ALL CARDS ARE EQUAL!
At least that's what I think. I don't mean some aren't more valuable then
others. I just mean that any card has attributes equal to others. I have
proof, so I'm probably right. First, my theory. Why would WotC make some
cards better in play then others? Of course, you're probably thinking,
"Duh. People buy lots of packs to get the better cards and kick butt.". In
fact, you probably think some are better then others already. But, if
expensive cards were actually better (More HP, better attacks, etc. with no
trade-offs), then the richer people could just buy enough expensive cards
to make killer decks and wipe the floor with everyone at tournaments
(Misspelled, I know.). How much fun would that be? Everyone except rich
people would just quit. Bad for WotC.

Now, here's my proof. Let's start with trainers. I compare Potion and
Super Potion. Potion removes up to 2 damage counters from a Pokemon. Super
Potion removes up to 4 damage counters if you discard an energy card
attached to the Pokemon. Potion is, of course, cheaper(Discarding the
trainer instead of discarding it and an energy card), but it does less.
Super Potion is the reverse. You might say Super Potion is better because
if you don't use it, you get to keep the energy:

Either
Potion+Potion
or
Super Potion+Energy
for 40 HP

However, if you only need to heal 20 (Like for Dodrio's Rage attack), or
you can't heal 40(Like, for a 30 HP Pokemon), you don't need Super Potion,
because it's a waste of energy. Thus, you could say they're equal. You
could say the same about Professor Oak and Imposter Professor Oak. The
cards all have checks and balances.

Here's a Pokemon example: Jnyx vs. Basic Magmar

Jynx
-70 HP
-Psychic Pokemon
-Attacks
  #Doubleslap (1 psychic): Flip 2 coins. Do damage equal to the # of heads
times 10.
  #Meditate (2 psychic, 1 colorless): Do 20 damage plus 10 damage for each
damage counter on the     Defending Pokemon.
-Weakness: Psychic
-Resistance: None
-Retreat: 2 colorless

Basic Magmar
-50 HP
-Fire Pokemon
-Attacks
  #Fire Punch (2 fire): 30 damage
  #Flamethrower (2 fire, 1 colorless): Discard 1 fire energy to use this
attack; 50 damage
-Weakness: Water
-Resistance: None
-Retreat: 2 colorless

As you can see, these Pokemon both have the same retreat cost, a weakness,
have a color (As opposed to being colorless) and are basic Pokemon that
don't evolve. Jnyx has 20 more HP. However, Magmar has better, but more
expensive, attacks. Considering that it's probably worth one more basic
energy to do 30 (Magmar) as opposed to an average 10 (Coins get heads half
the time. Each 10 damage for Jnyx's Doubleslap requires a coin flip of
heads. There are 2 flips. You'll probably get 1 heads. Thus, that's an
average 10 damage per turn.). So, you have either 20 more HP, or somewhat
better attacks. They're about equal.

This also works with evolving Pokemon. For instance, there's Gastly. I
think a person could safely say that Gastly reeks. However, you get Haunter
and Gengar for evolutions; they have awesome Pokemon Powers and attacks,
and have no weakness. So, it comes out _equal_! Meowth's kinda cruddy, but
Persian's neat. Evolutions abide the equality rule too.

And now, for some useful laws that can help you out in deck design:

1. All trainers, energies, and nonevolving-basic Pokemon are equal.

2. A basic Pokemon card is worse based on how many evolutions it can go
through, and how good they are. For instance, Gastly is much worse then
Farfetch'd or Spearow.

3.A Stage 1 Pokemon card is worse based on if it can evolve to Stage 2, and
how good the Stage 2 is, and how good the basic Pokemon card it evolved
from is. For instance, Weepinbell isn't as good as Fearow, but it's still
better then Spearow.

4.A Stage 2 Pokemon card is worse based on how good the basic and Stage 1
Pokemon cards it evolved from are. For lack of reference (Don't have many
expensive cards, which Stage 2's often are), if a Stage 2 evolved from
Gastly and a Stage 1 Gastly (Exactly the same, except for being a Stage 1),
it would probably kick serious butt.

5.Rules 2-4 do not include evolutions. Magikarp reeks under the rules all
the same.

Note: Please ignore enviromental stuff for these rules. For example, due to
all the Haymakers out there, a defensive basic Pokemon like Chansey might
be better then it might otherwise be. Also, Jnyx might be better due to the
lack of psychic Pokemon. I'm not including enviromental stuff here.

Some of you are probably thinking Rule 1 is wrong. "What about Gambler and
stuff?", you might be thinking. True, some trainers really seem worthless.
After all, Gambler has you flip a coin just to get one more card then
Professor Oak; furthermore, if you get tails, you only get one card.
However, Gambler is really useful towards the end of your deck. Get tails,
and your deck gets a lot bigger. Furthermore, if you get heads, and don't
have enough cards, you still don't lose, since you only get decked when you
can't draw, So if you put in one more Gambler, your odds increase to 3/4.
You have it when you need it, too, unless it's in the prizes or you use it
for Computer Search or something, since you end up drawing your entire deck
before you need it. All the cards are equal; it's just that sometimes, it's
not so obvious.

That's it! Use this to make better decks. It can help you to choose good
support Pokemon and Trainers for whatever Pokemon you put in your deck.
Thank you for reading.

Please post this! Everyone seems to think that the more expensive, the
better. Please post this on a Saturday.

Charles
nerdboy@oh.verio.com