With the Make it Rain attack, Goldhengo ex is one of the strongest cards, and this guide shows the Deck List and how to play it in Pokemon TCG!
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Goldhengo ex Deck Guide for Pokemon TCG
The Goldhengo ex Deck in the Pokémon TCG is based on the Goldhengo ex Pokémon card. Goldhengo ex deck aims to load your hand with energy to discard and deal damage. Once you knock out your opponent’s Pokémon, you retrieve energy and repeat the process. Unlike other meta decks like Charizard ex, Goldhengo ex doesn’t require Rare Candy, as it’s a Stage 1 Pokémon. This deck has powerful drawing ability and damage output and is easy to play.
We will go through a Goldhengo ex deck list, a guide on how to play it, and the crucial cards. Let’s first show you the deck list so you understand the premise behind the Pokemon TCG: Goldhengo ex Deck Guide.
Goldhengo ex Deck List
| Pokémon: 14 | Trainers: 34 | Trainers | Energy: 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Squawkabilly ex PAL 169 | 1 Klara CRE 145 | 2 Energy Retrieval SVI 171 | 5 Basic {W} Energy SVE 3 |
| 2 Hisuian Basculin ASR 43 | 3 PokéStop PGO 68 | 4 Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189 | 7 Basic {M} Energy SVE 8 |
| 1 Hisuian Basculegion LOR 45 | 1 Canceling Cologne ASR 136 | 3 Earthen Vessel PAR 163 | |
| 1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46 | 2 Boss’s Orders PAL 172 | 4 Cross Switcher FST 230 | |
| 1 Manaphy BRS 41 | 1 Avery CRE 130 | 2 Nest Ball SUM 123 | |
| 1 Manaphy BRS 41 | 2 Judge FST 235 | 4 Ultra Ball BRS 150 | |
| 4 Gholdengo ex PAR 139 | 3 Professor’s Research SVI 189 | ||
| 2 Super Rod PAL 188 |
Key Cards in Goldhengo ex
While Goldhengo ex is the centerpiece of the deck, there will be a lot required to accelerate energy, keep your end full, and the prize cards rolling in. In this article, Pokemon TCG: Goldhengo ex Deck Guide and Deck List, we will explain the most important cards and how to use them.
Below are the most essential key cards in the Goldhengo ex Deck:
- Gholdengo ex: damage Pokemon
- Earthen Vessel: energy retrieval from the deck
- Radiant Greninja: more drawing potential
- Superior Energy Retrieval: retrieve energy from the discard pile
- PokeStop: quickly access Item cards
Gholdengo ex
Gholdengo ex Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Pokémon: Ex
- Evolves From: Gimmighoul
- Type: Metal
- HP: 260
- Coin Bonus: Once during your turn, you may draw a card. If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, draw 1 more card.
- Make It Rain: 50x damage + Discard any number of Basic Energy cards from your hand. This attack does 50 damage for each card you discarded in this way.
- Pokémon ex rule: When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
- Weakness ×2 Fire
- Resistance: -30 Grass
- Retreat Cost: 2 Colorless Energy
- Set: Paradox Rift 139/182 Double Rare
The best card in the deck for damage and knockout is Gholdengo ex. With a single energy, you can discard any number of energy from your hand to deal 50 damage per energy discarded. Thus, this deck revolves around finding and keeping energy in your hand to discard for knockouts. You will also need to find and retrieve energy to keep the damage high.
Overall, Gholdengo ex is easier to evolve than Charizard ex because it’s a Stage 1. Running 4 Gimmighoul and 4 Gholdengo ex gives you a high chance of finding and evolving it by turn 2. Once evolved, you only need 1 energy to start attacking. Keep Gholdengo ex in the active position to use its Coin Bonus ability to draw two cards per turn.
The only thing holding back Gholdengo ex is its lower health. When facing Roaring Moon Ex, you need to play ultra-aggressively to take it out early. Most other Pokémon won’t be able to knock you out in turn 2, giving you time to set up and load your hand with energy. Use retrieval energy cards sparingly, because if you run out, Gholdengo ex’s damage immediately stops.
Radiant Greninja
Radiant Greninja Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Pokémon: Radiant
- Type: Water
- HP: 130
- Concealed Cards: You must discard an Energy card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw 2 cards.
- Moonlight Shuriken: Discard 2 Energy from this Pokémon. This attack does 90 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
- Weakness Lighting x2
- Resistance: None
- Retreat Cost: 1 Colorless Energy
- Set: Paldea Evolved 60/193 Rare
When it comes to drawing cards Radiant Greninja is a staple in Pokémon Standard gameplay. Discarding cards to draw a card makes it a must-have for weak hands with limited cards. However, discarding energy from your hand using Radiant Greninja sacrifices damage from Gholdengo ex. Use the Concealed Cards ability when you don’t have Gholdengo ex and need to find one in your deck.
Radiant Greninja’s attack can also be powerful, allowing you to attack bench Pokémon. While the energy cost is steep, consider putting Radiant Greninja in the active position and attacking if you have weakened and wounded Pokémon. With only one retreat cost, Radiant Greninja is a versatile card for drawing cards and dealing damage.
Superior Energy Retrieval
Superior Energy Retrieval Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Trainer – Item
- You can use this card only if you discard 2 other cards from your hand.
- Put up to 4 Basic Energy cards from your discard pile into your hand. (You can’t choose a card you discarded with the effect of this card.)
- Set: Paldea Evolved 189/193 Uncommon
Damage in your deck relies on discarding cards, making Superior Energy Retrieval the most important Item trainer in your deck. Gholdengo ex can deal high damage, but Charizard ex has a massive 330 health, so you’ll need to discard a lot of energy to knock it out in one turn.
