Hey everyone! My name is Owen Dalgard, and I am excited to begin writing for Cut or Tap. I am a professional Senior division player based in Maryland, and I travel the world playing the TCG. I am ranked in the Top 8 players in North America, and I am currently ranked #1 globally this quarter. You may know me from my Twitter, or from my consistent tournament placements this season, which include Top 8 at the World Championships and 1st place at the Knoxville Regional Championships.
Today I am going to talk about my recent Top 4 placement at the Charlotte Regional Championships, playing the Lugia VSTAR deck with a couple of interesting tech cards. As the Silver Tempest format comes to an end, we have seen Lugia VSTAR dominate the Pokemon TCG, with some notable placements being Tord Reklev’s 1st place at the Latin American International Championships and Andrew Hedrick’s back-to-back Regional wins at the Orlando and Knoxville. Personally, I have piloted Lugia to a Top 4 placement at the Arlington Regional Championships, top 8 at the Latin American Tnternational Championships, and recently a Top 4 placement at the Charlotte Regional Championships. With that being said, let’s dive into my journey to Top 4 with Lugia VSTAR!
The List
Here is the list that I chose to pilot to Top 4 at the Charlotte Regional Championships. This list was originally based on the Japanese player Taketo Seki’s Top 16 Lugia list from the Oceania International Championships.
| Pokémon – 20 | Trainers – 24 | Energy – 16 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Lugia V | 3 | Professor’s Reseach | 4 | Evolution Incense | 4 | Powerful | ||
| 2 | Lugia Vstar | 2 | Boss’s Orders | 4 | Quick Ball | 4 | Aurora | ||
| 4 | Archeops | 2 | Marnie | 4 | Ultra Ball | 3 | Capture | ||
| 2 | Lumineon V | 1 | Irida | 1 | Lost Vacuum | 2 | Double Turbo | ||
| 1 | Dunsparce | 1 | Serena | 1 | Cancelling Cologne | 1 | Heat | ||
| 1 | Oranguru | 1 | Choice Belt | 1 | Speed | ||||
| 1 | Stoutland V | 1 | V-Guard | ||||||
| 1 | Drapion V | ||||||||
| 1 | Yveltal | ||||||||
| 1 | Radiant Charizard | ||||||||
| 1 | Raikou VIV | ||||||||
| 1 | Dunsparce | ||||||||
| 1 | Manaphy | ||||||||
Lugia VSTAR has been the main archetype I have been playing during the Silver Tempest format for a couple key reasons. The main reason I enjoy playing the Lugia VSTAR deck is its consistency. Lugia VSTAR is one of, if not the, most consistent deck in the format right now. By being able to set up its board very easily with the inclusion of four Evolution Incense, Quick Balls, and Ultra Balls, and the ability to easily find cards with the inclusion of three Professor’s Research, two Marnie, and two Lumineon V’s, Lugia can gain a key advantage over decks who struggle to set up against them.
The second key reason why I enjoy playing the Lugia VSTAR deck is its variance in matchups. What I mean is that the Lugia VSTAR deck always changes its strategies when playing against different matchups. For example, when playing against decks with large attackers such as Duraludon VMAX and Mew VMAX, your main attacker in these matchups will be Amazing Rare Yveltal, while in matchups with single-prize attackers such as Lost Box, you won’t be using Yveltal at all.
The final reason I enjoy playing Lugia VSTAR is how the deck is constantly growing and improving. Players are continuing to make new changes to the Lugia VSTAR deck, and are still innovating to create the most optimal decklist possible.
