Dark Venusaur was strange. It was only legal for about a month, as it was the last of the Best of Game Promos to be released. It was actually released one month after Dark Ivysaur, which was another Best of Game card. On top of that, it relied on coin flips, but it actually didn’t mind flipping all tails at all. This card might have actually had a chance if it had any real amount of time for people to figure out how to use it right, but at least it was an amusing card that not too many people had.
70 HP was absolutely awful on a Stage 2, but at least Dark Venusaur could be paired with Rocket’s Hideout to raise that to a still a bit low, but at least respectable 90. Using that card was actually highly recommended alongside this, as Dark Venusaur was far too frail otherwise. The Fire Weakness was ugly. Magcargo could just KO Dark Venusaur without even discarding an Energy, and with just discarding one if Rocket’s Hideout was in play. The Retreat Cost was also slightly high at 2, though that still left Retreating at least possible in a pinch.
Horrid Pollen was Dark Venusaur’s only attack, and it was interesting. At the surface, it was just 30 damage for 3 Grass Energy, which wasn’t good at all. Luckily, Dark Venusaur always Poisoned the Defending Pokemon, making it a bit better, and the coin flips decided the second Special Condition. Half the time, with 1 head and 1 tail, it put the Defending Pokemon to Sleep. That was probably the weakest of the three options, but still had a good chance to gain a free turn. Two heads got the best option: Confusion. Confusion made it really hard to Retreat while Dark Venusaur was actually usable. Two tails was also a good result, amazingly enough: It caused Paralysis, which usually resulted in a free turn. What began as a weak attack was suddenly quite solid due to all the disruption it could cause.
Dark Venusaur wasn’t seen much at all, but that was mostly due to it being legal for such a short time. It really had some potential despite being a Grass-type, just because it could toss out Special Conditions like candy. It was definitely solid enough and very different, so it was worth giving a try.
The famous Sneasel card from Neo Genesis was incredibly overpowered to the point of being banned. It seemed like Sneasel cards following that were very carefully kept from being too good to the point of going a bit too far. Rocket’s Sneasel was the closest of the Pokemon to being good without being overpowered, though it was still a bit below par for serious play.
60 HP was about average on a Basic Pokemon, and slightly below what would be liked. It was open to a KO from Magcargo with only a single discard, which was a small setback compared to 70. The Fighting Weakness was awful, however. Tyrogue could take down Rocket’s Sneasel in just one hit, and since Tyrogue was extremely popular, this made the card extremely hard to play. At least it had a nice Psychic Resistance, which helped against Espeon. The Retreat Cost wasn’t bad at all, being just 1, even if it was slightly above the typical 0 for a Sneasel card.
Entrap was actually solid, if only for stalling purposes. It prevented the Defending Pokemon from Retreating during the opponent’s next turn. And by the Defending Pokemon it usually meant Cleffa. If Cleffa was trapped, that was commonly a free turn, though it was only a 50/50 chance due to the Baby Power. That wasn’t very reliable, but trapping Cleffa for a bit was pretty important.
Continuous Scratch wasn’t as good. For 2 Colorless Energy, 4 coins were flipped. It did 10 damage for each heads flip. That averaged 20 damage, which was a bit low, though with Darkness Energy equipped it was okay. Two Darkness Energy actually made it a solid attack, but considering Rocket’s Sneasel had nothing stronger, it lagged slightly behind the best decks.
Rocket’s Sneasel wasn’t great, but it was an okay choice for a Dark-type in the Neo-On format. The format had Tyranitar and Umbreon to consider first, and Darkness Energy was very limited at the time due to the standard 4-card limit for non-Basic Energy, but Rocket’s Sneasel was a Basic and that was just enough to at least consider it. It wasn’t a world-beater by any means, but it was probably the best Best of Game card that wasn’t a reprint.
Rocket’s Scizor was very strange. As a Best of Game Promo, it was only legal for a few months, late in the Neo-On format. It was also a Basic Pokemon despite being an evolved Pokemon in the games, and that meant it technically wasn’t related to Rocket’s Scyther at all. This was typical of the Japanese-only VS cards, and Rocket’s Scizor was one of only two to make it to America. With all the strangeness aside, Rocket’s Scizor really wasn’t that great, and felt more like a watered-down Jungle Scyther in a format that had moved past that level of power anyway.
The basic stats here left something to be desired. 60 HP was low, even for non-evolving Basic standards of the era, and a lot of attackers could hit that mark. The Fire Weakness made it even worse, since Magcargo got the KO without discarding a single Energy. At least it had a Resistance: Grass, which wasn’t a great type but helped against the occasional Crobat and Beedrill. The Retreat Cost, 2, wasn’t exactly awful, but was still a bit higher than would be like, especially on a Basic.
Focus was a simple attack for a single Energy of any type. During the next turn, Rocket’s Scizor’s Agility attack’s damage was doubled. This was solid one turn before being able to use Agility, but wasn’t really worth it outside of that specific purpose. Spamming Agility once available was the better option if possible.
Agility was expensive for the damage provided. For 1 Metal and 2 Colorless Energies, it only did 20 damage. At least the coin flip was nice: If heads, Scizor couldn’t be effected by any effects of attacks, including damage, during the opponent’s next turn. With a ton of coin flips going the right way, Rocket’s Scizor could actually do something, but for 20 damage a lot of coin flips were needed to say the least. Double Gust also ruined this so it usually didn’t work well enough.
Rocket’s Scizor was amusing for being a VS-style card, but that was about it. There were better Metal-types to use, and even Neo Genesis Skarmory worked better if you were that desperate for a Basic of the type. This was a fun little Promo but little more.
