Deck name: Gyarados
Author: Roland Allen
Date: 28/1/2010
Current Format: MD-TR
History of Gyarados
Gyarados is a deck that first appeared on the tournament scene at the World Championships 2009, piloted by French players Fabien Garnier and Nicholas H. The deck got to Top 8 and Top 16 respectively, with Fabien losing two tight games in the Top 8 against eventual World Champion Steven Silvestro. Some say, that with all of its favorable match-ups in the Top 8 – Flygon/Machamp and SP builds mostly - the deck could have gone even further if it didn’t get paired with Steve’s Beedrill deck. Either way, Gyarados was a deck that exploded onto the tournament scene, literally being turned from an unplayed card to the next big thing. The deck’s unique engine of Sableye and Felicity’s Drawing, along with the strong hitting power of Gyarados gave it almost all favorable match-ups against the Worlds metagame, which mostly consisted of SP builds and Flygon builds (many with Machamp SF). Fabien had actually won French nationals undefeated with the deck but no notice was taken of the deck. The deck’s components were even there from Platinum, with Broken Time Space’s release, but the deck simply wasn’t widely “discovered” until Worlds.
The deck continued to do well throughout the 09-10 season, thanks to the lack of rotation, and gained several new cards to enhance it, such as Expert Belt (Arceus) and Pokemon Collector (HG:SS). The deck performed solidly at Battle Roads, City Championships, State Championships, Regional Championships and National Championships all around the world. Gyarados finished with an impressive second place finish at Worlds 2010 in Seniors by Mychael Bryan, losing to Jacob Lesage, playing Luxray/Garchomp. Mychael’s list played Azelf MT, along with Mesprit and Uxie to improve the deck’s otherwise subpar SP match-up at the time. It made Top 8 in Masters played by Yasmin Kiss, also with the AMU tech.
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 lot of trouble with consistency and speed. However, help was to come in the next set, Triumphant.
HS – Triumphant 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. These counts depend on personal preference and metagame, but 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 SF
3 Gyarados SF
3 Sableye SF
1 Smeargle UD
2 Uxie LA
1 Azelf LA
1 Mesprit LA
1 Combee SF
1 Regice LA
1 Unown Q
2 Crobat G 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 Poke Turn
1 Warp Point
1 VS Seeker
1 Pokemon Rescue
Energy – 6
3 Warp Energy
3 Rescue Energy
Pokemon - 20
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, which averages at a bit under 1 heads, like all flip-until-tails attacks. 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 an alright attack. 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 weaknesses 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-ups section. Gyarados has a useful fighting resistance, which gives the deck a favorable Machamp match-up, because Machamp SF will do negligible damage to Gyarados, and Machamp Prime will find it nearly impossible to OHKO a Gyarados in one hit, allowing Gyarados to Seeker or SSU the damage off. Gyarados’ 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 your list is 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 – Azelf is regarded as a staple in most decks with all of the big decks either outright needing it or wanting it for extra flexibility. Gyarados is a deck that absolutely needs it, 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. 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’ 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 – At first glance, you might be wondering what Combee is for, what with being a 50 HP basic Pokemon with no Poke-Power. 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. Combee’s main role, though, is to recover Magikarp in spite of trainer-prevention, mainly Vileplume (Undaunted). Decks like Gengar/Vileplume can bypass Fainting Spell whilst also preventing Pokemon Rescue, so Combee works very nicely as a contingency plan, and can obviously be Seekered back up again. That’s not to say it’s just for Vileplume decks though, it also works as an easily searchable way of recovering Magikarp.
1 Regice LA – Mainly a card used for discarding Magikarps, Regice plays an important role in any Gyarados deck. Being a basic, Regice can be Collector’d for, and can discard 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, which aside from allowing you to play trainer cards again, can also be disruptive if followed by a Gyarados (you can often catch out Gengar/Vileplume decks with just Spiritomb active, with Gastly/Haunter and Oddish/Gloom benched early on in the game, allowing to KO either one of them, setting them back massively).
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.
