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The majority of my testing has been dedicated to Espeon Garbodor, inspired by the deck Igor, Brad, and Jimmy all made top 8 with at Dallas Regionals. It occurred to me that Garbodor actually could beat Zoroark decks and that this probably was the case not just for Expanded, but for both formats. The viability of this deck may be shortlived, considering Ultra Prism could … Continue reading Espeon Garbodor as an option for Australia
This tournament report is a little different from others because I focus primarily on educating the reader with my experience from the event, leaving out details or information that are less relevant to learning from my successes and failures. I focus a lot on the specific cards that I teched in my list and how they actually were used, the specific misplays I made, and specifically … Continue reading “Twelfth Night (March):” Dallas Regionals 12th Place Tournament Report and Analysis
As testing for Dallas continues, I update all of my lists while exploring new concepts within the game and analyze different ways to build archetypes. This article is centered mainly around Giratina Seismitoad, as it is the deck I have been able to find the most creative room to work with. I also have an explanation of how Expanded is different from standard, in the … Continue reading More on Dallas Options – Seismitoad Giratina, Tapu Koko Dusknoir, & Matchup/Strategy Coverage
Dallas is exactly two weeks from today and there are tons of options for the event. This article is going to cover my lists for everything I have been working with for Dallas, including: Zoroark Lycanroc Seismitoad Garbodor Night March Vespiquen Zoroark Gardevoir Other than the decks, I cover some debates that are running around right now such as which Zoroark variant is the best, and how … Continue reading Dallas Options
What’s up, Cut or Tap? It’s been a while, and I’m excited to be writing for y’all today about a super awesome Expanded format deck, Zoroark-GX / Vespiquen. I had been thinking about the deck for a while until my Team DDG teammate, Chris Siakala, started to hype the deck. He’d been poking around with a list for a while and having all kinds of … Continue reading “Buzz-ted Deck:” Reviving Expanded Vespiquen with Zoroark-GX
Today I have five deck lists in total, none of which I would consider very normal (with the exception of the ZoroRoc list). But as you will read on, there is an addition to Gardevoir and VikaBulu that we all seem to have ignored for little reason. This is mostly just going to be an article talking about the standard meta decks, but I also … Continue reading Updating The Meta Decks – ZoroRoc, Gardevoir, & VikaBulu
I believe Fighting Garbodor is the best deck in both formats. This concept came to me from Kian on the way back from a league cup. Landorus and Buzzwole are both excellent in this Expanded meta because the spread easily takes double KOs on Night Marchers, while it hits weakness on Zoroark GX. In Standard, again you smack Zoroark GX while shutting Trade down, but … Continue reading Fight Fight Fight! – Buzzwole Garbodor in Standard and Expanded
After Summer break began, I knew it was going to be the perfect time to create something rogue. We have established strong draw power, solid supporters, and enough sets to play around with, making this an easy time to find unorthodox decks. This article is going to detail the two rogue decks I am testing currently, as well as some other concepts and how they … Continue reading Creating Rogue Options: Mismagius Garbodor & Kingdra Zoroark
As I type this, I am at Memphis Regionals, looking at a notepad stacked with information about the event. Unfortunately, I forgot to register for the tournament. Not sure how that happened; I have a memory of registering but I suppose that might have been a different Regionals on accident? Either way, I had to sit this one out. The extra time gave me the … Continue reading Musings From an Outside Perspective: Understanding What People Will Play
Hello Cut or Tap readers, my name is Gabriel Smart. I am a competitive senior who plays in the northern California area. My accomplishments aren’t too spectacular at the moment, but as of now, I sit at 122/400 CP. Today I will be covering multiple decks and their current spot in the standard meta going into Memphis regionals. Towards the end, I will cover a … Continue reading What is truely the Broken Deck? A look into standard and the ever changing expanded format
The meta is somewhat static, with a few clear best decks, and several other tier two or three options. This means Memphis Regionals should have a predictable meta, making it an easy tournament to prepare for. This article is here to display the options that I consider to be the top tier, along with some lists for other decks and explanations of why they are … Continue reading “The (First) Impression That I Get:” Options for Memphis Regionals
This piece focusses on the new rapidly developing meta and how we now may have to adjust the way we predict the meta in order to find the best play. As you can read in the free section, I talk about the downside of playing decks with even matchups across the board and relate that to the new meta development. In a way, this is … Continue reading A Conversation About the Current State of the Game; Regi/Sect, Zoroark Golisopod, Darkrai Zoroark
This article covers my Golisopod Zoroark list, with a shorter section on Gardevoir towards the end. The Golisopod section covers the overall strategy of the deck, with in-depth matchup descriptions. This article should give you pretty much every you need for the deck with a list explanation and commentary on why it is the best play right now. Before I get into the decks I want … Continue reading Expanded Theory; Zoroark Golisopod for San Jose Regionals
Hey, Cut Or Tap readers! I’m really happy to be back writing again! I have taken a pretty long break from writing because school is starting up, but I should be able to write a little more frequently from now on. Today I am going to talk about Zoroark GX in Expanded and why I believe it is the best deck to play in San … Continue reading “Got Any Trades?”: Zoroark GX’s Viability in Expanded
This is a very short piece explaining the cards I changed in Darkrai/Zoroark/Nihilego to deal with the issues my original list had. For those who missed the first section, this is a link to it. Before you read this, I want to note that London competitors are probably better off playing the Registeel Genesect list Michael and I posted two days ago. This is simply an … Continue reading Darkrai Zoroark Nihilego Updates
Foreword from Phinn Lynch Registeel Genesect is the perfect meta call for London, with positive matchups against everything in the current meta. This article is a quick read that covers the deck’s matchups and list. Michael and I worked hard on this list with some input from Connor Pedersen – who, by the way, is the best senior in the game – to come up … Continue reading Registeel/Genesect EX – Matchups and Deck Description
The meta is more defined now that we have had some time to mull over different variants and decide what cards are actually worth playing. With confidence, I can say that the top (or at least most commonly played) decks right now are Gardevoir, Buzzwole, Zoroark, Garbodor and (possibly) Greninja. My goal with this piece is to challenge what you think you know about these decks … Continue reading A Critique on Meta Dogma/Updating Garbodor and Gardevoir for London
Hey Everyone! Today I have a new deck based around Darkrai GX and some of the new cards from Crimson Invasion and Shining Legends. I also have a Zoroark Nihilego deck which I think has potential. Trade is an amazing ability that I have quickly grown to love. However, it does not work perfectly with everything. Darkrai is a natural partner because it benefits from … Continue reading Darkrai GX/Zoroark GX and Zoroark GX/Nihilego GX
Hey readers! Today I have a piece talking about the new sets soon to be released. For this article, I have explanations for every card that I believe will be relevant, followed by two decks using main attackers from the new sets. I have way more ideas for future articles and will be coming out with two to three new decks over the next week. … Continue reading Crimson invasion & Shining Legends Notable Cards and New Decks; Introducing Buzzwole Decidueye and Silvally Kartana