Important Cards
Drapion V
Drapion V was my main innovation to Lugia VSTAR, as well as my most controversial inclusion. Drapion V is a popular inclusion to decks such as Lost Box and Palkia VSTAR, due to their poor matchup against Mew VMAX before the addition. The difference in adding Drapion V to Lugia VSTAR is that Lugia already has a pretty decent matchup against Mew VMAX. I included Drapion V in my Lugia VSTAR deck because of my knowledge on the Senior metagame. The Duraludon VMAX deck has won the past three Regionals, as well as performing extremely well at previous events. Because of Duraludon VMAX’s major success, I knew that the other top Seniors would be trying to counter Duraludon, mainly with Mew VMAX. Because of this knowledge, I used this to my advantage. By adding Drapion V into Lugia, it makes the matchup much more consistent, adding an extra attacker that can one-hit a full-health Mew VMAX; other ways to do this are Yveltal, and a fully powered-up Lugia VSTAR with a Choice Belt and four Powerful Energy. Having another attacker that can one-hit Mew VMAX is super powerful in the matchup, because you can threaten your opponent by benching both Drapion V and Yveltal in one turn, forcing your opponent to kill one of these attackers. This sets you up next turn to get a knockout with the Pokemon your opponent didn’t knock out. This helps make your prize trade a lot easier, as well as adding an out for prizing Yveltal, or if you are behind. I believe Drapion V added a lot of consistency for my Mew VMAX matchup, and helped me win multiple games.
Canceling Cologne
Canceling Cologne was my second tech for the Mew VMAX matchup. Canceling Cologne helps you get through the Aerodactyl VSTAR Ability, which turns off your Pokemon V’s Abilities, making it impossible to use Lugia VSTAR’s Summoning Star Ability to get out your two Archeops. Having this out to Aerodactyl helps improve the Mew VMAX matchup by a lot when you go second. If they go first and use Aerodactyl VSTAR, and then you are able to use Canceling Cologne and knockout their Aerodactyl VSTAR, you will be significantly ahead by taking the first prize cards, and by having them already used their VSTAR ability.
Canceling Cologne also synergizes well with my inclusion of Irida, which is a Supporter card that lets you get a water Pokemon and an Item card out of your deck. This makes finding Canceling Cologne and pulling off the play against Aerodactyl VSTAR much easier.
Cologne can also be used in niche situations that can help you win games, such as against Lost Box, where you use Boss’s Orders to put the opponent’s Manaphy in the active, then using Canceling Cologne to turn off Manaphy’s Ability, making it so you can use Raikou to take two prize cards. Finally, Canceling Cologne can also be useful against the Eternatus VMAX deck, which is rising in popularity, due to it winning the Charlotte Regional Championships in the Masters division.
Lost Vacuum
Instead of playing the typical two Canceling Cologne or two Lost Vacuum lines, I chose to run a one-one Lost Vacuum and Canceling Cologne line. I decided to stick with Lost Vacuum after choosing to play Canceling Cologne, because of the major presence of Duraludon VMAX in the meta. Lost Vacuum helps make the prize trade in the Duraludon VMAX matchup much easier, making it so you can knock out one Arceus V or VSTAR with your Lugia VSTAR, then knock out a Duraludon VMAX with your Yveltal by using Lost Vacuum to remove Big Parasol. Then if they have a second Duraludon VMAX, you can knock it out using Canceling Cologne or by using Yveltal again if they don’t knock it out. Lost Vacuum can also be used to remove cards such as Choice Belt from an opponent’s Lugia VSTAR, or a Cape of Toughness from an Articuno or a Regigigas.
Irida
Irida was a must-have in my deck and it synergizes perfectly with Canceling Cologne and Lost Vacuum. Irida can help find an Item card whenever you need it, especially with getting it off of Lumineon V. Irida can also find cards like Choice Belt to attack onto a Lugia VSTAR or Raikou, or it can find an Ultra Ball or Evolution Incense to help get your two Archeops into the discard. Irida can also search for a water Pokemon, which could be a Lumineon V to get a Supporter for next turn, or a Manaphy to help protect your bench against Lost Box or Lugia VSTAR mirror.
Raikou/Speed Energy
I have found the combination of Raikou and Speed energy to be essential to the optimal Lugia VSTAR build. Raikou has many uses in the meta, being a useful attacker in the Lugia VSTAR mirror, adding additional ways to take two prize cards against Lost Box along with Stoutland V, and adding a quick way to take prize cards against Palkia VSTAR. The main reason I decided to use Raikou and Speed energy is to add another main attacker to use against Lost Box. Raikou forces the Lost Box player to bench Manaphy, and if they fail to bench Manaphy then you are able to take an easy two prize cards, knocking out your opponent’s active Pokemon, as well as a benched Pokemon of your choice. If you are able to pull off this combo along with a knockout with Stoutland V’s Double Dip Fangs attack to take another two prize cards, it will put you far ahead on the prize trade, helping you win the match.
