Hello all Pojoheads, time to sit through another of Dr. Andonuts's Pokémon
lectures! Put down the noose, it's not THAT bad. Now, what do you think of
when you think of Fossil? Besides Aerodactyl. Besides Kabuto. Beisdes
Gastly. Think, people, THINK! That's right, Water-type families. Very good.
Let's go:

Horsea:

Basic: This is a pretty standard common evolution basic. 40 HP, turn 1
attack, and 50% disabled attacks for opponent. No retreat cost is nice, but
kinda... out of place. An OK card.
Stage 1: I like Seadra, he's a strong card. He's got your standard Water
gun, 3 energy to start, 20 damage to start, OK, but nothing to write home
about. Now, Agility is another matter. 20 plus 50% invincible is pretty
strong. I you have room in your deck consider this guy, he's real good for
an uncommon.
Stage 2: None.
Overall: This is a really Beatdown-type group of cards. I personally don't
like Beatdown, but I won't deny its strength. If you like that kind of
thing, put them in, but not a "DO NOT MISS" thing. Still, it's strong.


Omanyte:

Basic: Mysterious Fossil is weeeeeeeeiiiiiiird. Nice to send out if they
have a Base Zapdos or Charizard out, gives you the turn advantage. However,
be careful, people will take great pains to kill these things so you can't
send out an Aerodactyl before they get their precious
Blastoise/Alakazam/whatever out, even if you don't have any Aeros in your
deck. No comment, really.
Stage 1: Clairvoyance is easily within the Top 5 Pokémon Powers. Nothing
cheeses off an opponent like seeing their strategy laid out before you, so
you know exactly how to counter. Water Gun is standard, nothing special, but
weak for a Stage one. I hate Mysterious Fossil...
Stage 2: Omastar is ok. Again, Water gun, stronger this time, but nothing
too special. Spike Cannon has potential if you're lucky, though. 60 damage
for 2 energy is strong, even if if never happens when you need it. worth
using if you are desperate or if you feel lucky.
Overall: If you don't play real seriously, or if you have a spare deck
that's more relaxed than your tourney deck, just for fun try throwing in a
few Mysterious Fossils and some DCE. Try to play your friend's
raindance/evolution deck, and watch them sweat as you calmly play a DCE on
an innocent-looking Fossil on the Bench. :) Heck, even as a diversion,
M.Fossil is ok, you can watch raindancers furiously use up their Oaks and
Searches to find a gust of wind to kill that fossil, which you never even
planned to evolve. Fun :). Omanyte is a nice splash to a deck if you can
stand the Fossil, even better when you can see a GoW coming into their hand
to kill him off, easily countered :). No comment about Omastar though...
strong-ish, good if used right, but pretty standard 70% of the time.


Psyduck:

Basic: Headache works infinitely better than Lass or Imp. Oak if you're a
Trainerphobe (fear of Gust of Wind and Energy Removal) and can squeeze in
the Psy energy, or fit the duck itself in your Psychic deck. Fury swipes is
a great starter, making this duck a must if fossil magamrs are giving you
trouble. You can usually kill 'em off in 3 turns or less for 1 wter energy.
50 HP is admirable too.
Stage 1: This guy is great and a must in ER decks. Unfortunately, unless you
have a Psy/Water deck (the precon deck is the only one I've ever seen, and
that tells you something) he himself is weak to ER. Still really good
though. My favorite of the water families.
Stage 2: None.
Overall: This is a strong family. Definitely worth looking into.


Tentacool:

Basic: Ugh, this guy is really weird. He works good with Alakazam, but is
topo risky for my taste. A bad draw leaving you with 4 of these and nothing
else (or even one Gow from your opponent) will hurt you BAAAAAAD.
Stage 1: This guy is OK. No retreat cost is a mojor plus, as is guaranteed
poison. Combined with a wall he's great. Confuse is good too, you can
confuse them then poison and let them sit and rot. The catch? You have to go
through Tentacool. Also a heavy hitter will leave him high and dry, his 10
damage poison useless against an angry Electabuzz.
Stage 2: None.
Overall: I would NOT recommend using those Alakacool decks, they don't work.
Tentacruel is good if you play a slower stlye though.

Shellder:

Basic: One word: Pathetic. This guy is beyond hopeless. 30 HP, non-free
retreat, no damage without 2 lucky coinflips, the cool art is the only thing
this guy has going for him.
Stage 1: Two words: Really pathetic. 50 HP? nothing but coinflips? Sage one?
>From SHELLDER?! Yuck! If you are some kind of loser who cheats shamelessly
with a 2-headed coin, I guess he's OK, but really...
Stage 2: None.
Overall: The best thing to do with these excuses for Pokémon is recycle them
and put the paper to good use. 30 and 50 HP? What happened to the unbeatable
(practically) defense in the video game? The guy at Wizards that made these
guys like this belongs in a straitjacket. DO NOT put these things in your
deck unless you're being nice to a little kid or are some kind of masochist
(sp?) with the desire to lose.


Well there you have it. An overview of the Fossil Water Families. If you
disagree, tell me and tell me why, but don't flame me! Jeez, I'm glad I'm
not flammable, I'd be a smokin' crater by now if I were...

-Dr. Andonuts
saturns_go_boing@hotmail.com

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