The InSaNiTy ProjecT

 
Prologue
 
       Last I left you was about 4 months ago when the release of InSaNiTy v X.o plummeted my P.R. ratings and the criticism wasn’t that which I knew, rather a new breed of “superiority” and “1 4/|\ 37143” talk. I was about to quit, one of the first ones, but thanks to a certain somebody, IP Geek, I received various e-mails (200+) from people around the PokéWorld calling for me to not throw the white towel out and to return. To my surprise, I stayed. Two guys from Jersey, MysticZapdos and zappy3000, hired me to design their website, The Pokémon Ruins, and I did just that. When it was done, I decided to put some funds into it, and thus my re-entry into the PokéWorld began. The Pokémon Ruins took only 1/4 of my time so I dedicated the other 3.4 to do what I always have done best: playtest and construct decks. I began to gather all of my information from my sessions and put all of them and some added bonuses together, including mini-memoirs throughout, into one document: The InSaNiTy ProjecT. I also observed the WizPoG and PoJo communities in which 2 months after my pseudo-absence, a rise in interest in InSaNiTy and the term TecH were thrown around, and still are unfortunately, everywhere. Barring the fact that these communities are filled with a over flooding part of “newbies” and a rise in retirement rates of older players, I quickly set out to do what I do second best: muck up the current Standard play environment, teach “newbies”, mess with peoples’ heads, and overall: make InSaNiTy number 1 again >=)
 
Thus I begin the InSaNiTy ProjecT with a recap of how it came to be. What about InSaNiTy you say? It’s farther along but everything before it is a must read and is great stuff too =.) The first section of InSaNiTy covers the HistoRy of InSaNiTy up to version X.o, or InSaNiTy X as commonly known. Before I start anything, though, we must of course adhere all United States regulations and so forth so that I do not have to handle any legal matters and make my lawyers three times wealthier than they already are. Without further ado, I present the Warnings and Disclaimers Section. It is your responsibility to read this, liability falls upon you for the sake that you have been warned…
 
Caution:
       The reading of this deck can warp your mind into a couple of useless hemispheres. Don't think too hard while reading the deck and its strategy. If you (or anybody present with you while reading this deck) have any sort of a heart condition (including heat murmurs) please be careful while reading. Side effects include (and are not limited to):
 
Nausea, Vomiting, Indigestion, Dizziness, Insomnia, Occasional Psycho Babble, RandomMonkey33 thoughts such as the thought that “Clowns will eat you”, Random blurts of intelligence ala Lugia909, the constant visualization of cute yellow little rats, Suicide Mental States, Homicidal Mental States, Loser Mental States, Anxiety, Depression, if you’re lucky Openness and Euphoria, and the wanting to playtest a multiple amount of times a day. You have been warned. Thank you for taking your time to read this warning.
 
Disclaimer:
        lurili is not responsible for any damage done as a result of reading this article, he is not responsible for your going brain dead in the middle of the article, nor can he be held accountable for any actions performed by some small children imitating him ala that MTV™ show. Kids, please do not try this at home, only per chance with parent consent under close supervision. Otherwise, any attempts made blaming lurili from there on are invalid, void, and unlawful in accordance with US Laws and State of Florida Laws of slander and libel. lurili is also not responsible if somewhere in the middle of this article you ever hang over your, keyboard, grab at your chest, and try to dial 911 all at the same time. Also, lurili will not pay for any damage done to your mental, physical, or emotional health. Thank you for reading this disclaimer.
 

Section I – An Overview of InSaNiTy
 
Chapter 1: The HistoRy of InSaNiTy v3.o

 
InSaNiTy
 
Welcome, you are perhaps here to witness the evolution of the deck phenomenon known as InSaNiTy. If I am correct, I suggest you stay in this section reading the scrolls of time to know everything there is to know about the deck InSaNiTy and how its current shape took place and evolved over time.
 
In the beginning...
 
The introduction of InSaNiTy was quite a big event. It rocked the Pokémon community and produced a whole new form of thinking and deck-building which is still utilized today.
 
The InSaNiTy ReVoLuTioN
 
The InSaNiTy ReVoLuTiOn was begun by the famed originator of InSaNiTy: The Deranged Parrot. He posted the first version of InSaNiTy on the PokéGym UBB on November of the year 1999. The first version of his then untitled deck went as follows:
 
4 Fossil Magmar
4 Scyther
 
4 Bill
2 Oak
4 Energy Removal
4 Super Energy Removal
4 Scoop Up
4 PlusPower
4 Energy Search
3 Energy Retrieval
3 Computer Search
ItemFinder
 
4 Double Colorless Energy
13 Fire Energy
 
Well. In retrospect, the deck really wasn't all that. It had too much energy, too little PC Searches, and too little Oaks. After T.D.P. posted this marvelous piece of work, he received some help on the project from the originator of modern day PokéPhysics: tedv. This mastermind helped T.D.P. evolve this deck into its current status. Along with tedv, Clash of the Titans, and Paragon of Virtue jumped aboard the project and thus a name was given to the project: InSaNiTy.
 
This group of guys then introduced the revolutionary idea of Trainer involvement in the game. The main thought tedv stated was the fact that 4 Professor Oaks were not enough. tedv then proceeded to introduce the first of his Einstien-ish theories:
 
"Now let’s evaluate our trainers mathematically.
 
Versatility (V) is the chance of wanting to play the card. For example, if want to play Super Energy Removal 80% of the time it's in my hand, V is .8.
 
Resource Trade Factor (RTF) is the number of resources the card will give you for playing it. Super Energy Removal has a RTF of 2, because it nets a 2 energy loss from your opponent.
 
Card Cost (C) is the number of cards lost to play the card. Bill and energy removal cost 1 card while Super Energy Removal costs 2 cards. CPU Search costs 3 cards. I estimate that Oak costs 2 cards because you have to play the oak and you generally discard 1 other card (after you're done with Item Finder and CPU search).
 
Advantage (A) is RTF * V - C. Positive numbers mean you've gained pure card advantage. Zero means you've broken even (but hopefully are winning on another resource such as time-- which is why energy removal is good.) Negative means you've given up card advantage. Negative advantage cards should only be played if they have a powerful synergy. For example, using CPU Search before a Professor Oak isn't really losing cards because you would have discarded those cards to Oak anyway.
 
Name: RTF V C A
 
Oak: 7 .7 2 2.5
 
Bill: 2 1.0 1 1.0
 
ER: 1 1.0 1 0
 
Energy Search: 1 1.0 1 0
 
Gust of Wind: 1.2 .7 1 - .16 (RTF is from prize and/or lost energy)
 
CPU Search: 3.5 .7 3 - .35 (High RTF because of Oak)
 
Item Finder: 3.5 .7 3 - .35
 
Scoop Up 1 .6 1 - .4
 
SER: 2 .7 2 - .6
 
Energy Retrieval: 2 .7 2 - .6
 
Plus Power .3 .9 1 - .73 (Might get prize from extra damage)
 
When choosing trainers for this deck, we rank the cards on usefulness. We have 33 trainer slots to choose from. We play 4 copies of every card with 0 or higher usefulness because these cards cost us NOTHING.
 
4 Bill
4 Professor Oak
4 Energy Removal
4 Energy Search
 
Now we need to fill in the remaining slots with relatively high values. Technically stated the optimal solution is a complicated maximization problem dealing with V as a decreasing function, not a constant (eg. you are less likely to play the second Gust of Wind as the first). But I'll skip the formality and just hand tweak the remaining trainers.
 
We have 17 slots left. We know that the following is optimal from play testing:
 
3 CPU Search
3 ItemFinder
2 Gust of Wind
 
Now we have 9 slots left for Scoop Up, Plus Power, SER, and Energy Retrieval. Unfortunately, all of these cards have low advantage values because they're so situational (low versatility).
 
Now other factors come into play, namely the low number of basic Pokémon and energy in this deck. Scoop Up and Energy
Retrieval are really important to support this weakness of the deck.
 
3 Scoop Up
3 Energy Retrieval
 
Now we have 3 slots left and need to decide between Super Energy Removal and Plus Power. The numbers suggest SER because
it has a higher advantage value, although Plus Power has higher versatility. I'm pretty sure we want:
3 Super Energy Removal
 
But this should be playtested."
 
 
Well, that last line struck home with me. I began from there on to just rigorously playtest and do the PokéCalculus shuffle, too. I still to date use the above mentioned formulas when I TecH sometimes.
 
Well, enough about me. Tedv then came to the aforementioned conclusion that:
 
"FOUR PROFESSOR OAKS ARE *NOT* ENOUGH!"
 
T.D.P and tedv were winning yet those 2 Scythers were bothering them. They split paths and worked on a version 2.0a and 2.0b, respectively. Version 2.0a was as follows:
 
InSaNiTy 2.0a
 
4 Electabuzz
3 Magmar
3 Hitmonchan
 
6 Electric Energy
6 Fire Energy
5 Fighting Energy
 
4 Professor Oak
4 Bill
4 Energy Search
4 Energy Removal
4 Super Energy Removal
4 Scoop Up
4 PlusPower
3 Energy Retrieval
2 Computer Search
 
And Version 2.0b was:
 
InSaNiTy 2.0b
 
4 Electabuzz
4 Magmar
 
7 Electric Energy
9 Fire Energy
 
4 Professor Oak
4 Bill
4 Energy Search
4 Energy Removal
4 Super Energy Removal
4 Scoop Up
4 PlusPower
4 Energy Retrieval
4 Computer Search
 
There was a lot of debate over the setup. 10 or 8 Basics? The deck entered a stagnant period where it was hard to really decide. Then tedv broke the ice and cut a Super Energy Removal, claiming it was too situational. From there they playtested and found out 8 Basics was just better. This led up to the Third Version of InSaNiTy:

InSaNiTy v3.0
 
4 Electabuzz
4 Magmar
 
7 Fire Energy
7 Electric Energy
 
4 Oak
4 Bill
4 ER
4 Energy Retrieval
4 Energy Search
4 Computer Search
4 PlusPower
4 Rocket's Sneak Attack (Jap. times)
3 Scoop Up
3 Super Energy Removal
 
With this version came the scream heard for the ages by Clash of the Titans:
 
"Okay I just tested the most INSANE of all INSANITIES today."
 
His deck was dubbed version 3.5:

InSaNiTy v3.5
 
4 Magmar
4 Buzz
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 PlusPower
4 ER
4 Comp Search
4 Energy Search
4 Energy Retrieval
4 SER
4 Scoop Up
2 GOW
2 ItemFinder
 
6 Lightning Energy
6 Fire Energy
 
This version was the version that went through and received approval from the PokéCommunity. It was just extremely beatdown oriented and won games by turn 3. Yet then things went crazy. The spread of InSaNiTy's Achilles Heel began to go around. The deck was prone to Lass and tedv and T.D.P. knew it. They tried to quickly draw up a solution but they found none. Then one day tedv just thought it through:
 
"Here’s the solution. Play Lass ourselves."
 
With this in mind and the then current control Wiggly had on the environment, the following version became the first deck in which I came into the project and introduced and coined the usage of the word TecH. InSaNiTy v4.0, although the last project T.D.P and tedv worked on, was the one that lasted the longest.
 
InSaNiTy v4.0
 
4 Hitmonchan or Magmar
4 Electabuzz
 
6 Lightning Energy
6 Fighting or Fire Energy
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 PlusPower
4 ER
4 Comp Search
4 Energy Search
4 Energy Retrieval
4 ItemFinder
3 Gust of Wind
3 Scoop Up
2 Lass
 
This was New Year's Eve 1999. By the first day of the year 2000, InSaNiTy was the BEST deck in America…
 
Passing of the Torch...
 
Well. The year 2000 began with a bang. A new version of InSaNiTy prepped up to take to any tourney one went to. Heck, I remember that in my local area they barred the playing of such decks in the tourney scene. To hold one and use it was an act of aggression toward the store in which one played. This whole little involvement was what led me to meet up with T.D.P. and tedv. We hooked and became good friends, etc. I helped a bit with 4.0 and then came the big moment. The Team Rocket set was about to be released and when I drew up some schematics for the deck and looked for T.D.P. I couldn't find him. I turned to tedv but he had other interests by March of 2000. It quickly hit me that I was alone. They left me with the task of continuing the whole project and perfecting InSaNiTy. I still kept in contact with tedv to show him the newest findings in PokéCalculus and the like but I did not have the team of Theorists he, tedv, worked with so the work load was a bit heavy. I quickly began work on the release of a Rocket upgrade for InSaNiTy and when I showed it, tedv was quite pleased. From there on InSaNiTy became my trademark, I became the original InSaNe Player, as my sig. defines me.

 InSaNiTy to the MaX

 
With the torch in my hand I held it up high and in March of 2000 introduced the fifth upgrade in the InSaNiTy series. It built on all the tedv and T.D.P. principles but added the then hardly used word I had introduced: TecH. With the introduction of the Team Rocket set, came such cards as Goop Gas Attack and Rocket's Sneak Attack. Thus the deck began to rely on the ability to control the opponent rather than beatdown as it had been doing before 5.0. The environment changed so dramatically that this change came with no conflict. The only problem was the doubters, those who considered InSaNiTy to be a mulligan slush with which one could do nothing. Therefore I introducedVersion 6.0.
 
Version 6.0 was just Version 5.0, yet with tweaks. It had the same engine but incorporated Impostor Oak's Revenge. I saw it as a defensive maneuver against the mulligan issue but little did I know that when I released version 6.5 it actually meant so much along the TecH lines.
 
Version 6.5 was the turning point and evolution of InSaNiTy. InSaNiTy had by June/July lost some touch. Hardly anybody played it because of their inability to grasp the deck just right as the ones who began playing it when it came out did. InSaNiTy v6.5 really took it to a whole new level. With the imminent release of Gym: Heroes, InSaNiTy just took off as a much awaited deck.
 
InSaNiTy v6.5 was dubbed InSaNiTy to the MaX. It brought out a reality check from the PokéCommunity. Something never
thought of before was tried out and succeeded. Over night InSaNiTy received the critical acclaim for which it was meant.
 
InSaNiTy to the MaX v6.5
 
2 Electabuzz
2 Hitmonchan
1 Ditto
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 Computer Search
3 ItemFinder
2 Gust of Wind
3 Impostor Oak's Revenge
3 Lass
4 The Rocket's Trap
3 RSA
2 Goop Gas Attack
2 Energy Retrieval
4 No Removal Gym
 
5 Fighting Energy
4 Electric Energy
2 DCE
3 FHE
 
The usual total of Basics in InSaNiTy was tested and shattered with this whole new idea. I discussed this with tedv in one of the last chats I had with him. He also was kind of iffy on it but when he tested the deck he told me:
 
"8 Basics is a good min to keep to. Yet 5 allows for the Trainer theory we discussed to really shape up."
 
Thus this configuration allowed InSaNiTy to run 41 Trainers, an extremely high and crazy amount compared to the standards of those days.
 
Well, after playtesting over one weekend the deck really was being outweighed. I quickly refurbished it and added Magmars instead of Hitmo and thus with the Trainer theorem in my head I set out to completely abuse of Trainers all I could. With so much TecH flying around InSaNiTy could handle any situation and would also have no problem with mulliganing and the first turn Lassing. This left the deck as follows:
 
InSaNiTy to the MaX v6.7

2 Electabuzz
2 Magmar
1 Ditto
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 PC Search
3 ItemFinder
3 Gust of Wind
4 IOR
3 Lass
4 The Rocket's Trap
4 RSA
2 Goop Gas
3 Energy Retrieval
4 No Removal Gym
4 Full Heal
 
4 Fire Energy
3 Electric Energy
2 DCE
 
This configuration allowed a then heart-attack range of Trainers: 46. The PokéCommunity scorned the fact that it worked. InSaNiTy had become the bottom of the bin for archetypes because not everyone used it. Yet those who followed en suite with the 5 Basics form quickly reaped the benefits. Thus I quickly decided to completely abuse the engine InSaNiTy was running and attempted to tweak it out to just the right level so that those naysayers would just hush up. I quickly formulated 7.0 after my visit to the League one day in August.
 
InSaNiTy v7.o
 
2 Electabuzz
2 Magmar
1 Ditto
 
4 Bill
3 Professor Oak
4 Computer Search
3 ItemFinder
2 Gust of Wind
4 Impostor Oak's Revenge
2 Lass
4 The Rocket's Trap
4 Rocket's Sneak Attack
2 Energy Retrieval
4 No Removal Gym
2 Full Heal
2 Goop Gas Attack
3 PlusPower
 
3 Fire Energy
3 Electric Energy
2 DCE
2 Rainbow Energy
 
The deck had two slots opened and missed the key ingredient for which I was scorned: the 4th Oak. I decided to leave it out. Yet after further testing it reminded me of the talks I had with tedv and I quickly threw it back in. Thus:
 
InSaNiTy v7.3
 
2 Electabuzz
2 Magmar
1 Ditto
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 Computer Search
3 ItemFinder
2 Gust of Wind
3 Impostor Oak’s Revenge
2 Lass
4 The Rocket's Trap
4 RSA
2 Energy Retrieval
4 No Removal Gym
2 Full Heal
2 Goop Gas Attack
3 PlusPower
2 Scoop Up
 
4 Fire Energy
3 Electric Energy
2 DCE
1 Rainbow Energy
 
This version was also the first of all the InSaNiTy decks to include the now infamous and rather valuable Strategy Guide for deck match-ups with InSaNiTy. Yet, as quickly as version 7.3 came out, the deck had to prepare for the next grueling task at hand: Gym: Challenge, coincidence, eh?
 
InSaNiTy v8.o was the specter of things to come. The Strategy Guide was revamped and the addition of the most broken Basic in the game before Neo was obviously adapted into the deck. Rocket's Zapdos became the 20 for 1 Basics that InSaNiTy had last seen in version 5.0. Hitmonchan wasn't viable so the 20 for 1 ideal was absent. Then with the Zapdos in the game, InSaNiTy quickly formulated and evolved around it to adapt with the environments shift toward control and bigger Basics.
 
