Searching Standard: Kingambit

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 Kingambit OBF 150, a Pokemon capable of Knocking Out an opposing Pokemon with a single attack. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

By attacking with Kingambit OBF 150's Strike Down attack, you're able to Knock Out any opposing Pokemon with a single attack. The caveat to this is that the Pokemon you're attacking must already have four or more damage counters on it for this attack to work. As you'll see, this deck is capable of meeting this requirement without too much difficulty.

You'll be able to spread around some damage easily by using Mismagius SIT 64's Eerie Voice attack. This attack will put two damage counters on each of your opponent's Pokemon. Remember that this attack is not affected by the Wave Veil Ability of Manaphy BRS 41, as you are not dealing damage to your opponent's Pokemon. Instead, you are placing damage counters on them. Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 has the Painful Spoons Ability, which allows you to move damage from one of your opponent's Pokemon to a different one. You can use this to reach that magic number of four damage counters needed for Kingambit OBF 150's Strike Down attack.

Speaking of Manaphy BRS 41, this deck includes its own copy to help keep your Benched Pokemon safe from damage.

To help you draw additional cards, this deck employs the Bibarel BRS 121 draw engine. By using its Industrious Incisors Ability, you can refill your hand to five cards, once per turn. This works well in conjunction with Skwovet SVI 151's Nest Stash Ability. Use Nest Stash to shuffle your hand back into your deck, followed up by Industrious Incisors to end up with a hand of five new cards.

In order to evolve into Kingambit OBF 150 as quickly as possible, this deck includes a full playset of Rare Candy SVI 191. There are also three copies of Colress's Experiment LOR 155 that you can use to help you find what you need from your deck more quickly.

Speaking of finding what you need, both Nest Ball SVI 181 and Ultra Ball SVI 196 can be used to help you find the Pokemon you need. Nest Ball SVI 181 can only find a Basic Pokemon, while Ultra Ball SVI 196 has no restrictions. Alternatively, you can play a copy of Artazon PAL 171, which will allow both players to search their deck for a Basic Pokemon without a Rule Box to put into play.

Both Switch SVI 194 and Boss’s Orders PAL 172 see play in most Standard decks. Switch SVI 194 allows you to make one of your Benched Pokemon your Active Pokemon, moving your current Active Pokemon back to your Bench. The two Pokemon switch places. Boss’s Orders PAL 172, on the other hand, allows you to switch two of your opponent's Pokemon, letting you decide which of their Benched Pokemon you want to attack. This can be a great way to score an easy Knock Out.

Iono PAL 185 has become the default way to mess with your opponent's hand. Since each player shuffles their current hand back into their deck and then draws a new hand of cards equal to the number of their remaining Prize cards, your opponent's options might be limited if they've taken a lot of their Prizes.

In a similar manner to Mismagius SIT 64's Spiteful Magic Ability, Vengeful Punch OBF 197 will put four damage counters on your opponent's Attacking Pokemon if the Pokemon that Vengeful Punch OBF 197 is attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an attack. It's another great way to set up the four damage counters needed for Kingambit OBF 150's Strike Down attack to be effective. The final Trainer in the deck is Super Rod PAL 188, which is generally seen in most decks. It allows you to potentially reuse some Pokemon or Energy that have gone to your discard pile.

Wrapping Up

Being able to Knock Out an opposing Pokemon with a single attack, regardless of how many HP it has remaining, is so satisfying. There's no need to worry about hitting magic numbers of damage when you attack; the only concern is whether the Pokemon you're attacking has four damage counters or not. If you're looking for a deck that offers a different sort of challenge than most decks, you should give this one a try.

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