It seems to me that you forgot a few things
while comparing Arcanine to Ninetales and Oak to Elm.
All your comparisons focus on the Pokes
themselves and not trainer support/opposition. Lure is not that good if
you opponent Scoops/Switches the Poke right back out. And you're trying
to compare that to Flamethrower? That's apples and oranges, my friend.
There's no grounds for comparison, they're entirely different. Besides
the fact that no self-respecting Arcanine player will even use Flamethrower
unless it's sufficient to KO the active. Most use FF and a DCE and go
straight for Take Down. You pointed out that Arcanine is
"screwed" if your opponent SER's, but what's saving your Ninetales
from the same fate? It's just as vulnerable as Arcanine is, only the
Ninetales can retreat much easier. Personally, I think Take Down is much
better than Fire Blast. Let's look at an example real quick, forgetting
about trainer support (as much as I hate to, it just makes it easier).
You attach F to Vulpix
I attach F to Growlithe
You have FF on Vulpix and evolve and Lure out somebody.
I have FF on Growlithe and evolve.
You have FFF on Ninetales and do nothing.
I have FFCC (DCE) on Arcanine and do nothing.
You have FFFF on Ninetales and KO active.
I promote Arc and kill Ninetales, and attach E to bench.
No let's look at our positions. You have spent all your
time on Ninetales, and have no energy on your bench. Chances are, you
will only get off small attacks before they are Taken Down. However,
since Arc does not have to discard to use his main attack, I am busy powering
up my bench in the event that Arc is KO'ed, and have plenty of force to back
him up, and a few prizes to boot.
So in conclusion, yes, Arcanine is a death
wish Poke, but if you get one prize and I get 3, I'm on top.
Now, for Elm and Oak. I have to agree,
Oak is much better than Elm. But I disagree with the fact that you said
"If you are lame and have a crappy deck this is the card for you!".
This card is VERY useful to support Oak. I use 3 Elms instead of the
usual 4 Bills. Sure, you can't play anymore trainers, but if you don't
have the Oak in your hand anyway, you may as well cycle through your Pokes.
Also, the absolute worst thing is having to Oak away a good hand to get an
energy. Elm allows you to get that energy without wasting a good hand,
plus, what's one turn of waiting to play trainers if you've got your active
good and pumped and a full bench waiting to come to his aid.
Well, that's it for my little discussion.
Hope it shed some light on this subject.
Austin ^_^