---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Lordicon07@aol.com
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 22:37:46 EST

>I have a grass deck and I just started out I fought against my friend he had
>a fighing/psychic deck and I kicked some ass. The only thing wrong is I do
>not have a real strategy I just sort of wing it what ever I get I use have
>any tips?
>
>23 grass energies
>
>2 zubat 1 golbat
>
>2 koffing 1 weezing
>
>4 tangela
>
>2 grimer 1 muk
>
>3 weedle 2 kakuna and 1 Beedrill
>
>1 Sycther
>
>1 Snorlax
>
>3 energy removal
>
>1 super energy removal
>
>1 recycle
>
>4 gusts of wind
>
>1 poxedex
>
>4 bills
>
>Something I need to address to all of you...STRATEGY.  An aspect that is critical yet many people seem to ignore when constructing a deck.  I really need to add "Have a Strategy" as rule #6 to my School of Pokemon posted on my garage. 

Common Strategies include "Haymaker" variants where you attempt to be as offensive as possible.  Good examples of offensive cards are Hitmonchan, Electabuzz, Plus Power and Card Drawing(Bill, Oak, ect.)  Another common strategy is "Stall" with the intention of decking your opponent.  Good examples of cards for this strategy include Chansey, Mr. Mime, Moltres, and Scoop UP. 

Once you understand this concept you can see that some cards simply don't work with a certain strategy.  For example:  Plus power would be a poor selection for a stall deck as the purpose of a stall is 99% of the time not to deal damage.  See how knowing your strategy while building the deck is important?

Pokemon
So what is the strategy of this grass deck that was sent to me?  Grass decks are notorious for status attacks like Poison, so lets build the deck around the idea of defeating the opponent with status effects.  Knowing this we want to find Pokemon with the BEST status attacks.  Koffing instantly comes to mind because his attack is gauranteed to cause either Confusion of Poison.  Also the entire Weedle evolution line has Poison-based attacks so we'll include them as well. Grimer/Muk both have status effects and Toxic Gas just shuts down decks based on Pokemon Powers. 

Trainers
Now that we've picked our(my) favorite Pokemon, lets look at trainers that will support our Strategy(status effects...remember?)  With 2 Evolution lines card drawing is necessary so we can quickly find the right evolution cards we need.  For this run 4 Bill, 3 Pokemon Trader, and 2 Professor Oaks.  Since your opponent will try to combat your Poison by retreating, I added 6 Energy Removal cards to make it tougher for the opponent to pay the retreat cost.  Also Gust of Wind will bring those successfully retreated Pokemon back up so you can finish the job.

4 Weedle
3 Kakuna
2 Beedrill
3 Koffing
3 Grimer
2 Muk
3 Scyther

4 Bill
3 Pokemon Trader
2 Professor Oak
4 Energy Removal
3 Gust of Wind
2 Super Energy Removal

18 Grass
4 Double Colorless Energy

The final product is a deck that has a definite strategy and will perform consistently.  A few lucky coin flips with this deck and your opponent will be crying like a baby!

Hope this helps...have fun!
Aaron