NAIC is upon us, Subs! While writing this, we are currently one week away from the big dance, and I couldn’t be more excited to compete. This is the largest tournament of all time, so we’ll be sure to see some amazing decks and players rise to the top. I’ve now been testing this format for close to two months, so once again I feel … Continue reading “Dodge, Duck, Dipplin, Dive and Dodge:” a Dipplin/Thwackey Guide

Hey there, Cut or Tap Readers! Today I will be sharing my thoughts on a deck that has been absolutely dominating the online tournament scene – Raging Bolt ex. When Temporal Forces first released, I initially wrote off this card as bulk ex material. However, just one set later, the introduction of a small masked Supporter catapulted Raging Bolt into the top tiers of competitive … Continue reading “Thunderstruck:” The Meteoric Rise of Raging Bolt ex

Welcome back, Subs! I’m so incredibly excited to begin our coverage of the Twilight Masquerade metagame. I haven’t been playing the previous format because I didn’t attend Indianapolis or any of the other majors this past month. This has allowed me to focus on our upcoming format, which I will play in the biggest tournament of all time: NAIC. We’ll cover the decks I believe … Continue reading “Party in the Moonlight:” Initial Thoughts on Twilight Masquerade

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! If you’ve seen my Twitter and event placements recently, you’ll know I have been a huge Gardevoir fan pre- and post-rotation. The built-in consistency of the deck gives you a ton of options each turn, while having multiple different ways to play the game, whether aggro or tanky, and overall it’s been one of my favorite decks this year, getting … Continue reading “Munki Business:” Gardevoir ex in the Twilight Masquerade Format

Hi there, Cut or Tap readers! If you read my most recent article on my top cards from Twilight Masquerade, you would know that Lugia VStar is one of the decks I am most optimistic about in the upcoming format. It is the deck I have been testing most extensively, and the initial results have been very promising. If the North American International Championships were … Continue reading “The King has Returned:” Lugia VStar in the Twilight Masquerade Format

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! The Indianapolis Regional Championships were held two weeks ago, and I was able to take down the tournament with Dialga VStar! This was the second biggest Regionals of all time at over 2,300 players, and I had to fight through 18 rounds and many amazing players to come away with the victory, with one of the more unique and overlooked … Continue reading Dialga’s Time to Shine: A Look at My Winning List From Indianapolis

Hey there, Cut or Tap Readers! I am thrilled to be fresh off a 5th place at the Indianapolis Regional Championships! While many of you might be interested in reading about my tournament experience, Indianapolis was my last tournament in this regrettably brief format, which I believe was a great one overall. Therefore, today I want to shift my focus to the future, and share … Continue reading First Impressions On My Top Cards From Twilight Masquerade

Crikey, Subs, I think there’s an elephant over there – lemme go touch it! I hope all of you have been enjoying this lovely Charizard-centric format. This past weekend, Pedro Pertusi, a friend of mine and one of the most prolific players of the modern era, became a three-time Regional Champion. Pedro played an extremely resource-intensive Charizard list, focused on the mirror and multi-card disruption … Continue reading “Water for Elephants:” a Look at Great Tusk/Dudunsparce

Welcome back Subs, to another special article from yours truly about my Groudon deck that I’ve continued to pilot throughout this season. I’m happy to say that I’ve amassed 1/3 of my invite with Groudon, and after my 36-point bubble at Orlando, I have achieved my invite to the 2024 World  Championship in Honolulu, Hawaii. I want to start with some shout-outs since this season … Continue reading “I am Groudon:” Meta-Shaking Performance at Orlando Regionals

Greetings, Cut or Tap readers! With the conclusion of the 2024 European International Championships, I would like to reflect on my tournament run, sharing what went well and what could have been improved. In this article, I hope to provide you with some valuable insights into the position of the Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur deck in the current metagame. Chien-Pao is a deck that has been on my … Continue reading I Played Chien-Pao at the Largest Tournament Ever

