Haymaker is NOT the Best Retro Pokemon TCG Deck

[@MythrilZenith]

There's something about JWittz talking about the Pokemon TCG that just makes the universe feel *right.*

[@aaronwishard7093]

I mean Pooka can't, since he's a TPCI employee, so at least having one last bastion of the old days being able to talk about the TCG, even if it's not always new sets, decks, and strategies. Is always a good thing in my book

[@premejon8300]

He’s the only person I want to talk about Pokémon TCG. Don’t respect none of the new guys 😂😂😂

[@lannguyen902]

It is simple. The channel started of as a Pokemon TCG channel then it expanded to pokemon content. Afterwards, it expanded to Nintendo content then to any content that JWittz wants. JWittz talking about the Pokemon TCG is just him going back to his roots.

[@infernofactory9104]

Yup

[@mildredroy3597]

jwittz should do a video on temtem xD

[@Slayerthecrow]

Remember the episode of Yugioh 5d's when Yusei went to jail and in order to get out he had to duel the head of the guards with a bunch of random cards smuggled by the other inmates? Yeah, this is a straight up anime moment.

[@Compucles]

Before that, there was the Yu-gi-oh GX episode where Chazz had to build a new deck out of literal throwaway cards including the seemingly useless Ojamas.

[@Slayerthecrow]

​@@Compucles and before that he had to hunt down cards in the arctic, Chazz had a very interesting character development.

[@mayborneflower]

Bill Cipher VRAINS has my recommendations.

[@favourr.5713]

@@maybornefloweri like 5ds more but not the dub

[@PrimeroJinJusuke]

@Bill Cipher The new upcoming YGO series looks even more childish than the rest of them and looks like a kids anime that advertises toys and games (which is the essence of the YGO animes, but even more childish and generic-looking). Still, no matter how weird or childish they looked, every YGO series has some dark moments and plots. GX had electric that eventually led to heart problems, Judai reluctantly sacrificing his friends, Edo became the anti-hero he is because his father was murdered over a powerful card, etc. 5D's has the main character living in the slumbs where he spent a good portion of his life collecting junk to build his stuff. The Dark Signers were all killed before becoming Dark Signers and we see most of their deaths (death by explosion, starvation, falling from buildings, car accident, hanging, a Duel of Darkness, and the one we don't see was later revealed to be a cult sacrifice). A post-apocalyptic future where giant machines destroyed humanity, with only four old men as survivors. ZEXAL had genocide, character deaths, one of those deaths being due to the lack of oxygen. ARC-V is mostly about a interdimensional war. Also, Sergey. I never watched VRAINS, but it also looks edgier than most other series from the outside. The Yu-Gi-Oh! manga is still the darkest YGO medium ever.

[@DrEnzyme]

I really hope JWIttz sees this, I know that this video is 4 years old but I want to say that THIS DECK WAS LURKING JUST OUT OF SIGHT FOR A DECADE. In Pokemon TCG 2 for gameboy there's a duelist in the game center called "Pawn." He acts as a gatekeeper to the rest of the game center gauntlet and he's there to make your progress as slow and painful as possible. His deck is called "Bad Luck Deck." What does it have in it? 4 Lickitung, 4 Moltres, 4 Magmar, 4 Chansey (not Mr Mime) and 4x Energy Removal. It's not as bad as Kyle's deck (I think people would have destroyed their gameboys if Pawn had all those trainer cards) but it's the exact same strategy and it's absolutely MISERABLE to play against.

[@chugga]

Maaaaannn, and here I thought this was going to be all about Damage Swap to Chansey to essentially make it impossible to beat Alakazam in a straight fight. I'm sure I've thrown away dozens of Lickitung over the years...

[@cheesydelite6532]

chuggaaconroy didn’t expect to see you here. Excited for your next let’s play!

[@RafilaWan]

Chugga, I love you, but why would you throw away innocent Pokemon *loads haymaker with malicious intent*

[@mangakabaruneh]

mr mime in front

[@blowc1612]

Mitsuteru Abe Pidgey evolutions kills me. Mine easy.. pidgeot is the strongest original card TCG... using whirlwind on Pokémons that was set up by opponents to basically lock them into using basic cards is hilarious. Pair it with energy removals, your opponent is hopeless.

[@saifuusuri]

So Lickitung is good, and Gastly is good. Gastly has lick too, so maybe licking your opponent is the best way to win a fight. I should learn Tongue-Fu.

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

Never forget that there was a retro deck called "Jigglin' Cheese Maker."

[@foxokon94]

90’s TCG deck names really where the best.

[@spindash64]

Foxokon Fan nicknames are always a riot. Like Sneaky Pebbles

[@megasean3000]

TheHeroOfTomorrow What was the basis behind that Deck?

