Wailord ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it
We took 20 lists of this deck, played across 16 tournaments by 20 people who never talked to each other, and counted every card in every one. 8 cards turn up in all of them, 34 slots out of 60. The remaining 26 are fought over by 60 different cards, and that is almost always where a game is won.
- 8 cards show up in all 20 lists, no exceptions: 34 of your 60 slots. Of those, 14 are Trainers, 7 are Pokémon and 13 are Energy. Start there, nobody argues about them.
- Your big card is Wailord ex, 380 HP. Falling Down hits for 270, and it costs you 5 Energy (Water, Water, Water, Water and Water).
- The sharpest disagreement is over Night Stretcher: 10 of the 20 lists run it. The table below has all 60 cards fighting over the 26 free slots.
- Your attackers are Weak to Lightning, and 2 of the 72 decks we track attack in that type: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik and Iono's Bellibolt ex. They are listed at the bottom, with the card that does the damage.
What Wailord ex looks like when you open the box
Across the 20 lists we counted, this deck runs 10 to 18 Pokémon, 28 to 38 Trainers and 11 to 16 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Water.
On results pages and on stream you will see it written « wailord-ex ». 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: 11 to 16 out of 60, when half the 72 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. Wailord 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: 10 to 20 Supporters, 9 to 21 Items, 1 to 5 Tools and 0 to 3 Stadiums, out of 28 to 38 — the median across the 72 decks we track being 31. As many Supporters as Items, which is rare: turns will be quieter and steadier. 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 fills the 60 slots
- Pokémon
- 10–18
- Trainers
- 28–38
- Energy
- 11–16
- Supporters
- 10–20
- Items
- 9–21
- Tools
- 1–5
- Stadiums
- 0–3
A range means the lists disagree with each other.
How Wailord ex actually wins
Wailord ex attacks with Falling Down for 270, and it costs 5 Energy (Water, Water, Water, Water and Water), with 380 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, 5 to pay for Falling Down: with no help you swing on turn 5, and every card that accelerates Energy buys one of those turns back.
Here is the detail that quietly loses games: Wailord ex has a Retreat Cost of 4, which is a whole turn to get it back to the Bench.
Wailord ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes TWO Prize cards instead of one when Wailord 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.
| Pokémon | HP | Attack | Damage | Cost | Weakness | Retreat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wailord exStage 1 | 380 | Falling Down | 270 | Water + Water + Water + Water + Water | Lightning ×2 | 4 |
| WailmerBasic | 130 | Wave Splash | 80 | Water + Water + Water | Lightning ×2 | 4 |
The core: the 8 cards every list runs
These 8 cards appear in all 20 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: 14 Trainers, 7 Pokémon, 13 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 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Wailmer (3 to 4), Wailord ex (3 to 4) and Lillie's Determination (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.
| Copies | Card | Printing | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3–4 | Wailmer | PBL 15 | Pokémon |
| 3–4 | Wailord ex | PBL 16 | Pokémon |
| 2–4 | Lillie's Determination | MEG 119 | Trainer |
| 1–4 | Misty's Vitality | PBL 80 | Trainer |
| 2–4 | Poké Pad | POR 81 | Trainer |
| 2–4 | Boss's Orders | MEG 114 | Trainer |
| 7–10 | Water Energy | MEE 3 | Energy |
| 2–4 | Bubbly Water Energy | CRI 84 | Energy |
The 60 cards that change from list to list
60 cards fight over the 26 slots that are left: 3 above three lists in four, 46 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.
The most agreed on first: Jumbo Ice Cream at 95 %, Heavy Baton at 95 % and Ultra Ball at 85 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.
The dividing line runs through Night Stretcher, at 50 %: 10 of 20 players took it, 10 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Special Red Card at 25 % and Dunsparce 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.
