The Vintage Dark Pokémon Cards

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The Team Rocket set of Pokémon Trading Card Game was the fourth set. The main gimmick of this set was the addition of the "Dark" Pokémon, Pokémon that were raised by Team Rocket as they went down a less than ideal path. Let's take a look at every Dark Pokémon from the Team Rocket set as well as a few promos and the ones from Pokemon Trading Card Game 2.
Intro, Background, Pallet Town Remix by Joshua C. Griffin.
#pokemontcg #pokemontradingcardgame #pokemon

[@MmeCShadow]

You missed the joke on Dark Kadabra's artwork. 'Spoon bending' is usually understood to be an exhibition of psychic power but this one is literally just snapping a spoon in half with its bare hands.

[@DanielMWJ]

Literally how Uri Geller does it. He then hides it and then slowly extends it while rubbing it. 😂

[@hilariousskullnamedcatzo647]

"I don't need no psychic powers to bend spoons" - Dark Kadabra

[@aporue5893]

maybe that's why uri got offended 🤣🥄

[@adrianflanigan7379]

MIND CRUSH

[@nobodyimportant4778]

Lol and the action lines acting like it's an amazing psychic feat

[@J3Puffin]

“Dark Pokémon? Like Umbreon?” “No, Dark Pokémon like Gyrados.” “Oh… so Mega Gyrados?” “No, normal Gyrados.” “…I’m confused.”

[@GustavoFernandesKing]

"you can't be confused, I didn't flatter you"

[@fernandoguillen5996]

I like to called them "Evil pokemon" or "Stray pokemon"

[@spinosauraus]

They're basically the precursor to Shadow Pokemon

[@Paraspectre]

It's like Dark....but not "Dark" Dark. Just, Dark.

[@grassfish01]

They are called “Bad Pokemon” in Japanese, and I think it’s meant to imply that the Pokemon misbehaved or is like a juvenile delinquent

[@HybridAngelZero]

I gotta say, this set has some of my favorite artwork in the entire TCG. Mitsuhiro Arita especially was absolutely on fire here. Of course, a lot of these cards found their way into my decks at the time. In particular, Dark Muk could tear through unprepared opponents, and Rocket Slowpoke (which let you get back trainer cards) alongside Dark Slowbro were an amazing way to recycle cards. I have a lot of nostalgia for this set xD

[@Paraspectre]

I agree, some of the artwork is fantastic here. Dark Golduck was the one that impressed me the most after really looking at them

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@Paraspectre Absolutely. If I could get a poster-sized version of the Dark Golduck illustration framed on my wall, I would

[@bootortle]

TCG artwork has always been a great way to show nice sides of Pokémon that may be impossible to showcase otherwise This video reminded me of such

[@Paraspectre]

I knew right away that I wanted Dark Slowbro to be on the cover for that reason.

[@decarabiaumbra560]

If I recall the story behind Dark Raichu correctly on why it single handedly caused a massive delay to the rocket set was a mix of the contract WotC had with Nintendo and with the speed of communication at the time. WotC was only allowed to print and distribute the translated cards Nintendo allowed out west, so it was a big deal for them when the WotC execs thought up the Dark Raichu card and appealed to make it, this would be the first pokemon card they'd be allowed to make. Getting permission for this was going to be much slower than it would be if done today. In the 90's, the modes for this communication required a bilingual secretary on both fronts to transcribe and explain the thoughts of both parties, and then they needed to send out a letter with this info to the other company, or an email which would be similarly slow due to the state the tech was at during this time period. They probably delayed the set initially to hear back on their proposal, only to delay the set further because they would have to finalize the design of the card, do some balance checks, and set up another print slot exclusively for it.

[@Paraspectre]

Ah, very interesting. It's funny that one little Raichu card was what caused all of these issues.

[@hilariousskullnamedcatzo647]

​@@ParaspectreDark Raichu had succeeded in causing evil and mischief because of that

[@thegeneral19]

I still have 17 unopened rocket booster packs, 9 of them are first edition. I had no idea I never opened these as a kid, or maybe my parents lost some presents but they found them the other week when moving

[@LordJudgement1818]

thats bad ass. you should keep those and not open them for really really long time.

[@SandraThePhox]

Damn that is an insane find

[@decarabiaumbra560]

@@LordJudgement1818 They could sell one right now and get a weeks pay from it.

[@Paraspectre]

Whaaat, no way. You could probably buy a car with those

[@Gold_exe]

for sale? 👀👀

[@toewstokane9023]

11:34 “Risking the sanity of your own Pokémon” is the greatest thing I’ve heard someone say pertaining to a Pokémon being confused.

[@ThommyofThenn]

Did you know Ekans is snake backwards?

