http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/darkrai
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Status: Ready to upload
QC Approval: 3/3 [Great Sage][Fireburn][bojangles]
QC Rejection: 0/3 [NONE][NONE][NONE]
Grammar/Prose Check: 2/2 [Fatecrashers][DJX09]
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[OVERVIEW]
<p>With its incredible 125 base Speed—outsped by only a handful of Pokemon regularly seen in the Uber tier—and respectable 135 base Special Attack, this terror of twilight induces nighttime horrors throughout the land it travels. With Dark Void capturing opponents in its enveloping slumber 80% of the time and Nasty Plot raising an already impressive Special Attack, Darkrai is one of the most successful boosting sweepers throughout the Uber metagame. Darkrai's ability, Bad Dreams, deals damage to any sleeping Pokemon, allowing it to render opposing Focus Sashes useless. On top of this, Darkrai's Dark-typing grants to it an immunity to Mirror Coat, allowing Darkrai to take on Wobbuffet extremely well.</p>
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Void
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Focus Blast / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash / Leftovers
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Thanks to Darkrai's Speed and Dark Void's excellent accuracy (for a sleep-inducing move), it is often easy for Darkrai to set up at least one Nasty Plot. This skyrockets Darkrai's fair (by Uber standards) Special Attack to a frightening 738 in one turn. Using both Dark Pulse and Focus Blast gives Darkrai perfect neutral coverage resisted only by Heracross and Toxicroak. Even with only neutral damage, Darkrai hits hard with +2 Dark Pulse or Focus Blast. STAB Dark Pulse is the main attack, doing heavy damage with the possibility of flinching the opponent. While Focus Blast's accuracy is sometimes unnerving, it allows Darkrai to better handle Steel- and Dark-type Pokemon that resist Dark Pulse, namely Tyranitar, Dialga, and opposing Darkrai.</p>
<p>This Darkrai set can function superbly as either a lead or a late-game sweeper. When in the lead position, it is recommended that Darkrai has Focus Sash as its item, allowing it to survive attacks when an opponent's Lum Berry wakes them up. This will usually guarantee that a Pokemon be put to sleep. After this, Bad Dreams allows Darkrai to break the Focus Sash of Deoxys-A, Deoxys-S, and Froslass and then OHKO them with Dark Pulse. When using Darkrai as a late-game sweeper, Life Orb is recommended due to the increase in power and the lower chance of encountering Lum Berry. This will greatly increase Darkrai's damage output, while the recoil isn't devastating as long as you watch out for Choice Scarf and priority users.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Substitute can be used over Focus Blast for a mono-attacking Darkrai. While this does reduce Darkrai's coverage significantly, Substitute makes it easier for Darkrai to set up, as well as covering his weakness to faster Pokemon and priority attacks. Substitute also protects Darkrai from being crippled by Thunder Wave or opposing Darkrai should you win the speed tie. When using Substitute, it is suggested that Leftovers is also used. Substitute and Focus Sash have no use together, while Substitute and Life Orb will wear away at Darkrai's HP too quickly for Darkrai to truly be effective.</p>
<p>Leftovers can be used instead of Life Orb for a late-game sweeper. Using Leftovers allows for Darkrai to restore HP and raise its survivability at the cost of some power. Leftovers helps one of Darkrai's most common problems—being revenge killed. This can be very crucial if you expect to frequently switch Darkrai in and out while trying to set up Nasty Plot throughout the game. Leftovers, as stated above, also works well with Substitute, helping Darkrai to regain the HP it loses from creating Substitutes.</p>
<p>This set relies somewhat heavily on its ability to sleep opposing Pokemon, which means that Darkrai really does not like Sleep Talkers, namely Kyogre and Heracross. Because of these threats, Giratina makes a good partner, being able to check and set up on Sleep Talk variants of both Heracross and Kyogre by resisting their standard attacks, as well as being able to counter the occasional Primeape that will try and ruin Darkrai's fun with its immunity to sleep. Teamwise, Giratina walls Heracross and Primeape, while Giratina-O can set up on either one locked into Close Combat and then proceed to sweep. Latias walls and sets up on any Sleep Talking Kyogre.</p>
