Scizor ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Scizor ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 12 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 18 Pokémon, 27 to 31 Trainers and 12 to 15 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « scizor-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: 12 to 15 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. Metang 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: 27 to 31 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 11 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 15 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 91 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.

How Scizor ex actually wins

Genesect ex attacks with Protect Charge for 150. It needs 3 Energy, 2 Metal and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 220 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 opponent's next turn, this Pokémon takes 30 less damage from attacks (after applying Weakness and Resistance)."

The cost of Protect Charge decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 3. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 3. Except you are not on your own. Metang, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Metal Maker: it looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. 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.

Energy is not your only clock. Beldum has to climb a step before it becomes Metang, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Genesect ex, a single copy in the list, has an Ability called Metallic Signal: it goes into your deck for an evolution.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Genesect 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.

Scizor ex and Genesect 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 Genesect exBasic	220	Protect Charge	150	Metal + Metal + Colorless	Fire ×2	2
Close Scizor exStage 1	270	Cross Breaker	120×	Metal + Metal	Fire ×2	2
Close MetangStage 1	100	Beam	60	Metal + Colorless + Colorless	Fire ×2	2
Close ScytherBasic	90	Slashing Strike	60	Colorless + Colorless	Fire ×2	1

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 12 lists, without a single exception. That is 40 of the 60 slots. The other 20 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 40 slots break down: 16 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 14 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 40 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

7 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Scyther (3 to 4), Genesect ex (1 to 2) and Poké Pad (3 to 4), plus 4 more. Add those spreads up and you get 10 copies the 12 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	Close Metang	TEF 114	Pokémon	leaves
3	Close Scizor ex	TEF 111	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Scyther	TEF 1	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Genesect ex	BLK 67	Pokémon	stays
4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Energy Recycler	DRI 164	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
12–15	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy	stays

The 30 cards that change from list to list

30 cards fight over the 20 slots that are left: 5 above three lists in four, 12 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Full Metal Lab at 83 %, Pokégear 3.0 at 83 % and Energy Retrieval at 83 %, plus 2 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Mega Skarmory ex, at 50 %: 6 of 12 players took it, 6 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Harlequin (3 lists out of 12) and Xerosic's Machinations (3 lists out of 12).

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
83 %10/12	Close Full Metal Lab	2–3	TEF 148	Trainer
83 %10/12	Close Pokégear 3.0	2–3	SVI 186	Trainer
83 %10/12	Close Energy Retrieval	1–2	SVI 171	Trainer
83 %10/12	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
75 %9/12	Close Metagross	1–2	CRI 61	Pokémon
67 %8/12	Close Beldum	3	TEF 113	Pokémon
50 %6/12	Close Mega Skarmory ex	1	POR 55	Pokémon
50 %6/12	Close Iron Defender	4	MEG 118	Trainer
50 %6/12	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–3	TEF 144	Trainer
50 %6/12	Close Judge	2	POR 76	Trainer
50 %6/12	Close Lacey	2	SCR 139	Trainer
42 %5/12	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
33 %4/12	Close Beldum	4	CRI 59	Pokémon
33 %4/12	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
33 %4/12	Close Air Balloon	2	ASC 181	Trainer
33 %4/12	Close Philippe	2	CRI 79	Trainer
33 %4/12	Close Switch	2	MEG 130	Trainer
33 %4/12	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
25 %3/12	Close Harlequin	1	WHT 83	Trainer
25 %3/12	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2	DRI 176	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Night Stretcher	1	ASC 196	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Powerglass	1	SFA 63	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
17 %2/12	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer

What Scizor ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 40 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 12 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 10 took Maximum Belt and 2 took Unfair Stamp. 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. 3 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Metang, Scizor ex and Scyther. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 9 of the 40 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Scizor ex 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 Metal, and 29 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Dhelmise, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Scizor ex deck list?

There isn't one. Across 12 tournament lists harvested between 16 August 2026 and 28 August 2026, 10 cards turn up in every single one, 40 slots out of 60. The remaining 20 change from player to player, with 30 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

12 lists, played across 12 different tournaments, harvested between 16 August 2026 and 28 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 12 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Scizor ex?

With the whole core: 10 cards, 40 slots. Inside it, buy the 16 Trainer slots and the 14 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 10 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Full Metal Lab at 83 % and Pokégear 3.0 at 83 %.

What beats Scizor ex?

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 Scizor ex survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 3 core cards out of 10 carry the letter H, starting with Metang, Scizor ex and Scyther.

Are a lot of people playing Scizor ex?

We have read 12 lists of it, which puts it 91st of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 12 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.