Festival Lead — Standard Strategy Guide

Archetype Overview

What the Deck Is

Festival Lead is a single-Prize Grass deck built around one rule: with Festival Grounds in play, a Pokémon with the Festival Lead Ability may use its attack twice in one turn. Your main attacker is Dipplin. Its Do the Wave does 20 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon and costs a single Grass Energy. With a full Bench, that is 100 per attack and 200 per turn, from a Stage 1 that went into play on turn two.

The rest of the list does three jobs. It fills the Bench, finds the Stadium, and then stacks damage modifiers that apply to both attacks. It placed 2nd at Moujii's Dojo on 2026-10-12, out of 232 players.

Why the Plan Works

Every damage bonus counts twice. Festival Lead doubles everything you add to a single attack. That is why the list plays Brave Bangle, Kieran, and Gladion's Final Battle instead of more Pokémon. With a full Bench of five, the numbers look like this:

A 70 HP Stage 1 that reaches 420 damage for one Energy is the whole case for this deck.

The second attack can take a second Prize. If the first attack Knocks Out the Active Pokémon, your second attack hits whatever your opponent promotes. Use Boss's Orders to choose the first target, and a single turn can take two Prizes from two different Pokémon. This shapes how you plan your opponent's Bench. Leave a damaged or low-HP Pokémon there, and it becomes a target for your follow-up.

The engine runs on Thwackey. Boom Boom Groove searches your deck for any card, once per Thwackey, if your Active Pokémon has the Festival Lead Ability. It does not check whether Festival Grounds is in play. A Goldeen in the Active Spot is enough to start searching before your first Dipplin is ready. With two or three Thwackey on the Bench, you can tutor several cards every turn. Those searches also help with Gladion's Final Battle, which needs to be the last card in your hand. Fetching exactly the pieces you need lets you shape your hand down to it.

Your own Bench powers your damage. Your Benched Pokémon are not just support. Each one adds 20 damage to every Do the Wave. Buddy-Buddy Poffin fits all four of your Basics, since every one has 70 HP or less. Together with Poké Pad and Bug Catching Set, it fills five Bench slots fast. Once the Bench is full, the Thwackey engine pieces are also part of your damage.

Your opponent needs six Knock Outs. Nothing in this list has a Rule Box. Every Knock Out your opponent takes is worth one Prize. Meanwhile, Night Stretcher and Sacred Ash recycle your fallen attackers and Bench-fillers.

The backup attackers still use the doubling. Seaking's Rapid Draw costs only Colorless Energy. Used twice, it deals 120 and draws four cards. That makes it a sturdier 110 HP attacker that refuels you when Dipplin can't hit hard enough yet.

What It Costs You

• Your Stadium is a single point of failure. Festival Lead does nothing unless Festival Grounds is in play. If your opponent replaces it with their own Stadium, your damage drops to one attack until you put yours back. You have four copies plus Thwackey searches and Secret Box to find it again. Plan to have a replacement before you need it.
• Your Pokémon are small. Dipplin has 80 HP, and your Basics have 40 to 70. Most of your attackers will be Knocked Out in one hit. You win by trading one Prize for one Prize while hitting much harder, not by outlasting anyone.
• Your Bench is exposed. A full Bench of fragile Pokémon is a big target for spread damage. Rabsca's Spherical Shield exists for this reason: it prevents all damage and effects of attacks on your Benched Pokémon. Treat it as a priority against any deck that hits the Bench.
• Fire Weakness. Every Grass Pokémon in the list takes double damage from Fire. Only Goldeen and Seaking avoid it, and they are weak to Lightning instead.

Who Should Pick It Up

Play this deck if you like counting. Each turn comes down to a few questions. How many Benched Pokémon do you need for this KO? Which modifier gets you there? Can the first hit Knock Out so the second can take another Prize? Is your Stadium safe? The deck rewards players who think in exact damage numbers and who order their Thwackey searches carefully. It punishes autopilot, because one missed Bench slot or one Stadium you didn't protect can cost you the game.

It also suits players who want a competitive list without a big investment. The estimated price of about $62 is low because there is no Pokémon ex in the deck. If you already play single-Prize decks, you will find the Prize trade familiar. The new skill is planning two attacks per turn.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

You win by turning a single-Prize board into a two-attack turn every turn. Dipplin, Goldeen, and Seaking share the Festival Lead Ability. With Festival Grounds in play, they attack twice. If the first attack Knocks Out the Active Pokémon, the second one hits whatever your opponent promotes. Your opponent is trading two- and three-Prize Pokémon into a deck where every Knock Out they take gives up one Prize. Your job is to keep the Stadium down, keep the Bench full, and attack twice every turn from turn two onward.

The Engine: Your Bench Is Your Damage

Do the Wave does 20 damage for each of your Benched Pokémon. That means your support Pokémon are also your damage. The Thwackey line, the spare Applin, and Rabsca each add 20 to every swing just by sitting on the Bench. A full Bench of five makes each Do the Wave 100, and Festival Lead doubles that to 200 in one turn for a single Grass Energy.

Thwackey is the consistency engine. Boom Boom Groove searches your deck for any card, once per Thwackey, as long as your Active Pokémon has Festival Lead. Note what the Ability does not require: Festival Grounds. A Goldeen or Dipplin in the Active Spot turns on every Thwackey even after your Stadium gets bumped, and one of those searches can find the next Festival Grounds. Two or three Thwackey on the Bench means two or three tutors a turn. Very few hands survive that and still fail to find the missing piece.

Rabsca protects the engine. Spherical Shield prevents all damage from and effects of your opponent's attacks done to your Benched Pokémon. Spread attacks are the most direct way to dismantle a board whose damage is built from Bench count. Phantom Dive's six damage counters on the Bench from Dragapult ex is the clearest example. Rabsca shuts that plan off completely. Against spread, keep Rabsca on the Bench and out of the Active Spot.

