Track 1 0:04

attendance is a hundred percent. It's Mike. It's Liam, it's Brent. It's the Trashalanche podcast. The only podcast about the Pokegear trading card game. We're on Twitter, you can tweet at us, you can leave a review. Guys, we have two reviews left for us, but I feel like we are supposed to hold it until we get a a, a more than a hundred percent attendance these days. More than a hundred percent tends be, I think, the goal.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 0:26

Two reviews is pretty sweet though.

Track 1 0:27

yeah. Yeah. I think the big thing we're coming into is obviously Portland, right around the corner. Liam has been tweeting that he should have played lost Giratina. At San Antonio which is like, I have so many questions'cause that is both a full circle and b obviously you did well at San Antonio. The fact that you say, oh my God, Las Giratina was totally the play after Maligning Las Giratina for weeks and weeks and weeks. Absolutely confounds me. Do we wanna start there or do you guys wanna just talk about Portland?

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 1:00

We can talk about Giratina'cause that's also the deck that I've been playing the most over the last week or two. So, Liam, why? Why did you say that? let's start with that.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 1:11

well, I mean, yeah, I. I was definitely pretty happy with my run in San Antonio. So I, I'd take that run again. But I think just like numbers wise, I think Tino is probably the best play.

Track 1 1:23

It's,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 1:23

it's, yeah, I, I don't know. It just has really good matchups. It's really good desired. It's like, so it's solid into Ride-on solid and de it's like, it's like solid versus everything. So like, I think slightly favored I don't really see like a good reason why not to play it. You don't have any like bad matchups in the meta, really. And I think that's like the best case you could make for a deck right now.

Track 1 1:45

Yeah,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 1:46

Yeah, it's like its stall. Matchup is obviously, you know, the best in the format. And, and Snorlax did so good. So that's partially why I imagine you're thinking this too. But yeah, the charar matchup is definitely very good. The guardian matchup. Yeah. It was like, fine. I wouldn't, if I was Giratina, that's not the matchup I would want to cue into.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:09

I Agree, but I don't even think it's bad. Like

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:11

yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the rapid strike is also kind of like in that same vein where it's not like terrible, but I wouldn't choose to play against it if I had the choice. I do think the Mew matchup is Unfavor if you don't play Spiritomb. So I play Spiritomb in my list. I don't know what you think about Spiritomb and Giratina.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:33

I, I talked to Isaiah a little bit and he said it's, it's fine as long as they don't play belt, which like sounds right to me, I guess.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:40

Yeah, but a lot, I mean, I guess it's like 50 50 if you use play belt

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:44

And then, yeah, I mean, he, he says it's mine if they don't put Belt and Spirits a bad card. So just like Dodge m, Dodge Muse with belts, I'm.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 2:53

But like Spirit tum, I don't know, I kinda like Spiritomb'cause it's not Spirit. TTU has more value than just than just me. Obviously that's the best matchup for it. But it makes your, it makes your Snorlax matchup even better, which is I guess maybe not that big of a deal since it's so good. Anyway. It is also like not bad against Charr. And again, your charr matchup already good too, so maybe not a big deal, but like to,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 3:18

It's not terrible. Terrible, but yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 3:22

In my, yeah, in my head, I would either play Spiritomb or the fourth path. That's kind of how I feel about the spot. Yeah, I dunno. I could go either way, but I like it. I also really have been totally fine with ones eye. I've been playing ones eye basically the whole time you go. You cool with that too?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 3:42

Yeah. Yeah. I like the format's too fast. It's just like 2, 2, 2 in, in every game and like. The say only ever takes one prize and going, going to odd is like so bad in this format. It feels like,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 3:55

You need to like keep one around.'cause there are random games where You can hit'em with like

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:00

yeah, the counter catcher, rocks,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:01

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:03

It's also good Indy like absolutely needed.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:05

Yeah. But even that, like if, if Guardi plays a clia, it's just like a, a one prize trader usually. Right? Because you're just, which

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:13

mean, picking one,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:13

enough.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:14

yeah, it's really important.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 4:16

Yeah. So one able, I definitely fine I prefer, I mean. There's like all the, all the lists that did well are all like, pretty much the same 55, 56 cards, just kind of deciding on the last few things. And I feel like the last few cards that are debatable are all consistency cards. So like, we saw Dan Hogar Play Four Nest Ball three VIP instead of the other way around, which like Bradner played. I have four VIP and four Nest Ball, but I don't run any poker gear. Which Bradner played two, I think Dan played one. I have two io. Most of them only have one and like I, I feel like the second IO is like just a decent draw card too. So I feel like all of, like, those, those couple spots are, are pretty interchangeable as long as you do something consistency wise with them.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 5:05

Yeah. I think a lot of, a lot of your slot should go towards consistency. Like, I think be be because you have so many more, like so much more leeway. I think with your milestones as compared to other decks. You're able to. Like, keep all of your power cards so you don't have to play extras like for like Boston Turbo or like Coga or something. You have to play like all these extra like super rods and recyclers because your like resources are so much more pressed and you have to be able to like throw one away and still have enough leftover. Whereas I don't think that's really the case for Giratina because your attackers are so much more efficient. And you have so many more like dead cards as targets I guess. Like you can throw away extra Tina's and it's totally fine.

