Prague Regional 2026: the post-rotation test

Round 4: Ryuki Okada — Dragapult ex / Dudunsparce vs. Raz Wolpe — Dragapult ex / Blaziken ex

The first match streamed on Day 1 already came with a mirror of Dragapult, but with one important difference: Ryuki was on Dragapult / Dudunsparce, while Raz brought Dragapult / Blaziken.

And this was exactly the kind of match I wanted to see at the start of this format.

Dragapult was already the most expected deck of the tournament, but there was still a big question about the best way to build it. Play with a more stable draw base using Dudunsparce? Add Blaziken to accelerate Energy? Use more techs?

The series answered some of that.

Ryuki's version looked more direct and focused on stability, using Dudunsparce as the draw engine. Raz's, on the other hand, seemed to pay a price in stability but gained one very important thing in this format: Energy in play.

And that made a difference.

In the first game, both players' Unfair Stamps were in the prizes, and that changes the match a lot. Unfair Stamp is one of the few cards that can still really mess with the opponent's hand. Without it showing up, both players could play with a bit more calm and save resources without as much fear.

Both players started a bit slow. They needed to use Meowth ex early to find Lillie's Determination. This mirror feels very much about that: whoever evolves, draws with Drakloak, and keeps Energy in play first plays the rest of the match much more comfortably.

One thing I liked about Ryuki's list was exactly the Dudunsparce line. It looks simple, but it makes sense. Beyond helping keep the hand running, it also fits well with a format where hand disruption is more limited. And the Dudunsparce ex also has utility in some matchups, like against Crustle and Raging Bolt.

On Raz's side, Blaziken showed why it was there. The list might be less clean, but accelerating Energy in this format is very strong. You do not get stuck having to use Crispin every turn and you can spend the supporter slot on Boss's Orders or Lillie's Determination without simply having to stop attacking later.

There was one play from Raz that left me unsure. He searched for Combusken with Ultra Ball, but did not evolve the Torchic that turn. Maybe it was to avoid leaving a Pokémon with a heavy retreat in play and to keep the option of using Budew on the next turn.

Even so, I would have preferred to evolve right away. In this mirror, preparing Energy early matters too much. And, if the idea was not to evolve, maybe searching for another Drakloak would help more to keep the engine running.

I also liked Ryuki's response with Risky Ruins and damage on Budew. He managed to put damage where he needed, removed the item lock, and set up the board better. That kind of play is what I find most fun to comment on, because it shows that Pokémon is not just about hitting. Sometimes the game is in where you place two or three damage counters.

In the second game, Ryuki started better and the match was much faster. Raz did have Lillie's Determination, but opened with Meowth ex and then drew badly. Under the Budew item lock, not finding Dreepy or Torchic is almost asking for the game to end. When Ryuki uses Boss's Orders on the Drakloak, Raz's structure falls apart.

The third game was the most important of the series, but also the strangest to comment on.

Ryuki had three Crispin in the prizes, which is already terrible for a version without Blaziken. Even with Dudunsparce helping draw cards, the Energy side was still a problem. Even so, he managed to play and seemed to have lines.

The problem is that the randomization issue came back.

He had already been warned in the first game about the shuffle. In the third, he received the two-prize penalty. And then, honestly, there is not much to discuss: a rule is a rule. It can be Ryuki, it can be any player in the world. If you have already been warned and the problem happens again, the punishment comes.

And two prizes in a Dragapult mirror changes everything.

After that, Raz did not need to invent much. He kept the board running, picked his Boss's Orders targets well, and closed the match by following a simpler route. There was a turn where he did not just think about the immediate prize, but also about where the damage needed to land to win the next turns. I liked that a lot.

In the end, this series left me with two impressions.

The first is that Dudunsparce and Blaziken solve different problems inside Dragapult. Dudunsparce makes the deck more stable and helps keep drawing cards. Blaziken makes the list less clean but solves a real problem: Energy in play.

Good win by Raz, and a very interesting match to open Day 1.

Round 5: Julius Brunfeldt — Festival Lead vs. Yongyao Hu — Thwackey / Arboliva ex / Teal Mask Ogerpon ex

This was a pretty strange match to watch.

I did not think it was a beautiful game, but the thing that bothered me most was Yongyao's concession in the very first turns. I understand the pressure of saving time, especially in a big tournament match, but it felt too early there.

He conceded without being sure that Julius really had the answer to keep developing the game. Of course, from his side, there was no way to know if Julius was stuck or not. But, looking from the outside, taking one more turn did not seem like it would change much in the round timer. Maybe it was worth letting the match continue and seeing if the setup showed up before handing in the game.