Damage Math You Need Cold

Every modifier in the list applies to each attack in a Festival Lead turn. That is where the deck's ceiling comes from. All figures assume five Benched Pokémon.

Bangle plus Kieran lands exactly on a 320-HP Dragapult ex. Gladion's Final Battle alone clears a 340-HP Mega Lucario ex or a 300-HP Mega Kangaskhan ex. Under the Mega rule those are three-Prize Knock Outs (source: Scrydex, accessed 2026-10-19). Losing one Benched Pokémon costs 20 per attack, so 40 per turn. Count your Bench before you commit.

Posture: Proactive, Always

This is not a deck that waits. A Dipplin has 80 HP and will be Knocked Out often. That is acceptable, because it gives up one Prize and the next Applin is already on the Bench. Plan your game around three big Knock Outs on Pokémon ex, or two on Megas, while your opponent needs six separate Knock Outs.

Your recovery cards keep that six-Knock-Out requirement real:

• Night Stretcher gets back a single Pokémon or a Grass Energy.
• Sacred Ash reloads the deck for the late game.

Boss's Orders lets you pick the target, which matters most when the first attack can Knock Out a damaged or low-HP Benched Pokémon. When the first swing takes a Knock Out, the second hits the newly promoted Pokémon. A well-planned turn can take two Knock Outs.

The Gladion Turn

Gladion's Final Battle must be the last card in your hand. Thwackey solves this. Play out everything else: Items, Tool, Energy, Stadium. Use Ultra Ball or Secret Box discards to dump dead cards. Then use your final Boom Boom Groove to search out Gladion's Final Battle itself and play it from an otherwise empty hand. Keep one Thwackey's search unused until the end of the turn whenever a Gladion turn is possible.

The Ideal Game, Turn by Turn

1. Turn one: Use Buddy-Buddy Poffin for Basics, prioritizing Grookey and Applin. Use Poké Pad and Bug Catching Set to fill gaps. Attach Grass Energy to a future attacker. Put down Festival Grounds if you can spare it. Fill the Bench now, because width this turn is damage next turn.
2. Turn two: Evolve into Dipplin and as many Thwackey as possible. Get a Festival Lead Pokémon into the Active Spot before using any Groove. Air Balloon takes Dipplin's Retreat Cost to zero. Use the searches to fill the Bench, find the Stadium, and grab Brave Bangle if you're facing ex. Then attack twice.
3. Turns three onward: Re-promote Dipplin after each Knock Out and rebuild the Bench to five. Spend Grooves on Boss's Orders or the modifier your math calls for. Save Gladion's Final Battle for the Knock Outs that bonuses like Bangle and Kieran can't reach. Seaking is your backup attacker. It has 110 HP, its Rapid Draw costs a single Colorless Energy, and it draws four cards across a double attack when your Bench is thin.
4. Closing: Your final Prizes usually come from a Boss's Orders on a damaged or low-HP target. Alternatively, a first-attack Knock Out on the Active lets the second swing finish whatever comes up next.

Card Choices & Breakdown

The Attackers: Festival Lead Bodies

Everything here revolves around one Ability and one Stadium. Three Pokémon in the list carry Festival Lead, and each brings something different.

• Applin (4) / Dipplin (3): Dipplin is your main attacker. Do the Wave costs a single Grass and does 20 for each of your Benched Pokémon. With Festival Grounds in play it attacks twice, so a full Bench means 100 damage twice in one turn. If the first hit Knocks Out the Active, the second one goes into whatever your opponent promotes. The fourth Applin is not a mistake. Unevolved Basics still count toward Do the Wave, and running four lets you find one with Poffin or Pad even after one is Prized.
• Goldeen (2) / Seaking (1): Goldeen is a Basic with Festival Lead, which matters early. Thwackey only searches if your Active has Festival Lead, and Applin doesn't have it. Starting or promoting Goldeen turns your Groove engine on before any Dipplin is in play. Seaking is the backup attacker. Rapid Draw costs one Colorless, so your Grass Energy pays for it. Two uses means 120 damage and four cards drawn, which is a strong option when you need resources more than a big hit.

The Engine: Grookey and Thwackey

Grookey (4) / Thwackey (3) is the real reason the deck runs smoothly. The once-per-turn limit on Boom Boom Groove applies to each Thwackey separately. Two or three in play means two or three free tutors every turn, as long as a Festival Lead Pokémon is Active. Each Thwackey also fills a Bench slot for Do the Wave, so your search engine is part of your damage. Grookey sits at 70 HP so Buddy-Buddy Poffin can fetch it. The split is 4-3 for the same reason as the Applin line: an extra Basic is never wasted Bench space.

Bench Protection: Rellor and Rabsca

Rellor / Rabsca is a single-copy line, and it has a clear job. Spherical Shield prevents all damage from and effects of your opponent's attacks to your Benched Pokémon.

• Your Bench is full of 40–100 HP evolution pieces, and those are also your damage multiplier.
• Bench-spread attacks like Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive, which places 6 damage counters on the Bench (source: TCGdex card data, accessed 2026-10-19), are exactly what the Shield stops.
• That matters here: Dragapult took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026).

One copy is enough because you have recovery. Night Stretcher and Sacred Ash bring it back, and Ultra Ball or Poké Pad find it on demand.

Supporters

• Lillie's Determination (4): Your only draw Supporter. It draws 8 if you are still at 6 Prize cards, which makes it the best possible turn-one or turn-two play.
• Gladion's Final Battle (2): This is your burst card. Everything in the deck lacks a Rule Box, and Festival Lead means the +80 applies to both attacks, for 160 extra damage in one turn. The catch is that it must be the last card in your hand. The deck dumps its hand naturally through Poffins, Tools, and Secret Box discards, but two copies is the right number for a card that can't always be played.
• Boss's Orders (2): This works especially well with a double attack. Bring up a Benched target, Knock it Out with the first hit, then hit their replacement with the second.
• Kieran (1): A flexible single copy. Use it as a pivot when you're stuck, or as +30 against an ex or V Active, which applies to both attacks.