InSaNiTy v8.o
 
2 Electabuzz
2 Magmar
1 Rocket's Zapdos
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 PC Search
4 RSA
4 The Rocket's Trap
4 No Removal Gym
3 Impostor Oak's Revenge
3 ItemFinder
3 PlusPower
2 Gust of Wind
2 Lass
2 Scoop Up
2 Goop Gas Attack
2 Full Heal
2 Energy Retrieval
2 MasterBall
 
4 Fire Energy
3 Electric Energy
1 Rainbow Energy
 
InSaNiTy broke new ground with this version. It proved the staying power and intent of the originators, T.D.P, tedv, Clash, and Paragon. InSaNiTy 8.o was a kill house full of TecH. It had so many options it wasn't funny. Yet there was something missing. The Basics were there for fun, yet how did one obtain the Basics?

 Moderninity

 
I found myself wasting search and other precious sources of Trainers to get the Basics or save them from "extinction". Thus I again vigorously playtested and came out with the current public version of InSaNiTy.
 

InSaNiTy v9.o and the TheoRy of Stagnant Time

 
The current public version of InSaNiTy, or better said the theory of stagnant time proven. This version was introduced back in about October/November of 2000 to commemorate the one year anniversary of InSaNiTy.

InSaNiTy 9.o
 
2 Electabuzz
2 Magmar
1 Rocket's Zapdos
 
4 Bill
4 Oak
4 PC Search
4 RSA
4 The Rocket's Trap
4 No Removal Gym
3 IOR
3 ItemFinder
3 PlusPower
2 Gust of Wind
2 Lass
2 Scoop Up
2 Goop Gas Attack
2 Full Heal
2 Nightly Garbage Run
2 Good Manners
 
4 Fire Energy
3 Electric Energy
1 Rainbow Energy
 
The introduction and adoption of Nightly Garbage Run allowed the deck to flow and have some more answers to those little problems Scoop Up just couldn't handle. It allows me to toss my Basics to search and draw without worry. This had me revved up. Yet, as revved as I was I really wanted to get this project out of the way and begin work on InSaNiTy X. That's when time just stopped and went stagnant. School and all the other extra-curricular activities in which I was endowed prohibited me from really posting my findings and talking about Pokémon. Now don't get me wrong. I continued to playtest daily, it's just I couldn't share my stuff and post all the things I wanted to bundle up with InSaNiTy X until it’s release. Thus came the most previously anticipated release:
 

InSaNiTy X and the TheoRy of CRiTiciSM

 
        It was the year 2001. InSaNiTy v9.o had been released the week before Neo: Genesis and naturally yours truly was getting ready to release InSaNiTy X (v10.o) for the multitudes with the first official Neo Upgrades to the deck. But then something happened. o_O I didn’t. I kept on playing and was absent from the online community for the first time ever. I was busy studying for my SATs and more school stuff so checking PoJo and the PokéGym was placed on the backburner. December passed without an upgrade, as did January. Not until February was I able to get word out that InSaNiTy X would be coming out soon. This prompted me to introduce the first versions of the TheoRy of InSaNiTy and the second version of the HistoRy of InSaNiTy. Thus I hyped up the release with the multi-page articles which gathered a lot of following. The world was ready for InSaNiTy X so I got some time and got the article together. Little did I know that it would drop like a nuke and the fall-out would be blown in my way…
 
InSaNiTy X
 
2x Fossil Magmar
2x Electabuzz
1x Rocket's Zapdos
1x Erika's Puff
1x Magby
1x Ditto
 
Energy: 9
4x Fire Energy
3x Electric Energy
2x Double Colorless Energy
 
Trainers: 43
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x ItemFinder
4x The Rocket's Trap
4x Energy Removal
3x Impostor Oak's Revenge
3x Rocket's Sneak Attack
3x Nightly Garbage Run
3x PlusPower
2x No Removal Gym
2x Misty's Wrath
2x Gust of Wind
2x Scoop Up
2x Lass
1x Chaos Gym

        Yes, it was the best InSaNiTy to date and it held out through Neo: Genesis without another touch-up to it. But then the TheoRy of CRiTiciSM took over. InSaNiTy X was accepted as it was and it was all good and sugarcoated. But then somebody gave the arrogant and cocky bastards out there a license to voice there opinions freely. This lended itself to some top notch players bashing the deck and the idea of it even working. The multitudes followed in the bashing. I forgot to edit a thing out of the strategy guide for the deck and was bashed myself. It was kind of a “Take your free licks at lurili” post. I stopped all actions and quickly surveyed the Pokémon scene in general. Wow, these people were destroying the very fabric by which the Pokémon community had been constructed with. It was InSaNe, people I had never even heard of or from were bashing my peers, too. The Pokémon community in general was chaotic. Spam and rubble ruled supreme over ideas and quality posts. I was sick of it and publicly announced my retirement from the game on the InSaNiTy X post that I had written.
 
        Truly were some sad times. Some people bashed and flamed the people who bashed me and others began to note what was going on. Yet nobody did anything about it. Only 1 person took into account how truly bad it had gotten and tried to preserve the good of what was left: IP Geek 21. His web site (shameless plug ;.) www.ipgeek21.com had begun to collect the gems of historical articles that had been written and was organizing them all. He asked me for permission to put up InSaNiTy X, the HistoRy of InSaNiTy, and the TheoRy of InSaNiTy on his site and gave me good reason to come back into the game. Following his little misnomer for me to come back I received from the Pokémon community in general a good bunch of e-mails saying that they were sorry to hear I was out of the game and they loved my work. At about this time (March 2001) I was suddenly confronted by two fellows, MysticZapdos and zappy3000, looking for some publicity for a site they were coming up with. They at first hired me for articles but when I told them I was a programmer and a designer they allowed me to put the site together for them. I only did it to get an internship with this firm who wanted to see a variety of designs. When I showed them The Pokémon Ruins, they were rather interested and offered me Server space at a special $50 a month and all I did was intern there. I proceeded to purchase the rights to www.pokeruins.com and thus took complete Webmaster support of the site and have been tinkering at it since then. I spent my time playtesting still even though I was “retired” for that bit until when I made The ‘Ruins. Come that time I decided I would begin research on something colossal to mark my comeback into the game. Thus I began work on the InSaNiTy ProjecT. I took hundreds of notes on each deck creation I was making and decided to stroll around PoJo’s EZ-Boards one day, barring the fact I liked the UBB better. I reposted the HistoRy and the TheoRy of InSaNiTy and all of a sudden the deck garnered cult following. Everyone was either building one or trying one out on PoJo after reading the articles and InSaNiTy X. I dub this the “Summer of InSaNiTy”. Thus I had to finish the InSaNiTy ProjecT for all those PoJo ’uns who gave me moral support through the use of a deck which when it first came out (InSaNiTy X) was written off the map. Thus I set out to finish the ProjecT as a commemorative edition article for all people who have supported InSaNiTy since the beginning and those who support it still now and those who have helped me through the difficult aftermath of the InSaNiTy X fall-out.
 

The InSaNiTy ProjecT

 
        The InSaNiTy ProjecT is the next step in InSaNiTy. It is my re-entrance to the Pokémon community and a culmination in my studies and research which I introduce to the now next generation of PokéPlayers. And for those of you who read the HistoRy of InSaNiTy v2.o, you know what follows ;.) With this next generation, I can again say the common statement of worth, which will not go unheard this time around. The InSaNiTy ProjecT:
 
“… will prove to the world what the future has to hold: InSaNiTy”
 
Thanks.
 
 
       With the HistoRy of the archetype now under your belt, you are entitled to know some more background about InSaNiTy: The TheoRy of InSaNiTy. This covers the meta-conscious aspects of InSaNiTy and how to play InSaNeLy, not how to play InSaNiTy itself, though. Enjoy!
 

Chapter 2: The TheoRy of InSaNiTy v2.o

 
InSaNiTy. One of the most well known decks throughout the Pokémon community. It's foundation, that of a Haymaker, one of the most used decks ever. Yet, then, why is it that hardly anyone plays it?
 
There is a simple answer. They don't know how to. After 2 years of research, constant upgrading and constant playtesting, I was finally able to gather up all my thoughts and post them for the Pokémon community in the TheoRy of InSaNiTy v 2.o. This is the first upgrade to the TheoRy of InSaNiTy. This article is a guide that will allow you to play “InSaNeLy” where wise decisions and thinking ahead are the majority of your thoughts rather than just winning or focusing on how you can get out a of a certain situation. This will prepare you for all that.
 
InSaNiTy in itself, the deck, is the hardest deck to play because of the TecH. Some people consider the decks victories coincidence and luck and that is why this whole thing is only a Theory thus far even into version 2.o and the whole release of the ProjecT. I am aiming with the ProjecT to reach out and get all of this acknowledged so it is no longer in TheoRy form and becomes common knowledge. I hope you enjoy this article and any commentary is welcome. Here goes!
 
Part 1: The TheoRy...
 
        The TheoRy is just that, a theory. It has not yet been proven right or wrong and can either be accepted or flushed. With so much criticism involved you will need to rely on your own knowledge to judge and infer any outcome that you derive from this theory.
 
The basic thing I should warn you about are the doubting and complete ignorance some of you may be accustomed to. Just read and take in and no one gets hurt ;.)
 
The Theory of InSaNiTy basically states the following:
 
"Your deck is your source. Without it, you can not even play the game to begin with. The 60 cards can not just be thrown together, either. All cards must be in the deck for you to get along with the deck and win. Thus, the deck is your “friend”. This “friend” is an extension of interests. The only thing is, as a friend he can offer advice and solutions only, not play for you. You must decide what you do with the advice your “friend” lends you. Your “friend” is also very jealous. He will not allow you to set him down until you know everything about him. Playtesting vigorously until you know if it is your true “friend” (i.e. if it wins or not). Through playtesting you get to know your “friend” better. Thus your perception of the game is enhanced. That does not mean you can not set your “friend” down, but at least arrange a day for a tournament or some casual play to get him in shape. Your “friend” then also acts as a pet creation. It requires your attention and maintenance to keep him running as though a machine you created. Without the right “oil” (cards), he will just creak endlessly and the heat generated will destroy the cogs, or rather internal workings, thus rendering the deck useless to play with. To do this you must pay attention to the little details, what card is usually drawn certain turns and take statistics of how well the deck works. This may seem like a hassle but it leads to better deck-building and fine-tuning of the deck. Your can always dump your “friend” for another friend, but always keep reminders from your previous “friend” (deck) when you make a new deck. The statistics you took with your previous deck allow you to narrow down and fine-tune more easily from the previous knowledge you acquired. This is all a learning process, take what you learn from one deck you played with and apply it to other decks you make and construct, thus the machine reference before makes compares here in that the more you learn about “Mechanics” the easier it is to construct. Thus, with the knowledge gained you can easily formulate your inferences and apply instincts to such a degree that luck is not as heavy a factor as deck construction and overall deck Mechanics knowledge. This is the TheoRy of InSaNiTy (7/15/01)”
 
Part 2: InSaNiTy
 
This is an overview of the Mechanics of InSaNiTy the deck. This part is intended to clear some common confusion and whether you have read parts of it before or not, stick around:
 
InSaNiTy hardly mulligans! When you get to know your deck completely in and out, as mentioned in the TheoRy of InSaNiTy above, you will be capable to predict things like never before, and you will learn to deal with the mulligan or hardly mulligan at all. I can shuffle endlessly and allow you to cut and I will have a 62% chance of drawing 2(2!) Basics. Some might say that it is just luck. It is not. You must get it through your head that luck is not as a huge a factor in the game if you build your deck with a unique build to it. Luck is just a term used when your deck isn't responding. It takes over when your deck is not constructed right and you go against the TheoRy of InSaNiTy and play the deck anyway. You must learn to infer if your deck will or will not work. By playing over and over you get this grasp of commonality and thus the TheoRy takes over instead of Luck and the results are bountiful.  
 
Why does your deck stop responding in the first place, though? You must take all factors into account when you are playing. With InSaNiTy since you have a lot of TecH you must learn to decide what to use when and how. PC Search, Lass, draw into an ItemFinder? No. It isn't that easy. You must think about your options. When you learn to quickly infer about your options it will seem easy and THAT is the goal of the TheoRy of InSaNiTy. You will know what to do in a certain situation and will be able to determine the effect of your play before you make it. Consider it playing on your instincts when you learn to do it. It will become a part of you the more you practice andthus your deck building will increase when you know how a card will affect the outcome of a certain situation.
 
Part 3: How to play the InSaNe Way
 
Well, here is the majority and bulk of the information in this article. This is what the whole TheoRy of InSaNiTy boils down to: how to play InSaNeLy. The reason that it is considered InSaNe is because the usual thought process when one plays a game is not used. Rather, you concentrate on everything that happens and evaluate and analyze all things possible. When you play at this caliber level at tournaments you can be haunted through making the wrong analyzation of a certain situation that the “InSaNe” logo is branded. An example:
 
Bob has 2 ERs in his hand. Sue has a Lass. Sue considers her options and plays InSaNeLy and relies on her senses. She plays an Oak rather and discards the Lass. Next turn Bob plays the 2 ERs which cost Sue the game and a box of cards, the prize for the tourney. Sue then goes crazy thinking it over. Had she played the Lass she most likely would have drawn into 1 of the 3 Bills left in her deck next turn, thus setting up the victory rather than the defeat.
 
That last sentence tells you why it is InSaNe. Since you learn how to consider your options and think it all through as though a sixth sense, when you make a mistake you will know if it cost you the game or not right away and then are hopeless to do anything about it. You must attempt to play as flawless as possible, ALWAYS, and try to concentrate. Do not take an opponent for granted nor attempt to just guess their playstyle. You must take note and work from their, not just judge it from viewing a bit. When you mess up you will think about it for a couple of weeks. This is where the knowledge is derived from. The more you mess up the more you learn, at first. If you just continuously mess up, though, there might not be any hope for you. You will playtest so much against scenarios in which you usually lose and thus temporarily go InSaNe. It's happened =\. Anyhow, here is the guide based off of playing InSaNiTy, the deck, which can be applied to most every deck out there. InSaNiTy is a playing style which can be applied across the boards. Think it through.
 
a. Play a lot
 
I can not stress this point enough. The more you play the more you learn. The more you learn the better you become. The better you become, the smarter your plays will be. Each Turn you take can be divided into 5 segments:
 
a1: Draw phase
 
The Draw phase is a good time to take into consideration deck size. This allows you to more easily, preparedly, and effectively follow through with the second step
 
 
a2: Evaluate your options
 
Evaluate your options. Go through each card in your hand and think about what you have played. How much of a certain card is their a possibility of being in my deck? Should I Computer Search to find that last Oak, and what if it is in my Prizes? What else should I do as a back-up in case it is in my prizes? Evaluate and analyze the situation. This is a MUST.
 
 
a3: Play Trainers Phase
 
Here is where you should take note of: how well your “friend”, the deck, is fairing in the match-up. When you play a Computer Search, go through each card left and take mental notes of what you have and how you could use it. Each Trainer is support. TecH is also played and applied in this phase. All Trainers should be played in an order meant to get the most combo-ability out of them. You just don’t Bill then Oak. You Oak, thus priorities are also an issue.
 
 
a4: Think each Trainer through
 
Thus the latter comments are applied. In what order should the Trainer or Energy cards you are playing be placed in. Think of it as a deeper thinking of Energy Flow then Scoop Up or the Rocket’s Trap. Each deck’s Trainers have a certain combo-ability order in which they should be played to maximize the efficiency of the deck. This is why playtesting the deck methodically and continuously is required to find this fragile balance.
 
 
a5: Attack
 
Of course you end the turn attacking. But this phase also inquires about what Pokémon should be up front and what are you going to do. This requires analyzation throughout your whole turn but a bit on the backburner unless Trainers you use require you to consider and evaluate how you will play out your Attack Phase.

 
b: Think about everything you just did during your opponent's turn
 
This is critical. You should hardly ever pay attention to your opponent. The only things you should pay attention to are his hand size, his bench, his active, and you should try to psyche him out. All of that can give you great advantages. Psyching out by making him think you have a Trap or a Chaos Gym is just fun. While you psyche out your opponent go over every Trainer, Energy, and Pokémon you played in your previous turn. By analyzing all this you are prepared to quickly and efficiently carry out your plays the following turn and by taking into account how well your opponent’s “mental” state is through varying factors and how they are playing, you most likely always gain the upper hand.
 
The big technique I will tell about which ties into this topic is what is called the Mental Count. You should learn to make a mental count of each card you used so that you can think of what is left in your deck. This is how you evaluate your options. By become the friend of your deck you will learn to make mental counts of what's left and how you should partition each thing. How many Full Heals have I used? Maybe I should search for the ItemFinder and reuse that Lass to allow myself some time to get the Full Heal. That is the type of thinking you should do after your turn while you psyche out your opponent. He will think you are looking at his every move when really you are thinking about your turn. It will save you VALUABLE time which you can then use to think over your Pokémon rather than what you are going to do now that it is your turn. This technique is truly effective and is how you play InSaNeLy.
 
c. The Mental Count
 
The mental count is the technique of making the deck your “friend”. After continuously playing with your deck you will learn its knacks and how it acts. You will begin to notice things you never did before. The mental count is the following:
 
"To mental count is to keep track of EVERY card played and as a result, how many cards are left in your deck and the possibility of certain cards being in your prizes. The mental count also extends in the same fashion for your opponent. Take note of what he has played, what you have removed, what card he drew from his prizes when he uses it and so forth."
 
