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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

Greenzan goose	Zapdos Lv.45 MD   Hello all of you, are you ready? Today’s COTD today is the second best Legendary Bird in this set and can pack quite a punch. 80 for (L)(L)(C) is nice, able to OHKO most stage 1 pokemon and definitely will 2HKO any fully evolved pokemon. Only drawback is the 40 damage to one of your bench pokemon, but there are two ways to get rid of that problem. The first is using Old Amber or Mudkip (With the poke-body Submerge) to negate the damage (There may be more pokemon that can do that then just those two…) The second is put the 40 damage on a Gyarados, nothing more awesome than not only doing 80 damage, but getting a benched Gyarados set up at the same time! Now, the poke-power isn’t the best but isn’t bad, the coin flip kills it, and along with the phrase ‘from your hand’ (No more Call energing it.) It just stinks (Well, could be worse.) The HP is nice, and the resistance is nice, the weakness is only a bit more used than Articuno’s, and this thing also has the dreaded 2 retreat cost.   Pros – Nice attack Nice HP Nice Weakness and resistance   Cons – Not only is the power flippy, but the phrase ‘from your hand’ makes it even worse The dreadful 2 much retreat cost   Modified – not bad, not the best though… 3.5/5   Limited – As long as you get this and Old Amber you win! 4.5/5   Come on people! It’s a bird! Not a rock! Two retreat cost is ridiculous!   “Thought: Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.”
Michael from Denmark 2 worlds and 4 national finals. 2008 Switzerland Champ	Zapdos   Flippy pokepower that may be usefull if you can find something special to do with the damagde.. it does fill the bench though which i dangerous especially if facing dusknoir. Its attack does do 80 which may be used for constructed sometimes. Limited is where this card shines 80 (90 with power) is a very powerfull amount to do in limited as it will get you a few faaaaaast ko's it will often end the game.. the 40 is bad if you retreated much during the games but most often af few fresh pokes will be willing to take a hit for you to bring the game home!   constructed 2.5 limited 4.75
Jigglypuff13	6/3 Zapdos Lv. 45 (MD)   The second of the legendary trio, Zapdos has the same foundations as the other 2 Legendary Birds with the 100HP, x2 Weakness, -20 Fight Resistance, 2 Retreat Cost, a coming into play Poké-Power and a single attack that uses 3 energy. Unlike the other two, it’s Poké-Power, Sheet Lightning, has an obvious set of decks to be used it, damage spreading or sniping decks. Even though Sheet Lightning still needs a flip to work, it is probably a better and more useful Poké-Power that Freezing Screech. This is because, while they are both nice effects, you can use Zapdos in many more decks with great effectiveness than Articuno, since spreading/sniping decks will love the extra 10 spread without attacking (one main one that comes to mind is Kabutops (MD) due to it’s lack of sniping without help), where as while Paralyzes is nice, no deck can use it in the same way as the extra spread. Of course, while the extra 10 spread is very nice, there is the risk of it failing due to the flip. Without playing more Zapdos down on the same time (which will use up valuable bench space), you are going to want to use Super Scoop Up, which also has a chance of failing, which creates even more risk to the extra spread. However, with such a brilliant effect, the risk is well worth the reward, just it might be a good idea to have a back up as well.   At first glance, Zapdos has a nice attack, 80 for LLC. Just about any stage would like that attack, so the fact it’s on a basic is quite rare. However, the effect is a massive drawback. Self damage is always bad, but is especially nasty this format due to the abundance of snipers and spreaders in the format. Gyarados (MT) doesn’t mind being damaged since it then allows it to Flail next turn for 70 or more if it gets sniped. Mudkip (CG) or Old Amber (MD) could be used, I suppose, to stop the damage while one of them is on the bench, or I suppose you could damage Zapdos itself with the attack. No matter what, you are going to hinder yourself in some way by either having some weak basics on the bench to take up valuable bench space, or making Gyarados something that is likely to be sniped, or weakening Zapdos so it’s easier to KO or weakening anything else really. No matter what, it’s going to be a massive drawback.   And then there’s its counters. Cessation Crystal is an obvious one to stop Sheet Lightning, but Pachirisu (GE) or Windstorm could be used to get rid of Cessation Crystal. Psychic Lock (Gardevoir (SW)) and those sort of attacks can stop Sheet Lightning, and unless you KO those Pokémon quickly, there is no way of countering them. If you are going to play Zapdos onto the bench and not get it back into your hand again, then it’s liable to be sniped itself. Magmortar Lv.X (MT) would love to get an easy KO against Zapdos using it’s attack. Other snipers would be able to KO Zapdos in a few turns as well. If you end up putting Zapdos up as an attacker, then most decks can do the required 100 for the OHKO. Gallade (SW) will happily flip 3 prizes to OHKO Zapdos. Gardevoir can only 2HKO Zapdos, but does stop other Sheet Lightning from being played. Magmortar (SW) decks can load the 5 energies on to it to do the required 100 using Flame Blast. Skittles will happily load 5 different energies onto it for a OHKO. Other decks will probably be able to do the 100 as well, though many T2 decks will have trouble without using Plus powers or Strength Charms. The x2 Lightning weakness is pretty good as well, with few good Lightning types in the format. There may be the occasional one, but they are few and far between.   Ratings:   Modified: Many sniping or spreading decks will be able to find a good way to use Sheet Lightning, and there are ways of using it for the attack, but it is very risky no matter how you use it. Sheet Lightning is great, but I think the certainty that comes from an attack is better. The self damage is very risky, and is probably not worth trying to find a way of using it. If you are feeling lucky and a willing to take the risk, this is your card. For everyone else, try something else. 2.5/5   Limited: 100HP should be enough to see it live for a long time. However, spreading is very rare here, so nothing can really take advantage of Sheet Lightning. Raging Thunder can and will OHKO just about everything you face here, but the 40 damage your Pokémon take every time you attack with it will quickly see your Pokémon being KO-ed by your own attacks, which is never good. Could be useful here though. 3.5/5
