Metagross deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Metagross looks like when you open the box

Across the 34 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 20 Pokémon, 21 to 29 Trainers and 14 to 22 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « metagross-cri ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

The bit they tack on the end, « CRI », is a set code: Chaos Rising. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 14 to 22 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 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. Metagross 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: 21 to 29 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 12 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 7 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 57 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.

How Metagross actually wins

Metagross attacks with Metallic Hammer. It needs 4 Energy, 3 Metal and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 180 HP. Watch the damage box: "150+" is not a total. Here is what the card prints, word for word: "You may discard 3 {M} Energy from this Pokémon and have this attack do 150 more damage."

The cost of Metallic Hammer 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. Metang, which the list runs 4 of, has an Ability called Metal Maker: it looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. 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. Beldum has to climb two steps before it becomes Metagross, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Genesect ex, which the list runs 2 of, has an Ability called Metallic Signal: it goes into your deck for an evolution.

There is another trick in this list, and the whole of it happens in one turn. Team Rocket's Petrel goes into your deck for a Trainer card and puts it in your hand. Precious Trolley is one, and it puts as many Basic Pokémon as you like onto your Bench in one go. A full Bench on turn one is what decides the game in a deck with lines to build. One rule to know: Precious Trolley is an ACE SPEC card. You are allowed just ONE ACE SPEC in your whole deck, so a second copy is never coming, and taking this one means giving up every other. One detail that matters: Team Rocket's Petrel is a Supporter, so that turn you play no other Supporter. Items all still go through. And if Team Rocket's Petrel will not show up, Team Rocket's Transceiver goes and gets it: 29 of the 34 lists bring it for exactly that.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Metagross back to the Bench you have to discard 3 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 3 Energy you spent 3 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.

Genesect ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Genesect 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 MetagrossStage 2	180	Metallic Hammer	150+	Metal + Metal + Metal + Colorless	Fire ×2	3
Close Genesect exBasic	220	Protect Charge	150	Metal + Metal + Colorless	Fire ×2	2
Close MetangStage 1	100	Beam	60	Metal + Colorless + Colorless	Fire ×2	2

The core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 34 lists, without a single exception. That is 25 of the 60 slots. The other 35 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 25 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 17 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

3 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Metang (3 to 4), Metagross (2 to 3) and Metal Energy (14 to 22). Add those spreads up and you get 10 copies the 34 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
3–4	Close Metang	TEF 114	Pokémon	leaves
2	Close Genesect ex	BLK 67	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Metagross	CRI 61	Pokémon	stays
14–22	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy	stays

The 79 cards that change from list to list

79 cards fight over the 35 slots that are left: 9 above three lists in four, 50 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Team Rocket's Petrel at 94 %, Boss's Orders at 94 % and Energy Recycler at 94 %, plus 6 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Meowth ex, at 50 %: 17 of 34 players took it, 17 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Empoleon ex (5 lists out of 34) and Piplup (5 lists out of 34).

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
94 %32/34	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2–4	DRI 176	Trainer
94 %32/34	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
94 %32/34	Close Energy Recycler	1–3	DRI 164	Trainer
94 %32/34	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
91 %31/34	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
91 %31/34	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
85 %29/34	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	3–4	DRI 178	Trainer
85 %29/34	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
76 %26/34	Close Gravity Mountain	1–2	SSP 177	Trainer
74 %25/34	Close Beldum	2–4	TEF 113	Pokémon
68 %23/34	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
68 %23/34	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
62 %21/34	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
62 %21/34	Close Brave Bangle	1–2	WHT 80	Trainer
59 %20/34	Close Heatran	1–2	TWM 123	Pokémon
50 %17/34	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
47 %16/34	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
47 %16/34	Close Philippe	1–2	CRI 79	Trainer
44 %15/34	Close Brock's Scouting	1–4	JTG 146	Trainer
35 %12/34	Close Drilbur	1–2	PBL 46	Pokémon
35 %12/34	Close Mega Excadrill ex	1	PBL 65	Pokémon
35 %12/34	Close Mega Skarmory ex	1–2	POR 55	Pokémon
35 %12/34	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
35 %12/34	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
32 %11/34	Close Beldum	2–4	CRI 59	Pokémon
32 %11/34	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
29 %10/34	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1–2	PFL 91	Trainer
29 %10/34	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
26 %9/34	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
15 %5/34	Close Empoleon ex	1–3	PFL 70	Pokémon
15 %5/34	Close Piplup	1–3	PFL 27	Pokémon
15 %5/34	Close Rare Candy	2	MEG 125	Trainer
15 %5/34	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
15 %5/34	Close Poké Pad	1–2	POR 81	Trainer
12 %4/34	Close Regigigas	1	PRE 86	Pokémon
12 %4/34	Close Full Metal Lab	1–4	TEF 148	Trainer
12 %4/34	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	1–2	CRI 85	Energy
9 %3/34	Close Cinccino ex	1–2	CRI 73	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Minccino	1–2	CRI 72	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Dialga	1	MEG 95	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
9 %3/34	Close Iron Defender	1–2	MEG 118	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1	DRI 173	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
9 %3/34	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Prinplup	1–2	PFL 28	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1	MEG 104	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 64	Pokémon
6 %2/34	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Lumiose City	2	POR 77	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Hassel	1	TWM 151	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Lacey	1	SCR 139	Trainer
6 %2/34	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Bastiodon	3	PBL 62	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Shieldon	3	PBL 61	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Cramorant	1	TWM 58	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Steven's Skarmory	1	DRI 142	Pokémon
3 %1/34	Close Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Dawn	2	PFL 87	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Energy Search	2	POR 72	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Haban Berry	1	PRE 111	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
3 %1/34	Close Prism Energy	3	ASC 216	Energy
3 %1/34	Water Energy	2	MEE 3	Energy

The most common Metagross list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 25 slots come from the core, the cards all 34 lists run. The remaining 35 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 20 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 18 Pokémon, 25 Trainers and 17 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 34 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: 18
4 Metang TEF 114
2 Genesect ex BLK 67
2 Metagross CRI 61
4 Beldum TEF 113
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Heatran TWM 123
1 Meowth ex POR 62
2 Drilbur PBL 46

Trainer: 25
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Energy Recycler DRI 164
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Precious Trolley SSP 185
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Gravity Mountain SSP 177
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80
2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Philippe CRI 79
1 Brock's Scouting JTG 146

Energy: 17
17 Metal Energy MEE 8

Total Cards: 60

What Metagross costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 83 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 34 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 31 took Precious Trolley, 2 took Secret Box and 1 took Unfair Stamp. 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 Precious Trolley and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 4 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Metang. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 4 of the 25 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Metagross struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 97 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 7 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 10 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 87 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 Metal, and 12 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Dhelmise and Mega Starmie ex / Froslass, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Metagross deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 34 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 4 September 2026, 4 cards turn up in every single one, 25 slots out of 60. The remaining 35 change from player to player, with 79 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

34 lists, played across 32 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 4 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 34 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Metagross?

With the whole core: 4 cards, 25 slots. Inside it, buy the 0 Trainer slots and the 17 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 Team Rocket's Petrel at 94 % and Boss's Orders at 94 %.

What beats Metagross?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 10 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion, Ceruledge ex and Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex, among others.

Will Metagross survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 1 core cards out of 4 carry the letter H, starting with Metang.

Are a lot of people playing Metagross?

We have read 34 lists of it, which puts it 31st of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 88 entries for it, 0.22 % 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.