#pokemon tcg decklist

[karaptcg]

Twitter is like basically useless now, so I'm going to try to establish a cult of Pokemon TCG players here instead. Welcome to the thunder dome.

One of the bigger problems I've had trying to find other people that play the game on this site is that the #pokemon tcg and #ptcg tags are cluttered with collectors and players alike, which means you have to wade through a proverbial ocean of pictures of pretty cards to find decklists. I have nothing but love for the collectors, but I'd like to not have to do that.

I'm gonna be tagging my posts with #competitive ptcg and maybe see if I can get others that are in this niche to do that too eventually cuz it sounds cool.

#pokemon trading card game #ptcg #competitive ptcg #pokemon tcg

[jonesashley234]

Certainly! The Pokemon trading card game is a dynamic and strategic card game that has established a robust tournament structure to ensure fair play and competitive integrity. The rules are designed to create an enjoyable and level playing field for all participants. Here’s a detailed explanation of the rules for a Pokemon TCG tournament:

1. Deck Construction: 

Players are required to construct a legal deck before entering the tournament. A legal deck consists of exactly 60 cards. The deck can include Pokemon cards, Trainer cards, and energy cards. There are specific rules about how many of each type can be included, such as a maximum of four copies of a card with the same name. 

2. Card Sleeves and Decklist:

All cards in a player’s deck must be placed in identical, opaque sleeves. This ensures that players cannot distinguish between cards during shuffling or gameplay. Before the tournament, players are required to submit a decklist that details all the cards in their deck, including quantities and set information.

3. Game Setup:

Players decide who goes first with a coin flip or another agreed-upon method. Basic Pokémon must be in the player’s opening hand. If a player does not have a Basic Pokémon in their opening hand, they must show their hand to the opponent, reshuffle, and draw a new hand.

4. Prize Cards:

Before the game begins, each player selects six cards from their deck and sets them aside as Prize cards. The objective is to draw all six Prize cards by Knocking Out the opponent’s Pokemon during the game.

5. Turn Structure:

Each player takes turns, and each turn is divided into several phases: Draw, Bench (if applicable), Action (attach Energy, evolve Pokémon, use Trainer cards), and End. Players may play Trainer cards during their turn, including Supporters, Items, and Stadium cards.

6. Attacking and Knocking Out Pokémon:

The primary goal is to Knock Out the opponent’s Pokémon to draw Prize cards. When a Pokémon’s damage exceeds its Hit Points (HP), it is Knocked Out, and the opposing player draws a Prize card.

7. Time Limits:

Tournaments have time limits for rounds to ensure timely progression. Rounds typically last 30–50 minutes, depending on the tournament structure. Sudden Death may occur if time expires, with the player having the fewest Prize cards declared the winner.

8. End of Game:

The game ends when a player draws all their Prize cards, and they are declared the winner. In the event of a tie, tiebreakers such as remaining Prize cards and damage counters on Pokémon may be used to determine the winner.

9. Sportsmanship and Conduct:

Players are expected to maintain good sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Unsportsmanlike conduct, cheating, and other violations can result in penalties, disqualification, or other consequences.

10. Prize Support:

Tournaments often have prize support, with winners receiving booster packs, promo cards, and championship points. Championship points contribute to a player’s standing in the Pokémon TCG Championship Series.

Conclusion:

The rules for a Pokémon TCG tournament are comprehensive, covering various aspects of gameplay, deck construction, and player conduct. These rules are essential to maintain fairness, ensure a positive competitive experience, and uphold the integrity of the game. 

#trading cards #trading card games #tcg #pokemon #pokemon cards

[hollowsentinel]

Fun news: I'm getting back into TCG shenanigans, specifically Pokemon.

Sad news: I picked the wrong product to jump in with. I am fairly certain that any decklist I come up with will be hot garbage.

#chatter #i have a wide selection of pokemon and an extremely limited set of trainer cards to work with

[mugetsu-nil]

Absolutely crushing the ladder on Pokémon TCG Live with this Lugia/Archeops archetype. My current decklist -

#pokemon #pokemontcg #pokemontcglive

#pokemon

[total-cards]

We hosted our biggest Pokemon tournament so far! Learn more about our TCG League regional event over on our blog! Keep an eye out as we share decklists and even some matches on our YouTube channel!...

[ptcgdecklist]

ADP Zacian - Ian Robb (US) - Top 8 - OCIC - February 2020 - Standard

#deck: adp zacian #player: ian robb #top 4 #ocic #oceania #international #standard #february 2020 #pokemon #pokemon tcg decklist

[pluspower]

Post-Rotation Eternatus VMAX poison deck

With so few tournaments being held, it's hard to know what will be viable in the meta. I've had a decent winrate at my LGS (Brothers Grimm Games & Collectibles) with my rough sketch of a post-rotation Eternatus deck.

I use Wyndon Stadium to combat Path to the Peak, which is common and caps my Eternatus VMAX attack damage at 180. I also run 4 copies of Boss Orders -- not only to get around Path to the Peak by bringing up a Crobat (etc), but to kill Zapdos. If you see Zapdos, you want to kill it immediately with Boss Orders.

Wyndon stadium allows me to heal my Eternatus V when I evolve it into Eternatus VMAX, and Rugged Helmet punishes the attacker for doing damage to it by bouncing an energy back to their hand, thus they lose their energy drop per turn. I'm still determining if I need to cut a Rugged Helmet for another Evolution Incense.

Slowbro and Toxicroak work to push the possible damage output even higher. If you have two Toxicroak, a Slowbro, and a Switch (which I run 4 copies of) in your hand it's very likely you can add 50 damage in between turns, pushing Eternatus' max per-turn output to 320. If you had three Toxicroak, you could one-shot another Eternatus VMAX.

I've also considered running Spiritomb, but it depends on the meta.

