What if you took the best draw engine in the game and pair it with the best ability lock?
We may be in a new format with brand new cards but that isn’t to say that we can’t rely on old tricks to win our games. Some of the old cards in the format includes a pile of trash that can turn off abilities. You also have a Tool that can only be attached to a Pokemon for a single turn. There is a Pokemon with the ability to become a Tool. You also have some recent things that can only only draw you cards but also hit pretty hard. Though, not many people have thought about putting these things together to make a single deck.
Now that has all changed! Today in Deck Spotlight we will be looking at a group of cards that should have no business with each other but now they are in a deck together. You have the Fox who can hit hard but allows you to keep drawing cards. The Trash that can turn off abilities. There is the Balloon who will pop after a single turn. Lastly, the Keys that can be latch on to anything for a single turn. Put all of these things together and you will have a mean deck that will put your opponents in a touch situation.
Together these cards build a deck that I have dubbed “Trashy Foxes”. This deck puts together the power of Zoroark GX with the lock that Garbodor brings. Throw in some Bursting Balloons and Klefki and you will have an impressive lock that you can control. So lets take a look at this deck!
Decklist
Pokemon- 20
Trubbish (BKP) x4
Garbodor (BKP) x3
Garbodor (GRI)
Zorua x4
Zoroark GX x4
Klefki x2
Tapu Lele GX x2Trainers- 33
Cynthia x4
Guzma x3
N x2
Brigette x2
Professor Sycamore
Ultra Ball x4
Puzzle of Time x4
Field Blower x2
Rescue Stretcher x2
Choice Band x2
Special Charge
Float Stone
Bursting Balloon x4
Parallel CityEnergy- 7
Psychic Energy x3
Double Colorless Energy x4Credit for this deck goes to Ricky Lu and Marco Escmilla from Houston, TX.
Deck Breakdown
The whole purpose of this deck is to set up your Zoroark GX to attack and use Trade every turn. Meanwhile, you will have your Garbotoxin Garbodor locking your opponent’s ability. The twist is that the abilities will only be locked during your opponent’s turn thanks to Bursting Balloon and Klefki!
Bursting Balloon is a Tool that does 60 damage if your opponent’s Pokemon attacks the Pokemon who has this Tool attached to it during their turn. The only catch is that Bursting Balloon will be discarded at the end of your opponent’s turn.
You want Bursting Balloon to be discarded at the end of your opponent’s turn. That way it allows you to turn off abilities only during your opponent’s turn! Garbotoxin Garbodor only turn off abilities as long as it has a Tool attached to it. So your plan is to have a few Zoroark GX out and using Trade for you to draw cards. Once you have used up all your Trade opportunities then you will attach Bursting Balloon to Garbodor. That will activate Garbotoxin and turn off all abilities. Though, thanks to Bursting Balloon it will just turn off abilities for a turn which means your opponent will be the one most effected by this.
Klefki does something similar. It has the Wonder Lock ability which allows it to become a Tool for a turn. As a Tool, it will prevent all damage from Mega Pokemon. Though that effect isn’t useful due to the amount of Mega Pokemon being used. Instead we want to focus on the Tool effect and what happens later! Klefki will be discarded at the end of your opponent’s turn. That is perfect because you can attach it to Garbodor to activate Garbotoxin. This will turn off your opponent’s ability!
It gets even better! While Klefki is on the bench as a Pokemon, it will boost the damage output of Zoroark GX.
Overall, you will be creating a pseudo Hex Maniac Ability Lock that only effects your opponent. You will get to play all the abilities you want while your opponent is lock out of their own. That is all thanks to Bursting Balloon and Klefki’s discarding effects. It is a mean one sided lock that will make your opponent upset. Imagine how they will feel if they see you constantly using your abilities while you are locking them out just because of a Bursting Balloon or Klefki being used outside their intended effects.
This deck plays four Puzzle of Time. That way you can recover Klefki and Bursting Balloons whenever you need turn off abilities. You can also grab Double Colorless Energy to fuel up Zoroark GX to use Riotous Beating. With all the special energy hate, you may need to do that pretty often.
You will alos be playing two Rescue Stretcher. This will help give you multiple Pokemon recovery options. It is pretty useful to put in both of your Klefki back into the deck and then grab them again later in the game to use the Wonder Lock ability.
Two Brigette is a given for this deck. This will allow you to set up your bench with one Zorua, Trubbish and Klefki. Your opponent will be confused as to why you are playing Klefki but this will help you later in the game. After all, it will help boost your Zoroark GX’s attack and can be used later if you need to turn off abilities with Garbotoxin.
