Pitch Black Prerelease Promos Officially Revealed
While there has been some speculation as for what the prerelease promos for Mega Evolution: Pitch Black would be, today they were officially revealed by the Pokémon Company, along with several additional English spoilers for the set. These promos will be available within the Pitch Black Build and Battle Boxes almost weeks ahead of the official July 17, 2026 release day, beginning July 4, 2026. You can get them by visiting a participating local game store that’s running prerelease events.
#1 Slowbro is arguably the strongest Pitch Black Prerelease promo
Starting things out with Slowbro – Slowbro is arguably the strongest Pokémon among the four prerelease promos. All you have to do is evolve this guy, have no cards in your hand, and Slowbro is swinging for a massive 210 damage.
That’s going to be your primary attack, and it’s been revealed that the Slowbro deck will include cards like Ultra Ball and Prism tower, making it easier to thin out your hand.
That’s not all Slowbro gets, however. We’ve also been granted a special look at this Silvally Pokémon card that should accompany it: one that lets you search out a Supporter from you deck if you have no cards in your hand.
#2 Miraidon
Miraidon is a strong assisting Pokémon for decks that want to focus on basic Pokémon. And while its prebuilt deck will include a Stage 1 Vikavolt, I could see this functioning just as well without it. Being able to swing for 90 damage while simultaneously energizing whatever Pokémon you switch in next adds a ton of versatility to this deck, making it an excellent fit for anyone wanting to get creative with their builds.
That being said, the Vikavolt that comes in the prebuilt deck looks insanely strong: if you have the new special Voltaic Energy card attached to it, its Giga Railgun will be doing an insane 280 damage.
#3 Dhelmise
Dhelmise’s Vengeful Anchor attack is a familiar mechanic we’ve seen in many prerelease formats under different names. Here you’ll be swinging for 170 damage if you have the right number of Hide ‘n’ Sneak Ability cards in your discard. That’s a powerful blow especially in the prerelease format off of just a basic Pokémon. The only real challenge here is finding those Hide ‘n’ Sneak ability Pokémon cards and plopping them into your discard.
Both Banette and Sinistcha have the powerful Hide ‘n’ Sneak ability which turns out to be very strong. It basically prevents your opponent from dealing damage to them via effects or abilities. That’s a powerful counter into the current standard format with powerful Pokémon that love to deal damage via unconventional means running around. Meanwhile, you gotta love the damage spread potential that Sinistcha’s Matcha Spin unlocks.
#4 Bastiodon
The Pitch Black prerelease format is going to be a ton of fun for players given the sheer number of powerful decks. All three of the above prebuilt strategies have insane potential. The only runt of the litter is Bastiodon. For a Stage 2 Pokémon, doing a little damage prevention/stall feels too little too late. However, even this deck gets paired with some powerful plays via the basic Skarmory attacker that has high damage potential for a basic.
The official prerelease promo announcement highlights the new Backtrack Badge as well – one that lets you redo coin flips for normal Pokémon attacks. However, none of the cards highlighted in the prebuilt decks would benefit from this, so perhaps something that works well with the Pokémon Tool will be included in those decks. Just look out for it if so!
The Pitch Black prerelease promos look incredibly strong and should make for one of the more fun prerelease formats we’ve had in a while. Check out the Pokémon event locator to find a prerelease near you starting July 4, 2026 and get access to these powerful cards ahead of Pitch Black’s full release!
