Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce

What Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce looks like when you open the box

Across the 43 lists we counted, this deck runs 13 to 23 Pokémon, 29 to 41 Trainers and 5 to 11 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-froslass-dudunsparce ». 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: 5 to 11 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.

It sets up fast. Dudunsparce is a Stage 1 Pokémon: a Basic, one evolution on top, and you are attacking. Two cards instead of three. You lose fewer turns building, and you rebuild much more easily when an early knockout lands on you.

Look at the Trainers: 29 to 41 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 18 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 24 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 118 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

Mega Froslass ex and Dudunsparce give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Mega Froslass ex is in all 43 lists, 2 copies of it.

Dudunsparce is in all 43 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Run Away Draw, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may draw 3 cards. If you drew any cards in this way, shuffle this Pokémon and all attached cards into your deck. »

How Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce actually wins

Mega Froslass ex attacks with Absolute Snow for 150. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Water and 2 Colorless attached, and it has 310 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: "Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Asleep."

The cost of Absolute Snow 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. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for 2 turns before you swing. Those turns still get played: you fill your Bench, you build your lines, and you keep something back to rebuild with when your attacker falls.

Energy is not your only clock. Dunsparce has to climb a step before it becomes Dudunsparce, 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 38 of the 43 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Good news on mobility: pulling Mega Froslass ex back to the Bench costs you 1 Energy attached to it, and that is all. Retreating does not cost you your turn, so you step back and swing anyway. That matters enormously the day your opponent lands something nasty on it.

Mega Froslass ex is a Mega Evolution ex, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn it goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts 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 Mega Froslass exStage 1	310	Absolute Snow	150		Metal ×2	1
Close DudunsparceStage 1	140	Land Crush	90		Fighting ×2	3

The core: the 6 cards every list runs

These 6 cards appear in all 43 lists, without a single exception. That is 18 of the 60 slots. The other 42 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 18 slots break down: 10 Trainers, 4 Pokémon, 4 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.

6 of those 6 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Dudunsparce (2 to 4), Mega Froslass ex (2 to 4) and Buddy-Buddy Poffin (2 to 4), plus 3 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 43 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 Dudunsparce	TEF 129	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Mega Froslass ex	ASC 47	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–6	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy	stays

The 105 cards that change from list to list

105 cards fight over the 42 slots that are left: 6 above three lists in four, 76 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Snorunt at 98 %, Lillie's Determination at 95 % and Ultra Ball at 93 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Lucian, at 47 %: 20 of 43 players took it, 23 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Darkness Energy (10 lists out of 43) and Froslass (8 lists out of 43).

