Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company
Just before rotation in April, Prismatic Evolutions (PRE) has given second wind to Lugia VSTAR to be a top metagame contender once again due to the release of Regigigas.
But first, a little bit about myself: ever since I made a deep dive into the world of the competitive Pokémon Trading Card Game (or TCG), I’ve basically mained Lugia VSTAR, bringing it to respectable finishes in several local tournies, particularly, the 305-player Premier Ball League Philippines, and a 180-player Great Ball League (the equivalent of League Cups in the West, though this one had way more players), where I finished 25th and 18th place, respectively. Just this weekend, I also placed 3rd out of 180 players again at another Great Ball League with the deck, earning myself a coveted Southeast Asia-exclusive stamped galaxy holo Pidgeot ex promo card!
I also participated in a 16-week league, where weekly tournaments were held, ranging from 30 to 50 players with an overall 500+ player attendance, where the top 16 went on to play in a final tournament, wherein I placed second (losing to Iron Thorns ex in the finals).
The Lugia VSTAR deck’s goal is to put two copies of Archeops in the discard pile and then bring them back to the bench using Lugia’s Summoning Star ability. Coupled with Boss’s Orders, it then uses a toolbox of attackers (powered up by Archeops attaching energy straight from the deck) to KO any threat in the opponent’s board to secure a quick win with a 2-2-2 prize map. We tend to always go first regardless of the opponent, but I can see merits in going second now.
And so, let’s take a look at Lugia’s position in the metagame.
Lugia’s Problems Pre-Prismatic Evolutions
The deck sometimes struggles to close out games against multiple high-HP Pokémon. Even Terapagos ex was a problem, as Lugia VSTAR can only swing for 220. Our only other attackers that can KO high-HP Pokémon are Cinccino, which requires an evolution, and Wyrdeer V, which is extremely energy hungry.
But with the release of Regigigas, we now have an efficient answer into these matchups without needing much setup.
Lugia’s Metagame Position in PRE
In the current metagame, Lugia is definitely one of the top three decks, sharing the spot amongst the two titans which can best utilize Budew: Gardevoir ex and Dragapult ex.
Prior to the release of Budew, Lugia VSTAR almost required a turn two usage of its VSTAR Power, or else we’d fall behind massively in a metagame full of turbo decks that can take two prizes on their first or second turn.
However, with the slower Prismatic Evolutions format, we aren’t as desperate to get off a turn-two Summoning Star (though it’s still preferred!), since most decks aren’t taking big attacks on the second turn now. In fact, in my most recent 8-round Great Ball League tournament, I used my VSTAR Power on turns three to five in most games, and still eked out a 6-2 record. This bodes well for the deck, as we can still pop off on turn two, but it’s not a do-or-die situation if we don’t.
Out of the three top decks in Prismatic Evolutions, Lugia VSTAR is definitely the easiest to play, though it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. However, games finish fast and decisions are pretty linear, which is a consideration for players who aren’t as comfortable bringing the more skill-intensive Gardy or Pult to large tournaments, where there could be plenty of opportunities to go to time and tie.
The opponents are also a consideration here; if they’re not familiar with their own deck’s lines, turns will take longer. And if you’re also playing a slower deck, the risk of ties increase.
Pros and Cons of Lugia VSTAR
Pros:
- Has an answer to almost any deck in the metagame
- Probably the strongest deck in the meta with a turn two Archeops play
- Easily takes care of high-HP Pokémon other decks may struggle with
- Can pivot into a single-prize board thanks to Legacy Energy
- Great pick against stall and wall decks
- Disruption resistant due to Gift Energy and Archeops
- Four Boss’s Orders, which lets us pick and choose our target almost every turn
Cons:
- Extremely volatile and inconsistent
- The deck loses to itself
- Lugia gameplay isn’t for everyone
- Requires toolbox attacker knowledge
- There are non-games where we just can’t do anything
- The random Iron Thorns ex player will ruin our tournament run
The Decklist
Here’s the decklist I’m currently using. The Lugia VSTAR shell is mostly set in stone, with a 3-3 Lugia VSTAR line, 4 Archeops, and 4 Boss’s Orders, among other steady inclusions.
