I think we'll see Miraidon bounce back a bit given it plays well against Roaring Moon and Chien Pao, but having a bad Charizard matchup in this meta is really bad
#Pokemon TCG
final musk
Gholdengo is also kinda just a bad matchup without playing a worse build (Miraidon Eleki)
Notable Arceus variants were Arc Tina, Arc Goodra, and Arc Serperior
Most played Ace Specs, unsurprisingly, were Prime Catcher and Maximum Belt. Hero's cape was niche for stall and tank decks. Drum of Awakening is being tried in Roaring Moon, but I think that's a terrible decision when Prime Catcher is around.
Maximum belt is played in:
Lost Tina (KO Charizard)
Arc Tina (KO Charizard)
Charizard (KO a 2-prize basic earlier in the game)
Hero's Cape is played in:
Arc Goodra (Makes Goodra an even bigger tank, and Arceus V too big to kill early)
Stall (Makes Pidgeot huge and a better card to loop)
Lugia (Makes Lugia VStar less a liability attacking with, and Lugia V too big to kill early)
Prime Catcher is the choice for literally everything else that is mattering in competition (which I hesitate even counting Lugia on here for), including sometimes in Charizard too
Charizard: Prime Catcher or Maximum Belt
Chien Pao: Prime Catcher
Roaring Moon: Prime Catcher
Gholdengo: Prime Catcher
Great Tusk: Prime Catcher or Hero's Cape
Lost Tina: Prime Catcher or Maximum Belt
Arc Tina: Maximum Belt
Lost Box: Prime Catcher or Maximum Belt
final musk
REGIS MADE DAY 2 AND PLACE BETTER THAN GHOLDENGO 
delicate surge
holy shit charizard is such a braindead deck how was this card okayed
also i am a little upset that one of the new freebie decks is Gholdengho
wasted so many craft points on it i guess
god i cannot draw well to save my life
final musk
REGIS MADE DAY 2 AND PLACE BETTER THAN GHOLDENGO <:KEKW:622347587516628993>
And Snorlax Cherrim, which got 60th
final musk
oh fun, they are doing the 8-starter deck thing again
/s
Time for next August's pack to suck
final musk
Round 4: Nathan Ginsburg (Lost Box) vs Mike Paramwat (Giratina)
Round 4 Again: Joe Turrentine (Charizard) vs Evan Campbell (Roaring Moon)
Round 5: Jon Eng (Giratina) vs Eric Correa (Roaring Moon)
Round 6: Kaden Brent (Giratina) vs Tyler Smashey (Armorouge Box)
Round 7: Kamal Crooks-Valdez (Roaring Moon) vs Christian Moreno (Chien Pao)
Round 8: Rowan Stavenow (Gardevoir) vs Sawyer Melban (Lost Box Moon Kyogre w/Mawile)
Round 9: Shawn Cardella (Giratina) vs Alec Geissler (Lugia)
final musk
Round 13: Ian Robb (Giratina) vs Regan Retzloff (Chien Pao)
Round 14: Tyler Mathews (Iron ValiEntei) vs Conner Hurst (Roaring Moon)
Round 15: Edwin Arrollo (Gardevoir) vs Azulgg (Lost Box Kyogre)
Top 8: Kamal Crooks-Valdez (Roaring Moon) vs Aidan Khus (Lost Box Kyogre with Mawile)
Top 4: Ryan Antonucci (Gardevoir) vs Ian Robb (Giratina)
Finals: Ryan Antonucci (Gardevoir) vs Aidan Khus (Lost Box Kyogre Mawile)
Judging by current standings going into round 13, Tina and Charizard are both underperforming
Roaring Moon's did amazing early on and due to that, Gardevoir is at the top tables now due to how bad a matchup it is for Roaring Moon
Miraidon once again flopped. 100 entrants day 1 with 7.36%, and that number appears to have fallen from 100 to half a dozen max in day 2
Day 2 %s to come, expect Roaring Moon at the top, and Miraidon off the graphic
final musk
For the record, they showed a second page for this one
Miraidon dropped from 100 players day 1 to 5 players day 2
6 Chien Pao
6 Snorlax Stall
5 Miraidon
4 Arc Gigas
4 Gholdengo
3 Iron ValiEntei (With 1 basically locked in for top 8)
Top cut guaranteed:
2 Gardevoir
1 Lost Box
1 Entei
1 Roaring Moon
In the Running:
3 Giratina
2 Gardevoir
1 Lost Box
1 Miraidon
1 Roaring Moon
Roaring Moon was the play to make decent points/money placement
Gardevoir was the play to win
final musk
Top 8:
2 Gardevoir
2 Roaring Moon
2 Giratina
1 Lost Box
1 Iron ValiEntei
Bubble 8:
1 Lost Box
Top 16:
4 Gardevoir
3 Roaring Moon
3 Lost Box
2 Giratina
1 Iron ValiEntei
1 Miraidon
1 Charizard
1 Chien Pao
Bubble 16:
2 Lost Box
1 Giratina
1 Roaring Moon
Other decks' top placement
Gholdengo: Top 32
Arceus Gigas: Top 64
Rapid Strike Box: Top 64
Mew: Top 64
Stall: Top 64
Klawf: 107th
Lugia: 108th
At least for Lugia, it got a top 8 (somehow) at Brisbane
Miraidon had a horrible day 2 conversion rate and then 3 made top 32
gilded heart
I can log into my main account again 
final musk
Twitter
Drago Rogue tier in Japan 
I understand most of the card choices on those lists, although I still really don't like lists that have to run Dragonite
Goodra, Tina are standard attacking options for damage and defense. Both also got major buffs from Maximum Belt, letting you OHKO Charizard and 2-prize basics respectively. The latter really helps against Chien Pao and Roaring Moon (despite how bad a matchup Roaring Moon is for this deck)
Noivern is now way less for Dominating Echo locking and much more about Covert Flight invalidating certain matchups
Altaria + Radiant Gardevoir is for Giratina and Roaring Moon
The Iron Leaves is for another route to KO Charizard, just like what Arc-Tina is doing with it.
Regular Altaria might also be worth testing due to how few switch cards are played from Charizard as well. Maximum Belt can let you 2-shot Charizard with that attack too.
Tina V is for Shred in stall matchups, and the reason a Psychic energy is needed is that picking Tina V back up from opening it is too cumbersome
Dragonite is used in Gardenia builds so you don't just randomly run out of resources, but this kinda sucks to need to use Dragonite as a lackluster attack so you don't die, and means you are now running an additional brick
The biggest advantage of Gardenia Drago now is that Legacy Star lets you pick Ace Specs back up after using them
delicate surge
Maybe I’ll try out united wings
It seems fun-ish
final musk
TIL there is a section of the PTCG rulebook that is different between official rules and official tournament rules
If both players tie a game on prizes (go to 0 prizes at the same time), there is a sudden death match in which both players start a fresh game and have to take 1 prize to win.
In the official regular ass rulebook, both players put out 1 prize card and the first to win the game off prizes wins.
In the official tournament rulebook, both players put out 6 prizes cards and the first to take any prizes wins
This is important for cards such as Iono or N, that are affected by number of prize cards left
I just thought all this time PTCGL coded it incorrectly lmfao
graceful summit
Well my one LGS that ran Pokemon league is officially closing down tomorrow so I decided to go there one last time. They had 3 packs of Series 4 left that they were selling so I bought them all. I left and opened them, and low and behold.
I was happy enough with the Foil Rare Candy, but got hit with that last pack magic
delicate surge
nice
opaque pelican
Ayyy nice
opaque pelican
Snom~
final musk
Went to locals, bubbled 9th on cup
Lost to Charizard (Brick)
Beat Snorlax
Lost to Gardy (rough start, went for stallout but I clearly underestimated ours to it)
Won Mirror
Won Mirror
3-2, only 1 3-2 made cut
final musk
Top 8 was:
4 Gardy
2 Charizard
1 Tina
1 Lost Box
Roaring Moon got 9th and 10th
Props: It was clear that out of 5 Roaring Moon players, I knew the mirror and they didn’t
Slops: Lost to Gardy either way, but I played to stallout when I literally could not. I forgot Gardy played 2 Ordinary Rod
I also played a build that had a much harder time against Gardy that instead put tech towards beating Zard and Tina
delicate surge
nnice
boreal stone
I have a bunch of Japanese cards.
