Just finished the event, format was 3 rounds Bo3. Went 3-0, and here I’ll share my thoughts. Got the Barbaracle deck, I was a bit bummed (I needed the Poképads so couldn’t complain) but then I pulled a Mega Zygarde from the packs so I thought I had a chance at doing well. Decklist will be in the comments. The consistency was through the roof, and not facing Serperior was really key, this deck had no chance against it. The ranking (without any crazy additions like Mega Starmie or Mega Zygarde) for me is 1) Serperior 2) Doublade 3) Barbaracle 4) Tyrantrum. The last one was too slow, if you go first and don’t get any fossils it’s kinda over, probably best going second to abuse Petrel+Stadium.

I live deep in the countryside. VERY deep in the countryside. So deep that when the last card shop to run Pokemon locals went out of business in 2018, that was it in my area, leaving just Yugioh and Magic. I've always been more into Yugioh, but when that locals is filled entirely by racists, the game really doesn't matter because I don't want to have to listen to grown men calling anything and anyone they don't like the N word, and after trying it multiple times, I think I've safely earned the right to say Magic isn't really my thing.

So with my first pick and 12th pick of card games rendered unavailable to me with literally every other game from the recent card game boom skipping over my area entirely, I was completely ecstatic when I read a local card shop's Facebook page say that they're going to start running a Pokemon locals on Tuesdays. So I go to the drugstore and buy the Lucario starter deck, then go with my best friend to EB Games because I know we can do better to prepare for steep competition and we both manage to get the Charizard EX Structure deck, ready for anything that seasoned veterans of the game can throw at us.

And then locals came. And the only people in attendance were me, my best friend, and 3 kids who were half our age and below. I had to work that night so I left early. The only match I got to play was against a little girl no older than 8 who didn't fully understand the game. It was not a satisfying win.

I work alternating Tuesday/Wednesday nights, so the next week I just didn't go because the first night left such a bad taste in my mouth, but two weeks later, I was willing to give it a second chance, but a snowstorm got the shop to close early. Fast forward to tonight and I go to the card shop, and turnout is just me, my best friend, and a child. Just one singular child. That wasn't enough people, so locals just got canceled tonight and me and my best friend went to get pizza instead. Needless to say, this wasn't the level of competition I wanted out of finally getting to play the card game. I think the locals is going to die off and I'll end up back in the same spot I was in December, just with 80 or so fewer dollars and a basically worthless deck considering the lack of people to play against that isn't bullying.

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE DO NOT HATE ON LIMITLESS OR ON RARE CANDY. THEY ARE COOL PEOPLE!!!!!!

ALSO THIS IS MY VIEWPOINT, I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

(edit at the bottom)

TLDR/clearing up misinformation at the bottom

I am CoochyBaby5000. I am a young-ish senior that has been collecting(?) since first grade but learned how to play in 2017 and played in my first tournament in May 2018. My username and PTCGO account were not mines to begin with. Originally, when my little brother started the game along with me, we got PTCGO accounts. Mines progressed way slower in terms of collection (remember we were still so casual that the more EX's/GX's you had the better your fire/darkness dual type theme deck was). My little brother's account had the name; it was his Minecraft username that he had at the time, and was completely innocent. Eventually, I forgot my password and started using my little brother's. I now just use his because my cards are on that one. If you logged into my old account, you would see that my best deck is Zoroark/Gardevoir with one of each and no Leles and I'm playing Hau as a draw supporter. It's what happens when a Junior like myself back then tries to make a competitive deck.

Fast forward in time to the pandemic: nobody has ever complained or noticed it before. My lifestyle has not changed aside from online school and going to my local game store. I've been playing in the Sunday Open (please join) and the qualifiers. I have gone to 2 regionals and made my little brother's top 16 deck for a regionals. We both got our first worlds invite this year from league cups with like 3 players. I almost day 2'd the first qualifier but lost both win-and-ins (because I got outplayed, not because they reported me). All is fine and nobody - I repeat - NOBODY - has found my username offensive or reported me. We would have changed the username if we knew how to (technical issues, yesterday I learned what a support card is and submitted one) but also since it's arguably cringeworthy and my little brother made it so we jokingly make fun of him now.

Now that exposition is over, let's get to what happened. I was 2-2 in limitless playing Melcario Zacian (I have a decklist for anybody interested, may post it in comments)

Then I am paired versus Zach Lesage. This is the moment that it all started.

My first thought is "Wow it's Zach Lesage, I know him! I watch his videos!". I don't think much else of it because I'm not a huge fan of Rare Candy's decks and I've seen that his list is pretty janky from AzulGG's stream (I am still a fan of Rare Candy's content though). Along with that, I have a nice matchup. We start playing and after denying his Altered Creation for a few turns, he makes his worst misplay here: He tries to go for a full Altered Creation, underestimating my energy denial. I get rid of his energies and KO his ADP. When the footage of his stream was reviewed by AzulGG on his stream, I learn that he tried to talk to me via in-game chat (I have a semi-locked account as I am still a child, so I didn't know what he was doing/telling me. I didn't get any communication). Apparently, he told me that he knew I was going to win but I have an offensive username. After I win, I rush outside to tell my parents because I just beat a famous content creator!

