brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 0:05

It's the only podcast about the Pokemon Trading Card Game, it's the Trashalach attendance is 133%, Ebon, Cam, Liam, me, Brent Halliburton, I know you people have missed my sultry voice because people were saying, hey Brent, when's Mike gonna be back on the pod? To me, like, all week. I don't know about the Mike thing, but when I told Mike that you guys were saying that, he was like, that's super interesting, I have a crying baby, I'll talk to you later. So, that's that's what's going on with that. Oh, you know, totally related but not unrelated, you guys saw that we had like first father and son, you know, it's not the first father and son to qualify for Worlds together, but Diego Casaraga and his son both played in the World Championship, which was like totally dope. I think it was the first time that the dad preceded the child into Pokemon, but obviously that's coming. It's coming, it's the future. Let's see. We're on Twitter. I've not checked if we had any new 5 star reviews since I last looked, but if you leave a 5 star review, we will read it on the pod. It's a thing people do, and every other podcast says when people leave reviews, it somehow helps them in some way. So it probably would help us too, we would appreciate it. Speaking of helping, Dragon Shield, they are the sleeve of choice. We love Dragon Shields because we put our cards in them and then they shuffle better. Guys, Hawaii, it was great. Any, any top level world's reactions? Let Before we, like, grind through a whole list of world's reactions.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:36

I guess my initial thought is, I still don't think Thorns is a good deck, even after it won. I think, like, it's Drago matchup is like, it's just not good. Like, the Ian Robb match aside, like, I was already thinking, leading up to Worlds, like, I was, like, kind of, like, leading towards playing Thorns myself, until I just kept playing the Drago matchup and kept losing in the exact fashion we, like, saw on stream. And, like, the Goudra, the Goudra just makes it look nice. Like, you can just attack with Dragapult, just, and, like, win just as easily, right? Like, the Goudra just makes it, like, Even more confirmed that you're gonna win. So like, I don't know I, I don't think this deck is real. I think that guy kind of got a little lucky, unfortunate. And and the situation I'm sure we'll get into later too, right, helped out. No,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 2:25

went on, kinda like, the matchup got worse and worse and worse for Thorns.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 2:31

Guys, I think Cifuentes made it look like he did virtually nothing and still won.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 2:36

Yep,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 2:37

All right, guys, that's all. That's virtually

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 2:43

but this, that was, eye opening. If I ever lose like a match on stream, I'm like, I'm not leaving the venue or anything. I'll just, I'll wait it out.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 2:52

All right yeah, so any, any reaction to the finals besides Thorn's not a real deck? I, I, although I'm on that, I, I, I feel it. Alright, anything, anything, I don't know if the Ian Robb thing, like, if it's even worth commenting about. Is there anything anyone wants to say about Ian that is, like, getting off their chest?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 3:11

I think just the slightest thing is, I think it's a horrible precedent that they can just reverse, like, matches that have been finished. Like, I think that's my biggest, like, complaint. It's like, it's one thing if he just, like, lost his top 4 match because of it. That, I guess that's, like, consistent with things that they're, like, allowed to do. But, like, to, like, to revert it, like, just, what next? Like, any match that is lost, can it be reverted, like, after the fact? Like, I don't know, it's just crazy, like, I think, like, if we're gonna, like, print out thousands of matchlips every tournament, then they have to mean something, right? Like, it can't be, it can't have it both ways.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 3:47

my 5 second take was that that take is completely incorrect and everybody making that take. Low IQ. I was gonna say I think it's wonderful that matches can be reverted now, this is an amazing precedent, like, I, I, like, genuinely, because if it turns out my opponent was stacking against me, you know, a video goes online, and I lost to them, they were stacking though, and I was gonna win if they didn't stack. I would've loved it for them to revert it. Like, I think revert is makes so much more sense than give the next opponent a win. Like, give me the win, bro. I I think that's lit. So, I'm all for that precedent.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 4:24

don't know, I, would, I would be more down if, like, Noah didn't just get, like, ban or, like, a DQ for, like, stacking, and then people after the tournament was like actually, like, I don't think he was stacking, like, clearly they can't even tell if you're stacking or not, so, like, just let the, like, just let the match stand, right?

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 4:38

Dude, dude, I think, I

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 4:39

Well, I dude, like,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 4:40

proves otherwise. There's definitely ways you can prove somebody was stacking. There's definitely ways.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 4:45

It's not guaranteed. No,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 4:48

Aban, I feel like that that argument doesn't really, like, it's more of a defense of, like, you shouldn't have the penalty, then the penalty should get applied to the next person. Instead of Henry getting the win, it should be Andy Gantner just picking up the free W because Noah was stacking. Right? Like, I feel like it would make more sense if you were going to apply the penalty, apply it on the match that it changed, as opposed to like, you got stacked against, you're out of the tournament, but the next guy, he got a free

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 5:17

no, no, no, no, no, That's way different because Ian, they signed the slip and he did that. Like, that, that does, that does not affect his match. That does, oh, he got like an advantage against Against him because

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 5:30

No. yeah, yeah, I think

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 5:32

it should not apply to that match. It should not because he already won and he didn't do anything. I was gonna say gross. You know that, that's up for debate. But like in, in terms of game was gonna say in terms of like gameplay to cheat. himself into a win so that match should should absolutely count and i do not like reversing because i know that you're looking at it one way that someone can cheat and oh they get caught first of all no one ever really gets caught somehow some guy had a camera on some cheater this time that's amazing bro had amazing foresight but like what really happens is A match goes to a tie, the judge walks away with the thing, and a top player pressures a new player into conceding to them at 6 2 1. And then the match is resolved, and the match changes because, oh, we're allowing that to happen? That's, that's the more likely thing to happen. Is that a new player gets pressured the second that they walk away. I'm telling you, it happens all the time. And if you can revert it, it becomes even worse.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 6:36

I mean, like, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about this on the pod, but like, didn't Polaris have something like that happen to him, like, at Pittsburgh, like, at the start of the year? Like, he,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 6:43

So, no, no, no, but that was different.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 6:45

supposed to scoop, and then it, he, like, they played, and then his opponent, like, everyone was like, yo, why didn't you scoop to Polaris? And then

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 6:51

Yeah, essentially, and then, and then he, and Polaris didn't sign the match slip, or he signed the match slip without the result being marked. And he walked away, because he's like, it's over, and then the guy circled win for Polaris. But still, like, that's different, like, he didn't get pressured in, and he just signed it and walked away. But it's different if, like, it's a tie, and I try to convince the opponent, like, I have it, or, hey, come on, like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 7:17

Yeah, I'm just saying that's, that situation is like one step away from like the problem situation that you're like talking about, right? Like what actually happened with Polaris there, like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 7:25

yeah, yeah, yeah.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 7:26

away from like what we don't want. Like, people like, exactly, like,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 7:32

you

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 7:32

being like after

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 7:33

am happy for Ian because my impression is that could have been ruled a DQ and they kind of de escalated it a little and like DQing him because he's dumb seems like a little too harsh so I'm glad they they de escalated for dumbness

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 7:50

I think at that point, it's such so much money, like, you can get like into like you can get into like some legal situation, right? Like, then like, I don't know, I think Pokemon just didn't thought that would be so uncomfortable trying to like, deal with that situation. They were like, at least give him his top eight money, and like, try to like yeah,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 8:05

right right yeah so like like it's fair for them to say like I I can understand them being like well we don't want to DQ him in top four because like then it's like free top four money for him I mean I you know it's weird

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 8:19

I think

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 8:20

undocumented, but it was like a de escalation, so I'm

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 8:22

I really think that's what happened. In my opinion, and I have no way of confirming this, I think that they put it in a top 8 match loss instead of a top 4 is because in their mind, they didn't like what they saw, and so they were like, We don't want to give him 5, 000 more for that.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 8:42

I don't know, that might be giving the judges too much credit to actually like, have them thinking about the money in the moment, instead of like, how people are gonna flip out. So

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 8:52

Yeah, I don't

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 8:53

mean, there's

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 8:53

money was their concern there,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 8:54

There's a there's a I mean, they just don't want him to get rewarded for that. Because I think there was a lot of people who saw that, right? Like, there's a lot of poke official Pokemon people in the crowd watching, and like, that's not potentially not a very good look, right? On a lot of levels.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 9:10

for sure.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 9:10

believe he admitted it. Did you guys see that? On the like, apparently Andrew Mahone talked to him privately,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 9:14

already, we've already talked about Ian and Rob too much. We, We, gotta move on, we gotta move on guys. Alright, so the next question on my list is, Day 1 metashare, day 2 metashare, top 8 composition, any surprises for you guys relative to what you expected as you were gameplanning worlds?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 9:32

Nope, GuardiaN out of the top 3 everything I expected from the meta, that's all I know.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 9:39

But like, the crazy thing was, like, no Zard in top 8. Like, that was I thought Like, the meta seemed so ripe for Zard. Like, sure, Drago was, like, absurd. But I assume that the top players are gonna have some, like, genius answer to Drago in their Zard list. And then, like, every other matchup is, like, completely free. Like, all, like, Bolt, Maridon, like, the Dark deck. Even Thorns, I'm sure, like, I thought Pedra's answer of, like Fluttermane, like, We actually had one of our locals suggest that and I was pretty fli like, dismissive, but after thinking about it more and like, seeing like, you know, just seeing the correct answer now that we saw Azevedo and Pedro did it, like, that seemed like a good answer for Thorns. Like, I don't know, I just find it shocking that none of them got sweeped in. Like, Tori got 10th.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 10:22

Yeah, I mean, Tord, I think Tord was like Like X12 or something, right? Like, he was, he was he was very close, right?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 10:28

I don't know if he, I don't know if he, like, I don't know if it was, like, close like he was on win and ins. I think it was close because he tied early in the round and then he won out, so.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 10:38

yeah, Yeah, that, that was the

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 10:40

a he tied a 60 card mirror day one to Jesper. Or Jesper, I don't even know how to say it.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 10:46

