It’s Dark In Here! — Dark Box in the Post-Worlds Meta

[cardimg name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello everyone! Can you believe it’s already 2020? (in the Pokemon world at least.) Thanks to the new change to League Cups, it seems like this year is already well underway—even though from where I am in the United States, we’re a week away from our first Regional Championships. It’s now over a month since the DC Open and the 2019 Pokemon World Championships and with the release of Hidden Fates, there’s no big change to the format since then.

For this article, I want to go over the deck that brought me success at the World Championships: Dark Box. This deck had some hype at the release of Unified Minds, but it hasn’t got nearly as much love recently. That’s a shame, because Dark Box was, and continues, to be an incredibly strong deck.

My Dark Box list performed wonderfully at the World Championships, as I was able to pilot it to a 6-1-1 record on Day 1, followed by a 16th place finish in Day 2. Since then, the deck has continued to perform strongly in local tournaments I’ve used it at and in testing, despite the meta adaptations resulting from the results of the World Championships. While this deck may not be receiving much hype, it shouldn’t be written off. If you’ve been playing Dark Box at all, hopefully your list looks somewhat like mine. If you haven’t been playing it, then I’ll try my best to convince you to give it a shot!

I’ll be going over what made the deck successful for me at the World Championships, as well as whether the deck can maintain that success going forward into Atlantic City and Knoxville. I’ll have a guide to matchups, as well as potential changes to the list that could improve it going forward.

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The Current List

I’ve shared this list publicly plenty of times, but if you happen to have not seen it yet, here it is for reference:

[decklist name=”Dark Box” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″][pokemon amt=”18″]2x [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Poipole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”226″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”200″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Hapu” set=”Unified Minds” no=”200″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dark City” set=”Unified Minds” no=”193″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]12x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”12″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Most of this list is relatively standard, with a variety of Darkness-type attackers and [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] as support. The “unique” bits include the three [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], the use of [card name=”Hapu” set=”Unified Minds” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card], the lack of [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card], and the inclusion of [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card].

Prior to Worlds, I had included a list close to this one in one of my articles. I changed only two cards from that list to the one I played at Worlds: I added in a third copy of Beast Ring, as well as a [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card]. Both were critical to the deck’s success at Worlds, and I wouldn’t play without either of those changes going forward.

One Greninja and Zoroark-GX

[cardimg name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The Greninja and Zoroark-GX was added to solve a particular problem against Tag Team Pokemon decks; particularly, that my deck would struggle to take out the second Tag Team Pokemon. I could easily use a GX attack to get past the first one, but after that, the list I had was stuck at a damage cap of 210. With Greninja and Zoroark-GX, that problem has been solved completely. You can transition seamlessly from Dark Moon GX into it; add another Energy plus [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]’s Charging Up Ability, and you’ll be able to attack for 270. Given the prevalence of Tag Team decks at Worlds, this addition made an incredible positive impact. 

Three Beast Ring

Similarly, the third Beast Ring is incredibly important. In order to consistently power up your board, with all of its high Energy attack costs, you need something a little more than [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. That’s where Beast Ring comes in! By increasing my count to three, I was able to hit them with a solid amount of consistency, even in scenarios where I couldn’t use [card name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card]’s Rogue Ring to search them out. In the future, I may even want to increase this count to four, if I can find space to do so—Beast Ring is that strong! To be blunt, I don’t think that Dark Box is competitively viable without Beast Ring, but with it, Dark Box belongs in the discussion for top decks in the format. It’s impossible to replicate the Energy burst that Beast Ring provides, to the point that I would consider the card to be an integral part of the deck’s strategy.

Two Hapu

Hapu is an ideal Supporter in this deck, as it gives you the best draw power from a hand that already has some decent cards in it (such as a Beast Ring). Dark Box is a deck where you want to build up a robust hand early, so shuffle draw Supporter cards such as [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t your best option. As for [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], your hand won’t be small enough for them to be useful, especially in a scenario where you want to keep parts of your hand. Hapu gives you a way to look at a significantly large portion of your deck, while allowing you to keep your hand strong. In addition, Hapu also gives the deck another way to discard Darkness Energy, which can be useful.

