Terapagos ex / Noctowl

What Terapagos ex / Noctowl looks like when you open the box

Across the 26 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 25 Pokémon, 26 to 33 Trainers and 6 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass, Water and Lightning.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « terapagos-noctowl ». 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: 6 to 12 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 sets up fast. Noctowl 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: 26 to 33 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 5 to 11 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 14 to 21 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 118 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

Terapagos ex and Noctowl give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Terapagos ex is in all 26 lists, 2 copies of it.

Noctowl is in all 26 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Jewel Seeker, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, if you have any Tera Pokémon in play, you may search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Terapagos ex / Noctowl actually wins

Terapagos ex attacks with Crown Opal for 180. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Grass, 1 Water and 1 Lightning attached, and it has 230 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, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks from Basic non-{C} Pokémon."

The cost of Crown Opal 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 2 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. Glass Trumpet does the same job. 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. Hoothoot has to climb a step before it becomes Noctowl, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Dawn, which the list runs 2 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 16 of the 26 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 Terapagos 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.

Terapagos ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Terapagos ex falls. They need 6 to win: 3 well-placed knockouts on that card 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 Terapagos exBasic	230	Crown Opal	180		Fighting ×2	2
Close NoctowlStage 1	100	Speed Wing	60		Lightning ×2	1
Close HoothootBasic	70	Triple Stab	10×		Lightning ×2	1

The core: the 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 26 lists, without a single exception. That is 19 of the 60 slots. The other 41 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 19 slots break down: 11 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 0 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.

8 of those 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Hoothoot (2 to 4), Noctowl (2 to 4) and Terapagos ex (2 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 26 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 Hoothoot	SCR 114	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Noctowl	SCR 115	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Terapagos ex	SCR 128	Pokémon	leaves
2–3	Close Area Zero Underdepths	SCR 131	Trainer	leaves
1–2	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays

The 71 cards that change from list to list

71 cards fight over the 41 slots that are left: 6 above three lists in four, 43 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Fezandipiti ex at 96 %, Buddy-Buddy Poffin at 96 % and Poké Pad at 96 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Dusclops, at 50 %: 13 of 26 players took it, 13 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Ralts (6 lists out of 26) and Mega Gardevoir ex (6 lists out of 26).

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 %25/26	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
96 %25/26	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–4	TEF 144	Trainer
96 %25/26	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
92 %24/26	Close Glass Trumpet	1–3	SCR 135	Trainer
88 %23/26	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
85 %22/26	Close Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
73 %19/26	Water Energy	2–6	MEE 3	Energy
69 %18/26	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
69 %18/26	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
62 %16/26	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
62 %16/26	Grass Energy	1–3	MEE 1	Energy
62 %16/26	Lightning Energy	1–3	MEE 4	Energy
58 %15/26	Close Duskull	1–3	PRE 35	Pokémon
58 %15/26	Close Dusknoir	1–2	PRE 37	Pokémon
54 %14/26	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
50 %13/26	Close Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
50 %13/26	Close Tera Orb	1–2	SSP 189	Trainer
46 %12/26	Close Pikipek	1–3	PBL 66	Pokémon
46 %12/26	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
46 %12/26	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
42 %11/26	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
42 %11/26	Close Trumbeak	1–2	PBL 67	Pokémon
42 %11/26	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
42 %11/26	Close Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
42 %11/26	Psychic Energy	2–12	MEE 5	Energy
38 %10/26	Close Brave Bangle	1	WHT 80	Trainer
35 %9/26	Close Transformation Tome	2	CRI 83	Trainer
31 %8/26	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
23 %6/26	Close Ralts	3–4	MEG 58	Pokémon
23 %6/26	Close Mega Gardevoir ex	2–3	MEG 60	Pokémon
23 %6/26	Close Kirlia	1–2	MEG 59	Pokémon
23 %6/26	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
23 %6/26	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
19 %5/26	Close Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
19 %5/26	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
19 %5/26	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
15 %4/26	Close Bouffalant	3	SCR 119	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
15 %4/26	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
15 %4/26	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Smoochum	2	SSP 75	Pokémon
12 %3/26	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
12 %3/26	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
12 %3/26	Close Hilda	2	WHT 84	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Wally's Compassion	2	MEG 132	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Wondrous Patch	1	PFL 94	Trainer
12 %3/26	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	4	POR 88	Energy
8 %2/26	Close Munkidori	2	TWM 95	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Terapagos	1	SSP 161	Pokémon
8 %2/26	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2	DRI 176	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Cyrano	1	SSP 170	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
8 %2/26	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
8 %2/26	Darkness Energy	4–5	MEE 15	Energy
4 %1/26	Close Seel	3	POR 18	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Dewgong	2	POR 19	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Durant ex	1	SSP 4	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Koraidon ex	1	ASC 121	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1	MEG 104	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Tapu Koko ex	1	JTG 51	Pokémon
4 %1/26	Close Dusk Ball	2	SSP 175	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Brock's Scouting	1	JTG 146	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Pokémon Catcher	1	POR 82	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %1/26	Close Prism Energy	3	ASC 216	Energy

The most common Terapagos ex / Noctowl list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 19 slots come from the core, the cards all 26 lists run. The remaining 41 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 24 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 23 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 6 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 26 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: 23
3 Hoothoot SCR 114
3 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Terapagos ex SCR 128
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
2 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
2 Duskull PRE 35
1 Dusknoir PRE 37
1 Dusclops PRE 36
2 Pikipek PBL 66
2 Toucannon PBL 68
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Trumbeak PBL 67

Trainer: 31
3 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Crispin SCR 133
2 Dawn PFL 87
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Tera Orb SSP 189
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Energy Search POR 72
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142

Energy: 6
2 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Grass Energy MEE 1
2 Lightning Energy MEE 4

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Terapagos ex / Noctowl needs, and how long it will last

You need 79 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 26 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 11 took Sparkling Crystal, 5 took Prime Catcher and 4 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 6. 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 Sparkling Crystal and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 5 of the 8 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Hoothoot, Noctowl, Terapagos ex and Area Zero Underdepths, plus 1 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 13 of the 19 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Terapagos ex / Noctowl struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting and Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 23 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Mega Lucario ex, plus 20 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 23 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 102 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, none of the 125 decks we track have an attacker Weak to your types. So you are not going to win trades on Weakness — you will have to win them on raw damage.