Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Kazuki Ogawa in an online EX tournament. Going by the online name Little River, Kazuki was an EX format enthusiast from Yokohama, Japan. In fact, enthusiast might be an understatement! Kazuki regularly woke up at 6 AM to play online EX events, which were always set for early evening time in the Americas, and he loved the EX format (ADV format as it is called in Japan) so much that he had organized live tournaments for it in both 2022 and 2023. Named after the iconic Energy card, Kazuki’s Double Rainbow Cup had drawn approximately 50 players from across Japan in each of its first two years. With a shared love of the EX format, Kazuki and I quickly became friends, and he told me about his plans to hold a third Double Rainbow Cup in 2024, inviting me to attend.

I had always wanted to visit Japan, but now, I had a great reason to finally make the trip. One year later, I departed Chicago for a 13-hour flight to Tokyo. I arrived on Friday, June 28, just a day before the event was set to begin. Exhausted from the long flight and customs line, I found my energy restored as soon as I stepped off of the train and on to the streets of Akihabara. Surrounded by huge, bright advertisements of anime, video games and everything else you think of when you think of Japan, I immediately felt like I was in a new world. Pokémon was everywhere and I passed by multiple card shops just on the short walk from the train station to my hotel. One of these card shops, Play Gym Tokyo, was hosting a 3-round EX tournament–this is a regular thing in Japan, how cool is that?–but I unfortunately arrived too late to join. I showed just as the tournament was wrapping up, meeting up with Kazuki and the other three Americans (Cole Stellato, Erik Reeds and Adam Vernola) that had made the oversea trip to attend the Double Rainbow Cup.

Cole had won this event with his Rayler deck, so I congratulated him on a good start to his trip, and before the store closed, we all enjoyed rummaging through some of its many boxes of old Pokémon cards, picking up some Japanese EX era singles. There were enough cards in this store alone to spend an entire day looking through, and I managed to pick up the first cards needed to begin assembling a Japanese Dragtrode deck. (Neat fact: Japanese holographic cards from this era don’t warp as badly as their English counterparts, so I thought this would be a cool deck to build in Japanese given how annoying the warp of Rocket’s Sneasel ex and Dark Electrode are on their English versions.) Already fascinated by Japan, I wanted to do some more exploring that night, but with the event beginning in the morning, I decided it was best to postpone my exploring until after the event and retire to my hotel room and get a good night’s rest.

Double Rainbow Cup 2024: Preparation

My preparation for this event began weeks earlier when I finally booked my flight to Japan. In deciding on what decks I might play at the event, I had to consider a few important differences between the Double Rainbow Cup and the online tournaments we had been playing since 2019. Here’s a list of the key takeaways I had read about that were factoring into my decision:

1. Bombtar was very popular in Japan. While Bombtar has always been a popular deck in EX format events, it was particularly popular in Japan. In fact, it was the most popular deck at both the 2022 and 2023 Double Rainbow Cup events.
2. Rayler was not popular in Japan. While Rayler is one of the best decks in the EX format, the deck wasn’t developed until 2021, when Alex “Chuck” Brosseau began tearing up online tournaments with it. Perhaps because of its late discovery, Rayler never really caught on in Japan. Though it sees some play, it’s rarely used by Japan’s strongest EX players.
3. The event would use a 40-minute +1 turn time limit for the Best-of-1 Swiss rounds, but 90 minutes +1 turn for the Best-of-3 Top 16. These were generous time limits, so slow decks could be used.
4. Players who made Top 16 were allowed to change decks for Day 2.

My favorite EX deck as of lately had been Camler, a synergetic duo of Stantler & Camerupt I developed in 2022. Looking at a Camler deck list, it may appear relatively simple to play, but the deck is deceptively hard to play well. That’s because despite a limited amount of options each turn, many turns present you difficult decisions regarding which attack to use and how to use it. While many players regard Camler simply as an inferior version of Rayler (how is a 90 HP Stage 1 better than Rayquaza ex δ?), Camler has one significant advantage: it can attack the opponent’s bench while still keeping the opponent under Cessation Crystal lock. This is particularly important against Bombtar and it’s one of the reasons Camler has a favorable match-up against Bombtar while Rayler can struggle with it. Unlike Camler, when Rayler decides to finally attack the opponent’s bench with Rayquaza ex δ, it exposes itself to a massive attack fueled by Electrode ex’s Extra Energy Bomb. A second advantage Camler has over Rayler is Numel’s Kindle attack, which when combined with Energy Removal 2 & Pow! Hand Extension is capable of completely depleting our opponent’s Energy. Kindle can also be used to delay Turn 2 decks that could put us in a tough spot, like Push Away or Banette ex’s Shadow Chant.

