Note from Phinn: Michael wrote this article, but I have inserted some comments at different points throughout this article. Michael and I have tested this deck together extensively. Almost all of his opinions and gameplans for Kyogre are the same as mine. I planned on writing about this deck, but Michael beat me to it. Howd’y Cut or Tap readers! It’s Michael Perez. Some of … Continue reading A Storm Is Brewing Again

Ello bruvs! Hunter here, back from the European International Championships held in London! “Exhausted” is an understatement from the past few weeks of testing and travel. I wanna get right into the content, starting with my deck choice for the tournament. After almost 130 games with decks ranging from Lugia Vstar Single Strike to Gardevoir ex, I ended up on Giratina Lost Zone Box, or … Continue reading “ChrisTINA Aguilera:” EUIC List and Card Inclusions

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! As you may know, I love rogue (otherwise known as counter) decks, and with a ton of League Cups and Challenges happening across the globe, I will be presenting my current lists, or works in progress, of some off-meta decks. In this article, I will go over some of the pros and cons to playing rogue decks, especially for … Continue reading Attacking, Locking, and Stalling: Post-EUIC Musings on Rogue Archetypes

The biggest international Championship of all time just concluded with Alex Schemanske taking down over 1,500 players with his Arceus VSTAR / Alolan Vulpix VSTAR / Duraludon VMAX deck. To say I am surprised to see an Arceus deck win the event would be an understatement. Tord Reklev was his Finals opponent piloting quite an interesting build of Gardevoir ex. What’s up, everyone! Smart TCG … Continue reading Life After EUIC: a Look at Lugia and Arceus Duraludon

Hey there, Cut or Tap readers! Nick Moffitt here, and I just finished in the Top 16 out of over 1,500 Masters at the European International Championship! I played a rather unorthodox deck – Lost Zone Kyogre with Galarian Moltres. Today I will be taking you through my deck building process, as well as a run-through of how my Top 16 tournament run in London … Continue reading Innovating with Lost Zone Kyogre: A Top 16 EUIC Deck

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! As I write this article, I am on a train from Brussels to London! After a couple days of vacation, it’s time to do some last-minute testing and refining of my list. With that being said, today I am going to share four of my top contenders for this weekend: Sableye/Radiant Charizard Lost Box (updated from my last article) … Continue reading Across the Pond: My Top Deck Choices for EUIC

Hello! I’m Andrew Hedrick, and I’m excited to be back writing another article for Cut or Tap. Last time, I looked at Lugia VStar going into the last couple of events in the Silver Tempest format. Lugia was fairly successful at those tournaments, making up five slots in Top 8 between the two. However, now we are going into a completely open format after a … Continue reading The Key to Success: An Overview of Klefki from Scarlet and Violet

A new format means new opportunities, updated lists, altered play styles, and a fresh start that many of us quite frankly needed. Scarlet and Violet is upon us, and the outlook of the Pokemon TCG has never been better! What’s up, everyone! SmartTCG here. I am stoked to be writing another article for Cut Or Tap. Over the past few months, players have been frustrated … Continue reading Two Alternate Realities: A Look into Two Decks for EUIC

Welcome back, COT subscribers! The final weeks of this Silver Tempest Standard format cannot come any sooner. Decks like Lugia, Mew Vmax, and Lost Zone Box have had a chokehold on the format, making meta calls mostly fever dreams – although I will admit that Galarian Weezing claiming both a Regional win and a 2nd place was not on my bingo card. If anything, this … Continue reading “One Punch Lug:” A Breakdown of the Single Strike Variant

Hey everyone! My name is Owen Dalgard, and I am excited to begin writing for Cut or Tap. I am a professional Senior division player based in Maryland, and I travel the world playing the TCG. I am ranked in the Top 8 players in North America, and I am currently ranked #1 globally this quarter. You may know me from my Twitter, or from … Continue reading Legendary Clash: Exploring the Power of Lugia VStar and Drapion V in the Pokemon TCG

