The Birds are Back — Lugia VSTAR After Rotation

Hello everyone! We’re now past our first event of the new post-rotation format, and while it may not have been a massive shake-up, the new format does appear to be an interesting one. Two new archetypes — [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] — have joined the fray, and both did well at the European International Championship, finishing second and eighth, respectively.

Even with the new-deck excitement though, the post-rotation format was similar to what we had pre-rotation. Lost Box, [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] all saw play at high rates, and while the format was certainly diverse, it is notable that six of the Top 8 decks were archetypes that had already existed.

Still, even some of those old archetypes came with a twist. The addition of [card name=”Alolan Vulpix VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] to Arceus VSTAR / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] was an incredible call, one which ended up being tournament-winning. And while the Lost Box decks didn’t change much, the Lugia VSTAR decks certainly did, as Lugia players needed to completely revamp their set of attackers from the pre-rotation cadre of powerful Amazing Rares. Lugia decks also lost most of the Special Energy that they used, as [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] and every one of the early-SWSH type-specific Special Energy rotated.

Given all those losses, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Lugia fall from the list of top-tier decks — and yet, it appears to be heading nowhere but up. Lugia VSTAR remained a formidable deck at the EUIC, and looks to be a meta mainstay going forward. Lugia was no longer the top deck in terms of meta share — that crown was ceded to Lost Zone decks — but it did clock in at 20% of the field. It outperformed its meta share as well, as it had a robust Day Two share at over 27%, an excellent showing that made it the most played Day Two archetype. Lugia VSTAR was the only deck to clinch more than one Top 8 spot, and while it didn’t advance beyond that, this kind of performance shows that even a weakened Lugia is here to stay.

It’s also worth noting that this is the weakest Lugia VSTAR will be; with every new set, the deck will get new attackers and new Special Energy, which will only make it stronger and stronger. So, if the deck is already seeing success in the post-rotation meta, it stands to reason that it will be hanging around for a long time to come. In this article, I’ll be taking a look at the new Lugia VSTAR, what has allowed it to stay successful, and how the deck might look going forward.

The New Lugia VSTAR

[cardimg name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”155″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While the core of Lugia VSTAR and [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] remained intact, Lugia VSTAR decks did lose most of their attackers and their Special Energy. Without Aurora Energy, Lugia is far more limited in the set of attackers that it can play. The Special Energy available in the post-rotation format effectively limit the deck to attackers that require Colorless Energy, or else that are Single Strike, Rapid Strike, or Fusion Strike Pokemon.

As it turns out, the Single Strike strategy works quite well with Archeops. [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is capable of OHKOing most Pokemon with the boost from Single Strike Energy, and [card name=”Stonjourner” set=”Battle Styles” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] are solid non-V attackers that can allow the deck to play the same late-game single-Prize attacker strategy as it did last format. While these Pokemon certainly aren’t as strong as Amazing Rare Yveltal and Raikou, they can still attack decently well, and have excellent typing against the current meta. Stonjourner can hit [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Regieleki VMAX” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] for Weakness, while Yveltal and Tyranitar V can do the same against [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card]. Stonjourner is also particularly strong against Lost Box decks, since it can’t be OHKO’d by [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card].

The other major changes to the deck are in its means of searching out Pokemon; without [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], it can be a bit harder to find what you need. [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] can be a decent replacement, as can the new Stadium [card name=”Mesagoza” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], but it still can feel a bit less consistent than it did last format. To help shore things up, [card name=”Professor Burnet” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH167 ” c=”name”][/card] has become a common inclusion in Lugia lists, as it makes it much easier to discard your Archeops.

The New Lugia Decklist

To illustrate how it all comes together, here is the Lugia VSTAR list that I had heading into this weekend:

[decklist name=”Lugia VSTAR” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Stonjourner” set=”Battle Styles” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Tsareena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”16″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”28″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Burnet” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH167 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Mesagoza” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]4x [card name=”Single Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”V Guard Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Regenerative Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]In this list, I focused on consistency over tech cards, as I feel that the deck needs to prioritize consistency to succeed over the course of a long event. As a result, this list doesn’t have much “spiciness” — but it does consistently get Archeops into play on turn two!