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 21

* 4 Croagunk SSH 123

* 4 Crobat V DAA 104

* 4 Eternatus V DAA 116

* 2 Galarian Slowbro V DAA 99

* 4 Toxicroak SSH 124

* 3 Eternatus VMAX PR-SW 45

##Trainer Cards - 30

* 4 Boss's Orders RCL 154

* 4 Great Ball BCR 129

* 1 Piers DAA 165

* 3 Marnie SSH 200

* 3 Rugged Helmet CRE 152

* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179

* 3 Wyndon Stadium VIV 161

* 3 Professor's Research SSH 178

* 4 Switch SSH 183

* 1 Evolution Incense SSH 163

##Energy - 9

* 2 Capture Energy RCL 171

* 3 Darkness Energy SMEnergy 7

* 4 Hiding {D} Energy DAA 175

Total Cards - 60

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******

#pokemon #pokemon tcg #pokemon cards #decklist #decklists

[metalhead684]

Lion's Rule 🦁🦁🦁 Decklist....thoughts #Pokemon #firedeck #pokemonteamup #pokemonlostthunder #pokemoncelestialstorm #TCG #tcgplayer #TradingCardGame #tradingcards #cards #cardgame #decklist #pokemontcgplayer #pokemontcg #pyroardeck #lionsrule https://www.instagram.com/p/BwLkDJql6NT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ndlozf7wujrt

#pokemon #firedeck #pokemonteamup #pokemonlostthunder #pokemoncelestialstorm #tcg #tcgplayer #tradingcardgame #tradingcards #cards #cardgame #decklist #pokemontcgplayer #pokemontcg #pyroardeck #lionsrule

[nickburn]

Things I Enjoyed in 2020 Despite Everything

Seasons Greetings! This year has felt like an eternity for so many reasons, and before it’s over, I’d like to take a look back on the distractions that got me through it. Along the way, I’ll occasionally point out where I was emotionally at the time and whether I got into a particular thing before or after the pandemic hit in mid March. I hope you enjoy this little retrospective of some of my experience during one of the worst years of human history!

Games & Mods

Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

When I was making my 2020 resolutions list late last year, one of my goals was to play more old games in my backlog and not buy many new games this year. That goal largely went on hold, because, well, I sought out enjoyment wherever I could find it instead of forcing myself to play one thing or another. But before Covid, I was really enjoying my new playthrough of M&M6. I’d made attempts at it before, but it was really GrayFace’s mod that made the game click for me. Modern features like quick saves and mouselook make the game much more accessible, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to try an old-school RPG. It’s a great stepping stone into a mostly-dead genre. I’m hoping to get back to it soon. I just jumped ship to simpler ventures like Doom Eternal after the pandemic hit and haven’t looked back since.

Pathologic 2

I learned about the Pathologic series late last year and have since become a little obsessed with it. Hbomberguy’s lengthy video essay on the original game really intrigued me and lead me to trying the sequel/remake in April via Xbox Game Pass. In a weird way, it was cathartic to be a doctor in an even more dire situation than our current one and still see signs of the townsfolk trying to help each other deal with a supernatural plague and little help from their local government. The game helped me express a lot of what I was feeling at the time, when I was still getting used to working from home and wondering just how long this could go on for. I’ve gone back to it recently, and I’m hoping to finish it someday, if I can find a way to stop dying. Above all, Pathologic 2 teaches you how to make choices in no-win scenarios with little information or resources and still persevere, despite the world going to Hell around you. And that’s maybe the most important thing to practice at the moment.

Overwatch

I’ve continued to look forward to weekly Overwatch nights with my friends every Thursday, and it’s really important to have something like that right now. Even if it’s just a new episode of a show airing, a new video from a favorite YouTuber, or a regular Zoom call with coworkers, it helps so much to have something to anticipate from week to week and month to month. Otherwise, it’s really easy to feel like nothing’s going on besides the entropic deterioration of the universe. Overwatch itself helps with this, because it’s such a positive, bright, and optimistic game, as only Blizzard can create. And it’s improved a ton in the past couple of years, in a lot of ways. If you haven’t played in a while, hop in and check out all the new content with your friends; I think you’ll have a great time. It’s looking more and more like Overwatch 2 is right around the corner, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

Go

I learned how to play Go after watching a documentary released this year about  AlphaGo, the computer that beat the Go world champion, and I have a huge appreciation for the game now. I think it’s even more beautiful than chess, though even more insidious to learn. If you haven’t played before, start with a 9x9 board, teach yourself the basics, and try playing with another beginner friend. I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the amount of strategy and imagination that a game ostensibly about placing black and white stones on a grid can inspire. Go’s one of several new hobbies I’ve picked up this year, and those new hobbies have really helped me pass the time in a way that feels productive as well as take my mind off whatever depressing news just got blasted across Twitter.

Doom 64

Doom Eternal was fine, but Doom 64′s where my heart lies. The PC port on Steam is great, allowing everyone to easily play the game with mouse and keyboard. Its levels are tight and colorful, often asking the player to backtrack multiple times through the same areas to unlock new ones and take on whatever new twists await down each darkened corridor. It’s a surprisingly fresh experience. Unlike many modern Doom mods that strive to be sprawling marathons, 64′s levels are short but memorable, and the game is a great entry point to the series for newcomers because of that. Retro FPS’s continue to inspire and entertain me, and Doom 64 is one of my new favorites.

Golf With Your Friends

I’m not usually that into party games, but Golf With Your Friends strikes the right balance between casual tone and skill-based gameplay. The maps are vibrant and devious, the different modes are creative and often hilarious, and the pacing is near-perfect. If you’ve got a squad itching to play something together for a few nights, I guarantee you’ll have a lot of laughs trying to knock an opponent off the course or turning them into an acorn just as they’re about to attempt a nasty jump.

