The first TAG TEAM Pokémon-GX that players got their hands on was the mighty Magikarp & Wailord-GX. The duo made a splash at their first Regional Championships, earning a Top 8 finish as one of the most popular decks in a field full of the Expanded format’s trickiest card combinations. Because this pairing jumped into the pool before the rest of the Sun & Moon—Team Up expansion was available, our first featured deck is a mix of old and new.

Magikarp & Wailord-GX is all about big numbers. Not only does the TAG TEAM boast a record-setting 300 HP, but it also requires an alarming 8 Water Energy for its GX attack to reach full potential—and 5 Water Energy to use its other attack at all! You won’t get much done by attaching a single Energy card to this duo each turn, so the deck Kyle Pallman used to get fifth place at the Dallas Regional Championships aims to get Energy on the board as quickly as possible.

• Magikarp & Wailord-GX

Magikarp & Wailord-GX

Pokémon

• 2

  Magikarp & Wailord-GX

  160/181

  sm9 160
• 2

  Blastoise

  137/135

  bw8 137
• 3

  Shaymin-EX

  77/108

  xy6 77
• 2

  Exeggcute

  4/116

  bw9 4
• 2

  Tapu Lele-GX

  60/145

  sm2 60
• 1

  Giratina

  97/214

  sm8 97
• 1

  Kingdra-GX

  18/70

  sm75 18
• 1

  Volcanion ◇

  31/131

  sm6 31

Energy Cards

• 11

  Water Energy

  nrg1 28

Trainer Cards

• 2

  Archie's Ace in the Hole

  xy5 124
• 1

  Fisherman

  xy8 136
• 1

  Guzma

  sm3 115
• 1

  N

  xy10 105
• 1

  Professor Sycamore

  xy9 107
• 1

  Silent Lab

  xy5 140
• 4

  Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear

  xy4 92
• 4

  Order Pad

  sm5 131
• 4

  Superior Energy Retrieval

  bw9 103
• 4

  Trainers' Mail

  xy6 92
• 4

  Ultra Ball

  sm1 135
• 4

  VS Seeker

  xy4 109
• 2

  Choice Band

  sm2 121
• 1

  Computer Search

  bw7 137
• 1

  Field Blower

  sm2 125

More Info Copy Deck List ****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ****** Pokémon - 14 2 Magikarp & Wailord-GX TEU 160 2 Blastoise PLS 137 3 Shaymin-EX ROS 77 2 Exeggcute PLF 4 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60 1 Giratina LOT 97 1 Kingdra-GX DRM 18 1 Volcanion ◇ FLI 31 Trainer Cards - 35 2 Archie's Ace in the Hole PRC 124 1 Fisherman BKT 136 1 Guzma BUS 115 1 N FCO 105 1 Professor Sycamore BKP 107 1 Silent Lab PRC 140 4 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 4 Order Pad UPR 131 4 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103 4 Trainers' Mail ROS 92 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135 4 VS Seeker PHF 109 2 Choice Band GRI 121 1 Computer Search BCR 137 1 Field Blower GRI 125 Energy - 11 11 Water Energy Energy 3 Total Cards - 60 ****** Deck list generated on Pokemon.com ******

Setting Up Your Ace in the Hole

The combination of Blastoise and Archie’s Ace in the Hole creates the potential for some incredibly explosive plays.

Start the match off by using cards like Ultra Ball, Battle Compressor, Computer Search, and Exeggcute to get Blastoise into your discard pile, get Archie’s Ace in the Hole into your hand, and get rid of all the other cards you’re holding. If everything goes perfectly, you can then use Archie’s Ace in the Hole to play the Stage 2 Blastoise directly onto your Bench—even on the first turn of the game.

Once Blastoise is in play, use its Deluge Ability to power up Magikarp & Wailord-GX as quickly as possible. The Ability lets you attach as much Water Energy from your hand as you want every turn, and many of the deck’s Trainer cards will help you do just that. You can even use Battle Compressor to discard your Water Energy so you can fish it up with Fisherman or Superior Energy Retrieval, while Shaymin-EX and the deck’s torrential pace make it easier to draw more Energy quickly.

Turning the Tides toward Offense

Magikarp & Wailord-GX’s Towering Splash-GX attack is particularly devastating early in the game, when your opponent is most likely to have Basic Pokémon with lower HP on their Bench. Not only can this attack net you a bunch of Prize cards, but if you strike quickly enough, it can prevent your opponent from ever really building their board. After being softened up by Towering Splash-GX, even higher-HP Pokémon-GX are likely to be within range of a Knock Out from Super Splash’s 180 damage.

This deck gets to play around with several other fun cards to press its advantage. Volcanion Prism Star’s Jet Geyser Ability is a great way to help get your opponent’s Pokémon in the right place—on the Bench to catch the wave from Towering Splash-GX, or as an Active Pokémon to be finished off by Super Splash—and in this deck, having to discard a Water Energy to activate that Ability can be a good thing. Kingdra-GX can dish out some solid damage if things have gone very wrong, Trainers’ Mail and Order Pad help make sure you can get needed cards quickly, and Giratina provides a cheeky way to add a little extra damage when Towering Splash-GX isn’t quite enough.

Magikarp & Wailord-GX in Standard

This deck uses plenty of cards that aren’t available in the Standard format, but the star TAG TEAM can still create quite a splash even without Blastoise around as support. In its place, enlist the helpful Naganadel and Quagsire when you have only Sun & Moon Series cards available. You’ll want to discard Water Energy even more aggressively with this version of the deck so you can recover it with Naganadel’s Charging Up Ability or the Aqua Patch Item card, then use Quagsire’s Wash Out Ability to move the Energy to your Magikarp & Wailord-GX.

Have a whale of a time with Magikarp & Wailord-GX, and check back at Pokemon.co.uk/Strategy soon for more Sun & Moon—Team Up decks and other Pokémon TCG and video game tips.