Of course, Camler, like all decks, has weaknesses too. Relying on a Stage 1 Pokémon, it has less deck space than Rayler, so it tends to skimp on Supporters to fit this. With our highest-HP Pokémon being only 90 HP, this leaves the deck vulnerable to quick losses. Additionally, while the deck has some advantages over Rayler that I mentioned above, in terms of head-to-head, it has a terrible Rayler match-up. Now, when I say terrible, this might be misleading. The Rayler vs Camler match-up (as well as mirror matches for these decks) are all incredibly skill-based and present countless opportunities for players to make a game-losing mistake. However, when played by the best players, a Rayler vs Camler match will often end up in the same end-game: a fully powered Rayquaza ex δ against a fully powered Camerupt. One Pokémon has 110 HP and is dealing 70 damage, while the other has 90 HP and is dealing 30. Once the game reaches this stage, it is easy to predict which deck will emerge victorious.

One final issue Camler has is it’s very slow to win. Camler plays a long-game strategy, often postponing its damage-dealing and KOs until it has removed enough of the opponent’s Trainer Cards and Energy. In a timed format, Camler might have to play a sub-optimal strategy by rushing some KOs while there is still risk of the opponent being able to respond with a strong counterattack.

Recapping the trends of the Double Rainbow Cups, Bombtar was the most popular deck, while Rayler wasn’t popular, particularly with Japan’s best players. The time limits were a generous 40 minutes +1 turn for Swiss. With a favorable match-up against Bombtar, and the game’s two best Rayler players (Alex Brosseau & Tord Reklev) not in attendance, Camler seemed like the best choice for me on Day 1.

Here is the list I would end up using for Day 1.

Pokémon (13)	Trainers (33)	Energy (14)
4x Numel 3x Camerupt 4x Stantler 1x Unown 1x Rocket’s Wobbuffet	2x Team Aqua Hideout 2x Cursed Stone 4x Castaway 4x Rocket’s Admin. 2x Scott 2x Lanette’s Net Search 1x Celio’s Network 1x Steven’s Advice 1x TV Reporter 4x Energy Removal 2 4x Pow! Hand Extension 4x Cessation Crystal 2x Fluffy Berry	11x Fire Energy 3x Heal Energy

Two neat tricks I had in this deck were Unown and Rocket’s Wobbuffet. Unown allowed me two ways to break stalemates against other Pow decks: first, by trapping something active before I had access to Pow! Hand Extension, and second, by sacrificing itself under Cursed Stone to deliberately fall behind in Prizes, giving me access to Pow. Since EX decks as of lately had a tendency to run high counts of Windstorm (many decks now ran four), Rocket’s Wobbuffet’s Dark Aid offered me a way to recycle discarded Cessation Crystals (as well as Pow! Hand Extension) so that I could keep my opponent under Cessation Crystal lock even after all of them had been discarded. One important advantage of Rocket’s Wobbuffet over other recovery Pokémon (like Minun) is that because Dark Aid limits what type of cards can be recovered, our opponent cannot copy its attack with attacks like Mew  δ’s Mimicry to recover Windstorm.

When it came to preparing for Day 2, things would get a little trickier. And while it made sense to focus first only on Day 1, I wouldn’t have access to all of my decks in Japan, so I had to prepare by thinking carefully about what I might see in Day 1 and how I would adapt to a variety of scenarios should I be fortunate enough to make Day 2. The main concern I had for Day 2 was Erik Reeds’ Rat Lock deck. Erik was one of three other Americans that made the trip overseas, and though he’s too humble to agree, Erik was in my opinion the strongest player I could face at this event.

Erik plays only two different decks: Gardevoir ex δ/Pidgeot and Rat Lock, but plays both of them exceptionally well. Rat Lock was his own recent invention, and while it has some parallels to 2006’s Mew Lock deck, it also has some cool tricks Mew Lock never had. Relying on Raticate’s Pickup attack to reuse a variety of cards (the most important being Pow! Hand Extension), the deck also has a secret weapon: Sceptile ex δ. Sceptile’s Extra Liquid Poké-Body prevents an opponent’s Electrode ex from using Extra Energy Bomb, ensuring they cannot control the Prize count to deny you access to Pow! Hand Extension. Rat Lock is a “hard lock” deck, meaning it generally doesn’t shift gears to attack and knock out the opponent’s Pokémon. It will occasionally launch Sceptile ex δ as a late-game attacker, but as its core strategy, it is attempting to win by stranding something in the active Spot, stripping away your Energy cards one by one until you are permanently stranded and lose by deck out.

