Croconaw -- Phantom Forces Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Croconaw from the Phantom Forces Pokemon Card set.  Croconaw is a stage 1, water type Pokemon card, with an hp of 80.  It has a x2 weakness to grass type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a two colorless energy card retreat cost.  Croconaw does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Wave Splash, for two energy cards, one each of water and colorless, and does 30 damage.  Croconaw's second move is called Crunch, for three energy cards, two colorless and one water, this move does 40 damage, plus if you get a heads when flipping a coin, you may discard an energy card attached to the opposing Pokemon.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Croconaw is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Totodile into play (I reviewed Totodile from this set yesterday) and then evolve Totodile into Croconaw.  Croconaw does have a stage 2 evolution in Feraligatr that you'll probably want to use with this Pokemon line but since I haven't reviewed that card yet, the strategy below will act like Croconaw is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read yesterday's review of Totodile, you'll know that I thought the card was a below average Basic Pokemon card, at least on its own.  The card was decent overall, having a low retreat cost, average HP, and a move that could do up to 30 damage, but the only move it did have was based on coin flips, which is always a no no for me.  So knowing this about Totodile and looking at this Croconaw card, I probably wouldn't recommend using it without Feraligatr.  I say this because Croconaw has too low of an HP for a Stage 1 card and neither move it has is that great.  Wave Splash is the better move in my opinion, but I definitely wouldn't include this card in a deck just to use that move.  If you do decide to use this line in a deck, do not use more than a 1-1 line, and try and set up Croconaw on the bench and get it into the active Pokemon spot as soon as possible, then use Wave Splash most turns, unless you want to put three energy cards on Croconaw, then use Crunch every turn, hoping to get some heads.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 2 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is a below average Stage 1 Pokemon card from the Phantom Forces set.  This card just isn't that great overall, with its lower HP and higher retreat cost followed by two average to below average moves.  If you're looking for a Stage 1 water Pokemon card to use in your deck, definitely look elsewhere, because combined both Totodile and Croconaw would get a 2 out of 5 rating, the same ratings they received individually.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Croconaw from the Phantom Forces set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Croconaw's stage 2 evolution in Feraligatr which is from this same set.  Make sure to check below for the Free Pokemon TCG Online Codes!

Free Pokemon TCG Online Code Cards:
Today's Quiz for a Pokemon TCG Online Code Card --
How many total Croconaw cards have I reviewed on my blog?
Please respond by including your YouTube username and link to your YouTube channel.  If the question is quite tough, the first correct comment will win, otherwise I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.