#reshizard

[pipermaycosplays]

I now have both pre-release 2019 patches. 😊 I hope Pokémon puts out more of these in the future. They're really nice. ~MistyMay

#pokemon #pikachu #zekrom #pikarom #reshiram #charizard #reshizard #pre release 2019

[patchamppokemon]

Time to open the second Unbroken Bonds Blister Pack featuring an awesome Alternate Art Sceptile and..... another Error Pack??? Theres free code cards too!!!! Go get em!!! And feel free to be awesome and Like and Subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOfapkj-BSM

#pokemon cards #pokemon collection #unbroken bonds #Detective Pikachu #charizard gx #reshizard

[dejobbanobotha]

#reshizard in the house! Only the second #unbrokenbonds we’ve opened too! Gonna be a lot of fun to build a deck around this #tagteamgx juggernaut For more Poké pullz join the Joebba’s Palace Facebook group (Link in bio). Once we reach 120 followers I will begin doing giveaways and waffles! Really looking to build that group as a hub for discussion, sales, trades, giveaways and raffles related to all the various fandoms! Also we’re now only 6 days away from Long Island Comic Con on April 17th at the Lynbrook Elks Lodge!!! Tickets are available now for $10 Come see me there I will have a bargeload of Marvel, Star Wars, DC, GI Joe and Pokèmon figures, cards and comics for sale. Tickets available at https://nckgq.ticketleap.com/lynbrookcon (Link will be in my bio also) Thanks to @nickgqshop for setting it up! Finally Joebba's Palace is organizing  a Pokémon TCG Online Tournament! If you are interested please lmk in the comments and I’ll keep you up to date with all the details. Will most likely just be for fun to start maybe give the winner/runner up some code cards and take it from there. Want to make sure it runs smoothly first. prefer to have begginers in this tourney so there’s no barrier to entry and anyone can play #pokemon #pokemoncards #pokemontcg #pokemongo #pokemontcgonline #ptcgo #shiningfates #battlestyles #marvel #marvellegends #marvellegendsforsale #starwars #starwarsblackseries #starwarsblackseriesforsale #dc #dcmultiverse #funkopops #longisland #longislandcomiccon #longislandcomics #comics #marvelcomics #dccomics #longislandactionfigures #joebbaspalace #supportlocal #lcs https://www.instagram.com/p/CNjDGNIF3if/?igshid=hk33kn8z5w0z

#reshizard #unbrokenbonds #tagteamgx #pokemon #pokemoncards #pokemontcg #pokemongo #pokemontcgonline #ptcgo #shiningfates #battlestyles #marvel #marvellegends #marvellegendsforsale #starwars #starwarsblackseries #starwarsblackseriesforsale #dc #dcmultiverse #funkopops #longisland #longislandcomiccon #longislandcomics #comics #marvelcomics #dccomics #longislandactionfigures #joebbaspalace #supportlocal #lcs

[inexperiencedgamer21]

#Repost @pokemonpelago (@get_repost) ・・・ WOW! Bought 4 loose packs from comic con in Portsmouth today and managed to get some amazing pulls!!! I’m so thankful I finally got some crazy pulls!!😍 . . #pokemon #comiccon #pokemonpelago #tcgo #pokemoncards #collector #sunandmoon #unbrokenbonds #nerdy #pokemonnerd #pkmn #pikachu #fullart #fa #fullartpersian #gx #charizardreshiram #tagteam #reshizard #fire #electric #sunday #may https://www.instagram.com/p/BxJ_vO9Fnsv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10zetzlztjqni

#repost #pokemon #comiccon #pokemonpelago #tcgo #pokemoncards #collector #sunandmoon #unbrokenbonds #nerdy #pokemonnerd #pkmn #pikachu #fullart #fa #fullartpersian #gx #charizardreshiram #tagteam #reshizard #fire #electric #sunday #may

[undauntedtcg]

Deck Profile: ZoroToad

Starting off with a fun one... for the person playing solitaire.

