Hi Pojo People, Jason Ketchum here with a little article not about cards or strategies, just some info about being criticized and teased about a "bad" deck you have, (notice the quotes) Everyone gets hate mail some time about their deck being "bad" and "will lose anyday" if played against the sender of the e-mail. Now, usually when you see things like this you always laugh and say... "what a loser" but... to those who just posted an article, posted a killer deck, they feel awful and think "I bet everyone hates my deck" Especially when a deck mechanic, or some other staff member of a famous site like Pojo or Pokégym. Now, if you don't know what I mean let me show you what a flame is.

Main Entry: 1flame
Pronunciation: 'flAm
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English flaume, flaumbe, from Middle French flamme (from Latin flamma) & flambe, from Old French, from flamble, from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma flame; akin to Latin flagrare to burn -- more at BLACK
Date: 14th century
1 : the glowing gaseous part of a fire
2 a : a state of blazing combustion <the car burst into flame> b : a condition or appearance suggesting a flame or burning: as (1) : burning zeal or passion (2) : a strong reddish orange color
3 : BRILLIANCE, BRIGHTNESS
4 : SWEETHEART
5 : an angry, hostile, or abusive electronic message a-ha!

Now... lets look at one of the e-mails I got...

From:  "<deleted>
To:  pokemon_trainer_jason@hotmail.com
Subject:  what a cool pokemon deck
Date:  Fri, 14 Jul 2000 12:19:44 CDT

YOUR DECK SUCKS SO MUCH *** THAT MY MOTHER CAN **** ONE OUT OF HER 
*** THATS BETTER THAN YOURS!!!!! AND SHE DOESNT EVEN KNOW HOW TO PLAY
THAT GAY GAME!!!!! MY POINT IS YOUR DECK BLOWS AND I COULD BEAT YOU
ANY DAY WITH MY "CLAYMAKER 2.0".

Do you see that? I edited the letter so it didn't sound as bad an ugly. When I read it I saved it, because I thought it was so so amusing. But there are some things I didn't understand:

1. What deck are you talking about?

2. Did you know you are calling the game gay?

3. Did you know you are making fun of me and your mom at the same time?

Now, some flames aren't really bad, they're just showing off about how "good" they are and they talk about their "great" 3-9 streak. They say stuff like, I bet I could beat you anyday. For instance this letter:

From: <DELETED>
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 06:48:29 EDT
Subject: HI:}
To: pokemon_trainer_jason@yahoo.com
I   
  Bet  I Could Beat you any day.
 
See that? Get what I'm saying here? There are also some people who think they have great decks and e-mail you randomly and say what a great deck they have when its worse and has 1-1-1 evolutions in them with 3 trainers. Well just take a look yourself!

 
From:  <DELETED>
To:  <pokemon_trainer_jason@hotmail.com>
Subject:  a stupid question
Date:  Thu, 22 Jun 2000 20:29:47 -0400

First off, when I looked at your deck, I wanted to know one thing: Can Mr. Mime paralyze? Not that I know of. Maybe you were thinking of some other pokemon.
 
-<DELETED>
Author of the killerdeck <DELETED> in May
 
Ok... my deck here is about 12 years old, and I said I had full heals cause I hate it when Mr.Mime gets paralyzed, confused, whatever. But when I saw his deck I almost busted a gut laughing at his pathetic deck with 1-1-1 evolutions! Excuse me, *walks into restroom and laughs for 30 minutes* Here's another Flame just because I feel like it!
From:  <DELETED>
To:  pokemon_trainer_jason@hotmail.com Save Address
Subject:  I agree
Date:  Thu, 22 Jun 2000 17:52:30 EDT
I agree with you.....NOT!!!! hi im a stupid gay wad who cant biuld a good
deck cause im so go d@/\/\b retarded...impersonation of you!  wigglytuff
decks have tons of strategy, unlike your "super mega fireball deck" that
consists of 4 charmanders and 56 fire energy.  wiggly decks have the strategy
of getting pokemon that are damaged out of there and bringing in a
wigglytuff, speed, using good trainers,powering up pokemon fast,and getting
wiggly out then filling up your bench..  so dont get you ******* in a wad,
stop dissing good decks, and hey, even scott gerhardt uses wiggs in almost
any deck
 
Notice the underlined part? Scott Gerhardt uses wiggs in almost any deck, I've only seen him use a wiggly in one deck, not almost every single one, plus he mainly uses his Sponge I think. I also told him that I was brainwashed by a Wigglytuff hater because of his/her killer deck's large amount of graphics and sound. I'm not bashing him I just use a different deck and I have different opinions. Plus I didn't mention and "Super Mega Fireball Deck" with 4 Charmanders and 56 Fire Energy, actually I don't even have 56 fire energy. I emailed him back and then he e-mailed me back saying "if I understood that I could've gotten mad" Well... lets finish up this article.
 
All of use different strategies excluding Haymaker decks since they don't use that much, but I am typing this letter to encourage all you people who want to make an Archetype and change the world of Pokemon TCG, like Scott with his Potpourri and Sponge, The I-Man with his Cleaner, plus me with my Dumped and Minimize Zero deck.(which isn't famous and only I use it) So if all of you guys out there want to make an Archetype, don't quit, even if you do get 50 flames a day. Well anyways, ya guys can e-mail me at pokemon_trainer_jason@hotmail.com or pokemon_trainer_jason@yahoo.com for any info about strategies, decks I use, questions, flames and why I bother people with my lame articles, and any other stuff. Alright seeya! You guys can also call me at 1-800-Hooked-On-Phonics
 

--Jason Ketchum the Only Sane Ketchum Family Member