It's actually disgusting how many cards Ogerpon decks can draw with even a single Energy card, the snowball it can have is ridiculous... I definitely would include Teal Mask Ogerpon in this video if I did it again!
@@deificatom3332 bro I believe it. My other favorite is when you take out the Fez to avoid the draw 3 and they recover it with night stretcher and fulfill the above lmao
Bro dropped another banger. I love these types of videos, just hearing your informed opinions on the state of the game is very insightful considering I’m still new to the pokemon tcg
I'm glad you enjoyed it, mate! I'm glad that my channel is able to provide you with insight and info as you start your PTCG journey! I definitely will be making more videos like this in the future! 😁
Thank you for bringing this up. I've noticed this alot lately. Even when you Iono players to 1 or 2 cards they draw out of it and attack. It feels like you have to knock out fez, bump the PokeStop AND iono to disrupt decks. All in one turn.
It's ridiculous how much certain decks like Raging Bolt, Regidrago, and even Charizard and Terapagos can dig into their deck after a KO, even without Fez. Trying to stop your opponent from drawing 3 from Fez sacrifices your chances at KOing attackers and bigger support engines, which is just unhealthy game design
There is a reason I love watching Pikiptcg. The quality of content, and the constant masterpieces. Thanks so much Pikiptcg, and I love to see your vids!
Thank you so much for the kind words, my friend! I've been doing my best to keep making quality content consistently, and I'm so glad to know that you're enjoying them! Much love, mate! 😁💚
Pidgeot EX I think is the actual problem here. I feel like stage 2s should be powerful & game defining, based on the work you have to put in for them, but being able to tutor anyone card once per turn accelerates every other issue. The fact that it’s used with Candy props up the difficulty/inconsistency that comes with Dusknoir, which was mentioned in your last video. A free retreat means along with the tutor, it’s the perfect card to turn situations around with. In fact, it warps hand control so much there is actually just a deck AROUND Pidgeot that attacks those resources. Fez is definitely strong too, but it’s still a chance & a basic 2-prize that can be nabbed. Pidgeot EX is the patient zero of these problems & I’d like to see something done about it (that doesn’t get included IN Pidgeot EX lists)
Fezandipiti is the more "universal" card that basically every deck uses now, but I definitely agree that Pidgeot is most likely the main issue here. Effectively nullifying hand disruption, free retreat, and how stupidly easy it is to set it up all make it ridiculously OP in the current meta. I think a Path reprint is almost necessary for the health of this format at this point, because it requires games for both players to slow downand give more oppressed decks a chance to thrive.
Wow yesterday a UA-camr from Brazil posted a video with this exact same topic, it seens creatures really messed up with the game if so many players are complaining about it
Oh, wow! I didn't know that!! I actually saw quite a few people talking about this topic on Twitter a bit before writing this reply, so it's definitely a pressing issue... I feel like Creatures needs to spend more time in the kitchen and properly playtesting/balancing these cards instead of just pumping out more and more of the most broken and unfair cards ever conceived
I hope they can somehow "fix" the game the game is so unenjoyable to me that the point has come i only open the TCG Live to make the daily missions and that's it for the day
Like I get what you're saying about hand disruption being in a worse spot and while frustrating for long term competitive players, I think it's good for the game broadly speaking. As TCG play continues to grow and more casual focused games flood the market Lorcana, MTG's Commander, etc, Pokemon wants to see growth in the playerbase too. A way to retain that more casual crowd is to incentivise proactive play and disincentivise disruption. Nerfing frustrating elements like hand disruption is likely an intentional deaign choice. People have endlessly complained about getting N'd to 2 or Marnie'd, generally those players skew more casual. Is the game healthier or any less frustrating right now? No. But with the way Pokemon formats shake out, we tend to need some time for paradigm shifts to take hold. My guess is we will have a more "feels good" solitare-focused format at some point during the Trainer's Pokemon block.
You summed up this situation perfectly! I totally agree with you, getting disrupted into an unplayable situation is super frustrating and it feels super unfair. But like you said, incentivizing proactive play to keep players and casuals alike engaged is incredibly important. It's like a giant game of chess, Creatures has made so many broken and power crept cards, and now they have to try navigating through each and every interaction in order to keep the game's "feel good" mentality. I'm looking forward to seeing what Trainer's Pokémon bring to the table, it might be a breath of fresh air for the game, which we desperately need right now!