Zero Super Scoop Up

I’ve chosen not to include Super Scoop Up in my list, not only due to lack of space, but because I don’t consider the card to be good in the deck. In this current format, OHKOs are commonplace now that [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM201″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] decks have saturated the meta. Furthermore, the ideal strategy for Dark Box doesn’t involve situations where you allow your Tag Teams to get hit early on. I’ve seen too many players use Super Scoop Up as an excuse to dive in early with large Tag Teams, even though doing so is rarely a successful strategy. Super Scoop Up can be useful at times, especially against decks like [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], but it isn’t as useful as Beast Ring or Custom Catcher, both of which you should be including instead.

General Strategy

For the early game, your goal is the same regardless of what your opponent is playing. You want to focus on doing whatever you can to set up all of your basics, [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] in particular. Ideally, you don’t want to put any of your Tag Teams into play, unless you need to to avoid discarding them with [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. That way, you don’t give your opponent any opportunity to damage them early—particularly important if you’re playing against a deck that can OHKO them such as Reshiram and Charizard-GX. From there, you’ll want to try and set up your hand for the mid-game, not only with the Evolutions you’ll need like [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], but for [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. That way, when the time comes to counter-punch, you’ll be prepared. Hoopa-GX makes building up your hand rather easy, though you will have to deal with [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card].

The mid-game is the key to this deck’s success, but figuring out how to approach it is one of the trickier parts of playing this deck well. From the moment my opponent flips over their starting Pokemon, I try to think about what is the best way to win. The most important part is to figure out which GX attack you’ll use. Once your opponent takes their second Prize, you’ll want to use your Beast Ring to flood the Board with Energy so you should have enough Energy to use whichever attack you need. Against Tag Team decks, you’ll want to try and prioritize using [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]’s Dark Moon GX – not only does it take a KO on even the toughest of Pokemon, but it’s disruptive effect can oftentimes give you a “free” following turn, or at least one that’s easily predictable. Against normal Pokemon-GX, [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”226″ c=”name”][/card] is your strongest attacker, though it can be better to save it for the late-game if you can get your Prizes through other attackers—and not risking giving up three Prizes in return. In other matches, you’ll want to prioritize an endgame strategy using Gigafall GX. This is best against non-GX decks, or if you fall behind to a point where you don’t think you’ll be able to make a comeback via taking Prizes.

Future Meta Outlook

[cardimg name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

One of the biggest fallacies that I’ve seen people fall into when discussing Dark Box is to focus too much on the deck’s past results, as opposed to its future potential. As a whole, the deck did have a poor showing at Worlds, but that seems to have been due to the lack of players playing well optimized deck lists, rather than an inherent problem in the deck itself.

This tends to be a problem that pops up whenever it comes to new, relatively unexplored decks. For Dark Box, the World Championships is a poor barometer of the deck in terms of future potential. It would be one thing if the Beast Ring variant of the deck had been widespread, but that does not appear to be the case.

As far as Day 2 was concerned, there were only two players playing the deck (including myself)—much too small of a sample size to get anything reliable out of. Unfortunately, we don’t have total meta data from SPE Melbourne and Sheffield Regionals either, so it’s impossible to know if the deck’s lack of success there was due to poor deck performance, or if Dark Box didn’t see play. Hopefully, that data will be available in Atlantic City and Knoxville—a bit late to analyze the deck for the future, but we’ll at least be able to have a better idea of how the deck performed overall.

As for right now, there were no large scale changes coming out of the World Championships, SPE Melbourne, or Sheffield that would imply that Dark Box will have a more difficult time going forward. Dark Box performs well against a few of the decks that seem to make up the projected Unified Minds metagame. In fact, if we look at the results from Melbourne and Sheffield, almost every Day 2 deck represents a theoretically positive matchup for Dark Box! So, unless that meta changes, there is no reason to sideline Dark Box going forward, even with its current “lack of results”.

The biggest potential issue for Dark Box going forward has less to do with a bad meta, and more to do with potentially getting out-sped out of the meta. As the Fire-type decks become more refined, they can apply pressure earlier and earlier in a game. For Dark Box, this pressure can be the difference between having the hand to win the match in the mid-game, and not being prepared when it gets to that point. Dark Box performs well against most of the random stuff that’s popped up since Worlds, and can beat those Fire-type decks in theory—but in practice, a format heavy with those aggressive decks could be a bad one for Dark Box. If the deck does struggle going forward, that will likely be the reason why.

