Discussion Which GX Cards are the Best to Have?
- Thread starter Lugia
- Start date
Right now the biggest staple GX is Tapu Lele GX...which you might be able to tell by its price tag if you shop for it online. Its ability allows you to search for any supporter in your deck, so it's become a staple in any deck that benefits from Brigette.
Outside of that, some of the top performing GX Pokemon right now would be Gardevoir GX, Golisopod GX, Metagross GX, Drampa GX, Ho-Oh GX, and Alolan Ninetales GX. There are a handful of other GX Pokemon as well, but fundamentally speaking each GX Pokemon is a deck of their own. You don't just throw together a deck full of GXs and hope to do well. Since Pokemon have specific energy requirements in order to attack, you want to keep themes as thematic as possible. If you play Gardevoir, you want to focus on fairy energy and Pokemon that need fairy or colorless energy in order to attack. A lot of times, most decks won't run more than 1 GX attacker, at I'd say at max 3 different kinds of GX Pokemon. There is still a lot of value in having non-GX Pokemon both for having an attacker that only loses 1 prize when KO'd (GX Pokemon lose you 2 prizes per KO), and also a lot of non-GX Pokemon have very good abilities, such as Garbodor's Garbotoxin and Octillery's Abyssal Hand that can be played in accomodation with a lot of GX Pokemon.
If you're mostly interested in attack and defense, I would group the more popular GX Pokemon like so:
Attack focused: Gardevoir GX, Ho-Oh GX, Drampa GX. Gardevoir GX has an "unlimited" damage ceiling with infinite force, and people who play her are looking for back to back OHKOs. Ho-Oh GX can accelerate very quickly with Kiawe and swings for 180 base damage that can be modified by Choice Band, Fighting Fury Belt, Lurantis, and Volcanion EX to swing for OHKOs on everything relevant. Drampa GX hits for 150 on an optimal Berserk, Choice Banded for 180 damage which is one of the most important numbers to hit in the game right now.
Hybrid: Golisopod GX, Alolan Ninetales GX. Golisopod GX has conditional 120 damage and Armor Press, which allows it to take 20 less damage on your opponent's upcoming turn. It's very strategic, but the fact that it can hit for 120 damage for just 1 Grass energy is amazing. The GX attack is also a great finisher move that can also OHKO with choice band. Alolan Ninetales GX is a sniper that can deal 50 damage to any Pokemon on your opponent's side of the field, including the bench. It then has a fairly expensive, but powerful attack in the form of Blizzard Edge which deals 160 base damage and requires you to discard 2 energy of any kind. Alolan Ninetales GX likes to spread damage with Ice Blade, then Guzma up the bench for well timed Blizzard Edge KOs. Her GX attack is also amazing.
Defense focused: Metagross GX. There's probably no deck tankier than Metagross GX as it is a deck that benefits the most from Max Potion. Its ability Geotech System allows you to attach discarded energy to your Metagross GX, so even if you discard all of your energy from a Max Potion, you can just simply Geotech System it all back on and be at full health again, and with 250 HP, it's pretty much never going down unless its an OHKO.
You may also want to look into the new GX Pokemon coming out in Shining Legends and Crimson Invasion, as they have the potential to greatly alter how people construct their decks in the near future.
Outside of that, some of the top performing GX Pokemon right now would be Gardevoir GX, Golisopod GX, Metagross GX, Drampa GX, Ho-Oh GX, and Alolan Ninetales GX. There are a handful of other GX Pokemon as well, but fundamentally speaking each GX Pokemon is a deck of their own. You don't just throw together a deck full of GXs and hope to do well. Since Pokemon have specific energy requirements in order to attack, you want to keep themes as thematic as possible. If you play Gardevoir, you want to focus on fairy energy and Pokemon that need fairy or colorless energy in order to attack. A lot of times, most decks won't run more than 1 GX attacker, at I'd say at max 3 different kinds of GX Pokemon. There is still a lot of value in having non-GX Pokemon both for having an attacker that only loses 1 prize when KO'd (GX Pokemon lose you 2 prizes per KO), and also a lot of non-GX Pokemon have very good abilities, such as Garbodor's Garbotoxin and Octillery's Abyssal Hand that can be played in accomodation with a lot of GX Pokemon.