[@Xahnel]

I really like that Dark Dragonair and Dark Dragonite have powers that play off each other. Dragonair lets you setup with evo chains, then Dragonite lets you immediately play the base form and get started building your combo.

[@theblahtaco]

This was my main deck in tcg2. D. Dragonair + nite lets you set up your entire deck for free. Throw in a couple of D. Clefables for damage reduction too

[@Paraspectre]

These Dark dragons are a case where I think they surpass the originals for that reason

[@Itsjustlikemagic]

If you are building a vintage dark deck. It’s best to play your dragons with some powerful stage 3 dark pokemon cards like Dark Blastoise and Dark Venusaur. Both are much easier to bring out if you have some dragons on your bench.

[@darthjoe91]

Those cards actually helped me win my first ever card tournament.

[@netherhigal]

So the short version of why dark raichu delayed the english release of Team Rocket: This was an original card designed by the americans at WotC, and they fought tooth and nail to get it approved, and nintendo took so long to finally approve it that the set printing was disrupted. This is the first crack in the licensing deal that eventually led to the switch of production to Pokemon Company in 2003.

[@Paraspectre]

So Dark Raichu really does have some black clouds surrounding it...

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

lmao wotc constantly fucking around with everyone and still somehow being relevant

[@RednekGamurz]

I love the more gimmicky cards from the early days of the game. Sure, most dark Pokemon were pretty bad, but I thought they were cool as a kid, and the concept of Pokemon that have low HP, but stronger attacks is a good idea. I know they were introduced a bit later on, but seeing a video on the Light Pokemon at some point would be nice.

[@Paraspectre]

I certainly thought about doing the Light Pokemon in the future. And also the rest of the Dark ones. A part two, if you will

[@MustacheDLuffy]

When I was younger I traded my normal cyndequil for a delta cyndequil that was a psychic type. This is funny knowing that Hisuan Typhlosion is ghost/psychic now might’ve predicted that

[@redkun5]

​@@MustacheDLuffyHisuan Typhlosion is fire/ghost

[@dragoon1090]

​@@redkun5yeah but the card is psychic type

[@dylansylvester4719]

They should have done dark basics in addition to the evo cards they did. Most of them didn't see any play because the non dark versions from base/jungle/fossil were better. After all why would you play dark blastoise when base blastoise's rain dance is a format defining pokemon power?

[@michaelwilburn5582]

This video made my day. Not only because it is quality content, but because I got to see awesome nostalgic artwork that I haven't thought of in 20 years.

[@Merkygloom]

Same, I loved these cards as a child

[@Paraspectre]

Haha well I'm glad I could help you reconnect!

[@Bargadiel]

Dark Arbok's English card also had a typo, I think it was the copyright year having an extra digit. I remember seeing it as a kid when I first opened it.

[@crestfallenhussar895]

Cool thing tonote about Dark Machamp: he isn't wearing a belt! No wonder he basically has an insta-kill move. His super strength isn't being limited by the restraining belt like it normally would!

[@darkninjafirefox]

As a long time team rocket fan, these were some of my favorite cards along with their light counterparts. The only one I have left is dark gyrados. Maybe I'll get more cards

[@Paraspectre]

It's funny, I started re-collecting all of the Team Rocket cards, but then decided against it. I just want to stick with Base, Jungle, Fossil and certain promos 😊

[@SamuraiSam]

In terms of humans vs. humans metagame, Dark Vileplume is by far the best of these cards, as early-TCG trainers are extremely powerful and what the game revolves around

[@fernandoguillen5996]

Also you could play as many trainer cards as you want

[@Paraspectre]

I did see that Dark Vileplume had a bit of a reputation. I really don't know much about the metagame or tournament history or anything like that.

[@yux.tn.3641]

24:32 i’ve got that card 27:31 and that

[@dragonfye1]

Dark Hypno has always been one of my FAVORITE retro Holo cards. Not necessarily a fan of Hypno itself, but that card is just GORGEOUS. ❤

[@Iamanothing]

i was so proud of having a dark raichu back as a kid, even so the card was in a bad shape. I though it was so rare because of it's number 83/82 and were a print error. Nice to finally know some background about that.

[@Paraspectre]

I would've absolutely thought it was a printing error too. I don't think I ever had it.

[@eightcoins4401]

They still do "secret" cards like this to this day.

