Heading into the recent Indianapolis Regionals, not many people expected the Dialga/Metang deck to rank among the tournament’s biggest threats. After all, prior to Indianapolis, that deck had done next to nothing of note in tournament play apart from a single second-place finish at the Thailand Regional League Vol.3. However, US player Andrew Hedrick stunned the Pokémon TCG world by taking this deck on an underdog run to win it all.

This deck’s primary setup engine is the Metang card from Cyber Judge [SV5M]. With its Ability of Metal Maker, Metang enables the player to attach Steel Energy cards from the top four cards of the deck to any of the player’s Pokémon once per turn. Ideally, this would be used to power up the Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR card from VSTAR Universe [S12a] as well as the Zamazenta card from Incandescent Arcana [S11a].

When loaded up with Steel Energy cards, the two Legendaries can run riot on an opposing deck if not properly checked. Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR is the deck’s primary attacking force. Star Chronos, its VSTAR Power, not only inflicts a whopping 220 damage—it also forces opponents to skip their next turn. If Star Chronos isn’t enough to pick up the KO, Metal Blast—now powered all the way up thanks to all those Steel Energy cards—surely will.

Zamazenta also poses a serious offensive threat. The Warrior Pokémon can be brought in right after one of the player’s Pokémon has just been KO’d. In such a scenario, Zamazenta’s Retaliate attack dishes out 220 damage for just three Steel Energy cards. On top of that, Zamazenta has impressive bulk despite its relatively low maximum HP of 130 thanks to Metal Shield, its Ability. That Ability reduces damage done to Zamazenta by 30 as long as Zamazenta has at least one Energy card attached.

The cumulative cost of every card in a Dialga/Metang deck is at least 14,980 JPY (~US$96).

In other TCG-related news, check out the Gimmick Puppet Fanatix Makina card from Infinite Forbidden. Alternatively, you can also head over to the SNKRDUNK App via the banner below and find the top trending and latest single cards and boxes.