Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce looks like when you open the box

Across the 49 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 22 Pokémon, 28 to 34 Trainers and 8 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « archaludon-dudunsparce ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

Look at the Energy: 8 to 13 out of 60, exactly the median of the 125 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It sets up fast. Archaludon ex is a Stage 1 Pokémon: a Basic, one evolution on top, and you are attacking. Two cards instead of three. You lose fewer turns building, and you rebuild much more easily when an early knockout lands on you.

Look at the Trainers: 28 to 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 13 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 12 to 19 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 21 of the 125 decks we track bring that many or more. Only one Stadium sits on the table at a time: the one you play sends the one already there to the discard pile.

What Tools and Stadiums do — the two Trainer families we skipped here — and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.

What the cards in this deck's name actually do

Archaludon ex and Dudunsparce give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Archaludon ex is in all 49 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Assemble Alloy, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may attach up to 2 Basic {M} Energy cards from your discard pile to your {M} Pokémon in any way you like. »

Dudunsparce is in all 49 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Run Away Draw, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may draw 3 cards. If you drew any cards in this way, shuffle this Pokémon and all attached cards into your deck. »

How Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce actually wins

Archaludon ex attacks with Metal Defender for 220. It needs 3 Metal Energy attached, and it has 300 HP. And the number is not everything the card says. There is one more line printed under the attack, and it is the one everybody skips: "During your opponent's next turn, this Pokémon has no Weakness."

The cost of Metal Defender decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 3. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 3. Except it charges itself. Archaludon ex, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Assemble Alloy: it digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. Not whenever you feel like it, though. The card itself says when, so read it before you count on it. An Ability costs you nothing: not your attack, not your card for the turn. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Archaludon ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 Energy attached to it. Retreating does not cost you your turn, you can step back and still swing right after. What it costs you is the 2 Energy you spent 2 turns attaching, and you start that climb again from nothing. Pack a card that moves it for free, or send it up knowing it stays up.

Archaludon ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Archaludon ex falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 anywhere else on your Bench.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Archaludon exStage 1	300	Metal Defender	220		Fire ×2	2
Close DudunsparceStage 1	140	Land Crush	90		Fighting ×2	3
Close DuraludonBasic	130	Raging Hammer	80+		Fire ×2	2

The core: the 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 49 lists, without a single exception. That is 35 of the 60 slots. The other 25 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 35 slots break down: 15 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 35 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 125 decks we track fix 26 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

8 of those 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duraludon (2 to 4), Archaludon ex (2 to 4) and Dudunsparce (2 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 15 copies the 49 lists do not agree on, inside the core itself.

What "3 to 4" means in the copies column, what the "TWM 130" code under each name is for, and why we count dozens of lists instead of one: how to read a deck list.

The cards present in every list counted, with the number of copies

Copies	Card	Printing	Kind	Rotation
2–4	Close Duraludon	SCR 106	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Archaludon ex	SSP 130	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Dudunsparce	TEF 129	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
8–11	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy	stays

The 70 cards that change from list to list

70 cards fight over the 25 slots that are left: 7 above three lists in four, 52 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Buddy-Buddy Poffin at 98 %, Night Stretcher at 98 % and Prism Tower at 92 %, plus 4 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Scoop Up Cyclone, at 51 %: 25 of 49 players took it, 24 put something else there. It is an ACE SPEC card, and you are allowed exactly one in your whole deck. The players who passed on it did not leave the slot empty: they put a different ACE SPEC there. Right at the bottom of the table, Dudunsparce ex (12 lists out of 49) and Patrat (12 lists out of 49).

Why a card at 45 % is not a bad card, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.

