Monferno -- Steam Siege Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Monferno from the Steam Siege Pokemon Card set.  Monferno is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an HP of 80.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Monferno does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Scratch, for one colorless energy card this move does 20 damage.  Monferno's second move is called Flare and for two energy cards, one each of fire and colorless, this move does 30 damage.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Monferno is a Stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Chimchar into play (I reviewed Chimchar from this set yesterday) and then evolve Chimchar into Monferno.  Monferno does have a Stage 2 evolution in Infernape, 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 Monferno is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read my review of Chimchar, you'll know that I thought it was a very solid Basic Pokemon card, one that could definitely be used on its own or a card to make an excellent start to this entire Pokemon line.  The card had a solid HP, low retreat cost, and two moves, if you used a Burning Energy card with that card, it could do 30 damage every turn for two energy cards.  So knowing this about Chimchar from this set and looking at Monferno, if you plan on using this entire line, it would make sense to use this card, since it has two quick attacks and a low retreat cost in case you can't find Infernape in your deck.  However, if you don't plan on using Infernape, this card isn't as good, just because it has a somewhat lower HP for a Stage 1, and it can't do any more damage than Chimchar.  But overall, this is a solid card, other than its HP, and is one to definitely consider when building a fire type deck.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average, to slightly below average Stage 1 Pokemon card from the Steam Siege set.  If this card had 10 more HP, I would really like the card, since it has two quick, solid attacking moves, and a low retreat cost.  So far, I would give the first two Pokemon in this line a 3 out of 5 rating combined, I would definitely consider this line when building a fire type deck.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Monferno from the Steam Siege set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Monferno's Stage 2 evolution in Infernape, 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 Monferno evolve into Infernape?
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.

Monferno -- Plasma Storm Pokemon Card Review

Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Monferno from the Plasma Storm Pokemon Card Set.  Monferno is a stage 1, fire type Pokemon card, with an hp of 80.  It has a x2 weakness to water type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Monferno does not have an Ability, but it does have two moves.  The first move it has is called Loud Howl, this move requires one colorless energy card and says that your opponent must switch their active Pokemon with one of their benched Pokemon.  Monferno's second move is called Fire Tail Slap, this move requires two energy cards, one each of colorless and fire, and does 50 damage, however you must discard all energy cards attached to Monferno after using this move.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Monferno is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Chimchar into play (I reviewed Chimchar from this set yesterday) and then evolve Chimchar into Monferno.  Monferno does have a stage 2 evolution in Infernape 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 Monferno is the final evolution in this line.  So if you read yesterday's review, you'll know that I thought Chimchar was a good starter Pokemon card to use in a fire type deck and that that card could be used on its own in a deck.  After summarizing Monferno in the first paragraph, I still feel that way, and would not use Chimchar with Monferno at all, especially without using Infernape.  I just don't like this Monferno card at all, the most useful thing on this card would be Loud Howl, but if it is later in the game it won't do much because most of your opponent's Pokemon will already be set up and you may end up helping your opponent instead of yourself.  You may want to use Monferno's Fire Tail Slap, but if you have to discard all energy cards attached to this card you can't even stock pile energy cards on this card and use Fire Tail Slap more than once in a row. So to summarize, I would not use Monferno in a deck with just Chimchar, I would just keep to using Chimchar for now.

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. There really isn't anything good about this card if you're not going to use it with Infernape.  Neither of Monferno's moves are anything special, and with only 80 hp, using this card in a deck just isn't worth it.  So so far, if I were to rate just Chimchar and Monferno, I would give them a 2 out of 5 rating.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Monferno from the Plasma Storm set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Monferno's stage 2 evolution in Infernape 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 rarity are each of the Monferno cards in the English sets?
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.