#Pokemon TCG

1 messages · Page 5 of 1

runic kiln
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I was gonna talk about how you dont recoup your gems by completing battle pass

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But you get gems by playing anyways

final musk
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Once you rack up a lot of the contemporary set, credits are the most important thing

final musk
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Anyone coming from PTCGO will basically have a self sustaining number of gems, as long as you don't do the dumb thing and spend gems on pass levels

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Only time you'd need to spend gems on the ladder is the first few ladder levels for a specific ex

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and that's if you are dead set on a certain deck

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The biggest problem with the grind is that if you are trying to get a high value pokemon that isn't part of product or amongst starter cards, you are screwed.

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ie. it costs about 7500 credits to get the core for Single Strike Lugia

runic kiln
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Btw can I talk about how bad this art is

Pokemon_TCG_Scarlet_VioletE28094Paldea_Evolved_Booster_Wrap_Meowscarada.png
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How tf do you contort your body like that

final musk
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Bacc

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where is bacc

runic kiln
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Why does it look like he's trapped in a fucking orb

Screenshot_2023-06-30_at_9.55.56_PM.png
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Or is this supposed to represent a pokeball

final musk
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that's wind

runic kiln
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Because thats the only explanation for why the background has the ground in a fucking circle

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We have a tree sprouting from the bottom

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And one from the fucking top right

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Unless thats like

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A side view of a tree

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Which still doesn't explain why the ground looks like it turns at a 90 degree angle

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But Meowscarda still has to have his head be upright for the cameraman or something

runic kiln
final musk
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probably intended to be like one of those perspective camera shots

runic kiln
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It is

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Uh

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Not effective in my opinion

final musk
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Or just too much grass covering the left side.
Agreed

runic kiln
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Well

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As long as my lost box opponents keep conceding the moment I have Rad G against 2 Comfey

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I'll be in ultra in no time

final musk
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Are you playing Palkia or Turbo?

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Turbo has building that attempts to do that against opponents even if they do put up Manaphy

runic kiln
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Chien-Pao

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Uh

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Palkia variant

final musk
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These are variants of Chien Pao yeah

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There's Arceus variant, Palkia Variant, and a Turbo variant

runic kiln
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What's the difference between Palkia and Turbo

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Arceus variant seems pretty self-explanatory

final musk
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Turbo variant uses a card base that tries to aggressive search out items early, particularly Pokestop

runic kiln
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Yeah

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Mine is using Palkia and Skater's Park

final musk
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The goal in dealing with Lost Box in the turbo build is to go ham on them by getting together a radiant greninja, Cancelling Cologne, and Cross Switcher by the time Greninja attacks to take double KO

runic kiln
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Should I get back on Cross Switcher

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Probably would be more handy than Boss in this case

final musk
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I would say to at least try the build

runic kiln
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Being searchable and all

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I've seen some variants on Kyogre as well

final musk
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Ye Kyogre's pretty cool too

runic kiln
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Is the idea that

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He gets you back the energy you use and snipes a mon in the back

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While being pretty safe

final musk
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Yes

runic kiln
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Because its a non V

final musk
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particularly it allows you to snipe out Lumineon in the Lugia matchup

runic kiln
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Lugia loops Lumineon?

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All I've seen from Lugia is that it wants to

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Mill Archeops

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Make Mr Beast

final musk
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Lugia no longer can loop Lumineon, but still plays it to search supporter

runic kiln
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And stack him up

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Also snipes non-ex Gardevoir

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Although Gardevoir players like

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Always have a manaphy

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Honestly

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Probably cutting the bidoof line

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Just barely comes up for me

final musk
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That's probably gonna bite you at some point, deck can get murdered by Iono late game

runic kiln
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Thats true

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But we also have Palkia for that

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And Chien-Pao to search energy

final musk
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Twitch chat is going nuts over how Tord vs Pertusi went

runic kiln
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Also gonna be a bit optimal

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Gonna play the 1 retreat Frigibax

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The 10 less hp doesn't come up right

final musk
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tldr; Tord won game 1, then game 2 went into time and Pertusi finished with 1 prize card left, so Tord won 1-0

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And it is kinda the frustration had with the tiebreaker system in PTCG

runic kiln
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Wait what

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If you have less prize cards left

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You lose?

final musk
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The game ends a tie

runic kiln
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Or is it a draw

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Wait

final musk
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So game 2 was a tie despite Pertusi being at 1 prize card left

runic kiln
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Time is a tie no matter what?

final musk
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And Tord won the match

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Time is:
The current turn is turn 0 in time
Play until Turn 3 in time is complete

runic kiln
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Ah

final musk
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If the game ends with someone winning, that game is a win
If not, it is a tie

runic kiln
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What's the slowplay policy in PTCG

final musk
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You have to make meaningful actions every 15-30 seconds

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If you are intentionally stalling the clock, Double game loss

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The problem is that Gardevoir and Lost Box are such decks that the number of decisions they have to make gets to the point where the games always go into time

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So even though Gardevoir and Turbo Lost Box are considered the best decks of the format going into NAIC, they are also considered risky because of how they always go into time.

runic kiln
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(Im using a lot of credits on Chien-Pao variants when I really should just be making a gardevoir deck)

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I just forgot the word

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Twice

final musk
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The main issue for time is that searching and drawing add up a lot of time

runic kiln
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Has the balance team ever done something for decks like these

final musk
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They recently just updated that Double game loss rule

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that's it

runic kiln
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Oop

final musk
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IMO, if this continues, they should really look over end of game procedure

runic kiln
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My opponent's only basic at the start of the game is Lumineon

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Feels good

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He VIP'd

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We are no longer feeling good

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He got a second

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We are now feeling very bad

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Wow

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VIP Pass is a

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Really fucking good card

final musk
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It's probably the most controversial card in the format

runic kiln
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Only playable turn 1

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But if you get it turn 1

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You're in a massive lead

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If you get 2 you win

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Honestly a big argument for going second

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With how much of a slog it is to climb PTCGL

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Do even the top paper players tend to be Ultra+

final musk
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Nope

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Top players stick to playtesting groups

runic kiln
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Honestly

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Even in the few experiences I've had

final musk
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Some of the most prolific players have come out and said they refuse to use PTCGL at all

runic kiln
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I notice that I make way more misplays online than in paper

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Honestly seeing the cards laid out physically gives me a better grasp of the boardstate than on a screen

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Couple that with the typically added stakes of paper making you more aware

final musk
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Turbo Chien Pao on stream

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just lost game 1 from running out of hand sicne it had no Bibarel lol

runic kiln
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2 Chien-Pao in prize monkaGIGA

final musk
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I think Aiden has Hisuian Heavy in hand too

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so Manaphy getting prized isn't a meme lol

runic kiln
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Loving double Frigibax

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Over safety

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I would definitely play Bibarel in turbo

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In a palkia variant

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Eh

final musk
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That was an optimal comfey lol

runic kiln
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Casters spend a whole minute talking about how bad double Frigibax was

final musk
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VIP turn 1 vs the one card he did not ever want to keep in hand

runic kiln
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And then Lost Box draws Boss

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Lets go

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Rewarded

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I like this

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I feel smart

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Is Mew in Chien-Pao standard?

final musk
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Aiden has no manaphy but Cobi has no energy

final musk
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oh whoops wrong message

runic kiln
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I got it

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This looks like

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A clean game 2 for Chien

final musk
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Azul Griego made the big push for Mew in the turbo build

