Kash Top 25 List: Best Pokemon cards released in 2025 (stats based)

It’s almost the end of 2025 and it’s a good time to look back and reflect on the year, and in this instance we’re looking at cards that were released in 2025. Loads of cards were introduced this year, including the return of not one but two different mechanics, Trainer’s Pokémon and Mega Evolution Pokémon (now with a different ruling).

So as per the yearly tradition now, I wanted to rank the best cards released this year and that will be based on stats from results of big major IRL events and also online events featuring 256 or more players. And I wanted to use a points system to rank these cards.

The way I did the points was quite simple:

• 1st - 5 points
• 2nd - 3 points
• 3rd and 4th - 2 points
• 5th to 8th - 1 point

And if you see the average points and was wondering how I calculated it, quite simple:

• Points scored from each set (termed as S1 to S5)/Events in each set
• The total of the average/how many sets they were played in = Average Points Scored per Sets

The tournaments included in these are any event that is recorded on Limitless for this year that had cards released this year (so no Korean League Season 2, Rio de Janerio, Birmingham and San Antonio). Also included are any Play Limitless online tournament that hit 256+ players. If I had included 128 like I used to, there would be too many and it might dilute the information, and there were just enough to make everything look perfect as S3 and S4 were lacking in IRL tournaments, so online had the most events, especially in S4, to help make the numbers more event. If anyone was wondering:

• S1 (BRS to PRE)
• 8 IRL events
• 4 Online events
• S2 (SVI to JTG)
• 15 IRL events
• 6 Online events
• S3 (SVI to DRI)
• 6 IRL events
• 7 Online events
• S4 (SVI to BLK/WHT)
• 6 IRL events
• 28 Online events
• S5 (SVI to MEG)
• 9 IRL events
• 16 Online events
• S6 (SVI to PFL)
• 5 IRL events
• 8 Online events

Results are as of December 24th, so any online events that were to happen between then and 31st, unfortunately I just don't have enough time to update it all and I don't think it will change this list much anyway.

For the results:

• Wins are wins, pretty easy
• Top 4 will be results from 2nd, 3rd or 4th, not including wins
• Top 8 will be results from 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, and nothing from the above included

Some cards just missed out and honestly it wasn’t that much of a miss. Cards like Flareon ex, Maractus, Tool Scrapper, Team Rocket’s Petrel, Battle Cage, Mega Lopunny ex and Mega Mawile ex all just missed out on this list.

And with that, here are the best 25 cards released in 2025, not done by any sort of opinion or favoritism, just good old statistics and numbers, my favourite! And why just 25? 2025, that's why. We need to keep the gimmick going. Again. For another year. Because why not, I love it!

As for the "saw play in" sector for the cards, I will keep it to 5, not to make the list any more messy than it might already be. For the ones latter on in the list, I usually put the top 5 decks that used it the most from lists on Limitless.

#25 - Team Rocket's Watchtower - Destined Rivals (DRI)

Type: Stadium

Total Points: 44 (26th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 0.61 (26th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - 11 / Avg - 0.84
• S4 - 9 / Avg - 0.26
• S5 - 14 / Avg - 0.56
• S6 - 10 / Avg - 0.77

Wins: 3

Top 4: 8

Top 8: 12

Saw play in:

• N's Zoroark ex
• Dragapult ex/Charizard ex
• Gholdengo ex
• Cynthia's Garchomp ex
• Iron Thorns ex/Crustle

We start off with my least favourite stadium card in the game right now, Team Rocket's Watchtower. Its sole purpose is to slow down decks utilising colourless Pokémon as their engine. The good news is that there are loads of decks who are very reliant on the likes of Pidgeot ex, Noctowl, Squawkabilly ex and Mega Kangaskhan ex just to name a few. And let’s not forget the new Meowth ex coming soon which has the same ability as Tapu Lele GX and Lumineon V.

But it’s not just the engine, some attackers are affected by it too. Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex cannot use it’s ability to pay less energies to attack when Watchtower is live. On the flip side, Slaking ex can attack as its ability will be canceled out by Watchtower.

#24 - N's Zoroark ex - Journey Together (JTG)

Type: Stage 1 Pokémon ex

Total Points: 55 (21st)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 0.47 (30th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - 11 / Avg - 0.52
• S3 - 5 / Avg - 0.38
• S4 - 23 / Avg - 0.67
• S5 - 13 / Avg - 0.52
• S6 - 3 / Avg - 0.23

Wins: 3

Top 4: 12

Top 8: 14

Saw play in:

• N's Zoroark ex
• Gardevoir ex
• Archaludon ex
• Gholdengo ex

A Zoroark ex card with the Trade ability is back, but it's not the same as the previous one. That one was amazing with a great attack, this one copies attacks from your bench. And they aren't all that great to be fair but still enough for N's Zoroark to have some presence in the meta. 

The one good thing about N’s Zoroark ex is it’s very flexible deck, it can play just about any techs and one list won’t look like the other, with so much room to play the game differently, be it a slow controlling game or keeping tempo wit your opponent or even going aggressive to run them off the game.

#23 - Crustle - Destined Rivals (DRI)

Type: Stage 1 Pokémon

Total Points: 51 (23rd)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 0.49 (27th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - 7 / Avg - 0.53
• S4 - 25 / Avg - 0.73
• S5 - 17 / Avg - 0.68
• S6 - 2 / Avg - 0.15

Wins: 3

Top 4: 11

Top 8: 12

Saw play in:

• Crustle
• N's Zoroark ex
• Mega Kangaskhan ex/Bouffalant

There will always be an annoying card like Crustle in the format, we just cannot escape it. Crustle is one of those decks that simply asks one question, “do you have an out to KO Crustle?”. Honestly there’s not much to talk about this, you either have an answer or you just lose to it.

#22 - Levincia - Journey Together (JTG)

Type: Stadium

Total Points: 54 (22nd)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 0.49 (27th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - 00 / Avg - 0.00
• S3 - 2 / Avg - 0.15
• S4 - 45 / Avg - 1.32
• S5 - 2 / Avg - 0.08
• S6 - 5 / Avg - 0.38

Wins: 3

Top 4: 11

Top 8: 13

Saw play in:

• Gholdengo ex
• Gholdengo ex/Joltik Box
• Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex

The 2nd of two stadium cards on this list and it only really got good when Gholdengo ex got better in the latter half of the year. It is a good way to recover energies without relying on Superior Energy Retrieval, especially when you can’t use it under item lock from either Budew or Frillish.

I’m surprised it’s not seen more play in other decks using Lighting Energy, recovering 2 for free from a stadium is good value. Gholdengo still makes the best use of this because it does want to have as many energies as possible in hand.

