Luc Gantner of Switzerland is the champion of the Pokémon TCG Nice Regional Championship, played on October 17 and 18 at the Palais des Expositions Nice Acropolis. He finished 15-1-2 in a Masters division of 2,336 players, according to the final standings on Limitless TCG and Pokerank, and beat home favourite Maxime Launay of France in the final.
Spain had a strong weekend too. Oscar Rivas reached the semifinals after knocking out Portugal's Tomás Malaca and Japan's Yuya Kogai, and only the eventual champion stopped him. Hugo De Torres also made the top cut and fell in his first elimination match, again to Gantner. Both Spanish players in the top 16 went home at the hands of the same man.
The top 8
- 1st Luc Gantner (Switzerland), 15-1-2
- 2nd Maxime Launay (France), 14-2-2
- Semifinalists: Paulo Mimoso (Portugal) and Oscar Rivas (Spain)
- Quarterfinalists: Yuya Kogai (Japan), Tord Reklev (Norway), Rob Van de Vijver (Belgium) and Luka Levain (France)
Gantner's top cut path went through De Torres, Van de Vijver, Rivas and Launay. Launay eliminated Norwegian veteran Tord Reklev in the quarterfinals and Mimoso in the semis. The field was overwhelmingly European: Limitless counts 2,251 players from Europe against 35 from North America and 18 from Latin America, and 14.7% of games ended in a tie, a high figure that shows how close the rounds were.
What deck did the winner play?
At the time of writing, neither Limitless nor Pokerank had published the decklists, so Gantner's deck is still unknown. The deck to beat is clear, though: Dragapult ex accounts for about 36% of lists at major events in the current format according to Limitless data, far ahead of Slowking (8%), Basic Box (8%) and N's Zoroark ex (7.5%). A week earlier in Louisville, World Champion Riley McKay won with Dragapult. Once the Nice lists are out, we will add them to our championship decks, with the price of every card.
Next up in Europe: the Gdansk Regional (October 31 and November 1), the Stuttgart Regional (November 28-29) and the European International Championships in London, February 19-21, 2027.
If you are building a competitive deck for one of those events, add the cards you already own to your collection and you will see right away what is missing and what it costs, with Cardmarket prices. Every Dragapult ex printing and its price is on its catalogue page.