Ubers Spotlight: Darkrai

The Monster Under Your Bed....

Darkrai has been, without a doubt, one of the most (if not the absolute most) potent threats in the history of competitive Pokémon. Its greased-lightning base Speed of 125 and its access to Nasty Plot, coupled with its signature move being one of the stupidest moves ever created, grant the benevolent specter a permanent seat atop the Ubers hierarchy. (Really, though. Albeit not the reason it was introduced, this single Pokémon is the biggest perpetrator for still maintaining Sleep Clause in Ubers.) Introduced first in DPP, Darkrai immediately wrapped the metagame around its... err... well, it has to be able to Sucker Punch with something, right? To this day, what makes Darkrai so metagame defining is its ability to get around all of its checks with the right plays. After suicide leads and the like are gone, Darkrai instantly makes the game a 5v5 in its favor, as it forces the switch. Even the most reliable Darkrai checks (such as a Ho-Oh + Klefki core) can easily fall victim to a myriad of disposal methods, including Substitute, Nasty Plot, coverage moves, Taunt, Focus Sash; you get the idea. There truly is no surefire way to beat this Pokémon, more so than any other the Pokémon world has ever seen.

Into the Void

While Darkrai's Special Attack really isn't all that special (ba dum tss) by Ubers standards, it's more than made up for by its access to Nasty Plot, boosting its Special Attack by two stages. Because of Dark Void and its godsend base Speed stat of 125, more often than not it'll get at least one chance to set up throughout the game. On the defensive side, though, there's nothing to brag about. 70 / 90 / 90 bulk and one of the worst defensive typings in the game mean that it's not taking many (if any) hits well, and that should be taken well into consideration when using Darkrai. Darkrai's ability, Bad Dreams, can't be underestimated; you can think of it as a repeating Stealth Rock, dealing 12.5% damage per turn the foe is asleep, turning many 3HKOs into 2HKOs and 2HKOs into OHKOs. Darkrai was given all the tools it needs to succeed in the current tanky Ubers meta, and that's only accentuated by its fantastic stats.

Sweet Dreams

The two most popular Darkrai sets in ORAS Ubers are Life Orb and Focus Sash, in that order. Life Orb gives Darkrai that extra *oomph* to boost its somewhat underwhelming 135 Special Attack and do some seriously spooky damage. The Focus Sash set can be used a plethora of different ways: as a suicide lead, as an emergency last resort, as Mega Diancie bait; the possibilities are only limited by how willing you are to be niche. Leftovers deserves a special mention; while not very prominent in the current meta, nor overly popular, a Substitute set with Leftovers works wonders in a metagame dominated by slow, bulky threats. Dark Void is 100% mandatory on every set, no matter what; it's the reason Darkrai is as good as it is. Outside of it, though, you have room to be flexible. It's also important to mention that, depending on its coverage, very different Pokémon can and cannot check Darkrai; this is important for both the Darkrai user and the opponent to understand. Darkrai's many filler options include but are not limited to Taunt, Thunder, Substitute, Sludge Bomb, Sucker Punch, and even Hidden Power Steel for those pesky Mega Diancie; depending on which of the above it decides to run, it's imperative to gauge whether you should send out, say, Ho-Oh or Tyranitar.

Yes, it gets Swords Dance. No, you should not use Swords Dance Darkrai.

Nightmares

Darkrai epitomizes the idea of there being no true counters in Pokémon. There is always the factor of luck, the ideal plays, but with Darkrai, it's accentuated more so than all else. One Dark Void can (and often will) determine the outcome of a game. Therefore, it's obviously very important to be able to handle it. As mentioned above, Klefki + Sleep Talk Ho-Oh is generally the most reliable way to handle Darkrai; if Ho-Oh can't do it on its own or you suspect Thunder, Klefki can status it and get out after sacking something (likely the Ho-Oh) to sleep. In general, Sleep Talk users such as Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, and Choice Scarf Xerneas are the most popular Darkrai answers, whereas versus the standard hyper offense team, if you have a Pokemon that's dead against it, you can sac it to sleep without any real consequences. Some other notable checks include Tyranitar (must be wary of Focus Blast), Primal Kyogre (+2 Thunder doesn't KO specially defensive sets), Mega Diancie (a deterrent to clicking Dark Void), and Mewtwo (Mega Mewtwo Y has Insomnia, but a non-Mega-Evolved switch-in gets OHKOed by Life Orb Dark Pulse).

Dark Matter

The most important thing to take into account when building a Darkrai team is absolutely its partners. Darkrai is an independent black nightmare-inducing fiend that don't need no team support, and you should build according to that. Because Darkrai isn't going to be doing any sweeping (even cleaning can be a stretch; the thing you use Darkrai for is Dark Void), you need to build with the focus on including Pokémon that benefit from having mutual checks removed. For instance, in the above example of a Ho-Oh + Klefki team, if Darkrai were to set up Nasty Plot on a forced switch out to Ho-Oh and OHKO it with Thunder, the opponent would be forced to sack something to sleep. If it's a random Pokémon, you can fire off powerful +2 attacks; if it's Klefki, congratulations, your Xerneas is now free to destroy worlds. Another fantastic synergy Darkrai has going for it is with Pokémon that have a hard time with support Arceus, which Darkrai is a massive hindrance to thanks to it being able to outspeed and incapacitate them with Dark Void. Aside from that, other great partners include Primal Groudon (which deals with just about everything that checks Darkrai), most setup Pokémon, especially Extreme Killer Arceus, Xerneas, and Mega Salamence (a sleeping foe = a setup opportunity!), a suicide lead (teams featuring Darkrai will be heavy with offensive pressure); and, most notably, Pokémon that force switches, such as Mewtwo and Deoxys-A; if you get Darkrai in on a double switch that forces your opponent to fodder something to sleep, you're in a favorable position.

Full Moon

The sun sets on another day of tireless battle, and the moon rises. With it arrives a harbinger of doom and destruction, leaving only nightmares in its wake, nightmares passed on through quivering lips and teary eyes. The world is engulfed in the darkness emitted by this one being. All the strife in the world is magnified to an unbearable level, and grief consumes all. What could it be? What could possibly have this much power? But then, as suddenly as it arrived, the being disappears. Simply vanishes into thin air. The sun rises again, and all is well. But you know it will return. And you know you need to be ready for it. Because if you're not, you'll find out exactly what it's capable of.

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