#21 - Charmeleon - Phantasmal Flames (PFL)

Type: Stage 1 Pokémon

Total Points: 26 (30th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.00 (13th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - Not Released
• S6 - 26 / Avg - 2

Wins: 1

Top 4: 6

Top 8: 7

Saw play in:

• Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
• Charizard ex/Noctowl
• Dragapult ex/Charizard ex

Hang on, what is a normal looking Charmeleon doing on here? It's attack only does 40 damage, what's so special about it you ask? Well, the 110 HP is quite big for a Stage 1 Pokemon! 

And so far all Charizard ex decks, be it the Pidgeot ex build, the Noctowl build or even the Dragapult ex build, they’ve all preferred to use the 110 HP Charmeleon and this likely to stay until rotation in April.

#20 - Hoothoot - Prismatic Evolutions (PRE)

Type: Basic Pokémon

Total Points: 83 (15th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 0.68 (25th)

Points

• S1 - 00 / Avg - 0.00
• S2 - 38 / Avg - 1.81
• S3 - 17 / Avg - 1.31
• S4 - 18 / Avg - 0.52
• S5 - 9 / Avg - 0.36
• S6 - 1 / Avg - 0.07

Wins: 5

Top 4: 15

Top 8: 22

Saw play in:

• Tera Box
• Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex
• Flareon ex/Noctowl

You might be asking, what the heck is a Hoothoot doing on here? If you remember from last year's list, Jewell Seeking Noctowl just missed out because it came out late and Tera-style decks didn't do much last year. It sure has made an impact this year, especially in the current format. 

So why this Hoothoot? 80 HP protects it from being KOed by the combination of Hawlucha and Dragapult’s Phantom Dive which is only 70 damage. And you need the Hoothoot to stick around to get Noctowl going so it’s perfect for it’s role.

#19 - Jellicent ex - White Flare (WHT)

Type: Stage 1 Pokémon ex

Total Points: 75 (18th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.31 (21st)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - 15 / Avg - 0.44
• S5 - 30 / Avg - 1.2
• S6 - 30 / Avg - 2.31

Wins: 7

Top 4: 12

Top 8: 12

Saw play in:

• Gardevoir ex/Jellicent ex
• Dragapult ex

Jellicent ex is another one of those item-locking mons but it's not from an attack this time, it's from its ability while in active, and it also locks Tools cards! So it’s a very difficult 270 HP mon to deal with under both item and tool lock. The only way to get out of it is KOing it or gusting around it. 

The attack is not bad too, 80 for 2 energy or 160 energy for 4 energy. And with those stats and numbers in mind, it was always bound to be a natural partner with Gardevoir ex and Munkidori. 

Garde helps to charge it and Muncie moving damage around all whilst your opponent might not be doing much because of the double lock. It is a scary threat to deal with.

#18 - Dawn - Phantasmal Flames (PFL)

Type: Supporter

Total Points: 31 (29th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.38 (10th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - Not Released
• S6 - 31 / Avg - 2.38

Wins: 2

Top 4: 6

Top 8: 8

Saw play in:

• Charizard ex/Noctowl
• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
• Alakazam/Dudunsparce
• Mega Venusaur ex

Maybe my favourite supporter card released this year not named Lillie's Determination. I knew Dawn was good the moment I read it. Basic, Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon search, it had to be good right? So I knew what deck I wanted to build around it, Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex but the Stage 1 was the missing piece and then it hit me, Noctowl! 

But I wasn't the only one with that idea, Oscar Madsen also had the same idea and we know the story now, Dawn Zard won Stuttgart Regional! Dawn is the main engine for that deck. 

But it’s also a great tech card for stuff like Pult Dusk, Zara Pidgeot and Mega Venusaur. It’s also the perfect card for a deck like Alakazam. While Dawn Zard uses Noctowl to set up the deck, Dudunsparce helps to draw more cards for this deck that wants as many cards in hand as possible.

#17 - Genesect ex - Black Bolt (BLK)

Type: Basic Pokémon ex

Total Points: 109 (13th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.5 (20th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - 55 / Avg - 1.62
• S5 - 34 / Avg - 1.36
• S6 - 20 / Avg - 1.53

Wins: 6

Top 4: 21

Top 8: 31

Saw play in:

• Gholdengo ex/Lunatone
• Gholdengo ex/Joltik Box
• Gholdengo ex

What is it with Genesects and it always getting playable tech cards haha! This version pretty much flipped the fortunes for one Gholdengo ex. 

It was always a decent deck but once Genesect ex was released, it pretty much became one of the top tier decks in the format and as of writing, it is still one of the top decks of the current format going into it’s final few months of Gholdengo.

Being able to just search our two evolution metal Pokémon is just a great ability which is why Gholdengo as been thriving so far. I do think Genesect can find a place in annother evolving metal decks for the next few years but none of them might be as good as Gholdengo ex.

#16 - Mega Absol ex - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Basic Pokémon Mega Evolved

Total Points: 78 (17th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.87 (16th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 61 / Avg - 2.44
• S6 - 17 / Avg - 1.31

Wins: 5

Top 4: 16

Top 8: 13

Saw play in:

• Mega Box
• Tera Box
• Mega Kangaskhan ex/Bouffalant
• N's Zoroark ex

Mega Absol ex was initially overlooked by many upon release but not by the legend Tord Reklev who introduced to us the brand new Mega Box deck which is one of the most powerful decks in the current format. And it’s got two incredibly good attacks too. 

Terminal Period may look awkward needing 6 damage counters on your opponent’s active Pokémon but let’s not forget that Munkidori exists which makes it easy to get those 6 damage counters onto their active Pokémon. 

Claw of Darkness is probably the big selling point, as you can not just look at your opponent’s hand and then discard one card, and if they have a small hand size, especially after an Iono, it could be a game ender. 

#15 - Frillish - White Flare (WHT)

Type: Basic Pokémon

Total Points: 101 (14th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.81 (18th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - 15 / Avg - 0.44
• S5 - 44 / Avg - 1.76
• S6 - 42 / Avg - 3.23

Wins: 8

Top 4: 20

Top 8: 15

Saw play in:

• Gardevoir ex
• Gardevoir ex/Jellicent ex
• Pidgeot ex Control
• Mega Box
• Dragapult ex

Wait hang on we just saw Jellicent ex, why is Frillish ahead of it? Quite simply, it's the Psychic version of Budew and spoiler alert, it's quite high up on this list for a good reason. And more decks can simply just use one Frillish for the item lock, and you don’t need Jellicent ex. 

In fact, I dare say Frillish is a better item locker than Jelicent ex. Garde decks often likes to use Frillish to keep the item lock going along with Munkidori moving damage to make it really tough for your opponent to set up with all that in mind. If it was a Jellicent, all you need is a gist to play items again, same can’t be said for Frillish.

