Darkrai
Darkrai is the counterpart to Cresselia, making up the Lunar Duo! A bizzare one to be sure, as Darkrai is categorized as a Mythical Pokemon (among Mew, Celebi and Jirachi). They create involuntary Nightmares everywhere they go and had some of the most powerful sleep based attacks in the original Game! Darkrai (despite its self announcing name) is often mistaken for a Ghost-Type due to taking a lot of inspiration from Spectres in it’s look.
It also, shockingly, has retractable dainty legs it extends arbitarially. Google it you cowards.
Darkrai is weak to : 
Bug, 
Fairy, and 
Fighting Damage.
Generally speaking, the best counters for it are:
Machamp, Hariyama, and Breloom.
Release History:
- Oct 17 2019 ➡️ Nov 1 2019
Event Announcement:
Trainers,
October is here, which means it’s almost time to make things a bit spookier! This year, you’re all in for a spine-chillingly good treat.
Starting Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)
Features
- Rescue more Shadow Pokémon from Team GO Rocket — Be ready to rescue the following Pokémon from Team GO Rocket Grunts at PokéStops near you: Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lapras, Mareep, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Trapinch, Cacnea, Shuppet, and Duskull.
- Thrilling threads in the Style Shop — Play dreadful dress-up with new avatar items, including a Zubat Bag, a Pikachu Onesie, a Cubone Cap, a Litwick Cap, and a Mimikyu Bag!
- A Spooky Shiny Pokémon makes its debut — If you’re lucky, you might encounter Shiny Yamask.
From Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) to Friday, November 1, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)
Features
- Don’t be scared! More Ghost- and Dark-type Pokémon will be appearing in the wild, in Eggs, and in raids — Gastly, Murkrow, and more will be appearing. Making its Halloween debut is Yamask, the Spirit Pokémon!
- Pokémon wearing creepy-cute Halloween costumes arrive in raids and in the wild! — Some Pokémon have donned costumes to celebrate Halloween this year! Look forward to Bulbasaur wearing Shedinja costumes, Charmander wearing Cubone costumes, and Squirtle wearing Yamask costumes in raids. In the wild, be on the lookout for Pikachu wearing Mimikyu costumes! If you’re lucky, you might even encounter these alarmingly adorable Pokémon as Shiny Pokémon!
- The Pitch-Black Pokémon makes its ominous debut in Pokémon GO! Darkrai will be appearing in five-star raids!
- Frightful and fun Field Research tasks will be available for a limited time during this event.
- You’ve received a spooky message. Check out your Special Research when the Halloween event begins, Trainer, and you might face a Forbidden Pokémon…
Bonuses
- 2× Catch Candy
- 2× Hatch Candy
- 2× Transfer Candy
Have fun, stay safe, and have a spooky good time, Trainers! Let’s GO!
—The Pokémon GO team [Source]
Darkrai In the Meta
Raid Meta – 
Snarl + Dark Pulse OR 
Shadow Ball
Darkrai is a premium Dark/Ghost-Type attacker! They go toe-to-toe with Giratina-Origin Forme in this niche at the #1 choice.
Main thing against Darkrai is that many Ghost/Psychic Pokemon have Fighting-Type coverage moves, that slaughter Darkrai and do very little to Giratina. BUT, against Psychic/Ghost-Type attacks it’s typings inherent resistances makes it indisputably superior to Giratina.
Darkrai has extremely high raw attack power making it slightly more bias towards being a Glass Cannon. But while we’re talking Glass Cannon, Darkrai is strictly superior as a Ghost-Type attacker to Gengar! Let me remind you, Darkrai isn’t even a Ghost-Type Pokemon.
Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball have functionally equal coverage, except for the rare oddball like Kirlia Raids. If you want to lay the smackdown on Ghost and Psychic Pokemon, Darkrai is your new best option, and you probably won’t even need to worry about using TMs! Thank Arceus they didn’t make it a Special Research Exclusive Mythical…
[#table id=Rank_Ghost/]
Movesets
-
Shadow Ball:
- By far the hardest moveset, functionally none of its counters have resistance to it. Prepare a lot of revives. Or an Ursaring (of all things).
-
Focus Blast:
Top Raid Counters
Machamp
Counter /Dynamic Punch-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Family was last in raid bosses during Sept 2019 (Machamp Tier 3) Machamp stands as the pokemon with the longest cumulative duration it has spent as a raid boss, being one of the very first AND most frequently returning. If you’ve been playing long enough to participate in Tier 3 raids it’s likely you have a Machamp or a dozen. They also have been an incredibly useful Fighting Type since the games inception. Machop do nest, and are in 2k Eggs.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Machamp, you need 3 players.
