RayEels, and Friends

Every now and then, I’m reminded about how long I’ve been playing this game. I’ve been playing for about two decades at this point, having been playing around with stuff since the WOTC and Ruby and Sapphire era (hence the format), while becoming actually cognizant of my actions around the Diamond and Pearl era.

But if you were around during the Black and White era, specifically around 2013, you’d find yourself steeped in a meta that had some powerful contenders. TDK — or Thundurus-EX, Deoxys-EX, and Kyurem — was a big contender, alongside Darkrai-EX decks. Each were nightmares — literally, with the latter — and they were extraordinarily dominant. Although, as a silver lining, I was able to play some obscure, off-the-wall decks throughout that period. Crustle/Reuniclus, Tornadus-EX/Aerodactyl, and Klinklang — all absolute chef’s kisses.

Nothing like using Old Amber to randomly dunk on one of the game’s top players (and friend of mine) at a City Championships during the Georgia Marathon, held at a Stevie B’s Pizza buffet.

But I digress.

So, I hear you ask, how does this play into DBF?

UncPosting aside…

Anyway, other than my ramblings, one of the decks that came out of the gate swinging was a little deck known as “RayEels”. It used Eelektrik’s Dynamotor ability to attach Lightning Energy from its Discard Pile to a benched Rayquaza-EX, which then pivoted from the Active Rayquaza-EX to swing for high damage by discarding its attached energy. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this particular deck has been recreated about a half-dozen times over the years, and it’s always a blast to see.

Eelektrik has been reprinted a couple of times over the years specifically, actually, and it’s always the same. It’s a 90 HP Stage 1, with the ability Dynamotor. You get to attach a Lightning Energy from your Discard Pile to one of your Benched Pokemon. This is usually your primary engine in any Eels deck, and it’s no different in this modern take on RayEels.

Guess Who’s Back-ish, Back Again-ish

Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not really a “discard X attached Energy and do Y amount of damage” like it was in the past. But, it’s a Rayquaza, and it’s in an Eels deck, and it’s the best attacker for the investment. It’s RayEels — fight me.

Anyway, this card is great. Rayquaza is an efficient, high-HP Basic Pokémon that isn’t a slouch when you run out of gas. Once you switch it into the Active Spot, you can easily deal 110 damage. If you attach a Fire or a Prism Energy to it, you can make it a solid 130 as well. It’s not bad — it’s not something that raises eyebrows, but it’s something that’s a solid attacker where you can do solid amounts of damage for minimal investment thanks to Eelektrik.

Where this card also shines is in how surprisingly tanky it is for how little investment you really need to put into it. 120 HP on a basic is kind of a lot, and not having a Weakness solidifies how much investment your opponent needs to dedicate in order to knock it out. And with how little effort it takes to get out a Rayquaza, having your opponent double-target a Ray to score a knockout feels incredible.

But, that’s only a small part of what makes this deck good — let’s introduce you to some of our other motley crew.

One of my favorite aspects of the Double Battle Format is Support Pokémon, and there are perhaps no better examples of a solid Support Pokémon than Dedenne. Say, for example, you whiff Eelektrik, or prize all of your pieces — not so good for a deck that needs them! So, what do you do? Scoop to go to game 2? Nay, I say! Use Dedenne!

Dedenne’s Tail Generator allows you to attach a potentially massive number of Energy from your Discard Pile however you like — including your partner Pokémon. Even without Eels (or alongside them), you can attach a monstrous amount of Energy across your board and still attack with your partner Pokémon using the Energy you just attached.

Not only that, but using Thunder Wave has bailed me out of a game or two. With well-timed Paralysis, you can take games out of the jaws of defeat in ways you wouldn’t normally expect.

But, who are you partnering Dedenne with otherwise?

The Other Guys

Tapu Koko is a fantastic Pokémon in this deck. Not only do you have access to Fast Flight on the first turn of the game, allowing you to pitch your hand (alongside any Energy in it) to dig for that ever-important Canari, you also have a strong second attack in Thunder Blast for mid to late game.

Using Fast Flight, Tapu Koko is a brilliant start and it makes RayEels a surprisingly consistent deck that isn’t ever left wanting for attackers, or draw power. Consider, not only can you use Fast Flight to pitch your hand and draw five cards on the first turn of the game, you can also use it in tandem with a Carmine which is a Supporter with the same effect. That’s a lot of digging on the first turn of the game.