Track 1 5:44

So

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 5:44

So like, you can go down to like, I, I think like really low counts for a lot of the, a lot of the power cars, like Super Rod and, and Path. I only play two and three. And then you can also go down to like, I think just like one IO and one Roxanne. And then I've upped the Pokegear count a ton because I. I think it's, it's better to just open than you end up throwing. Like you end up throwing away an iono anyway. And if it's throwing away a pokey here, it's like, same thing. I like it. What you throw is the same thing. So it's just about like what you're opening in, in my eyes. So I have like a lot of pokey here and four four VIP four nests.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 6:18

Nice. Yeah, I really do like Ford VIP four Nest. Just'cause like a biskin is just like pretty good in a lot of matchups. You can afford to do it against a lot of decks. And so, you know, as long as you get like too comfy and aina attacking It's pretty good. I've been choosing, like I've, I've really only been playing on live and I think choosing second blind is correct because of that. Yeah. Yeah,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 6:46

Your curve is like really bad. You attack on like turn three, so you don't really get anything from going first. I think.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 6:54

Yeah. The one matchup that has felt not really bad, but a little sketchy is Roaring Moon. Roaring Moon has definitely picked up in popularity on the ladder, again with the results from the Japan tournament, which maybe we could talk about next. And yeah, that matchup is a little sketchy because if they are Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Capsules are, are really tough. And then just if they like get a cross switcher play on your Giratina before you are able to k one of their guys, like, you're usually gonna lose the trade. And like I've won some of those games, but it comes down to like me going counter catcher, their dark, I VStar that they didn't pre-attached to Roxanne path and try to save eye a couple times. But if they just like prett attach one energy to dark, dark vy star, that doesn't

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 7:44

Yeah. Yeah, like I, I haven't seen a ton of dark, I VStar, but yeah, I end up like counter catching like a squaw or something and just.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 7:53

Shoot, pray Yeah. And then conversely, the other deck from the Japan tournament that has been played on live a bunch is the Guango Palkia deck. And that matchup is the freest matchup for Giratina imaginable. It's so free. You don't think so?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:12

No, not really. I haven't, I haven't played it much, so maybe it's better, but

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:17

I feel like,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:18

times, damn, this is kind of bad, bro. Just like

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:23

I mean, I've gone down, I've gone down two six in the matchup and just go, you know, Roxanne Path, KO, and then, and then they can't KOU'cause they have two cards in their hand and they're passed.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:34

Yeah, they play like eight stadium bumps. Man,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. They never hit it.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:40

Yeah,

Track 1 8:40

That, that's some like real Liam talk right there,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:45

They never hit it off the Roxanne.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:49

no, yeah. Path is like really bad for that deck.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:51

Yeah, so Tina's good. I don't know how good it is going.

Track 1 8:56

I think

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 8:57

I think it's probably worse going into Portland than it was for Texas.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 9:00

Yeah, it was really good, I think, at Texas, but.

Track 1 9:04

yeah. So could, could you just talk, talk for two seconds about, like, is, is the, is the moral story the popularity of Roaring Moon or like what, what makes you look back and say, despite all of my slander, Las Giratina was a great play for Texas, and it's a good deck that that Mike plays all the time now.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 9:22

I don't know. It's good to like, yeah, it's just, it doesn't really have like a ton of bad matchups. Like, even though it does have the, the lost Giratina duff like your charar matchup and Mariah on matchup are like so, so good that like, if, if enough stuff goes right, you just, you just always win. So like, Yeah, I think you're, you're slightly favoring to those. aNd you, you don't, yeah, you just don't really have a lot of bad matchups. You're also really good into snarl acts and like, I think, I think everything else is pretty bad into snarl acts except for Gardy with Turo. But if you play the Turo, like your, your deck is bad and then you're bending everything else.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 9:58

It's also it for me. I, it's a deck that even though it's not the most consistent, it's

Track 1 10:06

you

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 10:06

you don't just lose the game because you didn't you know, open maybe like Gardevoir, you get like one routes out. You kind of just can just lose the game on the spot because you only got one routes out. Turn one or charr, like you didn't get a Pidgey down. Okay, all right, good. Go next. Giratina can have those starts, but a bit seeking is like such a bailout in those games that it like allows you to play More games and you have the you know, you have the comeback cards in your deck as well. So I feel like at least in that sense, I get to play more games that I might not have otherwise.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 10:45

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like every, every single game is playable until you see their hand off, like R'S Path, you know?

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 10:50

Right. which, which is like maybe a positive and negative in a best of three, where You need to try and play three games, and if you're, you always feel in the game, it's tough to scoop. Right? So there's like pros and cons to that.

Track 1 11:09

okay. Okay. Fair enough.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:11

I know in like Isaiah's Stream game against like James Washer, he won one. Oh. And there were like 15 minutes left and he opened absolutely terrible in game two. But then he went counter catcher, rocks passed, Gensec and James washer passed like three times in time or whatever. So like,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:27

That, that was funny.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:30

kind of studying games like that. I guess ev, even if you're getting absolutely smoked.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:35

Yeah. Do you wanna talk about the the Japan tournament a little bit?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:40

Yeah, sure. It was really.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 11:44

I didn't watch any of the stream. I know like Azul streamed it all. So, or just kinda like looking at the decks that did well like the, the, the Cuore toward Lost Box deck won the event. The Roaring Moon with Dark Cry, VStar and Cross Seavers got second gold dangle Palkia got third. There's an Arceus Zara Aura deck that got fifth, and then beyond that it was at least kind of normal I don't particularly think any of these decks, any of those three decks are very good. The Palkia guango, so you said it has eight stadium bumps? It does. It plays four worker and four poke stop. Have you played with the staggered oleum? I feel

