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John Kettler

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  • Joined Sep ’10

Adelante!

Moving Forward with Standard, and a Guide to Coping with Format Rotations


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My name is John Kettler, and welcome to my first Underground article in over a year! That’s quite some time, so I’d first like to take this opportunity to reintroduce myself. I’ve been playing Pokémon TCG since the start, and have been playing competitively since 2003. This journey’s given me some great memories, including two […]

Gone in an Instant, Here in a Flash

Moving on from States, and Approaching Nationals
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As States are winding down, and we enter our last series of Regional Championships, every player’s sights will soon be set for National Championships. However, there’s still much to reflect on regarding the States experience, as well as what you can personally do to up your game if you’ve been failing to break into the […]

Kettler’s Laboratory

Understanding the Biology of X and Y
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Winter Regionals are almost over, so for the majority of us, it’s crunch time for States. Since the best preparation is comprehensive preparation, today’s article is a review of the cards I think will shape our format from here on out, as well as formats into the future. How to Use This Article When reading […]

The Roguenomicon, Volume III

The Seven Decks of Christmas
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It’s Christmas Eve, and while I’m not sure how many of you will be reading articles when you could be eating food, drinking cocoa, and opening up cases upon cases of Pokémon cards, I figured today it would be fun to go back to our roots: decks, decks, and more decks! However, we need to […]

The Ugly Truth: Understanding Cheaters, and How to Combat Them

Timeless
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The rise in live-streaming coverage of Pokémon Trading Card Game events has revolutionized this game, at last bringing it closer to par with the “serious” treatment other card games such as Magic: The Gathering get, or even E-sports like Starcraft and League of Legends. However, with that new coverage is the realization, or perhaps reaffirmation, […]

Pursuing the Truth in a New Format: What’s Right?

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The months of October and November will go down in Pokémon Trading Card Game history as two of the most momentous we have ever had. In the blink of an eye, our entire Swiss system was overturned, our time limits, simultaneously expanded yet limited, and the very way we play the game completely revolutionized. Figuring […]

Covering the Path to Worlds and Beyond

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So my National Championship adventure is over, but I had a great time and learned a lot about this format and the next. Therefore, I’d like to take a little time to share a few thoughts: how things went (wrong) in the actual tournament for me; what impact I see from this event for Worlds, […]

I Object, Your Honor…

Different Decks and Surprising Techs
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U.S. Nationals is only a few weeks away, so I’d like to offer a unique contribution before then. Today, we’ll be talking about two very important subjects: surprising decks and cards you may encounter at this year’s big event; and making the last few tweaks to your list before submission. Before that, let’s go over… […]

Marathon Mania: Tales from Texas

Tournament Report
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After a long hiatus from both the game and SixPrizes, I was happy to partake in some City Championship tournaments. Specifically, I attended and played in five events, garnering Championships Points from all of them. Pre-Tournament In balancing out studies and Pokémon, I decided to pursue a “new” play-style of sorts: play the easiest, yet […]

Going off the Deep End: Intricacies of the New Format

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By this point, you’ve probably seen countless lists online. Additionally, you also understand more about the new archetypal concepts, as well as some of the feeder rogues. However, one thing I’ve noticed is that many people do not know all that much about the deeper elements of the BLW-DRX format, which will be your test […]