Regice has a very large retreat cost, which means that it can be dragged up in certain match-ups. 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 – While not exactly a big hitter, Unown Q has found its way into almost all of the top decks this season. Why? Because QUICK is such a good Poke-Power. It allows you to freely retreat Smeargles, Sableyes and many other basics in your deck. Unown Q does have a downside though, and that’s its 30 HP and psychic weakness. Unown Q can even be donked if your opponent goes first, if they have an Uxie + energy, or a Luxray/Garchomp + DCE. However, despite this, Unown Q generally helps the flexibility and speed of the deck in general, by not having to waste an energy (which this build, and most Gyarados builds, only play 6 of).
Here is a good video of Unown Q in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYCC5UoD2w&feature=channel
2 Crobat G PL – Crobat G is a card that is used in a lot of decks for its Poke-Power Flash Bite, and as always, Gyarados is no exception. The ability to get 10, 20, 30 or even more damage from nowhere with Crobat G/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 – 34
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 is one of the new cards that helped Gyarados significantly with the release of Triumphant. It 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 already 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, or “BTS” as it’s commonly referred to, allows you to immediately evolve Magikarp straight to Gyarados, which is most important after a KO. There are three main uses for BTS:
• Early-game – Allowing Magikarp to go straight into Gyarados allows you to attack faster, and hence take prizes more quickly. It also prevents the Magikarp being KO’d on the bench. If you can’t draw into a BTS against a deck like Luxchomp, you can essentially be “locked out” of your Gyarados, because they can keep sniping or gusting it if it’s left as a Magikarp on the bench for a turn.
• To heal – When Gyarados is damaged, you will want to SSU or Warp/Seeker it up, but in order to play it back down again immediately, you need BTS.
• To recover – Once your Gyarados gets KO’d, which it almost inevitably will, you will need to recover Gyarados and evolve instantaneously.
This explains why 4 are run 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, takes the spot of the theoretical 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? The main reason is that if you’re under a trainer lock, it can be used to get Gyarados and will almost always be Impersonated for. Basically, it helps with trainer lock, but still helps the deck’s overall consistency somewhat and can be Impersonated regardless of the situation, if you need a Gyarados. Some lists run 2, in case your 1 Bebe’s is prized or if you opponent plays a Lookers/Judge on the first Bebe’s 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 + - A card that got more popular as CC’s went on, 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 overall a 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’s main use is for scooping up damaged Gyarados’, but it can be used to re-use, Uxie, Azelf, Crobat G, or any other coming-into-play Poke-Power (or ability, like Combee). 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 damaged Gyarados’ and coming-into-play powers. Unlike SSU, it only works on your benched Pokemon, lets your opponent pick up a benched Pokemon as well also, 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/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 – 6
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.
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’ 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 take easy prizes rather than hitting an opposing Gyarados that 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.
Note that I’m grouping these cards together only because they work best with more Poke Turn. They should almost never be run together and serve very different purposes.
Ditto LA – Ditto is a very specific tech. It gives Gyarados a much stronger mirror match-up because Ditto DNA allows you to have 4 Magikarp in the discard pile and copy the opposing Gyarados’ Tail Revenge attack for 120 damage, scoring easier OHKO’s by using a basic Pokemon. Ditto even keeps the active Pokemon’s HP, too. Even better, Ditto 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, meaning Ditto has 30 HP and is KO’d. They can even then subsequently evolve into Gyarados and take another prize. Even when they can’t do that, the opponent can still psychic restore + flash bite or psychic restore with an Expert Belt into an Unown Q (so they’re essentially trading one of your “easy KO’s” with an “easy KO” of their own). As such, Ditto is best used in tandem with a Mesprit, but it really depends on the game state. So just be careful when you play Ditto because if you use it well, it will give you a lot of additional strength in the mirror match.
Blissey Prime HS – While not particularly popular, or an outright amazing or match-up winning tech, Blissey Prime can be a very useful card. Basically, it gives you a free heal on Gyarados, as well as any other Pokemon that may have been damaged (which generally isn’t too useful – most non-Gyarados bench sitters are weak and will be OHKO’d usually anyway). 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 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 which can be extremely easy KO’s from Warp Point. 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, but Blissey Prime can be a Pokemon sent up to take hit in that situation.