Yeah.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 10:47

And then, yeah, I think that started his tournament on a bad run. You couldn't really have, you couldn't make too many mistakes in this world, right? Like, X1 2, like, that's three mistakes. One, one's a tie to his teammate, or not teammate, like, someone who's playing the same list somehow. And then, like, one more natural tie, and then you only have one loss to give, right? Gets out of hand fast.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 11:06

Yeah, yeah

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 11:07

I

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 11:07

I, I thought towards

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 11:10

I've flopped, I don't know, like, another one that's surprising, and that's now flopped, I know that Rahul was on the ASIM and missed, but it's like, two back to back events, and I know maybe it's because it did get hyped, but like, Lugia was the deck to beat going into NAIC, and then Lugia was like, talked about as potentially the answer for Arceus, Like this meta like a couple weeks before heading into worlds and then just no top 8 appearances either time And only one top 16 probably in either event. So kind of

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 11:50

And Rahul's list was, was super based. I was talking to Victor about it, because Victor was playing the same list. The 1 1 Chinchito. I liked the Raikou, I think that was cute. I think,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 11:58

What is that for a mirror?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 12:00

It's it's for mirror and it's also just like, I feel like my

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 12:03

It's like an efficient attacker,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 12:05

Yeah, I my own theory is like, you just don't have energies, bro. Like, it's so nice to like, have something clean that like, you just attach, use one of the Archeops and then Archeops somewhere else, right? For like, weirder later.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 12:15

Oh,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 12:15

I thought, I thought it was super cool.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 12:18

Like, that list is just base. Like, I think the standard Lugia list will literally never be good. I don't know why people keep like, trying to jam it. It just does not work. Like, it has no good matchups. Like, the deck just doesn't work after like Two turns. You just can't find anything, right?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 12:34

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it takes too much energy, and it, like, Like, even energy aside, you already have this massive question of like, do I need this much single price firepower? The consistency trade off is enormous, and then like, you can't even use all the single price firepower that you add some games? It's like, crazy.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 12:55

yeah, you can run out of energy quick Rahul got close. So didn't

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 12:57

You can run out of energy. You can draw the awkward hands where you see the cinchinos before the minchinos and you research them. Like, you don't have a Pokemon recovery. Like, literally, like, a thousand things can go wrong when you're playing that deck. And, like, I don't know, the only Lugia I lost to at the event was the one who cut the cinchinos because their deck just worked and they just got me in two. I was like, oh my god, aren't you supposed to, like, break or something? Like, what is going on? He's, like, attacking me on two.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 13:21

Yeah, I feel like some of the like, oh Lugia's a good play, Lugia's a good play, is the like, well somebody surely will highroll their way to incredible success with Lugia, and like maybe just not enough players played it for a good reason. For like, and not enough good players played it, for people to, like, high roll their way to incredible

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 13:37

O2

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 13:39

got super close.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 13:40

Especially starting O2 or something

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 13:42

Yeah, yeah.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 13:43

No, that was the move. That dodges the Thorns cleanly. Like, that was genius by him.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 13:48

You don't think there's any thorns in the weeds at all? They're all, they're all doing well? Not, not at

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 13:52

They're all

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 13:53

all, they're not all doing well. They all just have some wins. Like, they all are just like X11 or something random. Like, their O2? bracket was Thorns free, apparently.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:02

I Yeah, like, the entire entire group that Mike and I are a part of, like, Besides Kieran and I played, played Iron Thorns, I think, and all of them started off like amazing, bro. I was like, so surprised. The

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 14:14

Doesn't take much.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:16

I thought Thorns was just like, I guess like the move. One of the guys literally beat like three Guardians. Like, I don't even know how that's possible, but he's like, yeah,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 14:25

Chow. Yeah, rough. That was a

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:28

like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 14:28

you bro,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:29

he's like, three Guardi, bro!

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 14:30

for Lost City, you just start hitting, you start lost zoning things, They freak out, they lose the flutter main, oh,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:36

Yeah,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 14:37

spicy real quick.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 14:39

Somehow, bro, and they're like, yeah, like, these guys are like, XO, X1, and like, oh, dude, I just farmed another Guardi, and I'm like, what?! I guess, yeah, the one that's at the top tables, bro.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 14:51

I mean, that's the deck, right? Like, I know that you guys, and if you do play it very, very well, like, yeah, this should be free for Guardi, but like, with people cutting down, like, to one Fluttermane, like, and maybe one Clefki, it's like, ooh, it starts to get real, real close, real tight, real quick, and then you're like, ah, ooh, maybe, maybe it's not as good as I thought.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 15:12

Yeah, the aggressive Lost City gang is like, hard for Guardi to deal with, just like, in general, right?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 15:16

And then also, like, if you don't know you're playing against Thorns, like, if you open the Clefki or Fluttermane, you're like, oh yeah, I'll just start it, and then you're like, oh, shoot. I might, I might just lose it on the spot right here my bad.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 15:29

I think that's the deceptive part about Thorns is it's actually so fast. Like, it really just takes, like, your top ten cards, like, they mulligan maybe once, or, like, if they get, like, a lucky hand, they just don't mulligan, or once or twice, and you just, like, have, like, a bad assortment of cards, like, the game is over within, like, three or four turns, because they're actually hitting you for, like, 120, and they're never, like, missing attacks, like, there's no stalling the Thorns from just, like, hitting for 120 every single turn. Like, their deck is just so,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 15:53

Yeah, and they're like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 15:54

core thing.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 15:56

they're gusting whatever they want to, right? So they're like, they, if they get like three, four attacks off, they just like instantly win the game, right? Because you know, they're going to go like, gus, gus, finish the game off, like, just like that, right?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 16:09

Something else that I think just hurt their matchup for Guardi is like, I think a lot of them cut Hammer. Hammer helps a lot in that matchup.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 16:15

Yes. Yes.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 16:24

better, but like, the Legacy Energy build, it gets you sometimes, like, trying to kill four Thorns, like, I thought that was so clearly suboptimal than having Prime Catcher, but like, it's hard to argue with, like, when I was playing against it, like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 16:38

And then

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 16:38

I ran into had it,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 16:40

I thought, I thought it was fake, and then I played against it and it beat me and I realized it wasn't so fake.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 16:44

No, it was still fake, it was still fake, but he got me.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 16:49

I was just faker than him. My deck was just faker than his. It's all good.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 16:56

Alright guys, what about, what do you guys think of the new format of, like, no day one? Like, everything's day one? Or,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 17:02

I, I

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 17:02

Bless up, bro. Bless up.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 17:05

Yeah, it's really really good, right? It's really good. no question. Okay, just making sure. just making sure. hahahahahahaha

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 17:14

1, I mean, I went 7 1, and like, if they just erased it and told me I had to start over, that'd suck. Like It's nice to, like, be rewarded for finishing, like, getting your six wins earlier than, like, round eight, you know? Yeah,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 17:27

only that, after they erase it, they also tell you, bro, like, half of the players tomorrow, they're gonna change their list and they're gonna be ready for you because they just saw your 60. Like, it's like actually so cooked if you if you come in from day one in this, like, two day structure. You're faked, bro.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 17:42

I like it for a different reason. I just like it because, you know, it could happen to anyone. I just, when you just see like a top 16 player go 0 4 and not make Day 2, oh It's

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 17:56

hates, like, Grenaphy or

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 17:57

No, no, I just like it. It's not just because of Grant Manley. Like, it happened to people last year too, in Day 2. And, it's just like, it's just

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:06

Shema loves it.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 18:07

it's a burn, right? Like, it sucks.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:10

I mean, hey, I recognize Worlds is hard, man. Like, everybody who's in day one bombed. Like, there's just people that bombed, right?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 18:18

Yeah,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:19

in day two, they bombed. Worlds is a super hard tournament.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 18:22

yeah, yeah

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:22

alright, let's, let's, let's, let's I have a couple of thoughts, but any thoughts on swag and or the Pokemon Center for you guys?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:33

Nah, bro.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 18:34

I, have no thoughts. I didn't even open up my kit, I'm not gonna lie. I didn't go to the center. I had the backpack, like, in my room. I didn't even open up the kit.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 18:41

back to back years I'm not going into the Pokemon Center at all, didn't even make the reservation this year, I don't care about that shit.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 18:48

You guys, you guys save yourself some heartbreak. Let me tell you the best thing about the new Worlds format. If they don't take advantage of the fact that there's only like, 300 competitors who qualify for Worlds next year across all the age divisions, and give those people some advanced access to the Pokemon Center, it's a crime against humanity. It is a crime against humanity. The fact that for your average competitor, there was absolutely no hope of them getting a ukulele or a skateboard, and meanwhile there are scalpers who are selling the skateboards for like 900 online, like, 15 minutes after the Pokemon Center opens. It's a crime against humanity, and there's absolutely no justice.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 19:30

Wait, Brent, how long have you been in the game? Because I started in 2013, that was my first Worlds, and that used to be a thing. I have no clue when they took it away. Like, I remember like, doing that all the

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 19:39

I remember, like, competitors got early access to the Pokemon Center, and it was awesome. And, like, I think they essentially stopped it coming out of COVID. And, like, London, like, what they did was, they were like, you guys get some, like, preferential access where you can go in instead of having to book a time, you can kind of go in anytime you want. But you couldn't really go in anytime you wanted. Like, that's crazy.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 20:07

giving access to, to the content creators, like, you know, I know some of them, like, they're fine people, like, nothing against them, it is like, the event is made by the competitors, like, it should, you know, like, they should

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 20:21

It, it, it just felt, to me, frankly, and, like, it's, it's, I almost feel bad saying it, but it's how I feel, so it's therefore true. It's a slap in the face when the content creators, and the whole point is they're content creators, so they have better distribution than everyone else. So everyone sees them posting and they're posting, got a ukulele, got a skateboard, like got all this awesome stuff. And the whole point is even people who qualified for PO for the World Championship cannot get that stuff. Only they can get that stuff and they're like, bless up Pokemon the World Championship's. Awesome. Got all this crazy swag. And that swag is not available.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 21:01

And it's like, content creators who are not even like, Pokemon adjacent. Like, they literally just like, people who create content, who are

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 21:06

people with distribution, right?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 21:08

and, and like, back in the day, it was so, like, there were, like, the store was filled with stuff, like, you could buy, like, three copies of everything, and now it's, like, if, I didn't even, I couldn't even dream that I was gonna go, because I was like, bro, I'm not gonna sit there for two hours, like, I want to play, like, games, like, I'm not gonna sit in line that long.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 21:23

Yeah. I mean, all, like, the, the world's mats, those were not, like, when I, when I got in, I went in on Thursday at 1 o'clock was my slot. So like, like, the first day, the first slot that was available to me when I was booking literally 30 seconds after the start like, when, when it opened, you know, and, and the whole registration thing was totally screwed up and everyone had technical issues and all that stuff. I was one of those people, but like, the first day, the first slot that was available to me, no mats, no deck boxes, no sleeves, no ukuleles, no skateboards, and we have a skateboard from every year previously that they had skateboards, like, we have a wall of skateboards, like, we don't keep them in the box, we don't resell it, and like, the fact that that's not available to us, it's totally lame, it sucks so much. Anyway, feels super bad, man, like, that's, My son's got a wall of skateboards, and we don't have we don't have a skateboard for this year because scalpers be selling skateboards for 900 on eBay now.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 22:25

did anyone come through?