<p>Darkrai is most vulnerable after Sleep Clause is activated. Choice Scarf Palkia and Dialga can switch into Darkrai and OHKO with Draco Meteor. Choice Scarf Kyogre and Darkrai do the same with Surf and Focus Blast respectively. Life Orb Shaymin-S OHKOes Darkrai with Seed Flare after Stealth Rock damage. Although Mewtwo cannot switch into Dark Pulse or Substitute, it can revenge kill Darkrai by outspeeding it and has an 87% chance to OHKO Darkrai with Aura Sphere after Stealth Rock damage (guaranteed with Life Orb). Finally, Life Orb Scizor 2HKOes Darkrai with Bullet Punch, or OHKOes with U-turn, but keep in mind that a +2 Life Orb Focus Blast OHKOes Scizor after Stealth Rock damage. A Scizor of your own can switch into Choice Scarf Dialga and Palkia's Draco Meteors and any offensive Mewtwo without Fire Blast, and either Roost or U-turn (or Pursuit in Mewtwo's case). Wobbuffet destroys Choice Scarf Dialga and Palkia with Mirror Coat, while Encore can help Darkrai set up. Choice Scarf Dialga counters Shaymin-S with its quadruple Grass resistance, and it can switch into any of Scizor's attacks except Superpower and OHKO with Fire Blast. Latias handles Kyogre and can switch into a Choiced Darkrai's Focus Blast.</p>
[SET]
name: Trick or Treat
move 1: Trick
move 2: Dark Void
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Nasty Plot / Focus Blast
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Trick Darkrai is truly a nasty surprise for its opposition, taking out one of Darkrai's biggest weaknesses, Sleep Talkers, while still giving it the potential to sweep. After crippling a Sleep Talker with Trick, Darkrai is free to put it to sleep with Dark Void. As Sleep Talk malfunctions with Choice Scarf, most of the time, Darkrai is capable of setting up a Nasty Plot or two assuming that the opponent is still slower than it after getting Tricked the Choice Scarf. STAB Dark Pulse is obvious and packs fairly decent coverage with no Pokémon being immune to it.</p>
<p>While Trick holds incredible potential, one must be wise as to when it should be used, as misplaying Trick can easily make it easy for opponents to outplay Darkrai. Tricking an opposing Choice user will only lock Darkrai into Trick and keep it from setting up, as well as possibly giving Darkrai a worse Choice item (for its purposes), such as Choice Band. All forms of Arceus are immune to Trick and will lock Darkrai into Trick, giving Arceus a free turn to set up a Calm Mind or Swords Dance. It is important to note that Giratina-O, another popular Trick absorber in Ubers, cannot switch into Darkrai due to STAB Dark Pulse.</p>
<p>Trick Darkrai is an amazing lead; its Speed allows it to outpace Deoxys-S and Deoxys-A leads, either sleeping them with Dark Void, hitting them with Dark Pulse, or Tricking them so that they're stuck on one move, making them easy pickings for a Pokémon with Pursuit such as Scizor or Tyranitar. Yet despite these amazing qualities as a lead, Darkrai can still be used in late-game, where it holds more of a surprise. When used late-game, this Darkrai can use Dark Void to counter such things as Adamant Rock Polish Groudon and opposing Choice Scarf users that can often be extremely troublesome.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Focus Blast can be used over Nasty Plot, which allows for Darkrai to be more offensive and preserve its ability to Trick Choice Scarf onto a Pokemon for later in the game. Focus Blast can also help Darkrai deal with Choice Scarf Dialga and opposing Darkrai. While Focus Blast does give Darkrai better coverage, Nasty Plot is still recommend due to the fact that Darkrai is not as powerful without the aid of Life Orb or Nasty Plot. In addition, Darkrai is sometimes hard to switch in and as long as it still holds the Choice Scarf, Darkrai will be forced to switch in and out frequently in order to be truly useful.</p>
<p>A more offensive Choice Scarf Darkrai can be used with Ice Beam or Spacial Rend over Trick and using Focus Blast instead of Nasty Plot. While offensive Choice Scarf Darkrai is often outclassed by Choice Scarf Mewtwo, it does have two things that Mewtwo doesn't; a fast Dark Void to sleep the opponent's Pokemon with and the ability to beat Wobbuffet because of Darkrai's immunity to Mirror Coat.</p>
