IntroductionGreetings, Pokémon community!Today, we'll explore Mega Darkrai ex, a very anticipated card that will come out in the Western set Pitch Black (known in Japan as Abyss Eye).This list is only the first of many that are sure to come. It plays some other cards from this set, as well as some popular Pokémon and Trainers in Standard nowadays.Mega Darkrai ex: A Case Study for StandardDecklistPOKÉMON: 162 Mega Darkrai ex (M5 ???)2 Mega Gengar ex PFL 561 Mega Absol ex MEG 862 Pecharunt ex SFA 392 Toxel PFL 672 Toxtricity PFL 682 Munkidori TWM 951 Fezandipiti ex SFA 381 Yveltal MEG 881 Chi-yu (M5 ???)TRAINERS: 344 Lillie's Determination ASC 1922 Janine's Secret Art PRE 1122 Grimsley's Move PFL 902 Boss's Orders MEG 1142 Lisia's Appeal SSP 1791 Team Rocket's Watchtower ASC 2101 Risky Ruins MEG 1274 Ultra Ball MEG 1312 Poké Pad POR 812 Buddy-Buddy Poffin ASC 1842 Energy Switch MEG 1152 Night Stretcher SFA 611 Sacred Ash DRI 1681 Energy Recycler DRI 1642 Dark Bell (M5 ???)1 Special Red Card CRI 822 Binding Mochi PRE 951 Secret Box TWM 163ENERGIES: 108 Darkness Energy MEE 72 Shadow (D) EnergyMega Darkrai ex: The Main AttackerIts first attack, Night Raid, deals 110 damage as well as 110 extra damage if one of your benched Pokémon has any damage counters.The main combo involves Toxtricity PFL 68's ability, namely, taking advantage of its drawback effect to deal 220 damage consistently.Finally, the key attack, Abyss Eye, instantly knocks out the opponent's active Pokémon if it is affected by any special conditions.This list plays many ways to enable this, like Dark Bell, which makes Pokémon Confused (available in Pitch Black or Abyss Eye), and Lisia's Appeal SSP 179.Mega Gengar ex: Recursive AttackerIts ability, Shadow Sneak, states that enemy Pokémon ex that knock out your Darkness (D) Pokémon give one Prize card less to the opponent if Mega Gengar ex is in play (this ability can't stack).This will be great in the Prize card race. Instead of getting 3 Prize cards when they knock out your Mega Pokémon ex, the opponent will only get 2.Its attack, Void Gale, deals 230 damage and has you move one energy attached to this Pokémon to one of your benched Pokémon.It only costs 2 Darkness energies, and, as such, is extremely strong in the current format. You won't struggle to get the energies to use this attack or even set up other Pokémon as you use it.To put Mega Gengar ex PFL 56 in play quickly, you can use Grimsley's Move PFL 90.Mega Absol ex: Instant K.O. AttackerBoth of its attacks are excellent, but the main one is Terminal Period, which states that, if the opponent has exactly 6 damage counters left, the opponent's active Pokémon is instantly knocked out.To set up these damage counters, you'll use Munkidori TWM 95's ability, Adrena-Brain. It lets you move up to 3 damage counters from your Pokémon to enemy Pokémon.So, as the match goes on, you'll inevitably get some damage counters. All you have to do then is move them to enable Terminal Period.Yveltal: Single Prize AttackerIts attack, Clutch (D), deals 20 damage and prevents the opponent from retreating their Pokémon in the following turn.To deal with this, they'll have to spend resources like Switch.Your main strategy will involve forcing the opponent to spend these resources. You'll "stall" them for as long as possible so that they have no way out and so that you can create windows of opportunity to knock out their Pokémon with Mega Absol ex MEG 86's Terminal Period (you'll deal 20 damage with Yveltal and also 40 more damage with Munkidori TWM 95's ability).Chi-Yu: Single Prize AttackerThis Pokémon deals 20 plus 90 damage if they have 2 or more damage counters.It forms a combo with Toxtricity PFL 68. You'll use its ability to get one Darkness energy from your deck and put it on one of your benched Darkness Pokémon. Then, you can move Chi-Yu to your active spot.The damage it deals is also not affected by weakness or resistance, so it just deals 110 damage straight-on.Recursive PokémonBaby PokémonToxtricity PFL 68 will get Darkness energies from your deck and put them on your benched Darkness Pokémon. This will also give them 2 damage counters.Munkidori TWM 95's ability, Adrena-Brain, lets you move 3 damage counters from your Pokémon to your opponent's Pokémon.Rule Box PokémonPecharunt ex SFA 39's ability, Subjugating Chains, lets you move your Darkness Pokémon around (except for Pecharunt ex). The Pokémon you put in the active spot this way will be Poisoned, though.This combo is also great with Binding Mochi PRE 95.Fezandipiti ex SFA 38's