Arc Before Dark

Losing cards like Crobat V and (to a slightly lesser extent) Hiding Darkness Energy and Piers to rotation, was a huge blow to Darkrai VSTAR decks (and Darkness type decks in general, really), but with big 310 HP Darkness-weak Psychic Pokemon like Gardevoir ex and Mew VMAX still making up a good chunk of the current meta, it's a good time to be playing Darkness types! 

I have spent the past few days testing dozens of Darkrai deck variations with wildly different supporting casts and I ultimately

Losing cards like Crobat V and (to a slightly lesser extent) Hiding Darkness Energy and Piers to rotation, was a huge blow to Darkrai VSTAR decks (and Darkness type decks in general, really), but with big 310 HP Darkness-weak Psychic Pokemon like Gardevoir ex and Mew VMAX still making up a good chunk of the current meta, it's a good time to be playing Darkness types! 

I have spent the past few days testing dozens of Darkrai deck variations with wildly different supporting casts and I ultimately zeroed in on this list +/- as having the best balance between consistency and pop/damage output.

The majority of the deck is comprised of meta mainstays that require no explanation. Galarian Weezing from Chilling Reign (CRE 96), however, is not a card that gets much play and its inclusion may cause some to do a double take. I didn't make a mistake, though. No. It's not supposed to be the (now rotated out) Galarian Weezing from Shining Fates. CRE 96 is a great partner for Darkrai VSTAR (which dishes out 30 base damage + 30 damage x number of Darkness Energy attached to your Pokemon), because of it's Energy Factory ability, which doubles all basic Darkness Energy attached to Pokémon with "Weezing" in their name. You're not always going to be able to play Galarian Weezing, since getting down Arceus V/VSTAR, Darkrai V/VSTAR, and Bidoof/Bibarel take priority, but it's a difference maker when it shows up.