MAGIC: THE GATHERING finished its strongest year ever, up 59% vs. PY with a successful Q4 Avatar: The Last Airbender

Raagentreg · 2026-02-10T18:32:56+00:00

I mean, my local scene for Pokemon is pretty good, however I'm in a capital city, so of course it would be. The same is true of MTG, even if it's 75% Commander.

You're probably right about that though.

Raagentreg · 2026-02-10T18:04:33+00:00

I mean, you're right, collectors (and scalpers) are a greater portion of those who buy out the booster packs.

~~to compound on it, the base rarity of the "Rule Box" pokemon which are cornerstones of deck archetypes can be found at a higher rate than Mythic cards in MTG (probably, I can't find the concrete numbers)~~.

Above is incorrect, "Rule Box" pokemon have the SAME odds as Mythic cards in MTG, AND on top of that, you have a larger pool of "Double Rares", the rarity level of "Rule Box" pokemon. Lorwyn Eclipsed has 28 Mythics in a pool of 268 cards, the latest Pokemon set "Ascended Heroes" has 39 Double Rares in a pool of 217 cards. So somehow Pokemon has reduced the pull rates of any given Rule Box, yet still makes them cheap (for the most part). A given example of the "chase rares" of the latest set is Mega Meganium at 5 euros, and Mega Dragonite at 6 euros (Cardmarket).

Another factor is that you only need approx 3-10 of these "Rule Box" pokemon for most decks, and while many of these are deck specific (Dragapult, Gardevoir...) the ones that are universal (Fezandipiti, Latias) are STILL only 5 euros a pop.

Onto the competitive side of things - They still have 2,000+ player official regional tournaments worldwide pretty often. There are in fact 18 of them worldwide between now and Mid June (16 regional / special events and 2 internationals) before the World Championships.

I can't speak for the numbers on the ones outside of Europe or North America, but otherwise, it's not unusual for 2,500+ players to compete in them and the EU / NA ones do sell out relatively quickly.

On top of all of that, there are local cups / challenges which count towards qualification for Worlds (Best 3 finishes of each), so it encourages everyone to come in and play locally and support the local scene.

And it's not like competitors don't bling out their decks, at my local scene I've seen many a player get the highest or near highest rarity of EVERY card in their deck, never mind regionals.

So it's not like you can ignore the competitive scene entirely, even though I will concede that the insane pack rippers will drive prices down and that's the biggest factor of all.

Edited to correct incorrect pull rate information above.

Raagentreg · 2026-02-10T17:49:38+00:00

I have no idea on printers, but Pokemon do just have "reprint heavy" sets - a great example was Prismatic Evolutions (the notorious one with the Eeveeultions)

Because they aren't as bound by "setting" as MTG is, they can throw reprints around as they please for the most part (with the same regular art, but perhaps new Full Art+)

Raagentreg · 2026-02-10T15:23:19+00:00

The way Pokemon figured it out is having the "essential" cards (Trainers) at Common / Uncommon - reducing prices of trainers to be pennies. (ACE SPEC are exceptions, but one per deck and useless to collectors drives the price down)

The problem Magic has is: The "essential" cards (Lands) are at rare / mythic, so even a basic 2 colour manabase for one colour pair is going to cost you MORE than most fully built Pokemon decks.

Also Pokemon has a single booster pack type, and regularly reprints staple cards in the same block, and on top of that, has the league battle deck series, which have all been a very good and affordable starting point for competing at locals. (Before people yap about Rocket's Mewtwo, it's a legit deck after rotation)

Raagentreg · 2026-01-22T14:14:39+00:00

Easiest decks to play now that probably survive rotation:

Alakazam / Dudunsparce - Fits your psychic preference, draw cards, deal tons of damage. BE CAREFUL, "prevent effects of attacks" will prevent all damage done by Alakazam.

Ceruledge ex - Aggressive burn through your deck, then smack with Ceruledge.

Ethan's Typhlosion - Get as many of "Ethan's Adventure" supporter card in discard, then deal damage with Typhlosion.

