Hey guys, Phinn again. It seems like every Top 8 list in Expanded is coming with surprises. The meta has become diverse, and somewhat overwhelming. In this piece, I will cover the deck that recently took first at Philadelphia Regionals: Trevenant. With this new list, I have come to the conclusion that Trevenant is the best deck in the Expanded format. In this article I … Continue reading “BREAKing Trevenant:” a Look at Trevenant’s New Strategy, and Its Counter

This is a joint collaboration between Zach Lesage and Jay Lesage for double the reading pleasure! We were asked to do a special article as brothers, and we loved the idea upon hearing it! We both have been playing for over a decade, with multiple successes across the span of our Pokemon careers. — The first part of our article will be handled by Zach, … Continue reading The Lesage Brothers: “Four Birds, Two Stones”

Hello Cut Or Tap readers! The 2017 winter season is in full swing, and information is still absent regarding the League Cups that were supposed to have begun by now. This means a digression from my planned article topic, and instead a look into a few decks that I like for the next major tournaments: the Standard European Intercontinentals and the Expanded San Jose, CA … Continue reading “Winter is Coming:” The Decks to Beat in the Coming Months

Welcome, Cut or Tap readers! Today I’m bringing you my thoughts and experiences with Philadelphia Regionals. I somehow made it out to the tournament with the help of some great friends. As soon as I finalized that I was going, I started testing the Expanded format with Karen to see if anything changed at all. I took a look at some older classics like Manectric/Garbodor … Continue reading “The More I Know You, the More I Want To:” Groudon and a Love/Hate Relationship

Hey guys, Phinn again. Philly Regionals did not work out; as I write this, it is 7:54 AM on Day 2 of the event, and I’m waiting for Top 32 to begin. My friends Nathian Beck and Jimmy McClure are going into their Top 32 rounds. I have the privilege of playing cheerleader. These free hours give me time to reflect on what led to … Continue reading Reflecting on Failure, and Learning from Defeat

Editor’s Note: In today’s article, Phinn lays out specific skills that help make a successful Pokemon player. It’s worth noting that an invaluable resource for improving those very skills can be found in private coaching. A good Coach can examine your deck list or play out a practice game with you, and offer particular pointers on ironing out weaknesses in each – they focus on … Continue reading “Like No One Ever Was:” the Theory Behind Pokemon’s Very Best

Table of Contents Article Introduction Thoughts on the Expanded Metagame Expanded Turbo Darkrai Skeleton Decklist Tech Cards Deck Match-Ups My Personal Expanded Turbo Darkrai Decklist Closing Thoughts 1 – Article Introduction Hey Cut or Tap readers, I am back with the second piece of my article, finishing a special two-part series focusing on the power of utilizing a deck in Standard and Expanded. I have … Continue reading Darkrai, Part 2: Actin’ Extra in Expanded

Hello, Pokemon community!  I’m Andy Hyun, and today I’m happy to come out from behind the scenes as Cut or Tap’s writing editor, to provide my first written article for the site (or any site!) at Phinn’s invitation. My deck choice for this past month’s Phoenix Regionals was not an easy one.  Yveltal was an obvious early consideration, but in spite of my practice with … Continue reading “License to Mill:” a Phoenix Top-64 Report with Wailord

Hello Cut or Tap! It sure has been a while! Alex here, coming at you with some quick thoughts about the metagame going into Philadelphia Regionals. Unfortunately, I will not be at the tournament, since I live three time zones away and money is always tight. But that doesn’t stop me from giving you some plays to think about going in. Expanded is such a … Continue reading “Garbo Talks In” the Format: Three Off-Beat Expanded Decks

Table of Contents Article Introduction Thoughts on the Standard Metagame Standard Darkrai/Giratina Skeleton Decklist Tech Cards Deck Match-Ups My Personal Standard Darkrai/Giratina Decklist Closing Thoughts 1. Article Introduction Hey CutorTap readers, I am back with another awesome article, and this time it’s a special two-part series focusing on the power of utilizing a deck in Standard and Expanded. I have been looking all around websites … Continue reading “Darkrai, Part 1: Rockin’ Out in Standard”

Hello Cut or Tap, this is Jeremiah Williams again with my third article for the site. In this piece I will talk about my experience at Arizona Regionals earlier this month. Also, I will be talking about my thoughts on Expanded, now that Karen has been released and what changes that will bring. In Arizona I played Vespiquen/Flareon, which I’ve talked a lot about on the … Continue reading Vespiquen in Arizona Regionals, and its Future in Expanded.

What’s up everyone? I’m new here to Cut or Tap, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chris Collins; I have multiple State wins (back when they were a thing) under my belt, as well as consistent placings at big tournaments throughout the year. If you’ve attended any West Coast Regionals, you probably know who I am or at least my face. I’m … Continue reading “Beginning of the N’d:” an 18th Place Arizona Regionals Report with Toad/Bats

Yo! How’s it going guys, Phinn again. In an effort to keep content consistent, I decided to write a piece about my Yveltal deck in Standard. I have been working on this list for a while now, because I don’t care to test any other deck in Standard…. though to be honest, I don’t test much other than Yveltal in Expanded either. Yveltal BKT and … Continue reading “Stand-In the Place Where You Live!” Exploring Yveltal’s Strength in Standard

What’s up Cut or Tap, Jeremy Jallen here! I’m back today to talk about what I felt was the best play for the Arizona Regional Championships, and how Expanded looks as the format moves towards Pennsylvania Regionals next month. I for one think that the Expanded format is great for this game, as we saw there are numerous decks that can win at any given … Continue reading “Giant Water Sure-I-Can!” – Greninja’s Place in Expanded

Hey guys, Phinnegan again. As you may or may not know, the only thing that I was testing for Phoenix Regionals was Yveltal. I felt like it had proven itself as the best deck and had an answer to even the hardest matchups. I felt like there was no top choice that could manage even a 70/30 against it because of how well rounded the … Continue reading “Music of the (Fright) Night:” 10th Place Arizona Regionals Tournament Report

Hey all! Kenny Wisdom here with my very first CutorTap article! Most of you probably know me from the commentary work I’ve done with TPCi over the 2015-2016 season, including U.S. Nationals and the 2016 World Championship. In addition to this, I’ve created a lot of content for the Pokemon community. I’ve written for various Pokemon websites since I began playing the game in 2010-2011. … Continue reading What I Would Play in Arizona, by Kenny Wisdom

“I’ll play Ghetsis…” What is up with it CutorTap! My name is Russell LaParre and this will be my first article for CutorTap. To drop a little bit of info about myself, I’ve been a competitive Pokemon TCG player for three years now with a few major tournament tops and wins to my name, including 2 Nationals Top 16’s, nine Regional Top 16’s, and two … Continue reading “Ghetsis Gets His:” a Look at the Expanded Turn-1 Ghetsis Format

Hey Cut or Tap, my name is Kiernan and I’m so excited to be a part of Cut or Tap’s article staff. As many of you know, Arizona Regionals will be played without Karen, and as this is my first tournament in the Masters division, I’ve been testing pretty much everything, in hopes of doing well. Today I have five different lock decks, along with … Continue reading “Lock ‘n Load,” A Tale of Six Decks and My Thoughts on the New Tournament Structure