At heart, I am a die-hard Zoroark player and I have played just about every Zoroark deck that has ever been a part of any meta since the card became legal. This deck, in simple terms, is just mean. That’s never stopped me before, but there, that’s my disclaimer. A more important disclaimer however, deck profiles are looong. List, card explanations and strategy below.

The List!

Pokémon - 19 4 Zorua DEX 70 4 Zoroark-GX SLG 53 2 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20 1 Oranguru UPR 114 1 Girafarig LOT 94 1 Articuno-GX CES 31 1 Exeggcute PLF 4 1 Tirtouga PLB 27 1 Articuno-GX CES 31 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 77 3 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60

Trainer Cards - 35 2 Brigette 2 Colress 1 N 1 Professor Juniper 1 Pokemon Fan Club 1 Lt. Surge's Strategy 1 Guzma 1 Acerola 1 Faba 1 Team Flare Grunt 1 Plumeria 1 Team Skull Grunt 1 Team Rocket's Handiwork

4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 2 Cherish Ball 2 Counter Catcher 2 Field Blower 1 Rescue Stretcher 1 Reset Stamp 1 Float Stone 1 Dowsing Machine

2 Silent Lab

Energy - 6

4 Double Colorless Energy 2 Water Energy

A 4-4 Zoroark line, I think, is fairly self explanatory. If you can’t draw cards, you’ll lose. Draw all of them instead. Also sometimes an attacking option, but this deck rarely takes prize cards.

Seismitoad EX is our early game attacker, if you can call it an attacker. The item lock by itself isn’t really enough to keep our opponent at bay, but adding energy denial makes it so difficult for them to play the game, which is pretty much our goal. I’ve found that, since the Lusamine ban, you will need to begin using resource management eventually in order to close out the game, but toad is your best attacker until you’re out of VS Seekers.

Resource management is the lifeblood of this deck. This deck' s late game plan is to cycle through VS seekers and other disruption tools until the opponent is completely out of resources.

Girafarig’s use cases are so much bigger in expanded, especially with Mew & Mewtwo GX using attacks from discarded Pokemon. But the primary use of this card is lost zoning supporters to render VS Seeker a dead card and energies in the event that the opponent has methods of energy retrieval. 

Tirtouga is a card that first saw play in Jimmy Pendarvis’s list from Portland Regionals last year. It prevents deck out forever, save the opponent playing N or Team Rocket’s Handiwork and it’s an  easy discard for trade, ultra ball, Plumeria, ect.

Articuno GX is usually the nail in the coffin against most decks. A well-timed Cold Crush GX on a fully powered up attacker should buy you enough time to take full control of the opponent’s board. Reshizard and Pikarom are the two most common victims.

The trainer’s in this deck are pretty standard, so I won’t spend too much time on them, but I will cover some new additions and interesting inclusions.

Fan club replaces what would normally be my third Brigette in this deck. It can grab Seismitoad EX, Tapu Lele GX, or Shaymin EX early on which helps getting Quaking Punch going from turn 2 easier.

A new addition to the expanded format, Lt. Surge fits perfectly in this deck. Ever wanted to play a draw supporter and Guzma in the same turn? Surge has you covered. Also allows us to play Plumeria/Flare Grunt in combination with Team Skull Grunt which is completely insane.

This card is literally an evosoda that’s also an out to a supporter in this deck. Unfortunately, it can’t grab Seismitoad EX, but that’s the only bad thing about the card. Play Cherish Ball.

The last new addition to the deck is Reset Stamp! It’s just a one sided N that allows you to pull off a lot of cool combos. This, along with surge and counter catcher allows you to effectively play 4 supporter effects in a turn.

So, with all the cards out of the way, let’s talk strategy. If you want clarification on any cards I didn’t cover, just ask! I’m more than happy to answer questions.

This deck has a ton of options, but it’s actually quite simple. In the early game use Seismitoad and your disruption cards to harass the opponent and slow the game to a halt, then transition into resource management and deck them out with Team Rocket’s Handiwork.

