Backstory
After watching the replay of the 2013 Pokemon TCG World Championships, it was love at first sight when I watched Darkrai demolish the Juniors and Masters divisions. I am rather new to competitive TCG, so this is the first deck list I have ever created. Actually, this is almost a version 1.1, as I took this to my League and went 3-0 with this deck with one minor difference. (literally one or maybe two cards) Anyway, after play-testing on PlayTCG, I changed just a few things to help my deck out. This is my current deck list that I will be bringing to my league on Tuesday! (or as of now)
Current Deck List
Pokemon (11)
Trainers (37)
Energy (12)
Strategy
Attackers
Darkrai EX (DE 107)
Darkrai EX is the main attacker of the Darkrai deck. Who would have guessed? In my opinion this is one of the top 10, or maybe even top 5, cards in the format right now. In this deck, it is used mainly as an attacker, but its ability plays a major role in this deck as well. Night Spear, its attack, hits for a solid 90, (110 with Dark Claw) which 2HKOs every card in the format that is not holding an HP-boosting item. Along with the good Active damage, Darkrai also attacks one of your opponent's bench Pokemon for 30, which doesn't seem overwhelming, but can be game-changing. Next, Darkrai has a massive 180 HP, making it very hard to take down in one attack. One might say, "Well, Darkrai has a big retreat cost (2 energy) so once it's in the Active spot, it's stuck there!" If someone says that, they need to learn to read the whole card! You see, Darkrai does indeed have a two-energy retreat cost, but its ability allows it, as well as all of your other Pokemon, to retreat for free, as long as it has a darkness energy attached! That helps this deck a lot, as this deck retreats many times to accomplish its goal. As you can see, Darkrai EX is the main Pokemon, as well as attacker, in this deck.
Absol (PF 67)
Our secondary attacker in this deck is Absol. At first glance, this card seems subpar, if not absolutely terrible. Many might say this, but you cannot find a better partner for Darkrai than Absol! If only people would read text once in a while... Mind Jack, Absol's first attack, does 20 damage plus 20 for every Bench Pokemon your opponent has in play. With a full bench and a Dark Claw equipped, that's a total of 140 damage! That's enough to knock out an Empoleon in a single attack! Why might this be a good partner for Darkrai? Think about it. Darkrai's 30 Bench damage plus 140 from Absol gives you a grand total of 170 damage. That's enough to knock out almost every card in the game! To top it all off, Mind Jack only costs two energy, so it can easily be set up in one turn with a Dark Patch. Due to Absol being a non-EX, it only gives up one prize card, making it possible for this deck to make your opponent earn 7 prizes. Absol is the secondary attacker in this deck that compliments Darkrai EX very well.
Support Pokemon
Sableye (DE 62)
Sableye is the starter Pokemon in the Darkrai deck. It dramatically helps you when setting up, as its attack, Junk Hunt, allows you to choose two item cards from your discard pile and add them to your hand. I normally use this to recycle Dark Patches and Hypnotoxic Lasers, and when I'm lucky Computer Search. As if it wasn't good enough, Junk Hunt only requires one energy, so you can have it ready on turn 1!
Mr. Mime (PF 47)
Mr. Mime is overall a great card. It only has one use, but it surely is a good one. Its ability, Bench Barrier, prevents all damage done to your bench Pokemon. I always try to get this out on turn one or two, as this card dramatically helps you get the edge in matches against Kyruem Plasma, Genesect, and mirror matches. Best of all, if you don't get it in your opening hand, you don't have to use an Ultra Ball if you don't want to, because Mr. Mime has 70 HP, which means you can search for it with a Level Ball! Overall, Mr. Mime is a major support card that will help turn the tides in your favor in many different matches.
Keldeo EX (BC 142)
Keldeo EX is in this deck for one solid reason. To prevent status conditions! As many of you know, Keldeo has an ability called Rush In, which allows Keldeo to 'rush into' the Active position, therefore removing the status condition on the Active Pokemon. Due to Darkrai's ability, all you need to do is attach an energy and Keldeo can retreat right back to the bench, allowing a status-free attacker to be promoted back to the active spot. This single card will almost guarantee a win against Gothitelle/Accelgor decks, as well as render Hypnotoxic Laser useless when playing decks that use it. Some Darkrai decks don't run Keldeo, but in my opinion, Keldeo is a must for many different decks!