<p>When leading with Trick Darkrai, there are several leads who can give it problems. Choice Scarf Mewtwo will outspeed and OHKO Darkrai with Focus Blast, while other variants of Mewtwo will still be able to live through a Dark Pulse. Choice Scarf Shaymin-S can 2HKO Darkrai with Air Slash, which is particularly troublesome because of the flinch chance. Scarf Darkrai's biggest problem is the various leads that rely on Lum Berry or Chesto Berry to absorb Dark Void. A specially defensive Tyranitar with Lum Berry can live through Focus Blast and OHKO Darkrai with Superpower. In a similar vein, a lead Scizor with Lum Berry can OHKO Darkrai with U-turn, and a lead Kyogre with Lum Berry can also OHKO Darkrai with Surf. Both Dialga and Groudon often carry a combination of Chesto Berry and Thunder Wave when leading to cripple Darkrai. Support Dialga can be a very useful Pokémon to use with Trick Darkrai, because Dialga resists both Shaymin-S's Air Slash and Scizor's U-turn. Dialga can also help set up Stealth Rock, which will help the rest of team in sweeping. A Bulk Up Dialga can also switch into Kyogre's Surf and set up. Support Groudon is another excellent choice as a teammate, as it not only absorbs Thunder Wave from opposing leads, but it also destroys Tyranitar. Wobbuffet can switch into a Choice Scarf Mewtwo's Focus Blast and 2HKO it with Mirror Coat. Scizor can also survive a Focus Blast from Mewtwo and OHKO Mewtwo with U-turn. Scizor also has the benefit of being able to do a serious amount of damage to lead Tyranitar as long as Scizor avoids a Fire-type attack. Finally, Blissey can easily switch into lead Kyogre and wall its entire moveset.</p>
[SET]
name: SubSalac
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Focus Blast / Dark Void
item: Salac Berry
ivs: 30 HP / 1 Atk
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Since Nasty Plot Darkrai is a huge threat in the Uber metagame, people often deal with it by revenge killing it with faster Pokémon such as Mewtwo and Choice Scarf Palkia / Dialga. By making use of Substitute and Salac Berry, Darkrai has a better chance to avoid this. Simply Substitute when you need to until the Salac Berry activates. When you have the chance, Darkrai can safely Nasty Plot while behind a Substitute. As well as helping Darkrai achieve the Salac Berry boost, Substitute also protects Darkrai from Choice Scarf and priority users that often switch in to revenge kill it. After the boost from Salac Berry, Darkrai will outrun just about everything except Choice Scarf Shaymin-S, Mewtwo, and Deoxys-S, while still retaining the ability to switch moves. With STAB Dark Pulse and Focus Blast, you'll still find it to be a quite fearsome sweeper.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The 30 HP IVs makes Darkrai's HP stat divisible by 4. This allows Salac Berry to activate after 3 substitutes and still gives Darkrai 70 HP to hold on with.</p>
<p>Focus Blast can also be replaced with Dark Void to sleep potential counters that Focus Blast would normally cover, such as Scizor and Dialga, and allow for more free turns to set up while your opponent is sleeping. Without Dark Void, Darkrai will have serious issues with Choice Band Scizor. If Darkrai lacks Focus Blast, specially defensive Tyranitar will give Darkrai serious issues after Sleep Clause has been activated as even a +6 Dark Pulse will only do 39% maximum to Careful 252 HP / 200 SpD Tyranitar. Meanwhile, the same Tyranitar with 56 Attack EVs and a Choice Band will easily break Darkrai's Substitutes with either Stone Edge or Earthquake. Finally, Sand Stream will make Darkrai's life even shorter, chipping away 6.25% of its HP per turn. Because of theses issues, Support Groudon is an excellent teammate for this Darkrai. Groudon will be able to demolish Tyranitar with its STAB super effective Earthquakes, and will do serious damage to Scizor.</p>