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 12:37

I have, I've played a little bit. So yeah, even though there is eight, they go through a lot really fast because that's like the whole engine, right? You like stop, turn one and then you work, you like stop work or stop again. Turn two and like you just try to shred through your deck that way. deCk's really fun in, in that sense because you, you draw a ton of cards, you have, you like conceal cards on both those turns. You're looking at nine off of the stops and the worker and then you draw a bunch with gold Eng go and you earth and vessel to thin your deck a bunch. So like the, the deck feels really really strong in that sense. Yeah, I mean it's pretty standard. It's just like a hit really hard and then coone pal coone Greninja deck, which is always like solid, but it's also a bit of a glass cannon because yeah, it like folds under disruption.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 13:24

They do have the melodic were you playing the melodic.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 13:28

how I was not.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 13:31

Yeah. I mean like that helps against the disruption, but you also have to get it out.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 13:36

Yeah. Well one thing that I, I really like, one change that I've made is I go, I've gone to one two Palkia, because all the Palkia really does is like sit on the bench and just activate Greninja. Sometimes you tack with it, but you never use two Palkia. And the two Palkia is good for stop because you occasionally stop one away'cause you're so aggressive with it. But yeah, if you can search the one early, it's fine. So I, I think One Two Pal is like the move in that deck.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:02

And like is Palkia also just to like have something with a little more HP that can attack?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:11

I Don't know. The d the Dex so aggressive. Like if you're not taking two prizes, you, you're kind of falling behind on, on like any given turn. Like you can in like, imagine using the palate, I guess against like lost Giratina. Like just sucks,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:26

Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:27

do anything.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:28

Hmm.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:29

Kind of same again. Z like meh,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:33

Yeah, I haven't played it. I, it should be, this deck should be pretty good against zd, right?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:40

I, yeah, yeah, yeah. It is.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:42

Yeah. I haven't played with this at all. I've only played against it with Giratina and Gardy and both of those matchups seemed bad for it. Like Gardy obviously, right? You just

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 14:52

I, I, I played with Guardian online and I lost to it yesterday, but I, I had like a pretty subpar start, so,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:00

did they have the cologne? Because the list from Japan didn't, the list from Japan didn't play cologne.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:05

They, they should.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:06

Yeah, that makes sense. They probably should,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:08

also like.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:08

I guess.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:10

I think in the s matchup, because you, you have to through the, because it's so expensive to go into the Greninja.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:15

sure, sure, sure. I guess also we've been playing Guardi without Manaphy too.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:20

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:21

so

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:22

I, I was playing man, and I think an open list you have to play with, man.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:26

Yeah, sure, sure. yeAh that's a little side note. My guard of our list, I've been trying to play without manife in just like a lot of draw A lot of draw power instead. Okay. So Guango, Palkia. It's okay. I think that's our conclusion. The Roaring Moon with crossover. I'm never gonna play this. But Azul said it's probably the best way to play Roaring Moon. Sure. I believe it.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 15:57

That's terrible, man. Like.

Track 1 16:00

why would

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 16:00

Why would you ever be, be happy to talk a cross Seaver man. Like the deck already finds all its saders, man. It's, it's fine.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 16:09

Yeah. This doesn't, it doesn't like address any of the Core issues with Roaring Moon, which is that it's just a 2, 2 2

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 16:22

Yeah. I, I, I mean, I will say I, I do like the deck and that it. It's like kind of good against Giratina. I think. Anything where you can go second and then turn one dunk them is like pretty strong against Giratina. Like hit a turn one rope KO on the V or whatever they like, they have to open with like VIP nest ball, not to like instantly lose. And then, yeah, obviously the trading is like pretty solid if you have the capsule or whatever that list did not. Mm-Hmm. Dark eye. Oh my.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 16:55

The another thing to come out of the Japanese event is pretty much every single charge our deck played, tmm, devolution. Presumably for the mirror match. One of our buddies played it at their cup this weekend in ARD and said it was pretty good into the mirror. So perhaps that is the new ARD mirror. Meta is to play tmm devolution over the, what's the dark, whatever the dark gloves is.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 17:25

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 17:26

So what, what are the pros and cons of that? Over the gloves.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 17:31

Yeah. Yeah. I, we talked about it a little bit in chat, I think, but it's, you take like less prizes, but you hit their PT is like the real change.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 17:44

Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 17:44

And taking less prizes isn't even always bad. Like if you're on, if you're on three prizes, taking like a two prize K is like kind of how you lose, right? So. It's probably better. It's also like, I think like a little more versatile. Oh. But it's also, it's, it's worse than a roaring moon because you can't knock out on after they take one prize. So,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 18:04

sure. Yeah, that makes sense. But yeah, in the mirror you often get punished if you take the first prize in the mirror and go to odd prizes. So this does allow you to be the aggressor. Take a prize. maybe they hit you. You can like boss kill Rodo or something like that. And then you're at three and then you can hit their ard, you can devolve it, go to two, and then maybe either kill the Piot or, or the last ARD or something like that. And yeah, I think being able to like go io. devolve their pig is a super strong play. It probably also gives a little bit of play into the Guardian matchup. I haven't played at

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 18:47

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 18:49

but I you, you have to imagine there's at least some times where it would come

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 18:52

Yeah. Yeah. I, it's, it's not weird for like guardian to preload sometimes, especially in zd.'cause you don't wanna have to like like reset something up. I know there's like a lot of times where you like scream tail to, to take like a charm, mander or something. And those games, I mean, those are, those are only ones where you're like completely winning'cause the pig's on play and you're just like charming or hunting.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 19:12

Yeah.