Major Trainers
4 Professor Juniper, 4 N, 4 Colress
All three of these cards are musts for every deck. I was considering running only 2 or 3 N, but there was almost nothing else to add tot the deck! They are the 3 best draw supporters currently in the format, and when played correctly, all three are extremely powerful.
4 Hypnotoxic Laser and 2 Virbank City Gym
This deck lives and dies by the laser! Think about it. Empoleon, my personal enemy, has 140 HP. Darkrai hits for 110 with a Dark Claw, but who wants to wait two turns to knock it out? The answer is this ultimate combo! Hypnotoxic Laser automatically poisons your opponent's active Pokemon, and if you flip heads also puts your opponent's Pokemon to sleep. Normally, poison only does 10 damage in between turns, but when Virbank City Gym is in play, that 10 turns into 30. 110 from Darkrai plus the 30 from poison equals 140 damage, enough to KO many prominent Pokemon in the format, including Empoleon!
2 Tool Scrapper
I put two copies of Tool Scrapper into this deck. I feel as if it's just the right amount to do its job. I don't need it to get rid of Mirrors, Bangles, or Float Stones, even though that's what it is used for more often than not. I solely put these in here to nullify Garbodor's ability. Garbodor's Garbotoxin (try to say that 5 times fast) only activates when a Tool is equipped to Garbodor, which means Tool Scrapper prevents that ability from shutting you down. Ironically, some Darkrai decks actually use Garbodor, but with this deck being more offensively-based, I need to tech against it!
4 Dark Patch
Dark Patch is this deck's main form of energy acceleration. It helps to discard energy early, use Dark Patch to attach those energies, use Junk Hunt to get the Dark Patches back, and then repeat the process until you have a fully-powered Darkrai or Absol. Not too much to write about this card besides the fact it is extremely important to this deck!
3 Dark Claw
Dark Claw is the only Tool I run in this deck. Float stone is not needed due to Darkrai's ability, so there aren't too many other routes to go. Dark Claw boosts the power of your Dark Pokemon's attacks by 20, which might not seem like much, but can be game-changing. As I have mentioned many times throughout this post, Dark Claw can close the gap between a 1HKO and a 2HKO very easily. If I had room, I would run 4!
Actual Strategy
With this deck, you would preferably like to go second. If it is not in starting hand, try to get a Sableye out by using either Ultra Ball or Level Ball. Attempt to get Mr. Mime and Darkrai EX onto the bench by the end of turn one or two as well. By using Sableye to recycle Items such as Dark Patch, try to get a fully-powered Darkrai EX by turn 2, and start pounding away! When affected with status conditions, use the strategy under Keldeo EX to remove them ASAP. When you are hitting away with one attacker, make sure you have a Benched Darkrai EX or Absol that you are setting up to replace your Active Pokemon either when it is knocked out. When in a jam, try to set up an Absol in a turn, as I have done it many times before. When given the option of going aggresive versus going safe, always go agressive! Trust me, I've made that mistake more times than I can count!
Conclusion
This deck will be the one I bring to my league until I obtain the cards to build another! In my opinion, this deck is pure Speed Darkrai, with nothing special about it. Besides running one or two more Absol than some other Darkrai variants, this is the meat and potatoes of any Darkrai deck. Due to its success in my league matches, I believe this deck can be a contender due to its speed of setup, which is faster than a good majority of popular decks currently. All in all, I believe my Speed Darkrai deck list can be a major force in my league, as well as yours!
