We go over a list for the new Mega Lucario ex deck, including some common matchups and lines of play. 

Mega Lucario ex

Hello! Today we are going to take an in-depth look at a deck that I honestly underrated at first. This deck has been performing very well for me! I will get the elephant in the room out of the way first—yes, this deck loses to Gardevoir ex decks. There is no way around it, and your only chance to win is if they brick and cannot setup properly. Otherwise, this deck has decent matchups across the board and I think it’s one of the most interesting archetypes from our new set, Mega Evolution. This deck released alongside a ton of Fighting-type support, notably the Solrock and Lunatone combo, which bring a lot of much-needed consistency to the format. Let’s take a look at the list!

Pokémon (15): 4 Riolu MEG 076 2 Mega Lucario ex MEG 077 1 Lucario SVI 114 1 Makuhita MEG 072 1 Hariyama MEG 073 2 Lunatone MEG 074 2 Solrock MEG 075 1 Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 112 1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 038

Trainers (36): 3 Boss’s Orders 3 Lillie’s Determination 2 Arven 2 Iono 2 Professor’s Research 1 Professor Turo’s Scenario 4 Fighting Gong 4 Premium Power Pro 4 Ultra Ball 2 Nest Ball 2 Night Stretcher 1 Counter Catcher 1 Switch 2 Air Balloon 1 Maximum Belt 2 Artazon

Energy (9): 9 Fighting Energy

 

The first problem with this deck, other than the inherent weakness to Gardevoir ex decks, is that giving up 3 Prizes when knocked out SUCKS. This is the reason we have decided to go with only 2 Mega Lucario ex rather than 3 or 4. We are usually using 1 to setup the board and then the 2^nd can come into play if we can guarantee it won’t get knocked out. We can leverage the prize trade in our favour by using our Solrock/Lunatone package- In matchups where they are using Pokémon with 70HP or less, Solrock is a quick and effective attacker. Keep in mind that we need Lunatone down to be able to attack with Solrock, though.

Typically you want to have 2 Riolu down to start, evolve one into Mega Lucario ex, then leave the other as a Riolu. This way, you do not put an easy 6 prizes on the board for your opponent and you maintain the flexibility of evolving into another Mega Lucario ex or the baby Lucario. Occasionally, you will need to evolve both Riolu into Mega Lucario- you will notice these lines specifically into matchups where your Lucario cannot be one-hit. This is where the one-of Professor Turo’s Scenario is crucial to reset the damage on the attacking Mega Lucario, and since it discards the Energy it can then be re-accelerated to the Riolu you put back onto the Bench.

TECH IDEAS:

A key card that the Mega Evolution set gave us is Psyduck MEP 007, which was released in the 3-pack blisters for this set. It’s ability, “Damp”, says that Pokemon with abilities that knock themselves out no longer have that ability. This card will singlehandedly define metagames of some tournaments. If players anticipate there will be a lot of Dragapult ex/Dusknoir decks, this card will be an immediate and splash-able solution to this pesky matchup. However, for Lucario ex in particular, I don’t believe it’s worth including as it doesn’t do enough to swing the matchup in our favour. Recently, Dragapult ex/Dusknoir decks have been including copies of Klefki which turns off basic Pokemon’s abilities, including Psyduck. If you’re anticipating your local Dragapult ex/Dusknoir players to be playing Klefki, and want to play something to protect yourself from Dusknoirs,  you can consider playing 1 Golduck MEP 008 promo. This Pokémon simply evolves from Psyduck and retains the same Damp Ability as the Psyduck but is unaffected by Klefki!

Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex has been a notorious counter to every Gholdengo ex deck since Ogerpon’s release in Twilight Masquerade. The matchup versus Gholdengo without this tech is basically unwinnable, however, it is shifted massively in your favour with just this one card. In this vein, however, most Gholdengo decks have pivoted towards the Solrock/Lunatone build forgoing Energy Search Pro for quick, explosive bursts of damage and a more consistent, one-prize attacking approach. This can cause issues with just one Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. The use of multiple Solrock in a row can pressure the lone Cornerstone too much, so I’ve been considering adding a second one just to seal up the matchup. If Gholdengo was not as popular a deck, I would stick with just one copy, however the PTCG Live ladder is littered with Gholdengo ex decks and it has seen a large metagame presence at the last few Regional Championships. If you’re anticipating a lot of Gholdengo ex (or even N’s Zoroark ex!!) in your tournament, including a second copy of Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex may be a good option.

All-in-all, there aren’t many techs to consider for this deck, and the overall list is mostly solid as-is.

