For this post, I'll be covering Wizards Black Star Promos #1-28, or in other words: Every English generation 1 promo card. While there are some Japanese-exclusive promos we didn't get overseas, this will at least mean that you can find a review of every English generation 1 card somewhere on my blog. (And I may hunt down those Japanese promos next.)
We'll wait and cover #29-53 later, after I've gone over the Neo and e-Series cards. I will still treat these as if they're being judged against gen 2 cards though, for the record.
Unlike with many of my card reviews, I actually will have listings for the alternate art cards, despite them being mechanically identical and thus graded the same. This is mainly so that there's no confusion, since I don't want you wondering whether #9 and #14 were forgotten.
Note that while I did cover Promos #1-15 in the Base-Fossil reviews, they won't necessarily receive the same grades here. In that post I was only grading them on their performance in the extremely limited Base-Fossil metagame, but now they're being compared to the entire WotC era. This can drastically impact a card's viability in some cases.
Pikachu (#1) is a pretty solid evolving basic, even in the context of the entire first two generations. 60 HP for an evolving basic was rare and was often stapled onto cards that couldn't attack on the first turn as a consolation prize.
There are also better options for a Raichu card when considering the wider metagame, which makes every Pikachu slightly more valuable by association. Unfortunately, there's still no reason to use it over a certain other Pikachu promo.
Grade: 4/10
I gave Electabuzz some credit in my Base-Fossil reviews for having a colorless attack, but that's not nearly as unique or important when you include the entire card pool from the early blocks.
It also only had to compete with Base Electabuzz previously, and is now being measured against cards like Rocket's Zapdos and Lt. Surge's Electabuzz. It doesn't really have a place in the wider card pool, sadly.
Grade: 3/10
Mewtwo was one of the best Psychic-types in the Base-Fossil format and this remains true when expanding out to the greater card pool. However, Psychic decks aren't nearly as dominant in later formats as they were at the time of this card's release.
It especially hates the new Darkness-type, featuring several powerful cards that all resist Psychic. Still playable, but not the top threat it once was.
Grade: 8/10
Pikachu (#4) got even better with the release of Dark Raichu, a card it pairs perfectly with. Recharge lets you fully power up Dark Raichu by turn 2, allowing for big spread damage right away.
While Lightning-type decks aren't exactly at the forefront of the metagame, this is still easily the best Pikachu card for competitive play.
Grade: 6/10
Dragonite remains unimportant. It's not even the best Dragonite and is several levels removed from being a competitive staple. Stage 2 cards got much better in the Neo era, so it's no surprise that a Stage 2 who couldn't even keep up with the original metagame would get left behind.
There are also better support options, as drawing and searching became staple effects of attacks going forward.
Grade: 2/10
Arcanine never got worse, but it now has to compete with the much more prominent Blaine's Arcanine. This card was at least something you could splash into an Arcanine deck in the Base-Fossil era, but now that the best Arcanine isn't even technically related to this one, it's a hard sell.
You could still technically use it in a Rage deck, but those became less and less prominent. They also gained new options that don't lock you into the Fire type.
Grade: 3/10
Jigglypuff now has the honor of being outclassed not only by other regular Jigglypuff cards, but also by a Jigglypuff that can't even evolve (Erika's Jigglypuff). While the Jigglypuff line was synonymous with beatdown at this time, they certainly didn't use this guy to do it.
Not the worst evolving Basic, but it really has no place in a deck since there are just better versions of the same card.
Grade: 2/10
Mew was originally played as a counter to Promo Mewtwo, but that was at a time when a huge chunk of the metagame was playing Mewtwo. Niche counters only work if they counter something you're seeing in a large number of games, so this card gradually lost its place.
It can still do some gimmicky things with Devolution Beam and Psywave isn't a bad attack, but it just isn't worth the deck space in most decks.
Grade: 2/10
This Mew is just a holographic version of the previous Mew, but in order to avoid confusion I'll include it as a bonus. It obviously deserves the same grade as the card it's based on.
If you're wondering why we have this seemingly pointless extra, it's because Mew was originally a Fossil card in Japan. They decided to make it exclusive to promos in the west, presumably just to piss us off.
Grade: 2/10
Meowth was bad on release and bad forever. There are far, far better Colorless Basics you could add to your deck. Hell, there are better Meowth cards and Meowth isn't even a meta-relevant 'mon!
I do have to reserve the lowest score for truly bad cards, but this comes close to being completely pointless.
Grade: 2/10
Eevee does have more things to evolve into in later sets, so that's cool. Unfortunately, a deck themed around multiple Eeveelutions never really became a thing. It's fun as a gimmick, but it can't keep up with the best decks.
I do have to give it a few points for technically being the centerpiece of a deck in some formats, but the deck it's central to is so niche that I'd rather run the Lt. Surge's Raticate deck.
Grade: 3/10
I didn't value this Mewtwo highly when the options were limited and I certainly don't value it highly when they're expanded. A lot of the oldest Psychic-types actually did age pretty well, all things considered, but this isn't one of them.
It has no place in any meta-relevant deck and you'd only ever run it because you "want to make it work."
Grade: 2/10
Like before, I think this would only ever see play as a one-of in an Energy Trans deck. The issue is that those decks gradually got more interesting options to pair with, including a lot of Evolution cards.
Decks that are running multiple Evolution lines, like the Meganium/Venusaur deck, really don't have any space for this card. It's fine, but is just nowhere near as good as Base Venusaur.
Grade: 3/10
Like with Mew, Mewtwo received a duplicate promo, although this time it's at least a different artwork. It's obviously just as powerful as the mechanically identical card is.
Energy Absorption isn't quite as relevant in the larger formats, though, where Energy Removal sees much less play. The game slowly adapted to the Removal cards with options like Ecogym and No Removal Gym.
