Fox's Hostile Takeover

The Thesis

Erasure Ball eats Energy off your own Bench, and Spidops hands it straight back.

Erasure Ball is 160 damage, plus 60 more for each Energy you discard from your Benched Pokémon, up to two. So the ceiling is 280 and the price is two Energy cards a turn, which is a price no normal deck can pay twice.

Team Rocket's Spidops has Charging Up, an Ability that attaches a Basic Energy from your discard pile to itself, once per turn. Two Spidops on the Bench recycle exactly the two Energy that Mewtwo just burned. The loop closes. You hit for 280 every single turn off the same two Energy cards going around in a circle, and neither one ever comes out of your deck again.

That is the whole deck. Everything else is here to get four Team Rocket's Pokémon on the board fast enough to turn Power Saver off.

Three things fall out of building it this way.

The draw engine is free. Team Rocket's Ariana draws you to 8 cards instead of 5 when every Pokémon you have in play is a Team Rocket's Pokémon. Since every Pokémon in this deck is one, the condition is never checked and never missed. Four copies of a draw-to-8 Supporter is a better engine than most decks get out of a Pokémon line, and it costs zero Bench space.

Almost nothing here is Fighting weak. Mewtwo, Crobat, Golbat, Zubat, Wobbuffet, and Articuno all resist Fighting for 30. Mega Zygarde ex swings Gaia Wave for 200 and gets 170 out of it, which does not kill anything in this deck that matters. The Koffing pair is the one exception, and its job is dying anyway.

Fourteen of the nineteen Pokémon give up one Prize. Only the Mewtwo and Crobat lines are worth two. Spidops trades a single Prize for whatever it kills, and Koffing trades one Prize for a replacement body it fetches itself.

Deck List

Pokémon (19)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
3	Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	Destined Rivals	081	I
3	Team Rocket's Tarountula	Destined Rivals	019	I
3	Team Rocket's Spidops	Destined Rivals	020	I
2	Team Rocket's Zubat	Destined Rivals	120	I
2	Team Rocket's Golbat	Destined Rivals	121	I
2	Team Rocket's Crobat ex	Destined Rivals	122	I
2	Team Rocket's Koffing	Destined Rivals	125	I
1	Team Rocket's Wobbuffet	Destined Rivals	082	I
1	Team Rocket's Articuno	Destined Rivals	051	I

Trainers (31)

Qty	Card	Type	Set	Number	Reg
4	Team Rocket's Ariana	Supporter	Destined Rivals	171	I
3	Team Rocket's Proton	Supporter	Destined Rivals	177	I
2	Lillie's Determination	Supporter	Mega Evolution	119	I
2	Team Rocket's Giovanni	Supporter	Destined Rivals	174	I
2	Boss's Orders	Supporter	Mega Evolution	114	I
3	Team Rocket's Transceiver	Item	Destined Rivals	178	I
3	Ultra Ball	Item	Mega Evolution	131	I
3	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	Item	Temporal Forces	144	H
1	Rare Candy	Item	Mega Evolution	125	I
2	Switch	Item	Mega Evolution	130	I
2	Night Stretcher	Item	Shrouded Fable	061	H
1	Scramble Switch	Item	Surging Sparks	186	H
3	Team Rocket's Factory	Stadium	Destined Rivals	173	I

Energy (10)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
4	Team Rocket's Energy	Destined Rivals	182	I
3	Basic Psychic Energy	Mega Evolution Energies	005	-
3	Basic Grass Energy	Mega Evolution Energies	001	-

19 + 31 + 10 = 60. ✓

Basics: 12 (3 Mewtwo ex, 3 Tarountula, 2 Zubat, 2 Koffing, 1 Wobbuffet, 1 Articuno). That is roughly a 19% mulligan rate, and every one of the twelve counts toward Power Saver. The nine-Basic list this replaced claimed the 75-85% no-mulligan band and actually sat at 70%; the Koffing pair and the Wobbuffet are what closed that gap, taking the slots the Petrel, the second Rare Candy, and a fourth Transceiver the hand count never found used to hold.

The ACE SPEC slot follows Dad's deck choice. Scramble Switch is the default: Mewtwo ex retreats for three, the single worst number in this deck, and Scramble Switch moves the Energy along with the body. But the house owns one copy and the Gang sleeves it too, so the slot resolves per branch:

The Prime Catcher night is no downgrade: the gust and the free escape in one Item is this deck's two thinnest resources at once. The Japanese Prime Catcher in the box is fine at the kitchen table and nowhere else. Never two ACE SPECs.

