1,230 results for: Underground
The Proper Playtesting Process and Potent Plays for Cities “The Proper Playtesting Process Baleful Bird Dawn Fan Very/Good 3.14 Roar Conclusion Playtesting is arguably one of the most important aspects of becoming successful in any competitive trading card game tournament. It’s just common sense that the more you practice the better you will perform. Some people don’t have all the time in the world to playtest unfortunately, so it’s crucial to maximize the quality of the testing you actually do have time for. Here are the steps I take to make the most of my playtesting: 1. Diversify decks. Far too often I will see two players sit down at League and play the…
One Pyroar, Multiple Manectric, and a Follow-Up on ‘No False Move’ “I recently read Erik’s article “No False Move” and if you missed it you should definitely check it out. To sum it up very quickly, Erik discusses what he feels are some important skills in the TCG and others he feels are no longer critical skills. It is an excellent article and an extremely good topic starter. Our opinions differ in some areas and I’d like to give my viewpoint on a few points he left off the list. With information so more widely available now, it’s extremely important to try and utilize as much in-game skill as possible, such as: 1. Making…
An Examination of Current Netdecking “So after Worlds and Furious Fists came out, I took a nice, long break from playing and figured I would just try to learn everything really quickly before Regionals. I would play a game here or there on PlayTCG and chime in to the occasional Facebook chat, but I was largely disconnected from the game. Fighting stuff seemed underwhelming to me, but cards like Hawlucha FFI were obviously very good. I knew that Virizion-EX/Genesect-EX would still be incredibly good even with its minor losses. However, what surprised me the most was how Yveltal managed to stay a top-tier threat. Jon Bristow…
The Tricks and Treats of Phantom Forces “A Quick Note on Consistency Gimmick Decks… Right? It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Garbage Patrol A Certain Contender Chain Metal Conclusion A lot of people have been debating on this lately, so I just wanted to touch on the subject of consistency a bit. Now, as I’ve been looking around the Pokemon Facebook groups, I’ve noticed people posting lists asking for help because their decks aren’t “consistent” enough. This is followed by people saying, “Well, just add more Supporters!” First off, I want to reiterate that consistency does not directly translate into how many Supporter cards you play, although this…
In-Game Skill, Part 2: Thinking Strategically “”Playstyle is a Myth” Developing a Game Plan Technical Play Scenarios Strategic Play Scenarios Help Wanted! Conclusion One of the first things we as players need to change is our comprehension of what playstyle is as compared to strategy. For a long time, I was confused about playstyle. It kind of made sense when I saw other players win a game with an offbeat approach. One could point at a scenario like that and state that playstyle had a hand in the victory. Still, when I tried to identify my own playstyle, I kept coming up with a category of…
Though it’s able to capture prey by freezing its surroundings, it has trouble eating the prey afterward because its mouth is on top of its head. (Arctovish)
Voting Phantom Forces into Office and the Top 10 Decks for City Championships “Election Ballot Mayor Senate Presidential Ticket The Top 10 Decks for Cities Conclusion With the official release of Phantom Forces yesterday, there are over 120 new cards (including other rarities) to consider when building new decks. In the spirit of Election Day this past Tuesday, I have a ballot for us to decide who the real standout candidates are in their respective areas. Let’s get to the booth and close that curtain! When looking at the Mayor, we are looking for a candidate we can trust. The Mayor has to be a card that has proven itself in the past…
The Top Cards of Phantom Forces, New Decks, and Revisions “Regionals Recap Week 1 – Phoenix Week 2 – Houston Top Cards of Phantom Forces New Decks Mewtric 2.0 Haunted House Metal Mansion Night March Updated Decks Tool Drop Seismitoad/Garbodor Virizion/Genesect Donphan Conclusion I attended both Phoenix and Houston Regionals last month, but I am not very proud of my performances. Although they weren’t bad, they did not meet my expectations of making at least day 2. I came short both weekends, ending 5-4 in Phoenix and 5-2-2 in Houston. Below you can see the deck that I played for Phoenix Regionals. It ran fairly well, but I ended up getting some bad luck…
