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Cardz Shop

Cardz Shop 5- Ludicolo, Magcargo, and Relevancy of Americans in International Affairs

05.04.05  Well, now its onto fix two of the week. Here’s the other deck that was sent to me including the ominous reminder to fix my front page to show my email address. I almost didn’t do this deck because the person had not playtested it at all. But, in the end, I decided to go ahead and do it because it had a very interesting strategy attached to it.
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I was watching somebody playing a Ludiculo/Cargo deck and saw that it has several issues with both speed and power. I also noted that a main attacker was sorely lacking. Because of this (and the fact that I have loads of time on my hand) I decided to build this thing.

Pokemon (28):
4 Dunsparce
2 Jirachi (HL)
4 Lotad
4 Lombre
2 Ludiculo (Swing Dance)
2 Ludiculo (other DX)
2 Slugma
2 Cargo
3 Onix
3 Dk Steelix

Energy (16):
4 Rainbow
4 Dark
4 Metal
4 R

Trainers (16):
4 Swoop! Teleporter
4 TV Reporter
2 POR
2 Celio's Network
1 ATMR
1 Retriever
1 Shard
1 Island Cave

This deck dies a very quick death if it does not get a first turn Sparce. I made sure I GET that 1st turn Sparce active with the Swoops, and could also possibly be used to get Jirachi without using SARs to get it. Get a few energies into the discard (preferrably at least 1 Rainbow) and get it back out with Dk Steelix, form a WALL, and start wasting with random searching and healing. Ideal setup would be 1 Cargo, 1 Swing Dance Ludiculo, 2 other Ludiculo, and 1 Dk Steelix with 4 Dark, 4 Metal, and a Rainbow, which could also be used on any of my other Pokemon if need be. The Cargo and Ludiculo come first, then start working on the Steelix buildup.

I haven't tested this yet, but it appears solid right now. Thoughts? Ideas? Please don't rape this thing, it's just a random idea...

BTW: the reason you're not getting any submissions is b/c your contact info is about 2/3 down the main page and nowhere on your deck fixes page, go all the way back to 3/4/05 for your contact info.
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Again, the tagline at the end makes me want to smack myself. However, this isn’t our focus now, is it? Looking at the deck, I see some things I like and other things I don’t.

One of the big things I don’t like about this deck is that it hasn’t been playtested. I would really prefer if you done at least some playing with and fixing of the deck itself before sending it to me. This way, I know you’ve at least thought through some ideas before and can warn me of what works and what doesn’t. Most of the time I can tell if a deck has just been put together quickly and not played at all and I almost deleted this deck after seeing this was just slightly true. But the owner of the deck did admit to not playtesting it and I commend him (I guess it’s a him) for his honesty. But, please people, you are your first and sometimes most critical deck mechanic. Make sure you know how your deck functions in function not just in theory but in practice.
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Energy: OK, stepping down from my soap box to get to work on this deck. First off, it looks to me that you’re running way to many pokémon and not enough energy. 12 general energy worked back in the day of unlimited, but now I think its pushing it to run 15 energy; so, some of the cuts will come from this thought train.

To quickly remedy this, let’s try adding 2 Water Energy. I know this seems like a random choice, but there is a reason for. That reason would be Swing Dance Ludicolo’s first attack. It allows you to discard cards from your hand and fill your discard pile with the energy you need to power your Dark Steelix. And, even though you may be using Jirachi to get your early evos out, you’ll need to stall some after it finishes its work. You’re most likely going to be SARSing for a Slugma, Lotad, and Jirachi, activating the Jirachi afterward to use Make a Wish next turn. That leaves an Onix out of the picture and an even longer wait for Dark Steelix as well. So, stalling for time might have to be an option for you. That’s why I’m adding these two basic energy cards to your deck to make things a bit easier to work with.

Also, why are you running R Energy. Only Dark Steelix can use it and, with your strategy, you probably won’t need it. Its only acting like a high powered DCE that gets discarded at the end of your turn. Ditch that card in favor of two more Water and two Dark Metal Energy. This way, Ludicolo could more easily attack and Dark Metal helps Jirachi out a bit, in case it has to attack. If you don’t like the Dark Metal Energy idea, just switch them all over to Water. Trust me, you’ll need the water energy sometime in your playing with this deck.

-All R Energy

+3 Water Energy
+2 Dark Metal Energy

Pokémon: In my opinion, too many. I realize that this deck is dependant on two main pokémon to get running best, but this just seems a tad over the top for me. I’m currently surviving in many of my decks with just 3 Dunsparce now, but, since your deck seems to be in extra need of that fourth ‘Sparce, I’ll let the four stay. For now…

As for other pokémon (and trainers), where are your Rare Candies? Every decent modified deck is running at least two if not three. Drop two of your Lombre and a Dark Steelix for three (highly needed) Rare Candy. This should help your deck run even faster than it already is.

Here’s another quick change: Take out one Onix and add a Slugma. Sure, Onix is a big, beefy pokémon, but he’s just not doing much with his attacks. Slugma, on the other hand, can help you eat through your deck and get to those cards you need most more quickly.

