Power creep: A term often thrown around in discussions of card game design. Broadly, it describes the phenomenon of cards becoming gradually more ‘powerful’ over long periods of time. In my view, the way most people talk about power creep is superficial. Discussions I’ve seen only focus on the surface and elude anything worth being concerned over from a player’s perspective. What I’ll be exploring throughout … Continue reading Power Creep, and Its History in the Pokemon TCG

Howdy! As many of you know, I have decided to take this season off. I simply do not have enough time to start a home improvement business and go for my 8th Worlds invite. Still, I will play in Sacramento Regionals, seeing as I live in Sacramento, and I have been preparing for the event. Peoria is of course happening before then, so any of … Continue reading An Exploration of Colorless Lugia and Some Thoughts about 151

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Michael Davidson, a Master who recently aged up following a Seniors season including a Regional Win, NAIC Top 8, Worlds Top 16, and numerous other Top Cuts, finishing 5th globally in Seniors Championship Point Rankings. In my first Masters Regional, Pittsburgh, I was able to take Gardevoir ex to an 11th place finish – the highest placement with … Continue reading “The Gardy 151:” Guide to Gardevoir in the Upcoming Format

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! The new season is officially underway, with a few major tournaments already in the books. This includes a Special Event in Spain, a Champion’s League in Japan, and a Regionals in Pittsburgh. I myself was able to place in the Top 4 at Pittsburgh with a relatively straightforward Lugia VStar list, a deck which has been in a good spot … Continue reading Lugia VSTAR: Current Analysis and Moving Forward

Pittsburgh Regionals has just concluded and Andrew Estrada strikes first blood, securing his Worlds invite and taking down over 1700 players with Lost Zone Kyogre. The 2014 World Champion reasserted his place as one of the very best, and the season is officially underway. Whats up, everyone! SmartTCG here, and today I am going to be diving into one of the best cards in 151, … Continue reading “Restart and Reload:” A Look into Mew ex

Introduction I would like to start off this article by saying that the current format has been my favorite to play for a while. It feels like many different decks stand chances right now, and this might be the first format where taking a loss to Lost Zone Box isn’t the worst thing in the world. In this article, I will capture all of my … Continue reading My Favorite Decks Of The Obsidian Flames Format

As promised, I’m back with my post-Pittsburgh article, bringing you along on my 12th place finish at the largest tournament to date. I say “to date” because I expect Peoria to quickly break this record, so my accomplishment won’t last for too long. This tournament had its ups and downs, both before and also after. I want to start this article off by saying I … Continue reading “The Pittsburgh Steal”: My Bubble Run at Pitt

Obsidian Flames is upon us as competitive Pokemon players, gearing us up for the start of the 2024 season. League Cups and Challenges have been posted across the states, alongside the online meta developing through large events like The Late Night. My focus of this piece is to detail two archetypes that are established but not brand new, using results and consistency to break through … Continue reading “Don’t Fix What’s Not Broken:” When to Break the Meta

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Many of you have probably been asking yourself the question: “what should I play for Pittsburgh?” In this article, I will be telling you why Single Strike Lugia Vstar is a very underrated play and could even be the secret BDIF. The list I will be focusing on today is listed below: Pokémon Trading Card Game Live Deck Export Available … Continue reading The Secret BDIF?: A guide to Single Strike Lugia Vstar

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! With the 2024 season starting soon, and the meta looking fairly similar to the Paldea Evolved format, I thought I would take a look at how I plan to get my invite this season, as opposed to looking at the top decks for Pittsburgh, Barcelona, etc. In this article, I will cover a breakdown of Best Finish Limits at … Continue reading Planning Your Season to get an Invite and Pittsburgh Plays/Meta Analysis

Hello, Cut or Tap readers! With the hype of Worlds winding down after an exciting few weeks to be a part of the Pokemon community, it is time to start getting ready for the next season of competition. In just a couple of weeks, we will start getting our first major events of the season, with a Regional taking place in Pittsburgh on the second … Continue reading A Look at Lost Zone Giratina in the Obsidian Flames Meta

The largest city in the world enamored me with wonder. Lights that seemingly go on forever, followed by smells of street food. Cut or Tap Subscribers, this is how I describe Tokyo in a few sentences. Welcome back to the website! I have finally journeyed home from my two-week stay in the Land of the Rising Sun. Spending time in Osaka, Tokyo, Nara, Kanagawa, and … Continue reading “Turbo in Tokyo:” My 2023 Worlds Run

Obsidian Flames is the brand new set to release in the Pokemon TCG! With many new cards, the competitive Pokemon TCG is expected to shake up quite a bit. What’s up, everyone – SmartTCG here, and I am excited to be going into the best new deck in Obsidian Flames. I have been working heavily on new decks, and I have a really good idea … Continue reading Infernal Castle: A Look Into the New BDIF

Konnichiwa gozaimasu, subs! I’m currently two days from traveling to Japan while writing this piece. With the majority of my testing for the World Championship completed, I wanted to share some ideas with you all. Decks listed in this article will be out of the ordinary, including obscure strategies and win conditions. Rogue decks have a special place in my heart; they have granted me … Continue reading “Rolodex of Rogues”: Going for Broke in Tokyo

Introduction Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Day 1 Worlds is a super weird event to prepare for, and a lot of people will be playing top meta decks like Arceus Duraludon Umberon, or Giratina Lost Zone Box. While these decks are all very powerful, and great calls, my favorite way to play the game is with off-meta decks. While this may seem risky going into … Continue reading Making a Meta Call at Worlds

Hello, Cut or Tap readers. I hope you have been enjoying our new roster of great players who now write for my website. Although I have taken more of a backseat role in Cut or Tap’s content lately, I still have some information and advice to give to those going to Worlds. In this article, I cover the patterns we can can observe from previous … Continue reading Preparing for Worlds 2023

Recently in the online tournament scene, Giratina Vstar has become very popular in both the Lost Zone and Arceus versions of the deck. In this article, I will be going over Arceus/Giratina and its matchup spread across the Standard meta to find out if it is a good play for the World Championships. Arceus/Giratina Vstar has been gaining a lot of popularity because of its … Continue reading “Judge, Path, Repeat:” A Guide to Arceus/Giratina Vstar

Howdy, Cut or Tap readers! It’s Michael Perez, and I’m happy to be writing about a deck that I really enjoy and that is not Lost Box. I’ve played at least 2000 games with an assortment of Lost Zone variants, and frankly, it’s getting old. The 2023 season is almost at an end! Yokohama approaches hastily, and meanwhile I scramble to decide what I want to … Continue reading It’s Hailing in Paldea! A Deep Dive Into Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur

What’s up, everyone! SmartTCG here, and I am stoked to be hopping into an article dedicated to your success heading into the 2023 Pokemon TCG World Championships. I have qualified for several World Championships, and I know what it takes to do well. I finished with over 1100 Points this season, and have automatically qualified for Day 2 of the World Championships. Now… what exactly … Continue reading How to Do Well at the World Championships