Solgaleo EX — The Solar Lion

Welcome to Solgaleo, the steel lion that swiftly takes down its prey with ferocious speed. With Skarmory as a strong lead, this deck aims to strike your foes down with high damage and with little resources to boot. Let’s break it down. 

Why Play Solgaleo?

What’s awesome about this deck is the speed/tempo and value that it offers. With Skarmory, Solgaleo is hitting for many relevant breakpoints, allowing for very efficient kos. If you’re looking for a deck that swings hard and fast with overwhelming might, this deck is for you.  

✅ Strengths

• Two energy for 120 damage is a lot of value
• Skarmory helps increase the speed of the deck
• Solgaleo’s ability allows for switching from the bench without tempo loss

❌ Weaknesses

• Some matchups, like Darktina and Charizard, are almost autolosses
• The longer the game takes, the more likely the deck is to lose 

Game Plan

Early Game: 

• Start with either Cosmog or Skarmory.
• If you started with Cosmog, attach an energy and teleport.
• If you started with Skarmory, consider attaching to Cosmog anyway if you have all your pieces; otherwise, set up Skarmory.
• Make sure Skarmory has a tool on it, preferably Rocky Helmet or Poison Barb.

Mid Game: 

• At this point, you should have already evolved into Solgaleo. Failure to do so at this point is usually game-ending.
• If you can set up your second Solgaleo, however, you should be fine in case you were slower than usual (Note: this means Skarmory should take a back seat since you don’t want to give them a point for Skarmory).
• Consider break points, use Giant Cape to keep Solgaleo from dying instantly to a Charizard.

Late Game:

• This part is simple, swap between both of your Solgaleos to eat up damage. Don’t be afraid to heal Solgaleo with Lillie if you know they could kill it next turn. 
• If you only have one Solgaleo left, hopefully, you did not use Skarmory this game.
• Alternatively, if they knocked out a Skarmory, make sure both Solgaleos can swap back and forth to eat damage. 

Key Card Roles & Highlights

Skarmory - Early damage dealer

Solgaleo - Main attacker

Cosmog - You need this card for Solgaleoto

Rare Candy - Lets you evolve into Solgaleo a turn sooner

Giant Cape - Helps avoid losing in certain matchups 

Tech Options & Variants

Cyrus over Lillie is a possible choice that can help against the Darktina matchup, but at the cost of the mirror match.

You could add cards like Mars or Giovanni for even more pressure/control, but this comes at the cost of consistency or healing, which, once again, changes what this deck can beat and will ultimately lose to. 

Alternatively, you can swap Skarmory for Snorlax, for even greater damage and HP thresholds, but it comes with the drawback of needing to run Barry.

Other options include: Kangaskhan, Heatran, Escavalier, and Magearna. But all these options have their issues, too.  

Overall, Solgaleo has not found its perfect partner yet.

Final Thoughts: Mastering the Deck

Honestly, this deck is a bit of a noob trap for beginners. It’s a strong deck, but the current meta is simply stronger than this deck unless you change enough of the deck list to counter the strongest of the meta. The flexibility of this deck comes at the cost of its matchups being worse with decks it would normally beat. This deck requires the player to understand deck building, anticipate what they will face on the ladder, and adjust accordingly. Following a deck build blindly is what will cause you to lose a ton with this deck. However, if you understand these fundamental aspects, this deck will reward you and shoot you straight into Master Ball rank. 

Deck Status:

🏆 Tier 3
✅ Strengths: Fast, Good value
⚠️ Weaknesses: The longer the game, less chance for victory