<p>After Darkrai's Substitute is broken, it is even more susceptible to priority or extremely fast Choice Scarf users. After taking Stealth Rock damage and getting its Substitute broken, Darkrai is in the KO range of Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch. Scizor also has the capability of stopping Darkrai's sweep with Bullet Punch after its Salac Berry has been activated and its Substitute broken. Deoxys-A, Rayquaza, and Lucario can also stop Darkrai's sweep in the same manner with ExtremeSpeed. Giratina-O makes an excellent teammate as it is able to take Bullet Punches aimed at Darkrai pretty well and is immune to ExtremeSpeed. The mixed attacking spinblocker set is able to take Bullet Punches from Scizor and outspeed Adamant Lucario, while dealing heavy damage with either Hidden Power Fire or Earthquake. It can also outspeed Adamant Rayquaza and OHKO with either Draco Meteor or Outrage, and can OHKO Deoxys-A with Shadow Sneak. Both Choice Scarf Mewtwo and Choice Scarf Shaymin-S have the potential to end Darkrai's sweep after it has used Salac Berry and had its Substitute broken, thanks to their higher Speed. Metagross can take care of Choice Scarf Shaymin-S for Darkrai, thanks to its resistance to both of its STAB attacks and Clear Body; Metagross can then slam it with Meteor Mash. Choice Scarf Mewtwo is easily dealt with by Wobbuffet, who can switch into the Choiced Fighting-type move and beat Mewtwo with Mirror Coat. Wobbuffet also has the bonus of being able to set up Darkrai thanks to its move combination of Encore and Shadow Tag.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Like most offensive Pokémon, Darkrai has an easier time sweeping with Stealth Rock support, as it can turn 2HKOs into OHKOs on several Pokémon after a boost, such as Palkia. Wobbuffet is also a useful teammate for Darkrai, as Wobbuffet can not only set Darkrai up, but it resists Fighting-type moves aimed at Darkrai and can take down Choice Scarf revenge killers that attempt to KO it with either Mirror Coat or Counter.</p>
<p>Offensively, there are not many Pokémon who can stop Darkrai until the Sleep Clause is activated. The few Pokémon who can are Choice Scarf Primeape, Sleep Talk Heracross, and Sleep Talk Kyogre. Primeape is easily handled by Giratina, who can take its attacks and use Will-O-Wisp to cripple it. Giratina also walls Heracross with no problems. Sleep Talk Kyogre is easily handled by Latias, who can set up Calm Minds against it. Once Sleep Clause is activated, Scizor, Mewtwo, Life Orb Shaymin-S, Deoxys-A, and Pokémon who use Choice Scarf will often be obstacles for Darkrai's sweep. Scizor can easily destroy Deoxys-A with either Bullet Punch or Pursuit, and can switch into Choice Scarf Palkia's and Choice Scarf Dialga's Dragon-type attacks. Scizor also has the ability to beat offensive Mewtwo that lack Fire-type attacks. Choice Scarf Dialga can be a good answer to Life Orb Shaymin-S, thanks to Dialga's quadruple resistance to Grass and the threat of powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks striking fear into Shaymin-S. Choice Scarf Kyogre can be dealt with by either Palkia or Latias. Latias will also be able to beat Substitute+Leech Seed Shaymin-S most of the time as well thanks to the combination of Calm Mind and Recover. Support Dialga can destroy Scizor with Fire Blast, in addition to beating Choice Scarf Shaymin-S locked into Seed Flare or Air Slash.</p>
<p>Defensively, most Pokémon who cover Darkrai's two weaknesses, Fighting- and Bug-type, will do well. Giratina and Giratina-O are excellent examples as both are immune to Fighting-type and sport a 2x resistance to Bug-type moves. The many Psychic-types of Ubers, such as Latias, Wobbuffet, and Mewtwo, are useful defensive teammates for Darkrai thanks to their Fighting-type resistance. Lugia gets a special mention for this, as it has a 4x resistance to Fighting-type moves and is neutral to Bug-type. Both Dialga and Scizor have Bug-type resistances that can aid Darkrai in dealing with opposing Scizor. Although Lucario's defenses are below par, it has a unique quadruple resistance to Bug-type attacks, which can be helpful. Additionally, Dialga and Lucario also sport a resistance to Scizor's Bullet Punch, which can save Darkrai when it's at low health.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Calm Mind can be used over Nasty Plot in order to boost both Special Attack and Special Defense, but this is often discouraged. Besides access to Dark Void to help it set up, as a Calm Mind sweeper Darkrai is completely outclassed by Mewtwo, who has higher HP, Special Attack, and Speed along with identical defenses. It is also outclassed by Dark Arceus who has better HP and defenses in exchange for a lack of Speed and Dark Void. Dark Arceus also has Judgment, which is a stronger STAB move than Dark Pulse.</p>