That means yours and your opponents. Yet one thing you should notice is that you will always be a turn ahead of your opponent since your thinking your turn while he is playing his turn. While he thinks about playing that energy you are already thinking about how many Rocket Sneak Attacks you've used and how that Trap in your hand should be used for the Computer Search for the ItemFinder to get the NGR. Hmm. Well, one thing you should think about is: "Are all those cards where they are to begin with???"
 
        This is what the Mental Count enhances. You know if it will be there or not. It aids you in determining such small factors that could make or break you.
 
 
By mental counting you will know what is most likely where and how it’s being there affects your decisions. By knowing how much of what card has been played you will be able to determine if all your NGR are in the discard pile or not without having to check it in the first place. If not then play through and ItemFinder for the Oak instead! If you were following this all, you would have figured that you would go for the Oak as a back-up if all the NGRs were not in the discard pile. This is how you evaluate your options. The obviously easier way of doing all this is to sift through your discard pile. A lot easier but more time consuming. For those of you who are hardcore players and willing to perfect your knowledge of the Mental Count I truly recommend you do because it increases your productivity 3 fold and allows you to weigh out other factors that might be going on in the game.
 
By keeping Mental Counts for your opponent also, it enhances the weight of your decisions, too. When they ever search through their discard pile you know something is up and keep close eye on what they thumb through so that you can analyze what else they might have in their hands and whether it is the right time to Lass or Energy Remove. It might sound kind of evil and all, but this is the rabid truth. It’s as if you are practically playing for your opponent, >=.)  

 
d. Know what your deck is capable of
 
Knowing what your deck is capable of is the most important aspect of the game. By playtesting frequently and knowing what your deck can and can't do you will gain the experience needed to make smart plays and decisions. By knowing what your deck is capable of you will also be able to predict how the game will go against a certain deck like let's say a Lock deck. They are tough cookies but as you play with your deck you will TecH your deck without disrupting your flow. That is how doing the above mentioned techniques, you determine how well your deck can handle certain situations and thus your thinking patterns adapt nominally which leads to better deck construction and better playing. This leads into the next section:
 
Part 4: To Tweak or not To Tweak, that is the question!
 
This is one aspect that you must consider. After playtesting and playtesting and thinking through and knowing the match-ups you will gain a vast amount of knowledge that you can take and utilize whenever you make a new deck, upgrade an existing one, or tweak your current deck.
 
By this I bring up the subject of tweaking. Tweaking is to add a card subtract a card and just plain TecH. Tweaking allows you to view your decks weaknesses and how you should cover them up is based on your knowledge. If you become extremely good off of this whole article you will notice what I mean.
 
By knowing all this info you basically will tweak your deck with expertise rather than sending them down everyday to the deck Mechanics. How do you think they do it! ;.) Anyhow, the easiest method of tweaking is playing against your worst match-up and then your easiest match-up. Add cards to TecH your worst match-up and if they work efficiently go play against your easiest match-up. If you have difficulty you should continue to tweak until you have a certain balance in which you have successfully TecH-ed against both decks and all the ion betweens. It is a time consuming process that lasts weeks but trust me, the satisfaction and boxes of cards that it brings are tremendous!
 
Part 5: Put it all together and what do you have?
 
When you put the techniques described above together you will be able to play practically any deck flawlessly and thus outplay your opponent even in a match-up between a deck that should usually beat your deck.
 
The reason for this is because since you will use all your time effectively you will be able to just pump everything out fast and efficiently. Each play becomes a strategical analysis rather than a game. Even for the casual gamer can these techniques apply. Just not as successfully as hardcore or serious players, though they can develop over time.
 
Part 6: TheoRy Overview
 
It's as simple as that! I do have one thing to state though:
 
Be careful! If you learn and can do all that I have mentioned extremely well you shouldn't be so hard on yourself when you make a simple mistake. Try to control it. InSaNiTy has no cure besides playing more. That is why I post that warning at the beginning of each of the new InSaNiTy upgrades. It is directed at people who commit mistakes and never forgive themselves for not using the Rocket's Sneak Attack and throwing it away for that Computer Search which could have removed that threat which could have given you the trip to the ECSTS.
 
Also, this little Theory guide is not solely directed toward people trying to get InSaNiTy to work right for them. It is more for the whole community. It is a whole guide I have put together based off of my knowledge.
 
 
       Now knowing the TheoRy behind the deck, you must learn the definition of a very important term and how it came to be: TecH. This will give you an understanding of advanced deck building skills and probable insight at better deck construction.
 

Section II – TecH

 Chapter 3: The HistoRy of TecH v1.o

 
       TecH springs its roots from the past when InSaNiTy v4.o was released. It all began when R4Jungle, the other original InSaNe Player, and I were constructing InSaNiTy v4.o. We had just gotten wind of the 2 Lass decision by tedv and decided to try it out. The idea behind 2 Lass to combat and control was astonishing. We then narrowed down how this idea would work. We took the Fossil Upgrade of The Cleaner by The Impossible Man and looked at the Substitute Team he was packing in those days. It was a great idea which R4Jungle and I utilized very often. So the first instance of TecH was a Cleaner. We took the substitute team I-Man suggested and attempted to work it into the deck as extra options the deck could rely on. The experiment failed horribly since Cleaners should not be TecH-ed to begin with, but the knowledge gained was vast.
 
        This was when we took Trainers into account. R4Jungle came up with the term Technical Advantage in that the cards we should add are there to provide TA against the opponent’s deck in general. The 2 Lass being thrown in would give us this TA needed to boost the deck against its weakness while taking control itself. After a bit more playtesting I decided to cut it down and add the upper case H and thus TecH was born.
 
The need for this was tremendous. When I took over InSaNiTy and began to throw the word around for others to use that was the day I messed up the PokéWorld. -_- Everyone began to TecH. At first it was nominal with 3 of this and 2 of that barring that the Old ‘Gymmers knew what I was talking about. But then when the “newbies” got wind, it went chaotic.
 
Since then, TecH has been a fuzzy word. I pushed it into the direction it currently is, which you’ll learn about next, yet the people who threw cards into their deck that I had in InSaNiTy took the meaning of TecH in a different sense. The meaning of the word has shifted various times although I have tried to push it in the right direction. The next chapter discusses the NoTioN of TecH, what TecH is, appropriate uses of the word TecH, and how to TecH in essence…
        

Chapter 4: The NoTioN of TecH v2.o

 
Part 1: What is TecH, anyhow?
 
       As was described before hand, the meaning of TecH has been lost over the years. Some consider it to Metagame (MeTa), others think of it as throwing 1 or 2 cards to combat a certain deck (in essence throwing in 1 or 2 cards to MeTa). Truth be told, not until recently have I decided to clarify the term, I always threw it around myself thinking everyone knew what it was. It was my ignorance to the fact that not everyone knew what it meant which got the likes of Gloom’ “hunting” (no pun intended ;.) me down for having started it. Thus I introduce to you the actual meaning of TecH as compiled over the time I have studied the TecH eFFecT:
 
As according to the lurili Pokémon Dictionary (c.2000)
 
“TecH / tek / n. colloq. –
 
1. A card which is placed in a deck to combat a certain situation the deck is supposedly weak to. The card is placed there in order to combat that situation while not lowering the decks efficiency. The card must have an ideal Resource Trade Factor while still providing necessary Advantage through Versatility. This is all determined through the TecH-ed Card’s role in the deck and its intent. The role of the card is determined through its use and how it is being planned to be used. Whether it is a support or a staple card, the card must have a role in the deck to be considered TecH. The Card’s intent is derived from what exactly it does in the deck, its function, such as Gust of Wind to handle certain Pokémon the deck can usually not handle. TecH cards can come in any quantity as long as it is legal, i.e. 1-4 copies of it, and may be any Rarity. The Versatility of the card must be high so that the Advantage is also high. If the Versatility is found to be too low so that the Card Cost makes the Advantage of the TecH-ed Card below zero, then the card should NOT be TecH-ed to begin with. You must have enough Versatility in the card to garner a high Advantage from it. This is what leads to it being Technical Advantage, (*bells go off*, so that’s why they called it that before… ;.), and Advantage which is derived through the tweaking of the TecH card’s Versatility so as to Technically arrive at a higher Advantage. To tweak a cards Versatility so as to “mock” its Resource Trade Factor to be higher requires special attention and care for the deck.”
 
        Thus TecH is determined through the formulas tedv instituted and suggested when InSaNiTy first came to be. But to get the TecH to work the right way, you must take additional steps.
 
Part 2: So, how do you TecH?
 
        Knowing what TecH is and how you come up with what is TecH and what is not is quite a lengthy project. To get the Versatility and Resource Trade Factors mocked abovethe natural level the card usually has means performing different tests and analyzations on your deck. These are:
 
a. Theme: Careful consideration must be taken to the decks theme. What is the goal of the deck? What is it trying to attain? How does it interact with other decks in certain situations based on its Theme? All this is carefully analyzed in order to determine how the deck will take to being TecH-ed. The Theme of some decks limit their acceptance of TecH seeing that if the theme is nominal and is driven at a certain goal, TecH will not help it reach that exact spot lest it be a main board TecH rather than Support TecH such as a Gust of Wind in a Hunter to Gust Cleffas to the bench. Decks that should be TecH-ed with ONLY Mainboard TecH, regardless of the want or need to include true TecH, are:
 
Hunters, Cleaners, Occult Powers, RainDance, Status Effect Decks, Lock Decks, Dark Muk, SteeLiX, and StaLL.
 
The reason for this is because since these decks partake to a certain theme, to TecH them would make you have to adopt the TecH as an extra feature thus the Theme is jeopardized by the TecH’s inclusion. The focus of the decks require special attention and thus the TecH unbalances the decks means of reaching the goal, whether it be full lock or Water Energy across the board to beatdown. Decks that can be TecH-ed are:
 
InSaNiTy, SlowKing, Haymaker, Wiggly, Sneasel, Sic Powers, Trapper, and most beatdown decks in general.
 
Quite a difference in the decks, no? The reason for this is that most Control decks are oriented to control the game with a certain combo which is the drive of the theme. Beatdown decks require the TecH in order to survive past certain situations in which the Pokémon themselves can not handle (the Mainboard cards do not give a solution) a certain problem. Thus TecH is applied and because of the engines the decks run in the first place the TecH naturally fits. Remember that TecH can come in ANY quantity.
 
b. Resource Trade Factor: This is but one of the most important aspects of getting the right mixture of TecH. The Resource Trade Factor (RTF) is determined by how many resources the card nets you overall for playing it. Such as the max RTF for Goop Gas is 6 barring that it has the ability to stop up to 6 of your opponent’s Pokémon Powers. This is quite unlikely so the usual RTF is defined as 2 due to the fact that the possibility of 2 Pokémon with Powers out at the same time are more likely than all 6. Gust of Wind has a RTF of 1 in that it nets you 1 Pokémon for it, and other cards are applied in the same fashion. The higher the RTF is, the more likely you should add that TecH card in. But what if the ability of the card is great but the RTF is through the floor? Then you perform what is called a “mock” RTF. This takes the card and applies it to other uses. It is a lot harder to determine than normal RTF but it also allows you to TecH the card of your choice if need be. You take the possibility of the card being in your hand and its normal RTF value and multiply it times the number of card discard you have in your deck(1 Computer Search = 2 CD, 1 ItemFinder = 2 CD, 1 Professor Oak = 4 CD to be good, and so on). Take that number and then subtract by the number of card discard and multiply by the cards Versatility, thus you gain the cards “mock” RTF. This is used to determine how well the card does as a dead card if in case you don’t need the card in certain match-ups. But the Versatility is also a big factor. If the Versatility of the card is low to begin with so that you are most likely throwing the card away for Computer Searches and the like, the “mock” RTF is significantly lower than the normal RTF some times. This is when the card should be considered as Mainboard TecH rather than Support TecH. Thus through this process you determine how in what deck the TecH should be included and the amount of it.
 
c. Versatility: The most important aspect of TecH. The Versatility is the chances of wanting to play the TecH during certain situations. It is handled in decimal form derivedfrom percentages. The higher the Versatility, the higher the Advantage gained. Sometimes, though, the card may be extremely good for a certain situation and is a dead card in other situations thus the RTF and Versatility factors are decreased by a great amount. To combat this you do what is called a “mock” Versatility. The mock Versatility raises the Advantage and the mock RTF so that TecH is applied in the quantity needed and used EVERY time it is in your hand. To determine mock Versatility, you start at 100. You take the card’s normal RTF and subtract by it. You then take the mock RTF and divide by it. The number should be below 50. You then take the number of card discard you have in the deck and add it to the total. This total is then added to the card’s normal Versatility and thus the mock Versatility is derived. This tells you the chances of you using the TecH-ed card every time you draw it or recover it from the discard pile. If the mock versatility is below 80% and the normal Versatility is higher, you should stick the card in as Mainboard TecH barring that as Support you would most likely discard it.
 
d. Advantage: The TecH cards Advantage is what TecH is truly about. You take the card’s RTF and Versatility and multiply them and then subtract by the Card’s Cost. You can never multiple two mock numbers because Advantage does not come from discarding the card which generates mock Advantage through discarding for search or other things. You take either a mock RTF or a mock Versatility and multiply it by a normal RTF or Versatility depending what you are trying to gain. If you are striving to have a Versatile card which you can use in a variety of situations you take the mock RTF and the normal Versatility. If you are looking for Advantage through large RTFs which net you card advantage over your opponent such as Lass, you take the mock Versatility and multiply by the normal RTF. Advantage is easy once you get past A and B. But Advantage is not only crunching numbers. You must also take into account:
 
e. Purpose/Intent: During all of the above steps you looked at how the card works and its technical aspects. But what about it’s true face, option wise? The Purpose and Intent of a card is one of the key roles in the TecH Process. What does the card do and what can it do. How likely are you to play it based on its purpose and how likely are you run into a situation in which this card will provide the option to remove the threat or get you out of it. This is what the RTF and Versatility is based on. The situation in which a card shines compared to how likely you are to face that situation. To get the correct idea of this you need to TecH the Weaknesses of the deck so as to have high Versatility and high RTF values based on the purpose/intent of the TecH card. But notice, you do not take into consideration the playing field and what the MeTa is barring that you have taken the weaknesses of your deck first and then MeTa second. MeTa-ing a card drives a card’s Versatility through the ground because the RTF is only high against a certain deck rather than situations as TecH involves. Situations in which your deck shows weakness is harder to overpass than trying to annihilate your friend’s newest creation.
 
f. Support/Mainboard: Taking all of the above that has been said, this is the step in which you determine the quantity of cards to TecH. Taking what has been said, you firstdecide how well worth the normal Advantage that the card offers is. If it is going to be utilized effectively almost every time it is drawn with no need to utilize the mock RTF or mock Versatility steps, you will want to perhaps decide to Mainboard it. This decision spawns from the idea that the card helps the theme of the deck and thus is not TecH in itself but a Mainboard card. This is how you “TecH” the list of decks that should not have Support TecH added in order to focus solely on the theme and goal of the deck. If the card’s Advantage is not sufficient enough to garner a Mainboard possibility, you do all the mock stuff and determine its TecH Advantage. The higher the TecH Advantage there is, the more you would perhaps want to play that card but remember: it is only for Support. Thus you continue to the next step.
 
g: Quantity or Quality: Having determined whether the card is a Mainboard decision or a Support TecH card, you now do the most rigorous part in choosing TecH: Playtesting, yippee. Only through playtesting how well the TecH performs under real life situations can you find the perfect balance of amount of cards to TecH or Mainboard. This is really called Tweaking as was mentioned in the TheoRy of InSaNiTy. You tweak away until the deck runs without a hitch by taking TecH out and applying more TecH or less TecH and so forth. Only by playtesting does it become easier to TecH without having to go through most of this lengthy process.
 
Part 3: What TecH is NOT
 
        There are many misconceptions over what TecH is or is not. TO clear these thoughts, this is a list I have decided to compile so as to clear these misconceptions.
 
        First off, and foremost, TecH is NOT Metagaming. If you still believe it is, please go back through the NoTioN of TecH Article and read it through until you througoughly understand what it says.
 
        Secondly, TecH does NOT mean 1 or 2 cards thrown in. If you see two cards in a person’s deck, it just might mean they have been Mainboarded for a reason at that levelfor a reason, not as TecH. This is one of the biggest misconceptions. TecH cards come in any amount; it all depends on how well they interact with the deck they are in during the playtesting step.
 
        Lastly, TecH is NOT to add super powerful cards. The theme of a deck, whether it be to abuse Pokémon Powers or so forth does not require you to throw in Igglybuff because of the immense power it has. Nor does it mean you should throw in Rocket’s Zapdos into your InSaNiTy as TecH because he is a great Pokémon. There must be REASON for TecH. Otherwise it is just a Mainboard decision, NOT TecH.
 
           Thank you and I hope your understanding of the term TecH has been widened. For additional information based on a debate by a number of different well known Pokémon Players, check out the following link:
 
Stability vs. TecH: A Strategy Debate
 
        Good luck.
 

