Name: Keith Williams

Location: Texas Game Company 
Allen, TX


Tournament Report (10/22/99)


Ahh tourney day. Every Friday at TGC, they have an excellent Pokemon tournament in which several real quality
players show up for a little fun. The tournament is not sanctioned, the prizes are small but the pure fun factor
more than makes up for it. I usually play there merely to test new ideas out. However, due to bizzare circumstances, 
I just happen to be the top ranked player in the store. So I have a 'little' bit of pride in that and would like to
play something a bit more competitive, but it really doesn't matter. On this night, unfortunately I got matched up 
with ALL the top players (with the exception of my first opponent). 

Texas Game Company plays a swiss format, best of three series and ALLOWS sideboards (nobody uses them, but you could
if you chose to do so.) The time limit is 45 minute rounds, I believe.

All day on Friday I was talking to Gordon Kane and Brian Brokaw about what to play. I was bored with Haymakers and
was working with a SlowPoke/SlowBro deck. However I could not get the consistancy I desired in the deck. In the end
I had to make a choice. So I did what every good Pokemon player would do...I flipped a Chansey Coin to decide.


Haymaker won the flip...


3 Magmar (fossil)
3 Electabuzz
3 Scyther
3 Mr. Mime
2 Tauros (testing...they are horrible and only situational at best)

4 Bill
3 Professor Oak
3 Gust of Wind
3 Scoop Up (the reason I won all mirror matchups)
3 Super Energy Removal
2 Energy Removal
2 Plus Power
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Item Finder

8 Fire Energy
7 Electric Energy
6 Psychic Energy
3 Double Colorless Energy



A few notes on this deck. First off, it's based off Scott's version. Ya, ya isn't everyones? I merely subbed out
the Hitmonchans for Magmars. Why? Hitmonchan is basically a dead card. Fossil has added so many new cards with 
fighting resistance, it's almost unplayable. Sure nowbody deals damage on first turn like him and he crushes those
colorless Pokemon, but with so many people using Scythers, Articunos, Mr. Mime and other psychic Pokemon, I would 
rather switch over to fossil Magmar and use his unique abilities. (Poison is GOOD) Not to mention if Scyther is 
heavily used at any tournament, Magmar simply WRECKS him.

Scott is DEAD ON with his 'splash' of energy removal trainers. The 2/3 ratio is perfect and I use it exclusively in 
all my decks.

I play with more energy in my version than most other people. 24 total energy might seem high, but in a heavy energy 
removal environment, the extra card(s) make a difference.

3 Scoop Ups? Most people question the usage of so many. I would play 4 in any big prize/money tournament. Why? In 
the mirror match-up with other Haymakers, this card swings the game clearly into my favor. In fact, vs. Gordon Kane, 
my 5th round opponent, he played an almost identical deck but opted for more PlusPowers. The mere fact that I was 
able to 'HEAL' my Pokemon AND 'SWITCH' my Pokemon via the Scoop Up is what won the games versus him.

Buzz and Mime continue to prove to me that they are the best Pokemon in the game. Nobody deals quick damage like 
Electabuzz. Nobody finishes off Pokemon quite the way Mr. Mime does. I tested Tauros in the deck since I hate 
using Kangaskhan (can't retreat him easily and forces me to waste a Scoop Up 90% of the time). With Fossil Magmars,
I no longer need Ponyta. (He is horrible anyhow), Scyther is there for his attack and retreat abilities and to set 
up some nice combos with his non-retreat cost. He also gives the deck fighting insurance.

Overall observations: Magmar has made Haymaker even MORE deadly. Grass decks are soon to be almost forgotten. Now in
the mirror matchups of Haymaker vs. Haymaker, luck plays THEE most important role. It used to be whoever played the 
cards better, now whoever DRAWS the cards they need and gets the good flips will win. I am trying to combat this 
myself with the Scoop Ups, as mentioned above. I think it's a valid reason to consider using four in any version.



Anyhow on with the report:

Round 1 - Kid (sorry to be rude, I just forgot name) playing Mono-water, maybe Rain Dance?

