Olivia Richman 
The Pokemon TCG grand finals at the Pokemon World Championship have wrapped up and Fernando Cifuentes is the world champion for 2024, but the controversy surrounding Ian Robb’s disqualification looms large over it.
The Grand Finals match was an intense match between Cifuentes and Seinosuke Shiokawa, two decorated TCG players from across the globe who clashed in Hawaii. Cifuentes had four top-20 placements in South American events when he was a Senior and Shiokawa had three high placements in Japan as a Senior as well.
Now, the two competed on the largest Pokemon TCG stage in the world as Masters. But only one could come out on top at Worlds.
2024 Pokemon TCG World Championship sees Iron Thorns-ex deck cemented as the strongest
Fernando Cifuentes and his Iron Thorns-ex deck won the 2024 TCG Championship, beating Seinosuke Shiokawa’s Roaring Moon deck.
It was the battle of the ex Paradox Pokemon at the end of Worlds 2024. Iron Thorns-ex became big the last few months since it was seen as a counter to the current meta. This interesting deck only has one Pokemon: Iron Thorns-ex. That’s because when this Pokemon is in the active spot, all Pokemon with a rule box in play have no abilities (aside from Future Pokemon). This makes Iron Thorns-ex auto-win against Charizard-ex, Lugia-V, Gardevior-ex, Chien-Pao-ex, and Arceus-V. There’s no respit either, since the opponent can’t use Boss’ Orders or Prime Catcher to take Iron Thorns-ex out of the active spot since it’s the only Pokemon in play.
Roaring Moon-ex players focus on its second attack, dealing 220 damage if there’s a Stadium in play. When a Pokemon with more HP goes into the active, Roaring Moon-ex uses its first attack to instantly KO it. The deck also features Galarian Moltres-V to accelerate the deck and keep Roaring Moon-ex cards in play. There are also single prize cards in the deck to keep opponents rushing to catch up.
This matchup wasn’t as one-sided as others in the meta since Roaring Moon-ex doesn’t have an ability. It does stop Squakabilly-ex, however, which can make Roaring Moon-ex start up a bit slower.
Fernando Cifuentes bests Seinosuke Shiokawa 2-1 to win Pokemon TCG Championship, despite Ian Robb loss
In the first match, Cifuentes had two Iron Thorns-ex set up earlier than Shiokawa but the Japanese player quickly caught up with Dark Patch. The two players KOd each other back and forth, making it a very close match. But in the end, Shiokawa had to pass on a turn due to a whiff while using Trekking Shoes. Cifuentes followed up by pulling the Energy he needed to attack, winning the first round.
In the second match, Cifuentes was having a tough start by prizing two Judge cards. This meant it was very difficult for him to find the card and reduce Shiokawa’s massive starting hand. Still, Cifuentes got the first KO. Even though it was a one prizer, that put him in the lead over a struggling Shiokawa, who ended up having to KO himself to catch up. While commentators figured Cifuentes would lose at that point, he pulled a Crushing Hammer and disrupted the Energy of Shiokawa’s active Pokemon. But the player had one in his hand and ended up taking the final Pokemon to win the second game.
The two competitive players set up more or less the same in the final game. Cifuentes had an Iron Thorns-ex with Energy while Shiokawa and a Roaring Moon-ex with Energy. It was anyone’s game. After damaging each other back and forth, Cifuentes took the first KO. Unfortunately for Shiokawa, his responding attack didn’t do enough to get a KO in return. It was starting to look lopsided, with Cifuentes three prize cards deep and Shiokawa still without any. By the time Shiokawa caught up with some KOs of his own, Cifuentes was playing a flawless game with great draws and wasn’t slowing down.
In the end, Shiokawa struggled to find a Pokemon and was unable to retreat his damaged Roaring Moon-ex. Cifuentes knocked it out and became the Pokemon Champion!
Why was Ian Robb disqualified at the 2024 Pokemon World Championship?
While Cifuentes played a spectacular game against Shiokawa, a lot of fans pointed out that he wasn’t even “supposed” to be in the Grand Finals.
Earlier in the event, Cifuentes made it to the top eight and faced Ian Robb as his first opponent. Robb is a massively popular competitive TCG player who won against the young hopeful 2-0. But Robb was given a game loss for making what was labeled a suggestive hand motion on stage after beating him, costing him the victory. The motion saw him move a clenched fist back and forth diagonally.
Fans debated if Robb deserved to lose his spot in the top eight. Others questioned whether the motion was meant to evoke the image of shooting dice. Regardless, Robb was ejected from the event by The Pokemon Company, clearing the way for Cifuentes’ win. It was a weekend of tough, surprise losses for the most popular Pokemon players.
