One of the things that makes Gym Leader Challenge so fun is that each type has its own unique qualities that you can formulate a strategy around. You really get into the characteristics of each type, which makes deck building and gameplay fun and rewarding. Gym Leader Challenge isn’t just about winning the most games, its about trying to win using your favorite type of Pokémon, and that openness is something that you simply cannot get in other formats right now. Metal type Pokémon are known for their defenses, and let me tell you, they do not disappoint in Gym Leader Challenge. What’s your opponent gonna do when they encounter a 190 HP Copperajah with a Metal Frying Pan swinging for 220 damage? Cry. Whether you’ve been working on growing a beard since 2006 like Byron or fancy yourself as the Steel Clad Defense Girl, Jasmine, you’re in the right place!
Support Pokémon
Playing into Metal’s bulky strategy, Aegislash makes your big dudes even bigger with its Big Shield Ability, decreasing damage done to your Pokémon by 30. With Big Shield and a damage reduction Tool like Metal Goggles or Metal Frying Pan, your Pokémon will be taking -60 damage from the opponent’s attacks! If Aegislash‘s buff isn’t crazy enough, Galarian Perrserker‘s Steely Spirit also boosts all your Pokémon’s attacks by 20. Buffs aren’t much if you can’t power up attackers, though. Fortunately, you can accelerate Energy from the discard pile with Bronzong‘s Metal Links and from the hand with Magnezone‘s Magnetic Circuit allowing you to charge the board with Energy and launch huge attacks with ease!
Attackers
Dialga from Celebrations was a total Godsend for Metal decks. Not only is it a great lead with its Temporal Backflow attack, which allows you to recover any card from your discard pile, it also has an infinite damage ceiling with its Metal Blast attack, which does more damage for each Metal Energy attached to it! Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room, Copperajah. This thing is a total beast and great for checkmating at the end of the game. A well timed Copperajah (SSH) with Metal Core Barrier can allow you to fire off multiple Muscular Nose attacks, absolutely decimating anything in your path! Magearna and Cobalion are both solid low maintenance attackers while Melmetal and Orthworm are bigger, Energy hungry options.
Decklists
Metalzone
Credit: Alex C. “Plopal”
Scarlet & Violet gave Metal its best draw support Pokémon yet. Revavroom has opened up the type to utilize Magnezone’s energy acceleration more consistently. Power up attackers like Dialga and Heatran with ease once Magnezone is on the board, and recover your energy with Mt. Coronet and Superior Energy Retrieval. With an Escape Board on Jirachi, you have one of the best pivots in the format to be able to find the cards you need after a knockout from your opponent. Once Metalzone gets going, it’s quite hard to stop!
Last Update: November 2023
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1 Bronzor TEU 100
1 Bronzong PHF 61
1 Dialga CEL 20
1 Heatran BRS 100
1 Jirachi TEU 99
1 Magnemite UPR 81
1 Magneton ASR 106
1 Magnezone UPR 83
1 Varoom OBF 154
1 Revavroom SVI 142
1 Zamazenta CRZ 97
1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
1 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
1 Eco Arm AOR 71
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Field Blower GRI 125
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Level Ball BST 129
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
1 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189
1 Timer Ball SUM 134
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Bravery Charm PAL 173
1 Escape Board UPR 122
1 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
1 Float Stone BKT 137
1 Luxurious Cape PAR 166
1 Mt. Coronet UPR 130
1 Parallel City BKT 145
1 Arven OBF 186
1 Ball Guy SHF 65
1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
1 Iono PAL 185
1 Klara CRE 145
1 Lusamine CIN 96
1 Mallow & Lana CEC 198
1 Marnie CPA 56
1 N FCO 105
1 Professor's Research (Professor Sada) SVI 189
1 Raihan CRZ 140
1 Sonia CPA 65
1 Fire Energy XY 133
8 Metal Energy XY 139
1 Aurora Energy SSH 186
1 Shield Energy PRC 143
Klinklang
Credit: Tricky Gym
Metal Pokémon are big and tough to knock out. That’s their thing. This list is super tanky and will have your opponent scratching their head asking themselves how they are supposed to deal with a 290 HP Copperajah or a Zamazenta that’s taking 100 less damage from attacks this turn. Klinklang is a star in this deck, enabling some really explosive plays with its Triple Gears Ability, while also acting as a great backup attacker!
