From: Pat and Nancy [pandnkennedy@prodigy.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2001 1:58 PM
To: cardtips@pojo.com
Subject: Standard vs Modified -nikePK

    Today, I hear people say that standard is broken,  just everything about
it.  Lass, cleffa, sneasel, slowking...  I myself have said that I hate Sneasel
and think he is cheap unless you play removals.  But you know something?  Its a
heck of a lot better than Modified, where Feraligatr dominates 90% of anything,
focus band flips are numerous, and it all comes down to who can load up their
biggest guy the fastest.  Let me try to compare the two the way I see them.

Modified:  Its Archtypes include: Feraligatr, Typhlosion/Arcy...
                Promising decks:  Crobat, Ampharos, Magcargo, Suicune

    With its promising decks you'd think the format wouldn't be bad.  But in all
actuality these decks may look good, but most of them all fail to beat
Feraligatr, and Suicune just goes along with it dominating.  I don't know about
you, but I myself traded a lot of cards to get my hands on multiple Professor
Oak, Computer Search, Lass, Scyther, Electabuzz, Chansey, Pinsir, Venusaur, and
many many others that now, with this crap format, I can't use.  Why do I hate
this format?  a) I can't use the cards that let me mount a comeback or set
myself up.  b) I'm forced to use basically 1 huge dominating power hungry
evolution line, instead of their being a balance between speed and power.  c)
Many of my favorite decks that I have come up with on my own are pretty much
powerless in Modified.  I made one good deck in modified online but I don't
think I can get my hands on all those cards at this moment.  Whereas in Standard
I built my Jumpluff Madness deck online, it worked and I was able to get all of
the cards for it in real life.  I know that deck has some cards from later sets,
but I only traded for most of them.  Plus, in Modified, there is no Energy
Removal to slow down powerhouses.  You do see Feraligatr in Standard, and it
does well, but its power is limited because of energy removal, lass, and other
cards.  I hear that if modified is going to be done again, then rocket will be
rotated out.  Well there goes Nightly Garbage Run, any Dark type pokemon that
could be used in conjunction with Rocket's Hideout Gym, and even a few more
cards from the set.  Let me tell you why I love standard.

Standard:  Archtypes:  Slowking/Sneasel, Chansey/Unown N, Wiggly,
Promising Decks:  Pretty much anything

    Why do I like standard so much, is because of its variety.  People may think
your new shiny concept won't work, but if you put the right cards into your
deck, you can win some games against even the best players and archtypes.  What
gives you the power to do this?  Lass, Energy Removal, SER, Pokemon Breeder, and
a lot of good Pokemon are in Standard too.  Some cards you may not expect can be
molded into wonderful decks.  Maybe you want to use Dodrio and Dark Electrode so
you can retreat for free after dumping energy.  Maybe you want to use Energy
Flow and Houndoom of Neo3.  All of these decks are going to need protection from
other decks, and trainers such as Lass and Energy Removal do this.  Maybe you
want total control in your deck so you play Erika's Victreebell and Gust of
winds.  If your playing a deck that relies on Gym cards, your going to need
something to take out gym cards from your opponents hand.  Half of these you
can't do in modified.  My decks that I build are incredibly fun to play, can
stand a chance vs ANY deck, and they are the underdog in a match which makes it
even more fun to use.  Just ask anyone who makes creative decks, I'll bet they
favor Standard over modified.  Sure, standard could use a few bannings such as
Sneasel, but hey, its more balanced than Modified will ever be.  I could take a
marowak deck in and probably do good with it, seeing that Lightning is popular
in today's environment.  There is no current resistance to water (of which
feraligatr is).  Sneasel has no weakness, but his 60 hp, and need for darkness
energy balances him out, plus there are other speed cards that can rival him,
ditto can tear him up, and so can Clefable.  Energy removal, as everyone says
and as I have experienced,  takes him out.  Does this mean you need to use
Clefable or ER to win against this particular deck?  Heck no.  You can use Dark
Muk to keep him active and poison him to high heaven.  You can use TRT gym to
make him not be able to retreat as easily.  Erika's Dratini also stops him cold,
just watch out for magby's and Murkrows (of which both can be gotten around).
Unown D helps too, as they will have to waste a gust of wind on the guy, or sit
there and do 30 damage less.  You see, there is much more balance in Standard
and ways be beat certain decks.

No deck is invincible in ANY format, but I think everyone would see more variety
in Standard and we will all see at the next sts instead of the top 8 being 7
identically themed decks, possibly 8 different decks all competing for the
glory.  Wizards, you can't make any more mistakes, please give us the 15+
qualifiers, and please give us Standard, it would be the best move you've ever
made since releasing this wonderful game.

Thanks for your time everyone.  I hope you agree with me, even if you didn't I
hope you see the difference between the two formats.  Email at
PANDNKENNEDY@prodigy.net

-nikePK-