The Trashalanche Pokemon Podcast

Louisville with Henry Chao, Cam, Abaan, Naruto & more!

• Brent Halliburton • Season 1 • Episode 195

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h:

talking about the round structure? Like the 12 rounds? Oh,

Abaan:

Yeah,

Liam:

Yeah, yeah,

Abaan:

Nathan Skinsberg not making, not making it, and same with Shemansky, getting one band after going 4 0 day 2.

h:

yeah, that's obviously

Liam:

X2, one band,

h:

think anyone would agree that that is it should be. I guess the question is, right? Ah!

Abaan:

think it might have been okay if they, like, all made top 16, you know, like, like, okay, it's not okay, but wow, some of them missing top 16 and, like, not getting to play ASIM and just going home with their one band after, like, they didn't really do anything wrong, you know? But, like, going X2, I feel like at some point we have to recognize that there is some variance in the game, and like, there's this argument on Twitter I saw that like, Oh, well, there's 8 people in cut, and top 8 is top 8, like, what's the big deal? But it's like, that would be like, if we just randomly, like, in the old structure, just decided at one point in the tournament, like, alright, who's the people at tables 1 through 4? They're cut now. Like, that's top cut. There's like,

Liam:

think, um, yeah, like, there's too much variance when X1 1 is the cut, right, like, you have to be like 95 percent win rate, right, and like, At that point you just, you have to be high rolling, like, 80 percent win rate across more rounds is like more respectable than 95 percent across fewer rounds, you know what I mean?

Abaan:

of course. if tournament report, like, he talked about it on, um, well, I, not a podcast, because like, we're the only one, but like, just heard it somehow, and uh,

Cameron:

video. YouTube video.

Abaan:

yeah, yeah, and he said like, uh, literally his whole report was like, yeah, like, day one is like, yeah, I set up, then I won, then I set up again, then I won, set up again, then I won, and like, his one loss, he's like, didn't set up, lost. Like,

Cameron:

Hi. I set up once, didn't set up the other time.

Abaan:

yeah.

h:

Yeah, I

Liam:

Yeah. I don't

h:

I'm sure you guys have all been on Twitter, like, Hedrick's been saying it from essentially, like, frame one, like, what the correct opinion is, in my, at least in my opinion, like, literally, like, 15 rounds, top 8 was, like, perfect. Like, why, why would you ever change it? Like, it, it, cause, like, you saw what

Liam:

know, I really didn't like 13 rounds. I like way less.

h:

You like less

Liam:

I think,

Cameron:

all

Liam:

be having one more round, like, I think X2 should be the cut.

Cameron:

today,

Liam:

But, yeah, yeah, I think X2 is the best cut. I don't like X3 or like X2 1 just playing a ton of rounds. I think X2 is like the right combination of variants while minimizing the number of rounds. I don't like playing too many rounds, bro.

h:

well

Cameron:

all

Liam:

as opposed to endurance testing. That's like

Abaan:

I think my problem, though, was

Cameron:

future.

Abaan:

and 15, I think 12 3, not making cut with 15 rounds was like kind of the same level of egregious as x2 and 12, right?

h:

way less people, that's just

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

h:

is. Like why, how somehow It's more just than these low round No, with Asim thing, or, sorry. Yeah. Like the with Asim versus the, the high

Cameron:

I want to thank all the people who helped me get to this

Abaan:

You,

Cameron:

point, and for being

Abaan:

these extra like homework rounds.

h:

by letting you have one more are letting better

Liam:

But, but, but, I think, I think X2, X2 is like the right amount of variants. Like X2 and like 13 rounds is like the right amount of variants.

Cameron:

You think

Liam:

you check for variants and minimize rounds. I think it's the right balance.

Cameron:

yeah, like, if you think about it, fighting games, and I get it, that's completely different. It's a lot more skill and no luck, um, but you're two rounds, you're out, you get a, you're out of top eight. You get to keep playing, um, least until the end of day one, as long as you're X2.

Abaan:

No, but we went full fighting game for Louisville, bro. Like, two losses and you're out. Like, at least back in the day, it's like, we got fighting game plus one.

Cameron:

okay, so there's a lot of things, the thing is, like, I think is because we got up to a very particular number, which is right underneath, uh, like, The, right before the jump to the next number, right? Because we were at like

Liam:

Yeah, the threshold.

Cameron:

Yeah, so we're right under the threshold, which is just asking for problems. We all know that. Um, and then on top of that, like, there were chances for it to be 30, and there was a lot of things that had to happen. One was Kieran Farah, and the person I played against, I forget the name now, they tied. Mhm, they tied, and then they, and then none of us tied after that, right? And then, Cal, um, threw, uh, cause I was watching his match, so I was sitting right next to him. And, uh, he had definitely a chance to win game two, and just force the tie against Lugia, uh, and then he, uh, it just didn't happen. So, like, it just took, like, some very particular things to get to that spot, and it sucks, but, you know. You know, and it hurt a lot of people this time, very vocal people who are very prominent in the community, but like, so, you know, it does suck, but I don't know, like, it took

Liam:

Yeah, it's also important to recognize that this is like a small scale issue, right? Like, this is like a one in a million sort of Maybe not one in a million, but like, very low percentage chance, right?

Abaan:

But us, like, five percent of the regionals or even ten percent of the regionals this year is just cooked, like, you have to remember that, like,

Liam:

yeah, exactly.

Abaan:

like, going to, like, six, seven majors a year. Like, the guy from Kentucky who's, like, Okay, maybe they're not going X2, but like, imagine they do just pull off this miracle run, like, their one regional, it's like, I'm sorry, bro, your regional was cooked. Like, oh, you're close to the

Liam:

Yeah, exactly.

Abaan:

tough. Oh,

Liam:

I think that is a fair argument, that like, there shouldn't be any cooked regionals, right? Like, we shouldn't just have to like, accept like, this regional is cooked.

Cameron:

This be an issue if they allowed Refunds. And so it would have, that, you saw a number, we saw a number in RK9, it was like close to 2600, 2700, and you think, okay, there's going to be a certain amount of juniors, there's going to be a certain amount of seniors, yeah, we should clear 2000 pretty easily, but they're not allowing refunds this year, because they want to keep the money, and so that number doesn't lower, and so you don't see how many people are actually going, and there's no one, Able to buy the new spots. So, this is also the, you know, whoever's putting on the event, which we all know it's Gaming Gen, and it has not been great either on their end, so,

Abaan:

I say something so different. I thought you were gonna say, like, if they're close to, like, the thresh not making the threshold, that people should would, like, be able to just refund and, like, not go. And I was like, that's crazy. Oh, 1900? No, no, no, he's saying people aren't able to refill and buy

Cameron:

Or, or, or,

Abaan:

we're too close to the threshold. staying home. Ha

Cameron:

or we just, or maybe you can buy the new slots, but you just can't see how many people are actually going, because it doesn't update, because there's no refund. so that sucks, like it's just another thing that you just wouldn't know that going in, and we would have known if they allow refunds. But, uh, you know, it's just all these things that are little things, and, but it is what it is, right? It's part of,

Liam:

Yeah.

Cameron:

and Pokemon usually does not, I would not expect them to change anything mid season at this point. Um, they might change it for next season, but I think that's the earliest we get it.

h:

is everyone's, like,

Liam:

Yeah, right, they're probably numb.

h:

Like, you had to pick, like, a structure, 15, like, I already said, like, I would just do 15, top 8, no ASM, but what would you guys do?

Abaan:

Hmm.

Liam:

I'd basically just do one more round from Lily though. Like, same structure, but they play like one more round.

h:

Okay.

Cameron:

Yeah, which is just have another 100 people, right, and we get that fifth round,

Abaan:

To be honest, I my ideal structure is like, not like, it would be nine rounds day one, but x it's like x2 to make day two, and then five rounds day two, and then the ASIM. So 14 rounds total, ASIM, but like, I didn't like x2 one making day two. I liked it just being more cutthroat. Maybe it can be it can be like, I don't yeah, I think that I think that's perfect. Nine rounds day one, x2 makes it, five rounds day two.

h:

I don't know, like, I don't personally have a huge problem

Liam:

I agree. Yeah,

h:

I know a lot of people have said this, but I do think that allowing, like, one tie is good for the game. Like, I think it's stupid if you get, like, like, this has never griefed by someone, then, like, that shouldn't just fuck your

Cameron:

Or just, or just, you know, remove, or just make the rules, like adjust the rules so there's, less likely to tie. However, they would change it, right?

Liam:

yeah, I think

Abaan:

natural tie in months, like, at this tournament, and like, I felt like it was such a fluke, like, the only reason it happened was because I thought I was a lock to win game two, so I was like, not really paying that much attention, and then like, he hit me with a Thornton play, and I was like, oh my goodness, he got me

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we'll see you next time.

Liam:

I kind of agree Ubon, but I think, I think trying to like, punish ties is a very band aid solution for like, the issue of ties in Pokemon right now. Like, right now, there's just, like, there's like more structural issues than like, the incentive. Yeah.

Cameron:

think it punishes ties day one. I think like one tie day two is actually really good.

h:

Well, in this,

Liam:

Yes, yes. It, like, punish it too heavily, right? But,

Cameron:

I think it's just in general because

Abaan:

puts you into, like, the

Cameron:

I think it like, think a lot of the

Liam:

yeah, it puts you, it puts you like a bracket up, right?

Cameron:

you for certain seeding on wins, right?

h:

a tie

Abaan:

Like, a tie is functionally, like, having god resistance, right? Like, exactly. You can either think about, like, having a good resi Like, either good resistance or just, like, having almost, like, a win. Except you don't get to be in the next threshold, like, you're just at the best at your threshold.

Cameron:

Yeah. Mm hmm.

h:

one to be in top cut, like, for sure, just based on who was

Liam:

I, dude, yeah, I thought that deck was like really well positioned. I think it's still one of the best decks for the format. Like, it is, it's just like a really strong deck right now.

h:

Yeah.

Abaan:

I didn't expect Drago and Palkia's numbers to be at all comparable. Like, I assume that like, oh, I'm taking an auto loss to Palkia, or maybe not an auto loss, but a very bad auto loss to Palkia. That's acceptable, because that's like a sub 5 percent deck. But they're taking an auto loss to Drago. That's unacceptable, because that's like a plus 10 percent deck. But it actually ended up being like, we're kind of doing the same thing. And like, this Drago deck was like, not that popular.

Cameron:

I want to thank the panel for a terrific presentation, and we hope to see you back again

Liam:

I actually disagree. I think they're pretty comparable.

Cameron:

Our

Liam:

I think they're pretty comparable. I think, um, I think you can actually get pretty close. I

Abaan:

We will

Cameron:

here to advise

Liam:

think if Drago doesn't rip a turn 2 attack without the V Star, without using V Star, I think you can beat them. I think the matchup's not that bad.

Abaan:

use the actual Curum, no? Like, they don't have to like, live beat Drago,

Liam:

If you play the pad, I've actually found it's pretty easy to play around, because like,

h:

Dude, how are you finding the

Liam:

you're playing like this 4 stop, 8 switch, so it's pretty easy to build your loss zone up without using Coal Rush.

h:

I mean,

Abaan:

I am suspicious of this plan.

h:

I can't say it because I

Abaan:

Yeah, I have not played it one time, but I find this very suspicious. Yeah.

h:

said, Lost to

Liam:

I've been jamming some games to this, I think it's, um,

Cameron:

definitely drew well

Liam:

I mean, it's like not good, but it's, uh, I mean, it's like winnable.

h:

in Best

Cameron:

definitely drew,

h:

sorry, Shinoa, you played, him? I played him.

Cameron:

So I've played Tyler Matthews, um, and he did just that, um, I did draw pretty well, I, like, it does create some interesting spots, especially if they don't draw well and have to burn V Star early, um, and then you just go for, like, some Countercatcher, Sable, Roxanne play, uh, which is exactly,

Abaan:

Zapdos card against you?

