Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir

What Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir looks like when you open the box

Across the 52 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 21 Pokémon, 28 to 33 Trainers and 11 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « diancie-dusknoir ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

Look at the Energy: 11 to 13 out of 60, when half the 126 decks we track run 11 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.

It takes a while to set up. Dusknoir is a Stage 2 Pokémon: you put down the baby, you evolve it, and then you evolve it again. Three cards stacked before anything attacks. That is what the hardest-hitting decks cost you, and it is also where they crack — a fast opponent can bury you before the line is standing.

Look at the Trainers: 28 to 33 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 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 14 to 19 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 5 Stadiums, and 23 of the 126 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

Mega Diancie ex and Dusknoir give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Mega Diancie ex is in all 52 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Diamond Coat, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « This Pokémon takes 30 less damage from attacks (after applying Weakness and Resistance). »

Dusknoir is in all 52 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Cursed Blast, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may put 13 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. If you use this Ability, this Pokémon is Knocked Out. »

How Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir 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. Wondrous Patch, which the list runs 4 of, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. That is where this deck buys its turns, and it is the first thing to look for in your opening hand.

Energy is not your only clock. Duskull has to climb two steps before it becomes Dusknoir, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, a single copy in the list, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 26 of the 52 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

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 Diancie 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. Latias ex and Lillie's Clefairy 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		Darkness ×2	2
Close DusknoirStage 2	160	Shadow Bind	150		Darkness ×2	3
Close Mega Diancie exBasic	270	Garland Ray	120×		Metal ×2	1
Close DusclopsStage 1	90	Will-O-Wisp	50		Darkness ×2	2

The core: the 14 cards every list runs

These 14 cards appear in all 52 lists, without a single exception. That is 43 of the 60 slots. The other 17 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 43 slots break down: 18 Trainers, 14 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 43 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 126 decks we track fix 25 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

12 of those 14 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Duskull (2 to 3), Dusclops (1 to 3) and Dusknoir (2 to 3), plus 9 more. Add those spreads up and you get 17 copies the 52 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
2–3	Close Duskull	PRE 35	Pokémon	leaves
3	Close Mega Diancie ex	PFL 41	Pokémon	stays
1–3	Close Dusclops	PRE 36	Pokémon	leaves
2–3	Close Dusknoir	PRE 37	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Latias ex	SSP 76	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
3–4	Close Wondrous Patch	PFL 94	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
1–3	Close Night Stretcher	ASC 196	Trainer	leaves
1–3	Close Powerglass	SFA 63	Trainer	leaves
7–8	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays
4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy	stays

The 47 cards that change from list to list

47 cards fight over the 17 slots that are left: 8 above three lists in four, 32 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Mystery Garden at 98 %, Rare Candy at 96 % and Meowth ex at 94 %, plus 5 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Hilda, at 50 %: 26 of 52 players took it, 26 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Flutter Mane (11 lists out of 52) and Switch (11 lists out of 52).

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
98 %51/52	Close Mystery Garden	2–4	MEG 122	Trainer
96 %50/52	Close Rare Candy	1–4	MEG 125	Trainer
94 %49/52	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
92 %48/52	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
90 %47/52	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
90 %47/52	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
87 %45/52	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
75 %39/52	Close Frillish	1–2	WHT 44	Pokémon
65 %34/52	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
54 %28/52	Close Jacinthe	1–2	POR 75	Trainer
52 %27/52	Close Jellicent ex	1	WHT 45	Pokémon
52 %27/52	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
50 %26/52	Close Hilda	1–3	WHT 84	Trainer
40 %21/52	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
38 %20/52	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1	TEF 144	Trainer
21 %11/52	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
21 %11/52	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
8 %4/52	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
8 %4/52	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close Bronzong	1–2	TEF 69	Pokémon
4 %2/52	Close Bronzor	1–2	TEF 68	Pokémon
4 %2/52	Close Nighttime Mine	2–4	ASC 197	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close Colress's Tenacity	1–2	SFA 57	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close Wally's Compassion	1–2	MEG 132	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
4 %2/52	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
2 %1/52	Close Banette	2	PBL 34	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Mew ex	2	30C 66	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Shuppet	2	PBL 33	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex	1	TWM 141	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Iron Crown ex	1	TEF 81	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Meloetta ex	1	BLK 44	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Tatsugiri	1	TWM 131	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Togekiss	1	SSP 72	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Togepi	1	SSP 70	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Unown	1	30C 72	Pokémon
2 %1/52	Close Carmine	4	TWM 145	Trainer
2 %1/52	Close Pokémon Catcher	3	POR 82	Trainer
2 %1/52	Close Amulet of Hope	1	SSP 162	Trainer
2 %1/52	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
2 %1/52	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
2 %1/52	Darkness Energy	2	MEE 7	Energy

The most common Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 43 slots come from the core, the cards all 52 lists run. The remaining 17 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 12 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 18 Pokémon, 31 Trainers and 11 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 52 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.

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: 18
3 Duskull PRE 35
3 Mega Diancie ex PFL 41
2 Dusclops PRE 36
2 Dusknoir PRE 37
2 Latias ex SSP 76
2 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Meowth ex POR 62
2 Frillish WHT 44
1 Jellicent ex WHT 45

Trainer: 31
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Wondrous Patch PFL 94
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Powerglass SFA 63
3 Mystery Garden MEG 122
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Secret Box TWM 163
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Judge POR 76
1 Lillie's Pearl JTG 151
1 Jacinthe POR 75
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176

Energy: 11
7 Psychic Energy MEE 5
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir needs, and how long it will last

You need 61 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 14 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 52 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 47 took Secret Box, 2 took Prime Catcher and 2 took Unfair Stamp. 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 Secret Box and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time. 6 of the 14 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Duskull, Dusclops, Dusknoir and Latias ex, plus 2 more. The core table marks every one of them. In copies, that is 13 of the 43 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Diancie ex / Dusknoir struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness and Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 28 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Slowking (Metagross) and Mega Excadrill ex, plus 25 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 28 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 98 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 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Mega Lucario ex and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.