Pokémon

Team Rocket's Mewtwo exx3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 081/182
Rarity: Double Rare
Type: Psychic
HP: 280
Stage: Basic
Ability: Power Saver - This Pokémon can't attack unless you have 4 or more Team Rocket's Pokémon in play.
Weakness: Darkness ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 3
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Erasure Ball (160+) - You may discard up to 2 Energy from your Benched Pokémon. This attack does 60 more damage for each card you discarded in this way.

Three copies, and it is a Basic, so there is no line to build and nothing to whiff. Three means all of them prized is a non-event and losing one mid-game does not end the deck. 280 HP is the best HP per setup cost in the box, and Retreat 3 with a Darkness Weakness is what you pay for it.

Power Saver is the real cost. Mewtwo cannot attack unless you have 4 or more Team Rocket's Pokémon in play, and the Active counts toward that, so the number to reach is Mewtwo plus three on the Bench. One Proton gets you there out of a single card.

Erasure Ball discards from your Benched Pokémon, never from Mewtwo itself. 160 base, 60 more for each Energy discarded, up to two, so 280 is the ceiling. One Team Rocket's Energy plus any one Basic Energy pays the whole cost. Two attachments and Mewtwo is online.

Team Rocket's Tarountulax3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 019/182
Rarity: Common
Type: Grass
HP: 50
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Fire ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Take Down (30) - This Pokémon also does 10 damage to itself.

Three copies, because the Bench wants two Spidops standing at all times and the line cannot afford to draw the wrong half. 50 HP puts it inside Buddy-Buddy Poffin, and it is what you want Poffin to find on turn one. Take Down is 30 damage and 10 to itself, occasionally the right turn-one play and usually not.

Team Rocket's Spidopsx3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 020/182
Rarity: Rare
Type: Grass
HP: 130
Stage: Stage 1
Ability: Charging Up - Once during your turn, you may attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon.
Weakness: Fire ×2
Retreat: 2
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Rocket Rush (30x) - This attack does 30 damage for each of your Team Rocket's Pokémon in play.

The card that makes the deck a deck. Three copies is thicker than a normal Stage 1 line, and deliberately so: Spidops is not an attacker you are building toward, it is a resource you want two of on the Bench for the whole game.

Charging Up attaches a Basic Energy from your discard pile to this Pokémon, once during your turn. Two Spidops is two attachments a turn that cost nothing from hand and nothing from deck. That is the entire engine, and The Engine is worth reading twice.

Rocket Rush is Grass Colorless for 30 per Team Rocket's Pokémon in play, so a full board is 180 off a single-Prize Stage 1. 130 HP and a Fire Weakness mean it does not want to be Active against a Charizard, but as a Benched battery it is untouchable without a gust.

Team Rocket's Zubatx2

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 120/182
Rarity: Common
Type: Darkness
HP: 50
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Lightning ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Poison Spray - Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Poisoned.

Two copies, the bottom of the thinnest line in the deck. 50 HP, so Poffin gets it. Poison Spray needs no coin flip and costs one Darkness, which is 10 damage a turn you did nothing to earn.

Team Rocket's Golbatx2

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 121/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Darkness
HP: 80
Stage: Stage 1
Ability: Sneaky Bite - When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may put 2 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon.
Weakness: Lightning ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Confuse Ray (30) - Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Confused.

Sneaky Bite puts 2 damage counters on one of their Pokémon when you play it from your hand to evolve. Free, and it is the whole reason the middle of the line is worth running rather than skipping. Evolving Zubat by hand through Golbat gets you both Sneaky Bite and Biting Spree, 60 total chip, where Rare Candy skips Golbat and gets you only 40. Candy is the speed option, not the better one.

Team Rocket's Crobat exx2

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 122/182
Rarity: Double Rare
Type: Darkness
HP: 310
Stage: Stage 2
Ability: Biting Spree - When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may choose 2 of your opponent's Pokémon and put 2 damage counters on each of them.
Weakness: Lightning ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Assassin's Return (120) - You may put this Pokémon into your hand. (Discard all cards attached to this Pokémon.)

The plan B and the chip damage in one card. 310 HP on a Stage 2 that is weak to Lightning instead of Darkness, which patches the exact hole Mewtwo has, and it resists Fighting like the rest of the board.

Biting Spree triggers when you play it from your hand to evolve, Rare Candy included: 2 damage counters on each of two of their Pokémon, Bench included. That chip is what carries Mewtwo's 280 over the 310 and 350 HP tier.

