Welcome to the Rock Gym. Ever since Genetic Apex, Brock has been deemed as one of the worst supporter cards in the game. Despite it essentially being a far more consistent version of Misty, Brock is balanced by the fact that it only works with 2 specific pokemon. And as of now, Golem and Onix aren’t particularly meta relevant. Golem himself is a great card that just doesn’t happen to align well in this meta. While Onix has always been underappreciated.

I’ve always been a big fan of Onix, not just because it’s edgy to play him, but more so due to the fact that deckbuilding with Onix leads to rather unconventional strategies. As a non-EX Basic, Onix offers solid bulk paired with enough damage output to threaten a 2 hit KO on most EX Basics. While Land Crush is indeed a very slow attack, Brock helps you accelerate it. So I’ve always approached Onix decks in a certain way, which is to ensure we lead off with him every single game.

Behold, my first ever Pokemon Pocket deck to not run a single copy of Poke ball. Wait, what? That’s right, the great staple is nowhere to be seen here, quite simply because we only run 1 basic pokemon in the entire deck. Due to the game’s coding, we will always draw our one copy of Onix in our opening hand, we then hunt for Brock with Professor’s Research and a full set of Iono to speed up our Land Crush. Onix can’t win a game alone though, so we bring in a lineup of fossils to support him. A full set of the Rampardos evolution line and one copy of Aerodactyl EX. Onix and Rampardos mix very well, as while Onix is very energy hungry, Rampardos is not, what Rampardos needs is time in order for you to find all pieces, and Onix has just the right amount of bulk to hold the line early. Once Onix goes down, Rampardos comes in and for just one energy avenges his fallen friend. They break through Rampardos too? Meet the rock gym's final boss. Aerodactyl’s Land Crush attack threatens to 2 hit KO most pokemon, and while not always relevant, the Primeval Law ability can contribute towards halting your opponent’s early aggression, potentially buying you an extra turn to complete Rampardos.

Today’s deck is for all of you based Brock fans. A fun off meta build that is both consistent AND lore friendly.