Tournament Report
W Round 1 (No Show):
This was very unexpected for me, but in Round 1 I had a no-show! Never have had a round 1 bye or no-show, but I will of course take the free win!
WW Round 2 (Lost Box):
I played against a Lost Box/Sky Seal Stone deck. In both games, I was able to get ahead quickly by using Stoutland V and Raikou, and quickly 2-0’ed him.
WLW Round 3 (Arceus/Radiant Eternatus/Duraludon):
In Game 1, my opponent used Colress’s Experiment and Lost Zoned away a Fighting energy, then used Quick Ball only to realize he prized his other two Fighting energies and quickly scooped.
In Game 2, my opponent started Radiant Eternatus, but I had a very poor start and he was able to quickly beat me, as I was unable to get two Archeops into the discard pile by Turn 3.
In Game 3, we both had solid starts, but my opponent was only able to setup one Duraludon VMAX, and I was able to knock it out by using Lost Vacuum to discard his Big Parasol, then using Yveltal for the match.
WLL Round 4 (Lugia):
I hit my first Lugia mirror match, and it was a very eventful one. In Game 1, I go first and we are both able to setup our Lugia VSTARs and get two Archeops on the board. I took a couple easy prize cards at the start using my Lumineon V and my Lugia VSTAR, and I finished out the game by using Boss’s Orders to promote my opponent’s Lumineon V into the active and knock it out with my Radiant Charizard.
In Game 2, my opponent goes first and we both set up again. I am trading knockouts with him, but towards the end of the game I am forced to use my Lugia VSTAR to do 250 to his active Lugia VSTAR. This puts me in an awkward situation, but I still have a win condition. I have four prize cards remaining and have two energies left in my deck and one in my prize cards. On that turn, my goal was to knock out my opponent’s Lumineon V using one energy on Radiant Charizard. Then on the next turn, I would use Boss’s Orders and use Dunsparce’s attack which does 30 for two Colorless energy to win the game. Unfortunately, I don’t get the last energy from my prize cards, and I am unable to attack, losing me Game 2.
In Game 3 I go first, but I have an awful start and am unable to get double Archeops into the discard by Turn 2, but I still have a chance! On Turn 3, I am able to fully set up, and I use Lumineon V to knock out my opponent’s Manaphy. This makes it so I can use Raikou next turn to take three prize cards. I use Irida to get a Choice Belt from my deck, and am able to knock out my opponentss active Lugia VSTAR as well as their Oranguru. On the next turn, my opponent only has single-prize Pokemon on the board and I am forced to take one prize. Time has been called, and my opponent is on “Turn 2” (his last turn), where he draws Boss’s Orders off of my Marnie and uses Radiant Charizard to win the game, losing me round 4.
WW Round 5 (Palkia w/ Articuno):
I was very worried about this matchup because I chose not to play any switching outs such as Bird Keeper in my deck, and I knew this would be a tough match. In Game 1, my opponent was very flustered and made a few errors that lost him the game. First, he drew three cards off of Concealed Cards instead of two, resulting in a double-prize penalty. Second, he played down Palkia V when it was unnecessary in the moment, and I was able to knock out the VSTAR the turn after. Finally, my opponent accidentally declared the incorrect attack on Articuno, resulting in him only dealing 20 damage instead of dealing 70 and paralyzing, which cost him the game.
In Game 2, I had a great start, and was able to win the game by using unevolved Lugia V’s to attack, so when they would paralyze me I could evolve into Lugia VSTAR and remove the condition, allowing the same Pokemon to attack again.
LWT Round 6 (Lost Box Rayquaza):
This matchup is usually a very 50/50 matchup so I wasn’t too excited to play against it. In Game 1, I was unable to bench Manaphy early in the game, so my opponent capitalized on this and took an early knockout on my Lugia VSTAR and Oranguru, putting me too far behind and losing me the game.
