Team Rocket's Nidoking ex

What Team Rocket's Nidoking ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 22 lists we counted, this deck runs 14 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 38 Trainers and 8 to 15 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « rocket-nidoking-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: 8 to 15 out of 60, when half the 117 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. Team Rocket's Nidoking 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: 26 to 38 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 117 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 14 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 9 to 24 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 15 of the 117 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 Team Rocket's Nidoking ex actually wins

Team Rocket's Nidoking ex attacks with Kingly Impact for 240. It needs 4 Energy, 3 Darkness and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 330 HP.

The cost of Kingly Impact 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. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for 3 turns before you swing. Those turns still get played: you fill your Bench, you build your lines, and you keep something back to rebuild with when your attacker falls.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Team Rocket's Nidoking ex 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.

Team Rocket's Nidoking ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Team Rocket's Nidoking 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 Team Rocket's Nidoking exStage 2	330	Kingly Impact	240		Fighting ×2	3
Close Team Rocket's Nidoran♂Basic	70	Hammer In	30		Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 3 cards every list runs

These 3 cards appear in all 22 lists, without a single exception. That is 11 of the 60 slots. The other 49 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 11 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 5 Pokémon, 6 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 3 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Team Rocket's Nidoran♂ (2 to 4), Team Rocket's Nidoking ex (2 to 3) and Darkness Energy (4 to 11). Add those spreads up and you get 10 copies the 22 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
2–4	Close Team Rocket's Nidoran♂	DRI 117	Pokémon
2–3	Close Team Rocket's Nidoking ex	DRI 119	Pokémon
4–11	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy

The 90 cards that change from list to list

90 cards fight over the 49 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 54 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Team Rocket's Nidorino at 95 %, Poké Pad at 95 % and Rare Candy at 95 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Team Rocket's Arbok, at 50 %: 11 of 22 players took it, 11 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Team Rocket's Wobbuffet (5 lists out of 22) and Hilda (5 lists out of 22).

