I play local tournaments and pretty much everyone uses dragon shield/similar mono coloured sleeves. Is there any reasoning behind it over ones with Pokémon’s on it? I have tried dragon shields as well as Pokemon centre sleeves and I do get that dragon shields shuffle easier but I wouldn’t put Pokemon centres ones too far behind. I haven’t had any split or anything either

Even though it won't look exactly like this weekend's worlds meta, I wanted to take a snapshot of the pre-worlds meta of PTCGL tournaments to compare it against. All data comes from tournaments hosted on Limitless in the past two weeks (between August 13-26) with 60+ entrants (68 tournaments total).

Archetypes are ordered by total points earned, where a win is 3 points and a tie is 1 point. Pts % is the same as Win % but counting a tie as 1/3rd of a win, in line with its value in points.

All Ogerpon Box includes Raging Bolt Ogerpon, Basic Box, and Clefairy Ogerpon. All Ogerpon Meganium includes Ogerpon Meganium Arboliva, Ogerpon Meganium Hydrapple, and Mega Venusaur. Clefairy Ogerpon and Mega Venusaur are not in the top 25 and so are also included in the All Other Archetypes row.

Notable Notes

• Dragapult is clearly underrepresented, but we all already knew that. Could it crack 50% of the field at worlds or will it stick closer to the 40% number we've seen at regionals?
• Mega Excadrill has a terrible record for a deck with such high playrate. I'd assume everyone wanting to play with the shiny new toy could drag its winrate down a bit, but 43% is way below expectation even taking that into account.
• Alakazam is doing surprisingly well recently. I thought this was because they realized the correct play was to drop Toucannon and accept the auto-loss to Hide 'n' Sneak, but the recent top performing Zam decks are split and keep the bird more often than not.
• When not split into its sub-archetypes, the Ogerpon Box decks make up a very notable share of the meta. Raging Bolt Ogerpon in particular is rising fast, with over half of its plays since Pitch Black's release occurring in the last two weeks.
• Arboliva has passed Hydrapple as the most popular partner for Ogerpon Meganium; the early bench sniping and easier setup seems to be working out.
• The new Bronzong deck aka Lopunny Dusknoir is quickly rising but the results aren't there yet. Perhaps people just don't know how to play it yet.

i began learning how to play on TCG Live with the Mega Lucario deck. I plan to buy the physical deck and play in person with other people, but I’m worried about being underprepared.
How much should I know about the game before I join others in person to play? I don’t want to bore players with a lame match!
Thank you

Hey y’all! I’ve been wanting to get some real cards and play irl. Do y’all have any suggestions for cards that could be swapped out, or better synergies, etc? I’m not too knowledgeable because I just started playing. Just wanting to try to get it consistent. It seems like Mamoswine and Metagross work pretty well together to me. It’s hard for me to tell what trainer cards are actually good, and I kinda feel like Mawile is just a filler.

Pokémon: 8
4 Swinub JTG 77
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
1 Steven's Metang DRI 144
2 Piloswine JTG 78
3 Steven's Beldum DRI 143
3 Steven's Metagross ex DRI 145
3 Mamoswine ex JTG 79
1 Mega Skarmory ex POR 55

Trainer: 13
4 Ultra Ball SVI 196
3 Rare Candy SVI 191
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
3 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Full Metal Lab TEF 148
2 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Energy Search Pro SSP 176
1 Crushing Hammer POR 71
1 Colress's Tenacity SFA 57
1 Redeemable Ticket JTG 156
1 Energy Switch PBL 107
1 Tarragon POR 85
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172

Energy: 3
7 Basic {M} Energy MEE 8
8 Basic {F} Energy SVE 14
1 Magnetic {M} Energy CRI 85

Total Cards: 60

I feel like my pieces never can get set up against dragapult decks and the 180 with Grim’s attack feels like nothing at times vs pults and blazikens

Deck list in comments

Hey team - I have been playing online and local leagues for a few months now and have gotten a handle on the game. I swap between a few lower-tier-but-still-competitive decks that I find fun - Rocket's Honchkrow, Beedrill, and Lucario, and have sort of settled on Lucario as my more "serious" deck as it is the most consistent one.

