The best thing coming out of grass from Obsidian Flame is still Toedscruel
#Pokemon TCG
final musk
Jumping ahead to the trainers
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Patrol Cap
As long as this card is attached to one of your pokemon, your opponent cannot mill cards from your deck.
LMFAO if mill ever became a threat, this hard counters it
That was the only unrevealed trainer in the set
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Tree
Ability: As long as this pokemon is in the Active, put a damage counter on your opponent's active pokemon during status checkup (in between turns).
The attack sucks, 3C for 100 + Retreat lock
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Entei
Ability: Pressure: -20 from all your opponent's attacks while Entei is in the Active FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
3CE: 60 + 20 for each fire energy it has attached to it.
Sure hope I got that one right, if it was -20 while it was in the active, that'd kinda suck.
Edit: FUCK
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Seismetoad
Ability: While this pokemon is in the active, your opponent's attack costs are 1 more colorless energy.
Attack sucks, 2W for 120 + 100 the following turn you use it.
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Cryogonal
C: 30; If this is the first turn of the person going second, paralyzes the opponent's pokemon.
Neat, probably won't be played.
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Thunderus
Ability: As long as this pokemon is in the Active, Bench Barrier. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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Bellibolt
Ability: Takes no damage from Lightning Pokemon.
Attack: LCC: 100; disregards opponent's effects
Not relevant now, would be relevant if we had a better Lightning deck in competition
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Lunatone
Ability: if you have both this Lunatone and a Solrock in play, you are immune to Stadium effects.
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Meme Claydol similar to Alolan Raticate
Claydol
P: Place damage on the opponent's pokemon until it has 10 HP left, then do 120 damage to Claydol
The second attack is shit
Bonsly finally gets a new print
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The only dragon in the set for Regidrago VStar
Altaria
WM: 110, the opponent's active pokemon is now asleep. The opponent has to flip 2 coins for sleep, and the Pokemon will only wake up with 2 heads.
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That makes up about all the interesting cards I could find
There's a few single prizers in the set that do 200 damage, but they are all completely outclassed by PAL Cetitan doing 220
With no other remaining ex in this set, this confirms that Klawf ex will be in Obsidian Flame
After realizing what I mistranslated, Ruler of the Black Flame got a lot less interesting
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Most relevant cards in Ruler of the Black Flame, imo:
Tera Dark Charizard ex (New Stage 2 evo deck, possibly Arceus-Charizard-Umbreon)
Pidgeot ex (Experimental Stage 2 Support pokemon, can't really fit into many decks other than Arceus decks or Baxcalibur, and questionable in those)
Pokemon League HQ (Theoretically punishes Lost Box players, but Lost Box runs 2-3 Stadiums and some Lost Vacuum as is)
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Other fun cards in the set:
Ninetails (Bench sniping option for fire decks)
Cryogonal (Early stalling option)
Tyranitar ex (Mill deck, Tankiest 2 prizer in the game that is compatible with Cheryll)
Bellibolt (Electric Immunity might be relevant at some point)
Lunatone and Solrock (Stadium Immunity is a nice perk)
Claydol (More volatile, more consistent Alolan Raticate deck)
Glimmora ex (Bench Limiting as an ability. The problem is its low damage and fighting's poor support)
Scizor (1 prize counter against Chien Pao. Too bad its metal energy cost makes it less compatible with Zoroark)
Mawile (limited Special Energy Denial)
Revaroom ex (Stall deck, dies to Path)
Altaria (There's a few decks right now that play limited to no switching cards, but it is basically only usable in Regidrago)
Counter Punch (Opens up the door a little more for chip-based decks, like 151 Raticate and Hisuian Braviary)
Geeta (It's a mini Kiawe, but in a ruleset where Kiawe would be questionable)
.
Overall, Obsidian Flame is still gonna be a weak set, given that the only other interesting card not mentioned above that is in OBS is Toedscruel ex. Even the best cards from OBS are questionable af.
I feel a bunch of the cards that would have been more interesting in Ruler of the Black Flame are ruined by needing to be in the active to work
Also completely disappointed by there being NO SPECIAL ENERGY AT ALL in Obsidian Flame beyond maybe a DTE reprint
Checks leaked Obsidian Flame card list
Nope, not even a DTE Reprint
Arven and Team Star Grunt appear to be pointlessly reprinted
Why
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/07/all-108-ruler-of-the-black-flame-cards-revealed Full set, Pokebeach is nearly done with translations
opaque pelican
Ayyy Bonsly
final musk
Nothing like discarding all your stadium outs because you are going against Lugia
And then the mouth breather reveals he is teching path.
In a deck that runs 2 V's and a Radiant Pokemon that are actively hindered by Path
I won, but made the game closer than it honestly should have been
It really bothers me when bad techs help at situational times
opaque pelican
I might see if I can get some GX
I don't actually have any, but would like to have at least one that might be nice to look at, or useful in an alternative format (That isn't expanded)
versed jackal
So I saw a skeledirge ex deck today using pogo zard and Cheryl
Looked really nice actually
final musk
That's honestly the most practical way Pogo Zard has been used
2 Stage 2s is 2 stage 2s, but neat
versed jackal
Yeah you ride or die on your rare candies
But also that's why you play 1 of the stage 1s for each anyway
final musk
My Zorobox opponent passing turn so I can attack and trigger his Reversal Energy:
Me also passing so I can deck him out:
final musk
Went to another unranked event with Drago Fort
Lost to Arc Tina 0-2
Beat Arc Ice Rider 2-1
Beat Arc Tina 2-1
Lost to Lost Tina 0-2
Got killed on stream round 4 and a newer player accused me of cheating round 3
Rough event overall
The thing I was accused of was not detaching for a Giratina attack off Apex Dragon when it was clear where my lost zone was
Got retroactivity accused which annoyed me on account I had no way of proving integrity and I had only been at events for a month
final musk
Annnnd the Arc Vstars I wanted to run for locals for Arc Drago today were sitting in the mailbox when I returned home from the event
ffs
Also for those selling stuff: DO NOT PUT TAPE ON THE INSIDE OF SHIPPING MATERIAL
Bent the corner of the goddamn card before I could even open it
Fuck today
And then in my locals group chat
"How did the Lost Tina guy go 4-0? Must have not played against anyone good"
Like seconds after I had typed he was playing Lost Tina when someone asked
I think I'm done socializing for the weekend, not gonna respond to that either
rich pine
Ah yes lost Tina, a bad deck 
little falcon
Pickups from today
graceful summit
Majestic Wo-Chien reaction
opaque pelican
Planning on finally attending a prerelease
What should I keep in mind?
I don’t relish the thought of actually pulling Charizard ex, but not even having the kind of energy it needs to get going
final musk
- Bring / buy a set of sleeves in case you pull anything
- It’s prerelease so it will naturally be an inconsistent format. Play a higher count of energy (like 12-16) and whatever cards that can ensure consistency
final musk
- Be patient as plenty of people there might be trying ptcg for the first time
opaque pelican
Alright I went in to the prerelease and uh
raw nebula
opaque pelican
Can’t believe this happened yesterday
…And knowing my luck I didn’t even get anything in the deck to go with it. ARGH
gilded heart
Congrats, Symph!
little kestrel
Holy shit 
NICE
opaque pelican
Y’know admittedly Obsidian Flames being meh meant that the prerelease was actually really fun
I ended up with a Palafin deck. Threw out Numel and Camelrupt and just threw in mons with zero retreat cost that I pulled (Bonsly and Cleffa), and ended up just going all in on Palafin being a flippy-flappy puncher
I won a lot of games with only a few losses, so that was cool
Can’t wait to attend another prerelease
final musk
Alright I went in to the prerelease and uh
Probably the best thing you can pull from the set.
I'll be sure to pull nothing of note on Saturday
opaque pelican
I guaranteed my luck has officially run out when I laid eyes on this. The rest of my year is guaranteed to be awful
There’s no way this can keep going
I get really conflicted with these nice artworks on cards
I’d love to put them in a deck but I feel like I’d be better trusted to use the lower rarity printing instead
opaque pelican
I want to see if I can make a deck around the Clefairy from Lost Origin
There's a good bit of potential in this one, with some neat tech options in Clefable ex as well as Gardevoir ex
opaque pelican
Ayyy nice Yoz
opaque pelican
Alright, came back with a deck recipe
Deck Name: Clefairy Says
4x Clefairy (LOR)
2x Clefable ex (OBS)
1x Clefable (151)
2x Ralts (ASR)
1x Ralts (SIT)
3x Kirlia (SIT)
2x Gardevoir ex (SVI)
1x Spiritomb (PAL)
1x Mimikyu (PAL)
2x Geeta (OBS)
3x Super Rod (PAL)
4x Fog Crystal (CRE)
4x Level Ball
3x Ultra Ball (SVI)
3x Battle VIP Pass
18x Basic Psychic Energy
This is definitely a work in progress.
But I feel like I might need more basic energy than usual to make the best use of Clefairy
opaque pelican
In other news: I know it feels very weird doing this, but I'm debating finding a buyer for this Charizard ex I got
I just feel like what I could earn could go to other such things, rather than keep collecting dust in my collection, which isn't exactly impressive to begin with
Most cards I collect are merely things I myself find valuable to me, rather than their objective worth\
Only issue is some places that deal in cards might end up lowballing me in most cases for it.
final musk
Back from prerelease
Pulled Gold Fire Energy and Alt Art Poppy, no Charizard
placed 2nd going 4-0
Meta for prerelease went about as expected, if you pulled Togekiss/Palafin or Togekiss/Toxtricity, you did well
If you pulled Camperupt, sucks
First and Second were both on Togekiss/Palafin
Pulled no other significant cards for the prerelease deck besides a copy of Cleffa, a 4th copy of Togepi, and a 3rd copy of Bonsly
Anything else that made it into the prerelease deck that were from packs did not matter
1 person pulled the money art charizard and 1 person pulled the gold cahrizard
opaque pelican
Man, the Ultra Rare Basic Energy just sounds like a right unwanted prize
It's shiny but that's about it since it looks nearly the exact same as the standard printing
Though, nice work on pulling the Illustration Rare Poppy, and placing well
You know what I find super stupid?