When I try to check in for the next round, I see myself in no pairings. I have been disqualified from Limitless Qualifier Number Three.

After learning about it and checking that it wasn't just a technical issue, I was sad, to say the least. At that point, since nobody knew about this, it was my word vs. Zach Zesage, his following, Limitless, and their following. And I felt completely powerless. I had been rule-sharked by somebody I looked up to.

It became worse after learning that this could go on my permanent record since it had been reported to TPCI.

It became even worse when I learned that his method to get me disqualified was essentially:

"I don't like his username, don't you agree, chat?"

And then he said that multiple others agreed with him (i.e, his fans).

I was given ZERO warnings. The name was ALLOWED by PTCGO's filters. Limitless did not try to talk to me until the next morning. I had no chance to defend/explain myself. I had no way to appeal it. Since it was reported to TPCI, I knew that I might never play a tournament again. The whole time I was asking myself "Why is this happening?" I was disqualified for no harmful intent. Zach didn't even have something to gain - his resistance was now worse. He had actively made his resistance worse just to disqualify me from this.

I moped around for a bit, knowing there was nothing I could do. When I logged back on a while later to play some games (what else should I do) I was asked to look at AzulGG's chat. I looked and saw a stream of #Justiceforcoochybaby5000. I ran out to the pool and showed my family. Azul reviewed it on stream, which is how I learned what Zach had said. Eventually I looked on the Twitters (I don't use Twitter btw, just looking) and saw all of these streamers on my side.

Now instead of me versus Zach, his following, limitless and their following, it's Me, part of Zach's/Limitless' following, and most of the streamers I knew versus Zach and Limitless. I tried to monitor the streams so nobody had incorrect info, but failed miserably.

People are now sending me packs on PTCGO to compensate. I love them. Also some guy gifted me a Twitch Prime sub :D

TL;DR: I was rule-sharked by a streamer and got disqualified from Q3. Then I became a meme. 2020 is surreal. You should play in the Sunday open.

Clearing up stuff:

-I am a young-ish senior.

-I beat Zach Lesage fair and square.

-I am not harboring any hate for anybody. Neither should you.

-I think I can use the old username for the Sunday open, but not Q4. That may change, idk.

-Rare candy is the team Zach plays for.

-Rare candy and Limitless are awesome, and I will continue to play in their tournaments and watch their content. You should too!

-It says that I am a Master in the Sunday Open. I asked to be thrown in with them.

-I am not being paid to promote the Sunday Open. It's just cool. Join here: https://ssx.chairtaro.uk

-I am from the US. Idk why people think I'm from the UK.

Once again reminder to NOT HATE ON LIMITLESS OR RARE CANDY

​

EDIT: I may actually have to change my username. I want it to reference this whole drama like "FormerlyCB5K" or just "CB5K" (CB5K = Coochybaby5000). If you have any ideas for a username, please post them in comments.

EDIT 2: If you are a mod for Virbank City Gym please let my mom in, I don't use FB. Also imma sign off for the night but will probably respond to some comments anyways. If you see me on the ladder, say hi!

I won a league challenge today, but after I started thinking about how I played in the final match due to a way I acted.

I went into the final match knowing that if I drew, I would finish 1st overall. I won the first game, as we go into the second game, I realise that we don't have too much time remaining and I cannot win the second game. If I have a slow start, his deck has potential to wipe my board, before I can set up (in the first game he had rare candy Dragapult). So, instead of conceding, I played things cards like boss's orders to bring up a Pokemon with no energy, making it harder for them to win, and overall running down the time. By the time the second game ended we had 1-minute before time and decided to draw.

After I left the venue, I realised, that's probably the first time I've ever tried to essentially "waste" time by making it harder for my opponent to win (when not being in additional turns). I wasn't slow playing, I completed all my actions at the same pace I had been all day, but it made me think. Is this way of playing frowned upon? Or, (as long as I am completing my actions at a normal pace) is it okay?

Edit: Thank you for the comments!

https://limitlesstcg.com/decks/list/25106

Pokémon: 17

3 Munkidori TWM 95

2 Mega Audino ex ASC 172

2 Mega Absol ex MEG 86

2 Latias ex SSP 76

1 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104

1 Mew ex MEW 151

1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142

1 Hoopa ex PAR 98

1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56

1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141

1 Pecharunt ex SFA 39

1 Yveltal MEG 88

Trainer: 30

4 Arven OBF 186

4 Boss's Orders MEG 114

2 Cyrano SSP 170

2 Iono PAL 185

2 Penny SVI 183

2 Crispin SCR 133

1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176

1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64

2 Nest Ball SVI 181

2 Night Stretcher ASC 196

1 Precious Trolley SSP 185

1 Tool Scrapper ASC 212

1 Energy Switch MEG 115

3 Bravery Charm PAL 173

2 Lively Stadium SSP 180

Energy: 13

7 Darkness Energy MEE 7

4 Psychic Energy MEE 5

2 Mist Energy TEF 161

It's technically classified on Limitless as Mega Absol Box, but Mega Audino is the real blood and bones of the deck.

I went 9-2-2 and lost in the final round in Game 3 with 1 prize remaining vs Absol Box off of a drawn Boss's Orders.

Only 2 complete duds off of Kaleidowaltz all tournament, but I won both of those games.

