Well, Prop15 and 2T are certainly causing quite a stir. For a lot of players,
being able to only have fifteen Trainer cards in a deck, or only being able
to play two Trainers per turn is not a pleasant thought. But lets take a look
at the reasoning behind it.

In Japan, when the TCG first came out, things such as Rain Dance and Haymaker
began popping up everywhere, just like in America. But the Japanese actually
cared about the game, and to keep it fun, decided to make cards like Computer
Search, Item Finder, and Super Energy Removal unplayable. Therefore, most
kids still have fun with the game, and there is a far greater amount of
original decks when playing by the Japanese regulations. It's very hard to
play Rain Dance with no Computer Search. Haymaker is near useless without
their trusty SERs. Wigglytuff would be extremely slow in coming.

But Wizards of the Coast has a policy regarding the Pokémon TCG in
America--They will not ban or change cards, unless they are unplayable as is.
Which means that Computer Search will always be avaliable, and you will
always have the chance to SER wheneber you feel like it. So something else
must be done. WotC is now taking the time to concider the playing field. They
see that Haymaker, Rain Dance, and Wigglytuff are the only things winning
games. And to try to stop this, to put a level of fun into the game that
hasn't been there since the very start, they have put into consideration
Prop15 and 2T.

If one of these is put into play, would it change the game? Yes! Absolutely!
That is the whole point. To change the game to make it more challenging and
fun. When using a deck that doesn't play itself, people might actually have
to start using this little thing called strategy. They will have to come up
with combos that work well without as many Trainers. More Pokémon will
certainly be used, and Energy won't have as low as fourteen, such as in a lot
of the TuffStuff decks I see. Is this a step in the right direction? Well,
that depends on what kind of player you are. If you are someone who just
copies every deck they use off of a Web page--such as PoJo.com--then no, this
will ceriously hurt you, because you obviously cannot think up a deck of your
own, and you shouldn't be playing a game based on STRATEGY in the first
place. But if your someone who likes to have fun, someone who takes the time
to look at the cards and find something that you truely think would do good,
then yes, this will certainly be good.

People would actually use the Eeveelutions--cards long since passed over as
unplayable because they are Stage-1s with no powers, and no quick-build up
attacks. But when you actually look at things like the Jungle Flareon... You
can see that its Flamethrower is the strongest in the game, and it can
utilize a Double Colorless Energy. Vaporeon's Water Gun can dish out up to 50
damage... not all that bad. And Jolteon is the second best Lightning
evolution I can think of (Dark Raichu being the best). Jungle Venomoth would
become the star it was always meant to be. Teamed with Sabrina's Venomoth, it
could be extremely deadly. You just can't beat the status effects brought on
by these guys. Not to mention that both Venonats can hold their own...
especially Sabrina's version. Awesome Stage-2s like Pidgeot, Beedrill, and
Machamp may actually be put back into play. What is the point of playing the
game at all if you don't look at things besides the 70 HP basics? Every card
should be considered, and a lot are usable... if you know how.

So, in my opinion, Wizards has finally taken a step in the right direction to
ensure that the game remains fun. And, if you hadn't noticed--It IS a game,
it is SUPPOSED to be fun. That's one thing a lot of people need to remember.
So what if you can't have more than fifteen trainers? That makes the room to
use real evolutions. That's the point of Pokémon. So, go ahead and start
getting ready. At least one of these is going to be passed. I'd start trying
to practice with decks with only fifteen Trainers--or at least coming up with
effective ones that only carry that amount.

And remember--Never overlook the hidden power within a card. Any card can be
a star. You just have to make it shine.

~^~ Hawk ~^~

(New address!) Send all agreements, disagreements, arguements, and opinions
to <A HREF="KikenTsuyosa@aol.com">KikenTsuyosa@aol.com</A>.