Mawile, when placed down, allows you to remove a Special Energy from your opponent's mons
...And Obsidian Flames has no Special Energy in its set
Why the balls was this a consideration in the build & battle box?
final musk
yeah no that was really dumb agree
opaque pelican
But really, aside from friggin' Mawile just being a dud, build & battle is super fun with Obsidian Flames
Nothing in the set is very complex, so you may very well be bound to have something usable
Here's to hoping I can find more opportunities to try it out
graceful summit
So because I've been helping out with League the shop owner gave me Palafin Staff promo pog
opaque pelican
Nice~!
graceful summit
opaque pelican
Here he comes to save the day
opaque pelican
With Pidgeot ex being a newly revived relic of the past EX sets, what other such cards from those days would you like to see a return of?
Personally really want Blaziken ex (MA) or Typhlosion ex (UF).
opaque pelican
Just learned this existed
Take Out just sounds like it would have been absurd with Tag Team GX and V knocking around. But with Scarlet/Violet, such a thing would get less use now. Of course, it's unusable anyways given this is from the Diamond/Pearl series, yet still
final musk
TLDR;
- Mobile is getting an overhaul graphically
- The game should hopefully stop overheating phones and using so much RAM
- Sun and Moon to be fixed in coding and added as regular digital product
Signs of life exist, but damn this is slow. No mention of UI improvements to match PTCGO or even adding Gen 5 and 6 cards for expanded even.
If we get an update like this every 3 months, Expanded probably won't be fully in the game until early 2024
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/08/detective-pikachu-promo-preorder-bonus
Related to the direct earlier:
It's nice artwork~
opaque pelican
Y'know, playing the TCG on Game Boy really had me missing PlusPower
It's really not a special card now, but choosing to just add on more damage without being a tool card is a neat prospect
Most recent print:
...Admittedly, 10 extra damage is not gonna cut it today.
final musk
Full list of PTCGL fixes and adds for Obsidian Flame:
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Mobile site now uses higher quality card art
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The 0 energy icon has been added. It was not in the game before
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When a pokemon had 3 or 4 tool cards, it was impossible to see the 3rd and 4th tool card. This has been fixed
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Fixed Espeon VMax in Expanded not working against certain moves
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Fixed Cheryl discarding energy from every evolved pokemon, regardless of whether it got healed or not
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Fixed the 3 most broken cards in Expanded. There are still broken cards in Expanded despite this
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Ace Specs are now classified as trainer cards and not Pokemon
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Fixed Metal Attacks ignoring volume settings and always producing at MAX VOLUME
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Fixed issues where certain alerts would always display in english, regardless of language or region the game was being played
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Fixed issues where randomly redeeming products would just not give any reward
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Fixed issue where it was actually impossible to pull Gold Energy from redeemed packs
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Made it possible to craft VUnion Pokemon
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Made it possible to craft more than 4 copies of holo energy. Those were being classified as Pokemon.
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They Updated the Lost Zone's animation... but didn't add any actual QOL to the lost zone, like displaying counts of Lost Zone cards next to the graphic like people were always requesting
- No new features, only bug fixes
- The overheating issue will be released as its own bug fix later... which means it isn't fixed yet
opaque pelican
Ok wow, that's a lot of fixes
Good to know they're aware of the bugs and are trying to do some patching
final musk
Yeah, this is all that we have to show 18 months since beta started
It's still gonna be at least another 6 months until they get it into the state where everything they planned on starting with works
It's still in way worse a state than PTCGO finished on
digital crow
Any idea when they'll release the bugfix to make the avatars not ugly?
final musk
Nope, but there is a new bug in which Match-making doesn't work
So PTGL is inoperable for ranked play rn
Actually it looks straight up inoperable for anything other than testing with the AI
and the AI is moronic
Looks like Toedscruel ex is doing more damage than it should too
Counts itself for damage bonus, meaning it will always do 40 more damage than it should
So yeah, one step forward two steps back
Also getting reports that retreating pokemon is now freezing the game
This also means that you cannot use friendlies on PTCGL right now to practice for Worlds
which is tomorrow
At this point you'd hopefully be practicing in person regardless
final musk
Code for Charizard ex: CelebrateWCS23
final musk
Round 1: Ondrej Skubal (Lost Zone Giratina) vs Andres Flores (Lugia)
Round 2: Miguel Lopez (Fusion Mew) vs Shintaro Ito (Arc Chien Pao)
Round 3: Jose Marzan (Miraidon) vs Shinji Mori (Gardevoir)
Ondrej was last year's worlds winner
Andres Flores opened the worst luck possible with Lugia game 1. Had to desperately dig through his deck for Lugia V by discarding 2 Lugia VStar, and didn't get Lugia V
final musk
Round 1 Results
||Ondrej won game 1||
||Flores won game 2||
||Ondrej bricked super hard game 3, Flores wins.||
opaque pelican
I'm guessing one such reason these Game Boy exclusive cards aren't a thing is, their attacks and powers couldn't exactly be ported to the real TCG in a fair way?
I see this Jigglypuff has one attack that when used, picks an entirely random basic mon from your deck and slaps it down on the bench. Which, I guess would just be trouble to even port over
final musk
Round 2 Results
||Shintaro open the absolute nuts game 1||
||Miguel threw game 2 digging for a way to knock out a Chien Pao||
||Shintaro wins 2-0||
final musk
Paradox Rift confirmed to cover Iron Valiant and Roaring Moon
final musk
Round 3 Results
||Jose Marzan opened the nuts for roughly the first half of the match||
||Shinji Mori played exceptionally well with Gardevoir to take games 2 and 3. Took a really lucky chain of Gardevoir plays.||
graceful summit
Thats a sick looking ETB. Cant wait for all the SIR of the Paradox mons
Also wonder if theyll get their own archetype like Ultra Beast or Styles.
Even if they dont necessarily get a archetype, maybe they can make a literal Booster Energy that activates a certain ability or the like.
Also it could be cool design space to give them split energy costs since most are dual type. Itd be neat design that Pokemon hasnt really dabbled in.
Like Iron Valiant has and attack thats Psychic or Fighting and X Colorless
opaque pelican
I imagine they only made Great Tusk and Iron Treads first, because they were the first officialy shown Paradox mons
Seems they do hold back some of these kinds to keep others going spoiler-free if they wanted to play the games
Much like how The Ultra Beasts, Eternatus, and the like were made a little later
opaque pelican
Also it could be cool design space to give them split energy costs since most ar...
Iron Valiant is just funny. A tabloid suggests that it was designed to be the Ultimate Psychic-Type.
And yet Psychic-type is one of those types it just doesn't have at all. It's a Fairy/Fighting type.
final musk
Raging surf first reveals
TMs from gen 3 are back
What I am getting out of this pack is that they are desperate to make fighting energy acceleration
TM energy Turbo looks sick
Froslass has a nice ability, but hits terrible damage
Garchomp is weird because you are using Irida to set it up… but also need to set energy in the discard pile
It’s better than Koraidon, but it is still kinda wack for fighting acceleration
More consistent to get Garchomp into play than Charizard, but slower profit
Rika’s bad, in the same way Janine was bad
Larry unfortunately not a good supporter but will be a collectible nonetheless
One thing to note about TMs is that Pokémon with abilities that reduce attack costs can use them for potentially free
Right now this is radiant Charizard, Galarian Zapdos V, and Cramorant
final musk
Expert belt is essentially back
The Tera starters from next set were also revealed (Mewtwo and Skeledirge)
final musk
Out of all the reveals in the past week:
- Garchomp on paper is a decent fighting toolbox deck, but now fighting needs more decent tools. It basically just has Ting Lu ex, Great Tusk ex, and Groudon
- Froslass’s good ability isn’t worth its bad damage
- TMs definitely need testing, but energy turbo is a generic turn 1 setup piece and both tools have multiple Pokémon that can use them for free
- Mantyke is probably the worst baby mon we got so far, but could still help dictate pace
- I wish Bombirdier were not a rule box. Good attack to setup, but as a 2 prizer that’s only going in decks that lay out exactly enough prizes left amongst what gets put into play.
- Yvaltal is bad
- Gorgeous Mantle’s biggest impact is the idea of giving a tool that can let Gardevoir turn into a Zacian V. Still not sure if it worth running over Zacian V though
- Mewtwo needs a psychic deck that doesn’t have a type restriction like Gardevoir and Shadow Rider do
- Skeledirge is way too much work to set up for a +60 damage in fire type attacking decks unless that fire attacker could hit for free
The other interesting impact of Gorgeous mantle is turning 1 prize bench supporting Pokémon that can be KOd by Sableye into 2-Prize Pokémon that Sableye had to KO over 2 turns
final musk
Worlds day 1 had a very even spread
Worlds day 2, where day 1 players can swap their decks, was not.
Giratina VStar = Lost Zone Giratina
final musk
MC getting combo'd out in her first game
Way more realistic a setup than most anime
The weird thing is gonna be that the anime already mentioned about going up the tournament chain
Looking over day 1 worlds meta: even split across the board as to what made it into day 2, but day 1s best performers were easily Lugia and Arceus variants, likely Arc-Tina
Day 2: Lugia fell flat on its ass and Arceus did not fare that well
Mew did exceptionally well day 2 with its lowest placement day 2 seemingly being 40th/170
Lost zone decks not named Tina or Turbo were played day 2 as well, and Lost Zone Kyogre made top 8
Probably the biggest shocks were
- Miraidon making cut day 1. Sejun Park making top 32 with it
- Mew’s insane performance day 2
- Chien Pao and Palkia making up a noticeable amount of top 32
Most of my favorite players got destroyed but Alex Schemanske got 11th with Rapid Strike Box
final musk
ACE SPEC
IS BACK (next year)
So if you stack 4 energy on scream tail in Gardy, scream tail snipes something for 160. Or with Bravery Charm, it can take up 6 energy and snipe 240. Or with the the new expert belt, it can potentially snipe up to 360
Instant Gardy tech
The other very interesting paradox poke: Roaring Moon
220 + Discard stadium
or
Instant Knockout and 200 recoil
opaque pelican
Oh, this looks interesting.