Uxie Lv X LA – A card that can be fit in relatively easily, Uxie Lv X helps give the deck addition drawpower mid-to-late game. After a Warp Energy, SSU or a KO, Uxia can be promoted to be Leveled Up, and you can Trade Off every turn after that (barring Mesprit and power Sprays). 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’ Luxchomp match-up because it allows Gyarados to either OHKO Lucario GL, which if they can’t get it back, means 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 and well-timed Reversal flips can pave the way for amazing comebacks. Pokemon Reversal can even be Junk Arm’d for as well.
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 + but it is a guarantee. On average, this makes it slightly weaker, but the guarantee helps somewhat. Junk Arm makes it easier to re-use Poke Blower +’s as well. 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.
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 as well 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).
The match-up 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.
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 match-up. 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.
Lostgar: Gengar/Lost World, one of the very few new and upcoming decks from Call of Legends, has been regarded by some as a very difficult match-up for Gyarados. Lostgar is one that mostly depends on the two player's lists and how well it interacts with each other, and is a match-up where in-game skill plays a relatively small part (comapred to other match-ups).
Most Lostgar builds are designed around speed. This means that you may be staring down a Gengar Prime Turn 1 or two and any Magikarps lying around in your hand will be lost zoned which makes winning almost impossible from that point onwards. Many Gyarados builds have attempted to counteract this by playing a lone Cyrus' Conspiracy in their deck. The idea is that if you have to Impersonate to get set up, you can simply Impersonate a Cyrus and grab a Pokemon Collector (and a Poke Turn should you run any) to get set up on your next turn as opposed to Impersonating a Collector right off the bat and risk having the Magikarps Lost Zoned. This may make set up slightly slower if you are relying on a Sableye set up, but even if you aren't and you are playing more Smearle in your deck, if you don't Portrait something useful early on, you may have to resort to Impersonating immediately, so even lists with only 1 Sableye should be playing Cyrus' Conspiracy.
The way they will try to win is do the obvious: Get 6 Pokemon in the Lost Zone and play Lost World down. They will do this by utilising Seeker and Spiritomb CL. Regice and Junk Arm should be used to clear excess Pokemon from the hand, to force them to play Seeker or Spiritomb to get Pokemon into your hand. Mesprit prevents Spiritomb and any Fossil tech you may play prevents Seeker from working. Fossils count as a Pokemon on the bench and are a legitiamte Seeker target, but when they are in your hand they cannot be Lost Zoned. This means you can "cheat" Lostgar of a Hurl Into Darkness target. Fossils are of course difficult to search out, and can generally only be done by using Poke Drawer +. This means you may not see your Old Amber/Fossil until later on the game, or perhaps might not see it at all if you are unlucky!
Because Gengar doesn't have any "field prescence" or "board control" (it can't knock anything out), you can safely Expert Belt your Gyarados and from this point on you are only 20 damage away from OHKO'ing a fresh Gengar Prime. It only takes 20 extra damage from Flash Bites or Poison Structure to OHKO a Gengar Prime. The more times you can do this the better your chances are of winning. Of course, if you aren't able to draw into your Expert Belt (which is especially the case early on in the game), then you will struggle to OHKO Gengar Primes. OHKO'ing Gengar Primes is not just important for taking prizes and hopefully catching them out on a turn where they can't get a Gengar prime out (or at least can't get a Gengar prime out and Lost Zone a Pokemon in the same turn), it's also important to reduce the amount of energy they have on their Gengar. If you can limit them to just 1 energy on each Gegnar, that means they can only Lost Zone 1 Pokemon a turn at the most, which means you can easily keep up. Another thing to consider is that Gengar has to wait a turn after it Lost Zones 6 Pokemon, THEN play down Lost World for the win, whereas taking 6 prizes wins the game immediately for Gyarados.
Devoluter has been widely discussed as a Gyarados counter, but shouldn't be worried about because it is quite bad. It requires being searched out, then requires the Gengar player to waste a turn using Cursed Droplets on Gyarados (which takes two energy to do), then the Gyarados player has to whiff on any sort of healing card, THEN the Gengar player can Devolute the Gyarados back to its Magikarp, and thanks to Gengar Prime Catastrophe Poke-Body, the Magikarp will be sent to the Lost Zone, gimping your damage output. Unfortunately for that plan, if the Gyarados was Expert Belted (which is the correct thing to do in this match-up), then the 4 counters from Cursed Droplets aren't enough to KO even Magikarp. This "plan" also requires the Gyarados player to be unable to Seeker or SSU the Gyarados after Gengar uses Cursed Droplets (which is an absurd thing to gamble on).
