Mega Darkrai ex
Quick take
- Gold Mega Hyper Rare of Mega Darkrai ex, card 120/084, the single highest rarity in ME05
- Trades around $189 two weeks after launch — rarer than the Egawa SIR at 116 yet cheaper, an inversion almost nobody called at presale
- The completionist's apex pull; the SIR is the card most collectors chase for the art
- One of four Mega Darkrai ex prints in the set (048 base, 101 UR, 116 SIR, 120 gold MHR)
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Pitch Black
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 120/84 · $138.34 — 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 apex of the set's rarity ladder, if not the heart of it
Pitch Black (ME05) arrived July 17, 2026 as the fifth Mega Evolution era set, and its value sits almost entirely on Mega Darkrai ex. This gold Mega Hyper Rare at 120/084 is the highest rarity in the set, numbered one past the last Special Illustration Rare, and it is the rarest single card you can pull from a Pitch Black pack.
“Gold Mega Hyper Rare of Mega Darkrai ex, card 120/084, the single highest rarity in ME05”
Mega Darkrai ex appears four times across the set: a Double Rare base print at 048, an Ultra Rare full art at 101, the Special Illustration Rare at 116, and this gold Mega Hyper Rare at 120. The gold is the scarcest of the four. What it is not, on the pattern of past Mega Evolution sets, is the most beloved. That title belongs to AKIRA EGAWA's SIR at 116, the full-art nightmare that most collectors point to as the one to own.
Launch delivered that pattern in its starkest form yet. The gold sits in the spot the etched cards usually occupy — the master-set capstone, the toughest pull — but two weeks of real trading put its price below the SIR's, not above it. The set's rarest card is currently also cheaper than its most-loved one, which says a lot about what actually drives value in this era.
By the numbersMarket analysis
The four-figure framing did not survive contact with the market. Week one had thin sales between $200 and $290 sitting under $1,000-plus asks; by early August the market price is about $189 with the cheapest listings at $188 — a tight, functioning market. Japan's gold comp sits around 160,000 yen (roughly $1,020), which makes the English print's discount to Japan the widest of any card in the set.
Japan launched near 200,000 yen and faded about 20 percent; the English print never got close to a comparable level. It opened to scattered low-$200s sales, drifted to about $189 over two weeks, and the once-huge ask-versus-sale spread collapsed as supply found the market. The week-one volatility warning has mostly expired, though so few copies trade that a handful of sales can still nudge the number.
The scarcity case is intact — 1 in 1,081 packs is now a verified count, not an estimate — and at $189 the downside is far smaller than what presale buyers faced. The honest caveat stands: the gold's value leans on rarity more than on love, and two weeks of trading showed the art-driven SIR is the stickier card. Thin liquidity means this is a card you hold, not flip.
At $189 raw, the grading fee is no longer trivial against the card's value, so grading only makes sense on a genuinely gem-worthy copy. Gold etched stock scratches and shows edge wear readily, so inspect the surface hard before submitting and reserve it for copies with 55/45 or better centering on both axes. English graded comps are only starting to form — wait a few more weeks before sending anything in.
TCGPlayer's count of just over 4,000 Pitch Black packs puts the Mega Hyper Rare at 1 in 1,081 packs — a verified ME05 number now, replacing the 1-in-1,786 era estimate this guide carried at launch. That still makes the gold by far the rarest pull in the set: more than twice as hard as hitting this specific SIR (about 1 in 480) and thirteen times harder than hitting any SIR at all (1 in 80).
The scarcity gap between the gold and the six Special Illustration Rares is as large as ever — what changed is that price no longer tracks it. The gold trades around $189 against the Egawa SIR's $278, the Mega Evolution era's art-over-rarity pattern in its starkest form yet.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Gold Mega Hyper Rares are defined by their finish rather than a signature illustration, so the card is sold on rarity and the etched gold treatment more than on a named artist's composition. The art most collectors associate with Mega Darkrai in this set is AKIRA EGAWA's Special Illustration Rare at 116, not the gold.