And here comes something important: conceding is also a game decision. Sometimes it makes sense, especially when the match is lost and you need to gain time for the next games. But in this case, the feeling was that there was still too much hidden information to make that call so early.

Oh, and one more thing: the stadium works for both sides, Yongyao!

Overall, the match seemed very comfortable for Julius. At no point did it really feel like he was actually threatened. The problem for Yongyao was that he spent most of the game trading 2 prizes for 1 prize, and that math simply does not add up for long.

So the prize race got pretty heavy, something like 6 to 3 in Julius's favor. Against a deck that can keep pressure and keep attacking, you need to find some way to break that trade. Maybe attacking with Meganium, trying a different line, or forcing a less linear situation.

The way the game was played, Festival Lead just had to accept the good trades and follow the plan. It was not a match full of crazy plays, but it showed well how, in this format, losing tempo early and trading prizes badly can leave the game practically without a comeback.

Round 6: Adam Lasko — Archaludon vs. Salvatore Camiolo — Alakazam

This was a match I really enjoyed watching, even thinking the matchup looked pretty favorable to Alakazam.

Adam played the first game well. I liked his attempt to turn the match into a 7-prize game, trying to put Salvatore on a less comfortable route. The problem is that, without being able to mess with the Alakazam player's hand, it is very hard to hold the deck for long enough.

Alakazam can set up the board, draw cards, find the right pieces, and keep applying pressure without exposing itself too much. And, when the deck reaches that point, Archaludon has to do many things right just to stay alive in the match.

In the second game there was a detail that could have changed the start a lot: Adam was one Energy short of knocking out the only Abra in play. If he gets that knockout, maybe the match becomes more interesting, because delaying the first Alakazam can buy the time that Archaludon needs.

But it did not happen.

After that, the match was pretty smooth for Salvatore. Alakazam managed to develop, stabilize, and follow the plan without much real threat.

Even so, I do not think Adam played badly. On the contrary. I think he and Archaludon did what they could inside that matchup. The problem is that some matches are like that: you play well, try to create a different route, but the deck on the other side simply has more tools to respond.

Solid win by Salvatore, and a good showcase of how Alakazam can punish decks that cannot disrupt its hand or cut its setup early.

Round 8: Daniel Jantulik — Dragapult vs. Piper Lepine — Zoroark

This was, by far, the match I enjoyed most from Day 1.

The first game was really cool, so I will leave the recommendation: if you are going to watch any match from this day, watch this one. Even being a match that looks pretty favorable to Zoroark, it was great to see Piper piloting the deck.

I am a big fan of Piper, and I find it really beautiful to see how she thinks several turns ahead. She does not just play the current turn. She prepares the board, thinks about prizes, thinks about what the opponent has to do to respond, and slowly closes the exits.

And it is really good to see Pokémon TCG being played well like this.

Zoroark with Scoop Up Cyclone makes an already favorable matchup even better. But what I liked most was how she transforms the match using Yveltal. Daniel needs to bench Shaymin to avoid taking the Darmanitan hit, and that opens a huge window for Piper to start locking the game.

From there, she manages to use Xerosic, pressure Daniel's resources, and win the Munkidori war. It was not just a match where the matchup looked good. It was a match where Piper showed exactly why the deck is dangerous when in the hands of someone who understands every small trade.

There was good decision-making the entire time.

And maybe that is what made me happiest watching this series. It was not just about Zoroark winning a favorable match. It was about seeing a player piloting really well, using the deck's tools calmly and showing how small details completely change a match's path.

For me, it was the best game streamed on Day 1.

Day 2 Metagame

If Day 1 showed what people decided to bring to the first big post-rotation tournament, Day 2 showed which of those choices actually survived the cut.

And here the conversation shifts a little.

On Day 1, looking at presence already said a lot. Dragapult was huge, everyone knew that. But on Day 2, what starts to matter more is conversion. It is not enough to just be very present in the field. The question becomes: who managed to turn presence into result?

And on that point, Crustle was one of the big names of the tournament.

The deck's win rate was absurd, and that shows well how this kind of strategy can punish a format that is not yet prepared to respond. When the opponent has the right answer, fine, the game happens and is even favorable for them. But when they do not, Crustle manages to turn the match into a very uncomfortable situation, where the other side feels like they are playing with several dead cards in hand.

This is the kind of deck that may not look so scary just looking at metashare, but that becomes a huge problem when it fits the right environment.