Track 1 19:13

But yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 19:15

Yeah, if you were somehow able to like devolve that turn because they have to preload when they hit with the screen tail or else they at least to like boss, boss. If you're able to hit like a devo there or something, it's like maybe good, but.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 19:29

It could also be good against Giratina, I guess.'cause like if Giratina takes two prizes, then you're hitting for two 40 onto the VStar and then you could devolve it But it's still a two shot, so I don't know how good that actually is.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 19:42

With a charm or something then, right. And giving them the VStar like never that good, too against Giratina.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 19:51

Yeah. Hmm. All right. Anything else interesting here? There was an archist Giratina

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:00

There's the

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:01

16.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:02

Pikachu thing. Did you see that?

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:04

Yeah, I mean, this is just like not a real deck at all. This is like the worst deck that I've seen make top a at a major event in a long time. I, I don't know what Zara or VStar, actually, I kind of do know what Zara or VStar does, unfortunately,

Track 1 20:22

But

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:22

but I definitely don't know what the VMax does, nor am I looking it up. There's no way. It. The fact that this plays a forest seal, stone is so funny.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:31

Dude, you might get popped by that. It's a, it's like a 60 probability on your opponent's board, man. You go like mirage step and then they bus the

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:40

great, great. They can take one prize.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:43

They hit the EX bro. Or the A few. All it. Fortunately. Yeah, you just went, that takes so bad. I'm good.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 20:54

Co the ditto was played in a handful of decks. It was played in that Arceus deck and it was also played in the lason deck that won the event.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 21:02

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 21:03

It was not played in the Los Encino though, or the like Charr, radians are lost box. So, I don't know. I haven't really ever tried Ditto in lost own stuff.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 21:18

I, I hate it, man. It's, I mean, maybe it's good, but playing with it feels so awkward because like when you open with like. VIP nest or something and you, you like start a comfy, so you only have one comfy and deck left or something. Sometimes or like if you prize one and then you get like comfy, ditto because you wanna thin the ditto out like immediately. And then like you're like, okay, if I flower select into, into a comfy, like I instantly, I can't, ditto for comfy, so I can't, like the dittos just gonna sit there or I'm gonna waste a switch card on it. So like. It's like some mental stress that I, I, I don't like ever having to deal with. Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:00

guess it makes like most sense in a cuore Lason deck because it, it's minus one card gets you a little bit closer to the cuo. Probably would never play it in Giratina.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:10

Yeah. I don't know. Sounds kind of good. Giratina you like, it sounds like a really good starter in Giratina because you get the, you get the choice right.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:20

yeah. You could go into Giratina, I guess, too.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:23

But I, yeah, there's no reason to ever play that card.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:26

Like it's definitely worse than a fourth nest. So if you're not playing Fourth Nest, you would just play that first.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:33

Yeah.

Track 1 22:34

So, so what do you guys take away from this? If you're going to Portland, what's the play?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 22:38

Dude, it is really hard, man. The meta is like every, everything's kind of scary and like, but you know that, that, that's not like cutting slack to the people on Twitter who are like freaking out.'cause like, you know, you just have to recognize that the meta is scary and just, just pick something and accept the, the risks that come with it. Like, doesn't, doesn't matter man, just, just send it, run it.

Track 1 23:01

Yeah, like

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 23:02

Like you, you really could pick any deck and there's no reason to be like, concerned that you're not playing a good deck. You know, z Giratina Tel Gardy a little bit, but like, Mariah on me, all that stuff is good. Just play whatever. And you, you gotta a good little bit of good luck and you should be able to have a good run. Mm-Hmm.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 23:23

Yeah. I think personally I think the meta game will look pretty SI think I said this last time, but it'll look pretty similar with a LA bit less, more ride-on a bit less charr, but not like that much less. Charr would still be the most popular deck and a little bit more of Everything else, like all the random stuff. I think Gardy will be a little more popular. Like it won't be 8%, but it's not gonna be more than 10% probably.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 23:51

Be.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 23:52

what'd you

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 23:53

think I, I agree. I think Maria's gonna go like way down, like definitely not second most popular, I think. I think it'll be further down on the meta game.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:02

maybe like third or fourth.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:04

yeah. Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:05

I don't know. I don't know what else would be second though. Unless

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:09

Me neither, but

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:10

yeah, unless it's Gardy.

Track 1 24:13

Yeah,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:13

Yeah. Nah, man.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:14

Giratina could be, I guess Giratina could be like, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Char Art and then Giratina as number two.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:20

Yeah. I, I think Tina's gonna have a, a really high conversion rate, just like in San Antonio and it's, it's gonna be like more popular day one than really, really popular in day two. So.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:32

The one matchup I haven't really played as Giratina is against other lost zone decks. I've played against radiance art a little bit, which I know that's a bad matchup. But I haven't played too, too much against like the, like the list that won the Japanese tournament, the Two prize lost box deck, basically. Presumably that's also at least slightly unfavor for Giratina.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:55

for Giratina.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 24:57

yeah, I guess so. Right, because they're a little bit faster. They have hands so they can take some extra prizes early on. And they

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:03

Giratina matchup is always just like Roxanne path and it's.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:07

that's true. Yeah, Yeah, I guess that's true. And their only like good way to deal with a Giratina of East Star is Roaring Moon and they have to like blow themselves up and then you could take three prizes with SAB Eye. Yeah. So maybe it's, yeah, maybe it's just fine. Maybe it's 50 50. But definitely Radiance Art is a bad matchup. So, I dunno, maybe radiant side's a decent play, but.

