Team Rocket Set Review - Trainers and Energies

While the pokémon of the Team Rocket set mostly left something to be desired, the trainers and energy cards released in this set had an immediate impact on the meta. From ripping cards out of your opponent's hand to enabling multitype decks, this set really delivered in its support cards.

Of course, competitive players were probably better off buying singles than sifting through the dozens of unusable cards in the set to get to these, but that's neither here nor there.

Challenge! was a unique addition for aggressive strategies. Depending on your opponent's preferences, you either got 4 extra copies of Bill or you got to fill your entire bench right there on the spot, with the caveat that your opponent did get to do the same.

Both effects were powerful additions to aggro decks, so you can bet this card saw some play. I wouldn't exactly call it one of the best cards ever printed, but it absolutely had its place.

Grade: 8/10

Digger, by stark contrast, is a joke. At best it's an inconsistent way to do 10 damage, but it's more likely to hit you than the opponent due to how the card is written. If it made your opponent flip first, it still wouldn't be a great card.

I suppose you could run it in a Rage/Flail strategy, where it's increasing your damage by 10 either way. That's pretty underwhelming, but at least there's a potential very, very, very niche use-case for the card. (Just play Pluspower.)

Grade: 2/10

Goop Gas Attack was often used as a one-of, since being able to turn off a Pokémon Power could always come in handy. It was especially useful in decks that did high damage, since they didn't need to bring a counter for Mr. Mime and could just run a singleton copy of Goop Gas instead.

Overall, not a card that entire strategies were built off of, but it's an extremely nice utility card to have in the format.

Grade: 7/10

Here Comes Team Rocket! There weren't many ways to manipulate your prize cards outside of the new Rattata, but being able to see your prize cards could still set you up for better plays on future turns.

Of course, you're also giving your opponent the same benefit. If it only worked for you then it might have been a really great card, but the fact that it's symmetrical means you really have to go out of your way to make it worth including.

Grade: 3/10

Imposter Oak's Revenge was a precursor to Red Card, a card that was released after years of powercreep and still got banned. Being able to turn any hand your opponent has into just four cards is obnoxiously powerful and this card probably never should have been printed.

Credit where credit is due, though. It was definitely powerful. It was just the wrong kind of powerful if you want a fun game.

Grade: 10/10

Every deck of the era should be running Nightly Garbage Run. Shuffling 'mons and basic energy cards into your deck can prevent deck out and put key pieces of your strategy back in circulation instantly. Newer players may recognize this effect from modern versions of Super Rod, which eventually inherited the effect.

This was an instant staple that had a lasting effect on the design of multiple cards going forward.

Grade: 10/10

Rocket's Sneak Attack is a middle finger in card form. First you look at your opponent's hand, meaning you'll know their strategy moving forward, then you shuffle the best trainer in their hand back into their deck (usually Oak).

This card can prevent set up and win games by itself, but it's especially cruel when combined with Imposter Oak's Revenge. It would only get more broken in future sets with the release of yet another hand-ripper to complete the trinity.

Grade: 10/10

The Boss's Way is an odd card. Adding any of the new dark 'mons to your hand obviously sounds really solid, but the issue is that most decks aren't running multiple dark evolution lines.

The few that are running multiple dark lines absolutely should run this card, no questions asked, but if you're only running one dark evolution line, then this card usually isn't worth the deck space.

Grade: 7/10

Potion Energy isn't a card you run because it's good, so much as a card you run because it's sometimes free. If your main attacker is colorless or uses a lot of colorless energy, then Potion Energy has all the upsides of being a basic energy already, so why not use it?

That's the general idea behind this card, but that was enough for it to see play. It's presence will rarely be felt, but it's a free upgrade for certain decks.

Grade: 6/10

Full Heal Energy eliminated the last 1% chance that the original Full Heal would ever see play. Rest in peace. Any deck that has colorless energy in its attack costs should run this card, usually at just one or two copies, just to have a built-in counter for status conditions.

I'm not sure if status-based decks actually needed a nerf, but they got one anyway. A purely colorless deck can run 4 copies to really screw over status decks.

Grade: 7/10

Rainbow Energy is easily the most impactful of the new energy cards. This card facilitated multi-type decks in a tangible way, allowing itself to become any energy at the low cost of doing 10 damage to the user.

This was a completely fair tradeoff, and any decks running two or more types would jam in some copies of Rainbow Energy by default for the next few years.

Grade: 10/10

It's surprising to see how powerful the trainers and energy cards from the Team Rocket expansion were, especially after the underwhelming performance of the new dark pokémon. It's a little sad that the main gimmick of the set ended up being a dud, but at least some good came out of.

It's just unfortunate that the good came with the bad, since Dark Vileplume and the new hand-ripping trainers made for an oppressive tour de force right away.