It’s Raining Energy… And Pain.

Au revoir, Charizard...

Hello Everyone, Travis here, also (previously) known as “The Charizard Guy”. You may have noticed that I haven’t written an article in a while. That’s because I have been rolling on the floor crying in emotional pain at the rotation of my favorite Pokémon.

With all of the crazy new decks that have broken free of the old stale meta, I actually didn’t need to go far for my main deck. I already had a collection of holographic fire energy, a full set of Ninetales, and the burning Fire-Type running through my veins.

Ever since I saw the translation to Emboar, and the only Fire-Dragon Reshiram, I claimed the deck as my own as I had claimed Charizard, meaning I will put most of my time into this deck. I have exchanged Kos with Zoroark and won.

I’ve slayed other Reshirams and Zekroms with almost no fail. I’ve laughed in the face of any Blastoise that didn’t set up by turn 2, and more than that, I have been known to ground the dreaded MagneBoar in a good game.

But this article isn’t about me or my awesomeness. No, this is an article to introduce a deck, so crazy, that most players raise an eyebrow or two when I tell them what I’m playing; KrookaDos.

The deck idea is simple. Get an Amphy prime out as early as possible. His Body will make the opponent put damage on their attackers, and eventually all over the place late game.

Krookodile can block one attack of the opponent for a simple DCE and do up to 100 by adding two more Fighting energy.

Now I know what you’re thinking. 60 or 100 for 4 is a bit too expensive, but the cost is irrelevant when you see the deck play out. Seeing as this deck was created to counter the 3 hype decks, I’ll pay the most attention to them.

ReshiBoar: 60-40

The matchup would be a little better if Reshiram wasn’t so fast, but it’s still fairly one-sided near the end of the game. Assume that you’re able to evolve an Ampharos prime by turn 2 or three. That’s not too much to ask of an experienced player, and some decent draws.

In order for Reshiram to Blue Flare, they have to place 3 energy on him. That means they also have to place 3 damage counters on him. With that, Krookodile’s second attack can claim a prize.

The toughest part of this match is that Reshiram has two attacks. Torment is a move you’ll find yourself using in this match more often than you want to. My rule of thumb is to keep making them use Blue Flare. Make them keep putting damage on the Reshirams, and use all of their recourses to keep pulling that energy out.

By late game if you’ve managed to get at least two Ampharos’ out, the opponent will not be able to do much without giving up a prize. You just have to keep refreshing those Krookodiles til they’re weak, then finish up with Ampharos. Lightning crush isn’t good but it’s cheap and can devastate your opponent after Conductivity and Krookodile has done it’s work on the field.

Blastoise/Floatzel: 80-20

This matchup has a lot going for it. Not only do you have access to their weakness with the Ampharos, but their own energy acceleration plays them right into the ground. They have to attach to Floatzel to attack every turn, and eventually, your opponent won’t be able to use Floatzels power without KOing their own Floatzel.

Most of these decks don’t even run Seeker, making it almost too easy to shut it down. Blastoise really needs to set up quick, and get those Flaffys/Mareeps out of there before the game is over. Two Ampharos out will almost guarantee victory.

MagneBoar: 90-10

This match is almost an auto loss to the BDIF. Krookodile hits for devastating weakness (200 per Krookoroll), and for DCE you can block them from attacking at all. On top of that, Magnezone needs to lost zone 4 energy to take out 1 Krookodile.

That means unless the opponent is running 24 energy, there’s a chance they just can’t even attack at the end. Not to mention that dropping all of that energy is going to be hurting all of their Pokémon… badly.

Bad Boar and RDL can be a bit of a pain, but once they’re  gone, Magnezone might as well Explode. Point is, KrookaDos was meant to beat this deck, and it does it well.

Most Other Decks: 20-80

This is where the whole deck just dies. Most decks I play are the 3 most hyped decks, but when I run into Donphan/Zoroark/Yanmega, and other random post rotation decks, there’s not much of an answer to it. On top of that, there are some decks from last format that can just brush this deck off as a joke.

Machamp/Donphan: ??-??

I’m going to be honest, I haven’t even seen this deck played yet in the new format. It might not be a good matchup here either. It doesn’t play out well in my head.

Closing Notes

The format is slower now. This deck may rely on getting many Stage 2s out, but with Cleffa in the mix, it’s completely plausible to set this deck up before the first prize is drawn. Also, both Stage 1 Pokemon have their uses. I’ve picked off cheap prizes with Flaffy, and stalled using Krokorocks Torment.

This deck doesn’t cost much, is tricky to play around, and is just so much fun to see in action. I’ll end this article with the most recent deck list I’ve built for it. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think.