Hello PokeFans, I'd
like to demonstrate a technique I've used and have seen used during play which
more or less defines the difference between good Pokemon players and outstanding
Pokemon players. It's called Pokemon Baiting. Pokemon Baiting (poke-KAY-mon
BAY-ting): A technique employed whereas a player entices his/her opponent into
making a play which seems advant- ageous, but in actuality proves harmful.
Sounds simple, right? Hardly. Run-of-the-mill players rarely, if ever, touch
upon such a level of play. The usual standard for players is to begin with
Pokemon with low Energy requirements to attack, meanwhile building Benched
Pokemon for a stronger later-turn attack. Sometimes a heavy Hit Point staller
like Kangaskhan is thrown up front to give time to build. Indeed, most decks
have to be played like this, at the beginning, to stand any chance of winning.
However, later on, players play differently. And especially good players can
bait their opponent into making mistakes that will cost them the game. Baiting
usually consists of leaving out a Pokemon to get your opponent to bring someone
up who can take out your Pokemon. In such a way, the Pokemon you left out is
sacrificed. Every good Chess player understands the virtue of sacrificing
pieces. It's done much in the same way. You, in turn, do something your opponent
doesn't expect. The result is usually Knocking Out his Active, leaving you in a
better position than your opponent. I'll demonstrate... This happened to me when
I played in the single-elimination tournament held at the Mall of America in
Minneapolis during Team Rockets' last stop for the Tour. (BTW, Howzitgoin'
Kittyfox?) I played a very good player who was a long time student of Magic The
Gathering. He beat me because he baited me into making a play which proved my
undoing. I'm still nonplussed about it. Both of us were using Trouble, one of
the two Team Rocket Starter decks issued to every player in the tournament. He
had a Base-set Haunter stalling me while I had a Weedle in the Active spot, I
think. (It's been awhile so I'm not really sure) On his Bench, he was building
Energy on a Jynx while he had an Abra with two Psychics on it already. I had a
fully-loaded Jynx on my Bench and my TR Meowth managed to Coin Hurl 20 damage to
the Jynx on his Bench. I knew he was in trouble. If he brought up his Jynx to
finish off my Weedle, I'd then kill off his Jynx with my Jynx. (His Jynx already
had 20 on it, ripe for the Meditate + Weakness he had to me. He does it. He
finishes my Weedle and I finish off his Jynx. Then he drops the bomb from which
there was no hope of recovery. He brings out his Abra, drops a Grass on it and
evolves into Base-set Kadabra. Super Psy's 50 damage + Weakness = Death... Later
on I managed to Poison his Kadabra to death, but the bloody swathe Kadabra cut
through my Benched ranks was too much to come back from. The match was called
time when I had three Prizes left and he had one left. If we kept going I'm
still fairly sure he would have picked up his last Prize before I could pick up
three of mine. I fell for the bait and I lost because of it. God, it still
rankles! Goes to show there is a reason to play Evolutions. Most Haymakers have
nothing but Basics. Evolutions have a bit of the element of surprise to them.
People grimace when you play the third Grass Energy on a Weedle, Breeder into
Beedrill, and Poison Sting for 40 + Poison. That's not to say Baiting can't be
done with Basics. I got a dirty look once for baiting out my opponent's
Blastoise. I promoted Scyther after that, drew a card, dropped a Mr. Mime,
promoted Mr. Mime, and Super stripped all of the Energy off of his Blastoise. It
can be done. Games are won and lost over effective use of Pokemon Baiting. Study
it and master it and I'm sure you'll be TopCat in your neighborhood. The name's
Odysseus and you can reach me at Odysseusjoey@netscape.net. Later.
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com.