Team Rocket's Nidoking ex

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

Across the 27 lists we counted, this deck runs 14 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 38 Trainers and 8 to 17 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 17 out of 60, when half the 132 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 132 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 9 to 24 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 26 of the 132 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 27 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 (1 to 12). Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 27 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
1–12	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy

The 103 cards that change from list to list

103 cards fight over the 49 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 65 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Rare Candy at 96 %, Team Rocket's Nidorino at 93 % and Team Rocket's Energy at 89 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Air Balloon, at 52 %: 14 of 27 players took it, 13 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Pecharunt ex (5 lists out of 27) and Team Rocket's Wobbuffet (5 lists out of 27).

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 %26/27	Close Rare Candy	1–4	MEG 125	Trainer
93 %25/27	Close Team Rocket's Nidorino	1–3	DRI 118	Pokémon
89 %24/27	Close Team Rocket's Energy	4	DRI 182	Energy
85 %23/27	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
85 %23/27	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
81 %22/27	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
81 %22/27	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
78 %21/27	Close Team Rocket's Giovanni	1–3	DRI 174	Trainer
78 %21/27	Close Team Rocket's Factory	2–3	DRI 173	Trainer
78 %21/27	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
74 %20/27	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2–4	DRI 178	Trainer
70 %19/27	Close Team Rocket's Ariana	2–4	DRI 171	Trainer
70 %19/27	Close Team Rocket's Proton	1–3	DRI 177	Trainer
56 %15/27	Close Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1–2	DRI 87	Pokémon
56 %15/27	Close Perilous Jungle	1–3	TEF 156	Trainer
52 %14/27	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
48 %13/27	Close Team Rocket's Arbok	2–3	DRI 113	Pokémon
48 %13/27	Close Team Rocket's Ekans	2–3	DRI 112	Pokémon
48 %13/27	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
41 %11/27	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
41 %11/27	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
41 %11/27	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
41 %11/27	Close Team Rocket's Archer	1–3	DRI 170	Trainer
37 %10/27	Close Team Rocket's Nidoran♀	1–3	DRI 114	Pokémon
37 %10/27	Close Team Rocket's Nidoqueen	1–3	DRI 116	Pokémon
37 %10/27	Close Boss's Orders	1–3	MEG 114	Trainer
37 %10/27	Close Switch	1–3	MEG 130	Trainer
33 %9/27	Close Team Rocket's Nidorina	1–3	DRI 115	Pokémon
33 %9/27	Close Lucky Helmet	1	TWM 158	Trainer
30 %8/27	Close Team Rocket's Spidops	2	DRI 20	Pokémon
30 %8/27	Close Team Rocket's Tarountula	2	DRI 19	Pokémon
30 %8/27	Close Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	1	DRI 81	Pokémon
30 %8/27	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
30 %8/27	Close Gravity Gemstone	1	SCR 137	Trainer
30 %8/27	Close Mist Energy	1–3	TEF 161	Energy
30 %8/27	Grass Energy	2	MEE 1	Energy
26 %7/27	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
26 %7/27	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–4	PRE 112	Trainer
19 %5/27	Close Pecharunt ex	1–2	SFA 39	Pokémon
19 %5/27	Close Team Rocket's Wobbuffet	1–2	DRI 82	Pokémon
19 %5/27	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
15 %4/27	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
15 %4/27	Close Binding Mochi	2	PRE 95	Trainer
15 %4/27	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
15 %4/27	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
15 %4/27	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
15 %4/27	Close Punk Helmet	1–2	PFL 92	Trainer
11 %3/27	Close Toxel	2	PFL 67	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Toxtricity	2	PFL 68	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Pecharunt	1–2	SVP 149	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Team Rocket's Diglett	1–2	ASC 100	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Team Rocket's Dugtrio	1–2	ASC 101	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1	DRI 128	Pokémon
11 %3/27	Close Team Rocket's Great Ball	2–4	DRI 175	Trainer
11 %3/27	Close Enhanced Hammer	1–2	TWM 148	Trainer
11 %3/27	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Zubat	1–3	DRI 120	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Scrafty	2	WHT 58	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Scraggy	2	WHT 57	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Blipbug	2	DRI 15	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Crobat ex	1–2	DRI 122	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Orbeetle	2	DRI 89	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Dottler	1	DRI 88	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
7 %2/27	Close Battle Cage	3	PFL 85	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Dark Bell	2	PBL 75	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Roxie's Performance	2	CRI 81	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Grimsley's Move	1	PFL 90	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close N's PP Up	1	JTG 153	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
7 %2/27	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	4	PBL 83	Energy
7 %2/27	Psychic Energy	3	MEE 5	Energy
4 %1/27	Close Dudunsparce	4	TEF 129	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Team Rocket's Golbat	3	DRI 121	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Brute Bonnet	2	TWM 118	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Dunsparce	2	TEF 128	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Gastly	2	TEF 102	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Mega Darkrai ex	2	PBL 48	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Mega Gengar ex	2	PFL 56	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Team Rocket's Murkrow	2	DRI 127	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Team Rocket's Porygon	2	DRI 153	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Team Rocket's Porygon-Z	2	DRI 155	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Haunter	1	PFL 55	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1	MEG 104	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Team Rocket's Chingling	1	DRI 85	Pokémon
4 %1/27	Close Dusk Ball	3	SSP 175	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Pokégear 3.0	3	SVI 186	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Risky Ruins	2	MEG 127	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Deluxe Bomb	1	SCR 134	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1	PFL 91	Trainer
4 %1/27	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy

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 27 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 28 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 18 Pokémon, 32 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 27 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: 18
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
1 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51
3 Team Rocket's Nidoran♀ DRI 114
2 Team Rocket's Nidoqueen DRI 116
1 Team Rocket's Nidorina DRI 115

Trainer: 32
1 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
1 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174
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 Perilous Jungle TEF 156
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Secret Box TWM 163
1 Team Rocket's Archer DRI 170
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
1 Switch MEG 130

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

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Team Rocket's Nidoking ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 106 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 3 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

26 of these 27 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 11 took Secret Box, 5 took Maximum Belt and 4 took Hero's Cape. The flex table shows you all 7. 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. 13 of the 132 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 10 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 13 decks out of the 132 we track. The other 119 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 28 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex, N's Zoroark ex and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.