Standard Salazzle GX/Garbodor Skeleton List - New Solgaleo GX Counter

[Duo]

Pokemon x17

Salazzle GX x3
Salandit x4
Garbodor (Garbotoxin) x2
Trubbish x3
Volcanion x2
Tapu Lele GX x3

Supporter x13

Sycamore x4
N x4
Guzma x3
Mallow x1
Brigette x1

Item x15

Ultra Ball x4
Choice Band x4
Float Stone x4
Field Blower x2
Rescue Stretcher x1

Stadium x3

Scorched Earth x3

Energy x12

Fire Energy x12

Everyone is freaking out or should be freaking out about the New Solgaleo GX (I feel like I'm advertising the New Nintendo 2DS XL). That being said, this list is absolutely the best counter to it.

Salazzle GX + Choice Band with Garbotoxin active is the easiest way to OHKO the New Solgaleo GX XL (that was intentional branding puns. Expect more of them). It's a set up you can achieve in the same time it takes for a Solgaleo or 2 to hit the field.

I have also included a Volcanion + Scorched Earth engine. Under the influence of Garbotoxin, you cannot use things like Oranguru or Octillery yourself. So instead you use Scorched Earth to dig into your deck, and you use Volcanion to accelerate energy onto 2 Salandits so that you always have a back up attacker. 1 Mallow is included as cheeky tech because you can combo off of Scorced Earth with it. No more than 1 copy because you can't always guarantee that you're going to have the energy to discard for drawing, but that's also why you run 12 to always see enough energy. Also, it's usually better to just Sycamore or N for draw power anyway, but think of Mallow as your "9th draw supporter." Optimally, you want 2 energy in hand each turn to attach 1, and scorched earth 1.

You don't need non-GX/EX attackers since Garbodor shuts off Hoopa and Alolan Ninetales BUS, but even then you still have baby Volcanion to kind of help.

Before I reason match ups, let's take a quick moment to discuss who's going to survive Solgaleo GX and who isn't (in my opinion).

Gardevoir GX - Auto loss. Even if you Plea GX with a Sylveon build, that still doesn't fix that you're getting OHKO'd by a DCE or 2 basic energy by a single Pokemon that you need 6 energy and a choice band or 7 energy to OHKO in return. You're never getting that energy set up before Solgaleo GX gets 2 energy and a Guzma. And if you run weakness policy, the Sun & Moon Solgaleo GX OHKOs you without a Choice Band and discards all energy, so you're NEVER getting an OHKO on it. Gardevoir GX already does not have auto win match ups against any deck in format, but this auto loss is too big to ignore. I expect Gardevoir GX should die when New Solgaleo GX XL releases.

Ho-Oh/Turtonator/Volcanion - Questionable match up. You need 2 steam ups with a Choice Band on either Turtonator or Ho-Oh to grab an OHKO. Ho-Oh GX can also get this done with 2 Steam Ups and a Fighting Fury Belt. But even with Fighting Fury Belt, you're still getting OHKO'd by Sun & Moon Solgaleo without Choice Band. Consdering you need to Kiawe or Nitro Tank GX (neither of which deals any damage) to accelerate energy, this is a shifty but still winnable match up. You need to rely on your speed as a basic deck to shut down a Stage 2 before it gets too big to KO.

Golisopod/Garbodor - Winnable match up. You're likely going to get hit by the energy acceleration attack at least a few times during the match so your Acerolas are still live. You have a solid 2 hit KO match up, but you absolutely must prioritize KOing Sun & Moon Solgaleo GX. Garbotoxin at least can shut down their mobility option, but absolutely everything will get slaughtered when SUMO Solgaleo hits the active. Consider running 1 Turtonator GX in Golisopod lists to benefit from your Garbodor more and discourge energy acceleration.

Tapu Bulu/Vikavolt - Auto loss. Even if you attempt to spread damage with Koko to establish pseudo OHKOs, New Solgaleo GX XL can simply GX attack away the spread damage and proceed to 2 hit KO your first Bulu with New Solgaleo GX XL, then follow up with OHKOs on SUMO Solgaleo GX. Solgaleo players would be smart enough to not use Sol Burst because Bulu players tech in Tapu Koko GX which can OHKO at 5 energy, play the patient game and beat you in sheer power.

Alolan Ninetales GX - Very hard match up. All of your spread damage and Ice Blades can be healed off which can just waste tons of time. Alolan Ninetales BUS and a VERY long game seems like your only win condition.

