Ahoyhoy...I'm just sitting here watching my secretary display some of the
tricks she's taught her new Vileplume. She's managed to get it to reduce its
scent from skunk mixed with cat litter and garlic all the way down to sweaty
feet and sour milk, which is a HUGE improvement.

    She's had it a couple days now and already it seems to be following her
command fairly well. I'm surprised since she doesn't have a single badge or
anything to show the Pokemon how skilled she is. Maybe she showed it her
razor sharp letter opener. That always gets ME motivated to do whatever she
asks.

    So far the Vileplume can dance, twirl and play leapfrog. How this will
aid it in battle is beyond me, but hey, who says a leapfrog attack won't
work? I do, that's who.

    I told her to teach it something useful like Poison Powder or Toxic, or
even Solarbeam. She won't listen to me. Noooooooooooo. Why listen to someone
who knows what he's talking about when you can go by pure whimsy and teach
it stuff every common mongrel knows? Maybe she'll have the first ballet
performing Pokemon, who can say? I for one cannot picture Vileplume, in a
tutu, strutting around the stage, accidentally spilling Sleep Powder over
the other dancers. Well maybe I can, that is pretty amusing actually.

    But you didn't come to watch a giant flower play Swan Lake in the
waiting area, did you? You came to get that deck fixed. It looks pretty hot.
I'd keep it away from the Vileplume if I were you bucko, unless you like
letter openers being inserted into spots you never knew you had. Let's just
go into my office, avoid the drifting cloud of Poison Powder and get this
show on the road!



        "Flaming Moe's"
>
>          4 growlithe
>          3 base arcanine
>          1 promo arcanine(play testing this card)
>          4 magmar(f)
>          4 ponyta(2b 2tr)
>          3 rapidash( 1 dark 2 jungle)
>
>          4 pluspower
>          4 e. retreval
>          4 g.o.w.
>          4 bill
>
>
>          21 fire energy
>          4 d.c.e.
>
>          I get rapidash or magmar attacking as i charge up arcanine.
>          The trainers speak for themselves. At the toy'r'us were i play
>there aren't very many water decks.(I'm also a gym leader thanks to my
>Altron deck(raindance).)
>
>                 post this if you want  but please fix it!
>
>

   Cool! I love the Simpsons! I tape them every afternoon and evening. Yes
Flaming Moe, the drink made of Krusty Brand grape flavored cough syrup and
vodka. How I love that show...

     Whoa, drifted off there. Mmmmmmmmm Graaaaaaape....Agggggggghhhh....

   I see a fair number of mono-Fire decks. They usually look the same, since
there is really not much you can do with Fire right now other than run out,
attack and pray you never see a Blastoise. This deck has some good Pokemon,
but is really lacking in the Trainer area. Drastically lacking.

    With Fire Pokemon, you must beware of the huge Water weakness. A totally
Fire deck will get crushed by Raindance most days, no matter how skillfully
you play. This is why it needs some Colorless power.
    As far as Colorless Pokemon go, I can think of no better Pokemon to add
than Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan can be a wall for any Laprases coming at you.
She draws cards for you, giving you good card advantage. Her Comet Punch can
usually deal a solid 40 damage, if not more. Resistance to Psychic is not to
be laughed at either. 2 Kangaskhans is a nice addition to this deck, but not
so much that it will interfere.

    I'd consider emoving the Growlithe and Arcanine family. Growlithe only
has one attack which does poor damage for its cost, with no side effects
like Poisoning or Smokescreen. Arcanine, while having nice HP, requires a
lot of Energy to get moving and is self-destructive. Arcanine is the basis
for an effective deck known as The Cleaner, but that deck contains Grass
also, which this does not. So pull them and find something else better. I'll
give you a clue, they're Spike and Kittyfox's 2 favorite Pokemon...

    Vulpix and Ninetales would make a better addition to this deck since
Ninetales is most likely the best Evolution available for Fire right now.
Vulpix kind of got the shaft in terms of HP and attacks, but it's worth
putting up with since he becomes Ninetales. Ninetales will control the board
with Lure and can decimate most opponents with an 80 point Fire Blast, for
the loss of just one Fire Energy. Not too shabby.

    The Fossil Magmars are very nice and worth keeping all four in. I'm sure
you can see why. Moving on.

    Rapidash is also a very attractive Pokemon, one I've used many times
before. Agility is super. Sadly, I have to pull them and the Ponytas simply
because for a fast deck like Fire, 2 Evolution families will slow you right
down. I wish it weren't the case, but you need more room for some Trainers
too. In place of the Ponytas and Rapidashes, insert 4 Scythers. Scyther
needs no special Energy to attack, retreats for free, has good HP for a
strong Basic and is really great against any Gyaradoses that come your way.
I know he's not Fire, but he does work.

       Oh, my secretary is waving at me to come out to the waiting room. She
looks extremely pleased with herself. Perhaps Vileplume has learned a new
trick.

