Proxies

I've heard the term bandied about in the Gym, and of course I know what the word means. But what are proxies in Pokémon TCG all about?

I had a good gym night. I brought both the new pre-release Deoxys deck and the old Dark Bat & Tyran deck. I really like that deck and I believe it is better than I am able to play it. I was bound and determined to play it smarter tonight.

I started by playing Sarah. I won, and felt bad about it because it was a quick win. I got the Dark Tyranitar out and built up in no time. Then I just hit stuff with Bite Off for 70 points. Wham Wham Wham. It's not like she didn't get any licks in. She had an EX and she took a prize card or two until I was able to nail that Aggron EX or whatever it was.

Then I played Jonathan. He's a premier trainer and I figured I was doomed, which of course, I was. He was playing a strange combo deck of Blaziken and Garados EX. Anyhow, I had nothing but energies. I couldn't get anything out or evolved. I did manage to hang in there for a while though, with some clever play, actually, but it was only a matter of time.

Hope was next. I don't like playing her because she seems very unsure of herself and I just can't stand beating her. I think she's about 13 or 14, and she's very sweet. She had the exact opposite problem I had just had. She had her guys out and evolved and couldn't find any energy. Once I had everyone out and evolved I pretty much just went straight through her hand. Some of the wins were benched Basics that got whacked twice with a pumped up Dark Crobat.

l asked to play Kim next. That was a lot of fun because we talked about it as we played. He helps me see the opportunities, and makes me think a few rounds ahead. I lost, but I learned.

Then I asked to play Roberto. He's a very good player. I think he won a top place in the Malibu City Championship. At any rate, he's a premier trainer too. As we started off he told me he was going to use proxies and proceeded to reel off a list of cards that were actually going to be other cards. I shrugged and said, I trust you. Whatever. I thought he was going to beat me. He had great cards out fast. But so did I. He was playing Garados EX and some electrics; I forget which. When the time was called, I was actually ahead 3 cards to his 5. This was partly because I was able to grab two prize cards for fainting his EX, and I nailed a benched Basic. I'm getting better at that. Anyhow, I was stoked.

Dan, the co-gym leader, came up to me, he'd been playing Sarah, and said, "You should play with proxies." I replied, "I don't get that." Dan explained. If you're working on a deck and you haven't gotten all the cards you want to use, you can go to these various websites and download a scan of the card, print it out, and play it in your deck as a stand in. It lets you practice what it would be like with that card and you can decide if you want to try to trade for that card. "But wait a sec," I said, "you mean I could make up a deck of whatever the heck cards I wished I had and play with it? What's that about? You can't play in tournaments with proxies. Shouldn't you learn to play your own real hand?"

I think I came on a little hinkty 'cause Dan backed up a bit and said, "well whatever you want to do. I'm just saying it would be good practice for her." He's right, it would be easier for her to learn to play a good deck than to learn by struggling with a less well constructed one. It doesn't feel right to me though, and I don't intend to do it myself. Apparently it's very common. Dan gave me the name of the site he and his kids use for downloading proxy cards. I've put it up on the links: pokébeach.com. You can see the scans menu on the lower left column.

Proxies...live beyond your means...until tournament time, that is.

Deoxys Pre-Release

The Irvine pre-release event for Deoxys, the newest Pokémon, was a zoo. Over a hundred folks of all ages and colors and cash flow showed up; I think the organizers were expecting something between 45 and 60. We didn't sit down to break open the packs to make our 40-card decks until 1 pm. Nevertheless, we did manage to get six rounds in before 6:30 p.m. You have to give some props to the orgaznizers. They were calm, cheerful, and efficient.

I'd been through this once before, as a complete novice who lost all games. This time I hoped to do better. I opened the first shiny packet of cards, taking my time, looking at each card, reading each card. The names were familiar, but the attacks and Poké bodies and Poké powers were new. By the time I had opened three of six packets, most of the people in the room were already organizing their hand of forty cards. I knew I needed to step up the pace. I only had a half an hour to do this.

After I'd opened every pack and realized I had nothing particularly special, I started to form a strategy. In a pile of ordinary cards, how could I arrange a winning hand? Around me people were asking, "did you get an EX?" "did you get a Deoxys?" "how many?" I had one Deoxys and not a special one. The true power of Deoxys is when you have all three kinds and can morph among them.

Now feeling the press of time, I sorted the pile of cards by type, but as I went I kept looking for a full line: basic to evolved, and for cards that could either buy me time or serve as draw or search cards. I had only two family lines: Manectric, and Grumpig. Well, gulp, okay. But I did have TWO full lines of Manectrics, and they had a killer attack and 70 HP.

For three of any kind of energy >> Magnetic Tackle: 40 points. You may do 40 damage plus 10 more damage for each electric energy attached to Manectric. If you do, Manectric does 10 damage to itself.

So If I put three electric energies on Manetric I could hit for 70 points. I knew most people would be in my position, playing mostly underpowered Basics worth 40 or 50 hit points.

Alas, I only had one Grumpig line, but Grumpig had a decent attack too. Grumpig was a psych type and could thus use the weakness all psych Pokémon have to other psych cards. A 'weakness' allows you to double the attack points. Grumpig was carrying 80 HP, not bad, and a sweet attack for three energies.

For one psych and two any kind energy >> Extra Ball: 50 points. If the Defending Pokémon is Pokémon-EX, this attack does 50 damage plus 30 more damage.

This is great because of the extra hits on EX Pokémon. Some of the new cards were EX and people would be playing them. I realized that the attacks I wanted to use only needed electric and psychic energy. Great. I also factored in my two energies: boost energy (like R-energy, only a triple) and heal energy (full heal on the first use). I decided to put in 10 electric energies, 6 psychic, and 6 fighting, the fighting being mostly for the better basics I would need to rely upon.

Well, it was a start. Though I didn't really have a good use for Deoxys, I realized that, with 70 hit points, it would be a great stall card, able to take some hits while I built up the better attack cards on the bench. I put Deoxys in the deck. I studied the few trainers I had. I was hoping for some healing power, no luck. But hey, I had a Lady Outing. Sweet! Lady Outing would let me search for three kinds of energy in my deck. Eventually I made a deck.

The deck and I did pretty well. Though I lost all but one game, every game I lost was very close, often down to a one card difference. There was only one real wipe out. I felt pretty good about that. Some people had really drawn some excellent cards. I made some mistakes here and there as I played, but I noticed them and resolved to not make the same mistakes twice.

Sarah and I chatted between rounds and played each other a couple of times, for fun, between rounds. Once I had a very long game and when I finished and went looking for Sarah I found her playing two on two with Marc Lloyd on her team (see my posting about unmodded cards). They were laughing and joking with the other team of two kids, all clearly having a great time.

When we got home, we looked at the packets we were given, swapped between us, and created our first Deoxys decks to play with. I dunno, I still love my Dark Bat and Tyranitar. Oh that reminds me, in the new deck is a Crobat EX with some very cool powers. It is extremely rare; only one person got one of those in this pre-release of 100+ people. But you never know; it could be lurking in the next packet I buy at Eight Ball.