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Standard Garchomp/ Lucario (Forbidden Light Updates)

Henny Paks

Aspiring Trainer
Member
The basic premise behind the Garchomp/ Lucario deck kind of outlined with Ultra Prism is to keep using the ability on Lucario to continuously pull out Cynthia each turn and hit for 200 damage with Garchomp. With Forbidden Light introducing the newly typed Garchomp, in fighting that is, I'm thinking that Garchomp/Lucario will see a big increase in play due to the heavy buff of fighting types recently with things like Buzzwole GX, Lucario GX, and Diance Prism Star. This list is updated with cards from Forbidden Light to provide a more new type of list with different ways of support.

Pokemon - 21
* 3 Garchomp FBL 62/131
* 1 Garchomp ULP 99/156
* 1 Gabite FBL 61/131
* 1 Gabite ULP 98/156
* 3 Gible FBL 60/131
* 1 Gible ULP 96/131
* 3 Lucario ULP 67/156
* 3 Riolu ULP 66/156
* 1 Diance {*} FBL 74/131
* 2 Tapu Lele GX GRI 60/145

Trainers - 31
* 4 Cynthia ULP
* 3 Professor Sycamore BKP
* 1 Guzma BUS
* 2 Brigette BKT (I think)
* 1 N FCO
* 4 Ultra Ball SLG
* 3 Rare Candy SM
* 2 Pal Pad ULP
* 4 Puzzle of Time BKP
* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI
* 1 Field Blower GRI
* 1 Evosoda GEN
* 1 Special Charge STS
* 2 Parallel City BKT
* 3 Choice Band GRI
* 1 Escape Board ULP

Energy - 8
* 4 Double Colorless Energy SLG
* 4 Fighting Energy FBL

Explanation:
*The variation of typing the Garchomp lines is simply a way to counter a potential grass pokemon matchup, so you have a typing to fall back on when you still want to hit your big numbers with Garchomp. That is also another reason for the Zoroark inclusion, so the potential grass matchup isn't so hard to counter.

* Personally, I find the ascension Gible (and Gabite) to be a better use than the Rock Hiding one. The inclusion of one could very well be done, just simply removing one of the fighting type ascension ones. 2 Gabite, one of each type, is simply to use Gible's ascension if your rare candies are in your prize cards or in your deck.

* Lucario's main and only purpose in the deck is for its Precognitive Aura ability which allows (as long as Garchomp in play) to search your deck for any card. You need to constantly be using this ability to grab stuff like Pal Pad and Cynthia to make sure decking out isn't an issue, and also to grab any evolutions or other things you might need. The more Lucario you have out, the better. I find 2 to be preferable, so I can grab a Cynthia and an additional thing to use such as an energy.

* Diance{*} is in the deck to boost the attack damage up to 250 (with a choice band) so Garchomp may knock out any pokemon in the current meta.

* Don't feel that you don't have enough supporters, because Lucario and Garchomp are quite easy to get rolling together. With the inclusion of Pal Pad, you can shuffle as many Cynthia back as you want, saying that you use your puzzles of time effectively.

* Ultra Ball is the perfect search card, and Rare Candy is too good not to include in a deck with stage 2 pokemon. Field Blower, Special Charge, Puzzle of Time, and Pal Pad are essential items to keep the deck moving and the game rolling. Evosoda is there for evolving (wow!). No rescue stretcher or any revivals might come as a surprise to you, but noting the thick lines of each evolution allow for the ability to discard them with an Ultra Ball or just let them get knocked out.

* 2 Parallel City are to counter decks that use bench damagers like Decidueye GX, or something like Zoroark GX, to prevent your opponent from drawing cards. You can also use it to lock up slots or remove essential pokemon midgame. Playing 2 is simply so you have one to fall back on if the first is hit with a field blower. Be careful not to pair the Parallel city with the Zoroark though, because you want to hit for as much damage as possible when you do have to use it.

* Choice Band (obviously). The 1 Escape board may be noted as a weird selection for retreat, but I use it because the only pokemon that need to retreat has a single retreat cost, so why not be able to retreat in the off chance that the opponent puts you to sleep. If Zoroark is your active and needs to get out of there, you either have been hit by a Guzma or are just not doing too great in the game so far.

