Hi there. In this Pokemon TCG post, I do a deck profile of a Mega Lucario ex deck.
This is a long post.
Mega Lucario ex Card Profile
Special Illustration Rare of Mega Lucario ex: Image Source
Mega Lucario ex is a beefy Stage 1 Mega Pokemon ex. It evolves from Riolu. This has 340 HP, 2 retreat cost, Psychic weakness and two attacks.
The Aura Jab first attack does 130 damage. It also lets you accelerate 3 Basic Fighting Energy from your discard pile to your Benched Pokemon in any way you like.
Mega Brave is the second attack. For 2 Fighting Energy, Mega Brave does 270 damage. During your next turn, you cannot use Mega Brave (unless it is switched to the Bench).
Key Cards
Solrock & Lunatone
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Solrock on its own is a good attacker against 70 HP or less Pokemon. Lunatone has a good draw ability where you discard 1 Fighting Energy to draw 3 cards. Drawing 3 cards is comparable to not so popular supporter Nemona and Cheren.
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Makuhita & Hariyama
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Makuhita is needed for Hariyama. Hariyama is similar to Hop's Dubwool which does not see much play. What makes Hariyama dangerous is its Boss's Orders ability. The attack on Hariyama for 210 damage does provide one hit Knockout power against Basic Support Pokemon like Mew ex, Fezandipiti ex, Squawkabilly ex and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex.
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Fighting Gong
Fighting Gong is a very good Item search card. Search for 1 Fighting Energy or 1 Basic Fighting Pokemon from your deck and put into your hand.
Premium Power Pro
This card is good if you need more fire power for your Fighting Pokemon. It lasts until the end of the turn.
Maximum Belt
Maximum Belt does not see a lot of play in many decks. It is a niche ACE SPEC card now. This ACE SPEC tool card provides more firepower against Pokemon ex. This can be the different between a two hit Knockout and a one hit Knockout.
Sample Decklist
Decklist
Pokémon: 7 3 Riolu MEG 76 2 Lunatone MEG 74 3 Makuhita MEG 72 2 Mega Lucario ex MEG 77 3 Solrock MEG 75 2 Hariyama MEG 73 1 Lucario SVI 114
Trainer: 16 4 Fighting Gong MEG 116 1 Team Rocket's Watchtower DRI 180 1 Artazon PAF 76 1 Maximum Belt TEF 154 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61 3 Premium Power Pro MEG 124 3 Nest Ball SVI 181 2 Air Balloon BLK 79 3 Iono PAL 185 2 Professor's Research JTG 155 4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119 1 Switch MEG 130 3 Ultra Ball MEG 131 2 Professor Turo's Scenario PRE 121 2 Boss's Orders MEG 114 1 Town Store OBF 196
Energy: 2 8 Basic {F} Energy MEE 6 1 Reversal Energy PAL 192
Total Cards: 60
There are variations to this decklist. I went with 3 Premium Power Pro instead of 4. You don't need the 4th I think. Instead of 2 Solrock and 2 Lunatone, I added a 3rd Solrock. Solrock is a good attacker as well.
Three Makuhita and 2 Hariyama instead of 2 of each. Having Makuhita in play does scare the opponent a bit of a possible Hariyama threat.
Instead of 3 Mega Lucario ex, I went with 2 Mega Lucario with 1 single prize Lucario. This single prize Lucario can be useful in some cases.
Lillie's Determination is a new staple card for many decks. Max out at 4.
One alternative version of Mega Lucario ex is to use it with N's Zoroark, N's Resihram and Dark Energy. The 2 Solrock and 2 Lunatone are not in here.
N's Zoroark's Trade ability lets you discard 1 card from hand to draw 2 cards. I have not tested this version out. It sounds okay in theory. This Youtuber/caster/regular comeptitive player covers this variant.
Gameplay Notes
The Mega Lucario ex deck is mainly a setup and attack deck. Attack with Solrock to knock out 70 HP Pokemon if possible.
Solrock & Lunatone is the draw engine for this deck. Lunatone also brings Fighting Energy from hand to discard.
Fighting Gongs are really good for getting 1 of a Basic Fighting Pokemon or 1 Basic Fighting Energy from deck to hand.
Mega Lucario ex is used more against other Pokemon ex. The first attack is good to do damage and to accelerate Fighting Energy to your Bench from the discard pile.
Maximum Belt is the ACE SPEC of choice. A lot of Japanese decklists since a month ago are using Maximum Belt. Add 50 more damage against opponent's Pokemon ex. For the Mega Lucario ex, 270 damage from the second attack becomes 320 damage. This one hit knocksout Dragapult ex which is pretty popular still.
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Use Premium Power Pro for additional fire power for your Fighting Pokemon. One of these could be used before you use something like Lillie's Determination to reset the hand before adding a second Premium Power Pro for more damage.
Deck Advantages
Mega Lucario ex's Fighting type is good against Pokemon with Fighting weakness. These are Fezandipiti ex, Mega Kangaskhan ex, Miraidon ex, Iron Hands ex.
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The 270 damage attack from Mega Lucario ex does provide one hit knockout power against Gholdengo ex. Add 2 Premium Power Pro to reach 330 damage to one knockout Dragapult ex or Charizard ex.
Hariyama's ability is like Boss's Orders. No Benched Pokemon is safe for the opponent if you have at least one Makuhita ready to evolve into Hariyama. Hariyama is a good attacker in itself provided you have the energy for its 210 damage attack.
Solrock and Lunatone is a new staple draw engine if you have Fighting Energy in the deck. Discarding 1 Fighting Energy to draw 3 cards once per turn is pretty powerful. Solrock is also a good attacker in the early game to take down 70HP Pokemon.
Deck Weaknesses
Even though Mega Lucario ex has a lot of HP, it is weak to Psychic Pokemon. Mega Lucario ex against Gardevoir ex decks is a super difficult matchup. I don't think it is an autoloss matchup but it is very difficult.
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Do watch for resistance against Fighting types on some of the opponent's Pokemon. Most Psychic Pokemon has 30 damage less resistance versus Fighting types.
The Mega Lucario ex can start with some bad hands in the early game. A bad hand would be something like no draw supporter, 4 Premium Power Pro, no Fighting Energy and other bad cards.
You have to be super careful with using Mega Lucario ex. If it gets knocked out, the opponent gains 3 Prize cards out of 6. There are times where you have to attack with Mega Lucario ex for a Knockout.
Iono's hand disruption can cause some problems in the late game.
Closing Notes
I write this post about 2 weeks after the Mega Evolution set release. I think Mega Lucario ex is an okay deck in the competitive metagame sense. The deck is not awful but it is not broken. It is an intermediate difficulty level deck in my opinion. There are good beatstick style attackers but you have to watch for the prize trade with Mega Lucario ex.
As Gardevoir ex is still pretty popular in the Pokemon TCG metagame, Mega Lucario ex is a risky play. You do have to get lucky in the matchups and avoid it. In the upcoming early 2026 rotation, G regulation cards go away along with Gardevoir ex. Fighting decks including Mega Lucario ex could be really good then. We will have to see.
Building this deck in real life could be tricky. It depends on the availability of cards in your area.
Thank you for reading.