Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama

What Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama looks like when you open the box

Across the 110 lists we counted, this deck runs 15 to 20 Pokémon, 29 to 34 Trainers and 9 to 13 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Fighting.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « lucario-hariyama ». 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: 9 to 13 out of 60, exactly the median of the 126 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It sets up fast. Hariyama is a Stage 1 Pokémon: a Basic, one evolution on top, and you are attacking. Two cards instead of three. You lose fewer turns building, and you rebuild much more easily when an early knockout lands on you.

Look at the Trainers: 29 to 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 126 decks we track. Inside that, 8 to 13 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 15 to 21 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 88 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 Lucario ex and Hariyama give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.

Mega Lucario ex is in all 110 lists, 3 copies of it.

Hariyama is in all 110 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Heave-Ho Catcher, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, when you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, you may use this Ability. Switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot. »

How Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama actually wins

Mega Lucario ex attacks with Mega Brave for 270. It needs 2 Fighting Energy attached, and it has 340 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 use Mega Brave."

The cost of Mega Brave decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. Except it charges itself. Mega Lucario ex, which the list runs 3 of, has an attack called Aura Jab that digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. That attack takes your attack for the turn, so count it as a setup turn. That is how this deck gets itself charged.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Lucario 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 Lucario 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.

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

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Mega Lucario exStage 1	340	Mega Brave	270		Psychic ×2	2
Close HariyamaStage 1	150	Wild Press	210		Psychic ×2	3
Close SolrockBasic	110	Cosmic Beam	70		Grass ×2	1
Close LunatoneBasic	110	Power Gem	50		Grass ×2	1

The core: the 13 cards every list runs

These 13 cards appear in all 110 lists, without a single exception. That is 46 of the 60 slots. The other 14 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 46 slots break down: 20 Trainers, 15 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 46 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 13 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mega Lucario ex (2 to 3), Riolu (3 to 4) and Solrock (2 to 3), plus 9 more. Add those spreads up and you get 21 copies the 110 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
2–3	Close Mega Lucario ex	MEG 77	Pokémon
3–4	Close Riolu	MEG 76	Pokémon
2–3	Close Solrock	MEG 75	Pokémon
2	Close Hariyama	MEG 73	Pokémon
2–3	Close Lunatone	MEG 74	Pokémon
2–3	Close Makuhita	MEG 72	Pokémon
3–4	Close Fighting Gong	MEG 116	Trainer
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
3–4	Close Premium Power Pro	MEG 124	Trainer
1–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer
1–3	Close Air Balloon	ASC 181	Trainer
1–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
7–13	Fighting Energy	MEE 6	Energy

The 48 cards that change from list to list

48 cards fight over the 14 slots that are left: 6 above three lists in four, 38 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Poké Pad at 99 %, Gravity Mountain at 98 % and Judge at 98 %, plus 3 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Unfair Stamp, at 55 %: 61 of 110 players took it, 49 put something else there. It is an ACE SPEC card, and you are allowed exactly one in your whole deck. The players who passed on it did not leave the slot empty: they put a different ACE SPEC there. Right at the bottom of the table, Secret Box (27 lists out of 110) and Night Stretcher (26 lists out of 110).

