Lugia VSTAR Deck List and Guide (9th at Worlds)
It’s somewhat ironic that while the 2023 standard rotation is what brought an end to Lugia VSTAR’s reign as best deck in the format, the 2024 standard rotation brought it back in a big way. After winning a major tournament in Japan post rotation, it was clear that Lugia VSTAR is the deck to watch as we head into the first tournaments of the 2024 Pokemon TCG season.
Since then Lugia VSTAR’s presence in the meta hasn’t slowed down, and it has only been bolstered by cards released in recent sets.
In this up-to-date Lugia VSTAR deck list and guide, we are going to be looking at the current way of playing this powerhouse deck and share some tips and tricks that you can take with you to your next competition.
9th Place World Championships 2024 - Rahul Reddy
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Pokémon: 21
4 Archeops SIT 147
3 Lugia V SIT 138
3 Lugia VSTAR SIT 139
2 Lumineon V BRS 40
1 Minccino TEF 136
1 Cinccino TEF 137
1 Iron Hands ex PAR 70
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141
1 Wyrdeer V ASR 134
1 Raikou V BRS 48
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
1 Squawkabilly ex PAL 169
1 Iron Bundle PAR 56
Trainer: 23
4 Boss's Orders PAL 172
3 Professor's Research SVI 189
2 Iono PAL 185
1 Jacq SVI 175
4 Ultra Ball SVI 196
4 Capturing Aroma SIT 153
2 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
2 Mesagoza SVI 178
Energy: 16
4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
4 Gift Energy LOR 171
4 Jet Energy PAL 190
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167
1 Mist Energy TEF 161
1 V Guard Energy SIT 169
1 Lightning Energy SVE 4
Lugia VSTAR Deck – Basic Strategy
The nice thing about the current way to play Lugia VSTAR is that it hasn’t changed massively since the early days. You still need to get a Lugia V into play and evolve it. You still need to get Archeops into the discard so you can play it using Summoning Star. None of that has changed.
However, the attackers that you are going to use couldn’t be any more different. Indeed, it’s the broad range of attackers that Lugia VSTAR can leverage thanks to Archeops that makes this deck so compelling.
1. Play down Lugia V
Lugia V is very much the backbone of this entire deck, so it’s quite imperative that you play it on turn one. Without a Lugia V in play, you can’t evolve into a Lugia VSTAR, which also means you can’t start accelerating energy onto your powerful, attackers.
To make playing a Lugia turn one easier for you, this deck runs plenty of Pokemon search cards. The ones that make it easier for you to find Lugia V turn one are Ultra Ball, Capturing Aroma and Mezagoza.
2. Get Archeops into into your discard pile
Archeops – Silver Tempest
Archeops is just as critical as Lugia VSTAR to this deck’s success, even if you don’t attack with it. Primal Turbo is what accelerates special energies from your deck, powering your host of attackers. You want two on your bench at all times.
After you’ve succeeded in evolving your Lugia V into a Lugia VSTAR, you’re now ready to use your once-per-game VSTAR ability to bring Archeops to your bench. However, in order to do this, you first have to have Archeops in your discard. There are a number of ways to achieve this. However, thanks to a handy supporter named Jacq that came out in the Scarlet & Violet base set, getting Archeops into your hand so you can discard a card is a lot easier than it used to be.
Jacq
The thing that’s really nice about Jacq is that it doesn’t only let you get Archeops – it’s quite versatile and lets you pull any two evolution Pokemon. This means you can add a Lugia VSTAR to your hand if you need it.
While you may only run one of these cards, because you have plenty of Pokemon searching cards and two Lumineon V, you can pretty easily add this supporter (or any supporter for that matter) into your hand.
In addition to Jacq, this deck list has a bunch of ways to search for Archeops and add it into your hand. The same cards that help you find Lugia V – Ultra Ball, Capturing Aroma – all fill the same role here, making it easier for you to get two into your hand.
Of course, getting the Archeops into your hand is only half the battle. You will still need to discard them. Don’t worry – this deck has plenty of ways to help you discard your Archeops, like your Four Ultra Balls, Earthen Vessel, Lugia’s Read the Wind attack, Professor’s Research and Squawkabilly.
3. Evolve Lugia V into Lugia VSTAR and use summoning star
Lugia VSTAR
Lugia VSTAR is the star of this deck. Not only is it a powerful attacker, its ability is what this deck hinges on.
Lugia VSTAR’s ability Summoning Star is the key component to this deck, and you’ll want to make sure that you have two Archeops in the discard before you use it. It’s really difficult to win if you only have one in your discard, and you should only resort to bringing out one Archeops with summoning star if you are going to lose otherwise, as a lone Archeops can easily be taken out. If you have no Archeops in play, you basically can’t do anything.
4. Power Up your Lugia and start attacking
Lugia may not take OHKOs, but it still hits for an impressive 220 damage. Once you have your Archeops in play, you are ready to start powering up your Lugia VSTAR with energy. Attaching a V Guard energy is a solid way to help protect it from some of those super powerful Pokemon V out there.
Lugia VSTAR boasts a bevy of secondary attackers
Thanks to Temporal Forces, Lugia VSTAR can take advantage of an incredibly strong new secondary attacker Cinccino. Cinccino can be very difficult for opponent’s to work around as it can virtually OHKO anything out there while only offering up one prize card when its knocked out itself.
