Hydreigon ex

What Hydreigon ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 44 lists we counted, this deck runs 9 to 24 Pokémon, 21 to 42 Trainers and 6 to 18 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « hydreigon-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 18 out of 60, when half the 117 decks we track run 11 or fewer. This one carries more than most, and you feel it at the table — it wants to load up a big Pokémon and swing hard, even if that means drawing a spare Energy now and then.

It takes a while to set up. Hydreigon 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: 21 to 42 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 117 decks we track. Inside that, 6 to 23 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 3 to 27 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 74 of the 117 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 Hydreigon ex actually wins

Hydreigon ex attacks with Crashing Headbutt for 200. It needs 2 Energy, 1 Darkness and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 330 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: "Discard the top 3 cards of your opponent's deck."

The cost of Crashing Headbutt 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. Crispin, which the list runs 2 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Energy is not your only clock. Deino has to climb two steps before it becomes Hydreigon ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, which the list runs 2 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 24 of the 44 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Hydreigon ex back to the Bench you have to discard 3 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 3 Energy you spent 3 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.

Hydreigon ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Hydreigon ex falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on that card 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 Hydreigon exStage 2	330	Crashing Headbutt	200		Grass ×2	3

The core: the 2 cards every list runs

These 2 cards appear in all 44 lists, without a single exception. That is 8 of the 60 slots. The other 52 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 8 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 5 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

2 of those 2 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Hydreigon ex (2 to 4) and Darkness Energy (2 to 9). Add those spreads up and you get 9 copies the 44 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 Hydreigon ex	SSP 119	Pokémon	leaves
2–9	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 177 cards that change from list to list

177 cards fight over the 52 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 150 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Lillie's Determination at 93 %, Crispin at 91 % and Deino at 89 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Fezandipiti ex, at 52 %: 23 of 44 players took it, 21 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Dudunsparce ex (11 lists out of 44) and Energy Switch (11 lists out of 44).

