a hard time going against Budew due to the fact that Snorlax Stall requires multiple items to get things started. While it might not outright kill the list, Budew will cause an issue where cards like Accompanying Flute, Counter Catcher and Pal Pad will be unable to be used. These items are critical for Snorlax Stall to control the board and stall.

Another big loser from Budew is the popular lists playing Noctowl. Noctowl allows players to search their deck for trainers as long as a Tera Pokemon is in play. With Noctowl not being able to take full advantage of playing cards it searches for, the deck will have to find other ways to knock out Budew, especially since some of the Noctowl lists are very low on energy.

Counterplay

While Budew might not be the best fit for every deck, there are some easy counters that other decks can slot in easily. Magby has been seen as a possible card to stop Budew from attacking as it puts 6 damage counters on an opponent's Pokemon for free if attacked. Players have also noted that Rocky Helmet might be a great and easy addition in this tool heavy format.

With the introduction of Prismatic Evolution into the meta on Jan 31st 2025, we will easily see the format have to adapt to the debut of Budew. Whether Budew has staying power in the format will be determined based on how decks adapt to it, but either way decks will not have the luxury of playing as fast and loose as before. If you're lucky enough to open up Prismatic Evolution packs, keep an eye out for Budew as it might be a staple in your immediate future!