Hariyama
Counter /Dynamic Punch- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hariyama is cheaper to evolve up than Machamp, requiring less candy and a more common pokemon (with nearly identical practical performance). Makuhita was last in raids April 2019, and they do Nest and are in 2K eggs.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Hariyama, you need 3 players.
Breloom
Counter /Dynamic Punch-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family was last in raid July 2019 (Tier 2 Breloom) Breloom evolves from the very common Shroomish, and has higher pure DPS than Machamp or Makuhita. While it used to be in eggs, as of October 2019 it does not hatch.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Focus Blast
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Breloom, you need 3 players.
Togekiss
Charm /Dazzling Gleam-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Togekiss is the absolute bane of Fighting-Types, with stunning tankiness to boot. They compete with Gardevoir atop the Fairy Pokemon chart since recieving Charm as a Fast Attack! While Togekiss is excellent as a Raid Attacker and (even more so) a Gym Defender, it’s extremely expensive. Togetics are a white whale spawn, and Togepi are a random baby hatch from eggs. Then, even if you amass the 123 candy you need to evolve it- you must have a Sinnoh Stone. Which can only be aquired at Random from either Trainer Battles or Field Research Breakthroughs.
Togekiss is an ordeal to obtain for sure. But it’s forbidable defensive utility is no joke.
Togepi hatch from 2k and 7k eggs.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-2xResists: Fighting
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Togekiss, you need 3 players.
Toxicroak
Counter /Dynamic Punch-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆Toxicroak is an unexpectly great Fighting AND Poison Raid Attacker. Crogunk is moderately uncommon outside of cloudy weather, and does not nest. You can find them in 5K eggs though!
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark, Fighting
With Level 35 Toxicroak, you need 3 players.
Heracross
Counter /Close Combat-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆Heracross is a Regional Exclusive pokemon limited to Centeral and South America. It’s arugably the most useful Regional, having been among the best Fighting Types (and soon to be obliterated down the rankings once the incredible gen 5 Fighting-Type pokemon get released). You can get them in 5K eggs aquired within it’s spawn region as well.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark, Fighting
With Level 35 Heracross, you need 3 players.
Weather Counters
Here is a list of Pokemon that can perform similar or better than the typical #1 option (in this case, Machamp) with weather bonuses:
| Pokemon | Weather | Fast Move | Charge Move |
Estimator @ L35
|
||||
|
Machamp
|
 |
OVERCAST
|
|
Counter
|
|
Dynamic Punch | 2.2 |
|
Hariyama
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Counter
|
|
Dynamic Punch | 2.3 |
|
Breloom
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Counter
|
|
Dynamic Punch | 2.3 |
|
Togekiss
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Charm | |
Dazzling Gleam | 2.3 |
|
Toxicroak
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Counter
|
|
Dynamic Punch | 2.4 |
|
Heracross
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Counter
|
|
Close Combat | 2.5 |
 |
Gardevoir
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Charm | |
Dazzling Gleam | 2.5 |
 |
Granbull
|
|
OVERCAST
|
|
Charm | |
Play Rough | 2.5 |
|
Machamp
|
 |
NO_WEATHER
|
|
Counter
|
|
Dynamic Punch | 2.6 |
 |
Pinsir |  |
RAINY | |
Bug Bite
|
|
X Scissor | 2.6 |
 |
Yanmega
|
|
RAINY | |
Bug Bite
|
|
Bug Buzz | 2.7 |
Alternate Raid Counters
Gardevoir Vs.
Charm /Dazzling Gleam-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Raltz nest, and were featured in Aug-2019’s community day. They are a decently accessible spawn in cloudy weather and also hatch from 10k eggs. In addition Kirlia is no stranger to 2 star raids.They do not however nest.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-2xResists: Fighting
-Weak: Ghost
-Cancelled: Dark
With Level 35 Gardevoir, you need 3 players.
Granbull
Charm /Play Rough-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Snubull are not currently hatching from eggs, but they do Nest! Granbull has lived at the edge of viable for most of it’s tenure in PoGo, Now that it’s been given Charm however, it’s a top tier Fairy-Type Attacker! Granbull and Snubbull was last in raids September 2019.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark, Fighting
With Level 35 Granbull, you need 4 players.
