New addition!

Hi guys! I hope you're doing very well and counting the days until the release of Pokémon X & Y!

I'm writing today to let you know of my newest addition. I now have my YouTube channel, I have my blog, but now I also have a Facebook page!
I spent a great amount of time today, trying to get it right, and I finally succeeded, so there is a square on the right side of the blog. You can click to 'Like' it, and go read all the cool stuff I will post in there.

There is already one post, and I have a lot more just waiting to be posted!

So you go check that out, I will be handling out online TCG cards there as well when a few people start to show interest in it ;)

Other than that, I'm starting something a bit new in here. I want to get something going, so therefore I'm starting small quizzes, and the first one to answer correctly recieves a free online TCG code! Awesome, right!? It won't be really difficult questions in the beginning :)

Let's start with this one:
Which type of Pokémon was Nidoran (male) in Platinum: Rising Rivals?

Guess away, good luck!

Today's Pokémon Card:

Base Set - Nidoran (Male)

“Stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger, more 
powerful of its horns secretes venom.”

Total Overview:

Hello, hello! You are you out there?
This is my review for today, and then I think we will go on to something a little newer after that.

X & Y is coming out really soon! Are you looking forward to it? I know I am. Hopefully I can get a booster box to open on YouTube, so be sure to check that. I will of course post it here, if I do :)

Nidoran (male) is a grass type energy in this set, which I think is absolutely right instead of that psychic type they decided it to be in Rising Rivals - what was that!?

Is has 40 HP and only one attack. It requires only one grass energy card, BUT you also have to flip a coin, and if it tails, the attack does absolutely NOTHING. this is devastating for a Pokémon, not being able to use a single attack properly, without the risk that it can't do anything during its turn at all. And since the Pokémon only has 40 HP, your opponent could possibly knock it out in just one hit..

Nidoran has no resist to any type of Pokémon and it's weak to psychic ones, which is kind of ironic when you think about it, since this same Pokémon was decided to be a psychic one later on. It turned into its own weakness! Pretty clever, if it weren't just given another weakness instead :P
If you wish to retreat it, it only costs you one energy of your own choice :)

This is a basic Pokémon, and it has 2 evolutions - Nidorino and Nidoking. You just have to remember, that it is quite difficult to get that stage 2 Pokémon in play, since you don't have a lot of them in your deck, so you have to be lucky to draw just that card. The Nidorino though, is actually a pretty ok card. It could use a bit more HP, but other than that it could work out with Nidoran and Nidorino I think.

Personal Opinion:

Ok, here goes!
When looking at other basic, common Pokémon from base set, you'll notice that the 40 HP is actually pretty common, some above, some below this of course. But, Nidoran's attack actually does more damage than a lot of the other Pokémon do. There is just one more but, and that is - if you flip that coin and it tails, you don't get to do any damage at all, and since this attack is the only one Nidoran has, you don't really get to choose.

And that's why, ladies and gentlemen, I think we'll end up at:

The Pokémon has some advantages. Its health is normal for Base Set Pokémon, its attack does more damage, when you get lucky with the coin, but it drags it down a bit, that it only has 1 attack and that attack may not do anything ;)

A bit about the artwork:

Well, to be honest this card doesn't really look that cool ;) It's very easy to see that Nintendo has come a long way from the Base Set cards to the cards they give us today. Most of all, this looks like a bad job in Photoshop! :P
They took a nice background, some dirt, trees, bushes, and then slammed a Nidoran in the middle of the picture.. I mean, it's not really been thought through very much, I think! But other than that, it's a fine looking Nidoran just watching over its shoulder to see if anything is there, just like the one in Rising Rivals :)

Next Card Review:

So, I did already decide that I wanted to review some of the newer Pokémon, then I just found out that some of the Pokémon from X & Y are now available! So we can get the first look at them. Which means, that tomorrow I'll be doing a review of Blastoise full art, because that card is simply amazing!

Check out my channel on YouTube, there should be a video soon, with me opening a couple of packs from Plasma Blast. I promise the video with the Plasma Storm booster box will be there soon, I just need to find the time to upload the 4 parts after each other :)

Pokémon Code Card Giveaway!

My gift for you today:

I choose you: Code Card!

XRU-M57S-LX9-F6N

Congratulations to whoever got the online Plasma Blast booster pack!

Today's Pokémon Card:

Platinum: Rising Rivals - Pikachu (Reprint)

“It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, 
it looses electric charges from the sacs.”