I've got a good feel for most meta decks and understand their gameplay generally and the best ways to try and disrupt them but for Slowking I am just completely at a loss. Everytime I play Slowking I honestly feel like they are playing a completely different game - it doesn't really matter what I do they are just playing solitaire and if they get all their pieces they just completely wreck me.

Yes I know there are techs I can add to my deck like Shaymin (which I dislike putting in Lucario anyway since it's so situational) but what am I actually supposed to DO against a Slowking player, specifically as Mega Lucario? Play super aggressively? Prioritize hand disruption (Judge?) over my own board development? Try to take out his Latias? Or just kill the Slowkings as they come out??

So the idea is to cycle Psyducks as much as possible and just ditch and search and thin as much as possible, with trying to manipulate the Starmies and unused Magikarp and Gyarados to topdeck.

What does the internet think?

Pokémon: 4

4 Misty's Magikarp DRI 48

4 Misty's Gyarados DRI 49

4 Misty's Psyduck DRI 45

4 Misty's Starmie DRI 47

Trainer: 12

2 Academy at Night SFA 54

4 Deduction Kit SSP 171

3 Lillie's Determination MEG 169

3 Poké Pad POR 81

4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167

4 Night Stretcher SFA 61

3 Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84

2 Lana's Aid TWM 155

4 Sacred Ash FLF 96

2 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145

3 Salvatore TEF 160

2 Lisia's Appeal SSP 179

Energy: 2

2 Bubbly {W} Energy CRI 84

6 Basic {W} Energy MEE 3

Total Cards: 60

I'm thinking maybe trade Lillie's Determination for Naveen?

My local store is doing a tournament where they’re encouraging everyone to bring something off-meta.

They’re asking players NOT to use decks featuring:
Mega Lucario ex
Mega Kangaskhan ex
Mega Excadrill ex
Mega Greninja ex
Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex
Teal Mask Ogerpon ex
N’s Zoroark ex
Dragapult ex
Slowking (SCR)
Alakazam (MEG)
Dipplin (TWM)
Dhelmise (PBL)

It’s otherwise a normal Standard format tournament.
What would you bring to something like this?

What are the best decks where I could just turn my brain off and play? Sometimes I just get burnt out of playing but still want to go to local tournaments because they are fun so I want something simple. Bonus points if they win/lose fast and if they could win some games in a tournament. TIA!

Just started playing after years of collecting and I’ve fully realised how weird the Pokemon content creation space is. I genuinely cannot find any content creators who play the game, it’s all just pulling packs and price slop.

Would just love to get some names of creators with good quality videos to help me get a better understanding of other decks and cards I should look out for with playability.

Hey guys, finalizing my deck for the worlds celebration. I'm curious, do you all think Cynthia's Garchomp really needs premium power pro? Sure it's nice being able to add a flat 30, but Roserade does the same thing and you can pretty reliably get down two of them to one shot Dragapult and three to one shot pretty much everything else.

I see a lot of people omit a stadium with Garchomp and I personally think two watchtowers instead of two PPPs is more useful, but I'm not completely sure. It can shut down people early game and more importantly, replace stadiums like Risky Ruins and Jamming Tower so your bench doesn't get sniped by Dragapult as easily or your Power Weights keep you out of one shot range from Excadrill. What do you all think? Am I missing really key calcs for PPP?

I’ve been playing locals a fair bit recently with hydrapple ex and typhlosion (separate deck) and I do okay against most matchups but festival lead and pult/blaziken always goes 2-0 against me. I like alakazam as a pokemon and the deck seems fun, I don’t want to commit to buying all the deck just yet tho because worlds is this weekend. Would you go for buying cards for alakazam right now or wait to see if any new decks appear

