Come on in!

         *CRACK!*

      You're drenched. Here, grab a towel from the rack there and
dry off some. It's coming down like a biblical disaster outside
today. I would not be completely shocked if I saw an ark wander by.

        *CRACK*

     That thunder has been relentless. I personally enjoy a good
thunderstorm, but my Hypno does not. Look at him. He's all
huddled in the corner like a kitten. Mr. tough guy isn't so bold
anymore.

        *CRA-KA-CRACKA*

      Ok, calm down Hypno. It's just clouds rolling into each other.
You'd think a Psychic Pokemon like you would be smart enough to
know that. Quit shivering. Come, on, get up. That's it. Have a seat
there. The storms will  be over soon. The bad ones never last that

         *CRACKKK!*

    HEY! Get offa my leg! C'mon! Let go! Quit being a baby! Those
are good pants! Let go!!

     Grrr....he's not letting go. I guess I'll have to go fix you deck
with him wrapped around my ankle like this. C'mon! let go...people
think you're weird. Well, weirder than normal.
     Sigh, anyways, let's fix that deck. At least I'll be able to keep
an eye on Hypno.




Hey Dr. Crash!
I hope it's okay that I brought in my Alakazam. He's usually my good luck
charm, since he tells me in Poke-language (I can speak Alakazam-ish,
Ala....KAZAM) that my deck is bad, so I figured, why not bring it to Dr.
Crash? However, sometimes if I ask him,I sometimes say "Use Confusion!" or
"Use Lick!", so sometimes, I think that I'm a Gastly and I must beat
Alakazam! Well, anyways, here's my deck, Just Add Water.

Pokemon: 21
2 Nidoran Female
1 Nidorina
2 Grimer (1 Fossil, 1 TR)
1 Dark Muk
1 TR Oddish
2 Rattata
1 Doduo
1 Staryu
2 Articuno (1 Fossil, 1 MP)(I was actually lucky enough to get one on Friday)
1 Krabby
1 Kingler
3 Charmander (2 Base, 1 TR)
1 Charmeleon
1 Moltres
1 Basic Set Magmar

Trainers: 12
1 Sleep!
2 Bill (he's GOOD! 'nuff said)
1 Super Potion
1 Pokemon Trader (trade something bad in for Articuno)
1 Mr. Fuji
1 Energy Search (well, why not?)
1 PlusPower (CONSTANT VIGILANCE!)

Energy: 27
9 Fire
9 Water
9 Grass

The strategy of this deck is to get early game damage with Charmander,
Nidoran Female, Magmar, etc., add status effects with Oddish, Grimer and
Dark Muk while waiting for lots of Water energy for both Articuno to give
the opponent hypothermia all around. Both are good at doing this. However,
Alakazam does not agree, so therefore, he confused me and I thought Cujo
was at my front door, but it was just my chiuahouah, ChiChi. (Alakazam
doubled over in laughter.) So, hopefully, You can fix it soon, and hopfully
Alakazam will stop staring at your Hypno. Alakazam!!! (Alakazam is still
staring at the swinging pendulum. No Wonder!)


     Ummm..Hmmmm.

           This deck is all over the place, isn't it? Grass, Fire, Water.
This isn't the best combination you could have. Especially in such
sparse amounts.
           This is what I classify as a "pile" deck, meaning that you
didn't so much choose cards based upon what they could do, but
moreover by heaping all the ones you liked into apile and stuffing a
few random Trainers into the mix. Add in an abundance of Energy,
and you've got the makings of a very poor deck.
           But I'm not gonna tear you apart. Your strategy was intact
and you followed all my rules. That keeps you out of Thrashville. I'll
see what I can do with this deck.

           Fire, Water and Grass don't mix well at all. All three tend to
require a multiple amounts in whatever attack you're trying to use.
This is bad because you don't get the opportunity to use your
Energy as Colorless. I'm going to have to pull one color, just to
make the deck work. I choose.....Fire. Fire is gone. Grass will stay
since it has some nice Status causing Pokemon and allows you to
use a few nice Big Basics too. I kept Water since that's part of the
deck's name.

          Based on your card choices, I'm assuming you don't have a
large selection to work with. I'll do what I can to keep the costs
down, but understand I can't help build a solid deck without some
more expensive ones.

         Pokemon- You've got a jumbled mess. Let's start from
scratch and I'll just reccomend to you some good, reliable
Pokemon.

          Scyther- Crown prince of the Big Basic Pokemon. This
badboy has free retreat, useful Resistance and a solid colorless
attack in Slash. 70HP tops off the list of plusses. You'll need 4 of
these guys in this deck to use as starters. Scyther makes an
excellent first attacker to buy time while you get something bigger
up and running.

          TR Oddish is a nice quick attacker with a modest 50 HP
which isn't abyssmal. TR Oddish doesn't damage, but he does
pack some devilish status effects. Instant Poison or Sleep is a
great way to begin a match. Poison builds up fast, which equals
about 20 damage for 1 Grass Energy. After you've Poisoned an
enemy, just keep putting it to sleep.

          Lapras is another great Pokemon. Water gun is a very good
attack for a cheap cost. Lapras's Confuse Ray is good too. What
makes him so good is his whopping 80 HP. Also a nice blocker or
staller.

