Dragapult Munkidori Deck Guide: Standard Counts, Plan and Matchups

Dragapult Munkidori is a top performing deck in the Standard meta that evolves Dreepy into Dragapult ex, attacks with "Phantom Dive" to spread damage counters across the opponent's Bench, and uses Munkidori's "Adrena-Brain" to move extra counters where they finish Knockouts.

It is the most played deck in the format right now. Across 5628 decklists from 93 tournaments over a 32 day window, it holds 16.6% usage (647 decks) and a 53.7% average win rate, and it has a first place finish. It is also trending up: usage change of +2.6 and win rate change of +4.3 for the period. The catch is the matchup spread. The deck beats much of the field but posts a 19.8% win rate against Crustle Mega Kangaskhan, and it sits under 40% against both Mega Kangaskhan builds that appear in the data.

How it wins

The deck builds one Stage 2 attacker and wins through Bench damage. Dragapult ex's "Phantom Dive" costs one Fire and one Psychic, does 200 to the Active, and puts 6 damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokémon in any way you like. That means one attack can take a Knockout up front and set up (or finish) Knockouts on the Bench at the same time.

Munkidori is the secondary key to the decklist. With one Darkness Energy attached, "Adrena-Brain" moves up to 3 damage counters from one of your Pokémon to one of your opponent's, once per turn. Those counters come from two places: damage your opponent has done to you, and Risky Ruins, which puts 2 damage counters on any Basic non-Darkness Pokémon a player benches during their turn. Your own Dreepy, Budew and Munkidori all qualify, so the Stadium turns your own setup into ammunition you can move onto their board.

Dragapult ex has 320 HP and a Tera rule: while it sits on your Bench, all damage done to it by attacks is prevented. Prize pressure comes from Phantom Dive spread, Adrena-Brain cleanup, and Boss's Orders (3 copies in every list) to drag weakened Benched Pokémon forward.

Key cards and counts

The composition is very settled. Median lists run 19 Pokémon, 20 Items, 11 Supporters, 2 Stadiums, 9 Energy and 0 Tools (sample of 444 lists).

The Dragapult line: 4 Dreepy, 4 Drakloak, 3 Dragapult ex

All three show up at 95.7% inclusion with averages of 4, 4 and 3. You need the full line in play to attack, but Drakloak is not just a stepping stone to Dragapult ex. It is the deck's main draw engine.

"Recon Directive" works from the Bench, and every Drakloak you have in play gets its own use each turn: look at the top 2 cards of your deck, put 1 in your hand and send the other to the bottom. Two or three Benched Drakloak means two or three extra cards every turn, each one the better of two, on top of whatever your Supporter draws. That is how the deck keeps finding Boss's Orders, the right Energy or the next Dragapult ex on the turn it needs them, and why the hand you attack with is usually a strong one. It is also why lists max Drakloak at 4 rather than trimming to 3.

Munkidori: 2 copies, 94.1%

Two is enough because only one Adrena-Brain needs to be online, and a second copy covers a prized or Knocked Out one. It also explains the Darkness Energy in the energy line, since the Ability does nothing without one attached.

Search and setup

• Buddy-Buddy Poffin (4, 95.7%) benches up to 2 Basics with 70 HP or less: Dreepy, Budew and Dunsparce all fit. Munkidori (110 HP) does not.
• Poké Pad (4, 100%) finds any Pokémon without a Rule Box, so it gets the whole Dragapult evolution line except Dragapult ex itself, plus Munkidori.
• Ultra Ball (3.2, 100%) is your way to find the Rule Box Pokémon: Dragapult ex, Fezandipiti ex and Meowth ex.
• Night Stretcher (2.7, 99.8%) gets back either a Pokémon or a Basic Energy.

Supporters

• Lillie's Determination (4, 100%) shuffles your hand away and draws 6, or 8 while you still have all 6 Prize cards. It is the main draw engine.
• Boss's Orders (3, 100%) turns Bench damage into Prizes.
• Crispin (2.1, 99.8%) finds two Basic Energy of different types, one to hand and one attached. Fire plus Psychic is exactly the Phantom Dive cost.
• Rosa's Encouragement (1, 94.8%) works only while you are behind on Prizes, and attaches up to 2 Basic Energy from your discard to a Stage 2. That powers up a fresh Dragapult ex in one turn after your first attacker goes down.

