Azumarill

What Azumarill looks like when you open the box

Across the 45 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 25 Pokémon, 27 to 35 Trainers and 5 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

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

The bit they tack on the end, « SSP », is a set code: Surging Sparks. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 5 to 12 out of 60, when half the 125 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. Azumarill 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: 27 to 35 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 17 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 20 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 87 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 card in this deck's name actually does

Azumarill gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Azumarill is in all 45 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Glistening Bubbles, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « If you have any Tera Pokémon in play, this Pokémon can use the Double-Edge attack for {P}. »

How Azumarill actually wins

Azumarill attacks with Double-Edge for 230. It needs 4 Psychic Energy attached, and it has 120 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: "This Pokémon also does 50 damage to itself."

The cost of Double-Edge decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 4. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 4. Except you are not on your own. Wondrous Patch, a single copy in the list, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. Crispin does the same job. One copy in the whole list, so do not build your turn around it. When it shows up it buys you a turn, and that is already a lot.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Azumarill 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.

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 26 of the 125 decks we track are in that position. It is a hidden advantage: every knockout your opponent takes is worth a single Prize, so they need 6, where 3 would do against a deck stuffed with ex cards.

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

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close AzumarillStage 1	120	Double-Edge	230		Metal ×2	2

The core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 45 lists, without a single exception. That is 14 of the 60 slots. The other 46 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 14 slots break down: 6 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 5 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 14 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 125 decks we track fix 26 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

4 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Azumarill (3 to 4), Lillie's Determination (1 to 4) and Boss's Orders (2 to 3), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 9 copies the 45 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 Azumarill	SSP 74	Pokémon	leaves
1–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–6	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays

The 111 cards that change from list to list

111 cards fight over the 46 slots that are left: 9 above three lists in four, 79 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 96 %, Poké Pad at 96 % and Ultra Ball at 96 %, plus 6 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Energy Search, at 51 %: 23 of 45 players took it, 22 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Brock's Scouting (11 lists out of 45) and Lana's Aid (10 lists out of 45).

