Poliwrath – Pokémon TCG Highlander

It swims like an engine boat and hits like an engine boat. Poliwrath takes the Highlander Olympic gold medal for high damage at a fast pace for spectators and opponents to see.

Strategy Points:

• “Plunge” is highly versatile in allowing any Energy to be freely moved from your bench to Poliwrath. Some great Energy acceleration options to consider are:
  • Regirock, Arcanine, and Hippowdon can all accelerate Fighting Energy on your board with their respective Poké-Powers.
  • Walrein’s “Gather Ice” allows for multiple Strong, Stone, Rainbow, and Double Colorless Energy to be attached to it. Leaving the opportunity to provide for both it and Poliwrath.
  • EXP. Share is a great Pokémon Tool card to run for Poliwrath. Run it with Pokemon like Flygon and Terrakion for sustained mobility and revenge killing momentum on your team. All that can be moved up to an active Poliwrath when needed.
• “Focus Punch” has a downside that tends to happen after the high initial damage is dealt. Something that can easily be attended to with the previously mentioned Flygon, Switch, or Escape Rope afterward.
• “Submission” is taking a Knock Out on most fully evolved Pokemon in Highlander. If they have HP and/or Defensive modifiers, you can run Strong Energy, Grant, or Fighting Stadium to increase your damage numbers.
  • Because none of these are Pokémon Tool cards, you can run Protection Cube to stop all recoil damage.
  • Poliwrath also works well with an Air Balloon or Float Stone, allowing you to pivot in and out whenever it’s needed for a crucial Knock Out.
  • The pivoting plays work well with Gigalith and/or Stark Mountain to move your Fighting Energy to the next attacker. Aromatisse and Gardevoir are great for moving Rainbow, Aurora, Wonder, and/or Fairy Energy around in tangent with Fairy Garden to grant no retreat cost for your Pokémon. You also can run Fairy Drop here to help keep Poliwrath healthy.
  • Mallow & Lana, Last Chance Potion, and Super Potion work well with healing Poliwrath after using this attack. The former can help for future pivot plays while the latter works well with “Plunge.”
• “Call for Family” on Poliwag allows for a fast set up to get previously mentioned Pokémon ready. You can also get out your other Poliwag if you’re running Politoed for a double line, increasing assurance to get Poliwrath out, even if one gets Knocked Out while not fully evolved.
• “Energy Stream” from Poliwhirl is an amazing bonus attack to get Poliwrath ready for a potential “Submission” next turn. “Bubble” is a great attack to have when it comes to potentially stopping your opponent in their tracks while possibly leading into a Poliwrath Knock Out next turn.
• Poliwrath – Level X:
• “Champion’s Drum” can win you the game if you blitz it fast enough. You can run Wally or Broken Time-Space to use this as early as your second turn. The 40 damage can easily be repaired with Super Potion.
  • Because all you need to do is at least 10 damage, “Energy Stream” from Poliwhirl becomes a lethal attack that can continue streaming Energy onto Poliwrath. Use Memory Energy or Shrine of Memories to easily use this attack for one Colorless Energy.
  • You can use “Metal Cube 01” with your Rainbow or Shield Energy to pick any target for a Knock Out while having a “Champion Counter” on Poliwrath.
• “Spiral Steamroll” can do up to 90 damage on the board for one Energy. All before the previously mentioned damage modifiers and others like Professor Kukui, Quagsire, and Passimian.
  • With a “Champion Counter” on Poliwrath, you can use the bench damage from this attack to plan ahead for a Pokémon that might stick around if Poliwrath gets Knocked Out, allowing for previously mentioned Pokemon like Quagsire and Passimian to potentially pick them off on the bench.