Cameron:

uh, no, Um, a lot of the times, like he did do the pad play, which like, I was like, okay, I have to get out of this Kirim now, but I ended up getting out of it. Um, but yeah, if they don't, if they play Manaphy, I think it could be close because then you would kind of the V Star, um, sometimes, or make them use the Noctowl and find even more pieces. Um, because if I just Kirim and wipe three prizes, um. It's too easy.

h:

The thing is, like, didn't exist, like, if you were just running them over with Dragapult attacks, like, the matchup would still be favored, right? Like, the

Liam:

Yeah, exactly, it is really, but like, you can, you can sometimes like, you can prize race them pretty aggressively if they like, if they miss a turn to attack, or have to like, burn the V Star you can buy the resources, and if they miss the turn to attack, you can prize race them.

h:

their Mew?

Cameron:

so you gotta go

Liam:

Yeah, I mean, you just go after random stuff on the bench, right?

Cameron:

Zap on Drago, and then, or, you know, Double Sableye, Teal Mask,

Abaan:

can, like, hit this bear thing, like, this bear

Cameron:

Bear,

Liam:

possible to prize race them if they have a slow start. you can try to like get them on resources if hit the,

Cameron:

if you have the Manaphy,

Liam:

not good,

Cameron:

you have

Liam:

think, I think it's pretty comparable to like,

h:

Like, how, what, what, if you're playing Lost Fox and you hit a Drago day one, you know, round five or whatever, how, what percentage do you think you're getting done in best of three?

Liam:

like

Abaan:

zero,

h:

Yeah, I, what?

Abaan:

no, bro, you are coping.

h:

That sounds just insane. I, I just.

Abaan:

There's a reason Hedrick just sat down against Lucas Zing, I was like, ah. It's over. tweeted, like, ah, over for

Liam:

Zing, bro. I. I think if the Drago player starts pretty slow, you can get them twice, you can get them.

h:

Alright, alright. So what else besides Lost Fox was super interesting? Like, I mean, I guess Raging Bull winning, obviously, right?

Liam:

Maybe the most fraudulent deck in the world won, bro. We all said it was like, not doing well last week.

Cameron:

I

Liam:

I don't know, maybe Shannoy would have disagreed, but

Cameron:

with what these two are going to say, just so everyone knows, but

Liam:

yeah, I,

Abaan:

can I,

Liam:

I can't believe it! I can't believe it!

h:

way!

Abaan:

I don't think Raging Bolt is, like, this goat deck or anything. Like, I'm not gonna go crazy, okay? I'm just saying

Liam:

Oh, okay.

Abaan:

because, like, Palkia, for example, I was like, oh. Every time I watch Bolt players play, they walk into every single thing in the planet. They walk into everything, bro. They walk into things I didn't even know existed until I saw them walk into it. But then I watch Caleb like not really bench anything and just like attach these charms, and I'm like, damn, bro. How is this Palkia supposed to hit through a 290 HP Raging Bolt? And then like the second the, like, Raging Bolt gets ahead, he gets to bench out the whole family, bro. There's two Teal Masks, like a Fez with a Charm down, goodness, like,

Liam:

family!

Abaan:

like

Liam:

Oh my god.

Abaan:

in a weird way, you know? Like everything is Dango in a weird way, like, instead of having these like gimmick goals that are allowed to die, he has a 290 HP Raging Bolt that can never die. Like the point is, like, You don't bet any liabilities until you're up to, and then you bet all the liabilities at once.

Liam:

The whole family! Oh my god. Yeah, no, I mean, I can understand how, especially with the charms, you can like, build some like, pretty sick boards, right? Like, and the deck puts on a lot of pressure, but I don't know, like, I feel like, I have to imagine that he basically just did, like, what he did in the finals, like, basically every single round the entire day, which is like, ugh. I guess you're just, like, not gonna play Chorus Games 2 and 3. Gotcha! Like,

Abaan:

Karen, like, did

Liam:

matchup's terrible!

Abaan:

I just, like, lost, like, insta. 10 minutes.

Liam:

yeah. I bet, bro, if he gets a Lugia out, he wins! Like, it's like, like, the price trade is actually so cooked in that matchup, like, if the Archeops ever come down, you should, like, basically always lose. If. As long as like, a million two prizers don't also come down, right? But like, you have this like, Legacy Ciancino, he's just playing, he's playing like, 2 2 Ciancino. Like, this guy's going crazy with it.

h:

terms

Liam:

Um,

h:

though, right? I mean,

Cameron:

hope to see

Liam:

bro.

h:

hit? I don't

Cameron:

all again soon.

Liam:

I mean,

Abaan:

on there and expect to like, vac later. Like, sometimes they like, they just assume they're gonna vac at some point. Like, obviously, like, most of us

Cameron:

If anyone has a video go online and watch on your laptop, or, you know, some sort of book. Just go to www. gnico. com.

Liam:

the 4 Retrieval is so good. Like, is definitely like, the way to play Raging Bolt. Like, he got rid of all the garbage, bro. Like, don't really know the garbage is there until you see like, a good player cut it. Right? Like,

h:

grasp I think is

Abaan:

Dude, I've been

Liam:

like, it kind of flies under the radar.

Abaan:

Bolt years, bro. Years, as in since Worlds. Like, I've literally been playing this Bolt, like, Catchers, Bundle, Stretcher thing, and I was like, and every time I played any other deck, I was like, bro, what am I gonna do when they, like, bundle three times a game? And then I play them, and they don't even have Bundle one time a game. I'm like, this

Liam:

yeah, exactly, bro. Oh god, ugh. I can't imagine not playing one on that deck, much less, and like, the stretchers of course, they're pretty sweet. I think the two stretcher count too is also like lit, like, committing too hard to the bit and running like four stretcher, like, the card's like not that good, you know? I think this two stretcher is like, perfect.

Abaan:

Retrieval. I think no one was enlightened that 4 Retrieval was

Liam:

Yes, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

Abaan:

I don't know,

Liam:

Yeah, like, four retrieval, two stretcher.

Abaan:

Liam, if he played this tournament though and the list came out and it was 3 3, we would be glazing that too. We would literally say like, this is so mature, like, I don't think we have any way to distinguish between this 4

Cameron:

Peneloperovich laughs

Liam:

it's definitely, like, very mature, like, very lit, like, perfect, like,

Cameron:

Penelope laughs again Penelope

Liam:

like, it's, uh,

h:

you guys think

Liam:

you know,

Abaan:

just saying that, like, this, ooh, this Livering card is, like, actually insane. Like,

Liam:

don't know, like, I think, yeah, I think it is just better, I don't know, it's like, I'm like a little mixed on it, but I think it is probably better.

Abaan:

night, and I was like

Cameron:

Hello, everyone, and for

Liam:

you're like, wait, what if he charms the Mimi on the bench? Oh,

Cameron:

us for today's webinar.

Abaan:

out of 10.

Liam:

But, I don't know, we didn't play 10, though. I 6, and you got me, like, once.

Abaan:

No, no, I definitely got you twice. I remember

Liam:

You got me twice? Uh, yeah. Yeah, we probably played, like, 10.

Abaan:

no, no, yeah, yeah, I think it was okay. I actually think the real numbers are like 2 out of 8. I like rounding up to 10. I think it's like 2 out of 8.

Liam:

Yeah, I, I, I don't think we played 10. Sounds like a lot, bro.

Abaan:

No, but you, like, you're like, you're just erasing games you don't like from your brain, like, the, uh, I want Pidgey Pass this game. You got this one,

Cameron:

It

h:

Kayle's matchups, bro. I mean, this guy got, yeah, he had some pretty good matchups, right? Like, like, three Drago, these Lugias, like, I don't know, he went 3 0 versus Lugia, like, are you

Liam:

I don't know, but like, I wouldn't even call those good mashups. Like, this guy was somehow getting it done. Like, I feel like if I was playing Drago, I'd be like confident I can get it done against Bolt. Like,

Abaan:

bro.

h:

I don't

Liam:

it's not like, it's not that good, but like I'm gonna start doing tricks on me, bro. Like, like, you know, like, this is like,

Cameron:

depends on how good they draw.

h:

That's so bullshit.

Cameron:

I mean, I went 1 1 1 against Bolt, uh

Abaan:

any of them good,

Liam:

yeah, like, I

Cameron:

like, damn, you are fucking, ooh, so good at this game.

h:

Did

Cameron:

I got the first knock and just stayed ahead the entire time. And then, the one that

Liam:

mean, they're spectating at that point. Thanks. Bye.

Cameron:

uh, that person finished top 32 as well, but the game I won, uh, I didn't get a Regidrago V down until we were both at two prizes remaining. So, um,

Abaan:

Radzard just did crazy work to them?

Cameron:

yeah. Yeah. That's rad.

Abaan:

you had to play against a guy with three Switch Cards and three Charms, so none of your tricks work. Anytime you do some Pulk magic, they're always cleaning it up. They're cleaning it up perfectly. Anytime you try to, like, you're never rad starting a Bolt, because there's always a Charm. Like, I think, like, this is, like, a very good Bolt list, like, I don't know, you guys, like, I think, I didn't,

Liam:

Yeah, like, I mean,

Abaan:

good

Liam:

you're, like, favored, but, like, the aura diff is, like, it's, like, I mean,

Abaan:

Unbanned Gedimer?

Liam:

yeah, I don't know.

Abaan:

Gedimer is just asking him for the flip directly, right before the game starts. that 50 50 in. Heads or tails, but like, we're playing for the game, you know?

h:

I mean, maybe that's why he played Bolt, that's actually a Like, with Bolt, he's flipping for it a lot of the time, right? Genius.

Abaan:

We've hit time! Let me see if this catcher woulda hit. It did! Hmm. Opponent? We have to sign this lip. Someone we know did

Cameron:

for joining us today, and

Liam:

bro. What a,

Abaan:

like that.

Cameron:

look

Liam:

other guy gave it to him,

Cameron:

to

Liam:

Oh my God,

Abaan:

uh, Liam, you would not believe who it

Cameron:

again next time.

Abaan:

No leaks, bro, this is some, uh,

Cameron:

Good shit, man.

h:

like, notable thing was, like, Dragapult doing terrible, which A bot knows I was, like, completely wrong about this. Like, I thought this deck was going to be everywhere. deck was actually

Cameron:

That's because of Bolt, right?

Liam:

Like.

Cameron:

of Bolt. No, it's not the most fraudulent deck, it's because Bolt was the most played deck, and then it runs it over.

h:

Yeah, especially with this Rotom build, like, if you Yeah, I guess it's pretty bad. I feel like if you, uh, I don't know, people have told me, like, when they play Bolt, they can beat Bolt, but I guess they were just lying, like Liam talks about when he plays Drago against Bolt. Like, everyone just copes when they play

Abaan:

Dude, they,

Cameron:

Yeah, everyone says they're doing tricks on it until they play a good player, and then they just, and they're like, ah, they just ran hot. They just ran hot.

Abaan:

were for kids.

Cameron:

And that's the and then Liam just erases the game from his mind, and like, keeps on going that, Hey, I'm aging both ducks.

Abaan:

Yeah, of course. If you look through Liam's stored memory, he's beat Bolt like a thousand times in a row. However, in the trash, in the cleared cache, there's

Liam:

Oh my god.

Abaan:

of Bolt losses.

h:

I mean, because when he plays Bolt, he's like, of his game time against Bolt, he's winning like 95 percent of the time, right? Because the games he loses, he loses in one turn and just concedes, or he just doesn't even have another basic. So it just feels so good. I guess that's true with like everyone, though. Everyone thinks this Voltec is

Liam:

Yeah, it's such a gimmick deck, bro.

h:

Yeah, I mean, it's

Cameron:

That's just aggressive decks in general.

Abaan:

though. Watch the stream. Like, uh, the European bolts, they don't do it like our American bolts, but the US of A, we play bolt different. Like, I don't know, like, you watch a European bolt, and like, they'll still win. They'll still win, but

Cameron:

these freedom bolts, there's stylin on them. Good. Good.

h:

can't hang.

Abaan:

I guess the American too. bro, that's just Bradner in 2024, or like 2024 2025 season, like,

Cameron:

These freedom

Liam:

No.

h:

Christ, bro.

Abaan:

Ever since Worlds ended, bro, he's, uh, he's just,

Cameron:

dances, bro.

h:

in a generation kind of player, right, so

Abaan:

Yeah, I mean, once in a

Liam:

For sure.