[@ncolvin05]

@@megasean3000 I'm guessing it was using wigglytuff's attack (10x number of Pokemon on your side, your bench would be full) then chancey and alakazam. Use alakazam's ability to put damage on Chansey and then use healing items and pokecenter's to dump massive amounts of damage down the drain.)

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

@@megasean3000 What N Colvin said. Do The Wave was actually so powerful it got Wigglytuff banned from some tournaments.

[@RazalasTrebla]

Jwittz: "Haymaker is NOT the best retro Pokemon deck." Me: *nods approvingly* Jwittz: "And no, rain dance isn't either." Me: "YOU WHAT!?!"

[@nine1690]

Honestly, as someone who dabbled in Competitive Mons on Smogon, its not surprising Rain can be oppressive even in the TCG

[@co-tc5sg]

I played rain dance.dek at Saturday morning pokemon league against the scrubs. Then wiggly for afternoon tourney. Good times earning those packs

[@ninjaguyYT]

I had a deck that relied on Chansey, Dragonite, and Dodrio (for free swapping), and either Wigglytuff or Exeggutor for massive damage (60 or pseudo unlimited coin flips).

[@VestedUTuber]

Rain Dance actually performed poorly against Haymaker. The main issue was its reliance on a stage 2 and good energy draws, even with Breeder. Whereas Haymaker had quick basics with cheap, powerful attacks, plus Electabuzz which was specifically included to counter Rain Dance. Also, Super Energy Removal absolutely screws over a Rain Dance deck by forcing them to deep draw for more energy. You have to be very careful when playing Rain Dance, the handful of times I've used it in the GBC game I've found it extremely prone to decking out.

[@GusJenkinsElite]

@@VestedUTuber I ran Raindance (on accident, didn't even know the meta before playing!) and I decked out a handful of times until I learned the deck. I also didn't use Breeder for some reason but still worked out fine

[@RogersBase]

11:18 MY BOY CAME THROUGH AND SAVED THE DAY! PRAISE TO BE TO LICKITUNG! I knew that my unadulterated love for Lickitung would pay off one day!

[@Torterrafan619]

Never doubt the tounge

[@thetreyceratops]

The one time Lickitung isn’t awful (I hate the thing)

[@federicouzcategui4681]

Good job bro

[@EnderCreeper168]

Watching this new intro makes me feel like a parent with an adult child. I can't help but be nostalgic for the old intro, but at the same time I love the new intro and am excited about what it means for the channel!

[@AxxLAfriku]

I always feel like the legend Gaga Gaga gaga am very successful Gaga Gaga gaga I meet the people happy with my words on KZbin gagagaga giam so famous Gaga Gaga Gaga and the funniest person on KZbin Gaga Gaga Gaga people love my videos Gaga Gaga gaga

[@countdeku646]

AxxL oh no, it’s you.

[@PeterGriffin11]

@@AxxLAfriku What?

[@Dingg00se]

"Haymaker is not the best retro pokemon TCG deck" Ah okay, he's probably going to talk about Rain Dance, the real best retro deck. "Nah" *Them's fightin' words buddy* In all seriousness, great video. Retro pokemon TCG is great. *Also Pokemon TCG for the Game Boy's pause menu has the best retro music I have ever heard*

[@AviChetriArtwork]

Peter Parker: "I'm going to throw sum d̶i̶r̶t̶ sand in your eyes"

[@ottersintuxedos4981]

"Haymaker is not the best deck" "Rain Dance?" "No" "Wigglytuff?" "No" "....Stall Ala/Chansey...?" "Lickitung" "Lickitung?!"

[@iBenjamin1000]

Squints and cleans glasses, "that's an interesting nickname for blastoise...have I seen you somewhere before, pal?"

[@Dingg00se]

@@iBenjamin1000 Perhaps perhaps maybe maybe

[@Divock]

I've gone back and played the Gameboy TCG game over the years, and man, when I think of Pokemon that drove me crazy on the other side of the screen, it was Lickitung and Magmar. I distinctly remember spending 45 minutes in a match against Kristen because of turn 1 Lickitung, who managed to wipe my entire board due to paralysis luck. I didn't have much more than a starter deck but still, I'll never forget it.

[@15Seili]

Same for me, i stopped playing the physical TCG back in like 2003 but i still play the GameBoy Color TCG game and oh man, whenever i see a Chansey or a Lickitung, i know im in for a loooooong game.

[@arielglr7177]

I remember beating the fighting gym leader with a cat punch meowth, the guy didnt have any energy cards and I had my double colorless in the first turn, so I wiped his pokemon and winned the battle

[@rustad183]

There is actually a Japanese sequel to the gbc game that got a fan translation a while back, and it is so much more fun it's unbelievable. I really recommend that people check it out.