ability, Flip the Script, draws 3 cards if one of your Pokémon was knocked out on the previous turn.TrainersSupportersLillie's Determination MEG 119 lets you shuffle your hand and draw 6 cards. If you have exactly 6 Prize cards left, you'll draw 8 cards instead of 6.Janine's Secret Art PRE 112 lets you put 1 basic Darkness energy on up to 2 of your Darkness Pokémon. If one of these Pokémon is your active Pokémon, they'll be Poisoned, though.The main combo with this card involves using it on your active Pokémon on purpose. Once it's Poisoned, you can use Binding Mochi PRE 95 on it and deal even more damage with it.Grimsley's Move PFL 90 lets you look at the top 7 cards in your deck, get any Darkness Pokémon, and put them directly on your bench.Besides setting up your Rule Box Pokémon, this card is great with Mega Gengar ex PFL 56 in particular. This is a stage 2 Pokémon, which usually means you have to play its entire evolution line (Gastly and Haunter), but this card will let you put it directly on your bench, which makes things a lot easier.Lisia's Appeal SSP 179 forms a combo with Mega Darkrai ex. You'll pick a basic Pokémon on the opponent's bench and pull it to the active spot as well as make it Confused. Because of this status, you can knock them out instantly with Mega Darkrai ex's Abyss Eye.Boss's Orders MEG 114 lets you pull an enemy benched Pokémon into the active spot. You should use it to knock out a particular Pokémon.ItemsItems to Get PokémonUltra Ball MEG 131 lets you look for any Pokémon (evolution or basic) if you discard 2 cards from your hand.Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 lets you look for up to 2 basic Pokémon with up to 70 HP and put them on your bench.Poké Pad POR 81 lets you look for a baby Pokémon in your deck, that is, one that doesn't have a Rule Box.Item to Make Pokémon ConfusedThis card just recently came out in the Pitch Black / Abyss Eye sets and makes both active Pokémon (yours and the opponent's) Confused. However, Darkness Pokémon are immune to it.This is what you'll use to knock out Pokémon with Mega Darkrai ex's Abyss Eye.Item to Sabotage The Opponent's HandThis card, from Chaos Rising, is critical. You can only play it when the opponent has 3 Prize cards left or less.They'll shuffle their hand and put it at the bottom of the deck. Next, they'll only draw 3 cards.It is similar to Unfair Stamp TWM 165, but it isn't an ACE SPEC.Item to Move EnergiesItems to Recycle Cards OverallNight Stretcher SFA 61 lets you recycle 1 basic energy or 1 basic Pokémon (evolution or basic) from your discard pile and put it in your hand.As this deck plays lots of special energies, it is essential!Sacred Ash DRI 168 lets you recycle up to 5 Pokémon from the discard pile back into your deck.Energy Recycler DRI 164 lets you recycle up to 5 basic energies from your discard pile back into your deck.ToolThis tool makes Poisoned active Pokémon deal 40 extra damage.It is great with Janine's Secret Art PRE 112.StadiumsRisky Ruins MEG 127 puts 2 damage counters on any basic, non-Darkness Pokémon that enters play. This means all Pokémon, yours or the opponent's.The damage counters you'll get this way will be useful with Munkidori TWM 95's ability, Adrena-Brain. Like so, you'll be able to move them around so that you can knock out enemy Pokémon instantly with Mega Absol ex MEG 86.Team Rocket's Watchtower DRI 180 disables abilities on all colorless Pokémon (yours or the opponent's).It is efficient against Meowth ex POR 62, which is currently quite popular.ACE SPECSecret Box is an Item ACE SPEC. To use it, you have to discard 3 cards from your hand, but, if you do, you can get 1 Supporter, 1 Item, 1 Tool, and 1 Stadium from your deck.Special EnergiesShadow (D) EnergyThis energy protects your benched Darkness Pokémon from enemy attacks.Final WordsThis deck is quite practical. You'll easily be able to set up your attackers without relying on evolution lines because of Toxtricity PFL 68 and retreat them for free with Pecharunt ex SFA 39.However, your biggest problem will be the Prize card race because there are many Mega Pokémon ex in this strategy. You'll have to rely on Mega Gengar ex PFL 56's ability to deal with this and get Grimsley's Move PFL 90 as well.We also recommend you watch some Japanese players that used this deck in events to learn more about it and keep an eye out for any updates. Japan is where these ideas and new information usually come out first.What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
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