Abaan:

Not like Kieran is also, like, on the, like, basically the exact same run, except Kieran just doesn't go to Europe for no reason. Like, uh, it's not like that. I love that all.

h:

Yeah.

Liam:

We'll talk.

Abaan:

I think there's something about this Lugia deck, like, it's actually the best, it's like, I've changed my whole tune. It's like an insane bumfarmery deck. I thought Garde was the best bumfarmery deck in existence, and Pidgeot was a clear two, but I think Lugia is like, in that tier. Like, it, like, if you're playing against someone worse than you, you don't need that second Archeops, you know? Like, you have that mid hand, and you're like, ah, whatever, I'll get it done with one. But then sometimes, you'll, you'll high roll and get two, and they have no hope, like, none whatsoever. Like, I don't know, I feel like that,

h:

I don't get is,

Abaan:

you can get it done so often with one.

h:

What mistakes are like, bad players making against

Cameron:

for joining us today.

Liam:

somebody play Lugia, and they got, they had one of these single Archeops games, and the other player had access to boss KO, which would basically just win on the spot, on like turn 2. But they didn't do it, and then the Lugia player won. So I feel like that's like a good example of like, what I guess everyone's talking about. Yeah,

Abaan:

other thing is, like, this legacy energy, I think, like, actually does, like, crazy work in, like, lower, or, it's not that, it's like, I think that in lower, like, tier gameplay, like, They play against Lugias who bench too much stuff and like are always feeding you prizes and then you play against like a really good Lugia and this like legacy energy is everywhere like first it's on the bear and the bear blows something up or like it's on the cinchino and then you go around the cinchino and maybe the cinchino hits you again or like then like the weirder like moves the legacy energy and like these like

Liam:

I

Abaan:

pro like

Liam:

think they're not ready for the legacy to be on anything but an Iron Hands, right? Like,

h:

Yeah, can see,

Cameron:

for

Liam:

I don't understand it, bro. Yeah, I

Abaan:

it, but we have to like at some point be like, oh wow, this is like crazy. Like,

Cameron:

us

Abaan:

Cheren, like, has a finals in the top 8, and to, like, Rahul, like, like, I'm just saying, like, Rahul's getting three straight finishes, like, everyone, like, everyone who's good at Lugia is, like, getting it done,

h:

I, we, we don't understand it, but there definitely is something there, and I mean, I think the only way to understand it is to actually, like, play it to an event.

Abaan:

but I refuse, I refuse to sacrifice an event to this, like,

h:

I'm never playing this

Liam:

played it, I played it to NAIC, uh,

h:

Yeah, that

Liam:

two months ago and I like said never again, bro. Like,

h:

bad for NAIC. I mean, someone like Cheren

Liam:

genuinely, bro, I felt like every time I sat across from somebody I was like, oh, he's better do tricks on me, isn't he? And then he did! It was terrible!

Abaan:

I

Cameron:

today. You

Abaan:

I don't know, I talked to Kobe about it, because Kobe played at Baltimore, and he actually made, like, a minor mistake in a Raging Bull, and, like, I don't know, I think there's enough, like, things to trip up on, like, it's a, it's like,

h:

takes skill. I think Lugia takes skill. I think it's easy to play against, though. And that's what I don't understand. Like, you're saying it's like a bum farmer deck. And I feel like, I think Lugia, like, yeah, like, how you load your energies with like, is not always super obvious. But, in terms of how to attack Lugia's board, it's generally extremely obvious when the rats are vulnerable, the Archeops are vulnerable, or whether you should go through two Prisers that turn. Like,

Abaan:

we're playing Guardi though, like, with Guardi, you get to dodge everything, you get to dodge all you have, like, things that are immune to hands, you can, like, charm really good stuff, you have, like, the, the charm fez that's going crazy the whole time, like,

Liam:

no, but, but, it's, it's sort of like, it's like second mover's advantage was where they commit the energy to, you know? Like,

Cameron:

Good

Liam:

energy and show you like where their next move is kind of, um, it's like very easy to

Cameron:

is Oct. 16, September 17, 2013.

Abaan:

like, the best at the game, like, uh, like, you don't get second mover's advantage. You move second, and you're like, damn, I wish I was moving first here. Okay.

h:

Of course,

Cameron:

S. A. America

Liam:

I'm dead.

Cameron:

Canada

Liam:

my god, bro.

h:

anything

Cameron:

U. S. A. U. S. A. U. S. A. U. S. A. U. S. A. U.

h:

go through our tournaments or no?

Abaan:

Uh, maybe brief, I don't

Liam:

I think you can do it at like a high level, like notable rounds and stuff, yeah? Stuff like that?

h:

dude,

Abaan:

yeah. Cause

Cameron:

S. A. all for joining us today, and we hope to see you again soon.

h:

and then I still, I think he only revealed two VACs that game, so I still thought he was gonna say the, uh, play a third VAC, um, but then he just like, I asked him if he had the VAC, and he was like, uh, and then like 10 seconds later he just picked his shit up. yeah, I don't know, like, I don't know, it's like, especially, like, he played way too face up, like, like, with the super rod and stuff like that. Because he was trying to play around Iono, but like, another byproduct of playing around Iono like that, like, it signals to me, like, I cannot win the game by trying to do some Iono shit here. I have to find something else. So,

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we hope to see you again soon.

Abaan:

Like, you have, like, four cards in hand, two cards in deck, like, I guess he doesn't know we have no stadium buff, but that Pokestop was sticking for life. Like, dude, what is gonna happen with this Iona? Like, he's actually, like, fighting ghosts. Like, this Iona card does not, like, It does not just

Liam:

Yeah, no, of course. But I mean, we both know it's very easy to make a small mistake like that. Like, I think it's somewhat difficult to tell that, like, as soon as you hit this pokestop, you've actually just completely cooked yourself. Like, he's in such a good spot, and like, I

Abaan:

disagree with what you're, I get what you're getting at, but I disagree that, and I think, like, I think about instinct, right? And my instinct in those spots, and I think most good players instinct, is like, damn, I'm winning so hard, I'm not gonna, like, deck myself and then force myself to play my last rod. I'm gonna just hit this thing for 110 and see what Henry does, because, like, I'm pretty sure whatever Henry does after what he, like, after his turn, I'm sure I can figure out a way to win. So I'm gonna let and

Liam:

I sort of agree, but I don't know. Like, there's definitely a pull, and like, maybe there's like, also somewhat exacerbated, like, on stream, right? Like, on stream, you wanna, you wanna be like, very thorough, right? There's like, somewhat of a pull to be like, absolutely surgical about it, right? And just be like, completely deck yourself, and like, put back exactly what you need, and like, you know, just perfect, right? Like, you basically like, go for perfection, and then like, go a little too far, accidentally, you know?

h:

this, I think this is what have to have, like, sort of the, like, the metacognition, bro, like, that next level where it's, like, I understand that this board

Liam:

Metacognition!

h:

Like, I can't perfectly dissect this board state, but I know there's, like, traps, like, general principles I should stay away from, and one of them is, like, committing my last rod.

Cameron:

all for joining us today,

h:

plus

Liam:

committing the last rod is like a very safe play, right? Like, you're like insulated for like basically everything except like the complete stars aligning into Iona, like maybe. And you might even be insulated from that, too. Like, there might just be nothing, right? It might be like a complete chokehold, right?

h:

yeah, it's

Liam:

Um.

Abaan:

exactly.

h:

So even do tricks on him. I had to just go through his active, so it's like, yeah, he could just, like, comfy,

Liam:

tricks!

Abaan:

will say, like, if you do try, like, the list that we played for this event, like, If you prize a Dark, you better not, like, whiff, like, your, like, turn 2, like, Drifloon K. O. and stuff, because, like, it sucks falling behind. I mean, there's still stuff you can do, but it sucks falling behind and then being like, well, I have to play face up for the rest of the game. Like, uh, like, I don't want to get too much into it, but, like, my series against Gabe, like, game one, bro, prize Dark, and then I fell, like, a little behind, and I was like, wow. I have to walk into this Briar play. Like, there is no dodging it in any capacity. I am, I'm just gonna hit him, and if he double Dusknoir Briars me, like, wow. He's, he's the GOAT. And

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Liam:

my side character, nooo! Don't you, like, erase the

Abaan:

know, if you're coming straight from the, like, that matchup is not bad at all, that was, um,

h:

Yeah, I

Abaan:

even, like, yeah,

Cameron:

all for joining us today and I look forward to seeing you all again

Liam:

from play, like, instantly, every game, bro? I don't know, I feel like that's happening in our games. Like, ideally, ideally, right?

Abaan:

obviously that's why we thought the matchup was free, because when we did that, they just, they like literally are head and hands, bro, it's over.

Liam:

Yeah. Your Pidget deck with no Pidget.

Abaan:

too. Yeah, exactly, that's what we were doing against Zard, too, like, I, I, like, 6 0'd Zard at this tournament, and like, I never missed that. Like, the second the Pidgeot was out, the CC, like, levitated into

Liam:

No! I'm rotating!

Cameron:

much for coming and it is

Liam:

Tamara,

h:

not that

Liam:

got you!

Cameron:

great pleasure to present

Abaan:

I, I thought, I

Cameron:

President's

Abaan:

fine, but like, uh, I think it's fine. Like, if you, wasn't gonna bring up the fact that Rowan ducked, like, publicly.

h:

I mean, like,

Liam:

Ha ha ha!

h:

right? Like, he wasn't like, I don't want to smoke, bro. He's like, nah, like, I don't really think the matchup is, like, all that. It's like,

Abaan:

Oh, dude, I totally forgot! I ran into, so, friend of the podcast, Michael Bayo, he beat me at Baltimore, and the

Liam:

Ooh! Ha ha ha!

Abaan:

and I was thinking, like, wow, that, like, actually worked on me, because, like, When I heard that, dude, I was like, dang, I cannot lose this series, right? And then anyways, we're talking about the Zard vs. Garde matchup, and my flight got delayed by like, 30 minutes. So I had like, some time. And so we sit down at these airport tables, where like, you can't sit face to face. So we're sitting like, side by side, and like, uh, we ran a game, and he was telling me how this like, Cleffa, like, does crazy work, like, I was like, telling him like, Tomb,

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we hope to see you all again in the future.

Abaan:

You know,

h:

Clefka's literally a they bench Clefka, they can never use Dusknoir the entire game, right? So,

Cameron:

for joining us. Have a great day.

Abaan:

uh, it was like what you'd expect, like I blew up the Pidgeot, and then like he used some Dusknoir stuff, and then I had boss for game, you know.

h:

yeah. I mean,

Abaan:

It's just what you'd expect, standard.

h:

you can do tricks on them as well, right? That's

Abaan:

He actually did have a wincon, like, if he hit, like, a turn where he had, like, if he hit Vax, Cece, Briar, like, under tomb,

h:

a win

Abaan:

on this, like, one random turn,

Liam:

With no pig.

h:

con, bro.

Abaan:

With no

Cameron:

for joining us today,

Liam:

would tell you no. Comebacks you always lose there because of,

h:

Oh yeah, we should have

Cameron:

to see you all again soon. all for

Liam:

I,

h:

they're

Cameron:

us today, and I

Liam:

with,

Cameron:

forward

Liam:

and like you're actually trying to do tricks on them. It's like very easy to dodge the fez. I, I think like

Cameron:

at

Liam:

so much worse for the meta.

Cameron:

next

Liam:

cards. I, I completely buy all this propaganda that I saw on Twitter about how like, self K cards are like the most broken mechanic ever. I like it. It's just ridiculous, dude. Like, you should, you should not be able to like force your opponent to like, accelerate the game. Like that is like so, so, so much worse. And so, so, so much more forcing than like the, the fend

Cameron:

and I look forward to

Liam:

literally

Abaan:

I see it, because I might be wrong. like, let's say, like,

Cameron:

all again soon.

Abaan:

It's

Liam:

Yeah. Yeah.

