Spread the Love with Tapu Koko/Garb

Hello! Before the 2017 World Championship, I decided to try to make a deck that involved using spread damage with Tapu Koko and Necrozma.  I entered into a month long, online tournament with the deck and ended up getting top 8.  The World Championship happened during the event, and I was delighted to see the concept make day two. Russell LaParre also piloted it for the Anaheim Open.  While their lists were significantly different than mine, it was cool to see other players perform with the same idea.

Ultimately, I decided the deck wasn’t worthy of being taken to a cup.  I put the idea away, believing I would never seriously consider it again.  Good players could figure it out and play around it very easily.  I would just have to wait for the Tapu Lele Promo.  So I waited... and waited.  While the Tapu Lele Promo still hasn’t been released in North America, something almost as good has become available to the deck, Spiritomb.

The problem with Spiritomb before was its energy requirement.  The Darkness requirement made it hard to fit into a deck that wanted a lot of Psychic energy.  I even tried to put it in a deck with Umbreon GX before this, but that failed miserably.  With the release of counter energy, Spiritomb’s awkward and off-type energy requirement has become more than manageable.  You are almost always behind in prizes, and once your opponent has taken the first knockout, the counter energy become like Double Colorless Energy for your Tapu Koko.  You can also use them to fuel the second attack or a Garbodor!

I took this retooled version of the Deck to a League Cup.  I ended up losing in top 8 to Ryan Sabelhaus on Zoroark Lycanroc, the deck that handed me my only loss in Swiss as well.  I was pleased with the result and how the deck played.

The general idea of Tapu Koko Garbodor is to spread as much damage as possible with Tapu Koko and Necrozma GX.  That combo alone will win you a few matchups without using any other attackers.  Most of the time, you will win the matchup by switching into Espeon EX to take a lot of knockouts by devolving, spiritomb to move their damage around to collect all of your prizes, or Garbodor to sweep with Trashalanche.  Now let’s look at the actual list.

The list:

Card Choices:

4 Tapu Koko

 This is your main attacker.  I used to play three of these, but four is better, especially if you end up prizing one.  You want to get as many Flying Flips off as possible on the first few turns of the game.  Usually, you will get a ko or two on your third Flying Flip, since your opponent rarely will have their whole board evolved by that time.

3-2/2 Garbodor

 I was playing four Trubbish, but you can make room for something else by going down to three.  Some games you don’t need Garbotoxin.  Some games you don’t need Trashalanche.

2 Tapu Lele - GX

  While most decks play three, you will be turning off abilities in most games, so two is enough.  From time to time, you will use it to attack, but there are normally better options.

1 Necrozma - GX

  While spreading 100 damage with Black Ray GX is the purpose of the card, the first attack should often be utilized as a follow up.

1 Espeon EX

   This is your way to win against many evolution decks, but you can also use the second attack in a pinch.  Three koko spreads and an Espeon EX Miraculous Shine can clear your opponent's board of all Zoroark GX.  That said, I find I prefer taking knockouts on the actual GX for more prizes, but sometimes, especially against heavy hitters like Gardevoir GX, you just need to neutralize an emanate threat.

1 Spiritomb

 Spiritomb is what made this deck viable again.  Move all of your opponents damage to take the knockouts you need.  Just make sure there is enough damage on their board, and don’t forget you can’t move damage off of the active!

4/4/2 Draw Supporters

    I known it seems like a lot, but you really need to be able to draw without Tapu Lele GX’s Wonder Tag.  Having such a high supporter count will give you an advantage over your opponent as the game moves into the later stages.  Once Cynthia is released, I would suggest keeping all four N and a single Lillie.  Because you tend to take most or all of your prizes on the last turn, N will almost always be harmful to your opponent while helpful to you.  It is one of the best cards in the deck.  While Brigette is your preferred supporter in many games, it is not necessary in every scenario, and the deck doesn’t suffer without it as many decks do.  A turn one Lillie is a great option if you already have a couple benched Pokemon or don’t have a way to draw after a Lillie.  So I would drop a Lillie and two or three Sycamore for Cynthia.

2 Rescue Stretcher

  Playing 2 Rescue Stretcher really helps us be able to play our single copy attackers as well as three Trubbish.

2 Field Blower

  Field Blower is good for dropping off Fighting Fury Belts to allow more knockouts through spread damage, but it also powers up your Trashalanche.  Some games, you have to take your last two to four prizes with Garbodor, and Field Blower helps you get to the damage you need.

1 Special Charge

   Getting Back Double Colorless or Counter Energy is really important.  Some games you need to get back DCE for Necrozma, and some games you need to get back Counter Energy for Spiritomb or Garbodor.

3 Choice Band

  The day of the League Cup I took out Tauros GX, which had proven to be a liability rather than a way to take early knockouts in hard matchups, for a third Choice Band.  I was very happy with the change.  Choice Band came in clutch in so many matchups.  I am confident I would not have found success without the third.

I lost game one of my top 8 match because I prized Spiritomb.  Since the deck doesn’t tend to draw prizes throughout the game, this really hurt.  As a result, I have decided to add in a Gladeon to the deck.  While I haven’t chosen a card to take out yet, my initial thoughts are a Field Blower or Enhanced Hammer.

Popular Matchups:

Zoroark Lycanroc:

  This is a hard matchup because they don’t have to bench too much.  I played this round one and in top 8.  I lost three out of three games.  Two of the games were unfortunate (prizing and draws), but by our second game in top 8, Ryan had realized how to play around the Spread damage (not benching too much and forcing me to knockout a single target early).  More than this being a bad matchup, I would say that good players tend to play the deck.  Good players are more of a threat to the deck than any particular matchup.

Buzzwole:

 While this could be a very difficult matchup, weakness makes it pretty easy.  With a Choice Band on Garbodor, Necrozma GX, or Espeon EX, you can one shot Buzzwoles without much effort.

Golisipod-Garbodor:

  They will usually get ahead early, and the matchup can come down to if they are able to find their healing cards.  Luckily, a late game N should get you quite a few cards while severely disrupting them.

Volcanion:

   Before Spiritomb, this matchup was awful.  Now, a couple Flying Flips and a Black Ray GX is all you need to clean up with Spiritomb.

Ho-oh Salazzle:

 This isn’t a free win by any means, but Tapu Koko Promo can two shot Ho-oh GX.  They should focus on attacking with Salazzle, and if they can get one up without using too many items, they should be able to win.

Zoroark Golisipod:

  The healing on this deck is so frustrating, but with Enhanced Hammers, N, and Garbotoxin, you can really shut down a deck with only six draw supporters.

Alolan Ninetales GX:

 In this matchup you have a few options.  Usually, you can take a lot of knockouts with Miraculous shine since everything they play evolves from a sixty hp pokemon.  However, I was able to win this matchup with just Tapu Koko and Necrozma.  The key is to not let Ninetales get more than 180 damage on it before knocking it out, so it can’t use Ice Path GX optimally.  You can do 160 before a choice banded flying flip, which is super nice.

Greninja:

 Greninja isn’t bad since you play so many tools and Garbotoxin.  You start off with lots of koko spreads followed by Trashalanche.

Gardevoir:

 Gardevoir is on the decline.  A Max Potion variant that draws hot will beat you every time, but in most circumstances you can use miraculous shine to break up their momentum.

If you are looking for a fun deck to take your opponents by surprise, give this a shot. Spreading damage is easy for your opponent to ignore until it is too late.  This is definitely one of the most fun decks I have played in a long time, but fair warning: a good opponent in a best of three should almost always win.