It's finally time to discuss the top deck(?) of 2004, Magma Spirit! Team Magma's Groudon is supported by a fantastic Magma engine that flips this slow, bulky, basic into a speedy powerhouse.
This era was the time I played a lot. The TCG really felt like it peaked during this era though and just started going downhill at the start of gen 4. I have my own version of this deck from back then still too. It really is a lot of fun to play with. Still hope to see a dark dragtrode deck and some other prominent decks from the time period explained. I think another reason this deck also did well was how it didn't rely on rare candies and didn't fall apart to ATM rock. It was resilient to disruptions.
I remember having a Team Magma's Groudon, but I never knew the significance of the card and the deck until I pulled it from Celebrstions. Such a cool piece of history