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 22:27

No. No.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 22:28

No? Let me, I, I, I'm not saying it'll come through. Let me, let me see it. Let me ask some people.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 22:32

Yeah, I'd appreciate it, because it's it's totally lame. Alright, guys, I think we should deep dive on people's world runs. I don't know if I have to say, like, next week, but, like, we want to try and get through them crisply, but everybody did good except for Liam. Ha ha ha ha ha

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 22:49

Damn.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 22:50

let's start off with the exiled from Aura Islands.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 22:54

Wow.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 22:55

Dude

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 22:55

able to tell your story quick.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 22:57

no, I, I knew my, I know my run's the shortest, but I figured we should go in the the order of saltiness, because that's

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:03

Does that

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:03

are you not

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:04

am I first, or what?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:06

No, I think, I think Shanoi's first. I think, I think he's the, he's the only one who came home from this happy, bro.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:11

Oh, oh, order of saltiness, like reverse

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:13

want to end on the oh, you want to end

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:15

Oh. Oh,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:15

yes,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 23:16

You wanna end with the Saltiest

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:17

are you saltier than me, though, Liam? That's the real question.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:21

yes, yes?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:23

can go salt for salt with you. There's no way, bro.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:25

Yeah, no, no, we definitely, I think it's, it's, definitely the Trash Lantern, every podcast tradition that Cam did the best, he gets to end, we get to end on who did the best. Like, you gotta keep the suspense going.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 23:37

Yeah, we, we, we sw, we swept my ancient box front under the rug. When, when Leo went it was like, it was like a, it was like a two second footnote. No, I'm

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:47

Liam's like, I wanna end. I gotta end it. Tell me what it

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:50

I mean,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 23:51

you gotta start, Liam.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 23:52

technically, but like, I was like, in contention for Cash longer, so I feel like I should be able to end, actually, now that that's the metric.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 24:00

Oh my God.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 24:01

you objectively

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 24:03

Abaza, real talk here, bro. That is real talk. If you'll notice, all of my Twitter posts, I do what round you're out by. That's my metric. The ultimate metric, What? round you're out of contention to win by.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 24:18

alright. Give it to us, Liam. Give us your tale.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 24:22

Okay, yeah, I mean, it's pretty short. Round one, I hit a mirror, and I kind of just hit. I think I like, bricked one of the games. Oh yeah, my deck worked, so I like, kind of ran them over. Round two, I hit a Zard, and like, this was like, maybe like, the most unbelievable round for me. Like, as soon as this happened, I was like, okay, not my event, bro. I like, both games, I don't open Drago B turn one, but I basically go like, Ogre Pond, attach pass, but I had the Iona, and I'm like, okay, so like, Rotom's coming down, and like, you know, they're gonna Rotom, they're gonna have a 9 card hand, but I'm good at Iono, and then, if I don't bench, like, a Mew EX you know, maybe I'll be, like, fine here, right? Because it'll be hard for them to take two prizes. I have to deal with this, like, long term Duskcloth like, Duskull threat, but, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make a pass turn too, right? And then, we'll see what happens from there. But, no. This guy, like, goes like, Brodom, no pre attach to the Sealstone. I don't even know why. There's no pre attach to the Sealstone, and I rip the Iono, bench my Dragov, and I say, you know, try to hit the Nuts. Iono into Candy Pidge, Candy Zard, Dusclops, CC, bro. Like, it is unbelievable. Unbelievable. And one of the pieces was grabbed off the Pidget. But, like, this was like a 6 card combo off Iono to 6. Like, what the heck, dude? I I was not ready for this at all. Yeah, dude runs me over I go to Game 2 very fast. Literally, like, the same thing happens. Literally the same exact thing. I I missed the Drago V turn 1, I I ripped the Iono, because we played 3 Iono, or like a 3 Research, 3 Iono split in our Drago list, I I've been standing by that for, like, a long time because I think I think the turn 2 Iono or, like, turn 1, turn 2 Iono when you're setting up is, like, the strongest supporter to play it didn't matter. It didn't save me, bro. I, like The guy ripped this like turn 2 Dusclops CC like twice in a row on me. Just unbelievable. And there was no sealstone pre attached both times, even though of course they had the orb in turn 1, right, of course. And there's no sealstone pre attached, and I'm like, oh my god. Yeah, they just hit the nuts on me. So that was round 2. I was 1 1. Round 3, I played, Yeah, another Dragomir. Yes, another Dragomir. And this one, I like, I think I missed the Dragov turn one games one and games one and three. Oh, yeah. Yeah, bro. This one felt like terrible, bro. I like, I actually, I managed to win game one. And of course, you know, I, I went second, Dragomir, again. But I managed to win game one, and I'm like, I'm like, feeling good, I'm like, dude, I, I got my steal. Like, I was going second, and I won this one, I, I was able to steal one, bro, like, we're in a good spot. I lost game two, and yeah, I, I just got like, kinda ran over. Then game three, I just opened, like, hard brick, bro. Just like, open, no Dragov, no Ogrepon, nothing. I like, flip over the Radiant Gardevoir and just like, pass. This guy literally, to beat me, two shots going first, and then they have the round. Like, they had to win one game going first, and then I just like, roll over Game 3. Like, ugh, it hurts so bad, bro. I like, I like almost managed to get there, but I was like, in a bad spot. I fell behind like pretty fast in Game 3. And, yeah, so, I lost that round as well, and I was 1 2. I think like, I might have been able to close out Game 3, if I like, I just, I did miracles, bro. I like, I had to do like, even more miracles than the miracles I was like, already performing, but, yeah. Round 4, I hit a Zard, and I, I kinda just hit them nuts, like, no V Star turn 2. And this one, like, again, this guy, like, the Iono was sticking, bro. I like, had no confidence in him, but I was like, rip the Iono, and then they go like, draw. Instant Charge, I was like, yeah, yeah and so yeah, I was hitting, and my deck like worked, ran over him and then round 5, I like, actually just lost by force, like it was like, actually unbelievable, both games, I like game 1 I opened like a little bit better, I got like, Ogre Pawn Attach, I didn't see a Drago V either game, but I got like Ogre Pawn Attach pass,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 28:30

Matchup?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 28:31

oh, it was a mirror, it was a mirror. I was going second, of course but then, yeah, so like, game one I got ran over, and then game two, I, like, didn't have a single playable card. Nice. I went like Vessel, thinned my deck, pass. Oh, pass again. And then like, even then, I still have winning chances because they pop the V Star and they miss the switch and then I'm like, Boss Radiant Gardevoir. Pass. And like, if I topdeck Supporter the next turn, I'm like, actually, I actually have a real chance to win because they just like, early V Star for zero value. Nothing. Nothing, bro. Unbelievable stuff. And yeah, that was my World's Run. Jesus Christ.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 29:09

All right, Iban, are you going to give it to us?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 29:11

Yeah,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 29:11

The best run, apparently. We're about to hear about the best run.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 29:15

I think it was like, I don't know, I thought it was like on par with Shinoi's run. At the very least, I didn't come out of this world thinking like, I did as good as all the other Washington players. Like, I think we all pretty much did in cash, but we all did about that range. I mean, not we all, but like the people in day two. I think it's all pretty comparable. But anyways, I was playing Goldango. And if you're trying to rip Goldengo for the future, rip Kobe and I's list, like, we put the same 60 it's better than Cameron's Cameron Kawasaki, like, every cut that Cameron made is, like, completely trolling, like, I don't know, I don't even know, like, they did the Kawasaki's, they, like, they're from Hawaii, so when they landed, they they didn't test, and, like, Kobe and Cameron, Like, I told Kobe, just play the list I'm testing. Like, just play the 60. And he trusted. And Cameron's like, nah, I refuse. I'm playing Manaphy, Heavy Ball, and Roxanne over, like, the three most go to cards on our list. Like, Clefky, Tarot, and Third Stop. Like, man, those changes are just terrible. But, I mean, he went 9 3, so, who knows? Maybe I'm wrong, but, I, I, I trust. Trust the Three Stop is really good. And

