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React-ing and More Reacting

05.28.06  

Well, I’m going to do a deck fix this week (after about a month of doing more or less no deck fixes; more on that later). Just a quick note about the new deck contest (see last week’s article for more info): Contests are due by the end of the last match on the Sunday of Nationals here in the States. So that’s around 5:00 p.m.-ish on July 3, EST.

I’ve really not been getting many decks from y’all and I’m more or less going to take this week to: 1) Fix my main page so I don’t keep getting the same email (hopefully) and 2) Show y’all what I’m looking for in an email. Honestly, some of the stuff I’ve been receiving lately have been, to steal a phrase from a famous British Music mogul that William Hung has had at least one run in with, ghastly. I received this email a couple of days ago and figured I’d fix the deck and use it to show you what I’m looking for and not looking for in an email:
----------------------------------------

Hello, my name is nick. i have a new deck so just ignore the old one. (PS. WHAT IS THE NEW MODIFIED FORMAT.)

(Pokemon 18)
4 Clamperl (Hidden Legends)
3 Gorebyss (Hidden Legends)
3 Magby (Hidden legends) automatically burns when "Full Flame" is in play
3 Tyrogue (Neo Discovery)
3 Cleffa (Neo Genesis)
2 Dunsparce (Hidden Legends) good for confusing or draw power

Trainers (27)
3 Bill
4 Professor Elm
4 Copy Cat
4 Double Gust
4 Full Flame
3 Forest Guardian
3 Bill's Maintenance
2 Professor Oak's Research

Energy (15)
11 Water Energy
4 React Energy
----------------------------------------

Well, I’m going to do the fix first and address the issues this email has in my RaNd0m Thoughts later.

Pokemon: The Tyrogue and Cleffa you are using are no longer Modified legal (more on that later). Also, your deck has two directions it could go. We could focus on auto-burners such as Flareon EX and Magmar LM. Or we could go the route of creating a React energy deck, circling around an already established set of React energy and Gorebyss in the deck.

Since Flareon EX and Full Flame have had lived in the limelight since the FlariaDos deck came out, I think we could take the chance to look at a React-centric build. So the Magby are out of there as well. I’m going to leave the Dunsparce since it does serve some purpose and is great for early card drawing. That said, we’re done with majority of cuts and we’ll move on to the lines we have left.

I think you mis-labeled the Gorebyss in your email because you’ve included React energy in your deck. The HL Gorebyss cannot use React energy, the Legend Maker one can. That said, three LM Gorebyss is great for this deck. I also think a set of two Legend Maker Huntail would help as well. It doesn’t seem intelligent to run 5 evolutions for a line that only will run 4 basics, but trust me on this. Everything should be made apparent in the Trainer section.

As for a supporting line of pokémon, I’m adding a 4/3 line of LM Delcatty. Once the React Energy hit the discard pile, you’ll be able to use Delcatty to get them back for you. Very handy, especially considering the fact that you can only run 4 Reacts.

-all Tyrogue, Cleffa, and Magby (ain’t no lie, baby bye, bye bye…)
(ah, to relive the days of ‘Nsync…)
-all HL Gorebyss

+3 LM Gorebyss
+2 LM Huntail
+4/3 LM Delcatty

Trainers: Well, Full Flame is definitely out now since it serves no purpose in the current deck. Also leaving us are the now illegal Bill, Professor Elm, and Forest Guardian (what are you doing running that in ay deck anyway?). For a final reductions, 4 Double Gust in any deck but a pure Slashtap is overkill. Drop it to 3.

Now, onto additions. Forest Guardian’s job can essentially be done by Master Ball, so let’s side in 3 of them. Also, when you see what I’m adding in the Energy section, you’ll more than understand the addition of 3 Celio’s Network in this deck. To round out the card drawing aspect of this deck, let’s add 2 Rocket’s Admin. for disruption. The card is a welcome addition in any deck it’s played in.

The final addition to the deck in 4 Surprise! Time Machine. I rarely suggest you run 4 of a card in your deck unless you absolutely need it. For this deck, I think you do. Huntail can easily grab you a react from the deck. Then, you can Surprise! it out and bring in Gorebyss for 70 for 2 or 3 energy fun. I think it’s a good addition to the deck personally and will add an unexpected firepower to your arsenal of tricks.

Now, for a suggestion. I see you’re running 3 Bill’s Maintenance. While this is OK and a great Budget card, I’d suggest running 3 Mary’s Request. It will always net you 3 cards with no drawbacks whatsoever. If you don’t have access to the card, that’s ok. The Bill’s will do their job. But Mary’s is just better for this deck IMO.

-all Bill, Elm, and Guardian (now illegal)
-all Full Flame
-1 Double Gust

(possible sub: -3 Bill’s Maintenance/+3 Mary’s Request)

+3 Master Ball
+3 Celio’s Network
+2 Rocket’s Admin.
+4 Surprise! Time Machine

Energy: I STRONGLY suggest you get a hold of a set of two Holon’s Pokémon, preferably the Electrode or Magneton. They’ll be invaluable for powering up your Gorebyss/Huntail quickly.

