1 Month Later…

4 Volkner

2 Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX

4 Electromagnetic Radar

4 Electropower

3 Energy Switch

2 Cherish Ball

2 Pokégear 3.0

2 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 12

12 L

1 Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX

This Pokémon is perfect for this deck and solves pretty much all of its retreat and Special Condition problems. It works like Keldeo-EX did in Darkrai-EX DEX decks.

2 Zapdos TEU

Zapdos is important for turn 1, especially to Knock Out your opponent’s Active Jirachi, meaning (probably) no Stellar Wish on their next turn and 1 less Prize for you to take.

2 Lysandre Labs

Initially, Lysandre Labs was included simply a way of dealing with Fairy Charm L and Shedinja, but the truth is the more I play this card, the more I like it. It’s insanely good to get rid of those nasty Spell Tags and Escape Boards from Malamar decks. I have to say that without this Stadium, Malamar decks have the advantage against PikaRom.

With Jirachi

Pokémon – 13

4 Jirachi TEU

2 Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

Trainers – 36

4 Volkner

4 Electromagnetic Radar

4 Electropower

3 Switch

2 Energy Switch

2 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 11

11 L

This version is more consistent, and Jirachi is the best starter most decks can have. In order to make the Jirachi package (4 Jirachi + 3 Switch + 2 Escape Board) fit in the list, it was necessary to “cut the fat” and play with minimal resources. With this version, I am able to use PikaRom’s Full Blitz on turn 1 and turn 2 a little more often, as well as play 2 Custom Catchers more easily.

However, throughout the game, the deck has fewer resources to rely on, so you need to keep track of your cards and use them at the right time. The bad part is that it is not always possible to conserve resources if you need to use Dedenne-GX to draw cards. It’s worth noting that Jirachi is a good answer to Reset Stamp.

Malamar/Garchomp & Giratina-GX

This Malamar version is the most consistent in my opinion, although I’m still not 100% happy with its consistency. Garchomp & Giratina-GX is very good to Knock Out TAG TEAM Pokémon and its GX attack is simply insane. Other than that, most of the time, the deck will attack with Giratina LOT, attach Energies with Malamar, and promote Jirachi every time a Giratina LOT is Knocked Out.

Pokémon – 17

4 Inkay FLI

4 Malamar FLI

2 Giratina LOT

2 Garchomp & Giratina-GX

1 Mew UNB

2 Jirachi TEU

2 Dedenne-GX

Trainers – 33

4 Lillie

4 Mysterious Treasure

1 Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX

3 Switch

Energy – 10

6 P

4 F

Card Choices

1 Mew UNB

Mew is in the list not only for its widely-known Bench Barrier Ability but also for its attack and synergy with Spell Tag and Garchomp & Giratina-GX.

3 Spell Tag

I know Spell Tag is a mandatory card for ChompTina decks, but I see some lists using 4 copies, which is overkill now that Guzma and Field Blower have exited the format. Most of the time, you won’t even be able to play 4 of them. If you really like to use 4 copies to increase your chances of drawing it on your first turn, my suggestion would be to add 1 Adventure Bag to the deck, as it also gives you access to Escape Board.

Dark Box

Dark Box is a completely new deck that came with the release of Unified Minds. It has a lot of potential. Although it relies on two Stage 1 cards and its Pokémon are sort of hard to search out, if you manage to set it up, it’s one of the best decks of the format.

Pokémon – 16

2 Umbreon & Darkrai-GX

Trainers – 33

4 Lillie

2 Bill’s Analysis

4 Cherish Ball

4 Super Scoop Up

2 Mysterious Treasure

1 Reset Stamp

2 Dark City

2 Viridian Forest

Energy – 11

11 D

Card Choices

1 Mewtwo & Mew-GX, 1 Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX

I like Mewtwo & Mew-GX to deal with Fighting types, such as Aerodactyl-GX and perhaps a surprise Marshadow & Machamp-GX. I find it problematic to start the game with Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX—its attack costs a whopping 5 Energies after all—and that’s why I only play 1 copy of it. But it is an important card for the deck and part of its strategy for late games, so Mewtwo & Mew-GX can copy its attack and work as “2nd copy” of the Mega Dark Pokémon.

2-2 Naganadel LOT

Many players ask me about using Sharpedo UNB and Incineroar-GX engines to bring Energies into the field, but I’d much rather use good ol’ Naganadel. Dark Box’s main goal is to attack with Umbreon & Darkrai-GX on turn 2, and we don’t need more than 1 Energy attachment each turn plus Naganadel’s or Darkrai p’s Ability and a Weavile-GX to accomplish that. It’s not hard at all, and you don’t need more than that because on the following turns you will probably be able to attach 2 more Energies. It’s worth noting that Poipole and Naganadel are searchable with Mysterious Treasure, which makes a lot of difference in a format with so few (not to mention weak) Pokémon search cards.

