Two Frontrunners (Eternatus VMAX and ADPZ) and Two Counter Picks (Torkoal V and Welder Toolbox) for Players Cup II “This Eternatus VMAX list is quite standard, Pokemon-wise, with maximum counts on the key Pokemon—the Eternatus line, Crobat V, and Galarian Zigzagoon—with three extra tech Pokemon in the Hoopa duo and Sableye V. Sableye V is a pretty powerful yet underwhelming attacker if it takes two turns to power up. However, the use of Energy Switch in this list can allow for a turn where you bench the Sableye V, Switch into it, and then Energy Switch to do massive damage to an opponent with Crazy Claws. This “surprise” Sableye V play has come in handy and surprised a ton…
Thoughts on Players Cup II, Theories on the Play! Pokémon Team Challenge (the What??), and the Archenemy of My Dear Centiskorch, Inteleon VMAX/Frosmoth “The announcement of this event was something that I fully expected, and was happy to hear about. There are a lot of similarities between this event and the first Players Cup, but there are also some notable differences. My favorite change is that there’s no longer an invitational where one of the favored players gets to skip the hardest part of the Cup. There is also the new method of qualification. Rather than rely on Event Tickets, we now have Tournament Keys, which are exclusively for the Players Cup. The Tournament Rep system has also been redone into a much…
The Remarkable ADaPting Metagame and Welder/Mew3 Box for Players Cup II “Can hit for 300 damage on turn two. It is versatile because it has so many attack options. 1HKOs VMAXs with the help of Horror P Energy and Volcarona GX. Good consistency. It is no longer the best deck in the format (BDIF). And that’s OK, because it’s less on people’s minds. Mewtwo & Mew-GX is easy to 1HKO. If it gets popular, there are strong counters to it in the format, like Mimikyu CEC 97 and Power Plant. It still depends a lot on Welder. Many of its matchups are 50/50. This is used against decks with ADP. Clear…
How I’m Approaching the Players Cup II and My Two Current Favs, ADPZ and Eternatus VMAX “To start, I’ll do a brief summary of how the qualifier period of the Cup is structured: Unlike the original Players Cup, Pokemon has now added Tournament Keys to the game. These keys are given to every account to ensure that everyone has the same amount of opportunities to qualify. You are only given 50 Keys, so use them wisely. My plan is to space out the tournaments I play in over the entire month. My main goal with this is to use very few Tournament Keys early, when you know everyone will be hungry to play, including the better…
A Comprehensive Rodent-and-Bird-Filled Guide to Post-Rotation, Post-Bellelba & Brycen-Man Control “I’ve already covered a lot of my reasoning behind specific card choices, but I want to make sure every choice is clear. If it’s our win con why is there only 1??? Very good question! Essentially, this list is tight, especially because we need a good level of consistency to make up for its inherent clunkiness. The Bunny is a win con but it’s not the only win con. If you were to prize the Bunny, or choose not to use it, you would default to an aggressive Energy-denial playstyle, where, instead of pivoting between Bunny and Exca, you can…
A clever combatant, this Pokémon battles using water balloons created with moisture secreted from its palms. (Drizzile)
Thoughts on the Format as a Whole (Spoiler: It’s Fast) and Centiskorch VMAX/Scoop Up Net “Oh where to start? ADP? Sure, why not. Unless you’ve been living under a proverbial rock in regards to the Pokémon community these last few weeks, you’ve surely heard the calls for a ban of ADP. And you’ve also heard the people defending the card. I’ve mostly been on the side of the former, as I believe that ADP is bad for the game as a whole. There’s a lot that can be said about ADP right now. I personally believe ADP is more of a symptom of the actual problem rather than the whole problem. The game has sped…
Should ADP Be Banned? and Water Mewtwo & Mew-GX w/ Frosmoth (aka Wet Mew3) “I started playing competitive Pokémon TCG in 2012, and since then I have been able to play in some formats where we had extremely strong attacks that ended up impacting the game a lot. These decks weren’t always the best, but they somehow made the game quite different than it would have been otherwise. The examples that stick out most in my mind are (1) the Item lock decks made possible by Seismitoad EX’s Quaking Punch in 2014–2016 and (2) the Night March deck in 2016–2017. At the time of Seismitoad EX, the format was very limited because there were…
On the Auspicious Arrival of Our New, Virtual Face of the Pokémon Trading Card Game “To understand the monumental mentality shift that happened for me through quarantine, we first need to look back on my mentality before quarantine and COVID-19. Simply, this season wasn’t incredible for me. Sure, I started off with a Top 32 finish in Atlantic City, but I lacked a follow-up Day Two finish, with my hopes being blown out by back-to-back autolosses and poor deck choices. Everyone has off tournaments, slumps, and seasons, even the best of the best, but that didn’t help me feel any better. I’m sure some complications from my senior year in high school, like applying to…
