12 results for: LucMetal
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…
A Crash Course on the Slow and Sturdy Deck of the Format, Lucario & Melmetal-GX/Zacian V “Before I start, I would like to give some explanation of why you should actually read this article from me, a player you may have never heard of before. If you are hesitant about trusting me on my knowledge with this deck, I hope the following will alleviate any of that. So far, this season, in the HegsterTCG tournament series (a tournament series that has a consistent attendance of around 150 players which I will mention a few times in this article), I have achieved two first place finishes, a second place finish, a top eight, top sixteen, and two…
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…
Hot Thoughts on the POG Format (UPR–DAA), All the Decks I Want to Work On More, Eternatus VMAX Two Ways, and How, Now, to Play Ultimate Mewtwo “So far, in watching and playing, the more aggressive build of Vikavolt V feels like the best deck in the format. Vikavolt V’s Paralyzing Bolt is of course reminiscent of Seismitoad-EX’s Quaking Punch, and the effect on the format has felt the same. Item lock so severely cripples the consistency of many decks by simply limiting cards like Quick Ball, Acro Bike, Escape Board, and Switch, forcing players to reinvent their decks. Where Vikavolt V differs from Seismitoad-EX, however, is its support. Our new favorite bug can exploit Electropower, Tapu Koko Prism Star, and Thunder Mountain Prism Star to one-shot…
Fire Box Box and Zacian V/Lucario & Melmetal-GX, A More Well-Known Pair of Decks, Updated, to Compete with Tier 1 “You may not realize it, but Fire Box is the deck with the best placements in big tournaments this season. Since Worlds 2019, Fire Box placed Top 4 @ Worlds 2019 by Tord Reklev, 1st @ LAIC 2019 by Robin Schulz, 2nd @ OCIC 2020 by Zach Lesage, and 1st @ Limitless Q2 by Masato Shimada. The deck has been strong since the beginning of the season until now because it still has the best gust effect in the game, which is Nine Temptations. Ninetales TEU gusts Pokémon from the opponent’s Bench—without the use of a Supporter—and the deck still…
Its curly fleece is such an effective cushion that this Pokémon could fall off a cliff and stand right back up at the bottom, unharmed. (Wooloo)
Zacian/LucaMetal, Learning Lines of Play, the Players Cup, Growing as a Player, and on Using Articles “Before anything else, I feel the need to briefly touch on the subject of the Players Cup. The qualifying system itself is terrible, and requires an undetermined amount of Event Tickets on PTCGO, rather than any semblance of skill, to earn a spot in the Online Qualifiers. There’s also this tiny little issue with the leaderboards not showing all of our earned “Tournament Rep.” For me at least, it doesn’t show around 66% of my Rep, and I’ve seen and heard of similar numbers throughout the community. However, this is actually not a huge problem in my opinion. If everyone…
Chaotic Zacian V and Treasures & Traps (Collinsville Edition, ft. RoxieChomp, Turbo Dark, Ultra Necrozma, and More) “I know that fellow author Jonathan Croxton wrote about this very same deck yesterday, but I still think it’s important to cover my iteration of the list because it feels different enough and uses a few different strategies in certain matchups. While Jonathan went for a more aggressive approach, using cards like Sky Field and no Tapu Lele-GX, I’ve been finding success with a more methodical version of the deck. Here’s what I have sleeved up right now: I’ve seen a ton of players on the Expanded PTCG Online ladder try to put an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX into…
Sword & Shield Set Rundown, ADP/Zacian V the BDIF, and Concept Lists for Hammertime and Fire Box “I’m going to run down the set list and give some brief thoughts on the strongest cards. This section is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather an inspiration for your own deck-building adventures. I think Rillaboom is severely underrated amongst most players. On top of having the traditional Rare Candy method of getting put into play, Rillaboom can also take advantage of Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX. While it doesn’t have a plethora of strong attackers, Rillaboom can make use of Venusaur & Snivy-GX, Dhelmise V, Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX, Celebi & Venusaur-GX, and Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX. Each of these…
Steven’s PikaRom in San Diego, Treasures & Traps (Post-Bans Edition), and Two Concepts for Dallas “I was feeling fairly confused heading into San Diego Regionals, following Daytona the week before. My top pick had been an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX list not too dissimilar from the one Diego would take to a Top 4 finish later on, followed by a Malamar list which featured Ultra Necrozma-GX and Gengar & Mimikyu-GX, inspired by that of Daniel Altivilla. However, I wasn’t really feeling satisfied with either pick; I knew both were good, but ever since I had been working with Lost March, I wanted to find something else that felt like it had surprise factor. Speaking…
LAIC/MewMew Rewind, an Aside on Lost March, ADP for Daytona Beach, and Treasures and Traps (LAIC Edition) “Like many of our other writers, I chose to play Mewtwo and Mew-GX at the Latin America International Championships because it simply felt like the best deck for the event. When I tested Arceus & Dialgia & Palkia-GX (colloquially referred to as “ADP” for short) against fellow author Jon Eng’s Mewtwo & Mew-GX the night before the event, the deck felt underwhelming, and I decided to switch last-minute to the list below: Differences from Jon’s list include: -1 Pokegear 3.0 -1 Solgaleo-GX SM104 +2 Reset Stamp I finished a mediocre 3-3-1 drop on the day after an encouraging 3-1 start,…
Eating a sweet apple caused its evolution. A nectarous scent wafts from its body, luring in the bug Pokémon it preys on. (Appletun)
The Evolution of Wall Stall (from Hoopa/Gigas to Counter Attackers + Metal for NAIC), Blacephalon-GX, and Beyond—To the Lurking Tier 2 “Throughout the last month or so dating, back to the release of Unbroken Bonds, I’ve fallen in love with this archetype. I’ve taken it to a Regional, League Cups, and even League Challenges. I have been having a fun time playing the deck. Controlling your opponent’s resources and ultimately decking them out has always appealed to me, and I’m glad I picked up the deck when I did. All this testing has led me to an assortment of different variations of Wall Stall, and today I’ll be sharing them all with you, going over their pros and cons, talking a…
A Full Look at Hoopa Wall Stall (Tournament Report, Deck Updates, and In-Depth Matchup Guide) for Madison “As per my last article, my top two decks for Santa Clara were Midrange Zoroark and Vileplume Stall. I ended up going with Stall; however, I decided to make a few key changes prior to the event in order to stay ahead of the anticipated metagame. Here is the list I played at Santa Clara: Through testing I found that this package was ineffective at setting up multiple Vileplume throughout a single game. This led me to explore different options. I knew that counters to Vileplume, such as Stealthy Hood and Stage 1 attackers, would be present and therefore I could…
While it’s engaged in battle, its mountain of coal will burn bright red, sending off sparks that scorch the surrounding area. (Coalossal)
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