When players ask me which Gym Leader Challenge type is best for getting started, I usually point them to Grass. That doesn’t mean that Grass is a beginners type or anything like that. Far from it! Grass won the second Full Grip Games GLC 1K and it took expert-level piloting by Mike Gibbs of Michigan to beat long time pros Grant Manley and Azul Garcia Griego in Top-4 and the finals respectively. Grass is just a lot of fun to play, relatively easy to set up and many of the support Pokémon are recently released or easily obtainable. In my mind, Grass embodies all the things that make Gym Leader Challenge fun and exciting! So if you think you’ve got a green thumb and wanna become a Grass Gym Leader on the level of Erika, Gardenia or Milo, you’ve come to just the right place!

Support Pokémon

Grass support is absolutely incredible. It has the best Pokémon search engine out of any type with Grovyle‘s Sunshine Grace and Grotle’s Sun-Drenched Shell, both of which allow you to search your deck for a Grass Pokémon and put it into your hand. With these Stage 1 Pokémon in play, you can set up your board and get attacking quickly and consistently. Rillaboom, Cherrim, and Venusaur form the core of many Grass decks, with Cherrim and Rillaboom both accelerating Energy into play, and Venusaur doubling up the Energy you have in play with its awesome Jungle Totem Ability.

Shining Genesect, Zarude and Sceptile all thrive when you are able to pile tons of Energy in play with Rillaboom or Cherrim. With three Energy attached, Zarude‘s Repeated Whip attack does a solid 120 damage. If you have Venusaur‘s Jungle Totem online, those three Energy become six Energy, and that 120 damage becomes a whopping 180 damage instead! There are also Grass attackers that take a more low maintenance approach. Jumpluff can do 120 Damage for a single energy while Torterra and Buzzwole have respectable two Energy attacks. Which attackers you choose will depend largely on which direction you want to take your Grass deck!

Decklists

Rillaboom & Venusaur

Venusaur and Rillaboom form the core of what I consider to be the “quintessential” Grass deck. Rillaboom’s Voltage Beat Ability pumps two Energy into play every turn while Venusaur’s Jungle Totem Ability makes each of those Energy count as double! Setting up multiple evolution Pokémon can sometimes be tough, but for Grass, it’s a breeze! Grotle’s Sun-Drenched Shell Ability allows you to search your deck for a Grass Pokémon every turn while Roserade’s Le-Parfum allows you to search your deck for any card you want. Once the deck is set up, Zarude, Shining Genesect and Torterra can OHKO anything the opponent sends your way.

Last Update: December 2023

Quick-Ripening Herb

One of the toughest things about getting Stage 2 Pokémon into play is the fact that Gym Leader Challenge decks are limited to one copy of Rare Candy! By utilizing Meganium’s Quick-Ripening Herb Ability, this deck can easily pop a new Stage 2 Pokémon into play every turn. This list features FIVE different Stage 2 Pokémon, making it one of the most evolution-heavy decks in GLC.

Last Update: December 2023

Credit: Wheatr

Tank and Heal

This deck focuses on tanking through your opponent's attacks and using big Pokemon like Torterra to hit back hard. With Leavanny's Blanket Weaver ability and Kricketune's Swelling Tune ability in play, your opponent will have to do 270 damage to take down Torterra! Eldegoss’ and Sceptile’s abilities work well together allowing you to get energy to hand and accelerate an additional grass energy to heal 30 damage every turn. This can let you power up attackers quickly or accelerate energy to heal a damaged attacker, and take them out of K.O. range.

Last Update: December 2023