S  L  O  W  L  Y  I Turn, step by step
by Mark S Dawson
October 7, 2000
at Let the Games Begin
Greenville, SC
18 participants
3 rounds of 2-outta-3, then two level playoff for top 4

This deck did surprisingly well as I had decided to build a deck to
combat the Status Effect metagame that was prevalent each of the past 2
weeks.I also wanted to throw in some wrinkles that have not been used in the
past and at the same time avoid playing a Haymaker/Sponge/Tuff.
A few things I decided on was to use Sabrina's Abra , Lickitung (who
I never use) as a time-buyer, Lass and alot (to me) of switches, scoop ups
and full heal energy (all of which combat the status effects thrown my way.)
I also wanted to know if I could win a game with a deck that had no Energy
Removals so I played none, I opted to use potions in their place.
The strategy of this deck is simple: chip away at your opponent s l
o w l y and then hit him with something quick to finish him off. It would
take an element of luck but I think you have enough options to win in a
variety of ways.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Sabrina Abra (a good surprise. He takes out Dittos in one turn and
hits Chan fast. I like the energy loop because it keeps one energy in your
hand at all times.)
3 Lickitung (usually I hate to face Licki so I decided to use it and
try to frustrate the opponent with what frustrates me. He necessitated the 2
scoopups)
3 Ditto (he is the card that never lets me be completely out of a
game because he gives me alot of options. He and Abra are why I played the
potions instead of ER)
2 Scyther (free retreat, fit the basically colorless theme, and the
option of doing 60 in a pinch. Since I had seen alot of fist played recently
the Scyther/Abra team handled that threat)

3 Lass (this card is NEVER played at my tournament and since I have
had success there with Dark Vileplume, I thought this would make a good
mini-substitute. This decks trainer theme revolves around Lass)
4 Oaks (I figure ,with 4, that after I Lass I have a better chance
of getting an Oak before my opponent)
3 Bill (I have gotten away from Bill in the recent past but I wanted
more draw power since I was playing 3 Lass)
2 Computer Search (self-explanatory)
2 Charity (outside of Lickitung I saw where Mr Mime was gonna give
me fits. I opted for Charity over Goop Gas because I did not want to effect
my Dittos and Charity is a card I can keep getting back ad nauseum)
2 Nighttime Garbage Runs (I saw where there would be a number of
times I would want to get back some of my energy and basics and lately I
noticed it is a big advantage to get 6 more draws in a game)
4 Plus Power (my latest " I-cannot-play-and-win-without-this-card"
card. My pokemon are not typically big hitters so this was a necessity)
2 Scoop Ups (like I said they are to take away a Lickitung prize
after Licki has serverd his purpose, which is normally to buy me time)
2 Switch (this eliminates alot of status effects and allows you to
control the pokemon you WANT to play)
3 Gust of Wind (this is a great card which I recently abandoned so I
could play other trainers. It fits in this deck perfectly because it is of
utmost importance to eliminate certain threats and this card gives me that
opportunity)
3 Potion (This card does not get enough credit. I never woulda
thought it is too useful. Only after forcing myself to use have I realized
that this card is like a double Plus Power in reverse. The only catch is
that you must be careful and judicious with it. You can accomplish two
things if used at the right time:
a) get an extra attack out of one of your pokemon
b) more impotantly, force your opponent to use a
card/trainer (ie. gust/ plus power) faster than he wanted to. )

4 Full Heal Energy (alot of colorless pokemon plus a deck that is
set up to fight status effects make this card a natural)
3 Potion Energy (just because I have a good number of colorless
attack requirements)
4 DCE (Scyther... Ditto... these two cards beg for DCE)
4 Psychic (only 4 because of Abra's Energy Loop)
5 Grass (just on the chance that I would need to Sworddance. and
this did take out the almighty Tuff)

How It Played:
Round 1 vs. Shawn with Grass deck
First game was quick as I killed 4 pokemon in 15 turns after a
second turn Lass. This left him handless and energyless and , inevitably,
benched.
Second game was better except he was drawing little energy. I was
able to take advantage of this and won 6 prizes to 2.

Round 2 vs. Brian (who ate my lunch 2 weeks ago in the playoffs)
with an odd gym2 deck
Brian musta built this deck mere minutes before we started the
tourney. He had psyduck from challenger and some other cards, but whatever
he put up was weak to me and I had no trouble in either game as all my
pokemon had their attacks doubled. It was almost like a tennis match as I
won 6-love in straight sets.
Overall, I felt good because my deck was doing OK and at 4-0, I had
a good shot at the playoffs

Round 3 vs. Ben with a Ditto/ gym2 Mew2 Tuff deck
This was the challenge I was looking for. a good player with a good
(albeit overdone) deck. We only got in two games before time was called.
First game was a great match. My Lickitung and Lass put him in a
huge hole. I started with Lickitung and him Jigglypuff. I lassed first turn
and he lost everything. After I was able to get 30 on the Puff I promoted a
pumped Scyther and killed it. He was left with a Ditto and that new Mew2. I
took out that Mew2 with Scyther followed by  S. Abra and he was not ready
for that. Then my Abra dropped his Ditto like a bad habit and I was up 3-0
fast. Ben battled back to 4-2 and got me down to just 10 cards in my deck.
And since he had 12 he went for the stall. That is when I sworddanced with
just 5 cards and one prize left so he couldn't play that retreating game
with his bench. I got the necessary plus power and took out an undamaged
Scyther for my final prize.
Second game was well-played also. We battled down to 3-3 and both
had few cards left but Ben outlasted me and decked me as I lassed 4 trainers
back into my deck to try and finish him off but I had no energy left so he
bided his time for 4 turns and decked me.
Like I said, we only got in the 2 games so we both made the
playoffs, which were me and my daughter, Kaitlin, and Ben and his friend ,
Michael

PLAYOFFS
vs. Michael
This was alomst too easy as I knocked out a Ditto ,2 Chans and a
Buzz in 14 turns. I lassed early and left him with nothing. My Ditto took
care of Buzz and a Chan. Abra took out the other Chan and his Ditto.

My daughter had played Ben and lost , so I ended up in the finals
vs. Ben
This was 2 outta 3. The first game went just the way I needed it to
as I got out to an early lead and then got a coupla fortuitous lasses. I
ended up winning but not after alot of effort.
The 2nd game was quick as Ben got to Wigglytuff early and basically
blitzed me. I was able to survive a little while by using Lickitung and
scoop up but it was inevitable.
The 3rd game was both quick and ugly. I am under the impression that
Ben was helped by his friend Michael as Michael basically told Ben who my
only basic was and Ben is more than a good enough player to figure out how
he could kill that basic in one turn (Ben got to go first and killed my Abra
with Ditto straight away). I thought it dirty and cheap to lose that way.I
told both Ben and Michael this.
I was thinking that Ben shoulda offered to re-play the game but he
never did. I then complained to the people running the tournament and they
awarded me the forfiet for the deciding match. Only then did Ben offer to
re-play, but I was not in the right frame of mind to play after all that so
I declined.
I think if Ben woulda said up front that it was the wrong way to be
decided I woulda re-played the hand but I had to make a fuss over it and
that left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
On the way home my daughter asked if I held anything against Ben or
Michael and I told her no. I feel bad the way things ended up but I had to
say something. I (think) was cheated out of an opportunity to play for first
and not by my own doing. If you go to a tournament and pay money you need to
play up to the rules. I do not think that any of this was intentional but
all the same I know I should not be penalized for mistakes made by someone
giving an unfair advantage to my opponent.
Enough grousing. Feel free to e-mail me at Mark.Dawson@vacorp.com
with any comments.