Top Cut Episode 7


THE TOP CUT EPISODE 7
(feat. J. Zee Kay)


Can YOU make it?
 

Check out yesterday's awesome top cut episode, featuring none other than the glorious leader of the HeyTrainer.org nation, JK himself! Watch it here:

http://thetopcut.net/shows/seven.php

While I whole-heartedly encourage you to watch the episode in full, in case you're not interested or don't have the time, then here's a brief summary of the topics touched upon:

*TheTopCut staff and Kettler talk about the LCQ, what should be big, and what "the play" is. Most of the predictions center around Yanmega/Magnezone, Donphan, and Typhlosion, and the five panel members diverge on what they would go with. Furthermore, Kettler offers some sage advice on grinder preparation, including:

1) Suggestions on how to build endurance for the event;

2) A recommendation to test using ONLY match play; and

3) To not use Lostgar (  even though Lostgar is my baby 🙁  )

*They then discuss ELO, endemic dropping to preserve rating points, and possible alternatives. Everyone unanimously agrees that some sort of Pro Point ("Play! Point" per Kettler) -focused system is the way to go.  Also included are several ways to keep ELO in-tact, such as not rotating the system every year, as well as skill-based modifiers.

*Finally, the conclude with several user questions. Fun times!

 

So that's that. Not sure what's on tab for next week, but we're going to have some really exciting stuff in store for you all, so be prepared for some great pieces.

 

-HeyTrainer

Nationals 2011 First Place Masters Report

2011 Nationals Reports, Part Two: A Not-So Detailed (Yet Nevertheless AWESOME) First Place Report

By Justin "Blisseyrocks" S.

      I felt like those of you who don't read the forums would be quite interested to see this gem of a report. It may not be very detailed (as Justin disclaims); however, it's definitely one of the most interesting accounts from the event, and offers a great perspective on the HeartGold/SoulSilver on format. Enjoy!

-HeyTrainer

"So before I get into a report, I want to thank everyone I met this weekend for giving me the best weekend of my life. Without you guys, I would undoubtably not be in the position I'm sitting in right now. ILYGUISE! <3

So monday morning I get a call from my boy Jorge saying,"…what are you doing this weekend?" From then on, I knew I was attending U.S. Nationals. I scream for joy, run to my mom asking her for money, and quickly dart back to my room to pack. I'm going to fastforward to the pre tourney, because there is WAY too many funny, jumbled memories to tell you guys about regarding the drive up to Indianapolis.

Anyways, I was determined to do well at this nationals, so I tell Orion Craig and Jorge Ramirez that no matter what crazy deck idea I come up with, a good deck will be my play. After going x-3 bubble out both years, I was crazy determined.

Zach, a GREAT senior player from Florida comes into our room to testplay and whips out Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime, which was a very odd-looking deck. It seemed to keep up with everything we thew at it, though, and it had something I LOVED: consistency. Decks love to crap out on me, but this one, I felt, would not.  So at 2:00 AM on Friday, I say, "GUYS, I'M PLAYING YANMEGAZONE! NIGHT." I then built it and fell asleep.

I Woke up early in the morning, got down to the convention center before Jorge and Orion, and felt GREAT about this. Eventually rosters and pairings go up, aaaand…

ROUND 1- Yanmegazone vs Donchamp

I win the coin flip, and he flips over Cleffa. I Communication for Tyrogue, and offer the hand shake with an active Yanma to Free Flight into a Mischievous Punch KO.

(Ironically enough, the guy was talking about how good Tyrogue is right before this happened.)

1-0

Round 2-Yanmegazone vs RDLBOAR

I setup MUCH faster than him in this match, hit a couple key Reversals, and there's just nothing he can do.

2-0

Round 3-Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

I go first with a STELLAR hand, and that's usually all my deck needs to win the mirror match. By the time he took his 2nd prize, I took my last.

3-0

Round 4-Yanmegazone vs Zekrom

He flips over Pachirisu going first, and I'm like, "crap!!!!!!" Zekrom always has a good advantage vs me going first, and while he got out a bunch of stuff, there was no Shaymin. Eventually the game became really close, but Zekrom seemed to run out of resources to win the game…And that's exactly what happened: it Didn't have the resources to take the last prize on a clean Magnezone.

4-0

Round 5-Yanmegazone vs Donmegacinno

I start with lone Cleffa and lose the flip; he flips over Tyrogue, GG.

4-1

Round 6-Yanmegazone vs Reshiphlosion

I start off so bad, mulliganning about 6 times with no Judge or Copycat in hand…I smell a loss!
He got a bunch of stuff setup, but suprisingly the game came down to him having to double pluspower bouffalant to take the last prize, winning 0-1 in prizes left.

4-2

I'm feeling rocky about the last two losses, but I know I'll do well.

Day TWO

Round 7-Yanmegazone vs Megaturn

I setup WAYYYYY too fast with, like, turn two double Zone/double 'Mega, and she cannot recover.

5-2

Round 8-Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

My start is pretty sick, especially to his mediocre start. I have a good advantage throoughout the couple turns the game lasted before he scoops.

6-2

Round 9-Yanmegazone vs Megaphan

He starts Cleffa, and I just Pokemon Collector for Tyrogue.

7-2

I rip my deck, find out im 28th seed, and wait for 128 pairings.

TOP 128 – Yanmegazone vs Mew/Vileplume

Game 1- I start misplaying for some reason by asking hand size AFTER I played cards down. I lose in a close game.

I was SO mad at myself, but at least I knew to be more careful in the next game…

Game 2- A different story: the prize tradeoff just isnt fair, and so I win.

Game 3- He Copycats into all of his attackers, meaning he can't use See Off. I win shortly thereafter.

8-2

TOP 64 – Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

This is one of the matches I barely remembered. All I know is that I won game 1, lost game 2, and won game 3 – it's all very blurry right now.

9-2

I start talking to Martin M (Nationals winner 2006), who seems to be cheering me on. This was quite inspirtational!

Top 32 – Yanmegazone vs Emboarzone

Game 1- He starts cleffa; I get tyrogue.

Game 2- He started off super poorly, while I had a great hand. There's not much else I can say, really.

10-2

DAY THREE

Top 16 – Yanmegazone vs Mewplume

Game 1- This was a close game, but Yanmega is just unfair against any Vileplume variant.

Game 2- See Game 1.

11-2

Top 8 – Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

Game 1- I won in a game where he tried mounting a comeback, but it was too late.

game 2- I started with Magnemite, but he went first, dropping Pachi with energy, and then Copycats for second energy, along with the win.

Game 3- He starts Cleffa; I grab Tyrogue.

12-2

Top 4 – Yanmegazone vs Megaking

Game 1- He completely wiped the floor with me due to him going first. Great start.

Game 2- He scooped mid game to save time, I guess.

Game 3- He scooped when he realizeed that I had the last prize.

13-2

FINALS – Yanmegazone vs Donphan/Yanmega Prime/Zoroark

Game 1- He hit a key Reversal coin flip to kill my double energied Magnezone Prime.

