Pokemon TCG Meta Snapshot November 2022: Lugia VSTAR! The Pokemon TCG Meta Snapshot is an article that aims to encapsulate the state of the meta for a given 1 month period.

The Pokemon TCG Meta Snapshot is an article that aims to encapsulate the state of the meta for a given 1 month period.

The Pokemon 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 been 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 Silver Tempest format.


Deck Overview

Lugia VSTAR is becoming a powerhouse with its release in Silver Tempest. With Archeops and Aurora Energy, it opens up many ways to play the Lugia VSTAR deck with so many attacking options. 


Lugia VSTAR

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With the release of Silver Tempest, Lugia VSTAR comes with a very hard bang to the format. Occupying more than 40% of Day 2 of the Latin America International Championship, this card is becoming a very dominant card in the format which is quite similar to the previous Fusion Strike era where Mew VMAX dominates the format quite heavily.

 

Let’s talk about its attack first. Tempest Dive is a great attack because of Lugia VSTAR’s type. You can use Powerful Energy and Choice Belt to increase your damage so you can do an OHKO even to a Pokemon VMAX. But besides its damage potential, you can discard a stadium card where I think at this point, almost all decks play stadium cards so having to discard a stadium card will benefit you. However, with 4 energy as its attack cost, you may find it hard to accelerate energy in time. But because Lugia VSTAR is being released alongside Archeops, accelerating energy is a piece of cake.

 

Then we look at its VSTAR Power, Summoning Star. The effect is actually quite hard to pull off if you are having a rough early turn. But once you have your desired cards in the discard pile, using Summoning Star really helps you skip evolution and the hassle of setting up multiple Pokemon. Yes, you are only limited to only Colorless Pokemon, but because Archeops is a Colorless Pokemon, setting up 2 Archeops is an easy thing once you use Summoning Star. However, you need to beware that this VSTAR Power is an ability and it can be shut down by Path to the Peak. You may want to bring Pumpkaboo to bump the opponent’s stadium.

 

As for how many cards you want to play, I think the minimum will be a 3-3 lineup of Lugia VSTAR and Lugia V. If you want to play more, I think playing 4 copies of Lugia V is the safe bet if you want to always start with Lugia V. 


Archeops

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The second key for the Lugia VSTAR deck is this amazing Pokemon, Archeops. Oh boy, this card is very good that once it is set up, it is almost guaranteed that you will have your energy attachment secured every turn unless it gets sniped or disrupted by Galarian Weezing (which is very unlikely). It is a Stage-2 Pokemon and some people may think it is very hard to set up. But because you will be using Lugia VSTAR’s VSTAR Power, you can easily put Archeops to your bench from the discard pile. The card is actually pretty simple. You can accelerate up to 2 Special Energy cards from your deck to one of your Pokemon. This simply become one of the best abilities right now because we still have Special Energy such as Aurora Energy, Twin Energy, and Double Turbo Energy, and each type of Special Energy with its own effects. This means that you can basically do a Rainbow box deck because Aurora Energy is available for you to accelerate. 

 

Then we look at its attack. Even though it has 3 energy costs, you can still use Archeops’s ability to accelerate itself. You also have access to Powerful Energy which can increase your damage even more. This situation can be really helpful if you want to minimize your prize trade when facing decks like Lost Zone Box which only have single-prize Pokemon. 

 

As for how many cards you want to play, I think bringing 4 copies is the safest option because you want to discard it as soon as turn 1. By having less than that, you have the risk of not pulling the card at the right time and you will have a late Summoning Star. 


Attacking Options

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With Aurora Energy opening up many possibilities, many Pokemon can be used to be the second attacker besides Lugia VSTAR. Here are some of the attacking options that are used often in the Lugia VSTAR deck (based on the Japanese weekly result & other tournaments for the Archeops sub-variant).


Yveltal

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First up is Yveltal from Shining Fates. Its attack, Amazing Destruction, is similar to Giratina VSTAR’s VSTAR Power, Star Requiem, where you can instantly knock the opponent’s Pokemon. However, Yveltal’s attack cost is very high and has a very difficult energy requirement.  That’s where Archeops comes in. Archeops can easily accelerate Aurora Energy or other Special Energy to fill up Yveltal attack cost. This is a very efficient and great way to accelerate energy to Yveltal so you can attack using it in a single turn. 