Let’s go over the tech cards and some specific card counts.
Drapion V: Long forgotten, Drapion V is starting to find its way back into Lugia decklists as a way to one-shot Gardevoir ex without relying on Cinccino. It’s still definitely a spicy include, so tweak this to your expected metagame.
Regigigas: One copy is mandatory, while a second one can be considered if we’re dropping the Cinccino line entirely. It just answers so many threats in the current format which we previously had trouble with.
Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex: While it was hotly debated if decks should run this before, now I truly believe this card should be in lists going forward. As the metagame continues to slow down and revolve around Stage 2 Pokémon, having the option to KO two Basics on the same turn through Torrential Pump is great. Beware of Manaphy, though!
Cinccino line: I still believe in the power of the rats, as they can just be utilized as an attacker into all the other unexpected decks in the metagame. This is crucial in unfocused metas where you might encounter a random deck you don’t totally expect. It’s also one of the few ways we can deal with Gardevoir ex after they’ve KOd our Iron Hands ex, otherwise, we’re just KO-ing single prize Pokémon, while they continue to deny us our Archeops.
Flutter Mane: Shuts down Iron Thorns ex, but can also be used to take two prizes versus Gardy players by gusting up another Kirlia and placing the damage counters on the opponent’s damaged Drifloon or Scream Tail.
Iron Bundle: Rahul Reddy is a firm believer in Iron Bundle, which is great to gust up another two prizer in case the opponent promotes a single prizer to the active. But now that our Charizard ex and Regidrago VSTAR matchups are easier than ever, I’m not certain if we still need it to push Radiant Charizard to the bench in the endgame.
Mist Energy: If you expect the meta to be infested with Dragapult, it’s definitely wise to up the Mist Energy count and drop the V Guard Energy, as Regidrago isn’t much of a metagame threat now.
Double Turbo Energy: If you run Wyrdeer V, you should run four copies of this, as it provides 60 damage per copy, instead of just 40.
Carmine: I’m not totally convinced we need her, as using Lumineon V on turn one to grab it means we’re leaving another two-prize liability on the board, which is extremely vulnerable to Scream Tail and Dusknoir plus Dragapult ex‘s Phantom Dive for an easy knock out.
How to Play Lugia
Flip coins. Hope they land on the right side. End of article.
Seriously though, the first step in playing Lugia is accepting that we’re dealing with a different type of variance; we’ll be able to one-shot any Pokémon our opponents present, while other decks may not. While they pray for the right starter or getting lucky off of Energy topdecks, our variance relies on coin flips instead. This was also the perspective shared by Brent Tonisson, the number one ranked player in the world at the moment, during the recent Lake of Rage podcast episode.
However, this gameplay definitely isn’t for everyone, so it’s not the most played deck even in a meta where it’s very strong.
The first phase of the deck is getting two Archeops in the discard pile. This is mainly done through Ultra Ball, while Capturing Aroma and Mesagoza help us set up our hand for the play. Don’t be scared to Read the Wind as well on Lugia V, especially in this slower meta.
In an ideal world, by turn two, we can evolve into Lugia VSTAR and Summoning Star for both Archeops and begin the pressure by attacking with our toolbox of attackers. The key to Lugia is knowing which one to use in each matchup, unlike other decks that have one dedicated attacker regardless of whatever’s across the board.
We are one of the few decks that run four Boss’s Orders, which means our ideal prize map is just going 2-2-2 on the opponents’ most vulnerable targets.
As we run very little draw, Gift Energy is one of our main ways to be resilient to disruption. If they don’t KO our active, then we’re still in a great position, as we probably still have a Boss’s Orders in hand. If they do, then we still draw up to seven cards in hand, so this gives them a difficult choice. We can pre-attach Gift Energy to our benched Pokémon to deny any Iono into gust and KO plays from the opponent as well.
Mist Energy is another flexible energy that denies Dragapult ex and Roaring Moon ex value, so attaching these to vulnerable targets is important.
