Xero's Lucky Haunt

Four more rules sit under the table:

• Search before the Candy. Play Dawn, Hilda, and Petrel first, then pick the Candy's target. The Zygarde game spent its Candy on a Gengar ex one card before Hilda brought the Mega.
• One Mega on the board, never two. Concealment doesn't stack, so a second one is two more Prizes in the open for nothing.
• Grimsley's can't reach the hand. It only looks at the deck. Once both Megas are in hand, the only route left is a Gastly that has sat a turn plus a Rare Candy, so think twice before Hilda pulls a Mega that Grimsley's could have benched.
• Haunter is the safe step. When a Gastly is exposed and the Candy has no good target yet, Haunter takes it to 100 HP, stays one Prize, and becomes Gengar ex next turn without a Candy.
• Blissey ex never takes a Candy. It is a Stage 1, so a Chansey that has sat a turn evolves by hand, and the Candies stay with the Gastly.

Rule

Why

Musculature takes both Energy, every time.

It reads "up to 2". Against Crushing Hammer, the spare is what keeps Chain-Crazed live after a heads.

Surge the next attacker, and prefer a body that shrugs off 20.

A benched dog (250) or the parked Mega (350) takes Surge's counters without changing a breakpoint. A benched Haunter is the classic target, because it evolves into a Gengar ex already holding .

Against Fighting and Metal, feed the dogs and never the ghosts.

Surge's 20 turns a 280 Gengar ex into a 260 one, and a bare Aura Jab into Fighting Weakness is exactly 260. So is a Corkscrew Dive with one Roserade or Premium Power Pro. Against Mega Excadrill, a Surged Mega Gengar is exactly 330.

Bank a Surge, then Happy Switch it forward.

Surge only reaches the Bench, and Happy Switch moves a Basic Energy anywhere, Active included, once a turn for free. Bank on the parked Mega (350) or a benched dog, where the 20 changes nothing.

Bank on Toxtricity itself only when nothing places counters.

Opponents drag Toxtricity up to strand it, and Energy it banked pays its own Retreat Cost of 2. But Toxtricity lives through Chaotic Pain at 140 and dies to it at 120, and in a Live mirror that 20 handed them their fifth Prize. Once it is Active, it can't Surge itself; Live used to allow that, and a September 2026 update fixed it.

Against Bench damage and counter-multipliers, Surge only what attacks this turn.

Jetting Blow's 50 plus Surge's 20 is a dead Gastly. Spiritual End quadruples counters already on the board, and Matcha Spin adds four to everything.

Happy Switch or Janine's is how an Active Gengar gets its second Energy.

Surge never reaches the Active Spot. Happy Switch moves one there from any body holding a Basic Energy. Janine's reaches any two Darkness Pokémon, Active or Benched, and Poisons the Active only if it took an Energy.

Retreat is Energy.

Retreat Costs are paid in Energy, 4 for Blissey ex, 3 for a dog, and 2 for either Gengar, Toxtricity, or Chansey. One Live game burned 7 Energy on retreats. Count every retreat as a self-inflicted Crushing Hammer, and use Switch or AZ's.

• Read the Ability before picking a target. One Live game spent a turn-2 Chaotic Pain on a Poltchageist, which ignores it. The Eevee beside it was a free Prize, and the game ended one Prize short.
• Read their Energy and their Stadium too. Mist Energy, Rocky Fighting Energy, and Battle Cage each make a target untouchable; Cards to Watch Out For lists every card that does.
• It can't one-shot Mew ex (160), Dhelmise (140), Fezandipiti ex (210), a healthy Stage 2 ex, or any Cynthia's Pokémon wearing Cynthia's Power Weight (+70). Alakazam (140) dies to it only after a Risky Ruins chip on the Abra. Crustle (150, or 170 with Growing Grass Energy) needs a chip too, and Haunter's Spooky Shot for 40 covers either.
• Counters ignore Weakness. Against a Darkness-weak target, a dog or Void Gale doubles and Chaotic Pain doesn't.

When

Do this

Setup

Lead Okidogi when the hand has one. Bench every Gastly and Toxel in hand, and a Chansey, which setup puts down before any Ruins can chip it.

First turn

Poke Pad and Poffin take Gastly first. Rare Candy needs it to have sat a turn, and Toxtricity and Haunter have no such clock. Grimsley's can't be played.

First turn, going second

With a dog, attach, use Poisonous Musculature, and take both. With a Toxel, Call for Family; Build order has the picks. Play Lillie's for 8 only when the hand doesn't already hold its line.

First turn, going first

Items only.

Second turn

Grimsley's comes online. Search first, then Candy.

Every turn

Check for lethal before digging. Lillie's shuffles away the whole hand. Then check Happy Switch before attacking.

Against Judge, Special Red Card, or Unfair Stamp

Bench Pokémon as they're drawn. The Bench can't be shuffled away.

Basics on turn 1, the attacker and Toxtricity on turn 2, Blissey once Surge is running. Everything here evolves from a Basic that sat a turn, so the turn-1 Bench decides turn 2.

• The order is for searches. Free plays go down whenever. A Chansey in the opening hand goes to the Bench at setup, where Ruins can't chip it. A Toxtricity in hand over a Toxel that sat evolves at once.
• Leave a Bench spot for Grimsley's. It benches a Mega straight out of the deck with no Gastly and no Candy, and a full Bench turns it into a dead Supporter.
• Okidogi is a lead, not a build. Call for Family takes it only when none is out.
• Dawn takes an attacker line before the Chansey line. Gastly or Toxel, then Toxtricity or Haunter, then a Gengar. Chansey, Blissey, and a Gengar wait until Toxtricity has Surged.
• Two Toxels and two Toxtricity: evolve both, since they cost nothing, and the next search goes to the attacker, then to Blissey.

What Call for Family takes. It benches any two Basics, dogs and Chansey included. Before picking, ask whether their next attack can kill a 70 HP Active, because the Toxel doing the calling is the whole engine until a second one lands. That is the one place the call skips the Gastly: the dog is the first attacker and needs no Gastly, and a Gastly in hand still goes down the same turn.

