Pokemon Examination: Lt.
Surge's Fearow
by Sidewinder (April 14,
2000)
Lt. Surge's Fearow will
be found in the upcoming Gym Expansion set. I have always liked Fearow
and like his Lt. Surge
version just as much.
First lets look at the translations.
Lt. Surge's Spearow
Type: Basic Colorless Pokemon
LV.17 HP 50
C: Whirlwind: 10
Effect: If your opponent has any Benched Pokemon, he or she
choose 1 of them and switch it with the Defending Pokemon.
(Do the damage first.)
CC: Sky Attack: 40
Effect: Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing.
n/a Retreat
L Weakness
F Resistance (Damage -30)
No. 021 (Common)
Lt. Surge's Fearow
Type: Stage 1 Colorless Pokemon (evolves from Lt. Surge's Spearow)
LV.30 HP 70
CC: Machine Gun Drill: 10x
Effect: Flip 5 coins. This attack does 10 damage times the
number of heads.
CCC: Grasp: 30
Effect: During your opponent's next turn, the Defending
Pokemon cannot retreat.
n/a Retreat
L
Weakness
F Resistance (Damage -30)
No. 022 (Rare Hologram)
Strategy:
Lt. Surge's Spearow is
not a bad Pokemon by any means. Although he is not very strong, he
possesses HP enough to
get to Fearow. Whirlwind also can serve as a stall, just like
Ninetales's
Lure. Sky Attack,
although not reliable, deals good damage for a low cost is you get the good
flip.
Also, Spearow has no
retreat cost, which helps greatly if he gets in trouble. His resistance
to
Fighting always helps,
but he's weak to Electabuzz.
In the Retreat
Cost/Weakness/Resistance department, Lt. Surge's Fearow is the same as Spearow.
However, Fearow has 20
more HP and two better attacks. Machine Gun Drill can do 50 damage for 2
Colorless Energy, which
can be accomplished in 1 turn with Double Colorless. Grasp, unlike
Machine Gun
Drill, does 30 damage reliably, along with keeping the Defending Pokemon put
for
another turn. There
are really not many weaknesses for this card, the Weakness to Buzz is probably
the worst one.
Since Fearow is
colorless, he can fit into any deck. He is versatile, but I'm not sure
if he'd be the one
you want in your deck.
Since he has no real heavy hitting attack, which is usually what I use Stage
1 &
2's for, he might now be exactly what folks are looking for.
Strengths:
Spearow has solid HP and resistance to
Fighting; Fearow has solid HP, can do 50 damage for just 1
Double Colorless Energy and Grasp is
just like Slash with an added bonus, Fearow has resistance to
Fighting, both Fearow and Spearow have
no Retreat Cost.
Weaknesses:
Both Spearow and Fearow are weak to
Lightning, which means even for Fearow a 1 turn kill can
result, both Spearow's Sky Attack and
Fearow's Machine Gun Drill are unreliable and may do
absolutely nothing.
Conclusion:
Although Lt. Surge's Fearow is not the
best Stage 1, and even not the best Colorless Stage 1
(Wigglytuff), Taking your chances on
coin flips and keeping your opponent's Pokemon stuck in it's
place for another turn can be really
fun, especially if you're in a casual environment. So, if you're
looking for a fun Pokemon to play, put
Fearow on your list, although he may be a bit hard to get.
Thanks for reading,
Sidewinder