Monster of the Lake  PoJoMOTL	Hoy vamos a hablar de Zaptwo. Zapdos! It's no Team Rocket's Zapdos, in terms of affecting the metagame, but Zapdos is situational. That is a fancy word for "only works in a damage spread deck." Combos Zapdos swarm + Super Scoop Up! Woo! Go go rigged coin for 80 to your opponent's bench! I'm not going to go in depth here, but obviously you are supposed to throw in things like Jolteon*, Empoleon, and the works. You know, spread damage. Attacks So you finally powered up your shiny Zapdos. You're playing one of those ubiquitous Empoleon decks. You have to do 40 to someone on your bench, and then your opponent will snipe that card for the last prize. Pretend that Empoleon Lv.X doesn't exist, so that this shoddy scenario works. What do you do? Drop down an Old Amber! "As long as Old Amber is on your Bench, prevent all damage done to Old Amber by attacks (both yours and your opponent's)." Old Amber is a legal target for Raging Thunder, and takes no damage from it. Nifty, huh? Bottom stats Weakness to Lightning is only slightly worse than Weakness to Metal. What are you going to play against, Charizard d? Resistance to Fighting is schweet, making Gallade flip over that extra prize! And um, stopping Claydol from doing 40. Or 30 with a DRE. Wynaut? RC of 2 is pretty ugh, though. Come on, it's a friggin' Lightning Bird! It should have negative RC! Ratings (1 - Sux, 3 - Meh, 5 - Rox) Modified: 3/5. Average card. Can't abuse DRE or Scramble, playing some Lightning-only deck is suicide, and the power is tails-fails. Limited: 2/5. Terrible in here, because that 40 to bench will hurt you a lot more in Limited. You can't attack with it, it has a retreat cost of two, and has damage spread on a flip, once per game. At least you can sell it to a little kid. Unlimited: 1/5. Naaaah. Zapdos is an intriguing card, so intriguing that 2002 side event winner against the janitor World Champion Big Chuck 01 has agreed to give an EXCLUSIVE quote on this card, like he did for Rocket's Zapdos some eight years ago. He might still be #14 global as well. (6:48:12 PM) Big Chuck 01: "decent card. would never attack with it, but the power is solid. works well with other damage spread"
Brad Valila Canada	Zapdos lv 45   Well another legend I don't like:( 100HP is great for a non-evolving basic with the retreat a little too high again. However, the weakness is neat; weaness too lightning hides it from the majority of decks being played right now and the resistance means Gallade will need to flip an extra prize to take this out! The power is nothing to marvel over, flip for 1 damage counter when you play this. I'd like it better if you could use this each turn. Raging Thunder is costly. EEC for 80 is great, however, dealing 40 to one of your own pokemon is dangerous.   Limited-Don't use this here, you'll lose.   Modified-2/5 Limited-1/5
Alazor	Zapdos (Majestic Dawn)-- speaking of power outages.... Best to use this card with Old Amber and Super Scoop Up in Modified and with Zapdos ex (FRLG) and Mr.Mime (Jungle) in Unlimited. The basic idea is to have a benched pokemon that won't take damage when it's benched and or is able to stall a bit, before Zapdos powers up, then you can play another pokemon until he is powered up, maybe with Rotom (Majestic Dawn) and attack. Once he is damaged, Scoop him up and attack again when he is powered up again. 80 damage for 3 energy, now that's a little better. Modified 2.5/5 Unlimited 2/5
The Red Rose	Zapdos level 45 Okay so I am back and starting off with Legendary birds lol Zapdos doesnt really do anything for me the pokepower is very iffy if you hit it its great but something a little more stable would be nice. the attack on the other hand I like 80 damage for 2 lightning and a colorless is really good and the added 40 to the bench is nice....sure the empoleon line does the same thing but stilol bench attacking is bench attacking right Modified – The Power is iffy at best but the attack makes up for it still it wont kill some of the big hitters out there today 2.5/5  Limited – cant go wrong with anything that can kill active4 and damage bench especially on a basic 3.5/5  The Red Rose
Milk Man	Zapdos Lv. 45 Day 2 Legendary Birds\ Hello once again, sorry to all I missed yesterday, busy week.  Today we're looking at Zapdos, The electric Pokemon. Overall it has its ups and downs, unfortunately more downs than ups.  HP is pretty nice for a basic, weakness isn't bad, and the resistance is more than decent. The attack and power are meh at best... You'll get more out of the power if you play SU/SSU but once again I'm not a fan of coin flips, and this way you'll be seeing more coin flips than I care to ever see in a single game. As far as the attack is concerned I wouldn't even bother, 80 for 3(L) isn't too bad, I just really don't like doing 40 to one of your own unless it utilizes flail etc. Modified- 2/5 Limited- 2.9/5
ToTaL DoMiNaTiOn	Zapdos- Pros: A Resistance   Cons: The rest of the card   Zapdos really isn't worth wasting your time on Modified:1 Limited:1.5