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players followed suit

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Azul's probably not even playing Chien Pao for NAIC lol

runic kiln
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Radiant Greninja

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Would be killer

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If he had a third energy

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OH FUCK

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HE JUST BENT THE SHIT OUT OF THAT CHIEN PAO

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WHAT THE FUCK

final musk
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Chin Powed*

runic kiln
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Ok nvm we got mega punished for double frigibax

final musk
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Not as mega punished as it could have been, but yeah no space for ninja

runic kiln
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Cologne for the Manaphy Box is gonna get

final musk
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Aiden has nothing, we are going to game 3

runic kiln
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Yeah doesnt look like it

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I wish this had like

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The 'cards in hand' sidebar

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That yugioh did

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Ok cross switcher

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We win

final musk
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Wow this match isn't going to time

runic kiln
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Decisive result lets go

final musk
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Double prize Frigde

runic kiln
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Why do the judges look like youtubers fr though

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Oh no

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Lumi too

final musk
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Yeah Cobi is up shit creek

runic kiln
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Chien-Pao starter though

final musk
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idk if he plays 3 or 4 fridge

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probably 4

runic kiln
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If this was my Palkia build

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That was game

final musk
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Turbo tends to play 4, rest 3

runic kiln
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Damn

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2/2 is highroll?

final musk
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bruh Aiden

runic kiln
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Or for grind

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Double VIP

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It's so joever

final musk
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It's only Joest the beginning

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Wait until he goes ham turn 2 too

runic kiln
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Honestly

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Might go 3/3 on fridge bax

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1/1 on Palkia

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Just sounds more correct

final musk
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2/2 is defo high rolling yeah

runic kiln
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Honestly after I cut super rod I've been missing it more and more

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Will probably put that back in as well

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Please tell me this isn't rising up

EVS_047_R_EN_LG.png
final musk
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oh boy, he has 1 fridge

runic kiln
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This looks so bad

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Do we have manaphy

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So we can at least lose to Boss

final musk
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Eiscue was good back in the day, legit option against Lost Box for a while

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Yeah that fridge is cooked

runic kiln
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But

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Hear me out

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He looks so cool

final musk
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Khus prolly getting a warning, but he's unaffected

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Cobi is in such a bad place

runic kiln
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Hm

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Maybe he gets enough warnings that he gets DQ'd

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Sadge

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TOPDECK VIP TURN 2

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LETS GO

final musk
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He can't even Bibarel that crap.

runic kiln
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This is our first decisive match?

final musk
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There's still 10 minutes, I don't think Cobi is dragging that out long enough

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LOL

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Topdeck VIP TURN 3 TOO

runic kiln
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Ok so deckbuilding question

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Is Lost Vacuum necessary if Im on Palkia to search a stadium

final musk
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Yes

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It's how you get a stadium out without using an attack up

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Irida can search it

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Makes it so you don't get bogged down by Path.

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Bibarel sandbagging

runic kiln
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Yo

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Lets Iono for 0

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Honestly

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Considering 3/2 for Fridge Bax

final musk
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WE GOT WINGS OF UNITY FOR ROUND 4

graceful summit
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BIRD UP

final musk
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And my favorite player
The top 10 player ALEX FREAKIN SCHEMANSKE is playing it

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I don't think he cares about doing well lmfao

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This deck has such an infamously bad lost box MU

graceful summit
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I actually pulled the Prerelease Murkrow too, may build it on TCG Live one of these days

final musk
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Alex is absolutely gonna win on stream against Lugia, but I really, really doubt he does well in tournament

final musk
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Alex talking about deck pick "It's acceptable if you don't run into Lost Box, which well isn't acceptable" LOL

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He's absolutely here for the content and not the win, he has day 2 Worlds secured already

final musk
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Meanwhile, Tord's somewhat serious about this and has been memed on by off the wall techs twice

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He's 1-2 due to Box of Disaster being teched... by both Darkrai and Arc-Tina

final musk
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He does not care lol

final musk
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Chien Pao back for round 5

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against Miraidon

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I do not care to watch Miraidon, time to go grab lunch

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Tyler is actually playing an interesting Chien Pao build, running a 1-1 Inteleon VMax line and a Medicham V

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But Miraidon is zzzzz

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(Miraidon is running Box os Disaster) Yeah that cope isn't saving it from its bad Gardevoir matchup.

final musk
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Mike Fouchet also at top tables

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(Context, he grew up in the same area I did, his mom held locals when I was young... also a really good player and writer for Pokemon's old profilic forum Six Prizes)

final musk
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Arc Drago on stream

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Man, wish it was Forretress

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I don't think it's worth playing this over Arc Tina or Arc Dura rn

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Forretress getting turn 2 locks is way more of a useful niche

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Arc Drago player got a game loss before the game even started

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Mew nearly donked too

final musk
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Arc Drago got blown tf out and the Drago player misplayed late that made it impossible to win

final musk
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Round 7 has Darkrai

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Ross probably running the Box of Disaster, wouldn't be surprised if that's who Tord lost to

final musk
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I didn't even watch Round 8, it was a Gardevoir blowout

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From what Natalie is talking about in interview, it is a Turbo build running Forest Seal Stone and multiple Zacian

final musk
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Round 9: Ting Lu vs Chien Pao

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Win and In for day 2

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Rhoads milled Chien Pao and Bax off Pokestop lmfao

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Jose then used the same Pokestop and destroyed him

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Round 1 was over in 4:30

runic kiln
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Bro my prize for knocking out a V was 2 cross switcher

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I feel like jesus

final musk
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Missed a few rounds of day 2 swiss

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Round 10: Victor Aung (Turbo Lost Box) vs Angus Johnson (Gardevoir)
Round 11: Jackson Rowley (Turbo Lost Box) vs Ian Robb (Arc/Duraludon/Umbreon)
Round 12: Vance Kelley (Mew VMax) vs Rowan Stavenow (Gardevoir)
Round 13: Alex Hamilton (Arc Tina) vs Jared Grimes (Chien Pao Arceus)
Round 14: Gustavo Wada (Gardevoir) vs Toby Clark (Arc-Tina)
Round 15: Christian Labella (Arc Tina) vs Lucas Xing (Gardevoir)
Top 8: Rowan Stavenow (Gardevoir) vs Michael Catron (Arceus Umbreon Toolbox)
Top 4: Cal Connor (Gardevoir) vs Cyrus Davis (Rapid Strike Box)
Top 4: Ian Robb (Arc Dura Umbreon) vs Rowan Stavenow (Gardevoir)

final musk
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@runic kiln another Chien Pao for stream, round 13 close to the bubble

runic kiln
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Alex Hamilton is a funny name

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But 100% gonna be bullied

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Uh oh.

final musk
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Enugyyyyy

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He'll topdeck VIP

runic kiln
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So

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That's what we call in TCGs

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A skill issue

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Play better

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Even low level players take note of prizes right

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Iono is the best thing for Jared rn

final musk
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Ehh you'd be surprised

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Yeah they both opened spaghetti

runic kiln
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Alex's mulligan is

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Also not that great I dont think

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Ok

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We just need to hold onto fridge

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And we can bounce back

final musk
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he honestly needs 2

runic kiln
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Yeah I would get 2 against an established field

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I love Skater's Park

final musk
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Arceus VMax = Boss Fridge against 1 bax

runic kiln
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Because now we get 4 energy

