I got back from a tourny yesterday really P.O.ed.  My day had been
HORRIBLE...  Some kid spilled Pepsi under my chair and got a little on my
jacket, I fell out of my chair and my shoulder is now covered in black and
blues (don't ask how it happened, hard to explain, all you need to know is
that it happened), I came down with a fever that night, and the judge kept
changing the rules, and I was bombarded with haymakers!! 

I know most of you are thinking, "well, EVERYONE plays a haymaker or
raindance, that's just the way it is, get over it kid."  But, only a few kids
used to play haymakers  and NO ONE knew what a raindance was.  Well, I got to
the tournament, and not ONE deck didn't have a Scyther, Alakazam (stall
decks), Hitmonchan, or Blastoise in it.  I had slowed my haymaker down a
little by taking out a Pro. Oak and a Bill, only to find that all the decks
had sped up, leaving me with a slow Haymaker (3 Bill, 1 Pro. Oak, 2 Sabrina's
Eye (a Japanese Card where you and your opponent both shuffle you hands into
your deck and draw the same amount of cards you had before).  All the
Haymakers I saw had 4 Bill, and at least 2 Pro. Oaks.  I'm sure no one knows
where I'm going with this article, but you'll see.  I've come up with some of
the ways to stop all those dangerous cards out there right in their tracks. 
(By the way, I heard a rumor about DCI thinking about banning S.E.R and Comp.
Search from the tourny scene, anyone know anything about that or is it just a
rumor?)

So here are some cards to squeeze into your deck to totally SCREW UP
Haymakers, Raindances, Stall Decks, and another dangerous cards out there...

SCYTHER - Scyther is one of the dangerous cards, but he is also a way to stop
MANY of them.  No one has been made yet that is resistant to grass, and he is
capable of doing 60 on the second turn, what's not to love?  Better yet, this
boy can stop the classic haymaker right in its tracks.  Hitmonchans are
useless, so all you need to do is worry about Electabuzzs, Farfetch'd, and
Scyther, right?  WRONG.  Scyther can take most of them out, but may have
trouble against a Electabuzz's.  Hopefully you play Hitmonchan's though...

GUST OF WIND-  Ok, I know everyone knows this is a great card, and same goes
for Scyther (above), but this card is getting less frequently used as more
cards come out and more things are crammed into decks.  Gust of Wind will
bring up Alakazam in a Stall deck, a squirtle or Wartortle in a Raindance (to
keep them from getting a Blastoise out), or a Haymaker guy that hasn't been
pumped with energy yet.  Just reminding you, USE THIS CARD NO MATTER WHAT
DECK YOU ARE PLAYING.

FOSSIL HAUNTER-  Great against most decks because of his Pokemon Power.  If a
Haymaker can't attack you, it's gonna slow it down.  If the Haymaker can't
attack you to get prizes, the game is gonna be longer.  And if the game is
gonna be longer, the Haymaker is either gonna deck itself, or be cautious
with its card drawing.  Haymakers rely mostly on their speed and card
drawing.  Without either one or both of these aspects, Haymakers S*CK.  Also
resistant to Hitmonchans, Hitmonchans are weak to it, and has no weakness
itself, BONUS!!

DOUBLE COLORLESS-  You guys also know its a great card, but here's a new use
for it that a lot of you, but not all of you, probably know.  Put this in any
kind of deck for retreating.  In Haymakers, it lets Electabuzz's and
Hitmonchans retreat quickly, same goes for Blastoise and Gyarados in
Raindances, and Alakazam in stalls (heh, stalls, get it? like stall decks
belong in bathroom stalls, get it?  nevermind..*corny joke alert*).

FOSSIL MAGMAR-  You guys have already heard me raving on and on about this
guy.  He's great against Haymakers and Stall decks.  Poisoning a stall deck
really can hurt it.  If you have a Hitmonchan out doing special punch, you
can do an extra 20 damage because of poisoning.  Chanseys, get out of the
way!  2 Pluspowers, a Special Punch, and a poisoned Chansey = KO.  (If you
wanna get technical, you don't really need the pluspowers because the poison
will have **boring stuff deleted for your reading pleasure**).  Fossil
Magmars gets Scythes out of the way and poison can really annoy any guy in a
Haymaker.

RATICATE-  Here's a cheap way to get any deck out of the way for the player's
out there who don't have lots of expensive cards.  Hyper Fang has a
devastating effect on any deck, and bite's not so bad itself.  Resistance to
Psychic turns those combo Haymaker/Stall decks (you know, the ones with Jynx,
Hitmonchan, and Alakazam.  Inflict the damage while moving your own to
Chanseys.  Pretty expensive to make and hard to get cards for and play.  Rare
on the tourny scene, but when used right, GREAT DECKS.) and Stall decks into
a quivering mass of cardboard.  Be careful of Hitmonchans though, they'll do
great against this guy, so be sure to pack a couple of Jynx, Farfetch'd or
Scyther in.

JYNX-  One of my faves even though I don't use him much.  He works well with
Raticate's Super Fang for 2 turn auto KO's.  He also puts Stalls and
Haymakers in their place.  Not good against Raindances unless someone like
Hitmonchan, Raticate, Electabuzz, or other hard hitters are in the deck. 
Only good against Raindances when the opponent already has some damage on
him.

CLEFABLE/DITTO-Also great against any type of deck.  Clefable specializes in
killing Stalls while Ditto specializes in Raindances, both work reasonably
well on Haymakers.  I prefer Clefable, cuz once you evolve from Clefairy, you
don't have to power him up with lots of energy like Ditto.  Just let him sit
there, and when you need him, all you need is one of ANY energy to activate
Metronome.

I know there are a lot more guys to stop all these popular decks out there,
and a lot of guys I mentioned are already well known.  Just reminding you of
a lot of the good ones and telling you a couple of new ones.  A great way to
stop Haymakers is to make Faster Haymakers.  As long as they are faster then
the opponent's Haymaker, you will probably win. 

Any comments, suggestions, and questions will be taken, but hatemail will be
deleted, and if its from someone on AOL, I'll gladly report them.  ;)  Sorry
its so long and I hope this helps anyone out there.  Thanks Pojo!!

-Stefan N.  <<Zapdos2229@aol.com>>