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
93 %41/44	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
91 %40/44	Close Crispin	1–4	SCR 133	Trainer
89 %39/44	Close Deino	2–4	SSP 117	Pokémon
89 %39/44	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
86 %38/44	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
86 %38/44	Psychic Energy	1–4	MEE 5	Energy
84 %37/44	Metal Energy	1–4	MEE 8	Energy
80 %35/44	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
77 %34/44	Close Zweilous	1–3	SSP 118	Pokémon
75 %33/44	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
68 %30/44	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
68 %30/44	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
64 %28/44	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
59 %26/44	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
55 %24/44	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
55 %24/44	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
52 %23/44	Close Fezandipiti ex	1–2	ASC 142	Pokémon
52 %23/44	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
34 %15/44	Close Dudunsparce	2–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
34 %15/44	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
34 %15/44	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
34 %15/44	Close Tera Orb	1–4	SSP 189	Trainer
34 %15/44	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
32 %14/44	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
32 %14/44	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
30 %13/44	Close Dunsparce	2–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
27 %12/44	Close Cinderace	1–4	MEG 28	Pokémon
25 %11/44	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
25 %11/44	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
25 %11/44	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
25 %11/44	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
23 %10/44	Close N's Zoroark ex	1–4	JTG 98	Pokémon
23 %10/44	Close Area Zero Underdepths	1–2	SCR 131	Trainer
23 %10/44	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1–2	POR 84	Trainer
23 %10/44	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
20 %9/44	Close Hoothoot	2–4	SCR 114	Pokémon
20 %9/44	Close Noctowl	2–4	SCR 115	Pokémon
20 %9/44	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
20 %9/44	Close N's Zorua	1–4	JTG 97	Pokémon
20 %9/44	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
20 %9/44	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1–3	PFL 91	Trainer
18 %8/44	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
16 %7/44	Close Teal Mask Ogerpon ex	2–3	TWM 25	Pokémon
16 %7/44	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
16 %7/44	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
16 %7/44	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
16 %7/44	Grass Energy	3–6	MEE 1	Energy
14 %6/44	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
14 %6/44	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
14 %6/44	Fire Energy	1–3	MEE 2	Energy
14 %6/44	Fighting Energy	1–3	MEE 6	Energy
11 %5/44	Close Mega Audino ex	1	ASC 172	Pokémon
11 %5/44	Close Risky Ruins	2	MEG 127	Trainer
11 %5/44	Close Binding Mochi	1	PRE 95	Trainer
11 %5/44	Close Salvatore	1	TEF 160	Trainer
11 %5/44	Close Switch	1–3	MEG 130	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
9 %4/44	Close Zweilous	1–3	WHT 66	Pokémon
9 %4/44	Close Grimsley's Move	4	PFL 90	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Cyrano	1–3	SSP 170	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Janine's Secret Art	2–3	PRE 112	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–4	SFA 57	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Brock's Scouting	1–2	JTG 146	Trainer
9 %4/44	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
9 %4/44	Water Energy	1–3	MEE 3	Energy
7 %3/44	Close Mega Scrafty ex	2	ASC 135	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Scraggy	2	WHT 57	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Cinderace ex	1	SCR 28	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Hisuian Growlithe	1	TWM 99	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1	MEG 104	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Raboot	1	MEG 27	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Scorbunny	1–2	SCR 26	Pokémon
7 %3/44	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	1–4	DRI 178	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close Crushing Hammer	3–4	POR 71	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close Punk Helmet	3	PFL 92	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close N's Castle	1–2	JTG 152	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
7 %3/44	Close Spiky Energy	4	JTG 159	Energy
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Moltres ex	3	DRI 31	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Bastiodon	1–2	PBL 62	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Gastly	2	TEF 102	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Gengar ex	1–2	TEF 104	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Greninja ex	1–2	TWM 106	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Haunter	1–2	PFL 55	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Mega Gengar ex	1–2	PFL 56	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Okidogi ex	2	SFA 36	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Purrloin	2	WHT 55	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Honchkrow	2	ASC 127	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Murkrow	2	DRI 127	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Terapagos ex	1–2	SCR 128	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Toxel	1–2	PFL 67	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Toxtricity	1–2	PFL 68	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close N's Reshiram	1	JTG 116	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
5 %2/44	Close Academy at Night	2–4	SFA 54	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Meddling Memo	1–4	SSP 181	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Proton	4	DRI 177	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Antique Armor Fossil	1–3	PBL 72	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	2–3	TEF 145	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Dark Bell	2–3	PBL 75	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Backtrack Badge	1–2	PBL 74	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Giovanni	2	DRI 174	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Hypnotizer	2	ASC 206	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Lumiose City	1	POR 77	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
5 %2/44	Close Team Rocket's Energy	4	DRI 182	Energy
2 %1/44	Close Blaziken ex	3	JTG 24	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Chandelure	3	TWM 38	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Ferrothorn	3	CRI 63	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Mega Froslass ex	3	ASC 47	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Tyrantrum	3	POR 45	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Alolan Exeggutor ex	2	SSP 133	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Chatot	2	TEF 132	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Exeggcute	2	SSP 1	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Froakie	2	CRI 20	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Frogadier	2	CRI 21	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Kecleon	2	SSP 150	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Pikipek	2	PBL 66	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Tatsugiri ex	2	SSP 142	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Trumbeak	2	PBL 67	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Tyrunt	2	POR 44	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 64	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Audino	1	BLK 74	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 112	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Dragapult ex	1	TWM 130	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Drakloak	1	TWM 129	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Dreepy	1	TWM 128	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Dusclops	1	PRE 36	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Duskull	1	PRE 35	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Eternatus	1	PFL 69	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Mega Delphox ex	1	PBL 8	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Mega Greninja ex	1	CRI 22	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Shieldon	1	PBL 61	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
2 %1/44	Close Acerola's Mischief	4	MEG 113	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Drayton	4	SSP 174	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Hand Trimmer	4	TEF 150	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Antique Jaw Fossil	3	POR 68	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Boxed Order	3	TEF 143	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close N's PP Up	2	JTG 153	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Poké Ball	2	POR 80	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Powerglass	2	SFA 63	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Carmine	1	TWM 145	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Energy Search Pro	1	SSP 176	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Lucian	1	TWM 157	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Ruffian	1	JTG 157	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Scramble Switch	1	SSP 186	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
2 %1/44	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	3	POR 87	Energy
2 %1/44	Close Ignition Energy	2	WHT 86	Energy
2 %1/44	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	2	PBL 83	Energy
2 %1/44	Lightning Energy	1	MEE 4	Energy
2 %1/44	Close Mist Energy	1	TEF 161	Energy
2 %1/44	Close Prism Energy	1	ASC 216	Energy

The most common Hydreigon ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 8 slots come from the core, the cards all 44 lists run. The remaining 52 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 27 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 20 Pokémon, 28 Trainers and 12 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 44 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. Our readings are in euros, taken on the European market, and that is not the currency you pay in. A figure you would have to convert in your head is worse than no figure at all. 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: 20
3 Hydreigon ex SSP 119
3 Deino SSP 117
2 Zweilous SSP 118
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Yveltal MEG 88
3 Dunsparce TEF 128
1 Cinderace MEG 28

Trainer: 28
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Crispin SCR 133
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
3 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Hilda WHT 84
2 Tera Orb SSP 189
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
1 Counter Gain SSP 169

Energy: 12
5 Darkness Energy MEE 7
3 Psychic Energy MEE 5
3 Metal Energy MEE 8
1 Neo Upper Energy TEF 162

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 179 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 2 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 44 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 24 took Neo Upper Energy, 7 took Precious Trolley and 4 took Sparkling Crystal. The flex table shows you all 10. 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 Neo Upper Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 2 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Hydreigon ex. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 3 of the 8 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Hydreigon ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 20 of the 117 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Festival Lead (Thwackey), Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex and Cynthia's Garchomp ex (Cynthia's Roserade), plus 17 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 20 decks out of the 117 we track. The other 97 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 Darkness, and 29 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Alakazam / Dudunsparce, Dragapult ex / Dusknoir and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.