A recap for the match-up against speed-based builds: It depends on how often you are able to OHKO Gengar, how many times you can prevent them from Lost Zoning a Pokemon (via Mesprit, old Amber, Regice/Junk arm) and whether you can avoid an early Hurl Into Darkness on a Magikarp. If you are having trouble with this match-up, don't be disheartened. Keep on practising and adjusting your list!
Gengar builds that are designed around trainer locking with Vileplume are generally harder, for a few reasons:
1) You will only be able to take prizes every second turn, at most.
2) You are vulnerable to Gengar prime Seekering up their Gengar and repalying it down again, thwarting you of a KO.
3) If they can't play Seeker to heal, they can attach another energy and threaten another lost zoning.
4) You cannot play Old Amber (or any other Fossil you may run).
5) It is a lot harder to maintain a Mesprit lock without the use of Super Scoop Up and Junk Arm.
However, despite all of this, there are a few upsides to playing against a Vileplume-based build:
1) They are slow, and you should realistically be able to get up 1-2 prizes early on.
2) They are capable of having consistency issues, as Vileplume based decks are prone to having.
That said, the match-up is far worse if they run Vileplume. They still have Seeker and Spiritomb CL to get pokemon into your hand, while your ability to prevent that (Old Amber, Mesprit) and keep up with the "prizes" they're taking (Crobat G/Poke Turns for OHKO's) are severely diminished, if not non-existant. As such, your best chance of getting a win is them faultering early on and having a clunky hand. Dialga G Lv X is the only real trump card in this match-up, which admittedly is a very good way of countering Vileplume-based Gengar prime builds (especially if they don't run Gengar lv X), however it doesn't do much against trainer-based versions of Lostgar.
One thing to remember though is that there is no "stock" Lostgar list at the moment (and it's doubtful that there will ever be), the remember: The match-up varies and Gyarados can always be tweaked to add strength any specific match-up, should it be prevalent in your metagame (and it's arguable whether Lostgar will make a big prescence on the metagame).
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!
Author: Roland Allen
Date: 28/1/2010
Current Format: MD-TR
GYARADOS
History of Gyarados
Gyarados is a deck that first appeared on the tournament scene at the World Championships 2009, piloted by French players Fabien Garnier and Nicholas H. The deck got to Top 8 and Top 16 respectively, with Fabien losing two tight games in the Top 8 against eventual World Champion Steven Silvestro. Some say, that with all of its favorable match-ups in the Top 8 – Flygon/Machamp and SP builds mostly - the deck could have gone even further if it didn’t get paired with Steve’s Beedrill deck. Either way, Gyarados was a deck that exploded onto the tournament scene, literally being turned from an unplayed card to the next big thing. The deck’s unique engine of Sableye and Felicity’s Drawing, along with the strong hitting power of Gyarados gave it almost all favorable match-ups against the Worlds metagame, which mostly consisted of SP builds and Flygon builds (many with Machamp SF). Fabien had actually won French nationals undefeated with the deck but no notice was taken of the deck. The deck’s components were even there from Platinum, with Broken Time Space’s release, but the deck simply wasn’t widely “discovered” until Worlds.
The deck continued to do well throughout the 09-10 season, thanks to the lack of rotation, and gained several new cards to enhance it, such as Expert Belt (Arceus) and Pokemon Collector (HG:SS). The deck performed solidly at Battle Roads, City Championships, State Championships, Regional Championships and National Championships all around the world. Gyarados finished with an impressive second place finish at Worlds 2010 in Seniors by Mychael Bryan, losing to Jacob Lesage, playing Luxray/Garchomp. Mychael’s list played Azelf MT, along with Mesprit and Uxie to improve the deck’s otherwise subpar SP match-up at the time. It made Top 8 in Masters played by Yasmin Kiss, also with the AMU tech.
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 lot of trouble with consistency and speed. However, help was to come in the next set, Triumphant.