With the loss of Evolution Incense, you want to have a larger Lugia line to make it easier to get Lugia VSTAR into play, which is why this list plays a 3-4 Lugia VSTAR line instead of the 3-2 common to pre-rotation lists. The 3-4 Lugia VSTAR is a bit unorthodox, but I like the change away from 4-4 as a way to include an additional copy of [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. By cutting a Lugia V for a Nest Ball, you still have the same number of outs for finding Lugia V, so that consistency doesn’t change. Once you do have your Lugia V though, the additional Nest Ball increases your consistency for the rest of the game, since you can use it to find any other Pokemon. In addition, if you’re in a position where Nest Ball is no longer a useful card, you can play it just to get it out of your hand (so that you don’t draw back into it after [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card]), which is something you can’t do with Lugia V.

[cardimg name=”Stonjourner” set=”Battle Styles” no=”84″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In addition to Lugia VSTAR, your main attackers are Tyranitar V and Stonjourner. I also mentioned Yveltal above, but I chose not to play it in this list, instead opting for a second copy of Stonjourner. The reason for this is that in most of the scenarios where you would use Yveltal, you can also use Tyranitar V without much difference. (There can be some variants of Gardevoir where the Yveltal is better, but that tends to only be in cases where they play [card name=”Gallade” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card], which isn’t terribly common at the moment.) By contrast, Stonjourner is extremely important in multiple matchups, including against Lost Box decks, Miraidon ex decks, and Arceus VSTAR decks. With two Stonjourner and the [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], you can use Stonjourner three times; the second Stonjourner also gives you more protection against unlucky Prizes.

Without Aurora Energy, Lugia can no longer effectively utilize [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card], so we’re forced to find a different Radiant Pokemon to fit in. Options include [card name=”Radiant Gardevoir” set=”Lost Origin” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Radiant Jirachi” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], or not including a Radiant Pokemon at all, but you’ll commonly see the Radiant Tsareena that I have in this list. Radiant Tsareena is mostly for the Lost Box matchup, as it does an excellent job of shutting down any spread strategies they might try. Without Tsareena, the opponent can use [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s Moonlight Shuriken and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lost Mine to KO both of your Archeops over the course of two turns. With Radiant Tsareena, however, you can prevent that play from being effective. Radiant Tsareena can also come up at other times, such as if your Lugia VSTAR takes a hit — you can simply retreat it into a different attacker so you can heal up over several turns.

[cardimg name=”Professor Burnet” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”TG26″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The Supporters in this deck aren’t drastically different from what you might have seen pre-rotation. Without [card name=”Marnie” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], lists now play Judge to provide some hand disruption, but the overall numbers of draw and gust Supporters are about the same. Professor Burnet is a must-have for making sure that you get your Archeops into the discard pile, as it makes that task much easier. There are a lot of situations where having Professor Burnet turns Capturing Aroma into a win-win card, since you can use it to grab Lumineon V (to then grab the Professor Burnet) if you flip tails.

[premium]

The other new Supporter card in here is Thorton, which is both a needed anti-tech card and a useful way to recover one of your Stonjourner or Tyranitar V if you have to. In most matchups, the latter purpose is the main use, or to get Lumineon V off of your field to deny your opponent an easy two-Prize KO. Against a clever opponent who has teched in [card name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card], however, Thornton becomes the difference between winning and losing. Without Thorton, this deck plays no way to get around Mawile’s Tempting Trap, and since we no longer have Aurora Energy, the deck also has a lot of easy targets that Mawile can lock into the Active Spot. Lumineon V, Radiant Tsareena, and Pumpkaboo (if the Mawile player runs [card name=”Pot Helmet” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card]) are all valid targets which, if locked into the Active Spot, will leave you unable to attack until the Mawile player decides to break the lock. Commonly, they won’t, and will simply wait for you to deck out; some Mawile players will even play a [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] to ensure that the combo is successful.

The Mawile trap has seen play in a few different archetypes, such as Lost Box decks and [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but it can realistically be run in anything that feels like dedicating the deck space to it. If you don’t have a counter, you will lose to Mawile, and so this list includes Thorton. A switching card doesn’t quite work, since the opponent can simply recover the Mawile with [card name=”Klara” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] and then gust up the target and set the lock once again. You need something more permanent, like Thorton. The other option for this spot is to play [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], which has the added benefit of letting you pull back a Lumineon V for later use. I’ve chosen Thorton in this list because I believe it has more usefulness in non-Mawile matchups, including Lost Box, Miraidon ex, Gardevoir ex, and any other matchup where you want to use Stonjourner three times.