But I can't deckbuild and apparently the cards were out of rotation anyway.
graceful summit
Ya Pokemon doesnt let you mix JP and other regions cards
Hell, in atleast NA you cant mix languages of non-Japan regions.
graceful summit
final musk
Easily one of the best things tpci has been doing in more recent times
graceful summit
Hard agree
final musk
It's what a lot of people expected it to be
Koraidon, Miraidon, Feraligatr, Metang
To me:
Miraidon is the best one
Koraidon at worst could still be built as a standalone deck with consistency
Feraligatr is good if Relicanth is in the deck half
Metang it totally dependent on booster pack pulls and likely not good
opaque pelican
Ayyy Feraligatr
Evidently it is just a thing for Feraligatr to have abilities and attacks that put a bit of a risk on your gameplan
opaque pelican
Clodsire~
graceful summit
Squak is nice whenever I need that for a deck
Only 1 Moonlit Hil too somehow lmao
Also pulled these in the 1 ETB we opened for my cousins shop, along with Gold Miraidon, Shiny Alakazam plus some little Shinys which he kept
final musk
New reveals coming in
They basically made Radiant Charizard the sequel
Ursaluna Blood Moon ex
Scream Tail ex
Iron Thorns ex
Applin
Dippline
Phione
OH NO
There's an ace spec with a stamp on it
UNFAIR STAMP
Ace Spec Item
If your opponent took a KO last turn:
Both players shuffle hands into deck. You draw 5, your opponent draws 2.
Enhanced Hammer reprint
Lucky Helmet reprint
Perrin Supporter
A generic trainer class supporter (Caretaker)
New stadium
Stadium and generic trainer class both suck, so does Perrin
Alt Art Blood Moon Ursaluna
Alt Art Phione
Blood Moon's nuts
delicate surge
Bloodmoon doesn’t seem particularly impressive
Iron thorns is just path to the peak on legs
final musk
Blood Moon is a powerful card on paper given that 260 HP on a basic is normally a LOT, but it doesn't serve well in a format where everything is trying to OHKO Charizard
It'll be an attacker for Pidgeot Control in place of Radiant Charizard
Until the format changes, I don't think offensively-driven decks are gonna have much success with it
opaque pelican
UNFAIR STAMP
Ace Spec Item
If your opponent took a KO last turn:
Both players sh...
They actually named it that?
boreal stone
Have y'all ever accidentally bought fake cards?
delicate surge
Not fake cards but a fake beyblade one time
delicate surge
now let us look at opponents decklists after matches
final musk
Non-competitive locals this coming weekend
tournament is for: "dumb ideas that anyone has had but hasn’t built/tried out yet"
Only rule is no decks that have made day 2 in the past few regionals
First two responses are people playing Arc Goodra
I see how this locals night is gonna go and I am now boxed into playing Arc Drago because T-Tar and Mustard Box definitely can't keep up with Arceus decks
We'll have 1 locals night like this where Arceus and Lost Zone variants dominate and then either both get banned or this idea never happens at locals again
torn wyvern
yeah arc and comfey prob have to be banned for an idea like that
sage acorn
wonder whats gonna replace Battle VIP Pass when that rotates out in 2 months
final musk
We already got an idea of that
It's not 1-1 VIP, and thankfully is a nerfed version of it in terms of splashability
delicate surge
United wings is funny
And tbh VIP pass is just bad for the game
final musk
I’m still not feeling great about Poffin, but I think that’s more not feeling great about stage 2 design rn
delicate surge
It really is just another user of it
final musk
Pokemon gets a rush duel-like app
card pool and HP balancing seems more akin to vanilla cards, with gen 3 HP balancing
final musk
While I think this is a good step to opening up another format, I think it is really bizzare that we still have to make separate projects for pokemon company and pokemon company inc.
This isn't helping PTCGLive at all be a decent app
opaque pelican
Man, that would be funny
Just Live being usurped by this tiny app that isn't trying to be a serious TCG sim
final musk
If PTCGO came back, Live would be usurped by that
That’s how barebones live still is over a year after full release and 2.5 years since beta started
delicate surge
just played against a really weird Glimmora, Grapploct, Klawf EX deck
sage acorn
Pokemon gets a rush duel-like app
wait so this is basically tcg lite?
delicate surge
it's ptcg but with simpler effects, a 3 mon bench, and lower power levels
digital crow
Ptcg duel links lmao
delicate surge
these trio were the core of the deck
they were also running a tool card that's just klawf EXs ability
opaque pelican
Damage reduction seems to be a way to play with Klawf ex
...But that just makes you wish Sandaconda V was still usable
sage acorn
wonder if megas are coming back to the tcg cause of Pokemon ZaZa
delicate surge
“Knocked out by damage”
Smh
opaque pelican
Ay, good job on your victory
opaque pelican
|| https://www.pokebeach.com/2024/03/stellar-tera-type-coming-to-the-pokemon-tcg-in-stellar-miracle-set ||
Alright, so spoilers in case you still are waiting to play The Indigo Disk, but this is a thing now. Maybe.
Also: ||Sylveon ex!||
||Finally got a good reason to use the Eevee from ASR||
digital crow
||Stellar type counts as every time, thus it hits everything for weakness||
delicate surge
||can’t wait for only stellar basic mons to be worth playing||
digital crow
||This implies that they'll print non basic stellar mons||
opaque pelican
Alright, so, what is the headlining cards of Temporal Rift, anyways?
I know ACE SPEC are up there, like the Master Ball for instance, but is there anything else?
(And the Master Ball isn't exactly that great anyways, but it's still leagues better than some ACE SPEC)
final musk
Master Ball's actually in the middle for Ace Specs
If not on the lower end
Master Ball is only seeing play in Lugia because Lugia is desperate for consistency, and is one of the most cuttable cards in the deck
The main Ace Specs are Maximum Belt, Hero's Cape, and especially Prime Catcher
opaque pelican
Ahh
It's still funny how the most sought-after item in the series would be considered pretty 'eh' in the TCG, if only cause this kind of effect is a dime a dozen, with most simialr cards having a very managable sort of cost or downside to do so
I can only imagine what other established items could do, like the Sacred Ash, for instance
final musk
Maximum Belt: If your deck hits 180, 190, 280, or 290 damage normally, you run it (Charizard, Arceus decks)
Hero's Cape: if you are a tank deck or a stall deck, you run it (Stall, Mill, Goodra)
Master Ball: Only run in Lugia
Reboot Pod: Only run in Future Box. Not even Iron Hands turbo runs it.
Drum of Awakening: Only run in Ancient Box. No other Ancient Paradox deck bothers with it.
Neo Upper Energy: Only run in stage 2 decks that barely function with it anyways
Prime Catcher: Run in literally everything else
opaque pelican
On the bright side, Master Ball is actually a reprinting. So most anyone who previously had Master Ball can use it
(I think, anyways)
Now, if only we can get a hand on something like Itemfinder...
final musk
The chase cards of anything higher rarity are:
Iron Leaves ex
Iron Crown ex
Miraidon ex
Ace Specs Maximum Belt, Prime Catcher, and Hero's Cape
The Ancient Paradox ex's function, but haven't proven anything good for results yet. Walking Wake ex actually sucks straight up too
Iron Boulder could, at best, be teched in Iron Hands ex turbo.
Anything else people are gonna be searching for is lower rarity
final musk
Time to manifest computer search for the next set
ngl, if they printed Computer Search at this point, it would see a small fraction of play compared to BW era
opaque pelican
Man, and the only thing I really want is Incineroar ex
Not cause it's great
But come on.
It's Incineroar
final musk
Like straight up, as a generic Ace Spec, Prime Catcher is that good
digital crow
I just want a full art lokix
final musk
And there's also Unfair stamp next set
opaque pelican
I mean, if it's just copying the effect of Guzma from Sun/Moon, then yeah, it's a given
And it's an item on top of that.
digital crow
Doesnt even need to be an EX, just one of those fancy 1 prize cards
final musk
The only decks that would immediately be on Computer Search are Lugia and maybe Lost Box
digital crow
And there's also Unfair stamp next set
Wait theyre reprinting reset stamp?
final musk
Wait theyre reprinting reset stamp?
Not straight up reset stamp, but an item Roxanne
opaque pelican
Just taking anything from the deck is hard to pass up. So that definitely sounds like a right good card
Unfair Stamp is very aptly named
digital crow
Huh
opaque pelican
It's one rude item card that does the whole deal of forcing the opponent to shuffle back cards to the deck
final musk
Item
You can play it if your opponent knocked out one of your pokemon the previous turn.
Both players shuffle their hands into the deck. You draw 5; the opponent draws 2.
It is arguably stronger than reset stamp
but an Ace Spec
opaque pelican
Roxanne already is a pretty potent card, only not used so often cause you can just use Iono anytime you wish
You had to be behind to play Roxanne. But with this, all you really need is for your opponent to deliver a KO on your mons
digital crow
Oh yea Iono is just better N right?
opaque pelican
Somewhat?
final musk
Like if the speed of the game were more geared towards control, like Reset Stamp during Zoroark GX's reign of terror, Reset stamp would be stronger.