That being said, this deck is, at times, a headache to play. Unless you’re extremely comfortable with it, I wouldn’t take this to a regional-level event. The games take forever and it’s far from easy to play. On the same token, don’t take this to best of one events. It won’t work, you’ll always either tie or lose and that’s not a successful strategy for making top cut. But, if you’re as sadistic as I am, go ahead! Ruin some poor, unsuspecting normal person’s day. 

This is the first in a large number of deck profiles you can expect to see leading up the Richmond Regional Championships in November, but I won’t be all expanded content. I’m attending a standard league cup this weekend (Sept. 14th) and you all can expect a full report on that, be it a tale of glorious victory or a masterclass in failure.

Happy Trading!

(Scans from https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/)

#ptcg #ptcgo #expanded #Zoroark #Seismitoad #play! pokemon #pokemon #pokemon tcg

[thervnpictureshow]

Finally first time to play since iwas a kid. Finally was able to use my gengar mimikyu deck :) thank you master paolo for teaching me! At first tho he used a deck with alolan ninetails which prohibited GX cards from attacking i had ni chance :(....then ibwas so happy to win the second time around with his reshizard deck :) using poultergiest is so satisfying :) #rvnpokemontcg https://www.instagram.com/p/B4NFHw8FN_mO6cE7cETlCdgtF7p6H9CUrMSaSA0/?igshid=7vbk1le1ktn2

#rvnpokemontcg

[patchamppokemon]

I finally dragged this Charizard GX case file out of my huge stash of Pokemon Boxes to be opened!! But was there anything awesome inside? The TCGO Codes are all up for grabs! And if you're feeling awesome please drop me like or maybe even a sub <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuaQtwvaVD8

#pokemon cards #reshizard #charizard #rarest pokemon cards #pokemon direct

[patchamppokemon]

It's finally here! The Japanese Kangaskhan Gym Promo finally got its release in the English Language in this amazing GX Collection Box and the best thing is that the box has two Unbroken Bonds Boosters!!! Can we pull Reshizard? There are codes up for grabs! Can you get the promo Code? Sub if you enjoy <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-XOMddaceg

#pokemon trading card game #pokemon cards #kangaskhan #pokemon sword and shield #game freak #pokemon collection

[patchamppokemon]

The Hunt for Rainbow Reshizard Continues!!! I filmed this box opening about 2 months ago but had issues with the edit that i finally fixed so enjoy!!! If you love this video as much as i loved making it please sub to the channel or be kind enough to leave a like! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V57OySPC5M

#pokemon #pokemon cards #POKEMON COLLECTOR

[lightningcloud224]

Played in league today with Ben Cryer’s 13th place list from Collinsville regionals. Had a really good time with some of my TCG friends! 4 man tourney. 1st night march with target whistle, 2nd me, 3rd green’s reshizard, 4th place arceus dialga palkia with blacephalon gx. A lone Alolan persian GX with a sneasel start is really your only chance to win against night march without oricorio. MVP was definitely Umbreon and Darkrai tag team gx. Guzzlord helped seal the game against ADP Blowns though by taking out a damaged Blown with Red Banquet.

#journal #pokemon tcg #happy

[undauntedtcg]

Deck Profile: Ultra Chess

As a previously pure and devout Zoroark player, I hadn’t bought cards for any archetypes that weren’t Zoroark since Crimson Invasion’s release. But the Unified Minds prerelease got me a couple copies of the new Naganadel GX and I wanted to play at a local store’s first post-rotation tournament. It was there, Ultra Chess was born...or so I thought. The weekend before, Xander Pero had won the DC Open with his very different list predicated on the same strategy. I found his list to lack early game consistency, so I took some ideas from his list and recreated my initial one. I think it’s quite strong!