Search and Recovery Items

• Poké Pad (4): The list contains no Rule Box Pokémon, so this card is a clean tutor for anything in the deck.
• Buddy-Buddy Poffin (4): Every Basic in the deck is 70 HP or less. Poffin fills the Bench in one card, which grows Do the Wave and thins your hand toward a Gladion's Final Battle turn.
• Bug Catching Set (3): Finds Grass Pokémon and Basic Grass Energy from the top 7. It can't find Goldeen or Seaking, which is part of why it stops at three.
• Ultra Ball (2): Fewer copies than usual, because Pad and Groove already do most of the searching. The discard cost is useful when you are emptying your hand.
• Secret Box (1): The single copy you most want to tutor with Groove. One card gets you an Item, a Tool, a Supporter, and a Stadium, and you can choose Gladion's Final Battle plus Festival Grounds in the same pull. The three-card discard also helps empty your hand.
• Night Stretcher (2) / Sacred Ash (1): These keep a deck built on fragile Pokémon from running out of attackers in a long game.

Mobility and Tools

• Air Balloon (2): Takes Dipplin and Thwackey from a Retreat Cost of 2 down to free. Everything else in the deck already retreats for 1.
• Switch (1): A one-card pivot that Groove can fetch whenever you need it, so one copy is enough.
• Brave Bangle (2): Adds 30 against an Active ex, applied to each attack. That turns two hits into 60 extra damage, often enough to cross a big ex's HP threshold.
• Tool Scrapper (1): A single answer to opposing HP-boosting or utility Tools, worth tutoring the turn it matters.

Stadium and Energy

Festival Grounds (4): Without it, your attackers attack only once. Four copies is non-negotiable, because you need to find it early and replace it when your opponent bumps it with their own Stadium. It also makes Energized Pokémon immune to Special Conditions. That applies to both players, so remember it helps your opponent too.

Grass Energy (4) / Growing Grass Energy (1): Every attack you plan to use costs one Energy, so five is plenty. Growing Grass Energy takes Dipplin to 100 HP, which can be the difference between surviving a hit and giving up an easy Knock Out. Save it for your main attacker.

The Decklist

This is the exact 60 that took 2nd Place at Moujii's Dojo on 2026-10-12, a 232-player event piloted by AlexisBaa. It runs 19 Pokémon, 36 Trainers, and 5 Energy, and costs about $62 at TCGplayer market prices. Slots marked Flex are the ones you can tune. Everything else is the engine, and pulling from it breaks the deck.

Pokémon (19)

Trainer (36)

Energy (5)

Treat the four-ofs and the two evolution lines as locked. Those are Festival Grounds, Buddy-Buddy Poffin, Poké Pad, Lillie's Determination, Applin/Dipplin, and Grookey/Thwackey. The singleton Items, the Tool split, and the Seaking and Rabsca lines are where you adjust for your local field.

Opening Hands & Setup

What a Strong Opening Looks Like

This deck needs three things in place by your second turn: an Active Pokémon with Festival Lead, at least one Thwackey on the Bench, and a full Bench so Do the Wave hits hard. Do the Wave counts your Benched Pokémon, so every empty Bench slot is 20 damage per attack you never get back. Judge your opening hand by how quickly it fills the board.

• Premium: Goldeen or Applin plus Buddy-Buddy Poffin or Poké Pad, with a Grass Energy. Poffin finds any Basic in the list, since all of them are 70 HP or less, and Poké Pad finds the missing Stage 1.
• Good: Any Basic plus Secret Box and three spare cards. One Item fetches an Item, a Tool, a Supporter and Festival Grounds, which covers most of your turn-two needs.
• Playable: A Basic plus Bug Catching Set or Ultra Ball. Bug Catching Set only hits Grass Pokémon and Basic Grass Energy, so it can find Applin, Grookey, Rellor and their evolutions but never Goldeen or Seaking.
• Weak: A lone Grookey or Rellor with no search. Neither has Festival Lead, so a hand like this cannot turn on Boom Boom Groove by itself. Going first, you have to play your Items and hope. Going second, Lillie's Determination is your way out.

Lillie's Determination draws 8 while you still have all 6 Prize cards. That makes it close to a free reset of your hand on turn one or two. A clunky hand that has a Lillie's in it is better than it looks.

Choosing Your Starting Active

If you have options, use this order:

1. Goldeen is the best start. It has Festival Lead as a Basic, so any Thwackey you evolve on turn two can use Boom Boom Groove right away, even if your Dipplin is prized or still in the deck. It retreats for 1, and the cost drops to zero with Air Balloon. It also evolves in place into Seaking, a 110 HP Festival Lead attacker. The risk is its 50 HP, so expect it to be a target.
2. Applin comes next. Evolve it into Dipplin in the Active Spot on turn two and your Thwackeys are online. At 40 HP it is the most fragile start, and losing it gives up a Prize and one of your Dipplin lines.
3. Grookey is the sturdiest at 70 HP but does nothing in the Active Spot. A Thwackey in the Active Spot shuts off its own search, so plan to retreat it.
4. Rellor is the worst start. Rabsca only protects the Bench, so it belongs there, not in front.