Matchup Guide

The format hasn’t changed too much from pre-Worlds to post-Worlds, but the decks themselves have! Here’s how to best approach each of the major Standard matchups:

Mewtwo and Mew-GX

After a deck wins the World Championships, it should be no surprise that that deck explodes in popularity. That has been the case for Henry Brand’s [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] deck, which has now popped up (and done well) at tournaments throughout the world. As I said above, the biggest difficulty for Dark Box when approaching this matchup is the utter speed in which they can attack your board. The good news is that Mewtwo and Mew-GX typically doesn’t play Reset Stamp—this is a huge benefit for us, as it allows us to reliably use [card name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] to build up our hand.

The main strategy against this deck is to use [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]’s Dark Moon GX to OHKO a Tag Team Pokemon, then to get the other three Prizes with either [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card]’s Greedy Crush or with [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]’s Dark Pulse. Not only will Dark Moon GX OHKO their Tag Team, but it prevents them from using [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] on the following turn, which will typically prevent them from being able to hit Umbreon and Darkrai-GX with a return KO. You’ll need to set up a pretty robust board to reliably attack with Dark Moon GX, so do what you can to dig through your deck and establish multiple [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]. Your opponent will be taking Prizes pretty quickly regardless, so don’t be afraid of benching [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in order to set up your board. Do not bench Umbreon and Darkrai-GX until you need to use it. If you do, then it can easily be the victim of either [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM201″ c=”name”][/card]’s Double Blaze GX, [card name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lava Flow, or the new [card name=”Charizard-GX” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flare Blitz GX. Similarly, it can often be a good idea not to evolve your Sneasel until you absolutely need to; if you do, then they can be targeted via [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], thus forcing you to have to find another one. Instead, wait until your opponent gets into [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] range, and only evolve after you’ve got the hand and board state to set up Umbreon and Darkrai-GX. Baby [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] can be strong in this matchup if your opponent plays into it, so be aware of that possibility. The key to this matchup is being able to counter with multiple Beast Ring and Dark Moon GX as soon as that possibility arises. If you can do so, then you should be able to win.

Ability Reshiram and Charizard-GX

The matchup against Ability-based [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM201″ c=”name”][/card] feels incredibly similar to the matchup against Mewtwo and Mew-GX, and your strategy is pretty much the same. Once again, your immediate goal should be to get as many Sneasel in play as possible. Ideally, you don’t want to evolve any of them early on in this matchup either, as they will become easy targets. With [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], their main strategy will be to target down and KO your Sneasel and [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], and they can do so with a bit more ease than decks that rely on Custom Catcher. Ability Reshiram and Charizard-GX typically only plays one [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] and can’t search it out as easily as the [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card] variant, so you can potentially use Hoopa-GX to set up—but you won’t necessarily be able to rely on it either. Be aware that you won’t have a ton of time to get everything together, so be aggressive with Dedenne-GX and [card name=”Hapu” set=”Unified Minds” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card] Do this so that you can have a chance to get all of the pieces that you need. Again, Dark Moon GX will be your ideal GX attack, followed by Greedy Crush or Dark Pulse. If you can set up, then this matchup is winnable. But in practice, getting to that point can be a challenge. 

Green’s Exploration Reshiram and Charizard-GX

[cardimg name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] variant of Reshiram and Charizard-GX tends to be a bit easier early on, since they aren’t as aggressive. But since this variant does play Reset Stamp and can find it without any trouble, you won’t be able to build up your hand with Hoopa-GX like you can against Ability Reshiram and Charizard-GX. To win, this often means that you’ll have to get a decent draw off their Reset Stamp. If you can, the ideal strategy in this matchup is to use Dark Moon GX, followed by Dark Pulse. Whenever I play this matchup, I tend to try to avoid Knocking Out any of their [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] early on, so that I can continue to draw six cards off of Reset Stamp. Instead, I focus on using Hoopa-GX to find cards and set up my board. Instead of grabbing cards such as Beast Ring, I go after cards that will help set up my board regardless of my opponent’s Reset Stamp, such as more Pokemon (Sneasel, Weavile-GX or [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] pieces), or [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] with multiple Darkness Energy. If your opponent tries to set up for a bit too long, then you can get into situations where you can use Dark Moon GX before your opponent takes a Prize. This isn’t easy to do, but the threat of that move will put your opponent on a timer, as far as them being able to make their move. You have the option of using Reset Stamp to disrupt their hand, but this move is best saved for the later stages of the game when your opponent is at three Prizes or less. Finally, you’ll want to try and conserve your Stadiums in this matchup, as you’ll need them for your opponent’s inevitable [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and Reset Stamp play.