Card 120 is the gold Mega Hyper Rare print of Mega Darkrai ex, rendered with the etched gold finish reserved for the top of the set's rarity ladder. We are keeping the description general here since the printed treatment rewards being seen directly rather than recalled from a summary.
Gold Mega Hyper Rare layout with the etched gold finish. Darkness type, Basic, 280 HP, card number 120/084 in the ME05 set numbering, one past the last Special Illustration Rare.
The gold treatment and the fact that this is the single rarest card in Pitch Black are the whole appeal. Against the Ultra Rare full art at 101 and the Egawa SIR at 116, the gold is the version that finishes a master set and tops the rarity ladder — even though the market has made clear the SIR is the card people pay up for.
BackgroundAbout Mega Darkrai ex
Darkrai is a Dark-type Mythical Pokemon introduced in Gen 4. It is tied to nightmares and to Alamos Town through the 2007 film Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai, and it carries a long-running thematic dichotomy with the lunar Pokemon Cresselia. That cosmic, faintly menacing identity is a big part of why the Mega form and its darker art direction landed so well with collectors.
- ›Mythical status and event-Pokemon scarcity in the games
- ›The 2007 Rise of Darkrai movie, which cemented its nightmare identity
- ›A menacing, instantly readable silhouette that suits dramatic treatments
- ›Long-standing fan following that predates this card
- ›Central antagonist-turned-ally in Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007)
- ›Recurring Mythical distribution Pokemon across multiple game generations
Mega Darkrai ex is a Basic with 280 HP. Dusk Raid costs two Darkness Energy and hits for 110, plus 110 more if your Benched Pokemon have any damage counters on them. Abyss Eye costs three Darkness Energy and Knocks Out the opponent's Active Pokemon outright if it is affected by any Special Condition, which pairs with Special-Condition support to force removal. The card is a genuine tech option in Standard, though as a three-prize Mega ex its ceiling depends on how the format develops. In practice nobody plays the gold copy competitively; the cheaper prints fill that role.
Own it wellCollector guide
Gold etched cards show scratches, edge whitening, and print lines readily because the finish catches light across the whole surface. Inspect the etched surface and all four corners under good lighting, and check for bowing — curled cards are Pitch Black's most-reported quality issue. Flawless gold copies are genuinely hard to find.
Only on gem-worthy copies. At $189 raw the fee eats a real share of the card's value, so reserve submissions for copies with 55/45 or better centering on both axes and a clean etched surface. English graded comps are only starting to form — wait a few more weeks for a real PSA 10 population before deciding. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus a top loader or a semi-rigid holder, kept out of direct sunlight and stored flat, since the etched stock is prone to bowing — a live issue in this print run. Handle by the edges only from the moment it leaves the pack if you intend to grade. See the storage guide →
Buy the single, never sealed product — 1 in 1,081 packs makes pack-hunting a losing proposition. The day-one-peak warning has expired: the correction already happened, and the ask-versus-sale spread that made this card a minefield has closed, with the cheapest listings a dollar under the $189 market. A quick sold-listings check is still smart at this liquidity, but the trap has largely disarmed itself. See the singles buying guide →
Confirm the 120/084 numbering, the correct ME05 set marks, the genuine etched gold finish, sharp text, and consistent registration. Buy from reputable sellers with clear photos of front, back, and all corners, and treat any listing priced far below the $189 market as a red flag rather than a bargain.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Reception for the Darkrai cards is strongly positive even as the broader set draws a mixed response, but the enthusiasm is aimed mostly at the SIR. The gold is respected as the set's rarest pull and the master-set capstone — and its price story became the set's biggest market talking point, with the four-figure presale framing giving way to a sub-$200 reality.
Most of the Darkrai chatter across Reddit and YouTube centers on the Egawa SIR and its eldritch-eye reading of the Mega form. The gold comes up mainly in price discussion — first the $1,000 asks, then the slide to $189 — and in pull-rate threads as the set's toughest hit. It is the completionist's talking point rather than the crowd's favorite.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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