Total Overview:

Hi beautiful people!
I'm sorry it took me so long to get back here. Had so much to do the last couple of weeks - an exam I had to pass and things like that, but I'm back for good now.

So this Pokémon I've been looking forward to. Unfortunately I do not own this card yet, but I'm sure I will some day. It's really awesome, and I simply just love it.
Let's cut to the chase!

Pikachu is (of course) an lightning type Pokémon (duh!?) ;)
This one has 40 HP and 2 different attacks. The first one is Gnaw that deals 10 damage to your opponent. It requires only one energy card of your own choice, so that's cool. YOU DECIDE!... Sorry, I don't know where that came from..
The second one is Thunder Jolt, it deals 30 damage and costs one lightning type energy and one colorless energy card. BUT - you have to flip a coin, uh uh.. And if the coin ends on tails, Pikachu does 10 damage to itself, which really sucks, since it only has 40 HP!
Pikachu has no resistance to any Pokémon type, but is weak x2 to fighting type Pokémon. This means, that if you're up against, let's say Onix, and it uses an attack on you that deals 20 damage, you have to double this, which makes it 40 damage instead! Thus, your Pikachu is already finished off :(
If you wish to retreat your Pikachu, it will cost you 1 energy card of your choice.
PIkachu HAS NO EVOLUTION in this set. There is a Raichu in Rising Rivals, yes, but this is a basic Pokémon, so you really have nothing to do further with your Pikachu, if you wish to play it.

Personal Opinion:

First off - I've come up with a new way of rating these Pokémon! I'm going to change the scale, so instead of 1-5 it's 1-6 :) Sometimes you see Pokémon that are just right in the middle, but with the 1-5 scale, they have to be either a bit above or below, and that's a shame.. 

Oh yeah, and the scale is now measured in Poké Balls :D

Well, I have to rate this Pikachu, and it's not going to be good.. I'm going to give it:

In this set there are so many basic Pokémon, and for a Pokémon with only 40 HP, 2 fairly week attacks where one of them may even harm Pikachu itself, that's just really, really bad. Especially since you can't even evolve Pikachu into Raichu. That's just not good enough.. This is one of those Pokémon that exists only for the collector. It looks awesome and it's a great gimmick to add to your collection, but it's definitely not a playable Pokémon :)

A bit about the artwork:

Do I have to say it looks awesome??
I started collecting these cards when I was around 8 years old, the first sets are the ones I really remember, and that's where nostalgia comes from. Seeing reprints in newer sets always makes me happy, because it's something that I can relate to, with an indescribable inner, childish happiness :)
I love the holo on this card, it really just looks amazing from every viewpoint possible. It's worth noticing that this one has red cheeks - whereas the original from Base Set has yellow cheeks unless it's a shadowless Pikachu, but I will describe what these are very soon - I promise :)

Next Card Review:

So, I think it's time to do a very regular Pokémon. I just did the Nidoran male from Rising Rivals which is very similar to that from Base Set. Wouldn't it then be fitting to take this one next?
YES!

So, next review is Nidoran male from Base Set!

I will soon be doing some new stuff here on my blog, so make sure you check it out now and then! Check my YouTube channel as well, I opened 30 Rising Rivals booster packs not long ago, and it went pretty well. I will soon be uploading a video with a Plasma Storm booster box, so stay tuned Pokéfans ;)

Pokémon Code Card Giveaway!

The best part! Let's just get on with it :D

I choose you: Code Card!

WWC-8UVR-NCN-MPP

Congratulations to whoever got the online Plasma Storm booster pack!

Why, Oh Why!?

Hi there guys! So I guess you're probably wondering what on earth I'm talking about, why there is no pokémon card here, and WHY there is no review! Oh WHY!?

Well, I'll tell you all that :)

Today I figured I'd do something a little different, I would like to write a bit about something I've stumbled upon in my search for pokémon videos and stuff on YouTube. A couple of times I've come across people who would rather buy their pokémon cards individually in order to get a full set, instead of trying to collect them all from booster boxes and packs, where it's all random. 

I REALLY don't get the idea here!

Why would you want to do that?? Maybe I'm the weird one here, but to me, everything lies in the surprise of pulling a card you really wanted from a booster pack. THAT is what makes it worth collecting, in my opinion. I have not yet bought a single card by itself. All the cards I have, are cards that have been given to me as a gift, or I have pulled out of lots and lots of booster packs through the years.

