Time for another round into the Sun & Moon-on rotation! This time we rise with the sun!
Worlds is in a week and there are plenty of people playing and testing that format. There are also lots of people who are looking forward to the Sun & Moon-on format. Though, some are unsure on what to play after rotation. After all, we are losing plenty of cards because of rotation. That is why we are here to help with a list to get you through the hot times.
This week’s deck features one of my favorite Pokemon that has an amazing card. It has been paired up with one of the most infamous cards in recent TCG history. Together they make a fierce combination that will leave many in fear. It can two hit KO many things but when it needs to hit hard then it hits hard! Things are going to get hot like the sun when you play this deck! There is no stopping this deck when Zoroark-Solgaleo GX comes to town!
The Decklist
Pokemon (16)
Zorua x4
Zoroark GX x4
Cosmog x3
Solgaleo GX x2
Solgaleo Prism Star
Tapu Lele GX x2Trainers (32)
Cynthia x4
Guzma x3
Apricorn Maker x2
Copycat x2
Tate & Liza x2
Hala
Mallow
Rare Candy x4
Ultra Ball x4
Nest Ball x3
Max Potion x3
Choice Band x2
Rescue StretcherEnergy (120)
Metal x8
Double Colorless Energy x4
Deck Breakdown
Today we are going to start on the Pokemon lineup for the deck. This lineup is straight to the point. You want to focus on getting your Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX out as fast as possible. The ideal first turn board setup you will want involve two Zorua and two Cosmog. That way you can focus on evolution during your second turn. Though, you will want to get Zoroark GX out first for draw and power.
Zoroark GX is a Stage 1 Pokemon that can attack quickly and has a built in draw power. You will just need a full bench and Double Colorless Energy to start attacking for 120 damage. That shouldn’t be news to anybody who has been playing the game for the last year.
While you are attacking with Zoroark GX, you will be setting up your bench with more Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX. You do want to get Solgaleo GX out as fast as possible. That is why you will be trading with Zoroark GX’s Trade ability. Simply trade in one card for two cards to get your needed pieces like Solgaleo GX and Rare Candy.
But the fun doesn’t end there. Once you get Solgaleo GX on your bench then you can go into two options. Energy explosion with Sol Burst GX or the slow game.
If you are going with energy explosion with Sol Burst GX then you are going with the quick and fast knockouts. It also means that you see threats that you want to squash fast. If that is the case then you will want to have a Solgaleo GX on the bench to pair up with your active Solgaleo GX using Sol Burst.
The reason for that is because that active Solgaleo GX will most likely have damage on it after using Sol Burst GX. You could gamble be attaching energy on a bench Cosmog and evolve next turn. The problem is that your opponent can use Guzma to knockout your Cosmog. Though the idea of this play is to thin out your deck by removing all energy. Attach three Metal energy to a benched Solgaleo GX, have your active Solgaleo GX hold two Metal and dump DCE on any Zoroark GX.
You could play the slow game which is simply spend the first part of the game attacking with Zoroark GX. You will do 120 to 150 damage to any Pokemon your opponent throws in front of you. There should be a Solgaleo GX on your bench and you can slowly power it up. Though you will be using Metal energy to activate Trade to draw cards. That is good because you are setting up for your late game.
What is your late game? Attaching a Metal energy to Solgaleo Prism Star to use Radiant Star to attach Metal energy from your discard to your benched Solgaleo GX.
If you do this then your opponent could end up facing two Solgaleo GX that are fully loaded. If that is the case then you are in the position to win the game in two attacks. After all, there are not many Pokemon who can survive a 230 attack in the form of Sunsteel Strike.
Zoroark GX is the distraction. Solgaleo GX is the star.
The Trainer line up is pretty simple. Cynthia and Tate & Liza are your reliable draw Supporters. Cynthia will be best because it can shuffle-draw for six. Tate & Liza allows you to shuffle and draw five. It isn’t strong but it is something. Worst case scenario is that you use it for Trade to draw a supporter that you want like Guzma.
Apricorn Maker will help you set up your bench and thin out your deck. You will want to use it during your first turn to grab two Nest Ball. That way you can grab your much needed Zorua and Cosmog. Overall, the idea is to thin out your deck so you don’t draw into Nest Ball or your Basic Pokemon when you use Trade. Instead you can top deck things that you really want.
You can also use Apricorn Maker in the late game to grab Ultra Ball in case you need to set up a Zoroark GX or Solgaleo GX. Maybe you can scare your opponent by using Ultra Ball for Tapu Lele GX.
Now for the unusual Supporters in the deck like Hala and Mallow.
Hala is in the deck in case you do use Sol Burst GX early in the game. Originally I ran two Hala in the deck but I found out that I don’t use Sol Burst GX early in the game. I then decided to cut it to one for more reliable draw Supporter. Granted, you want to use it to draw eight. The ability to draw eight cards is pretty strong. If you can’t then you can use it late game to prevent yourself from decking out by resetting your hand to four. Another option is simply use it for Trade.
Mallow is sweet in this deck! You need a Rare Candy and Solgaleo GX? A Max Potion? An emergency DCE? Use Mallow to put two cards on the top of your deck. Discard something for Trade and get those two things. I have top deck Mallow in the early game to get Solgaleo GX out so many times. It is all thanks to how many times you thin out your deck. It is nice to have a guarantee get-what-you-need card.
Max Potion? You have so many big HP Pokemon in this deck that you want to heal up your Pokemon so they can fight again. Zoroark GX has 210 HP which isn’t as big as Solgaleo GX’s 250 HP. Though Zoroark GX can still take at least one hit.
