Heya guys. Apparently one of my last articles caused a bit of controversy, and so some people felt that they needed to try and figure out what I was thinking when I wrote that article, even though I said what I meant. I like to take pride in my honesty. Perhaps some of you misunderstood what I was trying to convey in my article. So I figured I might as well try to clear things up before people think I am trying to sabotage the game or something.

Lets disect one article.

While Gym Leader Phil was kind enough (or so confused that he had) to spend three hours looking over my article to try to rewrite it as to what he, a person who has never seen me, knows nothing about me, has never spoken to me and doesn’t know where I live or anything else about me, thinks I really meant by an article that I wrote, I can not say that I did the same. I was able to look over his article and laugh. Some things were on target, while other things were so off I laughed so hard I almost cryed. So lets take a look.

Well, sheesh, if it isn’t his opinion, then who wrote this reply? Did his wife tell him to get upset with me and write about why what I said was stupid?

"It’s disturbing. Really, I mean it! It is so disturbing that Wizards of the Coast is a company. I mean what is the big deal about making money anyways? So maybe we won’t be able to have Premiere Pokemon Events anymore… you know what those are right? All those nice Super Trainer Showdowns, Gym Challenges, STS Qualifiers, Stadium Challenges, Origins, GenCon, Worlds, and Super BattleZones. Nobody goes to those anymore. Well… I don’t go to those anymore. I sit in my room and continue to worship good cards, cards like Professor Oak, Computer Search, Sneasel, and Rocket’s Zapdos that I spent thousands of dollars on eBay bidding for each one. Since I don’t want to have any more Premiere Events I don’t purchase any new boosters or theme decks. The best way to get cards is to purchase old sets that do not generate Wizards of the Coast any profit, since they’ve already been purchased. None of the newer cards have anything that I want to play. I don’t like a challenge playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Besides, its more fun to take a deck I copied off of one of the Pokemon Message Boards and use it to beat people who create their deck using their own abilities and experience. Losing just cramps my style."

Well, I for one loved all those big tournaments, and never said anything about why, how or why people should not attend them, although I do find it sad that Superbattlezone in HOUSTON for Pete’s sake only had EIGHT players, including myself. I don’t like Oak, preferring Elm for its more strategy oriented usage as opposed to Oaks Haymaker Beatdown qualities. Computer Search is fine, I suppose, Sneasle, well, he is getting pretty boring and easy to beat now, and Rocket’s Zapdos? Was that supposed to be a good card? I hated it, but thats just me apparently.Don’t perchase new cards? HA, ha ha ha, and also ha. I bought three boxes of Aquapolis and two boxes of Expedition. Isn’t that enough? Old sets? Um, I haven’t bought a pack of cards from Gym back in two years. I play all new cards. I could list all my decks, but that would take more time, which unlike certain people I do not have to diss other people’s oppinions. Don’t like a challenge? What, you think it’s fun playing little kids? I let them WIN alot for Pete’s sake, just so they don’t give up the game. No, I prefer playing people who make me have to THINK about what Im doing. If I wanted to play a mindless game, Id go for Yugioh. And at the risk of sounding stupid, what exactly is a message board? Wanna know what my latest deck is? Ho-oh with Alakazam. And some would say I have no origonal ideas? Then why am I currently working on an Aquapolis Suicune/Entei/Zapdos deck with Muk? I loose often, as I have been for all the years that I hae been playing. And those who know me would back me up on the fact that I have no style to cramp, right dontknow? =)

"Being number one in the Pokemon Trading Card Game is my top priority. Modified is a problem to my winning streak. Currently the official DCI Modified Format allows Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Legendary Collection, Expedition, Aquapolis, Southern Islands, Black Star Promo Cards 21-53, and all ‘Best Of’ Promotional Cards. This September, the DCI will most likely rotate all the Neo Sets out of Modified because they are trying to make money with Skyridge and another set release.. Those scumbags! $300! Three Hundred Dollars!!! (Notice how I used three exclamation points) Spending all that money on Neo Genesis, Discovery, Revelation, and Discovery to make sure my deck was top notch so I could win more to keep my 2000+ DCI Rating. So now, with those sets gone, there wont be anything to play. Sure I guess that maybe some people might play some cards from Legendary Collection, Expedition, Aquapolis, Skyridge, and other future cards. But I wont! I need those cards to play competitively! Before those cards were even released in English I had to have them to play competitively. So maybe I did cheat the DCI Rules by playing cards that had not been printed by Wizards of the Coast yet. Just remember that I don’t want to give them any funds to support organized play so I can go on to play for free at local DCI Sanctioned Tournaments."