After watching the replay of the 2013 Pokemon TCG World Championships, it was love at first sight when I watched Darkrai demolish the Juniors and Masters divisions. I am rather new to competitive TCG, so this is the first deck list I have ever created. Actually, this is almost a version 1.1, as I took this to my League and went 3-0 with this deck with one minor difference. (literally one or maybe two cards) Anyway, after play-testing on PlayTCG, I changed just a few things to help my deck out. This is my current deck list that I will be bringing to my league on Tuesday! (or as of now)
Current Deck List
Pokemon (11)
- 3 Darkrai EX (DE 107)
- 3 Sableye (DE 62)
- 1 Mr. Mime (PF 47)
- 3 Absol (PF 67)
- 1 Keldeo EX (BC 142)
Trainers (37)
- 4 Professor Juniper (PF 116)
- 3 N (NV 101)
- 4 Colress (PS 135)
- 4 Hypnotoxic Laser (PS 123)
- 2 Virbank City Gym (PS 126)
- 2 Level Ball (ND 89)
- 2 Ultra Ball (PF 122)
- 2 Tool Scrapper (DR 116)
- 3 Pokemon Catcher (EP 95)
- 4 Dark Patch (DE 93)
- 3 Dark Claw (DE 92)
- 1 Computer Search (BC 137) *Ace Spec
- 1 Energy Switch (LT 112)
- 2 Skyla (BC 134)
Energy (12)
- 12 Darkness Energy (BW 111)
Strategy
Attackers
Darkrai EX (DE 107)
Darkrai EX is the main attacker of the Darkrai deck. Who would have guessed? In my opinion this is one of the top 10, or maybe even top 5, cards in the format right now. In this deck, it is used mainly as an attacker, but its ability plays a major role in this deck as well. Night Spear, its attack, hits for a solid 90, (110 with Dark Claw) which 2HKOs every card in the format that is not holding an HP-boosting item. Along with the good Active damage, Darkrai also attacks one of your opponent's bench Pokemon for 30, which doesn't seem overwhelming, but can be game-changing. Next, Darkrai has a massive 180 HP, making it very hard to take down in one attack. One might say, "Well, Darkrai has a big retreat cost (2 energy) so once it's in the Active spot, it's stuck there!" If someone says that, they need to learn to read the whole card! You see, Darkrai does indeed have a two-energy retreat cost, but its ability allows it, as well as all of your other Pokemon, to retreat for free, as long as it has a darkness energy attached! That helps this deck a lot, as this deck retreats many times to accomplish its goal. As you can see, Darkrai EX is the main Pokemon, as well as attacker, in this deck.
Absol (PF 67)
Our secondary attacker in this deck is Absol. At first glance, this card seems subpar, if not absolutely terrible. Many might say this, but you cannot find a better partner for Darkrai than Absol! If only people would read text once in a while... Mind Jack, Absol's first attack, does 20 damage plus 20 for every Bench Pokemon your opponent has in play. With a full bench and a Dark Claw equipped, that's a total of 140 damage! That's enough to knock out an Empoleon in a single attack! Why might this be a good partner for Darkrai? Think about it. Darkrai's 30 Bench damage plus 140 from Absol gives you a grand total of 170 damage. That's enough to knock out almost every card in the game! To top it all off, Mind Jack only costs two energy, so it can easily be set up in one turn with a Dark Patch. Due to Absol being a non-EX, it only gives up one prize card, making it possible for this deck to make your opponent earn 7 prizes. Absol is the secondary attacker in this deck that compliments Darkrai EX very well.
Support Pokemon
Sableye (DE 62)
Sableye is the starter Pokemon in the Darkrai deck. It dramatically helps you when setting up, as its attack, Junk Hunt, allows you to choose two item cards from your discard pile and add them to your hand. I normally use this to recycle Dark Patches and Hypnotoxic Lasers, and when I'm lucky Computer Search. As if it wasn't good enough, Junk Hunt only requires one energy, so you can have it ready on turn 1!
Mr. Mime (PF 47)
Mr. Mime is overall a great card. It only has one use, but it surely is a good one. Its ability, Bench Barrier, prevents all damage done to your bench Pokemon. I always try to get this out on turn one or two, as this card dramatically helps you get the edge in matches against Kyruem Plasma, Genesect, and mirror matches. Best of all, if you don't get it in your opening hand, you don't have to use an Ultra Ball if you don't want to, because Mr. Mime has 70 HP, which means you can search for it with a Level Ball! Overall, Mr. Mime is a major support card that will help turn the tides in your favor in many different matches.
Keldeo EX (BC 142)
Keldeo EX is in this deck for one solid reason. To prevent status conditions! As many of you know, Keldeo has an ability called Rush In, which allows Keldeo to 'rush into' the Active position, therefore removing the status condition on the Active Pokemon. Due to Darkrai's ability, all you need to do is attach an energy and Keldeo can retreat right back to the bench, allowing a status-free attacker to be promoted back to the active spot. This single card will almost guarantee a win against Gothitelle/Accelgor decks, as well as render Hypnotoxic Laser useless when playing decks that use it. Some Darkrai decks don't run Keldeo, but in my opinion, Keldeo is a must for many different decks!