The Item space in this deck is dedicated mostly to Pokemon-searching Item cards, with a full four each of Ultra Ball, Nest Ball, and Capturing Aroma. Some lists I’ve seen play [card name=”Great Ball” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] over the Capturing Aroma, but your odds of being able to find Archeops go down a touch with that switch. Further, there are quite a few situations where you can find what you need with either a heads or a tails (such as if you have an Ultra Ball in hand and need both a Basic and an Evolution Pokemon), so your odds of being able to successfully use Capturing Aroma are actually higher than 50% overall.

The other Item you have is [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], which gets you back your Single Strike Energy so you can keep using those strong Single Strike attackers. [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Celebrations” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t much of a threat now that you have Urn of Vitality; even though this list only has thirteen Energy cards, the Urn makes it so that it’s actually quite difficult for the Energy disruption strategy to work. Some lists do only run two copies of Urn of Vitality, but I would consider the third a necessity, as there are a lot of games that will come down to whether or not you can find it, particularly in the mirror match. You’ll typically only use Urn of Vitality twice, but if you discard one with Single Strike Crush, you’ll be glad to have the third copy!

The Stadiums in this deck are necessary to bump [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] out of play. The change from [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] to Nest Ball makes doing so a bit more difficult, since it’s harder to find and use Pumpkaboo now, so the Lugia lists need a few more outs to be able to replace the Stadium. Mesagoza helps shore up the deck’s Pokemon-searching abilities, which you also need after losing [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card]. The [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] likewise gives you a way to remove Lumineon V from your field, since you no longer have Aurora Energy to do so via Aqua Return.

Finally, the Energy in this deck are a mix of Single Strike Energy and Colorless Energy with bonus effects. You can’t attach Single Strike Energy to Lugia VSTAR or Archeops, so you need to have a decent amount of other Energy in order to attack with those when you need to. [card name=”V Guard Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] gives you some extra tankiness, [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] gives you some extra draw power (which can be especially helpful against an opponent that plays Judge or Roxanne), and the [card name=”Regenerative Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] is helpful early to erase an early attack from [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] or anything else.

The Newer Lugia Decklist

Prior to the EUIC, most of the Lugia lists looked pretty similar to the one above, which itself had been adapted and refined from successful Japanese lists. At the EUIC however, a few players went a step further, taking that Single Strike list and making some adaptations in order to better take on the expected metagame. The most effective of these was the inclusion of [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. Both of the Top 8 EUIC lists played Duraludon VMAX, and it proved to be an excellent inclusion.

[cardimg name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”220″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Duraludon VMAX serves two roles in the deck. First, it completely shuts down opposing Lugia VSTAR decks, since most lists this weekend weren’t actually playing a way to get past Skyscraper. Second, it acts as a Duraludon counter itself, since G-Max Pulverization does go through the effects of Skyscraper. In more general matchups, Duraludon VMAX provides a tanky attacking option, and since Duraludon VMAX is a Single Strike Pokemon, it can use Single Strike Energy to increase its damage as well. You do need to include [card name=”Impact Energy” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] in order to utilize it, which can hurt your ability to attack with your non–Single Strike Pokemon, but the benefits that Duraludon VMAX provides can certainly offset that deckbuilding cost.

Trevore Read’s sixth-place list cleverly also played Thorton, which, in addition to giving the deck an out to Mawile, synergizes well with the Duraludon VMAX strategy. By including Thorton, you’ll have an easier time getting that VMAX into play, since you don’t necessarily need to have the Duraludon V in play first before evolving. That is, rather than benching the Duraludon V, and thus giving your opponent an opportunity to KO it before it can evolve, you can instead discard it and turn any Basic Pokemon into that Duraludon V later, which you can then immediately evolve into the VMAX right away. I’m a big fan of how this list was able to include Duraludon VMAX, and while it is publicly available, I also want to share it here, to show how it compares to the list above:

[decklist name=”Lugia / Duraludon” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”20″]3x [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Duraludon V” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Stonjourner” set=”Battle Styles” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Tsareena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”16″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”25″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Burnet” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”TG26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mesagoza” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Single Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Impact Energy” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”V Guard Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]As it turns out, most things are the same — the major changes are the inclusion of the Duraludon VMAX and the three Impact Energy. You do need two Impact Energy to fulfill the Metal Energy requirement of G-Max Pulverization, so you want to include three Impact Energy in the list in order to consistently meet those requirements. So, you effectively have to take out five cards in order to play the Duraludon VMAX, which, while it isn’t a small amount, can be done without affecting things too much.

