Dusclops Donk (TCG)

Dusclops Donk was a Pokémon Trading Card Game played in the in the 2023-2024 season. The deck's strategy revolved around using 's Ability to put 5 damage counters on 1 opposing Pokémon, at the cost of it being Knocked Out. This would be repeatedly used to Knock Out opposing Pokémon, and it was usable on the first turn thanks to 's Spiritborne Evolution Ability, which let it evolve on the first turn at the cost of discarding 3 cards from the hand.
==Strategy==
This deck focuses on winning before the opponent can attack. It is achieved through repeated uses of the Cursed Blast Ability on , which can be used during the first turn with 's Spiritborne Evolution Ability. This means 3 cards from the hand must be discarded, but can be used as a fodder that can be easily brought back to the hand when needed. Those Exeggcute can be easily discarded from the deck with . While some Dusclops can be in the Prize cards, they can still be easily retrieved by Knocking Out opposing Pokémon and taking Prize cards for them. The opponent will still take Prize cards, but negates that. At the end, a can be attached to , which finishes the battle with Fast Raid, an attack that can even be used on the first turn of the player going first.
Drawing a lot of cards in the game is very important. Because of that, , , , , , and a single are used. Carmine is special in the fact it can be played during the player's first turn even if the player goes first. Games using this deck typically don't go beyond a single turn, so is heavily utilized for setup purposes. is used to restore Dusclops and a Life Dew, while is used to restore Pokémon into the hand or the deck.
==Key cards==
* - Its Spiritborne Evolution Ability allows it to evolve, even during the first turn, at the cost of 3 cards from the hand.
* - Has an Ability called Cursed Blast, which puts 5 damage counters on 1 opposing Pokémon, at the cost of being Knocked Out itself.
* - Secondary means of damage, which has the Fast Raid attack, which can be used even on the player's first turn. It is powered up by .
* - Offsets the discard cost for Spiritborne Evolution. At least 3 of them are recommended in the deck.
* - The Farewell Letter Ability allows it to discard itself from the Bench in order to draw a card.
* - Allows to easily discard any 3 cards from the deck. Most of the time, those cards are Exeggcute.
* - Allows to draw cards more easily. This is used in addition to Pokémon-based draw engines and .
* - It is used to regulate the number of Prize cards the opponent takes.
* - Used to restore Pokémon cards and Life Dew.
* - Used to restore Pokémon cards, either to the hand or the deck.
* - Used to have more space on the Bench for tech cards. If the player goes second, this can also be used to remove the opponent's Stadium cards from play, such as .
==Typical decklist==
==Possible tech cards==
The following cards are often used in Dusclops Donk decks in place of certain cards included in the above lists.
* - This card has the Blood Moon attack that can cost less thanks to the Seasoned Skill Ability. This is only useful when going second.
* - another Pokémon with Fast Raid, which does more raw damage than Pheromosa-GX's Fast Raid.
* and - the Abilities of those Pokémon allow using Pheromosa-GX or Latios-EX's Fast Raid.
==Restriction==
On August 15, 2024, the official English Pokémon website announced that the Duskull used in this deck is to be banned from the starting September 27, 2024, essentially making this deck impossible to be played in sanctioned tournaments.(August 15, 2024). "Scarlet & Violet—Stellar Crown Banned List and Rule Changes Announcement." Pokemon.com The same ban was announced for the Japanese meta on the official Japanese Pokémon TCG website on August 16, 2024, to take effect starting September 2, 2024.(August 16, 2024). エクストラレギュレーションにおける使用できるカード変更のお知らせ Pokémon Trading Card Game Official Website (Japanese)
==References==
Category:Deck archetypes