Blacephalon-GX

Against [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] decks, your main goal should be to skip their Beast Ring turn. There are multiple routes you can take to do so, depending on how the game is setting up. One way to do so is to mimic the Umbreon and Darkrai-GX strategy that you use against Tag Team decks. Since Dark Moon GX doesn’t allow them to play Trainer cards during their next turn, you can take two Prizes with it, prevent them from playing Beast Ring and Welder during their turn, and then obtain another KO on a Pokemon-GX during your following turn. The other way to dodge their Beast Ring turn is to take a Prize early against a non-GX (either [card name=”Poipole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] or Naganadel), and then use Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX’s Greedy Crush against a GX to take three Prizes, thus dropping you down to two. That route has the benefit of putting you in an immediate position to win on the turn following the Greedy Crush, but it can be trickier to pull off since you have to get that first Prize somehow. Be cautious when playing down any of your Tag Teams, as Blacephalon-GX has the opportunity to skip your Beast Ring turn by using Burst GX followed by a Tag Team KO. If you have the Sneasel to spare, [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] is a strong non-GX attacker that you can use in this matchup, as is Darkrai Prism Star since these decks play no switching effects.

Pikachu and Zekrom-GX

Since its release, [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card] decks remain powerful—and now that some are adding heavy counts of [card name=”Judge” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card], they are more annoying than ever. Dark Box has a number of possible routes to winning this matchup, provided that you don’t draw poorly off the Judge, or fail to set up and get run over early. There is the Dark Moon GX strategy, but that doesn’t have to be the only one. If they play into it, Weavile can snag a KO on a Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, which can be followed up pretty easily by a Dark Pulse, a Greedy Crush or a Gigafall GX. If you ever manage to damage a Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, then you can plan a strategy around KOing that Pikachu and Zekrom-GX with Greedy Crush to take four Prizes at once. After that, winning is a matter of getting Hoopa-GX into play, and using its Devilish Hands GX to KO a Dedenne-GX—this strategy can be done in the opposite order too. Dark Box has a lot of options against Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, and so it should be able to win most of the time, as long as you are able to set up.

Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX

Going into the World Championships, I was aware of the potential of [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], and so I tried to prepare well for it despite not knowing exactly how Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX lists would look. I didn’t end up running into any then, but I was able to develop a rather effective strategy against them in my testing. The key to the matchup is to flood the board with Darkness Energy and use [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] to obtain some OHKOs. When Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX has a [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] attached, you’ll need to have ten Darkness Energy on the field to get a OHKO; if they have any other Tool attached, then you’ll only need nine. That isn’t a small amount but it is achievable. Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX decks lack excessive damage output, so you’ll be able to buy a bit of time to get that Energy into play. Beyond that, if you can ever get into a situation where you can get a KO with [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]’s Dark Moon GX, that will almost definitely win you the matchup. The danger against this deck is [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], especially if they can use Magical Miracle GX with it in play, so be sure to conserve your Stadiums! 

Quagsire

Another deck that has got a decent amount of hype recently is Naganadel / [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card]. In theory, this deck has a solid matchup into all of the aggressive Fire-type decks running around. The deck achieved a Top 8 spot at SPE Melbourne, and has become a common sight at League Cups as well. For Dark Box, this matchup is rather positive. We have multiple ways to get around Keldeo-GX with Weavile and Darkrai Prism Star. I’ve found that Hoopa-GX is a strong attacker into this matchup, since it’s difficult for Quagsire to OHKO it (especially early on), whereas you can take KOs and force them to dig for more Pokemon to replace the KO’d ones. Likewise, Gigafall GX is an excellent GX attack to use in this matchup. Because Quagsire is both the utility and the main attacker, Quagsire decks tend to have to dig through their deck pretty aggressively if you can keep up pressure by taking KOs. The result is that the opponent will almost never be able to play around Gigafall GX, and that Gigafall GX will be a reliable back-up plan for if you fall behind. If your opponent ever has to play down a Dedenne-GX, the matchup becomes even easier—aim to KO it with Greedy Crush, or Devilish Hands GX if it’ll win you the game. 

