Defender

What the card does

Defender reduces incoming damage to its holder by 20 and discards itself at the end of the opponent's next turn. The Base Set wording reduced damage done to that Pokémon by attacks broadly, while the Undaunted wording specified the reduction applies to damage from an opponent's attack; a later errata with the Black and White expansion changed the wording from by an opponent's attack back to by attacks.

Printing history

The card debuted in the WOTC era's Base Set with art by Keiji Kinebuchi and was reprinted in Base Set 2. It returned in the HeartGold and SoulSilver era's Undaunted with new art by Ryo Ueda. Our catalog lists 3 printings.

Trivia

Defender's Japanese name is that of the X Defense item from the Pokémon games; the word Defender is also inscribed on the object depicted in the card's original artwork.

Cards to know

• Defender (Base Set #80)

  The Base Set printing is Defender's first release

• Defender (Base Set 2 #109)

  The Base Set 2 printing is again credited to Keiji Kinebuchi

• Defender (Undaunted #72)

  The Undaunted printing brought new artwork by Ryo Ueda