The math actually supports Mega Audino over Turbo Energize. You have an 87.5% chance to at least get 2 energy, and a 50%(!) to get more than 2 energy. This is fantastic. Also, with Arven you're allowed to get Precious Trolley and Bravery Charm. Without the reliance on Turbo Energize, you don't lose to a turn 1 Jamming Tower, and you can also more reliably set up your energy. Petrel, Cyrano both fulfill the conditions, so you have 7 supporters that start you off instead of 4. With the added Charm, this means your Audino has 320 HP after using the setup attack. Most decks cannot OHKO it under those conditions, and the ones that can don't have a great matchup vs the rest of the deck.

Latias ex is a surprisingly good attacker, and Hoopa ex came up in several situations especially vs Absol Box (though I ended up losing both matchups).

I had a lot of fun playing the deck and would recommend you all give it a try!

The past weekend saw 2 concurrent standard tournaments taking place, totalling almost 4000 players, or almost half of a Japanese Champions League, for scale. Despite Dragapult winning all of Prague, LA, and Aichi beforehand, new winners finally emerged in the post-rotation format. The other grand finalists were both Dragapults, of course, the deck is still BDIF, but neither could make it all the way.

Utrecht Winner: Miloslav Posledni’s Mega Lopunny Dudunsparce

An iteration of the deck that got 8th in LA, the big bunny took home the W. Gone are the 3 useless Spiky Energies, and in are 3 Fire Energies and a Moltres. This inclusion allows a better matchup into Slop playing Teal Masks and the occasional Grass Decks, since the Spikies were basically dead slots anyways. Notably this list runs only 3 Poffins and 3 Lillies, maxing out of the Pokegear instead to increase the chance to find Wally’s Compassion as high as possible. The meta call of ‘pretending fighting decks don’t exist’ continue to pay off here, as Miloslav faced literally 0 of them the entire way, and banked on the great pult matchup all the way to the championship. The success of this deck will inevitably results in higher Watchtower usage and perhaps the increase of Garchomp & Lucario, but only the future can tell if that’s significant.

Campinas Winner: Matias’ Matricardi’s Hydrapple Meganium

From a rogue deck to regional winner in about 2 weeks, the Hydrapple ex deck is taking the meta by storm. With many decks running Shaymin, the Arboliva build is ceding play rate to Hydrapple as the premier Grass deck (the Megas continue to be fake). Anyone who’s played with or against this deck knows that it hits for very big numbers, and the inclusion of Celebi & double Meowth for aggressive consistency paid dividends. The ability for Hydrapple to accelerate energy to another mon allows the usage of Tapu Bulu as an excellent single prizer with an attack just strong enough to kill all Ogrepons and 2-prize liabilities on bench. In general the lists are fairly similar, but both Unfair Stamp & Hero’s Cape prove viable ace spec options.

Utrecht’s Top 4: Joshua Vanoverschelde’s Rocket’s Honchkrow

The only single-prize deck to have made top-cut at Utrecht, Honchkrow bounced back from a terrible LA to getting top 4 on the back of Youtube’s very own ZapdosTCG as the pilot. His list remains unchanged from its 28th placement at Prague, and Joshua cites better practice as a reason for his greater success this tournament. The deck itself still boasts a terrible conversion rate into Dragapult as an archetype, but perhaps Joshua has shown all it really need is more ride-or-die.

Campinas’s Top 4: Bruno Barros’ Rocket’s Spidops Mewtwo

Another theme deck apperance, this Rocket Box fittingly ran Secret Box for maximum consistency similar to the list from LA. Gone are the Handheld Fans, as respect for Festival Lead has cratered. No Rocket’s Kangaskhan also means only 3 Giovanni, and the 1 Archer has found his way back into the deck. 2 Poke Pads + 1 Energy Search promises smooth turn-2 acceleration, minimising situations where you cannot find your Spidops / Energy. Importantly, a Counter Gain and a Brave Bangle are present to replace the Tool slots, allowing Mewtwo to attack with only 1 energy attachment for turn as well as turning Lillie’s Clefairy into a plan-C attacker now that the deck runs 1 Basic Psychic.

The Emergence of Predators:

With a smaller share of Pult preys like Alakazam and Festival Lead, Dragapult counters are on the rise. Raging Bolt sees the most obvious rise in usage, followed by Lopunny Dudunsparce, Slop Box, and even Clefairy Ogerpon. These decks all boasts great conversion rates, and promise to shave down the Dragapult numbers one meta shift at the time. However, these numbers should be self-correcting, as the single-prizer that feeds off them will likely see an increase in response.