[@orsonzedd]

9:20 so the reason Dark Raichu delayed the set had nothing to do with it being Pikachu's evolution, but because Media Factory and GameFreak wouldn't allow Wizards to make any cards on their own without approval. In fact any changes they made had to be approved. This caused a lot of issues, for example when they mistranslated Slowking, they couldn't issue Errata to it because that would have contradicted the official translation they were given for it, and thereby have jeopardized their agreement. The Jamboree set (I think it was Jamboree) was supposed to have been a set constructed entirely by Wizards so that it would have been balanced but more over, completely created by Wizards. I think it actually got canned before their contract did though, and while i've asked the Master Trainers if they have any assets for it, they do not. Perhaps another Wizard's employee does. There were occasions like with Dark Vileplume where they accidentally changed a fire type to a fighting type since they start with the two same letters and probably had similar macros, They made that one play as written but were able to correct obvious mistakes like Blaine's Charizard

[@RednekGamurz]

There's a great video about Jamboree made by MATOBA DESIGN that goes over everything about it. He even got to interview some guys who formally worked for Wizards during their Pokemon era and actually got 3 prototype Jamboree cards (including pictures of the cards).

[@orsonzedd]

@@RednekGamurz no shit? I need to see that.

[@Paraspectre]

Ah, very interesting. All I could find is that the card delayed the release, so that helps clarify things.

[@orsonzedd]

@@Paraspectre I watch the matoba design video that redneck recommended and it's incredibly elucidating. I think you would enjoy it. It turns out I might have been a little wrong about a handful of things in minor ways but a lot of it lines up with what my understanding of the relationship between Wizards and the Pokemon company was. It really sucks because the people who were working on the card game Stateside really appreciated what they were doing but the people at the top really did not. Ultimately I think bringing Pokemon in house was the best idea though it is a shame we never got the vending cards. As it turns out that we may have been getting the Jamboree cards in ex sandstorm

[@AiakosVids]

Yeah, because of PTCG's unexpected scale of success, WOTC DESPERATELY wanted to be more involved in the card creation and balancing process, instead of just translating and distributing cards (and overseeing events) overseas as intended by TPC (see: Jamboree) - the creation of Dark Raichu and successfully getting Neo Genesis Sneasel banned (after years of begging TPC to let them ban problematic cards like Neo Genesis Slowking) were perhaps their most successful attempts as working their way into getting a bigger slice of the pie. Of course, as we all know TPC eventually got fed up with this and it was undoubtedly a big (if not the biggest) reason TPC made the decision to not renew WOTC's license after Skyridge. It's a weird situation where neither side is really in the right (TPC was in a lot of ways uncaring and out of touch with foreign PTCG scenes, but WOTC repeatedly and deliberately overstepped their contractual bounds). Also want to second the Matoba Design videos as well as Deltaseeker's "When Wizards Made the Pokemon TCG (and how they lost it)" video, which give a lot of insight.

[@Pumpd_up_kicks]

Paraspecter, Thank you for giving these dark pokemon cards some love. I absolutely adore the offbeat art style of the rocket set. My sister and I are big enthusiasts of the older cards and have a "kanto cup" box filled with decks themed off kanto trainers, places etc. One of our decks is the "Rocket Grunt" deck with primary dark pokemon and rocket trainer cards, such a fun set of cards!

[@NomicFin]

IIRC the reason Dark Raichu had to be approved by Nintendo is that it was designed by Wizards of the Coast, who at the time handled the distribution of Pokemon TCG outside Japan, as a special bonus card. That's also why it got a western release before a Japanese one. Since it wasn't designed by the people normally responsible for designing the cards they had to get an OK from Nintendo/the Pokemon Company to do it.

[@Paraspectre]

Interesting...yeah I couldn't find anything on it, but that makes sense. Kinda funny that one card out of number order is the one to cause all of the issues.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I'm getting back into vintage Pokemon card collecting. This video was a happy surprise for me today! Working to collect the entire Base Set right now.

[@Paraspectre]

I fully support your decision. I’m just missing stupid Charizard (of course). I wish more people I knew wanted to play haha

[@AlexSilver9]

I have a PSA 9 Dark Arbok that was owned by the DJ/producer Steve Aoki. Incredible artwork that has a chest pattern that was never replicated, I love it so much.

[@BeatEngine-qr7if]

This is such a dope collectible

[@AlexSilver9]

@@BeatEngine-qr7if thanks! It's one of those pieces where, yeah, the value isn't nuts, but it has a cool story behind it. I also have a Dark Slowbro he owned as well.

[@BeIlG]

That dark primeape is one of the best arts in pokemon. SO good! like a nuclear fallout and all you see among the green gas is primeape ready to still fight. amazing!

[@hailsaturn]

I love this set so much. I'm still bitter that my holo Dark Charizard was stolen from me at an event when I was about 10 :(

[@Paraspectre]

Come on, who stole it? We need to track this fool down.

