Rolie Polie Golie — Golisopod-GX Unraveled

Welcome back to PokeBeach, everyone! This is my first article since the North American International Championship, where I played the deck I talked about in my last article, Espeon-GX / Garbodor. I took home a Top 16 finish, only losing my last round over the course of two days to finish 9/0/5. I still think that deck is incredible going forward with the release of our August set, Burning Shadows, but today I’ll be chatting with you about something I’m even more excited about — Golisopod-GX. Now, Golisopod is a tricky Pokemon to figure out. We might have to see if we can fully unravel it to truly understand it!

Golisopod

As you can see, this card has three super cool attacks. First Impression is the absolute best part about this card, and that attack is how I plan to build Golisopod-GX going forward. You’re going to want to have a way to switch your Golisopod-GX to the Bench in some way each turn, and that’s where two new cards are incredible in making this combination work.

Acerola – Trainer
Supporter
Choose 1 of your Pokemon with damage counters on it. Return that Pokemon and all cards attached to it to your hand.
You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack).

Guzma – Trainer

Supporter

Switch your opponent’s Active Pokemon with 1 of their Benched Pokemon. Then, switch your Active Pokemon with 1 of your Benched Pokemon.

You can only play 1 Supporter card during your turn (before your attack).

These two cards are both fantastic, and together, they make Golisopod-GX’s first attack absolutely bonkers. I’ll delve into this a bit more later on, but for now, I’ll call out the next two attacks. Armor Press is a solid smack of 100 damage, which can easily go in conjunction for a 2HKO on most Pokemon. The reduction of 20 damage from your opponent’s attacks is just a bonus, but can have its uses. Golisopod’s GX attack isn’t exactly flashy, but it’s a great way to save a damaged Golisopod-GX from an inevitable Knock Out. It cranks up the damage a little bit, too, which can serve as a medium to take some bigger Knock Outs if necessary.

Overall, Golisopod-GX is an amazing Pokemon, and it is going to be a great attacker! There are a few potential partners for the card that become quite apparent: Decidueye-GX; Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon; Lurantis; or even Zoroark. These are damage buffs, or in Zoroark’s case, a backup attacker, which take Golisopod-GX to the next level. I’ll be talking about all the versions of this deck for you shortly, showing you how to play it, and recommending a version to you which I think is better. Let’s team up and see if we can get Golisopod to unravel and show us its secrets!

Decidueye-GX

This is an interesting way to play this deck, where you build up Decidueye-GX alongside Golisopod-GX and use Feather Arrow to complement Golisopod’s already strong attacks. First Impression is absolutely incredible when you can use two Feather Arrows a turn to “boost” your damage up to 160 overall, and if you have a Choice Band, you’ll be taking OHKOs on just about anything. Both cards work together since you’ll already be playing Forest of Giant Plants!

Eeveelutions

When in doubt as a Stage 1 deck, add Eevee! Well, maybe don’t, but in Golisopod’s case, you definitely should. Starting off with 120 (potential) damage for just a Grass Energy is nothing to scoff at, but when you have the potential to turn that attack into a OHKO machine, by all means, do it. As a quick run through, Flareon is super against Lurantis-GX and Metagross-GX builds, Jolteon is for M Rayquaza-EX variants, and Vaporeon is incredible against Volcanion decks right now, beating down on their Fire-type Weakness. While some decks are tighter on space than others, with this deck, I’ve found you can easily fit all three Eeveelutions, and with them, shore up some matchups that would otherwise be tough to beat.

Lurantis

I haven’t tried this version of the deck out as much as I have played with the Eeveelutions, admittedly, but I think it’s generally lackluster. While you can take your damage output to new heights, regardless of Weakness types, you sacrifice a more acutely consistent version. Lurantis only adds 20 damage with one on the Bench, two-fold with two, and so on. In order to reach the higher numbers, you need to have multiple copies on your Bench. This said, you’re going to be sacrificing space for important Pokemon like Octillery, or Oranguru (either card is very important to the deck), depending on which you play, or a space for a backup Golisopod-GX, Tapu Lele-GX, and so on. You almost need two Lurantis out at a time to make the damage boost relevant, which I’m not the hugest fan of, either.

Zoroark

This card is a neat way to supplement Golispod’s move set. Zoroark’s Mind Jack is always very potent, and it keeps opponent’s Bench sizes in check. Golisopod is a very efficient attacker, and with Zoroark, you can finish Knock Outs as a non-EX/GX Pokemon. Sometimes with some Pokemon, it’s just a matter of finding a solid attacking partner, and Zoroark might be that guy in this deck’s case!

Acerola, Guzma, and the Epitome of Switching

To consistently do 120 damage with Golisopod’s First Impression attack, you’re going to need to find a way to switch it out each turn. Acerola in combination with Forest of Giant Plants is my favorite way to do this, and it adds to the deck’s strategy, too. Whenever your opponent damages a Golisopod-GX for less than a Knock Out, you can simply use Acerola to pick it up immediately, promote another one, and hit for 120 while playing down the one you just picked up back on your Bench.

Guzma is a new-age Lysandre print, with a small benefit — or drawback, depending on your situation. Playing Guzma down can score you a quick Prize or two, and it even comes with the add-on of making you switch your Pokemon. In doing so, you’ll be fueling First Impression as well, and buffing your one Grass Energy attack up to the whopping 120 mark that I’ve grown so fond of.

Aside from these two options, there are other cards that can help you switch around. In the list I’ll be showing you shortly, I have Acerola, Guzma, Olympia, Escape Rope, Float Stone, and Switch! If you can, you can even retreat your Active Pokemon to fuel the damage. I’m simply enamored with this super cost-efficient attack, and very excited to use this deck even more than I have already.

My Favorite

Right now, I’m definitely the biggest fan of Golisopod-GX with Eeveelutions. I like the one-shot threat that the Eeveelutions bring to the deck; notably, without them, you offer up a bad matchup to Volcanion decks. Volcanion figures to be one of the best decks going forward with the release of Kiawe, so I’d be a fool not to expect it, and prepare for it properly. Playing Eevee also allows you to play more cards without clogging your deck with a thicker line of Lurantis. Overall, I believe the Eeveelution route gives you more options, and space, to build a better more well-rounded deck.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

If you'd like to continue reading, consider purchasing a PokeBeach premium membership! If you're not completely satisfied with your membership, you can request a full refund within 30 days.

Each week we post high-quality content from some of the game's top players. Our article program isn't a corporate operation, advertising front, or for-profit business. We set our prices so that we can pay the game's top players to write the best content for our subscribers. Each article topic is carefully selected, goes through multiple drafts, and is touched up by our editors. We take great pride in our program!