Team Rocket's Spidops deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

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

Across the 14 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 20 Pokémon, 28 to 34 Trainers and 10 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « rocket-spidops ». 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: 10 to 12 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 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. Team Rocket's Spidops 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 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 11 to 16 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 12 to 15 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

Team Rocket's Spidops gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Team Rocket's Spidops is in all 14 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Charging Up, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon. »

How Team Rocket's Spidops actually wins

Team Rocket's Spidops attacks with Rocket Rush. It needs 2 Energy, 1 Grass and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 130 HP. Watch the damage box: "30×" is not a total. Here is what the card prints, word for word: "This attack does 30 damage for each of your Team Rocket's Pokémon in play."

The cost of Rocket Rush 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 it charges itself. Team Rocket's Spidops, which the list runs 4 of, has an Ability called Charging Up: it digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. 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 Team Rocket's Spidops 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.

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 21 of the 97 decks we track are in that position. It is a hidden advantage: every knockout your opponent takes is worth a single Prize, so they need 6, where 3 would do against a deck stuffed with ex cards.

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 SpidopsStage 1	130	Rocket Rush	30×	Grass + Colorless	Fire ×2	2
Close Team Rocket's TarountulaBasic	50	Take Down	30	Grass	Fire ×2	1

The core: the 5 cards every list runs

These 5 cards appear in all 14 lists, without a single exception. That is 16 of the 60 slots. The other 44 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 16 slots break down: 8 Trainers, 8 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.

4 of those 5 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Team Rocket's Spidops (3 to 4), Ultra Ball (2 to 4) and Lillie's Determination (2 to 4), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 7 copies the 14 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 Team Rocket's Spidops	DRI 20	Pokémon	stays
4	Close Team Rocket's Tarountula	DRI 19	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves

The 54 cards that change from list to list

54 cards fight over the 44 slots that are left: 17 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: Team Rocket's Articuno at 93 %, Team Rocket's Mimikyu at 93 % and Team Rocket's Giovanni at 93 %, plus 14 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Poké Pad, at 57 %: 8 of 14 players took it, 6 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Team Rocket's Meowth (3 lists out of 14) and Team Rocket's Persian ex (3 lists out of 14).

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
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1–2	DRI 51	Pokémon
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1–2	DRI 87	Pokémon
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Giovanni	3–4	DRI 174	Trainer
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	4	DRI 178	Trainer
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Ariana	2–4	DRI 171	Trainer
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Proton	2–3	DRI 177	Trainer
93 %13/14	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
93 %13/14	Grass Energy	5–6	MEE 1	Energy
93 %13/14	Close Team Rocket's Energy	4	DRI 182	Energy
86 %12/14	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–3	DRI 173	Trainer
86 %12/14	Close Prism Tower	1–2	CRI 80	Trainer
79 %11/14	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
79 %11/14	Close Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	1	DRI 81	Pokémon
79 %11/14	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1–2	DRI 128	Pokémon
79 %11/14	Close Bug Catching Set	1–2	TWM 143	Trainer
79 %11/14	Psychic Energy	1–12	MEE 5	Energy
71 %10/14	Close Team Rocket's Archer	1–2	DRI 170	Trainer
64 %9/14	Close Lucky Helmet	1–2	TWM 158	Trainer
57 %8/14	Close Poké Pad	2	POR 81	Trainer
57 %8/14	Close Brave Bangle	1–2	WHT 80	Trainer
57 %8/14	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
43 %6/14	Close Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
43 %6/14	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
43 %6/14	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
29 %4/14	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
21 %3/14	Close Team Rocket's Meowth	1–2	DRI 149	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Team Rocket's Persian ex	1–2	DRI 150	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Team Rocket's Diglett	2	ASC 100	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Team Rocket's Dugtrio	2	ASC 101	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Neutralization Zone	1	SFA 60	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Azumarill ex	3	ASC 84	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Marill	3	ASC 83	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Team Rocket's Moltres ex	2	DRI 31	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Explorer's Guidance	3	TEF 147	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Wondrous Patch	3	PFL 94	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Boss's Orders	2	MEG 114	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Energy Search	2	POR 72	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Handheld Fan	2	TWM 150	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Energy Search Pro	1	SSP 176	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
7 %1/14	Fire Energy	1	MEE 2	Energy

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

Here they are in full, ready to build. 16 slots come from the core, the cards all 14 lists run. The remaining 44 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 21 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 15 Pokémon, 34 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 14 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 14 of the 14 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.

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: 15
4 Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20
4 Team Rocket's Tarountula DRI 19
2 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51
2 Team Rocket's Mimikyu DRI 87
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81
1 Team Rocket's Sneasel DRI 128

Trainer: 34
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
3 Team Rocket's Ariana DRI 171
2 Team Rocket's Proton DRI 177
1 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
1 Prism Tower CRI 80
2 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
2 Team Rocket's Archer DRI 170
1 Lucky Helmet TWM 158
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80

Energy: 11
6 Grass Energy MEE 1
4 Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182
1 Psychic Energy MEE 5

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 59 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 5 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 14 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 8 took Maximum Belt, 2 took Neutralization Zone and 2 took Secret Box. The flex table shows you all 5. 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. 1 of the 5 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Night Stretcher. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 2 of the 16 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Team Rocket's Spidops struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, plus 7 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 10 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 87 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 Grass, and 18 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

When an attack does nothing at all

There are two ways to hurt the Pokémon across the table, and the game does not treat them the same. An attack with a number printed next to it deals damage. An attack with no number, whose text just says "place 2 damage counters", does what the rules call an effect. That matters, because a handful of Pokémon have an Ability that prevents the effects of your opponent's attacks, and their card spells it out in brackets: damage is not an effect.

This deck has an answer to that. Team Rocket's Articuno has Repelling Veil, and 13 lists out of 14 play it. Against an attack that only places counters, that Pokémon takes nothing at all. Not one counter. An attack with a number printed next to it still puts its damage on it, mind you. That Ability even covers other Pokémon on your side. Its text tells you which ones, so read it once before your next tournament.

Of the decks we track right now, 5 play an attack like that. They are in the table below, with the Pokémon carrying it. When you run into one, put that Pokémon in the Active Spot: the marker attack can no longer touch it. Your opponent will have to reach for printed-damage attacks — most of these decks carry some too. The wall buys you turns, it does not win the game for you.

Questions people ask

What is the Team Rocket's Spidops deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 14 tournament lists harvested between 16 August 2026 and 2 September 2026, 5 cards turn up in every single one, 16 slots out of 60. The remaining 44 change from player to player, with 54 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

14 lists, played across 14 different tournaments, harvested between 16 August 2026 and 2 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 14 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Team Rocket's Spidops?

With the whole core: 5 cards, 16 slots. Inside it, buy the 8 Trainer slots and the 0 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 8 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Team Rocket's Articuno at 93 % and Team Rocket's Mimikyu at 93 %.

What beats Team Rocket's Spidops?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 10 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion, Ceruledge ex and Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex, among others.

Will Team Rocket's Spidops survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 1 core cards out of 5 carry the letter H, starting with Night Stretcher.

Are a lot of people playing Team Rocket's Spidops?

We have read 14 lists of it, which puts it 88th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 14 entries for it, 0.03 % 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.