[@arielglr7177]

@@rustad183 too much of a hassle to even play tho

[@blowc1612]

I played again last week, and I created a deck that ran through every deck easily.. I win so easily it got boring as it became unbeatable and can run through other decks fast.. only time I get a slow game is bad draws but still even then the cycle mechanic I put in I usually draw 10-15 cards ahead.

[@ikefromsmashbros9237]

Your TCG content lately has been great. I'm sure I speak for a lot of viewers when I say I'd love to see more retro Pokemon TCG retrospectives/analyses.

[@sorenman1]

Agreed

[@sladerobertson1613]

Same. I've been watching Jwittz since his Prof-It series and I really miss his Pokemon TCG content.

[@londoncintron680]

I actually own a unofficial guide book for the retro Pokémon card set that was published back in 1999. Yes, it mentions the Haymaker. What I find interesting is since Gold and Silver was just around the corner, the book briefly mentions “Pikablu,” “Lady-Ba,” and “King Slowpoke.” It’s like a time capsule

[@danielc2958]

This shift towards more TCG related content has been awesome to experience. Keep on making videos on stuff that interests you, an I’ll keep watching.

[@premejon8300]

If u remember he started this entire channel talking about TCG! Glad to see him go back to the videos that made me subscribe during the Lv. X era

[@Puffzilla777]

Preme Jon Jwittz helped me get into the game!

[@solidskullz5736]

That intro was clean af though

[@jaycarter5984]

I don’t play the TCG, but I do enjoy watching it

[@J3Puffin]

I love when players who really know the game go back and mess around with older formats. The Pokémon competitive metas have this, too, where people go back to older formats and realize, “Hey wait a minute, why weren’t we using this?” I need more videos like this in my life.

[@nickfanzo]

Base-fossil rules

[@guillermocortes4415]

Me seeing the thumbnail: Of course it isn't; it was Rain Dance *Jwittz 50 seconds into the video: I'M ABOUT TO END THIS MAN'S WHOLE TCG CAREER*

[@Winterhe4rt]

Its so crazy to think one of the most powerful Poke Powers ever didnt create an actual good deck in its life time. Just by the sheer existance of Electabuzz, Rain dance was just doomed.

[@charleslegreatthegarbagemo7202]

In this game “You May attack again” sounds as broken as my phone screen.

[@goos4711]

Love these unorthodox builds. “Oh yeah your 1000$ meta deck, hope it can take on my budget deck.”

[@jakegearhart]

Luckily the cost to build a completely new standard ready deck from scratch has gone down a lot recently. limitlesstcg.com/decks/?list=3498 This deck that just won the Sao Paulo regionals would only cost $91 to build entirely from scratch.

[@Pyrobaconstudios]

I mean, retro pokemon tcg decks in general were fairly cheap. most of the prominent cards in haymaker are just uncommons and mr. mimes and alakazams weren't too hard to get either. Most of the expensive stuff was in regard to collecting back then ironically with the infamously valuable charizard card actually being one of the worst stage 2 evolutions at the time among several other examples of highly valuable cards being rather weak but highly sought out for collectable purposes.

[@Compucles]

@@jakegearhart ...or you can just build up your collection in the online game for free.

[@jakegearhart]

@@Compucles You can't really build competitive decks online for free. You need code cards as currency to get good stuff.

[@DerVasto]

@@jakegearhart May I introduce you to my boy MaxMoeFoe

[@solidzack]

The TCG 2 game for GameBoy had an opponent who used the simple strategy of Mr. Mime, Alakazam and a Tentacool with a Poképower, that basically grants it "Scoop Up" whenever it wants. So the strat was to move up to 2 Damage counters from Mr. Mime (it couldn't have more on it) to Tentacool using Alakazam then using Tentacools ability to send it back to the hand and set it back to the bench. Repeat every turn and you got an infinite loop that can't be stopped for the most part

[@alexs7670]

Some of my friends got back into pokemon tcg around 2012-2013 and this deck was still really strong.

[@shaden489]

I love how mill as a term has carried over to so many tcg

[@gigawarman12]

shaden489 YGO player: “Mtg ripped off yugioh”

[@shaden489]

@@gigawarman12 lol haven't had a yugioh player tell me that yet but I'm still young and playing mtg so it could still happen

[@RyanAtlus]

​@@gigawarman12 I'm a Yugioh player, and I always believed that the term milling came from MTG's Millstone?

[@KuroiRenge]

@@RyanAtlus That is the reference, yes.