The board when the Toxel calls

Take

the Toxel alone, going second

Okidogi ex and a Toxel when their next attack can kill it; Okidogi ex and a Gastly when it can't

the Toxel alone, going first

a Gastly and a Toxel when it can die; Okidogi ex and a Gastly when it can't

a dog already in play

a Gastly and a Toxel

never on the first call

Chansey

• The calling Toxel is the engine. When it died on their next turn, a dog-and-Gastly call got Toxtricity down by turn 4 only 37% of the time in the simulator, against 79% when the call took a second Toxel. With a dog already in play, a Gastly and a Toxel matched or beat two Gastly in every opponent model.
• Going first, the call comes on turn 2, so a Gastly beats the dog as the Toxel's partner. A Gastly called on turn 2 is a Gengar ex on turn 3; the dog can't swing before turn 4.
• If the engine dies anyway, Grimsley's is the way back. It benches a Toxtricity straight from the deck, and it Surges that turn.
• Move the Toxel out of the Active Spot before evolving it. Toxel retreats for 1 and Toxtricity for 2, and a Toxel that sat still evolves from the Bench. Switch keeps its Energy for a later Happy Switch.

That is the chance the top seven holds at least one target. Playing it later helps only because the deck is smaller, and pulling targets out first hurts it. If Dawn or Hilda already put two Stage 2s in hand, a turn-2 Grimsley's drops from about 59% to about 41%.

• Count before playing it. A hit is Mega Gengar, Gengar ex, Toxtricity, or an Okidogi or Haunter when that is what the board is missing. Chansey and Blissey ex never count. With four or fewer left early, play a different Supporter.
• Play it before the Items that pull its targets out. Grimsley's first, then Poke Pad for whatever it missed.
• A miss buries six cards on the bottom of the deck. The next Surge, Poffin, Poke Pad, or Petrel shuffles them back in.
• For one exact card, use Petrel, Dawn, or Hilda. Grimsley's is a roughly 60% card, built for the turns when any of several Pokémon will do.

Cost of letting a Gengar ex die, with the Mega on the Bench

1 Prize

Chance Fainting Spell Knocks Out the attacker

50%

What that attacker is usually worth

2 or 3 Prizes

That is about one Prize of expected value per death, in the deck's favor. On Live the coin took a Mega Zygarde, a Mega Floette, and a Dhelmise. Retreating throws away both halves and costs Energy on top.

Their number

The answer

Phantom Dive: 200 to the Active, and 6 counters across the Bench

Gengar ex at 280 survives the 200. The 6 counters kill a 70 HP Basic that already carries a Surge.

Dreepy 70, Drakloak 90, Munkidori 110, Budew 30

one Chaotic Pain each

Dragapult ex, 320 HP

two dog swings, or Void Gale plus a Pain

Steve plays this most weeks at CardCrate, and dragons.md is modeled on his list.

• The Tera rule doesn't stop counters. A Benched Dragapult ex takes no damage from attacks, but Chaotic Pain places counters, so it reaches a Benched Dragapult ex as easily as a Dreepy or a Drakloak.
• Munkidori first, Budew second. Itchy Pollen locks the deck's Items for a turn, and AZ's is the rotation that still works under it.
• Mega first. Dragapult ex does the damage, so Concealment and Fainting Spell both work against it. Munkidori is the exception: Mind Bend is a single-Prize attack, and Adrena-Brain's moved counters skip both, which is why it dies first.
• Bench small Basics only when they evolve next turn. Phantom Dive's counters are aimed at them, and counters placed that way skip Concealment.
• Crushing Hammer is in most online lists, and Steve's runs none. Online, take both from Musculature and hold a Recycler.
• Steve runs two Area Zero Underdepths and a Risky Ruins. The deck's Ruins replaces Area Zero, and both players then discard down to five on the Bench. Every Ruins counter on a Dreepy is also three counters' worth of Adrena-Brain ammunition, so Pain the Munkidori before the Ruins lands.

Their number

The answer

Aura Jab: 130 for one Energy, 260 into Fighting Weakness, 320 with Premium Power Pro

a Gengar ex and Blissey ex survive only the bare 260; the Mega at 350 survives the 320

Mega Brave: 270 for two Energy, 540 into Fighting Weakness, never two turns running

nothing survives it; stand and die for the coin

Riolu 80, Lunatone 110, Solrock 110

one Chaotic Pain each

• Kill every Riolu, and the Mega never arrives.
• This is the one ex room where the Mega waits. They run three Boss's Orders and a 540 attack, so a parked Mega is 2 Prizes they can drag up and take. Build Gengar ex first, and take the Mega only when Haunter hands it over. Blissey ex is the same problem at 2 Prizes, so it stays in the deck until the ferry is worth the risk.
• Don't Boss while a Lucario that just used Mega Brave is Active. Sending it to the Bench wipes the lockout, and Air Balloon brings it back fresh.
• Gravity Mountain takes 30 off every Stage 2. Replace it the turn before the Jab, not the turn it lands.
• Judge is common here. Bench Pokémon as they're drawn.

Their number

The answer

Gaia Wave: 200 for three Energy, 400 into Fighting Weakness, and 30 less damage to it next turn

everything in this list dies to it

Rocky Fighting Energy

Chaotic Pain can't touch the Zygarde holding it

Mega Zygarde ex, a 310 HP Basic

Chain-Crazed for 260 plus anything, or Fainting Spell

Lunatone 110, Solrock 110, Binacle into Barbaracle, which attaches from hand every turn

Chaotic Pain on the draw and the Energy

• Mega first. Every Knock Out they took in the Live game would have cost one Prize less, and their 6 would have been 2. Nothing here survives 400, so the tax is the whole defense, and Blissey ex is the one body it doesn't cover.
• Search before the Candy. That game's Candy went on a Gengar ex one card before Hilda brought the Mega.
• Fainting Spell is live. It took a 3-Prize Zygarde in that game.
• Nullifying Zero costs five Energy and flips a coin for each Pokémon on the deck's side, 150 on every heads. It is their late-game Bench wipe, and a small Bench limits it.

