Lucario Hariyama — Standard Strategy Guide

Archetype Overview

Lucario Hariyama is a Fighting deck built on one engine. Mega Lucario ex hits hard, powers up your Bench from the discard pile, and hands off to single-Prize Fighting Pokémon that finish the game. Every Pokémon in the list except Meowth ex is Fighting type. That means all of them get the bonus from Premium Power Pro, and every Fighting Basic can be found with Fighting Gong. The list is tight and costs roughly $28. It took 2nd Place out of 358 players at TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DINNER? on 2026-10-17, piloted by All_the_Turtles.

The Plan

Mega Lucario ex has two attacks with two different jobs:

• Aura Jab costs one Fighting Energy. It does 130 and attaches up to three Basic Fighting Energy from your discard pile to your Benched Pokémon, split however you like.
• Mega Brave costs two Fighting Energy and does 270, but you can't use it again on your next turn.

So the deck runs on a rhythm. Aura Jab loads the Bench, and Mega Brave takes the big Knock Outs. While Mega Brave is locked, you either Aura Jab again to reload, or pivot into a second attacker you already powered up.

Your discard pile is your Energy bank, and the deck fills it on purpose. Lunatone's Lunar Cycle asks you to discard a Basic Fighting Energy from your hand to draw three, so your draw engine is also stocking the next Aura Jab. Ultra Ball's discard cost does the same job. With ten Fighting Energy plus Rocky Fighting Energy, you rarely run dry.

Hariyama is the second threat:

• Evolving it from your hand triggers Heave-Ho Catcher, which drags one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot.
• Its Wild Press costs exactly three Fighting Energy, which is exactly what one Aura Jab can put on a Benched Makuhita.

The core line: Aura Jab three Energy onto Makuhita. Next turn, evolve it to pull up your target, move Hariyama into the Active Spot with an Air Balloon or Switch, and Wild Press for 210.

Solrock and Lunatone round it out. They are the draw engine, and they are also cheap single-Prize attackers. Cosmic Beam costs one Energy and does 70, ignoring Weakness and Resistance, as long as Lunatone is on your Bench.

Why the Plan Is Strong

• Damage scales with Items, not setup. Mega Brave hits 300 with one Premium Power Pro and 330 with two. Wild Press reaches 240 with one, and Cosmic Beam reaches 100. Running four Pro means your damage ceiling is in your hand, not on the board.
• You can target almost anything. You have four gust effects: two Boss's Orders and two Hariyama. The Hariyama gust doesn't use your Supporter for the turn, so you can still play Lillie's Determination or Judge that same turn. Meowth ex searches out whichever Supporter you need when you Bench it.
• The Prize trade favors you. A Knocked Out Mega Evolution Pokémon ex gives up three Prize cards (source: Scrydex Mega Evolution expansion rules listing, accessed 2026-10-19). Everything else here except Meowth ex has no Rule Box and gives up one. Your opponent has to choose between chasing a 340-HP Lucario for three Prizes or picking off cheap attackers that keep hitting back.
• It finds its pieces reliably. You have four each of Fighting Gong, Poké Pad, Ultra Ball, and Lillie's Determination. Lillie's draws eight while you still have all six Prize cards. Add repeatable Lunar Cycle draws and the deck finds its pieces far more often than a list with this many Stage 1 lines usually would.
• The tech cards have no drawback for you. Gravity Mountain takes 30 HP off every Stage 2 in play, and you have none. Rocky Fighting Energy blocks the effects of opposing attacks on the Pokémon it's attached to, though not their damage. Wally's Compassion fully heals a damaged Mega Lucario ex and returns its Energy to your hand. That Energy can be reattached, or discarded to Lunar Cycle to feed the next Aura Jab.

Where It Bends

• Weakness. The entire Riolu, Lucario, Makuhita, and Hariyama line is Psychic weak ×2. Solrock and Lunatone are Grass weak ×2, so a Psychic or Grass attacker gets a real shortcut against you.
• The Mega Brave lock. If nothing on your Bench is powered when Mega Brave is locked, you're stuck at 130 for a turn.
• Hariyama's costs. Wild Press does 70 to Hariyama itself, and its Retreat Cost of 3 makes it clumsy without Air Balloon.
• The Solrock/Lunatone pair. Losing Lunatone shuts off both your draw and Cosmic Beam at once. Losing Solrock turns off Lunar Cycle. Protect the pair, or rebuild it quickly with Fighting Gong and Poké Pad.

Who Should Pick It Up

This deck is for players who like counting damage and planning a turn ahead, more than piloting long combo turns. Most of its edge comes from deciding where each Aura Jab Energy goes. Every attachment is a commitment to which attacker swings next, and to which opposing Pokémon you'll pull up with Hariyama or Boss's Orders.

If you're comfortable with Prize math, this deck rewards you. It has a low price, a simple core, and a damage curve you can calculate exactly every turn. If you'd rather react than plan, look elsewhere: this list wins by deciding the next two turns before your opponent does.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

How the Deck Wins

You win by trading one heavy hitter at a time and making every one of your turns count for a Knock Out. Mega Lucario ex is the win condition. Mega Brave hits for 270, or 300 with Premium Power Pro, which knocks out most things you face. The catch is the lockout: the same Lucario can't Mega Brave on back-to-back turns. The rest of the deck exists to cover that gap. It recharges a second attacker, picks the right target, and keeps your hand full enough to repeat the cycle until you've taken six Prize cards.

The posture is proactive. You aren't trying to out-resource the opponent or lock them out. You present a big attack every turn from turn two onward and force them to answer it. Judge, Unfair Stamp and Boss's Orders are tempo tools that help you close the game. They aren't a control plan.