Quake 1 Mods

I probably sound like a broken record by now to a lot of you, but I won’t rest until I get more people into retro FPS’s. The outdated graphics and simple gameplay can be off-putting at first, but it doesn’t take long at all to get hooked after you’ve played the likes of excellent mods like Ancient Aliens for Doom 2 or Arcane Dimensions for Quake 1. And it’s only getting better, with this year marking probably the best year for Quake releases ever. The industry even seems to be taking notice again, with many talented mappers getting picked up for highly-anticipated, professional indie projects like Graven and Prodeus. And while the marketing around the retro FPS renaissance as the second coming of “boomer shooters” should be much maligned, the actual craft involved in making mods and brand new games in the genre has never been stronger. I even contributed four levels to the cause this year, but you’ll have to play them yourself to decide if they’re any good: https://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/?filtered=burnham.

Streets of Rage 4

I had not tried Steam Remote Play before this year, but it works surprisingly well if you have a decent internet connection. Because of Remote Play, I was able to complete Streets of Rage 4 with my friends, and it was very close to the experiences I had as a kid playing brawlers like Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo. The game is just hard enough to make you sweat during the boss fights but just easy enough that the average group of gamers can complete it in a night or two, which is ideal for adults with not a lot of free time.

Hard Lads

Hard Lads is a pure delight of a game by Robert Yang about the beauty of a viral video from 2015 called “British lads hit each other with chair,” which is even more ridiculous than it sounds. It made me smile and laugh for a good half hour, and I think it’ll do the same for you.

Commander MtG

The Commander format for Magic: the Gathering is one of my favorite things, and in 2020, I dug into it more than any other year. More so even than playing or watching it being played, I created decklists for hours and hours, dreaming up new, creative strategies for winning games or just surprising my imaginary opponents. I sincerely believe this little ritual of finding a new legendary creature to build around and spending a few days crafting a brew for it got me through the majority of this summer. I didn’t have a lot of creative energy this year, but I was able to channel the little I did have into this hobby. Especially during the longer, more frustrating or depressing days at work when I had nothing else to do or just needed a break, I could often dive back into card databases and lose myself in the process of picking exactly the cards that best expressed what I wanted to do for any given deck. And it’s nice to know I can always fall back on that.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

I played a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! growing up but never had the cards or the skill to be particularly good at it. I just knew I enjoyed the game and the 4Kids show, but I quickly them behind when I got to high school. Fast forward to 2020, and the game and franchise have evolved substantially, not always for the better. But I do find it so intriguing, with a skeptical kind of adoration. It’s not nearly as well-supported as Magic, but what it does have are gigantic anime monsters on tiny cards with enough lines of text to make your head spin. And it’s so interesting to me that a franchise like that can continue to thrive alongside more elegant games like the Pokemon TCG and Hearthstone. And the further I’ve delved into how the game has changed since I stopped playing, the more invested I’ve become, going so far as to start buying cards again and looking into possible decks I might enjoy playing. An unequivocal win for Yu-Gi-Oh! is Speed Duel, which seeks to bring old players back to the game with a watered-down, nostalgia-laden format with fewer mechanics and a much smaller card pool. So if all you want to do is pit a Blue Eyes White Dragon against a Dark Magician, that’s 100% still there for you, but the competitive scene is still alive, well, and astoundingly complicated. And I think that’s kind of beautiful.

Black Mesa

I wasn’t expecting to have the tech to play Half Life: Alyx this year, so Black Mesa seemed like the next best thing. And it really is a love letter to the first game, even if it’s far from perfect. I even prefer the original, but I did very much enjoy my time with this modern reimagining. If you’ve never played a Half Life game before, I think it’s a great place to start.

VR via the Oculus Quest

Around halfway through this year, I started to get really stir crazy and yeah, pretty depressed. It seemed like I’d be stuck in the same boring cycle forever, and I know for a lot of people, it still feels like that. So VR seemed like the perfect escape from this dubious reality where you can’t even take a safe vacation trip anymore. And you know, I think it works really well for that purpose. The Oculus Quest is especially effective, doing away with cords or cables so you have as much freedom as you have free real estate in your home. I don’t have a lot of space in my studio apartment, but I have enough to see the potential of the medium, which is completely worth it. Next gen consoles are neat and all, but I’ve got my heart set on picking up the Quest 2 as soon as possible.

* Beat Saber

I was most looking forward to trying Beat Saber on the Quest, and I was not disappointed. You’d think rhythm games had reached their peak with Rock Band and DDR, but the genre keeps on giving with gems like this. It’s hard to convey if you’ve never tried it, but the game succeeds so well in getting your entire body into the rhythm of whatever song you’re slashing through.

* Half Life: Alyx

Again, I really did not expect to be able to experience this game as intended this year, and I still don’t think I really have. The Oculus Link for the Quest is admittedly a little janky, and my PC barely meets the minimum specs to even run the game. And yet, despite that, Alyx is one of my top three games of 2020 and maybe one of my all-time favorites. Even as I was losing frames and feeling the game struggle to keep up with all the AI Combine soldiers running around, I was still having a blast. For me, it is one of the best reasons to seek out and own VR and a pinnacle of game design in its own right.

Hades

For me, Hades has mostly been similar to every other Supergiant Game that I’ve played: fun and well-polished but ultimately not engaging enough to play for very long. And there’s always this sheen of trying to be too clever with their dialogue, narration, and music that rubs me the wrong way. But Hades is certainly their best game, and I can’t deny the effect it’s had on people, much like Bastion’s reception back in 2011. And I’m really hoping Hades gets more people into roguelikes, as a more accessible and story-driven approach to the genre. Timing-wise, I wish it hadn’t come out around the same time as Spelunky, because I think it did make some people choose one over the other, when the best choice is to play both and realize they’re going for very different experiences. The precise, unforgiving, arcade-like style of Spelunky isn’t fun for everyone, though, and Hades is thankfully there to fill in that gap. I’m really glad I found more time to play it this year at least to succeed on one escape attempt; it’s a fun game to think about in a game design context. And I do think the game has a lot of merit and is doing some clever things with difficulty that the studio likely could not have honed nearly so well without the help of Early Access. The most impressive part of the game to me is not the story or the music or the combat but the massive amount of contextual dialogue they somehow found time to program, write, and record at a consistently high level. All of this is just to say, Hades is obviously one of the best games of the year, and you should play it if you have any interest in it at all.