In Game 2, I was able to bench Manaphy early, and with the combination of Stoutland V and Lumineon V, I was able to stay ahead on the prize trade and win Game 2.
By Game 3, time had already been called, and we did not have enough time to finish, so the match ended in a tie.
WLW Round 7 (Lost Box Rayquaza):
This time I felt much more confident, after facing it the previous round. In Game 1, my opponent prized their Manaphy and was unable to find their Heavy Ball quickly enough, so I was able to use Raikou to take multiple knockouts on my opponent’s Pokemon in one turn, which put me too far ahead of my opponent, winning me Game 1.
In Game 2, my opponent went first, and I was only able to setup a Lugia V in the active and an Oranguru on the bench. My opponent was able to use Raikou on his second turn to knock out both of my Pokemon, losing me game 2.
In Game 3 I went first, and was able to set up my Lugia VSTAR and two Archeops by the second turn. I was able to use Marnie, then use Stoutland V to knock out my opponent’s active Comfey and take two prize cards. My opponent was unable to find a way to knockout my Stoutland V, so I was able to use it again to take another two prize cards. Now I was way too far ahead of my opponent for them to catch up, winning me Game 3.
WW Round 8 (Mew w/ Aerodactyl):
I hit none other than Taylor Johnson, one of my good friends, and one of the best Seniors in North America. I knew he was playing Mew, and I was excited for the matchup because I had built my specific Lugia list to mainly beat Mew.
In Game 1, I went first, but I was unable to get a Lugia V on the bench during Turn 1, so I was very behind. My opponent was able to set up Aerodactyl VSTAR and I was not in a good spot. Then out of nowhere, my opponent conceded the game. I was very confused but then my opponent showed me his prize cards, and he had prized two Mew VMAX. The first action my opponent made was using Quick Ball to discard a Mew VMAX, so because of this my opponent had zero VMAXs left in his deck, and had no way to win.
In Game 2, my opponent went first, and started with “draw pass.” Because of this I was able to get ahead easily, and won Game 2.
LWW Top 8 (Mew Aerodactyl):
In Game 1, I went first but I was unable to setup my Lugia VSTAR quickly enough, and my opponent was able to take quick knockouts to win.
In Game 2, I went first, and after getting a decent setup on Turn 1, my opponent went “draw pass,” and I was able to knock out my opponent’s active Genesect on Turn 2.
In Game 3, my opponent went first, and was able to get a decent start, setting up a few Genesect Vs and an Aerodactyl V. On my turn I am able to set up a decent board as well, getting out two Lugia V’s. I am about to use Lumineon V to grab an Irida for next turn to get Canceling Cologne, but then I notice one of the pieces is prized. This is a big problem, because if my opponent is able to use Aerodactyl VSTAR’s Ability, I would be unable to use Lugia VSTAR’s Ability, practically losing me the game. Fortunately, my opponent is unable to get the remaining pieces to use Aerodactyl VSTAR and I am able to win the game using Drapion V and Yveltal.
LL Top 4 (Lugia):
In Game 1, I went first, but had an awful start, not being able to discard any Archeops, and having very awkward Supporters in my hand for next turn. I miss Lugia VSTAR on Turn 2 and my opponent is able to use this momentum to win Game 1.
In Game 2, I go first and have a very similar start to Game 1. I get zero Archeops in the discard and am unable to find a Lugia VSTAR. I finally used Evolution Incense to search for a Lugia VSTAR and realize that I prized both of them. At this point I realized the game was over, and after struggling for a couple more turns my opponent won the match. This was a very unfortunate way to end my tournament, but I am happy with my placement nevertheless.
Final Record: 7-2-1 (4th Place)
Conclusion:
Overall, my tournament went very smoothly, and I didn’t brick until Top 4. The added Drapion V and Canceling Cologne didn’t noticeably hurt consistency and helped me win the Mew VMAX matchup much more often. I believe this tournament really showed how the metagame evolves over time, and how you have to adapt your deck with it. Being able to predict what decks will be popular for each event can really change what cards you can include in your lists. Being able to adapt with the metagame, especially as a Senior, is crucial for becoming a top player.
I hope this article helped you on your journey to becoming a better player. Thank you so much for reading!