 

Then, facing your opponent using Yveltal is a great way to disrupt their prize count because it is a single-prize Pokemon. Then, because its attack is an instant KO, you can easily go for a knock on a Pokemon VMAX. This is a very great trade because a single-prize Pokemon can knock a three-prize Pokemon. In the Lugia VSTAR deck, you can try to bring this card. As for how many to bring, many decks bring only 1 copy of this card or 2 copies in case one of them is prized. 


Radiant Charizard

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Next is Radiant Charizard. The reason for bringing Radiant Charizard is also quite similar to Yveltal but unlike Yveltal, Radiant Charizard doesn’t have complicated attack cost. Radiant Charizard also has the ability to reduce its attack cost so it can be a great late-game attacker. Its attack deal 250 damage which can be a very great finishing attack because in the late game your opponent will likely have at least one damaged Pokemon. However, its ability can be shut down by Path to the Peak and you need to attack with a full 5 energy cost. But still, Archeops can easily fill that up but because right now Special Energy cannot be recycled, it is a bit of a waste to waste it on filling up Radiant Charizard attack cost. 

 

As for the number of cards to bring, unlike Yveltal, you can only bring 1 copy of Radiant Pokemon. So you can only bring 1 Radiant Charizard. 


Stoutland V

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Then, what if your opponent only brings single-prize Pokemon especially, Lost Zone Box and you need to do a quick knockout? Stoutland V can be your answer to it. Its first attack, Double Dip Fangs, will easily help you to get an extra Prize Card if you manage to knock any Basic Pokemon. This attack can easily be your bread and butter if you face a Lost Zone Box because all of their Pokemon is a Basic Pokemon. All of its attack costs are also Colorless Energy which you can use any energy to attack. 

 

As for how many Stoutland V to bring, I think 1 is more than enough unless you face so many single-prize decks like Lost Zone Box or Lunatone-Solrock deck. 


Raikou

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Quite similar to Yveltal, Archeops opens up many possibilities for attacking with other Pokemon than Lugia VSTAR. Raikou from Vivid Voltage is another example. Although its attack is weird and quite high (3 energy), because you can do a sniping attack, it becomes one of the choices when facing decks like Lost Zone Box where you can instantly take out their Comfey. You can also use Raikou to face Lugia VSTAR because it is weak to Lightning-type. Even though you didn’t get a knockout with Raikou, if you follow it up using Stoutland V, you can get an extra Prize Card by knocking out damaged Lugia VSTAR.

 

However, because Manaphy is still in the format, I think sniping or spreading damage is still a hard thing to do. If you see at the Lugia VSTAR deck variants, you will see Yveltal being played more than Raikou because many people still bring Manaphy in their deck. But if you decide to play it, I think bringing 1 copy is more than enough because you will likely play Yveltal too so you need to share some deck space with the other cards.  


Others

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As for the other Pokemon, I think the possibilities are quite endless. You can also pair Lugia VSTAR with Duraludon VMAX. Duraludon VMAX can easily be your wall, especially in this format because if you face decks that play Special Energy, Duraludon VMAX’s ability allows you to prevent damage coming from Pokemon that has Special Energy attached. Its attack is also quite easy to meet using Archeops so I think Duraludon VMAX can be a great pair with Lugia VSTAR.

 

Next up is Greedent VMAX. The purpose is quite similar to Stoutland V where you can take an extra Prize Card but with a lower attack cost and higher reward (2 Prize Cards). You can also use its second attack to damage your opponent while drawing 3 cards from your deck which I think is a great attacking option to have in case you need to dig for some cards. Greedent VMAX is also a Colorless Pokemon so you can use Powerful Energy to increase your damage. I think this is also a great pair because not only you can use Powerful Energy to increase your damage, but it also has a different weakness so you can dodge some matchups by having Greedent VMAX instead.

 

As for the other Pokemon, you can also try Gengar VMAX by also playing Single Strike Energy. Galarian Weezing is also an option if you want to try stopping your opponent by having Galarian Weezing on the active spot. You can try Ditto VMAX where its attack allows you to copy one of the opponent’s attacks. This can be a very fun attack because if you face decks like Giratina VSTAR, you can instantly knock it by using its attack and not having to attach the same energy requirement (you still need to comply with its attack effect). Other than that, there are still so many Pokemon that can be a great addition to the deck. I think this can be a great way to explore old cards from the early Sword and Shield era.


