Darkrai Raid Counters Guide

Darkrai is transferable but not tradable. Darkrai is a Dark-type Mythical Pokémon that was introduced in Generation IV, being a counterpart to Cresselia in the Lunar Duo.

Darkrai Raid Counters

Darkrai

A list of best Darkrai counters in Pokemon GO, calculated from simulating hundreds of possible Pokemon and move set combinations.

#	Pokemon	Fast Move	Charge Move	Time to win	Deaths
1.	Lucario	Counter	Aura Sphere	589.32s	33.50
2.	Conkeldurr	Counter	Dynamic Punch	628.22s	23.50
3.	Machamp	Counter	Dynamic Punch	649.01s	27.50
4.	Hariyama	Counter	Dynamic Punch	686.21s	27.17
5.	Zacian (Hero)	Quick Attack	Play Rough	721.43s	21.00
6.	Zacian	Metal Claw	Play Rough	722.92s	23.50
7.	Togekiss	Charm	Dazzling Gleam	743.75s	20.50
8.	Breloom	Counter	Dynamic Punch	671.23s	39.00
9.	Heracross	Counter	Megahorn	722.95s	27.17
10.	Toxicroak	Counter	Dynamic Punch	716.18s	31.83
11.	Sirfetch'd	Counter	Close Combat	713.49s	34.17
12.	Gardevoir	Charm	Dazzling Gleam	717.23s	34.83
13.	Blaziken	Counter	Focus Blast	721.93s	35.50
14.	Emboar	Low Kick	Focus Blast	759.96s	28.75
15.	Ursaring	Counter	Play Rough	800.91s	23.50
16.	Genesect (Normal)	Fury Cutter	X-Scissor	744.38s	36.33

Our Darkrai counters are solely derived from simulations run on the Go Hub Simulator. Simulations are always run with level 30 Pokémon against a Tier 5 raid boss, averaging all movesets and simulating lag and rejoining.

Results will vary with different movesets (such as Breloom receiving a preference against Dark Pulse move sets, while Hariyama will be better against Focus Blast). Results contain some unreleased Pokémon.

Important note: Prioritize Gardevoir and Togekiss versus Focus Blast. Fairy types take reduced damage from Fighting and they perform better than Machamp and Hariyama.

As we’ll go in-depth in the next section (moves breakdown), 60% of Darkrai’s move pool consists of Dark moves, which means that 60% of time Darkrai deals reduced damage to Fighting and Fairy types.

Taking reduced damage converts into more opportunities to activate charge moves, and in turn, into more damage. Hence why Machamp, Togekiss and Hariyama rule the top 3 spots. Once Conkledurr gets released, it will be an amazing Darkrai counter as well, but for now this is the list.

With Mega and Shadow Pokémon included

#	Pokemon	Fast Move	Charge Move	Time to win	Deaths
1.	Machamp (Shadow)	Counter	Dynamic Punch	434.57s	19.50
2.	Gardevoir (Shadow)	Charm	Dazzling Gleam	475.60s	23.00
3.	Beedrill (Mega)	Bug Bite	X-Scissor	477.72s	25.50
4.	Lopunny (Mega)	Low Kick	Focus Blast	525.78s	21.33
5.	Pinsir (Shadow)	Bug Bite	X-Scissor	520.16s	26.83
6.	Scizor (Shadow)	Fury Cutter	X-Scissor	535.60s	29.67
7.	Gallade (Shadow)	Low Kick	Close Combat	546.31s	28.17
8.	Ursaring (Shadow)	Counter	Play Rough	552.05s	29.50
9.	Poliwrath (Shadow)	Rock Smash	Dynamic Punch	592.03s	21.50
10.	Charizard (Mega Y)	Fire Spin	Blast Burn	582.73s	22.83
11.	Altaria (Mega)	Dragon Breath	Dazzling Gleam	637.15s	20.33
12.	Hitmonlee (Shadow)	Low Kick	Close Combat	595.50s	31.50
13.	Lucario	Counter	Aura Sphere	589.32s	33.50
14.	Conkeldurr	Counter	Dynamic Punch	628.22s	23.50

Moves breakdown

Darkrai’s has access to the following moves:

As most top Darkrai counters resist its Dark type moves (the only ones that benefit from STAB), there are only a handful moves that are considered to be a threat to the top counters. Watch out for Shadow Ball move sets if you are using counters like Gardevoir, as that will destroy her easily. Beyond that, the most difficult charge move to face is Shadow Ball, as it hits like a truck.

Charge moves

Darkrai’s move pool is consistently easy to counter, provided that you have appropriate Pokemon at your disposal:

• If Darkrai has Dark Pulse, you should prioritize Fighting types. They take reduced damage and easily land charge moves regardless of dodging. In order not to waste Revives, be careful with squishy ones like Breloom.
• Versus Focus Blast you should always prioritize Gardevoir and Togekiss. Due to their dual typing, they take 2x reduced damage from Focus Blast. Gardevoir and Togekiss are best counters to Darkrai when it has Focus Blast.
• Treat Shadow Ball in the same way like Dark Pulse and use Fighting types. Do not use Gardevoir as it takes increased damage from Ghost moves and will melt easily.

Feint Attack vs Snarl

There is no real difference between Feint Attack and Snarl in the long run, as they are very similar. Feint Attack has a higher DPS, while Snarl has a higher energy gain. Snarl is overall better, but it will not matter much here.

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