Hey guys! I have been a fan of the Solgaleo-GX card and the deck ever since the release of Sun & Moon's base set, but it never seemed an optimal choice in the current meta. At least until Gardevoir-GX rolled around and I suddenly felt validated in my opinion. Now that new sets and products in 2018 are about to make Solgaleo-GX even stronger by adding some amazing cards with great synergy to the existing deck, I thought I'd update my deck list and talk about it a little.
Before we continue, I would like to give a shoutout to Duo, who has already put a lot of work into a great list for the upcoming additions to Solgaleo-GX. I read through his entire topic and thoroughly enjoyed his in-depth analysis. My deck will be slightly different from the one he theory-crafted, but his topic is a must-read if you are looking for multiple ideas on how to compile a list for yourself.
For reference, this is the Solgaleo-GX deck that I currently play:
So, let's talk about some of the things I've changed from the original list and what is different between my version and Duo's, which I consider to be the (maybe the only) definitive version of Newgaleo-GX.
The most obvious difference between my list and Duo's is the split of Solgaleo-GX. Where he decided to play a 2-2 split of the classic Solgaleo-GX and its new variant, I have decided to for a 3-1 split that favors the existing card. The reason for this is twofold: Solgaleo-GX SUM is still and will always remain the deck's primary attacker. Its insane Sol Burst GX attack is probably still the biggest tempo boost in the game. Playing 3 copies of the card simply improves your chances of finding it and makes it more likely you will be able to bench two. On top of that, its Ultra Road ability is also an essential part of the deck's inner workings, and using it twice in one turn can be incredibly potent.
Newgaleo-GX to me is more of a tech inclusion than the attacker the deck is built around. It's Turbo Strike attack is exceptionally good both for its energy accelerating utility and dealing 120 damage for a mere 1 DCE. However, with the exception of some Fairy- and Water-types (mostly just Gardevoir-GX and Alolan Ninetales-GX, if we're honest) this attack does not one-hit KO any Pokémon GX. It's not meant to, either. Turbo Strike, like Rayquaza's Turbo Storm attack, is meant to do one thing really well: power up another Pokémon.
Of course, there is the ability to consider. Shining Mane makes it so that none of your Pokémon in play have a Weakness. Incredibly potent utility! However, contrary to Ultra Road is does not get better by benching a second copy.
Aside from that, I'm not super impressed by Newgaleo-GX's Prominence GX attack. Early game it is completely useless, and Sol Burst GX is pretty much a mandatory turn 2 play if you can pull it off. A turn 2 Solgaleo-GX with Sol Burst basically guarantees not only that your active Pokémon will survive a turn (250HP), but that you will be able to take the early lead by taking knockouts on turns 3 and maybe 4 as well. At that point, your opponent will be so far behind you should be able to take a turn to recharge either with Rayquaza or Newgaleo-GX.
You will notice the omission of Drampa-GX this time around. I wanted to include both Registeel (which works well against baby Alolan Ninetales and Fairy-decks) and Solgaleo Prism Star without skimping on Rayquaza, which I still consider to be one of the driving forces behind this deck. Drampa is situationally good, but only when there are damaged Pokémon on the bench. His Special Energy-removing attack is good, but the deck already has to get a lot of stuff done in as little time as possible. Fitting in a utility move that only does 20 damage is going to be a tough sell. I think precious bench space will be better spent on either Registeel, Rayquaza or Solgaleo PS going forward.
Speaking of Solgaleo Prism Star, this is a curious one. It's not great as an attacker because it needs 4 energy to do any damage at all, which is WAY too steep to be practical. But if you ever find yourself low on energy after going on the offensive early, being able to just slap it down, attach 1 energy, Ultra Road it to the active spot and recover up to six energy from the discard pile is insane! Also, it being a non-GX basic could force your opponent into a 7-prize game if they can't quite land the final blow on your tanky Solgaleo-GX. Don't bench this card in advance, only play it from your hand when you really need it. It's a game-changer, particularly if you have somehow fallen behind.
No Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX here, contrary to Duo's list. At 190HP it's maybe a little too easy to knock out in a deck that's otherwise very hard to one-hit KO against, and its attacks are decidedly meh. Claw Slash is terrible value at 3 energy, and Meteor Tempest is like Sunsteel Strike but slightly worse. Eclipse Sun GX is probably its best attack, but Sol Burst GX is still the better play. The deck already has its Basic GX in Tapu Lele-GX and I don't think this card is worth including.
I also decided against including a copy of baby Solgaleo from GRI, even though it's great. With the addition of Registeel and Solgaleo Prism Star the deck has plenty of non-GX attackers, and having 5 stage two evolution Pokémon for 4 basic Pokémon just seems like a terrible idea. I would not trade Solgaleo-GX for it either, so it had to go.
In my mind the ideal bench setup for this deck would be as follows:
1 Solgaleo-GX (Ultra Road) ACTIVE
|
|
1 Solgaleo-GX (Ultra Road), 1 Solgaleo GX (Shining Mane), 1 Tapu Lele-GX, 1 Rayquaza, 1 open space
This is what you would set up for with Brigette on turn 1. Replace Rayquaza with Registeel when playing against Gardevoir-GX or Alolan Ninetales-GX. This setup allows for back-and-forth switching with Ultra Road to get out of status effects and Shining Mane protects you from being hit for weakness. Keep the 5th space open for when you need a 2nd Tapu Lele-GX in a pinch, or to bench Solgaleo Prism Star when the time comes to use its Rising Star attack.
In terms of the deck's trainers/supporters, most will be self-explanatory. I like playing a copy or two of Heavy Ball because it's so good at finding Cosmoem and Solgaleo-GX, but sadly it won't find Newgaleo-GX. Still, it's a worthy inclusion for when you want to find a Pokémon without discarding two potentially valuable cards.
I dropped Nest Ball and Max Potion. I like both and I will have to see how the deck plays without them, but I feel like both are situational enough that the deck will be fine without them. Rescue Stretcher replaces Super Rod because it's now easier than ever to use Pokémon to recover energy from the discard pile. Being able to put a Pokémon from the discard pile back into your hand is also VERY good, so Rescue Stretcher it is.
The upcoming Cynthia card is a very welcome alternative to both N and Hala, the latter of which was a good one-of play in this deck. Early game you will not always want to discard your entire hand with Sycamore, but playing N instead could be even worse if it helps your opponent. That's where Cynthia comes in. Being able to shuffle your hand back into your deck and draw 6 new cards is pretty good, and will sometimes (but not always) be preferable to the alternatives. A 2-2 split of N and Cynthia seems a pretty decent compromise.
I still like Sycamore a LOT, but I could see a 3-3-3 split of Sycamore, N and Cynthia work as well.
A single copy of Skyla is here to grab that clutch item. Say you need a Choice Band to hit the right numbers for a one-hit KO against your opponent, and all you have is an Ultra Ball and some random cards. Ultra Ball > Tapu Lele-GX > Skyla > Choice Band is clunky as hell, but it works. Every time. I'll go to bat for a one-of Skyla in every deck ever, and this deck certainly is no exception.
Well.. that certainly turned out to be a big ol' wall of text. I hope to hear from you guys what you think of my list and I would like to extend my thanks again to Duo for putting me on the right track! Peace!
Before we continue, I would like to give a shoutout to Duo, who has already put a lot of work into a great list for the upcoming additions to Solgaleo-GX. I read through his entire topic and thoroughly enjoyed his in-depth analysis. My deck will be slightly different from the one he theory-crafted, but his topic is a must-read if you are looking for multiple ideas on how to compile a list for yourself.
