Well, of course.  =)

First, it’s a Stage 2, which has to evolve from a relatively weak Basic.  Theoretically, you could have a Rocket’s Minefield Gym in play to hit a Totodile for 20.  Then you can Double Gust it and attack for 30 damage, KOing it.

Second, Feraligatr has to evolve twice… and what can delay Gatr’s appearance?  Promo #8/9 Mew!  Devolution Beam works great for stalling until you can get your own deck in full swing.

Third, in order for a Gatr deck’s strategy to run most efficiently, it needs to use Gatr’s Power: Downpour to get lots of Energies in the discard pile.  Now if that Power were to turn off, by “misfortune” let’s say, you would be forcing your opponent to find other, slower, more difficult ways to seed his or her discard pile with Water Energies.  Namely, some well-timed Goop Gas Attacks or a Benched Igglybuff (Neo Discovery) can put a stop to the Downpour.

There’s another way to exploit Feral’s Pokémon Power: Pichu!  The Neo Genesis version of this uber-cute monster can hit Feraligatr for 20 damage each turn… which can soften it up for when you lay down the Knock Out punch.

Speaking of Knocking Out Feraligatr… what are some ways of going about it?  Well, the easiest answer is its Weakness to Grass Pokémon.  You can take out its prevolution, Totodile, with an Erika’s Bellsprout (Lv. 15) or a Caterpie from Neo Discovery.  Both have attacks that do 20 damage (or 40 to a ‘Dile) and 10 to themselves, for only one Energy.  Combined with a Digger that doesn’t quite go your opponent’s way, and he or she will have a KO’ed Totodile on his or her hands.

Koga’s Koffing is another good idea for bashing Totodiles if you just want to include a few anti-Gatr cards in your deck instead of making a full-blown deck.  The Lv. 15 Uncommon version of Koga’s Koffing can do 20 damage to a Dile and if it tries to attack next turn, there’s a 50% chance that it won’t happen (Smokescreen effect).  Its second attack needs a Grass and a Colorless to do 30 damage -- 60 to a hapless reptile!  There’s also a 50% chance that Koga’s Koffing will be shuffled with all the cards attached to it back into your deck, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in certain situations.  Either way, you’ve just put 80 damage onto your opponent’s monster, which either Knocked it Out, (if it was a Totodile or Croconaw,) or did a LOT of damage to it (if it was a Feraligatr).

But what if your opponent manages to evolve into Croconaw without taking any damage?  You have one turn to blast the thing away before your problems get a lot worse.  Answer: Erika’s Weepinbell (Lv. 30).  It can do 40 damage (80 to a ‘Naw) for a pair of Grass Energies and a Colorless Energy.  Whether it’s early game, mid-game, or late game, Erika’s Weepinbell is great for extinguishing Croconaws.

Another idea is to use the Paras-Parasect line from Neo Revelation.  First turn, Paras can do 20 damage to a ‘Dile.  Second turn evolve into Parasect, attach a Grass Energy, and you can do 60 damage to the opponent… and whether they won the coin flip and have a Croconaw or went second and have a Totodile, it doesn’t matter… whatever it was just got Knocked Out.  >-D

If you have a full-blown Feraligatr on your hands, Erika’s Victreebel is a good solution.  It does 50 damage (100 to a Gatr) for only three Grass Energies… the same amount that a Feraligatr needs to use Riptide.  If you damaged Feral earlier with a Bellsprout or Weepinbell, you probably just did enough damage to send Feraligatr reeling into the discard pile…

Another anti-Feral tactic damage-wise is Crobat.  For two Grass and a Colorless Energy, it lets you flip four coins.  For every heads you do 20 damage (40 to the big reptile) and if you get 2 or more heads, Feraligatr is Confused!  At 3 heads, you do 120 damage… just enough to down the dreaded Water monster.  Another advantage to using Crobat instead of Erika’s Victreebel or Parasect is that it’s Weak to Psychic instead of Fire Pokémon.  A lot of Feraligatr deck players will probably MeTagame some Fire Pokémon in their decks just to counter threats like Victreebel and Parasect.  Crobat won’t have a disadvantage, though.  =)

A fifth flaw to the Feraligatr deck is that Feraligatr has a high Retreat Cost: 3 Energies.  If you have a Dark Muk Active with a Rocket’s Training Gym in play, your opponent’s Gatr will need to pay 6 Energies in order to retreat!  And he’ll want to because Dark Muk’s attack automatically Poisons and does 30 damage (60 with Weakness applied).  Even with Gold Berries and Focus Bands attached to Feral, it still won’t live more than two or three turns.

