Steven's Metagross ex

What Steven's Metagross ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 88 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 24 Pokémon, 25 to 36 Trainers and 8 to 16 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « stevens-metagross ». 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 16 out of 60, when half the 126 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. Steven's Metagross 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: 25 to 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 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 10 to 21 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 88 of the 126 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

Steven's Metagross ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Steven's Metagross ex is in all 88 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called X-Boot, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may search your deck for a Basic {P} Energy card, a Basic {M} Energy card, or 1 of each and attach them to your {P} Pokémon and {M} Pokémon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Steven's Metagross ex actually wins

Steven's Metagross ex attacks with Metal Stomp for 200. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Metal and 2 Colorless attached, and it has 340 HP.

The cost of Metal Stomp 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. Steven's Beldum has to climb two steps before it becomes Steven's Metagross ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Genesect ex, which the list runs 2 of, has an Ability called Metallic Signal: it goes into your deck for an evolution.

There is another trick in this list, and the whole of it happens in one turn. Team Rocket's Petrel goes into your deck for a Trainer card and puts it in your hand. Precious Trolley is one, and it puts as many Basic Pokémon as you like onto your Bench in one go. A full Bench on turn one is what decides the game in a deck with lines to build. One rule to know: Precious Trolley is an ACE SPEC card. You are allowed just ONE ACE SPEC in your whole deck, so a second copy is never coming, and taking this one means giving up every other. One detail that matters: Team Rocket's Petrel is a Supporter, so that turn you play no other Supporter. Items all still go through. And if Team Rocket's Petrel will not show up, Team Rocket's Transceiver goes and gets it: 66 of the 88 lists bring it for exactly that.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Steven's Metagross 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.

Steven's Metagross 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 Steven's Metagross exStage 2	340	Metal Stomp	200		Fire ×2	3
Close Genesect exBasic	220	Protect Charge	150		Fire ×2	2
Close Steven's MetangStage 1	100	Metal Slash	70		Fire ×2	2
Close Steven's BeldumBasic	70	Ram	30		Fire ×2	1

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 88 lists, without a single exception. That is 31 of the 60 slots. The other 29 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 31 slots break down: 10 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 31 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 126 decks we track fix 25 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

10 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Steven's Beldum (2 to 4), Steven's Metagross ex (2 to 4) and Genesect ex (1 to 2), plus 7 more. Add those spreads up and you get 24 copies the 88 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 Steven's Beldum	DRI 143	Pokémon
2–4	Close Steven's Metagross ex	DRI 145	Pokémon
1–2	Close Genesect ex	BLK 67	Pokémon
1–4	Close Steven's Metang	DRI 144	Pokémon
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
2–4	Close Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer
1–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
1–2	Close Energy Recycler	DRI 164	Trainer
5–10	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy
3–7	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy

The 99 cards that change from list to list

99 cards fight over the 29 slots that are left: 12 above three lists in four, 73 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Team Rocket's Petrel at 99 %, Ultra Ball at 97 % and Night Stretcher at 94 %, plus 9 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Drilbur, at 52 %: 46 of 88 players took it, 42 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Battle Cage (22 lists out of 88) and Jumbo Ice Cream (18 lists out of 88).