There is even a comeback combo with Brigette if you save one for the late game. You can put your Klefki back into your deck with Rescue Stretcher and then instantly bring them back by using Brigette. That way you can boost your power and also have another possible Tool to attach to Garbodor. This combo will be a surprise for your opponent when they think that you do not have any more Tools to use.
Parallel City is useful against decks that loves to fill up their bench. It also helps against other Zoroark GX’s decks. Though you will need to play down your Parallel City first. That can be pretty hard since you only play one in your deck. You can use Field Blower to remove your opponent’s Parallel City and then play your own to limit your opponent’s bench. This can be pretty risky because you will need to have both Field Blower and Parallel City in your hand.
Lastly, you have three Psychic Energy and four DCE. This Psychic energy is there in case you need to attack with Trashalanche. This could help you make a quick comeback in case you are behind. It can also make Trashalanche Garbodor into a late game sweeper if you need to clean up the last few prizes. Meanwhile, four DCE is a given in a deck that has Zoroark GX as their main attacker.
The Match Ups
Zoroark Variants
This will be a battle of speed. If you get set up first then you will win. If you don’t then your opponent will win.
This will mean that you will need to get your benched filled with Pokemon and a Zoroark GX with a DCE attached. You will also need to have a Tool attached to Garbodor in order to activate Garbotoxin.
If you can turn off your opponent’s Trade options then you will limit their options. That would mean that they will have a harder time to draw into DCE, Acerola, and all their important tools to keep up momentum. Once you have limited their options then you can go ahead and keep beating them with Riotous Beating.
You will need to be careful for Parallel City. If your opponent plays down their Parallel City first then they will use it to limit their bench. That would mean that Riotous Beating will be hitting for less. You want to take two-hit knock outs on your opponent’s Zoroark GX. If you can play down your Parallel City first then it would mean that your opponent can’t play theirs. If they do put down theirs first then you will need to grab a Field Blower and fill up your bench again.
Once you can set up your Ability lock then the only Zoroark GX that will be trading will be yours.
Glaceon GX
Decks that use Glaceon GX have been popular. Freezing Gaze can turn off your Zoroark GX’s ability which can be bad. Though you still have the advantage in this match up.
You will need to keep up the beatings when going against Glaceon GX. Your ability may be turned off but Zoroark GX’s attack can still be used. Zoroark GX can attack for a single energy attachment as long as you have DCE. That is much fast then Glaceon GX who needs a Water and DCE to attack.
You will also need to turn on Garbotoxin for this match up. If you do this then your opponent will not be able to use Eevee’s Energy Evolution ability to get more Glaceon GX on the field. If they can’t stream Glaceon GX then all you need to do is knockout the active Glaceon GX with your active Zoroark GX.
You will need to watch out for Glaceon GX’s Polar Spear GX attack but they can only use that once. All you need to do is make sure you will have another Zoroark GX ready to attack after the active one is down.
Buzzwole and Lycanroc (and sometimes Zoroark GX)
This is one of the deck’s auto losses. The only way for you to win this match is if you can simply make your opponent use up their Items so you can use Trashalanche to knock out a Buzzwole GX. The problem is that Lycanroc GX can knock you out with their GX attack.
You can try to rush the field using Zoroark GX but do not expect to live long once Lycanroc GX hits the active. Their normal attack can knockout Zoroark GX so fast due it costing a Fighting and DCE.
You can try to use Garbotoxin to turn off Lycanroc GX’s ability. This will protect your benched Pokemon but you will need to be careful. You will need to plan out your attacks to knock out Lycanroc GX and prevent Buzzwole GX from getting three Fighting energy on it. Though, if you can find an opening and maybe weaken several of your opponent’s GX Pokemon then perhaps you can take a win. After all, Tapu Lele GX does make a nice back up attacker if you have a DCE.
Dusk Mane Necrozma GX and Magnezone
Dusk Mane Necrozma GX can knock out Zoroark GX with one hit. Though it needs the energy to do it. In this match up you will need to get Garbotoxin set up right away. That way you can slow down the energy acceleration from Magnezone. If you can do that then there will be less one hit KOs from Dusk Mane Necrozma GX.
Your opponent will be stuck to attaching one energy at a time. Meanwhile you will be hitting their Dusk Mane Necrozma GX with Zoroark GX to take two hit KOs.
Final Thoughts
Each card in this deck has a purpose. You want to grab more cards with Zoroark GX and use Garbodor to turn off your opponent’s abilities. Once you have done that then simply hit hard while you force your opponent into a corner. This deck brings back the old memories of Hex Maniac’s ability lock with all the fun of Zoroark GX. You opponent may not like it but you will love it as your lay down the beat down!