Grade: 8/10
Cool Porygon is obviously better than the original, but is much worse than Porygon cards that would be released in later sets. I suppose it is the only way to run 8 copies of Porygon in your deck, though, if you're a fanatic.
Being unable to attack on the first turn never became a selling point for any card and the low HP only becomes more terrifying as cards like Erika's Jigglypuff and Sneasel creep into the game.
Grade: 1/10
Computer Error is actually a really powerful card. It can be used in decks that don't care about the opponent drawing cards, such as the trapper combo deck or hyper-aggressive builds that will win before those extra cards matter.
It was also a fun gimmick of tournaments in Japan, where they randomly made players put one copy of this card in their decks. Yes, seriously. I assume it was intended to speed up games at the tournament venue by causing big swings in momentum.
Grade: 9/10
Dark Persian is functionally the same as the Dark Persian from Team Rocket. And it's a terrible card. Persian decks never really became a thing, and this frail weakling really didn't help matters.
There are Meowth cards that are more powerful and impactful than this, and none of those cards are even very good.
Grade: 1/10
Team Rocket's Meowth is hilarious. If you get really lucky then it can do massive damage and steal the game on the spot, but it's just as likely to knock itself out. This card can be used in inconsistent bonk decks as a way to hopefully score a KO.
What's funny is that this card actually does its job very well. If you're desperate to get a KO by any means necessary, then Miraculous Comeback can live up to its name.
Grade: 8/10
Similar to that Dark Persian from earlier, this Sabrina's Abra is mechanically identical to an existing card. Sadly, I personally think this is the worst iteration of Sabrina's Abra. It would have been nice if they'd chosen one of the other ones for the promo instead.
That doesn't mean it's bad, though. I just think it's the least compelling of three decent cards.
Grade: 4/10
This Psyduck is functionally identical to the original Psyduck, but that's fine. That was a really good card. I will say, however, that the original Psyduck is a lot less prevalent in later formats.
If you really wanted to lock down trainers, Dark Vileplume and Chaos Gym are much better options. Psyduck's dominance in the Base-Fossil format was as a result of there not being other options for that niche.
Grade: 6/10
Moltres isn't worth running. The best Fire decks would rather run Magcargo or Blaine's Arcanine as their main attackers, with Typhlosion as the primary engine behind the deck. While there's room for some other cards, like Blaine's Charmander or Fossil Magmar, this is too far down the list of Fire-types.
It's not inherently awful, though. It's just that the Fire-type suddenly became a lot more competitive starting with the gym sets.
Grade: 3/10
Articuno is even less worth running. Fossil Articuno does everything this card does, but better. If it can't beat a Water-type card that already existed in Base-Fossil, then I think you can imagine how it fares against the larger card pool.
I could argue possible use-cases for Moltres, but this card would only be playable in Rain Dance and is a blatantly worse option than several other cards in the game. As such, it really doesn't belong anywhere.
Grade: 2/10
Zapdos is probably the closest to actually being playable somewhere. I could see maybe building a Dodrio deck around this card, since it does have that enticingly low Retreat Cost.
But in general you're not going to choose this over Rocket's Zapdos or even Base Electabuzz, at least not with that risky recoil damage. Neo's Babies would hate to see this guy on the table, though.
Grade: 4/10
"Birthday Pikachu" as we tend to call it is typically banned, for obvious reasons. It does have a funny gimmick, though. You can technically write a gym leader's name in the card, making it compatible with any gym leader support.
But due to rulings issues, it should probably just stay banned, in my honest opinion. Otherwise you have to have a real discussion about how the birthday "mechanic" works.
Grade: Ban/10
Flying Pikachu is a lot less appealing now that Rocket's Zapdos exists, and it already wasn't a viable card. We can now get that Fighting Resistance on the single-best Lightning-type in the game, which really doesn't bode well for this little guy.
Fly is cute, but the bigger metagames just don't have room for that kind of risk. Not unless the reward for the risk is a Prize Card.
Grade: 1/10
Pikachu (#26) makes me think of Smash Bros. That's enough reason for me to love this card. But it's not a good card. 40 HP is too low and while it can do 40 damage on turn 2, that's quickly becoming less and less special.
The downside of Thunderbolt is also just as bad as it usually is, and I'd like to see a massive payoff if I'm throwing away multiple Energy Cards.
Grade: 1/10
Pikachu (#27) really should've been compelling. Free retreat is just such an amazing quality to have on any card. But with only 30 HP and attacks that ultimately have a mild impact on the game, it just isn't worth it.
Keep in mind, also, that the design space of "free retreat and 30 HP" now belongs almost exclusively to 'mons of the Baby variety. It's really hard to motivate me to play this card, knowing that Pichu exists.
Grade: 2/10
Surfing Pikachu lives a pointless existence. He theoretically gives Water-type decks a card for the mirror match, but he's not even actually good in that super-narrow capacity, since he can't attack on the first turn and has low HP.
Keep in mind that named cards like "Surfing" and "Flying" Pikachu can't evolve, so that 50 HP is all you'll ever get. It's a shame we didn't get a Surfing Raichu to give this guy some sense of purpose.
Grade: 1/10
The vast majority of the promos didn't actually impact the game much at the time. This is fine, though, since it's generally better for promos to be aimed at collectors rather than the general playerbase. It would suck to find out that the best Moltres for your deck was only available as a prize at regional tournaments or some such nonsense.
Mewtwo did have a pretty big impact, but it was also a widely available card with two versions, so it didn't become a major hurdle for most competitive players. I do feel sorry for Porygon fans, though. Have fun buying multiple N64 bundles just to get a full playset of a bad Porygon card.
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