Mega Venusaur ex

What Mega Venusaur ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 94 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 25 Pokémon, 19 to 37 Trainers and 7 to 19 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-venusaur-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 19 out of 60, when half the 125 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. Mega Venusaur 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: 19 to 37 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 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 6 to 17 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

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

Mega Venusaur ex is in all 94 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Solar Transfer, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « As often as you like during your turn, you may use this Ability. Move a Basic {G} Energy from 1 of your Pokémon to another of your Pokémon. »

How Mega Venusaur ex actually wins

Mega Venusaur ex attacks with Jungle Dump for 240. It needs 4 Grass Energy attached, and it has 380 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: "Heal 30 damage from this Pokémon."

The cost of Jungle Dump decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 4. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 4. Except you are not on your own. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, which the list runs 4 of, has an Ability called Teal Dance: it attaches Energy from your hand on top of the one you already play. 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.

Energy is not your only clock. Bulbasaur has to climb two steps before it becomes Mega Venusaur ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Dawn, which the list runs 2 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 64 of the 94 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Venusaur 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.

Mega Venusaur 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 Venusaur exStage 2	380	Jungle Dump	240		Fire ×2	4
Close IvysaurStage 1	110	Razor Leaf	60		Fire ×2	3
Close BulbasaurBasic	80	Bind Down	10		Fire ×2	2

The core: the 6 cards every list runs

These 6 cards appear in all 94 lists, without a single exception. That is 24 of the 60 slots. The other 36 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 24 slots break down: 6 Trainers, 6 Pokémon, 12 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 24 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.

6 of those 6 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Bulbasaur (2 to 3), Ivysaur (1 to 3) and Mega Venusaur ex (2 to 3), plus 3 more. Add those spreads up and you get 17 copies the 94 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
2–3	Close Bulbasaur	MEG 1	Pokémon	stays
1–3	Close Ivysaur	MEG 2	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Mega Venusaur ex	MEG 3	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Bug Catching Set	TWM 143	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
6–14	Grass Energy	MEE 1	Energy	stays

The 116 cards that change from list to list

116 cards fight over the 36 slots that are left: 11 above three lists in four, 94 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex at 99 %, Forest of Vitality at 99 % and Lillie's Determination at 98 %, plus 8 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Special Red Card, at 53 %: 50 of 94 players took it, 44 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Xerosic's Machinations (21 lists out of 94) and Switch (18 lists out of 94).

