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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Zangoose - Sandstorm

Date Reviewed: 11.17.03

Ratings & Reviews below

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

Heidi Craig	Hello, Zangoose Modified 1.5/5 Pokemon Body- It gives defense against poison. I haven't seen to many poison Pokemon being used yet, so this power would be situational how useful it would be. Target Slash- deals 10 damage to Pokemon it O.K. for 1 colorless energy. If your opponent has Seviper as an active it does 30 extra damage. So far I haven't seen to many people using Seviper. Super Slash-For three energy does 30 damage plus 30 more if evolved. Since evolution is popular this attack could possibly deal some decent damage. With only 70 hit points and 3 energy to possibly do 60 damage, I would use this Pokemon as a supporting Pokemon to the big hitter. It is colorless and can be used in any deck type. Weakness to fighting isn't to bad, there are only a couple of good fighting Pokemon in the modified format. Unlimited- 1/5 I wouldn't use this card. It is to weak for this format and the attacks are not powerful enough. Draft 1.5/5 Might be all right. The Super Slash attack could be handy at times to deal some real damage to your opponents evolved Pokemon. Target Slash seems to wimpy of an attack while powering up Super Slash.
Hedge	Zangoose I love Fresh Dragon meat, 60Hp stage ones, and evolved pikachus, electabuzz’s, and marrils for dinner. Who am I?????? Unlimited: 2/5—I dunno, a couple Pluspower, a gust, and Zangoose on Slowking?? We do have MPM2…. Modified: ~~4/5~~—Ok, this card is going to go to a five when dragons comes out—in two days lol, heck let’s give it a five now! 5/5 2 on 2: 5/5 – Same…… Draft: 5/5 – Big colorless basic, extra 30 to those hard-earned evolutions your opponent has, and then only one retreat to boot? Yikes!!!! This card got a sweeping 5 in the new age formats!!! Overrated??? Naw……. C ya next time, ~Hedge
Bullados	Zangoose Attributes: Again, the magic number of 70 as the HP. No matter what Basic you are, that 70 will save you time and time again. Fighting weakness is only a minor concern, as Solrock will be the bulk of the Fighting that you'll face. No resistance, no mention. Retreat of 1 is pretty good, especially with the attack costs. I'd say pay this thing, unless you're running low on energy. Poke-BODY: "Poison Resistance": Nothing to mention here. No real strategic value. It's just some measure of defense against Seviper and other Poisoning Pokemon. Attack #1: "Target Slash" 10 or 40… This is actually pretty decent, as Seviper will see at least some TecH play. However, this is just a support attack, and not meant to really deal any significant damage. Attack #2: "Super Slash" D…a…n…g… This is the reincarnation of Scyther, and might actually be better than the original thing. Although it doesn't have the free retreat or a good resistance, it has an attack that is at least as good, and potentially more powerful than the original. He could replace Scyther in many Unlimited decks, if the owner is feeling good about facing a Rogue. Ratings: Unlimited: It remains unclear as to whether or not this thing is good here. I think that it could be, just because it has virtually the same attack as Scyther, and HE was the KING TecH of this format for a very long time. My gut says that Zangoose could be the next Scyther in terms of usefullness. 3.5/5 Modified: OMG, this thing is broken. 9/10 of the decks out there are going to have evolutions in them, and the other decks will be TecH decks, running Seviper amongst others. I think that he IS the Scyther of this format: maneuverable, quick, powerful, and weak to very little. He is potentially the card that brings back haymaker as it once was. 4.875/5 Limited: God-like. Many decks here will run evolutions, and, even without that help, 30 damage for [CCC] is nothing to sneeze at. IMO, this guy could rule this format, if you get good drafting cards along with him (Marill, Wailmer, etc.) Extremely good. 4.875/5 Did anyone else notice that this was the first article where I gave a card a good rating for all three major formats? ~Bullados
Ralphy	Ralphy- Well, he can't be poisoned. Snow White's evil Stepmother cringes as she open up a pack and sees this. Unlimited- Not really too much use. The power is somewhat like that of Snorlax, except it is only for poison and it doesn't get shut off by Special Conditions. Seviper won't get played in Unlimted for two main reasons, 1) Poison is easy to get rid of, and 2) who plays Ex Pokes in Unlimited? No Seviper more or less means no Zangoose. Tyrouge... need I say more? 1.25/5 here. Modified- There are some pretty nice Ex Pokes in Modified, Sandstorm to be more accurate, so Seviper will see some play. This is a good counter, he deals 40 for C to Seviper and he resists the poison that Sevy deals out. Lot's of evolved Pokes in this format too, so the 2nd attack comes into play nicely here. 60 for CCC is nice also. Good basic, 3.75/5. Limited- No posion is nice as Status rules here. There will be many evos in a Sandstorm draft, and you may even see a Sevy. 3/5 here.
