Alt. Format Solgaleo GX/ Rayquaza 2018 Rotation

[Adi]

One of the decks I was looking at for the 2018 rotation was Solgaleo GX and Lurantis GX. This deck seems pretty good unless you go up against Volcanion. Here is the deck list I have so far.

Pokemon: 15

4 Cosmog
2 Cosmoem
2 Solgaleo GX
3 Solgaleo
2 Rayquaza
1 Drampa GX
1 Tapu Lele GX

Trainers: 32

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

Supporters
4 Professor Sycamore
3 N
2 Skyla
1 Bridgette
2 Guzma
2 Hala
1 Olympia

Energy: 13

9 Metal Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy

I put this deck together pretty fast, so I might have overlooked some obvious mistakes or cards to put in. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Solgaleo + Rayquaza is more efficient than Solgaleo + Lurantis because Rayquaza itself takes up less deck space that could go to other cards. Adding in a Drampa GX or two may not be a bad idea for it to benefit from a potentially damaged Solgaleo GX after using Sunsteel Strike. Use two copies of Tapu Lele GX if you can get them because searching for free supporters is very helpful. GUR Solgaleo is also a neat addition as a strong 1-prize attacker. If you're going the Drampa + Rayquaza route, drop all your Grass energies and replace them with Double Colorless (Special Charge would make a good addition).

Max Potion > Super Potion because Solgaleo GX burns all of its energy after using Sunsteel Strike, making the full energy discard a non-issue. You don't need Professor's Letter either since Sol Burst can accelerate the energy you need from your deck. Not only that, but it feeds Trashalanche Garbodor if you're not careful. Work in 2-3 copies of Guzma because he's the Lysandre replacement next format. Field Blower is a staple card for removing opposing tools and stadiums - you're going to need 2. Garbotoxin Garbodor is a huge threat to this deck because it negates Solgaleo GX's Ultra Road while it has a tool attached; Field Blower alleviates this. While it's true that Weakness Policy is for the matchup against Fire decks, it's useless otherwise and an opposing Field Blower can easily get rid of it (Volcanion says hi). While Town Map can let you peek at your prizes, it's not worth it nowadays IMO simply because it's fuel for Trashalanche Garbodor. Choice Band is the better tool to use to let Solgaleo GX OHKO everything in the game and let Drampa KO most basic EXs/GXs with the Berserk boost taken into account. If you include Tapu Lele GX, add in Brigette to get your bench set up early. You don't need Energy Retrieval either since Rayquaza can accelerate energy from the discard.

Tl;dr, changes:
* -3/3 Fomantis/Lurants
* +2 Rayquaza GUR
* +1-2 Drampa GX
* +1 Solgaleo GUR
* +2 Tapu Lele GX (if possible)
* -1 Fisherman
* -2 Professor's Letter
* -2 Energy Retrieval
* -1 Weakness Policy
* -1 Town Map (optional, depends on whether you can handle Garbodor decks)
* -2 Super Potion
* +2 Max Potion
* +1 Special Charge
* +1 Brock's Grit (optional)
* +1 Brigette
* +2-3 Guzma
* +2 Field Blower
* +3 Choice Band
* -5 Grass energy
* +2-3 Metal energy
* +4 Double Colorless energ

 

[Wechselbalg]

What PlatinumDude said. I play Solgaleo GX/Rayquaza myself, and all you need in that deck are 2 Rays, a 4-2-4 Solgaleo line (1 baby Solgaleo is optional, I personally find it useful against decks that run a low number of 2 prize attackers) 1-2 Leles (2 are much better, they make a huge difference) and 1-2 Drampas ( I personally only run 1). Magearna EX is a huge liability in this deck, don't use it. The only thing it can be useful against is Plea GX, but that is something you have to suck up I guess. (Like I do lol.) If you play your cards right you can Rare Candy back a Solgaleo after getting hit with Plea GX.

Energy retrieval and similar trainers are pointless in this deck, since your goal is to get the basic energies back with Rayquaza. I run 1 Special Charge because there is no other way to get those back onto the board. (Besides Puzzle.) As for the Energy numbers, I personally play with 3 DCE and 9 Metal and it worked out for me - 4 DCE might also be a good idea. Field Blower is very important in this deck, 2 are a must! Just like Choice Band, as PlatinumDude already pointed out, it lets Solgaleo 1 shot other stage 2 GXes while Drampa 1 shots the classic big 180 HP basics.

I also find the Heavy Ball-Rare Candy combo useful, but I guess that is up to personal preference.

I used to play the deck with Brock's grit, but imo it makes you shuffle too many cards back into the deck - in general, it is not a very good idea to shuffle basic energies back into your deck, since - once again - they need to stay in your discard in order for you to be able to recycle them quickly with Ray, and if you are in a position where you have to shuffle that many Pokes back - well then things are not looking that good. Imo Rescue Stretcher is better for this deck, it can allow you to get a Lele back into your hand in case you had to drop it due to the opponent (or in this case, you) using Parallel City or something, and get a supporter you need if the City is no longer in play or get a Ray/Solgaleo/Drampa immediately back into play.

I am still waiting for Burning Shadows to come out to make modifications to my deck, but honestly, the only change I think I would make is the obvious Lysandre-Guzma swap, and I will either use 4 Puzzles of Time instead of my VS Seekers, or put in additional copies of already useful Supporters of which I only run 1. (Like Hala and Brigette.) I might also consider putting in Max Potion/Parallel City this time since I've been playing without them so far.

 

[Adi]

Thanks for letting me know Rayquaza was a better card. I edited my deck list to use Rayquaza instead of a Lurantis GX.

 

[Adi]

I've decided to put down the money to buy Tapu Lele GX, and I've also added Drampa GX to list of pokemon. Tell me what you think of the changes.