Crustle

What Crustle looks like when you open the box

Across the 105 lists we counted, this deck runs 9 to 16 Pokémon, 29 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 126 decks we track run 11 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: 29 to 39 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 12 to 21 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 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 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 105 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. Careful, though: only 104 of the 105 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

There is another trick in this list, and the whole of it happens in one turn. Team Rocket's Petrel goes into your deck for a Trainer card and puts it in your hand. Lumiose City is one, and it puts Basic Pokémon onto your Bench in one go. A full Bench on turn one is what decides the game in a deck with lines to build. One detail that matters: Team Rocket's Petrel is a Supporter, so that turn you play no other Supporter. Items all still go through.

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 27 of the 126 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		Fire ×2	3

The core: the 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 105 lists, without a single exception. That is 27 of the 60 slots. The other 33 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 27 slots break down: 21 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.

7 of those 8 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 4 more. Add those spreads up and you get 11 copies the 105 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

The 76 cards that change from list to list

76 cards fight over the 33 slots that are left: 12 above three lists in four, 57 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 99 %, Hilda at 99 % and Hero's Cape at 99 %, plus 9 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Special Red Card, at 49 %: 51 of 105 players took it, 54 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Manectric (18 lists out of 105) and Mega Manectric ex (18 lists out of 105).

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
99 %104/105	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–4	MEG 104	Pokémon
99 %104/105	Close Hilda	1–4	WHT 84	Trainer
99 %104/105	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
99 %104/105	Close Growing Grass Energy	3–4	POR 86	Energy
99 %104/105	Close Mist Energy	3–4	TEF 161	Energy
97 %102/105	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
97 %102/105	Close Spiky Energy	2–4	JTG 159	Energy
96 %101/105	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
95 %100/105	Close Eri	1–3	TEF 146	Trainer
91 %96/105	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
90 %94/105	Close Ultra Ball	1–2	MEG 131	Trainer
79 %83/105	Close Pokémon Center Lady	1–2	MEG 123	Trainer
70 %74/105	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
69 %72/105	Close Lumiose City	1	POR 77	Trainer
68 %71/105	Close Handheld Fan	1–2	TWM 150	Trainer
55 %58/105	Close Festival Grounds	1–2	TWM 149	Trainer
49 %51/105	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
40 %42/105	Close Bianca's Devotion	1	TEF 142	Trainer
32 %34/105	Close Enhanced Hammer	1–2	TWM 148	Trainer
17 %18/105	Close Manectric	1–2	PBL 24	Pokémon
17 %18/105	Close Mega Manectric ex	1	MEG 50	Pokémon
17 %18/105	Close Voltaic Lightning Energy	2–4	PBL 84	Energy
16 %17/105	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 112	Pokémon
15 %16/105	Close Electrike	2–3	PBL 23	Pokémon
15 %16/105	Close Community Center	1	TWM 146	Trainer
14 %15/105	Close Prism Tower	1	CRI 80	Trainer
12 %13/105	Close Lisia's Appeal	1	SSP 179	Trainer
11 %12/105	Close Hand Trimmer	1	TEF 150	Trainer
10 %11/105	Lightning Energy	1–3	MEE 4	Energy
10 %10/105	Close Poké Pad	1–3	POR 81	Trainer
9 %9/105	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
9 %9/105	Fighting Energy	1	MEE 6	Energy
8 %8/105	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
8 %8/105	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
7 %7/105	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	1–2	POR 87	Energy
6 %6/105	Close Super Potion	1–2	JTG 158	Trainer
6 %6/105	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
5 %5/105	Close Feebas	2	SSP 41	Pokémon
5 %5/105	Close Milotic ex	1–2	SSP 42	Pokémon
5 %5/105	Close Sacred Charm	1	PFL 93	Trainer
5 %5/105	Water Energy	1–2	MEE 3	Energy
4 %4/105	Close Bouffalant	1	SSP 151	Pokémon
4 %4/105	Close Bouffalant	1	SCR 119	Pokémon
4 %4/105	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
4 %4/105	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
4 %4/105	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–2	CRI 84	Energy
3 %3/105	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
3 %3/105	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–2	SFA 57	Trainer
3 %3/105	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
3 %3/105	Close Forest of Vitality	1	MEG 117	Trainer
3 %3/105	Close Lumiose Galette	1	POR 78	Trainer
3 %3/105	Darkness Energy	2–3	MEE 7	Energy
3 %3/105	Close Ignition Energy	1	WHT 86	Energy
2 %2/105	Close Electrike	2–3	MEG 49	Pokémon
2 %2/105	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
2 %2/105	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
2 %2/105	Close Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
2 %2/105	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
2 %2/105	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
2 %2/105	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
1 %1/105	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
1 %1/105	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
1 %1/105	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
1 %1/105	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
1 %1/105	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2	DRI 178	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Energy Swatter	1	POR 73	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Gravity Gemstone	1	SCR 137	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Payapa Berry	1	SCR 141	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
1 %1/105	Close Prism Energy	2	ASC 216	Energy
1 %1/105	Psychic Energy	1	MEE 5	Energy

The most common Crustle list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 27 slots come from the core, the cards all 105 lists run. The remaining 33 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 18 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 10 Pokémon, 37 Trainers and 13 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 105 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: 10
3 Crustle DRI 12
3 Dwebble DRI 11
4 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104

Trainer: 37
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 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64
1 Switch MEG 130
3 Eri TEF 146
1 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
1 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Pokémon Center Lady MEG 123
1 Lumiose City POR 77
1 Handheld Fan TWM 150
1 Festival Grounds TWM 149
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Bianca's Devotion TEF 142

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 30th Celebration became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 23 October 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 102 games, 23 won and 77 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 134 games, 47 won and 84 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 127 games, 65 won and 58 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Dhelmise: over 112 games, 60 won and 50 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 100 games, 55 won and 44 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 283 games, 178 won and 96 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 123 games, 74 won and 48 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 144 games, 95 won and 46 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

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

You need 84 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 105 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 104 took Hero's Cape and 1 took Unfair Stamp. 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 8 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 2 of the 27 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. 13 of the 126 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 10 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 13 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 113 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 24 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.