Gholdengo ex Deck List and Strategy Guide
Gholdengo ex is one of the most popular decks online right now, and a powerful new archetype to come out of Paradox Rift. In this deck list and guide, we’re going to be sharing a winning Gholdengo ex deck list and share a few pointers on how you can use this deck at your next tournament to win.
Gholdengo ex Deck List
Deck list credit: Danuwat Wantha – 2nd/185
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3 Gimmighoul PAR 88
1 Gimmighoul PAR 87
4 Gholdengo ex PAR 139
1 Scyther OBF 4
1 Scizor OBF 141
1 Manaphy BRS 41
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
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3 Arven OBF 186
2 Worker SIT 167
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
1 Klara CRE 145
1 Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171
4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
4 Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189
3 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
3 Ultra Ball SVI 196
2 Switch SVI 194
2 Energy Retrieval SVI 171
2 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Pal Pad SVI 182
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Counter Catcher PAR 160
1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178
3 PokéStop PGO 68
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12 Metal Energy
Card Types
Gholdengo ex Deck Strategy – How it Works
Difficulty rating: 3/5 – Moderate
One of the beauties of playing this deck is how straightforward it is. The entire deck functions around Gholdengo ex’s attack. It only needs one energy to use, and it does 50 damage for each energy card you discard from your hand – much like the once popular Malamar deck.
I like that it’s in multiples of 50 as 50 is a pretty easy number to calculate (for those of us who are less math inclined). So, at 50 an energy, you can defeat just about any basic two-prize Pokemon for five energies. Seven energies means you’re vanquishing just about any Pokemon out there, even the uber tanky Charizard ex.
Gholdengo ex comes with excellent draw support
Unlike most attackers that rely on supporting Pokemon or trainer cards to draw cards, Gholdengo ex is one of those rare attackers that provides draw support and dishes out crazy damage all in one. Coin Bonus enables you to draw one card each turn, and two if its in the active spot. That means you could be drawing four or more cards if you have all of your Gholdengo ex in play (and even more if you play switch cards).
Bench Gimmighoul and evolve ASAP
One thing that makes Gimmighoul a little less versatile than other main attackers in the current standard format like Miraidon, Chien-Pao or Roaring Moon is the fact that it’s a stage 1 Pokemon. This means you really, really need to prioritize getting Gimmighoul into play ASAP. To help you out, this deck runs four battle VIP passes as well as two nest balls and three Ultra Balls.
To help you find those key items and get your bench stacked quickly, this deck also runs three copies of Poke Stop and three copies of Arven.
Speed up evolution with a technical machine
This deck list runs one copy of the Evolution Technical Machine. This is a pretty cool new strategy and mechanic released in Paradox Rift, Gholdengo ex is one of the best applications for it. You absolutely need to get at least three Gholdengo ex into play as quickly as you can to ensure you have that awesome combination of attacker and draw support when you need it most.
Because Technical Machine is a tool, you can use Arven to pull it from your deck.
Get the energies you need to attack with Earthen Vessel and Energy Retrieval Cards
Earthen vessel is a very strong card for this deck thanks to how it can pull energies from your deck. Each one can be used to pull two steel energies, adding an additional – effectively adding another 100 damage to your Gholdengo ex’s damage output (assuming the energies are still in your deck).
Use Arven or Poke Stop to increase your odds of drawing Earthen Vessel, combined with your excellent draw support via Gholdengo ex’s Coin Bonus.
Of course, Gholdengo ex’s attack “Make It Rain” doesn’t happen for free, and you won’t be able to pull energies from your deck forever. Eventually, you should have a fat stack of metal energies in your discard pile. To bring those back, this deck runs four copies of Superior Energy Retrieval and two Energy Retrieval cards, as well as a Klara which can be massively helpful in getting not only energies but Pokemon cards, as well.
Play Worker to overcome Gholdengo ex’s glaring weakness to Path to the Peak
Like any deck that’s reliant on its Pokemon’s abilities, Gholdengo ex is susceptible to Path to the Peak. Its draw support gets totally shut down as long as Path to the Peak is in play, and for a deck with no other recourse outside of rule box Pokemon for draw support, Path to the Peak has the potential to totally shut you down.
That’s why this deck runs three copies of worker – to help increase your odds of overcoming that weakness while also giving you incremental draws to help pull those energies you need to OHKO anything.
Last but not least, attack with Scizor to counter the meta
When all else fails, or to take an advantageous prize trade, this deck runs a 1/1 line of Scyther and Scizor – both from Obsidian Flames. Scizor’s Punishing Scissors attack has the potential to do up to 260 damage to your opponent’s active Pokemon, and even more if you’re facing one of the many attackers right now that are weak to Steel Types – for example Chien-Pao ex and Iron Valiant ex.
Gholdengo ex Deck – Final Thoughts
Gholdengo ex is already doing very well on the online competitive scene, and it’s likeely to be a popular pick for players looking for a combination of relative ease of play (get energies, attack, rinse and repeat) and favorable typing in the current meta.
