Canada has another reason to smile this tournament season. Riley McKay, the 2025 World Champion, won the Louisville Regional Championships on October 11, and he did it without losing a single round. In a Masters field of 2,927 players, McKay finished with 15 wins and 3 draws, beating Austin Charles of the United States in a final that paired Dragapult ex against Dragapult ex.

A Room Full of Dragapult

Dragapult was everywhere in Louisville. Limitless TCG counted 547 players in the second phase of the event, and 186 of them played a Dragapult build. That is 34 percent of the field, and the share of the top tables was just as striking, with 4 of the Top 8 spots and 7 of the Top 16 spots going to Dragapult players.

McKay had to beat the mirror match again and again to get there. He faced Dragapult seven times across the weekend and never lost, taking five wins and two draws from those rounds. Charles, the runner up, paired his Dragapult line with Blaziken ex, while Henry Chao and Leo Orozco rounded out the four Dragapult lists in the Top 8.

Inside the Winning List

The winning list is easy to love because it is focused. Four Dreepy and four Drakloak set up three Dragapult ex, and Phantom Dive does the real work, hitting the Active Pokemon for 200 while placing 6 damage counters on Benched Pokemon in any way you like. Two Munkidori move damage counters around, Fezandipiti ex draws three extra cards with Flip the Script after a Pokemon is Knocked Out, and Meowth ex and Budew help the deck set up on the early turns.

The Trainer cards lean into disruption, with four Crushing Hammer and an Unfair Stamp ready to slow an opponent down at the worst possible moment. Thirty players in Louisville brought the exact same 60 cards, which tells you how settled the list feels right now. Limitless prices that exact list at $37.91 USD ($53.61 CAD), less than the cost of a booster box, and McKay also takes home $10,000 USD ($14,142 CAD) and 350 Championship Points for the win.

What It Means for Your Binder and Your Next Event

For collectors, the headline card is Dragapult ex 130/167 from Twilight Masquerade, an Ultra Rare that suddenly looks like the most important card in the format. Fezandipiti ex 038/064 from Shrouded Fable keeps its place as one of the most useful support cards in Standard, and both finalists leaned on cards like these rather than on anything flashy or new.

The timing matters too. The format in Louisville ran from Temporal Forces through 30th Celebration, so the newest set is already part of the winning formula at the top level. The circuit keeps moving this weekend with the Regional Championships in Nice, France on October 17 and 18, and every player there will be asking the same question. Do you play Dragapult, or do you build the deck that beats it?

Either way, Louisville gave us the best kind of tournament story. A Canadian champion, an undefeated run, and a dragon that launches Dreepy at Mach speed. What is not to love?