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 %87/88	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
97 %85/88	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
94 %83/88	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
91 %80/88	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1–2	JTG 56	Pokémon
89 %78/88	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
84 %74/88	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
83 %73/88	Close Empoleon ex	1–2	PFL 70	Pokémon
83 %73/88	Close Piplup	1–3	PFL 27	Pokémon
80 %70/88	Close Mega Skarmory ex	1–2	POR 55	Pokémon
75 %66/88	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
75 %66/88	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	1–4	DRI 178	Trainer
75 %66/88	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
68 %60/88	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
64 %56/88	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
55 %48/88	Close Deoxys	1	CRI 32	Pokémon
55 %48/88	Close Mega Excadrill ex	1	PBL 65	Pokémon
52 %46/88	Close Drilbur	1–2	PBL 46	Pokémon
52 %46/88	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
47 %41/88	Close Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
36 %32/88	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
33 %29/88	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
32 %28/88	Close Dialga	1	MEG 95	Pokémon
32 %28/88	Close Brock's Scouting	1–4	JTG 146	Trainer
31 %27/88	Close Frillish	1–2	WHT 44	Pokémon
28 %25/88	Close Jellicent ex	1	WHT 45	Pokémon
26 %23/88	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
25 %22/88	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
20 %18/88	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1–4	PFL 91	Trainer
16 %14/88	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
15 %13/88	Close Poké Pad	1–3	POR 81	Trainer
14 %12/88	Close Full Metal Lab	1–3	TEF 148	Trainer
14 %12/88	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
10 %9/88	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
10 %9/88	Close Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1	DRI 87	Pokémon
10 %9/88	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
9 %8/88	Close Mew ex	1–3	30C 66	Pokémon
9 %8/88	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
8 %7/88	Close Jirachi ex	1	30C 102	Pokémon
8 %7/88	Close Antique Armor Fossil	1–3	PBL 72	Trainer
8 %7/88	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
8 %7/88	Close Kieran	1–2	TWM 154	Trainer
8 %7/88	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %6/88	Close Bastiodon	1–2	PBL 62	Pokémon
7 %6/88	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
7 %6/88	Close Shieldon	1	PBL 61	Pokémon
7 %6/88	Close Unown	1	30C 72	Pokémon
7 %6/88	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
6 %5/88	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
6 %5/88	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	1–4	CRI 85	Energy
6 %5/88	Close Mist Energy	1–2	TEF 161	Energy
5 %4/88	Close Clefable	1–2	TWM 79	Pokémon
5 %4/88	Close Clefairy	1–2	POR 30	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close Steven's Carbink	1–2	DRI 86	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1	MEG 104	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close N's Sigilyph	1	JTG 64	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close Prinplup	1	PFL 28	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	1	DRI 81	Pokémon
3 %3/88	Close Fossil Quarry	2–3	PBL 76	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Granite Cave	1–3	DRI 166	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Cyrano	1–2	SSP 170	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Philippe	1	CRI 79	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
3 %3/88	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
2 %2/88	Close Deoxys	1	CRI 33	Pokémon
2 %2/88	Close Drilbur	1	BLK 45	Pokémon
2 %2/88	Close Enamorus	1	TWM 93	Pokémon
2 %2/88	Close Regigigas	1	PRE 86	Pokémon
2 %2/88	Close Lumiose City	1–2	POR 77	Trainer
2 %2/88	Close Kofu	1	SCR 138	Trainer
2 %2/88	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
2 %2/88	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
2 %2/88	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Cofagrigus	3	WHT 40	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Yamask	3	SSP 82	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Dudunsparce	2	TEF 129	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Dusclops	2	PRE 36	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Dusknoir	2	PRE 37	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Duskull	2	PRE 35	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Cobalion ex	1	CRI 64	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Dunsparce	1	TEF 128	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Eevee	1	TWM 135	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Mega Diancie ex	1	PFL 41	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Sylveon	1	PRE 40	Pokémon
1 %1/88	Close Crushing Hammer	2	POR 71	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Drayton	2	SSP 174	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Hilda	2	WHT 84	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Bianca's Devotion	1	TEF 142	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Crispin	1	SCR 133	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
1 %1/88	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	2	POR 88	Energy

The most common Steven's Metagross ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 31 slots come from the core, the cards all 88 lists run. The remaining 29 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 22 Pokémon, 27 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 88 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: 22
3 Steven's Beldum DRI 143
3 Steven's Metagross ex DRI 145
2 Genesect ex BLK 67
2 Steven's Metang DRI 144
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Empoleon ex PFL 70
1 Piplup PFL 27
1 Mega Skarmory ex POR 55
1 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Budew ASC 16
1 Deoxys CRI 32
1 Mega Excadrill ex PBL 65
1 Drilbur PBL 46
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142

Trainer: 27
3 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Energy Recycler DRI 164
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
1 Precious Trolley SSP 185
1 Team Rocket's Watchtower DRI 180
1 Switch MEG 130

Energy: 11
6 Metal Energy MEE 8
5 Psychic Energy MEE 5

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Steven's Metagross ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 109 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 88 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 66 took Precious Trolley, 7 took Hero's Cape and 7 took Secret Box. 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 Precious Trolley 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 10 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Steven's Metagross ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 13 of the 126 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 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 126 we track. The other 113 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 16 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dhelmise, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mew 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. Empoleon ex has Emperor's Stance, and 73 lists out of 88 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. Careful, though: the Ability protects the card that has it, and only that card. The rest of your bench takes everything.

Of the decks we track right now, 7 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.