Leaving a Legacy — Lugia VSTAR at NAIC

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you all! It has been a while since my last article, and despite how much has changed about the format, one thing has somehow managed to stay the same: Andrew Hedrick has won the most recent tournament. This time, though, he did so with a much more common deck; turbo Lost Zone box featuring a copy of [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] which he used to get an edge in the [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, a deck that many players expected to be the most played deck in the format (I will be coming back to this!). In the finals, Andrew hit former PokeBeach writer Stephane Ivanoff piloting [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], which is normally a bit of a difficult matchup thanks to [card name=”Flutter Mane ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], and especially [card name=”Klefki” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], but after a hard-fought Game 1 he was able to win the game on a Confusion flip and then finally close out the set by taking a Prize card lead on turn three of time.

This finals matchup was a pretty common matchup in the Top 8 overall, as the only two decks that made Top 8 at the North America International Championship were turbo Lost Zone box and Gardevoir ex, with two instances and six instances respectively. The rest of the event’s Top 32 was made up of a wide variety of decks, with decks like [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. I was also fortunate enough to make it into the Top 32, landing at exactly 32nd! I played Lugia VSTAR for this event, which is also going to be the focus of this article, as I think that the deck may still be the best deck in the Standard format.

What Drew Me to Lugia VSTAR?

[cardimg name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

For a long time, I have said that Lugia VSTAR was some form of a “rainbow” Energy away from being good, whether it was [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] itself, [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card], or any other form of multi-typed Energy (except [card name=”Luminous Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card]…). [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] ‘s strength in particular was incredibly apparent, especially following the deck’s strong finishes at the Los Angeles Regional Championship, so the only piece that was missing was an efficient way to utilize [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], as it is probably the single best attacker in Standard and also a near perfect answer to many of Lugia VSTAR’s biggest issues. As you might guess, I was blown away when [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] was revealed — it’s kind of difficult to put into perspective how massive this card is for Lugia VSTAR for so many reasons. Notably, one of Lugia VSTAR’s biggest weaknesses in the format was that it struggled to play any significant ACE SPEC, as [card name=”Prime Catcher ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] was relatively low-impact in Lugia VSTAR due to how difficult it is to find it when you need it, and [card name=”Master Ball ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] is equally underwhelming. Not only that, but the case of it being a “rainbow” Energy for the deck is huge, as even one copy gives you access to so many strong attacks, with the two most important ones being Amp You Very Much on Iron Hands ex (an attack significant enough that people were willing to play [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] to have access to it in the past) and Aqua Return on [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card].

Having access to these two is a huge buff to the deck’s Lost Zone box matchup in particular, with Iron Hands ex becoming a way that the deck can overrun the inherently somewhat slow Lost Zone decks and Aqua Return later in the game could give you access to searching out an [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] and then immediately remove the liability from the board if needed (this play comes up much more than you would think, not only in the Lost Zone box matchup). On top of this, though, the card somehow manages to get better with the card’s secondary effect; making the Pokemon it is attached to worth one fewer Prize card. The impact of this effect is unbelievable, with the main use cases being turning Iron Hands ex into a single-Prize Pokemon or making Cinccino worth zero Prize cards, both of which can be game-ending on their own if the opponent does not have access to [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card]. Understanding how to use Legacy Energy properly has now become the most critical part of mastering Lugia VSTAR, as the card is certainly one of the single strongest cards in Standard, forcing some decks to warp their deck-building strategy around having to deal with it.

Unbelievably, the set got even better for Lugia VSTAR too, with [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=”Jamming Tower” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] finding their place in most Lugia VSTAR deck lists. Of these, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex is by far the most significant addition, serving a role somewhat similar to the role [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] served in Lugia VSTAR when Silver Tempest first released, acting as an efficient attacker capable of at least Knocking Out most non-evolved two-Prize Pokemon. Unfortunately, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex is much less efficient at doing so than Radiant Charizard was, as it is worth two Prizes instead of one, so more often than not Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex is better suited for the end of the game when you only have a few Energy left, as Cinccino is usually able to get you over the finish line if you have a large volume of Energy left. Its large amount of HP can also come up sometimes, as some decks, such as Andrew Hedrick’s North America International Championship winning deck list are not capable of taking a one-hit Knock Out on a Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, so you can sometimes use it early in the game as a way to guarantee a favorable trade if it is fairly clear that the opponent will not have a way to respond to it.