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Or we can play conservative

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Sure

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Is it just me

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Or do the VStars usually look way less cool than V

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Well we have the candy

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We're banking on Greninja here

final musk
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Alex probably going Path

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yup there's path

runic kiln
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Ok now we

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Probably lose

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TRIPLE FRIDGE

final musk
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yeah game's over without an out to path.

runic kiln
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LETS GO

final musk
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Alex just needs to click attack

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he's got boss in hand too

runic kiln
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What deck in the format

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Is reasonable

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And doesn't autolose to Path

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And as Im saying this

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I probably figured out the answer

final musk
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Lost box lol

runic kiln
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Yep

final musk
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Gardy has problems witrh Path, but usually plays 2 stadiums and 1 out (Worker)

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Gardy vs Drago is a stupid matchup because Drago with use Noivern to prevent Gardy from putting up its own stadium or Reversal Energy, leaving only Worker to out Path once the whole game

runic kiln
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Ooooh

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I dont like this play at all

final musk
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Alex has everything and a bag of chips to pick knockouts

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Feel like Jared should have scooped tbh

runic kiln
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I am now questioning the effectiveness of Chien-Pao as a deck

final musk
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Usually when people discuss meta in pokemon TCG, tiers get called out as:

Tier 1: Cream of the crop
Tier 2: Active in metagame discussions, still have a decent piece of the pie
Tier 3: Anything that can theoretically top but you'd probably not worry too much about in the metagame, run into 1 maximum in a tournament.

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And Chien Pao is being called out as like,
Tier 2.5

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Some are even calling it Blue Miraidon

runic kiln
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I'm feeling a 2

final musk
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It defo isn't near 1

runic kiln
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Pokemon rarely does banlists for standard right

final musk
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1 rn is SS Lugia, Lost Box, and Gardevoir imo

final musk
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the last time it did a banlist was over a card that could force infinite gamestates

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ie. the Self Destruct Button of Pokemon

runic kiln
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I gotta think of Chien-Pao's strengths

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And

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It can just win

final musk
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Or rather Fiber Jar

runic kiln
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It's very aggro

final musk
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It's fragile

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that's the main problem

runic kiln
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I mean

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It probably has the clearest target of any deck in the meta

final musk
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Jared opened pretty well here

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all his needed pokes, 2 Frig, bibarel already in hand

runic kiln
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There's no other deck in the format with a "Knock over for grand prize" card like Chien-Pao does with Bax

final musk
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and if he gets judged, we know Bibarel is not prized and he has multiple routes to reach Bibarel

runic kiln
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Gardevoir has what

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Gardevoir ex?

final musk
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Gardevoir doesn't

runic kiln
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310HP good luck

final musk
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Usually there's enough Kirlia or Ralts in play that it wouldn't matter

runic kiln
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Box has nothing

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Lugia has nothing

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With Chien-Pao

final musk
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Lugia's only stopgap is Peak before it can play, or Temple of Sinnoh after Lugia goes off

runic kiln
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You just Boss Bax

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And if they dont have a Palkia followup

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You win on the spot

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I mean of course we have to see what tops

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What's the cutoff for this championship

final musk
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Yeah Jared hasn't won game 2 yet, but he is definitely ahead

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Arc-Tina's biggest problem is that Arc cannot put up good damage in this matchup

runic kiln
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Does Chien-Pao ever just draw the nuts and get double Bax

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On the bench

final musk
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You can get double bax on bench, just not that early

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ok so Jared is playing the Arc variant

runic kiln
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I was wondering why Celebrations prints are so cheap

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They're not tournament legal are they

final musk
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Celebrations prints of legal cards in the format are legal for play

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but like
Celebrations Donphan Prime?
Nope

runic kiln
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Oh shit

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I forgot that PTCG is like

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Known for being cheap

final musk
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Yeah currently there is no deck over 100 USD

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the highest come to about 85

runic kiln
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You know what

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What if Chien-Pao isn't blue miraidon

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But blue Gardevoir

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But it has a target

final musk
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Mew is 50
Gardevoir is 50
Lugia is about 80
Arc Variants are about 75, maybe less depending on the variant
Lost Box is anywhere from 35 to 60. Sablezard particularly is the cheapest deck in the format at 35.
Rapid Strike Box is about 50
And I want to say Chien Pao is like, 60

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Pretty sure Alex Schemanske's meme meta call of Wings of Unity is like
20

runic kiln
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I want to get into Gardevoir

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But

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The deck loses a tangible amount next rotation

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Zacian

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Fog Crystal

final musk
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Next rotation is like
9 months away

runic kiln
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Ok but

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I like decks with a healthy lifespan

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I go for longevity over power most of the time

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Hence why I gravitated towards Chien-Pao

final musk
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Which at that point yeah, Chien Pao loses almost nothing next rotation

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And, it iwll only get more options with more packs

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Eiscue ex is an option, just not a good one rn

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that could change with a relevant metal deck

runic kiln
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Actually

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What does Chien-Pao lose next rotation

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I honest to god can't name a single goddamn thing

final musk
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VIP Pass

runic kiln
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Ok bit

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VIP Pass hits everything

final musk
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that's the thing that's it lol

runic kiln
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Its like saying my Cloudian deck is hit from Pot of Greed being banned

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Oh yeah Chien-Pao threw

final musk
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OH it does lose 1 thing

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Skater's Park

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Fusion Strike would rotate

runic kiln
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That's like

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Fine

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Not every Chien-Pao deck is on Skater's Park

final musk
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Cross Switcher also goes in turbo builds, but that doesn't affect other builds at all

runic kiln
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Man

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I wonder what Mew Genesect loses next rotation

final musk
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Jared barely made up for that

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Game 3

final musk
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Goodra's 30 USD

runic kiln
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Cutting Kyogre for a third Bax

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Not too big a fan of its showing

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Am I insane for running 3 Cross Switcher

final musk
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I think you would be called out on it if you were on an extra copy of something else

runic kiln
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Ok

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Also

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I dont get the purpose of Lost City

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Is it Lugia tech

final musk
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I'm pretty sure it is Gardevoir tech

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remove Zacian

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I think?

runic kiln
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That sounds

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Not good

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Because like

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The energies still go to discard

final musk
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It can also force out options from Lost Box

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So like Dragonite or Greninja can be removed off it from play entirely

runic kiln
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Hm

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Ok hear me out

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Melony

final musk
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You have 1 target for Melony most of the time

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Irida's search is usually better than draw 3.

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I don't think that would work well

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I think Raihan would be worth looking at first

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Attaches to anything, searches any 1.
Still think Irida always takes priority

runic kiln
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Oh Jared giga lost

final musk
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Yeah he's mondo screwed

runic kiln
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Like turbo lost

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Like super mega climax lost

final musk
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He couldn't even play Bax last turn because of a boss lol

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it's Joever

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Still a better choice for NAIC than Miraidon

runic kiln
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Wait

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What if

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I ran Kingdra in Chien-Pao

final musk
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... with Bax?