[@389OpiE]

When I was a kid I attempted to steal a charizard from a kid showing. It off in a park I don't remember if I did it or not because I only collected them and didn't play but if I did I'm horrible and sorry about yours being stolen

[@389OpiE]

I guess I got karma cus both my yellow version and later on an emerald version I was borrowing from a friend got stolen from me

[@francescodalpozzolo1396]

Duuude my dark charizard got stolen during at school during the break... It wasn't holo but I decorated the background with a gold glittery pen... man the rage I felt

[@Itsjustlikemagic]

Yes it would’ve been nice to see Dark Gengar and Dark Ninetales get released. When I played GB2, I would usually just keep Dark Gengar on my Bench to use its awesome pokemon power. Dark Ninetales of course would be fantastic in any deck flipping 9 coins as vintage pokemon all had very little HP. As for the released ones, without a doubt the best ones were Dark Blastoise, Dark Venusaur, Dark Vileplume, Dark Slowbro, and Dark Dragonair. For Dark Vileplume, Dark Slowbro, and Dark Dragonair, I would only keep them on the bench for their pokemon power. Keep in mind that combos using Dark Slowbro/Dark Dragonair’s PPower, master ball, pokemon trader, pokemon breeder were all excellent ways to bring out all of your evolution Pokemon really quickly in the old meta.

[@Paraspectre]

Yeah, I love this group here. Dark Venusaur may even be my favorite dark card

[@HesGotaGun505]

Can I just say, I love your choice of background. That tiny pixelated 😮 pikachu is too cute!

[@Paraspectre]

I also love the background! Joshua Griffin does some excellent work.

[@mrkiiprototype2938]

YOOOOO THE DIO RAINBOW IN THE DARK PIANO BACKGROUND MUSIC IS CRAZY

[@Paraspectre]

🤘🏻

[@bbb_888]

Ive only watched the first 12 mins so far, but as you are going thru each card, kinda surprised you don't mention the misprint errors such as on Dark Arbok and Vileplume and Dragonite, etc.

[@RJV-s3l]

I hope we’ll get an analysis of Light Pokémon as well, but those were gen2 cards. Too bad they didn’t continue the tcg game series further… Dark Arbok was my favorite. The Holo one in the Rocket starter deck was such an awesome card. That deck also came with a really shiny meowth coin, which I always associated with the fact that meowths likes hunting for shiny objects. Definitely a highlight in the Pokémon TCG history.

[@drascia]

Team Rocket was the first (and only) set I tried to collect in its entirety. Iirc I was only missing Dark Charizard. Ah, fond memories.

[@Paraspectre]

It's a pretty awesome set to own. I recently decided to collect them all as well, but decided against it at the last minute. I want to stick to the first three only.

[@grantgibson8680]

I have this full set. Didn't realize people still would be interested

[@infinitesheldon5710]

Love the graboid reference. Tremors is my favorite movie series that nobody talks about.

[@Paraspectre]

I don't mean to brag, but...I've seen every Tremors movie 😏

[@stovetopism]

I love the dark pokemon cards. To this day Dark Arbok is one of my favorite cards period due to its design. I wish that was its shiny. One day I'd love to have all the original dark cards but I forget which ones I'm missing, I just know I have Dark Charizard, Arbok, Golduck and Primeape at least with Dark Tyranitar and Dragonite from team rocket returns.

[@Paraspectre]

Yeah, Dark Arbok is one of the coolest ones in the set. It's pretty good too.

[@dr3dg352]

Loved this set when it came out! Coincidentally, Magic the Gathering's fourth expansion, The Dark, also focused on powerful effects that come with a price. Also I actually really love the artwork for Dark Weezing. 😅 It wound up being my favorite card because I thought the foil card with the black background with faint smoke trails was really chill and relaxing.

[@Tsukuyomi500]

I really love the Rainbow in the Dark rendition in the background

[@Paraspectre]

🤘🏻

[@Mitjitsu]

It did have some really powerful trainer, but other than Dark Vileplume there isn't any playable Pokémon.

[@arcuscotangens]

I really dig Dark Primeape art. It just looks so exhausted, but still with some fight in it.

[@Paraspectre]

That's a good point. It's so angry and full of rage that it wore itself out, but has to keep going. Man, I love Primeape.

[@BlaqueT]

I was thinking it looks angry and a lil rabid, that sort of posing is common when depicting characters that have gone crazy in anime 🙂 and the background is like a jungle, and it's been jumping between branches pursuing its foe

[@Quatrixjs1]

To quote Pokemon Sprite Guy: There's just something about its obvious anger combined with restrained body language that suggests that thing is about to snap and kill someone. The fact that it's standing in some weird Salvador Dali land probably helps make the illustration unsettling.