The Engine: Your Discard Pile Is Your Energy Zone

Lucario's Aura Jab attaches up to three Basic Fighting Energy from your discard pile to your Benched Pokémon. Most of your deck feeds that discard pile on purpose:

• Lunatone + Solrock: With Solrock in play, Lunar Cycle has you discard a Basic Fighting Energy from hand to draw 3. That one discard is both your draw engine and fuel for the next Aura Jab.
• Ultra Ball: It discards two cards, and spare Fighting Energy are ideal pitches.
• Fighting Gong: It finds Energy for Lunar Cycle, or any Basic Fighting Pokémon you're missing.
• Wally's Compassion: It fully heals a damaged Lucario and returns its Energy to your hand. That Energy becomes Lunar Cycle fodder, goes to the discard, and comes back through Aura Jab. Healing a 340 HP attacker costs you very little tempo here.

The result is that you rarely depend on your once-per-turn manual attachment to power big attacks. One Aura Jab can fully charge a Benched Lucario for Mega Brave, or put most of the cost of Wild Press onto Hariyama.

The Rotation

The Mega Brave lockout applies only to that Lucario, so you rotate:

1. Lucario A uses Mega Brave.
2. Next turn, move A out of the Active Spot. Air Balloon makes Lucario's Retreat Cost free, or you can use Switch. Bring up Lucario B, which an earlier Aura Jab already charged, and Mega Brave again.
3. If you have no charged backup, Lucario A uses Aura Jab instead. That still does 130 (160 with Premium Power Pro) and refuels the Bench for next turn.

Aura Jab is not a wasted turn. It often finishes a damaged target or a single-Prize Pokémon while setting up the next two attacks.

Target Selection and the Supporting Cast

Hariyama is a free gust attached to an evolution. When you evolve Makuhita from hand, Heave-Ho Catcher drags up a Benched Pokémon without spending your Supporter. That frees the Supporter slot for Lillie's Determination on a turn when you need both a gust and a refill. Wild Press (210, or 240 with Premium Power Pro) is a real finisher. It needs three Energy and deals 70 to itself, so it's usually something Aura Jab sets up, not something you plan around early.

Solrock's Cosmic Beam does 70, or 100 with Premium Power Pro, and ignores Weakness and Resistance. It only works with Lunatone on your Bench. Use it for low-HP Basics, or when you'd rather not expose a Lucario. Gravity Mountain cuts 30 HP from every Stage 2 in play. Your own evolutions are Stage 1, so it costs you nothing. Keep it in mind whenever a Stage 2 sits just above your damage.

Prize Math

A Knocked Out Mega Evolution Pokémon ex gives up three Prize cards (source: Scrydex Mega Evolution expansion rules page, accessed 2026-10-19). Two Lucario KOs end the game for your opponent, so don't hand them a cheap one. Your Riolus, Makuhitas, and the Solrock/Lunatone pair are single-Prize Pokémon. Meowth ex gives up two and has low HP. Bench it only when the Supporter it finds wins you the turn.

Lillie's Determination draws 8 while you still have exactly 6 Prize cards remaining. Your best explosive turn is therefore before you take your first Knock Out. Once you've taken a Prize, it drops to 6, and Lunar Cycle has to carry your draw.

The Ideal Game

1. Turn 1: Get two Riolu, Solrock and Lunatone onto the Bench using Fighting Gong and Poké Pad. Add Makuhita if you have room. Use Lunar Cycle, play Lillie's Determination for 8, and attach a Fighting Energy to a Riolu.
2. Turn 2: Evolve into Mega Lucario ex and attach the second Energy. Then choose based on the board. Mega Brave if there's a Knock Out to take. Aura Jab if your Bench needs charging more than the opponent's Active needs damage.
3. Turns 3+: Rotate Lucarios, alternating Mega Brave and Aura Jab. Use Boss's Orders or Hariyama to reach two-Prize and three-Prize targets. Use Lunar Cycle every turn.
4. Closing: After the opponent takes a Knock Out, use Unfair Stamp or Judge to cut their hand while you rebuild, then take your last Prizes with whatever attacker is charged.

Card Choices & Breakdown

The Attacker: 3 Riolu, 3 Mega Lucario ex

Two attacks run the deck. Aura Jab hits for 130 and attaches up to three Basic Fighting Energy from your discard to the Bench. Mega Brave hits for 270 but can't be used on consecutive turns. The usual rhythm is to Aura Jab to power the next Lucario, then Mega Brave. If you can't afford the off turn, retreat into a fresh attacker.

The line is 3-3 rather than 4-4 because Aura Jab rebuilds a Benched attacker in one attack, so you rarely need more than two Lucarios powered over a game. Riolu is easy to find with Fighting Gong and Poké Pad. Mega Lucario ex has a Rule Box, so Ultra Ball is your only way to search it. That's why all four Ultra Ball are in the list. Losing a Mega costs you three Prize cards (source: Scrydex Mega Evolution expansion rules, accessed 2026-10-19), so each one has to earn its keep.

The Draw Engine: 3 Solrock, 2 Lunatone

Lunar Cycle draws three cards for one Basic Fighting Energy from your hand, as long as Solrock is in play. That discard also stocks your discard pile for Aura Jab, so drawing and powering up happen together.

• Why 3 Solrock: It does two jobs. It turns on Lunar Cycle, and it's a single-Prize attacker. Cosmic Beam hits for 70 and ignores Weakness and Resistance while Lunatone is on the Bench. With Premium Power Pro it hits for 100.
• Why only 2 Lunatone: Only one Lunar Cycle can be used each turn. A second Lunatone adds no extra draw. The second copy is there in case the first is Prized or Knocked Out.

Gusting from the Bench: 2 Makuhita, 2 Hariyama

Heave-Ho Catcher pulls an opposing Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot when you evolve. Unlike Boss's Orders, it doesn't use your Supporter for the turn. That lets you gust and still play Lillie's Determination on the same turn. Wild Press hits for 210 (240 with Premium Power Pro) at the cost of 70 damage to itself. It's a finisher, not something you attack with every turn. A 2-2 line plus two Boss's Orders gives you four gust effects. Poké Pad can search both Makuhita and Hariyama.

