Mega Greninja ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Mega Greninja ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 30 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 28 Pokémon, 25 to 36 Trainers and 7 to 10 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-greninja-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 10 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 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. Mega Greninja 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: 25 to 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 16 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 3 Stadiums, and 91 of the 97 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

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

Mega Greninja ex is in all 30 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Mortal Shuriken, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, you may discard a Basic {W} Energy card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Place 6 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. »

How Mega Greninja ex actually wins

Mega Greninja ex attacks with Ninja Spinner. It needs 2 Water Energy attached, and it has 350 HP. Watch the damage box: "120+" is not a total. Here is what the card prints, word for word: "You may put a {W} Energy attached to this Pokémon into your hand and have this attack do 80 more damage."

The cost of Ninja Spinner 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. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for a turn 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. Froakie has to climb two steps before it becomes Mega Greninja ex, 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 29 of the 30 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Good news on mobility: pulling Mega Greninja 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 Greninja 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 Greninja exStage 2	350	Ninja Spinner	120+	Water + Water	Lightning ×2	1
Close FrogadierStage 1	100	Aqua Edge	50	Water + Water	Lightning ×2	1
Close FroakieBasic	70	Water Gun	10	Water	Lightning ×2	1

The core: the 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 30 lists, without a single exception. That is 26 of the 60 slots. The other 34 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 26 slots break down: 11 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 7 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 26 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

8 of those 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Froakie (2 to 4), Frogadier (1 to 3) and Mega Greninja ex (2 to 3), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 30 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 Froakie	CRI 20	Pokémon	stays
1–3	Close Frogadier	CRI 21	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Mega Greninja ex	CRI 22	Pokémon	stays
1–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Special Red Card	CRI 82	Trainer	stays
4–7	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy	stays

The 78 cards that change from list to list

78 cards fight over the 34 slots that are left: 12 above three lists in four, 55 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Greninja ex at 97 %, Rare Candy at 97 % and Ultra Ball at 97 %, plus 9 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Dawn, at 43 %: 13 of 30 players took it, 17 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Patrat (7 lists out of 30) and Switch (7 lists out of 30).

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 %29/30	Close Greninja ex	1–2	TWM 106	Pokémon
97 %29/30	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
97 %29/30	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
97 %29/30	Close Hilda	1–4	WHT 84	Trainer
93 %28/30	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
93 %28/30	Close Surfing Beach	1–3	MEG 129	Trainer
93 %28/30	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
83 %25/30	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
83 %25/30	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
83 %25/30	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
83 %25/30	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
77 %23/30	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
70 %21/30	Close Wally's Compassion	1–2	MEG 132	Trainer
67 %20/30	Close Ignition Energy	1–3	WHT 86	Energy
63 %19/30	Close Energy Retrieval	1–3	SVI 171	Trainer
43 %13/30	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
40 %12/30	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
33 %10/30	Close Froakie	1–2	TWM 56	Pokémon
30 %9/30	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
27 %8/30	Close Dunsparce	2–3	JTG 120	Pokémon
27 %8/30	Close Frogadier	1	TWM 57	Pokémon
27 %8/30	Close Mega Froslass ex	1–2	ASC 47	Pokémon
27 %8/30	Close Snorunt	1–3	ASC 46	Pokémon
23 %7/30	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
23 %7/30	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
20 %6/30	Close N's Zoroark ex	2–3	JTG 98	Pokémon
20 %6/30	Close N's Zorua	2–3	JTG 97	Pokémon
20 %6/30	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–3	DRI 176	Trainer
20 %6/30	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
17 %5/30	Close Drakloak	3–4	TWM 129	Pokémon
17 %5/30	Close Dreepy	3–4	TWM 128	Pokémon
17 %5/30	Close Mega Starmie ex	1–2	POR 21	Pokémon
17 %5/30	Close Staryu	1–3	POR 20	Pokémon
17 %5/30	Close Dragapult ex	1	TWM 130	Pokémon
17 %5/30	Close Great Haul Net	1	CRI 78	Trainer
13 %4/30	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
13 %4/30	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Duskull	2	PRE 35	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Totodile	1	TEF 39	Pokémon
10 %3/30	Close Crispin	1–2	SCR 133	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Salvatore	1–2	TEF 160	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
10 %3/30	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
7 %2/30	Close Dunsparce	1–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Hoothoot	2	TEF 126	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Munkidori	2	TWM 95	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Noctowl	2	SCR 115	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 64	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
7 %2/30	Close Energy Search	2	POR 72	Trainer
7 %2/30	Close Tera Orb	1–2	SSP 189	Trainer
7 %2/30	Close Area Zero Underdepths	1	SCR 131	Trainer
7 %2/30	Darkness Energy	2	MEE 7	Energy
3 %1/30	Close Solrock	3	MEG 75	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna	2	PRE 54	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Froslass	2	TWM 53	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Lunatone	2	MEG 74	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1	DRI 87	Pokémon
3 %1/30	Close Fighting Gong	4	MEG 116	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Gwynn	2	PBL 78	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Cyrano	1	SSP 170	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Tarragon	1	POR 85	Trainer
3 %1/30	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
3 %1/30	Fighting Energy	6	MEE 6	Energy
3 %1/30	Close Prism Energy	1	ASC 216	Energy
3 %1/30	Psychic Energy	1	MEE 5	Energy

