GLC Water Whales

Hello, 

Whether you're looking for a deck to start playing GLC or are looking for your first badge, I've got something for you. Water is the strongest type in GLC, here in Brazil at least. A mix of powerful attackers with search and card draw that makes the deck stand out over the other types. With the recent Ban of Raikou and Marshadow, this deck finds a free path to shine in its local leagues.

This deck is a mix of the old Rain Dance, with Special Whales and Leviathan. Focused on consistency and setup, the deck will take 1 or 2 turns attacking with Alola Vulpix to build a decent bench. Giving first prize and losing Vulpix, is part of the deck's comeback strategy. Raihan and Teammates search mechanics, as well as Reversal energy and Luxurious Cover means you don't miss out on prizes and still outperform the prize race. 

Game Plan

Turn 1: In every game you will prefer to be the second to play. So you have 15 chances (7 Supporters, 7 Items and 1 Stadium) to find the Sobble and Alolan Vulpix from the deck, if you manage to find one more pokemon, look for Snom or Frigibax (depending on your prizes).

Try to put energy and retreat to attack to get Drizzile + the evolution of a Pokémon you have on your bench.

If you started first, try to find Sobble and leave Vulpix to the next turn, when it’s available to attack.

Turn 2: If the opponent can't disrupt your hand, with Iono, N and Marnie, you'll probably have Drizzile. Look for the supporter in the deck that has the most impact on the game in that situation. If you need a setup, Irida and Ball Guy will be the main choice. If you don't have the energy to retreat to Vulpix, consider getting Arven, so you have access to U-Turn Board to retreat your active and attack with Vulpix. If you have some of these cards in your hand and can evolve the Drizzile, search for other trainers, such as Brooklet Hill or basic energy search items.

If Vulpix survived the previous turn, attack again for Inteleon and another evolution.

Mid game: Inteleon is the Swiss army knife of the deck: it searches for two trainers, attacks 120 and hits 20 on the bench. To get 100% out of it you need to have complete knowledge of your deck. Being aware of what you use in your deck is the main difference between a good player and an average one. There are dozens of two-trainer combinations you can choose from. Some examples:

• Irida + Bucket: It is very versatile, Irida can take Baxcalibur + Rare Candy or Kyogre + Letter (totaling 4 energy).

• Arezu + Bucket: If you managed to put together a basic setup, Arezu ends up being the best choice, taking Pokémon like Frosmoth, Octillery, Wailord or Starmie from the deck to evolve your basics.

• Guzma + Bucket: If you managed to get Inteleon and Frosmoth with Vulpix last turn, this is one of the strongest moves at that moment, because it will get 2 energy for the inteleon and make it attack something important on the bench. Depending on the matchup it could give you the victory.

• Teammates + Bucket: I usually use Teammates to look for special energy like Recycle or Reversal. You may have noticed that there is no Guzma & Hala in the deck, the reason is: searching for energy and a stadium is a low impact play in the deck, while Teammates searches for more cards so you can put together a decent attacker and contest the lost prize.

• Letter + Bucket: This is for the situation in which you have already used the supporter of the turn to get the Inteleon (Ex: Cynthia or Colress).

• Vs Seeker + Item: It will depend on whether you want to recycle a key supporter like Iono, Irida or Guzma.

Late game: The deck has three key pieces when it comes to collecting prizes. Three attackers doesn't seem like much, but you'll see when playing the deck that these Pokémon can exchange 2 prizes for 1 (wailord can get 3 prizes while giving 1). The deck features Nessa, Rescue Stretcher and Splash Energy to recover some attackers. So in the worst case you can build the attackers twice. They are:

• Inteleon: Since it attacks with two energies, try to force an early attack on a Pokemón with less than 120 HP, recover with Rescue Stretcher for the deck, this way you’ll have it again taking advantage of the evolutionary line ability. As it has 160 HP it can survive a hit, giving it a window of opportunity to use Scoop Up Net.