That's a neat design for these kinds of cards too
Like, Ancient cards having half of their card be layers of sedimentary stone, and future cards having a nearly digitalized background
Aside that, this doesn't seem like it'll be too different than Ultra Beasts, or Battle Styles
graceful summit
220 + Discard stadium
or
Instant Knockout and 200 recoil
Roaring Moon with Emergency Jelly sounds hella fun tbh
opaque pelican
Noticed that the tool(?) card that Brute Bonnet mentioned is an Ancient Booster Energy Capsule, so I can assume there’s some kind of Future Booster Energy Capsule as well
What it does, I can’t really imagine aside from it being a tool card necessary for some abilities and attacks to work properly
The theming seems to be something like Ancient cards being very self-destructive with their capabilities, if Scream Tail requiring damage counters to do more damage, Brute Bonnet poisoning itself as well as the opponent and Roaring Moon ex just flat-out instantly KOing a mon in exchange for a massive 200 HP damage in recoil is any indication
Future cards seem to be based on bench manipulation, either your side or your opponent. Which is nice, but we’ll have to see how this folds out
opaque pelican
Y’know I might make a GLC fire-type deck
Featuring this
Seems it’s a popular pick for fire-type as well, so that’s a plus
digital peak
What it does, I can’t really imagine aside from it being a tool card necessary f...
I have a theory on that
The ancient paradoxes have somewhat synergy with self damage
Scream Tail does more with more damage taken
Brute Bonnet Poisons itself
Roaring moon can deal 200 to self
opaque pelican
Yep
digital peak
so what if ancient booster energy capsule gives more HP to ancient paradoxes?
opaque pelican
Ooh, that's likely
Or at the least, maybe give them an additional attack or ability that helps with this playstyle
digital peak
yeah
opaque pelican
I definitely might see if I can pick up some ACE SPEC stuff
I got a good feeling that at the very least, the Master Ball will be reprinted
People call it a waste of time, but I think it's less it's terrible, and more that Computer Search is just that good
Terrible would be like, Life Dew
graceful summit
I have 1 Ace Spec atm, Scoop Up Cyclone. I think I also had one of the really vad ones that acted as a tool for Kyurem but I traded it a while ago.
opaque pelican
Scoop Up Cyclone I remember being pretty alright
It’s basically the base set Scoop Up, so that’s neat
graceful summit
Ya, exactly its a great way to deny prizes
final musk
Yeah Computer Search was way too good compared to the rest
Like you had Comp Search as S tier and then a few below it which were good but not Comp Search
Dowsing Machine
Scoop Up Cyclone
Life Dew
The Genesect tools
Victory Piece
And my favorite, Scramble Switch
Even if Comp Search didn’t exist, Master Ball would not be that popular
Master Ball might have a better chance if the initial ace spec pool is small and lacking comp search
opaque pelican
Yeah I can see that, considering things like the Ultra Ball exists, which in spite of the cost still has the same payoff
Also the many other ways to go through your deck
final musk
Master Ball is more or less a 5th ultra ball yeah
Which with a small enough ace spec pool is still good in decks that can’t use niche stuff
Scramble Switch, Cyclone, and even Dowsing Machine were more niche in their use for what the decks wanted to do, but provided devastating upsides in those niche decks
Chances are tho if Comp Search didn’t exist, Dowsing Machine would have been the most popular
What I hope they do with ace spec this time is avoid the niches that clearly didn’t work well last time under similar context
- Rock Guard and Crystal Wall were mainly bad due to how prominent tool removal was in the game. That so far can be avoided with the best tool removal card in the game still being really niche, in Lost Vacuum. Life Dew saw play once Mass tool removal rotated out. Rock Guard has a few competitors today, so it probably should be avoided
- Master Ball was mainly bad due to Computer Search being straight up better. Controversial as it is, ptcg should not print Ace Spec Comp Search to balance this out. With how important early setup is, and how VIP pass is rotating when Ace Spec comes out, Master Ball should be in a much better spot so as long as Comp Search isn’t printed
- Gold Potion was straight up bad. Do not print an ace spec healing card unless it heals like 160+ HP
final musk
For new Ace Spec cards I would want to see:
- Ace Spec Energy Gain (from Galactic Invention Energy Gain, but for behind prizes instead of an archetype)
- Ace Spec Devolution Spray
- Ace Spec Trash Exchange
- Ace Spec Focus Band / Focus Sash
- Controversial: Ace Spec Energy Removal / Super Energy Removal
And while Energy Removal as ace spec is controversial, Power Spray should never be an ace spec
opaque pelican
Ah, good ideas
opaque pelican
One thing I really don’t want happening is like
For an ACE SPEC to be printed
In the first set they’re introduced in, and it’s one that just invalidates every single other ACE SPEC in that set, and any set afterwards
Computer Search was printed in Boundaries Crossed, which just ended up being the one ACE SPEC to use, and nothing else with very few exceptions
coral river
anybody playing pokemon tcg for gbc on the switch
opaque pelican
Yep
little falcon
Best version of the tcg
coral river
i just finished up my collection in game
i can make any deck i want if anybody wants to pvp
final musk
I am starting this episode and it feels like it should be episode 3
Like an episode in between for league cup or something would help
My man is coping Falinks as meta
Darkrai's at least rogue
final musk
I mean Bibarel do be an engine in a few decks
Just, no longer with that bidoof
Yeah the episode is pretty solid, just that this really should have followed from a League Cup episode
Like at this point all you left to do is IC and Worlds
runic kiln
Girl's popping off at beating her bricked opponent
coral river
royalty free art style
opaque pelican
Man, GX are getting to be a real drain on a wallet
About the few affordable ones are from Hidden Fates, and this Gumshoos GX
coral river
i dont play the game anymore really but i do enjoy getting some of the cards still
im currently looking for a full art ultra prism Lusamine
they just keep getting more expensive
ugh
opaque pelican
I can’t really use GX in Standard format, but some of them are nice
Like say, Weavile GX, or Marshadow GX
graceful summit
Honestly, I want Comp search to be printed just so it has an Expanded reprint, but ya its too good to be in Standard
opaque pelican
Knowing how this’ll go it’ll be printed for standard, and it’ll be introduced in the first set of the block, alongside two other ACE SPEC that do absolutely nothing noteworthy
Just cause
graceful summit
Id bet money on that actually
opaque pelican
I really don’t want this to happen either but it might happen
graceful summit
Honestly, my guess is 5 in the first set, 1 is Comp Search, 2 are "ok but worse than Comp" and 2 are just dogwater
opaque pelican
I just hope they are very new ACE SPEC and not just reprintings
Maybe some items from the games made as ACE SPEC
sage acorn
what sets does expanded go from?
opaque pelican
Such as say, the Life Orb
Expanded is Black/White onward
So anything from the base set of Black/White onward is usable
Expanded does however have a forbidden list
So you can’t use stuff like say, Sableye (Next Destinies), Jessie & James, and Chip Chip Ice Axe
sage acorn
what about that one problem card during Black/White Standard Hypnotic Laser or something like that
opaque pelican
Nah, still usable
sage acorn
damn
final musk
Honestly, my guess is 5 in the first set, 1 is Comp Search, 2 are "ok but worse ...
Comp Search
Dowsing Machine and Master Ball
Gold Potion and another dogwater
final musk
Given how devastating max potion was, that wouldn’t be a bad idea
opaque pelican
Though admittedly I think you can’t really top the already printed max potion
Ah
I really would like Max Potion to be printed again
final musk
Cheryl also rotates by then
opaque pelican
Cause that would be sick paired up with the Skeledirge ex
final musk
Ace Spec Sacred Ash to pull multiple Pokémon from the discard pile
opaque pelican
Sacred Ash already is a thing but that’d be cool too
The Scarlet/Violet book
Could be a cool concept
Might be in the same boat as the Rusted Sword/Rusted Shield
final musk
Yeah so as far as Tera types go, we’ve had 8. Of those 8:
3 are beneficial
3 have next to no impact rn
2 make the cards worse
The 3 that are beneficial:
Charizard (got the best deal by far)
Garchomp (better searchability)
TTar (hits for a better weakness)
opaque pelican
The really bleh thing is that the benefit of Terastalization is just… that the card cannot take damage while on the bench
Which is very infrequent
final musk
The 3 with no impact:
Eiscue (no impact until a metal deck is relevant)
Froslass (does too little damage to matter)
Skeledirge (no impact)
sage acorn
crazy that pokemon tcg live just GIVES you a free Charizard Dark Tera deck
final musk
The 2 that are worse:
Vespiquen (takes away its only offensive matchup and makes it autolose to that matchup… and makes it searchability worse)
Mewtwo (no longer compatible with psychic engines)
coral river
im trying to get gbc era decks made on switch
i currently have
rain dance turbo
do the wave
muk wave
1 zapdos
haymaker
energy absorbtion
coral river
hmm i probably need to use pluspower
final musk
i currently have
rain dance turbo
do the wave
muk wave
1 zapdos
haymaker
energy ...
I think all you are missing are damage sponge and Wildfire
And the million variants of Sponge and Haymaker
coral river
I think all you are missing are damage sponge and Wildfire
oh i do need to make sponge i almost forgot
i dont have a list at all for wildfire though
i think i also wanna build golduck/dragonair energy control
digital crow
i currently have
rain dance turbo
do the wave
muk wave
1 zapdos
haymaker
energy ...
Build Big Eggsplosion turbo
: )
coral river
Build Big Eggsplosion turbo
got a list? i definitely have everything for it after farming kristen so much
digital crow
Idt i do on hand
coral river
i can netdeck one
eww so many energies
everyone's old pokemon lists look so untuned
digital crow
T b f
Energy acceleration in that point in time was a bit, slow
And eggy naturally wants a bunch of energies
coral river
i just notice so many decks playing over 20
when they pop off at 1 energy
ig this is a super energy removal format
gilded heart
Yooo that Umbreon is kinda nice
140 damage on a 1 prizer Stage 1 🤔
I might have to rebuild Single Prize Dark Turbo with Galarian Moltres 🤔
Although it's not very Turbo if I'm using Stage 1s ig
final musk
Looks like Toedscruel ex is doing more damage than it should too
So it was originally thought that it was an issue with Toedscruel counting itself. It is not
Toedscruel is supposed to count number of grass Pokémon on bench who have grass energy for its attack.
