The first day of the Pokémon TCG at NAIC 2024 was overwhelming, with nearly 50 percent of all decks at the event being one of the three archetypes.
Gardevoir EX vs Lugia VSTAR Pokemon TCG Live (PTCGL)
Lugia VSTAR, Raging Bolt/Ogerpon ex Teal Mask and Gardevoir ex dominate the metagame in a drastic shift from EUIC. After the release of Twilight Masquerade, Charizard ex decks have completely disappeared from the Pokémon TCG charts.
Outside of the big three, which are used by nearly 400 players in the Masters Division, the next best deck is Lost Zone Box. Surprisingly, Dragapult ex drops to fifth, a deck that many, including myself, expected to have a bigger presence at NAIC after its success in Japan.
Lugia VSTAR’s jump is a dramatic increase from its EUIC numbers, which nearly doubled between the two international events. The deck has begun to deploy a number of cards from Twilight Masquerade, including Blood Moon Ursaluna ex and the Ace Spec Legacy Energy, to turn the tide.