Track 1 25:32

Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:32

Yeah, I think chart it's like solid. It's just, it's, it's also just not very good. Like it's,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:41

It never feels good to play that

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:42

yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:43

you're just like, oh, okay.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:45

It, it's not as good as like, you know, the, the theoretical prize map would make it seem. You know

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:53

and it's, and it's another, it's like a loss zone deck that feels like,

Track 1 25:58

you're playing

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 25:59

playing a stage two deck, if that makes sense. Where you're where you're like, oh man, I didn't, Draw very well. I guess I just lose, like you can't do anything

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:10

Yeah, I'm right. I'm like terrifying, dude. It's

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:14

right.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:15

like, man, I have to have radiance art. I'll turn to, or I lose the game.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:22

Yeah.

Track 1 26:24

It's

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:24

Not, not my mirage, like your, like heavy mirage based loss zones also feels like really weird for your curve'cause you're like cramming on like turn three just

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:34

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1 26:35

Alright. Let me ask a, a slightly different question. Let's say you're not going to Portland because you can't afford to fly all the way to the Pacific Northwest, like so many people best of one at a cup this this coming weekend, what would you be playing? I.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:50

I don't even know.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 26:53

I'd either played Giratina or Gardy. I mean, those are the decks that I've been playing, but I also think they're Potentially the best, best of one decks because you know, they take,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:03

They have such

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:04

time.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:04

issues that are completely like removed and that it's so easy to play the deck. Well, you know.

Track 1 27:09

Yeah, yeah. I think, I think part of the question Yeah, like what, what's the argument against playing Guardian is probably the, the real question, right?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:15

Guardi is just like, it's stretched too thin. You can't, you can't beat everything. I think, and like all your matchups are like so competitive. I, I don't, I don't wanna play. Guardi is

Track 1 27:27

Although I feel like, I feel like in best of one guardian is the deck you by far had the most success with in 2023, right?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:34

I don't know. I can't remember.

Track 1 27:38

The answer is yes,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 27:40

yeah, I, I think I really, I really like Guardian best of one. Tina's also a really good, best of one for a lot of the same reasons. There was a cup here this past weekend where the top cup was seven char, or I think it was six char yards out of, out of the top eight. So Char Art I think is a pretty popular deck as well amongst cup goers because it's very powerful and it's not super difficult to play. So both Giratina and Gardy also have great

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 28:08

And regional with it.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 28:10

and is one regional with it. So it's gonna be popular. At Least until the, the next regional happens.

Track 1 28:17

How much would go to Azul? That, that, that, I think

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 28:23

So I, I was actually think thinking about this a bit over the holidays. I want to make almost like a tier list of players. Like not ranked within the tiers, but that kind of how I think about How I've been trying to think about players is, you know, so like Jason and Tort are obviously like the SSS tier. And then I personally, I think Azul is probably like number three right after them, and nobody's really at that level except Azul. I think Jason and Tort are still a step above him, but I think the, is in my mind, at least solidly number three. And then, you know, there's another tier below them that could include people like Ross and Igor and Priot and then kind of go down from

Track 1 29:07

Yeah, I, I was, I was gonna agree with you. I feel like on the one hand, obviously you can, you can't argue with like Israel's accomplishments and prams accomplishments, but, but Azul brings both like similar set of accomplishments. Maybe, maybe slightly better in terms of like other top placements without just like straight up measuring the dubs, but, but also like a broader, like, like, you know bring a Pokegear to the people kind of perspective, right? Like you know, I, I mean, I think one of the things people always said about Jason is great ambassador to, for the game, and as Azul has been an exemplary ambassador for the game.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 29:44

Yeah. Absolutely. Hey. Yeah, someone tweeted, he has as well as something like 24 top eights in the last like seven or eight years.

Track 1 29:52

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Azula is the, Azul is the example. I always point to E even more than toward, when you talk about like for all the randomness of Pokegear, like same guy keeps showing up again and again, you know?

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:02

yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:03

Yeah, I, I think this was like, as like third top eight in a row or something, right?

Track 1 30:06

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:07

Of regionals. Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:08

at a four maybe.

Track 1 30:09

Yeah, like, like Pokegear feels like incredibly arbitrary and capricious so much of the time when you're playing it. But like, you know, at the end of a 2001st tournament, Azul will be in top cut.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:19

right?

Track 1 30:20

So like that means something, right?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:23

Yeah.

Track 1 30:24

It it is it is incredible.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:26

yeah. And it is really cool, like you said, that he is such a ambassador for the game. Like his, his streams are, they get, he can be a little repetitive with the stuff that he says, but he's giving really good advice and you get to see a really good

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:44

mind of a.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:45

Right, exactly. And you, and you really do get that when he is not playing the meme decks, at least. But even when he is playing meme decks, he has like thought processes.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:54

Right

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 30:54

Yeah. And so I think it's a, it's one of the best resources for players to get better at the game. For sure.

Track 1 31:01

Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 31:02

AB.

Track 1 31:02

so speaking of which what's the most fun deck to play these days? I, I had, I had a, a 50-year-old pokey dad that I went to high school with, reach out to me and say that he and his son are getting into the game. And if so, if I had to play some games with them, I was trying to think about what deck I would want to play. Yeah. Yeah. That I think art is probably char art and probably Gardevoir are two are like, the two examples I think of, of like, like I remember, I mean, when Liam was first learning to play the game. Like the first like real game he ever played was his, like, I have these 50 cards and I've squished them together and they're a deck versus the lead, the gym leader who was playing Virgin and like

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 31:48

Mm-Hmm.