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That sounds like stonks profit, but that also sounds really hard to set up

gilded heart
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Lost City is actually pretty good vs Gardevoir

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Lost Box too

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I'm not up to date on the current meta builds, but last format, I had a lot of success even IRL vs Gardevoir and LZB because of it, while playing Miraidon. Removing resources permanently, sometimes entire evolutionary lines is a lot of pressure

runic kiln
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Wait

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Do the energies go to lost zone too

gilded heart
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No

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But it doesn't matter if you Lost Zone their Ralts early

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While they're setting up

runic kiln
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Im stupid

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Can you explain to me what card Gardy uses to recur from discard

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Or

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Tell me

final musk
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Super Rod

runic kiln
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Oh

#

They run multiple of it?

final musk
#

1-2

#

Before PAL, they were stuck with Miriam or Klara

runic kiln
#

Yeah actually you know what

#

Chien-Pao is blue gardevoir

#

Honestly I've played like

#

15 hours of PTCGL so far

#

Have not seen a single goodra

gilded heart
#

Y'all are making me want to play PTCG again now ngl

runic kiln
#

I may be on my

#

New Player high

#

But it's been not bad

gilded heart
#

That's good, enjoy it :p

runic kiln
#

Bricking and getting Boss'd is

#

Getting on my nerves though

gilded heart
#

What are you playing?

runic kiln
#

Chien-Pao Palkia

gilded heart
#

Palkia as in, instead of Bax?

#

Or both together?

runic kiln
#

Both together

gilded heart
#

Ah

runic kiln
#

idt Chien-Pao functions without Bax

#

Palkia's here for like

gilded heart
#

🤔

runic kiln
#

If Bax gets Boss'd

gilded heart
#

I'm pretty sure non-Bax Chien-Pao has topped tournaments in Japan

#

Maybe won some locals too

runic kiln
#

How do they accelerate?

#

Or is it more grindy

gilded heart
#

Uhh let me see if I can find the build again

runic kiln
#

I can see it

gilded heart
#

I think it was just Palkia

runic kiln
#

Your energy searches are for like

#

Radiant Greninja

#

And Ultra Ball

gilded heart
#

I really like the idea of it

runic kiln
#

What's the meta like in Japan

#

Because idk

#

This list just looks like it pulls 0 damage numbers

#

Your main beater is Palkia ig?

gilded heart
#

The idea is to hit fast more than hit hard, probably

#

Hence the Echoing Horn

#

To be able to gust KO a weak 2 prizer that was KO'd before

#

I have Miraidon builds that operate on the same strategy

runic kiln
#

Not saying its a bad deck

#

But also

#

I dont like decks that are dying next rotation

#

Like tbh

#

Come next rotation I'm probably buying another deck

#

So I have something that will stay good once Chien-Pao gets gutted the rotation after this one

opaque pelican
#

This isn't related to tournaments but I found this artwork and I have to share it with everyone

#

Possibly the most adorable artwork of Zangoose you'll ever find.

#

Just, lookit those tiny toe beans

final musk
#

Round 15: Lucas Xing prizes both Gardevoir ex game 1

final musk
#

Looking over top cut breakdown, Jared Grimes is currently on bubble for Chien Pao making top 16

#

Most of top cut looks like Arceus variants, Gardevoir, Lost Box

final musk
#

Jared bubbled, no Chien Pao in top cut, match ended in tie

#

Panic Mask wins Christian Labella into top 8

#

(Anti-Gardevoir tech, prevents an opponent's pokemon from doing damage if the attacking pokemon has 40 or less HP. Makes it impossible for Zacian or Gardevoir from doing enough damage to OHKO a VStar)

#

Ian Robb (Arc Dura Umbreon)
Christian Labella (Arc Dura Umbreon)
Victor Aung (Turbo Lost Box)
Rowan Stavenov (Gardevoir)
Cal Connor (Gardevoir)
Cyrus Davis (Rapid Strike Box)
Toby Clark (Arc Tina) DQ Justin Brothers (SS Lugia)
Michael Catron (Arceus Umbreon Toolbox)

#

needed X-2-2 or better to make top 8

#

Shoutout to Brian Kim who went 8-0-6 into round 15, 8 wins 6 ties

#

Chien Pao's best placement appears to be 22nd

#

What sucks is that if he won round 15 instead of tie, he STILL would have bubbled at 9th

gilded heart
#

I still think plain Arc Umbreon is not much worse than Arc Dura Umbreon, if worse at all copium

final musk
#

Wings of Unity finished 64th

gilded heart
#

Yikes

#

Well it's not bad overall

final musk
#

Schemanske was X-1 going into day 2 and took 4 losses to Lost box

gilded heart
#

Welp

#

Expected I guess

final musk
#

People were coping that he would top

#

which was ridiculous, even Schemanske didn't care about the result

gilded heart
#

True

final musk
#

Whoops wait screwed it up

#

Wings got 64th

#

Darkrai got 30th

gilded heart
#

Huh nice

final musk
#

Oh shit

#

Rapid Strike made top 8

#

Top cut is:
4 Arceus Variants (2 Dura/Umbra, 1 Tina, 1 Unlabeled Arc Toolbox has Slaking)
2 Gardevoir
1 Lost Box
1 Rapid Strike Box (Urshifu, Inteleon, Medicham)

#

oh hold up Arc Tina may have been DQed

#

DQ was a decklist error in round 15

#

Oh wow it was possibly Marked Cards

final musk
#

Michael Catron is on Arceus Umbreon with no Dura, and instead teching other attacking Vs

final musk
final musk
#

Catron takes game 1. Lost City knock out on Ralts, 2 prized Ralts

#

Stavenov then prizes 2 Kirlia 1 Ralts game 2 KEKW

final musk
gilded heart
#

I was testing Arc Umbreon vs Arc Dura Umbreon and other decks in remote duels on the Tricky Gym server and I was doing really well ngl

final musk
#

oof Catron got hit with the double prize loss for 2 cards sticking together

#

He was losing the game anyways, but it is a good reminder why to use Matte sleeves

gilded heart
#

Big oof

final musk
#

Big oof indeed

#

The bluff with the second Umbreon was an OK idea, but I wish he had the material to go ham and Yoga Loop instead

#

Rapid Strike in top 4

gilded heart
#

Pog

#

It's the people's champ

final musk
#

Top 4
Gardevoir vs Rapid Strike
Gardevoir vs Arc-Umbra-Dura

#

Lost Box best finish Top 8
Lugia best finish Top 8
Arc-Umbra best finish Top 8

final musk
#

Ok Cyrus is playing this really well

#

She took an extra turn and undid Cal's last turn with Yoga Loop + Cheryl

#

Cal is basically playing this from almost no experience

final musk
#

Cyrus taking 4 prizes last turn

#

Cyrus played amazing

#

High Inteleon count is really paying off

#

MAHVAL

final musk
final musk
#

Finals tomorrow is Arc-Dura-Umbreon vs Rapid Strike

#

Gardevoir out at 3rd and 4th

little falcon
#

Todays single pickups

IMG_3161.jpg
gilded heart
#

I love the Ghetsis SAR

#

It's so good

runic kiln
#

Chien-Pao may be tier 2 today

#

But next year

final musk
#

I'm watching TCG finals

#

Lmfao Arc Drago made finals at Juniors division

#

even more lmfao his opponent decked himself out twice

#

Arc Drago won Juniors

#

Junior Finals
Drake Z (Arc Drago) vs Prince W (Reversal Gardevoir)

Senior Finals
Nathan F (Turbo Lost Box) vs Bohdi R (Arc Dura Umbreon)

Masters Finals (Live as of this post)
Ian Robb (Arc Dura Umbreon) vs Cyrus Davis (Rapid Strike Box)