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
96 %43/45	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–4	TEF 144	Trainer
96 %43/45	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
96 %43/45	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
93 %42/45	Close Marill	3–4	ASC 83	Pokémon
93 %42/45	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
87 %39/45	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1–2	JTG 56	Pokémon
87 %39/45	Close Area Zero Underdepths	1–4	SCR 131	Trainer
82 %37/45	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
76 %34/45	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1–3	TWM 112	Pokémon
71 %32/45	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
71 %32/45	Close Brave Bangle	1–3	WHT 80	Trainer
69 %31/45	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
64 %29/45	Close Hoothoot	3–4	SCR 114	Pokémon
64 %29/45	Close Noctowl	3–4	SCR 115	Pokémon
62 %28/45	Close Wondrous Patch	1–2	PFL 94	Trainer
60 %27/45	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
58 %26/45	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	1–4	POR 88	Energy
56 %25/45	Close Crispin	1–2	SCR 133	Trainer
56 %25/45	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
56 %25/45	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
53 %24/45	Close Shaymin	1–2	DRI 10	Pokémon
53 %24/45	Fighting Energy	1–2	MEE 6	Energy
51 %23/45	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
47 %21/45	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
44 %20/45	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
40 %18/45	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
38 %17/45	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
33 %15/45	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
33 %15/45	Close Fighting Gong	2–3	MEG 116	Trainer
33 %15/45	Water Energy	1–2	MEE 3	Energy
29 %13/45	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
27 %12/45	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
24 %11/45	Close Brock's Scouting	1–4	JTG 146	Trainer
22 %10/45	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
22 %10/45	Close Sacred Ash	1–2	DRI 168	Trainer
20 %9/45	Close Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
18 %8/45	Close Terapagos ex	1–3	SCR 128	Pokémon
16 %7/45	Close Energy Switch	1–4	MEG 115	Trainer
16 %7/45	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
13 %6/45	Close Pikipek	1–4	PBL 66	Pokémon
13 %6/45	Close Toucannon	1–3	PBL 68	Pokémon
13 %6/45	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
13 %6/45	Close Trumbeak	1–3	PBL 67	Pokémon
13 %6/45	Close Gladion's Final Battle	1–2	PBL 77	Trainer
13 %6/45	Close Tera Orb	1–3	SSP 189	Trainer
13 %6/45	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
13 %6/45	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
13 %6/45	Close Prism Energy	1	ASC 216	Energy
11 %5/45	Close Duskull	1–3	PRE 35	Pokémon
11 %5/45	Close Dusknoir	1–2	PRE 37	Pokémon
11 %5/45	Close Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
11 %5/45	Close Cyrano	1–2	SSP 170	Trainer
11 %5/45	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
11 %5/45	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
9 %4/45	Close Drakloak	3–4	TWM 129	Pokémon
9 %4/45	Close Dreepy	3–4	TWM 128	Pokémon
9 %4/45	Close Dragapult ex	1–2	TWM 130	Pokémon
9 %4/45	Close Pikachu ex	1–3	SSP 57	Pokémon
7 %3/45	Close Marill	4	TEF 64	Pokémon
7 %3/45	Close Munkidori	2–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
7 %3/45	Close Frillish	1	WHT 44	Pokémon
7 %3/45	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
7 %3/45	Close Pokégear 3.0	2–4	SVI 186	Trainer
7 %3/45	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
7 %3/45	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
7 %3/45	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %3/45	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
7 %3/45	Fire Energy	1–2	MEE 2	Energy
7 %3/45	Close Mist Energy	1–2	TEF 161	Energy
7 %3/45	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	1	POR 87	Energy
4 %2/45	Close Crustle	2	DRI 12	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Dwebble	2	DRI 11	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Banette	1	PBL 34	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Cinderace	1	MEG 28	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Koraidon ex	1	ASC 121	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Shuppet	1	PBL 33	Pokémon
4 %2/45	Close Pokémon Catcher	3	POR 82	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Dragon Elixir	2	SSP 172	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Prism Tower	2	CRI 80	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
4 %2/45	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
4 %2/45	Grass Energy	2–6	MEE 1	Energy
4 %2/45	Darkness Energy	1–3	MEE 7	Energy
4 %2/45	Close Growing Grass Energy	2	POR 86	Energy
4 %2/45	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1	CRI 84	Energy
4 %2/45	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
2 %1/45	Close Dudunsparce	4	TEF 129	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Dunsparce	4	JTG 120	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	3	MEG 104	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Teal Mask Ogerpon ex	3	TWM 25	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Arboliva ex	2	DRI 23	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Dolliv	2	DRI 22	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Smoliv	2	DRI 21	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Incineroar ex	1	TEF 34	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Iron Leaves ex	1	TEF 25	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Litten	1	TEF 32	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Torracat	1	TEF 33	Pokémon
2 %1/45	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	2	TEF 145	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Forest of Vitality	2	MEG 117	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
2 %1/45	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer

The most common Azumarill list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 14 slots come from the core, the cards all 45 lists run. The remaining 46 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 26 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 22 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 7 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 45 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.

One thing to fix before you play: there is no ACE SPEC card in these 60. Players split that slot so many ways that none of their cards climbed high enough to get in, and 43 of the 45 lists carry one. Take Unfair Stamp, the most chosen, and drop a card from the bottom of the table to make room.

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: 22
3 Azumarill SSP 74
4 Marill ASC 83
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 112
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
4 Hoothoot SCR 114
3 Noctowl SCR 115
1 Shaymin DRI 10
2 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64

Trainer: 31
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Wondrous Patch PFL 94
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Crispin SCR 133
1 Battle Cage PFL 85
1 Kieran TWM 154
1 Energy Search POR 72
1 Judge POR 76
1 Hilda WHT 84

Energy: 7
5 Psychic Energy MEE 5
1 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
1 Fighting Energy MEE 6

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Azumarill needs, and how long it will last

You need 115 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 4 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

43 of these 45 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 17 took Unfair Stamp, 7 took Sparkling Crystal and 5 took Legacy Energy. The flex table shows you all 9. 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 Unfair Stamp and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 4 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Azumarill. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 3 of the 14 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Azumarill struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Steven's Metagross ex, Slowking (Metagross) and Mega Excadrill ex, plus 7 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 10 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 115 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 Psychic, and 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Greninja ex and Mega Lucario ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.