Whassup?

The Rocket's back again with the Top 10 Pokemon and Top 5 Trainers. With the
advent of Heroes, the Top lists may change a bit, as mine has. Here it is,
and remember- this is just my opinion!

Top Pokemon:

10. Chansey. A good ol' classic! 120 HP is as high as it'll get, and Scrunch
will keep it alive even longer. Double-edge kills the Puff Ball, but it can
KO just about anything- great for getting that last Prize!

9. Blastoise. Rain Dance is still darn good. Electabuzz and his crew still
destroy him though, but having a fully-pumped Gyarados on turn two is really
assuring!

8. Lt. Surge's Electabuzz. Just great in an Explosion deck! An attack that
can unload on an opponent without hurting yourself can make an Explosion fan
drool! Charge can get the energy discarded from Discharge back in a flash.
Possible 90 for 3L? Unheard of!

7. Rocket's Moltres. Fire Wall is great, but the real power is in the Power,
Rebirth. Moltres will just keep on coming back... and back... and back...
Combined with an Energy Retrieval, you only lose 1 card when Moltres is
KO-ed.

6. Erika's Victreebel. Way awesome. Fragrance Trap is a built-in Gust of
Wind, and Razor Leaf can clean up shop. Add 80 HP, and you have a great
addition to Venusaur decks!

5. Wigglytuff. Tuff Stuff! 80 HP is good for a Stage 1. But the real power,
as we all know, comes in Do the Wave. Can you say "laser"?

4. Ditto. Transform is so interesting that, just like Scyther, no deck could
be hurt by his presence (expect Muk decks, of course!). The ability to abuse
DCE by turning it into any energy color can get this piece of Silly Putty
charged up fast, spelling a quick end for the opponent.

3. Scyther. This ninja Pokemon goes straight past broken and right to
incredible. No retreat, a fighting resistance, and a Slash attack for 3C is
great and can be splashed into any deck.

2. Rocket's Hitmonchan. Better than the original! It's almost as good as the
#1 pick (see below), but not quite. Crosscounter is broken. A 50% chance of
paying back damage double can be too good for only 1F. Magnum Punch can put
the smack down too, doing 50 damage very fast. The newest addition to
Haymaker!

1. Electabuzz. As always! Even though Heroes has brought many great Basics
(like my No. 2 pick), Electabuzz still holds the throne. His first attack is
cheap and can be a great attack to start the game with. Thunderpunch costs
only 1 colored energy and is capable of 40 damage!

Top Trainers:

5. Sabrina's Gaze. Surprise! This card may not look like much, but it can be
an Oak and Imposter Oak's Revenge in one. Gaze can make you opponent cringe
if they have really good cards in their hand.

4. The Rocket's Trap. The coin flip sets it back a bit, but when you get
heads- watch out! The ability to strip your opponent of 3 cards in the early
game is broken.

3. Secret Mission. I get to look at the other guy's hand AND discard cards
from my hand to draw new cards! Cooool!

2. Bill/Oak. I couldn't decide which was better! And I don't wanna waste 2
slots, do I? Bill and Oak belong in almost any deck, adding supreme
card-drawing power. Bill can get a key card, while Oak wins games all by
itself.

1. Super Energy Removal. Cripples the energy-intensive monsters you see in
tournaments all the time. So what if you lose 1 energy? Your opponent loses
2! A humongous blow to anyone!

There they are- some of the best cards out there! Hope you liked 'em. Catch
ya later! ;)

Send your comments, questions, or pizza orders to:

The Rocket
eliterocket_tr@hotmail.com