Game 2- I topdecked Pokemon Circulator to kill his benched Donphan.

[Editor's note: I think Kyle also whiffed some game-winning flips near the end of the game. Not sure if Justin did, but I do remember that.]

Game 3- He started Zorua versus my LONE Yanma, going first. He dropped Pluspower, Junk Armed for it back, Professor Oak's New Theoried, benched a Pokemon, dropped Double Colorless Energy on Zorua, and then flipped for Lunge to WIN THE GAME…..TAILS! THE DREAM IS ALIVE!

I quickly drew my card, Collectored, and then started setting up. As the game went on, time was eventually called with the prize count 6-5 in his favor. I as able to take a prize to even the count, while he wasn't. He knew he had to put Tyrogue to sleep in order to prevent him from losing the game by time: this worked for him, as he flipped tails to activate Sweet Sleeping Face. I was thinking to myself that he MIGHT have a Judge in hand, so I grabbed my own Tyrogue: if he woke up and I remained asleep, then I would remain safe. So I attacked, and in between turns…I flipped tails, and SO DID HE! YES!!!

He is forced to pass…And how do we flip? He got heads to wake up…AND I DID TOO!!! The last turn, I ended by attacking with Mischievous Punch, and just like that, I became the United States National Champion.  I jumped up out of excitement, but since I felt like that may have seemed unsportsmanlike , I was SURE to shake Kyle's hand, congratulating him for placing in the top three of Nationals for three years in a row.

The crowd was jumping on me, and the Pokemon representatives were trying to talk to me…All of that excitement. But after all of it was over, I could barely grasp that I had just won the Masters Division National title.

PROPS

ORION, JORGE AND ZACH FOR THE TESTING GROUP

All the people who have supported me over the years. You guys got me here!

SLOPS

*LOSING THE SOFTBALL GAME BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT!

~Blisseyrocks"
 

The Defeat of Our Glorious Leader

2011 Nationals Reports, Part One: The Defeat of Our Glorious Leader


By HeyTrainer
 

This is a "baby" tournament report for those of you guys interested. I used Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime:

Round 1: vs Feraligatr Prime/Kyogre-Groudon Legend. Interesting deck, but it didn't setup, and got run through fairly quickly.

[1-0]

(I went second)

Round 2: vs Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin. 0/9 flips on Reversal/Junk Arm/SSU sealed the deal against me – both my opponent and I were amazed that it happened that way, but she was a great sport no matter what happened, and it was a fun game. (I lost via deck-out, actually, due to having to get rid of Zekrom one too many times with Magnezones, and two too many energy remaining in my last three prizes. Plus, due to my horrendous late game top decks and prizes, I was literally unable to Insight to start KO'ing for the win!) [1-1]

(I went second)

Round 3: vs Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime mirror. I whiffed the attachment on my Magnemite on T1, so he got way too much of a jump on me. I made it a six prize/five prize game, but that wasn't enough. However, I think the only reason I was ever "in" this in the first place was becaue he went an appaling 0/8 on Pokemon Reversal flips.

It later turned out that this fellah was a friend of the one and only "Monster of the Lake," as well as a poster on HT! [1-2]

(I went second, which made the whiffed attach even harder!)

Round 4: vs Emboar/Magnezone

He looked like he was getting off to a decent start, but unfortunately, his two Tepig were prized, so the deck lost quickly. Sorry, man. [2-2]

(I went second)

Round 5: Mew/Yanmega/Vileplume/techs

A relatively bearable matchup made even easier due to a god start on my part, and mediocre draws on my part. He also got some ridiculous draws, such as two Jumpluff HS/one Umbreon UD off of a Copycat. [3-2]

(I went first)

Round 6: vs Kingdra/Yanmega

He Eeeeeeek'd turn one, which was later responded to with my option to gambit with a Tyrogue KO, thus sending us both wayyyyy back on setup. As expected, this worked out heavily in my favor, since he had a Yanmega/Judge waiting the next turn, and any setup attempt made would have just been disrupted. He looked to be gaining board control, but thanks to some good flips on Thundershock, I was actually able to KO his Yanmega, and regain the lead. Eventually I got out a 'Zone Prime to his complete lack of a setup, and benched him about four prizes in. [4-2]

(I went second)

Round 7: vs Reshiram/Typhlosion Prime/Ninetales

He started Reshiram to my Yanma, and we both worked on setup. However, my setup wasn't fast enough to his, and so despite a close game, he was able to edge me out 6-4. No taking away any credit from him, though, since he played excellently. However, he got out very quick Ninetales/Typhlo (turn two I think?), so if I went first, it would have been very different due to a probable Reversal kill on the Vulpix + Judging away the doable elements in his hand.[4-3]

By the way, this was against yet another HT member: colts!

(I went second)

Round 8: vs Mewgar

I know every lostgar variant backwards and forwards, so alongside my great start and going first, this was an easy win that I've tested into oblivion. His draws were poor, though. [5-3]

(I went first)

Round 9: vs Magneboar

For the first time all tournament, I flipped heads like nobody's business, and got a very decisive win against a decent matchup. Since he had three Magnemites out by turn one and one ton/one zone by T2, my approach by default became one centered around Tepig kills. This worked like a charm, as I was able to send him into a grinding halt by T5-T6, and slowly but surely secured the win. [6-3]

(I went first)

Now, some brief commentary:

The State of the Format

*When played on a big stage, HGSS-on has quite a bit to it that I find appealing; however, going first is so monstrously unfair for most decks, it's unreal. Out of my three losses, I feel like at least two would have been won had I gone first; and for my round nine win, going second could have turned things around completely. The results of my testing have been pretty much confirmed by my experience at Nats. I can't have too many grapes, though: it was a fun event, and a very fun weekend overall. (Plus, my rating actually went up after going 6-3 for a change!)


HT's Performance

*I am absolutely amazed at how well HeyTrainer players performed! Although the glorious leader of the nation was felled, there were several long-time board members at all levels of the Masters top cut, from top 128 all the way up to first! It was also very cool to see both Jayson H. and Justin S. reppin' the shirt in the final four: Jayson's been a friend for a while, so it was great to see him do so spectacularly; and as for Justin, he not only graciously accepted the offer to rep HT with a shirt, but even seemed a bit excited about doing it! In Martin (Head of Internal Affairs) said to me over the phone, "this is the best thing that could have happened for HeyTrainer next to you winning." While I don't know how absolute that may be, I _do_ know that three HT shirts in the top four of Nationals over the past two years definitely shows that this website's forum has the highest average player skill level out of just about anywhere. This is definitely the place to be right now.

[We'd also like to congratulate our friends at thetopcut.net for a stellar showing of their own. Great job, guys, and major props to Kyle "Pooka" S. for another legendary top cut run!]

What's next for HeyTrainer.org?

With all that cheering for our most successful members this Nationals season, that leaves one question unanswered: what's next for the site?


