Darkrai Counters

MountainDrew

Wishes Mega Umbreon would exist
Member
Hey guys I know Darkrai Decks will be heavily played at states and I have no idea how to counter it. I'm extremely worried about this deck, because everyone seems to be playing it, and I seriously have no clue which deck could have a good matchup againest if. I know Terrakion is a good counter, but since Hypnotic Laser makes Terrakion not that great then what is the best way to counter him?
 
Both of those counters arent that great because of the laser. Wait till your Landorus gets poisoned and you miss a switch and watch how fast your opponent takes 2 prizes.
 
If you're looking for a deck that's the best against Darkrai/Lasers, Landorus decks and Klinklang, as said above are the decks that have the best match up against it.

exdarkrai, you seem to forget that Landorus also has Lasers. Landorus can do the equivalent of a Night Spear to Darkrai on the first turn (HH + Weakness + Laser/Virbank), and Land's Judgment can one shot Darkrai's without the discard if you have Lasers. Terrakion probably isn't that great, especially since Darkrai now does enough to one shot it. But Landorus can OHKO Darkrai's anyway, so why do you need Terrakion?

Klinklang may not work if they are using Hammers. Hammers turn the match up from favorable to almost unwinnable, assuming they get 2 of them within the first few turns. Sableye with Lasers isn't enough to beat Klinklang, especially since Klinklang itself can one shot Sableye's with the same attack cost as Cobalion.
 
Yes it can, however it is much harder for Lando to get rid of the poison than Darkrai. I'm not saying Landorus is bad, im saying Darkrai can abusr the laser better than anything else, so its not as easy as a matchup as you would think. Darkrai also has energy acceleration which landorus does not. Its an even matchup in my eyes.
 
how so Klinklang cant the darkrai player just keep catcher/hammer/lazer with Sableye until the Klinklang player runs out of resources.
 
MountainDrew said:
Hey guys I know Darkrai Decks will be heavily played at states and I have no idea how to counter it.
I use Landorus EX. Lando has a slight advantage in that I have a very high probability of attacking T1, whereas Darkrai EX does not. Granted, Lando is also Keldeo EX "lunch".


Brave Vesperia said:
Klinklang eats Darkai for breakfast.
Don't think so; even without the Fire techs!


MountainDrew said:
how so Klinklang cant the darkrai player just keep catcher/hammer/lazer with Sableye until the Klinklang player runs out of resources.
That's 1 tactic.

Keep in mind that a good player running Darkrai EX will be Night Spearing by T2; and Klink(s) are prime targets. If the KK Plasma "shield" is not up by T2, another Klink will be KOd again on T3, and so on... This can occur without even using Lasers too.

Another tactic available is that Darkrai EX players can tech into their decks certain Fire Poké that can easily 1HKO any Metal Poké in the KK deck. These techs also are not too disruptive to the Darkrai EX deck since the Blend energy can work on either Dark or Fire Poké.
 
Terrakion EX could work. No revenge, but it will be much harder to OHKO and has the built in energy acceleration. An ether/pokedex engine should help power it up quicker.

But for those unorthodox counters, the new Lucario from Plasma Storm. FCC does 60 + 30 for each prize they have taken. They take one prize and you're OHKing Darkrai. Plus, it becomes metal if you have metal energy attached (nothing the blend won't cover). If you're playing Klinklank, this would be the way to go.
 
Brave Vesperia said:
Klinklang eats Darkai for breakfast.
Don't think so; even without the Fire techs!





Maybe it's just my build, but I manage to beat Darkrai decks at least 75% of the time. Also Victini doesn't really bother me; it's pretty easy to KO.
 
MountainDrew said:
how so Klinklang cant the darkrai player just keep catcher/hammer/lazer with Sableye until the Klinklang player runs out of resources.

As I said, if they don't run Hammers, which some lists have cut, due to Laser/Virbank taking up a lot of space, it's not easy for Darkrai to win. But, if they do play Hammers, and get 2 out turn 1/2, you pretty much lose, unless flips go your way.

TuxedoBlack said:
Keep in mind that a good player running Darkrai EX will be Night Spearing by T2; and Klink(s) are prime targets. If the KK Plasma "shield" is not up by T2, another Klink will be KOd again on T3, and so on... This can occur without even using Lasers too.

