>Dearest Spike and Vulpix,
>Thanks for taking my deck submission! Spike, your
"Really Bad Deck" reports and "I Get Letters" postings
are something I really >look forward to each week. I
am considering encouraging some of my opponents at the
local Pokemon League to submit their >decks to you,
just to be sure you have ample fodder. ; )
>
>Vulpix, your assist on these reports is invaluable,
and you are just so darn cute to boot (and by the way,
I think using genetic >engineering to merge a Vulpix,
Pikachu and Omanyte is a really risky idea. Please
keep in mind that Omanyte is a WATER >Pokemon, and you
may just as easily end up as an impotent yellow fur
ball that leaves snail trails wherever it goes... the
quest for >deadly cuteness just isn't worth it, imho.
So if you ever see Spike sporting extraction needles
and test tubes, a quick fire blast may >be in
order...).
>
>Here is my very original, "I came up with this idea
all by myself and I am so stinkin' proud" deck:
>
>Deck: Hit and Run
>
>(17 Pokemon, 11 basics)
>3 Scyther - the awesome, free retreating, fight
resisting, dancing, slashing, killer Pokemon!
>4 Venonat - paralysis, evolves into Venomoth
>3 Venomoth - shift, poison and confuse
>4 Spearow - no retreat basic, evolves into Fearow
>3 Fearow - agility and heavy damage
>
>(21 trainers)
>4 Pokemon Trader
>3 Computer Search
>2 Gust of Wind
>4 Energy Removal - I'm addicted to these
>3 Super Energy Removal - Super fix for my addiction
>2 Bill
>3 Professor Oak
>
>(22 energy)
>18 Grass Energy
>4 Double Colorless Energy
>
>The focus of this deck revolves around several key
elements, particularly free retreat and energy
deprivation. In theory, Venomoth >(with a little luck)
comes in to poison and confuse, forcing my opponent to
either lose energy to retreats (attempting to end
poison >and confusion) or die from damage (from
poison, and self inflicted due to confuse). Once
Venomoth's work is
>accomplished, I retreat for free and Fearow comes in
to finish the job with 40 from drill. Scyther also
aids in heavy attacks, with >dance and slash. ER and
SER further deprive victims of energy, hindering
attempts to retreat or gain enough energy to
accomplish >a sustained attack. Also notable: Other
than Venonat, every pokemon in here is resistant to
fighting!
>
>The most difficult aspect of running this deck is the
start of play, namely attempting to get off the ground
while evolving and >building up energy. The deck runs
slowly and I often find myself in precarious positions
for several rounds. If I lose, it is most >often then.
I usually lose 1 or 2 cards in the build up attempt,
but it is a worthy sacrifice that pays off when
everything falls into >place. If I can persevere
(which is most often the case), the end game is
usually sweet as I switch my Pokemon in and out at
will, >inflicting poison, confusion, and damage.
>
>It has a respectable record as original decks go, but
some of the archetypal decks have the upper hand:
Raindance, Haymaker and >Mewtwo Promo. But against
most other original decks, it can kick butt (excepting
this one nasty Nido deck I keep running >across...).
>
>Anyhow, some thoughts I had on my deck... though I am
concerned and would love to remedy these things, I am
not obsessed with >doing so. But they are problems
worth mentioning:
>
>1) Too much greenery here! Fire is a nasty prospect,
leaving me to depend on Spearow and Fearow, which is a
stretch. But then >again, there are very few fire
decks are out there... usually just some isolated
fossil Magmars to worry about if any. Perhaps
>switching out Scyther for another no retreat pokemon?
But I do seem to depend on him...
>
>2) The need to resist Psychic... Mewtwo Promo gives
me fits, and I have no way to resist it. Since ER is
so ineffective against M2, a >major part of my
strategy is blown to bits by him. Kanga is my first
choice in most cases, but he just doesn't seem to fit
in the No >Retreat theme, does he? My friend suggested
Persian (no retreat!), but dealing with another
evolution concerns me.
>
>3) Perhaps I'm being too picky, wishing to run with
the big dogs with my original deck. But I don't want
to give up on this one. It's >really good, and I am
honestly happy with myself for thinking it up and
making it work! I want it to be better if at all
possible.
>
>Thanks for your time, Spike. I know that you and
Vulpix are busy fixing, trashing and bashing other
decks, so I do appreciate your >looking at this one.

***

Okay...this isn't gonna be a complete fix, where I
break down the entire deck into its component parts
and give more-or-less specific recommendations. This
deck is somewhat unique in that I have played against
it several times and have chatted at length with its
creator, both about the deck and about Pokemon in
general. While I suppose I could be accused of a
degree of favoritism, I think most will agree with me
that this deck deserves to be posted. At any rate,
I'll just discuss the deck a little.

First of all, there are some problems with the
Pokemon. As she pointed out, this deck starts slow,
and archetype decks are going to cream it. There's not
much you can do about this--Spearow sucks, to put it
delicately, and Venonat ain't that great. In regard to
psy resistance, yes, we did discuss the subject of
Persian--I even cobbled together a revised version of
the deck with Persian, and played it against her,
whereupon it lost to a Haymaker (which had no psy
whatsoever!) I also suggested Rapidash, but noted that
she would have to go to 2 colors. Not a huge problem,
considering that her current Pokes are hardly energy
hogs, but something that would require a bit of a
strategy change. The other obvious free retreat
families (Golbat and whatever else I haven't thought
of) aren't really worth considering for this
particular deck. There are a number of Stage 2
families (Butterfree, Beedrill) that might be worth
considering, but I don't think we want to go that far
just yet :-\

Her trainers are...interesting...to say the least.
While I adore regular Energy Removal (it's one of my
Big Four trainers) I only use SER in certain
cases--namely, decks with low energy requirements
(Hay) or decks with energy manipulation of some sort
(Blastoise, Venusaur). In my games against her with my
own decks, her Removal addiction didn't seem to help
her out that much--and I was playing some mighty
energy-intensive decks, believe you me! The other
thing is all the Searching. She runs 3 Searches and 4
Traders! That just boggles the mind. Again, it didn't
seem that helpful. For my money, I'd rather have some
more drawing or some stuff like PlusPower or Item
Finder. And I don't really like Trader. What if you
need a trainer at that particular moment? What if you
don't have a Pokemon to trade? As always, these are
just my Personal Opinions (tm)--feel free to disregard
them, but don't come crying to me...

But, despite the fact that I might make a few changes,
this is a very good deck. She's proud of it, and she
deserves to be. Everybody--take a look. This is an
original deck! Look closely--it's a very rare sight in
the world of Pokemon. Feel free to take pictures, but
don't use a flash--you'll scare it off.

That's about it. Note also the detailed, interesting
and easy-to-read explanation. This kind of stuff
scores BIG points with me when I'm deciding what to
post. Also, the comment about a "nasty Nido deck"
intrigued me. I wouldn't know anything about the Nido
deck, but if a Nido deck is beating this deck, it must
be very well constructed and its owner must be an
excellent player. At a guess, I'd say he's also
extremely intelligent and unbearably handsome. Just
inferring, mind you.

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