Dhelmise

What Dhelmise looks like when you open the box

Across the 98 lists we counted, this deck runs 20 to 29 Pokémon, 24 to 32 Trainers and 6 to 10 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « dhelmise-pbl ». 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, « PBL », is a set code: Pitch Black. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 6 to 10 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. Banette 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: 24 to 32 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 10 to 15 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 11 to 16 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.

How Dhelmise actually wins

Banette attacks with Puppet Pull for 80. It needs 1 Psychic Energy attached, and it has 80 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: "You may search your deck for a card and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck."

One Energy to attack is enormous, and it means the attack cost will never be what slows you down. What slows you down here is getting Banette up. Once the line is standing you swing every turn with nothing to recharge, and you can start again immediately when your attacker falls.

Good news on mobility: pulling Banette back to the Bench costs you 1 Energy attached to it, and that is all. Retreating does not cost you your turn, so you step back and swing anyway. That matters enormously the day your opponent lands something nasty on it.

Lillie's Clefairy ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Lillie's Clefairy ex falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on that card 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 BanetteStage 1	80	Puppet Pull	80		Darkness ×2	1
Close DhelmiseBasic	140	Vengeful Anchor	30+		Darkness ×2	3
Close Lillie's Clefairy exBasic	190	Full Moon Rondo	20+		Metal ×2	1
Close ShuppetBasic	50	Hang Down	10		Darkness ×2	1

The core: the 9 cards every list runs

These 9 cards appear in all 98 lists, without a single exception. That is 31 of the 60 slots. The other 29 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 31 slots break down: 14 Trainers, 13 Pokémon, 4 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 31 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 125 decks we track fix 26 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

9 of those 9 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Banette (2 to 4), Dhelmise (3 to 4) and Shuppet (1 to 4), plus 6 more. Add those spreads up and you get 17 copies the 98 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 Banette	PBL 34	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Dhelmise	PBL 39	Pokémon	stays
1–4	Close Shuppet	PBL 33	Pokémon	stays
1–2	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy	stays

The 76 cards that change from list to list

76 cards fight over the 29 slots that are left: 6 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: Sinistcha at 99 %, Psychic Energy at 99 % and Poltchageist at 98 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Spiritomb, at 48 %: 47 of 98 players took it, 51 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Pokégear 3.0 (24 lists out of 98) and Lana's Aid (17 lists out of 98).

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 %97/98	Close Sinistcha	1–4	PBL 6	Pokémon
99 %97/98	Psychic Energy	1–5	MEE 5	Energy
98 %96/98	Close Poltchageist	2–4	PBL 5	Pokémon
97 %95/98	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
97 %95/98	Close Prism Tower	1–4	CRI 80	Trainer
96 %94/98	Close Gwynn	2–4	PBL 78	Trainer
73 %72/98	Close Dunsparce	1–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
73 %72/98	Close Dudunsparce	1–4	TEF 129	Pokémon
73 %72/98	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
67 %66/98	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
55 %54/98	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
48 %47/98	Close Spiritomb	1	PBL 35	Pokémon
47 %46/98	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
44 %43/98	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
40 %39/98	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
39 %38/98	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–2	TEF 144	Trainer
38 %37/98	Close Explorer's Guidance	1–4	TEF 147	Trainer
32 %31/98	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
26 %25/98	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
24 %24/98	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
17 %17/98	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
16 %16/98	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
16 %16/98	Close Brilliant Blender	1	SSP 164	Trainer
14 %14/98	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
14 %14/98	Close Flutter Mane	1–2	TEF 78	Pokémon
11 %11/98	Close Yveltal	1	30C 100	Pokémon
10 %10/98	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
8 %8/98	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %7/98	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
7 %7/98	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
6 %6/98	Close Dunsparce	1–2	TEF 128	Pokémon
6 %6/98	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
6 %6/98	Close Lucky Helmet	2–3	TWM 158	Trainer
6 %6/98	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
6 %6/98	Close Ruffian	1	JTG 157	Trainer
5 %5/98	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %4/98	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
4 %4/98	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	2	DRI 180	Trainer
4 %4/98	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
4 %4/98	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
4 %4/98	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
3 %3/98	Close Togekiss	1–2	SSP 72	Pokémon
3 %3/98	Close Togepi	2	SSP 70	Pokémon
3 %3/98	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
3 %3/98	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
3 %3/98	Close Togetic	1	SSP 71	Pokémon
3 %3/98	Close Larry's Skill	1–2	PRE 115	Trainer
3 %3/98	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
3 %3/98	Close Naveen	1–2	POR 79	Trainer
3 %3/98	Close Rare Candy	1	MEG 125	Trainer
3 %3/98	Close Prism Energy	1–4	ASC 216	Energy
2 %2/98	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	4	MEG 104	Pokémon
2 %2/98	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	4	TEF 145	Trainer
2 %2/98	Close Morty's Conviction	2	TEF 155	Trainer
2 %2/98	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
2 %2/98	Close Survival Brace	1	TWM 164	Trainer
2 %2/98	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1	DRI 173	Trainer
2 %2/98	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Drakloak	3	TWM 129	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Dreepy	3	TWM 128	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Kadabra	3	MEG 55	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Abra	2	MEG 54	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Alakazam	2	MEG 56	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Abra	1	TWM 80	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Dragapult ex	1	TWM 130	Pokémon
1 %1/98	Close Carmine	4	TWM 145	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Hilda	3	WHT 84	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	3	DRI 178	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Hassel	2	TWM 151	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	1	JTG 149	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Payapa Berry	1	SCR 141	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Strange Timepiece	1	MEG 128	Trainer
1 %1/98	Close Wondrous Patch	1	PFL 94	Trainer

The most common Dhelmise list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 31 slots come from the core, the cards all 98 lists run. The remaining 29 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 11 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 28 Pokémon, 25 Trainers and 7 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 98 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: 28
4 Banette PBL 34
4 Dhelmise PBL 39
4 Shuppet PBL 33
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
4 Sinistcha PBL 6
4 Poltchageist PBL 5
3 Dunsparce JTG 120
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Patrat CRI 70

Trainer: 25
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Prism Tower CRI 80
4 Gwynn PBL 78

Energy: 7
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
2 Psychic Energy MEE 5
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Dhelmise at tournaments

Here is how Dhelmise 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 22 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 Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity: over 161 games, 46 won and 112 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lopunny ex / Dudunsparce: over 148 games, 45 won and 101 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 263 games, 92 won and 170 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 296 games, 122 won and 172 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 150 games, 62 won and 83 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 205 games, 88 won and 110 lost. 7 ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 176 games, 78 won and 97 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Festival Lead: over 140 games, 63 won and 75 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Crustle: over 110 games, 49 won and 59 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 611 games, 324 won and 278 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 274 games, 155 won and 117 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 231 games, 135 won and 94 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 225 games, 133 won and 84 lost. 8 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dusknoir: over 152 games, 120 won and 32 lost.

Against Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama: over 177 games, 149 won and 26 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

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

You need 85 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 9 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 98 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 72 took Legacy Energy, 16 took Brilliant Blender 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 Legacy Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 9 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Night Stretcher. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 3 of the 31 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Dhelmise struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness and Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 28 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Slowking (Metagross) and Mega Excadrill ex, plus 25 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 28 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 97 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, Mega Lucario ex and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

When an attack does nothing at all

There are two ways to hurt the Pokémon across the table, and the game does not treat them the same. An attack with a number printed next to it deals damage. An attack with no number, whose text just says "place 2 damage counters", does what the rules call an effect. That matters, because a handful of Pokémon have an Ability that prevents the effects of your opponent's attacks, and their card spells it out in brackets: damage is not an effect.

This deck has an answer to that. Banette has Hide 'n' Sneak in 98 lists out of 98, Shuppet has Hide 'n' Sneak in 98 lists out of 98, Sinistcha has Hide 'n' Sneak in 97 lists out of 98 and Poltchageist has Hide 'n' Sneak in 96 lists out of 98. Against an attack that only places counters, those Pokémon take nothing at all. Not one counter. An attack with a number printed next to it still puts its damage on them, mind you. Careful, though: the Ability protects the card that has it, and only that card. The rest of your bench takes everything.

Of the decks we track right now, 6 play an attack like that. They are in the table below, with the Pokémon carrying it. When you run into one, put one of those Pokémon in the Active Spot: the marker attack can no longer touch it. Your opponent will have to reach for printed-damage attacks — most of these decks carry some too. The wall buys you turns, it does not win the game for you.

The other way round, this deck attacks with counters too: Sinistcha with Matcha Spin and Poltchageist with Furtive Drop. Those attacks have no damage number printed next to them at all. In front of a Pokémon that shuts off effects, they place nothing. Zero.

Of the decks we track, 6 play a Pokémon like that, and they are in the table below. The day you see one come across the table, stop counting on your counters. You need an attack with a real number written on it. You have one: Puppet Pull, on Banette, for 80.