Track 1 31:49

turn two, she started g boosting us off the board and we were like, that's how top tier decks work. We need a top tier deck. I assume playing, playing guard aboard, Charizard. That that's, they're like, oh, there's a difference between like the things that I think are good ideas and decks that just obliterate you if you are not playing a great deck. Right. I dunno.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 32:15

Gardevoir. I agree that you would get that feeling from Gardevoir, but yeah, it's, it's so much harder to play. Charizard. Char art is a lot easier to

Track 1 32:24

Yeah. And

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 32:25

and you could still elicit that feeling,

Track 1 32:28

right, right.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 32:29

you're just like, oh, boom, boom.

Track 1 32:30

exactly. Exactly.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 32:32

I like, I it, yeah, I, I think Charles road's a really good deck for that. It like, both, I think has a pretty high skill cap and like that turn one sequencing. So like you can constantly improve with the deck. And then it, but it also makes like, you know gameplay pretty easy and like it's raw power and that you just, like, you basically just keep attacking and now announce and attack a return and like you're doing the deck, right. And it just like runs stuff off the board.

Track 1 32:55

right, right at the end of, at the end of three or four turns game's over, pretty much no matter what they did, right.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 33:00

I like, like when you set up, you can't really mess it up, whereas with Gardevoir it's like really quite easy to make the deck seem bad. I know I do it pretty often.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 33:11

So this actually is something else that I related to something else that I was thinking about recently is that I feel like it's a little bit hard to, a little bit harder than it used to be to teach newer people the game at a higher level. Because so many of the decks, the games are so short in terms of turns, but the, but they're long In, in terms of the number of turns, but they're long, like each turn is, can be quite long, right? So like Mew and Gardevoir for example, I mean take very long turns'cause there's lots of actions. Even something like moron can take very long turns, especially the first turn or two. And so like you play these four or five turn games,

Track 1 33:58

But

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 33:58

but you're doing so much. That you're, and you're not really interacting with your opponent quite as much'cause it's just like you doing stuff. Where the game used to be, the games would take about the same amount of time, but they would take 16 turns. And there was a lot more of like, a little bit of back and forth and you had more time to kind of think about how you were.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 34:20

Meant something, you know,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 34:22

Right,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 34:23

attackers. Now it's just like.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 34:25

right.

Track 1 34:26

Yeah. Well, and, and when we started playing, like with, you know, Virgin was like the deck, the only cards you were gonna draw were the cards you got off playing your supporter turn. So like, there was only so many cards you could see in a turn. There was no way to be like, you know, KAYO decks where you're just like, I'm gonna grind through 20 cards this year and here we go. Right.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 34:42

And I don't think it's like necessarily better or or worse for the game for that, but I do think it's harder for newer players to appreciate and like get used to that stuff because it's I dunno. It, I, I could imagine it seems very overwhelming to know that you have to do 12 actions every single turn in the right order

Track 1 35:04

in

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 35:05

in order to like have a chance. Like, and if you mess one thing up, like you, you just lose

Track 1 35:10

Yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 35:12

I, I think it also makes losses like more obscure too, because.

Track 1 35:15

a lot

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 35:15

A lot of losses come from like missed attacks, which, which can like, of course derive from like sequencing errors and stuff, but like, you know, lose it. Losing that like the number of games that are lost by just like, oh man, you know, missed the attack. And it's like 2, 2, 2. Trade is, is really, really large. It makes, makes the game seem a little worse.

Track 1 35:34

Right. Right. but that's a lot of it is like a lack of awareness of these, the like minor sequencing mistake you made in the middle of turn X, right?

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 35:42

Right, right, right, right. Yeah.

Track 1 35:44

result it makes it tricky. Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 35:46

Right. And it's like, yeah, it's harder to pinpoint Those mistakes when there's 10 things that happen on a turn rather than two things that happen on a turn and you can't tell your opponent or tell yourself like, oh, that turn, I didn't do that one out of two things. Correct. I messed up that one out of 12 things. Correct. On that single turn.

Track 1 36:11

Yeah. It, it is true. It's nice how Right now, kind of in the meta while, while the, the decks are all the, generally speaking across the board very fast and, you know, maybe VIP is to blame for some chunk of that. They have a lot of, like, there's a lot of different mechanics that drive the decks.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 36:27

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Track 1 36:29

Like, I mean, to some level, like when it was, when, when the triangle was like Evel Garb Virgin and like plasma, the Like if you knew how to play one deck, you kind of knew how to play'em all a little bit, you know? Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 36:43

Yeah. Well, I mean, everything in the same engine, right? It was like four like Sycamore

Track 1 36:46

right. You were, yeah. You were gonna play a sport every turn to draw all your cards, and that's, that's kinda how it went. Right. But, but now you, you feel at least like the, the decks have a more diverse play style. That's, so he was asking me how do I get lists for like, the good decks? And I was like, well, here's San Antonio tournament. But if you're learning how to play, don't play into the Snorlax decks. like it's critically important that you not play these three of the top 10 decks. That would be the wrong way to learn how to play Pokegear. And he was like, but Snorlax is my favorite Pokegear.'cause he is a 50-year-old dead. And I was like, doesn't matter. Does not matter buddy.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 37:19

That's funny. I think cloth is actually like a, a pretty good deck for people that are learning as well. Because it has something, well, you just talked about all the decks have different engines and cloth highlights something that no other deck does, which is special conditions. And it's like kind of straightforward. Liam, I know you got me in touch with that one. A dude from Australia that he was like trying to teach his dad

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 37:43

Oh, yeah. Yeah,

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 37:44

that.