But the game is so aggro rn that Unfair stamp is insane
opaque pelican
Like, with N, each player shuffles their cards to the deck, whereas Iono has players put their hand on the bottom of the deck (in any order, but that's kinda irrelevant)
digital crow
Reset was legal in pre tag team format?
opaque pelican
Thing is, with so much searching the whole bottom of the deck thing won't matter unless you just don't dive into the deck very frequently
final musk
Reset Stamp was Unified Minds, which Zoroark GX was still a big part of
digital crow
Huh
opaque pelican
But on the other hand, it means whichever cards you draw will be stuff you are guaranteed to not already have on hand
final musk
oh wait whoops nope. Zoroark was dead by then in standard
Reset Stamp was Zoro Control in Expanded
digital crow
Yea i thought i was going insane for a sec
opaque pelican
It's a forbidden card, if memory serves
So no playing any of that in an Expanded format game
final musk
Reset Stamp is, not was
They didn't just ban the card the moment Zoroark became bad in standard
opaque pelican
Y'know, I gotta ask if I can get a pin here, just in case there's someone in need of a resource to look up cards
Only question is, if it ought to be this
Or LimitlessTCG
Or something
opaque pelican
Ahh
Could pin both just in case, but yeah, I will say it looks a fair bit more refined
Yeah no on second thought this is way better
I def need to use Limitless more
I guess PkmnCards can be used to lookup older cards, circia Platinum and earlier
delicate surge
it would be cool to see Bosses orders of the AI professors
final musk
Ogrepon cards inbound
The item swaps ogrepon in play with ogrepon in discard
The ex’s will hopefully be up soon, but English ones were in a commercial
Ok unless there are any other support cards, this is not functioning as an archetype well
Pretty much the only decent ones are grass and fighting
Firepon requiring 3 fire energy is awful
All the engine lets you do is attach grass energy from hand to grasspon, then use items to move that energy to the other pons
Fighting is clearly the best target with its ability
final musk
On paper, you have ok disruption from waterpon, immunity from abilities from stonepon, and a Charizard matchup from Grasspon
That’s gonna be hella carried by Cornerstone and banking on lack of gusting
opaque pelican
Ayyy Ogerpon
My gripe is just, actually juggling all this energy
Reversal Energy would be perfect, but that cannot provide 3 of any energy for Ogerpon ex
Perhaps there will be some way of making that work here, but we'll have to see
graceful summit
Twitter
final musk
https://x.com/Pokemon/status/1768311367285776888?s=20
Can we get a meme that replaces this with “where are the goddamn Worlds dates?!”
digital crow
https://www.pokebeach.com/2024/03/boomerang-energy-from-crimson-haze
Oh shit recycle energy
final musk
G: Shuffle all of your basic grass energy into the deck. place damage counters on one of your opponent's pokemon equal to double the grass energy shuffled back.
We've seen this before with Volcarona V and it did nothing. Now this is a slightly better version, but on a rather frail stage 1
annnd the japanese card search went down again
Tera Greninja ex
W: 170; Search 1 card from your deck and add to your hand
WCC: discard 2 energy from this pokemon. Deal 120 to 2 of your opponent's pokemon
Ace Spec Hyper Aroma
Add 3 Stage 1 Evolution Pokemon from your deck to your hand
Remember: You cannot use this to search VMax or VStar pokemon. Only stage 1s.
Last new supporter is Lucian
UGH NO
It's fucking Ilima
Both players shuffle their hands to the bottom of the deck and both players flip a coin each.
Heads, you draw 6
Tails, you draw 3
Fuck that
no hydrappple this set either
Didn't get to copy artwork, but there was a ting lu that did 30 spread + Stadium discard
final musk
Ace Spec Hyper Aroma
God fucking dammit this searches Kirlia
gotta be real, there's like maybe 3 other new reveals of interest max and I can't get them to load
This set's pretty lame overall
the last ones are:
The previously mentioned Ting Lu
A Florges with an ability
An enamourous with an attack that can hit 200, don't know the condition
PCC: 80; +120 if you have a pokemon on your field with the same type as one of your oppponent's pokemon.
ok yeah Florges sucks, not posting
all that's left to check is Ting Lu
F: 30. If there is a stadium in play, discard it and do 30 damage to each of your opponent's benched pokemon
... yeah that's basically all of interest
Yeah I think all you have for useful cards is:
Ursaluna Blood Moon ex - Nerfed Radiant Charizard
Iron Thorns ex - New Empoleon V
Greninja ex - New Stage 2 Control deck
Morpeko - Mill support
Ting Lu - Bench Spread deck
Iron Leaves - Replacement to Tropius rotating
Ace Spec Unfair Stamp - Toxic
Ace Spec Survival Brace - Focus Sash but generic
Ace Spec Hyper Aroma - Search Kirlias
Enhanced Hammer Reprint
Maybe Perrin
the 30 HP Polchageist will be useful if we ever get a decent evolution, since it can't take damage while on bench
runic kiln
Please play PTCG Pocket 
opaque pelican
Alllright, did a whole prerelease
My pulls were... not too flattering, but I did acquit myself very well in playing the game
Will post stuff later
opaque pelican
Alright, so I don't got camera stuff
So I'll just come out and say I pulled the special Illustration Rare card for Eri
As well as the Drum of Awakening
Also ended up getting Gengar ex
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2024/03/loyal-three-kiernan-carmine-and-more-cards-from-mask-of-change
here have some cards
Having each of the "Loyal" Three get additional benefits when attached with Darkness energy is pretty cool
Most of em are pretty "eh", but I gotta put a highlight on Okidogi's Ability: 100+ HP and any attacks it uses deals 100 more damage.
Like, yeah, it's usual attack just deals 70 without any additional effect, but that would be cracked on most anything else
Carmine is just Professor's Research, except you can use it on your first turn if you go first. Could be helpful.
Kieran is just, I guess another take on what Serena, in Silver Tempest did
Bug Catching Set is very much appreciated
It's not that great but it's still appreciated given it gives grass types more things to work with
opaque pelican
Eh, somewhat. Though, I'll say, being in a situation in which you go first, brick and can't get rid of your hand just yet would make this better
Not very high praise I know
gilded heart
Idk
Is Carmine that bad?
Discard your hand and draw 5 is obviously worse than Research, but depending on the deck, it's kinda decent in the mid-game still
It's better than the "Shuffle your hand, draw 5" cards at least
And those aren't that bad either
Again, in the right deck
opaque pelican
Best I can say is, it's not a dead draw for the start of the game if you go first
You may end up emptying your hand out after setting your bench up, attaching energy and using items, so it can still see some use
final musk
Discard your hand and draw 5 is obviously worse than Research, but depending on ...
How often are you getting that into your hand turn 1?
And the more you play to ensure you get it turn 1, the less room you have for other useful cards. Obviously ain't gonna cut Research for that if you want to see Research more past turn 1
People will probably try it and be like: "Why not just play Squawkabilly ex instead?"
Squawk you don't want to see past turn 1 either, but it nets you and extra card an unlike Lumineon V, isn't dead if used via Nest Ball
People are gonna cope Carmine in Gardy, but at the end of the day won't really go out of their way to play it
gilded heart
How often are you getting that into your hand turn 1?
My point is more that it's comparable to tertiary draw cards (as in, anything other than Research, Judge and Iono), so it's not that bad to draw post-turn 1
final musk
as in, anything other than Research, Judge and Iono
That's the problem
if you don't see it turn 1 going first, might as well have wanted Iono or Research
And if you want to get to it reliably turn 1 to profit, you'd need a way to reliably see it
That means you most likely would run Lumineon V
And in that same 2-prize category, you have Squawk, which nets you an extra card compared to Carmine, and can be just as profitable going second, if not more profitable since you'd still have your supporter
gilded heart
Some decks play other draw power though
final musk
But no deck wants to play worse draw power than something already available
gilded heart
I guess 🤔
final musk
And both Squawk and Research fill the role better
gilded heart
I just figured some decks might want to double up on Research + Carmine
Since Squawk can't be used post turn 1
final musk
Serena had a Boss's Orders as an option in place of the discard to draw up to 5, had a more flexible draw to 5 option than Carmine, and saw almost no play
final musk
No it was not lol
gilded heart
I saw a lot of decks playing 2
final musk
Since NAIC 2023, which was nearly a year ago, it has been in 50 decks that have made day 2
Day 2
that's a lot of decks
It was moderately played in Lugia format, and even then it was a 1-of
gilded heart
It was popular prior to that is what I meant
gilded heart
It was used from LAIC onwards?
gilded heart
Sorry, prior to NAIC 2023
final musk
jfc
gilded heart
I'm juggling things rn, didn't explain well
final musk
Then again, only a 1-of
And not all the time either
Any deck that wants to turbo is prioritizing Squawk because the first turn of the game is that important
gilded heart
I'm looking at random lists from Lugia format, and I see 2 copies, but that's not a big point I was making anyway
final musk
If you go first, Squawk lets you see more cards than Carmine does
If you go second, Squawk lets you see more cards and doesn't give up the supporter.
