Read the Win — Lugia VSTAR / Archeops for the World Championship
Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you all! Last time, I discussed the Lost Zone [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] archetype and its potential newfound strength in the Paldea Evolved format before the North America International Championship. While the deck ultimately did not place in the Top 32 of the tournament, the deck did put up a fair number of decent lower-end results, including in the hands of 2019 World Champion, Henry Brand. Instead, a different deck ended up making its massive blast from the past, with a [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] deck taking down the tournament in the hands of Cyrus Davis. There is a lot to be said about what happened to lead to this deck winning the North America International Championship, but the simplest way to put it is that the deck is much better than many people initially gave it credit for, myself included. The deck is, at least in theory, supposed to be able to beat Lost Zone and [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], and with a somewhat random surge in the popularity of [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], the groundwork was laid for the deck’s success with a perfect storm of great matchups.
Where the Deck Stands
[cardimg name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Following the North America International Championship, one deck felt noticeably absent from people’s conversations and recaps of the event, and that was [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. In all honesty, I do not really know what happened to Lugia VSTAR at the North America International Championship. The deck did have one appearance in the Top 8 and one more appearance in the Top 32, but after the deck’s success in the Scarlet and Violet format, the deck seems like it should have been destined for greater things. In general, it seems like the deck should not have gotten worse with the release of Paldea Evolved, with cards like [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] being nice additions to the archetype, but the deck just did not do very well. Maybe the deck was hurt by the release of [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] or the surge in popularity of one of its harder matchups; Gardevoir ex, but the deck still seems like it should have done better with generally good matchups against most of the decks in the format.
I also think a hugely significant factor in the deck’s underwhelming performance at the North America International Championship had to do with the most common deck lists at the event; the various Lugia VSTAR players that I sat near throughout the weekend, as well as the two that I played against during the tournament, mostly seemed like they removed [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] from their deck list. While this makes sense in the new “Colorless Lugia” version of Lugia VSTAR, removing the deck’s only answer to [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] despite the card fitting so perfectly into the deck anyway in the Single Strike variant makes no sense to me. Many players added [card name=”Stonjourner” set=”Battle Styles” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] as a replacement, but even that is simply not enough to deal with the cards that Single Strike Urshifu VMAX is meant to take care of.
With the World Championship just under one month away, there is a lot of mystery surrounding what deck is going to be the best play for the event, or at least what decks will be the most popular. Last year at Worlds, the expectation for the meta was pretty linear, with [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] clearly being the best deck and it ended up being over 50% of the Day 1 metagame. This year, however, things are a bit more unique, with the clear best deck in format having its fair share of flaws, including a poor matchup against both of the decks in the finals of the North America International Championship (as indicated by the results of the Top 4 matches). As a result of this uncertainty, I am confident that a Lugia VSTAR deck is one of the best possible plays for the World Championship thanks to its matchup spread as well as not being punished by the inherent structure of Day 1. In order to best understand how this is the case, we must first understand how Day 1 of the World Championship works.
[premium]
How Does Day 1 Work?
The Structure
The first day of the World Championships structure is unlike that of any other tournament in the season, largely thanks to the fact that there are players automatically invited to the second day of the tournament before the event even starts. Historically, the “goal” for the World Championship’s attendance has always been in the 128 ballpark. In 2012 and before, this was pretty much forced because invitations were decided by automatic invitations from doing well at specific tournaments as well as some of the top players on the leaderboard. In 2013 this changed with the first ever “goalpost” style season, where players competed for a certain number of Championship Points in order to earn an invitation, but these events ended up being a bit bigger than the goal of 128 players, so in 2015 they introduced a two-day system where, on the first day, players who met the goalpost number would compete for spots in Day 2 where they would meet a handful of players who were automatically invited to the second day of competition based on their performances throughout the season. The goal of this system is to return to the original intention of there being about 128 players in the “main event” which is now Day 2.
