Card of the Day Review - Zoroark (Black & White 71)

Hey everyone! This is Volcachu with another card review. Today, I will be talking about a very versatile card names Zoroark. This card is from the latest expansion of Black and White and it is a great card.

Zoroark is a Dark-Type Pokémon with 100 HP which is average for a Stage 1 Pokémon. It has a double weakness to Fighting-Types so you have to be careful against DonChamp decks. One Earthquake from Donphan Prime will take Zoroark out instantly. This Pokémon also has a resistance to Psychic-Types, which is a big bonus.

Zoroark has two attacks, which is normal for most Pokémon. Its first attack is called Nasty Plot. This attack requires 1 Dark Energy and it allows you to search any card you want. This attack is good because it will give you anything you want, whether it is a bench Pokémon, energy, or trainer card. The bad thing about this attack is that it deals no damage at all. Zoroark's second attack is called Foul Play. This attack is nasty as you can use any attack of the defending Pokémon without having to play the cost for their move. All you need is a Double Colourless Energy as this attack only requires 2 colourless energy. Since you don't need a specific energy, it allows Zoroark to be used in any deck.

I give Zoroark a solid 4/5 because it can be used in any deck and it is very effective. Its attacks can be devastating and it may cause mayhem. The bad thing about this card is the survivability. Since a lot of people are using Donphan Prime these days, these Zoroarks are getting knocked out very easily. Nevertheless, Zoroark is a great card and it should find a place in you deck.

Card of the Day Review - Entei and Raikou LEGEND (Unleashed 90 & 91)

Hi everyone! It's LuxrayMogul here again for another card of the day review! This is PikaCirculator's first LEGEND review, and is one of the cards that I've been eyeing for a long time. It's Entei and Raikou LEGEND, card number 90 and 91 from HS-Unleashed.

Entei and Raikou LEGEND is a LEGEND card, which are two cards that can only be played when put together. It is not a Basic Pokémon; but rather, it is classified as its own type of card - LEGEND. In play, it counts as one card, but in the deck, discard pile, or any other places it is treated as two seperate cards. So unfortunately, cards like Poké Ball and Pokémon Communication can only find half of the card. This LEGEND card is also unique in that since it depicts two Legendary Pokémon, your opponent gets two prizes if this is knocked out, sort of similar to Pokémon-ex from the EX series.

Entei and Raikou LEGEND is a Fire and Lightning dual-type Pokémon and has 140 HP, which is lower than the other two LEGEND cards in this set - Raikou and Suicune LEGEND as well as Suicune and Entei LEGEND, which both have 160 HP. Its free retreat cost does help make this card better, compared to the other two LEGENDs which both have a one colourless energy retreat cost. It has a double weakness to Water-types as well as Fighting-types. That means, if there is a dual-type Fighting and Water type, its attacks would do four times the damage to E&R LEGEND (none so far, not that I believe.) E&R LEGEND also has no resistance, which is common for LEGEND cards.

E&R LEGEND has two attacks. The first one, Detonation Spin, does a powerhouse 90 damage for just a Fire and Colourless Energy. The downside is that you must discard one fire energy, which, if you have Typhlosion Prime (HGSS 110), can quickly be charged up again without much worry. Its second attack, called Thunder Fall, requires a Lightning and Colourless energy. You must discard all energy attached to E&R LEGEND for this attack though, so I wouldn't stack energies on it. It does 80 damage to all Pokémon in play that has Poké-Powers - including your own!!! So, that means it hits Kingdra Prime, Magnezone Prime, Typhlosion Prime, Meganium Prime, Celebi Prime (OHKO!) just to name a few. Poké-Bodies are safe though. If you are going to use this LEGEND card (it hasn't seen much play though) it'll be beneficial to use Detonation Spin instead of Thunder Fall, unless you don't have any Pokémon in play with Poké-Powers. Yes, it's quite a powerhouse!

The artwork is stunning, like all the LEGEND cards.