#14 - Lunatone/Solrock/Fighting Gong - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Pokémon / Item

Total Points: 75 (18th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.92 (14th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 52 / Avg - 2.08
• S6 - 23 / Avg - 1.77

Wins: 3

Top 4: 15

Top 8: 27

Saw play in:

• Gholdengo ex/Lunatone
• Ceruledge ex
• Bloodmoon Ursaluna/Lunatone
• Mega Lucario ex/Hariyama
• Raging Bolt ex/Teal Mask Ogerpon ex

The first of two shared entries on this list and there was no reason to separate Lunatone, Solrock and Fighting Gong. Apart from Cynthia's Garchomp, any deck playing one of those cards are likely to play the other two. 

Fighting Gong lets you search for either a Fighting energy or a Fighting Pokemon. And most of the time, if it’s not for the energy, it’s either for Lunatone or Solrock. Lunatone draws you 3 extra cards by discarding a Fighting energy while Solrock was on the board. Solrock does 70 damage if Lunatone was on board. 

So they’re all connected! 3 great cards all working well together, and decks that made the most of these 3 cards were Gholdengo and Ceruledge. And yes Gholdengo has now become one of the top decks of the game because of firstly Genesect and now all 3 cards here. Because of them, Gholdengo can now play other Ace Spec cards and have an alternate attacker in Solrock, sometimes on Turn 1!

#13 - Mega Diancie ex - Phantasmal Flames (PFL)

Type: Basic Pokémon Mega Evolved

Total Points: 46 (25th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 3.53 (6th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - Not Released
• S6 - 46 / Avg - 3.54

Wins: 4

Top 4: 8

Top 8: 6

Saw play in:

• Gardevoir ex
• Gardevoir ex/Jellicent ex

A Psychic-type attacker that isn't weak to Dark? Yup Mega Diancie might have been the missing piece for Gardevoir ex. One of Gardevoir’s biggest issue was not being able to keep up with some Dark decks (which honestly is not true, it still had so many other counter-play).

Diancie is effectively a 300 HP basic thanks to its ability and with Bravery Charm, it becomes 350 HP! Garland Ray is also a great attack, hitting 240 for just the cost of discarding 2 Psychic. And let’s not forget, Gardevoir is a deck that loves their energies in discard pile. And with Munkidori, Diancie can get some big KOs, even on 300 HP mons.

#12 - Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex - Destined Rivals (DRI)

Type: Stage 2 Pokémon ex

Total Points: 130 (9th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.64 (19th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - 36 / Avg - 2.77
• S4 - 42 / Avg - 1.23
• S5 - 39 / Avg - 1.56
• S6 - 13 / Avg - 1

Wins: 7

Top 4: 27

Top 8: 33

Saw play in:

• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex

It's another good Dark-type attacker in this Gardevoir-dominated year we've seen but Marnie's Grimmsnarl sure sticks out more than the rest. Technically I could have put Spikemuth Gym on here too since it only really works with this deck but I have too many shared entries already on here.

A Stage 2 mon hitting for 180 and 30 to another bench mon, sounds familiar? Yup it’s kinda like the old Darkrai EX that would hit 90 and snipe 30. And with the likes of Munkidori and Froslass, you can keep adding these numbers to either board wipe your opponent or set up enough numbers for a TM Devolution plays.

#11 - Mega Kangaskhan ex - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Basic Pokémon Mega Evolved

Total Points: 83 (15th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.08 (12th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 60 / Avg - 2.4
• S6 - 23 / Avg - 1.77

Wins: 5

Top 4: 17

Top 8: 17

Saw play in:

• Mega Box
• Tera Box
• Pidgeot ex Control
• Mega Kangaskhan ex/Bouffalant
• Mega Lopunny ex/Dusknoir

Mega Kangaskhan ex is not just a good draw supporter for many decks, it can also be a tanky attacker too, usually in it's own deck or Mega Box. And with stuff like Latias ex, you can easily draw 2 cards and then retreat into any other attacker. That’s the drawing bit.

The attacking bit? 200 +50 for each heads you flipped until you hit tails, which means it can do 500 damage if you’re really lucky. But even with the first tail flips, 200 is already a lot of damage. 

And it could be 230 thanks to Munkidori. And with cards like Bouffalant, Bravery Charm and Jumbo Ice Cream, it becomes a near untouchable monster to deal with, with effectively 410 HP!

#10 - Brock's Scouting - Journey Together (JTG)

Type: Supporter

Total Points: 203 (6th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 1.85 (17th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - 57 / Avg - 2.71
• S3 - 35 / Avg - 2.69
• S4 - 88 / Avg - 2.59
• S5 - 14 / Avg - 0.56
• S6 - 9 / Avg - 0.69

Wins: 12

Top 4: 38

Top 8: 53

Saw play in:

• Dragapult ex
• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Gholdengo ex/Joltik Box
• Dragapult ex/Charizard ex
• Flareon ex/Noctowl

Any Supporter card allowing you to search for Pokemon is always worth a look, just like Jacq, Hilda, the previously mentioned Dawn or stuff like Bridgette or Korinna from back then. Brock's Scouting is the latest to join the list, and it gives you the option to search for 2 Basic or 1 Evolution Pokemon.

For decks like Dragapult, it’s great early game to get a Budew or Dreepy down even after Itchy Pollen is in effect, or one Drakloak to get your engine going. For Joltik decks, they tend to go for Latias ex and Miraidon ex which in turn gets Joltik and another lighting attacker to set their whole board up. 

#9 - Yveltal - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Basic Pokémon 

Total Points: 115 (11th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.71 (9th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 93 / Avg - 3.72
• S6 - 22 / Avg - 1.69

Wins: 8

Top 4: 23

Top 8: 22

Saw play in:

• Mega Box
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass
• N's Zoroark ex
• Froslass/Munkidori
• Crustle

Initially Maractus would have made this list but then Yveltal showed up later in the year and it's now the preferred choice for the retreat-lock attack. 

And perhaps the one thing it has over Maractus, apart from the bigger HP amount, is simply Yveltal having free retreat! That works perfectly with Pecharunt ex in mind, giving you a free out for…oddly enough…another retreat lock attack! Or decks that need to retreat to use it’s attack again, this could work with them.

#8 - Ralts/Kirlia - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Basic Pokémon / Stage 1 Pokémon

Total Points: 114 (12th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 3.17 (7th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 66 / Avg - 2.64
• S6 - 48 / Avg - 3.69

Wins: 10

Top 4: 18

Top 8: 21

Saw play in:

• Gardevoir ex
• Gardevoir ex/Jellicent ex

So yeah we got a new Ralts and Kirlia and they're both better than the previous ones we started with at the start of the year. Ralts two attacks are nothing special but you got the choice of either drawing one extra card, or doing 10 damage.

