The Pokémon TCG Meta Snapshot is an article that aims to encapsulate the state of the meta for a given 1 month period.
The Pokémon TCG Meta Snapshot also aims to rank decks in a somewhat lesser tier system. The tiers that we will use are as follows:
Tier 1: Highly Competitive Meta Decks. 10% or more of tops based on Limitless Online Tournament Platform deck spread and/or at least WIN a big official event once (Regionals, Internationals, or Special Event).
Tier 2: Semi-Competitive Meta Decks. Less than 10% of tops are based on the Limitless Online Tournament Platform deck spread.
Tier 3: Semi-Competitive non-Meta/Rogue decks. 1-2 tops. Specifically includes decks that only top small events or get lower rankings at medium events. Can also include decks that can potentially top but have not yet in a given format.
Tier 4: Casually Competitive non-Meta decks. Decks that can compete at the local level, but cannot top an event.
Tops = 1st - 8th place.
This article is written based on the Paradox Rift format with an addition of Japanese format.
Deck Overview
Throughout the format, Lugia VSTAR has been quiet for a while with almost little support has been added to it. The rotation of Evolution Incence also hits really hard recently with the uncertainty of getting a second turn Archeops in the field. However, in Japan, the deck finally flourished again with the Cinccino line's release. Does it have what it takes to get back on top?
Table of Contents
Lugia VSTAR
‘Oh how the almighty has fallen’, that may be what comes out of people's mouths when talking about Lugia VSTAR nowadays. The recent performance in the format with more releases of Pokemon ex and lack of support really shuts down Lugia VSTAR. But in my opinion, Lugia VSTAR still holds a lot of potential with its VSTAR Power paired with Archeops and the vast options of Special Energy.
Right now, we can utilize Special Energy such as Double Turbo Energy, Gift Energy, and Therapeutic Energy to our advantage to pull off a new strategy. However, the early part of the gameplay still stays quite the same where you need to set up at least 2 Archeops in the discard pile so you can use your VSTAR Power to bench 2 Archeops and start rolling. What may be different here is how many searchers and what searcher cards you need to bring because right now, we can try to incorporate Earthen Vessel to help us discard Archeops into the discard pile without the help of Professor Burnet and Ultra Ball.
Its attack is still on the strong side with 220 damage as the base while you can also discard a stadium card in play. This attack is still as disruptive and destructive as ever because you can still knock some of the basic Pokemon ex and discard your opponent’s stadium too. But since we got Charizard ex with a bulky 330HP, Lugia VSTAR is quite struggling to do an OHKO with only a few attacking options to do a big knockout.
Lugia VSTAR is also struggling with Miraidon ex being more popular in the format which is a weakness for Lugia VSTAR. Iron Hands ex is also a problem too which can really mess up your game plan when they manage to take extra Prize cards. But with 280HP, you can still take some of the damage and become a tank in certain matchups where the opponent cannot hit you hard.
Overall, Lugia VSTAR is actually still a strong Pokemon to fear if they manage to set up their board right. However, with Miraidon ex still running around in the format, I think Lugia VSTAR will have quite a hard time dealing with weakness matchups even though you can easily put Lugia VSTAR on the bench.
Attacking Options
With the capability to charge special energy into any Pokemon, there are several options of attackers that we can choose to make a nice Lugia VSTAR deck. Let’s check it out!
Snorlax
If we are talking about the current Lugia VSTAR, of course, we will look at Snorlax. It has been the favorite choice of attackers since the Colorless variant of Lugia VSTAR became popular. It has a surprisingly nice ability which can cancel out Giratina VSTAR’s VSTAR Power and Sableye’s attack. This ability alone can help you to prevent from getting sniped or getting knocked out by your opponent. But still, if you are facing a direct attack deck, it will still pose a significant threat since Snorlax is a Basic Pokemon.
Then the attack, Thumping Snore, is a very strong attack for a non-Rule Box Pokemon which deals 180 damage. This number alone is enough for a 2-hit KO against all of the Rule Box Pokemon out there (without any defence card) which makes this card very worth use especially when it has a nice ability to cover itself in certain matchups. However, it has a very harsh downside which makes Snorlax asleep and instead of 1, you need to flip 2 cocins to wake it up. This is very harsh if you want to continuously attack with Snorlax. But fret not, since we still have Jet Energy and Therapeutic Energy, special conditions have little effect on Snorlax since they will be gone the moment you switch out. It is a very important card to have since it will be your survival card.
As for the card amount, I think it depends on your playstyle. Some decks prefer to play with only Snorlax in the deck meaning that a heavy 3-copy line of Snorlax will be in play. However, some people also opt for Wyrdeer V and even Iron Hands ex as the optional attackers meaning that you can reduce the number of Snorlax in your deck. But for a safe number, I think 2 copies will be your best bet.
