Greetings from the Lost Zone, readers! I’m back from my Amazon travels with minor rewards. I played Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex to a 282nd place out of 1300 players. Not the finish I wanted, but due to some unfortunate situations like playing with a 59-card deck, not calling a judge to reach a penalty on extra drawn cards, and losing to an unexpected Thorton in Chien-Pao … Continue reading “The Lost Boys:” Lost Zone in the Paradox Rift Format

The future is now, subs! Welcome back to another article, where I’ll be going over some new and interesting topics concerning the Paradox Rift Standard format. This piece will detail some of the biggest meta changes, cards that influence it, and my personal Roaring Moon list. We will also briefly go over a tier list for this new format, with some predictions for LAIC. I’m … Continue reading “Shoot for the Stars and Land on the Moon”: The Paradox Rift Meta

Welcome back, subs! Coming off a mediocre 5-2-2 finish at Sacramento Regionals has me pondering the idea of what disadvantages you can face when you’re becoming complacent with a comfort deck. I’ve stated in previous articles that picking a comfort deck that is well-suited for the meta is mostly going to be that: comfortable. Skill, variance, and predictability are factors that will show more when … Continue reading “Trials and Tribulations”: Dissection of Comfort Decks

What’s happening, Subs! Peoria Regionals has just concluded, crowning yet another Lost Kyogre Champion from the land of poutine. As this piece is being typed, I’m headed to Sacramento to compete in my second Pokemon Regional of the year. Together, we’ll break down the results of the two American Regionals, why Miraidon has risen to a top contender, and my personal build. The Battle Styles-to-151 … Continue reading “City Bike’s Up”: Miraidon’s Road to Success

As promised, I’m back with my post-Pittsburgh article, bringing you along on my 12th place finish at the largest tournament to date. I say “to date” because I expect Peoria to quickly break this record, so my accomplishment won’t last for too long. This tournament had its ups and downs, both before and also after. I want to start this article off by saying I … Continue reading “The Pittsburgh Steal”: My Bubble Run at Pitt

Obsidian Flames is upon us as competitive Pokemon players, gearing us up for the start of the 2024 season. League Cups and Challenges have been posted across the states, alongside the online meta developing through large events like The Late Night. My focus of this piece is to detail two archetypes that are established but not brand new, using results and consistency to break through … Continue reading “Don’t Fix What’s Not Broken:” When to Break the Meta

The largest city in the world enamored me with wonder. Lights that seemingly go on forever, followed by smells of street food. Cut or Tap Subscribers, this is how I describe Tokyo in a few sentences. Welcome back to the website! I have finally journeyed home from my two-week stay in the Land of the Rising Sun. Spending time in Osaka, Tokyo, Nara, Kanagawa, and … Continue reading “Turbo in Tokyo:” My 2023 Worlds Run

Konnichiwa gozaimasu, subs! I’m currently two days from traveling to Japan while writing this piece. With the majority of my testing for the World Championship completed, I wanted to share some ideas with you all. Decks listed in this article will be out of the ordinary, including obscure strategies and win conditions. Rogue decks have a special place in my heart; they have granted me … Continue reading “Rolodex of Rogues”: Going for Broke in Tokyo

Many blessings, Subs! It’s been a short while since you heard from me, because life has been busier than ever. My job has been on overtime due to the summer months’ busy season, along with 100-degree heat keeping me quite exhausted. The largest tournament in history has concluded, giving us the first bit of data to look at for this new format. Only the World … Continue reading “GOD DID”: Arceus’s Success and NAIC Recap

Squawk and Seize the day, subscribers! Hunter back again, for another Paldea Evolved-format deck which hasn’t been talked too much about. I’ve now been testing the Paldea Evolved format for over a month, and feel very confident about the stance of many decks. This article will entail my thoughts on where the meta is for the largest tournament of Pokemon TCG history: the 2023 North … Continue reading “Champions Take Flight:” NAIC Preparation

