Rain Dance: not bad but losing it.  If you want a Trainer base of Misty's Tears, Energy Search, Energy Retrieval, and Super Energy Retrieval, this is the deck for you.  Rain Dance would be huge if it didn't use massive amounts of Energy.  Now, I am NOT saying that Rain Dance is bad, I am only suggesting that there are better decks.  But here's a good replacement: Wild Growth.  Meganium's Pokemon Power, Wild Growth, doesn't require massive amounts of Energy, so you can use whatever Trainers you want.  Also, I have a strong belief that types are generally superior to types.  But before I say any more, let's take a look at Meganium's Power:

Pokemon Power: Wild Growth As long as Meganium is in play,

each Energy card attached to your Pokemon instead

provides . This power stops working while Meganium is

Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.

 

    Meganium's Power allows you to, instead of playing massive amounts of Energy, actually use LESS!  It's just like getting to attach 2 Energy per turn, except you only use up one!  And the Power not only allows you to use less energy, it also allows you to:

1)Power up almost as fast as with Blastoise

2)Play with a more varied Trainer mix

3)Use more Pokemon and more Trainers

4)Recover much more easily from Energy Removal and Super Energy Removal

 

Now, the top 5 cards to use with Meganium:

1)Exeggutor--It can do up to 40 damage per energy.  This combo was meant to be abused.

2)Meganium itself--40 and auto Sleep for two Grass!  That's just not right.

3)Pinsir--20 and paralysis for 1, 50 for 2.  Ouch.

4)Venusaur--60 for 2.  That's painful.  Not only that, but its Pokemon Power works perfectly with Meganium's.  The only reason I don't use it is because it's a Stage 2.

5)The other Meganium--40 and paralysis for two Energy!  That smarts.

Honorable Mention goes to Butterfree for its Mega Drain.

 

A good Pokemon mix for Wild Growth:

3 Chikorita Lv.19

1 Chikorita Lv. 12

2 Bayleef Lv.39

1 Bayleef Lv.22

2 Meganium Lv.57 (the one with Wild Growth) (#2)

1 Meganium Lv.54 (#5)

4 Exeggcute

3 Exeggutor (#1)

4 Erica's Bellsprout Lv.12

3 Erica's Weepinbell Lv.30 (this card is just too good to pass up)

2 Pinsir (#3)

2 Rocket's Scyther (or 2 more Pinsir)

Trainers should include a lot of card drawing, some Pokemon Breeder, usually some switch for the high retreat costs of most Wild Growth decks (E-mail me at pauladam@nauticom.net if you can find a good Wild Growth deck with a pretty low Retreat cost--I would love to see it), and probably some Gold Berry- these Pokemon have nice, high HP.  The only reason you shouldn't use this is if there are a lot of decks being used in your area--my version is completely weak to Pokemon (another reasonto E-mail me--leave it an all- deck but work in some good Pokemon that aren't weak to ).  A good Wild Growth deck shoud probably use 14-20 Energy.  I used 17 and 3 in mine.

~Brian Adam