Palafin ex

What Palafin ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 54 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 22 Pokémon, 29 to 37 Trainers and 5 to 11 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « palafin-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: 5 to 11 out of 60, when half the 125 decks we track run 11 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. Palafin 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: 29 to 37 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 16 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 12 to 19 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

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

Palafin ex is in all 54 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Hero's Spirit, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Put this Pokémon into play only with the effect of Palafin's Zero to Hero Ability. »

How Palafin ex actually wins

Palafin ex attacks with Giga Impact for 250. It needs 1 Water Energy attached, and it has 340 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: "During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack."

One Energy to attack is enormous, and it means the attack cost will never be what slows you down. What slows you down here is getting Palafin up. Once the line is standing you swing every turn with nothing to recharge, and you can start again immediately when your attacker falls.

Energy is not your only clock. Finizen has to climb a step before it becomes Palafin, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, a single copy in the list, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 34 of the 54 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 Palafin 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.

Palafin ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Palafin 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 Palafin exStage 1	340	Giga Impact	250		Lightning ×2	2
Close PalafinStage 1	100	Wave Splash	30		Lightning ×2	1

The core: the 6 cards every list runs

These 6 cards appear in all 54 lists, without a single exception. That is 18 of the 60 slots. The other 42 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 18 slots break down: 13 Trainers, 5 Pokémon, 0 Energy. Trainers outweigh everything else put together, which is the mark of a deck that goes and fetches its cards rather than waiting to draw them.

6 of those 6 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Palafin ex (2 to 4), Palafin (1 to 3) and Lillie's Determination (3 to 4), plus 3 more. Add those spreads up and you get 13 copies the 54 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 Palafin ex	TWM 61	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Palafin	TWM 60	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Air Balloon	ASC 181	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays

The 103 cards that change from list to list

103 cards fight over the 42 slots that are left: 7 above three lists in four, 71 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Finizen at 98 %, Surfing Beach at 98 % and Buddy-Buddy Poffin at 96 %, plus 4 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Fezandipiti ex, at 52 %: 28 of 54 players took it, 26 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Dunsparce (13 lists out of 54) and Dudunsparce ex (10 lists out of 54).

