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.