A Closer Look at the Kabuto Family
        By sneasel4856

 Part two of my look at Water Pokémon who have become Fighting type and
vice versa will focus on Kabuto and Kabutops.  These two Shellfish
Pokémon made their debut in the Fossil expansion as fighting Pokémon who
saw little play because their basic form was the Mysterious Fossil
(with a measly 10 HP)  and Kabuto had only 30 HP, making it hard for
Kabutops to see any play.   Well now Kabuto and Kabutops have been
released as water Pokémon and can now be played more easily because of
the Fossil Egg.  First, let's look at Kabuto.

Kabuto--Fossil
Type:  Fighting
Stage 1 Evolution
30 HP
Pokémon Power:  Kabuto Armor Whenever an attack  (even your own)  does
damage to Kabuto  (after applying Weakness and Resistance)  that attack
does only half the damage  (rounded down to the nearest 10).  Any other
effects of attacks still happen.)  This power stops working while Kabuto
is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.
1--Scratch  10
Weakness:  Grass
Resistance:  XXX
Retreat Cost:  1
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Kabuto--Neo Discovery
Type:  Water
Stage 1 Evolution
50 HP
Pokémon Power--Revive Friends  Once during your turn (before you
attack)  you may flip a coin.  If heads, search your deck for a card
named Kabuto and put it on your bench.  Shuffle your deck afterwards.
Treat the new Kabuto as a basic Pokémon.  This power can't be used if
Kabuto is Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed (or if your bench is full).
F1--Work Together  10+
 Flip a coin.  If heads, this attack does 10 damage plus 10 more damage
for each Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto, and Kabutops on your Bench.
Weakness:  Grass
Resistance:  XXX
Retreat Cost:  1

First I’ll compare the two Kabutos:
 -Type:  Fossil is Fighting; Neo is Water.
 -HP:  Fossil has 30 HP; Neo has 50 HP.
 -Attacks:  Neo can do 60 for 1 Fighting and 1 Colorless Energy, easily
being the better of the two.  (Combos well with Neo Omanyte’s power,
Revive Fossil)
 -Bottom stats:  Both are the same.

 The Neo Kabuto is obviously the better of the two.  Now lets look at
Kabutops.

Kabutops--Fossil
Type:  Fighting
Stage 2 Evolution
60 HP
FF--Sharp Sickle  30
FFFF--Absorb  40
 Remove a number of damage counters from Kabutops equal to half the
damage done to the Defending Pokémon  (after applying Weakness and
Resistance) (rounded up to the nearest 10).  If Kabutops has fewer
damage counters than that, remove all of them.
Weakness:  Grass
Resistance:  XXX
Retreat Cost:  1
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Kabutops--Neo Discovery
Type:  Water
Stage 2 Evolution
90 HP
1--Slash  20
F--Hydrocutter  40x
 Flip a number of coins equal to the number of Energy cards attached to
Kabutops.  This attack does 30 damage times the number of heads.  You
can’t flip more than 3 coins this way.
Weakness:  Grass
Resistance:  XXX
Retreat Cost:  2

Now for Kabutops:
 -Type:  Fossil is Fighting; Neo is Water.
 -HP:  Fossil has 60 HP; Neo has 90 HP.
 -Attacks:  Fossil’s attacks are a bit more solid, plus it can heal
itself while Neo can do 20 for 1 Colorless Energy and for one to three
Energies (one of which must be Fighting), can average 20-60 damage,
respectively.
 -Bottom stats:  Neo has a slightly more expensive retreat cost.

 The choice of which Kabutops to use depends on whether you’re willing
to risk a coin flip or not.  I prefer the Neo Kabutops, personally, but
the final choice is yours.

This is part one of a four part series.  Watch for:
 Pt. 3: A Closer Look at the Omanyte Family
 Pt. 4: A Closer Look at Corsola, featuring a deck using these Pokémon.

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sneasel4856@yahoo.com