Assassin's Return is Darkness for 120, then optionally back to your hand with everything attached discarded. The bounce is a heal and an escape at once, and it resets Biting Spree for the next time you play it down. It is also expensive in a way the card does not say: Team Rocket's Energy is the only Darkness in this deck, so every bounce discards one of the four for good.

Team Rocket's Koffingx2

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 125/182
Rarity: Common
Type: Darkness
HP: 70
Stage: Basic
Ability: Smog Signals - If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack from your opponent's Pokémon (even if this Pokémon is Knocked Out), search your deck for up to 2 Pokémon that have "Koffing" in their name and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Leaking Gas (30)

Two copies, and their job is to die in the Active Spot. 70 HP puts it inside Buddy-Buddy Poffin range, it counts toward Power Saver like every other body, and it gives up one Prize.

Smog Signals is why it leads. If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack — the attack that Knocks it Out included — it searches the deck for up to 2 Pokémon with "Koffing" in the name and benches them. With the second copy still in the deck, a KO'd lead replaces itself: the Power Saver count survives its own funeral, and their whole attack bought one Prize. Game plan 7 is the manual.

Two rules. Lead the first Koffing while the second is still in the deck, because once both are in play or in hand the Ability finds nothing. And it is the Active Spot and attack damage only — a benched Koffing is just a body, and damage counters placed by an Ability do not trigger it.

Leaking Gas is 30 for Darkness Colorless , which this deck can only pay by wasting a Team Rocket's Energy, so it does not attack. It is also the one Fighting-weak body on the board, which matters not at all on a Pokémon whose job description is fainting.

Team Rocket's Wobbuffetx1

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 082/182
Rarity: Rare
Type: Psychic
HP: 110
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Darkness ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 2
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Rocket Mirror - Move all damage counters from 1 of your Benched Team Rocket's Pokémon to your opponent's Active Pokémon.
Attack: Headbutt Bounce (70)

One copy, Fox's pick, and it earns the slot. A 110 HP Basic that counts toward Power Saver, gives up one Prize, resists Fighting like the rest of the board — and carries the deck's only answer to chip damage.

Rocket Mirror is , and this deck can actually pay it: the loop's Basic Psychic covers the Psychic , or a Team Rocket's Energy does in a pinch. It moves all damage counters from 1 of your Benched Team Rocket's Pokémon onto their Active. Read what that is: a full heal on your bench and an attack, in one action. A Spidops that has been bleeding for three turns becomes 30 damage thrown back across the table, and the battery walks away clean.

It is the anti-spread card. Anything that drips counters onto your Bench — Froslass's Freezing Shroud taxing your five Ability Pokémon, Sneaky Bite chip, Stadium damage — is quietly loading Rocket Mirror. Against a deck with no spread it is just a body, and one body is still a Power Saver count and a Proton target.

The counters move as counters, not as an attack's damage, so no Weakness math applies in either direction. Three cares: 110 HP is over Buddy-Buddy Poffin's limit, so Proton and Ultra Ball are what find it; Retreat 2 means it does not want the Active Spot; and it is Darkness-weak, so against the Gengar decks it stays on the Bench doing its job from there.

Headbutt Bounce is Psychic Colorless for 70 — legal, expensive, and almost never the best use of three Energy. Rocket Mirror is the reason it is here.

Team Rocket's Articunox1

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 051/182
Rarity: Rare
Type: Water
HP: 120
Stage: Basic
Ability: Repelling Veil - Prevent all effects of attacks used by your opponent's Pokémon done to your Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon in play. (Existing effects are not removed. Damage is not an effect.)
Weakness: Lightning ×2
Resistance: Fighting -30
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Dark Frost (60+) - If this Pokémon has any Team Rocket's Energy attached, this attack does 60 more damage.

One copy, and it never attacks. Repelling Veil prevents all effects of attacks used by your opponent's Pokémon done to your Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon. Mewtwo, Tarountula, and Zubat are Basic, so all three are covered: no Confusion on Mewtwo, no Poison, no forced switching, no discarding your attached Energy.

Read the two words it does not cover. Damage is not an effect, so damage still lands. Abilities are not attacks, so anything that places damage counters from an Ability sails straight past it. Dark Frost costs Water Colorless and this deck runs no Water, so Articuno spends the whole game on the Bench turning off the annoying half of the other deck, which at this table is most of what loses you games.