Like Rayler, Rat Lock is an incredibly powerful deck that had simply been overlooked for years. And though other players hadn’t caught on to its strength yet, Erik was well aware of how strong it was. The only thing Rat Lock had going against it is that it is incredibly slow to win. Even with a 40-minute time limit, Rat Lock would often not have enough time to win, making it a poor deck choice for Day 1. I knew Erik realized this as well, so I wasn’t concerned about Rat Lock on Day 1. On Day 2, however, where the time limits would be 90+3 Best-of-3, I realized Erik might switch to his favorite deck.

Though I hadn’t played the match-up enough to assess exactly how bad Camler’s match-up against Rat Lock was, it was clear from my limited games online against Erik that Camler was a significant underdog. Knowing Rat Lock was strong enough to get Erik to the Finals, if both Erik and I made Day 2, I would need to have something that could handle Rat Lock. I had two plans for this: Scrambled Eggs and Bombcatty.

Scrambled Eggs had been a favorite deck of mine for a while. I had won two online tournaments with it and also placed Top 4 at the 2021 EX Brawl in Florida, losing to Alex Brosseau’s Rayler in Top 4. While its use of Electrode ex’s Extra Energy Bomb is essential for the deck to attack, the deck can produce and explode an Electrode ex very quickly–usually on the third turn–which is typically before Rat Lock will have Sceptile ex δ in play. When it does this, it gains the upper-hand.

My second option, Bombcatty, was something I had just recently begun exploring, refining my list card by card in the days leading up to my trip. Like Scrambled Eggs, Bombcatty too relies on Electrode ex’s Extra Energy Bomb, and it attempts to bypass Sceptile ex δ’s Extra Liquid in the same way: with speed. Like Rayler and Rat Lock, I felt Bombcatty’s strength too had long been overlooked. Bombcatty as a deck wasn’t necessarily overlooked; the deck had seen some play in EX events over the years, but rather no one had come up with the ideal list for it. After a lot of testing and adjustments, though, I finally had a list that I felt made it one of the best decks in the EX format.

I also wanted two additional decks just to have some more options to play with, so I packed Rai-Eggs (a dependable, solid deck that I could perhaps audible to either Day 1 or Day 2) and my Dragtrode deck with Dunsparce & Charizard , a deck that I thought would be fun to play in friendly matches after the event. But in an unexpected sequence of events that transpired on Day 1, this Dragtrode deck packed on a whim would end up appearing as my best choice for Day 2.

On to the tournament!

Day 1: Saturday, June 29 (7 rounds of Swiss)

This is probably the best point to interject that the atmosphere and setup of this event was how I always envisioned the perfect Pokémon TCG event. Sure, it didn’t hurt that we were playing the greatest Pokémon TCG format of all time, but that was just a bonus. The event was large enough where there would be a sense of accomplishment for a good finish, but it wasn’t so large that you felt like you were surrounded by strangers and wouldn’t get a chance to interact with most of the players. The players were serious about the competition; they were giving it their all, but this didn’t interfere with their ability to be friendly and sportsmanlike and enjoy plenty of laughs throughout their matches. The generous time limits allowed players to finish their games without having to rush, creating a relaxed environment that was in sharp contrast to modern Pokémon TCG events, where players are hurried and often left feeling short-changed by time limits. The event was structured to start and end within a reasonable time period, and making Day 2 required a solid, but feasible 5–2 performance.

Round 1: Lorton 🇮🇹 (Rai-Eggs) ✅

Lorton was the single European player to attend the event. I had the chance to meet and interact with him before Round 1, and his friendly demeanor carried into our match. Having played this match-up before, I recognized the key to victory was in Numel’s Kindle. I waited for Lorton to attach Holon’s Castform (his most valuable Energy) before launching a timely Kindle against Exeggutor, while Pow! Hand Extensions were spent sending his Double Rainbow & Scramble Energy cards to Basic Pokémon so that they would be discarded. Time was called with Lorton up 1 Prize, but on the final +1 turn, I had already placed 60 damage on to two of his Exeggutors, which allowed me to use Split Bomb to land a double KO and win the match. This would actually be the only match of the tournament I would play that reached the time limit.

1–0

Round 2: Suica 🇯🇵 (Sableye Bombtar) ❌

My opponent opened with a Sableye against my Numel. This Sableye can be scary, as it can repeatedly use Limitation to prevent you from setting up, but with two Fire Energy in hand, I felt comfortable knowing I could Kindle two of his Energy away, and only if he had a third would he be able to keep the Limitation attacks coming. He began with a Rainbow Energy to use Limitation and all I could do under Supporter lock was attach Cessation Crystal to Numel and Kindle his Energy to the discard. On his second turn, he played a Supporter and replaced his discarded Energy with a Darkness Energy, allowing him to keep me under Supporter lock with Limitation. I used Kindle again to discard this second Energy, hoping to run him out of Dark-providing Energy and break the Limitation lock. To my disappointment, he attached another Rainbow Energy and delivered a third Limitation attack. On my turn, I managed to draw a third Fire Energy, but this is where things got tricky: this was again my last Fire Energy in hand, and if I Kindled both of our Energies away only to have him replace his Energy one more time, I would likely immediately lose to another Limitation attack. A safer play would be to simply use Numel’s Rollout attack, which would put Sableye up to 50 damage and allow me to keep my Fire Energy to use Rollout again for a KO on the next turn. I opted for Rollout here, but in hindsight I think I was better off going all-in with a third Kindle attack and forcing him to have another Dark Energy.

