14 results for: ADPZ
What I Played for the Qualifier Period (ADPZ + LMZ) and Finely-Tuned Centiskorch VMAX for Phase 2 of the Players Cup II “Going into the best-of-one format for the qualifier period, I knew the consistency was key. There was little error room to be throwing Keys away by playing inconsistent decks, so I took things more seriously than I initially thought I would need to. After testing most decks in the format, I felt that ADPZ and LMZ had the overall best matchup spreads. I enjoyed both decks and felt like I controlled my own destiny in most games I played with them. I finished with 110 Rep, which, at the time of writing this article, put me at 60th in North…
Qualifiers Recap, Notes on ADPZ Moving Forward, and Welder/Aurora Energy Toolbox (WelderBox) for Players Cup II, Phase 2 “Last time I wrote, I mentioned I was on pace for a 116-Tournament Rep finish in the Players Cup II qualifiers; I ended up just short of that, with my 111 Rep placing me 49th in North America. Below is a graphic by my teammate Dustin Zimmerman breaking down my run in more detail. You’ll notice that my average Rep earned per event jumped up considerably after I switched from Eternatus VMAX to ADPZ about a quarter of the way into my keys, and this is consistent with my statement in my previous article that ADPZ was simply the best…
“Optimal ADPZ” and Galarian Cursola V for Players Cup II, How to Test Properly (the Spreadsheet Testing Method), and Notes on Building Rogues “Perhaps to the chagrin of those who’ve seen my rants against it on social media, the deck I’ve been using for most (although not all) of my qualifying events is none other than Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX/Zacian V. This is simply because I believe there’s no good reason to not play the deck: Altered Creation-GX is a truly game-breaking effect, and ADPZ has the potential to win just about any game it’s in. It can instantly capitalize on opponents’ misplays and can completely seal up a game if your opponent has even a single turn of poor draws…
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…
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…
It evolved after experiencing numerous fights. While crossing its arms, it lets out a shout that would make any opponent flinch. (Obstagoon)
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…
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…
Charizard VMAX/Volcarona-GX and ADPZ for the Post-Rotation Format (TEU–DAA) “The deck is somewhat inconsistent and slow compared to other decks of the format like ADPZ or Eternatus VMAX. To tell you the truth, when I started testing Charizard VMAX I didn’t expect much from it, but little by little I started to understand the strength of the deck. It is true that the deck has its problems, but we also need to realize that the format has changed. There is no Pokémon capable of KOing an opponent’s VMAX Pokémon in a single attack without a tremendous effort behind it. Even with a little inconsistency and delay to be able…
ADPZ onto Week 2 of the Players Cup, Why I Switched Decks, On the Seeding + No Shows, and ¿Hablas Español? “We had taken inspiration from my fellow Mexican player Oliver Rochin Montijo and his Limitless Invitational Top 4 deck. As you can see, though, that list included a bunch of techy cards such as Tool Scrapper, Metal Frying Pan, Chaotic Swell, and Mallow & Lana, none of which really help in any way in terms of getting the GX attack off on turn one. I decided to cut all the fluff and max out on counts of cards that I deemed were crucial when going for the combo, and this is the list I ended up with: Maxing out on…
It whirls around in the wind while singing a joyous song. This delightful display has charmed many into raising this Pokémon. (Gossifleur)
Thoughts on Worlds 2021 News, 4th Place Magcargo Mill @ Unofficial Japan Nationals, and 1st Place ADPZ @ Special League Ginza “the news: So far London is where Worlds 2021 will still be held given that it should have been our 2020 Worlds location. This makes sense and I’m not surprised to see Pokemon want to stay in London for Worlds. Personally, I’m not too excited about Worlds being in London only for the fact that I’ve been there for every International Championship thus far. Still, those that never been will appreciate the location more. I’m all for having Worlds in another country since we’ve only ever had it outside of the US one other time (Vancouver, Canada back in 2013).…
Dragapult VMAX/Hammers, ADPZ/Hammers, Inteleon VMAX/…Hammers, and the Rebel Clash Economy “Here are a few things that I think could have a direct impact on Qualifier #3’s metagame: Card Accessibility: For live play, you can just order what you need from a site such as TCGplayer and be ready for the event. Online codes have a factor of chance; even though there are stores that sell PTCGO cards directly, this is against the terms of use (§13: Trading Virtual Content) of the game. Trading your packs directly for singles is the best way to acquire singles online, but you rely on the online supply being there by “chance.” No one really knows…
Top 64 @ Limitless Q2 w/ ADPZ, the Hidden Benefits of Livestreaming Yourself, Upgrading to ADPZZ, and Toxtricity VMAX for LQ3 “After playing with Lapras VMAX in the previous tournament, I decided that this time I would like to play with a Tier 1 deck. My choice was ADPZ, as it is the most consistent deck in the format and I think it is a very easy deck to play. As I said before, my idea this time was to play all of the tournament while streaming, that way I could show other players my performance in the competition in addition to challenging myself to be a more focused player. In the end, this new experience was very positive for me and…
A Look to Japan for Rebel Clash’s Impact on Standard’s Top Tiers, Including Dragapult VMAX, Toxtricity VMAX, ADPZ, and PikaRom “To understand some choices with Japanese decklists, we first have to understand Japanese tournaments. Their tournament levels roughly mirror ours: Trainer Challenges, City Leagues, Champions Leagues, and Japan Championship. Tournaments are Swiss + Top Cut, Best-of-1 with a 25-minute timer, except for Trainer Challenges. Much like our League Challenges, Trainer Challenges lack a Top Cut. Ties do not exist in Japanese tournament structure. This has an interesting effect on Stall decks. If a game would result in a tie by our standards, it results in a double loss in Japan. Because of this, Stall and Control decks don’t have nearly…
Cunning and cautious, this Pokémon survives by stealing food from others. It erases its tracks with swipes of its tail as it makes off with its plunder. (Nickit)