Good morrow, ye olde subscribers – King Butler here to bestow upon you peasants the legend of the mighty Baxcalibur. Since the dawn of the Pokemon TCG, we have been blessed with the Rain Dance mechanic, birthing a plethora of game-breaking archetypes planned around this support option. Placed in this scroll, I will recall tales of old format monsters who need no introduction. We will … Continue reading “The Holy Grail”: A Tale of the Mighty Baxcalibur

PLEASE STAND UP! M&M is back like he never left – the archetype that is. What’s good, Cut or Tap subs! Back with poetic justice, I have an overview of Meloetta/Mew (which I will refer to as M&M) with some interesting meta information that should help you understand why such an old archetype has taken over this new format. I’ll share some data from the … Continue reading “Shady’s Back, M&M”: A Look into the Meta that Birthed Meloetta/Mew

Salutations, weirdos! The first North American Regional in the Scarlet & Violet meta has concluded, breathing continued new life to the game. Included in my piece will be discussion on the first meta shift of this format, a shockingly effective brand-new archetype, and my personal take on this pile o’ cards. First, I want to include a quick shout-out to Andrew Hedrick, my teammate, for … Continue reading “Keep Pokemon Weird:” Portland Recap and a New Rogue

Ello bruvs! Hunter here, back from the European International Championships held in London! “Exhausted” is an understatement from the past few weeks of testing and travel. I wanna get right into the content, starting with my deck choice for the tournament. After almost 130 games with decks ranging from Lugia Vstar Single Strike to Gardevoir ex, I ended up on Giratina Lost Zone Box, or … Continue reading “ChrisTINA Aguilera:” EUIC List and Card Inclusions

Welcome back, COT subscribers! The final weeks of this Silver Tempest Standard format cannot come any sooner. Decks like Lugia, Mew Vmax, and Lost Zone Box have had a chokehold on the format, making meta calls mostly fever dreams – although I will admit that Galarian Weezing claiming both a Regional win and a 2nd place was not on my bingo card. If anything, this … Continue reading “One Punch Lug:” A Breakdown of the Single Strike Variant

What’s poppin’, COT subscribers! This time I’ll be escorting you through the most anticipated moment of the 2022/2023 season: our midseason rotation! Days have turned to months since Lugia’s chokehold on this format, and a breath of fresh air is severely needed. I hope I’m not speaking for myself as a rogue deck builder, but as a community member, when I say these last few … Continue reading “Pigs Might Fly:” A Short Guide to the Japanese Meta, and My Take on Oinkologne

Welcome back, Cut or Tap subscribers! Hunter here to present insightful information on the phenomenon that is Vikavolt Melony box. I’ll be setting the stage for how a completely unknown archetype took down two Regional Championships, earning $7,500 and almost 400 CP. More impressive than the prizes this deck has conquered, the sheer size of these tournaments command respect for the placements from both Krekeler … Continue reading “Follow The Lightning Bug:” Vikavolt Toolbox for Orlando Regionals

Welcome back subscribers! For those who don’t know, I am Hunter Butler – writer and team member for Cut or Tap and the 2020 Dallas Regional Champion! I have been blessed enormously since we last spoke; I obtained my invite to the 2020 World Championship, conquered the Dallas Regionals with an extremely rogue concept, made top 8 at the 2020 Knoxville Regional Championship, and have … Continue reading A guide to rogue – The success and failure

Hello cut or tap readers, its Hunter back again with another article on a special deck poised for success at the upcoming Atlantic City Regional Championships. The meta two weeks out from AC has shifted slightly with an influx of Non-GX Ability Fire Box and a slight increase in Malamar hype. For the most part the top five decks are still the same: Mew3Box, PikaRom, … Continue reading Shaggy Quaggy: a new look on NagQuag

Hello Cut or Tap readers, my name is Hunter Butler and I have played competitive Pokémon for 12 years! Some of my accomplishments as a master include top 8 at Portland Regionals 2017, 37th at LAIC 2017, top 16 at Worlds 2018, and top 16 at Greensboro Regionals. For my first article here at Cut or Tap I would like to talk about a deck … Continue reading Beach Vibes in Daytona: One Red Hot Rogue and One Cool Summer Swim