As for Kirlia, it’s also got two good attacks but most of the time, if it’s used, it will be the first attack. Call Sign let’s you search for 3 Pokémon and put it into your hand so you can set up the perfect board the next turn, with one of them surely being Gardevoir ex which is what the deck needs to get going!

#7 - Hilda - White Flare (WHT)

Type: Supporter

Total Points: 165 (7th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.3 (11th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - 79 / Avg - 2.32
• S5 - 55 / Avg - 2.2
• S6 - 31 / Avg - 2.38

Wins: 13

Top 4: 28

Top 8: 30

Saw play in:

• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Flareon ex/Noctowl
• Alakazam/Dudunsparce
• Conkeldurr
• Dragapult ex

As mentioned for Brock's Scouting earlier, any Supporter card that searches for Pokemon is usually very good. But Hilda doesn't just do that. While it does search for an Evolution Pokemon, it also search for an Energy card. Not just Basic, any energy card! 

So for decks like Dragapult, it can search out Dragapult ex AND Neo Upper Energy, allowing Pult to attack right away. It also work for decks like Flareon to get the missing energy for Flareon or whoever might be attacking. 

The new Mega Lopunny ex decks is also very reliant on Hilda to get Mega Lopunny or Dusclops/Dusknoir and with Jet Enegy, it can destroy and opponent’s board right away.

#6 - Shaymin - Destined Rivals (DRI)

Type: Basic Pokémon 

Total Points: 222 (5th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 2.95 (8th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - 80 / Avg - 6.15
• S4 - 69 / Avg - 2.03
• S5 - 54 / Avg - 2.16
• S6 - 19 / Avg - 1.46

Wins: 14

Top 4: 42

Top 8: 52

Saw play in:

• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass
• Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Gardevoir ex
• Ethan's Typhlosion

We finally got a bench protector back in the game but with a bit of a catch this time around. Shaymin protects your benched Pokémon from attack, sounds like the old Mew or Manaphy or Mr Mime right? 

Well not quite, it only protects Pokémon without a Rule Box, so your Pokémon ex are not protected. A nice change I’d say and hey Shaymin has saw play in loads of decks. The irony being that the one that used it the most is a deck that attacks the bench too, that being Grimmsnarl. 

And with the likes of Scream Tail, Fezandipiti ex and Wellspring Ogerpon ex still such a big threat in the current meta, Shaymin will continue to be an answer for decks suffering from snipe attacks.

#5 - Psyduck - Promo (PR)

Type: Basic Pokémon 

Total Points: 144 (8th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 3.66 (5th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 102 / Avg - 4.08
• S6 - 42 / Avg - 3.23

Wins: 9

Top 4: 33

Top 8: 22

Saw play in:

• Mega Box
• Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass
• Crustle
• N's Zoroark ex

Probably the hardest card to find on this list, because I myself do not own one of these. Psyduck was released as a 3-pack blister when Mega Evolution so it was tough to find. And it was super playable too with the top deck in mind during that time.

Psyduck shuts down ability that has Pokémon knocking itself out to use the ability and guess who takes the hit from this? Yup Dusclops and Dusknoir, the main thing helping Dragapult ex. Charizard Pidgeot is another one but the irony being it also using Psyduck, some of them habe started cutting Dusknoir as a way to help with the Pult matchup so Psyduck was the answer for them too.

#4 - Lillie's Clefairy ex - Journey Together (JTG)

Type: Basic Pokémon ex

Total Points: 433 (4th)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 4.07 (4th)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - 145 / Avg - 6.90
• S3 - 40 / Avg - 3.08
• S4 - 119 / Avg - 3.5
• S5 - 82 / Avg - 3.28
• S6 - 47 / Avg - 3.61

Wins: 30

Top 4: 77

Top 8: 104

Saw play in:

• Gardevoir ex
• Tera Box
• Joltik Box
• Gardevoir ex/Jellicent ex
• Flareon ex/Noctowl

Lillie's Clefairy ex has been a welcomed addition to many decks this year and it's just a generally good card. The ability is already so good, giving your opponent’s Dragon Pokemon, a typing known to have no weakness, now having Psychic weakness when Clefairy on board meant stuff like Gardevoir ex now had an easier way to deal with Dragapult ex. 

But it’s not just the ability, the attack is amazing too. The last time we saw a Rondo attack was with Entei, Suicune and Raikou Vs, all theee of them seeing play at one point or another during their time. You hit for as many Pokemon on both boards and adding Clefairy, if both boards are full, that’s an easy 220. 

And that number can keep going up if Area Zero Underdepths is in play, and with your board full, it goes up to 280 which can knock out many big attackers like N’s Zoroark ex and Ceruledge ex. And if your opponent’s board is full, that means Clefairy does 340, enough to KO even Charizard ex! 

And it’s quite splashable, just needing a Psychic and colourless to attack and there’s plenty of ways around that. Clefairy is here to stay and will always be relevant since Dragapult isn’t going away anytime soon.

#3 - Budew - Prismatic Evolutions (PRE)

Type: Basic Pokémon 

Total Points: 673 (1st)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 5.87 (3rd)

Points

• S1 - 95 / Avg - 7.92
• S2 - 161 / Avg - 7.67
• S3 - 98 / Avg - 7.54
• S4 - 202 / Avg - 5.94
• S5 - 77 / Avg - 3.08
• S6 - 40 / Avg - 3.07

Wins: 46

Top 4: 115

Top 8: 172

Saw play in:

• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Dragapult ex
• Gardevoir ex
• Dragapult ex/Charizard ex
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass

Yup, Budew. You know it. You either love it or hate it. A 30 HP mon that hit for 10 and item lock for free and has free retreat, how can it not be good? It’s been the perfect partner for decks that like to play the comeback game but building their board and playing the slow game initially, mainly Pult, Garde and Grimm.

It’s the perfect turn 1 attack for most of these decks to stop your opponent from setting up by preventing them from using cards like Poffin, Nest or Ultra Ball and also Rare Candy. Speaking of which, one thing Budew has over Frillish (apart from the energy cost and the retreat cost) is that it is searchable through Buddy-Buddy Poffin, something the 80 HP Frillish is not.

But it’s not just a great early game attack, it’s also a great late game attack to stop your Gholdengo opponent from using Superior Energy Retrieval or other decks from using Prime/Counter Catcher. We will keep seeing Budew until it rotates, we won’t be able to escape it. It’s Itchy Pollen season!

