Silver Tempest: Multiple Lugia VSTAR Strategies

Lugia VSTAR

The huge poster boy of silver tempest Lugia VSTAR is shaping up to be an absolute powerhouse! Being able to get two Archeops into play to then accelerate 4 Special Energy into play is definitely as bonkers as it sounds! The most obvious in your face way to pay Lugia is a pretty linear deck where you attach energy to the Lugia itself and swing with its Tempest Dive attack which does 220 damage and lets you choose to discard a Stadium in play.

220 doesn't sound too special at all, however Archeops will allow you to get multiple powerful energy into play fast, letting you hit the magic 280 damage with three Powerful Energys attached. The forth energy will most likely be the V Guard Energy, this will let you push Lugias effective HP up to 300 allowing you to hopefully tank a hit and swing again to take 4 prizes with one Lugia VSTAR.

Now this deck archetype seems super strong, straightforward, and fairly consistent. However, since Archeops can fling any special energy into play there are plenty of other options you can use and some of them do not seem to be getting anywhere near enough coverage. So thats what I’m going to cover today! What other crazy targets are there for the Lugia/Archeops engine! Lets find out!

Gengar VMAX

This might be the one I’m most excited to try out! Gengar VMAX saw some success towards the start of the 2020 season restart and I see no reason why it can't have a resurgence! Gengar has two attacks: The first one Fear & Panic does 60 for each V Pokemon you opponent has in play. For two energies this is a very good option. Allowing you to have a much easier attack to use in case things don't go according to plan which also has the potential to swing for huge numbers if left unchecked!

G Max Swallow up is the main attraction however, which for three energy does 250 damage. Now for one less energy this has a higher base output then Lugia VSTAR allowing for much easier streaming of other attackers. Since Gengar VMAX is a single strike Pokemon we can use Archeops to get Single Strike Energy into play which also adds 20 additional damage for each one attached. This means Gengar has a much easier time reaching OHKOs or even over extending to deal with pesky Big Charms, V Guard Energies, and Radiant Gardevoirs. All of which might start to see more play to combat Lugia and even Giratina too.

That's not all though. One downside to a primary attacking Lugia deck is that there is not any special energy recovery in the format. This means if you have some costly discards, prizes or get KO’d fast you might struggle to reload attackers. This isn’t an issue for Gengar VMAX, since Urn of Vitality exists meaning you can just shuffle in the single strike energies if they ever hit the discard pile allowing you to reload attackers constantly.

Dark typing is never a bad option too since the Fear and Panic attack alone is probably enough to keep Mew VMAX at bay! Not to mention too the Tower Of Darkness draw could be beneficial to aid in early game set up and prompt stadium bouncing to remove counters like Path to the Peak and Temple Of Sinnoh.

Duraludon VMAX

Duraludon VMAX shares the single strike tag like Gengar VMAX, so all the benefits of Urn of Vitality and Tower of darkness apply here too. However, Duraludon VMAX swaps out some of the raw damage output of Gengar for an absolutely killer ability in Skyscraper. This ability prevents all damage done by Pokemon that have special energy attached. This can prove devastating for decks like Mew, Zoroark VSTAR and now Lugia VSTAR too! 

The attack on Duraludon historically has been what has let it down though. GMAX Pulverization for three energy does 220 damage. This is okay at best and to be honest its text of going through all effects on your opponents active might be the best part about it. Especially when you consider its attack cost is two fighting and one metal energy.

That being said, Archeops helps bolster this attack to do extra damage via single strike energy yet again!

Now while this might not auto win against Lugia due to Lugia having outs via Yveltal Amazing Rare. you could then play Big Parasol to combat that as well. So far Lugia lists are not running much draw power so asking them to summon their Yveltal plus Lost Vacuum might prove difficult, especially while you are slamming them for 260 a turn every turn.

Amazing Rares

Amazing rares all deserve a second look too now. Obviously Yveltal is now usable, allowing you to auto KO what ever it attacks which is crazy! However, Raikou also needs consideration too since its Amazing Shot does 120 to your opponent's active and to one of your opponents benched pokemon too. This can cause havoc to your opponent's board and if done fast enough could stop any kind of set up by KO’ing two Sobbles for example!