While that Dark Muk strategy may seem sound, there are a few ways that a Feral player can get around it: Balloon Berry, Double Gust, and Warp Point can all get Gatr out of trouble.  Full Heal Energy can also at least take the Poison away.  Of course, three of those four ways out are Trainers, which are vulnerable to things like, say, Rocket’s Sneak Attack?  [hint hint, nudge nudge]

How’s that for some ways to bring down a Feraligatr deck, but good?  All that should give you some ideas for making an Anti-Gatr Deck to bring to the STS, or at least to MeTagame a few cards in to protect yourself from that Riptiding fiend. 

But this is a DECK atelier, so how can I not give you a deck exhibiting some of the above strategies?

Feraligatr Poaching

Energy: 15
10 Grass Energy
5 Psychic Energy

Pokémon: 19
3 Koga's Koffing (Lv. 15)
3 Erika's Bellsprout (Lv. 15)
3 Erika's Weepinbell (Lv. 30)
2 Erika's Victreebel
2 Mew (Promo #8/9)
2 Pichu (Neo Genesis)
2 Igglybuff (Neo Discovery)
2 Cleffa (Neo Genesis)

Trainers: 26
4 Professor Elm
3 Master Ball
2 Balloon Berry Pokémon Tool
3 Double Gust
4 Goop Gas Attack
3 Rocket's Sneak Attack
3 Nightly Garbage Run (Rocket's Secret Machine)
2 Rocket's Training Gym Stadium Card
2 Celadon City Gym Stadium Card

I’ll go through the Pokémon and Trainer choices really fast…

Koga’s Koffing can put a lot of damage on a Gatr (or its prevolutions) really fast.  Mew stalls for time with its Devolution Beam while you get an Erika’s Victreebel or something else going.  Pichu can do 20 damage to Gatr a turn with only one Energy and it has 50% invincibility against it.  Igglybuff can shut down the Downpour Pokémon Power, which makes your opponent’s deck a lot less efficient.  Bellsprout can hit a Totodile first turn for 40 damage, and if you keep it around for the second turn, it can Knock Out Croconaw.  Weepinbell can do a one-hit KO to a Croconaw, blast a Feraligatr for 80 damage, or use Sleep Poison in conjunction with Rocket’s Training Gym to slowly kill a Gatr.  Victreebel can smack a Gatr for 100 damage, and its Power can bring a Benched Dile or Naw up front so you can take it out.  (Just don’t use a Pichu’s attack with a Victreebel in play unless you’re sure you won’t lose the game because of it!)  Cleffa’s use, obviously, is to get more cards quickly.

Elm nets you a fresh hand and Master Ball can get you the Pokémon you need when you need it.  Rocket’s Training Gym exploits Feraligatr’s high Retreat Cost, and Balloon Berry helps you get around your own Gym.  Double Gust gets a vulnerable Dile or Naw off the Bench, and/or get your own Active on the Bench if it’s in trouble.  Goop Gas Attack makes up for when you don’t have an Iggly in play by turning off Gatr’s Power (remember that it turns off your Victreebel’s Power as well, if you have one in play).  Sneak Attack gets rid of your opponent’s rescue Trainers like Gold Berry, Balloon Berry, and Warp Point.  Garbage Run keeps your deck higher than your opponent’s, which could help in late-game after your opponent has used several Misty’s Wraths…  Finally, Celadon City Gym is not only to help your Erika’s Pokémon, but it could also knock out your own Rocket’s Training Gym if your Active is in trouble and needs to retreat.

While there isn’t much Energy in this deck, you should be okay between the 4 Elms and 2 Cleffas.  Additionally, none of your Pokémon need more than 3 Energies to use their attacks, and it’s easier than you might think to get 3 Energies to grace your hand.  =)

I really hope that you use some of the strategies described here to Gatr-proof your own decks.  Or maybe you’re making your own Anti-Gatr deck to bring to the STS now!  Be creative, and above all – have fun!

     -Dugtrio