As the sun rises on the Alola region, so does the Sunne Pokemon, Solgaleo, rise in the Pokemon TCG Pocket meta. Boasting high HP and incredible damage for a low Energy cost, it's a clear contender for the best card in Celestial Guardians.
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PostsThe fact that it's a Stage 2 Pokemon would have held it back in previous metas, but the inclusion of Rare Candy allows you to evolve it almost immediately to get into the fight. Even better, it pairs seamlessly with the established powerhouse Skarmory, making a fast, aggressive deck that's sure to win the day.
Sample Decklist
Solgaleo ex
Cosmog (A3) x2
Cosmoem (A3) x1
Solgaleo ex (A3) x2
Skarmory (A2) x2
Professor's Research x2
Sabrina x1
Cyrus x1
Mars x1
Poke Ball x2
Rare Candy x2
Rocky Helmet x2
Giant Cape x1
Poison Barb x1
Turn off Psychic Energy in the deck builder before saving this deck: neither Skarmory nor Solgaleo ex can attack with Psychic Energy.
Iono and Lillie can replace Cyrus and Mars, to give you a little more survivability on Solgaleo ex and a way to draw a fresh hand in a pinch. Red can also be added to allow Solgaleo ex to OHKO Darkrai ex.
Pokemon Tools are also flexible: You can run one Rocky Helmet and two Giant Capes, and drop the Poison Barb for a Pokemon Communication to hunt for Solgaleo ex. It's important to keep at least three Pokemon Tools in order to reliably empower Skarmory's Metal Arms attack.
Solgaleo ex Skarmory Deck Strategy
Your best starting hand includes a Skarmory, which you should set as your Active Pokemon, and any Pokemon Tool to equip on your first turn. If you're going second, attach a Metal Energy to Skarmory and attack for 50 damage with Metal Arms.
While any Pokemon Tool will increase Metal Arms's damage, we recommend Rocky Helmet. Most Basic Pokemon with 60 to 70 HP won't attack into Rocky Helmet after taking 50 damage from Metal Arms, giving you a little more time to set up.
Meanwhile, on your Bench, play a Cosmog and start looking for your tools to evolve it. Ideally, you can use Rare Candy to evolve directly to Solgaleo ex on the next turn, but Cosmoem works if you need to take the scenic route.
Solgaleo's Rising Road ability allows you to move it to the Active position for free, which translates to a free retreat. So, as soon as it has two Energy, move Solgaleo ex up and attack with Sol Breaker for 120 damage.
It's a good idea to get your second Solgaleo ex set up as soon as you can, which will allow you to swap in the one with the most HP each turn, potentially denying your opponent the opportunity to get a KO.
Being able to advance Solgaleo for free puts your Active Pokemon on your Bench without retreating, which also allows you to play around status effects like Sleep.
The rest of the deck is pretty straightforward: a second Skarmory with any tool has room on the Bench until you need it, and can be swapped in to deal damage before being KOed, allowing Solgaleo ex to sweep back in for the final blow.
Sabrina is useful for forcing out a threat that your opponent has been investing in, buying you time or forcing them to use their Leaf or X Speed to get it back into the Active position. Sabrina and Cyrus can also bring weakened Pokemon forward to score the last point you need.
Mars is useful for disrupting your opponent's hand if you catch them using a Poke Ball or Pokemon Communication and not playing their new card immediately. It can also be a huge setback to a Meowscarada deck, which tries to filter out most Grass-type Pokemon into the hand.
Solgaleo ex Skarmory Matchups
Charizard ex Moltres ex
Solgaleo ex has a great matchup against the evergreen Charizard ex Moltres ex deck, despite Solgaleo ex's weakness to Fire. That weakness is mostly irrelevant, since Charizard ex's Crimson Storm does enough damage to OHKO Solgaleo ex anyway.
The best part of going against this deck is that Moltres ex almost never attacks, allowing you to use Skarmory to weaken it or score two points early. You will want to put Giant Cape on Skarmory instead of a Rocky Helmet, to force Charizard ex to use Crimson Storm or take two swings with Slash, allowing you to soften it up for Solgaleo ex.
Oricorio Magnezone
Oricorio presents a major problem for Solgaleo ex, which can't deal damage to it. Skarmory can, but it's weak to Lightning, which means it will go down in a turn or two to either Oricorio or Magnezone. And if you lose both Skarmory before taking out both Oricorio, you're dead in the water.
In order to win, you need to take out both Magnezone and one Oricorio, and only Skarmory can do the latter. That means that you need to protect Skarmory long enough to take out Oricorio, and will probably need Skarmory to wear a Rocky Helmet to keep Oricorio from KOing it.
Lucario Rampardos
It can be a hassle to work through three non-ex Pokemon for a win, but Solgaleo ex still has a huge advantage over Lucario/Rampardos decks. While both decks can start attacking early, Skarmory can KO Lucario before it can attack, and Rampardos's Head Smash leaves it vulnerable to Sol Breaker.
If you're going first and your opponent gets a hit with Riolu's Jab, your best option is to start giving Cosmog Energy so you can OHKO Lucario the next turn, before Marshadow can get set up. This will allow you to sweep before your opponent can really mount a counterattack.
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