New Mask, New Meta — How Twilight Masquerade Changes the Format

Hello everyone! We’re getting toward the end of the season, with only a week left to go until the NAIC. It’s getting to be crunch time; for those aiming for a Worlds invite, the NAIC is the last chance to get those much-needed points, whereas for those who aren’t, the NAIC nonetheless represents the largest tournament of the year. The NAIC also is unique in that it will be our only major event in the Twilight Masquerade format, as there are no Regional Championships during the upcoming period, and the World Championships won’t occur until the release of Shrouded Fable. It isn’t just the first event of the new format — it’s the only one! Yes, there will be some League Challenges and whatnot with it afterward, but those will be for the 2025 season; for this season, it’s all or nothing at the NAIC.

As with other modern ICs, the lack of events beforehand means that the format will still be relatively new and unrefined by time the NAIC rolls around, which will give a big advantage to those who can properly predict what the new meta will look like at that time. We’ve seen this plenty of times before, with decks like [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”266″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] winning ICs on the back of strong matchups into the field. Even if you aren’t planning to go with an anti-meta deck, knowing what you’re likely to play against will help you avoid the pitfalls of playing a deck that doesn’t match up well against the rest of the format. The EUIC was an excellent illustration of that, as a lot of new decks came out with Temporal Forces that players needed to be aware of. For an extreme example, imagine if you had gone into that event not knowing that [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] was going to be popular! If there’s a new deck that’s likely to make up a large portion of the field, and you’re playing a certain kind of deck that is poor against it, having that knowledge early will give you time to adjust. Additionally, having some idea of what the meta will look like will help you fine-tune your testing so that you don’t waste time testing matchups you aren’t likely to run into.

While the rest of the world hasn’t had any large events with Twilight Masquerade, Japan has, and can thus serve as a starting point for our meta map. In addition to Champions League Sapporo, there’s a whole quarter of City League events that we have data on, which gives us a good amount of information we can use to evaluate this new format. Japan is rarely a perfect one-to-one mapping to the non-Japanese metagame, due to both the slight differences in tournament structure and the simple fact that the non-Japanese metagame starts from a more refined point, since non-US players can build upon the early Japanese lists and results. But again, it is a good starting point — after all, it’s only that knowledge of the Japanese metagame that allows it to be built upon. For the first tournament of a format especially, that information is incredibly important, as I’ve illustrated above. So, in this article, I’m going to go over what the major new decks are that came out with Twilight Masquerade, with a specific focus on the ones that you should be prepared to see at the NAIC. I’m also going to take a look at the existing decks in the meta, and which ones gained new tricks that you’ll need to watch out for. Finally, we’ll tie it all together, and take a look at the overall Japanese metagame and how that’s likely to change for the NAIC.

The New Decks

[cardimg name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are several new decks that will come out with Twilight Masquerade, with the most played thus far being [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Greninja ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Blissey ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card]. All three have been in the top ten in terms of meta share here in Japan, and while a few others have seen some play (such as Festival Lead decks and [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Sinistcha ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card]), none of them have had any level of success. Blissey ex likewise has a bit of a low win rate thus far, and clearly needs some development for it to become a truly threatening deck. I wouldn’t count it out entirely, as it can be strong into the right meta, but it also isn’t a deck that I would expect to be widespread by time the NAIC comes around.

The first two decks, on the other hand, Dragapult ex and Greninja ex, have seen success right off the bat. Both are in the top five in terms of win rate in the Japanese Twilight Masquerade format. Dragapult ex in particular has been a format-warping card, and it represents the biggest shift to the metagame from the previous set to this one. It’s gotten to the point that Charizard ex is no longer the deck to beat; instead, Dragapult ex has taken its place. This has had a substantial effect on the rest of the metagame, as the decks that are more well equipped to deal with Dragapult have seen a rise in play, while those that haven’t have gone in the opposite direction. Evolving decks are trending down, whereas decks that can get big OHKOs are trending up, especially if those decks utilize large Basic Pokemon V or Pokemon ex instead of having to set up low-HP evolving Basic Pokemon.

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To that point, the second-most-popular deck in Japan is now [card name=”Raging Bolt ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], an archetype which doesn’t even land in the top 20 in the non-Japanese Temporal Forces format. [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] has also seen a resurgence; it even won Champions League Sapporo on the back of a strong Dragapult ex matchup. Greninja ex hasn’t seen quite as much play as Dragapult ex, but its overall win rate is actually the same as one of the best in the format. It isn’t quite as refined yet, which makes it even scarier that it’s winning so much. If a group can find the right list and crack the code for the NAIC, they could go a long way with it.