[@AArdW01f]

Christmas 1999. My american ass was visiting my aunt and uncle in the UK for the holidays. My uncle was working in Japan regularly in finance at the time and my aunt was pregnant with their first kids at the time. Uncle Chris brought me back a pack or two of japanese pokemon cards he happened to grab at probably the airport in tokyo. He knew i liked pokemon.... i was 7, it was 1999 - this was more important than anything else to us back then. I pulled a japanese holofoil dark blastoise from that pack and lost my mind so hard i think my uncle was concerned. Still have that card. Probably would grade a 10 because it went straight into safe keeping that very day. Thanks Uncle Chris

[@Paraspectre]

That’s awesome. Dark Blastoise SHOULD be the most valuable in the set if I had things my way

[@will420high4]

This Team Rocket/Dark Set is my favorite, just got Dark Marowak and Dark Celebi both with swirls!!! Gonna put this cards in black border toploaders, gonna look cool af!

[@davidkruszka8426]

I loved those cards. The art was great

[@sarahquinn6849]

If Anihilape existed back then the Dark Primeape's power could have been good if it added in a "if Dark Primeape is knocked out by this effect you can place an Anihilape onto the bench from your hand or deck as a basic Pokemon."

[@Paraspectre]

I love it. And I love Annihilape.

[@corporalkills]

That would be really cool

[@lostanguishbladelord2461]

There need to be more Dark Pokemon Cards. Not just gen 1 and 2, but given how Team Rocket is becoming a multi gen -> multiversal threat, they should showcase it. And also revive some of the artwork like Dark Dragonair, Dark Charmeleon, Dark Jolteon, and the can make Kadabra's again. I'm not going to write "Dark" everything so, and only using the final stages: Venusaur; Charizard; Blastoise; Beedrill; Raichu; Golem; Alakazam; Machamp; Gengar; Annihilape; Ampharos; Crobat; Arbok; Muk; Weezing; Hypno; Gyarados; Marowak; Slowbro; Slowking; Magnezone; Vileplume; Bellossom; Dragonite; Golduck; Persian; Rapidash; Rhyperior; Aggron; Donphan; Steelix; Feraligatr; Typhlosion; Houndoom; Porygon Z; Tyranitar; Salamence; Yanmega; Malamar; Kabutops; Omastar; Tyrantrum; Aurorus; Scizor; Ariados; Magcargo; Electivire; Magmortar; Ursaluna; Ratticate; Exeggutor; Forretress; Wigglytuff; Celebi; Mewtwo; Jellicent; Amoongus; Vaporeon; Jolteon; Flareon; Sylveon; Espeon; Leafeon; Umbreon; Glaceon; Alolan Ninetales; Staarmie; Gougeist; Lickilicky; Delphox; Greninja; Chesnaught; Electrode; Weavile; Parasect; Honchkrow; Mamoswine; Kingler; Drapion; Farigiraf; Banette; Mightyena; Cloyster; Tentacruel; Granbull; Dusknoir; Drednaw; Scolipede; Nidoking; Lurantis; Armaldo; Cradily; Xatu; Azumarill; Articuno; Zapdos; Moltres; Lugia; Ludicolo; Exploud; Hariyama; Camerupt; Claydol; Luxray; Drifblim; Serperior; Emboar; Samurott; Watchog; Whimsocott; Basculegion; Galarian Darmanitan; Crustle; Scrafty; Garbodor; Reuniclus; Escavalier; Accelgor; Klinklang; Hydreigon; Florgess; Pangoro; Meowstic; Dubwool; Aromatisse; Slurpuff; Crabominable; Toxapex; Mudsdale; Araquanid; Salazzle; Silvally; Greedent; Thievul; Eldegoss; Toxtricity; Grapploct; Hatterene; Runerigus; Kleavor;

[@tealblackwhiteteal]

loved this video! maybe more deep dives from other vintage line subsets?

[@Max-zv8hm]

I own the whole set. 3/4th of them are my original cards, kept in MINT condition cause even back then I knew about care. I cannot tell you how satisfying it was to get and open these booster packs back then. amazing. everyone had cards

[@AiakosVids]

I think it's kind of neat that Dark Golbat is the only regular holo Golbat card ever made. I also absolutely LOVE the Dark Dragonair, Dark Dugtrio, Dark Magneton, Dark Hypno, and Dark Golduck artwork in this set. Thanks for the video!

[@neonthunder3261]

9:46 Wizards of The Coast actually wanted to produce their own cards for quite a while, and Dark Raichu was the first one they had made. They needed to await approval from Nintendo’s Japanese side to add the card to the set. There’s an entire cancelled expansion made by Wizards called Jamboree

[@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo]

That's not true.... The cards were designed by Creatures inc and published by Media Factory. Dark Richu was already made and was going to be the secret rare for Neo 2 set. Wizards was inspired by that and did it to the Current Rocket set. Remember back then Japanese release was ahead about 2 years......

