Xero's Snake Charmer

What this file is for.

This is Gengar Gang re-tuned for the rooms where the opponent attacks with Pokémon ex, the way the lantern deck becomes the Night Parade at home. Thirty-eight cards never leave their sleeves. Twenty-two swap. Every card in both modes is a legal English print sitting in the binder tonight.

This is the third build, and it is the one registered for the first TCG group night. It grew out of the second build's TCG Live games and the card store run that morning. The Toxel line went to 3-3 so two Toxtricity can Surge every turn. Chi-Yu replaced the second Gengar ex and the plain Gengar. The trainer line was re-cut around the one problem the Live games kept showing, Energy piling up in the discard where the engine cannot reach it. The sleeving sheet is dark-tonight.md; this page is the manual.

It is written for a player who has never seen the field. Every matchup leads with numbers, and The Numbers collects the ones to memorize before round one.

Game words live in the table rules; the ex-format habits live in How To Play ex Style, and Tournament Night covers the desk, the clock, and the manners.

The Thesis

Seviper is the only card in Standard whose text names a Darkness Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, and we own the Mega it names. _Excited Power_ adds 120 to Seviper's attacks while Mega Gengar ex is anywhere in play, so _Pitch-Black Fangs_ swings for 240 from a body worth one Prize. The Mega walls at 350, _Shadowy Concealment_ shrinks every Prize the opponent tries to take, and the snake does the killing they cannot afford to punish.

The third build changes how the snake gets fed and what fights on the turns it is not ready. Two Toxtricity on the Bench is two Surges a turn. _Sinister Surge_ reads "Once during your turn, you may use this Ability" and stops there; it does not carry the "you can't use more than 1" clause that Fezandipiti's _Flip the Script_ does, so each Toxtricity is its own Energy from the deck every turn. With the hand attachment and _Void Gale_'s export, four Energy can land on the Bench in one turn. That is how a 3-Energy attacker gets paid on schedule, and how the second snake stays loaded behind the first.

Chi-Yu is the cheap attacker. One Surge onto a Benched Chi-Yu hands it the one Energy and the two damage counters _Whirling Envy_ wants, and it steps forward hitting 110. It costs a quarter of what the snake costs, it has no Ability so it is the only attacker here that damages Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, and when it dies it takes one Energy to the discard instead of three. Game plan 3 is the manual for it.

_Shadowy Concealment_ is still the spine. When a Darkness Pokémon of yours is Knocked Out by damage from an opposing Pokémon ex's attack, they take one fewer Prize card, and every Pokémon in this 60 is Darkness. Against a deck that attacks with ex Pokémon, the math collapses:

Your Pokémon	Prizes normally	KO'd by their ex's attack
Gastly, Haunter, Toxel, Toxtricity, Seviper, Chi-Yu	1	0
Gengar ex	2	1
Mega Gengar ex	3	2

The Rulings Compendium confirms the two clauses this deck leans on. The Ability applies to the Mega itself, so an ex that Knocks Out Mega Gengar ex takes two Prizes, not three. And it only fires on Knock Outs from attack damage by a Pokémon ex: damage counters, Special Conditions, instant Knock Out effects, and attacks from non-ex Pokémon all collect full Prizes. Both halves matter tonight, because the field's biggest decks split exactly along that line.

Add it up. Their six Prizes against this list are three Mega Knock Outs, because two Megas and the Gengar ex only reach five. Night Stretcher rebuilds a fallen Mega four times over, and Wally's Compassion heals a standing one to full. Every ex they play is worth two or three Prizes to a snake that costs them nothing to lose.

Against a deck that attacks with single-prize Pokémon, Concealment is a blank card and the Mega is a three-Prize gift. The first build handed those rooms to Gengar Gang entirely; this build keeps Gengar ex and Chi-Yu for them, and game plan 4 is how you tell which room you are in before the Candy is spent.

Deck List

Pokémon (21)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
4	Gastly	Perfect Order	048	J
2	Haunter	Phantasmal Flames	055	I
3	Mega Gengar ex	Phantasmal Flames	056	I
1	Gengar ex	Temporal Forces	104	H
3	Toxel	Phantasmal Flames	067	I
3	Toxtricity	Phantasmal Flames	068	I
3	Seviper	Phantasmal Flames	062	I
2	Chi-Yu	Pitch Black	059	J

Trainers — Supporters (12)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
4	Dawn	Phantasmal Flames	087	I
2	Hilda	White Flare	084	I
2	Lillie's Determination	Mega Evolution	119	I
2	Boss's Orders [Ghetsis]	Mega Evolution	114	I
2	Wally's Compassion	Mega Evolution	132	I

Trainers — Items (14)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
3	Buddy-Buddy Poffin	Temporal Forces	144	H
3	Rare Candy	Mega Evolution	125	I
4	Night Stretcher	Shrouded Fable	061	H
1	Energy Recycler	Destined Rivals	164	I
1	Switch	Mega Evolution	130	I
1	Ultra Ball	Mega Evolution	131	I
1	Prime Catcher	Prismatic Evolutions	119	H

Trainers — Tool & Stadium (3)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
1	Air Balloon	Ascended Heroes	181	I
2	Risky Ruins	Mega Evolution	127	I

Energy (10)

Qty	Card	Set	Number	Reg
10	Basic Darkness Energy	Mega Evolution Energies	007	-

21 + 12 + 14 + 3 + 10 = 60. ✓

Basics: 12 (4 Gastly, 3 Toxel, 3 Seviper, 2 Chi-Yu). The mulligan rate is 19%, down from 35% on the eight-Basic list this replaced. Prime Catcher is the ACE SPEC; the Gang's Scramble Switch comes out in the swap.

The Numbers

Memorize this section. Everything below it is explanation.

Damage you deal

Attack	Damage	One-shots at full HP
Chi-Yu, _Whirling Envy_ (armed)	110	Munkidori 110, Seaking 110, Froslass 90, Dusclops 90, Dipplin 90, Drilbur 70, Budew 30
Chi-Yu into a Basic that ate Risky Ruins	110 on 20	N's Reshiram 130, Excadrill 130, Dhelmise 120, Klawf 120
Gengar ex, _Tricky Steps_	160	Dusknoir 160, Meganium 160, Hariyama 150, Toucannon 150, Alakazam 140, Dudunsparce 140, N's Darmanitan 140, Slowking 120
Mega Gengar ex, _Void Gale_	230	Iron Thorns ex 230, Terapagos ex 230, Hop's Zacian ex 230, Ethan's Ho-Oh ex 230, Genesect ex 220, Teal or Wellspring or Hearthflame Ogerpon ex 210, Latias ex 210, Fezandipiti ex 210, Pecharunt ex 190
Seviper, _Pitch-Black Fangs_ (Mega in play)	240	Raging Bolt ex 240, and everything above
Void Gale or Fangs into a Psychic Pokémon	460 or 480	Mega Gardevoir ex 360, Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex 280, Alakazam, Slowking, Dusknoir, Munkidori

Chi-Yu's damage is never doubled by Weakness; the card says so. Point the snake or the Mega at Psychic targets and the fish at everything else.

