Old Decks Remade

With Fossil, there are some new ideas for decks that revolve around Muk and
Aerodactyl, but I still believe that the damage swap, haymaker, and raindance
decks are the best.  All you need to do is remodel them with fossil.  Each
deck type receives good cards that fit right into the theme.

First, there is damage swap.  The main addition is the new
Gastly/Haunter/Gengar line.  They are great.  They have resistance to
fighting, which will make them great Chan killers.  Also, Haunter's pokemon
power is great.  It makes the odds of them hurting you 1 in 4 the next turn. 
Plus, Gengar's attack combined with his pokemon power allows you to almost
control the opponents damage.  So now, you have the ability to regulate
damage on both sides of the table.  That is a very powerful ability.  Another
pokemon to aid in bench damage is Hypno, although he is not quite as good.

Next, there is the good old haymaker.  There are three cards that go into
this category.  The biggest and best is Magmar.  This card adds a new spin to
fire, making it a playable color again.  Its ability to poison and low energy
cost makes it a great card in an environment where everyone plays with
Scyther.  It tears Scyther apart before Scyther can even attack.  The second
card is Hitmonlee.  It's big disadvantage is the ability to not do damage to
the defending pokemon without three fighting energy.  Nevertheless, if played
right, it can be a devastating card.  I have him in my deck.  The last is
Aerodactyl.  Although he evolves, his power which doesn't allow other pokemon
to evolve, is great against non-haymakers.  His main setback is the fact that
a Scyther takes him down in one hit.

Last, but certainly not least, is the raindance deck.  It received three
great contributions.  The first is Lapras.  A basic pokemon with not that
great attacks, it may not seem good, but its high HP combined with the
stalling ability of confusion makes it very good.  The heavy hitter is
Articuno.  Although it requires lots of energy for a basic pokemon, that is
the beauty of Blastoise.  Just raindance the energy on to him in one turn,
and start attacking.  Plus, both of his attacks are powerful, and he has
resistance to fighting, which allows it to stand up to many haymakers. 
Another great advantage of these first two is that they are basics, so more
room could be made for trainers and energy.  The last is Psyduck and Golduck.
 Sure, Psyduck needs psychic energy to disable trainers, but HE'S PSYDUCK,
THE COOLEST POKEMON EVER!!!!!  He doesn't have to be the best attacker. 
Also, Golduck's ability to remove energy cards and the fact that he is stage
1 is good. 

Well, these are my personal opinions on the new directions that the most
popular decks are taking with Fossil now out.  If you have any
questions/comments/arguements/etc, send them to:

Dave Fishel
Yakkoman1@aol.com