Comeback and disruption package

• Fezandipiti ex (1, 99.3%) draws 3 with "Flip the Script" after one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out on your opponent's last turn.
• Meowth ex (1, 99.1%) searches out any Supporter with "Last-Ditch Catch" when you play it from hand to Bench.
• Unfair Stamp (1, 97.1%) is the ACE SPEC of choice. After you lose a Pokémon, both players shuffle their hands in, you draw 5 and your opponent draws 2.
• Crushing Hammer (4, 94.8%) flips for an Energy discard. This archetype is the only one in the data that plays it as a core card.
• Budew (1.9, 99.8%) attacks for free with "Itchy Pollen", which stops your opponent playing Items on their next turn.
• Risky Ruins (1.9, 93.5%) feeds Adrena-Brain, as covered above.
• Special Red Card (1, 73%) is the least locked-in core card. It only works once your opponent has 3 or fewer Prizes left, and it puts their hand on the bottom of the deck for a new hand of 3. Especially great to tech against Alakazam decks.

Game plan

Early game

Your opening goal is two or more Dreepy on the Bench by the end of turn one. Lead with Buddy-Buddy Poffin for Dreepy plus Dreepy, or Dreepy plus Budew. Order matters with Risky Ruins: bench your Basics before you play the Stadium if you don't want the counters yet, or after it if you want Munkidori to have counters to move. Budew at 30 HP is left on 10 HP by Risky Ruins, so treat that as a deliberate choice, not an accident.

If you go second, Budew Active using "Itchy Pollen" costs no Energy and stops Item cards for a turn, which buys time while your Dreepy grow. Going first you can't attack or play a Supporter, so turn one is all Items: Poffin, Poké Pad and Ultra Ball to fill the Bench. Play Lillie's Determination early while you still have 6 Prizes, because that is when it draws 8.

Mid game

Evolve into Drakloak and start every turn by using "Recon Directive" with each Drakloak you have in play, before you play a Supporter or an Ultra Ball. Each one is a free pick from two cards, and seeing those first tells you what you still need to search for. Keep evolving your other Dreepy even after the first Dragapult ex is up: a Bench of two or three Drakloak turns every turn into a strong hand, and any of them can become the next attacker. Get Dragapult ex Active with Fire and Psychic attached. Crispin can cover both types in one play (one attached, one to hand for your manual attachment). Get a Darkness Energy on Munkidori so "Adrena-Brain" is live.

The standard turn: use Adrena-Brain to move counters from a damaged Pokémon of yours (Risky Ruins victims or anything your opponent hit) onto a target, then attack with "Phantom Dive" and place the 6 counters to finish what is already weakened. Plan the Bench placement and the Adrena-Brain target together so the counters line up with Knockouts, and save Boss's Orders for the Bench Pokémon your spread can't finish.

Crushing Hammer is best spent on whatever the opponent needs to attack next turn. It is a coin flip, so play it before you decide the rest of your turn, not after.

Late game

Once you fall behind on Prizes, the comeback cards switch on. After a Knockout, Fezandipiti ex's "Flip the Script" draws 3 and Unfair Stamp leaves your opponent on 2 cards. Rosa's Encouragement recovers two Basic Energy from the discard onto your next Dragapult ex, so a second attacker can use Phantom Dive the turn it evolves. Energy you discarded with Ultra Ball earlier is not wasted: it is Rosa's fuel.

When your opponent is on 3 or fewer Prizes, Special Red Card cuts their hand down to 3 new cards. Paired with Budew's Item lock, that can leave them with very little to work with for a turn.

Matchups

None of the matchups below is flagged as a small sample, but a few have far fewer games than others, and those are noted.

Favorable

• Dipplin Thwackey: 69% (113 games, 78-22-13). The deck's best result against any opponent tracked.
• Alakazam Dudunsparce: 54.8% (345 games, 189-94-62).
• Alakazam Dusknoir: 52.4% (63 games, 33-24-6). Slightly positive, but on only 63 games.

Close to even

• Dragapult Dusknoir: 49.3% (408 games, 201-162-45). The largest sample of all.
• Hydrapple Teal Mask Ogerpon: 48.2% (56 games, 27-23-6). Low game count, so treat it as roughly even.
• Blaziken Dragapult: 47.3% (347 games, 164-133-50).

The two Dragapult pairings share most of this deck's core cards (Dreepy, Drakloak, Dragapult ex, Poffin, Lillie's Determination all appear as core in those archetypes), so near-even results make sense. These games come down to who sets up first and who spends their comeback cards better.

Unfavorable

• N's Zoroark: 40.5% (173 games, 70-88-15).
• Mega Kangaskhan Slowking: 36.2% (345 games, 125-168-52).
• Mega Kangaskhan Meowth: 35.8% (296 games, 106-164-26).
• Lillie's Clefairy Banette: 31.3% (64 games, 20-36-8). Only 64 games.
• Mega Excadrill Metagross: 30% (120 games, 36-68-16).
• Crustle Mega Kangaskhan: 19.8% (257 games, 51-166-40). This is the problem matchup due to Crustle's "Mysterious Rock Inn" ability.

