Help Having a buzz Garb crisis

formula1man

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
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Hey all.

I’ve decided I want to play buzzwole Garb at the internationals but can’t decide which build.
The Trashalanche version that Caleb discussed in his article is good but I struggle with the rainbow energy and Garb only having 120hp meaning I really need two to get the job done.

I also like the Garbotoxin only version with max elixirs to turbo charge the buzzwole. But I worry it’s a bit one dimensional. I run 4 buzzwole, 3 Trubbish, 2 Garbotoxin 2 Lele and a watch and learn sudowoodo.

Which build do you think is better? And how would you build the max elixir version? I am trying to copy a decklist in but it won’t let me on my phone
 
May not help much, but I like to play both, that way you're ready for just about any matchup you get.
 
I haven't played this archetype a ton, but it seems to me like it would be too clunky to include all of strong energy, rainbow energy, and max elixir. Trashalanche would help against other buzzwoles, but not much against zoroark, which will continue to see a ton of play. I'd actually go for more of a buzzwole/lycanroc list with a zygarde EX who can KO zoroark with only 2 energies (as long as one is a strong and choice band is attached)...I'd run 9 fighting energy, 4 strong energy, 4 max elixirs, 4 choice band, 4 floats, keep the sudowoodo, drop trashalanche, good luck at internats!
 
Interestingly enough, I built my Buzzwole-Garbodor deck shortly after Buzzwole GX was available. Since that time, I've been "tweaking" it as new cards became available.

Note that years ago, I ran Landorus EX is a variety of decks and from that experience, I've found that the 30+/30 damage output was/is simply awesome. So, I'm not a Max Elixir for energy attachment-acceleration fan at all. The 30+/30 damage output is quite sufficient and less prone to not hitting the Max Elixir (frustrating me as a result... lol), being Item-locked, etc.

From the beginning, I've run 3 or 4 Buzzwole GX, a 4-2/2 Garbodor line (2 Garbotoxin and 2 Trashalanche), 2 Tapu Lele GX, 1 Espeon EX and 4 Trubbish. I also included 1 Zygarde EX initially for Weakness diversity amongst my main attackers, but I plan to phase this Pokémon out due to the popularity of Golisopod GX. This particular build has served me well. For me, this build works well too for I also run both 1 Rescue Stretcher and 1 Super Rod in order to somewhat quickly recover discarded resources.

The biggest issue I faced at the time when I first constructed this deck was determining what type and count of energy would I run. I could run either a Fighting-Psychic-Strong combo or a Fighting-Rainbow-Strong combo. Both energy combinations have their respective positives and negatives; but, I found Fighting-Psychic-Strong energy a bit easier to "manage" with Energy Retrieval. Plus, I just dislike damaging my own Pokémon with Rainbow energy which would also be a target for my opponents' Enhanced Hammer plays.

I'd suggest testing different deck combinations till you find 1 that works for you. Enjoy.
 
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Interestingly enough, I built my Buzzwole-Garbodor deck shortly after Buzzwole GX was available. Since that time, I've been "tweaking" it as new cards became available.

Note that years ago, I ran Landorus EX is a variety of decks and from that experience, I've found that the 30+/30 damage output was/is simply awesome. So, I'm not a Max Elixir for energy attachment-acceleration fan at all. The 30+/30 damage output is quite sufficient and less prone to not hitting the Max Elixir (frustrating me as a result... lol), being Item-locked, etc.

From the beginning, I've run 3 or 4 Buzzwole GX, a 4-2/2 Garbodor line (2 Garbotoxin and 2 Trashalanche), 2 Tapu Lele GX, 1 Espeon EX and 4 Trubbish. I also included 1 Zygarde EX initially for Weakness diversity amongst my main attackers, but I plan to phase this Pokémon out due to the popularity of Golisopod GX. This particular build has served me well. For me, this build works well too for I also run both 1 Rescue Stretcher and 1 Super Rod in order to somewhat quickly recover discarded resources.

I biggest issue I faced at the time when I first constructed this deck is what ype and coount of energy would I run. I could run either a Fighting-Psychic-Strong combo or a Fighting-Rainbow-Strong combo. Both energy combinations have their respective positives and negatives; but, I found Fighting-Psychic-Strong energy a bit easier to "manage" with Energy Retrieval. Plus, I just dislike damaging my own Pokémon with Rainbow energy which would also be a target for my opponents' Enhanced Hammer plays.