Lugia VSTAR Matchup Spread
Lugia enjoys going up against Dragapult ex & Dusknoir, Regidrago VSTAR, Dragapult ex & Charizard ex, Raging Bolt ex, Ceruledge ex, and other rogue decks such as Ancient Box and Klawf.
However, the deck is unfavored versus skilled Gardevoir ex players, and completely folds to Iron Thorns ex (almost an auto-loss), and Miraidon ex (as they can one shot our Lugia V on their first turn). The deck also has a bad matchup against Gholdengo ex, Gouging Fire ex, and Archaludon ex, since all these Pokémon aren’t Tera types, which means our only answers are a powered-up Cinccino or a Wyrdeer V.
Matchup Discussions
Let’s go over specific matchups and some tips on how to approach the game. I’ll also include ways to beat the Lugia here, so there’s merit reading this section even if you’re on the other side of the table.
Gardevoir ex
Unfavored
This matchup has a slight Gardevoir favor, though more experienced players will easily beat Lugia players here. Your checkmate board requires a turn two Iron Hands ex in the active, while benching a Minccino with two energy on it. This is done by attaching to Hands for turn, using one Archeops to attach a Double Turbo Energy and Legacy Energy from the deck, and attaching two energies on the Minccino with the second Archeops. This way, the Gardevoir player can’t just KO your Archeops and deny you energy.
If you play it, Drapion V can be powered up in a single turn, so don’t pre-bench it or they’ll Scream Tail it. Ensure you always have a way to retreat your active Pokémon in case they Counter Catcher it up and start using Scream Tail to answer your bench.
The key to winning this matchup is to keep on setting up forks for the Gardy player – even if they KO your active, you can still follow up with a two-prize KO the following turn.
As the Gardevoir player, a line you can take is to Iono the Lugia player to four cards in hand (reducing the odds of a Boss’s Orders), and swing in with your own Gardevoir ex for 190 to the Iron Hands ex, and then KO it with Munkidori the turn after to skirt around the Legacy Energy and Gift Energy.
If the Lugia player stumbles, it’s the perfect time to go after their Archeops. With a single energy attached to a Minccino, you can safely KO an Archeops, as the max damage the rat can do is only 280, leaving a fresh Gardy alive.
Budew can still be used in this matchup, as it denies their Ultra Ball play. If you run Spiritomb, this also shuts down their Lumineon V.
Dragapult ex & Dusknoir
Slightly favored
With Regigigas, this previously 50-50 matchup has now become favored for us. If they’re just using Budew with no immediate threat such as a Duskull on bench, you can take it slow and Read the Wind to set up your Discard Pile for the Summoning Star. Otherwise, be prepared to hit fast and hard, as Dragapult decks can be explosive if they hit the double Rare Candy turn.
The main punish for the Rare Candy play is definitely Regigigas – if they use up all their resources to pull this off, once you’ve KO’d the first Dragapult, it’s rare for them to be able to recover or have the correct resources in hand to mount a comeback, often sacrificing consistency or evolving a Drakloak to fatten up their hand over a potential quick win.
With a slow start, you can pressure with Iron Hands ex or Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex to take early two prizes and finish off with a Regigigas or a Cinccino. Protect your bench with Mist Energy.
For the Dragapult player, if the Lugia player attacks with a Lugia VSTAR for a single prize, it’s time for the punish: you can Dusknoir one Archeops, Counter Catcher the second one, and then Phantom Dive to dispatch both in one go, neutering their offensive ability entirely. It’s still a rough matchup for this slow Dragapult variant, though.
Lugia VSTAR Mirror
Even
The mirror might just come down to the coin flip; if you go first, you have the opportunity to Boss’s Orders and KO their lone Lugia V with your own VSTAR. If you’re going second, you should bench two Lugia Vs to deny them this opportunity to lock you out of the game.
Be wary of benching Squawkabilly ex and Lumineon V, as these are prime targets for Iron Hands ex, for back-to-back three-prize turns.
If they keep on setting up Lugia Vs as their attackers, you can go after their Archeops, as you’ll eventually win the prize trade since they can’t one-shot your own Lugia VSTAR.