It was thought Toedscruel counted the active from a bug. This was wrong. It’s worse.
It counts every stage of a Pokémon on the bench
ie. Toedscruel in active,
Toedscruel, Toedscool, Liligant VStar, Cherrim, Spiritomb on bench. Each has at least 1 energy
Normally Toedscruel would hit for 280
With the original thought bug Toedscruel would hit for 320
In this scenario Toedscruel with the actual bug will hit for 400
This bug was found a week ago and still has yet to be fixed
Or Toedscruel even temp banned. The deck just runs around doing this
final musk
.
A few more details known about Paradox Rift as of now
Pokemon announced but not yet revealed:
- Armorouge ex
- Gholdengo ex (We've expected that one for a while tho)
- Iron Hands ex
- Sandy Shocks ex
Set will have a total 7 tera pokemon and 13 other exs. Currently we've seen 3 of the teras and 2 of the exs, and currently know a total 6 of the exs. (Skeledirge ex was shown, but confirmed not to be in the set. It will be a separate product for western)
Paradox Pokemon will have archetypal trainers just like Battle Styles did.
High rarity counts also revealed. Particularly of note is that this set will have about double the count in high rarity cards compared to Obsidian Flames
sage acorn
tfw a tinkaton ex full art rn is more expensive than the regular one
but it makes sense since the regular one is only in promo for some reason
final musk
The regular art became the cover of a theme deck here
Garchomp ex is getting the same treatment next set.
opaque pelican
Whatever happened to just a different double rare art?
Seems it worked fine for V battle decks
digital crow
The regular art became the cover of a theme deck here
Theme decks are back?
final musk
Battle decks, which were instilled shortly after theme decks
final musk
.
First weekend of Obsidian Flames Western regions has been going around online
As predicted, most decks straight up are not playing any cards from Obsidian Flames
Charizard is doing about on par if not slightly worse than Chien Pao when it debuted
Decks are already incorporating counters to Charizard
- Arc Tina is now teching Serperior V / VStar and/or Shaymin V
- Arc Umbreon is now teching Serperior V / VStar or Leafeon V / VMax
- Lost Box is now teching Shaymin V or EVS Tropius on occasion
- Fusion Mew is now basically always playing either Oricorio or Eiscue
- BaxPao is trying Pidgeot ex.
Gardevoir, Palkia, Rapid Strike Box and Single Strike Lugia are basically playing nothing different than before.
.
Charizard
- Charizard is always being played with Arceus V/Vstar. You literally can't get away with playing it without Arceus.
- Charizard is being tried with additional engines beyond just Arceus, namely Bibarel or Pidgeot ex.
- The deck plays VIP Pass because the risk of having only 1 Charmander on the bench is too high a problem
- Tech attackers for Charizard have been Delphox V, Entei V, Radiant Charizard, and Unfazed Fat Snorlax
- The deck plays 3-4 stadiums because it shrivels up to Path to the Peak
- The only other card of note in the deck is Revenge Punch, as it fixes early damage against Miraidon and Chien Pao by letting Arceus or Charizard's early damage add up to 220.
Most of it besides revenge punch has been seen regularly in Japan prior, tho Japan has tried their damndest getting the deck to work without Arceus and... mostly failing
The only other deck that I am moderately invested in seeing grow is a new Lugia variant that just topped an online event recently
** Stall Lugia VStar**
A variant of Lugia VStar that works by controlling the early game with Unfazed Fat Snorlax and Lost Headbutt Bouffalant. Then, in the late game, sets up Obsidian Flame Whiscash with multiple Reversal Energy, so that Whiscash can mill 9-12 cards attaching 3-4 reversal energy in 1 turn.
To keep momentum, it uses Crown Zenith Shaymin to shuffle Reversal Energy back into the deck, and Thorton to avoid Barboach getting Boss KO'd and the strategy falling apart.
sage acorn
Garchomp ex is getting the same treatment next set.
do we know what it does yet?
final musk
Yes once sec
320 HP
Tera Water
Stage 2
1F - 160 - Attach up to 3 F energy from your discard pile to your benched Pokémon however you like.
2C - Discard 2 energy from attacker. Do 120 to any 1 Pokémon your opponent has in play.
sage acorn
seems kind of underwhelming than some of the other ones ngl
runic kiln
Someone is attempting to convince me that Palkia Pao is the new standard because of Worlds
final musk
It’s viable but not the standard
Less susceptible to hand disruption, less explosive
There really isn’t much of a standard for Chien Pao rn
final musk
It had 1 run in a nationals and the guy who ran it thought it was a bad pick
it's not really a good pick unless Lost Zone decks are completely absent
As far as budget factor goes, for 20 USD more you can play from one of a few actually viable decks
like United Wings is 20 USD, but for 40 you have:
Lost Goodra
Darkrai VStar
Palkia VStar
And for 50 you have Gardevoir and... (bleh) Miraidon
opaque pelican
Been debating something
I got this card, Emergency Jelly
And I got Gardevoir ex
I genuinely got to get a little creative, since I don't usually have much cards to pick from
So I got the idea to see if I can try out using Emergency Jelly to slap down energy from the discard pile to something like Zacian V (CEL), or Mawile (OBS), and have Emergency Jelly heal the mon in question so I can keep in the fray or put down even more energy
I might need some convincing that this is a terrible idea and I really need to stop it
graceful summit
I have heard of people teching it in and its not bad at all actually
opaque pelican
Oooh, really?
Guess I'll look for some ways to make clever use of it
I know Zacian V is already a shoe-in, but I might try out other options, like say, Lunatone (PGO)
I'm debating if Mawile (OBF) or Lunatone (PGO) would be the better choice, cause I am seeking to retire Drifloon (SVI) from the deck
...Admittedly, I think the pick isn't that hard, since Lunatone can be added from the deck via Level Ball, has a retreat cost of 1 compared to Mawile's 2, and can do more damage via it's attack compared to Mawile.
Unless I'm missing something, it should be a better pick?
Plus I can be a silly person and use a single copy of Solrock (PGO) to further attach energy to Lunatone
opaque pelican
I'll see if I can post an updated decklist later, there's something I'm probably gonna attend in a week
sage acorn
like United Wings is 20 USD, but for 40 you have:
Lost Goodra
Darkrai VStar
Pal...
whats wrong with miraidon turbo
final musk
High roller with bad matchups that it attempts to make up for with more high rolling
Sejun Park went through all of his nationals run with losing matchups that he forced in his favor off shitty flip coins
opaque pelican
Alright, I'm gonna put together the deck
Here's the decklist
Deck Name: Psychic Devotion
2x Gardevoir ex (SVI)
2x Ralts (SIT)
2x Ralts (ASR)
4x Kirlia (SIT)
2x Gardevoir (CRE)
1x Gallade (ASR)
2x Lunatone (PGO)
1x Radiant Greninja (ASR)
2x Zacian V (CEL)
3x Ultra Ball
2x Switch
2x Battle VIP Pass
4x Level Ball
4x Fog Crystal
2x Rare Candy
1x Choice Band
2x Emergency Jelly
1x Miriam
1x Iono
2x Roxanne
2x Boss’s Orders (Lysandre)
3x Professor’s Research (Professor Juniper)
1x Worker
2x Temple of Sinnoh
11x Basic Psychic Energy
@final musk I can't exactly afford to screw this up, so if you got any ideas I'd like to hear them for the decklist above, if you got time.
Also, working with what I got, so I may not be able to make much changes to this, depends on the stock I got
versed jackal
Why the random lunatones
opaque pelican
Best I got as far as a secondary attacker goes
It's second attack is nearly the same as Zacian V, the only real difference is it deals 30 less damage.
It was either that, or either Mawile (OBF) or Drifloon (SVI)
mighty peak
opaque pelican
Why is Chip-Chip Ice Axe forbidden in Expanded play, again?
It's something to do with deck manipulation, I think, but what kind of plays were made that it was deemed an issue?
final musk
<@119917923430170627> I can't exactly afford to screw this up, so if you got any...
I will get to this at some point today, I drove all of yesterday
opaque pelican
Ah jeez, that's rough. Rest well!
final musk
The main thing I will suggest is to look up lists on Limitless.tcg
opaque pelican
Will do
final musk
Chip Chip Ice Axe is banned over a big slew of turn 1 handwipe decks and manipulating the top card of the deck to make it impossible to make a comeback
opaque pelican
...Ok yeah, that does sound awful. Good on them for the call.
graceful summit
I remember when Chip.Chip.was revealed and that was the moment I knew the card designers did not care and yeeted out all the ones that did in SM block
final musk
Chip Chip was tag team era so that sounds about right
opaque pelican
There's also the Island Challenge Amulet
Which I dunno just what's so different on it compared to Hero's Medal, but it's forbidden too
final musk
created those handwipe options by self-knockout of pokemon
graceful summit
Iirc it was super toxic because of Jirachi EX
final musk
you would aim to get 2 or 3 pokemon self-knocked out, then combo Lt Surge, N/Reset Stamp, and Jessie and James to get rid of your opponent's hand
final musk
This whole handwipe issue resulted in the following bans:
- Chip Chip Ice Axe
- Delinquent
- Flabebe
- Island Challenge Amulet
- Jessie and James
- Lt Surge's Strategy
- Mismagius
- Milotic
- Puzzle of Time
- Reset Stamp
- Puzzle of Time
opaque pelican
Feels like half of the cards featured on that list are alone on Sun/Moon
final musk
Half the banlist is from handwipe issues
Marshadow and Red Card were also on the banlist prior, because they were toxic under any circumstance including handwipe
opaque pelican
No fooling, it being an item and just killing momentum would be awful
A lot of these are subtle, but I can easily see why this, plus some cards like Lysandre's Trump Card would be forbidden
I'm just really surprised that nothing in Sword/Shield has yet to make the list
Maybe card designers realised they screwed up with Cosmic Eclipse and decided to make some changes to how things work
final musk
That leaves you with:
- Archeops (Easy evolution stun)
- Forest of Giant Plants (FTKs)
- Ghetsis (Hilariously unfair in expanded)
- Hex Maniac (Too strong a floodgate)
- Lysandre's Trump Card (Infinite Gamestates)
- Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick (The reason Archeops is on the banlist. It later had an Omastar that could item lock)
- Oranguru (The single most powerful stall card.)