Their number

The answer

Corkscrew Dive: 100 for one Energy, and he draws to 6

200 into Fighting Weakness, and every Roserade or Premium Power Pro adds 60 more

Draconic Buster: 260 for two Energy, then every Energy on it is discarded

520 or more, so nothing survives it. He runs no Neo Upper, so a Garchomp that Busters can only Corkscrew next turn.

Garchomp ex: 330 HP, 400 under Cynthia's Power Weight, Retreat 0

nothing one-shots it. Each one costs two hits, or a Fainting Spell coin.

One Rocky Fighting Energy

Chaotic Pain can't touch the one line holding it, and every other Garchomp is in reach

Battle Cage, one copy

no Pain on his Bench while it stands. Risky Ruins replaces it, and it can't come back.

Four Cynthia's Power Weights, +70 HP on any Cynthia's Pokémon

Pain kills only what's bare or chipped. Weighted, a Roserade is 200, a Gabite 170, and a Gible, Roselia, or Spiritomb 140.

Meowth ex: 170 HP, Colorless

2 Prizes with no Weight and no Rocky. Boss's Orders and Void Gale or a Poisoned dog takes it.

Cynthia's Spiritomb: Raging Curse does 10 for every counter on his Benched Cynthia's Pokémon, ignoring Weakness

single-Prize, so Concealment never discounts it, and damage left on his Bench comes back at you

Special Red Card

once you're at 3 Prizes or fewer, your hand goes to the bottom of the deck and you draw 3

This is Elliott's deck, the one he brings to Wednesday league every week, and cynthia-garchomp.md models his own list card for card. It is the hardest room this deck plays. Every Pokémon here is weak to Fighting, his attack costs one Energy and refills his hand, and from his third turn he takes a Knock Out every turn. You can't out-trade that. You win by making his Knock Outs cheap and his Corkscrews miss, and by taking your six from the places his list leaves open.

The plan, in four lines.

1. Kill the Roserades. Each one is 60 more on every Corkscrew. With none left, Corkscrew is 200, a Gengar ex survives it, and every Knock Out on one costs him two of his three Premium Power Pros.
2. Park the Mega before his first Garchomp swings. Then his first Knock Out has to be Boss's Orders and a Buster on the Mega, or a Corkscrew on a Gengar ex for 1 Prize and a coin.
3. Keep his 2-Prize targets to the Mega and a Gengar ex. Blissey ex stays in the deck while he has a Roserade, and the second dog stays in the deck too. Then every 2-Prize Knock Out he takes after the Mega is a Gengar ex, and every one flips Fainting Spell.
4. Take your six from Meowth ex, the coin, and the Garchomp with no Rocky. Pain the singles that cut his damage while you wait for those.

Go first when you win the flip. A turn-1 Risky Ruins lands before his Trolley, and your turn-2 Pain lands before anything of his has evolved. Going second, his Gabites and Roserades are on the board before your first attack.

When

Do this

Your first turn

Bench a Gastly and attach to it. Play Risky Ruins, so every Gible, Roselia, and Meowth ex his Trolley benches takes 20, and the 20 rides up the line.

His first turn

He Trolleys, puts the Rocky on a Gible, and may hang Weights early. Note which Gible holds the Rocky. If he plays the Cage, he spent it before you had anything to Pain with.

Your second turn

Ruins over the Cage if it's up. Candy a Gengar ex, pay with Neo Upper or the second attachment, and Pain a Basic before it evolves, Roselia first. Grimsley's the Mega when the Supporter is free; Hilda for the Gengar ex comes first when the hand lacks one.

Your third turn

The Mega goes down now if it isn't already. Pain a Roserade or a Gabite.

His first Garchomp turn

Boss's Orders and a Buster on the Mega, or a Corkscrew on the Gengar ex for 1 Prize and a coin. Both cost him something.

Going second, his Trolley turn lands clean and his first evolutions come before your first attack. Open with the dog's Musculature or Call for Family, bench a Gastly, and play Ruins anyway, so the Gibles and Roselias he benches later still take the 20. Your second turn is the first Pain, at a Roserade if one is bare.

Where Corkscrew Dive lands. Roserade and Premium Power Pro each add 30 before Weakness, so each one is 60 more on this deck.

Count his Pros. He runs three, and each one is gone once played. The Roserades are boosts he keeps; the Pros are boosts he spends. Once his Roserades are dead, a Gengar ex at 280 survives everything but two Pros in one turn or a Buster.

What Chaotic Pain hits. One a turn, in this order, while the Cage is down.

• Ruins makes a Weighted Basic bare. A Weighted Gible or Roselia that came down under Ruins is 120, inside one Pain.
• Don't Pain a Weighted Roserade unless the second Pain follows next turn. It lives at 70, and its 13 counters are 130 of Raging Curse.

Two-turn Knock Outs on a Garchomp. Nothing kills one in a single hit, so pick the pair before the first swing.

Pain lands only on a Garchomp without the Rocky. A Ruins chip on the Gible it grew from takes 20 off, which turns the 390 into a Knock Out on a Weighted Garchomp.