Two-hit lines. Chi-Yu then Void Gale is 340: Mega Excadrill ex 340, Mega Lucario ex 340, Cynthia's Garchomp ex 330, Hydrapple ex 330, Dragapult ex 320, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex 320, Blaziken ex 320, Gengar ex 310. Chi-Yu then Fangs is 350: all of those plus Mega Greninja ex 350 and the Mega Gengar mirror. Void Gale then Fangs is 470, and nothing printed has 470 HP; the biggest body in the format is Mega Venusaur ex at 380. Two Chi-Yu turns are 220, which is Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex's 210.

Risky Ruins adds 20 to every non-Darkness Basic they Bench, and the damage stays when it evolves. It turns Raging Bolt ex's 240 into a Void Gale kill and Slowking's 120 into a Chi-Yu kill.

Damage you take

Your HP: Mega Gengar ex 350, Gengar ex 310, Toxtricity 140, Seviper 120 (minus 20 per Surge it received), Haunter 100, Chi-Yu 90 (70 once armed), Gastly and Toxel 70. Everything is Weak to Fighting except Chi-Yu, which is Weak to Grass.

Their attack	Damage	What it kills
Mega Excadrill ex, _Maximum Drilling_ with 5 Energy	330	Gengar ex and everything smaller. The Mega survives on 20, and Wally's heals it to 350. Metal type, so no Weakness on anything you own.
Dragapult ex, _Phantom Dive_	200, plus 6 damage counters on your Bench	Toxtricity, Seviper, or Chi-Yu in front. Two Dives kill the Mega unless Wally's lands between them. A fresh Gastly survives one Dive's counters on 10 and dies to the second.
Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex, _Shadow Bullet_	180, plus 30 to one bencher	Any attacker but the ghosts. Two Bullets kill the Mega; Wally's breaks that.
Blaziken ex, _Smolder-sault_	200	Same, and it cannot attack the next turn.
Raging Bolt ex, _Bellowing Thunder_	70 per Basic Energy they discard	Five discards is 350, the Mega. Count the Energy on their board before you commit it.
Alakazam, _Powerful Hand_	2 counters per card in their hand	A 7-card hand is 140. Counters, so the cage is off and so is Weakness.
Dusknoir, _Cursed Blast_ (Ability)	13 counters	130 as counters: Seviper, Chi-Yu, any small ghost, a Toxtricity with any damage. Full Prizes.
Mega Greninja ex, _Mortal Shuriken_ then _Ninja Spinner_	60 counters, then 200	260 a turn. The Mega lives one turn, not two.
Toucannon, _Feather Rondo_	60, plus 20 per Benched Pokémon on both sides	260 with full Benches. Everything but the two big ghosts. One Prize per kill.
Hariyama, _Wild Press_	210, doubled to 420	Everything, from a one-Prize body.
Mega Lucario ex, _Mega Brave_	270, doubled to 540	Everything. _Aura Jab_ is 130 doubled to 260, which spares the Mega and Gengar ex.
Cynthia's Garchomp ex, _Draconic Buster_	260, doubled to 520	Everything.

Prizes

Their six against this list, when their attackers are ex: three Mega Knock Outs, at two apiece. Two Megas plus the Gengar ex is five. Every other body pays nothing. Your six against them: two Mega kills, or one Mega and two ex, or three ex.

The cage holds only while a Mega is in play, Bench or Active. When the last Mega leaves, every one of your Pokémon goes back to full price. Keep a Gastly on the Bench so the next Mega arrives before the current one dies.

Setup odds

By	Cards seen	Any Mega	Any Rare Candy	Dawn or Hilda	Any Toxtricity	Any Night Stretcher
Turn 2, going second	10	43%	43%	68%	43%	53%
Turn 3	11	46%	46%	72%	46%	57%
Turn 4	12	50%	50%	76%	50%	60%

Dawn and Hilda are the numbers that matter; they fetch the Mega and the Toxtricity the raw draw misses. The opening seven holds a Poffin or a Dawn 60% of the time and a Poffin, Dawn, Toxel, or Gastly 86% of the time. At least one of the three Megas is in the Prizes 27% of games, which is the reason there are three; both Chi-Yu are prized in under 1%.

The Mode Swap

Both modes live in one sleeved deck. Converting takes a couple of minutes at the table.

Out (Gengar Gang): In (Snake Charmer)
3 Gengar (Perfect Order 050): 3 Mega Gengar ex (Phantasmal Flames 056)
3 Koffing (Journey Together 091): 1 Gengar ex (Temporal Forces 104)
3 Weezing (Journey Together 092): 1 Toxel (Phantasmal Flames 067)
2 Sableye (Phantasmal Flames 059): 1 Toxtricity (Phantasmal Flames 068)
2 Gwynn (Pitch Black 078): 3 Seviper (Phantasmal Flames 062)
1 Boss's Orders (Mega Evolution 114): 2 Chi-Yu (Pitch Black 059)
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin (Temporal Forces 144): 1 Dawn (Phantasmal Flames 087)
1 Scramble Switch (Surging Sparks 186): 2 Hilda (White Flare 084)
2 Dark Bell (Pitch Black 075): 2 Wally's Compassion (Mega Evolution 132)
2 Punk Helmet (Phantasmal Flames 092): 1 Energy Recycler (Destined Rivals 164)
2 Shadowy Darkness Energy (Pitch Black 083): 1 Ultra Ball (Mega Evolution 131)
: 1 Prime Catcher (Prismatic Evolutions 119)
: 1 Air Balloon (Ascended Heroes 181)
: 2 Basic Darkness Energy

Twenty-two out, twenty-two in, and the other thirty-eight never move: 4 Gastly, 2 Haunter, 2 Toxel, 2 Toxtricity, 3 Dawn, 2 Lillie's, 2 Boss's, 3 Poffin, 3 Rare Candy, 4 Night Stretcher, 1 Switch, 2 Risky Ruins, and 8 Basic Darkness. The ACE SPEC changes with the mode, Scramble Switch in the Gang and Prime Catcher here, so count to exactly one before you shuffle.

Three things fall out of the swap.

The plain Gengar leaves entirely. The second build kept two for the single-prize rooms. This build hands that job to Gengar ex and Chi-Yu, because a Stage 2 that needs a Gastly and a Candy every time it comes back was not the repeatable cheap attacker it looked like. A Basic that Night Stretcher returns is.

