I am writing this to refute some of the points that Mr. Nguyen had in regards to trainers.

First of all, Lass.  Evidently, Mr. Nguyen does not NEARLY understand the raw power that this card holds.  I would be happy to explain it to him.  The point to Lass is really tri-fold:

#1 - Very early game.  Provided you have a bad trainer draw, or are able to dump your trainers quickly, Lass can be used to put put your opponent on the same, or worse terms than you.  You might not have gotten the opening Oak when they did.  Not anymore - Lass it in and he has to top deck it like everyone else.

#2 - Mid-game.  Say you are building up a pretty powerful mid-game Pokemon that requires more than 1 or 2 energy to operate.  Slap about the 2nd energy on it, then Lass them.  This is sure to get out and held back Energy Removals, Super Energy Removals, Item Finders, or other disruptive cards.  On the other hand, say you're playing against a very defensive deck.  After the onslaught of three to four turns, lass them.  Then you get to watch them cry as their beautiful Pokemon Center gets shuffled back in, leaving multiple targets for knock-out.

#3 - Late game.  Okay.  This card can be used when the deck differential is usually 2 or less, to make it from you being decked, to them.  This is where you hold your trainers, wait for the opportune moment, then Lass.  If you were planning for it, more often than not you will have more trainers in hand, and gain Library advantage.  Otherwise, it might just buy you the two to five turns you need to get that 5th and 6th prizes for the game.

Now that I have completely refuted the unsubstantiated hate of Lass, let's move on.  Next we have Impostor Professor Oak. 

Now, in my area, when two good players play, very often, the winner is the one who did not get decked.  You would be shocked how often an Impostor can win the game.  Decks are close, about 5 each.  Both players are low on cards.  Then, all of a sudden, BAM!  Imposter.  Your hand of 3 just became a hand of seven, but most importantly, your library of five just became a library of one.  By the way, it's your turn - draw your last card and try to kill me THIS turn.  And one more thing - you often should NOT Imposter someone with more than 7 cards in their hand.  The odds are REAL good if they have that many cards in their hand, it's because they can't or don't want to play them.  If you imposter them, you're helping out their library size, while putting good cards into their hand.

Finally, Energy Retrieval.  Excuse me?  Okay - I guess Energy Removal is just banned in your area.  I have at least 1 to 2 Retrievals in EVERY single deck I build.  It's amazing for late game when you're not drawing energy.  Pitch one of those useless extra Pokemon from your hand to get back 2 energy.  It can be Item Findered too!  WONDERFUL!  This card should be a staple in almost any deck.  Being able to get energy on demand is a beatuiful, beautiful thing.

That's it for my soap box.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to work on updating the rest of the site now.

Scott Gerhardt
Scott@pojo.com