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[cardimg name=”Carmine” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”217″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Carmine, on the other hand, was initially hyped up to be the next big thing for Lugia VSTAR, but in reality, the card is extremely underwhelming. Having the ability to draw cards on the first turn of the game going first can be useful sometimes, as it can sometimes be the difference between getting a turn one [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and not, but it also is not exactly the most efficient way to get there, especially since a lot of the time you will only be able to get Carmine in your hand by using an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] to find a Lumineon V and then search out the Carmine, but at that point you could have used Ultra Ball to search for the Lugia V outright and saved the step. With that said, I do think that the card definitely adds enough value that it is worth playing, but many players will play anywhere from two to four copies, and I think this is simply wrong, with the ideal count being one or zero.

Jamming Tower is by far the most surprising big addition for Lugia VSTAR in this format. Previously, the best Stadium card for this deck was either [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], which is often far too niche for a deck like Lugia VSTAR, or [card name=”Mesagoza” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], which has an extremely underwhelming effect. Jamming Tower solves both parts of this problem by offering an effect that is objectively good in a lot of situations (unlike Mesagoza) and is worth playing in multiples (unlike Collapsed Stadium). At first, you may think this card’s effect does not come up enough to be worth it, but even the occasional cases of shutting off [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] can be valuable. Where this card truly shines, though, is the Gardevoir ex matchup; if you get to go first (which, considering that most Gardevoir ex players choose to go second, this happens a lot), you can use Jamming Tower on the first turn to lock them out of [card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], setting them back an entire turn on top of them already having to go second. When combined with a turn two Amp You Very Much, you are decently likely to end the game on the spot, putting the opponent in a situation where they have to Enhanced Hammer to even have a chance, and even then you probably still win anyway. If the opponent can respond, they might do so by changing the Stadium and using [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] to Knock Out Iron Hands ex in one hit thanks to [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] buffing up their HP, but if they do this, another copy of Jamming Tower can take a Knock Out on this Drifloon, giving you another free Prize card and, potentially, the opportunity to take one or even two more that turn. Jamming Tower is so good in this matchup in particular, as it forces the opponent to play a way faster game than their deck is built to be able to do, which was a massive factor in my decision to play three copies at the North America International Championship.

Aside from the new cards, one of the biggest draws I had to playing Lugia VSTAR is simply that I like the deck! That’s it! Something that a lot of people do not talk about enough is that playing the deck you like the best is sometimes the best choice. Sure, it might not be the greatest idea to show up to a major tournament with a deck built around some bulk Pokemon ex or something, but if a deck that you like is meta-relevant, even if it’s not the absolute best play for the event, it’s sometimes best for you to play it solely because of comfort and experience. During the Silver Tempest format, I found a solid amount of success with Lugia VSTAR, so I naturally wanted to come back and try out an old favorite now that it is good again, so I put in as many games as I could with the new style and it was enough to carry me to a good finish. Now, I need to also address that I do think Lugia VSTAR is the best deck in the current format, with good matchups almost across the board (other than against [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] and Iron Hands ex / [card name=”Iron Crown ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card]) and an overall strong gameplan that is inherently extremely powerful, but in the final hours before the event Ian Robb, fellow writer Charlie Lockyer, and Jake Santiago all tried to convince me to play [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] with them. I ultimately stuck to what I was comfortable with, and I do not regret the decision at all. I also had access to Andrew Hedrick’s deck if I wanted to play it, but even with all of these other super successful deck lists easily accessible to me, I would always have still chosen Lugia VSTAR if given the chance to redo the event. A big part of why I feel this way, though, is because of how my deck list ended up looking for the event, which in a lot of ways felt nearly perfect.

My NAIC Decklist

[cardimg name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”186″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

When it came to building my deck for the North America International Championship, I generally went with the mindset that having cards that were more impactful in specific situations was better than oversaturating the deck with consistency cards. A joke some friends of mine and I will make from time to time is that shoving more consistency cards into the deck instead of adding more impactful ones only makes the deck more consistently terrible, which is something that can apply to Lugia VSTAR decks too. As such, my deck list might be called greedy by some people, especially with the slimmer Lugia VSTAR line, but the slight drop in consistency was pretty insignificant throughout the North America International Championship, as the times that I missed turn-two Summoning Star were mostly caused by my opponent Knocking Out my only [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] rather than missing Lugia V in the first place. The other techs that I added in their place, though, were hugely impactful, with each of them being directly involved in improving my overall win rate in the tournament. Other than this, my decklist is fairly standard unlike Alex Schemanske’s or Liam Halliburton’s Lugia VSTAR deck ists, which were massive deviations from the standard of Lugia VSTAR deck lists.