“This stupid bird has single-handedly ruined the whole concept of hand disruption” and that is why I love Fezandipiti EX and as a Roaring Moon EX player throw in a Sadas Vitality and that +6 draw is just ugh 🤤
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the thumbnail (the process of making them is super tedious 😅), I really enjoy putting them together and I'll definitely be making more drawn ones in the future! Thank you for watching, mate! I really appreciate your support! 😁💚
I’m hoping to make a disruption based deck with the Sylveon ex and Rotom from Surging Sparks. Using Sylveon to make your opponent shuffle 2 benched Pokemon and all attached cards into their deck and using Rotom to make them discard all tools and items in their hand could be a lot of fun.
Rotation is definitely going to shake things up, but I think only time will tell if it will be good or bad for hand disruption and everything else (I'm sure it'll be good, but we'll have to see!) 🤔
Genuinely this games going down such a bad route atm, i’m not really even in the mood to go to locals and things like that due to the recent decisions with cards being printed etc. This game is probably at the same state it was peak ADP era, just not fun, that’s really it. I’ve played since Black and White base and have not had less fun with a format probably ever, aside from ADP. Tied with worst time to play atm.
It really sucks to see the game enter yet another downward spiral. You'd think that Creatures would've learned their lesson after the ADP and Rainbow Lugia apocalypses, but it's completely clear that they haven't. I totally understand wanting to take a break at this point in time. Hopefully, the meta mellows out soon and you can get back to playing a format you can enjoy again
And now get this: I've been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! actively for about 15 years since it came out and just switched half a year ago to Pokémon. Best decision I could've make. Even the current meta feels so good compared to YGO's current state... But i understand the problem. I started a few weeks before the current rotation (with a shitload of PAF ETBs) and the power level ramped up pretty fast after rotation.
I understand if its a deck that just draws a ton of cards (my main deck, tinkaton) that gets past hand disruption, but raging bolt getting 17 cards after being iono'd to 1 card like its a typical Tuesday afternoon is just stupid
Bolt is 110% the worst offender of counter hand disruption. It's both impressive and disgusting to see them draw out of literally any and every scenario...
I find it funny that unfair stamp is just Roxanne and not reset stamp also the unfair stamp is slowly falling off. Also I think path to the peak should come back to slow down the 2 prize decks .
As a Miraidon player I kinda like a fast meta. But with Dusknoir, hard matchups like Zard and Dragapult went from hard to almost IMPOSSIBLE. Those things are nearly unbeatable its like 90/10. Dragapult can cook a miraidon in 1 turn and then get 6 prizes😭
Dusknoir combined with insane hand disruption AND ridiculous counterplay from Zard and Pult are just disgusting. I love playing Miraidon from time to time, but every time I get cooked by a Zard, I just revert back to either Zard or Terapagos... It's awful to see that Dusknoir has warper the meta this badly...
Honestly not to upset about it, for me hand disruption gives more anger than joy. For example, getting your hand disrupted sucks way more than disrupting your opponent.
I wanna start playing the pokemon tcg. I have an omanyte deck and its a BEAST. I replaced water energies with wash water energies (they make my pokemon immune to effects)
I'm super glad to hear about your success so far, mate! Wash Water is one of the best Special Energies from the modern era, I played a lot of decks with it back in the day! Keep up the great work!
Congrats on your tournament win!!! I always love seeing single prize decks succeed, esecially Festival Lead (it's become one of my favorites recently!) Keep up the great work!! 💯
I remember getting unfair stamped into rare candy dusknoir when I had 3 prize cards left 😂 I used Dusknoir's ability on my opponent's radiant Greninja, and the prize card I got was boss 😂 They literally gave me the win at this point 🤣
That's always one of the funniest things that seems to happen to me when my opponent tries to shut me down... Finding Boss off of your single Prize card for game is actually the funniest thing I've seen today lmao
Decks just be built airtight to counteract this. Tho, counterpoint, unfair stamp followed by Arbok ex menacing fangs. They can't resist hand disruption IF THEY HAVE NO HAND!
You prolly could. I made a listing which uses darkria vs tar to loop either dark patch or unfair stamp. You could also add a pecharunts ex and a binding Kochi to increase from 150 to 190. Then add all the poison buffers like rad sneesler and perilous jungle for 50 poison damage if you get there active poisened.
That seems to be one of the best strategies, I saw it happen a lot on stream during Louisville Regionals! The only issue is that you could have to sacrifice KOing an attacker or something like Pidgeot ex in order to KO Fez, which isn't always great. Still a super great counterplay in the right scenarios!
What will happen according to the vids vibe: Opp draws night stretcher, gets fez back, then snowballs into a win from there :P But yeah, if i had to pinpoint which mons annoy me the most currently: Grass Ogerpon ex, Fez & Dusk. (Even though - since i am playing moon turbo atm - the first two are really sweet calamity storm targets :D) And to be clear: Ogerpon in vacuum would be kinda fine i guess, but in combination with the mons it enables, it's annoyingly good.
To be honest 8/10 games that i resolve an unfair stamp, on a good spot, i win, completely threw most decks out of the way, but still conteplating between if it helps me more to use the Ace-Spec Catcher or Unfair Stamp 🤣🤣😅
Unfair Stamp can be super... well... unfair most of the time! But I totally agree with you that the big "Prime Catcher vs Unfair Stamp" debate is still a difficult decision anytime 😅
What frustrates me in pokemon tcg is that 1% of the cards are actually playable. The rest is just crap and is only for collecting, at best. I come from magic and don't get me wrong, there are a lot of junk there also, but, as the game is more complex, there are much more use for cards than the only 1% in pokemon
I agree completely! Everyone just wants to play big, dumb "beat stick" cards with big HP, bigger attacks, and it's not fair to so many interesting cards that just end up in either binders or the bulk bin
Honestly, as much as it would suck, I think we need a Path to the Peak reprint. Being able to shut down Fezandipiti, Pidgeot, Charizard, and Teal Mask Ogerpon feels like a necessary evil in this point in time, to help slow the game down. I also think that a more effective counter to Dusknoir (rather than just Enamorus V and that new Gastrodon) could help mediate the format back into healthy shape!
@@pikiptcg There is a way to shut down all of those cards. Its called Iron Thorns Ex. Ever hear of it? Please don't ask for Path to the Peak reprint. Iron Thorns Ex perfectly subs in for it.
Unfair Stamp is SO good when it actually sticks. It's definitely still one of the Best ACE SPECs for sure! Just make sure your opponent doesn't have any birds on their Bench and you'll be cruising to victory! Keep up the success, mate!
No, I think it's a really unhealthy card for this format. It speeds games up so quickly and can easily board wipe opponents with ease. It's not fun when literally every matchup is a Dusknoir mirror...
Salazzle falls into a lot of the same pitfalls as cards like Arbok ex, where your opponent can have control over what they discard. Of course, combining it with Roxanne or Unfair Stamp can be incredibly powerful, it's also really tough to keep consistently using Salazzle for max effect. I think it's a really neat card, but I don't see it having really any sort of major impact, unfortunately.
@@breadaholic6445 almost every single favored deck uses Ogerpon. Its energy acceleration, draw power, and an attacker. It’s not only overpowered on its own, but it’s also created the turbo monster that is Raging Bolt, a Chien Pao with no downside.
@@enhidri160 i disagree, i think it’s simply just a strong card, that allows 2 decks specifically to be meta, but i don’t think that makes it a mistake like fezandipiti, kyurem, and dusknoir
@@breadaholic6445 I guess i just have a bias against Raging Bolt. I hate that deck.. but yeah, fezanskibidi was def a mistake. I keep seeing things about how Dusknoir is bad, can you elaborate on that please?
Ogerpon is sign of good well designed card. Yeah it does make raging bolt stupidly overkill. But that draw 1 is not that almighty. And for an attacker its only good to counter attack charizard. It cant even kill rad zard properly in late game.
Bruh there are so many good decks in the format. You can also do the same with your deck lmao why complain iono should not be a free win condition. Just kill the fez or whatever they are gonna use to draw and then Iono and take what happens next like a champ
The problem with going after Fez and then Iono/Unfair Stamping your opponent is that you're most likely still leaving their attacker untouched, allowing them to just hit through the disruption with brute force (33:04). Against Regidrago, the strategy works super well! But against things like Bolt, Terapagos, Charizard, and Dragapult, they most likely will just get whatever they want (via turbo draw or Pidgeot) anyways. I don't think Iono should be a free wincon (trust me, I've lost so many top cuts in tournaments to an Iono and would rather not have it ruin the entire game), but I simply just wanted to talk about how much pressure having a Fez out on your board can have.
I qualified for 5 worlds back in 2014-2018 (one year getting an automatic day 2 worlds invite in masters) and quit the game because of Zoroark GX’s dominance. N was always my favorite card to play with and say what you will about those formats, but I was really able to carve my success through that card, both timing my N correctly and playing around N well. Zoroark GX introduced a level of on-board draw power that really hampered the ability of hand disruption, deriving the game of a lot of the skill expression hand disruption brought. Cards like Octillery and Oranguru existed prior, but were not as inherently powerful and spammable as Zoroark GX. Great players could exploit engine tools to come back from unwinnable scenarios. Not the case when your draw engine is your attacker. I don’t play anymore, but I just came in to say this isnt the first time the TCG hand disruption has sucked. People laud Zoroark GX formats with high regard, but the game with the curbed power of hand disruption was undeniably different and prioritizes different skills. I sit firmly in the camp that powerful hand disruption is good for the game and directly rewards advanced knowledge of board states.
I'd first like to thank you for taking the time to tell your story, and to congratulate you on your massive accomplishments! It's an honor to have the pleasure of having a 5-time Worlds qualifier see my video! I started learning how to play the game competitively right around the Zoroark GX era, and I never understood why it was so good during the time it was legal. Looking back on it now, I can see how stupidly OP this card was, Zoroark effectively became both the attacker and support engine on its own, practically immune to any sort of hand disruption (and subsequent innovation) as you said. Even in more recent years, we've had plenty of meta decks find easy outs to hand disruption (ex. Genesect V in Mew VMAX, Kirlia in Gardevoir ex, etc.), even though disruption has gotten more overpowered effects now. And I totally agree with you that forcing your opponent to find a clever winning combo after disruption is a rewarding (and a tad bit frustrating) experience for both players. It's a real shame that new cards are being pumped out over and over again that just make disruption a shell of its former self. Power creep has done quite a bit of irreversible damage to this game. It's tough to hear about how your experience with the Pokémon TCG ended, but honestly, you chose the perfect time to hop off the train (the ADP GX apocalypse and TAG TEAMs only made things worse...). While it's incredibly unlikely, maybe one day the Pokemon TCG will "mellow out" and allow for less "braindead beat stick" gameplay and return to a more skill and planning -focused game. Wishing you the best in whatever endeavors you decide to pursue next, my friend! Thank you for stopping by!
I love Iono-ing Raging Bolt to 1 and they still draw 15 cards with Fez-Pokestop-Earthen Vessel-Energy Retrieval-Teal Mask-Sada and lose game.
It's actually disgusting how many cards Ogerpon decks can draw with even a single Energy card, the snowball it can have is ridiculous... I definitely would include Teal Mask Ogerpon in this video if I did it again!
Thats what happened to me once lol he top decked retrieval you hatw to see it
@@deificatom3332 bro I believe it. My other favorite is when you take out the Fez to avoid the draw 3 and they recover it with night stretcher and fulfill the above lmao
@@FulgoreMKII night stretcher s teir lmao
Pokemon watching this video: "aight time to reprint super energy removal"
Zard and Raging Bolt would have a FIELD DAY with that card omg lol
Bro dropped another banger. I love these types of videos, just hearing your informed opinions on the state of the game is very insightful considering I’m still new to the pokemon tcg
I'm glad you enjoyed it, mate! I'm glad that my channel is able to provide you with insight and info as you start your PTCG journey! I definitely will be making more videos like this in the future! 😁
Thank you for bringing this up. I've noticed this alot lately. Even when you Iono players to 1 or 2 cards they draw out of it and attack.
It feels like you have to knock out fez, bump the PokeStop AND iono to disrupt decks. All in one turn.
It's ridiculous how much certain decks like Raging Bolt, Regidrago, and even Charizard and Terapagos can dig into their deck after a KO, even without Fez. Trying to stop your opponent from drawing 3 from Fez sacrifices your chances at KOing attackers and bigger support engines, which is just unhealthy game design
There is a reason I love watching Pikiptcg. The quality of content, and the constant masterpieces. Thanks so much Pikiptcg, and I love to see your vids!
Thank you so much for the kind words, my friend! I've been doing my best to keep making quality content consistently, and I'm so glad to know that you're enjoying them! Much love, mate! 😁💚
Pidgeot EX I think is the actual problem here.
I feel like stage 2s should be powerful & game defining, based on the work you have to put in for them, but being able to tutor anyone card once per turn accelerates every other issue. The fact that it’s used with Candy props up the difficulty/inconsistency that comes with Dusknoir, which was mentioned in your last video. A free retreat means along with the tutor, it’s the perfect card to turn situations around with. In fact, it warps hand control so much there is actually just a deck AROUND Pidgeot that attacks those resources.
Fez is definitely strong too, but it’s still a chance & a basic 2-prize that can be nabbed. Pidgeot EX is the patient zero of these problems & I’d like to see something done about it (that doesn’t get included IN Pidgeot EX lists)
Pidgeot is what makes decks so consistent. The Pokemon is broken and I tech in a card in most decks just to shut it down.
Fezandipiti is the more "universal" card that basically every deck uses now, but I definitely agree that Pidgeot is most likely the main issue here. Effectively nullifying hand disruption, free retreat, and how stupidly easy it is to set it up all make it ridiculously OP in the current meta. I think a Path reprint is almost necessary for the health of this format at this point, because it requires games for both players to slow downand give more oppressed decks a chance to thrive.
@@pikiptcg even with a path reprint, it clears stadiums 😅
Wow yesterday a UA-camr from Brazil posted a video with this exact same topic, it seens creatures really messed up with the game if so many players are complaining about it
Qual UA-camr, man?
Se eu não me engano foi o último video do PokeRadar
Oh, wow! I didn't know that!! I actually saw quite a few people talking about this topic on Twitter a bit before writing this reply, so it's definitely a pressing issue... I feel like Creatures needs to spend more time in the kitchen and properly playtesting/balancing these cards instead of just pumping out more and more of the most broken and unfair cards ever conceived
I hope they can somehow "fix" the game the game is so unenjoyable to me that the point has come i only open the TCG Live to make the daily missions and that's it for the day
Sometimes even pokemon pocket has more turns in a battle than live that's somehow crazy considering that's only a 20 card deck hahaha
Like I get what you're saying about hand disruption being in a worse spot and while frustrating for long term competitive players, I think it's good for the game broadly speaking.
As TCG play continues to grow and more casual focused games flood the market Lorcana, MTG's Commander, etc, Pokemon wants to see growth in the playerbase too. A way to retain that more casual crowd is to incentivise proactive play and disincentivise disruption.
Nerfing frustrating elements like hand disruption is likely an intentional deaign choice. People have endlessly complained about getting N'd to 2 or Marnie'd, generally those players skew more casual.
Is the game healthier or any less frustrating right now? No. But with the way Pokemon formats shake out, we tend to need some time for paradigm shifts to take hold.
My guess is we will have a more "feels good" solitare-focused format at some point during the Trainer's Pokemon block.
You summed up this situation perfectly! I totally agree with you, getting disrupted into an unplayable situation is super frustrating and it feels super unfair. But like you said, incentivizing proactive play to keep players and casuals alike engaged is incredibly important. It's like a giant game of chess, Creatures has made so many broken and power crept cards, and now they have to try navigating through each and every interaction in order to keep the game's "feel good" mentality. I'm looking forward to seeing what Trainer's Pokémon bring to the table, it might be a breath of fresh air for the game, which we desperately need right now!
“This stupid bird has single-handedly ruined the whole concept of hand disruption” and that is why I love Fezandipiti EX and as a Roaring Moon EX player throw in a Sadas Vitality and that +6 draw is just ugh 🤤
It's so satisfying when you're the one digging out of disruption (especially with turbo decks like Roaring Moon)!! Fez is so stupidly broken lol
@@pikiptcg i love turbo decks 🤣
That's one awesome thumbnail. And the video is great too.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the thumbnail (the process of making them is super tedious 😅), I really enjoy putting them together and I'll definitely be making more drawn ones in the future! Thank you for watching, mate! I really appreciate your support! 😁💚
I’m hoping to make a disruption based deck with the Sylveon ex and Rotom from Surging Sparks. Using Sylveon to make your opponent shuffle 2 benched Pokemon and all attached cards into their deck and using Rotom to make them discard all tools and items in their hand could be a lot of fun.
That sounds so disgustingly good lol
Might have to cover it on the channel if I can find a good 60 from testing!
Pysduck from 151 and lucian pair well together. The overthink attack forces the opponent to flip tails, could be funny :)
That sounds so goofy but that's exactly what I would expect from a Psyduck...
As a tinkaton ex enjoyer this pleases me greatly 🔨🦋
Tinkaton ex might be a sleeper pick rouge deck in this format right now!!
Delinquent too good xD
The 'ol reset stamp Delinquent combo was so stinking fun when it was legal lol
It was so toxic lol 😅
I really want hand disruption to be good again, but not THAT good
Example no. 2 million of why birds are jerks.
just wait for the next format, rotation is a blessing
Rotation is definitely going to shake things up, but I think only time will tell if it will be good or bad for hand disruption and everything else (I'm sure it'll be good, but we'll have to see!) 🤔
Genuinely this games going down such a bad route atm, i’m not really even in the mood to go to locals and things like that due to the recent decisions with cards being printed etc. This game is probably at the same state it was peak ADP era, just not fun, that’s really it. I’ve played since Black and White base and have not had less fun with a format probably ever, aside from ADP. Tied with worst time to play atm.
It really sucks to see the game enter yet another downward spiral. You'd think that Creatures would've learned their lesson after the ADP and Rainbow Lugia apocalypses, but it's completely clear that they haven't. I totally understand wanting to take a break at this point in time. Hopefully, the meta mellows out soon and you can get back to playing a format you can enjoy again
And now get this: I've been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! actively for about 15 years since it came out and just switched half a year ago to Pokémon. Best decision I could've make. Even the current meta feels so good compared to YGO's current state... But i understand the problem. I started a few weeks before the current rotation (with a shitload of PAF ETBs) and the power level ramped up pretty fast after rotation.
The bird saved my dialga deck draw 6 dusknoir 2 times take 6 prize cards in 2 turns
That must've been the most satisfying 2 turns ever, holy Arceus 😳
I made an infinite Hypno/ Zoroark/ Shedinja deck in expanded.
Too much fun..
Anyone face an annoying Hypno/Perrin deck lately?
I'm not a huge Expanded expert, but I'm a sucker for cool infinite loop decks! I might have to look into that!
I understand if its a deck that just draws a ton of cards (my main deck, tinkaton) that gets past hand disruption, but raging bolt getting 17 cards after being iono'd to 1 card like its a typical Tuesday afternoon is just stupid
Bolt is 110% the worst offender of counter hand disruption. It's both impressive and disgusting to see them draw out of literally any and every scenario...
I find it funny that unfair stamp is just Roxanne and not reset stamp also the unfair stamp is slowly falling off. Also I think path to the peak should come back to slow down the 2 prize decks .
YGO: Did someone say...HANDTRAPS?! *Ash blossoms and Maxx Cs your ass*
Really nice ending theme👍
Thank you! Super Bell Hill felt like a perfect fit for my channel, I'm glad you like it! 😁
As a Miraidon player I kinda like a fast meta. But with Dusknoir, hard matchups like Zard and Dragapult went from hard to almost IMPOSSIBLE. Those things are nearly unbeatable its like 90/10. Dragapult can cook a miraidon in 1 turn and then get 6 prizes😭
Dusknoir combined with insane hand disruption AND ridiculous counterplay from Zard and Pult are just disgusting. I love playing Miraidon from time to time, but every time I get cooked by a Zard, I just revert back to either Zard or Terapagos... It's awful to see that Dusknoir has warper the meta this badly...
Honestly not to upset about it, for me hand disruption gives more anger than joy. For example, getting your hand disrupted sucks way more than disrupting your opponent.
I love the thumbnail
Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm glad you like it, I had a lot of fun making it! I might start making thumbnails like it more consistently! 😁
I wanna start playing the pokemon tcg. I have an omanyte deck and its a BEAST. I replaced water energies with wash water energies (they make my pokemon immune to effects)
I'm super glad to hear about your success so far, mate! Wash Water is one of the best Special Energies from the modern era, I played a lot of decks with it back in the day! Keep up the great work!
@@pikiptcg too bad they're slept on nowadays
Also i use the 151 versions of omanyte and omastar
@@e2011ugdia wash water is not standard anymore, I think
Just came in First at my Local with Festival Lead
Congrats on your tournament win!!! I always love seeing single prize decks succeed, esecially Festival Lead (it's become one of my favorites recently!) Keep up the great work!! 💯
Fezanskibidi?
That's exactly what I was referring to at 31:15 😉
I know that It's almost forgotten at this point but what about Expanded? Have cards like Marnie and N also become irrelevant there?
Marnie and N are still very popular in Expanded! Even though the format is dying, those two disruption cards are still making a huge impact!
