My last article covered ZoroKing and Cameron’s latest video went over ReshiZard, meaning the only deck in my top three picks that we haven’t posted about is Zapdos. Not too long ago Cameron and I covered the match ups and list in great detail, but the new meta means everything needs an update. This piece makes an argument for Zapdos, but more specifically this variant … Continue reading Zapdos Buzzwole

Unbroken Bonds gave more possibilities to Zoroark decks than most players acknowledge. Persian GX, Dedenne GX, Lt. Surge’s Strategy, Marshadow, Dewgong, Koga’s Trap, Triple Acceleration Energy, and Mew are all potential additions to the deck. This means figuring out exactly how to build Zoroark for the new format is not an easy challenge to overcome. However, it also means there is potential for Zoroark to … Continue reading Cats and Dogs: Recreating Zoroark for Unbroken Bonds

This article was initially released back in October of last year, but with not enough detail. That was when I was trying for the first time to make the deck tick after the Hex Maniac ban. ZoroGarb is the deck I am suggesting players pilot for Hartford Regionals this weekend making now a great time to rewrite this piece and post it. Any Expanded meta … Continue reading Expanded Zoroark Garbodor (Rewritten 5/3/19)

Caleb Gedemer and Hale Obernolte have put players Germany competitors in an uncomfortable position. There is a necessity to deal with these denial decks that did well in Denver, but tech’ing for these decks will most likely force your chances of beating other archetypes down. There are a few solutions to this dilemma. The easy fix to this problem is simply finding a new archetype … Continue reading Germany Internationals Top Picks: Malamar, Zapdos Buzzwole, ZoroControl, and ZoroRoc

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

This article goes over my current Toad Zoroark list, why the deck is still strong, and how to play the important match ups. Tomorrow there will be another article from Hunter Butler on Blastoise Wails. On my trip to Denver I started the weekend explaining to my friends that I was tired of Expanded and would avoid going to any more Expanded events. By the … Continue reading Toad Zoroark is as strong as it was before the Lusamine ban

Hey everyone! As my first article for Cut or Tap, I’m super excited to bring you all a comprehensive deck rundown and tournament report on the Regigigas/Hoopa stall deck that I used to get 2nd place at this past weekend’s Denver Regional Championship. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I really love the slow, methodical play-style of the deck, and I think that it’s … Continue reading Regionals 2nd Place Regi-Stall tournament report, match up descriptions and List Details

This is a short post on options for Denver other than Zapdos. If you want to read about Zapdos you can find match up descriptions and other info here. For my exact updated list you can go here. The first deck is of course Zoroark, which has been my first choice for a while. I don’t think people even believe I will play anything else … Continue reading Other options for Denver

As it became more obvious that players are trying to counter Zoroark, it started to become evident than I needed a second option for Denver. I knew that playing PikaRom and Blacephalon was out of the question for me, which meant the only options outside of Zoroark were Zapdos, Ultra Necrozma, or a rogue. Ultra Necrozma match results have been very draw-dependent rather than skill-dependent, … Continue reading The Cut or Tap Zapdos variant

Hey everyone! I have fallen in love with the Zapdos Jirachi archetype and I want to breakdown down the individual cards that can be included in the deck, the matchups against popular archetypes, and my two lists. The deck functions similar to a Zoroark Golisopod or Zoroark Lycanroc deck, but with one prize attackers. Zapdos focuses on being extremely consistent and putting out a steady … Continue reading A Thunderous Assault on the Meta

One of the main shortcomings of the site has been the fact that I don’t cover match ups in much detail. I want to change that over the course of the next month or so. The next few articles will be covering specific decks and all of their match ups against the popular archetypes in the standard format. This piece is about the match ups … Continue reading Guide to ZoroRocWeavile match ups

I was both thrilled and annoyed about seeing that Night March won Toronto Regionals. On one hand, I was vindicated in my picks for the event since I had posted a Night March Order Pad list saying it was likely the best play, but that reason is pretty superficial. The much more hindering side of Night March’s success is that I had been working hard … Continue reading Expanded options for Greensboro Regionals (ZoroGarb, BuzzShrine, Archie’s Wails)

After seeing the list that Alex Cole managed place well at St. Louis with, ZoroGarb became of interest again. As many of you know the deck has been my favorite archetype over the last two years, so the prospect of being able to play it in Standard again is enticing. I also won a Team Up case tournament with ZoroRocWeavile using a list that I … Continue reading Standard: ZoroRocWeavile, BuzzMuk, and ZoroGarb

Oceania Internationals has concluded and Zapdos won the tournament, which is completely unsurprising considering eight of the best players in the game played it. I underrated Zapdos at first. The deck was mediocre in testing because I was using, and playing against, the Japanese lists which ran far worse. Now that Zapdos is the king that needs to be slain, I am excited to talk … Continue reading ZoroRoc and Malamar variants, plus Darkrai Zoroark and Alolan Muk Garbodor updates

I am very surprised by how people are building Malamar right now. The build that I have seems very normal and to the point in my eyes, but I am starting to see that it is actually unorthodox. For the Team Up format I am also working on a similar list that continues to focus on Giratina rather than Ultra Necrozma. Ultra Necrozma does have … Continue reading Giratina Malamar Pre & Post Team Up

ZoroRoc has become my favorite deck once again, mostly because it is the only thing I can find that actually beats Malamar. If you are not already aware, Malamar is somewhat decidedly the best deck right now. Playing ZoroRoc again has made me realized how much stronger it will be when Team Up is legal. This piece goes over my list before Team Up and … Continue reading ZoroRoc for Pre-Team Up and Post-Team Up

Team Up is offering several new archetype concepts and as I’m sure many of you know, I love to jump on them as soon as possible. People have been hyping decks like Zapdos, Malmar Snorlax & Mimikyu, and Tool Drop, but I figured I would put together decks that I haven’t heard anybody else talking about. Some of the decks are more obvious combinations like … Continue reading Standard Team Up Ideas: Darkrai, Alolan Muk Garbodor, Blacephalon Ninetales, Alolan Grimer Nihilego, and ZoroRoc

Dallas Regionals is coming up this weekend and I’m scrambling to test as many games as I can. Other than putting this article out, the only activities in my life will be sleeping, eating, and playing Pokemon. My top two picks for the event are currently ZoroGarb and Blastoise Wailord. I also found myself really enjoying that Buzz Box deck that I talked a little … Continue reading Standard Buzz Box, Expanded Blastoise Wailord, and Expanded ZoroGarb updates

Standard had completely fallen out of my mind for a while until about two weeks ago. I attended a Standard challenge for a breath of fresh air. The deck I was most interested in before I started preparing for Anaheim Regionals was ZoroRoc, so I figured I would pick the deck back up. It worked out very well and I’m actually excited to get back … Continue reading Standard League Cup/Challenge Decks: ZoroRoc, Buzz Box, Blacephalon, and Malamar