1) More consistent /blog posts. That's why you're seeing this report today!
2) As previously mentioned, Butlerforhire and I are working on a collaborative effort to study the entire history of competitive Pokemon TCG. However, I'm currently looking to get every former and current Masters U.S. Nats winner on board with the project in meaningful ways, ranging from interviews to full-out playthroughs of their winning lists.
3) More donate button requests! The one thing that I would eventually like to give to our best and most consistent contributors is some sort of incentive for all their hard work. So even if it's a dollar or a grand, if you see an article that you like, then click that baby! I plan to be very transparent with this process too, so this is most likely not going to make me a Pokemon mogul. ;]
4) More fun stuff on the forums, such as a more frequent CotD
5) Revitalization of our site image, including a new site banner, and more Chinpokomon lovin'.

So that's that from me for now. So until the next Nationals report…Take it easy!

~J "HT" K

Gyarados Deck Analysis (Part 2/2: Other Options, and Match-Up Explanations)

As mentioned in our last entry, Roland A. (a.k.a., "fffuuuu") submitted an excellent Gyarados article. Since it is a very lengthy, dense read, I decided to split it up into two parts:

*Part 1: a sample deck list with card explanations
*Part 2: other options, and match-up explanations

I have also sought out Austin B/Austino (Gyarados pro and author of the previous "retro" post),and he is interested in writing a response article, discussing his radically different philosophy on the deck.


"

 

GYARADOS: PART TWO


By Roland A. ("fffuuuu")

Other Options

 

So that takes us through all the card choices used in the sample list. But what are some other options for a Gyarados deck to play?
(Note that I’m not including different counts of cards in this section – Deck choices like playing 2 Mesprit, more Seeker etc. won’t be in this section – it is for entirely different cards altogether)

*Luxray GL Lv X – Bright Look can be a very powerful tool in Gyarados decks, allowing you to take easy prizes and/or disruptive KO’s. Due to Gyarados’s  high retreat cost, you’ll usually only level up after a Warp Energy, or after a KO. It’s a strong card in the Gyarados mirror match where it allows you to take easy prizes rather than hitting an opposing Gyarados (which will most likely be healed). Gusting is very good against SP in general, especially Luxchomp, although Luxray is a big Power Spray target, especially as Bright Look can’t be used twice in one turn (unless you’re running a 2-1 or 2-2 line, which would be very unusual).

*Dialga G Lv X – A card that is only really useful against Vileplume decks, mostly Gengar/Vileplume. Time Crystal shuts off Vileplume (and to a lesser extent, Spiritomb as well) which allows you to play all of your trainer cards again. Unfortunately, it is a Level Down Target, so it’s not that easy to simply use Warp Energy to get it to the bench and have it sitting there the whole game. Usually, you will level it up, play all the trainers you need, then Poke Turn it back to your hand, and bench Dialga G again, and rinse and repeat when necessary. This helps because it allows you to play all of your trainer cards which can be useful for anything from healing (SSU) to extra damage (Poke Turn) to search cards (Luxury Ball), but it also allows you to reduce your trainer count for Poltergeist.

Despite Vileplume being the main reason for Dialga G Lv X being a possible tech, it can also shut off Poke-Bodies such as mew prime's Lost Link, effectively crushing Mewperior decks and Time Crystal can also shut off Scizor Prime's Poke-Body too. But as a general rule, Vileplume would be the main reason for Dialga G Lv X's inclusion.

*Ditto LA – Ditto is a very specific tech:  it gives Gyarados a much stronger mirror match-up because its Poke-body, Ditto DNA, allows you to have 4 Magikarp in the discard pile and copy the opposing Gyarados’s Tail Revenge for 120 damage, scoring easier KOs. Ditto even keeps the active Pokemon’s HP, can use Rescue Energy ,and be recovered by Pokemon Rescue and Combee just like Magikarp, which means Ditto alone can OHKO several Gyarados. If you are going to play Ditto, watch out for your opponent triple-Flash Biting your Ditto, then sending up a Magikarp or Unown Q, meaning Ditto has 30 HP and is KO’d.

*Blissey Prime HS – While not particularly popular, or an outright amazing/match-up winning tech, Blissey Prime can be a very useful in giving you a free heal on Gyarados, as well as any other Pokemon that may have been damaged (which generally isn’t too useful). A nice bonus is that you can Seeker up Blissey instead of having to find a Warp Energy/Warp Point to get Gyarados to the bench to heal; the downside, though, is that Blissey can be Psychic Binded, and any Rescue Energy on Gyarados will be discarded if you want to heal, so make sure you play intelligently.

Another less obvious use for Blissey prime is to act as a sponge for Warp Point (and similar powers like Infernape 4 Lv X’s Intimidating Roar). While Gyarados has great HP, the deck usually has a bench littered with low HP Pokemon, and as such, Blissey Prime is good against the mirror match, where Warp Points are very strong cards as they usually allow an OHKO on a weaker benched Pokemon.

*Uxie Lv X LA – A card that can be fit in relatively easily, Uxie Lv X helps give the deck additional drawmid-to-late game.  While not absolutely necessary, Uxie Lv X can give Gyarados a slight card advantage which can win close games, especially match-ups like the mirror where it’s a real war of attrition.

*Pokemon Reversal – While flippy, Pokemon Reversal can win games by getting easy and/or disruptive prizes. It is especially strong in Gyarados’s Luxchomp match-up because it allows Gyarados to either OHKO Lucario GL, which may mean that Luxray GL Lv. X can never OHKO a Gyarados. It also allows the Gyarados player to KO a benched Luxray GL that the Luxchomp player may be building up .
All in all, this Junk Arm-able card, if well-timed, can pave the way for amazing comebacks.

*Poke Blower + – In a similar vein to Pokemon Reversal, Poke Blower + allows you to gust up a benched Pokemon of your opponent’s, but instead of a single flip, you need 2 Poke Blower for a guarantee. On average, this makes it slightly weaker, but the guarantee helps somewhat, as Junk Arm makes it easier to re-use. Another good effect of Poke Blower is that you can play just 1 down, and, on a flip, get the equivalent of a Flash Bite. If you’re 10 shy of a KO, this can be a nice bonus.

So which one to play? In my opinion, if you have 4 slots to devote to either card, Poke Blower + is better, but any less and Pokemon Reversal becomes the superior option, simply because you need 2 Poke Blower + at a time to get full usage out of it.

*Skunktank G PL – Skunktank G is, in my opinion, a very underrated and underused tech in Gyarados. It can act as an extra 10 damage, but also allows you bypass the effects of Fainting Spell and Rescue Energy relatively easily. It’s not hard to get around poisoning yourself either, with Warp Energy, or using it after a KO (when you promote a Pokemon, poison, then retreat) or use it after SSU’s Gyarados. Solid card, better for lists with 4 BTS though.

*Volkner’s Philosophy – Volkner’s is probably the most popular draw Supporter in Gyarados decks, due to its ability to discard Magikarps as well as draw cards. In terms of its raw drawpower strength, it is generally inferior to cards like Copycat but the fact that it can also discard Magikarps (especially through Impersonate) makes it a very legitimate option to even run 2 or more of in your deck.

