Toxtricity

What Toxtricity looks like when you open the box

Across the 75 lists we counted, this deck runs 14 to 26 Pokémon, 20 to 35 Trainers and 8 to 14 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « toxtricity-pfl ». 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, « PFL », is a set code: Phantasmal Flames. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 8 to 14 out of 60, exactly the median of the 126 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. 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: 20 to 35 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 17 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 22 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 119 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

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

Toxtricity is in all 75 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. »

How Toxtricity 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.

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 27 of the 126 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 ToxtricityStage 1	140	Gentle Slap	100		Fighting ×2	2
Close ToxelBasic	70	Playful Kick	20		Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 75 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: 3 Trainers, 6 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

4 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Toxel (3 to 4), Toxtricity (3 to 4) and Boss's Orders (1 to 4), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 10 copies the 75 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
3–4	Close Toxel	PFL 67	Pokémon
3–4	Close Toxtricity	PFL 68	Pokémon
1–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
7–12	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy

The 135 cards that change from list to list

135 cards fight over the 41 slots that are left: 8 above three lists in four, 112 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Poké Pad at 99 %, Night Stretcher at 96 % and Lillie's Determination at 93 %, plus 5 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Mega Darkrai ex, at 55 %: 41 of 75 players took it, 34 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 3 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Chi-Yu (19 lists out of 75) and Unfair Stamp (19 lists out of 75).

