Howdy Pokemon fanatics and card-floppers.

           For some random reason, I got several requests to do
revisions on decks I've fixed before. The people who received fixes
sent them in back in March or April way before all the cards we
have now. Nobody had any clue then what a Team Rocket's
Zapdos or a Blaine's Arcanine really could do. Now their old decks
aren't faring so well before the competitiion since people are using
powerful new cards and they've got the old stuff.
           This is why I am doing Retro Week this time around. This
deck was fixed back in the Springtime, before Team Rocker was
out. So it's kind of lacking in versatility in the current environment.

           Let this be a demonstration in revising your decks to better
suit the current trends in the Pokemon TCG. First let's look at the
deck as it was when I last fixed it.


> Hi!  While rummaging around in my closet, I found Fantoxtic, an old
> deck that I used to use before the days of the Team Rocket set.  It
> was my favorite deck back then (before I lost it).  It's a bit
> outdated now, though, so I'm bringing it in for a tune-up.  Here it
> is:
>
> 4 Weedles
> 2 Beedrills
> 4 Nidoran males
> 2 Nidokings
> 2 Koffings
> 3 Scythers
>
> 4 Bills
> 2 Professor Oaks
> 4 Pokemon Breeders
> 2 Computer Searches
> 2 Item Finders
> 3 Mr. Fujis
> 3 Gusts of Wind
>
> 4 Double Colorless Energy
> 19 Grass Energy
>
> As you may recall, you have worked on this deck once before (so very
> long ago), but like I said before, that was pre-Team Rocket, so it's
> obsolete.  The stragety is simple: to use poison to my best advantage.
>  She's all yours to do with what you will.
>

       Hmmm, I must have done a bunch of Status decks earlier this
year. Both the Retro decks have been Status themed. This isn't a
problem, but an odd side note.

         Let's examine the Pokemon in this deck.

     Weedle/Beedrill - These guys are okay, but they're pretty slow
compared to a lot of the much better Grass types out there now.
As much as I think Beedrills are cool, I have no choice but to
recommend they be removed. There ARE better options.

       Nidoran/Nidorino/Nidoking -- These guys are even slower than
Beedrills. Toxic's a sweet move, but only available at Stage 2,
making it tough to use. With all the better cards out now, Nidoking
has been moved to the wayside. It happens.

      Koffing - Guaranteed Status is very appreciable, but there's
new champion of guaranteed Status, TR Oddish. The sprout has
the same guarantee, equal HP and Retreat, but with lower move
costs, making it more effective early on.

      Scyther - Well at least this one still packs the same punch.
Scyther continues to be in nearly every deck due to it's numerous
benefits.

       Let me suggest a few new Pokemon from the recent sets that
will better help this deck.

        Koga's Weedle/Kakuna/Beedrill - Now this is a MUCH cooler
evolution line.

        Before I had you use Pokemon Breeder to get Beedrill. That's
because Base Weedle and Kakuna suck. This isn't the case with
Koga's Pokemon. That ninja wannabe trains his guys well. 
        Koga's Weedle is decent for a Basic. 40 HP's not great, but
an attack with guranteed Status is good. It'll poison or paralyze.
That's nothing to laugh at.
        Koga's Kakuna is really good. It has a cool Power which
allows you to search your deck for a Koga's Beedrill and
immediately place it upon Koga's Kakuna, making it possible to
advance 2 stages without using a single Trainer. If you don't want
to go to the Beedrill, yet, it also has a nice attack which doesn't
damage, but causes Poison at double damage like Toxic did.
Sweet.
         Koga's Beedrill is the apex of this line. It's got nice HP,
resistance to Fighting, free Retreat and some great attacks. Nerve
Poison is just like Venemoth's attack, but does 20 instead of 10.
Paralyzation AND Poison are awesome. It's other attack is more of
a last ditch, but useful in certain situations if you're a good flipper.
70 damage for 3 Colorless is great, but you can only try for it once.

         The addition of a couple Team Rocket Scyther's will give you
some time to allow the Poison to sink in while TR Scyther slices
and dodges. The dual Scyther team is a formidable duo.

           You'll need to update your Trainers a lot too. The pre-Team
Rocket assortment is very lackluster now. There's some great
Trainers available in the last 2 sets.

           Start with 4 Bills, some Oaks and a bunch of Computer
Searches. These make up the card drawing crux of any deck.
           Some Gusts of Wind are extremely important for balancing
the odds in your favor still.
          Rocket Sneak Attack has become a staple card now. It's
advantage is tremendous, for it allows you to see your opponent's
whole hand, giving you the chance to figure out his strategy for the
next couple turns. While you're perusing his hand, you also get to
make him reshuffle one Traner of your choice into his deck. This
can really slow him or her down.
          Nightly Garbage Run is another Team Rocket card which
shows up a lot. Getting back any combination of 3 Basic Energy or
Pokemon into your deck is a great advantage and can lengthen
your play time by several turns.
          PlusPower makes even a Weedle seem strong. 10 damage
can make all the difference in getting a prize or letting your
opponent get one last strike. Speed kills.
           Gym Heroes and Challenge introduced Stadiums to us.
Now every deck has a couple Stadium cards, if only to prevent
others from using their Stadiums to the fullest advantage. Just one
can be in play at a time, so it's nice to be able to get rid of the
opponent's. In this deck, your best choice may be No Energy
Removal Gym since most of the Pokemon require multiple Energy
to attack. SER's will hurt a Beedrill or a Scyther for a turn or two.
            Lastly, a couple Kogas will make sure you get that needed
Poison Status going. This is good for early on when you can't
completely count on a Weedle.
            The main idea of the Trainers is to keep your Status
effects in the forefront of the game. Scythers can deal the heavy
damage when needed later on.

          Here's how I've revised this deck. (Again)
 
       2 Scythers
       2 Team Rocket's Scythers
       4 Koga's Weedles
       3 Koga's Kakunas
       2 Koga's Beedrills
       3 Team Rocket Oddishes

       4 Bills
       3 Professor Oaks
       3 Computer Searches
       3 Gusts of Wind
       3 Rocket Sneak Attacks
       2 Nightly Garbage Runs
       3 No Removal Gyms
       4 PlusPowers
       2 Kogas

       13 Grass Energy
       4 Double Colorless Energy

       And Voila!! (That's French for "Who let the dogs out?") Now
this deck's capabilities of dealing Poison and other effects are even
greater. The Pokemon are more versatile and have less drawbacks
than before. The Trainers more accurately reflect the current
trends. I think this deck will be a lot better than it's previous
incarnation.

        This stroll down the street of past decks revisited has been
fun. Maybe I'll get a few more sometime. Don't expect this to be a
regular thing,
        Some people may wonder why I'm not doing any Prop15-3C
fixes this week, what with the East Coast STs being just this
coming weekend. My answer is that I'm not going, I'm not crazy
about 15-3C and after this weekend, it might not even matter. Next
week we'll see how well Wizards of the Coast's little experiment
went and maybe then we can go back to playing the original way,
as broken as it may be. It's still better than Prop 15-3C....

                 Good Luck!!
            Dr. Crash Landon
     



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