1,230 results for: Underground
VA States Top 8 Report, My Top 3 Picks for Spring Regionals, and Favorites from Roaring Skies “State Championships are always somewhat of a struggle for me. They take place during a busy time ofย the school year, and with only one week between each event, there is little time to test. This generally makes for situations where deck choices are made mostly on theory … which don’t always work out. Virginia States took place on the fourth weekend of the States cycle this year. Leading into the event, I wasn’t too sure what the best play would be. In Maryland the week prior, I played a Donphan deck to a disappointing 4-2-1 finish. Both of my losses…
Mega Rayquaza, Trevenant/Accelgor, Speed Seismitoad, and the Mobile Realm “M Rayquaza-EX has received quite a bit of hype since it was revealed back in March, and it isnโt too surprising that Japanese players have found themselves in a format structured around perfecting or beating M Rayquaza-EX decks. Most players have seemed to lean towards the M Rayquaza-EX/Raichu XY build, which focuses on pairing two of the cards that gain the most from Sky Field. On top of the obvious synergy between extra Bench space and Raichuโs Circle Circuit, being a Lightning type is very important again other M Rayquaza-EX decks. The biggest issue I see with this combo is…
States Retrospective, Spring Regionals Outlook, and What Beats Rayquaza? “After Florida Regionals, there were probably 10-15 different playable decks. It was almost impossible to decide which decks were going to be popular and accurately metagame your way through a large event. Seeing my Facebook news feed after each weekend reaffirmed this view — I readย countless woes about how Night March players would run into Seismitoad/Slurpluff in Top 8 or how Virizion/Genesect players would succumb toย the only Flareon deck in cut. (Hey … it happens!) This seems to have become aย trend: Players areย more comfortable running into a bad matchup than having 50-50s across the board. I am not so sure…
Musings on the Imminent Release of Roaring Skies “Sky Field Bench space management is about to be as important as itโs been in years. In my mind, this is one of the worst design choices Creatures has made in a while (OK, maybe Iโm just salty about my Worlds 2010 mat not being able to fit that large of a Bench). In all seriousness, thereโs a good likelihood this card sees play, and not just with things like M Rayquaza-EX. I could see this finding niche use in things that have a large number of fragile Bench-sitters. When accompanied with another Stadium, this card now serves as a…
Bringing Back Donphan, Eyeing Up Exeggutor, and Looking Ahead at Rayquaza/Shaymin “Donphan quickly went from a deck everyone was excited to try during Fall Regionals to a deck everyone was sick of playing against a few weeks into City Championships. Eventually the deck faded in popularity due to Yveltal/Hard Charm, Seismitoad variants with healing cards, and Aromatisse variants. I was a bit disappointed since I still found the deck enjoyable to play and thought it required a bit more depth than simply using Spinning Turn like some people seem to believe. After Donphan won a State Championship the first weekend when paired with Primal Groudon-EX, I was excited to pick the…
When it heats up, its body temperature reaches about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. It lashes its body like a whip and launches itself at enemies. (Centiskorch)
Three States, Two Trophies and One Fluid Format “The return of Seismitoad-EX decks was undoubtedly the highlight of the beginning of States. Flareon and Night March had a scary amount of success at the only event with results from Primal Clash and so countering those decks became the main goal of anyone trying to come up with a play. Since the release of Furious Fists, I had never been inclined to play a deck that could only Quaking Punch. Something about it never appealed to me or simply seemed too linear, but my early testing quickly focused on very normal builds of Seismitoad/Slurpuff and Seismitoad/Crobat. I liked both…
Top 8 PA States Report, V/G is Life, and Water-Type Hype “I played Exeggutor Week 1 in Delaware to a disappointing drop finish. I felt as though the deck was extremely fragile and basically relied on your opponent not drawing much Energy, as well as flipping at least 50% on Hammers. It just wasn’t for me. I wanted a deck that would have pretty close to even matchups across the field. I absolutely hate playing decks that take an autoloss or near autoloss. I feel as though this format, more so than others I have experienced (although that isn’t too many), is extremely matchup based in general, but I will go…
Tuning Up Decks for the Final Weekend of States “So what is up with the metagame? It tends to shift more quickly when the most influential players start putting in overtime. This whole year has really been an innovative one. If you’ve been playing for a short time you wonโt see it, but I’ve noticed that out of all the years I’ve been playing Pokemon, no metagame has moved more quickly than this one. Mid-level players seem so much more motivated this year because Worlds invites arenโt limited to the best of the best anymore. 300 Championship Points isnโt too hard to get at all. Basically, as mid-level players…
