Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Venusaur - Base Sets

Pojo's Average Rating -
Unlimited: 3.33 (based on 3 reviews)
Modified: 4.45 (based on 3 reviews)
Draft: 3.40 (based on 3 reviews)
Reviewed May 13, 2002

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Pokepop

Now, however, with the upcoming release of the Legendary Collection set, Venusaur will be legal in Modified for the first time. Now that he can be used in a more Energy-friendly environment, expect him to shine. Some people are even planning on creating Venusaur-Meganium decks. Personally, I feel that that is pushing it, but let's see how they do. They will have Pokemon Breeder to help get them all out. If Trader shows up in the set as well (still unknown as of this writing) then they may actually pull it off.

One of the biggest advantages that Venusaur will be able to give you is the utterly broken way that it abuses Pokemon Center. You will be able to completely heal multiple Pokemon all in one shot and not have to worry about losing a single energy card. What a big advantage over your opponent who will be stuck with removing 20 to 40 damage counters at a time.

Unlimited: A skilled player can hold their own with this card, but the weak Basic, two stages of evolutions, and high energy requirements are just too much to overcome. 3.25/5

Modified: Beware the new VenuCenter decks! 4.5/5
Draft: You will likely only get one of these cards in your draft. However, the Basic and Stage 1 cards are both good to play, so if you get one and there is nothing else that can help your deck, give it a shot. It's not a first choice (unless you already have a couple of Ivysaurs), but certainly a decent second or third pick. 3.75/5

TwInSeN21

A cool card that's gonna be reprinted in Legendary Collection! I think the only deck that had Venusaur in it must've run the Venu-Center combo in order for it to playable. The point of the deck is to use Energy Trans and move ALL of your Energy cards to a Pokemon with no damage counters and THEN use Pokemon Center with NO drawbacks! It was an awesome concept but saw very little play in Unlimited. That was probably because of the amount of ER and disruption going around. When Neo Genesis first came out, some people including me, tried to revive the Venu-Center deck by adding Meganium (Wild Growth). The point of the deck is to get both Venusaur and Meganium out by turn 2 via lots of draw power and Pokemon Breeders. If it worked, you'll be doing a 2nd turn Solarbeam for 60 damage with just 2 Energy cards! Even though we have LOTS of drawpower in Unlimited, the deck is simply too weak to trainer disruption decks like Slowking. Lass hurts it a lot too. It's the best combination compared to Feraligatr + Blastoise or Charizard + Typhlosion (Fire Recharge).

Back to the card discussion... ^_^'

100HP for a Stage 2 is pretty good. The Power is WAY awesome. The combo with Pokemon Center is simply amazing! Solar Beam is a pretty good attack for 4 energies.

In Unlimited, it's REALLY weak against ER. Even if you get Venusaur up, you would probably never be able to attack. It's a great support Pokemon though as you can use Energy Trans on ALL of your Pokemon, and not just Grass Types. The combo with Pokemon Center is a MUST!

In Modified, it's simply amazing! Add to the fact that Pokemon Breeder will be printed in LC, you can get Venusaur out by turn 2! Since there's no ER (at least I hope so!) in Modified, we can play Venusaur + Meganium = Venium-Center*! The next installment of Venu-Center! ^_~

60 damage 2nd turn in Modified can be devastating! Remember, we have draw power like Pokemon Breeder Fields and the regular draw engine to get the setup done. Before Good Manners rolls out, getting both Bulbasaur and Chikorita shouldn't be too hard. Let's just pray that Pokemon Trader is also reprinted in LC...

Personally, I'm going to try out Venium-Center* in Modified. However, some people would just play Venu-Center. I guess that would work, but just seems kinda slow to me as it can only start dealing massive damage on turn 4, when most decks could start attacking on turn 3.

In Draft, Venusaur would be awesome if you can get it out. As usual though, getting a Stage 2 out in Draft can be a real challenge. Once you get it out, you can manipulate your energies to your advantage. 60 damage is also great in draft!

Unlimited Rating: 3.2/5 (Venu-Center is an awesome deck idea!)
Modified Rating: 4.7/5 (Venium-Center might be an archetype to contend with in the future...)
Draft Rating: 3.1/5 (Kinda hard to get out though...)

P.S.*: The term "Venium-Center" is copyrighted by TwInSeN21! ^_^*

Lord Gothmog

In draft, it's good if you can get the lower evos(not too hard). However, it needs a lot of good Grass or Colorless support cards to work properly. I say 3.2/5