In the tourney I play at on a regular basis we have gotten back to
Hay on Hay. The only twists being that some people run Sneasel, some Rocket
Zapdos, a few add Tuff,some others Gligar BUT everybody now runs Ditto. I
like Ditto. I find that he is the one Pokemon that can tip the balance of
the game by being able to get you two unanswered prizes (and, as everyone is
aware, he is the card that gives up two prizes in one turn).
I have played less Ditto of late solely because I hate to follow the
Flock. I would much rather be the Shepherd than the Sheep. A buddy of mine,
and I, on a regular basis try to introduce new cards into the playing
atmosphere in the hopes that othes will do the same. We (and by that I mean
"I") like to think that we are the cause for people playing such cards as
Exeggcutor, Ditto, Tauros, S Abra, Lickitung, F Haunter and so on... . These
cards were not 'playable' until we started to win games with them. S Abra
was the supreme Ditto killer for a time and now  that Ditto is gonna pop up
in decks I play against 3 out of 4 times I have been keeping my out for more
ways to kill Ditto. Some of this may be "Old Hat" by now but...
Confusion- You want to screw up a Ditto? Confuse it. It becomes as
worthless as the American Penny.
S Abra- I like this little card (the one with Energy Loop). Ya do 40
by making Ditto weak to itself and alll for 1 energy. Do not
discount the fact that it also has free retreat.
Gust of Wind- Perfect for the 2-for-1 kill, as any fool can plainly
see ** I can plainly see that**. Team this with...
Baby Pokemon- Do a little damage to Ditto and then put a Baby on the
bench and your opponent cannot bring up Ditto. Especially if
it has 3 Energy on it. I know what it is like to have your Ditto hamstrung
and it is not good, cause then you still have to worry about THE
Gust.
Clefable- Claefable can/will stall out a Ditto good. This cuts both
ways, but if you got a good lead and can afford it, then you can
burn up some of your opponents turns with minimize and you only need 1
energy to Minimize since you are metronoming Dittos
Minimize attack.
Lickitung- A toe-to-toe fight between these 2 and Ditto loses cause
all Licki has to do is get 50 on Ditto and if he paralyzes
him Ditto goes. A Ditto can't flip enough heads to outlast Lickitung.
S Venomoth- I like this card and it's 75% chance of confusion kills
Ditto. Couple that with the fact that if Ditto tries to retreat
and is confused his retreat cost goes back up to one. This is another card
that just outlasts Ditto.
Chansey- Try this some time and see how he fares. Ditto has to come
out on the short end because he can ill afford to Double
Edge and he can only hang around for so long before he has to back off in
favor of something else.


On a related subject, I would like to say that Ditto is great cause
it belongs in every deck. He's your #5 hitter ,he protects the rest of your
line-up. He does not fall prey to weaknesses like the rest of your Squad
(except against Psychic).
He is the only good answer to Fossil Haunter.
But it irks me to see the way he is left unsupported sometimes. If
you have 2 Dittos in your deck you need at least 3 DCE. Give him a chance to
be a speed merchant. He needs to be able to take a DCE and totally surprise
your opponent.
Ditto also benefits greatly from potions and berrys. A Gold Berry is too
much for him. To be safe you have to heal Ditto quickly and in increments.
Some Full Heal energy is a big plus. Confusion should be a major scare for
Ditto so you want to heal him and he can use that energy to power his
attacks. Scoop ups and switches are not bad though I favor the
potion/berry/full heal energy route.

Thanks for reading this far. If your would like to NICELY (and
intelligently, which is a shame that that cannot go without saying) point
out my Faults and Foibles feel free. Later Gator.
Mark.Dawson@vacorp.com