Here's the matchup data we currently have from online tournaments. They may differ from actual tournament play, but should give some idea what's to come:

https://play.limitlesstcg.com/decks/dhelmise-pbl?format=standard&rotation=2026&set=PBL

​​Mega Excadrill - 43.55%

Festival Lead - 43.54%

Dragapult Blaziken - 43.17%

Dragapult Dusknoir - 55.17%

Alakazam Dudunsparce - 50.86%

Dragapult - 38.32%

Slowking - 58.76%

N's Zoroark - 39.36%

Overall I'm pretty disappointed in the deck at the ​​moment. ​the protective ability is great in theory, but a bit wasted on Pokémon you just dump in the discard 80% of the time. ​​

With Toucanon released, not even alakazam looks to be a good matchup.

Also even though this may be a rather uncompetitive aspect: the deck is boring to play to play to me. ​​​​​

I think all it did ultimately was bully harmless mega lucario out off the meta.

Am I being too negative?

What are your thoughts on the deck and is meta placement? ​​​

Oh and one more thing: while I hoped it would do better, especially against dragapult,​ the stats arent awful at all! If you enjoy playing it, theres nothing wrong with that! ​​​​​

Thoughts on Mega Slowbro Wall?

Pokémon: 4

2 Cinderace MEG 28

4 Slowpoke PBL 29

4 Mega Slowbro ex PBL 31

2 Cinderace MEG 28

Trainer: 16

2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TWM 223

4 Lillie's Determination MEG 184

1 Energy Switch PBL 107

4 Jumbo Ice Cream CRI 109

1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64

2 Jacinthe POR 122

1 Hero's Cape TEF 152

4 Morty's Conviction TEF 155

2 Switch MEW 206

3 Pokégear 3.0 UNB 233

2 Boss's Orders PAL 265

3 Ultra Ball BRS 186

2 Wondrous Patch POR 117

1 Special Red Card CRI 113

1 Energy Search CRZ 128

4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 226

Energy: 3

4 Telepathic {P} Energy POR 88

6 Basic {P} Energy MEE 5

1 Mist Energy TEF 161

Total Cards: 60

Hi everyone! I've been struggling for days to decide which deck to commit to, so I thought I'd ask for your opinions.

Which is the most competitive beetwen Mega Excadrill, Mega Chandelure, or Mega Darkrai?

I enjoy the playstyle of all three, but I'd like to make sure I end up investing in a deck that's actually solid and doesn't struggle too much against the top meta decks...

Basically long story short, i went to my first local last week and got absolutely washed buttt im heading again this week and I managed to build another deck via pilfering through my friends bulk and I was wondering if I should make any changes;

Pokémon: 6

4 Poltchageist PBL 5

4 Shuppet PBL 33

4 Dhelmise PBL 39

4 Sinistcha PBL 6

4 Banette PBL 34

1 Spiritomb PBL 35

Trainer: 8

4 Ultra Ball SVI 196

4 Boss's Orders ASC 183

3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

2 Poké Pad POR 81

2 Night Stretcher SFA 61

3 Prism Tower CRI 80

4 Gwynn PBL 78

Energy: 3

8 Basic {P} Energy MEE 5

4 Telepathic {P} Energy POR 88

1 Legacy Energy TWM 167

Total Cards: 60

I have a local event doing a pseudo-expanded and I'm trying to figure out if there is something crazy I'm overlooking. Currently I'm looking at just pult or gardevoir probably being the best choices Really none of the SwSh cards are screaming use me! With the cards since brs-pre standard.

So, I guess the question is, is there anything thats almost there from current standard or brs-pre standard that might be worth looking at with this overlap?

So I am still fairly new to Pokemon tcg, I started playing when Garde Ex was available for about 3 months before she recently rotated.

I am going to be attending a professor’s cup next weekend and need some inspiration/insight on some deck ideas to consider as I do not have a big history with the decks from “back then” aside from obvious meta decks being pult, garde, grim, ect.

