Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Jake Gearhart, and if you’ve read anything from me in the past— whether on Twitter, or in any articles I’ve written elsewhere— you’ll know that I love talking about a different side of Pokémon from what most people tend to spend time on. Sometimes that’s critiquing game-design, or poking holes in the game’s most complicated rulings, but the topic … Continue reading How Likely Am I to Win a Tournament?

Many blessings, Subs! It’s been a short while since you heard from me, because life has been busier than ever. My job has been on overtime due to the summer months’ busy season, along with 100-degree heat keeping me quite exhausted. The largest tournament in history has concluded, giving us the first bit of data to look at for this new format. Only the World … Continue reading “GOD DID”: Arceus’s Success and NAIC Recap

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! My name is Andrew Gantner and I will be competing in Day 1 of the upcoming World Championships taking place in early August. In this article, I will talk about my top three picks to play for the competition.  As of now, I have narrowed down what I am considering to three choices: Lost Zone Box Kyogre, Lost Zone … Continue reading My Top Three Picks Going Into Worlds

Hello, readers! First-time writer here. My name is Braiden Elfert and I have been playing Pokemon competitively since 2017. Most notably, I have enjoyed innovating every Arceus partner I can find. So what better to write about than one of my favorite partners for Arceus right now: Goodra. Without further ado, here is my current list: After upgrading to Stage 2 you will see the … Continue reading Guide to the Slip and Slide

Welcome, Cut or Tap readers! I am Andrew Hedrick, excited to be back writing another article. Just a couple of weekends ago, the largest-ever Pokemon tournament outside of Japan took place at the North America International Championships in Columbus, Ohio. With nearly 1900 Masters in attendance, it was going to be a difficult challenge for anyone trying to place at the top. Cyrus Davis managed … Continue reading “Is It Still Good?” My NAIC Run with Lost Box, and the Deck’s Place in the Meta

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Today I am going to be discussing a couple builds of Lost Box Giratina VSTAR, their strengths and weaknesses, and some important notes on playing the deck, since they feel quite a bit different from some of the more aggressive builds in the past.  Before getting into Giratina builds, I want to give a brief overview of my NAIC run. … Continue reading Lost in the Abyss: Lost Zone Giratina Lists, and Analysis for Worlds

The biggest tournament run by TPCI of all time has concluded, and Cyrus Davis took down over 1800 players with one of the most unique decks in the format: Rapid Strike Urshifu and Inteleon VMAX. I most recently returned from the North American International Championships placing 19th, and I learned a lot about the metagame, and where the deck I chose to play leads into … Continue reading Lugia is back! A Look into my 19th place NAIC Lugia List

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! This is my debut article for this website, and I am excited to go over my latest tournament run at the North American International Championships, where I finished in the Top 8 out of 1,897 Masters. In this event, I played “Dumbreon” (Arceus, Duraludon, Umbreon) and finished with the record 12-4-0 throughout 16 rounds, including Top Cut. Deck List … Continue reading How I Placed Top 8 at the Largest Internationals in Pokémon History

Squawk and Seize the day, subscribers! Hunter back again, for another Paldea Evolved-format deck which hasn’t been talked too much about. I’ve now been testing the Paldea Evolved format for over a month, and feel very confident about the stance of many decks. This article will entail my thoughts on where the meta is for the largest tournament of Pokemon TCG history: the 2023 North … Continue reading “Champions Take Flight:” NAIC Preparation

This article is 2,565 words on Lost Box. I will be playing either Turbo Lost Box or Lost Box Kyogre at NAIC and this article details those decks in the Paldea Evolved format. I believe Lost Box was the best deck before the release of Paldea Evolved, and this new set release does not change that. Lost Box can be structured to beat anything. Recently … Continue reading Lost Box is Still King

Hello! I’m Andrew Hedrick, back with another article on Cut or Tap. This time, I will be focusing on the new set, Paldea Evolved, to help you better understand the meta going into the North America International Championships and beyond. Specifically, I will be writing about Lost Box decks, and the potential changes they will see with this new card pool and the adaptations of … Continue reading Changes to Lost Box in Paldea Evolved

This is the article you want to read if you want to do well at the North American International Championships. The biggest tournament of all time in the western world is upon us, and it is time to get ready to compete in it. What’s up, everyone! SmartTCG here, and I am stoked to be writing my most important article to date for Cut or … Continue reading How to Do Well at NAIC: Two Picks for Columbus

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! With the introduction of Paldea Evolved into the format, many new consistency options are available, such as Iono and Squawkabilly ex. These cards have been increasing Lugia’s consistency to be significantly higher than last format, making the deck an underrated choice for NAIC. Last format, we saw Lugia dominate in the hands of Regan Retzloff, but there were still … Continue reading Looking at Lugia: Single Strike vs Colorless Lugia for NAIC

Welcome back, Cut or Tap readers! As we prepare for the highly anticipated North American International Championships, which is likely to be the largest tournament ever outside of Japan, I am excited to share my unique perspective on a deck that exudes unparalleled power: Baxcalibur. Reminiscent of the iconic Blastoise/Keldeo deck that dominated the Standard format years ago, this new powerhouse possesses the potential to … Continue reading A Unique Take on Baxcalibur

Good morrow, ye olde subscribers – King Butler here to bestow upon you peasants the legend of the mighty Baxcalibur. Since the dawn of the Pokemon TCG, we have been blessed with the Rain Dance mechanic, birthing a plethora of game-breaking archetypes planned around this support option. Placed in this scroll, I will recall tales of old format monsters who need no introduction. We will … Continue reading “The Holy Grail”: A Tale of the Mighty Baxcalibur

Paldea Evolved has finally arrived! Every time a new set comes out, it feels like Christmas for Pokemon players. What’s up, everyone! SmartTCG here, and I am stoked to be hopping into my first Paldea Evolved deck article today. I currently have been focusing a lot of my time on the Scarlet and Violet format, however with the brand new set, it’s time to shift … Continue reading “A Psychic Embrace:” A Dive Into Gardevoir ex with Paldea Evolved

PLEASE STAND UP! M&M is back like he never left – the archetype that is. What’s good, Cut or Tap subs! Back with poetic justice, I have an overview of Meloetta/Mew (which I will refer to as M&M) with some interesting meta information that should help you understand why such an old archetype has taken over this new format. I’ll share some data from the … Continue reading “Shady’s Back, M&M”: A Look into the Meta that Birthed Meloetta/Mew

Over time, players begin getting tired of the same format. It becomes repetitive, as you continue to experience the same thing over and over again. With months of having the same experiences, many players get bored and look to new horizons. Over the next month, we still have multiple Scarlet and Violet expansion tournaments that will continue to shape the metagame as we know it. … Continue reading Top 5 Best Paldea Evolved Cards

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I am here today to bring you some analysis of the new Paldea Evolved set, which will be legal for NAIC. By the time this article releases, prereleases will be occurring across the globe, so I will be covering some of the chase cards, their impact on the meta, as well as some of my favorite cards, and some … Continue reading Set Review and Early Analysis of the Paldea Evolved Format

I have a method for meta prediction that I use for every upcoming event, which I felt our subscribers could benefit from understanding. Without having at least a loose idea of what a meta will be, one cannot properly decide what deck is the best play or what the best techs are. In other words, meta-gaming is the foundation for deck choice and a significant … Continue reading Understanding How to Meta-Game