---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "liv@intcomm>net" <liv@intcomm.net>
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 21:02:48 -0800


>hi my name is Jon-Erik Garcia
>i recently ordered the free magazine from your company
>im pretty sure im sending this to right place now!
>i have a great stratgey in my mind but im not sure if it will work
>i really need proffesional advice here
>here is my deck:
>"Purple Rain"
>Pokemon:
>4 squirlte
>3 blastoise
>3 psyduck
>2 golduck
>3 gastly(fossil)
>2 haunter(fossil)
>2 gengar
>3 abra
>2 alakazam
>Trainers:
>4 pokemon breeders
>3 bill
>3 pokemon centers
>Energy:
>12 water
>11 psychic
>you see my problem is i feel i dont have enough energy to win a tournament or maybe a trainer problem if you can help please do
>P.S. do you think this deck could win tournaments?
>-Jon-Erik Garcia
>


--------------

This deck sent in by Jon-Erik is an excellent example of trying to do too much.  The thinking is that Blastoise is good...and Alakazam is good...so why not smash them together and make a deck that's even... Gooder?

It's time to talk about SYNERGY class... take notes!

What is synergy and why is it important in deck building?  Synergy refers to how well different cards work together.  In an ideal deck all the cards work well by themselves, but work even better together!

A good example of synergy between two cards would be Promo Mewtwo and Professor Oak.  Both these cards are good by themselves, but together these 2 cards have alot of synergy.  HOW?  Use Oak to drop energy into your discard pile, then have Mewtwo absorb that energy to power up Psyburn!

Need another example?  How about a tried and true classic... Hitmonchan and Scoop Up.  With only 1 energy Hitmonchan serves beatings fast and furious.  When Hitmo has gathered plenty of damage counters Scoop Up gives you a fresh Hitmonchan to continue the attack!(and denies your opponent a prize)  The fact Scoop Up gets around Hitmo's high retreat cost is a plus as well!

Still not sure?  Here is an example of BAD synergy (booo, hisss)

Muk and Ditto

For most of you this example is a no-brainer... but you'd be surprised how often us mechanics see these guys together.  Muk and Ditto are great examples of powerful cards individually, but they have about as much synergy as oil and water.

As you can see synergy plays a big role in almost all Killer Decks.  Study the School of Synergy... know it well!  I'd really like some decks sent to me with examples of cards that have good synergy together.  The really good ones are sure to be posted on my garage in the future!

Hope this helps...have fun!
Aaron