Dusclops Donk (TCG)

Dusclops Donk
Duskull and Dusclops Types used Major cards Duskull, Dusclops, and others Era 2023-2024

Dusclops Donk was a Pokémon Trading Card Game deck archetype played in the Expanded format in the 2023-2024 season. The deck's strategy revolved around using Dusclops'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 Duskull'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 Dusclops, which can be used during the first turn with Duskull's Spiritborne Evolution Ability. This means 3 cards from the hand must be discarded, but Exeggcute 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 Battle Compressor. 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 Life Dew negates that. At the end, a Beast Energy ♢ can be attached to Pheromosa-GX, 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, Mew ex, Dedenne-GX, Crobat V, Squawkabilly ex, Bicycle, and a single Carmine 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 Battle VIP Pass is heavily utilized for setup purposes. Lana's Fishing Rod is used to restore Dusclops and a Life Dew, while Rescue Stretcher is used to restore Pokémon into the hand or the deck.

Key cards

• Duskull - Its Spiritborne Evolution Ability allows it to evolve, even during the first turn, at the cost of 3 cards from the hand.
• Dusclops - Has an Ability called Cursed Blast, which puts 5 damage counters on 1 opposing Pokémon, at the cost of being Knocked Out itself.
• Pheromosa-GX - 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 Beast Energy ♢.
• Exeggcute - Offsets the discard cost for Spiritborne Evolution. At least 3 of them are recommended in the deck.
• Unown - The Farewell Letter Ability allows it to discard itself from the Bench in order to draw a card.
• Battle Compressor - Allows to easily discard any 3 cards from the deck. Most of the time, those cards are Exeggcute.
• Bicycle - Allows to draw cards more easily. This is used in addition to Pokémon-based draw engines and Carmine.
• Life Dew - It is used to regulate the number of Prize cards the opponent takes.
• Lana's Fishing Rod - Used to restore Pokémon cards and Life Dew.
• Rescue Stretcher - Used to restore Pokémon cards, either to the hand or the deck.
• Sky Field - 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 Silent Lab.

Typical decklist

The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building their own version.

Quantity	Card	Type	Rarity
1×	Pheromosa		—
3×	Duskull
4×	Dusclops
3×	Exeggcute
4×	Unown
1×	Mew
1×	Dedenne
1×	Crobat
1×	Squawkabilly
1×	Dragonite
4×	Battle VIP Pass	I
3×	Quick Ball	I
2×	Pokémon Communication	I
1×	Hisuian Heavy Ball	I
4×	Trainers' Mail	I
2×	Battle Compressor	I
4×	Bicycle	I
4×	Rescue Carrier	I
4×	Lana's Fishing Rod	I
3×	Rescue Stretcher	I
1×	Adventure Bag	I
1×	Float Stone	PT
1×	Defiance Band	PT
1×	Life Dew	PT
1×	Carmine	Su
3×	Sky Field	St
1×	Beast Energy	E

Possible tech cards

The following cards are often used in Dusclops Donk decks in place of certain cards included in the above lists.

• Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex - This card has the Blood Moon attack that can cost less thanks to the Seasoned Skill Ability. This is only useful when going second.
• Latios-EX - another Pokémon with Fast Raid, which does more raw damage than Pheromosa-GX's Fast Raid.
• Marshadow-GX and Mewtwo & Mew-GX - 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 Expanded format starting September 27, 2024, essentially making this deck impossible to be played in sanctioned tournaments.^[1] 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.^[2]

References

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.