Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir deck: the core, the flex slots, and what beats it
We took 20 lists of this deck, played across 15 tournaments by 20 people who never talked to each other, and counted every card in every one. 10 cards turn up in all of them, 32 slots out of 60. The remaining 28 are fought over by 42 different cards, and that is almost always where a game is won.
- 10 cards show up in all 20 lists, no exceptions: 32 of your 60 slots. Of those, 18 are Trainers, 14 are Pokémon and 0 are Energy. Start there, nobody argues about them.
- Your big card is Mega Lopunny ex, 330 HP. Spiky Hopper hits for 160, and it costs you 2 Energy (Colorless and Colorless).
- The sharpest disagreement is over Nighttime Mine: 14 of the 20 lists run it. The table below has all 42 cards fighting over the 28 free slots.
- Your attackers are Weak to Fighting and Darkness, and 17 of the 60 decks we track attack in one of those: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, among others. They are listed at the bottom, with the card that does the damage.
What Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir looks like when you open the box
Across the 20 lists we counted, this deck runs 18 to 25 Pokémon, 30 to 37 Trainers and 4 to 6 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.
On results pages and on stream you will see it written « lopunny-dusknoir ». 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: 4 to 6 out of 60, when half the 60 decks we track run 10 or more. This one is lean. It lives on cheap attacks and leans on Trainers to find the right Energy at the right moment rather than stockpiling it.
It takes a while to set up. Dusknoir 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.
On the Trainer side: 12 to 16 Supporters, 11 to 19 Items, 0 to 3 Tools and 0 to 3 Stadiums, out of 30 to 37 — the median across the 60 decks we track being 31. Items edge it without crushing the Supporters. And it runs up to 3 Stadiums, which is no accident: it plans on bumping the one across the table.
What those four families of Trainer actually do, and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.
What fills the 60 slots
- Pokémon
- 18–25
- Trainers
- 30–37
- Energy
- 4–6
- Supporters
- 12–16
- Items
- 11–19
- Tools
- 0–3
- Stadiums
- 0–3
A range means the lists disagree with each other.
What the cards in this deck's name actually do
Mega Lopunny ex and Dusknoir give this deck its name. Here is what is written on them.
Mega Lopunny ex is in all 20 lists, 2 copies of it.
Dusknoir is in all 20 lists, 4 copies of it. Its Ability is called Cursed Blast, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Once during your turn, you may put 13 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. If you use this Ability, this Pokémon is Knocked Out. »
How Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir actually wins
Mega Lopunny ex attacks with Spiky Hopper for 160, and it costs 2 Energy (Colorless and Colorless), with 330 HP to absorb the answer. The whole list exists to get it online fast.
Do the arithmetic, it decides your first few turns. One Energy attached a turn, 2 to pay for Spiky Hopper: with no help you swing on turn 2, and every card that accelerates Energy buys one of those turns back.
Good news on mobility: Mega Lopunny ex retreats for 1 Energy. You can pull it out of the Active spot without throwing away your turn, and that matters enormously when your opponent lands something nasty on it.
Mega Lopunny ex carries the "ex" suffix, and your opponent takes TWO Prize cards instead of one when Mega Lopunny ex falls. They need six to win: three well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take six anywhere else on your Bench.
| Pokémon | HP | Attack | Damage | Cost | Weakness | Retreat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mega Lopunny exStage 1 | 330 | Spiky Hopper | 160 | Colorless + Colorless | Fighting ×2 | 1 |
| DusknoirStage 2 | 160 | Shadow Bind | 150 | Psychic + Psychic + Colorless | Darkness ×2 | 3 |
| DusclopsStage 1 | 90 | Will-O-Wisp | 50 | Psychic + Psychic | Darkness ×2 | 2 |
| DuskullBasic | 60 | Mumble | 30 | Psychic + Psychic | Darkness ×2 | 1 |
The core: the 10 cards every list runs
These 10 cards appear in all 20 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: 18 Trainers, 14 Pokémon, 0 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.
7 of those 10 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Dusknoir (2 to 4), Duskull (2 to 4) and Buneary (2 to 3), plus 4 more. Everybody runs them, the last copy is arguable.