Abaan:

you're also KO ing, so we're accelerating. like I'm putting myself

Liam:

I, I think that's actually like exactly. Yeah, I think that's exactly Why, like, this Duskner card is so broken. All of the cards, the self KO cards in the past, that only did stuff for your board, were, like, insane, bonkers cards, that, like, they were way too strong, you know, they, like,

Cameron:

of the

Liam:

where they, like, they pop the Milotic, and, like, push your opponent to three prizes, and rip the Ace Trainer, and, like, set your opponent to zero cards on turn one, they're ripping Ace Trainer on, like, turn one or something, bro, like, and this is a card that does nothing to your opponent's board. Now Duskner, you Like, when people are highrolling you, they're basically doing the exact same thing, and taking your entire bench with it! Like,

Abaan:

Yes,

Liam:

this Duskner card is those cards, but on steroids, and those cards are ban able!

Abaan:

I'm just saying that I don't think self KO in itself is like the worst thing ever. It's that Pokemon is like, it's so designed to not be, like, you, they have to have cards like Ace Trainer and stuff, because it's so unfun when a Bolt is running you over and you just have to like, sit there and like, take it, right? So then they have to Ace Trainer type things, or like Roxanne, et cetera, et cetera, like these

Liam:

Mm hmm.

Abaan:

then, like, the counterplay is like, oh, a good player that doesn't take knockouts, and then all of a sudden, you, like, are flipping the whole script, and you're just like, actually, it doesn't matter how good you are, because I'm giving you the knockout, take, take your god,

Liam:

Exactly, exactly.

Abaan:

Take bro.

h:

I think you should be allowed to decline card with

Liam:

I, I think this best card is like, so much worse, right? Like, it, it completely like negates like tempo, control of tempo over the game from like

Cameron:

joining

Liam:

um,

Abaan:

don't, like, this

Cameron:

today and I look forward to seeing you all at the next event.

Liam:

I feel like I'm consistently able to like, do some tricks on it with,

h:

bro. You're playing Pidgeot.

Liam:

or drag

h:

No, I like,

Liam:

hit.

h:

Yeah, yeah, I agree. But the problem is that Fez

Liam:

I don't know, like,

h:

matchups,

Liam:

I'm like, yeah,

h:

But, like, I get why people are frustrated by that, right? Like, if they want to

Liam:

but yeah, yeah, sure, they make the face matchups, like, a complete lock, as opposed to like, desperate need for my opponent to whiff, know, like, it's um, there's like, actually, like, no point in, yeah, obviously, like, if your opponent takes first two prizes in the bold mirror, you just pack it up,

h:

And, like, true pre Fez, But, I mean, at least, you know, you have, you have the suspense,

Liam:

little bit, but yeah, you had a prayer.

Abaan:

It's, it's the thing, like, the illusion, like, you need that illusion, like, maybe this Iono will stick, and then they, like, Pokigear for, like, the

Cameron:

I don't know,

Abaan:

you,

Cameron:

don't know, you can, you can Pokemon Catcher, uh, Slitherwing there, Fez.

Abaan:

Ooh.

Liam:

Yeah, exactly bro. No, Shenron's actually pulling it out right now. Like,

Cameron:

I

Liam:

every single matchup, there's like something you can do, bro. Especially with Raging Bull, because they like have to destroy their entire board. Like, this like,

Cameron:

a, slight

Liam:

you know, this choice between their attackers. Oh,

Cameron:

wing card is broken because, so it actually got Derek, his win into day two. So the guy put a legacy onto the, the bear and the slither wing does one, one 20 plus the burn. And so the, and the judge, the judge and his opponent and him didn't even realize it. And then he's like, wait. burn, like, the legacy, right? Like, that, that only activates if the, and then they all realized that he won the game. And that was his winnin in. Like, this card,

Abaan:

could have also just put a mist on the bear,

Cameron:

it could've, yes, yes,

Liam:

But he got him.

Cameron:

got him, no one realized. But, like, it's just, like, the optimization, and I think that card's really good to knock out Fez. Um, and, and if you,

Abaan:

game where that did not get applied correctly, by the way. Like, that's

Cameron:

uh, damn, I haven't had to pay 500?

Abaan:

Sorry.

Cameron:

Uh, no, I just think you can make slight optimizations with that deck. I think that Flutterwing card is really, really good. Um, just being able to one shot Fez and enforce a one prizer is good.

Abaan:

that you posed, where you gust as Fez, and then I'm playing Raging Bull, I turn my Pokéstop card, and I get a Stretcher, and then I'm, I'm in there. Stretcher, Fez!

Liam:

He did though.

Abaan:

Nice.

Cameron:

And?

Abaan:

The Stretcher card is broken, bro. Oh, you killed my Fez?

Cameron:

No, but it's the fact that it's a one prizer. It's the fact that you also have to hit Gust on top of that,

Liam:

Yeah,

Abaan:

Uh, then I'll use my other Stretcher for Bondo, bro, no worries.

Cameron:

just acting,

Liam:

you're getting

Cameron:

just acting, I mean, it's just acting.

Liam:

One Prizer Guskaio Fez is like very real resistance into this like, you know, the uncrackable

Abaan:

It's

Liam:

two prize lead, right?

Abaan:

going back to the 90 percent hope that we had pre FEZ. Let's

Liam:

Yes! Ha ha ha!

Abaan:

Like, you probably still got it, but at least you got to show it to me.

Liam:

Big pic!

Abaan:

just scooping. No

Cameron:

think that's why the, I think that's why the Zapdos is really good in Tyler's Matthews list. And I think the only difference between, uh, Tyler Matthews run and Michael Davidson is that Tyler Matthews did a Regidrago, Tyler Regidrago.

h:

and, and, like, these guys were just gambling, bro. Like, I respect it, you know? wrong with that, but they just took the loss

Cameron:

Uh, but that's,

Abaan:

Drago's

Liam:

nothing wrong with that!

Cameron:

uh,

Liam:

wrong with that!

Cameron:

but the Zapdos is good because it one shots all the two prizes, like, all the two prizes that are weak to lighting

Liam:

Yeah, two prize setters.

Cameron:

hits Rodom. So I think, like, if you can weave that in, that's, that's, because meta's so fast, like, that's, they can't get around it, it's really impactful right now.

Abaan:

into Pidgeot, Like, ooh. very lit.

Liam:

yeah.

h:

Yeah, I think the only bullshit deck in the meta is the Palkia Duster deck. I think that deck is pretty bullshit. But everything else is like, fine. Even the Tropicus deck is

Liam:

Jesus Christ, that's the most like, that's the most, that's the most Guardi filled take ever, bro. That's the most Guardi filled take ever. I like

Abaan:

No, I I heard from um, from Michael Bayou, that he told me that like, apparently Ian Robb was saying like, he's gonna play this Palkia deck for another like, he's literally only playing this Palkia deck for the rest of this format, and he's going to LAIC and he's not gonna drop a single game. heard it first, you know.

Liam:

Yeah, like, I agree, I think the deck is like, the deck has real issues in like, hitting large numbers, but like, it is like, the, like, you know, little basic turbo farm deck, like, absolutely disgusting to play against if you bench like, more than one thing with uh, you know, under 90 HP, right?

h:

yeah.

Abaan:

But it's so ridiculous even play Manaphy as a tech for

Cameron:

very

Liam:

yeah, exactly, they're gonna take your entire board, like, there's actually nothing you can do about it if you bench little basics. Right, yeah. Your family, too! Your family, too!

Abaan:

far, but they're, uh, they're, like, an

Cameron:

next time.

Abaan:

like, there's no hope.

Liam:

Nobody is safe.

h:

But

Liam:

Oh my god.

h:

say Garde's 50 50 into it, bro. Like, you jam that Klefki turn one,

Abaan:

It's definitely

Liam:

Jesus Christ.

h:

bro.

Abaan:

horrific matchup. That's a horrific matchup.

h:

done, bro. I don't give a fuck.

Liam:

Bro, yeah, um, I think that, yeah. time Henry and I played the matchup, bro, bruh. He said, he said, please, can you play something else, bruh?

h:

I still I still got it done. A Louisville, bro. Relax.

Abaan:

No, but, Liam, tell him what deck he wanted you to switch into. Like, this will be so telling of how good he thinks this matchup is. Which it is

Liam:

He switched me to Terapagos, bro. me to Terapagos.

Abaan:

That's our comfort

Liam:

Oh,

h:

I just don't get it, bro. Like no one wants

Abaan:

Dude, all you have to do Dude, Henry, I exposed myself on the pod about what I did at Baltimore, so I think we gotta, we gotta bring up, uh, We gotta bring up round, uh, round nine, unfortunately. It's a

Liam:

yeah.

h:

no. Alright,

Abaan:

can we can skip it, like, I'm just posing it, like, but

h:

So like, before I talk about how I egregiously threw the tournament, um, I'm gonna go ahead and uh, just about how I hit three Lost Box.

Liam:

Self claimed.

h:

my most, um,

Liam:

Oh, no. Oh,

h:

good. Anyway, I'm still in a great position, 7 1 going into Day 2. Hit Piper on the banette. Um, you know, I think the matchup is like Probably, like, slightly unfavored, but, uh, not with the hand I got Game 1, because I actually got my God of War EX up, uh, on Turn 2 of the game, so, uh, I still have a lot to win this one, right? You would think. Um, you know, she was so

Abaan:

I did think that.

h:

she thought it was so

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we hope to see you

Liam:

Bro, he got, he got, oh, my God. Yeah, he can't even remember it. It's just crazy, bro.

h:

she's on 3,

Abaan:

What's going

Cameron:

ha! Woo hoo! Ha ha

Abaan:

talking about

Cameron:

ha!

Abaan:

What is

Cameron:

just

Abaan:

on?

Cameron:

Ha ha ha!

h:

I'm on 3, she's on

Abaan:

All right, all right.

h:

on it, and all my recovery and my other EXs is in the discard, so if my guard EX dies, I lose the game. So I like, pretty much decide that I have to throw my EX. And then, I need to take the 2 off the Mew on the bench this turn, because Drifloon is my, I have Drifloon and Heavy Ball in my last 3 prizes, which is egregious, but it's all good. Um, so I, I, it's the only thing I can one shot for 2 prizes, so in order to pace on the game, I have to take this Mew. so I decide to go Monkey, move 20 to it, and Screamtail it, um, but my deck has 4 cards, and I Refinement, and I'm trying to hit this last Bravery Charm so I can get my, uh, I can get my Screamtail out of Trick's range. I wish I could say I was trying to get it out of range, but uh, I actually forgot about that card, so I was just like, generally trying to play it safe.

Abaan:

I don't know how I forgot, because I think the only thing I told Henry before the match, by the way, was about like, was Alakazam, kill his Screamtail, so you charm it, even if you're doing 160. I was like, that's my only piece of advice for you. I've got one thing to tell you.

h:

You didn't tell me to use the Moonlight Hill! That's what I needed, bro!

Abaan:

Oh my goodness.

h:

Psychics and the Moonlight Hill in my hand, and I have this random Spiritomb on my bench with 30 damage on it from like, a Banette attack on turn 2. And all I have to do is heal the 30 damage off the Spiritomb. That she can't take

Cameron:

for joining us

Liam:

through! No, a disease! So no

h:

to me that she had like.

Cameron:

This is a presentation of

h:

punish of all time, where I price two Kirlia's and Evo, and I'm going second, so she, uh, turns to attack me with Dusknoir, er, with, uh, with Banette, and, uh, the turn before, I decided to, you know, Ultra Ball for a Kirlia, because I knew that my prices were egregious, and then she Ionos me, So, I have two Kirlia's in my prizes, my Evo in my prizes, and one Kirlia on the bottom of the deck, and I'm under item lock. So the only thing I can hit is this one like 35, yeah, no shuffling either. Uh, let's notice, she put an Artisan in play, so maybe I could have shuffled, but not before I drew the cards from her, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, the point is I, uh, I drew double EX, double candy research. So, I or else I lose on the spot. So I just showed her the hand and conceded, because, like, I'm not wasting my time doing that shit, bro. Especially

Liam:

actually crazy work! No!

h:

stuff. Ugh.

Abaan:

fair, this is in alignment with our podcast principles, when we make mistakes, we are supposed to be punished. We

Liam:

Yes, biblical!

