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

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

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

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Jeremiah back with another article. This piece is going to be geared towards players competing in the World Championship this month, and I’ll be going over the deck I’ve been putting the most work into, which is metal! This is the deck I played at Nationals, and the changes that come with Steam Siege only make this deck a better … Continue reading A Different Worlds Approach

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

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

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

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

Hey guys, Phinn again. Last time I covered my US Nationals run with Toad Bats. This time I want to cover the list that I used, and how to play some of its match-ups. It was a little difficult to know which match-ups to cover, considering Pokemon Ranger changes things significantly. For that reason, I have a section explaining what decks I expect to see … Continue reading “No Day But Toad-ay:” How to Build and Use Seismitoad Bats

Hey guys, Phinnegan again. About a week ago I played in the US National Championship, where I was able to make 15th as the only Seismitoad Bats player in all of top 64. This piece is going to cover how the tournament went for me, and I also include my list at the end of the piece. I don’t have a list explanation ready right … Continue reading Diving with Skill: Top 16 Nationals Report with Seismitoad/Bats