Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Tech - Misty & Friends (Starmie, Psyduck, & Gyarados)

The next Pokémon TCG base set, Destined Rivals, is almost here! This set will focus on "Trainers Partners", that is, the "signature Pokémon" of a few iconic Pokémon trainers.

Today, we'll explore a cheap "rogue" list that could become quite interesting in the current Standard format: a deck centered around Misty's Pokémon, that is, Staryu, Starmie, Psyduck, and Gyarados.

We built this list around the new cards from Destined Rivals that have been revealed so far.

Let's go!

Pokémon (18)

(4x) Misty's Magikarp

(4x) Misty's Gyarados

(3x) Misty's Staryu

(3x) Misty's Starmie

(4x) Misty's Psyduck

Trainer (36)

(4x) Carmine TWM 145

(4x) Hassel TWM 151

(2x) Lana's Aid TWM 155

(2x) Artazon sv2 171

(2x) Ultra Ball sv1 196

(4x) Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

(4x) Pokégear 3.0 sv1 186

(1x) Earthen Vessel sv4 163

(4x) Sacred Ash FLF 96 (consider it a "reprint")

(4x) Night Stretcher SFA 61

(2x) Super Rod sv2 188

(2x) Pal Pad sv1 182

(1x) Max Rod PRE 116

Energies (6)

(6x) Basic Water Energy sv2 279

Deck Structure

Magikarp & Gyarados

Magikarp

- Ability: Super Dive - Prevent all attacks and attack effects on enemy Pokémon targeting Misty's Magikarp.

- Attack: Splash (W) - Deal 10 damage.

Gyarados

- Attack: Splashing Panic (W) - Discard the top 7 cards in your deck. You'll deal 70 damage for each Misty Pokémon you discard this way.

- Attack: Waterfall (W)(W)(C) - Deal 120 damage.

This Gyarados is similar to Gyarados TEU 30 (Sun/Moon: Team Up), but, to deal more damage with it, you'll have to discard a few Misty Pokémon.

In the best-case scenario, that is, if you discard 7 Misty Pokémon, you will deal 490 damage!

To make sure you will discard these Pokémon when you discard the top 7 cards in your deck, you'll have to use Psyduck, the main "recursive Pokémon" in this list.

Misty’s Staryu & Starmie

Staryu

- Attack: Bubble Beam (W) - Deal 20 damage and flip a coin: if it's heads, the opponent's active Pokémon will be Paralyzed.

Starmie

- Attack: Sudden Flashes (W) - Deal 60 damage, plus another 80 if this Pokémon evolved this turn.

These Pokémon are fast attackers because their attacks don't cost a lot of energies, so they're very easy to set up. Furthermore, Staryu can Paralyze the opponent's active Pokémon and buy you some time for the following turn, as they'll have to use Switch or another Trainer to remove this special status.

When you evolve Staryu into Starmie, you'll deal a lot of damage, considering this is a stage 1 Pokémon that only needs one basic Water energy to attack and deal 140 damage.

Recursive Pokémon

Misty’s Psyduck

- Ability: Panic Jump - During your turn, if this Pokémon is on your bench, you can discard a card from the bottom of your deck. If you do, discard all cards attached to Misty's Psyduck and put it on the top of your deck.

With this ability, you'll be able to put Psyduck at the top of your deck whenever you want, and deal at least 70 damage with Gyarados' attack, Splashing Panic*.

Trainers

Supporter to Draw Cards and Renew Your Hand

This card is similar to Professor's Research PRE 122 (which you can only use if you're the second to play), as it also forces you to discard your hand to draw cards. However, you can use it even if you're playing first. In any case, it also only draws 5 cards, instead of 7.

Supporter to Filter The Top of Your Deck

Hassel plays an essential role in this list, as it lets you filter the top cards in your deck. You can only use it if one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out on the previous turn, but it lets you look at the top 8 cards in your deck, pick 3 of them, and add them to your hand.

As all Pokémon in this deck are "baby"/"single prize" Pokémon, they'll eventually be Knocked Out by your opponent, and, as such, you'll always be able to use this card.

Supporter to Recycle Pokémon and Basic Energies

This card is excellent in this list because it recycles *Pokémon that don't have a Rule Box. As this entire deck focuses on "single prize" cards, it is essential.

Items to Draw Pokémon

Item to Draw Energies

Items to Recycle Pokémon, Energies, and Supporters

Super Rod sv2 188 lets you shuffle any combination of up to 3 basic energies, basic and evolution Pokémon back into your deck.

Night Stretcher SFA 61 recycles a Pokémon or basic energy from the discard pile and adds it to your hand.

Pal Pad sv1 182 lets you shuffle two Supporters from your discard pile back into your deck.

Sacred Ash FLF 96 (a reprint from this set) lets you recycle up to 5 Pokémon from the discard pile and shuffle them back into your deck. It makes Gyarados more consistent overall.

Stadium

This Stadium lets you get "single prize" Pokémon from your deck and add them to your bench. One of this list's greatest weaknesses is not being able to find these Pokémon and set them up, so this card is a must.

Ideally, you should put at least 2 Misty's Magikarp in play.

ACE SPEC

Max Rod is similar to Super Rod sv2 188 and Night Stretcher SFA 61, but it is slightly better. Unlike Super Rod sv2 188, you'll add the 5 cards to your hand instead of shuffling them back into your deck, and, unlike Night Stretcher SFA 61, you'll add 5 cards to your hand instead of one.

Favorable

This list is great against Fire archetypes. Please note that, once Emboar comes along in the special set centered around Unova, White Flare / Black Bolt, the meta will be full of strong Fire attackers, like Charizard ex sv3pt5 6.

Once these Fire Box decks become more popular, Misty will get stronger because of their weakness to Water Pokémon.

This deck will also be great against Charizard ex sv4pt5 54, which is slower and needs a consistent setup to work. This type of Pokémon is only effective in the mid to late game.

Raging Bolt ex TEF 123 decks, despite fast and aggressive, give you two Prize cards whenever you Knock one of their Pokémon ex out, so Misty will have the advantage in the Prize cards race.

Finally, this list is also partially immune to decks that focus on "spread" attacks, like Dragapult ex TWM 130 because of Psyduck's ability.

Unfavorable

You might not be able to set up your basic Pokémon - this is a real possibility. Without Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 or Mew ex sv3pt5 151, you might also not be able to draw cards consistently either.

This deck will struggle against Hydreigon ex SSP 119 because of its "mill" effect. If they manage to discard your recycling cards, you'll be in trouble.

Iron Hands ex PRE 31 will also be a problem because it is fast and aggressive. With Magneton SSP 59, they have no trouble attaching energies and will be able to deal 120 damage (which will turn to 240 because Water Pokémon are weak against Electric Pokémon). They'll also get two Prize cards instead of one when they Knock Out your Pokémon because of these Electric Pokémon.

This deck is apparently cheap, according to Japanese players, and might conquer a lot of space as a "rogue" deck in Standard. It's a great long-term investment.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!