#

Drake also got second at EUIC last month with Lugia too jfc that Junior has a stacked resume

final musk
#

OH HOLY CRAP

#

Game 3 of Masters

final musk
#

I might honestly try to go to Pitt as my first regionals if possible

#

As far as new cards by that point, just Obsidian Flame, not like 151 would make much difference

little falcon
final musk
#

Pittsburgh and Toronto are 5 hour drives for me

final musk
#

Why is it that the dumber Chien Pao players tend to get better hands

#

Like damn, I didn't know I would get stuck in an impossible to KO scenario because you topdecked Bibarel amongst 30 cardas

#

Iono you to 1 with a bidoof up and you win from topdecking Bibarel, gfy

little falcon
#

Todays buys lol

IMG_3162.jpg
final musk
#

@runic kiln Looks like both Chien Pao lists that made Top 32 were Turbo, one played Arceus the other didn't

runic kiln
#

Viable deck EZ

final musk
#

Neither played Palkia

#

Yeah Chien Pao at least looked less like a Miraidon

#

Still a bit of a high roller, but, like before, at least Chien Pao doesn't have a horrific Gardy matchup

#

I want to give Owen's build a try at some point since out of the Bax stuff I liked Arceus a lot

#

Now I am at a Crossroads as to what deck to build next given credits limitation

#

It's either:
Lugia (6800 credits)
Rapid Strike Box (5250 Credits)
or Arc Umbre (3250 Credits)

#

I might hold up until Ruler of the Black Flame is fully known, but I ain't holding out for much from that set so far

runic kiln
#

Arceus is like

#

Expensive

#

In PTCGL and IRL

#

Right

digital peak
#

I heard a trans woman won a big ptcg tourney?

runic kiln
#

Isnt that yugioh

digital peak
#

Heard both

runic kiln
#

We need the trans man rep

runic kiln
#

Where do you find the topping decklists?

#

Are they posted in Limitless after a while?

#

God

#

Why does the UI just suddenly disappear on PTCGL

gilded heart
graceful summit
#

Current build for Live. Kept missing the V Union especially into Lost Box and Solrock/Lunatone, but also need Rare Candy for speed

runic kiln
#

Jesus

#

Pokemon is way more expensive in Singapore than the US

runic kiln
#

Wow its really hard to buy singles online

final musk
#

While everyone was out at NAIC, Fort Drago made top 8 at a bigger online event

#

I have small quips about his decklist, but good stuff for my favorite deck this format PeepoLove

runic kiln
#

Ok

#

Arbok ex actually looks

#

Good

final musk
#

I personally think it is clunky, but the ability to basically rip your opponent to 0 cards in hand late game is pretty insane and no other card can do that well rn

#

Plus I mean

#

That's a sick full art

runic kiln
#

I imagine the dream of

#

Iono to 2

#

Fangs

final musk
#

Roxanne

#

Fangs

runic kiln
#

Judge

#

Fangs

final musk
#

Fangs?
Fangs

runic kiln
#

Also Bind Down for 2 like

#

Isnt bad

final musk
#

If they ever printed Chip Chip Ice Axe ever again, Arbok would be nuts

runic kiln
#

Put it on a wall mon or something

#

Its basically Rope or bust

#

Ditto too

#

Ditto looks pretty good

final musk
#

idk how I feel about ditto

#

I feel like the only decks that are gonna be really using it are Gardy and Chien Pao maybe

runic kiln
#

Probably

final musk
#

Needing to get it into the active asap is a legit issue

runic kiln
#

Oh god I just saw Mew

#

I mean

final musk
#

Lost Box might try it but I feel they don't need it

runic kiln
#

3 is less than 5

final musk
#

Mew is ok

#

You are almost never using its attack tho

#

It's mostly support

#

free retreat pivot is a nice bonus

runic kiln
#

Wait wtf

#

Erika's Invitation is kinda good tho

final musk
#

imo high roller

#

I think the decks that would want Erika are just gonna play Echoing Horn already

runic kiln
#

Bill's Teleport

#

Pretty nice too

#

And Cycling Road is

#

Diet Greninja

#

So bad

final musk
#

Don't feel strongly about Bill's

#

Cycling Road is absolutely going into Gardy

runic kiln
#

Maybe

#

imo people are overhyping Alakazam

final musk
#

no absolutely they are

#

Mimikyu / Klefki cannot put up enough of a defense

#

Alakazam's damage is crap too

#

Broke: Alakazam ex
Woke: Blastoise ex

runic kiln
#

Honestly excited to see what Venusaur may be able to do

#

Nah Im sorry Blastoise is cheeks

final musk
#

360 is a fatass pokemon. I do agree it isn't gonna beat out Chien Pao, but I think it is the best new deck coming from the set

runic kiln
#

Alakazam's biggest plus is

#

It crashes PTCGL

#

But honestly

#

What doesn't

final musk
#

People were also coping that Charizard ex from that set would be good

runic kiln
#

I mean

#

Skeledirge is right there

final musk
#

And it's like
You either need a second Charizard (POGO or Tera ex) to make it usable or you use the 1 energy attack and are worse Skele

runic kiln
#

Also 4 for 330 is like

#

Not even good

final musk
#

If there were easier ways to get to 4, 330 is good

#

But 4 isn't

runic kiln
#

Esp not discard 3 energy good

final musk
#

330 is the highest amount of damage relevant to the meta right now

#

but 4 energy is attrocious rn for fire

#

Tera Zard providing 3 is great, but that's your stage 2.

runic kiln
#

Ok hear me out

#

Butterfree

final musk
#

Tera Zard also hits 330 at 1 prize left

#

for half the cost

#

and it builds itself

runic kiln
#

Butterfree in like

#

A forretress deck

#

Spin their Giratina or something

final musk
#

ehhhhh that's a meme

#

you spin 1 thing but chances are the deck you spun it will have another attacker at the ready

#

Butterfree spinning only bench also makes it rope dependent

runic kiln
#

Uh

#

Where can I find a 151 card list

final musk
runic kiln
#

Yay

#

Nidoqueen attack is a meme right

final musk
#

meme yeah

#

too much a pain to set up multiple stage 2s and keep them all up

runic kiln
#

So is Zubat

#

I would assume hand information

#

Isn't very valuable in Pokemon

final musk
#

Not particularly

runic kiln
#

[G] Scatter Fungus: Flip 2 coins. For each heads, search your deck for a [G] Pokémon and put it onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.

#

This doesn't include evos right

final musk
#

heh

#

This does include evos

runic kiln
final musk
#

It's still a meme, but a fun one

runic kiln
#

Ayo Im gonna pull like

final musk
#

If we had SwSh Rillaboom, this would be way better

runic kiln
#

Double Venusaur?

#

Recover 120 every turn?

#

Venomoth doesn't look bad either

#

1 retreat is very nice

#

Golem expecting to be able to attack the turn after it Rolls:

final musk
#

Yeah Golem is a weaker Metagross VMax

runic kiln
#

Ability: Lost Soul Return
Once during your turn, when you play this card from your hand to evolve a Pokemon, you may choose a Supporter card from your opponent’s discard pile and put it into their hand.

#

Bro what

#

I know you wanna synergise with Gengar but like

final musk
#

indeed bro what

runic kiln
#

This is not how you do it

final musk
#

They are repenting for mimgar's sins

runic kiln
#

Yo bro here's your Iono back have fun

#

I think you could use another Irida actually

#

I felt bad

final musk
#

Hey bro
You need Boss?