Shadowy Darkness Energy leaves. Surge cannot search it, Night Stretcher cannot return it, and the whole trainer line is now built around Energy that can be recovered. The turn-one Gastly is less safe for it; Rare Candy it early.

The Stadium war is even again. Two Risky Ruins in both modes, so Eternatus is not missed.

Pokémon

Gastlyx4

Set: ME03: Perfect Order 048/088
Rarity: Common
Type: Darkness
HP: 70
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg J)
Attack: Surprise Attack (30) - Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing.

The same four Perfect Order copies, doing the same job: sit on the Bench and become a ghost. The menu is shorter now, a 350 HP wall or a 310 HP Energy tax, and the choice waits until the Rare Candy is played. Four copies feed at most four ghosts a game, so every Candy is a real decision, and the ghost that matters most is the second Mega, the one that has to be standing before the first one falls.

Gastly is Fighting-weak and 70 HP, and it has no Ability, so Froslass ignores it and Cornerstone cannot block it. Neither fact will ever matter; it exists to evolve. Against Dragapult, bench it and Candy it the same turn you can, because six Phantom Dive counters leave it on 10.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Haunterx2

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 055/094
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Darkness
HP: 100
Stage: Stage 1
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Spooky Shot (40)

The backup route when Rare Candy is late. Two copies, Phantasmal Flames, flat 40, and Dawn's Stage 1 slot finds it when the hand has the Mega but no Candy. See The Mode Swap for the _Haunt_ substitution.

Two rather than the Live list's three, because Dawn's middle slot is usually better spent on Toxtricity, and three Candy plus two Haunter is five routes for the two or three ghosts a game actually evolves.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Mega Gengar exx3

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 056/094
Rarity: Double Rare
Type: Darkness
HP: 350
Stage: Stage 2
Ability: Shadowy Concealment - If 1 of your Darkness Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent's Pokémon ex, that player takes 1 fewer Prize card. The effect of Shadowy Concealment doesn't stack.
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 2
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Void Gale (230) - Move an Energy from this Pokémon to 1 of your Benched Pokémon.

The wall the cage leans on. 350 HP, Stage 2 from Haunter, worth three Prizes when it falls and two under its own Ability. It evolves like any other Stage 2; modern Mega cards do not end your turn.

_Shadowy Concealment_ is the deck. One fewer Prize whenever your Darkness Pokémon dies to an opposing ex's attack, and every Pokémon here is Darkness. It works from the Bench and the Active Spot alike, it covers the Mega itself, and it does not stack. It does not cover Knock Outs from damage counters, Special Conditions, or non-ex attackers; the field section names the decks that use those.

_Void Gale_ is 230, then it moves an Energy from this Pokémon to one of your Benched Pokémon. The move is not optional, and this deck turns the tax into the engine: aim the export at the charging Seviper. Attack with the Mega and you are simultaneously loading the snake. That loop is game plan 2.

Three copies, because 27% of games prize one. The honest damage number has not changed: 230 one-shots nothing in the current ex tier except what Weakness doubles it into and what Ruins softens, so the Mega is a wall that counterattacks, not a sweeper. Everything it fails to kill is 230 closer to Fangs or 110 away from Chi-Yu. Air Balloon lives on this card so the wall steps back for free.

Gengar exx1

Set: SV05: Temporal Forces 104/162
Rarity: Double Rare
Type: Darkness
HP: 310
Stage: Stage 2
Ability: Gnawing Curse - Whenever your opponent attaches an Energy card from their hand to 1 of their Pokémon, put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon.
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 2
Tournament: legal (Reg H)
Attack: Tricky Steps (160) - You may move an Energy from your opponent's Active Pokémon to 1 of their Benched Pokémon.

The tax ghost, and the second Candy target. Stage 2 from the same Haunter, 310 HP, worth two Prizes normally and one under the cage.

_Gnawing Curse_ punishes the fundamental action of the game. Whenever your opponent attaches an Energy card from their hand to one of their Pokémon, 2 damage counters go on that Pokémon. It runs from your Bench all game. It is brutal against Festival Lead, where Dipplin's _Energy Loop_ returns Energy to hand every attack and the re-attachment bites again, and against any deck whose acceleration is hand-based.

_Tricky Steps_ is 160 and a disruption. You may move an Energy from their Active to a Benched Pokémon of your choice. 160 is the number that clears the single-prize rooms' bodies: Dusknoir, Hariyama, Toucannon, Alakazam, and Dudunsparce all fall to it, and none of them fall to Chi-Yu.

One copy, because it is the second ghost, not the first, and the Basics it gave up fixed the mulligan rate. Candy it against single-prize rooms and hand-attachment engines; leave it in the deck against decks that accelerate from the discard or the deck, which never trigger it. Curse Toll runs the pair.

Toxelx3

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 067/094
Rarity: Common
Type: Darkness
HP: 70
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Call for Family - Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
Attack: Playful Kick (20)

Three copies, and the deck's best going-second play. _Call for Family_ benches any two Basics with no HP cap, which here means the Seviper and Chi-Yu that Poffin cannot fetch. Going second with Toxel Active, that attack builds the whole Bench on turn one.

Three copies because the engine wants two Toxtricity standing, and because every Basic in this list pulls the mulligan rate down: 35% at the eight Basics the sleeved list had, 19% at twelve. It has no Ability, so Froslass leaves it alone and Cornerstone cannot stop its 20; neither will come up.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Toxtricityx3

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 068/094
Rarity: Rare
Type: Darkness
HP: 140
Stage: Stage 1
Ability: Sinister Surge - Once during your turn, you may use this Ability. Search your deck for a Basic Darkness Energy card and attach it to 1 of your Benched Darkness Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck. If you attached Energy to a Pokémon in this way, place 2 damage counters on that Pokémon.
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 2
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Gentle Slap (100)

Three copies, and the third is the whole reason the list changed. _Sinister Surge_ is one Basic Darkness from the deck onto a Benched Darkness Pokémon, once per turn per Toxtricity, plus 2 damage counters of rent on whatever it feeds. Two Toxtricity on the Bench is two Energy a turn from the deck. Read the printed text: it says "Once during your turn, you may use this Ability" and does not add the once-per-turn-per-name clause Fezandipiti carries, so both fire.

Surge feeds Benched Darkness Pokémon only, and everything here qualifies. The targets, in order:

The charging Seviper. Three Energy is the price of 240, and two Surges plus a Void Gale export pay it in one turn.
A Benched Chi-Yu. One Surge is the entire setup: one Energy, two counters, 110 next turn. Never Surge it twice unless you want the second Energy for a retreat.
The Benched Mega. So _Void Gale_ has an Energy to export without spending the hand attachment.

Surge searches the deck, which is why Energy Recycler is in this list and Energy Retrieval is not. Ten Energy start in the deck; two Surges a turn empty it fast, and the Recycler refills it from the discard.