[@daivanfueledbyvenega]

@@DerVasto on the rise lmao that deck came out and was tier 1, 5 years ago

[@deletedTestimony]

I'd just like to say, my Pokemon card debut was at the toys r us on the day of the Mew release. I had never played against people, just with myself, theorycrafting the cards and how to use them. The employee "gym leader" was a manchild with limitless disposable income. He had four first edition Charizards... in his deck. And he decided to show me how the game was played. I used that Magmar card. Cause he was my favorite Pokemon. In addition to correcting *him* on the rules several times (I had read the rulebook religiously lol) I wiped the floor with him three times in a row. He was a six year MTG player. I was 12.

[@hokostudios]

Now, let's not discount the power of Confusion. The mere mention of Lickitung brought me pain, as I've learned in recent years that Confusion is easily the most frustrating status in the TCG. If you don't have or are unwilling to use a Switch or Scoop Up, it can leave you sitting and looking stupid for days.

[@ickyy]

I wish there was some sort of supported "Vintage" league :(

[@Bananasforthesoul]

Saint Elaine okay

[@Rankurusu777]

Isn't that called Legacy?

[@ickyy]

@@Rankurusu777 from my understanding the official Pokemong TCG legacy only goes back to Black n white? someone correct me. But im old af and i would love support for Base to Neo maybe lol

[@DerpyMudkipTCG]

@@ickyy I don't think there are any leagues that play legacy or unlimited. legacy is for the pokemon trading card game online and is from the first heart gold soul silver set to the last black and white and unlimited is a format where you can use any card ever made. there isn't an official format that only uses the older cards.

[@supermalukim8447]

Unlimited is broken... by "porydonk"

[@exeledusprince9165]

Do The Wave was my favorite deck of the era by far. I splashed some Aerodactyl into mine though, since I was using mysterious fossil anyway, it made sure powerful evolutions blastoise, alakazam, venusaur, and even opposing wigglytuff didnt even hit the board, and its fighting resistance made it a good switch into hitmonchan. Being fighting itself, it dealt good damage to other wigglytuff and chansey. Didnt even require any special energies either.

[@Mark-in4sh]

I love how good the woman yelling at a cat meme is. I swear I see it like every other day

[@ClexYoshi]

going into this video thinkin', "This is the part where Jwittz helps people remember how crazy Rain Dance is" and then NOPE!

[@CrusixOfficial]

Just finished replaying the Pokemon TCG game for Gameboy Colour, and I think raindance still holds up against this stall deck, as the 3 magikarp, 3 squirtle, 2 lapras can deal with mr. mime. lickatungs retreat cost being 3 also can make it a good target for gust of wind forcing energy to be used on it. the deck also seems to only run fire energy, so mr mime cant use his very strong attack when he's stalling an opponent out. plus, even with paralysis succeeding, with the surplus energy raindance affords you, you can retreat out the paralysed and get in a strong gyrados/articuno attack. 3x squirtle 1x warturtle 3x blastoise 3x magikarp 3x gyrados 2x articuno 2x lapras 3x professor oak 4x bill 3x pokemon breeder 3x potion 3x gust of wind 2x energy search 4x energy removal 21x water energy

[@jacobg6628]

First off, I adore the memetastic preview image. Its great! Second, this is actually kind of amazing how this deck came into being, and how effective it worked. What a crazy story and you did a great job laying out the background and details, as the last time I came close to playing PTCG was in the video game version on the GameBoy.

[@Dollightful]

That intro is slick!

[@2749rnefjkbkfsgn]

I think its interesting how much unexplored space there is in these early card game meta games. The reality is much of the meta-game was local, so there was no where near the level of optimization there is today. I think it's cool to go back and realize some of these strategies. Very good video.

[@RedSilvers]

Back when I was a TCG Gym Leader, I used a variety of decks, including Haymaker and Rain Dance... But the deck I had the most fun with was Wigglytuff, Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Call for Family and Do the Wave!

[@emmaramirez4330]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours -- please do more content on retro TCG!

[@garryoak]

The best part about this video is that we're in 2020 talking about cards from when I was kid, the second best part is how you show the holo backgrounds perfectly.

[@insanecrusties]

I remember playing with and against this deck, but a later variant that used aerodactyl as the only evolution to lock out opponents. When someone at a toys r us Pokémon league showed me that it genuinely blew my mind and is one of the “eureka!” moments that got me hooked on TCGs for life.

[@tdimensional6733]

2:56 Seeing this card art, I find it unbelievable that a variant of the Pepe Silvia bit hasn't been made yet with this

[@Zero_Chaos]

Love the shout-out to Ness's website. It's an incredible asset for old TCG metas. Also, you can get some game vs stall as a mewtwo deck with Mr. Fuji to shuffle a ton of energies in. Just gotta be careful not to get bopped by mew or Ditto yourself.

