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Standard Metagross GX/Necrozma GX Deck

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
For the 2018 rotation I was looking at Metagross GX decks, and I thought this one with Necrozma GX would work well. This is the deck list I have come up with so far.

Pokemon: 19

4 Beldum
3 Metang
4 Metagross GX
2 Alolan Vulpix
2 Necrozma GX
2 Tapu Lele GX
1 Magearna EX
1 Espeon EX

Trainers: 28

Items
4 Ultra Ball
4 Rare Candy
1 Fighting Fury Belt
2 Max Potion
1 Rescue Stretcher
2 Field Blower
3 Vs Seeker

Supporter
4 Professor Sycamore
3 N
1 Bridgette
2 Lysandre
1 Skyla

Energy: 13

5 Metal Energy
8 Psychic Energy

Metagross GX should be able to feed Necrozma to dish out 190 every turn. I have heard some people say the deck is too clunky, so I'm trying to find a list which consistent, and a little bit less clunky. Some wierd pokemon I have teched in right now are Espeon EX and Magearna EX. I have the Espeon EX to use Necrozma GX's GX attack, and devolve for multiple KO's. This counters Gardevoir GX, Alolan Ninetales, and Golisopod GX. There are some other decks it counters, but these are the most competitive ones. I run the Magearna EX to counter Plea GX, Greninja 'a Shadow Stitch, Darkrai's Dead End, Tapu Fini Tapu Storm, Alolan Muks GX attack, and anything thats attack has effects. Some people think it is a bad play, but it has been so helpful in so many games. Any feedback is appreciated.
 
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Kietharr

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I feel that for the most part, solo metagross and solo solgaleo decks are both better than solg/meta due to consistency/speed issues that come with playing dual stage 2s without insane evolution acceleration like FOGP available to support it.

Lack of Lele is going to hurt your consistency quite a bit, so include those unless you left them out for economization. If you're not running Lele I wouldn't run Skyla either. If you include Lele, Brigette is a good one of supporter for this deck.

Random receiver is also a big post rotation card that most decks will want to consider. If you run receiver you want 4 N 4 Sycamore to maximize the chance of it pulling a consistency supporter, the last thing you want is that card to come up with a Guzma or something in the early game.

You should also consider 2-3 Hala in any Solgaleo deck because you're going to be using your GX attack on turn 2 or 3 ideally. No VS seeker makes playing lots of draw/shuffle support very important.

If you prefer to focus on Solgaleo I think Rayquaza is a better compliment in general. You can replace the entire Metagross line with 2 Rayquaza and a DCE or two to attach with Sol Burst. That gives you a lot of room for extra consistency cards.
 

21times

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I agree with Kietharr. It's really weird how I have good success with Solgaleo by itself and Quad Metagross but really struggle with the two of them together.

I run four baby Solgaleo and 2 Big Daddy Solgaleo in my Solgaleo deck. I don't run Magearna but do run Promo Koko because of its free retreat. Ultra Road, make Promo Koko active, retreat Promo Koko and Baby Solgaleo can attack again.

Both of these should be good plays very soon as Gardevoir GX will probably be VERY good and see a lot of play.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I decided to go with just a Metagross GX deck rather then a Solgaleo GX/Metagross GX. Tell me what you think of this new deck list. Any feedback is appreciated.
 

Kietharr

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Dhelmise is kind of meh, the only place wheere it's useful is against the odd 190hp big basic deck, and I don't think Genesect is really worth it at all. Genesect is better in a Solgaleo list as a way to deal with one prize attackers since Sunsteel is super overkill against them, but even then nobody uses it anymore because baby Solgaleo is more effective for that. Its niche as a tool bank no longer matters with field blower around either.

Metagross, you'll find, is a very self sufficient attacker that doesn't require you to be too creative with partner pokemon. One you should consider though is Wishiwashi, not the GX, the one with the ability that lets you return it to your hand. This card is going to be very good in conjunction with Guzma's switch effect since it will let you attack with the same Metagross turn after turn. Koko promo with free retreat has similar utility for a deck like this, trading off the ability to manipulate hand/bench size for flying flip, which is kind of nice for this deck since a flip will make your numbers work against a base 200/210 GX deck. I've also seen people running 1 Ninetales-GX for the CC snipe attack, it makes some sense for rounding off damage like Koko but idk if I actually like it.

