Author: Phinnegan Lynch

I am the owner of Cut or Tap, and one of our primary content creators. I am a Regional champion, and was ranked #1 in North America in 2015. I have multiple city championship (League Cup) wins, one states top cut and several Regionals top cuts. In 2015 I made top 32 at both Worlds and Nationals. In 2016 I made top 16 at Nationals. In 2017 I am more focused on helping others with their tournament placings. I plan to attend less tournaments, and focus more on coaching and deck building.

“Grandpa on Wheels:” John Collins’s Senior Rogue Deck for NA Intercontinentals

Articles

Hey, Cut or Tap readers! My name is John Collins, and I’m here to write about the deck I played for North America Intercontinentals. I’m a Top 16 Senior for NA and I ended this season with 960 Championship Points. I managed to get Top 32 with a rogue deck that Charlie Lockyer and I made less than a day before the tournament started: “Grandpa … Continue reading “Grandpa on Wheels:” John Collins’s Senior Rogue Deck for NA Intercontinentals

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Gameplay Analysis Episode 2 – Gardevoir VS Vespiquen Machoke

Videos

Hey trainers! In this video Michael Perez and I explain the Gardevoir VS Vespiquen matchup, over a best of three series using a Gardevoir list from similar to the one from this article, and a Vespiquen list that you can see bellow the video. This is the second episode in a series where I analyze some of the more complex matchups of our formats. This … Continue reading Gameplay Analysis Episode 2 – Gardevoir VS Vespiquen Machoke

Phinnegan Lynch

Average Joe to Ultra Pro: Frank Percic’s Do’s and Don’ts of Learning the Game

Public Articles

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Frank Percic, and I picked up my first Pokemon card in November of 2016. Seven months later, I found myself at 394 championship points trying to clinch my invite with a Top 64 at NAIC. I had a lot of help on my short journey – probably more than most. That being said, the … Continue reading Average Joe to Ultra Pro: Frank Percic’s Do’s and Don’ts of Learning the Game

Phinnegan Lynch

Primal Clash through Burning Shadows – Gardevoir, Greninja, Darkrai, and Noivern

Articles

Hey reader! Many of us are preparing for a format including a set that does not exist in English yet. For most Worlds competitors the format that is relevant at the moment is including Burning Shadows. The only tournament we have to base our format on is the 2017 Japan championship, which actually is a different format because they have many more sets legal. For … Continue reading Primal Clash through Burning Shadows – Gardevoir, Greninja, Darkrai, and Noivern

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Darkrai garb, a shadowed play for U.S. intercontinentals (By Isaac Milaski)

Public Articles

Hey, Cut or Tap readers! My name is Isaac Milaski, and I’ll be talking about my recent tournament experience at the North American International Championships. I ended up placing 6th in the Senior division after some unfortunate events in Top 8. I chose Darkrai/Garb for this tournament because it had 50/50 matchups or better against the entire field of what Seniors were expected to play. … Continue reading Darkrai garb, a shadowed play for U.S. intercontinentals (By Isaac Milaski)

Phinnegan Lynch

Gameplay Analysis Episode 1 – Zoroark Umbreon VS Garbodor Espeon

Videos

Hey trainers! In this video I explain the Garbodor Espeon VS Zoroark Umbreon matchup, over a best of three series using the Garbodor list from this article, and a Zoroark list that you can find here. This is the first instalment in a series where I analyze some of the more complex matchups of our formats. This video will feature lists from the current Standard format (no … Continue reading Gameplay Analysis Episode 1 – Zoroark Umbreon VS Garbodor Espeon

Phinnegan Lynch

“International Espeonage:” 17th-Place Tournament Report with Espeon/Garbodor

Articles

Hey guys, Bubble Boy back again with another tournament report. US Intercontinentals was this past weekend with a somewhat diverse meta and tons of interesting information to talk about. I ended the event with yet another bubble, but this time it wasn’t as painful because it was only for Top 16 rather than Top 8. I took notes about my matches throughout all of Day … Continue reading “International Espeonage:” 17th-Place Tournament Report with Espeon/Garbodor

Phinnegan Lynch

“Choose Your Character!” Meta Predictions for North American Intercontinentals

Articles

USA Intercontinentals is less than a week away, and the unfortunate truth is that most people still don’t know what they are playing. I am here to help those players figure that out with my metagame predictions, and with what decks I expect to be making it to Day 2 of the event. Some archetypes will be better for players just looking to hit Day 2, … Continue reading “Choose Your Character!” Meta Predictions for North American Intercontinentals

