Up until April 2024, the Regidrago VSTAR deck had seen almost no Pokémon TCG tournament play at all. Although its titular card was released all the way back in October 2022 as part of eighth-generation set Paradigm Trigger [S12], it was at best regarded as a niche, “unserious” pick. This, however, changed during April’s Champions League Aichi tournament when three players using this deck claimed top-10 finishes. A subsequent 14th-place finish at the Pokémon North America International Championships (NAIC) in June proved that the results in Aichi were no fluke and that this deck had made it at last.

What exactly was it that turned this deck from an also-ran to an overnight sensation? It was none other than the release of Mask of Change [SV6] and the Dragapult ex and Teal Mask Ogerpon ex cards that came in the set. Dragapult ex ended up being the ideal “partner in crime” for the Raging Bolt ex card from Wild Force [SV5K] which was already one of the deck’s key cards. Dragapult ex inflicts spread damage to target weaker and more vulnerable opposing Pokémon via its Phantom Dive attack while Raging Bolt ex is primarily there to one-shot bulkier opponents by using Bellowing Thunder.

As for Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, it serves as both a draw engine and an Energy-ramping engine. The use of its Ability of Teal Dance attaches a Grass Energy card to itself once per turn, then allows the player to draw a card. By pairing this with Energy Switch, a card from Incandescent Arcana [S11a], Regidrago VSTAR can be powered up much more rapidly.

This deck also includes several discard options so that Regidrago VSTAR’s Apex Dragon attack has additional versatility and flexibility. By discarding Dragon-type Pokémon cards through the use of Superior Energy Retrieval from Triplet Beat [SV1a] and Earthen Vessel from Night Wanderer [SV6a], the player can more easily craft a strategy on the fly, allowing for more counterplay options.

The total cost of all the cards in a Regidrago VSTAR deck is at least 17,500 JPY (~US$108).

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