I think that covers the top 5 more popular decks lately. Things like Drampa/Garbodor running Po Town probably still stand a pretty good chance as well, but assuming that from my list, Gardevoir and Tapu Bulu completely die off to auto losses, let's see Salazzle GX/Garbodor's match up against the rest of them.

Ho-Oh/Turtonator/Volcanion - A scary match up. Volcanion EX can OHKO the frick out of you, but at the same time Queen's Haze can negate a Kiawe or a Nitro Tank GX. While Volcanion EX is shut off by Garbotoxin, it's sadly ironic that it becomes the attacker that will ruin your day. If you can find a way to surivive Volcanion EX, you can win.

Golisopod GX/Garbodor - This should be an auto win for Salazzle. You don't even need a Choice Band for back to back OHKOs. Nothing in the Golispod kit can OHKO you, and you can use a Choice Band if they try to Armor Press you early. Armor press also becomes useless after you take 3 prizes. Spread damage with Koko and a follow up KO with Crossing Cut GX with a Choice Band is the best you've got.

Alolan Ninetales GX - I see this as a match up in favor of Alolan Ninetales GX. Garbotoxin removes Luminous Barrier, but Tapu Koko spread damage + Espeon EX devolve will end you.

With this in mind, the validity of this deck will be deteremined by how many other decks stick around. I expect Alolan Ninetales GX to die off a bit, but people seem to always find a way to make that deck meta relevant. I want to believe that Ho-Oh/Turtonator/Volcanion will still stick around because 2 steam ups and a choice band isn't impossible, and with Gardevoir gone (probably), Kiawe can run loose a little more.

Now, it should also be noted that New Solgaleo GX XL can simply Guzma up a Garbodor and OHKO it while accelerating energy, and then Salazzle GX all of a sudden looks a lot smaller. I think Guzmaing up the Garbodor is the best choice if you don't have a field blower since that gives you time to take a hit from Salazzle GX and heal it off later if you must.

I think Salazzle GX/Garbodor is the best direct counter to Solgaleo GX, but it leans completely on Garbodor being around.

 

[FrostBiter12]

Well, that was fast! The new Solgaleo GX hasn't even been up for a day and you've come up with a counter. The best part is that this is actually not an altogether bad idea. I would suggest adding an Acerola or two just because this seems somewhat like the fire version of Golisopod GX but slower. Salazzle GX also hits a lot harder than Golisopod GX late game while the bug keeps the same damage output (almost) every turn. I like this concept a lot as a Garbodor player (highly consistent) and I'm interested to see this in action.

Your list also seems very consistent so I'm a little hesitant to suggest some changes, but a few tweaks I would make are:

-1 Mallow (Cool idea, but the situation where you have the Scorched Earth, Energy, Mallow, and the need of two specific cards is very rare and 90% of the time you probably won't get a chance to use it.)
-1 Trubbish (I get the point: consistency, but if you prize the Garbodor (which is what I think why you play a 3-2 line), you have three Trubbish and only one Garbotoxin leaving you with two dead cards.)
-2 Fire Energy (As a Volcanion player as well, I hate those 1 Volcanion EX and 6 Fire Energy hands and since the only reason you discard Fire from your hand is Scorched Earth, I'd just drop two. Especially since you play the baby Volcanion.)

+3 Acerola (Just going off the concept of reusing the Salazzle GX's and removing that 2-prize attacker to instead promote the baby Volcanion and reset the energy while adding damage is great for this deck. Not to mention pulling up the baby Volcanion or anything else stuck in the active to preserve a Float Stone or Guzma.)
+1 Mr. Mime (This is going off what you said match-up wise against the Alolan Ninetales GX. Removes the Flying Flip and Ice Blade damage. Only concern is when you play Garbodor down. Just a thought.)

Overall, great idea and I hope it works out for you. Everybody is so hyped about the new Solgaleo GX, so this is and will be the best counter for it.

Good luck and let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Duo]

I'm not a fan of Acerola in this list, or at least full on 3 Acerola because I am not playing Rainbow Energy or Po Town to inflict damage on myself. With only 200 HP, I would not want to ever attach Rainbow Energy to a Salazzle GX since it puts it in the magical 190 HP range of getting OHKO'd by certain attacks, like Raichu GX. And for the same reason, I would also not play Po Town. On top of that, Salazzle GX needs 2 energy to attack - Golispod GX only needs 1. You can't do same turn Acerola drop shenanigans with this list as easily.

One change I actually want to make right now is -1 fire for +1 Garbodor. I can see the logic behind why a 2/2 line is appropriate, but my main thing is that I will usually want a back up Trubbish sitting on my bench so I can rescue stretcher any that I discard or get KOd and instantly have my Garbotoxin back. Increasing to the 3/3 line squares up those odds even more.