#

I gotchu

runic kiln
#

You need Experiment?

final musk
#

(Bruce Banner meme)

runic kiln
#

No worries my guy

final musk
runic kiln
#

Not a fan of this design choice

#

[C][C] Thumping Avalanche: 80x damage. Discard the top 5 cards of your deck. This attack does 80 for each Pokemon with a Retreat Cost of exactly 4 discarded in this way.

#

It fucking what

final musk
#

Just get your deck down to only pokemon with a Retreat Cost of 4

#

4 Onix
4 DTE
52 other pokemon

runic kiln
#

1 Double Colorless

#

Ability: Explode Together
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and is Knocked Out by damage from an opponent’s attack, flip a coin. If heads, the Attacking Pokémon is Knocked Out.

#

This is funny

#

[W][C][C] Ba-Dum Kiss: If your opponent’s Active Pokemon is Asleep, it is now Knocked Out.

#

Damn

#

I wish Tauros wasn't so slow

#

Lapras is diet-vulpix

#

Kabutops looks fun

#

A meme though

#

Aerodactyl is interesting

#

But unfortunately format-dependent

opaque pelican
# runic kiln Ability: Explode Together If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and is Knocked O...

It's not as funny as this attack's name

https://pkmncards.com/card/forretress-undaunted-ud-3/

PkmnCards
Adam Capriola
Forretress · Undaunted (UD) #3 ‹ PkmnCards

Forretress · 90 HP · {M} Pokémon (Forretress) › Stage 1 : Evolves from Pineco {M}{C} → Mirror Shot : 30 If the Defending Pokémon tries to attack during your opponent’s next turn, your opponent flips a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing. {M}{C}{C} […]

final musk
#

Even when Ting Lu has the best opening on the planet and I whiff fire energy for 5 turns and 45 cards of my deck, Ting Lu still cannot win

The_Pokemon_Company_International_Screenshot_2023.07.03_-_19.59.50.76.png
#

Nice full art deck, got to see almost every card

#

Wanna see my regular boss's orders?

#

Noivern was also prized and that too would have been instant win

versed jackal
final musk
#

Ting Lu is such a pitiful deck

#

Top 32 of NAIC now known

#

9 Gardevoir
7 Turbo Lost Box
4 Arc-Tina
3 Chien Pao (1 Turbo Arceus, 1 Arceus, 1 that focused on Palkia over Chien Pao and played no Baxcalibur)
2 Lugia
2 Arc-Dura-Umbreon
1 Arc-Dura
1 Arc-Aero
1 Arc-Umbreon-Box (Slaking V, Medicham V, Pikachu VMax)
1 Mew
1 Rapid Strike Box (Won the event)

#

One of the Top 8 was DQed over marked sleeves (Arc-Tina) and had been taken out of the count

#

A few notes:

  • All the Gardevoir decks were regular Gardevoir. No Reversal Gardevoir (with Mewtwo VUnion) made top 32. Possible that it didn't make Day 2 either.
  • Chien Pao / Palkia / Baxcalibur did not make top 32.
  • The rate of running Spiritomb was kind what was expected. Arceus almost always ran it, while other decks were split on it. Lost Box never ran it
  • Raikou V was way more popular than Luxray in Lost Box, but Luxray did make appearances
  • One of the Turbo Lost Box builds in Top 32 was going nuts with going Turbo, even as to running Squawkabilly ex
  • Darkrai VStar got 33rd
  • Wings of Unity made 64th place due to the DQ. It also placed 66th
  • Miraidon's best placement was 96th
  • Arc Drago got 117th
  • Sablezard's best placement was 131st
  • Ting Lu straight up did not make Day 2
  • 1 Mew Player had the balls not to run Fusion Strike Energy to deal with Spiritomb. Placed 129th
  • Kyogre was almost completely absent from Lost Box in Day 2
final musk
#

Day 2 Breakdown:

  • 45 Gardevoir (All regular, no Reversal)
  • 45 Arceus Variants (14 Arc Tina, 12 Arc Dura, 9 ADU, 5 Arc Aero, 2 Arc Umbreon, 1 Arc Goodra, 1 Arc Drago, 1 Pure Arceus)
  • 32 Lost Zone Box (29 Turbo, 2 Sablezard, 1 Lost Box Kyogre)
  • 20 Lugia (15 Single Strike, 5 Colorless Box)
  • 18 Mew (17 Fusion Mew, 1 DTE Mew)
  • 15 Chien Pao (1 Arceus, 1 Palkia, 1 Turbo, 1 Turbo Arceus, 1 Turbo Palkia, 10 Unknown)
  • 6 Lost Zone Giratina
  • 4 Miraidon
  • 3 United Wings
  • 3 Rapid Strike Box
  • 1 Lost Zone Goodra
  • 1 Darkrai VStar
  • 0 Ting Lu
runic kiln
#

I LOVE GETTING PATH'D WITH MY VACUUM PRIZED

final musk
#

They finally announced a new card for Ruler of the Black Flame

#

And uh
Not good

opaque pelican
#

I can think of some funny stuff to do with four tool cards

#

Not great things, but they are funny

#

Having baby Pokémon re-introduced again makes me wonder if there will be some kind of way to "evolve" them.

#

Like, maybe some kind of trainer card that lets you play something like say, a Clefairy from your deck onto Cleffa

final musk
#

That would honest be some wack filler

opaque pelican
#

I do like me some wack filler

final musk
#

Needing a card to do that would be ass backwards.
People already hate enough that stage 1s are generally bad and how Rare Candy is bricky

final musk
#

Bit the bullet and decided to invest time online into Single Strike Lugia

#

It will be a while if I ever want to try Arc-Dura-Umbreon online as a result, but Lugia plays well enough like Regidrago that it is up my alley

opaque pelican
#

I'm bummed they discontinued the Single/Rapid strike stuff in Brilliant Stars.

#

...Though, I think they realized what they unleashed when they made Fusion Strike, and just decided "nope"

final musk
#

Fusion Strike really did ruin the game

final musk
#

Nothing like missing 75% and 80% chances constantly

#

Fuck Live

opaque pelican
#

...That's it, really. Just, Lechonk

final musk
#

Honestly with how lackluster Obsidian Flame is turning out to be, this isn't the worst thing in the world

#

if anything people did cope on Oinkologne being competitive for a little bit and thought to profit in on the pig merch

graceful summit
#

Man, one shower thought I had. I wonder if we'll ever get new Ultra Beast cards printed due to the fact they were introduced as a sub category/archetype and if they want to/need to preserve that.

But this is also Pokemon where game mechanics change whenever so maybe theyll bring em back as regular Pokemon.

Also also kinda surprised they didnt introduce Paradox pokemon as a archetype with Treads/Tusk but its also possible they do it later in the mid-era/"2nd wave" of SV sets

opaque pelican
#

Yeah, Great Tusk and Iron Treads were the first introduced, so it was probably like that to keep first-time players of Scarlet/Violet spoiler-free, relatively.

final musk
#

Paradox pokes are confirmed in set 4

#

That’s not until the end of this year

graceful summit
#

Ya, they seem to be repeating the pattern of Sun and Moon

#

Right down to 3rd set Charizard and 4th set having the new special mons lmao

final musk
#

Just finished first locals, Bo3, 4 rounds. I either got 4th or 5th with 2-1-1

#

Round 1: Deoxys VStar, opponent was playing cards that weren’t standard format. I let him play the cards, still took it 2-0

opaque pelican
#

Ah, cool

final musk
#

Round 2: Chien Pao Palkia. 1-2, he took game 1 I took game 2, I opened 5 energy game 3

#

Round 3: Gardevoir. Lost game 1, finished 1 prize left despite opening Pumpkaboo Pass. Took game 2 with Noivern lock. Forced time into tie game 3.