- Sableye (The single most powerful mill card)
- Shaymin ex (Unbelievable deck thinning due to Scoop Up Net)
- Both Unknown (FTKs)
opaque pelican
Youch
final musk
If expanded were attempting to be balanced, the banlist would probably be around double that
opaque pelican
...They don't? Well, that explains it
final musk
Expanded meta consists of 7 or 8 decks at the top that more or less get immortalized into the metagame
opaque pelican
So, basically, they just be there and stay there, short of someone actually touching Expanded's forbidden list? Wow.
I wonder who would play anything but Arceus/Dialga/Palkia GX if this were the case. That just sounds miserable.
I guess this is also why fan-made formats, like the GLC (Which really should be more official at this point) are picking up traction
final musk
Right now that is:
Giratina/Garchomp Tag Team
ADP Dragonite V
Palkia VStar
Arceus VStar
Shadow Rider VMax
Fusion Strike turbo
Regidrago VStar
Electric Box
Stall decks
For decks like this to unexist from expanded, they probably would have to print insanely good Stage 2 ex support
opaque pelican
Admittedly this even then would be they just become less relevant, not phased out entirely.
final musk
Expanded is all but dead right now
opaque pelican
Yurgh.
final musk
Mostly because PTCGLive doesn't have a working expanded format
GLC also cannot be played on PTCGLive
opaque pelican
Guess I'll stick to using past cards in GLC
I'm still a little salty over me actually having Professor Oak's New Theory, yet I can't use it over Cynthia
Why's it that Lysandre can be used in place of Boss's Orders, but not this, again?
opaque pelican
Ended up pulling Geeta in one booster pack.
I know there's genuinely not very many trends in actual deckmaking using this, but I can still see if I can find something to put it to in GLC.
That's what's so nice about GLC from what I keep seeing, many cards you wouldn't give much thought to otherwise can definitely be very helpful.
digital crow
That leaves you with:
* Archeops (Easy evolution stun)
* Forest of Giant Plants ...
They banned shaymin EX?
Wow
final musk
It was that scoop up net was bonkers with it
Scoop up net didn’t have an ex restriction and let you turbo with 1 copy of Shaymin
opaque pelican
Oooh
And now that it's rotated out, it ain't coming back.
So no shenanigans with ex either
opaque pelican
Revavroom ex has an ability that lets you attach up to 4 tool cards to it
I’m debating what kinds of tool cards will work best with it
Bravery Charm would be cool but it’s not a basic
Really there isn’t much out there at the moment, so I’m at a loss what to try
Definitely will be kept in mind, since it has potential, but the lack of tool cards and some great support for Metal is a strike against it
digital crow
Revavroom ex has an ability that lets you attach up to 4 tool cards to it
Hold on, from DECK?
final musk
No, as in it can hold 4 tools
opaque pelican
Yeah, what's shown here seems like a neat idea
Only issue is, you need to have like 4 of these things on hand to do that in the first place
It's own attack reduces damage by a further 30 though, so that's probably one of the best uses this tool currently could have, as well as putting it on Copperajah ex
...But once again, Metal is not in a good spot now.
final musk
It basically has to be played like a stall deck
And until Rigid Band comes out, it is arguably just better to use Copperajah ex instead
opaque pelican
Under the best circumstances Revavroom would be near unbreakable, but the issue is actually getting to that point.
sage acorn
the bird is the word
i know the deck is kind of sort of bad
but the deck is fun to play
opaque pelican
bird up
runic kiln
Girl made Finals of her first international and it's displayed as a bad ending?
Nah that's cap
final musk
Yeah displaying it as dissatisfied with second is hella cap
sage acorn
is this like a tcg anime that doesn't have world ending magical bullshit and its just a slice of life?
runic kiln
Pretty much
Uh
Have you read OCG Structures
It's like that
Except the MC is a LOT better at the game
As in
final musk
MC is a lot better at the game relative to the other characters on screen
runic kiln
After playing a few games at her club
She immediately wins regionals
And gets 2nd at international level
little falcon
Wow thats it?
final musk
Yeah same comment as last time: they went from 0 to 100 between episodes 1 and 2
little falcon
what a loser
runic kiln
Getting Iono'd was hype
sage acorn
bruh what just 0 to 100 in just 2 episodes
runic kiln
But yeah I haven't been very satisfied with how this show is trying to display the new player experience
I find it weird that
They're showing off actual meta cards
In the face of random theme decks
little falcon
i mean they dont have time to make 100 episodes of a new player picking up some nonsense, getting whooped, picking up something meta, getting whooped, and eventually figuring it out just to scrub at regionals
runic kiln
You can't tell me that "Grass" and "Fighting" are winning out over Lost Box
final musk
i mean they dont have time to make 100 episodes of a new player picking up some ...
Yeah but jumping straight from first locals win to first regionals is certainly a bit much
runic kiln
Yeah but jumping straight from first locals win to first regionals is certainly ...
Not even locals
Her school club
little falcon
little falcon
they know to avoid the toxic locals experience
final musk
Bottom line they skipped league cups entirely and did the bare minimum for a locals perspective
runic kiln
Aichi literally had a negative winrate in the first arc
He placed 3rd at his locals
Got carried at regionals
And then his team went X-3 at the swiss rounds of nationals
I thought the MC getting combo'd out episode 1 set the tone for the show actually showing off a realistic new player experience
final musk
Art design for both characters and Pokémon is definitely there, and the concept starting from the first episode is fine
runic kiln
Relatable PTCG experience
final musk
But they are finishing this faster than Dr Stone did
runic kiln
Don't you hate it when
You're chilling out with your friends
And then
All of your unsleeved deck flies into the ocean
So you rebuild it all
In one morning
little falcon
All of your unsleeved deck flies into the ocean
no but i hate it when i show someone my rare exodia cards and they throw it into the ocean
final musk
Remember: this is still not as bullshit as Yuya beating the world champ by episode 2 with literally illegal cards
little falcon
runic kiln
Remember: this is still not as bullshit as Yuya beating the world champ by episo...
The Buddyfight anime gave their MC so much plot armor it was referenced in the show
He literally had a 100% winrate throughout the entire season
And he played a LOT
runic kiln
Honestly wonder why they didn't show the cards in sleeves
That's like
One of the first things you teach a new player
sage acorn
Honestly wonder why they didn't show the cards in sleeves
cardfight vanguard overdress, everyone has sleeves
runic kiln
cardfight vanguard overdress, everyone has sleeves
Talking about Path to the Peak
sage acorn
im ready for that 151 set tho ngl
opaque pelican
Finally got my hands on a Forest Seal Stone just now
Dunno if I really need it but I may get the Sky Seal Stone, just so I have options
opaque pelican
Dunno why they included Absol in this.
While I'm waiting around for deck analysis, ended up doing some drafting on a colorless GLC deck
opaque pelican
Deck Name: No Loafers!
Here's what I got so far
Slakoth (UNF)
Vigoroth (CES)
Slaking (PAL)
Snorlax (LOR)
Komala (LOR)
Oranguru (SSH)
Lechonk (OBS-180)
Oinkologne (OBS-184)
Ditto (GO)
Bidoof (UNF)
Bibarel (BRS)
Pidgey (TEU)
Pidgeotto (TEU)
Skitty (BRS)
Delcatty (CES)
Winona
Aspertia City Gym
N
Professor's Research
Iono
Gloria
Ball Guy
Shauna
Level Ball
Ultra Ball
Great Ball
Nest Ball
Quick Ball
Heavy Ball
Normalium Z: Tackle
Windup Arm
Therapeautic Energy
Double Colorless Energy
Twin Energy
Lucky Energy
Powerful Colorless Energy
Capture Energy
Draw Energy
Game plan here is to use many mons that have powerful attacks that would have the cost of being asleep afterwards
With some abilities and other cards that prevent or ignore the sleep condition
opaque pelican
I might include at least 1 card that's a check to Fusion-Strike decks running around
My thoughts are on Drapion V right now, but there may be better ideas
final musk
Just had one of the best feelings playing the TCG in a long time
It's one thing to study metagame and understand through netdecking and seeing card choices in action. Some people derive from the opposite when they feel they crafted the best build of a deck they could with no outside info.
But when you take a deck that worked well from last format, make changes to it to adapt to a new format, contemplate minute details, and arrive at the exact same conclusion on the new format's build that the same person you netdecked came to, independent of them.
Even if it is only a two-card change, that felt good. Wasn't 3, wasn't 1.
I already did a write-up on SS Lugia and winning Challenge last time.
Well, if I got a league cup on Sunday, I'll certainly have a fun backstory regardless of the result. Now it's just a matter of figuring out if Lugia is a good meta call.
Two cups before attending regionals in Pittsburgh, so plenty of room to gather that knowledge.
sage acorn
i actually wonder if there's any extensive game knowledge i should know before trying to get into a regionals or a worlds
graceful summit
Learn about declaring search targets and certain procedural things. Like when are you commited to a play/search etc
opaque pelican
My tip? Do all the searching before you do the drawing.
Like say just an example, you got both Nemona, and 2 of Great Ball in your hand
Use those Great Balls first, to pick out what you need.
final musk
That's um... not exactly accurate for every situation
opaque pelican
Well, yeah. I'm not a professional by any means
Just going off general TCG knowledge here
final musk
Yeah no you aren't right.
opaque pelican
Wait, I'm not supposed to?
final musk
Realistically if you need multiple cards you should be drawing first
opaque pelican
Well crap, whoever told me that was wrong. Wow.
