Riptide (TCG)

Riptide is a Pokémon Trading Card Game based around the Riptide attack of .
==History==
The idea for Riptide spawned soon after the expansion was released. Combined with cards that could place Energies in the discard pile at will, it became apparent to players that 's Riptide attack could prove deadly.
==Strategy==
The point of the deck is to charge up and discard as many Energies as possible quickly. Then, the deck can attack with Riptide for massive damage. While no Energies are discarded from , the downside is that all the Energies in the discard pile are shuffled back into the deck. However, the rest of the deck is packed with combos to cycle Energies into the discard pile at an alarming rate. switches the discard pile with the deck. This is amazingly useful to swap out all the Energies in the deck, dealing enough damage with Riptide to knock out any Pokémon in the game (at the time). Many other ways exist, such as , or . The Baby Pokémon in the deck are techs against other popular archetypes at the time that this deck was legal.
==Cards==
===Key cards===
* is the main attacker for the deck, using Riptide to hit for 10 damage per turn, plus 10 more damage for each in the discard pile. 
* shuffles the discard pile into the deck and discards the first cards on the top of the deck. This gives Feraligatr plenty of Energy to boost Riptide's damage.
===Other Pokémon===
* is mediocre by itself, and wouldn't be used except to evolve into .
* can deal pretty good damage for a stage one, but its main purpose is still to evolve into .
* helps mount some form of offense when the player is focusing on more important things, like powering up .
* hits any Pokémon with a for 20 damage, annihilating most decks that competed with Riptide as many decks at the time relied on Pokémon Powers to succeed.
* provides hand refreshment and increases the player's chances of drawing whatever card they need to get out .
===Other Trainers===
* is an alternative to if the player doesn't wish to waste their attack on getting different cards in their hand.
* lets the player pick two cards in the top seven of their deck and add them to their hand, while discarding. In Riptide, the discard may actually benefit the player more than the drawing, by increasing 's damage.
* can ruin the opponent's strategy by swapping out their ideal Active Pokémon with a useless one with a high retreat cost.
* can give any Pokémon the extra turn it needs to score that crucial Knock Out or retreat.
* can save a player from decking out in a pinch, which seems to be the biggest problem with this deck.
* trades any Pokémon in the player's hand with any one from their deck, which can really speed up the deck.
* lets the player skip an evolution, like to , while normally would be in the middle.
* lets players draw cards and discard Energies.
* can disrupt the opponent's strategy by limiting bench Pokémon amount for both players. If any player has five Benched Pokémon, then they must discard one of them and any cards (including Energy) attached to it.
===Energy cards===
* is crucial for obvious reasons.
==Typical deck list==
==Restriction==
The expansion has been banned for play in Modified Format, so this deck is currently unplayable for any official tournament. All of the other expansions represented in the deck have been removed as well, so any variation on the deck will most likely be unsuccessful.
==Reference==
*Archetypes Neo Genesis Pokemonelite2000
Category:Deck archetypes