Other Pokemon

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Not only attacker but there are still some Pokemon that can’t be left if you want to make the Lugia VSTAR deck becoming more consistent. Here are some of the examples that are being played (based on the Japanese weekly result & other tournaments for the Archeops sub-variant):


Lumineon V

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The first one is Lumineon V. Its ability is very simple where you can search for a supporter card and put it in your hand. This is a very useful ability because you can instantly get a supporter card by playing Lumineon V’s ability. However, not only its ability that is being useful. Its attack, Aqua Return, is a great attack because you can ‘recycle’ Lumineon V back to your deck. Its damage is also a great number (130) where you can knock Yveltal while also saving Lumineon V so it doesn’t get knocked by your opponent. So far, people try to bring at least 1 copy to the Lugia VSTAR deck. But recently, people started the trend of bringing 2 copies to the deck. You can try it yourself because this can be a great second attacker in the Lugia VSTAR deck. 


Crobat V

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Then we also have Crobat V. Its ability is also pretty useful because you can draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand. It can be useful if you have a thin hand and want to dig for some cards. However, unlike Lumineon V, its attack doesn’t have any ‘recycle’ effect so it is played less than Lumineon V. It also doesn’t have the same damage as Lumineon V so you won’t get hit anything unless you are facing the Lost Zone Box. But still, having to draw using Crobat V is a great thing, so you may want to bring 1 copy of this card. 


Pumpkaboo

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The purpose of Pumpkaboo is very simple, is to bump Stadium cards on the field. Some decks try to slow down Lugia VSTAR so it can’t use its VSTAR Power by placing Path to the Peak or even try to disrupt the momentum by having Collapsed Stadium. By having Pumpkaboo, you can bump the Stadium so you can continue your momentum especially when you need to set up multiple Archeops to your bench. If you often meet an opponent who plays a lot of stadium, especially Path to the Peak, Pumpkaboo is definitely on your watch list. 


Dunsparce

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People will try to counter Lugia VSTAR because of its popularity. Most of the time, people try to use its weakness as a starting point to make a counter deck. This may pose a problem for you because Lugia VSTAR can easily be countered. Dunsparce may become your answer when facing a weakness matchup. You can also call it to the bench easily because it is a Basic Pokemon where Quick Ball and Capture Energy come to mind when you want to call it to the bench. You definitely want to have this in your deck because Raikou and Vikavolt V may become a big problem because they can easily knock you out with a weakness multiplier. 


Manaphy

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Then the next option to counter the Lugia VSTAR deck that comes to mind will be sniping your Archeops. This means that cards like Kyogre can easily knock your Archeops down. To mitigate that, Manaphy is the obvious choice here. Its purpose is very straightforward and you may want to add this card because Lost Zone decks with Kyogre are rising in popularity.


Trainers

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Not only Pokemon but there are some Trainer cards that make the Lugia VSTAR deck very strong deck right now. Let's take a look!


Evolution Incense

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You may be thinking this card is a bit general in terms of usage. But because Lugia VSTAR relies on putting Archeops to the bench, Evolution Incense is a must-play in the deck because it can easily call out Archeops for you to discard. That’s why many decks bring at least 3 copies of Evolution Incense in their deck. Besides that, you can use it to find Lugia VSTAR in your deck, the card is pretty neat.


Serena

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Next up is the newest addition to the supporter lineup in the format, Serena. This card is amazingly good because you can use it to draw cards or gusting a Pokemon V. We rarely get a supporter card that can give us the option to choose its effect. Its first effect is a discarding and drawing effect. This can be used if you want to discard Archeops and still benefit from drawing cards from your deck. Yes, it is limited because you only draw until you have 5 cards in your hand, but it is more than enough especially when you have the second effect. 

 

The second effect is gusting a Pokemon V. This is a straightforward effect and it is very useful in today’s format. However, in the long run, this card may not be as great as today because we are nearing the Scarlet and Violet era with ex cards. This means that we won’t be getting any more Pokemon V to gust if the ex era really changes the format in a significant way. But still, for now, this is one of the best cards to have because it has 2 of the most important things that a Trainer card should have, draw and gust. 

 

Regarding how many copies you want to bring, I think you need to bring at least 2 copies because not only you can combine them with the Boss’s Orders. Discarding Archeops will be your early game plan and relying only on Quick Ball and Ultra Ball may not be enough, so by having Serena, you will increase your discarding power while also still having gusting power for the late game in case you don’t use Serena at all in the early game. 