HS – Triumphant 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. These counts depend on personal preference and metagame, but 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 SF
3 Gyarados SF
3 Sableye SF
1 Smeargle UD
2 Uxie LA
1 Azelf LA
1 Mesprit LA
1 Combee SF
1 Regice LA
1 Unown Q
2 Crobat G 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 Poke Turn
1 Warp Point
1 VS Seeker
1 Pokemon Rescue
Energy – 6
3 Warp Energy
3 Rescue Energy
Pokemon - 20
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, which averages at a bit under 1 heads, like all flip-until-tails attacks. 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 an alright attack. 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 weaknesses 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-ups section. Gyarados has a useful fighting resistance, which gives the deck a favorable Machamp match-up, because Machamp SF will do negligible damage to Gyarados, and Machamp Prime will find it nearly impossible to OHKO a Gyarados in one hit, allowing Gyarados to Seeker or SSU the damage off. Gyarados’ 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 your list is 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 – Azelf is regarded as a staple in most decks with all of the big decks either outright needing it or wanting it for extra flexibility. Gyarados is a deck that absolutely needs it, 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. 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’ 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 – At first glance, you might be wondering what Combee is for, what with being a 50 HP basic Pokemon with no Poke-Power. 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. Combee’s main role, though, is to recover Magikarp in spite of trainer-prevention, mainly Vileplume (Undaunted). Decks like Gengar/Vileplume can bypass Fainting Spell whilst also preventing Pokemon Rescue, so Combee works very nicely as a contingency plan, and can obviously be Seekered back up again. That’s not to say it’s just for Vileplume decks though, it also works as an easily searchable way of recovering Magikarp.
1 Regice LA – Mainly a card used for discarding Magikarps, Regice plays an important role in any Gyarados deck. Being a basic, Regice can be Collector’d for, and can discard 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, which aside from allowing you to play trainer cards again, can also be disruptive if followed by a Gyarados (you can often catch out Gengar/Vileplume decks with just Spiritomb active, with Gastly/Haunter and Oddish/Gloom benched early on in the game, allowing to KO either one of them, setting them back massively).
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.
Regice has a very large retreat cost, which means that it can be dragged up in certain match-ups. 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 – While not exactly a big hitter, Unown Q has found its way into almost all of the top decks this season. Why? Because QUICK is such a good Poke-Power. It allows you to freely retreat Smeargles, Sableyes and many other basics in your deck. Unown Q does have a downside though, and that’s its 30 HP and psychic weakness. Unown Q can even be donked if your opponent goes first, if they have an Uxie + energy, or a Luxray/Garchomp + DCE. However, despite this, Unown Q generally helps the flexibility and speed of the deck in general, by not having to waste an energy (which this build, and most Gyarados builds, only play 6 of).
Here is a good video of Unown Q in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYCC5UoD2w&feature=channel
2 Crobat G PL – Crobat G is a card that is used in a lot of decks for its Poke-Power Flash Bite, and as always, Gyarados is no exception. The ability to get 10, 20, 30 or even more damage from nowhere with Crobat G/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 – 34
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 is one of the new cards that helped Gyarados significantly with the release of Triumphant. It 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 already 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, or “BTS” as it’s commonly referred to, allows you to immediately evolve Magikarp straight to Gyarados, which is most important after a KO. There are three main uses for BTS:
• Early-game – Allowing Magikarp to go straight into Gyarados allows you to attack faster, and hence take prizes more quickly. It also prevents the Magikarp being KO’d on the bench. If you can’t draw into a BTS against a deck like Luxchomp, you can essentially be “locked out” of your Gyarados, because they can keep sniping or gusting it if it’s left as a Magikarp on the bench for a turn.
• To heal – When Gyarados is damaged, you will want to SSU or Warp/Seeker it up, but in order to play it back down again immediately, you need BTS.
• To recover – Once your Gyarados gets KO’d, which it almost inevitably will, you will need to recover Gyarados and evolve instantaneously.
This explains why 4 are run 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, takes the spot of the theoretical 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? The main reason is that if you’re under a trainer lock, it can be used to get Gyarados and will almost always be Impersonated for. Basically, it helps with trainer lock, but still helps the deck’s overall consistency somewhat and can be Impersonated regardless of the situation, if you need a Gyarados. Some lists run 2, in case your 1 Bebe’s is prized or if you opponent plays a Lookers/Judge on the first Bebe’s 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 + - A card that got more popular as CC’s went on, 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 overall a 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’s main use is for scooping up damaged Gyarados’, but it can be used to re-use, Uxie, Azelf, Crobat G, or any other coming-into-play Poke-Power (or ability, like Combee). 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 damaged Gyarados’ and coming-into-play powers. Unlike SSU, it only works on your benched Pokemon, lets your opponent pick up a benched Pokemon as well also, 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/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 – 6
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.