The List

Pokemon (25) 3 Naganadel GX UMI 1 Naganadel GX FBL 1 Naganadel LOT 4 Poipole FBL 1 Pheromosa FBL 1 Kartanna UNB 1 Xurkitree UMI 1 Buzzwole FBL 1 Nihilego LOT 1 Persian GX UNB 1 Aerodactyl GX UMI 1 Melmetal UNB 1 Dewgong 1 Ditto* 1 Froslass 2 Snorunt 1 Mew UMB 1 Marshadow UNB 1 Dedenne GX UNB

Trainers (25) 4 Lillie 4 Cynthia 1 Lusamine*

4 Mysterious Treasure 4 Pokemon Communication 2 Reset Stamp 1 Beast Ball 1 Spell Tag

4 Ultra Space

Energy (10) 4 Rainbow Energy 4 Triple Acceleration Energy 1 Beast Energy 1 Water Energy

Naganadel GX is what really makes this deck tick. It’s our best attacker for setting up the checkmate scenarios this deck takes advantage of. Ultra Conversion is an insane ability more powerful than Zoroark’s Trade, if perhaps, more selective. Venom Shot, being able to hit anywhere on the opponent’s board for just a two energy attachments can KO any tag team in two attacks.

While this Naganadel cannot draw cards, it’s perhaps even more vital. Resetting both player’s prizes to 3 is the only real win condition against the majority of decks. Beast Raid is also fine, I guess.

We play 6 Ultra Beasts that are honestly just for discarding with Naganadel GX. Their attacks are quite good, however. One-shotting Pikarom with Buzzwole or copying Flare Strike with Nihilego are fantastic options. Pheromosa and Kartana are optimal starts . But, they’ll all get discarded pretty quickly. 

Persian is most often what our Ditto* becomes. Searching for two cards and digging through the deck with Naganadel GX is so powerful. Vengence is also a fantastic attack in combination with Ultra Conversion.

Aerodactly is bascially here just for Pikarom. Setting up Stinger GX into Boulder Crush will win most games, even though I think Naganadel GX is just as fine of an attacker in that matchup. Aerodactly also presents an obstacle to Malamar, however, it’s ability forcing extra energy onto Malamar’s attackers. The increased cost will slow many decks to a halt. It is worth noting that you Aerodactly is merely my second choice ditto evolution against Malamar, more on that later.

Melmetal is here purely for the Gardevoir Sylveon match-up. Stinger into a one-shot with Heavy Impact is the best way to beat the deck.

Our last Ditto*-only evolution is Dewgong. Against Malamar, Stinger GX isn’t all that great. Prize racing them and harassing benched Inkays, however, is a very do-able plan.

Pre-evolutions aren’t typically worthy of note, but Ditto* is incredibly important to play correctly in this deck. You only get to use one of your tech stage ones per game, choose wisely. Also, the most important rule--and one that opponents on TCGO haven’t respected--Don’t bench it on the turn you attack into spell tag. Just...why? Furthermore, try and bench it against Malamar early. Like, before they can kill it with Distortion Door + Mew.

A 2-1 line of Froslass is the most deck space we dedicate to one specific match-up. Benching two Snorunts against Reshizard is a tremendous amount of pressure. Stinger into Spiteful Sigh win’s the match-up very easily. Froslass is still an amazing attacker in other match-ups though.

We have a very standard supporter count, save one small inclusion!

Lusamine* can very easily swing tempo in your favor. Better yet, because of how aggressive this format is, your first active tends to die early. It’s easier than ever to put the opponent on odd prizes.

The items, for the most part, are very straightforward. Search to get out all of the little guys like Poipole and Ditto*. Reset Stamp to keep the opponent’s hand in check, especially on the Stinger GX turn.

Beast Ball is insane in this deck! We play 14 Ultra Beasts! Odds are, we’re gonna prize one. This card can also be necessary to fish Naganadel GX FBL out to Stinger GX to achieve our win condition.