Another tactic available is that Darkrai EX players can tech into their decks certain Fire Poké that can easily 1HKO any Metal Poké in the KK deck. These techs also are not too disruptive to the Darkrai EX deck since the Blend energy can work on either Dark or Fire Poké.

Klinklang should get 2 to 3 Klink's out by turn 1. Assuming you get out 2 or 3 Klink's, and they get a turn 2 Night Spear, there are the 2 situations:

If you go first, you have to get a turn 2 or 3 Klinklang, and if you can get a fourth Klink out, or Max Potion or Pokemon Center to heal the damaged Klink, you can wait until turn 4.

If you go second, you have to get it out a turn earlier, but again, turn 2 Klinklang isn't that rare, and if you Max Potion/Center/4th Klink, you can get it out turn 3, which should be happening almost every game anyways.

If these things don't happen, well, you Super Rod them back and try again, or you lose, but can't that be said about every stage 2 deck?
 
I honestly don't think there's a counter to the Darkrai deck now.

Terrakion was always a huge force against it, but now it can get OHKO'd right back from the thing it's supposed to counter.

For that reason, you almost have to go with the deck that has the best matchup against it and from what I've found in testing is Keldeo/Black Kyurem/Blastoise and Plasma Klinklang are those decks.

dmaster out.
 
Brave Vesperia said:
Don't think so; even without the Fire techs!





Maybe it's just my build, but I manage to beat Darkrai decks at least 75% of the time. Also Victini doesn't really bother me; it's pretty easy to KO.


With what? Good luck killing it when a surprise Victini wipes out all your energy.
 
Slowbro said:
Brave Vesperia said:
Maybe it's just my build, but I manage to beat Darkrai decks at least 75% of the time. Also Victini doesn't really bother me; it's pretty easy to KO.
With what? Good luck killing it when a surprise Victini wipes out all your energy.

I usually just have a back up attacker ready to go. It's not as hard as everyone says it is, despite not having Energy acceleration. Heck, even Klinklang PS + Hypnotoxic Laser KOs it.
 
It depends on how fast they set up the Victini. If they go first and set it up by at least T5, you can't have Energy on field to KO it back. (And I'm not figuring in Laser as almost every single build that I've seen has been playing Beach IRL.)

I've had games where I've gotten it out early and basically rolled and some where I've gotten it out way too late and I lose anyway. It's hit or miss for me.

dmaster out.
 
Brave Vesperia said:
Slowbro said:
With what? Good luck killing it when a surprise Victini wipes out all your energy.

I usually just have a back up attacker ready to go. It's not as hard as everyone says it is, despite not having Energy acceleration. Heck, even Klinklang PS + Hypnotoxic Laser KOs it.
When the Victini KO's your attacker with energy, how are you supposed to load up another one in one turn?
 
This one is pretty good.

180px-VirizionBWPromo70.jpg


You can 2HKO a Darkrai with it and they can't even OHKO you without a Dark Claw.
 
Re: RE: Darkrai Counters

Mudkip711 said:
This one is pretty good.

180px-VirizionBWPromo70.jpg


You can 2HKO a Darkrai with it and they can't even OHKO you without a Dark Claw.

HTL. That's all I need to say.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2
 
PellOfTheTundra said:
Mudkip711 said:
This one is pretty good.

180px-VirizionBWPromo70.jpg


You can 2HKO a Darkrai with it and they can't even OHKO you without a Dark Claw.

HTL. That's all I need to say.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

Assuming they get one. Plus, Eviolite can get around that. I mean how likely is it for a Darkrai deck to get a HTL out with a fully charged Darkrai T2? It'd be easier to get DCE + Grass on Virizion and attack for 100+ T2.
 
Re: RE: Darkrai Counters

Mudkip711 said:
PellOfTheTundra said:
HTL. That's all I need to say.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

Assuming they get one. Plus, Eviolite can get around that. I mean how likely is it for a Darkrai deck to get a HTL out with a fully charged Darkrai T2? It'd be easier to get DCE + Grass on Virizion and attack for 100+ T2.

Except not really.

Darkrai Lasers can usually get a T2 LaserBank+Night Spear. It's what they're built to do.

As for Virizion T2, gl making a grass deck in this format to accomodate for that.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2
 
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