Crustle deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Crustle looks like when you open the box

Across the 46 lists we counted, this deck runs 9 to 15 Pokémon, 30 to 39 Trainers and 11 to 17 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « crustle-dri ». 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, « DRI », is a set code: Destined Rivals. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 11 to 17 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. Crustle 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: 30 to 39 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 15 to 20 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 91 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 card in this deck's name actually does

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

Crustle is in all 46 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Mysterious Rock Inn, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from your opponent's Pokémon ex. »

How Crustle actually wins

Crustle attacks with Superb Scissors for 120. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Grass and 2 Colorless attached, and it has 150 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 attack's damage isn't affected by any effects on your opponent's Active Pokémon."

The cost of Superb Scissors 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. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for 2 turns before you swing. Those turns still get played: you fill your Bench, you build your lines, and you keep something back to rebuild with when your attacker falls.

Energy is not your only clock. Dwebble has to climb a step before it becomes Crustle, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, which the list runs 2 of, goes into your deck for an evolution.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Crustle 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 21 of the 97 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 CrustleStage 1	150	Superb Scissors	120	Grass + Colorless + Colorless	Fire ×2	3

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 46 lists, without a single exception. That is 30 of the 60 slots. The other 30 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 30 slots break down: 24 Trainers, 6 Pokémon, 0 Energy. Trainers outweigh everything else put together, which is the mark of a deck that goes and fetches its cards rather than waiting to draw them.

8 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Crustle (2 to 3), Dwebble (2 to 4) and Boss's Orders (3 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 46 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
2–3	Close Crustle	DRI 12	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Dwebble	DRI 11	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
4	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	PFL 91	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	DRI 176	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Pokégear 3.0	SVI 186	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Close Hilda	WHT 84	Trainer	stays
1	Close Hero's Cape	TEF 152	Trainer	leaves

The 61 cards that change from list to list

61 cards fight over the 30 slots that are left: 9 above three lists in four, 39 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Mega Kangaskhan ex at 98 %, Growing Grass Energy at 98 % and Mist Energy at 98 %, plus 6 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Handheld Fan, at 50 %: 23 of 46 players took it, 23 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex (11 lists out of 46) and Special Red Card (10 lists out of 46).

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 %45/46	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–4	MEG 104	Pokémon
98 %45/46	Close Growing Grass Energy	3–4	POR 86	Energy
98 %45/46	Close Mist Energy	3–4	TEF 161	Energy
93 %43/46	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
93 %43/46	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
93 %43/46	Close Spiky Energy	2–4	JTG 159	Energy
91 %42/46	Close Eri	1–3	TEF 146	Trainer
91 %42/46	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
78 %36/46	Close Ultra Ball	1–2	MEG 131	Trainer
70 %32/46	Close Pokémon Center Lady	1	MEG 123	Trainer
61 %28/46	Close Bianca's Devotion	1	TEF 142	Trainer
50 %23/46	Close Handheld Fan	1–2	TWM 150	Trainer
50 %23/46	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
46 %21/46	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
41 %19/46	Close Lumiose City	1	POR 77	Trainer
37 %17/46	Close Manectric	1–2	PBL 24	Pokémon
37 %17/46	Close Mega Manectric ex	1	MEG 50	Pokémon
37 %17/46	Close Voltaic Lightning Energy	2–4	PBL 84	Energy
33 %15/46	Close Electrike	2–3	PBL 23	Pokémon
30 %14/46	Close Community Center	1	TWM 146	Trainer
26 %12/46	Close Hand Trimmer	1	TEF 150	Trainer
26 %12/46	Close Lisia's Appeal	1	SSP 179	Trainer
24 %11/46	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 112	Pokémon
22 %10/46	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
22 %10/46	Lightning Energy	1–3	MEE 4	Energy
20 %9/46	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
15 %7/46	Fighting Energy	1	MEE 6	Energy
13 %6/46	Close Poké Pad	1–3	POR 81	Trainer
9 %4/46	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
9 %4/46	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
7 %3/46	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
7 %3/46	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
7 %3/46	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
7 %3/46	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–2	SFA 57	Trainer
7 %3/46	Close Lumiose Galette	1	POR 78	Trainer
7 %3/46	Darkness Energy	2–3	MEE 7	Energy
7 %3/46	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	1–2	POR 87	Energy
7 %3/46	Water Energy	1–2	MEE 3	Energy
4 %2/46	Close Electrike	2–3	MEG 49	Pokémon
4 %2/46	Close Feebas	2	SSP 41	Pokémon
4 %2/46	Close Milotic ex	2	SSP 42	Pokémon
4 %2/46	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Forest of Vitality	1	MEG 117	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Super Potion	1	JTG 158	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
4 %2/46	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–2	CRI 84	Energy
2 %1/46	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
2 %1/46	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2	DRI 178	Trainer
2 %1/46	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
2 %1/46	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
2 %1/46	Close Sacred Charm	1	PFL 93	Trainer
2 %1/46	Close Prism Energy	2	ASC 216	Energy
2 %1/46	Psychic Energy	1	MEE 5	Energy

