Six weeks after the Genetic Apex meta, Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s Mythical Island expansion introduced a variety of new deck archetypes. While Serperior/Celebi ex decks get a lot of attention, the new version of Golem is a dark horse deck with a surprisingly strong presence.
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Fighting decks didn’t have much success, and poor Brock is among the least-used Supporter cards as a result. But Golem and a few extra tools allow Fighting-type fans to bury their opponents in a landslide victory. Rock on!
Sample Decklist
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Golem (Mythical Island) |
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Geodude x2 |
Graveler x2 |
Golem x2 |
Druddigon x2 |
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Marshadow x1 |
Hitmonlee x1 |
Brock x2 |
Leaf x2 |
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Professor’s Research x2 |
Giovanni x1 |
Poke Ball x2 |
Potion x1 |
The Geodude used for this decklist is from Genetic Apex (Pikachu), because its Tackle attack only requires one Fighting Energy, so you can attack immediately if it’s your active Pokemon, and you’re going second.
Graveler and Golem are from Mythical Island: Graveler’s Lunge Out attack is less expensive than the Genetic Apex version’s Rollout, while Golem’s Guard Press is an incredibly strong attack which also decreases the damage it takes on the next turn.
Which Geodude and Graveler you use doesn’t make a huge difference since you’ll almost never attack with either.
The versions in the decklist are strictly better, but if you don’t have them, you aren’t likely to miss them.
Geodude Deck Strategy
Since your ace Pokemon, Golem, is Stage 2, you’ll need a couple of turns to set up. If possible, Druddigon should be your first Active Pokemon: it has 100 HP, so it can take a few early-game attacks, and its Rough Skin ability will soften up your opponent’s Pokemon.
Adding Druddigon to your deck will add two extra types of Energy to your Energy Zone. Make sure you turn those Energies off in the deck builder.
While Druddigon soaks up damage, evolve Geodude into Graveler, then into Golem, attaching Energy as you go. If you get Marshadow on your Bench, make sure you attach one Energy so that you can attach another one and use Revenge for 100 damage once Druddigon is Knocked Out.
Once you have Golem in play, you can use Brock to attach the last Energy you need, or use Leaf to retreat Druddigon to safety and start using Guard Press.
A second Druddigon on the Bench can be useful if you also have an extra Leaf and haven’t finished setting up Golem. Retreating a low-HP Druddigon and replacing it with a full-HP one will frustrate your opponent and force them to start over.
Guard Press deals 120 damage, with the additional effect of preventing 30 damage to Golem on your next turn, giving it 190+ effective HP. But that doesn’t make it invincible, so don’t be afraid to retreat, using Leaf to reduce the cost or Brock to re-attach Energy when necessary.
Hitmonlee is an important piece in the toolbox since it allows you to snag KOs from your opponent’s Bench. If your opponent retreats a Pokemon with 30 or lower HP, you can switch Hitmonlee in to snipe it.
Hitmonlee can also soften up bulkier Pokemon: one Stretch Kick to your opponent’s Arcanine ex takes it down enough for Golem to get the KO with one Guard Press. Finally, it can eliminate Basic Pokemon your opponent needs to evolve in order to execute their strategy, especially Magikarp.
Golem Matchups
All the Pokemon in Pikachu ex decks are weak to Fighting, except for Zapdos variants. As a result, Golem and Marshadow with a Revenge boost can OHKO every Pokemon in the deck. Even with Zapdos ex, Golem can still OHKO it with Giovanni.
Avoid Hitmonlee in this matchup since weakness doesn’t apply when the defending Pokemon is on the Bench. Giovanni should be held for Zapdos ex, unless it’s clearly absent.
Arcanine ex can set up faster than Golem with lucky coin flips and can OHKO everything in the deck except for Golem. Fortunately, Golem can OHKO Arcanine ex after it uses Inferno Overdrive on your Druddigon, and Marshadow can do the same with Giovanni.
This deck becomes a race to set up faster than Arcanine ex. You have favorable KO trades, since both Arcanine ex and Moltres ex are double-Prize Pokemon while all of yours are only worth one Prize Point, but if your opponent starts Knocking Out your Pokemon before you can evolve a Golem, you’ll struggle to catch up.
The Celebi ex / Serperior archetype is fast and deals a lot of damage, and the whole Golem line is weak to Grass. While Celebi’s attack relies on lucky flips, Serperior can give it so many flips that luck becomes almost irrelevant.
Your best approach is to soften up Celebi ex with a sacrificial Druddigon or Hitmonlee if it’s on the Bench. If you get Golem set up quickly, you can OHKO Celebi ex with a Giovanni-boosted Guard Press, forcing your opponent to start over attaching Energy to a second Celebi ex.
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