Darn right it’s important to me. What, do play because you want to suck or something? Number one priority? I don’t know, that might be stretching it a bit. Actually, I like to play because it’s fun. I sorta live for the weekend leauges, you know, playing cards with my best friends over some Pizza and Coke. Thats what its all about. But if it was nothing but tounaments all the time, well, that wouldn’t be any fun. There would be no chance to test out new (and as Insane Chao and I like) crazy decks. GO SKARMORY! And, I accually play in about one Unlimited tourny a month, as opposed to three times that many in one month. I win MMF. I have yet to win Unlimited. What cost three hundred dollars? Skridge? Actually, I have pre orded two CASES, so uh, what was that about not liking the new stuff? Wizards is not a bunch of scumbags for wanting to make a profit. I don’t like that the fact that the Pokemon creators are multi-multi- MILLIONARS and still think it necessary to so aggressively move product. What I find fun is a good variety of formats. But Wizards doesn’t support Unlimited. Ok, so it does, but then again, how much does it support MMF? It’s like they don't want anyone to play unlimited, because all those old cards are the ones they make no money off of. Meaning they are willing to be nice to us and give us tournament support and prizes AS LONG AS they are moving product. Would it kill them to do some stuff with Unlimited? Both formats are fun to play in. Modified allows for more strategy and complex deck building while unlimited is a game of fast thinking, problem solving and brawn. If you think I don’t like WOTC because they want to make money, sorry, but your stupid. Plain and simple. Companies make money, its what they do, its what this country is freakin based on, and when someone says I oppose those who seek to better themselves in life, then I take that as a personal shot to my Patriotism. What I disprove of, is if say, Bill Gates were to ban the use of Windows 95 just so people would be forced to buy his new software. The only true motive is to squeeze every possible penny out of consumers. But it Wizards was to show at least a decent support of Unlimited, then that would be something that would show they are not just after money. I tell you this, if no one bought the new stuff and everyone bought base and jungle and gym and all, Wizards would drop Modified faster than you can say Pikachu. They go to where the profits is, which is fine, but they do so while trying to act like they give a care what we want. As long as we keep buying the new stuff, Wizards can do what they want. If they are going to act like they care, then at least they should show it by doing stuff other than try to snatch all of our money with the newest stuff. 2000+ DCI rating? Is that what it is? I don’t keep up with that, nor do I know how. What is the point exactly of it? Does it make the game more fun? Do you get prizes? Screw braging rights, I am a pretty good player, I know it, my friends know it, and if someone disagrees, thats their problem. I don’t need to look like a stuck up snob by whipping out the latest rankings and pointing to my name.And do you think I don’t like the new stuff? Ha. If Aquapoils had a little more draw power and wasn’t such a large set, it would have been the best. Period. Better than Genesis, Base and everything else. Hey Wizards, when you open two boxes of Aquapolis and get one town volunteer in each box, that means the set is too big. >_< And I do give Wizards funds. Lord, I ahve spent countless thousands on this game. If Wizards gave me a 100% refund, I could probably buy a new car. I don’t buy cards buy the pack, I buy them by the box. Roughly $25 a weekend. A hundred a month. $1300 a year, not counting what my parents spend on Birthday, Christmas, Easter etc. Thats $5200 for four year since it’s been out. And lets not forget all those $140 weekends busting boxes. Jeeze. I pay for a month or more of MTMike’s work each year! Lastly, please, tell me where those free tournaments are! I pay five bucks to enter my tourneys.

"I know that you agree with me on this. Even the stupid newbies I beat at every tournament agree with me on this article too. All those sucky cards that I traded off to younger kids that were legal in the current Modified. Come September all those kids will have to trade away more cards to me to get sucky legal Modified cards. It is not an issue of having legal cards per se, it’s about the newbies having the best cards of the Modified format. Playing a game without any competition is easy, but it doesn’t look good on my playing ability. They could play something like Dark Raichu from Legendary Collection. That would be original. No! No! No! Everyone must use a deck that has been used by and recommended by experts in the game. A Donphan deck won the Worlds Championship. Everyone, go, play Donphan! NOW!

