Recife Regional: Brazilian wins as the meta heads to LAIC

Victor Carreira won Recife with Ogerpon and Meganium; Dragapult ex took Louisville undefeated. The Pokémon TCG meta five weeks before LAIC.

Oct 15, 2026 · by ArcanoLeviata317 · 9 min read

Read in:

Recife Regional: Brazilian wins as the meta heads to LAIC

Who won the Pokémon TCG Recife Regional? It was Victor Carreira Rodrigues, from the Brazilian state of Pará, who topped 1,074 players on October 3–4, 2026 with a Grass deck built around Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Meganium and Arboliva ex — and earned a direct invitation to the 2027 World Championships. A week later, at the Louisville Regional (USA), Canada's Riley McKay went undefeated with Dragapult ex, the format's most played deck. Together, the two results are the latest picture of the meta for anyone heading to the Latin America International Championships (LAIC) in São Paulo, November 20–22.

What happened in Recife

The Regional Championship Recife drew 1,074 players in the Masters (adult) division, according to Limitless Labs and Diário do Pará. It was an almost entirely Brazilian event: 944 entrants were from Brazil, 78 from Chile and 23 from Argentina. The format was the Standard format running from Temporal Forces to 30th Celebration, the set that became tournament legal on September 25.

Victor finished 14 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. He lost in rounds 5 and 6, to two other Ogerpon decks, and then won the next 11 matches — including against Pedro Pertusi and, in the last one, Peru's Fabrizio Inga Silva, both on Dragapult ex.

The top eight, per Limitless Labs:

1st Victor Carreira (Brazil) — Ogerpon/Meganium/Arboliva
2nd Fabrizio Inga Silva (Peru) — Dragapult ex
3rd Pedro Pertusi (Brazil) — Dragapult ex
4th Marco Cifuentes (Chile) — N's Zoroark
5th Riguel Assis (Brazil) — Mega Excadrill ex
6th Rafael Yuiti (Brazil) — Dragapult ex
7th Rafael Neto (Brazil) — Slowking
8th Jose Santos (Brazil) — Rocket's Honchkrow

Victor told Diário do Pará that he started competing in 2022 in Lisbon, moved back to Belém in 2024 and founded the Boiúna TCG team with friends. "This Worlds spot means a lot to me," he said (our translation).

What is a Regional win worth?

In the 2027 season, the champion of each age division at a Regional earns a direct invitation to the World Championships, regardless of their end-of-season point total, according to the official Play! Pokémon page. In the TCG, the Masters division pays US$10,000 to first place, US$7,000 to second and US$5,000 to third and fourth, plus 350 Championship Points to the champion.

The 2027 World Championships will take place August 13–15, 2027 in Singapore, as The Pokémon Company announced at the close of the 2026 Worlds.

What does the Recife winning deck look like?

Victor's deck runs 21 Pokémon, 28 Trainers and 11 Grass Energy. The core is a two-card combination:

4 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (Twilight Masquerade 025). It is a Basic with 210 HP and the Teal Dance Ability, which attaches a Grass Energy from hand and draws a card. Its Myriad Leaf Shower attack does 30 damage plus 30 for each Energy attached to both Active Pokémon.
2 Meganium (Mega Evolution 010), with Chikorita and Bayleef. Its Wild Growth Ability makes each basic Grass Energy count as two.

With Meganium in play, each Energy attached to Ogerpon counts twice in the attack's calculation. The third piece is Arboliva ex (Destined Rivals 023), a 310-HP Stage 2 whose Oil Salvo attack spreads six hits of 20 damage among the opponent's Pokémon, ignoring Weakness and Resistance.

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex card, from the Twilight Masquerade set

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Twilight Masquerade (sv06-025). Illustration: 5ban Graphics · Image: TCGdex · © Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK

On the Trainer side, the list plays 4 Lillie's Determination, 3 Dawn, 2 Boss's Orders, 4 Bug Catching Set, 3 Ultra Ball and 3 Forest of Vitality. Limitless Labs calls the archetype "Ogerpon Meganium Arboliva"; PokéStats calls it "Arboliva ex/Meganium". It is the same deck. It was not among Recife's 15 most played archetypes — the 15th had 22 players.

Arboliva ex card, from the Destined Rivals set

Arboliva ex, Destined Rivals (sv10-023). Illustration: PLANETA Tsuji · Image: TCGdex · © Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK

What happened in Louisville

The Regional Championship Louisville, October 9–11, 2026, had 2,927 players in Masters, a number confirmed by both Limitless Labs and PokéStats. Riley McKay (Canada) won with Dragapult ex and a record of 15 wins, no losses and 3 ties.

The top eight:

1st Riley McKay (Canada) — Dragapult ex
2nd Austin Charles (USA) — Dragapult/Blaziken
3rd Evan Campbell (USA) — Mega Sharpedo ex/Toxtricity
4th Rahul Reddy (USA) — Dhelmise/Banette
5th Henry Chao (USA) — Dragapult ex
6th Leo Orozco (USA) — Dragapult ex
7th Jeremy Chestnutt (USA) — Ogerpon/Meganium/Hydrapple
8th Sawyer Melban (USA) — Mew ex/Clefairy

McKay's list runs 4 Dreepy, 4 Drakloak and 3 Dragapult ex from Ascended Heroes, with 2 Munkidori, 4 Crushing Hammer and Darkness, Psychic and Fire Energy (three of each). Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive attack does 200 damage and puts six damage counters on the opponent's Bench.

