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Last weekend in New Orleans we saw thousands of trainers gather for the 2024 North American International Championships: the biggest Pokémon tournament of all time! The battles raged on for over three days of fierce competition, which were filled with tons of memorable moments and exciting plays. Today, we’ll be reliving some of the action and counting down the top TCG highlights of NAIC.
Andrew Hedrick takes the win with Lostbox
NAIC’s finals match was an absolute thrill from start to finish. It came packed with an incredible storyline: top French player Stéphane Ivanoff came into the match seeking his third NAIC title, but it wasn’t going to come easy. Andrew Hedrick, his opponent, has won multiple Regionals in the last year and is one of the most consistent players in the game. Both Stéphane and Andrew were playing very intricate and skillful decks (Gardevoir ex and Lostbox, respectively) and played a very close set.
In game one, Stéphane’s Klefki and Flutter Mane slowed Andrew down considerably, allowing him to start the game with a massive lead. However, Andrew was able to claw his way back to a decisive moment where a coin flip for confusion decided the game, and the heads let his Iron Hands ex complete the comeback by taking his last two prize cards with Amp You Very Much. The second game started off looking much like the first, but this time Andrew couldn’t get off the ground and Stéphane took a quick victory. The final game was decided by a sudden death scenario, where Andrew’s final Comfey gave him the Prime Catcher he needed to become an International Champion!
The Rise of Gardevoir
Despite its presence in the online metagame leading up to NAIC, nobody could’ve expected just how dominant Gardevoir ex would be. The deck accounted for a whopping 20% of decks in Day 2 of the tournament, claimed six of the top eight spots and was the choice of many top players.
Gardevoir ex is a combo-heavy deck which rewards skillful and careful play. Part of its strength lies in its favorable matchups into the other top decks in this format, Lugia VSTAR and Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex. Additionally, new additions such as Munkidori and Hyper Aroma give it a massive boost in power which was demonstrated in many stream matches from this weekend. Competitor Henry Chao took a creative multi-prize turn using Munkidori and Flutter Mane to manipulate damage!
Xander Pero’s Froslass Control
One of the most exciting things about tournaments like NAIC is the chance to watch the game’s best deck builders pilot their unique creations on stream. We got to see Xander Pero’s take on a Froslass/Munkidori control deck, which uses Froslass to stack up damage on opposing Pokémon as well as damaging Munkidori to fuel its Adrena-Brain ability. Over several turns, this damage can accumulate very quickly and wipe the opponent’s board in a single play!
In addition to this main strategy, his deck also features tech options like Minior and Supereffective Glasses to counter opposing Iron Hands ex as well as Noivern ex to wall out Basic Pokemon. Xander’s stream match against Snorlax Control in Round 5 was a dominant victory, and showcases the deck’s strengths very well. Though it did not end up qualifying for the second day of the tournament, this deck showcases the creativity and innovation we expect to see from top players at tournaments of this caliber.
Alessandro Cremascoli Wins against All Odds
One of the markers of a great Pokemon TCG player is the ability to find a way out of unlucky circumstances. Alessandro Cremascoli, one of the most successful players of the Control archetype, was faced with just such a situation when all four copies of Arven were prized against Collin Merli-Matthews’s Raging Bolt ex deck! Pidgeot Control is a deck that relies heavily on Arven to set up its board in the early game by providing easy access to Forest Seal Stone as well as powerful items like Rare Candy or Ultra Ball.
Alessandro faced an onslaught of early aggression by Collin, who was able to KO his key Pokémon, Girafarig, on the first turn of the game. However, despite this, Alessandro’s careful navigation of the early turns allowed him to establish Farigiraf ex just in the nick of time, which carried him to an impressive victory. This match highlights his ability to make the most of a difficult start and pilot his deck to perfection.
For so many reasons, NAIC 2024 was a tournament to remember. There were many more iconic moments over the weekend we didn’t get to cover, so if you want to see even more of the event make sure to check out the official stream on YouTube!