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
98 %53/54	Close Finizen	2–4	TWM 59	Pokémon
98 %53/54	Close Surfing Beach	2–4	MEG 129	Trainer
96 %52/54	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	3–4	TEF 144	Trainer
96 %52/54	Water Energy	1–11	MEE 3	Energy
94 %51/54	Close Switch	1–3	MEG 130	Trainer
85 %46/54	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
80 %43/54	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
63 %34/54	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
61 %33/54	Close Dudunsparce	2–4	TEF 129	Pokémon
57 %31/54	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
52 %28/54	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
48 %26/54	Close Dunsparce	1–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
48 %26/54	Close Kieran	1–2	TWM 154	Trainer
44 %24/54	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
41 %22/54	Close Palafin	1	TEF 49	Pokémon
39 %21/54	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
39 %21/54	Close Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
37 %20/54	Close Froakie	1–3	CRI 20	Pokémon
37 %20/54	Close Mega Greninja ex	1–2	CRI 22	Pokémon
37 %20/54	Close Rare Candy	1–2	MEG 125	Trainer
37 %20/54	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
35 %19/54	Close Frogadier	1	CRI 21	Pokémon
35 %19/54	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
35 %19/54	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–4	CRI 84	Energy
33 %18/54	Close Energy Retrieval	1–4	SVI 171	Trainer
33 %18/54	Close Kofu	1–4	SCR 138	Trainer
31 %17/54	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
31 %17/54	Close Gravity Mountain	1–3	SSP 177	Trainer
28 %15/54	Close Great Haul Net	1–2	CRI 78	Trainer
28 %15/54	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
26 %14/54	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
26 %14/54	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
24 %13/54	Close Dunsparce	1–4	TEF 128	Pokémon
19 %10/54	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
17 %9/54	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
17 %9/54	Close Surfer	1–3	SSP 187	Trainer
15 %8/54	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
15 %8/54	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
13 %7/54	Close Staryu	1–3	POR 20	Pokémon
13 %7/54	Close Mega Starmie ex	1–3	POR 21	Pokémon
13 %7/54	Close Mew ex	1–2	30C 66	Pokémon
13 %7/54	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
13 %7/54	Close Perrin	1	TWM 160	Trainer
13 %7/54	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
13 %7/54	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
11 %6/54	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
11 %6/54	Close Munkidori	1–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
11 %6/54	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	2–3	TEF 145	Trainer
9 %5/54	Close N's Zoroark ex	2–3	JTG 98	Pokémon
9 %5/54	Close N's Zorua	2–3	JTG 97	Pokémon
9 %5/54	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
9 %5/54	Close Dusk Ball	2–3	SSP 175	Trainer
9 %5/54	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–2	SFA 57	Trainer
9 %5/54	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
9 %5/54	Close Pokémon Catcher	1	POR 82	Trainer
9 %5/54	Darkness Energy	1–3	MEE 7	Energy
7 %4/54	Close Goldeen	2–3	TWM 44	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Grookey	2–3	TWM 14	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Thwackey	2–3	TWM 15	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Dusclops	2	PRE 36	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Duskull	2	PRE 35	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Mega Froslass ex	1–2	ASC 47	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Totodile	1	TEF 39	Pokémon
7 %4/54	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
7 %4/54	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
6 %3/54	Close Seaking	2	PRE 21	Pokémon
6 %3/54	Close Snorunt	1–2	ASC 46	Pokémon
6 %3/54	Close Abra	1	TWM 80	Pokémon
6 %3/54	Close Dawn	2	PFL 87	Trainer
6 %3/54	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
6 %3/54	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
6 %3/54	Close Prism Energy	2	ASC 216	Energy
6 %3/54	Close Ignition Energy	1–2	WHT 86	Energy
4 %2/54	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
4 %2/54	Close Drayton	1–2	SSP 174	Trainer
4 %2/54	Close Brock's Scouting	1	JTG 146	Trainer
4 %2/54	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
4 %2/54	Close Salvatore	1	TEF 160	Trainer
4 %2/54	Close Wally's Compassion	1	MEG 132	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Cinderace	4	MEG 28	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Clauncher	3	MEG 37	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Clawitzer	3	MEG 38	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Dewgong	1	POR 19	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Finizen	1	TEF 48	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Greninja ex	1	TWM 106	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Palafin	1	PBL 22	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Pecharunt ex	1	SFA 39	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Seel	1	POR 18	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Veluza	1	SCR 45	Pokémon
2 %1/54	Close Poké Ball	3	POR 80	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Brave Bangle	2	WHT 80	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Cheren	2	WHT 81	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Battle Cage	1	PFL 85	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Carmine	1	TWM 145	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
2 %1/54	Close Super Potion	1	JTG 158	Trainer

The most common Palafin ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 18 slots come from the core, the cards all 54 lists run. The remaining 42 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 22 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 22 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 7 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 54 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 54 of the 54 lists carry one. Take Maximum Belt, 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: 22
3 Palafin ex TWM 61
2 Palafin TWM 60
4 Finizen TWM 59
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
2 Dunsparce JTG 120
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Palafin TEF 49
1 Psyduck ASC 39
2 Froakie CRI 20
2 Mega Greninja ex CRI 22
1 Frogadier CRI 21

Trainer: 31
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Surfing Beach MEG 129
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Switch MEG 130
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Hilda WHT 84
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Kieran TWM 154
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
1 Judge POR 76

Energy: 7
7 Water Energy MEE 3

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 109 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 54 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 15 took Maximum Belt, 14 took Prime Catcher and 8 took Secret Box. 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 Maximum Belt and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 2 of the 6 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Palafin ex and Palafin. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 5 of the 18 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Palafin ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 9 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik, Eelektrik and Iono's Bellibolt ex, plus 6 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 9 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 116 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 13 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.