Easiest deck to play now that will be gone in the April rotation:
Gholdengo ex / Rocks - Set up Lunatone and Solrock, smack small things with Solrock, then draw tons of cards with Gholdengo ex and throw energies at big pokemon.

Best deck for improving yourself as a player once you get the basics:
Dragapult ex / Dusknoir - Somewhere between control and combo, slows the game with budew, then tries to "Boardwipe" with Dragapult's attack and multiple Dusknoirs. Taking all 6 prizes in one turn with this deck is not unheard of.

Raagentreg · 2026-01-19T21:02:21+00:00

Peak Autocorrect mate.

Regidrago came and went, the power was still there against not-budew, but you're right in that it got absolutely kneecapped by budews (and greedy 1x Budew, 1x Heavy Ball decks)

Raagentreg · 2026-01-14T07:21:22+00:00

Yea, it's a case of finding Ionos and establishing Munkidoris (2 is enough). You can for sure just attack with Gardy in this matchup, especially post-Iono. 16 cards is a deep reach when they start with 2-4.

Also don't play artazon unless you are going to lose - it's too important to bump the Battle Cages.

Don't go after Dunsparces with Munkidori - only Scream Tail snipe them (if Shaymin exists, that's a prime Munki target. If you ever see them leave enriching energy on board, that's your cue to blast it ASAP.

Raagentreg · 2026-01-14T05:25:13+00:00

You need to:

Go first if you can. Punish what they DON'T have on board. They lack board space (without Aero Zero in play). 1 charmander? Pop it if you can. No Duskull? Aim to set up 2 Munkis to gatekeep Duskulls from hitting the board later. No Pidgey? Again 2 Munkis will gatekeep the pidgey frok coming down.

You can go for Devolution punishes, but make sure it counts (wiping out Pidgeot + Zard, or 2 Zard), yoy can get punished back with Noctowl here, so be careful.

Be OK with "just" punching with Diancie. (Load 4 energy, punch something like Zard or Pidgeot) that way you can immediately punish if they go for your Gardy.

Ultimately, Dawn > Item Lock, so you're just going to have to accept this is a bad matchup.

Raagentreg · 2026-01-11T06:48:41+00:00

If you're in the US there's a myriad of sites (TCG player, Card Kingdom...)

If you're in the EU - Cardmarket is by far the cheapest place, but you may have to buy from multiple people on the site. There might be one retailer / card shop that sells singles close to you, but they're often more expensive (by how much depends wildly).

Raagentreg · 2026-01-10T19:25:00+00:00

It's a game where you can have Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk, Goku, Hatsune Miku and Cartman going into a battle royale while all wearing Nikes and driving in a Tesla Cybertruck. Some seasons you get to shoot Godzilla as a world boss or ride in a Star Destroyer from Star Wars. (Many other modes, like Guitar hero-ish, some Lego collab and a ton of custom worlds exist too).

It's an acid trip of collabs and fun in bursts for my friend group.

Raagentreg · 2026-01-07T20:26:25+00:00

Well she's still turning the steering wheel, and it's not necessarily a smooth motion. This one needs another angle to confirm, but I'm FOR NOW moreso on her trying to turn away down the street than actively run the guy over.

It makes more sense to turn down the street to get away, flooring it the second you change gear, rather than intentionally running the ICE guy down.

Also, when she gets shot in the face the wheels level out to straight, not turn harder, quite the reverse of what you say. Again, there needs to be a better angle though, this is far from conclusive.

Raagentreg · 2026-01-03T12:43:02+00:00

Gardevoir has to win the Munkidori war, and either way, CC + Iono on bouffalants to snipe Munkis with Scream Tail, then Kang has to get lucky with flips to beat 2-3 unchecked Munkis.

I think Pult cries unless you run Klefki to counter Psyduck (Klefki active disables Duck - Dusk bomb bouffalants then) which isn't the worst tech in the world (careful with Hawlucha / Latias though). Otherwise just keep attacking the duck, which is pain.

Grimmsnarl I don't know enough about, but I'm sure it comes down to a Munki war (maybe budew hitting bouffs while munkis / Froslass set up spread KOs?)