Toxtricity has an Ability, so Froslass's _Freezing Shroud_ ticks it every Checkup and Cornerstone blocks its 100. Neither changes what it is for.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Seviperx3

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 062/094
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Darkness
HP: 120
Stage: Basic
Ability: Excited Power - If you have any Darkness Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in play, attacks used by this Pokémon do 120 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
Weakness: Fighting ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg I)
Attack: Pitch-Black Fangs (120)

The reason this file exists. A 120 HP Basic common with the only Ability in Standard that looks for a Darkness Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. While the Mega is in play, _Excited Power_ adds 120, so _Pitch-Black Fangs_ does 240 before Weakness. One Prize when it dies, zero when an ex kills it under Concealment.

240 one-shots every single-prize body in the format and every non-Mega ex up to Raging Bolt ex at 240, and Weakness turns it into 480 on Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex and Mega Gardevoir ex. With the Mega it two-turns everything printed: 230 plus 240 is 470.

The cost is the cost. Three Darkness on a 120 HP body, and each Surge that pays it leaves 20 damage behind: a snake fed three times stands on 60 HP. Do not pay it from hand in front. Surge feeds it on the Bench, Void Gale exports onto it, and it steps forward already loaded. Three copies, so a second snake charges behind the first while it fights, and Night Stretcher is not the only way to see one after the first trade.

The check reads "in play," not "on your Bench." The Mega can be fighting in front and the snake still hits 240 behind it. Nothing fetches Seviper except Toxel's _Call for Family_ and Dawn's Basic slot, which is the other reason there are three.

Chi-Yux2

Set: ME05: Pitch Black 059/084
Rarity: Rare
Type: Darkness
HP: 90
Stage: Basic
Weakness: Grass ×2
Retreat: 1
Tournament: legal (Reg J)
Attack: Whirling Envy (20+) - If this Pokémon has 2 or more damage counters on it, this attack does 90 more damage. This attack's damage isn't affected by Weakness.

The one-Energy attacker, new to the list. A 90 HP Basic, Darkness, Weak to Grass rather than Fighting, and it has no Ability, which is rarer than it sounds in this deck.

_Whirling Envy_ is 20, or 110 once Chi-Yu has 2 or more damage counters on it, and the damage is not affected by Weakness. The condition is a feature here: _Sinister Surge_ puts 2 counters on whatever it feeds, so one Surge onto a Benched Chi-Yu delivers the one Energy and the two counters in a single Ability use. Nothing else in Standard arms it that cleanly.

What it is for, in order of how often it comes up:

Finishing. 110 after a 230 Void Gale is 340; after a 240 Fangs it is 350. That is Mega Excadrill ex, Mega Lucario ex, Cynthia's Garchomp ex, Dragapult ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex, Blaziken ex, and Mega Greninja ex, each in two turns, with the Mega or the snake taking the first swing and a body that cost one Energy taking the second.
The rest turn. The turn you play Wally's Compassion, the Mega heals on the Bench and something has to attack. Chi-Yu does, for one Energy that Surge already paid.
The single-prize rooms. Froslass, Munkidori, Dusclops, Dipplin, and Seaking all fall to 110. Spending a three-Energy snake on a one-Prize 90 HP body is how those rooms beat you; spending one Energy is how you beat them.
Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. _Cornerstone Stance_ prevents all attack damage from Pokémon that have an Ability. Every other attacker here has one. Chi-Yu hits it for 110, twice is 220, and its HP is 210.

Where it must not go. Into anything Psychic while a Mega or a loaded Seviper is available; Weakness is the deck's biggest number and Chi-Yu turns it off. Into the Active Spot unarmed; Surge only reaches the Bench, so a Chi-Yu promoted with no counters swings for 20 until something damages it. Its Weakness is Grass, so Dipplin and Dhelmise hit it for double, though at 70 HP armed it dies to anything anyway.

When it dies it costs you one Energy, not the snake's three, and under the cage it costs zero Prizes. Night Stretcher brings it back for another Surge. Two copies, because a one-of tech is prized one game in ten and only Dawn and _Call for Family_ can find it. Game plan 3 is the turn-by-turn.

Trainers — Supporters

Dawnx4

Set: ME02: Phantasmal Flames 087/094
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Search your deck for a Basic Pokémon, a Stage 1 Pokémon, and a Stage 2 Pokémon, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

The line assembler: a Basic, a Stage 1, and a Stage 2 in one card. In this deck the best Dawn is Seviper, Toxtricity, and Mega Gengar ex, three cards from three different engines, with the Candy already in hand. When the Candy is missing, the middle slot becomes Haunter. Four copies, because it is the best turn-one Supporter and the best turn-two Supporter, and 68% of games have it or Hilda in hand by turn two.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Hildax2

Set: SV: White Flare 084/086
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Search your deck for an Evolution Pokémon and an Energy card, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Search your deck for an Evolution Pokémon and an Energy card, both to hand. That is "find the ghost and the turn's attachment" in one Supporter, or "find the Toxtricity and the Energy it will Surge for." Two copies beside four Dawn. Mind the word _Evolution_: she fetches any Haunter, either ghost, or a Toxtricity, never a Basic. Seviper and Chi-Yu are Toxel's and Dawn's problem.

Lillie's Determinationx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 119/132
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Shuffle your hand into your deck. Then, draw 6 cards. If you have exactly 6 Prize cards remaining, draw 8 cards instead.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

The reset button. Shuffle your hand into your deck, draw 6, or draw 8 while all six of your Prizes are still up. Two copies. The hand this deck clogs with is ghosts, and Lillie's puts them back where Dawn and Hilda can find them again. Play it before the Items only when the Items are dead too.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Boss's Orders [Ghetsis]

The gust, at two copies plus Prime Catcher, and it aims at Prizes. Drag up the two-Prize support piece that pays for a 240, or the Energy-loaded attacker hiding from it. Against the counter decks, drag up the Duskull before it becomes a Dusknoir. Spend it on Prizes, never on tempo.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Wally's Compassionx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 132/132
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Supporter
Ability: Heal all damage from 1 of your Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. If you healed any damage in this way, put all Energy attached to that Pokémon into your hand.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

The reason the wall holds. Heal all damage from one of your Mega Evolution Pokémon ex; if you healed anything, all Energy attached to it returns to your hand.

The numbers: Mega Excadrill ex hits 330 into 350, Dragapult ex hits 200, Grimmsnarl ex hits 180. Every one of them needs two turns to kill the Mega, and Wally's between the two hits resets the count to zero. A 350 HP Pokémon that heals to full is a four-shot, and nobody has four turns to spend on a wall that pays two Prizes. The Energy comes back to hand and goes straight back out as the turn's attachment.

Two copies. The turn you play one, Chi-Yu or Seviper fights in front while the Mega recovers behind. It does nothing for Chi-Yu or Seviper; they are not Megas.