One thing Trevore’s list did was remove one of the other Single Strike attackers (in this case, a Tyranitar V) since Duraludon VMAX acts as an attacker as well. Likewise, one of the Colorless Energy cards was removed for one Impact Energy, and an Urn of Vitality was removed for another one, since you get roughly the same role fulfilled by the extra Impact Energy as you would by those cards. To fit in the other two cards, Trevore chose not to play the Collapsed Stadium and cut out one Nest Ball (the weakest of the Pokemon-searching Items). Neither of those cuts is ideal, but both are certainly justifiable when you can fit in a game-changing Pokemon like Duraludon VMAX.

With the success of the Duraludon VMAX lists, I would expect them to become the dominant variant of Lugia VSTAR decks going forward. I don’t see the meta changing in such a way as to make the Duraludon VMAX inclusion not worth it, especially with Lugia VSTAR continuing to be such a large part of the meta. Since Duraludon VMAX itself is also Lugia’s counter to Duraludon VMAX, players realistically won’t be able to afford not to include it, since Arceus / Duraludon VMAX is also a large threat. The non-Duraludon version may be stronger into some local metagames, but for a larger or unknown metagame, I would want to play the Duraludon VMAX. To fit it into the first list, take out a Tyranitar V, a Regenerative Energy, an Urn of Vitality, a Collapsed Stadium, and a Nest Ball for the 1-1 Duraludon VMAX line and the three Impact Energy, and you’ll get the deck that I currently have sleeved up.

Lugia Matchups

While Lugia can still be countered, it matches up quite well into the current meta. This is one big reason why it was able to have the success that it did at the EUIC — it’s still pretty consistent, it beats most random decks, and it has solid matchups across the board.

Vs. Lost Zone Box

Against any Lost Box decks, you’ll want to prioritize using your Stonjourner, and try to avoid letting your opponent KO any extra Vs or VSTARs. If you do have to use Lumineon V, you should make sure to get it off of your field with either Collapsed Stadium or Thorton, so your opponent can’t KO it for an extra Prize. With Radiant Tsareena, you can play around most Sableye or Radiant Greninja plays, and by using Stonjourner, you can favorably trade into your opponent to build up a lead in Prizes.

[cardimg name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Some versions of Lost Box — particularly the Radiant Charizard variant — have taken to Mawile as a trap for unsuspecting opponents. Lugia VSTAR can be particularly vulnerable to this strategy, since it plays no switching cards and has multiple Pokemon that are unable to attack (such as Lumineon V). Without some sort of counter strategy, falling into this trap can mean losing the game, regardless of how far ahead the Lugia player is otherwise. To counteract this, many Lugia lists will play either Thorton, as seen above, or [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. If you are up against Mawile, you’ll want to be careful about putting down any Pokemon that you can’t attack with. You’ll also want to make sure not to discard your Thorton accidentally, so you can use it to escape if you do have to use Lumineon V. Keep in mind that it isn’t impossible for an opponent to play Klara and thus use Mawile more than once.

If you’re up against the [card name=”Sky Seal Stone” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] variant, then the play you’ll want to look out for is their [card name=”Raikou V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”48″ c=”name”][/card] OHKOing your Lugia VSTAR. Against this build, the best way to approach it is to attack with Lugia VSTAR once while they are still getting cards into the Lost Zone, then to retreat and start attacking with Stonjourner, so that the Lugia VSTAR is no longer in harm’s way. If you can, you’ll also want to use Collapsed Stadium to knock the Lugia VSTAR off of your Bench and prevent it from getting KO’d entirely. From there, you can use Stonjourner, Archeops, and occasionally Tyranitar V to race your opponent for Prizes. Cragalanche can be a strong move against Lost Box, particularly in the late game when the opponent is more likely to be running close to their limit on resources. It isn’t ideal to attack with a V, but you’ll realistically need to at some point, and Tyranitar is tanky enough that it can trade two-for-one with Cramorant if needed. If you do end up milling a vital card with Cragalanche, then that can go a long way. I haven’t played this matchup yet with the Duraludon VMAX version of the deck, but I can say that it feels quite favorable with the non-Duraludon version — something to keep in mind when deciding which to play at your local events.

