Moving Forward — A Post-Worlds Reflection on the Format

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to writing another article for you all!

[cardimg name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Last time, I talked about my top picks heading into the World Championships, and while I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the format, I was blown away by how accurate my assessment ended up being. Some of my conclusions were pretty obvious, such as [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] clearly being the best deck, with decks like [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] being not too far behind it. What surprised me, though, was my correct prediction that both [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] were good plays for the event — and they ultimately played each other in the finals! When I saw that this was the case headed into Sunday, my jaw dropped. I thought there was a good chance for both decks to make decent runs, even considering playing them myself up until the final day before the event, but I did not expect them to perform that well. To me, this was also maybe the biggest indicator that my testing process for the event was strong because, while there was not much to discover about the format, I do think that I was able to come to all of the right conclusions about what to expect.

As for my personal run at the event, I finished 5–3, losing my win-and-in match for Day 2, with Regidrago VSTAR. Like many others, I identified very early on that the deck was by far the best deck in the format, and I decided that it was in my best interest to put as much time as possible into optimizing my deck list for the event. My group of friends all agreed with me. Ultimately, six of us ended up playing the following deck list:

[decklist name=”worlds 2024″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Regidrago V” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Goodra VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Superior Energy Retrieval” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]7x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]Well, technically we did not all play this exact 60, with three of the people in our group playing a [card name=”Capturing Aroma” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] over the fourth Nest Ball, but functionally the deck list was identical. Five of the six in our group made it to our win-and-in games, including myself and fellow writer Charlie Lockyer. Unfortunately, Charlie and I both lost, but two of the other three were able to make it through — Ian Robb and Vance Kelley. After Day 2 had concluded, Vance did not quite make it to Top 32, getting up to 8-1-1 but narrowly losing the last two matches. Ian, on the other hand, was able to make the miracle 4–0 run all the way to Top 8, where he unfortunately was unable to advance. Overall, I think our deck list was incredibly successful, and I am really proud of the product we were able to put together. While I do think that our list was strong for that event, I do wonder if it is good enough going forward, and that’s going to be the primary focus of today’s article: How do we adapt to the results of the World Championships?

Using the World Championships to Prepare for Baltimore

Beating Regidrago VSTAR

At this point, it is no secret that Regidrago VSTAR was by far the most successful deck at this year’s World Championships, making up half of the Top 8 and having six more in the rest of Top 32. This level of success is usually pretty uncommon at the World Championships, especially with such a large percentage of Top 8, so naturally, adapting to this is the key thing going forward. The deck was played by just over 24% of the event’s players, which is a similar rate to Lugia VSTAR when it was at its prime back in late 2022, so it’s fair to assume that it too could end up being the most popular deck in the next format.

Beating Regidrago VSTAR can be a very challenging task, as the deck has an unreal amount of versatility while also being extremely consistent and powerful. You can never hope to beat it in a long game because if they understand you’re taking it slow, they can easily just save Legacy Star to recover game-winning resources. That’s why [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] has pretty much ceased to be a competitively viable deck at this point, as the deck will always get outpaced by Regidrago VSTAR in the early game, and by the time Gardevoir ex is able to set up, Regidrago VSTAR is just way too far ahead for a comeback to ever be realistic. Decks that pace themselves similarly to Regidrago VSTAR, where you produce powerful threats on your second turn, such as Lugia VSTAR, are generally pretty good against Regidrago VSTAR, but Lugia VSTAR in particular can be teched against with [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], giving Regidrago VSTAR a reliable way to win the game by canceling out its opponent’s benefits.