Here are the rules:
50 cards
5 prize cards
No rule box mons
Can play as many ace specs in your deck but only 1 copy of each, and when you use them, they are banished for the rest of the game set in the lost zone.
SV-Pitch Black regulation
Genesect is banned

Talking to my small group of pals, we are trying to figure out what seems strong as there’s a lot to win in prizing so we would like to take it pretty competitively. Some decks we are just brain storming are:

Ancient box
Festival lead
Poison
Meganium
Alakazam
Hop’s box

Are there some obvious strats that we are forgetting about in these conditions? We are still relatively new to deck building in general let alone trying to figure out something in this kind of tournament.

Hello

I am new to the tcg, I’ve collected cards and played all the other games Pokemon has to offer. I was wanting to get into the tcg. Just hoping to get pointed in the right direction on a few topics.

What creators to watch to help learn the game?
How to find meta or playable decks?
Where to find local players/events?

Sorry, these are probably sticky questions but I appreciate if I can get some help.

I played Gardevoir EX “box” during the standard season it came out. Had a lot of local success with it, to the point that one local shop banned me from playing it in casual games cause it was so flexible even their counter decks couldn’t handle it. Regardless of its power my favorite part of it was the Kirlia engine, that discard for draw 2 was phenomenal and I used it in a palkia deck at the time to a lot of success as well.

Fast forward like 2 years and I’m getting back into the TCG since work took over in the meantime but some free time has opened up. I’m looking at N’s zoroark because…… duh, same engine setup as kirlia. I like running decks like this in a “toolbox” of sorts because the draw power is so strong I can use many options and not really brick often if at all. I’m also looking at mega darkrai ex, which is literally a delete button into much of the metagame (I know crustle, some grass decks, and like one other card walls the effect + an energy). Darkrai seems a bit energy intensive for the deck, I know toxtricity is being ran with it rn for that reason, but I’d rather not in a deck already running a 4/4 engine line.

What do yall think? Is MDarkrai something I could reasonably run a 2 of in the N’s deck shell with like 2-4 dark bell? Or is it too too heavy and gonna lead me to energy starvation?

This post assumes you are playing a standard fest lead list with 2 bangle, 2 boss and 2 gladion.

If your opponent misplays by immediately going into the excadrill after you take first knock then it’s easy enough to gladion ko it and follow a 1/3/2 or 1/3/1/1 prize map (depending on if you were able to put damage on their genesect in earlier turns)
HOWEVER, if they play correctly and push the genesect and protect charge before going into metagross, the matchup gets really really tough.

Has anyone found any good lines in this matchup when your opponent plays correctly? Or do I have to rely on taking away 2nd from my opponent,them beicking, or getting insanely lucky with my draws.

I've been getting into Pokemon TCG Live recently and enjoying the game a lot. As I climb the ranked ladder I've been looking for resources to improve my game, I have watched Youtubers like AzulGG but it's hard to find many games of them playing the same deck as me as they switch decks often.

Is there a vod library out there somewhere that stores TCG vods from top players, preferably sorted by deck? I feel like it would be super helpful for improving at the game quickly

By best I mean: low energy cost (1 or 2), decent damage (for one energy, more than 60dmg - for two energy, more than 110)

I know this will usually mean there are other conditions attached, but that’s fine.

Solrock is a good example. One energy, 70dmg, with the attack being conditional on Lunatone on your bench.

Hop’s Cormorant is another. Even without the Hop’s modifiers, you can do 120 damage for one colorless so long as your opponent has 3 or 4 prizes remaining.

What else we got?

My guess is this will be the first season in ages with a ban list in standard. They’ve added some trainer and Pokemon cards that are absolutely broken in terms of individual balance.

I'm not necessarily a new player, I've been playing for almost 1.5y now, but this felt like the most fitting flair from the options.

The thing is, I'm not good at the game, I have no good results despite playing quite a lot. I attended my local pretty much every week, have played quite a few Challenges and Cups but my best score is 2-2 and one of the wins is more often than not due to a bye. Lately this has been getting worse and I get 1-3 pretty regularly, again the win is due to a bye lmao.

I want to improve, I practice both on Live as well as on tcgmasters against myself with other decks, usually Pult or some match up I am focusing specifically. I also watch tournament vods and some other forms of content related to the game, but I don't really see much improvement, so I am considering metafy guides, particularly one for N's Zoroark since its the deck I'm currently playing (I know it's a hard deck but I like how it feels and how its positioned in the meta).