Supporter Access: 1 Meowth ex

Last-Ditch Catch searches out whichever Supporter you need. That makes Meowth ex an extra copy of Boss's Orders, Wally's Compassion, or anything else in the list. Tuck Tail returns it to your hand so you can use the Ability again later. It's a Pokémon ex worth two Prize cards, so bench it only when the Supporter wins you the turn. Only Ultra Ball can search it.

Supporters

• 4 Lillie's Determination: Your main draw Supporter. It draws eight cards while you still have all six Prize cards, which makes it your best turn-one or turn-two Supporter.
• 2 Judge: Cuts both hands to four cards. Play it when the opponent has built up a strong hand and your board can work from a small one.
• 2 Boss's Orders: The gust effects that don't depend on drawing Hariyama and Makuhita together.
• 1 Team Rocket's Petrel: Searches any Trainer card, including Gravity Mountain, Unfair Stamp, Switch, or Premium Power Pro. It can also find Boss's Orders, but that Boss has to wait until next turn because Petrel was your Supporter.
• 1 Wally's Compassion: Heals a damaged Mega Lucario ex back to full 340 HP and returns its Energy to your hand. That Energy then feeds Lunar Cycle and Ultra Ball discards, which Aura Jab can recover. You lose tempo, but the opponent loses the three Prize cards they were about to take.

Search and Damage Items

• 4 Fighting Gong, 4 Poké Pad: Eight search cards that finish setting up your board. Gong finds Basic Fighting Pokémon or Energy. Pad finds Hariyama and the Basics. Neither can find Mega Lucario ex or Meowth ex.
• 4 Ultra Ball: Searches your Rule Box Pokémon. The two-card discard also puts Energy in the discard for Aura Jab.
• 4 Premium Power Pro: Four copies because the +30 is what makes your damage numbers work. Mega Brave becomes 300, enough for a 300 HP Mega Kangaskhan ex. Two copies push it to 330.
• 1 Unfair Stamp: Play it after you lose a Pokémon. You draw five and the opponent draws two, which hurts most when they were holding a full hand.

Mobility: 2 Air Balloon, 1 Switch

Air Balloon drops the Retreat Cost of Riolu, Makuhita, and Mega Lucario ex to zero, and Hariyama's to one. Use it to retreat on a Mega Brave cooldown turn, or to move a just-evolved Hariyama out of the Active Spot. Switch is the single-use backup.

Stadium: 3 Gravity Mountain

This list has no Stage 2 Pokémon, so the -30 HP only hurts the opponent. Against Stage 2 attackers like Dragapult ex (320 HP) or Alakazam, it lowers their HP into range of your attacks. A Dragapult ex drops to 290, which a single Premium Power Pro Mega Brave Knocks Out. You play three copies to replace opposing Stadiums and to find one early.

Energy: 10 Fighting Energy, 1 Rocky Fighting Energy

Eleven Energy is enough because Aura Jab, Lunar Cycle, and Ultra Ball keep cycling the same Basic Energy between your discard and the board. Rocky Fighting Energy prevents effects of opposing attacks on the Pokémon it's attached to. Under its wording, damage counters placed by an attack's effect aren't damage, so it should stop spread effects like Phantom Dive's Bench counters on that Pokémon. Attach it by hand to the Mega Lucario ex you most need to protect.

The Decklist

This is the exact 60 that took 2nd Place at TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DINNER? (2026-10-17), a 358-player event, piloted by All_the_Turtles. It costs about $28 at TCGplayer market prices (approximate). The split is 16 Pokémon, 33 Trainers and 11 Energy. Notes marked Flex are the slots you can adjust without breaking the engine. Everything else is core.

Pokémon (16)

Trainer (33)

Energy (11)

Reading the Flex Slots

The parts you can't touch are the search package and the Energy count. Four each of Fighting Gong, Poké Pad and Ultra Ball are what let you find Solrock and Lunatone on turn one and a Hariyama exactly when you need it. Ten Fighting Energy keeps Lunar Cycle fed while still leaving enough in the discard for Aura Jab.

The real flex sits in the singles and the Stadium count:

• Gravity Mountain matters only against opposing Stage 2 decks. Cut copies first if your local field is mostly Basics.
• Wally's Compassion and Rocky Fighting Energy earn their slots only when your opponent can't take a Mega Lucario ex in one hit.
• Meowth ex trades consistency for a 2-Prize target. Play it from your hand only when you can afford that risk or can Tuck Tail it back out.

Opening Hands & Setup

Your list runs 11 Basic Pokémon and twelve Items that search out Pokémon or Energy (Fighting Gong, Poké Pad, Ultra Ball). Almost any seven cards with a Basic in them can be turned into a functioning board. You don't need a perfect seven. You need a hand that reaches Riolu plus the Solrock/Lunatone pair by the end of turn one.

Strong vs. Weak Openings

A strong opening has three things:

• A Riolu, or a way to find one. Riolu in hand, or Fighting Gong/Poké Pad to fetch it.
• A way into the Lunar Cycle engine. Solrock and Lunatone in play, plus a Fighting Energy in hand to discard for the draw 3.
• A draw Supporter. Lillie's Determination draws 8 while you still have all 6 Prize cards, which makes it the best turn-one Supporter you can have.

Weak openings look like this, along with how to fix each one:

• Lone Makuhita or lone Meowth ex with no search. You're stuck with a Basic you don't want Active. Dig with whatever draw you have and prioritize finding Riolu over anything else.
• Basics but no Energy. Lunar Cycle is switched off without a Basic Fighting Energy in hand. Fighting Gong can grab Energy instead of a Pokémon. Take that option if your Basics are already handled.
• All Items, no Supporter. This hand is playable. Search out Solrock and Lunatone first so Lunar Cycle gives you a draw source that doesn't depend on topdecking a Supporter.

