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Arbok (Fossil FO 31)
Arbok — 60 HP — [G]
Stage 1 — Evolves from Ekans
[G] Terror Strike: 10
Flip a coin. If heads and if your opponent has any Benched Pokémon, he or she chooses 1 of them and switches it with the Defending Pokémon. (Do the damage before switching the Pokémon.)
[G][G][C] Poison Fang: 20
The Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
weakness: [P]×2
resistance:
retreat: 2
Illus. Ken Sugimori
Fossil — 31/62 — Uncommon
It is rumored that the ferocious warning markings on its belly differ from area to area.
feyblade
A grass-typed slightly less gruesomely underpowered Dark Persian
Blob Takeshi
You know there are too many rares when the halfway point of the cards in the expansion is the first non-rare.
linkinboss
Well, to be fair, they’re duplicates on holo & non-holo versions. But yeah, they should have added vending series cards to make the set bigger.
Otaku
I think we can forgive them. ;) Don’t get me wrong, there is a LOT to criticize about WotC’s time handling the game, but they also did a lot well. In this case, we’re all the way back to the second set… and the Pokémon fad hadn’t even peaked yet!
This gives me an idea for some silly fun. Maybe someday I’ll go back, look at what might have been a “better” (but probably not) release schedule for the international side of the PTCG. You know, like WotC being ready for a monster hit and having more product available, an ambitious release schedule that thought ahead to combine smaller Japanese releases, etc. ;)
Duplicating the rares honestly wasn’t that bad. I kind of wish this was how ALL Premium cards were handled; holo, alternate art, full art, etc. versions of cards you can get at a lower rarity. A lot of “consumers” of the PTCG are not really collectors or players so… this shouldn’t bother them. It still gives collectors their higher rarity cards to chase after. Players? Players like me might have hated parting with their Holo Scythers BUT knew it was worth it for two non-Holo Scythers (which greatly improved my deck). ;)
linkinboss
That’s fair… However I also would have loved to have the holo ratios that Japan got during that period…. Would have been amazing, especially on base set.
Anyways, WotC did a great job considering how much freedom they had under Nintendo’s terms. I wish we could have got all those cards released during that period because its my favorite format specially in the artistic department. If rumors are to believe, Jamboree/Safari Zone and Legendary Collection 2 would have been amazing ideas.
Blob Takeshi
What’s the Japanese Rare Pull rate?
Steely Gilgamesh
Funny how its move Poison Fang predates the Gen 3 main game Move Poison Fang.