Hi everyone, this is Elena from Gaia Storm and once again it is a pleasure to be here. In this small article I really want to talk about a very iconic Pokémon that has recently been released into the TCG and whose results are more than promising: Lucario GX! What makes this card to interesting in today’s format?

In certain ways, Lucario seems to be very similar with Golisopod GX because it deals the same amount of damage (30+90) when it has evolved. At first sight, Golisopod looks more usable given that it can still get the damage bonus with the help of Guzma or float stone instead of evolving turn after turn. However, Lucario has a very powerful trait with its fighting type. This means two crucial things: it can deal with Zoroark perfectly and it can benefit from the fighting support.

After testing Lucario for some time I can tell that the card completely surprised me. The fact that it can 1HKO Zoroark without problems is a welcome tool in today’s metagame. In addition, Lucario reaches greater numbers than Golisopod. With a strong energy and a choice band it has the potential to hit for 170, enough damage to kill a Tapu Lele GX!. If you were to add some Regirock to the mix, not even Buzzwole would be safe. That is completely crazy for just one energy attachment

One of the other great features of Lucario is its GX attach. Remember Tauros GX? It’s back! Lucario can basically destroy any Pokémon once it has some damage on it. Cantankerous Beatdown does 30 for each damage counter which means that the opponent will have to think twice before attacking. Bear in mind that many Zoroark variants (Golisopod, Weavile…) have trouble KOing Pokémon in one attack so Lucario’s GX is a great pressure element in mid and late game.

There are different approaches with Lucario. My favorite, of course, is with Zoroark GX because of the draw power it provides, making it much easier to get the combo pieces you need to keep Lucario rolling. I have also tested it with Buzzwole in a more aggressive build and I believe it has some potential although the match up against psychic attackers (Garbodor and Espeon) is terrible. But I am sure there are more options and strategies yet to be discovered that can use Lucario in the near future!

I believe Lucario is a very worthy card in the current metagame so I would certainly grab them here at CCG before the literally fly away! Thanks for reading!