Secluded Springs is finally here, and the meta has changed dramatically with one card dominating it all. Ursiiday tournaments have been postponed for quite a while now, so we'll see the biggest tournament for this week yet - the FrogEX Weekly Cup with 326 players. The first week brings the most impactful meta changes, so a lot of things will shift. We'll see what havoc is being caused!

Deck Distribution

Looking at the participation data, this week absolutely exploded with A2-110 A2b-035 holding onto its throne as the most played deck, but A4a-020 A1-089 came charging in as a fierce second choice, completely reshaping the landscape. The new Secluded Springs cards have unleashed waves across the meta, A4a-020-based archetypes are now dominating!

A3a-043 burst onto the scene with massive popularity, while former meta king A4-083 A3b-034 took a brutal hit, crashing down to much smaller representation.

The format is looking to be incredibly diverse. A2a-071 A4-066 is fighting to maintain its foothold while lightning-fast strategies like A4a-025 A2-053 and explosive A3b-009 A4-134 are finding their dedicated pilots. Players are going wild experimenting with the expanded arsenal from the new set with new strategies built around the legendary dogs.

Top Cut

• A2-110 A2a-071 absolutely crushed it - only 5 brave pilots brought it, but approximately 4 out of 5 made it through (80.00% conversion rate) which was insane! A4a-020 A2b-035 delivered a massive surprise with 20 players and 7 out of 20 making it through (35.00% conversion rate), proving the A4a-020 engine is absolutely dominant right now.
• A3a-043 delivered the real shocker - only 21 players brought it, but roughly 7 out of 21 made it through (33% conversion rate), making it one of the most efficient deck choices of the weekend. A3b-009 A4-134 matched that performance with 9 players getting 3 out of 9 making it through (33.33% conversion rate), despite its smaller representation.
• A4a-020 A1-089 proved it's not just popular but powerful, with 48 players and 13 out of 48 making the cut (27.08% conversion rate), establishing itself as the new meta threat everyone needs to respect.
• A4-083 A3b-034 bounced back impressively with 19 players and 5 out of 19 making it through (26.32% conversion rate), proving it still has serious competitive edge despite reduced popularity. A2-110 A2b-035 dominated participation with 55 players but managed 13 out of 55 into the cut (23.64% conversion rate) - still solid but not as dominant as expected.
• A2a-071 A4-066 couldn't find its footing with 16 participants managing roughly 1 out of 16 making it through. A4a-025 A2-053 flopped spectacularly with 9 players getting 1 out of 9 into cut.

Top 4 Decks

Tournament	First Place	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Magma $51	Suicune ex Greninja	Darkrai ex Giratina ex	Suicune ex Greninja Oricorio	Arceus ex Darkrai ex

• Champion – The new A4a-020 A1-089 archetype has dominated and took over the tournament! Do note that there are 7 A4a-020 A1-089 in the top 12. It fought 3 mirrors and only lost to a A2-110 A2b-035 in the 2nd round.
• 2nd Place – A2-110 A2b-035 was second place, but it has a remarkable achievement of beating 5 out of 8 A4a-020 A1-089 including the champion and a A3a-006 deck, which is a hard matchup.
• 3rd Place – Third place was still A4a-020 A1-089. It fought a lot more varied matches, winning 3 out of 4 mirrors and eventually losing to the 2nd place.
• 4th Place – 4th place was the new A2a-071 A2-110, which also fought a lot of varied decks but notably beat 3 out of 4 A4a-020 A1-089 with the one loss against the champion.

Suicune ex Greninja – 1st Place

A4a-020 A1-089 has taken over the metagame, becoming the champion of this week's largest tournament. Using only Water energy, the game plan is to simply evolve A1-087 into A1-089 with the help of A4a-020's draw ability, letting you get through the deck faster. Unlike A3b-034 A1-089, A4a-020 can also attack, making it much more reliable. The addition of A2b-035 as an added damage dealer helps stagger since you still have to charge energy on the earlier turns, functioning like A2-110 A2b-035. Double A2-150 as always is strong in A1-089 builds, which is good. One A1a-068 ensures a smooth transition after tanking with A4a-020 or A2b-035. Double A2a-072 as a healing option for the first damage hit after getting energy.

---

Darkrai ex Giratina ex - 2nd Place

A2-110 A2b-035 has done it once again, making it to second place after consistently reaching top 4 in every tournament. Just the usual list but using PROMO-006 instead of A2-155 and A4-158 still slotted in, so a little bit out of the norm compared to the usual standard lists lately.

---

Suicune ex Greninja – 3rd Place

It is A4a-020 A1-089, but they include A3-066 here, so a little bit of a twist. It was also used by the 5th, 7th, and 11th place. Yes, it's 7 A4a-020 A1-089 in the top 12. I imagine this is a tournament-centric build since you can choose to use Water energy and Lightning for A3-066 against incredibly EX-heavy decks like A2b-010 or A2-110 while using pure Water against most decks. Definitely a hard deck to face since it's also consistent and smooth-flowing.

