Slowking

What Slowking looks like when you open the box

Across the 77 lists we counted, this deck runs 20 to 24 Pokémon, 27 to 30 Trainers and 8 to 11 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic and Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « slowking-scr ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

The bit they tack on the end, « SCR », is a set code: Stellar Crown. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 8 to 11 out of 60, when half the 125 decks we track run 11 or more. This one is lean. It lives on cheap attacks and leans on Trainers to find the right Energy at the right moment rather than stockpiling it.

It takes a while to set up. Metagross 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: 27 to 30 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 10 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 13 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 87 of the 125 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

Slowking gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Slowking is in all 77 lists, 3 copies of it. Its attack Seek Inspiration costs 2 Energy (Psychic and 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 the top card of your deck, and if that card is a Pokémon that doesn't have a Rule Box, choose 1 of its attacks and use it as this attack. (Pokémon ex, Pokémon V, etc. have Rule Boxes.) »

How Slowking actually wins

Latias ex attacks with Eon Blade for 200. It needs 3 Energy, 2 Psychic and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 210 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 Eon Blade 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. Wondrous Patch, which the list runs 3 of, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. 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 Latias 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.

Mega Kangaskhan ex is a Mega Evolution ex, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn it goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts anywhere else on your Bench. Latias ex, Fezandipiti ex and Meowth ex carry the plain "ex" suffix, and give up 2. That is already a lot, and it is less than the Mega.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Latias exBasic	210	Eon Blade	200		Darkness ×2	2
Close Mega Kangaskhan exBasic	300	Rapid-Fire Combo	200+		Fighting ×2	3
Close MetagrossStage 2	180	Metallic Hammer	150+		Fire ×2	3
Close SlowkingStage 1	120	Super Psy Bolt	120		Darkness ×2	3

The core: the 16 cards every list runs

These 16 cards appear in all 77 lists, without a single exception. That is 46 of the 60 slots. The other 14 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 46 slots break down: 25 Trainers, 13 Pokémon, 8 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.

12 of those 16 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mega Kangaskhan ex (2 to 4), Kyurem (1 to 2) and Metagross (1 to 2), plus 9 more. Add those spreads up and you get 17 copies the 77 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
2–4	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	MEG 104	Pokémon	stays
3	Close Slowking	SCR 58	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Kyurem	SFA 47	Pokémon	leaves
2	Close Latias ex	SSP 76	Pokémon	leaves
1	Close Fezandipiti ex	ASC 142	Pokémon	leaves
1	Close Meowth ex	POR 62	Pokémon	stays
1–2	Close Metagross	CRI 61	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Academy at Night	SFA 54	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	TEF 145	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Wondrous Patch	PFL 94	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
3–5	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays
3–4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy	stays

The 51 cards that change from list to list

51 cards fight over the 14 slots that are left: 4 above three lists in four, 41 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Slowpoke at 99 %, Lillie's Clefairy ex at 97 % and Boomerang Energy at 95 %, plus 1 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Annihilape, at 48 %: 37 of 77 players took it, 40 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Lana's Aid (18 lists out of 77) and Prime Catcher (18 lists out of 77).

