Dark Skies

Pokémon [17]

3 — Yveltal EX — XY (79/146)
2 — Darkrai EX — Dark Explorers (63/108)

4 — Yveltal — XY (78/146)
3 — Sableye — Dark Explorers (62/108)

2 — Zorua — Dark Explorers (69/108)
2 — Zoroark — Dark Explorers (71/108)
1 — Zoroark BREAK — BREAKthrough (92/162)

Trainers [26]

1 — Computer  Search — Boundaries Crossed (137/149)
3 — Professor's Letter — XY (123/146)
4 — Ultra Ball — Flashfire (99/106)
4 — Dark Patch — Dark Explorers (93/108)

1 — N — Noble Victories (101/101)
2 — Professor Juniper — Plasma Freeze (116/116)
3 — Cheren — Boundaries Crossed (149/149)
4 — Steven — Ancient Origins (95/98)

4 — Dark Claw — Dark Explorers (92/108)

Energy [17]

4 — Double Colorless Energy
13 — Darkness Energy

Epilogue

"Dark skies fill the air and thunder cracks the sky;
the dark bird is approaching to bid us all goodbye."

Despite the captivating flavor text, there isn't much more to the flavor of this deck. The reason for this, is because it was apart of a bottom-up design, for a Dark Patch deck engine I had an idea for. Being a bottom-up design, you start from the synergy in the cards first, then hope to top off the flavor of the deck later. At the end of the development, the deck engine turned out to be not only immensely powerful, but entirely universal for any assortment of Dark Pokémon EX (even despite its simplicity).

All of the decks in this series utilize the same combination of Supporters for this reason, so there isn't much fancy theatrics between the array of Supporter cards. Naturally, that's a big aspect of the flavor, which is very important to the creative potential of your deck. But I also don't believe that every great deck is going to be a top-down design either—and so I'm content with this on that fact. The flavor is mostly focused in the array of Pokémon, which I think does a pretty great job bringing everything to life.

As for the deck engine, it revolves around hyper-accelerating your Dark energy, by utilizing a number of key cards that are all very synergistic to one another. Dark type specifically has been recently development with all kinds of amazing potential for this, and tapping into that greatest potential was the initial concept for this deck engine.

The primary strategy here involves leading with Yveltal, then using the combination of your Item cards, Supporter cards—and the surplus of energy—to bring everything together and power-up your primary offensive Pokémon in a single turn. Then retreating for free through Darkrai, and finshing your opponent off as quickly as possible.

Now, Ultra Ball is conventionally somewhat of an expense, but the combination of synergy here between the surplus of energy (and the utility of [Oblivion Wing] and Dark Patch)—I believe perfectly tap into Ultra Ball's greatest potential.

Cheren and Professor Juniper keep the cards flowing in a straight motion—a technique intended to provide a potency in the flow of the cards—especially alongside the heavy deck thinning that the other cards provide. You'll generally only need one or the other, and Steven makes for a really great transition between the two. [Junk Hunt] Sableye is another great transitional resource, enabling you to fetch two item cards from your discard pile—where in this deck (between the offensive power of Yveltal EX and mobility power of Darkrai)—just two Dark Patch can be absolutely game-breaking.

Zoroark wasn't apart of the initial design, but was added later as a bracer against abilities like {Intimidating Mane} and {Safeguard}. And although I've never seen the game scenario, I think that it also makes a great far-alternative to your starting Pokémon—specifically through the power of [Ascension] and [Dark Rush]. With that said, you're probably going to want to always play second if you can—this deck engine quite possibly suites that style of play best.

Dark Claw on the other hand has always been a staple to this deck—as it was a staple to every Dark Patch deck back in its day. I personally feel like it's still the best option, and the extra power it provides definitely boast potential leagues ahead of other options (even Fighting Fury Belt). The most recent additions were Computer Search and a single copy of N, which are intended to further increase the synergy potential between the cards and promote the flow the cards as well. This deck tends to run out of cards really fast, even energy cards (despite the immense surplus), so that one N is intended to dial back on the flow of the cards and provide some dark space to comfortably rest in.