Oh boy, how did we get here? Intro The naic and worlds format had a diverse competitive metagame, with more than a dozen different decks appearing in the top 32’s of these prestigious events. Even the finals of the two events which shared a card pool were drastically different: with NAIC’s Masters division finals being Inteleon Urshifu vs Arceus Duraludon Umbreon, and World’s Masters division finals being Fusion Strike Mew VMAX vs Gardevoir ex. This format seemed to come and go without a clear picture of what the true best deck was. The popular contenders for the BDIF title appeared to be Gardevoir ex, Turbo Lost Zone Box, and Fusion Strike Mew VMAX. Why is a retelling of NAIC and World’s format relevant? Well, the standard format hasn’t changed that much and we’re almost in the same exact format still. Don't play on hard mode... If you’re looking at Pittsburgh Regionals like the start of a brand

Intro The first major of the season is Pittsburgh Regionals the weekend of Sept 8th-10th. The World Championships has recently commenced and Obsidian Flames is legal for play as of August 25th. I am writing this on August 22nd, so please keep in mind that this is a very early depiction of my thoughts on the metagame for pittsburgh. The age of Play Limitless events

Focus, Function, and Feasibility Identifying what makes a good Pokemon TCG deck is an important skill if you want to build your own successful decks or even adjust previously successful decks for a future event. I have 3 rules for qualifying if a deck is tournament ready: Focus, Function, and Feasibility. In this article I will define Focus, Function, and Feasibility and teach you how to follow these rules to build good Pokemon TCG deck lists. Defining Focus Focus can be defined as “all cards working together”. Some decks are more focused on a linear strategy than others, but focus does not equal linear. A deck with many options and lines of play can still be focused. The focus of the deck typically revolves around the Pokemon. Trainers and Energies that compliment the Pokemon and strategies are worked into the deck list next. Defining Function Function has two sub-categories: Reliability and Consistency. The community often groups them both into the umbrella term “consistency”, but I believe there is merit to separating them. I define Reliability as the Macro-functioning of your deck: how often does the deck generally function (success vs failure). A very reliable deck would be one that is

Intro Paradox Rift is poised to be the best scarlet & violet set yet. There are new Paradox Pokemon like Roaring Moon ex and Iron Valiant ex which should influence entire new archetypes, and other cards like Iron Hands ex and Counter Catcher which will improve several pre-established archetypes. In this article I will discuss the most impactful cards, how I expect deck lists for pre-existing archetypes to change, and share my frontrunning deck lists for the new format. Estimating the Impact I anticipate that Paradox Rift will shift the meta almost like a format rotation would. Some decks like Lost Zone Box will likely suffer if they don't adapt to the new threats, while evolution decks will have TM Evolution as a new card to build their early turns around. Iron Hands ex Iron Hands ex's Amp You Very Much attack deals 120 damage and takes an extra prize card if the attacks damage knocks out the opponent's pokemon. Any deck that can accelerate multiple

Recap of my previous article In my last article preceding Pittsburgh Regionals linked here, I concluded that Lugia and Miraidon were the best decks for making it into day 2. The decks with the best matchup spreads were Inteleon Urshifu, Lugia, Giratina Lost Zone, Turbo Lost Zone, and Kyogre - according to my calculations at least. My plan was to play either Lost Zone Tina, Turbo Lost Zone, Kyogre, or if all else failed Lugia - but it was pretty unlikely my confidence in a lost zone deck would have been poor enough for me to default to Lugia. Why did I play Turbo Lost Zone? I never explicitly chose to play “Turbo” lost zone, but that's what the deck ended up becoming. Between Thursday and Friday I worked on a liminal lost zone deck that shifted around as I decided on my final estimations of the

Preparation The biggest factor of your tournament is preparation, which comes before the tournament even begins. Preparation will look different for everyone based on your experience, goals, and commitment to the game. Preparation results in confidence, and confidence results in better tournament performance. If you are a competitive player attending events to do your best, earn points, and win, you should prepare until you are confident no matter who or what deck you are playing against. I’m going to stress confidence a lot throughout this article. Preparation = Confidence, Confidence = Believing in yourself, Self-Belief = Manifesting Positive Outcomes. People talk about the “mental game” or the “mental aspect” of pokemon tcg… but the entire game is the mental game. You will not play well if you’re not composed, confident, and aware. This is different from an athletic event like soccer or playing an instrument like the guitar in which you can still try to push through with your physical skills even if your mental is off. In Pokemon TCG if your mental is off, your entire game is off. So prioritize your mental health - and for the sake of

Intro LAIC is coming up, and even if you aren’t attending that you’re probably playing challenges, cups, and prepping for San Antonio in December. I won’t be attending LAIC as I’m locked out of international travel due to passport issues at the time, but I have been playing this format just as seriously as attendees of LAIC. In this article I’ll cover the Archetypes I’d consider playing for the event, the specific deck lists for these archetypes, and the decks that match up with your personal goals for the event the best.  Championship Points, Day 2, Victory? If you are not confident in playing an intricate deck perfect enough to take it all the way to the finals and

Intro I have been playing the Pokemon TCG off and on for a very long time with varying levels of dedication over the years. Along the way I have noticed specific points in my growth as a player. Today I want to talk about the period of time where I feel that I went from an average player that would do well at a City Championships or get a decent placement at a Regional Championship to a player that began winning money, getting world’s invites, and Day 2’ing events. This involved a journey of self-discipline, self-awareness, and discovering the proper preparation and practice techniques. Previous to the Transition The last time that I came back to the game from a break was the summer of 2016 around when Steam Siege was released - I have been in the competitive scene without breaks since then. Prior to this I was in and out of Pokemon every 4-6 months for many years with little time and money to actually dedicate to it since I had other priorities, and while I wanted to do the best I could I

Intro When it comes to selecting a deck for a large north american regional in the current standard format, be careful not to metagame yourself out of a good deck you are comfortable with. Peoria Let’s look at Peoria Regionals as an example. Even if you accurately estimated that Charizard ex decks would be 15%, Lugia VSTAR 13%, Miraidon ex 12% etc, it would be a volatile and risky decision to base your deck choice on any single archetype being popular. This is because our current standard format is incredibly diverse and tournament attendance is at an all time high, so I do not suggest completely changing your