Turn-One Priorities

1. Fill the Bench. Aim for two Grookey and at least one more Applin, so you have a Thwackey engine and a backup attacker. If Dragapult decks are common in your field, put Rellor down early. Dragapult ex places 6 damage counters across the Bench with Phantom Dive (source: TCGdex card data, accessed 2026-10-19), which is enough to Knock Out every Basic in this list. Rabsca on the Bench prevents that damage.
2. Attach Energy to your future attacker. Do the Wave costs a single Grass, so put the Energy on the Active Applin or Goldeen now. Turn two then only needs an evolution and a Stadium.
3. Hold Festival Grounds if you can. Boom Boom Groove only checks whether your Active Pokémon has the Festival Lead Ability. It does not need the Stadium in play. The Stadium only matters on the turn you attack twice, so playing it early just gives your opponent a target to replace. Play it early only if you are holding more than one copy.
4. Don't over-discard. Pay Ultra Ball and Secret Box costs with extra Energy or a second copy of something, not your last Stadium or your only Brave Bangle. Two Night Stretcher and one Sacred Ash can recover Pokémon and Basic Energy, but they cannot return a Stadium or a Tool.

Turn-Two Priorities

Evolve before you search. First evolve your Active into Dipplin (or keep Goldeen in front). Then evolve each Grookey and use every Thwackey's Boom Boom Groove. Each Thwackey searches once, so two Thwackeys give you two free tutors. Use them on whatever completes the turn:

• Festival Grounds if you don't have it in hand
• A missing Bench Basic to bring Do the Wave to full damage
• Boss's Orders for a target on the Bench
• Brave Bangle against Pokémon ex

After that, play your Supporter, the Stadium and your Tool, and attack twice.

Going First or Second

Go first by default. The player going first cannot attack or play a Supporter on their first turn, but this list has a lot of Items: four Buddy-Buddy Poffin, four Poké Pad, three Bug Catching Set, two Ultra Ball and Secret Box. That is enough to build your board without a Supporter. Your attacker evolves on your second turn and needs one Energy, so going first gives you the first real attack of the game. Many opposing decks need more turns to set up their big attacks, and every turn you are ahead in that race counts.

Going second has two real benefits. You get an 8-card Lillie's Determination on turn one, and your opponent cannot attack on their first turn, which protects your low-HP Basics for a turn. Choose second when you expect your opponent's first attack to Knock Out an Applin or Goldeen in the Active Spot before you evolve. You may also choose second after losing a game in which your opening hands kept failing without a Supporter.

Sequencing & Key Lines

Turn One: Build the Bench, Hold the Stadium

Your first turn has one job: fill the Bench with Basics that evolve next turn. Lead with Goldeen Active whenever you have the choice. Its Festival Lead Ability is the switch that turns on Thwackey's Boom Boom Groove, so a Goldeen in the Active Spot lets your Thwackeys search before any Dipplin exists. Retreat 1 also makes it easy to move once its job is done. Your next-best start is Applin, because it evolves in place into your attacker. Start Grookey or Rellor only when you must.

Open with Buddy-Buddy Poffin, fetching Grookey and Applin first. Every Basic in the list qualifies, so the only question is priority. Use Bug Catching Set to grab a Grass Basic and Energy together. Don't play Festival Grounds yet unless you need protection from Special Conditions. Thwackey's search doesn't need the Stadium, and only the double attack does. Holding it until your attacking turn denies your opponent a turn to replace it with their own Stadium.

The Engine Turn: Order of Operations

1. Put a Festival Lead Pokémon Active first. Evolve your Active Applin, or keep Goldeen Active. Every Groove is dead until you do.
2. Evolve each Grookey into Thwackey and use every Groove. Each Thwackey searches once per turn, so two Thwackeys give you two tutors. Fetch in this order: a missing Dipplin, then Brave Bangle or your damage Supporter, then a Bench refill.
3. Refill the Bench to five before you attack. Do the Wave counts your Benched Pokémon when the attack is used. Thwackey and Rabsca count too. Every open slot costs 20 damage per attack, which is 40 across the double attack.
4. Attach Energy and Tool, then play Festival Grounds, then the Supporter. Do the Wave costs only one Grass, so a single attachment is enough. An Air Balloon on a Benched Dipplin removes its whole Retreat Cost, so a fresh attacker can pivot in for free.
5. Attack, then pick your second swing. If the first attack Knocks Out the Active, your opponent chooses the new Active, not you. When the target order matters, use Boss's Orders before attacking.

Damage Math to Know Cold

All figures assume Dipplin Active with five Benched Pokémon and both attacks hitting the same target.

HP figures come from the official card text in the metagame brief (sources: TCGdex card data, accessed 2026-10-19). Kieran and Gladion's Final Battle are both Supporters, so you choose one. Use Bangle plus Kieran when 320 is enough. Save Gladion for the targets that need more.

The Gladion's Final Battle Line

Gladion's Final Battle works only as the last card in your hand. Plan for it from the start of the turn. Use your Grooves first. Then play out every Item, Basic, Energy, and Tool. Discard anything left over through Ultra Ball or Secret Box. Secret Box is especially good here: it pitches three cards and searches out Gladion, a Bangle, Festival Grounds, and an Item in one card. Don't play Lillie's Determination on a Gladion turn. Lillie's refills your hand and uses your Supporter for the turn.

Branch Points

• Lillie's Determination at six Prizes draws eight. If you need a refill and haven't taken a Prize yet, play it now. Don't wait until your first Knock Out cuts it to six cards.
• Seaking vs. Dipplin. When your Bench is thin, Rapid Draw twice deals 120 and draws four cards off one Colorless Energy. That often beats a short-Benched Do the Wave.
• Who replaces a Knocked Out attacker. Promote the next Dipplin, never a Thwackey. Losing a Groove costs you a search every remaining turn.
• Recovery timing. Use Night Stretcher for the one piece you need right now. Save Sacred Ash until three or more lost Pokémon are in the discard pile.

Playing Around Bench Damage and Gusting

Dragapult was the most common archetype in the online sample, taking 37 of 176 Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). Its Phantom Dive places 6 damage counters on your Bench, and Rabsca's Spherical Shield prevents effects of attacks on your Benched Pokémon. Against any deck that damages your Bench, get Rellor down with your first Buddy-Buddy Poffin and evolve it before their first big attack. Without Rabsca, a single spread attack can wipe out your Thwackey engine.