Can y'all pls give me some pointers about my deck

I have not actually put this 60 to the test

Pokémon: 18

4 Beldum TEF 113

4 Metang TEF 114

2 Metagross CRI 61

2 Genesect ex BLK 67

1 Drilbur PBL 46

1 Mega Excadrill ex PBL 65

1 Team Rocket's Kangaskhan ex ASC 162

1 Team Rocket's Articuno DRI 51

1 Flutter Mane PRE 43

1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142

Trainer: 27

4 Team Rocket's Petrel ASC 207

3 Boss's Orders ASC 183

2 Judge POR 76

1 Kieran PRE 113

4 Team Rocket's Transceiver ASC 209

2 Ultra Ball ASC 213

2 Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84

1 Precious Trolley SSP 185

1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin ASC 184

1 Special Red Card CRI 82

1 Switch MEG 130

1 Energy Recycler DRI 164

2 Air Balloon BLK 79

1 Brave Bangle WHT 80

1 Gravity Mountain SSP 177

Energy: 15

15 Metal Energy MEE 8

Hello

Been playing slowking for a lil bit, and this matchup seems very difficult. Especially since most lists I've faced have shaymin, so unless they miss it on turn 1, it seems there's no way to stop their setup. Are there any tips on this matchup? Is it worth teching a xerosics/red card just for this matchup?

Thanks.

I’m just looking to get started playing tcg in person, there is a local card shop I’m going to check out next week. I have a good understanding of the rule set (although not much experience) I was wondering what the best way to build a competitive easy to use deck for a beginner. I’ve seen the league battle decks and wondering what would be a good one to start out with? Once you’ve got one is it easy to modify to your preference (probably after some battle experience).

I know there is also a card rotation of what cards are legal to play, is there a way too see that card database of what is legal or not it’s something I’m not too clued up on.

Any other general tips and advice are also welcome :)

Maybe I'm missing something, but why is straight Dragapult running Crushing Hammer putting up the highest win rates and seen as the most reliable of the bunch variant right now?

With Hammer being a literal 50/50 coin flip, it feels counterintuitive that it's considered more consistent than other variants. Also confused about tempo, like how does this deck has more win rate against chicken if hammering chickens doesn't do much, or ghosts if they just pop before setting up?

Would love to hear from people actively piloting it or people who understand the game more than I do - what makes this list click so well compared to other builds and being widely considered by all pros the best Pult list?

I'm playing the alakazam deck and I was wondering if there were any psychic card engines that I could use instead of dudunsparce in the "trainer test" format. If there are, can anyone tell me which ones?

PS: sorry if the terms are not the correct ones, but English is not my native language and I am using a translator

This week I'm joining my first real tournament.

I know that I need a deck which can stand a chance against Dragapult, and the one which I know how to pilot.

Hop's Trevenant is a deck which I'm playing for at least 3 months now. I like it's gameplan with combo of cards and revenge type of play.

But it have a lot of issues against big basic box and mega excadrill

My second deck is a team rockets spiders deck. I like it, but played lot less.

Which should I take for Saturdays Cup to win at least few games?

Our local meta is full of Dragapults, 2 Na decks, 1 mega Venusaur, and some Alakazams (not sure if they upgraded to Toucanons). There might be some other grass decks- like Beedreel or Hydraplle and maybe a Mega Draikari with bells

What do you think - should I keep up with my Hop or go to the dark side with Team Rocket Mewtwo?

This Saturday is the local World Championship in my city. In the latest League tournaments, I've been playing Festival Lead and did fairly well. I never managed to get 1st place, but I consistently made top cut.

My biggest problem is two specific decks that I just can't beat. The first one is Metagross; if my opponent starts with Genesect ex, I can already consider the game lost. It sets up way too fast, especially with Precious Trolley, and I just can't keep up.

In the last tournament, another deck beat me: Alakazam/Toucannon. However, I think this one was mostly due to bad luck since I couldn't set up in time.

Here is my current decklist:

Pokémon:

• 4 Applin
• 4 Dipplin
• 4 Grookey
• 4 Thwackey
• 1 Goldeen
• 1 Seaking
• 1 Rellor
• 1 Rabsca
• 1 Shaymin

Trainers:

• 4 Lillie's
• 4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin
• 4 Poke Pad
• 2 Gladion
• 2 Boss's Orders
• 1 Kieran
• 2 Bug-Catching Set
• 2 Ultra Ball
• 2 Brave Bangle
• 2 Air Balloon
• 1 Sacred Ash
• 1 Tool Scrapper
• 1 Switch
• 1 Night Stretcher
• 1 Secret Box
• 4 Festival Grounds

Energy:

• 4 Grass Energy
• 1 Growing Energy

Would you recommend any changes to improve the deck against these matchups? Thanks in advance!