Major Trainers
4 Professor Juniper, 4 N, 4 Colress
All three of these cards are musts for every deck. I was considering running only 2 or 3 N, but there was almost nothing else to add tot the deck! They are the 3 best draw supporters currently in the format, and when played correctly, all three are extremely powerful.
4 Hypnotoxic Laser and 2 Virbank City Gym
This deck lives and dies by the laser! Think about it. Empoleon, my personal enemy, has 140 HP. Darkrai hits for 110 with a Dark Claw, but who wants to wait two turns to knock it out? The answer is this ultimate combo! Hypnotoxic Laser automatically poisons your opponent's active Pokemon, and if you flip heads also puts your opponent's Pokemon to sleep. Normally, poison only does 10 damage in between turns, but when Virbank City Gym is in play, that 10 turns into 30. 110 from Darkrai plus the 30 from poison equals 140 damage, enough to KO many prominent Pokemon in the format, including Empoleon!
2 Tool Scrapper
I put two copies of Tool Scrapper into this deck. I feel as if it's just the right amount to do its job. I don't need it to get rid of Mirrors, Bangles, or Float Stones, even though that's what it is used for more often than not. I solely put these in here to nullify Garbodor's ability. Garbodor's Garbotoxin (try to say that 5 times fast) only activates when a Tool is equipped to Garbodor, which means Tool Scrapper prevents that ability from shutting you down. Ironically, some Darkrai decks actually use Garbodor, but with this deck being more offensively-based, I need to tech against it!
4 Dark Patch
Dark Patch is this deck's main form of energy acceleration. It helps to discard energy early, use Dark Patch to attach those energies, use Junk Hunt to get the Dark Patches back, and then repeat the process until you have a fully-powered Darkrai or Absol. Not too much to write about this card besides the fact it is extremely important to this deck!
3 Dark Claw
Dark Claw is the only Tool I run in this deck. Float stone is not needed due to Darkrai's ability, so there aren't too many other routes to go. Dark Claw boosts the power of your Dark Pokemon's attacks by 20, which might not seem like much, but can be game-changing. As I have mentioned many times throughout this post, Dark Claw can close the gap between a 1HKO and a 2HKO very easily. If I had room, I would run 4!
Actual Strategy
With this deck, you would preferably like to go second. If it is not in starting hand, try to get a Sableye out by using either Ultra Ball or Level Ball. Attempt to get Mr. Mime and Darkrai EX onto the bench by the end of turn one or two as well. By using Sableye to recycle Items such as Dark Patch, try to get a fully-powered Darkrai EX by turn 2, and start pounding away! When affected with status conditions, use the strategy under Keldeo EX to remove them ASAP. When you are hitting away with one attacker, make sure you have a Benched Darkrai EX or Absol that you are setting up to replace your Active Pokemon either when it is knocked out. When in a jam, try to set up an Absol in a turn, as I have done it many times before. When given the option of going aggresive versus going safe, always go agressive! Trust me, I've made that mistake more times than I can count!
Conclusion
This deck will be the one I bring to my league until I obtain the cards to build another! In my opinion, this deck is pure Speed Darkrai, with nothing special about it. Besides running one or two more Absol than some other Darkrai variants, this is the meat and potatoes of any Darkrai deck. Due to its success in my league matches, I believe this deck can be a contender due to its speed of setup, which is faster than a good majority of popular decks currently. All in all, I believe my Speed Darkrai deck list can be a major force in my league, as well as yours!
Pokemon (11)
Trainers (37)
Energy (12)
- 3 Darkrai EX (DE 107)
- 3 Sableye (DE 62)
- 1 Mr. Mime (PF 47)
- 3 Absol (PF 67)
- 1 Keldeo EX (BC 142)
Trainers (37)
- 4 Professor Juniper (PF 116)
- 4 N (NV 101)
- 4 Colress (PS 135)
- 4 Hypnotoxic Laser (PS 123)
- 2 Virbank City Gym (PS 126)
- 2 Level Ball (ND 89)
- 2 Ultra Ball (PF 122)
- 2 Tool Scrapper (DR 116)
- 3 Pokemon Catcher (EP 95)
- 4 Dark Patch (DE 93)
- 3 Dark Claw (DE 92)
- 1 Computer Search (BC 137) *Ace Spec
- 1 Energy Switch (LT 112)
- 1 Skyla (BC 134)
Energy (12)
- 12 Darkness Energy (BW 111)
+1 Skyla
-1 N
-1 N
. Let me know how the deck did.