Recife Regional 2026 and the 7 Dragapult mirrors I played

Then Frankfurt happened, with Alakazam Dusknoir taking first and second, and I decided to pivot the list. The deck was good, but too simple. I believed the number of Psyduck was going to go up, and since the star of the list was Patrat, I felt the number of Team Rocket's Watchtower was going to go up too. The result: I'd be left without Munkidori and without Patrat.

With Dudunsparce or without?

I had that doubt until the very end. I would have liked to use Dudunsparce and Dudunsparce ex, but I felt I hadn't practiced enough to get 100% out of the tech, and that worried me a lot. Not to mention I really wanted to play Watchtower, because I thought it was an excellent tech.

I tried to watch as much good Dragapult content as I could, and I was lucky that Andrew Hedrick, Brent Tonisson and Henry Chao put out some videos during that period. Watching them, I felt like most people do NOT know how to pilot the deck that well. It was good against the rest of the format, but in the mirror it was kind of inconsistent. A lot of people say it's the famous Lillie's Determination lottery. It is, but there are plenty of little plays to burn your opponent's energy, attack with Budew so you don't eat a Crushing Hammer late in the game, manage the damage on your opponent's board, and so on. I ended up writing most of the matchups down for myself, like a script on how to play. More on that at the end.

Decklist

I took Brent Tonisson's list, which was the cleanest one, and added the Watchtower.

There's no point going card by card in an archetype where most people are already tired of knowing what the "perfect 60" look like, but I'll comment on a few choices.

Moltres

This was by far the card I used the least. Since I wasn't running Dudunsparce ex to play well against Clefairy Box, I needed a one-prize attacker, and it could also help against Excadrill. I could definitely have won without it, and I think it was a terrible slot. But it was my ace up the sleeve, because I hadn't played that much against those decks.

Judge or Xerosic

I thought a lot about which of the two disruption cards I wanted. Xerosic's Machinations is good in the mirror when the game is stuck in the Budew war, against Alakazam, and even efficient against N's Zoroark ex, which needs a lot of cards in hand to combo against me. In the end I went with Judge, mainly because of Slowking and the mirror itself, for when I need to leave the Budew war before my opponent and don't want to leave him with 20 cards in hand.

4 Fire, 3 Psychic and 2 Darkness

This was another good call. We play a lot of games, and I felt that running 8 energy required more attention during the tournament, which wore me out more over the course of the day. Crushing Hammer is everywhere right now, so the more energy, the better.

2 Risky Ruins and 1 Watchtower

I'm a lover of 3 stadiums, especially when they're different. Risky Ruins I'd use my opponent's copy, but in most mirrors they'd have Dudunsparce and I wouldn't, which cost me draw power compared to them. Not to mention the Watchtower stops Meowth ex from the opponent's opening hand and stops Mega Kangaskhan ex from accelerating the draws into big combos. It was totally worth it.

My matches at the Recife Regional

I can't go turn by turn, so I'll do a summary of each match to explain what mattered.

Rounds 1 and 2: two mirrors to start on the right foot

In the first round I hit a mirror against Suetoni Barros da Silva. He's a local who owns a store, a super nice guy by the way, and it was a relatively easy match because of his lack of experience. What matters is showing up and playing as much as you can, because that's how you learn. The second round, against Marco Monteiro, was almost the same thing. The game went a bit better for me, I was very confident, and I closed it out at 2-0-0.

The first big challenge: vs Dragapult

Here I ran into one of the best players in Brazil, Lucas Matheus, or LM, as he's better known in São Paulo. Since he didn't know what I was playing, his Dragapult was asking to go blind first (win the coin, play first). In this mirror, going second has an advantage, because you get a turn with supporter and items, and I managed to set up really well and win the game.

In the second game he asked me to go first. I made an honest setup and put the Watchtower in play. I watched him burn Ultra Ball to grab Drakloak and end up with a small hand. He had two Drakloak, but not much after that. I managed to keep going with Budew, hit a Crushing Hammer flip, and it snowballed from there.

At the end of the game he told me the Watchtower had broken his play: he was going to grab Meowth ex to chain into Lillie's Determination. So the tech was already good for something. He finished the tournament very well, and it was awesome playing him.

The first loss, and another mirror: vs Dragapult

I ran into Abel Yantorno, a really nice Chilean. We had great games, too bad I fell into the same combo I pulled on him in game 1 and ate it in game 3. Maybe I could have squeezed out a tie, but I'd rather the game end with a winner, and he deserved to win.