Energy Options

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Now we go into the energy options. Because Archeops basically can accelerate any Special Energy to any Pokemon, this means that Special Energy such as Double Turbo Energy, Powerful Energy, and V Guard Energy is available for the deck to adopt. 

 

So far, here are some of the Special Energy that is being used in the Lugia VSTAR deck:


Powerful Energy

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The first one is Powerful Energy. This is a very important Special Energy for the Colorless Pokemon because it can be used as a damage booster so you don’t have to always rely on Choice Belt. However, it is not quite useful because it only serves as a Colorless Energy which you can only use to fill up the Colorless attack cost. However, because Lugia VSTAR is a Colorless Pokemon and only needs Colorless Energy to attack, Powerful Energy is a perfect energy that you can use to fill up its attack cost and increase its damage. This means that you can increase up to 80 damage if you manage to use all of your Powerful Energy. So far, most of the Lugia VSTAR decks bring a full copy of Powerful Energy because it is the most number that you can bring and it is best to go for the highest number so you can maximize your damage. 


Aurora Energy

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The next one will be Aurora Energy. Because Archeops enables us to accelerate any Special Energy from the deck. It means that Aurora Energy is available for us to play. It also means that we can use another Pokemon besides Lugia VSTAR to be our attacker and not be limited to only Colorless Pokemon. Pokemon like Yveltal and Raikou are one of examples where you can utilize Aurora Energy to some extent. You also don’t have to pay for the discard because you use Archeops’s ability. This really opens up a lot of possibilities for deck building in the Lugia VSTAR deck because of Archeops. As for how many people bring, I think people also try to bring 4 copies of Aurora Energy because not only you can use it to attach to Lugia VSTAR, but because it has all types of Energy in it, you can use it to another Pokemon.


Double Turbo Energy

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Because Lugia VSTAR has a fairly high attack cost, Double Turbo Energy is still in the mind of some people when playing Lugia VSTAR. It can easily meet the attack cost because it provides 2 Colorless Energy even though your attack will be reduced by 20. But because you will also be using Powerful Energy and Choice Belt, the damage reduction may not be a big problem at all because you can just balance it out.

 

As far as how many copies people bring, 2 copies seem to be the sweet spot because you won’t be using this Energy quite often as you will be better off using Powerful Energy. Also, Archeops can still provide Lugia VSTAR to meet the attack cost without any problem. Unless you only set up 1 Archeops, I think you may want to use Double Turbo Energy because you will lose some of the acceleration power that 2 Archeops have. 


Capture Energy

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Capture Energy also becomes a great Energy in the Lugia VSTAR deck because you can call out Basic Pokemon such as Lugia V, Yveltal, or Raikou. But besides its effect that can call out Basic Pokemon, you can just use it to fill up the Colorless attack cost which is pretty neat. You won’t get any damage reduction from using it so I think this is a great addition to the Energy pool of the Lugia VSTAR deck. So far, people have been trying to test the number for Capture Energy starting from 2 copies up to 4 copies. I think the sweet spot here is still 2 copies because you already have a bunch of searchers which are Quick Ball and Ultra Ball. However, some decks still bring 4 copies of Capture Energy or even only 1 copy and still perform well. It just depends on your playstyle and preference for the deck. 


V Guard Energy

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Then, the deck is not complete if you only go for the aggressive. V Guard Energy is played so you can also be defensive in some games. Some matchup requires you to play V Guard Energy because the opponent can use Lumineon V to attack Yveltal which is the exact 130 damage to knock Yveltal out. With V Guard Energy, you can minimize that risk so your Yveltal won’t get knocked. You can also use it with other Pokemon so your opponent needs to recalculate their damage in order for them to get an OHKO. 

 

As for the ideal number, I think having 2 copies will be the ideal number because you still need your deck space for the other energy or other cards. But you can try to go for a more defensive build by playing 3 or 4 copies. 


Hiding Energy

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Last but not least, Hiding Energy will be used for Yveltal. Yveltal suddenly becomes a very great addition to the Lugia VSTAR deck because it can easily knock any Pokemon and it is just a 1-prize Pokemon. Even though its attack cost is high and difficult to achieve, having Archeops really ease things up by accelerating Aurora Energy to Yveltal. 