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
95 %21/22	Close Team Rocket's Nidorino	1–3	DRI 118	Pokémon
95 %21/22	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
95 %21/22	Close Rare Candy	1–3	MEG 125	Trainer
86 %19/22	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
86 %19/22	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–3	DRI 176	Trainer
86 %19/22	Close Team Rocket's Energy	4	DRI 182	Energy
82 %18/22	Close Team Rocket's Giovanni	1–3	DRI 174	Trainer
82 %18/22	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
77 %17/22	Close Team Rocket's Factory	2–3	DRI 173	Trainer
77 %17/22	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
73 %16/22	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2–4	DRI 178	Trainer
68 %15/22	Close Team Rocket's Ariana	2–4	DRI 171	Trainer
68 %15/22	Close Team Rocket's Proton	1–3	DRI 177	Trainer
59 %13/22	Close Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1–2	DRI 87	Pokémon
59 %13/22	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
59 %13/22	Close Perilous Jungle	1–3	TEF 156	Trainer
50 %11/22	Close Team Rocket's Arbok	2–3	DRI 113	Pokémon
50 %11/22	Close Team Rocket's Ekans	2–3	DRI 112	Pokémon
50 %11/22	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
45 %10/22	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
41 %9/22	Close Team Rocket's Nidoran♀	1–3	DRI 114	Pokémon
41 %9/22	Close Team Rocket's Nidoqueen	1–3	DRI 116	Pokémon
41 %9/22	Close Team Rocket's Nidorina	1–3	DRI 115	Pokémon
41 %9/22	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
41 %9/22	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
41 %9/22	Close Lucky Helmet	1	TWM 158	Trainer
36 %8/22	Close Team Rocket's Spidops	2	DRI 20	Pokémon
36 %8/22	Close Team Rocket's Tarountula	2	DRI 19	Pokémon
36 %8/22	Close Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	1	DRI 81	Pokémon
36 %8/22	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
36 %8/22	Close Gravity Gemstone	1	SCR 137	Trainer
36 %8/22	Close Team Rocket's Archer	1–2	DRI 170	Trainer
36 %8/22	Close Mist Energy	1–3	TEF 161	Energy
36 %8/22	Grass Energy	2	MEE 1	Energy
27 %6/22	Close Boss's Orders	2–3	MEG 114	Trainer
27 %6/22	Close Switch	1–3	MEG 130	Trainer
23 %5/22	Close Team Rocket's Wobbuffet	1–2	DRI 82	Pokémon
23 %5/22	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
23 %5/22	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–4	PRE 112	Trainer
18 %4/22	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
18 %4/22	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
14 %3/22	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
14 %3/22	Close Team Rocket's Diglett	1–2	ASC 100	Pokémon
14 %3/22	Close Team Rocket's Dugtrio	1–2	ASC 101	Pokémon
14 %3/22	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Scrafty	2	WHT 58	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Scraggy	2	WHT 57	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Team Rocket's Blipbug	2	DRI 15	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Team Rocket's Orbeetle	2	DRI 89	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Toxel	2	PFL 67	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Toxtricity	2	PFL 68	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Team Rocket's Dottler	1	DRI 88	Pokémon
9 %2/22	Close Battle Cage	3	PFL 85	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Binding Mochi	2	PRE 95	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Dark Bell	2	PBL 75	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Punk Helmet	1–2	PFL 92	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Team Rocket's Great Ball	2	DRI 175	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Enhanced Hammer	1	TWM 148	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close N's PP Up	1	JTG 153	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
9 %2/22	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
9 %2/22	Psychic Energy	3	MEE 5	Energy
5 %1/22	Close Dudunsparce	4	TEF 129	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Team Rocket's Golbat	3	DRI 121	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Team Rocket's Zubat	3	DRI 120	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Dunsparce	2	TEF 128	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Mega Darkrai ex	2	PBL 48	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Team Rocket's Crobat ex	2	DRI 122	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Team Rocket's Chingling	1	DRI 85	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1	DRI 128	Pokémon
5 %1/22	Close Dusk Ball	3	SSP 175	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Pokégear 3.0	3	SVI 186	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Risky Ruins	2	MEG 127	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Roxie's Performance	2	CRI 81	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Deluxe Bomb	1	SCR 134	Trainer
5 %1/22	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1	PFL 91	Trainer

The most common Team Rocket's Nidoking ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 11 slots come from the core, the cards all 22 lists run. The remaining 49 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 27 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 20 Pokémon, 30 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 22 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. Our readings are in euros, taken on the European market, and that is not the currency you pay in. A figure you would have to convert in your head is worse than no figure at all. 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: 20
3 Team Rocket's Nidoran♂ DRI 117
2 Team Rocket's Nidoking ex DRI 119
1 Team Rocket's Nidorino DRI 118
1 Team Rocket's Mimikyu DRI 87
2 Team Rocket's Arbok DRI 113
2 Team Rocket's Ekans DRI 112
3 Team Rocket's Nidoran♀ DRI 114
2 Team Rocket's Nidoqueen DRI 116
2 Team Rocket's Nidorina DRI 115
1 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51
1 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81

Trainer: 30
1 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
3 Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
1 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
2 Team Rocket's Ariana DRI 171
2 Team Rocket's Proton DRI 177
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Perilous Jungle TEF 156
2 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Secret Box TWM 163
3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Lucky Helmet TWM 158

Energy: 10
6 Darkness Energy MEE 7
4 Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182

Total Cards: 60

What Team Rocket's Nidoking ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 93 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 3 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

21 of these 22 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 10 took Secret Box, 4 took Hero's Cape and 2 took Grand Tree. 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 Secret Box and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 3 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Team Rocket's Nidoking ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 14 of the 117 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp 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 117 we track. The other 103 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 29 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.