Mamoswine ex

What Mamoswine ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 23 lists we counted, this deck runs 12 to 26 Pokémon, 20 to 34 Trainers and 6 to 20 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Fighting.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mamoswine-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 20 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. Mamoswine 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: 20 to 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 117 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 15 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 8 to 22 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.

What the card in this deck's name actually does

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

Mamoswine ex is in all 23 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Mammoth Hauler, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Mamoswine ex actually wins

Mamoswine ex attacks with Rumbling March. It needs 2 Fighting Energy attached, and it has 340 HP. Watch the damage box: "180+" is not a total. Here is what the card prints, word for word: "This attack does 40 more damage for each Stage 2 Pokémon on your Bench."

The cost of Rumbling March 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. Mega Lucario ex, which the list runs 4 of, has an attack called Aura Jab that digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. That attack takes your attack for the turn, so count it as a setup turn. That is how this deck gets itself charged.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mamoswine ex back to the Bench you have to discard 4 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 4 Energy you spent 4 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.

Mamoswine ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Mamoswine 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 Mamoswine exStage 2	340	Rumbling March	180+		Grass ×2	4

The core: the 3 cards every list runs

These 3 cards appear in all 23 lists, without a single exception. That is 22 of the 60 slots. The other 38 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 22 slots break down: 4 Trainers, 4 Pokémon, 14 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 22 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 117 decks we track fix 30 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

3 of those 3 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mamoswine ex (2 to 4), Lillie's Determination (2 to 4) and Fighting Energy (3 to 20). Add those spreads up and you get 21 copies the 23 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
2–4	Close Mamoswine ex	JTG 79	Pokémon
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
3–20	Fighting Energy	MEE 6	Energy

The 82 cards that change from list to list

82 cards fight over the 38 slots that are left: 6 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: Swinub at 96 %, Boss's Orders at 96 % and Rare Candy at 96 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Dawn, at 48 %: 11 of 23 players took it, 12 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 3 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Hilda (5 lists out of 23) and Blaziken ex (4 lists out of 23).

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 %22/23	Close Swinub	2–4	JTG 77	Pokémon
96 %22/23	Close Boss's Orders	2–4	MEG 114	Trainer
96 %22/23	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
87 %20/23	Close Switch	1–4	MEG 130	Trainer
78 %18/23	Close Piloswine	1–4	JTG 78	Pokémon
78 %18/23	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
65 %15/23	Close Mega Lucario ex	4	MEG 77	Pokémon
65 %15/23	Close Riolu	4	MEG 76	Pokémon
65 %15/23	Close Fighting Gong	2–4	MEG 116	Trainer
61 %14/23	Close Premium Power Pro	1–4	MEG 124	Trainer
48 %11/23	Close Dawn	3–4	PFL 87	Trainer
48 %11/23	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
35 %8/23	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
35 %8/23	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Urbain	3–4	ASC 214	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
22 %5/23	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
17 %4/23	Close Blaziken ex	2–3	JTG 24	Pokémon
17 %4/23	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
17 %4/23	Fire Energy	1–3	MEE 2	Energy
17 %4/23	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	2–4	POR 87	Energy
13 %3/23	Close Torchic	2–4	DRI 40	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Dudunsparce	2–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Dunsparce	2–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Bastiodon	2–3	PBL 62	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Combusken	1–2	DRI 41	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Shieldon	1–2	PBL 61	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Antique Armor Fossil	2–3	PBL 72	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Cheren	1–2	WHT 81	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	2	TEF 145	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Pikipek	2–3	PBL 66	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Froakie	1–2	CRI 20	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Greninja ex	1–2	TWM 106	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Trumbeak	1–2	PBL 67	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
9 %2/23	Close Colress's Tenacity	2–3	SFA 57	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Crushing Hammer	2–3	POR 71	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Battle Cage	2	PFL 85	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
9 %2/23	Water Energy	1–3	MEE 3	Energy
4 %1/23	Close Solosis	4	TEF 70	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Reuniclus	3	TEF 72	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 112	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Duosion	2	BLK 38	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Frogadier	2	CRI 21	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Garganacl	2	MEG 84	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Nacli	2	MEG 82	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Blaziken	1	DRI 42	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Drilbur	1	TEF 85	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Ludicolo	1	JTG 37	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Mamoswine	1	PFL 25	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Togekiss	1	SSP 72	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Salvatore	3	TEF 160	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Academy at Night	2	SFA 54	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Arven's Sandwich	2	DRI 161	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close AZ's Tranquility	2	CRI 76	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Dusk Ball	2	SSP 175	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Energy Retrieval	2	SVI 171	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	2	JTG 149	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2	DRI 178	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	2	DRI 180	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Heavy Baton	1	TEF 151	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Prism Tower	1	CRI 80	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Bubbly Water Energy	3	CRI 84	Energy
4 %1/23	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy

The most common Mamoswine ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 22 slots come from the core, the cards all 23 lists run. The remaining 38 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 13 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 18 Pokémon, 28 Trainers and 14 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 23 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: 18
4 Mamoswine ex JTG 79
4 Swinub JTG 77
2 Piloswine JTG 78
4 Mega Lucario ex MEG 77
4 Riolu MEG 76

Trainer: 28
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
3 Switch MEG 130
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Fighting Gong MEG 116
4 Premium Power Pro MEG 124
3 Dawn PFL 87
1 Hero's Cape TEF 152
3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

Energy: 14
14 Fighting Energy MEE 6

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 85 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 3 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

21 of these 23 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 11 took Hero's Cape, 4 took Grand Tree and 3 took Maximum Belt. The flex table shows you all 6. 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 Hero's Cape and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 3 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mamoswine 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 Fighting, and 42 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex, Alakazam / Dudunsparce and Dragapult ex / Dusknoir, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.