Recapping the Players Cup Finals and the Future of TEU–DAA “This past weekend we saw the final 16 players duke it out over the past few days. Here’s a link to the full results from those players; I’ll be covering some notable archetypes and ultimately discuss why I think things panned out how they did. Finals VOD Links Preshow: Day 1: Day 2: Lucario & Melmetal-GX/Zacian V dominated the tournament, finishing 1st and 2nd with the same exact list. Kudos to Jack Millar and Matthew Burris for this great accomplishment. I know that when I’ve built decks in the past, it’s been rewarding to succeed and equally rewarding to watch…
Thoughts on the Now Completed POG 2020 and Five Decklists to Kickstart TEU–DAA “I loved this deck so much before rotation. Sure, I completely butchered my original list in order to play Pokemon Catcher in POG, but the deck was really solid when built correctly. Aside from Escape Board, this deck didn’t really lose anything to rotation. In order to combat the loss of Escape Board, I decided to cut Jirachi and add more consistency cards. This list is frighteningly close to what I should have played in the UPR–DAA POG format. Obviously Jirachi is gone, but that might not be the end of the world. This deck is going to want to…
The six of them work together as one Pokémon. Teamwork is also their battle strategy, and they constantly change their formation as they fight. (Falinks)
Green’s New Best Friend, Centiskorch VMAX (for TEU–DAA) “I will only discuss any counts where there is an argument that they could be different. Volcanion is a card used in both lists because of just how powerful it can be. Flare Starter is incredible at rapidly charging up Centiskorch, especially with its synergy with Green’s. Often this deck wants to go second, due to the power of 3 Energy instantly attached and how well Green’s can set you up for later turns. High-Heat Blast is also a strong attack, and its damage combines well with that of G-Max Centiferno. 110 twice knocks out Vikavolt V, and 110 t2…
Post-Rotation Inteleon VMAX and Vikavolt V, the Two Ends of the Lightning-Nerfed Spectrum “I believe that the post-rotation metagame favors Inteleon VMAX for three main reasons: No PikaRom or any big Lightning decks Good matchup vs. Eternatus VMAX Favorable typing against Fire decks, like Centiskorch VMAX It’s funny how a Pokémon so mediocre in the previous format can theoretically become super suitable in the current format. Inteleon VMAX has two good attacks and they have a direct impact on the main matchups of the new format, which are ADPZ, Eternatus VMAX, and Fire decks in general. I don’t think Inteleon VMAX is a super powerful deck, like Eternatus VMAX which can hit for…
Aggro Vikavolt V for the POG “To start, this is a pretty aggressive take on the deck. There are lists that are more control oriented which isn’t by any means wrong, I am just a bigger fan of this version of the deck. I think that Vikavolt is extremely strong in the expected meta and can handle pretty much anything that you throw at it due to its versatility of being able to lock your opponent while also being able to win Prize trades with big swings. This take on the deck wants to Item lock your opponent early in combination with cards like Crushing Hammer,…
Giving Mareep/Dragonite Its Time in the Spotlight “When I decided to start toying with Mill in Darkness Ablaze (DAA), I recognized that, despite my love for Cinccino, I’d have to look towards Mareep Mill. Dragapult’s place in the meta is severely compromised with the introduction of Eternatus VMAX, which looks to be a strong contender that completely steamrolls Dragapult. As a result of that, Mareep has its chance to shine. Looking at Mareep, I had two viable options: (1) Traditional Mareep Mill and (2) a newcomer to the metagame, Mareep/Dragonite Mill. The debut of Mareep/Dragonite Mill came via the unofficial Japan Nationals 2020 tournament, where the pilot…
Rolling the Dice on My Top Five Decks for POG 2020, Including Vikavolt V, Eternatus VMAX, ADPZ, Centiskorch VMAX, and Blacephalon “This is a hyper aggressive and turbo build of Vikavolt V, focused on trying to get an early Item lock of course, but leaning more towards the aggressive side of things after the initial “lock phase” with the Turbo Patch support. It has every single support Pokemon available at the moment, except for Oranguru SSH, which has made the deck consistent overall. Supporters-wise, it has a standard engine but the single copy of Bellelba & Brycen-Man is there to help vs. Eternatus VMAX decks in theory. In reality though, I never faced any, but I did utilize BBM to win…
A powerful curse was woven into an ancient painting. After absorbing the spirit of a Yamask, the painting began to move. (Runerigus)
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