Time to cool down with this icy deck!
This weekend is Worlds and there will be plenty of decks hitting the field! Everybody there will be wanting to win and prove that they are the best. Though, there are others who are simply going to be watching the big stage tournament from home. Those that are doing so are getting ready for the Post Sun & Moon Rotation. That is why I am here with another deck that could be great after Rotation. If it isn’t then you can use this deck to help inspire and build new decks for post rotation.
This week we are not going to stray too far from what we did last week. Though, instead this time we are going cold! We are going for a cool rush that will leave your opponent frozen in their tracks. Meanwhile you are going to be hitting and drawing hot! The match will be going at a standstill once you get this card on the field. Some may try to go hot but they will be going cold once you get to play with Glaceon GX-Zoroark GX!
The Decklist
Pokemon (17)
Eevee (SUM 101) x4
Glaceon GX x3
Zorua x4
Zoroark GX x3
Tapu Lele GX x2
Volcanion Prism StarTrainers (31)
Cynthia x4
Guzma x3
Apricorn Maker x2
Tate & Liza x3
Judge x2
Copycat
Ultra Ball x4
Aqua Patch x4
Nest Ball x3
Choice Band x3
Rescue Stretcher
Field BlowerEnergy (120)
Water x8
Double Colorless Energy x4
Deck Breakdown
A deck about Glaceon GX? We got to start with Glaceon GX then! If so then you need to play four Eevee from Sun & Moon base set. If you are playing any other Eevee then do not play this deck. Eevee from Sun & Moon base set has the Energy Evolution ability. This ability will allow you to evolve you Eevee into Glaceon GX on your first turn as long as you attach a basic Water energy to it. That is exactly what you want. Especially if you start with Eevee in the active.
Once you have Glaceon GX in the active then the freezing fun will begin! Freezing Gaze will be in effect which means your opponent won’t be able to use any abilities from their GX or EX Pokemon. That will be key when you see so many decks playing Zoroark GX just for the Trade ability to draw cards. There are other decks that Glaceon GX freezes in their tracks such as Malamar decks that use Dawn Wings Necrozma GX’s Invasion ability.
Glaceon GX is no slouch as well. If you attach a Double Colorless Energy to it then it can start using Frost Bullet to do damage. It will only do 90 damage to the active and 30 to a Benched Pokemon. Though that is all you need if you want take knockouts and set up some for later. Especially with Glaceon GX’s Polar Spear GX attack.
Enough about Glaceon GX! Lets talk about the other Pokemon in this deck.
Zoroark GX is mostly here to have a draw engine. Everybody knows Zoroark GX’s song and dance. You use Trade to discard cards you do not want to draw and then draw two cards. Yes. You can attach a DCE to it to use Riotous Beating to do some solid damage with a full bench.
Though, you will not be attacking with Zoroark GX often. Mostly because you want keep your ability lock up which means Glaceon GX needs to stay in the active.
What Zoroark GX will be helpful with is putting Water energy into the discard. Why do you want Water energy in the discard? So you can get them back by using Aqua Patch! Zoroark GX is one of the core parts to your energy acceleration engine that will be explained later.
So yes. You can use Zoroark GX to attack but in reality you will be using it to discard Water energy to draw cards and use Aqua Patch later. If you need to take a quick knock out that Glaceon GX couldn’t do on it’s own then Zoroark GX is a good attacking option. Just remember that you will be breaking your Ability lock.
Volcanion Prism Star is a solid addition to the deck. You will not use it often but if you need another way to discard Water energy then he is there. Especially if you want to get rid of pesky Pokemon in your opponent’s active position. That may not be a bad idea to do. You may want to hit something else on your opponent’s bench with Glaceon GX. If so then force your opponent to switch their active Pokemon with a Benched Pokemon by activating Jet Geyser. This way you get a Water energy in the discard while putting damage on another of your opponent’s active Pokemon. Maybe this new active isn’t ready to attack? Even better!
Let talk about the Trainers!
