Swinging the Sphene — Refining Regidrago VSTAR
Regidrago VSTAR has proven itself to be the best deck in the current format with many high placements at Regional Championships, including coming first and second at the Toronto Regional Championships. The deck has proven itself to be robust and has managed to succeed despite many decks being constructed with beating Regidrago VSTAR in mind. Players have mostly agreed on how the Regidrago VSTAR deck should be built, however, there are still many questions surrounding the finer choices in the decklist and which Dragon Pokemon to include as attackers.
Which Pokemon to Choose?
Dragapult ex, Hisuian Goodra VSTAR, Kyurem, and Giratina VSTAR have all been established as core attackers for the deck, but Alolan Exeggutor ex and Haxorus are still debated by many players. Hisuian Goodra VSTAR was also a big question in the deck during the Stellar Crown format as many players chose to forego it for a second Dragapult ex due to the higher presence of the mirror match and the Klawf / Terapagos ex deck, and fewer regular Terapagos ex / Noctowl decks being present. Alolan Exeggutor ex does create some flashy moments with huge Swinging Sphene flips (such as in game three of the finals of Toronto Regionals), however, its main strength comes from being able to take a guaranteed two-Prize Knock Out (as long as there is a two-Prizer Active and on the Bench) without sending two Energy to the Lost Zone with Giratina VSTAR’s Lost Impact or discarding cards from your deck with Haxorus’s Dragon Pulse. This is especially strong against Raging Bolt ex, as it is often difficult for you to get through their Bravery Charm. Swinging Sphene can also be strong against various control decks that use Mimikyu or Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, as it goes through their protective Abilities. Lastly, Swinging Sphene can be useful in the mirror match while your opponent is hiding behind a Cleffa as you can KO their Regidrago V off the Bench, but this ideally is only a last resort as you almost lose the game on the spot if you KO the Cleffa without the protection of Rolling Iron.
Haxorus initially seems strong against Lugia VSTAR and Terapagos ex, but I think that Temple of Sinnoh fills its role better against both of those decks. Bring Down The Axe is useful sometimes against Lugia VSTAR, however, this is often in tandem with Temple of Sinnoh as Mist Energy prevents Bring Down The Axe from taking the Knock Out. In this situation, Lost Impact also works as the Lugia VSTAR deck doesn’t play any Pokemon with more than 280 HP. Bring Down The Axe can be useful against Terapagos ex to KO a Terapagos ex through the Bouffalant‘s Curly Wall Ability, but as the popularity of Terapagos ex decks has waned as more Regionals have happened in the Surging Sparks format and the Terapagos ex matchup being winnable without playing Haxorus, many players are currently forgoing it.
Instead of many of these cards, I prefer to run a 1-1 Noctowl line. This hasn’t been played by many players outside of the testing group that I work with, but I still prefer to play Noctowl because of how much it helps you save Legacy Star in the early game. If you manage to use the Jewel Seeker Ability, in the early game, it acts as a use of Legacy Star by finding you copies of Energy Switch or Prime Catcher . It also helps you find your Stadium cards at the right time, so you guarantee two uses of either Jamming Tower or Temple of Sinnoh in the matchups that are important. If I still was planning on attending a tournament in the Surging Sparks format, my list wouldn’t be too different from the one I played at Perth Regionals which cuts both the Alolan Exeggutor ex and Haxorus for the Noctowl line.
This concludes the public portion of this article.
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