*Cynthia’s Feelings – Yet another draw Supporter, Cynthia’s is obviously best used after a KO. While a good card, often Gyarados decks can “tank’ and heal and can go several turns without giving up a KO (especially in the mirror match) which means Cynthia might have to wait to be played until a Pokemon of yours does get KO’d, which can make it slightly inferior to other options.

*Judge – Generally a one-of card, it can be a nice disruption card that your opponent will rarely expect. Judge can also hurt your own set-up, so make sure the odds are in your favor of recovering better than your opponent.

*Looker’s Investigation – Similar to Judge, with more flexibility. Since you can either shuffle in yours or your opponents, and get to see your opponent’s hand before doing so, it’s usually the better card and is not as prone to backfiring like Judge is.

*Twins – Yet another one-of Supporter, Twins is particularly useful for searching specific, otherwise-unsearchable cards out of your deck. It is not suggested to run Twins in lists that also run Poke Drawer +.

*Black Belt – In a similar vein to Twins, Black Belt is usually a 1-of card in Gyarados and can only be used when behind on prizes. Fortunately, Black belt’s strong effect makes up for it. An extra 40 damage can mean unexpected OHKO’s on Pokemon like Expert Belted Luxray GL Lv X’s (an issue for Gyarados decks due to them being difficult to KO) and opposing Gyarados’, especially Belted ones.

If I have missed any techs that you have played or seen played and you think warrant a spot in Gyarados lists, please let me know.

[HT EDIT: Commenting is currently unavailable, so please redirect any feedback to fffuuuu here: http://heytrainer.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2420]


Match-ups

*Luxchomp: The most successful deck for City Championships, Luxchomp is a very close match-up for Gyarados. Usually, Luxchomp will get a prize or two ahead, but Gyarados is very capable of coming back. A Tail Revenge for 90 is 20 off KO’ing a Luxray GL Lv X and Garchomp C Lv X, so either two Crobat G’s or Expert Belt allows you to OHKO. Luxchomps will usually try to take the first KO with Garchomp c Lv X, preferring to save their Luxray GL Lv X’s for mid-to-late game.

From there on, the match-up becomes a trade in prizes and resources. Make sure you can always recover Gyarados and always attempt to get a prize a turn. It can get tricky, but like all match-ups, this is an especially important one to think a few turns ahead.

Mesprit helps enormously against Luxchomp: an Expert Belted Gyarados, along with Psychic Bind, makes it impossible for your opponent’s Luxray GL Lv X to OHKO your Gyarados, and can be re-used with SSU and Seeker (Mesprit getting Sprayed is also an issue – stock up on those SSU/Seeker/Junk Arms). This can turn the tables around and can win a close game. Your opponent will try to use Dragon Rush for an easy prize on turns that they are Psychic Binded.

Another thing to watch out for is the Expert Belted Luxray GL Lv X. This can be very difficult to OHKO and can OHKO Gyarados’ regardless of Psychic Bind. Most lists don’t run Expert Belt, and even then it can be hard to get out for your opponent, but if you ever find yourself staring down an Expert Belted Luxray GL Lv X, it can be difficult. OHKO’ing it is obviously the first priority but sometimes that can’t be done, especially if your opponent has stocked up on Power Sprays. Depending on the prize count, it’s possible to use Regi Move and/or Warp Point to take easier KO’s around it but that doesn’t work if you’re behind in prizes. If you know your opponent runs Expert Belt and especially if you forsee them being able to Belt a Luxray X, try to stockpile ways to re-use Flash Bite in your hand, along with Expert Belt, to OHKO it.

Gusting cards like Pokemon Reversal, should you run them, help a lot in this match-up as well. Just make sure you use your resources wisely and probability is your friend here (as it is in Pokemon in general).

*Gengar/Vileplume: Vileplume is an absolute pain for any Gyarados deck because it prevents crucial trainer cards from being played like Luxury Ball, Super Scoop Up, Pokemon Rescue, etc.
Gyarados is a faster deck than Genplume is, even under an early trainer lock, so generally Gyarados will get the first 1-2 prizes, then will start having to deal with Gengars.

Fainting Spell is difficult to get around. It’s possible to hit for 90, then Flash Bite twice (either with two Crobat G’s or 1 Crobat G and a Seeker) but this can be prevented by a timely Level Up into a Gengar Lv X, messing with the damage calculations. Another possible option is to attach to an Uxie the turn you hit for 90 with Gyarados, so you can Warp Energy Gyarados to the bench and Psychic Restore Uxie under for the KO, avoiding Fainting Spell, but this is generally very hard to pull off. Because it’s difficult to avoid Fainting Spell, often you’ll have to go straight into it, meaning flips often determine the outcome of this match-up.

In terms of what Gengar’s attacks can do to you, Poltergeist is a weapon and needs to immediately be kept in check by using Regice to discard any excess trainer cards from your hand (unless you’re playing Dialga G Lv X in which case you should save them so you can use them after a level Up. Even then though, discarding some trainers is often the correct play). Once you do this, Gengar will have trouble KO’ing Gyarados without Fainting Spell and will usually attempt to take its prizes by Shadow Rooming your bench.
Luckily, all of the bench sitters with Poke-Powers have more than 60 HP, so against most lists they will have to Shadow Room a benched target twice to get a KO. Because of this, Seeker helps tremendously in denying prizes.

Recovering Gyarados is difficult because Pokemon Rescue cannot be used under a trainer lock and Rescue Energy is often bypassed due to Fainting Spell KO’ing Gyarados. This is the match-up where you will use Combee and 2-3 of your Gyarados. Combee can be Seeker’d up as well to re-use Honey.

This match-up depends a lot on techs, too. If the Gyarados player runs either Dialga G Lv X or Skunktank G they should tilt the match-up in their favor but otherwise it’s a very tight struggle with the slight favor going to the Gengar/Vileplume player. Not only Gyarados’ techs affect the game, but Gengar’s do as well. Any gusting tech like Zangoose or Froslass GL can bring up Regice, allowing the Gengar player to snipe around it and cause you real trouble if you can’t find a Warp Energy. Additionally, if the Gengar player plays Crobat G they can get OHKO’s with Shadow Room with relative ease, making the prize trade favorable to them (and every time you play a Seeker, they get to pick it back up to play it again for another OHKO on any 70 HP Pokemon with a Poke-power).

These games will usually start off with Gyarados taking the first 1-2 prizes, then both decks two-shotting each other with Gyarados being able to Seeker to avoid some KO’s but the Gengar player picking up some extra ones with Fainting Spell. Any KO’s the Gyarados player gets by hitting for 90, then double Flash Biting also help tremendously. However, Gyarados has a slight issue in terms of recovery and can stall out for a turn or two while it needs to search out and recover Combee while also searching out another Gyarados (often done with the aid of Sableye).

There’s also the issue of Gyarados being a lot stronger in matchplay games, which can give the deck a slight edge in topcut games due to Gengar/Vileplume’s slow speed.