Vs. Gardevoir ex

[card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”245″ c=”name”][/card] can be a tricky matchup; a lot depends on what kind of tricks the Gardevoir player has in their list and how effectively they can get set up. This is a matchup where I definitely prefer to have the Thorton, since you can use it to force your opponent to attack through three Stonjourner. That third Stonjourner can buy you an extra turn, which oftentimes is what you need to win.

The Gardevoir player has two ways to shorten up the game: using [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] to get Gardevoir ex into play and attacking one turn quicker, and using Sky Seal Stone to take an extra Prize off of Lugia VSTAR. It is worth noting, though, that even if your opponent can use Rare Candy, they’ll likely only be taking a Knock Out with [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Celebrations” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], which you can KO back to get two Prizes of your own (and thus keep the Prize race even). Your opponent also won’t be able to use Sky Seal Stone effectively until they have enough Energy to KO your Lugia, which gives you some time to knock it off of your board with Collapsed Stadium.

Oftentimes, what this match will come down to is Roxanne, and specifically whether or not the Lugia player can draw an out to Temple of Sinnoh after it. As the Lugia player, you’ll want to make sure to thin out useless cards from your hand whenever possible, and to try to keep your Stadiums as best you can. As Lugia doesn’t have a huge advantage in this matchup, a single turn of Temple of Sinnoh sticking can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Vs. Miraidon ex

Stonjourner is particularly strong in this matchup, and it makes it a highly favorable one. So long as you can get your Archeops into play, then you can quickly out-trade your opponent by getting OHKOs against three of their multi-Prize Pokemon, or against two [card name=”Regieleki VMAX” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] if possible. The strategy from the Miraidon side will be to attempt to OHKO your Lugia V before it can evolve, something they can do either on turn two when going first or on turn one when going second. It’s a good idea in this matchup to get two Lugia V into play, especially if you’ve started with one in the Active Spot.

What can make this matchup tricky is that if you do put down a second V, then your opponent can win with only four attacks — or three if they can KO your Lugia VSTAR while using a Sky Seal Stone. Most of the time, you’ll also need three attacks to win, so this can give your opponent a path to victory. If you can, you’ll want to use Collapsed Stadium to knock your Lugia VSTAR off of the field and thus prevent the Sky Stone play. If you do that and don’t leave three Vs in play, your opponent will again need four attacks to win, which means that you’ll win as the Lugia player even if you don’t get the first KO.

Vs. Lugia VSTAR

The Lugia mirror match can actually be quite interesting — so long as both players are either playing Duraludon VMAX or not playing it. If one player has it and the other doesn’t, then the player with Duraludon will typically win without much trouble.

In the non-Duraludon mirror match, the key to victory is Tyranitar V. Lugia VSTAR can’t actually OHKO Tyranitar V — the only way you can get an OHKO is by using your own Tyranitar V. You’ll want to make sure to conserve your Urn of Vitality as much as you can, as you’ll need to recover your Single Strike Energy. Single Strike Crush naturally adds a ton of variance to this match, as you can get unlucky and discard necessary pieces with it — so the more you can avoid getting rid of important cards and exacerbating that risk, the better. In some cases, this can actually be a matchup where you don’t want to deck-thin, since those useless extra Pokemon can become helpful as padding when you use Single Strike Crush. You’ll have to balance it, especially against an opponent who uses Judge or Roxanne, or for when you need to find an important card yourself. Typically, what I like to do is to not thin out cards if I’m about to use Single Strike Crush, but I do if I’m going to use a Professor’s Research or Judge, so that I can maximize my odds of getting what I need at that point. If you find yourself in a position where you can’t get a OHKO, then what you’ll want to do is to try to set up a 2HKO with Stonjourner, followed by your Lugia VSTAR. The turn you attack with the Lugia VSTAR, try to make sure to have a V Guard Energy on it so that your opponent needs all four Single Strike Energy to attack it. If you can play a Judge that turn, even better.

