Well if you'd like the cheating idea, we could have Nautilus telling Tylor his opponent's cards. That'd seem more pirate-ish, right? xD
But yeah, I like this for a start, and as for our battling tactics, your ranged Damage-Over-Time (gonna call it DoT from now on) guy is a good combination for a melee like my character. Especially when he evolves - Feraligatr is also tanky. Imagine the ownage! 8D
But in this situation, we'll just have to run away.