Malamar -- Burning Shadows Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Malamar from the Burning Shadows Pokemon Card Set.  Malamar is a Stage 1, Darkness type Pokemon card, with a HP of 100. It has a x2 weakness to Fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to Psychic type Pokemon, and a one Colorless Energy card retreat cost.  This card does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move on this card is called Psybeam, for one Darkness Energy card, this move does 20 damage, plus it Confuses the defending Pokemon.  The second move on this card is called Energy Slosh, for three Energy cards, one Darkness and two Colorless, this move does 70 damage, however, you must move all Energy from this Pokemon to one of your Benched Pokemon.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Malamar is a Stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Inkay into play (I reviewed Inkay from this set yesterday) and then evolve Inkay into Malamar.  If you read yesterday's review of Inkay, you'll know that it was a below average Basic Pokemon card overall.  At first glance, the card does seem decent, with a solid HP, two moves, and a low retreat cost, but upon further inspection, the card isn't that great, since its first move is based off of a coin flip, and can't do damage, and the second move requires two Energy cards to attack and only does 20 damage.  So knowing this about Inkay and looking at this Malamar card, this card is pretty similar.  This card has a good HP and two moves, plus a low retreat cost.  Unless you have a Pokemon in your deck that benefits from a Special Condition being inflicted upon the defending Pokemon, there is no reason to use this Malamar card in a deck, mainly because it is under-powered, and if you do decide to use Energy Slosh and do 70 damage, you must move all Energy attached to Malamar.  So I would pass on this line of Pokemon when deck building.

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 Burning Shadows set.  Like I mentioned, although this card has a decent HP, low retreat cost, and number of moves, there isn't anything above average on this card and really nothing worth using.  Because of this, combining this card with Inkay from the set, I would give the two cards a 1 out of 5 rating, look elsewhere.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Malamar from the Burning Shadows set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Ralts, 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 Inkay evolve into Malamar?
Please respond with the correct answer and a link to your YouTube channel. 24 hours from now I will be randomly selecting a correct response to my question and sending a private message to this person with a free code on YouTube.

Malamar -- Ancient Origins Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Malamar from the Ancient Origins Pokemon Card Set.  Malamar is a stage 1, darkness type Pokemon card, with an hp of 90.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to psychic type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  This Malamar card does not have an Ancient Trait or an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Entangling Control, for one colorless energy card this move allows you to switch one of your opponent's benched Pokemon with their active Pokemon, their new active Pokemon is then confused.  Malamar's second move is called Trash Tentacle, for one darkness energy card, this move does 30 damage, and it also allows you to move a card from your discard pile to your hand.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Malamar is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Inkay into play (I reviewed Inkay from this set yesterday) and then evolve Inkay into Malamar.  If you read yesterday's review of Inkay, you'll know that I thought that card was a slightly below average Pokemon card, the main two reasons being the card was limited in what it could do having only one move and that move only being able to do 10 damage, and secondly, the fact the card had a below average HP of only 50.  So knowing this about Inkay and looking at this Malamar card, I may consider using a 1-1 line of these two Pokemon in a spread damage type deck.  I would set this line up on the bench, make sure the opponent's Pokemon have plenty of damage on them, then if I were to move Malamar to the active Pokemon spot, I could use Entangling Control, move one of the benched Pokemon that has a lot of damage on it to the active Pokemon spot, confuse it, and potentially have the opponent knock out their own Pokemon when attacking.  Other than that, Malamar could be used to retrieve cards from your discard pile in addition to doing damage, but I would rather use a Trainer card for this.

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 Ancient Origins set.  This card isn't great by any means, but it is definitely worth a look in spread damage type decks.  I do like that this card has two moves, both pretty quick, however this card can't do the greatest of damage so that limits its potential.  Together with Inkay from this set, which I gave a 2 out of 5 rating, I would give these two Pokemon a 2 out of 5 rating, there are better Pokemon lines to use out there.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Malamar from the Ancient Origins set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Beldum, 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 darkness type Pokemon cards are in the Ancient Origins 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.

Malamar #77/146 -- Pokemon X and Y Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Malamar from the Pokemon XY Card Set.  This is the second of two consecutive Malamar cards I'll be reviewing from this set.  Malamar is a stage 1, darkness type Pokemon card, with an hp of 100.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to psychic type Pokemon, and a two colorless energy retreat cost.  Malamar does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Mental Panic, this move requires one colorless energy card and does 30 damage to your opponent's active Pokemon, plus if your opponent tries to attack during their next turn they must flip a coin and if they get a tails they can't attack.  Malamar's second move is called Puncture, this move does 70 damage for three energy cards, two darkness and one colorless.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Malamar is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get one of the two Inkay cards from this set onto your bench and then evolve Inkay into Malamar.  I have reviewed both Inkay cards from this set the past two days as well as the other Malamar card.  After reviewing all of those cards, you'll want to use the Inkay numbered 75 and this Malamar card in a darkness type deck.  Both of these Pokemon can attack quickly and are very good overall.  So if you're building a darkness type deck, I would include up to a 3-2 line of this family.  You can move either Pokemon into the active Pokemon spot whenever and when you get Malamar into play you'll want to use Puncture most turns unless you're afraid Malamar will get knocked out its next turn then you could use Mental Panic instead and hope your opponent flips a tails when flipping a coin.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 5 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is a very good stage 1 Pokemon card and a card that should definitely be used in most darkness type decks out there.  I like that it has a high hp and two very good, powerful moves.  The only downside on this card is the retreat cost, but the cost to retreat is still lower than its move with the highest energy cost.  Overall, I would give the line of Inkay and Malamar from the X and Y set, at least the ones I said to use, a 4 out of 5 rating, both Pokemon are very good.  Individually I gave Inkay a 3 and Malamar a 5.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Malamar from the X and Y set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Yveltal 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 --
What Pokemon card received the lowest rating ever from me and what rating did I give that card?
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.

Malamar #76/146 -- Pokemon X and Y Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Malamar from the Pokemon XY Card Set.  This is the first of two consecutive Malamar cards I'll be reviewing from this set.  Malamar is a stage 1, darkness type Pokemon card, with an hp of 100.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to psychic type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy retreat cost.  Malamar does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Mental Trash, this move requires one darkness energy card and this move makes your opponent flip 4 coins, for each tails they get they must discard a card from their hand.  Malamar's second move is called Distortion Beam, this move requires three energy cards, two colorless and one darkness, and does 30 damage, plus if your opponent gets a heads when they flip a coin their active Pokemon is put to sleep, if they flip a tails they are confused.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Malamar is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get one of the two Inkay cards from this set onto your bench and then evolve Inkay into Malamar.  I have reviewed both Inkay cards from this set the past two days and the one I reviewed yesterday, number 75/146 is the Inkay I would recommend using with this Malamar card.  However this is a mute point because I wouldn't use this line at all in a deck.  I say this because neither of Malamar's moves are very good and for three energy cards you should be able to do a lot more damage than just 30.  But if you choose to use this line of Inkay and Malamar in your deck, don't use more than a 2-2 line and use whichever move you have the necessary energy for and the move that does the most damage.

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 X and Y set.  Even though this Malamar card has a high hp, low retreat cost, and two moves I'm still giving it a below average rating because neither of its moves are very good.  Together with the two Inkay cards from this set, I would give this family a 2 out of 5 rating, it shouldn't be used in darkness type or any type of decks out there.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Malamar from the X and Y set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of the second Malamar card 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 --
Are there any other stage 1 Pokemon in this set with two cards like Malamar?
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.