Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex

What Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 57 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 21 Pokémon, 29 to 36 Trainers and 8 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal, Darkness and Fighting.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « archaludon-zoroark ». 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 12 out of 60, when half the 126 decks we track run 11 or more. This one is lean. It lives on cheap attacks and leans on Trainers to find the right Energy at the right moment rather than stockpiling it.

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 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 15 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 14 to 22 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 119 of the 126 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 N's Zoroark ex give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Archaludon ex is in all 57 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. »

N's Zoroark ex is in all 57 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Trade, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « You must discard a card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw 2 cards. » Its attack Night Joker costs 2 Energy (Darkness and Darkness) and has no damage number printed next to it. That is why you will not find it in the attacker table lower down, which sorts by printed damage. Everything it does lives in its text: « Choose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. »

How Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex actually wins

N's Zoroark ex attacks with Night Joker, and it needs 2 Darkness Energy attached. It has 280 HP. Its damage box is empty, so the table below, which sorts by printed damage, cannot rank it: its printed text above is where the counting happens.

The cost of Night Joker decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. Except you are not on your own. 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 N's Zoroark 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 and N's Zoroark ex carry the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when one of them falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on those cards 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 N's Zoroark exStage 1	280	Night JokerChoose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack.	—		Grass ×2	2
Close Archaludon exStage 1	300	Metal Defender	220		Fire ×2	2
Close DuraludonBasic	130	Raging Hammer	80+		Fire ×2	2
Close RelicanthBasic	100	Razor Fin	30		Grass ×2	1

The core: the 12 cards every list runs

These 12 cards appear in all 57 lists, without a single exception. That is 39 of the 60 slots. The other 21 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 39 slots break down: 17 Trainers, 14 Pokémon, 8 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 39 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 126 decks we track fix 25 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

11 of those 12 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duraludon (2 to 4), Archaludon ex (3 to 4) and N's Zoroark ex (2 to 4), plus 8 more. Add those spreads up and you get 19 copies the 57 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
3–4	Close Archaludon ex	SSP 130	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close N's Zoroark ex	JTG 98	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close N's Zorua	JTG 97	Pokémon	stays
1	Close Relicanth	TEF 84	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
1–2	Close Special Red Card	CRI 82	Trainer	stays
8–12	Metal Energy	MEE 16	Energy	stays

The 52 cards that change from list to list

52 cards fight over the 21 slots that are left: 3 above three lists in four, 29 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Mega Mawile ex at 79 %, Fezandipiti ex at 77 % and Switch at 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Psyduck, at 51 %: 29 of 57 players took it, 28 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Team Rocket's Watchtower (14 lists out of 57) and Jumbo Ice Cream (11 lists out of 57).

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
79 %45/57	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
77 %44/57	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
75 %43/57	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
74 %42/57	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
72 %41/57	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
68 %39/57	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
65 %37/57	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
63 %36/57	Close Cyrano	1–3	SSP 170	Trainer
61 %35/57	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–3	DRI 176	Trainer
53 %30/57	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
51 %29/57	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
51 %29/57	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
46 %26/57	Close N's Castle	2	JTG 152	Trainer
46 %26/57	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
46 %26/57	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	2–3	CRI 85	Energy
44 %25/57	Close Archaludon	1	PFL 75	Pokémon
44 %25/57	Close Philippe	1	CRI 79	Trainer
35 %20/57	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
32 %18/57	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
30 %17/57	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
30 %17/57	Close Iron Defender	2	MEG 118	Trainer
30 %17/57	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
28 %16/57	Close Morty's Conviction	1–4	TEF 155	Trainer
25 %14/57	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
19 %11/57	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1–3	PFL 91	Trainer
19 %11/57	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
14 %8/57	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
12 %7/57	Close Duskull	2	PRE 35	Pokémon
12 %7/57	Close Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
12 %7/57	Close Dusknoir	1–2	PRE 37	Pokémon
12 %7/57	Close Rare Candy	1–2	MEG 125	Trainer
9 %5/57	Close Handheld Fan	1–2	TWM 150	Trainer
7 %4/57	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Duraludon	1	PFL 74	Pokémon
5 %3/57	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
5 %3/57	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
5 %3/57	Close Carmine	1–4	TWM 145	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
4 %2/57	Close Full Metal Lab	2	TEF 148	Trainer
4 %2/57	Close Rust Syndicate Grunt	1	PBL 81	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Archaludon	1	SCR 107	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Mega Skarmory ex	1	POR 55	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Transformation Tome	4	CRI 83	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Brock's Scouting	2	JTG 146	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Xerosic's Machinations	2	SFA 64	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Harlequin	1	WHT 83	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Lucky Helmet	1	TWM 158	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer

The most common Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 39 slots come from the core, the cards all 57 lists run. The remaining 21 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 17 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 57 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: 19
4 Duraludon SCR 106
3 Archaludon ex SSP 130
3 N's Zoroark ex JTG 98
3 N's Zorua JTG 97
1 Relicanth TEF 84
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Psyduck ASC 39
1 Archaludon PFL 75

Trainer: 31
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Judge POR 76
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Cyrano SSP 170
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
1 Scoop Up Cyclone TWM 162
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 N's Castle JTG 152
1 Kieran TWM 154
1 Philippe CRI 79

Energy: 10
8 Metal Energy
2 Magnetic Metal Energy CRI 85

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 64 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 12 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

56 of these 57 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 30 took Scoop Up Cyclone, 17 took Hero's Cape and 8 took Secret Box. 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 12 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duraludon, Archaludon ex, Relicanth and Night Stretcher. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 10 of the 39 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Archaludon ex / N's Zoroark ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass and Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 34 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex and Festival Lead (Thwackey), plus 31 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 34 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 92 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, Darkness and Fighting, and 63 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex, Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex and N's Zoroark ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.