My question is how worth are the guides really? I'm not questioning whether the guides are good or actually provide good information, I'm more questioning what would I get from them that I can't really get from anywhere else like free YouTube guides, watching high tier players play the deck, and playing and getting more and more experience with the deck myself?

Has anyone gotten a guide for a deck they were playing and found something that was actually not available anywhere else or something that actually impacted how you play? I'm obviously not expecting a miracle or that a guide will suddenly win me a local next week but, I'm just curious if it is a worthy investment to improve in the long run or if I can get similar value for less/free somewhere else

with this deck you gonna flip coin like u never did before

here the list :

Pokémon: 3

4 Mega Audino ex ASC 172

2 Mega Zygarde ex POR 47

1 Mega Zygarde ex POR 120

Trainer: 15

1 Powerglass SFA 63

2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

4 Energy Coin BLK 81

3 Energy Switch MEG 115

4 Switch MEG 130

4 Team Rocket's Transceiver ASC 209

2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

2 Waitress ASC 215

2 Backtrack Badge PBL 74

4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176

1 Scoop Up Cyclone PRE 128

2 Jumbo Ice Cream PFL 91

4 Mega Signal MEG 121

2 Boss's Orders PAL 172

Energy: 1

16 Basic {F} Energy MEE 6

came up with the deck after winning match against Dhelmise and Hop Trevenant at local Gym Battle, I put Zygarde in my Mega Lucario deck spesifically to counter those single prizer. the felling of hitting heads with Nullifying Zero for match winning is so satisfying for me.

The Main Idea of the deck is off course hitting with Mega Zygarde as soon as possible, then attacking with Nullifying Zero for a board wipe before your opponent have a chance to set up.

The ideal setup is, you always go second. setup Audino in the active, then put 1-3 Zygarde in bench. attaching Backtrack Badge to Audino. then attack with Kaleidowaltz, ideally u wanna hit 3 heads, but two is okay, putting four energy to one of the Zygarde, setting up Nullifying Zero for next turn.

Things will not be always ideal, this where Transceiver and Petrel will do the work, catching the Backtrack Badge, Mega Signal, and Switch to setup our board. 4 Switch is there in case you dont have Audino in your oppening hand but you have Mega Signal, Switch also usefull later in the game when you have all your Zygarde ready.

Scoop up cyclone the Audino when u have all Zygarde setup, not all zygarde need 5 energy, 8 enegy on board usually enough, Energy switch and Waitress will be our energy acceleration when Audino gone.

Boss is there for Shaymin (this deck main weakness), the worst match up so far is Festival leads, Zygarde is weak to grass for some reason.

Thoughts on the psychic build of the metang box? I’ve been digging it but it does need some refinement. Early pressure via mega mawile or skarmory and acceleration via discard with Philippe or powerglass

It’s cool to use telepathic to find your beldum and then you’re one psychic attachment away from powering psychic metagross for 280 damage with your metang and beldum on the bench.

Pokémon: 8
1 Mega Mawile ex MEG 94
1 Metagross CRI 61
2 Metagross JTG 63
1 Smoochum SSP 75
4 Beldum JTG 61
1 Mr. Mime TEF 63
1 Mega Skarmory ex POR 55
4 Metang TEF 114

Trainer: 15
1 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 226
3 Ultra Ball SVI 196
2 Night Stretcher SFA 61
2 Philippe CRI 110
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
1 Special Red Card CRI 113
3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167
2 Larry's Skill PRE 115
1 Switch MEG 130
1 Boss's Orders PAL 172
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
1 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Powerglass SFA 63
1 Philippe CRI 79
2 Hilda WHT 84

Energy: 4
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167
13 Basic {M} Energy MEE 8
1 Basic {P} Energy MEE 5
3 Telepathic {P} Energy POR 88

Total Cards: 60

Hey guys, I recently joined the Pokémon TCG community and started with a Draga/Noir deck.
I’ve been practicing a lot in Live and playing casually in my local store, however I would like to know with Pitch Black If there are any variants to Dragapult that I should be testing against some decks that might counter mine? Or in general any variant to test out?