Patriarch	Now, I've gotten the pleasure of seeing this competitively used in my area, and it's a cool card to have, just in case something very bad happens...yes...very, very bad! oO Now, let's look at him: Vital stats are decent, such as a solid HP, solid body (to not get poisoned will help vs Sceptile), and his 2nd attack is also vicious. Albeit the attack costs 3 colorless, it still is good against any ole evolution, and could even make or break a game of Gardevoir ex VS Gardevoir ex! Bottom stats aren't too scary...weakness and retreat of 1 are to be expected. Unlimited (2/5): I hate to say it, but there are better colorless pokes than him. Chansey could take more hits, Cleffa could draw/stall, and don't even get me started about the splashables (ie Scyther, more babies, etc). Modified (3.5/5): Now, this guy is a formidable card in E-on, for its ability to drastically weaken an evo Pokemon. For example, your opponent has a Gardevoir ex out in play, and you Super Slash it only ONCE. This opens up bold paths, where you could kill such a large creature with something as measly as a little Ralts from Sandstorm! In short: he's good late-game. So, since this fact is true, I personally suggest that, if you do play him, play 1-2 of him. Just remember that he's easy fodder to a strong-enough deck, and building him up is not NEARLY as important as building up your main attacker. Draft (4.5/5): This guy is about one of the greatest things to hope for: clean and simple. He's EXCELLENT as a basic sweeper, EXCELLENT as an evolution killer, and EXCELLENT all-around! Although weakness is a rather large factor here, he will most likely pull you one or two prizes! ~Patriarch
pERfeCt0nE	Zangoose I just love this guy. He's the guy who will keep the dragons in check in modified. Unlimited- Well, since evolution is rare (i did say rare, i myself play raindance, fable, etc. once in a while) he will basically be doing 30 for CCC. Zangoose has the ability to be rogued with a pluspower too. He isn't a good choice. rating--- 1.5 Modified- Not only have some people been using him for a Sceptile counter, but now he is a Dragon counter. He OHKOs Salamence, Flygon, Altaria, and nearly KOs Dragonite EX. A 70 HP basic with C retreat and a weakness to fighting are stats that I personally like. His attack is relatively cheap for the amount of damage it deals (assuming you attack evolved pokemon). Zangoose will deserve to be teched into many decks and you should always consider him. On a side note: isn't this little guy so hard to get a hold of? With a total of 3 boxes between me and my firends, I only had one and had to trade away a very decent amount to get more of these =/. rating--- 4 Draft- Incredible. A 70 HP basic that can deal 60 to evolutions and 30 to basics is great. Being colorless makes it all the more useful in draft. His C for 10 attack isn't great, but its something until he can use his CCC attack (assuming hes your starting active pokemon) rating--- 4.25 2 vs. 2- With the high number of supporting pokemon in 2 vs. 2, Zangoose with a strength charms can possibly pull multiple prizes off your opponent fast. His HP won't hold up long, but just keep a solid hitter or some fossils ready. rating--- 4.125 Multiplayer- In fear of taking 60 a turn from such a cost-efficient card, they may try to double-team you to make your time a little more difficult. Try to take advantage of this by either using Mr.Briney's Advice at the right moment or having an ally who also uses cost-efficent hitters or simply big-hitters to win with speed and raw power. rating--- 4
Otaku	Name: Zangoose Type: Colorless Stage: Basic HP: 70 Weakness: Fighting Resistance: None Retreat: C Poké-BODY: Poison Resistance Zangoose can’t be Poisoned. Attack#1: (C) Target Slash [10+] If the Defending Pokémon is Seviper, this attack does 10 damage plus 30 more damage. Attack#2: (CCC) Super Slash If the Defending Pokémon is an Evolved Pokémon, this attack does 30 damage plus 30 more damage. Attributes: As the only Zangoose, it is not competing with or teaming up with other versions of itself. It is a Basic Colorless Pokémon, which is not too bad for Eon, but stinks for Unlimited, where it faces Sprout Tower and Unown N. At least soon Colorless Weak Pokémon are coming (and no Resistant ones that I know of). 