         Articuno- The Fossil variant is very good, dealing 30 damage
for 3 Water Energy. For one more, it's 50 damage and the chance
to crush the opponent's bench. Fighting Resistance and nice HP
make it very good too.
         The school is still out on whether the Movie Articuno is good
or not, but I think it's ok. 20 damage isn't anything spectacular, but
a good coin flip means paralyzation and more damage to the
opponent's bench. this Articuno won't hurt your bench so that
makes it playable.



          Those 4 Pokemon should be able to manage the game for
you rather well, so now we can work upon Trainers.

        I'll start with the mandatory 4 Bills and set of Oaks. Bills and
Oaks get you cards which, of course, are important. Nuff said.

        Computer search is equally beneficial. 2 Cards which you
don't need or aren't helping you at the moment for one that will is a
modest price to pay. This card appears in every winning deck. That
must mean...figure it out.

        Gust of Wind- This card is vital for the early parts of the game
to keep dangerous Pokemon away from your own. Later on it
becomes good for putting a weakend Pokemon from your
opponent's bench into play for a quick, simple prize. Couldn't be
easier.

        Item Finder is a great way to get extra mileage out of your
other Trainers like Professor Oak or Gust of Wind when one is not
available. It's good early on, even better later when there's more
choice in your discard pile.

         PlusPower often makes the difference between KO'ing a
Pokemon and keeping it alive another turn to whomp on you. Some
attacks do 50 damage when you need 60. Some do 30 when a
couple 40's would mean finishing off the enemy. It's times like
those that PlusPower becomes important. Don't blow it as soon as
you hold it in your hand. Playing PlusPower requires some
patience. Often your opponent will place an energy on a Pokemon,
expecting it to be around for a couple turns to use it. PlusPower
has a way of ruining these plans. That's why it's so good.

           Nightly Garbage Run is quickly becoming a staple in many
decks. It's great for getting back lost Pokemon. It's great for
placing Energy back into your deck. 3 more cards often can make
the difference between decking out and playing a few more turns. It
makes some great combos available and is very useful.

           Scoop Up is a really good card. It picks up Big Basic
Pokemon and removes all the damage from them without your
opponent getting a prize. At the same time you get the opportunity
to put another ready to go Pokemon into the Active position,
making it like a built in Switch with a bonus. The drawback: you
lose the attached Energy. But if your deck operates well, this will
not be a trouble.


          As for Energy, you'll need mostly Water to pay for Articuno
and Lapras's attacks which require multiple amounts of Water
Energy, versus the Grass Pokemon in this deck.
         Some Double Colorless Energy and a few Grass Energy will
keep Oddish and Scyther happy though.


         Hmm, I think the storm may have let up a bit. There hasn't

        *CRA-CRACK!*

      Well scratch that theory. Now get down off that bookcase
Hypno. The thunder is outside. You're inside. It will not hurt you.
C'mon you're gonna

              *SHATTER!*

         Never mind. I wasn't TOO attached to that limited edition
crystal statuette of an Emerald Wyvern. Thanks.


        Well, I suppose I should give you your decklist before Hypno
destroys the rest of my nice things.


            4 Scythers
            3 Team Rocket Oddishes
            3 Lapras
            2 Fossil Articunos
            1 Movie Promo Articuno (Since you're so happy you got
one. I got one too.)

            4 Bills
            3 Professor Oaks
            3 Computer Searches
            4 PlusPowers
            3 Nightly Garbage Runs
            2 Item Finders
            3 Scoop Ups
            3 Gusts of Wind

            4 Double Colorless Energy
            5 Grass Energy
            13 Water Energy


               I know this doesn't look much like what you came in
with, however it is much more playable, and I think that's ultimately
what you're looking for. There's not a lot I can do with a big random
pile of Pokemon like Nidorinas and Krabbys. So I figured I'd give
you the framework of something that fit the strategy you provided
and 2 out of 3 of the colors you chose.

               You are now cured. This deck will play pretty solidly and
take a beating before you're through, which is pretty good. You've
got a nice clean-up hitter in Articuno and the Scythers are always
good support for most decks. Feel free to pay my secretary as you
go. Don't feel free to not pay at all. One guy tried that. He's in
intensive care. That's one of the reasons I keep her around. She's
good at collecting the bills.

                Now Hypno, are you ready to come down from there?
You're almost white. Look the sun is coming out now. The thunder
is gone. You've got nothing to fear anymore. The thunder is gone,
got it?

             *KRACKKK!!*

           HYPNO!!! HYP!! HYP!!

      Let go!! What the heck, the sky is almost clear now. I don't get
it. That didn't really sound like thunder though. I'd best check
outside my office here.

         What in the blazes happened out here? You're scorched!
Your hair's on end and you're steaming...what the heck?

         Ok, explain. I'm listening. Uh huh. You finished your krueller
and decided to wash your hands. On the way back you noticed
that the storm was over so you decided to plug the word processor
back in. Ok. Your hands were still wet, yeah. So basically you
were given quite a shock. That would explain the smoking lump of
plastic on your desk where the processor used to be. I wondered
why the lights dimmed like that.

        Well, since you were the one that caused it, maybe you
could remove Hypno from my leg, what say you?

        Ummm. That's a letter opener. Put that down. No, on second
thought, I don't need your help. No really. Put it back. Look, you've
had quite a jolt and now you're wieldinga weapon. Why don't you
take the afternoon off? There, good secretary. Grab your purse.
That's it. I'll see you tomorrow.

            She gets more days off that way, I swear.

         Hypno!

             Oh shut up you.


             Good Luck!!
        Dr. Crash Landon