Hi there. In this Pokemon trading card game post, I cover the cards Dreepy, Drakloak and Dragapult ex. This evolution line is from the upcoming set Twilight Masquerade to be released internationally next month in late May. In Japan, these cards are already released in the set Transformation Mask.
Dreepy
Dreepy is a basic Dragon Pokemon that has 70 HP, one retreat cost and no weakness. The attacks are not great but being 70 HP makes it good as it is compatible with Buddy Buddy Poffin. As Dreepy is part of an evolution line you cannot expect too much out of it.
Drakloak
Drakloak is a 90 HP Stage 1 Pokemon with an interesting ability. The ability of Reconnaissance Order allow you to look at the top 2 cards in your deck and put 1 of them into your hand. The second card that is not chosen goes to the bottom of your deck. This Drakloak ability is similar to Comfey's Flower Select. Comfey is a basic Pokemon with its ability that can be activated if Comfey is in the active spot. In addition Comfey sends the second card to the Lost Zone while Drakloak puts the non-selected second card to the bottom of the deck.
Drakloak's attack is okay. For one Fire energy and a Psychic energy you can do 70 damage. Seventy damage can knockout a good amount of Basic Pokemon as many are 70 HP or lower.
Dragapult ex
Dragapult ex is a Stage 2 ex Pokemon with 320 HP, no weakness, no resistance and one retreat cost. It is also a Tera Pokemon so it is protected by attacks that target Benched Pokemon. Note that is has no ability which can be a plus against certain anti-meta Pokemon like Scizor and Alolan Vulpix VSTAR.
Its first attack of Jet Headbutt requires one colourless energy and does 70 damage. Seventy damage for one energy is good and it can knockout low HP Basic Pokemon. Its second attack of Phantom Dive requires one Fire energy and one Psychic energy. Phantom Dive does 200 damage to the attack Pokemon with an additional 6 damage counters on the opponent's Benched Pokemon in any way you like. You can do up to 260 damage this way. If the opponent has weak Benched Pokemon then the additional spread of 6 damage counters can be pretty devastating. Multiple knockouts can happend in one turn.
Two hundred damage is quite a big number but it does not knockout big Basic Pokemon ex and Vs that often have 220 HP or 230HP. Maybe use this with Radiant Alakazam? In addition, you would need to attack twice with this in order to take down other big Pokemon with more than 200 HP, especially Stage 2 Pokemon ex with 300 HP or more.
Pros
- No weakness.
- Potential for multiple knockouts with Phantom Dive
- One retreat cost.
Cons
- Need Fire and Psychic energy
- Two hundred damage is not enough one hit knockout many large HP Pokemon
- Stage 2 Pokemon that can be hard to get into play
Combos With Dragapult ex
Here are some combos that I think that could be good with Dragapult ex. There are probably many more combos to try out that could be good.
Mela Supporter Card
With Raihan out of the F, G, H format there is not much energy accleration from Supporter cards. Mela the supporter card can be used if one of your Pokemon were knocked out by an attack during your opponent's last turn. Once used Mela allows you to attach a Basic Fire energy from the discard pile to one of your Pokemon and then you draw cards until you have 6 cards in hand. As Drakloak and Dragapult ex use a Fire Energy in its attack, it makes sense to use Mela.
Lance Supporter Card
The Supporter card Lance has not seen a lot of play in the last several months. I think it is now a very good card thanks to Dragapult ex. Lance i s super helpful in seraching for up to 3 Dragon Pokemon from your deck to your hand. With Lance you can fetch Basic Dragon Pokemon or evolved Pokemon. That would make Lance powerful in a Dragapult or a Dragon themed deck.
Radiant Alakazam
Radiant Alakazam does combo well with Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive attack. As long as the opponent has damage on their Pokemon, you can use the Painful Spoons ability from Radiant Alakazam to move damage counters around to set up multiple knockouts on your turn.
Pidgeot ex
Pidgeot ex is a popular choice in decks that feature Stage 2 Pokemon ex like Charizard ex. If the deck runs multiple copies of Rare Candy then why not use Pidgeot ex also. Pidgeot ex is an excellent support Pokemon as its Quick Search ability allows you to fetch any one card in the deck to your hand.
Xatu
Xatu is one option for accelerating Psychic energy to Benched Pokemon. As Dreepy, Drakloak and Dragapult ex need one Psychic energy for its attacks it makes sense to have Xatu as a supporting Pokemon option.
Armarouge With Fire Off Ability + Magma Basin
Dreepy, Drakloak and Dragapult ex also require a Fire energy with a Psychic energy for its attacks. Armarouge with the Fire Off ability plus the stadium Magma Basin is another option for energy acceleration. Magma Basin retrieves Fire energy from the discard to a benched Fire Pokemon at the cost of 20 damage. Armarouge's Fire off ability can send Fire energy from the bench to the active Pokemon.
ACE SPEC - Neo Upper Energy
Because Dragapult ex's big attack requires one Fire energy and one Psychic energy it makes to use Neo Upper Energy as their ACE SPEC of choice. As you are allowed only one manual energy attachment per turn, Neo Upper Energy is very fast and convienient for Stage 2 Pokemon. Be careful of Special Energy disruption cards like the stadium Temple of Sinnoh, the item card Enhanced Hammer and maybe the annoying and rare Crushing Hammer.
Sample Decklists From Japan, Other Notes
I write this on Monday April 29, 2024. There are a lot of strong winning decklists based on Dragapult ex. There is no consensus in the early days on the optimal Dragapult ex. There are some interesting variations.
Decklists like these can found on the Pokecabook website.
Lost Zone Dragapult ex Version
The Lost Zone engine with Comfeys & Mirage Gates for energy acceleration is one way to play Dragapult ex. Comfeys plus Drakloaks are very good for draw power and going through your deck. Because the Drakloaks are good the Rare Candy count does not have to be high. Once there are 7 cards in the lost zone, Mirage Gate provides excellent energy acceleration for Dragapult ex.
Unfair Stamp is the ACE SPEC of choice for hand disruption when the opponent takes a knockout. This deck also runs some interesting tech cards like Defiance Band for boosting 30 damage if you are behind in prizes plus Temple of Sinnoh to disupt effects of Special Energies.
Dragapult ex with Charizard ex
A natural attacking partner for Dragapult ex is Charizard ex (Dark Tera type). Charizard ex provides Fire Energy acceleration once it evolves plus it adds more attacking firepower going past 200 damage.
Dragapult with Pidgeot ex
Pidgeot ex is the supporting Pokemon of choice with Stage 2 attackers. It is part of the engine behind Charizard ex. Being able to Quick Search for any card in your deck once per turn is very powerful. Combining Pidgeot ex with Dragapult ex is a very powerful duo. In theory and in practice you can search for Boss's Orders and dominate the board state.
Dragapult With Xatu + Radiant Alakazam
As Dragapult ex does require Psychic Basic energy, it makes sense to use Xatu as a supporting Pokemon for energy acceleration and drawing cards. Radiant Alakazam would be the Radiant Pokemon of choice for moving damage counters for obtaining knockouts before attack and for setting up multiple knockouts.
Dragapult ex on its own looks to be very powerful. The deck variants look pretty powerful too. The Stage 1 Drakloaks are very good as they provide draw power and extra consistency.