Spelunky 2

I’ve spoken a lot about this game on Twitter, so I’m not going to rehash much of that here. For me, it’s been a journey of over 1,000 attempts to learn the intricacies and secrets of a deep and demanding game that’s been as frustrating as it’s been rewarding. But it remains a constant source of learning and discovery as well as mastery and pride for me, and I still have hopes of reaching the Cosmic Ocean and getting all the trophies someday. It’s been a joy to watch other Spelunky players too, even as some fair worse than me and others fair far better. And the Daily challenge keeps me coming back, because seeing my name high up on the leaderboard just makes me feel so damn good (or at least I’ll get a good laugh out of a hilarious death). At its heart, Spelunky is a community endeavor, and I think it succeeds at that better than almost any other game this side of Dark Souls. I think it is my Game of the Year or at least tied with Alyx, I really can’t decide. If you don’t think you’d enjoy it, all I’ll say is, the frustration and difficulty are integral to the experience of discovery and surprise, and your brain is better at video games than you think.

Chess

Okay, yes, I watched and enjoyed The Queen’s Gambit, but I think 2020 had already primed people to get into chess this year regardless. Like Yu-Gi-Oh!, chess was a childhood pastime of mine that I really enjoyed and then quickly left behind as I discovered things like music and the internet. If I had to assign a theme to my 2020, it would be rediscovering old hobbies to remind myself how good life actually is. And now I’m more committed to chess than I ever was before. I’m watching international masters and grand masters on YouTube (as well as the incomparable Northernlion), I’m playing regularly on Chess.com, and I’m even paying for lessons and probably my own theory books soon. Like most fighting games, chess is a complicated form of dueling a single opponent with zero randomness, so mistakes are always on you. And modern chess platforms offer extremely good analysis tools, showing you exactly how, when, and why you screwed up so you can do better next time. Like Hearthstone, it’s a quick, addicting, tense, and rewarding way to train your brain and have fun. And it seems more popular now than ever, in part due to a certain Netflix original TV show...

TV

The Queen’s Gambit

I think a lot of people want to be Beth Harmon, even if they know they shouldn’t. It must feel so good to be the best at something and know you’re the best, even while under the influence of certain substances. It’s what makes characters like Dr. Gregory House so fun to watch, though you’d never want to work with the guy. For me, anyway, I always wanted to be a prodigy at something, and what little success I’ve had made The Queen’s Gambit very relatable to me. More so, it’s easy to relate to growing up in a conservative environment with few real friends and fewer outlets of expression, only to realize you’ve finally found your thing, and that no one can take it from you. That’s mostly what I’m going to take from The Queen’s Gambit anyway, more than chess or the Cold War commentary or the problematic relationships Beth has with her cadre of rivals/boyfriends. The show gets a strong recommendation from me for fans of chess as well as lovers of optimistic coming-of-age stories.

March Comes in Like a Lion

Similarly, March Comes in Like a Lion features a protagonist who is scarily close to a version of myself from like eight years ago. My best friend has been urging me to watch this show for years, and I’m still only a few episodes in. But I love how it portrays a young person who’s moved to a big city away from home for the first time, with nothing more than some meager possessions and the hopes of becoming the best in the world at something. And Rei is not confident in himself or outgoing at all, he’s extremely depressed despite pursuing his dreams and trying to distance himself from his somewhat toxic family. It’s a great reminder that the smallest kindnesses can often change our entire perspective on the world, and that even the people that seem the most well-equipped to handle life often still need help. I’ve been very fortunate to have people like that despite mistakes I’ve made, and I hope to be that person for others too.

Umbrella Academy

I’m pretty burnt out on superheroes, but UA put a good enough spin on them that they felt brand new. The show is rough in places, but it’s surprising in some really clever ways. And the comics are some of the wildest stories I’ve ever read, like Hitchhiker’s Guide meets Watchmen.

HunterXHunter

I binged about 100 of the 148 episodes of HxH this year, which I recognize is not a significant number in the wider world of long-running shounen anime, but it’s quite an undertaking for me to finish a show of this length. The series goes places I never expected and made me care so strongly for characters I thought I’d hate at first. It’s the smartest and most endearing show about a band of misfits going on crazy adventures and punching people for the good of the world that you’re likely to find.

Hannibal

This is the rare show that’s simultaneously comforting and nightmare-inducing if watched for extended periods. I can remember nights after binging a few episodes where I couldn’t get many of the disturbing images out of my head. Fair to say, Hannibal is not for the faint of heart, nor is it without some low points. But for those who enjoy gory thrillers or gritty detective dramas, it’s a must-watch. 

Yu-Gi-Oh! Original Series, English Sub

You can probably imagine my surprise as I discovered this year that the Japanese version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime is not only much better than the 4Kids version we got in the States, but it’s actually a decent show. The plot makes much more sense, it’s more interesting, the stakes are higher, the voices are better, and overall it’s just more enjoyable to watch. I don’t know if I’ll stick with it long enough to finish it this time, but this is definitely the way I’d do it and would recommend to others.

Fargo Season 4

It’s a miracle we even got another season of Fargo this year, let alone on time and of the same high quality as the first two seasons. It has a great setting, cast, and conflict. I love Chris Rock, and it was so cool to see him act so well in such a serious role. There’s a Wizard of Oz homage episode that is nearly flawless. And the post-credits scene at the end of the season is just the cherry on top. If you haven’t checked out Fargo by now, you are really missing out on some of the most interesting stuff happening in TV. I can’t wait to see what Noah Hawley does with the Alien franchise.

