Fools or Tools + Twilight Mascarade Tier List Review and LA Regionals PredictionsFools or Tools + Twilight Mascarade Tier List Review and LA Regionals Predictions
The Payoff with Pete
Cory and Jared break down Twilight Masquerade’s impact on the Pokémon TCG, challenging a popular tier list while debating Charizard, Dragapult, Lugia and more. They highlight how vital tool cards have become and share bold predictions for the upcoming LA Regionals.
51:35•24 May 2024
Tier Lists, Tools or Fools, and LA Pokémon Regionals Predictions
Episode Overview
- Tool cards and A-Specs are central to deckbuilding, often more critical than many traditional trainer choices.
- Dragapult is framed as the current front-runner, but Charizard, Lost Box, Gardevoir and Lugia are all serious contenders.
- Banette-based item-lock Gardevoir lists can heavily disrupt stage-two decks by shutting off key item cards.
- Fringe and rogue decks like Great Tusk mill, Meowscarada and Raging Bolt can succeed but need the right meta and pilots.
- Predictions for LA Regionals focus on Lost Box, Charizard and Gardevoir as likely top-finishing strategies.
“Don’t be a fool. Play a tool.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of competitive card gaming chaos as Cory and Jared break down the Twilight Masquerade shake-up in the Pokémon TCG. Aimed at players who care about the meta, from locals grinders to Regional hopefuls, this chat is all about what actually wins games right now rather than theory-crafting in a vacuum.
Cory and Jared start by reacting to early online play after the Twilight Masquerade release, joking about work getting in the way of testing and venting about ladder bugs and dodgy ranking exploits. From there, they jump into recent results from Santiago and Singapore, asking why Charizard seemed to vanish from top cuts even though top names like Gustavo Wada were still piloting it.
Jared compares Charizard to cicadas “lying dormant” until the right moment, hinting that Zard might be resting, not gone. They scan through top decks like Lost Box, Gardevoir variants with Banette item lock, Arceus builds, Lugia and more, weighing which strategies are genuinely strong and which are just riding hype. A big chunk of the conversation centres on a public tier list by Brandon ("a brand new mac"), which they love, mock and dissect in equal measure.
Dragapult gets crowned as the only S-tier deck, while fringe and rogue lists like Great Tusk mill and Meowscarada get a passionate defence. The educational segment, "Tool or Fool", really anchors the chat for competitive players. Jared argues that tool cards and A-Specs are now so central that decks should be built around them first: HP-boosting tools, Hero's Cape, damage belts, and devolve TMs all shape which strategies can survive. As he puts it, “Don’t be a fool.
Play a tool.” They wrap by predicting LA Regionals winners (Lost Box vs Charizard for Cory, Gardevoir for Jared) and challenging players to rethink how many tools their own lists are running. So where would your favourite deck land on that tier list?
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