Around turn 10, I needed Boss's Orders to close the game and couldn't draw it. To avoid eating a Crushing Hammer and losing right there, I retreated, put energy on the Dragapult ex that was going to attack, used Night Stretcher for another energy in case I got stalled, and attacked with Budew. That way, on the next turn, I could dig deeper into my deck, which was already pretty small, and find the Boss. Too bad he did exactly the same thing to me in game 3. And what a game. I lost, but I walked away happy, because I did everything I could and lost to a guy who made better decisions than I did.

Here you need to understand: there's a world between playing Dragapult well and playing Dragapult REALLY well. Knowing when to leave the Budew war (both players locked under Budew, no items for anyone), counting energy, managing Budew, trying not to leave 30 damage on your opponent's side so you don't lose your Drakloak. All of that makes a huge difference.

A best-of-one disguised as a best-of-three: vs N's Zoroark ex

Without a doubt one of the hardest matches I had in the tournament. My opponent was Victor Lopes, a really cool guy, and by the end of the tournament we kept asking each other how it was going. Unfortunately he lost his win-and-in, but he's an excellent player.

The first game lasted 40 minutes. It was a battle, because neither deck ran that well, and the game was very complicated. I can't just hit an N's Zoroark ex any old way. The idea is to always have another Dragapult ex ready to attack, so I don't lose the flow. I managed the damage well, and that's something super important: be careful and always think about the next turns. Since it was the Transformation Tome version, I knew he'd use a Munkidori and a Night Stretcher, so I could plan around that. I knocked out both of his Zoroark in the same turn. I came back with Unfair Stamp, I had already used Judge, and he came back with Lillie's Determination, used the Tome, brought back a Zoroark and put on absurd pressure. But since I had already spread the damage well, I knocked out a Munkidori on the bench to win. I'd been thinking about everything that could go wrong, and it worked out.

In the second game he bricked completely, drew nothing. A match like that is tough when both of us are trying our hardest, hence the best-of-one title. If I'd lost like that, I think I'd feel the same way.

I went to Recife and found a shark: vs Sharpedo Toxtricity

Man, what a scare. I hadn't practiced a single game against this deck, and Luís Gustavo Rattacaso was very comfortable, you could see it on his face. I asked to go second, no idea why, and took an incredible board to the face. I ate play after play and lost very easily. Seriously.

But then I remembered: wait, I watched this matchup at the Brisbane Regional, when a former World Champion played this deck. What were its problems? I thought: I'll kill the Toxtricity, try to hit the Crushing Hammer and pray the Unfair Stamp lands. Said and done. And I kept chipping away at his Mega Sharpedo ex too. When he brought one up, I killed a Sharpedo and a Carvanha on the bench.

In the third game I was much more comfortable. I just needed to set up well, and I did. I managed to clean up his pre-attackers, he tried to buy time with Yveltal to rebuild his board, but I had won the Munkidori war, and from there it was a victory lap.

Winning feels great, but this is why it's important to consume a lot of the game and pay attention to how a deck wins and how it loses. Game experience counts, and going for the optimal play alone isn't enough. Sometimes you just need to understand the weaknesses and strengths of each archetype.

Up to here your boy was flying: 5-1-0.

Do they have crabs in Recife too? vs Crustle

This match, against Carlos Medina Astete, was ridiculous. I actually set up fine, but missed every important Crushing Hammer. Even though I don't run Dudunsparce ex and the babies, believe it or not there were plays to make, but they needed the coin. It was very easy and quick for him, because I kept missing flip after flip.

The second game was almost the same, and he built a Crustle with about 6 energy attached. I conceded and went to catch my breath.

The cowards' ID: vs Dragapult

By this point I was talking a lot with André. He wanted me to play. To be honest, even though I was confident in the deck and in myself, I had low expectations for this tournament, so my goal was modest. When I found out I'd been paired with my friend Vina, Vinicius Augusto Gomes, man, he was sitting right there, we chatted and took the tie. He's an old-guard guy. I love that guy and that old guard, they have the best stories. I'll always be rooting for him.

I made it through, but there was still a long road ahead: vs Starmie Froslass

In this match, against Bianca Cristie, I knew I needed to start fast, because if I played even a little slow I'd lose. But I had a plan. This deck's energy acceleration is very slow. Boss's Orders on a benched Pokémon and stripping energy off her attacker under Budew forces the deck to go find Air Balloon to keep attacking. Once I have Dragapult ex set up on the board, it's just about being careful with the 3 prizes I'm going to take so I don't fall into Mega Froslass ex range.

I won 2-0 and finished the day 6-2-1. I needed to win out on Day 2, but the goal was at least to repeat what I did at the Belo Horizonte Regional, with a top 64.

Day 2: would there be even more mirrors?

I woke up feeling great that day, with a confidence I can't explain, and very calm about playing mirrors.