*8 energy is a good consistent number, saying that you can pull them out with Lucario. You only need a double colorless energy and a fighting energy to attack with Garchomp, so the inclusion of 4 of each allows for more space while still making it easy to get your attackers up and running. I never really find myself on an energy deficit when playing against other players.

Thank you so much for reading through this!!! Please give me some feedback and tips/suggestions about ideas you may have regarding this list. I think that people are sleeping on Garchomp/Lucario, so get your hands on the proper materials before people start to realize how good it is.
 
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This list seems a little all over the place. Simple is often better. I also feel like Evo Soda is a better card than Rare Candy in this deck. Not only does it help you get Garchomps rolling but it will also grab you Lucario. There's no good reason IMO to play any Dragon Type Garchomp. If grass was a common meta type then I would see it, but youre more likely to hit fairy than you are to hit grass. I wonder if Diance is worth it in this deck as well. I feel like it's better suited to Buzz/Roc. Choice Bands will be plenty reliable and you could play Strong Energy for the extra boost.
 
I would honestly play the full 4 Puzzles to replace a Pal Pad and possibly a Rare Candy, or even the Special Charge. Having 2 Lucarios out with its ability active makes it very easy to pull double Puzzles off and recover your resources, making Pal Pad actually not all that necessary in my personal experience.

I also think that instead of the Dragon Gabite, the one from Breakpoint with the attach that prevents retreating has more utility.

I'm not quite sure what the 1-1 Zoroark line is doing for you tbh. I would strongly consider playing Brooklet Hills or more Evo Sodas to boost your consistency instead.
 
I would honestly play the full 4 Puzzles to replace a Pal Pad and possibly a Rare Candy, or even the Special Charge. Having 2 Lucarios out with its ability active makes it very easy to pull double Puzzles off and recover your resources, making Pal Pad actually not all that necessary in my personal experience.

I also think that instead of the Dragon Gabite, the one from Breakpoint with the attach that prevents retreating has more utility.

I'm not quite sure what the 1-1 Zoroark line is doing for you tbh. I would strongly consider playing Brooklet Hills or more Evo Sodas to boost your consistency instead.

I like Pal Pad for the simple reason that I feel like they are better cards to draw before you need them.
 
This list seems a little all over the place. Simple is often better. I also feel like Evo Soda is a better card than Rare Candy in this deck. Not only does it help you get Garchomps rolling but it will also grab you Lucario. There's no good reason IMO to play any Dragon Type Garchomp. If grass was a common meta type then I would see it, but youre more likely to hit fairy than you are to hit grass. I wonder if Diance is worth it in this deck as well. I feel like it's better suited to Buzz/Roc. Choice Bands will be plenty reliable and you could play Strong Energy for the extra boost.
Thanks for your advice!!!! I've been thinking about your suggestions, especially about the variation of Garchomp types. I'm going to keep the dragon evolutions for a little while, see if I run into any grass decks. I run 3 fighting type ones, so I can simply use the dragon one as ultra ball fodder. If I don't find any grass cards, I will switch it for a fighting type to up my chances of getting one. I think that Diance is better than strong energy, because it just takes up a bench space instead of four deck spots. Fighting energies can't be discarded by an enhanced hammer for a Sylveon GX deck. (I know Double Colorless can be, but I don't want to be completely energy dry.) I agree with your statements though, thanks for your help!!
 
I like Pal Pad for the simple reason that I feel like they are better cards to draw before you need them.
I'm not quite sure what you're trying to get at here. A dead card is a dead card regardless of whether its a Pal Pad or a Puzzle of Time. In either case, there's no way you'll need 2 Pal Pads, since you're already playing 4 Cynthias and (I'm suggesting) 4 Puzzles. If, for instance, you use 2 Cynthias to set up, you still have up to 2 Cynthias to take KOs on GX Pokemon, 4 Puzzles to reuse Cynthia, and a Pal Pad to get them back. Getting rid of a Pal Pad still leaves you with plenty of means at getting them back, so a second one is just overkill and not all that helpful.