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’ 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 take easy prizes rather than hitting an opposing Gyarados that 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.
Note that I’m grouping these cards together only because they work best with more Poke Turn. They should almost never be run together and serve very different purposes.
Ditto LA – Ditto is a very specific tech. It gives Gyarados a much stronger mirror match-up because Ditto DNA allows you to have 4 Magikarp in the discard pile and copy the opposing Gyarados’ Tail Revenge attack for 120 damage, scoring easier OHKO’s by using a basic Pokemon. Ditto even keeps the active Pokemon’s HP, too. Even better, Ditto 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, meaning Ditto has 30 HP and is KO’d. They can even then subsequently evolve into Gyarados and take another prize. Even when they can’t do that, the opponent can still psychic restore + flash bite or psychic restore with an Expert Belt into an Unown Q (so they’re essentially trading one of your “easy KO’s” with an “easy KO” of their own). As such, Ditto is best used in tandem with a Mesprit, but it really depends on the game state. So just be careful when you play Ditto because if you use it well, it will give you a lot of additional strength in the mirror match.
Blissey Prime HS – While not particularly popular, or an outright amazing or match-up winning tech, Blissey Prime can be a very useful card. Basically, it gives you a free heal on Gyarados, as well as any other Pokemon that may have been damaged (which generally isn’t too useful – most non-Gyarados bench sitters are weak and will be OHKO’d usually anyway). 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 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 which can be extremely easy KO’s from Warp Point. 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, but Blissey Prime can be a Pokemon sent up to take hit in that situation.
Uxie Lv X LA – A card that can be fit in relatively easily, Uxie Lv X helps give the deck addition drawpower mid-to-late game. After a Warp Energy, SSU or a KO, Uxia can be promoted to be Leveled Up, and you can Trade Off every turn after that (barring Mesprit and power Sprays). 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’ Luxchomp match-up because it allows Gyarados to either OHKO Lucario GL, which if they can’t get it back, means 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 and well-timed Reversal flips can pave the way for amazing comebacks. Pokemon Reversal can even be Junk Arm’d for as well.
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 + but it is a guarantee. On average, this makes it slightly weaker, but the guarantee helps somewhat. Junk Arm makes it easier to re-use Poke Blower +’s as well. 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.
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 as well 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).
The match-up 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.
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 match-up. 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.
Lostgar: Gengar/Lost World, one of the very few new and upcoming decks from Call of Legends, has been regarded by some as a very difficult match-up for Gyarados. Lostgar is one that mostly depends on the two player's lists and how well it interacts with each other, and is a match-up where in-game skill plays a relatively small part (comapred to other match-ups).
Most Lostgar builds are designed around speed. This means that you may be staring down a Gengar Prime Turn 1 or two and any Magikarps lying around in your hand will be lost zoned which makes winning almost impossible from that point onwards. Many Gyarados builds have attempted to counteract this by playing a lone Cyrus' Conspiracy in their deck. The idea is that if you have to Impersonate to get set up, you can simply Impersonate a Cyrus and grab a Pokemon Collector (and a Poke Turn should you run any) to get set up on your next turn as opposed to Impersonating a Collector right off the bat and risk having the Magikarps Lost Zoned. This may make set up slightly slower if you are relying on a Sableye set up, but even if you aren't and you are playing more Smearle in your deck, if you don't Portrait something useful early on, you may have to resort to Impersonating immediately, so even lists with only 1 Sableye should be playing Cyrus' Conspiracy.
The way they will try to win is do the obvious: Get 6 Pokemon in the Lost Zone and play Lost World down. They will do this by utilising Seeker and Spiritomb CL. Regice and Junk Arm should be used to clear excess Pokemon from the hand, to force them to play Seeker or Spiritomb to get Pokemon into your hand. Mesprit prevents Spiritomb and any Fossil tech you may play prevents Seeker from working. Fossils count as a Pokemon on the bench and are a legitiamte Seeker target, but when they are in your hand they cannot be Lost Zoned. This means you can "cheat" Lostgar of a Hurl Into Darkness target. Fossils are of course difficult to search out, and can generally only be done by using Poke Drawer +. This means you may not see your Old Amber/Fossil until later on the game, or perhaps might not see it at all if you are unlucky!
