Discussion Garbodor in Darkrai?

[MajoraMayhem]

I saw a decklist from Melbourne that ran Turbo Darkrai with a 2-2 Garbodor line. That intrigued me, as I was under the impression that Darkrai had a solid Decidueye/Plume match-up to begin with and I can't see many other decks that Garb performs well against (maybe Eeveelution decks but those have always looked rogue to me). Was this just a crackpot idea that did okay (I believe the list made Top 32) or does the Trash Bag have more usage than what I give him credit for. Any comments are appreciated!

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

With Decidueye being so popular right now, people would expect more Volcanion decks in tournaments. Running a 2-2 garbo line in Darkrai helps against both matchups, preventing the lock on the first one and one-shots on the second one. On top of that, it slows the comeback setup of M ray after a parallel city play.

 

[Serperior]

I would not advise running Garbodor in a Turbo Dark list. It hurts consistency and you don't want to start Trubbish. Adding Garbodor means adding Float Stone, and with all of the Max Elixir and Fighting Fury Belt and Exp. Share you'll need, it just isn't worth making a very consistent deck (which is good because of this) less so. With Beedrill being common in most Decidueye builds anyways, they'll Lysandre your Garbodor and remove the Tool and you'll enjoy a pile of trash in the Active slot, waiting turn after turn to hit Energy so you might Retreat. Meanwhile, Decidueye is picking off your Bench.

Don't do it.

 

[TuxedoBlack]

If you would review some of the popular decks over the last few seasons, you see that Garbodor was featured in some of them. It has especially worked quite well in decks where Abilities are not used (e.g., Big Basics, M Mewtwo EX, M Scizor EX, etc.). You as the player running Garbodor want to deny opponents usage of their Pokémon Abilities. This denial can cripple many opponents' decks. In regards to running Garbodor with Darkrai EX, just plan carefully when you build your deck and understand your potential, forthcoming match-ups weighing both positives and negatives of including Garbodor in your Darkrai deck.

Interestingly enough, I actually ran a Darkrai-Garbodor-Yveltal deck earlier this season, but I opted for a bit more versatile and harder-hitting Darkrai-Yveltal variant (not "turbo").

 

[My Little Keldeo]

It should also be noted that most Turbo Darkrai lists are already running Silent Lab and Hex Maniac to shut off Abilities. Playing these cards at the right moment will do plenty to keep the opponent from using their Abilities when they need them the most. The sheer speed at which this deck gets Energy onto the field (and keeps it in play) is enough to compete with decks such as Volcanion and M Rayquaza because you'll be doing enough damage to trade Prize cards pretty evenly.

 

[MajoraMayhem]

I would not advise running Garbodor in a Turbo Dark list. It hurts consistency and you don't want to start Trubbish. Adding Garbodor means adding Float Stone, and with all of the Max Elixir and Fighting Fury Belt and Exp. Share you'll need, it just isn't worth making a very consistent deck (which is good because of this) less so. With Beedrill being common in most Decidueye builds anyways, they'll Lysandre your Garbodor and remove the Tool and you'll enjoy a pile of trash in the Active slot, waiting turn after turn to hit Energy so you might Retreat. Meanwhile, Decidueye is picking off your Bench.

Don't do it.

I will say after testing that a 2-1 line has had little impact on the deck's consistency, which genuinely surprised me. I do agree with you about the relevance of Beedrill as an out to it, and the bind that would leave you in. Honestly I don't believe that it will develop as the new Darkrai meta, but it could see some success as a surprise rogue variant.

 

[totodile_it_down]

Seems like a good idea in theory, as it would shore up a bad M Ray matchup (if you also ran Parallel City) and help against Volcanion.

But once you start putting a list together it quickly becomes apparent that running fewer EXP Share and FFB to make room for Float Stones and whatnot makes the deck less capable of doing what it was built to do.

I think running the Dragons version of the deck is more successful in stopping M Ray. Volcanion is already a relatively positive matchup if you use Hex effectively. DeciPlume is always going to be an uphill battle. Squeezing in a Wobb or 2 seems more effective than reconstructing the entire deck to fit in 6-7 cards to make Garb work.