Movies

Cats

I had to include this one because it was the last full movie I saw in theaters before the pandemic hit. I technically went to Sonic too, but my friends and I walked out after about 30 minutes. The less said about that movie, the better. Cats, though, is a strange and curious beast (pun intended), adapting an already unruly animal (pun intended) to the big screen and yowling to be recognized (pun intended). But for every awkward or embarrassing scene, there’s one of pure joy and magic, like the extended ballet sequence or Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat. The film knows exactly what it is and leans into it hard, like a familiar yet slightly insane feline begging to be stroked, which I imagine is exactly what fans of the musical wanted.

Children of Men

There’s not much I can say about this film that probably hasn’t been said better elsewhere. I was intrigued to watch it when I learned it was one of my friend’s favorite movies. And I have to say, it’s really profound in a prescient way. Clive Owen gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. You should watch it, but only when you feel like taking a severe hit to the feels.

Basic Instinct

Vertigo is probably still my favorite film, so when I learned this year that Paul Verhoeven made a bloody, sex romp homage film to it in the 90s with Michael Douglas starring, I simply had to watch it. And you know, it’s not bad. It’s nowhere near as good as Vertigo, and you can see the ending coming a mile away. But what it does have is the immaculate Sharon Stone, who you cannot take your eyes off for the entire movie. And the movie knows it, making her look as alluring and suggestive as her character is to the detective investigating her. You could do worse than to watch it, just don’t expect any of Hitchcock’s subtlety or looming dread to seep into the final product.

Books

Dune

I finally finished Dune this year, and I can genuinely say it lives up to the hype. It’s not the easiest book to get through, but it’s by no means one of the most difficult either. I’m still bummed that the new film was delayed, but it might give me time to read the rest of the original book series.

The Fifth Season

Another fantastic piece of fiction, I cannot recommend this book enough. N.K. Jemisin is one of the best living authors of our time. If you want an original setting with a brilliant magic system and complex, compelling characters, look no further.

Video Content

Northernlion

I’ve been a fan of NL for years, though I’ve never been that into The Binding of Isaac. He just has a charismatic intelligence to him that sets him apart from most “Let’s Play” YouTubers to me, and he’s very funny to boot. I guess I’d say he seems a lot like me or the person I could picture myself being if I were a professional video content creator. So I was really excited for NL’s series of Spelunky 2 videos, and I still watch them every day, months later. And now he’s teaching me how to get better at chess, being a good 600 ELO higher than myself at the moment. His sarcastic and improv-laden banter have withstood the test of years and gave me some much-needed comfort and laughter in 2020. Somehow, the man even found a way to keep up his prolific output this year while raising his firstborn child. There are those who said it couldn’t be done...

The Command Zone - Game Knights

Josh Lee Kwai and the rest of the crew at The Command Zone continue to put out some of the most well-produced tabletop gameplay videos on the internet. It’s perhaps no surprise, seeing as how Lee Kwai created trailers for such blockbuster films as Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and Jimmy Wong had a supporting role in the live action remake of Disney’s Mulan. But the crew around the two hosts are just as important and talented, and it’s clear that they all share the same singular vision for the channel’s future. They’ve carefully crafted a team of expert editors, animators, cosplayers, and voice actors to deliver one delightful video after the next at a consistently high level. If you’re into Magic: the Gathering at all, you simply need to watch Game Knights.

Cimoooooooo

I found Alex Cimo’s channel shortly after the algorithm learned I was interested in Yu-Gi-Oh! again, and at first, I was less than impressed with him. But it’s clear to me now that he not only loves what he does, he’s an expert Yu-Gi-Oh! player and analyst. Plus, he’s very good at explaining some of the more complex concepts in the game in a way that newcomers can understand. I’ve watched every new episode of The Progression Series and The History of Yu-Gi-Oh! so far, and they’re the best way I’ve found to learn how the game developed and changed over the last 20 years.

Team APS

This is another great Yu-Gi-Oh! channel, focusing more on skits, gimmick videos, and casual games rather than analytical or theoretical content. Mostly, they seem like a really great group of friends that just have a blast playing Yu-Gi-Oh! together, and their love for the game makes me want to play more too.

Tolarian Community College

Somehow, a community college English professor’s channel went from a quirky little deckbox review platform to the most popular Magic: the Gathering channel on YouTube in only a few years. But it’s easy to see why when Brian clearly loves what he’s doing more than most people ever will. He’s not only a fantastic reviewer and MtG scholar, he’s one of the most outspoken voices for positive change in the community and the game. Is he too hard on the Magic team at Wizards of the Coast? Perhaps, but without his measured and well-reasoned takes on all things Magic, I think we’d be much worse off.

IRL

Cooking

Even I get tired of eating the same things every day, so I’ve taken it upon myself to learn how to make more dishes, mostly out of sheer boredom. And I know I’m not alone in that, but I have to say it’s been a rewarding and fun adventure. It’s really surprising what you can throw together with a decent recipe and a little creativity in a modest kitchen when you decide to break away from the microwave for once.

Chinchillin’

Like many people, I felt that I needed a pet to survive this year, and I’ve always wanted a chinchilla. So I took a risk and bought one from a seller on KSL a few months ago, and my life has definitely changed for the better. No longer simply alone with my thoughts all day, I have a furry little companion to commune and bond with. And it’s more difficult to find time to feel sorry for myself when a basically helpless tiny creature depends on me for almost everything. Not to say it’s been a perfect experience however, people don’t say chins are difficult to care for for nothing. And I have learned more about them than perhaps I ever cared to know before, but that’s only made them more interesting to me as a result. Overall, I would recommend them as pets, just be prepared to give them a lot more time and attention than you would to say, a fish or a hamster. I’ve seen the commitment compared to that of a large dog, and I think that’s fair, though chins seem far more difficult to train and are far less cuddly. Basically, imagine a fluffy, super fast squirrel that can jump half your height, shed its fur at will if grabbed too tightly, that sleeps all day and bathes in dust, and that cannot get wet or too hot or eat 99% of human foods without serious complications. And they get lonely, and they all have their own surprisingly distinct personalities, some shy and mischievous, others bright and social, and everything in between. But I’m glad to be part of my little buddy’s life and hope to make it a long and enjoyable one for him. Part of why I wanted a chinchilla so badly is they typically live between 10-20 years, much longer than the average rodent or even many cats and dogs. And they’re sadly endangered in the wild, poached for their incredibly soft fur, which is why I believe it’s critical that we care for and learn more about them now. And above all, I adore my chinchilla’s antics, even when he continually tries to dig up and eat the paper bedding below his cage when I’ve provided perfectly edible hay and pellets for him in much easier to reach locations.