Malamar

[cardimg name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Even though [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] is a Psychic deck and Dark Box is a Darkness deck, this matchup tends to be one of the trickier ones to play. That isn’t because Malamar is a bad matchup but rather, because there isn’t any set strategy that you can use against it. A lot in this matchup depends on how well the Malamar player sets up. If they need to bench any Pokemon-GX or Tag Teams early, then they will lose, as you can take advantage of them with your own Pokemon-GX and Tag Teams. If they fail to set up well, then Dark Box should win by out-racing them for Prizes.

Where the struggle comes is if they set up quickly, and do so entirely with non-GX Pokemon. The [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] loop can be difficult to stop, especially since we don’t play any way around [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. On top of that, threats such as [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM99″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Nihilego” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Jynx” set=”Team Up” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] can be used to get them further ahead. Ideally, we want to use the attackers that can trade Prizes as efficiently as possible. Utilizing [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] and Weavile can both OHKO Giratina without too much trouble, but they will be KO’d in return. Consider [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] as your ideal attacker, as it can take both a Shadow Impact and a Spell Tag without getting KO’d—but the Malamar player can easily finish it off with either another Spell Tag or by using [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] to force it to the Bench, then hitting it with Distortion Door. Hoopa-GX is another strong attacker, but it gives up two Prizes, thus making it effectively a two-for-two trade. Toward the endgame, you’ll be at risk of getting KO’d by one of their Tag Team Pokemon, be it [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card], so you won’t be able to reliably send up a tanky Pokemon at the end in the same way you would against other non-GX decks like [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card].

As far as Prizes are concerned, there aren’t many ways to get ahead of Malamar once they’ve obtained a lead with non-GX attackers. The most reliable strategy I’ve found for when the game does get to that point is to win via Gigafall GX. Similar to the Quagsire matchup, your opponent will typically be forced to dig through their deck repeatedly, in an effort to find Spell Tag and multiple Malamar, and to play around a late [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. More often than not, they’ll fall into the trap of having 15 or less cards remaining in their deck. If they do see that strategy coming, they will have options to play around it, so if you decide to go for the Gigafall GX strategy, try and do so as inconspicuous a manner as possible. Continue to try to attack as best you can while maintaining enough Energy on the board to pull the trick off. If you stop attacking, your opponent will often see through your strategy—but even if they don’t, they’ll be able to stop thinning their deck and looking for resources as a result of your lack of pressure. One final tip, never count their deck directly—that’s a pretty obvious tell that you’ll be aiming for Gigafall GX. Instead, silently count how many cards are in their Discard Pile when looking at it. Add that number to the number of cards they have in play, in their hand, and the number of Prize cards they have remaining. Subtract that number from 60, and you’ll know how many cards are left in their deck, without letting your opponent know that you’re after that information.

Possible Changes

So far, the Dark Box list has done well—but could it be better? These are the top two changes to consider going forward:

Adding a Fourth Sneasel

Because this deck has such a reliance on getting [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] into play, one of the changes that I have considered is to increase the [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]count from three to four. This would help to relieve some of the pressure to get the Sneasel into play, since you’ll have a higher chance to naturally draw into a Sneasel especially in games where one or more of your Sneasel are in the Prize. It would also slightly increase your odds of starting with it, which would be helpful for the [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. As for which one, I would want to include a second copy of the Celestial Storm [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], in order to have yet another attacker into [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card].

Adding a Fourth Beast Ring

I’ve already increased my count of [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] from two to three, with incredible results. Given how important the card is to the deck’s success, I could justify increasing that count once again. Against [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], a fourth Beast Ring would increase the odds that you’ll be able to see them after being hit by a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], increasing the odds that you’ll win. Against the aggressive Fire decks, a fourth Beast Ring would be useful as it would mean that you would be more likely to naturally draw into it. This would give you a bit more leeway to focus on setting up your Pokemon lines, and so slightly alleviate the daunting pressure that your opponent will put you under. 