Hello everyone! This is Nick Moffitt bringing you my list of the most impactful cards we will be losing to the Standard format rotation this year. Like many of you, I feel that our current Standard format has dragged on for far too long, and I am ready to experiment with something fresh and new. This year’s rotation is pretty unique. Generally, we have rotation … Continue reading Most Impactful Cards Lost to the 2023 Standard Format Rotaion

The reason for Giratina’s potential resurgence Going into EUIC, there is room for Giratina to be viable again. Rotation and a new set release will lead to competitors playing all sorts of different archetypes and novel lists. Giratina has strength in this type of meta because of the well-rounded nature of the deck. Star Requiem takes a knock out on any ex, V, VStar or … Continue reading Giratina VStar in the Post-Rotation Format

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! As we finally reach the end of the six-month Silver Tempest format, the long awaited mid-season rotation will be occurring, along with the introduction of the new block, Scarlet and Violet. With many consistency cards such as Quick Ball, Scoop Up Net, Oranguru, etc, rotating, many people have shifted to a Mirage Gate-based Lost Box deck, full of tech … Continue reading The Art of Simplicity: Post Rotation Sableye/Radiant Charizard Lost Zone Box

Hey, what’s up Cut Or Tap readers! SmartTCG here. I hope you are having a wonderful week, and your testing for Charlotte and Fort Wayne Regionals is going well if you are attending! Today, I am going to take a dive into the metagame currently, and exactly what the BEST plays are heading into the events. Now, I will be the first to admit, players … Continue reading My Top Two Decks for Charlotte Regionals!

Hello! My name is Andrew Hedrick, and I am happy to now be writing for Cut or Tap. Recently, I have seen quite a bit of success with Lugia VSTAR, as it has allowed me to take down two of the largest Regional Championships ever, going back to back by winning the tournaments in Orlando and Knoxville with similar (but not the same) Lugia lists. … Continue reading Lugia VSTAR: Card Choices and How They Change going into Charlotte and Fort Wayne

Hi, everyone! Like most of you, I am getting tired of the current Standard format and am absolutely ready for Scarlet and Violet to drop, and for rotation to hit. This format has certainly been kind to me. I made every Day 2 at every event I attended and made Top 4 twice and Top 16 once, all with Amazing Rare Rayquaza Lost Zone, and … Continue reading Top 10 Cards from Scarlet and Violet

What’s poppin’, COT subscribers! This time I’ll be escorting you through the most anticipated moment of the 2022/2023 season: our midseason rotation! Days have turned to months since Lugia’s chokehold on this format, and a breath of fresh air is severely needed. I hope I’m not speaking for myself as a rogue deck builder, but as a community member, when I say these last few … Continue reading “Pigs Might Fly:” A Short Guide to the Japanese Meta, and My Take on Oinkologne

Hey! What’s up everyone! SmartTCG here! I am ecstatic to be writing another article for you all. Over the past few months, the Pokemon TCG has become relatively stale, but this is set to change over the next month! As I write this, we are just about a month away from the next Pokemon TCG Rotation. Rotation is typically a yearly occurrence that causes multiple … Continue reading “A Psychic Embrace:” Diving Into Gardevoir EX

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Recently I got 5th Place out of roughly 1150 players at the Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee! Up until this point, I had been playing Lugia/Archeops, and was both getting bored and not seeing the success I wanted to with the deck, so after Orlando, I knew I had to change things up. Leading up to the event, I … Continue reading Inteleon’s Ride Into the Sunset: Top 8 at Knoxville Regionals with Palkia VSTAR/Inteleon      

This article was intended to be a guide on how to beat Lugia, but quickly morphed into descriptions of how to play two match ups optimally – that is, the ones in the title. When writing, the pen can have a mind of its own (or in this case, I suppose my keyboard does). Let’s get right into it. Lugia VS Lugia The mirror is … Continue reading Lugia Mirror and Lugia VS Lost Box