Iron Hands ex
Ah, the ‘hands’ of the format, Iron Hands ex. With Lugia VSTAR, you can easily fill up Iron Hands ex attack cost with the help of Luminous Energy or even Basic Energy itself using Earthen Vessel and manual attachment. This means that you can still benefit from a mirror matchup as you will deal weakness damage to Lugia VSTAR.
But still, despite its usefulness in taking an extra prize card, the card is not a main attacker in the deck because it has a low damage starting point and even if you already attack with Lugia VSTAR, some of the Pokemon may still survive even if you attack using Iron Hands ex. However, with the option being available, it is a great chance to do a surprise to your opponent as you can end your game quicker using Iron Hands ex. As for the card quantity itself, I think bringing 1 copy of Iron Hands ex is more than enough to pair with another attacker.
Cinccino (Future Set)
Up next will be the game changer in the future which is Cinccino. This card is actually the card that we need to make Lugia VSTAR great again. Its attack, the second one particularly, is a very strong attack that can be paired with Lugia VSTAR-Archeops. It has an effect where you can do 70 damage for each Special Energy card attached to Cinccino itself. This can be a very strong and instant attack because you can do 280 damage in a single turn with 2 Archeops accelerating to Cinccino while also adding 70 more by doing manual attachment. This means that you theoretically, can do 350 damage in a single turn which can knock any Pokemon in the format that has no defense card added.
Despite its potential to do big damage, there is still a risk that poses Cinccino which is Cinccino is an evolution Pokemon. This means that you need to do a 2-turn setup to evolve Cinccino. You may think that you can use Lugia VSTAR’s VSTAR Power but it will just be a waste of space for Archeops to maximize your damage unless you are in a very big pinch to do that.
But overall, the newly added attacker freshens up Lugia VSTAR's position in the format as it finally can go back to being competitive again. As for the lineup, many people in Japan are playing a 3-3 line of Minccino-Cinccino which is more than enough as you may only need 2 Cinccino on board to wipe your opponent out. It will also come with an Illustration Rare artwork so you can do a cosmetic upgrade to your deck!
Other Things to Consider
Lugia VSTAR will not survive without the help of other cards to make the deck work. Here are two cards that will have a significant importance to the deck be it currently or in the future.
Professor Burnet
Right now people are having a hard time having an exact Pokemon search because of Mesagoza and Capturing Aroma. That’s where Professor Burnet becomes an option here because you can easily discard 2 Pokemon from your deck straight to your discard pile. You can easily discard 2 Archeops to your discard pile to ease your job setting up the board and you can also search Professor Burnet directly using Lumineon V which is very neat. As for how many copies you want to bring, I think 1 copy is enough because not all the time you will have the necessary condition to pull it off as you may want to maximize your bench space for other Pokemon and not Lumineon V or your Professor Burnet may be prized. But despite that, it is a great addition to the deck and you may want to experiment with this card.
Master Ball (Future Set)
Yes, Master Ball is back in Temporal Forces. This card can easily help Lugia VSTAR survive the format by being an exact search so you can easily search for Lugia VSTAR, Archeos, or any Pokemon in your deck. However, because Master Ball is an ACE SPEC card, you can only have one copy of it in the deck. This also means that you will not be using cards such as Prime Catcher or Maximum Belt. But since setting up the board is the most important part of the Lugia VSTAR deck, I think Master Ball is more than enough to help the deck rise again. But, there is no harm in trying other ACE SPEC cards if you feel the deck lacks some things particularly.
Winners’ Decklist
Now let’s see what people bring on their Lugia VSTAR deck and we will start with the first deck from the Top 8 finisher of 2024 Regional Melbourne, Nigel Tan.
First, we look at the Pokémon list. We are straight seeing a 3-3 line of Lugia VSTAR followed by 4 copies of Archeops which is a strong lineup for Lugia STAR Then we also see 3 copies of Snorlax as the attacker while accompanied by several other attackers such as Drapion V, Wyrdeer V, and Luxray. Drapion V is an obvious choice when you are facing Mew VMAX while Wyrdeer V can be a late-game finisher by piling up multiple Special Energy on board and then suddenly wiping your opponent off by using Wyrdeer V. Then, Luxray can be a surprise attacker when you are losing while also using Reversal Energy. We also have Radiant Charizard as a late-game finisher by only using Luminous Energy. As for the supporting Pokemon, Nigel brings Mew ex, Lumineon V, and surprisingly, Cobalion. Mew ex can be a great draw engine while also being an optional attacker. This will help you in a pinch because you can easily copy your opponent’s attack. Then, Lumineon V will help you find a supporter card such as Boss’s Orders or Professor Burnet. Last but not least is Cobalion. It actually is a nice supporting Pokemon because it can boost any Basic Pokemon attack to any Dark-type Pokemon. This works really well because the format right now is filled with so many Charizard ex. Overall, I think this is a solid lineup of Pokemon where the supporting Pokemon can still be tinkered with a little bit.