Trainers — Supporters

Team Rocket's Arianax4

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 171/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Draw cards until you have 5 cards in your hand. If all of your Pokémon in play are Team Rocket's Pokémon, draw cards until you have 8 cards in your hand instead.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Draw until you have 5 cards in hand, or 8 if every Pokémon you have in play is a Team Rocket's Pokémon. In this deck that clause is always true, so this is a draw-to-8 Supporter at four copies and it costs zero Bench space. It is the single best reason not to splash anything outside the brand.

Team Rocket's Protonx3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 177/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: If you go first, you may use this card during your first turn. Search your deck for up to 3 Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

The only Supporter here you may play on your first turn going first. Search for up to 3 Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon and put them in your hand: Mewtwo, Tarountula, Zubat, Koffing, Wobbuffet, and Articuno all qualify, so one card can set up your entire Power Saver count. Three copies, and Transceiver makes the real number closer to six.

Lillie's Determinationx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 119/132
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Shuffle your hand into your deck. Then, draw 6 cards. If you have exactly 6 Prize cards remaining, draw 8 cards instead.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 6, or 8 while you still have all six Prize cards. Two copies, and it is the reset for the turn Ariana is dead because your hand is already full of cards you cannot use. Ariana adds to a stuck hand; this one throws the hand away first. Transceiver cannot find it, so both copies have to be drawn.

Team Rocket's Giovannix2

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 174/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Switch your Active Team Rocket's Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Team Rocket's Pokémon. If you do, switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Switch your Active Team Rocket's Pokémon with a Benched one, then drag one of theirs up. Both halves are gated on your side being Team Rocket's Pokémon, which is free here. Two copies, and this is how a tapped-out Mewtwo leaves the Active spot without paying three Energy of retreat, because it does the escape and the gust in one card.

Boss's Ordersx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 114/132
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot. Two copies alongside the Giovanni, because every point of chip damage this deck spreads is worthless until you can choose what dies. Giovanni does more, but it needs a Benched Team Rocket's Pokémon to switch to and this does not, which is the difference on a board you have just had knocked apart. Neither one turns on Team Rocket's Factory.

Trainers — Items

Team Rocket's Transceiverx3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 178/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Search your deck for a Supporter card that has "Team Rocket" in its name, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

An Item that searches out any Supporter with "Team Rocket" in its name. Three copies — the records claimed a fourth, and the 2026-08-21 hand count never found it — which still puts your real Ariana count closer to seven and your real Proton count closer to six. Turn one going first it fetches Proton and you play it the same turn. It cannot find Lillie's Determination or Boss's Orders.

Ultra Ballx3

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 131/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: You can use this card only if you discard 2 other cards from your hand. Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Discard 2 other cards from your hand, then search your deck for any Pokémon. Three copies, down from four on 2026-08-26 to make room for the third Factory. It is the only card here that finds Crobat ex, and the discard is less a cost than a second use: pitching a Basic Energy to it is Spidops's first meal and saves you a whole turn of attaching by hand. Transceiver into Proton and the three Poffins find the Basics, so three copies still put the first Energy in the discard by the turn the loop wants it. See game plan 3.

Buddy-Buddy Poffinx3

Set: SV05: Temporal Forces 144/162
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

Search out up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them straight onto your Bench. Tarountula and Zubat are 50 each and Koffing is exactly 70, so one card drops two bodies toward the Power Saver count and starts an evolution line at the same time. Three copies. Mewtwo at 280 and Articuno at 120 are out of range, which is the only reason this is not a four.

Rare Candyx1

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 125/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Choose 1 of your Basic Pokémon in play. If you have a Stage 2 card in your hand that evolves from that Pokémon, put that card onto the Basic Pokémon to evolve it, skipping the Stage 1. You can't use this card during your first turn or on a Basic Pokémon that was put into play this turn.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Evolve a Basic straight to Stage 2, skipping the Stage 1. One copy — the second went back in the box when the Koffing pair came in, and hand-evolving through Golbat was already the better route. What the copy is for is Zubat into Crobat ex on the turn you need a 310 HP body immediately. It costs you the Sneaky Bite you would have got on the way past, so it buys a turn and gives up 20 chip. Not playable on your first turn, or on a Basic you benched this turn.

Switchx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 130/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. Two copies, and the cheapest of the three answers to a Mewtwo stranded Active on Retreat 3. It is free and it leaves the Energy behind, which is exactly the case where you want Giovanni or the Scramble Switch instead. See game plan 5.

Night Stretcherx2

Set: SV: Shrouded Fable 061/064
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Put a Pokémon or a Basic Energy card from your discard pile into your hand.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

Put a Pokémon or a Basic Energy card from your discard pile into your hand. Two copies, and the word Basic is the one that matters: Team Rocket's Energy is special Energy and this cannot touch it. What it actually recovers is a dead Spidops, or the Psychic and Grass that ride the loop.