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.
| Copies | Card | Printing | Kind | Rotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2–4 | Dusknoir | PRE 37 | Pokémon | leaves |
| 2–4 | Duskull | PRE 35 | Pokémon | leaves |
| 2–3 | Buneary | PFL 83 | Pokémon | stays |
| 2 | Dusclops | PRE 36 | Pokémon | leaves |
| 2–3 | Mega Lopunny ex | PFL 84 | Pokémon | stays |
| 4 | Hilda | WHT 84 | Trainer | stays |
| 3–4 | Lillie's Determination | MEG 119 | Trainer | stays |
| 4 | Poké Pad | POR 81 | Trainer | stays |
| 2–4 | Ultra Ball | MEG 131 | Trainer | stays |
| 1–3 | Boss's Orders | MEG 114 | Trainer | stays |
The 42 cards that change from list to list
42 cards fight over the 28 slots that are left: 13 above three lists in four, 28 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.
The most agreed on first: Rare Candy at 95 %, Switch at 95 % and Bronzong at 90 %, plus 10 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.
The dividing line runs through Nighttime Mine, at 70 %: 14 of 20 players took it, 6 put something else there. Read its text before you decide. Right at the bottom, Jamming Tower at 20 % and Sacred Ash at 15 %: personal ideas, only worth copying if you know why.
Why a card at 45 % is not a bad card, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.
| Lists running it | Card | Copies | Printing | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 %19/20 | Rare Candy | 4 | MEG 125 | Trainer |
| 95 %19/20 | Switch | 3–4 | MEG 130 | Trainer |
| 90 %18/20 | Bronzong | 2 | TEF 69 | Pokémon |
| 90 %18/20 | Bronzor | 2 | TEF 68 | Pokémon |
| 90 %18/20 | Mega Kangaskhan ex | 2 | MEG 104 | Pokémon |
| 90 %18/20 | Latias ex | 1–2 | SSP 76 | Pokémon |
| 90 %18/20 | Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking | 1–3 | TEF 145 | Trainer |
| 90 %18/20 | Telepathic Psychic Energy | 4 | POR 88 | Energy |
| 85 %17/20 | Meowth ex | 1 | POR 62 | Pokémon |
| 85 %17/20 | Night Stretcher | 1–2 | ASC 196 | Trainer |
| 85 %17/20 | Enriching Energy | 1 | SSP 191 | Energy |
| 75 %15/20 | Budew | 1 | ASC 16 | Pokémon |
| 75 %15/20 | Flutter Mane | 1 | TEF 78 | Pokémon |
| 70 %14/20 | Nighttime Mine | 1 | ASC 197 | Trainer |
| 20 %4/20 | Jamming Tower | 1 | TWM 153 | Trainer |
| 15 %3/20 | Sacred Ash | 1 | DRI 168 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex | 1 | TWM 141 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Shaymin | 1 | DRI 10 | Pokémon |
| 10 %2/20 | Buddy-Buddy Poffin | 2–4 | TEF 144 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Wally's Compassion | 1–4 | MEG 132 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Air Balloon | 2–3 | ASC 181 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Gwynn | 3 | PBL 78 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Prime Catcher | 1 | TEF 157 | Trainer |
| 10 %2/20 | Mist Energy | 2–4 | TEF 161 | Energy |
| 10 %2/20 | Spiky Energy | 1–2 | JTG 159 | Energy |
| 10 %2/20 | Psychic Energy | 1 | MEE 5 | Energy |
| 5 %1/20 | Dudunsparce | 3 | TEF 129 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Dunsparce | 2 | JTG 120 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Dunsparce | 1 | TEF 128 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Fan Rotom | 1 | SCR 118 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Fezandipiti ex | 1 | ASC 142 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Moltres | 1 | PFL 14 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Patrat | 1 | CRI 70 | Pokémon |
| 5 %1/20 | Black Belt's Training | 2 | JTG 143 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Festival Grounds | 2 | TWM 149 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Gravity Mountain | 2 | SSP 177 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Surfer | 2 | SSP 187 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Team Rocket's Petrel | 2 | DRI 176 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Maximum Belt | 1 | TEF 154 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Salvatore | 1 | TEF 160 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Special Red Card | 1 | CRI 82 | Trainer |
| 5 %1/20 | Fire Energy | 2 | MEE 2 | Energy |
What Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir costs to build, and how long it will last
You need 52 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 10 of which nobody argues about. We do not have card prices, so we are not going to put a number on it.