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
98 %42/43	Close Snorunt	2–4	ASC 46	Pokémon
95 %41/43	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
93 %40/43	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
88 %38/43	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
88 %38/43	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
84 %36/43	Close Wally's Compassion	1–4	MEG 132	Trainer
74 %32/43	Close Dunsparce	1–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
74 %32/43	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
74 %32/43	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
72 %31/43	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
63 %27/43	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
58 %25/43	Close Dunsparce	1–4	TEF 128	Pokémon
58 %25/43	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
47 %20/43	Close Lucian	1–4	TWM 157	Trainer
47 %20/43	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
47 %20/43	Close Energy Search	1–3	POR 72	Trainer
42 %18/43	Close Salvatore	1–2	TEF 160	Trainer
42 %18/43	Fire Energy	2–3	MEE 2	Energy
40 %17/43	Close Chandelure	3	TWM 38	Pokémon
40 %17/43	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
40 %17/43	Close Battle Cage	2–3	PFL 85	Trainer
35 %15/43	Close Lampent	2	WHT 17	Pokémon
33 %14/43	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
30 %13/43	Close Litwick	3	TWM 36	Pokémon
30 %13/43	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
30 %13/43	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
28 %12/43	Close Munkidori	1–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
28 %12/43	Close Crispin	1–3	SCR 133	Trainer
26 %11/43	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
23 %10/43	Darkness Energy	2–5	MEE 15	Energy
19 %8/43	Close Froslass	1–3	TWM 53	Pokémon
19 %8/43	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
19 %8/43	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
19 %8/43	Close Surfing Beach	1–3	MEG 129	Trainer
19 %8/43	Close Switch	1–3	MEG 130	Trainer
16 %7/43	Close Risky Ruins	1–2	MEG 127	Trainer
14 %6/43	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–4	CRI 84	Energy
14 %6/43	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
12 %5/43	Close Pokémon Catcher	1–4	POR 82	Trainer
12 %5/43	Close Energy Retrieval	1–2	SVI 171	Trainer
9 %4/43	Close Litwick	3	PBL 36	Pokémon
9 %4/43	Close Festival Grounds	2	TWM 149	Trainer
9 %4/43	Close Great Haul Net	1–2	CRI 78	Trainer
9 %4/43	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
9 %4/43	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
7 %3/43	Close Duskull	2–4	PRE 35	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Dusknoir	1–3	PRE 37	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Skrelp	2–3	CRI 58	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Mega Dragalge ex	2	CRI 65	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Mega Starmie ex	1	POR 21	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Staryu	1	POR 20	Pokémon
7 %3/43	Close Prism Tower	1–2	CRI 80	Trainer
7 %3/43	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
7 %3/43	Close Ignition Energy	1	WHT 86	Energy
7 %3/43	Psychic Energy	1–2	MEE 13	Energy
5 %2/43	Close Tirtouga	4	BLK 22	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Mega Lopunny ex	2	PFL 84	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Mew ex	2	30C 66	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Buneary	1	PFL 83	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Buneary	1	MEG 107	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Carracosta	1	BLK 23	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
5 %2/43	Close Antique Cover Fossil	4	SCR 129	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Fossil Quarry	3	PBL 76	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Dawn	2	PFL 87	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Perilous Jungle	2	TEF 156	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Roxie's Performance	2	CRI 81	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
5 %2/43	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
5 %2/43	Grass Energy	4–6	MEE 1	Energy
5 %2/43	Close Prism Energy	2	ASC 216	Energy
2 %1/43	Close Frosmoth	3	MEG 43	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Smoliv	3	DRI 21	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Snom	3	TEF 45	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Snorunt	3	TWM 51	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Arboliva ex	2	DRI 23	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Dolliv	2	DRI 22	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Glalie	2	TWM 52	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Lampent	2	PBL 37	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Seedot	2	TEF 3	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Shiftry	2	TEF 5	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 64	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Lampent	1	TWM 37	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Nuzleaf	1	MEG 14	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
2 %1/43	Close Community Center	3	TWM 146	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Dark Bell	3	PBL 75	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Enhanced Hammer	3	TWM 148	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Forest of Vitality	3	MEG 117	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Brock's Scouting	2	JTG 146	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Lucky Helmet	2	TWM 158	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Hand Trimmer	1	TEF 150	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Rust Syndicate Grunt	1	PBL 81	Trainer
2 %1/43	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer

The most common Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 18 slots come from the core, the cards all 43 lists run. The remaining 42 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 25 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 18 Pokémon, 36 Trainers and 6 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 43 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: 18
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
2 Mega Froslass ex ASC 47
3 Snorunt ASC 46
1 Dunsparce JTG 120
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Dunsparce TEF 128
3 Chandelure TWM 38
1 Shaymin DRI 10
2 Lampent WHT 17
1 Dudunsparce ex JTG 121

Trainer: 36
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Hilda WHT 84
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
3 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Hero's Cape TEF 152
2 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Lucian TWM 157
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
1 Energy Search POR 72
1 Salvatore TEF 160
2 Battle Cage PFL 85
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Air Balloon ASC 181

Energy: 6
4 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Fire Energy MEE 2

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce needs, and how long it will last

You need 111 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 6 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 43 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 31 took Hero's Cape, 4 took Legacy Energy and 3 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 Hero's Cape and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 2 of the 6 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Dudunsparce and Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 6 of the 18 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Froslass ex / Dudunsparce struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal and Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 23 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Slowking (Metagross), Mega Excadrill ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, plus 20 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 23 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 102 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 Water, and 13 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.