Overall, I'd rate this card 4.5/5 because of its OK HP, free retreat cost, and two powerhouse attacks. It only needs two energy to be active! The only drawback is that the attack hits all Pokémon with Poké-Powers, even your own (however, the new Pokémon from Black and White have Abilities, which are safe from this attack!!). Its weakness to two popular types right now is also a drawback. But overall, it's a great card and I'm surprised it hasn't seen too much play.

Card of the Day Review - Yanmega Prime (Triumphant 98)

Hello everyone! It's GrassExplorer here with another awesome Grass-Type Pokémon! This time we have Yanmega Prime, a sight to behold! To start off, it's artwork is fascinating, a testament to its sheer power and strength.

Looking at its HP, being 110 HP, I am quite amazed by its incredibly high HP, especially for a stage 1 Pokémon, but of course, it IS a Prime card. With that said, its high HP makes it a worthy opponent if you ever go against one!

Next, looking at its Poké-Body, Insight, is highly useful! So, if you have the same number of cards in your hand as your opponent, all of Yanmega Prime's attack costs are zero. This speaks for itself, the power of this Poké-Body allows for a quicker knocking out of your opponent. Moreover, in difficult situations when Yanmega has just been played and you don't have enough time to place energy cards, this can be a life-saver!

Now looking at Linear Attack, which does 40 damage to any one of your opponent's Pokémon, this attack is certainly better than average! The reason that it's better than many other average attacks is that it applies 40 damage regardless of weakness/resistance; this is what makes the attack quite deadly.

Moving onto its other attack, Sonic Boom, which inflicts 70 damage. This is another awesome attack because, once again, it inflicts a whopping 70 damage regardless of weakness or resistence! Although it requires three energy cards, I think it's a more than reasonable amount, especially since the attack is very powerful.

Unlike many other Grass-Type Pokémon, Yanmega Prime is not weak to Fire-Type Pokémon but rather to Electric-Type Pokémon, which would be good to use against Fire-Type decks which usually are most prone to over-power Grass decks. Moreover, it has resistance to Fighting Type Pokémon which is quite the advantage to have in a battle!

Overall, I give Yanmega Prime a 5/5!

Card of the Day Review - Zekrom (Black & White 114)

I'm back! Its Volcachu here once again and I will be talking about Reshiram's counterpart, Zekrom. It also has a normal art and a full art form. Full art looks great on Zekrom and it is cool to have.

Zekrom is an Electric-Type Pokémon which is Basic. It has 130 HP like Reshiram, which is a hefty amount for a Basic Pokémon. It is easy to get Zekrom out as all you need are cards like Dual Ball or Pokémon Collector. It has a double weakness to Fighting/Ground Types, so you should be cautious around Donphans and Machamps. It has no resistance and it has a retreat cost of two energies.

Zekrom's attacks are very similar to Reshiram. Like Reshiram, Zekrom has the attack called Outrage. It only requires a Double Colourless Energy so just slap them onto Zekrom. The move has 20 base damage and it gains 10 damage for each damage counter on Zekrom. The more they hurt you, the more you will hurt them back. Pretty simple and effective eh? Zekrom's second attack is Bolt Strike. This attack does 120 damage like Reshiram's Blue Flare, but it has a different effect. Bolt Strike damages Zekrom for 40 damage. This may sound terrible, but you can use this to your advantage. If you build up a lot of damage counters on Zekrom, you can unleash the all powerful outrage which can almost kill any Pokémon when Zekrom is almost dead.

The rating I give to Zekrom is a decent 3.5/5. I do not give Zekrom as high as Reshiram because of Zekrom's average survivability. Every Bolt Strike is a step closer for your opponent to take out your Zekrom which is bad.You can play save by only using Outrage if you want to. Zekrom is a great card and it will help you win matches against other people if you know how to manage your health right. It is deadly when used properly.

Card of the Day Review - Vespiquen (Undaunted 23)

Hi everyone! It's GrassExplorer bringing you today another Grass-Type Pokémon, Vespiquen, from HS-Undaunted. One of my favourite Pokémon, Vespiquen is truly stunning! To start off, its artwork is quite beautiful, seems as though it's flying above its opponents!

Looking at its Poké-Body, Defense Sign, which prevents all damage done to Grass-Type Benched Pokémon, this is an extremely useful advantage especially for Grass-Type decks. Clearly, this helps warding off those pesky damage counters that slowly but surely accumulate on your benched Pokémon, and sometimes, even knocking them out.