• Wailord: The strongest Pokémon in the format. There is no pokémon that can resist 240 damage, indirectly there are Machamp and Brambleghast, both with abilities. 

• Kyogre: Without a doubt the most fragile part of the deck, putting 3 energy in the hand is where it opens up an opportunity to be countered with hand disruption from supporters like Marnie, N and Iono. In addition to Gust Effect in energy accelerators on the bench, leaving your field without a ready attacker. But all of this is justified with an attack that can knock out an important Pokémon on the opponent's bench.

Supports

• Octillery: Drawing cards is not something that all types have access to, so use it wisely to find important resources. Know how to discard dead cards in the late game such as Ball guy and Arezu using Quick Ball and Ultra Ball to reduce the number of cards in your hand. Eventually some cards will get stuck in your hand, resources that you want to save for the late game like Boss Order, Field Blower, Nessa and others. Use supporters like Cynthia, N and Iono to shuffle these cards in the deck instead of discarding them and use Octilery to draw them back.

• Starmie: This is a slot that I am personally very reluctant to take out of the deck. Staryu is a pivot (free retreat), which gives you the freedom to build Frosmoth before Baxcalibur. In addition to the fact that Starmie recovers two energy from discards every turn, meaning you don't need Super Rod, Ordinary Rod, Energy Retrieval and Super Energy Retrieval. This is the main reason I prefer Starmie to Cetitan on this list.

Match-up guide and techs for your local field.

General: The water deck is about setup and search, hand disruption cards like: Marnie, N, Iono and Reset Stamp in key turns for example after Alolan Vulpix's Beacon attack or Kyogre's Dynamic Wave will greatly hinder the water player. Another way to counter Kyogre is to use Hex Maniac after the Dynamic Wave attack, preventing the energies from returning to the field for a turn.

Tech: There's not much way to deal with this. If you prefer, you have Milotic EVS 38, but I wouldn't particularly sacrifice 2 deck slots for them.

Psychic: The deck was recently nerfed, but be careful with Wobbuffet PHF 36 which will shut down Drizzile, Frosmoth, Octillery and Inteleon's abilities. This will lock you for two turns, try to evolve Inteleon anyway since its attack costs two energy and knocks it out. You can also hand build Wailord with Reversal Energy. However, the list of psychics using Mimikyu GRI 58 that will copy Wailord's attack, but this can be avoided with Pot Helmet to reduce the damage. Some important cards in this matchup are Guzma and Boss Order, taking Kirlia, Mew and Mimikyus at the beginning of the game will slow the opponent from responding to your Pokémons.

Metal: In the current lists, only Zamazenta CRZ 97 after KO + Muscle Band (or with persekerr) offers danger to Wailord. Without bench protection, Kyogre causes danger to Pokémon like Bronzong. Removing Escape Board from Jirachi to prevent it from establishing the board is a good idea.

Colorless: In this match-up Wailord is the key, no Pokémon in the meta kill him. Exceptions are a Dodrio MEW 85 with 8 damage counters or one Cinccino TEF 137 with 4 special energy cards in it, two situations almost impossible to happen. Prioritize Wailord and watch it take two prizes without dying while using Rough Seas to heal damage. Snorlax with Luxurious Cape isn’t knocked out to Wailord’s attack, but a field blower does the job. Guzma on Bibarel and attack with Inteleon, dealing 20 damage to the snorlax, so it is within Baxcalibur's knockout range.

Fire: lol... Build Wailord and win, don't forget to kill the Charizard with Kyogre's attack.

Grass: Here only Torterra BRS 8 with 5 evolutions or Tapu Bulu SFA 6 with a muscle band knocks out Wailord. Both decks are setup decks, the difference is that you will have better cards to speed up the game, don't let the Grotle BRS 7 on the opponent's table. Vileplume AOR 3, which blocks items, is very dangerous to disrupt your game, considering that you depend on items to get energy and recoil.

