| Image |
Series |
Rating |
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Revelation Ho-Oh 7/64 |
1/10 - Let's face it this is probably one of the worst cards I have ever seen especially for how rare it is. Sure it has three awesome attacks, but one of them only helps to power up the other two attacks which all rely on coin flips to succeed. I should also mention that three for a possible 40, and 90 for a possible five energy is also bad. Only real bright side is that it's HP is average to below average for your usual legendary basics. |
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Revelation Ho-Oh 18/64 |
5/10 - It has the same HP as the other Ho-Oh which isn't bad but it can be better. This Ho-Oh has a nice attack called "Rainbow Burn". Basically it does 30 damage plus 10 more for each type of basic energy attached to it. So for example if it has four different types of energy attached to it, it'll do 30+40 or 70. This goes all the way up to 110 damage which is a pretty heavy hit. The downside is that you need to get eight different types of energy attached to Ho-Oh to do that. There can be many downsides to why this would be considered bad. For major reason is that if Ho-Oh gets knocked out, you just spent all that time attaching energies to him down the drain. Not only does this mean you lost a huge amount of energy, but it also means you lost all those energy attachments that could of been attached to other Pokémon to avenge Ho-Oh. |
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Wizard Promo Ho-Oh |
2/10 - This promo you got from the Pokémon Center in New York around 2002. However there was another print of it available with a Nintendo Power magazine. In my honest opinion though most promos should be collected for collector's purposes and never played in a game since most of them aren't really that well. This Ho-Oh is no exception. 80 HP is a step down from the Ho-Oh train yet it still keeps that bulky 2 retreat cost. If that didn't make things worse the attack once again relies on a game of chance. I've seen many cards that can do 80 damage for two energy with easily controllable drawbacks. This Ho-Oh only does 60 for four but if you flip tails it does 20 damage for four instead. I can imagine how painful it would be to spend all that time powering up Ho-oh only to do 20 damage with it then it getting knocked out. |
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Skyridge Ho-Oh |
4/10 - Crystal Pokémon have always been somewhat a rarity. Each of them have that silly Crystal Type body which allows it to change into a different type depending on what energy you attach to it. This Ho-Oh really has some things weighing it down though like its 80 HP. Also what the heck is up with that retreat cost, three energy is horrible for what this card does and how unbulky it is. The attacks also don't do all that much damage for how much energy you have to attach to it. I'd say for Crystal Ho-Oh to stay effective you have to be able to hit for weakness every turn and even then it'd still be kind of Okay. This Ho-Oh should strictly be kept out of your Pokémon deck and kept in a hard protective shield. |
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Unseen Forces Ho-Oh 27/115 |
3/10 - Unseen forces was a really fun set. Had many cool Pokémon and cool cards. It also had a couple prints of Ho-Oh. This one I'd say be comparable to the Wizard Promo one. Same HP and same retreat cost not to mention similar attack. I rate this one only a tad bit better because it has a more solid attack (Gust) to go along with its other once again flippy attack. Sacred Fire sadly doesn't compare to it's video game counter part. Four energy to do a coin flip and if heads you do 60 to anyone you want, however, if tails it does nothing. An attacker in any Pokémon deck should really be more solid than a coin flip chance. That is one tip I request any player to put into consideration. Granted this beats the promo Ho-Oh it still is a pretty bad card. |
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POP5 Ho-Oh |
5/10 - This Ho-Oh is slightly better than the rest of the bunch. It doesn't have any flippy attacks or any attacks that require a ton of energy to do a decent amount of damage. This Ho-Oh isn't the worst card but there are still better cards that can be played. Fire Blast does a nice 60 for four energy and instead of flipping you simply have to discard an energy attached to Ho-Oh. Some people might see this as a bad drawback but there is so many ways to recover that energy and save your energy attachment for the turn. |
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Secret Wonders Ho-Oh |
