Hello true believers...oh wait that line's taken.
Never mind.
You'll have to excuse the
mess and rampant cheering over
in the corner. I'm assuming you were able to get past the ruckus in
the hallway.
A bit of background
information is needed here.
My secretary is on a bowling team
with 5 other women from
various walks of life.
There's my secretary, the young,
spirited upstart.
Vivian, the soccer mom who
never stops moving.
Shirelle, the sassy African American
divorcee.
Carree, the unusually, almost
disturbingly quiet one.
Tina, the overconfident beauty
queen runner-up.
And lastly, Agnes, the crotchety one
they're afraid to kick off
the team for fear of being turned to stone by an evil glare.
That's them, the
Gutter Belles. Quaint name, huh?
Well, the bowling alley, Lois Lanes,
is renovating for the next
two weeks, meaning that practices and meets are cancelled for a
while.
The problem is that the Gutter Belles
play for blood and teeth.
Lost practice time means losing that edge. They were in need of
somewhere to practice.
Now, wait a minute,
I see that expression on your face.
Practicing here was NOT my idea. It wasn't my secretary's either
actually. It was Carree's. There's a streak of the devil in that girl, I
tell ya. Unfortunately, before my secretary could voice an objection,
the motion to practice in my hallway was seconded by Tina and
carried by the other Gutter Belles, sans my secretary who was
adamanty opposed.
So that's the scene. 6
women with a beat up set of pins, an
industrial floor waxer obtained by having Tina flirt long enough with
the janitor and the thundering boom of polyurethane coarsing down
the linoleum every 2 minutes.
I tried kicking them out of the
building, but I swear I saw
fangs when Agnes gnashed her teeth at me; I wasn't aware
dentures came with that option. Suffice to say, I know when to
back off.
Well if you come into my inner
office, the noise isn't quite so
bad. The thunder is sort of reduced to a dull rumble followed by a
muffled crash a few seconds later. Maybe Dr. Finkelbaum will start
up the dentist's drill and we can get some peace and quiet.
Anyhow, let's see this deck of
yours.
Hello Crash and Hypno!
Hope you don't mind, I brought my Rapidash in today. He insisted, as this is
the first deck he has been featured in (made by me). I made him promise to
behave today, so.....here's my deck!
NEED FOR SPEED
Pokemon: 16
4 Ponyta
3 Rapidash-My favourite Pokemon
4 Fossil Magmar
3 Lickitung-To stall and spread out weaknesses
2 Scyther
Trainers: 24
4 Bill
2 Oak
4 PlusPower
4 Energy Remomval
3 Super Energy Removal
3 Gust of Wind
2 Switch
2 Computer Search
Energy: 20
16 Fire Energy
4 DCE
My strategy is to stall with Lickitung (and possiibly Scyther) while
building up a Rapidash on the bench, then Agility-ing. I just thought you
might be able to tweak it a bit.
Thanks!
~ALEXA (and RAPIDASH)~
________________________________________________________________________
-Not bad at
all. I happen to believe that Rapidash is rather
underused. It's not super spectacular like Articuno or Scyther, but
it's solid and Agility is a pretty good move half the time.
This decks doesn't need a whole
lot in the way of fixing, so
I'll just point out the parts to touch up.
Since we're talking
Speed, those Lickitungs look pretty out
of place. 90 HP and low cost attacks ARE good, but that 3 retreat
cost is a killer. It's that kind of thing that will slow you right down.
Lickitung is good for some decks, but an ill fit in others, especially
this one.
Another argument
against Lickitung in this deck is that you
already have several formidable starters in F. Magmar and Scyther.
Having Lickitung in the mix is almost redundant.
I'd pull all three
Lickitungs and move in 2 Chanseys and a
3rd Scyther. Chansey is more the blocker/staller you're looking for.
The HP is higher and the retreat cost is much lower. Shrugging off
damage and the possibility for a one-hit KO with most Pokemon is
good too. Psy-defense is another plus. Scyther is strong against
Fighting, so that balances Chansey's weakness. The low, low
retreat costs of Chansey and Scyther more accurately fit this
deck's speedy moniker. Another side bonus is that Chansey will
often draw out an opponent's Energy removing cards, leaving them
tapped when you put Rapidash into play.
