Monday, January 4, 2016

Raichu BREAK -- BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Review

Raichu BREAK BREAKthrough Pokemon Card
Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Raichu BREAK from the BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Set.  The way a BREAK card works is that you place it on top of the Pokemon with the exact name, so this card would be placed on top of Raichu, so basically this card is a Stage 2 card.  It is placed horizontally on the card it evolves from and can use that Pokemon's Abilities and Attacks as well as what is on the BREAK card.  Raichu BREAK is a BREAK (essentially a Stage 2), lightning type Pokemon card, with an hp of 130.  It has the same weakness, resistance and retreat cost as the Raichu you're evolving it from.  Raichu BREAK does not have an Ability and it only has one move called Grand Bolt which requires three energy cards, two colorless and one lightning, and does 170 damage, however you must discard all energy attached to Raichu after using.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Raichu BREAK is a stage 2 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Pikachu into play and evolve it into Raichu before you can evolve Raichu into Raichu BREAK.  I have reviewed both Pikachu and Raichu from this set the past couple of days on my blog.  I thought Pikachu was an average Basic Pokemon card, it had a solid HP, a low retreat cost, and two moves, the only downside on Pikachu was that it could only do a maximum of 10 damage.  Raichu from this set I thought was extremely good, it had a free retreat cost, plus both of its moves were very good, one did 50 damage to each of your opponent's EX in play and the other move did above average damage for three energy cards.  So knowing this about the first two Pokemon in this line and looking at this Raichu BREAK card, if you already have a line of Pikachu and Raichu in your deck it is definitely worthwhile to use this Raichu BREAK card with this line.  Not only does it increase Raichu's HP by 40, if you're using the Raichu from this set, but you can then do 170 damage in one turn if you need to knock out a Pokemon in one move, and since you can still use all of Raichu's moves, there is no harm at all on using Raichu BREAK in your deck.  But because this card really isn't that great, I wouldn't use more than 1 of these in a deck.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is an average BREAK Pokemon card from the BREAKthrough set.  On its own, this card can do 170 damage for three energy cards which is well above average, but since you have to discard all energy attached to it, this move really isn't that great.  Paired with Pikachu and Raichu from this set, this card is definitely worth using and I would give this entire line a 4 out of 5 rating, it is definitely one worth considering when building a lightning type deck.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Raichu BREAK from the BREAKthrough set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Magnemite, 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?  This is the only lightning type BREAK card in the BREAKthrough 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.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Raichu -- BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Review

Raichu BREAKthrough Pokemon Card
Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Raichu from the BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Set.  Raichu is a stage 1, lightning type Pokemon card, with an hp of 90. It has a x2 weakness to fighting type Pokemon, a -20 resistance to metal type Pokemon, and a free retreat cost.  Raichu does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  The first move that this card has is called Thunderclap Shot, for two energy cards, one each of lightning and colorless, this move does 50 damage to each of your opponent's EX Pokemon.  Raichu's second move is called Electrosmash and for three energy cards, two colorless and one lightning, this move does 70 damage plus 20 more damage if you get a heads when flipping a coin.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Raichu is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Pikachu into play (I reviewed Pikachu from this set yesterday) and then evolve Pikachu into Raichu.  Raichu does have a BREAK card in this set and I'll be reviewing that card tomorrow.  If you read yesterday's review of Pikachu, you'll know that I thought that card was an average Basic Pokemon card, it had a solid HP, low retreat cost, and two moves.  So knowing this about Pikachu and looking at this Raichu card, the main reason you'd want to use Raichu in a deck would be for its Thunderclap Shot move, this move will not only effect all of your opponent's EX Pokemon at once, but it may prevent them from putting their EX Pokemon into play at all.  So ideally, you would have a 1-1 line of this family in your deck, set Raichu up on the bench and if your opponent has multiple EX in play, or EX on the bench, move Raichu into the active Pokemon spot and use Thunderclap Shot then retreat it for free.  Even if your opponent doesn't have any EX cards, Electrosmash does do above average damage so it is a fine move to use against the active Pokemon.

