Mega Dragonite ex deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it

What Mega Dragonite ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 28 lists we counted, this deck runs 20 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 32 Trainers and 7 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Lightning and Water.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-dragonite-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: 7 to 12 out of 60, exactly the median of the 97 decks we track. It draws neither too much nor too little, so this is not where its games are won or lost.

It takes a while to set up. Mega Dragonite ex 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: 26 to 32 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 97 decks we track. Inside that, 10 to 16 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 10 to 18 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 card in this deck's name actually does

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

Mega Dragonite ex is in all 28 lists, 2 copies of it. Its Ability is called Sky Transport, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may use this Ability. Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon. »

How Mega Dragonite ex actually wins

Mega Dragonite ex attacks with Ryuno Glide for 330. It needs 3 Energy, 1 Water and 2 Lightning attached, and it has 370 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: "Discard 2 Energy from this Pokémon."

The cost of Ryuno Glide 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. Blaziken ex, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Seething Spirit: it digs Energy out of your discard pile and puts it back on one of your Pokémon. 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.

Energy is not your only clock. Dratini has to climb two steps before it becomes Mega Dragonite ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Dragonair, which the list runs 3 of, has an Ability called Evolutionary Guidance: it goes into your deck for an evolution. Not whenever you feel like it, though. The card itself says when, so read it before you count on it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Dragonite 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 Dragonite 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 Dragonite exStage 2	370	Ryuno Glide	330	Water + Lightning + Lightning	none	2
Close DragonairStage 1	100	Tail Snap	60	Water + Lightning	none	2
Close DratiniBasic	80	Headbutt	30	Water + Lightning	none	2

The core: the 8 cards every list runs

These 8 cards appear in all 28 lists, without a single exception. That is 24 of the 60 slots. The other 36 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 24 slots break down: 10 Trainers, 8 Pokémon, 6 Energy. Nothing stands out in that split. What sets this deck apart is how thick its core is: 24 of the 60 slots are the same for everybody, when half the 97 decks we track fix 34 or more. This one leaves more room than most, and two players can build it very differently.

8 of those 8 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Dragonair (2 to 4), Dratini (2 to 4) and Mega Dragonite ex (2 to 3), plus 5 more. Add those spreads up and you get 18 copies the 28 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
2–4	Close Dragonair	ASC 151	Pokémon
2–4	Close Dratini	ASC 150	Pokémon
2–3	Close Mega Dragonite ex	ASC 152	Pokémon
2–4	Close Lillie's Determination	MEG 119	Trainer
3–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer
2–3	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
3–8	Lightning Energy	MEE 4	Energy
2–6	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy

The 93 cards that change from list to list

93 cards fight over the 36 slots that are left: 4 above three lists in four, 68 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Crispin at 93 %, Ultra Ball at 89 % and Special Red Card at 86 %, plus 1 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Mega Kangaskhan ex, at 50 %: 14 of 28 players took it, 14 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 2 copies. Right at the bottom of the table, N's Zoroark ex (7 lists out of 28) and N's Zorua (7 lists out of 28).