The cards some lists run and others don't, most common first

Lists running it	Card	Copies	Printing	Kind
98 %48/49	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
98 %48/49	Close Night Stretcher	1–4	ASC 196	Trainer
92 %45/49	Close Prism Tower	1–4	CRI 80	Trainer
88 %43/49	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
86 %42/49	Close Dunsparce	2–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
84 %41/49	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
82 %40/49	Close Relicanth	1–2	TEF 84	Pokémon
73 %36/49	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
65 %32/49	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
53 %26/49	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
51 %25/49	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
49 %24/49	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
45 %22/49	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
39 %19/49	Close Archaludon	1	PFL 75	Pokémon
39 %19/49	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
31 %15/49	Close Dunsparce	1–4	TEF 128	Pokémon
29 %14/49	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	1–2	CRI 85	Energy
27 %13/49	Close Iron Defender	1–3	MEG 118	Trainer
24 %12/49	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
24 %12/49	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
24 %12/49	Close Philippe	1–2	CRI 79	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Explorer's Guidance	2–3	TEF 147	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	2–4	PFL 91	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Battle Cage	1–3	PFL 85	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
22 %11/49	Close Tremendous Bomb	1–2	PBL 82	Trainer
18 %9/49	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
14 %7/49	Close Full Metal Lab	2	TEF 148	Trainer
14 %7/49	Close Repel	1	MEG 126	Trainer
14 %7/49	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
12 %6/49	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
12 %6/49	Close Yveltal	1	30C 100	Pokémon
12 %6/49	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
10 %5/49	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
10 %5/49	Close Nighttime Mine	2	ASC 197	Trainer
10 %5/49	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
10 %5/49	Close Morty's Conviction	1–3	TEF 155	Trainer
8 %4/49	Close Duraludon	1	PFL 74	Pokémon
8 %4/49	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
8 %4/49	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	1–2	JTG 149	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
6 %3/49	Close Handheld Fan	3	TWM 150	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Hand Trimmer	2	TEF 150	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Pokémon Catcher	2	POR 82	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Lucian	1	TWM 157	Trainer
6 %3/49	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
4 %2/49	Close Bastiodon	2	PBL 62	Pokémon
4 %2/49	Close Shieldon	2	PBL 61	Pokémon
4 %2/49	Close Genesect ex	1	BLK 67	Pokémon
4 %2/49	Close Klefki	1	POR 59	Pokémon
4 %2/49	Close Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
4 %2/49	Close Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
4 %2/49	Close Tool Scrapper	1–2	ASC 212	Trainer
4 %2/49	Close Drayton	1	SSP 174	Trainer
4 %2/49	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
2 %1/49	Close Piplup	4	PFL 27	Pokémon
2 %1/49	Close Empoleon ex	3	PFL 70	Pokémon
2 %1/49	Close Prinplup	3	PFL 28	Pokémon
2 %1/49	Close Budew	2	ASC 16	Pokémon
2 %1/49	Close Archaludon	1	SCR 107	Pokémon
2 %1/49	Close Crushing Hammer	2	POR 71	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Naveen	2	POR 79	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Dawn	1	PFL 87	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Gwynn	1	PBL 78	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Lucky Helmet	1	TWM 158	Trainer
2 %1/49	Close Ruffian	1	JTG 157	Trainer

The most common Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 35 slots come from the core, the cards all 49 lists run. The remaining 25 come from the table just above, working down it: the cards the most players chose, each at its most common copy count, until the total lands on 60.

This list is nobody's list in particular. It takes, slot by slot, what the most people played, under the guardrails a judge would hold you to: never more than four copies of a card, and one ACE SPEC. Behind the core it took 18 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 20 Pokémon, 29 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 49 lists we counted are all from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament. Nobody publishes the lists of the players who lost. So what you have in front of you is what the players finishing near the top bring most often.

The text under the table is the one the game expects: copy it, paste it into the deck manager, and the list builds itself.

Why we only read lists from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament, and what that changes about every percentage on this page: how to read a deck list.

Pokémon: 20
4 Duraludon SCR 106
3 Archaludon ex SSP 130
3 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
3 Dunsparce JTG 120
1 Fan Rotom SCR 118
1 Relicanth TEF 84
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Archaludon PFL 75
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Dunsparce TEF 128

Trainer: 29
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Prism Tower CRI 80
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
2 Judge POR 76
1 Scoop Up Cyclone TWM 162
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
1 Switch MEG 130
2 Iron Defender MEG 118

Energy: 11
10 Metal Energy MEE 8
1 Magnetic Metal Energy CRI 85

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce needs, and how long it will last

You need 78 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

46 of these 49 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 25 took Scoop Up Cyclone, 11 took Hero's Cape and 7 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 4. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs. New to this deck? Take Scoop Up Cyclone and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 3 of the 8 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duraludon, Archaludon ex and Dudunsparce. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 10 of the 35 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire and Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 25 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, plus 22 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.

This table counts one thing, Weakness, and that comes to 25 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 100 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, your attackers are Metal, and 16 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dhelmise, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mew ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.