Tyranitar

What Tyranitar looks like when you open the box

Across the 6 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 22 Pokémon, 30 to 36 Trainers and 6 to 10 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « tyranitar-jtg ». 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, « JTG », is a set code: Journey Together. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 6 to 10 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 takes a while to set up. Tyranitar 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: 30 to 36 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 13 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 17 to 23 Items you can play all of in the same turn.

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

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

Tyranitar is in all 6 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Daunting Gaze, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, your opponent can't play any Item cards from their hand. »

How Tyranitar actually wins

Tyranitar attacks with Cracking Stomp for 150. It needs 2 Energy, 1 Darkness and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 190 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: "Discard the top 2 cards of your opponent's deck."

The cost of Cracking Stomp decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. 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. 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. Larvitar has to climb two steps before it becomes Tyranitar, 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. Careful, though: only 5 of the 6 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 Tyranitar 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.

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 TyranitarStage 2	190	Cracking Stomp	150		Grass ×2	3

The core: the 7 cards every list runs

These 7 cards appear in all 6 lists, without a single exception. That is 22 of the 60 slots. The other 38 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 22 slots break down: 14 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 5 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.

6 of those 7 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Tyranitar (3 to 4), Buddy-Buddy Poffin (3 to 4) and Poké Pad (3 to 4), plus 3 more. Add those spreads up and you get 12 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 Tyranitar	JTG 95	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Close Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer	stays
3–8	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays

The 58 cards that change from list to list

58 cards fight over the 38 slots that are left: 3 above three lists in four, 24 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Budew at 83 %, Lillie's Determination at 83 % and Hilda at 83 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Elgyem, 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, Dudunsparce (1 list out of 6) and Dunsparce (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 Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Larvitar	3–4	JTG 80	Pokémon
67 %4/6	Close Pupitar	2–3	PRE 48	Pokémon
67 %4/6	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
67 %4/6	Close Ultra Ball	3–4	MEG 131	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Crispin	1–2	SCR 133	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
67 %4/6	Psychic Energy	1–3	MEE 5	Energy
50 %3/6	Close Elgyem	1	BLK 40	Pokémon
50 %3/6	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
50 %3/6	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Dark Bell	2–3	PBL 75	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Janine's Secret Art	1–2	PRE 112	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Larvitar	3–4	PRE 47	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Drakloak	3	TWM 129	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Dreepy	3	TWM 128	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Pupitar	1–2	JTG 81	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Pecharunt ex	1	SFA 39	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Yveltal	1	MEG 88	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Crushing Hammer	2–3	POR 71	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Binding Mochi	2	PRE 95	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Nighttime Mine	1–2	ASC 197	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
17 %1/6	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Gastly	2	PFL 54	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Lunatone	2	MEG 74	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Sandile	2	BLK 57	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Solrock	2	MEG 75	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Toxel	2	PFL 67	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Toxtricity	2	PFL 68	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Haunter	1	PFL 55	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Krokorok	1	BLK 58	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Krookodile	1	PFL 66	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Mega Gengar ex	1	PFL 56	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Okidogi ex	1	SFA 36	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Fighting Gong	4	MEG 116	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Handheld Fan	2	TWM 150	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2	DRI 178	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Counter Gain	1	SSP 169	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
17 %1/6	Fighting Energy	5	MEE 6	Energy

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

You need 65 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 7 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 6 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 2 took Neo Upper Energy, 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 Neo Upper Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 2 of the 7 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Night Stretcher. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 6 of the 22 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Tyranitar struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 20 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, Festival Lead (Thwackey) and Crustle, plus 17 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 20 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 105 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: N's Zoroark ex, Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.