Because Gengar doesn't have any "field prescence" or "board control" (it can't knock anything out), you can safely Expert Belt your Gyarados and from this point on you are only 20 damage away from OHKO'ing a fresh Gengar Prime. It only takes 20 extra damage from Flash Bites or Poison Structure to OHKO a Gengar Prime. The more times you can do this the better your chances are of winning. Of course, if you aren't able to draw into your Expert Belt (which is especially the case early on in the game), then you will struggle to OHKO Gengar Primes. OHKO'ing Gengar Primes is not just important for taking prizes and hopefully catching them out on a turn where they can't get a Gengar prime out (or at least can't get a Gengar prime out and Lost Zone a Pokemon in the same turn), it's also important to reduce the amount of energy they have on their Gengar. If you can limit them to just 1 energy on each Gegnar, that means they can only Lost Zone 1 Pokemon a turn at the most, which means you can easily keep up. Another thing to consider is that Gengar has to wait a turn after it Lost Zones 6 Pokemon, THEN play down Lost World for the win, whereas taking 6 prizes wins the game immediately for Gyarados.
Devoluter has been widely discussed as a Gyarados counter, but shouldn't be worried about because it is quite bad. It requires being searched out, then requires the Gengar player to waste a turn using Cursed Droplets on Gyarados (which takes two energy to do), then the Gyarados player has to whiff on any sort of healing card, THEN the Gengar player can Devolute the Gyarados back to its Magikarp, and thanks to Gengar Prime Catastrophe Poke-Body, the Magikarp will be sent to the Lost Zone, gimping your damage output. Unfortunately for that plan, if the Gyarados was Expert Belted (which is the correct thing to do in this match-up), then the 4 counters from Cursed Droplets aren't enough to KO even Magikarp. This "plan" also requires the Gyarados player to be unable to Seeker or SSU the Gyarados after Gengar uses Cursed Droplets (which is an absurd thing to gamble on).
A recap for the match-up against speed-based builds: It depends on how often you are able to OHKO Gengar, how many times you can prevent them from Lost Zoning a Pokemon (via Mesprit, old Amber, Regice/Junk arm) and whether you can avoid an early Hurl Into Darkness on a Magikarp. If you are having trouble with this match-up, don't be disheartened. Keep on practising and adjusting your list!
Gengar builds that are designed around trainer locking with Vileplume are generally harder, for a few reasons:
1) You will only be able to take prizes every second turn, at most.
2) You are vulnerable to Gengar prime Seekering up their Gengar and repalying it down again, thwarting you of a KO.
3) If they can't play Seeker to heal, they can attach another energy and threaten another lost zoning.
4) You cannot play Old Amber (or any other Fossil you may run).
5) It is a lot harder to maintain a Mesprit lock without the use of Super Scoop Up and Junk Arm.
However, despite all of this, there are a few upsides to playing against a Vileplume-based build:
1) They are slow, and you should realistically be able to get up 1-2 prizes early on.
2) They are capable of having consistency issues, as Vileplume based decks are prone to having.
That said, the match-up is far worse if they run Vileplume. They still have Seeker and Spiritomb CL to get pokemon into your hand, while your ability to prevent that (Old Amber, Mesprit) and keep up with the "prizes" they're taking (Crobat G/Poke Turns for OHKO's) are severely diminished, if not non-existant. As such, your best chance of getting a win is them faultering early on and having a clunky hand. Dialga G Lv X is the only real trump card in this match-up, which admittedly is a very good way of countering Vileplume-based Gengar prime builds (especially if they don't run Gengar lv X), however it doesn't do much against trainer-based versions of Lostgar.
One thing to remember though is that there is no "stock" Lostgar list at the moment (and it's doubtful that there will ever be), the remember: The match-up varies and Gyarados can always be tweaked to add strength any specific match-up, should it be prevalent in your metagame (and it's arguable whether Lostgar will make a big prescence on the metagame).
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 especially, 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!
Last edited:
