Lesson From the Top — Notes on How to Make Day 2

By: Blaine Hill · Posted Posted onApr 13, 2020 at 10:18 PM · 0 Comments

[cardimg name=”card name=”Typhlosion” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”110″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello and welcome back to PokeBeach! Today, my article is geared towards those who are seeking to earn their first Day 2 berth at a major championship alongside those looking to achieve a World Championship invitation. If you are reading this and have struggled with consistent placements and getting Championship Points, I’m sharing what I’ve learned over the past twelve years to improve as a player beyond the basics. 

I’ve been a competitive player since I was seven years old. My very first tournament was the 2008 World Championship Juniors Division Grinder where I used a linear [card name=”Blissey” set=”Mysterious Treasures” no=”5″ c=”name”][/card] deck. It focused on attaching Energy cards and attacking (not too different from today *cough cough* Pokemon Card Laboratory). Since there were so few Juniors playing at the time, I won enough of my matches to grind in, earning my first ever World Championship invitation. Fast forward to when I was ten, I won my first Regional Championship playing “Reshiflosion”, a simple deck featuring [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Black and White” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Typhlosion” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card]  Prime. Again, I remember why I had success–the deck had only one path to victory; namely, attacking with Reshiram over and over. Yet, I don’t think I was a good player as a Junior. As a Junior, I wasn’t sharp or resourceful when it came to playing Pokemon. I couldn’t weigh big decisions or make the best statistical move. In fact, this tunnel-vision mindset is what I believe holds back almost every competitive player from becoming a top player. Over time I learned more, getting me to where I am.

For the rest of this article, I’m going to go in-depth on what makes a good player into a great player. There are tons of coaches out there who will teach you how to sequence your plays, how to map out Prize cards, or even give tips on how to metagame. My approach, however, is to teach you from the top-down and make sure any PokeBeach subscriber understands why the correct play is correct. These are explanations behind high-level decision making, so make sure your feet are inside the ride at all times and your thinking cap is on.

How To Build A Deck

[premium]

Of course, the most important piece in making Day 2 is what deck you choose. Any top Pokemon player will tell you that consistency is key. In fact, if you’ve read any of my articles, I’ve included that phrase in all of them. It’s not just that “Riotous Beating” from a [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] is why the card has earned 8888 CP compared to the next highest card, [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM69″ c=”name”][/card], at 3671. It is the Ability “Trade”, which has been almost confirmed as the best Ability, Poke-Power, or Poke-Body ever. Being able to execute your strategy over and over is largely why top players see success–it’s a matter of repetition. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t outplay your opponent because of a dead hand with no ways to draw any more cards. 

So what is consistency? How does one make a deck sufficiently consistent? It’s not throwing in four copies of [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], or adding four [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card]. It’s not even combining those two. It’s a grey area that it all depends on the goal of the deck. Let’s take two examples of decks that have a whopping chasm in consistency levels: Tord Reklev’s first place [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] deck from Malmo Regionals and Cody Walinski’s second-place [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] deck from the 2016 World Championship. 

Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Zacian V

 

[decklist name=”Tord’s ADP / Zacian V” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”221″][pokemon amt=”13″]4x [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”221″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”37″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]8x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]2x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Greninja BREAK

[decklist name=”Cody’s Greninja BREAK” amt=”60″ caption=”undefined” cname=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″][pokemon amt=”18″]4x [card name=”Talonflame” set=”Steam Siege” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Greninja” set=”XY” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Frogadier” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”39″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Froakie” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Ace Trainer” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fisherman” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dive Ball” set=”Primal Clash” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Next Destinies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Dragon Vault” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]8x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]2x [card name=”Splash Energy” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The goal of Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V is to be quick and hit like a truck, using Altered Creation GX and ending the game with a couple of Knock Outs. Back in the day, the goal of a Greninja BREAK deck was to set up two Greninja BREAK on the board, sacrificing a couple of Prizes in the process, and eventually take out any threats the opponent had and wrapping up by using Greninja’s Shadow Stitching attack alongside [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ace Trainer” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] to limit the opponent from staging a comeback. The consistency level of these two decks are staggering: Tord’s deck tries to get the holy Altered Creation GX every single game while Cody’s deck has much more flexibility in the mid-to-late game but not many deck slots devoted to the early game. Furthermore, any Pokemon player who has played since Breakpoint knows of the infamous Greninja BREAK dead hands, so why did the deck see so much success if it wasn’t consistent? Here’s the magic formula: Each deck needs consistency cards geared towards the stages of the game it is designed to play. Let me explain:

It didn’t make sense to Tord to include [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] in his Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX deck; if his opponent has already taken four or five Prizes, then his Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX deck did not perform the way it was designed to. Instead, he opted for Basic Water Energy / [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] over the more popular [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tag Call” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Guzma and Hala” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”193″ c=”name”][/card] version because it worked better. He included Acro Bike, [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM161″ c=”name”][/card] because extra copies of these meant the odds were in his favor each game to use Altered Creation GX and attack. He didn’t need cards like [card name=”Lucky Egg” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Rosa” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”204″ c=”name”][/card] because they weren’t useful for his stage of the game. While it’s true that both Lucky Egg and Rosa both count as “consistency” cards, they weren’t valuable enough to be included over Acro Bike, Cherish Ball, or anything else since the game was over quickly.

[cardimg name=”Talonflame” set=”Steam Siege” no=”96″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Cody included [card name=”Talonflame” set=”Steam Siege” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], a high-risk/high-reward card that can guarantee a Turn 2 use of Water Duplicates from [card name=”Frogadier” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card] each game if Talonflame is opened. This inclusion helped Cody make the early game much more smooth: Greninja BREAK struggled with setting up; therefore Cody included Talonflame. Yet, many times on stream, Cody found himself without a Supporter or way to evolve more Pokemon. So, was Cody’s deck consistent enough? This leads me to my next point: the amount of non-consistency cards required by a deck to operate can be too much to make that deck viable. To give another example, take a [card name=”Charizard” set=”Team Up” no=”14″ c=”from”][/card] deck. In order to be anywhere close to consistent, one has to run a full line of [card name=”Charmander” set=”Team Up” no=”12″ c=”from”][/card], [card name=”Charmeleon” set=”Team Up” no=”13″ c=”from”][/card], and Charizard, a line of Jirachi and [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”from”][/card], probably some [card name=”Professor Oak’s Setup” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”201″ c=”from”][/card], a ton of Fire Energy, and other such cards. The fact is: 60 cards is not enough to make Charizard consistent. So why did Cody perform so well? How was Greninja BREAK strong enough to win big tournaments and Charizard not? Greninja was such high-reward that it made the high-risk worth it. The deck’s potential for comeback and ability to beat every meta deck at Worlds 2016 allowed the Greninja BREAK player to hopefully topdeck out of dead hands. The deadly combination of being able to take out threats via Giant Water Shuriken while locking the opponent from cards with N paired with Ability lock from Shadow Stitching meant that, even though Cody’s deck is less consistent than others, it still wins games by the inherent power of the deck. In addition, the Greninja BREAK deck was boosted at Worlds and Regionals by being a better at best-of-three match deck than a best of one, allowing for one dead hand per match. 

Finally, the last topic of consistency: coin flips. Are coin flips consistent? Are coin flip cards worth including in a deck? There’s no clear answer to this one. Looking back to 2015 when [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] ruled the format, there were tons of coin flips, mostly for [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”from”][/card]. Yet, players chose to include cards like [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] in their Seismitoad-EX decks. This is because the reward of being able to pick up a damaged Seismitoad-EX or remove Energy cards was so strong for the format that it overpowered the times when Super Scoop Up or Crushing Hammer were useless. When deciding to include coin flip cards, the benefit of getting the effect 50% of the time must outweigh the cost of inclusion. It’s a statistical decision.

So when it comes to making a deck, start with consistency and go through each inclusion. If a copy of a card provides more value inside your deck than outside, leave it in.

How to Tech

Consistency is not the only thing that can make a deck better; knowing when and how to tech is a big part of taking a deck to the next level. The purpose of a tech is to improve the odds of beating a bad matchup. Within this, there are two routes: one can “hard tech” for a very specific deck or one can “soft tech” to help with many bad matchups. The best techs to include are when a tech can be both. My favorite example of this is my Top 4 deck from Dallas Regionals 2019 where I used [card name=”Sigilyph-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] in my [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] deck. In my testing, I found that I was losing to Archie’s [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] almost all the time since they could use [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] and Deluge many Energy cards before I even got a turn to evolve into Garbodor. While perusing the Interwebs, I came across Sigilyph-GX with its Mirror Counter Ability. I realized that this card could help me Knock Out a big [card name=”Magikarp and Wailord-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM166″ c=”name”][/card], since Intercept GX could take it out in one hit, or if the opponent attacked my Sigilyph-GX first, I could clean up the Magikarp and Wailord-GX with a [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]’s Energy Drive. The extra huge bonus (and reason why I included two copies) came when I realized the card could be used against almost everything else as well. Forcing the opponent to choose between not using Abilities for a turn from Garbotoxin or receiving damage from Mirror Counter put me in an amazing spot almost every game. Sigilyph-GX was a juggernaut card, helping me win almost the whole tournament.

First, use your testing experience to determine if a tech is necessary for a matchup and whether the tech helps with said matchup. Second, decide whether the matchup in question is popular enough to warrant a tech. If it is, decide whether your deck is able to accommodate the tech easily: are multiple slots necessary or only one? Multiple slots indicate your deck will take a hit in consistency, hence a more “splashable” tech is usually better. Finally, determine whether the tech can be used in different situations and give more weight to the techs that are versatile. Weighing these three things will make your deck much better.

Preparing for a Tournament 

Looking at Past Results or Into a Blind Format

In order to prepare for a major tournament and choose a deck, I find myself working tirelessly to see what the meta will be. Online videos, articles, and other content are extremely useful, but one has to take everything with a grain of salt. These resources often can give you a good sense of what decks will show up, but not a good sense of the quantity of each. Because it is almost impossible to beat every single meta deck, a top player will try to hedge the bad matchups by choosing a deck that beats the popular decks and accepting the loss to bad matchups. This is part of the reason I say the pairings software TOM is the most important part of choosing a deck. Being able to use online resources to educate yourself as much as you can to guess the popularity of decks is something I don’t see many players doing properly. 

Something I’ve heard top players do (that I haven’t gotten around to personally) is make Excel spreadsheets on all popular matchups. This is an easy and analytical way to objectively look at a format and choose a deck. First, you have to put in the work of testing to get a feel for all the matchups to plug into the spreadsheet.

For a blind format (a format with a new set or rotation when no other tournaments have been played), the preparation is a lot tougher. There is no way to get a good feel for what decks will show up and what decks will flop. The only surefire way to be ready is to test against every single possible deck and prepare for the decks that are strongest. In general, players tend to stick with archetypes they know well, which usually helps give me a place to start in testing. Again, online resources that push out a ton of content before blind formats like PokeBeach, also give me a sense of what is incoming. 

Theory-mon

Whenever I’m bored in class, you’ll catch me “theorymoning”. This is mulling over the current meta and thinking about what decks could be good, what decks lose to other decks, etc. It is the rough draft of preparation for when one actually sits down to test and gives you a starting place to do so. A lot of the time, I’ll watch past streams of Regionals and see why certain decks failed to make Top 8, weren’t consistent enough, or why the player piloting a deck misplayed. Speaking of rewatching streams, this is a huge part of preparing for a tournament as well as theorymoning. Watching high-level players play from past tournaments is equivalent to NFL players watching film. Instead of looking for holes in an offensive line, you are looking for holes in strategies. (And thus ways to plug the holes in those strategies if necessary via techs.) If you can find a spot that you can point to and say, “the game was won/lost here,” then you are getting better at understanding board position, not just the Prize count.

This is also where thinking about styles of decks comes in handy. If a Stall deck had just won a big tournament, perhaps other players will copy it, making that Aggro deck you prefer a better pick. Being able to theorymon more broadly in terms of how each deck operates will help you make connections and find that “aha moment” when you realize which deck is the best. If you are a beginning player aiming for that Worlds podium, start to get in the habit of thinking about Pokemon matchups before you sit down to test and you’ll see the results in the next League Cup you attend. 

Testing

Testing is the biggest part of reaching Day 2. The purpose of testing is to understand all the strategies you’ll come across in tournament play and how to approach them with your deck. If you don’t test with a purpose in mind, there won’t be any improvement and likely give false confidence. While there are some top players that can pick up a deck the night before and play it flawlessly, I and most of the people reading this can’t say the same. So, like all things in life, practice makes perfect. Yet, perfect practice makes perfection. Here are some of my tips on testing:

  • Learn from every game
  • Allow take-backs
  • Practice with likeminded people
  • Don’t fixate on one deck

Learn From Each Game

[cardimg name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”198″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This is the most important section by far. I promise, if someone can objectively look at how they practice playing Pokemon and improve there, it will show in tournaments. Learning from every game is how the top players stay on top. It’s not that they are inherently geniuses or always come up with a secret deck, but their desire to be the best and outwork the rest of the competition. 

In the first item, I say to learn from every game. Ask yourself, “Why did I play that card?” If you can’t answer this, then you’ve made a misplay. Other questions I tend to analyze are, “Does my deck beat the matchups it’s supposed to? How long do games take with my deck? Is there room to outplay my opponent?” I usually go back to the drawing board after I find that my Fire deck doesn’t actually beat that Grass deck or that my control deck can’t finish a game in 30 minutes. I also value playing a deck that has a lot of versatility rather than a linear deck. Being able to make unusual plays or take different win conditions means that I can try to get inside my opponent’s head and cause them to misplay. (Think [card name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]; being able to mill cards with Burning Magma GX causes your opponent to constantly worry about how many cards are in their deck towards the end of the game.) Yet, a different benefit of a linear deck is that anyone can pick it up and play it without much problem. This is why I recommend Turbo decks or hard-hitting decks; they are simple and easy to learn.

Allow Take-Backs

The second item of the list is almost as important as the first. Allow take-backs while testing. It will improve the quality of your testing when you realize what you could have done better and actually go down that branch. Otherwise, you might get a skewed idea of a matchup spread. A topic to note: I do take Mulligans when testing as a way to help simulate tournament action. If I was to test against a mulligan-prone deck and not take mulligans and believe I had a bad matchup to it, I might include an unnecessary tech that could have been used for more consistency. There is merit to ignoring mulligans though; if your deck beats others without mulligans, then your consistency slots are tried and true since you now know you don’t need extra cards to beat them. 

Practice With Like-minded Friends

The third item of the list is something I see far too often: a casual player practicing with a competitive player. Take for instance me and fellow PokeBeach writer Grant Manley. We actually live quite close to each other geographically and test together often. I’ve never been a good testing partner since it takes me a bit of time to get a feel for any meta deck Grant wanted to test against. The time that Grant lost testing with me, even though it was of huge benefit to me, didn’t help Grant that much. (I tend to make it up by beating him in ping-pong.) The moral of the story is that if I didn’t play Pokemon competitively myself, nobody would have gotten anything out of that testing session until I figured out how to play my deck properly. So, when testing, try to find a friend that shares a similar TCG goal as you, such as reaching Worlds or making Day 2. Otherwise, you might be practicing against a skill level that you won’t face Rounds 1-9, let alone 10-15.

Don’t Focus on a Single Deck

Finally, don’t hurt yourself as a player by focusing on only one deck. Be able to play both sides of a matchup; understanding how a deck is designed will make it much easier to spot win and loss conditions. If your deck struggles against a matchup, switch decks with a partner and see exactly how the matchup works. Does the raw power of your opponent’s deck overcome yours? Is it the consistency of your deck? Are there not enough copies of a card? These are more questions to consider when testing. 

For a blind format, this tip is much more valuable. If everyone going into a tournament has no clue how to play against specific decks, you’ll be prepared if you understand both sides of matchups. 

This tip also makes any player much better through learning how to play different styles of decks. As we’ve seen, there has been a downfall in control decks in Standard (so far), meaning that if you are a “control player” only, this current Standard format will hurt your chances of taking a Regional win. Learning to play many different styles and strategies is not only fun but will prepare you for the future.

Using the Clock in a Tournament Setting

Time management is such a big part of the Pokemon TCG, and being able to scoop at the right moment in a best-of-three setting takes both experience and a watch. Since a tie in Pokemon is nearly worth a loss, being able to scoop a Game 1 or Game 2 at the right moment leaves time for you to get a Game 3 victory. To concede at the right time, I tend to look at the board and the resources spent on both sides to help me decide whether I can win or lose this particular game. On the other side, knowing when to draw out a game (legally) is nearly as important. If I’m in the lead against a bad matchup, I will play the game out to its full conclusion, making sure not to unfairly take extra time while doing so. This method also goes for when a tie is necessary rather than a win. Instead of conceding a game early, I’ll accept the fact that I will lose and continue playing. A great player I recommend all Pokemon fans watch is Jason Klaczynski, who utilized the clock and the rules of Sudden Death to make an improbable comeback in his 2015 Nationals run. 

How to Manage Resources

The last piece of information for a strong tournament performance is knowing how to manage resources. I see newer players often play or use cards unnecessarily that could be preserved for later turns. Again, if you can’t answer the question “Why did I play that card right now rather than later” then it probably wasn’t the best choice. Resource Management is not only the name of [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]’s attack; it means finding alternate plays where pitching important cards can be avoided, while still keeping you in the game. Here, sequencing is important and a topic saved for another article. The gist of it is to play your cards in the optimal order and without waste. Sometimes, bad resource management can be attributed to the deck itself. A good example is a [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] deck, where the Stormy Winds Ability discards tons of cards, preventing even the best player from having access to certain ones. In order to manage resources better, try to weigh when keeping these cards is more valuable than pitching them. In certain situations, it is absolutely necessary to keep up in a Prize race, keep tempo, etc. My example of this: At 2017 Worlds in Round 2, Ross Cawthon played a [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] deck against Takuya Yoneda’s [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] deck. In Game 2, Ross had the choice of discarding two [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] in order to try to get more cards to Knock Out Takuya’s active Ho-Oh-GX. However, Ross realized that if he did that, he would have been out of Sky Field for the rest of the game, leaving his strategy of using Emerald Break vulnerable. Eventually, Ross decided to pitch the two Sky Field in order to try to Knock Out a Ho-Oh-GX with four Fire Energy attached. Unfortunately, Takuya ended up running a Roadblock [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] that crippled any chances of a comeback for Ross. The key takeaway is to understand Ross’s decision of holding onto the two Sky Field and hoping for an [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] from his opponent to preserve an important resource, and when it did not come, also understanding his decision to pitch the Sky Fields in hopes of taking control of the game.

Conclusion

The last tip to finish off this article: double-check everything to reduce misplays. Most misplays could be avoided if a player takes his or her time to ensure that he is actually making the right play. Top players often take that extra couple seconds to look at their hand, discard, or opponent’s discard to make sure their plan of attack still works. One silly mistake can cost anybody a tournament run. 

So there you have it: everything I’ve learned so far. When it comes to improving as a player, the majority of the hurdle is in the amount of work put in. No matter how many articles you read or streams you watch, sometimes it takes a little bit of elbow grease to make that coveted Day 2 spot.

–Blaine

[/premium]