Trade one of those Brigettes for an Olivia, you don't really ever want to run more than 1 of those since it's only a really good play t1. I'd also dump Olympia and one of the Skylas to go to 4 Guzma, since the card is that good in a deck like this.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I dropped the Genescet down to 1, and added a Guzma with the extra card. Also Wishiwashi can only retreat if you replace it with a Wishiwashi GX. I am still going to run one Olympia because you don't always want your opponent's active pokemon retreated, and you can heal off 30 damage. I dropped one Bridgette for an Olivia like you suggested. Tell me what you think of the new deck list.
 

Kietharr

Aspiring Trainer
Member
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Wishiwashi_(Sun_&_Moon_44) is the wishiwashi I was talking about, you don't retreat it, you just return it to your hand then promote your metagross again. It's more used in Lapras due to Manaphy giving free retreat but can have application in this deck as well. Guzma, switch to your wishi, then return it to your hand and re-promote Metagross.

I'd prefer a Koko promo though. I'm a big advocate for it in most decks and it's especially good here due to how it smooths out damage numbers and provides a free retreater to Guzma to.

As for Olympia, you're not going to be using your supporter for a switch most of the time. One of the funny features of Metagross is how easy its ability makes manual retreating on a CCC cost, which you otherwise almost never do. As long as you have 1 energy in hand and 2 metagross in play (a pretty normal mid game scenario from my experience) you can just manual retreat, double geotech then manual attach to attack again. The 30hp from Olympia is extremely minor, you run max potions for that.

I still don't really see the point of Genesect in this deck, like what do you see it bringing, when do you want to draw into it and play it? Same for Dhelmise. Dhelmise takes you to 190 with choice band which is only rarely relevant, 180 is the 'magic number' these days. Genesect at max power isn't hitting that much harder than Metagross (though with both dhelmise and genesect you hit 200 for Espeon, Metagross can also hit that number with a Kukui or with a Koko's flying flip applied early game) and it's not really a card you want early game.
 

KidShadow

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I too am tampering with the idea of continuing my Metagross GX deck. I like what you have but these are the changes I made:

Pokemon: 15

4 Beldum
2 Metang
4 Metagross GX
2 Alolan Vulpix
2 Tapu Lele GX
1 Necrozma GX

Trainers: 34

Items
4 Ultra Ball
4 Rare Candy
4 Choice Band
2 Max Potion
1 Rescue Stretcher
3 Field Blower

Supporter
4 Professor Sycamore
3 N
1 Bridgette
3 Guzma
1 Olympia
1 Professor Kukui
2 Skyla


Energy: 12
9 Metal Energy
3 Psychic Energy

Reasons:
Tapu Lele's are a must in the new format. Able to grab supporters when needed since we dont have access to VS seeker as before
Ive never found much luck with Genesect not to mention Metagross should usually end up being you main attacker.
I dropped one Necrozma in here primarily for the Psychic weakness if you can pull it, but also for the nice sweep GX if you find yourself in a pickle where you wouldnt benefit from Algorithm.

As for items, I run two max potions. Usually if I have to use three, im on a downward spiral of just trying to stay alive (usually cause of bad draws) and it hasnt panned out in my favor.
I added a third feild blower.. (why?) Because one of the main hindrances is garbotoxin. Without you Geotech System, you are relying on super slow attaches and most of the time I just let Lele's step up. !keep those tool cards in there trash!

Personally, I dont find the need for Olivia. Good card in other decks, but since you are running 4 Ultra Balls combined with Alolan Vulpix and Algorithm, I never had a hard time getting the pokes I need in my hand. Not to mention, it makes the other player have to N or Judge you which is just burning their resources. >:]

Also added an extra psychic energy for Necrozma, but it should be a problem since you can grab those with Metagross too.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Here are the changes I made.

-1 Genesect EX
-1 Dhelmise
-1 Energy Loto
-1 Olivia
-2 Psychic Energy
-1 Max Potion

+1 Magearna EX
+2 Max Elixir
+2 Metal Energy
+2 Altar of the Sunne

I dropped the Psychic Energy because they would only be useful for Tapu Lele's GX attack, which isn't useful because I run 2 Max Potion, and I would rather use Metagross's GX attack. I dropped a Max Potion because 3 is too much. I added a Magearna EX to deal with Greninja Break's ability lock, and to deal with pokemon that apply special conditions. I added two Altar of the Sunne because Volcanion is going to be a popular deck in the new meta, and this deck will auto lose to it without running a couple Altar of the Sunne. Last I added 2 Metal Energy to make up for the 2 lost Psychic Energy. Also I don't think Necrozma GX is a good idea because it is weak to Psychic too. Tell me what you think of this new deck list.
 