And that’s all, folks...

If you’ve read this far, know that I really appreciate it and hope you learned something new about yourself, art, or the world. And please do let me know what’s kept you going the most this year too, as I suspect I’ll still be searching for new distractions next year, even after I’m able to get a Covid vaccine injection. As Red Green would say, we’re all in this together, and I’m pullin’ for ya. <3

#2020 #hobbies #art #youtube #reviews #entertainment #games #books #film #tv #netflix

[undauntedtcg]

On the Topic of Regional Preparation

Sorry for the uh...Extended break, we’ll call it. Testing for Richmond has been a task, and while I wanted to share more decks with you all, my testing focused in one one very quickly. However, I’ll try and do something with the results of this tournament in the week leading up to Portland, which I won’t be attending, but will have a lot of fun testing for and spectating.

My decklist, with card by card explanations, some matchup information and general advice will be out very soon, but before all of that, I think it’s worth looking at how one goes about getting ready for a regional. As someone who has attended a grand total of one, I feel qualified enough to share a little advice.

First, deck choice. The hardest part of any tournament, in my mind.

If you’re a newer or less experienced player, the biggest thing is to play a good deck. That seems unhelpful, right? But we should define good. When I say “good,” I typically mean tier one. I know rogue decks are always tempting! They are “geared to beat the meta” and “just can’t lose, in theory.” But the only people likely to find success with some off the wall nonsense is a top player that has practiced each of the deck’s matchups ad nauseum and refined the list to be incredibly consistent. If you aren’t willing to do that, pick up something powerful, consistent and easy to play. For the upcoming expanded events in Richmond and Portland, I’d recommend Pikarom or Darkbox, for instance. Your chances of making day 2 with a consistent deck that you aren’t likely to make too many mistakes with is much higher than some binderdrop of cards that work “in theory.”

No matter what deck you play, however, make sure that you’ve practiced with it thoroughly. TCGO is not known for the quality of players or decks, don’t test there exclusively. But, for practicing sequencing and getting a feel for how the deck runs, I’d say it’s a pretty good tool. Along with that, try and find people that can test specific matchups with you. It is preferable to have a general sense of your game-plan going into each matchup you’ll see at the regional.

Second, take care of yourself. Please.

Regionals are not exactly easy. Playing nine 50-minute rounds in a day can be exhausting. Sleep plenty before the event and make sure you’re eating and staying hydrated throughout the day, not only for your physical health, but to keep your mind functioning at its best. If you’re dehydrated, hungry and tired, I doubt you’ll be finding any success.

Third, don’t be intimidated.

You are going to see a lot of top players at any regional you attend. You might even play against a couple. Try to keep calm. Are they good? Yes, but it is impossible to play a TCG like Pokemon or Magic perfectly. Think through each of your decisions and play as optimally as you know how. If you do that, I’m willing to bet you’ll be fine. The biggest difference between a high and low level player is the ability to see ahead in the game. Consider each play’s effect not only on the current game-state, but on the game as a whole.

The players at the top are still human. Just interact with them as such. Except Christopher Schemanske, he’s a robot I’m pretty sure.

Last, and most importantly, have fun!

Regionals and Internationals are some of the most fun you can have playing Pokemon. Personally, I love playing out 9 rounds in one day. In locals and cups, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up by the time the last round is over. Here, however, you’re playing pretty much all day. It’s amazing!

#Pokemon #PTCG #Regionals #Play! Pokemon

[ptcgevents]

Gardevoir GX - Takuya Yoneda (JP) - Top 32 - Daytona Regionals - October 2017 - Expanded

#pokemon tcg decklist

[cardsrealmrj]

Connecting players around the world

Cards Realm is a group of people who love card games, LOR, board games, and RPGs. We aim to help all the players to improve their skills, share their experience and knowledge with others, and discover new games together. We are not affiliated with any game publisher or distributor. We are an independent website made by gamers, for gamers. And our spirit is precisely that, connecting players.

We are the best source of information about the top trading card games, widely known as TCGs or CCGs, including, Hearthstone, Pokemon TCG Online, Yu-Gi-Oh. Duel Arena, Dragoborne -Rise to Supremacy-, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, Faeria, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, Shadowverse, and so on. We cover the biggest tournaments in the genre. We analyze decklists and give you news about new expansions, cards, and other things related to the game. We also publish articles about other genres of games. The topics include LORs (Live-Online-Role-Play), board games, and video games that can be played online. Cards Realm also has an active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. So feel free to follow us on our social media platforms, where you can find the latest news about the games you love.

Cards Realm is a website of people who are enthusiastic about card games, board games, LOR, and RPGs. We work 100% independently, without strings attached, creating cool content and bringing news and tools to the community of card games, board games, LOR, and RPGs. Our content is aimed at the whole world. We do everything ourselves: from writing articles about Neferset Ritual to testing cards to streaming on Twitch. Our main goal is to bring all the news about your favorite TCGs to you. Our team consists of people who are fond of gaming. All our work is done independently. We do not have any sponsors or partners on the website. Everything we do, it's for you. So if you like what we do and want to support us, we will be grateful for any help.