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 %93/94	Close Teal Mask Ogerpon ex	1–4	TWM 25	Pokémon
99 %93/94	Close Forest of Vitality	2–4	MEG 117	Trainer
98 %92/94	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
93 %87/94	Close Meganium	1–2	MEG 10	Pokémon
93 %87/94	Close Night Stretcher	1–4	ASC 196	Trainer
91 %86/94	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
86 %81/94	Close Bayleef	1–4	MEG 9	Pokémon
84 %79/94	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
81 %76/94	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
80 %75/94	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
79 %74/94	Close Wally's Compassion	1–4	MEG 132	Trainer
68 %64/94	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
64 %60/94	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
62 %58/94	Close Celebi	1–2	MEG 12	Pokémon
61 %57/94	Close Chikorita	1–3	ASC 8	Pokémon
59 %55/94	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
56 %53/94	Close Mega Meganium ex	1–2	ASC 10	Pokémon
53 %50/94	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
41 %39/94	Close Chikorita	1–4	MEG 8	Pokémon
39 %37/94	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
34 %32/94	Close Max Rod	1	PRE 116	Trainer
27 %25/94	Close Genesect	1	PFL 8	Pokémon
22 %21/94	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
19 %18/94	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
17 %16/94	Close Regigigas	1	PRE 86	Pokémon
17 %16/94	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
14 %13/94	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–3	DRI 176	Trainer
11 %10/94	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
10 %9/94	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
10 %9/94	Close Area Zero Underdepths	1–2	SCR 131	Trainer
9 %8/94	Close Bayleef	1–3	ASC 9	Pokémon
7 %7/94	Close Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
7 %7/94	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
6 %6/94	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
6 %6/94	Close Lucian	1–2	TWM 157	Trainer
6 %6/94	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
6 %6/94	Close Growing Grass Energy	1–4	POR 86	Energy
5 %5/94	Close Yanma	1–3	DRI 2	Pokémon
5 %5/94	Close Yanmega ex	1–2	DRI 3	Pokémon
5 %5/94	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
5 %5/94	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
5 %5/94	Close Gwynn	1–3	PBL 78	Trainer
5 %5/94	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1–2	TEF 145	Trainer
5 %5/94	Close Rare Candy	1–3	MEG 125	Trainer
4 %4/94	Close Alolan Exeggutor	1–3	30C 2	Pokémon
4 %4/94	Close Tapu Bulu	1	SFA 6	Pokémon
4 %4/94	Close Zarude	1	SSP 11	Pokémon
4 %4/94	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
4 %4/94	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
4 %4/94	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
3 %3/94	Close Eevee	1–2	TWM 135	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Erika's Gloom	2	ASC 2	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Erika's Oddish	2	ASC 1	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Erika's Vileplume ex	2	ASC 3	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Leafeon	2	TWM 11	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Eevee	1	SSP 143	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Shuckle	1–2	MEG 11	Pokémon
3 %3/94	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
3 %3/94	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
3 %3/94	Close Jasmine's Gaze	1–2	SSP 178	Trainer
3 %3/94	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1–2	PFL 91	Trainer
3 %3/94	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
3 %3/94	Water Energy	2	MEE 11	Energy
2 %2/94	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–4	MEG 104	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Exeggcute	2–3	SSP 1	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Cinccino ex	2	CRI 73	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Minccino	2	CRI 72	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Leafeon ex	1	PRE 6	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Rabsca	1	TEF 24	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
2 %2/94	Close Lucky Helmet	2–3	TWM 158	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Hilda	2	WHT 84	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Kofu	1	SCR 138	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Mega Signal	1	MEG 121	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
2 %2/94	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
2 %2/94	Fire Energy	2	MEE 10	Energy
1 %1/94	Close Carvanha	3	PFL 60	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Mega Darkrai ex	3	PBL 48	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Mega Sharpedo ex	3	PFL 61	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Exeggcute	2	MEG 4	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Exeggcute	2	30C 1	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	2	TWM 64	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Crustle	1	DRI 12	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Cyclizar ex	1	SSP 159	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Dwebble	1	DRI 11	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Jirachi ex	1	30C 102	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Mega Heracross ex	1	PFL 4	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Rellor	1	DRI 24	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Rellor	1	TEF 23	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Teal Mask Ogerpon	1	TWM 24	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Toxel	1	PFL 67	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Toxtricity	1	PFL 68	Pokémon
1 %1/94	Close Brave Bangle	2	WHT 80	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Energy Retrieval	2	SVI 171	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Tera Orb	2	SSP 189	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Bianca's Devotion	1	TEF 142	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Fennel	1	BLK 82	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Hand Trimmer	1	TEF 150	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Lacey	1	SCR 139	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Megaton Blower	1	SSP 182	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Occa Berry	1	SCR 140	Trainer
1 %1/94	Close Urbain	1	ASC 214	Trainer
1 %1/94	Darkness Energy	10	MEE 7	Energy
1 %1/94	Close Mist Energy	3	TEF 161	Energy
1 %1/94	Close Ignition Energy	2	WHT 86	Energy
1 %1/94	Psychic Energy	2	MEE 13	Energy

The most common Mega Venusaur ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 24 slots come from the core, the cards all 94 lists run. The remaining 36 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 17 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 27 Trainers and 12 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 94 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 94 of the 94 lists carry one. Take Unfair Stamp, 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
2 Bulbasaur MEG 1
2 Ivysaur MEG 2
2 Mega Venusaur ex MEG 3
4 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25
2 Meganium MEG 10
2 Bayleef MEG 9
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Celebi MEG 12
3 Chikorita ASC 8
1 Mega Meganium ex ASC 10

Trainer: 27
4 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Forest of Vitality MEG 117
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
2 Dawn PFL 87
1 Judge POR 76
1 Lana's Aid TWM 155

Energy: 12
12 Grass Energy MEE 1

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Mega Venusaur ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 122 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 94 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 37 took Unfair Stamp, 32 took Max Rod and 10 took Hero's Cape. The flex table shows you all 8. 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 Unfair Stamp and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 6 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Bug Catching Set. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 4 of the 24 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Venusaur ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 13 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, plus 10 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 13 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 112 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 Grass, and 24 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.