Scramble Switchx1

Set: SV08: Surging Sparks 186/191
Rarity: ACE SPEC Rare
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. If you do, you may move any amount of Energy from the Pokémon you moved to the Bench to the new Active Pokémon.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

The one ACE SPEC, and one per deck across the whole list. Switch your Active with a Benched Pokémon, then move any amount of Energy from the one you just benched to the new Active. On a Mewtwo about to be knocked out that is a full Energy transplant onto a fresh one, and it dodges the knockout in the same card. Save it for the turn it wins the game.

This is also the slot that moves with Dad's deck choice — the warning under the deck list carries the branch table. On a Prime Catcher night the same rule applies: one use, saved for the turn it takes a Prize.

Trainers — Tool & Stadium

Team Rocket's Factoryx3

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 173/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Stadium
Ability: Once during each player's turn, if they played a Supporter card that has "Team Rocket" in its name from their hand this turn, they may draw 2 cards.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Stadium. Once during each player's turn, if they played a Supporter with "Team Rocket" in its name that turn, they may draw 2. Ariana, Proton, and Giovanni all qualify, which is nearly every turn of the game; Lillie's Determination and Boss's Orders do not. The clause is symmetrical and almost never helps the other side, because almost nobody else is playing Team Rocket Supporters.

Three copies, up from two on 2026-08-26 for the fourth Ultra Ball. Nine Team Rocket Supporters make this two extra cards on almost every turn it is in play, so getting it down early is worth the slot: with two copies one is in hand by turn two 31% of the time, with three it is 43%, and by turn four it is 50% against 36%. The third copy is also the re-drop after Festival Grounds or Jamming Tower bumps it, and in the mirror, where the clause cuts both ways, it means Fox owns the Stadium slot more often than the other Rocket player does.

Energy

Team Rocket's Energyx4

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 182/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Energy - Special
Ability: This card can only be attached to a Team Rocket's Pokémon. If this card is attached to anything other than a Team Rocket's Pokémon, discard this card. As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides 2 in any combination of Energy and Energy.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Provides 2 Energy in any mix of Psychic and Darkness, and attaches only to a Team Rocket's Pokémon, which here means anything. Four copies, and they live on Mewtwo, because one card covers two thirds of Erasure Ball by itself.

It is also the deck's only Darkness. Every cost on the board is paid out of these four cards: Poison Spray, Confuse Ray, and both halves of Assassin's Return. Bouncing Crobat ex spends one permanently.

Two rules to hold on to. Spidops cannot recycle it, because Charging Up only takes Basic Energy, and Night Stretcher cannot get it back either. Keep it on Mewtwo and keep the Basic Energy on the Bench.

Basic Psychic Energyx3

Set: MEE: Mega Evolution Energies 5
Rarity: Common
Type: Energy - Basic
Tournament: legal

Three, and their job is to ride the Spidops loop rather than to pay for anything from hand. Erasure Ball is Psychic Psychic Colorless , so a Psychic sitting on a Benched Spidops is both the fuel that gets discarded and the 60 extra damage it turns into. Basic Energy never rotates, and any English print is legal.

Basic Grass Energyx3

Set: MEE: Mega Evolution Energies 1
Rarity: Common
Type: Energy - Basic
Tournament: legal

Three, and Grass rather than three more Psychic for one reason: Rocket Rush costs Grass Colorless , so a Spidops holding recycled Grass can attack for 180 on a full board on the turns Mewtwo cannot. Everything else about them is identical, since Charging Up does not care which Basic Energy it picks up and the in Erasure Ball takes either.

The Engine

Read this part twice. It is the reason the deck exists and it is not obvious from the cards.

Erasure Ball discards Energy from your Benched Pokémon, never from Mewtwo itself. So the Energy you spend to pump the attack and the Energy you spend to pay for the attack are two different piles, and only one of them gets burned.

Charging Up attaches a Basic Energy from your discard pile to Spidops. It is an Ability, not an attack, and it is once per turn per Spidops. So two Spidops give you two attachments a turn that cost you nothing from hand and nothing from deck.

Put those together and the sequence is:

Mewtwo attacks, discarding one Basic Energy off each Spidops. That is 280 damage.
The two Energy land in your discard pile.
Next turn, each Spidops uses Charging Up and pulls its own Energy back out of the discard.
Your hand attachment for the turn is still free, so it goes on the next Mewtwo.
Repeat forever.

