Not quite as retro as the last retro article, but still up there…However, keep in mind that Gyarados was abandoned for a brief period during Battle Roads, so the context that this was written in is radically different than what we have now.
There's a great deal of PTCG literature on Gyarados, but I feel that this was great for the time, and has many suggestions/ideas that are applicable today…The only difference is that you have to include 4 Junk Arm.
Gyarados
-By Austin Baggs
(Originally submitted on 10/4/2010)
"Yes, the angry dragon/eel/fish is STILL here and kickin’ (or splashing, rather)! Over the past few weeks of going through old tournament reports and decklists, I remembered how well Gyarados has treated me every time I’ve played it. However, I had a small issue with the deck concerning the recent rotation. The exclusion of Claydol (GE), Night Maintenance, and Felicity’s Drawing were something of a hindrance to the efficiency of the deck. Sure, there are cards like Uxie and Volkner’s Philosophy that could fill in, but would it work? Some….no, MANY have completely written of Gyarados until Junk Arm and Rescue Energy are released. While I agreed with the assumptions that the deck won’t work without felicity’s/claydol for a while, I quickly found that the deck can still fully function without them, but THRIVES in a format with trainer lock where using supporters is required as well as a pokemon that can FISH (har har, puns) them out of your deck.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What are you going to do against Vileplume, scrub? Good luck winning when you can’t play SSU, Communications, Poketurns, and most importantly, your rescues, which Gyarados hinges on.” This is a very valid argument for not running the deck, but the key to victory lies in Dialga G Lv. X. Yeah, DGX as some call it gives Gyarados the edge it needs in a meta full of trainer locks whether it’s from Spiritombs or Vileplumes. I initially thought Floatzel GL Lv. X was a more solid play, not requiring me to run recovery cards, but G’dos is also about NOT being KO’d (thanks to super scoop ups), and another pokemon with Lightning weakness is no fun. When you combine the 1-1 DGX along with 3 warp energy, you can get it out relatively quickly and continue your beatdown on some of the most played decks in the format right now. While it doesn’t help the SP matchup in the slightest, you should be able to do well against them anyway, considering you OHKO them while they are typically forced to take cheap prizes around gyarados as well as the occasional Trash Bolt/Lucario OHKO. The SP matchup hasn’t really changed as much post rotation, I’d put it at an even 50-50 because so much of the matchup depends on who can keep up the stream of KO’s as well as the use of Expert Belt on G’dos’ side of the field. Regimove also plays a huge factor, allowing Gyarados to take a prize nearly every turn, barring Power Sprays.
I was also asked to discuss the relevance and efficiency of Volkner’s Philosophy as a Felicity’s Drawing substitute. Yes, Volkner is a moody guy, nowhere nearly as cheerful as Felicity, and he makes it clear that he doesn’t care that you can only discard one Magikarp with his “Philosophy”. Aside from the 1 card discard, Volkner’s can do wonders for the deck. Judge is a commonly played card right now, and getting rid of G’dos’ large hand for a measly 4 can suck, especially when holding onto those recovery cards you need. Volkner’s can not only get rid of a trash card from your hand, but also let you keep the good cards while drawing until you have 6, which is pretty good for not having claydol. The other reason it still works is because you need 3 magikarp in the discard. Regice can take care of 2 while Volkner’s drops the 3rd, still getting the same amount of discard *required* to set up, but not necessarily drawing as many cards mid-late game as Felicity’s would.
One last note before posting the list is the importance of Warp Energy. Between Bright Looks, Luring Flames, Sleep Inducers (Froslass GL), Reversals, and starting with Regice or Dialga G X, Warp Energy has saved my bacon several times. It can also be used to get out of a Status Condition such as Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Confusion, etc. It also comes in handy when getting Gyarados back to the bench so that you can Psychic Restore back into the deck for late-game Set Up. The main reason it’s so essential in the current list is really to get your DGX to the bench safely after you level up, though.
