The entire strategy centres on Crustle's Mysterious Rock Inn ability, which prevents all damage done to it by your opponent's Pokémon ex. Once a Crustle is sitting in the Active Spot with Energy attached, most modern attacking threats simply cannot knock it out. Your job is to get Dwebble into play as early as possible and evolve it, using Dwebble's Ascension attack to search your deck for Crustle and put it onto Dwebble immediately, even on the first turn if you go second.

With Crustle established, the deck layers on healing to extend its life almost indefinitely. Four copies of Jumbo Ice Cream each heal 80 damage from your Active Pokémon, provided it has three or more Energy attached. Pokémon Center Lady heals 60 damage and clears Special Conditions, while Bianca's Devotion fully heals a Pokémon sitting at 30 HP or less remaining. Growing Grass Energy adds 20 HP to the Grass Pokémon it is attached to, and Hero's Cape adds a further 100 HP to whichever Pokémon holds it. Stack enough of these and Crustle becomes extraordinarily difficult to remove through non-ex attackers as well.

Mega Kangaskhan ex covers the turns when Crustle does not need to attack. Its Run Errand ability lets you draw 2 cards once per turn while it is in the Active Spot, keeping your hand stocked with the Supporters and healing Items the deck needs. When Mega Kangaskhan ex does attack, Rapid-Fire Combo starts at 200 damage for three Colorless Energy and can climb further with favourable coin flips. It is not the primary plan, but it gives the deck a genuine secondary threat.

The Trainer suite is built around finding the right card at the right time. Four Team Rocket's Petrel each search your deck for any Trainer card and add it to your hand, meaning you can fetch whichever healing Item or Supporter the situation demands. Four Lillie's Determination refill your hand to six cards, or eight if all six Prizes remain. Xerosic's Machinations and Eri disrupt the opponent's hand, buying Crustle extra time. Spiky Energy and Mist Energy provide Colorless Energy while adding passive chip damage to attackers and protecting against attack effects respectively, tightening the defensive shell still further.