Pokémon: 16
- 4 Cosmog SUM
- 3 Cosmoem SUM
- 3 Solgaleo-GX SUM
- 1 Solgaleo GRI
- 2 Tapu Lele GRI
- 1 Drampa-GX GRI
- 2 Rayquaza GRI
Trainers/Supporters: 31
- 3 Rare Candy SUM
- 4 Ultra Ball SUM
- 2 Heavy Ball BKT
- 1 Nest Ball SUM
- 2 Choice Band GRI
- 3 Field Blower GRI
- 1 Super Rod BKT
- 1 Max Potion GRI
- 4 Professor Sycamore BKP
- 3 N FAC
- 1 Hala GRI
- 2 Skyla BKT
- 3 Guzma BUS
- 1 Brigette BKT
Energy: 13
- 9 Metal Energy
- 4 Double Colorless Energy
Strategy:
The idea of the deck is to get 3 knockouts on opposing GX-Pokémon by using Solgaleo-GX's Sol Burst GX attack as early as possible to set up its Sunstreel Strike attack. Its ability Ultra Road allows you to switch Pokémon in and out of the active spot as the need arises. Rayquaza can be used to accelerate energy back to Solgaleo-GX from the discard pile, allowing it to use its attack again even if most energy has been discarded.
Damage on the bench is very likely when switching Pokémon back and forth, which makes Drampa-GX a logical inclusion. It works best against non-GX attackers in tandem with the non-GX Solgaleo GRI, because unlike Solgaleo-GX neither needs to discard energy to attack. Drampa also provides a bit of disruption. Tapu Lele-GX is included for its ability to snuff out supporter cards such as Brigette or Professor Sycamore.
Ideally, you would start with 1 or 2 Cosmog on turn 1, then play Brigette for another Cosmog, a Rayquaza and a Drampa-GX. Turn 2: Rare Candy into Solgaleo-GX, use its Sol Burst GX move for energy acceleration. Turn 3 and beyond: start taking knockouts against GX-Pokémon for double prizes and keep Solgaleo-GX powered up with Rayquaza.
The idea of the deck is to get 3 knockouts on opposing GX-Pokémon by using Solgaleo-GX's Sol Burst GX attack as early as possible to set up its Sunstreel Strike attack. Its ability Ultra Road allows you to switch Pokémon in and out of the active spot as the need arises. Rayquaza can be used to accelerate energy back to Solgaleo-GX from the discard pile, allowing it to use its attack again even if most energy has been discarded.
Damage on the bench is very likely when switching Pokémon back and forth, which makes Drampa-GX a logical inclusion. It works best against non-GX attackers in tandem with the non-GX Solgaleo GRI, because unlike Solgaleo-GX neither needs to discard energy to attack. Drampa also provides a bit of disruption. Tapu Lele-GX is included for its ability to snuff out supporter cards such as Brigette or Professor Sycamore.
Ideally, you would start with 1 or 2 Cosmog on turn 1, then play Brigette for another Cosmog, a Rayquaza and a Drampa-GX. Turn 2: Rare Candy into Solgaleo-GX, use its Sol Burst GX move for energy acceleration. Turn 3 and beyond: start taking knockouts against GX-Pokémon for double prizes and keep Solgaleo-GX powered up with Rayquaza.
While this deck is very fun to play and offers great tempo under the right circumstances, there are some obvious drawbacks. First of all, Solgaleo's weakness to Fire can be rough to deal with if a lot of players at your local league play Fire-type decks. There are ways around this, but they aren't exactly ideal.
Secondly, there is little room in this deck for strong draw support such as Octillery or Zoroark. You might be able to make room for it by sacrificing some other Pokémon or trainers, but chances are you will end up hurting the deck's consistency. In my experience, when the deck works as intended it really flies. If you draw a dead hand though, it's most likely game over.
Lastly, the deck has a tough time against decks that cripple abilities, such as Garbodor variants. We really need to be able to use Solgaleo-GX's Ultra Road ability for this deck to shine and without it, we can attack maybe once before we are completely dead in the water.