Apricorn Maker and Nest Ball engine. Some may not like it but I find it best in decks that need to get a lot of Pokemon on the field fast. It will thin out your deck while setting up your bench. You can be use it later in the game to grab an Ultra Ball. This combo is pretty solid in my book.
You have your basic Supporter line up. Four Cynthia and three Guzma. If you are not playing four Cynthia then that means you found a better draw Supporter and don’t want to tell anybody. Guzma is just a staple.
Two Judge is pretty great. If you can use Judge on your opponent early in the game or when they have a big hand then that will hurt them. If your opponent happen to have a card that you know will turn the tide of the battle in their favor. Guess what! Time to pl;ay a Judge! It won’t hurt you too bad because you will have two Zoroark GX that will gladly Trade for you to draw more cards.
Copycat is a nice card but you already got a solid draw engine with Zororak GX. It is hard to find a good time to play it because you will be waiting for your opponent to have a hand of at least five cards before you are tempted to use it.
If you want a much more solid draw Supporter then Tate & Liza are your choice. Shuffle and draw five is pretty nice. It is useful if your opponent is hoping to trap something heavy in the active with a Guzma to break the lock. Simply use Tate & Liza’s secondary ability to switch it with one of your Benched Glaceon GX.
Let’s talk about the Aqua Patch Acceleration Engine.
We mention before that you can use Zoroark GX and Volcanion PS to discard Water energy. This is because you will want to use Aqua Patch later in the game to power up your Benched Glaceon GX. Especially if your active Glaceon GX gets damage.
Simply use Aqua Patch to get an energy attached or two. Next, retreat your damaged Glaceon GX and use the new active to take knockouts and spread damage! Using Aqua Patch can really help with keeping a steady stream of Glaceon GX in the active.
Choice Band? Sometimes you will want to hit harder then 90 damage. That is when you attach a Choice Band to do 120 damage. If you add 90 with 120 then that is enough to knockout Zoroark GX.
Thoughts
Last week we talked about a Zoroark GX deck where Zoroark GX was up and center. This week we are talking about a deck that has Zoroark GX in it but Zoroark GX isn’t in the front. Instead we want Glaceon GX to be in the front as the main attacker while suppressing your opponent.
Glaceon GX will always want to be in the active. That way it will stop your opponent’s GX ability. No more Wonder Tag from Tapu Lele GX. There will be no Trade from Zoroark GX. Solgaleo GX can’t use Ultra Road. You will stop the Invasion from Dawn Wings Necrozma GX. You will shut down Metagross GX’s Geotech System. Bloodthirsty Eyes from Lycanroc GX is blinded. No more Slice Off from Kartana GX. No more Stormy Winds from Rayquaza GX.
Yes. Your opponent can always use Guzma to put Zoroark GX into the active. Though, that will be harder without the ability to grab it from the likes of Tapu Lele GX. They will need to depend on top decks and hand refreshers such as Cynthia. Decks that use any of the above cards will find themselves feeling a big sluggish as long as Glaceon GX is in the active.
Do you need tips for Glaceon GX?
You will want to make sure that you have an Eevee in the active and Water energy in your hand. That is the ideal start. Maybe you won’t have that all the time but it can happen. Simply attach your Water energy on your active Eevee and then you will soon have your first Glaceon GX on the field.
Sometimes you may need to use cards like Tate & Liza or Guzma to get your Eevee in the active. If that happens then you will not get set up like you want. You will have to decide if getting set up is more important then getting a Glaceon GX in the active. It depends on your situation. Just remember that once you have Glaceon GX in the active that your opponent’s set up will become slower because you have shut down the option to use Tapu Lele GX’s Wonder Tag. No matter what. Make sure you attach a Water energy to your Eevee to get Glaceon GX on the field.
Once you get your first Glaceon GX out then things will depend on what is in your hand. If you have a DCE then go ahead and attach it to your active Glaceon GX to start putting damage down with Frost Spear. That will put pressure on your opponent. They are now seeing damage on their side of the board with them having no access to their GX/EX abilities.
If you do not have a DCE but a Water energy then go ahead and use that Water energy to evolve. Use that Water energy by attaching it to an Eevee to get another Glaceon GX on the field.
