Hello everyone! Let's get this article begun with Tyranitar, from Neo:

Discovery!

**100 HP- For a Stage 2 card like this one, I really think 100 is plenty.

This will really help to have Tyranitar played in decks. To really be

efficient, I advise to play Gold Berry in conjunction with Tyranitar. This

will slow down the amount of damage you get on him.

**Bottom Statistics- For a Stage 2 Evolution, I think that No Weakness is

ideal. The Psychic Resistance is also really nice. The only downside here is

the retreat cost of 3. It is somewhat typical of a big Stage 2. If you don’t

want to pay the retreat cost, either put Recycle Energy in your deck, or play

Switch (Warp Point if you lay Modified).

**Slam- This attack costs (*)(*)(*) and has you flip 2 coins, doing 30 damage

for each heads. This is a good attack for the time that you don’t have your

Darknesses on him yet. It averages 30 damage for 3 Colorless. Ok in my

opinion, but that’s not the card’s high point...

**Trample- This is what makes Tyranitar the great card it is. It costs

(D)(D)(*)(*) and does 50 damage to the Defending Pokemon. In addition to

this, you now flip a coin for each Benched Pokemon in play. Each Pokemon,

with a lucky flip now has 30 damage! There are only 2 downfalls here: 1.) You

easily can annihilate your own Bench.

Solution:

Use either Transparent Walls, which prevents all damage done to your Bench,

or Unown D, which reduces all damage done by Darkness Pokemon to your Pokemon

by 30. Trample has a backfire of 30...Coincidence? Possibly, but it sure

works!

Problem 2.)

Energy Cost. To get the required Darkness Energy on Tyranitar, you either

need to take a few turns using Slam, or get the Darkness on Larvitar and

Pupitar. The main problem here is that both Larvitar and Pupitar are

Fighting...They’ll take a bunch of damage from Darkness. If you find yourself

in a situation where you need to put the Energy on Larvitar/Pupitar, you can,

but be ready to either evolve it right away, or have it soon Knocked Out.

~Key Cards to combo with in Modified Format~

++Unown D. As I previously stated, its Pokemon Power is the perfect match for

Tyranitar. If you can reduce ALL damage done to your Pokemon by 30... This

also prevents your opponent’s Sneasels from hurting you as much. Be aware if

you have more than 1 Unown D in play, they cancel each other out!

++Transparent Walls. Better than Unown D in that it doesn’t take up space on

your bench, and that it stops all damage from all Pokemon to the Bench,

but... it only lasts for 1 turn. In my new deck, I use 4 Transparent Walls

and 2 Unown D. In the long run, Unown D is better. In the short-term,

Transparent Walls are better.

++Rainbow Energy. A Pokemon that requires 2 Darkness Energy for it also needs

Rainbow. You can’t have 4 Darks in a deck, and expect to find 2 of them

easily. The Rainbows can count as Darkness,...just without the extra damage

part.

++Gold Berry. One of THE most essential cards to use in conjunction with

Tyranitar. This card allows you to put the Darkness/Rainbow Energies on

Pupitar. Also, any Pokemon with 100 HP is great with it. Once you get 40

damage, it disappears!

++Energy Charge. Playing 4 Darkness and 4 Rainbow needs a good way to

retrieve them.

++Warp Point. Since you’d most likely focus on Special Energy to play

Tyranitar, you probably won’t want to pay them to retreat. This by-passes the

high cost.

~Key Cards to combo with in Standard Format~

++Pokemon Breeder. Need I really explain?

++Switch. See Warp Point.

Standard Format Rating: 7.5

Modified Format Rating: 9.0 (He is extremely weak to Super Energy

Removal...Haha, it’s banned!)

P.S.: In any e-mail you send me, PLEASE write in the subject line what you’re

sending.

Thanks for reading! I hope to hear from you.

~Chris