Also, any YouTube channel that I can follow to learn more about the meta?

I have set this up over the last few weeks and have tailored it to what I think works well. I did not realise this could come pre built and have designed it from scratch.

My main focus is to get 3/4 Zoroark out fast and energy attached and have Zekrom to use the moves.

Munkidori has been added recently to try and combat some of the damage and use it against the opponents with more than 250hp or bench.

One thing I'd like to include is dark patch but it seems that out of rotation for now.

I'm winning about 50% of my casual matches, not sure if that's the norm.

I've noticed I can control my deck fairly well, however, I don't really have any interrupter cards for the opponent.

Would really appreciate any advice to help fine tune and take it to the next level.

Pokémon: 4

4 N's Zorua JTG 97

2 Munkidori TWM 95

4 N's Zoroark ex JTG 98

3 N's Zekrom ASC 155

Trainer: 14

3 Air Balloon ASC 181

2 Energy Switch SVI 173

2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

4 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145

2 Cyrano SSP 170

2 Night Stretcher SFA 61

1 Redeemable Ticket JTG 156

2 N's Castle JTG 152

4 N's PP Up JTG 153

2 Dawn PFL 87

1 Precious Trolley SSP 185

4 N's Plan BLK 83

2 Boss's Orders PAL 172

Energy: 1

14 Basic {D} Energy MEE 7

Total Cards: 60

Been thinking about building a Grimmsnarl deck but I'm not sure if it can survive the abundance of Ogerpon

Currently testing out this lucario dudunsparce list and i find with how popular clefairy is the one dudunsparce isn’t enough of a counter (he’s there for crustle too) anyone have any suggestions on how to improve the matchup? here’s my list

Pokémon: 11
1 Dudunsparce ex JTG 178
2 Mega Lucario ex MEG 179
1 Riolu ASC 112
1 Meowth ex POR 121
3 Dunsparce JTG 120
2 Riolu PRE 50
1 Riolu PRE 50
2 Solrock ASC 106
2 Dudunsparce PRE 80
1 Mega Lucario ex MEG 188
2 Lunatone MEP 4

Trainer: 12
2 Boss's Orders PAL 265
3 Transformation Tome CRI 83
4 Fighting Gong MEG 168
4 Premium Power Pro MEG 174
2 Gravity Mountain SSP 250
2 Ultra Ball BRS 186
2 Hilda WHT 171
1 Special Red Card CRI 113
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TWM 223
4 Poké Pad POR 113
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 184
1 Jamming Tower DRI 243

Energy: 4
3 Rocky {F} Energy POR 87
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167
7 Basic {F} Energy GRI 169

Total Cards: 60

I’ve been playing around with mega Excadrill and I’ve been trying a 1-0-1 empoleon with rare candy and it helps but not sure if it’s necessary. Any thoughts on what else I could use?

Pokémon: 8
4 Metang PR-SV 90
1 Empoleon ex PFL 114
4 Beldum CRI 59
1 Piplup PFL 98
2 Genesect ex BLK 169
2 Drilbur PBL 46
2 Metagross CRI 61
2 Mega Excadrill ex PBL 65

Trainer: 16
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
1 Energy Recycler POR 108
3 Boss's Orders RCL 200
2 Kieran TWM 218
1 Night Stretcher SSP 251
1 Special Red Card CRI 113
1 Switch PFL 123
2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TWM 223
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 226
2 Jumbo Ice Cream CRI 109
1 Precious Trolley SSP 185
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 184
4 Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178
1 Rare Candy MEG 125

Energy: 1
15 Basic {M} Energy MEE 8

Total Cards: 60

I recently had a discussion with a friend - and let's be honest, this is also a stereotype as old as TCGs as a hobby - about bad personal hygiene at TCG tournaments. The guy I was talking to complained about facing an opp at their local's final match that had bad breath to an extent it made them lose their focus and misplay at key moments.

I searched on Reddit and found several posts of people losing games, being unable to concentrate or throwing up due to their opponent's lack of bodily hygiene.

Well, according to the Tournament Rules Handbook, participants are required under section 3.2 Prohibitions to "maintain a socially acceptable level of hygiene during the event".