I once tested pure Salazzle GX with Fomantis and Octillery for consistency, and surprisingly I was able to beat Gardevoir GX several times thanks to Queen's Haze and upscaling damage. I ran 10 fire energy in that list, and there were many games where I did not even get the fire energy I needed to attach for turn, which is why I am now opting for 12. I believe dropping to 11 for a 3rd Garbodor is probably a good call though. I will definitely consider going all the way down to 10 if I need more deck space, but that means I will also slash Scorched Earth down to 2 if I drop to 10 energy, and subsequently get rid of Mallow as well.

My biggest concern right now is having something that can tango with water in the early game before I can take 4 prizes to OHKO water with Salazzle GX. If I can find something that isn't sluggish to use, has no abilities, and can attack well, I would definitely include it. 1 or 2 Ho-Oh GX is looking like a good idea, but this list has no Kiawe or Max Elixir.

I'm not really a fan of the Mr.Mime because of Garbotoxin. I would trade my Mallow for Acerola in those situations to scoop up Pokemon at risk of getting KO'd after spread damage if that was the case.

A lot to think about with this list still. I still think Solgaleo Guzma'ing up Garbodor and KOing it is something that won't be hard to pull off, but this is still the most efficient way to OHKO a Solgaleo GX. The next best way is steam up on Turtonator GX or Ho-Oh GX.

 

[FrostBiter12]

I completely forgot the use of Rainbow energy. I guess it's a habit. My thought was with 200 HP, Salazzle GX can take a hit without being knocked out. Only thing (I believe) I messed up on was saying that the Acerola can remove a Guzma target.

The reason I was thinking about playing the Acerola is because the Salazzle GX can't one shot until late game, so preserving your Salazzle GXs is very important (at least in concept). Also, I had the idea that instead of attempting to have another Salazzle GX ready by the time you Acerola, I was suggesting to rely a little more on that Volcanion to set up once more. I hope this helps clarifies what I said earlier.

On the topic of another attacker I would suggest either another baby Volcanion (based on what I said above) or a Turtonator GX to quickly accelerate energy and set up a few Salazzle GX. There is now way to get around that Volcanion match-up (I think, though I'll keep looking) so I guess the deck just has to take it as an almost auto-loss.

So, after some changes (continuing off the edits above):

-1 Mr. Mime (based on what you said.)
-1 Acerola (not as important based on what you said {maybe not even used at all}.)

+1 Fire Energy (your preference)
+1 baby Volcanion or a Turtonator GX (mentioned above)

I hope this helps and let me know what you think about the revisions. Thanks again!

Edit, Idea list:

*Araquanid SUM
*Altar of the Sunne GRI

 

[voluntaryreboot]

I've also been thinking a lot about this since I saw the new card earlier! We've had broadly similar ideas I think, but enough variation to make it worth explaining. My current list is:

2-2 Trubbish/Garbodor BKP
2-2 Salazzle GX (with the logic that it's a late game attacker, primarily)
2 Volcanion (Power Heater to charge the lizards late game, or anything else at any point)
3 Turtonator GX (Primary Attacker, ideal start)
3 Tapu Lele GX (obviously)

4 Sycamore
4 N
3 Guzma
2 Kiawe (Turtonator charge if starting with that)
1 Bridgette (If Turn doesn't start)

4 Ultra Ball
4 Float Stone
4 Choice Band
2 Field Blower
1 Rescue Stretcher
2 Max Elixer (Bench charging)

13 Fire Energy

Reflecting on it 13 may be a little high. There's a lot of potential here though and I'm really excited by it!

 

[Duo]

Thanks for providing another list. I like seeing lists that have some differences with my own since it becomes easier to discuss a midway point or another list idea altogether when things start looking too similar.

I'm going to let this deck concept bake in my brain for a while and I'll come back to it if any eureka moments strike me.

We are still many months early to even consider playing this list with realistic success (in my opinion).

 

[voluntaryreboot]

Yeah, absolutely. I'm a GoliGarb player at the minute and I don't really like this enough. I definitely wouldn't bring it to a serious event. My list feels like I just shuffled a Turbo Turtles and a Garb based deck together! Salazzle and Garb are great, but having Volcanion and Turtonator at the same time as running Kiawe and Brigette (which are basically dead cards after turn 1, in many cases) seems a little counterintuitive to me. I'm hoping they'll release a better one prize fire attacking option in whatever our SM5 ends up looking like, personally.