tSn.TCG - Competitive Pokemon TCG Team

-- By Nikki X We have been very quiet in our blog but we have been working behind the scenes to ensure you guys we will come back with more content! We started our youtube channel and it's slowly been getting there. I have finished moving but I'm on a work vacation so I haven't been around to write up some content and Elijah (Your favorite blog writer) has been on a book tour and Victor has been killing it locally. There's also changes coming internally for Team SKYNITE in general. So for a quick note of what to come for the TCG side of things: Esport support for Digimon Card Game and Star Wars Unlimited (In a trial based just to see how it goes) General SKYNITE Merchandise for folks to buy/win during community events (or requests!) More consistent blogs/write ups Attend more Regionals! New Blog Platform (In Discussion) I am planning on migrating over to a different blog platform for more control but that's something that's just up in the air as of right now but...

by Elijah Douresseau     It was another ripe weekend for Pokémon Challenges in the LA and greater LA areas, as the official Regional circuit kicked off in Pittsburgh.    The top-tier meta scene still contains an army of Lost Box decks. As time goes on and expansions…expand the standard landscape, variations of the best decks in format can also increase. And some older versions may resurface with a vengeance (ahem – Giratina, anyone?).    During the registration phase of this Challenge, someone may have heard me say, “Let those Lost Boxes, those Palkias come at me, bro! Heck, give me all the smoke from them Miraidons,” as I decided to play my Quaquaval list I’ve been tinkering with for a couple of months.     Now Quaquaval ex and baby Quaquaval might not have a ton of visibility right now. I don’t know if they ever did. Admittedly, the ex version is probably the most straightforward of the ex starters – not that that is a...

By Elijah Douresseau   A new TCG/VG season is here, as we saw very established lists from the last 4 to 8 months dominate the Worlds show floor. Electing to play with what has proven to be far from obsolete seems to have emboldened players to stick to the top-tier deck lists that have gotten countless hours of playtime and have adapted to specific key matchups.    I’m excited about the new season. There are plenty of decks to make and try out, and the oldies at this point – Mew, Lost Box, Arceus variants - have stronger opportunities to hang around because the support from new sets allows them to maintain their viability in a meta where a lot of decks can be visible – even if only momentarily.    I attended a Challenge this weekend that had a healthy turnout to it. A good thirty players, from junior and master divisions, duked it out for their chance at 15 CP and sufficient Obsidian Flames prizing. Of course, since this was a premier event, the third...

tSn’s Paldea Picks – by Elijah Douresseau Paldea Evolved is dangerously close to its release and the SKYNITE squad wants to make sure you know which cards we’re checking for – with the expansion that follows base set in this still-fresh Scarlet and Violet TCG series.   Paldea almost feels vintage in the way that its setting into further motion the renaissance of the TCG landscape of eight or nine years ago. PE promises even more ex Pokémon and card support, more support for the grass type, and more snipe/spread attacks, interestingly.   Read on for our picks, with a collective mind towards to the developing meta game, as well as for alternate formats’ sakes:   VICTOR –     Ting-Lu : I haven’t played many ability-lock decks before, but I’m looking to update my Koraidon ex deck to do so. It should help make matchups against some of the top decks a little more bearable.    Wattrel, Murkrow, Flamigo : Might be three ...

The man that needs little to no introduction, let me introduce you to Victor. If you ever play or meet Victor for the first time you might think he's nervous and quiet but really he's calm, cool, and collected. As you are sitting there thinking you got an easy win, Victor is calculating every strat possible from the number of cards in his hand. While a monster in his own right, Victor has taken home several locals and also dabs in Gym Leader Challenge.  Victor has been a regular at Odyssey Games where tSn.Pokemon practice at. It wasn't until recently he was interested in joining Team SKYNITE. With his track record, why wouldn't we accept him. He's familiar with the game and he knows the team as well as other players from the local scene. From Southern California, Victor set foot in the game recently much like the other players we know (Be it, returning post-covid or new to the game all together). Victor has what it takes to help Team SKYNITe reach the big league. So...

BY ELIJAH DOURESSEAU     Another Pokémon season is coming to a close. Worlds is not super far away (hope the grinders trying to make it into this summer’s main event do!), which also means standard rotation is fairly close. It technically is next month.   Most players feel rotation in one way or another. A lot of us are looking forward to a fresher meta scene. Some of us are anxious about losing key staples for most decks.   This rotation cycle feels big. It’ll be the first rotation since the Pandemic. I don’t have to tell most of you that the last three years have felt like seven. For anyone going to Portland Regionals, like myself, the rotation will also occur right before we face off in May. For a player of my caliber, who loves to play the spice and the rogue stuff more than anything, I’m excited to make decks from a new pool of standard cards.   Most who go to Regionals consider themselves competitive, in one way or another, so an eve...

