N's Zoroark ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What N's Zoroark ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 33 lists we counted, this deck runs 14 to 24 Pokémon, 28 to 38 Trainers and 7 to 8 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness and Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « n-zoroark ». 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 8 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 sets up fast. N's Zoroark 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 38 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 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 15 to 20 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.

What the card in this deck's name actually does

N's Zoroark ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

N's Zoroark ex is in all 33 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Trade, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « You must discard a card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw 2 cards. » Its attack Night Joker costs 2 Energy (Darkness and Darkness) and has no damage number printed next to it. That is why you will not find it in the attacker table lower down, which sorts by printed damage. Everything it does lives in its text: « Choose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. »

How N's Zoroark ex actually wins

N's Zoroark ex attacks with Night Joker, and it needs 2 Darkness Energy attached. It has 280 HP. Its damage box is empty, so the table below, which sorts by printed damage, cannot rank it: its printed text above is where the counting happens.

The cost of Night Joker 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. Except you are not on your own. N's PP Up, which the list runs 3 of, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull N's Zoroark ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 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 2 Energy you spent 2 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.

N's Zoroark ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when N's Zoroark 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 N's Zoroark exStage 1	280	Night JokerChoose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack.	—	Darkness + Darkness	Grass ×2	2
Close MunkidoriBasic	110	Mind Bend	60	Psychic + Colorless	Darkness ×2	1
Close N's ZoruaBasic	70	Scratch	20	Darkness	Grass ×2	1

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 33 lists, without a single exception. That is 35 of the 60 slots. The other 25 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 35 slots break down: 17 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 8 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 35 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

9 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: N's Zoroark ex (3 to 4), N's Zorua (3 to 4) and Munkidori (1 to 3), plus 6 more. Add those spreads up and you get 18 copies the 33 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 N's Zoroark ex	JTG 98	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close N's Zorua	JTG 97	Pokémon	stays
1–3	Close Munkidori	TWM 95	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
1–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
4–8	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 60 cards that change from list to list

60 cards fight over the 25 slots that are left: 11 above three lists in four, 41 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: N's Zekrom at 94 %, N's PP Up at 94 % and Special Red Card at 94 %, plus 8 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Tatsugiri, at 45 %: 15 of 33 players took it, 18 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Air Balloon (8 lists out of 33) and Flutter Mane (6 lists out of 33).

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 %31/33	Close N's Zekrom	1–2	ASC 155	Pokémon
94 %31/33	Close N's PP Up	1–4	JTG 153	Trainer
94 %31/33	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
91 %30/33	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
91 %30/33	Close Cyrano	1–3	SSP 170	Trainer
91 %30/33	Close N's Castle	1–2	JTG 152	Trainer
88 %29/33	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
85 %28/33	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
85 %28/33	Close Yveltal	1–2	MEG 88	Pokémon
82 %27/33	Close Binding Mochi	1–2	PRE 95	Trainer
76 %25/33	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
70 %23/33	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
67 %22/33	Close Transformation Tome	3–4	CRI 83	Trainer
64 %21/33	Close N's Reshiram	1	JTG 116	Pokémon
61 %20/33	Close N's Darmanitan	1	JTG 27	Pokémon
61 %20/33	Close N's Darumaka	1	JTG 26	Pokémon
45 %15/33	Close Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
36 %12/33	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
33 %11/33	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–4	DRI 180	Trainer
24 %8/33	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
18 %6/33	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
18 %6/33	Close Purrloin	1	WHT 55	Pokémon
15 %5/33	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
12 %4/33	Close Babiri Berry	1	SSP 163	Trainer
12 %4/33	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
12 %4/33	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–3	PRE 112	Trainer
9 %3/33	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
9 %3/33	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Blaziken ex	3	JTG 24	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Torchic	3	DRI 40	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Combusken	2	DRI 41	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Blaziken	1	DRI 42	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Froslass	1	TWM 53	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Snorunt	1	ASC 46	Pokémon
6 %2/33	Close Rare Candy	3	MEG 125	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1–2	TEF 145	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–2	SVI 186	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Ruffian	1	JTG 157	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
6 %2/33	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
6 %2/33	Fire Energy	3	MEE 2	Energy
6 %2/33	Psychic Energy	1	MEE 5	Energy
3 %1/33	Close Cinderace	4	MEG 28	Pokémon
3 %1/33	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
3 %1/33	Close Drapion	1	POR 52	Pokémon
3 %1/33	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
3 %1/33	Close Skorupi	1	POR 51	Pokémon
3 %1/33	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
3 %1/33	Close Dawn	3	PFL 87	Trainer
3 %1/33	Close Punk Helmet	2	PFL 92	Trainer
3 %1/33	Close Crispin	1	SCR 133	Trainer
3 %1/33	Close Lumiose City	1	POR 77	Trainer
3 %1/33	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer

