Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Guide - Mega Battle Deck (Mega Gengar ex)

Mega Evolution, the latest Pokémon TCG set, was released just this month, but the second base set in this block, known as Phantasmal Flames, has yet to come out.

Alongside it, we'll also get a Mega Battle Deck, which is similar to League Battle Decks and Rival Battle Decks. These precons are meant for beginners but are quite competitive, as most cards in them are perfect for tournaments. However, we still need to upgrade them to make them functional.

Mega Diancie and Mega Gengar definitely stand out the most among these precons. If you'd like to see more about them, click click here!

That being said, today we'll go over Mega Gengar ex and show you how you can upgrade it.

Decklist Mega Battle Deck

Pokémon (17)

2 Mega Gengar ex PFL 056

1 Haunter PFL 055

1 Haunter MEP 027

4 Gastly PFL 054

2 Toxtricity PFL 067

2 Toxel PFL 068

2 Sableye PFL 059

2 Seviper PFL 062

1 Eternatus PFL 069

Trainers (30)

2 Risky Ruins

4 Lillie's Determination

2 Arven

2 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis)

1 Dawn PFL 087

1 Grimsley's Move PFL 090

1 Iono

3 Nest Ball

2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin

2 Night Stretcher

2 Rare Candy

1 Switch

2 Ultra Ball

1 Pokégear 3.0

1 Mega Signal

2 Punk Helmet PFL 092

Energies (13)

13 Basic Darkness Energy

Note that it has a lot of basic energies. This could be an issue, considering we could use that space for relevant trainers instead.

For instance, we could play more Arven sv3 186 and Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101, as we'll need to put many Gastly in play straight away. Toxel, another crucial Pokémon in recursive strategies, should also be a priority.

Furthermore, Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178 will let us evolve Pokémon faster, while at least one ACE SPEC (like Secret Box TWM 163) would go great in this deck as well.

Suggestion

Pokémon (19)

2 Gengar ex TEF 104

2 Mega Gengar ex PFL 056

2 Haunter PFL 055

4 Gastly PFL 054

2 Toxtricity PFL 067

2 Toxel PFL 068

1 Mega Absol ex MEG 86

2 Munkidori PRE 44

1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39

1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38

Trainers (33)

2 Risky Ruins

4 Arven

2 Lillie's Determination

2 Boss's Orders (Ghetsis)

2 Iono

1 Janine's Secret Art PRE 112

1 Dawn PFL 087

4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin

2 Ultra Ball

2 Nest Ball

2 Rare Candy

2 Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178

1 Night Stretcher

1 Super Rod sv2 188

2 Binding Mochi PRE 95

2 Punk Helmet PFL 092

1 Secret Box TWM 163

Energies (8)

8 Basic Darkness Energy

Deck Structure

Mega Gengar ex: The Main Star

- Ability: Shadow Sneak. When this Pokémon is in play, your opponent has to take one Prize card less for knocking out your Darkness (D) Pokémon with Pokémon ex (this ability doesn't stack).

- Attack: Void Gale. This attack deals 230 damage and lets you move one energy attached to this Pokémon to one of your benched Pokémon.

This Pokémon deals a lot of damage (230) for just 2 Darkness energies, which makes it extremely relevant in the current meta. It should also be a nightmare for GardeBox lists because Psychic Pokémon are weak against Darkness Pokémon.

Though this is a Mega Pokémon and thus gives 3 Prize cards to the opponent when they knock it out, its ability gives us a huge advantage. With it, our opponent will only take 2 Prize cards if they knock it out with Pokémon ex.

Gengar ex: Alternative Attacker

We decided to add this Pokémon to our list because of its ability, Gnawing Curse, which puts 2 damage counters on enemy Pokémon whenever the opponent attaches energies from their hand to them.

We can combine these counters with Mega Absol ex MEG 86. Its first attack instantly knocks out the active enemy Pokémon if they have exactly 6 damage counters.

Furthermore, Gengar ex is a safe alternative to Mega Gengar ex. As Mega Gengar gives 3 Prize cards to the opponent and Gengar ex only gives 2 Prize cards, it is a bit less risky but still quite powerful (as its attack deals 130 damage). It also lets us attach energies to a benched Pokémon.

Mega Absol ex: Alternative Attacker

This Pokémon stands out because of its first attack, which instantly knocks out enemy Pokémon if they have exactly 6 damage counters.

The idea is to use it with Munkidori PRE 44's Adrena-Brain, which lets us move damage counters. Its second attack, in turn, lets us control the match, as it forces our opponent to discard a card from their hand.

Toxtricity: The Main Recursive Pokémon

Toxtricity's ability lets us attach one basic Darkness energy to a benched Pokémon. This will also put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon, but we can fix this by moving these counters with Adrena-Brain. This way, we'll keep moving these energies around and set up our main strategy.

Pecharunt ex: Recursive Pokémon and Hybrid Attacker

This Pokémon lets us retreat any Darkness Pokémon for free, but it also Poisons them if we move them to our active spot.

We can use this ability with Binding Mochi PRE 95, which makes Poisoned Pokémon deal 40 extra damage. If we move Mega Gengar ex to our active spot and buff it like this, it'll deal 270 damage.

Furthermore, Pecharunt ex SFA 39's attack is perfect in the end-game, as it deals 60 damage for each Prize card the opponent has taken.

Fezandipiti ex: Card Draw

Its ability, Flip the Script, draws 3 cards for us if one of our Pokémon was knocked out on the previous turn. This is particularly useful in decks centered around fragile basic Pokémon, like Gastly and Toxel.

Pros

This list is great against Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29 and Mega Gardevoir ex MEG 60, as well as other Psychic lists.

It also plays several great recursive Pokémon, like Fezandipiti ex, Pecharunt ex, and Toxtricity, as well as many great attackers, like Mega Absol ex and Pecharunt itself.

Finally, it doesn't need a lot of energies to work, so you'll be able to play each turn quite efficiently and deal a lot of damage.

Cons

However, this list shouldn't do too well against Cynthia's Garchomp ex DRI 104 and Mega Lucario ex MEG 77, or combo lists, like Dragapult ex PRE 73 and Dusknoir PRE 37, as they delay us considerably.

It will also struggle against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136.

Finally, it relies a little bit too much on evolutions. We will be in a lot of trouble if we can't find Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178 or Rare Candy sv1 191.

If you're a Gengar fan, this Mega Battle Deck is a great way to upgrade Temporal Forces's Gengar ex. After all, it only deals 130 base damage but should be a lot better now with Mega Gengar ex, which deals 230 damage. All of these new cards definitely made it playable in the current meta, despite all the "power creep".

It is a viable option if you don't enjoy buying booster boxes. You can simply get this product and all the great cards in it for a fair cost, and you'll only need a few adjustments to make it viable.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!