Pitch Black Pull Rates & Pack Odds (2026)

What Is Pitch Black?

Pitch Black is the English-language Pokémon TCG set releasing on 17 July 2026, based on the Japanese set Abyss Eye (M5). It continues the Mega Evolution Series celebrating the Mega Pokémon from Pokémon Legends: Z-A — and Mega Darkrai ex is the undisputed headliner. Prerelease events run at local game stores from 4 July, with the cards becoming tournament-legal on 31 July.

Like Perfect Order and Chaos Rising earlier in 2026, Pitch Black is a small-sized regular set adapted mostly from a single Japanese set. The base set is 81 cards, with secret rares extending the numbering up to 118/081 — a modest size that keeps the chase pool tight for collectors hunting the Special Illustration Rare Mega Darkrai ex.

Beyond Darkrai, Pitch Black introduces Mega Zeraora ex, Mega Chandelure ex, and Mega Excadrill ex, with two further Mega Evolutions expected (likely Mega Slowbro and Mega Delphox). Competitively, the set brings the Hide 'n' Sneak archetype led by Sinistcha, whose Ghostly Hiding ability sidesteps some of Standard's most powerful effects, plus Mega Excadrill ex as a heavy multi-Prize attacker.

Box Contents & Pack Structure

Pitch Black is available in the standard English retail formats:

• Booster Box — 36 packs per box, 10 cards per pack
• Booster Bundle — 6 packs per bundle, 10 cards per pack
• Elite Trainer Box — 9 packs plus accessories
• Single packs & blisters — 10 cards per pack (Slowpoke single pack blister)

Each 10-card pack contains commons, uncommons, a reverse holo slot, and a rare slot. The rare slot determines your hit — it can be a regular Rare (R), an ex, an IR, UR, SIR, or MHR, and a minority of packs deliver a shiny/holo energy insert instead. Not every pack guarantees an ex. In our 117-pack sample, 62 packs (53.0%) yielded only a regular Rare in the rare slot.

The Pokémon Company International has confirmed the set's full-art breakdown:

• 6 Mega Evolution Pokémon ex
• 4 Pokémon ex
• 11 Illustration Rare Pokémon
• 18 Ultra Rare Pokémon and Trainer cards
• 6 Special Illustration Rare Pokémon and Supporter cards

Sample breakdown

The 117 packs were opened across seven sessions in two rounds — including two complete 36-pack booster boxes:

• Round 1 — 31 packs (four early sessions): 8 ex (incl. Mega Chandelure ex), Mega Chandelure ex SIR, 3 IRs (Dhelmise, Manectric, Bastiodon), 1 UR trainer (Heroic Bomb)
• Round 2, Box 1 — 36 packs (full box): 9 ex, 4 IRs (Silvally, Goldeen, Dhelmise, Toucannon), 1 UR trainer (Brave Bangle), and the gold Mega Darkrai ex MHR (118/081), plus 3 shiny energy
• Round 2, Box 2 — 14 packs (partial): 3 ex, 2 IRs (Manectric, Bastiodon), 2 shiny energy
• Round 2, Box 3 — 36 packs (full box): 9 ex, 4 IRs (Silvally, Slowbro, Toucannon, Armarouge), 2 full art cards, 2 shiny energy

Pull Rate Data: 117 Packs

This section reflects a combined sample of 117 packs opened across seven sessions, including two complete 36-pack booster boxes. The ex and IR cadences are now well established — both full boxes hit exactly 9 ex and 4 IRs each. The SIR, UR, and MHR figures still rest on a handful of pulls, so treat those specific rates as indicative rather than settled. We will keep updating this guide as more box and case data comes in.

Combined sample — 117 packs (seven sessions, two complete boxes)

*SIR and MHR rates rest on a single pull each in 117 packs — statistically unreliable despite the exciting gold Darkrai hit. Comparable sets land any SIR roughly once every 5–6 boxes — a specific SIR like Darkrai is far rarer — and the MHR is rarer still.