On Day 2 I hit 3 more Dragapult: Miguel Angel Rojas Duk, Bastian Silva and Cássio Moraes. Excellent players, seriously, each one better than the last. I beat Miguel, tied with Bastian and beat Cássio. I was really happy. They were very hard games, I had to play the best Pokémon TCG of my life, but I was very prepared for those matches.

Captain Bolt, the final boss: vs Clefairy Box

My last match was against Yerco Valencia, a player known for always being on Raging Bolt ex, and it was no different: it was a Clefairy Box with the Bolt inside. If I won, it was worth 1k dollars, more points toward Worlds and a top 32. I sat down super confident, even having played against the deck only a few times.

In the first game I asked him to go first. He played a Fezandipiti ex and passed, and I started with a 10 out of 10 hand. You have no idea, guys, how absurd my hand was. Yerco himself was stunned. Then I played Lillie's Determination for 8 and not a single out to Drakloak showed up. I lost the game right there. I tried to buy a turn with Crushing Hammer, hit it, wasn't taking a KO, played Budew, but he had Cyrano, set up and rebuilt the Fezandipiti. Then I'd draw and... pass. Absurd. It went like that for 4 turns, until I conceded.

Breathe, don't lose it

We went to game 2, and I had clearly reached my limit. He played better than me. I think he made a play where he baited me with Lillie's Clefairy ex, and in the end he managed to take the last prizes: he played Unfair Stamp, Judge on himself and drew the Pokémon to knock out my last Dragapult ex. I tried, I swear I tried, but I was happy. We joked around, we were super relaxed during the match.

Let me be very clear: playing him was one of the worst feelings, because playing someone who is looking at the discard pile the whole time is really bad. Pokémon makes so many bad rules, it's time to think about something for this, because I played under warning the entire time. I'm not accusing him of anything. He won, and honestly, well deserved. But having to play that way is horrible.

About the Recife Regional

The tournament itself had some problems, in my view. The tables were really bad for anyone of average height, there was warm water on the first days, only one stand selling pastel and burgers, and absurd heat. On the good side, Crane has been nailing the schedule, and putting people inside the hall instead of leaving them out in the sun was the right call.

Zé Iuri also wrote his Recife report, with the Chandelure Gang, and it's worth reading to see the same tournament through another deck.

The Recife Regional metagame

There were 1074 players, and Dragapult alone was 23% of the field, with 250 pilots. Adding the Dusknoir, Blaziken ex and Dudunsparce versions, it passes 33%. One in every three decks in the room was Dragapult, which explains my 8 rounds against it out of 13, 7 played and one ID. And mind you, its overall win rate was 50%, which means the mirror decided a lot of this tournament.

Behind it came N's Zoroark ex with 79 players and the best win rate among the big decks, 53%, Alakazam Dudunsparce with 66, Basic Box with 63, Slowking with 48, Mega Excadrill ex with 44 and Crustle with 34. The two decks that took points from me on Day 1, Crustle and Sharpedo Toxtricity, were 3% and 1% of the field respectively. I hadn't practiced against either of them, and that cost me.

The champion came from off the radar

Victor Carreira won with Ogerpon ex and Arboliva ex, finishing 14-2-1. This deck had 2 players in the entire tournament. Two. And the two of them combined for 16-6-1 across the rounds, a 71% win rate, the best number of any archetype at the event. Victor played great, and brought a deck nobody was preparing an answer for into a room full of Dragapult.

The rest of the top 8 looked more like what we expected: Fabrizio Inga Silva in second and Pedro Pertusi in third, both on Dragapult, Marco Cifuentes in fourth on N's Zoroark ex, Riguel Assis on Mega Excadrill ex, Rafael Yuiti on Dragapult, Rafael Neto on Slowking and Jose Santos on Rocket's Honchkrow closing out the list. Yerco, who knocked me out of the tournament in the last round, finished 14th.

Conclusion

Goal achieved. I left Recife with 52nd out of 1074 and 8-3-2, happy, and I'm still chasing the Singapore dream. The Watchtower earned every slot, Moltres didn't, and confidence in the mirror is what carried me to the last table of Day 2.

During preparation I wrote down, for myself, how to play every Dragapult matchup. That material became a script on how to pilot the deck, and I want to turn it into a full guide here on the site. If you're interested, say so in the comments. I opened the comments feature precisely so we can debate right here, so feel free to comment, and I'll reply.

Another thing I'm looking into is building a sort of TCMG Metafy right here on the site. The idea is to have a place where you can follow what's going on in the Pokémon TCG world, the decks, the upcoming tournaments, and a TCMG Top Cut community where we can discuss and improve together. It's still just an idea, which is why I want to hear from you before deciding. Answer the poll below.

Until the next report.