Dear Pojo,

Please post this in your strategy section, thanx.  A few days before the
release of fossil, or somewhere near then, I wrote an article about what I
predicted would happen after fossil, this article describes what actually
happened. 

Haymakers:  In the last article, I predicted that there would be a lot of
Aerodactyls appearing in hays.  I also predicted that haymakers would rise
above the Big Three (haymakers, Raindance, and Mulligans, specifically Mr.
Mime and Alakazam-Chansey).  I was right, and wrong.  Surprisingly, I saw
very few Aerodactyls in decks.  I wonder why people wouldn't add him to their
decks.  We're looking at something that can stop one of Haymaker's greatest
threats, fast evolution.  I guess that many people thought he was too slow
and took up too much room.  Although haymakers did rise, Raindance rose with
it.  But that brings us to…

Raindance:  Despite Muks and Aerodactyls, Raindance is still going strong. 
There are two reasons for this.  First of all, there aren't as many Muks and
Aerodactyl as many people expected, one of them being me.  The second reason
is even if a Raindance did face a deck with Muks and Aerodactyls in it, their
opponent probably wasn't able to get it out fast enough.  Blastoise is a
Raindance's main evolution, and Muks and Aerodactyls are almost never the
main evolutionary line in decks.  They are more like backups or bench
support.  That way, a Blastoise, even being a stage 2, will probably be put
out faster than a Muk or an Aerodactyl.  The new basics don't hurt either. 
Lapras can is an excellent basic pokémon and he destroys a Raindance's worst
fear, Mr. Mime.  80 HP makes sure he can withstand 3 attacks and confuse ray
just kills Mime's pokémon power.  Articuno brought some very needed firepower
in the basic pokémon level.  Now a Raindance can destroy a Muk or Aerodactyl
with basic pokémons, therefore increasing its strength as well.

Mr. Mime Mulligans:  Still plentiful, although not as much.  Muk seems to
have little affect against how many of these decks are played, but there
definitely is a smaller amount.  Not much change in this category.

Alakazam Chansey Mulligans:  For once my prediction was close to correct.  As
far as I know, these decks are nearly extinct.  I have seen only one Alakazam
Chansey deck on the net so far, and I was able to beat it rather easily.  I
don't really understand why these decks aren't around anymore.  Certainly Muk
and Aerodactyl didn't play a key role.  But perhaps it's the speed of decks
these days and the new card gambler (although I don't think gambler is a good
card). 

Beatdown:  Once again, I was proven wrong.  I haven't seen many good
beatdowns over the net.  I'm sure that there are good ones, but I haven't
fought one yet.  Although beatdown did gain a slight boost from Magmar and
the grass evolutions, it wasn't enough for the majority of them to challenge
the almighty haymaker.  Still, I am sure that beatdown will be able to
challenge and defeat haymakers sooner or later…

New Decks:

Fire Mulligans:  Although I have never fought a fire mulligan before, I know
from others and my own experience from playing mulligans that it will be very
difficult to go up against one.  A fire mulligan usually consists of Fossil
Magmars, Moltreses, colorless stallers (such as Chansey), energy retrievals,
and a whole lot of fire energies.  As many people know, a good mulligan can
also go on the offense if necessary, and what better mulligan decks can
accomplish this better than a fire one?  My point is, a fire mulligan has
arisen entirely from Fossil and has forced many trainers to recognize its
power.

Energy Denial:  Energy denial has always been around, ever since base.  But
never has energy denial been so powerful.  The reason:  Golduck.  I'm not
saying that energy denial is made ten times stronger because of Golduck, but
instead Energy Denial has been given a great boost in power.  Now with
Golduck and Dragonnair with energy destroying ability, energy denial has
finally gained a perfect one-two punch.  Slowpoke is another reason for the
stronger generation of energy denial.  Its scavenge ability gives trainers
the ability to retrieve used ERs and SERs from their discard pile, creating
more havoc.  Energy denial might even gain a place in the great decks of our
time.

Bodyguard:  Unbelievably, Nintendo has actually made a strategy worth
acknowledging.  Bodyguard, in my opinion, is one of the greatest strategies
to come out of Fossil.  I have learned from personal experience that at the
end, it all boils down to defense.  A good bodyguard can heal its pokémon
better than its opponent can deal damage, this is a priceless ability. 
Golbat is one of the major reasons for the great success of the bodyguard. 
Armed with its leech life attack and a resistance to fighting, it takes an
average of about 10 damage per turn when going against a haymaker.  That,
plus a bodyguard's healing ability almost guarantees you a victory. 
Bodyguard is going to be here for a long time.  And not even the mighty
haymaker can move it from its rightful place as one of the best decks.  (If
you want to know more about the bodyguard strategy, see my article under the
December strategy section.)

Well, that's about it.  I would like to say that my reviews are based on what
I have seen over the net and the deck situation might be different in your
area.  Sorry for the long article and thanx for reading.

Hatemails, questions, or others are welcomed at:
Pokemondwz@aol.com or
Pokemondwz@hotmail.com