As a result of this change, a lot of careful planning goes into deciding the number of rounds that will be played during Day 1 of the World Championship so that there are not too many players in Day 2. Ever since the system was introduced in 2015, TCG Masters Day 1 has had eight Swiss Rounds on Day 1 (the younger age divisions usually have five or six, for our younger readers). Normally, the target to make it to the second day of a two-day event in the TCG is 19 match points, but with eight Swiss rounds, this demands a somewhat steep 6-1-1 record. Instead, the requirement is reduced to 18 match points, or a 6-2 record (9 match points (3-2) or 12 match points (4-2) in the younger age divisions). This record is a bit steeper than the 6-2-1 record required for other two-day events, requiring you to win 75% of your matches instead of 66%. Additionally, due to the number of matches and how the one match point from a tie does not typically make a big difference, barring the rare circumstance where a player is able to go 5-0-3. As a result, this can have a major impact on the Day 1 metagame, which is the next point that I would like to discuss.
How the Structure Impacts the Meta
[cardimg name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
As a result of the unique structure of the World Championship, you can see a few different things happen within the Day 1 metagame. The simplest way to put this is that players generally try to minimize/avoid risk as much as possible on Day 1, historically preferring safer and simpler decks to make it through Day 1 before switching to riskier decks for the second day. A historic example of this was at the 2016 World Championship where players played mostly safe decks like Night March, which was the best and most consistent deck at the time, but on the second day, there was a massive surge in the number of players that played [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], which is was a deck that was both a bit less consistent and more likely to tie.
In my opinion, this year’s World Championship will be the return of this approach after a couple of years where it was not so strong. [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Zone, despite being two of the best decks in the current Standard format, both can struggle to finish three games in the 50-minute time constraint of a best-of-three match, meaning that the decks are prone to tying. For the sake of argument, let’s say these decks tie 20% of their matches, win 60%, and lose 20%. If you allocate these percentages to a win-loss record, this is only winning four or maybe five matches, which is not enough to make it to the second day of the tournament, however, a deck that ties less frequently, say only 10% of the time, instead allocating the percentage change to the other two match outcomes, you are going to see match wins five or maybe six of your rounds, which can be enough to make it to the second day of the tournament. This seemingly minor change is able to make an absolutely massive difference in making a run for the second day of the tournament. As a result, decks like [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] are poised to be quite popular during Day 1 because they are highly likely to finish at least two if not all three games, as opposed to sometimes having to fight to maybe complete a second game in a match if you are lucky.
Why is This So Beneficial to Lugia VSTAR?
Another deck that falls in the category of being great for Day 1 because of its ability to win games reasonably fast is [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. Much like the other big VSTAR and VMAX decks, Lugia VSTAR plays extremely quick games, typically running over the opponent or failing to set up and conceding early. Additionally, the deck generally has a very favorable matchup spread against most of the format, with two of its more difficult matchups being Gardevoir ex and Lost Box, both of which are not great plays for Day 1. On the flip side, the decks that I cited as strong plays, such as Arceus VSTAR, are pretty heavily favored for Lugia VSTAR, giving the deck an extremely high chance of success. As if that is not enough, the deck is also exceptionally favored against the North America International Championship-winning deck, capitalizing on anyone that decides to hop on that bandwagon. In reality, I would say that Lugia VSTAR is borderline indisputably the best play for Day 1 of the World Championship based on the information that we have about the current metagame.
My Lugia VSTAR Deck List
[cardimg name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Now that I have outlined why I think that Lugia VSTAR is the best deck for the World Championship, it is now time to start considering what a deck list may look like. In general, Regan Retzloff’s list from the last format is still absolutely incredible, perhaps one of the closest to perfect deck lists that I have ever seen. At every event from Portland to Fresno, the deck saw competitive success with a grand total of 16 Day 2 finishes with that 60 cards (one of which in the hands of yours truly!).
When I was considering how I wanted to approach building a Lugia VSTAR deck list this format, I was not sure if I should just stick to the same list as we saw last format or if I should look into building from my own base. In general, Lugia VSTAR decks have gotten to the point that they are roughly 58 cards the same anyway, so how different can the deck list actually be? As expected, the changes felt relatively minor as I started to draft the deck list that I am currently working on.
The Deck List
[decklist name=”lugia urshi” 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]2x [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”85″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/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=”27″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Burnet” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”TG26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/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″ divide=”yes” 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]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]1x [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card Inclusions
The New Stuff
Like I said earlier, most of this deck list is very, very similar to Regan Retzloff’s deck list from the Scarlet and Violet format, only five total cards are different, but a few of these were exchanges for functionally similar cards. Initially, I actually had a few additional changes, such as removing [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] for a second [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], but as I have put in more testing, those have ultimately been reverted to what I have now.
