Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex

What Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 69 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 25 Pokémon, 26 to 36 Trainers and 7 to 14 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « marnie-grimmsnarl-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: 7 to 14 out of 60, exactly the median of the 125 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It takes a while to set up. Marnie's Grimmsnarl 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: 26 to 36 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 13 to 20 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

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is in all 69 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Punk Up, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may search your deck for up to 5 Basic {D} Energy cards and attach them to your Marnie's Pokémon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex actually wins

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex attacks with Shadow Bullet for 180. It needs 2 Darkness Energy attached, and it has 320 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: "This attack also does 30 damage to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)"

The cost of Shadow Bullet 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 it charges itself. Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex, which the list runs 2 of, has an Ability called Punk Up: it goes into your deck for Energy and attaches it. Not whenever you feel like it, though. The card itself says when, so read it before you count on it. An Ability costs you nothing: not your attack, not your card for the turn. 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 Marnie's Grimmsnarl 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.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Marnie's Grimmsnarl 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 Marnie's Grimmsnarl exStage 2	320	Shadow Bullet	180		Grass ×2	2
Close Marnie's ImpidimpBasic	70	Corkscrew Punch	10		Grass ×2	1

The core: the 5 cards every list runs

These 5 cards appear in all 69 lists, without a single exception. That is 19 of the 60 slots. The other 41 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 19 slots break down: 7 Trainers, 5 Pokémon, 7 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 19 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 125 decks we track fix 26 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

5 of those 5 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Marnie's Impidimp (2 to 4), Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex (2 to 3) and Lillie's Determination (2 to 4), plus 2 more. Add those spreads up and you get 16 copies the 69 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 Marnie's Impidimp	DRI 134	Pokémon
2–3	Close Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex	DRI 136	Pokémon
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
1–4	Close Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer
6–14	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy

The 110 cards that change from list to list

110 cards fight over the 41 slots that are left: 8 above three lists in four, 87 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Marnie's Morgrem at 99 %, Spikemuth Gym at 97 % and Boss's Orders at 97 %, plus 5 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Dudunsparce, at 49 %: 34 of 69 players took it, 35 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Hilda (17 lists out of 69) and Ultra Ball (17 lists out of 69).

