Podcast Ep. 11: Looking Ahead to Internationals in Sydney “If you haven’t noticed, Mike Fouchet is running the podcast these days and it’s better than ever! Join him this week as he talks with Bodhi Cutler and Jordan Palmer of Australia, Benjamin Pham of The Netherlands, and our own Christopher Schemanske about the upcoming International Championship in Sydney, Australia. Look forward to another episode of the podcast in the near future, featuring discussion on Ultra Prism and it’s impact on Standard for Collinsville!
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An Exploration into Primal Clash’s Expanded Format “The Rainbow Fish Blastoise’s Big Break Silent Tales Night March’s Ace in the Hole Almost Good Conclusion No, not the children’s book … one of the best combos to come out of Primal Clash: Huntail PRC & Ho-Oh-EX. Ho-Oh-EX gained a lot of traction in Expanded with the release of Battle Compressor, which makes Ho-Oh decks a lot more consistent, but it was lacking the right partners to push it into contention against other top decks. Being able to quickly get Energy onto the field works perfectly with Huntail’s Powerful Storm, which does 20 damage for each Energy attached to all…
PikaRom, A Bunch of Zoroarks (Garbodor, Golisopod, Golisopod/Lucario), Rayquaza/Ho-Oh, and Archie’s Blastoise for Toronto “Team Up is legal for Toronto, but if we look at the impact the set has had in Standard, there are only a handful of cards that have been impactful, and clearly the barrier of entry in Expanded is much higher. A card such as Jirachi TEU, for example, which has been a major player in Standard, may see some play in Expanded, but it won’t see nearly as much as it does in Standard. There is so much draw power already available that even if certain decks do choose to run a Jirachi engine, those same decks will likely…
It’s very curious, but its means of investigating things is to try to punch them with its tentacles. The search for food is what brings it onto land. (Clobbopus)
Five Great Cards That Surprisingly Never Stood a Chance “This poor card. Craftsmanship is one heck of an Ability, the kind that people look at and immediately ask “So, how many championships has this thing won?” The answer, of course, is “None, my friend, because this card is about as bad as this Pokemon’s name …” But why? Is the attack too hefty a cost? Not really, considering that the archetypes at the time of Conkeldurr’s release had high attack costs (remember “CaKE,” which featured Cobalion NVI, Kyurem NVI, and Electrode Prime). In fact, Electrode Prime might very well be the perfect partner for Conkeldurr. First turn: attach a…
Reflections on Twenty Cities and Pre-Regionals Deck Diagnoses “An Explosive Start Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop A Change of Pace Journey Through Georgia An Expanded Experience Post-Cities Deck Diagnoses Primal Clash Favorites Conclusion Directly following Thanksgiving, Pennsylvania always holds a three-day “mini-marathon” of Cities. I was able to attend all three and found some kind of success at each of them. November 28, 2014: Blue Bell, PA (Donphan/Wobbuffet) R1 vs. Bronzong/Dialga – W R2 vs. Virizion/Genesect – W R3 vs. Donphan – W R4 vs. Donphan – L R5 vs. Yveltal/Manectric – W R6 vs. Donphan – ID T8 vs. Virizion/Genesect/Manectric – WW T4 vs. Donphan – WLW T2 vs.…
Making Mew Prime Viable “With the release of Triumphant, we’ve seen many old decks receive huge boosts: Gyarados, Machamp, Uxie Donk, and Regigigas all possess more options than ever, as evidenced by their respective articles here on Underground. However, there has so far been only one “new” deck to see any reasonable amount of play: Mew Prime. Between its extremely versatile Poke-Body, Lost Link, and its handy See Off attack, the potential is there…But in what direction should you take it? In this article, I’ll be discussing the most popular variant of the deck, its matchups, some of the other options out there, and…
Virginia Hopefuls, Looking Ahead to Guardians Rising “I’m incredibly ready for Guardians Rising to arrive, most notably to improve the Standard format. All of the major decks have been established, with Decidueye/Vileplume being the frontrunner. Its matchups are stellar in comparison with other decks. If you are attending Virginia Regionals, play a deck that can compete with Decidueye/Vileplume. The other decks you should worry about are Volcanion, Darkrai variants, and M Rayquaza. Tier 2 decks that continue to be played are Yveltal/Garbodor, Vespiquen, Lapras, and M Mewtwo. I label these as Tier 2 because these decks heavily underperformed in Salt Lake City and Brazil. Darkrai Variants (50-50 split between Turbo and…
The Good and Bad of TPCi’s US Nationals 2015 Twitch Coverage “There is no doubting that TPCi has hired commentators that know what they’re doing. There have been slight slip-ups in the past, but I truly believe that the cast of commentators TPCi is employing are some of the best possible choices (though the ensemble could always be improved … hint hint). They all seem comfortable in front of the camera, are knowledgeable about the game, and overall deliver a good product. Particularly, I think the chemistry between Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich and Josh “JWittz” Wittenkeller is the best part of the production. They have been working together on coverage for a…
Its thick and fluffy fur protects it from the cold and enables it to use hotter fire moves. (Raboot)
Top 64 Juniors Worlds 2016 Tournament Report “I think I have talked enough about how, when it comes to choosing decks, we like to choose the most toxic deck in the format. That means I spent a lot of time fooling around with Vespiquen/Vileplume after it was released, but we never got to the point where we felt comfortable with it. As I have always said, another criteria we have for decks is that we try to choose a deck where we can minimize the likelihood that the deck craps out on us and maximize the likelihood where we will have the chance to use skilled play…
A Comprehensive Guide to Shock Lock “For a bit of background about myself, I started playing Pokemon around Burning Shadows, and have played in a handful of Regionals/ICs, but had not made Day 2 until this most recent weekend in Portland. Despite being relatively new to competitive Pokemon, I’m no stranger to playing card games at a high level, having played competitive Magic for the past 12 years, including a Pro Tour appearance (their equivalent of an invite-only IC). Furthermore, Expanded has always been my format of choice, basically since I started playing. The depth of the card pool and the number of different decks you…
It wraps prey up with its heated body, cooking them in its coils. Once they’re well-done, it will voraciously nibble them down to the last morsel. (Sizzlipede)
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