Trainers — Items

Buddy-Buddy Poffinx3

Set: SV05: Temporal Forces 144/162
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less and put them onto your bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

Three copies. The legal targets are Gastly and Toxel, both 70 HP; Seviper at 120 and Chi-Yu at 90 miss the cap, and _Call for Family_ covers them. Turn one wants Poffin first, fetching one Gastly and one Toxel, the bottoms of the two engines.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Rare Candyx3

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 125/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Choose 1 of your Basic Pokémon in play. If you have a Stage 2 card in your hand that evolves from that Pokémon, put that card onto the Basic Pokémon to evolve it, skipping the Stage 1. You can't use this card during your first turn or on a Basic Pokémon that was put into play this turn.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Gastly to the ghost of your choice, skipping Haunter. Three copies plus two Haunter is five routes. Both riders apply: never on your first turn, never on a Basic that entered play this turn. The fastest Mega is turn two off a turn-one Gastly, and 43% of games have the Candy in hand for it.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Night Stretcherx4

Set: SV: Shrouded Fable 061/064
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Put a Pokémon or a Basic Energy card from your discard pile into your hand.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

Four copies, and the job is resurrection. Put a Pokémon or a Basic Energy from the discard into your hand. The priority list: a Knocked Out Mega first, because the cage needs one in play; a Basic Darkness second, for the hand attachment; a Seviper or Chi-Yu third, for another Surge. Nothing here is Special Energy any more, so every Energy that hits the discard is a legal target.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Energy Recyclerx1

Set: SV10: Destined Rivals 164/182
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Shuffle up to 5 Basic Energy cards from your discard pile into your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Shuffle up to 5 Basic Energy from your discard pile into your deck. This is the recovery card the engine wanted, because _Sinister Surge_ searches the deck. Energy in the discard is Energy two Toxtricity cannot see; Recycler puts five of it back where they look, in one Item, for zero cards of hand.

Time it for after the first Seviper trade, when three Energy hit the discard at once, or after an Ultra Ball pitched two. One copy in the binder. Against N's Zoroark it is also a defensive card: N's Darmanitan's _Back Draft_ does 30 for each Basic Energy in your discard pile, and Recycler empties it.

Switchx1

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 130/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

One copy, one job: rescue whatever Boss's Orders dragged up, or walk an armed Chi-Yu forward. Air Balloon handles the Mega's retreats; this is for everything else.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Ultra Ballx1

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 131/132
Rarity: Common
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: You can use this card only if you discard 2 other cards from your hand. Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

One copy, kept because it is the only Item that finds a Mega Gengar ex or the Gengar ex. Discard two other cards to search for any Pokémon. Pitch a spare ghost or a Poffin with no targets, never Energy you cannot spare. The second copy became the third Seviper. Poke Pad, which finds any non-ex Pokémon for free, was the plan for that slot; the four copies in the pipeline are still in the mail, and Upgrades says where it goes when they land.

Prime Catcherx1

Set: SV: Prismatic Evolutions 119/131
Rarity: ACE SPEC Rare
Type: Trainer - Item
Ability: Switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot. If you do, switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.
Tournament: legal (Reg H)

The ACE SPEC. Switch in one of their Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot, and if you do, switch your Active with one of your Benched Pokémon. It is Boss's Orders and Switch in one Item that does not spend the Supporter, so the same turn can Hilda for the Energy, gust the target, and walk the loaded Seviper into it.

Spend it on a Prize: a two-Prize support piece that dies to 240, or the Energy-loaded attacker they are hiding. The Gang runs Scramble Switch instead, and this deck ran it too until Live testing showed the gust wins more games than the Energy move. Fox's Hostile Takeover keeps Scramble Switch, so the two decks never contest a copy.

Trainers — Tool & Stadium

Air Balloonx1

Set: ME: Ascended Heroes 181/217
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Pokémon Tool
Ability: The Retreat Cost of the Pokémon this card is attached to is {{e}}{{e}} less.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

The Retreat Cost of the Pokémon it is attached to is two less. It lives on the Mega. The Mega retreats for two, and every manual retreat sent two Darkness to the discard, which was the leak the Live games kept finding. With the Balloon on, the wall attacks, takes its hit, and steps back for the snake or the fish for free, every turn, without a Switch.

Attach it the turn the Mega evolves. Jamming Tower turns every Tool off, which is the one reason the single Switch stays.

Risky Ruinsx2

Set: ME01: Mega Evolution 127/132
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Trainer - Stadium
Ability: Whenever any player puts a Basic non-Darkness Pokémon onto their Bench during their turn, place 2 damage counters on that Pokémon.
Tournament: legal (Reg I)

Two copies, and every Pokémon here is Darkness, so it stays perfectly one-sided: 20 damage on every non-Darkness Basic the opponent benches, and the damage stays when they evolve. The counters go through Tera Bench protection, soften Boss's Orders targets, and close the near-misses: Raging Bolt ex from 240 to Void Gale range, Slowking from 120 to Chi-Yu range.

Two copies means you can win a Stadium war against Festival Grounds, Jamming Tower, or Team Rocket's Factory. Lead the first when their Bench is filling; hold the second for the overwrite.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Energy

Basic Darkness Energyx10

Set: MEE: Mega Evolution Energies 7
Rarity: Common
Type: Energy - Basic
Tournament: legal

Ten copies, all Basic, none Special. The floor argument: Surge searches the deck, Void Gale only moves what is already in play, and Seviper drinks three at a time, so the deck has to hold Energy for two Surges a turn through the midgame. Recycler puts five back when the discard fills. Eleven flooded the Gang build when two extra copies replaced two Lillie's; ten with the Recycler is the count that testing has not punished.

Full entry in Gengar Gang.

Game Plans

1. The Cage

The Prize math, done in both directions before every trade.

Their side, against ex attackers. Concealment turns every one-Prize body here into a zero-Prize body, discounts Gengar ex from two to one, and discounts the Mega from three to two. Their six requires Knocking Out all three Megas; two Megas plus the Gengar ex stops at five. Night Stretcher rebuilds a fallen Mega four times over, and Wally's Compassion means even the first Knock Out is behind schedule.

Your side. Their ex Pokémon pay two or three apiece, so your six is two or three kills. Void Gale plus Chi-Yu is 340 across two turns; Void Gale plus Fangs is 470; Boss's Orders and Prime Catcher pick which body does the paying.

The discipline. The cage only holds while a Mega is in play. Keep a Gastly benched as the next Mega's body, and never send the Mega forward when 230 is not lethal and the Bench cannot rebuild it. A Mega that attacks into nothing volunteered a third of their game.

The three escape hatches, and who uses them.