 

MATCHUPS:

Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex/Noctowl, Slightly Unfavoured (40/60):

The game plan into Raging Bolt is loosely based on luck in drawing into your Premium Power Pros, but is also based on how well you can outplay your opponent. Ideally, you can start out swinging with the Solrock, leaving your board in a one-Prize state. This sets up crucial damage in play. From here, the Raging Bolt player will probably set up the baby Raging Bolt to take a one-Prize knockout. Aura Jabbing this Pokémon can remove a lot of Energy from play and accelerate Energy to a Makuhita on the Bench. You’ll both be at 5 Prizes at this point, and they will try to stretch for a knockout on the Mega Lucario, however since you removed all the Energy from play with knocking out the baby Raging Bolt, it will be more difficult for them to reach for a one-hit knockout on the Mega Lucario. If they do, this is where setting up Makuhita is crucial, because the Hariyama will be able to gust something important like their Fezandipiti on the Bench. Then, you should set up another Mega Lucario to Aura Jab the Fez, while ideally Ionoing them to 2 cards at this point. This will accelerate more Energy onto your Benched Pokémon, setting you up for the rest of the game. From 2 cards, their Fez being knocked out, and limited options, they shouldn’t be able to take a one-hit knockout super easily, however it is still possible. If they do not knock out the Mega Lucario from here, Hariyama will be able to sweep your last 3 Prizes pretty easily. Keep in mind they won’t typically be able to gust and knockout the Mega Lucario, as they can’t play one of their energy accelerating Supporters and Boss in the same turn, but keep an eye on whether they’ve used Prime Catcher yet!

Gholdengo ex, Very Favoured (80/20):

Simply with the addition of Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, this matchup becomes wildly favoured. My go-to strategy with playing just one Oger is: once a Solrock threatens a knockout on the Oger, set up a Riolu on the Bench, and attach Air Balloon so you have a pivot back into an Oger on a subsequent turn. Once the Oger goes down, evolve into the baby Lucario, attack for the knockout, and Stretcher for the Cornerstone. From here, you should be able to attach 3 times to attack with Oger again, because the Gholdengo deck that plays a heavy Solrock line does not play a lot of recovery to really be able to knockout two Ogerpon. From here, you will simply sweep their board and close out the game.

Gardevoir ex, Autoloss (5/95):

Gardevoir ex is going to basically be an unwinnable matchup. There isn’t much to say about the matchup, except to avoid evolving into Mega Lucario, basically ever. What I “try” to do (which is usually fruitless anyway) is setup 3 Riolu on the bench, Makuhita, a Solrock, and a Lunatone with an Air Balloon attached. Solrock will usually be able to swing through Gardevoir’s inherent resistance to Fighting type and take knockouts on the small Pokémon such as Drifloon, Ralts, and Kirlia (through the use of PPP). Essentially, you will try to take as many Prizes as possible with Solrock and then follow up eventually with baby Lucario. It’s important to establish at least 1 Energy on at least 2 Riolu as quickly as possible and 2 Energy on Makuhita. This way, if your opponent takes a risking line and sets up only one Gardevoir ex, attaching again and taking the ever-risky play of using Mega Brave to knockout the Gardevoir ex with Maximum Belt+PPP can be a line. I am still overall pessimistic about this matchup, you do have to hope Gardevoir bricks!

Joltik Box, Autowin (95/5):

Even through Pikachu ex’s Resolute Heart Ability, Mega Lucario will shine and absolutely dominate this deck. In some cases, they may be able to take a quick 3 Prizes with a Lillie’s Clefairy ex+Crispin combo, but you are able to respond with baby Lucario+Maximum Belt to respond quickly and efficiently. If not baby Lucario, using another Mega Lucario+Maximum Belt+PPP can also deal with this Clefairy. Typically, they cannot respond with a knockout here and you should be able to steamroll the rest of the Pokémon standing in your way. There isn’t much else to say about this matchup; it’s as simple as most of their Pokémon are weak to Fighting.

Dragapult ex/Dusknoir, Even/Undecided (50/50):

This matchup is questionable and does often come down to who can set up better. What I found is that if you go second, get a good board setup, evolve into your Mega Lucarios and DON’T get anything gust+Itchy Pollen’d, you have a great roadmap to winning with Maximum Belt and all your other single-Prize attackers that go one-for-one with theirs. Dragapult is notoriously a slower deck and sometimes inconsistent and relies on Itchy Pollen stalling the game out. While we do play a hefty amount of items, there can be ways to victory surpassing their stall techniques. It’s important to note that if they ever Bench Fez or Bloodmoon Ursaluna, the matchup is essentially in your favour to win. This provides easy Prize mapping and with cards like Hariyama to let you use a draw Supporter and gust, you will have no problem lining up game winning plays. The reason I mentioned the hefty amount of items we play is that I have also had several games where Itchy Pollen+Jamming Tower has ruined my setup and they overrun the board with Dusknoir/Dusclops and I have no chance to come back. This is where I may consider the Psyduck we discussed earlier, but the space just isn’t there for a dead card in every other matchup.

Altogether, I think this deck has serious potential and I look forward to seeing ways people can utilize Mega Lucario in the coming months! I’ve seen talk about including it as a 1-1 line in Cynthia’s Garchomp ex decks, and that’s one of the next decks on my agenda to look into. As always, thank you for reading and don’t forget that I offer coaching on Metafy now! Link is on my X page and listed below! Be sure to use code LETSGETIT for 20% off your first session booked with me. This offer is limited to the first 50 people to book with me and spots are going fast!

metafy.gg/@austinellis/sessions

• Share on:
• WhatsApp
• Facebook
• X
• Pin it
• Messenger
• Email

---