The Lugia Archeops is a popular deck in Pokemon TCG, performing in some of the biggest competitive tournaments. This deck uses both Lugia and Cinccino as the damage dealers with multiple Special Energy cards that synergize with Archeops‘ ability.
This deck is straightforward and not too difficult to pick up, let’s take a look at how to play the Lugia Archeops!
Decklist
Pokémon: 20
4 Archeops SIT 147
3 Lugia V SIT 138
3 Lugia VSTAR SIT 139
3 Minccino TEF 136
3 Cinccino TEF 137
2 Lumineon V BRS 40
1 Iron Hands ex PAR 70
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141
Trainer: 24
3 Professor's Research SVI 189
3 Boss's Orders PAL 172
2 Iono PAL 185
1 Jacq SVI 175
1 Carmine TWM 145
4 Ultra Ball SVI 196
4 Capturing Aroma SIT 153
4 Great Ball PAL 183
2 Jamming Tower TWM 153
Energy: 16
4 Gift Energy LOR 171
4 Jet Energy PAL 190
3 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
3 Mist Energy TEF 161
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167
1 V Guard Energy SIT 169How to Play
Main Damage Dealer
We want to have Lugia V in play as early as possible to later evolve it into Lugia VStar. Lugia V doesn’t pose offensive pressure, but Read the Wind is useful to draw 3 cards after you’ve discarded 1 card from your hand. Archeops is the first card to discard from your hand since you want it in the Discard pile for when Lugia VStar is played.
Once you have Lugia VStar in play, you can activate Summoning Star to play two Colourless Pokemon that don’t have a Rule Box from your discard pile. This means we can play Archeops and Cinccino from the Discard pile.
Lugia VStar‘s Tempest Dive deals 220 damage, capable of knocking out a lot of Pokemon. At most, you’ll need to attack to knock out higher health targets.
Archeops is a key part of this deck’s game plan since Primal Turbo accelerates your game plan. You can only play Archeops through Lugia VStar‘s Summoning Star, so you want it in the Discard pile as early as possible. Once in play, Primal Turbo lets you search the deck for 2 Special Energy and attach them to one of your Pokemon, accelerating your strategy to start attacking sooner.
Special Energy
We have 6 different Special Energy cards to choose from when activating Archeops‘ Primal Turbo. Double Turbo Energy is a popular pick to make sure we can attack with Lugia VStar immediately, offering two Energy on the Pokemon it is attached to. However, attaching Double Turbo Energy means your attacks will deal 20 less damage, so keep that in mind as it might mean you won’t knock out the opponent’s Pokemon. Double Turbo Energy is also great when attached to Cinccino to deal more damage with Special Roll.
Gift Energy is a resource value card, when the Pokemon it is attached to is knocked out, you can draw cards until you have 7 cards in your hand.
As for Jet Energy, you usually want to play it from hand, since its ability only activates when attached to a Pokemon from your hand. If attached to a Benched Pokemon, it can switch that Pokemon with your Active Pokemon, avoiding the need to use up Energy on retreating the Active Pokemon.
A Pokemon with V Guard Energy attached to it will take 30 less damage from Pokemon V attacks, potentially keeping it alive for longer. Another defensive Special Energy is Mist Energy, preventing all effects of attacks used by your opponent’s Pokemon done to the Pokemon this card is attached to. For example, Roaring Moon Frenzied Gouging and Sableye’s damage counter.
Lastly, Legacy Energy provides all types of Energy to the Pokemon it is attached to, so it can be used on Iron Hands ex to activate AMP You Very Much. It also gives one less Prize card when the opponent it’s attached to is knocked out.
Discard Cards
Ultra Ball, Professor’s Research, and Carmine are all value cards that can discard cards from your hand. When discarding, we want to prioritize Archeops and Cinccino as discard fodder since we can replay them through Lugia VStar‘s Summoning Star.
Second Attacker
Cinccino is another reliable damage dealer to knock out opponents’ Pokemon. You can play it by evolving it from Minccino or through Lugia VStar‘s Summoning Star.
Special Roll synergizes with your Special Energy cards, dealing 70 damage for each Special Energy card attached to Cinccino. This means the more Energy we have, the more damage we’re dealing, so we have to make sure we have just enough to knock out the Pokemon on the opponent’s side. Archeops‘ Primal Turbo makes things easier to stack up Energy on Cinccino and get one powerful attack through.
Cinccino only has 110 health, so it’s pretty easy to knock out and we’ll usually get one attack through with it.
Other Draw Cards
Jacq is one of the strongest supporter cards to search your deck for two Evolution Pokemon, enabling you to set up your strategy, As for Capturing Aroma, it’ll be a 50/50 chance at searching for the Pokemon you need. You’ll flip a coin, if it is heads, you’ll search your deck for an Evolution Pokemon, whereas tails will let you search your deck for a Basic Pokemon.
As for Iono, both players will shuffle their hand and draw cards equal to the number of Prize cards they have left. So you could ruin the opponent’s plans if you shuffle important cards back into their deck. You’re also replenishing your hand, ideally, you want to play as many cards as possible before you use Iono.
Alternate Damage
Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex is a late-game attacker to set up the finishing play with Blood Moon’s 240 damage. 5 Basic Colorless Energy are tough to attach on Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, however Seasoned Skill ability drops the cost of Blood Moon by 1 Basic Colorless Energy for each Prize card your opponent has taken. so if you’re down to 1 Prize card, Blood Moon can be activated without any Basic Energy.
As for Iron Hands ex, knocking out a Pokemon with Amp You Very Much will give you an extra Prize card, potentially winning you the game if you need 3 Prize cards and you knock out a Pokemon that gives two Prize cards. The 120 damage isn’t much, so you’ll target an already damaged Pokemon to knock it out or use Boss’ Order to move a low-health Pokemon to the Active spot for Iron Hands ex to knock out.