Regidrago VSTAR — Not the BDIF in a Vacuum, But the BDIF for a Wide Meta
Hello to all PokeBeach readers! This is Gabriel Semedo, and this time, I’m going to talk about the second of my two deck options for the Latin America International Championships (LAIC): the renowned Regidrago VSTAR. You can check out my other deck option, the combination of Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR and Terapagos ex, in my previous article.
At the time of writing this article, the tournament is coming up soon, so I think it’s remarkable that I’ve managed to reduce my options to two. Sometimes I feel like I’m a little late in my preparation, like I should have already decided on my choice with the full 60 sleeved up. Then, however, I stop and see how the metagame is going. I’d venture to say that I’ve never witnessed a metagame with so many deck options as this. By my count, there are at least 19 decks that could win at LAIC, and I’m not kidding about that. Regidrago, Lugia VSTAR, Raging Bolt ex , Charizard ex, Iron Thorns ex, Snorlax, Terapagos, Gardevoir ex, Dragapult ex, Palkia / Dusknoir, Palkia / Terapagos, Lost Zone, Roaring Moon ex, Pidgeot ex Control, Miraidon ex, Gholdengo ex, Banette ex, Klawf, and Gouging Fire ex . I believe that all of these decks have a real chance of winning the LAIC if the player knows very well what they are doing, and if they have a little luck in their matchups. And in this extensive list, I even failed to mention other decks that were incredible in previous formats, like Chien-Pao ex and Ancient Box. If you include those, the list would be even longer.
In a broad metagame like this, it will be impossible to find the perfect deck, as there will always be bad matchups. I believe the right thing to do is choose a deck that can have a chance against most of these 19 contenders, and if possible get some good matchups against some of them. And that’s why Palkia / Terapagos and Regidrago VSTAR seem so good to me.
Palkia / Terapagos Lists from Brazil and Denmark
Palkia / Terapagos has proven to be a very decent deck in my testing, easily capable of playing against all the metagame’s contenders on equal terms. In my previous article, I did an in-depth analysis of Brazilian Thiago Giovanetti’s list at Joinville Regionals. After my article, at Gdansk Regionals, three players from Denmark implemented an interesting new list. Although the main strategy of both decks is to deal very high damage with Palkia VSTAR, both lists have their peculiarities, geared mainly toward specific matchups you want an advantage in.
Thiago’s list lets you attack with Iron Leaves ex to Knock Out Charizard ex, and also emphasizes Terapagos ex’s second attack, which prevents damage from non-Colorless Basic Pokémon. This attack ends up being useful against decks like Raging Bolt, Iron Thorns, Ancient Box, Klawf, Gouging Fire, and Miraidon ex.
Meanwhile, the Danes played four copies of Jet Energy, which, in addition to greatly increasing your ability to attack on your first turn with Fan Rotom, Volbeat, or Illumise, also helps a lot when facing Blocklax, Banette, or Pidgeot Control. And, speaking of the bugs, it’s worth highlighting the creativity of the Danes in using these Pokémon to make the most of Jet Energy. Volbeat lets you set up strongly even going first, but if you go second, the attack is still worthwhile to fill your Bench with Origin Forme Palkia V in the case that your opponent is threatening a Knock Out on one of them. Illumise is considered much more of a tech card, but there will be times when its attack will save you from an overwhelming start by your opponent, especially by returning the only Palkia V, Lugia V, or Regidrago V on their field.
In the end, the Danes’ list ends up being a little more consistent, something I like in general, but Thiago Giovanetti’s list has several unique features that can help in a huge tournament with a broad metagame.
Regidrago VSTAR Wins More than Any Other Deck
According to Limitless, Regidrago VSTAR is the deck with the most good results in this format, with some victories and several good placements at Regionals. For the first time in a long time, Charizard ex has lost its throne and is currently only the fourth most successful deck. What explains this?
More than Stellar Crown, I believe that the main reason for Charizard ex’s downfall is the constant creation and adaptation of decks with the aim of beating the BDIF. The rise of decks like Dragapult, Palkia, Banette ex, and even Regidrago VSTAR has given Charizard ex a lot of problems. Furthermore, there are control decks designed specifically to beat it. Another point that I consider important is the fact that several of the best players in the world have simply stopped using the deck. With at least 18 other good deck options in the metagame, they realized they could make a better choice without as many targets on its back. Without Charizard ex as the absolute BDIF, the metagame opened up again, as several decks that had horrible matchups against Charizard have started to reappear. Terapagos ex is a deck that stands out well in a world without Charizard ex. Miraidon, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, and Roaring Moon are also decks that are very grateful for Charizard’s removal from the spotlight.
The metagame has become very open, and with so many decks standing out, there’s hardly even a point to inserting tech cards to win one or two matchups. In the end, the solution is to make the most consistent list possible and have a little luck with your pairings. However, Regidrago VSTAR is something of an exception, as its attacks are already ideal techs for the format. If you have a deck that can use Dragapult ex’s attack better than the Dragapult ex deck itself; and you can use Kyurem‘s attack, which is a stronger attack than a VSTAR Power, and you can use Giratina VSTAR’s attack, which is perfect against all VSTAR decks in the format, you already cover a good part of the meta.
You might notice that Dragon-type decks in this format don’t usually have bad matchups; they usually lose to themselves. Raging Bolt doesn’t have a bad matchup; it usually loses to Iono to one plus a Knock Out on a Fezandipiti ex. Dragapult ex usually loses due to not being able to set up. Regidrago VSTAR doesn’t lose to Iono or to its own setup, but rather because Regidrago VSTAR is relatively fragile. The matchups in which the opponent can Knock Out Regidrago VSTAR with one attack are the most difficult. With luck you can set up two Regidrago for consecutive turns, but the third is impossible. That’s why Radiant Charizard is so important to the deck’s strategy. To get a good matchup against a Dragon-type deck, you’ll benefit from finding a structural weakness in the deck. Simply going head to head with them is usually a good way to lose.
This concludes the public portion of this article.
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