Next, looking at its attack, Mach Wind, this is a great attack! With 60 damage inflicted in the opponent, this surely makes Vespiquen a real contender! Now, looking at the effect of its attack, being that its retreat cost becomes 0, Vespiquen truly shows its value as a definite Pokemon to have in a deck, especially for Grass-Type decks. Although it requires 3 energy cards, it only needs one grass energy. 

Like many other Grass-Type Pokémon, Vespiquen is weak to Fire-Type Pokémon, but I think that being a stage 1 Pokémon, Vespiquen truly is above average in many regards. Lastly, looking at its retreat cost, now although it takes 3 energy cards to retreat, it doesn't really matter all that much taking into account the awesome Mach Wind!

Overall, I give Vespiquen 4.5/5!

Card of the Day Review - Typhlosion Prime (HeartGold & SoulSilver 110)

Hello everyone! LuxrayMogul here for another Card of the Day Review! Today we're going to discuss Typhlosion Prime, card number 110 from HGSS and one of my favourite cards. (Maybe it's because Cyndaquil is my favourite starter Pokémon ;D)

Typhlosion is a Stage 2 Fire-type Pokémon that evolves from Quilava. It has a very decent HP of 140 (especially if you keep using After-Burner, discussed later). It has a double weakness to water, which isn't pleasant, but should be expected of Fire-types. (Wouldn't worry about Kingdra Prime though; it has a disadvantage when faced against Fire-Types.) It has a retreat cost of two colourless energy, which is more than I'd like to pay, but it's at least better than some of the Stage 2s you see out there. But you're pretty much going to expect NOT to retreat Typhlosion; once it's out, I think you'll probably prefer attacking with it.

Its Poké-Power, After Burner, allows you to attach a fire energy from your discard pile to one of your Pokémon once a turn. (If you have more than one Typhlosion Prime in play, the power stacks, of course.) But, you must put one damage counter on that Pokémon if you do so. Now this is useful for using its attack, Flare Destroy, but overuse can cause Typhlosion to quickly become knocked-out by even the smallest attacks.

Its sole attack, Flare Destroy, can be used for two Fire and one Colourless. It does a pesky 70 damage which may knock out most basic Pokémon (watch out for Reshiram, B&W 113) but won't do very well against evolved Pokémon, especially other Primes. It also requires both Pokémon to discard one energy (NOTE: YOU get to choose the energy the opponent discards, not them!!) The idea is probably to wear down your opponent's energy stack and replenish your own with Afterburner so you don't waste your deck energy. (This seems like a battle of attrition... sorry. Too much World War I.) Like I said before, letting this damage build up on Typhlosion can be dangerous, so you have to "watch your spending".

A card that works really well with Typhlosion Prime is Ursaring Prime (Unleashed 89). By building energy on Ursaring, Ursaring can quickly charge up for its attacks while at the same time gaining damage, which activates its "Berserk" Poké-Body, allowing to do 60 more damage for each of its attack. That's good as well. Another card that may work well with Typhlosion (but not that useful if you want to be critical) is Ampharos Prime (HGSS 105). While causing your opponent to discard energy, you charge them 10 damage for each extra energy they attach once Ampharos comes into play! This power also stacks when you have more Ampharos in play.

Artwork? Oh, I love Typhlosion. The artwork, like most Prime cards, are amazing. Heck, pretty much all of the artwork for all the HGSS series are amazing, so must I say more? ;D

So - I rate Typhlosion 4/5, but it loses some marks for doing so less damage and having a significant weakness to a popular type. But other than that, it's a pretty cool card to have in your deck, and of course, duplicates should always be considered for powerful energy power-ups.

Card of the Day Review - Reshiram (Black & White 113)

Hey there! Its Volcachu once again and today I will be talking about a hot card in the market and it is Reshiram. This Pokémon card has two forms. It can be obtained as a regular holo or as a full art card. In my opinion, the full art looks amazing and I have it.