Track 1 37:44

And

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 37:45

yeah, KLO seems, seems good for that too. And that's not like a ton of actions on any given

Track 1 37:49

Right, right.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 37:51

dude, I really like cloth man. I, I like the single prizes right now. I, I mean, I, I don't know if they're actually that good and like there aren't very many strong single prize attackers, but. You know, so single price seems like pretty good right now.'cause like Tina's terrible into it. Especially with one.

Track 1 38:08

Yeah. Yeah. The, the more, the more you feel like Roaring Moon and Giratina are just like gonna be out there a lot, the more you're like, this is a good thing I can do to people. Right.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 38:16

All right. Cloth for Charlotte. You heard it here

Track 1 38:18

Boom, boom. No, anything else we're talking about guys?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 38:24

Oh, do I, one thing that's kind of weird is like, you know, I've, I've been getting a lot of messages from people asking like, how to play Snorlax or whatever. And I think it's, it's partly because like there hasn't been like a good like lock deck or, or control deck in the meadow for like a while. So there's like a ton of people who are playing the game and like their only ever experience with like any form of control is like me two, which is just like a combo deck. And so like, you know, even, even though these are people who have like a lot of experience with the game, they've like never played a control deck before or something like they, they have like zero experience with control, which is like kind of weird as a, a trend I guess. But it also makes a little bit of sense to me and like context of the last few years.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 39:11

Do you have any quick, succinct advice then for, for how to play control? I know we had like the last episode was really far into it, but what have you told these people?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 39:23

Yeah, I tell'em all the same thing. Say first you get your rotem out, you get your, Pidgey it out, you tackle the X-ray, or you put storm wax active until they have no resources left. And you, and then you just like sit there until they deck out. But you know, people, people have a lot of questions about that. Like, I'm like, oh wow. So.

Track 1 39:42

So, so what, what what, what's an example of like the questions people have like.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 39:47

Let go look, bro. I don't know. Yeah, it was just like, oh man, it's, it just doesn't feel right when I do it. thAt's one person. What else? Oh yeah, man. That like, oh man, like Dunsparce worth it. And it's like, I, I don't know, bro. Like that's the same bro.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 40:08

I do think I, I have, I did play it a pretty decent amount over the last couple weeks as well. I'm not like amazing with it, but I do, I did find myself attacking with Luxray significantly more than passing with Snorlax.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 40:23

Yeah, no, it's a Luxray deck, bro. Through and through. It's like not even Sox deck at this point. Like the whole deck is you just, you, you actually just like attack with Luxray and the Snorlax is only there for Gardy and Czar. Then it also, it like pairs well with the Luxray in that it lets the Luxray look for switch effects and then make, like you just win the game if you hit enough.

Track 1 40:42

Right. It gives a, it kind of creates the wind condition, right?

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 40:46

Yeah, I mean it's, it's like a penny xray deck. That's really what it does, right? Yeah, man, people ask me like, what's the game plan versus Mariah on? It's like, eh, you just throw the snx active, see what happens. Like, kind of catch the like, I dunno, man, the game plan, bro. You just throw the Snorlax active, you do the same thing you do in every other matchup. See what happens, man.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:06

There you go. Control deck. Easy to play. Liam said

Track 1 41:09

Alright. Alright. You guys ready for a good wood? You'd rather Alright. I, I can't give you a good one, but I'll give you one anyway. Here's a different one. would you rather be able to, I feel like I know the answers to this. so I, I don't know. I'm I don't know how, I can't like write it down to show that I have proof, but we're just gonna imagine that, I think I know the answer that both of you'll give. But let's see. Would you rather be able to talk to animals or speak a foreign language or speak all foreign languages? Sorry, I, I threw that, I threw that, my god, I buried the lead

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:41

Of an

Track 1 41:42

all foreign languages or speak to animals.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:45

Yeah.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:46

It's still pretty close. I'd probably go with talking to animals.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:53

Yeah. That's like a, you know, you, that's like an what is it? You're, you're like irreplaceable at that point.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 41:59

Yeah,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 42:00

you know? Whereas like being a translator, even, even if it's for all languages, which is pretty, pretty busted, like, you know, you get enough like, like Pokegear, they, they get enough translators that where, where they can do it for all languages too, right? At world, or like, that's kind of the idea, But yeah, if you, you can do it to animals, man, like. Yeah, if there like a million scientists who would want to like, you know, get you in a room and just like talk to you all day long and see what

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 42:25

I think AI will also probably be able to, Translate real time, pretty much all human language within our lifetime for sure. I mean, it's, it's like pretty close to there, al already. So

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 42:40

that's back

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 42:40

I don't, I don't, I don't think technology's translating animal talk for us anytime soon.

Track 1 42:45

Okay. Okay. Let me, let me ask a different question. What have I told you this? This is the inverse of the my, my bad phrasing previously. talk to dogs or talk all, all human languages.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 42:57

Hmm. Just

Track 1 42:58

just dogs. I know you're both dog owners, so I'm like, I'm like, there's like utility there, but also it's a little more limited.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:06

human language at that point, because like, there's already so many people who feel like they can talk to their dog already, you know? sO yeah, I, I'd.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:15

I think I do human languages too. Maybe for a slightly different reason. I don't think dogs are That's smart. So I don't think talking to them would be extremely interesting. I think some of the other animals would be much more interesting to, to

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:31

Yeah. Yeah.