[HT EDIT – to elaborate on this point, keep in mind the rules in match play: if time+3 is called during game two, then whoever is ahead in prizes that game is declared its winner. What I interpret fffuuuu to be hinting at is a situation that pans out where, due to little fault of either player, Vilegar wins game one of a 2/3 match with little time on the clock left for game two. Gyarados then proceeds to establish a 1-2 prize lead, drags it past the “+3” turns, and brings the game into a sudden death, which he/she also wins due to its stellar match play.

So in essence, Gyarados can win an entire top cut match with a grand total of 2-3 prizes, and no full games. Chew on that for a bit…]


*Mirror: Obviously Gyarados isn't exempt from playing against itself in tournaments, which isn't unlikely due to its popularity.
As for the match-up, it’s usually a slugfest, with one deck taking the early KO, then oftenm a few OHKO’s with Belted Tail Revenges here or there, but the game will usually go into a steady “Hit for 90, heal Gyarados, hit for 90, heal Gyarados” etc. phase. The more times you can OHKO your opponent (either with Flash Bites, Skunktank G, etc.), the more times you can heal with SSU and Seeker, and the more times you can take cheap prizes (Warp Point, Reversal etc.) will almost certainly determine the winner.

It’s not a particularly complicated: Mesprit can be an interesting card in the mirror to slow the opponent’s game early on by preventing Regi Move, Set Up and Time Walk and in theory you could get a good 2-3 prize lead by re-using Mesprit if your opponent’s hand isn’t strong enough. But as a general rule, this match-up doesn’t have too many complicated dynamics to it; it’s basically just a prize trade.

*Dialga/Garchomp: Dialgachomp is generally an easier match-up than Luxchomp is: Dialga G Lv X cannot OHKO Gyarados 99% of the time, so you can Warp/Seeker or SSU the damage off usually. Regice plays an important role also, in switching out a tanked Dialga G Lv X that you may not be otherwise able to KO for an easier prize. Like Luxchomp, Dialgachomp will use Garchomp C Lv X to get easy Dragon Rush OHKO’s off your bench as well.

Lists that run Skunktank G and Stadiums are generally harder to beat, as poison can bypass Rescue Energy and the Stadiums counter BTS. Without another BTS, you won’t be able to effectively heal or recover Gyarados and they can generally bypass Rescue Energy as well (or remove the energy with Remove Lost) so against lists that run Stadiums, try not to discard any excess BTS because each because nearly every copy is important. Gyarados lists with 4 Broken Time-Space will find it easier than ones with 3 in this match-up.
If everything goes right for Gyarados, the prize trade works out in your favor. The main issue is if you get stuck without a BTS (which also means that even if you recover Magikarp, as soon as you play it down it will get Dragon Rushed).

It’s a generally favorable match-up, but a good Dialgachomp player will often be able to exploit your mistakes, so play carefully.

*Machamp: Machamp isn’t as popular as the aforementioned decks, which means it’s difficult to acknowledge a “universal’ list.
All Machamp decks will run Machamp SF and will usually get 1-2 prizes ahead with Take Out, although, it’s possible for Gyarados to take the first prize as well. Due to Machamp’s heavy reliance on Uxie’s Set Up it’s possible to stall their set-up for consecutive turns while you start taking prizes.

If you can OHKO Machamp SF, do so. They will generally follow up with Machamp Prime which is nearly impossible to OHKO, so it’s better to use your extra-damage resources OHKO’ing their early Machamp SF.

Once their early SF Machamp goes down, most Machamp builds will try to get out two Machamp Primes and rotate between them with Fighting Tag while healing with Seeker. Fortunately for Gyarados, they are incredibly unlikely to ever score an OHKO on you, so both decks should 2HKO each other. Gyarados has more healing and can use Mesprit to prevent the Machamp player’s Fighting Tag, meaning unless they want to retreat it, it’s stuck active and will be KO’d.

Another thing to consider is Gyarados is easier to recover than Machamp Prime (most Machamp decklists don’t play many recovery cards, either) so all of this means Gyarados is a strong favorite over Machamp, although builds vary and it’s difficult to pin down any specific list or strategy.

Conclusion

Overall, Gyarados is a consistent, reasonably fast, high damaging deck with a lot of healing options and room to tech certain cards. It was the 2nd most successful deck for City Championships for good reason – It’s really good!

So here ends the article! Thanks go to Jason and Johnathon for giving input on the article and for their extensive knowledge on the deck, as well as playtesting.

Thanks for reading and don’t be afraid to give Gyarados a shot at your next tournament! Happy testing everybody!
 

Gyarados Deck Analysis (Part 1/2: Sample Deck List Card Explanations)

As mentioned in our last entry, Roland A. (a.k.a., "fffuuuu") submitted an excellent Gyarados article. Since it is a very lengthy, dense read, I decided to split it up into two parts:

*Part 1: a sample deck list with card explanations
*Part 2: other options, and match-up explanations

I have also sought out Austin B/Austino (Gyarados pro and author of the previous "retro" post),and he is interested in writing a response article, discussing his radically different philosophy on the deck.

"

 


GYARADOS: PART ONE



By Roland A./"fffuuuu"

At the turn of the new season, the format changed to Majestic Dawn-On, and Gyarados seemed to be nearly dead. With the loss of Felicity’s Drawing, the deck had a great trouble with consistency and speed.

However, help was to come in the next set: Triumphant, which provided the deck with all the new tools that would give it success. Junk Arm, Seeker and Rescue Energy made Gyarados faster, more versatile and offered many healing and recovery options and with the start of City Championships the deck became top tier. With the relative speed, high damage output, high HP and gross amounts of ways the deck had to heal off damage, the deck thrived and, with the almost-complete data we have of CC wins, was the second most successful deck, behind Luxchomp.

Throughout this article I will be explaining the deck’s fundamental strategy and key cards, providing advice on match-ups, and suggesting options for specific techs.

Basic Overview of Strategy

No matter what your Gyarados list looks like, it will have the same fundamental strategy. The deck aims to discard 3 Magikarps and hit for a base damage of 90 with Gyarados’ Tail Revenge attack, all for no energy. How does it do that? By utilizing Junk Arms, Pokemon Collector, Regice, Sableye and Smeargle, the deck will usually start hitting for 90 on Turn 2-3. If it can get set up fast enough, doing 60 damage is also acceptable to KO opponent’s low-HP Basic Pokemon early on.

What happens when your Gyarados gets damaged? Cards like Super Scoop Up (SSU) and the Warp Energy/Seeker combo are important ways to heal your Gyarados when it gets damaged. The specific counts of these cards vary from list to list – I’ve seen lists with no Seeker, and lists with no SSU. And it is up to you on what you play, and how many of each card you play, as these counts depend on personal preference and metagame. Either way, healing Gyarados is a fundamental aspect of the deck.

