Jellicent ex / Dusknoir

What Jellicent ex / Dusknoir looks like when you open the box

Across the 34 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 26 Pokémon, 22 to 33 Trainers and 7 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « jellicent-dusknoir ». 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: 7 to 13 out of 60, when half the 126 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 takes a while to set up. Dusknoir 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: 22 to 33 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 12 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 20 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 87 of the 126 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

Jellicent ex and Dusknoir give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Jellicent ex is in all 34 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Oceanic Curse, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, your opponent can't play any Item cards or Pokémon Tool cards from their hand. »

Dusknoir is in all 34 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Cursed Blast, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may put 13 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. If you use this Ability, this Pokémon is Knocked Out. »

How Jellicent ex / Dusknoir actually wins

Latias ex attacks with Eon Blade for 200. It needs 3 Energy, 2 Psychic and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 210 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 Eon Blade 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. Wondrous Patch, which the list runs 4 of, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. 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. Duskull has to climb two steps before it becomes Dusknoir, 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 3 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 29 of the 34 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 Latias 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.

Jellicent ex, Latias 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 Latias exBasic	210	Eon Blade	200		Darkness ×2	2
Close DusknoirStage 2	160	Shadow Bind	150		Darkness ×2	3
Close Jellicent exStage 1	270	Power Press	80+		Darkness ×2	3
Close DusclopsStage 1	90	Will-O-Wisp	50		Darkness ×2	2

The core: the 7 cards every list runs

These 7 cards appear in all 34 lists, without a single exception. That is 15 of the 60 slots. The other 45 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 15 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 15 Pokémon, 0 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

6 of those 7 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duskull (2 to 4), Dusclops (1 to 4) and Dusknoir (1 to 3), plus 3 more. Add those spreads up and you get 11 copies the 34 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 Duskull	PRE 35	Pokémon	leaves
1–4	Close Dusclops	PRE 36	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Dusknoir	PRE 37	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Frillish	WHT 44	Pokémon	stays
2	Close Jellicent ex	WHT 45	Pokémon	stays
1–2	Close Latias ex	SSP 76	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays

The 62 cards that change from list to list

62 cards fight over the 45 slots that are left: 13 above three lists in four, 42 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 97 %, Ultra Ball at 97 % and Boss's Orders at 97 %, plus 10 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Judge, at 47 %: 16 of 34 players took it, 18 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex (8 lists out of 34) and Dudunsparce (8 lists out of 34).

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
97 %33/34	Close Lillie's Determination	3–4	MEG 119	Trainer
97 %33/34	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
97 %33/34	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
97 %33/34	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	3–4	POR 88	Energy
94 %32/34	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
94 %32/34	Close Mystery Garden	2–4	MEG 122	Trainer
91 %31/34	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
91 %31/34	Close Special Red Card	1–3	CRI 82	Trainer
85 %29/34	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
85 %29/34	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
82 %28/34	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
79 %27/34	Close Wondrous Patch	1–4	PFL 94	Trainer
79 %27/34	Psychic Energy	4–10	MEE 5	Energy
68 %23/34	Close Powerglass	1–3	SFA 63	Trainer
65 %22/34	Close Mega Diancie ex	1–2	PFL 41	Pokémon
62 %21/34	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
59 %20/34	Close Rare Candy	1–3	MEG 125	Trainer
47 %16/34	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
32 %11/34	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2	TEF 144	Trainer
29 %10/34	Close Ignition Energy	1–3	WHT 86	Energy
24 %8/34	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
24 %8/34	Close Dudunsparce	1–2	TEF 129	Pokémon
24 %8/34	Close Pokégear 3.0	2	SVI 186	Trainer
24 %8/34	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
24 %8/34	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
21 %7/34	Close Dunsparce	2	TEF 128	Pokémon
21 %7/34	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
21 %7/34	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
21 %7/34	Close Lacey	2	SCR 139	Trainer
21 %7/34	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
18 %6/34	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
18 %6/34	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
15 %5/34	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
12 %4/34	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Crushing Hammer	2–4	POR 71	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
9 %3/34	Darkness Energy	1–2	MEE 7	Energy
6 %2/34	Close Kirlia	2–3	MEG 59	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Ralts	2–3	MEG 58	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Mega Gardevoir ex	2	MEG 60	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Unown	1	30C 72	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Bronzong	2	TEF 69	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Bronzor	2	TEF 68	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Maractus	1	JTG 8	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Mewtwo	1	30C 63	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Brock's Scouting	2	JTG 146	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Handheld Fan	2	TWM 150	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Mega Signal	2	MEG 121	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1	DRI 176	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
3 %1/34	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy

The most common Jellicent ex / Dusknoir list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 15 slots come from the core, the cards all 34 lists run. The remaining 45 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 17 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 30 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 34 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: 19
3 Duskull PRE 35
2 Dusclops PRE 36
2 Dusknoir PRE 37
2 Frillish WHT 44
2 Jellicent ex WHT 45
2 Latias ex SSP 76
2 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Meowth ex POR 62
2 Mega Diancie ex PFL 41
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142

Trainer: 30
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Mystery Garden MEG 122
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
3 Hilda WHT 84
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Secret Box TWM 163
4 Wondrous Patch PFL 94
2 Powerglass SFA 63
1 Rare Candy MEG 125

Energy: 11
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
7 Psychic Energy MEE 5

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Jellicent ex / Dusknoir needs, and how long it will last

You need 69 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 7 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

33 of these 34 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 28 took Secret Box, 2 took Prime Catcher and 2 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 4. 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 Secret Box and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 4 of the 7 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duskull, Dusclops, Dusknoir and Latias ex. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 9 of the 15 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Jellicent ex / Dusknoir struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 19 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, plus 16 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 19 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 107 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 Psychic, and 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Mega Lucario ex and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.