[@neonthunder3261]

@@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo wdym? i remember a vid about the unreleased jamboree set mentioning the creation of Dark Raichu being a Wizards original. Do you have a source? I'll look for mine if I can recall it.

[@neonthunder3261]

i posted a link ig it just didnt go through

[@neonthunder3261]

@@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo deltaseeker's 'when wizards made the pokemon tcg'

[@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo]

​@@neonthunder3261 I've seen that video and he's wrong. Wizards only had the right to publish and print the cards in the US and international markets. The only card they were officially allowed to tinker was the black star promo Mewtwo with a different artwork done by Christopher Rush. Wizards did a lot of fuckery that would cost them their license. They had bad QC compared to Media Factory, made so many translation errors, reinterpreted the rules and did what ever they wanted with the tournament which really pissed of creatures inc and game freak. Also them always scrambling cards to different releases dates and making reprint sets like base set 2/ legendary collection really annoyed them too.... There is a lot more but I don't remember all of it.

[@horokai]

I have an OG dark muk/dark golbat+dark crobat deck and it’s really cool.

[@SystemYTP]

The Dark Wartortle artwork made me uncomfortable when I was a child 😁 it just looked so mean

[@ShamankingZuty]

Dark and Light Pokemon are my favorite special Pokemon card types. EX and TagTeam are the best as far as newer designs go, but I like the simplicity of Dark and Light; they are unique enough and do different things while not just being "It goes more damage and/or has a bunch more HP so you get extra prizes." I wish it was a design space they went back to rather then just upping the stats and +1ing the prize you get for KOing it.

[@Wolf950]

These days dark primate would evolve so quick

[@JD-iu6rv]

I just realized that the music playing in the background is a piano version of “Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio

[@ryanpooley]

My sister had a lot of the dark/light and gym leader cards! They were so cool!

[@Purplesubmariner]

Dark Raichu was also not part of th Japanese Rocket set, but came out later in the Japanese Neo Discovery set. Why they didn't put him in the Neo Destiny with the re-introduction of dark Pokemon with the new Light variants is beyond me

[@atlys258]

Some of my all-time favorite card art come from _Team Rocket,_ so many absolutely incredible illustrations, so many just look so powerful, ominous, and dangerous, but one that I didn't notice being particularly important as a kid but see now for what it is, is Dark Magneton, which we see is the implied abuse and mistreatment turning it "dark" from the simple strokes giving it a mean and angry expression with the shadow of it's abuser smiling, as though it's enjoying the inhumane acts they're carrying out and their awful results. 😢 Also, Dark Alakazam & Dark Machamp reminded me of the time one of my friends tried to convince another friend that trading Kadabra cards will evolve them into Alakazam cards because Psychic Pokémon cards were special and that's how they evolved in-game 😂

[@Paraspectre]

Haha that’s awesome. I mean the vending set DID have the mail in thing to “evolve” Kadabra, Machoke, etc

[@LiliGasanj]

Dark Vileplume is baller even in conjunction with trainer cards, considering you can use as many as you want and *then* gate off your opponent. My favorite deck for TCG2 combos Hay Fever and Neutral Damage Mr. Mime with Muk's Toxic Gas so I can revert my own abilities when it benefits me most, making them much less of a double-edged sword.

[@Paraspectre]

Yeah, I’ve heard Dark Vileplume used to be pretty epic

[@edwardnygma8533]

19:00 Interesting to note that Machamp doesn't have the championship belt here. Being a Dark Pokémon, maybe it's because it was rescinded after they learned about some shady performance enhancers or the like.

[@Paraspectre]

Ahh I didn’t even notice this

[@FullOBolognia]

I like the version of rainbo iin the dark playing in the background at the beginning of the video.

[@akubanekuroda1359]

@paraspectre, if i remember correctly, dark raichu was created by wizards of the coast, thats prob why it needed to be approved by nintendo first.

[@pretzelcoatl_1121]

That slowbro is all like “hey cuh who you know here?”

[@nousukas]

18:22 As a kid I compared the rock machoke is lifting to the one that base set machop is lifting with it's one arm. The dark machoke doesn't seem as strong.

[@joekerUli]

Dark Charmeleon to this day is my favorite dark Pokémon card art.

[@justincase1228]

I clicked thinking "I remember these" only to find out wait I still have a lot of these.

[@Zutentu]

Thanks for including the TCG2 exclusives! Made the video feel complete and I enjoyed rewatching it :)

[@Paraspectre]

I was curious about how many would stay and watch that part again.