The deck only ever needs two Basic Energy cards in play to hold 280 damage a turn, and they are the same two cards every turn.

Damage Math

Source	Cost	Damage
Erasure Ball, nothing discarded		160
Erasure Ball, one Bench Energy discarded		220
Erasure Ball, two Bench Energy discarded		280
Rocket Rush, six Team Rocket's Pokémon in play		180
Assassin's Return		120, then bounce to hand
Confuse Ray		30 and Confusion
Biting Spree, on evolving	free	20 + 20, any two targets
Sneaky Bite, on evolving	free	20, any target
Poison Spray		Poison, 10 a turn

The chip is what carries 280 over the top HP tier.

Target	HP	The line
Flareon ex	270	Erasure Ball 280 outright
Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	280	Erasure Ball 280 outright
Team Rocket's Crobat ex	310	Erasure Ball 280 plus Biting Spree 40
Mega Zygarde ex, after Gaia Wave	310	Erasure Ball 280 cut to 250, plus Biting Spree 40 and Sneaky Bite 20
Mega Gengar ex	350	Erasure Ball 280, Biting Spree 40, Sneaky Bite 20, one turn of Poison 10
Mega Chandelure ex	350	Assassin's Return 240 into Darkness Weakness, then 110 more from chip or a second swing
Charizard, Vivid Voltage	170	Erasure Ball at 220, or Rocket Rush on a full board
Gengar, Perfect Order	130	Rocket Rush 180 for one Prize

The Prize Map

There is no Prize denial in this deck. Mega Gengar ex is out and there is no Legacy Energy in it, so the trade is honest and the maths are the plain kind.

Your Pokémon	Prizes given up	HP
Team Rocket's Tarountula	1	50
Team Rocket's Zubat	1	50
Team Rocket's Koffing	1	70
Team Rocket's Golbat	1	80
Team Rocket's Wobbuffet	1	110
Team Rocket's Articuno	1	120
Team Rocket's Spidops	1	130
Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	2	280
Team Rocket's Crobat ex	2	310

Fourteen of the nineteen Pokémon are worth one Prize. The shape you want is Mewtwo killing something worth two every turn while the only things they can reach are Spidops and Koffing worth one.

Weakness matters more here than Prize denial does, so keep this table in your head:

Your Pokémon	Weakness	Resistance
Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex, Wobbuffet	Darkness ×2	Fighting -30
Team Rocket's Crobat ex, Golbat, Zubat	Lightning ×2	Fighting -30
Team Rocket's Articuno	Lightning ×2	Fighting -30
Team Rocket's Tarountula, Spidops	Fire ×2	none
Team Rocket's Koffing	Fighting ×2	none

Only the Koffing pair is Fighting weak, 11 of the 19 Pokémon resist it, and Koffing's job is dying anyway. Fighting is still the best structural matchup you have.

Game Plans

1. Turn one, count to four

Going first, Transceiver into Proton, then Proton for Mewtwo plus two more Basics. That is your Power Saver count in one turn out of two cards. Bench Tarountula whatever else happens, because Spidops is a turn behind everything else, and put a Koffing in front if you have one — game plan 7 is why.

Going second you can attack, so Poffin for Tarountula and Koffing, attach Team Rocket's Energy to Mewtwo, and take the free damage where you can get it.

2. Two attachments, then Mewtwo swings

Team Rocket's Energy plus any Basic Energy is the whole cost of Erasure Ball. That is turn two if you have both, turn three if you do not. Do not wait for the Bench fuel before you start attacking; 160 into something small is still a Prize.

3. Feed the Spidops before you need it

The loop cannot start until there is a Basic Energy in your discard pile. Ultra Ball is the fastest way to put one there, so when you have a spare Energy in hand and an Ultra Ball to play, that is the discard you want. Once one Spidops is holding a recycled Energy, Erasure Ball is 220 forever without you spending anything.

Two Spidops holding one each is 280 forever. That is the whole game.

4. Evolve Crobat by hand when you can afford the turn

Zubat to Golbat to Crobat ex spread over two turns gets you Sneaky Bite and Biting Spree, 60 damage for free. Rare Candy gets you there a turn earlier and only 40. Use Candy when you need the 310 HP body right now, and use the slow route when you are setting up anyway.

5. Crobat is the answer to a bad Active

When Mewtwo is stuck Active with three Energy on it and something is about to kill it, you have three outs and they are not the same. Switch is free but leaves the Energy behind. Giovanni switches and drags a target up, which is usually the best of them. Scramble Switch takes the Energy with you and is the one to save for the turn it wins the game.

