From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
LostGar is a popular deck archetype in competitive Pokémon Trading Card Game play.
Strategy
While most deck archetypes focus on taking six prizes to satisfy the game's traditional win condition, LostGar attempts to place six of the opponent's Pokémon in the Lost Zone to win with Lost World. To do this, the deck employs the effects of Gengar Prime, Palkia G LV.X, and Mime Jr.. The deck has three passable starters, immediately giving it an advantage over decks that run fewer. Gastly can lock down the opponent early in the game by preventing him or her from playing Trainer cards with its Pitch Dark attack. Against Trainer-heavy decks such as Gyarados and LuxChomp, Pitch Dark can buy LostGar valuable time to set up. Smeargle is also a solid start, as it can allow the LostGar player to use an additional Supporter card each turn with its Portrait Poké-Power. LostGar's third good start is Mime Jr.. While the other two Pokémon mentioned here help LostGar stall the opponent and set up faster, respectively, Mime Jr. actually advances the deck's win condition. In combination with Chatot G's Disrupting Spy Poké-Power, Mime Jr. can place multiple opponent's Pokémon in the Lost Zone before he or she can respond by knocking it out.
Key Cards
- Gengar Prime - As the deck's main attacker, Gengar Prime is arguably the most important Pokémon in LostGar. With its Hurl Into Darkness attack, Gengar Prime can put Pokémon from the opponent's hand into the Lost Zone equal to the number of
energies attached to it. Additionally, Gengar Prime's Catastrophe Poké-Body states that any opponent's Pokémon knocked out while Gengar Prime is active are placed into the Lost Zone instead of the discard. With Hurl Into Darkness and Catastrophe, and thus an ability to place Pokémon into the Lost Zone quickly, Gengar Prime provides the perfect complement to Lost World.
- Smeargle - Smeargle is the deck's ideal start. With its Portrait Poké-Power, Smeargle has the ability to allow LostGar an extra Supporter play each turn, which can greatly improve the deck's set up speed early in the game. Additionally, when a Gengar Prime is knocked out, the LostGar player can bring up Smeargle to gain its effect and then retreat it into another Gengar Prime. The deck's dependence on Smeargle for a fast start is the chief reason many builds run two Unown Q; with Unown Q attached, the LostGar player does not have to pay to retreat Smeargle.
- Uxie - Uxie is the deck's primary drawing effect. Its Set Up Poké-Power allows the player to draw until he or she has seven cards in hand when it is played.
- Cyrus's Conspiracy - Although some builds, especially those utilizing Mew Prime, do not run Cyrus's Conspiracy, it is crucial in any variant running Palkia G LV.X and/or the Mime Jr./Chatot G| combination. Cyrus's Conspiracy allows the LostGar player to grab any Supporter card, any Team Galactic's Invention, and any Basic Energy card from his or her deck. Since the deck runs a variety of Supporters, two different Team Galactic's Invention cards, and ten Basic Energies, Cyrus's Conspiracy will almost always yield at least two helpful cards, making it one of the most important cards in the deck.
- Seeker - Seeker is the primary card that allows Gengar Prime's Hurl into Darkness to be effective. The card's effect forces the opponent to pick up one of his or her Pokémon off the bench, placing it in the hand. Seeker guarantees that, regardless of the opponent's ability to get Pokémon out of hir or her hand, Hurl into Darkness will be able to send at least one Pokémon into the Lost Zone. Additionally, Seeker can allow the LostGar player to scoop up a damaged Gengar Prime, reuse Uxie's Set Up Poké-Power, or generally open up a bench spot, making at a versatile card and arguably the most important Supporter in LostGar.
- Lost World - LostGar's entire premise is based off the win condition presented by Lost World. If the opponent has six or more Pokémon in the Lost Zone and Lost World is on the field, the LostGar player can declare him- or herself the winner of the game. The deck's strategy revolves around using whatever means possible to get six of the opponent's Pokémon in the Lost Zone and subsequently using Lost World to win the game immediately following.
- Broken Time-Space - Although some would not consider Broken Time-Space a staple card of LostGar, the ability to evolve quickly is critical. Getting Gengar Prime onto the field early in the game and beginning to use Hurl into Darkness can result in several of the opponent's Pokémon being sent to the Lost Zone before he or she has the opportunity to set up. In essence, Broken Time-Space is the most important card for the purpose of getting Gengar Prime out quickly.
Typical decklist
The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building his or her own version.
Possible Tech Cards
The following cards are often used in LostGar in place of certain cards included in the above list.
E