• Hold a Risky Ruins until his Cage is gone. He runs one Battle Cage, and Petrel is his only other way to it. Play the Ruins on your turn before the Pain, and his Cage did nothing. Once it's in his discard pile, Pain reaches his Bench for the rest of the game. A Petrel does the same job but costs the turn's Supporter, so a Ruins in hand is the better hold. Surge still works under the Cage, since it is your own Ability.
• Find the Rocky first. It stops Pain on the Fighting Pokémon holding it. He runs one, it goes on his first Gible, and nothing in his list finds it again. Pain the other lines, and once a Buster throws it away, every Garchomp is in reach.
• Weights ride up the line. A Tool stays attached through evolution, so a Weight on a Roselia is a Weight on the Roserade it becomes. Read the Tool before picking a Pain target.
• Meowth ex is 2 Prizes on a plate. It is Colorless and not a Cynthia's Pokémon, so neither the Rocky nor a Weight covers it. Boss's Orders, or Petrel for it, brings it up into Void Gale, a Poisoned dog, or Return, and any of them kills it alone. Pain leaves it at 40, or 20 under Ruins. When it comes down from his hand, he just searched a Supporter, usually Boss's Orders.
• Finish every Garchomp, or don't start one. It retreats for free, and its counters become Raging Curse damage. One Chain-Crazed leaves 26 counters, which is 260, or 290 with one Roserade, and 290 kills a Gengar ex for its full 2 Prizes with only a Spiritomb riding on the coin. Swing at a Garchomp only when the second hit is ready or Spiritomb is gone. Boss's Orders brings a retreated one back.
• The Mega is a Boss's Orders magnet, and that's the point. He runs three Boss's Orders, and Meowth ex, Petrel, and Larry's Skill each find one, so expect the Mega dragged up on his first Garchomp turn. Taking it needs a three-boost Corkscrew or a Buster. With his Roserades thinned it has to be the Buster, which throws away every Energy on that Garchomp, the Rocky too if it's the one holding it. Every Knock Out before that was a Prize cheaper, and Spiritomb's never are.
• Blissey ex waits until his Roserades are gone. At 300 it dies to two boosts, it is 2 Prizes nothing discounts, it flips no coin, and he has six ways to drag it up. Until then, Janine's, Neo Upper, and Surge on the Mega feed the attackers, and Happy Switch waits. He runs no Watchtower, so once Blissey is down it works all game.
• The dog swings once, so aim it. One boost kills it, and three Pros make one boost likely even with no Roserade. Point Chain-Crazed at Meowth ex, a Weighted Roserade, or a Garchomp that a Pain finishes next turn. A Poisoned Chain-Crazed leaves a bare Garchomp at 70 and a Weighted one at 140.
• Stand and die with Gengar ex. Fainting Spell is an Ability, so the Rocky, the Weights, and the Cage do nothing to it. Heads takes a Garchomp for 2 Prizes.
• Surge the Mega or the dog, never a Gengar. Surge's 20 turns a one-boost Corkscrew into a Knock Out on a Gengar ex, and once his Roserades are gone one boost is all he has most turns. Counters on a Haunter stay when it becomes a Gengar ex, so it counts there too.
• Spend the hand before the Knock Out that leaves you at 3 Prizes. Special Red Card is live from then on. Bench, attach, and play Items before the attack, and Return's draw is optional.
• Put Energy only on something that will attack. If the Mega holds one Energy when the Active falls, promote it and Janine's it to two. Void Gale leaves a bare Garchomp at 100 and a Weighted one at 170.

Their number

The answer

Maximum Drilling: 200 with three Energy, 330 with five

the Mega at 350 survives 330; Blissey ex at 300 and Gengar ex at 280 don't

Metang 100: Metal Maker attaches Energy off the top of their deck, once per Metang

Chaotic Pain the Metang before the Drilbur

Genesect ex 220: Metallic Signal searches two Metang or Megas a turn

Boss's Orders and a dog; 260 kills it even through Full Metal Lab

Full Metal Lab: their Metal Pokémon take 30 less damage

counters ignore it, and Risky Ruins replaces it

Precious Trolley benches any number of Basics on turn 1, and Matt fills the Bench

too many cradles for one Pain a turn; this is a tax room. Risky Ruins down first chips every non-Darkness Basic it brings 20.

This is Matt's deck, the one he plays at Wednesday league every week, and it is the older build: Metang's Metal Maker is the Energy engine and Genesect ex is the search. A model of it is metal-excadrill.md. It feels fast because Trolley and Metallic Signal put two or three Metang up by his second turn, so Drilling can hit 200 that turn and 330 the next. Online, the newer Steven's build is the one that mostly shows up, and online lists add Kieran (360) or Maximum Belt (380). Matt's copy runs neither, so his ceiling is 330.

• His order is Trolley, Genesect, then Metal Maker. Trolley benches two Drilbur, a Genesect ex, and Beldum. Metallic Signal fetches the Stage 1s early, and Metal Maker loads each Excadrill to five. Metagross is situational, his last resort.
• Excadrill and Metagross are Metal, not Fighting, so Weakness never applies to them. Every number above lands at face value. Drilbur is the exception: it is Fighting, and Dig Claws is 100 into anything here, enough for a Gastly, Toxel, or Haunter.
• One body in this list stands above 330: Mega Gengar at 350. It costs him two attacks, and everything else costs him one at five Energy.
• Mega first, with no counters on it. One Surge on the Mega leaves it at exactly 330, so here the Surges bank on a dog, not the Mega.
• At three Energy, Drilling is 200, and every ex in the deck survives it. Killing Metang keeps it there.
• A dog plus Chaotic Pain kills the Excadrill. 260 plus 130 clears 340 even under the Lab, where the dog does 230. Void Gale plus a Pain gets there once the Lab is gone, or once Risky Ruins has chipped the Drilbur it grew from: 200 through the Lab plus 130 is 330, and that Excadrill has 320.
• Going first, play Risky Ruins on turn 1. It lands before his Trolley, so every Drilbur and Beldum it benches carries 20 up the line. Going second, his Trolley turn comes first, and the Ruins only taxes what he benches after it.
• Metagross is his last resort, and it pays nothing to Concealment. It is single-Prize and hits 330 with a Brave Bangle. A dog or Void Gale kills it through the Lab.
• The Gengar Gang's answer here was the Cape, and this list doesn't have it, so killing Metang to keep Drilling at 200 matters more.

Their number

The answer

Powerful Hand: 2 counters on the Active per card in their hand, from a 140 HP Stage 2 with no Rule Box

a race; neither Concealment nor Fainting Spell ever applies

Alakazam 140, Kadabra 80, Abra 50, all weak to Darkness

an un-Poisoned Chain-Crazed doubles to 260; Chaotic Pain kills Abra and Kadabra, and Alakazam after a Ruins chip

Dunsparce into Dudunsparce, their draw

Chaotic Pain the Dunsparce

• No Mega. It is 3 Prizes against an attacker Concealment never touches.
• The dogs are the attackers here. Darkness Weakness makes every swing a Knock Out.
• Their damage is their hand size. Unfair Stamp answers it directly, and it sits in Alternatives for when this room keeps winning.