       So what's the big news out here? Can Vileplume do a pirouette now?
Hey, whose beanbags are those? Oh, that's a good one. A juggling Vileplume?
Right. I'll beleive it when I..see...it..wow. That's pretty good, but of
what practicality is juggling? The best way to sharpen a Pokemon's skills is
through competition. I'm afraid juggling beanbags won't do any-OUCH!! Hey!
Stop flinging those at me!! Call it off! OW!

      I'm going back to my office. Think about what I tried to say.

       Crazy loon...No wonder I can't get health insurance. OK, Trainers is
where this deck needs the most help. You've got an OK start, but you're
focusing too much on some things and not enough on vital areas like card
drawing and tactical advantage.

        Lose the 4 Energy Retrievals in favor of 3 Nightly Garbage Runs.
This card will retrieve the Fire Energy you need, but also give you the
option of reclaiming a Ninetales or Kangaskhan if need be. It's much better
since it calls back 3 cards at once  and requires no sacrifice.
        The Bills are good, but you're missing Professor Oak. The good
Professor will almost always get you out of a bind by drawing up 7 new
options to work with. So what if you have to lose your hand to play it? If
there's nothing in your hand helping you, you may as well drop it.

       Computer Search and Item Finder are 2 of the best early and late game
cards around. A Computer Search early on will find a Gust of Wind or Scyther
when it matters most. I'd rather losr 2 cards than lose match. Item Finder
in the latter portion of a game will get back a Garbage Run or a Scoop Up or
whatever. This can make and break the game when your opponent isn't seeing
it coming.

        Some Scoop Ups will allow you to remove your Basics from harm's way
and act as a Switch at the same time since you must replace the removed
Pokemon. This card proves its worth time and time again.

        The Gusts of Wind are good, but since you have Ninetales's Lure, I'd
drop the number down to three, so we can make way for other Trainers.

       Although PlusPowers are nice, I'm afraid the space is needed
for other more versatile Trainers. Sometimes we must make sacrifices to
achieve a better result. This is such a case.

      Finally, some Super Energy Removals will keep tough customers at bay
while you go to town. Think about how you use them before you sacrifice the
energy though. Using them on a quick Basic is rarely effective for more than
a turn. On an Articuno or a Raichu though, it can cripple.

     As for the Energy, I'd surely add 4 Double Colorless Energy. This is
mainly for Kangaskhan and Scyther, although, Ninetales could use it if it
had to. I would not suggest that since it must have Fire Energy to do
damage.  Since Fire requires a bit more of an Energy commitment, I'll stick
with 23 Energy. This may be just a tad high, but it is best to be safer than
sorry when retooling a deck. You can take out 1 or 2 later if you always
seem to draw Energy. This would mean you need 17 Fire Energy, 4 D.C.E. and 2
Full Heal Energies because there are some nasty status monsters out there
now.

         As I peer through the venetian blinds into the waiting room, I can
just make out the image of a Vileplume jumping on my furniture, tossing
about a pair of nunchucks. Great. Remind me to exit down the side of the
building today. Let's recap this deck and see if we can't get my secretary
to do some work for a change.

        4 Fossil Magmars
        4 Scythers
        4 Vulpices (Plural of Vulpix. I looked it up.)
        3 Ninetales
        2 Kangakhans

        4 Bills
        2 Professor Oaks
        3 Gusts of Wind
        3 Nightly Garbage Runs
        3 Super energy Removals
        2 Scoop Ups
        2 Computer Searches
        1 Item Finder

        17 Fire Energy
        2 Full Heal Energy
        4 Double Colorless Energy

        And there ya go, Moe! Fiery damage, with some metagaming and
off-color support. The Scythers will hold off Hitmonchans just fine. Magmar
can deal with enemy Scythers. Kangaskhan is great for Mewtwos and Alakazams.
Ninetales can bat cleanup by using Lure to pull out the weak and unenergized
Pokemon and charbroil them to a golden brown. I'm still concerned that a
Raindance assault will give you trouble, but with the Kangaskhans and
Scythers, you're not a sitting duck anymore.
        I'll take today's payment and just put it someplace safe. I'm afraid
my secretary may feed it to that critter of hers. I think i'll go check on
progress and make sure there aren't any nunchucks carelessly flung through
my fish tank.

            "PLUUUUUUUME!!!!"

     OOOF! What the hey? Ow! Did you teach the Vileplume Skull Bash?? Why?
That is the most ridiculous maneuver for a Grass Pokemon to have. Well, no,
I admit that I never did see it coming, that's true. But still, it's silly.
      Oh really? You know so much suddenly about training? Fine, go ahead
and teach it whatever you want. Teach it Bubblebeam, Seismic Toss and
Metronome for all I care. It will still be silly. I'm going to place an
order now, so I'd like my privacy.

      Nothing. Nothing important. I'm not getting anything major. Nothing
you'd be interested in knowing. Go back to training.

        ...I'm just ordering a Magmar, that's all. >:)

                        Good Luck!!
                     Dr. Crash Landon

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