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 %74/75	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
96 %72/75	Close Night Stretcher	1–4	ASC 196	Trainer
93 %70/75	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
92 %69/75	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
89 %67/75	Close Fezandipiti ex	1–2	ASC 142	Pokémon
89 %67/75	Close Pecharunt ex	1–3	SFA 39	Pokémon
87 %65/75	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
85 %64/75	Close Munkidori	1–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
73 %55/75	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
68 %51/75	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
67 %50/75	Close Energy Recycler	1–2	DRI 164	Trainer
63 %47/75	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
55 %41/75	Close Mega Darkrai ex	1–3	PBL 48	Pokémon
55 %41/75	Close Dark Bell	1–4	PBL 75	Trainer
44 %33/75	Close Energy Switch	1–3	MEG 115	Trainer
43 %32/75	Close Binding Mochi	1–4	PRE 95	Trainer
41 %31/75	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–3	PRE 112	Trainer
37 %28/75	Close Carvanha	2–4	PFL 60	Pokémon
37 %28/75	Close Mega Sharpedo ex	2–4	PFL 61	Pokémon
32 %24/75	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
31 %23/75	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1–2	DRI 173	Trainer
29 %22/75	Close Brute Bonnet	1	TWM 118	Pokémon
27 %20/75	Close Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
25 %19/75	Close Chi-Yu	1–2	PBL 59	Pokémon
25 %19/75	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
24 %18/75	Close Hilda	1–4	WHT 84	Trainer
24 %18/75	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
23 %17/75	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
23 %17/75	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
20 %15/75	Close Pecharunt	1–2	SVP 149	Pokémon
20 %15/75	Close Pokégear 3.0	2–3	SVI 186	Trainer
20 %15/75	Close Lisia's Appeal	1–2	SSP 179	Trainer
19 %14/75	Close Seviper	1–2	PFL 62	Pokémon
19 %14/75	Close Yveltal	1–2	MEG 88	Pokémon
17 %13/75	Close Enhanced Hammer	1–3	TWM 148	Trainer
16 %12/75	Close Grimsley's Move	1–2	PFL 90	Trainer
16 %12/75	Close Wally's Compassion	1–3	MEG 132	Trainer
16 %12/75	Close Gravity Mountain	1–2	SSP 177	Trainer
15 %11/75	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	1–3	DRI 178	Trainer
13 %10/75	Close Team Rocket's Sneasel	1	DRI 128	Pokémon
13 %10/75	Close Nighttime Mine	1–2	ASC 197	Trainer
13 %10/75	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
12 %9/75	Close Dangerous Laser	1	SFA 58	Trainer
12 %9/75	Close Hassel	1–2	TWM 151	Trainer
12 %9/75	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Mega Signal	1–3	MEG 121	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Risky Ruins	1–3	MEG 127	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Rare Candy	1–2	MEG 125	Trainer
11 %8/75	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Academy at Night	1–2	SFA 54	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Kofu	2	SCR 138	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Salvatore	1–4	TEF 160	Trainer
9 %7/75	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	1–3	PBL 83	Energy
8 %6/75	Close Purrloin	1–2	WHT 55	Pokémon
8 %6/75	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
8 %6/75	Close Mega Gengar ex	1	PFL 56	Pokémon
8 %6/75	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
8 %6/75	Close Volcanion ex	1–3	JTG 31	Pokémon
8 %6/75	Close Crushing Hammer	1–3	POR 71	Trainer
8 %6/75	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
7 %5/75	Close Zoroark	2	WHT 62	Pokémon
7 %5/75	Close Zorua	2	WHT 61	Pokémon
7 %5/75	Close Gastly	1	POR 48	Pokémon
7 %5/75	Close Haunter	1	PFL 55	Pokémon
7 %5/75	Close Morpeko ex	1–3	PBL 55	Pokémon
7 %5/75	Close Brock's Scouting	1–3	JTG 146	Trainer
7 %5/75	Close Eri	1	TEF 146	Trainer
7 %5/75	Close Ignition Energy	1	WHT 86	Energy
5 %4/75	Close Liepard	1	WHT 56	Pokémon
5 %4/75	Close Crispin	1–4	SCR 133	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Carmine	2–4	TWM 145	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	2–4	PFL 91	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close AZ's Tranquility	1–3	CRI 76	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Cyrano	1–2	SSP 170	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Energy Retrieval	1–2	SVI 171	Trainer
5 %4/75	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
4 %3/75	Close Mega Scrafty ex	3	ASC 135	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Okidogi ex	2	SFA 36	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Scraggy	2	WHT 57	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Buneary	1	PFL 83	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Eternatus	1	PFL 69	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Mega Lopunny ex	1	PFL 84	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Scraggy	1	30C 94	Pokémon
4 %3/75	Close Gwynn	2	PBL 78	Trainer
4 %3/75	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Dunsparce	4	JTG 120	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Dusclops	1	PRE 36	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Duskull	1	PRE 35	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Pecharunt	1	ASC 143	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Qwilfish	1	CRI 52	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Zarude	1	PBL 56	Pokémon
3 %2/75	Close Lively Stadium	2–3	SSP 180	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Community Center	2	TWM 146	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Cheren	1	WHT 81	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
3 %2/75	Close Prism Energy	2–3	ASC 216	Energy
3 %2/75	Psychic Energy	2	MEE 13	Energy
1 %1/75	Close Deino	3	SSP 117	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Gastly	2	TEF 102	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Hydreigon ex	2	SSP 119	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Mega Dragalge ex	2	CRI 65	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close N's Zoroark ex	2	JTG 98	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close N's Zorua	2	JTG 97	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Skrelp	2	CRI 58	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Zweilous	2	SSP 118	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Cinderace	1	MEG 28	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Gengar ex	1	30C 90	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Haunter	1	POR 49	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Nickit	1	PBL 53	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Thievul	1	PBL 54	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Yveltal ex	1	POR 53	Pokémon
1 %1/75	Close Punk Helmet	3	PFL 92	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Handheld Fan	2	TWM 150	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Perilous Jungle	2	TEF 156	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Deluxe Bomb	1	SCR 134	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Fennel	1	BLK 82	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	1	JTG 149	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
1 %1/75	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
1 %1/75	Fire Energy	3	MEE 10	Energy
1 %1/75	Water Energy	3	MEE 11	Energy

The most common Toxtricity list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 19 slots come from the core, the cards all 75 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 19 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 75 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 74 of the 75 lists carry one. Take Unfair Stamp, 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.

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: 19
3 Toxel PFL 67
3 Toxtricity PFL 68
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
2 Munkidori TWM 95
3 Mega Darkrai ex PBL 48
3 Carvanha PFL 60
3 Mega Sharpedo ex PFL 61

Trainer: 31
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Dark Bell PBL 75
2 Energy Switch MEG 115
2 Binding Mochi PRE 95
1 Janine's Secret Art PRE 112

Energy: 10
10 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 139 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 4 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

74 of these 75 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 19 took Unfair Stamp, 17 took Secret Box and 10 took Legacy Energy. The flex table shows you all 9. 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 Unfair Stamp 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 4 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Toxtricity struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting, 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: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Mega Lucario 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 Darkness, and 26 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex, N's Zoroark ex and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.