6. Articuno goes down early against effects

If they are running Confusion, Poison, or anything that discards your Energy, get Articuno on the Bench in the first two turns. It costs you a Bench slot and buys total immunity to the annoying half of their deck.

7. The sacrifice lead

Koffing stands in front and dies on purpose. Smog Signals fires when it takes attack damage in the Active Spot, the Knock Out included: the other Koffing comes out of the deck onto the Bench, the Power Saver count holds without spending a card from your hand, and their whole attack bought one Prize.

If Koffing is about to die, you are doing it right.

The order matters. Lead the first Koffing while the second is still in the deck, because once both are in play or in hand the Ability finds nothing. And it is the Active Spot and attack damage only — a benched Koffing is just a body, and damage counters placed by an Ability slide past it.

With no Koffing in the opening hand, the lead is Tarountula or Zubat and the plan is the same: feed the one-Prize bodies, keep Mewtwo loading behind them.

Versus the Table

The Fighting deck, Mega Zygarde ex

Your best matchup, and it is structural. Gaia Wave is 200 and doubles into Fighting Weakness, of which you have none. Mewtwo resists Fighting and takes 170, so it survives and swings back for 280. Crobat takes 170 on 310 HP and then bounces the damage away entirely.

Mega Zygarde ex is 310 HP and worth three Prizes, so killing it twice wins the game. Killing it once takes a little care, because Gaia Wave leaves it taking 30 less damage on your next turn. A full 280 Erasure Ball lands as 250. The chip covers the rest, and Biting Spree and Sneaky Bite place damage counters rather than dealing attack damage, so the reduction does not touch them. 250 plus 40 plus 20 is exactly 310.

The other attack is worse for you. Nullifying Zero flips a coin per Pokémon you have and does 150 to each heads, which reaches your Benched Spidops. Keep the Bench at what you need and no wider.

The Charizard deck

Watch the Spidops. 130 HP with a Fire Weakness means Royal Blaze kills your battery through a gust, and losing both Spidops shuts the engine down. Keep a third Tarountula in reserve, and use Night Stretcher on a Spidops rather than on Mewtwo when the choice comes up.

Charizard is 170 HP, so a 220 Erasure Ball is enough and you should not spend the second Energy for it.

The Eeveelution deck, Flareon ex

Flareon ex is 270 and Erasure Ball at full is 280, so it is a clean one-shot the moment it is Active. It cannot be touched on the Bench, because its Tera ability prevents all damage from attacks while it sits there. That makes Boss's Orders and Team Rocket's Giovanni your only way to start the fight, and it makes the chip damage worthless against it.

Respect Carnelian. 280 damage kills a Mewtwo ex on the nose. Flareon cannot attack the turn after, so the trade is one Mewtwo for one Flareon plus a free turn, which is fine as long as you have the second Mewtwo ready.

The Fire Weakness on your Spidops line is the same problem it is against Charizard, so the same answer applies.

The Gengar decks

Your worst matchup, and it is worth knowing why. Mewtwo is weak to Darkness, so Void Gale at 230 doubles to 460 and one-shots a 280 HP Basic without any setup at all. Do not lead with Mewtwo into a Darkness board.

Crobat ex is the card that plays this matchup. 310 HP, no Darkness Weakness, and Assassin's Return deletes the damage. Chip with Biting Spree and Sneaky Bite, attack with Crobat, and only bring Mewtwo out for the turn it takes a Prize and gets switched straight back with Giovanni.

The lantern deck, Mega Chandelure ex

The second deck at this table that one-shots Mewtwo, and this one does it without a Weakness. See the lantern deck's own page for the other side of it.

Never leave Mewtwo Active. Binding Flame adds 1 to your Active's Retreat Cost from anywhere on their board, and Phantom Maze does 130 plus 50 for each Colorless in that cost. Mewtwo at Retreat 3 becomes Retreat 4, which is 330 into 280 HP, for two Psychic Energy and no setup. Crobat ex retreats for 1, takes 230 on 310 HP, and bounces the damage away.

Every Pokémon in that deck is Darkness Weakness ×2. Chandelure, Gourgeist ex, Dusknoir, Lampent, and Litwick all double it, and Assassin's Return is 120, which lands as 240. That kills Dusknoir at 160 and every small body in the lantern line outright, and takes 240 of the 270 off a Gourgeist ex. Crobat ex is your attacker here. Save Erasure Ball for the turn Gourgeist ex is Active, where 280 clears its 270.