 

However, because Yveltal is a Basic Pokemon, it gets stuck in the active spot at the start of the game but not having the necessary energy to retreat. That’s where Hiding Energy comes in. By having Hiding Energy, you can easily retreat your Yveltal to save it. Even though you are not using it, you can use Hiding Energy to the other Pokemon because the only effect that’s not working is the free retreat when you attach it to a non-Dark Pokemon.


Winners’ Decklist

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First, we will look at the Champion of the 2022 Latin America International Championships none other than Tord Reklev. Here is the decklist:

First, we look at the Pokemon list. A solid 4-3 line of Lugia VSTAR is the sweet spot for the Lugia VSTAR deck and of course followed by 4 copies of Archeops. I think this is the safe number for the core of the deck. Then Tord also plays Radiant Charizard, Yveltal and Stoutland V. I think Radiant Charizard is a great finisher as displayed in the finals game where it can easily knock the opponent’s Pokemon. Yveltal also becomes a great card in the deck by knocking out some Pokemon. Then, Stoutland V is a great addition to the deck because it can take an extra prize card.  Next, Tord also plays Lumineon V which is a very great support Pokemon and even an attacker. It can easily knock Yveltal or Radiant Charizard while saving Lumineon V itself by going back to the deck. Pumpkaboo, Dunsparce, and Manaphy are also great options to have in the deck by Tord. I think those cards are great supporting cards for various situations especially weakness matchups or facing spread decks. There’s also Oranguru which I think is a very unique choice here but reasonable. Oranguru helps you to dig for cards while also saving a card from your hand in case you want to use Professor’s Research or Serena to dig for more cards. You can also save your card for the next turn because you already know what your top deck is. I think looking at this deck, Tord already displays one of the optimum ways of playing Lugia VSTAR by having another attacker other than Lugia VSTAR and putting various supporting Pokemon to handle various situations.

 

As for Supporter cards, I think Tord go for a more straightforward way by not playing Professor Burnet as the other players did. Tord bring a full copy of Professor’s Research, 2 copies of Marnie, and 2 copies of Serena as the drawing supporter. Professor’s Research is pretty straightforward because it gives us a fresh hand while discarding our old hand. This can be a very great card because you can search for Archeops first and then use Professor’s Research to discard Archeops. Then Marnie gives us the disruption we need while also giving us fresh cards. Serena, on the other hand, serves quite similarly to Professor’s Research but with a smaller scale of discard. It allows us to discard up to 3 cards while drawing cards until we have 5 cards in our hand. This can be useful if you want to thin your hand while also trying to discard Archeops. But most of the time, I think you will be using this card to gust the opponent’s Pokemon V. Talking about gust, the next card in Tord’s list is Boss’s Orders. I think this is a very straightforward card by gusting the opponent’s Pokemon. 

 

Now we look at the searcher cards in this deck. 4 copies of Quick Ball, 4 copies of Ultra Ball and 4 copies of Evolution Incense are the go-to searchers for the Lugia VSTAR deck. Evolution Incense is pretty useful in this deck because you can search for Archeops or Lugia VSTAR quickly. Tord also plays 4 copies of Capture Energy in this deck to help set up the board while also being useful to fill up the Pokemon’s attack cost. I think this is a very simple and consistent list because as of now, there is still no better composition for searchers other than these cards. 

 

Then for switching cards, Tord plays no switching cards because by using Archeops, you can easily retreat manually and reattach Special Energy from your deck. But here is where you need to learn your resource management carefully. 

 

For the other Trainer cards:

  • Choice Belt: I think this is pretty straightforward because who doesn’t want any damage modifier? That’s why Choice Belt is almost seen in any deck right now so you can do extra damage to the opponent possibly OHKO-ing them. 
  • Lost Vacuum: Lost Vacuum is a great Item card because it serves as a ‘lite’ Field Blower which you can easily use to discard your opponent's tool or Stadium card where Path to the Peak can be annoying. 

 

As for stadium cards, Tord decided to play Collapsed Stadium. I think this is a very great card for disrupting the opponent's bench size. But it can go back to you as well where you need to have extra space so you can set up your attacker. That’s why Tord only bring 1 copy of Collapsed Stadium in the case of some matchups like Regigigas.

