MASTERS OF POISON
Hello, Pojo. My name is Max Bitter and this is my first deck report. This
report is from a Pokemon League event held at Toys R Us in Leominster, MA.
The date was December 6, 1999 (the day before my birthday!). It was held from
4:00 to 6:00. About 15 to 20 people showed up.

My deck is about causing maximum damage using poison attacks and Pluspowers.
There are also some heavy hitters in here, and some Pokemon who can paralyze
or confuse to cause more pain to the opponent. So, here is my deck, which I
like to call "Masters of Poison":

Key: Base Set (BS), Jungle (JN), Fossil (FS), Promo (PR)

Masters of Poison:
Energy:
21 Grass Energy (BS)

Pokemon:
3x Bulbasaur (BS)
2x Ivysaur (BS)
3x Venonat (JN)
2x Venomoth (JN)
3x Weedle (BS)
2x Kakuna (BS)
1x Beedrill (BS)
3x Nidoran M (BS)
2x Nidorino (BS)
1x Nidoking (BS)
2x Koffing (BS)
1x Weezing (FS)

Trainers:
3x Bill (BS)
2x Gambler (FS)
1x Professor Oak (BS)
4x Pluspower (BS)
2x Mr. Fuji (FS)
2x Pokemon Trader (BS)

Here are some of the most powerful combos that I use in the deck:

Mr. Fuji + Any Pokemon with lots of energy: Good to use if your deck is low.

Pluspower + Ivysaur/Nidoking: Why just poison? Use Pluspower, and your attack
does even more damage to your opponent.

AND NOW, THE REPORT:

Game 1: Me vs. Troy

Back Story: Troy is one of my friends at the League. We test out new decks
against each other. This time he was using a modified Blackout deck. It would
seem like I had the advantage, but who knows....

The match: I started off with a Nidoran (M) as my only Basic. Not good. I had
Venomoth, Nidoking, two Kakunas, and two Grass Energy in my hand. He started
with a Squirtle active and a Sandshrew on the bench. I lose the flip and he
starts off. He puts a Double Colorless on the Squirtle, and then I go. I'm
getting a bit nervous... I get another energy, put it on Nidoran (M) and use
Horn Hazard. I get heads and his Squirtle's down to 10. Now he goes, evolves
Squirtle into Wartortle, attaches Water Energy, and Bites for the win. Ouch.
Not a good way to start....

Record: 0 Won, 1 Lost

Game 2: Me vs. ???
Back Story: Sorry, I didn't catch this guy's name. He was running a Grass,
Fighting, and Psychic deck with ten of each energy. Ummmm, okay.....

The match: I start with this deck's dream hand: Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venonat,
three Grass Energy, and a Gambler. I have Bulbasaur active. He has two
Mankeys (one active and one benched). I lose the flip (again). He puts down
energy, uses Peek, and Scratches for 10. I draw another energy, and I put it
on Bulbasaur. Now he goes and gets an energy on Mankey #2. He uses Scratch
again. Now I go, I put a grass energy on Bulbasaur and I use Leech Seed. He
promptly switches Mankeys (stupid free retreat....) and Scratches yet again.
Now I go. I get another Grass Energy, put it on Bulbasaur, evolve to Ivysaur,
and finish off both Mankeys before he gets another Pokemon. Easy victory for
the Poison Masters!

Record: 1 won, 1 lost

Game 3: Rematch with ???
Back Story: That kid doesn't give up, so I get challenged to a rematch. Guess
he hasn't learned his lesson yet. Go figure.

The match: I get a pretty good hand with two Bulbasaur, two Ivysaur, a few
energy, and a Venomoth. No Venonat though....He gets Geodude, Mankey, and
Zubat. What a dolt-he starts with Geodude. He goes first (yes, again) and
attaches a Grass Energy to Geodude. Then I go and do the same for my active
Bulbasaur. It is only now that he realizes Geodude's weakness. He retreats
Geodude, and out comes Zubat. Then he attaches Psychic Energy to Zubat (it
isn't until now that I find out he has Psychic in the deck), retreats for
Mankey, and I go. Yet another Grass Energy, which I put down on Bulbasaur and
I use Leech Seed. He puts a Fighting Energy on Geodude and then lets me go. I
put a Grass Energy on my active Bulbasaur, evolve both of them to Ivysaur,
and use Vine Whip to kill Mankey. Then he sends out Geodude, puts down a
Fossil Gastly and a Tauros, puts down energy, and Stone Barrages for 10. I KO
Geodude with another Vine Whip. He evolves Zubat and Gastly to Basic Haunter
and Golbat. He sends out an energyless Golbat who still has 20 damage on him.
I draw a Pluspower (yay!), attach it to Ivysaur, and Vine Whip scores another
kill. He sends out Tauros now but lacks energy to put down. I Poison him with
Poisonpowder, then he goes and still has no energy. I finish off Tauros, and,
with the help of Gambler, get out the Venonat, Nidoran M family, and Grass
Energy that helps me to win. His energy problems bring me another victory!