Emboar
Low Kick /Focus Blast-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Emboar is a brand new Pokemon from gen 5! They are the final stage of Tepig, the Fire Starter. It does pretty alright as a Fighting-Type but is very new and hard to aquire. They are not currently known to nest or hatch from eggs.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Emboar, you need 4 players.
Pinsir
Bug Bite /X-Scissor-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pinsir is one of the most accessible pokemon, that is nonetheless top tier in it’s typing. You don’t need to evolve them, they can be found at high levels in the wild, they nest- they got a lot going for them. The Legacy Moveset while often a smidge better isn’t something to stress over. Notably they do not currently hatch from eggs.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Focus Blast
-Resists: Fighting
With Level 35 Pinsir, you need 4 players.
Yanmega
Bug Bite /Bug Buzz-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Yanmega is a Sinnoh Stone Evolution of an uncommon Pokemon, so not the easiest thing to get your hands on from scratch. They hatch from 5k eggs and do nest.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Shadow Ball
-2xResists: Fighting
With Level 35 Yanmega, you need 4 players.
Blaziken
Counter /Focus Blast-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Torchic Nest and are in 2K eggs, Blaziken was also featured in Community Day May 2019! In terms of Raids, the most common member of the Family is Combuskin. Who was last a Tier 2 raid in March 2019. Fun fact, Blaziken particually does better than other pokemon VS Shadow Ball in Fog.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Resists: Dark
With Level 35 Blaziken, you need 4 players.
Lucario
Counter /Power-Up Punch-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Riolu is an egg exclusive pokemon sadly, one of the absolute rarest and highly desired ones in fact. It was added October 2018th. It isn’t easy to power up and has a walking distance of 10k. There are increased chances of finding one in a 7k Alolan egg instead of normal 10ks. You also have better chances if you get difficult Adventure Sync eggs. if you collect your weekly adventure sync reward and have earned the 50k distance, AND have an available egg slot, you will get an egg with a skewed hatch pool.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Resists: Dark
-Weak: Fighting
With Level 35 Lucario, you need 4 players.
Scizor
Fury Cutter /X-Scissor-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Scyther and Scizor have been featured a couple of times reducing the difficulty to acquire one. You need a Metal Coat to evolve Scyther into Scizor, which can be acquired either: VERY rarely from spinning a poke stop, in a pool of other evolution items on your 7-day streak spinning Pokestop (guaranteed to get at least one item), or from the Celebi Special Research 4/8 rewards. Scyther nest and are a 5k hatch.
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Cancelled: Fighting
With Level 35 Scizor, you need 4 players.
Scyther
Fury Cutter /X-Scissor-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Scyther are a nesting species, and have been featured as a relatively easy Tier 3 Raid boss a couple times. They also got boosted Spawns during the Bug Out event and are in 5k eggs.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Shadow Ball
-2xResists: Fighting
With Level 35 Scyther, you need 4 players.
Gallade
Low Kick /Close Combat-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Raltz nest, and were featured in Aug-2019’s community day. They are a decently accessible spawn in cloudy weather and also hatch from 10k eggs. In addition Kirlia is no stranger to 2 star raids.They do not however nest.
Importantly, only MALE Raltz can grow up into Gallade’s.
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Worst Matchup: Snarl / Shadow Ball
-Resists: Fighting
-Weak: Ghost
-Cancelled: Dark
With Level 35 Gallade, you need 4 players.
Ursaring
Counter /Play Rough-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ursaring is pretty accessible, because Teddiursa is common. They don’t currently hatch from Eggs, but they do nest. Ursaring has a crazy good attack Stat, but no STAB bonus, allowing them to slip into some lower tier Raid options frequently. Ursaring was last a Tier 4 Raid Boss September 2019
-Best Matchup : Snarl / Dark Pulse
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-2xResists: Ghost
-Weak: Fighting
With Level 35 Ursaring, you need 4 players.
Durant
Bug Bite /X-Scissor-
⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
-
📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
-
🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Durant is a Regional Exclusive Pokemon, on the Asia/Europe/Australia half of the world. Which is a shame, as it’s a shockingly useful pokemon despite it’s appearances!
-Best Matchup : Feint Attack / Shadow Ball
-Worst Matchup: Feint Attack / Focus Blast
-Cancelled: Fighting
With Level 35 Durant, you need 4 players.
Closing Thoughts
Darkrai is a monster Dark-Type that is the new King on top of Ghost and Dark Type Damage. On top of being incredibly formidable, it’s one of the most edgy looking Pokemon we got right now and is sure to be a popular Raid this Halloween season!
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