Dragapult ex: The New BDIF?

Dragapult ex is a fairly simple card, but you can do a lot with it. Phantom Dive’s 200 damage is enough to reliably two-shot any Pokemon, and the extra Bench damage can be spread around to accelerate your Prize taking speed. Depending on the matchup, you can use it to soften things up to put them into OHKO range, take easy Prizes against your opponent’s squishier Pokemon (such as evolving Basics), or plan for a big multi-KO turn. [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] gives the deck a nice bit of extra consistency, and makes it easy to justify playing a big Dragapult line. With this deck, you don’t have to thin down your Stage 1s (and thus become more reliant on Rare Candy) in order to fit in extra consistency; instead, it’s built right in. Dragapult ex also notably has no Weakness, so decks can’t simply splash in an attacker to help cover the matchup. Dragapult ex has a strong matchup into Charizard ex in particular, which has helped it to gain a foothold in the format, but it is strong enough to where it can take on most of the field as well. As I said above, Dragapult ex has become the most played deck in Japan, and has had a win rate that is near the top as well. The deck finished with three spots in the Top 8 of Champions League Sapporo, and so it should be on most player’s radar heading into the NAIC. If there’s a new deck to test against, it is Dragapult ex, as I would expect to run into it at least once, if not a few times.

There are two main builds of Dragapult ex that have become popular, and they’re what I would expect people to start out with now that the card has been released to the rest of the world. The first build is more of a straightforward, Dragapult-focused list, which utilizes [card name=”Xatu” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] for extra consistency and Energy acceleration, but doesn’t use any non-Dragapult attackers. Instead, this kind of Dragapult ex deck focuses on speed and consistency, taking strong advantage of the fact that not many decks can effectively deal with a Dragapult ex that’s attacking as early as turn two. The other build is a Lost Box–style deck, which pairs the Dragapult ex line with the [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] draw engine, as well as with the typical Lost Box attackers [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]. This build has a bit more strategic flexibility than the first one, but isn’t quite as streamlined.

Between the two builds, I personally prefer the Lost Box list, as it has more options you can use to beat your opponent. With that said, it is at a distinct disadvantage in the mirror match, so it may actually be the worse of the two options at the moment, given how prevalent Dragapult decks are likely to be. At the NAIC, I would expect it to remain split; both builds are quite strong, and neither has shown that it should clearly be the build, so it may simply come down to player preference. When testing, you should be prepared for both of them. As a basic example, if you are playing a deck with evolving Basics, consider swapping to a version with 70+ HP if possible to better play around Phantom Dive.

If you want to try out Dragapult ex, or if you simply want to test against it, here’s a list for each version. First, here’s my current list for the Xatu build:

[decklist name=”dragxatu” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Natu” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Xatu” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]5x [card name=”Basic Psychic Energy” set=”151″ no=”207″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card]3x [card name=”Basic Fire Energy” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”230″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

And here is my current list for the Lost Box build:

[decklist name=”draglost” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]3x [card name=”Basic Fire Energy” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”230″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Basic Psychic Energy” set=”151″ no=”207″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Greninja ex: The Hidden Danger

Greninja ex has particularly high potential once someone figures out the right list. Even now, it has been one of the more successful decks in the Twilight Masquerade format. It seems to have flown a bit under the radar due to its lack of a high placement at Champions League Sapporo, but fittingly for a ninja deck, that result obscures its true power.

Greninja ex has been tried with quite a few secondary options, but the two that have picked up steam recently have been Greninja ex / [card name=”Froslass” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and Greninja ex / [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. Froslass is effectively a stackable [card name=”Cursed Stone” set=”EX Legend Maker” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card], which combos well with Greninja’s Duplicates Barrage, as well as its lack of any Abilities. You can easily set up a few Froslass, wait for them to KO your opponent’s [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], and then spread to their Bench easily. Against Lost Box, Froslass is great for quickly KOing Comfey as well, so you can focus your attacks on other targets.

If you look at the current meta, there are a ton of Pokemon with Abilities. Froslass helps to soften all of those up so that they can be 2HKO’d by Greninja ex, leading to four-Prize turns in some instances. Greninja’s Fighting typing is also great against [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] and Miraidon ex decks, which puts it in a good position if Miraidon ends up being popular after its Champions League win.