---

Arceus ex Darkrai ex - 4th place

A new archetype of A2a-071 A2-110 is now taking this set by storm while not using a card from the new set. This is a late-stage innovation using Baby Pokemon generators as win conditions but taken even further since we use the best damage dealers of A2a-071 and A2-110, which can also supplement additional damage, having huge bodies and damage as early as turn 2 going second. I really enjoy this list since A2-146 lets you find what you're missing while A2-155 can be powerful since you will sacrifice a few baby Pokemon initially and punish A4a-020 decks.

Best Decks for Ranked

New expansions bring new lists to be presented. Once again, we will be taking decks from the tournament, but there aren't many cards from the new set being used aside from A4a-020, so quite good news for those who didn't pull much. However, getting A4a-020 is definitely a card to prioritize.

---

Suicune Greninja

58% win rate with 7 out of 12 in the top 12 shows insane numbers. This is the best deck right now based on win rate and such high play rate - it's quite a breakout performance. Lucky for those who have 2 A4a-020 already. We aren't exactly sure of the most optimal list since it's just 4 days since the expansion release, but so far, this is the most successful list, running only 1 A2b-035. Most of the top cut versions use this configuration, while the other variation runs 2 A2b-035. There's also the A3-066 variant that I showed in the top 4, but I won't recommend that one for ladder yet since it's more tournament-centric. Of course, feel free to use what works best for you.

---

Darkrai ex Arceus ex

Insane conversion rate to the top cut with 80% - 4 out of 5 players made it to the top cut. Aside from A4a-020 A1-089, this might be the best deck of the format. It's highly aggressive and consistent, able to deal with A3-066. Using only Dark energy, the game plan is to start with any baby Pokemon and charge your main damage dealers such as A2a-071 or A2-110. A3-141, on the other hand, can be used as well when going first or against A3-066. It can easily deal one-shots with A2a-071 paired with A2b-071, hitting the 140 HP breakpoint easily, which is common in the meta. With the addition of A2-110's ability, it can deal up to 170 damage.

---

Darkrai ex Giratina ex

While only having a 51% win rate, it still has a high play rate, making it a reliable deck to play, though not as dominant as last expansion. With the 2nd place defaulting to a more traditional list instead of double A1a-068, I imagine it won't have much significance as long as you run the best Trainers. I still highly advocate running A2-155 given the huge play rate of A4a-020.

---

Guzzlord ex

This is a real shocker because this list runs only 2 A3a-043 and 1 A3a-062. Yes, you're seeing it right - no A3a-045 or A3a-042, so this is just 17 Trainers with A3a-043. The numbers also show it's no fluke, with a 58% win rate over the tournament. It demolished A4-134 decks such as A3b-009 A4-134 and A4-083 A3b-034. It also fought well against A4a-020 A1-089. Is this the best new deck? It does lose to A2-110 A2b-035 and A2a-071 A4-066. I imagine A3-066 is a hard matchup due to you only having A3a-062 as the only answer, especially if they run 2 copies. It does beat the top meta decks, which might make it worth it to lose to A3-066.

---

Espeon ex Sylveon ex

A4-083 A3b-034, while no longer the most dominant deck, still has a decent showing with 5 out of 19 in the top cut. It is still a consistent deck that won't really fail you - there are just a lot of decks that prey on it now, including A4a-020 A2b-035 and A2b-035 A2-110, considering that those 2 decks are already popular high up on the ladder. I reckon the deck is still strong, especially before Master Ball. To check how the deck plays, check out this guide from last set.

---

Flareon ex Eevee

3 out of 9 players made it to the top cut. A3b-009 A4-134 is also one of the solid decks you can run since it beats A2b-035 A2-110 and A4-083 A3b-034 due to how it can one-shot them both with the help of A2b-071 and A3b-066. It does lose to A4a-020 A1-089 and A3a-043 currently, making its stock drop lower. Using only Fire energy, the game plan is to start with A4-032 or switch to it, then generate energy for A4-134, which you evolve into A3b-009 or A3b-009, letting you attack and do one-shots.

Raikou ex Tapu Koko ex

Wanted to feature this list since it got to top 9 in the tournament. Quite an unusual list since it doesn't run at least one A3-066 but combines the best Lightning Pokemon so far with A3a-021 as energy generators, same as A3a-019. A4a-025 as your source of draw while A2b-022 as a huge damage dealer if needed. The biggest strength of the deck seems to be that you can surprise opponents out of nowhere with A4-151, making every card an attacker, especially A2b-022 surprising you out of nowhere. There's not much data for the deck since it's quite original, so I just wanted to throw something spicy, but it's definitely not as good as the other decks listed here.

Arceus ex Pichu

While barely making this list, I wanted to show the most successful A3-066 deck since I imagine A3-066 still has a place in the meta with a lot of EX decks such as A4a-020 running around. There's not much innovation already aside from the standard double A4-066 now to easily charge A2a-071. You can check how the deck plays here.

Final Thoughts

The Secluded Springs format has delivered a seismic shift with A4a-020 A1-089 emerging as the undisputed meta king, claiming 7 out of 12 top cut spots. What makes this shake-up fascinating is how one new card created ripple effects throughout the entire landscape - traditional powerhouses dropped while innovative builds like A2-110 A2a-071 and the shocking 17-trainer A3a-043 found success. The format rewards both aggression and consistency, with healthy diversity suggesting innovation beats pure netdecking.