Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX / Garbodor

Asclepius24

Asclepius24

Aspiring Trainer
Member
This thread is for all discussion of competitive Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX variants in the Standard format. This includes strategies and matchups.

You may post decklists here, but only as a means to add to the discussion. If you're looking for advice on your list, please post in the Deck Garage.

Articles:
The Cube Root — Your Guide To The Cube Format And Top Contendors For Nationals

Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX Skeleton List:

Pokemon: 12
  • 3 Darkrai-EX
  • 2 Giratina-EX
  • 2 Shaymin-EX
  • 2 Trubbish
  • 2 Garbodor
  • 1 Yveltal XY
Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums: 30
  • 4 Professor Sycamore
  • 2 N
  • 1 Lysandre
  • 4 VS Seeker
  • 4 Ultra Ball
  • 4 Trainers' Mail
  • 4 Max Elixir
  • 2 Fighting Fury Belt
  • 2 Float Stone
  • 1 Escape Rope
  • 1 Super Rod
  • 1 Parallel City
Energy: 12
  • 8 Darkness Energy
  • 4 Double Dragon Energy
Open spots: 6

Notes:
  • Possible additions include Latios-EX, Hoopa-EX, and Malamar-EX.
  • AZ and Hex Maniac are good Supporter options.
  • Some lists run Sky Field over Parallel City.
 
I'm not familiar with this deck at all. Where did it come from?

EDIT: Nevermind, found some stuff talking about it. I'm a fan of it.
 
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I'm lovin it so far. Even tho I did change up the Skeleton by a bit, i think this Deck has a lot of Potential right now. I wonder how good it is going to be in the near Future.
Would anything Major change with the new Set coming out?
 
Detective Hotori said:
Hey Shifusansou any advice on the changes?

Looking at building this deck, how are the match ups as well?

All the best :)
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It has good to great matchups against Night March (Giratina), Greninja (Garbodor), and Trevenant (Darkrai), especially unprepared builds. That's why many people were banking on this being a "secret" play for Nationals, hoping to catch the masses unprepared.

Now that the concept has been made public, the "big three" will try to adapt and Darkrai / Giratina will need to evolve in response.
 
true a shame it got shown before it but will make it more interesting at the nationals!

Just in testing at the moment and thanks for the advice, any card recommendations you'd go for?
 
I think this Deck does kind of decent against everything besides sth like Garchomp or Medicham ( only in case you dont get the right cards ) I think it is a really fun and strong Deck, but i often find myself locked in too many energies or forced to discard rather important cards. But if this deck gets a good start it literarly steamrolls you with Night marchish dmg

I run f.e. in addition to the skeleton a Latios Ex a cassius, 2 muscle bands and 3 float stones.
I've already tested with Yveltal Ex and Hoopa but i found yveltal way to optional. But it does help against fighting decks, even though a fully powered garchomp oneshots it anyways
 
Detective Hotori said:
... any card recommendations you'd go for?
Click to expand...
Initially, I'm considering testing the 4 following variations:
  1. 2 DCE and 4 Puzzle of Time, then
  2. 2 Float Stone, 2 Zorua, 2 Zoroark,
  3. 2 DCE, 1 AZ, 1 Enhanced Hammer, 1 Xerosic, and 1 Hex Maniac, and then
  4. 1 Latios EX, 3 Muscle Band, 1 Yveltal (BKT) and 1 Switch.
 
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thanks for the replies!

It's looking good and i really like this deck :) Ill update when i have had some more time to try some variations.
 
I sadly hadn't had any Jolteon Matchups yet. Against Item Lock it has decent Chances, but it heavily depends on your starting Hand. Trevenant wins if it is able to lock you into sth big and can go for a lot of free Silent Fears. Sadly i didnt get a chance to lysandre sth up in like 6 Trevenant games so yeah. You win basically 80% of the time if you go first but only like 50% if you go second. Vileplume is a different story, it is the same story like Trev. If you get a Giratina and 2 DD Energies maybe even a third in case of Xerosic, you definitely can win those Matchups with ease.
But then again, im only a noob :p Still trying to figure out the correct way to play every matchup and some tech additions.
 
Had a few Jolteons and won but only due to the early game i believe.
Trevenant keeps kicking my ass but to be expected if it revs up. I actually like this deck but prefer just Darkrai/Garbador/Yvertal at the moment for more room to manuver & giratina has let me down on a few occasions. I'm going to keep testing both, just wondering what i could replace Yvertal with in the Darkrai only one, i also tried Malamar in this one and it helps on lock downs in a few matches.

Just some of my findings so far :)
 
Darkrai/Yveltal/Garbodor without Giratina is more consistent, but it hit less in midto lategame. NM starts to show decrease play, so the role of Giratina ex becomes less important. Also, with the new supporter Wild ranger to remove attack effects, Giratina ex ability is questionable. one more thing, the eventualwinner play straight Darkrai/Garbodor without any Dragon.

versus Jolteon ex, right now we can only count on escape rope Lysandre combo. Malamar ex or zoroark are not optimal, as they take up valuable spaces and either slow or make the deck inconsistent. Just wait for Wild ranger, then Jolteon ex won't be an autoloss.
 
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I can see the deck being more consistant without Giratina, but I feel that leaves you wide open now vs NM decks.
 
ToToLaw said:
Darkrai/Yveltal/Garbodor without Giratina us more consistent, but it hit less in midto lategame. NM starts to show decrease play, so the role of Giratina ex becomes less important. Also, with the new supporter Wild ranger to remove attack effects, Giratina ex ability is questionable. one more thing, the eventualwinner play straight Darkrai/Garbodor without any Dragon.

versus Jolteon ex, right now we can only count on escape rope Lysandre combo. Malamar ex or zoroark are not optimal, as they take up valuable spaces and either slow or make the deck inconsistent. Just wait for Wild ranger, then Jolteon ex won't be an autoloss.
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Jolteon ex + vileplume is a rogue thing that does see play, so sometimes you can't even count on escape rope. Pokemon ranger can only be used once under item lock, theoretically.

PokeDad5 said:
I can see the deck being more consistant without Giratina, but I feel that leaves you wide open now vs NM decks.
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I agree. The giratina though adds power to darkrai's first attack that it needs in some matchups. Yveltal ex, which is far superior, has the problem that it's weak to joltik, whereas darkrai resists pumpkaboo and mew.
 
Giratina has won me a lot of Matchups, not just because of the Special Energy Lock, but also due to the Item and Stadium Lock. Even against Mega Decks you can auto win, just by playing Giratina and in addition to that it pumps up Darkrais Dmg so overwhelmingly bad, its disgusting. I had a lot of Games where I was able to attach a DDE and Max Elixier Benched Pokemon and just hit Turn One for a huge amount of Dmg.
I think consistency is something you can work on, but its very rare i find myself locked into something without an escape Route.
Pokemon Ranger might really change things for this deck, which very likely will become an Yveltal/Yveltal-Ex/Darkrai Power Variant.
 
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