As for your Trainers, those
Switches are pretty unnecessary
with Livkitung gone. Yank em. Give yourself a 3rd Computer
Search and Professor Oak. Both cards accelerate your game
greatly and are invalauble.
Take out the 4 regular Energy
Removals. Turn one into a
Super Energy Removal. This deck is fast and can handle the
momentary setback. SER far outweighs ER in terms of strategy
and time-buying.
With the extra 3 Slots, place
in 2 Item Finders and a 4th
Gust of Wind. Reusing your Trainers will be important in this deck,
and controlling the board is also a key element of speed decks.
This is why Gust is so crucial.
Your present mix is very
good and every card not mentioned
should be left in. However I do see a need for a couple Scoop Ups.
Sadly, I'm not sure what else to remove for them. What I suggest is
that you just think about that possibility, because it's a very good
one with all those Basics in there. You may choose to drop a
couple Basic Energy for them, but don't sink dangerously low. 18
is the lowest I'd go.
Also concerning the Energy,
make 3 of those Fire Energy
Grass. It's always good to give Scyther an opening Swords
Dance/DCE chance. This DOES happen now and then and could
always occur during a tourney, one never knows.
Heh, another
strike it sounds like. Those Gutter Belles
never miss a pin. It's no wonder they've won that ridiculous trophy
of a ballerina with a bowling ball 3 years straight. I heard the Alley
Cats came close last year, but were afflicted with "coincidental"
injuries, as though blenders and Barcaloungers naturally run
amuck like that. At least they weren't flattened by a passing
payload of watermelons like the Blue Bowlers. They were found
squished beneath 500 lbs of melons, bodies congealed to the
pavement, including those silly powder blue hats they always wore.
But that's nowhere near as bad as the Pinheads who accepted a
ride in a strange limo and were never seen again for two years until
they resurfaced in Papua New Guinea, their starved bodies impaled
upon stakes, presumably by natives who couldn't figure out how to
mark and score a carryover 7-10 spare.
So when you
leave, just smile and don't make eye contact.
Of course, you'll need a revised decklist first.
4 Ponytas
(Jungle is best.)
3 Rapidashes
4 Fossil
Magmars
3 Scythers
2 Chanseys
4 Bills
3 Professor
Oaks
3 Computer
Searches
2 Item
Finders
4 Super
Energy Removals
4 Gusts of
Wind
4 PlusPowers
4 Double
Colorless Energy
13 Fire
Energy
3 Grass
Energy
There it is. Need For Speed, much faster
and streamlined for
maximum efficiency. There's not a whole lot to explain, since it's
pretty much the same strategy with better cards here and there.
Remember consider the Scoop Ups and maybe even some Nightly
Garbage Runs if you can think of some way you'd like to include
them.
I will accept your payment today. My
secretary is otherwise,
um, posessed, no engaged is a better, much safer word.
Well, I suppose I'll see how
practice is going and see
if...What the?! There's a bright green ball embedded in my waiting
room floor! Who did this?
Ah, I see everyone is pointing
to Vivian behind her back.
Hyenas, every one of you. Care to explain?
Blah blah blah, get on
with it lady, I don't care about your
brats and their medals. Ok, so one paged you as you began your
upswing and you prematurely let go as you all watched the ball in
slow motion as it shattered the glass of my door and landed solidly
in my floor. Great. Who's gonna pay for this? I'm looking at you
Vivian.
What about Papua New Guinea? No, I've
never been there.
Why, what are you, HEY! Nu-uh! You're not sending me to some
desolate, toiletless excuse for a nation so I can wind up being
featured in a National Geographic special about why only trained
National Geographic employees should seek out primitive cultures.
No way! I'll pay for the glass repair, you just continue practicing.
And don't think I can't see that voodoo
doll behind your back,
Agnes.
Good Luck!!
Dr. Crash Landon