Lost Thunder Approaching: Latin America International Champs Meta & the Top Pick

Hello Flipside Gaming readers, I have a lot planned for this article. LAIC is likely happening at the time of this article going live and Roanoke Regionals is next weekend. LAIC is sure to set the meta for SUM-LST as it is the first tournament (outside of Asia) in this format. With countless hours of Lost Thunder testing experience under my belt now, I have theoried, tested, built and rebuilt upwards of twenty or so different decks. I think there are many viable archetypes and variants of those archetypes, and I am excited to see what decks are popular, perform well, underperform, and surprise at the LAIC. In this article I will give fairly brief evaluations of as many archetypes as I feel fit to evaluate, and also wrap it up with the decks that I would be choosing between if I was competing in LAIC this weekend. These are likely to carry over as choices for Roanoke as long as there aren’t substantial surprises from the LAIC results.

SUM-LST Archetypes

Blacephalon/Naganadel

Blacephalon  Naganadel poses a massive threat to almost every GX based deck out there. The decks that aren’t threatened by this archetype are either single prize attacker based or inherently at an advantage due to things like type advantage (Lapras-GX, Suicune-GX, etc.) or Immunity to Ultra Beasts (Sceptile CST). Players can adjust accordingly to handle Blacephalon-GX but Blacephalon/Naganadel likely deserves a spot in Tier 1 due to its inherent power and influence on the builds of other decks. With several single prize attacker decks looking viable for this format, Blacephalon/Naganadel may see success in some tournaments’ metas and less success in others.

Spread Malamar / Spell Tag Malamar

Spell Tag was very hyped up on release of Lost Thunder due to its success in Japan, but as more players become acclimated with the format and construct new decks it seems that Spell Tag has been underwhelming. I quite enjoy the damage spread characteristics of the archetype being referred to as Spell Tag Malamar, but I do not think that Spell Tag is absolutely essential to the strategy. Spell Tag is a passive tool, meaning that you get no use out of it on your turn. Passive tools are usually not very good as they can be played around on your opponent’s turn or your opponent can simply remove it with a Field Blower. In an ideal game, the Spell Tag Malamar player will get their Spell Tags out early, establish multiple Malamars, and spread damage every turn. Unfortunately, the deck tends to fall apart occasionally during the mid game and this can frequently lead to gradually losing steam and failing to secure the win. I imagine this deck will see a ton of play because of its recent success and the hype surrounding it, but I think it comfortably sits in Tier 2 due to consistency issues and leaving opportunities for your opponent to play around the deck’s strategy.

Psychic Malamar A.K.A. Gaskan

Gaskan gained Adventure Bag from Lost Thunder, which helps with thinning the deck and finding your escape boards (along with other tools if you decide to experiment with other tools). To this archetype’s dismay, other archetypes gained much more. Gaskan is still a consistent and fairly heavy-hitting deck when needed, but ZoroRoc and Zoroark  Decidueye  Alolan Ninetales-GX are poor matchups in addition to a couple of single prize attacker decks that pose questionable matchups. I put Gaskan in Tier 2 with Spread Malamar.

Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX

ZoroRoc keeps finding a way to adapt and prevail with every new set, so why would Lost Thunder be any different? While players have been advocating for Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX/Alolan Ninetales-GX, I have found more success in testing with a consistent ZoroRoc core and techs as needed. I think Zoroark-GX allows decks to be built to adapt to different metas and take on a myriad of different matchups. I currently evaluate ZoroRoc as a Tier 1 archetype until I see reason for it to be knocked down to Tier 2.

Zoroark-GX/Decidueye-GX/Alolan NInetales-GX (LST)

This archetype is being hyped and popularized by my friend Rukan Shao, who has dubbed his build of the deck “Brokan Deck”. You can find my deck profile of it here. The new LST Alolan Ninetales-GX allows the deck to realistically set up two Decidueye-GX on turn two. Both Alolan NInetales and Zoroark are efficient attackers with Decidueye’s Feather Arrow ability supporting them with the damage needed to reach for knockouts on higher HP Pokemon. Because of the high HP, damage output, consistency, and type coverage, I believe this archetype to instantly find itself in Tier 1.

Granbull

A.K.A. This good boy below. 

Granbull is a new archetype from Lost Thunder. While it has not had a chance to properly prove itself yet, many top players are advocating for this archetype and have put out solid lists for the deck. 160 damage before buffs for one energy is just really good. The deck suffers to damage spread, but not much else. It is one of the most complicated decks to pilot, which might limit its play and/or success. I can safely say this archetype is at least Tier 2. I personally think it will end up being considered Tier 1, but results of LAIC will likely influence this.

Sceptile-GX/Sceptile (CST)/Lurantis (Promo)

This archetype’s early game is close to nonexistent. Shuckle-GX can be included to make up for this, but it’s tricky to allocate any more than one slot to Shuckle-GX which makes it unrealistic to start Shuckle-GX or even end turn 1 with it active more often than not. With that being said, once you have established multiple Sceptile and have energy to attack with this deck feels very powerful. It has tankiness, healing with Max Potion, Life Forest, and Sceptile GX’s attack, and can hit solid numbers with Leaf Cyclone with Lurantis Promo and Choice Band. An added bonus is Sceptile CST which makes all of your Pokemon with Grass energy attached immune to opposing Ultra Beasts. I want to keep this opinion unbiased, so I have to put Sceptile-GX in Tier 3. My faith in it has unfortunately diminished the more I play it due to dead drawing, whiffing one or two cards needed, or simply getting ran over in the early game. You can find my profile on it here. 

Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX (possibly with Zeraora-GX)

Vika  Ray established itself as one of the top decks pre-Lost Thunder, but looking at its weakness to single prize attacker based decks I do not think it can stay in Tier 1. Single prize attackers are more viable and plentiful than they have been for a while which spells disaster for big OHKO cards like Rayquaza-GX. With that being said, Vika Ray is still powerful and familiar to players so I don’t expect it to completely fall off. I’ll put it in Tier 2 for now. You can find my profile on the deck here. 

Other Rayquaza-GX variants (Zeraora-GX, Shuckle LST, Naganadel LST, etc)

I think that a deck with the power of Vikavolt/Rayquaza that doesn’t need Rare Candy and Stage 2s is very appealing, but I’m not sure if it’s completely achievable. I’ve tested a Zeraora-GX/Shuckle based energy acceleration engine with Rayquaza-GX. It is very bursty and actually quite impressive, but if you miss the big setup turn on turns 1, 2, or 3 at the latest you likely are not going to be a contender in the game unless your opponent is doing nothing. Another problem with these variants is that your constant stream of energy is usually less than what Vikavolt can provide. Naganadel can charge up an energy each turn, but only to itself. I’m putting these variants in Tier 3 because they haven’t been refined, have consistency issues, and suffer to most single prize based decks.

Zoroark-GX/Solgaleo-GX (Promo)/Alolan Ninetales-GX (LST)

This deck can be built very similarly to Zoroark/Decidueye/Ninetales so I often find myself comparing the two. However, they play very differently once you’re past the set up portion of the game. Solgaleo-GX provides the ability which removes weaknesses from all of your Pokémon, an attack that OHKOs Alolan Ninetales GX for DCE, and a GX attack that heals all of your Pokémon. All of these are relative in the meta I’m expecting for Brazil and Roanoke. This archetype is strong vs decks that cannot take back to back one shots since it can tank and heal while also outputting moderate damage. I think this deck is still fairly rogue, but if I had to put it on a tier list it would be bottom of Tier 2 for now.

Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX/Alolan Ninetales-GX

I have been very unimpressed with this deck in testing. I think Alolan Ninetales-GX is the correct support partner for Buzzroc, but it doesn’t hold up well vs a fair amount of the meta. Malamar variants are an issue due to weakness and there are several variants with high HP Pokémon that can be hard to OHKO like Decidueye-GX and Solgaleo-GX. There are ways the meta could go that would be favorable for Buzzroc, but I don’t expect that necessarily. Tier 2 for Buzzroc.

Alolan Exeggutor LST

The Alolan Egg boy gained Shuckle LST and Grovyle LST which are both huge for the archetype. With 160 HP, this one prizer can swing 120 damage for one energy. Lurantis Promo, Shrine, and Choice Band can all help make this number even higher. This all being said, it is probably my least favorite single prizer deck as it can be clunky, lacks a draw engine in most builds, and can have its damage capped by a rogue Girafirig LST or by prizing its own Shuckle. Unfortunately I’m calling Tier 3 for my main Egg, but I’d love to be proven wrong.

Lapras/Quagsire

If Sceptile and Alolan Exeggutor do not see a lot of play, I can see Lapras-GX doing very well. It’s fairly tanky at 190 HP, hits Blacephalon for weakness, and hits 190 with a choice band. Quagsire is a great tool for moving energy around after aqua patch, and the deck can also be played with Naganadel for extra energy acceleration. Volcanion Prism is an amazing card for fixing math with its 100 active and 20 bench spread. I’d rate this archetype low tier 2/high tier 3 for now, and we’ll see where the meta goes. You can check the decklist for it here. 

I’m sure I missed some archetypes in this expansive meta, but I covered a fair amount to give you an idea of how I see this meta shaping up. I believe that the list I have prepared could perform very well at Brazil, and potentially at Roanoke if spread isn’t prepared for. Here is a link to OmniPoke’s Top Deck’s post Lost Thunder video which has lists for all of the decks they cover and should fill in the gaps for any lists you may want for decks I also mentioned.

Weavile/Koko

This deck is favored vs Malamar variants and Blacephalon/Naganadel which are two of the decks expected to be popular. There are a lot of new abilities in this format to take advantage of with Weavile, like Alolan Ninetales-GX and Naganadel. This deck also destroys Granbull’s gameplan of using Diantha in response to Granbull getting KO’d and using Magcargo/Guru to get whatever cards they need. You simply Rule of Evil twice and their Magcargos and Gurus are KO’d. Judge also hurts Granbull, along with any deck using Beacon Alolan Vulpix for setting up. The high Guzma count of 3 (high for a spread deck in my opinion) is due to needing outs to dealing with Machoke GRI if your opponent is proactive in playing this tech card that stops bench damage. If I was attending LAIC I would almost definitely be piloting this list.

My other choices are Zoro/Deci/Ninetales and ZoroRoc. ZoroRoc has been one of my favorites since its inception and I feel I have multiple options to outplay my opponents with the draw power of Zoroark-GX and the manipulation of the board with Bloodthirsty Eyes + Supporter. Zoro/Deci/Ninetales is just insanely powerful and should be on everybody’s radar.

I’ll be back next week to analyze the LAIC meta and prepare even more for Roanoke. See you then!