Hey there again fellow Pojo fans, it's me again. I got a few responses to my
Prop15 article, but in case you didn't read it: Prop15 is merely a possible
format for tournaments, not a game-changing rule. It may not even happen. If
it does, game stores will have the option of running Prop15 tournaments,
non-Prop15 tournaments, or both. It will NOT affect League play, only
official DCI tournaments that the store running the tournament decided would
be under the Prop15 format. Okay, enough about Prop15. My article is about
the cards in the upcoming set, Gym: Challenge, p.k.a. GYM 2, that will affect
our current environment most profoundly. But first, here are a few changes
made to the set (most of these were announced at Wizards Chat):

-Brock's Ninetales will NOT be able to use Pokemon Powers of the Pokemon it
evolves into with Pokemon Power: Disguise. So much for the Brock's
Ninetales/Charizard/Blastoise combo and archetype, which was a potential
Hay/Wiggly killer.
-Max Revive (Crystal of Wellness) is an uncommon, not a holo. That means you
won't be finding it as your holo. This is a pretty decent card, so I wouldn't
complain about its easier-to-find uncommon status.
-Imakuni?'s Doduo and _____'s Chansey have been removed from the set (as
expected). The Chansey is probably going to be a promo in the 2nd year of
League, but since Wizards doesn't have the rights to Imakuni cards yet, the
Doduo may never be released here.
-Koga and Giovanni now have holo versions, unlike the Japanese Gym 2. This is
also expected, since in America all 8 GLs have theme decks (in Japan, Koga
and Giovanni were the only ones who lacked a theme deck, and theme decks were
the only way to get a holo version of a GL's self-titled Trainer card, such
as Brock).
-Chaos Gym will be in the set, of course. The only big thing here is the
official name of the card (now you can all stop calling it Hallucination Gym
or Confusion Gym).
-Finally, the first attack names in the set have officially been announced.
Rocket's Mewtwo's "Juxtapose" and Sabrina's Kadabra's "Life Drain" are the
names. These sound much better than the badly translated "Change Damage" and
"Lifedown".

Okay, now you're probably ready to read the article right? :) Well...the
article is about the cards that will affect the current environment the most,
as well as cards that will be awesome in Prop15 environments (and if you're
really bad at paying attention, you're probably saying "Huh? How can there be
two environments if they're changing the rules to limit us to 15 trainers
even in League play?" -sigh-... :P ) Okay, I'm sure the bad jokes are getting
old, so let's begin your Pika into the future, shall we? D'oh! Sorry, I just
can't help it! Errr....first card please?


Rocket's Mewtwo   70 HP   P
Basic Pokemon    Lv. 35
Rarity: Rare-Holo
Weakness: P   Resistance: none   Retreat Cost: 2

P: Juxtapose: Flip a coin. If heads, switch the number of damage counters on
Rocket's Mewtwo with the number of damage counters on the Defending Pokemon.

PP: Hypnotic Wave: Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokemon is now
Asleep. Damage: 20

1PPP: Psyburn: Damage: 60

Strategy: WOW! Coolness! Three attacks! Yeah, the Gym sets are true
innovators of the Pokemon TCG. First Blaine's Moltres sets the new record for
most expensive attack, and you also get the new format at the bottom of the
cards, and now this. With 70 HP and a 2 retreat cost, this is definetely a
must-have for Psychic fans. While Movie Mewtwo has the advantage with Energy
Absorption and a fast 40 damage, this guy here is all about strategy. You can
do something while charging him up, unlike most 4-energy attackers. This guy
is awesome vs. Wigglytuff. If you get Waved, use Juxtapose to reverse the
wave. Next turn, attach an energy and keep him asleep for a while until you
can dish out 30 with Psyburn. This works even better if you can SER the
Wiggly before you Juxtapose. You can stall with it too, since your opponent
is not going to even try to attack if Juxtapose will hurt them. Psyburn is
more expensive than MP Mewtwo's, especially since you can't Absorb. But with
all those No Removal Gyms, people are playing decks with no ER or SER, and
you can charge up without those to stop you. Overall a great card to be
reckoned with.


