Mega Dragonite ex

What Mega Dragonite ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 62 lists we counted, this deck runs 12 to 24 Pokémon, 26 to 32 Trainers and 7 to 20 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 20 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. 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 126 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 9 to 18 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 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 62 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. Crispin, which the list runs 3 of, looks at the top of your deck and attaches the Energy it finds there. Blaziken ex 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.

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 2 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. Careful, though: only 61 of the 62 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 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		none	2
Close DratiniBasic	80	Headbutt	30		none	2

The core: the 4 cards every list runs

These 4 cards appear in all 62 lists, without a single exception. That is 11 of the 60 slots. The other 49 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 11 slots break down: 0 Trainers, 5 Pokémon, 6 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

4 of those 4 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Dratini (2 to 4), Mega Dragonite ex (2 to 4) and Lightning Energy (3 to 8), plus 1 more. Add those spreads up and you get 13 copies the 62 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 Dratini	ASC 150	Pokémon
2–4	Close Mega Dragonite ex	ASC 152	Pokémon
3–8	Lightning Energy	MEE 4	Energy
2–6	Water Energy	MEE 3	Energy

The 118 cards that change from list to list

118 cards fight over the 49 slots that are left: 10 above three lists in four, 88 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Dragonair at 98 %, Lillie's Determination at 98 % and Poké Pad at 98 %, plus 7 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Air Balloon, at 52 %: 32 of 62 players took it, 30 put something else there. The ones who run it bring 1 copy. Right at the bottom of the table, Zekrom ex (14 lists out of 62) and Energy Search (14 lists out of 62).

