@Duo best advice. Thank you so much (poster is my younger brother). Getting a Salazzle in time might be tough. Also without Octillery what do you do about late game Ns?
With things like Starmie, baby Volcanion, and Turtonator GX, your end game should be mostly you playing out of your discard pile for energy rather than out of your deck. With the exception of grabbing game winning Guzmas, by the time you're looking at 1 to 2 prizes remaining, you should have already played out everything you've needed and have whatever attackers you need on the board to close the game by virtue of planning ahead. Decks like Gardevoir GX need Octillery because they constantly need things in hand. They need all evolution stages, energy, rare candy, everything comes out of hand at every stage of the game. This is not true for fire.
Fire decks don't necessarily need that if you're establishing a reasonable amount of energy in your discard pile and playing out of your Pokemon's attacks and abilities rather than out of your deck. Turtonator GX is absolutely fantastic because it guarantees energy to play with in your discard pile through Bright Flame and therefore fuels its own GX attack, Starmie, and Volcanion. IMO, Turtonator GX is the most versatile card fire has and it should be the main attacker in every fire deck with Ho-Oh and Salazzle taking 2nd seat depending on match up.
All that being said, if you can find room for 1 Oranguru I would still do it. There's nothing wrong with a back up plan, but make sure it's not taking out of the deck's main strategy to fit him in.
Pokemon x16
Turtonator GX x3
Ho-Oh GX x2
Salazzle GX x2
Salandit x2
Tapu Koko x3
Tapu Lele GX x3
Oranguru x1
Supporter x13
Sycamore x4
N x4
Guzma x3
Kiawe x2
Item x17
Ultra Ball x4
Choice Band x4
Max Elixir x4
Switch x3
Nest Ball x1
Field Blower x1
Energy x14
Fire Energy x14
This is actually the list I'm experimenting with right now. The idea is to open a Tapu Koko on bench, Max elixir and attach, then play Switch to get it into the active, and Kiawe onto Turt/Ho-Oh to end the turn. Spread 20 damage across everything for a few turns, and do a little extra in case you think your opponent is running FFB.
I run Choice Band in this build because I'm not face tanking directly with my Turtonator GX or Ho-Oh GX. I'm face tanking with my Tapu Koko, and if you take that KO, I'm totally okay with that (7 prize game). The Oranguru in this build is not only a source of draw power, but it's my counter to Alolan Ninetales BUS thanks to Max Elixir and Nitro Tank GX.
This build abandons both Starmie and Volcanion because they become unnecessary. I don't need Starmie because I'm never discarding energy for Steam Up and I never need energy in hand to do it, and I don't play Volcanion because Turtonator GX is my only natural discard outlet for energy.
Salazzle GX is my back up plan for if Tapu Koko/Kiawe don't open as intended and I need the disruption from Queen's Haze or simply take more efficient 2 hit KOs. Flying Flip also allows me to get in there with Diabolical Claws as early as 3 prizes taken.
I don't have enough experience in the competitive environment with this build for me to say that it's great, but if I were to say anything, this build has been much more consistent for me than setting up 2 Volcanion EXs and a Starmie and needing 2 energy in hand every time I want a KO. Instead of setting up my board, I set up damage on my opponent's side of the field. My energy discards can then go to scorched earth or simply attached to turtonator for back to back to back Bright Flames.
It has been great in solo testing, but I'm not sure about its practicality. If nothing else, take it as another way to think about the deck.
I personally think Tapu Koko is mandatory in Ho-Oh decks. You have 3 free retreaters and 3 switch and 3 Guzma, and Field Blower can do nothing to stop you - Phoenix Burn is always live.