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
99 %109/110	Close Poké Pad	1–4	POR 81	Trainer
98 %108/110	Close Gravity Mountain	1–3	SSP 177	Trainer
98 %108/110	Close Judge	1–4	POR 76	Trainer
95 %105/110	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
94 %103/110	Close Wally's Compassion	1–2	MEG 132	Trainer
89 %98/110	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
68 %75/110	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
55 %61/110	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
45 %49/110	Close Rocky Fighting Energy	1–4	POR 87	Energy
26 %29/110	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
25 %27/110	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
24 %26/110	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
17 %19/110	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
17 %19/110	Close Black Belt's Training	1	JTG 143	Trainer
15 %16/110	Close Maximum Belt	1	TEF 154	Trainer
14 %15/110	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–4	DRI 180	Trainer
12 %13/110	Close Hilda	1	WHT 84	Trainer
12 %13/110	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
11 %12/110	Close Carmine	1–2	TWM 145	Trainer
11 %12/110	Close Mega Signal	1	MEG 121	Trainer
7 %8/110	Close Tarragon	1	POR 85	Trainer
6 %7/110	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
5 %6/110	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
5 %6/110	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
5 %5/110	Close Mega Zygarde ex	1	POR 47	Pokémon
5 %5/110	Close Accompanying Flute	1	TWM 142	Trainer
5 %5/110	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1	TEF 145	Trainer
4 %4/110	Close Lucario	1	30C 83	Pokémon
4 %4/110	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
4 %4/110	Close Core Memory	1	POR 70	Trainer
4 %4/110	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
3 %3/110	Close Okidogi	1	ASC 122	Pokémon
3 %3/110	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
3 %3/110	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1	SFA 64	Trainer
2 %2/110	Close Pecharunt	2	SVP 149	Pokémon
2 %2/110	Close Genesect	1	SFA 40	Pokémon
2 %2/110	Close Crushing Hammer	4	POR 71	Trainer
2 %2/110	Close Crispin	1	SCR 133	Trainer
2 %2/110	Darkness Energy	2	MEE 7	Energy
1 %1/110	Close Barbaracle	1	POR 43	Pokémon
1 %1/110	Close Binacle	1	POR 42	Pokémon
1 %1/110	Close Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex	1	TWM 112	Pokémon
1 %1/110	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
1 %1/110	Close Hitmontop	1	ASC 102	Pokémon
1 %1/110	Close Payapa Berry	2	SCR 141	Trainer
1 %1/110	Close Iris's Fighting Spirit	1	JTG 149	Trainer
1 %1/110	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
1 %1/110	Close Salvatore	1	TEF 160	Trainer

The most common Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 46 slots come from the core, the cards all 110 lists run. The remaining 14 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 9 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 16 Pokémon, 32 Trainers and 12 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 110 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: 16
3 Mega Lucario ex MEG 77
3 Riolu MEG 76
3 Solrock MEG 75
2 Hariyama MEG 73
2 Lunatone MEG 74
2 Makuhita MEG 72
1 Meowth ex POR 62

Trainer: 32
4 Fighting Gong MEG 116
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Premium Power Pro MEG 124
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Gravity Mountain SSP 177
2 Judge POR 76
1 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165

Energy: 12
11 Fighting Energy MEE 6
1 Rocky Fighting Energy POR 87

Total Cards: 60

Which decks beat Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama at tournaments

Here is how Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama 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 30th Celebration became legal for tournaments, and we read the table on 24 October 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 Dhelmise: over 190 games, 28 won and 160 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Slowking: over 155 games, 51 won and 104 lost.

Against Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex: over 118 games, 40 won and 76 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex: over 401 games, 164 won and 230 lost. 7 ended with no winner.

Against Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex: over 238 games, 108 won and 129 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against Teal Mask Ogerpon ex / Meganium / Hydrapple ex: over 116 games, 53 won and 59 lost. 4 ended with no winner.

Against Dragapult ex / Dusknoir: over 153 games, 73 won and 78 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dudunsparce: over 160 games, 86 won and 72 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Excadrill ex: over 140 games, 77 won and 60 lost. 3 ended with no winner.

Against Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity: over 125 games, 73 won and 51 lost. One ended with no winner.

Against N's Zoroark ex: over 207 games, 126 won and 79 lost. 2 ended with no winner.

Against Alakazam / Dusknoir: over 106 games, 63 won and 42 lost. One ended with no winner.

How many different cards Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama needs, and how long it will last

You need 61 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 13 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 110 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 61 took Unfair Stamp, 27 took Secret Box and 16 took Maximum Belt. 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, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 13 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Psychic and Grass, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 48 of the 126 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex, N's Zoroark ex (Munkidori) and Slowking (Latias ex), plus 45 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 48 decks out of the 126 we track. The other 78 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 Fighting, and 41 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Dragapult ex, Latias ex / Mega Kangaskhan ex and Slowking, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.