Named notable pulls

• IRs identified: Silvally (×2), Toucannon (×2), Dhelmise (×2), Manectric, Bastiodon, Goldeen, Slowbro, Armarouge — 8 distinct IRs of the 11 in the set
• SIR: Mega Chandelure ex (SIR) — pulled in the first round
• MHR: gold Mega Darkrai ex (118/081) — pulled in Round 2, Box 1; the rarest card in the set
• UR trainers / full art: Heroic Bomb, Brave Bangle, plus two further full art cards
• Mega Darkrai ex SIR (114/081): 0 pulled across all 117 packs — we hit the gold MHR before the standard SIR

Key findings

• Hit rate: 41.0% of packs had an ex or better — remarkably consistent, and both full boxes landed exactly 15 hits (41.7%) each
• ex cadence: ~1 ex per 4 packs, and precisely 9 ex in each of our two complete boxes — a reliable ~9 per box
• IR cadence: ~1 IR per 9 packs, and exactly 4 IRs in each full box — a dependable ~4 per box
• SIR / MHR: 1 SIR and 1 MHR in 117 packs; pulling the gold Darkrai MHR this early is well above expectation and shouldn't be treated as the real rate
• Shiny energy: ~6% of packs deliver a shiny/holo energy insert (~2 per box) — a minor but frequent bonus

Two Complete Boxes, Box by Box

The strongest new data point is that we opened two full 36-pack booster boxes end to end. Both produced an almost identical shape — a good sign that Pitch Black's ex and IR cadence is tight and predictable.

Box 1 was the lucky one — the gold Mega Darkrai ex MHR is the single best card you can pull from Pitch Black, and it landed inside a completely ordinary-looking box (9 ex, 4 IRs, and otherwise average). Box 3 was the "baseline" box: the exact same 9 ex and 4 IR spine, an extra full art, but no SIR or MHR. That's the honest picture of opening this set — a steady stream of ex and IRs, with the premium chase cards being genuine lightning-in-a-bottle luck.

Rarity Breakdown

*We pulled the MHR gold Mega Darkrai ex once across 117 packs. This is well above its true expected rate — a lucky hit, not a repeatable cadence. Estimate the real rate as rarer than SIR.

The Chase Cards: Mega Darkrai ex SIR & MHR Odds

Pitch Black has a clear chase hierarchy driven almost entirely by Mega Darkrai ex. The Japanese versions of these cards are the most valuable in Abyss Eye by a wide margin, and AKIRA EGAWA's Special Illustration Rare artwork has made it one of the most talked-about chase cards since Arceus and Giratina VSTAR in Crown Zenith. We pulled the gold MHR Darkrai once in 117 packs — a genuine highlight — but the SIR version still eluded us. The table below covers the most sought-after cards with approximate pre-release market prices.

The "God Pack" Report: An All-Gold Error Pack?

A photo recently circulated on Reddit (r/PokemonTCG) of a pack a young collector reportedly pulled at their local card store — a so-called "god pack" said to be filled entirely with gold cards instead of the usual commons, uncommons, and single rare slot. If genuine, it would be one of the most valuable single packs imaginable: the gold Mega Darkrai ex MHR alone carries a ~$498 price tag, so a full pack of golds would be an extraordinary hit.

It comes with heavy caveats. Many commenters believe it is a printing or collation error — or possibly a fake — rather than an intended rarity, and no official "god pack" mechanic is known for the English Mega Evolution Series. We pulled nothing close to it across our 117 packs, and it is not reflected anywhere in the pull-rate math above. Treat it as an unverified one-off anecdote, not a repeatable outcome.

That said, error and god packs are a real phenomenon in the hobby — Japanese sets have long produced all-SR/UR god packs, and genuine misprints do escape the printing line — so the possibility that this is a real error pack can't be dismissed outright. If it is authentic, it's lightning-strike collation luck, not something to plan a purchase around. See the original Reddit thread for the photo and discussion.

Competitive cards to watch

Pitch Black doesn't bring a must-play Trainer staple, but it introduces a couple of exciting archetypes:

• Sinistcha (Hide 'n' Sneak): its Ghostly Hiding ability prevents all effects of attacks and Abilities from the opponent's Pokémon (damage is not an effect) — sidestepping Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive, Munkidori's Adrena-Brain, and Dusknoir's Cursed Blast. Attacks that scale with Hide 'n' Sneak Pokémon in the discard let the deck deal heavy damage while giving up only one Prize per turn.
• Mega Excadrill ex (063/081): the set's most impressive multi-Prize attacker — it can one-shot the ubiquitous Dragapult ex, though it gets one-shot back by Blaziken ex.

Should You Open or Buy Singles?