I'd suggest testing different deck combinations till you find 1 that works for you. Enjoy.

Thank you so much for your help. I definitely want to play Garbotoxin at Sydney. I used to be a goli Garb player but buzzwole is mich easier to set up
 
Well, it's a complicated with a complicated answer. Honestly, Trashalanche makes the deck really tick, but Max Elixirs enabling Knuckle Impacts are probably better. That's about the most simple I can make it right now.
Being aggressive with Ability lock is great, but you'd also have to be very conscient of your consistency, because That's been an issue for Garb without VS Seeker this season, which is why people stuck with Goli/Garb, because it only had to have 1 Energy to attack. Although Buzzwole is the same, Goli hit for 120, not 30. I'm actually curious on how to build this, so I'll playtest on TCGO and get back to you
 
Use the 2-3 Garbotoxin line with Max elixirs because it's more consistent and even though Trash helps against the Mirror match, like @KK-Swizzle said, the strong, fighting, and rainbow energy could be to clunky and the Garbotoxin is better because you can add more stuff to help get set up rather than using up space for the Trashalanche's.

Hope I helped. :)
 
Use the 2-3 Garbotoxin line with Max elixirs because it's more consistent and even though Trash helps against the Mirror match, like @KK-Swizzle said, the strong, fighting, and rainbow energy could be to clunky and the Garbotoxin is better because you can add more stuff to help get set up rather than using up space for the Trashalanche's.

Hope I helped. :)
Yeah, I only just started testing Buzzwole Garb with Elixirs and only Garbotoxin, but it's significantly better than Trashalanche from firsthand play. I also think Zygarde-EX is better than Sudowoodo because healing, 2HKO-ing and having different weakness under ability lock is poppin'
 
Thanks guys

So how is this for a list? It’s good. I’d like Acerola but then I don’t really want to Acerola with 3 energies attached.


* 4 Buzzwole-GX CIN 57
* 1 Zygarde EX
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 3 Trubbish GRI 50
* 2 Garbodor BKP 57
* 1 Espeon Ex

* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Brigette BKT 134
* 1 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 N NVI 92
* 4 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 2 Enhanced Hammer GRI 124
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 4 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 Max Elixir BKP 102
* 1 Super Rod NVI 95

##Energy - 13

* 4 Strong Energy FCO 115
* 9 Fighting Energy 6
 
Thanks guys

So how is this for a list? It’s good. I’d like Acerola but then I don’t really want to Acerola with 3 energies attached.


* 4 Buzzwole-GX CIN 57
* 1 Zygarde EX
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 3 Trubbish GRI 50
* 2 Garbodor BKP 57
* 1 Espeon Ex

* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Brigette BKT 134
* 1 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 N NVI 92
* 4 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 2 Enhanced Hammer GRI 124
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 4 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 Max Elixir BKP 102
* 1 Super Rod NVI 95

##Energy - 13

* 4 Strong Energy FCO 115
* 9 Fighting Energy 6
That's legit almost the same 60 I started at except for Hammers. I actually dropped 1 Trubbish because Brigette got it out so early I wouldn't need the extra. I'm also playing 2 Parallel and Stretcher over the Rod. Upping the basic fighting count to 10 was also really good. Hammers are nice, but I'd rather have better speed so I can KO things faster. Choice Band is a must though. Even if only a split, Choice Band's damage is way too much to ignore. With Zygarde having a Strong Energy, you Cell Storm for 110 instead of 90, which makes a big difference in the slow games. Another thing about Zygarde is that you just need a stadium and a Strong Energy to hit for 60, when Buzzwole would need the Belt. It seems miniscule in difference, but if your opponent plays a stadium, that activates Zygarde too. And what is the Espeon for? If you don't play the slow game, then you can KO evolved Pokemon with a similar amount of effort as digging for Espeon AND an energy, when Buzzwole will already have energy attached to it. And half the time, those evolutions will yield 2 prizes.
 