Spell Tag is a rather weird inclusion, I’ll be the first to admit. However, there is a lot it can do. Primarily, it’s purpose is to win the Pikarom match-up in two attacks. Venom Shot 170 onto Pikarom, Stinger GX with Spell Tag attached, and once they knock out Naganadel, put 40 on to Pikarom and Psypower the remaining 30 onto Pikarom with Mew.

Ultra Space is the best search card in the deck. Early game? Grab Poipoles. Mid-Late game? Search for Beasts to Ultra Conversion away. Also a great out to Power Plant as it gives us Naganadel’s ability back online and searches out a Pokemon to discard.

Rainbow, Triple Acceleration, and Beast Energy all make a lot of sense, but I think one energy in the deck is worthy of note:

1 Basic water is super important against Reshizard. Not putting 10 damage on the Froslass allows you to avoid Sudden Death after they knockout your active Naganadel GX post-Stinger.

This deck, clearly, has a lot of options! There are some cards that, for consistency’s sake, didn’t make it into this list. But, depending on the meta you’re expecting, here are some tech options

Xurkitree GX is a fantastic wall against decks like Malamar with Recycle Energy, Whimsicott GX, other variants of Naganadel Checkmate, ect.

If you’re expecting a lot of Malamar, this card almost can win games. Dewgong settting up knockouts on 2 Malamars, Grimsley moving 30 from wherever damage from Shadow Impact get’s placed to one squid for the KO, and Mew’s Psypower to hit the other. Shut down their engine, win the match-up. So free.

Brock’s is a card I cut from the main deck very hesitantly. In longer games, it allows you to shuffle your 6 Conversionable Ultra Beasts back into the deck to keep drawing. In my testing, most of the time games are so fast it’s not needed. But if you’re expecting slower games against slower decks, play this.

Lastly, if you’re expecting a lot of Reshizard, this stops them one-shotting Naganadels and forces the game to slow down, almost always to your benefit.

This deck is definitely fairly difficult to pilot correctly, but the best advice I can give is to let your opponent show you how you’re going to win. This deck is super reactive and half of our game plan is to just let them play into one of the deck’s win conditions. 

Would I recommend this deck for a large tournament? Maybe. If you can make an awesome meta-call, choose all the right techs and hit the right matchups? Go for it! Even then, I think this deck can compete with most tier 1 archetypes. But the question I pose to you is this: Is it better than other, faster decks? If so, take this to a tournament and achieve greatness.

Happy Checkmating!

(Images from https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/)

#ptcgo #pokemon #Naganadel #Checkmate #ptcg #decklist

[undauntedtcg]

Untested Concept: TordZard in Expanded!

Watching the 2019 World Championships, Tord Reklev’s Reshizard deck really caught my attention, as it did most other player’s, being the most played deck at league cups everywhere. I was looking for the best way of bringing the archetype into expanded, and I think I may have found it!

The List

Pokemon (14) 2 Reshiram & Charizard GX 1 Eevee & Snorlax GX 2 Ninetales TEU 2 Vulpix TEU 1 Victini* 2 Volcanion EX 3 Dedenne GX 1 Tapu Lele GX

Trainers (29) 4 Welder

4 Ultra Ball 4 Trainer's Mail 3 Random Receiver 3 Fighting Fury Belt 2 Float Stone 2 Switch 2 Cherish Ball 1 Pal Pad 1 Computer Search

3 Giant Hearth

Energy (17) 17 Fire Energy

Reshiram & Charizard is such a crazy attacker. There aren’t many ways to work up to one-shots with it in the current standard format, with Choice Band having rotated. But it has a whole host of options in expanded, which we’ll get to later. It’s GX attack can hit through Safeguard Pokemon like Keldeo GX and Hoopa, which is definitely noteworthy, but that might be the only situation where it’s useful as Flare Strike should be able to one-shot without needing the full 6 energy.

Eevee & Snorlax serves a few important functions in this deck. Most importantly, it’s not weak to water like the rest of our attackers. Given the prevalence of Archiestoise variants in expanded, I think the card is worth including for that alone. It’s second attack, Dump Truck Press, one-shots Zoroark GX, along with it’s normal range of partners, and can be used on consecutive turns without having to switch out. 