 A GLC article by Nikki Xaysanasy The Gym Leader Challenge, as a format, has been growing – especially since Pokémon’s governing body recognized it as an alternative TCG format. It's being played online, via webcam, at locals – it’s also an established side event at major tournaments. It surely was at the San Diego Regionals I attended earlier in January. To learn more about the format, visit the GLC website at https://gymleaderchallenge.com I am planning on hosting a seasonal league for GLC online, once Pokémon TCG Live is officially released from its current beta rollout and everybody migrates over. Live’s crafting system, in which you can "buy" your own cards, will make it easier for players to get into GLC. Fortunately, almost everybody's collection from PTCGO will port over so players will not have to restart their digital collections. I played in a weekly event recently. Read below for my progress through the pairings ladder. Tournament: Gym Leader Challenge Wee...

By Elijah Douresseau The Pokémon Regionals took place at the San Diego Convention Center between January 6th and 8th. As the very first regional event of 2023, and the last to occur before Crown Zenith releases, the timing of the weekend could not have been more interesting. Versions of Lugia VSTAR and Lost Box were suspected to be the most visible in SD, with Mew and baby Regis bringing up the rear. And to no one’s surprise, this was the meta for the weekend and the decks to beat to make it to day two and beyond.  The SKYNITE Pokémon TCG Team showed up with a diverse deck list arsenal. I played my trusty Rapid box deck. I felt the most comfortable piloting the deck in a variety of situations. And I had the most hours logged with the list, even after integrating meta tweaks. The Junior in our squad played the tier-one Lugia list. And another player brought Eternatus VMAX, which actually had a fairly sizable presence beyond what I guessed beforehand.  My Rapid box an...

THE DAY OF THAT BIG TOURNEY: WHAT I DO FOR PREP – Elijah Douresseau Today is the day. You’ve practiced and practiced, and though you are aiming for the top spot in whatever high-stakes tournament is kicking off in a few hours, you are loose and prepared to play at your best, no matter the outcome. You're thinking clearly, strategizing effectively, and are minimally fouling with misplays. You, Trainer, are ready to compete.     But how else do you get ready for the big tournament? How crucial are the 24 hours before, along with the few hours leading up to round one on the day of? As promised, I’ll outline some of my rituals for bigger events and hopefully, you get some encouragement for creating a functional system for yourself.    Some immediately might scoff at these introductory paragraphs and think, “It’s just a game!” But the competitive and semi-competitive community sees the Pokémon TCG as something more. That classic opening sequence for the 9...

BATTLE DIARIES: Playing in a Split-a-Case Tournament – by Elijah Douresseau I played in a split-a-case (SAC) Sunday. Figured I’d share the match-by-match action I encountered, in a greater attempt to practice in high-stakes scenarios for the San Diego regionals early next year. A SAC is one component of Covid-era programming stores utilized in the absence of sanctioned Play! Pokémon events. Along with $1k prize money tourneys, SACs give players an opportunity to duke it out for a majority share of a case of booster boxes. A case is the retailer-sized order stores place with product distributors to sell individual booster packs. A booster box doesn’t get distributed individually. To take advantage of bulk and wholesale pricing, most distributors sell a “case” of six booster boxes to stores. This is what we played for. A lot of stores putting on this event need a certain amount of support to award booster boxes. As a result, admission pricing tends to be a little higher for thes...

– by Elijah Douresseau     Lost Origin is dropping this Friday, 9/9, and I thought it would be fun to detail some of my faves from the forthcoming set.    These selections are purely subjective, mostly chosen on the bases of what I can use for my current and future decks – first – and the overall meta, second.    A quick bit of housekeeping: If you weren’t already aware, Lost Origin is bringing back the Lost Zone mechanic to standard play. The Lost Zone is a secondary discard pile that cards will be able to use to satisfy various effects. The effects will range from modifying attack damage to energy acceleration. But true to its name, anything cast to the Lost Zone is permanently discarded. No recovery is possible – at least not yet. Though counting your discarded cards will be a necessary part of calculating the cost for activating card effects. In most cases, you’ll have to have a certain number of cards in your Lost Zone to activate t...