The simplest change in my deck list is the removal of [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] in favor of [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card]. This change is a relatively straightforward optimization that does not need much justification. The additional card draw is so much more valuable than reducing the opponent’s hand in the earliest parts of the game and it is even better hand disruption in the late game, so the change is quite logical. Another optimization change was the removal of [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] in favor of the third [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card]; Last format, Pokemon ex were much less popular than they are in this format, meaning that Boss’s Orders was much less necessary and the dual purpose Serena was satisfactory, but now [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] is arguably the best deck in the format, which leads me to want a third copy of Boss’s Orders to make sure that I can drag up Gardevoir ex and Knock it Out when I need to.
[cardimg name=”Irida” set=”Crown Zenith GG” no=”GG63″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Another change that I made was removing a [card name=”V Guard Energy” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] for a [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. Initially, I was not super sure if this change was necessary, but I am slowly getting to the point of wanting a second copy. The card is simply so good when you have it in your opening hand, allowing you to make your [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or VSTAR active if you want to early, or you can use it to bring up your [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] without having to pay an excessively expensive Retreat Cost. Additionally, similar to [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] last format, Jet Energy is, at worst, just another Energy card in the deck, which is all you need with [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] in play.
My final change is a bit of a weird one, which was the removal of [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] in favor of [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. In the Silver Tempest format, I felt that Irida was an absolute staple in Lugia VSTAR, searching many utility Items as well as a follow-up [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] if necessary. When rotation happened, Irida got cut from most Lugia VSTAR decks because the card was not as much of an instant out to the missing pieces with [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] being a flip rather than the guarantee of [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], however, after playing through the Milwaukee Regional Championship with Lugia VSTAR, I felt that I was never finding [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] when I needed it, often having to settle for Luminous Sign for [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] and just hoping that I draw into it. This lead me to want to re-add Irida to go and find the Urn of Vitality on the turn that I need instead, and I have absolutely loved having it back so far.
No Squakabilly ex
One card that is being cited as one of the biggest new additions for this deck is [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], as it helps a ton with getting Archeops into the discard pile. While I understand the sentiment, I do legitimately think that the card is terrible in this deck. It does not do enough for being as big of a liability as it is, and there is a fair amount of the time that you are either unable to use it because you cannot find it while guaranteeing a Lugia V in play, or the card is simply unnecessary sometimes. As weird as this is, the deck may actually be too tight on space to reasonably fit it into the list, especially for how little benefit that it actually provides.
One Collapsed Stadium and One Pumpkaboo
As I have played more and more Lugia VSTAR, the more I miss when [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] was in Standard. This deck just has so many liabilities and other things that it does not want to have in play to the point that a second Collapsed Stadium may be necessary in order to clear things up. As I mentioned earlier, though, this second Collapsed Stadium was in my list at one point, but I decided to re-add Pumpkaboo because I think having a searchable way to remove [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] from play is extremely important, especially with the increasing popularity of Arceus VSTAR decks. Additionally, in a weird way, Collapsed Stadium is also much worse without Pumpkaboo, as the deck does not play enough single-Prize Pokemon to be able to fill up a board with them and discard your last multi-Prize Pokemon without having a Pumpkaboo in play (alongside two Archeops, [card name=”Radiant Tsareena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card]).
In Summary
[cardimg name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”245″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
As time winds down until this year’s World Championship, the pressure is on for players to find the deck that is the best play for the tournament. While I do think that [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Zone will both be strong plays for the tournament, I do worry that they will struggle on the first day of competition, leaving room for decks like [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] to put up big Day 1 results, however, all of these things open up the perfect window for [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], which I ultimately believe is the deck that is best poised to make an exceptional run at this year’s World Championship.
With that, this article draws to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed giving this article a read, as Lugia VSTAR has been one of my favorite decks this season, so getting to close it out with one more deep run would be icing on the cake for me. If you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the Subscriber’s Hideout or send them to me on Twitter (@ICheville) or on Facebook (Zaya Lee).
Until next time!
– Isaiah
[/premium]