#2 - Air Balloon - Black Bolt (BLK)

Type: Tool

Total Points: 465 (2nd)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 6.12 (2nd)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - 239 / Avg - 7.03
• S5 - 164 / Avg - 6.56
• S6 - 62 / Avg - 4.77

Wins: 23

Top 4: 96

Top 8: 128

Saw play in:

• Gholdengo ex/Lunatone
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass
• Gholdengo ex
• Gholdengo ex/Joltik Box
• Tera Box

Air Balloon is back and if not for the next card, might have been the best card released this year! It’s just a great pivot card and many decks have made good use of it. A lot of decks that used to rely on Rescue Board all swapped to Air Balloon since its release. 

Two decks that have made the most of it are Gholdengo ex decks and decks that are reliant of Munkidori, be it Marnie’s Grimmsnarl, Froslass/Budew, Mega Kangaskhan/Bouffalant or even Gardevoir. 

It makes the most sense in Gholdengo as you can make the most use of it’s Coin Bonus ability as it draws an extra card while being in the active and with Air Balloon, you cam draw up to 4 cards which is always a good thing.

#1 - Lillie's Determination - Mega Evolutions (MEG)

Type: Supporter

Total Points: 464 (3rd)

Average Points Scored per Sets: 11.97 (1st)

Points

• S1 - Not Released
• S2 - Not Released
• S3 - Not Released
• S4 - Not Released
• S5 - 318 / Avg - 12.72
• S6 - 146 / Avg - 11.23

Wins: 31

Top 4: 86

Top 8: 106

Saw play in:

• Dragapult ex/Dusknoir
• Gardevoir ex
• Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex
• Mega Box
• Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex/Froslass

Of course it had to be Lillie's Determination and for the first time since I started doing these lists back in 2019, it's not an Item card that tops the list. Well there's a good reason for that, there were no real good item cards released this year. But they did print perhaps one of the best Supporter cards ever in Lillie's Determination.

Shuffle and draw 6 is nothing new to us, we got that in older cards like Professor Oak's New Theory and Cynthia. What makes this better is that if you have not taken a prize card, it becomes 8 cards instead so now there is an incentive to not take prize cards but instead build your board state by seeing more cards in hands, which is why the slower set-up style decks have all used it, especially the 5 mentioned above.

A lot of these decks like to build their board first, sit behind one or two Budews, use Lillie’s for about 2-3 turns to get the perfect set-up and then launch an attack. It’s not bad in the late game too. With Iono you’re limiting yourself to maybe 2-3 cards. Lillie gets you 6 which is sometimes just enough to get you to a winning position. 

That’s all I got for the cards released this year and that’s it for me this year too! I wish you all the best for the upcoming new years in 2026. Thanks for reading and enjoy the new years! 

Melbourne Regional 2025 - My first TPCi Day 2 finish but 1 win short off Top 32

 So I didn't attend the first Ultra Ball League of Season 3 of the 2024-25 season for a good reason, I traded in the boring bo1 event for a way more fun bo3 event that was the 2025 Melbourne Regional. It was my second TPCi Regional event, the first being Kuala Lumpur Regional back in 2019, but it was my first properly over-seas regional event. So my first regional event outside of Asia.

I've always said that I'd love to, eventually, go around to many different places to play Pokémon, be it in the United States, Canada, Europe, wherever it may be. I want to know what it's like to play with people from different places because in Singapore, I can only play against my own locals. It's nice but it can get a bit repetitive. Plus I learnt to play Pokémon through Bo3, I will always prefer playing Bo3 than Bo1 and I can't get Bo3 here in Asia.

Before Flying Off

The biggest question was....what deck do I play? Anyone who has followed my season so far knows the story, since January I've been in a bit of a rut, not finding a new comfort deck or any deck that I enjoy playing. I've just been jumping from one deck to another every other event. 

So I didn't just pack one deck to bring to Melbourne, I brought at least 5 just in case. Dragapult, Charizard, Gholdengo, Joltik, and pieces to any deck playing the Noctowl engine not named Flareon.

I even made a list of what I think I would end up playing:

The irony here of Dragapult/Dusknoir being my first choice being that...well...my two worst results of this season so far came from the last two times I played Dragapult/Dusknoir, both times being a 2-4 score. But I always knew it was more of a bo3 deck so that's why it was high up on my considerations plus it had a better Gardevoir matchup over the solo Pult variant.

Gholdengo was initially my 2nd pick but I didn't feel too good about it as the week went on and somehow, good ol' Charizard with Dusknoir became my 2nd choice for the biggest event I would have played in a long while, having not played much of it in the first place! But I felt like I knew how to play it as well as I could. Then of course, we have the "in case of emergency, break glass" deck, Joltik Box. And trust me, I came very close to doing it.

What about the homies? There were a bunch of us all staying together in our apartment and some knew what to play, some not so as well: 

• Jeremy - Dead set on Gardevoir for a month now
• Bjorn - Raging Bolt but with some spice in true Bjorn fashion
• Jason - Same 60 as Bjorn 
• My brother Ash - Initally on Pult but switched to Gholdengo solo then a last second switch to Gholdengo Dragapult for more draw options 
• Keith - Standard Tera Box
• Ryan - Standard Tera Box with some spice
• Noel - Initially on Pult Dusk then made the last second switch to Pult Zard 

So no same 60ing as anyone but also because the Pult/Dusk list I chose was a bit different to anything anyone else was trying out. I locked in the deck at about 10:30pm on Friday night, making one single change to the list at 5.30am! I gotta thank my buddy Luke Morsa for getting me hooked onto this list, he told me about it after Milwaukee and I tested it more than the other lists.

The Deck

POKEMON

• 4-4-2 Dragapult Line
• The usual, just one less Dragapult ex to make up space for other stuff but I felt the 3rd one wasn't needed
• 2-2-1 Dusknoir Line
• 1 Dusknoir was more than enough, I'm usually using Dusclops more anyway
• 2 Budew
• Itchy Pollen to not just slow your opponent down but help you build your board up
• 1 Fezandipiti ex
• We all need it, don't we?
• 1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex
• I like it for the late game attack, especially in combination with Dusclops
• 1 Hawlucha
• Good to take out 70 HP mons or KO 210 HP mons
• 1 Munkidori
• Gives more options to take out stuff like Drakloak, Kirlia and other big basic mons

SUPPORTERS

• 4 Iono
• Best supporter in this deck
• 2 Arven
• Probably the best thing to use Turn 1
• 2 Jacq
• Probably the best thing to use Turn 2
• 2 Professor's Research
• Hand refresh is good, especially now in this Budew meta, more supporters is good
• 2 Boss's Orders
• Having 4 gust options with this deck can be really good and there'll be times you can't use Counter Catcher so 2 Boss helps with that