Choosing Your Starting Active

With Air Balloon attached, Solrock and Lunatone retreat for free. That makes them ideal placeholders while Mega Lucario ex comes online behind them.

Turn-One Priorities

1. Get two Riolu into play. One Riolu is a single point of failure, so give yourself a backup Mega Lucario ex. Use Poké Pad and Fighting Gong here first. Save Ultra Ball for Mega Lucario ex itself, since Poké Pad can't find Rule Box Pokémon.
2. Complete the Solrock/Lunatone pair. Only one Lunar Cycle can be used per turn, so a second Lunatone is backup rather than extra draw.
3. Bench a Makuhita if you can afford the space. Hariyama has to evolve from a Makuhita that is already in play. Getting it down early keeps the gust available for later turns.
4. Fill your discard pile with plain Fighting Energy. Ultra Ball discards and Lunar Cycle discards are not costs in this deck. They are fuel, because Aura Jab attaches Basic Fighting Energy from the discard pile to your Bench.
5. Attach a Fighting Energy to the Riolu you plan to evolve. Aura Jab costs one.
6. Sequence the draw correctly. Lillie's Determination draws a fixed 8 no matter what your hand looks like, so play out everything useful first. Then use Lunar Cycle if you're holding Energy, and play Lillie's last.

Don't use Meowth ex on turn one unless you actually need the Supporter. It hands your opponent an easy two-Prize target. Its best uses are finding Lillie's Determination off a dead hand or grabbing Boss's Orders for a key turn later.

Turn-Two Priorities

Evolve into Mega Lucario ex and attack with Aura Jab. That's 130 damage, or 160 with Premium Power Pro.

• Load the Bench for next turn. Use Aura Jab's attachment to set up a Benched Lucario for Mega Brave, which costs two Energy, or a Hariyama for Wild Press, which costs three.
• Check your discard pile before you attack. If it has no Fighting Energy in it, Aura Jab is just 130 damage. Fix that during the turn with Ultra Ball or Lunar Cycle.
• Deal with an evolved Lucario on the Bench. If your Lucario evolved on the Bench, use Air Balloon or Switch to move it Active. Its Retreat 2 drops to zero with a Balloon attached.

Going First or Second

Default: go second. Here is what going second gives you:

• Your opponent can't attack on the first turn of the game, so your 80-HP Riolu survive to evolve.
• You get a turn-one Supporter, and that means Lillie's Determination for 8.
• You get a turn-one attack. Cosmic Beam with Premium Power Pro puts real damage on an opposing Basic before they've set up.

The exception is a slow, evolution-heavy opponent that won't threaten your Bench early. Against that kind of deck, going first gets your Mega Lucario ex attacking a full turn ahead of their setup. That's worth losing the turn-one Supporter, because Lunar Cycle and twelve search Items can carry a Supporter-less first turn.

Against spread attackers that place damage counters on the Bench, go second regardless of the matchup. Bench only the Riolu you actually need, so your 80-HP Basics aren't all exposed at once.

Sequencing & Key Lines

Turn One: Build the Engine Before You Commit

Your first turn has one job: get Energy into the discard pile and Basics onto the Bench so the first Aura Jab can pay off. Play it in this order:

1. Search Items first. Use Poké Pad and Fighting Gong for Riolu, Solrock, and Lunatone before you touch a Supporter. They thin the deck, and nothing they find gets lost to a shuffle.
2. Use Ultra Ball with intent. Discarding Basic Fighting Energy isn't a cost here. It loads Aura Jab. Two Energy in the discard by your second turn is the target.
3. Use Lunar Cycle before your draw Supporter. With Solrock in play, discard a Basic Fighting Energy and draw 3. You get more fuel in the discard, and you see 3 extra cards before deciding what to keep.
4. Play Lillie's Determination last. It shuffles your hand away anyway, so spend everything useful first. At exactly 6 Prize cards it draws 8, and that's the strongest it will ever be. Use it early.

If you have no Supporter, putting Meowth ex onto your Bench fetches Lillie's Determination. Be aware that this puts a two-Prize Pokémon on your Bench, and your opponent will remember it.

Turn Two: The First Aura Jab

Evolve into Mega Lucario ex, attach, and use Aura Jab. Assign the up to 3 Energy from the discard in this order:

• Two Energy onto a second Riolu or Mega Lucario ex, so it's ready for Mega Brave next turn.
• The third onto Makuhita or whatever else needs it.

Add Premium Power Pro only if the extra 30 actually takes a Knock Out. Otherwise keep it for a Mega Brave turn.

The Mega Brave Rotation

Mega Brave locks itself for one turn, so plan two turns ahead every time you attack:

• Turn A: Lucario #1 uses Mega Brave.
• Turn B: Retreat Lucario #1 with Air Balloon (Retreat Cost drops from 2 to 0) or Switch, then Mega Brave with Lucario #2.
• If no second attacker is ready: Lucario #1 uses Aura Jab instead. That reloads the Bench while still hitting for 130, or 160 with one Premium Power Pro.

Never end a turn where your next turn has no legal 270.

Hold Hariyama Until It Matters

Heave-Ho Catcher only works on the turn you play Hariyama from your hand to evolve. Keep Makuhita on the Bench and keep Hariyama in hand until the turn you need to gust. That turn, you pull a target into the Active Spot and still have your Supporter available for Lillie's Determination or Judge. Combine it with Boss's Orders when you need two gusts across consecutive turns.

Wild Press does 210, or 240 with one Premium Power Pro. Hariyama takes 70 itself, so from full health it survives at 80. That keeps the hit on a single-Prize body instead of a three-Prize Mega.

Damage Math to Know Cold

Gravity Mountain costs you nothing, because you play no Stage 2s. If Team Rocket's Petrel is your Supporter for the turn, it can fetch whichever piece completes the math: the Stadium, a Premium Power Pro, or a gust.

