Over the years I have played, the majority of formats have been dominated by a select few decks. I would watch decks take up 18-20+ percent of each format, and sometimes they would feel stale. In the year 2024, that is not the case. The Pokemon Trading Card Game is currently in one of the most diverse metagames that I have ever seen. Instead of … Continue reading SmartTCG’s Top Two Decks for Toronto

Welcome back, Subs! I’m happy to be writing for you all before this next tournament. We are just a few short weeks away from the Toronto Regionals, which I will be attending and hoping for a solid finish! Before getting into Archaludon ex, let’s go over the last two tournaments in this new Surging Sparks meta, as you all have not heard from me since … Continue reading “The Meta Bridge Builder:” Archaludon ex and the Surging Sparks Meta

Hello Cut or Tap readers! This past weekend, the Sacramento Regional Championships took place, and I managed to place in the Top 16 with Regidrago VStar. This tournament was the first event with Surging Sparks legal, and it seemed like many players finally caught on to how good Regidrago VStar was, with it shooting up in play rate from a fairly constant 8% last format … Continue reading Is Miraidon back? A Look at Its Sacramento Success

Welcome back, Cut or Tap readers! There have been a few Regionals in the past few weeks, including Gdansk and Lille, which have shaken up the meta quite a lot by introducing the newly successful archetype Bannette, and also cementing Regidrago as a force to be reckoned with. With the Latin America International Championships (LAIC) right around the corner, the Stellar Crown format is shortly … Continue reading Ca-Caw! Pidgeot Control For The Sacramento Regional Championships

After its strong performance at the Gdansk Regional Championships, Banette has proved to be a top contender in the current meta. With the Gardevoir engine being able to trade favorably into two-prize decks like Raging Bolt, and the Item lock to slow down aggressive Dusknoir decks like Palkia and Terapagos, Banette has a very solid matchup spread, which is compounded by its consistency. After my … Continue reading Spooky Season ain’t Quite Over Yet: the Rising Star Banette ex/Gardevoir ex

What would happen if someone tried to use Chat GPT to simulate an entire Pokemon tournament? I gave it a shot, and it actually worked. This might be a big deal. It means that basically anybody can run simulated tournaments and figure out what the best deck is for any given tournament. It means you don’t have to guess what the play is anymore – … Continue reading Simulating a Tournament – Data, Math & Matchups

Cut or Tap Subs, welcome back to another piece with yours truly about the Gdansk Regionals that took place this past weekend. Not only does this complete the major Regionals in the Stellar Crown format before LAIC, but it also completes just about half of the 2024-25 season. This format has had plenty of twists and turns with format giants emerging, while old friends resurged … Continue reading “They Brought the What to Poland?”: Gdansk Rogue Finishes

Pokémon TCG Pocket is a new way to play the Pokémon TCG on mobile devices, developed by The Pokémon Company, DeNA Co Ltd, and Creatures Inc—the card designers for both this game and the physical card game. It features a unique, completely isolated format, and slightly modified game-rules. Who is this app for, why did they change the game-rules, what are they doing differently with … Continue reading The Game-Design Behind Pokémon TCG Pocket

Hello again! The last article I put out was on October 3rd of 2023, just over a year ago. I am back with some insights and ideas related to Charizard ex! Terapagos is the new interesting deck and some may be interested in the recent success of Raging Bolt and Lost Box, but Charizard still deserves respect. People are pushing Charizard aside and trying other … Continue reading Bringing Charizard Up to Speed!

Terapagos is one of the most exciting decks I have played in a long time. The skill expression it has, and the ability to win almost any game, is really what made me fall in love with the deck. I most recently placed Top 8 at Louisville Regionals, and today I will be going over everything you need to know about the deck. When preparing … Continue reading I Like Turtles! A Look into My Louisville Top 8 Terapagos Run

Welcome back, Cut or Tap readers! I hope you are all doing well. With Dortmund and Joinville Regionals behind us and Knoxville just around the corner, the Stellar Crown format is really starting to shape up. Despite many decks foregoing the inclusion of new cards, the impact of this new set has certainly reshaped the metagame. So far, we have seen a lot of old … Continue reading “Regidrago’s Second Wind:” Reclaiming Dominance in Stellar Crown

Welcome back, Subs and Pokemon TCG players! We have officially had the first tournament in the 2024/2025 season in Baltimore this past weekend. What was once thought to be a stale meta birthed plenty of interesting decks, not only landing throughout Day 2 but also into the Top 8. Before we start discussing Stellar Crown in this piece, I want to go over a few … Continue reading “Twin Tower Teras:” Two Stellar Format Giants

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! My name is Benny Billinger, and I am a first-year Master who was ranked Number 2 globally last year in the Seniors division. With the release of the new Stellar Crown set and Louisville being the next North American Regionals on the calendar, I figured I would take a look at some of the Stellar Crown decks that have done … Continue reading “Give Me Some Space:” Palkia VSTAR in the Stellar Crown Format

The Pokemon 2024 World Championships just finished, and Iron Thorns shocked the world with its victory over Roaring Moon. There’s always that sense of early optimism at the beginning of the season. So many opportunities and chances to show off your talents, and players across the world chasing that elusive Worlds Invite. This season will definitely be tougher for the average player to make it, … Continue reading “Turtles on Top:” A Look at a New Top-Tier Deck

Welcome back, Subs! I hope your trip to the islands was full of adventure, or you enjoyed the show that Pokemon provided for you at the World Championship. Once again, I regretfully inform you about another mediocre finish at the World Championship by yours truly. I played Iron Thorns ex with Pokemon Catchers, the same deck as the eventual champion, Fernando. I was only paired … Continue reading “Worlds Meta Update:” A Shrouded Fable Guide

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a while since I’ve written for Cut or Tap, so I’m excited to bring you a fun yet powerful deck today. In the months leading up to the World Championships, I was pretty set on playing Regidrago VSTAR from early on in my testing, which left me with little to write about. … Continue reading The Deck I Almost Played at the World Championships

Hello Cut or Tap readers, I’m Michael Davidson. I’ll be entering my second season of Masters, following my first season in Masters where I was able to make ten Day 2’s, with the pinnacle being Top 8 at the World Championships with Regidrago Vstar. In this article I will explain the deck list I settled on with teammates Andrew Hedrick and Caleb Rogerson, discuss my … Continue reading Regidrago: Top 8 Worlds Tournament Report

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! The 2024 World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii is quickly approaching, and it will feature a different metagame than the one that we have had for the last couple months with the North America International Championships and local tournaments. Following the release of Shrouded Fable, it is expected that some new decks like Regidrago VStar will emerge as top contenders, and … Continue reading “Flying High at Worlds:” A Look at Lugia VStar For Shrouded Fable

What’s good, Cut or Tap Subs! Hunter here again to give you my final piece for the 2024 World Championships being held in Honolulu, Hawaii. We are one week away from the most prestigious tournament of the year, and I couldn’t be more excited. This time, we’ll be going over two different approaches to the Dragapult ex deck which is quite versatile at the moment. … Continue reading “Two Shots”: Dragapult ex Expose