Mega Darkrai ex
Quick take
- Full art Ultra Rare of the set mascot, one of four Mega Darkrai ex prints in Pitch Black
- Sits mid-set on the chase list, well below the Akira Egawa SIR and the gold Mega Hyper Rare
- Playable kit: 280 HP, Dusk Raid, and Abyss Eye's Special Condition knockout
- The affordable route to a full art Darkrai from its own headline set
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Pitch Black
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 101/84 · $6.58 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyThe set mascot in full art, without the chase-card tax
Pitch Black is named after Darkrai. It is literally the Pitch-Black Pokemon, and the set treats it like a headliner: four separate prints, from the Double Rare at 048 up to the gold Mega Hyper Rare at 120. This Ultra Rare at 101/084 sits in the middle of that ladder. Full art treatment, secret-rare numbering, but pulled far more often than the Akira Egawa Special Illustration Rare at 116 that everyone actually fights over.
“Full art Ultra Rare of the set mascot, one of four Mega Darkrai ex prints in Pitch Black”
That middle position is exactly why it matters for master set builders. You need it for the binder either way, and it gives you the mascot in full art at a fraction of what the SIR runs. Early rankings put it around the middle of the set's chase list, which tracks. The character is popular, but it competes with its own siblings.
The card itself is no slouch in a deck. Mega Evolution Pokemon ex give up three prizes when knocked out, and in exchange Mega Darkrai ex brings 280 HP, a Dusk Raid attack that doubles up when your own bench is damaged, and Abyss Eye, which straight up knocks out an opposing Active Pokemon suffering a Special Condition. Dark decks noticed.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Mid-tier for the set. It ranks around twelfth among Pitch Black cards by price, top of the Ultra Rare class but a long way below the Special Illustration Rare and gold Hyper Rare versions of the same Pokemon. Impulse-buy territory, not a grail budget.
Two weeks in, the usual pattern held: the set's secret-rare tier drifted down from launch levels while the SIR kept most of the set's Darkrai premium. Expect slower movement from here while product stays plentiful.
Modest. Ultra Rare full arts of popular Pokemon hold value better than generic URs, but the SIR and Hyper Rare siphon off most of the serious collector money. Buy it because you want the mascot in your binder, not as a growth play. If the deck performs in the meta, playable demand could firm the price up short term.
Grading rarely pays on studio-illustrated Ultra Rares at this price level. Fees eat the margin unless you hit a perfect grade on a fresh pull. A gem mint copy carries a premium over raw, but the SIR is where graded money in this set concentrates.
TCGPlayer's count of just over 4,000 Pitch Black packs puts Ultra Rares at 1 in 12 packs and Illustration Rares at 1 in 9 — measured ME05 numbers now, not estimates. The Ultra Rare figure covers the whole 18-card roster, so hitting this specific Darkrai full art works out to roughly 1 in 215 packs. Buying the single is almost always cheaper than chasing it.
Within the set's four Mega Darkrai prints, this sits second from the bottom: easier to pull than the SIR at 116 (early estimates put a specific SIR around 1 in 20 boxes) and the gold Hyper Rare at 120 (reported around 1 in 50 boxes), but far scarcer than the Double Rare at 048. With 36 secret-block cards competing for those hit slots, the odds on any single card stretch thin.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
5ban Graphics is the CG studio behind a huge share of modern Pokemon TCG card renders, especially ex, V, and GX cards across multiple eras. They handle three of the four Mega Darkrai ex prints in this set, everything except the Akira Egawa Special Illustration Rare.
A full art rendering of Mega Darkrai ex in 5ban's signature 3D style, with the Pokemon filling the frame the way their ex full arts usually do. Expect the studio's standard dramatic treatment rather than a painted narrative scene. The painted, story-driven Darkrai in this set is the Egawa SIR at 116; this one is the clean studio showcase.
Full art Ultra Rare with foil treatment across the card face, secret-rare numbering at 101/084. Modern full art foils catch surface scratches easily, worth knowing before you sleeve a raw copy.
It is the mascot of its own set in full art. The Egawa SIR gets the headlines, but this is the print most collectors will actually pull and keep, and it is the one that makes the secret block feel attainable.
BackgroundAbout Mega Darkrai ex
Darkrai debuted in Generation 4 as the Pitch-Black Pokemon, a Sinnoh mythical that traps sleepers in nightmares. It headlined The Rise of Darkrai movie in 2007 and has been a fan favorite dark legendary ever since. The Mega Evolution treatment is new: Mega Darkrai did not exist in the original Mega era games, making this one of the new Mega designs introduced for the 2025-2026 TCG era, and Pitch Black is the set built around it.
- ›One of the most popular dark-type mythicals, with nearly two decades of fan attachment
- ›A brand new Mega design, so this era is the first time Mega Darkrai has existed anywhere
- ›Set mascot status: the set name is Darkrai's species category
- ›Edgy nightmare theming that consistently sells cards, plush, and merch
- ›The Rise of Darkrai (2007 movie), its defining anime role
- ›Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum as a mythical event Pokemon
- ›Four prints in Pitch Black alone, including the set's Hyper Rare title card
Mega Darkrai ex has a real competitive case. Dusk Raid hits 110, plus another 110 if your benched Pokemon carry damage counters, and Abyss Eye takes an instant knockout on any opposing Active Pokemon affected by a Special Condition. The three-prize Mega rule is the tax. Whether it sticks in the meta will shake out over the coming months, but dark toolbox players were talking about it at launch.
Own it wellCollector guide
Modern full art foils pick up surface scratches and edge whitening straight from the pack. Check the foil under angled light before buying raw, and look at the bottom edge and corners first. Pack-fresh does not mean mint on these.
Skip grading unless you pull a flawless copy yourself and want the set registry bump. The fee-to-value math does not favor mid-tier Ultra Rares. If you want a graded Darkrai from this set, the SIR is the print that rewards the slab. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus a side-loading binder pocket is fine for this price tier. If you keep it raw and loose, use a semi-rigid inside a team bag. Avoid stacking foils unsleeved, they scratch each other. See the storage guide →
Wait a few weeks if you can. Launch-window supply is still ramping and secret rare prices in new sets usually drift down through the first couple of months. Singles beat packs decisively for a specific Ultra Rare. If you are building the master set anyway, grab it in the post-launch dip rather than pre-ordering at hype prices. See the singles buying guide →
Counterfeits of brand-new Ultra Rares exist but are usually crude at this point in a set's life. Compare font weight, foil behavior, and the 101/084 numbering against a verified image on TCG Collector or Bulbapedia, and be wary of listings priced far under market from zero-history sellers.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Positive but overshadowed. The community consensus at launch is that the Akira Egawa Special Illustration Rare is the Darkrai to own, with the gold Hyper Rare as the completionist flex. This full art gets respect as the practical pick, the one people are happy to pull without it being the pull. Early set rankings place it mid-pack, which feels fair.
Launch weekend buzz centers on Darkrai as a whole. The set is named after it, the branding is built around it, and opening threads treat any Darkrai hit as a win. Deck builders are also discussing Abyss Eye combos with Special Condition support, which gives this print a second audience beyond binder collectors. Two weeks in, that player demand is the steadier of the two — Darkrai binder attention concentrates on the SIR and the gold.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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