TOURNAMENT
 format:3rounds best two out of three; 2 round playoff
 when:june3,2000
 where:let the games begin, greenville,sc
 participants:15

THE Deck: THESE CANS ARE ALL EMPTY

  1 movie mewtwo
  2 fossil magmar
  2 scyther
  2 'buzz
 
  3 computer search
  2 item finder
  3 plus power
  2 switch
  2 scoop up
  2 energy retrieval
  2 oak
  3 bill
  4 energy removal
           THE TWIST
              3 rocket sneak attack(RSA)
              3 nighttime garbage run(NGR)
              2 challenge
                 4 psychic
                 6 fire
                 4 lite
                 2 rainbow
                 3 DCE

   THEME: my plan was to challenge myself as a deck builder and then as a
player by making the deck work. i was extremely pleased with the deck's
performance. i had playtested it 2 dozen times before entering it and my
last adjustment was to lose a rainbow and a psychic and add a fire and a
lightning. at the same time i had written to scott and went on and on about
how NGR in and of itself was gonna re-define deck-building and expounded on
the power of RSA. i decided to use rocket trainers and make a deck as thin
as i could on basics and energy to see where the boundaries lie. a quick
explanation on the more important trainers/energy:
   challenge_ if i did not mulligan too much and could get going early i
knew i would have to be able to get SOMETHING on my bench to last and this
card did it. even if the challenge was not accepted i would get two more
cards and hopefully one would be a pokemon. if it was accepted i would
invariably get my scyther(s) and whatever else was advantageous for me.
   rainbow_ this card afforded me options as long as i held it in my end and
limited the mercy i was at to any energy removals. one good thing to note is
that if i absorb a rainbow with my mewtwo i do not have to take the 10
damage.my final decision to make is to whther i add another rainbow back
into the mix. i found the 10 damage i took not to be too bad.
   RSA_ just a good card. i actually like it a bit better than lass since i
do not have to lose my trainers and as you can see i am trainer-intensive. i
also loike to be able to look at my opponents hand. RSA is great for when
you think your opponent might be holding back that scoop up for his chansey
or lickitung.
   NGR_the power of the deck. this card does not show it's IMPACT in
gameplay, it does in deck-building. i was able to run only 7 basics(maybe i
should drop to 6) and light on energy because it was recyclable.which is
what i thought when i saw it. the biggest thing i had to juggle in the
tourney was when and what do i NGR(especially with energy). i always wanted
to leave 2 psychic energy in my discard for mewtwo and have something for my
energy retrievals. in the midst of battle that became crucial.

    WAR STORIES
   round one vs justin w/hay variant
   OK OK i was entering into my first fight against hay variants. i do not
remember what his twist was but we battled forever in that first game. my
deck played itself for the most part and i was very patient with my energy
removals, trying to save them for critical stages. this worked out twice as
i removed from his bench, scooped my hurt active and killed his powered
active. i won the first game with a mere 5 cards left.
   time ran out in the second game and i lost the coin flip
   RECORD 1-1
  
  round two vs chris w/standard haymaker
   i struggled thru the first game and won with a gust and plus with just
one card in my deck.(i am under the impression by now that this deck uses
alot of strategical play and even more turns. so idecided patience would
have to be a virtue)
   game two was easy. infact, it was too easy. i was sailing along and up by
alot. time was running out and i was just coasting and then...? i don't know
what happened. i lost and i cannot explain how. i lost focus for one thing
and that was probably enuff.
   game three was a coin toss and this time i won.
   RECORD: 3-2

  i was in okay shape. 5 people had 3 or 4 wins and i was one of them. i
knew it would be important to sweep the next round.

   round three vs david w/ mono-electric
   very few people play all electric so i was unfamiliar with
voltorb/electrode, dark magneton and zapdos. what i found out was that other
than his 'buzz' it is a slow energy guzzler and that i had to tame his
zapdos' energy. the first game i was ahead AND focussing. it was a little
nip and tuck but i got mewtwo powered and a buzz ready. he had  a handful of
turns where he did not have enough energy to attack tho he had energy in his
hand and that made the difference. by the time he got zapdos or electrode
ready i killed it.
   game two was a fast game compared to my others for the day. i was up 6-2
in prizes and stiil had 30 cards in my library. david had just made a HUGE
mistake. he had a magnemite on his bench with energy that he just played and
then CS for a dark magneton, which he showed me. in my turn i gusted the
magnemite and killed it with 'buzz and a plus, so he now had a useless card
in his hand and was morally defeated. then he was gonna buzzap to power up
his zapdos but could not afford to give me the free prize. it was over in
two more turns.
    RECORD:5-2

   playoffs
  1st round ,single elimination vs josh w/ wigglytuff haymaker
   ANOTHER haymaker/variant. that is all that is played at this tournament
anymore. i would like to see ANY semblance of creativity but i am not gonna
hold my breath. this was a quick game. i could only start with a 'buzz and i
knew he had 'chans in his deck so my first thought was that this would be
fast. but he could only get a lone scyther and jigglypuff. as i was killing
his jigglypuff twice(scoop up) i was building up a benched magmar i drew in
turn three. it got down to my buzz against his scyther and i was afraid he
would get the chan soon. my magmar was dead via plus power and he removed
all my energy. i had NO energy in my hand and needed 20 to kill scyther(i
already had the plus power). and i drew and got the rainbow energy ,
attached the plus and killed it. he had a scyther in his hand that he drew
as a prize for killing magmar last turn and his next card was the 'chan i
feared.
   so now i moved on to the finals
   FINALS vs ben w/ haymaker
    this was to be two out of three. the first game was a GREAT game. it is
the type of game that i live to play for. we battled and battled and it got
down to such a thin library that my only chanse was to outlast him, sio i
did something i am not even good at. i stalled the last 4 turns by scooping
and retreating. he was down to his last card and he got the gust he needed
to insure victory for himself. ben played a great game. after that it was
anti-climactic as he beat me in two turns to win first(i had a lone scyther
and he pulled all three of his plus powers. my hat off to ben, i was
impressed.

  for coming in second i won $7 in store credit and got two rocket boosters.
i ended up getting a holo-dark dragonite , a RSA and a rainbow energy.
  i was pleased with my deck and the day. i actually played 5 of the better
players which rarely happens, i usually get one dog(read "dean") but not
today. i earned what i got and lost to someone who played his deck just
right. i call that "win-win"
    fell free to e-mail me at Mark.Dawson@vacorp.com