Non-ex attackers. Toucannon, Hariyama, Alakazam, Slowking, Dipplin, Dhelmise. Full Prizes off everything, and the Mega gifts three. Game plan 4 is how you spot them early.
Damage counters. Dusknoir's _Cursed Blast_ (13 counters), Alakazam's _Powerful Hand_, Munkidori's _Adrena-Brain_, Mega Greninja's _Mortal Shuriken_, Froslass's _Freezing Shroud_, and Phantom Dive's six Bench counters. A Seviper Knocked Out by counters pays a full Prize even with the Mega standing.
Instant Knock Outs and Special Conditions. Hydrapple's _Hydra Breath_ and Poison. Rare, but a Mega Knocked Out that way pays all three.

2. The Charmer's Loop

How three Energy costs get paid without three turns of attachments.

hand attachment      --> the front, whoever is fighting
Sinister Surge (x2)  --> the Benched Seviper or Chi-Yu, from the deck, plus 2 rent each
Void Gale            --> 230, and the Mega's Energy lands on the snake
Air Balloon          --> the Mega steps back for free; the loaded attacker steps up
Energy Recycler      --> the discard goes back into the deck, where Surge looks

Two Surges plus the hand attachment is three Energy a turn onto the board, and Void Gale is a fourth that moves. The snake charges while the wall fights.

The sequence the deck wants. Turn one, Poffin for Gastly and Toxel, Energy on the Gastly. Turn two, Candy the Gastly into the Mega, Balloon on it, evolve Toxel to Toxtricity, Surge the Benched Seviper. Turn three, evolve the second Toxel, Surge twice onto Seviper, and it is standing on three Energy while the Mega hits for 230 in front and exports a fourth. Turn four, the Mega retreats free, the snake bites for 240, and the target has taken 470.

Going second is faster. Toxel in the Active Spot on turn one uses _Call for Family_ for Seviper and Chi-Yu, and the Bench is finished before the opponent has attacked.

Where the rent goes. Surge's two counters land on whoever got the Energy. On Seviper it is 20 off a body that pays zero into an ex anyway. On Chi-Yu it is the arming. On the Mega it is 20 off 350 that Wally's refunds in full. Never bank rent on Gengar ex; it is the one body that still pays a Prize under the cage.

3. How To Play Chi-Yu

The turn-by-turn for a card you have never run.

Get it down. Chi-Yu is 90 HP, so Poffin cannot fetch it. It reaches the Bench three ways: drawn and played, Toxel's _Call for Family_, or Dawn's Basic slot. It sits there unarmed and does nothing, and that is fine; an unarmed Chi-Yu on the Bench is not a liability, it is a one-Prize body that pays zero under the cage.

Arm it on the Bench. One _Sinister Surge_ aimed at Chi-Yu attaches one Energy and places 2 damage counters. That is the whole setup. It now has 70 HP left, one Energy, and a 110 attack. Do not Surge it again; the attack costs one, and a second Surge only takes it to 50 HP. If the opponent's Bench snipe puts counters on it first, it is armed for free.

Walk it forward. Four ways, cheapest first. When their attack Knocks Out your Active, promote Chi-Yu; it costs nothing. Retreat the Balloon Mega for free and promote it. Prime Catcher, which also drags up the target. Switch. Never promote it unarmed unless you want a body to absorb a hit while the Bench works.

Attack. _Whirling Envy_ for 110. Check the target's HP first, and the two-hit table: anything at or under 110 dies now, anything at or under 340 dies to Void Gale next turn, anything at or under 350 dies to Fangs next turn.

Let it die. Under the cage it pays zero Prizes and one Energy. Against a single-prize attacker it pays one Prize, same as Seviper would have, for a third of the Energy. Night Stretcher brings it back for another Surge, and the second copy is already in the deck.

Turn shape: Chi-Yu or the snake?
Target has 110 or less HP: Chi-Yu. Froslass, Munkidori, Dusclops, Dipplin, Seaking, Drilbur, any Basic under a ghost line.
Target is Psychic: Snake or Mega. Weakness doubles them to 480 and 460; Chi-Yu's 110 is flat.
Target took 230 or 240 last turn: Chi-Yu. 110 finishes anything up to 350, and a 90 HP body absorbs the return hit.
Mega is healing this turn (Wally's): Chi-Yu. The rest-turn attacker.
Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex is Active: Chi-Yu, only. Everything else here has an Ability and does zero to it. 110 twice is 220 into 210.
A 2- or 3-Prize ex at 240 or less: Snake. The Prize is worth the three Energy.
Seviper is one Energy short and Surge can finish it: Snake next turn, Chi-Yu now, if a Chi-Yu is armed. Otherwise Surge the snake and let the Mega hit.

Two habits. Say the target's HP out loud before you choose the attacker. And count Surges before you use them: two Toxtricity is two Surges, and the second one is usually Chi-Yu's.

4. Reading the Room

You do not know the field. Their first two turns tell you which deck this is, and the Candy waits until you know.

What they bench	Deck	Their attacker pays	Your Candy	Your attacker
Drilbur, Metal Energy	Mega Excadrill	3, cage on	Mega	Chi-Yu then Void Gale is 340; Fangs then Chi-Yu is 350. Their 330 leaves the Mega on 20; Wally's.
Dreepy, Drakloak	Dragapult	2, cage on	Mega	Fangs then Chi-Yu, 350 into 320. Candy Gastly fast; Dive counters kill a bencher on the second turn.
Dreepy plus Duskull	Dragapult Dusknoir	2, but Dusknoir's 13 counters pay full	Mega	Boss's Orders the Duskull. Keep Seviper and Chi-Yu off the Bench until they are needed; 130 counters kill either.
Dreepy plus Torchic	Dragapult Blaziken	2, cage on	Mega	Same as Dragapult; Blaziken ex is 320 and Smolder-sault skips a turn.
Applin, Dipplin, Festival Grounds	Festival Lead	1, cage off	Gengar ex	Chi-Yu kills Dipplin and Seaking for one Energy. Gnawing Curse bites every Energy Loop re-attach. Overwrite Festival Grounds with Ruins.
Slowpoke	Slowking	1, cage off	Gengar ex	Tricky Steps 160 kills Slowking. Slowpoke takes Ruins, so Chi-Yu reaches 120 through it.
Abra, Dunsparce	Alakazam Dudunsparce	1, cage off, counters	Gengar ex	160 kills both. Keep your hand small? No: keep their hand small is not in your power; kill Alakazam first.
N's Zorua, N's Reshiram or Darmanitan	N's Zoroark	2, cage on	Mega	Zoroark ex is 280: Void Gale then Chi-Yu. Play Recycler early; Back Draft counts your discarded Energy.
Impidimp, Snorunt	Grimmsnarl Froslass	2, cage on, counters	Mega	Grimmsnarl ex is 320: Fangs then Chi-Yu. Froslass ticks every Ability Pokémon; Chi-Yu and Gastly are immune. Kill Froslass with Chi-Yu, 90 HP.
Pikipek	Toucannon	1, cage off	Gengar ex	160 kills Toucannon, 150 HP. Feather Rondo counts both Benches; do not bench what you do not need.
Dhelmise	Dhelmise	1, cage off	Gengar ex	Ruins puts it to 100; Chi-Yu kills it.
Raging Bolt, Teal Mask Ogerpon	Raging Bolt Ogerpon	2, cage on	Mega	Ruins on Raging Bolt, then Void Gale kills it at 220. Watch their Energy count; five is 350 into the Mega.
Riolu, Fighting Energy	Mega Lucario or Lucario Hariyama	3 or 1	Mega, reluctantly	The bad room. Everything you own is Weak. Trade Chi-Yu and Seviper, never the Mega into a loaded Lucario.
Gible	Cynthia's Garchomp	2, cage on	Mega	Draconic Buster is 520 into you. Garchomp ex is 330: Chi-Yu then Fangs, before it is loaded.
Froakie	Mega Greninja	3, cage on, counters	Mega	350 HP: Chi-Yu then Fangs exactly. It kills the Mega on its second turn; Wally's after the first.