The most common Mega Greninja ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 26 slots come from the core, the cards all 30 lists run. The remaining 34 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 19 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 30 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. The readings we have are Cardmarket's, in euros, and the shop link further down sends you to TCGplayer, which quotes in dollars. Putting a euro figure next to a dollar shop would be one currency too many. 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: 19
4 Froakie CRI 20
2 Frogadier CRI 21
2 Mega Greninja ex CRI 22
2 Greninja ex TWM 106
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Shaymin DRI 10
2 Froakie TWM 56
3 Dudunsparce TEF 129

Trainer: 31
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Hilda WHT 84
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Surfing Beach MEG 129
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
1 Energy Retrieval SVI 171
1 Dawn PFL 87

Energy: 10
7 Water Energy MEE 3
1 Neo Upper Energy TEF 162
2 Ignition Energy WHT 86

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Mega Greninja ex at tournaments

Here is how Mega Greninja ex did against every other deck at tournaments. Real games, real players sitting across the table from each other, and the platform those tournaments run on counts them one by one. All of them were played after Pitch Black became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 5 September 2026.

The format matters more than people think. When the next set lands, decks get rebuilt around the new cards, and a matchup that leaned one way can swing the other. What you are reading holds for today's format.

We start with the opponent that gives you the most trouble, because that is where the work is before your next tournament. The further down the list you go, the better it goes for you.

Always look at the number of games next to the score. Six wins out of ten happens on its own, even with a middling deck: it is the same as flipping six heads in ten tries. Six hundred out of a thousand, and luck has nothing to do with it. Below 100 games we show nothing at all, because at that count half the matchups look like they lean one way when they lean nowhere.

Against Dragapult ex: over 181 games, 60 won and 120 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 178 games, 60 won and 117 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 144 games, 52 won and 90 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 134 games, 49 won and 83 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass: over 100 games, 37 won and 63 lost.

Against Slowking: over 128 games, 52 won and 74 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 134 games, 55 won and 78 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 134 games, 58 won and 74 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Festival Lead: over 133 games, 65 won and 68 lost.

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

You need 86 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 30 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 25 took Neo Upper Energy, 4 took Grand Tree and 1 took Prime Catcher. 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 Neo Upper Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 8 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 4 of the 26 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Greninja ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 5 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik, Iono's Bellibolt ex and Joltik, plus 2 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 5 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 92 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 10 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.

Questions people ask

What is the Mega Greninja ex deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 30 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 2 September 2026, 8 cards turn up in every single one, 26 slots out of 60. The remaining 34 change from player to player, with 78 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?

30 lists, played across 29 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 2 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 30 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Mega Greninja ex?

With the whole core: 8 cards, 26 slots. Inside it, buy the 11 Trainer slots and the 7 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 8 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Greninja ex at 97 % and Rare Candy at 97 %.

What beats Mega Greninja ex?

Its attackers are Weak to Lightning, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 5 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik, Iono's Bellibolt ex, Joltik and Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex, among others.

Will Mega Greninja ex survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 1 core cards out of 8 carry the letter H, starting with Buddy-Buddy Poffin.

Are a lot of people playing Mega Greninja ex?

We have read 30 lists of it, which puts it 42nd of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 614 entries for it, 1.51 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.

These pages are about the same corner of the game. If you came away from this one still wondering about something, start with one of them.