If you think this review is too long to read, just skip
straight to the scores and then read the summary for a
concise overview!
Name:
Rocket’s Meowth
Set:
EX: Team Rocket Returns
Card#:
46/109
Rarity:
Pokémon ex
Type:
Darkness
Stage:
Basic
HP:
60
Weakness:
Fighting
Resistance:
None
Retreat:
(C)
Attack#1:
(C) Snatch and Run
Search your deck for a Pokémon Tool card or Rocket’s Secret
Machine card, show it to your opponent, and put it into your
hand. If you do you may switch Rocket’s Meowth with 1 of
your Benched Pokémon. Shuffle your deck afterward.
Attack#2:
(CC) Miraculous Comeback [10x]
Flip a coin for each Pokémon in play (both yours and
your opponent’s). This attack does 10 damage times
the number of heads. Rocket’s Meowth does 10 damage
times the number of tails to itself.
Attributes:
Rocket’s Meowth
is a Basic Darkness-type Pokémon. Being a Rocket’s Pokémon
means that Rocket’s Meowth gets access to several
Team Rocket cards, as it has an owner in its name, it loses
access to some other cards. The Darkness-type is one of the
best (if not the best) type a Pokémon can be: no natural
Resistance (Unown N can reduce the damage Darkness-type
Pokémon do via its Pokémon Power in Unlimited) exists, but
there is a small amount of Weakness. Being a Basic is the
best: you can be dropped into play with ease. However,
there are no pre-Evolutions or Evolutions available to
Rocket’s Meowth. Since it is more or less “on its own”, it
will require a power boost. When we come to the HP, we see
that it is 10 above what you’d normally see on an Evolvable
Basic, which is 60 HP instead of 50 HP. Sadly, this is
still a tad low since it doesn’t Evolve. It has
Fighting Weakness, which makes sense since it is a Normal
Type in the video games. Sadly, no Resistance, which as I
keep stating, feels less like a balancing issue and more
like a cop out. Finally, the retreat is a nice since Energy
cost. This makes retreating it quite easy.
Abilities:
This card has two attacks. Snatch and Run is pretty good
for what you pay. Without being a true spoiler, let me say
at least one great Pokémon Tool will be coming back to
Modified. As for now, those Rocket’s Secret machines are
pretty useful; I’ll mention them more in the
Uses/Combinations section. In other words, being able to
get one or the other from your deck in such an inexpensive
opening attack is pretty nice.
The
second attack is pretty spiffy. For two of any Energy, you
get to flip a coin for each Pokémon in play and inflict 10
damage for each: heads means 10 to the opponent, tails means
10 to Rocket’s Meowth itself. This is very similar
to the original Team Rocket’s Meowth, although it
costs an extra Energy to keep it from being abused.
Technically, the attack just breaks even. However, having a
Basic Pokémon that can deal so much potential damage for so
little Energy, even though it requires a lot of flips and a
lot of Pokémon in play is still very potent.
The
attacks are both colorless and low priced, giving them some
simple synergy.
Uses/Combinations:
This is a generic support Pokémon for Team Rocket decks,
though some other decks will want to consider it as well.
First, most decks run at least one Pokémon Tool: Pokémon
Retriever. This in and of itself is not enough
to justify adding this card to a deck, but it does help if
you have some other conditions. Other useful Pokémon Tools
(although they tend to be more niche oriented) are Swoop!
Teleporter, Surprise! Time Machine and Pow!
Hand Extension. Swoop let’s you treat Rocket’s
Meowth as something of a “fifth Dunsparce” or
whatever Basic you really want an extra copy of. You can
use some Snatch and Run first turn, and as long as you still
have 20 HP on Rocket’s Meowth (not too unlikely for your
first/second turn) you can use Swoop! Teleporter to
discard Rocket’s Meowth and get a Sandstorm
Dunsparce who is already nice and powered up for a
Strike and Run. You could also use it to get a Basic you
need into play and (as long as it is not Rocket’s Meowth’s
first turn in play) make it legal to Evolve immediately.
Since you can usually count on that Rocket’s Meowth
or Dunsparce getting KO’d, there is also a decent
chance that you will be behind one prize… making Pow!
Hand Extension legal to use. This can be used to slow
down an opponent or to really mess them up. The most basic
choice is to Pow something up that you can OHKO,
especially if it is a Pokémon ex; that way you go from being
behind a prize to being ahead by one. That tends to work
surprisingly well with Miraculous Comeback. You can also
have fun stacking multiple Double Rainbow Energy onto
the same Evolution. Most Pokémon don’t need that much
Energy, and as such you’re really just reducing damage. As
an added bonus, the right choice can let you get rid of the
Energy in two ways: chose something that an Ancient
Technical Machine [Rock] would make into a Basic to
force a discard, or force it onto something that was
supposed to Evolve into a Pokémon ex the next turn. One
way or another, this usually makes the Energy dead. Fun
stacking two Multi Energy together, too.
That’s a lot and it’s a bit rushed, but I am low on time and
there is still more! Rocket’s Meowth naturally fits
as discard fodder for Rocket’s Mission. Since it can
use any color of Energy, in Modified R Energy can let
you power up and go for a Comeback out of the blue. This
can ruin an opponent’s strategy quite handily. It means
that Double Colorless Energy can do the same thing in
Unlimited. Again, pretty handy for Team Rocket decks.
Finally, you can specifically use this to set up for Dark
Slowking from Team Rocket Returns and Primeape
from Fire Red/Leaf Green. Between Rocket’s Meowth
and say a benched Fire Red/Leaf Green Pidgeot, you
should be able to set up for several quit, solid hits using
their Pokémon Tool discarding attacks.
Ratings
Unlimited:
3.5/5-Not a great Pokémon, but it is great for Team Rocket
decks… and has some minor synergy with Sneasel. Hey,
Rocket’s Meowth can go off turn one, after all. Who cares
if it KO’s itself as long as it OHKOs the opponent’s only
Pokémon.
Modified:
3.5/5-Again, great for Team Rocket decks and certain other
specialists. Finally, don’t underestimate it with that
Swoop! Teleporter combo.
Limited: 4/5-From
experience, I know it can be great here. Get those few
precious Trainers you pulled, and before most opponents
could KO you, go for Miraculous Comeback and take them down
with you!
Summary
It
is a niche card, but it is well suited to the decks it fits.