#

Round 4: SS Lugia. 2-0. I took both games with Noivern Lock

#

Final record 2-1-1, awaiting placement

opaque pelican
#

Nice showing

final musk
#

Props: played 10 games and bricked only 2. Was also able to recover one of the bricks.

#

Slops: horribly misplayed the first game against Chien Pao by forgetting to put Path down and detached an energy from the wrong Pokémon fearing a boss lockdown.

Annnd I showed up 2 minutes late

#

Overall, pretty good for first showing at locals, no stakes either

#

Yeah got 5th

final musk
#

Locals was mostly evenly spread amongst decks, except no Arc Dura Umbreon, and multiple Gardevoir

#

I think SS Lugia without Urshifu might be the plan for the ranked locals next Saturday as a result if no one is packing Duraludon

#

I just gotta see if my remaining cards arrive on time. If they don’t, I’m stuck playing Regidrago

#

With how unpopular Lost Box was, I could also try going for a single prize box featuring G Moltres

final musk
#

Decided to throw a game online to finish the "Play 3 supporters" challenge
Plays against Gardevoir
Why is he not running Mew
Why is he running Miriam still
Where's Super Rod
Why does he play 4 Pokestop
Why is it playing 4 Pokestop without Super Rod and instead Miriam?
Where's Iono
Why does this look like the default Gardevoir ex list but with Radiant Tsareena added
He starts spamming emotes as he is on one prize left
Boi you beat Mustard Box lmfao that's nothing to celebrate about

graceful summit
#

God I hate getting high rolled/my deck low rolling vs completely ass players

#

Bo1 moment

final musk
#

Got the worst luck ever just now

#

Me (SS Lugia) vs Opponent (Turbo Gardevoir)

Turn 1: I put Tyranitar V in the active. I have 2 Capturing Cologne and 1 Mesagoza. I flip Heads on both Cologne and Tails on Mesagoza, meaning I hit a 1/8 chance that I could not put Lugia V on my bench. I add 2 Archeops, attach a DTE, and pass.

Turn 2: They open Ralts. They flip heads on my Mesagoza to get Mew. They Iono me and their board at the end of turn 1 is: Mew in active; 2 Ralts, Lumineon V (with Forest Seal Stone) and Zacian V on the bench. Zacian V has 1 energy.

Turn 3: I flip for Mesagoza again, tails. I flip for a third Cologne, and finally get something I wanted with a tails. I use Nest Ball to put Lugia on bench, and add Lumineon V with Cologne.

Since I have no way of setting up Lugia VStar this turn, I opt to slow down the Gardevoir player by using Lumineon V to add a Boss's Orders, boss up 1 of the 2 Ralts, and KO it with Tyranitar V by attaching a Single Strike Energy and using Cragalanche. That way, I could prevent them from both drawing up with Kirlia and playing Gardevoir ex in the same turn, to limit any play that they could get a KO using Zacian V next turn.

Cragalanche mills 2 fucking Psychic Energy.

Turn 4: They are able to BS a Professor's Research, Rare Candy + the ex, Radiant Greninja, and just enough energy that Zacian V could knock out Tyranitar V. I proceeed to be in an unwinnable situation as I can no longer bench a second Lumineon without a way to use Collapsed Stadium to get rid of the first one. But I needed Lumineon V to get any plays going Turn 5.

graceful summit
#

I stg bricking in Pokemon feels worse than bricking in any other game

opaque pelican
#

Yeah

#

It just feels so much worse since there's a billion ways to draw, search and whatnot

#

And a brick means you didn't get any of it

opaque pelican
#

Cool artwork but it's nothing very notable.

graceful summit
#

Cool art bad card is shaping up to be Obsidian Flames entire MO lmao

opaque pelican
#

On the bright side

#

Getting anything else that isn't Charizard will be easy to do

#

Cool set for collectors.

final musk
#

Yeah the last time we had a set this ineffective was Vivid Voltage

final musk
#

The Kingambit's gimmicky and inconsistent af, but it is more interesting than 95% of the pack so far

opaque pelican
#

Yeah, that's a really friggin' Cool Kingambit.

#

I can think of a few ways to make use of it.

#

It's a Metal-Type too, so it can work with the various other Bisharp that are also with pretty cool attacks

final musk
#

There's a new unofficial pokemon TCG sim in the works

#

Ok we've seen this before, it can't possibly be backed that much

#

27 Million subscribed youtuber DanTDM funding it

#

But Dan doesn't have the knowledge for this, how will this turn out?

#

On development team includes the creator of Pokestats App, the creator of Pokegear TCG App, 2 pro TCG players, and someone who already made a full baseline of a TCG gaming sim prior as a side project

#

JFC

#

If this doesn't get C&D'd I really hope it replaces PTCGLive

digital crow
#

legit still dont get why ptcg decided to shoot itself in the foot so hard with live

gilded heart
#

👀

#

This looks promising

final musk
#

They want the most profit for situation

digital crow
#

oh

#

online was outsourced?

#

never knew

final musk
#

Dire Wolf handled o

#

The amazing part is that, at least as far as I can tell, Pokémon is continuing the trend of minimal budget for in-house stuff like this

digital crow
#

incredible

#

it's honestly just a miracle how they are able to just release miss after miss and still be popular

#

with the word popular being an understatement

gilded heart
#

The wonders of pulling people in when they're young

runic kiln
#

Jesus

#

Gardevoir is a really daunting deck

final musk
#

It’s the second hardest deck to play this format and arguably the best deck too

#

Of course with how it operates, it’s a deck that very commonly ties in competitive

final musk
#

Artwork and a few new cards

#

If Glimmora ex didn’t have such a high retreat cost, that ability would be insanely useful Utility

#

Rhyme is unfortunately not good

#

A deck featuring an attacker that can work off Jet Energy could get some crazy mileage out of Glimmora

#

Also we have a glimmet that has Ascension

graceful summit
#

Akira Egawa has become one of my absolutely favorite new artists in the TCG so to see them do a Charizard and it to look so god damn good is 🔥🥰🔥

#

I need to polish off my Egawa collection soon too

opaque pelican
#

This is also a thing

#

Actually a pretty useful card, but it's definitely risky since your opponent can make use of it too, though in most cases all they're gonna grab is a Choice Belt.

#

...Or the various Seal Stones

final musk
#

No deck will run it simply for Choice Belt

opaque pelican
#

I mean, your opponent likely will use it for that. If you yourself have it in your deck you likely have a whole arsenal of tool cards.

final musk
#

Which is like

#

1 deck

opaque pelican
#

It's a fun deck admittedly.

#

Unfortunately it's not gonna be long before Battle Styles rotates out, so I'm definitely gonna miss that Jumpluff.

