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Name:
Raichu
Set/Card#:
Team Magma Vs Team Aqua, #13/95
Type:
Electric
Stage:
1 (Evolves from Pikachu)
HP:
80
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(LC) Spark [20]
Does 10 damage
to 2 of your opponent’s benched Pokémon (1 if there is only 1).
(Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
Attack#2:
(LLC) Kerzap [40+]
Flip a coin.
If heads, this attack does 40 damage plus 40 more damage to the
Defending Pokémon and discard all (L) Energy cards attached to
Raichu.
Name:
Raichu
Set/Card#:
Team Magma Vs Team Aqua, #43/95
Type:
Electric
Stage:
Basic
HP:
50
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
C
Attack#1:
(C) Agility
Flip a coin. If
heads, prevent all effects of an attack, including damage, done to
Pikachu during your opponent’s next
turn.
Attack#2:
(LC) Thundershock [20]
Flip a coin.
If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now
Paralyzed.
Attributes:
Yet another Raichu.
Raichu, surprise-surprise, is a Stage 1 Electric Pokémon. Stage 1
Electric Pokémon see almost no play in Unlimited and few see play
in Modified unless they have a potent Poké-Body/Poké-Power. On
the bright side, that means that this Raichu faces very little
competition from its relatives. There is one
Pikachu in Team Magma Vs Team Aqua: a fairly average one.
Generally, you chose Pikachu that are
hard to kill (in Unlimited, there is one with 60 HP that can be
used), or (more often) one of the versions that can nab extra
Energy, so don’t expect to see this version to often. Moving back
to Raichu, we have the 80 HP that is more or less standard for
Raichu, and that is an okay amount for a Stage 1 Pokémon, though
less so since this is the highest Evolution card for its line. We
see the standard Fighting Weakness, which makes most Electric
Pokémon nearly unplayable in Unlimited but doesn’t mean much for
Modified, a lack of Resistance (which annoys me), and a nice,
affordable retreat cost of just one energy.
Abilities:
Spark does a total of 40 damage, but
requires payment for only 25. On a basic, you would expect it to
be priced more along the lines of (LLL), so it is significantly
discounted. However, in my experience this kind of attack is not
overly useful, so the discount is needed to keep the card from
lacking a back-up attack. Why does it need a back up attack?
Kerzap does base damage of 40 for
(LLC), which would be fair for a basic. You must flip a coin
though, and on heads you do 40 more damage… but must also discard
all attached Electric Energy.
Meh.
Look at it this way. If this was a Basic Pokémon, you would be
“paying” discarding all your Electric Energy to do
another 40 damage. Not too bad, but
not too great. Now remember that this is a Stage 1 Pokémon, and
needs to get a nice solid bonus from its two attacks. Not a lot
of synergy, so I would say that it doesn’t meet the needs.
Uses/Combinations:
Combine it with an Energy moving Pokémon, then
build up a large stash of Electric Energy you can constantly
shovel onto Raichu if it gets heads on Kerzap.
Don’t forget the Low Pressure System. You could also use Harvest
Bounty Venusaur while it’s still in the Modified format to reload
it each turn (make sure one Energy on Raichu is non-Electric).
Ratings
Unlimited:
1/5-No. Sorry, any rogue, fun deck I can think of is better off
with a different Raichu.
Modified/2-on-2/ TMP:
2/5-Maybe with a Raichu ex, since they have similar needs.
Limited:
3/5-Bench damage is nice, and you can probably risk burning your
Energy for a OHKO with
Kerzap.
Summary
Another Raichu,
another sub-par Pokémon.
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