But if you’ve got 3 Magikarp in the discard pile and one Gyarados in play, what happens when your Gyarados gets KO’d? There are 3 main ways to prevent or recover from this: Rescue Energy, Pokemon Rescue and Combee SF. These cards all allow you to at least recover your 4th Magikarp back, so you can play down a Broken Time-Space and evolve right back to Gyarados, and start hitting again, for no energy. While Gyarados is a deck that cannot swarm, it does have a speedy recovery system to compensate.

Sample List, along with overview of specific cards

Pokemon – 20
4 Magikarp Stormfront ("SF")
3 Gyarados SF
3 Sableye SF
1 Smeargle Undaunted ("UD")
2 Uxie Legends Awakened ("LA")
1 Azelf LA
1 Mesprit LA
1 Combee SF
1 Regice LA
1 Unown Q Majestic Dawn ("MD")
2 Crobat G Platinum ("PL")

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums – 34
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Junk Arm
4 Broken Time-Space
2 Luxury Ball
1 Pokemon Communication
1 Bebe’s Search
1 Copycat
4 Poke Drawer+
4 Super Scoop Up
3 Seeker
2 Expert Belt
1 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 Poke Turn
1 Warp Point
1 VS Seeker
1 Pokemon Rescue

Energy – 6
3 Warp
3 Rescue


Pokemon

4 Magikarp SF – Magikarp has to be one of the worst basics in the game. With 30 HP and no particuarly strong attacks to make up for it, Magikarp is a Turn 1 win waiting to happen. Magikarp’s 30 HP is especially bad because if you don’t draw into a Broken Time-Space, you’ll need to play it down on the bench to evolve to Gyarados next turn, where it can be easily KO’d thanks to its low HP, either by Crobat G/Poke Turns or Bright Look. Mesprit can help with preventing your Magikarp KO’d this way in some situations, but always be careful.

The Stormfront one is widely considered the best due to its Sea Spray attack. When you can’t retreat to a Sableye/Smeargle, or attack with Gyarados (which is almost always when you open with Magikarp going first, which happens to be the situation you’re most likely to get donked in), it can be decent to draw cards, which averages at a bit under 1 heads. Essentially though, Magikarps are just there to be discarded, although one will have to be used to evolve into a Gyarados.

3 Gyarados SF – The real powerhouse of the deck, Gyarados clocks in at a whopping 130 HP, which is amazing for a Stage 1 card. Gyarados’ high HP, along with Expert Belt allows the deck to “tank” with SSU’s and Warp Energy/Seeker. Tail Revenge is the only attack which is actually useable in a conventional Gyarados deck, but it is incredibly strong. For no energy, with 3 Magikarps in the discard pile, it can deal a base of 90 damage. With Regice and Junk Arms, Magikarps can be discarded with relative ease. However, since you’ll want 3 Magikarps in the discard pile to hit for maximum damage, and one under Gyarados, the 4th Magikarp will need to be recovered.

Gyarados has a Lightning Weakness, which is probably one of the worst in the format due to the prominence of Luxray GL Lv X. However, it is only +30, so for Luxray GL to OHKO Gyarados, it will need a Lucario GL on the bench. Since Luxray GL is really the only popular card that exploits the Weakness, I’ll just talk more about it in the match-up section. Gyarados has a useful Fighting Resistance, which gives the deck a favorable Machamp match-up:  Machamp SF will do negligible damage to Gyarados, and Machamp Prime will find it nearly impossible to OHKO a Gyarados in one hit, allowing you the chance to Seeker or SSU the damage off. Gyarados’s 3 Retreat cost is not ideal, and is the reason the deck plays Warp Energy, so that Gyarados can get to the bench to be Seeker’d up.

Why 3 Gyarados and not 4? Ever since Rescue Energy came out, 3 has been the universally accepted play, due to the fact that Rescue Energy, the deck’s main form of recovery, gets back both your Magikarp and your Gyarados, so you don’t need that many Gyarados. Of course, it’s nice to have some for back-up, in case you can’t get a Rescue Energy on Gyarados before it gets KO’d. In that case, Pokemon Rescue or Combee will get back your Magikarp, and then another Gyarados can be used to evolve into.

3 Sableye SF – Sableye is an incredibly useful card to assist set-up and is played solely for its Impersonate attack. Opening with a Sableye allows you to use a Pokemon Collector Turn 1 to get Magikarps, Regice, Unown Q, Uxie or anything else you may immediately need.

The fact that you are forced to go first if you open with it is arguably a detriment, as it increases your opponent’s chances of getting a first turn KO, which, even if they don’t bench you out and “donk” you, is still a bad thing as it allows them to take an early prize. However, a good example of how going first can be a good thing is against an SP deck such as Luxray/Garchomp. Most SP decks can only realistically get KO’s on Turn 2, the earliest turn they can level up their SP basics. With Sableye’s 60 HP, colorless resistance and the fact that if you open with it you are going first, it is incredibly unlikely for a Luxchomp deck to get a first turn KO, which means if your set up is strong enough, you can possibly get the first prize on Turn 2, or if your set-up is slightly weaker, on Turn 3, meaning the opposing player will only get 0-1 early prize cards respectively, which is important in such a close match-up.

4 Sableye could be played to maximize your odds of opening with it, and that is of course an option. Remember, this list is just a sample list and all of your card counts can be played around with a lot – Gyarados is a very malleable deck.

1 Smeargle UD – Smeargle is used for its Poke-Power Portrait, which basically lets you use a Supporter in your opponent’s hand. This obviously helps with set up, both early-game and later on. Generally this card will have an Unown Q attached to it, allowing you to promote it after a KO, or a Warp Energy (often followed by a Seeker) and get a use of its Power, then retreat to Gyarados to attack. Another overlooked usage of this card to see what’s in your opponent’s hand. This can influence your decisions in-game, especially when to use Mesprit’s Psychic Bind or not.

A large proportion of Gyarados lists run a higher Smeargle count over Sableye (such as 3 Smeargle/1 Sableye or 4 Smeargle/1 Sableye). The reasoning is that if you Portrait your opponent’s Pokemon Collector, some Gyarados builds can absolutely “go off” and even hit for 90/110 damage Turn 1. Of course, these builds almost always run 1 Sableye as well, so even if you can’t “go off”, you can still Impersonate that turn, as well as your Portrait.

So why play more Sableye than Smeargle? It is definitely a preference thing, but I prefer the slightly slower, more consistent and reliable high Sableye count, but others prefer the high-risk, high-reward Smeargle. It also depends on what your list looks like: if it’s designed for maximum speed and consistency, then a higher Smeargle count is probably a better option. Another thing to consider is the odds of Portraiting a good supporter on Turn 1. Most decks run 3-4 Pokemon Collector, undoubtedly the best Supporter you can use Portrait on early game. Off an average of 6-7 cards, your odds of Portraiting it turn 1 are approximately 30-40% respectively. Every other time, you’ll usually be playing a Supporter that’s less helpful. Remember though, every list varies and there’s really no right or wrong as to what you play.

