Day one of Pokémon TCG at NAIC 2024 has been jaw-dropping, with nearly 50 percent of the total decks at the event being one of three archetypes.
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 fallen from the top lists for Pokémon TCG.
Outside of the big three, which are being used by nearly 400 players in the Masters Division, the next best deck is Lost Zone Box. Surprisingly falling down in fifth is Dragapult ex, a deck that many, including myself, expected to have a bigger presence at NAIC following its success over in Japan.
Lugia VSTAR’s jump is a dramatic rise from its EUIC numbers, nearly doubling between both international events. The deck has started to field a bunch of cards from Twilight Masquerade, including Blood Moon Ursaluna ex, and the Ace Spec Legacy Energy to turn its fortunes around.
Equally, as well as Charizard ex completely disappearing from the meta, Chien-Pao ex has disintegrated from NAIC entirely. The lack of support for both decks in the recent expansion has become their downfall, and they could be down and out for the remainder of the year.
The abundance of different deck types over a singular one is a sign of a healthy game and opens the doors for any deck to come out on top. Hopefully, this healthiness continues throughout the tournament as we prepare to head to Worlds in August.
Dot Esports is covering NAIC in New Orleans all weekend long with travel provided by The Pokémon Company.