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! With EUIC quickly approaching, I figured we should take a look at the Lost Zone archetype, as it performs well and grows in popularity. Utilizing the consistency of Comfey, and a variety of attackers such as Roaring Moon ex, Radiant Charizard, Giratina VSTAR, and more, the deck can be built to counter a specific meta. The only concern now is: … Continue reading Lost in London: Building Lost Zone Decks for EUIC

Hey there, Cut or Tap Readers! Today I am going to share what I believe to be a superior version of a deck that has seen some popularity in the post-rotation Temporal Forces format: Ancient Box. This deck typically features heavy lines of Koraidon and Roaring Moon from the new Temporal Forces set, with some other ancient Pokémon sprinkled in.  The real star of the … Continue reading Forget Ancient Box, Just Play Roaring Moon Instead!

Welcome back, readers and Subscribers! Hunter here once again to talk about the mighty Lizardon – or Charizard for those who aren’t Japanese! I’m going to cover different takes on the current Charizard variants and where they fit into the meta. I’ll be listing some interesting tech options for certain difficult matches, and finally share with you all my Charizard list I have been working … Continue reading “Heavy is the Crown:” Charizard ex, King of the Format

This article is the second part of Tanner Drabek’s analysis of the Ancient Box archetype for the upcoming Temporal Forces format. Part 1, looking at the deck’s construction and Tanner’s current list, can be found here. For EUIC, we’re going off our earlier assumption that the meta spread will be similar to that of Japan. With that, it is still a very wide meta. Normally, … Continue reading “Back For Revenge, Part 2:” Dino Box’s EUIC Matchups

This article is the first in a two-part analysis of Ancient Box for the upcoming Temporal Forces format. The second part will give an in-depth analysis of the deck’s expected matchups. Hello, Cut or Tap readers, and welcome! My name is Tanner and I play competitively in central Iowa. I have spent a lot of time, both this season and last, testing, building, and bringing … Continue reading “Back for Revenge, Part 1:” Building Dino Box for EUIC

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! The Paradox Rift format is starting to get stale after about five months or so, and because of that, I’ve prioritized theory-ing and testing post-rotation a lot more than for Vancouver, so today I’m going to share some of my findings on everyone’s favorite card: Snorlax PGO!! There are a few different variants to cover, starting with the simplest … Continue reading “Control Freak:” Control Lists and Theory for EUIC

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Michael Davidson, a first year Master following a Seniors season where I ranked 5th globally in Seniors Championship Point Rankings, and am currently just outside of the Top 16 in North America. I’ve made Day 2 in five out of eight Regionals I’ve attended this season, with my highlight being an 11th place finish in Pittsburgh. I’ll be attending … Continue reading “Better Than Ever Before:” Post-Rotation Chien-Pao

Greetings from the future, subs! We are steadily approaching rotation and the release of Temporal Forces, which I couldn’t be more excited for. This past format has felt stale, with the top three decks being so powerful that your tournament finish will depend on your matchup roulette between them. These three – Gardevoir ex, Giratina Vstar, and Charizard ex – are not rotating from the … Continue reading “The Future Is Now:” It’s Just These Hands

Yooo, what’s popping, Cut or Tap readers! It’s Braiden here, joined by my friend Julian to bring you an awesome-sauce Arc/Armarouge deck. We are going to cover everything you need to know to hit your opponents with the fiery combos. Just like the classic Arc decklist, this deck is a toolbox with a bunch of random attackers for specific matchups in the meta. With the … Continue reading “Ode to the Volcano” A Guide to Arceus Armarouge

Gardevoir ex has been one of the most dominant decks since its release in Scarlet and Violet. As one of the most rewarding and punishing decks in the format, it has made itself one of the most infamous decks of the past year. I have been on an absolute tear with the deck recently. In the past four events I have played Gardevoir, I have … Continue reading Perfecting the Best Deck: Gardevoir ex for Vancouver Regionals