With these issues in mind, let's look at the list I have in mind for when the next set and the Newgaleo-GX promo are released:
Secondly, there is little room in this deck for strong draw support such as Octillery or Zoroark. You might be able to make room for it by sacrificing some other Pokémon or trainers, but chances are you will end up hurting the deck's consistency. In my experience, when the deck works as intended it really flies. If you draw a dead hand though, it's most likely game over.
Lastly, the deck has a tough time against decks that cripple abilities, such as Garbodor variants. We really need to be able to use Solgaleo-GX's Ultra Road ability for this deck to shine and without it, we can attack maybe once before we are completely dead in the water.
With these issues in mind, let's look at the list I have in mind for when the next set and the Newgaleo-GX promo are released:
Pokemon: 17
- 4 Cosmog SUM
- 3 Cosmoem SUM
- 3 Solgaleo-GX SUM
- 1 Newgaleo-GX (?)
- 1 Registeel CRI
- 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI
- 1 Rayquaza GRI
- 1 Solgaleo Prism Star (?)
- 3 Rare Candy SUM
- 4 Ultra Ball SUM
- 2 Heavy Ball BKT
- 3 Choice Band GRI
- 3 Field Blower GRI
- 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI
- 4 Professor Sycamore BKP
- 2 N FAC
- 2 Cynthia (?)
- 1 Skyla BKT
- 3 Guzma BUS
- 2 Brigette BKT
- 9 Metal Energy
- 4 Double Colorless Energy
The most obvious difference between my list and Duo's is the split of Solgaleo-GX. Where he decided to play a 2-2 split of the classic Solgaleo-GX and its new variant, I have decided to for a 3-1 split that favors the existing card. The reason for this is twofold: Solgaleo-GX SUM is still and will always remain the deck's primary attacker. Its insane Sol Burst GX attack is probably still the biggest tempo boost in the game. Playing 3 copies of the card simply improves your chances of finding it and makes it more likely you will be able to bench two. On top of that, its Ultra Road ability is also an essential part of the deck's inner workings, and using it twice in one turn can be incredibly potent.
Newgaleo-GX to me is more of a tech inclusion than the attacker the deck is built around. It's Turbo Strike attack is exceptionally good both for its energy accelerating utility and dealing 120 damage for a mere 1 DCE. However, with the exception of some Fairy- and Water-types (mostly just Gardevoir-GX and Alolan Ninetales-GX, if we're honest) this attack does not one-hit KO any Pokémon GX. It's not meant to, either. Turbo Strike, like Rayquaza's Turbo Storm attack, is meant to do one thing really well: power up another Pokémon.
Of course, there is the ability to consider. Shining Mane makes it so that none of your Pokémon in play have a Weakness. Incredibly potent utility! However, contrary to Ultra Road is does not get better by benching a second copy.
Aside from that, I'm not super impressed by Newgaleo-GX's Prominence GX attack. Early game it is completely useless, and Sol Burst GX is pretty much a mandatory turn 2 play if you can pull it off. A turn 2 Solgaleo-GX with Sol Burst basically guarantees not only that your active Pokémon will survive a turn (250HP), but that you will be able to take the early lead by taking knockouts on turns 3 and maybe 4 as well. At that point, your opponent will be so far behind you should be able to take a turn to recharge either with Rayquaza or Newgaleo-GX.
You will notice the omission of Drampa-GX this time around. I wanted to include both Registeel (which works well against baby Alolan Ninetales and Fairy-decks) and Solgaleo Prism Star without skimping on Rayquaza, which I still consider to be one of the driving forces behind this deck. Drampa is situationally good, but only when there are damaged Pokémon on the bench. His Special Energy-removing attack is good, but the deck already has to get a lot of stuff done in as little time as possible. Fitting in a utility move that only does 20 damage is going to be a tough sell. I think precious bench space will be better spent on either Registeel, Rayquaza or Solgaleo PS going forward.
