2024 Pokémon TCG World Championships Power Rankings

It’s always compelling to watch the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships, as new cards and decks are constantly emerging to face stalwarts of the competitive scene. The 2024 Worlds field will be no different, with more upstart decks such as Regidrago VSTAR ready to clash with the likes of the tried-and-true Charizard ex, Lost Box and Lugia VSTAR. And the new Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable expansion is sure to shake things up in Honolulu as numerous Pokémon and Trainer cards become Standard legal for the first time.

To provide your own game plan for what to watch when the matches begin on August 16 on Twitch.tv/PokemonTCG, we’ve rounded up our Pokémon TCG Power Rankings panel to get a closer look at the top decks. Read on to see what our group of Pokémon TCG experts think about the upcoming competition and give their thoughts on what decks will rise to the top!

#1: Charizard ex

Since last summer, Charizard ex has been doing its best to set the world on fire. Early iterations of the deck focused on Pidgeot ex as a natural consistency partner, but players have tried all sorts of things. Tord Reklev has been at the forefront of Charizard ex innovation so far, with his novel build focused on controlling the opponent’s game tempo leading him to the 2024 EUIC title and his somewhat offbeat Dragapult ex leading to success at NAIC, too. Charizard ex has evolved a lot on its path to the top, which is part of what’s made it so strong, but what’s next?

Ghosts! While Dusclops may show up in the TCG as a Psychic Type, we know a spooky figure when we see one. Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable gives us a Dusclops that can completely change Charizard ex’s strategy: no more are you beholden to your opponent to fuel Burning Darkness! The ability to give up a Prize card and place 5 damage counters is an 80-damage swing, which is often enough to change important numbers (including the mirror match!) in your favor. Should you evolve all the way to Dusknoir, the 13 damage counters are pretty self-explanatory in their ability to change a game. To me (and our wider panel) this is enough to shoot Charizard ex to the top—it’s going to be Charizard’s world in Honolulu. — Christopher Schemanske

#2: Regidrago VSTAR

A hidden dragon no longer; the power of Regidrago VSTAR is beginning to be realized. This deck functions in a very similar way to the 2019 World Championship-winning Mewtwo & Mew-GX, albeit using the Ability of Teal Mask Ogerpon ex instead of a Supporter card to accelerate Energy into play. Dragapult ex, Hisuian Goodra VSTAR, and Raging Bolt ex offer high-damage attacks for Regidrago VSTAR to copy, while Noivern ex’s Covert Flight provides protection against an opposing Raging Bolt ex. The Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable expansion introduces Kyurem as another optional inclusion—its Trifrost attack can apply insurmountable pressure to Charizard ex, Gardevoir ex, Dragapult ex, and Lost Box decks by knocking out multiple Basic Pokémon in one turn in the early game.

Its good match-up spread and excellent recent results in Japan means there will be loads of Regidrago VSTAR at the 2024 World Championships. Players may be tempted to treat this deck like a beatdown deck, but those who create a toolbox and engage in more nuanced gameplay are likely to triumph. I look forward to seeing players spread damage to set up simultaneous knockouts on multi-prize Pokémon, or to use Legacy Star in the late game to recover game-winning combination pieces. — Ellis Longhurst

#3: Gardevoir ex

Gardevoir ex dominated at NAIC mostly thanks to Munkidori giving the deck a ton of flexibility and enabling a spread game plan that was previously difficult to use. Many of the Gardevoir ex decklists have also become very centralized since NAIC, with almost everyone now opting for two Munkidori and the Technical Machine: Devolution to improve your matchup into Charizard ex and the mirror match. However, Gardevoir ex still has its fair share of adversaries, the new Dusknoir out of Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable allows the Charizard ex to pick off a Kirlia without having to use an attack and it can also be difficult to overcome a fast Kyurem taking three knockouts out of a Regidrago VSTAR deck.

Despite these roadblocks, I still believe that Gardevoir ex has the potential to make a deep run at the World Championships. The deck just has so many options to make a comeback with Unfair Stamp, Counter Catcher and Scream Tail giving you a reliable way to disrupt your opponent’s hand and KO their most important Pokémon. Gardevoir ex also tends to be a deck that rewards players for playing it over and over again, I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody familiar with playing Gardevoir ex navigates this unfamiliar metagame and makes their way through the World Championships! — Natalie Millar

#4: Lugia VSTAR

The combination of Lugia VSTAR and Archeops makes for a very powerful deck thanks to attackers such as Cinccino and Iron Hands ex, but it is plagued by consistency issues. Many top players shy away from Lugia VSTAR because it doesn't give them much control over the game: if you draw an ideal hand, you can beat anything, but if you get a hand full of Energy, there's not much you can do. That's why, at the World Championships, I don't expect Lugia VSTAR's play rate to be as high as it would be at a Regional Championships (where the level of play is lower on average).

However, that's exactly what could bring Lugia VSTAR all the way to the top. While it didn't get any new cards from Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable, it didn't need any, and it has generally adequate matchups against most of the expected field. If players don't respect Lugia VSTAR and choose to cut techs like Enhanced Hammer (for Legacy Energy) and Temple of Sinnoh from their deck, a Lugia VSTAR believer could end up winning a trophy. — Stéphane Ivanoff

#5: Lost box

Coming off a win at NAIC, it might be strange to see Lost Box just barely make it into the Power Rankings for the World Championships. The main reason why the deck is not ranked higher this time around is, in my opinion, contributed to the newly released Kyurem from Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable. It has an incredibly powerful, but also expensive, attack that can deal 110 damage to three of the opponents Pokémon in play. This attack normally costs five Energy to use, and on top of that, you have to discard all of them when attacking. Its Plasma Bane Ability, however, lets it use its attack for only a single Colorless Energy if the opponent has a card in their discard pile with Colress in its name. Seeing as Colress’s Experiment is the lifeblood of the Lost Box engine, this card serves as an extremely strong counter to these decks. Using Manaphy’s Wave Veil Ability is, of course, an option, but clever opponents could include Canceling Cologne to bypass it.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Lost Box. Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable also includes a couple cards that seem great for it. Fezandipiti ex’s Flip the Script Ability is a much-needed hand disruption insurance for the deck, allowing Lost Box to refill its hand after an Iono or early Unfair Stamp.

