FREEZELock

Bill sent me a really nifty combo deck! Since I play also play Magic, where you see a lot of lock down type Combos, I thought his deck was really interesting and a great idea. Honestly, I wonder if the combo is too fragile, and as he said, if it doesn't come together, the deck cannot support itself (ie: you die). There were a couple of minor changes that I made, but I really could think of nothing earth-shattering. I'm going to do something I've never done here. I like Bill's idea enough that I am going to open this up to reader suggestions. If you have ideas for Bill's FREEZELock combo deck, email them to: DollsHouse@pojo.com. Basically, send the name of cards you think would help, and a short explanation as to why they would be a good addition to Bill's deck (how they would be used and how they fit his focus). I'll post some of the better ideas next week... Thanks guys!

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Name: Bill

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mIRC nickname (if you have one): Bhylle

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Email Address: wolander@chemonics.net

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Skill Level: By your definition, I'm a beginner. All play has been with friends.. but they've been really good players.

Speed Metagame in your area: Fast.. not quite Turbo though

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Strategy of your deck: The Deck's Purpose is to Lock the opponent down. Essentially to put them in a position where they can't attack or retreat and I can pick them off one by one.

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Deck Name: FREEZELock

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Deck Listing (please include quantity of each card also)

Pokémon -17

4 Swinub

3 Piloswine

3 Murkrow

4 Slowpoke(neo)

3 SlowKing

Trainers -27

4 Gust of Wind

2 Rocket Training Gym

4 Switch

4 Oak

3 Erika

4 ER

4 IF

2 CPU Search

Energy Types -16

4 Dark Energy

4 Rainbow Energy

8 Water Energy

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How does your deck do?: Alright. This deck works around the idea of getting off one Combo. First get out Piloswine and do Freeze on your opponent's active so that they can no longer attack (It's a coin flip) then switch (Piloswine has a high retreat cost) for Murkrow and use Mean Look. Freeze works til the opponent benches their active or evolves. Enough people play basic hay type pokemon that I'm not too worried about getting a non-evolving pokemon. That leaves benching either by retreat (mean look) or Trainer (Slowking). I can then just use Murkrows Feint Attack to pick off the bench one at a time.

My Weaknesses: 1. Scyther. Free Retreat plus Piloswine's Grass weakness make Scyther a BIG problem.. even with Rocket's Training Gym.

2. Lack of BBP. While they are the focus of my attack, I need some for my own deck otherwise I'll probably not survive long enough to get the combo off.

3. Too much focus. Focusing on one thing is great but it often leaves you weak elsewhere. If the combo doesn't go off right, this deck has little chance of survival in a straight match.

4. Slowking can't attack. While I need it's pokemon power to shut down the trainers there's no real room to fit in any psychic energy.

5. Anything that shuts down pokemon powers will be a worry for slowking. However, the main no-attack/no-retreat engine is fully attack based.

6. I'm sure you'll find more.. The deck is really pretty slow.

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Other info you feel is important: Hi Doll! Thanks for Taking the time to look at this. I know what I need to do with this deck, just not exactly sure how to go about it. What I need to incorporate into it is some method to slow down my opponent long enough to get the trap in place. Eventually the metagame may chance so that I'll need to put in an Aerodactyl but I don't see that day for quite some time.

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What a great, original idea! This stuff is just so much more interesting than a run of the mill Wigglytuff deck. Now, admittedly, Wigglytuff very well could beat the ever-living daylights outta this deck, but maybe not, and anyway, archetypes are BORING, so.. soo... so there! *grin*

Okay, Bill. As you read above, this sounds like a fragile combo, but it would be dang fun to run or at least try. The changes I suggest below may be good or may be way off... without some intensive playtesting, it's just too difficult to tell. So I'll just throw them out to you and give you my reasoning. Actual Results May Vary.... ;)

Hmm... Okay, you mentioned BBPs... Chansey is the usually the ultimate stall while you set up (unless the metagame has sees a lot of Hitmonchan). If you choose Chansey, make room for Scoop Ups. I also considered Cleffa... instead of buying time, Cleffa gives you a little more speed by hopefully getting the cards you need into your hand. With a lot of search, going 3/3 on an evolutionary line is acceptable.

I think Bill is a better way to go since Erika would hurt you in the following way: Your opponent plays a trainer, flips tails for Slowking and puts the trainer on top of his deck... part of locking him down is that he will hopefully have to draw the same card over and over and get nothing new or useful in the process. If you Erika, you now let him draw 3 and maybe something that he can use. It defeats your Slowking lockdown.

Gust of Wind, Scoop Up and Switch are your enemies. RSA may help remove that treat from your opponent's hand and shuffle it into his deck where he can't get to it as easily. It actually kind of combos with Slowking since you'll know what he's drawing (as long as he doesn't try to play it again). Comp Search adds some speed, so add a couple more in. Gold Berry may give you some hold out power during set up.

Pokémon - #17
3 Swinub
3 Piloswine
3 Murkrow
3 Slowpoke (neo)
3 Slowking
2 Cleffa or Chansey (test to see which works better for you)

Trainers - #27
4 Rocket's Sneak Attack
4 Switch
4 Oak
3 Bill
4 Item Finder
4 Computer Search
2 Gold Berry
2 Gust of Wind

Energy - #16
4 Dark Energy
4 Rainbow Energy
8 Water Energy

Playtest, playtest, playtest... let me know how this deck does... I'm genuinely curious =)