Mega Diancie ex

What Mega Diancie ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 7 lists we counted, this deck runs 12 to 18 Pokémon, 30 to 34 Trainers and 10 to 16 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-diancie-ex ». 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: 10 to 16 out of 60, when half the 120 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.

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: 30 to 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 120 decks we track. Inside that, 10 to 15 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 13 to 17 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 113 of the 120 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 card in this deck's name actually does

Mega Diancie ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Mega Diancie ex is in all 7 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). »

How Mega Diancie 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. Wondrous Patch, which the list runs 4 of, digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. Crispin does the same job. 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 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 Mega Diancie exBasic	270	Garland Ray	120×		Metal ×2	1
Close Lillie's Clefairy exBasic	190	Full Moon Rondo	20+		Metal ×2	1

The core: the 9 cards every list runs

These 9 cards appear in all 7 lists, without a single exception. That is 32 of the 60 slots. The other 28 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 32 slots break down: 15 Trainers, 6 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 32 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 120 decks we track fix 30 or fewer. Fewer choices left to you than usual, and fewer ways to get them wrong.

7 of those 9 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mega Diancie ex (3 to 4), Latias ex (1 to 2) and Lillie's Clefairy ex (1 to 2), plus 4 more. Add those spreads up and you get 9 copies the 7 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
3–4	Close Mega Diancie ex	PFL 41	Pokémon	stays
1–2	Close Latias ex	SSP 76	Pokémon	leaves
1–2	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon	stays
4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer	stays
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer	stays
4	Close Wondrous Patch	PFL 94	Trainer	stays
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer	stays
6–8	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy	stays
3–4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy	stays

The 45 cards that change from list to list

45 cards fight over the 28 slots that are left: 4 above three lists in four, 23 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Mystery Garden at 86 %, Night Stretcher at 86 % and Powerglass at 86 %, plus 1 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Judge, at 57 %: 4 of 7 players took it, 3 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, Dudunsparce (1 list out of 7) and Dunsparce (1 list out of 7).

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
86 %6/7	Close Mystery Garden	2–3	MEG 122	Trainer
86 %6/7	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
86 %6/7	Close Powerglass	2–4	SFA 63	Trainer
86 %6/7	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
71 %5/7	Close Munkidori	2–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
71 %5/7	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
71 %5/7	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
71 %5/7	Darkness Energy	2–5	MEE 7	Energy
57 %4/7	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
57 %4/7	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
43 %3/7	Close Frillish	2	WHT 44	Pokémon
43 %3/7	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
43 %3/7	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
43 %3/7	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
29 %2/7	Close Mew ex	4	30C 66	Pokémon
29 %2/7	Close Cofagrigus	2	WHT 40	Pokémon
29 %2/7	Close Yamask	1–2	WHT 39	Pokémon
29 %2/7	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
29 %2/7	Close Jellicent ex	1	WHT 45	Pokémon
29 %2/7	Close Lively Stadium	1–3	SSP 180	Trainer
29 %2/7	Close Carmine	2	TWM 145	Trainer
29 %2/7	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Azelf	1	SSP 80	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Iron Boulder	1	SCR 71	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Yamask	1	SSP 82	Pokémon
14 %1/7	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	4	TEF 144	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Pokégear 3.0	4	SVI 186	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Wally's Compassion	3	MEG 132	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Xerosic's Machinations	2	SFA 64	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Mega Signal	1	MEG 121	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Sacred Charm	1	PFL 93	Trainer
14 %1/7	Close Scramble Switch	1	SSP 186	Trainer

What Mega Diancie ex costs to build, and how long it will last

You need 54 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 9 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 7 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 3 took Unfair Stamp, 2 took Secret Box and 1 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. 1 of the 9 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Latias ex. The core table marks it. In copies, that is 2 of the 32 slots the core fills. Which day it lands, we do not know yet.

What Mega Diancie ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness and Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 29 of the 120 decks we track attack in exactly those types.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Mega Excadrill ex, N's Zoroark ex and Slowking (Metagross), 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 120 we track. The other 91 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, Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.