Gyarados:
4 Magikarp
3 Gyarados
4 Sableye
1-1 Dialga G X
1 Regice
2 Crobat G
2 Uxie
1 Azelf
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Volkner’s Philosophy
3 Bebe’s Search
2 Cynthia’s Feelings
4 Super Scoop Up
4 Poketurn
4 Pokemon Rescue
2 Pokemon Communication
2 Expert Belt
1 Luxury Ball
1 VS Seeker
3 Broken Time Space
4 Darkness Energy (Special)
3 Warp Energy
Battle Road:
Tom Bean, TX
5 Rounds / Top 4
10-3-2010
Round 1: Shuppet
He starts off by Fading out 30 to my sableye, promoting his uxie, with regice benched on his side. I impersonate and start setting up, by turn 2 I was swinging with Gyarados for 80 via 2 karps in discard + expert belt and took the game on turn 4.
1-0
Round 2: Machamp
I’m not one for making excuses, but I think I was destined to lose this one. I open Sableye to his Machop. I bench Azelf and Time Walk to find 2 Magikarp and Regice having a little pity-party in my prizes, great…He pulls T1 Machamp while I flail (yeaaaah puns) around with 1 Magikarp in the discard smacking him for 50 thanks to expert belt. He levels up, KO’s my G’dos, and even though I manage to take 3 prizes, he hits a Warp Point for the game.
1-1
Round 3: Jumpluff/Vileplume/Sunflora
He gets set up quickly thanks to Spiritombs and Sunfloras, but I start abusing Sableye’s ability to set up thanks to supporters and continually Regimove out of Tombs until I have DGX benched and Gyarados swinging for 90+ for OHKO’s. He hits an energy drought 5 turns in and I swept from there out.
2-1
Round 4: Tech.dec (Garchomp C, Drifblim FB, Umbreon, Mewtwo)
His deck was completely teched out to consistently beat Gengar, SP, and Vileplumes, but not Gyarados. I had a T1 gyarados swinging for 60 for a while. (I kept the other ‘Karp and a G’dos in my hand for when my current one died from poison to ensure I could still keep a Gyarados out). Once I had the next one swinging for 90+ I swept the rest of the game.
3-1
Round 5: Garchomp Box
His deck was a straightforward Garchomp -6 turn/6 prize-rush deck. He starts first with Ambipom G/DCE Snap Attack on my Crobat G start. I collector for Sableye + Crobat G, attach SP Dark and Expert Belt to Sableye, Flash Bite his Ambipom G, and OverconfiDONK.
4-1
Top 4: Kingdra/Tomb
Game 1: We go down to 1-1 prizes where my well placed Flash Bites win me the game
5-1
Game 2: I take a huge prize lead and Flash Bites + Expert Belt OHKO’s on his Kingdras are too much for him.
6-1
Top 2: Blaziken FB/Garchomp C
Game 1: Within the first 2 turns, he Jet Shoots my Sableye, but I pull off a Gyarados with one ‘Karp in the discard via Volkner’s followed by a Flash Bite for a crucial return KO out of nowhere. I set up from there on out as we trade prizes. He knows I run Warp Energy, so he avoids relying on Luring Flame. We go down to 1-1 prizes back and forth until he knows I can Regimove for my last prize and we go to game 2.
7-1
Game 2: I get a faster (full) set up and take a small prize lead but he manages to catch up and make it a close game. He used all 4 Power Sprays to keep me from double Flash Bite-ing his Garchomp C X down to 90 HP since I couldn’t hit an expert belt to save my life. I had to Regimove each turn to take prizes, allowing him to Dragon Rush 4 times in a row. Eventually, his sprays ran out and I hit the 90 HP to KO his Chomp C X taking us down to 1-1 prizes again. He uses Set Up for 5, but whiffs his 2nd Chomp C X (which would give him the win), so he promotes Blaziken FB, attaches a Fire energy and Luring Flames up my Regice. I reveal my Warp Energy and I take the win.
