GLC Water Deck

Like in a Lou Reed’s song, when you see him coming you have to run far away and he’s certainly not very funny. Vicious and cynical, one of my dear friend DaveToy95's favorite decks, Primal Law, which led him to his first GLC win in November. The archetype was born in the month of March when, struck by lightning, Mr. Dave himself names me Dracovish during one of his streams and asked me for a GLC list on it. The 60 came down very quickly in the same evening almost automatically and I was amazed how nobody thought of it before.

Needless to repeat how much the water type is renowned for its consistency and precision, in addition to the many supporters it has, such as Irida, or in this deck Crasher Wake, an atypical card but which we are able to exploit here with great value. My first thought was: I want to go first, not give my opponent room to evolve and do Dracovish as soon as possible. How many cards do I need to carry out the plan on turn 1 or 2? Well not many, 3: fossil, boost shake and a way to put it in the active position. And after identifying the right supporters to do it, I tried to understand what the archetype wanted as other tools and plan B.

Peony, Green's Exploration and Crasher Wake are the perfect cards to achieve all this even in turn 1 by going second in case we lost the opportunity to start the game. These are the best times to bring our prehistoric Pokémon back to life to make the most of his ability. Dracovish's time can always be played or recovered through Wally which will allow us to put him into play instantly and, if well supported, also to bring him active to attack. The supporters chosen to follow the strategy bring us two trainer cards from the deck or with Crasher Wake even any two, and the game is done if you already have the third missing piece in your hand. Crasher Wake here, despite a low energy amount, is well supported by both Capacious Bucket and Professor's Letter.

If we started first and were able to set up Sobble, via Irida and Drizzile we will have everything we need. Such is the strength of Primal Law that it can afford to end the turn using Boost Shake, most of the format is heavily based on evolutions especially if you look at Water, Grass and Colorless. Remember that Frosmoth Ice Dance's ability attaches energies only on the bench. For this we have many mobility cards such as Escape Rope, Tate & Liza, Guzma and Mallow & Lana also very useful for healing that strange DinoFish, which thanks to the latest sets has gained moreover Lake Acuity to tank that little bit more and by inserting a Pot Helmet we will reach 200 HP which on a stage 1 are simply insane.

If we get to the ideal situation, as the deck does most of the time, our opponents will find it very difficult to get around the limitation and will find themselves preparing basic attackers on the bench or waiting for Guzma/Boss or Escape Rope counterplays at the right moment. He could try to surprise us with an Evosoda or Wally (not played by many), or by an Hex Maniac with slow movement effects of the counterpart. In fact, for our opponent having more pieces in hand will not be easy at all and Dracovish will have forced cards and heavy plays, making us win very important turns and resource advantage.

Due to the lack of the damage needed to avoid problems with the strongest basic attackers in format, we have the Muscle Band in force, it will make the math square above 130 and it will facilitate knockouts in many situations where the opponent will try to buy time by stalling with a 130hp basic. we also have Field Blower if he defends himself more with tools that increase HPs. The Muscle Band, in an Inteleon deck, is always of great value added with Aqua Bullet, we will be able to plan multiple knockouts in one turn thanks to Guzma or Escape Rope. Dracovish is the forerunner to wicked plays that blocks the opponent. When we lose him, the Kyurems will become our attackers, easily recyclable with Nessa and thanks to our bench supports such as Frosmoth and Starmie. At this point in the game our opponent will most likely have burned resources looking for outs and Field Blower could be in the discard pile, so with a Cape of Toughness and Fighting Fury Belt, our icy companions will almost certainly lead us to victory.

Lusamine will recover the stadium in case we need to support the Black Kyurem's attack, Starmie instead recovers any type of basic energy from the discards, so she will bring fire for White, which in some cases may make us prefer a DCE to the second fire for the many ways we have to get it, even if it’s prized we have Gladion. The stadiums at our service have changed during the months, also due to forced meta choices I found myself playing Parallel City sometimes which does not affect our damage output as both Kyurems already hit very hard. Sky Pillar is a must if you don't want to ruin a Green's Exploration play with Manaphy Wave Veil and remember that Aqua Bullet won't hit the bench, but when Amazing Kyogre was in format I even found myself playing both cards risking it all. Brooklet Hill is always great for setting the foundations and as an excellent option there is always Rough Seas in a spread meta. Lake Acuity is the latest addition and I'm finding it really useful. In short, with Lusamine we have a wide choice and she will always let us win the stadium war.

