Festival Lead deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Festival Lead looks like when you open the box

Across the 27 lists we counted, this deck runs 19 to 22 Pokémon, 32 to 36 Trainers and 5 to 6 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « festival-lead ». That is the name of an Ability: several Pokémon in this deck carry Festival Lead, and the whole game plan leans on it. So the deck is named after its Ability.

Look at the Energy: 5 to 6 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 sets up fast. Dipplin 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: 32 to 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 11 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 14 to 20 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 57 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

This deck is named after an Ability, Festival Lead, and 3 Pokémon in the list carry it. Its printed text is the game plan.

Dipplin is in all 27 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Festival Lead, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « If Festival Grounds is in play, this Pokémon may use an attack it has twice. If the first attack Knocks Out your opponent's Active Pokémon, you may attack again after your opponent chooses a new Active Pokémon. »

Seaking is in all 27 lists, 1 copy of it. It carries Festival Lead too, the Ability you just read.

Goldeen is in all 27 lists, 1 copy of it. It carries Festival Lead too, the Ability you just read.

How Festival Lead actually wins

Seaking attacks with Rapid Draw for 60. It needs 1 Colorless Energy attached, and it has 110 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: "Draw 2 cards."

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 Dipplin 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 Seaking 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.

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 SeakingStage 1	110	Rapid Draw	60	Colorless	Lightning ×2	1
Close ThwackeyStage 1	100	Beat	50	Grass + Grass	Fire ×2	2
Close GrookeyBasic	70	Branch Poke	30	Grass + Grass	Fire ×2	1
Close DipplinStage 1	80	Do the Wave	20×	Grass	Fire ×2	2

The core: the 19 cards every list runs

These 19 cards appear in all 27 lists, without a single exception. That is 47 of the 60 slots. The other 13 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 47 slots break down: 29 Trainers, 14 Pokémon, 4 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.

15 of those 19 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Grookey (2 to 4), Thwackey (3 to 4) and Dipplin (3 to 4), plus 12 more. Add those spreads up and you get 24 copies the 27 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 Grookey	TWM 14	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Thwackey	TWM 15	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Dipplin	TWM 18	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Goldeen	TWM 44	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Rabsca	TEF 24	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Seaking	PRE 21	Pokémon	leaves
4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Festival Grounds	TWM 149	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Air Balloon	ASC 181	Trainer	stays
2	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Brave Bangle	WHT 80	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Gladion's Final Battle	PBL 77	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
1	Close Kieran	TWM 154	Trainer	leaves
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
1	Close Secret Box	TWM 163	Trainer	leaves
1–6	Grass Energy	MEE 1	Energy	stays

The 23 cards that change from list to list

23 cards fight over the 13 slots that are left: 3 above three lists in four, 13 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Rellor at 96 %, Bug Catching Set at 96 % and Growing Grass Energy at 78 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Shaymin, at 59 %: 16 of 27 players took it, 11 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Lana's Aid (3 lists out of 27) and Lilligant (2 lists out of 27).

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
96 %26/27	Close Rellor	1–2	TEF 23	Pokémon
96 %26/27	Close Bug Catching Set	2–4	TWM 143	Trainer
78 %21/27	Close Growing Grass Energy	1–4	POR 86	Energy
74 %20/27	Close Applin	1–4	TWM 17	Pokémon
70 %19/27	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
67 %18/27	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
63 %17/27	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
59 %16/27	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
33 %9/27	Close Applin	1–4	TWM 126	Pokémon
26 %7/27	Close Applin	1–4	SCR 12	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Lilligant	1	JTG 7	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Petilil	1	BLK 6	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Grookey	2	MEP 52	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Rellor	1	DRI 24	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Black Belt's Training	2	JTG 143	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Dawn	2	PFL 87	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Forest of Vitality	1	MEG 117	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
4 %1/27	Fire Energy	1	MEE 2	Energy

The most common Festival Lead list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 47 slots come from the core, the cards all 27 lists run. The remaining 13 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 9 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 34 Trainers and 5 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 27 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: 21
4 Grookey TWM 14
4 Thwackey TWM 15
3 Dipplin TWM 18
1 Goldeen TWM 44
1 Rabsca TEF 24
1 Seaking PRE 21
1 Rellor TEF 23
4 Applin TWM 17
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Applin TWM 126

Trainer: 34
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Festival Grounds TWM 149
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Brave Bangle WHT 80
2 Gladion's Final Battle PBL 77
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Kieran TWM 154
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Secret Box TWM 163
2 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
1 Sacred Ash DRI 168
1 Tool Scrapper ASC 212
1 Switch MEG 130

Energy: 5
4 Grass Energy MEE 1
1 Growing Grass Energy POR 86

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Festival Lead at tournaments

Here is how Festival Lead 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 Dragapult ex: over 837 games, 325 won and 498 lost. 14 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 628 games, 264 won and 359 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 847 games, 382 won and 456 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass: over 496 games, 220 won and 270 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 639 games, 288 won and 340 lost. 11 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 604 games, 287 won and 308 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 171 games, 80 won and 86 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Raging Bolt ex: over 229 games, 121 won and 103 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Greninja ex: over 133 games, 68 won and 65 lost.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 607 games, 338 won and 259 lost. 10 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex: over 242 games, 130 won and 111 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Toucannon: over 290 games, 158 won and 129 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Dhelmise: over 432 games, 240 won and 183 lost. 9 ended with no winner.

Against Beedrill ex: over 111 games, 58 won and 50 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 189 games, 105 won and 82 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Absol ex: over 113 games, 62 won and 48 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama: over 171 games, 104 won and 64 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 524 games, 344 won and 177 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Chandelure ex: over 127 games, 86 won and 40 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Team Rocket's Honchkrow: over 131 games, 101 won and 29 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Cynthia's Garchomp ex: over 138 games, 109 won and 27 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

What Festival Lead costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 42 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 19 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

Add Secret Box: all 27 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. 11 of the 19 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Grookey, Thwackey, Dipplin and Goldeen, plus 7 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 25 of the 47 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Festival Lead struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Lightning and Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 15 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik and Ethan's Typhlosion, plus 12 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 15 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 82 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 26 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, N's Zoroark ex and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Festival Lead deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 27 tournament lists harvested between 9 August 2026 and 20 August 2026, 19 cards turn up in every single one, 47 slots out of 60. The remaining 13 change from player to player, with 23 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

27 lists, played across 23 different tournaments, harvested between 9 August 2026 and 20 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 27 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Festival Lead?

With the whole core: 19 cards, 47 slots. Inside it, buy the 29 Trainer slots and the 4 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 14 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Rellor at 96 % and Bug Catching Set at 96 %.

What beats Festival Lead?

Its attackers are Weak to Lightning and Fire, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 15 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, among others.

Will Festival Lead survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 11 core cards out of 19 carry the letter H, starting with Grookey, Thwackey, Dipplin and Goldeen, plus 7 more.

Are a lot of people playing Festival Lead?

We have read 27 lists of it, which puts it 56th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 2,378 entries for it, 5.83 % 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.