I saw this guy, talking about how he had bought himself 3 Charizard EX, and by the end of that year, he expected to have 10 of them.
He never pulled one from a booster pack, he bought them off eBay and stores that sell them. I can't see anything interesting in that. By all means, if you only think about quantity, but not quality, be my guest. If you only wish to have the most Charizard EX cards on YouTube and don't care how you're going to get them, then who am I to say that's wrong?
I just can't see why you would do it. I don't watch him and think "Wauw, that's REALLY well done, congratulations man!" - Because as long as you have enough money, you can get any card you want! It's not about luck anymore, it's about how much you earn, and I don't like pokémon to be like that..
On that note, I have only ONE Charizard EX, but damn it I pulled it out of a FireRed LeafGreen pack myself, and THAT'S something I'm proud of!

It has to go really far, before I would even consider buying a single card anywhere. In one of the first sets of pokémon, I only need 1 single card to complete my collection, ONE card.. and I haven't bought it yet, and I don't intend to. I believe that I will pull it from a booster pack some day in the future, I just don't know when.

So when people show their awesome collections on YouTube, but they bought half of it or all of it off eBay, I don't even want to spend my time watching the video, because I just don't have the same kind of respect for those people, than I do for people who really try to get complete collections from saving up and buying booster packs and boxes.

Some may find this offensive, because they are exactly like the people I describe, and that's okay. I cannot, and will not satisfy everybody, and this is my blog and therefore my opinions :) (SO SUCK IT... :D heh)

I hope you enjoyed reading this different post, please comment if you have a different opinion, something to add, or even if you just agree. I'd love to know :)

Thanks for now!




Oh.. You're waiting for the code card right?? Well today I'll make a special one for you. Are you ready? Here it comes!

I choose you: Code Card!

LPS-5WFE-9LU-3FL

Congratulations to the lucky number 1 who gets this awesome Lugia EX code card, I hope you enjoy it a bunch! :D

Today's Pokémon Card:

Platinum: Rising Rivals - Nidoran (Male)

“It scans its surroundings by raising its ears out of the grass.
Its toxic horn is for protection.”

Total Overview:

Hey guys!
Unfortunately I didn't really get any replies on my question in the last review, but I'll just carry on regardless :)
I think I'll jump right into it today, and just get started on this great Pokémon.

Nidoran is a psychic type Pokémon, which I really don't understand. Nidoran has always been a grass Pokémon, but the people at Nintendo decided to play with us at some point, and just change the types around a bit, give them a good shuffle, eh!? Like letting Charizard be a lightning type Pokémon, I mean it's ridiculous!!
But anyway.. This one has 50 HP and 2 different attacks. The first attack is Leer, it does no damage but lets you flip a coin. If heads, your opponent cannot attack during his or her turn. I guess that's a pretty cool attack if you are forced to have Nidoran as your active Pokémon and you only have one energy card attached to it.
The other attack is Horn Hazard which deals 40 damage IF you get a heads in the coin flip that you have to do. If tails, the attack does NOTHING AT ALL! And then you're kinda screwed.. So it can be dangerous to have this Pokémon out there in the gameplay unless you have a lot of Nidorino's and are able to make it evolve before putting it as your active Pokémon.
It has no resistance to any Pokémon types, it's weak to psychic Pokémon x10, which means that whenever this type of Pokémon attacks you, you have to put 10 damage, meaning 1 damage counter, on your Pokémon besides the damage that is already done by your opponent's attack. If you wish to retreat Nidoran, it will cost you one energy of your desire :)
This is a basic Pokémon and it has 2 evolutions, and I would definitely recommend that you evolve to Nidorino before you play it, because this one almost doesn't stand a chance! 

Personal Opinion:

I would say this is a 2/5 star Pokémon, it's definitely below average, and I might even consider it to be only 1/5 instead. Since this is a set with A LOT of basic Pokémon, you have so many to choose from, and quite frankly some of these are a lot better than this little guy. It gets better if it evolves to Nidorino or Nidoking, but you have to remember that you risk never pulling one of these Pokémon at all, and then you're just stuck with this basic Pokémon, when you could have chosen others that deal more damage and has more HP. So choose wisely!
The energy requirements are very fair in my opinion.

A bit about the artwork:

It's quite funny to look at this Pokémon.. Doesn't it remind you of something? You're absolutely right! It's the exact same print as it was almost 10 years earlier, when Base Set came out! I was surprised when I discovered it, but I also think it's kinda cool, as long as they don't do it too much :)
The background on the 2 cards are a little different, and this one looks like it's standing in the forest on some leafs, looking over its shoulder to see if anyone is coming. It looks cool, but very plain and simple, not a whole lot of action going on in this card!