Speaking of Solgaleo Prism Star, this is a curious one. It's not great as an attacker because it needs 4 energy to do any damage at all, which is WAY too steep to be practical. But if you ever find yourself low on energy after going on the offensive early, being able to just slap it down, attach 1 energy, Ultra Road it to the active spot and recover up to six energy from the discard pile is insane! Also, it being a non-GX basic could force your opponent into a 7-prize game if they can't quite land the final blow on your tanky Solgaleo-GX. Don't bench this card in advance, only play it from your hand when you really need it. It's a game-changer, particularly if you have somehow fallen behind.
No Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX here, contrary to Duo's list. At 190HP it's maybe a little too easy to knock out in a deck that's otherwise very hard to one-hit KO against, and its attacks are decidedly meh. Claw Slash is terrible value at 3 energy, and Meteor Tempest is like Sunsteel Strike but slightly worse. Eclipse Sun GX is probably its best attack, but Sol Burst GX is still the better play. The deck already has its Basic GX in Tapu Lele-GX and I don't think this card is worth including.
I also decided against including a copy of baby Solgaleo from GRI, even though it's great. With the addition of Registeel and Solgaleo Prism Star the deck has plenty of non-GX attackers, and having 5 stage two evolution Pokémon for 4 basic Pokémon just seems like a terrible idea. I would not trade Solgaleo-GX for it either, so it had to go.
In my mind the ideal bench setup for this deck would be as follows:
1 Solgaleo-GX (Ultra Road) ACTIVE
|
|
1 Solgaleo-GX (Ultra Road), 1 Solgaleo GX (Shining Mane), 1 Tapu Lele-GX, 1 Rayquaza, 1 open space
This is what you would set up for with Brigette on turn 1. Replace Rayquaza with Registeel when playing against Gardevoir-GX or Alolan Ninetales-GX. This setup allows for back-and-forth switching with Ultra Road to get out of status effects and Shining Mane protects you from being hit for weakness. Keep the 5th space open for when you need a 2nd Tapu Lele-GX in a pinch, or to bench Solgaleo Prism Star when the time comes to use its Rising Star attack.
In terms of the deck's trainers/supporters, most will be self-explanatory. I like playing a copy or two of Heavy Ball because it's so good at finding Cosmoem and Solgaleo-GX, but sadly it won't find Newgaleo-GX. Still, it's a worthy inclusion for when you want to find a Pokémon without discarding two potentially valuable cards.
I dropped Nest Ball and Max Potion. I like both and I will have to see how the deck plays without them, but I feel like both are situational enough that the deck will be fine without them. Rescue Stretcher replaces Super Rod because it's now easier than ever to use Pokémon to recover energy from the discard pile. Being able to put a Pokémon from the discard pile back into your hand is also VERY good, so Rescue Stretcher it is.
The upcoming Cynthia card is a very welcome alternative to both N and Hala, the latter of which was a good one-of play in this deck. Early game you will not always want to discard your entire hand with Sycamore, but playing N instead could be even worse if it helps your opponent. That's where Cynthia comes in. Being able to shuffle your hand back into your deck and draw 6 new cards is pretty good, and will sometimes (but not always) be preferable to the alternatives. A 2-2 split of N and Cynthia seems a pretty decent compromise.
I still like Sycamore a LOT, but I could see a 3-3-3 split of Sycamore, N and Cynthia work as well.
A single copy of Skyla is here to grab that clutch item. Say you need a Choice Band to hit the right numbers for a one-hit KO against your opponent, and all you have is an Ultra Ball and some random cards. Ultra Ball > Tapu Lele-GX > Skyla > Choice Band is clunky as hell, but it works. Every time. I'll go to bat for a one-of Skyla in every deck ever, and this deck certainly is no exception.
Well.. that certainly turned out to be a big ol' wall of text. I hope to hear from you guys what you think of my list and I would like to extend my thanks again to Duo for putting me on the right track! Peace!
Last edited:
