Dragapult ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Dragapult ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 34 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 23 Pokémon, 30 to 35 Trainers and 7 to 9 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Fire and Psychic.

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

Look at the Energy: 7 to 9 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 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 takes a while to set up. Dragapult ex is a Stage 2 Pokémon: you put down the baby, you evolve it, and then you evolve it again. Three cards stacked before anything attacks. That is what the hardest-hitting decks cost you, and it is also where they crack — a fast opponent can bury you before the line is standing.

Look at the Trainers: 30 to 35 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 12 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 15 to 22 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.

How Dragapult ex actually wins

Dragapult ex attacks with Phantom Dive for 200. It needs 2 Energy, 1 Fire and 1 Psychic attached, and it has 320 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: "Put 6 damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokémon in any way you like."

The cost of Phantom Dive decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. Except you are not on your own. Rosa's Encouragement, a single copy in the list, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. Not whenever you feel like it, though. The card itself says when, so read it before you count on it. 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.

Good news on mobility: pulling Dragapult ex 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.

Dragapult ex, Fezandipiti ex and Meowth ex carry the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when one of them falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on those cards 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 Dragapult exStage 2	320	Phantom Dive	200	Fire + Psychic	none	1
Close DrakloakStage 1	90	Dragon Headbutt	70	Fire + Psychic	none	1
Close Meowth exBasic	170	Tuck Tail	60	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	1
Close DreepyBasic	70	Bite	40	Fire + Psychic	none	1

The core: the 14 cards every list runs

These 14 cards appear in all 34 lists, without a single exception. That is 42 of the 60 slots. The other 18 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 42 slots break down: 23 Trainers, 13 Pokémon, 6 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.

12 of those 14 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Drakloak (3 to 4), Dreepy (3 to 4) and Dragapult ex (2 to 3), plus 9 more. Add those spreads up and you get 17 copies the 34 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 Drakloak	TWM 129	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Dreepy	TWM 128	Pokémon	leaves
2–3	Close Dragapult ex	TWM 130	Pokémon	leaves
1	Close Fezandipiti ex	ASC 142	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Meowth ex	POR 62	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Crispin	SCR 133	Trainer	leaves
2–3	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Fire Energy	MEE 2	Energy	stays
2–4	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays

The 46 cards that change from list to list

46 cards fight over the 18 slots that are left: 7 above three lists in four, 32 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Munkidori at 97 %, Budew at 97 % and Special Red Card at 97 %, plus 4 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Moltres, at 59 %: 20 of 34 players took it, 14 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Shaymin (6 lists out of 34) and Chi-Yu (4 lists out of 34).

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
97 %33/34	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
97 %33/34	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
97 %33/34	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
97 %33/34	Darkness Energy	2–3	MEE 7	Energy
85 %29/34	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
79 %27/34	Close Crushing Hammer	3–4	POR 71	Trainer
76 %26/34	Close Risky Ruins	1–2	MEG 127	Trainer
74 %25/34	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
59 %20/34	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
41 %14/34	Close Dudunsparce	1	TEF 129	Pokémon
41 %14/34	Close Dunsparce	1	JTG 120	Pokémon
35 %12/34	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
35 %12/34	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
26 %9/34	Close Dark Bell	1–2	PBL 75	Trainer
18 %6/34	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
12 %4/34	Close Chi-Yu	1	TWM 39	Pokémon
12 %4/34	Close Rare Candy	1–2	MEG 125	Trainer
12 %4/34	Close Dawn	1	PFL 87	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Area Zero Underdepths	1–3	SCR 131	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Pokémon Catcher	2–3	POR 82	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Hoothoot	3	SCR 114	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Noctowl	3	SCR 115	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Fan Rotom	2	SCR 118	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 64	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Chi-Yu	1	MEG 31	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Rabsca	1	TEF 24	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Rellor	1	TEF 23	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Tera Orb	2	SSP 189	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Forest of Vitality	1	MEG 117	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
3 %1/34	Water Energy	1	MEE 3	Energy

