Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Tech - Dragapult ex & Dudunsparce

Greetings, Pokémon Community! Today, we'll explore the Dragapult ex TWM 130

list that Mateusz Łaszkiewicz used to win the Praga Regional. It plays the exotic Dudunsparce ex JTG 121 as an alternative attacker, which was quite underrated for a while but is now gaining traction.

This event kickstarted the new tournament season now that this year's rotation is valid. Like so, we can use it as a starting point and see which decks stand out. We'll highlight some of them here at Cards Realm, including two other lists from the Master category.

That being said, let's see the list.

POKÉMON: 19

4 Dreepy TWM 128

4 Drakloak TWM 129

3 Dragapult ex TWM 130

2 Dunsparce JTG 120

2 Dudunsparce TEF 129

1 Dudunsparce ex JTG 121

2 Munkidori TWM 95

1 Budew ASC 16

TRAINERS: 32

4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

3 Boss's Orders MEG 114

3 Crispin SCR 133

2 Brock's Scouting JTG 146

1 Acerola's Mischief MEG 113

2 Risky Ruins MEG 127

4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

4 Poké Pad POR 81

4 Ultra Ball MEG 131

2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

2 Night Stretcher ASC 196

1 Hero's Cape TEF 152

ENERGIES: 9

4 Psychic Energy MEE 5

3 Fire Energy MEE 2

2 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Dragapult ex: The Main Attacker

This Pokémon is pretty straightforward. Its main attack, Phantom Dive (F)(P), deals 200 damage and gives you 6 damage counters to put on benched enemy Pokémon.

Please note that damage counters are not the same thing as sniper damage, like Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136's attack, Shadow Bullet.

These damage counters actually go over Pokémon that "protect the bench", like Shaymin DRI 10.

Nonetheless, Dragapult ex TWM 130's Phantom Dive can't go over effects like Rabsca TEF 24's ability. It's one of its greatest weaknesses.

Dudunsparce ex: Alternative attacker

This is one of the new cards in this list. Dudunsparce ex stood out in some Japanese tournaments, as we mentioned in this article about Mega Lopunny ex.

It sees play in this list for two reasons:

This list already plays the baby Dudunsparce TEF 129 to draw cards, so it makes sense to play the ex version.

The idea is to use it aggressively. Its attack, Tenacious Tail, deals 60 damage for each enemy Pokémon ex in play. So, if your opponent has at least 3 Pokémon ex in play, Dudunsparce ex JTG 121 will deal 180 damage to their active Pokémon.

Because the meta is full of Pokémon ex, including stage 1 and 2 Pokémon like Mega Pokémon, this combination is often quite efficient.

Recursive Pokémon

Baby Pokémon

Drakloak TWM 129's ability, Recon Directive, lets you look at the top 2 cards in your deck, put 1 in your hand, and place the other at the bottom.

Dudunsparce TEF 129's ability, Run Away Draw, draws 3 cards and then lets you return this Pokémon and all cards attached to it to your deck.

Budew PRE 4's attack disrupts the opponent considerably, as it prevents them from using items on their turn.

Munkidori TWM 95's ability, Adrena-Brain, lets you move 3 damage counters from your Pokémon to enemy Pokémon. This is great because Dragapult ex TWM 130's Phantom Dive deals 200 damage but won't always knock out a Pokémon in a single turn.

Trainers

Supporters

Lillie's Determination MEG 119 lets you shuffle your hand back into your deck and draw 6 new cards. If you have exactly 6 Prize cards left, you'll draw 8 cards instead.

Crispin SCR 133 lets you get 2 different basic energies from your deck. You'll attach one to your Pokémon and keep the other in your hand. It's pretty useful when you need to attach energies to Dragapult ex TWM 130 or find Darkness energies for Munkidori TWM 95.

Brock's Scouting JTG 146 gets 2 basic Pokémon or 1 evolution Pokémon from your deck for you.

You can only use Acerola's Mischief MEG 113 if your opponent has 2 Prize cards or less. If so, you may pick one of your Pokémon and make it immune to attacks and attack effects on enemy Pokémon ex that turn.

Boss's Orders MEG 114 pulls benched enemy Pokémon into the active spot. It's great when you need to knock out a specific Pokémon.

Items to Get Pokémon

Ultra Ball MEG 131 gets any Pokémon for you as long as you discard 2 cards from your hand.

Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 gets 2 basic Pokémon with up to 70 HP for you and puts them on your bench.

Poké Pad POR 81 gets a baby Pokémon from your deck, that is, Pokémon that don't have a rule box.

Item to Get Supporters

This Item lets you look at the top 7 cards in your deck and get a Supporter.

Item to Recycle Pokémon or Energies

This Item recycles 1 Pokémon or 1 basic energy from your discard pile and puts it in your hand.

Stadium

This Stadium puts 2 damage counters on any benched Pokémon, as long as it isn't a Darkness Pokémon.

This will spread damage over the board and allow you to take advantage of Munkidori TWM 95's ability. You'll move these counters to deal more damage and eventually knock out Pokémon with Dragapult ex PRE 73's Phantom Dive.

ACE SPEC

This ACE SPEC gives the Pokémon it is attached to +100 HP.

This deck is pretty unusual because it doesn't play Dusclops PRE 36 and Dusknoir PRE 37, which are incredibly popular in most versions. Investing in card draw in this format was pretty bold because Drakloak TWM 129 already does that. Still, Mateusz Łaszkiewicz decided to get even more resources with Dudunsparce TEF 129 and it paid off.

Their biggest challenge was Crustle DRI 12, which is considered a natural counter to this list because it is "anti-Pokémon ex". Nonetheless, by managing their resources well, they avoided this issue and put pressure on the runner-up, Elmar Tresp. The finals were pretty close. You can check out more below:

If you'd like to build this deck, you can get some cards in Dragapult ex TWM 130's League Battle Arena deck.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!