This is a rather strange article that came to me after
I wrote a Scyther article (it's probably in the Single
Cards by now, read it if you like).  The part that
struck me was when I was explaining how all the
aspects of the card.

The thing many people don't realize is the fact that
one stat does NOT make or break a card!  It is the
combination that makes them good or bad.

Take MP Mewtwo for instance.  What if his second
attack read:  Psyshock:  P 10 Flip a coin.  If heads,
the defending Pokemon is paralyzed.

Would the card still be hailed as wonderful?  Maybe in
an Energy trans deck with Psychic, but not much beyond
that.  What if it didn't have Energy Absorption?  What
if it had 50 HP?  None of these qualities is bad in
and of itself, bt they would make Mewtwo a lot less
popular.

This is really why some cards have no use; take Jungle
Victreebell.  So what if it's a Stage 2 with 80 HP, so
are Alakazam and Gengar!  The difference is, Alakazam
has a game-breaking Pokemon Power, and Gengar has an
awesome Pokemon Power and a good attack.  Victreebell
has two attacks.  Lure would be a good attack if the
other attack was good (like on Ninetales), but the
problem is, it's other attack is terrible.  It does 20
whole damage, and the only possible effect is that the
opponent may not be able to retreat next turn.  Since
Victreebell has no other status effects, it's like
Paralyze except a lot worse, because the opponent can
still attack.  If that one attack was better, it might
be a decent card, but that alone is enough to kill it.

Rattata has a similar problem.  Free retreat, 20 for
one colorless energy, awesome!  30 HP, fighting
weakness, nevermind.

This is one thing some people fail to realize;
sometimes cards are given normally unfair abilities to
make up for a crippling disadvantage, or give a card a
disadvantage to allow a cool power to not be broken.
Mr. Mime's 40 HP is hardly stellar, but with Invisible
Wall, he becomes great.  To go back to the Ratatta,
the reason why he has one of the best damage-to-energy
ratios in the game is because he's so weak.

People don't seem to consider this when looking at
some cards.  Someone once griped that Dark Charizard's
attack is weak, and Rattata could do better.  Maybe
for that one attack, but when you put it into
perspective, Dark Charizard has a better chance of
being helpful.  Also, that weak attack is really
useful in light of the fact that the other attack
doesn't hurt Mr. Mime!

Take all of this into account when choosing cards for
your decks.  While looking at how cards work together
is something you want to do, you may also want to see
how their individual attributes work by themselves.

Xhad