Record: 2 Won, 1 Lost

Game 4: Me vs. Ben Krupa
Back Story: My friend since kindergarten (and I'm in 6th grade now). He's a
tad spoiled (actually, it's because his family is obsessed with Pokemon- more
the parents than them) and owns 4 of every card and 60 of each basic energy
(in other words, he's got a complete library and can build any possible
deck). He's a bit too fond of Haymakers (especially his new one with
Aerodactyl and Promo Electabuzz in it) and it's no suprise that he has one
today.

The Report: Pretty average hand. I get Nidoran (M), Venonat, Koffing, and
Weedle, plus a Pluspower and two Grass Energy. He starts with a lone
Hitmonchan ("YES!", I think to myself). I finally get to go first. I put down
a Grass Energy on Nidoran (M) who's my active Pokemon, and Horn Hazard fails.
He E. Removaled my Nidoran and Jabbed for 20. I Oak and get some good Pokemon
like Nidoking and Venomoth. I eventually end up stalling with high-HP
creatures like Beedrill and Nidoking, but good luck on his Promo Electabuzz's
part causes another loss for me. (I didn't really expect to win anyway....)

Record: 2 won, 2 lost

Game 5: Me vs. Nick Krupa
Back Story: Ben's little brother always has a 3-Blastoise, 3-Gyarados
Raindance on hand. That's a good sign for me, but he's not too bad at the
game....

The match: I get two Bulbasaurs, a Nidoran (M), and four Grass Energy. He
gets out a Kangaskhan and two Magikarp. I go first. I get Grass Energy for my
Nidoran and Horn Hazard on his Kangaskhan. Tails (darn...). He goes, attaches
water energy to Magikarp, and now I go. I put another Grass on a Bulbasaur
and Horn Hazard. Tails again. We go back and forth like this until I have a
fully charged Nidoran (four energy) out and a fully charged Ivysaur, two
Kakunas, and another Nidoran. He's got two Gyaradoses (one fully charged, one
powerless), a Squirtle (no energy) and a Kangaskhan with 60 HP left. He lets
me evolve to Nidorino and kill his Kangaskhan, then he sends out his charged
Gyarados and lets loose a Dragon Rage. My Nidorino's down to ten, but, after
getting another Venonat on my bench, I kill Gyarados with one Horn Drill
(weakness, weakness....). He now sends out Squirtle and attaches energy to
kill Nidorino with a Bubble. Now it's Ivysaur's turn. He gets a Blastoise
out, but it never gets any energy and Nick ends up accidentally decking
himself with an Oak. That's my last game for today, and I think this was a
pretty good close!

Final record for today: 3 wins, 2 losses.

I didn't get anything for the event (except for my 5th Promo Pikachu and my
13th Pluspower) but the next day for my birthday I got a Bodyguard deck and
two Fossil Boosters (as well as Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire for the PC, but
that's a whole different type of game) from my parents. I got non-holo Raichu
and Hitmonlee in the packs. That makes 3 and 2 respectively. Now, before the
final analysis, here's the props and slops!

Props to Toys R Us for holding the League
Slops to Toys R us for temporarily changing the League schedule for the
holidays
Slops to Ben for bringing a cheap Haymaker :(
Props to my parents for getting me Alien Crossfire and those packs & deck!
Props to my friend Jamison for giving me a bunch of holos (including
Hitmonchan and a mint condition "old text style but not 1st Ed" Magneton) for
my birthday!!!

My final analysis: Well, Raindance is weak to me, but Haymakers are still a
serious threat. I think maybe a Psychic/Fire deck would work next week.
Still, I'll consider this deck for further use. I still need a Venusaur to
make this deck's power complete, even though it doesn't have a poison
ability. I also need Rocket Persian (who is the only colorless that can
poison, despite being a common) to cover that nasty Psychic weakness shared
by the Koffings and Nidorans, and their evolutions. If you have any input on
my deck, please let me know by e-mailing me. Well, I'll be signing off now.
See ya!

-Max Bitter
-Maxtendo64@aol.com