Pokemon Home

Pokedex

Price Guide Set List

Message Board

Pokemon GO Tips

Pokemon News

Featured Articles

Trading Card Game
- Price Guide
- Price Guide
- Card of the Day
- Professional Grading
- Killer Deck Reports
- Deck Garage
- William Hung
- Jason Klaczynski
- Jeremy's Deck Garage
- Johnny Blaze's Banter
- TCG Strategies
- Rulings Help
- Apprentice & Patch
- Apprentice League
- Spoilers & Translations
- Official Rules
- Featured Event Reports
- Top of the World
- An X-Act Science
- Error Cards
- Printable Checklist
- Places to Play

Nintendo Tips
- Red/Blue
- Yellow
- Gold & Silver
- Crystal
- Ruby & Sapphire
- Fire Red & Leaf Green
- Emerald
- SNAP
- Pinball
- TCG cart
- Stadium
- PuPuzzle League
- Pinball: Ruby/Sapphire
- Pokemon Coliseum
- Pokemon Box
- Pokemon Channel

GameBoy Help
- ClownMasters Fixes
- Groudon's Den
- Pokemon of the Week

E-Card Reader FAQ's
- Expedition
- Aquapolis
- Skyridge
- Construction Action Function
- EON Ticket Manual

Deck Garage
- Pokemaster's Pit Stop
- Kyle's Garage
- Ghostly Gengar

Cartoon/Anime
- Episode Listing
- Character Bios
- Movies & Videos
- What's a Pokemon?
- Video List
- DVD List

Featured Articles

Pojo's Toy Box

Books & Videos

Downloads

Advertise With Us
- Sponsors
- Links

Chat

About Us
Contact Us

Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Carnivine #16/102 HS Triumphant Date Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2010 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 1.38 Limited: 2.00 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst.  3 ... average.   5 is the highest rating. Back to the main COTD Page
Combos With:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion

Carnivine (Triumphant)   If it wasn’t for the fact that it appears in every set, then I reckon I would probably forget that Carnivine even existed. It’s not the most appealing Pokémon, and the fact that its attacks are nearly always unpleasantly-named doesn’t help matters. I mean . . . ‘Spit Up’ . . . ‘Sweet Saliva’ . . . ewwwww!   That said, this isn’t the worst Carnivine, or even the worst card in the world. It’s an unevolving Basic with a very nice 80 HP, a not-too-bad Fire Weakness, and a very welcome resistance to Water. The Retreat cost of two is a bit of a pain though.   Carnivine has two attacks which complement each other pretty well. Saliva Lure (ugh, there it is again!) costs [C] and allows you to drag a Pokémon up off your opponent’s Bench. That’s a pretty nice disruption effect right now: useful to get rid of immediate threats and lock something techy with a big Retreat in place (e.g.: Regice, Vileplume). The second attack, Stick and Absorb, is very expensive at [G][G][C] for a mere 30 damage, but it does have two nice bonus effects: it heals 30 damage from Carnivine and stops the Defending Pokémon from retreating next turn.   Really, Carnivine is very like a mini version of the Victreebel from Triumphant which we reviewed last week. The idea is to lock and slowly kill the Pokémon of your choice while you heal. Like Victreebel, the obvious partner is Vileplume UD to prevent the use of switching Trainers. Unfortunately, even though Carnivine is a Basic, it’s still inferior to the Stage 2 Victreebel. Any speed advantage it gains from being Basic is eroded by the higher cost of the attacks, and in the end, Victreebel’s ability to do more damage for less Energy means it will always be the better card.   Rating   Modified: 1.75 (not really workable, and there are better alternatives, but at least it tries) Limited: 3 (can be annoying and effective in a low HP environment)   Combos with . . .   Vileplume UD

conical

12/16/10: Carnivine(Triumphant)   When writing reviews, I generally try to give cards the benefit of the doubt when writing, because formats change, the metagame shifts, and people more skilled at Pokemon than I find uses for cards I never expected.   And then...we have this card.   So, Carnivine is an 80 HP Grass basic. So far, it's not terrible. Its first attack, Saliva Lure, has a Gust of Wind effect, which isn't terrible. Now, if it had an attack that abused this well, it wouldn't be that bad. Instead, it has Stick and Absorb, which does 30 damage for GGC. That is not nearly enough damage. That's bad damage for Limited. That's barely passable damage for Limited, and only because it has the bonus effect of preventing the Defending Pokemon from retreating. Yeah, it also heals, but yeah, it also has 80 HP, so it's not likely to live any sooner than it would without healing.   Of course, there's other ways to abuse Saliva Lure. For instance, you could Saliva Lure something, then next turn switch to a more powerful attacker. This isn't quite as effective as, say, Luxray GL, but it could work.   Only then, you have to retreat this thing.   With its retreat cost...of two.   This is probably better in Limited, where the healing will actually prolong its longevity for a few turns, but you know what? I'm not feeling terribly charitable with the ratings today. Therefore:   Modified:1/5 Limited: 1/5 Combos With: Arcanine SV   Yeah, that just happened. <.<