Expect your opponent to spend a gust effect dragging Rabsca Active. Keep Switch or a Ballooned Pokémon available to escape. Be ready to rebuild Rellor and Rabsca with Poffin, Groove, or Night Stretcher on the following turn. Forcing them to spend a gust on a non-attacker is a trade you accept every time.

Matchup Matrix

All damage figures below assume a full Bench of five Benched Pokémon, so each Do the Wave from Dipplin does 100 before modifiers. Every bonus applies to both attacks Festival Lead grants. Remember that Kieran and Gladion's Final Battle are both Supporters, so you get one or the other each turn, never both.

Dragapult

Dragapult is the deck you will face most. It took 37 of 176 Top 8 slots, plus separate Blaziken, Dusknoir and Dudunsparce builds (source: Limitless online Top 8s, Oct 5-19, 2026).

• Your offense: Dragapult ex has 320 HP. Brave Bangle plus Kieran's damage mode does 160 per attack, or exactly 320 across both attacks. Gladion's Final Battle gets you 360 without a Tool. Bangle alone stops at 260, so never count on it by itself.
• Their offense: Phantom Dive's 200 damage Knocks Out anything you play. Its 6 Bench damage counters kill Applin, Goldeen and Rellor outright. Each of those lost Benched Pokémon also costs you 20 damage on your next Do the Wave.
• Why Rabsca matters: Rabsca's Spherical Shield prevents the effects of attacks on your Bench, which stops the counters entirely. It does not stop counters placed by Abilities. Rabsca's 70 HP makes it a natural Boss target.

Your plan:

1. Evolve Rellor into Rabsca before their first Phantom Dive.
2. Keep Night Stretcher and Sacred Ash in mind to rebuild Rabsca if it is Knocked Out.
3. Use Boss's Orders on their evolution line before it becomes a 320 HP problem.

The Prize math is on your side: they need six Knock Outs, and you need three Dragapult ex. The danger is a turn where one Phantom Dive takes two Prize cards from your Bench.

Basic Box

This deck is almost entirely Basic Pokémon ex. That means Brave Bangle and Kieran's bonus are live on nearly every target.

• Your offense: Each Mega Kangaskhan ex Knock Out is worth three Prize cards, and its 300 HP falls to Bangle plus Kieran (320) or to Gladion (360). Against their other two-Prize ex, a Bangle-equipped Dipplin does 130 per attack. That often Knocks Out one Active and then puts damage on the next.
• Their offense: Rapid-Fire Combo Knocks Out any of your Pokémon. They still have to take six single Prizes, while you need far fewer Knock Outs.
• Their Stadium: Every one of the 17 Top 8 lists ran 3-4 Area Zero Underdepths (source: Limitless online Top 8s, Oct 5-19, 2026). When it replaces Festival Grounds, Festival Lead turns off.

Your plan:

• Hold a Festival Grounds in hand on your big turns so you can replay it before attacking.
• Use Tool Scrapper on Hero's Cape when it puts an ex out of your range.
• Ignore their Benched Teal Mask and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex. The Tera rule protects them on the Bench, but you only ever hit the Active Spot anyway. Bring them up with Boss's Orders when they are worth it.

Lucario Hariyama

Mega Lucario ex is the hardest single target in the field for this deck.

• Your offense: Lucario has 340 HP. Bangle plus Kieran comes up 20 short, so Gladion's Final Battle is the real answer: 360 alone, or 420 with Bangle. Each Knock Out is worth three Prize cards.
• Their offense: Aura Jab's 130 Knocks Out your whole roster and recovers Energy to their Bench. Mega Brave can't be used on back-to-back turns, so expect them to alternate attacks.

Your plan:

• Plan your hand around emptying it for Gladion. Track both copies; with only two in the deck, losing one to an Ultra Ball discard is costly.
• When Gladion isn't available, use Bangle to put 260 on Lucario. Then finish it with any attack next turn, ideally the one after Mega Brave, when Lucario can't repeat it.
• Use Boss's Orders on Solrock and Lunatone to pick up cheap single Prizes while you wait for the Gladion turn.

N's Zoroark

N's Zoroark ex sits in the same awkward range as Dragapult: 280 HP survives Bangle alone (260). Bangle plus Kieran (320) or Gladion (360) gets there.

The rest of their board is a mix of single-Prize N's Pokémon and support ex. Night Joker copies a Benched N's Pokémon's attack, so their damage output grows as their Bench fills.

Your plan: Use the Festival Lead follow-up attack to clear their Benched N's Pokémon before Zoroark has options to copy. Knock Out the Active, then let your second attack hit whatever they promote. Save Boss's Orders for Pecharunt ex or Fezandipiti ex when two Prize cards end the game.

Evolution setup decks

This covers decks like Alakazam Dudunsparce and Ogerpon Meganium Hydrapple. Their low-HP Basics and Stage 1s are exactly what the second attack after a Knock Out is built to punish.

Your plan: Go fast. Use Boss's Orders on undeveloped Pokémon, and turn each two-attack turn into two Prize cards. This deck runs out of steam if it has to fight fully evolved attackers on even Prize trades.

Single-Prize attackers

Against decks with few ex, such as Dhelmise Banette, Brave Bangle and Kieran's damage mode do little. Your damage comes entirely from your Bench count and Gladion's Final Battle.

Your plan:

• Keep the Bench full. Every lost Benched Pokémon cuts 20 damage from each of your attacks.
• Use Seaking's two Rapid Draws for 120 total when the draw is worth more than extra damage.
• Play the Prize race patiently. Neither side gets a multi-Prize swing here.

One universal warning: every Grass Pokémon in this list has Fire Weakness ×2. Treat any Fire-type attacker as a major threat, and don't Bench more fragile Basics than you need against one.