I feel cheated now.
So wait, if that's not what I should do, how does the whole draw cards before searching-thing factor in?
final musk
If you need multiple different cards, you draw first to determine what you still need from the deck
If you need multiple of the same card, you have a higher likelihood drawing one from deck before searching the others
opaque pelican
...Oh, so that's why.
I thought it was like, if you search it out, it means you are less likely to get it from drawing when the cards you got ensure you got a free pass to search one out.
final musk
That applies to needing singular cards
opaque pelican
But statistically this sounds better than searching then drawing.
opaque pelican
https://pkmncards.com/card/bellsprout-legends-awakened-la-85/
The most fabulous Bellsprout
opaque pelican
Ended up partaking in that tournament today
I had very little time so I couldn’t do much deck adjustments, but that was fine
Had to do 4 rounds
…I went undefeated. Yes, really.
I can’t believe that worked
So to sum it all up
Round 1 pitted me against some kinda deck that revolves around Meowscarada ex. Hard as it tried it couldn’t really keep up with all my rapid energy attachment once I got Gardevoir ex and a bunch of energy in the discard pile, and took game 1. Game 2 ended up a little closer, but I ended up KOing their Squawkabilly ex and taking 2 for the win.
Game 2 was against a Miraidon ex deck. It was basically a prize trade slap fest: they kept KOing Zacian V while I kept KOing Miraidon ex and Raikou V. Took Game 1 barely. Game 2 actually went into overtime, though I acquitted myself well enough game 2 that I could conceivably win next turn, and took game 2 in overtime
Game 3 was… I have no clue what deck they had. All I could gather was that it revolves around a bunch of statuses and mons that deal damage to the benches. All it took was me slapping down Manaphy to kill the momentum and take both game 1 and game 2. I felt pretty bad afterwards when I KO’d their Ting Lu ex
Game 4 was, oh my god, a deck around Fusion Strikes
gasp!
Game 1 was… well, I can imagine they bricked mega hard cause I just KO’d their Oricorio for a game 1. Game 2 was much, much closer. Ended up with me having 3 prize cards to their 2with their Mew VMAX. I had only Gardevoir on the active spot with only Gardevoir ex there on the bench, plus more I can’t count on to score a KO for a win. Got a dumb idea: I needed to get enough energy onto Gardevoir for a one: hit KO: it had 2 energy attached already and no damage counters. Had a literal shoot for the moon moment and declared to use shining arcana
I drew 2 basic psychic energy
graceful summit
Lfg
opaque pelican
So now I had 4 energy on Gardevoir, and 5 attached via Gardevoir ex’s ability for enough to deliver a one-hit KO
Once again
I can’t believe that worked
Everyone at the tournament was pretty great
Definitely will attend one again if I am able to
opaque pelican
It’s not as effective as it looks
opaque pelican
I suppose if you used it alongside cards like Blastoise (PGO), you might have something interesting
final musk
Blastoise leaves you too open to boss
final musk
You basically either have to tech a massive ass engine into Lugia or play Bronzong/Kingdra/Whiscash
sage acorn
thats what you do
bronzong kindra whiscash
kindra absorbs energy and you use bronzong to move energy to whiscash
opaque pelican
That’s a lot of commitment to mill. Still sounds like a lot of strain on deck space
sage acorn
yeah i know
opaque pelican
Oh yeah, Gimmick! Deck went well in the tournament
Stuff up above
I’ll update the deck list later
final musk
Sick, nice work
opaque pelican
Righto~!
opaque pelican
During these games I noticed something too
Gardevoir ex's attack deal 190 damage, which is a great amount but usually isn't enough to KO anything bigger
But I noticed that many basic Pokémon V have around 220 or so HP
Meaning by using something such as say, Choice Belt, Gardevoir ex has just enough power behind it to knock them out in one hit exactly
Works with Defiance Band too, but I don't think I should try to get into situations just to use defiance band
opaque pelican
Also, beginning to miss this card
This sounds like a better deal than Max Potion concerning Gardevoir ex, since 2 energy for 120 damage healed just sounds like a better deal than having to throw out everything
opaque pelican
Alright, list time for Gimmick. Going off memory for this, so there may be errors
Deck Name: Guardian Gardevoir
3x Ralts (ASR)
1x Ralts (SIT)
3x Kirlia (SIT)
1x Kirlia (CRE)
2x Gardevoir (CRE)
2x Gardevoir ex (SVI)
1x Mimikyu (PAL)
1x Manaphy (BRS)
2x Zacian V (CEL)
1x Lumineon V (BRS)
1x Radiant Greninja (BRS)
4x Fog Crystal
4x Level Ball
3x Ultra Ball
2x Battle VIP Pass
2x Super Rod
2x Rare Candy
1x Choice Belt
1x Forest Seal Stone
3x Professor's Research (Professor Juniper)
2x Boss's Orders (Lysandre)
1x Geeta
1x Roxanne
1x Iono
1x Worker
1x Artazon
1x Collapsed Stadium
All the rest is just Basic Psychic Energy
I think I had some real woes with deck space making this, plus having to work with what I got
But if it got me this far I must be doing something right
Also only tangibly related to this but now I got a really stupid question now
Not that I can even use this but does this Poké-POWER actually work if I have the Gardevoir ex from SVI in the active spot instead of this?
final musk
The choice belt is a little weird but does have merit.
Geeta is a bit out there but people are trying that for early energy.
Iono should realistically be prioritized over Research since Research dumps your hand and may remove options in a deck that can cycle through its deck a LOT.
The big missing card is definitely Cresselia.
Allows you to remove damage spread about when combating Sableye from Lost Zone decks.
And allows you to snipe small pokemon through Manaphy.
opaque pelican
Ahhhh, yeah
I'll definitely look out for it!
Yeah, I was working with what I have making this, so a lot of this is subject to change
graceful summit
Not that I can even use this but does this Poké-POWER actually *work* if I have ...
Iirc the blanket ruling for all pre Expanded stuff is if a card refers to its own name, it means THAT card specifically so unfortunately no.
opaque pelican
Ah, alright
final musk
High roller with bad matchups that it attempts to make up for with more high rol...
So I took another look over the Miraidon decks that did make top cut at worlds
Mahone's list is about as good as you can try to make Miraidon's bad matchups while still giving the deck good consistency
particularly, 4 Path is a major blowout card that doesn't hit Miraidon any more than the opening turn which you just prop up Miraidon ex anyways
It's still kinda rng on its energy output, but it does everything else about as well as Miraidon ex can do
Sejun Park's list is kinda ass imo.
Particularly just:
His Arven/item counts looking backwards in some spots,
Playing a few 1-of pokemon, multiple Arven, and then NOT play Hisuian Heavy Ball
Flying Pikachu being a really, really bad tech against Gardevoir since it relies on flip-coins and the opponent not drawing Boss
opaque pelican
Seems like Miraidon ex is not a deck that's very likable, from what I'm seeing
opaque pelican
Had a stupid idea for a new deck
A deck that focuses on Wailord (SIT), and Cetitan (PAL)
And a lot of Special Energy
Each of them has massive HP, and if they have Special Energy attached, then their attacks deal suitably massive damage as well
final musk
Zoroark Box does this
sage acorn
im honestly having wayyy more fun in pokemon tcg than any other tcg rn
opaque pelican
Ah, Zoroark? I’ll give it consideration
opaque pelican
Find it super weird how in spite of all the reprints from ex starter decks in Obsidian Flames, Greninja ex isn’t present
opaque pelican
🇫🇷
Now, if only we can have the remaining V printed
Stuff like Quagsire V for instance
sage acorn
send help
i keep building new decks
legit i finished my united wings a few days ago
but now im like
lets build tinkaton ex
runic kiln
||GETS TOP 2 AT INTERNATS||
||CONSIDERS QUITTING THE GAME IMMEDIATELY||
||POWER OF FRIENDSHIP||
||WINS WORLDS||
||FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK||
||Amazing decks from both players, truly Worlds quality||
graceful summit
||Honestly, wouldve been happier if she beat her rival, but lost to someone else in like Top 8. Then have an "The Adventure Continues" type thing.||
opaque pelican
I did enjoy this series!
little falcon
||Honestly, wouldve been happier if she beat her rival, but lost to someone else...
So like the Pokémon show with Ash lol
graceful summit
Ya, p much lol
opaque pelican
Had a stupid idea for a new sort of alternate format.
But yet it just sounds like it'd be very enjoyable with the right ruleset
Mind if I bounce it off someone?
sage acorn
Mind if I bounce it off someone?
go ahead
opaque pelican
Well, alright
So, what I had in mind was an alternate format that veers slightly from the usual goal of knocking out enough mons to take all your opponent's prize cards to win. Also had some idea to try that would result in a game being more akin to a party game than a TCG of sorts.
So I thought about this: The format would have some adjustments, but the basic rules would be-
- In this format, players are given a set number of turns to play.
- There are no prize cards to be played down at the beginning of a game. As such, the goal isn't to claim a set number of prize cards, but instead to score "points" of some fashion for some actions (Such as knocking out your opponent's Pokémon, among other such actions). The player with the highest score total at the end of the round wins that round.
- To aid in the game, each player will have, as well as their deck, a separate deck of cards that they can draw from when certain conditions are met. Cards from this deck can be played as trainer cards, and often carry potent effects. A player can use one kind of deck for a match that could best fit their playstyle, but the contents cannot be changed around (For example, a second deck around offense can have many cards that can increase the damage your active Pokémon can deal, whereas one based around interruption can have cards that can manipulate the energy on your opponent's cards)
- I haven't decided yet, but the format may possibly forbid Pokémon with rule boxes, as well as some other special considerations.
Thinking on this my mind went off to, of all things, the often forgotten Wonder Launcher style of battles in Black/White. It was a silly sort of side mode for battles where you can use a variety of items in a link battle after a set number of turns passes.