#

(Wait are we thinking about the same deck)

final musk
#

... That's 9 months away

#

Also no, Jumpluff really needs searchpower like Mesagoza

#

Electrode was what I was thinking

opaque pelican
#

Ahh

final musk
#

PTCGLive just completely denied me reward for entering Great League

#

Log out, log in, reward applied

#

jfc

opaque pelican
#

Oh, right, this also exists

#

I really wonder why this is a thing, since the current idea of Battle Academy I thought does a fine enough job as a teaching tool for playing the TCG

#

Admittedly, these blue borders on the cards are pretty neat.

final musk
#

Opponent is miles ahead with Gardevoir vs Lugia. He gets best opening on the planet and I could not pull turn 2 Lugia VStar.

#

Opponent decides to style on me by discarding until there was nothing left in his deck
Decked himself out and could not take enough prize cards to win game because I had discarded a 2-prizer the previous turn with Collapsing Stadium

opaque pelican
final musk
#

Looking on forums, new bug discovered

#

If you use PAL Vespiquen's "Order a Raid" attack, it normally requires you to shuffle back a Combee you have on the bench back into the deck to use the attack

#

On Live, you can shuffle the Combee from under a benched Vespiquen

opaque pelican
#

These bugs that keep cropping up make you wonder just what kind of dev team Live has going on.

#

It's in-house, that's for sure, but at the same time, it must either be very short-staffed (Considering how long it took to finally release), or something else

opaque pelican
#

Someone asked me to find a card of Pichu, and I know I'm in for a world of pain trying to find one.

#

Last printing was like, in the Heartgold/Soulsilver set, so I'm flat out of luck.

#

...Maybe a reveal on Obsidian Flames may have a Pichu in it, but I wouldn't be too confident.

final musk
#

QUICK SEARCH PIDGEOT IS BACK AS AN EX

little falcon
#

That Pidgey line is sick

#

Also that Cleffa art omg @hot prawn

hot prawn
#

👁️

final musk
#

It is a good day for gen 3 tcg fans

final musk
#

As far as the alt arts go, Scizor, Cleffa, Revaroom, and Palafin all look really good

opaque pelican
#

Oooh man this is super cool

#

Lot of these reveals are actually pretty great

opaque pelican
#

A lot of the illustration Rares so far are nice too

#

Geeta especially

#

But man, I think I’m just loving this Pidgeot ex

#

Cause this means we may have more ex from the EX series returning

#

Here’s to hoping for some that slap like Blaziken or Swampert

#

Actually it turns out this Pidgeot isn’t based on a previous Pidgeot ex

worldly sparrow
#

Pokemon Konami ?

#

Don't worry is toy gun

gilded mirage
runic kiln
#

On the one hand

#

Arceus is probably very good in Chien-Pao

#

But on the other hand

#

Palkia is already hard to find

#

I don't wanna look for a rarer more expensive card

final musk
#

So I'm working through deck ideas for Obsidian Flame with what we know

#

Arceus-Charizard-Something is so far my best bet. Arceus can easily help set up Charizard ex into play, Charizard ex can set up any remaining energy on Arceus and possibly set up itself. Kinda feels necessary for Charizard ex since it doesn't have a card like Irida

#

If you pair that with a VMax line, Arc+VMax can result in 5 prizes the opponent has taken and Charizard can basically run down anything by that point

#

Charizard is also as towering a pokemon as Duraludon is, and grass is currently an irrelevant weakness

#

So like maybe Arc-Umbreon-Charizard?

#

The tradeoff compared to Arc-Dura-Umbreon is that you are a clunkier deck but have more late-game killpower

#

Like just the idea in theory as of now

ArcCharUmbreon.PNG
#

Replace POGO Charizard with Charizard ex obviously

#

Advantages:

  • Charizard can power up Arceus VStar to attack even if you miss the turn 1 energy
  • You can consolidate to 2 basic energy types instead of Arc-Dura-Umbreon's 3
  • Charizard hits like a goddamn freight train late game
  • It becomes plausible to tech Delphox as a bench sniper
  • You can hit anything for KO that is Dark weak by turn 2 a lot easier

Disadvantages:

  • More susceptible to bench sniping from Cresselia and Greninja or Prize Sniping from Boss, due to how frail Charmander is
  • Charizard has no special energy immunity, unlike Duraludon, which makes Lugia a worse matchup
  • You are playing a naturally less consistent deck by needing 6 cards for Charizard at the least as opposed to Duraludon's typical 4
  • Arceus cannot, in any way, power up Charizard.
  • Theoretically, this deck would be more expensive than any competitive deck currently in Standard metagame
final musk
#

Also sidenote, but I cannot believe there is discussion going around that Tera Charizard ex is worse than Pogo Charizard + 151 Charizard just because Tera Charizard only hits 180 to start with

#

They see 151 Charizard doing 340 and just automatically freak out

little falcon
opaque pelican
#

Evidently DOM’s a new artist to the TCG, and also did the illustration rare for Grusha

#

Their works so far are really cool, so I can’t wait to see more

#

It’s one such thing I wouldn’t mind pulling in Obsidian Flames, along Pidgeot ex and maybe Tyranitar ex

opaque pelican
#

This might be noteworthy.

#

Sparkly energy cards.

final musk
#

Attended my first ranked league

#

GOT FIRST pogofgreed

final musk
#

Played Gabriel Smart's Lugia list from NAIC

#

Vs Lost Box: Won
Vs Arc Meowscarada: Won
Vs Chien Pao: Won
Vs Lugia Mirror: Won
Vs Arc Tina: Lost

#

The loss against Arc Tina was against Alex Hamilton, who was 34th in the 2022-2023 season for the US

#

I now have 1 of 2 maximum League Challenge Wins allowed for ranking (They take your best 2 results)

opaque pelican
#

Ayyyy nice!

versed jackal
#

Nice job

final musk
#

Did a thing

graceful summit
#

Congrats! Huge W

graceful summit
#

Weirdest thing happened to me today, I was out on a walk tonight and I suddenly see a bunch of pokemon sleeves (empty) on the ground. I look a bit ahead of me and I see 2 kids (one was like 12-14, the other 8-10) holding a binder, and it clicked immediately. So I started walking and I caught up to them and told them they forgot there sleeves.

They seemed surprised by this and then they asked how I knew those were pokemon sleeves and I told them I play and collect and their eyes lit up, they opened their binder (they had tons of stuff thats fairly high rarity including alt arts and Gold cards in addition to a ton of regular exs, Vs etc) and we start swapping a few stories about pulls and cool cards and they then insist that I get a card, I said thats not necessary and then I told them about our current league that runs on Saturday from 10-12 and said we could trade then to make sure they get a fair deal. They were very insistent though and ended up handing me a Fortress ex.

We swapped names and I told them to try and show up for Pokemon next week and they excitedly said they'll ask their mom. It was super cute and just a weird but delightful random encounter.

opaque pelican
final musk
#

Greninja ex revealed to be cut from Obsidian Flame, so there’s possibility one more decent ex in OBS than expected

#

Ruler of the Black Flame final reveals in 10 hours

opaque pelican
#

Interrupting this anticipation for this

final musk
#

Ruler of the black flame now up, taking a look at any remaining interesting cards

#

Last Tera of the set is Vespiquen, Tera Ghost

#

G - Heal 60 from 1 of your pokemon
GGG - 200; Then put 3 damage counters on any of your opponent's benched pokemon that already has damage on it

#

Honestly pretty lackluster