<p>Taunt can be used over Focus Blast in order to counter Sleep Talkers. This removes one of Darkrai's biggest weaknesses, giving it at least one more turn to use Nasty Plot. While it does allow Darkrai to cripple Sleep Talkers switching in on Dark Void, Taunt also takes up a valuable move slot that Darkrai often cannot handle parting with. If using Taunt over Focus Blast, Darkrai becomes vulnerable to other Darkrai, Dialga, Scizor, as well as Fighting / Steel / Dark Arceus, all of which can take boosted Dark Pulse with relative ease.</p>
<p>Lum Berry can be used for Nasty Plot Darkrai instead of any of the listed items. Lum Berry allows a lead Darkrai to take sleep from opposing Darkrai or Pokemon that try to cripple it with Thunder Wave. Lum Berry can also be used in conjunction with Substitute to better prevent status. This helps most against Trick or Treat lead Darkrai who will be locked into Dark Void and will be forced to switch out once the Substitute is set up.</p>
<p>A Swords Dance set can be used instead of Nasty Plot if you are looking for a physical sweeper as well as a surprise. When using Swords Dance it is recommended that Darkrai have an Adamant nature with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs, along with Life Orb as Darkrai's held item. This optimizes Darkrai's Attack, while still giving it enough Speed to outspeed max Speed Hidden Power Fire Latios and Latias. The moves are very similar to the Nasty Plot set, swapping out Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse, and Focus Blast for Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, and Brick Break. Sucker Punch allows Darkrai to make up for its lower Speed stat with its priority and STAB, while Brick Break is used for coverage. While the damage calculations look impressive and has a definite surprise factor, relying on Sucker Punch and Brick Break as Darkrai's only damaging moves make this set a bit too gimmicky to be truly effective.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Darkrai's only true counters are sleep absorbers that can switch into Dark Void and stop Darkrai from setting up. Sleep Talkers are the most common sleep absorbers, and the best one to take on Darkrai is Kyogre. Kyogre can switch in and absorb the sleep and fails to be 3HKOed without Stealth Rock. Kyogre is then able to either set up with Calm Mind or do 92.2% - 108.9% to Darkrai with Surf, leaving Darkrai able to only attack once because of Life Orb recoil. Sleep Talk Heracross can also absorb Dark Void, and not only still able to attack through Sleep Talk, but gains the Guts boost through the sleep status. Heracross also resists both of Darkrai's attacks while both of its Fighting- and Bug-type STAB are super effective against Darkrai. Other Sleep Talkers such as Giratina and Dialga are not as effective as they are afraid of taking a Dark Pulse or Focus Blast respectively. Other Pokemon that are immune to sleep, such as Primeape and Manaphy in the rain, can switch in on Darkrai's Dark Void. Choice Scarf Primeape can switch in and hit Darkrai with either a U-turn or STAB Close Combat, which will both hurt Darkrai significantly, but has no other real uses in the Uber metagame. Manaphy is also immune to sleep, but still takes Darkrai's hits relatively hard. Both bulky and offensive Calm Mind Manaphy fail to OHKO Darkrai with Surf in the rain, while Darkrai can 3HKO bulky and 2HKO offensive Manaphy with an unboosted Dark Pulse.</p>
<p>Once Darkrai has put a Pokemon to sleep and has activated Sleep Clause, it is much easier to counter. Without its ability to sleep opposing Pokemon and its overall frailty, any hard-hitting Pokemon that outspeed Darkrai can usually take care of it. This includes Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, Palkia / Dialga holding a Choice Scarf, and Pokemon with strong priority attacks, such as Scizor, Normal Arceus, and Rayquaza. Ho-Oh is also a good counter to Darkrai after its ability to sleep opposing Pokemon has been used up. Thanks to Ho-Oh's massive Special Defense, it does not fear a boosted Dark Pulse from Darkrai as much as other Pokemon and can retaliate with a powerful Brave Bird that can OHKO. Fighting Arceus can also switch into Darkrai, being only 3HKOed by +2 Life Orb Dark Pulse and able OHKO Darkrai with an unboosted Judgment. While Fighting Arceus can be hurt by Focus Blast, its lackluster accuracy can often be a huge risk to depend upon completely.</p>