Next Card Review:

The document thing is working, so I can now keep track of all the Pokémon I've reviewed, YAAY! :D

I think the next card is going to be another one from the Rising Rivals set, because I just opened 30 packs of Pokémon Boosters! The videos will be up and running very soon on my channel on YouTube, so don't forget to check it out! It was awesome.

Therefore, I'm going to do a review next time of the Platinum Rising Rivals reprint of Pikachu! I think it's SO awesome and I'm really looking forward to it!

Pokémon Code Card Giveaway!

Oh I'm glad I have lots of these code cards so I can give some away to you guys! I don't use them myself, and I really think it's wrong to be selling them, so I'd rather just give them away and make somebody just a little happy that way :)

Let's get to it.

I choose you: Code Card!

6GK-PSCP-3FD-45H

Congratulations to whoever got the online Legendary Treasures code card!
Cya next time :D

Today's Pokémon Card:

HeartGold SoulSilver - Arcanine

“This legendary Chinese Pokémon is considered magnificent. 
Many people are enchanted by its grand mane.”

Total Overview:

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL YOU AWESOME PEOPLE!
Here we are again, it's time for another Pokémon card review!
I'd really like to know if there really ARE any people reading my blog? Not that you have to, but if there are, I would like to know if I should try to make my reviews shorter? I mean, is there too much to read? Sometimes I feel like I could just go on and on, and before I know it, I've almost written a whole novel :P So please, if anyone would be so kind to let me know if I should cut it down a bit :)

Let's do this:
Arcanine is a fire type Pokémon with 110 HP and 2 different attacks. The first attack is called Sharp Fang and it requires 1 fire energy card and 1 colorless energy card. It deals 50 damage to your opponent. The second attack it called Fire Mane and it requires 1 fire energy and 3 colorless energy cards. This deals an amount of 90 damage to your opponent!

It has no resistance to any type of Pokémon, and it has 2x weakness to water type Pokémon. If you want to retreat Arcanine in a battle, it will cost you 2 colorless energy cards.
It's a stage 1 Pokémon, and the basic Pokémon in this chain would be Growlithe - this means that if you want to play Arcanine, you need to have Growlithe as your active Pokémon already.

Personal Opinion:

I haven't really had much doubt about this at all, this is definitely a 5/5 Pokémon in my opinion! Considering that it is a stage 1 Pokémon, it has a very fair amount of HP, it's attack hardly need any fire energy cards, which means that you can save them for a Pokémon that needs them. Furthermore, the attacks deal 50 or 90 damage, and you only need 2 energy cards in order to use the attack that deals 50 damage.
If retreated it only costs 2 energy cards, which is a fair price I think. What I REALLY like about this Pokémon's attacks, it's that there are no conditions, nothing you need to take into consideration. You don't have to throw any energy cards in the discard pile and there is no risk of hitting yourself, or anything like that.
Thus this card really diserves 5 gold stars, or pokéballs or whatever :D
I will once again remind everybody that when I rate these Pokémon cards, I compare them to other Pokémon in the same set. It's only fair that way :) 

A bit about the artwork:

Well well, if you look at my name just once more, I shouldn't need to say that I really like ALL Arcanines so far, and this is no exception! :) It looks like it's just evolved or something like that, it's as strong as ever. It's sitting on a rock with lots of flames around it and what seems to be a firestone in front of it, I really like that detail :D It looks like a very powerful Pokémon, but still there is something puppy-like about the look it has on its face, like it needs to get used to being Arcanine instead of Growlithe the toddler :P

Next Card Review:

I think I've sorted out my problem of keeping track on the Pokémon I've already reviewed. I want to be able to review Pokémon from different sets when I feel like it. I don't want to commit myself into doing reviews of all 135 Pokémon in one set, before I can move on :)
So therefore I've chosen to make a document, and just put a little sign by te Pokémon I've reviewed.. Maybe it's a long process, but it's my best idea right now. Please give suggestions if you have any!

SO! Next time it's going to be Nidoran male from the Platinum: Rising Rivals set.

Pokémon Code Card Giveaway!

Let's just jump right into it, I love this part :D

I choose you: Code Card!

RUS-SN93-BLK-TUX

Congratulations to whoever got the online Plasma Freeze code card!
And before you go, please check out my channel on YouTube. I know there are not many videos there just yet, but they will be there soon, I promise! :)