Helioptile -- Flashfire Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:

Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Helioptile from the Flashfire Pokemon Card Set.  Helioptile is a basic, lightning type Pokemon card with an hp of 60.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to metal type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost. Helioptile does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Pound, this move does 10 damage for one lightning energy card.  Helioptile's second move is called Destructive Beam, this move requires two energy cards, one each of colorless and lightning and allows you to discard an energy card from your opponent's active Pokemon if you get a heads when you flip a coin.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Helioptile is a basic Pokemon card with a stage 1 evolution in Heliolisk, which I'll be reviewing tomorrow, you'll more than likely want to use this card with that Pokemon.  However, since I haven't reviewed that card yet, I'll just act as though I plan on using this card without its evolution.  So, on its own I wouldn't recommend using this card in a deck unless you really really needed one more lightning type Pokemon to put in your deck.  I say this because even though Helioptile does have two moves, neither are that great.  So if you do decide to use this card in your deck, I would try to get it out early in the game since the most damage it can do is 10, then use Pound most turns, unless the opposing Pokemon requires a lot of energy cards to attack, then you can take a chance and use Destructive Beam, hopefully flipping a heads and delaying their ability to attack.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 2 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is a below average Basic Pokemon card from the Flashfire set.  This card does have some positives for being a below average card, it has an average hp, a low retreat cost and two good moves.  However, neither move on this card is very good, and the card is very limited if you do not plan on using it without Heliolisk.  So overall, I can not recommend using this card in a deck, but if it comes to a worst case scenario, this card wouldn't be that bad.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Helioptile from the Flashfire set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Helioptile's stage 1 evolution Heliolisk, 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 is the name of the theme deck that Helioptile is in, and how many Helioptile cards are in that deck?
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.

Magnezone EX Full Art -- Flashfire Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:

Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Magnezone EX and Magnezone EX Full Art from the Flashfire Pokemon Card Set.  Magnezone EX is a basic, EX, lightning type Pokemon card with an hp of 180. It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to metal type Pokemon, and a three colorless energy card retreat cost.  Magnezone does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Electro Ball, for two colorless energy cards this move does 40 damage.  Magnezone EX's second move is called Dual Bullet, this move requires three lightning type energy cards and 50 damage each to 2 of your opponent's benched Pokemon.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, because Magnezone EX is a basic Pokemon card you won't need to use any other cards with this card.  But remember, because this card is an EX card, if this card is knocked out, two prize cards are taken instead of one.  So knowing this, the only time I would for sure use Magnezone in a deck would be if I am building a lightning type deck and I am running a spread damage type strategy.  That way, I could put 1 or 2 Magnezone EX cards into the deck and put 3 energy cards on each of them and be able to use Dual Bullet every turn and do 50 damage to two of my opponent's benched Pokemon, then I may have another card in the deck that does 10 or 20 damage to all of the opponent's benched Pokemon, I could use that move to knock out several Pokemon at one time.  But like I said, if you're not building the type of deck I mentioned I wouldn't use this card in a deck, because even though this card is somewhat powerful, it isn't that powerful for being an EX card and it does have a high retreat cost if you want to retreat it.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion, this is an average EX Pokemon card from the Flashfire set.  Like I mentioned in the strategy section of this post, this card will work very well in a certain type of deck, I don't think there are many of those out there, and it won't be that great in other type decks.  Both of Magnezone's moves are just average, it has an average hp for an EX card, and it has a high retreat cost, so taking all of those factors into place I am giving it an average rating of 3 out of 5.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Magnezone EX from the Flashfire set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Helioptile, 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? Magnezone EX also has a Mega Evolution in this set?
Please respond by including the correct answer and a link to your YouTube channel.  Only one entry per person please.