How’s the good-against-Pult-but-loses-to-grass decks been doing? Garchomp made 13th at Utrecht with a Rare Candy list, while Zoroark earnt 2 top 16s. Oh, there’s Grimmsnarl too? Yeah. Grimmsnarl gang better hope Special Red Card carry them because it’s not been looking good. Mega Absol? …

The Post-Rotation MVP - Dudunsparce

Initially, only Akazam really ran a lot of Dudunsparce as a synergistic draw engine, but with the lack of reliable draw supporters in the format, as well as the legality of Poffin and Poke Pad, many other decks began to follow in its stead. Dragapult was of course the first to find great success, so much so that the Dunsparce variant has easily overtaken the much overhyped Blaziken in terms of success. Mega Lopunny was the next, seeing great synergy with Dudunsparce’s ability to get itself out of the active. But is that too pedestrian for your taste, still? How about Mega Starmie Froslass Dudunsparce, seeing good day 2 success in both Campinas and Utrecht. This combination isn’t new per se, and it has been seen circulating in Japan, but only now has gotten its big breakthrough in the TCG. Is that still too meta for you? How about Mega Lucario? This combo actually boasts a pretty good conversion rate at Utrecht, forgoing Hariyama’s clunky bench space demands for an extra draw engine on top of Luna Rock, not to mention allowing you to reset Mega Brave should the opportunity arises. We also see a few Archaludon lists running this to some small results at the lower tables, but expect that deck to make a bigger splash once Prism Tower arrives.

Misc. Fun Facts

• If Lopunny can win despite auto-conceding to Fighting Decks, is there another archetype that can do the same? Yes, sort of. Mega Kangaskhan Bouffalant sees 3/5 players making day 2 at Utrecht, with 1 breaching top 128.
• Slowking got its highest placement so far at Campinas, earning a 16th spot. This is another deck that will benefit grealy from the upcoming Chaos Rising set.
• Prime Catcher got its highest placing post-rotation in the 2nd place list from Campinas on Fracisco Osorio’s Dragapult list. Imo Prime Catcher is severely underrated.

Welcome to the Official Pokémon Champions League - Osaka 2026 Megathread!

🗓 Event Dates: March 28th - March 29th 2026
📍 Location: Osaka, Japan

MAIN EVENT

Tournament format

Regulation - Cards with a regulation mark H or later

<DAY 1> 5,000 participants (estimated capacity) will be divided into three groups for the preliminary rounds.

Each group will play a maximum of seven rounds each with a maximum time limit of 25 minutes, and after the final qualifying round, players with two losses or less will advance to the main tournament ① to be held on the second day.

<Day 2>

- The players from each group who advanced to the first round of the main tournament will be grouped together and compete against each other.

- The Main Tournament will be held with only the win/loss results from the Preliminaries (Day 1) carried over.

- Up to 8 rounds will be played, and the top 16 players will advance to the main tournament

- The time limit for these rounds is 25 minutes

<Day 2> Top Cut

-The 16 players who advanced to the main tournament will compete against each other to determine the winner.

-Each match is 25 minutes, with the finals being 35 minutes.

all matches are best of one

PRIZES :

• Top 4 get an auto invite to the WCS 2026 and priority qualification for each Champion's League in 2026
• Top 8 get Priority invites to Japan Championship 2026
• Top 32 gets Priority entry to Japan Championships 2026 - And a pack of sleeves!
• Any player with 10 or more wins between the two days gets a priority entry slot on next year's Champion's League events - and a special edition stamped Enhanced Hammer promo
• Any player with 4 or more wins get's a stamped Scizor Ex promo!

For more information about the Japan Championship format, and how to earn your invite, please see here

Important Information:

📡 Live Updates:

• Follow the event on the official PCS website for real-time updates and match results.
• The Youtube STREAM is located here
• Can't speak Japanese? Don't worry, AZULGG is streaming the event on his Twitch Channel

Questions about the japanese meta? The format? Let us know here!

As a senior I have just won my first ever pre-release! More points than anyone else, (12) and won all my games. I'm sososos happy. After winning my second game, I was paired with a master and when I walked to his table the people next to him on one of the masters tables laughed because they thought he would easily beat me. I beat the master I was playing against in 5 turns and not only was he shocked he was quite annoyed !!!!! Really happy with the results, can't wait to attend the next event.

Finally won my first pre release with ampharos I ended up cutting the emolgas and a couple energy for a 2-2 Cinccino ex line and special red card. Cinncino definitely carried most of my games and I'm not sure if I'd say I was lucky but all my games were against crobat 😭

Honestly surprised but at my local all of the crobat players were having a hard time

I know it’s just a regular local tournament, but I finally went undefeated with Hydreigon (4-0) 🤧 I know the card will probably never be meta-meta. But it feels good to win with one of your favorites.

Ugh, small vent time.

This month, a bunch of us at the LGS were super hyped for the challenge, but when Sunday rolled around, it was nowhere to be found. Turns out, our LGS has decided to stop doing challenges for the foreseeable future. Why? Because some players complained about not getting prizes for 4th place and below.

I've only been playing for a few months and even traveled to a Regional in PDX just for the fun of it. So it really stings to miss out on these local challenges and cups. We're in a rural town with only one LGS, and the next one is a good hour and a half drive away.

It seems like the easy fix would be for the LGS to just hand out more prizes, but is that really their responsibility? Just something I've been thinking about today. Thanks for listening!

I’m looking at decks from LA and was interested in Hale’s deck. However, I’m not sure why one Abra without any evolutions is in the deck.

Hey,

I've been playing standard for maybe five weeks now, I've spent the last few weeks playing 2-3 events a week, trying out decks, spending a bunch of money and enjoying being in a competitive TCG again.

