TOP 10 ROCKET CARDS - Pokemon - http://maxpages.com/pokemon3553/top_10_rocket

*** A general thought concerning this set*** It seems that Wizards decided that Evil Pokemon should have more potential for combos and strategy, but would pay for this by an overall decrease in HP and slightly higher retreat costs in some. Also, the focus is clearly upon evolution as Basic Pokemon have all but been passed over for this set. While the Stage 1 evolution to "Evil" intermediates is a required step for the powerful Stage 2 "Evil" incarnations, expect Pokemon Breeder to play a much larger role in the tourney scene in order to avoid stocking your deck with inferior "Evil" Stage 1’s.

Number 10: Evil Magneton—Finally!! A Magneton that doesn’t commit suicide to be effective! Sonic Boom is a nice colorless attack that can even hit some rock types with its disregard for Resistance. Magnetic Force Lines, which does 30 damage for 2 lightning Energy, allows you to redistribute your opponent’s Energy for him, disrupting his strategy. A nice addition that Electric fans have been looking for.

Number 9: Evil Primeape—The damage potential to Energy requirement ratio is so lopsided it’s sickening. A Pokemon that actually benefits from a status anomaly is an interesting notion which could pay off big. Of course, the fact that it can kill itself off rather easily keeps it lower on the list.

Number 8: Rainbow Energy—Potpourri and all other multi color decks just got the help they needed. (As if Potpourri needed more help.) The 10 points of damage is a small price to pay when compared to the versatility. Would have rated higher, but in all reality it won’t serve to change the current environment. It will only accelerate decks further to their potentials. Ambitious, but not revolutionary.

Number 7: Team Rocket’s Big Sister—This Trainer is poison to numerous strategies, particularly Raindance. While it functions like a Lass in effect, it doesn’t strip your valuable Trainers in the process. This card will have a large impact upon the metagame. The only flaw is that the chosen card is reshuffled into the library, not discarded, but that’s still crippling if done at the right time.

Number 6: Evil Charizard—While not number one, it is certainly noteworthy. The potential to deal 50 damage per Fire Energy attached to this card is a huge force to be reckoned with. Even as few as 2 successes can spell the end for your Pokemon. The mandatory discard for each successful coin flip is typical of a Fire type and is a satisfactory drawback for such power. Resistance to Fighting is a plus, as is an abnormal amount of HP (80) for a creature in this expansion. The only reason I rank it this low is that I know I’ll be sick of seeing this card in every nine year old’s deck from now on.

Number 5: Evil Vileplume—No Trainers allowed??? This card will guarantee the birth of a new genre of Trainer deficient decks geared to take advantage of this Pokemon Power. Unfortunately, a low Trainer count is not a particularly worthwhile strategy to pursue and there is the question of what to do while setting up your Trainer lock since Vilplume is a Stage 2. Yes, you’ll see many attempts at this appealing new archtype, but I don’t think they will dominate the field, even the successful ones. Flower Whirlpool is, however, a very nice attack since odds are against flipping all three heads.

Number 4: Evil Dragonair—Wow! A Pokemon Power which fetches you important Evolutions wile thinning your deck in the process. You’re guaranteed to find the Evil Dragonite when you’re ready for it. The fact that it is an automatic Power which requires no coin flipping to see if you’re allowed to use it amkes this Pokemon shine. Using it each turn is just icing. It’s attack isn’t terrible either.

Number 3: Evil Golduck—Who here can say broken? Sure, I knew ya could. Begin with an attack that coldcocks your opponent’s Pokemon for 50 damage with just 2 Psychic and a Colorless Energy. Finish it off with an ability to discard an Energy of your choosing to grab 3 cards from your library. If your deck is built right, you’ll probably draw another Energy or two in the process. This is just obscenely overpowered and highly abuseable. Evil Golduck will no doubt span the gap between Water and Psychic types that has been plaguing some players until this point.

Number 2: Evil Alakazam—Hello and where have you been my whole life?? I’m already an admitted fanatic over Psychic Pokemon (And the loveable Lapras who commands mention no matter what.) Evil Alakazam may very well spawn a new type of "Hit and Run" style of deck. Teleport Blast lets you put a sizeable hole into your opponent’s Pokemon and then allows you the luxury of retreating for free before your turn is done. Simply amazing!! The combination possiblities boggle the mind. In addition to this first gamebreaker, Evil Alakazam also sports a hefty hit that damages enemies despite their Resistance. Colorless Pokemon will have something to fear for once against Psychic decks when crafty players realize the metagame capacity of this tactic. Quite possibly the best Pokemon in Team Rocket.

Number 1: Nighttime Garbage Collection—As if anyone had any real doubts, N.G.C. is the tonic that speed decks have been looking for to cure their problems. Weighing in as a simple common, YES, a COMMON, Collection has the distinction of being one of the very few Trainers which would be beneficial in just about every deck. Retrieving your choice of any combination of 3 Basic, Evolution or Energy cards and shuffling them into your library adds needed longevity to WallStall, Energy recursion to Tuffstuff which uses a reduced Energy count and some protection against Lass that Raindance has wanted of late. With no drawbacks like Computer Search or Item Finder, Nighttime Garbage Collection is a 10 carat gemstone of a card. Considering how Wizards of the Coast has watered down Magic the Gathering, (Dark Ritual BANNED??? The heathens!!) it’s refreshing to see wonderful cards like this be allowed into gameplay.

Honorable Mention: Evil Machamp—I like the novelty of stripping all the cards attached to your opponent’s Pokemon, especially Energy, with one fell swoop. Late in the game, this can be a crushing blow. Unfortunately this requires a large investment of Energy on your part with 3 Fighting and a Colorless and doesn’t deal an ounce of damage in the process. Evil Machamp has a nice clean 30 damage attck for 2 Fighting Energy which is a bonus. The rewards of this card are huge, but since it takes so much time to set up, it’s quite possibly fool’s gold.

Worst Card: Rocket Sleep! Sleep! 25%. That’s 25%, which is how much of the time this card will actually work out to your benefit. It starts with a coin flip to determine if the opponent’s Active becomes asleep- 50% chance. After the second flip to see if it stays asleep during it’s controller’s turn reduces the chances of any gain to 25%. Whoopee. You’re better off using a Base Set Gastly almost. With Gastly, at least you can try again the following turn. Here, we’ll just place Rocket Sleep! Sleep! with all our PokeBalls and Clefairy Dolls. Yiccccch.

Well that’s my opinion on the matter. At least I have reasons, versus Wizards just tossing out whatever they felt would be worth the most money to collectors. Agree? Disagree? Tell me. I’m interested to know what you think. Merry April!

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Page Updated Sat Sep 2, 2000 10:25pm EDT