Phinnegan Lynch

“Divide (GX) and Conquer:” My Options for US Intercontinentals

Articles

Hey friends, Phinn again. This article is mostly an update on lists going into Nationals. Most of my time has been put into practicing Vespiquen, Zoroark, and Garbodor; however I have come up with some other lists like Raichu Lycanroc, and Raichu Bats. I’m not going to go into a ton of detail on any of these decks, because I have already covered all of … Continue reading “Divide (GX) and Conquer:” My Options for US Intercontinentals

Phinnegan Lynch

“Nitro T’ank You:” Three Plays For The Nationals Meta

Public Articles

[Editor’s Note: This piece was originally intended as an analysis for the Mexico Regionals meta (tournament date June 10-11).] Hey Cut or Tap readers! My name is Charlie Kerr, and I am a player from the Florida area that recently aged up to Masters. I am going to be a sophomore in high school next year. Today I am going to reflect on Madison Regionals … Continue reading “Nitro T’ank You:” Three Plays For The Nationals Meta

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“Crystal Bae:” Caleb Rice’s Look at Ninetales for Indianapolis

Public Articles

Hey guys! Caleb Rice here with my first article for Cut or Tap! Before we get underway, I want to take a moment to tell y’all a little about myself. I am a competitive player playing out of Charlotte, NC. I have only been on the scene for a little over a year, starting my career with a Top 16 at South Carolina states last … Continue reading “Crystal Bae:” Caleb Rice’s Look at Ninetales for Indianapolis

Phinnegan Lynch

“Dangerous Rogues:” Two Standard Decks to Challenge the Three BDIF’s

Articles

Hey guys, Phinn again, back with some more weird decks. Seems like the last two articles about Zoroark were very well received. Literally half of the players at my last League Cup were using Zorokark Umbreon, and in Finals was my new friend Frank Percic and I played a mirror. However after winning the Cup I felt like there was not a whole lot for … Continue reading “Dangerous Rogues:” Two Standard Decks to Challenge the Three BDIF’s

Phinnegan Lynch

“Mind Jack of All Trades:” Introducing Zoroark Umbreon, Darkrai Regirock, and Garbodor Sandslash

Articles

Hey guys, Phinn again. Madison Regionals just wrapped up and we saw a complete change in the meta. Seattle Regionals was dominated almost entirely by Garbodor variants, while Madison had a very diverse meta, and only eight Garbodor decks. This is still a very significant number, but what is more significant is the number of decks that people have found to either counter or go … Continue reading “Mind Jack of All Trades:” Introducing Zoroark Umbreon, Darkrai Regirock, and Garbodor Sandslash

Phinnegan Lynch

“Nope, There’s Only Trash Here:” From 1st to 19th in Seattle with Espeon Garbodor

Articles

Hey friends, Phinn once again with an in-depth report on Seattle Regionals. This article is going to cover how the event panned out for me, and why I went from the highest record to missing Top 16 during Day 2. The event gave me a lot of insight about the format, the way to build Garbodor, what can counter the deck, and the future of … Continue reading “Nope, There’s Only Trash Here:” From 1st to 19th in Seattle with Espeon Garbodor

Phinnegan Lynch

“Sophie’s Choice Band:” Vespiquen for the new Standard Format

Articles

The release of Guardians Rising means my comfort deck (Darkrai) is longer viable. Field Blower is a huge problem because the deck’s strategy revolves around Fighting Fury Belt and Exp. Share. Choice Band presents an even bigger issue because Darkrais can now be knocked out in one hit easily. Darkrai could come back with a new set next year, but at the moment it is … Continue reading “Sophie’s Choice Band:” Vespiquen for the new Standard Format

Phinnegan Lynch

“Tri-, Tri-Again:” Three Picks for Facing Standard’s Big Three

Articles

I know we’re all excited to use the new cards from Guardians Rising, but we still have a couple events before the set is legal. May 19th is when we have sanctioned tournament access to the new set, which means both Toronto and Virginia Regionals will be in the current format, along with several League Cups. Hold off on Tapu Lele; we have to work … Continue reading “Tri-, Tri-Again:” Three Picks for Facing Standard’s Big Three

Phinnegan Lynch