70 HP is good for an Unlimited Basic and Great for a non-Pokémon ex Basic in Eon. Weakness to Fighting is a pain, but understandable, and really needed to maintain balance for Eon (in Unlimited, Tyrogue proliferation renders this card almost unplayable). No Resistance sadly. Last for this section, a retreat of just one energy, easy to pay for in either format. Abilities: Poison Resistance is useful, but not overly useful. Target Slash is fine since you expect 10 for (C) anyway, so the effect is a pure-but-rarely-seen bonus. Super Slash is what got it here though. Again, we have an attack that has the damage you paid for and an effect for free. (CCC) for 30 has proven useful since the days of Scyther, and additional 30 to Evolutions is beautiful for Eon. Uses/Combinations: It makes a solid opener/cleaner/emergency back up for most Eon decks, but is pretty pointless for Unlimited. You can also make best use of it in decks with extra means of Energy attachment in Eon. Once EX Dragons comes out, this will have even more of a use… but I’d hate to “spoil” it for anyone. Ratings Unlimited: 1/5-No. Tyrogue kills it, and evos aren’t really played. Modified: 3.5/5- It’s not for every deck, but good for many, especially those who can slap more than one energy card down at a time (just put one on it for safe keeping, then its ready to go when the main guy is KO’d). It might be a must, for the handful of Pokémon ex who are weak to Grass and thus very weak to Seviper… Limited: 4/5-Great for slapping down most other Basics, resists one of the worse Special Conditions in Limited, nukes another AB3, and if your opponent drafted an evo, you can slap it down. ;) Too bad there is so much good Fighting in this set. -Otaku
Psychup	Hello once again, sorry that I missed the other few day's CotD. Its midterm week with a lot of papers/reports and stuff, and you know, things are getting rough, and I have exams to study for, etc. while still maintaining a life outside school/pokemon. Hope you understand, etc. While I was gone, however, I went to the EX: Dragons Prerelease at PCNY, and there were like 100 people there, and I'm not even exaggerating. (there were 75 participants that arrived, a few left after getting the packs) there were also loads of parents/grannys, etc. and I was able to get 1st place in 11-14 while my friend Mike (perfect0ne, used to be and I think still is a CotD reviewer) got tied for 1st in 15+, mike and I both being undefeated. Also congrats to the 10- kid who won, cuz he played great and had a really nice deck. Also nice to know that I'll be joining Mike next year in the 15+ age division, so we can't both win EX: R/S Challenge, Sandstorm Prerelease, and Dragons Prerelease again, =P lol. Without further ado, here's today's CotD, Zangoose, my friend Carlo's fav poke, and its a good poke in the gb game, though overshadowed by slaking. Zangoose is great, though the three energy attack might not be so great. Zangoose [C] 70 HP Basic Pokemon [C] If the defending Pokemon is named Seviper, then this attack does 10 damage plus 30 more damage. [C][C][C] If the defending Pokemon is an evolved Pokemon, then this attack does 30 damage plus 30 more damage. Weakness: [F] Resistance: --- Retreat Cost: [C] Zangoose kills erm, any stage one or stage two with less than 60 HP. Fossil Kabutops comes to mind, but kabutops takes this in one hit too. Also, it kills Magikarps. Another bonus in any format, since Magikarps are the best cards in any format. Ok, back to reality, in the older sets you have scyther, electabuzz, and they are pretty good, zangoose is a runner up at most. 30 for 3 is decent, but then the evolution bonus comes in handy., Problem is it doesn't OHKO evolutions, though its a perfect Salamence (holo) Flygon (holo) Lati@s ex counter, all going to be played, might be a reason to play Zangoose. I'm still kinda busy tonight, sorry about this, but school is kinda more important that pokemon right now for me. I'll just do the ratings. Unlimited: Eventually might join the old folks (Scyther, Electabuzz, Chansey) as a BBP just like Mewtwo ex has somewhat replaced Promo Mewtwo. Good card against Wiggly, Fable, Muk, Dark Muk, and even blastoise. Does 70 damage to some Stage 1s like fable and muk with a pluspower. Might be played. 3/5 Modified: One of the better BBP, joins Seviper as a great EX counter. Bad card illustration, but doesn't matter, anything that can consistantly hit 60 on a evo for 3 energy is nice. 3/5 Draft: No-one drafts anymore, now its all sealed, thanks to Nintendo. IMO, draft is more fair, and actually takes skill. However, Nintendo makes more money from Sealed Booster drafts, so they changed it. Anyway, its a miracle here, you pull it out, you might as well win if you can power it turn 3. Of course even cards like mewtwo ex can be taken down in draft, so zangoose is nothing. Still a nice card though. 3.5/5 Sealed Deck: A different type of draft. Zangoose works well with the Caravan theme deck, imo. Even if its not Caravan, its still a card to add in. A basic with 70 hp and can do up to 60 on other sandstorm Pokes deserves a slot in a deck. 3/5 I've been asked by some readers, so I'll explain myself here. The reason that I don't rate cards in multiplayer and 2-on-2 is that there are no tourneys that play that way. Those two methods of playing are casual, and if its casual, there's no point on commenting on it. You can basically play anything in casual. My base set Tangela/ neo gen skarmory/ jungle electrode deck does fine in 2-on-2 or multiplayer. No-one is actually serious. Thanks for reading. --- psychup2034 P.S.: I'm trying to write a report for the Dragon prerelease, I hope i can post it on pojo sometime, (for the 2 people that e-mailed me for a report).

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