The tell is their attacker lineup, not their deck's best card. A deck that runs one big ex but attacks with cheap bodies is a single-prize room wearing a costume. When in doubt, the Mega is the default, because the cage is the plan and 44% of the field by share attacks with ex Pokémon.

Two cards that break the rules, in any room. Iron Thorns ex in their Active Spot switches off every Rule Box Ability on the table: Concealment and Gnawing Curse go dark while it stands there, and Surge and _Excited Power_ keep working because Toxtricity and Seviper have no Rule Box. Budew's _Itchy Pollen_ locks your Items for a turn; play the Supporter and wait.

5. Reading the Opening Hand

Turn one, in order.

Your hand has: Play
Buddy-Buddy Poffin: First, always. Gastly and Toxel to the Bench.
Dawn and a workable board: Dawn for Seviper, Toxtricity, and the Mega if the Candy is in hand; Gastly, Haunter, and the Mega if it is not.
Hilda and the line's bottom: Hilda for the Mega plus the turn's Energy. Dawn builds a missing line; Hilda finishes one.
A bad hand: Lillie's Determination for 8 while all six Prizes are still up.
Toxel, going second: _Call for Family_ for Seviper and Chi-Yu. Two bodies beat 20 damage.
An Energy and a Gastly: Energy on the Gastly. It becomes the Mega with one Energy already paid.
Chi-Yu and nothing else: Chi-Yu Active, and let it take the hit. It pays one Prize; a Gastly would pay one too and cost you a ghost.

Going first you cannot attack, and this deck barely minds; nothing here wants to attack on turn one anyway. Build, protect, and let the ghost arrive on schedule.

6. Things That Will Cost You a Game

Mistake: What actually happens
Candying the Mega against a single-prize deck: Concealment does nothing and the Mega gifts three Prizes. Read the Bench first; Gengar ex is the Candy there.
Attacking with the Mega when 230 is not lethal and no rebuild is ready: You traded a third of their Prize requirement for chip damage. Wall first, sweep second.
Forgetting Void Gale's move is mandatory: The Mega attacks itself out of Energy. Aim the export at Seviper and it is a feature.
Promoting an unarmed Chi-Yu to attack: Surge only reaches the Bench. It swings for 20 until something damages it.
Surging Chi-Yu twice: It goes from 70 HP to 50 for no extra damage. Once is armed.
Sending Chi-Yu into a Psychic target: Weakness is your biggest number and Chi-Yu turns it off. 110 flat where the snake does 480.
Counting the cage against Dusknoir, Alakazam, or Munkidori: Counters are not attack damage. Every Knock Out they cause pays full Prizes.
Letting the last Mega die with no Gastly on the Bench: The cage falls with it, and everything you own goes back to full price.
Charging Seviper from hand in the Active Spot: Three turns of attachments in front of an attacker. Surge and Void Gale charge it; Balloon and Prime Catcher bring it forward loaded.
Paying the Mega's retreat by hand: Two Energy to the discard. Attach the Balloon the turn it evolves.
Playing Recycler with two Energy in the discard: It shuffles up to five. Wait for the Seviper trade.
Wally's Compassion on a full-HP Mega to reset Energy: It heals nothing, so the Energy clause never fires.
Poffin targeting Seviper or Chi-Yu: Illegal; both are over 70 HP. Call for Family is the route.
Rare Candy on the Gastly Poffin just benched: Illegal until next turn. Bench Basics one turn earlier than you need them.
Leading the first Risky Ruins into an empty turn-one board: Two copies win a Stadium war only if the second is still in the deck when it matters.
Benching every Basic against Toucannon: Feather Rondo counts your Bench too. Five of yours is 100 extra damage.

Versus the Field

Standard, 2026 rotation, the last month of online events on Limitless: 454 tournaments, 34,208 players. The room tonight is a local group, so treat the shares as odds, not a schedule. Roughly 44% of the field by share attacks with Pokémon ex and turns the cage on; roughly 27% attacks with single-prize Pokémon and turns it off; the rest is spread thin.

Room	Share	Their win rate	Cage	Key number
Mega Excadrill	7.7%	48.8%	On	340 HP. Chi-Yu then Void Gale. Their 330 leaves the Mega on 20.
Dragapult, all three builds	18.6%	50-54%	On, counters aside	320 HP. Fangs then Chi-Yu. Dive puts 6 counters on your Bench every turn.
Festival Lead	6.3%	50.9%	Off	Dipplin 90 HP, Seaking 110. Chi-Yu for one Energy. Gnawing Curse.
Slowking	5.6%	52.5%	Off	120 HP, Psychic. Tricky Steps kills it.
Alakazam Dudunsparce	5.5%	53.4%	Off, counters	140 HP each. Tricky Steps kills both. Powerful Hand ignores the cage.
N's Zoroark	5.2%	48.2%	On	280 HP. Void Gale then Chi-Yu. Recycler shrinks Back Draft.
Grimmsnarl Froslass	4.4%	51.4%	On, counters aside	320 HP. Fangs then Chi-Yu. Froslass ticks your Ability Pokémon.
Dhelmise	4.0%	48.2%	Off	120 HP Basic. Ruins then Chi-Yu.
Toucannon	2.9%	47.2%	Off	150 HP. Tricky Steps. Keep your Bench small.
Raging Bolt Ogerpon	2.2%	53.3%	On	240 HP. Fangs, or Ruins then Void Gale.
Mega Lucario, Lucario Hariyama, Cynthia's Garchomp	4.9% combined	49-52%	Mixed	Fighting. Everything you own takes double. The bad 5%.
Mega Greninja	1.6%	41.5%	On, counters	350 HP. Chi-Yu then Fangs, exactly.