Tech options

The core cards are mostly fixed in this deck, so the flex slots are few.

Dunsparce and Dudunsparce (1 each; 58.6% and 66%)

This is a draw engine. Dudunsparce's "Run Away Draw" draws 3 and then shuffles itself and attached cards back into the deck, so it returns for another use later. Dunsparce is a 70 HP Basic, so Buddy-Buddy Poffin can bench it. Its "Trading Places" also switches it with a Benched Pokémon, which helps you pivot out of a bad opener. The cost is two Bench spots' worth of cards and one more non-Darkness Basic that Risky Ruins will damage. Lists that skip it lean harder on Drakloak's "Recon Directive" and Lillie's Determination.

Judge (1, 61%)

Both players shuffle their hands in and draw 4. It disrupts a big hand in the early and mid game, before Special Red Card and Unfair Stamp are available. It takes a Supporter slot, and you give up the draw 6 or 8 of Lillie's Determination on the turn you play it.

Energy split

The data shows each basic type in two groupings (roughly 59% and 40% of lists), with Fire and Psychic averaging about 3 each and Darkness about 2. Fire and Psychic run Phantom Dive and Dreepy's "Bite". Darkness exists for Adrena-Brain. With a median of 9 Energy total, going under 2 Darkness risks Munkidori never switching on. Crispin can fetch a Darkness alongside either attacking type, which helps cover the low count.

Common mistakes

• Stopping at one Drakloak. Every extra Drakloak is another "Recon Directive" each turn, so an unevolved Dreepy is draw you are giving up.
• Playing your Supporter before "Recon Directive". Use every Drakloak first. The two cards each one shows you can change which Supporter you want, or whether you need one at all.
• Playing Risky Ruins before Poffin by accident. Every Basic non-Darkness Pokémon you bench afterward takes 2 counters. That's useful for Munkidori but can leave Budew on 10 HP and Dreepy on 50. Decide the order on purpose.
• Forgetting the Darkness Energy. "Adrena-Brain" does nothing unless Munkidori has Darkness Energy attached.
• Holding Unfair Stamp or Rosa's Encouragement for a turn they can't be played. Unfair Stamp needs one of your Pokémon Knocked Out on your opponent's last turn. Rosa's needs you behind on Prizes. "Flip the Script" has the same condition as Unfair Stamp. Plan around when those windows actually open.
• Spending Lillie's Determination late. It draws 8 only while you have exactly 6 Prizes remaining. Use one early if your hand is weak.
• Attacking with the wrong Dragapult. Tera protection only covers Dragapult ex on the Bench. Keep a backup Dragapult ex there and let Rosa's power it up after the Active one falls.
• Placing Phantom Dive counters without a plan. Six counters is a finite budget. Place them for Knockouts this turn or with Adrena-Brain next turn, not spread evenly for no result.

FAQ

What is Dragapult Munkidori's win rate in Standard?

In this data it averages a 53.7% win rate across 647 decks, with 16.6% usage. That makes it the most played archetype in the format. Its win rate change for the period was +4.3.

What is Dragapult Munkidori's worst matchup?

Crustle Mega Kangaskhan, at a 19.8% win rate over 257 games (51-166-40). It also loses to Mega Kangaskhan Slowking (36.2%) and Mega Kangaskhan Meowth (35.8%), both on samples of roughly 300 games or more.

How much Energy does Dragapult Munkidori play?

Median lists run 9 Energy, with a range of 8 to 9 between the 25th and 75th percentiles. Fire and Psychic average about 3 copies each for "Phantom Dive", and Darkness averages about 2 to switch on Munkidori's "Adrena-Brain".

Why does Dragapult Munkidori play 4 Drakloak?

Drakloak's "Recon Directive" is the deck's main source of draw. Every Drakloak in play, Active or Benched, can look at the top 2 cards once per turn and keep 1, so more Drakloak on the Bench means more cards chosen every turn. Lists run 4 Drakloak (95.7% inclusion) to get two or three of them into play as early as possible.

Which ACE SPEC does Dragapult Munkidori use?

Unfair Stamp, at 97.1% inclusion with 1 copy. It can only be played after one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out on your opponent's last turn. Then both hands are shuffled in, you draw 5 and your opponent draws 2.

Do I need Dudunsparce in Dragapult Munkidori?

No. It is a flex card, appearing in 66% of lists at 1 copy, usually alongside 1 Dunsparce (58.6%). It adds repeatable draw through "Run Away Draw". Lists that skip it rely on Drakloak's "Recon Directive" and Lillie's Determination instead.