Following the introduction of Dragapult ex in Mask of Change [SV6], the Dragapult ex deck almost immediately emerged as a major force in the Pokémon TCG metagame. Dragapult ex itself is likely to be a regular fixture of big tournaments for the vast majority, if not the entirety, of its time as a tournament-legal card. However, with all the hype around Dragapult ex, it’s easy to overlook the fact that even its pre-evolution is a genuine force in its own right.

Drakloak’s Ability of Recon Directive is a highly viable early-game draw engine that’s a renamed version of Air Mail, the Ability of the Pidgeotto card from Tag Bolt [SM9]. Recon Directive allows the player to look at the top two cards of the deck before selecting one to put in the hand, then place the other at the bottom of the deck. This is not only a great way to quickly build up a resource advantage; it also ensures a more favorable draw for the player in turns to come by “burying” unwanted cards at the bottom of the deck.

Probably the most important advantage that this card provides is the opportunity to evolve itself or other Drakloak cards into Dragapult ex as soon as possible. That being said, it’s often advisable for a Dragapult ex deck to have one more Drakloak card than the number of Dragapult ex cards. In exchange for evolution, the excess Drakloak card adds much consistency and stability to reinforce the deck’s tremendous attacking power.

The English version of this card is card 129/167 in the Twilight Masquerade [TWM] set.

Since this card is relatively common, it’s highly affordable—one card sells for just 230 JPY (~US$1.50).

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