As for Supporter cards, the lineup is pretty simple here because, since rotation, the deck rarely change a lot in terms of card choices. 4 copies of Boss’s Orders are being played here as the only gust power that the deck has. Followed by 3 copies of Professor Burnet to help you discard Archeops in the early part of the game. Followed by 2 copies of Professor’s Research and Iono. Professor’s Research will be your hard drawer while discarding your hand which can consist of Archeops. Iono, on the other hand, will be your hand disruption while also a digging card as sometimes you don’t want to discard your hand as it may become too important.
Then we move on to the searcher cards. The lineup is pretty consistent here for almost all of the current Lugia VSTAR deck where 4 copies of Ultra Ball, 4 copies of Capturing Aroma, and 2 copies of Nest Ball are being played. I think this is already a standard number in the current format and even myself are using this lineup of searcher cards. Nigel also plays Mesagoza as the stadium card which also acts as a searcher card if you manage to flip heads. This can be crucial at certain times so you guys can consider putting it in.
As for the other cards will consist of Collapsed Stadium. This card is actually a double-edged sword because, at some point, you can limit your bench and lock your opponent. But at other times, this can be a very annoying position to be in because you cannot put more Pokemon into your bench. However, this can be a huge help in Lugia VSTAR decks as you play some 2-prize Pokemon which can be easy to knock so having a full board and then using Collapsed Stadium can help to eliminate them to the discard pile without having to be afraid of getting knocked out.
As for the energy choice, I think there is not much of a surprise here besides the deck still playing V Guard Energy. I think this can be due to some popular decks that can still rely on some Pokemon V to attack, so using V Guard Energy can be a big help to prevent you from getting OHKO’d.
Overall, I think this deck is very solid because, from the start, the Lugia VSTAR engine is already strong. The deck also managed to face all odds by finishing in the Top 8 bracket. Congratulations!
Up next, we will also see a future build by Daisuke Kubo who won the 2024 Champions League Fukuoka with a fairly new build of Lugia VSTAR.
For the Pokemon choice, the newly added Cinccino is a heaven sent by Pokemon to aid Lugia VSTAR to attack. Its attack can easily knock down big HP Pokemon and with the help of Archeops, you can literally dish out big damage in a single turn. However, since it is a Stage-1 Pokemon, deck space may be a problem. Hence, the deck only brings 2 Snorlax and a single copy of Lumineon V as the supporting Pokemon.
As for the supporter cards, Daisuke still plays quite the same lineup of supporter cards except for the absence of Professor Burnet. Daisuke also adds Serena as a means of discarding, drawing, and gust in one card, while Jacq will help the deck to find evolution cards as the deck right now has quite a lot of evolution cards. As for the Item cards, Daisuke brings a copy of Master Ball while still bringing Ultra Ball and Capturing Aroma but swaps Nest Ball with Great Ball. I think this is still beyond reasonable because not only do you play quite a lot of Pokemon but you also play quite a heavy copy of those Pokemon, unlike the previous format’s build where you play on a 1-off Pokemon as the attacker.
As for the energy cards, there is actually not much new except bringing in Mist Energy which can help you when facing Giratina VSTAR and Sableye. Why? Because it will prevent any effects of your opponent's attacks done to the Pokémon the card is attached to. This is literally your lifeline when facing Giratina VSTAR.
Overall, I think the build is still looking the same in the core but with certain modifications and some new cards. The only thing that stands out here is right now, you will mainly use Cinccino to attack and not other Pokemon except maybe Snorlax.
Tier Conclusion
As we come to the final section of the article, we need to decide the deck’s tier. As far as I’m concerned, Lugia VSTAR hasn’t produced an amazing result in the recent format. I think the performance of the deck itself is due to not having any exact search and so many Pokemon ex flocking the format which has high HP and easier support to set up. Charizard ex is one of the biggest concerns on why Lugia VSTAR hasn’t performed well lately. However, I’m looking forward to the upcoming format where Master Ball and Cinccino are being introduced which can revive Lugia VSTAR
Based on the achievement and the performance of the deck, the deck will be a Tier 2 deck. However, I think the deck will be tier 1 based on the Japanese format with its very strong performance and even winning a Champions League recently.
Afterword
What do you guys think of the Lugia VSTAR deck? I think it is a very fun deck to play and despite some people looking at the deck negatively, I still somehow look forward to playing it all the time because of how versatile the deck is with the vast options of attackers and Special Energy. I really hope we get to see it perform well in the future format.
This is an ongoing project on pokemoncard.io and I really appreciate all the feedback. I plan to do this on a monthly basis so you can at least grasp what is happening over the month and I think it is a very safe cycle time considering that our set is not released once a month so you guys can still see how the format goes.
Life is too short to be anything but happy! - Arelios
There may be some mistakes and missing points of review in this writing. Please kindly comment to share your corrections and point of view too.