And Prague was that environment.

On the other side, Dragapult / Dudunsparce also had a very strong conversion. And here we cannot treat it as coincidence. The deck was chosen by several excellent players, and almost everyone who brought this version seems to have gotten the deck into a very good position for Day 2.

That says a lot.

It was not just "Dragapult is the most popular deck". The version with Dudunsparce showed that it had enough consistency to get through a long tournament, draw cards all the time, and keep the plan running even in tougher games. In a format with less hand disruption, having a stable engine like that seems even more valuable.

At the same time, I was a bit disappointed with Alakazam.

For me, it was one of the best decks of this early post-rotation, so I expected to see a slightly stronger conversion in Prague. Maybe the tournament was not its time, maybe the field was too prepared, or maybe the lists still need some adjustments. But I would not take my eyes off the deck either way.

If people forget about Alakazam, you can be sure it will go off in tournaments like Los Angeles and Campinas. The deck has strong tools, knows how to play in a really annoying way, and punishes well anyone who cannot disrupt its hand or cut its setup early.

So, for me, Day 2 left a pretty clear read: Dragapult confirmed its strength, Crustle showed the format can still be punished, and Alakazam remains a real threat even without being a protagonist in Prague

Top Cut

I am going to skip straight to the Top Cut because I still want to comment on a specific match more carefully, and also because the article already has a lot to digest. The idea here is not to turn Prague into an endless report, but to grab the points that most help to understand the format.

The Prague Top Cut was asymmetric, with 14 players qualified. Since Tord Reklev and Maé Brusasco finished with the best scores, they went straight into the Top 8, while the other players had to play the previous round.

And looking at those matchups, the first thing that stands out is, again, Dragapult.

But here it gets even more interesting, because it was not a single version of the deck. There was Dragapult / Dudunsparce, Blaziken, Dusknoir, and pure builds. In other words, the archetype not only dominated in quantity. It also showed an absurd flexibility of construction.

We also had Mega Starmie / Dusknoir doing very well in the tournament, piloted by João Pires. This was one of the coolest surprises of the Top Cut for me.

The deck punishes bad starts and boards that need a few turns to set up very well. If the opponent takes a while to stabilize, Mega Starmie can apply pressure very fast, and Dusknoir helps create a snowball in the match.

In a format where several decks need to set up the board, evolve pieces, and organize Energy, this kind of strategy can steal games very fast. It was not just a "cool surprise"; it was a warning that more aggressive and punishing decks also have room here.

Another huge point was Crustle. The deck put 3 players into the Top Cut and managed to advance 2 of them to Top 8. For a deck that started the tournament as a much more specific metagame call, that is a lot. Prague made it very clear that, if the format does not respect this kind of strategy, it punishes.

And now I want to comment on a match that, for me, helps a lot to understand this start of the post-rotation: Mateusz Łaszkiewicz against Nicklas Rosu, a clash between Dragapult / Dudunsparce and Grimmsnarl that happened back in round 13.

Grimmsnarl was an interesting surprise to see go so far in the tournament. This match shows well the kind of question different decks had to answer in Prague: can you keep up with Dragapult's pace without falling behind?

Round 13: Mateusz Łaszkiewicz — Dragapult / Dudunsparce vs. Nicklas Rosu — Grimmsnarl

I am going to leave this match a bit in the hands of world champion Henry Brand, because he made a very good read on X after the tournament. I will bring his main idea here, in my own way, but I recommend looking at the original post too.

After the match, in the interview, Mateusz commented that he knew he had won after the first turn.

And that sounds absurd just saying it, but when you look at the match calmly, it makes a lot of sense.

Grimmsnarl had a bad start and needed to fill the bench with Pokémon that were not that important, just to try to stabilize. In some matchups, maybe that gets by. Against Raging Bolt, for example, the opponent might not be able to punish it the same way.

But against Dragapult, that is very dangerous.

Dragapult is very good at punishing a full bench, mainly because it does not need to take knockouts immediately. It can delay prizes, spread damage, and leave the opponent's board in a worse and worse spot.

And that is exactly what Mateusz did.

At certain moments, he refused knockouts that looked obvious. Instead of using Phantom Dive to take a prize, he preferred to use Jet Headbutt and keep building the board. The idea was not to win that specific turn. It was to set up a much bigger turn later.

That is the kind of thing that separates a good player from an absurd one.

His plan was to create a situation where he could take all 6 prizes at once, or at least remove all of Nicklas's threats in the same turn. When that happens, the opponent is left without relevant attackers in play and has to rebuild everything from scratch.