Where the money goes, though, we can name: it is Mega Lopunny ex, by a distance. The 18 Trainer slots in the core cost next to nothing, and you probably own some already. This deck runs no ACE SPEC card at all.
Then there is time. 3 of the 10 core cards carry the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation: Dusknoir, Duskull and Dusclops. The core table marks each of them. The date belongs to the publisher, and we do not have it.
What Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir struggles against
The attackers in this deck are Weak to Fighting and Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from those types. 17 of the 60 decks we track attack in exactly those types.
Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass and Mega Lucario ex, plus 14 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.
Do not stop at this table, though. This deck spends three cards getting Dusknoir standing, and the deck that hurts you most this season may simply be the one that swings before your line is up, without ever touching your Weakness.
Going the other way, your attackers are Psychic, and 4 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.
They double the damage they put on you
| Deck | Their card | Type |
|---|---|---|
| N's Zoroark ex | N's Zoroark ex | Darkness |
| Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass | Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex | Darkness |
| Mega Lucario ex | Mega Lucario ex | Fighting |
| Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama | Mega Lucario ex | Fighting |
| Team Rocket's Honchkrow | Team Rocket's Honchkrow | Darkness |
| Mega Absol ex | Mega Absol ex | Darkness |
| Cynthia's Garchomp ex | Cynthia's Garchomp ex | Fighting |
| Toxtricity | Mega Absol ex | Darkness |
| Ceruledge ex | Solrock | Fighting |
| Greninja ex | Greninja ex | Fighting |
| Mega Darkrai ex | Mega Darkrai ex | Darkness |
| Blaziken / N's Zoroark ex | N's Zoroark ex | Darkness |
| Toxtricity | Toxtricity | Darkness |
| Okidogi / Barbaracle | Bloodmoon Ursaluna | Fighting |
| Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex | Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex | Darkness |
| Mega Zygarde ex / Barbaracle | Mega Zygarde ex | Fighting |
| Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity | Mega Sharpedo ex | Darkness |
You double the damage you put on them
| Deck | Their card | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Mega Lucario ex | Mega Lucario ex | Psychic |
| Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama | Mega Lucario ex | Psychic |
| Greninja ex | Greninja ex | Psychic |
| Okidogi / Barbaracle | Okidogi | Psychic |
Questions people ask
- What is the Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir deck list?
- There isn't one, and that is the whole point. Across 20 tournament lists harvested on 16 August 2026, 10 cards turn up in every single one — 32 slots out of 60. The remaining 28 change from player to player, with 42 different cards competing for them. Both tables are above.
- How many lists is this counted on, and where do they come from?
- 20 lists, played across 15 different tournaments, harvested on 16 August 2026 from play.limitlesstcg.com. All 20 were read card by card, and every card recognised.
- Where do I start if I want to build Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir?
- With the whole core: 10 cards, 32 slots. Inside it, buy the 18 Trainer slots and the 0 Energy first — they are cheap and they carry over into your next deck. Leave Mega Lopunny ex for last, because that is the bill. Only then work down the flex table and add the cards the most lists agree on, starting with Rare Candy at 95 % and Switch at 95 %.
- What beats Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir?
- Its attackers are Weak to Fighting and Darkness, so they take double damage from an attacker of that type. 17 of the 60 decks we track play an attacker of that type: N's Zoroark ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, Mega Lucario ex and Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, among others.
- Will Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir survive the next rotation?
- Not intact: 3 core cards out of 10 carry the letter H, starting with Dusknoir, Duskull and Dusclops.
- Are a lot of people playing Mega Lopunny ex / Dusknoir?
- We have read 20 lists of it, which puts it 59th of the 60 decks we track by lists read. The platform those tournaments run on counts 50 entries for it, 0.2 % of the field, across all its players. That figure is theirs.
Where all of this comes from
20 lists from play.limitlesstcg.com, played across 15 events, harvested on 16 August 2026. The 52 cards named here were read against poko's own catalogue, built on the public TCGdex API. No prices on this page, for want of a fresh enough reading. The TCGplayer link in the cost section is a shop link, labelled as one right where it stands.
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