Greninja ex / Pidgeot ex plays a bit differently, as it tends to focus more on using Ninja Blade and taking advantage of your deck’s ability to search out cards every turn. With Pidgeot, you get to grab one card at the end of your turn with Ninja Blade, and then another one during your turn with Quick Search, making it easy to adjust to what your opponent is doing at any given time. With that kind of search, you can more effectively take advantage of tech cards like Professor Turo’s Scenario, so while your damage output is lower than that of the Froslass version, you make up for it by having a bunch of tricks up your sleeve.

Here is my current list for the Froslass build:

[decklist name=”frosninja” amt=”60″ caption=”undefined” cname=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Froakie” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Frogadier” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Greninja ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Snorunt” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Froslass” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Unfair Stamp” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]6x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]2x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Updates to Existing Archetypes

There have been some subtle other shifts as well, thanks to new tech cards that are coming out in Twilight Masquerade. The three biggest winners have been [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card].

Gardevoir ex and Munkidori

[cardimg name=”Drifloon” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”155″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

For Gardevoir ex, the new addition is [card name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], a Pokemon that combos perfectly with Gardevoir ex’s Psychic Embrace. At the very least, with Munkidori in play, you get to add 30 more damage per turn to your opponent’s board. It also gives you some easy spread damage, since you can use Adrena-Brain to put damage onto any of your opponent’s Pokemon, not just their Active. This greatly increases the strategic flexibility of Gardevoir, as you can now plan ahead with it as you would with something like Inteleon VMAX or [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM37″ c=”name”][/card].

What’s more, though, is that because Adrena-Brain removes damage from your Pokemon, you can also use it to manipulate your damage to increase the potential damage output of some of your Pokemon. For example, if you have a [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] with a [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card], it can do up to 300 damage, since you can add ten damage counters to it with Psychic Embrace. You can’t add more than that, since another Psychic Embrace would Knock Out the Drifloon. But, if you use Adrena-Brain, you can drop the damage counters on Drifloon to an odd number (from four to one, for instance). This means that you can then increase the damage on Drifloon up to 110, which means you can now potentially hit for 330 with Balloon Blast. That’s enough to suddenly OHKO Charizard ex or Dragapult ex, and that’s without even adding the extra spread damage that you get to place with Adrena-Brain. For [card name=”Scream Tail” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], the same thing applies; you can now use Roaring Scream for up to 260. The Adrena-Brain damage can increase that to 290, which is enough to OHKO Arceus VSTAR, [card name=”Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. Gardevoir ex finished second at Champions League Sapporo, so, like Dragapult, I would expect it to be on people’s radar.

Lugia VSTAR Gets a Rainbow Energy?

Lugia VSTAR gets several new additions, including [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Carmine” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card]. Blood Moon Ursaluna ex is effectively [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card], except that its attack is all Colorless Energy. It can be added into any deck (Lost Box is another deck that has commonly included it, and I have it in several lists up above), but it works particularly well in Lugia, since [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] can power it up early so that you can swing for 240 at any point in the game, not only at the end.

Carmine is a new Supporter that you can use on turn one going first, which lends a massive boost to Lugia’s consistency. With a Lugia VSTAR deck, you already want to go first so you can use Summoning Star on turn two and start attacking as soon as possible. Going first of course comes with the downside of being unable to use a Supporter, which can make things a bit dicey if your opening hand isn’t ideal. Carmine fixes that problem. It also naturally works well with the goal of discarding Archeops, as it’s another “discard your hand” Supporter like [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card]. At worst, it’s a less-than-ideal Supporter compared to Professor’s Research, but if you can use it going first, it’s a big advantage in that game.

Both of those cards are solid, but neither quite compares to the massive boost that Lugia VSTAR gets from Legacy Energy. The Prize-reducing effect of Legacy Energy is nice, and it can force your opponent to take an extra turn, which can be game-winning on its own. What makes it really good, though, is the simple fact that it gives Lugia VSTAR a rainbow Energy to work with, which it hasn’t had since rotation. One rainbow Energy may not sound like a lot, but it opens up a large number of attackers to be used with Lugia that it didn’t have access to before. Now, you can once again get [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] off of your board by sending it back to your deck with Aqua Return. Lugia VSTAR can also now use tech attackers like [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], or Radiant Charizard, as well as many others. Lugia decks were already well positioned for a Dragapult ex meta, as they’re one of the few archetypes that can potentially OHKO it, but by adding in the potential for tech attackers as well, it moves Lugia from a solid deck option to an elite one.