So the world is now going to end for all of us who cannot play Donphan. We do have hope…"

Hey, the newbies out here aren't stupid. Heck, they know how to play as good as many after only a few months. It took me years to obtain their kind of skill. And truthfully, they kind of rip ME off, trade wise. Like, one time, I needed Insane Choa"s Dark Crobat, right? Well, I end up tired of negotiations and trade he about three pages of holos. Even if those where like all base Magnetons, three pages? For a dark crobat? Come on. And it wasn't crap. Where talking multiple dark and metal energy, steelix, typhlosion, kingdra and the like. The good stuff. and the accual problem is me being the only origonal guy and trying to get everyone else to be so t as well. While everyone is playing Kingdra, what do I play? Midreavos/Dark Gengar/Hypno/Dodrio. Yes, all in the same deck. How much more origonal do you want me to be? And how did Dohnpan win? Is he supposed to kick but or something? I guess this only proves how great and diverse pokemon really is; sometimes the things you least expect end up happening. Man, my world must be comming to an end then, since I can’t figure Donphan out.

"Wizards of the Coast, you know that money making sister company to Hasbro, they don’t do everything wrong except charge money for their products. Right now they are releasing ‘Best Of’ Promotional Cards. Two of them are reprints of Base Set Hitmonchan and Electabuzz. However, that does not change my attitude on Modified. Wizards of the Coast should really reprint everything… and and… free of charge! Yes, no wait, they need to reprint all the good cards. That way I don’t have to purchase any new cards. Then Wizards of the Coast will go out of business and Nintendo will pick up the license! Sieg Nintendo! (Hail Nintendo!)"

What do you mean it doens’t change my attitude on MFF? Electabuzz can help Lightning out. I can only hope more good lightning pokemon are released, like Jungle Electrode. He IS awesome. The new lanturn is sweet too. And fighting has been out of it for too long. Why doesn’t anyone play Golem? The expediton one, that is. But hey, the fossil one was good too. What some people don’t seem to realize is that Electabuz and Hitmonchan should not be a main focus of a deck now. They should be starters, take a prize or two, then let the coolness of Nidoking or Amhparos take over! Reprint everything? Nah. Well, at least not Mantanence >_< Double colorless, I can see. But not Oak. I just don't like that card. Other cards are too superior. And not SER. That card simply takes all the fun out of the whole game. Anyone can SER repeatedly and beat an opponent senseless, but how much fun is that? None. But I want to purchase new cards. Their fun to play. Computer Search is good and fine, but it is so much more fun to roll eight heads with mary’s impulse (that is the reason we all know Insane Chao’s dice are loaded.) Why would WOTC go out of business? And Nintendo? What would they do?

"Even if Nintendo picks up the license, it seems that there is something else, an ulterior motive for these companies like Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast. I cant put my foot on what they are trying to do. Very confusing, but I think they might actually be making new sets to… I cannot believe this… make earnings!? Those are only needed if you have money you need to pay off something. Now I’m really confused. What would a giant corporate card game company need with money? Money is not needed to have Pokemon cards translated, edited, scanned and color corrected, have art in the card borders, place the expansion symbol, produce the grids, generate the films, get the cards ready for press, typeset the cards, reword the cards because they do not fit, check with R&D to get a correct rewordal for the cards, print the cards, build theme decks, design the packaging, distribute the cards, and send the cards to retailers."

Making earnings is fine. But, ok, well, I was trying to make it not so harsh, but you want the truth? Wizards doesn’t give a rats you-know-what about consumers. The only reason they do what they do care about us is because we make them money. That is it. We pay for their nice houses, expensive cars, designer suits and everything else, so they figure they can toss us a bone to keep us happy, just enough to make us keep spending. There are always promesis of better things ahead, but they all somehow get canceled. They say the 15+ division will get better. Has it? Nope. And whats really disgusting is that they complained that TPC is the big bad guy who made them termenate 15+, which is true, but then they get everyone to pity them and say that they wish for our sakes that it was still aroud so we could have fun, but they really only would want us around if it meant they make profits. If TPC allowed 15+, then all would be well, right? Yes, until we stopped being highly profitable for them. Then they drop us like a bad habit, blame it on lack of participation or some crap, and go about their way. I understand they need to make profits, thats cool, thats why I spend thousands on Pokemon, because I support their need for money to keep producing the game, but it makes me angry when we write hundreds of letters and petitions about what we want, and they find anyway they can to weasel out of giving us what they want because it would lower the amount of money that goes into their wallets.

What I really wanted to say is that Pokemon is a great game, we all love it, but it is an insult to our own intelegance when wizards continues to make new sets we have to buy to play, then a year latter makes us buy even more new ones, the year old cards becoming obsolete, and the cycle continues. So we keep handing over fistfuls of cash for stuff we can use for a year, except in Unlimited, the format where we get nothing for playing except a higher number that shows we won some little tournaments and we have some skills. All I’m saying is that if Wizards wants to show us how much they care, stop acting so money hungry.