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 30:14

I'll vouch for that.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 30:16

So anyways, my tournament. So round 1, I'm playing against a Japanese player, playing Lugia. Game 1, I get rolled by a 3 3 Toshino, and I thought I won when I killed the third rat, then he just drops Weirdeer and knocks me out, and I was like I guess I lose, right? And then game 2, I roll him because I go first, I take a Lugia B knockout on 2. And then game 3, I mulligan 5 times, and he still read the wins on turn 2. And like, he went first. Five balls to hand, draw, attach, pass, and to read the wind. I can't even like, I don't even understand what your hand composition could possibly be. He had like, he was like a pretty, he was a younger player, so he was like low key struggling to hold how many cards were in his hand after the read the wind. And he couldn't, couldn't do anything. I just knocked him out, rolled him over. And then round two, played against a Raging Bull. He ended up making Day 2 Ross Warren, he's from the UK, and when I played him, he's like, I tested Yell all the time, but after, like, seeing Yell's list, after the fact, like, I bet, like, I bet that's why he wasn't on Goldango, cause Yell's list is it's just, it's just not good, like, it has Primecatcher, it has a lot of other, like, issues, like, I think, Yell's List, if you test against that, you'd get the impression that Goldengo's not the move, you know? So, anyways, Game 1. I don't, like, I just roll them, cause, you just, you just refuse to bench a 2 prizer. It doesn't matter what's happening, like, your hand can be terrible, just don't bench Palkia for insurance, don't bench Paz preemptively, don't do anything, just sit there with as many game eagles as possible, and don't evolve anything, don't evolve Goldengo, don't do anything, let them take the first prize, and then Play the game, and, and hope you get the knockout, and it's, it's, it's pretty good odds to get the knockout, and the, and the longer they're waiting, the more you get to Greninja, the more you're ripping your stop, the deeper you get, and obviously, there's an exception, like, if you can knock out a two prizer, for sure, like, not speculative, not like a catcher heads or anything, like, maybe play, you can play the catcher preemptively, for example, if you rip heads, evolve everything, knock them out. But you need to take two. Your first attack has to take two. Or else you're gonna lose the game. So, I waited, he took a prize, I popped my Fez, took the knockout, light work. Game 2 my deck is terrible, so after he took the knockout, I I didn't see an energy off like 10 cards. And then I lost, and then game 3, I rolled him. Pretty standard. And then round 3, playing as Kobe, he was playing the best Goldengo list in the tournament, so not much I could do. You know, it's pretty flippy, who wins, you know. 50 50, he got me, so 2 1. And then and then round four, I played against a Lax, and I actually had a very, very big oversight going into this tournament. I kind of thought Klefki just like auto won Lax, and then my opponent, he attached a tool, and I was feeling really smug, because I had the Klefki active, right? And then he attached a mist, and I was like, oh, this completely foiled my whole game plan, like I thought I was going to be able to Klefki pop the Ogre Pawn, and then Palkia. But luckily, like, he was under Klefki lock, but he never pennied his Rotom, like, he just forgot or something, I have no clue, so I just boss killed it at some point, killed the Rotom, and then we went back to whatever, like, we were just sitting there, and I Cologne'd, knocked out his Ogre Pawn, and then It was pretty easy from there, like, if you get the Rotom prize, You win the game, most of the time in that matchup, and then game two, I won that game too fast, I won that game in like 15 minutes, and then, And Game 2 doesn't bench Rotom at all, and I I played too scared. I was like really trying to stall him out and 1 0 him, but it took I had 35 minutes to like get through, so it was it was looking dicey, and I I used my switch to get into Klefki, thinking like, oh, that'll turn off his Rotom, which will make the game take longer. But like, using my switch like that was like Pretty terrible because the next turn, he literally just Miss Fortune Sears my and then my hand is like, one card. He like, Zerosis Like, my hand gets a three, he Zerosics me, I play a couple cards, and I'm at one card. And he pass, I draw for turn, pass again, he Eeries me at two cards, and I topped at Cologne that turn. And I was like, I just discard the Cologne. I was like, what? What is He I don't know if, like, maybe I have, like, a tell or something, like, maybe my eyes, like, lit up, like, I don't know, I have no clue, like, maybe I flashed my hand or something,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 34:12

can hear your heart pounding, bro, as soon as you rip that cologne.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 34:15

I have no clue how he knew, but I had to discard Cologne, I'd already lost Pat, I was like, oh, no, I just lost a Kobe, like, am I gonna have to go 2 2, and then, like, you know how, like, the last match was pretty flippy, well, this match was even flippier, because I had to, like, not deck out with Sylene for, like, damnit. My opponent estimated it was 15. I don't think it was that many Sylenes, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I can't lie, it might have been 15. I, I just had to get, I could never double tails, because then I would lose the pad, and I would just deck out. And I just managed to keep, like, Sylening for pad, pad two cards, doing that over and over again for 35 minutes. And I got a 1 0. I think that matchup's actually pretty good. I think I kind of pe like, I overthought it because I was trying to 1 0 him. Like, if I didn't use my switch into Klefki and just, like, killed Snorlaxes when they came up, I think I could get there easier. And I was actually I wasn't didn't have to purely 1 0 him. If I got like, the game ended in a 1 0, but if if I flipped another two heads on Seilene, I actually had I had him. Like, I could have taken all six prizes,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 35:13

Dude, I saw that, bro. You had like no energy left, so even when you double heads on one of them, you like, couldn't

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 35:18

I had to grab Switch just to hit him for 200 with Palkia and then Palphad. It was so bad. I don't think I mismanaged that that hard. The Mist fan is actually very potent. I thought, like, in my testing, I thought I was the only one gonna be playing Mist, and I also just didn't consider it, so I thought that, like, I was always gonna be able to Clefki away all the tools, but when the fan stuck with the Mist the energy just got stuck on my Goldango, and it was just a hassle. The Turo is a clutch add, though. If I didn't have Turo, I would just lose every time. So anyways, round 5, Aiden Maridon, and game 1, he benches Raichu pretty early, and then uses Super Rod to like, increase his Generator Rods. So I like, have the game locked up, if I just like, hit it catcher heads, I can Turo out my Fez, and like, that's the game. But, I double tails on catcher, so I can't kill the Raichu, but, so I'm like cooked, I just like, Turo the Fez anyways, just for fun, and knock him out. And then, he Arvins, and looks through his whole deck. He has he's used two generators, he's got two prides left. He looks through his whole deck, and then he just like, sighs like five times, and then like, just grabs something random and like, passes. And I was like, no gen? And he goes, they're he like, taps both his prides, he goes, they're both in there, and I just knock him out. And he and he's so mad. And then game two, he like, doesn't make that mistake and end up using the rod early, but He mis sequenced, I don't know if he mis sequenced, I don't know his hand, but this just can't have been right. He Raichu'd on four, and then I just he had no energies on board, so his hope was I was gonna knock out his Raichu, and he was gonna like boss with the Ursuluna and kill the Fez, and I was just digging for the Turo. I miss it, but I realized like he doesn't have any energy on board, so then I just like Codebreaker for the Turo on top, and just pass, and then he just has to, has to Raichu, use the first attack, and then I, Turo, knock him out, and he just loses, right? So, 4 1. And then I played Alex Kreckler, who was playing Judge in his in his Raging Bull, which made it really dicey, because I'm addicted to stacking my deck with Codebreaker, like, I was doing, like, I was doing crazy work to him with my Codebreakers, and he would just go, like, Judge, knockout, and then, one game I just drew out of it, I owned him, the next game, he, I did not draw out of it, and he owned me, and game three, he Judges me into, like, the complete nuts, I prized Aroma that game, So I was only having one dango at a time, but I had a bunch on the bench, a bunch of gimmies, and I drew Aroma off the prize. He judges me, and my hand is like, SCR, like, Energy, Aroma, and like a stretcher for another Energy. And like, I literally don't even draw for turn, I just show him the four cards, and he goes like, Can you play it out for me? I was like, yeah, sure, no worries. I attach, like, I already have Fez on the bench, I like Aroma for two of the dangos, and then he's like, Oh, you have Fez too? Nah, you're good. And Signs of slip. And then, oh,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 37:59

I give Alex a lot of respect for that moment. I was watching over Bon's shoulder because I think I was out at this point. I was spectating. And yeah, I think it took me a while to just kind of accept that this deck will like never miss the knockout, right? Like, you know, when you're playing from the other end, you're always like, bro, what if I like duck the Fez? What if I like, you know, disruption, KO, remove one of the dangos? Doesn't matter, bro. Like, you know. Wait, once you see all that,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 38:26

The first knockout is extremely sus. Like, finding all the vessels and stuff to take the first

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 38:29

yeah,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 38:30

very scary.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 38:32

When the SERs aren't, like, a guaranteed four, it's, you know, there's some question, right? But yeah, I thought, only three games, and he was able to see how that hand was a lock? Props to him, bro, that was

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 38:46

No, once you saw, like, I turned the fez. I didn't even, like, start to draw. I turned the fez on my bench. He goes, ah, nah, you got

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 38:52

yeah, yeah,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 38:56

And then I played against a South American Raging Bull player, and he got me game one, because I hit catch I hit everything, like, I was doing everything, like, right, and then I, like, looked at my discard pile, and I, like, SCR, like, I don't think this matters, like, the fact that he didn't know that I didn't have the knockout, but I assumed my SCR was getting four energies, and it was only getting three, and and I was like, oh, I guess I just, I lose, but, like, I couldn't have, like, sequenced anything differently, like, it was just cooked, I, I just didn't see any

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 39:20

you were already maxing for energies, I assume, right? And

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 39:23

exactly. So, I, like, it was just, it was like an embarrassing moment, but it wasn't, like, it didn't matter, like, I was, I missed the knockout, right, and then game two and three I just rolled him because, like, that much It's good, like, the deck, the deck is built to work 2 out of 3 games. Like, in those, like, beastic matchups, you just, like, play 3 games consistently because you're fast enough, and one game, you'll just, like, randomly miss the knockout. Oh, also, I got extremely lucky game 3, I, like, didn't have 5 minutes to knock out a Raging Bull, so I had to drill a Catcher Heads and kill the Squawk. Heh, yes. I could not believe what I was doing in those games, like, so dicey, and then my round 8 opponent, he was, we were 6 1 at this point, and he sits down, and he's like man, I'm just happy to make day 2 at this world, and I was like, ah, it's over, I don't even care what he's playing, like, I'll win, like, he's like, I've accomplished my goal, I was like, lit bro,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 40:13

Bro, bro, bro has to split off the gas at this point, right? You're in the driver's seat now.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 40:18

