Chansey's Sponge
by Will
Pokémon STS Qualifying Tour
Walt Whitman Mall
Huntington Station, NY
9/2&3/00

Hey everyone! I attended the STS Qualifying tournament at a mall near my
house. Hundreds of people attended the event, and there were about 20 people
in my age group (11-14, because I didn't want to be in the 15+ age group -_^
). Since there were two days of the event, I entered the tournament once each
day. During the first day, I got to see exactly what kind of deck everyone
was playing. Mostly Wigglys and Haymakers--ugh!! My current deck (which I've
had for quite a while) is a modified Sponge with Chanseys. I once used
Clefables in this deck, but it was too difficult to get it in play fast
enough. Although Sponge is an archetype, and I'll probably be flamed for it,
I needed a fast non-Wiggly and non-classic Haymaker that could do quick
damage. Quite a different strategy from my old Incredibly Annoying Stall
deck, but I wanted something that wouldn't use up the entire 20 minute time
period and then some. Well, here's the deck I used....

Pokémon (15):
4 Electabuzz (Base Set)
4 Chansey (Base Set)
1 Lt. Surge's Electabuzz Lv. 28 (G:H)
3 Scyther (Jungle)
3 Mewtwo (Movie Promo)

Energy (17):
8 Lightning Energy
6 Psychic Energy
3 Double Colorless Energy

Trainers (28):
3 Professor Oak
2 Switch
2 Gust of Wind
3 Computer Search
4 Energy Removal
3 Super Energy Removal
2 Rocket's Sneak Attack
2 The Rocket's Trap
2 Energy Flow
3 Scoop Up
2 Nightly Garbage Run

This was the qualifying tournament, and it was single elimination with five
rounds. Here's how the tourney went:

Round 1: Against a Turbo-Blastoise Rain Dance
I get a hand with 2 Chansey, 2 Buzz, 2 DCE, and an Oak. I sent out Chansey
simply because it can use the DCE's, and because there were no Lightning
energy for Electabuzz. He starts with a lone Lapras. I attach DCE and
Scrunch. He attaches to Lapras, and Oaks. He plays a few more Basics, and
uses Water Gun for 10. I attach DCE, and Double Edge to kill Lapras. Then, he
brings out Squirtle (who he instantly evolves to Blastoise), and I Chansey
Bomb him. I bring out a Buzz, attach, and kill Blastoise. He manages to get
out two more 'Stoises, both a promo and fossil Articuno, and another Lapras.
He kills a few of my basics with Articuno, but he soon realizes there are
only two cards left in his deck. He uses Gambler and hopes for the best.
Heads! He draws all his cards. I pass my turn, he loses from decking out!
This was a challenging match for me considering I had Buzzes on my side.

Round 2: Against Robert with Dark Gyarados water deck
I've played Robert a few times before at my League, so I pretty much knew
that he would use one of two decks--his water deck or his Charizard deck.
Neither are very threatening, so this was a breeze. He starts with a Rocket
Squirtle and Magikarp, I get Buzz, Surge's Buzz, and Chansey. He attaches DCE
and uses Shell Attack, I Gust out Magikarp and Thundershock. He evolves to
Dark Gyarados, but never gets enough energy to attack. I kill it with a
Thunderpunch and a Thundershock. He gets tails with Final beam, and promotes
his Squirtle. He evolves to Wartortle, can't do anything. I Computer Search
for PlusPower and Thunderpunch for the win.

Round 3: Against a Grass/Psychic deck with Mr. Mimes, Rocket Scythers, and
Jungle Scythers.
This was a very tough match. Shadow Images really messed everything up, and I
didn't get a lot of Energy. He ends up killing all of my Pokémon with either
Rocket Scyther or Mime. I could only get one prize from KOing a Scyther. I
lose....

I won 4 Gym Heroes booster packs, and I got a Misty's Poliwrath, Rocket's
Training Gym, Erika's Vileplume (which I sold for $8 after the tourney), and
a Brock's Onix as my rares. I'm just glad I got something out of it. Now, for
props and slops...

PROPS:
-to Wizards for holding this tourney.
-to the mall for holding this tourney.
-to everyone I beat for not being sore losers.
-to the kid with the Grass/Psychic deck for having an awesome deck.
-to the kid who bought my holo Bangirasu and No Removal Gym, and traded me 2
Super Energy Retrievals for a non-holo Ditto.
-to Mallory for having an awesome collection and for trading me some great
cards, as well as buying my Erika's Vileplume for $8.
-to Ryan for trading me Recycle Energy and Bilingual Exeggutor.
-to me for doing well in the tourney
-to Surge's Buzz for being an awesome card.

SLOPS:
-to the kid who wouldn't trade his Cool Porygon for anything.
-to Wigglytuff decks
-to Haymakers
-to Ryan for using the exact same deck as me. :-P
-to Wizards for making rare Tentacools and Goldeens, which I got when I
bought some Gym Heroes packs.

Well, that's it. Questions? Comments? E-mail me at Raiden9984@aol.com. Thanks
for reading!

-Will
(raiden9984@aol.com)