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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
Hey readers, I am currently in a Starbucks in Canada, reflecting on my 5-3-1 finish. The event was painful for several reasons, but I learned a lot about the format for Standard right now, and I wanted to share this info with you all. In this piece, I am going to talk about: How to navigate time in the Best-of-3 format for Regionals. How to … Continue reading “How Do You Plea?” – Navigating Standard Regionals This Season & Post-Vancouver Conclusions
Hey everybody, Phinn again with another piece about Standard. Daytona was last weekend and Garbodor ended up winning the event, which makes me feel great about my last piece because I clearly called Garbodor the play. In fact, Jon Eng made top 8 with the list from the site with two cards different. But now we are looking at Vancouver Regionals, and we need a … Continue reading The Best Plays For Vancouver With Matchup Descriptions
Hey guys, I’m back with another piece but this time talking about both formats. We are now in full swing with Regionals and there will be both Standard and Expanded Regionals coming up soon. I will be attending both Daytona and Vancouver, so I will be talking about the meta for both of these events. In this piece, I am going to swap back and … Continue reading “Two Formats Team Up:” Options for both Standard and Expanded Regionals
Hello again, readers! Frank here, and I thank you for joining me in my second article with Cut or Tap. If you had the chance to read my last article, you may remember I was preparing to compete in the Anaheim Open, as well as for the upcoming rotation and addition of Burning Shadows. In the few months following that time, I was able to … Continue reading “Breaking Dawn with Twilight GX:” Optimizing Gardevoir in a New Standard Format
Hey fellows, Hartford Regionals is two weeks away which means the first standard Regionals is almost here. Last time I covered some of the decks that were more popular at Worlds, like Gardevoir Octillery, and Garbodor. Since then some cups have rolled by and I have had more time to test the format. In this piece there is list for a couple rogue options along … Continue reading “Gumshoos Are Pickin’ Up the Slack:” Six Options For Hartford
Hey guys, I’m fresh off my plane from Fort Wayne Regionals and ready to start the new Standard format! One of the biggest changes we are going to see is an adjustment to the way our Supporter and overall draw counts look like. In this piece, I am going to cover how the Standard decks should be built, in a way that will keep the … Continue reading “Espe-en Garde:” An Introduction To The BKT-on Standard Format
Hey guys, I just wanted to make a post with my two options for Fort Wayne tomorrow. currently I am leaning toward the Garbodor list, however the consistency of the Darkrai list is very attractive. And I have a tendency to fall back on consistency when I get nervous. Darkrai Continue reading Final options for Fort Wayne
Hey guys, Phinn again with another piece about the meta. This time I want to cover the Expanded format in a holistic manner. I see people putting out articles about a single deck, or a couple Expanded options, but for this piece I want to talk about how we should view the Expanded format and what decks are actually top-tier. There are tons of options … Continue reading “Marshadow and More:” A Look at the New Expanded Format
Hey reader, Phinn again. We are fresh from Worlds with plenty of information to explore and analyze. This article is going to cover what changes we saw in the meta, as opposed to past Worlds’ metas, and what has stayed consistent through each Worlds. The idea here is to think about what we thought we knew about the meta before Worlds, and then looking at … Continue reading Post Worlds Conclusions: Final Lists and Lessons for Next Season
Hi, everyone! CutorTap’s Michael Perez, here with my first article. I have been on a hiatus from the game while attending school and getting settled with some life changes, although starting with the Anaheim Open, I’ll be playing again competitively for the 2018 season. Jumping back into the game is tough, so instead of trying to get a good idea of each deck and its … Continue reading Newly Identified Toxins – A look at Garbodor variants
In the weeks leading up to Worlds, we have had (and continue to have) a rapidly-evolving meta that will most likely give us a completely new format. Now we have Gardevoir GX, but this has not changed the fact that Garbodor is incredibly strong. Decidueye/Vileplume is actually able to beat both. With that being said, Volcanion and Rayquaza beat Decidueye. Volcanion seemed amazing when we … Continue reading “So Say We All:” The Final Five Options for Worlds
Hey CutOrTap readers, it’s Charlie, back with another article. This is the one time of year where there is a major divide between players – some are working to test for Worlds while others are testing out next year’s format. Today, I’m going to share with you some of the front-runners in my group’s large testing pool, along with a few predictions for what will … Continue reading “Don’t Wimp Out!” First Impressions on Golisopod/Vileplume and Tips for Worlds
Hey readers! Sorry about the wait on this piece. I’m back with four new and unique options for Worlds. Over the last two weeks I have been testing a jungle of decks, tweaking the previous lists and recreating past archetypes to deal with a new meta. Decidueye Vileplume has proven to be an extremely strong option in this format, seeing as it is one of … Continue reading Four more options for Worlds – Decidueye Vileplume, Volcanion, Mega Rayquaza, and Garbodor
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
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
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