 
       Still there? Good. Now we enter the big stuff: all the InSaNiTy decks that have taken me four months to bring to you! Enjoy…

 Section III – Decks

Chapter 5: InSaNe CleaNeR

 
       Well, let’s kick this party off with the deck that inspired me to become the player I am today: The Cleaner. I over the past year have tried out different ways of making an InSaNe CleaNeR but none of them have ever worked. It was not until Gym: Challenge came out that it became easier to build it with certain cards that were appearing and come Neo: Discovery, it actually works above and beyond. I introduce to you the first deck in the InSaNiTy ProjecT, my comeback deck which I dedicate to the now retired Impossible Man (T.I.M):
 
InSaNe CleaNeR v12.o
 
Pokémon: (12)
3x Blaine’s Vulpix (Level 18)
2x Blaine’s Ninetales
2x Lickitung
2x Yanma
2x Cleffa
1x Igglybuff
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Blaine
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x PlusPower
3x Energy Removal
3x No Removal Gym
3x Nightly Garbage Run
3x Gold Berry
3x Gust of Wind
2x ItemFinder
2x Lass
2x Goop Gas Attack
 
Energy: (11)
7x Fire Energy
3x Rainbow Energy
1x Recycle Energy
 
        Okay, breathe. lurili is officially back! ;.D Well, now to explain it all lurili style. As I have said before, Cleaners should not include TecH. Thus as you see above, there is no TecH of course. This decks focus is to quickly and efficiently deal out damage. The Gusts of Wind are there to spread the damage across the board. If the Pokémon you face is one of them crazy broken guys you power up the PlusPowers to KO or to do as much heavy damage as possible. Energy Removal is to control Dark Energy or Metal Energy threats that may present themselves which hurt this deck. The Cleaner is obviously Blaine’s Ninetales. When you see that there is enough damage either spread across the board or you require the KO-ing of a particular Pokémon, you drop the Vulpix down on your bench the turn before. Then the second turn you pop up to the Ninetales and attach Blaine for 2 Fire Energy and all your opponent can do is assume the position. If you flip Tails, so be it, you play another Blaine the next turn. If you flip Heads, excellent, go search for some Gold Berries instead. Add to that, if Blaine’s Ninetales is ever hit up and you flip Heads for its attack, you have a free Berry, or whenever you Blaine you have a free Berry. Evil, eh? >=) Yanma is an addition touted as strategically. It allows you to pile up the damage and spread out the Weakness, same as TIM always preached ;.).
 
        Here are some options you can try out that I’ve tried out that work but are really up to the player to make them work:
 
-1 Fire Energy
+1 Gold Berry or
+1 ItemFinder or
+1 Super Rod
 
        If you go with the Gold Berry change, shame on you, I wouldn’t want to play against you for being so abusive to your opponents. If you go with the ItemFinder edit, you will need to work around what you should throw away. Playtest it and see how it works in order to determine how and when to use the extra ItemFinder and for what. Usually I got for a Nightly Garbage Run with the extra ItemFinder while at the same time holding an Oak and discarding some Energy or some Basics for the ItemFinder. And the last edit is a TecH edit which I have playtested and it seems to work. Throw away Basics and Evo’s to search out the Blaine’s and the like with Computer Search and then just Super Rod to get back a Ditto or a Ninetales. Works wonders to throw off your opponent when you resurrect an Blaine’s Ninetales from the discard and drop it on the Vulpix, attach Gold Berry, Blaine, switch out the Cleffa and beatdown. In place of the Super Rod TecH you can also try-out a Focus Band TecH which has worked on occasion, but not too often for me to truly suggest it. And now, the next deck:
 

Chapter 6: InSaNe SteeLiX

 
       Well, I give props to MrMonkey on showing this deck off first, but give note I had it in my deck box since Neo first came out. But now that I am finally back in the game, I will show what its true form should look like. All you SteeLiX fans out there rejoice, lurili has not forgotten about you all ;.)
 
InSaNe SteeLiX v2.o5
 
Pokémon: (12)
3x Onix (Level 12(Base Set) or Level 40(Southern Islands…))
3x Steelix
2x Gligar
2x Ditto
2x Cleffa
 
Trainers: (36)
4x Computer Search
4x Professor Oak
4x Eco Gym
4x Energy Removal
4x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
3x Gust of Wind
3x Gold Berry
3x PlusPower
2x Misty’s Wrath
2x Lass
1x Switch
 
Energy: (12)
4x Metal Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
2x Rainbow Energy
2x Recycle Energy
 
        Easy enough, eh? The Gligars are support TecH to start the game off with if Onix is not available. It’s all about getting the Steelix out as quickly as possible. The TecH-ed Switch is there if anything goes wrong, which it should not. The Southern Island Onix is better than the Base Set Onix in its first attack:
 
(C)(C) Throw Down  20x
Flip 2 Coins. This attack damage 20x the number of Heads.
 
        Also, it has the same HP and same Retreat Cost to boot. I bet you Steelix fans out there can’t wait for Southern Islands now ;.) But if you’re an English only player, use Base Set Onix. Of course, you all know perhaps how to power up a Steelix I suppose. Turn 1: Metal Energy or Double Colorless. Turn 2: Metal Energy or Double Colorless, depends what you put Turn 1. Then attach Gold Berry and beat the arse out of your opponent. Gligars are some good Support and Ditto plays Mind Games with opponent Sneasels. Cleffa hangs around and Eeeks!!! if provoked. The Misty’s Wrath are for suicide runs near end game when you have your opponent stuck in a corner to draw out everything possible. The PlusPowers are for added support for Steelix, Ditto, or Gligar. Eco Gym to keep your Metal Energy floating. You can:
 
-4 Eco Gym
+4 No Removal Gym
 
        If you want to save the hassle and not allow your opponent to Remove in the first place. The reason I Mainboarded Eco Gym is because of the Removals you run yourself. They allow you to control your opponent from trying anything funny with Steelix and keep damage to Steelix at a minimum. Also, the Rocket’s Sneak Attack are TecH-ed to remove other threats that could keep you from either a KO or bring out Steelix too early if he is being powered up. Great times I tell you, great times. ;.)

  Chapter 7: InSaNe ‘FaiRieS

 
        Truth be told, I never really liked Clefable during the time up to Gym: Heroes. Coe Rocket’s Zapdos, using Clefable became the norm in some areas. Only problem was getting the Clefairys which were as Rare as the Clefable itself. But then come Neo: Genesis, the Cleffa and Clefairy effect really elevated the Clefable scene. I have heard from other out there that their Tourney Scene has been overrun by this pest. I’m not sure if it wins much, but hey, I might as well throw in my 4th installment of the before-Neo-was-not-too-great-deck. Bet you can’t say that 6 times ;.)
 
InSaNe ‘FaiRieS v4.o
 
Pokémon: (11)
2x Cleffa
3x Clefairy (Neo)
3x Clefable
2x Ditto
1x Rocket’s Zapdos
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x No Removal Gym
3x Energy Removal
3x Gust of Wind
3x PlusPower
3x Nightly Garbage Run
3x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
3x Lass
3x Gold Berry
2x ItemFinder
2x Erika’s Perfume
1x Chaos Gym
 
Energy: (12)
4x Double Colorless Energy
2x Rainbow Energy
2x Lightning Energy
2x Recycle Energy
2x Full Heal Energy
 
        This deck has been built for abuse. It runs at top notch speed and with no bumps in the road. Straight out whooping. See a Sneasel? Gust and beat the **** out of it. See a Ditto? Send out Rocket’s Zapdos and use Plasma. This deck is not made to support Rocket’s Zapdos second attack, I can not stress this enough. Rocket’s Zapdos is in their to provide quick hits. You can, though:
 
-1 Rocket’s Zapdos
-2 Lightning Energy
+2 Erika’s Jigglypuff
+1 PlusPower
 
        The PlusPower boosts damage across the board. Clefable works best against big things so by cutting them into itty bitty pieces with Rocket’s Zapdos or Erika’s Jigglypuff allows you to easily dispose of them with Clefable without risking his neck out there. He is the Main “Cleaner” type Pokémon. The Perfumes allow functionality. Get the big guys out, Gust, then beatdown. Rinse, repeat, recycle. Quite great fun I assure you.
 

Chapter 8: InSaNe DaRkNesS

 
        Well, barring the fact that Sneasel is horribly broken, even with Energy Removal around and all the like, I naturally had to make a deck around him, no? ;.) Of course, one must think outside of the box to achieve glory so as such I made this little deck, just don’t take it to your League because it’s win percentage thus far is 96% which means it annihilates the opponent…
 
InSaNe DaRkNesS v2.o2
 
Pokémon: (10)
3x Sneasel
2x Erika’s Jigglypuff
2x Gligar
2x Cleffa
1x Igglybuff
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
4x PlusPower
3x Gust of Wind
3x Erica
3x Impostor Oak’s Revenge
3x No Removal Gym
3x Gold Berry
2x Lass
2x Erika’s Perfume
1x Chaos Gym
1x Unown N
  
Energy: (13)
4x Dark Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
3x Recycle Energy
3x Double Colorless Energy
 
        This deck is meant to hurt the opponent through hand control and beatdown. The Rocket’s Sneak Attacks, Lass, and IOR’s are meant to mess with the opponent while your Sneasel slyly devastates their Pokémon. The other Pokémon are support just in case the Sneasel aren’t in your hand at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, they just hang around for the Beat Down >=) A couple of things you should try if you want to test this deck out are:
 
-2 Gligar or -2 Erika’s Jigglypuff
+2 Murkrow
 
        This little fix lets you lock in and build up Sneasel rather than support him. Also allows you to better spread some damage out across the board. The problem with this is if you face a Baby Pokémon, the flip can devastate Murkrow. Attempt this at your own risk. Just playtest as I always mention and see how it works out in your local area.
  

Chapter 9: InSaNe ReigNs

 
        Well, some of you might have been like, what’s he talking about? ReigNs? What the hecks? Well, SlowKing doesn’t quite fit does it? Reigns as in his ruling of the land type thing in that he is a “King” (SlowKing, get it?) Anyhow, this deck is what SlowKing will have to try to configure itself into in the current environment. In Neo: Genesis, SlowKing ruled all, but with Neo: Discovery’s introduction of a little critter who defies the ‘King, Igglybuff, his reign might be over if he doesn’t act quick and mercilessly. Thus, that is the theme of InSaNe ReigNs; to keep SlowKing up to pace so that he attempts to rule the land yet again no matter all talk about the “Cursed Balloon that floats”. All you SlowKing fans out there who were waiting for it, here it is! The first public showing of InSaNe ‘King:
 
InSaNe ReigNs v2.o
 
Pokémon: (13)
3x Slowpoke (Neo)
3x SlowKing
2x Murkrow
2x Sneasel
2x Cleffa
1x Igglybuff
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Erica
4x Energy Removal
3x Super Energy Removal
3x Gold Berry
3x Lass
2x Switch
2x Erika’s Perfume
2x Bellsprout Tower
2x Nightly Garbage Run
2x Gust of Wind
1x Chaos Gym
1x Misty’s Wrath
 
Energy: (10)
4x Dark Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
3x Recycle Energy
 
        This decks theme is to get out as many SlowKings as possible to make a pseudo-Lock effect which keep the opponent from doing much. This is done through the robust draw engine and TecH Engine. You have your main hitters which Jank around with the opponent. Lass are included for the dreaded Lass/Eek eFFecT which wreaks havoc on unsuspecting bystanders. The draw engine makes sure you get what you need when you need it. Gust of Winds handle threats and help with the Erika’s Perfume. Otherwise, get the Murkrow out and beat your opponent’s head in by playing the Perfume and ticking out their Unown and Baby Pokémon on the Bench for easy prizes. If they get up front take them out with Sneasel. The Pokémon trio this deck utilizes adjusts so that you abuse free retreat, a great thing in today’s environment. If status hits, just attempt to retreat or defend the post. Energy Removal aids with this as do the Gold Berries. When you are in a jam or when end game approaches and you need massive draw power at an expense, the Wrath is there to provide the material you need to get past. Easy as that, a TecH-ed out SlowKing. But, as always, I have tried many things and here is another fix you can try out (it seems kind of like if these were Advanced Pre-Constructed Decks from WoTC ;.)
 
-2 Switch
+2 Unown D or N
 
These are just TecH issues that were raised by R4Jungle when we were playtesting InSaNe ReigNs. Erika’s Jigglypuff could do away with your Slowpokes or Murkrow or Sneasel before you have a chance to set the “Lock”. So can Sneasel. But how often will you not get the Lock up on time? It is a matter of environment, truly, but try it out nonetheless. Another thing to note is the inclusion of your own Igglybuff. This is TecH against anything that could get in your way form getting either the Lock up or beating down. If an Erika’s Dratini presents itself, get the Tower out and rip the bench to shreds. Not much your opponent would be able to do then, so don’t worry about it.
  

Chapter 10: InSaNe JanK

 
Well, I had worked with the JanK TecH decks since the beginning of my Trading Card Game life, as in Magic. In Magic, JanK decks focused on disrupting certain aspects of an opponent’s deck, whether it be creature kill or hand disruption. My first Pokémon deck was a WeaknesS JanK now long gone in the Old ‘Gym Decks Forum (the ones before the first “hack” attack against the ‘Gym, a thread in which I was aided by Hyzone *sigh* I still remember that deck…) Anyhow, I’ve been taking this deck throughout the years keeping it going, but it was not until the ECSTS that I released an STS versions, barring that it worked extraordinarily well. Thus come Neo: Discovery, the deck actually became viable with the great big Standard Environment that was present thanks to the ruthless little balloon. I present to you:
 
InSaNe JanK v19.o

Pokémon: (12)
3x Sabrina’s Venonat
2x Sabrina’s Venomoth
2x Sneasel
2x Murkrow
2x Cleffa
1x Unown N
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Gold Berry
4x Eco Gym
3x Lass
3x Energy Charge
3x Gust of Wind
2x Switch
2x Professor Elm
2x Goop Gas Attack
 
Energy: (11)
4x Darkness Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
3x Recycle Energy
 
The strategy of this deck is to pile up damage while “JanKing” the opponent’s Pokémon around. To JanK is to do tricks and the like, such as Confusion and Status Effects or Murkrow’s Mean Look attack. Professor Elm is last resort tactics and the Switches are just in case your Pokémon are ever hit with Status Effects. Otherwise, the free retreat spread across the board allows you to just shift in and out what you need. All Energy is meant to be kept flowing, also, which is why Energy Charge and Eco Gym have been placed in the deck. Gold Berry and the ‘Moth also help in keeping other decks from spreading damage across the board on you, and the Unown N is to combat Chansey which could put a BIG dent in this deck. As always, here is a fix for you try:
 
-1 Gold Berry
+1 Sabrina’s Venomoth
 
        When I tried this fix out, it seemed more absolute in terms of stability in that the Venomoth could deliver more recuperation from damage, overall, if it sees or stays in play. Some of you might not like that idea or like the Gold Berry better, but when it comes down to SlowKings running around, the Venomoth becomes “superior” in a sense if it isn’t taken out first.
  

Chapter 11: InSaNe UnowN

 
This truly is a counter-measure in InSaNiTy. Kind of funky that when I was originally typing the ProjecT Satoshi discovered he could make Unown go InSaNe and put up a version before I could put the ProjecT up. Well, okay, okay, he did put it up a month ago so whatever ;.) Here it is, come into the:
 
InSaNe UnowN v1.o5
 
Pokémon: (9)
3x Sneasel
2x Cleffa
1x Unown D
1x Unown A
1x Unown M
1x Unown N
 
Trainers: (40)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Bill
4x ItemFinder
3x Energy Removal
3x Scoop Up
3x Gold Berry
3x Energy Charge
3x Super Energy Removal
2x Good Manners
2x Gust of Wind
2x Ecogym
2x Nightly Garbage Run
1x Misty's Wish
 
Energy: (11)
4x Darkness Energy
3x Rainbow Energy
3x Psychic Energy
1x Recycle Energy
 
Well, I state this as a pre-empt for all of you who will try this deck out. Be careful, if this deck flounders a bit take it as it is. It is very unstable but worth it if it works. You protect your Sneasel and abuse it even more than it can be abused with the little Unowns on your bench. Then just pile the damage! >=) Cleffa is included for Cleffa/Lass and anti-Lass and all the great stuff it can do. The deck does well USUALLY, or it does badly just as well. I recommend it if you want to try something different. If you are looking to beat the living daylights out of someone, try something else with Sneasel ;.) The only fix I comment is:
 
-1 Unown A
+1 Unown F/M
 
        By adding either Unown F or Unown M, you can get the F.I.N.D. and M.I.N.D. combos which are equally as devastating as the D.A.M.N. combo. Mix around your Unown is basically the thing you must do if you want to try this deck out. Whatever Unown work in your MeTa is what you should try and work with.
  

Chapter 12: InSaNe BuNNy

 
One of my more ambitious projects, InSaNe BuNNy is back and ready to go with Neo: Discovery. Gr81 is now an IRC dude who hangs around chilling playing Computer Games like Red Alert 2 most of the day he is not working. So I have decided to take over BuNNy for the meanwhile, just not Gr81 classical style, but neo-InSaNe StyLe as well. R4Jungle is accredited with the latest upgrade to InSaNe BuNNy, barring I didn’t want to make another InSaNe one for the ProjecT but he pushed for it. Well, here it is, InSaNe BuNNy, Gr81, we’ll miss you!
 
InSaNe BuNNy v8.o
 
Pokémon: (12)
3x Chansey
2x Cleffa
2x Erika’s Jigglypuff
2x Erika’s Dratini
2x Unown N
1x Ditto
 
Trainers: (34)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Gold Berry
4x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
4x No Removal Gym
3x Lass
3x Energy Charge
3x Energy Removal
3x Scoop Up
3x Gust of Wind
2x Switch
 
Energy: (14)
4x Metal Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
4x Recycle Energy
2x Full Heal Energy
 
This deck is meant for big damage and stall powers, both at the same time. Unown N is to abuse Chansey and Gold Berry is great stuff, too. Metal Energy is just too great to not pair Chansey up with, or Erika’s Dratini for that matter. The No Removal Gyms have been set to 4 to not only cancel out potential problems with Rocket’s Training Gyms but Bellsprout Towers as well. Here is the fix I have tried for this deck:
 
-1 Recycle Energy
+1 Magby
 
        Anti-Powers is easier said than done in the environment. Steel Chansey or BuNNy decks can die horrible deaths to Dark Muk-‘Fable stuff if your environment is filled with it. This fix takes out the Muk and allows you to be more lenient in your overall playing against the deck. Also, that is why the Switches have been TecH-ed. Status can affect Chansey, but over-all this does not become that big of a problem when it comes down to it barring that you get the quick KOs the deck has been designed for. Gr81, although I’m buying the majority of your cards, I want you to sign one of those Chansey ya hear! I’ll keep in touch with you on AIM, peace.
  