ITEMS

• 4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin
• Good ball search for the little guys
• 3 Ultra Ball
• Good ball search for the bigger guys
• 1 Nest Ball
• More so for Fezandipiti ex or Munkidori most of the time
• 2 Night Stretcher
• I did try a Super Rod in this spot but 2 Stretcher just felt right, more often you're using this to get back an energy right away or a Dusclops
• Also more outs to get energy cards along with Vessel
• 2 Counter Catcher
• Works well with how this deck works, and 4 gusting options is nice
• 1 Earthen Vessel
• Another out to get energy in the deck since we only play 7
• 1 Switch
• Retreat lock is a thing now so we need the option
• 1 Unfair Stamp
• Probably the best Ace Spec card for this deck, I'm still not too sure about it because I'm not a fan but it's the one that generally works best for this list. I'm still exploring other options
• 1 Rare Candy
• This was the last minute swap. Initially it was an Exp Share but I didn't see I was getting much use of it and I was worried about how quickly decks like Tera Box, Joltik Box and Raging Bolt could run my board off so I wanted this as a "just in case" option if I'm really far behind

TOOLS

• 1 Rescue Board
• Great tool to help move into Budew
• 1 Luxurious Cape
• Great to put on Budew to help with Budew wars
• Can help to save Drakloak from sniping options

STADIUMS

• 1 Artazon
• Help to put little mons on the board under Budew lock
• 1 Pokémon League Headquarters
• Very good into decks like Joltik Box
• Can be a cheeky option late on to stop their Bloodmoon Ursaluna or other basic mons to attack

ENERGY

• 3 Luminous Energy
• Best energy to use in this deck, helps to save the issue Dragapult usually has of trying to get the two different energies
• Allows us to use Munkidori as well
• 2 Fire Energy
• 2 Psychic Energy

That's the 60! It felt fine honestly.

2025 Melbourne Regional

Day 1 - Saturday

Round 1

vs Brendan Prewett (AUS) - (2/4/0)

Deck: Charizard ex/Noctowl

LWW

I went 2nd/2nd/2nd

First round in and my opponent reveals a Charmander and Fan Rotom so I already knew what I needed to do. I did my first deck search and sure enough, both Budews were prized so I was in trouble already for the first game. I played out a few more turns just to learn more about his deck, I managed to see a Dusknoir piece so after that I scooped and went to Game 2.

Game 2 and 3 went perfectly for me, Budew lock did it's job. So much so, my two Budews got knocked out in back to back turns in Game 3 and I had to go Stretcher to get it back because my set-up was still quite bad and that one turn did enough for me to set up a 4-prize turn after that. A comeback win in Round 1, I was feeling good...

Round 2

vs Kaiwen Cabbabe (AUS) - (7/2/2)

Deck: Gardevoir ex

LL

I went 2nd/2nd

...and then I saw my pairing for Round 2. "Oh shit, it's Kaiwen"! I was excited at first. Then as I was walking to my table it hit me "Oh shit it's Kaiwen, he probably knows this matchup way more than I do". I did say I picked this deck quite late on. I did have some games vs Garde but probably not as much as he has with his testing group vs my testing group.....aka just myself and ladder opponents on PTCGL.

I had a super slow start Game 1 and I knew I couldn't come back from it. What I didn't realise was he prized all 3 Munkidoris. But he still had a strong enough board state to wipe anything I did.

Game 2 was a lot closer even with the Munkis involved. This is where I fucked up. At one point, he had no energy in discard, two Gardevoirs. One with energies, one without. I had Counter Catcher, Stamp and a fully charged Dragapult ready to go. But I was debating on who I should gust up. That's where I messed up.

I went for the Gardevoir which was wrong, I should have gone for the Fezandipiti. That way, I can put all sorts of damage onto it, THEN gust the Gardevoir, spread more damage and go for the 5-prize game, as he only had one Munkidori with Dark energies to return the damage and I still had my 3 gusts to help with that. So because I gusted the wrong thing, I gave him the bench spot to comeback and I threw the game because of that. He was nice enough to let me know what I should have done, which was what I was initially thinking of so it was nice to get that clarity from a player of his caliber. I should have followed my first instinct. 

And now we're down to 1-1.

Round 3

vs Raymond Siswara Wong (IND) - (4/4/0)

Deck: Dragapult ex/Dusknoir

LWW

I went 2nd/1st/2nd

Round 3 and I hit one of my fellow South-East Asian players, Raymond from Indonesia and for sure his name is one I knew from following their events so I knew he's good. And it was a mirror match too.

First game he rolled me, I was too slow to set up. Second game I had the better set-up and got the checkmate. Game 3 was super close, it came down to the Dusk boys doing the work and I just barely squeaked that one. Yet another game that I lost Game 1 but this time, like Round 1, came from behind to win.

Round 4

vs Tom Bourke (AUS) - (4/3/1)

Deck: Gardevoir ex

WW

I went 2nd/1st

Yup, another Gardevoir, another brixty. This time I had a much easier time, he was a bit slow to set up and gave me enough time to do the Dusknoir plays + Pult to wipe out the board. Game 2 was a bit the same, he just had a slower start even after going 2nd. 

Round 5

vs Jer-Shyan Hwa (AUS) - (3/5/0)

Deck: Joltik Box

LWW

I went 1st/2nd/1st

Somehow the only Joltik Box I hit all weekend and it was the 3rd most played deck! I didn't even hit the 2nd most played deck which was Raging Bolt either. I had a slow start to Game 1, he took 4 prizes in 3 turns and even with my Pult up, I knew it was only a matter of time until he showed boss for game, and he did. I also did a silly, I thought by having Cape on my Budew it'd stop the Amp play but he attached another lighting energy to use the first KO, still giving him two prizes. Whoops.

Game 2 was much better for me because finally I showed him my tech for this matchup, the HQ. It slowed him down enough for me to do the whole 4 prize turn to make the comeback for Game 3.

Game 3, I saw my starting hand and I was excited, I had HQ in hand! I started Budew, played down HQ, bench my Dreepy and passed. That HQ bought me a lot of time because he couldn't set up the Joltik attack until Turn 2, by that point I had two Drakloaks with energies on them and a Dusk ready to do the biz. He did make it close in the end shoving up an Ursaluna after I had used my Dusk bomb which meant I had to draw a Boss to win the game. Thankfully my 2nd Recon Directive got me there, if not I would have thrown a good position and tied that game.

Round 6

vs Daichi Shimada (JAP) - (11/3/0)

Deck: Tera Box

LWL

I went 2nd/1st/1st

After Round 5 was done, I met up with my brother and he was talking to Daichi Shimada who had just played him and I finally got to meet him and spoke to him. He even gave me one of his keychains which was nice. 3 minutes later, we checked the pairings....and I'm up against him hahaha! We had a good laugh about that.