Dragon: Never let the Dragonite TEU 119 stay on the field, knock it out with Kyogre. Also try to take the Gabite DRX 89 with Inteleon and Guzma in the early game. It used to be a very favorable match-up, but everything changed with the arrival of Haxorus SFA 46 (which makes me wonder if there is anyone playing GLC at Creature Inc). Both attacks knock out Wailord, so use Plan B which is to attack Axew with Kyogre, not letting Haxorus enter the field. 

Tech: Against Haxorus you have Wash Energy, but you still need the Pot Helmet for the second attack.

Fighting: The Machamp LOR 88 It is the only Pokémon in GLC that survives Wailord, but it does not knock out it, so attacking first would guarantee the advantage. Sudowoodo BKP 67, like other copycats, can be dangerous. If you are playing against Hitmonbros, be careful not to put too many Pokémon on the bench and use Rough Seas after Hitmontop UNB 101’s attack. Broken Hill will be more important for your opponent than for you, it's better to hold it in your hand for any key moment.

Tech: Manaphy for Himonbros and Maybe Hex Maniac for Machamp.

Lighting: Here weakness is a problem you may have, any damage can knock out your attackers. Try setting up a solid bench and taking Zebstrika 82 out of the game as quickly as possible. 

Tech: Manaphy against Spread and Cetitan PAL 55. Due to the weakness to metal, 180 is a number that Electric have difficulty reaching. There is also Weakness Guard Energy, but it's not worth the slot. 

Fairy: If you face someone using Fairy, congratulate them. If it's a common deck, be careful with Mimikyu TEU 112 copying Wailord's attack. If it's control, don't let Ribombee LOT 146 on the board, don't put all your energy on the field and save your retreats in case you take a Counter Catcher stall. If you know that LT Surge is in your opponent's hand, use Iono or N.

Dark: The key Pokémon in this matchup is Guzzlord CEC 136. It has 150 HP, just like Snorlax. So you have to do 20 damage on the bench with Inteleon, to leave it in the range of 130 for Baxcalibur. A Pokémon like this takes time to energize, so if the opponent benches it, try to knock it out quickly. if it has a Fighting Fury Belt, it will have 190 HP and stay out of Kyogre's damage. Four other important Pokémon to watch out for are: Weavile SUM 74 which hits 50 for each ability you have, having 5 Pokémon knocks out the Wailord; Zoroark BLW 71 which copies any attack from the opponent; Galarian Moltres EVS 93 when you picked up 5 prizes; Galarian Weezing SHF 42 locks abilities when active.

Tech: I don't have a tech to recommend in this situation. The only advantage of your deck is consistency, try to use Drizzile while Weezing hasn't evolved and put pressure early in the game, use Marnie, N and Iono to make the opponent's deck lose to itself.

Water: In the mirror matchup the key card is Drizzile and Inteleon (yours and your opponent's). All water decks will have it and taking it away from your opponent will be the path to victory. As the opponent may have Manaphy, don't rush your Kyogre, actually try to set up Inteleon with Guzma and Capacious Bucket, knocking out the opponent's Drizzile. Another important point is that Wailord is the only one who can neutralize the other: if your opponent has set up its first, knock him out by removing the tool with Field Blower; if you have your Wailord first don't let the opponent's Wailmer evolve, look for Boss Order, Guzma and VS Seeker.

Tech: Manaphy, Hex Maniac and Parallel City.

Conclusion

Some things may have been left out, but the goal of this guide was to explain the deck in a very simple way and some of the main matchups. The Water deck is easy to learn for a beginner and highly rewarding for the experienced player. Despite being linear with Pokémon, it is complex with items and supporters. Practice with it in your local leagues and you will see that it is a very strong deck. Changes and adaptations in the list may occur due to your playstyle. This deck is the most popular in my city (30% of the top 4 entries are Water decks) and I wrote this article based on experiences playing with and against it and I hope it can open your eyes to the strength of the deck.