Playing Around Bench Spread

Dragapult took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026), so Phantom Dive is the interaction you'll see most. It deals 200 to your Active Pokémon and places 6 damage counters across your Bench.

• Protect your 80-HP Basics. One Phantom Dive can't Knock Out an undamaged Riolu or Makuhita. Two can. Evolve them the turn after they take counters rather than leaving them exposed.
• Bench only what you need. Extra Pokémon give your opponent more ways to spread counters onto something they can finish later.
• Heal at the right moment. A Mega Lucario ex that took one Phantom Dive is at 140. Wally's Compassion resets it to 340 and returns its Energy to your hand. The best time is right after Aura Jab has already powered a Benched Lucario to attack that turn, because the healed one goes back to the Bench as a fresh, three-Prize-safe body.

Late-Game Branches

Each Mega Lucario ex Knock Out gives up 3 Prize cards. Two of them lose you the game, so map your Prizes around one Lucario plus single-Prize Pokémon. When you're behind, choose your disruption this way:

• Unfair Stamp needs a Knock Out on your opponent's last turn. Play it before any search, since it shuffles your hand. You draw 5 and your opponent draws 2.
• Judge works without that condition and leaves both players at 4. It's your answer when your opponent is sitting on a full hand and you didn't lose a Pokémon last turn.

Matchup Matrix

Dragapult is the deck to beat, with 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots and 9 event wins (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). Basic Box is next with 17 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). The rest of the field is spread thin, so tune your play for Dragapult first.

Dragapult

Phantom Dive does 200 to your Active and puts 6 damage counters on your Bench. A 340 HP Mega Lucario ex survives one Phantom Dive. Your Riolu and Makuhita can't survive two rounds of bench counters. Keep your Bench down to the pieces you actually need. Every extra 80 HP Basic you bench is a Prize you're giving them.

The damage math on a 320 HP Dragapult ex:

• One-turn KO: Mega Brave with two Premium Power Pro does exactly 330, enough to take it.
• Two-turn KO: With only one Pro, Mega Brave (300) leaves it at 20 HP. Aura Jab finishes it on the turn you can't Mega Brave.

Lucario gives up 3 Prizes, so protecting it is the real game. After a Phantom Dive, use Wally's Compassion to heal it fully. The Energy goes back to your hand. With Air Balloon attached, Lucario's Retreat Cost drops to zero, so it can pivot into a Benched attacker that Aura Jab has already powered. That forces them to deal 400+ damage to one Lucario instead of 340. The Blaziken, Dusknoir and Dudunsparce versions follow the same plan. Treat their partner as extra pressure and keep your Bench even thinner.

Basic Box

Mega Kangaskhan ex has 300 HP. Mega Brave plus one Pro does exactly 300, and it gives you 3 Prizes. Rapid-Fire Combo starts at 200, so Kangaskhan needs flips going their way to Knock Out your Lucario in one hit. Their Meowth ex (170 HP, Fighting Weakness ×2) is a liability for them:

• Pull it Active with Hariyama's Heave-Ho Catcher.
• Aura Jab does a doubled 260 and Knocks it Out.

The Tera Ogerpon ex only have damage protection while on the Bench. You don't attack the Bench anyway, so drag them Active with Hariyama or Boss's Orders and hit them there. Some lists run Unfair Stamp (6 of 17) and Judge (5 of 17) (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). Keep Solrock and Lunatone in play so Lunar Cycle can rebuild your hand after a shuffle.

Lucario Hariyama Mirror

Neither side has Fighting Weakness. A 340 HP Lucario survives Mega Brave even with two Pros (330). That makes the Basics the real targets:

• Cosmic Beam plus Pro does 100, which Knocks Out an 80 HP Riolu or Makuhita.
• Use Heave-Ho Catcher or Boss's Orders to pull those Basics Active before they evolve.

If both Lucario come online, plan your damage across two turns. Aura Jab plus Pro (160) one turn, then Mega Brave plus Pro (300) the next, takes a Lucario.

N's Zoroark

N's Zoroark ex has 280 HP, and Mega Brave plus one Pro (300) Knocks it Out in one hit. Mega Brave can't be used two turns in a row, so on the off turn you have two options:

• Swing with Hariyama's Wild Press plus Pro for 240.
• Use Aura Jab to power your next attacker.

Night Joker copies an attack from a Benched N's Pokémon, so it only works if that Pokémon is still on their Bench. Use your gust effects to remove those Bench Pokémon, along with any two-Prize Basics like Pecharunt ex or Fezandipiti ex.

Alakazam Dudunsparce

This is a Stage 2 deck. Gravity Mountain cuts 30 HP from every Stage 2 in play, and none of your Pokémon are Stage 2, so it only hurts them. Your plan is speed:

• Use Heave-Ho Catcher on Abra or Kadabra while they're still on the Bench.
• Knock them Out with Cosmic Beam plus Pro.

If the line finishes evolving, the game becomes a straight race.

Psychic-Type Attackers

Riolu, Makuhita, Mega Lucario ex and Hariyama all have Psychic Weakness ×2. That's the problem with decks like Dhelmise/Banette, whose Pokémon are Psychic type. Solrock and Lunatone are weak to Grass, not Psychic. Lean on Cosmic Beam, which ignores Weakness and Resistance either way, and keep Solrock Active as long as you can. Only commit a Lucario when it can take a Knock Out that turn.

Other Stage 2 Setup Decks

Run the Alakazam plan:

• Get Gravity Mountain down early.
• Use your gust effects on unevolved pieces.
• Pressure their Bench before their engine comes online.

Three copies of Gravity Mountain mean you can replace it when they play their own Stadium.

Tech Choices & Variations

The list commits to its engine: Riolu into Mega Lucario ex, Solrock and Lunatone for draw, Hariyama for gusting on evolve. About ten slots sit around that core, and those are the ones to tune. Every swap below reallocates counts of cards already in the 60. Each one gives something up, so the trade-off is stated.