Game 1 was terrible. I dead drew and he got the KO on my lone Duskull with Fezandipiti! Game 2 was probably the only real game we had, he got the Torrential Pump off but I did manage to get another Budew down, Catcher his Noctowl, Stamp and build my board back up again after that. He passed for like 5 turns to the point I managed to build enough of a board to take the win. 

Then Game 3 happens. I remember what happened in Game 1 and chose to go 1st. Bad call. I had HQ in my hand and started Budew, got Poffin to get two Dreepys down. Pass. Daichi attaches Sparkling Crystal on his benched Wellspring Mask Ogerpon + Crispin and I knew I was in trouble. I showed him the HQ in my hand and we both got a laugh out of that. I should have known better, just bench it down and make him have it at the cost of using Itchy Pollen. That was a terrible way to throw a matchup I thought was pretty decent for me.

4-2 now, next one is the win and possibly in to Day 2.

Round 7

vs Jan Timothy Yang (AUS) - (4/4/0)

Deck: Tera Box

WW

I went 2nd/2nd

Another Tera Box again but this time it went much smoother for me. I went behind initially Game 1 but did the same thing as I did vs Daichi and came back from that. Game 2 Jan had a slower start if I remember correctly and couldn't recover from it. HQ was helping me a lot in this matchup as well. 

So now we're 5-2! One ID is enough to lock myself into Day 2. But this is where my lack of experience got the better of me. I didn't know if I should just ID or play it out. Most of my friends were saying just to ID while the top Aussie players and guys like Jack and Aidan said I should play it out. 

Round 8

vs Ashton Grant (AUS) - (5/3/1)

Deck: Roaring Moon/Dudunsparce

T

I went back to the hotel after that

I was feeling nervous and my opponent seemed keen on the ID so we took it. I had no clue what deck he was on, I hadn't seen him much and my notes, or my friends notes, didn't have his name on it. After we signed the slip, we spoke for a bit then he asked me what deck I was on, I told him Pult Dusk. Then he told me he was on Moon Duns.

My heart sank. That's one of my better matchups! Now I was feeling a bit stupid. Sure 5-2-1 is enough to give me my first Day 2 in a TPCi event, but at least 6-2 gives me a chance to fight for a potential top cut finish, or at the very least top 32. I still wasn't feeling so confident with my deck so Top 64 was what I was aiming for, which is why I was ok with the ID. I knew I couldn't win this event, but I wanted to be in the fight at least and not take the risk and lose and not be in the fight.

Mistakes were made, I should have backed myself as Kaiwen told me and fight it out. Well now we know better for next time.

End of Day 1

Day 2 - Sunday

Round 9

vs Peter Colosimo (AUS) - (7/2/2)

Deck: Dragapult ex

LWT

I went 2nd/2nd/1st

This one hurt. I was happy to see the straight Pult build because I knew it was a decent matchup for me but I had a slow start and scooped after 11 minutes when I saw the writing was on the wall, I wanted to give myself enough time to win the next two games.

Game 2 went a bit long, I was in a pretty good spot and my opponent still played it out, not sure why, I would think he could have scooped sooner as I had checkmate for a few turns, I just didn't want to make a silly mistake with my Dusk bombs. 

Game 3 was going well for me and then I messed up. I KOed his first Pult. He did some stuff, then I bossed his other Pult, and this is where I messed up. I didn't realize it had no energies on it. I had a Duskull in my hand was worried to put it down. I didn't know if he played Crispin or not and if he did, he'd be down to 1 prize and I was still at 5. The thing was, looking at his board state, I saw my 5 prizes and it needed the Dusknoir to get me there. The issue was, I had already used both Stretcher and Rare Candy so the best I could do was manually evolved it two turns to get the Dusknoir for the 5 prize turn. 

I should have examined my opponent's board more thoroughly there, that's what cost me the win. And because we were on time, I didn't have enough time to pull off that 5 prize game combo. I felt really down about that game, I knew that one was my fault, I should have been more alert to the situation.

Round 10

vs Deacan Page (AUS) - (5/4/2)

Deck: Gardevoir ex

LWW

I went 2nd/2nd/1st

My 3rd of 4 Gardevoirs in this event, at least I'm seeing them. The more I played, the more I was figuring out how to win the matchup. First game was just bad for me, I went in with a Pult with no backup attacker, it got cleaned up by a Gardevoir with Clefairy on the bench, I knew so I scooped.

Game 2 went much better, same thing happened on their side but this time I had the backup attacker to clear their board. 

Game 3 was super close, we went to time and on my last turn, I needed to hit a combination of gust (Catcher or Boss) and ball search for Ursaluna to gust up their Clefairy and bomb the damaged Scream Tail (I think that's the damage one) for game. I had Research but I knew 1 Catcher was prized and the odds of me hitting the other Catcher wasn't high. I had Unfair Stamp as my backup but also had one more Recon Directive to help. Got nothing out of it, stamp and I saw Boss and Ultra Ball for the Luna for game! For once stamp actually helped!

At this point I was 6-2-2, with the next win possibly putting me into Top 32, aka prize money!!! My flight would be repaid, and I hadn't won money before from an official Pokémon TCG event so far in my 10 years of playing since I got back into it. 

Round 11

vs Jake Cruwys (AUS) - (7/2/2)

Deck: Gardevoir ex

LL

I went 1st/2nd

I saw Jake's name and I was a bit excited, because it's another Gardevoir which is what I wanted. Also shoutout to Jake for being the most chilliest opponent I had the whole tournament! 

Unfortunately, the games were just terrible from my side because of double brick hands. This was the win and in to earn some money and a booster box as well, maybe even two (aka more money, we all love that don't we) and what did I start? Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex. I knew I was in trouble. And to make things worse, they started Budew, but I was fine with it, all I had to do was Dusk bomb it.

That's where the problem shows up, I check my prizes and errr....both Dusclops are prized. I was never going to use Rare Candy in that game since they were locking me out of Items and Boss wasn't going to help as they had no easy targets to trap. So after 5 minutes of trying to figure out if there's anything different about his list, I knew I had to scoop to give myself plenty of time to comeback and win Games 2 and 3.

Then Game 2 happened. I start 2nd, I was feeling good, I had a decent start, I check my prizes.....a Dusclops is prized, while the other one is in my hand. No bigge, one is good enough to help me KO either Munki or Tail. It's the Dusknoir I need....and that sadly was prized. Dusknoir just helps to swing the Garde matchup a lot and not having that option just makes it really tough, especially as he KOed my first Duskull. I just could not set up this game either, no Iono, no Jacq, no Research, pretty much a carbon copy of the first game. So even without those prizes, I probably was doomed. So I had to extend the hand after just 12 minutes, I was too far behind at that point and he had two Gardevoirs ready to go.