2 Bill’s Analysis

I was never very fond of Bill’s Analysis and always considered it weak compared to Lillie and Cynthia. However, the format has changed and so did my opinion about Bill. It’s a nice card to use in the mid/late game to search for Custom Catcher and Reset Stamp, but also not bad in the beginning to search for Pokémon Communication or Cherish Ball. Honestly, all of the Item cards in this deck are great and you will want to have access to them as early as possible.

4 Super Scoop Up

Although it’s a card that requires a coin flip, its effect is extremely rewarding and can be used in many different situations, such as:

Fully healing a TAG TEAM and denying 3 Prizes from your opponent. (Note: 1 Super Scoop Up can heal more than 4 Great Potions.)
Put a Pokémon affected by a Special Condition back to your hand, or one with a reusable come-into-play Ability such as Darkrai p or Dedenne-GX.

Honorable Mention: Hoopa-GX

A Dark Box list with more switching cards, such as Switch and Dark City, would include Hoopa-GX because of its amazing Rogue Ring attack that lets you search for any 2 cards from your deck to speed things up. I am also fond of using its Dark Strike attack (160 for DDD) against the annoying Latios-GX UNM. And finally, its GX attack can Knock Out a Benched Dedenne-GX.

Blacephalon-GX/Ninetales

I came up with a list optimized to use Ninetales and Welder consistently. Of course, Custom Catcher would be more than enough to deal with the metagame’s main matchups, but the advantage of Ninetales is being able to gust your opponent’s Pokémon nearly as much as you want. It’s great against Shedinja or non-GX decks, such as Malamar/Giratina (to avoid Spell Tag). Just be careful not to discard all of your Energies or send too many of them to the Lost Zone (with Mind Blown) in case you need to use Nine Temptations repeatedly.

Pokémon – 16

Trainers – 28

3 Lillie

2 Welder

4 Beast Ring

3 Mysterious Treasure

3 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 16

15 R

1 Beast p

Card Choices

1-2 Ninetales TEU

Without so many gust effect cards in the format, it’s more reliable to bench Ditto p and evolve it into whatever you please, and that’s why I don’t play 2 copies of Vulpix. However, I do like using 2 copies of Ninetales to make it easier to evolve.

1 Fire Crystal

Ninetales consumes tons of Energies, and we still want more for Welder, Beast Ring, Heat Factory p, and our attachment for turn. This means many of our R Energies will end up in the discard pile, and Naganadel won’t be able to retrieve all of them, so Fire Crystal will be helpful.

Lost March

I’m not very happy with non-GX decks of the format, mainly because we only have Pokémon Communication to search for so many Pokémon. Besides, we don’t have Rescue Stretcher to get them back anymore. However, this Lost March list I came up with is an exception. I like its consistency and the fact that Professor Elm’s Lecture can help us set up. I am also impressed with the deck’s capability of reaching high damage numbers that can Knock Out any Pokémon in the game.

Pokémon – 29

4 Professor Elm’s Lecture

Trainers – 24

3 Cynthia

2 Bill’s Analysis

4 Lost Blender

3 Net Ball

Energy – 7

4 Rainbow

3 G

Card Choices

2 Spiritomb UNB

Without Double Colorless Energy, we need a second attacker. Spiritomb fills that role just fine. On turn 1, it can hit for 70 and Knock Out a Jirachi. It’s also searchable with Professor Elm’s Lecture.

2-2 Pidgeotto TEU

Without Oranguru SUM and Marshadow SLG, we need new Pokémon to draw cards. Pidgeotto is perfect for that, especially since its Evolution line is searchable with Professor Elm’s Lecture.

2 Bill’s Analysis

Among all of the lists I tested Bill’s Analysis with, this was the one in which the card fit best. After setting up and filtering the deck, we can use Bill to search for Custom Catchers and Lost Blenders. But why not Cynthia or something else? Well… even after filtering the deck over and over, the number of Pokémon will still probably be high. Using Cynthia would only give you a similar hand, filled with Pocket Monsters, whereas with Bill, you are able ignore them and draw the necessary Trainers.

Aerodactyl-GX/Carracosta

This is another deck that appeared strong with the arrival of Unified Minds. Thanks to the new Stadium Pokémon Research Lab it is possible to bring the Fossil Pokémon into the competitive metagame. In my opinion, this deck is a strong anti-meta deck with good matchups against PikaRom, Dark Box, ReshiZard, and Blacephalon-GX due to Aerodactyl-GX’s Fighting type and Carracosta’s Water type. Against Malamar and Shedinja, the deck also does well thanks to Carracosta’s Ancient Custom Ability, which can stop Tools like Spell Tag and Escape Board. The problem is that the deck is not very consistent and has no good matches outside the decks that Aerodactyl-GX/Carracosta hits on Weakness, such as Mewtwo & Mew Box.

Pokémon – 18

Trainers – 28

4 Welder