Team Rocket's Spidops deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Team Rocket's Spidops looks like when you open the box

Across the 12 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 20 Pokémon, 28 to 34 Trainers and 10 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Grass.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « rocket-spidops ». 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 12 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. Team Rocket's Spidops 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: 11 to 16 Supporters, 12 to 15 Items, 1 to 3 Tools and 0 to 4 Stadiums, out of 28 to 34 — the median across the 91 decks we track being 31. As many Supporters as Items, which is rare: turns will be quieter and steadier. 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

Team Rocket's Spidops gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Team Rocket's Spidops is in all 12 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Charging Up, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon. »

How Team Rocket's Spidops actually wins

Team Rocket's Spidops attacks with Rocket Rush for 30×, and it costs 2 Energy (Grass and Colorless), with 130 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, 2 to pay for Rocket Rush: with no help you swing on turn 2, and every card that accelerates Energy buys one of those turns back.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games: Team Rocket's Spidops 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
Team Rocket's SpidopsStage 1	130	Rocket Rush	30×	Grass + Colorless	Fire ×2	2
Team Rocket's TarountulaBasic	50	Take Down	30	Grass	Fire ×2	1

The core: the 5 cards every list runs

These 5 cards appear in all 12 lists, without a single exception. That is 14 of the 60 slots. The other 46 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 14 slots break down: 6 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 0 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

4 of those 5 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Team Rocket's Spidops (3 to 4), Lillie's Determination (2 to 4) and Night Stretcher (1 to 3), plus 1 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	Team Rocket's Spidops	DRI 20	Pokémon	stays
4	Team Rocket's Tarountula	DRI 19	Pokémon	stays
2–4	Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
1–3	Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays

The 53 cards that change from list to list

53 cards fight over the 46 slots that are left: 18 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: Team Rocket's Articuno at 92 %, Team Rocket's Mimikyu at 92 % and Team Rocket's Transceiver at 92 %, plus 15 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex, at 50 %: 6 of 12 players took it, 6 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Hilda at 25 % and Team Rocket's Diglett at 17 %: 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 %11/12	Team Rocket's Articuno	2	DRI 51	Pokémon
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Mimikyu	1–2	DRI 87	Pokémon
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Transceiver	4	DRI 178	Trainer
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Ariana	2–4	DRI 171	Trainer
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Giovanni	3–4	DRI 174	Trainer
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Proton	2–3	DRI 177	Trainer
92 %11/12	Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
92 %11/12	Grass Energy	5–6	MEE 1	Energy
92 %11/12	Team Rocket's Energy	4	DRI 182	Energy
83 %10/12	Team Rocket's Archer	1–2	DRI 170	Trainer
83 %10/12	Team Rocket's Factory	1–3	DRI 173	Trainer
83 %10/12	Prism Tower	1–2	CRI 80	Trainer
75 %9/12	Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
75 %9/12	Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex	1	DRI 81	Pokémon
75 %9/12	Team Rocket's Sneasel	1–2	DRI 128	Pokémon
75 %9/12	Bug Catching Set	1–2	TWM 143	Trainer
75 %9/12	Psychic Energy	1–12	MEE 5	Energy
67 %8/12	Poké Pad	2	POR 81	Trainer
67 %8/12	Brave Bangle	1–2	WHT 80	Trainer
67 %8/12	Lucky Helmet	1–2	TWM 158	Trainer
50 %6/12	Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex	1	ASC 162	Pokémon
50 %6/12	Colress's Tenacity	1	SFA 57	Trainer
50 %6/12	Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
50 %6/12	Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
33 %4/12	Team Rocket's Watchtower	1	DRI 180	Trainer
25 %3/12	Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
17 %2/12	Team Rocket's Diglett	2	ASC 100	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Team Rocket's Dugtrio	2	ASC 101	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Team Rocket's Meowth	1–2	DRI 149	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Team Rocket's Persian ex	1–2	DRI 150	Pokémon
17 %2/12	Neutralization Zone	1	SFA 60	Trainer
17 %2/12	Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
8 %1/12	Azumarill ex	3	ASC 84	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Marill	3	ASC 83	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Team Rocket's Moltres ex	2	DRI 31	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
8 %1/12	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	4	TEF 144	Trainer
8 %1/12	Explorer's Guidance	3	TEF 147	Trainer
8 %1/12	Wondrous Patch	3	PFL 94	Trainer
8 %1/12	Boss's Orders	2	MEG 114	Trainer
8 %1/12	Energy Search	2	POR 72	Trainer
8 %1/12	Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
8 %1/12	Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
8 %1/12	Energy Search Pro	1	SSP 176	Trainer
8 %1/12	Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
8 %1/12	Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
8 %1/12	Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
8 %1/12	Fire Energy	1	MEE 2	Energy