To play Superior Energy Retrieval, save it until you have exactly 4 energy in your discard pile. You can intentionally keep cards in your hand to discard, and then immediately bring that energy back for another huge attack.
Cards like Nest Ball, Ultra Ball, and Cross Switcher become less important the longer the game goes on. Consider discarding these cards when you need to get rid of something from your hand. You can also discard an energy card if you have 3 in your hand, and then pick it back up later. However, keep Superior Energy Retrieval in reserve after a big attack to refill your hand with Gholdengo ex and prepare for another knockout attempt.
Earthen Vessel
Earthen Vessel Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Trainer – Item
- You can use this card only if you discard another card from your hand.
- Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
- Set: Paradox Rift 163/182 Uncommon
In your deck, Earthen Vessel actively locates energy from your deck, eliminating the reliance on randomly drawing cards. With a higher energy count than other decks, the Gholdengo ex deck requires a rapid hand fill-up with energy for attacks. Introduced in Paradox Rift, you can obtain two of any basic energy by simply discarding one card. Earthen Vessel becomes particularly beneficial when you need to power up Raidant Greninja but lack water energy.
The overall energy combo involves using Earthen Vessel to load your hand, discarding for damage with Gholdengo ex’s attack, and employing Superior Energy Retrieval to retrieve them all. Depending on the opponent, executing this cycle and combination only a few times will secure 6 prize cards and a victory.
PokeStop
PokeStop Features in Pokemon TCG:
- Trainer – Stadium
- Once during each player’s turn, that player may discard 3 cards from the top of their deck. If a player discarded any Item cards in this way, they put those Item cards into their hand.
- Set: Pokémon TCG: Pokémon GO 68/78 Uncommon
To find item cards, use the PokeStop stadium card. It lets you discard 3 cards and take any items discarded this way. Be careful not to use PokeStop when you need to evolve Gholdengo ex, because you might accidentally discard important Pokemon and be unable to deal damage early on.
However, as the game progresses, PokeStop dramatically increases your item potential. The main items you want are Energy Retrieval, Superior Energy Retrieval, and Earthen Vessel. This gives you a big advantage after Gholdengo ex has evolved. You can also use PokeStop to counter and replace an enemy’s stadium card, like Path to the Peak.
Goldhengo ex Deck Strategy
Your main strategy with the deck is to fill your hand with energy, evolve Gholdengo ex in the active position, and discard for damage. This deck has a similar playstyle to Chien-Pao ex, but Goldhengo ex doesn’t require the energy to be in play, simply in your hand. Therefore, you want to keep your hand relatively full, while having one or two bench Pokémon ready to attack.
Go first with this deck to accelerate the evolving process. Squawkabiliy can help turn one and act as a way to draw a lot of cards if your first hand is bad. Use a combination of Nest Ball and Ultra Ball to find critical Pokémon like Gimmighoul and Gholdengo. Once you have both in your hand, use the Earthen Vessel to fill your hand with energy.
Now, assuming you have an evolved Goldhengo ex, you can move into priority gameplay. You want an additional Goldhengo ex with one metal energy on your bench ready to attack. Another good option is to power up Radiant Greninja in case you need to attack the bench. From here, start actively drawing cards and retrieving energy after attacks.
The biggest counters to this deck are Path to the Peak and Roaring Moon Ex. Path to the Peak shuts down both Radiant Greninja and Goldhengo ex ability cards, limiting your drawing potential. However, you can counter this by finding and placing PokeStop down. Roaring Moon Ex can instantly KO Goldhengo ex, so it becomes a race to see who can power up their powerful card first and get the first knockout. With practice and patience, you will learn clever ways to increase your damage and survivability using the Pokemon TCG: Goldhengo ex Deck Guide and Deck List.
Sample Hand
You want to get a combination of cards that enhance drawing, discard, and allow energy retrieval from the discard pile. Below is a sample hand and explanation of Goldhengo ex gameplay mechanics in Pokemon TCG:
- 1 Hisuian Basculin
- 1 Nest Ball
- 1 Cross Switch
- 1 Superior Energy Retrieval
- 1 Earthen Vessel
- 2 Metal Energy
- 1 Goldhengo ex
Step one is to locate Grimmighoul so you can evolve Goldhengo ex on turn two. You can use Nest Ball for this, and bench Grimmighoul. From that point, attach one metal energy to Grimmighoul so you can attack on turn two. Using the Basculin ability, find and locate two Pokemon, Radiant Greninja and Manaphy. Greninja will aid in drawing cards, while Manaphy helps protect your bench Pokemon. At this point, your first turn is done with a good start.
On the second turn, you want to evolve Goldhengo ex and retreat the active Pokemon with one energy in the discard pile. Since you have Superior Energy Retrieval, you can get aggressive with discarding energy to fill up your hand. During this actual match, I got a PokeStop Stadium card which fed me Energy Retrieval. From here, I put Goldhengo’s ex in the active position, using Greninja’s ability to draw, and Goldhengo’s ex’s ability to draw. With a loaded hand, I retrieved my discarded energy and have 3 in my hand currently. This allows you to do 150 damage if needed to end your turn.
Turn two, I got one knockout on the enemy giving me a prize card. On turn three, your goal is to set up a secondary Goldhengo ex on your bench in case of knockout. You then went to keep your hand full of energy to discard for knockouts. Only use Superior Energy Retrieval when you have 3-4 energy in the Discard pile. Keep the cards flowing with Pokemon abilities and PokeStop. This is a strong start and you should have a high probability of winning and getting Goldhengo ex in the active position by turn 2.
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