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 %61/62	Close Dragonair	2–4	ASC 151	Pokémon
98 %61/62	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
98 %61/62	Close Poké Pad	3–4	POR 81	Trainer
98 %61/62	Close Boss's Orders	2–3	MEG 114	Trainer
97 %60/62	Close Crispin	2–4	SCR 133	Trainer
94 %58/62	Close Ultra Ball	2–4	MEG 131	Trainer
85 %53/62	Close Special Red Card	1–2	CRI 82	Trainer
77 %48/62	Close Meowth ex	1–2	POR 62	Pokémon
76 %47/62	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
76 %47/62	Close Tatsugiri	1–2	TWM 131	Pokémon
73 %45/62	Fire Energy	2–10	MEE 10	Energy
71 %44/62	Close Blaziken ex	2–3	JTG 24	Pokémon
71 %44/62	Close Torchic	2–3	DRI 40	Pokémon
71 %44/62	Close Combusken	1–3	DRI 41	Pokémon
71 %44/62	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	1–4	TEF 144	Trainer
71 %44/62	Close Rare Candy	1–4	MEG 125	Trainer
66 %41/62	Close Mega Kangaskhan ex	1–2	MEG 104	Pokémon
61 %38/62	Close Secret Box	1	TWM 163	Trainer
56 %35/62	Close Lumiose City	1–2	POR 77	Trainer
56 %35/62	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
53 %33/62	Close Munkidori	1	TWM 95	Pokémon
53 %33/62	Darkness Energy	1	MEE 15	Energy
52 %32/62	Close Air Balloon	1–2	ASC 181	Trainer
47 %29/62	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
42 %26/62	Close Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex	1–2	TWM 64	Pokémon
40 %25/62	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
37 %23/62	Close Powerglass	1–2	SFA 63	Trainer
37 %23/62	Close Wally's Compassion	1	MEG 132	Trainer
31 %19/62	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
26 %16/62	Close Latias ex	1–2	SSP 76	Pokémon
23 %14/62	Close Zekrom ex	1	BLK 34	Pokémon
23 %14/62	Close Energy Search	1–2	POR 72	Trainer
19 %12/62	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1–4	DRI 176	Trainer
18 %11/62	Close Blaziken	1	DRI 42	Pokémon
16 %10/62	Close Volcanion ex	1	JTG 31	Pokémon
16 %10/62	Close Hilda	1–2	WHT 84	Trainer
15 %9/62	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
15 %9/62	Close Precious Trolley	1	SSP 185	Trainer
13 %8/62	Close Battle Cage	1–2	PFL 85	Trainer
13 %8/62	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer
11 %7/62	Close N's Zoroark ex	1–2	JTG 98	Pokémon
11 %7/62	Close N's Zorua	1–2	JTG 97	Pokémon
11 %7/62	Close Judge	1–3	POR 76	Trainer
10 %6/62	Close Blissey ex	2	TWM 134	Pokémon
10 %6/62	Close Chansey	2	TWM 133	Pokémon
10 %6/62	Close Joltik	2	SCR 50	Pokémon
10 %6/62	Close Glass Trumpet	2–3	SCR 135	Trainer
10 %6/62	Close Area Zero Underdepths	2	SCR 131	Trainer
10 %6/62	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
10 %6/62	Grass Energy	3–4	MEE 1	Energy
8 %5/62	Close Eelektrik	1	ASC 60	Pokémon
8 %5/62	Close Galvantula	1	SFA 2	Pokémon
8 %5/62	Close Mega Eelektross ex	1	ASC 61	Pokémon
8 %5/62	Close Terapagos ex	1	SCR 128	Pokémon
8 %5/62	Close Tynamo	1	ASC 59	Pokémon
8 %5/62	Close Morty's Conviction	1–2	TEF 155	Trainer
8 %5/62	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–2	SVI 186	Trainer
6 %4/62	Close Buneary	2	PFL 83	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Dudunsparce	1–3	TEF 129	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Dunsparce	1–3	JTG 120	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Mega Lopunny ex	2	PFL 84	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Chien-Pao	1	SSP 56	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Fan Rotom	1–2	SCR 118	Pokémon
6 %4/62	Close Rosa's Encouragement	1	POR 84	Trainer
5 %3/62	Close Magearna	1	JTG 107	Pokémon
5 %3/62	Close Brock's Scouting	1–3	JTG 146	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Mega Starmie ex	1–2	POR 21	Pokémon
3 %2/62	Close Staryu	1–2	POR 20	Pokémon
3 %2/62	Close Paldean Tauros	1	SSP 18	Pokémon
3 %2/62	Close Dusk Ball	4	SSP 175	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Team Rocket's Transceiver	3–4	DRI 178	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Colress's Tenacity	2	SFA 57	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Grand Tree	1	SCR 136	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Gwynn	1	PBL 78	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Handheld Fan	1	TWM 150	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Hero's Cape	1	TEF 152	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Nighttime Mine	1	ASC 197	Trainer
3 %2/62	Close Risky Ruins	1	MEG 127	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Cinderace	4	MEG 28	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Ethan's Ho-Oh ex	4	DRI 39	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Dreepy	3	TWM 128	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Pikipek	3	PBL 66	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Drakloak	2	TWM 129	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Ethan's Pichu	2	DRI 71	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Pikachu ex	2	30C 53	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Toucannon	2	PBL 68	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Trumbeak	2	PBL 67	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Chi-Yu	1	MEG 31	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Dudunsparce ex	1	JTG 121	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Dunsparce	1	TEF 128	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Electrike	1	MEG 49	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Manectric	1	PBL 24	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Maractus	1	JTG 8	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Mega Froslass ex	1	ASC 47	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Mega Manectric ex	1	MEG 50	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Moltres	1	PFL 14	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Pecharunt	1	SVP 149	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Snorunt	1	ASC 46	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Stunfisk	1	ASC 62	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Zapdos	1	TWM 65	Pokémon
2 %1/62	Close Energy Switch	4	MEG 115	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close N's Plan	4	BLK 83	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Ethan's Adventure	3	DRI 165	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Black Belt's Training	2	JTG 143	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Naveen	2	POR 79	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Brilliant Blender	1	SSP 164	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Gravity Mountain	1	SSP 177	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Jumbo Ice Cream	1	PFL 91	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Lana's Aid	1	TWM 155	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Prism Tower	1	CRI 80	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
2 %1/62	Close Mist Energy	2	TEF 161	Energy
2 %1/62	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. 11 slots come from the core, the cards all 62 lists run. The remaining 49 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 25 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 30 Trainers and 9 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 62 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: 21
3 Dratini ASC 150
2 Mega Dragonite ex ASC 152
2 Dragonair ASC 151
1 Meowth ex POR 62
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Tatsugiri TWM 131
3 Blaziken ex JTG 24
3 Torchic DRI 40
2 Combusken DRI 41
1 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104
1 Munkidori TWM 95
1 Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 64

Trainer: 30
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
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
1 Secret Box TWM 163
2 Lumiose City POR 77
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
2 Dawn PFL 87

Energy: 9
4 Lightning Energy MEE 4
2 Water Energy MEE 3
2 Fire Energy
1 Darkness Energy

Total Cards: 60

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

You need 122 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 4 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

61 of these 62 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 38 took Secret Box, 9 took Precious Trolley and 8 took Unfair Stamp. The flex table shows you all 7. 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 4 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 126 decks we track carry the type that would double the damage you take.

Going the other way, none of the 126 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.