 

Then we go for the Special Energy list:

  • Powerful Energy: This card suddenly revives again in the hand of the Lugia VSTAR deck. It is pretty simple because it serves as a damage modifier. 
  • Aurora Energy: Aurora Energy allows you to play Radiant Charizard and Yveltal so you can meet up their attack cost. You can also use Aurora Energy to discard a card where it can be Archeops. 
  • Capture Energy: Capture Energy can be used to help you set up the board because it can call up Basic Pokemon to the bench and it helps you thin your deck.
  • Double Turbo Energy: Double Turbo Energy allows you to fill up some of the Pokemon attack cost which has 2 Colorless. But why not Twin Energy? If you want to play Twin Energy, you have the risk of having to attach it to a Pokemon V which denies its effect of supplying 2 Colorless Energy. That’s why Double Turbo Energy is still the answer to that. 
  • Hiding Energy: The last will be Hiding Energy. I think this is a conditional energy but it is still needed because you play Yveltal. Even though you are not attaching it to Yveltal, it still supplies energy as well. Because the majority of the attacker are having Colorless Energy as their attack cost, attaching Hiding Energy is not a big problem.

 

That’s all for Tord’s deck and I think this is a very solid deck. Also, I don’t think I can comment too much because this is just generally how the Lugia VSTAR deck is built. 

 

Next, we have Lucas Calzà who is the finalist in the 2022 Latin America International Championships. 

For Pokemon choices, Lucas plays quite a similar list with Tord but with a reduced Lugia VSTAR count and an increase to Lumineon V. I think this is quite a surprise because Lucas only plays 2 Lugia VSTAR which has a risk of getting both prized. But at the same time, having only 2 Lugia VSTAR is reasonable because in some games you only need to deploy 1 Lugia VSTAR and let Yveltal, Radiant Charizard, Stoutland V, or even Lumineon V to attack the opponent. Lucas also ditches Dunsparce because I think Lucas prefers getting hit by weakness rather than getting sniped which can result in Archeops getting wiped. Deck space is also a problem because the deck is somewhat tight. 

 

As for supporters, the only difference here is the number of Professor’s Research where Lucas cut it down to 2 copies and the rest of the supporter cards is the same. I think this is still a solid composition although you will have a harder time getting those supporters out by only drawing. But I think that’s also one of the reasons Lucas bring 2 copies of Lumineon V so it can bring up supporter card more frequently and use Aqua Return to get back to the deck. 

 

As for searchers, Lucas plays the same amount of searchers because I think the composition is already the best composition right now and there’s no need to change as of now.

 

Then for the other cards, the item choice is fairly similar but Lucas increase the number of Collapsed Stadium to 4 copies. I think the play here is to make sure that the opponent doesn’t have adequate space for them to launch their full strategy.

 

Last but not least the energy count in Lucas’s deck is a bit different for the one-of. Lucas decided to play Heat Energy which means that it can increase Radiant Charizard’s HP to prevent from getting OHKO. Lucas also plays V Guard Energy in order to prevent some of the Pokemon from getting knocked and disrupting the opponent's damage calculation. But because these are just one-of-cards, you may need to have it ready in your deck in case you want to attach it by using Archeops. 

 

As you may see, there’s not much difference between these decks and it only depends on how many cards you play for each of them. This can be an easy way for you to play because you can just try to experiment with the same cards to find your perfect number for each card rather than experiment with a ton of different cards just to end up bricking at your game. There are also tons of Special Energy cards in this format and you can experiment with them one by one. You can also try to look into the other Amazing Rare cards and try to find an ‘amazing’ way to play it with Lugia VSTAR. The possibilities are endless!


Tier Conclusion

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Now we come to the tier conclusion. Based on limitless, the Lugia VSTAR deck share is already over 10% and I think the deck is very strong with its current build. The deck also manage to win the Latin America International Championships where the deck is showing a very dominant performance in the whole tournament by having so many people playing it and 12 Lugia VSTAR decks manage to get to the Top 16 which is ¾ of the spread. 

 

As a result of its achievements this month, I will award this deck a Tier 1 rating. This deck is just too dominant and currently, we still don’t have a definite answer to shutting down Archeops besides Path to the Peak (for Summoning Star) and Galarian Weezing. Let’s hope the upcoming Scarlet and Violet era or Crown Zenith era brings us more variants to the format. 


Afterword

What do you guys think of Lugia VSTAR? This card is just too good if you manage to successfully set up Archeops. It has the damage it needed to knock the opponent. You also have the access to Aurora Energy which opens up many possibilities in deck building because you can incorporate more than 1 type of Pokemon into the deck. You just need to successfully set up your Archeops or you may end up behind your opponent.

 

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 correction and point of view too.

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