I posted a couple days ago, talking about dealing with TR with Alakazam. Our usual nights are best of one, five rounds. Cup challange was best of three with a top eight cut. I played a few games against a guy running Slowking and was like- oooof. I didn't know this game had combo decks. And spent the next three days trying to find Stellar Crown Slowkings/Pokes.

Deck I ran:

• 4 Slowpokes
• 3 Slowkings
• 3 Kangaskhan Ex
• 2 Latias, Fez
• Meowth Ex
• Lillie's Clefairy Ex (Dragapult, late game finisher)
• 2 Kyurem (triple 110 damage)
• Spectrier (110 in counters, for Shaymin)
• Annhilape (Knock us both out if I can't another way)
• Haxorus (Knock out a basic, so many basic Ex's)
• Conkeldurr (Straight 250 no downside)
• N's Vanillice (Double damage on opponents guys)
• 4 Pokepad
• 4 Lillie's Determination
• 4 Ultraball
• 4 Ciphermaniac
• 4 Academy
• 3 Stretcher
• 4 Wondrous Patch
• Switch
• Prime Catcher
• 4 Psychic Energy
• 4 Telepathic Energy

First, I have to say the deck is amazingly fun and is far more reliable than you'd think. It has some issues, like refueling the Slowking sitting in active if he survives the round.

But like, Pokepad for Slowpoke attach Telepathic, fetch Slowpoke Latias is pretty much my standard opening. Having Ciphermaniac with Kangaskhan was also so good. Cipher before Run Errand if you need cards- or Cipher to set up the combo if you don't have Kanga or Academy.

Going into the event, I'd played maybe five games and goldfished about the same.

Round 1 into Dragapult. I go first, my second turn I detonate his bench and he scoops. Game two he gives me first turn and go off again turn two. Opponent is like, "How do you have that again? It's like a five card combo." I just shrug, talk about all the fetching. Round done in ten minutes and so I go outside to get a coffee and waste 40mins.

1-0

Round 2 into Garchomp. I go off turn 3, detonate his bench and opt not to put 110 on his Garchomp. It gets a Rocky Energy and a Power Weight. He doesn't put another pokemon down. I get stamped and don't recover before Garchomp gets it done.

Game 2 he leads with quad little dinosaur dudes into their evolution. I Kyrem 3 of them. He Petrels for tower to shut down Kanga, Stamps me. I draw an Academy. Run errand, two Academies. Kanga retreats- but he bosses him out for the win.

Ooof. That wasn't great.

1-1

Round 3 Frostlass/Megastarmie. This opponent was one I've played against the last two events and had bricky draws with Alakazam compounded by Budew. When I flipped a Kanga, padded into Slowpoke and Telepathic fetched for another and Latias he was like, "Oh god, this isn't Alakazam."

No, no it is not.

Turn two I Ciphered for Slowking and an Academy, wiped his board.

Game 2 was a lot harder as I wasn't drawing super well, had issues with Budew. I had to trade a couple times, using Annhilape to drop megas for three prizes. The second time, he was like "Okay, game is a draw." and I blinked. Looked at his prizes. I didn't realize I was so low.

We called the judge over to ask who goes first, when the middle game draws. Apparently that game doesn't resolve and we play a third, which is decided by first prize taken. Which, I think, if he wins we play a game three? I'm not really sure.

Well, I drew decently and went off turn two.

2-1

Round 4 into Megadiance. This opponent has become my nemesis. Four events in a row she has taken me apart. In my short time playing, I have to say she's one of the most methodical and knowledgeable opponents I've played against. She plays a lot and has been playing a long time, has played everything and understands how pretty much every deck works.

Game one I don't draw super well, Fluttermane locks out both Latias and Kanga doing anything from active. I end up getting stamped and am unable to recover.

Game two I go off turn two, board wrecked, scooped and next game.

Game three, she completely outplays me. From understanding that Wondrous Patch doesn't work on active, getting a Slowpoke up and unable to attack. Through locking me down with Fluttermane and into the most back breaking play I've seen.

She starts the turn with some random stuff, Mega Diance plus two Duskskulls. Through repeated draw/tutoring/getting lucky on the Lillie's Determination, she manages to Rare Candy both Duskulls to Noirs, find a Boss and annihilate three Slowpokes. I'm left with a Kanga, Latias, no Slowpokes in my deck, one Stretcher remaining.

I spend some time trying to find that last Stretcher, but come up short. We've gone into overtime and I won't be able to get a Slowking online in time- she can easily get two prizes.

I scoop and congratulate her on some excellent play.

2-2

Going into round 5, I know I'm not making cut with a 3-2 record, I've finished game 4 in overtime and immediately had to go to the next game with no downtime. I'm tired and kind of checked out.

Round 5 into N's Zoroark. Well, I haven't actually played against this deck. I have a vague idea of what it does. I can also tell that my opponent has played his deck a lot and all the cards are full arts. Also knows exactly what my deck does.

Opponent has a two Zoroarks, the poison switch guy, another big guy and the red bird dude. I manage to go off and take one prize, put 110 on both Zoroarks intending to use Vanillice next turn to double the damage.

I sit there staring at the board for a second. 110+110=120. Not 180. Double Kyurem doesn't remove Zoroarks. I just threw the game, I get punished for it.