The most common Team Rocket's Spidops list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 14 slots come from the core, the cards all 12 lists run. The remaining 46 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 12 lists actually showed. It comes to 16 Pokémon, 33 Trainers and 11 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: 16
4 Team Rocket's Spidops DRI 20
4 Team Rocket's Tarountula DRI 19
2 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51
2 Team Rocket's Mimikyu DRI 87
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex DRI 81
1 Team Rocket's Sneasel DRI 128
1 Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex ASC 162

Trainer: 33
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
3 Team Rocket's Ariana DRI 171
3 Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174
2 Team Rocket's Proton DRI 177
1 Energy Switch MEG 115
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
2 Team Rocket's Archer DRI 170
2 Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173
1 Prism Tower CRI 80
2 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80
1 Lucky Helmet TWM 158
1 Colress's Tenacity SFA 57
1 Maximum Belt TEF 154

Energy: 11
6 Grass Energy MEE 1
4 Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182
1 Psychic Energy MEE 5

Total Cards: 60

What Team Rocket's Spidops costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 58 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 5 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. All 12 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 6 took Maximum Belt, 2 took Neutralization Zone and 2 took Secret Box. The flex table shows you all 5. 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 Maximum Belt and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 1 of the 5 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Night Stretcher. The core table marks each of them. The date belongs to the publisher, and we do not have it.

What Team Rocket's Spidops struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fire, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 9 of the 91 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, plus 6 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 Grass, and 17 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

When an attack does nothing at all

There are two ways to hurt the Pokémon across the table, and the game does not treat them the same. An attack with a number printed next to it deals damage. An attack with no number, whose text just says "place 2 damage counters", does what the rules call an effect. That matters, because a handful of Pokémon have an Ability that prevents the effects of your opponent's attacks, and their card spells it out in brackets: damage is not an effect.

This deck has an answer to that. Team Rocket's Articuno has Repelling Veil, and 11 lists out of 12 play it. Against an attack that only places counters, that Pokémon takes nothing at all. Not one counter. An attack with a number printed next to it still puts its damage on it, mind you. That Ability even covers other Pokémon on your side. Its text tells you which ones, so read it once before your next tournament.

Of the decks we track right now, 3 play an attack like that. They are in the table below, with the Pokémon carrying it. When you run into one, put that Pokémon in the Active Spot: the marker attack can no longer touch it. Your opponent will have to reach for printed-damage attacks — most of these decks carry some too. The wall buys you turns, it does not win the game for you.

Questions people ask

What is the Team Rocket's Spidops deck list?

There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 12 tournament lists harvested between 16 August 2026 and 17 August 2026, 5 cards turn up in every single one — 14 slots out of 60. The remaining 46 change from player to player, with 53 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

12 lists, played across 12 different tournaments, harvested between 16 August 2026 and 17 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 12 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Team Rocket's Spidops?

With the whole core: 5 cards, 14 slots. Inside it, buy the 6 Trainer slots and the 0 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 8 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Team Rocket's Articuno at 92 % and Team Rocket's Mimikyu at 92 %.

What beats Team Rocket's Spidops?

Its attackers are Weak to Fire, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 9 of the 91 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion, Ceruledge ex and Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex, among others.

Will Team Rocket's Spidops survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 1 core cards out of 5 carry the letter H, starting with Night Stretcher.

Are a lot of people playing Team Rocket's Spidops?

We have read 12 lists of it, which puts it 81th of the 91 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 12 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.