Gengar ex

What Gengar ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 75 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 37 Trainers and 6 to 12 Energy. Its attacks do not ask for any particular type of Energy.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « gengar-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: 6 to 12 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.

Nothing here needs evolving — everything that attacks is a Basic Pokémon. Put it down, charge it, swing. That is as fast as the game gets, and it makes those turns where you draw nothing far less painful.

Look at the Trainers: 26 to 37 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 17 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 11 to 22 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 21 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.

What the card in this deck's name actually does

Gengar ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Gengar ex is in 58 of the 75 lists, 77 % of players, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Fainting Spell, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « If this Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent's Pokémon, flip a coin. If heads, the Attacking Pokémon is Knocked Out. » Its attack Chaotic Pain costs 2 Energy (Darkness and Darkness) and has no damage number printed next to it. That is why you will not find it in the attacker table lower down, which sorts by printed damage. Everything it does lives in its text: « Place 13 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. »

How Gengar ex actually wins

No single card wins this one on its own — the attackers take turns.

When no attacker dominates, you win by picking, every single turn, the one that puts your opponent in the worst spot. It is harder to pilot than a one-bomb deck, and much harder to hate out.

Check the Retreat column below. It tells you how much Energy you will have to discard to pull each attacker back, and an attacker that is expensive to pull back is an attacker you send up once.

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 26 of the 125 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 core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 75 lists, without a single exception. That is 20 of the 60 slots. The other 40 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 20 slots break down: 11 Trainers, 0 Pokémon, 9 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.

4 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Buddy-Buddy Poffin (2 to 4), Lillie's Determination (3 to 4) and Rare Candy (1 to 4), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 75 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 Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer	stays
2–10	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 88 cards that change from list to list

88 cards fight over the 40 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 64 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Poké Pad at 99 %, Ultra Ball at 93 % and Boss's Orders at 93 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Dawn, at 47 %: 35 of 75 players took it, 40 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Budew (19 lists out of 75) and Chi-Yu (19 lists out of 75).

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 %74/75	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
93 %70/75	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
93 %70/75	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
92 %69/75	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
85 %64/75	Close Gastly	2–4	POR 48	Pokémon
85 %64/75	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
83 %62/75	Close Haunter	1–4	PFL 55	Pokémon
77 %58/75	Close Gengar ex	3–4	30C 90	Pokémon
77 %58/75	Close Mega Gengar ex	1–3	PFL 56	Pokémon
77 %58/75	Close Munkidori	1–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
60 %45/75	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
59 %44/75	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
57 %43/75	Close Toxel	1–3	PFL 67	Pokémon
57 %43/75	Close Toxtricity	1–2	PFL 68	Pokémon
57 %43/75	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
47 %35/75	Close Dawn	1–4	PFL 87	Trainer
47 %35/75	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
45 %34/75	Close Energy Recycler	1–2	DRI 164	Trainer
41 %31/75	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
41 %31/75	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
39 %29/75	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
32 %24/75	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–3	DRI 180	Trainer
31 %23/75	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–4	PRE 112	Trainer
31 %23/75	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
25 %19/75	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
25 %19/75	Close Chi-Yu	1	PBL 59	Pokémon
24 %18/75	Close Colress's Tenacity	2–3	SFA 57	Trainer
23 %17/75	Close Bastiodon	2–3	PBL 62	Pokémon
23 %17/75	Close Gengar ex	3	TEF 104	Pokémon
23 %17/75	Close Dudunsparce	1–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
23 %17/75	Close Shieldon	1–2	PBL 61	Pokémon
23 %17/75	Close Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
23 %17/75	Close Fossil Quarry	2–3	PBL 76	Trainer
23 %17/75	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
23 %17/75	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	1–4	PBL 83	Energy
21 %16/75	Close Handheld Fan	1–3	TWM 150	Trainer
20 %15/75	Close Yveltal	1–2	MEG 88	Pokémon
19 %14/75	Close Dunsparce	1–3	JTG 120	Pokémon
19 %14/75	Close Haunter	1–4	POR 49	Pokémon
19 %14/75	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
17 %13/75	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
16 %12/75	Close Gastly	2–4	PFL 54	Pokémon
16 %12/75	Close Grimsley's Move	1–4	PFL 90	Trainer
16 %12/75	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
15 %11/75	Close Dark Bell	1–2	PBL 75	Trainer
12 %9/75	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
12 %9/75	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Academy at Night	2–3	SFA 54	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
9 %7/75	Close Crushing Hammer	2–4	POR 71	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Enhanced Hammer	1–2	TWM 148	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	1	CRI 85	Energy
8 %6/75	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
8 %6/75	Close Punk Helmet	1–2	PFL 92	Trainer
8 %6/75	Close Risky Ruins	2–4	MEG 127	Trainer
8 %6/75	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
7 %5/75	Close Battle Cage	1–3	PFL 85	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Dunsparce	1–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
5 %4/75	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1	DRI 128	Pokémon
5 %4/75	Close Binding Mochi	1	PRE 95	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Haunter	1–2	TEF 103	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Brute Bonnet	1	TWM 118	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Jamming Tower	2	TWM 153	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
3 %2/75	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
1 %1/75	Close Gastly	2	TEF 102	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Carvanha	1	PFL 60	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Hydreigon ex	1	SSP 119	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Mega Sharpedo ex	1	PFL 61	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Morpeko ex	1	PBL 55	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Yveltal	1	30C 100	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Yveltal ex	1	POR 53	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Mega Signal	3	MEG 121	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Lumiose City	2	POR 77	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Gravity Gemstone	1	SCR 137	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Gwynn	1	PBL 78	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer

The most common Gengar ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 20 slots come from the core, the cards all 75 lists run. The remaining 40 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 21 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 75 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 Gastly POR 48
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
2 Haunter PFL 55
3 Gengar ex 30C 90
2 Mega Gengar ex PFL 56
2 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
2 Toxel PFL 67
2 Toxtricity PFL 68
1 Tatsugiri TWM 131
1 Shaymin DRI 10

Trainer: 30
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
3 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Dawn PFL 87
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
1 Grand Tree SCR 136

Energy: 9
9 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 92 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 4 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

74 of these 75 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 31 took Grand Tree, 23 took Unfair Stamp and 12 took Secret Box. The flex table shows you all 8. 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 Grand Tree and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 4 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 4 of the 20 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Gengar ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck have no printed Weakness at all. That is rare and it is worth a fortune: nobody gets to double the damage they put on you.

Nothing to show here today, and that is information in itself: none of the 125 decks we track carry the type that would double the damage you take.

Going the other way, none of the 125 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.

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.

The other way round, this deck attacks with counters too: Gengar ex with Chaotic Pain. 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, 7 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. This deck has none in its core, and that is a real problem on the day.