Their number

The answer

Night Joker copies a Benched N's Pokémon's attack for two Energy; N's Zekrom's Rampaging Thunder is 250

Gengar ex at 280 survives 250

Binding Mochi adds 40 while the Zoroark is Poisoned, and Pecharunt ex's Subjugating Chains supplies the Poison

290, which kills a Gengar ex or a dog

Black Belt's Training adds 40 more

330; a Mega Gengar at 350 survived it on Live

Target order, from a Live game:

1. Zorua, before it evolves.
2. N's Zekrom, the 250 that Night Joker copies. They'll bring it back with Night Stretcher; kill it again.
3. Pecharunt ex, 190 HP and 2 Prizes. Without its Poison, Mochi does nothing, and Gengar ex lives through every hit.

Get the Mega down on turn 2. In that game, Concealment held them to 5 Prizes. Special Red Card comes out the moment the deck has 3 Prizes left, so the hand needs to be spent before then.

Their number

The answer

Punk Up attaches up to five Energy when it evolves; Shadow Bullet is 180, plus 30 to the Bench

Gengar ex and the dog both survive one; neither survives two

Munkidori, up to three, each moving 3 counters a turn

9 counters a turn that skip Concealment and Fainting Spell

Froslass puts 1 counter on every Pokémon with an Ability, every Checkup

Toxtricity, both Gengars, and Blissey ex all have one

• Kill order: Munkidori, then Froslass, then Grimmsnarl. Damage on Grimmsnarl doesn't stick while a Munkidori lives, because they move it back onto the deck's Pokémon. In the Live game, 90 of the dog's 260 came back that way.
• Munkidori is weak to Darkness. Boss's Orders plus any real attack kills it, so answering it doesn't need a Gengar in play.
• Gengar ex gets the Candy, not the Mega. Concealment does nothing against moved counters.
• Risky Ruins replaces Spikemuth Gym and puts 20 on every Munkidori they bench.

Their number

The answer

Poltchageist 30, Sinistcha 60, Banette 80, all with Hide 'n' Sneak

Chaotic Pain can't touch them, and attack damage can

Vengeful Anchor: 30, plus 140 with four Hide 'n' Sneak Pokémon in their discard

170 from a 140 HP Basic; Gengar ex survives one

Matcha Spin (six in the discard) puts 4 counters on each of the deck's Pokémon; Spiritual End (thirteen) quadruples the counters on two of them

keep counters off the board

Eevee into Espeon, whose Miraculous Shine devolves every evolved Pokémon the deck has in play

kill the Eevee first; a Stage 2 that Grimsley's benched has nothing under it and stays put

• Everything they attack with is single-Prize, so no Mega. On Live, a dragged-up Mega handed them their last 3 Prizes.
• Chaotic Pain targets are Dhelmise (140, after a Ruins chip), Spiritomb (60), and Eevee or Espeon. Read the Ability first; that game also spent its first Pain on a Poltchageist.
• The dogs are the attackers. Dhelmise and Spiritomb are Psychic and weak to Darkness. Chain-Crazed hit for 520 and took three Knock Outs.
• Surge only what attacks this turn. Spiritual End quadruples whatever sits on its two targets, so one Surge's 2 counters become 8, and two Surges' 4 become 16. On Live it landed on the Mega's Surge counters.
• Fainting Spell still works. It took a Dhelmise.

Their number

The answer

Mysterious Rock Inn: Crustle takes no damage from the deck's Pokémon ex

counters aren't damage, and the non-ex Pokémon still hit it

Crustle 150, or 170 with Growing Grass Energy; Dwebble 70

a Pain plus Haunter's Spooky Shot (40) kills either

Mist Energy: no effects of attacks on the Pokémon holding it

Chaotic Pain can't touch it; Toxtricity's Gentle Slap (100) still can

Mega Kangaskhan ex, a 300 HP Basic: Rapid-Fire Combo is 200, plus 50 per heads

a dog plus Gentle Slap or Void Gale

Superb Scissors: 120

Gengar ex survives two

Crustle is one of the most common decks at CardCrate. Online, nearly every list pairs three Crustle with four Mega Kangaskhan ex. The rest is Mist Energy, Spiky Energy, Jumbo Ice Cream to heal, and Eri and Xerosic's Machinations to pick apart the hand.

• Expect the Mist before the Crustle. Superb Scissors costs , and the lists pay part of it with Mist Energy, so an attacking Crustle usually holds one, and then Chaotic Pain can't touch it. In the Live game on 2026-10-01 the Mist went on the Dwebble on their turn 2, and it evolved the same turn, so going second there was never a turn to Pain it. Read the Energy before picking: the Pain target is a Mega Kangaskhan ex before its own Mist lands, and the counters stay on it after.
• The non-ex Pokémon are the attackers. Rock Inn only stops Pokémon ex. Gentle Slap does 100, Chansey's Boundless Power does 80, Haunter's Spooky Shot does 40 for one Energy, and Toxel's Playful Kick adds 20. Blissey ex's Return is ex damage, and Rock Inn stops it.
• A Dwebble in front means the turn-1 Poke Pad takes Toxtricity, and one Chansey stays a Chansey. Gentle Slap and Boundless Power are 180 together, enough for a Crustle at 170. The Live game Padded a Haunter, evolved both the Haunter and the Chansey into Pokémon ex, and never had a hitter that could reach it.
• Spiky Energy hits back. Damage their Active while it holds one and the attacker takes 2 counters. One Slap leaves Toxtricity at exactly 120, which Superb Scissors kills.
• Fainting Spell works on Crustle. It is an Ability, so neither Rock Inn nor Mist stops the coin.
• No Mega until Kangaskhan is attacking. Crustle is single-Prize, so Concealment pays only when Kangaskhan takes the Knock Out.
• Finish a Crustle in one turn. Jumbo Ice Cream heals 80 from an Active holding three Energy, so the chip comes back off.
• Festival Grounds stops Poison, and Chain-Crazed drops to 130. Replace it with Risky Ruins.