If you need to run both, you are on some really wack shit
gilded heart
But I do feel you're ignoring the fact that Squawk doesn't do anything post turn 1
Well hm
I guess it conflicts with Research, but only if you draw both
final musk
If you don't see Carmine reliably, you might as well be playing research
To get to Carmine reliably, you need to run the same kind of cards you need to find Squawk
And Squawk is better in the situations you want Carmine
If a deck has a draw engine to facilitate, it is digging to find supporters consistently later on, which is better done by Research and Iono
The only time Carmine ends up being the best option as a result, is going first and only if you can play Squawk the same turn
gilded heart
But the point isn't to see Carmine reliably, it's that in a deck that doesn't see any Supporters with relevant enough percentages, Carmine can be fine to draw and use instead of Research, and if you see it with Research you obviously don't care and just discard it 🤔 I see the point about Iono, but early Iono has its own drawbacks in giving the opponent a fresh hand too
gilded heart
1 less card, but you don't run the risk of refreshing the opponent's hand 🤔
opaque pelican
Serena's unfortunate, since it was at the tailend of V dominance
And then ex came onto the scene, so it's really only going to keep getting less useful
Oh, I just realized
Fezandipiti has the whole "load up on psychic energy and go to town" thing.
...Granted, this probably isn't gonna be helping Gardevoir out much at all, but at the very least, having 120 HP means it's doing a little better than say, Lunatone (GO)
...Actually, going off the math on like, maximum number of counters you can put on before you can't, both of them will run nearly the same amount of damage done (Lunatone with 4, Fezandipiti with 5)
But I guess there's a coin flip of a chance you'll negate damage coming your way if you got Darkness Energy... which, is not a very well-set plan for Gardevoir ex
So I guess we're still back at square 1 regardless
digital crow
Discard your hand and draw 5 is obviously worse than Research, but depending on ...
what midgame? the card only works turn 1
also like, the card shutting itself off if you lose the dieroll is kinda bad
final musk
Squawk stops working after turn 1, not this
My take is that Squawk is massively better to where Carmine's supposed to be useful, and Carmine's really meh past turn 1
opaque pelican
https://www.pokebeach.com/2024/03/lanas-assistance-special-illustration-rare-from-crimson-haze
This already got shown off, but I just want to point out the illustration rare
Water-type friends~
delicate surge
Well I’m glad I didn’t craft chien pao because it’s one of the PTCG live freebie decks
And they just give you a pigeot charizard Tera deck for free
Trying out the freebie raging bolt deck
Getting demolished by a gengar deck
Oh well it’s on casual ladder and I’ve never used this deck before so idc
delicate surge
As much as I like the garganacl raging bolt deck it doesn’t feel very playable
delicate surge
doesn't surprise me
digital crow
Their fix to ranked mode was to cut it in half <:KEKW:622347587516628993>
Wait
Wydm?
final musk
Twitter
Realistically, none of this matters on a reward perspective since any award great ball tier and above is basically the same
But, at least getting out of great ball tier isn’t ridiculous now
Twitter
That is what I was referring to and originally thought was the only change
final musk
Yeah I'm looking this over and they fixed it somewhat
Great Ball being reduced all the way down to 160 points is the biggest improvement by far
However, with their new ratings, it is entirely possible to finish through Arceus Rank on a negative W/L
final musk
However, with their new ratings, it is entirely possible to finish through Arceu...
The minimum W/L you can maintain and finish the ladder through Arceus Rank is anything above 40%
On the old ladder, you needed above 50% just to progress above great ball
digital crow
Huh
keen fox
delicate surge
Yes?
keen fox
Idk thought it was kinda funny
gilded heart
This deck is pretty fun so far, literally Shadow Rider Calyrex in 2024 :p https://i.imgur.com/DOlQoNV.png
digital crow
Mewtwo ex gives me ptsd
delicate surge
man i am having awful luck with the raging bolt freebie deck
delicate surge
Wow the second I touch the tanked ladder I start getting BSed
And then very next game i faced a chien pao player who bricked horrifically
And then the game after that the same thing happened to me
opaque pelican
Ayyy Brock
gilded heart
Gengar ex is surprisingly competent? I'm still kinda out of the loop competitively speaking, but I'm beating stuff like Chien-Pao and Charizard ex with it 🤔 Live ranked ladder isn't the most credible source of testing, but I'm still surprised :p
Jacq is kinda a bait card, but I like it here so far
Mainly because I don't want to discard Boss' Orders or Giovanni if I can help it
I might swap it out for Researches still though
gilded heart
I did swap it out for 4 Research
opaque pelican
Still messes with me how Gengar ex is a Darkness type here
So used to it being Psychic
final musk
Gengar ex is surprisingly competent? I'm still kinda out of the loop competitive...
Competitively, it has way too polarizing a matchup spread
Gengar ex gets designed to beat Charizard and Arceus. Toss in a regular gengar. Toss in Paldean Fates Gengar ans you also invalidate stall
... that is where its good matchups end
Even better Charizard boards kinda beat it out, and that isn't a done deal
Beating Chien Pao honest sounds more like Chien Pao beat itself. Gengar ex is horrible against a set up Chien Pao board
In terms of bad matchups, in theory:
Chien Pao
Gholdengo
Lugia/Cino
Probably Roaring Moons not sure
gilded heart
Beating Chien Pao honest sounds more like Chien Pao beat itself. Gengar ex is ho...
Chien-Pao is an interesting match up, because all of their energy attachments are from hand, and they need to be constantly replenished, since Chien-Pao discards them. If you have enough Gengar ex in play (I have 3 often, mid-game), that means that they're doing a ton of damage to themselves, which can be capitalised on with Radiant Alakazam. Moving energy to the bench also helps a little, not as much as in other match ups, but it means they have to recharge Chien-Pao, which means more damage. They can grab a fresh copy, but then they're in Radiant Alakazam KO territory
I do agree that it sorta comes down to who sets up the fastest, if Gengar lags behind, they'll be dealt with too quickly
final musk
It does, yes
The thing is that Gengar has to be up and attack before Chien Pao starts swinging. Ghastly and Haunter are also both very susceptible to Ninja
An established Pao board can just load all the damage on 1 Chien Pao if they are winning the prize race
Doesn’t matter if Pao gets knocked out each turn if they are taking KOs at the same speed first
And as far as setup consistency goes, I gotta give it to Pao
gilded heart
Btw Pokemon League Headquarters does a lot in this match up
It also just won me 2 games back to back vs Future Hands :p
It's true that their Irida means Chien-Pao usually sets up super quick tho
There's probably a world where you play 4 Iono/Judge over Research
So far I've been fine though
gilded heart
This deck is also pretty fun... https://imgur.com/uwUZKSg
Oh I keep forgetting to put 2 Double Turbo in
torn wyvern
I assume any reasons to play spiritomb are gone now
final musk
Pretty much just a soft counter to Rotom V
Moltres V is gone, as is Fusion Strike
It also gets Lumineon V, but with Charizard leaning away from it, it’s just Lugia playing it now
opaque pelican
Man
Had to do a lot of sorting
Just filing away a depressingly long list of cards into some alternate storage just to seperate stuff from F-On and above cards
I'm gonna miss a few fun stuff from E block
final musk
It also gets Lumineon V, but with Charizard leaning away from it, it’s just Lugi...
“Why is Charizard moving away from Lumineon V?”
