Hello and welcome to another episode of Searching Standard, where each and every week I look for new, innovative decks for you to play in Standard. This week, I'm looking at a deck that was recently featured on the YouTube channel of LittleDarkFury. It features Claydol CRI 47, whose attack is capable of devolving your opponent's Pokémon with ease. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Claydol
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
4 Baltoy 46
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna 25
3 Claydol 47
2 Lunatone 105
1 Munkidori 99
1 Shaymin 10
3 Solrock 106
Trainers
1 Air Balloon 181
2 Boss's Orders 183
2 Brave Bangle 80
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 184
1 Crispin 105
4 Fighting Gong 187
2 Hilda 84
4 Lillie's Determination 192
1 Morty's Conviction 155
2 Night Stretcher 196
4 Poké Pad 81
1 Pokégear 3.0 84
3 Premium Power Pro 199
2 Risky Ruins 127
1 Secret Box 163
1 Special Red Card 82
2 Tarragon 85
Energy
1 Basic Darkness Energy
10 Basic Fighting Energy
The main plan for this deck is to attack your opponent's Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon with Claydol CRI 47's Devolution Ray attack. This attack deals 50 damage, which is just okay, but could use a little help. It also causes your opponent to put the highest Stage Evolution card from their Active Pokémon into their hand. This can allow the damage dealt to instantly Knock Out your opponents devolved Pokémon, stranding the Evolution card in their hand. As you'll see, there are some additional cards in this deck that will allow you to deal additional damage, so that some of the Basic and Stage 1 Pokémon your opponent devolves into can be more easily Knocked Out.
For those decks that utilize mostly Basic Pokémon on their team, you'll typically want to use Bloodmoon Ursaluna SFA 25 as your main attacker. Bloodmoon Ursaluna SFA 25's Mad Bite attack can get powered up very quickly with the use of its Battle-Hardened Ability. Mad Bite also deals a minimum of 100 damage, with additional damage being dealt for each damage counter already on the Pokémon you're attacking. Solrock ASC 106 and Lunatone ASC 105 are other fair attackers, but they're really best when both of them are in play.
One way you can put extra damage counters onto your opponent's Pokemon is with the use of Munkidori ASC 99's Adrena-Brain Ability. You'll have to take a little damage in order to use this Ability, but the damage you move from one of your Pokémon to one of your opponent's Pokémon can make the difference between that Pokémon getting another attack off or being Knocked Out. However, you can keep the majority of your team safe from taking damage from your opponent's Active Pokémon attacks by having Shaymin DRI 10 in play. Its Flower Curtain Ability prevents your Benched Pokémon that don't have a Rule Box (which is all of them) from taking damage from your opponent's attacks.
In addition to the damage that Munkidory ASC 99 can move to your opponent's Pokémon, this batch of Trainer cards will also help you put more damage counters on their Pokémon. Premium Power Pro ASC 199 provides you with an additional 30 damage for each copy of it you play. Brave Bangle WHT 80 can be attached to a Pokémon to provide its attacks with an additional 30 damage. Risky Ruins MEG 127 will cause any Basic non-Darkness Pokémon that either player plays to their Bench to come into play with 2 damage counters on it. This damage is a great source of damage for Munkidori ASC 99 to move with its Adrena-Brain Ability.
Every deck needs Trainer cards to help find the Pokémon you need from your deck more quickly. The lone copy of Buddy-Buddy Poffin ASC 184 helps you find a pair of Baltoy CRI 46, getting you started. Fighting Gong ASC 187 will help you find either a Basic Fighting Pokémon or a Basic Fighting Energy card. Poké Pad POR 81 can be used to find any of your Pokémon since, as I mentioned before, none of the Pokémon in this deck have a Rule Box.
Continuing with Trainer cards that help you search for things, let's talk about Hilda WHT 84. Playing her allows you to search your deck for both an Evolution Pokémon and an Energy card to put into your hand. Crispin PRE 105 also offers you the ability to search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards of different types. Power up both Claydol CRI 47 and Munkidori ASC 99 at the same time. Finally, there's the ACE SPEC for this deck, Secret Box TWM 163, which can help you find an Item, a Pokémon Tool, a Supporter, and a Stadium card. That's one-stop shopping at its finest.
Both Lillie's Determination ASC 192 and Morty's Conviction TEF 155 offer you ways of drawing extra cards. Lillie's Determination ASC 192 is generally good to play at any stage of the game, while Morty's Conviction TEF 155 is best when your opponent has a full Bench. Every extra card drawn is a new opportunity for you to find the specific card or combination of cards you'll need to defeat your opponent.
Both Night Stretcher ASC 196 and Tarragon POR 85 offer you the opportunity to reuse some of your Pokémon or Energy that has gone to your discard pile. Night Stretcher ASC 196 is an Item card, allowing you to play multiple Items in a given turn, while Tarragon POR 85 is a Supporter, of which only 1 can be played each turn. For what it's worth, by playing both copies of Night Stretcher ASC 196, you'll be able to return both Munkidori ASC 99 and the lone copy of Basic Darkness Energy to play, however don't fret if you need to use Night Stretcher ASC 196 for something else. The main goal is to win the match, not pull off a cool combo. As you've seen, there are a lot of great Supporter cards in this deck. By playing Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84, you'll have an easier time finding the Supporter you need.
By attaching Air Balloon ASC 181 to Claydol CRI 47, you'll reduce its Retreat Cost to 0 Energy, allowing you to retreat for free. Mobility can be very useful. Boss's Orders ASC 183 removes some of the mobility for your opponent, and it allows you to choose which of their Pokémon you'd like to attack. By paying attention to the HP of lesser Evolutions, you can use Boss's Orders ASC 183 and Claydol CRI 47's Devolution Ray attack to score some easy Knock Outs. The final card in the deck is Special Red Card CRI 82, which can only be played if your opponent has 3 or fewer Prize cards remaining. Reset your opponent's hand and slow down their momentum by playing this card.
Wrapping Up
If your opponent is playing a deck that relies on Evolution cards, Claydol CRI 47 might just be their worst enemy. Devolve their team and take Knock Outs where you can get them. You'll need to Knock Out 6 different Pokémon if you're relying on Claydol CRI 47's Devolution Ray attack to win the game, but when it happens, the victory is oh so sweet.
What do you think of this deck? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in the Pokémon TCG. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