Luxray -- Flashfire Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Luxray from the Flashfire Pokemon Card Set.  Luxray is a stage 2, lightning type Pokemon card, with an hp of 140.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to metal type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Luxray does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Fang Snipe, for two energy cards, one each of colorless and lightning, this move does 40 damage, plus it makes your opponent reveal their hand, and discard a trainer card if they have one in their hand.  Luxray's second move is called Wild Charge, this move requires three energy cards, two lightning and one colorless, and does 120 damage, however after using this move, Luxray does 30 damage to itself.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Luxray is a stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Shinx into play and then evolve it into Luxio before you can evolve Luxio into Luxray, both of those Pokemon are from this set and I've reviewed both of them the last couple of days.  Both of those Pokemon cards are average cards in the TCG, so both could be used without Luxray, but it is always better to use an entire family when building a deck.  I would definitely consider using this Pokemon family deck in a lightning type deck, and could foresee using a 2-2-1 or 2-2-2 line of Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray.  Like I talked yesterday about Luxio, I would try and get Shinx into play to start the game so you can do 30 damage a turn early on, then evolve one into Luxio while in the active Pokemon spot and then into Luxray, that way you could use Wild Charge every turn.  The other set of Shinx and Luxio I would keep on the bench and then later in the game I would use Luxio's Electricounter move to do big time damagae, then if you put 2 Luxray cards into your deck, after Luxio gets close to getting knocked out, I would move Luxray into the active Pokemon spot and use Wild Charge as many times as possible.  One thing to note with this Luxray card is that it does a lot of damage to itself so you'll have to make sure to have plenty of Potion trainer cards in your deck.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average Stage 2 Pokemon card from the Flashfire set.  This card is very solid overall but it just isn't anything spectacular.  I like that Luxray has a low retreat cost and two good moves, however even though Wild Charge can do 120 damage a turn, with only 140 hp on Luxray and Luxray doing 30 damage to itself each turn, Luxray won't be able to last as long as you'd think in the active Pokemon spot.  So overall, I do like this Pokemon family from the Flashfire set, I gave each Pokemon in the line a 3 out of 5 rating, and that is what I would give all three cards combined.  So if you're building a lightning type deck and need a solid, supporting type, Pokemon family, this family could work well for you.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Luxray from the Flashfire set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Magnezone EX Full Art, 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?  At one time, Luxray GL Lv. X was one of my most wanted cards.
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.

Luxio -- Flashfire Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Luxio from the Flashfire Pokemon Card set.  Luxio is a stage 1, lightning type Pokemon card, with an hp of 80.  It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to metal type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Luxio does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Bite, for only one lightning energy card this move does 20 damage.  Luxio's second move is called Electricounter, for three energy cards, two lightning and one colorless, this move does 40 damage times the number of prize cards your opponent has taken.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Luxio is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Shinx into play (I reviewed Shinx from this set yesterday) and then evolve Shinx into Luxio.  Luxio does have a stage 2 evolution in Luxray 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 Luxio is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read yesterday's review of Shinx, you'll know that I thought that card was an average Basic Pokemon card that could be used on its own but probably would be better utilized if it were used with its evolutions.  That Shinx card had an average hp and two moves, one of which did 30 damage for two energy cards, which is a pretty decent move.  So knowing this about Shinx and reading about Luxio in the overview section of this post, I would definitely recommend using at least a 1-1 line of Shinx and Luxio if you're building a lightning type deck.  I would try and get Shinx into the active Pokemon spot to start the game, be able to do 30 damage a turn a few turns, then retreat it, evolve it into Luxio on the bench, put three energy cards on it, and wait until your opponent has taken some prize cards to put it back into the active Pokemon spot, then you could use Electricounter and do 120+ damage a 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 Flashfire set.  I actually like both of Luxio's two moves quite a bit and the fact it has a low retreat cost, but Luxio does have a lower hp, so if you wait towards the end of the game to put Luxio into the active Pokemon spot like I suggested and used Electricounter, you may end up getting Luxio knocked out faster than you'd like.  But overall, I think the line of Shinx and Luxio is pretty good from the Flashfire set, individually I gave both cards 3 out of 5 ratings and I would give that to these cards combined too.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Luxio from the Flashfire set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Luxio's stage 2 evolution in Luxray 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 is the highest rarity of any Luxio card in the English TCG, and how many Luxio cards have this 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.