Mega Excadrill is not the Fighting nightmare the earlier pages called it. Mega Excadrill ex is a Metal type, Weak to Fire, and its attacks are Metal; nothing on your side takes double from it. _Maximum Drilling_ with five Energy is 330, which Knocks Out Gengar ex and every attacker but leaves the Mega standing on 20, and Wally's Compassion heals it to 350. It is a three-Prize Mega, so the cage is fully on: Seviper and Chi-Yu pay it nothing. Two-shot it with Chi-Yu and Void Gale, 340 into 340, and make it kill three Megas to win. This is a fair fight that the earlier pages wrote off, and it is the most common deck in the data.

Dragapult is the good matchup with a Bench problem. Every attacker is an ex, so the cage is on, and 320 HP falls to Fangs then Chi-Yu. The problem is _Phantom Dive_'s six damage counters on your Bench every turn: a benched Gastly is on 10 after one Dive and dies to the second, for a full Prize, because counters are not attack damage. Candy the Gastly the turn you legally can, keep the Bench to what you need, and in the Dusknoir build gust the Duskull with Boss's Orders before it becomes 13 counters.

The single-prize rooms are a quarter of the field, and the second build had nothing cheap for them. Now it does. Chi-Yu kills Dipplin, Seaking, Froslass, and Munkidori for one Energy; Tricky Steps kills Slowking, Alakazam, Dudunsparce, Toucannon, and Hariyama; the Mega stays in the deck. Your Prizes are honest here, one per body, so the game is a race of one-Energy attackers against theirs, and yours hit harder. Do not Candy the Mega into these rooms unless the third Gastly is the only ghost left.

The Dark mirrors are decided by the ghost line. N's Zoroark ex and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex are both ex attackers at 280 and 320, so the cage is on and their bodies pay full. Zoroark's _Night Joker_ copies N's Darmanitan's _Back Draft_, 30 per Basic Energy in your discard, which is the one matchup where Energy Recycler is a defensive play. Grimmsnarl's Froslass puts a counter on every Pokémon with an Ability at every Checkup; Chi-Yu, Gastly, Haunter, and Toxel do not have one, and Chi-Yu kills Froslass outright.

The Fighting rooms are the bad 5%. Mega Lucario's _Mega Brave_ is 540 into anything you own, Hariyama's _Wild Press_ is 420 from a one-Prize body, and Garchomp's _Draconic Buster_ is 520. Nothing walls. Trade Chi-Yu and Seviper for their attackers, keep the Mega on the Bench for the cage and the snake's 120, and take the Prizes you can. Two-shot Mega Lucario with Chi-Yu and Void Gale, 340 into 340, on the turn after _Mega Brave_, because it cannot use that attack twice in a row.

Versus the Kitchen Table

Fox's Hostile Takeover is the matchup this mode was built for. Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex is Psychic, 280 HP, Weak to Darkness: _Void Gale_ lands 460 and _Pitch-Black Fangs_ lands 480, so either ghost or snake one-shots his best card while Concealment zeroes almost everything he can kill in return. _Erasure Ball_ tops out at 280, which kills any attacker and leaves the Mega on 70. Team Rocket's Crobat ex is 310 Darkness, no Weakness to you, and its _Biting Spree_ counters ignore the cage; Fangs then Chi-Yu is 350. Chi-Yu is the wrong attacker into Mewtwo, because Weakness is doing the work there, and the right one into his one-Prize support pieces.

Fox's Metal deck plays the cage straight, and the type is Metal. Mega Excadrill ex hits 330 and the Mega survives it at 350; Wally's Compassion then undoes the whole hit, which breaks his two-shot math completely. Nothing he attacks with is Fighting, so nothing of yours takes double. His Fezandipiti and Munkidori pay him nothing back when they die to your ex, and your Seviper pays him nothing either. It becomes a pure wall race, and only one side heals.

Fox's Flareon engine is the trap matchup. Plain Flareon does 180 against ex Pokémon and is not an ex, so it dodges Concealment entirely and two-shots the Mega for one Prize of risk. Candy the Gengar ex, kill Flareon with Tricky Steps, and keep the Mega home. Seviper still one-shots every Flareon print he owns except Flareon ex at 270, which one Ruins counter or one Haunt puts in range.

Upgrades

Everything below is in the binder or costs about a dollar. Change one at a time, after games, not before.

Pecharunt ex, the one real buy. _Subjugating Chains_ switches a Benched Darkness Pokémon into your Active Spot once a turn, for free, and Poisons it. That is a Switch every turn for the armed Chi-Yu or the loaded snake, and every real Darkness list runs it. 190 HP, two Prizes, one under the cage. Roughly a dollar.

Battle Cage, from the binder. Prevents damage counters on Benched Pokémon from the opponent's attacks and Abilities. It blanks Phantom Dive's six counters and Mortal Shuriken's six, and it does not stop Surge, because Surge is your Ability on your Pokémon. Two copies owned; it replaces the second Risky Ruins on a Dragapult-heavy night.

Janine's Secret Art, from the binder. Two Basic Darkness from the deck onto your Darkness Pokémon in one Supporter. If Seviper's hunger outruns two Surges, two copies come in for the second Hilda and a Lillie's.

Energy Retrieval, about a dollar. Two Basic Energy from the discard to hand. A second Recycler-shaped card if the discard keeps filling faster than one Recycler drains it.

Poke Pad, when the mail lands. Search your deck for a Pokémon with no Rule Box, free: 17 of the 21 Pokémon here, including the Chi-Yu and Seviper that Poffin cannot reach. It was the plan for the second Ultra Ball's slot until the hand count found all four copies still in transit. It comes in for the third Seviper.

The third Haunter and the third Lillie's. Each trades against the second Risky Ruins, depending on what the games show. The Live list ran both at three; this list cut each one for a Basic.

The second Gengar ex, from the mail. Gnawing Curse has no "doesn't stack" clause, so the pair doubles the toll. It is the right call if the local room turns out to be Festival Lead and hand-attachment decks; it costs a Chi-Yu.

What To Buy

This is the deck's claim on cards the pipeline does not yet cover. All three rows are physically in hand as of 2026-08-26, from the card store run that morning, and each Buy column reads one until wanted-cards.tsv and add_cards.py catch up with the binder. Correct the pipeline, not this block.

Card	Own	Need	Buy	Note
Toxel ME02: Phantasmal Flames 067/094	2	3	1	third copy bought at the LGS 2026-08-26; not in the pipeline yet
Toxtricity ME02: Phantasmal Flames 068/094	2	3	1	third copy bought at the LGS 2026-08-26; not in the pipeline yet
Energy Recycler SV10: Destined Rivals 164/182	0	1	1	owned copy; not in the pipeline yet
Total to buy			3