Iron Hands Turbo closes out games r really quickly between Lumineon and Pidgeot ex, so Zard players are opting to go double Rotom V until the deck reduces in usage.
final musk
new pastime: Getting bad stall and mill players to deck themselves out
gilded heart
delicate surge
Playing casual ladder rn and I am confused by what I am being forced to experience
But they were winning because I guess I’m terrible at this game and they opened everything
Wow the first wugtrio mill player I’ve faced and they crumpled the second I got roaring moon online
Idk why but PTCG is way more frustrating to watch the opponent go crazy and have a massive fuckoff hand while you’re struggling behind lmao
This message brought to you by someone bored and annoyed watching Espathra ex play and having way too many cards in hand
So now I’m just really fucking annoyed
i'm just trying to play the funny ancient pokemon deck
gilded heart
Ngl, on my opponent's turn, if the deck looks like it's going to take a while, I pull out my phone (or open a small browser window) and read my daily web novel chapters :p
The opponent having huge hands can be annoying to me as well, but mostly because I regret not playing Iono/Judge tbh. I think with the amount of draw power PTCG has, it's not strange for people to amass a lot of advantage, so I don't usually care about the opponent having 10+ cards in hand, unless it ties into their attacking gameplan, like with Tinkaton ex, which does damage per card in hand
final musk
Looking over prices of decks before the first big event for Temp Forces
Prices did jump up in general, but there was also some price gouging
final musk
Arc-Tina: 100 USD
Arc-Vulpix: 100 USD
Lost Box: 70-100 USD
Lost Tina: 100-110 USD
Lugia VStar: 100-110 USD
Gardy: Max 40 USD
Bax/Pao: 100 USD
Charizard/Pidgeot: 75 USD
Charizard/Bibarel: 55 USD
Snorlax Stall: 45 USD
Gholdengo: 80 USD
Ancient Box (No Moon ex, Awakening Drum): 30 USD
Dark Ancient Box (Roaring Moon ex, Prime Catcher): 90 USD
Great Tusk Mill: 45 USD
Iron Hands Turbo: 150 USD
Tailand's Regional winning Gouging Fire deck: 65 USD
Dialga Metang: 90-100 USD
Big Price Pushers:
Arc VStar is 10
Giratina Vstar is 8.50
Lugia V is 8.50
Lugia Vstar is 8.50
Dialga VStar is 9
Chien Pao is 5
Radiant Charizard is 5
Radiant Greninja is 6
Roaring Moon ex is 6
Mew ex is 5
Lumineon V is 5
Iron Hand ex is 20 USD
Ace Spec Prime Catcher is 30
Ace Spec Maximum Belt is 15
Ace Spec Hero's Cape is 10
Ace Spec Master Ball is 10
Ace Spec Awakening Drum is 6
Ace Spec Reboot Pod is 3
Ace Spec Neo Upper Energy is 1.50
delicate surge
Just played against a weird forretress ex ambipom deck
final musk
That was the default deck given at Paldea Evolved
final musk
God fucking dammit this searches Kirlia
Japan has been completely ignoring this so far it seems
instead, they are opting to play Unfair Stamp
opaque pelican
Oh that's a cool ACE SPEC
final musk
Unfair stamp and Ursaluna Blood Moon are like the only two new cards that are seeing regular play in Japan, and then Iron Thorns ex in Future decks
(From Crimson Haze)
Greninja ex is being tried a few ways but nothing is sticking or standing out
Hyper Aroma hasn't seen any consistent play in anything bar Sinischa ex decks, which are already peetering out
Focus Sash hasn't seen play period
Ursaluna is seeing play in Pidgeot Control, Lost Box, Lugia, and Charizard (which I don't think it is a good choice in Charizard)
Unfair Stamp is being tried in mainly Giratina and Gardevoir
There are quite a few decks whichs straight up got nothing from Crimson Haze
delicate surge
charizard might be one of the most brain dead decks ive had the displeasure of playing against in any tcg ever
decided i'd give scovillain ex a try since i have nothing better to spend my crafting points on and i like the little rascal
also hand control funny
opaque pelican
Spicy plants~
delicate surge
lost to a drifloon deck
annoyed
gilded heart
I'm testing 'Ancient Darkrai' rn, basically just Darkrai with 2 Roaring Moon ex and 1 regular Roaring Moon
Decks overperforming tbh
Gimmick, you were right about Gengar btw, it does ok, but it's not as good as I thought it was
What I'm playing for Darkrai btw https://imgur.com/MqrTrAv
I should try Ancient Box 🤔
final musk
Skip straight past ancient box and play Roaring Moon Dudunsparce
gilded heart
Roaring Moon as in the ex, I'm assuming? I've played a decent amount of the turbo variant, though not with Dudunsparce 🤔 I guess I can try that too
final musk
Both Roaring Moon and ex
gilded heart
Ah
final musk
yeah so bottom line, Master is a lot quicker to get to now
If I were doing this on the old point system, I would not be out of great ball league
I did a quick excel chart on it too and the number of games you need to climb up the ladder is about 4 times less
A few quick factoids on that:
50% W/L
On the old system, you would never get out of Great Ball tier
On the new system, you finish great ball tier in about 70 games
On the new system, you finish Great Ball and Ultra Ball in about 140 games
60% W/L
On the old system, it would take you 180 games to finish great ball tier alone
On the new system, a 60% W/L has you finishing Great Ball and Ultra Ball tiers in about 100 games. 45 on Great Ball, 55 on Ultra Ball
75% W/L
On the old system, you would finish Great Ball in about 70 games
On the new system, you finish Great Ball and Ultra Ball in 60.
Now does this actually mean anything? No, because the rewards on the ladder are still really inconsequential
However, requiring someone to play 140 games a month on a W/L equivalent to placing top 64/32 in a regionals, just to get out of Great Ball tier loop, is absolutely absurd and the new system at least splits up players way more appropriately, even if it isn't a good ranked ladder at the end of the day either way.
The main downside to the new ladder, if anyone even bothered to care, is that having a 50% W/L still means you will eventually get up to the top of the ladder. Anything above a 40% W/L is guaranteed progress.
gilded heart
Good to know I suppose... Idk if I'll even make a push for Master, I guess I'm fairly close, less than 200 points to go, but I get bored playing the same deck over and over 🤔
torn wyvern
new master not leaving old great ball is crazy
what were they doing with the old ladder
gilded heart
It was a grind and a half yeah
torn wyvern
is tm devo even getting the job done against zard anymore
final musk
It is considered for tech, but gets countered by Mist Energy somewhat
Also bib-Zard does not care about Devo as well
Unrelated: https://www.pokebeach.com/2024/04/palafin-ex-box-revealed-for-june-with-three-brand-new-cards
Lmfao they incorporated Palafin’s ability proper
This seems rather scary with DuDunsparce engine
The main problem is moving Palafin to the bench. Moving it back up is really easy
250 for 1 water and 340 HP on a “stage 1” is gigantic
Before Palafin ex, the highest raw damage printed on a 1-energy attack was 160 from Garchomp ex, and then 170 from Greninja ex
final musk
Deck core for this would definitely be Palafin, Dudunsparce, and the recently revealed Abra
Choice Belt is the obvious tool to power up its damage but it definitely will need Rescue Board to allow Palafin free retreat.
delicate surge
Slap a rigid band on that bad boy
final musk
With 340 HP it almost doesn't even need Rigid Band
Rigid Band does have decent use cases here though
Cinccino needs 6 energy to kill it instead of 5
Chien Pao needs 7 energy instead of 6
Charizard needs 5 prizes down to kill it, and could no longer do 4 Prizes + Maximum Belt
Arceus deck literally can't kill it without hitting for weakness
opaque pelican
Ok wow Palafin is jacked
Yeah, there's a definite downside to using it, but look at that HP!
final musk
Yoooooo Dunsparce Moon on bubble for Top cut
opaque pelican
gilded heart
🤞
gilded heart
Did Andres lose his last game?
opaque pelican
Let's give a hand for Iron Hands!
final musk
Won a cup with Roaring Moon Dudunsparce 
opaque pelican
Ayyyyyy nice work!
final musk
Pull anything interesting?
1 booster box for winning
Alt Art Iron Crown
Alt Art Deerling and Sawsbuck
Ace Specs Maximum Belt and Hero's Cape
Full Art Eri
And about a dozen regular art exs
gilded heart
Nice!
delicate surge
Tbh I might swap max belt for prime catcher in scovillain
But that might just be me staring down a luxurious cape mimikyu
gilded heart
Wouldn't Lost Vacuum work better?
delicate surge
It’s more the mimikyu at all that was an issue
Chili snapper bind exists but is also slow
gilded heart
Ah
delicate surge
First time playing the freebie chien pao deck and a pidgeot charizard player got me stuck with an artibax in active slot and most of my energy stuck on radiant greninja and chien pao
So because it was casual I bailed instead of wasting my time
gilded heart
@final musk Why exactly is non-Rule Box Roaring Moon played in Roaring Moon Dudunsparce? Is it just as early/near-instant attacker to snipe low HP 'mons?