Abaan:

in Game 3!

h:

Yeah, yeah,

Abaan:

We shouldn't have even been in Game 3, rah!

h:

she must have been like, just

Liam:

Yeah, no, like real talk bro, I was just telling uh, I was just telling these guys like earlier this week bro, anytime I see somebody complaining about bad luck in game three, I'm like bro, you gotta tell me what happened in game one and game two bro, like how'd you lose one earlier?

h:

there's no way I can complain about Game 3 after, after what I did, but

Abaan:

Exactly, Liam. I will not complain about Game 3 against GameSmart, because he sacked me in Game 1 and 2.

h:

second.

Abaan:

2 0'd.

h:

And then I mean, I guess I'll just complain about my losses. Uh, I mean, my stream loss was I mean, the loss of a matchup is, like, terrible.

Liam:

Egregious, egregious matchup, egregious matchup.

Abaan:

0'd, bro. You actually got 3 0'd. Game 3.

h:

and then game two, I think I'm actually in a decent spot if he doesn't hit this Cholrus double vacuum play on me. But, uh, yeah, all good.

Abaan:

Game 3.

Liam:

That was disgusting, bro. Like, I actually thought, I was like, damn, bro, this is like, this is the scenario where Henry wins, right? Like, this is the game that's going well. Ooh, ooh!

h:

an extremely

Liam:

Disgusting.

Abaan:

still messed up.

h:

well Oh, you

Abaan:

He still, like, Greninja'd, like,

Liam:

yeah, and then he lets you breathe! He lets you breathe!

Abaan:

I don't know. Liam was like Liam, you were like so I think you were like So wrong about this. I didn't, like, talk to you about it, but, like, bro, there's no way Henry wins that game, ever. Like, there is actually no lines, bro. Like, Hunter has, like, everything, bro. Like, any line you come up with, Hunter just, like, draws it. Dude, it's like, if thinking he wins that game is, like, acting like Hunter is, like, banned from Flower Selecting, like, he's Klefki law without Klefki being in play. Because if he gets a few cards, it's over.

Liam:

No, I, like, I've told you before, I, like, I don't, I I cannot tell you like the winning line, bro. I, I, I can't see it. I'm just saying my intuition, bro. I like, I can feel that he let you breathe and then I checked at the end of the turn and you were still dead. I was like, damn. What? Like he just,

Abaan:

you

Liam:

then you still ended up dying, bro. Like something went wrong here and I mean,

h:

wrong in the matchup, bro? I mean, like, I'm not one to, like,

Cameron:

today, and we hope to see you again in the future.

h:

work. Um, but yeah, no, it was, uh, not in the

Abaan:

Nah, we, we kidding ourselves. Let's be honest with ourselves. We're kidding ourselves thinking that plan's gonna work. Like, he's just gonna moon twice.

h:

plan is not gonna work, yeah. Without the Moon, that plan can work. it did work for me, uh, one of my rounds. Ugh, and then, yeah, the

Liam:

I mean, match,

h:

won.

Abaan:

But don't worry, Henry, when you played Nathan Ginsberg, what you didn't know was that you guys were not playing for three bands, or like a chance to win ten bands. You would have been playing for a chance to win two bands.

h:

Although

Abaan:

You and Ginsberg were fighting it out in the doghouse for one.

h:

I

Abaan:

fine. Sure, sure, sure.

h:

I mean, honestly, he should have let me had more money on the line, right? But, you know,

Abaan:

Yeah, actually, yeah, you should have just been like You should have promised him 1100, right? Like,

h:

whoa, we cannot be saying all that. All that, we cannot be saying that.

Abaan:

dude, actually, that's Prime Igor Kosta. Like, I, like, I love, I respect Igor so much, like, because of his gameplay, but, like, I've heard, like, crazy stories, like, pretty much explicitly, like, what I described, like, He was, like, it's just that, like, literally, like, that deal that I described, he would, like, unironically do it.

h:

Hmm. what happened, okay. Because I remember, like, he was the last Worlds I watched. I saw him win, and I was like, what happened to this guy? know. Good to know.

Abaan:

No, he, it's not what happened, like, this guy did, like, everything after that. He was part of, like, that god DDG team, Pendi, like, him, it was, like, Gedimer, right? Azul, like, god

Liam:

I mean, he was him. He was him, bro.

h:

Wait, so

Abaan:

Yeah, it's not like he fell off in 2014. This is beyond my realm. I don't know if Liam knows

Liam:

I think it was like, kind of both. Like, abandoned them and never came back or something.

Abaan:

yeah, I don't want to make a disclaimer like I I'm not like intimately familiar with like too many details about like Actually like what happened with Igor.

Liam:

Yeah, this is just, yeah, bro. This is just, yeah. This is not,

h:

think they

Liam:

this is not, this is not facts for the record. Damn. Wait, we're working miracles? Damn.

h:

I actually thought I could get there, but both games, went first, could not get into the Clefki, and then he had the Khorus, so I was, uh, on the back foot, but then, ah, game one, I still am in the most insane endgame spot, like, it's three to one, like, I have three, he's on one, but he, he went in with the hands. So, I, I, I managed to do the, I, I do 220 to the hands, I own it at one, and like, if he misses this turn, I have game on board next turn. Like, even if he switch cards, I can double Monkey Dory, kill the hand. Uh, but if one card is Chorus, and then he gets, uh, Sableye Psychic, jeez,

Abaan:

Bro, I played the most ridiculous game against Thorns, like, I don't want to get into my other bad beats, I lost a game and then I lost to a Banette Dusknoir, or like not, like I lost to a Banette Dusknoir like round two, uh, I think he kind of sacked me, but like whatever, I'm not gonna like get too into it, like I prized Dark Game 3, which would have like made me lock it up, but then even still I had like good outs, but whatever, like that one's uh, by the by. The one that really tilted me off the face of the planet was this Eye of Thorns deck, like I've already lost. Like, the last time we've had this format, I lost twice to Iron Thorns in Day 2, like, wow, that sucks. So anyways, I'm playing against this random guy, like, and we check his limitless, like, I always check limitless of all my opponents, he has none, and like, the meme at Worlds and stuff, or like, after Worlds, like, for Baltimore, it's like, if you check their limitless, and there's no results, and you're playing them in, like, Day 2, probably a Thorns guy, but I, like, I thought this logic, like, didn't apply, I thought, like, now, like, it could be bull, it's like 50 50, but anyways, I wasn't even thinking that hard about it, I'm going second, and I'm just so excited, bro, I, I have Klefki, bro, like, I, I pray for times like this, going second, starting Klefki raw, like, wow, I have the Scream Talon hand too, you know? Jam the Klefki, like, big smile, and then he, uh, he shows me his hand, he's playing Thorns. Well, this one's, like, fine, I guess, like, I retreat the Klefki, and I, and he mollies us four times, so I have to complete nuts, but then he, uh, he lost on my Klefki, and I just lose. Ending game two, we end with, like, a really long back and forth game, but every single time a Kirlia comes down, he's gusted. He, I look at his discard, it has, like, three bosses and a Prime Catcher, but he didn't

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and I

Liam:

have to borebyte them, mm

Abaan:

Yeah, and then he

Cameron:

forward to seeing you all again soon.

Abaan:

and he got the backup Thorns, so I guess he still has 1 card in hand. His his 1 card in hand is Core Sedacity. And he draws for turn, it's also Koloshnasty. Like, what the hell? Like Good game, bro.

Liam:

Oh my god.

h:

This is so upsetting, bro. Like, I mean, like, no cope, like, I still

Liam:

Henry Abad, do you think with proper play, you'd win that event? Or no?

h:

yeah, yeah, well, I mean, it's hard to say, like, what I would have I won,

Abaan:

Me? No. I was,

Liam:

No?

Abaan:

uh, I think I was kind of a victim of the circumstances of that. I think I made a minor, okay, I'm only saying I made a minor mistake on Sabanetta's turn because I got to see what happened, right? Like, but I think if I, like, played my turn and, like, like, if I, if I went for it the other way and I used my Drifloon, basically, I had to decide between attacking with Garde, which would have 50 damage on it, or, or sorry, 60 on it, or a Drifloon Charm. And I chose Garde, and then off his, like I think four cards total. He had Ultra Ball for Bear, plus Stretcher for Dusclops to knock me out. But I think if I attacked him with my Drifloon Charm and he like, vacuumed, like he Pokestopped into Vacuum, or like something random and like knocked me out, I'd feel just as stupid. Like, I think that like, at the time I was like, wow, I walked into this and lost, and like I felt terrible. But I think that's like, very much hindsight talking. I, um, I don't know if I was wrong. Or, I think they're so comparable that I don't feel like, ashamed that I made that choice, you know, I'm like, ah,

Liam:

That was a trick question, bro. You've been judged. Alright, bro. bro. Always yes, it's always yes.

Abaan:

Bro, no, no, no, no,

h:

I've played better, I would win. I don't,

Abaan:

You think, uh, you think, uh, world's Dango, bro? If I play optimal, I get it, duh?

h:

you were playing like

Abaan:

I don't think

Liam:

think you can opt in, like, you can opt in with a bad 60 to not be able to win the event. Like, if you play Fennekin themed deck, sure bro, you're not gonna win, even if you play perfect. But like, um, for a lot of 60s, if you play correctly, you're winning the event every single time.

h:

yeah, I the Guardian Deck like if you have average luck, you should win the event. a lot of, like, especially if your list is, like,

Abaan:

I disagree with this, Liam, because literally all you do is analyze your losses. You can ignore your wins, because like, even if you played bad in your wins, So like,

Liam:

yeah, exactly. You can analyze your losses. But,

Abaan:

if you analyze your losses, like sometimes you just like, have to accept like, especially like now with like, Deltasword format, bro. Sometimes you like, Literally get run off the board without, like,

Liam:

maybe especially for Louisville, because you couldn't even go X2, you had to go X11, right? So like,

h:

think

Abaan:

dude,

Liam:

had a little bit less leeway.

Abaan:

this

Liam:

I don't know, for most events,

Abaan:

they said you can't play item cards, and then he said you can't, like, all the Carleos are dead, every single one. Like, you missed Gardevoir, I killed three Carleos. Like, I, I guarantee you there was, like, no misplay in that game, like, and, like, I know that this is, like, such a bum, like, I agree with other formats where you're, like, oh, man, look at this thing that happened, like, no misplays were made. But no, literally, against these Dusknord decks, like the two I lost to on day one, like, I, I, I, like, if you went on PTCG Live, I didn't have enough glowable cards, bro. Like, my cards were not playable. Like, I just, I, like, didn't have enough choices.

Liam:

nothing was going, yeah,

Abaan:

Yeah, like,

Liam:

yeah, maybe, I don't know.

Abaan:

I think it's an oversimplification, but I agree there were certain formats where, in like certain times, where what you're saying is like very true. Dude,

h:

the entirety of last year, like, Paradox, Temporal, and NAIC format, was true. I'm not sure if it's true now. It's, like, close to being true if it's not

Abaan:

I think it was true with

Liam:

I don't know, I think it's, I always say it's true on principle, you know me. So, like, I don't know, it's just,

Cameron:

for joining us today.

Liam:

I did.

Abaan:

that's pretty funny.

Cameron:

Um,

Liam:

perfect 60, perfect play, you, you should be winning, like, 99. 9 percent of the time.

h:

don't

Liam:

I think that's the

Abaan:

the

Liam:

potential level in Pokemon.

Abaan:

Like, the people who never play perfectly. Like, I actually took the time Grimmur's, like, review of his own gameplay, and, like, I never even watched the finals, like, my, like, 4 game, I self brawled, but when I was watching it, like, he was not using the charm on the fez, bro. And, like, I guess I'm so guardi pilled, like, that that shit was so obvious to me, but I was, like, screaming at my screen when I was watching it, and then he was, like, saying it too, and I was like, oh, okay, so, like, damn, like, you can, like, get away

Liam:

He's good in the sandbox. He should be.

