I decided to work on a more mainstream deck for today: Kingdra. This went 2-3 versus Jeremy’s straight Luxray GL LV.X deck. Here is the list I settled upon by our 5th game:
|
Pokemon-19 |
Trainers-33 |
Energy-8 |

One thing I just noticed as I was typing out the Pokemon in the list…I forgot Unown G! This should probably play at least 1 to protect your Claydols from Gengars. You could either scratch a Claydol, Super Scoop Up, or Poke Turn for it. I also think a 4th PlusPower might be pretty money, I suppose a Super Scoop Up could go for that.
When I did play the minor amount I did this season, I had used Kingdra. This list is much different than the other lists I had played, but I thought it would be good to give this variant a try. The lists I used in the past all played around 11 energy, used Unown R’s and Poke Radar, or played multiple Warp Points and tech Blastoise + Dialga (from the combo found here).
I heard that Kingdra did well at Nationals using Crobat, Poke Turns, and PlusPowers, so I read the reports, elicited as much information from them as I could, and put this together. Everything is fairly straightforward. I originally had only 1 Night Maintenance in the list, but felt that I needed a second as Kingdra it is the only attacker in the deck and if pieces are prized or they are simply knocked out quickly, you NEED to get those seahorses in your deck to keep a swarm going. Two Night Maintenance just gives you improved odds of doing just that.
When Jeremy and I started playing, I assumed he was using Luxray/Infernape for some reason. He started with Luxray and I got turn 1 Kingdra and Claydol, which was a great start. However, I messed up by discarding Broken Time-Spaces I had in hand turns 1 and 2 with “Dragon Pump”. Jeremy was in actuality using straight Luxray (which I did not realize until turn 3), so he was able to get a Lake Boundary out which I could not counter. This enabled him to one hit KO my Kingdras with ease. He also was able to Power Spray my Claydol for 4 turns in a row, so my awesome start faded away and Jeremy won easily.

Game 2 I played super aggressive, meaning I dropped multiple Crobat G’s, Poke Turns, Scoop Ups, and PlusPowers during turns 1 through 4. This allowed me to knock out nearly everything he sent up those first few turns in one hit, so I got way ahead and won the game without any trouble.
Games 3 and 4 Jeremy was able to get his deck running like a well oiled machine and won the war of attrition. I had leads in those games, but Power Sprays, Lake Boundary, and late game cycling of Luxray GL LV.X via Poke Turn for pushover prizes did me in.
In our 5th and final game, Jeremy started with a lone Toxicroak G PL. I was able to get the turn 1 knock out via PlusPowers and Crobat G to add 30 damage on top of the 60 damage Dragon Pump dealt.
The deck ran decently I suppose. I honestly did not feel very confident in my draws for some reason. I used to play more Water energy in Kingdra, so it was a no brainer to use those for discarding. However with less Water in this list, my Dragon Pump discards took a lot more thought and I had to really contemplate which cards I could afford to discard.
Just a few strategy tips for the deck…
- Always “Dragon Pump” for 60 and 20 to the bench, do not do only 40 damage. That extra damage is key, so plan ahead which 2 cards you will discard.
- Hold onto your Cynthia’s Feelings against SP decks because they will try to KO you then follow up with a Power Spray when you try to Cosmic Power the next turn. If you stockpile a Cynthia’s in hand, you won’t be crippled by this combo.
- Play extremely aggressive with this list. Go for Super Scoop Ups on your Uxies and Claydols to use their powers more than once per turn to try and draw into PlusPowers and Poke Turns to get early KO’s. Especially early on in the game, just go for it!
- Really think about which Pokemon you want to hit on your opponent’s bench for the 20 damage. Remember that SP decks will often use Poke Turn if you are close to knocking out an SP Pokemon, so be sure they are investing energy drops into whatever you are targeting, or target a non-SP Pokemon
I’ll probably work on this deck more later on as I want to see how it does against a deck that can’t OHKO me. :)
You guys know the drill…tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
