2 Uxie LA – Uxie is a card used in virtually every deck, and for good reason. Its Set-Up Poke-Power allows decks to be fast and to draw into crucial cards, and Gyarados is no exception. Some lists even run 3, but generally 2 is the best count due to bench space constraints. Psychic Restore can be a good attack in some situations, such as bypassing Gengar’s Fainting Spell attack, but it generally won’t be used too much. Uxie’s power can be re-used with SSU and Seeker if necessary, which is a very nice bonus.

1 Azelf LA – Gyarados is a deck that absolutely needs this, simply for the fact that the deck cannot afford to have any Magikarps sitting in the prizes, in order to achieve Tail Revenge’s full damage output.

One thing people need to be aware of before using Azelf is not to give away to your opponent that something important is prized. Example: You open Sableye, go first and Impersonate, only to find that 2 of your Magikarps are prized. You explicitly complain that several Magikarps are prized and Impersonate. Your opponent then drops a Mesprit on you and prevents you from using Time Walk, severely limiting your ability to do anything.

It sounds like an extreme example, but I have seen and heard of plenty of players giving away too much information of their prize cards which then subsequently gets punished. Power Spray is also another application of this point. If you have a Magikarp prized, don’t tell them, then Azelf, realizing they “know” (unless we’re going to get into a whole bluffing situation, but let’s just assume they know you’re trustworthy) you prized a Magikarp, subsequently get Sprayed.

If your prizes are terrible enough to warrant multiple uses of Time Walk, Azelf can be re-used by SSU and Seeker. Just remember: don’t make it obvious to your opponent about your situation. That’s not to say Azelf is just for Magikarp though, as Time Walk can allow you access to any of the one-of cards Gyarados decks play, like Regice, Combee and Unown Q, or even cards you have multiple of like Uxie and Gyarados.

Another use for Azelf is to map out your prizes. This is especially valid now that notes are allowed to be taken on which of your prize cards are where. The difference between nabbing an excess BTS and a clutch SSU out of your prizes can change the game, so don’t waste your opportunity to make sure you know which prizes of where, regardless of your method (just remember, be sure to do it in a timely manner!).

1 Mesprit LA – This is an interesting tech card that is played in most Gyarados builds for a variety of reasons. Psychic Bind is a very potent power, and can be incredibly disruptive when timed right. It can slow down the opponent’s set up early-game by preventing Set Up, Time Walk, QUICK, Portrait etc. but it can also prevent important Poke-powers mid-game like Flash Bite, preventing OHKO’s on Gyarados, so Gyarados can subsequently be healed. This strategy is especially important in the Luxchomp match-up, making an Expert Belted Gyarados unable to be OHKO’d by Luxray GL Lv X, even with Trash Bolt and Lucario GL.

Mesprit plays an important role in Gyarados’s Luxchomp match-up, as well as being a great disruptive card early on in the game, and is re-usable through SSU and Seeker.

1 Combee SF –Combee’s use lies in its Ability “Honey”, allowing you to recover your 4th Magikarp from the discard and follow up with an evolution to Gyarados. It recovers Magikarp in spite of trainer-prevention (mainly Vileplume Undaunted, and also works as an easily searchable way of recovering Magikarp.

1 Regice LA – Mainly a card used for discarding Magikarps, Regice can be Collector’d for, discarding two Magikarps at a time. This allows Gyarados to have a speedy set up in case you can’t draw into a Junk Arm, or to be used in conjunction with Junk Arm to discard 3 Magikarps in one turn.

Regice also has other uses, such as switching out a Spiritomb, or disrupt setups. Regice can also discard useless trainer cards from your hand against Vileplume decks, especially to limit the damage output of attacks like Gengar’s Poltergeist.

It has a very large retreat cost, which means that it can be dragged up in certain match-ups (Luxray GL LV.X Bright Look, Blaziken FB Luring Flame, Froslass GL, etc). Warp Energy and Warp Point are ways to get Regice out of the active spot so it’s not stuck there while your opponent snipes around it.


1 Unown Q MD –QUICK allows you to freely retreat Smeargles, Sableyes and many other basics in your deck. Unown Q does have a downside though: its 30 HP, which can lead to it being donked even if your opponent goes first ( Uxie + energy or a Luxray GL/Garchomp C + DCE). But despite this, Unown Q generally helps the flexibility and speed of the deck in general by not having to waste an energy attachment (An issue, since most Gyarados builds play six or less).

Here is a good video of Unown Q in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYCC…eature=channel

2 Crobat G PL –The ability to get 10, 20, 30 or even more damage from nowhere with Crobat G’s “Flash Bite”/Poke Turn/SSU/Seeker is incredible, and leads to unexpected OHKO’s. Unlike a lot of other “tech” cards played in Gyarados, Crobat G isn’t even a bad starter, thanks to its free Retreat and 80 HP. Flash Bite can even be used to get around effects and Poke-Powers like Rescue Energy and Fainting Spell. Overall, Crobat G is a very strong addition to Gyarados decks.

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums

4 Pokemon Collector – Pokemon Collector is vital to the speed and consistency of Gyarados: letting you grab any 3 basic Pokemon allows the deck to get all the Magikarp it needs for immediate discard with other cards. It is also useful mid-to-late game as well, grabbing basics you might need like Crobat G, Mesprit, Combee and so forth (not to say those cards can’t be used early-game too).

4 is the universally “correct” number because you always want to have it in your opening hand. Pokemon Collector, being a Supporter obviously, can be used with Impersonate.

4 Junk Arm – Junk Arm lets you discard any two cards (most likely Magikarps) immediately, without even having to use a Supporter, while letting you re-use any of the trainers in your deck, such as SSU, Poke Drawer + and Pokemon Rescue, etc. Unfortunately, it’s necessary to have a Trainer card in the discard pile to use Junk Arm, but with the high amount of Trainers played, it’s not such a big issue.

4 Broken Time-Space – Broken Time-Space (“BTS”) allows you to immediately evolve Magikarp straight to Gyarados. For early-game speed, healing, and recovery,  four are in this build because it’s essential to have, even if that 1 BTS will last the rest of the game (which it will against most match-ups). Some lists can get away with 3, especially with the Poke Drawer +, but it can be a bit of a risk.

2 Luxury Ball – Luxury Ball is usually a one-of in most decks, but 2 are run here because the excess copy can be discarded. Luxury Ball is almost always better than Pokemon Communication, but 2 is probably the max that would be considered, due to the fact it can’t be used if one is already in your discard pile.

1 Pokemon Communication – This card acts as a sort of “3rd search” Trainer, but since you can use it whenever, it takes the spot of the 3rd Luxury Ball. Shuffling in useless Pokemon can be useful though, to get more cards from Uxie’s Set Up.

1 Bebe’s Search – If Luxury Ball and Pokemon Communication do basically the same thing as Bebe’s Search while being trainers, then why run Bebe’s Search at all? Basically, it helps with trainer lock, but still helps the deck’s overall consistency somewhat and can be Impersonated regardless of the situation. Some lists run 2, in case your 1 Bebe’s is prized or if you opponent plays a Lookers/Judge once you Impersonate, but due to space constraints, only 1 is run here.

