Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

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

Across the 22 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 21 Pokémon, 29 to 33 Trainers and 10 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: 10 to 13 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 or fewer. This one carries more than most, and you feel it at the table — it wants to load up a big Pokémon and swing hard, even if that means drawing a spare Energy now and then.

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: 29 to 33 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 13 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 13 to 18 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 8 of the 97 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 22 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 22 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	Metal + Metal + Metal	Fire ×2	2
Close DudunsparceStage 1	140	Land Crush	90	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	3
Close DuraludonBasic	130	Raging Hammer	80+	Metal + Metal + Colorless	Fire ×2	2

The core: the 9 cards every list runs

These 9 cards appear in all 22 lists, without a single exception. That is 38 of the 60 slots. The other 22 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 38 slots break down: 18 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 38 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

8 of those 9 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duraludon (3 to 4), Archaludon ex (3 to 4) and Dudunsparce (2 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 12 copies the 22 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
3–4	Close Duraludon	SCR 106	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Archaludon ex	SSP 130	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Dudunsparce	TEF 129	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
9–11	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy	stays

The 50 cards that change from list to list

50 cards fight over the 22 slots that are left: 8 above three lists in four, 33 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Night Stretcher at 95 %, Mega Mawile ex at 91 % and Fan Rotom at 86 %, plus 5 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Fezandipiti ex, at 50 %: 11 of 22 players took it, 11 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Battle Cage (5 lists out of 22) and Pokégear 3.0 (5 lists out of 22).

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
95 %21/22	Close Night Stretcher	1–4	ASC 196	Trainer
91 %20/22	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
86 %19/22	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
82 %18/22	Close Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
82 %18/22	Close Prism Tower	2–4	CRI 80	Trainer
82 %18/22	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
77 %17/22	Close Dunsparce	2–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
77 %17/22	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
59 %13/22	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
50 %11/22	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
50 %11/22	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
41 %9/22	Close Dunsparce	1–4	TEF 128	Pokémon
41 %9/22	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
32 %7/22	Close Archaludon	1	PFL 75	Pokémon
32 %7/22	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
32 %7/22	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
32 %7/22	Close Philippe	1–2	CRI 79	Trainer
23 %5/22	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
23 %5/22	Close Pokégear 3.0	2	SVI 186	Trainer
23 %5/22	Close Tremendous Bomb	1–2	PBL 82	Trainer
18 %4/22	Close Nighttime Mine	2	ASC 197	Trainer
18 %4/22	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	1–2	JTG 149	Trainer
18 %4/22	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	1–2	CRI 85	Energy
14 %3/22	Close Duraludon	1	PFL 74	Pokémon
14 %3/22	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Explorer's Guidance	2–3	TEF 147	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Iron Defender	1–3	MEG 118	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Pokémon Catcher	2	POR 82	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Lucian	1	TWM 157	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Bastiodon	2	PBL 62	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Shieldon	2	PBL 61	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Genesect ex	1	BLK 67	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Klefki	1	POR 59	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Morty's Conviction	3	TEF 155	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Full Metal Lab	2	TEF 148	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Repel	1	MEG 126	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
5 %1/22	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	3	PFL 91	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Tool Scrapper	2	ASC 212	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 59 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 9 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

19 of these 22 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 11 took Scoop Up Cyclone, 3 took Hero's Cape and 3 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. 4 of the 9 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duraludon, Archaludon ex, Dudunsparce and Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 12 of the 38 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. 20 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, plus 17 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 20 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 77 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 12 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Dhelmise and Mega Starmie ex / Froslass, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce deck list?

There isn't one. Across 22 tournament lists harvested between 16 August 2026 and 5 September 2026, 9 cards turn up in every single one, 38 slots out of 60. The remaining 22 change from player to player, with 50 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?

22 lists, played across 22 different tournaments, harvested between 16 August 2026 and 5 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 22 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

With the whole core: 9 cards, 38 slots. Inside it, buy the 18 Trainer slots and the 10 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 10 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Night Stretcher at 95 % and Mega Mawile ex at 91 %.

What beats Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire and Fighting, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 20 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, among others.

Will Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 4 core cards out of 9 carry the letter H, starting with Duraludon, Archaludon ex, Dudunsparce and Buddy-Buddy Poffin.

Are a lot of people playing Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

We have read 22 lists of it, which puts it 73rd of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 23 entries for it, 0.06 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.

These pages are about the same corner of the game. If you came away from this one still wondering about something, start with one of them.