Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 41 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 23 Pokémon, 24 to 30 Trainers and 10 to 15 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic and Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see this deck written « basic-box-m ». That word does not point at any one card in the list, so we did not turn it into a name. The name you are reading comes from the deck's main attackers — the cards you will actually put on the table, and the ones your opponent will learn to fear.

Look at the Energy: 10 to 15 out of 60, when half the 97 decks we track run 10 or fewer. This one carries more than most, and you feel it at the table — it wants to load up a big Pokémon and swing hard, even if that means drawing a spare Energy now and then.

Nothing here needs evolving — everything that attacks is a Basic Pokémon. Put it down, charge it, swing. That is as fast as the game gets, and it makes those turns where you draw nothing far less painful.

Look at the Trainers: 24 to 30 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 12 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 57 of the 97 decks we track bring that many or more. Only one Stadium sits on the table at a time: the one you play sends the one already there to the discard pile.

What Tools and Stadiums do — the two Trainer families we skipped here — and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.

What the cards in this deck's name actually do

Latias ex and Mega Kangaskhan ex give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Latias ex is in all 41 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Skyliner, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Your Basic Pokémon in play have no Retreat Cost. »

Mega Kangaskhan ex is in all 41 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Run Errand, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, you may use this Ability. Draw 2 cards. You can't use more than 1 Run Errand Ability each turn. »

How Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex actually wins

Latias ex attacks with Eon Blade for 200. It needs 3 Energy, 2 Psychic and 1 Colorless attached, and it has 210 HP. And the number is not everything the card says. There is one more line printed under the attack, and it is the one everybody skips: "During your next turn, this Pokémon can't attack."

The cost of Eon Blade decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 3. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 3. Except you are not on your own. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, which the list runs 4 of, has an Ability called Teal Dance: it attaches Energy from your hand on top of the one you already play. An Ability costs you nothing: not your attack, not your card for the turn. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Latias ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 Energy attached to it. Retreating does not cost you your turn, you can step back and still swing right after. What it costs you is the 2 Energy you spent 2 turns attaching, and you start that climb again from nothing. Pack a card that moves it for free, or send it up knowing it stays up.

Mega Kangaskhan ex is a Mega Evolution ex, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn it goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts anywhere else on your Bench. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Latias ex, Lillie's Clefairy ex, Meowth ex, Fezandipiti ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex carry the plain "ex" suffix, and give up 2. That is already a lot, and it is less than the Mega.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Latias exBasic	210	Eon Blade	200	Psychic + Psychic + Colorless	Darkness ×2	2
Close Mega Kangaskhan exBasic	300	Rapid-Fire Combo	200+	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	3
Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon exBasic	210	Torrential Pump	100	Water + Colorless + Colorless	Lightning ×2	1
Close Meowth exBasic	170	Tuck Tail	60	Colorless + Colorless + Colorless	Fighting ×2	1

The core: the 13 cards every list runs

These 13 cards appear in all 41 lists, without a single exception. That is 40 of the 60 slots. The other 20 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 40 slots break down: 15 Trainers, 14 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 40 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

12 of those 13 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (1 to 4), Lillie's Clefairy ex (1 to 3) and Mega Kangaskhan ex (1 to 4), plus 9 more. Add those spreads up and you get 28 copies the 41 lists do not agree on, inside the core itself.

What "3 to 4" means in the copies column, what the "TWM 130" code under each name is for, and why we count dozens of lists instead of one: how to read a deck list.

The cards present in every list counted, with the number of copies

Copies	Card	Printing	Kind	Rotation
1–4	Close Teal Mask Ogerpon ex	TWM 25	Pokémon	leaves
2	Close Latias ex	SSP 76	Pokémon	leaves
1–3	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays
1–4	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	MEG 104	Pokémon	stays
1–4	Close Meowth ex	POR 62	Pokémon	stays
1–2	Close Fezandipiti ex	ASC 142	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	TWM 64	Pokémon	leaves
2–4	Close Energy Switch	MEG 115	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Area Zero Underdepths	SCR 131	Trainer	leaves
1–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–2	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
4–11	Grass Energy	MEE 1	Energy	stays

The 53 cards that change from list to list

53 cards fight over the 20 slots that are left: 4 above three lists in four, 34 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking at 95 %, Unfair Stamp at 78 % and Iron Leaves ex at 76 %, plus 1 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Munkidori, at 49 %: 20 of 41 players took it, 21 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Iron Crown ex (10 lists out of 41) and Glass Trumpet (10 lists out of 41).

Why a card at 45 % is not a bad card, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.

