The Golem Deck is a Defensive Fighting-type Deck featuring Golem, Druddigon, and Marshadow from the Mythical Island Set in Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket (PTCG Pocket). Read on for the complete list of cards in this deck, basic information on the deck, how to play the deck, and optimal matchups for it!

Related Decks

Golem Deck Guide

Deck Evaluation

Ace Pokemon						Tier Ranking
Golem Mythical Island (A1a)			Druddigon Mythical Island (A1a)
						Energy Type(s)
						F2P Friendly?
						✔️
						Deck Difficulty
						★★★
Deck Strengths
Once set up, Golem is immensely difficult to KO because of its high HP and Guard Press's damage reduction. Druddigon is an effective wall that also deals damage with Rough Skin. Pokemon in the deck have different weaknesses.
Deck Weaknesses
Hard to set up Golem because it is a Stage 2. Needs to play defensively on the early turns of the game. Can be damaged by Grass decks for super-effective damage.

Best Meta Decks Tier List

List of Cards

Golem Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Geodude ×2				Hitmonlee ×1				Graveler ×2				Golem ×2
Marshadow ×1				Druddigon ×2
Trainer Cards
Giovanni ×1				Brock ×2				Leaf ×2				Potion ×1
Poke Ball ×2				Professor's Research ×2

Deck Building Guide

Packs Required for Golem Deck

Pack	Featured Card

How to Play Golem Deck

How to Play Golem Deck
Core Combos and Interactions Starting Hand Deck Strategies Game Phases

Golem Deck Core Combos and Interactions

Early-Game Tank	Late-Game Tank	Description
Druddigon	Golem	・Druddigon is the ideal early-game Pokemon, able to soak up a good number of hits while dealing 20 damage with Rough Skin. ・Golem is a late-game tank that is difficult to take down once it is set up. It is also notably a single-point Pokemon.

Best Starting Hand

Best Starting Hand

Start with Druddigon and bench Geodude. Assign all your Energy attachments to Geodude and use Leaf to get Druddigon out of the Active Spot once Golem is ready.

Other Good Starting Cards

Recommended Starting Hand

Hitmonlee can apply pressure to your opponent's Bench, guaranteeing KOs on low-HP Pokemon like Magikarp.

Best Cards Tier List

Golem Deck Strategies

Golem Deck Strategies
Druddigon's Rough Skin Tanky Golem

Strategy 1: Druddigon's Rough Skin

Druddigon's Rough Skin

Druddigon can deal passive damage with its Rough Skin Ability, dealing 20 damage whenever it is damaged by an Attack. This can put opposing Pokemon in KO range for Golem later in the game.

Strategy 2: Tanky Golem

Golem turns into an unstoppable force late into a game, with Guard Press dealing 120 damage, while also reducting damage the following turn by 30. This means that you will need at least 190 damage to OHKO it.

Game Phases

Early Game

Key Card(s) Required
Step	Description
1	Bench Geodude and start with either Druddigon or Hitmonlee.

Mid-Game

Key Card(s) Required
Step	Description
1	Evolve Geodude into Graveler, and keep Hitmonlee or Druddigon active.
2	Retreat using Leaf if your Pokemon have taken a lot of damage.

Late Game

Key Card(s) Required
1	Use Brock to speed up Golem's setup.
2	Use Marshadow for revenge KOs.

Golem Deck Best and Worst Matchups

Best Matchups

Deck	Commentary
Pikachu ex Decks	Type: ・Our Pokemon can hit Lightning-type Pokemon for super-effective damage. Pikachu ex also needs to commit to a Giovanni to KO Druddigon.
Scolipede Decks	Type: ・Scolipede is forced to either attack into Druddigon or attempt to poison it and set up Scolipede itself. ・All our Fighting-Pokemon can hit the Pokemon in the Scolipede deck for super-effective damage.

Worst Matchups

Deck	Commentary
Grass Decks	Type: ・Grass Pokemon like Exeggutor ex can hit our Grass-weak Golem line for solid damage.

Overall Consistency

This deck can be very consistent with cards like Druddigon buying you essential turns to set up Golem. Brock also helps set up Golem by accelerating it by one Energy. Once set up, it becomes very difficult to take down and can often spell victory.

Golem Deck F2P & Substitutes

Golem Deck Card Substitutes

Card	Explanation
Hitmonchan	・ Hitmonchan can start attacking for only one Energy. ・ It also has decent 80 HP and one Retreat Cost making it highly flexible.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Meta Guide

Golem Deck Other Viable Options

Card	Possible Cuts
X Speed	・ An X Speed can help your Golem retreat when necessary, lessening its Retreat Cost even further when played with Leaf.

F2P Golem Deck List

F2P Golem Deck List
Pokemon Cards
Geodude x2	Graveler x2	Golem x2	Hitmonlee x1
Marshadow x1	Druddigon x1
Trainer Cards
Giovanni x1	Brock x2	Leaf x2	Potion x1
Poke Ball x2	Professor's Research x2

Golem can be played on a Free-to-Play budget with many of its strategies and lines of play still available.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Beginner's Guide

Pokemon TCG Pocket Related Guides

Deck Building Guide

All Deck Tier Lists

Deck Articles

Meta Decks

Best Meta Decks
Mewtwo ex	Celebi ex and Serperior	Pikachu ex
Gyarados ex and Greninja	Vaporeon and Articuno ex	Volcarona and Arcanine ex
Scolipede and Weezing	Starmie ex and Articuno ex	Arcanine ex
Blaine	Pikachu ex and Raichu	Gyarados ex and Vaporeon
Pidgeot ex	Charizard ex	Aerodactyl ex and Primeape
Exeggutor ex	Lt. Surge	Dragonite
Alakazam and Jynx	Mew ex and Weezing	Golem

Off Meta Decks

Articuno ex	Venusaur ex	Dragonite and Weezing
Lapras ex	Greninja	Mewtwo ex and Weezing
Marowak ex	Primeape	Venusaur and Weezing
Arbok Lock	Zapdos ex	Blastoise ex
Gengar ex	Machamp ex	Wigglytuff ex
Melmetal	Koga	Omastar and Articuno ex
Kingler and Articuno ex	Frosmoth	Lapras ex and Butterfree
Poliwrath	Tentacruel and Greninja	Victreebel and Exeggutor ex
Gengar ex and Golbat	Persian and Mawile	Lickitung and Primeape
Exeggutor ex and Alakazam	Frosmoth and Articuno ex	Gyarados
Centiskorch and Moltres ex	Grapploct	Cinccino and Weezing
Brock	Kabutops	Aerodactyl and Dragonite
Eeveelutions and Ditto	Lickitung	Articuno
Zapdos	Moltres	Venusaur
Charizard	Blastoise

Rental Decks

All Rental Decks
Venusaur ex Rental Deck	Charizard ex Rental Deck	Blastoise ex Rental Deck
Pikachu ex Rental Deck	Mewtwo ex Rental Deck	Machamp ex Rental Deck
Nidoking and Nidoqueen Rental Deck	Kanto Fossils Rental Deck	Koga Rental Deck
Brock Rental Deck	Blaine Rental Deck	Lt. Surge Rental Deck

Starter Decks

All Starter Decks
Pinsir Starter Deck	Rapidash Starter Deck	Sandslash Starter Deck