3 Best Dark Type Pokemon In Scarlet And Violet

With more type weaknesses than it does advantages, the Dark type in "Pokémon" might seem like a bad investment to add to your team composition. The truth is, however, most of the Pokémon in this type are strong, versatile, and much sturdier than most Ghost and Bug types, which are the only other options for countering Ghost and Psychic-type opponents.

Not to mention, they have complete immunity to Psychic-type attacks. Plus, they have a large pool of moves with excellent secondary effects for a very aggressive and incapacitating playstyle — such as Payback, Crunch, and Pursuit — all of which can be devastating with a Same Type Attack Bonus stacked on top. All of this makes Dark type an excellent component in any dual-type combination that, more often than not, covers for the weaknesses while bringing out the strengths of a weaker type.

It's no surprise that Dark types have dominated the competitive meta in the "Pokémon" series for so long. It's practically a must-have even in casual, single-player play. Short of making some very specific lineups to account for more unorthodox combinations, you won't want to leave out Dark types when it comes to type coverage in your team. Here are the three Dark-type Pokémon with the best stats, movesets, and type-weakness mitigations in "Scarlet and Violet," excluding Pokémon that can only be obtained by trade, online promotions, and/or other limited-time events.

Before we begin, let's actually disqualify a few more Pokémon from the fairly sizable list of powerful Dark-types. Technically speaking, Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu are the most powerful Dark types in "Scarlet and Violet," with Roaring Moon coming in as a close second — but you can find our analyses on Chien-Pao and Roaring Moon in SVG's 3 Best Ice Types and 3 Best Dragon Types guides respectively. Given that Ice and Dragon types have far fewer Pokémon to choose from, they might be better off specialized towards covering those types in a team composition instead of fully balancing their dual natures. 

In contrast, the Dark type has many powerful Pokémon with less restricting dual-type combinations to offer, so Pokémon SVG has already covered have been excluded. Furthermore, Pokémon who are powerful primarily because of how they excel in utilizing their secondary type have also been excluded in the interest of helping players choose a good Dark type candidate for offensive type coverage: Chi-Yu, who performs best when built as a devastating Fire-type attacker with only Dark Pulse as a backup move, and Ting-Lu, who is a monster of a Dark/Ground tank, benefits from having a primarily Ground-type moveset. 

Starting with a starter, the first Pokémon on the list is the spectacular Meowscarada, the final evolution of loveable little Sprigatito. With a base stat total of only 530, it might seem like a weaker Dark/Grass option than Wo-Chien's 570 — but make no mistake, when it comes to how its stat allocation actually synergizes with its available moveset, it far outperforms the Treasure of Ruin as both a Grass and Dark type. Wo-Chien is a tanky Pokémon with awful defensive typing — Meowscarada is a fast attacker that takes fragile Ghost and Psychic types down within one or two turns, especially if you stack the High-friendship crit-rate boost with high-crit moves like Night Slash.

Meowscarada also has some unique features that make it an incredibly versatile team member to have. Its signature move, Flower Trick, is a 70-power attack that has a 100% critical hit rate and no accuracy check, meaning it's a guaranteed 157.5 power hit regardless of accuracy or evasion stats (barring turns when the opponent is inaccessible via displacement moves like Fly or Dig or protected by Battle Armor or Shell Armor). Furthermore, with an Ability Patch, it can take on the ability Protean, which lets it switch its typing entirely to that of the first move it uses in battle. As you can imagine, this makes it an incredibly versatile attacker that can even win type matchups it would normally struggle with, and is easily one of the best team members in the game.

Tried and true for many Generations now, this Dragon/Dark type king has not lost its top spot in the list of fan-favorite Dark types to raise. With a base stat total of a whopping 600 — higher than the Treasures of Ruin — Hydreigon doesn't have a single stat that goes below 90 while still having an Attack and Sp. Atk stat that stand above most other Pokémon. It's sturdy, hard-hitting, and pretty quick on its metaphorical feet. Unlike the unbelievable gap in strength between Delibrid and Iron Bundle, Hydreigon remains more powerful and well-rounded than its Paradox counterpart.

Furthermore, Hydreigon is one of the rarer Dark and/or Dragon types with an excellent Sp. Atk stat that can take advantage of the non-physical Dark-type moves to counter bulkier Psychic and Ghost-type Pokémon like Slowbro and Palossand. Its access to Nasty Plot to buff its Sp. Atk two stages at a time before hitting with Dark Pulse is a devastating combo, and even Pokémon with respectable Sp. Def stats will struggle to withstand it. Hydreigon's one weakness is that it has no other possible ability other than Levitate, which renders it immune from Ground-type moves it was never all that vulnerable to anyway. Still, the ability to bypass any terrain effects isn't entirely useless, and the rest of Hydreigon's kit more than makes up for the lack of ability synergy.

Last but certainly not least is Kingambit, the newly introduced third stage of the Pawniard evolutionary line. Why the designers decided to break from Pawniard and Bisharp's chess theme and base it on a traditional Japanese Shogun instead is a bit of a puzzle, but its effectiveness in battle can't be denied. With a base stat total of 550, it stands in the upper tiers of Pokémon stat totals and sports a bulky combination of 100 HP, 135 Attack, and 120 Defense. It suffers a Speed stat of 50 as a trade-off, but its naturally high Defense as well as the excellent type resistances it gains from its dual Steel type means it's not too worried about taking a few hits. 

Kingambit has two unique highlights: One, its signature move Kowtow Cleave is an 85-power physical attack that bypasses accuracy checks and serves as an extremely staple move. Two, its signature ability, Supreme Overlord, boosts the power of its moves by 10% for every fainted Pokémon in your party for a maximum of 50%, making it an extremely effective "revenge killer" backliner that'll mop up the last of the enemy team in a difficult fight. While it isn't nearly as powerful as Houndstone's Last Respects gimmick — and subsequently, hasn't gotten the ban hammer in competitive play — it's not an ability that your opponents can afford to underestimate.