Which Card to Take Out?

[cardimg name=”Sneasel” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”86″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Without a doubt, both of those above additions would be helpful. Even though those would be my top picks to add, there are more cards that would be helpful. The problem in adding them isn’t their usefulness itself—it’s figuring out what to take out for them! My list for Worlds had every card play a vital role at some point or another, and it looks as if the format is shifting in a way that makes the deck’s various techs more useful, not less. The Pokemon lines for example, I would consider untouchable; each of the Pokemon-GXs, as well as the Weavile was necessary at some point, and is necessary against some top deck in Standard. 

Whenever I want to make a change in a deck, the question I ask myself is this: “Will the card that I add have a larger positive impact than the card that I’m taking out?”

As a basic example of that principle, let’s say I wanted to add in the fourth Sneasel, but I wanted to take out the [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] to do so. This would definitely be a bad decision. While the fourth Sneasel helps against aggressive Tag Team decks, the Greninja and Zoroark-GX is often necessary to win that matchup, as well as a few others that the Sneasel does not help with. So, that change would cause my deck’s expected results to become worse, not better. Given that, I shouldn’t make that change!

What we have to try and consider then, is how important is the card I’m adding is going to be, and how detrimental it would be to take out a different card to include it. Sometimes, that can be determined rather easily through theory, other times it will require some testing to make those determinations. I’ve already mentioned that the Pokemon line is untouchable, I would add that any Darkness Energy shouldn’t be removed as you’ll typically struggle to hit them if you play less than 12—a fact I’ve learned via testing. So, that leaves the Trainers!

What Trainer Cards to Take Out?

With Trainer cards, there are two routes we can go. We can cut consistency cards, or we can cut the non-consistency situational cards.

For tech cards, our options would be to cut down on either the Supporter engine or the Pokemon search cards. For situational cards, we would look at cutting either the [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], the Stadiums, the [card name=”Switch” set=”EX Dragon Frontiers” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card], or the [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. Given that our goal is to more consistently hit our Sneasel and Beast Ring, it wouldn’t make much sense to cut any of the consistency cards. So, the likely cut would be one or two of the situational cards.

Cutting any one of the situational cards comes with a downside. Without Custom Catcher, we lose a lot of our strategic consistency and are rather vulnerable to running into awkward situations as a result of using [card name=”Hapu” set=”Unified Minds” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], or having suboptimal Prizes. Without adequate Stadiums, we are more vulnerable to [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], plus, we’ll lose either a switching effect or Pokemon search. With less Switch, we lose mobility, and become more vulnerable to Special Conditions and attacks such as [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tandem Shock. Without Reset Stamp, we lose a lot of our comeback potential, and we’ll have a tough time dealing with non-GX decks such as [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], as well as hand-building decks such as Green’s Exploration / Reshiram and Charizard-GX or [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card].

For comparison, let’s look at the downside of not having the Sneasel or the Beast Ring. Without the fourth Sneasel, we’ll have less consistency when setting up and be more vulnerable to decks which can target and KO the Sneasel, as well as the bad luck of Sneasel in the Prizes. Without the fourth Beast Ring, we’ll be weaker against decks that use a Reset Stamp strategy, and we won’t be able to hit them as reliably against aggressive decks that force us to focus on our Pokemon setup.

What I’ve tested

So far in my testing, the change I’ve been most comfortable with is to remove one copy of Switch, and to add in the fourth Sneasel. Special Conditions haven’t been a tremendously large factor in the current meta, and while the extra mobility is nice, the fourth Sneasel has ended up being more of a necessity. If you want to try out this deck, I do recommend experimenting with the different combinations of inclusions and exclusions— it’s a great way to learn what pieces of the deck are important, and why.

Conclusion

With that, we’ve come to the end of the article! Despite its relative lack of tournament success thus far in Sheffield and Melbourne, I am nonetheless convinced that the Beast Ring version of Dark Box will continue to be strong going forward. Personally, I’ll be strongly considering the deck for the Atlantic City Regional Championships. As always, if you have any questions about the deck or its strategies— or about anything else—be sure to comment, message me, or to ask everyone in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout! 

Thanks for reading!

–Zak

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