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 %26/28	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
89 %25/28	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
86 %24/28	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
79 %22/28	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
71 %20/28	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
68 %19/28	Close Night Stretcher	1–2	ASC 196	Trainer
64 %18/28	Close Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
61 %17/28	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–4	TEF 144	Trainer
61 %17/28	Close Wally's Compassion	1	MEG 132	Trainer
57 %16/28	Close Powerglass	1–2	SFA 63	Trainer
54 %15/28	Close Blaziken ex	2–3	JTG 24	Pokémon
54 %15/28	Close Torchic	2–3	DRI 40	Pokémon
54 %15/28	Close Combusken	1–3	DRI 41	Pokémon
54 %15/28	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
54 %15/28	Close Lumiose City	2	POR 77	Trainer
54 %15/28	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
54 %15/28	Fire Energy	2	MEE 2	Energy
50 %14/28	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–2	MEG 104	Pokémon
50 %14/28	Close Rare Candy	2–3	MEG 125	Trainer
43 %12/28	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
36 %10/28	Close Blaziken	1	DRI 42	Pokémon
36 %10/28	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
36 %10/28	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
36 %10/28	Darkness Energy	1	MEE 7	Energy
29 %8/28	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
25 %7/28	Close N's Zoroark ex	1–2	JTG 98	Pokémon
25 %7/28	Close N's Zorua	1–2	JTG 97	Pokémon
21 %6/28	Close Volcanion ex	1	JTG 31	Pokémon
18 %5/28	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	3–4	DRI 176	Trainer
18 %5/28	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
18 %5/28	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Blissey ex	2	TWM 134	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Buneary	2	PFL 83	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Chansey	2	TWM 133	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Joltik	2	SCR 50	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Mega Lopunny ex	2	PFL 84	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
14 %4/28	Close Glass Trumpet	2–3	SCR 135	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Area Zero Underdepths	2	SCR 131	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Dawn	1–2	PFL 87	Trainer
14 %4/28	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
14 %4/28	Grass Energy	3	MEE 1	Energy
11 %3/28	Close Dudunsparce	2–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Dunsparce	2–3	JTG 120	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Eelektrik	1	ASC 60	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Galvantula	1	SFA 2	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Magearna	1	JTG 107	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Mega Eelektross ex	1	ASC 61	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Terapagos ex	1	SCR 128	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Tynamo	1	ASC 59	Pokémon
11 %3/28	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	2	DRI 180	Trainer
11 %3/28	Close Judge	1	POR 76	Trainer
11 %3/28	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–2	SVI 186	Trainer
11 %3/28	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Dusk Ball	4	SSP 175	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Battle Cage	2	PFL 85	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Brock's Scouting	1–2	JTG 146	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Gwynn	1	PBL 78	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
7 %2/28	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Cinderace	4	MEG 28	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Dreepy	3	TWM 128	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Pikipek	3	PBL 66	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Drakloak	2	TWM 129	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Mega Starmie ex	2	POR 21	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Staryu	2	POR 20	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Trumbeak	2	PBL 67	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Chi-Yu	1	MEG 31	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Dunsparce	1	TEF 128	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Electrike	1	MEG 49	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Manectric	1	PBL 24	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Maractus	1	JTG 8	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Mega Froslass ex	1	ASC 47	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Mega Manectric ex	1	MEG 50	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Snorunt	1	ASC 46	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Stunfisk	1	ASC 62	Pokémon
4 %1/28	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	4	DRI 178	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
4 %1/28	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
4 %1/28	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy

The most common Mega Dragonite ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 24 slots come from the core, the cards all 28 lists run. The remaining 36 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 21 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 23 Pokémon, 29 Trainers and 8 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 28 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: 23
3 Dragonair ASC 151
3 Dratini ASC 150
2 Mega Dragonite ex ASC 152
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Tatsugiri TWM 131
3 Blaziken ex JTG 24
3 Torchic DRI 40
2 Combusken DRI 41
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142
2 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104
1 Blaziken DRI 42

Trainer: 29
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
4 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
3 Crispin SCR 133
4 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Special Red Card CRI 82
1 Night Stretcher ASC 196
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Wally's Compassion MEG 132
1 Powerglass SFA 63
2 Lumiose City POR 77
1 Secret Box TWM 163
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
1 Air Balloon ASC 181

Energy: 8
4 Lightning Energy MEE 4
2 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Fire Energy MEE 2

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 101 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 8 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.

All 28 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 15 took Secret Box, 5 took Precious Trolley and 4 took Unfair Stamp. 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 Secret Box 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 Dragonite ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck have no printed Weakness at all. That is rare and it is worth a fortune: nobody gets to double the damage they put on you.

Nothing to show here today, and that is information in itself: none of the 97 decks we track carry the type that would double the damage you take.

Going the other way, none of the 97 decks we track have an attacker Weak to your types. So you are not going to win trades on Weakness — you will have to win them on raw damage.

Questions people ask

What is the Mega Dragonite ex deck list?

There isn't one, so we built one for you: all 60 cards are written out further up this page. Across 28 tournament lists harvested between 11 August 2026 and 1 September 2026, 8 cards turn up in every single one, 24 slots out of 60. The remaining 36 change from player to player, with 93 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.

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

28 lists, played across 27 different tournaments, harvested between 11 August 2026 and 1 September 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 28 were read card by card, and every card recognised.

Where do I start if I want to build Mega Dragonite ex?

With the whole core: 8 cards, 24 slots. Inside it, buy the 10 Trainer slots and the 6 Energy first: they carry over into your next deck. Leave the 8 Pokémon slots for last. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Crispin at 93 % and Ultra Ball at 89 %.

What beats Mega Dragonite ex?

Its attackers have no printed Weakness, so nobody doubles the damage they put on you. What gives this deck trouble lives elsewhere: setup speed, and cards that shut off Abilities.

Will Mega Dragonite ex survive the next rotation?

Yes, whole: not one of the 8 core cards carries the letter H. At equal price, that is the argument that should settle where your money goes.

Are a lot of people playing Mega Dragonite ex?

We have read 28 lists of it, which puts it 52nd of the 97 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 80 entries for it, 0.2 % 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.