Final Score: 6-3-2

Final Placing: 67th/583

End of Day 2

As if I wasn’t already feeling down about how the last round went, I got the real kick to the gut news. I finished 67th, 3 places off Top 64, which was my target at the start of the day. The difference was just 18 packs but still, a top 64 finish at a TPCi regional sounds way better than a Top 128 finish, especially since I played in Day 2 and some of them didn’t. 

But I can’t be mad, I did way better than I expected. I walked into the event Saturday morning just wanting to better my OCIC 2020 score (3/5/1), mainly because I was not familiar with my deck at all. After every round I kept looking at my list to familiarise myself with my own deck, that’s how bad it was. 

I’m still happy to at least make Day 2 at a TPCi event, something I’ve always wanted to do and doing it in my first TPCi event since the pandemic felt great, but I know personally I can do better. A lot better. I just hope I can have another opportunity to try in one of these bo3 events.

Takeaways

Bo3 > Bo1

I will die on this hill. I've always said Bo3 is better and now more Singaporean players know it too. My Bo3 propaganda will not stop. I just do not enjoy playing Bo1 which is maybe why I haven't done well in any event the last few years yet one of my better results came here in Melbourne, a bo3 event.

And if we look at how my Game 1 went in the ten rounds I played, I lost 8 out of 10 of them! I would have been so screwed had that been a Bo1 event. 

Timing

That was one of my biggest fears going to the event. I mean 25 minute bo1 is scary enough, Bo3 50 minutes +3 turns could be just as scary playing a slow deck like what I was on (Dragapult/Dusknoir). But it never really mattered in all but two of my games. The first one, I did squeak out the win whereases the other, I screwed up and lost the chance to win the game by being one turn behind.

Knowing when to scoop is a big thing for Bo3. I knew I was in a bad spot in a number of those games and scooped right away to give myself a chance to make the comeback and it worked most of the time.

Note-Writing

Yes, I did bring a notepad because we're allowed to do that in a TPCi event, unlike in Singapore where it's considered cheating.

No, I didn't actually use it all that much haha!

I think I'm just so used to not using a notepad that it felt a bit weird for me to even use it in the first place. I did try to use it in the first few games but as the day went on, I just didn't use it as much. There were a few times where I would prize something important and write it down but that was honestly it. Didn't really help me much. 

My pen ink also died so that also didn't help. I had to use my Green pen which was a bit harder to see.

Match Slips

I can’t lie but seeing a paper match slip again after a few years was a bit weird. Here in Singapore and the rest of Asia, we’re so used to reporting our scores online these days. 

I wonder if TPCi will slowly move to an online reporting system. The paper slip does seem to work a bit better in a Bo3 environment but come on guys, get with the times!

To ID Round 9 or not to ID

Well I learnt the hard way on this one, didn't I? All the top players were saying to back myself and fight it out. As it turns out, the guys on x-2-1, none made cut so taking the risk and playing it out, and winning, meant I had a chance to make top cut. 

In my defense, it was my chance to get my first Day 2 finish and I was super nervous and I just wanted it to be done and over with, but still I shouldn't have done that. The only time I should ID is if it's a bad matchup for me. 

Deck Choice

Was Dragapult Dusknoir the best choice for me? Honestly I'm still not sure but it worked out pretty well for me. Would I have done any better had I gone with Gardevoir instead? Honestly no because I hadn't played it much, I don't know how to maneuver the mirror match as I showed in one of the older UBLs and I'm not too confident playing it. 

My other choices was a Joltik Box. It's an aggro deck, which I like and it can win games before anything happens but later on, the better players will know how to play around it which is why I didn't want to play that. Same for Gholdengo. 

As for my rouge choices, I didn't put in much time with either Charizard/Dusknoir or Hydreigon/Pidgeot, both I think are quite decent but I just wasn't sure if they were the right thing to play. I do like playing these rough choices but I need to be sure that they work before I actually bring them to a tourney, I made that mistake once before (Kuala Lumpur Regional 2019).

The best deck choice is honestly still the one you feel the most comfortable which, which is something I haven't found ever since Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex because unplayable at the start of the year. I haven't found a deck that just clicks with me and I've been struggling with all sorts of events simply because of that. My next event is the back-to-back UBLs in the next two weekends and I still honestly do not know what I will play for those events. I know you're going to say, why not stick with Dragapult Dusknoir? That deck is better suited for a Bo3 event, not Bo1.

The Standard of Singapore Players

Yes we know the joke that started from Jeremy but hey, 22 (it says 21 + Ryan who is under UK flag) of us showed up, all but 2 scored 10 or more points, 11 of the 22 made Top 128. 6 made Day 2! And to think that number of players from our tiny island travelling to Australia to not even fight for points could have gone up to 25 had the UBL not clashed!

It was so cool to see Jeremy make a legendary run to make it to finals but alas the curse continues, poor ol' Liaobi still doesn't have his big win yet. Anselm and Keenan, two of my older friends I made in this game, both made Top 64 which is great to see. It still annoys me a bit when I see all these videos from these Youtubers all talking about the Japanese players showing up in Australia and saying how cool it is to see them play, yet completely ignore all of us! I hope we can change that someday, and have one of our players win a TPCi regional. The last was Joey, also in Melbourne! 

Melbourne

Give it a visit wherever you may be from. Lovely place, it was my 5th visit, hopefully there will be more to come. The CBD area is easy to get around, you can walk anywhere honestly. There are even free tram zones which I forgot about, I could have done that to get to the venue, whoops! 

Be mindful though, some stuff are a little bit expensive in Australia, and not just the Pokémon stuff, even the food! I didn't buy any packs or any of that stuff, there were all just too expensive.

Also here's my short little tier list of the fast food in Australia

1. Subway
2. McDonald's
3. Hungry Jack's
4. KFC

The SG crew!

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I really enjoyed the chance to travel to Australia to play Pokémon TCG and to see my overseas friends too, be it from Australia or US or Canada! It was cool to see a few people come up to me to say hello, even signed a Centiskorch VSTAR card for my buddy Stefan haha! 

I did a short "vlog" style video for the event if you wanna check it out here.

Rooming with the SG homies was cool too, thanks to my brother Ash, Jeremy, Bjorn, Jason, Keith, Ryan and Noel for a fun stay. Also thanks to my buddy Aidan for hanging out the Monday after the event. Hopefully this will be the first of many TPCi events I can go to, would love to do an European event and of course, a North American event. That's the one I'd really love to go to, more so to test myself against the best from each different regions, wherever it may be. Thanks for reading!