If both players play Duraludon VMAX, then that Pokemon becomes the most important in the matchup. If you see a Duraludon V hit the field, you’ll want to KO it before it can evolve; you can do this with Lugia VSTAR and keep your Tyranitar V for dealing with your opponent’s Tyranitar. Things can get a bit weird, though; you want to evolve your Duraludon V quickly so that it doesn’t get KO’d, but if your opponent can hit your Duraludon VMAX with theirs before you can, then they’ll KO it first, which will almost certainly win the game. So, if you do get Duraludon VMAX out first, that can actually end up losing you the game! Thorton is incredibly important here, since it means that you can get Duraludon VMAX out without risking the KO of the basic V. You can also wait to use Thorton until your opponent has their Duraludon VMAX in play, so that you can get the first hit in. With Thorton, I’ve found it best to approach this like a normal mirror match, then to use the Thorton to get Duraludon VMAX out without risking the Duraludon V when you do get to the point that you want to use it.

Vs. ADP

[cardimg name=”Alolan Vulpix VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”34″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

With [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Alolan Vulpix VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] winning the EUIC, I would expect to see an uptick in the number of Duraludon VMAX players — which is not good news for Lugia players. If you don’t have Duraludon VMAX in your Lugia list, or any other Duraludon counter, then you will most likely lose unless you can find a way to KO their Duraludon Vs before they evolve. Even with those counters though, this matchup is a difficult one. Lugia VSTAR decks no longer play any way to OHKO Duraludon VMAX, so a single Path to the Peak or [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] won’t do the trick. If you are going with the Duraludon VMAX strategy, this also means that the Lugia player will be able to get an attack off against your Duraludon VMAX before you’ll be able to get a KO on theirs. So, they’ll then be able to KO the Duraludon VMAX, which can get them awfully close to winning. Likewise, if they can set up a second Duraludon VMAX, then they’ll be able to get the KO and prevent any more damage from coming through. Against this matchup, you’ll again want to use Thorton to get to Duraludon VMAX, or else your opponent will target your Duraludon V.

Lugia in the Future

If we look forward a bit to the cards that will come out in Paldea Evolved, we can start to get a picture of how Lugia VSTAR decks should look at the NAIC and the World Championships. Lugia gains a few more Special Energy cards, some of which are sure to immediately provide positive additions to the deck. Jet Energy is excellent, as it gives Lugia an easy way around the Mawile trap strategy, as well as around paralysis. Jet Energy also has great synergy with [card name=”Wyrdeer V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card], a Pokemon which has become a common attacker in Japanese Lugia VSTAR lists. Luminous Energy has also been extremely common in those lists, despite the fact that it is designed not to work with other Special Energy. The key to this is that by playing that Multi Energy reprint, Lugia VSTAR decks can once again include Radiant Charizard, since you only need one Energy to attack with it in the late game. It isn’t quite as clear if the other two Special Energy — Therapy Energy and Reversal Energy — will be quite as useful, but both have potential. Therapy Energy will probably not see much play, since Jet Energy can get you out of Special Conditions, but it could be useful as an easier out to Paralysis effects if those become popular. As for Reversal Energy, that will require some creativity, but there might be some interesting options one could use with it. For instance, you could attach four of them to a Whiscash and mill your opponent for twelve cards, or bring out an [card name=”Electivire” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] and hit all of your opponent’s Pokemon for 50 damage over and over again. If nothing else, there will be a lot of possibilities!

At Champions League Miyagi, Lugia VSTAR lists did well, making up seven of the Top 16 lists and three of the Top 8. Those lists were divided between Single Strike variants, like the ones above, and Colorless-only variants, which used attackers like [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Lost Origin” no=”TG10″ c=”name”][/card] and Wyrdeer V. Whether either of those will become dominant here remains to be seen, but the early results seem to indicate that Lugia VSTAR will be hanging around for at least one more format.

I’m a proponent of sticking with a single archetype as a way to shorten up the amount of practice you need to maintain the same level of competency, and so I’m a big fan of Lugia VSTAR as a nice fallback deck for us busy folks, or for any player who simply wants to exert mastery over a single deck and use it throughout the season. Lugia VSTAR shows no signs of disappearing, and I would expect it to continue to be a top-tier deck through our next rotation, and perhaps even beyond into 2024.

With that, we’ve come to the end of this article! If you have any questions, be sure to ask away, either here or in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout! As always, best of luck, everyone, and stay safe!

Thanks for reading!

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