NOTE: my English isn't perfect (I'm Norwegian) but please post it anyway.

Perfect Deck (lightning/psychic)
by Eskil Vestre
STS, Haandverkern Conference Center
Norway
Sunday, 10/22/2000
About 40-50 persons, 19 in my age group

NORWEGIAN STS QUALIFIER TOURNAMENT

For the first time in history: a official tournament in Norway!
It was the Super Trainer Showdown qualififier tournament, and the 1st prize
was a trip to USA to compete in the finals.
The STS was held at a conference center in Oslo, and it took me less then
an hour to get there.
I had been looking forward to it many weeks, and I had been practising a
lot. My deck is a kind of Haymaker, with Electabuzz and Promo Mewtwo as the
two leaders.
I was really excited, this was my first real tournament, I had only been to
some unoffcial tournaments before.
First, I had to sign up and get a DCI card. Then the people from Midgaard
(the company that sells WOTC things in Norway) read up the rules and who
would play against who.
There were 3 different tournaments: 10 years and lower, 11-14 and 15 and
higher.
I'm 14, so I was just young enough for the second.
Here's my deck:

Perfect Deck (it's supposed to sound a bit like "Perfect Dark")

Pokémon (11)

2 Scyther
3 Electabuzz
3 Promo Mewtwo
3 Ditto

Trainers (30)
4 GOW
4 Scoop Up
4 Plus Power
4 Eng remv
4 Super Eng remv
3 Oak
3 CPU Search
2 Item Finder
2 NGR

Energy (19)

6 Lightning Energy
8 Psychic Energy
4 DCE
1 Rainbow

Electabuzz and Promo Mewtwo are the two Heavy Hitters in this deck, but I
love Ditto, so I included 3 of it too. Two Scyther are enough for this
deck, they are just there because of their Zero Retreat. Mewtwo and
Electabuzz both have high retreat, so I needed a Pokémon with low.
And in case I'm going to use Swords Dance, Rainbow Energy is there. This is
the best deck I've ever created, it works great.

Round 1: Me vs. kid with strange Nidoking Haymaker
    He used Nidoking together with a lot of Haymaker-like Pokémon, Scyther,
Hitmonchan and co.
I SER his Nidoking and beat it with Thunderpunches and Pluspowers, and won
after 20 minutes or so by drawing all prizes.

Round 2: Me vs. Erik Nordbø  with Haymaker
    Yes, it's Erik Nordbø, who has been submiting Killer Decks to Pojo for
a while. He RSA'ed me early, and that caused a lot of pain, but I killed
him fast and he soon had no bench left.

Round 3: Me vs. kid with Squirtle deck
   Well, the only thing I saw was a Squirtle. It was a Rocket, and his only
Pokémon in play. First turn, I Thundershocked and took 20 HP, next turn i
Thundershocked with Pluspower, and won. I think this match lasted less than
two minutes.

Round 4: Me vs. Adrian with Stall
    His Mimes were irritating, but I killed one of them with 3
Thundershocks (the last one with a Pluspower). His Alakazam was quick meat,
just one GOW and Psyburn from Mewtwo.
He Oaked a lot, and ended up decking himself, because I used NGR.

Quart Final: Me vs. boy with Fire Deck
   This was fun. I drew 6 prizes in 3 minutes or so! First turn, he placed
Base Ponyta and I Ditto. I played a DCE and used its 20 HP attack. He used
Potion and attached a Fire Energy. I removed it, attacked twice, and Ponyta
fainted.
Later, he used Base Magmar, which died in one strike from Ditto (he has 50
HP, and takes 50 HP).
I killed the rest quickly with Electabuzz.

Semi Final: Me vs. Adrian with Stall (again!)
   The tournament was swiss, and I and Adrian both did it well, so we met
up once again. But his Stall simply doesn't work against my Haymaker. I
won, of course.

Final: Me vs. Steven Widlic (my neighbuor and friend) with Haymaker
   No! Me and Steven were both in the final! We came to the tournament
together, and we know everything about eachothers decks! We're neighbours
and best friends, and I know his deck inside out.
I was shocked. Now it was time to decide who would go to the USA! He drew 4
prizes in almost no time, and I drew none. I used Item Finder and discarded
my hand to get a SER. I had no hand anymore!
Then it happened. I drew an Oak! Exactly the card I needed! I drew lots of
good cards and removed all his Energy, and he loosed with no Bench.

I almost couldn't believe it! I won two tickets to USA, to the STS in New
York in November!
It has always been my dream to visit the USA, and now I just won a trip by
playing Pokémon!
Steven won 16 Boosters, so he wasn't too dissapointed.
Later, Midgaard sent me 2 Gym Challenge and 2 Gym Heroes Boosters. They're
not released here in Norway yet, so that was pretty cool. Therare cards I
got:
Heroes: Lt. Surges Electabuzz (Rare) and Erika's Clefairy
Challenge: Sabrina's Alakazam and Giovanni

Props and Slops:
    Props to: Midgaard and Wotc for having this tournament
    Props to: That guy who wanted to trade a Rainbow Energy with me
    Props to: Dad who wants to follow me to New York
    Props to: Steven, who was a good looser
    Slops to: I'm to happy right now to say anything negative at all...

Eskil Vestre, 14
STS Champion (=

eskil@vestre.net