Mega Froslass ex

What Mega Froslass ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 29 lists we counted, this deck runs 3 to 21 Pokémon, 28 to 43 Trainers and 8 to 19 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-froslass-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: 8 to 19 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 sets up fast. Mega Froslass ex 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: 28 to 43 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 117 decks we track. Inside that, 10 to 25 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 8 to 21 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 15 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 Mega Froslass ex 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. Snorunt has to climb a step before it becomes Mega Froslass ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Salvatore, which the list runs 4 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 18 of the 29 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 SnoruntBasic	70	Chilly	10		Metal ×2	1

The core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 29 lists, without a single exception. That is 12 of the 60 slots. The other 48 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 12 slots break down: 3 Trainers, 6 Pokémon, 3 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

4 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Snorunt (1 to 4), Mega Froslass ex (2 to 4) and Boss's Orders (2 to 4), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 22 copies the 29 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
1–4	Close Snorunt	ASC 46	Pokémon
2–4	Close Mega Froslass ex	ASC 47	Pokémon
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
2–17	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy

The 87 cards that change from list to list

87 cards fight over the 48 slots that are left: 3 above three lists in four, 61 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Buddy-Buddy Poffin at 86 %, Lillie's Determination at 76 % and Wally's Compassion at 76 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Ultra Ball, at 52 %: 15 of 29 players took it, 14 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Colress's Tenacity (7 lists out of 29) and Air Balloon (7 lists out of 29).

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
86 %25/29	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
76 %22/29	Close Lillie's Determination	3–4	MEG 119	Trainer
76 %22/29	Close Wally's Compassion	1–4	MEG 132	Trainer
62 %18/29	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
62 %18/29	Close Salvatore	1–4	TEF 160	Trainer
59 %17/29	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
52 %15/29	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
48 %14/29	Close Hilda	1–4	WHT 84	Trainer
45 %13/29	Close Mega Signal	2–4	MEG 121	Trainer
45 %13/29	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
41 %12/29	Close Hand Trimmer	1–3	TEF 150	Trainer
41 %12/29	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–3	SFA 64	Trainer
38 %11/29	Close Deduction Kit	2–4	SSP 171	Trainer
38 %11/29	Close Mist Energy	1–4	TEF 161	Energy
34 %10/29	Close Lisia's Appeal	2–4	SSP 179	Trainer
34 %10/29	Close Night Stretcher	2–4	ASC 196	Trainer
31 %9/29	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
31 %9/29	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
31 %9/29	Close Judge	2–4	POR 76	Trainer
31 %9/29	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–4	CRI 84	Energy
28 %8/29	Close Munkidori	3–4	TWM 95	Pokémon
28 %8/29	Close Froslass	1–2	TWM 53	Pokémon
28 %8/29	Close Lucian	1–3	TWM 157	Trainer
28 %8/29	Close Prism Tower	1	CRI 80	Trainer
28 %8/29	Darkness Energy	3–5	MEE 7	Energy
28 %8/29	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
24 %7/29	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–4	SFA 57	Trainer
24 %7/29	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
24 %7/29	Close Explorer's Guidance	2–4	TEF 147	Trainer
24 %7/29	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
21 %6/29	Close Cheren	1–3	WHT 81	Trainer
17 %5/29	Close Bastiodon	3	PBL 62	Pokémon
17 %5/29	Close Shieldon	3	PBL 61	Pokémon
17 %5/29	Close Genesect ex	1	BLK 67	Pokémon
17 %5/29	Close Fossil Quarry	4	PBL 76	Trainer
17 %5/29	Close Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
17 %5/29	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2–4	DRI 176	Trainer
17 %5/29	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
17 %5/29	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	4	CRI 85	Energy
14 %4/29	Close Chandelure	3–4	TWM 38	Pokémon
14 %4/29	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
14 %4/29	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
14 %4/29	Close Crispin	2–3	SCR 133	Trainer
14 %4/29	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–3	DRI 180	Trainer
14 %4/29	Close Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
14 %4/29	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
14 %4/29	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
14 %4/29	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
14 %4/29	Fire Energy	3–5	MEE 2	Energy
14 %4/29	Psychic Energy	1–3	MEE 5	Energy
10 %3/29	Close Litwick	3	PBL 36	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Bronzong	2	TEF 69	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Bronzor	2	TEF 68	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Latias ex	2	SSP 76	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Glalie	1	TWM 52	Pokémon
10 %3/29	Close Dawn	2–3	PFL 87	Trainer
10 %3/29	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
10 %3/29	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
10 %3/29	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	4	POR 88	Energy
7 %2/29	Close Lampent	3–4	PBL 37	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Lampent	2–3	TWM 37	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Dudunsparce	1	TEF 129	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
7 %2/29	Close Roto-Stick	4	PRE 127	Trainer
7 %2/29	Close Risky Ruins	2	MEG 127	Trainer
7 %2/29	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
7 %2/29	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
7 %2/29	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
7 %2/29	Close Ignition Energy	1–2	WHT 86	Energy
3 %1/29	Close Litwick	4	TWM 36	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Drakloak	2	TWM 129	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Dreepy	2	TWM 128	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Maractus	1	JTG 8	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
3 %1/29	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
3 %1/29	Close Lucky Helmet	3	TWM 158	Trainer
3 %1/29	Close Pokémon Catcher	3	POR 82	Trainer
3 %1/29	Close Cyrano	2	SSP 170	Trainer
3 %1/29	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
3 %1/29	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer

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

You need 91 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 4 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 29 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 13 took Hero's Cape, 8 took Legacy Energy and 5 took Grand Tree. The flex table shows you all 5. 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 4 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mega Froslass ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 12 of the 117 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Excadrill ex, Slowking (Metagross) and Cinccino ex (Genesect ex), plus 9 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 12 decks out of the 117 we track. The other 105 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 11 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.