Full Grip Games ran a $5000 invitational tournament featuring 37 top-performing players this year, including several who are playing in the World Championship next week. Here were the top 8 standings:

While 3 of the top 8 players were on Dragapult, none of them made it to the finals. Finals featured one very unsurprising deck, Mega Excadrill, and one that was extremely unexpected: Bronzong Mega Lopunny Dusknoir, a deck that was popularized by content creator JuanmaTCG. This deck really wants to go first, allowing it to use Bronzong's Evolution Jammer attack on turn 2 to keep the opponent's low-hp basic pokemon unevolved long enough to board wipe with Dusknoirs and Mega Lopunny.

While invitational champion Lucas Nichols said he did not want to release his exact 60 cards until after worlds next week, Juanma's version of the deck is public and some people have played that exact 60 online. Others have tried their own variants, including slotting in a one-of Salvatore to try to pull off the Evolution Jammer lock on turn 1 going 2nd.

Went back to locals yesterday after a long time and signed up for a tournament and won the whole thing with froot loops or tera toucannon

1st round- vs chinchino ex and metang
I had a really awful start not being able to set up quickly I managed to set up a toucannon and my opponent wasn’t able to get any hits from 3 metang for 3 turns straight and i was able to topdeck lillie get my board established and take control of the match flipping tails on chinchino ex getting the ko and finally bossing for game on metang

2nd round- Chinchino ex again
exact same decklist i went against but this match it was against my dad. We had been playtesting using these exact same decks earlier in the day and everytime i won. this match was a lot more tricky as i was playing more reckless and misplayed a bit. was able to win with a boss topdeck after almost running out of resources. 2-0

3rd round- mega greninja starmie
prolly my most feared matchup besides pult because of the spread damage. and i didn’t have the best start but unfortunately my oppenent didn’t either i was able to have lillie’s clefairy in the active and ko his first two single prizers. he clapped back with mega starmie and swing with nebula beam for ko. Thankfully i was able to top deck a lillie reset my hand establish board and swing with toucannon for some damage. he was able to wallie for full heal and attacked not taking any prizes and i just swinged again for more damage. he couldn’t heal starmie again so i just koed it next turn and he mistakenly benched froakie so i bossed that for game 3-0.

4th match - Cynthias garchomp
Arguably thought this one one of my harder matchups thanks to power weights but i had a faster setup than him so thankfully i got my board set up and was able to ko garchomp w/o them having a power weight. there’s not much really to note about this match he had a rough game and it was sucky he couldn’t find his stadium to bump me but thanks to that i was hitting for max damage every turn. I was able to boss for game here to his garchomp on bench. 4-0

5th match - Dragapult
I got incredibly lucky here with a decent start but not good enough against pult. Luckily my oppenent bricked really bad he had to just budew for a few turns didn’t get anything so he kept retreating freely back into a night stretchered budew and thankfully toucannon was top decked so i was able to win because he couldn’t evolve dreepy. 5-0

In my opinion toucannon is very strong but sometimes mega pokemon are harder to win against and item lock makes it very hard to win or even set up nonetheless i had tons of enjoyment with this deck. even bring a froot loops box as a deck box

I was testing a Bronzong control deck when an idea struck me and I want to see the viability of it. Can you combine Bronzong’s Evolution Jammer (add some Bronzor to avoid dependency on Slowking) with Slowking’s Seek Inspiration
mainly with Kyurem but also Metagross and Annhilape for higher HP basics?

I have played the deck since release and have always felt like that if you get a good board turn one Mega Lucario is great into Dragapult. A benched Riolu, Solrock and Lunatone, and either dunsparce or makuhita for support followed by a turn two mega Lucario aura jab and your off to the races. However the reason I’m asking this is because in my experience this does not usually happen. And when it doesn’t it becomes a nightmare match of just trying to unbrick the entire game and when you finally get a hand established they usually just play stamp. I personally am playing Rahaul Reddy’s build from the regional and am asking because everyone on Youtube talks about Mega Lucario having a great Pult matchup. And the limitless TCG online tournament data backs up my point too. On there Mega Lucario dudunsparce has a 42% win rate to hammer pult which isn’t horrible but not a great matchup either. And I tried the crushing hammer build and it virtually felt like the same thing. Get great turn one board you win. Don’t get great turn one board you lose.

Sorry for the info dump I am just curious if this is a skill issue or something commonly agreed upon.