We have already named some cards to which we are weak including the various gusts and cards that help evolving Pokémon directly from the deck. In addition to these we also have ability lock such as Wobbufett, G. Weezing and Slaking cards that we will almost certainly find in a tournament. Among the three, Slaking will be the most manageable because it is stage 2 and Colorless will struggle a lot before getting out of the limitation, which will help us better prepare our plays; G. Weezing has ascension and little can be done except knock him out as soon as possible with Dracovish/Inteleon and Muscle Band for the fastest answer or White Kyurem. Weezing will unable Green's Exploration even if we have already abilities in play and make us reach Escape Rope to get around it; Wobbufett is a basic and will immediately block our abilities, but we can knock him out in a couple of turns or avoid him with tools as in the previous case.

Little else to say I think about the evolution of the game, apart from some more complicated actions and headache to set the fossil at the beginning, the deck is rather linear, the strategy and the success of the plan seems easy to obtain and it is if everything happens and we have the components available. By blocking the evolutions we will take a big advantage and we will have the time on our side to manage the mid-late game with heals, but if we struggle to obtain the desired, we will find ourselves making tougher decisions in using resources more carefully.

In conclusion, let's talk about options and possible evolutions of the deck. After leading him to a first victory in early June with a dry 5-0, I tried to bring the archetype to my style and turn towards the spread. I noticed that by blocking the evolutions early in the game I could have taken a big advantage by coming out of nowhere with an Amazing Kyogre, from here I invented a variant that I called Kyogre Walls consisting of walls like Dracovish first and then Greninja from Detective Pikachu, very funny and nasty if an Amazing Surge is inserted in the middle with the opponent who’s still in need to evolve his Pokémons. Now unavailable cause Kyogre got banned. Peculiar inclusion could be PoGo Slowbro followed by locking strategy in the late game or to steal the victory at last if we were a bit short. Someone tried Blockface Eiscue and it might be interesting with both Guzma and Boss in the deck. Dracovish will target the most threatening possible evolutions and might leave the basics to the ice-faced penguin. Others have played Rapid Strike Lapras who after a first stall of Primal Law can snipe the opponent's strategic-tactical supports by eliminating engines and important pieces. A very interesting card is also Whirpool Suction Phione which, despite having an ability, therefore in contrast with Green's Exploration, can always be shuffled into the deck acting as an Escape Rope only for the opponent. There are also those who have made turbo variants by combining Energy Grace Milotic or like Andrew Mahone with Greninja and Inteleon as a backup plan. Among the last possibilities offered by the recent sets, we have the Wailord to be considered: it will be enough for us to add a Splash energy and a Recycle to get the best out of it and, if we want to be super safe, we could also think of a Weakness Guard Energy. After having gained a great advantage with Dracovish, presenting a huge whale to our opponent will certainly not be greeted with a smile. With the right cuts and some sacrifices, there will also be room for him from now on. As always, water proves to be flexible by always presenting us new ways of interpreting games in GLC.

Deck List

##Pokémon - 13

• 1 Black Kyurem CEC 61
• 1 Remoraid BST 36
• 1 Snom SHF 106
• 1 Sobble CRE 41
• 1 Staryu BKP 25
• 1 Wailmer VIV 31
• 1 Dracovish SHF 109
• 1 Drizzile SHF 99
• 1 Frosmoth SHF 107
• 1 Octillery BKT 33
• 1 Starmie EVO 31
• 1 Wailord SIT 38
• 1 Inteleon SHF 100

##Trainer Cards - 38

• 1 Marnie PR-SW 121
• 1 Escape Rope BST 125
• 1 Gladion CIN 109
• 1 Professor Sycamore STS 114
• 1 Nessa VIV 183
• 1 Green's Exploration UNB 209
• 1 N FCO 105
• 1 Super Rod DRV 20
• 1 Brooklet Hill GRI 120
• 1 Crasher Wake FLI 129
• 1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
• 1 Irida ASR 186
• 1 Wally ROS 107
• 1 Sky Pillar CES 144
• 1 Lusamine UPR 153
• 1 Mallow & Lana CEC 231
• 1 Lake Acuity LOR 160
• 1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
• 1 Nest Ball SUM 158
• 1 Avery CRE 187
• 1 Field Blower GRI 125
• 1 Scoop Up Net RCL 165
• 1 Level Ball AOR 76
• 1 VS Seeker ROS 110
• 1 Guzma BUS 143
• 1 Ultra Ball BRS 186
• 1 Rare Fossil DAA 167
• 1 Peony CRE 197
• 1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
• 1 Pot Helmet BRS 146
• 1 Float Stone BKT 137
• 1 Boost Shake EVS 229
• 1 Quick Ball SSH 216
• 1 Dive Ball PRC 125
• 1 Ball Guy SHF 65
• 1 Muscle Band XY 121
• 1 Capacious Bucket RCL 156
• 1 Trainers' Mail AOR 100

##Energy - 9

• 1 Recycle Energy UNM 212
• 1 Double Colorless Energy HS 103
• 6 Water Energy SMEnergy 3
• 1 Splash Energy BKP 113