And here comes another important point from Henry's analysis: even if Grimmsnarl tried to play more aggressively, the match was still very tough.

Without Munkidori, the offensive power of Grimmsnarl drops a lot. That gives Dragapult more time to breathe, set up the board, and choose exactly when it wants to start taking prizes.

And when Dragapult has the chance to remove all the threats at once, especially the two Grimmsnarl, it buys an entire turn of time. Even if it is behind on prizes, it can "disarm" the opponent and stop them from making real progress on the next turn.

For me, this match shows very well why Dragapult is considered such a skill-expressive deck.

It is not just hitting hard. It is not just spreading damage. It is seeing the board two, three turns ahead. It is understanding when taking a prize is worse than waiting. It is knowing that, sometimes, the best attack is not the one that knocks out now, but the one that leaves the opponent with no way out later.

And that is why this match fits the article so well.

Prague showed that Dragapult was the strongest deck of the format, but this match showed something else: in the hands of someone who understands all these lines, the deck looks even more unfair.

Before moving on to the champion list

I am not going to comment on every Top 8, Top 4, and final match in detail. The article will still cover the champion list, the cards that may rise for the next tournaments, and the actual final thoughts.

But I think it is worth leaving some quick comments.

I recommend watching the Top 4. It was a really cool match and helps to understand better how the tournament got to the final. As for the Top 8, for me, it was a complicated choice from the broadcast. The match between Tord Reklev and Crustle was very bad for Tord, mainly because he did not have a clear out to actually win that game.

I understand that broadcasts have schedules, tables, production, and everything else. But, as a viewer, I would have preferred they delayed a bit or chose another match instead of putting on a series with so little game margin. Sometimes, a match can be important in the bracket, but is not necessarily the best match for whoever is watching.

The final was more interesting. The game was nice to follow, but the feeling was that Mateusz had every tool to win. And here Dudunsparce ex made a big difference. The ability to keep the hand running and to keep finding the right pieces weighed a lot, especially in a decisive game.

What was still missing was understanding how Mateusz managed to navigate all of that. The list answers that.

The champion list

Now we can really talk about the champion list.
And, for me, this was one of the coolest parts of the tournament. Dragapult / Dudunsparce did not show up out of nowhere. The Japanese players had been testing this idea, but Mateusz Łaszkiewicz's version looked very well tuned for what Prague was asking for.

The first thing that stands out is the engine swap. Instead of using Meowth ex and Fezandipiti ex, the list bets on Dudunsparce and Dudunsparce ex.

And I really liked that.

Meowth ex and Fezandipiti ex are strong cards, of course, but they put more 2-prize Pokémon on the board and can make life easier for the opponent. Mateusz's list seems very aware of that: it wants to keep the game running without giving up easy prizes and force the opponent to deal with Dragapult ex, preferably a Dragapult ex with Hero's Cape.

Regular Dudunsparce is excellent for getting back into the game after Unfair Stamp. You can draw, rebuild your hand, and keep playing without depending so much on finding a specific piece on top. In a long tournament, that makes a big difference.

Dudunsparce ex, on the other hand, is not there by accident. It gives the deck an alternate attacker for matches where Dragapult ex alone may not solve everything.

Against Crustle, that is very important. Instead of depending only on the plan of spreading damage and trying to land knockouts with Dragapult ex, Dudunsparce ex opens another way to apply pressure and keeps the deck from getting stuck on a single route.

It is also very useful against decks that fill the board with Pokémon ex, like Slop Box and Raging Bolt. In those matches, Dudunsparce ex can hit very high numbers with little Energy, sometimes enough to knock out a 2-prize Pokémon and close the game.

And here comes, for me, the real sauce of the list: Hero's Cape.

A lot of people expected Unfair Stamp as the Ace Spec. It made sense. The format lost Iono, hand disruption became rarer, so it was natural to imagine that Unfair Stamp would be one of the best cards of the format.

But Mateusz went the other way.

With Jamming Tower almost disappearing from the format and few people using Tool removal, Hero's Cape became a much stronger choice than it looked. A Dragapult ex with Hero's Cape becomes very annoying to remove. And if the opponent cannot knock it out cleanly, the deck gets exactly what it wants: another turn to spread damage, use Munkidori, set up the board, and close the game.

This choice also improves the mirror a lot. In a format full of Dragapult, boosting your main attacker's HP changes a lot of math. Sometimes the opponent has to spend an extra resource, delay a prize route, or simply accept that they will not get the knockout at the ideal timing.