First game I thought I was in trouble. I looked in my opening hand and saw only a Buzz and Mime. I thought the kid 
would be playing the mono-fighting Hitmonchan/Lee something. My fears were relieved when he turned over an Articuno.
However I have no electric energy or card drawing in my opening hand. Luckily what WAS in my hand was 2 Super Energy 
Removals. I drop Mr. Mime and have to use a Scoop Up on Buzz just to attack. I keep Articuno low on energy and just 
when Mime is gonna kill it, he drops another on the bench and retreats the damaged one. I keep Meditating on it and 
finally draw some Electric Energy. I then retreat Mime and let Buzz knock out the two legendary birds.

Second game I am forced to start with a Magmar. UGH! He starts with Lapras. OUCH! I dump my hand and Oak for
assistance from my deck. It rewards me with 2 Electabuzz's and plenty of energy. I drop one, build it up, all the 
while smokescreening lapras until I was ready with both Buzz's. Not much to say as Buzz KO's water easily.

Match: 1-0, Games: 2-0



Round 2 - Kolbey playing Rain Dance

Kolbey is one of my favorite opponents at Texas Game Company. Luckily for me I have been able to go undefeated
versus him. However with all the MANY games we have played, each was a nailbiter. I have had to pull some EXCELLENT
top deck skill in most of the matches to win. Kolbey is overdue. I figure he's gonna get revenge REAL SOON. Anyhow 
first game he start with a Lapras to my Scyther. I load up Buzz on the bench and let it sit there. Yeah that's 
right, sit there. He can't believe it either. I retreat Scyther when he's taken too much damage and move up Mr. 
Mime. Still Buzz sits on my bench, waiting...err rather lurking for the right moment. Then Buzz gets the signal
when Kolbey drops Mr. Squirtle on the bench. Retreat Mime, Promote Buzz, add second energy to Buzz, Gust up Senior 
Squirtle, serve up a KO. This just wrecks Kolbey and I cruize behind Mime and Buzz for the win. 

Second game I start real slow. Magmar's in hand, Scyther as active. He goes Blastoise on turn 5. I had to drop 
Magmars on the bench just so Colbey wouldn't get a benchless win. Luckily I have been drawing all my energy removals
and keeping Blastoise low on energy. Finally a Mime shows up, I put him out front to laugh at Blastoise. Still no 
Buzzs. I deliver a little damage to Blastoise and Kolbey retreats him. My next card: Buzz. I drop him and and and 
energy on him. My next card: OAK! I get a Gust of Wind, which leads to Blastoises exit from play. Ride Buzz the 
distance. Buzz rules.

Match: 2-0, Games 4-0



Round 3 - Mark Woodworth playing Haymaker with WigglyTuff

Mark is one of the strongest opponents I know. Mark's deck building and playing skills rival and possibly even dwarf
my own. He would be darn near unbeatable if he would (a) quit goofing around and, (b) not enter a match with 
defeat already implanted in his mind. Anyhow this week Mark is playing doing his typical Jiggly/Wiggly, thankfully 
it's not his turbo version, which dominates IMHO. The deck is similar to mine except with 'tuff and no Mimes. First
game I know I am going to play it just like I would play versus Rain Dance. Sit with Buzz waiting, kill the Jiggly
before it evolves into something ugly. The problem with this strategy is Mark knows that and immediately sets his 
mind on killing my Electabuzz's with Gusts and PlusPowers. This puts me in a bad situaton. However, this is why 
Fossil Magmar is so good. SMOKESCREEN AND POISON. Wiggly cannot strike my Magmar and then Magmar poisons it. This 
forces Wiggly to retreat, and this in turn sets up a Gust/KO' strike by me. This simple strategy allows me to win
the first game easily but Mark catches on to the idea and draws out the second game, but in the end I walked off 
with the victory. 