The most common N's Zoroark ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 35 slots come from the core, the cards all 33 lists run. The remaining 25 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 16 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 33 Trainers and 8 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 33 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 N's Zoroark ex JTG 98
4 N's Zorua JTG 97
2 Munkidori TWM 95
2 N's Zekrom ASC 155
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
1 Yveltal MEG 88
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 N's Reshiram JTG 116
1 N's Darmanitan JTG 27
1 N's Darumaka JTG 26

Trainer: 33
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 N's PP Up JTG 153
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
2 Cyrano SSP 170
2 N's Castle JTG 152
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
2 Binding Mochi PRE 95
1 Secret Box TWM 163
4 Transformation Tome CRI 83

Energy: 8
8 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat N's Zoroark ex at tournaments

Here is how N's Zoroark 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 Cynthia's Garchomp ex: over 126 games, 37 won and 88 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Festival Lead: over 524 games, 177 won and 344 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 147 games, 52 won and 95 lost.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 179 games, 65 won and 112 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 555 games, 229 won and 320 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Raging Bolt ex: over 239 games, 97 won and 136 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex: over 167 games, 66 won and 97 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 682 games, 295 won and 383 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 538 games, 245 won and 287 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 723 games, 339 won and 364 lost. 20 ended with no winner.

Against Toucannon: over 224 games, 104 won and 118 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama: over 190 games, 89 won and 99 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass: over 393 games, 202 won and 187 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 586 games, 318 won and 254 lost. 14 ended with no winner.

Against Team Rocket's Honchkrow: over 121 games, 61 won and 59 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 534 games, 296 won and 232 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Dhelmise: over 356 games, 220 won and 131 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Greninja ex: over 134 games, 83 won and 49 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

What N's Zoroark ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 70 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 33 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 25 took Secret Box, 4 took Hero's Cape and 3 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 4. 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 Secret Box and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 3 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Munkidori, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 8 of the 35 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What N's Zoroark ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass and Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 30 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Festival Lead (Thwackey), Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, plus 27 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 30 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 67 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 Darkness and Psychic, and 34 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Alakazam / Dudunsparce, Dragapult ex / Dusknoir and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the N's Zoroark ex deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 33 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 31 August 2026, 10 cards turn up in every single one, 35 slots out of 60. The remaining 25 change from player to player, with 60 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

33 lists, played across 30 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 31 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 33 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build N's Zoroark ex?

With the whole core: 10 cards, 35 slots. Inside it, buy the 17 Trainer slots and the 8 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 10 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with N's Zekrom at 94 % and N's PP Up at 94 %.

What beats N's Zoroark ex?

Its attackers are Weak to Grass and Darkness, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 30 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Festival Lead, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex and Team Rocket's Honchkrow, among others.

Will N's Zoroark ex survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 3 core cards out of 10 carry the letter H, starting with Munkidori, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher.

Are a lot of people playing N's Zoroark ex?

We have read 33 lists of it, which puts it 35th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 2,117 entries for it, 5.19 % 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.