Azumarill deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Azumarill looks like when you open the box

Across the 13 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 25 Pokémon, 29 to 35 Trainers and 6 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « azumarill-ssp ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

The bit they tack on the end, « SSP », is a set code: Surging Sparks. They spell it out because several cards share that name, and this deck plays that particular printing.

Look at the Energy: 6 to 12 out of 60, when half the 91 decks we track run 10 or more. This one is lean. It lives on cheap attacks and leans on Trainers to find the right Energy at the right moment rather than stockpiling it.

It sets up fast. Azumarill 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: 7 to 17 Supporters, 11 to 20 Items, 0 to 4 Tools and 2 to 4 Stadiums, out of 29 to 35 — the median across the 91 decks we track being 31. Items edge it without crushing the Supporters. And it runs up to 4 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 card in this deck's name actually does

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

Azumarill is in all 13 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Glistening Bubbles, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « If you have any Tera Pokémon in play, this Pokémon can use the Double-Edge attack for {P}. »

How Azumarill actually wins

Azumarill attacks with Double-Edge for 230, and it costs 4 Energy (Psychic, Psychic, Psychic and Psychic), with 120 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, 4 to pay for Double-Edge: with no help you swing on turn 4, and every card that accelerates Energy buys one of those turns back.

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

Not one ex Pokémon in the core, and only 18 of the 91 decks we track are in that position. It is a hidden advantage: every knockout your opponent takes is worth a single Prize, so they need six, where three would do against a deck stuffed with ex cards.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
AzumarillStage 1	120	Double-Edge	230	Psychic + Psychic + Psychic + Psychic	Metal ×2	2

The core: the 7 cards every list runs

These 7 cards appear in all 13 lists, without a single exception. That is 21 of the 60 slots. The other 39 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 21 slots break down: 15 Trainers, 3 Pokémon, 3 Energy. Trainers outweigh everything else put together, which is the mark of a deck that goes and fetches its cards rather than waiting to draw them.

7 of those 7 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Azumarill (3 to 4), Lillie's Determination (1 to 4) and Boss's Orders (2 to 3), plus 4 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	Azumarill	SSP 74	Pokémon	leaves
1–4	Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–3	Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
2–4	Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
1–4	Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
2–5	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays

The 86 cards that change from list to list

86 cards fight over the 39 slots that are left: 5 above three lists in four, 53 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Night Stretcher at 92 %, Marill at 85 % and Fezandipiti ex at 85 %, plus 2 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Fan Rotom, at 54 %: 7 of 13 players took it, 6 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Munkidori at 23 % and Meowth ex at 23 %: 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
92 %12/13	Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
85 %11/13	Marill	3	ASC 83	Pokémon
85 %11/13	Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
85 %11/13	Area Zero Underdepths	1–4	SCR 131	Trainer
77 %10/13	Telepathic Psychic Energy	1–4	POR 88	Energy
69 %9/13	Lillie's Clefairy ex	1–2	JTG 56	Pokémon
69 %9/13	Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
62 %8/13	Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
54 %7/13	Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
54 %7/13	Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 112	Pokémon
54 %7/13	Brave Bangle	1	WHT 80	Trainer
54 %7/13	Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
54 %7/13	Wondrous Patch	1–2	PFL 94	Trainer
46 %6/13	Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
46 %6/13	Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
46 %6/13	Brock's Scouting	1–4	JTG 146	Trainer
38 %5/13	Hoothoot	3	SCR 114	Pokémon
38 %5/13	Noctowl	3	SCR 115	Pokémon
38 %5/13	Patrat	1	CRI 70	Pokémon
38 %5/13	Terapagos ex	1–2	SCR 128	Pokémon
38 %5/13	Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
38 %5/13	Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
38 %5/13	Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
31 %4/13	Pikipek	1–3	PBL 66	Pokémon
31 %4/13	Shaymin	1–2	DRI 10	Pokémon
31 %4/13	Toucannon	1–3	PBL 68	Pokémon
31 %4/13	Trumbeak	1–2	PBL 67	Pokémon
31 %4/13	Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
31 %4/13	Judge	1–2	POR 76	Trainer
31 %4/13	Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
31 %4/13	Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
31 %4/13	Sacred Ash	1–2	DRI 168	Trainer
31 %4/13	Prism Energy	1	ASC 216	Energy
23 %3/13	Munkidori	2–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
23 %3/13	Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
23 %3/13	Crispin	2	SCR 133	Trainer
23 %3/13	Cyrano	2	SSP 170	Trainer
23 %3/13	Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
23 %3/13	Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
23 %3/13	Fire Energy	1–2	MEE 2	Energy
23 %3/13	Water Energy	2	MEE 3	Energy
23 %3/13	Rocky Fighting Energy	1	POR 87	Energy
15 %2/13	Marill	4	TEF 64	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Drakloak	3	TWM 129	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Dreepy	3	TWM 128	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Crustle	2	DRI 12	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Dragapult ex	2	TWM 130	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Dwebble	2	DRI 11	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Pikachu ex	1–2	SSP 57	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Cinderace	1	MEG 28	Pokémon
15 %2/13	Pokémon Catcher	3	POR 82	Trainer
15 %2/13	Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
15 %2/13	Dragon Elixir	2	SSP 172	Trainer
15 %2/13	Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
15 %2/13	Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
15 %2/13	Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
15 %2/13	Fighting Energy	1–2	MEE 6	Energy
15 %2/13	Growing Grass Energy	2	POR 86	Energy
15 %2/13	Bubbly Water Energy	1	CRI 84	Energy
15 %2/13	Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
8 %1/13	Dudunsparce	4	TEF 129	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Dunsparce	4	JTG 120	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Arboliva ex	2	DRI 23	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Dolliv	2	DRI 22	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Smoliv	2	DRI 21	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Incineroar ex	1	TEF 34	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Litten	1	TEF 32	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Torracat	1	TEF 33	Pokémon
8 %1/13	Pokégear 3.0	4	SVI 186	Trainer
8 %1/13	Team Rocket's Petrel	4	DRI 176	Trainer
8 %1/13	Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
8 %1/13	Forest of Vitality	2	MEG 117	Trainer
8 %1/13	Gladion's Final Battle	2	PBL 77	Trainer
8 %1/13	Energy Recycler	1	DRI 164	Trainer
8 %1/13	Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
8 %1/13	Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
8 %1/13	Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
8 %1/13	Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
8 %1/13	Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
8 %1/13	Tera Orb	1	SSP 189	Trainer
8 %1/13	Darkness Energy	3	MEE 7	Energy
8 %1/13	Grass Energy	2	MEE 1	Energy
8 %1/13	Mist Energy	1	TEF 161	Energy

What Azumarill costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 93 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 7 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

Nothing here really weighs on the bill. There is no ex Pokémon in this core at all, which is very good news for your wallet, because the expensive cards in a deck are almost always the ex ones. 11 of these 13 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 3 took Sparkling Crystal, 2 took Hero's Cape and 2 took Legacy Energy. The flex table shows you all 6. 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 Sparkling Crystal and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 2 of the 7 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Azumarill and Buddy-Buddy Poffin. The core table marks each of them. The date belongs to the publisher, and we do not have it.

What Azumarill struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 12 of the 91 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Excadrill ex, Slowking (Metagross) and Cinccino ex (Genesect ex), plus 9 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 Psychic, and 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Azumarill deck list?

There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 13 tournament lists harvested between 16 August 2026 and 17 August 2026, 7 cards turn up in every single one — 21 slots out of 60. The remaining 39 change from player to player, with 86 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

13 lists, played across 13 different tournaments, harvested between 16 August 2026 and 17 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 13 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Azumarill?

With the whole core: 7 cards, 21 slots. Inside it, buy the 15 Trainer slots and the 3 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 3 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Night Stretcher at 92 % and Marill at 85 %.

What beats Azumarill?

Its attackers are Weak to Metal, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 12 of the 91 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Excadrill ex, Slowking, Cinccino ex and Steven's Metagross ex, among others.

Will Azumarill survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 2 core cards out of 7 carry the letter H, starting with Azumarill and Buddy-Buddy Poffin.

Are a lot of people playing Azumarill?

We have read 13 lists of it, which puts it 79th of the 91 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 13 entries for it, 0.05 % 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.