If you're mostly interested in attack and defense, I would group the more popular GX Pokemon like so:
Attack focused: Gardevoir GX, Ho-Oh GX, Drampa GX. Gardevoir GX has an "unlimited" damage ceiling with infinite force, and people who play her are looking for back to back OHKOs. Ho-Oh GX can accelerate very quickly with Kiawe and swings for 180 base damage that can be modified by Choice Band, Fighting Fury Belt, Lurantis, and Volcanion EX to swing for OHKOs on everything relevant. Drampa GX hits for 150 on an optimal Berserk, Choice Banded for 180 damage which is one of the most important numbers to hit in the game right now.
Hybrid: Golisopod GX, Alolan Ninetales GX. Golisopod GX has conditional 120 damage and Armor Press, which allows it to take 20 less damage on your opponent's upcoming turn. It's very strategic, but the fact that it can hit for 120 damage for just 1 Grass energy is amazing. The GX attack is also a great finisher move that can also OHKO with choice band. Alolan Ninetales GX is a sniper that can deal 50 damage to any Pokemon on your opponent's side of the field, including the bench. It then has a fairly expensive, but powerful attack in the form of Blizzard Edge which deals 160 base damage and requires you to discard 2 energy of any kind. Alolan Ninetales GX likes to spread damage with Ice Blade, then Guzma up the bench for well timed Blizzard Edge KOs. Her GX attack is also amazing.
Defense focused: Metagross GX. There's probably no deck tankier than Metagross GX as it is a deck that benefits the most from Max Potion. Its ability Geotech System allows you to attach discarded energy to your Metagross GX, so even if you discard all of your energy from a Max Potion, you can just simply Geotech System it all back on and be at full health again, and with 250 HP, it's pretty much never going down unless its an OHKO.
You may also want to look into the new GX Pokemon coming out in Shining Legends and Crimson Invasion, as they have the potential to greatly alter how people construct their decks in the near future.
Might as well say it now. If you can afford it or are extremely lucky you should definitely have a Tapu Lele GX or two. Let's you search for a supporter when it hits play, has a good attack that only needs two of any energy, and has no weakness. If you use psychic energy it also has a once per game 'max potion' effect.
Delayed response, that was supposed to go up about half an hour ago... mostly repeated information. XP
It will depend upon the deck, but I'll mention it isn't just attacks but Abilities that will also matter. Also, though you've been a PokéBeach member for almost three years, it sounds like you're new to the TCG. Please pardon me if I explain things in too much or not enough detail. ^^'
Right now, Tapu Lele-GX is the best Pokémon-GX to own; most decks want to run two of it. While the card has a good regular attack (and "okay" GX-attack), the appeal of the card is its Ability, which allows you to search your deck for a Supporter and then add it to your hand.
Beyond that, Alolan Ninetales-GX, Espeon-GX, Decidueye-GX, Drampa-GX, Gardevoir-GX, Golisopod-GX, Lurantis-GX, Ho-Oh-GX, Metagross-GX, Sylveon-GX, Tauros-GX and Tapu Bulu-GX all have at least some past success under their belts. Of course, I'm telling you this as the 2017-2018 Standard Format is just under way (rotation happened September 1st). So, the decks at best experienced their success before the current format was in effect. All the Grass-Types, for example, are hurting from the loss of Forest of Giant Plants, as it was in the sets cut from the Standard Format and was banned in the Expanded Format. Tauros-GX was pretty important when it first released, but is now simply a solid card. Etc.
Right now, Tapu Lele-GX is the best Pokémon-GX to own; most decks want to run two of it. While the card has a good regular attack (and "okay" GX-attack), the appeal of the card is its Ability, which allows you to search your deck for a Supporter and then add it to your hand.
Beyond that, Alolan Ninetales-GX, Espeon-GX, Decidueye-GX, Drampa-GX, Gardevoir-GX, Golisopod-GX, Lurantis-GX, Ho-Oh-GX, Metagross-GX, Sylveon-GX, Tauros-GX and Tapu Bulu-GX all have at least some past success under their belts. Of course, I'm telling you this as the 2017-2018 Standard Format is just under way (rotation happened September 1st). So, the decks at best experienced their success before the current format was in effect. All the Grass-Types, for example, are hurting from the loss of Forest of Giant Plants, as it was in the sets cut from the Standard Format and was banned in the Expanded Format. Tauros-GX was pretty important when it first released, but is now simply a solid card. Etc.