Abaan:

no, no, he was saying it, no, no, what I meant is that, like, he, like, did, he made, like, this egregious, like, not doing, like, not doing this very simple play, and, like, he got it done, like, it doesn't matter, like, you can make hundreds of misplays, not hundreds, but you can make very important, like, crucial game changing misplays and still, like, just luck sack

Liam:

I'm still winning.

h:

yeah, I mean, like,

Abaan:

Is what it is, like, so imagine if you didn't, you know?

h:

exclude what Liam said, though. I mean, I guess

Abaan:

No, no, my

Liam:

No, exactly. That's like further proof, right? Like,

Abaan:

exactly. if you

Liam:

If you don't make those, yeah, you're just Yeah, dude, there's so many mistakes when we're in tournament that we don't catch up on or don't pick up on.

Abaan:

though? Like, sometimes you do get punished for, like, the right play. It's, like, so weird, like, the, you, like, protect the Fez, right? And then they knock out your bull, and somehow your Fez, like, I don't know why, like, Fez is, like, magic, 99 like, it's not, I don't know why. It's just the distribution of three cards. But sometimes, like, you, like, get your fests, like, wow. Yeah, exactly. You're just like, how is this possible, bro? My fest always hits, but then every now and then,

Liam:

Yeah, no, it's when you have, like, search outs, right? When you're like, I can get one of, like, any, like, five cards and I'm good. And you're just like, I'm good. You look at the three and there's none of them? Like, damn, bro. That's like, it's crazy.

Abaan:

Oh, my one terrible fest at the tournament was Game 2 against Gabe. Oh, my goodness. I can't get that out of my head, bro. I literally had one godfest all tournament, and it was

Liam:

On repeat!

Abaan:

I just need, like, anything. Like, anything that I can Arven for the other part of this Guardian combo, and I don't have to, like,

Liam:

Yeah, exactly, bruh.

Abaan:

Ugh.

h:

the deck is broken. I mean, I'm not like, I don't know, like, I'm on, would you, well, you might want to play Pidget again, but like, you would, you would play the same deck, or no?

Abaan:

Oh, I'm like, for this event? Yeah, of course. For Sacramento. I, I already locked, locked it in, bro. I, I, I'll tell you guys right now, I'm playing pitch out no matter what.

h:

You

Abaan:

Yeah. I've already submitted my list. Yeah, exactly. I, I, they're not like they haven't like open deck registration, so I had to send an email to gaming Jen personally, but my list is locked in. There's uh, there's two BOF lots in there. There's a couple counter games and uh, it's a pig out deck.

h:

Alright. Noa, you want to talk about your, your games?

Cameron:

sure, my,

Liam:

Extra salty.

Abaan:

of us here, top 32.

h:

best for last year. Don't disappoint

Cameron:

Uh, I mean, I already told, talked about my, one of my ties, um, or one of my losses, which was the Bolt, which was actually round one when they did the Prime Catcher all over me, and then I kind of ran it back, played, Two Pokedads, then I played Dre on Block Lax, uh, I lost game one and then ran it back. I played three Block Lax, they won, I drew pretty well against them. Um, and then the second Breaking Bolt that I played, um, that I played for my winnin and just didn't draw super well. And then I played another Block Lax, which I kind of, uh, kind of owned.

Abaan:

though, Shenoy?

Cameron:

Huh.

Abaan:

we were talking about, like, dude, the matchup felt terrible without the second cologne. Like, with the second cologne, you were running them over, like, super easily, but, like, were you just drawing, like, the nuts or what? Because we, at some point, thought this matchup was, like, very bad for Drago with one

Cameron:

Uh, Noctowl is really good.

Abaan:

Um,

h:

that makes sense.

Cameron:

Uh, Noctowl is, like, really, really good. And then playing both stadiums, Shamming and Temple is also really, really good. Um Okay.

Liam:

so much, right? Like, you know, you know how a lot of our wins were from, like, bad draw orders? Like, the Noctowl just fixes all of that.

Cameron:

does that, but it also, like, hits Mimikyu for 60, and if they just play Charm, like, you two shot them. So,

Liam:

that's pretty sick, yeah.

Cameron:

good into that, like, line of play as well. So, it's just, like, you put a Mew up, you put that up, you put a Teomath and a Regidrago, and you just, like, go crazy on them.

Abaan:

We don't hit him with the

Liam:

Cheren.

Abaan:

of the Galaxy, bro.

Cameron:

Yeah.

Liam:

Oh! Laughter

Cameron:

and like, maybe you play another Teal Dance or something like that, or Tumas, but like, that

Liam:

Yeah, yeah.

Cameron:

like, just has answers for

Liam:

That's sick, yeah. What

Cameron:

Raging Bolt, uh, round one, he asked if we wanted to do a Gentleman's, and I was like, well, we have like, literally a minute, I don't think I can agree to this, and we can take a tie, um, and then, like, two rounds later,

Abaan:

asking to free roll you, essentially, right? He was just like,

Cameron:

and

Abaan:

you just scoot this up?

Cameron:

and the, well, the funny part, the funny part was, he ended up bricking, and I probably would have taken it, but, um, it's like, very hard in that moment to, like, to do. You know,

h:

And the

Cameron:

agreed to it. Uh,

h:

for you there, yeah, so, because you were X1.

Cameron:

yeah, and then we ended up, we ended up sitting right next to each other on winning ends for top eight like rounds later, right? Because we both won our next two rounds. I played, uh, Hegi in a mirror. Um, he scooped it up pretty early when I just, I think I, Regi, uh, I just impacted one of the, uh, Drago he attached to.

Abaan:

Radiant Gardevoir.

Cameron:

No Radiant Gargoyle. Um.

Abaan:

Craziest tech ever, bro. I can't

Cameron:

Yeah, Zahra's so much better. It's crazy. Um, crazy, it's crazy like how much better you can do when you play a real Radiant. Um, Jesus Christ. Um, and then I played against, um, Duskstorm I went and then I went Attach Pass on like a Fez, Game 1. And then, 2, just prized double E Switch, had to walk away another one early without using it. it just, uh, they kind of hit everything they needed, so, yeah, it was a bit of, it was a bit unfortunate, um, I could have played slightly better against them, I think, in, like, maybe one, one spot, but it was, it was gonna be tough regardless, um, especially because, like, I didn't draw the E switches until, I didn't even draw one of the E switches, one of them, like, I got off a Dusknoir, of, after he, like, already crippled my board like crazy, and I was like,

Abaan:

know what's funny? That guy, I heard about him from, like, one of his friends.

Cameron:

mm hmm,

Abaan:

he's not, he's not like, a Palkia, a

Cameron:

mm hmm. Mm hmm.

Abaan:

and he only plays Lockdecks. He plays, like, some weird, like, lightning, like, shocklock type deck in GLC, permanently. And this is, like, his first, like, say shit event in, like, months. he's, like, bullet. He was playing bullet, er,

Cameron:

Damn, I mean, he went 7 1 with the

Liam:

a dog.

Cameron:

so, you know, he had the run and had the winnin and the lostin on stream. So, uh, what's his name?

Abaan:

was playing Dusknoir in the bull, right?

Cameron:

Uh, yeah, dude, dude, dude played no Gus, he played no Catchers, uh, no Boss, and played the Briar, played Briar, and, I think he did play Prime, but he just, like, didn't play the other Gus, because he was, like, the Dusknoir, and the Briar Dusknoir, he said, like, got it done enough

Abaan:

He'll

Cameron:

of a time for it not to matter. he's just, I just, I'm just

h:

there if you have the best I don't know

Cameron:

taking extra prize.

Abaan:

Would that be based or no? Dusknoir?

h:

absolutely horrible.

Cameron:

Um, yeah, so that's just how my run went, uh, finished, and the tie ended up being good because it locked us for top 32, right, and that's sort of what it did, like, win was like a lock for top 128 or something like that, two was 32 and 3 was top 8.

Abaan:

yeah, actually, like, in hindsight, like, that Gentleman's, like, obviously winning is, like,

Cameron:

Yeah.

Abaan:

But like, if you won that round and then lost a different round, like, you're cooked! Like, it's actually

Cameron:

because I, yeah, yeah, I looked at that before the round and I had already known, like, how, like, limitless isn't always going to be right, but I looked at it and I was like, yeah, I think it's really good to actually take this tie early so I can take a loss. Um, and still cash. And,

Abaan:

cash no matter what. I'll be there no matter what. Shinoide cashing.

Liam:

there no matter what. Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.

Cameron:

I know there's a lot of other, but,

Abaan:

guy, bro, he's gonna get you like 99 times out of 100, bro, with a bolt.

h:

Did you play

Cameron:

maybe, maybe, yeah.

h:

Okay, okay.

Abaan:

You know what? He puts, you know, but we'll get him, don't worry, we'll get him. Dude, I got Shinoahe at the local in like 5 minutes, he like, I broke his spirit, bro, I started

Cameron:

Classy. FNAF. I said, ah, I don't even want to bother.

h:

You're

Cameron:

off the supporter to this next turn, I don't even care.

Abaan:

Shannoy does this thing too where he starts looking at his top cards like during my turn and like, I don't say anything because I know that if he doesn't see, if he doesn't like what he sees, like, it's over.

Cameron:

I just picked it up. I just looked at the top card, picked it up, and it's just

Liam:

I think that's like the most valid thing ever, bro. Like,

Cameron:

go

Liam:

just watch your opponent, bro. You sometimes gotta take a peek so you can start thinking about what you're doing, bro.

Cameron:

No, bruh. This guy.

Abaan:

research too, like, preemptively, like, uh, top card, I'm gonna research for sure. Looks at the

Liam:

That's crazy, alright, bro. Oh my god. Yeah, yeah.

h:

guys did. the, Cheren was sitting next to me, and I hit this uh, this Drago round 3. Game 1, going second, Klefki, Arvin, GG's. Uh, and then game 2 he probably has double

Cameron:

all for joining us today, and we hope to see you again in the next

Liam:

bro. No kizzy, bro.

h:

NAIC, and then He's my good luck charm,

Abaan:

Well, you saw Kieran at NAIC?

h:

I played him round 3, bro.

Abaan:

Damn,

Liam:

Yeah, he got him!

h:

I got a game loss in round 2. crazy. My only game loss in my career.

Abaan:

Wait, for what?

h:

the end of Game 2, I don't know, I was like, checking my prizes, because I was going for like this 7 energy, like, Luck, Cape, Screamtail, Achilles, Bench, Lugia, V Star. And like, while I'm like, put down my hand. And then, I get them, but then going into Game 2, I never shovel my hand back into my deck. And then, Turn 1, I have like the most lit start ever, I'm like, going into my deck, I'm missing something, and then like, I look over, and I see like, there's just a giant, or like, like a Five, six pile of cards that I just like never shoveled into my deck. Whoopsies! On to game

Abaan:

Damn, and you gotta

Cameron:

Oh, that's, oh,

Abaan:

ever got you is when to the side when you're getting him. Damn, bro.

Cameron:

damn, it sounds like you should have pile shuffled to make sure there were 60

Liam:

Okay, bro, Henry and I were having this conversation last night, and we need you to, uh, do you watch Naruto or no? Like, have you watched it? Yeah?

Cameron:

yeah.

h:

get here. Yes!

Liam:

for Aura. Who has more aura, Sasuke or Naruto?

Cameron:

Oh, bruh. Ummmm. Think I'venah, brah.

Liam:

What?!

h:

Yes!

Liam:

bro. That's actually crazy, bro.

h:

Cam's a little older. He's got that veteran knowledge. He's not just like some teenager trying to get

Liam:

Yeah!

h:

edgy Oh, so much aura.

Abaan:

Dude, Henry, when you said that, like, this is what the result would be if you asked, like, on Fortnite, hours after school got out, I was like,

Cameron:

Hahaha!

Abaan:

you actually got his ass so hard.

h:

Liam is exposed, bro. Like, this guy's

Abaan:

Criminal.

Liam:

Damn bro. That's actually craziness. Oh my God. I I

Abaan:

from that conversation I wanted to ask on the pod was like, question of like, if you could only win, ah dude, fucking Liam and Henry have already won one major I guess, but like, if you could only win

Liam:

would you,

Abaan:

by like, getting the most godluck ever, like you, you

Liam:

it it, it's like egregious.

Abaan:

yeah,

Liam:

no.