It's not getting to high damage numbers in that build as far as I can see
final musk
It can hit the necessary 230 in matchups required
Anything bigger than that and you are either ex killing it or two-shotting it
It digs through the deck well enough to go after basic ex Pokémon
Had baby moon 1-shot Iron leaves, Chien Pao, and Sandy Shocks at locals
Baby Moon trades really well in the early game, and then you either ramp baby moon to uptrade or use ex to maintain the lead
Or, baby moon to stay just behind enough for ex to finish the game at the end
gilded heart
Pog
final musk
Pog
delicate surge
Good lord PTCG live is such a battery sucker
delicate surge
Playing scovillain when fire is like the best deck rn is ):
delicate surge
this could be funny to build around
opaque pelican
Hand Destruction does sound like a funny idea
You could probably use this along some cards like say, Arbok ex, Grabber and such
delicate surge
At the same time scovillain does the same thing but better and for enough damage to where you can win normally too
graceful summit
opaque pelican
what
delicate surge
god i think i'd rather just go without a mat to locals than have something like that in public
graceful summit
Agony even
delicate surge
or having something like that at all
graceful summit
Amazingly enough from the comments, the dude was actually super chill lmao
But still
delicate surge
you probably would have to be to get away with a mat like that
final musk
Ladder is definitely overtuned lol
It's inconsequential too because the rewards are so lackluster
gilded heart
Rewards aren't that bad I think. It was 750 ish credits for Ultra League right? For people that didn't come from PTCGO, that's decent. Obviously more would be nice, but it could be worse 🤔
I'm still in Ultra League rn
I think
I'm trying my best to ladder with Gengar 
Deck just feels like the right amount of challenge to play
Oh, I'm Master League
I thought Ultra was 1k
delicate surge
So it turns out edopro isn’t the only game who’s shuffling program likes ripping me a new one
opaque pelican
Ouch
final musk
mask of change is up, gonna start seeing if there's anything interesting left
Luxray already got an ex
that DCE attack is pretty solid
DCE: 120: look at your opponent's hand, pick a card from it and discard it
LL: 250: Discard all energy attached to this pokemon
runic kiln
Arbok already powercrept 
delicate surge
oh this is just scovillain but a stage 2
final musk
this looks at the opponent's hand
Scovillain is random 1 + 1 from top of deck, Arbok the opponent picks 2
delicate surge
true
final musk
loading going slow from here. I'm already up to the metal pokemon though, not a whole lot else interesting
Next pokemon, whenever I can get the page to load, is metal-type Heatran
delicate surge
hitting for 250 lightning ain't bad
final musk
Ok I don't have translation yet but this is sick art
But like I'm 3/4 of the way into the set and this is only the second interesting pokemon that hasn't already been revealed
opaque pelican
Luxray already got an ex
TCG just loves Luxray, it seems
final musk
ok I passed over it but there's a Scollipede with the same effect as Alolan Raticate for DC
which isn't really that notable when Alolan Raticate is just better since both of them need 2 attachments
oh whoops nope Heatran is sus
Ability: If a pokemon damages it, burn that pokemon
Attack: MCC: Discard all metal energy on Heatran, do 50x each energy discarded
this isn't bad but Zamazenta honestly seems better
needing 5 metal energy to outdo Zamazenta when Zamazenta powers up is wack
only matchup Heatran does better than Zamazenta in is... Lugia, and that's assuming Lugia keeps using Survival Cast
pokebeach has pictures. The last cards worth translating from what I can tell are:
- Ambipom
- 1 more Ace Spec
- 1 more tool
I am guessing the first line of that Ace Spec item is that you can only use it if your opponent has 3 or fewer prizes remaining?
I'm gonna guess it is generic add 1?
Honestly an Ace Spec with the same condition with Roxanne would have to be nuts given Unfair Stamp has an easier condition
final musk
Ambipom
Ability: When you evolve this pokemon from your hand, flip two coins. For each heads, randomly select a card from your opponent's hand and shuffle it into the deck.
final musk
Oh no I fucked this one up
Ace Spec Item Box
You must discard 3 cards from your hand to play this. (How did I screw that up)
Add 1 item, tool, supporter and stadium from your deck to your hand.
I have no idea of what to think of that
final musk
Handy Fan
Tool
When the pokemon this card is attached to receives damage, choose 1 energy from the attacking pokemon and move it to one of the opponent's benched pokemon.
annnnnd... yeah that's bascially it
delicate surge
Oh it’s a gengar card
final musk
Stuff that I think has a chance at comp:
- Kitakami Festival (Thwackey, Dipplin, Swirlix, Festival Grounds, Bug Catching Gear)
- Zero-to-Hero (Palafin and Palafin ex)
- Illumise (Early threat removal going second)
- Abra (A retreat pivot that doesn't lose to Snorlax)
- Dragloak (Air Mail)
- Tatsugiri (Stellar Fish)
- Waking Whistle (Stall)
- Kieran (Damage supporter with alternative effect)
- Jamming Tower (Whenever there's no other tool removal in the format. Maybe next year)
- Hearthflame Ogrepon (In Arceus Armorouge)
- Cornerstone Ogrepon (In... something?)
Other fun stuff
- Ogrepon Box (It's the cover)
- Chandelure (Build the opponent's hand up for mass damage)
- Conkeldurr (Free 250 damage if self-poisoned)
- Okidogi (230 HP, 170 Damage single prizer. Tough to set up though)
- Heatran (Meme option for Dialga / Metang)
- Legacy Energy (Lugia can play Iron Hands ex)
I honestly think the 3 ace specs in this set are all pretty lackluster for what they are worth
Legacy Energy really only has use in Lugia for allowing Iron Hands ex, and that probably gets outclassed by Survival Cast a lot of the time.
Scoop Up Vacuum is extremely redundant with Turo and Penny in the format.
I don't honestly know what deck would want to run Secret Item Box over other Ace Specs.
The big thing about Secret Item Box is that the decks that probably set up ok from the card... wouldn't want to give up Prime Catcher
delicate surge
I think I’m about to get clobbered by Revavroom ex
Honestly this player is exceptionally based for playing Revavroom turbo
delicate surge
It has heroes cape, defiance vest, and two leftovers attached
opaque pelican
Jeez!
graceful summit
Ok I don't have translation yet but this is sick art
Common Akira Egawa W
graceful summit
Also, I applied to the Professor program because my LGS owner wants someone to run Pokemon and I'm tired of seeing leagues die.
Just got approved but now I need to do the big background check so ayy.
The stuff for the background check is hella intense, but with Pokemon I understand why
gilded heart
Good on you, I'm sure many people in your LGS' area will appreciate the work you're putting in
digital crow
Do we have a full art lokix yet?
graceful summit
We do not
digital crow
Aw
final musk
Twitter
opaque pelican
Eh, it’s to be expected
But jeez, more bugs.
The client just cannot catch a break!
graceful summit
Tbf, Darkrai has historically had some great cards
Like Darkrai EX, and Darkrai EX 🙃
opaque pelican
Battle Academy is the answer
Cards are supposed to remain simple, so it can be played like a board game you can use to teach the TCG to people through
final musk
and thankfully unlike last year, this year it is actually a separate product
Instead of shoved into Obsidian Flames
final musk
lol they took down PTCGL for 2 days maintenance to address this
So JustinBasil does metrics for Pokemon as far as tiering everything...
Expand out the picture, what is off about this metric set?
digital crow
Did miraidon ex fall off that badly?
digital crow
No tier 1?
torn wyvern
Did miraidon ex fall off that badly?
flaafy rotated
digital crow
Oh did it?
final musk
No tier 1?
Tier 0 being 25%
digital crow
True as well
Is the 65% thing a consensus between all tcgs or is does it vary, btw?
final musk
It would likely vary, but idk any other TCG that would put it at 25%
opaque pelican
From what I gathered, there's much greater chance for making comebacks here than other TCG's when pitting something against a "top deck"
But, it's a good benchmark for a lot of TCG's
final musk
Charizard is a swiss army knife but does not have the results yet to be called a tier 0
opaque pelican
Unless you're playing something that's like, meme tier, or a deck that literally doesn't work you still do have a chance of winning with most anything
final musk
25% is accurate despite top 8s being a really restrictive metric. 25% plays out similarly looking through top 16 and 32s
Pokemon's tier 0 would be something like Silver Tempest Lugia
final musk
Nope, ADPZ was another one
And no, SIT Lugia was a bad format
mirror was generally who set up first and who prized what
opaque pelican
I imagine whomever designed that thing just took the easiest way out in making up some card text and effects for it
Like, seriously, Altered Creation GX would at least be something that requires like, a vast sum of energy of different types to use
All you need is like, 1 kind of energy and a metal energy, and it does all that
final musk
If you use championship points as a metric, Lugia was 40%
opaque pelican
(Wait i'm wrong, it requires a single metal energy at minimum, but you only need a single water energy for the other requirement. Still just uncalled for)
final musk
Using that same metric for this format, Charizard is 25%
opaque pelican
And come on, Lugia is like, cool
final musk
It oppressed a lot of shit
opaque pelican
Who doesn't like it when the sea being or whatever grand title it has gets a very sweet card
final musk
You literally could not play a multi-prize deck besides Lugia or Mew
Arceus only got by with Path to the Peak
Same with mew
your choices were Lugia, a deck that floodgated Lugia, Lost Box, or Regis
opaque pelican
For all the crap I gave Arceus VSTAR, it's at least pretty reasonable a card.
