Operator Error (a cheap, lame deck)
by Mark S Dawson
Tournament held at Let the Games Begin
on October 28 2000
in Greenville SC
18 participants

This deck actually had a purpose,and it had little strategy.The
purpose being to prove a point in that haymaker (or Tuff, and I never play
Tuff) will win a tournament every time. Especially if it is swiss with 2
outta 3 each round. I brought in my daughter's straight up Haymaker and
blitzed thru the day. The problem was it was easy. The cards were all there
for me whenever I needed and all I had to do was play them in the right
sequence which is not too difficult. To lose with this deck takes "operator
error".

DECK
3 Hitmonchan
3 Fossil Magmar
2 Scyther
2 Ditto

3 Oak
3 Bill
3 Computer Search
2 Item Finder
3 Nighttime Garbage Run
2 Energy Retrieval
4 Plus Power
4 Energy Removal
3 Switch
2 Scoop Up
3 Gust of Wind

4 DCE
7 Fire
6 Fist

On the face of it a good deck, and as for balance I only wanted once
for a card(s) in all 10 games and that was the only game I lost.
I will give a quick glimpse of how the rounds went , that not really
being the point. Since this deck should win 90% of the time.

ROUND1- vs.Scott. It was good to see Scott again. He had not been there in a
while. He, too, was playing a Haymaker but opted for Buzz where I had Magmar
and that let my 'Chans eat up Buzz quick. Then my Magmars got his Scyther's
and these games were tipped favorably to me.
2-0
ROUND2- vs. Sabrina. OK OK , this was easy. I do not get Sabrina. She
brought a mulligan Mewtwo deck the last time I faced her and I won as I
lassed her when I had only 3 cards in my deck both games and I was able to
put 25 trainers back to her 3 or 4 each time. This deck was sorta the same
as I think she was gonna Wildfire me, but why use three different energy in
a Wildfire Deck?
  The only basics she had was 1 Moltres,1 Zapdos and 1 Articuno.
4-0
ROUND3- vs. Ben. Ben brought a very well-thought out Zapdos/ Electabuzz (w/
Dittos) deck. I was impressed. He used that Buzz where you re-charge and
then attack for 20, moving an energy to a benched pokemon and he would build
up Zapdos that way. I  had decided I needed to kill that particular Buzz
every time I saw it.
In the first game he stomped me as I could only pull a 'Chan and he
had a Ditto out against me and was flush with DCE. This sorta shook my
confidence but then I started thinking that he had alot of guys (buzz) weak
to me and if I can start with 2-3 basics I would be OK. The second game I
was almost decked but I did 3 NGRs in my last 3 turns to buy me enough time
to get  my final prize.
Game 3 only saw enough time for me to take 2 prizes and him one as
time was called, giving me a not-so-hard-fought victory.
6-1

Playoffs
1st round, single elimination- vs. Charlie. I just played Charlie 2 weeks
ago in the playoffs. I do not even remember what he had. I know it was a
fairly quick game as I was waiting for the other game to finish so I would
know who my finals opponent was and it was ..... Ben.

FINALS(2outta3)- for some reason this was alot easier than before. The first
game Ben was losing 5-3 in prizes but he had alot more in his deck than I
did (I had about 15). So he tried to stall out the rest of the game with 4
Dittos and a Zapdos. He was playing an enormous amount of Potions,
Pokecenters and Scoop ups. But I was patient since I was holding a NGR, 2
Gusts and a plus power. I needed both Gusts and the plus power as I won with
my very last card, gusting out a damaged Ditto and using the Plus to get my
final prize.
The second game was easy. I think Ben was tired and he was not
getting great cards. Ben is the second-best player I have ever played
against but he was just mailing this one in. If I remember correctly I did
100 to his Zapdos with my Ditto to end it.
I got 14 bucks in store credit and bought 3 challenge packs. I am
gonna hold on to it and get something I really need. Thanks for reading this
far, feel free to contact me at Mark.Dawson@vacorp.com.  Later Gator








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