The Flex Slots

Gravity Mountain: The Biggest Lever

Gravity Mountain can never hurt you, because Hariyama and Mega Lucario ex are both Stage 1. Its value depends entirely on how many Stage 2 Pokémon you expect to face. The Alakazam line runs through Abra and Kadabra, so -30 HP lowers the numbers on its main attacker.

Basic Box is described as almost entirely Basic Pokémon ex, so the Stadium does nothing there except contest theirs. Basic Box took 17 of 176 online Top 8 slots (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026).

If your local field leans toward Basic Pokémon, cut one or two copies. The best replacements:

• A third Boss's Orders. Gusting without a Hariyama evolution available is how you close games against wide Benches.
• A fourth Riolu. This gives you more chances to have the Basic down early.

Keep at least one Stadium. You will still want a card to replace an opposing Stadium.

Damage Thresholds Decide Your Gusting and Pump Counts

Run the math before trimming Premium Power Pro:

• Mega Kangaskhan ex (300 HP): Mega Lucario ex's Mega Brave plus one Premium Power Pro is exactly 300, a clean KO.
• Dragapult ex (320 HP): You need Mega Brave plus two copies on the same turn.

Dragapult took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots and made Top 8 in 20 of 22 events (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026). Four Premium Power Pro is therefore the floor, not a flex slot.

The same logic protects Hariyama. Wild Press does 210, or 240 with one pump, and Heave-Ho Catcher is gusting you don't spend a Supporter on. Two Boss's Orders plus two Hariyama is the minimum for a deck that needs to drag up Bench targets. If you expect lots of single-Prize Basics or Pokémon sitting on the Bench, the third Boss's Orders comes before anything else.

Rocky Fighting Energy

Phantom Dive puts 6 damage counters on the Bench. That placement is an effect of the attack, not damage. Rocky Fighting Energy prevents effects of attacks done to the Pokémon it's attached to, so a Benched Riolu or Makuhita holding it is shielded from those counters.

Against a Dragapult-heavy room, a second copy is a real consideration, but it costs you elsewhere. Fighting Gong, Lunar Cycle and Aura Jab all reference Basic {F} Energy cards. Rocky's own text describes it as providing {F}, not as a Basic Fighting Energy card, so treat each copy as one fewer card that engine can find, discard, or recycle. Swap it in for a plain Fighting Energy only if you are confident in the matchup spread. Ten Basic Energy is already lean for a deck that discards Energy to draw and recycles it with Aura Jab.

Wally's Compassion and the Supporter Package

Wally's Compassion earns its slot when an opponent leaves a 340-HP Mega Lucario ex standing after a big hit. A full heal forces them to start over against a Pokémon worth three Prize cards. The cost is real: every Energy on it returns to your hand, and you attach one per turn by hand. That makes it a strong card when you have a Benched attacker ready to step up, or Aura Jab to rebuild the board. It is a weak card when Lucario is your only threat.

Against decks that spread damage instead of hitting one target, consider swapping it for a third Boss's Orders.

Team Rocket's Petrel uses your Supporter for the turn, so fetching another Supporter with it is almost always wrong. Its value is grabbing the one Item that wins the turn: Switch, Unfair Stamp, the last Premium Power Pro, or a Gravity Mountain when you need it. It stays as long as those silver bullets are singletons or low counts. If you raise Switch or Unfair Stamp to two copies, Petrel becomes the natural cut.

Meowth ex is the riskiest single slot. It finds any Supporter on entry, but it is a two-Prize, 170-HP body with Fighting Weakness. Keep it unless you expect lots of Fighting-type attackers, then accept the lower consistency.

Tuning by Expected Field

• Dragapult-heavy: Keep four Premium Power Pro. Consider a second Rocky Fighting Energy or a fourth Riolu over the third Gravity Mountain.
• Basic Box-heavy: Cut Gravity Mountain down to one and add Boss's Orders. Basic Box played 3 Meowth ex in all 17 of its online Top 8 lists (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026), and Meowth ex is weak to Fighting. Gusting it up for a cheap KO is a two-Prize swing.
• Stage 2-heavy (Alakazam and similar): Play all three Gravity Mountain. Here it does its most work.
• Psychic attackers (Dhelmise/Banette): Your Riolu and Makuhita lines carry Psychic Weakness, while Solrock's Cosmic Beam ignores Weakness and Resistance. Protect your evolution count over adding tech.

Budget Options

At roughly $28 (TCGplayer market prices; approximate), this list is already one of the cheaper ways into competitive Standard. "Budget" here means one of two things: getting a playable version together while you track down a few singles, or deciding which slots to buy last. The structure of the deck makes that easy, because almost all of its power sits in cards that are cheap to begin with.

Where the Money Likely Sits

Expect most of the cost to come from the Pokémon with a Rule Box: three Mega Lucario ex and one Meowth ex. After those, the cards most likely to cost more than bulk are the full set of Lillie's Determination, Unfair Stamp, Team Rocket's Petrel, and Rocky Fighting Energy. Prices on singles move from week to week, so check current listings before you buy. The rule for what to buy first stays the same: buy the cards the deck can't function without, then the cards that only improve it.

The Non-Negotiable Core

Do not cut corners on any of these. Swapping them out turns this into a different, weaker deck.

• 3 Riolu / 3 Mega Lucario ex: This is your win condition. Mega Brave hits for 270. Aura Jab keeps recycling Basic Fighting Energy from the discard pile onto your Bench. With fewer copies, Riolu gets stranded and you miss the turn-two evolution the deck is built around.
• 2 Makuhita / 2 Hariyama: Heave-Ho Catcher is your second gust effect alongside Boss's Orders. Wild Press at 210 is your backup attacker.
• 3 Solrock / 2 Lunatone: Lunar Cycle is your draw engine, and it needs Solrock in play. Cosmic Beam is your answer to targets where Weakness or Resistance works against you.
• 4 Premium Power Pro: This card sets your damage math. Mega Brave plus one copy deals exactly 300, which is Mega Kangaskhan ex's HP (source: TCGdex card data, accessed 2026-10-19). Wild Press plus one copy deals 240.
• 4 Fighting Gong, 4 Poké Pad, 4 Ultra Ball, and the basic Fighting Energy: These are your consistency and fuel. They are also cheap, so there is no reason to trim them.