Their number

The answer

Dipplin's Do the Wave: 20 for each of their Benched Pokémon, so 100 off a Bench of five

Gengar ex and the dog survive even the double swing

Festival Lead: with Festival Grounds in play, Dipplin and Seaking attack twice, and a Knock Out on the first lets the second hit the new Active

up to 200 a turn, and a 70 HP body in front is a 2-for-1

Festival Grounds: no Special Conditions on any Pokémon with Energy attached

the dog's Poison is cured, so Chain-Crazed is 130

Applin 40, Grookey 70, Dipplin 80, Thwackey 100, Seaking 110

one Chaotic Pain each, every one of them

One Festival Lead player sits in the CardCrate room. Every Pokémon they run is single-Prize and Grass or Water, so nothing doubles either way, and Concealment never applies. It is the best Gengar ex room at the shop, because Chaotic Pain kills every body in the deck.

• No Mega. Single-Prize attackers, so it is 3 Prizes for nothing.
• Pain Thwackey first. Boom Boom Groove searches any card every turn while their Active has Festival Lead, and it is the engine that finds the next Dipplin and the next Grounds.
• Replace Festival Grounds with Risky Ruins on the turn the dog swings. Ruins brings the Poison back, so Chain-Crazed is 260 again, and Dipplin attacks once instead of twice. They will replay the Grounds, so the second Ruins and Petrel are the rematch.
• Keep a big body in front. Both swings land on it, 200 at most, and a 280 Gengar ex or a 250 dog lives. A Gastly or Toxel in front dies to the first swing, and the second hits whatever comes up next, so that is two Prizes in one turn.
• Ruins taxes their Basics. Applin drops to 20, Goldeen to 30, and Grookey to 50, so Haunter's Spooky Shot finishes an Applin or a Goldeen.

Their number

The answer

Wreak Havoc: 160 for , 320 into Fighting Weakness, and it mills a card per heads

it kills everything here but the Mega, which lives on 30

Tyrantrum: a 180 HP Stage 2, 330 while it holds a Special Energy

Void Gale, a Poisoned dog, or Return kills a bare one alone; one holding Special Energy takes two hits

Rocky Fighting Energy, in most lists

it is the Special Energy behind the 330, and it stops Chaotic Pain on any Fighting Pokémon holding one

Antique Jaw Fossil, a 60 HP Basic Colorless Pokémon that becomes Tyrunt (100)

one Chaotic Pain each; Risky Ruins chips the Fossil 20 when it hits the Bench, and the counters ride up the line

Intimidating Jaw: while the Fossil is Active, the deck's attacks do 30 less

counters ignore it; Boss's Orders past it

One Tyrantrum player sits in the CardCrate room, and it is the worst matchup there. In an earlier week it knocked out Xero's only Pokémon in play on turn 3. Everything in this list is weak to Fighting, so every Wreak Havoc takes an ex for 2 Prizes, and every Tyrantrum is single-Prize, so Concealment never applies. They can win on three Knock Outs; the deck needs six.

• Kill the line before the Rocky lands. A Fossil, a Tyrunt, and a bare Tyrantrum all take Chaotic Pain. A Tyrantrum that grew from a Fossil Ruins chipped is at 160, and Pain plus Spooky Shot takes it. Once Rocky is on a Tyrunt or a Tyrantrum, Pain can't touch that one; shoot the next Fossil instead.
• A Rocky Tyrantrum is two hits. Chain-Crazed plus anything that does 70 or more: Gentle Slap, Boundless Power, Return, or Void Gale. Void Gale plus Gentle Slap is exactly 330.
• Give up one Prize at a time. Every Pokémon ex here dies to one Havoc for 2. A Toxtricity, Haunter, or Chansey in front pays 1, and the Gengar ex behind it gets a turn to fire. Blissey ex never comes forward.
• No Mega, unless it is the last attacker. It survives one Havoc on 30 and pays 3 to the second.
• Fainting Spell works. Rocky stops effects of attacks, and the coin is an Ability. A Gengar ex that dies to a Havoc flips at the Tyrantrum that hit it.
• Hold the Recycler. Every heads on Wreak Havoc mills the top card, and a long game thins the Energy the engines search for.

Their number

The answer

Rumbling Bees: 110 for each Beedrill in play, for one Grass Energy

330 at three and 440 at four; the Mega survives three

Forest of Vitality: Weedle to Beedrill ex on the turn it is played

no cradle ever sits on their Bench for a Pain

Beedrill ex 310, Weedle 50, Kakuna 80

a Pain plus a dog swing or Void Gale for each Beedrill

Dunsparce into Dudunsparce, drawing three a turn

Dunsparce has to sit a turn, and Forest doesn't help it

• Shoot the draw, not the bees. Every dead Dunsparce is three cards they don't draw next turn.
• Stranded Weedle and Kakuna are free. When they bench a Weedle without the evolutions in hand, it sits a turn. Kakuna's Exoskeleton only reduces attack damage, so counters go straight through.
• Every Beedrill Knocked Out takes 110 off their attack.
• Risky Ruins is a tax, not a lock. They run four Forests, and Celebi searches for more.
• The dogs are weak to Fighting, not Grass, so two bees (220) don't kill one.

Their number

The answer

Mega Starmie ex: a Stage 1 from Staryu (70), 330 HP, online on their second turn

going second, the deck can't reach the Staryu in time

Jetting Blow: 120, plus 50 to one Benched Pokémon, for one Energy

two hits kill a Gastly or Toxel

Nebula Beam: 210, ignoring every effect

Okidogi at 250 and Gengar ex at 280 both survive it

• Race it with the dog. Musculature on turn 1 and Chain-Crazed for 260 on turn 2 leave Starmie at 70, and one Chaotic Pain takes their Mega for 3 Prizes.
• Don't Surge a Gastly in this room. Jetting Blow's 50 plus Surge's 20 is exactly 70.
• Mega first, since they attack with a Pokémon ex.

