Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce looks like when you open the box

Across the 15 lists we counted, this deck runs 16 to 21 Pokémon, 29 to 33 Trainers and 10 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Metal.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « archaludon-dudunsparce ». 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: 10 to 13 out of 60, when half the 91 decks we track run 10 or fewer. This one carries more than most, and you feel it at the table — it wants to load up a big Pokémon and swing hard, even if that means drawing a spare Energy now and then.

It sets up fast. Archaludon ex 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.

On the Trainer side: 9 to 13 Supporters, 13 to 18 Items, 0 to 2 Tools and 2 to 5 Stadiums, out of 29 to 33 — the median across the 91 decks we track being 31. Items edge it without crushing the Supporters. And it runs up to 5 Stadiums, which is no accident: it plans on bumping the one across the table.

What those four families of Trainer actually do, and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.

What the cards in this deck's name actually do

Archaludon ex and Dudunsparce give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Archaludon ex is in all 15 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Assemble Alloy, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon during your turn, you may attach up to 2 Basic {M} Energy cards from your discard pile to your {M} Pokémon in any way you like. »

Dudunsparce is in all 15 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Run Away Draw, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may draw 3 cards. If you drew any cards in this way, shuffle this Pokémon and all attached cards into your deck. »

How Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce actually wins

Archaludon ex attacks with Metal Defender for 220, and it costs 3 Energy (Metal, Metal and Metal), with 300 HP to absorb the answer. The whole list exists to get it online fast.

Do the arithmetic, it decides your first few turns. One Energy attached a turn, 3 to pay for Metal Defender: with no help you swing on turn 3, and every card that accelerates Energy buys one of those turns back.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games: Archaludon ex has a Retreat Cost of 2, which is a whole turn to get it back to the Bench.

Archaludon ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes TWO Prize cards instead of one when Archaludon ex falls. They need six to win: three well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take six 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
Archaludon exStage 1	300	Metal Defender	220	Metal + Metal + Metal	Fire ×2	2
DudunsparceStage 1	140	Land Crush	90	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	3
DuraludonBasic	130	Raging Hammer	80+	Metal + Metal + Colorless	Fire ×2	2

The core: the 9 cards every list runs

These 9 cards appear in all 15 lists, without a single exception. That is 38 of the 60 slots. The other 22 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 38 slots break down: 18 Trainers, 10 Pokémon, 10 Energy. The balance is a normal one, so it is the cards themselves, more than the split, that give this deck its character.

8 of those 9 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duraludon (3 to 4), Archaludon ex (3 to 4) and Dudunsparce (2 to 4), plus 5 more. Everybody runs them, the last copy is arguable.

What "3 to 4" means in the copies column, what the "TWM 130" code under each name is for, and why we count dozens of lists instead of one: how to read a deck list.

The cards present in every list counted, with the number of copies

Copies	Card	Printing	Kind	Rotation
3–4	Duraludon	SCR 106	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Archaludon ex	SSP 130	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Dudunsparce	TEF 129	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
4	Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
3–4	Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
3–4	Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
1–3	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
9–11	Metal Energy	MEE 8	Energy	stays

The 45 cards that change from list to list

45 cards fight over the 22 slots that are left: 6 above three lists in four, 27 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Mega Mawile ex at 93 %, Night Stretcher at 93 % and Prism Tower at 93 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Fezandipiti ex, at 53 %: 8 of 15 players took it, 7 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Explorer's Guidance at 20 % and Iron Defender at 20 %: personal ideas, only worth copying if you know why.