And then he's playing Gardevoir, which like, my best matchup anyways. And, like, he draws bad too, and I'm hitting the nuts, like, I'm like doing crazy stuff, like. Oh man, it was like one of the most brutal 2 0's, like, I've ever seen. I was done in like 10 min actually, it was not the most brutal 2 0, because that happened to me, round 12. But, it was like the most brutal 2 0 I'd seen up to that point. I was feeling pretty good, 7 1. I look I sit down, and it's day two, right, I'm like feeling pretty good, like 7 1, I have to win 3 to make cut, 2 to make cash, like, how could we miss cash at this point? It's a lock. Must be. Sit down, play against the Thorns. Game one I draw so insanely good that he literally like afterwards he's like shaking his head he's like man, Goldango's a bad matchup and I was like I guess so. I was actually only testing that ladder on matchup and sorry that matchup on ladder and it was like 50 50 but I assume that like it's worse in person or like against people who are good because like a lot of those wins were like They wouldn't they would just like not bench a Thorns out of laziness, and then I'd just like, Cologne and like, set up and knock them out. And so yeah, I kind of did that to him, and I I got him, right? And in game two, the legacy energy goes crazy. Like, I I get through three Thorns just fine. And my last prize is my last SCR, and then I have access to like, whatever I want, because I have Codebreaker, Stop, but I just don't have enough energies to take the knockout. And then he just like knocks me out and I lose, right? So the fourth Thorn got me. And then game three, oh, by the way, he didn't mulligan a single time this whole series. The game three, once again, he's such a chill, he was actually a chill guy. He literally told me, he's like, I was like, I wasn't complaining, was like, man, it's crazy. I've mulliganed so much whole tournament, I haven't mulliganed once against you. You, he's like, do you want to pick the seven? He literally let me take his deck and just pick the seven cards he's drawing. And I did, just, just because I thought it was funny. Of course, he literally flips over, I got Thorns again. Great. And then I have like five my hand is completely nuts. I Pokestop. I have like three energies and an SCR in hand. I Pokestop away like two energies turn one. Great. Then he does whatever. He attaches and passes. I then Pokestop again. And I just need to discard I have Stretcher in hand too, so I just need to discard Dango or or Aroma. By the way, I could just have the Supporter in hand too. That that would also just work. I I have, like, a million Alice. I stop, discard more energies, but no Dango. Great. He doesn't bump the stop again and knocks me out. And at this point, I just promote the the other game on my bench, and I have, like, another draw, and then Stop to see if I can hit it, right? Still no supporter off the draw, and then the stop doesn't hit a Dango or a Roma, and now he bumps the stadium. Oh, and then I use my stretcher to get the gimme back, because the stadium, there's a lost city. He just knocks me out, and still a Dango wins me the game, but there's no stadium in play, so I just have to raw draw it. I miss it, I just get knocked and lose the game. Great. 7 2. I came in with buffer. No worries, you know? No big deal. Play

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 43:07

that out of your system. You're going to be fine now.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 43:09

Yeah, exactly, like, no worries, you know? Like, I had a million outs, my deck is lit. Oh well, no worries, right? Ah, dude, I play

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 43:16

We knew we could take a loss, we could take one.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 43:18

yeah, exactly, yeah. Playing a Selugia with no Chinchino. I was like, no Chinchino. Lit. What I didn't account for is that means his deck just works. It works immaculately. I start Palkia, go second, I don't have a way to get out turn one, and he just hands me for three before the game even like starts, you know? Like, turn two, I'm getting hands for three. I was like, all right, well, that's that's a little bad. I'll try to figure this out, right? And so, I make things work, right? But, he plays Flutterbane, and he's like the most competent Lugia I've ever played against. Like, I'm Turrowing, and like, managing my bench really well, so it's literally three dangos the whole time, and then at some point he's like, wait, I can't get around this like, Turrow spam, like, Turrow, pad, Turrow, like, ah, this is like, really annoying. He just takes a break, and just goes like, Flutter, 90, which is like, completely checkmate, because then you can just use the bear to take a knockout at any point on one of the two dangos, and I was like, man, this guy he's a knower, he's not playing Ciccino, like. Francisco, or I don't remember his last name, Francisco though, you got me man. He got me game one, and then game two, complete brick, he just runs me over. I was like, what is going on dude? Like, he has lone Lugia, and I just completely brick, and then he just evolves, and just blows me up, I lose. Fine. Game, I was like, whatever. I can, I can still make a run for cash, no worries, you know. Next game, I play against the Lugia, he's playing 3 3 to Chino, so obviously, light work. No big deal. 3 3 Genchino. I got him in, he got me in one of the games in the middle. The Genchino's like, when the deck works, it does beat you, right? Like, if you have 2 2 Genchino out, and you just never really miss, you win. But, game one and three, I kind of showed, like, like, the weakness of his deck. I took the first two prizes. I went second against every single Lugia I played, by the way. All three sets, and I still just stole a game going second. It was, it was fine, because the Genchino list doesn't work. And then, last round of the tournament, I'm sitting next to Cameron Kawasaki, and he's playing a Sazarin, you know, and I was like, oh that's pretty lit. My opponent's taking a while shuffling. I was like, oh, I wonder what he's playing. Oh, flips over at Thorns. Lovely. I I get 2 0'd in 10 minutes.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 45:19

No mulligans, yeah, no mulligans.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 45:21

No, no, no, he Game 1, no Mulligan. Game 2, it was the first out of 5 games against Thorns that they Mulliganed. And I mulligan I mulliganed first, so I only got one of the two mulligans he had. I was like, lit. Lost in ten minutes. The whole time he was playing Legacy, I was like, this is so fake. This is fake. The guy I lost to is fake. These are like the worst Thornsless ever, bro. Give me give me the guy. Sefuentes, bro. Oh my god. Anyways, that was my world. It's 8 4.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 45:49

legacy energy in day 2, yeah.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 45:51

I guess. Oh, yeah, I did. Yeah, yeah, I did. Yeah. Oh my god, I didn't play a single Drago or Zard if you guys could notice from my run, which is, I think Zard matchup I think Kobe, he messed up in his set, Game 2, I mean, we talked about it, he messed up a little bit, but, that matchup, it's only bad if they played the Thornton DTE, if they're not playing both of those cards, it's like, pretty, pretty reasonably, pretty good, but, all the good players were playing at least Thornton, and then the DTE is like, some, was like 50 50, so. And then Drago, if they cut the Radzard, like like two of the top eight listed, that matchup is like 70 30. If they if they have the Radzard in, it's it's dicey. It's like, probably like just hard 50 50. I think it's slightly favored, but that might be Cope. That's that's obviously like, you know. I I I I I was looking forward to play Drago, that's all I'll say. It's like, even with the Radzard, I was confident that I was I was gonna get it done.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 46:41

All right, Cam, you ready to give it to us?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 46:43

Sure I played the same 60 as Halliburton. I played the Regidrago with Radiant Gardevoir, which was like a trash card. But round one I played against a Mirror. And that was like the first, like, I realized, like, I thought playing to a 1 0 was, like, Super fake, because I tried it at like a 1k, and then I just noticed, and it felt like this, like everyone, especially in the early rounds of playing the mirror, like everyone was playing so slow, because they were just trying to like, manage their resources so well, so this game did, I, you know, he couldn't close it out in, in in three turns in game two and I was like, oh, I guess, I guess everyone's just gonna, maybe everyone's just gonna play the mirror slow I played against a Blocklax, who the double Cologne that we played came up, and, so it's very similar to last year, I mean, both, both last year and this year, like, there were times where I was like, man, I'm one card off. Let me Genesect for one last year, or let me Teal Dance for one. And I was just like, Teal Dance, draw one, oh, there it is, bang. Cause I was like, I like, burned a cologne, burned a V Star on him, flipped the other cologne, so I was like, I'm done. Oh my god, I have to take, like, the colognes here off the V Star, and I was still missing, I think, E Switch to attack, so I was like, bro, if I just take double cologne, like, I just wasted my V Star, I just wasted a cologne, I'm about to lose to this Block Wax, and I was like, Teal Dance for one? Energy Switch, and then I just started going crazy on him. It was, it was pretty, it was pretty bad. Like, I just kind of, like, got bailed out there. And I was like, oh, I just, I played, like, even in my mind, I was like, I played this turn one, turn two so poorly, but I just got bailed out by the E Switch topdeck. So I guess, I guess we take

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 48:23

makes me so mad, dude, I didn't hear about this, this is my first

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 48:26

No, no, no, no, no, no, cause I, cause I already, already tested the Blockaxe matchup. And even after, like, mid turn one, I was like, what am I doing? Or mid turn two, I was like, what am I doing? I just played this so bad. Like, I, I know how to approach this and I did it. So poorly, but I got bailed out by the thing and then when I beat him game one, he like asked to judge how much time was left and he's like, nah, you got it, don't worry about it. Well, cause there's like 20, there's like 21 minutes left and he's like, he's, he like thought about it for like a second and he's like, nah, nah, let's, let's go eat. I was like, alright,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 48:56

that's that's so valid. Props to that guy.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 48:58

this guy's the people's champion, yeah, I appreciate that.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 49:01

My guy made me hit like 15 Sylene heads, bro. What the hell?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 49:04

Heheheheh and then I played against a Regidrago. I won the coin flip again, so I was like, oh I'm feeling money, I actually had to like V Star early and then it kind of burned me, but yeah, game 2 I won cause I went first and I didn't miss a beat, and game 3, he was the one to miss, so. I was luckily, luckily came out on top of that. Played another Dragomir lost the roll on that, lost win tie. We just, we, I actually got it in like turn 3 of time. So I forced the tie, so at that point I'm 3 0 1. I played against a Lugia, and I was like, Oh yes, like Radiant Gardevoir, this is like exactly what this is here for. And then he just like 2 0 rolls me because I don't draw anything, and he's just like, Ultra Ball double chops both games, like, blow you up. I was like, oh, cool. Oh, like, and then the first game, like, I get down Radiant Gardevoir, and then he just, like, weirdears me right away. I, and then, like, I just, like, fumble from there. And then game two, I can't even get the Radiant Gardevoir out. And then he just blows me up. And then, like, at that point, I'm 3 1 1. I play against someone who I played against last year Antoine Boulet, or Twanlay, they do a lot of the translations on Twitter. I played them against them last year, I played against them this year. Game 1, they like, donk my only Drago with Moridon. And you know, I'm like, okay, well, this is, this is not going well, I, this actually might be the end of my run. Open my hand for Game 2, start Radiant Gardevoir, bench Hawlucha, attach to it, and pass. And I'm like Okay, this is, this is definitely over, like, and, I don't like the, I don't want to get into it too much, but like, the craziest thing happens next to my table, like, Sammy Sakoum, like, calls a judge on the opposing player, wants a deck check,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 50:46