[@hexrisk]

9:45 - dogs jump through hoops, not over them.

[@decarabiaumbra560]

I really loved the "evil team" card gimmick when they were still making them. They were some of my favorite sets to collect from when I was a kid. It's a shame the last non-celebrations set to have them was Plasma Blast back in 2013. While the other teams after Plasma got a little silly story wise, it would have been so cool if they continued with Flare pokemon, Skull pokemon, Aether pokemon, Yell pokemon, and Macro Cosmo pokemon. We can still hold out hope that they may give us some more in future releases like another celebration set or even Star's pokemon, but I'm not going to hold out for too much.

[@Paraspectre]

Wow, I didn't even know of these, but it makes sense that they'd exist. And of course "Dark" would probably be changed to "shadow" nowadays.

[@decarabiaumbra560]

@@Paraspectre Potentially, but even with the their reintroduction in "Team Rocket Returns" of the gen 3 era of cards they were still called "dark" pokemon and also with the Dark Sylveon V that came out for the 25th anniversary tcg celebration set. The way it was handled in rocket return was interesting though, making the pokemon affiliated duel type dark even if they aren't normally dark types.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

These sets were such a neat idea, it added so much more character to the Pokemon world itself. The Dark Pokemon concept was a stroke of brilliance and a little bit of a risky move to do so early for a franchise that capitalized on its cuteness. Now if only the Rockets in the games had any of these Pokemon available in the first place... This, along with the Gym Leaders made the Gen 1 card game feel so special. Sure, they tried Gym Leaders again in Gen 2 with a bizarre set of fully evolved basic... mostly bad cards, They did introduce TMs though (and then promptly rarely used that concept again.) I honestly expected an Elite Four set after Gym Challenge, I'm still a touch annoyed they didn't choose that route. Seeing Lance's Dragonite or Blue's Arcanine or something could have been quite special.

[@Paraspectre]

Yeah, I kinda wish they would've actually limited how many dark ones existed, to be honest. I can't really see Team Rocket having a Dark Dragonite. Dark Persian, Weezing, Arbok, Raticate...all of those are spot on though.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

@@Paraspectre Ah, perhaps a slight misunderstanding. I loved that they included Pokemon that Team Rocket doesn't really use, it made them feel more like the criminal organization that the games claim them to be. It also implies (especially with the dark starters) a lot of trainers that were seduced by the power that could arise from controlling such creatures, or became disillusioned with their own Pokemon journeys, for whatever reason.

[@timothyvanhoeck233]

Is that a piano cover of Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark" I'm hearing in the background???🤔😎👍

[@mattjayce2339]

Vine Pull is actually an insane ability

[@Paraspectre]

Dark Ivysaur and Venusaur are pretty stellar cards

[@mattjayce2339]

@@Paraspectre I disagree on Dark Venu. I don't think it's that good. But Dark Ivy is nuts and would still see play today if it was reprinted into the current Standard format. The ability is just THAT good.

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

They remind me a bit of shadow pokemon from Pokemon Coliseum, which are just corrupted versions of normal pokemon, but would often be much stronger than ordinary pokemon of that type.

[@_Vengeance_]

Unfortunately, Dark Gengar in the GBC game really doesn't work well at all. Only a 50% chance each turn and hitting a random Pokemon (so just dump all your Basics on the bench, big deal if 1 of them gets hit) makes it so slow that Slowpoke laughs at it for its slowness. And even if everything goes right and it hits something good, it's still a stage 2 so it still needs to do more to pay itself back which is never going to happen. Fortunately, unlike what the translation says, it can hit the active Pokemon. But even then it's still 99% useless. It's a cool concept, but just way too slow to ever work.

[@hatsudopia5085]

Dark persian looks emaciated

[@Paraspectre]

Yeah, I don't love that card.

[@malcontender6319]

The chaddest of all the wotc sets. Dark Golduck is still my spirit animal.

[@jhoagie1367]

Dark Charmeleon is my favorite Art work of any set

[@LunaticKD1991]

I got a box of random Pokemon card packs as a kid including a Japanese pokemon card pack. I ended up getting a Japanese Light Dragonite from the japanese card pack. I always new it was a Dragonite but I didn't learn that it was Light Dragonite until years later since I don't speak Japanese. I like the Team Rocket and Dark and Light Pokemon cards. I also like that Pokemon Go implemented Dark and Light Pokemon as well as I have a Light Dragonite in that also.

[@damianwarneke305]

C...can we talk about Dark Hypno's flavor text? Are they all creepy kidnappers??