Night Stretcher also seems like a great inclusion, as most Lost Box lists are running a lot of single copies of Pokémon and multiple different Energy types to accommodate Mirage Gate. With so many different ways to build the Lost Zone Engine, I’m excited to see what ends up being the most successful variant this time! — Tord Reklev

Parting Shots

Ellis Longhurst: The 2024 World Championships is a homecoming for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Twenty-five years ago, Hawaiʻi hosted the first international Pokémon tournament, the Tropical Mega Battle, and it has been the chosen location for the World Championships several more times since. A popular choice for homecoming king is Tord Reklev, the 5-time International Champion who placed fourth at the World Championships in 2019 and lost the final last year in a thrilling three-game series. Actually, forget homecoming, victory for Tord has felt like a long-time coming.

No matter where you focus your attention at this event, you will find a compelling storyline. Will Juho Kallama’s breakout season end with World Championships glory? Will William Azevedo finally prove that he is the best Charizard ex player in the world? Can Owyn and Brennan Kamerman become the first siblings to earn spots in the top eight at the same World Championships? A team of Australian players all placed in the top 32 at the 2024 North America International Championships—can they repeat this success? I’ll be tuning in to Pokémon’s official broadcast of the World Championships to find out how these storylines and more unfold.

Natalie Millar: Two decks that were absent from the power rankings are Raging Bolt ex and Snorlax Stall. Raging Bolt ex was incredibly hyped going into NAIC after its strong showing at the Japan Championships the week before, but struggled to perform against the popularity of Gardevoir ex. However, with the rise of Regidrago VSTAR and the change to the structure of the World Championships, I could see many players pivot to Raging Bolt ex, as you are very likely to finish all three games in a best of three 50-minute format.

Snorlax Stall is also in an interesting spot, many decks in the format struggle to deal with Mimikyu and Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. While your matchups against most decks have been great, Snorlax Stall has always struggled to deal with Lugia VSTAR in the post rotation format due to the high count of Special Energy and its ability to attack with anything. The metagame heading into the World Championships is looking to be very open, and I could see any of the decks mentioned taking home the title of 2024 World Champion!

Stéphane Ivanoff: The Worlds metagame looks like a very aggressive one. Fezandipiti ex makes decks much more resilient against hand disruption cards, so slow decks have a harder time coming back from a bad position.

This might be Iron Thorns ex's time to shine. The card already won NAIC in Andrew Hedrick's Lost Box—could it win Worlds? It shuts down Fezandipiti ex's Flip the Script and many other Pokémon's draw Abilities: Radiant Greninja, Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Pidgeot ex, Regidrago VSTAR, Squawkabilly ex... In a metagame where many decks rely on Rule Box Pokémon's Abilities to set up and/or charge up their Pokémon, Iron Thorns ex can stop whole decks from working correctly.

Of course, a pure Iron Thorns ex deck has issues, notably a bad Charizard ex matchup. And one single Iron Thorns ex in a deck like Lost Box would be weak to Iron Bundle (and of course Boss's Orders and Prime Catcher). But if someone can figure out a way to play the card that solves these issues, maybe in a Miraidon ex shell or with a Dusknoir line, I think they have a chance to surprise the whole competition.

Tord Reklev: The biggest changes heading into the World Championships seems to be Dusknoir, Fezandipiti ex and Kyurem from Scarlet & Violet—Shrouded Fable. Dusknoir makes Charizard ex even stronger, as the opponent can’t play passively to withstand attacks from Charizard ex anymore. Kyurem is a huge upgrade for the Regidrago VSTAR deck and can be a great way to disrupt the opponent from setting up at all, or a way to close out a game quickly. Fezandipiti ex also seems like a great card for just about any deck in the format, drawing more cards has always been a strong effect.

The spotlight is currently on Charizard ex and Regidrago VSTAR, but neither of these decks are unstoppable. Regidrago VSTAR has a hard time with the Raging Bolt ex and Lugia VSTAR matchup, as they both pose issues. Raging Bolt ex can start taking two Prize cards as early as Turn 1, and Lugia VSTAR can deny a lot of damage with V Guard Energy and Mist Energy. Charizard ex struggles against the aggressive openings from Regidrago VSTAR; being able to Phantom Dive early to knock out Pidgey is especially an issue. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex also serves as an easy way to knock out Charizard ex later.

Christopher Schemanske: I’m really excited to see what the new tournament structure means for our competitors at Worlds this year! Worlds has been unique for the last decade in that it was a relatively short tournament: in the end, making Top 8 was often a matter of winning four or five games in a row, which is a crazy contrast to the slog of Regional Championships. It was magical in some ways—anyone, and any deck, could make a run at Top 8. The magic will be a bit different this year: the 2024 World Champion will need to have played one of most flawless 15+ round runs of Pokémon TCG ever.

To me, that favors more conventional decks: for this year, the crazy decks and techs of years past are probably taking a back seat to reliable decks that skilled players can rely on to give them an advantage when the footing is otherwise-equal. Charizard ex, especially given the addition of Dusclops and Dusknoir, has a lot of potential for players to strut their stuff in deckbuilding and gameplay, and for that reason, I expect it to be a top pick of many players this year.

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