The most common Dragapult ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 42 slots come from the core, the cards all 34 lists run. The remaining 18 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 12 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 33 Trainers and 8 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 34 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: 19
4 Drakloak TWM 129
4 Dreepy TWM 128
3 Dragapult ex TWM 130
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
2 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Moltres PFL 14
1 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Dunsparce JTG 120

Trainer: 33
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Crispin SCR 133
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165
4 Crushing Hammer POR 71
2 Risky Ruins MEG 127
1 Rosa's Encouragement POR 84
1 Judge POR 76

Energy: 8
3 Fire Energy MEE 2
3 Psychic Energy MEE 5
2 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Dragapult ex at tournaments

Here is how Dragapult ex 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 Crustle: over 144 games, 47 won and 91 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Raging Bolt ex: over 365 games, 159 won and 195 lost. 11 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 832 games, 382 won and 441 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 1,076 games, 506 won and 556 lost. 14 ended with no winner.

Against Cynthia's Garchomp ex: over 171 games, 73 won and 95 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Kangaskhan ex / Bouffalant: over 129 games, 54 won and 73 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 287 games, 131 won and 151 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 946 games, 460 won and 459 lost. 27 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dudunsparce: over 109 games, 47 won and 56 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 723 games, 364 won and 339 lost. 20 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 868 games, 448 won and 399 lost. 21 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lopunny ex / Dudunsparce: over 112 games, 52 won and 59 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass: over 618 games, 325 won and 284 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Dhelmise: over 552 games, 301 won and 241 lost. 10 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama: over 282 games, 151 won and 125 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Chandelure ex: over 160 games, 84 won and 75 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 224 games, 126 won and 94 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Festival Lead: over 837 games, 498 won and 325 lost. 14 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex: over 349 games, 206 won and 141 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 949 games, 581 won and 347 lost. 21 ended with no winner.

Against Team Rocket's Honchkrow: over 194 games, 113 won and 80 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir: over 104 games, 58 won and 45 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Arboliva ex: over 111 games, 65 won and 45 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Greninja ex: over 112 games, 66 won and 45 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Beedrill ex: over 146 games, 88 won and 58 lost.

Against Mega Absol ex: over 102 games, 60 won and 42 lost.

Against Toucannon: over 275 games, 186 won and 84 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Greninja ex: over 181 games, 120 won and 60 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Mega Starmie ex / Froslass: over 100 games, 64 won and 36 lost.

Against Hop's Trevenant: over 104 games, 74 won and 29 lost. One ended with no winner.

What Dragapult ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 60 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 14 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 34 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 29 took Unfair Stamp, 3 took Hero's Cape and 2 took Sparkling Crystal. 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. 7 of the 14 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Drakloak, Dreepy, Dragapult ex and Fezandipiti ex, plus 3 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 20 of the 42 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Dragapult ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 12 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, plus 9 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 12 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 85 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, none of the 97 decks we track have an attacker Weak to your types. So you are not going to win trades on Weakness — you will have to win them on raw damage.

Questions people ask

What is the Dragapult ex deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 34 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 3 September 2026, 14 cards turn up in every single one, 42 slots out of 60. The remaining 18 change from player to player, with 46 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

34 lists, played across 34 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 3 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 34 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Dragapult ex?

With the whole core: 14 cards, 42 slots. Inside it, buy the 23 Trainer slots and the 6 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 13 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Munkidori at 97 % and Budew at 97 %.

What beats Dragapult ex?

Its attackers are Weak to Fighting, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 12 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Greninja ex, among others.

Will Dragapult ex survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 7 core cards out of 14 carry the letter H, starting with Drakloak, Dreepy, Dragapult ex and Fezandipiti ex, plus 3 more.

Are a lot of people playing Dragapult ex?

We have read 34 lists of it, which puts it 26th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 3,092 entries for it, 7.58 % 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.