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
99 %76/77	Close Slowpoke	3–4	SCR 57	Pokémon
97 %75/77	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
95 %73/77	Close Boomerang Energy	1–3	TWM 166	Energy
91 %70/77	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
73 %56/77	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
64 %49/77	Close Annihilape	1	SSP 100	Pokémon
48 %37/77	Close Annihilape	1	PBL 41	Pokémon
48 %37/77	Close Zeraora	1	DRI 78	Pokémon
42 %32/77	Close Lucky Helmet	1–2	TWM 158	Trainer
30 %23/77	Close Brave Bangle	1	WHT 80	Trainer
23 %18/77	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
23 %18/77	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
19 %15/77	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
18 %14/77	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
17 %13/77	Close Drapion	1	POR 52	Pokémon
14 %11/77	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
14 %11/77	Close Unown	1	30C 72	Pokémon
14 %11/77	Close Crispin	1	SCR 133	Trainer
14 %11/77	Darkness Energy	1–2	MEE 7	Energy
13 %10/77	Close Mew ex	1–2	30C 66	Pokémon
13 %10/77	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
10 %8/77	Close Cofagrigus	1	SSP 83	Pokémon
10 %8/77	Close Mega Slowbro ex	1	PBL 31	Pokémon
10 %8/77	Close Pawmot	1	PFL 34	Pokémon
10 %8/77	Close Powerglass	1–2	SFA 63	Trainer
6 %5/77	Close Boss's Orders	1	MEG 114	Trainer
5 %4/77	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
5 %4/77	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
5 %4/77	Close Spectrier	1	ASC 98	Pokémon
5 %4/77	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
5 %4/77	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %3/77	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
4 %3/77	Close Zoroark	1	WHT 62	Pokémon
4 %3/77	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
4 %3/77	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
4 %3/77	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1	DRI 176	Trainer
3 %2/77	Close Duskull	1–2	PRE 35	Pokémon
3 %2/77	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
3 %2/77	Close Espeon	1	30C 69	Pokémon
3 %2/77	Close N's Vanilluxe	1	ASC 51	Pokémon
3 %2/77	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
3 %2/77	Close Rare Candy	1	MEG 125	Trainer
3 %2/77	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
1 %1/77	Slowpoke	4	MEP 86	Pokémon
1 %1/77	Close Dusclops	1	PRE 36	Pokémon
1 %1/77	Close Shiftry	1	TEF 5	Pokémon
1 %1/77	Close Walrein	1	SSP 45	Pokémon
1 %1/77	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
1 %1/77	Close Amulet of Hope	1	SSP 162	Trainer
1 %1/77	Close Dawn	1	PFL 87	Trainer
1 %1/77	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer

The most common Slowking list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 46 slots come from the core, the cards all 77 lists run. The remaining 14 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 10 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 29 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 77 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: 21
3 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104
3 Slowking SCR 58
2 Kyurem SFA 47
2 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Metagross CRI 61
4 Slowpoke SCR 57
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Annihilape SSP 100
1 Annihilape PBL 41
1 Zeraora DRI 78

Trainer: 29
4 Academy at Night SFA 54
4 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Wondrous Patch PFL 94
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Secret Box TWM 163
1 Lucky Helmet TWM 158
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80

Energy: 10
4 Psychic Energy MEE 5
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
2 Boomerang Energy TWM 166

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Slowking at tournaments

Here is how Slowking did against every other deck at tournaments. Real games, real players sitting across the table from each other, and the platform those tournaments run on counts them one by one. All of them were played after 30th Celebration became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 22 October 2026.

The format matters more than people think. When the next set lands, decks get rebuilt around the new cards, and a matchup that leaned one way can swing the other. What you are reading holds for today's format.

We start with the opponent that gives you the most trouble, because that is where the work is before your next tournament. The further down the list you go, the better it goes for you.

Always look at the number of games next to the score. Six wins out of ten happens on its own, even with a middling deck: it is the same as flipping six heads in ten tries. Six hundred out of a thousand, and luck has nothing to do with it. Below 100 games we show nothing at all, because at that count half the matchups look like they lean one way when they lean nowhere.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 281 games, 92 won and 188 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dusknoir: over 156 games, 53 won and 103 lost.

Against Dhelmise: over 274 games, 117 won and 155 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lopunny ex / Dudunsparce: over 176 games, 75 won and 98 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 301 games, 139 won and 156 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 165 games, 73 won and 90 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 682 games, 332 won and 339 lost. 11 ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 330 games, 167 won and 161 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity: over 149 games, 74 won and 72 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 252 games, 137 won and 111 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 200 games, 109 won and 85 lost. 6 ended with no winner.

Against Festival Lead: over 131 games, 73 won and 54 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Cynthia's Garchomp ex: over 112 games, 62 won and 48 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 241 games, 142 won and 97 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Crustle: over 127 games, 78 won and 46 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama: over 150 games, 103 won and 47 lost.

How many different cards Slowking needs, and how long it will last

You need 67 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 16 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 77 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 56 took Secret Box, 18 took Prime Catcher and 2 took Scoop Up Cyclone. The flex table shows you all 4. 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. 7 of the 16 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Slowking, Kyurem, Latias ex and Fezandipiti ex, plus 3 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 18 of the 46 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Slowking struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness, Fighting and Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 42 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity, plus 39 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 42 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 83 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 Psychic and Metal, and 22 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dhelmise, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.