| Lists running it | Card | Copies | Printing | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 %19/20 | Jumbo Ice Cream | 1–4 | PFL 91 | Trainer |
| 95 %19/20 | Heavy Baton | 1–3 | TEF 151 | Trainer |
| 85 %17/20 | Ultra Ball | 1–4 | MEG 131 | Trainer |
| 70 %14/20 | Surfing Beach | 1–3 | MEG 129 | Trainer |
| 65 %13/20 | Team Rocket's Petrel | 2–4 | DRI 176 | Trainer |
| 65 %13/20 | Hilda | 1–3 | WHT 84 | Trainer |
| 60 %12/20 | Pokégear 3.0 | 2–4 | SVI 186 | Trainer |
| 50 %10/20 | Night Stretcher | 1–2 | ASC 196 | Trainer |
| 45 %9/20 | Cinderace | 3–4 | MEG 28 | Pokémon |
| 30 %6/20 | Munkidori | 3–4 | TWM 95 | Pokémon |
| 30 %6/20 | Dudunsparce | 1–2 | TEF 129 | Pokémon |
| 30 %6/20 | Hero's Cape | 1 | TEF 152 | Trainer |
| 30 %6/20 | Secret Box | 1 | TWM 163 | Trainer |
| 30 %6/20 | Darkness Energy | 2–4 | MEE 7 | Energy |
| 25 %5/20 | Special Red Card | 1 | CRI 82 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Dunsparce | 2–3 | JTG 120 | Pokémon |
| 20 %4/20 | Crispin | 1–2 | SCR 133 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Great Haul Net | 1–2 | CRI 78 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Switch | 1–2 | MEG 130 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Energy Recycler | 1–2 | DRI 164 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Maximum Belt | 1 | TEF 154 | Trainer |
| 15 %3/20 | Mega Kangaskhan ex | 4 | MEG 104 | Pokémon |
| 15 %3/20 | Meowth ex | 1 | POR 62 | Pokémon |
| 15 %3/20 | Air Balloon | 1–3 | ASC 181 | Trainer |
| 15 %3/20 | Precious Trolley | 1 | SSP 185 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Dunsparce | 1–3 | TEF 128 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Ninetales | 2 | CRI 9 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Vulpix | 2 | CRI 8 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Wailord | 1–2 | JTG 41 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Buddy-Buddy Poffin | 2–3 | TEF 144 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Judge | 1–2 | POR 76 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Xerosic's Machinations | 1–2 | SFA 64 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Handheld Fan | 1 | TWM 150 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Fire Energy | 2 | MEE 2 | Energy |
| 5 %1/20 | Froakie | 3 | CRI 20 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Amaura | 2 | POR 23 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Aurorus | 2 | POR 24 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Dewgong | 2 | POR 19 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Drakloak | 2 | TWM 129 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Dreepy | 2 | TWM 128 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Frogadier | 2 | CRI 21 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Mega Greninja ex | 2 | CRI 22 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Seel | 2 | POR 18 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Keldeo | 1 | CRI 19 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Latias ex | 1 | SSP 76 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Psyduck | 1 | ASC 39 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Antique Sail Fossil | 2 | POR 69 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Brock's Scouting | 2 | JTG 146 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Call Bell | 2 | SSP 165 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Dark Bell | 2 | PBL 75 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Energy Switch | 2 | MEG 115 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Gwynn | 2 | PBL 78 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Rare Candy | 2 | MEG 125 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Super Potion | 2 | JTG 158 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Team Rocket's Factory | 2 | DRI 173 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Acerola's Mischief | 1 | MEG 113 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | AZ's Tranquility | 1 | CRI 76 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Battle Cage | 1 | PFL 85 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Bianca's Devotion | 1 | TEF 142 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Prism Energy | 2 | ASC 216 | Energy |
What Wailord ex costs to build, and how long it will last
You need 68 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 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 Wailord ex, by a distance. The 14 Trainer slots in the core cost next to nothing, and you probably own some already. 19 of these 20 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 6 took Hero's Cape, 6 took Secret Box and 4 took Maximum Belt. 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 Hero's Cape and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.
Then there is time, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 8 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.
What Wailord ex struggles against
The attackers in this deck are Weak to Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 2 of the 72 decks we track attack in exactly that type.
Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik and Iono's Bellibolt ex. 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, and 6 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.
They double the damage they put on you
| Deck | Their card | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik | Mega Manectric ex | Lightning |
| Iono's Bellibolt ex | Iono's Bellibolt ex | Lightning |
You double the damage you put on them
| Deck | Their card | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex | Blaziken ex | Water |
| Ethan's Typhlosion | Ethan's Typhlosion | Water |
| Ceruledge ex | Ceruledge ex | Water |
| Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex | Blaziken ex | Water |
| Flareon ex / Noctowl | Flareon ex | Water |
| Mega Charizard X ex | Mega Charizard X ex | Water |
Questions people ask
- What is the Wailord ex deck list?
- There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 20 tournament lists harvested on 16 August 2026, 8 cards turn up in every single one — 34 slots out of 60. The remaining 26 change from player to player, with 60 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.
- How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?
- 20 lists, played across 16 different tournaments, harvested on 16 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 20 were read card by card, and every card recognised.
- Where do I start if I want to build Wailord ex?
- With the whole core: 8 cards, 34 slots. Inside it, buy the 14 Trainer slots and the 13 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave Wailord 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 Jumbo Ice Cream at 95 % and Heavy Baton at 95 %.
- What beats Wailord ex?
- Its attackers are Weak to Lightning, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 2 of the 72 decks we track play an attacker of that type: Mega Manectric ex / Eelektrik and Iono's Bellibolt ex.
- Will Wailord ex survive the next rotation?
- Yes, whole: not one of the 8 core cards carries the letter H. At equal price, that is the argument that should settle where your money goes.
- Are a lot of people playing Wailord ex?
- We have read 20 lists of it, which puts it 68th of the 72 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 21 entries for it, 0.08 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.
Where all of this comes from
20 lists from play.limitlesstcg.com, played across 16 events, harvested on 16 August 2026. The 68 cards named here were read against poko's own catalogue, built on the public TCGdex API. No prices on this page, for want of a fresh enough reading. The TCGplayer link in the cost section is a shop link, labelled as one right where it stands.
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