[decklist name=”lugia is back” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″][pokemon amt=”20″]4x [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cinccino ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Minccino ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Minccino” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Lugia V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” 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=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”24″]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Carmine” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jacq” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Roseanne’s Backup” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”148″ 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=”Great Ball” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Jamming Tower” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”16″]4x [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mist Energy ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Decklist Breakdown

Thick Cinccino Line

Many of the other most successful [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] deck lists from this tournament played a considerably smaller [card name=”Cinccino ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] package, if they played it at all, but I think that this was sort of a mistake. While the increased focus on [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] and other attackers is useful and was probably a good meta call for this particular tournament, with [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] expected to make a return to the format in the future, Cinccino is borderline necessary. The card is simply so powerful, essentially being an [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Shining Fates” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] in the sense that it Knocks Out anything for five Energy and it also is capable of being manually powered up if you have a weird start (I won one game by taking four Prize cards with a Cinccino before I even used Summoning Star!). With that said, [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] was an interesting inclusion that I did consider at one point and if I were to redo the event, removing one Cinccino for a Drapion V would maybe be my only change, as a way to efficiently Knock Out [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] is valuable, and Cinccino is pretty bad at that. The Minccino split was pretty set in stone for the entire deck-building process, though, with two [card name=”Minccino ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] TEF being needed for the 70 HP against [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and the [card name=”Minccino” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] BRS being useful sometimes for its Call for Family if you start with it or have a [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card].

Iron Bundle

[cardimg name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This card is so, so, so good and honestly the reason that I was able to make a deep run. When my friend Raz Wolpe suggested it, I knew immediately that it was going to lead me to a strong finish. A big part of why [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] decks have always liked using [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] is because it is super hard to have two Pokemon in play that are large enough to not die to Amp You Very Much while also being worth only one Prize card. As such, Iron Bundle is effectively a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] in these situations where it can just force the opponent to hand you two Prize cards. This same philosophy works quite well in my Lugia VSTAR build, as the combination of Cinccino and Iron Hands ex are similar to that of Chien-Pao ex and Iron Hands ex. It also comes up a lot against Gardevoir ex decks since they will often shove Gardevoir ex in the active to try and make you miss a Knock Out if you cannot find a Boss’s Orders, but Iron Bundle allows you to get this Knock Out anyway by forcing them to send something else into the Active Spot, possibly to get hit with Amp You Very Much. This particular effect is so valuable in Lugia VSTAR because it can be hard to find Boss’s Orders at times and having a card that does something close enough that is easier to search is the perfect solution to one of this deck’s fundamental issues. Conveniently, Iron Bundle proved to be extremely helpful against [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], too, allowing me to Summoning Star against a turbo Lost Zone box player that had Iron Thorns ex in their deck.

Roseanne’s Backup

Another awesome card with Iron Bundle is [card name=”Roseanne’s Backup” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], as it allows you a free reuse, a play that won me my Round 14. Roseanne’s Backup is also just one of the best utility Supporters in this deck, giving you a 17th Energy in most games, often allowing you to reuse [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] either for the “rainbow” Energy effect or to get access to the Prize card effect if the opponent denied you access to it earlier. I also found myself frequently recycling [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] if I discarded it early and needed it to close out a game. Similarly, I sometimes used it to recover Iron Hands ex alongside Legacy Energy to use Amp You Very Much an extra time, which can be a game-ending play depending on the situation.

Conclusion

When it came to the North America International Championship, I had very few expectations. I had just finished getting my invitation to the World Championship at the Los Angeles Regional Championship, so the event was mostly stress-free for me and I just decided I would try to do my best with one of my favorite decks, and I did exactly that. While I fell just short of Top 16, losing to fellow writer Grant Manley in the final round, I did manage to still squeak into Top 32 and put up a great finish for my first ever day two at an International Championship. Going forward, I expect [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] to remain at the top of the format as we approach the World Championship in August.

With that, this article draws to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences at the North America International Championship, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Until next time!

– Isaiah

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