View source for Wailord Stall (TCG)

{{ArchetypeInfobox
|title=Wailord Stall
|image=WailordEXPrimalClash38.jpg
|image2=SuicunePlasmaBlast20.jpg
|caption={{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Wailord-EX|38}} and {{TCG ID|Plasma Blast|Suicune|20}}
||cards={{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Wailord-EX|38}}, {{TCG ID|Plasma Blast|Suicune|20}} and {{TCG ID|XY|Team Flare Grunt|129}}
|types={{e|Water}}
|era=2014–2016
}}

'''Wailord Stall''' was a [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]] {{TCG|deck archetype}} mainly played in the 2014-2015 season.
The deck's strategy revolved around stalling tactics to win by running the opponent out of cards in their deck, playing the sturdy {{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Wailord-EX|38}} which had the most {{TCG|Hit Points}} in a Pokémon at the time and could survive many different {{TCG|Attack}}s, not needing to attack in a single turn (most lists had no Energy). Wailord Stall took players by surprise in the 2015 Pokémon TCG US National Championships as {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Lysandre's Trump Card|99}}, a card used to counter stalling strategies, had been recently banned from play, being undefeated until the finals where it ranked 2nd place in the Masters Divison.

==Strategy==
[[File:MaxPotionBREAKpoint103.jpg|thumb|left|200px|{{TCG ID|Emerging Powers|Max Potion|94}}]]
Wailord Stall offered a unique strategy in the format by not using any attacks during turns; instead, the deck relied on discarding the opponent's Energy with disruptive {{TCG|Trainer card}}s and healing damage off the active Pokémon, aiming that the opponent would eventually run out of cards from the deck. It would play Wailord-EX, a Pokémon with 250HP, and Suicune, whose {{TCG|Ability}} prevented damage from {{TCG|Pokémon-EX}}. Other decks usually played more cards on the first turns to setup its attackers, but also getting closer to be decked out than Wailord Stall. Cards such as {{TCG ID|XY|Cassius|115}}, {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|AZ|91}} and {{TCG ID|Emerging Powers|Max Potion|94}} were useful at removing damage counters in play; with {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|VS Seeker|109}} and {{TCG ID|Plasma Storm|Dowsing Machine|128}}, the player could potentially heal a total of 17 times in a single game, not even counting the lesser healing from {{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Rough Seas|137}}.

Discarding Energy from play was consistent thanks to cards such as {{TCG ID|XY|Team Flare Grunt|129}}, {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Xerosic|110}}, and {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Enhanced Hammer|94}}. The player should wisely use their VS Seeker to either play healing or disruptive {{TCG|Supporter card}}s since only one could be played at each turn. Losing Pokémon by knockouts could be tolerable if the opponent ran out of Energy to attack in future turns, eventually losing by decking out.
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==Key cards==
[[File:RoughSeasPrimalClash137.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Rough Seas|137}}]]
*'''{{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Wailord-EX|38}}''' - Wailord-EX was a Basic Pokémon with 250HP, resisting many attacks in a format where no attacker could knock it out in one move. Despite giving the opponent two prize cards when knocked out, Wailord-EX was better at resisting attacks and playing on the field than other Pokémon.
*'''{{TCG ID|Plasma Blast|Suicune|20}}''' - Suicune's ''Safeguard'' Ability prevented all attacks against it from Pokémon-EX, often not needing to be healed as much as Wailord-EX. Suicune was also an auto win against decks that could not knock out this Pokémon.
*'''{{TCG ID|Emerging Powers|Max Potion|94}}''' - As this deck played no Energy, Max Potion's drawback was ignored when healing all damage from a Pokémon in play.
*'''{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|VS Seeker|109}}''' - Crucial at retrieving played Supporter cards and using their effects for more turns.
*'''{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|AZ|91}}''' - Returned a Pokémon in play to your hand, forcing the player to have a benched Pokémon but removing all damage counters from it. [[Cassius (XY 115)|Cassius]] had a similar use, but returned that Pokémon into the deck instead.
*'''{{TCG ID|Boundaries Crossed|Hugh|130}}''' - Hugh discarded cards from the opponent's hand to prevent shuffling them back into the deck.
*'''{{TCG ID|XY|Team Flare Grunt|129}}''' - Along with {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Xerosic|110}} and {{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Enhanced Hammer|94}}, this card was a consistent way to discard Energy from the opponent's Pokémon.
*'''{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Lysandre|90}}''' - It was often preferred to switch the opponent's active Pokémon with one that could not attack (or dealt less damage) and could not retreat back to the old active Pokémon.
*'''{{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Rough Seas|137}}''' - Healed 30 damage from {{e|Water}} Pokémon between turns. Combined with {{TCG ID|XY|Hard Charm|119}}, it made the deck's Pokémon sturdier against more attacks.

