N's Zoroark ex / Crustle

What N's Zoroark ex / Crustle looks like when you open the box

Across the 6 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 16 Pokémon, 32 to 37 Trainers and 8 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Darkness and Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « zoroark-crustle ». 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: 8 to 13 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. Crustle 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: 32 to 37 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 11 to 18 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 11 to 23 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 cards in this deck's name actually do

N's Zoroark ex and Crustle give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

N's Zoroark ex is in all 6 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Trade, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « You must discard a card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw 2 cards. » Its attack Night Joker costs 2 Energy (Darkness and 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: « Choose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. »

Crustle is in all 6 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Mysterious Rock Inn, 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 N's Zoroark ex / Crustle actually wins

N's Zoroark ex attacks with Night Joker, and it needs 2 Darkness Energy attached. It has 280 HP. Its damage box is empty, so the table below, which sorts by printed damage, cannot rank it: its printed text above is where the counting happens.

The cost of Night Joker 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. N's PP Up 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. Dwebble has to climb a step before it becomes Crustle, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Dwebble, which the list runs 3 of, has an attack called Ascension that goes into your deck for an evolution. That attack takes your attack for the turn, so count it as a setup turn.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull N's Zoroark 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.

N's Zoroark ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes 2 Prize cards instead of one when N's Zoroark 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 N's Zoroark exStage 1	280	Night JokerChoose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack.	—		Grass ×2	2
Close CrustleStage 1	150	Superb Scissors	120		Fire ×2	3
Close N's ZoruaBasic	70	Scratch	20		Grass ×2	1

The core: the 10 cards every list runs

These 10 cards appear in all 6 lists, without a single exception. That is 34 of the 60 slots. The other 26 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 34 slots break down: 12 Trainers, 12 Pokémon, 10 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 34 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 126 decks we track fix 25 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

8 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Crustle (2 to 3), Dwebble (2 to 3) and Buddy-Buddy Poffin (2 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 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
2–3	Close Crustle	DRI 12	Pokémon	stays
2–3	Close Dwebble	DRI 11	Pokémon	stays
3	Close N's Zoroark ex	JTG 98	Pokémon	stays
3	Close N's Zorua	JTG 97	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Crispin	SCR 133	Trainer	leaves
3–6	Darkness Energy	MEE 7	Energy	stays
2–4	Grass Energy	MEE 1	Energy	stays

The 38 cards that change from list to list

38 cards fight over the 26 slots that are left: 8 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 %, N's Reshiram at 83 % and N's Zekrom at 83 %, plus 5 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Pokémon Center Lady, at 50 %: 3 of 6 players took it, 3 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 3 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Meowth ex (1 list out of 6) and Shaymin (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	1–2	TWM 95	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close N's Reshiram	1–2	JTG 116	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close N's Zekrom	1	ASC 155	Pokémon
83 %5/6	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	2–4	PFL 91	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Ultra Ball	1–3	MEG 131	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close N's PP Up	2	JTG 153	Trainer
83 %5/6	Close Growing Grass Energy	1–3	POR 86	Energy
67 %4/6	Close Poké Pad	3–4	POR 81	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close N's Castle	1–2	JTG 152	Trainer
67 %4/6	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Pokémon Center Lady	3	MEG 123	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Energy Switch	2	MEG 115	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
50 %3/6	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
33 %2/6	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	2–4	DRI 176	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Team Rocket's Factory	1	DRI 173	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
33 %2/6	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
33 %2/6	Close Shadowy Darkness Energy	1–2	PBL 83	Energy
17 %1/6	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
17 %1/6	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Gladion's Final Battle	2	PBL 77	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Hilda	2	WHT 84	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	2	DRI 178	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Brock's Scouting	1	JTG 146	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Eri	1	TEF 146	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Festival Grounds	1	TWM 149	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Morty's Conviction	1	TEF 155	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Pokégear 3.0	1	SVI 186	Trainer
17 %1/6	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer

How many different cards N's Zoroark ex / Crustle needs, and how long it will last

You need 48 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 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: 3 took Hero's Cape and 3 took Secret Box. 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. 2 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Crispin. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 6 of the 34 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What N's Zoroark ex / Crustle struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Grass and Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 33 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex, Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex and Festival Lead (Thwackey), plus 30 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 33 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 93 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 Grass, and 45 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.