Abaan:

Gettemer versus Michael Davidson, but more

Liam:

you egregiously misplay and then you get bailed out. Not just in finals, but also in top four and also in top eight. You're like streamed all three times and you're basically like,

Abaan:

knock them that you prized, and you're like, oh, I guess I'm fine now, and then you evolve Bib, like

Liam:

Yeah.

h:

so what's the

Abaan:

shit like that, you know,

h:

Like, would you take

Abaan:

you either do

Liam:

Would you, would you rather, would you rather be that guy? No, no,

Abaan:

guy who that's happening to, and everyone's like, Damn, that guy's way better. Like,

Liam:

no, it's not even just that it's happening to you, but you're like, you're playing so well, your deck is so lit, everybody knows that at the next regional, you're going to win, and the regional after that, and the major after that, and the major after that. Like, you are going to win at every tournament you play because you are like, you are like, actually like, head and shoulders better than everybody else in the room, you just got insanely plot armored into a second place finish this time around. Would you rather be that guy, or the bum who, who managed to sneak one, sneak one pass?

Abaan:

Liam. It's an important stipulation that you don't get to just win the next event, right? Like, you don't get to win the next event. You can't, you can't be like, yeah, yeah. You have to, for some reason, after that, just like, retire. Like, you don't get to win the next event. You have to like, everyone has to think you would, though.

Liam:

yeah, no, you get into a freak accident. You get into a freak accident and your life is cut short, unfortunately.

Abaan:

Okay, my

Liam:

not actually, like, no no no, not actually, how about, yeah, you supposedly get into a freak accident because you got put into a witness protection program so that you can never like, um, you can never show your face again in public or something like you kind of like that you know like

Abaan:

you can't play Pokemon,

Cameron:

definitely not sponsored by the Dragon's Dune.

Abaan:

shit, bro. You just can't play events, like.

Liam:

yeah yeah yeah

h:

Yeah.

Liam:

yeah you you can't go to events anymore but

Abaan:

and you're just like a mid ass Yu Gi Oh player now. Like, you just don't want to play Pokemon anymore. Or like, actually, it

Liam:

no you can't be mid you have aura

Abaan:

Ah,

Liam:

hella aura you don't need to be mid bro yeah

Abaan:

Fine, Wait.

h:

becomes too bullshit, like, Jake Gearhart, you know?

Abaan:

no, no, here's the best one. get

Cameron:

kind of player.

Abaan:

because they take a clip from your podcast, and they're like, damn, that's targeted harassment. And you're banned.

Liam:

Oh,

Abaan:

you could not, you get like, permaban too. But everyone knows you're the GOAT, but like, you're permaban.

h:

Okay, so, like, Gettemer, but you don't get to come back. Oof.

Abaan:

but you don't get to come back! But you're actually also like, cracked. You're not just, like, like, even more cracked than Gedimer. They're like,

Liam:

You, you're forced that the T CG has never before seen. Like you, you're an actual demon, right?

h:

the like, I mean, it's, like, 3k versus, like, legacy points, right? Like, if you actually can't Legacy, points, then, like, I mean, yeah, just, like, take the 3k, right? Like, I don't know, unless you,

Liam:

Jesus, bro. No, but like also this argument is like, it's not fair, bro. It's not fair, bro.

Cameron:

for joining us today.

h:

okay bro,

Liam:

No, yeah, yeah, yeah.

h:

dude,

Abaan:

this hypothetical,

Liam:

time there's a trivia question.

Abaan:

you and it's you. Like, Kieran and Anil, they're talking on their, like, YouTube channel, and they're just like, oh, Anil,

Liam:

Worst regional champions ever.

Abaan:

And it's like, for sure, Henry Chow, Baltimore, 2024. It's not even close.

h:

um,

Liam:

will go down as one of the most infamous finals ever. If you know, you know.

h:

I still

Abaan:

I choose second, Liam. I thought about it more. No,

h:

take the 3k.

Abaan:

no, no, no. The minus aura is, like, actually important to me. It'd be one thing if I just, like, won the finals and, like, this guy's kind of mid. But, like, the way you're describing where it's, like, wow. He can, like, vomit all over himself, but then, like, hit a one outer. Like, ugh, that.

Liam:

Yeah.

Abaan:

I'd rather just get second and be the GOAT.

Liam:

And you're thinking of this in terms of like, I'm taking the 3k, but Henry, we're not even talking about that. We're talking about who has the most aura. We're talking about aura here. The person who got second, or the person who like, plow armored their way through. That was the exact way you phrased it in the DMs, bro. Who has more aura? It's the guy who got second, bro. Like, what?

h:

second, yeah, I'll obviously use second, like, well, like, sort of by definition, like, yeah,

Liam:

I'm glad we've come to an agreement. I'm glad we've come to an agreement.

Abaan:

No, but we've, like, posed the question to, like, over, like, over skew it towards the second one. What if it's first place? They didn't do anything special. They played clearly kinda bad. Like, kinda mid, right? But the guy who got first was

Liam:

No, no, no, no, but that's exactly what we're talking about, bro, because Narnto is like an actual, like, he's like a bumbling idiot in the show. That's like his whole character, um, but he gets bailed out by this Ninetales inside of him, bro. He got the best spawned RNG ever, even though his parents died, like, while that was happening, but like, he, he got blessed up with a Ninetale fox inside of him, and he basically just gets bailed out after doing, like, You know, the most, you know, dumb thing you've ever seen, like, over and over and over. That's, like, the Naruto character.

h:

but, like, Sasuke also has, I

Abaan:

Dude, oh, I guess I remembered the other comparison, because I've never

Liam:

No, no, Sasuke has aura! What?

h:

probably, the

Abaan:

like, Henry was saying this is better than,

h:

the Nighttales. Okay, go ahead, go ahead.

Abaan:

oh, I was gonna say that Henry was saying this is better than, the anime that I've watched was like, Death Note, and I was just saying like, we were talking about, we were glazing L, right, and then Henry's like, bro, but like, L like, lost, and like, Naruto though, he like, always auras up and gets it done, and we're like, bro, like, This, like, L losing is way more impressive than, like, I don't know the context of Naruto, but I

Liam:

The way L lost was, like,

Abaan:

like the most history of losses, bro. No

Liam:

Exactly, exactly.

h:

like, I'm really

Liam:

Yes, exactly.

h:

cause

Cameron:

Hello,

Liam:

was me, that was me, that was me, that was me, bro.

h:

like,

Abaan:

it wasn't. Dude, Liam, nothing you say is from you, bro. Like, literally, you're like a parrot, bro. Nothing came from you.

Liam:

Yeah, I don't know if y'all can tell this podcast, but every time Henry or Brian say something, I just echo it, and just say it again, but

Abaan:

Literally, like, I don't know. I don't know why you're saying it like that. Literally, that's actually how it is, bro.

Liam:

What'd I say? Like, bro, what? I was giving it a buck.

Abaan:

Okay, okay, anyways, Henry, what were you going to say?

h:

mean, Naruto always got it done, like, it wasn't, like, fluked either, like, maybe, like, you can't really say what's fluked, because it's, like, like, he got it done, like, 500 times, bro, like,

Abaan:

Dude, I'm

Liam:

I don't know, bro, like

Abaan:

from, like, the fucking Shinigami realm to, like, be L. Like, that is not a knock on his legacy, bro. That's not, that's not a knock on his

Liam:

No, bro, bro, like,

h:

you gotta

Liam:

on the Naruto topic, yeah, like, he's like, going against gods, and then it turns out, bro, it turns out, Kurama has a new secret power, and Naruto's gonna unlock it, and all of a sudden, he's gonna get it done? Bro, that's a bailout! That's a bailout, bro! That is not, like, get it done. Like,

h:

him

Liam:

you know, Itachi? He'd get it done.

Cameron:

it done, even though it's a tab.

Abaan:

is actually a perfect example. That's like Henry Brand, like, literally sitting there, and then Shintaro just getting a DPL out of nowhere for slow play, and then Henry Brand's like, oh, I guess I win now. Like, is Henry Brand the most

Cameron:

Got it done.

h:

there an

Cameron:

Got it done.

h:

title for Henry Brand? I don't think so, right?

Cameron:

Nope.

Abaan:

but there but we think the GOAT, bro. Shintaro, like, won a different worlds, and like, got scammed, stolen, robbed in broad daylight.

Cameron:

Highway robbery, bro.

h:

Shintaro

Abaan:

Dude, Henry, like, what are you talking about? Shintaro is already, like, like, a Cliff Henry, like, Shintaro's career is doing, like, does like a whole three laps around Henry's, bro. Like, what?

h:

like, no, no, exactly, but that's not the point. Like, if that was just the only tournament they ever played, like, rather be Henry Brand, yeah?

Abaan:

No,

h:

See, that's, that's an

Abaan:

I just disagree.

Liam:

not even the only tournament that I ever played, bro, like, what, um, man, I

Abaan:

Yeah, but like, it, like, he's

Cameron:

for

Liam:

dumb decisions and getting bailed out by this nine tailed fox that got put inside of Ant Man, bro, like, like, literally, that is the entire Naruto story, getting bailed out by Kerma,

h:

like, literally

Liam:

opposed to, like, you know, these Uchiha's, bro, who are, who are doing devious activity, bro, And like, that's what they're up to, you know?

h:

I need to hear what the viewers think if they even listened this

Cameron:

You can see, you can see, you can see who Liam thinks he is, Brett.

h:

Yeah, this is very obvious.

Liam:

Yes!

Abaan:

Leader of the Dargas, he may be Naruto, in this example.

h:

A bumbling idiot. It's alright, bro. Ming do you

Liam:

Yes! You're actually not wrong, but I'm definitely like I'm definitely closer to Mr. Itachi, but, I'm like,

Cameron:

she's a Toxie, bro. Oh, my goodness.

h:

is too cringe. is too cringe.

Liam:

are one and the same, bruh.

Cameron:

older brother he's now a Toxie.

Liam:

yeah.

Cameron:

That's all I can say. That's the only specification necessary.

Abaan:

Yes, I have a younger brother. Nice. Noted.

Liam:

like Sasuke now, bruh.

Cameron:

that

Liam:

Oh my god.

h:

I'm Naruto, bro. I got that

Cameron:

And

Liam:

bailed out, bruh, they're like, He like, definitionally has a dog inside of him, but he has no dog inside of him, bro. Like, Nah, he's not built for that, bro.

Cameron:

it.

Abaan:

argument, right?

h:

kind of mental gymnastics

Liam:

no, no! No,

Abaan:

Not yet, exactly. If we're not gonna count definitional dogs, we're just yapping.

h:

As if we

Liam:

ha ha!

Abaan:

That's where we draw the line though. Like, if someone has a,

Liam:

No, but I mean, isn't that even worse, bro? He has a physical dog inside of him, but he doesn't have a spiritual dog? That's like, terrible!

Cameron:

Oh my god, this guy is

Liam:

He has a dog inside of him, but somehow can't convert. Like, what?

h:

a spiritual dog inside of you? Like, Naruto definitely does, bro, like, like, no glaze, but, like, this guy has, like, the determination, like, eclipsing anyone, bro, like, what do

Liam:

He's not a dirty dog, bro. He's

h:

okay, dog inside of him, he's got a clean

Liam:

Negative aura. Like

Abaan:

that's terrible. That's terrible, Henry. We all, we've actually, like, you've actually cooked yourself in this argument. You do not

Liam:

Oh! No,

Abaan:

there's mud over there. I gotta stay here. Like, that, that, that path is closed. Like, oh, like, like, yeah.

h:

they can't even start walking,

Liam:

to God, bro. Like, Sasuke is always down to get like down and dirty, bro, but Naruto is not, bro. He likes to, he likes to keep his hands clean, bro. Thank you.

h:

feel

Cameron:

Hey, that's what do if you're gonna be the leader of

Liam:

get involved, bro.

h:

that's

Cameron:

of the village, bruh. You gotta have, uh, your side guy

Liam:

exactly.

Cameron:

That's

Liam:

up with his paperwork, bro. Meanwhile, Sasuke taking care of business.

Cameron:

do

Liam:

I actually sent them that video where, um, you know, Sasuke, Sasuke first fights, uh, Kinshiki, right? And I was like, dude, that's like some real main character activity, bro. Cause like, that was like literally me when I was hunting the Ultra Beasts in Sun and Moon, bro. Like, he's like hopping into portals and taking out these, like, um You know, these, uh, other dimension gods, bro. Like, that's like main character activity. Meanwhile, Naruto's at home taking care of paperwork, bro.