8/10 - I'm going to be perfectly honest, this is probably my most favorite Ho-Oh of the bunch. It has even seen popular play even though I'm not quite sure if anyone accomplished much with the deck. Rainbow Wing is much like Rainbow burn except it can do even more damage. 20 times the number of different types of basic energy attached to Ho-Oh. This means this specific Ho-Oh can go all the way up to 160 damage which is enough to kill most of the Pokémon you'd come across. This was often played in a deck called "Skittles". Basically Ho-Oh was the main attacker and was played with the Great Encounters Togekiss that had a power that said when you evolve Togetic into Togekiss you look at the top 10 cards of your deck, choose as many energy you find there and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. You can imagine how fast this Ho-Oh could potentially power up using Togekiss. Anyway like I said with Rainbow Burn. If this Ho-Oh gets knocked out you lose all that energy but this is somewhat different. This Ho-Oh has a power that says that when it is knocked out by damage you flip a coin. If heads Ho-Oh doesn't get knocked out and instead stays right where it is with all its energy still attached. This power works quite wonderfully with this energy collector in that it gives it potential staying power. |
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HG/SS Promo Ho-Oh |
3/10 - 100 HP now we are talking even though it's still not a good trade for the three retreat cost. It also seems like we are going back into flippy attacks. Sure it does 80 instead of the usual 60 for this type of attack, but I'd personally not care if it does 200 damage to anyone for a coin flip and that much energy cost. Beyond that it's not much different than the other low rated Ho-Oh cards. |
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Call of Legends Ho-Oh |
5.7/10 - Pretty looking I have to say not to mention compared to the other Ho-Oh cards it isn't the worst. This is one of the cards where the HP and the heavy retreat cost actually kind of meets eye to eye with me because of the attacks. Combustion is really neat, a solid 50 for three energy which isn't too bad enough to two shot some things and even if you really badly need to knock something out you have Scorching Wing to do a nice 100. The bad thing is however is that it takes five energy to use it and you have to coin flip to see if you lose all your fires which is guarenteed to be at least over half those five. All in all, this Ho-Oh isn't horrible but there is so many cards that can do the same amount of damage for less drawback and/or energy. |
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Unseen Forces Ho-Oh EX |
6/10 - This Ho-Oh isn't too bad, easily compared to the Secret Wonders Ho-Oh. Rainbow Burn does 10 plus 20 for every type of basic energy attached to him. So I guess that it maxs out at 170 if I did the math right which is one more than the Secret Wonders one, but really 160 damage to 170 damage doesn't make much difference at this high of damage. Either way you are going to be knocking out most of the Pokémon. Anyway I don't like the fact that it doesn't have something like Phoenix Turn but it does have Golden Wing which isn't too bad. Basically allowing you to take two energy on Ho-Oh and move them elsewhere on the bench after he gets knocked out which saves you some energy the energy hog took from other Pokémon and gives it back. Considering this is an ex though I'd be really unhappy if it gets knocked out with like 6 energy on it, considering they take an extra prize for knocking one out and you still lose most of that energy. |
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Japanese PLAY Promo Ho-Oh EX |
6/10 - I have to be honest this is the first time I laid eyes on this Ho-Oh so I have to think of everything on the spot. When looking at the translation I moderately liked what I saw. It has a nasty little body that basically says when he is damaged by an attack from your opponent's Pokémon, that Pokémon becomes burned which might add a couple hints of damage here and there. The first attack is also not that bad. Two energy does 30 damage and it says you flip a coin, if you flip heads you take 2 fire from your deck and attach them to Ho-Oh which can instantly power it up to do the second attack which does a nice 70 for four energy which isn't too bad. I personally like this Ho-Oh a little bit but I still wouldn't see myself building decks out of it anytime soon. |
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HeartGold & SoulSilver Ho-Oh LEGEND |
6/10 - Of course this would be one of the two first Legend cards they ever made. Basically how Legend cards work is they are two different cards. To be able to play a legend on the bench you have to have both pieces in your hand and play both pieces onto the bench. Because of this this Ho-Oh is slightly worse even though it has all enhanced stats. 140 HP guarantees some bulk and survival most of the time. I would also note that four energy for 100 isn't bad and it has such a small drawback of just discarding one energy. I also among other things like the body, this effect says that all energy attached to Ho-Oh are considered fire type instead of their usual type. This means that you can attach a grass energy to Ho-Oh and it'd be considered fire instead, or you can attach a Double Colorless and it'd be considered two fire energy. Because of this body you have a lot of potential energy acceleration with using him. Even though this Ho-Oh is good I'd still not play it though because of it being a Legend. |
Cards
