The second day of NAIC’s Pokémon TCG tournament has seen a huge shift in play, with one deck leading the pack heading into the final day tomorrow as Gardevoir ex made up for over 20% of the final decks left in the tournament.
This marks a massive rise since yesterday when it was the third most-played deck. In contrast, both Lugia VSTAR and Raging Bolt ex/Ogerpon ex have seen massive drops heading into the second day as they failed to land in New Orleans.
Gardevoir ex decks have benefited massively from the release of the Twilight Masquerade expansion set, with one card in particular, Munkidori, elevating it back to the top tier of competitive Pokémon play since falling out of favor at EUIC.
Munkidori has unique abilities that allow it to take damage counters from your Pokémon to an opponent’s ‘mon once per turn, which can destroy opposing backlines without even having to fight.
Even with Gardevoir’s dominance, Lost Zone Box has been the deck to perform the best day over day. Only 8% of all players ran ir yesterday, and with many trainers failing to make it to day two, Lost Zone Box nearly doubled its deck percentage to 15 percent, making it a force to be reckoned with.
There is still plenty to play for with spots at the 2024 World Championships on the line, with mere hours left until we find out who makes the top eight heading into tomorrow’s finals.
