I've been hearing a lot of people's opinions on Fossil, so I figured it's
time I gave my 2 cents on some of the set's overlooked/overrated cards.


UPS AND DOWNS OF....

Fossil.

Ups: It can evolve into 3 different Pokemon, 2 of which can evolve further.
Result: Your opponent doesn't know WHAT to expect.

Downs: 10 HP, plus your opponent can remove it from your hand with Lass.
Result: Hard time staying around for long.

Kabutops.

Downs (there's a reason for this switch): 60 HP for a stage 2 Pokemon seems
kinda pathetic (even if it is 6x as much HP as the Fossil it came from)

Ups: Nasty attacks help balance out the poor HP. 2 energy for 30 damage is
nice, but its real strength is Absorb. 40 damage plus it removes damage
counters. Against a deck weak against fighting, Kabutops is practically
invincible (80 damage per attack and all damage counters removed....yeah,
I'd say it'd be tough to kill.)

Aerodactyl. (Don't panic, I'm not dissing this card TOTALLY.)

Ups: Plenty of them. The Pokemon Power prevents your opponent from
evolving, which will totally KILL a Rain Dance deck. With resistance to
Fighting (it's own type!), you don't have to worry as much about Confuse.

Downs: "Primitive Strength" can wind up working against you in a lot of
cases (cough charizard cough) Add in the fact that you have to evolve it
from the fledgeling Fossil, which hardly stands a snowball's chance in
*whoops!* of staying around for very long, and you could start to wonder if
the pros outway the cons on this guy.

Gambler.

Ups: Very nice trainer for Rain Dances. The ability to draw 8 cards, which
could potentially mean 8 energies :), is a nice ability.

Downs: You have to flip a coin, and if it comes up tails, you only get to
draw ONE card. *Shrugs* Oh well, I guess that's why they call it Gambler.



-XaqTN
wmpotter@caves.net