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 from the BREAKthrough set.  There is absolutely nothing that I dislike about this card.  This card can be dominant against EX cards as well as regular Pokemon plus you can move this card in and out of the active Pokemon spot at will because it has a free retreat cost.  So if you're building a lightning type deck, the line of Pikachu and Raichu is one you should consider, I would give these two cards a 4 out of 5 rating combined.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Raichu from the BREAKthrough set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Raichu BREAK, 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 times has Raichu been an ultra rare in 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.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Pikachu -- BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Review

Pikachu BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Review
Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Pikachu from the BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Set.  Pikachu 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 fighting type Pokemon, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost. Pikachu does not have an Ability but it does have two moves.  Gnaw is the first move Pikachu has and does 10 damage for one lightning energy card.  Pikachu's second move is called Agility and for two colorless energy cards this move does 10 damage plus if you get a heads when flipping a coin, all of effects of an attack done to Pikachu during your opponent's next turn is prevented.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Pikachu is a basic Pokemon card with a stage 1 evolution in Raichu, 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, this card could be used as starter type Pokemon in a deck because it can retreat for one energy card, has an average HP, and can attack for one energy card.  However, since this card can only do 10 damage maximum it may not be that great later in games unless you're feeling lucky and think you'll be able to prevent your opponent from attacking with Agility.  So if you're building a lightning type deck, this card should be considered but I would rather use this card with Raichu or Pikachu EX.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 3 out of 5 rating.  So in my opinion, on its own, without considering Raichu, this is a pretty average Basic Pokemon card.  Other than not being able to do more than 10 damage a turn, this card is pretty solid, having a solid HP, low retreat cost, and two good moves.  So like I said above, this card could work in a deck on its own, but would be best as the first evolution in a full line of this Pokemon family.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Pikachu from the BREAKthrough set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Pikachu's stage 1 evolution Raichu, 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 does Pikachu evolve into Raichu?
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.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Frogadier -- BREAKthrough Pokemon Card Review

Frogadier BREAKthrough Pokemon Card
Pokemon Card Overview:
Today's Pokemon Card Review is of Frogadier from the BREAKthrough Pokemon Card set.  Frogadier is a stage 1, water type Pokemon card, with an hp of 70.  It has a x2 weakness to grass type Pokemon, no resistance type, and a one colorless energy card retreat cost.  Frogadier does not have an Ability and it only has one move called Cut that does 30 damage for two colorless energy cards.

Pokemon Card Strategy:
So as far as strategy goes, since Frogadier is a stage 1 Pokemon card, you'll first have to get Froakie into play (I reviewed Froakie from this set yesterday) and then evolve Froakie into Frogadier.  Frogadier does have a Stage 2 evolution in Greninja, however there is not a Greninja card in this set, you'll have to use the one from the XY set that I've reviewed previously on my blog.  The strategy now will only consider the first two cards in this line.  If you read my review of Froakie you'll know that I thought it was a below average Basic Pokemon card, it was just limited in what it could do having only one move and doing a maximum of 10 damage, plus a low HP didn't help matters.  So knowing this about Froakie and looking at this Frogadier card, this card is pretty similar to Froakie in that it is very limited in what it can do only having one move plus a very low HP.  Because of how low the HP is on this card I cannot recommend using this line in a deck.  I guess the one positive on this card is that it requires only colorless energy so it can fit in any type decks, but again, having a Stage 1 card with only 70 HP is not a good way to go about building your deck.

Pokemon Card Rating:
I would give this card a 1 out of 5 rating.  In my opinion this is a poor Stage 1 Pokemon card from the BREAKthrough set.  Other than its extremely low HP, this card is pretty average having one good move and a low retreat cost, but because this card's HP is so low, I am giving it my lowest rating.  Combined with Froakie from this set, I can't give this line higher than a 2 out of 5 rating.

Tomorrow's Pokemon Card:
So thanks for reading today's Pokemon card review of Frogadier from the BREAKthrough set, stay tuned for tomorrow's card review of Pikachu, 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 Froakie evolve into Frogadier?
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.