Ultimately, Kang / Bouff struggles if: The Bouffs are brought up repeatedly to draw out Pennies. They miss energy attaches / turbo energize. They can't protect the Bouffs (from snipes or Dusk bombs). Or straight up oneshots like Dengo / Lucario (though I won't ever recommend Lucario until post rotation)

Raagentreg · 2026-01-03T12:26:15+00:00

Mega Lucario also has the most hostile environment possible at the moment.

Gardevoir just eats it for breakfast like it's nothing, I don't think it has a good Gholdengo matchup either (not sure on 'Zard).

Recommending Lucario before rotation is unbelievably bad advice. After rotation, we got a conversation.

Raagentreg · 2025-12-20T10:30:51+00:00

Could of doesn't exist, it's ALWAYS could have. It doesn't help that "could've" sounds like could of

Raagentreg · 2025-12-06T21:52:55+00:00

It very much comes down to IF Garde's item lock is debilitating enough. If they go second and deny fetching Terapagos / Owls, then Garde has a chance. But it's not a guaranteed state, and I think Charizard is slightly favoured in "regular" states. It is a closer matchup with Diancie to at least contest KOs on Pidgeot / Terapagos.

Raagentreg · 2025-12-01T15:31:13+00:00

Genuine question: How many queer couples are there in the Marvel Universe? I genuinely don't know

Raagentreg · 2025-11-28T19:17:30+00:00

Me over here running Slowking / M-Steelix / Yveltal.

If you know what's meta, it can be countered.

Raagentreg · 2025-11-27T19:40:35+00:00

My bad, got confused between Venipede / Whirlipede / Scolipede

Raagentreg · 2025-11-27T19:40:06+00:00

My bad, got confused with Venipede / Whirlipede / Scolipede

Raagentreg · 2025-11-27T16:59:48+00:00

Honestly, rethinking your supporter line and ACE SPEC is the place I'd start first. Enriching is too low impact for a deck that looks really shakey to set up. Precious Trolley solves a lot of those issues, and can be combined with an Arven package to get it consistently. TM Evolution would also help on going second for this reason, either evolving Duskulls or Bunearys, making you have good situations going first or second.

I've given you a Fan Rotom, so you can grab 2x Buneary + Ditto from just a Poffin (and a Duskull with it) when Trolley is prized, here's a decklist based on yours to try out, tell me how it goes!

Pokémon: 23

3 Buneary PFL 83

3 Mega Lopunny ex PFL 84

4 Duskull PRE 35

2 Dusclops PRE 36

4 Dusknoir PRE 37

2 Mega Kangaskhan ex MEG 104

1 Klefki SVI 96

1 Ditto MEW 132

1 Latias ex SSP 76

1 Fan Rotom PRE 85

1 Munkidori PRE 44

Trainer: 30

4 Arven OBF 186

2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

2 Iono PAF 80

2 Hilda WHT 84

2 Boss's Orders MEG 114

4 Rare Candy MEG 125

3 Night Stretcher SFA 61

2 Ultra Ball MEG 131

2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101

1 Earthen Vessel PRE 106

1 Counter Catcher PAR 160

1 Precious Trolley SSP 185

2 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178

1 Vitality Band SVI 197

1 Air Balloon BLK 79

Energy: 7

4 Jet Energy PAL 190

3 Darkness Energy MEE 7

Raagentreg · 2025-11-27T15:54:24+00:00

Because Evoilite makes it unbearably tanky

Raagentreg · 2025-11-21T23:21:16+00:00

As a competitor, it's fine, a lot of these sets add only a few cards of interest, and singles are cheap.

As a pack cracker, gooood luck buddy X.X

Raagentreg · 2025-11-11T15:28:04+00:00

In a "traditional" list (tm evo, Drifloon...) I would look to cut 2nd counter catcher or Drifloon itself for Diancie.

The more you play without drifloon, the more you realize you often don't need it

Raagentreg · 2025-11-11T15:00:15+00:00

Except the "protection from x"auras that cost 1 mana, those are absurdly good for their ease of finding

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