Track 1 43:34

How much does this say about your dog

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:36

You know, there's so many dogs too that have like, you know, you already know what they do all day. Like what would they tell you, man? Like, I know my dog just.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:43

Yeah.

Track 1 43:44

If, if, if gadget thought Liam understood what Gadget was saying, gadget would be like, I'm hungry all day long. Yo, I'm hungry. Yo, I'm hungry. Yo. I'm so hungry. Yo. Are you hungry? I'm totally hungry. So.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 43:59

exactly what my dog would do too.

Track 1 44:02

we should go for a walk. You know, what'd be great? Go for a walk like

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 44:06

Yeah. It's past 9:00 PM It's time to go to bed. Let's go. We're going to bed right now.

Track 1 44:12

You know, I, I, I was predicting animals and, and the dog when I, I wasn't sure about, but like, for me, I thought, I thought why you guys would say animals is like, there's a lot more animals. I like, I bump into a lot of animals on a daily basis. I don't bump into that many people that don't speak English like you. I could, it's interesting that Liam was like, I imagine I would put myself in situations where I would if I spoke all languages, which I guess is probably true, but me, I would love, like, I would be like you know spider, why are you in my house? Get, talk to all the other spiders. Get. I don't know if that would really work. Like I, you know, I mean, your, your point of like, like a lot of animals are not too smart. Like, I'd like to think like, it'd be a little bit like what was that Eddie Murphy movie? Mr. Doc. Dr. Doolittle. Yeah. Like that. If I could talk to them, I could be like, what are you doing? Stop doing that and get outta the house. And get your friends out too. And that would be like a reasonable thing we could do like and they would be like, well, I mean, since you asked politely, okay, well I'll leave And like, okay. Good times guys.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 45:17

Also actual real tip for Snorlax. I, I see way too many people do this. Yeah. By way too many people. I mean like I've had a few people screen share me their games and like at some point or another they basically all did. This is like when you're playing against Lost Giratina and you have a Snorlax in the active and it has a bravery charm and they hit it for one 60. Like if you, if counter catcher isn't activated yet, or you just don't have access to counter like. Or, or you don't have wrote em. Like so many people basically just keep penning the Snorlax and just like, they like penny pow pad penny and just like sit there doing nothing and they don't make like any progress. And then they're all out of pennies and they have like nothing.'cause the, you know, they've just been shred like eight times and then they run out of pennies and they eventually give up a prize, but they have like no resources left in their deck. And they're like, oh man, like what happened? How did I lose? But like. It's like, okay to give up a prize, like, yeah, man, that's another thing. That's another thing. So many people, so many people right now are so scared to, like, this is like especially clear when you play sax. They're so scared to miss an attack or miss a turn, like or, or, or like make any sort of concession. Like if you're not in a position to attack you, like it's okay to not play like four power tablets, so you can draw a few cards with mute to like go for an attack like. It's okay to miss an attack. Sometimes you know, like you, you don't, you don't have to like, just go for, go for everything, every single turn. And like, you know, sometimes you have to, but it's, it's important to just like, I I, I think this is something that like a lot of the best players do really, really well, is they know like exactly how much time they have left. And like, you know, they don't, they don't just assume it's go, go, go all the time. They know when they can like, take a turn off and not attack. Mm-Hmm.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 47:02

Makes sense.

Track 1 47:05

How much of that is just like, like prize mapping. Man, I guess for store, like it's not about prize mapping, although it's like recognizing that activated counter catcher is really, really good idea. Like,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 47:15

I mean, you kinda have to like map your opponent, right? You have to

Track 1 47:18

yeah.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 47:19

how, how helps you, your opponents.

Track 1 47:22

But

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 47:22

but no, like well, one play, I know I've already talked about this, but this was way back, this was with Reagan Resol was playing Lugia single strike against RCS, Umbrian Durin and on like turn two. the other guy just went RCS Power AB Dura and had an Umbrian V on the bench and a Dura. And Reagan had like double Archie Ops Serena in his hand and. Instead of going like, discard and then go for a kale on the Arceus, he just went, Serena the Umbrian V attach read the wind. And like, like, I guess he like recognized what was important was stopping Umbrian V Evolve. Dura Kao, the Che V that he had on the bench. Like stopping boss K or CV was like the number one thing to do. So we went just like Serena and hit, and like, I feel like so many players in that position would just like, like, oh boy, I have to go for like, you know, I, I, I just have to take prizes. That's the thing. And then they like, you know, they, they just go all in and go for the, like, stone joiner, K on the R Cs, but like, it's just like a T and you have to realize like, even if it's not great, just like passing the turn sometimes is better than trying to go all in for something. Hey you guys, you just gotta see what's important, man. Just the go, go, go is like, oh my God. It's terrible.

Track 1 48:41

Yeah. Hey, I recognize that that's the, that that feels like so much to the Pokegear meta right now. But you know, the more, the more the games are like,

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 48:47

I mean, you gotta,

Track 1 48:48

that. The better you are.

squadcaster-313h_1_01-01-2024_163403 48:49

you.

m_1_01-01-2024_163403 48:52

Cool.

Track 1 48:52

Good times, guys. Let's call it a pod. The John Pauls are our outro. We'll be back next week with a Portland wrap up and, and we'll be getting ready for Charlotte.