Wait, that was Saimi Sakum that story's about?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 50:49

yeah, the story's about

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 50:50

Oh my, oh my god, that actually, like, that's ten layers to it, what? You never said that.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 50:56

So, yeah, I didn't realize until afterwards, because I looked so Sammy Sakum calls like a judge on a person, because the person's deck is warped like refuses to play the game, because he's like, I'm adamant something's wrong with this guy's deck, like, I want a deck check, or I'm not playing, and this is like, and this is happening, like, when I'm breaking game two, so I'm like, I'm already like in shambles, like I'm already falling apart. And then, like, The judge comes over, tells him that they deck checked the Thai guy, there's no, like, pattern, so they're giving him a warning. But, like, Sammy Sikoum's deck, they checked his deck too, and his deck is marked, and they're giving him a game loss for it. And he's, like, flipping out, he's, like, he's facing my ear, and, like, crying about it. And I'm like, I don't mean it, like, in a bad way, like, I would be, like Over, you know, I would be like flipping out too if my end was run to my end, my run was ended like that too. But he's like facing my direction because the judge is in between us, like crying the entire time and I'm like trying to piece together this magical comeback against Rhydon after like getting no Regidrago Vs down turn one and somehow I get it because the guy started Iron Hands, prized his Prime Catcher. So I get out of game two and then game three. Like once again they low roll, so I get them but the entire time, like, I take like a minute for the Legacy Star, I like apologize to my opponent, he's like, no, no, I took like a long time too in that last turn, cause this, this, this, whatever's happening to the, the left of us is like going crazy and then I play against a Dragapult, 2 0 them just because I, I Dragon Bolt too except mine's a, he, he never actually attacked with Dragon Bolt, I think the entire game. But I attacked a couple times with Dragon Bolt with, with Drago. So yeah, don't, don't, don't play Dragon Bolt play Reggie Drago if you wanna, you know, do 200 and put six damage counters somewhere. And then I played against the Reggie Drago mirror again in my win in Japanese guy. Looked him up afterwards. Apparently he like won Champions League, ichi. And it was weird like after I beat him, I beat him game 1 and then game 2 was like the only time Radiant Gardevoir like for sure came up as like something really strong. I like lost Impacted put down Radiant Gardevoir, he had already burned oh he didn't even burn the V Star, I think that was his mistake in game 2. He was knocking out my own he was taking the first knockout, and my board looked pretty weak in my hand, like, he asked for my hand size, and I was like, three cards, and, but then I didn't have, like, an energy on the other bench Regidrago, and he only had one Regidrago V Star out, and I was like, if I was in his spot, I would just pop the V Star, trying to find the second Drago V, but I think he just thought, like, my hand was so weak, that he's like, ah, I'll save the V Star, like, knockout, lost impact, go ahead, and then I was like, Instantly I was like bench Fez research, and then he's like and then he like realized that that might be a mistake and I just like hit the impact off of that. He, he had no V on the bench so like I was able to get up on him a turn and then I was able to close it out there. So I think, I don't know if it was like like a mistake on his hand or like a calculated risk that I just wouldn't hit the impact, but that definitely bit him in game two. And so I go into day two at 6 1 1. Next round, I hit a mirror, I win the flip, I win, I lose, I win, kind of just like the standard, I win the roll against Drago game, and then round 10, I get my rematch against Vance Kelly You know, and I'm sitting at like, table 6, Kobe Kawasaki sits next to me at table 7, and we like, look at each other, and we're like, oh yeah, oh yeah, this is where we need to be. You know, you look down, and you're like, oh, there's all the top players, we're right here. Vance Kelly gets called, pulled away after a deck check for like 30 minutes I don't want to get into it, because I don't really even know what happened he's a nice guy, I've, you know, like, I don't think he was doing anything wrong, he ends up with a game loss. And then like, game two, he goes first, he beats me, and then game three, it was like the first time, and it was like, clipped in my mind that like, Viridian Gardevoir was way worse than Zard, because I missed energy, so like, turn two, or like, to attack two turns in a row, I have to double E switch, to los Yeah, yeah, Dragomir, yeah, like, I didn't get an attach, turn one at all, anywhere, so I have to like, double E switch back to back turns just to impact and stay ahead, and then like, I have nothing for the next turn because, you know, I don't have a Radzard, and then he uses that extra turn to blow me up and, like, that's where I was like, oh man, like, Radzard actually would have just won me the game because I had, like, the Gust Fire in hand, and I was like, oh, this just feels so bad. And like that, it kind of got like, not like chippy, but like Vance started calling me on like looking at my discard. And there was like a judge right there who was like assigned to watch our game because we started late. And, you know, it was all no hard feelings afterwards, but you could just feel like that's when everyone's tension was starting to rise a bit. Like, everyone's, you know, you're seeing the last couple rounds, everyone's in it. But we were all good afterwards, you know. We talked about it afterwards, we were all good. And then round 11 happens, I play against William Acevedo. And at some point,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 55:53

I love him.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 55:55

I know why, because at some point in the game, like, I think he wins game one, because I was feeling like, oh, okay, like, like, Zard, this isn't, like, impossible, I start Teal Mask, and I'm like, okay, like, whatever, like, he'll hit me with Zard or something, and I'll, I'll go off next turn. And the next turn, like, he pushes the NTV, he drops the NTV, like, Zard's to it, literally has no energy on his. On his charr DX, because he attached two to the V and then one to the active that he had to retreat and like, yeah. And then it's like, NTA V is my teal mask. And I'm like, oh, shoot. Like that was like the E switch target that I thought I was gonna, or maybe I had another teal mask with the grass, but I was like, oh, okay. I lost two, couldn't answer it. And then he. Has Pidgeot up, bosses up another, another Teal Mask, BANG! Takes four prizes with the Entei, I'm like, oh my god, I'm in shambles. And like, he has benched another Charmander, so I'm like, Well, like, it's almost checkmate if he just has the Pidgeot up because he either, like, if I go after the Charmander, he just, like, Bosses again or, he goes like Rare Candy Charizard and at that point, like, his Zard would just knock out my Drago so I just scooped it up. Game 2 yeah, NTV takes another 4 prizes, so NTV just like, took 8 prizes over 2 games, just like, rocked my world but in between game 1 and 2, like, I'm pile shuffling. And he tells me not to pile shuffle, and then it like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 57:18

he got him.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 57:19

he asks me not to pile shuffle, and there's like a judge like standing behind him, and so he hears, and he like hears there's like a little bit of a dispute, so he's kind of like listening, I tell him like, no, like, I'm gonna pile shuffle, we have a minute and thirty four set up, like we're going back and forth, it gets real chippy, and like, And, you know, you know me, I die on the hill of pile shuffling, so I'm like, real, you know, you hit my sensitive spot, I'm like, no, no, no, no, I can pile shuffle, bro, I know the rules, we're going at it, but at the end he, after the, you know, I 2 0'd, I, you know, I wasn't gonna be salty about it, like I said, you know, sorry, and he apologized too, like, he said, like, you know, end of the round, we're getting a little chippy, like, winning in for cash here, or potential winning in for cash, so, um, that, you know, that was the end of my cash run. Played against an Ancient Box I made a wet

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 58:06

The, the pile shuffling is the hill I want to die on is a crazy thing.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 58:10

I'll die on it bro, I'll die on it.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 58:12

hills you can die on and that's the one.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 58:14

I was like, oh, you're gonna tell me not to pile shuffle? Like, nah bro. HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 58:23

Like, actually calling him out, ah, yes!

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 58:26

no, and then at the end of game two, like, cause he's like, I handed my deck to him before game before game two, before he handed me to his deck and I was like, bro, like, you're complaining about the shuffling thing, like, you're still shuffling so I don't know why you're complaining about the Pah shuffle and then like, at the end of game three, or end of game two, nearing the end, I like, The judge who's still standing behind him was like, Hey, you wanna get the head judge? Because, like, I'm about to power shuffle if I happen to win this game. And William's like, no, no, no, no, it's all good.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 58:56

then he got two votes, that is

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 58:57

No, no, no, no, no, I said, I literally said, like, I don't know if I'm gonna win, but I may win here. Like, you might wanna call a head, you should call a head judge. And then

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 59:07

nah, don't call him bro, I got it.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 59:09

no, no, no, no, no, no, And then he said, I mean, maybe he knew that he was gonna win, but he was like, Cause I owned him to two, so he had, like, nothing. And he's like, no, no, no, it's all good, like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 59:16

Fez, knockout.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 59:18

he's like, I don't want any beef, it's all good, like, I'm not trying to fight. And then he, he goes, FAST, knockout, BANG, wins the game, I'm like, AHHH, the ultimate BM got me, cooked me, shook me up, like, I was like, aw, man. See,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 59:38

but he just knew like, you never miss off Fez bro. Fez is too lit. What?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 59:43

and then I played my last round against an Ancient Box, like, I sat down, probably, Liam Halliburton would say, this is a low ore move. I was like, I sat down, I was like, Hey, do you want an ID? Like, I don't care, this doesn't matter to me. And he's like, oh, what? Like, why don't you care? And I was like, oh, we're not, we're out of cash contention. I don't care if I'm like, 50th or like, 90th. Like, it just doesn't matter to me. And he's like, oh, well, this is my first and only world. So, and probably my only world. So, like, I want to play it out. He flips over Ancient Box. I was like, okay. Oh, okay, like, this is fine. I set up a 3 He discards all his Ancient Booster Capsules, so I just set up a 3 Pies turn. Kind of wipe, wipe him with Curem, and

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:00:24

that's why it's his only worlds. See,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:00:35

Like I'm not even wearing a watch, I didn't wear a watch the entire time. I'm like, I can already just tell, like a lot of times past he, he has a slow start to Game Two and like, like the second his third turns starts, it's like, time is calling! He just looks at me, I'm like, yeah, my bad, Doug. Hahaha

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:00:50

like, Liam and I, like, think, like, the round you're out is the round that's relevant. Like, like, yeah, Shinoi got that win, now he's ahead of me in the standings, but, like, what was that game?