I remember getting unfair stamped into rare candy dusknoir when I had 3 prize cards left 😂
I used Dusknoir's ability on my opponent's radiant Greninja, and the prize card I got was boss 😂 They literally gave me the win at this point 🤣
That's always one of the funniest things that seems to happen to me when my opponent tries to shut me down... Finding Boss off of your single Prize card for game is actually the funniest thing I've seen today lmao
Sure, because everyone loves playing a card game where you can't play any cards!
Decks just be built airtight to counteract this. Tho, counterpoint, unfair stamp followed by Arbok ex menacing fangs. They can't resist hand disruption IF THEY HAVE NO HAND!
I want to see an Arbok deck just take a tournament by surprise and win the whole thing... that would be not only funny but so cool lmao
You prolly could. I made a listing which uses darkria vs tar to loop either dark patch or unfair stamp. You could also add a pecharunts ex and a binding Kochi to increase from 150 to 190. Then add all the poison buffers like rad sneesler and perilous jungle for 50 poison damage if you get there active poisened.
Chase down fez + iono does a lot to some decks
That seems to be one of the best strategies, I saw it happen a lot on stream during Louisville Regionals! The only issue is that you could have to sacrifice KOing an attacker or something like Pidgeot ex in order to KO Fez, which isn't always great. Still a super great counterplay in the right scenarios!
@@pikiptcg Depends on the deck. I did it vs Raging Bolt at Louisville and halted them to a stop when I was already ahead anyways.
What will happen according to the vids vibe: Opp draws night stretcher, gets fez back, then snowballs into a win from there :P
But yeah, if i had to pinpoint which mons annoy me the most currently: Grass Ogerpon ex, Fez & Dusk. (Even though - since i am playing moon turbo atm - the first two are really sweet calamity storm targets :D)
And to be clear: Ogerpon in vacuum would be kinda fine i guess, but in combination with the mons it enables, it's annoyingly good.
@@xSacrollyd Definitely a staler format right now. No doubt about it.
Arbok EX is Great in Expanded :)
Then again you have access to better hand disruption in general in Expanded anyway so
Oh wow I didn't know that Arbok was a really threatening deck in Expanded... but it makes a lot of sense! It seems like such an evil deck lol 😈
To be honest 8/10 games that i resolve an unfair stamp, on a good spot, i win, completely threw most decks out of the way, but still conteplating between if it helps me more to use the Ace-Spec Catcher or Unfair Stamp 🤣🤣😅
Unfair Stamp can be super... well... unfair most of the time! But I totally agree with you that the big "Prime Catcher vs Unfair Stamp" debate is still a difficult decision anytime 😅
What frustrates me in pokemon tcg is that 1% of the cards are actually playable. The rest is just crap and is only for collecting, at best. I come from magic and don't get me wrong, there are a lot of junk there also, but, as the game is more complex, there are much more use for cards than the only 1% in pokemon
I agree completely! Everyone just wants to play big, dumb "beat stick" cards with big HP, bigger attacks, and it's not fair to so many interesting cards that just end up in either binders or the bulk bin
What kind of card could fix the format?
Honestly, as much as it would suck, I think we need a Path to the Peak reprint. Being able to shut down Fezandipiti, Pidgeot, Charizard, and Teal Mask Ogerpon feels like a necessary evil in this point in time, to help slow the game down. I also think that a more effective counter to Dusknoir (rather than just Enamorus V and that new Gastrodon) could help mediate the format back into healthy shape!
@@pikiptcg There is a way to shut down all of those cards. Its called Iron Thorns Ex. Ever hear of it? Please don't ask for Path to the Peak reprint. Iron Thorns Ex perfectly subs in for it.
I've won about 70% of the games i've used unfair stamp.
Unfair Stamp is SO good when it actually sticks. It's definitely still one of the Best ACE SPECs for sure! Just make sure your opponent doesn't have any birds on their Bench and you'll be cruising to victory! Keep up the success, mate!
@@pikiptcg I think if ran in decks that it isn't usually ran in, it is a lot more substantial. Like, in raging bolt
Are you a fan of almost every deck spamming Dusknoir?
No, I think it's a really unhealthy card for this format. It speeds games up so quickly and can easily board wipe opponents with ease. It's not fun when literally every matchup is a Dusknoir mirror...
What about Salazzle?
