11.27.04  "Dear Patriarch,

I enjoyed reading your modifications to the Kingdra EX and Blaziken decks, I am hoping that you can help with this "steam" Fire and Water deck that has elements of both for upcoming RS and beyond Modified play.

My 7 year old son Charlie is going to compete in the upcoming 2004-2005 city championships. Three invitees to the 2004 Worlds, including 2nd place in the 10 and under Reed Weichler, are in the same city Charlie will play in. Charlie needs a decent deck to be on a somewhat even footing. Would you please look this Modified deck over and make any recommendations to improve it.

23 Pokemon

3 x Skitty, Ruby/Sapphire #44
2 x Delcatty, Sandstorm #34
2 x Dunsparce, Sandstorm #60
4 x Torchic, Dragon #77
2 x Combusken, Ruby/Sapphire #27
1 x Blaziken, Ruby/Sapphire #3
1 x Blaziken, Ruby/Sapphire #15
3 x Horsea, Dragon #33
1 x Horsea, Dragon #58
2 x Seadra, Dragon #40
2 x Kingdra EX, Dragon #92


17 Trainers

3 x Potion, Ruby/Sapphire or Fire Red/Leaf Green*
3 x TV Reporter, Dragon
2 x Switch, Ruby/Sapphire**
2 x Rare Candy, Sandstorm
3 x Professor Oak's Research***
2 x Warp Point****
2 x Life Herb, Fire Red/Leaf Green

20 Energy

10 Fire Energy*****
10 Water Energy******

* Base set #94
** Base Set #95
*** Expedition Set #149
**** Expedition #152
***** Any previous set
****** Any previous set

Thank you,
John Cesano"

I've previously posted for Kingdra and Blaziken similar ideas, but I'll still give you some deck ideas that would actually work really well, especially for such a unique deck!

First off, it looks like Charlie's deck needs a little more focus. I have an idea that could actually leave Kingdra in, yet put much greater focus on Blaziken. So the first option is for me to think really outside the box, and what a better place to start than with the new set.

"23 Pokemon

3 x Skitty, Ruby/Sapphire #44
2 x Delcatty, Sandstorm #34
2 x Dunsparce, Sandstorm #60
4 x Torchic, Dragon #77
2 x Combusken, Ruby/Sapphire #27
1 x Blaziken, Ruby/Sapphire #3
1 x Blaziken, Ruby/Sapphire #15
3 x Horsea, Dragon #33
1 x Horsea, Dragon #58
2 x Seadra, Dragon #40
2 x Kingdra EX, Dragon #92"

Hmmm, for most people, it would be a little weird to make kingdra ex and blaze go together. But for me, it sounds very enjoyable =x

I think you and your son could opt for a new draw engine in the form of Pidgeot, a powerful card from the Fire Red/Leaf Green expansion. Able to seek out ANY one card from the deck each turn, it will get you setup if in play! To guarantee your setups will be more often good than bad, maximize the Dunsparce Sandstorm #60 to four. Now, for the final and most enjoyable part: 2 Horsea #33, 1 Seadra (Team Rocket Returns), 1 Kingdra ex, and 1 TRR Kingdra. This brand new Kingdra is able to eliminate all of your own weaknesses, so it works well to protect blaziken from water guys, or Rayquaza from the MASS amount of colorless dudes. Kingdra ex also has potential in that you'd evolve from the seadra, and then start using genetic memory to your advantage-big time. RR Seadra's 2nd attack allows you to move energy of theirs around; wouldn't it be awesome to move all the energy to an awful late-game pokemon like sparce, and just Volcanic Ash with Bex? =P

-3 Skitty
-2 Delcatty
-1 Blaziken #15
-1 Horsea
-1 Seadra (change the other to RR)
-1 Kingdra ex
+2 Pidgey
+1 pidgeotto
+2 Pidgeot
+2 Blaziken Firestarter
+2 Blaziken ex
+2 Dunsparce
+1 Rayquaza ex

"17 Trainers

3 x Potion, Ruby/Sapphire or Fire Red/Leaf Green*
3 x TV Reporter, Dragon
2 x Switch, Ruby/Sapphire**
2 x Rare Candy, Sandstorm
3 x Professor Oak's Research***
2 x Warp Point****
2 x Life Herb, Fire Red/Leaf Green "

I think a lot of the utility cards, other than switch and warp point, are just completely not needed. Life Herb and Potion don't make much sense in a format where Pokemon tend to just execute one-another on the spot. So with that in mind, I'll just revamp your draw engine in the final list. However, two big things you'll notice will be Surprise! Time Machine and Pokemon Retriever. Pokemon Retriever is meant to compensate for the one Rayquaza ex if it gets KO'ed early and you need it, if you need a torchic ASAP, or if you just don't want your son to deck out! the Gym of choice is high pressure system, since you want to be able to move your pokemon around with little to no charge. Besides, isn't it just insane to sit there with kingdra ex for a bit, messing with their minds, while firestartering, and then retreating with hps's influence, use Surprise! Time machine on the Blaziken, and just suddenly have Bex out of nowhere?

"20 Energy

10 Fire Energy*****
10 Water Energy******"

-10 water
+2 fire
+3 Multi

An alternative idea would be to find room for a 16th energy, multi #4, so that you are guaranteed to always have one on-hand to drop onto kingdra, kingdra ex, or rayquaza ex.

Aaaaaand, here's the final product!

Blaziken/Kingdra/ex

Pokemon (26):
4 Dunsparce (Sandstorm)
4 Torchic (Ruby/Sapphire Singe)
2 Combusken (Lunge)
3 Blaziken (Firestarter)
2 Blaziken ex
2 Pidgey (Red/Green)
1 Pidgeotto (Red/Green)
2 Pidgeot (Red/Green)
2 Horsea
1 Seadra (Team Rocket Returns)
1 Kingdra (Team Rocket Returns)
1 Kingdra ex
1 Rayquaza ex

Trainers (19):
4 TV Reporter
4 Rare candy
4 Steven's Advice
3 Celio's Network
2 High Pressure System
1 Pokemon Retriever
1 Surprise! Time Machine

Energy (15):
12 Fire
3 Multi

So there you have it! Hope my ideas helped, and best wishes to your son's Pokemon playing days!

Sincerely,
~Patriarch

 

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