Of course, you’ll have to evolve Cinccino so if your game plan involves this Pokemon, make sure you prioritize benching one or two Minccino’s early on.
Cinccino
Of course, it’s the special round attack that you want to pay special attention to, as this attack dishes out multiples of 70 for each energy attached. That’s a pretty insane attack when combined with the fact that you aren’t really limited by how many energies you can attach via Archeops.
Besides this powerful Stage 1 Pokemon, you also have a plethora of other powerful attackers that will help you respond to any number of scenarios. Let’s look at what those are and when you would use them below.
Iron Hands ex
Iron Hands ex is going to be your most versatile secondary attacker apart from Cinccino. You can use Iron Hands ex to take handy three prize knockouts against the right opponents, or stay ahead in the prize race against single prize decks.
Wydeer V
Wydeer is also a strong attacker with the added benefit of having a powerful ability that can help you sneak up on opposing Pokemon seemingly out of nowhere. With Frontier Road, you can move any of your special energies you’ve already attached via Archeops onto this Pokemon. Psyshield Bash then does 40 damage for each energy attached to Wydeer.
This is a great strategy to use if you’ve had to move various different energies around to your Pokemon but want an easy way to consolidate them into a single, powerhouse attack.
Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex
I’ve been very impressed from the battles I’ve fought with Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex at my side. Oftentimes this card can be the ace in the hole against your opponent’s, capable of taking a late game knockout without any prep.
Lugia VSTAR deck’s supporting Pokemon
The Lugia VSTAR deck strategy is unique because of just how many secondary attackers you can choose from. The reason there are so many is beacause of how easy it is to accelerate energies via Archeops. Of course, that doesn’t mean all of your Pokemon are just attackers.
Apart from Archeops, you also have several helpful supporting Pokemon that can do a range of things.
Lumineon V
Lumineon V was a pretty big deal when it debuted way back in Brilliant Stars. If anything, it is more relavant than ever. It fits perfectly into this Lugia VSTAR deck as you have so many search options you are almost guaranteed to take advantage of Luminous Sign.
Of course Lumineon V is almost always only going to be there as a supporting Pokemon to enable more effective card search. However, you actually can use it to attack. Slap a Legacy Energy on and you can use it to take KOs against Pokemon with weakness to water or lower HP Pokemon. Lumineon V will then be returned to your deck along with all the attached energy.
Squawkabilly
Although it took a little while for Squawkabilly to catch on at the competitive level, players are realizing how effective this Pokemon is. For decks that rely on getting cards into the discard like this one, its almost a must to include this card. Additionally, Squawk and Seize effectively works as an optional mulligan. If you don’t like your hand, discard it and draw again.
The only problem here is getting Squawkabilly onto your bench. But given the sheer number of Pokemon search cards in your deck, achieving this is something of a no brainer.
Fezandipiti ex
Fexandipiti ex was only just released in Shrouded Fable but it has quickly become one of the most widely played supporting Pokemon in the game. With it you get to draw three extra cards a turn as long as one of your Pokemon was knocked out the previous turn. You can also use Fezandipiti as a second attacker with its bench sniping attack coming in handy in certain situations like when a two prize Pokemon is only weakened but needs a little more oomf to KO on the bench.
Iron Bundle and Raikou
Lastly, this deck runs two supporting Pokemon that I would consider optional despite both having strong abilities. Iron Bundle is used to gust out a benched Pokemon to get a more favorable prize trade. This move had become very popular in competitive Pokemon TCG but only is necessary in certain scenarios.
Meanwhile, Raikou is a handy Pokemon who doubles as a supporting Pokemon and attacker. Fleet Footed lets you draw an extra card while Lightning Rhondo can be helpful in many situations.
Legacy Energy is Lugia VSTAR’s best ACE SPEC
Every deck runs an ACE SPEC now, and this deck’s best one is Legacy Energy. Legacy Energy can be an incredibly helpful tool to help you stay ahead of the prize race, forcing your opponent to take one less prize when they KO your Pokemon.
The most effective way to use Legacy Energy is to pair it with one of your two Prize Pokemon like Iron Hands ex. In the hyper competitive and fast meta right now, oftentimes taking a single prize KO is as bad as not taking a KO at all!
A quick but important note on Legacy Energy: it only applies to Pokemon who are knocked out by damage from attacks from your opponent’s Pokemon. This means it doesn’t apply to effects that knock it out. Subtle but very important.
Lugia VSTAR – Matchups
Of course you don’t get a say what decks you have to face at a Pokemon TCG tournament. That being said, there are a few decks that you have a glaring weakness against. Lets look at those are and what to do about them.
Iron Thorns ex
The absolute worst matchup you are going to face is Iron Thorns ex. This deck list has actually no real way to deal with that matchup as Iron Thorns ex will remove your ability to use Summoning Star so it is almost a guaranteed loss. I would consider teching in a Canceling Calogne into your deck just for this matchup. As Iron Thorns ex recently won the World Championship, chances are a lot more people will be running it at events.
Miraidon ex
Miraidon ex has a type advantage against you which means its going to be pretty easy to take your Lugia VSTAR down with even the most rudamentary of attacks. However, that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to lose. Just ensure you stay ahead in the prize race and you can get your three knockouts to win just as quickly as they can, if not as easily.