The espeon was there as a win condition late game if I start to run out of the ability to get energy on buzzwole
 
The espeon was there as a win condition late game if I start to run out of the ability to get energy on buzzwole
But if you fail to get Energy on Buzzwole, you can't get Energy on Espeon either. Because of Strong Energy, you're MORE likely to have Energy for Buzzwole. After testing with Espeon in the version with Max Elixirs, it was the first card I dropped. Because Max Elixir lets you Knuckle Impact, that's usually what you want to do, and doing so means you don't play the slow Jet Punch game, which Trashalanche variants do, and why Espeon is utilized there, but not here. Same goes for Fury Belt. You want to be taking prizes faster than your opponent, and sacrificing damage for HP in a format where everything 2HKOs or OHKOs you either way only benefits Choice Band. The only thing Fury Bell's really good for is Jet Punching for 60 in the first couple turns, which Zygarde also does.
 
Interestingly enough, I built my Buzzwole-Garbodor deck shortly after Buzzwole GX was available. Since that time, I've been "tweaking" it as new cards became available.

Note that years ago, I ran Landorus EX is a variety of decks and from that experience, I've found that the 30+/30 damage output was/is simply awesome. So, I'm not a Max Elixir for energy attachment-acceleration fan at all. The 30+/30 damage output is quite sufficient and less prone to not hitting the Max Elixir (frustrating me as a result... lol), being Item-locked, etc.

From the beginning, I've run 3 or 4 Buzzwole GX, a 4-2/2 Garbodor line (2 Garbotoxin and 2 Trashalanche), 2 Tapu Lele GX, 1 Espeon EX and 4 Trubbish. I also included 1 Zygarde EX initially for Weakness diversity amongst my main attackers, but I plan to phase this Pokémon out due to the popularity of Golisopod GX. This particular build has served me well. For me, this build works well too for I also run both 1 Rescue Stretcher and 1 Super Rod in order to somewhat quickly recover discarded resources.

I biggest issue I faced at the time when I first constructed this deck is what ype and coount of energy would I run. I could run either a Fighting-Psychic-Strong combo or a Fighting-Rainbow-Strong combo. Both energy combinations have their respective positives and negatives; but, I found Fighting-Psychic-Strong energy a bit easier to "manage" with Energy Retrieval. Plus, I just dislike damaging my own Pokémon with Rainbow energy which would also be a target for my opponents' Enhanced Hammer plays.

I'd suggest testing different deck combinations till you find 1 that works for you. Enjoy.

I think people mainly run the Rainbow Energy because it offers a convenient ping that makes Acerola easier to use. Sure, you have a lot of Float Stones, but Field Blowers are always around, and Acerola is very good as both an emergency switch and prize denial without the drawback of AZ. For low-energy attackers like Buzzwole and Trashalanche Garbodor, the added mobility is pretty hard to pass up.
 
I think people mainly run the Rainbow Energy because it offers a convenient ping that makes Acerola easier to use. Sure, you have a lot of Float Stones, but Field Blowers are always around, and Acerola is very good as both an emergency switch and prize denial without the drawback of AZ. For low-energy attackers like Buzzwole and Trashalanche Garbodor, the added mobility is pretty hard to pass up.
Great point! Thanks.
 
Thanks guys

So how is this for a list? It’s good. I’d like Acerola but then I don’t really want to Acerola with 3 energies attached.


* 4 Buzzwole-GX CIN 57
* 1 Zygarde EX
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 3 Trubbish GRI 50
* 2 Garbodor BKP 57
* 1 Espeon Ex

* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Brigette BKT 134
* 1 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 N NVI 92
* 4 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 2 Enhanced Hammer GRI 124
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 4 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 Max Elixir BKP 102
* 1 Super Rod NVI 95

##Energy - 13

* 4 Strong Energy FCO 115
* 9 Fighting Energy 6
A few thoughts for your consideration:

You may want to incorporate at least 1 Acerola (for -1 Max Elixir) in order to save a wounded Pokémon from being KOd.

A T1 Lillie can be HUGE; so, consider incorporating another 2nd Lillie (for -1 N).

IMO, 3 Float Stone should be sufficient to maintain an active Garbotoxin. So, consider replacing 1 Float Stone with another Parallel City (will becritical in Zoroark GX match-ups).

I hope you find these comments helpful.
 
The reason you would be playing strictly Garbotoxin is due to the amount of abilities being used. If you go that route, which is a fine option, you want Garbotoxin to be activated and stick. Keep your float stone and FFB counts at 4 each.
 
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