One key play that won the second game for me; Mark had one prize to go and I had a Mr. Mime as my active with 
another one the bench and a wounded Tauros as well. Mark had Scythers. He had Oak'd away the whole game and was left 
with 3 cards while I intentionally left myself with 4. He had just Computer Search'd for a card. He didn't play 
energy and was waiting. My turn. I had a Scoop Up in my hand that I was gonna use on Mr. Mime to prevent him from 
KO' the win. Knowing that Mark had not played an energy on his turn, it was easy to conclude that he took a trainer 
off the Computer Search. Quickly I looked at his discard pile and saw 3 Gust of Wind. I figured he might have the 
4th in the deck. I had the energy to retreat Mr. Mime should he become damaged. So I Scoop the Tauros from the bench 
to prevent the 'easy' KO. As soon as I played it, Mark extended his hand to congratulate me. It was a great match.

Match 3-0, Games 6-0



Round 4 - Brian Miller playing exact same deck as Mark above.

Brian is another good player. He too, knows that BUZZ is the kill card. He goes after the Buzz and I figure okay, 
I'll resort to poisoning his Tuff's. He never gets a 'tuff out on me but he doesn't need to. In the first game, we 
go deep into our decks and I decide to ride out the Mime Stall for the win. He too, pulls the 4th gust from his
deck to steal victory away from me. In the second game, the coin decides to flip into his favor (for the most part) 
and he beats my Magmars and Buzzes down with his excellent Magmar flips. However close it might have seemed, his 
deck gave him what he needed, when he needed it and he got a well deserved win. Later I found out that it was the 
same deck as Mark's. Hmmm maybe 'tuff is still good...

Match 3-1, Games 6-2



Round 5 - Gordon Kane (playing same deck as mine, minus Scoops, add PlusPowers)

Unfortunately for Gordon, his deck basically 'pooped' out on him. First game he played the 'Peekabo Mr. Mimes' with
me in which he would retreat one, put up the other, etc. He did this because he couldn't pull the psychic energy. 
It wasn't even fair as Magmar kept smokescreening away. 

Second game was a bit better for Gordon, as he got alot of energy removal on me. However I was able play a retrieval 
to keep my Mimes and Magmars powered up. Not to mention whenever he was close to killing my Pokemon, I used a Scoop 
Up to stall out until my good cards could come up. Gordon kept dropping Scythers and Magmars but couldn't power them 
up because he lacked the energy and I kept hitting a Scyther for 40, it would retreat, up would come another, etc. 
Finally a Magmar came up and slowed the game down but Gordon's bench was FULL of damaged Pokemon. I oaked and got a 
Gust to finish the match. Next to us, Mark was kind enough to beat Brian who had just beaten me. That helped my 
cause...

Match 4-1, Games 8-2



Sure enough I won on tiebreakers. 3 Jungle Packs for a $3 entry fee isn't bad. Mark also scored some nice rares for
me (Moltres, Gengars, Lapras) in exchange for some of my Magic cards. All in all not a bad outing for me. I 
increased my lead on the in-store ratings, scored some Jungle packs for my nephew and had a blast. On the bad side,
I realized that Haymaker will STILL be a problem until Janurary/Feburary, I played a 'normal' deck instead of 
something creative to test (which is the primary reason I go to TGC), and I STILL need alot of fossil rares.
Oh well...back to the drawing board with the SlowPoke deck...




PROPS:

All my opponents for being MATURE and not psychotic...

EVERYONE ON THE ELITE LIST. You guys are without a doubt THEE best. Without you guys, I'd STILL be saying, "Activate 
my Cursed Scroll...on the stack of course!" LAFF!

Gordon: My partner in crime...thanks again for the Ghastlys'!!!

Mark: My strategy co-conspirator...help me with the SlowPoke deck already!

Kolbey: Keep battling...you are gonna have a big windfall and beat me soon enough!

Brokaw: For giving me the SlowPoke idea that now curses my every waking thought...it's your fault! hehe

Bill: Pojo is just the best damn Pokemon Website running hands down...keep it up!



SLOPS:

No real slops to give...

Oh, Scott Gerhardt gets SLOPS. Why? Just because he give me SLOPS in ALL his tournament reports from Rama Llama for
not showing up!
(I'm ducking ya Scott...really I am! hehe)



Keith Williams