Team Rocket Set Review - Water

The new water-types of the Team Rocket set are actually pretty interesting. None became tier-defining staples, as is typical for the set, but there are some playables mixed in here. One important distinction when discussing the Team Rocket set is that most of the cards are more "fun" than "good," but every now and then a card strikes a nice balance between the two.

We are continuing the theme of cards designed around the existence of Base Blastoise, though, with most of the water-types having low damage output compared to other types.

I suppose the premise behind this Squirtle is that it's a splashable way to do 20 damage from a water-type? For what it's worth, this card is a solid way to hit Fossil Magmar.

Unfortunately it doesn't fit well into Blastoise decks, which mainly want to run water energy anyway. It's very strange to see a Squirtle that's only worth considering outside of water decks, but here we are, I suppose.

Grade: 4/10

The premise behind Dark 'mons is supposed to be that they have lower HP and better attacks. So it sure was an interesting choice to release a Dark Wartortle with practically useless attacks.

A smart opponent isn't going to just ram into you after you use Mirror Shell, and Doubleslap would be a joke even on a basic. When compared to Base Wartortle, this might be the biggest downgrade in the set.

Grade: 1/10

Dark Blastoise occasionally sees play as a one-of in Rain Dance builds. Hydrocannon can hit 70 damage for 4 energy, compared to Base Blastoise's Hydro Pump which hits 60 damage for a staggering 5 energy.

Rocket Tackle is also a cute trick, combining damage prevention with a damaging attack. This card honestly might be playable on its own merits, even outside of Rain Dance.

Grade: 7/10

Rocket's Psyduck line abandons the concepts of trainer lock and energy disruption for a draw engine. They're not bad cards, but it's hard to recommend them in formats where Professor Oak is legal.

Still, these are decent cards in a vacuum and I could see them fueling evolution decks in something more restrictive like the Prop 15/3 format. They don't deserve a terrible grade.

Grade: 5/10

Dark Golduck looks awesome. We love to see the phrase "draw 3 cards." But context is everything. As stated with Psyduck, our trainers give us all the draw power we could ever want in most formats where this card is legal.

Take note that this is a rare example of a Kanto-era water-type with a very efficient attack in Super Psy. Of course, it gets a pass because it requires psychic energy instead of water, meaning Rain Dance doesn't insta-charge it.

Grade: 6/10

The tradition of "Magikarp is bad" must be upheld! We do get an interesting attack this time in the form of Rapid Evolution...but can you really afford to send out a 30 HP 'mon on turn 3?

This is another example of the second attack being a fun joke, where it sounds good until you realize what 'mon it's stuck on. Exactly as bad as the original Magikarp and exactly as perfect for the gimmick.

Grade: 1/10

Dark Gyarados isn't a very consistent card, but it's an extremely funny card. Final Beam lets it flip a coin to potentially do massive damage when it gets knocked out. This is the earliest example of a Power that triggers when the holder is knocked out.

I could see a deck with multiple Dark Gyarados stealing a few wins off of Final Beam, but obviously a deck that relies on coin flips will struggle to get consistent back-to-back wins.

Grade: 7/10

Dark Vaporeon is probably the most usable of the Dark Eeveelutions introduced in this set. Whirlpool removes an energy card with no coin flip required, which is obviously an interesting option.

You might think this would slot right into the Fossil Golduck deck, but in practice it's just a worse version of that card, with a worse pre-evolution. You can afford to maintain a small number of 'mons in control decks, so there's little incentive to use this card.

Grade: 4/10

While none of the new water-types created new archetypes or defined the meta, Dark Blastoise and Dark Gyarados did at least give Rain Dance a few more options to consider. When you're only introducing three new evolution cards, having two out of three be playable is a pretty respectable batting average.

Not sure what they were thinking with Dark Vaporeon, though. It delivered on the low HP you expect from Dark 'mons, but it sure didn't have the "strong attacks" that we were promised at the time.