It's not supposed to be a very competitive sort of format on the likes of the Gym Leader Challenge, but just a fun little side activity one can try out from time to time.
sage acorn
any changes i should make to my deck?
messing around with it for Regionals in December
final musk
Booster energy capsules mostly revealed.
Ancient: +60 HP and no status conditions
Future: likely free retreat and a damage boost
opaque pelican
Pretty conflicted on the Ancient Booster Energy Capsule
At least concerning Roaring Moon ex
Feels like the Emergency Jelly would work a little better as far as tools go?
For everything else though, yeah, this tool card is definitely pretty great
final musk
For roaring moon yeah so far emergency jelly is better
However, this tool is really good for scream tail
With bravery charm, scream tail has a damage cap of 260. That goes to 280 with ancient booster, which is very significant
That damage boost from future booster could be anything and it would be of good value to iron valiant
+10 would already let it hit Vs and ex’s for 230. +30 would be nuts for it because then it could move its ability damage elsewhere
opaque pelican
If only there's better ways to heal damage during checkup
All I can think of at the moment is Garganacl (PAL), which as one can imagine is pretty hard to evolve in time and in a timely manner
Getting to a situation in which you can heal all the damage you had Roaring Moon deal to itself would be ideal
...That being said, having a deck that goes off Frenzied Gouging as a backup plan and the real plan being to slap down plenty of stadiums to use Calamity storm would mean you don't need to resort to much one-hit KO attacks
opaque pelican
You know what I really want now? ex featuring stuff that evolves from Eevee
Cause of this
Right off the bat, if there were a slew of evolutions that are ex and/or pretty good, this kinda ability would be fantastic
final musk
Moar new cards
Most of them aren’t that good. Tera Hoopa in particular sucks.
Gholdengeo is… ok, but really needs additional energy support. Not hitting 250 until 5 Metal means not even a Superior Energy Retrieval will pay for a good hit.
Most of the alt arts are very nice, Yvaltal in particular is awesome
There were also some cards from the theme decks and xatu at least seems pretty decent. Has Shadow Rider’s ability but can attach to any benched instead of just psychic.
Still a worse energy engine than Gardevoir, but at least Mewtwo ex isn’t awful now.
Someone actually called out Shauntal as the best of the revealed cards… they are absolutely wrong, Shauntal is garbage.
versed jackal
Tera Hoopa is like
Ok I guess
Dark patch saves him
Tho he seems like maybe a worse variation of a hisu Zoro deck
final musk
(Does Maya Know)
final musk
Yeah until another attach method comes up his best chance is Moltres + Thorton
versed jackal
Not great
final musk
Someone actually called out Shauntal as the best of the revealed cards… they are...
Short Explanation: a supporter is not something you gamble this much on.
Long Explanation:
If the tails effect does not help you, Boss is a better card.
If the tails effect allows you to live in case the boss effect doesn’t come up, well Boss would have gotten you a direct win anyhow. Boss is better.
If the tails effect becomes useful to you to continue plays, you probably stuck this card in Lost Zone and poorly laid out your plan to win the game if flipping tails means you need a backup plan. If you used this card in Lost Zone early in the game, Colress is way better. If you used this card in Lost Zone late in the game, Boss is simply better unless you played poorly and ran out of switch cards to use and are instead hoping for a tails.
opaque pelican
This makes me think they're plotting something involing coin flips
Anyways, much as I like coin flips for a big chance to do something big, this... isn't exactly worthwhile
Ghodenghoul ex sounds cool though
Much as Metal isn't in a good spot for now, this sounds like a neat enough way to get more cards in your hand each turn.
Only issue is; it's a Stage 1, but that's only a slight issue
Oh yeah, adding to this bit of news
Xatu trying to muscle in on Kirlia (SIT)'s stuff. Only issue is, this really is as good as Xatu gets
Aside from being this close to being alright, nothing else noteworthy, most these are simple ex deck cards
final musk
Gholdengo's issue right now is more that Energy Recovery might not be up to snuff for what Gholdengo needs to hit
opaque pelican
Seems for now it's more notable for the ability than attack
final musk
Attach 1, then discard 5-7 is hefty and needs multiple cards to set all that up
If you discard anything short of 5 you just aren't efficient
And some matchups really require you discard 6
As far as the ability goes, it's fine, but decks that are looking for a supplemental draw engine will probably stick to Bibarel
If Iono didn't exist I would say it would keep decent competition as a draw engine
sage acorn
IT HAPPENED TO ME AGAIN GOD FUCKING DAMN IT
i finish something in pokemon right
like finish a deck
and boom all of a sudden for 30$ i can buy one
MIRAIDON EX DECK
It happened to me when i was collecting the Eeveelution V cards
and the Mew deck
final musk
I am at cup with Lugia. There are 4 Miraidon out of 22 people. I beat 1 and shitting bricks about hitting the others
opaque pelican
Youch
Hang in there Gimmick
Ayyy Gengar.
...It's not very flashy, but the art's nice
Night Gate would be cool, but having to evolve this thing twice to get to it is... bleh.
Could be cool in other formats though
Having Gengar be a darkness-type is still just weird
So used to it being psychic. But I guess that happens when you change the poison-type's typing in the TCG again
I did notice that Gengar here is an uncommon card, which could explain it
final musk
I ran into 3 Miraidon
Currently 1 win, 1 tie, 2 loss. Gave my round 4 opponent the W instead of a tie because if we both tied neither of us made it
opaque pelican
You still got this~
final musk
You actually don’t understand you literally can’t make top cut at that point
Lost game 5, bricked 2/3 games
Someone borrowed an ipno, never gave it back
Dice bag broke
Person who I gave the win so he could have a shot didn’t make top cut
Fuck my life
Round 5 opponent clearly didn’t give a shit about talking with me
final musk
Round 1: Miraidon WW
Round 2: Lost Box WL
Round 3: Miraidon LL
Round 4: Miraidon WL - Would have been a tie, but I gave the win so that my opponent would have a chance at making top cut. If we both tied, neither of us could make top cut
Round 5: Arc Tina LL
Finished 20th/22, 1 Win / 1 Tie / 3 Losses
Pulled nothing for participation pack
Lost an Iono to a loan who didn't give it back
Dice bag broke
opaque pelican
You actually don’t understand you literally can’t make top cut at that point
…Oh
Jeez, sorry to hear about this
Just wanted to be hopeful
opaque pelican
graceful summit
Yo, thats such a pretty IR too
opaque pelican
Tempted to ping Copper, but they don’t care for the TCG in all likelihood
final musk
It's one of the more interesting things from 151, but probably not doing much
I think people's main interest in it is how much it could break PTCGL with bugs
sage acorn
already thinking of ways to somehow stall the active spot while this being the main haymaker
prolly some sort of snorlax
final musk
Yeah people have already tried this in Japan with Snorlax, Mimikyu, and Klfeki doing that
opaque pelican
So, a comment thread on my latest r/TCG post said this:
“Pokemon TCG is really really bland when it comes to actually playing. The meta is very stale and cards have no depth.”
and
“No Pokemon is mostly for collecting and isnt really an interesting cardgame at all.”
I’ll leave a link so you can read it yourself:
What does it mean by that? Is Pokémon only for the collection and not for the arena?
The TCG as a whole is very collectable.
Compared to most other TCG's, most everyone knows Pocket Monsters, helping with the recognition it gets, whereas in other TCG's like That one card game I've never heard of in my life, whatever is this Yu-Gi-Oh?, and Cardfight Vanguard!!, the TCG is mainly a game to be played.
That being said, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, in spite of this post, is very enjoyable to play, mainly due to there being many, many styles of decks and strategies to try out. Helping this out is how simple a lot of cards are. A typical Yu-Gi-Oh! card, to be considered great in this day and age would need some mile-long text with several ways to just keep your opponent from doing what they need to do to keep you from winning and would cost more than someone's paycheck for a week (Slightly embellishing this a bit), a PTCG card that's currently in the spotlight as far as tournament trends goes usually is pretty cheap and affordable, at least for cards that are very commonly used in a few decks in the standard format. Usually the most expensive cards are the ones that just are alternative artwork of other cards, or specific mons (Charizard still being a very notorious example, since any of them, even ones without a rulebox being pretty pricey)
final musk
“Pokemon TCG is really really bland when it comes to actually playing. The meta is very stale and cards have no depth.”
It really depends on where you are coming from and how long you want formats to be.
opaque pelican
I mean if you're doing expanded, that is probably why, also why are you doing that
Oh yeah, rotation is also a thing
final musk
Format length and variance:
Pokemon's pack formats usually last 3 months a piece with maybe a smaller pack introduced in the middle of one. Silver Tempest was an exception due to western regions trying to synchronize with Japan's rotation timeline. We should be expecting 3-4 month formats at the longest from here-out.
Pokemon also has rotation once a year. They just aligned our rotation with Japan's to make it easier to follow a singular or near-identical format. Again, Silver Tempest kicked out the rotation date this year so we could align with Japan better.
New core packs tend to introduce no more than 1 or 2 meta-viable decks at a time. If a deck sits at the top, it is possible that deck could remain a top contender for years due to rotation cap. Introduced decks in new packs may prove too bad of matchups for previous decks, and this can also impact the format too.
A few years ago, TPC thought it best to address this issue through rampant powercreep. If you read anything up on Tag Teams or Gen 5 EX cards, know that those were big fucking mistakes to the game as a whole.
Pokemon's metagame has quite a bit of micromanaging that actually matters to what you can do and how you play. Usually making a misplay in competitive still sets you back in the running for a game or a match, even if it was discarding the wrong card on turn 1 or playing the wrong pokemon on the bench. There are still tech choices and deck choices to be made amongst the top decks right now. The current metagame has about 10 or so viable decks that have different matchups, techs, and deck choices to consider.
opaque pelican
Nobody likes Tag Teams
final musk
Formats in Pokemon usually have a few decks viable minimum, but it isn't immune to having formats with 1 dominating deck and a few decks that try to combat it.