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:01:01

Dude, that was a, that was a game at a, at a high table leading to a superior outcome.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:01:06

yeah, I don't know what

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:01:07

No, there's no, I mean, and it's worth reiterating because I think we saw it in this tournament. There was some, there was some Twitter about it so it's worth reiterating. I think I've always said they, they keep going like they, Pokemon says they have the tom set up to go to Until they can determine an appropriate top 8. And I've always said, I feel like they should play one more round after that. Because we need like, slightly more fidelity. And, and a good example, and it's happened to Liam at all kinds of tournaments previously, Was the Zac Lissage win and you're in top 8, lose and you're out of top 32. That sucks man. I do feel,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:01:46

for your baby.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:01:47

yeah, I,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:01:48

Oh god, that is good!

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:01:50

all the fun, all the humor of at his expense aside, it's happened to Liam before, and every time it happens I'm like, man, that sucks. like, how can you be in a situation where, where, like a single game is so impactful? Why don't, you know, it'd be good if we played one more round, just to get a little more fidelity in the rankings.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:02:11

it feels a little ridiculous, like the guy who loses a Tord, right? Like, let's say Tord is my knight cut, and they're playing a winning against Tord for top cut. And the other guy who's playing someone who's like, who's a good player, like the person, like, the person who's lower is like, that guy's a good player, sure, but like, I've had I mean, I'm playing that guy instead of Torrid if I for 5k, like, I'd rather that, obviously. Like, the guy who

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:02:30

yeah,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:02:31

for example, he's, like, laughing to the bank. He's like, I gotta play Goldango, and then I beat him in 10 minutes, and I'm at 5k, and then, like, Zach Lissavage is on stream trying to, like, play Winnin loses, and now he's out of the money. Like, that's crazy.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:02:43

Yeah, yeah, that's, there's like a guy on table five and he loses, and a guy on table 11 or table 12 and he wins, and like, oh, you know, apparently that guy's better. It's like, man, I don't know, it's like, it's, it's tough to hear. You would like to, you'd like there to be one more round to just refine that data a little bit.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:03:01

I know someone who would agree, that's Jack Moore. He definitely would agree with that one.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:03:08

No, bro. Jack Moore knows that if you play another round, he's losing.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:03:12

Bubbles out of top 32 two years in a row. Like, I actually, like, that is horrendous. That is horrendous luck. So.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:03:19

They need an asymmetric cut on that bag.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:03:21

mean, if you're gonna win like five grand and then all the stuff on top, like, I'm almost down. I'm almost down, like, cause Cameron Kawasaki bubbled out I think a top 32 he had like a 9 3

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:03:32

There just needs to be a finite number of bags, right? And like, and like, they can't have the cash, like, I don't think they would be down to give out another 45k, right? Out of,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:03:40

sure, but like, if you have the same record as these guys, if the drop off is from like 5 grand, all this extra stuff, like a promo card, a bag, a hat that you could probably sell for another Thousand dollars, two

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:03:53

Promo card, you can frame, right, you can frame.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:03:56

yeah, a promo card you can frame and then you're like, oh, thanks for showing up to 33rd and beyond, like, maybe you should.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:04:03

think 12 rounds just felt terrible. I don't know, like, maybe, like, maybe I'm biased, like, if I just went like 2 and, or like, got to go 10 1 1 and made cut, I'd be like, oh, 12 rounds was fine, bro. The right person made cut, but like, I don't know. Like,

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:04:18

Winner's gotta win. Winner's gotta win. But I, it's, it's a tough thing to hear. It's a tough thing to hear. Alright I know we've been going for an hour and seven minutes, but I did want to hear

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:04:31

It's the

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:04:31

I'm sure you guys have been scrutinizing, you guys have been scrutinizing the Twitternet and seeing all the Regidrago lists that did better than you guys. Are there, besides Gardevoir being fake, are there other things that you look at and you say, oh, those guys somehow figured out how to make Regidrago work in a way that you guys did not?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:04:51

No, I actually, if I, if I switch the The radiant Garver for radiant art. I'm not sure I knew like, maybe Clefa is an inclusion.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:05:00

I've told Shenoy I would 100 percent play the Cleffa. I thought the Cleffa

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:05:03

I, I drew, I drew nice enough that it didn't, I, I didn't need it. So

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:05:08

Yeah, maybe.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:05:09

So I, I never felt the need for clefa. Maybe I just like high rolled this, the junk outta this tournament. I mean, I kind of had to, to get to, to where it was. But I think that was the only other change I would make. And

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:05:18

think I'm more

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:05:19

think it makes a lot of sense. We don't have, like, a good one price shove, and like, a lot of those matchups, like Raging Bolt and especially Gold Dango when I was playing a bunch with Avon, Right, like, going into a 1 prizer on turn 1 feels like super awkward, because then you have to get out of it, and it's like such a hassle. Whereas this Kletha, like, sets you up for turn 2, and it's a Free retreater, right? Like, it makes the 1 prize shove like so much easier on turn 1.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:05:42

I

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:05:43

I think Cleffa was bad with like, Monkey, right? Like, when Guardi was a thing, and like, when that 30HP era was like, really terrible, that's when Cleffa felt the worst, but like, we're like, in this beatstick format again? Ah, Cleffa's lit.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:05:54

just

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:05:55

Yeah, I mean,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:05:57

I don't know where I would've cut it though, is the issue. Like, I really, I really liked Double Cologne in my, I mean it just came up for me in certain

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:06:04

I agree, I thought Double Colon was a good call, I think the spot would have to come from somewhere else. I don't know exactly where, but

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:06:10

Yeah, that's the thing, I don't know where

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:06:11

Really? I thought Double Cologne, it's like, a very nice card to have, especially if you're having to play against a lot of Thorns, but like, I thought the Thorns matchup was fine with one Cologne. I thought the Lax matchup, the Lax matchup is the one where it's like, the second Cologne goes crazy, but I think Lax has kind of fallen off a little bit, right?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:06:26

Yeah, like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:06:27

what it made the match, like, that's why I like it right now.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:06:30

I thought, like, if you consider the card, like, you know, it significantly changes the lax matchup from, like, bad to amazing, right? It's, like, a concretely good card for, like, a single matchup, and then it's also, like, a consistency bump against, like, everything that's playing Clefky right now which is, like, Gardevoir and Thorns, right? But, like, Those are, yeah,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:06:50

Yeah, yeah,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:06:51

But like, those are, those are two significant significant decks. Like, Garde and Thorns receiving, like, a considerable bump. Even if they're already, like, fine or good matchups without it. It's like, you know, it's nice to play a, it's always nice to play a card that answers block lacks and bumps your other matchups. Like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:07:08

yeah, yeah, the collateral aspect is like the lit part. I think my, my question though, moving forward to you guys, like, cause I didn't play that much Draugr. I was kinda, I kinda knew I was never gonna play Draugr for Worlds. Like, some part of me wanted to, but then like, deep down I was like, I'm not practiced enough on this deck. I don't think I'm gonna play it for the event. Is it in a good spot moving forward? Like, I think it's so scary, all these like beatsticks, like, I don't want to play into Raging Bull, Meridon, the new Dark deck. I don't want to play any of these matchups with with any list, even with the Radzard. I thought the Radzard, a lot of the good players were cutting Radzard, and like, even the ones who had it, like, they just kind of got ran over, right? Like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:07:39

that's the, that's the second thing, I guess, it doesn't work against Roaring Moon, but, like, cutting second pull for Goudra to give yourself spots. Against those decks as well. On top of the red zd, it was like, okay, if you're gonna play Red Zd and Gura and set up like some, some knockouts, like it's probably still not

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:07:58

They're not able to bundle around it, you think? Like, oh, Oh, maybe that's the, Cleffa.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:08:01

but no, but the thing is like the, the clef is good there and like I was so surprised. So when we were testing rage Bull, like we were playing this iron bundle for stretcher list that was just like, like. The one prizer that you push in the active or whatever, like, it just is so fake because I just Dumble Bundle around it, or I Bundle, like, Pokemon Catcher, like, we just ended, I looked at these bolt lists and no one's playing Bundle. And I was like, oh, so like, like, if you don't flip the Pokemon Catcher head or you just don't find the Pokemon Catcher and they, like, Goudra, like, in so much trouble.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:08:34

I thought about a lot of lists of this tournament. I think that our, our internal group had, like, the best list of, like, four different decks. Like, genuinely, it was like weird playing some of these matches at Worlds where I was like, Man, your list is just so bad. Like, I thought, I was like shocked that some of the Lugias were playing against us, because I was used to playing against like, Liam, like, playing against like his NAIC list, which is honestly better than most of the lists I played against at Worlds. And I was like, it was like really jarring actually seeing these like decks not set up at all. And I was like, this is not what I'm used to.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:09:05

I mean the the Thornton DT list

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:09:08

Oof, I'm sorry this

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:09:09

like we we were on it It was like basically the same exact list as like a lot of those I don't think we had the NTV so like they had like the extra tech But if we had tested more on Zard like maybe we get there right like we

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:09:22

Nah, bro. I thought Azevedo's list was better, and Tord's list was better. Tord's list, I I think he had the best art

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:09:29

They cleared our list, for sure. I'm just saying that we had like a very, very, like, good internal list. I think our

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:09:34

Yeah, no,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:09:34

better than the guy top 8 ed, for sure. By the way, I think our bullet list was way better than that.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:09:39

yeah, and so I just see Like, Goudra and Zard, if these aggressive decks, maybe, it doesn't matter against Warring Moon because they just do the thing, they knock you out but maybe it gets you there enough unless they start putting in bundle.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:09:56

We can talk about this more next week, but do you guys have any thoughts about Baltimore? I've been thinking about it a little bit, but

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:10:01

I've already said I'm playing a Pidget EX deck for Baltimore, and the testing has already started. Garde with Pidget? Not good, but let's see what everything else

