Terapagos ex / Noctowl deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Terapagos ex / Noctowl looks like when you open the box

Across the 10 lists we counted, this deck runs 18 to 25 Pokémon, 28 to 33 Trainers and 6 to 11 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water, Grass and Lightning.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « terapagos-noctowl ». 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: 6 to 11 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. Noctowl 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 11 Supporters, 17 to 20 Items, 1 to 3 Tools and 2 to 3 Stadiums, out of 28 to 33 — the median across the 91 decks we track being 31. Items dominate, so expect long turns where you chain five or six before you swing. And it runs up to 3 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

Terapagos ex and Noctowl give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Terapagos ex is in all 10 lists, 2 copies of it.

Noctowl is in all 10 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Jewel Seeker, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, if you have any Tera Pokémon in play, you may search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. »

How Terapagos ex / Noctowl actually wins

Terapagos ex attacks with Crown Opal for 180, and it costs 3 Energy (Grass, Water and Lightning), with 230 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 Crown Opal: 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: Terapagos ex has a Retreat Cost of 2, which is a whole turn to get it back to the Bench.

Terapagos ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex carry the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes TWO Prize cards instead of one when one of them falls. They need six to win: three well-placed knockouts on those cards 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
Terapagos exBasic	230	Crown Opal	180	Grass + Water + Lightning	Fighting ×2	2
Wellspring Mask Ogerpon exBasic	210	Torrential Pump	100	Water + Colorless + Colorless	Lightning ×2	1
Fan RotomBasic	70	Assault Landing	70	Colorless	Lightning ×2	1
NoctowlStage 1	100	Speed Wing	60	Colorless + Colorless	Lightning ×2	1

The core: the 13 cards every list runs

These 13 cards appear in all 10 lists, without a single exception. That is 34 of the 60 slots. The other 26 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 34 slots break down: 22 Trainers, 12 Pokémon, 0 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.

11 of those 13 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Hoothoot (3 to 4), Noctowl (3 to 4) and Fan Rotom (1 to 2), plus 8 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	Hoothoot	SCR 114	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Noctowl	SCR 115	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Fan Rotom	SCR 118	Pokémon	leaves
2	Terapagos ex	SCR 128	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	TWM 64	Pokémon	leaves
3–4	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	TEF 144	Trainer	leaves
3–4	Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer	stays
2–3	Area Zero Underdepths	SCR 131	Trainer	leaves
2–3	Rare Candy	MEG 125	Trainer	stays
1–2	Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–4	Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2	Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
2–4	Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays

The 40 cards that change from list to list

40 cards fight over the 26 slots that are left: 9 above three lists in four, 16 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Duskull at 90 %, Dusknoir at 90 % and Fezandipiti ex at 90 %, plus 6 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Air Balloon, at 50 %: 5 of 10 players took it, 5 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex at 20 % and Energy Switch 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
90 %9/10	Duskull	1–3	PRE 35	Pokémon
90 %9/10	Dusknoir	1–2	PRE 37	Pokémon
90 %9/10	Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
90 %9/10	Water Energy	2–3	MEE 3	Energy
80 %8/10	Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
80 %8/10	Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
80 %8/10	Glass Trumpet	1–2	SCR 135	Trainer
80 %8/10	Grass Energy	1–2	MEE 1	Energy
80 %8/10	Lightning Energy	1–2	MEE 4	Energy
70 %7/10	Dusclops	1–2	PRE 36	Pokémon
60 %6/10	Pikipek	2	PBL 66	Pokémon
60 %6/10	Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
60 %6/10	Trumbeak	1	PBL 67	Pokémon
60 %6/10	Brave Bangle	1	WHT 80	Trainer
60 %6/10	Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
60 %6/10	Sparkling Crystal	1	SCR 142	Trainer
60 %6/10	Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
60 %6/10	Tera Orb	1–2	SSP 189	Trainer
50 %5/10	Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
40 %4/10	Transformation Tome	2	CRI 83	Trainer
40 %4/10	Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
30 %3/10	Lillie's Clefairy ex	1	JTG 56	Pokémon
30 %3/10	Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
30 %3/10	Psychic Energy	4–11	MEE 5	Energy
20 %2/10	Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
20 %2/10	Energy Switch	1	MEG 115	Trainer
20 %2/10	Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
10 %1/10	Bouffalant	3	SCR 119	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Ralts	3	MEG 58	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Mega Gardevoir ex	2	MEG 60	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Kirlia	1	MEG 59	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
10 %1/10	Judge	2	POR 76	Trainer
10 %1/10	Wally's Compassion	2	MEG 132	Trainer
10 %1/10	Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
10 %1/10	Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer

The most common Terapagos ex / Noctowl list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 34 slots come from the core, the cards all 10 lists run. The remaining 26 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 10 lists actually showed. It comes to 22 Pokémon, 32 Trainers and 6 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: 22
3 Hoothoot SCR 114
3 Noctowl SCR 115
2 Fan Rotom SCR 118
2 Terapagos ex SCR 128
2 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
2 Duskull PRE 35
1 Dusknoir PRE 37
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Dusclops PRE 36
2 Pikipek PBL 66
2 Toucannon PBL 68
1 Trumbeak PBL 67

Trainer: 32
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
3 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Crispin SCR 133
2 Dawn PFL 87
1 Glass Trumpet SCR 135
1 Brave Bangle WHT 80
1 Energy Search POR 72
1 Sparkling Crystal SCR 142
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Tera Orb SSP 189

Energy: 6
2 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Grass Energy MEE 1
2 Lightning Energy MEE 4

Total Cards: 60

What Terapagos ex / Noctowl costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 53 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 13 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 Terapagos ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, by a distance. The 22 Trainer slots in the core cost next to nothing, and you probably own some already. All 10 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 6 took Sparkling Crystal, 3 took Unfair Stamp and 1 took Prime Catcher. 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. 8 of the 13 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Hoothoot, Noctowl, Fan Rotom and Terapagos ex, plus 4 more. The core table marks each of them. The date belongs to the publisher, and we do not have it.

What Terapagos ex / Noctowl struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting and Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 16 of the 91 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Cynthia's Garchomp ex, plus 13 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 Water, Grass and Lightning, and 9 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Ethan's Typhlosion and Ceruledge ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Terapagos ex / Noctowl deck list?

There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 10 tournament lists harvested on 16 August 2026, 13 cards turn up in every single one — 34 slots out of 60. The remaining 26 change from player to player, with 40 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

10 lists, played across 10 different tournaments, harvested on 16 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 10 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Terapagos ex / Noctowl?

With the whole core: 13 cards, 34 slots. Inside it, buy the 22 Trainer slots and the 0 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave Terapagos ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon 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 Duskull at 90 % and Dusknoir at 90 %.

What beats Terapagos ex / Noctowl?

Its attackers are Weak to Fighting and Lightning, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 16 of the 91 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Lucario ex, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp ex and Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik, among others.

Will Terapagos ex / Noctowl survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 8 core cards out of 13 carry the letter H, starting with Hoothoot, Noctowl, Fan Rotom and Terapagos ex, plus 4 more.

Are a lot of people playing Terapagos ex / Noctowl?

We have read 10 lists of it, which puts it 84th of the 91 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 10 entries for it, 0.04 % 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.