pokebeach.comHello 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
pokebeach.comThe 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
pokebeach.comThis 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 Pokémon 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 decklist I’ve built for it. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think.
| Pokémon – 22
4 Sandile BW |
Trainers – 25
4 Rare Candy |
Energy – 13
6 F |
This is a very interesting deck that I can see being difficult to deal with in the later game… But I have one question… Why no Junk Arm?
I don’t have any, and I just can’t fit them in there.
Wut>? How do you not have any Junk Arm’s? On paper, it would seem like 2 Cleffa and 2 Junk Arm would be a better play, especially if you’re running Juniper.
I like the idea of lowering the cleffa count. My friend has shown me that starting with one is not always a good thing, it’s mostly for consistency.
I like the idea of lowering the cleffa count. My friend has shown me that starting with one is not always a good thing, it’s mostly for consistency.
Finally someone who thinks this isn’t bad.
I like this idea, and I’m glad you finally found a decent partner for Ampharos, but I feel like it’s still missing something.
Isn’t the idea of torment avoided through getting it to the bench and the back active. A lot of lists are running a Switch or two and a lot of Junk Arm. So getting it to the bench and back should not be too hard.
You’re right on switches, but why use all of your resources to keep switching. 2 switch and 4 junk arm is still only 3 turns of guaranteed attacking.
Sure they can attack first, but if they do it wrong any player and revenge KO for 2 prizes.
Multiple attackers who need multiple energy to attack efficiently.
Nope, just against emboar/floatzel
Thank you, but it’s because it’s so rough around the edges that this deck won’t see play by me.
this deck is too easy to play around in my opinion
yea i noticed that too
RDL and Bad boar are both in trouble against ”Torment” until they get to 100 or less then krook rolls right over them… DonChamp and ZPS shouldn’t be too tough of match ups, but both are significantly faster then this (so expect to fall behind early… Twins? -or Black Belt to OHKO a Machamp Prime that has only 1 counter on it, haha) …. I see this deck as being very interesting and has good type match ups, but needs something for the early game
I would suggest twins too
krrokodile is 1hko’d by badboar or rdl why don’t you try zoroark for return ko’s
Either can be ohKOd by Krookodile, assuming theres 1 or two ampharos down.
Interesting deck. It does seem to have an advantage VS MagneBoar, but how will you KO the BadBoar and RDL’s easily? You run 4 DCE, so why not Bouffalant? Zoroark? They doesn’t afraed of anything when it comes to RDL. Zoroark laughs at BadBor and then Krookodile beats Magnezone in a 1-on-1.
Love the deck though.
To attack with either they need 4 energy. That’s 4 damage, or if you play it right, 8 or 12 damage., which is Krookoroll range
This is very true, but Zoroark is such an easy tech when you already run double colorless. I have seen it help out so many times.
Pretty decent deck I must say. It’s a pain to play against if you’re using Magneboar, but it’s not really a 90-10 I feel.
Overall, I don’t see this deck doing too hot in Masters, but it seems like a great deck in Juniors and maybe Seniors will do good with it too.
surprised. no rainbow.
What happens when they send out RDL? Or, pokemon reversal?
I play this deck and built it around early june after learning about the rotation and after constant playtesting, you were right about the problems with other decks. I racked my brain on what to use to deal with donchamp, cinccino, rdl, and various other decks and in the last week, I’ve added two techs to the deck. Mandibuzz and Bouffalant. Mandibuzz for 1 darkness can turn donchamp’s strategy against it and claim cheap prizes by taking out damaged basics and keep them from building up and it helps that it resists fighting. Bouffalant OHKO’s RDL and in one playtest battle, it took down both winning the game thanks to revenge. Like the guys before me, I believe twins is great for this deck and I am happy to see that someone made an article for this deck.
I play this deck and built it around early june after learning about the rotation and after constant playtesting, you were right about the problems with other decks. I racked my brain on what to use to deal with donchamp, cinccino, rdl, and various other decks and in the last week, I’ve added two techs to the deck. Mandibuzz and Bouffalant. Mandibuzz for 1 darkness can turn donchamp’s strategy against it and claim cheap prizes by taking out damaged basics and keep them from building up and it helps that it resists fighting. Bouffalant OHKO’s RDL and in one playtest battle, it took down both winning the game thanks to revenge. Like the guys before me, I believe twins is great for this deck and I am happy to see that someone made an article for this deck.
THANK YOU. So happy someone isn’t giving up on Ampharos prime. He’s my favorite card in the card and I read on another article that you shouldn’t circle a deck around a favorite card and stay competitive, but I think he is disregarded quickly. I think with the energy raining that is going on now, ampharos can be really useful. I am currently running him with mandibuzz, but I think I will give this deck a shot as well. Thanks for the idea. :)
You should call it Mcdonald’s Strawberry Lemonade!