Dear Pojo

Please post this in your strategy section, thanx a lot!

Over the net these days, people everywhere are bragging about how good their
deck is, how it can kick any other deck's @$$, and why it is the best.  I
think it is time for a way to rate your decks.  It isn't a rating scale, but
it should do.

>From my viewpoint, there are currently six categories on which a deck should
be rated.  I am desperately looking for a seventh one so if you have any
ideas please email me about it and give me a description.  These six
categories are evenly balanced out against each other and you want to "win"
as many of these categories as possible.

Offense:  This is the first category, and any good trainer can tell you of
its importance.  If you have ever fought an Alakazam-Chansey mulligan (which
I have), you know how important a good offense is.  The basic definition of
offense (at least in this situation) is:  How efficiently you deal damage and
most importantly knock out the opponent's pokémon.  Every deck has to be able
to do this to win, with the exception of a mulligan.

Defense:  In almost any game I can think of, at the end it always boils down
to defense.  Defense is one of the most difficult sections to master.  Sure
you can just through in a few potions and super potions and say you have a
good defense, but do you?  First of all, what is a good defense and what is
defense itself in the Pokémon TCG?  Defense in the Pokémon TCG is how well
you can protect your pokémon and most importantly, how well you can keep them
from being dumped in the discard pile.  A good defense has to be able to
accomplish this, especially against high-powered offenses such as Raindance
and beatdown.

Speed:  In the Pokémon TCG, there is one very important rule every player has
to know and remember:  speed kills.  That is one of the reasons why haymakers
and Raindances are so successful, they have speed, more speed, and even more
speed (especially a hay).  If your deck is not able to match or beat that
speed, then you are in serious trouble.  Speed, in the Pokémon TCG, is who
fast you can get your strategy in play.  And a haymaker can start pushing the
beatdown from the first turn.  Remember, a deck without speed is like a
soldier without legs.

Disruption:  Ah…  The strategy everyone hates to go against, but that is why
it is so successful.  If you have every played an energy denial before, you
know what happens when you SER your opponent's scyther.  Just sit back and
watch the swear words come dancing across your screen.  But how do you rate
disruption?  Disruption is how well you can slow, disrupt, or ruin your
opponent's strategy and/or plan.  If you are able to do this with efficiency,
then your opponent is screwed.  And vise versa.  But the most important thing
you have to remember when going against a disruption deck is patience. 
Master that and you will be able to defeat any disruption deck, with the help
of a good…

Prevention/Comeback:  This is the most confusing category to understand, and
explain.  Prevention/Comeback is just the opposite of Disruption.  Prevention
is how well you can prevent and comeback from a disrupted plan.  Comeback is
how well you can comeback in a game.  Sometimes, this is the most important
category.  A deck that excels in this category has a good chance of beating
even a haymaker.

Versatility:  The last but not least, versatility.  Versatility is how many
different decks you can do well against and adapt to facing.  This might be a
little confusing so I'll give an example.  Say you are running a classic
haymaker with chans, buzzes, and Scythers.  Now everyone knows that haymakers
are strategically weak against Raindance.  So to increase the versatility of
this deck, you can add in Mr. Mime, the classical Raindance stopper.  I hope
that explains it better.

I know there are a lot of people out there who will not agree with the
categories I rate decks on.  But after playing uncountable amount of games, I
know from experience that these categories are very important.  If you have
any other category that you think should be in here, email me.  I know this
will not solve all of the deck rating problems, but it will build a platform
for the next step.

Hatemails, comments, and others are welcomed at:
Pokemondwz@aol.com
Pokemondwz@hotmail.com