Chapter 13: InSaNe BaSiCs

 
R4Jungle and I came up with this one a couple of weeks ago while playing with the then new Neo: Discovery cards. It kind of began to stick to us after that so I have decided to release this little gem in The InSaNiTy ProjecT. Those of you ‘Dactyl/Dratini lovers sure will like this one:
 
InSaNe BaSiCs v7.o
 
Pokémon: (13)
3x Aerodactyl
3x Erika’s Dratini
2x Erika’s Jigglypuff
2x Ditto
2x Cleffa
1x Unown D
 
Trainers: (38)
4x Fossil Egg
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x Bill
3x Energy Charge
3x Gold Berry
3x PlusPower
3x Energy Removal
3x No Removal Gym
3x Lass
2x ItemFinder
2x Switch
1x Mysterious Fossil
 
Energy: (9)
4x Double Colorless Energy
3x Recycle Energy
2x Metal Energy
 
This is the first public showing of InSaNe BaSiCs in about a year. Those of you who wanted to see what lurili thought about Aero in the current environment, I hope your building this pup right now, ya hear ;.) Pretty straight forward. Whatever you do, don’t play the Mysterious Fossil lest you MUST. Otherwise, the strategy of this deck is easy to comprehend/grasp. Play it a bit and tell me what you think guys. Here’s a possible fix to try straight from R4Jungle’s deck fix desk:
 
-1 Unown D
+1 Unown M
 
        This fix allows you to combat Steelix if it ever gets out if you play that. Unown D is usually just for insurance if your opponent tries to get at your Basics with Dark Pokémon, but Steelix, it being an evolution and all, can cause some serious problems. Prepare for battle by doing the above suggested fix.
 

Chapter 14: InSaNe FiReS

 
Well, barring hundreds of people have thought this up and all, their main intent usually was to go InSaNe StaLL, bomie*cough* ;.) Nonetheless, nice attempt to all you out there, here is the true one ;.) InSaNe FiReS!
 
InSaNe FiReS v2.o
 
Pokémon: (14)
3x Cyndaquil (Level 21)
2x Quilava (Level 35)
3x Typhlosion (Level 55)
2x Chansey
2x Moltres (Fossil)
2x Cleffa
 
Trainers: (32)
4x Bill
4x Energy Removal
3x Computer Search
3x Erica
3x Eco Gym
2x ItemFinder
2x Pokémon Breeder
2x Energy Flow
2x Nightly Garbage Run
2x Super Energy Removal
2x Scoop Up
2x Gold Berry
1x Chaos Gym
 
Energy: (14)
12x Fire Energy
2x Double Colorless Energy
 
Well, for those of you who can’t see the obvious, you basically try to get out as many Typhlosion going for Fire Recharging onto the Moltres. Then you just Wildfire away! Great stuff, eh? Cleffas help to stall out if you ever get too low on cards. Just repetitively Eeek! away. Chansey is also another staller and great at it to boot. Thus I introduce you to InSaNe FiReS, a lurili production in conjunction with R4Jungle who made the schematics for this deck. Another thing I must note, don’t be afraid to attack and go active stall with the Chansey or the Moltres. Take out any Pokémon that are or could potentially become a threat with Dive Bomb and Double-Edge. Here is the fix R4Jungle and I came up with:
 
-1 Chaos Gym
+1 Misty’s Wrath
 
        If you can’t get Fire Energy into the discard pile quick enough, just use the TecH-ed Wrath and discard what you have in your hand while getting 2 cards you need, [Zorak]mwahaha[/Zorak], well I know it isn’t a Fireball deck or anything of the sort but I just thought I should throw Zorak into this seeing as it is InSaNe FiReS. Also, R4Jungle tried this, I haven’t so far, but in theory it should work and according to R4Jungle’s playtesting:
 
-1 Quilava
+1 Entei (Movie Promo)
 
        Protect your bench and deal loads of damage with no drawback and no coin flipping. Cool eh? Add to that it’s a Basic Pokémon with 80 HP, great for stalling as well. Hope you liked it.
 

Chapter 15: InSaNe EdgE

 
Ah yes, the Edge. Good old bomie trying to get away from Powers, eh? ;.) Great deck as it is, not much to fix in it, but it never helps to not go InSaNe, does it ;.) So, without further ado, here is a little something I’ve been working on dubbed:
 
InSaNe EdgE v2.o
 
Pokémon: (13)
3x Slowpoke (Neo: Genesis)
3x Slowking
3x Chansey
2x Cleffa
2x Mewtwo (Movie Promo)

Trainers: (33)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x Bill
3x Gold Berry
3x Lass
3x ItemFinder
2x Resistance Lowering Gym
2x Super Energy Removal
2x Gust of Wind
2x Energy Flow
1x Warp Point
1x Switch
1x Nightly Garbage Run
1x Energy Charge
 
Energy: (14)
5x Psychic Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
3x Steel Energy
2x Recycle Energy
 
I, unlike bomie, opted to not go with the Unown N TecH. Rather; I have gone for upping the count of the Gold Berry instead and adding some more important TecH decisions. The deck is sort of like your normal SlowKing type deck EXCEPT the running of Steel Chansey and the Mewtwo with the super secret TecH Flow ;.) Of course, as with every deck I have showed you so far, here are the fixes:
 
-1 Energy Charge
+1 Misty’s Wrath / Bill
 
        This fix is implemented to add a bit more oomph in the already abusive SlowKing InSaNiTy engine. Wrath is a late game thought while the extra Bill adds a boost to the mid-game. You choose which one works either with your playing style or in your Environment.
  

Chapter 16: InSaNe SlaShTaP

 
        Barring the fact that this deck had been around before SlashTap coined it, here is the version I have been working out since I got my hands on Japanese Neo >=) SlashTap, this one is kind of for you, to a sense, hope you enjoy:
 
InSaNe SlaShTaP v2.5
 
Pokémon: (10)
3x Gligar
2x Scyther (Jungle)
2x Sneasel
2x Cleffa
1x Erika’s Jigglypuff
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Oak
4x CPU Search
4x Bill
3x Itemfinder
3x The Rocket’s Trap
3x Rocket Sneak Attack
2x Imposter Oak’s Revenge
2x Erica
2x Energy Removal
2x Lass
2x No Removal Gym
2x Double Gust
2x Nightly Garbage Run
1x Chaos Gym
1x Gust of Wind
 
Energy: (13)
3x Double Colorless Energy
3x Recycle Energy
3x Dark Energy
2x Full Heal Energy
2x Rainbow Energy
 
Well, barring the fact that the deck is based on InSaNiTy in the first place, I just decided to add my flare to it and bring it down to 10 Basics to add a super secret TecH-ed Gust of Wind, mwahaha ;.) The PlusPowers have been cut for Bills and the Wraths are out for Erica. Double Gust of course stay and as mentioned before, a TecH-ed Gust was thrown in and it help quite significantly if I may add. The Eco Gyms were dropped for No Removal Gyms in that you don’t want them removing anything in the first place, eh? Here’s a quick fix you can try out:
 
-1 Erika’s Jigglypuff
+1 Magby
 
        As always, Anti-King for those of you who’s environment calls for it. Enjoy, especially you Slash ;.)
 

 

Chapter 17: InSaNe SwoRdDanCeR

 
Bet most of you old ‘Gymmers have fond memories of this old gem. SwordDancer, by 1tym. Whoa, those were the days ;.) I have kept up different versions of it over the past year since his “disappearance”, both SaNe and InSaNe. All I can say is: “May the Sword Dance Forever” This one’s for you 1tym:
 
InSaNe SwoRdDanCeR v10.o
 
Pokémon: (11)
3x Rocket’s Scyther
2x Scyther (Jungle)
2x Scyther (Neo: Discovery)
2x Ditto
2x Cleffa
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Gold Berry
4x PlusPower
4x Energy Removal
3x Gust of Wind
3x No Removal Gym
3x Lass
3x Erika’s Perfume
2x Nightly Garbage Run
2x Goop Gas Attack
1x Bellsprout Tower
 
Energy: (12)
5x Grass Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
3x Recycle Energy
 
        This deck is made to deal constant barrages of damage built up from the tension that a Scyther is prone to release. Keep them alive with Gold Berries and let them hit harder with PlusPower. No Removal Gym protects them for the time being and Bellsprout Tower is TecH for them Erika’s Jigglypuff and Chansey that are allowed to roam wild. Erika’s Perfume and Gust of Wind are again key roles in a beat down deck. Something you can try is perhaps Pokémon Flute instead of the Perfumes to be sure that they have some Basic on their Bench for you to KO. Grass Energy is included for Shadow Games, SwordDance, and all those neat attacks with scythes.
 

Chapter 18: InSaNe SeWeRs

 
For all you Muk players out there, /me points at bomie ;.p, here’s a treat I threw in. R4Jungle and I worked this one out during the beginning days of the Rocket expansion but never was Dark Muk truly viable until Neo. Fixes as always come after the deck…
 
InSaNe SeWeRs v3.5
 
Pokémon: (12)
3x Grimer (Fossil)
3x Dark Muk
2x Scyther (Jungle)
2x Cleffa
1x Yanma
1x Ditto
 
Trainers: (35)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x Energy Removal
3x Rocket’s Training Gym
3x Gust of Wind
3x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
3x Gold Berry
2x Switch
2x Nightly Garbage Run
2x ItemFinder
2x Lass
2x The Boss’s Way
1x No Removal Gym
1x Goop Gas Attack
 
Energy: (13)
7x Grass Energy
3x Double Colorless Energy
3x Recycle Energy
 
At first glance the deck looks fine. But for those of you non-conformists out there I have decided to throw in this bonus. Try out this for good size:
 
-2 Dark Muk
+2 Muk (Fossil)
 
        This fix is for those of you who want to beat out PokéPower decks. /me sees bomie is paying attention now ;.) If you try this fix out you can also try to fit in the Pichu to boost damage across the board. Just watch out for your Muk. Attach the Gold Berry and the like if you want to multiple Zap. This fix and the normal v3.5 run pretty much the same in terms of analysis, but in terms of end product they are distinct. One tries to win by canceling Powers, the other by stopping opponent Pokémon in their tracks. Easy as that, go and try it out. Also, for those of you who love playing what everyone else plays in your area, run Clefable as support instead to go with a Muk-‘Fable barring that they are SO powerful (read: VERY SARCASTIC)
  

Chapter 19: InSaNe PoWeRs

 
This deck here is like, the 3rd/4th bomiester deck to go InSaNe in the ProjecT. Kind of funky no? But this is truly his pet creation, not something he made for fun but rather, a true archetype. This one is made has been tried, tested, and made in his honor. Here you go bomiester, enjoy:
 
InSaNe PoWeRs v6.o
 
Pokémon: (17)
4x Oddish (Rocket)
2x Dark Gloom
3x Dark Vileplume
3x Sneasel
2x Murkrow
2x Cleffa
1x Yanma
 
Trainers: (31)
4x Computer Search
4x The Boss’s Way
4x Erica
3x Bill
3x Professor Oak
3x Lass
2x Gold Berry
2x No Removal Gym
2x Pokémon Breeder
1x Rocket’s Training Gym
1x Chaos Gym
 
Energy: (12)
4x Dark Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
2x Recycle Energy
2x Full Heal Energy
 
The Recycle Energy is TecH to retreat if the case ever need be. Dark Gloom are included to add the punch required by the deck to handle annoying things, although, in itself it is rather annoying. Usual fixes don’t apply to this deck. The only fix I suggest is instead of running Dark Pokémon run Colorless Pokémon and run the appropriate Energy. Easy as that! Also, Yanma becomes a must if you run Colorless Pokémon, do not remove it. It is the single most great God given TecH gift to Powers…
  

Chapter 20: InSaNe RainDance

 
And now, one for all you Water Fanatics, /me points at Satoshi ;.), I haven’t left you out in the rain, no pun intended ;.). RainDance makes a considerable comeback in the current environment. Of course Rocket’s Zapdos is still a bump in the road, but not if you pack super secret stealthy TecH: Cleffa and Lass >=)
 
InSaNe RainDance v11.o
 
Pokémon: (15)
3x Squirtle (Team Rocket)
3x Blastoise
3x Eevee (Neo: Discovery)
2x Dark Vaporeon
2x Lapras
2x Cleffa
 
Trainers: (33)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x Bill
3x Pokémon Breeder
3x Nightly Garbage Run
3x Misty’s Tears
3x Energy Removal
3x PlusPower
3x Eco Gym
2x Gold Berry
2x Gust of Wind
 
Energy: (12)
10x Water Energy
2x Double Colorless
 
        Okay, perhaps it isn’t that secret-ish, but nonetheless, if they don’t have Gusts to work with, Squirtle is okay. Then you super-size the little bugger and go beat some heads with a storm of energy. Eco Gym is great because it doesn’t really matter if they remove, you’ll get it back and play it down anyway. Then you have Misty’s Tears, 1 card for 2 Water Energy, great stuff. Nightly Garbage Run is self explanatory and also allows you to shuffle in some Water to use Misty’s Tears for. Then the Pokémon selection was a bit tough, but through playtesting I came up with the above version. You can also try out:
 
-3 Eevee
-2 Dark Vaporeon
+3 Misty’s Poliwag (Level 15)
+2 Misty’s Poliwhirl
 
        This configuration trades out solid damage for unique damage. Flip them coins! Still has the Removal theme going, but otherwise depends a bit too much from RainDance to really get going, unlike Dark Vaporeon who also has its Bite attack. Lapras is BIG help (no pun intended ;.) early game. Late game you just cast it away and Nightly Garbage Run it back into your deck if things don’t look too good. Satoshi, enjoy! ;.P
  

Chapter 21: InSaNe ‘DriLL

 
Well, I’ve been testing this one for a while, but it is only the second update to it. I never showed it you all out there, but here it is. Great Beedrill deck I’ve been playing.
 
InSaNe ‘DriLL v1.5
 
Pokémon: (13)
3x Weedle (Neo: Discovery)
2x Kakuna (Neo: Discovery)
3x Beedrill (Neo: Discovery)
2x Rocket’s Scyther
2x Cleffa
1x Scyther (Jungle)
 
Trainers: (35)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
3x Pokémon Breeder
3x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
3x Gold Berry
3x Rocket’s Training Gym
2x Gust of Wind
2x No Removal Gym
2x Lass
 
Energy: (11)
8x Grass Energy
3x Double Colorless Energy
 
Choose to Breed or use the new kick butt Kakuna, either way, it’s all good. Rocket’s Scyther is back up, hidden in the shadows waiting for his turn. Free retreat spread out amongst the inclusion of our other good Scyther buddy. If you are afraid of Fire, just try out this little accommodation:
 
-2x Rocket’s Scyther
-1x Scyther
+1x Igglybuff
+2x Ditto
 
        Be aware that it can get a bit rough if you do this as the deck was made with the Scythers in mind. Ditto is very cooperative only when it feels like or your opponent does not want to KO it first. Otherwise, he can cover Ditto well and you have not much to worry about Fire, because as the old saying goes: “Fight Fire with Fire” ;.)
  

Chapter 22: InSaNe WiGGlY

 
One of the oldest decks still alive, Wiggly has gained power with the release of Neo: Discovery. It was dead during Genesis, but the balloon was just waiting to spring out. And its pre-evo form adds to the brunch ;.) Check it, this is my InSaNe WiGGlY, a classic, in its 12th version for all you to enjoy. Let’s all do the wave:
 
InSaNe WiGGlY v12.o
 
Pokémon: (15)
3x Jigglypuff (Jungle)
2x Wigglytuff
2x Mewtwo (Movie Promo)
2x Erika’s Jigglypuff
2x Cleffa
1x Chansey
1x Scyther
1x Ditto
 
Trainers: (35)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Bill
4x Energy Removal
4x PlusPower
3x Rocket’s Sneak Attack
3x No Removal Gym
2x ItemFinder
2x Energy Charge
2x Lass
2x Switch
2x Gust of Wind
 
Energy: (11)
7x Psychic Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
 
This deck is a potent weapon. Get the Wiggly out quick, yada-yada, you know the story. If you don’t however, here’s a recap. Get the Wiggly out as quick as possible. Use the mass draw engines to fill up your bench and do max damage. PlusPowers are included to fry those bigger fish out there. Here is a fix you can try:
 
-2 Energy Charge
+2 Energy Retrieval
 
-2 Energy Charge
+2 Nightly Garbage Run
 
-2 Energy Charge
+2 Energy Flow
 
        Did I say fix, I meant fixes. And yet, you can try out even more! Wiggly decks are flexible enough so as to be able to include TecH naturally. Try this out also:
 
-1 Ditto
+1 Magby
 
        This is to prevent SlowKing from getting a foothold. If you try this fix, never EVER drop the Magby on the bench unless you will use it. The chances of you only drawing it as the only basic in your hand is also slim so don’t worry about that scenario much.
 
        Erika’s Jigglypuff can either pile up damage or lead the way. It is an extreme sense of game-breaker and can help with some quick prizes. No Removal Gym is self explanatory. You can also TecH 1 Chaos Gym for multi-functional purposes to play during the late game. Great stuff.
  

Chapter 23: InSaNe HunTeR

 
This is the 4th version of InSaNe HunTeR I mess around with. The only thing is now that Umbreon is out it makes it a lot easier, now doesn’t it? ;.) There is very fine logic behind this deck. If you try it out, be prepared to lose a couple of games before handling the deck because the sense of the deck might make you prone to think draw cards and search out, when really, the engine is as if an actual Hunter although albeitly InSaNe. I know Nyuura understands what I’m saying ;.) This deck is in The InSaNiTy ProjecT as a tribute to Gloom’ and Nyuura, good accomplices of mine in the game since last year. Weren’t it for them I would not have prepped up InSaNiTy a year ago for the coming Neo Environment. Also, Gloom’, this isn’t your normal Hunter either. It’s a little more difficult then that ;.)
 
