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

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

Continue reading Phinn’s Deck list for North American Intercontinentals 2017

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

What’s up, Cut or Tap readers? It has been a little while since my last article and I wanted to update everyone on my own personal Pokemon journey with some awesome news: I made it to Worlds! After a grind of a season and a last minute trip to the Origins Special Event in Columbus, Ohio, I am now invited to the 2017 Pokemon World … Continue reading “May the Forest Be With You: Discovering DeciPlume for Nationals

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

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

Hey guys, it’s Charlie back with another article.  Today, I’m going to talk about my Madison Regionals experience, the impact of Guardians Rising when it comes to draw engines, and my favorite card from the set, Drampa GX.  The new cards in Guardians Rising have proven to shake up the format like never before, so I hope you enjoy hearing my opinions on the new … Continue reading “Dragon Tales”: All About Tapu Bulu/Vikavolt, the Power of Drampa, and an Aside on Draw Engines

Hey there, Cut or Tap Readers! Daniel Altavilla here, fresh out of Wisconsin Regionals. I was able to take another 4th place finish after my similar finish in Virginia, with another Dark variant. I guess we’ll never have a Dark deck sitting outside of the top tier! I really had a blast with every part of this Madison trip and though I didn’t have to … Continue reading Foxy Drampa in Cheese World – 4th Place Madison Regionals Tournament Report

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

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

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

What’s happenin’, Cut or Tap readers? I am back with a shorter article today discussing a few experimental Decidueye lists to play in Toronto – or as we like to say, the 6ix! I have been building decks in the Expanded format with Sun and Moon cards for a while and I have hopefully cracked the format open again with a few of these lists. … Continue reading New Views From The 6ix: Experimental Expanded Decidueye Lists

 Hey there, Cut or Tap readers! We’ve had League Cups going on for two quarters already and we’re about to be heading into our third and final quarter for the season. Because players are often comfortable playing five different decks in five different League Cups, I’d like to share how to make a risky “Meta Call,” which is just a more extreme way to beat … Continue reading “Officer Jenny, I Got Your Number:” Calling Your Meta, plus A Taste of What’s to Come

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Jay Lesage, and I recently just got back from the Latin American International Championships! Three of the four Internationals have now concluded, and I’ve essentially lost track of which time zone I’m in – if you know a sleep doctor, feel free to leave me a contact number in the comments. It’s been … Continue reading “Bom Dia-cidueye” – An Awakening in Latin America

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