From the small amount I’ve been able to test decks using this engine, Guzma sucks. You can’t play Welder if you’re also playing Guzma, and that just seems really bad. Instead, we play a 2-2 line of Ninetales. You can activate it off of a Giant Hearth search, and Victini* will shuffle back in all the energy you use. You have to be a little careful with this strategy and make sure you have enough energy left to use Victini*.

.

Speaking of Victini*, it’s perfect for this deck. Between Volcanion’s Steam Up and Ninetales’ Nine Temptations, our 17 energy goes away fairly quickly. Infinity will almost always be able to reach a knockout, and refuel all of this deck’s tricks in the process. 

This is the card that I think breaks this deck. Flare Strike can hit for 270 after one Steam Up and a Fighting Fury Belt, one-shotting almost any Pokemon in the game. Not too much else to say here, it’s just broken.

I’m still undecided what the counts for the support pokemon should be, but 3 Dedenne seems pretty solid. Hand sizes often get too big for Shaymin EX, so Dedenne is the next logical option. I don’t love the idea of discarding certain cards with Dedenne, but this deck is so aggressive that if you can’t use something right now, you’re probably better off pitching it in the name of continuing to apply pressure.

Remember when this card was $80 each? Well, it’s more like $5 now, but it’s still just as playable as a 4th copy of Random Receiver. This deck only plays 4 supporters, Tapu Lele makes Cherish Ball and Ultra Ball outs to Welder. Energy Drive is also a half-decent attack, although it pales in comparison to Flare Strike.

Welder, Random Receiver, and Pal Pad all work together to further the current Fire-Type Agenda: Welder every turn. The only supporter we play is Welder, so Random Receiver can only ever find Welder. Pal Pad can shuffle in 2 Welders let’s you Welder up to 6 times in a single game.

Trainer’s Mail can is an out to finding every relevant card in the deck, or something that can search it out at least. Also a key piece in making sure that the most important goal of all time is achievable: Play Welder, SMASH, GG

The split between these two is up in the air. I think 4 Ultra 2 Cherish is better for Setting up Ninetales and Volcanion EX. It does, however, consume more resources. I could see that being a potential problem, but consistency is king in my mind.

Fighting Fury Belt is the card that allows us to hit relevant numbers against Tag Teams with Reshizard. But, against basic GXs like Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko, it helps Volcanion EX hit 170 after 1 Steam Up. Float Stone just prevents things like Volcanion EX getting stuck in the active, little explanation required.

Switch just lets us reactivate Flare Strike and escape the dreaded Volcanion EX start without committing a Float Stone. 

This deck, even with the busted Welder engine we’ve established here, can have the occasional hiccup. I know, I’m shocked, too. Computer Search is the best search card ever printed, I can see it getting this deck out of some fairly awkward hands.

Lastly, Giant Hearth is ridiculous. So much so that I cut Heat Factory* for it. Discard a card to activate Welder, Nine Temptations, Steam Up. Pick your poison. 

One card I really wanted to fit into this deck but am having trouble finding a cut for is Heatran GX. Burning Road lets up Welder to some awkward targets and still move the energies around as needed. I just really have no clue what I would cut for it.

Overall, I think this deck has a lot of potential in expanded. It feels weird only playing the 4 supporters, but Welder is honestly the only thing you want to use most of the time, so I think it’s correct. But perhaps I’m wrong about all of this and need to rethink my life choices, who knows? There are so many ways to play Reshizard in expanded. In fact, I urge you to also check out Rahul Reddy’s list as well. He’s trying the Green’s Exploration engine which I think has a lot of potential.

Happy Flare Striking!