Their number

The answer

Mega Floette ex: a 250 HP Basic, 400 with Ange Floette in play

Risky Ruins replaces Ange Floette, and it drops back to 250

Eternity Bloom: 200, plus four Energy onto their Bench

Gengar ex survives one hit

Weakness is Metal, not Darkness

nothing doubles

• At 400, only two things kill it in one go. Fainting Spell did it on Live. The other is replacing Ange Floette and then swinging Chain-Crazed for 260.
• Latias ex gives their Basics free retreat, and Munkidori shows up here too. Munkidori stays priority one.
• Mega first, since their attacker is a Pokémon ex.

Their number

The answer

Crushing Hammer, four copies

take both from Musculature, and keep a Recycler

Fezandipiti ex: Cruel Arrow does 100 to any one of the deck's Pokémon

the Bench isn't safe, so a doomed dog swings first

Mew ex (30th Celebration 152): a 160 HP Basic ex that uses its Bench's attacks

it is weak to Darkness, and Chain-Crazed hit it for 520

Munkidori, Unfair Stamp, Special Red Card

Chaotic Pain the Munkidori; bench Pokémon as they're drawn

• Retreat was the leak in the Live game. Seven Energy went to Retreat Costs, and a turn-6 dog retreat skipped a free 260 into a 120 HP Scrafty.
• Use their Team Rocket's Factory. Petrel is a Team Rocket's Supporter, so their Stadium draws two for this deck too.
• Mew ex needs damage, not counters. Chaotic Pain's 130 falls short of 160; a dog or Void Gale one-shots it.

Their number

The answer

Void Gale does 230 and pushes an Energy to their Bench, and Surge or their own Blissey ex's Happy Switch puts it back on the Active

Gengar ex (280), Blissey ex (300), and the Mega (350) survive one. A Poisoned dog doesn't after two Checkups, since 20 + 230 is 250.

Chaotic Pain places 130 anywhere

It kills Toxel, Gastly, Haunter, Chansey, and a Toxtricity carrying Surge's 20. A clean Toxtricity at 140 lives.

Their Mega's Shadowy Concealment takes a Prize off every Knock Out the deck's Pokémon ex score with damage, and their Gengar ex's Fainting Spell flips at whatever kills it

Counters aren't damage, so a Chaotic Pain Knock Out skips both. It pays 2 for a Gengar ex and 3 for the Mega.

Pecharunt ex (190) swaps their Poisoned Mega out with Subjugating Chains, and Irritated Outburst does 60 for every Prize the deck has taken

Void Gale or a Poisoned dog kills it alone

This is the mirror, and Live sent it twice in two days. The first list ran Blissey ex, Mew ex, and Munkidori, and its Mega swung Void Gale five turns running while Happy Switch put the moved Energy back each time. The second ran Pecharunt ex, Munkidori, Fezandipiti ex, Dudunsparce, Jamming Tower, and Special Red Card.

• Pain takes the Prizes. Once their Mega is down, a Knock Out by damage on their Darkness Pokémon pays one Prize less, and Pain's doesn't. Let a dog or Void Gale do the damage and Pain finish. The model from Live is a turn-2 Chain-Crazed that left their Gengar ex at 20 and a turn-3 Pain that took it for 2 Prizes through their Concealment.
• Their Mega is 3 Prizes to Pain. Void Gale then Pain is 360, which kills it at 350 and pays all 3. Poison from their own Chains and counters from their own Surge count toward it.
• Kill order: Munkidori, then their Gastly and Toxel before they evolve. Munkidori's moved counters skip Concealment and Fainting Spell on this side too.
• Surge the Mega, never Toxtricity. Their Pain places 130; Toxtricity lives at 140 and dies at 120. Happy Switch moves the Energy off the Mega as easily as off Toxtricity. The second game Surged Toxtricity on turn 4 with the Mega on the Bench, and Pain took it on turn 6 for their fifth Prize.
• Gengar ex first, then the Mega. Pain is the deck's Prize-taker here and the answer to Munkidori. The Mega follows, because Void Gale and Irritated Outburst are both Pokémon ex damage, and Concealment takes a Prize off each Knock Out they score.
• Blissey ex is the wrong Gengar ex killer. Return is Pokémon ex damage, so it pays 1 Prize under their Concealment and flips Fainting Spell at 2 Prizes of the deck's. The second game ended on that coin. Point Return at their Colorless and Psychic Pokémon, and leave the Gengar ex to Pain.
• Their Colorless and Psychic Pokémon pay full. Blissey ex, Mew ex, Munkidori, and Dudunsparce sit outside their Concealment. A dog one-shots Mew ex into Darkness Weakness.
• Jamming Tower does nothing to this list. Risky Ruins still bumps their Grand Tree, and it taxes every Munkidori, Chansey, and Mew ex they bench after it.
• Special Red Card comes out at 3 Prizes left. Bench what the hand holds before then. Return's draw is optional, so don't draw to six into it.

Their number

The answer

Hungry Jaws: 120 for two Energy, 270 once Sharpedo has any damage counters

Gengar ex at 280 and the Mega at 350 survive it

Binding Mochi: +40 while Sharpedo is Poisoned, and Pecharunt ex's Subjugating Chains Poisons it on purpose

310, which kills a Gengar ex or a Blissey ex

Mega Sharpedo ex: 330 HP, Retreat 0, Stage 1 from Carvanha (70)

a dog plus a Pain, and every counter they put on it counts toward the deck's

Their own Toxtricity, and Munkidori moving 3 counters a turn onto the deck's Pokémon

Chaotic Pain the Munkidori, then their Toxel

Steve played this at CardCrate last week. He usually plays Dragapult, and he plays fast. Online it is called Sharpedo Toxtricity, and 26 of 28 online lists aim Toxel and Toxtricity's Sinister Surge at their own Sharpedo, because Hungry Jaws needs just one damage counter to jump from 120 to 270. Steve's support line was a different Darkness evolution line, from an older set, and it is still unidentified. Whatever it is, the job is the same: put counters or Energy on the Sharpedo. Lists also run Judge and Unfair Stamp, so Pokémon go to the Bench as they're drawn.

