Baltimore Regional 1st Place - Mega Kangaskhan Meowth Decklist Profile

Mega Kangaskhan Meowth (also known as Basic Box) is a strong performing Basic-only deck in today's meta. Mega Kangaskhan ex draws cards and hits hard from the Active Spot, and three copies of Meowth ex find whichever Supporter the turn needs.

Dylan Kasturi won the 2027 Baltimore Regional (3122 players) with it, finishing 14-1-2. The list is close to a stock build. Across 28 comparison lines it moves only a few counts away from the archetype average, which says the stock build is already tuned. The archetype sits second in usage at 8.1% (346 decks), behind Dragapult Munkidori at 16.6%, and has a higher average win rate (54.5% against 53.7%).

The list

Pokémon (20)

Trainer (26)

Energy (14)

What it's built to do

Every Pokémon in the list is a Basic, and that shapes the whole strategy.

The engine

• Mega Kangaskhan ex (4) is both the draw engine and the main attacker. "Run Errand" draws 2 cards once per turn while it is Active. "Rapid-Fire Combo" does 200 damage, plus 50 more for each heads before the first tails.
• Latias ex (2) has "Skyliner", which gives your Basic Pokémon no Retreat Cost. Since the whole deck is Basics, you can promote a Kangaskhan, use "Run Errand", then retreat for free into whatever attacker the turn calls for. That also covers Kangaskhan's retreat cost of 3.
• Meowth ex (3) uses "Last-Ditch Catch" when benched from hand to search out any Supporter. "Tuck Tail" puts it and everything attached back into your hand, so you can play it again later and search again as needed.

Energy and Bench

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (2) and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex (1) are the deck's Tera Pokémon, and two key Trainers depend on having one in play. Area Zero Underdepths (4) raises your Bench to 8 while you have a Tera Pokémon in play. Glass Trumpet attaches Basic Energy from the discard pile to up to 2 benched Colorless Pokémon, and both Kangaskhan and Meowth are Colorless. On the Bench, both Ogerpon take no damage from attacks.

The mixed Basic Energy line (Grass, Psychic, Fighting, Lightning, Water) is there for Crispin (4). It finds two Basic Energy of different types, puts one in hand and attaches the other. Energy Switch (4) and "Rapid Vernier" on Iron Leaves ex then move that Energy to whichever attacker needs it.

The toolbox

The single-copy attackers cover different jobs:

• Chien-Pao: "Rising Blade" does 160 against a Pokémon ex.
• Raging Bolt ex: "Bellowing Thunder" scales with Basic Energy discarded from your Pokémon. "Burst Roar" refreshes your hand.
• Iron Leaves ex: "Prism Edge" does 180.
• Enamorus: "Love Resonance" does 200 when you share a type with the opponent's board.
• Iron Crown ex: "Twin Shotels" spreads damage, and "Cobalt Command" adds 20 to attacks from your Future Pokémon.
• Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex: "Torrential Pump" can also hit the Bench.
• Lillie's Clefairy ex (2): "Fairy Zone" changes the Weakness of the opponent's Dragon Pokémon to Psychic.

With only Basics, many Pokémon ex and plenty of search, this build gets set up fast. The cost, however, is Prize exposure: every Mega Kangaskhan ex gives up 3 Prizes when Knocked Out.

Choices that stand out

Most of the list matches the archetype average. The places where it doesn't:

Counts above average

• Area Zero Underdepths: 4 (average 3.5). Every build plays it (100% inclusion), and this one plays the maximum. That makes the 8-card Bench more reliable, and it helps win Stadium battles when the opponent tries to discard it. When the Stadium leaves play, both players cut their Bench back to 5, so playing more copies protects a wide board.
• Mega Kangaskhan ex: 4 (average 3.8). The full set makes it more likely you open with your draw engine Active or find it early.
• Psychic Energy: 3 (average 2.7). This supports the Psychic attackers: Latias ex ("Eon Blade" needs two Psychic), Lillie's Clefairy ex, Iron Crown ex and Enamorus.
• Lillie's Clefairy ex: 2 (average 1.9) and Energy Switch: 4 (average 3.9). Both sit at the higher common count.

Counts slightly below average

• Teal Mask Ogerpon ex: 2 (average 2.2), Glass Trumpet: 1 (average 1.2), Raging Bolt ex: 1 (average 1.1), Grass Energy: 6 (average 6.1), Water Energy: 1 (average 1.1). Some builds run an extra Ogerpon, Trumpet or Raging Bolt. This list skips them to fund the fourth Stadium and fourth Kangaskhan.

