What it does
Darkest Lariat is a Dark-type physical move that ignores the target's stat stage changes during damage calculation — Defense boosts, Special Defense boosts, evasion raises, all treated as stage zero. The mechanic mirrors Sacred Sword: stat stage multipliers are skipped, but the raw stat values (base stats, EV investment, nature) apply normally.
The practical target is any Pokémon that has accumulated Defense stages through setup moves like Iron Defense, Cosmic Power, or repeated Stamina triggers. Darkest Lariat deals the same damage whether the target has +0 or +6 Defense — the boosts are invisible to the move.
Dark type hits Ghost and Psychic super-effectively. For Incineroar (Fire/Dark) and Pangoro (Fighting/Dark), this is a STAB move — full 1.5x bonus. Contact move, perfect accuracy.
Contrast with Knock Off: Knock Off deals 1.5x damage if the target holds an item and strips it permanently, but drops to lower base power against item-less targets and does not ignore stat stages. The two moves serve different purposes — Knock Off handles item disruption, Darkest Lariat handles stat-boost invalidation.
Who runs it
Incineroar (39% usage) is the primary user. STAB Dark physical move with stat-boost bypass on a platform that already has Fake Out and Parting Shot — Darkest Lariat fills the damage slot that ignores defensive setup. Typical four-move slots for Incineroar cycle through Fake Out, Parting Shot, a Fire move, and either Knock Off or Darkest Lariat depending on whether item stripping or setup countering is higher priority for a given team.
Pangoro (22% usage) also gets STAB on Dark. High base Attack makes Darkest Lariat's damage output significant, and the setup-bypass ensures opponents can't simply stack Defense to wall it.
How to use it
Against a target with no stat stage changes, Darkest Lariat is just a high-power Dark physical move — still threatening, no special interaction. Against a target that has accumulated Defense stages, it's the correct call over any other Dark option.
Pairing with Helping Hand from a partner amplifies the hit against a staged-up target, useful when you need to push through a wall in one action.
Tips & strategy
Clear Amulet blocks stat reductions on the holder. Darkest Lariat bypasses the target's positive stage changes — not reductions. The two mechanics don't overlap: a Clear Amulet holder's Defense boosts are still invisible to Darkest Lariat just like anyone else's. Clear Amulet does nothing to protect against this move's bypass.
Contact move — Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin chip applies. Incineroar handles this thanks to decent bulk, but late-game HP matters.
Dark type is resisted by Fairy. Against Fairy-type targets, Darkest Lariat takes a damage penalty — switching to Flare Blitz or a neutral coverage option is usually better for those matchups.