DECK: frogs and fishes
TRAINER: mark s dawson
TOURNEY: let the games begin    greenville,sc
DATE: sept 23,2000
THE GUTS:
3 erika dratini
2 mr mime
3 aerodactyl
3 ditto
3 chan
2 scyther

4 potions
4 energy removal
4 plus power
2 comp search
3 scoop up
3 oak

4 DCE
3 full heal energy
6 psychic
6 fist

i built this deck as my latest in a quest to foil hay. hay has made
a comeback at this local tournament. i decided that erikas dratini and mime
would make an interesting duo. i then naturally added the potions. it makes
infinite sense seeing as how i could keep erikas dratini clean and fighting
forever. i added ditto as he is fast becoming my favorite pokemon and then
chan was a must because lickitung would kill this deck due to his high HP
and psychic resistance. also, his status effects wreak havoc on ditto. i
nicked the aerodactyls (sorry,chris) from a report on pojo and am
half-embarrassed to admit i did not figure on my own.if i did play a non-hay
deck i needed aero to keep my opponents evolutions at bay since dratini was
at their mercy then.
problems? yes, this deck has some.it is low on energy only if you
consider i put in no draw power(no bills, no energy retrevals, no garbage
runs). most games i have to play what is given me and that poses an
interesting challenge. it makes you think about holding energy (there is no
way to get back energy once it is gone. the same for trainers) and i think
it opens up a new perspective on the game. it also takes a long time to play
this deck. both you and your opponent use ALL your cards and it takes a good
35-40 turns each to come to some conclusion (this is not a stall deck but it
is intended to wear your opponent down and to use up his good trainers
quickly)

HOW IT WENT:
round1 vs donny w/ lickitung/scyther/chan
donny played well. we went right down to the wire oin the first game
. we each had three cards left as i took my last prize. and i only got to
oak once the whole game. he played garbage run 7 times as that was all he
item findered for. i woulda decked him easily if he did not put 21 cards
back in his deck. his problem was that my chan tore thru his lickis and i
was able to potiona dn scoop each time i got in danger.
time ran out as we started the second game and he won the coin flip
round2 vs vince w/ buzzapdos
i played against vince and this deck once before. i knew i would
have to conserve my chans and fist energy and try to get his buzz and
voltorbs quick. i got a turn 4 aerodactyl in the first game and that held up
for awhile until he gusted it up and killed it. but by then i had a good
little lead and he could not afford to buzzap. what iced the game was when
he killed my dratini with a fully powered, undamaged electrode and i brought
up a ditto with one energy, attched the plus power and 3 plus powers. that
was his last gasp as i took down his buzz with chan
game two was too easy . he pulled a lone voltorb and i had dratini
and chan. i got to go first and did 30 with dratini.(i was wishing i had
made chan my active but i thought he mighta had zapdos and been able to
stall for time).then he did 10 to my dratini and could not remove the
energy, so that was it.
round3 vs my daughter, kaitlin, w/ venucenter
we had just built this deck for her two nights before. she was 3-3
and i was 3-1. i knew it would be great to get up aerodactyl but, if not,
then mime would take care of scyther and venusaur. so i decided to save my
energy removals for bulbasaur. the first game was quick and i killed two
bulbasaurs with a chan (and some plus powers and that was it.)
game2 was just lucky for me. i got up and early aerodactyl and used
ditto and dratini to go thru her cards pretty quick. the odd thing was that
my last three games were over very fast and that is not how this deck
normally works. it usually requires patience and thought, but i got my oaks
and plus powers and the right pokemon at the right time.
PLAYOFFS 
1st round vs brian w/ potpourri hay(magmar, scyther, rocket
squirtle, machop,ditto)
man oh man. i decked myself and lost 2 prizes to one. and i decked
myself cause i gave up too many turns early. brian got a big jump on me
early and i started to come back. then i made two mistakes that cost me
three turns as i was keeping him at bay for the longest. i needed those
turns back at the end of the game and ,of course, i was decked.
3rd/4th place
vs erik w/ a rainbow deck
i could not believe his deck as it was all over the road. but he
played well enough to make the playoffs (out of 13 participants). we played
a single elimination and he could not get his energy to match his pokemon. i
used a ditto, dratini and chan and knocked out all 6 of his pokemon in less
than 15 turns. so i lucke dup and got 3rd place
for coming in 3rd i won 6 bucks and let my kids each buy a gym
booster. ethan got brocks onix and kaitlin got the surge trainer. that is a
pretty good trainer.  feel free to e-mail me at Mark.Dawson@vacorp.com with
anything that crosses your mind. later gator, mark