Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex

What Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 23 lists we counted, this deck runs 10 to 18 Pokémon, 28 to 42 Trainers and 8 to 15 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Lightning and Fighting.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « reging-bolt-bellibolt ». The cards we can recognise in that label are Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex. The bit « reging » does not point at any one card in the list, so we leave it out of the name rather than make up a meaning.

Look at the Energy: 8 to 15 out of 60, when half the 126 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 sets up fast. Iono's Bellibolt 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 42 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 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 11 to 22 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 88 of the 126 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

Raging Bolt ex and Iono's Bellibolt ex give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Raging Bolt ex is in all 23 lists, 2 copies of it. Its attack Burst Roar costs 1 Energy (Colorless) 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: « Discard your hand and draw 6 cards. »

Iono's Bellibolt ex is in all 23 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Electric Streamer, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « As often as you like during your turn, you may attach a Basic {L} Energy card from your hand to 1 of your Iono's Pokémon. »

How Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex actually wins

Iono's Bellibolt ex attacks with Thunderous Bolt for 230. It needs 4 Energy, 3 Lightning and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 280 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."

The cost of Thunderous Bolt 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 it charges itself. Iono's Bellibolt ex, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Electric Streamer: 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.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Iono's Bellibolt 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.

Iono's Bellibolt ex and Raging Bolt ex carry the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when one of them falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on those cards 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 Iono's Bellibolt exStage 1	280	Thunderous Bolt	230		Fighting ×2	2
Close Raging Bolt exBasic	240	Bellowing Thunder	70×		none	3
Close Iono's TadbulbBasic	60	Tiny Charge	30		Fighting ×2	2

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 23 lists, without a single exception. That is 36 of the 60 slots. The other 24 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 36 slots break down: 14 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 14 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 36 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 126 decks we track fix 25 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

10 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Iono's Bellibolt ex (2 to 3), Iono's Tadbulb (2 to 3) and Raging Bolt ex (2 to 3), plus 7 more. Add those spreads up and you get 23 copies the 23 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 Iono's Bellibolt ex	JTG 53	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Iono's Tadbulb	JTG 52	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Raging Bolt ex	TEF 123	Pokémon	leaves
1–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Levincia	JTG 150	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
5–12	Lightning Energy	MEE 4	Energy	stays
2–3	Fighting Energy	MEE 6	Energy	stays

The 47 cards that change from list to list

47 cards fight over the 24 slots that are left: 7 above three lists in four, 28 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Energy Retrieval at 96 %, Iono's Kilowattrel at 91 % and Iono's Wattrel at 91 %, plus 4 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Prime Catcher, at 48 %: 11 of 23 players took it, 12 put something else there. It is an ACE SPEC card, and you are allowed exactly one in your whole deck. The players who passed on it did not leave the slot empty: they put a different ACE SPEC there. Right at the bottom of the table, Team Rocket's Petrel (5 lists out of 23) and Budew (3 lists out of 23).

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
96 %22/23	Close Energy Retrieval	2–4	SVI 171	Trainer
91 %21/23	Close Iono's Kilowattrel	2–3	JTG 55	Pokémon
91 %21/23	Close Iono's Wattrel	2–4	JTG 54	Pokémon
91 %21/23	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
91 %21/23	Close Canari	1–4	ASC 185	Trainer
91 %21/23	Close Energy Switch	1–3	MEG 115	Trainer
83 %19/23	Close Iono's Voltorb	1–3	JTG 47	Pokémon
65 %15/23	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
65 %15/23	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
57 %13/23	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
48 %11/23	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
43 %10/23	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
39 %9/23	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
35 %8/23	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
35 %8/23	Close Crispin	1–3	SCR 133	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
26 %6/23	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
26 %6/23	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
22 %5/23	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
13 %3/23	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
13 %3/23	Close Max Rod	1	PRE 116	Trainer
9 %2/23	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Dudunsparce	2	TEF 129	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Buneary	1	PFL 83	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Dunsparce	1	TEF 128	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Mega Lopunny ex	1	PFL 84	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Raging Bolt	1	SCR 111	Pokémon
4 %1/23	Close Cyrano	4	SSP 170	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Pokégear 3.0	4	SVI 186	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Wally's Compassion	3	MEG 132	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Call Bell	2	SSP 165	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Energy Recycler	2	DRI 164	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Hilda	2	WHT 84	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Brilliant Blender	1	SSP 164	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Fighting Gong	1	MEG 116	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
4 %1/23	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy

The most common Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 36 slots come from the core, the cards all 23 lists run. The remaining 24 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 11 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 15 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 14 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 23 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.

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: 15
3 Iono's Bellibolt ex JTG 53
3 Iono's Tadbulb JTG 52
2 Raging Bolt ex TEF 123
3 Iono's Kilowattrel JTG 55
3 Iono's Wattrel JTG 54
1 Iono's Voltorb JTG 47

Trainer: 31
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Levincia JTG 150
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Energy Retrieval SVI 171
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Canari ASC 185
2 Energy Switch MEG 115
3 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Judge POR 76
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Prime Catcher TEF 157

Energy: 14
11 Lightning Energy MEE 4
3 Fighting Energy MEE 6

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 57 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 23 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 11 took Prime Catcher, 6 took Unfair Stamp and 3 took Max Rod. The flex table shows you all 6. 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 Prime Catcher 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: Raging Bolt ex, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 8 of the 36 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Raging Bolt ex / Iono's Bellibolt ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 14 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Mega Lucario ex, plus 11 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 14 decks out of the 126 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 Lightning and Fighting, and 21 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex, Mega Greninja ex and Team Rocket's Honchkrow, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.