Flareon ex / Noctowl

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

Across the 57 lists we counted, this deck runs 18 to 24 Pokémon, 25 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, when half the 132 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. 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: 25 to 30 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 132 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 11 to 18 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 124 of the 132 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 57 lists, 2 copies of it.

Noctowl is in all 57 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. Crispin, which the list runs 3 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. Glass Trumpet does the same job. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

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.

Flareon ex and Eevee 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		Water ×2	2
Close Eevee exBasic	200	Coruscating Quartz	200		Fighting ×2	1
Close NoctowlStage 1	100	Speed Wing	60		Lightning ×2	1
Close EeveeBasic	50	Reckless Charge	30		Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 57 lists, without a single exception. That is 23 of the 60 slots. The other 37 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 23 slots break down: 11 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 4 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 23 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 132 decks we track fix 26 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

10 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Noctowl (3 to 4), Flareon ex (2 to 3) and Eevee (1 to 3), plus 7 more. Add those spreads up and you get 20 copies the 57 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
2–3	Close Flareon ex	PRE 14	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Eevee	SSP 143	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Eevee ex	PRE 75	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Crispin	SCR 133	Trainer	leaves
1–3	Close Area Zero Underdepths	SCR 131	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Fire Energy	MEE 2	Energy	stays
1–3	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy	stays

The 89 cards that change from list to list

89 cards fight over the 37 slots that are left: 16 above three lists in four, 60 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Hoothoot at 98 %, Fan Rotom at 98 % and Boss's Orders at 98 %, plus 13 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Chien-Pao, at 47 %: 27 of 57 players took it, 30 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Meowth ex (13 lists out of 57) and Gravity Mountain (12 lists out of 57).

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
98 %56/57	Close Hoothoot	3–4	SCR 114	Pokémon
98 %56/57	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
98 %56/57	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
98 %56/57	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
98 %56/57	Lightning Energy	1–3	MEE 4	Energy
96 %55/57	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
96 %55/57	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
96 %55/57	Psychic Energy	1–3	MEE 5	Energy
93 %53/57	Close Leafeon ex	1–2	PRE 6	Pokémon
93 %53/57	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
91 %52/57	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
91 %52/57	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
86 %49/57	Close Tera Orb	1–4	SSP 189	Trainer
84 %48/57	Close Cyrano	1–4	SSP 170	Trainer
82 %47/57	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
77 %44/57	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
68 %39/57	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
67 %38/57	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
63 %36/57	Close Glass Trumpet	1–2	SCR 135	Trainer
58 %33/57	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
54 %31/57	Close Sylveon ex	1–2	SSP 86	Pokémon
54 %31/57	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
47 %27/57	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
47 %27/57	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
37 %21/57	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
33 %19/57	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
33 %19/57	Darkness Energy	1–4	MEE 7	Energy
26 %15/57	Close Espeon ex	1	PRE 34	Pokémon
26 %15/57	Close Terapagos ex	1	SCR 128	Pokémon
23 %13/57	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
21 %12/57	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
19 %11/57	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
19 %11/57	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
19 %11/57	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
16 %9/57	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
14 %8/57	Close Mew ex	1–2	30C 66	Pokémon
11 %6/57	Close Eevee	1	SCR 113	Pokémon
11 %6/57	Close Eevee	1	SFA 50	Pokémon
11 %6/57	Close Eevee	1	TWM 135	Pokémon
11 %6/57	Close Jolteon ex	1	PRE 30	Pokémon
11 %6/57	Metal Energy	1–2	MEE 16	Energy
9 %5/57	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
9 %5/57	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
9 %5/57	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
7 %4/57	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
7 %4/57	Close Hoothoot	1–3	PRE 77	Pokémon
7 %4/57	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
7 %4/57	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
7 %4/57	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
7 %4/57	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer
7 %4/57	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Deino	3	SSP 117	Pokémon
5 %3/57	Close Hydreigon ex	2	SSP 119	Pokémon
5 %3/57	Close Dawn	2	PFL 87	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close N's Castle	1	JTG 152	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close N's PP Up	1	JTG 153	Trainer
5 %3/57	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
4 %2/57	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
4 %2/57	Close Espeon ex	1	30C 70	Pokémon
4 %2/57	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
4 %2/57	Close Pikachu ex	1	SSP 57	Pokémon
4 %2/57	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
4 %2/57	Close Stunfisk	1	ASC 62	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Diancie	1	SCR 86	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Dudunsparce	1	TEF 129	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Dunsparce	1	JTG 120	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Eevee	1	30C 116	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Espeon	1	30C 69	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Hoothoot	1	TEF 126	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close N's Reshiram	1	JTG 116	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Sylveon	1	PRE 40	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Sylveon ex	1	30C 71	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Umbreon ex	1	30C 92	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Umbreon ex	1	PRE 60	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Victini	1	SSP 21	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Zweilous	1	SSP 118	Pokémon
2 %1/57	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Lucian	1	TWM 157	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Lumiose City	1	POR 77	Trainer
2 %1/57	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
2 %1/57	Fighting Energy	1	MEE 14	Energy

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

Here they are in full, ready to build. 23 slots come from the core, the cards all 57 lists run. The remaining 37 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 26 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 30 Trainers and 9 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 57 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: 21
4 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Flareon ex PRE 14
1 Eevee SSP 143
1 Eevee ex PRE 75
4 Hoothoot SCR 114
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
1 Leafeon ex PRE 6
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
1 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Sylveon ex SSP 86
1 Chien-Pao SSP 56

Trainer: 30
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Crispin SCR 133
2 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Tera Orb SSP 189
1 Cyrano SSP 170
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
1 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
1 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
1 Briar SCR 132
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Special Red Card CRI 82

Energy: 9
2 Fire Energy MEE 2
2 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Lightning Energy MEE 4
2 Psychic Energy MEE 5
1 Grass Energy MEE 1

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Flareon ex / Noctowl needs, and how long it will last

You need 99 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

Add Sparkling Crystal, the list's ACE SPEC, chosen by 56 of those 57 players. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs.

Then there is time. 7 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Noctowl, Flareon ex, Eevee and Eevee ex, plus 3 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 15 of the 23 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. 44 of the 132 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex (Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex), Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, plus 41 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 44 decks out of the 132 we track. The other 88 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: Slowking, Mega Excadrill ex and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.