What’s up everyone? I’m here to talk about something that I assumed everyone already knew about. However, after talking to a few esteemed players, I realized it wasn’t exactly something obvious. Of course I am talking about, The Ditto Trick.
The Ditto trick is an extremely simple way to get around Gengar SF‘s annoying “Feinting Spell” Poke-Power. All Ditto needs is 1 Psychic energy, and Gengar is toast. Sounds simple, right? But what makes it a trick?
Well, the trick is, your opponent can’t know what you’re up to. If he knows you play Ditto, he will GUARD Gengar like it’s hot. Here are some DO’s and DON’Ts:
DON’T bench Ditto if you aren’t going to KO Gengar in the same turn.
DON’T Roseanne’s Research for Ditto if you can’t KO Gengar the same turn. Even if you keep it in your hand, your opponent will know it’s there and GUARD Gengar anyway.
DON’T reveal Ditto my means of Azelf’s Poke-Power “Time Walk” unless you know you can KO the same turn.
DO store a Psychic Energy in your hand for just the right moment.
DO reveal Ditto ONLY if you can KO the same turn.
That’s it. After you’ve put at least 50 damage on Gengar with any of your attackers, you Roseanne’s for Ditto and (P), promote Ditto, and copy “Shadow Room” for a game changing KO. Since you are placing damage counters, “Feinting Spell” does not activate. I don’t know about you, but I am NEVER willing to risk losing a main attacker on Feinting Spell. The beautiful part about it is, “Ditto DNA” is a Body, not a Power, so if your opponent has another Gengar ready to go, he can’t do more than 30 with “Shadow Room”.
Of course, Ditto will be Knocked Out if he retreats or gets Warp Pointed away with 60 or more damage, but then that’s life. Losing a Basic with 1 energy is a small price to pay when you could have lost a loaded Stage 2.
If your opponent doesn’t know you play Ditto, or isn’t even familiar with the Ditto Trick, 9 times out of 10 they will GUARD Claydol, leaving Gengar vulnerable. And hey, if they choose to GUARD Gengar, then you can take advantage of Claydol, too!
Gengar is a deck that may never be the BDIF, but it is ALWAYS around. Chances are you will face at least 1 Gengar deck for every 2 tournaments you play. Isn’t that reason enough to find a space for Ditto in any deck? If you already run Psychic Energy, then Ditto is a no brainer. Especially if you consider his multiple uses. He is a fantastic Flygon counter, and will definitely make your opponent think twice about Leveling Up. Although unlikely, if you are forced to open with Ditto, he is fantastic for copying Spiritomb (AR)’s “Darkness Grace”, which has been seeing 4 copies in a LOT of decks recently.
Well, I hoped I turned you on to this little trick, and maybe more players will see the Gengar-Crushing potential of our friend, Ditto, the new staple tech.
PS: By revealing this secret, I might be enticing Gengar players to start thinking twice about GUARDing Claydol, which is great for us “Flygon Lock” players.
:-p
