Hello everyone! This is Elena from Gaia Storm TCG and welcome to another article! The season 2017-2018 is coming to an end. We have witnessed decks rise and fall for one year and a huge evolution in the metagame that made the creativity of the players shine. But the best is yet to come! Worlds 2018 will take place soon with the untested impact of Celestial Storm.  How does the metagame look like and how have the decks changed through the months?

In September, after Argentinian player Diego Cassiraga won Worlds with the deck, Gardevoir reigned supreme. There were other strategies that tried to contend against the fairy Pokémon but never quite surpassed it. Drampador and Golisopod variants were very efficient concepts and took advantage of strong attackers but it was clear for many months that Gardevoir (both in its pure version and the one with Sylveon GX) was out of reach.

Then, in November, Shining Legends came out and the metagame changed drastically due to the release of one of the best Pokémon ever created. Zoroark GX proved its power and versatility right from the start and caused an impact such that very few cards can match. After Tord Reklev’s thunderous performance in London Internationals that took many players by surprise, Zoroark Variants started to dominate the format. Just some time after, Buzzwole GX was released in Crimson Invasion and players tested its power with different partners like Lycanroc, Garbodor and Carbink Break.

The irruption of Zoroark and its incredible consistency had made Garbodor decks decreased drastically in popularity. Zoroak became the unquestioned king of the format and different variants arise: Golisopod, Buzzwole, Lycanroc, Garbodor and later, even stages 2 as Gardevoir and Magnezone. This popularity made that heavy disruption decks, focused in stopping Zoroark, started appearing. Sylveon and Hoopa, for instance, countered easily Zoroark variants because of the few energies they run. At the same time, Buzzwole decks refined their builds and with the help of Lycanroc GX they became a contender as strong as any other top tier deck.

In such a Zoroark centered format, Lucario GX jumped into the ring and had a meteoric rise because of its great match-ups against Zoroak decks although it only lasted some weeks. Forbidden Light was released and a Psychic army (lead by Dawn Wings Necrozma and Malamar) went arm in arm against the format. But the deck that was favored the most with FLI was Buzzwole: It received so many incredible cards that made the deck go from good to broken in just one set.

Currently, it can be said that the metagame is shaped in clear triangle with Zoroark-Malamar-Buzzwole in each angle but the legality of Celestial Storm threatens this balance. Will Rayquaza GX take down the big three? How will the set impact Worlds? Just two more weeks to know the final step of this journey of the 2018 season and the final evolution of those archetypes! Thanks for reading!