The best binder for Pitch Black is a 9-pocket; the 84-card set fills about 10 pages, or 22 for a master set.
Why 9-pocket suits Pitch Black
A 9-pocket binder shows a full 3×3 spread and sleeves Pitch Black's 84 base cards in numbered order with no wasted slots. A 4-pocket is nice for a slim display of just the chase cards like Mega Darkrai ex, Mega Zeraora ex, Mega Chandelure ex and Mega Darkrai ex; a 12-pocket fits more per page but is bulkier to flip. For a full set, 9-pocket is the sweet spot.
Pitch Black pages per binder size
Base set (84 cards):
| Binder | Pages |
|---|---|
| 4-pocket | 21 |
| 9-pocket | 10 |
| 12-pocket | 7 |
| 16-pocket | 6 |
Master set (194 cards):
| Binder | Pages |
|---|---|
| 4-pocket | 49 |
| 9-pocket | 22 |
| 12-pocket | 17 |
| 16-pocket | 13 |
Displaying the Pitch Black chase cards
If you'd rather build a one-page showcase than a full binder, these are the cards worth front-and-center:
- Mega Darkrai ex (#120) — Mega Hyper Rare
- Mega Zeraora ex (#114) — Special Illustration Rare
- Mega Chandelure ex (#115) — Special Illustration Rare
- Mega Darkrai ex (#116) — Special Illustration Rare
What that means for Pitch Black
In a 9-pocket binder the base set fills 10 pages. Going for the full master set — all 194 cards including 74 reverse holos — pushes that to 22 pages, so budget a binder (or two) and the sleeves to match. Star Pokémon like Mega Darkrai, Morpeko and Mega Zeraora are worth a dedicated spread of their own.
A common setup for Pitch Black: one 9-pocket binder of about 10 pages for the base 84 cards, kept in number order, and a second binder for the 74 reverse holos and 36 secret rares. Premium side-loading sleeves are worth it for the 17 full-art chase cards.
Figures from the pokemontcg.io dataset, as of June 2026.