Contact Us:

Cards Realm

Address:  Rua Senador Vergueiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22230-000, Brazil

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[gamerszone2019-blog]

Why This Year's Pokemon TCG World Championships Will Be Extra Challenging for Players

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/why-this-years-pokemon-tcg-world-championships-will-be-extra-challenging-for-players/

Why This Year's Pokemon TCG World Championships Will Be Extra Challenging for Players

This weekend will see hundreds of players from around the globe descend on Washington, D.C. to compete in the Pokemon World Championships 2019. The Pokemon Trading Card Game part of the event is of special note for having the largest cash prize, with $25,000 going to the winner of the Masters division, so players can expect fierce competition as they battle their way to the top. However, due to some unexpected shakeups heading into the contest, this year’s Worlds will be especially challenging for players.The cause of all this tumult stems from the set rotation announced for the upcoming 2019-2020 competitive season. Normally, older cards are rotated out to make room for the new after Worlds, but this year The Pokemon Company International threw a curveball so Worlds will be the first event to use the new format and a brand new set, Unified Minds. Players usually depend on getting to practice their decks in big tournaments leading up to Worlds, but this changeup means there will be no major events to give them an idea of what the Worlds metagame will look like. There’s no data to analyze and no decklists to study, at least not in an official capacity.

It’s important to point out how this year’s rotation was especially brutal when it came to culling the cardpool. The loss of Double Colorless Energy was a hurdle for many players given how it was the keystone for numerous otherwise unplayable decks. No more Guzma suddenly made switching and “gusting” Pokemon a chore while simultaneously boosting the power of Status Conditions. The Pokemon-searching Ultra Ball had been around for years and was a staple in virtually every competitive deck, but now it’s gone, forcing players to depend on inferior options. That cut, along with the loss of Nest Ball, Great Ball and Timer Ball, has made the simple notion of finding your Pokemon a tricky endeavor.

Unified Minds did introduce the GX-searching Cherish Ball, but that still leaves almost all single-Prize decks out in the cold and out of the competition. Like Thanos snapping his fingers, the rotation snuffed out half of the most commonly played decks from existence. With a majority of mill, stall, and spread decks rendered inert, the metagame is now a less diverse place, creating a format that’s all about big Tag Teams attacking one another for big damage and not much else.

While many cards are going away, quite a few are being introduced in Unified Minds. Too many, if you ask some players. The expansion just happens to be the largest Pokemon card set ever released, giving competitors that much more to digest in order to properly prepare for Worlds.

It’s understandable why some players would be frustrated by all this. They’ve devoted the past year to practicing with friends, traveling far and wide to tournaments, and spending quite a bit of cash to make sure they always have the latest and greatest cards — essentially turning their Pokemon hobby into a full-time second job — all so they could earn enough Championship Points to qualify to play in the Super Bowl of Pokemon events. Coming up with the right 60 cards to take into the competition is already a gargantuan task. They just want to do it on a playing field that’s as even as possible.

Check out the weird card that Pokemon banned from Worlds for a weird reason.

But as we are all forced to do when circumstances are less than ideal, the players will have to look on the bright side of things. Despite the collective shock to the Pokemon community’s system, one could see these changes as a positive. Having a fresh format where familiar tools are gone adds an element of unpredictability to the competition that typically isn’t there. Everyone will be going into Worlds equally uninformed on the metagame and instead of leaning on hard data they will rely on natural skill. There will be no chance to “netdeck,” which rewards those with a knack for inspired deck-building.

That said, players do have a general idea of what to expect in the field at Worlds based on their own personal testing, online discussion forums, and from what competitive YouTubers like OmniPoke and Tricky Gym share on their channels. Decks like Pikachu & Zekrom, Reshiram & Charizard, Blacephalon, and a handful of Malamar variants are the obvious frontrunners because they are pre-established archetypes that came through rotation mostly intact. There are also newcomers like Dark Box and Mewtwo & Mew Box to consider, as well as off-beat picks such as Breloom/Frosslass, Whimsicott/Porygon Z, and Shedinja Control.

Top Cards to Expect at Pokemon Worlds 2019

This is very much a fuzzy view of the metagame, so there’s ample opportunity for players to come armed with secret techs that the masses haven’t discovered and use them to take the tournament by surprise. No one will forget how Japan’s Shintaro Ito won Worlds 2016 with Mega Audino — a Pokemon card that was considered binder trash before he unexpectedly used it to slice through the competition. This year’s Worlds is, if anything, an opportunity to make an impact.

So while the competition is a bit more complicated than normal, it’s safe to say that the players already have what it takes to adapt. After all, nothing is more second nature to Pokemon fans than evolution.

For more from the world of Pokemon, be sure to keep an eye on IGN this weekend as we report from the 2019 Pokemon World Championships where players will compete to win over $500,000 in prizes in tournaments for Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokken Tournament, and of course the Pokemon Trading Card Game.Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Source : IGN

#Game News #Game Reviews

[ptcgdecklist]

Cinccino Mill - James Williams (AU) - Top 4 - OCIC - February 2020 - Standard

#deck: cinccino mill #player: james williams #oceania #international #top 4 #february 2020 #standard #pokemon tcg decklist #pokemon #Bellelba & Brycen-Man Mill

[pluspower]

Samurott/Electrode Prime HGSS-on Deck

In HGSS-on, one of the most popular decks was ReshiBoar, a deck that used Emboar (BW) to accelerate energy via infinite fire energy attachments from the hand to Reshiram (BW), a big basic Pokémon with the potential to hit for 120 damage every turn (at the cost of discarding 2 energy attached to Reshiram).

Notice that these were considered high HP cards and there were no ex/EX/GX/etc cards in the format at the time. In other words, there were no "rule box" Pokémon.

ReshiPhlosion, a similar deck, was also widely being played -- Typhlosion had a PokéPower to attach 1 fire energy from the discard pile to a Pokémon for the price of placing 1 damage counter on it (and, interestingly, the power gets shut down if Typhlosion is affected with a special condition -- same with Electrode's power below).