Raging Bolt ex
Slightly favored
Bolt can still be scary, just due to their potential of knocking out your single Lugia V on the first turn of the game, so bench two Lugia Vs, if you can.
The name of the game here is to keep on presenting single prizers such as Gigas on Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Cinccino on the Raging Bolt ex, or Lugia VSTAR with Legacy Energy on their Ogerpons or Squawk. The Ogerpons are the backbone of this deck’s offensive ability, so knock those out when those have energies, instead of going for the Bolts.
Once they’re down to two or one prize cards, an Iono is backbreaking, as they can rarely recover from this.
Most variants now also forgo Switch Carts, so you can use Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex‘s Sob with a Double Turbo Energy on their Radiant Greninja for a “Sob lock” – where they can’t retreat nor attack and we don’t KO them because we don’t do any damage, so they will eventually deck out.
Dragapult ex & Charizard ex
Favored
This matchup is extremely similar to the Dragapult & Dusknoir variant, except this deck has even less potential to blow you out of the water due to not running any Duskulls. An early Dragapult or Zard doesn’t threaten your board at all, while Gigas takes a OHKO on all of their Tera threats.
They will often exhaust their resources for an early Rare Candy play, which is immediately punished by the Gigas, leaving them with little recourse to recover.
Regidrago VSTAR
Slightly favored
Gone are the days where Regidrago was the deck to beat. However, even back then, Lugia was one of three decks that had a positive matchup against it (the other two being Bolt and Miraidon).
The deck struggles to answer Cinccino and Regigigas efficiently, which makes us pull ahead of the prize race, and our Lugia VSTAR can just OHKO their Regidrago V or Teal Mask Ogerpon ex while they’re setting them up.
If you run V Guard Energy, you can attach this to the rat or on Lugia VSTAR to prevent a KO from Trifrost or Lost Impact, respectively.
Watch out for Temple of Sinnoh, as it can turn an unloseable boardstate into an extremely unfavorable one. And they can even recur this with Legacy Star to make the matchup difficult for us. However, a simple 2-2-2 prize map is enough for us to close out the game.
Turbo Roaring Moon ex
Extremely favored
This matchup is almost free, due to Mist Energy protecting us from Frenzied Gouging. Make sure to attach one to all of your high-HP Pokémon to prevent the instant KO.
Lugia VSTAR is actually the main attacker for this matchup, as Roaring Moon ex has no decent answers for it – we can keep on discarding any Stadium in play, forcing them to have another one just to do a pitiful 220 damage; otherwise, they’re three hit KO-ing us.
Ceruledge ex
Extremely favored
The deck takes too long of a ramp up time to be one-shotting Lugia VSTAR, while we can begin picking apart their board with either Iron Hands ex or Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex. The former also messes up their prize trade, as they strictly want a 2-2-2 prize map, nothing else.
If they go first, beware of a potential Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR play on a lone Lugia V. This can be prevented by only benching two Pokémon at most, only letting Subspace Swell do 200 damage.
Ancient Box/Great Tusk Mill
Extremely favored
The Ancient Box matchup is extremely similar to the Ceruledge ex matchup in that they can’t ramp up fast enough to KO Lugia VSTAR – our key card in this matchup. You can attach one Double Turbo Energy on the Lugia and still be one-hitting everything with an Ancient Booster Energy Capsule. Once they’ve discarded all their capsules, though, you can even attach two DTEs to save on Archeops abilities and set up another attacker.
Meanwhile, Great Tusk Mill follows a similar gameplan — they can’t mill you fast enough to be of any threat, so just set up a lone Lugia VSTAR and you’re set. You even answer their Neutralization Zone with Tempest Dive. You can even play a single Archeops in this matchup and be fine. Don’t use draw effects and don’t over-attach energies once you have one to two ‘mons set up. Just draw for turn and swing for KO over and over again.
Snorlax Stall
Favored/Even
Snorlax has the unfortunate problem that we can attack with pretty much anything they gust up to the active. However, I’d still discard Hands and Lumineon Vs ASAP and just set up a Lugia VSTAR, one Cinccino, and a single Archeops and just cycle through these three, if possible. Jet Energy is crucial to win in this matchup so don’t attach those from the deck.
