Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Guide - Conkeldurr (Post Black Bolt)

The Pokémon TCG Frankfurt Regional was held in Germany on September 13th and 14th and once again gave us a new perspective of the meta. The game is constantly evolving as great players compete against each other, try to stand out, and explore new lists. Iconic and unusual lists alike had a chance to shine at this tournament.

One of these unusual lists actually conquered a spot in the top 16. We have seen this list before, but never at a high level, only as a rogue list: Conkeldurr TWM 105. Although it has also always been considered fragile, Benjamin Gorgos took it to the top 16 in the master category, whereas Matti H. got first place with it in the junior category. Could this be a meta call or just an unusual list catching opponents by surprise?

Main Strategy

This list may seem simple, but it doesn't use energies to attack. Instead, it relies solely on the synergy between its cards to progress its game plan, which can be challenging. Conkeldurr is the only attacker in it, and for a very simple reason: besides only giving the opponent one Prize card when it is Knocked Out, its attack, "Gutsy Swing", deals 250 damage. You can also use it for no energies at all if it is affected by any special conditions.

To do so, we'll use Brute Bonnet: its ability, "Toxic Power", lets us, during our turn and if this Pokémon has an Ancient Booster Energy Capsule TEF 140 attached, to Poison both active Pokémon. In other words, this 3-card combo lets us deal 250 damage for no energies at all and also Poison the opponent's active Pokémon. This totals up to 260 damage, which is enough to Knock Out many Pokémon in the format.

Naturally, to execute this combo (particularly considering it relies on a stage 2 attacker), we'll need a lot of resources and ways to get them. That's why this list plays a 3-3 Dunsparce/Dudunsparce line and its ability, "Run Away Draw". With this ability, we can keep drawing cards and shuffle this Pokémon back in our deck. This will draw multiple cards for us and prevent our opponent from drawing two Prize cards by Knocking Out Dudunsparce. It will also make you less vulnerable to hand disruption.

Post Black Bolt Conkeldurr List

This list now plays 4 Hilda WHT 84, which means we'll always have the evolution Pokémon we need, as well as our ACE SPEC, Enriching Energy SSP 191.

With this much card draw, as well as 4 Rare Candy sv4pt5 89 and 4 Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91, we'll actually use Hilda to get the Pokémon we need to finish our combo. Furthermore, Colress's Tenacity SFA 57 also gets our ACE SPEC for us, our Stadium, Artazon sv4pt5 76 for consistency, or Gravity Mountain SSP 177 to Knock Out any stage 2 Pokémon in play that has a lot of HP. Moreover, this list also plays 2 Arven sv3 186, since it also plays some tools, and 2 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 to pull enemy Pokémon.

As a support Pokémon, it plays Fan Rotom PRE 85, which can both get us a Pokémon in Dudunsparce's line or a Pidgey sv3pt5 16 so we can set up a Pidgeot ex sv3 164 later on. Furthermore, we can also get Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 if we don't find other attackers to play and need a finisher.

Finally, this version only plays 4 energies! 3 Jet Energy sv2 190 so we can move our Pokémon around without retreating them manually, and Enriching Energy SSP 191. We can reuse this ACE SPEC several times throughout the match, as we don't need energies to attack. We can also shuffle it back into our deck with Dudunsparce's ability.

Dragapult EX - Unfavorable

Dragapult EX is consistent, has a lot of HP, and uses Budew PRE 4 to disrupt our setup. As our list needs a stage 2 attacker, we need our Rare Candy, and they'll disable that. We'll also need to play Binding Mochi PRE 95 / Gravity Mountain SSP 177 to Knock Out Pokémon. If they have enough space, they can easily win.

Nonetheless, despite all of this, their attackers can't Knock Out Pidgeot EX that easily, and that's how we must try to win: by relying on consistency, removing their critical pieces at the right time, and evolving our Pokémon. We can't let them delay us.

Raging Bolt EX - Favorable

Raging Bolt doesn't play single-prize attackers that can easily Knock Out Conkeldurr, and that's already enough to make this matchup quite favorable. Any attacker that they use also has less than 250 HP, so they'll be easy to Knock Out. Meanwhile, they won't be able to do the same to our attackers. We just need to be careful with the resources we discard, as well as a few vulnerable openers. If we do this successfully, we are sure to win.

Gardevoir EX - Unfavorable

Our main attacker is weak against Psychic Pokémon, which already makes this matchup slightly problematic. Furthermore, Gardevoir EX uses single-prize attackers and can set up explosive turns to Knock Out multiple Pokémon at once with Munkidori SFA 72's "Adrena-Brain" ability. Our only hope is punishing any bad openers with speed early on.

Pros

This archetype plays an excellent card draw engine, a single-prize attacker, and is quite unusual, so it punishes inexperienced players.

Cons

It is, however, vulnerable against Budew, weak to Psychic Pokémon, and a bit predictable.

Despite Conkeldurr's limitations, its recent performances show how unusual lists, if well-built for the meta, can surprise us. Unfortunately, this list didn't make it to the top 8 of the Frankfurt Regional, but it definitely made a few players pay more attention to different archetypes, as they can, yes, compete and become relevant at high-level competitions.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!