I don't think you need 2 Lele, cus you have lucario...
2 Lele is optimal since one could easily be prized in a game and you're really killing for a turn 1 Brigette with this deck. Yes, Lucario will take over Lele's role for consistency mid-late game but in the early game, you need Lele to set up.
 
I don't think you need 2 Lele, cus you have lucario...
I would generally agree with such for most lists, but the early game setup can be very difficult to get sometimes, so having the 2 Tapu Lele GX is a great way to get set up quickly. Besides, if you don't end up using them, they can just be easy discards for Ultra Ball. I will think about it though, Thanks for your Idea!!!!
 
Hi everyone. I'm new in this forum! I've been thinking a lot in a fighting garchomp deck and I agree in almost all of the cards that appear in your list but, since I don't have any tapu lele, I decided to build a deck a bit different from the usual. First of all I decided to put only 3 garchomps, 2 gabites and 3 gibles as the deck is not only focused in Garchomp. Then I added the Diancie prism star and the usual 2 riolu and 2 lucario. Then, as you're not interested to play guzma because to kill a pokemon you'll need a cynthia, I introduced 2 rockruff and 2 Lycanroc GX in order to use it's ability to change my rival's active pokemon and to take advantage of the GX attack that this deck normally wouldn't use. The rest of the deck is almost the same except I only use 2 rare candy and 2 brooklet hills in order to get every turn one pokemon that I need. I'd love to read your comments to see how good this version is.
 
Hi everyone. I'm new in this forum! I've been thinking a lot in a fighting garchomp deck and I agree in almost all of the cards that appear in your list but, since I don't have any tapu lele, I decided to build a deck a bit different from the usual. First of all I decided to put only 3 garchomps, 2 gabites and 3 gibles as the deck is not only focused in Garchomp. Then I added the Diancie prism star and the usual 2 riolu and 2 lucario. Then, as you're not interested to play guzma because to kill a pokemon you'll need a cynthia, I introduced 2 rockruff and 2 Lycanroc GX in order to use it's ability to change my rival's active pokemon and to take advantage of the GX attack that this deck normally wouldn't use. The rest of the deck is almost the same except I only use 2 rare candy and 2 brooklet hills in order to get every turn one pokemon that I need. I'd love to read your comments to see how good this version is.
Thank you so much for the advice on my list!!! I enjoyed your differences in your own list, showing how versatile Garchomp/Lucario can really be! Personally, keeping the 4-2-4 Garchomp line is essential for me. Usually, without the consistency of the high numbers, I will struggle to get the evolutions out of the deck. Even with such a high count, using ultra balls won't make you discard your own precious resources, instead dump the evolution pieces you don't need. I did try playing Lycanroc GX, but I found it too bulky, and I'm trying my best to make the deck all run within the parameters of an escape board. I don't like having a two prize attacker on board, because prolonging my chances at getting ahead is vital, not giving multiple prizes per turn. I usually don't have any trouble getting out first turn Gible and Riolu, but I will think about adding at least 1 Brooklet hill. Hope you understand my logic behind my choices, and thank you so much for commenting!!!
 
Thank you so much for the advice on my list!!! I enjoyed your differences in your own list, showing how versatile Garchomp/Lucario can really be! Personally, keeping the 4-2-4 Garchomp line is essential for me. Usually, without the consistency of the high numbers, I will struggle to get the evolutions out of the deck. Even with such a high count, using ultra balls won't make you discard your own precious resources, instead dump the evolution pieces you don't need. I did try playing Lycanroc GX, but I found it too bulky, and I'm trying my best to make the deck all run within the parameters of an escape board. I don't like having a two prize attacker on board, because prolonging my chances at getting ahead is vital, not giving multiple prizes per turn. I usually don't have any trouble getting out first turn Gible and Riolu, but I will think about adding at least 1 Brooklet hill. Hope you understand my logic behind my choices, and thank you so much for commenting!!!
I understand everything you said and I find it really logical. I thought that with the lycanroc you could decide better which of your opponent's pokemons kill, but if it makes the deck not consistent enough I find obvious that having another garchomp evolution line is better.
 
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