InSaNe HunTeR v4.o
 
Pokémon: (12)
3x Eevee (Neo: Discovery)
3x Umbreon (Level 40)
2x Sneasel
2x Cleffa
1x Ditto
1x Murkrow
 
Trainers: (37)
4x Computer Search
4x Bill
4x Energy Removal
3x Professor Oak
3x Gust of Wind
3x No Removal Gym
3x Lass
3x Gold Berry
3x ItemFinder
2x Goop Gas Attack
2x Good Manners
2x Energy Charge
1x Impostor Oak’s Revenge
1x Chaos Gym
1x Neo Pokédex
 
Energy: (11)
4x Dark Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
3x Recycle Energy
 
A note to all you Hunters out there: this deck is not truly your usual Hunter barring that it has the InSaNiTy Engine, but you play it as a Hunter nonetheless. Your playing style will have to focus on trying not to discard important TecH barring that these TecH decisions have been fine tuned SO FAR. All comments of course appreciated if you have questions and the like. Though, as I said, take it easy and try it out! Here’s a little something you can try out:
 
-1 Ditto
+1 Murkrow
 
        Stability is what Hunters are meant for. TecH is hardly ever present in a Hunter but this is InSaNe ;.) If you don’t wish to take it with the TecH, just take out the Ditto and run the Murky, it runs just about the same except with free retreat. If you are afraid of ‘King, take out the Ditto and run a Magby instead.
  

Chapter 24: InSaNe StaLL

 
lurili: Well, this is the second BIG deck release in the ProjecT. The first official upgrade to InSaNe StaLL since Gym: Heroes by R4Jungle and yours truly.
 
R4Jungle:   As lurili has been hard at work playtesting InSaNiTy, I too have been playtesting just as rigorously the last couple of months with InSaNe StaLL. With the coming of Neo: Genesis, the deck was good and then some with the absence of a lot of the speed decks thanks to SlowKing. But testing was necessary in order to break the deck as in the pre-Neo days.
 
lurili: Uh-huh, what he said.
 
R4Jungle:   So, measures were taken and the deck was held back until the release of Neo: Discovery when Entei and the coming set would radically change the environment and the need for Active StaLL-ing would be reckoned. Thus friends, I present to you, in conjunction with my TecH-no broken mind and lurili’s unstable mind set, the first official upgrade for:
 
InSaNe StaLL v9.5
 
Pokémon: (13)
3x Chansey
3x Moltres (Fossil)
3x Magmar (Fossil)
2x Cleffa
1x Entei (Movie Promo)
1x Magby

Trainers: (31)
4x Computer Search
4x Energy Removal
4x Nightly Garbage Run
3x Switch
3x Bill
3x Pokémon Center
2x Narrow Gym
2x Scoop Up
2x Gold Berry
2x Lass
1x Energy Flow
1x Chaos Gym
 
Energy: (15)
10x Fire Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
1x Recycle Energy
 
R4Jungle:   Well, as lurili has been doing across the majority of the ProjecT, I will also go into detail and provide a fix and so forth. The deck is geared to accomplish what is called “Active StaLL”. This is to fend off and beat out while still Stalling. The reason InSaNe StaLL has been opted for this is because of the fact of how the Environment has currently shaped up. Back in the tedv era, InSaNe StaLL had no need for that and just needed to last the game until the opponent decked. This time around, to survive is real hard in the world we play in. Thus InSaNe StaLL suits the need for those of us looking for some generic fun. And keep in mind, I play this deck against lurili and it wins against some of the stuff he makes, although of course I am an excellent player to boot, but you get the idea ;.)
 
lurili: Hey! -_- Anyhow, barring this is your deck and all, artistic freedom is allowed :.P So, here are the fixes R4 suggests:
 
-1 Entei /-1 Switch
+1/2 Lickitung
 
R4Jungle: This fix allows you to focus on Active StaLL-ing to the max. Add 1 or 2 Lickitungs and depending on your Environment, they can own the place. To maximize stall, here are some fixes you can try:
 
-2 Fire Energy
+2 Metal Energy
 
R4Jungle:   The power of Steel Chansey is too obvious to not test. But in InSaNe StaLL it does become a bit harmful in the fact of attaching it in the first place. But, as always, that fix can be introduced with the Lickitung fix and thus Lickitung can be a great staller, only thing is with the flipping and all… Nonetheless! Hope you’ve enjoyed InSaNe StaLL, direct any questions regarding to it in The InSaNiTy ProjecT Discussion Forum and so forth. Thank you and god speed.
 
lurili: Well, that was R4Jungle everyone, give a round of applause. Perhaps you know what’s coming up? Is that why you applaud? Not so fast ;.) Check it; guess what the next deck is?!?! You are correct:
 
 

 
       And now what most of you were perhaps waiting for, the big honcho, the big burrito, the one, the only: InSaNiTy v11.o2
 

Section IV – InSaNiTy
 
Chapter 25: InSaNiTy 11.o2

 
Well, it’s about time no? In the spirit of Gloom’ who just started doing all that crazy stuff with AsYlUm and the Fiction forum influence from Satoshi, I have decided to add this excerpt here from Satoshi’s post and Gloom’ s post (NOTE: Satoshi’s fan fic. comes first. I will tell you when it rides into Gloom’ fan fic. thingy):

= Last Mech Standing =
-One-

With a monstrous explosion, the Pojo Institute collapsed into a flaming pile of debris.
Team Rocket had won.

As our transport ship roared away from what had been our home for so long, I looked at the stricken faces around me. No one could believe that Team Rocket had succeeded in its goal-the utter destruction of the Pojo Institute.

Our one glimmer of hope amid all the chaos was that Team Rocket’s secondary goal-that of destroying the Team Pojo staff-had failed. We had all gotten on board the transport just after the Rockets’ flagship came out of hyperspace. Had they been running under cloaking fields, we wouldn’t have been able to track their energy signature and would have been incinerated within minutes.

I stared out of our transports view port, still not comprehending that the Pojo Institute was no more. It was if my mind hadn’t caught up with the rest of me. I just stared, and stared, and stared….

“Sounds like PokéGym and the Pokémasters were hit as well.” Spike appeared from the communications room, earpiece and microphone secured to the side of his head, while a transparent computer monitor shielded his eyes much like a pair of expensive sunglasses. He gave the headset/computer a string of verbal commands, and cursed at each repetitive ‘beep’ that the computer responded with. “Every single one of the Pokémon Institutes has been totally leveled. They even found the ‘Ruins. Lurili’s team escaped and is hoping to rendezvous with the rest of the survivors as soon as possible. The problem is that we have nowhere safe to meet.”

He gave a few more verbal commands and the computer shot out a hologram projection of the Kanto and Johto Stadiums and Pokémon Gyms. Every building was rubble. “Stadiums, Gyms, even Pokémon Centers and Marts were hit.” Spike deactivated the computer then and looked us all in the eyes. “I think we’re done, folks. Team Rocket has us cold.”

We all slowly turned to face Pojosama, who in turn looked back at us. From the defiant look in his eyes, we knew what he would say.
“Like hell they do.” He straightened his Pojo jersey, which had been torn and beaten during our escape.
“Everyone to your stations. If we’re going out, we’re taking some of them with us.” He gestured to me. “Take guns, Satoshi.” Then to Spike, “You’ve got navigation. Plot us an intercept course.”

“Aye, sir.” Spike gave a halfhearted salute and sauntered over to his station. “Which cruiser do you want to intercept?” he asked, surveying the enemy fleet. “There are a few small transports lagging behind a bit, and I think we can take them out-“

“Forget the small stuff,” Pojo cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “We’re going for the flagship.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at our commander.

Scott raised an eyebrow. “The flagship...” he repeated, unbelieving.

Crash tilted his head to the side. “Hmm…my, that’s quite suicidal.” He pondered it a bit more and shrugged. “I got no problems with it.” He grinned.

We all laughed nervously, and nodded. Why not?

Pojo smiled tightly. “Okay then. Spike,” he sat back in the captain’s seat. “Plot us an intercept course for the Team Rocket flagship.”


With the sophisticated engines of our ship at their max, it took us all of three minutes to reach our target.

“Hail them,” Pojo ordered Ness, seated at communications. “Open us a comm. frequency. Tell them we wish to talk to Giovanni.”

Ness complied and seconds later Giovanni’s sinister figure appeared before us. His hologram smirked as it took us all in. “Come to beg for my mercy, have you?” He laughed.

“Hardly.” Pojo glanced at me and raised one eyebrow. I nodded and armed everything the small ship had. Looking back to Pojo, I nodded again, a small gestured showing that yes, we were ready.

Smiling now, Pojo turned back to the leader of Team Rocket. “I just wanted to see you face when we did this...!” Before Giovanni could react, Pojo pounded the “weapons override” button on his console and gave the verbal command to target the Team Rocket flagship with all armed weapons.

Giovanni’s eyes went wide as he realized just what that meant. “You fools…” he hissed. “You must realize that the kickback from that many weapons being fired at once will tear your engines to pieces! You’ll be killed too!”

“We’re willing to make that sacrifice, Giovanni.” My hand hovered above the ‘Fire’ button. I looked to our commanding officer and grinned. “When you say, Pojo.”

Before he could give me order, Spike cut in. “Uh, Pojo, we’ve got two other transports warping in. Readings say that they’re not hostiles.”

“Hey there, folks.” Lurili’s voice came over the comm. “Can we play?” In front of us, the PokéRuins shuttle warped into view, all of its cannons and other weapons clearly armed. Next to it warped in a much large vessel.

“NO!” Giovanni yelped.

“Yes.” The captain of the third vessel replied. Then, to us, “Master Trainer Mike here, ready to blow Team Rocket to pieces. Nice of you guys to allow us to hone in on your distress signal…now let’s kick some Rocket tail.”

Pojo laughed. “Glad to have you here to play a part in our little stunt, Lurili and Mike. Fire on my mark.” He looked to me, nodded, then said, “NOW!”

We fired.


“Urghh…” I mumbled and sat up in my seat. I looked around and realized that Team Rocket was only partly right. The engines had been torn to shreds, but-

“Heya Satoshi. Glad you could join us.”

-I was still very alive. And so, it seemed, was Lurili.

Lurili walked over to where I sat, still strapped into my seat in front of the now trashed weapons control center. I clumsily unhooked the restraints holding me in place and got shakily to my feet.

It was about then that I realized that our transport was now half buried in one of the hills surrounding what once had been the Pojo Institute. I looked around for the others.

“Everyone else is in the warp room. We’ve been trying to get the Vortex Generator back online. C’mon.” Lurili turned and half walked, half ran down one of the mostly collapsed corridors of the downed ship.


We arrived just as the others activated the vortex generator. The circular frame glowed and soon the liquid metal portal swirled into view within it.

Mr. Monkey looked up when Lurili and I walked in. He motioned us over to where he stood, and once we were there, he explained what was going on.

“We took down the flagship, but sensors showed that they got an escape pod off before the thing blew. We can only guess that Giovanni was aboard.” Monkey looked around and sighed. “We have to evacuate this world. Pojo put forth the idea, and we all agreed that it is the best course of action.”

I started to disagree, but Lurili cut me off. “Listen, none of us like the idea.” He looked around at the others, each looking like they hated this idea as much as I did. “But, well…without any safe place to hide out for a while, Team Rocket will hunt us all down and kill us. But if we go back to the real world….”

Monkey cut in. “We know that they don’t have the equipment to upload themselves from here to there. It’d be especially hard, considering they are entities of this world, not ours. Pojosama is going to self destruct the Vortex Generator once we’re all through.”

“Then what?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“Then…” Monkey sighed again. “Then we all go back to our lives in the real world. You’ll go back to being a hobby shop owner, Lurili will go back to his career as a nuclear fusion engineer, and I’ll take up where I left off-a museum guide.”

I didn’t have much to say to that. I just blinked and let it sink in. “So…it’s over then.”

“Looks that way.” Pojo looked up from where he was sitting, trying to reboot the Vortex Generator computer system. “I talked it over with Mike and the others. They all agree that it is our only course of action. They don’t like it, but it’s our last hope. Understand?”

I nodded.

“Good.” He smiled. “Now, let’s get outta this dump.”


“T-minus 30 seconds to Vortex Generator activation.” The computer generated voice echoed in the otherwise barren room.

We stood in the middle of the large chamber, within the frame of the Vortex Generator set into the floor. No one had much to say. The silence was maddening.

“So, it’s been fun, everyone.” Scott broke the silence. “I mean, saving the world and all.” He added with a weak smile.

We all laughed quietly, then were silent again.

“10 seconds.” The voice said again. “Initiating self destruct program.”

“Adios, everyone.” Ness said. “It’s back to writing computer programs for me, I suppose.”

Crash groaned. “I just hope I don’t have too many appointments at the office this week.”

“5 seconds.” Even the computer’s voice seemed sad. “4. 3. 2. 1…”

The Vortex Generator activated, coating our feet in the liquid metal of the portal, and then rising to engulf the rest of us. All around us, we could hear the ship’s self-destruct systems taking effect and scraping whatever was left of our transport.

The last thing I remember seeing was the computer in the Vortex Chamber beginning to explode.

Then I was gone.


<< Two Years Later >>
“Thanks for shopping at Satoshi’s Shop. Please come again.” I handed my latest customer, a young boy, his change and smiled as he ran to where his mom sat, waiting.

The woman looked to her son and asked, “Did you get what you wanted?”

The boy nodded. “Yup! Satoshi always has the newest expansions in.” He turned back to me. “Hey Satoshi, you think I could play you a game, maybe?”

I smiled. “Maybe at the league Saturday. But for now, I’m a bit busy. You understand, little guy?”

The boy nodded and grinned. “See ya Saturday then!” and ran to catch up with his mom, who was already out the door.

I sighed and looked at the clock. 12 noon. As if on cue, my friend and co-owner came walking in the door and shouted “MAIL CALL!!!”

I laughed. “Thanks, Hitokage. Anything interesting?”

Hitokage hopped over the counter and lazily leafed through the mail. “Bill, bill, hey, what’s a llip?” He turned that piece of mail right side-up. “Oh, bill. Never mind. Hey, something for you, man.”

I took the envelope he handed and me looked at it curiously. There was no return address, and it the front simply read; “TO SATOSHI.”

“Huh.” I turned to Hitokage. “Hey, could you stock the new Neo Discovery packs please?”

“Sure.” He sauntered into the back room.

I tore open the envelope and was surprise to see that its contents was simply a Pokémon TCG card. The back of the card stared up at me. I turned in over.

“A Water Energy card?” I shrugged and turned to throw it into the common and uncommon bin-but stopped when I saw something scribbled into the border of the card. I squinted to read what it said and nearly blacked out when I finally made out the small writing.

“We’re going back. Go to the library. Computer 7
-PoJo”

“Hitokage…” I called to the back, not taking my eyes off of the card. “I’ve got some business to take care of. I’ll be back…whenever…” without waiting for an answer, I leapt the counter and ran out the door, not before grabbing a red, black, and white jersey from where it hung on the wall….


I nearly fell on my face as I stumbled through the doors of the library. Still struggling to fit the jersey on over my work clothes, I eventually found my way to Computer 7 near the back of the library. I took a seat and made sure no one was watching.

“Now what…?” I wondered. I looked around the computer, expecting to see something out of the ordinary. “Printer, scanner, speakers, wait…!” I noticed a GameBoy E-Card Scanner sitting next to the computer monitor.

Taking out the Water Energy card I had received in the mail, I looked closely at the non-marked border. Just as I had hoped, it was a bit larger than the other side. Again, I made sure no one was watching, and placed the larger bordered side into the scanner and swiped it like I would any credit card.

“Whoa!”

Like two years before, I was immediately in a vastly different place.


“Arrgh-umph!” I looked up from where I had not so gracefully landed and spat a mouthful of dirt.

Mr. Monkey grinned and helped me up. “Welcome to hell, my friend.” He gestured around him. “The place has changed since we’ve been gone, as I’m sure you can tell.”

Indeed it had. What had once been arguably one of the most beautiful landscapes around-real or virtual-was now incredibly different.

The skies, once blue and clear were now polluted and dark. What had been at one time a lush field was now a burnt mess, craters and scars marking where the land had been blasted. Half destroyed buildings jutted up in the distance, their shapes irregular and a bit disturbing.

“Oh man…Team Rocket really worked this place.” I got up and brushed my PoJo Jersey off. “Wait.” I looked around. “Where is everyone? Souper, Griffin, Dux, Spike, Crash…aren’t they here yet?”

Monkey looked to the ground and then at me again. “Satoshi, we couldn’t find them. We looked everywhere, but it’s no use. The Deck Mechanics that you once knew are gone.”

I almost collapsed. “Gone…” I repeated, stunned.

“Hey, I’m still here.” Ness jogged over to where Monkey and I stood. “And don’t worry. We’ve got some new blood for the team.” He gestured to three figures whose faces I did not recognize. “Satoshi, let me introduce you to our four new Deck Mechanics and members of the Team Pojo Strike Force.” He gestured to the first, a boy about my age, dressed in a dark blue. “Meet Rain,” he pointed to the next boy, who was dressed in a forest green, “Moss,” finally, he pointed to the third. “And Beedrill.”

Ness turned back to me. “I believe you know the last new addition to our happy family.” He jerked his head towards Monkey, who was grinning like a lunatic.

“That’s right, I got a promotion. God only knows why, but I did.” Monkey said, laughing.

Ness spoke to me again. “We need to get back to base. Mount up and follow us.” He pointed to what appeared to be six small hover bikes silently floating near one of the monstrous craters.

I nodded and moved to one of the bikes. Like it or not, the team was changed. I’d just have to deal with it.

