Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet

What Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet looks like when you open the box

Across the 6 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 19 Pokémon, 28 to 33 Trainers and 10 to 16 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « toxtricity-brute-bonnet ». 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: 10 to 16 out of 60, when half the 98 decks we track run 10 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. Toxtricity 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: 28 to 33 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 98 decks we track. Inside that, 10 to 14 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 3 Stadiums, and 92 of the 98 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

Toxtricity and Brute Bonnet give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Toxtricity is in all 6 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Sinister Surge, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may use this Ability. Search your deck for a Basic {D} Energy card and attach it to 1 of your Benched {D} Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck. If you attached Energy to a Pokémon in this way, place 2 damage counters on that Pokémon. »

Brute Bonnet is in all 6 lists, 2 copies of it. Its attack Poison Spray costs 1 Energy (Darkness) 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: « Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Poisoned. »

How Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet actually wins

Toxtricity attacks with Gentle Slap for 100. It needs 3 Energy, 2 Darkness and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 140 HP.

The cost of Gentle Slap 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 it charges itself. Toxtricity, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Sinister Surge: it goes into your deck for Energy and attaches it. An Ability costs you nothing: not your attack, not your card for the turn. 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 Toxtricity 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.

Pecharunt ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when Pecharunt 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 ToxtricityStage 1	140	Gentle Slap	100		Fighting ×2	2
Close Pecharunt exBasic	190	Irritated Outburst	60×		Fighting ×2	1
Close Brute BonnetBasic	120	Relentless Punches	50+		Grass ×2	3
Close ToxelBasic	70	Playful Kick	20		Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 9 cards every list runs

These 9 cards appear in all 6 lists, without a single exception. That is 33 of the 60 slots. The other 27 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 33 slots break down: 13 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 33 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 98 decks we track fix 34 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

8 of those 9 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Toxel (3 to 4), Toxtricity (3 to 4) and Pecharunt ex (1 to 2), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 11 copies the 6 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 Toxel	PFL 67	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Toxtricity	PFL 68	Pokémon	stays
2	Close Brute Bonnet	TWM 118	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Pecharunt ex	SFA 39	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	DRI 176	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
10–11	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 38 cards that change from list to list

38 cards fight over the 27 slots that are left: 5 above three lists in four, 15 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Munkidori at 83 %, Fezandipiti ex at 83 % and Energy Recycler at 83 %, plus 2 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Mega Darkrai ex, at 50 %: 3 of 6 players took it, 3 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Mega Dragalge ex (1 list out of 6) and Skrelp (1 list out of 6).

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
83 %5/6	Close Munkidori	2–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close Energy Recycler	1–2	DRI 164	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Night Stretcher	2–4	ASC 196	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Chi-Yu	1–2	PBL 59	Pokémon
67 %4/6	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
67 %4/6	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–2	TEF 144	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Energy Switch	1–2	MEG 115	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	2	DRI 180	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Ultra Ball	1–2	MEG 131	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1	DRI 173	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Mega Darkrai ex	1–3	PBL 48	Pokémon
50 %3/6	Close Punk Helmet	2	PFL 92	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2–4	DRI 178	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Dark Bell	1–4	PBL 75	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1	DRI 128	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Hassel	1–2	TWM 151	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Mega Dragalge ex	3	CRI 65	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Skrelp	3	CRI 58	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Yveltal	2	MEG 88	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Energy Search	4	POR 72	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Mega Signal	3	MEG 121	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Binding Mochi	2	PRE 95	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Lisia's Appeal	2	SSP 179	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Risky Ruins	2	MEG 127	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Switch	2	MEG 130	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Brock's Scouting	1	JTG 146	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Pokégear 3.0	1	SVI 186	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
17 %1/6	Water Energy	6	MEE 3	Energy

The most common Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 33 slots come from the core, the cards all 6 lists run. The remaining 27 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 18 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 17 Pokémon, 33 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 6 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.

One thing to fix before you play: there is no ACE SPEC card in these 60. Players split that slot so many ways that none of their cards climbed high enough to get in, and 6 of the 6 lists carry one. Take Precious Trolley, the most chosen, and drop a card from the bottom of the table to make room.

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: 17
4 Toxel PFL 67
3 Toxtricity PFL 68
2 Brute Bonnet TWM 118
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
2 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Chi-Yu PBL 59
1 Pecharunt SVP 149
1 Mega Darkrai ex PBL 48
1 Budew ASC 16

Trainer: 33
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Energy Recycler DRI 164
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Energy Switch MEG 115
2 Team Rocket's Watchtower DRI 180
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
2 Punk Helmet PFL 92
2 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
1 Dark Bell PBL 75
1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64

Energy: 10
10 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

What Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 47 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 9 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 6 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 2 took Precious Trolley, 2 took Secret Box and 2 took Unfair Stamp. 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. 2 of the 9 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Brute Bonnet and Pecharunt ex. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 3 of the 33 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Toxtricity / Brute Bonnet struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting and Grass, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 30 of the 98 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Festival Lead (Thwackey), Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, plus 27 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 30 decks out of the 98 we track. The other 68 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 Darkness, and 29 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Alakazam / Dudunsparce, Dragapult ex / Dusknoir and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.