Welcome back, Cut or Tap readers! As we prepare for the highly anticipated North American International Championships, which is likely to be the largest tournament ever outside of Japan, I am excited to share my unique perspective on a deck that exudes unparalleled power: Baxcalibur. Reminiscent of the iconic Blastoise/Keldeo deck that dominated the Standard format years ago, this new powerhouse possesses the potential to greatly influence the metagame, leaving its mark on both NAIC and this year’s World Championships in Yokohama.
The new Baxcalibur deck shares striking similarities with its predecessor, as both decks revolve around flooding the field with Energy to harness the full potential of various Water-type Pokemon. Baxcalibur also regains many of the powerful tools used by Blastoise decks of the past, with Superior Energy Retrieval and Super Rod making their return as effective ways to recover Pokemon and Energy cards. At the same time, Baxcalibur gains access to many powerful new tools which further bolster its consistency and power level.
One prominent advantage that sets Baxcalibur apart from its predecessor lies in its ability to utilize Irida. This invaluable Supporter card enables one to search for a Water Pokemon and an Item card simultaneously. In contrast, Blastoise decks often relied on Skyla to search for a Trainer card, whether it was Ultra Ball to search out a key Pokemon, Rare Candy to facilitate Blastoise’s evolution, or Superior Energy Retrieval to recover energy cards. With Irida, you can search for both an item and a Pokemon with a single Supporter, enabling a new level of consistency.
By simply playing Irida, you can effortlessly find Baxcalibur and Rare Candy to initiate a flood of Water Energies across the board. Should you already possess one of these vital pieces, Irida grants you the freedom to acquire an additional Item card or Pokémon, further developing your setup. Irida also enables a great deal of versatility in the middle-to-late game, allowing you to search for an attacker along with Superior Energy Retrieval to power it up, or whatever other key piece you might be missing.
After upgrading to Stage 2 you will see the rest of Nick’s article and an audio file of Andy Hyun reading this article here: 
You must have a Stage 2 Membership or greater to see the rest of this post. If you don't have a Stage 2 account, you can Sign Up for one here.
You must have a Stage 2 Membership or greater to see the rest of this post. If you don't have a Stage 2 account, you can Sign Up for one here.