One of My Top Choices for LAIC: Palkia / Terapagos

Hello to all PokeBeach readers! This is Gabriel Semedo again with another Pokémon TCG article, and this time, I’m going to talk about the combination of Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR and Terapagos ex — more precisely, about Thiago Giovanetti’s list, with which he won 12th place at the recent Joinville Regionals.

We are coming to the end of another format with the Latin America International Championships in November. However, the metagame has changed a lot lately, and I believe it will change even more before LAIC. From what we are seeing, there is still no clear best deck in format, as each Regionals gives us a new Top 8 and a different winning deck. If Regidrago VSTAR wins one Regionals, Raging Bolt ex  will show up positioned well to steal the title at the next one, and then Lost Box will suddenly return to take Raging Bolt’s throne. And with that, the metagame begins to change nonstop, and it still has not yet found a point of stability. To be honest, the closest thing we have to stability is Regidrago VSTAR, which I believe is the most balanced deck of all. However, it is undeniable that the arrival of Dusknoir with such partners as Terapagos and Palkia gave everything a good shake-up.

In the context of this unstable metagame, I want to present the deck used by Thiago at Joinville, which combines the best traits of Terapagos and Palkia, as I believe that it’s a good option and little has been said about it.

Two Palkia V, Two Palkia VSTAR

The list starts with Palkia VSTAR, which has grown strong again for two main reasons: Area Zero Underdepths and Radiant Greninja. Thanks to Area Zero, Palkia VSTAR can reach damage it has never reached before. To get a better understanding of how useful this is, let’s assume you attack with Palkia VSTAR while you have eight Pokémon on the Bench. How many Pokémon does your opponent need to have on their Bench for you to Knock Out their Active Pokémon?

If they have no Benched Pokémon, you’re already dealing 220 damage, which is enough to Knock Out most of the format’s Basic Pokémon ex and V, including Lugia V, Regidrago V, Origin Forme Palkia V, Fezandipiti ex, and Rotom V. With one Benched Pokémon, you can Knock Out Raging Bolt ex — though, in fairness, the opponent rarely has just one Pokémon on the Bench in this matchup anyway. With two, you can Knock Out Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex and Gholdengo ex.

But it’s with three Pokémon on the opponent’s Bench that Palkia really shines. This is perfect for Knocking Out the format’s Pokémon VSTAR, such as Regidrago VSTAR, Lugia VSTAR, and Palkia VSTAR. It won’t always be possible to achieve, though. Against Regidrago, the opponent could theoretically set up with just two Pokémon on the Bench, avoiding an early-game OHKO, but they won’t be able to sustain this for long without benching more Pokémon. Against Lugia, the big problem is V Guard Energy, which reduces Palkia’s damage by 30 and prevents an OHKO. And against Palkia, the opponent can reduce their own Bench size by Knocking Out their Dusknoir.

If your opponent has four Benched Pokémon, you can do 300 damage, which is enough to KO a Raging Bolt ex with Bravery Charm attached, and thankfully this comes up often, as Raging Bolt always has a full Bench. In other circumstances, though, you can rarely count on your opponent having a full Bench of five Pokémon, especially if they know what Palkia VSTAR is capable of. Sometimes, though, they don’t have much of an option. The main Pokémon you want to OHKO with a 320-damage attack is Dragapult ex, which does need a lot of support Pokémon on the Bench.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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