Game two, I don't draw super well- but neither does he. At one point I have Kanga on the bench and an empty Slowking in active. I Cipher for the parts I need and realize.. I don't actually have Switch in hand. I can't get the cards I need off the top of the deck.

I give my opponent two turns to recover his boardstate, unable to do anything. The first thing he does is drop a tower to shut off Kanga. After developing his board, he starts removing pieces, Stamps me- and I fail to recover.

2-3

...

Well, I didn't make my goal of top 8 - or even a positive record. And game five I basically just threw by making play errors. I think round five was winnable if I was more focused.

Issues I faced:

Relying heavily on Kanga as my draw engine can leave me unable to draw and he can be a three prize liability- I feel like most decks are running Rocket's Watchtower at the moment.

Fluttermane/Budew. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to play around ability/item lockout. Item, not so bad. Ability is devastating.

Dusknoir. I wasn't expecting to see a deck running multiple. I really don't want to have to run Shaymin.

Unfair Stamp repeatedly lost me games. I need to either learn to play around it, or start running Eri or the denial guy who needs an item.

Rocky energy and a large amount of health. I can't one shot it. I wonder if there's a single non-basic removal tool in the deck in my future.

...

N's Vanillice was absolutely useless. I used Haxorus twice. Conk repeatedly. Spectrier repeatedly. Kyurem repeatedly. Annhilape a couple times.

I need to find a better option for removing evolved guys with >250 health. I think I'm gonna add Zorora (deal like 220 to a benched Ex) because Shaymin doesn't protect Ex's and I can easily go after all the support Ex's for two prizes per.

What's your current Slowking list and what are your flip cards/why?

So let me be open, I usually love Pre-releases. I love the idea to go with something new, that everyone gets something new. Is fun, is fresh.

I have been going since I started playing with Journey Together. Even that honestly, my luck in packs in underwhelming, to say the least.

However once I saw the leaks for Perfect Order I got worried right away. One Grass deck with weaknesses into two other of the decks? Weird choice.

It was even worse once we got all the deck lists. Bárbaracle was clearly the weakest, and by far.

I kept an eye on the threads here. To prepare myself either way. I admit that I was a bit worried to indeed get Bárbaracle.

Comes the day, and of course I got it. Not only me, but my two kids (Juniors) that also went, also got it. 3 of us, 3 Bárbaracle. And 0 Zygarde.

Because yes, the deck can work, but only if you get Méga Zygarde. Still, I feel it was a very unfair choice made by the Pokemon company, if you compare it to the three others.

Serperior has the advantage into two decks, as mentioned. Plus you can ultra ball Rosas encouragement, if needed.

The Doublade deck is also very good on its own. And Tyrantrum gets super tanky with the special energy.

They also got great cards with those decks. Ignition energy. The grass stadium. The special energies.

What was Bárbaracle given? Nothing.

You get Landarus, which is only 120hp! Doublade can kill it with only 2 cards in hand. Serperior can kill it with 3 Pokémon in play. And you also only attack for 120, which does one shot anything either..

Even if you get Probopass, you still struggle!

And the energy acceleration just works with fighting.

My kids got Méga Starmie and Méga Clefable (one each) and we're able to use them to get some victories. But that was the cards themselves. Bárbaracle played no part in it.

Again, I know I am ranting. I do. I admit that I am salty.

But honestly, if we look at it - was it fair? Because it was really not a fun pre-release. I have lost at other pre-release, but at least I was having fun and had some space to show skill. Here?

It was like a very unfair balance between every other deck and Bárbaracle.

And sure, if I would have gotten Méga Zygarde (I saw another Bárbaracle deck that got two of them), it could have worked. But that's heavily depending on pulls...

Disappointing. I have another one Tuesday, and I am thinking to skip, because I don't want to get there, get the same deck, and feel stuck for more games where I can't do anything.

After lurking the competitive side of the hobby for a few years, and finally getting back on it with a Shrouded Fable ETB back in 2024 for my birthday, on Monday the 11th, I went to my first prerelease event. Was I nervous? Yes. Will I go to more events? Definitely.

I showed up to the small local store, completely baffled with the idea that I’m going to talk to other adults about Pokemon to an extend where it’s beyond the basics. I picked up my Build & Battle Box and sat quietly in the back of the room, away from the groups of people that were opening their boxes together and discussing strategies, favorite cards and more. I ended up getting the deck I wanted, Goodra. In my 4 packs I was also able to pull a Mega Floette ex and a Prism Tower, both good for this event. The nights before, I had already spend a few hours looking into the decks and what I could possibly do when it comes to my deck building, so I ended up going with the full Goodra evolution line, the Mega Floette ex and only one copy of Espurr and Meowstic. I sleeve up my deck, I get my things in order and wait for the shuffle.

First Match vs Crobat:
I met my first ever locals opponent, we shake hands and we chat a bit about my being a first timer in an offline event. Surprisingly, both him and the people around me reacted in a very enthusiastic way, happy that I took the leap to play. In short, I was able to get a Goodra live in three turns, and started getting my prize cards down to my last one. The turning point was that my opponent played Crobat, confused me, and the dice roll didn’t go my way, so I ended up losing my Goodra on the next turn and then I couldn’t come back due to not drawing any Lillie's Determination and energies, so I had no resources. The one “negative” thing is that my opponent played a couple of his cards and abilities without fully knowing what they do, and when I asked to check the text, he ended up reversing his actions (e.g. Crobat ability, he thought he selected 1 card from his deck and put it in his hand). I didn’t want to say anything negative like “you already made the move” in the spirit of my positivity, which I won’t repeat in an event that is not prerelease. So 0-1 it goes.