[@Abdega]

The Rocket set was the one set I was able to collect all the first editions of I was so proud of that when I was little… I need to find the binder it was in

[@JoshTheGoth_]

I feel like dark Persian should’ve been the strongest card considering it’s Giovanis favorite Pokemon

[@Justin_D_Bledsoe]

DARK CHARIZARD HAS MY FAVORITE CARD ART OF ALL TIME AND IT WAS IN THE PACK I HAVE EVER OPENED AND CHARIZARD IS MY FAVORITE POKEMON 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@ether_storm]

I would love to see a video on the light cards and shining cards as well

[@FiresplitterSpeedrun]

Dark Clefable and Dark Dragonite alone made Dark pokemons broken in TCG 2. It didn’t matter that they had bad stats, being close to invulnerable to damage was ridiculous.

[@carlsoll]

2:54 This is what I was wondering 🤔 How do the evolutions work? I have like almost all these :o Started Collecting back when Pokemon Go came out

[@feralstreamer3761]

15:58 no if it hits hitself at full hp after doing damage its dead. Unless it has the stadium which you didnt mention.

[@Paraspectre]

With the early rules, confusion was 20, not 30

[@hilariousskullnamedcatzo647]

The thing about the TR dark persian is that's it supposed to be frail from being abused, which is really saddening :(

[@WreckItRolfe]

I always liked the Dark artwork

[@piratebear3126]

I actually have the Legendary Collection reverse holo Dark Blastoise. No idea where I got it, and I don't have any other Legendary Collection card nor did I ever get any LC packs as a kid. The LC reverse holo looks amazing, even if it's not super readable. Ended up getting the Base Set Rattata reverse holo during the 2020 TCG craze. The whole Pokemon having different fates based on their Trainer is really cool, and I'm sad that they really haven't explored it since Neo Destinies.

[@tacticalbondsh]

Dark Charizard was my favorite card for a long time

[@TheLetterJ0]

I did a quick comparison between these Dark Pokemon and their "normal" versions from the earlier sets to determine which Pokemon are the best to be mean to. There were some that could go either way, but in my opinion the ones that clearly became better by being treated poorly are: Arbok, Dragonair, Dragonite, Golbat, Machoke, Machamp, Magneton, Vileplume, Weezing, and Vaporeon. I also noticed that nearly every Dark Pokemon in this set is listed at a lower level than their versions in the earlier sets, with Slowbro and Persian as the only exceptions. I suspect this was done intentionally, to emphasize that Team Rocket is not doing a good job of training their Pokemon.

[@Paraspectre]

That's awesome. I should've gone through myself to figure out which Dark ones I thought were better, but I probably can't argue with the list you made.

[@fulgenzio89]

Why were their HP so low? Maybe evil consumed the Pokémon

[@pokemaniacdavid]

I love collecting the Dark Pokémons. The art is so amazing!

[@laxlyfters8695]

It was fun having a team rocket deck back in the day but you would get wrecked with the low hp. Too bad ended up losing the binders or trading for yugioh cards lol 😭😭😭

[@Spilsbury1989]

The guy in Dark Magneton's art is so loyal to Team Rocket that he carved an R straight through his body

[@multiplepassions3694]

The nostalgia is crazy lol

[@youtubeletmeintoyoutube4580]

8bit “rainbow in the dark” intro music makes me happy

[@iaresmartz]

Ive always been a big fan of dark gloom, especially in tcg2. I always ran him on a puppet master Hypno team,. Clefairy dolls cannot be confused, so its just a free chance to cause mayhem. It also synergizes with Snorlax for the same reason.

[@hotrod4013]

When i got into pokemon the first 3 sets were already out so Team rocket was my first new release as a collector. Very cool set, love the artwork. The gym series that came after have the best art of any set and i wish modern cards looked as good! I own an almost complete set of team rocket :)

[@toast666lol]

Great video. Hopefully you'll cover the light Pokemon cards next!

[@danielbakergill]

Man these were so cool. Can you do the Light pokemon with the attacks that have chance to do less damage? Cheers

[@algar6616]

Cool looking cards, made me wanna buy a card even tho I have never collected stuff

[@Neonytic]

Oh baby! My favorite set with my favorite gimmick! Just last year we bought an art set and opened 'em on our pokemon card channel with my wife. I also find the Dark Charizard art a bit boring while I absolutely love the Dark Blastoise art 🙌✨ I'm Blassie gang repping anyway! F*** Charizard. 😅 Personally I like the Dark Gloom and the Dark eeveelutions a bunch too. Aaaand Dark Primeape, but there's shameful memory attached to it so it kinda sours it.

[@Purplesubmariner]

I have this set completed, including secret rare Dark Raichu

[@XxXTMillzXxX]

I still have that full set at my mum's house in storage