The most common Crustle list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 30 slots come from the core, the cards all 46 lists run. The remaining 30 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 13 Pokémon, 34 Trainers and 13 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 46 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.

There is no price total on this page. The readings we have are Cardmarket's, in euros, and the shop link further down sends you to TCGplayer, which quotes in dollars. Putting a euro figure next to a dollar shop would be one currency too many. The French and German pages carry the total.

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: 13
3 Crustle DRI 12
3 Dwebble DRI 11
4 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104
2 Manectric PBL 24
1 Mega Manectric ex MEG 50

Trainer: 34
4 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Jumbo Ice Cream PFL 91
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
3 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Hilda WHT 84
1 Hero's Cape TEF 152
1 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64
1 Eri TEF 146
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Pokémon Center Lady MEG 123
1 Bianca's Devotion TEF 142
1 Handheld Fan TWM 150
1 Festival Grounds TWM 149
1 Lumiose City POR 77

Energy: 13
4 Growing Grass Energy POR 86
4 Mist Energy TEF 161
4 Spiky Energy JTG 159
1 Grass Energy MEE 1

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Crustle at tournaments

Here is how Crustle did against every other deck at tournaments. Real games, real players sitting across the table from each other, and the platform those tournaments run on counts them one by one. All of them were played after Pitch Black became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 5 September 2026.

The format matters more than people think. When the next set lands, decks get rebuilt around the new cards, and a matchup that leaned one way can swing the other. What you are reading holds for today's format.

We start with the opponent that gives you the most trouble, because that is where the work is before your next tournament. The further down the list you go, the better it goes for you.

Always look at the number of games next to the score. Six wins out of ten happens on its own, even with a middling deck: it is the same as flipping six heads in ten tries. Six hundred out of a thousand, and luck has nothing to do with it. Below 100 games we show nothing at all, because at that count half the matchups look like they lean one way when they lean nowhere.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 118 games, 24 won and 92 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 107 games, 50 won and 55 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 131 games, 72 won and 57 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 113 games, 63 won and 47 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 144 games, 91 won and 47 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

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

You need 71 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

Add Hero's Cape: all 46 players picked the same one. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs.

Then there is time. 2 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Hero's Cape. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 3 of the 30 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Crustle struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge 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 97 we track. The other 87 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 Grass, and 18 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Crustle deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 46 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 5 September 2026, 10 cards turn up in every single one, 30 slots out of 60. The remaining 30 change from player to player, with 61 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

46 lists, played across 39 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 5 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 46 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Crustle?

With the whole core: 10 cards, 30 slots. Inside it, buy the 24 Trainer slots and the 0 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 6 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Mega Kangaskhan ex at 98 % and Growing Grass Energy at 98 %.

What beats Crustle?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 10 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion, Ceruledge ex and Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex, among others.

Will Crustle survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 2 core cards out of 10 carry the letter H, starting with Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Hero's Cape.

Are a lot of people playing Crustle?

We have read 46 lists of it, which puts it 4th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 390 entries for it, 0.96 % 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.