Froslass taxes your whole board — and Wobbuffet sends the bill back. Freezing Shroud puts a damage counter on every Pokémon that has an Ability at each Checkup, both sides. Mewtwo, Spidops, Golbat, Crobat ex, Koffing, and Articuno all have one, so six of your bodies bleed 10 a turn and the Spidops battery is on a clock from the moment Froslass lands. Only Tarountula, Zubat, and Wobbuffet are immune. Articuno does not cover this and it does not cover Dusknoir's Cursed Blast either, because Repelling Veil stops effects of attacks and both of those are Abilities. What does answer it is Rocket Mirror: every counter the shroud drips onto a benched Rocket Pokémon is ammunition Wobbuffet throws back at their Active, heal and attack in one motion. This is the matchup Fox picked it for.

Your own chip feeds them. Horrifying Rondo does 30 plus 50 for each of their Benched Pokémon carrying damage counters, and Biting Spree is how those counters get there. Against this deck, spend the chip on something you are about to knock out, or do not spend it at all.

The mirror, at the card shop

The deck across a Junior table is likelier to be this exact League Battle Deck than anything else, so know the mirror cold.

The Spidops die first. Whoever loses the battery caps at 160, and 160 does not one-shot a 280 HP Mewtwo, while a running loop's 280 does. Spend Boss's Orders and Giovanni on their Spidops before their Mewtwo, and keep your own third Tarountula in reserve.

The Mewtwo war is a race with one rule. 280 one-shots 280, so the Mewtwo that attacks first trades up, and the player who loaded a second Mewtwo on the Bench first wins the rematch. Never send Mewtwo forward until it can swing that same turn.

The Koffing lead wins the early trade. Their two-Prize attacker spending a turn to kill a one-Prize Koffing that replaces itself is the exchange this deck was tuned for. Take it every time.

Test and Tune

Three things to watch, and the exact ratio each one points at. The Koffing pair already spent the two obvious flex slots, so the Petrel and the second Rare Candy sit in the box as the first swaps back whenever a change below needs room.

Mewtwo cannot attack on turn two. If Power Saver is what is stopping you rather than Energy, go to 4 Team Rocket's Proton over a Night Stretcher. With eleven Basics and the sacrifice lead this should now be rare; if it is not, count how often the Poffins are sitting in your hand instead of on the table.

The Spidops loop never starts. If Erasure Ball keeps coming in at 160, the Energy is not reaching the discard pile. Watch whether you are pitching Energy to Ultra Ball; if you are and it still stalls, add a fourth Basic Psychic over the last Rare Candy and go to 11.

Mewtwo is stranded Active with three Energy on it. If retreat is what loses you games rather than damage, go to 3 Switch by cutting a Night Stretcher — and remember that on a Gang night the Prime Catcher in the ACE SPEC slot is already the extra out.

Three smaller notes. Articuno looks like a dead card until you read the field: Phantom Dive's six Bench counters and Alakazam's Powerful Hand are effects of attacks, so Repelling Veil blanks both on every Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon, and Dragapult plus Alakazam is a quarter of the current Standard field. Bench it on turn one against a Dreepy or an Abra, and only pull it for the Petrel if the local room turns out to be neither. Team Rocket's Mimikyu (Destined Rivals 087) is the parked tech: 60 HP, free retreat, a Team Rocket's Pokémon for the Power Saver count, and Gemstone Mimicry copies an opposing Active Tera Pokémon's attack for Psychic Colorless , which is Phantom Dive against the field's biggest deck and nothing at all against the Megas; if Fox wants it, it takes the second Night Stretcher. And if you are drawing Biting Spree damage but never converting it into a knockout, you are short on gust and the answer is a third Boss's Orders, not more chip.

What To Buy

Nothing. The list above is built entirely out of cards already in the box. The block below is the upgrade path if you want to thicken it later.

Card	Own	Need	Buy	Note
Team Rocket's Zubat SV10: Destined Rivals 120/182	2	3	1	third copy, the Crobat line is the thinnest thing here
Team Rocket's Golbat SV10: Destined Rivals 121/182	2	3	1	third copy, and the better evolution route runs through it
Team Rocket's Crobat ex SV10: Destined Rivals 122/182	2	3	1	third copy
Basic Psychic Energy MEE: Mega Evolution Energies 5	27	4	✓	a fourth Psychic, free out of any bulk lot
Legacy Energy SV06: Twilight Masquerade 167/167	0	1	1	optional ace spec swap, see below
Total to buy			4