+1 Water
+2 Holon’s Electrode/Magneton

Here’s the final decklist for ya. Good luck adapting it for your own playstyle…
-----------------------------------------

(Pokemon)
4 Clamperl (Hidden Legends)
3 Gorebyss (LM)
2 Huntail (LM)
4 Skitty (LM)(don’t use any other Skitty)
3 Delcatty (LM)
2 Dunsparce (Hidden Legends) good for confusing or draw power

Trainers
4 Copy Cat
3 Double Gust
3 Bill's Maintenance/Mary’s Request
2 Professor Oak's Research
2 Rocket’s Admin.
3 Celio’s Network
3 Masterball
4 Surprise! Time Machine

Energy
12 Water Energy
4 React Energy
2 Holon’s Electrode/Magneton
-------------------------------------------------------

RaNd0m Thoughts…: OK, here’s where I start to rant, in case you haven’t seen this section in a while. This letter is pretty stereotypical of what I’m getting these days and I’m pretty sick of it. Here’s the list of things good about this letter.

+1) Name. Yeah, some deck’s I’ve been getting don’t even have their owner’s name attached to them. And considering I ask for some name on my FRONT PAGE (!) this shouldn’t bee too hard to notice.

+2) All pokémon cards are labeled by set. Trainers don’t need labeled since their aren’t duplicate trainers, but there are sometimes as many as ten separate printings of a pokémon card. I think he mislabeled the Gorebyss in the decklist, but I was able to figure out the right copy easily enough. However, sometimes I’ll just get decklists with Macargos and Enteis and I’m not sure if this is a Neo-on deck I’m looking at or some new age HL-on deck.

+3) Decklist is sorted well. This one gets a little tedious. I know you YGO players are used to sorting your lists a little differently. However, I’m going to post a model list somewhere so you can see how I’d like lists sent to me. First, group ALL your trainers, pokémon and Energy together. Then group pokémon evolution chains together. If you have time, separate draw trainers from other trainers (I do this even if you don’t). This guy did a great job of this.

Now, onto the bad parts of this list.

--1) No strategy. Other than the two clips out to the side of two cards, I’ve no idea what his basic plan of attack is with his deck. I created one for him, but I like to work with your ideas instead of completely retooling the deck to my specifications. I have a feeling Nick may have wanted a more Full Flame-centric deck, but he can find decks like that easily if he does a little research…

--2) Asking about Modified.… Which leads into the next topic. Every other email I get asks me about the current formats. Please listen:

*clears throat*

I AM NOT PUI!

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE CURRENT FORMATS, ABOUT FIVE MINUTES OF RESEARCH ON THEIR SITES WILL BE ENOUGH!

PLEASE GO HERE AND CHECK THE TOURNAMENT FORMATS; THE TOURNAMENT PAGE IS A GOOD PLACE TO START: www.op.pokemon-tcg.com

Ahem.

On with the rant.

Current Modified is HL-on, meaning that all sets beyond Hidden Legend (including Hidden Legend) and all POP and PUI promos are legal for use. Check card lists for old, reprinted cards you could use (see Masterball, others).

--3) No fix level, area decks, etc. I need to know this to get the deck going in the best direction for your area. Trust me, a deck that does well in Ohio will get schooled in North Carolina. And the NC kid will probably get whipped with the same deck in New York. Why? Because the metagames are different and each metagame requires different cards to survive in.

--4) Punctuation. This is a pet peeve, but question marks and capitalization exist for a reason people. Please use it…

--5) Emailing things to the wrong account. I edited it out of the email, but I received an email from this person (and 3 other people) in an account I use for personal business (bills, private mailings, PayPal, etc.). I don’t need Pokemon things cluttering that inbox. That’s why I have the Hotmail address. That said, here are some NEW rules for mailing me.

1) Mail the Hotmail address, not any of my other addresses. IF you happen to email the wrong account by mistake just shoot a quick email back to that account apologizing and redirect the email yourself.

IF you don’t do this and I get a decklist in my other inbox (i.e. not in the Hotmail one), you will be BLOCKED from all my emails. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. I’m sick and tired of mixed-up emails and I run a hectic enough life as it is not to sort through extra emails.

For those of you who can’t remember, the address to mail me your decklists for fixing is Cardz2004@hotmail.com

2) Send me lists with basic strategy and fix levels. It helps me a lot and you probably won’t get your deck on the site if you don’t include it. Just a heads up (and I’ve said this before).

And that’s it. I’m not asking a lot of y’all when you send me your lists. Just a little organization and everything will be fine. No article next week, as I’ll be on vacation in the Myrtle Beach area. I don’t know where I’ll be personally other than relaxing.

Final note: Get me those Deck Challenge lists in soon. I can’t wait to see what y’all do with an old classic (see last week’s article for more info).

Cardz out.
 

Cardzmaster2004
Cardz2004@hotmail.com