Mega Diancie ex

What Mega Diancie ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 14 lists we counted, this deck runs 12 to 18 Pokémon, 28 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 133 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: 28 to 34 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 133 decks we track. Inside that, 7 to 15 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 13 to 18 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 3 Stadiums, and 126 of the 133 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 14 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

Mega Diancie ex attacks with Garland Ray. It needs 2 Psychic Energy attached, and it has 270 HP. Watch the damage box. "120×" does not mean 120 damage: it means 120 per card you discard yourself to fire the attack. The total moves every turn.

The cost of Garland Ray 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 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.

Good news on mobility: pulling Mega Diancie ex back to the Bench costs you 1 Energy attached to it, and that is all. Retreating does not cost you your turn, so you step back and swing anyway. That matters enormously the day your opponent lands something nasty on it.

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. Lillie's Clefairy ex carries 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 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 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 14 lists, without a single exception. That is 30 of the 60 slots. The other 30 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 30 slots break down: 15 Trainers, 4 Pokémon, 11 Energy. Trainers outweigh everything else put together, which is the mark of a deck that goes and fetches its cards rather than waiting to draw them.

8 of those 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Mega Diancie ex (3 to 4), Lillie's Clefairy ex (1 to 3) and Lillie's Determination (3 to 4), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 14 copies the 14 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
3–4	Close Mega Diancie ex	PFL 41	Pokémon
1–3	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	JTG 56	Pokémon
3–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
2–4	Close Ultra Ball	MEG 131	Trainer
3–4	Close Wondrous Patch	PFL 94	Trainer
1–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
5–8	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy
2–4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy

The 71 cards that change from list to list

71 cards fight over the 30 slots that are left: 5 above three lists in four, 54 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Night Stretcher at 93 %, Latias ex at 86 % and Mystery Garden at 86 %, plus 2 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Judge, at 50 %: 7 of 14 players took it, 7 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Frillish (3 lists out of 14) and Steven's Beldum (3 lists out of 14).

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
93 %13/14	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
86 %12/14	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
86 %12/14	Close Mystery Garden	2–3	MEG 122	Trainer
86 %12/14	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
79 %11/14	Close Powerglass	2–4	SFA 63	Trainer
71 %10/14	Close Munkidori	2–3	TWM 95	Pokémon
71 %10/14	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
71 %10/14	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
71 %10/14	Darkness Energy	2–5	MEE 7	Energy
64 %9/14	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–2	DRI 176	Trainer
50 %7/14	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
50 %7/14	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
43 %6/14	Close Mew ex	3–4	30C 66	Pokémon
36 %5/14	Close Switch	1–2	MEG 130	Trainer
29 %4/14	Close Budew	1–2	ASC 16	Pokémon
29 %4/14	Close Carmine	1–2	TWM 145	Trainer
29 %4/14	Close Poké Pad	2–4	POR 81	Trainer
21 %3/14	Close Frillish	2	WHT 44	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Steven's Beldum	2–3	DRI 143	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Steven's Metagross ex	2	DRI 145	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Steven's Metang	1	DRI 144	Pokémon
21 %3/14	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	3–4	TEF 144	Trainer
21 %3/14	Close Rare Candy	2	MEG 125	Trainer
21 %3/14	Close Energy Recycler	1–2	DRI 164	Trainer
21 %3/14	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
21 %3/14	Metal Energy	3–4	MEE 16	Energy
14 %2/14	Close Cofagrigus	2	WHT 40	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Yamask	1–2	WHT 39	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Deoxys	1	CRI 32	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Jellicent ex	1	WHT 45	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Mega Skarmory ex	1	POR 55	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Meloetta ex	1	BLK 44	Pokémon
14 %2/14	Close Lively Stadium	1–3	SSP 180	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Mega Signal	1–2	MEG 121	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Air Balloon	1	ASC 181	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Scramble Switch	1	SSP 186	Trainer
14 %2/14	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Dudunsparce	3	TEF 129	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Dunsparce	3	JTG 120	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Dusclops	2	PRE 36	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Duskull	2	PRE 35	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	2	MEG 104	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Misdreavus	2	PFL 35	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Azelf	1	SSP 80	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Dialga	1	MEG 95	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Dusknoir	1	PRE 37	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Genesect ex	1	BLK 67	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Iron Boulder	1	SCR 71	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Mega Absol ex	1	MEG 86	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Mismagius ex	1	PFL 36	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Relicanth	1	TEF 84	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Smoochum	1	SSP 75	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Yamask	1	SSP 82	Pokémon
7 %1/14	Close Pokégear 3.0	4	SVI 186	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Wally's Compassion	3	MEG 132	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Xerosic's Machinations	2	SFA 64	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Lillie's Pearl	1	JTG 151	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close N's Plan	1	BLK 83	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Prism Tower	1	CRI 80	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Sacred Charm	1	PFL 93	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
7 %1/14	Close Magnetic Metal Energy	2	CRI 85	Energy

The most common Mega Diancie ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 30 slots come from the core, the cards all 14 lists run. The remaining 30 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 15 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 13 Pokémon, 34 Trainers and 13 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 14 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: 13
3 Mega Diancie ex PFL 41
1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56
1 Latias ex SSP 76
2 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Meowth ex POR 62
4 Mew ex 30C 66
1 Budew ASC 16

Trainer: 34
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
4 Wondrous Patch PFL 94
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
3 Mystery Garden MEG 122
2 Special Red Card CRI 82
4 Powerglass SFA 63
4 Crispin SCR 133
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
1 Judge POR 76
1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165
1 Switch MEG 130

Energy: 13
7 Psychic Energy MEE 5
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
2 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 79 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 14 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 7 took Unfair Stamp, 2 took Scramble Switch and 2 took Secret Box. The flex table shows you all 6. 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 8 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mega Diancie ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Metal, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 10 of the 133 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: Slowking (Metagross), Mega Excadrill ex and Steven's Metagross ex, plus 7 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 10 decks out of the 133 we track. The other 123 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.