Tech Choices & Variations

What's Actually Flexible

The engine is not up for negotiation: four Festival Grounds, the Applin and Grookey lines, four Lillie's Determination, four Poké Pad, and four Buddy-Buddy Poffin. Every Festival Lead attack needs the Stadium in play, and every Thwackey search needs a Festival Lead Pokémon Active. Cutting into those pieces breaks the deck. The real flex lives in roughly eight slots: the Tool split, the Rellor line, Kieran, Tool Scrapper, Secret Box, Sacred Ash, the second Goldeen, and the Energy count.

The Swaps Worth Considering

Tool Split: Bangle vs. Balloon

This is the most matchup-dependent slot in the list. Brave Bangle only matters against Pokémon ex. When it applies, it stacks with both Festival Lead attacks, so it adds 30 to each hit. Against an ex-heavy field, it is the best way to turn a near-miss into a Knock Out. The big targets are Mega Kangaskhan ex (300 HP), Mega Lucario ex (340 HP), and N's Zoroark ex (280 HP).

The swap costs you Air Balloon, and that hurts more than it looks. Dipplin and Thwackey both have Retreat 2. Losing a Balloon means your pivots lean on Switch and Kieran's switch mode. If you go to three Bangles, keep two Air Balloons and cut from elsewhere, such as Tool Scrapper, before you drop to one Balloon.

The Rabsca Package

Rabsca's Spherical Shield prevents all damage from attacks, and all effects of attacks, done to your Benched Pokémon. That is directly relevant against Dragapult ex. Its Phantom Dive puts 6 damage counters on your Bench, and this deck's Bench is full of 40-to-80 HP Basics and Stage 1s.

Dragapult held 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots across the 22 largest Limitless events (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026). At a single copy, Rellor-into-Rabsca is easy to prize and easy for your opponent to target with a gust effect. Rabsca has 70 HP and Rellor has 50.

A 2-2 line makes the shield something you can count on rather than something you hope to find. Rabsca's Psychic attack also scales at 30 per Energy on the opposing Active. Dragapult ex needs Fire and Psychic to use Phantom Dive, so it often carries enough Energy for that attack to hurt. Remember that Rabsca has no Festival Lead, so it attacks only once.

Kieran and Gust Count

Kieran is a hedge card. One mode is a switch. The other adds 30 against ex and V. Note that it does not stack with Gladion's Final Battle, because both are Supporters.

In an ex-light field, a third Boss's Orders usually does more. Dragging up a damaged or under-built Benched Pokémon converts directly into Prizes, especially when the first Festival Lead attack Knocks Out the Active and the second can hit a fresh target.

Against Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, the opponent gives up 3 Prize cards per Knock Out (source: Scrydex Mega Evolution listing, accessed 2026-10-19). Kieran's +30 on a Mega is worth keeping there, because one Knock Out swings the race that hard.

Energy and Recovery

Five Energy is lean, but the Festival Lead attackers are cheap. Dipplin's attack costs one Grass, Seaking's costs one Colorless, and Goldeen's costs two Colorless. Bug Catching Set can pull Basic Grass Energy alongside Pokémon.

A sixth Energy only earns a slot if you're repeatedly whiffing attachments after Lillie's Determination shuffles. If so, add Grass Energy over the second Ultra Ball.

Growing Grass Energy gives the Grass Pokémon it's attached to +20 HP. Put it on Dipplin to move it from 80 to 100 HP. It stays at one copy because the HP bump is a bonus, not a plan.

For recovery, Night Stretcher gets a Pokémon or Basic Energy back to hand right now. Sacred Ash shuffles up to five Pokémon back into the deck for later. Against spread, you lose Pokémon in clumps, which favors Sacred Ash. Against one-hit-Knock-Out decks, you lose them one at a time, which favors a third Night Stretcher.

Tuning for Your Local Field

• Dragapult-heavy: Run the 2-2 Rabsca line and keep Sacred Ash. Trim Tool Scrapper and Secret Box.
• Basic Box or Mega-heavy: Go to three Brave Bangle and keep Kieran. Hold Gladion's Final Battle for the turn you need a big Knock Out. These lists are almost entirely Basic Pokémon ex, so every attack you make benefits from the ex bonuses.
• Few ex, more single-Prize decks: Cut Bangles to one. Add a third Boss's Orders and a fourth Thwackey. Speed and consistency beat damage bonuses that never turn on.
• Unknown field: Play the list as registered. It covers each case partially rather than betting on one.

Budget Options

At about $62 (TCGplayer market prices, approximate), this list is already inexpensive. Most of what you can trim is convenience, not core function. The Festival Lead engine runs on single-Prize evolution lines and generic Trainers, so the real question is which slots you can defer without breaking the deck.

Where the Money Likely Sits

Individual prices aren't listed here, and they move. Check your own market before buying. The cost is most likely concentrated in two places:

• Four-of staples. Any price gets multiplied by four. That covers Lillie's Determination, Poké Pad, Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Festival Grounds. These are also the cards you can least afford to cut.
• Single-copy power cards. Secret Box, Sacred Ash, Gladion's Final Battle and Growing Grass Energy each do something the rest of the list can't fully replace. They are also the easiest slots to fill with something already in your binder.

The Pokémon lines (Applin, Dipplin, Grookey, Thwackey, Goldeen, Seaking, Rellor, Rabsca) are all non-Rule Box Pokémon. Treat them as the backbone you buy first, not as cost to trim.

Acceptable Swaps and What They Cost You

Every swap below uses cards already in the list. You only need extra copies of things you're buying anyway.

Cards You Should Not Cut

• Festival Grounds at four. Without it in play, Festival Lead is blank and the deck is a pile of small attackers. Never go below four.
• Lillie's Determination at four. It is your only real draw Supporter. The eight-card draw at six Prizes remaining is your best turn-one-or-two refuel.
• The Rellor / Rabsca line. Spherical Shield prevents all damage from and effects of attacks done to your Benched Pokémon. That directly blanks the six Bench damage counters from Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive. Dragapult took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026), so this one-of earns its place even on a budget.
• Brave Bangle. Basic Box is almost entirely Basic Pokémon ex (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026). Mega Kangaskhan ex and Mega Lucario ex also give up three Prizes each when Knocked Out. +30 per attack, applied twice under Festival Lead, is too efficient to drop.

