Punch-Out!! Deck Series — King Hippo

Pokémon [18]

2 — Groudon EX — Dark Explorers (54/108)

2 — Groudon EX — Primal Clash (85/160)

2 — Hawlucha — Furious Fists (63/111)

2 — Solrock — Primal Clash (83/160)

2 — Lunatone — Plasma Storm (74/135)

4 — Hippopotas — Next Destinies (65/99)

2 — Hippowdon — Next Destinies (66/99)

2 — Hippowdon — Primal Clash (88/160)

Trainers [23]

4 — Level Ball — Next Destinies (89/99)

4 — Heavy Ball — Next Destinies (88/99)

4 — Tierno — Phantom Forces (107/119)

4 — Professor Birch's Observations — Primal Clash (134/160)

1 — Rock Guard — Plasma Freeze (108/116)

2 — Rocky Helmet — Plasma Blast (88/101)

4 — Float Stone — Plasma Freeze (99/116)

Energy [19]

4 — Strong Energy — Furious Fists (104/111)
4 — Double Colorless Energy

11 — Fighting Energy

MAIN STRATEGY

Heavy Ball & Level Ball: Both of these cards pull tons of weight in this deck to lay it upon your opponent. Between them, Heavy Ball is the primary resource here, since it can basically fetch you nearly any Pokémon in the deck—and Level Ball is the secondary resource here, since there are a few crucial Pokémon that it cannot fetch for you. For this reason, try to save your Heavy Balls for Hippowdon the best you can. It's your primary Pokémon—and nothing else can fetch it for you. For this same reason, try not to waste your Heavy Balls on anything that you can get with a Level Ball either. You won't be able to make up the difference for it later (due to Level Ball's restrictions).

Professor Birch's Observations & Tierno: This is a really great Supporter combination, that especially works wonders in this deck, due to being enveloped by so many Item cards. You see—as you play Item cards from your hand, you'll be effectively thinning out your deck in the process. And this concentration of your decks contents decreases the probability of overlapping content. To further increase this potency, you will want to treat Tierno as your primary Supporter, and always using it first (unless your board position can truly spare it). This technique holds your hand in place while you draw, which increases the probability of drawing into new resources. Opposed to the greater chance of overlapping the same cards that were previously in your hand—when you wheel and deal.

Rock Guard & Rocky Helmet & Float Stone: The block & dodge, the hippo crown, and the eye iron. These glamorous accessories and tools of the trade are the tactical Pokémon support here. Float Stone works perfectly to compliment all of the heavy Pokémon throughout this deck, and with that said, you should be able to throw it onto any one of them with great success. Rocky Helmet and Rock Guard are your secondary resources, which you will want to save exclusively for your purely offensive Pokémon (something that you're going to have just sitting out there and attacking—like [Resistance Sand] Hippowdon). In addition to this, try to save Rock Guard for Groudon EX as often as you can—since its HP is very high, and that factor helps significantly to get the most out of Rock Guard's powerful ability.

Solrock & Lunatone: These two cards mimic your blazing Star Punch, and your lights-out KO. They both work very tactically to thin out your deck and concentrate your decks contents. Solrock is a really great Pokémon to throw out on turn one. [Solar Generator] will get you all of the special energy cards you need in a single turn—which are extremely crucial resources to power up your main Pokémon—Groudon and Hippowdon. Lunatone is used by letting it work miracles for you from the bench—via [Premonition]. Use it to your greatest advantage, by filtering through the top two cards of your deck, and effectively putting you a turn ahead in the game.

Groudon EX: These two cards are your supporting power-houses, which both represent King Hippo's crushing left and right hand punch. You will want to use these cards at the start of the game to give you the edge against weak starters, or put you on level ground against stronger starters that opponent throws out to begin the game. As a standard guideline, [Rip Claw] Groudon is going to be your best game opener—while [Giant Claw] Groudon is likeliest to be your best game finisher.

Hawlucha: This card represents Little Mac, and it's a great backup Pokémon with more than few neat tricks to it. It give you something to throw out there first turn, yet retreats for free which can allow you to make a more tactical move after you've played your hand out and established your defenses a bit. It also attacks for a single energy, which enables you to freely sit him on the bench without worry, while power up your more energy demanding Pokémon.

Hippowdon: Here we have King Hippo of course—and depending on your board position, and the deck that you're up against, the tactical split here between the two different versions of Hippowdon gives you some options to work with. If you're up against lots of Pokémon EX, then you will want to tank your opponent with [Resistance Sand] Hippowdon to victory; OR if your bench position is really strong, you will want to use [Sand Bazooka] Hippowdon to blast your opponent's active Pokémon, while you send your spare energy to the bench for the next big offensive.

This option really works great with Hawlucha and both versions of Groudon EX, since the first only requires a single energy, and the other two are rather resource demanding cards.