Examples of that include:
Silver Tempest (Lugia VStar)
Fusion Strike (Mew VMax)
Chilling Reign (Shadow Rider Calyrex)
Base Set Sword/Shield (ADPZ)
As far as outlook down the road, this format does not look to get solved into dominance, Pokemon 151 does not impact competitive more than some tech cards, and Paradox Rift comes out in November as the next possible big impact.
opaque pelican
Honestly, as much as some of these are seen as contenuous, really, what really gets the goat of most everyone else is Arceus/Dialga/Palkia GX (A card whose GX attack went against the spirit of most Tag-Team GX attacks by just being stupid easy to meet the extra conditions of, compared to crap like Togepi/Cleffa/Igglybuff GX), and Mew VMAX (Decks that use this just take way too friggin' long to do much, it was joked that you could probably toast a sandwich and make a cup of coffee and they'd still be trying to finish a play)
Calyrex and Lugia are pretty alright compared, but are still seen as pretty tough acts to follow
For reference, this is the ADP card everyone's still pretty upset about
Most other TAG TEAM GX cards need a good bit of additional energy to make the best use of that GX attack they have, such as 6 additional Water Energy required on Slowpoke/Psyduck GX to use it's GX attack, or 3 additional Lightning Energy on Pikachu/Zekrom GX
This only needs 1 additional Water energy. And for the rest of the entire game you take 1 additional prize card for each KO, and mons your opponent have out always take 30 additional damage
Compared to say, Pikachu/Zekrom GX just simply dealing 170 damage to anything on your opponent's bench in addition to the damage dealt to the active mon
Zacian muscling in with the SSH base set really just kinda cemented this thing being unfun, being just a basic V beatstick that hits super hard.
final musk
Price:
Pokemon is way, way lesser priced than most card games for getting into competitive. Cards start mostly low, stay mostly low. The big difference in prices comes from Pokemon offering multiple rarities per card, and generics (Trainers) always being printed at low rarities.
Current average prices for competitive decks:
Gardevoir ex: 45 USD
Miraidon ex: 55 USD
Lost Zone Toolbox: 55 USD
Palkia VStar: 55 USD
Chien Pao / Baxcalibur: 60 USD
Mew VMax: 65 USD
Lugia VStar: 70 USD
Rapid Strike Toolbox: 75 USD
Giratina VStar / Lost Zone Engine: 90 USD
Arceus VStar / Giratina VStar: 110 USD
The only other big exception to this list is Charizard ex, which has two variants that run about 100 USD and 150 USD each. That deck has yet to even prove it can stand in competition, and its price is driven by Charizard always being in demand.
There was also Arceus/Duraludon/Umbreon, which ran 120-130 USD, but that deck has more or less proven that it is bad in the metagame now
opaque pelican
Seriously, the double rare printing is like, 25 USD
final musk
The last time Pokemon had a generic that ran ridiculous money was Tapu Lele GX back in 2017.
Pretty much every higher-rarity generic since then has not only been printed at a better rate, but was also mostly only needed at a copy per deck max
Pidgeot ex is the closest thing to an expensive splashable right now and that's 10 USD. Pidgeot isn't even generic, let alone proven good (it is likely poor in competitive unless people back off decks playing Path to the Peak)
opaque pelican
Such as say, Crobat V, Lumineon V and Squawkabilly ex
Last one's a bit contentuous, but those first 2 were definitely used a lot
final musk
Yup
Crobat V hit like 8 USD maximum, and that was when people thought Eternatus VMax was a higher-end competitive deck (it was a lower-end)
Lumineon V has never been over 5 USD and has multiple prints.
And Squawabilly has never been over 3 USD.
Out of the decks I listed above, Squawk is used in 4 of them (Palkia, Miraidon, Lugia, and Rapid Strike)
Lumineon V is regularly used in 3 and teched in 2
And Crobat V is already out of rotation. Crobat V at its best was used at 1 in most decks, 2 in 1 deck, and 4 in 1 deck.
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/all-30-pokemon-trick-or-trade-2023-halloween-cards
Sorry to interrupt but thought to share this
Not that this is a must-get but
PAL's Mimikyu, I guess...?
Nothing too unusual here aside I guess Pikachu being a Rare Holo for whatever reason
opaque pelican
Alright, stupid decklist incoming
opaque pelican
Deck Name: Double Pain
2x Yanma (SIT)
4x Spinda (SIT)
4x Rufflet (SIT)
4x Hisuian Braviary (SIT)
3x Misdreavus (PAL)
3x Mismagius (SIT)
2x Cosmog (CEL)
1x Cosmoen (CEL)
2x Lunala (CEL)
3x Gapejaw Bog
4x Level Ball
2x Rare Candy
1x Miriam
4x Nest Ball
12x Basic Psychic Energy
The idea here is: deck's around throwing so many damage counters. You then throw out a whammy at the last moment by scoring successive knock-outs with Lunala's Lunar Pain attack, which doubles all damage counters on your opponent's mons.
Only issue here? I legit can't think of many good ways to slap down this much counters.
Had a few ideas. Maushold (PAL) was an idea, since with 4 Maushold in play, this means 4 damage counters on each mon. But that's way too much effort. Also thought of a silly Rapid Strike idea with Jumpluff (CRE), but that too sounds like too much effort.
If any of you got ideas, I'm open to do some editting
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/palkia-zekrom-zacian-from-raging-surf
A bunch of legendary stuff
Not much notable here.
Also just occured to me that no card depicts Zacian and Zamazenta in their "Hero of many Battles" forme
opaque pelican
It's alright, really. Probably one of the better ex introduced in Obsidian Flames
The real issue is, it's a Stage 1 with a pretty mid ability, and attack. Poisonous Gem really does nothing much for you, so you generally just slap this down to remove some mons on the bench, and not much else. Usually it's better to just use Collapsed Stadium, or if you really are going in on removal from the bench, Avery. But even that's not likely.
Now, I got to ask some questions: Concerning deck trends, what sort of mons would I want to KO as soon as possible?
Just learned a few days ago that KOing Baxcalibur against a deck that relies on using the ability and attacks of Chien-Pao ex would probably be the best course of action given how its ability allows the opponent to keep slapping down energy
It's less about prizes, this question is, and more about taking the wind out of your opponent's sails before they can get their strategy put together.
final musk
The ability is pretty good on paper, just that the best methods of control right now are constant retreat blocking from a 1-prizer (Snorlax) and ability negation (Spiritomb, Path to the Peak).
And Glimmora clashes with Path
The attack is rather poor yeah
opaque pelican
My gripe with these conditions as a whole is, in this day and age, poison really is just kinda pointless unless it's from an attack or ability that can place way more than 1 damage counter between turns.
Or if there is certain attacks that do way more damage if the defender is poisoned
And usually those kinda of attacks that place more than 1 damage counter are coming off of mods that aren't exactly the picture of durability; you can't for example do a waiting game with something like Dustox (LOR), as utterly terrifying as 8 damage counters between turns sounds
And all it takes is your opponent switching out to invalidate it.
Best status so far really is just Paralysis, cause the defender straight-up can't do anything, and has to switch out to keep them from being defenseless for another turn. And apparently card designers agree because attacks that inflict paralysis either need a coin flip, or only work when certain conditions are met.
sage acorn
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/snorunt-and-groudon-illustration-rares-from-raging-surf
Some more good art for you all
little falcon
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/snorunt-and-groudon-illustration-rares-from-ra...
Damn both are great
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/official-card-dex-app-to-be-discontinued
oh no, whatever will we do without you
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/aegislash-line-from-raging-surf
Wow this Aegislash is... actually somewhat alright.
Also even more illustration rares that slap
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2023/09/oddish-card-from-path-to-the-peak-to-release-as-promo-card
Also, a neat tie-in to Path to the Peak; a promo Oddish
sage acorn
currently fuckin around with some decks to play at the San Antonio Regionals
im thinking of waiting for paradox rift but i want to get in some play testing early
final musk
While those alt arts are fire af, the real news is that there is now an actual counter again to Sableye.
The bad news is now you need 2 bench spots to counter both Sableye and Radiant Greninja
To put in perspective of just how toxic of a gatekeeper Sableye is, Jirachi counters no more than like 10 cards.
The only other use it really has is blocking Yoga Loop from Medicham V
final musk
At Pitt regional
Round 1: Mew
Game 1: won with typical Lugia stuff
Game 2: opened 4 SS energy and lost immensely
Game 3: didn’t get Lugia till turn 3 and had to play defensively. choked at the very fucking end by continuing to play defensive instead of boss KOing a mew. Had tunnel vision over not being able to boss KO a Genesect
Pissed already
Losing to 1 fuckup in a 50 minute after being dealt 2 bad openings just fucking blows
opaque pelican
Ayyy nice
final musk
Round 2: Meowscarada 2-0
Freebie out of the way, record 1-1
It is 3 hours in and only 2 rounds done
At this rate we finish day 1 by 10:30 PM
final musk
Opened Lumineon twice in a row
Currently 1-2
If I lose a third game I’m dropping
Can’t make day 2 with 3 losses and the event is dragging on really long
final musk
Out at 1-3
Why did I bother
Choked game 1
Had horrible luck games 3 and 4
I think I’m checking out early and driving home tonight, fuck that
coral river
a local store has a purple lusamine for $100
im really tempted to buy it
its like the last full art trainer i need
final musk
Time perspective for day 1 of regionals
Rounds 1,2,3 each took 90 minutes
The total time that it took to do rounds 4-9 came out to 8 hours and 15 minutes
Day 1 of Pittsburgh took a grand total of about 13 hours if you include registration
I dropped 10 minutes within the start of round 4. In the span of the rest of day 1, I browsed merch for an hour, ate lunch in Pittsburgh, packed up and checked out of hotel, drove 5 hours, and ate dinner on the way back
I got back from Pitt 10 minutes ago.
Day 1 of Pitt ended 25 minutes ago
opaque pelican
Youch. Sorry to hear it, Gimmick.
graceful summit
Are there side events like at YCS's?
final musk
Yeah but you have to pre register for them before the event
They capped out weeks before the event started
There was no reason to stick around the venue for me
The best part of that trip was literally just lunch
4 fucking bricks in 10 games and a choke.
Even if side events were still open I’d just idk fuck that up too