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 %68/69	Close Marnie's Morgrem	1–3	DRI 135	Pokémon
97 %67/69	Close Spikemuth Gym	2–4	DRI 169	Trainer
97 %67/69	Close Boss's Orders	2–3	MEG 114	Trainer
94 %65/69	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–4	TEF 144	Trainer
94 %65/69	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
93 %64/69	Close Munkidori	1–4	TWM 95	Pokémon
93 %64/69	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
80 %55/69	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
74 %51/69	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
59 %41/69	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
57 %39/69	Close Duskull	2–4	PRE 35	Pokémon
57 %39/69	Close Dusclops	1–3	PRE 36	Pokémon
57 %39/69	Close Dusknoir	1–3	PRE 37	Pokémon
49 %34/69	Close Dudunsparce	2–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
46 %32/69	Close Dunsparce	1–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
45 %31/69	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
45 %31/69	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
39 %27/69	Close Punk Helmet	1–4	PFL 92	Trainer
39 %27/69	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
33 %23/69	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
30 %21/69	Close Dark Bell	1–2	PBL 75	Trainer
29 %20/69	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
26 %18/69	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
25 %17/69	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
25 %17/69	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
25 %17/69	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
23 %16/69	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
22 %15/69	Close Gwynn	1–3	PBL 78	Trainer
20 %14/69	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
19 %13/69	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
16 %11/69	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
14 %10/69	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
13 %9/69	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
13 %9/69	Close Energy Switch	1–3	MEG 115	Trainer
13 %9/69	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
12 %8/69	Fire Energy	1–2	MEE 10	Energy
10 %7/69	Close Risky Ruins	1–2	MEG 127	Trainer
10 %7/69	Close Pokégear 3.0	1	SVI 186	Trainer
10 %7/69	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
9 %6/69	Close Maractus	1–4	JTG 8	Pokémon
9 %6/69	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
9 %6/69	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
9 %6/69	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	2–3	PFL 91	Trainer
9 %6/69	Close Binding Mochi	1	PRE 95	Trainer
9 %6/69	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	1–2	DRI 178	Trainer
9 %6/69	Psychic Energy	1–2	MEE 13	Energy
7 %5/69	Close Blaziken ex	1–2	JTG 24	Pokémon
7 %5/69	Close Torchic	1–2	DRI 40	Pokémon
7 %5/69	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
7 %5/69	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
7 %5/69	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
6 %4/69	Close Mew ex	1–2	30C 66	Pokémon
6 %4/69	Close Energy Recycler	1–3	DRI 164	Trainer
6 %4/69	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	2–4	POR 88	Energy
4 %3/69	Close Dunsparce	1–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Latias ex	2	SSP 76	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Marnie's Morpeko	2–3	DRI 137	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Snorunt	1–2	ASC 46	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Combusken	1	DRI 41	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Dreepy	1–3	TWM 128	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Froslass	1	TWM 53	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1–2	JTG 56	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 64	Pokémon
4 %3/69	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
4 %3/69	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
4 %3/69	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
4 %3/69	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
4 %3/69	Close Prism Energy	1–2	ASC 216	Energy
4 %3/69	Water Energy	1	MEE 3	Energy
3 %2/69	Close Toxtricity	2	PFL 68	Pokémon
3 %2/69	Close Dragapult ex	1	TWM 130	Pokémon
3 %2/69	Close Grimsley's Move	1–4	PFL 90	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–2	SFA 57	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
3 %2/69	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Drakloak	3	TWM 129	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Gastly	3	PFL 54	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Carvanha	2	PFL 60	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Gengar ex	2	30C 90	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Haunter	2	PFL 55	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Mega Gengar ex	2	PFL 56	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Mega Sharpedo ex	2	PFL 61	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	2	DRI 128	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Toxel	2	PFL 67	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Brute Bonnet	1	TWM 118	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Marnie's Liepard	1	DRI 131	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Marnie's Purrloin	1	DRI 130	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Marnie's Scrafty	1	DRI 133	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Marnie's Scraggy	1	DRI 132	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Mega Darkrai ex	1	PBL 48	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Yveltal	1	30C 100	Pokémon
1 %1/69	Close Janine's Secret Art	3	PRE 112	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Academy at Night	2	SFA 54	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Crushing Hammer	2	POR 71	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	2	JTG 149	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Brave Bangle	1	WHT 80	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Cyrano	1	SSP 170	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Lacey	1	SCR 139	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Mega Signal	1	MEG 121	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Tremendous Bomb	1	PBL 82	Trainer
1 %1/69	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	1	PBL 83	Energy
1 %1/69	Close Team Rocket's Energy	1	DRI 182	Energy

The most common Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 19 slots come from the core, the cards all 69 lists run. The remaining 41 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 16 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 32 Trainers and 7 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 69 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.

One thing to fix before you play: there is no ACE SPEC card in these 60. Players split that slot so many ways that none of their cards climbed high enough to get in, and 68 of the 69 lists carry one. Take Secret Box, the most chosen, and drop a card from the bottom of the table to make room.

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
3 Marnie's Impidimp DRI 134
2 Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136
2 Marnie's Morgrem DRI 135
1 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Budew ASC 16
3 Duskull PRE 35
2 Dusclops PRE 36
2 Dusknoir PRE 37
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
3 Dunsparce JTG 120

Trainer: 32
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
4 Spikemuth Gym DRI 169
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Dawn PFL 87

Energy: 7
7 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 115 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 5 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

68 of these 69 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 27 took Secret Box, 14 took Unfair Stamp and 10 took Enriching Energy. 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 Secret Box 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 5 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 21 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, Festival Lead (Thwackey) and Crustle, plus 18 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 21 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 104 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 26 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.