Charmeleon -- Burning Shadows Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Charmeleon from the Burning Shadows Pokemon Card set.  Charmeleon is a Stage 1, Fire type Pokemon card, with a HP of 90.  It has a x2 weakness to Water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a two Colorless Energy card retreat cost.  Charmeleon does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move on this card is called Claw Slash, for two Colorless Energy cards, this move does 30 damage.  Heat Blast is the name of the second move on this card, for three Energy cards, two Fire and one Colorless, this move does 70 damage.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Charmeleon is a Stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Charmander into play (I reviewed Charmander from this set yesterday) and then evolve Charmander into Charmeleon.  Charmander does have a Stage 2 evolution in Charizard GX, which I'll be reviewing tomorrow, 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 Charmeleon is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read my review of Charmander, you'll know that I thought it was an average to slightly above average Basic Pokemon card overall, I liked the fact it had an above average HP, and two decent moves, it was a very good start to this entire line.  So knowing this about Charmander and looking at this Charmeleon card, this is another solid but not spectacular Pokemon for this entire line.  Unlike Charmander, this card just has an average HP, but its Heat Blast move does do above average damage.  Charmeleon can be used in any type deck if you're okay with doing 30 damage for a Double Colorless Energy card, but this card is best used in a Fire type deck.  So while I would not use Charmander and Charmeleon from this set without using Charizard GX, neither of these two Pokemon are terrible.

Pokemon Card Rating:  
I would give this card a 2 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is a slightly below average Stage 1 Pokemon card from the Burning Shadows set.  If you're not using Double Colorless Energy cards in your deck, the real knock on this card is that it is slow to set up and can't do much damage unless you have three Energy cards on it.  Combine this card with Charmander from this set and both cards get a 3 out of 5 rating combined, both are okay, neither are great.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Charmeleon from the Burning Shadows set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Charmander's Stage 2 evolution in Charizard GX, 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 Charmander evolve into Charmeleon?
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.

Charmeleon -- Evolutions Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Charmeleon from the XY Evolutions Pokemon Card set.  Charmeleon is a Stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with a HP of 80.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Charmeleon does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Slash, for three colorless energy cards this move does 50 damage.  Charmeleon's second move is called Flamethrower and for three energy cards, two fire and one colorless, this move does 90 damage a turn, however, you must discard a fire type energy card attached to Charmeleon after using this move.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Charmeleon is a Stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Charmander into play (I reviewed Charmander from this set yesterday) and then evolve Charmander into Charmeleon.  Charmeleon does have a Stage 2 evolution in Charizard, which I'll be reviewing tomorrow, 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 Charmeleon is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read my review of Charizard, you'll know that I thought it was an above average Basic Pokemon card and a solid starter type Pokemon for a fire type deck, I recommended using that card with 4 Burning Energy cards, thus allowing Charmander to do 30 damage every turn without having to add any additional energy cards to it.  This Charmeleon card follows that same thinking, attach three energy cards to it, having one be a Burning Energy, that way, you can do 90 damage a turn, every turn, with Flamethrower, and never have to discard an energy card, since Burning Energy cards makes it so that if you do discard that card, you can re-attach it immediately.  The only downside with Charmeleon is that it is slow on the attack, so you'll either have to set it up on the bench or go to battle with Charmander for a couple of turns.  If building a fire type deck, I could definitely see using a couple of these in a deck, especially if you plan on having your starter Pokemon be Charmander.

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 Evolutions set.  Like I mentioned in the strategy section of this post, with Burning Energy, this card can do above average damage every single turn, but this card is slow on the attack and has a lower HP, making the positives and negatives on this card even out, making this card average at best.  Together with Charmander from this set, and Burning Energy, I would give this line a 4 out of 5 rating so far.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Charmeleon from the Evolutions set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Charmeleon's Stage 2 evolution in Charizard, 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?  My favorite type of starter Pokemon is fire.
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.

Charmeleon -- Boundaries Crossed Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Charmeleon from the Boundaries Crossed Pokemon Card Set.  Charmeleon is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an hp of 90.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a two colorless energy card retreat cost.  Charmeleon does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  Its first move is called Flare and for one fire energy card this move does 20 damage.  Charmeleon's second move is called Raging Claws and for three energy cards, two colorless and one fire, this move does 50 damage plus 10 more damage for each damage counter on Charmeleon.  So if Charmeleon is extremely close to being knocked out and has 80 damage on it, Raging Claws will do 130 damage in one turn.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Charmeleon has a stage 2 evolution in Charizard, if you have Charmeleon on your bench, I would keep it there until you evolve it into Charizard.  However, in yesterday's review I indicated that it would be okay to use Charmander as a starting Pokemon, so of course, if you get Charmeleon in your hand I would recommend evolving Charmander into Charmeleon because at a minimum, you can do the same amount of damage immediately and have 20 more hp.  If you have Charmeleon on your bench, like I said earlier, I would keep it there, but if you're forced to put it into the active Pokemon spot, I would use Raging Claws if I have three energy cards on Charmeleon, if you only have one or two energy cards of course you'll have to use Flare.  This card is very effecting against an opponent who uses spread damage, because if you keep this card on your bench, and receive 20 or 30 damage, as soon as you move Charmeleon into the active Pokemon spot, you can do 70 or 80 damage right away with Raging Claws.  I would definitely suggest using the full line of Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, but so far I've only reviewed the first two Pokemon in this line, I would not wholeheartedly recommend using Charmander and Charmeleon in a deck on their own, but it wouldn't be the worst thing to do ever.  I would use a 2-1 line of Charmander and Charmeleon in a somewhat fire deck, if you want to use them without Charizard.

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.  This card really is average overall, it has an average hp, two average moves, and an average retreat cost.  I do like how this card has two moves, one is faster, the other does more damage for a little more energy cards.  But neither move is anything special, so it isn't anything I would have to use in a fire type deck, after reviewing Charizard tomorrow I may change my opinion, but who knows...

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Charmeleon from the Boundaries Crossed set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Charmeleon's stage 2 evolution in Charizard which is also 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 much HP does Charmeleon from Base Set have, also what are the names of its moves and how much damage does each move do?
Please respond by including your YouTube username so I can send you the code on there.