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The most effective strategy is to abuse Regidrago VSTAR’s one true weakness, which is that it is an Evolution Pokemon, meaning that it cannot possibly use a meaningful attack on its first turn. Decks like [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and Roaring Moon ex all take advantage of this weakness by attempting to take two Prize cards on their first turn, putting them in a position where the Regidrago VSTAR player may be unable to catch up before they get run off the board. I personally was a firsthand victim of this when I played against Jesse Parker and his Miraidon ex deck during Round 4. I was only able to get a single Regidrago V out on my first turn both games of our best-of-three, and his turn-two Photon Blaster Knock Out on my only Regidrago V with the help of [card name=”Prime Catcher ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] was enough to pretty much end the game outright. James Goreing and Seinosuke Shiokawa both came to the same conclusion about how to beat Regidrago VSTAR, and the event ended well for each of them as well, so it begs the question: Is it best to play one of these aggressive two-Prize decks?

Are the 2–2–2 Decks the Best Decks?

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

I’m not sure who came up with the idea of referring to these decks as “2–2–2 decks,” but I am a big fan of the term. It is meant to describe the decks that are better at taking three two-Prize Knock Outs than any other deck in Standard, which I do think is a really solid strategy going forward. They are all really good against Regidrago VSTAR, while also being good against some of the weirder decks in the format, like Gardevoir ex, Iron Thorns ex, and (sort of) Lugia VSTAR. Additionally, they all have their strengths and weaknesses against each other, so playing any of these decks into a tournament where you expect the other 2–2–2 decks to be popular, you at least should not have any super unfavored matchups. Well, except for one deck: Charizard ex.

These deck have an embarrassingly bad Charizard ex matchup across the board, getting completely obliterated by the duo of Charizard ex and Radiant Charizard. All of the 2–2–2 decks have one huge weakness, which is any deck that can disrupt their Prize map. That’s exactly what Charizard ex is best at doing. If you take an early single-Prize Knock Out against Charizard ex, you activate [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] and set yourself up to be swept by Burning Darkness. Alternatively, if you are lucky enough to get ahead by two, possibly by preying on [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] or something, the opponent can easily mix in a Radiant Charizard. My personal favorite way to do this is, while the opponent has two Prize cards remaining, to make a board of Radiant Charizard, [card name=”Charmeleon” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] so you can easily attack for two Prize cards during the next turn no matter what the opponent does, while not having any two-Prize Pokemon in play for them to prey on, effectively checkmating them outright.

Another flaw for these 2–2–2 decks is that Ancient Box with [card name=”Roaring Moon ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]as well as Lost Zone with Radiant Charizard, have started to appear in the format again. Both of these decks can, by nature, force the opponent onto a 1–1–1–1–1–1 game plan instead of 2–2–2, which is much less appealing, especially when the opponents can take a 2–2–2 Prize map against you with ease. While neither of these decks is super popular yet, they do pose an existential issue for the 2–2–2 decks and we could see them appear at the Baltimore Regional Championships as a result. Even so, I expect the 2–2–2 decks to put up strong finishes at the Baltimore Regional Championships because of their fantastic position in the meta.

Are the anti-2–2–2 decks actually good?

In short, I don’t think so. Charizard ex, Ancient Box, and Lost Zone all are universally pretty powerful decks that should be much better than they are, but they all share a glaring weakness to Regidrago VSTAR. In a weird way, this format is a rock-paper-scissors format, but instead of three decks, it’s three categories, and one of those categories is much, much better than the others. It’s like if the rules of rock-paper-scissors were changed so rock crushes scissors and tears through paper. It would just completely ruin the game, and that’s kind of what Regidrago VSTAR does to the current decks in the Standard format. It naturally beats the anti-2–2–2 decks most of the time, and sometimes beats the 2–2–2 decks as well even though the matchup looks worse on paper.

As a result, I do not think the anti-2–2–2 decks are actually that good at all. Ancient Box and Lost Zone in particular stand out to me as decks that are so intrinsically flawed as archetypes that it is impossible for them to ever be truly great in this format. There’s always the chance that the consistent, aggressive nature of the 2–2–2 decks will just run you over anyway, especially considering the presence of [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] in Miraidon ex.

