The best Pokemon TCG Pocket Dark deck right now is, appropriately enough, a Weavile ex and Darkrai ex deck. The new Space-Time Smackdown expansion has thrown open the doors to whole new archetypes in the meta, and both Weavile ex and Darkrai ex (supported by Spiritomb and a variety of other cards) have immediately shot this Dark-type deck build to the S-tier in any ranking of the current meta.
Considering that the Weavile/Darkrai combo has shot to the top of the best Pokemon TCG Pocket meta decks, it's worth understanding how to build this deck for yourself, what the components of it are, and if there's any substitutions you can use. Plus, we'll explain the weaknesses and strengths of this deck, how it best works in matches, and what sort of tactics and strategy ensure that it serves you best when you're trying to win matches.
Best Darkrai ex and Weavile ex deck build in Pokemon TCG Pocket
To make the best Darkrai ex and Weavile ex dark-type deck in PTCGP, you should use the following:
- Sneasel x2
- Weavile ex x2
- Darkrai ex x2
- Spiritomb x2
- Dawn x2
- Cyrus x2
- Professor's Research x2
- Pokemon Communication x2
- X Speed x2
- Poke Ball x2
All the major cards here come from the Pokemon TCG Pocket Space-Time Smackdown set, so you'll need to open more than a few packs to fill this out (or alternatively have them sent over by friends via the Pokemon TCG Pocket trading system).
If you're looking for substitutions for this deck, it's tricky to find ones that suffice. The main goal here is to have Weavile or Spiritomb up front and Darkrai on the bench damaging with its ability, so finding other cards that replicate these effects is difficult, especially with Dark-types. Murkrow and Honchkrow can work, but this is a lesser choice: the deck won't be as good, especially depending on what it is you're swapping out to fit them in.
The ultimate strengths of this deck build are a strong early game and good board control. You do a lot of damage from the start, and cards like Cyrus and Pokemon Communication let you keep control of the placement and swap cards out. There's not much set-up required beyond evolving Sneasel once into Weavile, and once that little element is over, all you need to do is to keep firing off damage. Plus, Dark types are usually strong against very common Psychic decks like the meta-topping Pokemon TCG Pocket Mewtwo ex deck.
The downsides of the deck aren't many, but they do exist. There's not much late-game "killshot" powers, none of the cards are really tanky, and a little bit of prep still means that there's a short space to be disrupted.
Darkrai ex and Weavile ex deck strategy and tactics
Once you're playing with this deck, the key is to control the board and unleash a stream of relentless damage from an early phase. You don't do much in the way of heavy impacts, instead starting an early barrage of chip damage that can hurt both active and benched Pokemon, refusing to give your opponent the chance to recover.
Weavile ex is really important here, as it does extra damage to injured Pokemon, and should generally be the one you want in the active position. Once there, use Darkrai's nightmare Aura to do a small amount of damage to the opponent, then Weavile follows up with an empowered attack. If that Pokemon is pulled back to the bench, use Cyrus to drag it back out to the active pose to keep up the assault. If a Pokemon is damaged, try to finish it off as a priority without letting up.
From your opening hand, it's best to start the game with Spiritomb. Doing 10 damage to every Pokemon isn't much normally, but that little sliver is what opens the board for Weavile ex to be devastating, a Pokemon which you can evolve on the bench before bringing it in soon afterwards. Having softened the enemy, Weavile will wreck their strategy well enough.
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