Rocket's Zapdos   70 HP   L
Basic Pokemon  Lv. 34
Rarity: Rare-Holo
Weakness: none   Resistance: F   Retreat Cost: 2

L: Plasma: If there are any Lightning Energy cards in your discard pile,
choose 1 of them and attach it to Rocket's Zapdos. Damage: 20

1LLL: Thunderburn: For each Lightning Energy card attached to Rocket's
Zapdos, Rocket's Zapdos does 10 damage to itself. Damage: 70

Strategy: This has broken written all over it. B-R-O-K-E-N. Some people say
this guy kills himself. Well, you don't HAVE to use Thunderburn. Plasma by
itself is pretty cheap (20 for 1 is rare for a Lightning Pokemon- the only
other one with this speed is...TR Voltorb [shudders]). Add a free Energy from
your discard and it's downright broken. Combo that with Mr. Fuji, Energy
Flow, or Narrow Gym w/full Bench, and you have an MP Mewtwo that does 20 each
turn, during which time it is getting energy ready for you to use on another
Pokemon. Thunderburn is still pretty powerful. 70 for 4 is not bad at all (if
40 for 3 is broken, then adding 30 more for 1 energy isn't?) and when used
right, you can do some serious damage before getting KOed. Now what deck is
this going to be used in? Hmmm...Haymaker runs perfectly well with multiple
types due to a reasonable Energy count. Wiggly uses Colorless types a lot, so
it can run with a few different types. But what deck would benefit from
having only one type of Energy to worry about? Hmmm...lotsa trainers, few
Pokemon, few Energy. Can you say Trapper? Yep, try 4 E-Buzz, 4 RZ, and
maybe....ohhh, let's say 10 Lightning Energy. That gives you room for 42
(count 'em) 42 trainers. That sounds pretty InSaNe to me. This thing is
perfect for a deck like Trapper. It's fast, it's powerful, and it's downright
ugly too. Uhhh..my point is, watch out for this thing when playing against
Trapper. And speaking of Trapper:


Trainer: Chaos Gym  (Stadium Card)
Rarity: Rare

[Standard stadium card rule, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda]

Whenever a player uses a Trainer card, that player must flip a coin. If
heads, they use that Trainer as usual. If tails, the other player may use
that Trainer card and do what it says as if it were his or her own Trainer.
However, if the card is put into play (such as Clefairy Doll) or attached to
a Pokemon (such as Defender), neither player may use that card. (Either way,
discard the Trainer card in the discard pile of the player who originally
used it.) A Sta

Strategy: Okay, this card is kinda confusing. Say Player A uses Bill while
Chaos Gym is in play. That player would flip a coin. If heads, Player A would
draw 2 cards like normal. If tails, however, Player A would do nothing, and
if he or she wanted to, Player B could draw 2 cards. Now let's say Player B
was using a Defender. He or she would flip a coin. If heads, the card would
work normally. If tails, the card would be discarded and nothing would
happen. This is because Player A can't use any of Player B's cards on Player
A's side of the playing field. (This is to prevent cards from being put one
from one player's deck to another.) Now, in the right hands, this card is
incredible. In the wrong hands? Disaster. Trapper will be a very powerful
force with this thing. Why? Well, let's put it this way. Let's say you just
got Trapped. Next turn, you manage to draw a Professor Oak. Your opponent's
Trap, IOR, and RSA were all wasted, and you recover. But with Chaos Gym, you
only have a 50% chance of recovering with that Oak, and since the Trapper
combo requires a lot of cards from your own hand, it could benefit your
opponent if they get a free Oak as well. You do not want to use this card
randomly, like in a Haymaker or Wiggly. You need the trainers to support your
Pokemon and get Energy. In Trapper, the goal is to use cheap, inexpensive,
low-support Pokemon while you disable your opponent. So Trapper benefits most
from this card. Luckily, other Stadiums count as being put into play, so a
Narrow Gym or a No Removal Gym can remove a Chaos Gym, but crafty Trapper
players will find a way around this. Just be careful until a surefire Trapper
counterdeck is found....


Koga's Ditto  40 HP  C
Basic Pokemon  Lv. 12
Weakness: F   Resistance: P   Retreat: 1

1: Grow: Flip a coin. If heads, Koga's Ditto's maximum HP is now 80 instead
of 40. (This effect ends when Koga's Ditto is Benched.)