Salazzle falls into a lot of the same pitfalls as cards like Arbok ex, where your opponent can have control over what they discard. Of course, combining it with Roxanne or Unfair Stamp can be incredibly powerful, it's also really tough to keep consistently using Salazzle for max effect. I think it's a really neat card, but I don't see it having really any sort of major impact, unfortunately.
Man, kissera is such a frustrating card... getting ionoed is just terrible. Not fun, to be honest.
Honestly Ogerpon Green ex and Fezanskibidi ex were mistakes for the format
I dont think ogerpon is a problem tbh
@@breadaholic6445 almost every single favored deck uses Ogerpon. Its energy acceleration, draw power, and an attacker. It’s not only overpowered on its own, but it’s also created the turbo monster that is Raging Bolt, a Chien Pao with no downside.
@@enhidri160 i disagree, i think it’s simply just a strong card, that allows 2 decks specifically to be meta, but i don’t think that makes it a mistake like fezandipiti, kyurem, and dusknoir
@@breadaholic6445 I guess i just have a bias against Raging Bolt. I hate that deck.. but yeah, fezanskibidi was def a mistake. I keep seeing things about how Dusknoir is bad, can you elaborate on that please?
Ogerpon is sign of good well designed card. Yeah it does make raging bolt stupidly overkill. But that draw 1 is not that almighty. And for an attacker its only good to counter attack charizard. It cant even kill rad zard properly in late game.
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Bruh there are so many good decks in the format. You can also do the same with your deck lmao why complain iono should not be a free win condition. Just kill the fez or whatever they are gonna use to draw and then Iono and take what happens next like a champ
The problem with going after Fez and then Iono/Unfair Stamping your opponent is that you're most likely still leaving their attacker untouched, allowing them to just hit through the disruption with brute force (33:04). Against Regidrago, the strategy works super well! But against things like Bolt, Terapagos, Charizard, and Dragapult, they most likely will just get whatever they want (via turbo draw or Pidgeot) anyways. I don't think Iono should be a free wincon (trust me, I've lost so many top cuts in tournaments to an Iono and would rather not have it ruin the entire game), but I simply just wanted to talk about how much pressure having a Fez out on your board can have.
I qualified for 5 worlds back in 2014-2018 (one year getting an automatic day 2 worlds invite in masters) and quit the game because of Zoroark GX’s dominance.
N was always my favorite card to play with and say what you will about those formats, but I was really able to carve my success through that card, both timing my N correctly and playing around N well.
Zoroark GX introduced a level of on-board draw power that really hampered the ability of hand disruption, deriving the game of a lot of the skill expression hand disruption brought. Cards like Octillery and Oranguru existed prior, but were not as inherently powerful and spammable as Zoroark GX. Great players could exploit engine tools to come back from unwinnable scenarios. Not the case when your draw engine is your attacker.
I don’t play anymore, but I just came in to say this isnt the first time the TCG hand disruption has sucked. People laud Zoroark GX formats with high regard, but the game with the curbed power of hand disruption was undeniably different and prioritizes different skills. I sit firmly in the camp that powerful hand disruption is good for the game and directly rewards advanced knowledge of board states.
I'd first like to thank you for taking the time to tell your story, and to congratulate you on your massive accomplishments! It's an honor to have the pleasure of having a 5-time Worlds qualifier see my video!
I started learning how to play the game competitively right around the Zoroark GX era, and I never understood why it was so good during the time it was legal. Looking back on it now, I can see how stupidly OP this card was, Zoroark effectively became both the attacker and support engine on its own, practically immune to any sort of hand disruption (and subsequent innovation) as you said.
Even in more recent years, we've had plenty of meta decks find easy outs to hand disruption (ex. Genesect V in Mew VMAX, Kirlia in Gardevoir ex, etc.), even though disruption has gotten more overpowered effects now. And I totally agree with you that forcing your opponent to find a clever winning combo after disruption is a rewarding (and a tad bit frustrating) experience for both players. It's a real shame that new cards are being pumped out over and over again that just make disruption a shell of its former self. Power creep has done quite a bit of irreversible damage to this game.
It's tough to hear about how your experience with the Pokémon TCG ended, but honestly, you chose the perfect time to hop off the train (the ADP GX apocalypse and TAG TEAMs only made things worse...).
While it's incredibly unlikely, maybe one day the Pokemon TCG will "mellow out" and allow for less "braindead beat stick" gameplay and return to a more skill and planning -focused game. Wishing you the best in whatever endeavors you decide to pursue next, my friend! Thank you for stopping by!