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
93 %14/15	Mega Mawile ex	1	MEG 94	Pokémon
93 %14/15	Night Stretcher	1–4	ASC 196	Trainer
93 %14/15	Prism Tower	2–4	CRI 80	Trainer
87 %13/15	Dunsparce	2–4	JTG 120	Pokémon
87 %13/15	Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
80 %12/15	Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
73 %11/15	Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
73 %11/15	Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
53 %8/15	Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
53 %8/15	Black Belt's Training	1–2	JTG 143	Trainer
53 %8/15	Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
47 %7/15	Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
47 %7/15	Philippe	1–2	CRI 79	Trainer
40 %6/15	Archaludon	1	PFL 75	Pokémon
40 %6/15	Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
27 %4/15	Dunsparce	1–3	TEF 128	Pokémon
27 %4/15	Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
27 %4/15	Pokégear 3.0	2	SVI 186	Trainer
20 %3/15	Explorer's Guidance	2–3	TEF 147	Trainer
20 %3/15	Iron Defender	1–3	MEG 118	Trainer
20 %3/15	Tremendous Bomb	2	PBL 82	Trainer
20 %3/15	Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
20 %3/15	Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
20 %3/15	Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
13 %2/15	Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
13 %2/15	Duraludon	1	PFL 74	Pokémon
13 %2/15	Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
13 %2/15	Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
13 %2/15	Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
13 %2/15	Full Metal Lab	2	TEF 148	Trainer
13 %2/15	Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
7 %1/15	Bastiodon	2	PBL 62	Pokémon
7 %1/15	Shieldon	2	PBL 61	Pokémon
7 %1/15	Genesect ex	1	BLK 67	Pokémon
7 %1/15	Klefki	1	POR 59	Pokémon
7 %1/15	Antique Armor Fossil	3	PBL 72	Trainer
7 %1/15	Jumbo Ice Cream	3	PFL 91	Trainer
7 %1/15	Fossil Quarry	2	PBL 76	Trainer
7 %1/15	Iris's Fighting Spirit	2	JTG 149	Trainer
7 %1/15	Nighttime Mine	2	ASC 197	Trainer
7 %1/15	Tool Scrapper	2	ASC 212	Trainer
7 %1/15	Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
7 %1/15	Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
7 %1/15	Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %1/15	Magnetic Metal Energy	2	CRI 85	Energy

The most common Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 38 slots come from the core, the cards all 15 lists run. The remaining 22 come from the table just above, working down it: the cards the most players chose, each at its most common copy count, until the total lands on 60.

This list is nobody's list in particular. It takes, slot by slot, what the most people played, under the same guardrails a judge would hold you to: four copies of a card at most, one ACE SPEC, and a split that stays inside what these 15 lists actually showed. It comes to 20 Pokémon, 30 Trainers and 10 Energy.

A word on what it measures, because it changes what you can expect from it. The lists we read are the ones from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament. So there is no losing list to hold up against them, and "the cards that win" is not a sentence this count knows how to write. What you have in front of you is what the players finishing near the top bring most often. Start there.

The text under the table is the one the game expects. Copy it, open the deck manager, paste, and the list builds itself. Names in there are in English, with the set code and collector number right beside them: that pair points at one card and one only, whatever language you play in.

There is no price total on this page. The readings we have are Cardmarket's, in euros, and the shop link further down sends you to TCGplayer, which quotes in dollars. Putting a euro figure next to a dollar shop would be one currency too many. The French and German pages carry the total.

How to read the percentages in the table above, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.

Pokémon: 20
4 Duraludon SCR 106
3 Archaludon ex SSP 130
3 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
4 Dunsparce JTG 120
1 Fan Rotom SCR 118
1 Relicanth TEF 84
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Archaludon PFL 75

Trainer: 30
4 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Prism Tower CRI 80
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
2 Judge POR 76
1 Black Belt's Training JTG 143
1 Scoop Up Cyclone TWM 162
1 Philippe CRI 79
1 Switch MEG 130

Energy: 10
10 Metal Energy MEE 8

Total Cards: 60

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 54 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 9 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

Where the money goes, though, we can name: it is Archaludon ex, by a distance. The 18 Trainer slots in the core cost next to nothing, and you probably own some already. All 15 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 8 took Scoop Up Cyclone, 3 took Hero's Cape and 3 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 4. 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 Scoop Up Cyclone and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 4 of the 9 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duraludon, Archaludon ex, Dudunsparce and Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks each of them. The date belongs to the publisher, and we do not have it.

What Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire and Fighting, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 19 of the 91 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, plus 16 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.

Do not stop at this table, though. This deck sets up fast, so what troubles it looks less like a Weakness and more like an opponent who absorbs your first hits and answers harder.

Going the other way, your attackers are Metal, and 11 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Dhelmise and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce deck list?

There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 15 tournament lists harvested on 16 August 2026, 9 cards turn up in every single one — 38 slots out of 60. The remaining 22 change from player to player, with 45 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?

15 lists, played across 15 different tournaments, harvested on 16 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 15 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

With the whole core: 9 cards, 38 slots. Inside it, buy the 18 Trainer slots and the 10 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave Archaludon ex for last, because that is the bill. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Mega Mawile ex at 93 % and Night Stretcher at 93 %.

What beats Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire and Fighting, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 19 of the 91 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, among others.

Will Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 4 core cards out of 9 carry the letter H, starting with Duraludon, Archaludon ex, Dudunsparce and Buddy-Buddy Poffin.

Are a lot of people playing Archaludon ex / Dudunsparce?

We have read 15 lists of it, which puts it 75th of the 91 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 15 entries for it, 0.06 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.

These pages are about the same corner of the game. If you came away from this one still wondering about something, start with one of them.