Thus, the predominant decks were decks composed of fire Pokémon. I decided to build a rogue deck using a water-type Pokémon to play at my local league, since it would be a good counter to the meta. I ended up creating a deck using Samurott and Electrode Prime.

Electrode's Energymite PokéPower allowed me to trade a prize card (since it would be Knocked Out) for all of the energy cards in the top 7 cards of my deck, and attach them to my Pokémon in any way I like. I discard the other cards. I filled my deck with a relatively high percentage of water energy, which would hopefully get attached to Samurott.

Samurott only needed 3 energy to do 100 damage with no drawback (200 with weakness -- OHKO on every Pokémon in the game at the time), and it also had an ability that reduced all damage done to it by attacks by 20 (after applying weakness). PlusPower was ubiquitous in HGSS-on, allowing Reshiram to OHKO Pokémon with more than 120 HP. Normally a Reshiram player would have to PlusPower twice to OHKO Samurott, but with its ability you would have to play all 4 at once, making it very difficult to achieve and rendering PlusPower nearly useless.

This is an oversimplification, but if Samurott needs 3/7 of the deck to be water energies, that would be 26 energies. I probably ran a bit under that number because I get one attach from my hand. I don't remember or have the exact decklist I used, but here's a sketch of what it might have looked like. [Professor Oak's New Theory was a popular supporter in the HGSS-on format.]

Pokémon (17)

4-2-4 Oshawott-Dewott-Samurott (BW)

3-3 Electrode Prime (HGSS Triumphant)

1 Cleffa (HGSS)

Trainers (22)

3 Rare Candy

3 Pokémon Communication

3 Junk Arm

3 Pokémon Catcher

2 Switch

2 Energy Retrieval

2 Pokémon Collector

2 Professor Juniper

3 Professor Oak's New Theory

Energies (21)

21 Water Energy

#pokemon #pokemon cards #pokemon tcg #decklist #pokemon deck #pokemon decklist #hgss-on #ptcg #past meta #historic #rogue #samurott #electrode

[strikeandrun]

Introduction

Pokemon is quite different from the other two major card games in the way that it has no support for it’s older cards. The only supported format with cards not legal ins Expanded or Standard is Legacy on PTCGO, which only goes back to HGSS, and has long since been a “solved format.” You might be wondering why anyone would bother to learn about past formats in a game with no real life support for it’s older cards. Unlike Magic: the Gathering, which regularly has tournaments for their Vintage and Legacy formats starring cards over 20 years old, Pokemon has seen no official support for it’s older cards. I personally believe that this is likely due to the licensing change from Wizards to Nintendo in 2003 making Nintendo not want any player to have to buy cards from a different company in order to play (at the time it was much more likely that you’d find a Nintendo era and Wizards era pack side by side at a store.) Support for an Unlimited format has basically vanished since this change, and that format has been solved by those patient enough to win or lose on the first turn every time. I think it could also be due to Wizards trying to follow Magic’s footsteps and introduce the most powerful cards first, and concerns about all the strongest cards being from the Wizards era could’ve arisen. Something interesting about the 2004 format is that it is the only time that cards from the final Wizards sets and the first Nintendo sets are legal at the same time. I Digress, but back onto the topic, I think that a lack of support for these formats is partially responsible for the interest in these non-sanctioned, never-will-be-sanctioned formats due to the fact that you really can’t see most of these cards played to their greatest effect in any format other than it’s own. The strongest of these cards carry a legacy that yearns to be demonstrated in these old format decks.

What exactly is it that draws players like you and I to these older formats? Surprisingly, not everyone who plays old formats does so because they played back then. Some of the largest collections of old school decks that I am aware of are owned by a regional card shop owner, a three time world champion, and a player who started as recently as 2012. But what about all the other guys? For some people it has to do with learning the history of the game. Even less people will see the way that these old formats improve your gameplay skills in the current standard and even less than that will be drawn in by that factor. The smallest fraction cares about the fact that it is non-rotating when they get into it, because that isn’t really important to someone who plays a game with only a rotating format and an expanded format that goes back a whole 6 years. While there is no definitive answer, for me and a lot of other people who I’ve known to collect old format cards it is in part due to being bored of the Standard format. A lot of players new and old feel that the game just “isn’t what it used to be” after hearing epic stories about using Dragon Rush for game or using Lost Burn to KO an unsuspecting Reshiram.

I was not actively playing standard when I decided to build my 2004 collection, and I hadn’t competed in an event in maybe a year or so, but I played online a little bit and quickly found myself to be bored with the format. I downloaded a program called LackeyCCG as a means to build decks and test them against myself in an easy to use solitaire mode, and the program’s Pokemon TCG plugin came pre-loaded with all the decklists from past world champions. One bored afternoon I must’ve decided to try them out and I liked 2004 the most of the formats. Coincidentally around the same time, an article appeared on SixPrizes about the format and after I read it my interest in the cards from this time period was sky high. I quickly began to love the artwork from this era, and a lot of the top tier Pokemon at this time were some of my favorites. I started crafting and researching decklists, and slowly everything about it began to feel right and meaningful. What makes or breaks a card in the format felt like it carried a lot of weight, from the power of attacks down to the very last hit point a Pokemon has. It may seem like something rather basic, but I feel that today it only matters whether or not your moves are a one hit kill or how to make your move a one hit kill. I like to believe that these numbers and things were intricately decided by the designers of the game, but another part of me thinks that it is a happy accident. It also fascinated me how some of the best cards from this format were never on meta-defining cards again (such as Dunsparce,Bellossom, or Gorebyss.) Whether this is intentional or not I don’t know, but it adds a bit more of uniqueness to the format. Simply put, the 2004 format is enjoyable because the power is there and players can feel each move’s importance, but it doesn’t feel as though the power was deliberately pushed to an extreme either. It seems as though every little detail on the Pokemon themselves was especially crafted with gameplay in mind, something I feel has since been forgotten.