1 Copycat – This card will probably be sticking out like a sore thumb to most readers, but it’s a solid draw supporter, and 1 or 2 draw supporters is never a bad idea in Gyarados.

Why having a draw supporter is good: Any draw supporter you run 1-2 (or even more) of can be Impersonated with Sableye should you have a bad hand. They can also be re-used with VS Seeker, which can in turn be re-used by Junk Arm. More than that, though, draw supporters can allow you to draw into cards that you couldn’t otherwise get. It also takes some “pressure” off SSU and Seeker, so you don’t have to “waste” them re-using Uxie’s Set Up and can use them for other Poke-Powers. That said though, many Gyarados lists run fine without any draw supporters, but they can be a nice inclusion.

Why Copycat over all the other options: On average, Copycat is netting you more cards than the other draw in our format at the moment. Some legitimate options include, but aren’t limited to:
• Volkner’s Philosophy
• Cynthia’s Feelings
• Judge/Looker’s Investigation (more about disruption than raw drawpower but are still good options)
Again, like all deck choices, what draw supporter(s) you play, should you play any, come down to preference and metagame.

4 Poke Drawer + – Poke Drawer + is a card that helps consistency, especially midgame, by being able to search out any 2 cards in your deck if you have two copies of it in your hand. This is especially good at getting otherwise unsearchable cards like Rescue Energy, Seeker etc. and has great synergy with Junk Arm. It can also be played one at a time to draw 1 card, which can be OK if you’ve got a bad hand to get you a shot at drawing into something decent or to draw into a certain card you really need, but the main reason you’ll ever want to play only 1 at a time is if you need a trainer card in the discard pile to allow Junk Arm to be played. Most times you’ll want to save a copy in case you get a 2nd.

Poke Drawer + is an overall great trainer, but another less obvious effect of playing it is that it allows the Gyarados player to cut back on certain cards they run. Example: While some lists might run 3 Expert Belt to help draw into it, if you run 4 Poke Drawer, you can easily get away with 2. Poke Drawer also works well with 1-of cards in general. In this list – VS Seeker, Pokemon Rescue and Poke Turn especially.

4 Super Scoop Up (“SSU”) – its main use is for scooping up a damaged Gyarados, but it can be used to re-use Uxie, Azelf, Crobat G, or any other coming-into-play Poke-Power (or Item, like Combee’s Honey). SSU can be Junk Arm’d and is very good with Mesprit, especially when you’re trying to use it enough times to get past Power Spray.

3 Seeker – In a similar vein to SSU, Seeker is useful in picking up your damaged Gyarados/ reactivate coming-into-play powers. Unlike SSU, it only works on your benched Pokemon, lets your opponent pick up a benched Pokemon , and is a Supporter card; but the fact Seeker doesn’t make you have to flip makes it a very strong card. The Warp Energy (or Warp Point)/Seeker combo is a surefire way of healing your Gyarados.

Seeker counts vary between Gyarados lists, and with VS Seeker, I feel that 3 is a good number, but it really depends on the rest of your decklist, your metagame and your personal preferences so there really isn’t a “wrong” Seeker count.

2 Expert Belt – Expert Belt is a great card which has synergy with the high amount of cards that can scoop a damaged Gyarados back up. Play it down on your Gyarados to increase its damage output and increase its HP, then when it gets damaged, just Warp/Seeker or SSU. Once you run out of healing cards, you don’t have to play it down on Gyarados again so you don’t have to risk the extra prize card when Gyarados gets KO’d.

2 Expert Belt is almost certainly the right amount in any Gyarados that runs Poke Drawer + or even Twins. In 99% of games, 2 Expert Belts is all you’ll need, and considering it can be Junk Arm’d as well, in most lists 2 is the correct amount.

1 Poke Turn – Poke Turn is an interesting card for Gyarados lists. When Triumphant came out, most lists were playing 3-4, but as City Championships progressed, more and more people started cutting their Poke Turn counts and some even getting rid of them altogether for other cards that they considered better. Poke Turn is, predictably, for re-using Crobat G’s Poke-Power Flash Bite or for just scooping up Crobat G to play something else in its spot, or even to remove damage from a Crobat G by scooping it up. But just how useful is that extra 10 damage? That’s up for the player making the list to decide.

So why 1 Poke Turn in this list? The idea is that it can be searched out with Poke Drawer + and re-used with Junk Arm so it’s a nice 1-of card in this deck. While I didn’t feel it was useful enough to justify 3-4 slots in this particular build, it can be occasionally very useful.

1 Warp Point – Warp Point falls into a similar category as Poke Turn, being a nice 1-of trainer card which can be searched out with Poke Drawer + and also be Junk Arm’d. Warp Point is a useful card in its own right, while acting as a switch card (good for getting Gyarados to the bench to Seeker, getting Sableye out of the active spot, getting Regice out of the active spot etc.) while also being able to take cheap prizes. It can be disruptive early on in the game if your opponent hasn’t got a Pokemon to send up to “sacrifice” and sometimes Warp Points can net you disruptive KO’s on Pokemon your opponent didn’t want to lose, but a lot of times when you play this card it’s just going to get you an easy prize, which is a good thing.

1 VS Seeker – VS Seeker can act as another of any one of your supporters (once they’ve been played) and can also be Junk Arm’d. It’s not impossible to use 5-6 Seekers a game because of this and it generally allows flexibility. 2 is a nice play, but only 1 is played here due to space constraints.

1 Pokemon Rescue – Yet another 1-of Junk Arm-able trainer card, Pokemon Rescue performs a different role to the others in this deck. It is used for getting back Magikarp once your Gyarados gets KO’d. One could argue that a 4th Rescue Energy does the same thing but better, but in some situations Pokemon Rescue is superior (if they have bypassed Rescue Energy’s effect in some way, or if they were able to KO Gyarados before you could draw into a Rescue Energy – Pokemon Rescue can be used after your Gyarados is KO’d) and it can also be re-used with Junk Arm, hence the 3-1 Rescue Energy/Pokemon Rescue split in this particular build.

Energy

3 Warp Energy – Warp Energy is a card primarily used to get Gyarados back to the bench to Seeker up, but can also be used to get cards like Sableye, Smeargle and Regice out of the active spot. Only 3 are run due to space constraints and because once you get the Warp Energy/Seeker combo, you can just re-use the same Warp Energy over and over again.

3 Rescue Energy – Used to recover both Magikarp and Gyarados when KO’d. If Gyarados is KO’d with anything other than damage, Gyarados will be discarded, so watch out. Usually, the only ways the opponent can do that is through Flash Bites, which means they aren’t OHKO’ing so you can often scoop Gyarados up, but it can happen.
It doesn’t have to be used on just Gyarados though. In some match-ups you might even want to attach it to your Regice. It can even be used for retreating if necessary, although not desirable.
 

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Retro Article: Gyarados Battle Road Tournament Reports, by Austin Baggs

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."