Abaan:

actually these like moon games as peak bro. Like back in the day, bro, we were like writing our like. like, I don't know, we were using Surf on our Pokemon and like, riding on the water, and like, going like, like, oh

Liam:

bro, I, I do not think of the Sun and Moon games as peak, right? I think the, uh, the Omega, Ruby, Alpha, Sapphire. So, uh, that's how old I am. But,

h:

stop.

Abaan:

terrible, that's terrible. Those are, yeah, that's like, almost the worst answer. Yeah,

Liam:

I cannot believe you said that, bro. I, yeah, I mean, I, I, I guess I'm too, too young. But, yeah, those, those are my favorite games, bro. But, yeah,

h:

New generation,

Abaan:

No,

Liam:

yeah, those are my favorite games, bro. Sue me, bro. Sue me!

Abaan:

are

Liam:

Oh my god.

Abaan:

of, like, your age, you know, like, it's fine.

Liam:

Alright, bro.

h:

Yeah, I'll see you on

Abaan:

Like, I felt like I was halting the Ultra Beast, I just cringed, bro, like, oh my god, felt like I was halting,

Liam:

Oh my,

Abaan:

oh my goodness, bro,

Liam:

Jesus, Hero, my bad. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh

Abaan:

sense of accomplishment, bro,

h:

Yeah, Kim's sitting here like, ah

Abaan:

like, you know that meme, where the guy's sitting there with a party hat, and he's like, no one knows I just did this thing, or whatever, that's me when I beat, like, Cynthia the second time, like, I was standing, going to school the next day, like, no one knows, except everyone knew, because I told everyone, I told every single person in the school, personally,

h:

aura, move.

Liam:

my god. Alright, we've been going for an hour and a half, and like, uh, yapping crazy, bro. Probably wrap it up.

Abaan:

Yeah.

h:

play for LAIC, guys?

Liam:

any, any last thoughts?

Abaan:

got over it again, but it doesn't even

Liam:

The bra, yeah, I, yeah, you have to play the Gardevoir, bro.

Cameron:

the play is to know, and then test for Sacramento, because we're all going to Sacramento, right?

Abaan:

He's not going to sack him, is he?

h:

Yeah, no sack

Liam:

damn, bro, we are, we're playing what we know to LAIC, we're playing what we know to the IC and testing for the other event, the regional, bro, that's crazy work. No holding.

Cameron:

play, I'm gonna play the, I'm, are you talking, what are you talking about? I'm playing the deck that I have like, 200, 300 games with? Yeah, over switching to some whatever bullshit, when I don't think, like, Regidrago's

Liam:

No, yeah, I mean, like, if you think you've done your best for LAIC, like, all power to you, but, I'm just saying, like, you should not be, uh, sacrificing your LAIC performance for Sacramento, that should not be a thing, but if you're doing your best for LAIC,

Abaan:

right? Like,

Liam:

Yeah, sure, sure. Yeah,

Abaan:

he's gonna run it back, see how it goes.

h:

some Lost Boxes for me, let's go, let's go.

Cameron:

I mean, I'm gonna play locals, I'm gonna get my reps in, I'm gonna keep playing, but I'm like, I'm, you know, I'm also gonna be testing the next format.

Abaan:

the mind is

Cameron:

Yeah.

h:

I'm not touching the new cards till LAIC. I know that for sure. I don't know how much I'm going to play, but no way I'm looking at these new cards.

Liam:

Henry's my dog, bro. Yes, yes, yes.

Abaan:

bro, Liam, you gotta be my dog, bro, we gotta be playing, uh, we gotta be playing on Limboless Sam like we were before Worlds, yeah. We gotta uh,

Liam:

Jesus Christ. And then I put the biggest stinker of my career at Worlds, bro. No cap, but

Abaan:

Well, that was

Liam:

yeah. I know, that was like egregious, bro. That was egregious. I was crashing out. Um,

Abaan:

Dango with me, bro.

h:

you think Dango

Liam:

no, no, no, bro. No, see, the difference, literally, I, yeah, I mean, you're joking, you're joking.

Abaan:

Yeah, yeah, actually, what?

h:

Yeah?

Liam:

And I, I was gonna crash there, but like, alright. Um,

Abaan:

I don't know, Henry, actually, like, I have to, like, think, I have to think about it and give you a better answer, but if you did, just, uh, look up Yael's list. He's, it's pretty good.

h:

Gotta get that, work that

Liam:

oh my god. Gotta wake that bib in, bro!

Abaan:

like, a, he won, like, a seven person League Cup. Did you see his Twitter?

h:

Chill, bro. I did not see that. I hope bib was front and center. never know when you're going to miss. You never know.

Abaan:

I mean, it's hard, bro, like, uh, I don't know where, actually, I should probably know where he lives before I, like, go too crazy, but, yeah. It's hard winning League Cups out there, wherever it is.

h:

1 bib and I'll put in two Klefki's. Like, honestly, like, I'd be down. Like, it's probably not even that bad,

Abaan:

No, bro.

h:

Nah.

Abaan:

Probably.

Liam:

bruh, no!

h:

I was, this is what I was

Abaan:

I don't know! Dude,

h:

I don't know what you're cutting exactly, but

Abaan:

Ian is so base, bro. He put the Klefki in the Palkia deck, bro. I'm not kidding, like, when I heard that Ian Raub is, like, glazing this Palkia deck, he put a Klefki in, which is already, like, oh, I was like, oh, that's such a lit tech. And he's like, I'm playing this deck no matter what to LAIC, and I'm only playing this deck until then, and I'm gonna win everything around. When I heard Ian Raub say that, bro, If I was going to LAIC, I may just have to play this Palkia deck, bro. Like, I don't know.

h:

Ian actually or'd all over me at the end of Louisville, bro. I was like sitting there waiting to get picked up, and he walks by and he's like, playing this Klefki card too. It was my MVP. but your deck is trash. And then he just walked away.

Abaan:

What?

Liam:

Damn, bro.

h:

like simplifying it a little bit, but that's like pretty much what he said, bro. He's like, yeah, but I'm playing a real deck.

Cameron:

It just freezes down!

h:

crimes at Louisville, bro. Like, that card literally won me, like, probably five or six games by itself. more, honestly. Like, it's actually disgusting what that card does.

Abaan:

Yeah. I mean, more if it didn't decide to show up. Game one against the Thorns when I'm going second, like, I couldn't even, like, I can't even imagine a worse time for this guy to show up, bro, like, I don't even know what to say, like,

h:

you about Doran's Throat, come on, I can't believe you. You couldn't get it

Abaan:

I know, I played actually, like, I was clinical, bro, I was, like, two games ago, I played clinical, I have no, no,

h:

I believe it.

Abaan:

that's whatever,

Liam:

Yeah, wait, what happened in game two, bro?

Abaan:

uh, I literally got, like, I was getting, like, one Curlia per turn, and then getting boss

Liam:

Oh, I remember, yeah, you were telling me, bro, and he was hitting Guts like every single turn. Oh,

Abaan:

got him to the Iona No. 1, bro. Like, I don't know what to tell you. Like,

Liam:

yeah, and then he went like, yeah.

Abaan:

He

h:

Because like, we were testing this, and like, you, like, my worst game was like the one where you were like steamrolling me, but then even then, like, I got you on the Iona to one, but like this time he just happened to actually like, get his shit

Abaan:

me, bro.

h:

Yeah.

Abaan:

Yeah.

h:

Ugh.

Liam:

Damn.

h:

At least you can't blame me for losing to Natoworld anymore, so I'll take that. No,

Liam:

Oh my god. Oh

h:

stop,

Abaan:

Like, what? I'm

h:

talk

Liam:

my god. That's crazy, bro. You never get those kind of positions in the sandbox, bro. Like, in the sandbox, you think, oh.

Abaan:

actually feel like I would have checked for that on accident at some point. Like, I'm just sitting there with the Mimmy, like, oh man, pass,

Cameron:

for

Liam:

No read. No,

Abaan:

I don't know, no, like, I know it's so hindsight, but I truly think I would have sniffed it out in the course of a three game set, but maybe, maybe it would have been a tie, but I think you can 70 with Mimikyu enough times fast enough that once you know that you're, you're good, like, you win.

h:

I like, it crossed my mind, but the problem is, like, I didn't accept the premise. Like, I just, I didn't know the Thorns list well enough, because I just thought the matchup was free. So, I just didn't think about it, because the

Abaan:

I think the problem, though, Henry, I'm not gonna

Liam:

Yeah, exactly. Like you didn't wanna, you, you don't wanna take a risk like that, especially in like such a good matchup, you know, because you playing like the

h:

No, no, so, like, okay, so the issue is, I was testing it on live with Klefki, and the matchup was free, so I never really, like, paid attention to their list, and then I cut the Flutter, like, the, like, a couple days before the tournament.

Liam:

Oh sure. And then I got a harder.

Cameron:

to begin our ceremony. for joining us this evening. Please find your seats.

Abaan:

the other problem

Cameron:

for joining us today.

Abaan:

them at their word for it, but, like, like, maybe they can get me with some crazy bait, but I would just be, like, aw, man, sucks you prized at Cologne, like, some shit like that, and, like, so much

Cameron:

all for joining us

Liam:

dirty T.

Cameron:

and

Liam:

That's crazy.

h:

I said, like, oh, at

Liam:

No, I like,

h:

the cologne and shit like that,

Cameron:

see you

Liam:

that bro, but like, you have to become a, an expert like liar bro, if you, if you want to

Cameron:

future.

Liam:

that tactic bro, that's like, it's like, it's like impossible bro, you, you're gonna give like, give away some sort of tell, you know what I mean? I mean, maybe not a bond bro, because he's a poker demon, but. Everybody knew it. Everybody knew what the 60

Abaan:

or like ask me stuff like that too. And like sometimes I'm like, damn, you are such a bum, bro. Like,

Cameron:

for joining us today, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Abaan:

like I've said, like the Dark Rift Prize, like the Dark

Liam:

was. Yeah.

Abaan:

not like in the middle of the game, but like after the game, like, ah, the reason I was playing like a bot there is because of my Dark Rift Prize. Like, I'm not an actual idiot.

Liam:

Yeah, exactly. You gotta get that off your chest, bro. If it's like, if it's weighing on your chest, like,

h:

Yeah,

Cameron:

joining us

Liam:

Oh my god.

Abaan:

Actually,

Cameron:

and we hope to see you again very soon. very much.

h:

over, right? So you have to make them feel like, know, you have, like, some brain cells in there.

Liam:

Gotta make it feel good after the set. Oh my god. Yeah,

Abaan:

Yeah. Here's my grades at school. And actually, like. I'm not a fan, and I'm actually pretty good. Here's my limit list, here's my, like, results, like, here's a great set I played, like, against my friend, that I recorded. I'm actually pretty

Liam:

yeah, yeah.

Abaan:

No, heh heh heh heh heh heh.

Liam:

Don't worry, bro.

Abaan:

This was

Liam:

I'm bad. Oh my god, bro. Alright, uh, solid place to wrap it up.

Abaan:

Yeah.

Liam:

How do we, uh, how do we stop recording on here?

Abaan:

Don't pause our outro. I

Liam:

Yeah, John Paul's our last show.

Riverside, it's so pretty. Lookin here, we gotta get me to life. When you talk to me, I listen. Stare straight ahead, trying to pretend. I got something to say, but I'm tellin you no lies. My mind is just a little mellow. I'm a beast and I awaken you, don't make fun of me, tipsy till three, Now I'm drunk, naked, and hanging from a tree, Found it on a chest, a carpet on the leaves, but, Where you wear your hats, I'm charming, You can make your name a star farmer, Put the crocs in the ground, I'm gonna raise them up, Build a roof up above, I'm gonna raise it up, You jump on my head, don't I? I've got two arms, wanna pick em up, I've got two legs, I'll teach em how to jump, I've got two arms, wanna pick em up, I've got two legs, I'll teach em how to jump, I've got two arms, wanna pick em up, I've got two legs, I'll teach em how to jump, Yeah, it's what it's got, we just call it art.