Now Snorlax Has the Flute

Snorlax Stall is another deck that has some new tricks thanks to this set’s Trainer cards. In particular, you’ll now want to look out for [card name=”Accompanying Flute” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card], an Item that can potentially grab some unwanted Pokemon from the top cards of your deck and stick them onto the field. If they hit the right Pokemon, an Accompanying Flute can end up winning the game for the Snorlax player by giving them a target for the Block trap strategy. In the Snorlax list that finished sixth at Champions League Sapporo, the new [card name=”Handheld Fan” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] was also played. This card can force the opponent to find even more resources, since they are effectively being denied an Energy per attack, and can be particularly obnoxious when combined with [card name=”Giacomo” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card]. I don’t think that Handheld Fan is as big of a deal as Accompanying Flute, but both cards mean that you’ll have more to think about and to deal with when facing a Snorlax deck. Snorlax is never a super popular deck, but I would expect it to be popular among some of the game’s better players. It’s the sort of deck where you might not hit it on Day 1, but you might run into it multiple times on Day 2. At the NAIC, I would be very wary of ignoring Snorlax, and I would want whatever I play to have a reliable strategy against it.

A Look at the Overall Meta

With the data from the Japanese events, we can see that the most played decks have been Dragapult ex, followed by Raging Bolt ex, Charizard ex, Gardevoir ex, and Miraidon ex. After that, we see Lost Zone decks (which combined still make up a decent chunk of the meta), as well as Greninja ex and Lugia VSTAR / Archeops. Decks with high win rates with lower meta shares include [card name=”Gholdengo ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Baxcalibur” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], and Dialga VSTAR, the latter two of which I would expect to be much more popular outside of Japan.

Looking at the overall meta picture, it appears as if things will remain quite diverse at the NAIC. The new arrival of Dragapult ex seems to have adjusted the meta, but it hasn’t pushed anything out, as even its better matchups are still seeing some play, albeit at lower levels. The biggest difference from the Temporal Forces meta will certainly be the drop in play of Charizard ex decks, and the addition of Dragapult ex decks. Charizard ex is not going to go away entirely — it hasn’t in Japan, despite being somewhat weak against Dragapult ex — but it’s more likely to become a deck around that 10% meta share mark, not the 20%+ that it saw previously. If anything, it’s looking like the NAIC meta may be similar to the current one, but with the deck spread more evened out, as opposed to concentrated around Charizard ex.

[cardimg name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”244″ align=”left” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In the past, fast, streamlined decks like Miraidon ex and Raging Bolt ex have tended to be more popular in Japan than outside of it. This tends to be due to the best-of-one format that the Japanese events use, where decks like that are more reliable than some of the less consistent but more complex decks might be. For the NAIC, it means that we’ll want to tamp down those decks a little bit in our estimates. I doubt that Raging Bolt ex will be the second-most-popular deck at the NAIC, even with its strong Dragapult matchup; likewise, I doubt that Chien-Pao will stay outside the top ten. When preparing for the event, though, I would keep in mind that decks that can OHKO Dragapult ex have both been more popular and done better in Japan, and so are likely to be larger threats than they would have been before. The same is true for those aforementioned streamlined Basic attacking decks, so while they may not be as popular as they are in Japan right now, they will still likely be more popular than they are in the US right now.

When preparing for the NAIC, Dragapult ex should be your top testing target, as it is likely to be popular and, since it’s new, you’ll have less experience against it than you might against other decks. After that, I would look to test against those decks that got major new additions: Gardevoir ex, Lugia VSTAR, and Snorlax, as well as Greninja ex in order to get a feel for that matchup. Then, look to shore up your strategy against decks that may be popular and that you might not have seen in a while, such as Raging Bolt ex and Miraidon ex. Finally, keep battling against decks like Charizard ex, Chien-Pao ex, and Dialga VSTAR, the strong decks that should remain popular. There’s a lot to test against heading into the NAIC, but by making the most of your time, you can give yourself the best chance to have a successful event.

We’ve now come to the end of this article, but if you have any questions, be sure to ask in the comments! As always, best of luck to everyone, and stay safe! Thanks for reading!

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