The Spooky-Good Impact of Phantom Forces “Digression on Set Design Ghost in the Machine Virizion/Genesect: Reloaded Black and Yellow (but Not Mellow) A New Dimension for Dropping Tools The Phantom Menace Conclusion If you’ve been following me on social media, forums, SixPrizes, or anything else really, you might have picked up on the fact that I used to really hate the direction the powers below are taking the game that I love. If you really don’t care about my rants, I’ll surmise. I believe that: A. Sets are too simplistic. Not to say every card in a set should be good, or even playable for that matter.…
Top 32 Phoenix Regionals Report with Seismitoad/Pyroar and Speed Lugia “Phoenix Regionals Ft. Wayne Non-Regionals Card Predictions Conclusion I can’t even begin to describe how amazing of a weekend this was. It was full of good food, good friends, and of course Pokémon. I suppose I should focus on the later, but it truly was great taking in the culture of Arizona. Heading into the tournament, I was feeling pretty good about my deck choice. Much of my early testing revolved around Seismitoad-EX and Landorus-EX. Essentially I was pairing the two strongest Pokémon in the game together. This led me to start looking for a hard counter to the deck and I…
The Effect of Type-Themed Sets on the Metagame “Going forward into the season I would recommend everyone playtest for Expanded as much as possible. Even if you don’t expect to make it into day 2, you should always be prepared for the best possible outcome. More so than in Standard, those who prepared the most for Expanded seemed to come out on top in the end, while those who picked up a deck last minute weren’t so fortunate. The night before day 2 Nicholena Moon and I saw Alex Hill tweet a picture showing a plethora of deck options he had for Expanded and were worried that we didn’t…
As it grows inside its shell, it uses its psychic abilities to monitor the outside world and prepare for evolution. (Dottler)
A Triple Tournament Report and Interviews with the Women of Fall Regionals “Things girls like about fall: pumpkin spice lattes, boots, leggings, and oh yeah—Pokemon TCG Regionals. Obviously I’m just kidding around. There is nothing less basic than playing Pokemon competitively and I actually hate pumpkin. I talked to three like-minded women who did well at Regionals about themselves and their views on the Pokemon community. Age: 25 Plays in: Seattle, WA Played for: I began playing competitively towards the tail end of 2012, after moving back home from college, but I first started getting to know people in the community in January of 2011. Accomplishments: Top 8 at Phoenix Regionals was…
A Lesson in Avoiding Linear Thought “Through Rose-Colored Glasses A Multiple-Trick Elephant Never Forgets Conclusion A few weeks before the tournament, Mike Newman and I had come across Donphan PLS and recognized its potential right away. We excitedly built an initial list and played a few games, soon finding out the concept was certainly worth pursuing. Given that I hadn’t tested really at all and the games I did play were against a limited pool of decks (which was a mistake in the first place), I prematurely assumed the proper way to play a Donphan deck. We had a hunch we were right and went for it.…
Archetypes and Homebrews, Split Decisions and the Magic Way “One thing that has really hindered the isolation of “best decks” IS the split in formats. Day 1 is a small sample size and pretty high variance. I intentionally did not list the placements after day 1 Swiss for the archetypes because of how big a swing one draw or one late-game topdeck can make in altering a person’s rank. Usually when a deck wins a whole event, you can safely say the deck really earned it and was a cut above the rest of the field. A top 8 berth means quite a bit more than being ranked in the…
A Philadelphia Regionals Retrospective “What I Expected on Day 1 What I Played on Day 1 What Actually Happened on Day 1 What I Expected on Day 2 What Actually Happened on Day 2 Conclusion Frankly, I thought I had figured the format out from afar, observing what seemed like the death of Yveltal and the rise of Seismitoad-EX and Fighting decks, equipped with Hawlucha FFI, Fighting Stadium, and Strong Energy. I thought Virizion/Genesect would also have its place in the metagame. Donphan began to gain a lot of popularity as time went on as well. Strong Energy encouraged a lot of attempted innovation in…
All About the Top 8 1st Seed Philadelphia Regionals Lists “Elephant in the Room Preparing for Expanded Paralysis Analysis Conclusion I feel the best way to explain how to play Donphan is to go over a card-by-card analysis of the deck. Every card serves a very specific purpose and it’s difficult to play the deck correctly if you don’t know why a certain card is in the deck. After a lot of testing, this is the list I ended up playing: 4-4 Donphan PLS The main strategy of the deck is to use Spinning Turn with Donphan and bring up the most annoying Pokémon for your opponent to deal with.…
The stalks of leeks are thicker and longer in the Galar region. __________ that adapted to these stalks took on a unique form. (Galarian Farfetch’d)