Bronzong

What Bronzong looks like when you open the box

Across the 26 lists we counted, this deck runs 14 to 25 Pokémon, 25 to 36 Trainers and 5 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « bronzong-tef ». 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, « TEF », is a set code: Temporal Forces. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 5 to 13 out of 60, when half the 119 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. Bronzong 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: 25 to 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 119 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 7 to 24 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 74 of the 119 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.

How Bronzong actually wins

Bronzong attacks with Super Psy Bolt for 100. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Psychic and 2 Colorless attached, and it has 110 HP.

The cost of Super Psy Bolt 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 you are not on your own. Crispin, which the list runs 2 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Energy is not your only clock. Bronzor has to climb a step before it becomes Bronzong, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Salvatore, which the list runs 3 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 22 of the 26 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Bronzong back to the Bench you have to discard 3 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 3 Energy you spent 3 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 23 of the 119 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 BronzongStage 1	110	Super Psy Bolt	100		Darkness ×2	3

The core: the 1 cards every list runs

These 1 cards appear in all 26 lists, without a single exception. That is 3 of the 60 slots. The other 57 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 3 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 0 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

1 of those 1 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Bronzong (3 to 4). Add those spreads up and you get 1 copies the 26 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 Bronzong	TEF 69	Pokémon	leaves

The 99 cards that change from list to list

99 cards fight over the 57 slots that are left: 11 above three lists in four, 72 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Lillie's Determination at 92 %, Poké Pad at 92 % and Ultra Ball at 88 %, plus 8 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Switch, at 50 %: 13 of 26 players took it, 13 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Air Balloon (6 lists out of 26) and Hero's Cape (6 lists out of 26).

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
92 %24/26	Close Lillie's Determination	3–4	MEG 119	Trainer
92 %24/26	Close Poké Pad	3–4	POR 81	Trainer
88 %23/26	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
85 %22/26	Close Salvatore	1–4	TEF 160	Trainer
85 %22/26	Psychic Energy	1–6	MEE 5	Energy
81 %21/26	Close Munkidori	2–4	TWM 95	Pokémon
81 %21/26	Close Bronzor	2–4	TEF 68	Pokémon
81 %21/26	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
81 %21/26	Darkness Energy	2–4	MEE 7	Energy
77 %20/26	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
77 %20/26	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
73 %19/26	Close Meowth ex	1–3	POR 62	Pokémon
73 %19/26	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	3–4	POR 88	Energy
65 %17/26	Close Froslass	1–2	TWM 53	Pokémon
65 %17/26	Close Snorunt	1–4	ASC 46	Pokémon
65 %17/26	Close Hilda	2–4	WHT 84	Trainer
62 %16/26	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
58 %15/26	Close Bronzor	1–4	PRE 66	Pokémon
54 %14/26	Close Crispin	1–4	SCR 133	Trainer
50 %13/26	Close Switch	1–4	MEG 130	Trainer
46 %12/26	Close Energy Search	1–4	POR 72	Trainer
42 %11/26	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
38 %10/26	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
35 %9/26	Close Call Bell	1–4	SSP 165	Trainer
35 %9/26	Water Energy	2–4	MEE 3	Energy
31 %8/26	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
27 %7/26	Close Mega Froslass ex	2	ASC 47	Pokémon
23 %6/26	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
23 %6/26	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
23 %6/26	Close Mist Energy	1–2	TEF 161	Energy
19 %5/26	Close Dudunsparce	1–2	TEF 129	Pokémon
19 %5/26	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
19 %5/26	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
19 %5/26	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
19 %5/26	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
19 %5/26	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
15 %4/26	Close Dunsparce	2–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Dusclops	2	PRE 36	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Dusknoir	2–4	PRE 37	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Duskull	2–4	PRE 35	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Eevee	2	SSP 143	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Sylveon	1–2	PRE 40	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 112	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Electrike	1	PBL 23	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Mega Manectric ex	1	MEG 50	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Carmine	2	TWM 145	Trainer
15 %4/26	Close Crushing Hammer	2–4	POR 71	Trainer
15 %4/26	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
15 %4/26	Lightning Energy	2	MEE 4	Energy
15 %4/26	Fighting Energy	1	MEE 6	Energy
12 %3/26	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	2–3	JTG 56	Pokémon
12 %3/26	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
12 %3/26	Close Brave Bangle	2	WHT 80	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Dusk Ball	2–4	SSP 175	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	4	MEG 104	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	3	TWM 64	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Bastiodon	1–2	PBL 62	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Crustle	2	DRI 12	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Dwebble	2	DRI 11	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Area Zero Underdepths	4	SCR 131	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2–4	DRI 178	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Larry's Skill	1–3	PRE 115	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Lillie's Pearl	3	JTG 151	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Risky Ruins	2–3	MEG 127	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Team Rocket's Factory	2–3	DRI 173	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Wondrous Patch	3	PFL 94	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Antique Armor Fossil	1–2	PBL 72	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	2	TEF 145	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Cyrano	1	SSP 170	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
8 %2/26	Grass Energy	2–3	MEE 1	Energy
4 %1/26	Close Buneary	2	PFL 83	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Mega Lopunny ex	2	PFL 84	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Dunsparce	1	JTG 120	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Glalie	1	TWM 52	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Iron Leaves ex	1	TEF 25	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Shieldon	1	PBL 61	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Lucian	2	TWM 157	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Wally's Compassion	1	MEG 132	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
4 %1/26	Close Growing Grass Energy	1	POR 86	Energy
4 %1/26	Close Spiky Energy	1	JTG 159	Energy

What Bronzong costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 100 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 1 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 26 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 6 took Hero's Cape, 5 took Legacy Energy and 5 took Secret Box. The flex table shows you all 8. 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 Hero's Cape and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

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

What Bronzong struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 19 of the 119 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Team Rocket's Honchkrow, plus 16 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 19 decks out of the 119 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 Psychic, and 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.