However, as I climbed onto one of the hover bikes and lit the engine, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was the last Mech standing.

= Last Mech Standing =
-Two-

Our team in shambles and our base of operations destroyed, Monkey and Ness led me and the three new recruits to what was to be our new hideaway.

Ness slowed and came to a stop in the middle of a vast field of jutting rocks and other debris. He jumped down from his bike and Monkey did the same. Rain, Moss, Bee and I just looked around quizzically.

“Uh, hey chief.” Rain called to me. “Am I missing something or are we in the middle of an urban desert?”

I shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I just work here.”

Monkey called us over to where he and Ness now stood. In front of them was what appeared to be a broken off support pillar to one of the nearby buildings-if they could still be called that.

Monkey turned to us. “Some of us-Lurili, Mike, Pojo and myself-got here a week or so back so that we would have time to find a new base of operations before we sent out the call to the rest of you. After a bit of searching, we found this.” He reached into a pocket on his torn flight suit and handed me a piece of stone with a sort of inscription on one side.

I looked at the stone, then back to Monkey. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with anything?”

“Everything!” Monkey responded and snatched the stone from my hand. He pointed to a hole in the pillar in front of him that was just the size of the piece of rock he had let me hold. “He found this cylinder two days ago. We immediately saw that the symbols on it were Unown.”

“So you don’t know what they mean?” Moss asked.

“No, not that kind of Unown.” Monkey motioned to us to look at the cylinder. “See?” He gestured to the strange markings. Sure enough, they were in the shapes of Unown.

They read “H _ D D E N.”

“H, D, D, E, N…” I wondered aloud. “But there’s a space…what goes—“ Suddenly it occurred to me. I grabbed the rock from Monkey’s hands and looked at the marking again. It was as I guessed. An Unown “I”

I shoved the rock into its space and almost immediately felt the ground beneath us begin to shake.

“Smart boy,” Monkey teased as the pillar began to glow. “Wait until you see what happens next.”

As if from some bizarre dream, the Unown markings on the pillar peeled away and began to form an uneasy circle around the six of us. They began to spin, faster…faster…faster….


“Welcome,” Monkey began as my eyes fluttered open again. “Welcome to the Hidden.”

I jumped to my feet and yelped in surprise. We now stood in what looked like a giant docking bay. All around us stood the ruins of what had to be hundreds of shapes, humans and Pokémon busily trying to make them function again.

I stepped forward and stumbled off of the raised platform the six of us had been standing on. “How in the hell…?” I began, dazed.

“The Unown do it. We don’t know why, but they do it.” Pojo leaped from a nearby ship and jogged over to us. He took my hand and shook it until I thought my fingers might break off. “Good to see you again, Satoshi. I trust your trip was pleasant?”

“It was a trip, alright.” I mumbled. “But how…?”

“We don’t know.” FemaleQ appeared behind us. “Monkey, Ness and I have been trying to figure out exactly how the Unown transport us, and why this place is here, but so far…nothing.” She shrugged and motioned for us to follow her. “C’mon, we need to set Satoshi and the other recruits up with their supplies. Plus,” she added with a grin, “There’s some Pokémon here that want to see you.”


“” Blastoise screamed as I came through the door to the supply room. I grinned as he ran up and threw his arms around me. “” he asked.

“When we came back, the first thing we did was check the remains of our transport,” FemaleQ explained as I scratched Blastoise behind the ears. “The PokéBall containment units were still operational, and all the Pokémon were in perfect stasis lock.”

“Where are-oof!” I broke off as the rest of my team tackled me from behind. “Machamp, Clefable, Zapdos, Houndoom, Alakazam! Guys, I’m happy to see you too, but I can’t breathe!!”

They got off of me and followed me to where Q was standing. “We’re gonna set you up with the new armor and equipment now.” She explained and pointed to a raised platform in the middle of the room. “Stand there.”

I did, and Q touched some controls on the pad in front of her. Almost immediately a blinding light surrounded me. It bound itself to my form and then dimmed. Blinking a few times, I looked down at my jersey and was shocked to see that it had taken on a totally different look. The Pojosama logo was still there, but instead of the jersey itself being loose and cloth like, it was now more of a tight fight a had a leather feel to it.

“That’s the new armor. We take the Pojo Jerseys and alter them with an energy field until it takes that shape and toughness.” She pointed to my ‘new’ jersey.

“Great…” I began, looking at my new outfit. “What’s next?”

“Well,” Q opened a locker near the platform and threw me seven PokéBalls. “Since the Pokémon League doesn’t exist anymore,” she began, “We can carry as many Pokémon as we like. We’ve all agreed to simply up the old number by one, which explains the extra PokéBall.”

I thought about that for a second. “But there can’t be anything alive out there. The land is totally barren.”

Q nodded. “That’s exactly what we thought. But then these little guys started showing up all over this place.” She took a PokéBall from her belt and opened it.

“Unown.” The creature cried with absolutely no emotion.

“The PokéBall you have, the one with a heavier feel to it,” she continued. “It already contains an Unown. As far as we can tell, they’re the power source around here. Weapons systems, the entrance, the kitchen area…everything depends on these little guys.” She patted her Unown on the head and recalled it to its PokéBall. “You’d be well advised to keep your Unown with you at all times…we don’t know how this place will react to someone without an Unown with him or her.”

I recalled the rest of my Pokémon to their PokéBalls and stared at the seventh before placing it on my belt with the others. “Anything else I need to know?” I asked Q.

She nodded and tossed me what looked at lot like an old PokéGear unit. I caught it and strapped it to my left forearm. “Nice…” I mumbled. “But I have the feeling this isn’t a normal PokéGear.”

“Right.” FemaleQ pointed to a panel on my ‘Gear that had four buttons on it. “The green and blue buttons are communication and a temporary cloaking field, respectively,” she said, pointing to the two buttons. “The other two are a bit more interesting.”

Gesturing to a target at the far end of the room, she said, “Push the yellow button.”

I did so, and was not surprised to see a compartment open on the front of my ‘Gear and a gun barrel protrude from it.

“Nice…” I mumbled. I looked up to the target, brought my left arm up, took aim…and looked to Q.

“You fire by flexing your wrist downward.” She explained.

I nodded, looked back to the target and flexed my wrist three times.

Three beams of energy shot from my pulse laser and hit the target in a rapid succession.

“It’s a light pulse laser cannon,” Q explained as I studied the smoking holes my three shots had left in the target. “Try the red button now.”

I hit the red button, took aim, and jerked my wrist downward. Almost immediately a wave of energy forced me into the nearest wall. “Urgh.” I mumbled as I got to my feet and looked at the target.

My pulse laser had left three perfectly rounded holes in the target. This new function had completely shattered it.

“A sonic wave generator.” Q said as I stared at my PokéGear in shock. “It creates a wave of energy flowing in the general direction of where the PokéGear unit is pointing.”

“Wow.” I said when I had finally snapped out of my trance. “It seems like we’re pretty well set weapons wise. This new stuff is nothing like the blasters we used to-“

I was cut off as a piercing siren cut through the base.

“No time for talk now, Satoshi.” FemaleQ hurried out the door and motioned for me to follow. “It seems we have company. Follow me.”

I followed.


Q led me to a docking bay similar to the one I found myself in when I had first arrived, but much smaller.

She showed me to a wall on which hung sophisticated jetpacks; complete with headsets and weapon systems.

“Strap one on.” She said as she hurriedly got on ready for herself. “Put your Unown’s PokéBall in the slot on the back-like I said, they’re the power source around here.”

I did so, and almost immediately the lights on the pack glowed to life with a quiet hum. I hastily strapped it on and looked questionably at the two handles protruding out in front of me. They had a look about them that reminded me of a computer joystick.

“The red buttons on top on the control sticks control elevation. The buttons on the front-the ones that look like triggers-they’re your weapons. Tilt the sticks forward to go forward, back to go back. The same goes for left and right.”

I nodded. “Who are we after?”

Q slipped her headset on, as I did the same. “Who else? Team Rocket, most likely. Could be smugglers, though. Maybe even some renegade Pokémon Trainers out for a joyride. Thing is, we can’t be too careful. Prepare for liftoff. Your comm. designation is P-17.”

I nodded, strapped my arms to the metal guides and wrapped my fingers around the control sticks, thumbs twitching above the ignition buttons.

The roof above us slid open, revealing a darkened sky. One by one, we ignited our jetpacks and took to it.


The comm. frequency was a jumble of voices.

“I don’t see anyone.” One voice said.

“Could be another drill.” Responded a second.

“Scanners don’t read anything-wait, there they are! Straight ahead!”

Sure enough, a group of several figures flew at us a few meters ahead, red “R”s on their suits plainly visible.

“It’s Team Rocket, alright.” Ness mumbled. Then, to everyone, “Don’t kill them all, people. We need at least one of them alive for interrogation. Now, break off and fire to disable!”

We peeled from our loose formation and began to fire on the enemy. They returned fire, and before long the air between us was a wall of laser blasts.

I pressed the elevation buttons a bit harder and soon found myself above the rest of the battle. Sensing an opportunity, I leaned the control sticks forward and soon found myself directly over the enemy. I chose one of the sinister agents at random, made sure I was directly over him, and took my thumbs off of the ignition.

Just as I had hoped, I dropped like a stone onto the man’s shoulders and forced him to the ground. Once he was planted in the dirt, I kicked him twice in the face for good measure. He sagged, unconscious. I jumped clear of the man and ignited my engines again.

“P-17 to base,” I called over the comm. unit. “I’ve got a live one at the following coordinates. He’s unconscious but he’ll be okay. Feeding coordinates now.”

A few seconds later I received a response. “We’ve got him. Good work P-17”

I nodded to no one and re joined the rest of my squad. Apparently the Rocket agents had been order only to do recon, not engage in battle. It wasn’t long before they went into a full retreat.

“Nice work, people. Satoshi has graciously supplied us with a live one, so there’s no need for chase. Let’s take ‘em in.” Ness said.

We complied and soon were back in the docking bay of the Hidden.


Pojo and Ness took the Rocket agent into a special interrogation room while the rest of us got lunch.

“I just thought of something.” I said around a mouthful of some sort of stew. “What happened to everyone that lived in the cities when Team Rocket nuked them?”

“They were taken as POWs.” A young man that I had seen around the base spoke up from a few seats down. “We think that they’re being forced into labor at any of numerous Team Rocket installations hidden in this world.” He took another bite of his sandwich, swallowed, and grinned. “You’re Satoshi, right? My name is Outlaw. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

I nodded. “No, I don’t believe we have. What do you do here?” I asked casually.

He grinned again. “What don’t I do?” he laughed. “I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I do whatever is needed of me.” He took a careful sip of his drink and then added, as an afterthought, “That is, as long as the price is right.”

I laughed. “I see. Pass the chicken, please.”

“Pass it over here too.” Lurili sat down in the seat next to me and flashed a grin. “So, you’ve seen what Team Rocket has to done this world and our happy family. Angry much?”

I pondered his question as I took a bite of a chicken leg. “I suppose…but to tell ya the truth, I kind of like this ‘out in the open’ warfare when compared to the spying and covert garbage we used to do.”

Lurili nodded and grabbed a chicken breast as the plate passed by him. Around a mouthful of meat, he said, “Y’know, I need to show you something I found a few days ago. Meet me in the lab after you’re finished here.” He set his chicken down, took a quick gulp of his drink, and walked out of the mess hall.

I finished my own meal, bid goodbye to Outlaw, and went after Lurili.


“Exactly what is this thing?” I asked as I strapped a visor and earpiece onto my head.

Lurili, busy at a nearby computer terminal, looked up, grinned, and replied, “You’ll see.” With that, he flippeda switch and an energy field around me activated.

The visor/headset I was wearing flicked to life, color and sound flashing through my head. Slowly, the images took the shapes of Unown and the sounds quieted to a hum.

“What is this?” I asked.

“That, my friend,” Lurili answered. “Is InSaNiTy.”

= To Be Continued =

That is what Satoshi has done so far, check out The ‘Ruins Fan Fiction Forum for more great stuff. Now here is Gloom’ s kicking addition from his point of view:
 
Outlaw stumbled in the long corridor after Satoshi and lurili. His only Pokémon Ditto wore a mask of sadness as they ran swiftly after the other two.
"Ditto, try your best okay? I know we are useless here, but maybe we can retrieve the guys from this place." Ditto frowned and sighed as his friend, trainer, and partner, ran down the corridor to confront the traps ahead.
 
Outlaw rotated swiftly into the air, as one of the remaining traps sprung, turning around just in time to see an arrow flying at his chest. In a flash of light Ditto formed a heavy coat of metal, deflecting the projectile. He twisted his leaping form 3 more times as arrow after arrow flew at the pair. He landed awkwardly on a stone only to have set off the last trap. Ditto reverted into an armor as 3 long bows struck the shielding, his Pokémon wearing a mask of effort as swiftly walked away from the trap.
 
"Thanks a bunch little guy!" It grinned sheepishly as it reverted, staring behind the two intently. Stopping by the entrance Outlaw heard them, the two, they didn't sound endangered, but something was amiss. "Guys can you hear me? Outlaw reporting, are you hearing me?" He brushed some sweat from his forehead as he wiped at the dusty layers of stone in front of him. The inscriptions were supposedly creatures, but they appeared to be carvings. He frowned; there was something wrong here. Ditto yelped as the stone shifted, and the wall collapsed, Outlaw launched the grappling device into the stone on the other wall just as the winds pulled away at the trainer and his companion. The two pulled as one, straining till the towline snapped, both sucked into the abyss below.
 
He saw them, before he too was changed, the Ruined.
 
"I understand now."
 
Tumbling through the abyss, they shuddered, as to what could be at the other side of the top. Both were shocked as a vine caught Outlaw and his Ditto, and hoisted them upwards. The small figure next to the Ivysaur said nothing, and ran beckoning to the two. He led them to where Satoshi and lurili were and pointed to Outlaw then gestured towards lurili’s figure. He pointed to himself and then to Satoshi as well. Wordlessly he sent out his Articuno and used blizzard; the disabling ice tactics used to slow Satoshi's Blastoise down. The Blastoise howled as the ice storm brewed and wrapped swiftly around the tank Pokémon. A blast of pressurized water punched through the wall of wind and ice striking down the legendary bird, but throwing stray ice shards in its trainers direction. Outlaw then knew what must be done.
 
"I Understand Now." Outlaw frowned in the manner of what was to be, he would have to take on lurili. His own friend, rival, teammate, and opponent. His eyes glinted in despair at what he would have to do. He turned his vision through the nightmarish landscape of warps to see Satoshi react with speed; he was using his Oak ability. As soon as he had dodged the blizzard his Blastoise had tried to block, Satoshi threw the Pokéball, mindlessly at the will of the Unown.
 
He turned to see lurili acting quite quickly as a Zapdos flashed in brilliance. The Zapdos reeled in the sky as it sent plasma towards the new enemy. Outlaw used the Oak technique and avoided the lightning attack, but the ground sizzled and cracked with the force of the lightning. The hair on his neck rose from the static as he released his sole Pokémon. Ditto. It gazed sadly at what was taking place, affirmed it, and flashed. A screeching roar picked at the winds as the Pokémon transformed into the Zapdos. Immediately a flash of lightning picked up raking lurili's Zapdos. Both picked up energy swiftly from the stray plasma, however in a bolt of speed and energy, Ditto charged again. Outlaw swiftly attached the Gold Berry to the Pokémon as it released jagged edges of lightning. The other fell swooning. Lurili didn't acknowledge the defeat as two Unown circled him, and flew towards Outlaw. Ditto Transformed again, but the power failed as the Unown caged Outlaw, draining him.
 
"Ditto! Transform into Chansey!" He hoped his plan would work as the pair of Unown continued draining him. One was an N; maybe Ditto would knock it out without taking too much damage. He growled at the two Unown and reached for his PokéGear, pressing the button he released the Pokéball on the one Unown, N. They were wild, and they were the ones in control. Ditto ignored the rest as its new form flashed in a brilliant hue of white and slammed the other Unown away. It dissipated in a flash of stone and crystal, as the Unown called on more of its minions. Outlaw's eyes widened in time to see lurili was far from finished. Ina brilliant red flash, Magmar stood in the air, hovering at ready. Without a spoken command, the Magmar released a torrent of lava. Before being enveloped the Ditto had changed into the same. Both, immune to fire.
It was then that Outlaw heard lurili speak.
 
"Come over, the Ruined are far better."
 
"Not if they control you!" The clashing of the two Magmar were heard, but lurili paid no heed as he ran at Outlaw as fast as possible. The oak technique again. "Rain! I can't beat him! I can copy, and be as good, but I can’t be better than he is!" Outlaw frantically broke out in shouts over at the other two trainers dueling. Meanwhile lurili threw fists only to have them thrown back, with the same effect. Lurili vaulted in a wheel kick, in the last moment Outlaw flicked his strategy and dropped right below the kick, following with his own spin kick, lurili growled as he smashed into the ground. He spat on the ground as he pulled a visor over his head; the thing came to life, humming and flickering with energy.
 
"InSaNiTy!" Outlaw had not seen the updated version for a while. This was more compact than the other was, if not more deadly. Lurili smiled as he charged the shocked Outlaw into the wall. Laughing to himself, Outlaw flicked his visor on, it humming with just as much strength. Lurili frowned at the similar headset, then spoke up.
 
"And I would presume that is the AsYlUm?" Outlaw didn't bother replying as the boosted energy level filled him and he downloaded the aspect ratio of InSaNiTy. Both figures fought equally as the AsYlUm downloaded each ounce of information drifting from the InSaNiTy. The battles of the information layout continued, equal as before...and equal to the death.
 