Reshiram is a Basic Fire-Type Pokémon with 130 HP which is a lot for a Basic Pokémon. I has a double weakness to Water-Types so be careful of those Blastoise I mentioned in my Donphan Prime review. It has no resistance which is saddening and it costs two energy to retreat. Two energy is normal for a Pokémon with a very high health, so it is fine.

Reshiram has 2 attacks and they are both great. The first one is Outrage and it only needs two energies of any kind. Just slap on a Double Colourless Energy and you can attack right away with Outrage. It does 20 damage and it adds 10 damage for every damage counter on Reshiram. So the more hits you take, the more damage you deal out making it a good tank. The second attack is Blue Flare which deals a mind crushing 120 damage. This is an attack which hits very hard but it comes at a price. You have to discard 2 Fire Energies attached to Reshiram. Make sure that you have an extra energy in your hand before you use this attack so you can attach it and use Outrage on your next turn.

I would give Reshiram a 4/5 for being a great tank Pokémon and being able to dish out great damage. The drawback to Reshiram is the discarding of the energies to use its second attack. This card can be used in any deck as you can just use Outrage. It is a very versatile card and it can be used to your advantage very easily. This card is a must have and you should at least add it to your collection.

Card of the Day Review - Jirachi (Unleashed 1)

Greetings everyone! LuxrayMogul here, today I'm going to talk about the first card from HS Unleashed, Jirachi. Now Jirachi has been getting a relative amount of hype lately from decks that featured it in Nationals and other related tournaments. Let's analyze this card and see what the hype's all about!

Jirachi is a Psychic Type Basic Pokémon with an average Basic Pokémon-HP of 60. It has a double weakness to Psychic Type (Psychic types aren't seeing too much play so it should be alright), no resistance, and a common one Colourless energy retreat cost. So, it seems like a normal card so far. Let's look at the card text.

Jirachi is one of those Pokémon whose Poké-Power sets up its attack. Its Poké-Power, Stardust Song, lets you flip 3 coins when you play Jirachi from your hand onto your bench. For every heads you get, you can search your discard pile for a Psychic energy and attach it to Jirachi. Not bad. But there are some problems - Jirachi might take some time to set up: and assuming you have to have discarded Psychic energy before in the game so you actually have something to get from the discard pile (or else this won't do anything).

What's the use of this power you might ask? Well, it all has to do with the attack. For one Psychic energy (see where the power comes in handy? If not, it gets better.) you can use Time Hollow. Now Time Hollow doesn't do any damage, but you can choose a number of your opponent's Stage 1 or 2 Pokémon up to the number of energy cards attached to Jirachi. You technically "devolve" all of the Pokémon you chose, but unlike Dialga (Diamond and Pearl 1, out of rotation), the highest stage evolution cards you remove only go back to your opponent's hand, not being shuffled into the deck like Dialga's Flash Cannon. (Darn!)

So, you might be asking. "What's the use of that?" Nothing. Absolutely nothing. On it's own. Your opponent can once again evolve all the Pokémon you devolved on their next turn. But when you combine Jirachi with a certain-card-that-everyone's-talking-about-that-did-really-well-at-Nationals, you can collect a bunch of prize cards at once. How?

In case you haven't figured it out, the certain-card-that-everyone's-talking-about-that-did-really-well-at-Nationals is Kingdra Prime (Unleashed 85). When used with Jirachi, Jirachi's seemingly harmless Time Hollow suddenly changes your game. Kingdra Prime's Poké-Body Spray Splash allows you to place one damage counter on one of your opponent's Pokémon before you attack. If you have four Kingdra Prime, that'll be doing 40 damage a turn! The strategies come here. If your opponent used Rare Candy to evolve their Basic straight to a Stage 2, even better. If not, it'll just take longer for your attack to work.

Using Kingdra Prime's Spray Splash (the more Kingdra Prime you have the better), you place damage counters on their Stage 2 Pokémon every turn until the damage counters of most of their benched Stage 1 or 2s can be knocked out if they get "devolved". All the while, you're attaching energy to Jirachi. Then in one sweep, you use Jirachi's Time Hollow and devolve all of your opponent's benched Pokémon (you'll need a lot of energy attached to Jirachi, maybe at least 3?). If you used Kingdra Prime's Poké-Body correctly, the damage will now equal or exceed the hit points, knocking out all of your opponent's benched (or even Active) Pokémon, allowing you to draw a ton of prize cards! Now this strategy has been used very effectively at Nationals and have been featured on a lot of sites, but I thought that it would be useful to have it on the PikaCirculator database as well.

