Magcargo 24/160 -- Primal Clash Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Magcargo from the Primal Clash Pokemon Card Set.  This is the second Magcargo card that I will be reviewing from this set.  Magcargo is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an hp of 110.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a three colorless energy card retreat cost.  This Magcargo has an Ancient Trait ability which is referenced as a Barrier and says that any time your opponent plays a trainer card that affects Magcargo in any way, all effects of that card are prevented.  Besides the Ancient Trait, this card does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Ram, this move requires two energy cards to use, one each of fire and colorless, and does 30 damage.  Magcargo's second move is called Indomitable Blaze, this move requires three energy cards to use, two colorless and one fire, and does 60 damage plus 60 more damage if the defending Pokemon is an EX.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Magcargo is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Slugma into play (I reviewed Slugma from this set two days ago) and then evolve Slugma into Magcargo, there are actually two Magcargo cards from this set, I reviewed the other one in this set yesterday.  If you read my review of Slugma, you'll know that I thought that card was a very poor Basic Pokemon card only receiving a 1 rating from me.  Outside of an above average HP, that card had two very poor moves, and a high retreat cost.  So knowing this about Slugma and looking at this specific Magcargo card, I wouldn't recommend using this card in a deck.  Even though Magcargo has an above average HP, two moves, and an Ancient Trait, none of these I am that big of a fan of so I would definitely recommend using the other Magcargo card from this set.  If you are already using a 1-1 line of Slugma and Magcargo in your deck, it may not hurt to add one more of each Slugma and then this Magcargo card, that way if your opponent ever does use EX cards in their deck, this card would be able to do 120 damage a turn for only three energy cards.  But again, if I were to choose between the two Magcargo cards in this set, yesterday's would be the one I prefer much more.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average Stage 1 Pokemon card from the Primal Clash set.  Like I stated in the previous section, this card does have a lot going for it, with a high HP and two solid moves, but compared to the other Magcargo card in this set and other Stage 1 cards overall, I cannot give this card a better than average rating.  So if I were to use this card with Slugma from this set, I would only give the two of them a 2 out of 5 rating, I would not recommend them.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Magcargo from the Primal Clash set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Torchic, 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 fire type Ancient Trait cards are in the Primal Clash set?
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.

Magcargo 23/160 -- Primal Clash Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Magcargo from the Primal Clash Pokemon Card Set.  This is the first of two Magcargo cards I'll be reviewing consecutively.  Magcargo is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an hp of 120.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a four colorless energy card retreat cost.  This Magcargo card does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Flame Burst, for one fire energy card this move does 20 damage plus 20 damage each to two of your opponent's benched Pokemon.  Magcargo's second move is called Flamethrower, this move requires three energy cards to use, two colorless and one fire, and does 90 damage, however you must discard an energy card attached to Magcargo.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Magcargo is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Slugma into play (I reviewed Slugma from this set yesterday) and then evolve Slugma into Magcargo, there are actually two Magcargo cards from this set, and I'll be reviewing the second one tomorrow and then comparing the two.  If you read yesterday's review of Slugma, you'll know that I thought that card was a very poor Basic Pokemon card only receiving a 1 rating from me.  Outside of an above average HP, that card had two very poor moves, and a high retreat cost.  So knowing this about Slugma and looking at this Magcargo card, if you choose to use this line in a deck, which I would recommend using a 1-1 line in a spread damage type deck, I would make sure and set this line up on the bench, that way you can get three energy cards on Magcargo and when it is moved to the active Pokemon spot be able to do 60 damage for one energy card using Flame Burst, or 90 damage with Flamethrower.  I myself would try and incorporate this Pokemon family in a spread damage type deck, that way you can either knock out multiple Pokemon at one time with Flame Burst or you can set up your opponent's benched Pokemon for a Pokemon you'll be using later.  But because you have three energy cards on Magcargo, you can just choose to knock out the defending Pokemon, hopefully in one turn, by using Flamethrower.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 4 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an above average Stage 1 Pokemon card from the Primal Clash set, one that I was going to give a 5 rating but didn't when I released that its retreat cost was higher than the amount of energy cards it required to attack.  So besides the high retreat cost, Magcargo is very solid, it has an above average HP, and two great moves.  So I would highly recommend at least giving this Pokemon family some consideration when you're either building a fire type deck or a spread damage type deck.  Together with Slugma, which I gave a 1 rating, I would still rate this entire line a 3 out of 5.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Magcargo from the Primal Clash set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of the second Magcargo card, 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 --
True or False?  Both Magcargo cards from this set have the same rarity.
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.

Magcargo -- Pokemon X and Y Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Magcargo from the Pokemon XY Card Set.  Magcargo is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an hp of 110.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a three colorless energy card retreat cost.  Magcargo does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Magma Mantle, for two energy cards, one each of colorless and fire, this move does 30 damage plus 50 more damage if you choose to discard the top card off your deck and that card happens to be a fire energy card.  Magcargo's second move is called Heat Blast, for three energy cards, two fire and one colorless, this move does 80 damage.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Magcargo is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Slugma into play (I reviewed Slugma from this set yesterday) and then evolve Slugma into Magcargo.  If you read yesterday's review, you'll know that I thought Slugma from this set was a pretty terrible basic Pokemon card because not only did it have a high retreat cost but the only move that it had required 3 energy cards to use and the move did below average damage.  Because Slugma is so bad in this line, if you want to use Magcargo in your deck, I would definitely evolve Slugma on the bench, I wouldn't include more than 1 each of the Pokemon from this line.  In a fire type deck, I would set this line up on the bench and would not move Magcargo into the active Pokemon spot until it had three energy cards on it and could use Heat Blast every turn.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average stage 1 Pokemon card from the X and Y set.  I really like Magcargo's Heat Blast move and its high hp for a stage 1 card, however the retreat cost is still high on this card and Magma Mantle doesn't do much for me.  Altogether, I think the line of Slugma and Magcargo are a 3 out of 5 rating, I could definitely see myself using these cards in a deck, but just make sure not to use Slugma in the active Pokemon spot at all.  Individually, Slugma was a 1 and Magcargo was a 3.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Magcargo from the X and Y set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Pansear, 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 --
At what level does Slugma evolve into Magcargo?
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.