11-18 energy were absolute extremes. 18 is a Feraligatr deck, where discarded energy is essential; 11 is InSaNiTy, where the main focus is heavy disruption. 13-16 is the range for most normal decks, especially in Unlimited.
Like I said, if you like Ditto so much, play Clefable. Why Clefable, do you ask? Look over his first attack. One energy, same power as Ditto. Also, considering that all of your Pokemon attack for one or 2 energy (Zappy doesn't count: his attack is too self-damaging with out Metal to back it up). With 5 card drawing cards, you won't have to worry about the energy being stuck in your deck: you can draw at least once per turn. Usually, in Unlimited, card drawing takes the form of 3 Oak, 2 Elm, 3 Copycat. This maximizes efficiency and raw draw power by enabling you to shuffle things back into your deck, instead of just discarding them. Also, since you are not discarding as much, you will have more in your deck to work with. I know people who run through half of their deck in one TURN, and have NEVER decked ONCE. Volunteers and NGR are the reason for that. Also, Oak is best used when you only have, like, 1-2 cards in your hand other than Oak. Copycat is your general "go-get-me" card, meaning that it can be used in just about any situation where you don't want to discard anything and still get tons of cards. Elm is there because, well, I just plain like him. I think that shuffling in to draw 7, even at the cost of no more Trainers, is almost as good as the Grandaddy himself. In Unlimited, there are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many different trainers that should be in most decks, you can't afford to max out on any one of them, aside from PlusPower. 3 Gust, 3 ER, 3 SER, 3 Lass, 3 Oak, 2 Elm, 3 Copycat, 1 Town Volunteers, 3 Focus Band, 2 Gold Berry, 3 Item Finder, 3 Comp Search. That's 31 trainers right there, and you still have to take care of a gymbreaker, which, in most cases, will be something like a Lucky Stadium or Energy Stadium. If you were to max out on just 3-5 of those, you'd have 34-36 trainers, which is too much for any deck. If you are so worried about ER, why do you play Super Potion with no protection? That, IMO, is insane. Super Potion is really only good in, say, a Feraligatr deck, which thrives on discarded Energy cards. Focus Band, while flippy, is better protection against Clefable, Wiggly, and Sneasel than Super Potion is because those 3 can KO pretty much ANY Pokemon one shot. Super Potion can only remove damage when it's on a Pokemon, while Focus Band saves that Pokemon from the Graveyard. That 6 Pokemon deck that I told you about? InSaNiTy, which again is a disruption deck that runs upwards of 40 trainers, Maxing on Lass, ER, and SER.
