Mega Starmie ex / Froslass deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Mega Starmie ex / Froslass looks like when you open the box

Across the 36 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 23 Pokémon, 27 to 35 Trainers and 8 to 11 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water and Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « starmie-froslass ». 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 11 out of 60, exactly the median of the 97 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It sets up fast. Froslass 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 35 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 12 to 16 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 12 to 17 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

Mega Starmie ex and Froslass give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Mega Starmie ex is in all 36 lists, 2 copies of it.

Froslass is in all 36 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Freezing Shroud, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « During Pokémon Checkup, put 1 damage counter on each Pokémon that has an Ability (both yours and your opponent's), except any Froslass. »

How Mega Starmie ex / Froslass actually wins

Mega Starmie ex attacks with Nebula Beam for 210. It needs 3 Colorless Energy attached, and it has 330 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: "This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness or Resistance, or by any effects on your opponent's Active Pokémon."

The cost of Nebula Beam 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. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for 2 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.

Energy is not your only clock. Snorunt has to climb a step before it becomes Froslass, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, which the list runs 4 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 35 of the 36 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Starmie 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 Froslass ex and Mega Starmie ex are Mega Evolution exes, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn one of them goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on those cards beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts 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 Mega Starmie exStage 1	330	Nebula Beam	210	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Lightning ×2	2
Close Mega Froslass exStage 1	310	Absolute Snow	150	Water + Colorless + Colorless	Metal ×2	1
Close FroslassStage 1	90	Frost Smash	60	Water + Colorless	Metal ×2	1
Close MunkidoriBasic	110	Mind Bend	60	Psychic + Colorless	Darkness ×2	1

The core: the 13 cards every list runs

These 13 cards appear in all 36 lists, without a single exception. That is 38 of the 60 slots. The other 22 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 38 slots break down: 16 Trainers, 15 Pokémon, 7 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 38 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.

13 of those 13 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Munkidori (1 to 4), Snorunt (2 to 4) and Staryu (2 to 3), plus 10 more. Add those spreads up and you get 23 copies the 36 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
1–4	Close Munkidori	TWM 95	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Snorunt	ASC 46	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Staryu	POR 20	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Froslass	TWM 53	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Mega Froslass ex	ASC 47	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Mega Starmie ex	POR 21	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–5	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy	stays
2–5	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 49 cards that change from list to list

49 cards fight over the 22 slots that are left: 9 above three lists in four, 35 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Hilda at 97 %, Ultra Ball at 97 % and Crispin at 94 %, plus 6 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Salvatore, at 50 %: 18 of 36 players took it, 18 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Dunsparce (9 lists out of 36) and Yveltal (9 lists out of 36).

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
97 %35/36	Close Hilda	2–4	WHT 84	Trainer
97 %35/36	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
94 %34/36	Close Crispin	1–3	SCR 133	Trainer
94 %34/36	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
92 %33/36	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
89 %32/36	Close Budew	1–3	ASC 16	Pokémon
81 %29/36	Close Risky Ruins	1–4	MEG 127	Trainer
78 %28/36	Close Ignition Energy	1–2	WHT 86	Energy
75 %27/36	Close Wally's Compassion	1–2	MEG 132	Trainer
69 %25/36	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
50 %18/36	Close Salvatore	1–3	TEF 160	Trainer
50 %18/36	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
39 %14/36	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
36 %13/36	Close Dudunsparce	1–2	TEF 129	Pokémon
25 %9/36	Close Dunsparce	1–2	JTG 120	Pokémon
25 %9/36	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
25 %9/36	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
25 %9/36	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
22 %8/36	Close Lucian	1	TWM 157	Trainer
22 %8/36	Close Surfing Beach	1–2	MEG 129	Trainer
19 %7/36	Close Dunsparce	1–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
19 %7/36	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
19 %7/36	Close Bubbly Water Energy	1–2	CRI 84	Energy
14 %5/36	Close Bronzong	2	TEF 69	Pokémon
14 %5/36	Close Bronzor	2	TEF 68	Pokémon
14 %5/36	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
14 %5/36	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
14 %5/36	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
14 %5/36	Close Lumiose City	2	POR 77	Trainer
14 %5/36	Close Larry's Skill	1–2	PRE 115	Trainer
14 %5/36	Psychic Energy	2	MEE 5	Energy
14 %5/36	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	2	POR 88	Energy
11 %4/36	Close Bronzor	1	SSP 126	Pokémon
11 %4/36	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–3	SVI 186	Trainer
8 %3/36	Close Glalie	1	TWM 52	Pokémon
8 %3/36	Close Mega Signal	1–3	MEG 121	Trainer
8 %3/36	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–3	DRI 176	Trainer
8 %3/36	Close Carmine	2–4	TWM 145	Trainer
6 %2/36	Close Totodile	1	TEF 39	Pokémon
6 %2/36	Close Gwynn	2	PBL 78	Trainer
6 %2/36	Close Tool Scrapper	1–2	ASC 212	Trainer
3 %1/36	Close Drakloak	2	TWM 129	Pokémon
3 %1/36	Close Dreepy	2	TWM 128	Pokémon
3 %1/36	Close Bronzor	1	PRE 66	Pokémon
3 %1/36	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
3 %1/36	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
3 %1/36	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
3 %1/36	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
3 %1/36	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer

The most common Mega Starmie ex / Froslass list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 38 slots come from the core, the cards all 36 lists run. The remaining 22 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 14 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 20 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 9 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 36 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. 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: 20
3 Munkidori TWM 95
3 Snorunt ASC 46
3 Staryu POR 20
2 Froslass TWM 53
2 Mega Froslass ex ASC 47
2 Mega Starmie ex POR 21
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Shaymin DRI 10
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129

Trainer: 31
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Hilda WHT 84
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Crispin SCR 133
3 Risky Ruins MEG 127
1 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Salvatore TEF 160
1 Special Red Card CRI 82

Energy: 9
4 Water Energy MEE 3
3 Darkness Energy MEE 7
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167
1 Ignition Energy WHT 86

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Mega Starmie ex / Froslass at tournaments

Here is how Mega Starmie ex / Froslass 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 Pitch Black became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 5 September 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 Dragapult ex: over 100 games, 36 won and 64 lost.

What Mega Starmie ex / Froslass costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 62 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 13 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 36 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 34 took Legacy Energy, 1 took Hero's Cape and 1 took Secret Box. 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 Legacy Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 4 of the 13 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Munkidori, Froslass, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 11 of the 38 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Starmie ex / Froslass struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Lightning, Metal and Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 27 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Excadrill ex, Slowking (Metagross) and N's Zoroark ex, plus 24 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 27 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 70 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 Water and Psychic, and 15 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Mega Starmie ex / Froslass deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 36 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 30 August 2026, 13 cards turn up in every single one, 38 slots out of 60. The remaining 22 change from player to player, with 49 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

36 lists, played across 31 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 30 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 36 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Mega Starmie ex / Froslass?

With the whole core: 13 cards, 38 slots. Inside it, buy the 16 Trainer slots and the 7 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 15 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Hilda at 97 % and Ultra Ball at 97 %.

What beats Mega Starmie ex / Froslass?

Its attackers are Weak to Lightning, Metal and Darkness, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 27 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Excadrill ex, Slowking, N's Zoroark ex and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, among others.

Will Mega Starmie ex / Froslass survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 4 core cards out of 13 carry the letter H, starting with Munkidori, Froslass, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher.

Are a lot of people playing Mega Starmie ex / Froslass?

We have read 36 lists of it, which puts it 19th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 288 entries for it, 0.71 % 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.