• Kill order: Munkidori, then their Toxel. Moved counters skip Concealment and Fainting Spell, and 3 a turn put the Mega in range of 310. Once their Toxel evolves, Toxtricity (140) takes a dog.
• Gengar ex first, per the Munkidori rule. Then the Mega, since Sharpedo and Pecharunt ex are both Pokémon ex.
• Only the Mega clears the Poisoned 310. A Gengar ex and a Blissey ex both die to it.
• Their counters are the deck's damage. Surge's 20, Carvanha's recoil, and Poison all stay on the Sharpedo. One carrying 70 dies to a single dog swing.
• Boss's Orders never strands anything here. Sharpedo retreats for free and Pecharunt swaps it out. Boss only for a Knock Out: Munkidori, Pecharunt ex (190, one dog swing), or a damaged Sharpedo.
• Going second, the Carvanha is out of reach, the same as Starmie. Race with the dog.
• Risky Ruins barely matters. Everything but Munkidori and Tatsugiri is Darkness.

Their number

The answer

Energized Slap: 40 for every Energy on Cinccino, for one Energy

7 Energy kills a Gengar ex, 8 a Blissey ex, 9 the Mega

Smooth Coat: a coin on every attack's damage, and heads prevents it

counters aren't damage, so Chaotic Pain never flips

Cinccino ex 240, Minccino 70

two Pains, or one on the Minccino

Online lists load it with Metang's Metal Maker

Chaotic Pain the Metang, the same as against Excadrill

This one shows up at CardCrate. Last week a Cinccino ex won a game at the shop with 15 Energy on it and no other Pokémon in play, which is 600 damage. Online lists feed it with the same Metang engine Matt's Excadrill uses, plus Genesect ex and Metagross.

• Chaotic Pain is the attack. Every dog swing is a coin flip against Smooth Coat, and two Pains kill Cinccino ex with no flip at all.
• Kill it early. Its damage grows every turn it lives, and its 240 HP doesn't. Two Pains kill it at two Energy or at fifteen.
• If it is their only Pokémon, a Knock Out wins the game. A player with nothing left in play loses on the spot, whatever the Prizes say.
• Mega first. Cinccino ex is a Pokémon ex, so Concealment works, and Fainting Spell is an Ability that Smooth Coat can't flip away.
• Metang before Cinccino when both are up. Every Metang is roughly one more Energy a turn.

Their number

The answer

Battle Cage: no counters on their Benched Pokémon

Risky Ruins replaces it, and Petrel finds the Ruins

Charmander 80

Chaotic Pain, once the Cage is gone

Mega Charizard X ex and Mega Charizard Y ex, both Pokémon ex

Mega first; the tax and Fainting Spell both work

• They replay the Cage. On Live, Petrel for Ruins removed it, and the second Ruins removed it again.
• Close with Void Gale. Boss's Orders on a benched Pokémon ex, Switch in the Mega, attach, and swing.

Their number

The answer

Bouncy Circle: free, 30 for each Benched Pokémon with 30 max HP, so 150 off a full Bench

one hit kills Gastly, Toxel, Haunter, or Toxtricity; every ex here takes two

Brave Bangle (+30) and Black Belt's Training (+40), against an Active Pokémon ex only

two Bangle hits are 360, which kills every Pokémon ex in this list

Igglybuff: 30 HP, Retreat 0, and their only attacker

one Chaotic Pain, or Haunter's Spooky Shot for 40

Poltchageist, Misty's Magikarp on the Bench, Battle Cage, Mist Energy

Chaotic Pain can't touch them, and it doesn't need to

Every Pokémon in it has 30 HP and gives up one Prize. Plenty of players run it online as a troll deck, and the Live ladder has sent two. One matched AzulGG's list from September 26: 4 Igglybuff, 4 Poltchageist, 2 Misty's Magikarp, Tyrogue, Budew, 4 Brave Bangle, 4 Boss's Orders, 4 Night Stretcher, 4 Battle Cage, 3 Mist Energy, and a Legacy Energy. The other ran Teal Mask Ogerpon ex and Area Zero Underdepths.

• Go second when you win the flip. The player going first can't attack, and Bouncy Circle costs nothing, so their turn 1 is the one to take away.
• Pain the Active Igglybuff every turn. It's their only attacker, and Battle Cage guards only their Bench. They run four Igglybuffs and four Night Stretchers, so this is a race, not a lockout. After the fifth Knock Out in one Live game, they had no Igglybuff left in play.
• Legacy Energy and Mist Energy pick the attack. Legacy takes a Prize off a Knock Out by damage, and counters aren't damage, so Pain that one. Mist stops Pain, so hit that one with damage: Spooky Shot or a dog.
• Make their attacks miss. Every body here gives up about one Prize per Bouncy Circle, so the race turns on the attacks that take nothing. AZ's a Gengar ex after its first hit, per the pull table, and a Haunter swings in its place. One Live game let one stand at 170, and it gave them 2 Prizes and left them one Prize from the end.
• Keep Blissey ex on the Bench. Bouncy Circle only hits the Active, but they run four Boss's Orders, and a dragged-up Blissey is 2 Prizes in two hits.
• No Mega. It's 3 Prizes, Concealment never applies, and two Bangle hits kill it. The Ogerpon build is the exception.
• Bench small Basics only when they evolve next turn. They run four Boss's Orders, and a Gastly or Toxel is a Prize to a three-baby Bench. Morty's Conviction also draws them a card for every Pokémon on the deck's Bench.
• Keep Surge counters off the next Gengar ex. At 280 it lives through 150 plus 120. One on Live carried a Surge and died at 290. Surge the dog or a Haunter.
• Budew's Itchy Pollen turns off Switch and Rare Candy for a turn, and AZ's still moves. Special Red Card lands when the deck reaches 3 Prizes left, so spend the hand before then.
• The Ogerpon build adds Teal Mask Ogerpon ex and Area Zero Underdepths, which opens their Bench to 8 and Bouncy Circle to 210. Risky Ruins bumps Area Zero, and knocking out their only Tera does the same job: their Bench drops back to 5. Void Gale's 230 one-shots Ogerpon ex (210), and against that ex attacker Concealment works. On Live the Mega took two.