I like Pharikas Cure against Mono-Blue Devotion as well, and I considered bringing in Drown in Sorrow on the play as well, since it can trade one for one with a Master of Waves I figured it might be worth it (although I did not go that route, ultimately.) In particular, the Boss Sligh deck which is both cheap and effective and scary to play against, was on my mind after my finals loss in Columbus
Summary: Total of 125+1 types of cards
You can also shop for graded or ungraded Pokmon singles to build a curated set
which isn't really a thing
In a dedicated Bird deck, the +1/+1 counters will add up over time
Duking it out with a group of friends, using massive decks with cards from all across the game's history, is a whole lot of fun