[@YukeWeiss]

Checked out Jason K's articles. Lost 3 hours. What a memory trip

[@Auron3991]

Having played both Haymaker and Rain, I can tell you what the issue is: they dig through so many cards (if 1/2 of their deck hasn't been flipped up within the first three turns, they've probably stalled) that they run on a knife's edge. Knocking them off it runs them out of cards very rapidly. This is why proper stall is so devastating to them. Stall tends to fall apart when continuous pressure is applied (try running stall vs pokemon that poison on one energy and you'll see what I mean). The grand irony is that Haymaker and Rain hit too hard, so their popularity checked stall's counter right out of the meta, which opened them up to their greatest weakness.

[@maskofice9432]

It'd be interesting to see a more developed meta for retro Pokemon TCG. You might end up with that three way power balance of stall being effective against aggressive decks, but faltering against status decks, and status decks of course folding before aggressive decks. And maybe that wouldn't end up happening, there's of course healing options, ability to recover HP all over the place, and even in the best version the ability to still take prize cards. But part of me is curious

[@samuelhain2160]

@@maskofice9432 Given enough time in a developing meta the rock paper scissors always falls apart as the top decks develop ways to check their own counters or they disappear entirely. Look at something like MTG Legacy and Pauper (and other 'old' formats) and you'll see there is a strange lack of "true" archetypes. Combo decks take on elements of control or aggro, control decks take on elements of stax or tempo and win off locks or combos, and the aggro decks either become tempo, stax, or combo themed themselves. A developed metagame always looks like this where the top decks have few actual bad matchups, because they have evolved to resist the matchups they should be weak against by incorporating elements of other strategies into their own just for that reason. Rock Paper Scissors matchups are just the awkward teenage years.

[@maskofice9432]

@@samuelhain2160 Ah, good to know

[@yaboityler2617]

It's hilarious that hitmonchan is a F- tier pokemon in the regular games but an absolute menace in the card game

[@martinschlemmer9707]

when I saw the thumbnail all I could think was Raindance xD I could have a fully setup board by turn two in the pkm tcg for gba xD

[@SaberWolf94]

I'm glad you showcased Jason's Wordpress page. I cited and mentioned it countless times in my videos as the best source to get the gist of retro pokemon tcg formats and decks. I learnt about Haymaker not being the best deck from that era through those articles years ago. You can even experiment with his own decklists listed there and then go from there.

[@konvoi]

Man, I feel like I missed out on all this for the card games.

[@belicose9]

Man, I really like seeing retro Pokemon TCG content on this channel. Seeing these cards and these decks really takes me back. I’ve always wished that I could time travel back to middle school and teach my 4th grade self how to properly build a deck. I’m very tempted to sleeve up my old cards and see if I can beat this monstrosity of a deck. I’m thinking an anti-trainer strategy using Lass as disruption might stand a chance. Thanks for the awesome content JWittz!

[@UrielTheAngelOfLight]

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who knew about Lickitung!! I literally built this deck 20 years ago and went undefeated at my local play store. Good times!

[@Bludijin]

The Pokemon TCG for GBC came out on the Switch recently. Beat it for the first time in 20 years using both a Haymaker and a Raindance deck. Found some of the stall decks in the Science and Psychic Clubs to be really annoying. Gonna hafta look up the card list for this deck and give it a whirl.

[@RiriStar1020]

I remember using Lickitung a lot back in the Pokemon TCG video game, I never once thought to make a deck around stalling with it. This strategy is evil and I love it lol

[@MrAdam11223344]

An underrated card is Venusaur, with its pokepower it allows you to transfer energy between pokemon. This works extremely well with pokecenter allowing for full heals if needed. partner that with poison effects from beedrill's line and it becomes the true stall and melt deck.

[@doomswell]

I had those books and after I treated them like bibles playing the physical card game, I treated them like walkthroughs for the gameboy game. Theres one deck, I think they call it Furious Commons or something that is really under-rated, especially for the gameboy game. Basically Machop/Hitmonchan, Staryu and Rattata. 1 energy for 20 damage can get some lucky turn 1 wins.

[@cortez4532]

This was a solid video JWittz! I know I'm a year late but me and my friend have been getting into the Pokemon TCG Gameboy Color game. So far they've pulled out the two big classics on me: Haymaker AND Rain Dance. I managed to snipe a win against the Rain Dance with a Venucenter deck but I was concerned about my ability to remain competitive throughout our little competition. I've always been a big fan of Lickitung and stall playstyles so hearing his stall power is top-notch pleases me to no end. This might just become my fave deck! Thanks for the informative presentation and good storytelling! The link to that quality blog also helped.

