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 Feraligatr TEF 41, who is capable of dealing a lot of damage if played correctly. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Feraligatr Deck
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
3 Croconaw 40
3 Feraligatr 41
2 Mimikyu 97
3 Munkidori 95
2 Relicanth 84
4 Totodile 39
Trainers
3 Artazon 171
3 Arven 166
1 Beach Court 167
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 101
4 Colress's Tenacity 57
4 Counter Catcher 160
1 Earthen Vessel 163
1 Grand Tree 136
3 Iono 185
3 Lana's Aid 155
3 Luxurious Cape 166
1 Night Stretcher 61
4 Pokégear 3.0 186
2 Professor's Research 122
Energy
3 Basic Darkness Energy
4 Basic Water Energy
1 Luminous Energy 191
Feraligatr TEF 41 is the main attacker in this deck. It has the Giant Wave attack which will deal 160 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, but can only be used every other turn. Luckily, this deck includes a pair of Relicanth TEF 84 for the use of its Memory Dive Ability, which allows you to use the attacks from an evolved Pokemon's previous evolutions. By using a combination of Feraligatr TEF 41's Giant Wave attack, Croconaw TEF 40's Reverse Thrust attack, and Totodile TEF 39's Big Bite attack, you can deal out some damage while remaining agile or locking your opponent's Active Pokemon in place. Feraligatr TEF 41 also has the Torrential Heart Ability which can add an additional 120 damage when it attacks. You'll want to use this wisely, even though your plan is to move the damage you take from this Ability to your opponent's team.
As mentioned earlier, Relicanth TEF 84 is included for the use of its Memory Dive Ability. Munkidori TWM 95 is included in this deck as a way of siphoning damage from Feraligatr TEF 41 to your opponent's Pokemon via the use of Munkidori TWM 95's Adrena-Brain Ability. There's also a pair of Mimikyu PAL 97 which will prove useful in preventing your opponent's Pokemon ex from dealing any damage thanks to its Safeguard Ability.
This deck has a few ways to help you find the Pokemon you need. First, you can use either Artazon PAL 171 or Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101 to find the Basic Pokemon you need. Use Artazon PAL 171 specifically to find Munkidori TWM 95 and Relicanth TEF 84, and Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101 to find the rest, if possible. Once you have Totodile TEF 39 in play, you can use Grand Tree SCR 136 to quickly fully evolve it.
The lone copy of Beach Court SVI 167 is included as a way for your Pokemon to move about more freely. It allows you to block an opposing Pokemon ex from dealing any damage by having Mimikyu PAL 97 in your Active Spot, while still being able to attack on the following turn.
As you'll see, there are a lot of great Supporters in this deck, and Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186 can help you find them from within your deck more easily. Speaking of finding things from within your deck, there's a single copy of Earthen Vessel PAR 163 in this deck to help you find the Energy you need.
Playing Arven SVI 166 is another terrific way to get specific things you need from your deck and into your hand. Arven SVI 166 lets you find both an Item card and a Pokemon Tool. While there's only one Pokemon Tool you can find, there are a lot of nice Items to choose from, depending on what you need at the time. Colress's Tenacity SFA 57 also lets you search your deck for specific things, a Stadium and an Energy card. Remember that this Energy card does not have to be a Basic Energy card, so feel free to search for the sole copy of Luminous Energy PAL 191 if it will be useful.
Sometimes you need to find more than just one or two cards. That's when you'll want to play Professor's Research PRE 122. Drawing a new hand of seven cards opens up so many new plays for you, even if you have to discard your current hand in order to play this Supporter. Iono PAL 185 can also be used to draw you new cards, but more often you'll want to play it to slow down your opponent's momentum, especially while they are ahead on taking Prize cards.
With this deck, you'll often want your opponent to have taken more Prize cards than you have. Luxurious Cape PAR 166 can potentially help with this, although it also makes the Pokemon it's attached to have an additional +100 HP. Being behind on taking Prize cards also allows you to play Counter Catcher PAR 160, enabling you to choose which of your opponent's Pokemon to attack.
The final pair of cards in this deck help you utilize cards from your discard pile. Both Lana's Aid TWM 155 and Night Stretcher SFA 61 allow you to put Pokemon or Basic Energy cards into your hand, allowing you to play them again immediately.
Wrapping Up
This deck can be a bit tricky to play effectively. You'll want to utilize Feraligatr TEF 41's Torrential Heart Ability often, but not so often that you allow your opponent to Knock Out your Feraligatr TEF 41 with one shot. Once you've figured out how to play this deck, the sky's the limit.
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 Pokemon TCG. I'll see you then!
-Mike Likes
