Dear PoJo: Please post this in the Strategies section. Thank you for posting my two articles so far. *** These days, it seems like more and more people are coming to the conclusion that there are only 3 worthwhile types of decks: Raindance, Haymaker, and Mr. Mime. In my opinion, the people who profess this opinion could not be more wrong. Wait a minute. Let me explain. First of all, we should establish why we are playing this game in the first place. There are probably many people (such as myself) who have never played a TCG in their lives, and got drawn into the world of Pokemon cards after becoming hooked on the Gameboy game. This article is for them. There are also people, many of whom have written in to the PoJo, who treat Pokemon as an exercise in strategy just like any other card game...whose primary objective is to WIN. These are the people who play these powerful decks. I have a hard time identifying with these people, to be honest. But I don't begrudge them what makes them happy, as long as they're not making the game less fun for other people (stallers come to mind, but I've already hammered that topic to death in another article...) If you are NOT one of these competitor-types, you probably just play the game because of the cute little monsters. No shame there; that's why I play it! :) If that is the case, you probably also have a favorite Pokemon, perhaps one inherited from the GB game. Your attachment to this Pokemon may be related to its appearance, or to some other factor besides pure power. If this Pokemon is not a major component in one of the aforementioned "Big Three" decks, then you may be reluctant to include it in a deck for fear that you will get creamed. This can be especially true if many people have verbally beaten up this card. Well, let me tell you my opinion: YOU CAN BASE A GOOD DECK AROUND VIRTUALLY ANY POKEMON FAMILY IN THE GAME. Think for a few minutes; do you see what I mean? So what if your fave Pokemon doesn't have 70+ HP and do 50 damage with each shot; it probably evolves into something that does. A Weedle can eventually become a Beedrill. Magikarp evolves into the powerful, serpentine Gyarados. So you can see that most of the lines are worthwhile, especially if you've already got a sentimental attachment to that Pokemon, or just plain think it's cool. Now, there *are* exceptions, of course; the Staryu and Voltorb families come to mind. But those are the exceptions, rather than the rule. And you can STILL base a deck around them, if you pay extra attention to shoring up their weak points. Let's look at an example; the deck I have put together. (NOTE: Due to lack of cards, I have not actually been able to fully compile this deck and try it out. But I've put together a modified version, which does fairly well, and it serves as a good example in any event.) First of all, my favorite Pokemon are: Ninetales and Arcanine. Ninetales was my best Pokemon on Gameboy, and Arcanine is no slouch either. Now, I have an advantage in that these are pretty good cards already. But this obviously isn't going to be a Haymaker or staller, so it helps prove my point. First of all, obviously, the Ninetales line: 4 Vulpix 3 Ninetales That may seem like a lot. I don't care :P Now the Arcanine family: 3 Growlithe 2 Arcanine Less than Ninetales, but still a significant part of the deck. Now, since it will take a while to build up these Fire Pokemon to their optimal fighting level, it would be nice to have a good blocker or two. And, in a speed deck like this, it would be nice to draw faster. Therefore, 3 Kangaskhan I also might put in some Scythers, or possibly another Grass or Electric Pokemon, to help defend against Water. In any event, I'll want more Pokemon (perhaps more Colorless) simply to have a good number of basics. My current deck is basically the same as this one, but has only 1 Kangaskhan and has 2 Jigglypuff; I've only been able to find the single Kanga in all the boosters I've bought thus far. I won't go into trainers heavily here; this article is after all about the Pokemon themselves. Probably, though, a deck like this one would want some Energy Retrievals, Bills, and Oaks to keep those hungry Fire Pokemon going. There you have it, the backbone of my deck. It may not be the most kick-ass deck ever invented, but it's pretty solid, IMHO. And I'll have *fun* playing with it--that is, after all, the whole point, something which many people seem to have forgotten. LIGHTEN UP!! IT'S A GAME!!! Now, these principles can be applied to any deck. Let's say you adore Pikachu, having been thoroughly conditioned by the Japanese marketing machine to go ga-ga over cute little anthropomorphic mice. But you may be afraid to put him in a deck--after all, he has only 40-50 HP and can be KOed in a couple of turns. Who cares? Raichu is not a bad Pokemon at all (despite his typical Electric masochistic tendecies). All you have to do is throw a few in your deck and put another color (or perhaps Colorless Pokemon) in to guard against Electric-resistant Pokemon. Presto, a strong Pikachu-based deck! And Jungle Pikachu is not bad at all himself, given his anti-bench abilities. I think you see what I'm getting at here. (Actually, most of you probably don't. Please come back and read this again when the words "Must...construct...Haymaker..." stop running through your head.) If you do agree with what I've written, I hope it helps you put together the deck of your dreams. Just remember: Almost ANY Pokemon can be strong in the right deck. There are really no bad Pokemon, only badly constructed decks. And let me say this: If I see another article about how great Mr. Mime is, I'm gonna throw. Fan mail, hate mail, and mail-order vulpixes may be sent to: PernSpike pernspike@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com