8-1
Tulsa, OK
5 Rounds, Top 4 cut
I play the same list as before -1 Cynthia's Feelings / +1 Judge.
Round 1: Michael – Kingdra/Gengar
I set up while he takes a couple cheap prizes via Spray Splash/Shadow Room. I eventually get setup and catch up in prizes while avoiding Fainting Spell. He started to run into an energy drought as well as prize issues and I take the win.
1-0
Round 2: Taylor – Gyarados
We both set up well with him hitting full setup within 2 turns without sableye, which was pretty sick, but he hits a crucial Reversal on my belted Crobat G to pretty much seal the game after we traded prizes for a while. GG man!
1-1
Round 3: Tyler – LuxChomp
He starts bronzong call to my sableye as we both start to set up. He gets some solid plays in, but lack of Lucario as well as needed Sprays clinched the game in my favor. I got a few real nice OHKO's and a couple SSU's to seal the victory. Sorry we had to play, duuuuude.
2-1
Round 4: Savannah – Machamp/Donphan
Not much to this match. She opens with Uxie to my lone Magikarp. She passes, I topdeck regice/collector for 2 karp and a Crobat G, drop my hand size, flashbite, and pull the T1 gyarados Tail Revenge for 60 and donk. We play two more (2/3) and she donks me the second game and I take game 3.
3-1
Round 5: ?? – LuxChomp
He opens with his Dialga G tech and starts to set up but can't hit a Cyrus for a while, but unfortunately for me, he was able to bright look my Regice for 4-5 turns while we both sat there hoping to topdeck something, lol. After a few turns, we both go back to actually playing/trading prizes. He hits a few big KO's but I manage to keep up the prize trade and take my last two prizes via Flashbites on benched Garchomp C X/OHKO on Dialga G X thanks to tail revenge + e-belt + SSU on a crobat G.
4-1
Top 4: Chris – Dialga/Luxray/Garchomp SP
G1) He runs alllll over me with sprays/bright look KO's/Galactic's HQ spam. I took 2 prizes to his 6 iirc.
G2) I actually get to set up, but have to deal with poison structure/Galactic's HQ seeing as I can't hit a BTS for the life of me. T2 I impersonate a Judge that really throws him off, giving me a turn or two to set up. We trade prizes for a while with him having a 2 prize lead until I hit a huge SSU to keep me in the game. Time is called and he knows I can take my last two prizes within the time limit so we head to Sudden Death!
SD) We set out one prize each, and fortunately for me, he doesn't start with luxray or garchomp, and I started with sableye. I get the T2 Gyarados and manage to take the prize thanks to volkner's netting me and expert belt.
5-1
Top 2: Taylor – Gyarados
G1) I get T1 Overconfident on his magikarp, he promotes again and starts to mount a set up, so I do as well. I Impersonate a collector and realize that a magikarp, azelf, and 2 rescues are prized….I get up one gyarados that he manages to OHKO and I scoop knowing I won't be able to take a prize.
G2) We both start to set up smoothly when I happened to score a KO T2 with my g'dos to his sableye, then smack his gyarados for 90 followed by an overconfident KO which he return KO's with his Gyarados. The next turn, I flashbite 4x and OHKO his gyarados and he can't keep up by then. It ended up pretty close.
G3) This game definitely went more in my favor as I got a solid T1 gyarados hitting for 60 and played my belts very carefully. I ended up being able to draw into most of what I needed and OHKO'd a gyarados, to which he had to stall a turn or two which gave me a 2 prize lead. He played a solid game; it's always fun to play Taylor.
6-1
It was a great tournament and I was glad to see 5 rounds with a full Top Cut for a BR both events. Feel free to discuss your thoughts on the deck, criticism is always welcome when rational. Hopefully the article can at least put to rest some of the speculation regarding Gyarados’ viability, but I certainly wouldn’t expect that these results are completely typical across the board for everyone."