So it almost made up for this divine farce. Almost.
rich pine
What makes charizard a toolbox? Been a while since I played and looking to get back in
I can see pidgeot ex searches any card so I’m guessing it’s that alongside a heavy hitting low cost attacker?
torn wyvern
charizard is basically a free attacker due to it's ability
they're also using more utility mons like regileki to control a boardstate
torn wyvern
Is the 65% thing a consensus between all tcgs or is does it vary, btw?
yeah like gimmick said, YGO is a complete outlier when it comes to that sort of representation, going over a 1/3 of format share can be and has been considered a disaster in other TCGs
opaque pelican
Pretty much Charizard ex (From Obsidian flames), Charizard (from GO), and a lot of fire-type stuff
Funnily enough despite the stereotype that Charizard cards are like, incredibly expensive, the deck itself remains rather affordable.
Just so long as you're going for the usual printings and not like, the illustration rare stuff
final musk
I can see pidgeot ex searches any card so I’m guessing it’s that alongside a hea...
This is exactly it. You tech whatever trainers or auxiliary attacker that you want for the purpose you need
Turo
Iono
Roxanne
Eri
Your Ace Spec
Radiant Charizard
Collapsed Stadium
Lost Vacuum
A tool to modify Charizard’s damage
Whatever you want
Some builds are even playing more offbeat recovery stuff like Team Yell’s Cheer because they have the space for it and can easily reach it
Unfair Stamp is gonna be a nightmare next format and Pidgeot is a lot of why, even if Unfair stamp isn’t the best pick for the Zard mirror
final musk
Pretty much Charizard ex (From Obsidian flames), Charizard (from GO), and a lot ...
The fire type attackers is the piece that has been cut the most. Nowadays all you will see is Radiant Charizard
Outside of the Philippine regionals, Entei V Delphox V and Gouging Fire have seen next to no play in Zard
rich pine
How does the deck play into control? Also how’s the matchup spread? Thinking about going back in
torn wyvern
It actually used to be pretty bad into snorlax stall due to lack of switch cards
I haven't paid attention to recent lists so gimmick can prob give an update on the matchup atm
final musk
Recent builds playing Team Yell Cheer kinda dump on Snorlax stall
Some builds playing Regieleki for similar effect but aim to win instead of force tie at worst
Lax has fallen off hard overall
rich pine
What’re some good tech cards for the best decks? I’m hearing some people using the ace specs belt in Zard mirrors
final musk
For Ace spec, you’ll currently see 1 of 3
Belt to offensively push in the mirror or against Espathra
Prime Catcher for overall play and still push in the mirror
Hero Cape in specific builds to make a Pokémon way tougher to kill
Mist Energy techs against Tina and Roaring Moon
Jirachi techs against Lost Box and Tina
Eri and Devolution TM go hard against a Zard with fewer Charmeleon
Lost Vacuum is devastating against Gardy and will be good against Lugia in the future. Also useful against anything of control putting up a hero cape
Regieleki is the easiest way to shit down control and blocklax
rich pine
When’s the next set? Also where do I find a database of cards for the next set?
rich pine
Huh, that’s the same day/1 day before as the LA regional
Are new sets usually immediately legal?
final musk
Gotta be real, the full art Cornerstone looks way better than the alt art
I think the other alt arts look fine by comparison to this style
Like here’s the other 3 alts
And then Cornerstone, where the perspective sucks for it
Also there are 14 ogrepon cards in this set
final musk
The regular Teal Mask
4 ex
4 ex Full Art
4 ex Alt Art
And Gold ex Teal Mask
And somehow the worst art is one of the Alt Arts
opaque pelican
Still better than having 5ban Graphics phone in and calling it a day
Whatever we felt about Ken Sugimori artwork being slapped on things is about how I feel about 5ban Graphics
(Some of em are still cool, but eh)
digital crow
Are all 4 pons playable in the same deck btw?
opaque pelican
They have different names from the looks of it, so it seems so
final musk
The is functional, but likely not meta-capable
You have to use Teal Mask ex to get energy onto itself, then use the item card to mask change into a different ogrepon and attach its corresponding energy
digital crow
I see
final musk
It's not that strong though. Teal Mask ex takes at least 2 turns to get enough energy to attack... with any of the forms
Teal Mask can target down anything grass weak and that's about it
Wellspring can take dual prizes if hitting small stuff
Cornerstone's immunity is honestly the biggest driving force the deck has right now
Hearthflame is very difficult to make work in a combined deck because it requires a damaged Ogrepon
Which
210 ain't exactly a milestone right now
Realistically, Cornerstone will make its way into some meta-capable deck whether that be control or a better deck that can power itself up
Hearthflame will absolutely see play in Arceus Armorouge
digital crow
Oh yea DCE rotated out right?
final musk
no
digital crow
Wait no?
final musk
Just that DCE doesn't help Ogrepon's problem
Teal Mask needs 3 Grass
Cornerstone needs 1F 2C
Wellspring needs 1W 2C
and Hearthflame, for what it can do in a combined deck, is 1R 2C
Heartflame's better attack is 3R, which is completely incompatible
The problem with charging up ogrepon's in a single turn with a combined deck is that Teal Mask can only accelerate grass energy
So you'd end up needing 1F 2G, 1R2G, or 1W2G
digital crow
ogerpon energy that's double rainbow next set, trust
final musk
Hearthflame's better attack being 3R is right at home for Arc Armor, which already plays Gouging Fire
Cornerstone is going to prey on stuff with its ability, and will likely end up in control or Lost Box
opaque pelican
I mean, DCE has rotated out for some time, but it's replacements aren't too helpful either.
Such as Double Turbo Energy
final musk
I mean, DCE has rotated out for some time, but it's replacements aren't too help...
DTE is still used in Lugia and Arceus what are you talking about?
opaque pelican
I mean, for Ogerpon
final musk
ok yeah
opaque pelican
It's still immensely helpful for Lugia
opaque pelican
My gripe is really, you'd have to be dedicating yourself to a lot of energy juggling to use em in a cohesive deck
Always figured that there would be something to help with that, but so far there isn't
final musk
Realistically from Twilight Masquerade, the best new deck with a chance at being competitive is probably Palafin ex
final musk
Dragapult ex also probably has a chance, but its energy cost is ass
it's more gonna be individual cards that help decks than decks that enter the meta
And forget changing the meta on any decent scale, Charizard will still be the deck to beat likely
rich pine
LA regionals is May 24 and twilight masq comes out May 24, will the regional have the new set legal?
gilded heart
Apparently not by the rules? https://i.imgur.com/mPa6hTJ.png
final musk
Twilight Masq legal for tournament play June 7
They give sets 2-3 weeks release before legality so that there’s no scramble for getting cards at a venue
gilded heart
Hmm think I've arrived at a good Gengar list tbh
Time to find another low tier deck to play
The build in question btw
Hm
Not sure why that's not embedding
Oh ew, win 11 issue
Cape could be Prime Catcher or Max Belt
delicate surge
TFW you prize all of your bibarel
digital peak
wait, why does terapagos first attack have that restriction?
opaque pelican
Ayyyy Cinderace
It's a weird restriction, yeah.
It's a very potent attack considering the cost, so it's likely there to keep you from having such an easy time doing KO on your first turn, if you go second
digital peak
I guess
opaque pelican
...It's not too powerful all things considered, though, so it's still admittedly weird
Also, ayyy they bringing back Crystal Pokémon
digital peak
I like how these stellar teras have moves that cost 3 energy of different types
reminds me of old school lugia cards
opaque pelican
Like this?
Lugia's whole deal with multi-energy requirements was a cool nod towards its role in The Movie 2000
digital peak
Kinda but I gave a more obvious example (the 3 types of the spanish kanto birbs are used for its attack)
opaque pelican
Aah
digital peak
Also, ayyy they bringing back Crystal Pokémon
crystal changed types, these dont as far as I can tell
opaque pelican
Weird how that is, but I imagine something in the set these are from likely may
digital peak
tera in the tcg got that protection from damage on the bench, pretty cool tho
final musk
We'll see if those are real but gotta be real, they'd need some specific support
This could be like Amazing Rare all over again where their value is determined by other engines
opaque pelican
...Oh, they haven't been officially released yet?
Ah
The design is spot on however
final musk
no, this is a claimed leak from Indigo Disk set
opaque pelican
Gotcha
final musk
It's a claim on the set Stellar Miracle, which isn't due til July
If those cards were real, they are pretty friggen difficult to set up their attacks for the most part
you'd basically have to pair them with Lost Zone engine besides Cinderace
Cinderace you'd just aim to spam the 280 damage attack
opaque pelican
Yeah, I'm guessing there will be something that encourages, or makes it easier to use these attacks in these sets, assuming these are very much real
280 damage is incredible, even if you can't use it twice in a row.
