Darkness-Type Pokémon Cards: Popular Cards, Weakness and How They Play

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Darkness at a Glance How Darkness Plays Things to Know Popular Darkness Cards in Standard Most Valuable Darkness Cards Classic Cards FAQ

Darkness at a Glance

Standard figures count every Pokémon legal in Standard on October 15, 2026, each card once however often it was reprinted. Printing figures count every English printing.

Darkness

Video game typesDark types, most Poison types today, and the Gengar line.

Pokémon in Standard187

Weak to (share of its Standard cards)Grass (53%), Fighting (33%), Lightning (13%)

ResistsFighting (13%)

Standard Pokémon weak to DarknessPsychic (159)

Basic Energy cardBasic Darkness Energy

First expansionNeo Genesis (2000)

Pokémon cards printed in English1,325

Most printed PokémonUmbreon (46), Tyranitar (37), Darkrai (37)

Basic Darkness Energy

Mega Evolution Energies #7

Basic Energy: no copy limit in a deck.

All 11 types and the full Weakness chart →

How Darkness Plays

Darkness cards like to get in the way. Mega Absol ex's Claw of Darkness does 200 and makes your opponent discard a card you choose from their hand, and its Terminal Period Knocks Out an Active Pokémon with exactly 6 damage counters on it. Poison is the other thread: Pecharunt ex's Subjugating Chains pulls a Benched Darkness Pokémon into the Active Spot and Poisons it, which sets up attacks that care about damage or Special Conditions, such as Mega Darkrai ex's Abyss Eye.

Darkness also has its own Energy engines. Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex searches out up to 5 Basic Darkness Energy for your Marnie's Pokémon when it evolves, and N's Zoroark ex's Trade discards a card to draw 2 every turn.

Things to Know About Darkness Pokémon Cards

Darkness Pokémon are weak to Grass, Fighting (on Poison types) or Lightning (on Flying types), so its Weakness is the least predictable of any type.
Darkness hits most Psychic Pokémon for Weakness.
Darkness and Metal arrived together in Neo Genesis, after the original sets had no Dark or Steel cards.
Charizard ex from Obsidian Flames and Paldean Fates is a Darkness card, one of the most collected cards of the Scarlet & Violet era.

Popular Darkness Pokémon in Standard

Darkness Pokémon legal in Standard that show what the type does. Not a ranking: each is here for what its text does.

Mega Absol ex

Mega Evolution #86

Pecharunt ex

Shrouded Fable #39

Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex

Destined Rivals #136

N's Zoroark ex

Journey Together #98

Mega Absol ex: Claw of Darkness does 200 and discards a card of your choice from your opponent's hand; Terminal Period Knocks Out an Active Pokémon with exactly 6 damage counters.
Pecharunt ex: Subjugating Chains switches a Benched Darkness Pokémon into the Active Spot once a turn and Poisons it.
Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex: Punk Up attaches up to 5 Basic Darkness Energy from your deck to your Marnie's Pokémon when it evolves; Shadow Bullet does 180 and 30 to a Benched Pokémon.
N's Zoroark ex: Trade discards a card to draw 2 once a turn; Night Joker uses an attack of one of your Benched N's Pokémon.

Pokémon decks players have built on TurnZero HQ → How to build a Pokémon deck →

Most Valuable Darkness Cards

The highest-priced Darkness Pokémon of the Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution series, one printing per card name, by TCGplayer market price on November 2, 2026. Prices change daily; each card's page has today's.

Umbreon ex

Prismatic Evolutions #161

$1,184.37

Mega Gengar ex

Ascended Heroes #284

$710.52

Charizard ex

Paldean Fates #234

$260.81

Roaring Moon ex

Prismatic Evolutions #162

$151.23

Mega Darkrai ex

Pitch Black #116

$138.70

N's Zoroark ex

Ascended Heroes #286

$99.96

Classic Darkness Cards Collectors Know

Older cards that collectors know the type by. No prices here: vintage cards sell too rarely, in too many conditions, for one number to mean much. How to check what your Pokémon cards are worth →

Umbreon

Skyridge #H30

Umbreon VMAX

Evolving Skies #215

Charizard ★ δ

Dragon Frontiers #100

Umbreon: The holo from Skyridge (2003), the last Wizards of the Coast set.
Umbreon VMAX: The alternate art from Evolving Skies (2021), nicknamed Moonbreon.
Charizard ★ δ: The Gold Star Charizard from EX Dragon Frontiers (2006), printed as a Darkness card.

The Other Types

Grass Plants and Bugs. Grass decks heal, move Energy around and power up off Grass Energy in play, and almost every Grass Pokémon is weak to Fire. Fire Big damage that costs Energy. Fire attacks often discard Energy to hit hard, Charizard is the type's face, and Fire is weak to Water. Water The biggest type by printings. Water covers Water and Ice Pokémon, mixes raw damage with damage counters, and is weak to Lightning or, for Ice types, Metal. Lightning Pikachu's type. Lightning decks attach Energy fast and hit hard for it, Lightning is weak to Fighting, and it hits Water and Flying Pokémon for Weakness. Psychic Mewtwo, Mew and Gardevoir. Psychic decks scale damage off Energy and bend the rules, and Psychic is weak to Darkness or, for Fairy-origin Pokémon, Metal. Fighting Lucario, Machamp and the Rock and Ground Pokémon. Fighting decks hit hard and cheaply, and Fighting is the type the most Standard Pokémon are weak to. Metal The card game's Steel type. Metal Pokémon are bulky, resist Grass, and hit Fairy-origin and Ice Pokémon for Weakness; Fire is their problem. Fairy The retired type. Fairy cards were printed from XY to Sun & Moon, were weak to Metal and resisted Darkness, and today's Fairy Pokémon are Psychic. Dragon No Basic Energy and no Weakness. Dragon Pokémon pay with two other types, hit hard, and in Standard nothing is weak to them and they are weak to nothing. Colorless Fits in any deck. Colorless costs can be paid with any Energy, so Colorless Pokémon such as Snorlax, Eevee and Bloodmoon Ursaluna slot into every type.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Darkness type weak to in the Pokémon TCG?

It depends on the Pokémon. Of the 187 Darkness Pokémon legal in Standard as of October 15, 2026, 100 are weak to Grass, 62 to Fighting (mostly Poison types) and 25 to Lightning (Flying types).

Are Dark and Darkness the same type?

Yes. The video games call it Dark; the card game calls it Darkness, and its Energy is Basic Darkness Energy.

What is the most valuable Darkness-type Pokémon card?

Of the Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution series, Umbreon ex from Prismatic Evolutions at $1,184.37 on TCGplayer as of November 2, 2026. Older cards, such as the vintage Shining and Gold Star cards, can sell for more, but they trade too rarely for one price to mean much.

Which Pokémon has the most Darkness-type cards?

Umbreon, with 46 English Darkness cards counting every printing, then Tyranitar (37) and Darkrai (37).

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Pokémon and Pokémon character names are trademarks of Nintendo. ©Pokémon. ©Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. TurnZero HQ is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc., or GAME FREAK inc. Card data comes from the open PokemonTCG dataset, and prices from TCGplayer.