Let me say this. You will want to start attacking with Glaceon GX after you get your first one out. If you want other Glaceon GX then try to evolve them manually by letting them come into your hand by top decks or Trade from Zoroark GX. You can always get the Benched Glaceon GX ready for battle by using Aqua Patch to attach energy to them. You play four Aqua Patch and have several ways to discard Water energy. It won’t be long before you have two Glaceon GX who are able to attack.
One of the things that I love about Glaceon GX is how well Frost Bullet can be used to set up the use of Polar Spear GX. You can use Frost Bullet to knockout the active Pokemon while spreading damage on to a bench Pokemon. If that damaged Benched Pokemon ever goes into the active then you can use Polar Spear GX to do at least 150 damage. Add that to the 30 damage that was placed on it from Frost Bullet and that is 180 damage. That is a knockout on most GX Pokemon. Add a Choice Band and you just knocked out Zoroark GX. There is such perfect synergy!
If you need to attack fast then use Zoroark GX to do some damage. It makes a great clean up attacker if a Glaceon GX is knocked out. Zoroark GX can be used to finish the job if there is already damage on your opponent’s active Pokemon.
Lets talk about some other thoughts.
This deck hates any kind of healing. Max Potion? Acerola? Not fun if you are playing with Glaceon GX. Zoroark GX decks are going to be leaning harder on healing cards to stay in the game longer. Nothing hurts more then seeing an active Zoroark GX that you hit for 90 damage get picked up with Acerola. You are so close to the knockout and all of it is gone thanks to Acerola.
If this happens then you will need to get creative. That is because your active Glaceon GX now has damage on it while your opponent’s active Zoroark GX has none. You could retreat to a Zoroark GX or Glaceon GX to do damage with that one. Maybe use Guzma to pull up another damaged Pokemon and use Polar Spear GX to take a knockout with a fresh Glaceon GX. Those are always options.
If worst comes to worst then hit the Zoroark GX with the damaged Glaceon GX to set up a later knockout. Though, against Zoroark GX you will want to keep the Freezing Gaze ability lock for as long as you can.
Also, you will want to knockout any Magcargo that you see. Glaceon GX’s ability stops GX Pokemon abilities but not normal Pokemon. If Magcargo gets set up then your opponent can use Magcargo to put a Guzma on the top of their deck. That kind of play will surely be used to thaw your Freezing Gaze lock.
Glaceon GX can be used to slow down Rayquaza GX as well. After all, the deck plays mostly Rayquaza GX whose ability is used as a way to energy accelerate to itself. If you can stop that from happening then the only source of energy accelleartion the deck has will be Latias Prism Star. The deck will be at a standstill as it will try to get energy into the discard while trying to attack with Latias GX.
The Rayquaza GX player may try to use Guzma to put another Pokemon into the active. It will be advise to simply have two Glaceon on your side of the field to ensure that your lock remains up.
Also, this will be a great time to bring up the Field Blower. Yes. It can be used to get rid of unwanted Stadiums and Choice Band. Though it is also perfect to get rid of Wishful Baton that Rayquaza GX loves to wear. That means they can’t pass on their energy to another Rayquaza GX.
What can be done to this deck? I would love to play a way to heal my Pokemon. That will make things even better. Maybe Acerola? The problem is spacing. Something will need to be taken out in order to put in two Acerola into the deck. If that could be figured out then you can live off of Glaceon GX for a long time.
Final Thoughts
The ability to freeze your opponet is amazing. Especially if we are looking at a format that will be wild with Zoroark GX and Rayquaza GX. If you can keep a steady flow of Glaceon GX then games can go in your favor. Your opponent will be stuck in a cycle of constant Ability lock and damage.
Glaceon GX is a solid attacker and it has an impressive ability that will stop your opponent in their tracks. Will it be top tier? Who knows but we are about to enter a time in the metagame where this Pokemon can shine! Give this deck a try and see if you can freeze your opponent in their tracks.
Best of luck to all the players taking part in Worlds this weekend!
