How To Build A Gholdengo Palkia V Deck In The Pokemon TCG

One of the most popular Pokemon introduced in Scarlet and Violet, Gholdengo ex combines a powerful attack with high draw potential in the Pokemon TCG. However, when paired with Origin Forme Palkia V and VSTAR, this deck grows in both damage and consistency.

In the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck, the goal is to discard as many Energies as needed each turn when attacking with Gholdengo ex, offering a high damage potential. These cards can then be rapidly recycled using Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR for low-cost, high-damage attacks through Palkia and Radiant Greninja. To learn more about this deck, from playing it to battling against it on Pokemon TCG Live, continue reading below.

Pokemon TCG: Gholdengo Palkia V Deck List

Pokemon TCG: Gholdengo Palkia V Deck Key Cards

There are many different ways to play the Gholdengo ex deck, with the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck being just one variant of a popular archetype. Because of this, there are many different cards that you can include to help tailor your deck to what you wish to achieve. However, some cards are essential to gameplay with the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck.

Gholdengo ex

Gholdengo ex is the key card of this deck, with it acting both as your main attacking Pokemon and a draw engine.

This Pokemon’s Coin Bonus Ability allows it to draw up to two cards per turn, depending on whether it is in the Active Spot or not. Because it is the main attacker in this deck, you’ll likely have at least two Gholdengo ex cards in play in an ideal game, giving you the ability to draw anywhere from two to four cards per turn.

Its Make It Rain attack does 50 damage per Basic Energy discarded from your hand, at the cost of a single Basic Metal Energy. As a result, you are able to play a variety of Basic Energy cards in your deck without sacrificing the potential to achieve high amounts of damage in this deck. Discarding 7 Energies from hand will allow you to one-shot Knock Out almost every Pokemon in rotation.

Gholdengo ex cannot discard Energies that are currently in play. As a result, at the beginning of the game, take note of what your Prize Cards are and be cautious when attaching Energies. While having back-up attackers set up can be important, you will also want to make sure that you are leaving yourself enough Basic Energies to discard.

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR

In the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck, Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR acts as both a secondary attacker and a way to recycle Energy back onto the playfield once using it Star Portal VSTAR Power. Its attack, Subspace Swell, can reach damages of up to 260. This creates a powerful attacker on turns where you may not be able to discard enough Basic Energies to power up Gholdengo ex’s attack.

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR can also use its Ability to attach Energies to Radiant Greninja, a task that can be difficult otherwise since Moonlight Shuriken requires three Energies. Radiant Greninja’s attack, however, can be a great way to take two Prize Cards on weaker Pokemon, or establish damage on the board for attacks later in the game.

With the use of its Ability, Wave Veil, Manaphy can block the damage done to the Bench by Greninja. As a result, many people will choose to use Cross Switcher to bring Manaphy into the Active Spot and then use Canceling Cologne to deactivate this Ability. During the turn Canceling Cologne is used, you may attack the Bench, but only during this turn and if Manaphy is in the Active Spot. If you plan to use Radiant Greninja’s attack multiple times throughout the course of a game, you may wish to Knock Out Manaphy at this time.

Superior Energy Retrieval

Gholdengo ex’s attack strength relies on how many Energies are discarded from your hand. However, this deck only plays 10 Basic Energies, with these needing to be delegated between meeting attack requirements for Gholdengo ex and other attacking Pokemon and being discarded to power up Make It Rain.

As a result, after only an attack or two, you can find your deck depleted of resources. This is especially true if you are also using Radiant Greninja’s Concealed Cards to discard Energy cards in order to draw from the deck.

Superior Energy Retrieval helps to replenish your hand with Basic Energy cards from the discard. Unlike Super Rod, which requires that the Energies be shuffled back into the deck, this Item card allows you to put the Energies directly back into your hand, at the expense of discarding two other cards from your hand.

Because of this, with Superior Energy Retrieval alone, Gholdengo ex can do 200 damage in a single turn if all Energies retrieved are then discarded again.

Pokemon TCG: Gholdengo Palkia V Deck Strategy

Because the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck focuses on discarding Basic Energies as a method of supplying damage, it is played similarly to decks like Chien-Pao ex. However, since Gholdengo ex is a Stage 1 Pokemon, you will likely want to go first when playing this deck.

In an ideal game, going first will allow you to get at least one Gimmighoul on the board, as well as a Palkia V. Then, by turn three of the game, your second turn, you will be able to evolve into Gholdengo ex and begin doing damage. This is especially true given that Gholdengo ex needs only a single Energy attachment to attack. If Palkia V was in play during your first turn, and you attached a Basic Water Energy to it, then you also have the potential to use Subspace Swell on this turn. When facing decks like Tera Charizard ex or any Lost Box decks, Subspace Swell will usually secure your first Prize Card.

When going against Tera Charizard ex, be careful with how and when you take your Prize Cards. While an early attack can secure you a Prize Card early on, it will also result in Charizard ex’s attack doing more damage.

After the first initial turns in which you are focusing on getting your Bench set up, the rest of the game mainly focuses on keeping enough Basic Energies in your hand to do the damage you need. Using Gholdengo ex’s Coin Bonus Ability can allow you to draw additional cards without discarding an Energy, unlike Radiant Greninja.

However, Path to the Peak does deactivate Gholdengo ex’s Ability, so you may need to play Worker or PokéStop to remove this Stadium.

Irida can be beneficial for finding any Water Pokemon in your deck, such as Palkia VSTAR, as well as an Item card. Using Irida, you can find an Item card even without choosing to draw a Water Pokemon, allowing you to locate Cross Switcher, Earthen Vessel, Superior Energy Retrievals, or other cards as necessary.

Pokemon TCG: Gholdengo Palkia V Deck Common Threats

One of the biggest threats for the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck is disruption, especially that which affects the hand or discard pile. In most Gholdengo ex decks that do not feature Origin Forme Palkia V and VSTAR, Dew Guard Milotic is used to prevent this form of disruption.

However, since this deck does not play Milotic, it is important to be aware of possible disruptions that would alter your ability to have the correct number of Energies in hand for Make It Rain.

Toedscruel’s Slime Mold Colony Ability, for example, will prevent you from returning any cards from your discard pile to your hand. While this doesn’t affect Item cards like Super Rod, it will render you unable to use Superior Energy Retrieval.

This is because Super Rod returns cards to the deck, while Superior Energy Retrieval returns them to your hand. Because Toedscruel is a non-Rule Box Pokemon, Path to the Peak will not deactivate its Ability.

As for Supporter cards, cards like Iono, Judge, and Roxanne can also be dangerous for the Gholdengo Palkia V Deck. This is because these cards will alter your hand, whether through placing your hand at the bottom of your deck or shuffling your hand into your deck.

If you have the right amount of Energy card in hand needed to secure an attack with Gholdengo ex next turn, disruption like this can leave you scrambling to find the right Energy cards once more. However, if you haven’t used Palkia’s VSTAR Ability yet in the game, this can help you to attach Energy to either Palkia VSTAR or Radiant Greninja in order to still be able to attack during your turn.