==Typical decklist==
[[File:TeamFlareGruntXY129.jpg|thumb|right|200px|{{TCG ID|XY|Team Flare Grunt|129}}]]

===Enrique Avila's decklist at the 2015 US Nationals===
{{decklist/header}}
{{decklist/entry|4|[[Wailord-EX (Primal Clash 38)|Wailord]]{{EX}}|Water||Rare Holo ex}}
{{decklist/entry|3|{{TCG ID|Plasma Blast|Suicune|20}}|Water||Rare}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|Plasma Storm|Dowsing Machine|128}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|3|{{TCG ID|Dark Explorers|Enhanced Hammer|94}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|Emerging Powers|Max Potion|94}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Sacred Ash|96}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Startling Megaphone|97}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Trick Shovel|98}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|VS Seeker|109}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|XY|Hard Charm|119}}|Item||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Rough Seas|137}}|Stadium||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|2|{{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Silent Lab|140}}|Stadium||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|AZ|91}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|XY|Cassius|115}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|2|{{TCG ID|Boundaries Crossed|Hugh|130}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|2|{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Lysandre|90}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|3|{{TCG ID|Fates Collide|N|105}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|Flashfire|Pokémon Fan Club|94}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|XY|Shauna|127}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|3|{{TCG ID|Boundaries Crossed|Skyla|134}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|4|{{TCG ID|XY|Team Flare Grunt|129}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/entry|1|{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Xerosic|110}}|Supporter||Uncommon}}
{{decklist/footer}}

==Possible tech cards==
[[File:TropicalBeachBWPromo28.jpg|thumb|left|200px|{{TCG ID|BW Promo|Tropical Beach|28}}]]
''The following cards are often used in Wailord Stall in place of certain cards included in the above lists.''
*'''{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Wobbuffet|36}}''' - Wobbuffet's ''Bide Barricade'' Ability prevented the Abilities of non-{{e|Psychic}} Pokémon from working, being useful against decks that accelerated energy by them.
*'''{{TCG ID|Shining Legends|Hoopa|55}}''' - A replacement to Suicune that was also immune to the newer {{TCG|Pokémon-GX}}.
*'''{{TCG ID|Guardians Rising|Wishiwashi-GX|38}}''' - Though Wishiwashi-GX had less HP than Wailord-EX, this Pokémon's Weakness was different than Wailord's.
*'''{{TCG ID|Ultra Prism|Xurkitree-GX|142}}''' - Played by Butch Smith in the 2018 Roanoke Regional as a replacement for Suicune, being immune to Pokémon with Special Energy instead.
*'''{{TCG ID|Ultra Prism|Oranguru|114}}''' - Oranguru's ''Resource Management'' could shuffle back resources into the deck, though it was more consistent in other stall archetypes.
*'''{{TCG ID|BW Promo|Tropical Beach|28}}''' - As the deck did not aim to attack, Tropical Beach was great at drawing cards each turn with no drawback. This card was physically expensive to obtain, however, due to its difficulty to be obtained.
*'''{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Head Ringer|97}}''' - Played on opposing Pokémon-EX to need an extra energy to attack.
*'''{{TCG ID|Phantom Forces|Robo Substitute|102}}''' - While in play, Robo substitute counted as a Pokémon that did not give the opponent Prize cards when knocked out.
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==Reasons for the loss of playability==
After its debut in the 2015 Nationals, players have adapted to playing against stall, such as using less Special Energy or including {{TCG ID|Primal Clash|Bunnelby|121}} to shuffle resources back into the deck. {{e|Grass}} Pokémon would later be present in the meta, which hit Wailord-EX for Weakness, as well {{TCG ID|BREAKpoint|Puzzle of Time|109}}. This deck was still a small contender up to the 2017-2018 season featuring in a few Top 16s, but newer stall/control decks had better tournament results.
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{{Project TCG notice}}
[[Category:Deck archetypes]]