But it's a stage 2, so... eh
We'll have to wait and see
final musk
If that were the actual design of the card, Stellar Tera would have no differentiating from regular Tera
So anything that supports Stellar Tera would be suppporting Tera
opaque pelican
Lapras though, jeez gawd
final musk
Lapras is funny but bad
opaque pelican
20 cards excavated, and you slap any energy you find there onto anything you got
It's very impractical since this is an attack with a steep cost, but 20 cards practically guaranteeds you'll find something
final musk
We similarly had amazing Rare Jirachi with the same concept and it saw no success for that attack
opaque pelican
Key thing here is Amazing Star only states Basic energy though, and you see the top 7
final musk
and, it was a 1-prizer
no success
even after Lost Zone engine came out
it was easier just to power up whatever you wanted to attack with the Lost Zone engine
AR Raikou and Rayquaza only saw competitive success once the Lost Zone engine came out
opaque pelican
Terapagos ex looks... pretty unfortunate, really.
First attack is just, why
I mean, you can use Double Turbo Energy with this, yeah, but why
final musk
Terpagos first attack would be decent design if the rest of the game carried forward on that design
but the game doesn't do that
opaque pelican
Whereas the second, while it could have been very potent awhile back, it's not gonna get any better for it
final musk
The second attack is too specific a requirement. beats out a few decks, useless against a bunch others
opaque pelican
Galvantula is similar, argh
final musk
Cornerstone covers a way better niche with its ability.
opaque pelican
A very steep cost for preventing your opponent from using items. You best hope you got a good few ways to slap that kind of energy on it each turn, cause argh
final musk
Charged Web is a lackluster attack on a stage 1
Fulgurite would entirely depend on your ability to set it up
opaque pelican
So my thoughts really are
Cinderace is very nice, but really it's a beatstick
Lapras has some promise, but it's steep cost for that ridiculous attack may not pay off well. It may turn out, may not
Terapagos is... argh, that's an unfortunate card
Same can be said for Galvantula
final musk
and yeah the common thing everyone seems to be pointing out is that stellar tera isn't a specific marking, which is off
opaque pelican
These are very good, well-made cards if they are false, though.
Props to whoever did it if so
final musk
also yeah Stellar Tera pokemon still having weakness lol
Also if this leak actually holds up, this would be the smallest english coreset
about 50 cards less than SV1, 2, or 3
digital crow
Ngl i forgot this card even had an attack
hot prawn
final musk
Gotta be real, the only reason so far the Loyal 3 even have a chance of playability is Dark Patch.
The fact that Pecharunt ex isn’t compatible with the non-ex trio is baffling
Fezandipidi being the return of Oricorio GX is awesome
Kyurem is really fucking dumb hard counter design because the devs don’t have the guts to ban cards… and this is well after Lost Box was the best deck (Base SV was when Lost Box was the best deck)
Neutral Center is likely not a good stadium without doing a really, really hard meta call, especially since Sydney rotated
final musk
If Regidrago VStar had a better way in standard of dumping Dragons, Kyurem would be insane for it
In Expanded, Kyurem is nuts for Regidrago
delicate surge
Poison Mochi is a Klawf enabler
hot prawn
Kyurem hates colress like Kendrick hates drake
opaque pelican
Well, someone is still salty about being forcibly merged, yet still incomplete
A right shame there's nothing involving a Side Deck in the TCG
delicate surge
I fully expect binding mochi to see play in exactly pecharunt and Klawf decks
final musk
And Conkeldurr
digital crow
Bro wtf did lost zone do to the devs?
opaque pelican
Seriously, with this you could legit wipe out like 3 parts of a Lost Zone thing
Comfey has only 70 HP, plus you often can knock out some other stray mon out there contributing to the bench
opaque pelican
There's been a lot of cards that sound like they were specifically there to deal with cards, like some cards introduced in Plasma Blast, Mightyena (ASR) and Drapion V, but this is definitely on a whole nother level
final musk
lol Gamestop is officially getting into the market of graded Pokemon cards
opaque pelican
They're getting desperate to stay up, for sure
final musk
I also did a little bit of looking into what you get per build and battle core for Twilight Mask
Infernape and the Fesitval grounds ones are cracked.
Infernape's is nuts if you get Nape set up because it gives you Okidogi
Tatsugiri is a good card, but the core it gives you is a really lackluster Florges
graceful summit
Lmao at Gamestop
Shame my leagues are just starting up this weekend so no Prerelease
But heres hoping to healthy turnout
final musk
Infernape's is nuts if you get Nape set up because it gives you Okidogi
I just looked up the full pre-release structures
They give you everything for engines, but they give you almost no attackers
The Thwakey set gives you 1 Dipplin, 1 Rillaboom
The Infernape set gives you 1 Infernape, 1 Okidogi, and either 1 extra Infernape or a Chi-Yu
The Froslass set gives you 2 Glalie and 1 Munkidori
The Tatsugiri set gives you 1 Fezandipidi and 2 Florges
The froslass set literally can't do damage without either taking damage itself or the opponent putting an ability-mon into play
The snorunt can't do damage even lol
Tatsugiri's only significant damage is Florges for 120, or Fezandipidi for its attack
This seems really in favor of making a consistent Infernape deck, even better if you pull Infernape/Tatsugiri
This also seems way more pack-dependent than previous Build and Battles
The worst I have done in any build and battle in SV era was X-1, and this one will probably end that with bad pulls
So yeah tiering that, combos feel like
S Tier:
Infernape/Tatsugiri
Thwackey/Tatsugiri
Next tier:
Froslass/Tatsugiri
Infernape/Thwackey
Bottom Tier:
Infernape/Froslass
Thwackey/Froslass
opaque pelican
Innnnteresting
final musk
Whoever pulls Cornerstone Ogrepon likely just wins the whole tournament
Thankfully the release I’m going to guarantees 7 packs total just for staying the whole time
hot prawn
Gimmick are any of the ogerpons viable you feel?
I want to slot waterpon in chienpao and firepon in zard
final musk
They are, but probably not how you mentioned
Waterpon in Lugia with Legacy Energy. The only benefit it gives to Chien Pao is a better Dialga matchup, which may or may not matter down the road.
Firepon might be a tech in Zard, but is better fit in Arceus Armorouge
Stonepon in either Control or Lost Box
Grasspon likely not viable. Some folks are trying to hype up Grasspon with Raging Bolt ex, but it probably isn't meta viable.
final musk
At prerelease
Pulled Infernape/Thwackey and had to cut the whole nape line to make a deck consistent
Only good pull was scoop up cyclone
final musk
1-1 game 2 opponent opened Froslass + Munkidori + a shitton of supporters. I opened Ting Lu and couldn’t do damage due to Munkidori. Drew energy multiple turns and couldn’t do shit
final musk
2-1 finish, they ended early due to locals prepping for an mtg event
final musk
Props:
- Pulled 2 Ace Specs out of 7 packs
- Finished 2-1 despite shit pulls for the pre-release tournament
- Okidogi carried both wins
Slops:
- Got to attack with Dipplin once the whole time. prized both Dipplin round 3
- Drew into half my energy early 2 different games.
- The two Ace Specs I pulled were Hyper Aroma and Scoop-up Cyclone
Halves I pulled were Infernape and Dipplin. I pulled an extra 1-1 Dipplin line from packs, so that felt better to build around than a 3-2-1 Infernape line. I took Chi Yu and Okidogi from the Infernape set, pulled 1 Tatsugiri
Having only 1 Infernape in the Infernape half if you didn't pull it as the promo is so lopsided
To make top 3, you had to win rounds 1 and 2 and then ID round 3
The only KOs I took were with Okidogi and Rillaboom
Top 3 decks from that were someone who pulled Cornerstone Ogrepon, a person who pulled a lot of extra consistency to make Solo Froslass/Munkidori, and someone who built Okidogi turbo
The loyal trio were easily the strongest cards from pre-release that weren't ex's
final musk
The market price for pre-release Scoop-up Cyclone is actually nuts
gilded heart
Was inspired by Tord's Stockholm Charizard Control(ish) deck and made a watered down version with Gengar :p It's actually working p. nicely so far https://i.imgur.com/Woe2wfP.png
Neo Upper is kinda nice when you can recover it with Roseanne and grab it out of the deck again with Pidgeot
gilded heart
Halfway to Arceus League one-tricking Gengar 
I'm putting way too much effort into this deck for how good it is :p https://i.imgur.com/YU7HMny.png
That is to say, not
final musk
Made Arceus rank again
It's pretty easy to farm PTCGL when there is a new slew of inexperienced control/stall players as a result of Stockholm regionals