Hi, dudes.

I know that a huge torrent of bile and abuse is heading the way of Pokemon 
VS, so I'll try to put across the defendant's case. Hopefully people will 
actually try out VS before slating it, unlike Prop 15. People hated it on 
sight, and now it's generally accepted as a viable format by the Pokemon 
community. This time, I hope that people will try out the new cards before 
insulting the new set.

Here are the best points of Pokemon VS:

1) More rare cards
I thought I'd start of with a plus point that everyone will agree on. The 
Japanese boosters have a GUARANTEED 2 HOLOS PER PACK! It would be naive to 
expect that we in the UK and US would get the same, but we should at least 
have a holo in every pack.

2) Only fully evolved Pokemon
As every fan who has played the games knows, pokemon do not evolve during 
battle. The evolving feature of the original TCG was irritating and 
inaccurate. This also reflects the fact that, in a proper battle, you would 
use people like Poliwrath, Raichu and Tyranitar, not Meowth, Magby and 
Cleffa. This 'Evolved Pokemon only' rule means that it is even easier to get 
hold of your favourites. In the first VS set, there is even a common 
Charizard!

3) Poor attacks
This might seem like a disadvantage at first, but it's easy to see why this 
is one of the cleverest features of the set. If all the attacks are of the 
same quality, then there will be no attacks that are far better than others. 
People won't have to use Slowkings and Sneasels any more! If all the Pokemon 
are as good as each other, then anyone will be able to play using their 
favourites, and still stand a chance. Also, if the attacks are weaker, than 
the game becomes a longer, more skillful one. There will be no more losses 
on turn 1.

4) No Pokemon Powers
Sure, Powers are fun, and give a deck a theme, but it's far too easy to make 
a completely broken Power, like Slowking's or Blastoise's. (You remember, 
that big shelled guy who doesn't like Zapdos very much?) Without broken 
Pokemon Powers ruling the scene players will need skill rather than a large 
wallet to do well in the game.

Well, I hope I've persuaded you to give VS a try. If you agree, disagree, or 
want to have me shot, e-mail me at doctormackerel@hotmail.com

Thanks for your time.
Evil Nick


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