Upgrade Path

1. Foundation. Buy all eight Pokémon lines at the listed counts, plus four Festival Grounds, four Lillie's Determination, four Poké Pad, four Buddy-Buddy Poffin, three Bug Catching Set, two Boss's Orders, and the Basic Grass Energy. This version plays the full game plan, just with fewer outs and less burst damage.
2. Damage tier. Add both Brave Bangle and both Gladion's Final Battle next. These change which multi-Prize Pokémon you can take in one turn, so they move matchups more than any consistency card.
3. Mobility tier. Fill in Air Balloon, Switch and Kieran so you can reliably get a Festival Lead attacker into the Active Spot. That also keeps Thwackey's Boom Boom Groove online, since it only works while your Active Pokémon has Festival Lead.
4. Polish tier. Finish with Secret Box, Sacred Ash, Growing Grass Energy and Tool Scrapper. Each one smooths a specific situation: an awkward hand, a long game, a damage threshold, or an opposing Tool. None of them is what makes the deck function.

Practice with the budget build before you finish the upgrade. If you keep missing Festival Grounds or a Supporter on key turns, buy Secret Box sooner. If you're winning the setup but falling one Knock Out short, prioritize Gladion's Final Battle and Brave Bangle.

Common Mistakes

1. Letting a Pokémon Without Festival Lead Sit in the Active Spot

Thwackey's Boom Boom Groove only works if your Active Pokémon has the Festival Lead Ability. That means Dipplin, Goldeen, or Seaking. A Grookey, Applin, Rellor, or Thwackey in the Active Spot shuts off every search you have. The worst version comes after a Knock Out. You promote a Thwackey because it has the most HP, and you lose a full turn of tutoring. Always promote a Festival Lead Pokémon. If your opening Active is a Grookey, spend Switch, Air Balloon, or Kieran to move a Goldeen or Dipplin up before you use any Groove. Groove doesn't need Festival Grounds in play. It only checks the Active Pokémon's Ability, so this mistake costs you even on turns you can't attack twice.

2. Losing Access to Gladion's Final Battle Through Bad Hand Sequencing

Gladion's Final Battle has to be the last card in your hand. Every Groove search, Bug Catching Set hit, and Night Stretcher adds a card you then have to play. Plan the Gladion turn backward from an empty hand:

• Use searches only for cards you will put into play that turn.
• Use Ultra Ball as a way to empty your hand. Discarding 2 cards to find your last piece is often exactly what makes Gladion legal.
• Don't play Secret Box on a Gladion turn unless you can use all four cards it finds.
• Gladion uses your Supporter for the turn. Don't fetch it with Groove and then also hold Boss's Orders in hand.

3. Spending Your Last Festival Grounds Too Early

Without Festival Grounds, Dipplin and Seaking attack only once, and your damage output drops by half. Opponents with their own Stadium will bump yours. Basic Box lists all ran 3-4 Area Zero Underdepths across 17 Top 8 lists (source: Limitless online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026). Against any deck that can replace your Stadium, keep one Festival Grounds in hand once the first is down. Groove can find a Stadium, but only on a turn where you actually have a Festival Lead Pokémon Active. Don't count on Groove as your only answer.

4. Miscounting the Double Attack

Each use of Do the Wave does 20 for each of your Benched Pokémon, counted at the moment you attack. Turn modifiers apply to both attacks:

• Gladion's Final Battle adds 80 to each attack.
• Brave Bangle adds 30 to each attack, but only against Pokémon ex.
• Kieran's damage mode adds 30 to each attack, but only against Pokémon ex or V.

Two common errors follow from this:

• Assuming damage carries over. If the first attack Knocks Out the Active Pokémon, the second attack starts fresh against whatever your opponent promotes. Leftover damage from the first attack doesn't carry.
• Undercounting what a big target needs. With a full Bench of five, two Waves plus Brave Bangle deal 260 to an ex. That doesn't Knock Out a 320 HP Dragapult ex or a 300 HP Mega Kangaskhan ex (source: TCGdex, accessed 2026-10-19). To finish those, you need Kieran on top of Bangle, or Gladion's Final Battle.

Count your Bench before you commit your Supporter, not after.

5. Not Protecting the Bench Before Spread Arrives

Your damage depends on your Bench, so Bench damage is the most direct way to beat you. Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive places 6 damage counters on your Benched Pokémon (source: TCGdex, accessed 2026-10-19). Those counters can take out an Applin and a Goldeen in one attack, and each lost Benched Pokémon costs you 20 damage per Wave.

Rabsca's Spherical Shield prevents all damage from and effects of your opponent's attacks on your Benched Pokémon. Against any spread deck, getting Rellor into play and evolving it is part of your setup, not an optional extra. Two more habits matter here:

• Keep a Night Stretcher or Sacred Ash available to recover the line if Rabsca gets Knocked Out.
• Don't leave fragile Basics sitting unevolved on the Bench for turns at a time.

6. Using Boss's Orders When the Double Attack Already Takes the Prizes

Festival Lead already gives you a second Knock Out: if the first attack takes out the Active, you attack again into the Pokémon your opponent chooses to promote. Players often spend Boss's Orders to pick off a specific Benched target when hitting the Active would already Knock Out two Pokémon. That spends the Supporter you needed for Gladion or Kieran damage. Use Boss when one of these is true:

• The Active can't be Knocked Out this turn.
• A Benched threat will beat you next turn if you leave it alone.
• Taking a high-value target ends the game.

Mega Evolution Pokémon ex give up 3 Prize cards (source: Scrydex, accessed 2026-10-19), so pulling one up with Boss can end the game on the spot.