Second Match vs Ampharos:
Ampharos was my second deck of choice, so I was excited to see it in action. My opponent was a very experienced player and a Pokemon judge as well, so he was by nature very helpful. Unfortunately, I opened with Mega Floette ex, but without any energies or draw power despite having Prism Tower, 3 Lillie’s & Poke Pads in my deck. After a couple of rounds I was only able to evolve a Goomy into Sliggoo but my enemy was slowly building his bench with Mega Pyroar ex and an Ampharos in the lead, so I sank slowly into defeat. 0-2.

Third Match vs Crobat:
I was feeling good because both matches have been a good learning experience, so I was heading into my third match with the same confidence if not more. I match with another Crobat, lovely guy again, guided me step by step and fixed my mistakes (I played Dawn in the 1st turn of the game). I opened up with Goomy and Mega Floette ex on my bench, I quickly evolve in two turns up to Goodra and start knocking out his active Pokemon. He didn’t have a lot of luck in drawing so he bricked really bad, to the point where I used Switch to move my Mega Floette ex on the active spot, and tanked with the +30 heal attack every turn until he decked out. My first offline win! 1-2.

Third Match vs Delphox:
Really happy to play vs all different decks in the same event. Great opponent, came from another TCG to have a more pleasant experience while playing. He opened up quickly with Vulpix and two Fennekin. I open with one Goomy. He goes first, attaches and on to me. I draw.. nothing. I got stuck with no energy, two Goodra in hand and two AZ supporters that were not useful. The game went back and forth for maybe 10 rounds, where I bricked again and didn’t draw any draw support or energies, and he slowly burned me to the ground. Total tally 1-3.

Overall I was able to confirm what I was seeing in all these videos from other locals and events; the Pokemon community is really friendly, eager to help you and there is cool vibes all around. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve signed up for another prerelease event this upcoming Friday! Then, I have to make an actual deck to play on locals lol. The store gave us 2 packs also for participating so it was cool to open up new cards, felt amazing. Said bye to everyone and walked to my car as I heard them starting to trade with each other, again, really cool!

Started playing just around a month and a half by now. Surprisingly not a lot of Pults running around (noticed three at most) and just 4 matches, but still pretty good and a pretty convincing run on my first three matches (Ethan, Dragapult and Spidops Mewtwo). Lost my final matchup against Zoroark pretty hard though.

List:

Pokémon 19 3x Eevee 1x Eevee EX 2x Flareon EX 1x Leafeon EX 2x Sylveon EX 1x Lillie's Clefairy 1x Psyduck 1x Rotom Fan 1x Ogerpon Wellspring Mask EX 3x Hoothoot 3x Noctowl

Trainers 30 4x Crispin 4x Lillie's Determination 1x Xerosic's Machinations 1x Black Belt Training 4x Buddy-Buddy Poffin 2x Ultra Ball 2x Night Stretcher 2x Area Zero Underdepths 1x Battle Cage 2x Air Balloon 1x Sparkling Crystal 3x Tera Orb 3x Boss' Orders

Energy 11 3x Fire 3x Psychic 2x Water 2x Electric 1x Grass

Xerosic will be turning into a Red Card effective immediately (it was my last event before it's actually legal). Psyduck's been there as a counter for Dusknoir, but I've not been seeing those in a while. Thinking about replacing it with something else, but not sure what yet. Any ideas on something to put in there for possible Zoroark or Alakazam (or maybe the impeding Greninja) matchups, since I've been feeling like I fold like wet tissue to any Zoro so much as breathing in my general direction? (Not really but I feel like I always have close matches but can't really close it up all that well)

Hi all, I was wondering what your experiences were with European venues for the regionals.

I went to Birmingham, UK this yesr but I also wanted to try going into mainland Europe for next season. I'm interested to know what your favourites were are what the biggest and smallest ones were. I also plan on getting to EUIC for the next season. What was that like for you?

played at a challenge tonight, 5 rounds best of one, during my 4th round someone stood over my opponent and said "they have game in hand if they can figure it out" . i mentioned it to the judge afterwards if they can have a stricker ruling and make a statement before challenges not to do that

Our group headed to NAIC and felt incredibly confident with our chances of making day 2. We tested had quality lists etc… 2 people from our group went 5-1-3 missing day 2 by a single point And another went 4-1-4

With so many ties it feels bad knowing that you just lost 1 game the whole day

Is there something we’re missing to make sure we close out series? Do we just need to play faster, tell our opponents to speed up?

I just feel like we’re missing something especially when so many pros seem to consistently just have so few ties

Edit: Thank you all for the feedback and insight!

At my locals I’ve won four weeks in a row at our weekly store tournament going 16-0 just playing gouging fire and dengo. I definitely feel bad and will probably play something more rogue next week, but curious how you guys would feel if one guy at your locals won all the time. Would you want them to nerf the deck they play or prefer they play their best so that beating them is more satisfactory?