[@Colboi92]

I really appreciate the Pokemon TCG Gameboy music, that game was a huge part of my childhood

[@lance5691]

I love this. I created a "randomized" pokemon deck where I used some parameters to create a random water deck with a small amount of colorless pokemons in the mix to give myself a challenge in the Pokemon Trading Card Game for GBC, and one of the cards I ended up with was lickitung. It was a little annoying since I had to play my deck slower sue to the high energy cost and the general lack of cards randomly generated to help him retreat, but I realized they were a very powerful pokemon in terms of high HP and a 1 energy 10 dmg + 50% paralysis.

[@JoeNeutrino]

That was another really interesting video. I love this channel. It's hard to think of another channel that I've enjoyed so consistently for so many years.

[@pamoon_]

I just got the Pokemon TCG game on 3DS not to long ago and...I am a sucker for control decks. Like how we have Mystic Mine in Yugioh ;)

[@Shiny_Misty]

I remember how my mom used Mr. Mime! And with Alakazam, too! I hated it SO MUCH! XD

[@MrVariant]

Mom is no joke. One just topped 8 www.thegamer.com/mom-tags-along-pokemon-tcg-tournament-top-8/

[@blowc1612]

Pidgeot is the best answer against me mime.

[@Winterhe4rt]

I read Jasons block multiple times about this time era and its a great source of knowledge for sure! THOUGH what happend I think is that during game testing they didnt set up any time limit. All those Stall decks they discovered from base to Neo are so good cause after a 2 hour game the stall deck will very likely come out ahead. If you set up a time limit of the usual 30-60 min tournament rules zho those stall decks often falter under the pressure of at least drawin 1 more price than the opponent. Haymakers and Sponge Variants were so good cause they could dish out insane damage in a short time and draw a reasonable amount of prices even if it didnt draw all 6 prices in most games.

[@OutcastFalcon89]

I remember begging my mom for those exact books. I think I still have a few in a box somewhere. Wow the nostalgia hit so hard with this one.

[@anthonymeleco2280]

Great video! I played a variant of Haymaker in the early sets with Wigglytuff doing most of the damage and no Electabuzz (less required energy types). It wasn't my favorite deck though. Feraligatr once Neo Genesis came out was my favorite! You could do as much damage as you needed and recycle all the cards used. It competed against Sneasel decks (basically a new variant on Haymaker) and did reasonably well. It did struggle against Slowking though :( Ah, good times! Oh yeah, Lickitung does seem like a hidden gem haha. Edit: Oh man I recognize Jason Klaczynski! Guy is a legend with the TCG

[@ottersintuxedos4981]

Bring back The National Dex No! Not that one: Alex and Kellz!

[@Speedrunner0218]

Sword and shield may do it. They are slowly adding back all the left out pokemon. It's only 200 for now, but hopefully soon we can get the other 200.

[@ottersintuxedos4981]

@@Speedrunner0218 my comment might not have been clear, but I don't care about the other Pokémon

[@megatronacepticon]

I think the reason the Gameboy Game guide said Lickitung was crap was because in that game the coin flips were heavily rigged against you, so a card that relies on them going your way is going to be pretty useless in that kind of environment.

[@GunnarWahl]

OMG! we have a name for a thing called "The Lickatung strategy" and to see him come up made me die in laughter. "The lickitung Strategy" was any pokemon that could do 10+ damage and did paralysis. "That gasly has 40 hp, ah but it has the lickitung strategy." was a common phrase we through around. He was FAR from ignored by my friends and I, and I was the owner of that Lickitung, he was my star player. (him and my arrodactyl who kept people from evolving, my Khanguskan who just hit hard and confused and that deck had that Hitmonchan actually and Mr. Mime.)

[@semigloss]

I played the “Lickitung strategy” in my 2000 STS top 8 deck with Gastly. It won me at least 2 games.

[@dovesr0478]

Great video, it's really cool to see very old formats re-examined like this. Crazy to think that the literal best deck in the format was completely unknown to even the best players at the time. I wonder if anything similar could happen with other TCGs.

[@josephmoore286]

Me: *reads video title Me after watching video: My childhood is a lie! I tried using Lickitung but removed it due to the low damage output X_x I was never big in to stalls. Reminds me of when my cousins played the Harry Potter TCG. I did not have any cards, so I took their extra cards and made a deck. It was mostly magic focused, barely any creatures. I whooped their butts with it! We even went to a small tournament where it was us three and a couple who had multiples of every card. I think I came in 2nd or 3rd, hahaha.

