Jim. T., your article had some good points and some bad points. You're right,
Trapper is not perfect 100% win and not everyone will play it. BUT, it is
alot better than you claim. I'll list your reasons why you believe Trapper's
"not the killer deck that its made out to be" and then I'll tell everyone the
flaws in those.

1. There's too few Pokémon:

Who cares if you mulligan 100 times? A first turn Impostor Oak's Revenge will
take your opponent's hand to 4 cards no matter what. And all good Trappers
will be able to get a first Imp. Oaks Revenge with all their drawing
searching and retrieving. Even if your opponent goes first, they wont knock a
TR's Zapdos or Base 'Buzz first turn.

2. TRT is unreliable:
Yes it is a coin-flippper, but its better than pokeball and recycle because
its part of a strategy that has other solid, reliable cards. If you I.O.R
then do a few sneak attacks, their hand is at least less than 4, and you have
an advantage. And you also have the advantage of having the best basics in
the game on your side. You say if your opponent draws a search or drawing
card, your strategy "goes down the tube", well the strategy of Trapper is to
reduce your opponents then play a Confusion Gym, So they might be giving you
that trainer. Plus, almost nothing they get will help them against a fully
pumped TR's Zapdos.

3. Trainer Denial is abundant:
Even if you take away Trapper's Trainers, you have to beat its pokemon, which
is really hard to do. Plus, Lass and Confusion Gym hurt you just as much.

4. Lightning Resistance will be a factor:
METAGAME. If your area is full of rock pokemon, put scyther in your deck.
beat the rhyhorn in one hit with a plus power, then get on with your life.
But I dont think anyone would seriously consider Rock pokemon, anyway.

5. There's so many other options:
First af all, that has nothing to do with how good Trapper is. Second, it's
good because not everyone will have anti-Trapper decks. Third, my favorite
pokemon is zapdos, and my favorite character is cassidy, whose on TR's Sneak
Attack. So I know I'll Play Trapper. And so will the people who want to win.

6. Hype is so often unjustified:
Muk, Aerodactyl, and Dark Vileplume are evolutions. They aren't that good
because they're slow. you don't see any of them first turn, do you? While the
Trapper strategy is trainer- based, which makes it faster and more flexible.

To conclude, I'd like to say Trapper isn't perfect, but it's closer to
perfect than any other deck EVER. I will play it, and so will a lot of other
people. The people who play will beat the people who don't 90% of the time.

James Kimbell
Jakimbell@aol.com