Acceptable Budget Swaps

Make these swaps one or two at a time. If you make all four at once, the deck plays like a rigid, lower-ceiling version of itself. The Meowth ex cut hurts most, because it is part of the reason your turn one is consistent.

Leave Gravity Mountain alone, but know when it matters. It only affects Stage 2 Pokémon. Basic Box lists are almost entirely Basic Pokémon ex (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5–19, 2026), so the Stadium does nothing in that matchup. Alakazam Dudunsparce runs the Abra / Kadabra / Alakazam line (same source), and there it is live. If your local field leans toward Basic-heavy decks, you can delay buying the third copy.

Upgrade Path

1. Start with the core above plus the full Supporter suite (Lillie's Determination, Judge, Boss's Orders, Wally's Compassion), with the budget swaps in place. This version is fully functional, just less forgiving.
2. Add Meowth ex first. It gives the biggest consistency gain of any upgrade, because it turns a Basic into a search for any Supporter.
3. Add Unfair Stamp next. It is the only card in the list that can swing a game you are losing on Prize cards. That makes it the upgrade most likely to win you an extra round.
4. Add Team Rocket's Petrel. It is a quality-of-life improvement: it turns your exact-damage turns from "hope you drew it" into "go get it."
5. Finish with Rocky Fighting Energy. It matters only against attack effects aimed at your attacker, so it is the smallest gain per dollar.

Once all four are in, you are playing the exact 60 that took 2nd Place at TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DINNER? (358 players), still for around $28.

Common Mistakes

1. Wasting Hariyama's gust on the evolve

Heave-Ho Catcher only works when you play Hariyama from your hand to evolve. If you evolve Makuhita early to "get it online" with no target worth pulling, you've spent one of your gust effects and gained a 150 HP attacker with a Retreat Cost of 3. With only two Boss's Orders in the list, Hariyama is your other way to reach the Bench, and burning it early leaves you short when the game-ending gust matters.

The fix: Park Makuhita on the Bench and keep Hariyama in your hand or in the deck. Poké Pad can fetch it because it has no Rule Box. Evolve on the turn the gust takes a Prize, especially against Basic Box, where a Tera Ogerpon ex on the Bench can't take attack damage until you drag it into the Active Spot.

2. Swinging Mega Brave without a plan for next turn

Mega Brave hits for 270, but Mega Lucario ex can't use it on your following turn. Players attack with it, then find their only powered Lucario stuck Active with nothing better than a 130-damage Aura Jab, or no attacker at all.

The fix: Before every Mega Brave, know your next attack. The best rhythm is to use Aura Jab first to power a Benched Mega Lucario ex from the discard pile, then Mega Brave with the first one and pivot to the fresh one. Air Balloon cuts Lucario's Retreat Cost of 2 to zero, which makes this rotation free. Don't leave the Balloons to rot in your hand.

3. Starving Aura Jab of discard fuel

Aura Jab only attaches Basic {F} Energy cards that are already in your discard pile. If you pay for Ultra Ball with spare Pokémon or Trainers, or skip Lunar Cycle to "save" Energy, Aura Jab arrives with an empty discard pile and accelerates nothing.

The fix: Treat Fighting Energy in your hand as Aura Jab ammunition. Discard it to Lunar Cycle and to Ultra Ball whenever you can still make your attachment for the turn. Lunar Cycle draws you 3 cards and loads the discard pile in one action, so you get value both ways.

4. Mismanaging the Solrock / Lunatone pair

Lunar Cycle needs Solrock in play and a Basic {F} Energy card in your hand, and you can only use one Lunar Cycle per turn. Cosmic Beam needs Lunatone on the Bench. Common errors include benching two Lunatone expecting two draws, or leaving Lunatone Active so that Solrock's Cosmic Beam does nothing.

The fix: One pair on the Bench is your engine, and extra copies are backups for when one is Knocked Out. When you attack with Solrock, add Premium Power Pro for 100 damage. Because Cosmic Beam ignores Weakness and Resistance, that 100 is exactly what you deal. It's a clean single-Prize answer to small attackers, and it keeps your Lucarios off the field.

5. Spending Premium Power Pro as deck thinning

Each Premium Power Pro adds 30 to damage against the opponent's Active Pokémon, and that math decides your knockouts. A Mega Kangaskhan ex has 300 HP, so Mega Brave plus one copy takes it. A Dragapult ex has 320 HP, so you need two. Getting a Mega Lucario ex mirror to 340 with Mega Brave needs three. Dumping copies early for "consistency" leaves you a copy short on the turn that matters.

The fix: Before you play any Premium Power Pro, count the HP you need to cover across your next two attacks. Hold the copies until the turn they convert into a knockout.

6. Shuffling away your key pieces

Lillie's Determination, Judge, and Unfair Stamp all shuffle your hand back into the deck. Players hold Hariyama, Boss's Orders, or a stack of Premium Power Pro for the setup turn, then refresh their hand and lose them.

The fix: Play every Item that's useful now first, then decide whether the refresh is worth losing what's left. Use Lillie's Determination aggressively while you still have exactly 6 Prize cards, because it draws 8 then. Save Unfair Stamp for the turn after a knockout, when shrinking your opponent's hand to 2 cards actually disrupts their next attack.