(Images from https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards)

#ptcg #Reshiram #Charizard #Pokemon tcg #expanded #play! pokemon

[undauntedtcg]

Cup Report: Blacephalon/Naganadel

I made top 4 with Blowns this weekend! After this and a few other tournaments with the deck, I think I’m prepared to present my thoughts on it. Luckily for me, my matchups today perfectly showcased what’s good about the deck and what needs work. With all that out of the way, let’s take a look at my list, matchups and what changes I want to make going forward. 

The List!

Pokemon (17) 3 Blacephalon GX LOT 4 Naganadel LOT 2 Naganadel GX UMI 1 Poipole LOT 3 Poipole UMI 1 Heatran GX UMI 1 Turtonator DRM 1 Dedenne GX UNB 1 Mew UNB

Trainers (28) 4 Cynthia 4 Welder 1 Lillie

4 Mysterious Treasure 4 Beast Ring 4 Custom Catcher 2 Cherish Ball 1 Reset Stamp

2 Ultra Space 1 Giant Hearth 1 Heat Factory*

Energy (15) 1 Beast Energy* 14 Fire Energy

This list is fairly standard, so for the sake of brevity as this is already going to be quite long, I’m only going to go over a few noteworthy inclusions/counts.

I’m not actually sure why other people haven’t put Turtonator in this deck. It’s only a little more difficult to set up than Blacephelon GX and it gives this deck another out against Keldeo GX, which a few of our locals have been particularly fond of.

Blowns faces an odd challenge in this format. It really just wants to do only play Cynthia and Welder. But 8 supporters isn’t enough, and after today I’m not even convinced 9 is. Lillie was my choice as it’s amazing to see turn one, good enough later on, and my fear of opening Bill’s Analysis got the better of me. Bill’s is a perfectly fine alternative though, check out Martin Guilbert’s list from Sheffield.

Giant Hearth was great in testing, making Welder more accessible when your opponent takes you off of Beast Ring too quickly. However, I think 3rd Ultra Space or Lysandre Labs would’ve been better. Still worth considering, just probably not as a replacement of another stadium.

Enough about the list, let’s go through the rounds.

Round 1: Vs AbilityZard W

I had the nightmare opening hand. A couple of poipoles, a few beast ring, absolutely nothing to do turn one. My opponent managed to take take two prizes before I was able to find a clown, but once I did, I hit all of the beast rings and actually managed a set-up. There was honestly no reason for me to win this game after that opening, and it was the first time I noticed just how lukewarm this deck’s early game can be.

Round 2: Vs MalamarTags W

I was scared as soon as I saw the pairings. TrainerChip, also referred to as one of our local CP vacuums, playing Malamar, one of my worst match-ups. He started Jirachi, got multiple Inkays down, but didn’t play a supporter. Little did I know, even after three Stellar Wishes, he wouldn’t end up finding one the entire game. I set up Heatran GX and just ran over his board, Custom Catchering up and killing two Malamar on consecutive turns. This reaffirmed my belief that Mally was a fine matchup, if maybe slightly favored for them. I was very, very wrong.

Round 3: Vs MalamarTags (Again) L

Another fun pairing, I hit Grant Manley. By far one of the best players in this area, who coincidentally, started a cult of Malamar players storming my entire state and taking over the top cut of every cup they’ve attended. I’m pretty confident in the match-up! It’s even Best-of-1, in all likelihood, Malamar will just brick. In short, no. We both drew god the entire way through the game (”Did you put all seven of those energy in play this turn?! -Grant Manley 2019), played just about perfectly, and then we both started making bad decisions. Mine ended up being worse though, as activating spell tag on a turn that I didn’t have to allowed him to finish off my Blacephelon GX for game. I realized my mistake as I was announcing my attack, it truly was the darkest timeline. We talked a lot about the game and the matchup afterwards and I was slowly beginning to figure out that the match-up is a lot worse than I thought.