[@samuelhain2160]

I recently collected the Harry Potter TCG (only 5 sets, low demand,) and was looking into decks. While creatures are the easiest way to go, I was surprised by how many other options there were. There's a mono-quidditch deck that works by playing the really hard to win matches and then playing a full set of the two cards that just win the match. I hope I get to actually play it someday

[@maskofthedragon]

I mean... that final deck is basically the same idea as Haymaker (Big basics that use little energy)

[@Gaia_BentosZX5]

Actual video starts at 2:17

[@RelaxedSniper]

My brother and I periodically go back and build new decks from Base-Destiny. While doing this I built a broken, budget unknown deck! The deck was relentless with cycling the cards I needed and if my brother was able to KO one of Unknown I was able to put into my deck and pull it back out onto the battlefield on my turn! It’s one of my favorite decks I have ever built and is so fun to play!.

[@Djnightmare14]

You have to do one about Yu-gi-oh TCG and the Yada lock!

[@delojin]

IMO b/c the gameboy game used predetermined coin flips, coin-flippers were less random and thus less reliable. So Lickitung's ability, depending on what coin you were using, would either lose completely or get a heads each time.

[@pat7202]

8:57 a pokemon tcg player just used the word mill (short for millstone) in a sentence.

[@Talendale]

Remember that Pokemon TCG started off life as a Wizards of the Coast game in America. That meant a lot of Magic players got in early to what was obviously going to be WoTC's next big thing (until Nintendo yanked the license and deliberately upstatted/changed the cards to make the old cards mostly useless, LOL) and terminology easily and rapidly passed from one game to the other.

[@ELTIGERE147]

So awesome to see jwittz doing a pokemon card video once and awhile. Been here since pokemon card facts videos.

[@Skyao]

This was really fun, I enjoyed the trip to the past and a bit of an introduction to the old meta

[@nstruja]

I only went to one Toy r us tournament back in the day. I remember I got a “badge” for just showing up. I was too young, maybe 8, to really understand the tcg, but I now enjoy getting to learn about what I missed out on. The video games were so much cooler to me back then, so I just stuck with that.

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

"Everything that you think you know is a lie!" ~ 'O' , Doctor Who.

[@danthewildbirdman]

I had an old school energy removal deck. If there was any interest in it, I could re create it for a video.

[@ZackRoome]

Mew,Mewtwo would Like a word

[@HaydenX]

This is interesting, because I had a lot of success with a deck I called "Steam Maker". It forewent Hitmonchan, instead being a Water/Fire/Electric Deck containing Lapras, Fossil Magmar, and Electabuzz along with Dragonair and Kangaskhan. Base Set Dragonair is one of the most overlooked BS cards of the era. 4 Energy Removal, 4 Super Energy Removal, and 3 Dragonair meant that your opponent was *not* keeping any energy on anything. It was still a prize-drawing deck...but a slow one that was very difficult to out. I won quite a few tournaments with it, but I couldn't ever get to any kind of tournament that wasn't very local simply because I had no money and no one willing to drive me for miles just to "play a game". I'm not surprised about this deck though...I toyed with Lickitung vs Kangaskhan a lot when I played my deck.

[@Puffzilla777]

THIS SOME GOOD CONTENT

[@christphern]

My go-to deck back in the early 2000’s (like, circa 2000 or 2001) was a stall deck nicknamed “Erica’s Drat-brat deck” by most haymaker players. I ran Erica’s Dratini, which reduced all damage by unevolved Pokémon to 10, comboed with Base Set Alakazam to move damage around, Base Set Chansey to soak damage. Erica’s Dratini could do 10 damage a turn with a chance to paralyze, I could shuffle all the damage dealt to it to Chansey, drop Pokémon Center when it was high enough to justify, run Item Finder to get them back, and plenty of the various potions to do occasional cleanup. And funny enough, it ran Jungle Lickitung because of the health and similar paralyze attack as Erica’s Dratini. Throw in some Elms and Computer Search to look for my various cards, Pokemon Breeder to get Alakazam on the table, and it was a killer deck that annoyed more than it’s fair share of players. I also remember being the one in my area to make people realize how good Elm was right after Neo came out. I traded quite a bit of good cards to get a play set of Elm for a different stall deck, which drew much laughter from the people I played with. I won that weekend tournament because I stalled my opponent until we were both down to our last cards. He thought he’d won, since I had just drawn my last card, until I threw down Elm. My hand at the time had over 25 cards, which refilled my deck, giving me the win. Good times.

[@Tun-Dar]

I'll have two number 9's, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45's, one with cheese, and a large soda.