1: Slap: If Koga's Ditto has a maximum of 80 HP, this attack's base damage is
30 instead of 10. Damage: 10

Strategy: Weird, weird card, but it's got some potential. 40 HP is very, very
weak, and you need a coin flip to get it up to 80. Use Gusts and Removals to
keep Ditto safe until it has 80 HP. Then, let the smacketh down commence. 30
damage a turn for 1 energy is insanely broken. Plus, Fighting is not as
popular as it once was, and you have 80 HP AND a Psychic resistance (in other
words, MP Mewtwo is toast). This thing has to get some special care early on,
but if you can successfully Grow, this card becomes incredible. Just be
careful of Gusts and never retreat if you have 40 or more damage on you.


Koga's Pidgey  40 HP   C
Basic Pokemon  Lv. 9
Rarity: Uncommon
Weakness: L   Resistance: F   Retreat Cost: 1

1: Exchange: You cannot use this attack if you don't have any Benched
Pokemon. Shuffle Koga's Pidgey and all cards attached to it into your deck.
Then search your deck for any other Pokemon besides Koga's Pidgey, show it to
your opponent, and add it to your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.

2: Wing Attack: Damage: 20

Here we are, the Pokemon retriever. Though it only has 40 HP, this is perfect
for getting what you need, when you want it. It also can prevent decking.
Don't use it in battle, though. Get this thing into your deck and get what
you're looking for. 20 for 2 is not horrible, but this guy's real ability is
being a 100% of the time Poke Ball. The cool thing here is that you can
probably get away with running only one in your deck, since you'll get it
back later anyway. Great in Prop15 tourneys.

Okay, I'm starting to get tired. Only 2 more, 'kay?

Blaine's Charmeleon  70 HP  R
Stage 1 (evolves from Blaine's Charmander)   Lv. 29
Rarity: Uncommon
Weakness: W   Resistance: none   Retreat Cost: 2

RR: Fire Punch: Damage: 30

RRR: Burn Down: Flip 3 coins. For each heads, this attack does 10 damage to
each of your opponent's Pokemon. (Don't apply Weakness or Resistance for
Benched Pokemon.) Then, discard a number of Fire Energy cards attached to
Blaine's Charmeleon equal to the number of heads.

Strategy: Now here's the first great Charizard line. First B's Charmander,
Energy Removal Lizard of Doom! Now we have our burndown lizard, Blaine's
Charmeleon. 30 for RR is not bad, but Burn Down really shines. Sure you have
to discard energy, but if you flip 3 heads, that's 30 damage to EACH of your
opponent's Pokemon. That can be 180 total. Not bad for 3 energy, eh? This
works great with Sabrina's Gengar, but two evolutions in a deck won't work
well in our current environment. I can see this being an archetype for Prop15
tourneys though....

And last but definetely not least:

Sabrina's Kadabra  70 HP  P
Stage 1 (Evolves from Sabrina's Abra)  Lv. 41
Rarity: Uncommon (!)
Weakness: P   Resistance: none   Retreat Cost: 1

P: Life Drain: Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokemon now has 10 HP
left.

2P: Psyshot: Damage: 30

Strategy: Like, wow! This will KO almost anything really easily. Only
Colorless types will survive a Life Drain followed by a Psyshot. (BTW,
Pluspower won't help Psyshot do 10 to a colorless type, since the attack
doesn't do any damage if you apply Resistance, and Pluspower is applied
last.) And even so, this Kadabra can retreat for almost no cost. This is
very, very powerful. Definetely a popular Prop15 choice, and with the 50 HP
Abra (1 energy Quick Attack w/possible 30) maybe even worthy in the current
environement. Great card all-around.


Well, there you have it! It's a shame I can't put Brock's Ninetales on that
list, but its new wording makes it a pretty worthless card. Still...all these
other cards are more than enough to make me want to buy G:C ASAP, OK? ;) 
Anyway, see ya later and look for a deck report on my STS edition of Mind
over Matter (I'm testing it out at the League against my friends Ben, Ryan,
and Shaun, who all use competitve decks, unlike most of the other kids
there....)    

Thanks for reading!
~Max B.
~Maxtendo64@aol.com

Selur Areliuga Anitsirhc!   ;)