The Rise of Exeggutor and Other Overlooked Cards “This walking, stumbling, three-headed tree of coconuts is the entire reason I wanted to write about this topic. When I heard that Ross Cawthon was playing Exeggutor at St. Louis Regionals, I was stunned. Actually, Iโll just admit it โ I was jealous. Jealous because I tried to make Exeggutor work so many times on separate occasions after its release! I distinctly remember driving home from Illinois States 2014 thinking I broke the format with my Exeggutor PLF/Rocky Helmet/Rock Guard/Mew-EX deck. I excitedly built it when I got home … and lost nearly every game I played. And mind you,…
Considerations for Conquering Seismitoad-EX “I cannot remember where I’ve heard it, but there’s a saying that in order to know one’s enemy, one must become them. I’m intrigued by the nature in which players approach Seismitoad-EX — in one breath they criticize it to no end and attribute all the game’s lost potential to it; in the next, they’re announcing Quaking Punch, literally the only attack they may use for the entirety of the game. A few too many players have become that which they despise. There’s an argument for why players who “hate” Seismitoad-EX also play it: they openly recognize just how dang…
Its conspicuous lips lure prey in as it lies in wait in the mud. When prey gets close, ________ clamps its jagged steel fins down on them. (Galarian Stunfisk)
1st Place NH and Top 8 MA Reports, Flareon/Raichu, Eggs by Bob, and the Return of Virizion/Genesect “Heading into the first weekend of States I had numerous hours of playtesting under my belt and I actually decided on my deckย days before the event: Straight Yveltal was going to be my choice for the first State Championship. I analyzed the results from the Florida Regional Championship and local League Challenges and deducedย that our format would be fairly wide open. People were going to play a variety of decks and I knew matchups would play a huge factor. I felt that Yveltal was a safe choice because it has the chance to beat nearly every deck in the format,…
Week 1 Regional Metagame Analysis, Suggestions by State for Week 2, and a Pair of Rogue Choices “Week 2 Events: Washington Nearby Week 1 Results: British Columbia, Idaho Let’s begin ourย analysis with the results of the British Columbia Provincial Championship and the Idaho State Championship, which are the closest tournament results from Week 1 that will have an effect on the Washington State Championship: Idaho 1. Chris Collins โ Yveltal-EX/Seismitoad-EX 2. William Angel โ Seismitoad-EX/Slurpuff PHF/Victini-EX 3. Richard Goldsberry โ Yveltal-EX/Seismitoad-EX/Garbodor LTR 4. Karl Kitchin โ Flareon 5. Jack Stensrud โ Night March/Empoleon 6. Zach Negomir โ Seismitoad-EX/Slurpuff PHF/Trevenant-EX 7. Jason Fleshman โ Flareon 8. Eduardo Gonzalez โ Hippowdon PRC/Fighting British Columbia 1. TJ Traquiar โ Primal…
An Overview of the First Week of States “I spent a lot of time testing with my teammates Andrew Zavala and Will McEowen in the weeks prior to the event since I felt like this was a format where a time investment was necessaryย to come out on top. We’re all fairly close to earning our invites, so we’ve been pushing as hard as we can to break the format and pick upย those last few Championship Points. The first deck I want to mention is Yveltal/Seismitoad/Garbodor, which is the deck that I tested the most leading up to the first week of States. My initial, pre-Florida Regionals list ran…
The Ins and Outs of Flareon in the Current Metagame and an Interview with Orion Craig “Ever since Florida Regionals, just from looking around the Virbank Facebook group as well as things Iโve seen and heard from other players, people seem to be pretty widely divided on Flareon. There are those that see it as a true contender in the metagame (creating two subgroups: those that will play it and those that will counter it), and then there are others that see it as a gimmick that wonโt be able to replicate its success in Florida. I picked up Flareon and began testing it as soon as I heard it had won in Florida because I…
VA Top 8 Report, The Exemplary Player, and My Top Three Plays for States “After detailing my top three choices for Winter Regionals back in February, I attended Virginia Regionals where I piloted Seismitoad/Garbodor through the nine rounds of Day 1. The list that I played was card for card the exact same list that I posted in my previous article. For reference, here is the Seismitoad/Garbodor list that I piloted to a 5-0-4 finish Day 1ย of Virginia Regionals: I was very confident in this list for Day 1, and I managed not to drop a single match the first day. I finished with 19 points, guaranteeing me a spot in the Top 32…
It kicks berries right off the branches of trees and then juggles them with its feet, practicing its footwork. (Raboot)