The biggest tournament run by TPCI of all time has concluded, and Cyrus Davis took down over 1800 players with one of the most unique decks in the format: Rapid Strike Urshifu and Inteleon VMAX. I most recently returned from the North American International Championships placing 19th, and I learned a lot about the metagame, and where the deck I chose to play leads into the 2023-2024 competitive TCG season, along with Worlds next month.
What’s up, everyone! SmartTCG here, and I’m excited to be writing another article for Cut Or Tap! If you are looking for any cards in this article, make sure to check out DeadDrawGaming.Com.
Alright lets hop into it!
The Phoenix Rises Again
With decks like Gardevoir ex, and Lost Zone Tool Box, stealing headlines at the beginning of the Paldea Evolved format, it seemed like everyone’s eyes had turned off of Lugia VSTAR. A week before the North American International Championships, Puerto Rico held a special event with over 100 players. Jon Eng was able to take the event down with Turbo Lost Box, and Lugia was nowhere to be found. The most notable player that decided to play the deck was Connor FInton, and he finished in the Top 32 of that event. It really seemed like Lugia VSTARs time was up in the Standard format.
Arriving home from Puerto Rico off a mediocre 3-1-3 record, I had some soul searching to do. As a player who was on the cusp of achieving an automatic Day 2 Worlds Invite to Yokohama, I had to find something that I knew could carry me into Day 2. The North American International Championships in Columbus, Ohio was expected to be the biggest tournament in the history of TPCI held events, and the stakes had never been higher. I began testing multiple decks with my testing group. Decks like Gardevoir, and Lost Zone Tool box intrigued me, but I was concerned about their tie rates. Both decks did not feel like they could easily finish a three-game set every round, which is something that really began to turn me off of it. I want as many opportunities to do well at an event as I can, and I felt like always giving myself three games was something that I could not pass up.
After upgrading to Stage 2 you will see the rest of Gabe’s article, an audio file of Andy Hyun narrating this article, and PTCGL friendly deck exports here: 
You must have a Stage 2 Membership or greater to see the rest of this post. If you don't have a Stage 2 account, you can Sign Up for one here.
You must have a Stage 2 Membership or greater to see the rest of this post. If you don't have a Stage 2 account, you can Sign Up for one here.