Last Update: December 2023
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1 Bronzor TEU 100
1 Bronzong PHF 61
1 Cobalion STS 74
1 Cufant PAL 149
1 Copperajah SSH 137
1 Heatran BRS 100
1 Jirachi VIV 119
1 Klink SIT 123
1 Klang SIT 124
1 Klinklang SIT 125
1 Magearna VIV 128
1 Zamazenta CRZ 97
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Field Blower GRI 125
1 Heavy Ball BKT 140
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Metal Saucer SSH 170
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Tag Call CEC 206
1 Timer Ball SUM 134
1 Town Map BKT 150
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Luxurious Cape PAR 166
1 Metal Core Barrier UNB 180
1 Metal Frying Pan FLI 112
1 U-Turn Board UNM 211
1 Crystal Cave EVS 144
1 Parallel City BKT 145
1 Tropical Beach PR-BLW BW50
1 Ball Guy SHF 65
1 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) PAL 172
1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189
1 Gloria BRS 141
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Guzma & Hala CEC 193
1 Iono PAL 185
1 Lusamine CIN 96
1 Mallow & Lana CEC 198
1 N FCO 105
1 Professor's Research (Professor Sada) SVI 189
1 Raihan CRZ 140
1 Tate & Liza CES 148
1 Teammates PRC 141
2 Fire Energy CRZ 153
6 Metal Energy CRZ 159
1 Coating Metal Energy VIV 163
1 Counter Energy CIN 100
1 Reversal Energy PAL 192
1 Shield Energy PRC 143
Light Metal
Credit: d34d m4n14c
This low(er) maintenance Metal deck utilizes low investment attacks like Bisharp’s Single Lunge and Zacian’s Battle Legion in combination with Perrserker’s Steely Spirit Ability to deal quick and efficient damage. Try using Mallow or Switching Cups to stack Metagross on top of your deck and leave your opponent stunned with a perfect Top Entry play!
Last Update: December 2023
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1 Bronzor TEU 100
1 Bronzong PHF 61
1 Cobalion STS 74
1 Galarian Meowth RCL 126
1 Galarian Perrserker SSH 128
1 Jirachi TEU 99
1 Pawniard CRZ 92
1 Bisharp TEU 105
1 Zacian CRZ 94
1 Zamazenta CRZ 97
1 Metagross SIT 119
1 Acro Bike CES 123
1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
1 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
1 Bicycle PLS 117
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Field Blower GRI 125
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Lana's Fishing Rod CEC 195
1 Level Ball BST 129
1 Max Revive GEN 65
1 Metal Saucer SSH 170
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Pal Pad SVI 182
1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
1 Quick Ball SSH 179
1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
1 Scoop Up Net RCL 165
1 Switch SVI 194
1 Switching Cups EVS 162
1 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Escape Board UPR 122
1 Float Stone BKT 137
1 Metal Goggles TEU 148
1 Muscle Band XY 121
1 Artazon PAL 171
1 PokéStop PGO 68
1 Arven SVI 166
1 Bird Keeper DAA 159
1 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) PAL 172
1 Colress PLS 118
1 Cynthia UPR 119
1 Guzma BUS 115
1 Guzma & Hala CEC 193
1 Klara CRE 145
1 Mallow GRI 127
1 N FCO 105
1 Professor's Research (Professor Sada) SVI 189
1 Raihan CRZ 140
6 Metal Energy XY 139
1 Coating Metal Energy VIV 163
1 Shield Energy PRC 143
Looking for more ideas or feedback on your deck?
Head over to Tricky Gym Discord’s glc-decklists channel for threads on every archetype to discuss strategy, get suggestions, and browse decklists!
