Bouncing Back from Defeat and Preparing for a New Expanded Season

Hey Cut or Tap! My name is Jeremy Jallen. I have been playing the Pokemon TCG for a little over eight years now. In my time playing, I have some moderate accomplishments: Top 8 Worlds 2011, Top 16 Nats 2012 and 2013, 1st place Regionals 2014, and 2nd place Regionals 2016. The thing I’m more proud of is the amount of friends I have made … Continue reading Bouncing Back from Defeat and Preparing for a New Expanded Season

Four Standard Decks That Will Destroy Your Local League Challenges

Hey guys, Phinn again. I was initially  going to make this piece about Mega Rayquaza and the different ways to use it, however I realized that there is much more to talk about. I also haven’t gotten enough testing done to be sure of any perfect lists yet. I’m sure most of you are in the same situation. What I have done is made several starting … Continue reading Four Standard Decks That Will Destroy Your Local League Challenges

“Comfort is Klefki:” Sticking to What We Know, and Help with Both Formats

Hey there, Cut or Tap readers! I’m back with another article, this time one a bit more abstract. I feel like reflecting on this past weekend of the World Championships, to let you all in on exactly what I feel went wrong for me and how I plan on improving this in the future. The Pokemon Trading Card Game is one filled with much more … Continue reading “Comfort is Klefki:” Sticking to What We Know, and Help with Both Formats

“And So the Balance Shifts:” What is Kept and Lost with the 2017 Rotation

Hey guys, Phinn again. This is going to be an informative piece, letting you all know exactly what we are losing with this year’s rotation. It’s a bit of a pain to search out which set every card came from, so I thought I would save you all the trouble and make a list. I also list out the cards that were reprinted in a … Continue reading “And So the Balance Shifts:” What is Kept and Lost with the 2017 Rotation

“One Day More:” My Final Options for Worlds

Hey guys, Phinn again. As this article goes up, Worlds is happening tomorrow. Before we all hop in the pit, I want to cover my final options going into the tournament. This piece won’t be super text-heavy because I’m tight on time. However, these are my exact lists for all of my options, so it should be worth your time. Before I get into this piece, … Continue reading “One Day More:” My Final Options for Worlds

Night March vs The World

Introduction  Hey guys, it’s been quite a while since my last article and I’m excited to be writing for CutOrTap! For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been playing Pokémon competitively since 2006. Accomplishment-wise, I qualified for Worlds every year, made Top 16 at Worlds three times in Masters, and secured multiple Top 8/Top 16 finishes at US Nationals in Masters. Along the … Continue reading Night March vs The World

Cut or Tap Pro Podcast Episode 5

In this episode we have Isreal Sosa and Jeffrey Cheng as special guests. Bodhi Tracy, Daniel Altavilla, are back as well. We talk more about Zoroark and some other theory with Isreal. However, we also build a Greninja Talonflame list together. While some of us are skeptical about the deck at first, we eventually decide that the deck has a lot of potential. This is … Continue reading Cut or Tap Pro Podcast Episode 5

Four Decks That Beat Night March and Item Lock

Hey guys, Phinn again. If you guys are like me, you’re looking at an odd format for Worlds. Most of us have realized that not a lot has changed with Steam Siege being around. It is almost unanimous among good players that the top decks to be expected at Worlds are either Night March, or based around item lock.  However, because of that, we may … Continue reading Four Decks That Beat Night March and Item Lock

“Solutions and Evolution:” How to Approach Thinking about New and Old Formats

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Bodhi here again to talk about something a little off the beaten path of our current format. I believe we have pushed it very close, if not all the way to the edge in terms of solving the current metagame. Our main topic today will be about advanced and solved formats, and I’ll elaborate on their meaning and how they … Continue reading “Solutions and Evolution:” How to Approach Thinking about New and Old Formats

Cut or Tap Pro Podcast Episode 4

In this episode we have guests Connor Finton and Liam Williams. We decided to make Bodhi a regular, so you will be seeing more of him. Unfortunately Jeremiah couldn’t make it this time. We cover some match ups and the interactions between decks. Options outside of Night March and item lock are also discussed. Connor and Liam weigh in on they have been testing. And … Continue reading Cut or Tap Pro Podcast Episode 4

Hyperbolic Time Chamber: Awakening Untapped Potential with Steam Siege

Hey again, CutorTap! Daniel Altavilla here, doing my second article for this wonderful site. My last one was on efficient playtesting, and it seemed to take off among newer players, which is wonderful. This time around, there will be more meat in the area of actual decks. I have four decks I’ve built recently that I have almost perfected, but I feel the meta as … Continue reading Hyperbolic Time Chamber: Awakening Untapped Potential with Steam Siege

A Fantastic Odyssey: Investigating the Contents of Steam Siege

Yo Cut or Tap, Liam back again, this time with a Steam Siege set review. This set has a lot of exciting possibilities in the XY-on Standard format that will be used at the 2016 World Championships, the Primal Clash-on Standard format for the 2016-2017 season, and the Black and White-on Expanded format that we can expect to see come Regionals next season. While every card … Continue reading A Fantastic Odyssey: Investigating the Contents of Steam Siege