Round 4: Vs Green’s Reshizard W

I needed to win my next two to guarantee a spot in top 4 and this is by far the best match-up I could’ve asked for. I could hear Grant in the background saying “That hurt my soul” as I gusted up a Reshizard and killed it with Turtonator, a 3 for 1 prize trade that should forever define the term “Power-play.” My opponent tried to play the one-prize game with volcantion but I just ran over them with Heatran GX’s Steaming Stomp until he gave me a Reshizard to Hot-burn for game. 

Round 5: Vs Green’s Reshizard (Again) W

It must be Christmas or something, because I got the very same matchup again. This time it played out even better though. My opponent killed my first blown and I was able to respond by playing 4 beast ring in the same turn. The matchup was pretty much auto-pilot from there.

Top 4: Vs MalamarTags (Again dear god why me) LL Three malamar players, along with myself, made top 4. Which means I needed to fight through my worst, most grindy match-up twice in a best of three. This is the match that really made me believe that the match-up is bad. I think bad might actually be an understatement. If they actually set up, it’s completely unwinnable. I drew far worse than I did in round 3 and it resulted in a swift 2-0 from my opponent. Did I play 100% optimally? Probably not, but I don’t think many things could’ve changed the outcome of that match.

Moving Forward!

I’m definitely going to be trying different changes to improve the Malamar match-up, but for now the changes I would make simply with consistency in mind are

-1 Reset Stamp -1 Giant Hearth +1 Heatran GX +1 Ultra Space

I didn’t play Reset Stamp for any meaningful effect all day and would’ve rather had almost any other card. Heatran GX is the best attacker against Malamar that isn’t too situational, and I found myself wanting to attack with it more in other match-ups. In my mind, totally worth it.

Giant Hearth is an awesome card, but if you hit it instead of Ultra Space early game, life is a lot harder. We just want Poipoles.

Blacephalon needs a way to deal with Malamar. Hoopa? Lysandre Labs? I don’t know yet. All I can say definitively is that if you’re expecting to see high amounts of the squids, bring any other deck. Blowns was created with a tag-team heavy meta in mind. Can it beat Malamar? Probably not without some big changes to the list. Would it be the best deck in format if it could find a good answer to Malamar? Absolutely. 

That’s been my experience with the deck so far! Let me know if you have any questions or just make fun of me for slipping from forever 2nd place to 3rd.

Happy Lost Zoning!

#tournament #ptcg #Blacephalon #Naganadel #League Cup #pokemon tcg

[inexperiencedgamer21]

#Repost @profnogood_tcg (@get_repost) ・・・ Reshizard💥🐲💥 Spotlight post on the best deck in the Standard format! It’s pretty awesome that Nintendo is finally releasing a flurry of playable Charizard cards. First we got that awesome Charizard from Team Up and now we got the tag team behemoth from Unbroken Bonds. What makes these cards even better is the abundant support cards we received for fire types such as Welder and Fire Crystal to name a couple! What typing would you like to see get some love in the future? I would love to see Dark type get reliable energy acceleration! . . #pokemon #Pokémon #pokemons #pokemoncard #pokemoncards #pokemontradingcards #pokemontcg #pokemoncollector #pokemoncommunity #pokemoncenter #pokemonfan #pokemonlife #pokemoncommunity2 #pokemonsunandmoon #pokemonultrasunandmon #pokemonday #pokemongames #pokemontoys #pokemonmoon #pokemonadventure #pokemonart #catchemall #pokemonletsgo #teamup #unbrokenbonds #pokemonswordshield #charizard #reshiram https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx_hbftntRa/?igshid=few3um4be3iv

#repost #pokemon #pokémon #pokemons #pokemoncard #pokemoncards #pokemontradingcards #pokemontcg #pokemoncollector #pokemoncommunity #pokemoncenter #pokemonfan #pokemonlife #pokemoncommunity2 #pokemonsunandmoon #pokemonultrasunandmon #pokemonday #pokemongames #pokemontoys #pokemonmoon #pokemonadventure #pokemonart #catchemall #pokemonletsgo #teamup #unbrokenbonds #pokemonswordshield #charizard #reshiram