Flex slots it chose to play

These are cards that a real share of the archetype leaves out:

• Hero's Cape (50.4% inclusion). This is the list's ACE SPEC. It gives +100 HP, so a Mega Kangaskhan ex goes from 300 to 400 HP. That is a direct answer to its 3-Prize liability. About half the archetype makes a different ACE SPEC choice.
• Enamorus (65%). A single-Prize attacker. "Love Resonance" reaches 200 when types match, and it gives up fewer Prizes than any ex in the deck.
• Iron Crown ex (73.6%). "Twin Shotels" damage ignores effects on the target, and "Cobalt Command" boosts Iron Leaves ex, the list's other Future Pokémon.
• Special Red Card (79.9%). It only works once the opponent has 3 or fewer Prizes left. It disrupts a hand late in the game, when one Mega Kangaskhan Knockout could decide the match.
• Iron Leaves ex (87.8%). "Rapid Vernier" is both a pivot and an Energy move in one card.

How it played

Event: Regional Baltimore, MD, 2026-09-19, 3122 players. Pilot: Dylan Kasturi. Finish: 1st, 14-1-2.

The run was about Dragapult. Plain Dragapult was the biggest slice of the Baltimore field at 17.9% (50.5% win rate), with Dragapult Dusknoir at 7.3% and Dragapult Blaziken at 4.9%. This list beat Dragapult in eight rounds and Dragapult Dusknoir once. The second Lillie's Clefairy ex and the extra Psychic Energy make the most sense in that light.

The round-by-round loss came in round 6 against Crustle, and the pilot beat Crustle in round 10. Crustle was 4.4% of the field with a 50.2% win rate. The draw came against Honchkrow Porygon2 in round 5. Other popular decks at the event performed poorly: Alakazam Dudunsparce made up 6.2% of the field at a 42.7% win rate, and this list beat it in round 2.

Adapting it

Only change what your local field justifies. Small changes are enough, because the core is almost fixed across the archetype. Mega Kangaskhan ex, Meowth ex, Latias ex, Fezandipiti ex, Cyrano, Boss's Orders and Ultra Ball all appear in 100% of builds.

• Lots of Dragon Pokémon locally: keep both Lillie's Clefairy ex and the third Psychic Energy. "Fairy Zone" turns Dragon Weakness into Psychic, which suits Latias ex's "Eon Blade" and Clefairy's own "Full Moon Rondo". "Full Moon Rondo" gets stronger as both Benches fill, and Area Zero Underdepths lets them reach 8.
• Few Dragon Pokémon locally: the second Clefairy is the easiest cut. The archetype averages 1.9, so plenty of lists run one.
• Need more Energy acceleration: go to a third Teal Mask Ogerpon ex or a second Glass Trumpet (archetype averages of 2.2 and 1.2 show some builds already do). The fourth Area Zero Underdepths is the natural slot to give up, since the average is 3.5.
• Slower, grindier fields: Hero's Cape is a flex ACE SPEC at 50.4% inclusion, but 400 HP on a Mega Kangaskhan ex is hard to take in one hit. Keep it if your opponents are trying to trade evenly on Prizes. Remember the deck can hold only one ACE SPEC total.
• Trimming the toolbox: Enamorus (65%) and Iron Crown ex (73.6%) are the least-played attackers in the archetype. If you drop Iron Crown ex, you also lose "Cobalt Command" support for Iron Leaves ex. Keep that in mind before cutting it.

Any prediction about how these changes will do in your area is speculation. Test the changed version before you register it. Current counts and win rates are on the CardForge Mega Kangaskhan Meowth archetype page.

FAQ

Who won the 2027 Baltimore Regional with Mega Kangaskhan Meowth (Basic Box)?

Dylan Kasturi won the 3122-player Regional Baltimore, MD event on 2026-09-19 with Mega Kangaskhan Meowth, finishing 14-1-2. The round data shows one loss, to Crustle in round 6, and one draw, against Honchkrow Porygon2 in round 5.

How popular is Mega Kangaskhan Meowth in Standard right now?

In the current CardForge data window, Mega Kangaskhan Meowth has 8.1% usage across 346 decks. That makes it the second most played archetype, behind Dragapult Munkidori at 16.6%. Its average win rate is 54.5%.

Why does this list play three Meowth ex?

Meowth ex's "Last-Ditch Catch" searches your deck for any Supporter when you bench it from your hand. That means it can fetch Crispin, Cyrano, Boss's Orders or Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking as needed. "Tuck Tail" returns it to your hand so you can use the Ability again. Three copies is the archetype average, and every build includes it.

Is Hero's Cape standard in Mega Kangaskhan Meowth?

No. Hero's Cape appears in 50.4% of Mega Kangaskhan Meowth lists, so about half the archetype makes a different ACE SPEC choice. In this list it gives +100 HP, which puts a Mega Kangaskhan ex at 400 HP. That offsets its risk of giving up 3 Prizes.

Why does the list use Area Zero Underdepths and Glass Trumpet together?

Both cards need a Tera Pokémon in play, and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex provide it. Area Zero Underdepths raises your Bench to 8. Glass Trumpet attaches Basic Energy from the discard pile to up to 2 benched Colorless Pokémon, such as Mega Kangaskhan ex and Meowth ex. This list plays 4 Area Zero Underdepths against an archetype average of 3.5.