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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

		Flying Pikachu Rising Rivals Date Reviewed: March 25, 2011 Ratings & Reviews Summary Modified: 1.75 Limited: 3.00 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst.  3 ... average.   5 is the highest rating. Back to the main COTD Page
Combos With:

Baby Mario 2010 UK National Seniors Champion	Flying Pikachu RR This is a card that started out as a Japanese Promo, then became a WoTC Promo, then got reprinted just for nostalgia fans in Rising Rivals. Why are we reviewing it today? Ummm . . . because Pikachu is a mouse Pokémon, mice can be pets, and it was either this or some rubbish Rattata . . . that’s why. Actually, this is a pretty important card. Because of this, in the video game we actually have Pikachu that can (weirdly) use the move Fly. You can get one with the HGSS Pokéwalker, and I believe their have been some event Pikachu with the move too. Another unique aspect of this card is that instead of having Fighting Weakness like you would expect, this Pikachu has a massive -30 RESISTANCE to it. Of course, Resistance isn’t too much of a factor when you only have 40 HP, but bear in mind that Donphan Prime would need an Expert Belt to one-shot it (!). On the other hand, Pikachu does have some neat ways of protecting itself. Thundershock gives you a coin flip for Paralysis and Fly gives you a flip for complete immunity. Sadly, neither attack does very much damage and Fly costs a massive [C][C][C]. Is it playable then? Sadly not. Partly because there are no really tournament-playable Raichu out there, and partly because if you were using Raichu your best option would be to use the Promo Pikachu with the Recharge attack. Coin flip Energy acceleration and 70 HP make it a safer bet than this card. Best to keep this one in the binder as it makes a nice collectible. Rating Modified: 1.5 (not great, just a fun and gimmicky novelty card)
Mad Mattezhion  Professor Bathurst League Australia	Flying Pikachu (Rising Rivals)   Hello Pojo readers, I'm back! I recently acquired a shiny new phone on a contract so I can send email without having to rely on the terrible home connection (the landlines are a horror story but mobile coverage is adequate). Once I figure out all of the extra buttons I'll be a regular contributor again!   But now to today's review. Flying Pikachu is a secret rare card that is filling the 'mouse' slot of the Household Pets theme week. The list of Pokemon I suggested was different but I must say that I like Bill's changes, even though I missed reviewing most of them which is kind of embarrassing.   Enough of the pre-review blathering, now I'll get down to business.   Flying Pikachu is a reprint of an old Promo card that came out alongside Surfing Pikachu for one of the movie releases (Surfing Pikachu was also reprinted as a secret rare in Rising Rivals)   Due to the name it can't be evolved into a normal Raichu and I wouldn't hold out for Flying Raichu. Poke'mon USA were going to make one but there was a terrible incident with a kite in the testing stages and the unlucky Raichu involved is still in therapy (as is the 5-year-old boy was trying to celebrate his birthday, the poor traumatised mite!).   As such this card only has its own abilities to rely on if it is on the field. And that is terrible, because this balloon-loving party animal has terrible HP.   Now that I'm finished telling tasteless jokes I'll go through the stats in detail. Flying Pikachu is a Lightning type Basic with 40 HP, no weakness, -30 Fighting resistance (old school!), a retreat cost of 1 and 2 attacks.   If the HP had been around the 70 mark it would be an okay card by today's standards (and an absolute terror by the standards of the game when it was first released!) but those lovely bottom stats (especially the no weakness/Fighting resistance) are made worthless by the miserable 40 HP. Maybe the attacks will make up the difference?   Thundershock is the first attack, costing [l] for 10 damage and a coin flip for paralysis. This makes for a solid opening/delaying attack on any Poke'mon but you need a playable second attack to get the maximum benefit and this helium-happy mouse just doesn't have it.   Fly is the second attack and would have been a brilliant attack back in the days of 8ase Set but just doesn't cut it today. For [c][c][c] you get 30 damage and a coin flip for immunity from all effects of attack, which is helpful when it works but can be played around too easily for competitve use. The ability to abuse Double Colourless Energy (or Upper Energy in a Limited event) makes this card slightly better, but the damage is way below par. The use of DCE made Flying Pikachu a possible counter to Haymaker decks with its speed and flippy immunity back in the bad old days of Base Set but even then the attack power was below par and the HP was a major handicap. Also, the English release of Flying Pikachu didn't happen until just before the end of Haymaker's dominance of the game when the release of Neo Destiny and format/rule changes greatly altered the tournament scene (for the better I must say, but all changes cause a bit of nostalgia).   In the end, this card was doomed to remain a gimmick by its abominable HP score and no reprinted Poke'mon has ever had the same raw attack power it had when it was first released, so just keep this card safe and secure in your binder.   Modified: 2 (Pikachu looks pretty and can stall effectively if you have a rigged coin, if only it could evolve) Limited: 3 (It cheap attacks and the balloon-mad mouse can abuse Upper Energy, but you really should just keep it safe in the binder for trade purposes and the 40HP is still abominable)   Combos with: The binder. Immediately
virusyosh	Hello again, everyone! Now that my massive buildup of graduate school work has ended, I can get back to doing reviews! Anyway, we are ending this week by reviewing a Rising Rivals reprint of a very old promo. Today's Card of the Day is Flying Pikachu. Flying Pikachu is a basic Lightning Pokemon. Lightning is a feared type in the Modified metagame today, with Luxray GL Lv. X commonly seen and Magnezone surging in a rise of popularity. 40 HP is abysmal for a non-Evolving Basic (note there isn't a Flying Raichu or a Raichu that evolves from Flying Pikachu, so it can't evolve), so it probably won't be able to even take one hit without being Knocked Out. No Weakness is amazing, Fighting Resistance is also good (although Machamp SF doesn't care and will Take Out), and a Retreat Cost of 1 is decent and totally payable. Flying Pikachu has two attacks, Thundershock and Fly. Thundershock deals 10 damage for [L] and can Paralyze on a coin flip. Not too bad for an opening turn or in Limited, but this won't do that well in Modified. Fly, on the other hand, costs an outrageous [CCC] for a coin flip. If heads, the attack does 30 damage and you prevent all effects of attacks including damage done to Flying Pikachu on your next turn; if tails, the attack does nothing. Although the protective effect is great when you flip heads, a 3 energy tails-fails attack really isn't worth using. Modified: 1/5 As cool as it is, Flying Pikachu won't see much use here. Low HP, disappointing damage output, and flippy attacks don't help its case. It's pretty awesome binder candy, though. Limited: 1.75/5 While not something you should never play, I can't really recommend putting it into a Limited deck either. While Thundershock is decent as an opening move or to stall, Fly is really too flippy and requires too much Energy on a Pokemon with 40 HP. If you are running Lightning and need another Pokemon you could run it, but otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.