>Hi Spike,
>
>I just wanted to let you know you are doing a great
job.  Keep up the
>good
>work.  I had a couple of comments about a deck you
posted on 1/12
>called
>'energy removal deck' and a very similar deck I have
called 'Dragon
>Wrath'.
>The pokemon in your final deck was exactly like my
original deck except
>I
>had two additional Lickitungs.  After play testing my
deck, I had a few
>problems that may relate to the deck you posted.
First, I was getting
>too
>many mulligans, but this may have been a very long
streak of bad luck
>since
>I had 12 basic pokemon.  Second, I was having
problems with one energy
>wonders (attacks that require one energy and do 20
damage) at the
>beginning
>of the game because Dratini and Poliwag only have 40
HP.  Third, I was
>having trouble with fighting and grass decks.
Fighting because
>Lickitung is
>weak against fighting and does not stall long enough
to get Poliwrath
>built
>up, and grass because Poliwrath is weak against grass
and Dragonair is
>a
>little weak for a main offensive weapon.  Last, I was
having trouble
>getting
>through my deck fast enough, but part of that was not
having enough
>Bills
>and Oaks.  So I made some changes and here is the
current form of
>'Dragon
>Wrath'.
>
>20 Pokemon
>
>4 Poliwag
>3 Poliwhirl
>2 Poliwrath
>3 Dratini
>2 Dragonair
>2 Lapras
>2 Kangaskhan
>2 Scyther
>
>18 Trainers
>
>4 Bills
>2 Oaks
>3 Energy Removal
>3 Super Energy Removal
>2 Gust of Wind
>2 Computer Search
>2 Switch
>
>22 Energy
>
>18 Water Energy
>4 Double Colorless Energy
>
>I replaced the Lickitungs with Kangaskhans.  I am
still weak against
>fighting and I lose the paralyzing and confusion
effects, but I gain a
>Fetch
>attack to help me draw through the deck and I have
used Comet Punch in
>a
>pinch.  I increased my Bills and Oaks by 1 each to
also help drawing
>through
>the deck fast enough.  I replaced 1 Dratini and 1
Dragonair with two
>Scythers.  Scyther is a great pokemon that helps me
against both
>fighting
>and grass decks.  This also increases my basic
pokemon to 13 as well as
>give
>me some better basic pokemon early in the game.  I
thought about your
>suggestion of using Golduck instead of Dragonair, but
I like using
>Dragonair's Slam attack if the defender does not have
any energy left
>attached.  Besides, no one would fear a deck named
'Duck Wrath'.
>
>The current version of the deck plays fairly well in
most situations,
>but I
>wanted your opinion on how to make it better.  As it
is, I should
>probably
>replace 1 Super Energy Removal or 1 Bill with a
regular Energy Removal,
>but
>I also thought it might be nice to replace the
Switches with one more
>of
>each Removal.  Another thought was to replace the
Switches with Item
>Finders
>to get whatever I happened to need at the time.  I
like the Switchs,
>but I
>can not think of anything else better that I can do
without. What do
>you
>think?

***

First of all, let me hold this up as an excellent
example of what I like to see. This person started out
by telling me the basic theme behind his deck, then
gave a detailed listing of the cards, then told me
what seem to be the deck's strong and weak points. Now
this is something that I can work with. Kudos!

1) Let's have a look at your Pokemon. Hmm, I have
always felt that 20 Pokemon is a bit much, but it's
not neccessarily bad, and all of your choices are
solid. As for your problem with fighting and "one
energy wonders" (often the same thing) I'm not sure
what to say. If Machops and Hitmonchans are the main
problem, you may want to consider dropping Lapras for
a couple more Scythers. But your Pokemon seem fairly
solid, and any work this deck needs will probably come
with the trainers.

2) Again, your trainers seem very solid. You mentioned
taking out Switch, but I would definitely not do this
because all but one of your major Pokemon have a 2 or
greater retreat. If you need a space, you can take out
a Bill; the deck would probably play almost as good. I
don't know that I'd take out the GOWs either, because
they are useful in so many situations. If you do add
something, make it an Item Finder--they are more
versatile, and they can just as easily become another
Removal if you need them to be. Actually, I'm going to
go ahead and replace one of the Bills with an Item
Finder. Other than that, I think I'll leave it up to
your discretion. One last thing--a Breeder might not
be out of order.

3) 18 colored energy seems a bit low to me, especially
with so much SER in that deck, but I can't see any way
to bring it up--so if it's working, don't mess around
with it. Again, if you do have problems, try adding
more card drawing or retrieval rather than just
putting in more energy. Another Oak or an Energy
Retrieval will do MUCH more for any energy shortage
than another wimpy energy...

***

20 Pokemon:

4 Poliwag
3 Poliwhirl
2 Poliwrath
3 Dratini
2 Dragonair
2 Lapras
2 Kangaskhan
2 Scyther

18 Trainers

3 Bills
2 Oaks
3 Energy Removal
3 Super Energy Removal
2 Gust of Wind
2 Computer Search
2 Switch
1 Item Finder

22 Energy

18 Water Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy

***

Wow. I changed exactly one thing...the Bill-to-Item
Finder switch. As it is, I can't see that much more
that's wrong. This deck is solid, and its play should
be pretty good. As always, people, if you have any
problems with your decks after I fix them, just write
back to me. Spike's Shed gives a free lifetime
warranty on all deck fixes :-)

Take care.

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