I also really liked the third Crispin. Playing with 3 copies makes the list more consistent for finding acceleration during the match, especially in a deck that needs to attach Energy of different types.

This helps Dragapult keep pressure in the important turns and reduces the chance of losing tempo by not finding the right piece at the right time.

The Acerola's Mischief also looks like one of those cards that, when it lands, wins the game.

It is not a card to use every turn, but it can buy exactly the turn that Dragapult needs to not lose. If the opponent is close to closing the match and you protect the right Pokémon, they may end up without the decisive knockout. And in this deck, surviving one more turn is often enough to flip the game.

In the end, what I liked most about this list is that it does not try to do everything.

It has a clear plan: set up Dragapult ex, keep the hand running with Dudunsparce, use Munkidori and Risky Ruins to manipulate damage, and force the opponent to deal with a huge attacker wearing Hero's Cape.

It is a list that is simple to understand, but very hard to play perfectly.

It is not a list that tries to invent Pokémon. It is a list that accepts what the format asks for and tweaks the right screws.

What may change going forward

Alright, recap done. Now comes the part of trying to be a fortune teller.

After everything that happened in Prague, I find it hard to believe this is a format where you take the same 60 cards from one tournament and simply re-register them in the next without thinking much. My friend Álvaro has been saying this a lot, and I agree with him: the lists that did well in Prague may stay strong, but they will probably need adjustments.

It does not look like the kind of format where one almost-perfect list shows up and everyone just copies it for months. It is not a Gardevoir from Henry Chao, for example, where the feeling was that the 60 cards were already very close to ideal.

Here it looks different.

Dragapult is still the best deck of the format with ease, at least for me. But exactly because of that, everyone will need to respect the deck even more in the next tournaments. And when a deck becomes that central point, the rest of the format starts to move around it.

I think some cards may gain more space. Jamming Tower, for example, may come back to answer Hero's Cape. After Prague, it became clear how annoying a Dragapult ex with Hero's Cape can be to remove. If that choice becomes the standard, it makes sense for the format to try to punish it.

I also think Dusknoir can grow at this moment. It looks pretty interesting against decks full of small Pokémon or that depend on building a specific board, like Alakazam, Festival Lead, and Crustle. If those decks keep showing up, having a way to pressure those targets can be very relevant.

Crustle should also be much more respected going forward. After putting players at the top and going so far, no one is going to treat the deck as a surprise or meme. The problem is that, when everyone starts respecting this kind of deck, its life gets harder too. The lists will adapt, and then we will find out if Crustle is just a great answer to Prague or really holds up against a format prepared for it.

And there is Alakazam.

Even coming a bit below what I expected, I still have a lot of faith in the deck. There are many layers happening at the same time: Dragapult dominates, Crustle grows to punish the format, people start responding to Hero's Cape, and in the middle of all that a deck like Alakazam can find space again.

I would not be surprised if the next big tournament is much better for it.

In the end, my read is this: Dragapult is still the deck to beat, but Prague opened room for the format to shift. And when everyone starts aiming at the best deck, other decks get the chance to shine.

Final thoughts on the Prague Regional

Prague left me much more excited about the format than I expected.

I started this post-rotation a bit suspicious, thinking the game might become simpler or less interesting without some cards that were defining the previous format. But after watching the tournament calmly, my feeling changed a lot.

The format is different, sure. But different does not mean worse.

Dragapult left Prague as the deck to beat, and I find that hard to escape. The champion list was very well thought out, the deck has consistency, flexibility, and several ways to win. But, at the same time, the tournament showed that there is still room to attack the meta in other ways.

Crustle was the biggest warning of that. Alakazam still looks dangerous to me. Festival Lead, Zoroark, Garchomp, and other ideas also showed that the format does not boil down to copying the champion list and moving on.

For me, the biggest lesson from Prague is that this start of the format will demand adaptation. Maybe it is not the kind of environment where you register the same 60 cards for weeks without thinking. Each tournament should pull the meta to one side, and whoever can read that movement before the others will get ahead.

This study was also great for my preparation for the Regional of Campinas. Watching the matches, reviewing decisions, looking at the metagame, and thinking about the lists helped me to understand better what I need to respect going forward.

Next week, I want to bring more texts focused on this preparation for Campinas, plus a Los Angeles review. The idea is to keep following this format closely, because now the most interesting part starts: seeing how the meta responds after the first big result.

I hope you all enjoyed this article format, with metagame analysis, match comments, and a bit of my view as a player.

Prague was just the first big test.

Now let's see who can adapt better.