As much as I’d like to slim down your pokémon count more, I just can’t with this decks strategy. This deck is very pokémon heavy and, thus runs slowly as you mentioned above. But once it gets running, I can see this deck being deadly.

-2 Lombre
-1 Dark Steelix
-1 Onix

+3 Rare Candy
+1 Slugma

Trainers: I really like the use of Swoop! Teleporter here. It’s a great way to get out that one needed basic to get your deck rolling and, since you need certain pokémon every game to start out with and/or swoop in later, this is a great card. Four, however, I think is a tad overboard in my opinion. Let’s drop that count down to three. 4 TVRs are essential to the strategy you’re running, so there’s no change there. Prof. Oak’s Research is a tad outdated now, however. CopyCat will normally fetch you at least 5, if not more, every time. So Oak’s are out and CCs are in. 2 Celio’s are fine in this deck because you are running Jirachi.

Now we move to the single cards. First of, what the heck are ATMRock and Island Cave in here. One is a great card, just not in this deck. The other is just not a great card. Drop the ATMR and, instead of running Island Cave as your TecH gym, run Desert Ruins. You won’t be hurting yourself with the ruins and, most likely, you’ll be wrecking your opponent’s strategies as well. If you’re not to keen on the Ruins idea, just run a Rocket’s Hideout. You can go wrong with that in a deck centered around an indestructible Dark Steelix.

-1 Swoop! Teleporter
-2 POR
-Island Cave

+2 CopyCat
+1 Desert Ruins or Rocket’s Hideout
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Well, there are my tips for fixing up the deck. Its nothing too major as you can see. You just had a couple cards out of place. Here’s the list to help you reconstruct the deck. I left you some options with the energy and counter gym. Have fun with the deck.
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Pokemon:
4 Dunsparce
2 Jirachi (HL)
4 Lotad (SS, Blot)
2 Lombre (DX, Aqua Lift)
2 Ludiculo (Swing Dance)
2 Ludiculo (other DX)
3 Slugma (DX, Collect)
2 Cargo (DX, Smooth Over)
2 Onix (Your Choice, none of them are great)
2 Dk Steelix

Energy:
4 Rainbow
4 Dark
4 Metal
4 (6) Water
2 (0) Dark Metal

Trainers:
3 Swoop! Teleporter
4 TV Reporter
2 CopyCat
2 Celio's Network
3 Rare Candy
1 Retriever
1 Shard
1 Desert Ruins (or Rocket’s Hideout)
Pokemon (28):
4 Dunsparce
2 Jirachi (HL)
4 Lotad
4 Lombre
2 Ludiculo (Swing Dance)
2 Ludiculo (other DX)
2 Slugma
2 Cargo
3 Onix
3 Dk Steelix

Energy (16):
4 Rainbow
4 Dark
4 Metal
4 R

Trainers (16):
4 Swoop! Teleporter
4 TV Reporter
2 POR
2 Celio's Network
1 ATMR
1 Retriever
1 Shard
1 Island Cave
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RaNd0m Thoughts…: Ok, so I’m sure when many of you saw the title of today’s deck fix, you thought I’d be addressing the Iraq War down here. Well, while I do have some opinions on this war, I do not believe I am well enough informed about issues over there to best express and support my opinion.

Instead, I’m talking about the Pope down here. Now, I’m not Catholic, but no one can deny the fact that this past Pope who died almost a month ago was one of the most influential people in the politics of the 20th century. I don’t think anyone would object or refute this point. But one thing I think was very sad about the whole passing of the Pope was that, at least in my area which is highly populated with Christians and Catholics, not many people cared. It seemed at least in my immediate group of friends that I was the only person concerned with the health of the Pope and the impact of his death. Sadly, though, I didn’t get the news of his death until about an hour after it occurred. The college I attend had a production of a musical going on that day and it was the only one of the twelve showings I would have time to see. So, I actually found out during the intermission and went in for the second act a little depressed.

But what shocked me most was that, during the intermission, how many people in the lobby who saw the news on one of the monitors just didn’t care. You’ve got to understand one thing about this lobby: It’s a thoroughfare for the whole campus, so there are a lot of people just standing around and talking with their friends and family.

On this occasion, the two TVs above the Information desk were playing two very different dramas. One was the death of the Pope and the other was a European soccer game. Yet, in a crowd of about a hundred, I seemed to be the only one who noticed that the Pope had died. Everyone else around me started talking about classes, who’s dating who, family life, etc. Those who weren’t talking about their lives were staring up at the blinking light of a soccer game. One couple even said, “Oh look, the Pope died. That’s so sad. Hey, that soccer game looks really good!” The sad thing about that was that they weren’t joking. The sports game was more important to this crowd than the death of a major political figure that more or less molded together the world in which we live today. This surely does not do justice to his name.

As Americans, we have become to adjusted to being egocentric and caring only about ourselves and what benefits us most directly. It’s very sad to see how much people care about a person who, self sacrificially, helped bring in the safe world in which we are right now. Who knows what this next Pope will bring to the Papacy? Right now, we need to remember Pope John Paul II contributions to today’s society and, for once America, but the focus off of ourselves and onto another person.

Cardzmaster2004
Cardz2004@hotmail.com