EarlyTerms

Mega Darkrai ex

Emergent · Emerged · 9 days old · Last reviewed

Mega Darkrai ex is the standout chase card of Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution—Pitch Black, the fifth Mega Evolution-era expansion in the current TCG cycle, released July 17, 2026 by The Pokémon Company as the set's headline pull.

It's a 280 HP Darkness-type Basic Mega Evolution Pokémon ex with two attacks — Dusk Raid (110+ damage, +110 more if any benched Pokémon has damage counters) and Abyss Eye (knocks out an opponent's Special-Condition-afflicted Active Pokémon) — and it gives up 3 Prize cards when knocked out, per the Mega Evolution ex rule.

💡

The card prints across four collector tiers in Pitch Black: a Double Rare base version (#048), an Ultra Rare full art (#101), the chase Special Illustration Rare by illustrator AKIRA EGAWA (#116/120), and a gold Mega Hyper Rare (#120) — the last of which anchored a viral "god pack" pull worth over $750 per card ungraded.

It's the set's hero sneaker colorway — the one card everyone searches by name.

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Search Interest

peak ~20K/mo
updated 2026-07-25
~20K/mo ~9.9K/mo 0
2026-06-26 2026-07-11 2026-07-25
Term Lifecycle
  1. Nascent
    0–7 days
  2. Emergent ← now
    8–30 days
  3. Validating
    31–90 days
  4. Rising
    91–180 days
  5. Established
    180 days +

Why is it emerging now?

TL;DR

Mega Darkrai ex was named a headliner when Pitch Black was announced April 30, 2026, got its full art reveal July 10, and became the set's viral chase card the week of its July 17 release — anchoring a widely shared all-gold "god pack" pull worth thousands of dollars.

5 forces driving coverage — scroll →

Outlook

6-month signal projection and commercial timeline.

Signal high
Revenue strong

Chase-card search demand for a Pokémon TCG headliner typically holds for 2-3 months post-release before the price stabilizes and attention shifts to the next set.

Risk · If reprints or a slab-price correction hit before content ships, "value" search intent cools faster than the evergreen "stats" and "how to use" queries.

Analogs · Pokémon TCG Pitch Black · Charizard ex (Obsidian Flames)

Monetization timeline
  1. now
    Chase-card price discovery

    Ungraded SIR trading near $298, PSA 10 near $1,525; volatile as fresh pulls hit the market.

  2. 3-6mo
    Grading backlog clears

    PSA/CGC pop reports firm up rarity, and secondary-market prices settle into a stable band.

  3. 6-12mo
    Attention shifts to next set

    The next Mega Evolution expansion's headliner takes over chase-card search volume.

Competition & Opportunity for term “Mega Darkrai ex”

Signals derived from the tracked queries, the term's monetization cards, and its cluster neighbors. Heuristic except where marked measured (Google KD).

Content Gap
10 queries tracked
Led by General (8), Cost breakdown (2)
10 Suggest-only tails — long-tail opening
Revenue Potential
20% commercial-intent queries
3 monetization angles mapped
Mixed intent — educational + commercial
Build Difficulty
Low-Medium (heuristic)
Stage: emergent — early enough to land
0 / 13 default TLDs taken
No cluster neighbors published yet
Heuristic · signals: tracked queries, term monetization cards, cluster neighbors

Ideas for term “Mega Darkrai ex”

Buildable pitches — turn this term into an article, site, product, post, newsletter, video, or course. Steal any card and run with it.

Article
Mega Darkrai ex Stats, Attacks, and Value Guide

Direct-answer explainer for the exact autocomplete queries (stats, value, price, PSA 10) driving ~33K monthly searches with thin existing competition.

Article
Every Mega Darkrai ex Version Ranked: Double Rare to Gold Hyper Rare

Comparison piece across the card's four print tiers (#048/#101/#116/#120) with price-per-tier breakdown for collectors deciding what to chase.

Product
A live price tracker widget for Mega Darkrai ex across TCGplayer, eBay, and PriceCharting

Chase-card prices move fast post-release; an embeddable tracker beats a static article and can be reused for each set's headliner.

Video
"I Paid $298 for Mega Darkrai ex — Is It Worth It?" deck-building breakdown

Combines competitive-play analysis (Dusk Raid damage math) with resale-value commentary, a two-audience hook that plain box-break content misses.

Post TikTok / YouTube Shorts
The Card Worth More Than a Used Car, Pulled by a Kid on His Birthday

Ten gold Mega Darkrai ex cards in one pack — and the internet spent a week arguing about whether it was even real.

Post Newsletter / Collectibles media
Why One Card Is Carrying an Entire Expansion's Search Demand

Pitch Black has 115+ cards. Almost all the search traffic is going to one of them.

Post X / Reddit r/PokemonTCG
Dusk Raid Math: Is Mega Darkrai ex Actually Good, or Just Expensive?

220 damage sounds huge until you check what it costs to set up — so I ran the numbers.

What People Search

Long-tail queries from Google Suggest + Trends. Volume and competition are heuristics — directional, not audited. Content Type comes from query shape.

Keyword
Competition
Content Type
mega darkrai ex
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex gold
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex sar
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex pitch black
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex price
Very Low
Cost breakdown
mega darkrai ex sir
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex card
Very Low
General
mega darkrai ex mur
Very Low
General
1–8 of 10
1 / 2
Updated 2026-07-25 · sources: Google Trends, Google Suggest · Competition is heuristic

SERP of term “Mega Darkrai ex”

What searchers see today — organic results on top, paid ads if anyone's bidding. Ad density is a real-time commercial signal.

FAQ

What is Mega Darkrai ex?

Mega Darkrai ex is the standout chase card of Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution—Pitch Black, the fifth Mega Evolution-era expansion in the current TCG cycle, released July 17, 2026 by The Pokémon Company as the set's headline pull.

Why is Mega Darkrai ex emerging now?

Mega Darkrai ex was named a headliner when Pitch Black was announced April 30, 2026, got its full art reveal July 10, and became the set's viral chase card the week of its July 17 release — anchoring a widely shared all-gold "god pack" pull worth thousands of dollars.

When did Mega Darkrai ex emerge?

Publicly emerged around 2026-07-17 (about 9 days ago as of 2026-07-26). EarlyTerms first recorded a pipeline signal on 2026-07-22.

Related Terms

Other terms in the same space — aliases, subtypes, competitors, and neighbors to explore next.

Also mentioned
  • Part of Pokémon TCG Pitch Black
  • Related Mega Evolution (Pokémon TCG era)·god pack·chase card·Special Illustration Rare·PSA 10 grading·Mega Zeraora ex·Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151

Sources

Primary URLs this report cites — open any to verify the claim yourself.

  1. 01 Pokémon.com — Mega Evolution–Pitch Black expansion arrives July 17, 2026 pokemon.com
  2. 02 Pokémon.com — Sneak a peek at cards from Mega Evolution–Pitch Black pokemon.com
  3. 03 Pokémon.com — Pitch Black expansion is available now pokemon.com
  4. 04 PkmnCards — Mega Darkrai ex full card text, #116 pkmncards.com
  5. 05 GAMES.GG — First ever all-gold god pack pulled from Pitch Black games.gg
  6. 06 TCGtalk — Pitch Black pull rates & pack odds, 253 packs opened tcgtalk.com
  7. 07 PriceCharting — Mega Darkrai ex #116 price history pricecharting.com