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:10:11

Regidrago with Pidgeot up

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:10:17

actually, I was thinking about it a lot, and I don't see the problem with Maridon. I I'm probably not going to play Mariner on myself, but like, man, Jesse Parker's list, like, it feels good. Like, a lot of ideas in there were just like, I can't believe it. Like, two Squawk, two Sealstone. I was like, this is so redundant. Like, cards that literally, by definition, can only be used once, and his list is just like, wow, Mariner, when it plays, just wins the game no matter what. And like, I thought that was just really interesting. I think the other list I was thinking about from World's, like, Or, is the Marcos Cifuentes, you know, the better Cifuentes brother, the, the, the GOAT.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:10:52

Oh, the list I posted in the Discord, the the

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:10:54

yeah, I was looking at that before, too, with the secret box, oof, he did you guys hear that? He beat Derek, and then after he beat Derek, he was like, yo, you, you went too aggressive here. Like, you just need to, like, hold back and, like, make sure both hands are powered before you go into Roxanne range. And Derek's like, ah, oh my god, Marcos Cifuentes masterclass. Dude, I'm next on the Marcos Fuentes chopping block. We got Liam at NAIC, Derrick at Worlds.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:11:20

I thought,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:11:22

Oh, and I think we should, like, the other list our group played and they're not, like, no one from our group who played it is on this podcast, is, like, three of us played Goldango, three of us played Regidrago, and then three of us Derek Hu, Jordan Dumoulin, and Liam Hyatt all played Miraidon, but they ended up playing the Dusknoir. I don't know if it's, like, not as good because all the Miraidons that did well did not play Dusknoir. But Liam Hyatt got top 32, Jordan Dumoulin, like, low rolled into two Zards on his winning end. So like, another deck that, I think we were like, we were close to playing. I think we were all actually very close to playing.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:11:56

Dusknoir is it's a victim of internal testing. It's, you need the Dusknoir to beat a lot of these matchups, like, internally, but in practice, like, Maraudon's just a good enough deck that it just runs over, like, a lot of these decks, like, and you don't need Dusknoir at all. You just need to, you just, you just need your deck to function, right? Like, we thought Zard was super important, right? And we're like, oh, if you need to beat Zard, you need Dusknoir, like, to have a chance, but, like, I was, like, listening to Jesse Parker's interview, and he's like, man, I just hope I dodge the Zard. I was like, okay, well, that's way better. That's a way better plan.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:12:24

I mean, if you have, if Jordan hits two Zard and like, loses anyways, like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:12:29

Yeah, exactly right. Why? Why put the three coat?

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:12:33

So, guys, If you had to run it back, what deck would you play?

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:12:38

Oh, easily the, you know, the deck that I was, I wanted to free roll, which is Ironthorns. I, like, I don't want to Like, I felt pretty good about our list. I think Polaris felt really good about the list. And then, like, near, like, as we got close to, like, the time, it really felt like, Liam outright said it, he was like, I'll just play whatever you play, Cameron. And then, it felt like Polaris was kinda trending in the same direction, and I was like, Okay, these are two really good players, and like, I just know, like, Liam, if Liam goes out with Ironthorns, Like, I can't hear that. I, I, I just can't, I can't, I can't hear about that afterwards. So, let's just play Drago, like, it'll be the best deck for him. Funnily enough, it ended up the way it did, even though we played Drago. So I think it would definitely have been, it would have been Thorns.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:13:28

The second place raging, er, Roaring Moon list. I think that deck is lit, bro. Like, that deck is

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:13:35

like, but, but like, but you didn't know about it,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:13:37

Yeah. you can't like, or is that the que the question like, with all the lists available now, actually I, I can see it either way.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:13:43

Yeah,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:13:44

Sure. Without the list available now, I wish I played Zard.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:13:46

what you know now, what would you play? So,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:13:49

Ooh, ooh. Yeah. Yeah. Should I like re If that changed your answer, you can

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:13:53

Nah, nah, I'd, I'd

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:13:54

I mean apparently Iron Thorn's kind of, kind of a deck that wins World Championships, so what's

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:13:57

No, it's the kind of, that could lose in top A, but

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:14:00

ho, ho! both!

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:14:04

both, or both, or both.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:14:07

Yeah, dude, I know. I literally told Shinoi, like, basically every day for the week leading up, I was like, Iron Thorns is not the deck to win Worlds. That is not the deck.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:14:15

you were right And you were right. That's the

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:14:17

But

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:14:17

part.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:14:18

You were right and wrong at the same time dude, it's so crazy.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:14:22

It's a crazy world we live in. Bot chain, what would you do, what would you do?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:14:25

I thought, like, if you asked me right after I lost that round to the Thorns, like, 8 4, I would have said, I wish I played my Zard list or something to make that. But now that, when I got to look at the top 8 lists, man, I would have run this tournament if I made cut, like, genuinely. Like, only Thorns was a bad matchup, I would have beat all the Beat Stick decks easily. Two of the Zard, er, two of the Dragoons didn't even have Rad Zard. Yeah, I would've had to like, it would've been a little bit of a struggle if I played Isaiah, specifically, cause I think he's, and I guess Ian's pretty good too, like, Ian and Isaiah, like, the two competent players of Draugr were also playing Radzard, that would've been a dicey one, but I think, I think I would've

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:14:59

Isaiah gets it done,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:00

no, no, I would've won the flip, I would've sacked him, I would've figured it out, you know, and the other,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:15:04

on, Roswulf is super competent bro, don't disrespect

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:07

Radzard, that's why I was just saying, like, it's

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:15:10

Oh, he didn't? Oh, okay. Maybe he was a little quick. I didn't realize that.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:15

He just had the Cleffa, bro. What's that doing,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:15:17

Oh, maybe, okay, maybe I'm wrong, right? Radiant Zard, Radiant Gardevoir beat Radiant Zard in that specific matchup, I guess. Roswulf beat

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:23

he doesn't play either. No, no,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:15:25

Oh, he doesn't play Oh! Oh, what the heck? Oh, okay, nevermind. I'll just stop talking now.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:33

No, that's what I'm saying. So like, with the knowledge of what I, what I saw Top 8 to be, and like what the good players were treading towards, Oh, I would play Dango again. Run it back. I'll just dodge the thorns this time, or just hit a Dango ever. Game 3, win that game, get in the good bracket, win worlds. Easy. No.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:15:49

you'd lose to the Moon player, bro, because

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:52

No.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:15:53

they're gonna hit that, that, they're gonna hit the turn 2 Roaring.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:15:56

no, when you go second, you win like every time, and when you go first, it's like probably a catch your heads. Probably, like, it comes down to a catch your heads

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:02

Do you not have to catch your head, like, both times, bro, like, you think you're just ripping the

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:07

They don't have enough ancient Pokemon, I counted. He literally plays

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:10

They knocked out the Gimmy,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:12

That's fine. Wait, so they take one prize, right? Oh, I see what you're saying.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:16

have to catch your heads.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:18

Oh, they can knock out the ninja. Sure, sure, but you literally can just boss, like, enough. Like, they knock out the ninja, so they're at 4 4. And then you just like, you boss and there's nothing.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:28

You only get to 4 4 if you hit a catch your heads on turn 2, right? Like, you go catch a KO?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:34

said it's one catcher heads. I said like, when you go first, it's like, one catcher heads.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:38

Is that not the same going second?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:39

No, when you go second, you have a supporter. It's like, way easier. It's like, way, way easier.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:16:43

You think you're hitting the boss?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:44

Yeah, it, no, I actually like, genuinely do think that. He played Judge. He played Judge, so that was pretty, it was pretty annoying. Like,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:16:50

split in the cypher? Bro split in the cypher, put in the boss as the second card, hit in the first one, pass. That's what, that's what Yvonne's

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:16:57

Yeah, no, no, Liam's right. The Judge does add layers to it, but. I'm confident I'm getting that done, I'm

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:17:04

He's

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:05

Dude, I felt like

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:17:06

judge me into the

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:06

I felt like the the Raging Bulls matchup would be really bad if the Sandysharks one hit your Gimme Ghouls, or like, not like really bad, but it'd be so much worse than it is, and like,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:17:18

You're right,

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:19

that's literally the same

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:17:20

But, but like that, no no no, but the Bolt matchup's like 70 30, I think like this matchup's like favoured. I think this matchup's closer, but it's like favoured. I think 70 30 was like an overstatement, I think I said that in the chat, that was just wrong. But like, it was like, it's probably like 55 45. That's my thought.

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:34

I don't like it when you have to hit the catchers, bro.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:37

We've been going for a minute 20, I got, you got 30 seconds to answer, we're gonna make it really quickly because we're in the homestretch. Baltimore's next weekend, what do you play?

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:17:50

Dango. It's next week, everyone, I don't have to test. I'm playing Dango.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:17:54

Yeah. I, I, I

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:17:55

I'm playing a Pidgey EX deck, bro. I actually

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:17:59

part of it's just because I, I, I love net testing, new formats. I'm like, already, I'm already interested in testing LEIC format, and like I'm just down to roll the, the Drago, like the potential champion winner, if you know, not for the,

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:18:12

if Baltimore's in a week and a half,

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:18:13

mess up

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:18:14

if I get like an extra half a week, I'm probably playing William Azevedo's exact 60. Or maybe with a DTE somewhere in there. Like, I just need an extra, like, a week and a half turnaround. One week, I'm playing Dango. A week and a half, probably Azevedo.

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:18:27

Yeah. We're already two days into the, the week off. Then we, we can't

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:18:30

all right. No, no, I like that because I think, yeah, I think the question is like, like, how are you thinking about preparing for Baltimore? So, so that's a very fair question. A very fair answer. Liam? Pidgeot?

liam_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:18:43

I, I'm just trying every deck with a Pidget EX right now, and I'm gonna play Pidget EX. I'm playing Pidget EX.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:18:50

So

squadcaster-aafb_1_08-20-2024_150619: 1:18:51

ooh.

squadcaster-7cb0_1_08-20-2024_150651: 1:18:51

bro, we gotta try that. That's next, on the docket.

brent_1_08-20-2024_180640: 1:18:54

Alright, well, I think we can come back with way, way more, but I know that this pod is already too long. But yeah, you guys took some time off when I wasn't around. We're gonna give the people what they want, and that's podcasts. The Jawpulls are our outro. We'll be back next week with, like, the real deep dive on all this nonsense. That was as fast as we could go, I think.