Flareon ex / Noctowl deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Flareon ex / Noctowl looks like when you open the box

Across the 28 lists we counted, this deck runs 18 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 30 Trainers and 8 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Fire, Water and Lightning.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « flareon-noctowl ». 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: 8 to 12 out of 60, exactly the median of the 97 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It sets up fast. Flareon ex 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: 26 to 30 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 11 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 12 to 18 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

Flareon ex and Noctowl give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Flareon ex is in all 28 lists, 2 copies of it.

Noctowl is in all 28 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Jewel Seeker, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, if you have any Tera Pokémon in play, you may search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Flareon ex / Noctowl actually wins

Flareon ex attacks with Carnelian for 280. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Fire, 1 Water and 1 Lightning attached, and it has 270 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: "During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack."

The cost of Carnelian 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. Except you are not on your own. Glass Trumpet, 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. Flareon ex does the same job. 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.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Flareon ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 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 2 Energy you spent 2 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.

Eevee ex, Flareon ex and Lillie's Clefairy 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 Flareon exStage 1	270	Carnelian	280	Fire + Water + Lightning	Water ×2	2
Close Eevee exBasic	200	Coruscating Quartz	200	Fire + Water + Lightning	Fighting ×2	1
Close NoctowlStage 1	100	Speed Wing	60	Colorless + Colorless	Lightning ×2	1
Close EeveeBasic	50	Reckless Charge	30	Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 16 cards every list runs

These 16 cards appear in all 28 lists, without a single exception. That is 34 of the 60 slots. The other 26 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 34 slots break down: 17 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 7 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.

14 of those 16 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Noctowl (3 to 4), Eevee ex (1 to 3) and Flareon ex (2 to 3), plus 11 more. Add those spreads up and you get 25 copies the 28 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 Noctowl	SCR 115	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Eevee ex	PRE 75	Pokémon	leaves
2–3	Close Flareon ex	PRE 14	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Eevee	SSP 143	Pokémon	leaves
1	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Crispin	SCR 133	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Area Zero Underdepths	SCR 131	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
1	Close Sparkling Crystal	SCR 142	Trainer	leaves
2–3	Fire Energy	MEE 2	Energy	stays
1–3	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays
1–3	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy	stays
1–3	Lightning Energy	MEE 4	Energy	stays

The 54 cards that change from list to list

54 cards fight over the 26 slots that are left: 11 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: Hoothoot at 96 %, Fan Rotom at 96 % and Leafeon ex at 96 %, plus 8 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Chien-Pao, at 54 %: 15 of 28 players took it, 13 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Hilda (7 lists out of 28) and Meowth ex (6 lists out of 28).

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 %27/28	Close Hoothoot	3–4	SCR 114	Pokémon
96 %27/28	Close Fan Rotom	2	SCR 118	Pokémon
96 %27/28	Close Leafeon ex	1–2	PRE 6	Pokémon
96 %27/28	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
96 %27/28	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
93 %26/28	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
89 %25/28	Close Tera Orb	1–3	SSP 189	Trainer
89 %25/28	Close Cyrano	1–4	SSP 170	Trainer
89 %25/28	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
82 %23/28	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
75 %21/28	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
68 %19/28	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
64 %18/28	Close Glass Trumpet	1–2	SCR 135	Trainer
64 %18/28	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
61 %17/28	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
54 %15/28	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
46 %13/28	Close Espeon ex	1	PRE 34	Pokémon
46 %13/28	Close Sylveon ex	1–2	SSP 86	Pokémon
46 %13/28	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
39 %11/28	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
39 %11/28	Darkness Energy	1–4	MEE 7	Energy
29 %8/28	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
25 %7/28	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
21 %6/28	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
18 %5/28	Close Jolteon ex	1	PRE 30	Pokémon
18 %5/28	Close Terapagos ex	1	SCR 128	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Eevee	1	SFA 50	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Hoothoot	1–3	PRE 77	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
11 %3/28	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Eevee	1	SCR 113	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Eevee	1	TWM 135	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close N's Castle	1	JTG 152	Trainer
11 %3/28	Close N's PP Up	1	JTG 153	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
7 %2/28	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Diancie	1	SCR 86	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Sylveon	1	PRE 40	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Umbreon ex	1	PRE 60	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer

The most common Flareon ex / Noctowl list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 34 slots come from the core, the cards all 28 lists run. The remaining 26 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 20 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 23 Pokémon, 29 Trainers and 8 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 28 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: 23
4 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Eevee ex PRE 75
2 Flareon ex PRE 14
1 Eevee SSP 143
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
4 Hoothoot SCR 114
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
1 Leafeon ex PRE 6
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
1 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Chien-Pao SSP 56
1 Espeon ex PRE 34
1 Sylveon ex SSP 86

Trainer: 29
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Crispin SCR 133
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Tera Orb SSP 189
1 Cyrano SSP 170
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
1 Briar SCR 132
1 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
1 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
1 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Air Balloon ASC 181

Energy: 8
2 Fire Energy MEE 2
2 Psychic Energy MEE 5
2 Water Energy MEE 3
1 Lightning Energy MEE 4
1 Grass Energy MEE 1

Total Cards: 60

What Flareon ex / Noctowl costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 70 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 16 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

Add Sparkling Crystal: all 28 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. 9 of the 16 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Noctowl, Eevee ex, Flareon ex and Eevee, plus 5 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 19 of the 34 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Flareon ex / Noctowl struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Water, Fighting and Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 40 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Festival Lead (Seaking), Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Raging Bolt ex (Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex), plus 37 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 40 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 57 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 Fire, Water and Lightning, and 29 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Excadrill ex, Festival Lead and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Flareon ex / Noctowl deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 28 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 27 August 2026, 16 cards turn up in every single one, 34 slots out of 60. The remaining 26 change from player to player, with 54 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

28 lists, played across 24 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 27 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 28 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Flareon ex / Noctowl?

With the whole core: 16 cards, 34 slots. Inside it, buy the 17 Trainer slots and the 7 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 10 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Hoothoot at 96 % and Fan Rotom at 96 %.

What beats Flareon ex / Noctowl?

Its attackers are Weak to Water, Fighting and Lightning, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 40 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Festival Lead, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Raging Bolt ex and Mega Lucario ex, among others.

Will Flareon ex / Noctowl survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 9 core cards out of 16 carry the letter H, starting with Noctowl, Eevee ex, Flareon ex and Eevee, plus 5 more.

Are a lot of people playing Flareon ex / Noctowl?

We have read 28 lists of it, which puts it 51st of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 82 entries for it, 0.2 % 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.