Open if:

• You enjoy the pack-opening experience and are comfortable with the variance (over half of packs yield only a regular Rare)
• You want to build toward the full set including regulars, reverse holos, and IRs
• You want the consistent ex and IR experience — our two full boxes each delivered exactly 9 ex and 4 IRs, a dependable pull frequency
• You want to try for the Mega Chandelure, Zeraora, or accessible Darkrai UR full arts — and dream on the SIR/MHR jackpot we hit once in 117 packs

Buy singles if:

• You specifically want Mega Darkrai ex SIR (114/081) or the gold MHR (118/081) — even having pulled the MHR once, the expected cost to pull either through opening boxes far exceeds the single card price
• You want any specific SIR: with 6 SIRs in the set and each landing roughly once every several boxes, targeting one specifically through opening is extremely expensive
• You want competitive singles like Sinistcha or Mega Excadrill ex — buy them directly rather than chasing through packs

The numbers on chasing Mega Darkrai ex SIR

• Observed premium hits: 1 SIR and 1 MHR across 117 packs (~3.25 boxes) — a hot run that overstates the true rate
• Estimated SIR rate: roughly 1 SIR per 5–6 boxes (comparable sets); the MHR is rarer still
• Number of SIRs in set: 6 — odds of hitting specifically the Darkrai SIR are very roughly 1 in 30+ boxes
• At ~$289 per booster box, chasing Darkrai SIR (~$409) or the gold MHR (~$498) through opening costs many multiples of the single
• Buying the single is the clear choice for the top two Darkrai cards

The honest bottom line: Pitch Black is a solid opening product if you enjoy the experience — our two complete boxes both delivered a reliable 9 ex and 4 IRs, and one of them coughed up the gold Mega Darkrai ex MHR. But that MHR was luck, not math: with over half of packs yielding only a regular Rare, and the two headline Darkrai cards sitting at $400–500, this still isn't a product where the odds favour chasing the top cards through opening. Our data now spans 117 packs and two full boxes — check back as we add larger case samples.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does every Pitch Black pack have an ex?

No. From our 117-pack sample, 62 packs (53.0%) yielded only a regular Rare in the rare slot — no ex or above. This is typical for English SV-era products. Expect roughly 1 ex hit per 4 packs on average, or ~9 per full box.

Did you actually pull the gold Mega Darkrai ex?

Yes — we pulled the gold Mega Darkrai ex MHR (118/081), the rarest card in the set, once across 117 packs (in our first complete Round 2 box). It's the single best hit in Pitch Black. That said, one MHR in ~3 boxes is well above its true expected rate — treat it as luck, not a repeatable cadence. We still have not pulled the Mega Darkrai ex SIR (114/081).

Is the Pitch Black "god pack" of all gold cards real?

A photo of an all-gold "god pack" reportedly pulled at a local card store has circulated on Reddit, but it is unverified and widely suspected to be a printing/collation error or a fake. No official god-pack mechanic is known for English Mega Evolution sets, and we saw nothing like it across our 117 packs — so it is not part of our pull-rate math. It remains a possibility worth noting, since genuine error packs do exist, but it isn't something to factor into normal pull-rate expectations. See the original thread for the photo.

How does Pitch Black compare to Abyss Eye (Japanese)?

Pitch Black is the English localisation of Abyss Eye (M5) with the same core card pool. Japanese and English packs differ in structure — Japanese packs have 5 cards each versus 10 for English — so pull rates per pack are not directly comparable. See our Abyss Eye pull rates guide for the Japanese box data.

What is the MHR (Master Hyper Rare) in Pitch Black?

The Master Hyper Rare is the gold Mega Darkrai ex (118/081) — the alternate full-art version of the set's headliner, with a pre-release market price around $498 USD. It is the rarest pull in the set. We pulled exactly one across our 117-pack sample, which is a lucky result at this rarity tier.

How reliable is this sample now?

It's much stronger than our first update. 117 packs — including two complete 36-pack boxes — pins down the ex cadence (~9/box) and IR cadence (~4/box) with confidence, since both full boxes matched exactly. The SIR, UR, and MHR figures still rest on only a few pulls, so treat those as indicative. We'll expand the guide with case-level data as it becomes available.

Is Mega Excadrill ex good for competitive play?

Mega Excadrill ex (063/081) is the set's standout multi-Prize attacker — its attack can one-shot the ubiquitous Dragapult ex. The catch is that it gets one-shot in return by Blaziken ex, which has been showing up in Dragapult decks as a backup attacker. It's worth watching as the English meta develops.

Disclaimer: Pull rates are community estimates from 117 packs (two complete boxes) — a growing but still limited sample. All prices are estimates — verify current prices before buying or selling. This is not financial advice.