The Art of the Stall: Damage Swap/Removal 101


With the release of Fossil Damage Swap Stall decks finally have all the cards needed to build an impenetrable wall. With the use of Tentacools and Alakazam you'll have your opponent screaming to the judges when you remove 80 damage every turn without any trainers! Then with a few Poke Centers and Mr. Fuji's, you can remove all damage done to your Pokemon and run them out of cards for the win. (Note: You better have a print out of Tentacool's card ruling on hand at a tournament, because most judges wonder how this is possible too!)

DO NOT PUT BILL'S IN THIS DECK

Ultimate Stall Deck

Pokemon (21)

4 Abra
3 Kadabra
2 Alakazam

4 Tentacool

4 Mr. Mime

4 Chansey

Trainers (20)

4 Pokemon Center
4 Mr. Fuji
4 Energy Removal
4 Switch
2 Super Energy Removal
2 Computer Search
2 Poke Trader

13 Psychic Energy
4 DCE


Playing this deck is hard for most people, because you really never attack your opponent. I have built this deck for friends to play in tournaments, and they often mess it up by trying to kill their opponent. That isn't the point of this deck. The only real threat to this deck is a Haymaker, if you start out with the wrong set of cards and they have just the right cards, you might not make it to turn three. If you make it past turn five or six though, expect a long, long, long game. The strategy is to use Chansey's and Mr. Mime's to stall until you get Alakazam. Once you have Alakazam in place, you can put a Chansey or Mr Mime out, and damage swap the damage done to Tentacools. You can remove 20 damage per turn per Tentacool as long as it is not the turn you put the Tentacool's into play. Sometimes your opponent can do more damage per turn than you can get rid of by Tentacools. If this happens, use Pokemon Centers and Mr. Fuji's to remove the extra damage. With a little planning you can maximize the damage removed by a Pokemon Center. The switch's are very important! Gust of Wind's kill this deck. Luckily, most people aren't smart enough to GOW out your Tentacools and kill them. Most people will try to GOW out your Alakazam. If they do this, and you don't have energy for retreat, you need the Switches to get him back to the bench. Then use the Fuji's on powered up Chansey's. Take a Chansey on the bench with 3 or 4 energy, move up to 110 damage onto it with Alakazam, then Mr Fuji it! You add more turns to your deck and remove up to 110 damage. That's about all there is to playing this deck. Below I have some info/analysis on most of the popular stall/damage swap cards...


Stall/Damage Swap Cards

Mr. Mime

Mr. Mime is extremely effective in stall decks because of his Pokemon Power: Invisible Wall. Since he cna only be attacked 10 or 20 a turn, Alakazam's Damage Swap and one Tentacool can get rid of all damage done to Mr. Mime. Only one Pokemon can kill Mr. Mime in one attack... Nidoking. Nidoking's toxic is a one hit KO on Mr. Mime. Luckily, Nidoking decks are rare.

Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam

Alakazam's Damage Swap power is the core of almost any stall deck. The ability to move damage onto other Pokemon allows Pokemon to last longer before being KO'ed, and with some other cards you can even get rid of damage.

Tentacool

Tentacool is a new fossil card that gives damage swap stall decks a whole new strategy. Tentacool's Pokemon power allows it to potion 20 per turn (other than the turn it came into play) by scooping it up. So three Tentacools on the bench means 60 damage can be removed per turn!

Chansey

Chansey is one of the oldest stall Pokemon there is. His 120 HP, and Scrunch attack make him the stall king. He works wonderfully in damage swap decks because not many Pokemon can KO him in one attack. Also, since he has 120 HP, he can soak up a ton of damage on the bench before you use Pokemon Center.

Slowpoke/Slowbro

The Slowpoke/Slowbro line is another new comer to the Damage Swap game. While I don't regard him as a wonderful card to play in a full scale Damage Swap Stall deck, he makes an interesting card to throw in other decks that could benefit from Damage Swap'ing. I even throw them in my Haymaker. Electabuzz's and Hitmonchan's can last a turn or two longer--usually enough time to KO your opponent--if they can "damage swap" 50 damage onto Slowbro. If you can get all the damage from your Haymaker Pokemon onto Slowbro's, you can Poke Center it away (this doesn't usually work as well as it sounds).


Pokemon Center

Poke Centers are the ultimate potion. It is possible to potion away 550 (Five Chansey's with 110 damage each) in one turn with one Pokemon Center!

Mr. Fuji

This new card from fossil is a great new addition to stall decks. It allows you to remove damage and put more cards back in your deck. It works great on a nearly KO'ed Chansey on the bench. If you have a Chansey on the bench with 110 damage and 4 Energy, you can get rid of 110 damage and increase the amount of turns you have before running out of cards. Five turns can often be the difference between winning and losing.

Energy Removal

Energy Removals are one of the best ways to stall/slow down your opponent.

Scoop Up

Scoop Ups are a great way to get rid of damage off of a Basic Pokemon. If you have a Venesuar on the bench and grass energy on a Chansey with damage, you can transfer the grass energy back to Venesuar, Scoop Up Chansey, put out a Pokemon with free retreat (ie. Tentacool), send Chansey back out, transfer the grass energy back to Chansey, and double-edge again!

Item Finder

Item Finders are a great way to get all of these wonderful trainers back from the discard pile. Also, if it is around mid-game, you have probably already played one of each trainer, so an Item Finder is like a Trainer Wild Card. Not a good trainer to get in your starting hand though.



Hope this helps you out with building your next Ultimate Stall Deck. Remember to experiment! That are a lot of great mod's you can make to build the stall that's best for you. Have fun!

Eric Bostrom
ebostrom@aol.com