7. Giving away Prize cards for free

Meowth ex is your only Pokémon with a Rule Box that isn't a Mega, and dropping it early for a mediocre Supporter hands your opponent a two-Prize gust target. On the other side, each Mega Lucario ex you lose gives up 3 Prize cards. Against spread attacks such as Phantom Dive, which places 6 damage counters across your Bench, filling the Bench with 80 HP Riolu and Makuhita gives your opponent easy cleanup knockouts.

The fix: Bench Meowth ex only when the Supporter it finds wins the turn, such as a Boss's Orders for the last Prizes. Against spread decks, bench only what you'll evolve within a turn.

8. Misusing Wally's Compassion

Wally's Compassion heals all damage from your Mega Lucario ex, but it also returns every attached Energy to your hand. If you play it on a Lucario you need to attack with this turn, you're left with one attachment and no attack.

The fix: Play it when a Benched attacker is already powered, or when Air Balloon lets the stripped Lucario retreat for free. The Energy you get back can be discarded to Lunar Cycle or Ultra Ball to fuel your next Aura Jab, so a healed 340 HP Lucario also becomes a source of Energy for the Bench.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice Before You Register

• The Mega Brave rhythm. Mega Lucario ex can't use Mega Brave on back-to-back turns, so every game is a two-turn cycle. Run practice games where you plan the off-turn before you swing: Aura Jab to load the Bench, a Solrock or Hariyama attack, or a retreat into a fresh Lucario. If the off-turn leaves you with nothing to do, the line was wrong.
• Hariyama staging. Heave-Ho Catcher only triggers when you play Hariyama from your hand to evolve. Practice getting Makuhita onto the Bench a turn before you need the gust, so Hariyama works as a third and fourth copy of Boss's Orders that doesn't use your Supporter for the turn.
• Energy routing. Lunar Cycle discards a Basic {F} Energy card, and Aura Jab pulls Basic {F} Energy cards back from the discard pile. Practice treating every Energy you discard to Lunar Cycle or Ultra Ball as future Aura Jab fuel, not as a lost resource.
• Prize maps against the top two decks. Dragapult took 37 of 176 online Top 8 slots and Basic Box took 17 (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026). Most of your testing time belongs against those two. Against each one, count how many attacks you need to take six Prizes, and decide which of your Pokémon you are willing to give up.

Damage Math to Know Cold

Memorize the two-hit totals as well. Aura Jab plus a boosted Mega Brave deals 400 over two turns. A Solrock chip of 70 followed by a boosted Mega Brave deals 370. Those are your answers to Dragapult ex and the mirror. If an opposing attacker is a Stage 2 Pokémon, Gravity Mountain lowers its HP by 30. Check the stage printed on the card before you assume a threshold.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• Lunar Cycle needs Solrock in play, which can be Active or Benched. It also needs a Basic {F} Energy card in your hand to discard. Only one Lunar Cycle can be used per turn no matter how many Lunatone you have, so the second copy is a backup, not extra draw.
• Cosmic Beam checks for Lunatone on your Bench specifically. A Lunatone in the Active Spot does not count.
• Premium Power Pro only boosts your {F} Pokémon, and only damage to the opponent's Active Pokémon. It does nothing for Meowth ex's Tuck Tail, because Meowth ex is Colorless. Aura Jab places no damage on the Bench, so the Item never adds Bench damage either.
• Meowth ex fetches a Supporter only when you play it from your hand onto your Bench. Tuck Tail returns it to your hand so you can play it again for a second search. You can't use more than one "Last-Ditch" Ability in a turn.
• Wally's Compassion returns all Energy attached to the healed Pokémon to your hand, but only if it actually healed damage. Plan the turns that follow: after you play it, your Mega Lucario ex has no Energy attached.
• Rocky Fighting Energy prevents the effects of opposing attacks on the Pokémon it's attached to. It does not prevent damage, and it doesn't remove effects that were already applied before you attached it.
• Lillie's Determination draws 8 only while you have exactly 6 Prizes remaining. Once you've taken your first Prize, it draws 6.
• Unfair Stamp can only be played if one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out during your opponent's last turn. Hold it for the turn right after you lose a Pokémon. Don't plan around it on any other turn.
• Air Balloon brings Mega Lucario ex down to a free retreat and Hariyama down to a single Energy. Put it on whichever Pokémon you expect to pivot out of the Active Spot next.

Clock Management

The deck isn't slow in terms of turns, but it is busy within each turn. A single turn can include Poké Pad, Fighting Gong, Ultra Ball, Lunar Cycle and a draw Supporter, and every search costs time. Decide your attack and your gust target first, then search for exactly the pieces that turn needs. Don't open with a search and figure out the plan afterward. When you're ahead on Prizes in a timed round, alternating Mega Brave with an off-turn attack keeps your pressure steady. Don't stall a turn just to set up a perfect Hariyama play.

Final Assessment

This list is a lean, consistent Fighting deck that costs about $28. Its threats are simple: a 340 HP attacker that reaches 300 damage, a gust built into an evolution, and a draw engine that fuels its own Energy recursion. The 2nd-place finish at TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DINNER? among 358 players shows its ceiling. The archetype also earned 8 online Top 8 slots across 5 events with 1 win (source: Limitless TCG online platform, Oct 5-19, 2026) and took 12th at Regional Louisville (source: limitlesstcg.com, Oct 10, 2026). Its weak points are the Psychic Weakness across the whole Riolu and Makuhita lines, and the 20-damage gap against Dragapult ex. Learn the two-turn Knock Out math, stage Makuhita early, and treat each Mega Lucario as three Prizes you choose to risk. That gives you a deck that can win a large event without costing much.

Metagame Context

Built from All_the_Turtles's 2nd Place list at TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DINNER? (358 players, 2026-10-17), via the Limitless platform. Metagame context comes from a research brief dated 2026-10-19 covering 2026-10-05 to 2026-10-19, drawn from Limitless TCG event results; TCGdex; Scrydex. Card text and prices: TCGdex.

Source: tournament results. Decklist and placements as reported by the event organizer.