<snip>

>All that
>these removals do is just slow the game down to
>painful and boring proccess of removing energy. And
>each player gets set back to many turns trying to
>catch up.

I cut the rest of the argument since it simply restates the point above
over and over.

I disagree that Energy Removal is for rookies. I will grant that it is a
very powerful card and it is over-used. However, anything that beats you
isn't a rookie card -- it's a good card, and you need to think about
ways to deal with it.

First of all, there are three kinds of decks that use Energy Removal.
There's the deck that is built around removing energy (Energy Removal,
Golduck, Dragonair, etc.). This particular deck has a strategy, and pays
for it by having smaller, less-powerful, fewer-HP Pokemon. (I should
know, I'm running it myself -- Psyduck/Golduck, Dratini/Dragonair,
Seel/Dewgong, Lickitung) It keeps its Pokemon alive by keeping its
opponent from attacking.

Then, there are the decks that aren't built around the card. Some of
these decks include Energy Removals because they have small Pokemon. For
example, a mostly-Psychic deck might choose to include them because of
their small basics, which are easily KOed early in the game. It's a
preventative effect for these decks -- since their Pokemon are so small,
Potions and Super Potions may not work since the Pokemon might already
be KOed. These decks treat Energy Removal as the Potion you use *before*
you get hurt.

On the other hand, there are decks that throw Energy Removal in for no
apparent reason, except that it hurts your opponent more when he's energy-hosed.

However, there are ways to work around Energy Removal. The single most
obvious is Energy Retrieval, though it's not the most efficient. Another
is to construct a deck that is nearly unaffected by Energy Removal.
Surprisingly, most of the "Team Rocket" Pokemon (no, not the expansion,
the Pokemon that belong to Jessie and James -- Koffing, Ekans/Arbok, and
Lickitung) are very resistant to Energy Removal because of their
low-cost attacks. I built that deck, so it's an easy example, but there
are many Pokemon throughout all the suits that have low-cost and often
status-causing attacks. These Pokemon are perfect for dealing with an
opponent using Energy Removal. It may be less damage in one turn, but
you will be dishing it out continuously, instead of in spurts.

The best way that I've seen to deal with Energy Removal, though,
involves both the right amount of energy and constructive use of your
bench. It's a two-prong approach.

The first part is to make sure you have enough energy. I am of the firm
belief that you shouldn't have fewer than 28 Energy in your deck,
because you should assume that six of them will end up in your prizes
and a couple will be stripped away by your opponent.

The second part is that while you are playing, if you see Energy
Removal, you should plan to defeat it by beefing up the guys on your
bench first, before you worry about the guy in front. If you've got your
deck set up right, the guy in front should be able to withstand some
punishment while you spray Energy onto your Pokemon in back. When you've
finished that first fight, you should have several guys ready to go, so
that your opponent doesn't know which you're going to send out and won't
be able to take care of all of them. This part only works if you've done
the first part -- otherwise, you won't have enough energy to do it. And
I can guarantee you -- playing this way will give that
ER/Golduck/Dragonair deck I mentioned up top a run for its money.

These are just my thoughts. I hope some of this helps.

==Leanne
----------------------------------------------------------
Leanne Opaskar                         lopaskar@san.rr.com