Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company International

Another week where we write about Dragapult ex, the bogeyman of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) Standard format for several months now. However, this time, we’re writing about the Dragapult ex League Battle Deck, an introductory product for new players so they can start their own Pokémon journeys.

Pegged at Play Level 3, these League Battle Decks are meant for experienced players and are the highest level (these range from 1 to 3) for preconstructed products offered by The Pokémon Company International.

Is the deck worth buying? Let’s find out.

Contents of the Dragapult ex League Battle Deck

Priced at $30 SRP, the deck comes with four copies of Dragapult ex, a copy the ACE SPEC Unfair Stamp, and a copy of the most-played support Pokémon in the format and Card Gamer’s favorite card of 2024, Fezandipiti ex.

The product comes with a cardboard deck box and an accessory box, two Special Condition markers, six damage counter dice in purple, a tournament-legal coin flip die, and a code card to play the deck on Pokémon TCG Live, the official digital client of the Pokémon TCG. These accessories will get any new trainer set up to play at a tournament without much else needed, except for a set of sleeves and an upgraded deck box.

The entire decklist is as follows:

Notable Cards in the Dragapult ex League Battle Deck

Four copies of Dragapult ex is plenty. Most decklists run three copies, while the Pure Pult lists only even run two. Regardless, having four copies is great, as extra ones can be offloaded to a friend, which reduces the price of the product a bit more. Do note that Pult hovers around $4-6 per copy.

Unfair Stamp has been the default ACE SPEC of Dragapult now due to the rise (and fall) of Tera Box. As it stands, it’s still one of its best ACE SPECs.

Fezandipiti ex is just incredible value. Current market prices put Fez at $15, as almost every single deck plays this bird, so this one card already pays for half of the box’s cost!

While I wished for playsets of both Iono and Arven, we ended up with three copies each. This is still pretty decent, as we just need one more copy to complete our playsets.

Four copies of Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Ultra Ball, plus two copies of Earthen Vessel and Rare Candy are also welcome inclusions, specially considering the prices of Poffins and Vessels.

A singular Counter Catcher is not enough for a deck that loves to play from behind, but again, the deck has already paid for itself many times over!

Upgrading the Dragapult ex League Battle Deck

While the core of the deck remains strong, there’s definitely room for improvement. We’ll focus on upgrades which take the deck into two directions: either the Pult Noir variant of Andrew Hedrick and Justin Templer, or the Pure Pult variant of Cerys Jones and Sebastian Lashmet.

Consider a 2-2-1 Dusknoir line, which allows the deck more aggressive damage counter manipulation. Munkidori and Hawlucha give us avenues to snipe key Pokémon on the bench.

One to two copies of Budew are required, as Itchy Pollen buys time for the deck to set up. This will be our early game play in most games.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex is one of the best closers in the format and is an answer to Walls.

Trainer-wise, we just need a few more copies of Supporters. Pick up a copy of Iono, Arven, Boss’s Orders, and Brock’s Scouting, plus a pair of Professor’s Research and Jacq.

Three copies of Night Stretcher, two more Counter Catcher, and one Nest Ball are all we need to complete our Items.

For Pokémon Tools, we should grab one copy of Bravery Charm, Defiance Band, and Exp. Share. One of the only Stadiums we need is Artazon.

Some builds use Luxurious Cape, Luminous Energy, and Genesect, so consider these if we can pick up some extra cards.

The Card Gamer Verdict

When buying singles and using very conservative values, the entire list totals to around $60. This deck reduces the barrier to entry to Pokémon TCG by a significant margin — especially since Dragapult ex is one of the best decks in the format.

I thought it would be hard to top the Charizard ex League Battle Deck, but the Dragapult ex League Battle Deck is definitely the best way to get into competitive Pokémon TCG now. Regardless, both products will equip new players with core cards to begin their own foray into the mysterious and exciting world of Pokémon.

Interested to see our review of the Charizard ex League Battle Deck? Click here. Do you want to know how much Dragapult ex has warped the meta? Check out our recap of the Atlanta Regionals, the first tournament after Pokémon TCG’s 2025 rotation. If you want to pick up more staples, read on for other rising staples due to Journey Together.