Flying and Flipping in the Shadows with Dusknoir

Today I'm going to be talking about an expanded deck that I've been testing since Hex Maniac was banned, that deck is Dusknoir. Dusknoir has seen a lot of play with many different partners in the past; however, after its rotation from Standard it stopped seeing play for the most part. Last season Dusknoir with Tapu Koko made top 64 at some expanded regionals, I feel that the reason it consistently fell short of major results was because of the strength of Zoroark and Hex Maniac. Now without Hex Maniac in the format, with the release of Shrine of Punishment and with Zoroark-GX being a less dominant force, Dusknoir has a shot to make a comeback.

The Strategy

I usually don't talk about this but in this article I will because I imagine many players are unfamiliar with Dusknoir. Dusknoir's ability allows you to move around the damage counters on your opponent's side of the field in any way you would like. The reason I chose to play Dusknoir over the Magical Swap Tapu Lele is that Dusknoir is much more aggressive. Dusknoir allows you to move damage counters to Pokemon before they evolve, knockout threats that may sweep your board, and finish off Pokemon before your opponent gets a chance to heal off the damage with Acerola or Max Potion. The overall game plan is to stream Flying Flip, while manipulating the damage carefully to take knockouts where you need them, and use Necrozma-GX's Black Ray-GX at some point in the mid to late game to take your last 2-4 prize cards or knock out all of your opponent's attackers at once.

The List

3/1/2 Dusknoir

This line is built to be able to get out 1 Dusknoir in the early game and one in the late game. You can apply pressure with one early then in the late game you pull it out with a teammates when you're ready to take your last prizes, similar to Guzma for game for other decks.

4 Tapu Koko

You really only need three Tapu Koko with 2 Rescue Stretcher but having four increases your chances of starting it which is really important for applying early game pressure.

Marshadow

Marshadow allows you to virtually play two supporter cards in one turn and search out a supporter card without benching a two prize Tapu Lele-GX.

Sudowoodo and Mimikyu

This is the Sudowoodo that copies an attack used by your opponent on their last turn. You play three Counter Energy for this attack and all though this is mostly to deal with a Zoroark-GX player that is trying to play around Black Ray-GX it can also be strong against Buzzwole-GX and Garbodor. The Mimikyu with the same attack is not nearly as strong against Zoroark-GX; however, it allows you to copy a Jet Punch for weakness and spread and is also searchable with Mysterious Treasure.

3 Teammates

Originally I only played one Teammates but it is easily the strongest supporter card in the deck. It secures you a Dusknoir, it can search out two pieces of your Dimension Valley, Necrozma-GX, Double Colorless Energy combo and also searches out the Counter Energy attackers you need and the Shrine of Punishment if you know exactly how much damage you need to do. Overall Teammates is just a very versatile card and you will usually use it three or more times in each game if you are going about it correctly.

2 Field Blower

Field Blower is almost strictly for the Garbodor matchup, both Parallel City and Garbotoxin can be really harsh on your deck so it is important to use your Field Blowers at the right times.

Dimension Valley

I mentioned it earlier but you only play Dimension Valley to use Black Ray-GX for a Double Colorless Energy. You only need the one since you are going to search it out with Teammates when you need it most of the time.

Matchups

Drampa-GX/Garbodor

In this matchup you need to play very conservatively. You want your opponent to play into Sudowoodo and Mimikyu so that you can take some big knockouts. If you go in with Flying Flips your opponent is likely to run you out of energy before you can take the game.

Night March

This matchup is super easy. Just flying flip, get out two Dusknoir, take multiple knockout in a turn on Night Marchers, Black Ray-GX to Shaymin-EXs.

Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX

Buzzwole is actually a better matchup than you might expect. You can flying flip a lot in the early game then dodge their Beast Ring turn and if they're forced to bench GXs to finish the game Necrozma-GX will likely be able to deal enough damage to win you the game.

Team Update