[@ultrachaos1596]

I think I failed to say why I think why this is such a great intro. The reason why I find this to be such an amazing intro is that it shows how much you evolved from being someone who just did Pokémon videos and that intro sows everything your channel is all about. Your not just into Pokémon your all about other card games and video games and more so that’s why I think this is the best intro

[@Venemofthe888]

Everyone playing tcg Then theres me who likes the look and collect the cards from many different series

[@TheCreepypro]

man it is good to see papa Jwittz talking about the pokemon tcg again

[@andrewkos5560]

No one, absolutely no one. Not a soul JWittz: This 20+ year old TCG deck is GARBAGE. HERE'S WHY!

[@samwai3762]

But it is just talking about the old cards

[@Buttington_Headerson]

What

[@denizdix]

The way he said "Scoop up" at 13:37 sounds like the beginning of Scat Man

[@crazysnowballgamingandpoke574]

Hello, I’m early and don’t know what to say.

[@Apocralyph]

I love Jasons blog, especially the DPP and HGSS parts from when I first learned about the game.

[@Yous0147]

This is some OG Jwittz content and I'm here for it!

[@Moon525]

Wow that new animate intro was SO COOL!!!

[@rhettorical]

I haven't played the game since I was a kid (and I gave all my cards away to a couple of kids I used to babysit when they got into the game), but Haymaker was a deck title I recognized. Couldn't remember why, until I saw your shots of the Player's Guide. I remember having that book as a kid, and being so disappointed that I'd never be able to run Rain Dance, Haymaker, or Invisible Stall because they required cards I didn't have. I wish I could go back in time with all the card game knowledge I've amassed since then. I'm sure I would have loved the Pokemon TCG, but I never had the money to buy cards, or the friends to play with.

[@SuperCripple]

Awh.. I miss Pooka.. Coming home after work and watching him play PTCGO on Twitch was one of the highlights of my week. I was so sad when I heard he was quitting, but also hyped that he had gotten the new job.

[@emred4653]

if i ever replay the pokemon tcg gba games i will try this

[@abrahamdrinkin2534]

Bout to rain these hands for that Rain Dance insult.

[@ThePoisonSword]

I remember playing a casual deck that I just played at home against my brothers. It was an Energy Trans Venusaur deck. Yes, THAT Venusaur. It was my favorite Pokémon, and I didn't know any better. But I do remember also having Likitung in my deck, and it was a great Pokémon to lead games with. I didn't even have that many healing items, but 90 HP was able to take hits forever. I definitely didn't have much strategy then, but now the idea that Likitung was able to hang around for a long, long time just seems so brilliant to me. Now I know what I need to do when I go back and play the Pokémon TCG Gameboy Game.

[@StarFounde7]

LOVE the new intro keep up the great work wittz!

[@CodeRedDamax]

That pojo magazine cover... I read that thing front to back, and inspired me to get into the competitive scene back then. Made a rain dance deck and TERRORIZED my local scene

[@shermanthemerman]

As usual, anytime you make pokemon TCG content you can hear the love in your voice. It's why I subbed way back in the day, and why I'm never going anywhere! Keep up the great work! Also would love to see a series of you laying out the history of competitive pokemon tcg, just an idea!

[@apocryphgaming9995]

One of the things I really liked about the GBC game is the addition of "GB" cards that utilised RNG in the game - something you could only do in a video game rather than a physical card game (unless you start incorporating dice rolls, and even then how 'random' are those *really?*). There was something about the GB-exclusive "Legendary Moltres" that fit really well with fire decks, to the point where one of my favourite decks in the game utilised Moltres and Scoop Up to harvest all the fire energy out of the deck early on. This meant the odds of drawing a non-energy card each turn increased, too. Sure, in competitive play it would have left me wide open to something like an Imposter Professor Oak card, but very few people ran those. One of the other decks I ran was built around Dragonair's Hyper Beam, with some Chansey and Wigglytuff thrown in for good measure. I actually felt like Dragonair was a better card than Dragonite. But having Dragonair as a built-in Energy Removal was excellent at putting energy-heavy decks on the back foot. It wasn't perfect, but then as this video explores, neither were some of the most iconic and powerful decks in the game.

[@gregorysmith9114]

Back in Highscool in 2012 I started playing Pokemon TCG again with some friends. They had current cards and I just had cards from the original 3 sets from when I was a kid. I played the Alakazam stall deck you mentioned with one card I didnt see you bring up. Fossil Tentacool. With Alakazam, Tentacool became an infinitely reusable potion. Literally anything short of a OHKO would do no damage. I ended up making a random water deck too since no one had fun playing with that one (except me)

[@tymime]

For some reason I was obsessed with the Prima strategy guide for the TCG GBC game...

[@JCBjr15]

Why arent you the most subscribed channel on KZbin yet? Your thumbnails and intro are god tier!