7. Wasting the Eight-Card Lillie's Determination

Lillie's Determination draws 8 cards only while you have exactly 6 Prize cards remaining. Once you take your first Prize, every copy draws 6. In the first two turns, use it for the big refill rather than holding it for later. Before you play it, use every Item you can: Poké Pad, Buddy-Buddy Poffin, and Bug Catching Set. Lillie's shuffles your hand back into the deck, so any search Item you skip gets shuffled away and the deck stays thicker for the draw.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice Before the Event

• Emptying your hand for Gladion's Final Battle. It only works as the last card in your hand. You need to be able to look at a seven-card hand and know which Items, Tools, attachments and evolutions will get you to zero in time. Practice turns where you deliberately hold back a Lillie's Determination so the Gladion turn stays possible.
• Planning Thwackey searches before you make them. Each Thwackey can use Boom Boom Groove once during your turn. With two or three in play, that is two or three tutors. Decide the full chain before the first search: Stadium, then Supporter, then the Tool or the Bench piece.
• Counting your Bench before you commit. Do the Wave scales with every Benched Pokémon, and that includes Thwackey and Rabsca. One missing Bench slot costs you 20 on each hit, which is 40 for the turn.
• Games where your Stadium gets replaced. Festival Lead does nothing without Festival Grounds in play. Play practice games against an opponent who bumps your Stadium every turn, so that rebuilding the double attack becomes routine.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• Thwackey doesn't need the Stadium. Boom Boom Groove only checks whether your Active Pokémon has the Festival Lead Ability. Dipplin, Goldeen and Seaking have that Ability printed on them, so they qualify even when Festival Grounds isn't in play. If your Stadium was knocked off, a Thwackey search for a new Festival Grounds is often the first play of the turn.
• The second attack always happens. With Festival Grounds in play, Festival Lead lets you use the attack twice. If the first attack doesn't Knock Out, the second hits the same target. If the first attack does Knock Out, the second hits whatever your opponent promotes. You can't redirect the second hit, so play Boss's Orders before the first attack.
• Turn-long boosts apply to both hits. Gladion's Final Battle (+80) and Kieran (+30 against ex and V) affect attacks "during this turn," so both attacks get the bonus. Brave Bangle adds +30 to each attack against an Active Pokémon ex.
• Rabsca covers effects, not just damage. Spherical Shield prevents both the damage and the effects of opposing attacks done to your Benched Pokémon. While it is on your Bench, spread attacks and Bench-targeting effects don't touch your Bench.
• Know your search limits.
  • Bug Catching Set finds only Grass Pokémon and Basic Grass Energy, so it can't find Goldeen or Seaking.
  • Night Stretcher can't return a Stadium.
  • Secret Box is your only Item that grabs Festival Grounds. Never discard your last Stadium to Ultra Ball casually.
• Growing Grass Energy only boosts Grass Pokémon. Attached to Seaking, it provides Energy but adds no HP.
• Festival Grounds works for both players. Any Pokémon with Energy attached, including your opponent's, is protected from Special Conditions.

Damage Math Worth Memorizing

The figures below assume Dipplin is Active with a full Bench, so each Do the Wave hits for 100.

Hold these numbers against the big threats, before applying Weakness and Resistance:

• Dragapult ex has 320 HP. Kieran plus Brave Bangle Knocks it Out exactly. Mega Kangaskhan ex has 300 HP, so the same setup handles it too.
• Mega Lucario ex has 340 HP, which puts it out of Kieran range. Against it you need Gladion's Final Battle plus Brave Bangle.

The point of this table: Kieran is a real damage card, not just a second Switch. It also saves you from emptying your hand.

Prepare for the Field You'll Face

The most-represented deck in the researched window was Dragapult. It took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots across 22 events and won 9 of them (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive places damage counters on your Bench, which makes getting Rabsca down the defining skill in that matchup. If you only have time for one practice matchup, practice this one. Specifically, practice finding Rellor early enough that Rabsca is in play before the first Phantom Dive.

Managing the Clock

This deck takes a lot of actions per turn: multiple Thwackey searches, deck shuffles, Poké Pad chains and two attacks. That makes your turns long even when the game itself is short.

• Map out the whole turn before your first search. Most wasted time comes from searching once, re-planning, then searching again.
• Know your Prize count and target Knock Out math before you play the Supporter, not after.
• Don't fetch Thwackey targets you don't need this turn just because the ability is available. Every search is another deck shuffle.

Final Assessment

This list's strengths:

• A deep, redundant engine. Four Poké Pad, four Buddy-Buddy Poffin, three Bug Catching Set and the Thwackey line make the setup consistent.
• No Rule Box Pokémon. Your opponent has to take six single-Prize Knock Outs, while you take Prizes two at a time whenever the first hit Knocks Out.
• Proven at a real event. AlexisBaa took it to 2nd Place out of 232 players at Moujii's Dojo on 2026-10-12. Across the researched window, Festival Lead took 6 Top 8 slots in 4 events with 1 win (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026).
• Cheap. At roughly $62, it is one of the most affordable ways to compete seriously.

Its weaknesses are real:

• Fire Weakness. Every Grass Pokémon in the deck is weak to Fire ×2.
• Low HP. Your attackers are fragile.
• Stadium dependence. Your whole damage plan relies on a Stadium your opponent can replace.

Respect those weaknesses, drill the hand-emptying and Bench-counting lines until they are automatic, and this is a list that can take down a large online event.

Metagame Context

Built from AlexisBaa's 2nd Place list at Moujii's Dojo (232 players, 2026-10-12), via the Limitless platform. Metagame context comes from a research brief dated 2026-10-19 covering 2026-10-05 to 2026-10-19, drawn from Limitless TCG event results; TCGdex; Scrydex. Card text and prices: TCGdex.

Source: tournament results. Decklist and placements as reported by the event organizer.