As the final Japanese Pokémon TCG expansion of the year, and an early taste of 2026's first set Ascended Heroes, Mega Dream ex is in a fairly difficult spot. As a 'high-class' set, it's the mirror image of late 2024's Terastal Festival release, better known as Prismatic Evolutions in English - and that comparison sets a very high quality bar to clear because Prismatic was one of the strongest Pokémon sets in years. As such, despite being on a high after my positively joyous Mega Dream ex box opening experience, I'm still somewhat anxious about Ascended Heroes.
OK, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, so let's back up a bit and check out my sick pulls. Pokémon TCG: Mega Dream ex is a 250-card set that has a total of 193 standard cards and 67 Art Rares or above (Illustration Rares, in the English sets). That's a behemoth of an expansion, and one that'll be piled in alongside other Japanese products when Ascended Heroes releases.
I've already waxed lyrical about how much I love the Mega Dragonite SIR from Mega Dream ex, so I won't go into detail on that, but I'd say that this is arguably one of my favorite sets based on artwork alone. I'm focusing on the collecting aspect here, as I can't read Japanese, but everything from the Art Rares to those glorious Secret Art Rares looks absolutely gorgeous. In all honesty, I personally believe they belong in our list of the best Pokémon cards ever, purely for looks (and they look even better in person, believe me).
Mega Dream ex booster boxes come with 10 packs, each containing 10 cards - that's a unique part of Japan's 'high-class' Pokémon sets, as English versions don't come with booster boxes. Each pack has your basic common cards, and then a few shinies or reverse holos and, if you're lucky, a couple of those glorious hits you've been looking for.
That's a good lead into the fact that, from my experience, Mega Dream ex's pull rates seem frigging fantastic. Across a single booster box, I had five secret rares or above, including one of the new Mega Attack cards showcased at Pokémon Worlds, alongside the typical Pokémon ex hits. They're all absolutely gorgeous, and considering N's Zekrom was one of my chases, I was extremely happy to pull it in the first pack. Screw last pack magic, it's all about those great starts.
I was in two minds about the Mega Attack cards, but in all honesty, they're much nicer than I thought. Pulling them feels like the same excitement as an SIR, and the adorable Gardevoir is one of my favorite chases in any set it's in, so I was delighted to score that in my second pack. It did make the rest of the pack opening feel somewhat disappointing, but compared to opening a booster box of Destined Rivals? Well, this felt like Pokéheaven.
Mega Dream ex shows me how much fun it is to have decent pulls across a single box, as opposed to the abysmal spread I got from Prismatic Evolutions. The former made me feel like my money was well spent, the latter made me want to pull my hair out and turn into a Yu-Gi-Oh! collector, purely out of spite. The print quality is also stunning here; each card looks extremely presentable, and the textures are phenomenal, especially on the glorious Mega Gardevoir #226 that I pulled. My queen.
However, that's also a problem in its own right - the bar is now raised for Pokémon Ascended Heroes, and while I would hope that the upcoming set will deliver, I have reason to believe it won't. This time last year, I opened Terastal Festival packs, praising it and saying it made me excited for Prismatic Evolutions. I shouldn't have been, and if Mega Dream ex is the precursor to a disappointing Ascended Heroes… well, for now, I'm happy to say this new Japanese set is absolutely incredible. Let's hope it doesn't mean Ascended will follow last year's trend and let me down.
If you're looking to stock up on Mega Dream ex boxes ahead of Ascended Heroes, I'd suggest buying them from our partner, Chaos Cards. You can also sign up for notifications on the English set, so you can hope to get some Ascended Heroes pre-orders at retail price.
Alternatively, you can always join our Wargamer Discord community and chat with like-minded Trainers about the latest news in the TCG, as well as be kept in the loop for those potential deals. Well, retail price or below market value deals, but they're still good!