Gholdengo ex
Unfavored
The cheese string man is one of our worst matchups due to its annoying 260 HP and the capability to one-shot our Lugia VSTAR. It can even pull ahead of the prize race through Togekiss, which turns our single prizers to two prizers through a coin flip.
Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex and Iron Hands ex are great initial attackers, and a well-timed Cinccino can follow it up. The last two prizes are tricky, which is where a second copy of the rats or the Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex can come in handy. Wyrdeer V can also be the second attacker in this matchup, so consider it if you expect your locals to have lots of Dengo players.
Archaludon ex
Unfavored
Plainly speaking, we don’t have a way to one shot Archaludon ex, aside from a fully powered-up Cinccino. On the inverse, the damaged Bridge can OHKO our Lugia VSTAR through Relicanth‘s Memory Dive ability for 280-300 on the crack back with Raging Hammer.
One tip I’ve found is to use two Double Turbo Energy on Lugia to force out the Professor Turo’s Scenario or Scoop Up Cyclone, as Raging Hammer will only deal 260 maximum damage to us this way, but it’s still definitely unfavored.
If they bench an Origin Forme Dialga V, make this your priority target. Gust it up and KO it ASAP, as this is one of two liabilities they have – the other one being Fezandipiti ex.
Ideally, the prize map can be Dialga, a Squawk, and then Archaludon or Radiant Greninja with Iron Hands ex for the win. However, smarter Bridge players may just never bench these liabilities, as they can win just through sheer bulk alone.
For the Archaludon player, this matchup is almost like the Gardevoir one – you can deny the Archeops, as this prevents the Cinccino one shots from happening.
Gouging Fire ex
Unfavored
With an HP that’s just outside of Tempest Dive range, Gouging Fire ex can take quick KOs on our Lugia V and VSTARS (aided by Munkidori). Watch what they discard; if they aggressively bin Ancient Booster Energy Capsules, this is our opportunity to take advantage of the weakness.
Surprisingly, the main card for this matchup is Lumineon V! We can gust up an Entei V or Gouging Fire ex to the active and use Aqua Return to KO it, while promoting a single prizer to the active, and doing the process over and over again.
If you’re on the other side of the matchup, you’re favored here, as long as you hold on to all your HP-boosting Pokémon Tool cards and account for Water weakness.
Miraidon ex
Extremely unfavored
Miraidon ex is a Electric-type deck. Lugia V is weak to Electric. Iron Hands ex is a good card. Hope they whiff the Electric Generators.
Be careful benching Lumineon V and Squawkabilly ex in this matchup, as Hands can take three prizes from each of them. Lugia V also suffers from the same fate, so try to bench two on turn one.
Our own Hands can also provide some value here, KO-ing their early Magnemite for two prizes, then us taking another two on a Miraidon ex or a Latias ex.
Sadly, one of the other few lines we have is going for a Sob lock on Latias ex, as most decks now don’t run many Switch options due to Latias ex herself.
Iron Thorns ex / Dragapult ex & Iron Thorns ex
Extremely unfavored
Iron Thorns ex is almost an auto-loss, unless you run Flutter Mane, and even then it’s still a rough matchup.
There’s some hope that the Thorns player completely bricks their hand and we can swing in with a manually-charged Cinccino for a donk, but that’s about the only line we have here.
I still don’t think it’s worth teching specifically for this matchup (but Flutter Mane is still great regardless), as Thorns is a terrible pick in a metagame full of Dragapults – the deck is nearly immune to it – while Gardy decks run Flutter Mane and Klefki – or even both. If you happen to hit an Iron Thorns ex player, just shake their hand and enjoy your lunch break.
Lugia is definitely in contention for a top meta deck right now, and should continue to do so until it’s time to put them in the binder after rotation.
Looking for more Pokémon TCG content? Check out the 10 most wanted cards from Prismatic Evolutions, or see which cards from the set are the best for your decks.