The art is amazing, like most of the HeartGold SoulSilver era cards.

Overall, I'd give this card a 2.5/5 for having an effective strategy (it requires a lot of patience though!) of devolving and knocking out Pokémon. But however, my ratings significantly dropped for this card because it simply is useless when used alone. So please don't use four Jirachi (Unleashed 1) in your deck and expect to win, because it probably won't happen. But its potential when used with other cards like Kingdra Prime is simply deadly.

Card of the Day Review - Vileplume (Undaunted 24)

Hello everyone! My name is GrassExplorer and I will be focusing primarily on Grass-Type Pokémon, but I will also cover some Water Pokémon as well. I love Grass Pokémon for the main reason that they inflict many conditions, i.e. poison, burn, confused etc. Today we're going to look at my personal favourite Pokémon, Vileplume, which is card 24 from HS - Undaunted expansion.

Beginning with its HP, Vileplume has a healthy amount at 120 HP, making it difficult to knock out. Moreover, in terms of its weakness, it is unique among Grass-Type Pokémon being in that it is not weak to Fire, but to Psychic. This can be a definite advantage to a Grass-Type deck because Vileplume can withstand Fire-Type decks, which usually are what Grass-Type decks are weak to.

Moving onto its Poke-Body, Allergy Flower, it is an extremely useful Poke-Body. Although both players are barred from using trainer cards, this can definitely be used to the player's advantage in terms of strategy. This Poke-Body would be detrimental to opponents who rely heavily on trainer cards.

Next, looking at its attack, Dazzling Pollen, it is a great attack in that it is a win-win situation. It speaks for itself, whether heads or tails, more damage is inflicted either in the form of counters or condition. And with respect to the amount of energy cards needed, I would say that it is reasonable being that although three energy cards are needed, only two of them have to be Grass-Type.

Lastly, Vileplume's retreat cost is quite reasonable, again. It's not incredibly high and for a Pokémon of this caliber, I would say that it's pretty decent.

Overall, Vileplume is an awesome Pokémon, especially for running a Grass-Type deck. I hope you will, or do, enjoy Vileplume just as much as I do! Vileplume may look cute, but it's also deadly and can put up a fight!

In summary, I give Vileplume a definite 5/5!

Card of the Day Review - Pikachu (Black & White 115)

Hey guys, this is Volcachu and I am back again. Today I will be talking about a very rare Pikachu. This Pikachu is an Ultra Rare and it is very hard to find in the new set (Black & White).

Pikachu is a Basic Electric-Type Pokémon. It has 60 HP which is average for a Basic Pokémon. It has a double weakness to Fighting-Types which has been seeing a lot of play lately. Cards like Machamp Prime (Triumphant 95) and Donphan Prime (HG & SS 107) will make Pikachu useless. Pikachu has no resistance which is normal for most Pikachus.

Pikachu has two attacks which are not the greatest. The first attack is called Energize which needs 1 electric energy. This attack does no damage at all, but it allows the player to attach an Electric energy to this Pikachu. It will give the player the power to recycle the Electric energies which are used in the second attack. Pikachu's second attack is Thunderbolt which can only be used if it has 1 Electric energy and 2 Colourless energies. This attack does a whopping 80 damage, but it comes at a big cost. All energy cards must be discarded from Pikachu. It will take you a long time to recharge for another attack. This is where Energize kicks in and lets you recharge a bit more efficiently. Pikachu's low HP will make it hard to get off another Thunderbolt after the first one.

Overall, I believe that this Pikachu is not suitable for battle because of Pikachu's attacks and low HP. This card is more of a collector's card. If you have this card, you should hang on to it because it is hard to obtain. In conclusion, I give this card a 1.5/5 for the card's ineffectiveness on the battlefield. This card should be kept in the binder and not in the real game.