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 is a Tier 5 Raid Boss, but he has 22500 HP, which results in 65675 CP in raids.

Darkrai Raid Counters

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.

If you’re looking for detailed Time to Win and Faint metrics scroll down to the Simulator data section.

Moves breakdown

Darkrai’s has access to the following moves:

Fast moves	Charge moves
Snarl Dark Feint Attack Dark	Dark Pulse Dark Shadow Ball Ghost Focus Blast Fighting

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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