Dragapult ex card, from the Ascended Heroes set

Dragapult ex, Ascended Heroes (me02.5-160). Illustration: 5ban Graphics · Image: TCGdex · © Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK

What are the most played Pokémon TCG decks in October 2026?

Dragapult ex is still the most played deck. Per Limitless Labs data, the five most popular archetypes at each event were:

Recife — Dragapult 23.32% (50.23% win rate); N's Zoroark 7.37% (53.16%); Alakazam Dudunsparce 6.16%; Basic Box 5.88%; Dragapult Dusknoir 5.60%
Louisville — Dragapult 18.61% (51.64% win rate); Basic Box 7.64% (50.25%); Slowking 7.03%; Alakazam Dudunsparce 5.55%; N's Zoroark 5.14%

Adding up the three Dragapult variants (the main one, with Dusknoir and with Blaziken), the share was 32.93% in Recife and 26.32% in Louisville. In Baltimore, in September, that sum had been 30.18%, as we showed in our Baltimore Regional analysis.

Ogerpon decks with Meganium showed up at both events: the Recife champion used Arboliva, and Louisville's 7th place used Hydrapple. That Hydrapple version was 3.87% of the field in Louisville and 3.08% in Recife.

How much do the winning deck's cards cost?

The key cards from both winning decks are cheap in their regular versions. Prices come from the TCGdex API, which passes along TCGplayer (USA, market price, in dollars) and Cardmarket (Europe, trend price, in euros), updated on October 14, 2026. All are the standard holo version, not alternate arts:

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (Twilight Masquerade 025) — US$2.58 on TCGplayer; €3.17 on Cardmarket
Arboliva ex (Destined Rivals 023) — US$0.57; €0.58
Meganium (Mega Evolution 010) — US$0.25; €0.11
Dragapult ex (Ascended Heroes 160) — US$1.00; €1.50

Teal Mask Ogerpon ex was at US$2.73 and €3.39 on September 21, when we checked it for the Baltimore article. We did not check prices in Brazilian reais for this article.

What changes for buyers, sellers and collectors

Heading to LAIC: Dragapult ex is the deck you will face most — between a quarter and a third of the field at all three Regionals this season. Test your deck against it before November 20.
Building Ogerpon/Meganium: the pieces are cheap in their regular versions. See who sells Teal Mask Ogerpon ex and Arboliva ex on Collector Union.
Selling: if you have Ogerpon, Meganium or Arboliva sitting around, list them with the exact name and set code (TWM 025, MEG 010, DRI 023) — that is how people copying the champion's list will search.
Buying Dragapult ex: the Ascended Heroes version was US$1.00 on TCGplayer; compare with who sells Dragapult ex here.
Watch the format: Mega Evolution—Delta Reign has prereleases starting October 24 and releases November 6 (our guide). We did not find an official source for the date the set becomes tournament legal — check before LAIC.

Our take

This section is opinion, based on the numbers above.

Recife showed that Dragapult ex is the deck to beat, not the deck that always wins. The champion lost twice to other Ogerpon decks and still took down two Dragapult players in the final rounds. The fact that the archetype was outside the 15 most played suggests few players had prepared for it.

Louisville points the other way: Dragapult won undefeated and put four players in the top 8, counting the Blaziken version. For LAIC, the safest read is that Dragapult will stay on top and that Grass decks with Meganium are a real answer, but still lightly tested.

For Brazilian players, the message from Recife is that the local scene already produces Regional champions: six of the top eight were from Brazil.

Quick summary

Victor Carreira, from Belém (Pará, Brazil), won the Recife Regional (Oct. 3–4, 1,074 players) with Ogerpon/Meganium/Arboliva and a 14-2-1 record.
Riley McKay won the Louisville Regional (Oct. 9–11, 2,927 players) undefeated with Dragapult ex (15-0-3).
Dragapult made up 32.93% of the field in Recife and 26.32% in Louisville, counting all three variants.
A Regional champion earns a direct invite to the 2027 Worlds (Singapore, Aug. 13–15, 2027) and US$10,000 in TCG Masters.
LAIC runs November 20–22, 2026 at Distrito Anhembi in São Paulo.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the 2026 Pokémon TCG Recife Regional?

Victor Carreira Rodrigues, from Pará, Brazil, with a Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Meganium and Arboliva ex deck. He finished 14 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie among 1,074 players on October 3–4, 2026.

What is the most played Pokémon TCG deck in October 2026?

Dragapult ex. Its main version was 23.32% of the field in Recife and 18.61% in Louisville, and it won Louisville with Riley McKay, according to Limitless Labs.

Does a Pokémon TCG Regional winner qualify for Worlds?

Yes. In the 2027 season, the champion of each age division at a Regional or Special Championship receives a direct invitation to the 2027 Worlds, regardless of Championship Points, according to the official Play! Pokémon site.

When and where is LAIC 2027?

The Latin America International Championships will take place November 20–22, 2026 at the Centro de Convenções – Distrito Anhembi in São Paulo.

How much does Teal Mask Ogerpon ex cost?

On October 14, 2026, the Twilight Masquerade 025 version was US$2.58 on TCGplayer (market price) and €3.17 on Cardmarket (trend price), according to TCGdex.