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joffreyspikes

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hi @Adi,

Nice deck, but don't you think 4 Max Potion would be better than 2 Elixirs? I have found Max Elixir to be ineffctive in evolution decks because once the Pokémon is a Metang/Metagross they are useless. 4 Max Potion would make healing part of your strategy rather than just a side toy, and it comes at no cost to Max Potion benched Metagross once they have retreated.

Metagross will be an excellent play for Worlds, and post-rotation.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I hear you, and I may consider running 3 Max Potion. But Max Elixir gives me some energy acceleration in case I can't discard like 3 or 4 energies by the time my Metagross's get out. I will probably change it to 3 Max Potion and 1 Max Elixir, but I have to play test with it some more.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I decided to run 1 Necrozma GX instead of Magearna EX because Necrozma counters Drampa-GX. Plus, it hits for 190 if I can get the energies while not being ability locked. Any feedback is appreciated.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I just made some pretty big changes to my Metagross GX deck, and I know this is kind of an old thread, but I would love some feedback. Hopefully I can make this Necrozma GX variant less clunky, and more consistent.
 

21times

Aspiring Trainer
Member
There are a bunch of videos featuring Necrozma with Metagross. Necrozma has definitely become the main attacker. I run 6 Psychic and 4 Metal energy.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I like having more energy because cards like Battle Compressor aren't in format, so I can't just put energies in the discard. I have to draw into them, and Ultra Ball or Professor Sycamore. I'm still wondering if the Espeon EX tech is good. There are 4 meta decks where it can be useful Gardevoir GX, Alolan Ninetales GX, Metagross GX, and Golisopod GX. 2 of those matchups are already weak to metal, so it may be better to not even try to pull off that combo. It could be good late game against those decks in case you have no Metagross GX, but you have the energy requirements to use Black Ray GX. It could be just what you need to win. I'll have to deck test with it more. I hope this helps.
 

GymLdrJesse

Twitter/X @JessePrker
Advanced Member
Member
I am interested in running this deck as well...here is the list I have put together (taking in consideration everything listed above)

Pokemon: 17
4 Beldum
2 Metang
4 Metagross GX
2 Alolan Vulpix
2 Tapu Lele GX
2 Necrozma GX
1 Magearna GX

Trainers: 31

Items
4 Ultra Ball
4 Rare Candy
3 Choice Band
3 Max Potion
1 Rescue Stretcher
2 Field Blower

Supporter
4 Professor Sycamore
4 N
1 Bridgette
3 Guzma
2 Skyla

Energy: 12
5 Metal Energy
7 Psychic Energy

I am leaning towards Necrozma as the main attacker here but what do you guys think of this list?
Some changes might be:
- Energy count? more or less metal/psychic?
- Magearna's viability, is it worth teching in?
- Is 2 Necrozma enough?
- Should I run float stones? or is it bad to have choice bands & float stones together?
*I feel like the support line and the rest of the pokemon count is fine, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thank you! :)
 

Zapp64

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I think Magearna isn't needed in this deck.
I run 2 Necrozma too and i didn't have no problem, i think they are enough
But i only run Choiche bands and not float stones, i can retreat my Metagross and Necrozma easily
 

baboon159

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Float stone is something you usually don't use in this deck if you need someone out of the active you hard retreat and pull the energy back with the ability. I feel that magearna is awesome, but in this case you are probably going to not have a lot of metal energy on your pokemon.
 

GymLdrJesse

Twitter/X @JessePrker
Advanced Member
Member
Alright so I just cut the Magearna in my list due to limited metal energy and added an extra psychic.
I'm going to stick with this list unless anyone has other advice.
 

Adi

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I really like Magearna EX, but if you are not worried about the auto loss to Greninja, and getting hurt by things like Plea GX then it's fine. I want an 8-5 Psychic and Metal Energy, but it's tough to find space. I don't think dropping Magearna EX is the way to go. I decided to drop 1 Necrozma GX though for the 5th Metal Energy. Hopefully that will help with the consistency.
 
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