Mega Darkrai ex Deck List and Guide
Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution: Pitch Black is right around the corner and one of the most anticipated decks (and cards) coming out of that set is Mega Darkrai ex. Below, we’ll be looking at this powerful new attacker and how to use it to dominate the playing field. Whether you are a new player looking for a deck to bring to your Pokémon League once Pitch Black comes out, or if you are a seasoned veteran looking to grind out the ladder on Pokémon TCG Live, this guide is for you!
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Pokémon: 18
4 Mega Darkrai ex M5 46
4 Toxtricity PFL 68
4 Toxel PFL 67
2 Munkidori ASC 99
1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39
1 Chi-Yu M5 57
1 Team Rocket's Sneasel DRI 128
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
Trainer: 33
3 Ultra Ball ASC 213
4 Poké Pad POR 81
4 Dark Bell M5 70
2 Enhanced Hammer TWM 148
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Prime Catcher PRE 119
2 Binding Mochi PRE 95
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
4 Lillie's Determination ASC 192
2 Janine's Secret Art PRE 112
1 Team Rocket's Petrel ASC 207
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
2 Boss's Orders ASC 183
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Risky Ruins MEG 127
Energy: 9
9 Darkness Energy SVE 23
Mega Darkrai ex quick start guide
Prioritize Toxel onto your bench – this will make evolving into Toxtricity easier as the game progresses.
Use the powerful new Chi Yu from Pitch Black to take chump shots against your opponent’s active Pokémon.
Power up Mega Darkrai with energy and use Team Rocket’s Petral to find your Dark Bell card to inflict status conditions.
Use Enhanced Hammer to remove special energy that block special conditions.
Swing for the knock out with Mega Darkrai ex.
Use your combo of Risky Ruins, Toxtricity, and Munkidori to spread damage around.
Clean up easy KOs via your Team Rocket’s Sneasel.
Breaking Down Mega Darkrai ex
Mega Darkrai ex is a crazy strong Pokémon. And that’s kind of funny given Darkrai ex isn’t a deck that’s being massively played in Japan right now. However, maybe they’re just sleeping on how strong Abyss Eye actually is?
In the Pokémon TCG meta, the last time we had an attack like this enter the game was with Mega Absol ex – a deck that dominated the game for a little while. Now, the one hit knockout is back, only this time it’s pretty easy to pull off. All you’ll need to do is inflict a special condition on your opponent’s active Pokémon.
Dark Bell helps with this.
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Trainer - Item Both Active Pokemon are now Confused (excluding [D] Pokemon).
Maybe the best way to wake up to how strong this deck can be is to look at Dark Bell. You may need to inflict a status effect on your opponent’s active Pokémon to use Abyss Eye, but all you’ll need to activate that is a single Item card. Play this, your opponent’s active Pokémon becomes confused, yours doesn’t (it’s a dark type) and you’re taking a one-hit-knockout. That’s huge in a meta dominated by three-prize Pokémon.
Shut down defenses via the Enhanced Hammer
Enhanced Hammer - 148/167
SV06: Twilight Masquerade • Uncommon
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One reason for why Mega Darkrai hasn’t been seeing as much play in Japan is that there are two powerful Special Energy cards that block what it’s trying to do. Both Bubbly Energy and Rocky Energy can be an issue to overcome. That’s why Enhanced Hammer is so vital to this deck’s strategy. Use it to remove the Special Energy and swing for that OHKO.
The Toxtricity energy acceleration energy
Toxtricity
ME02: Phantasmal Flames • Rare
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You should notice right away that Toxtricity in this deck plays more than one role. On the one hand, it acts as your energy acceleration engine. You can rapidly accelerate energy onto your Pokémon using Toxtricity. Meanwhile you can also strategically place damage counters on your Pokémon: damage counters that will enable strong attacks on your Pokémon.
For example, Chi-Yu’s Whirling Envy becomes significantly stronger when you pair it with Toxtricity. You can accelerate an energy and then also buff this single prize Pokémon’s attack up to 110 damage.
Also worth noting is the fact that Mega Darkrai ex’s own Dusk Raid attack will get significantly stronger by just having Pokémon with damage counters on the bench – damage counters that can be spread in a pinch via Munkidori.
Pokémon TCG – the grass weakness is real
So as good as all of this sounds, you might be wondering: why isn’t Mega Darkrai ex more anticipated competitively upon its release. Well, to understand that, we have to look at the current Pokémon TCG meta – particularly the dreaded Hydrapple.
Hydrapple ex is one of my personal favorite Pokémon TCG decks of the Scarlet & Violet era. And this dominant and powerful Pokémon is single-handedly keeping Mega Darkrai ex at bay. The weakness to grass energy is not a good one to have in the current meta: especially when you consider that well-timed “Do the Wave” via Dipplin can one-hit-knock-out a three-prize Pokémon.
If Hydrapple ex ends up dropping a bit in popularity and playshare, you could see Mega Darkrai ex’s power rise. As it is, it’s still strong enough to win you plenty of matches on Pokémon TCG Live. Just try your best to dodge the matchup!