That is when you use Max Potion on Zoroark GX to heal it up. You may be losing a DCE but you can always attack another DCE if you need to. Or swap out to another Zoroark GX with a DCE attached by retreating or using Solgaleo GX’s Ultra Road. Either way, Max Potion will help keep your opponent from taking prizes.
Sometimes 230 damage isn’t enough. That is why you play two Choice Band. We are looking at you Metagross GX.
Thoughts
This deck is pretty much a Zoroark GX deck featuring Solgaleo GX. You will be doing a lot of attacking with Zoroark GX. Meanwhile, Solgaleo GX will be used to clean up the mess that Zoroark GX didn’t get to. This is perfectly fine.
The deck’s main goal is to get Zoroark GX out first so you can start using Trade. Drawing cards is going to be important after rotation. Don’t be surprise if you see a lot of Zoroark GX decks after rotation. After all, they get to draw cards which is why Solgaleo GX want to pair up with it. Well, if that is the case then take advantage of it!
Zoroark GX is a great attacker who can hit 120 with just a DCE and full bench. It has 210 HP which means it can take a few hits. Zoroark GX is the perfect wall for your opponent to take down as you set up your end game of Solgaleo. The ability to take out what you can with Zoroark GX will help you take early game prizes.
Meanwhile, Solgaleo GX can be used to clean up the game. Especially if you discard Metal energy with Trade. All you need is to use Solgaleo PS to set up your Solgaleo GX. Just be careful and make sure you have at least one Metal energy left in your deck.
Gardevoir GX? You do hit for less damage against Gardevoir GX if you attack it with Zoroark GX. Though, you are much fast then Gardevoir GX because all you need is a DCE to attack. You can take out Ralts on the bench as long as your bench has four Pokemon on it. That is easy.
Once Gardevoir GX comes out then things becomes a bit harder. Especially if they play healing cards like Max Potion and Acerola. If they do then just keep up putting pressure on them. You can use Max Potion when you need to heal up a Zoroark GX. In the end, keep a Solgaleo GX in your pocket to take out anything for your last few prizes.
Other Zoroark variants? Simply just hit as hard as you can with Zoroark GX until you can afford a turn to use Solgaleo PS to power up some Solgaleo GX on your bench. Once you do that then you can take out two Zoroark GX. Your goal in this match up is to take out as many of your opponent’s Zoroark GX as you can with Zoroark GX. Then use Solgaleo GX to clean up. You may face problems because Zoroark GX do play healing cards but you also play some yourself.
The toughest deck you may face will be Rayquaza GX. This deck moves fast and if somebody says Rayquaza GX is bad then they are wrong!
I haven’t tested with Rayquaza GX but I have tested against it. From what I can tell, this deck will look as if it is milling itself. Though it is getting energy in the discard so it can be attached to Rayquaza GX in the form of Stormy Winds or Latias Prism Star. If you are not careful then you will end up being blown away by Rayquaza GX.
The worst part? Zoroark GX can’t one hit KO Latias PS. Zoroark GX can only hit 120 against Latias PS. Meanwhile, Latias PS has 130 HP. That means it has two turns to power up any benched Rayquaza GX which can easily knockout Zoroark GX with enough energy on the board.
So, how does Zoroark-Solgaleo GX beat Rayquaza GX?
First you knockout Latias PS with Zoroark GX. You will need to force this confrontation as fast as you can. Just make sure you knockout Latias PS in two hits. If you need to use Guzma to bring the Latias PS into the active then that is great! It means you get damage on it first so it won’t have two turns to accelerate energy on to the benched Rayquaza GX.
After you knockout Latias GX then go full into Solgaleo GX. Use Sol Burst GX or Solgaleo PS to get energy on all your Solgaleo GX. It can be hard for Rayquaza GX to hit 250 HP but it can if it gets the time to pile up energy. Though if you can knock out Rayquaza GX with Solgaleo GX then it will put you in a good spot in the prize count.
You can’t afford to two hit KO Rayquaza GX with Zoroark GX. You are only allowing it to get more energy on the board to run over your Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX. Though, if you can set up your Solgaleo GX early enough and take certain knockouts then Rayquaza GX can be taken out.
Changes to this deck? Try to fit in Magcargo. You will need to drop some things. Maybe Mallow? A Zoroark GX? It is honestly a tough call on what to drop. Though it is tempting to put in Magcargo so you can control what you draw by using Trade. You can even use it to control what you draw into your following turn. It will make it easier and faster to set up your Solgaleo GX.
The cons to running Magcargo? It is the bench space and another thing to focus on evolving. One of the reasons why this deck is strong is because it focus on two things: Getting up your Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX. There is little fluff which helps this deck out a lot in top decks. Magcargo is extra fluff that could get in the way of setting up your Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX.
Also, Magcargo just takes up bench space which can be used for something else like a third Zoroark, a second Solgaleo, Tapu Lele GX or Solgaleo PS.
Final Thoughts
Draw power will be king after rotation. So will power. This deck offers you both in the form of Zoroark GX and Solgaleo GX. You can set up Zoroark GX to attack early in the game. Meanwhile use Trade to set up your bench to have Solgaleo GX clean up. It is a simple deck that can cause trouble for your opponent. They will constantly watch Solgaleo GX and wonder if it will ever attack. Meanwhile, Zoroark GX is in the active dishing out a constant 120 damage. That is pretty distracting.
By the time Solgaleo GX is ready to attack then it will be too late. Your opponent will see that you have a Pokemon on the bench that can easily move into the active to knockout anything they have. They will spend so much time focusing on Zoroark GX that they will be left defenseless to the 230 damage that will hit them in the face.
Want a fun deck that hits hard? Then play Zoroark GX-Solgaleo GX. It is a great deck that will pull though when you hit the right cards thanks to a solid draw engine.