The cards some lists run and others don't, most common first

Lists running it	Card	Copies	Printing	Kind
95 %39/41	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
78 %32/41	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
76 %31/41	Close Iron Leaves ex	1	TEF 25	Pokémon
76 %31/41	Close Lillie's Determination	1–4	MEG 119	Trainer
66 %27/41	Close Prism Energy	3–4	ASC 216	Energy
63 %26/41	Close Bug Catching Set	4	TWM 143	Trainer
63 %26/41	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer
61 %25/41	Close Pecharunt	1–2	SVP 149	Pokémon
61 %25/41	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
49 %20/41	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
37 %15/41	Close Crispin	4	SCR 133	Trainer
37 %15/41	Close Cyrano	1–2	SSP 170	Trainer
37 %15/41	Psychic Energy	2–4	MEE 5	Energy
37 %15/41	Water Energy	1	MEE 3	Energy
34 %14/41	Close Chi-Yu	1	TWM 39	Pokémon
32 %13/41	Fighting Energy	1–2	MEE 6	Energy
29 %12/41	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
29 %12/41	Close Raging Bolt ex	1	TEF 123	Pokémon
29 %12/41	Lightning Energy	1–2	MEE 4	Energy
24 %10/41	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
24 %10/41	Close Glass Trumpet	1–2	SCR 135	Trainer
24 %10/41	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
17 %7/41	Close Passimian	1	SSP 111	Pokémon
15 %6/41	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
15 %6/41	Close Tera Orb	1	SSP 189	Trainer
12 %5/41	Close Pecharunt ex	1	SFA 39	Pokémon
10 %4/41	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
10 %4/41	Close Lillie's Pearl	1–2	JTG 151	Trainer
10 %4/41	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
10 %4/41	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
10 %4/41	Fire Energy	1	MEE 2	Energy
7 %3/41	Close Enamorus	1	TWM 93	Pokémon
7 %3/41	Close Brock's Scouting	1–2	JTG 146	Trainer
7 %3/41	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
5 %2/41	Close Stunfisk	1	ASC 62	Pokémon
5 %2/41	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–2	SFA 64	Trainer
5 %2/41	Close Briar	1	SCR 132	Trainer
5 %2/41	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
2 %1/41	Close Fan Rotom	2	SCR 118	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Hoothoot	2	SCR 114	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Noctowl	2	SCR 115	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Iron Boulder ex	1	TEF 99	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
2 %1/41	Close Dusk Ball	4	SSP 175	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Poké Pad	2	POR 81	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
2 %1/41	Close Wondrous Patch	1	PFL 94	Trainer
2 %1/41	Darkness Energy	3	MEE 7	Energy

The most common Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 40 slots come from the core, the cards all 41 lists run. The remaining 20 come from the table just above, working down it: the cards the most players chose, each at its most common copy count, until the total lands on 60.

This list is nobody's list in particular. It takes, slot by slot, what the most people played, under the guardrails a judge would hold you to: never more than four copies of a card, and one ACE SPEC. Behind the core it took 10 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 19 Pokémon, 26 Trainers and 15 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 41 lists we counted are all from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament. Nobody publishes the lists of the players who lost. So what you have in front of you is what the players finishing near the top bring most often.

The text under the table is the one the game expects: copy it, paste it into the deck manager, and the list builds itself.

There is no price total on this page. The readings we have are Cardmarket's, in euros, and the shop link further down sends you to TCGplayer, which quotes in dollars. Putting a euro figure next to a dollar shop would be one currency too many. The French and German pages carry the total.

Why we only read lists from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament, and what that changes about every percentage on this page: how to read a deck list.

Pokémon: 19
4 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25
2 Latias ex SSP 76
2 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
2 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104
2 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
1 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64
1 Iron Leaves ex TEF 25
2 Pecharunt SVP 149
1 Chien-Pao SSP 56
1 Munkidori TWM 95

Trainer: 26
4 Energy Switch MEG 115
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Area Zero Underdepths SCR 131
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145
1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
1 N's Plan BLK 83

Energy: 15
11 Grass Energy MEE 1
4 Prism Energy ASC 216

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex at tournaments

Here is how Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex did against every other deck at tournaments. Real games, real players sitting across the table from each other, and the platform those tournaments run on counts them one by one. All of them were played after Pitch Black became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 5 September 2026.

The format matters more than people think. When the next set lands, decks get rebuilt around the new cards, and a matchup that leaned one way can swing the other. What you are reading holds for today's format.

We start with the opponent that gives you the most trouble, because that is where the work is before your next tournament. The further down the list you go, the better it goes for you.

Always look at the number of games next to the score. Six wins out of ten happens on its own, even with a middling deck: it is the same as flipping six heads in ten tries. Six hundred out of a thousand, and luck has nothing to do with it. Below 100 games we show nothing at all, because at that count half the matchups look like they lean one way when they lean nowhere.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 185 games, 77 won and 104 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 201 games, 93 won and 103 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 182 games, 86 won and 91 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 193 games, 93 won and 99 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 225 games, 111 won and 114 lost.

Against Festival Lead: over 171 games, 86 won and 80 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 287 games, 151 won and 131 lost. 5 ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 179 games, 112 won and 65 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dhelmise: over 131 games, 82 won and 48 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass: over 107 games, 73 won and 33 lost. One ended with no winner.

What Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 66 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 13 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 41 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 32 took Unfair Stamp, 4 took Prime Catcher and 3 took Hero's Cape. The flex table shows you all 4. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs. New to this deck? Take Unfair Stamp and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 6 of the 13 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Latias ex, Fezandipiti ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, plus 2 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 12 of the 40 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness, Fighting and Lightning, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 29 of the 97 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, plus 26 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.

This table counts one thing, Weakness, and that comes to 29 decks out of the 97 we track. The other 68 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, your attackers are Psychic and Water, and 15 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.

Questions people ask

What is the Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 41 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 4 September 2026, 13 cards turn up in every single one, 40 slots out of 60. The remaining 20 change from player to player, with 53 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?

41 lists, played across 37 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 4 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 41 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex?

With the whole core: 13 cards, 40 slots. Inside it, buy the 15 Trainer slots and the 11 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 14 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking at 95 % and Unfair Stamp at 78 %.

What beats Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex?

Its attackers are Weak to Darkness, Fighting and Lightning, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 29 of the 97 decks we track play an attacker of that type: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, among others.

Will Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex survive the next rotation?

Not intact: 6 core cards out of 13 carry the letter H, starting with Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Latias ex, Fezandipiti ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, plus 2 more.

Are a lot of people playing Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex?

We have read 41 lists of it, which puts it 9th of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 686 entries for it, 1.68 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.

These pages are about the same corner of the game. If you came away from this one still wondering about something, start with one of them.