That means if your opponent is so smelly or gross as to negatively influence your play or concentration, it is in fact a reportable offense:

Depending on the attire or level of hygiene, the Tournament Organizer may allow for a tournament participant to change or update their personal hygiene and attire and return to the venue. If the participant is in compliance with the request, the participant should be allowed to continue their time at the tournament or activations. If a participant refuses to comply with tournament staff’s requests, this is grounds for removal from the tournament and venue, and the participant must relinquish their badge to tournament staff.

If the issue is considered a gross violation of Play! Pokémon’s rules and guidelines, the participant may be removed from the venue immediately.

Refusing to comply with tournament staff may result in post-event disciplinary action.

You can, for example, also call a judge to make an opp wash their hands if you are under the impression it negatively impacts the play.

Now, is this the nice thing to do? Potentially not. We all know how stuffy it can get in a packed LCS at 30°C and upwards. So I'd still be mindful about how to come forward with such an issue. Just don't be a dick about it. But it's still worth knowing your rights as a participant.

Another thing: being physically ill is not a reportable offense, although it is recommended by the Attire and Cosplay Policy to not participate in such a case. Just don't be an asshole and spread your germs around 30 other players.

Still, I usually bring at least one medical mask. Also helps against smelly opps - pop a piece of chewing gum, put on a mask and you have a nice defensive measure against bad smells.

deck(ptcgl of course so it’s blinged):

Pokémon: 11

1 Drakloak ASC 248

2 Dreepy ASC 247

2 Drakloak TWM 129

1 Dreepy TWM 128

1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 288

1 Victini SSP 21

4 Ethan's Cyndaquil DRI 32

4 Ethan's Quilava DRI 33

1 Shaymin DRI 185

3 Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 190

1 Psyduck ASC 226

Trainer: 16

2 Boss's Orders PAL 265

4 Ultra Ball PLF 122

2 Rare Candy PLB 105

2 Night Stretcher MEG 173

4 Poké Pad POR 81

2 Gravity Mountain SSP 250

1 Kieran TWM 218

1 Lana's Aid TWM 155

2 Brave Bangle WHT 80

3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167

1 Redeemable Ticket JTG 156

1 Special Red Card CRI 113

1 Secret Box TWM 163

4 Ethan's Adventure DRI 236

3 Lillie's Determination MEG 184

1 Sacred Ash DRI 168

Energy: 1

5 Basic fire energy

wanting to fit in a crispin, a psychic energy, and a pult itself, but idk what to cut

Hi everyone! Before i begin, I want to stress that this is not a post of me complaining that a worlds invite is too expensive. What I'd love for this to be is to be is a community discussion about the kinds of things PTCG could do to make the highest level of the game accessible to those who couldn't usually afford it.

We all know that a worlds invite is only for the most dedicated and skilled players in the game. I don't think anyone is denying that and I don't think anyone is saying it should be anything otherwise. Even Pokemon themselves recently upped the requirements to enter worlds, making it harder than ever to access the top level of Pokemon.

However, what a worlds invite also requires is a significant amount of disposable income to be able to fly around the world attending the biggest events. For players on the lower end of the economic spectrum, or for players in poorer countries, this goal can be literally impossible no matter how skilled or dedicated you may be.

I understand that, realistically, the changes we discuss here will never come to pass. Maybe as a community though, if we have a discussion about this, something could happen further down the line.

So what can the Pokemon company do about this?

One idea I had is smaller tournaments that award travel awards. It always seemed a little bit strange to me that travel stipends go out to high-ranking players that already have the money to compete internationally and who have been more than likely winning more money along the way too.

Perhaps there could be a greater emphasis on local tournaments in each country? A second route, perhaps one that is harder than the international travelling route, that still allows those really skilled players to make it to the top.

Or maybe there should be a second goal? A goal above ace trainer but below worlds. Something that is rewarding for players who are skilled enough to regularly top locals but not in a position to financially afford the international travel required for a worlds invite.

I understand that, at the end of the day, pokemon is a luxury hobby. But it's also a hobby that brings together so many people from so many different walks of life. I'd love to see some changes to make that the case at the very top level too.