Sylveon

What Sylveon looks like when you open the box

Across the 25 lists we counted, this deck runs 12 to 22 Pokémon, 29 to 37 Trainers and 9 to 14 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « sylveon-pre ». 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, « PRE », is a set code: Prismatic Evolutions. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 9 to 14 out of 60, when half the 125 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 sets up fast. Sylveon 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: 29 to 37 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 21 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 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

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

Sylveon is in all 25 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Safeguard, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from your opponent's Pokémon ex. »

How Sylveon actually wins

Sylveon attacks with Magical Shot for 100. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Psychic and 2 Colorless attached, and it has 120 HP.

The cost of Magical Shot 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. Crispin, which the list runs 3 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. 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. Eevee has to climb a step before it becomes Sylveon, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, a single copy in the list, goes into your deck for an evolution.

Good news on mobility: pulling Sylveon back to the Bench costs you 1 Energy attached to it, and that is all. Retreating does not cost you your turn, so you step back and swing anyway. That matters enormously the day your opponent lands something nasty on it.

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 26 of the 125 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 SylveonStage 1	120	Magical Shot	100		Metal ×2	1

The core: the 5 cards every list runs

These 5 cards appear in all 25 lists, without a single exception. That is 14 of the 60 slots. The other 46 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 14 slots break down: 7 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 4 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.

5 of those 5 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Sylveon (3 to 4), Lillie's Determination (3 to 4) and Poké Pad (1 to 4), plus 2 more. Add those spreads up and you get 11 copies the 25 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 Sylveon	PRE 40	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Hilda	WHT 84	Trainer	stays
3–6	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays

The 76 cards that change from list to list

76 cards fight over the 46 slots that are left: 20 above three lists in four, 52 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Boss's Orders at 96 %, Team Rocket's Petrel at 96 % and Night Stretcher at 96 %, plus 17 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Water Energy, at 68 %: 17 of 25 players took it, 8 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Lillie's Clefairy ex (3 lists out of 25) and Sacred Ash (3 lists out of 25).

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
96 %24/25	Close Boss's Orders	2–4	MEG 114	Trainer
96 %24/25	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2–4	DRI 176	Trainer
96 %24/25	Close Night Stretcher	2–4	ASC 196	Trainer
96 %24/25	Darkness Energy	1–3	MEE 7	Energy
92 %23/25	Close Munkidori	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
92 %23/25	Close Jacinthe	3–4	POR 75	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	2–4	PFL 91	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
92 %23/25	Close Mist Energy	2–4	TEF 161	Energy
88 %22/25	Close Eevee	1–4	TWM 135	Pokémon
84 %21/25	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
84 %21/25	Close Espeon ex	1–2	PRE 34	Pokémon
84 %21/25	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
84 %21/25	Close Handheld Fan	1–2	TWM 150	Trainer
84 %21/25	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
84 %21/25	Close Spiky Energy	1	JTG 159	Energy
80 %20/25	Close Fezandipiti	1	TWM 96	Pokémon
72 %18/25	Close Team Rocket's Articuno	1	DRI 51	Pokémon
68 %17/25	Water Energy	1	MEE 3	Energy
32 %8/25	Close Eevee	1–4	SSP 143	Pokémon
28 %7/25	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
12 %3/25	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
12 %3/25	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Eevee	1–4	SFA 50	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Dudunsparce	2	TEF 129	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Banette	1	PBL 34	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 112	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Shuppet	1	PBL 33	Pokémon
8 %2/25	Close Rare Candy	3–4	MEG 125	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Brock's Scouting	1	JTG 146	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Eri	1	TEF 146	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Ultra Ball	1	MEG 131	Trainer
8 %2/25	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	1–4	POR 88	Energy
8 %2/25	Fighting Energy	1	MEE 6	Energy
4 %1/25	Close Dusknoir	4	PRE 37	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Duskull	4	PRE 35	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Dusclops	3	PRE 36	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Team Rocket's Mareep	3	DRI 72	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Budew	2	ASC 16	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Dunsparce	2	TEF 128	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Team Rocket's Ampharos	2	DRI 74	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Espeon	1	30C 69	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Ethan's Sudowoodo	1	DRI 93	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Fan Rotom	1	SCR 118	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Salandit	1	POR 15	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Salazzle ex	1	POR 16	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Sylveon ex	1	SSP 86	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Team Rocket's Flaaffy	1	DRI 73	Pokémon
4 %1/25	Close Risky Ruins	4	MEG 127	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Dawn	3	PFL 87	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Lana's Aid	3	TWM 155	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Wondrous Patch	3	PFL 94	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Battle Cage	2	PFL 85	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Bianca's Devotion	2	TEF 142	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Switch	2	MEG 130	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Pokémon Center Lady	1	MEG 123	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
4 %1/25	Close Tera Orb	1	SSP 189	Trainer
4 %1/25	Fire Energy	3	MEE 2	Energy
4 %1/25	Close Enriching Energy	1	SSP 191	Energy
4 %1/25	Lightning Energy	1	MEE 4	Energy
4 %1/25	Close Prism Energy	1	ASC 216	Energy
4 %1/25	Close Team Rocket's Energy	1	DRI 182	Energy

The most common Sylveon list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 14 slots come from the core, the cards all 25 lists run. The remaining 46 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 22 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 13 Pokémon, 34 Trainers and 13 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 25 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: 13
3 Sylveon PRE 40
1 Munkidori TWM 95
4 Eevee TWM 135
1 Dedenne SSP 87
1 Espeon ex PRE 34
1 Psyduck ASC 39
1 Fezandipiti TWM 96
1 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51

Trainer: 34
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Hilda WHT 84
4 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Jacinthe POR 75
4 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
3 Crispin SCR 133
3 Jumbo Ice Cream PFL 91
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Hero's Cape TEF 152
1 Handheld Fan TWM 150
1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64

Energy: 13
4 Psychic Energy MEE 5
3 Darkness Energy MEE 7
4 Mist Energy TEF 161
1 Spiky Energy JTG 159
1 Water Energy MEE 3

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 81 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 5 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 25 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 23 took Hero's Cape, 1 took Enriching Energy and 1 took Sparkling Crystal. 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 Hero's Cape 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: Sylveon. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 3 of the 14 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Sylveon struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Slowking (Metagross), Mega Excadrill ex and Steven's Metagross 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 125 we track. The other 115 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 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Mega Lucario ex and Greninja 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 18 lists out of 25 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, 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.