Thunder Blast, its second attack, also discards the attached Energy after blowing something up. Normally, this would be a bad thing. But in this case, it allows you to re-attach the Energy to your Benched Pokémon (such as Rayquaza, or Iono’s Kilowattrel), or for immediate reattachment by a partner Dedenne.

And who would be a better target for those Energy than Heliolisk?

Heliolisk, when they’re not devouring a duplicitous IT guy who stole some dinosaur embryos, are kind of bananas. And yeah, Dilophosaurus is very different in nature than in Jurassic Park, and Heliolisk is based on a Frilled Lizard rather than that dinosaur, but that won’t stop me from making jokes about it here!

Sure, attacking with it is a bit risky, and you’ll need to flip a few Heads to KO most anything worth KOing, but Heliolisk’s value is less in its damage output (though near-limitless) and more in its efficiency. Since this deck loves playing Canari, you can attach Energy to Heliolisk on the Bench for practically free using its Frilled Generator ability. It doesn’t need any more investment than a Supporter that you’re already going to be playing in order to set up your board.

Plus, when you also realize that you can attach more Energy using your Eels and Dedenne, you can end up swinging for some ridiculous numbers with this little lizard.

So, what’s a list look like?

Arguably, this is one of the most consistent decks I’ve built for DBF post-rotation. It’s a blast to play, and it’s fairly versatile as well. Take a look!

Pokémon — 20

Qty	Card	Set
2	Tynamo	BLK 30
2	Eelektrik	BLK 31
2	Helioptile	TWM 70
2	Heliolisk	ASC 64
2	Iono’s Wattrel	ASC 71
2	Iono’s Kilowattrel	ASC 72
2	Tapu Koko	ASC 67
2	Rayquaza	ASC 153
1	Dedenne	POR 29
1	Hop’s Cramorant	ASC 177
1	Ethan’s Pichu	DRI 71
1	Budew	ASC 16

Trainers — 29

Qty	Card	Set
2	Canari	ASC 185
2	Lillie’s Determination	MEG 119
2	Carmine	PRE 103
2	Naveen	POR 79
1	Brock’s Scouting	JTG 146
1	Boss’s Orders	MEG 114
1	Judge	DRI 167
2	Poké Pad	ASC 198
2	Night Stretcher	SFA 61
2	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	PRE 101
2	Pokégear 3.0	BLK 84
2	Ultra Ball	MEG 131
2	Switch	MEG 130
1	Prime Catcher	PRE 119
1	Sacred Ash	DRI 168
2	Air Balloon	BLK 79
2	Levincia	JTG 150

Energy — 11

Qty	Card	Set
9	Lightning Energy	MEE 4
1	Fire Energy	MEE 2
1	Prism Energy	ASC 216

It’s a pretty straightforward list, with a deck that’s basically anything but. RayEels is a versatile, flexible deck that can come out of the gate quickly. The best ways to do that are by using Tapu Koko’s Fast Flight, or Delibird’s Quick Gift attacks. Quick Gift is a great way to simply search out your Canari on the first turn of the game, allowing you to set your board up extremely quickly.

Your draw engine is also focused on discarding cards from your hand, like with Carmine or with Naveen. But, setting up Iono’s Kilowattrel is also quite beneficial in a world with Unfair Stamp floating around. Using a spare Dynamotor or Tail Generator to set up an Energy on Iono’s Kilowattrel allows you to use its Flashing Draw ability to draw even more cards, increasing this deck’s subtle consistency.

In Closing…

RayEels is back! I remember getting absolutely trounced by this deck back when I played Tornadus-EX/Aerodactyl. Picking up Tynamo was easy with Pokémon Catcher (before the nerf), but boy did that Lightning weakness hurt — and that whole, “one-shot your guy with a big Basic EX” thing.

Anyway, this deck is one of my favorite DBF decks that I’ve built thus far. It’s a versatile, powerful deck that’s fast and consistent. It tickles my nostalgia, and it’s well positioned into the current state of DBF while leveraging what makes DBF so interesting to its advantage. It’s a real blast to play, and it’s resilient against aggression as well as you can recover easily after a double-KO.

It’s also nice that we’re able to add another RayEels deck to the history of the archetype. I have a lot of affection for the archetype after seeing it so much over the years, although thinking about it does make me feel a bit old. We’ve had Delta Species Dragonite, Eels, Malamar, Bronzong, and two more Eel printings!

Boy, that’s quite a lot of years of Dynamotor — about 20. I’d call myself old, but I’m not even 30 yet! Although, that said… I do have a 401k, and a penchant.

Uh-oh.

Well, until next time!