For context a few guys have been to regionals but everyone else is at least playing hard meta (bolt, dragapult, Tera box, etc)

EDIT: Since people have been asking for my Gouging Fire list it was pre-rotation, and I basically took the 8th place list from Brisbane and cut 1 Flutter Mane and 1 Boss for 1 extra Gouging Fire and 1 extra Nest Ball. I didn't think Flutter Mane was all too relevant in my local meta and I've always been a fan of 2 Boss over 3 for any deck that has access to Munkidori (this card is gross)

So in regard to playing in person, this pre release was my second outing. Ended up with the Doublade deck and went 0-1-2. Was wondering if anyone else had a good experience with it? and how they used it. I mainly focused on trying to work to maximize ‘Weaponized Swords’.

But I was curious on thoughts maneuvering this to 60 cards? I have some extra Mega Mawile ex hangin around and thought it may be an interesting combo. Any pairing suggestions/trainer suggestions?

It was a small cup, but I went 3-0 and won. I apologize for annoyances to my competitors, but I’m a fan of the pokemon itself and just wanted to play it some.

It is possible to run an official league (and later tournaments and cups) in a non-store environment such as a community hall? I know I have been to events like this before covid but the PLAY! website seems to imply that you need to be an affiliated store.

• Assuming it is - how do I do this?
  
• If it isn't, can one be associated with the store in order to qualify for league promos, PLAY! points etc?
• Do I just go informal?

As a long time player of Grimm (...started playing 6 months ago), Starmie in the rotation is very nice and strong.

Deck List: Image
3x Staryu / 2x Mega Starmie / 3x Snorunt / 3X Frosslass / 1x Mega Frosslass / 3x Munkidori / 1x Shaymin / 1x Budew / 1x Meowth EX / 1x Tatsugiri

3x Hyper Ball / 4x Pokepad / 2x Night Stretcher / 3x Poffin / 1x Pokemon Switch / 1x Hero's Cape / 1x Balloon

2x Boss Orders / 4x Lillie Determination / 2x Hilda / 2x Crispin / 2x Wally's Compassion / 1x Judge / 2x Abandoned Building / 1x Rocket's Watchtower

4x Water energy / 4x Dark Energy / 1x Ignition Energy.

Tournament results:

Prelim

L Mega Diancie

-> Could not keep up with Diancie's fast attacks, especially with hourglass. Didn't expect to see this deck and didn't practice it.

W Mega Lucario

-> Opponent hit me, I slept him with Mega Frosslass, then cleaned up with Munki + Starmie for game.

W Archaludon

-> Also didn't practice this matchup. Ended up playing mind games and only playing 1 frosslass, he thought he'd be 10hp safe after pokemon check finished, but I evolved a 2nd Frosslass in my turn, taking 2x Archaludon in one turn for game.

W Mega Lucario

-> Opponent had bad draws, no Lucario draws. He boss'd out my Snorunt and used a power protein'd Riolu (???) for 60 damage. I played Starmie + Munki + Crispin, put 30 on his benched riolu, and killed 2 Riolu in one turn with Starmie.. He conceded.

W dragapult/noctowl

-> Very close game, opponent sob'd my Shaymin so I played the long game with 2x Frosslass ticking on his bench. After Shaymin died he sob'd a Snorunt, so I evolved into a normal Frosslass + used Crispin to put 2 energy on it. I slapped for 60 + adrena brain 30 to kill his weakened Ogerpon Water, then the tick of my 2 Frosslass took out 3 of his benched basics. 5 prize turn for game.

Tournament

L Dragapult/Noctowl

-> Another very close game with the same guy as last game.

He was slightly ahead after an early start from me. I was 2 prizes left, he was 1. I used Judge to remove a Noctowl + boss from his hand, then used ignition on Starmie to kill his active Clefairy. There was no way his Dragapult would take out my bench next turn, only way he could win is was if he top decked boss... and he did. gg.

I don't really know what changes I would make to my deck list. Maybe replace watchtower with a 3rd abandoned ruins. Otherwise it plays very well.

The BIGGEST weakness of this deck compared to other meta decks in this rotation is that it relies almost entirely on draw power / lillie. Other decks have very nice draw engines, like dragloak, dunspace, telepath energy, etc. It's the only thing this lacks imo. I originally used 2x mega signal's instead of the 3x hyper balls but felt I always ended up with a hand of energy or hand of basics, the milling power is really necessary, and being able to pull Meowth EX for clutch situations is huge. (though a 170hp EX has a huge 'BOSS ME FOR GAME' bullseye on it).

I'll post any of the lists that are made public via Twitter as soon as they’re available, but we probably won’t see them all until tomorrow. But with that, we have a top 8 to discuss! This is what we might see with our next set, as this is the first major event where Glory of the Team Rocket Gang is legal.

WINNER

• Charizard ex/Dragapult ex

RUNNER UP

• Raging Bolt

SEMI FINALS

• Charizard ex/Terapagos ex
• Charizard ex/Dusclops

TOP 8

• Flareon/Sylveon
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex
• Gardevoir ex
• Raging Bolt

—-

It should be noted that quite a few of these decks do run the Psyduck promo given out during city leagues in Japan. It is still unknown if we are getting that card during our next release cycle.