Hey guys, Phinn again. Madison Regionals just wrapped up and we saw a complete change in the meta. Seattle Regionals was dominated almost entirely by Garbodor variants, while Madison had a very diverse meta, and only eight Garbodor decks. This is still a very significant number, but what is more significant is the number of decks that people have found to either counter or go … Continue reading “Mind Jack of All Trades:” Introducing Zoroark Umbreon, Darkrai Regirock, and Garbodor Sandslash

Hey friends, Phinn once again with an in-depth report on Seattle Regionals. This article is going to cover how the event panned out for me, and why I went from the highest record to missing Top 16 during Day 2. The event gave me a lot of insight about the format, the way to build Garbodor, what can counter the deck, and the future of … Continue reading “Nope, There’s Only Trash Here:” From 1st to 19th in Seattle with Espeon Garbodor

The release of Guardians Rising means my comfort deck (Darkrai) is longer viable. Field Blower is a huge problem because the deck’s strategy revolves around Fighting Fury Belt and Exp. Share. Choice Band presents an even bigger issue because Darkrais can now be knocked out in one hit easily. Darkrai could come back with a new set next year, but at the moment it is … Continue reading “Sophie’s Choice Band:” Vespiquen for the new Standard Format

What’s happenin’, Cut or Tap readers? I am back with a shorter article today discussing a few experimental Decidueye lists to play in Toronto – or as we like to say, the 6ix! I have been building decks in the Expanded format with Sun and Moon cards for a while and I have hopefully cracked the format open again with a few of these lists. … Continue reading New Views From The 6ix: Experimental Expanded Decidueye Lists

 Hey there, Cut or Tap readers! We’ve had League Cups going on for two quarters already and we’re about to be heading into our third and final quarter for the season. Because players are often comfortable playing five different decks in five different League Cups, I’d like to share how to make a risky “Meta Call,” which is just a more extreme way to beat … Continue reading “Officer Jenny, I Got Your Number:” Calling Your Meta, plus A Taste of What’s to Come

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Jay Lesage, and I recently just got back from the Latin American International Championships! Three of the four Internationals have now concluded, and I’ve essentially lost track of which time zone I’m in – if you know a sleep doctor, feel free to leave me a contact number in the comments. It’s been … Continue reading “Bom Dia-cidueye” – An Awakening in Latin America

I know we’re all excited to use the new cards from Guardians Rising, but we still have a couple events before the set is legal. May 19th is when we have sanctioned tournament access to the new set, which means both Toronto and Virginia Regionals will be in the current format, along with several League Cups. Hold off on Tapu Lele; we have to work … Continue reading “Tri-, Tri-Again:” Three Picks for Facing Standard’s Big Three

Hey everybody! My name is Charlie Lockyer, and this is my second article for this wonderful site. Today, I will be discussing what decks I believe will be most prevalent in Brazil (including what decks I would be considering if I were attending), providing an update on Aerodactyl/Wobbuffet, and sharing my initial testing results for the next Expanded Regional in North America, which is Toronto. … Continue reading “Panqueca Grande Mão:” A Preview of Brazil, Updates on Aerodactyl, and one Option for Toronto

Phinnegan Lynch starring in the sequel to his last Regionals, return of the 9th. I thought for sure after getting 11th, 10th, and 9th, I could not bubble again. The Gambler’s Fallacy is a fallacy for a reason. While I do think I could have either played better, or use a better list in my last three Regionals, in this case I cannot find much … Continue reading Salt Lake City Regionals 9th Place Tournament Report & Deck Analysis

Hi folks, I’m James ‘Peterpot’ McInnes. You may remember me from such decks as ‘Toad Bats and Time Puzzles” which I got Top 8 at two Regionals with last year, “Mega Manectric with Giratina and Trev EX” which I Top 8’ed Canadian nationals with, and most recently, Wobbufett/Accelgor/Decidueye (WAD) which I finished 18th with in Portland. I began playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game last … Continue reading Winning All Day (WAD) with Wobbufett/Accelgor/Decidueye (WAD)

Welcome, Cut or Tap readers, to the article that will make your life (or at least deck choice) easier if you are heading into Salt Lake City Regionals this weekend! I have been building decks with Sun and Moon cards for what seems like ages, and I feel like I have had a fair bit of success in my findings. I have found our current … Continue reading “Chaos Wheel in the Sky:” Zach’s Top Six Picks for Salt Lake City

I apologize for taking extra time to post this article. I wanted to make a more tested version of the standard list in this article so that I could provide you all with the best lists I can make. Most of this article will be covering my Portland experience and Dark Dragons in Expanded, however I do cover my Standard Dark Dragons list later on … Continue reading Portland Regionals 9th place Dark Dragons List and Review

What’s up, Cut or Tap readers! My name is Jon and I’m extremely happy to be writing for the site again. Since we last talked, I have attended two major events: St. Louis Regionals (which was an absolute disaster of a tournament for me for several reasons) and Australian Intercontinental (where I got second place). In this article, I will go over my experience at … Continue reading “Level Ball For What Now?!?!” – 2nd Place Seniors Melbourne Report and Two Decks for Brazil

This article is brought to you by too many ideas, and Drake. Expanded is huge, and is only getting bigger. With the vast number of options available to all of us, I find it hard to believe that there is one absolute best play. Through my testing and development of lists, I have come up with the longest list of potential plays that I have … Continue reading Portland Regionals (Feat. Darkrai & Donphan/Wobbuffet)

I absolutely love talking about Pokemon, because when I first started playing this game, I never thought I’d be granted the opportunity to do so. When I first started, premium content was never in existence barring Pojo and a few other sources, but today people usually have to pay in order to read quality content. For this very reason, I always try to write the … Continue reading “The Melbourne Identity:” Top 32 Oceania Report with Darkrai

I have crept from my comfort zone. I have become accustomed to extremely consistent decks over the last two years, protesting that they are the only way to go. “Consistency is king,” “All winning Worlds decks are consistent,” etc. But recently, my mindset has changed to a degree. Calling my Vespiquen list for Anaheim consistent would be a stretch, and the Mega Mewtwo list that … Continue reading “Take Me Down to the Parallel City:” Phinn’s League Cup-Winning Mega Mewtwo Deck