Of the three decks I’ve mentioned here, I think that Charizard ex has the most potential, but I think it might require a fundamental rework to how the archetype is being approached right now, because what we are currently doing is not enough. I think that Pedro Pertusi’s list from the World Championship was headed in the right direction by playing Prime Catcher again, opening up the opportunity for Charizard ex to be a bit more aggressive, which is something that I briefly mentioned in my pre-Worlds article. Even then, things are pretty tough against Regidrago VSTAR. Tord Reklev’s deck list for Charizard ex is a pretty clear example of coping by just shoving like ten different bad cards into your deck to try and salvage the matchup — instead, it feels like it now has a poor matchup against literally everything because the deck does not function. In reality, the solution may just be building a deck list for Charizard ex that is designed to do well into every other deck in Standard while taking a poor Regidrago VSTAR matchup. That  also doesn’t feel good, though. Ultimately, it just feels like playing any of these decks cannot possibly be worth it when Regidrago VSTAR is so far ahead of everything else.

The Annoying Decks

Sometimes, when you find it difficult to come up with a deck that you actually want to play in the Pokemon TCG, the best answer is to just make it so your opponent hates the game even more than you do. This is where Iron Thorns ex and [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] stand out. However, the latter is horrible right now — like, really, really bad. Snorlax has been an everlasting presence in the format since Counter Catcher came out, but at long last cards have been printed to completely gatekeep the deck out of existing. In particular, [card name=”Pecharunt ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card] is the hardest counter that could have possibly been printed, completely negating the entire strategy of Block. It’s also really difficult for Block to consistently beat Regidrago VSTAR thanks to the combination of Legacy Star, Prime Catcher, [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. Canceling Cologne in particular is also a massive existential issue for Iron Thorns ex, though it can be hard for the Cologne player to find it. The actual issue arises with decks like Charizard ex adding copies of it, making it extremely difficult for Iron Thorns to ever pull together a win against them, as they can pretty effortlessly find it with [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card]. Then a Charizard ex is inevitable, and once one hits the board, it’s game-ending. With basically nothing Iron Thorns ex can do in this matchup, an already troubling Regidrago VSTAR matchup, and suspect matchups into the 2–2–2 decks, things are looking bleak for the annoying decks in the current format, and you’re almost always better off just playing a normal deck.

Is There Anything Else?

I’ve looked high and low during the time since the World Championships, and I’ve struggled to find much of anything actually interesting or fun to play. I think decks like Henry Brand’s [card name=”Banette ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] deck have a bit of potential, but I’m not exactly sure of the best way to play these decks. I feel like Banette ex in particular is a bit weak right now. I have also put serious, legitimate time into [card name=”Klawf” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Palafin ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], the latter of which may be the topic of my next article, but I’m not certain of how good it is due to some consistency issues. The more I explore the weird stuff, the more I feel there’s a lot more to be learned about this format, but I’m also doubtful that any of these decks are actually worth the amount of time you would need to put into them for them to actually be good. Instead, you should probably just keep playing Regidrago VSTAR.

Conclusion

The entire format seemed to shift dramatically with the release of Shrouded Fable. Regidrago VSTAR went from a solid deck that did well at the North America International Championships to a format-defining powerhouse that will surely leave an everlasting mark on the history of the game. [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] was also able to almost single-handedly warp the format around itself by acting as a powerful way for aggressive decks to keep drawing cards to close out games that they may have otherwise struggled to win, which is both good and bad for the state of the format. As we keep moving forward, I expect Regidrago VSTAR and the 2–2–2 decks to take up an overwhelming majority of the meta share at Baltimore, which is sure to produce an interesting result. If playing Pokemon for twelve years now has taught me anything, it’s that over-centralized metagames always lead to something crazy popping up to win the event. With Stellar Crown on the horizon, I’m a bit disappointed that we will not get to the format fully fleshing out like I think it could, but hopefully something fun comes out of what we have before then.

With that, this article draws to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed giving this article a read and I hope that my insight will prove to be helpful in your upcoming tournaments! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave them in the comments below or reach out to me on social media! Until next time!

– Isaiah

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