InSaNiTy hummed and shook with life getting stronger by the minute. The older processor of AsYlUm couldn't download any more aspects of lurili's latest creation. In one swift bolt, InSaNiTy enhanced the main core TecH, the cybernetics overriding Outlaw's headgear. Outlaw fell grasping his head as he slammed into the barrier beneath; cracking it. Both fighters fell onto yet another thicker pane of ground as Outlaw wrenched the collapsing head gear. He turned to see Ditto's energy fly into its Pokéball; the one he never went into. Magmar had defeated it!
"Ready to give up yet?" Outlaw turned his head to face the whispering voice coming from lurili. In rage, Outlaw vaulted towards lurili, he quickly saw his error as a sheen of energy slammed into him. The signal readings jumping on the visor in front of lurili's face. "No, you shouldn't try to attack like that, you very well know a TecH will break it, not brute force." A smile spread across his face as Outlaw spit some blood out.
 
"Yeah well I've done it before!" Lurili didn't predict the outward force readings as Outlaw vaulted and slammed the barrier with his legs, twisting mid-air he pushed the barrier around lurili's form and knocked them both down again.
 
"Foolish! And unpredictable, that is why the AsYlUm was so good, but now it's broken! Feel this!" Outlaw had no time to react as a swiftly moving barrier surrounded him and slid his form across the ground.
 
"I will take you with-" Outlaw was cut as a strange gear landed in his hand. And a new Pokéball resting on the side. Lurili's attention also faded as they both looked towards who it was.
 
"Call it a gift!" The figure said, before jumping the platforms toward Satoshi and Rain's battle.
 
"Goldmaster!?" Outlaw couldn't believe it, the energy signal that had blown his ship apart should have killed him. Looking down in his hands looked to be a headset similar to lurili's. He smiled, it was black, and the unmistakable words of AsYlUm were engraved in the back. He had barely enough time to pull the head gear on as his opponents Magmar set a lava stream in his path. He rotated backwards avoiding it as he released the Pokéball. The black and white ball spun through the air as it released a dark energy above the arena. Lurili's eyes widened in shock at the new Pokémon hitting the battlefield.
 
"Nyuura!" It took a look at its new trainer and flicked its claws, all six increasing in length. It grinned all teeth as it leaped swiftly at the Magmar in a blur, shadows dissipating into the surrounding area. Lurili saw this and frowned, but he was all teeth again as he let go another Pokémon. Electabuzz. Outlaw felt sure the Nyuura would need no help as the pair of Pokémon danced the field quickly.
 
"So is InSaNiTy going to have to break another one of your toys?" He barely heard lurili as the power flicked on, a visor of energy sheened into formation in front of his eyes as he listened to Gold's voice in the intercom.
 
"This is a copy of AsYlUm and then some. You will find this to be a bit faster, if not more reliable as I have learned many things since the accident. Thank you Rockets. As you know my ship was blown away by Rocket attacks, however they took me hostage. You know I am an eloquent liar, and soon I was part of the technology testing and mostly in TecH. This device will enhance like none other, and I am certain lurili is in for a surprise. Nyuura was stolen from the base, don't worry it has not been corrupted by the rockets, I figured you would need it. I will go now l8tr! Three...Two...One!" The voice cut off as did the visor's view of Gold talking. Soon the perimeter data and energy level readings took place of everything as he read lurili's InSaNiTy taking offensive. He watched lurili run swiftly across the ground, both legs were ready to catch him if Outlaw didn't move. The visor locked on lurili's image as he raised his arm and shot the grappling hook into lurili's arm, knocking him down. He responded with a swift kick, the cord lying useless on the ground.
 
"Nice trick, but that metal rope won't do a thing!" He began running again only to have the cord snap at his foot.
 
"I am adept at weapons." Reeling his arm back, the cord lashed InSaNiTy off of lurili's face, the machine clattering on the ground.
 
"That’s not the only one!" Outlaw's heart quickened as he saw another piece of machinery come out of lurili's jacket.
 
"This is the updated alright." Lurili grinned
 
        Sweet, eh? Thanks go to Gloom’ for letting me use it in the ProjecT. Of course you expect a lot from all this and I still am rambling on just to get you not to look below what is written here, or better said what is next ;.) Some editor’s note on InSaNiTy v11.o2 before you get to it. Those of you at the ‘Ruins, any questions regarding the deck and replies to any fragment of the ProjecT in general are to be placed in the ProjecT Discussion Forum before the TCG Category on the UBB. With that out of the way, I present to you the new and updated InSaNiTy, and I promise I won’t leave you guys again for a good while, here it is (finally =P ;.):
 
InSaNiTy v11.o2
 
Pokémon: (9)
2x Electabuzz
2x Magmar (Fossil)
2x Cleffa
1x Erika’s Jigglypuff
1x Rocket’s Zapdos
1x Magby
 
Trainers: (41)
4x Professor Oak
4x Computer Search
4x Bill
4x Energy Removal
3x PlusPower
3x Gold Berry
3x Gust of Wind
2x Lass
2x Switch
2x Super Energy Removal
2x No Removal Gym
2x Nightly Garbage Run
1x Focus Band
1x Unown N/D
1x Energy Flow
1x Energy Charge
1x Eco Gym
1x Chaos Gym
 
Energy: (10)
3x Fire Energy
3x Electric Energy
2x Double Colorless Energy
1x Rainbow Energy
1x Recycle Energy
 
        There you go you greedy hyenas! ;.) I did it, I am no longer retired. InSaNiTy for life! :.D ;.) The only fix I suggest has already been added to the main list. Otherwise, all you out there get cracking! We got work to do. All help appreciated, of course, or nothing will ever get done. Do not stare in complete admiration, this is a deck, I am a deck builder. I need YOUR help to get this back to the top. Yes, it is a respected ideal and deck archetype, blasé-blasé, but without the other great minds and collaborators out there it can not get anywhere. Variants and the like are all appreciated in hopes of seeing what others think. Now, prepare for the last two sections of The InSaNiTy ProjecT where the deck is ripped open and analyzed and explained for your viewing pleasure ;.)
 

 
       I decided to separate the following 2 segments in hope to teach “newbies” (and some oldies) how things are done ;.)
 

Chapter 26: The InSaNiTy StraTeGy Guide v4.o

 
        Well, this is usually the part that receives the most criticism from players world-wide. I was opting to perhaps remove it this time or just leave you all hanging with that distasteful jargon you people call “What if” hanging in your mouths. People, as I say, take this as it is! This is what I have noted and how I do it. You may have a different way, but that does not mean you have to tell me “What if…?”. I know all the “what ifs”, I’ve playtested rigorously with not only InSaNiTy but every deck our there, creative or not creative. Any comments, as always, please direct them towards me in the ProjecT Discussion Forum, thank you…
 
Note: This is not a Strategy Guide like Prima Games where they tell you EVERY secret. No, I want to make some “money” off of this so I base it off of the theory that Nintendo Strategy Guides use: tell them the okay secrets and then let them find the rest in their own ;.) I will only guide you through so far, the rest is for you to play with the deck against the deck until you know how to beat that deck or play with InSaNiTy, here goes:
 
Ack, also, these decks that are listed are just because I listed them. If you want to know about a certain other deck, per se, just ask in the Discussion Forum:
 
InSaNiTy – I can’t just tell you. It isn’t that easy. If you want to find out, either play the deck enough times or play against it. Your choice. It is the smallest thing in the world, though, so the MENTAL COUNT is the key. /me zips mouth up
 
SlowKing – Bah, humbug to you all who believe InSaNiTy can’t beat SlowKing decks. What planet have you been on? Have you played Slowking decks yet? There is an intricate flaw Nyuura and Gr81 pointed out a LONG time ago which has always stuck with me. Those of you who remember, “Unlocking the Lock”. ;.) That article stuck and thus Slowking has been macromanaged in accordance with legal deck building schematics. Just play and note how it is you lose at first and then play some more and TecH appropriately and you get the point.
 
SlashTap – Well, give my regards to Slash, his deck is nothing in the face of a good InSaNiTy Player. Pile up the damage so that whatever your opponent attempts to retreat to is KO-able after a couple of good hits. Then just leech off and control the game. You’ll achieve end game only through benching or KO-ing, stalling is not an option here because of the free retreat spread out. Sneasels, if present, are potential problems but more on that later…
 
Haymaker – Wait a second? Haymaker exists! o_O It can not be! LoL. This deck is a blow over lest they run some form of Sneasel and lots of Control oriented Trainers. Otherwise you rape them into submission and just plain rule the entire game with your own control TriX.
 
InSaNe StaLL – I wouldn’t sell out my own friend like that, now would I? :.p
 
Stall – Just in case it ever comes back. Stall is just either dead or so on because it can not handle the current environment. Flat out, InSaNiTy runs it over with its assortment of TriX. You know, I would like to see somebody bring back Stall, that would be the day :.D
 
RainDance – No disrespect Satoshi, but InSaNiTy oWnz RainDance. The mass disruption effect with the Control TriX take out Breeder, Oaks, Searches, Pokémon, and Energy all in one shot. Play this match-up thoroughly, though, because if you get screwed at the beginning of the game and the big shelled one presents itself, the game gets a little tougher, not impossible, but tougher…
 
Occult Powers – Well, barring if I say something here and I then go the WCSTS bomie will order Team Random to have me hunted out, I think it’s safe to say that you should just playtest. Magby is great help lest Yanma’s get out. But what you should really fret for your life for is when the ‘Plumes get out. Oh damn those ‘Plumes, try to get a Erika’s Jigglypuff going if it seems your opponent will get the ‘Plumes out soon. Otherwise it could mean end game unless you learn the other half of how to play against Occult Powers…


Sic Powers – Same applies here as in Occult, only difference is watch out for and super secret TecH stuff your opponent might be running, /me remembers once when bomie TecH-ed that Promo Smeargle into Sic Powers and I didn’t find out soon enough, I had quite a bad day against R4Jungle…
 
The Edge – Well, this is a mix-up between Steel Chansey and Slowking, double the threat, eh? Energy Removal and early control with the end game control shifted into mid-game play usage is a MUST. If you hold end game TecH against an Edge deck, they will win by prizes because Edge decks can extend the mid-game part extensively so it seems like you want to hold that TecH but it becomes too late…
 
The Wall – More bomie stuff :.p Heh, well, this deck is a bit more difficult as it is Steelix and Slowking this time instead of Chansey, a bit harder to handle, but it’s still all good. Speed is the key. Getting out 2 Evo’s is a bit difficult some times if you disrupt and gain control quick enough…
 
Arithmetic – Well, barring that the deck isn’t really viable in true form, I don’t think I’ll let this one out of the bag so that Ness can get it fixed and then I say how to beat that one ;.)
 
Wiggly – This is the extreme case where you run Unown N. But what if Wiggly never gets out? Mwahaha…
 
InSaNe WiGGlY – Same as above. Only thing is Unown N plays a bigger role against the Erika’s ‘Puffs. Take control and use the hand disruption considerable and loosely for they can draw just as quickly as you can to regain tempo.
 
The Cleaner – Well, the true blue Cleaner is gone, we’ll have to wait and see how this deck turns up from here on out. In respects to the now retired Impossible Man, I will not put this one up. You play it and tell me ;.)
 
Hunter – This is quite an uneven match-up. The tables can easily turn either way. If they get their Hunting BASICS, not the Basics, you can handle to some degree. But if they lay down the Evo’s, if any, things get a little iffy. Mass Removal and Hand Disruption is a must so that the Energy runs dry on them barring many Hunter Pokémon are Energy intensive. If it’s Yanma, burn it to hecks with the Magmars, don’t let it get out any damage. If it does, Erika’s ‘Puff saves the day, but at what cost…?
 
AsYlUm – Barring Gloom’ showed respect in my direction, so will I in his. Also, he is still updating so I have the upper hand at the moment, mwahahaha…
 
Steel Chansey – It all lies in the palm of the hand ;.) Removal and great playing style flair is what leads to wins against this deck and the next:
 
Muk-‘Fable – Yes, this deck is okay, but it does NOT own cracker jacks. Unown N TecH handles this and Steel Chansey and First Turn Kill and all that other bullocks. Wait, do you use PokéPowers? I didn’t think so, beatdown!!!
 
RipTide – Major Hand Disruption is the name of the game. Gator should not see play barring InSaNiTy outclasses it and outplays it…
 
Trapper – Way dead, no need to speak. Cleffa puts bullet holes in this deck, Lass ruins the game, easy.
 
SpeedDrill – Whoaness, watch out for the Poison! TecH-ed Switches and Recycle Energy are highlight cards in this match. Magmar also make a comeback. Why else would he stay in InSaNiTy? ;.)
 
Steelix – Oh please, Removal, Lass, Cleffa, whatever you want. Throw it and outplay this sucker…
 
First Turn Kill – Unown N TecH rules the world nowadays. As does the inclusion of Rainbow Energy again, wait a sec…, /me check to see it’s there barring you guys almost shot me for having said it was there when it wasn’t in InSaNiTy X
 
Aero-Mew – What good does it do them if your Basics can hit low and high. Out speed them and disrupt, then drop the Chaos to lock the game in your favor.
 
Houndoom – This deck has potential, but not against InSaNiTy. Weak Basics hurt it lest it has the right support, otherwise Removal takes him out and his family, too ;.)
 
        Hope you’ve enjoyed this look over some of the decks many of you have either asked about or been moaning for me to fix up and such. Now for the cherry on top:
 

 
       And now a new addition to InSaNiTy articles, and the first time it had ever been included although I did promise it would never be included ever a year ago -_-, :
 

Chapter 27: The PlayeR’s Guide to InSaNiTy v1.o

(Special For DuMMieS Edition ;.)
 
        NOTEL BARRING THIS IS NOT THAT IMPORTANT, I HAVE DECIDED TO DELAY THIS SECTION FOR TOMORROW SO THAT I CA GET THE PROJECT UP IN ITS CURRENTLY PSEUDO-FINISHED STATE. I WILL GET THIS TYPED UP AT WORK AND EDIT IT IN TOMORROW FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO READ IT (almost all of you, I bet, want to read it ;.)) -_-
 
 

 
Epilogue
 
Disclaimer – Distributing of the InSaNiTy ProjecT is strictly forbidden unless when otherwise noted. Please ask lurili for permission concerning any copying of the material found in the InSaNiTy ProjecT, whether it be a sentence, a paragraph, or the whole thing.
 
Warranty – You are automatically given support by lurili as to what you are capable of doing with the InSaNiTy ProjecT, or lurili will give you your money back.
 
Guarantee – lurili guarantees certain rights of the reader have not been trampled. He also guarantees that the InSaNiTy ProjecT is of his own accord and was presented at free of charge to all those who read it. Please notify him of any rip-offs of any sort, for lurili protects the consumer, i.e. the PokéPlayers globally.
 
Exchanges – Only with Receipts, otherwise, no service
 
InSaNiTy™®© – All Rights reserved 1999-2001 by lurili, and Wizards of the Coast ;/, Trademark pending, Patent Pending. This article is sole property of one lurili. It is an idea spawned from his ingenious little drugged up head. Anybody who copies or modifies this article without consent of lurili will be prosecuted and charged with… I don’t know… something
 
Props – Well, props go out to all the people who e-mailed me, most importantly IP Geek, who kept me from leaving the game. I give semi-props to all the “newbies” out there trying to build there own InSaNiTys @ PoJo, WizPoG, and other subsequent boards. They were the inspiration for my come back and weren’t it for them, I would not have noticed all the gaps I had yet to fill in my articles. Props to bomiester, whom without I would have never thought to continue in this game, since beating Occult used to be everything, and now we are great friends rather than morbid enemies. Props to IPgeek21, had you not sent me that first e-mail regarding my wanting to leave the game none of this, not The ‘Ruins nor the ProjecT, would have happened. MAJOR Props to MysticZapdos and zappy3000, whom without I would have never even thought of making a website, let alone, a true .com one. Weren’t it for them, I would not have come back into the game as hard as I have. Ruinites for life!!! ;.) Also, The Impossible Man, props to you my retired fellow. Because of you, I actually began to think outside of the box. Weren’t it for The Cleaner, I don’t know where I would have ever been. And lastly, the main person who helped me recuperate my confidence in myself and who playtested endlessly with me to be able to bring you this article: R4Jungle. His help in playtesting with me in any fashion possible and his challenging playstyle is the one and only big reason I have been able to deliver all of my articles to you. If possible send him an IM telling him thanks. Also, of it weren’t it for his confidence boost when he came back from Puerto Rico telling me I was known and have street cred and respect all the way over there, it allowed me to focus and try harder to get this finished for all the PokéPlayers worldwide. Finally, thanks to the PokéCommunity, SlashTap also, in general for your support throughout these 4 months.
 
Slops – I hardly diss people out, nor do I attempt to defame anyone’s character ever, but it is just something I must shed some light on. I won’t give specifics, but of those of you who read this, please note that you know who you are. I give true slops to the nonconformists who must keep on poking and agitating to get there exact way. Attempts at defaming my character through libel and slander such as that I cheat and personal attacks of my playing level by others when InSaNiTy X came out were reasons I almost took a complete leave from this game. More slops go to those attempting to take my position. Guys, it isn’t easy being me, don’t try. There is only one lurili, find your own thing, it will get you farther. Than, some more slops go out to the people who are too pushy. Guys, as long as I get this done, you don’t have to keep on asking me what am I doing because you know what my reply would always be: “I’m Busy”. Thanks to these people, though, I was actually pushed into my comeback and thus complete the first installment of the InSaNiTy ProjecT.
 
Contact Info –     Name: lurili a.k.a. Richard Caldera
                           E-mail Addresses:      lurili@bellsouth.net
                                                           lurili@pokeruins.com
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lurili
www.pokeruins.com
 
InSaNiTy leads to Chaos
 
"The dead have risen and are voting Republican!!!"
 
"oF aLL tHe tHiNgS i'Ve lOsT i miSs mY miNd tHe mOsT."
 
"The fine line between genius and InSaNiTy is measured only by success."

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