What's up everybody, Sean here once again. With tourneys every other
week to write deck reports about, I figure I might as well write in
about something on the "off' weeks. Anyway, with the advent of Rocket,
there are some awsome new cards, as well as some not so good ones. Today
I'll examine the Team Rocket Dragonite line.
Here we go!

Name: Dratini
Type: Basic Pokemon
Card #:53of 82
Rarity: Common
Color: Colorless
HP: 40
Weakness: none
Resistance: psychic
Retreat: 1
Attack: [CC] Wrap 10
    Flip a coin, if heads, the defending Pokemon is now Paralyzed

Name: Dark Dragonair
Type: Stage 1
Card #: 33 of 82
Rarity: Uncommon
Color: Colorless
HP: 60
Weakness: none
Resistance: Psychic
Retreat: 2
Pokemon Power: Evolutionary Light
    Once during your turn (Before your attack), you may search your deck
for an Evolution card . Show it to your opponent and put it into your
hand. Shuffle your deck afterward. This power can't be used if Dark
Dragonair is asleep, confused, or paralyzed.
Attack:[CCC] Tail Strike 20+
    Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage plus 20 more
damage; if tails, this attack does 20 damage.

Name: Dark Dragonite
Type: Stage 2
Card #: 5 of 82(holo), 22 of 82( non-holo )
Rarity: Hologram, Rare
Color: Colorless
HP: 70
Weakness: None
Resistance: Fighting
Retreat: 2
Pokemon Power: Summon Minions
    When you play Dark Dragonite from your hand, search your deck for up
to two Basic pokemon and put them on your Bench. shuffle your deck
afterward.
Attack: [CCCC] Gaint Tail 70
    Flip a coin. If tails this attack does nothing.

Now, first of all, the rocket Dratini is the only one whose HP wasn't
screwed over. But i guess that's the breaks with the rocket expansion.
Anyway, the line may seem pretty solid at first, but let's take a closer
look.
    Dratini:
The 40 Hp isn't horrible as basics go, and it is the same as its base
counterpart. While its attack is better, it costs more energy and still
does only 10. Same resistance and retreat as base one. I would go with 2
of each Dratini in a deck.

    Dark Dragonair:
Nice Poke power, allowing you to get a dark dragonite active the turn
after it comes into play. Its attack is basically a more powerful Quick
Attack, but it costs a lot for what you get. Same retreat and resistance
as base set one, but lower HP. I still prefer base dragonair.

   Dark Dragonite:
This guy I don't like at all. His power is pretty good, but that's about
all. He's got madly low HP for a stage 2, compared to the 90 and 100 of
the other two Dragonites. All the Dragonites have a coin flip attack,
which I'm not too fond of. Use fossil if you can.

Overall:
Overall, I'd say this line should simply be skipped. If you are intent
upon using the dragons, use Base Dratini, Base Dragonair and Fossil
Dragonite. The rocket versions simply require too many coin flips, for
too high a cost. Nice Pokemon powers though. Stick with the base and
fossil ones.

To show that it is POSSIBLE (not probable) to make this line playable,
I've included a deck( not one that I would use though, just the best
possible [IMO] )

Rocket Dragons:
14 Pokemon
4 Rocket Dratini
3 Dark Dragonair
3 Dark Dragonite
4 Electabuzz

23 Energy
4 DCE
19 Electric energy

23 trainers
4 bill
3 oak
3 Bosses Way
3 Plus Power
2 Scoop Up
3 Nightly garbage run
2 Comp Search
3 SER*

*Replace with Lass or Rocket Sneak Attack if Energy removal is heavy in
your area.

Strategy: get Dark Dragonite out FAST with bosses way, Comp. Search,
DCE, and Dragonair's Pokemon power. Then, if you are extremely lucky (or
have a rigged coin)
wreak havoc with 70 a turn. Stall with buzz until you get Dragonite,
then scoop up Buzz. Lass, if you choose to use it, helps stop any DCE
using pokemon's worst enemy: SER.
 Well, feel free to try this deck, and most of all, have fun. Bye now.

Sean Norris. E-mail me at snorris@snip.net