After I used Rollout, Suica evolved to Electrode ex and attached a Heal Energy to it, threatening a game-winning Crush and Burn attack before using Limitation again. Here’s where I faced another tough decision: I had drawn a Stantler that I could bench to avoid immediately losing to Crush and Burn. However, if I played Stantler, my KO on Sableye (a Pokémon I had to knock out to break free from Limitation) would allow Suica to play Pow to send my Numel and its Cessation Crystal to the bench, giving him access to Extra Energy Bomb to power up Dark Pupitar (and presumably Dark Tyranitar). Given that his hand size had grown large from multiple Supporters and also the fact that Bombtar decks usually run 4 Pows, hoping to avoid Pow seemed too optimistic, so I opted not to bench Stantler. Unfortunately for me, Suica had a third Rainbow Energy, which allowed him to use Crush and Burn to knock out my lone Numel to win. Though the game was short, it posed some close, tough decisions that still made it fun to play.

1–1

Round 3: Satotin 🇯🇵 (Dragtrode) ✅

Satotin’s Dragtrode was interesting in that he played both Lugia ex and Desert Ruins and both of them ended up in play by the second turn. I held Cursed Stone until Desert Ruins knocked out his own Lugia ex, and after surrendering a few Stantler KOs, I was able to pull off a powerful multi-Pow plus Admin. to 1 turn that ended with a Push Away KO nailing a Holon Adventurer from his 1-card hand. Left with an Energy-less Rocket’s Sneasel ex in the Active spot, Satotin scrambled to survive off the top card of his deck for a few more turns, his Sneasel eventually defeated by Push Away.

2–1

Round 4: Blocker 🇯🇵 (Rai-Eggs) ✅

Another Rai-Eggs deck, this match played very similarly to my Round 1 game, with a key Kindle to discard a Holon’s Castform on Exeggutor. I spread damage with Split Bomb while avoiding KOs, maintaining access to Pow! Hand Extension. Energy Removal 2 stripped Metal Energy from his Raichu, allowing Split Bomb to hit it for more damage. Eventually, I had four of his Pokémon in range of a Split Bomb KO and won the game with consecutive Split Bomb attacks.

3–1

Round 5: Tomopoke 🇯🇵 (Salamence ex/Altaria ex δ) ❌

Truly one of the most bizarre Pokémon games I’ve ever played, this game started off great for me. I opened Stantler against Bagon, whose Colorless Weakness surrendered a Turn 2 Push Away KO. Looking for additional Pokémon, I searched for Lanette’s Net Search with my first Castaway, but realized both were Prized. Recognizing I was already in a commanding spot, though, I decided to settle for Celio’s Network to find an additional Basic Pokémon. However, my single Celio’s Network was also prized! After a few more Push Away attacks, I had found and benched a Numel, and used the Celio’s found in my Prizes to evolve to Camerupt. From here, it was my single Camerupt spreading damage as I used Rocket’s Admin. to desperately search for additional Basic Pokémon. Over 30 minutes into the match, however, and with only 2 Prizes remaining (still my 2 Lanette’s Net Search), I remained unable to find a third Pokémon and was benched out by an attacking Salamence ex.

3-2

Round 6: Helium 🇯🇵 (Gardevoir ex δ/Pidgeot) ✅

This game started rough for me. I missed some key Energy drops early, delaying Push Away, while my opponent had timely Warp Points to break free from Cessation Crystal. I played patiently, aware that Gardevoir’s low damage output makes Camerupt a difficult OHKO. I managed to get off just enough Split Bombs to set up a monster turn that stripped his active Gardevoir ex δ of its only Energy before playing Rocket’s Admin. and relying on Split Bomb + Cursed Stone to simultaneously KO his benched Pidgeot and Gardevoir ex δ. From there, his Energy-less Gardevoir ex δ was stranded helplessly in the Active spot and he conceded.

4–2

Round 7: Hiuchi 🇯🇵 (Blastoise ex/Lugia ex) ✅

Hiuchui had a unique Blastoise ex build with 4 Swoop! Teleporter. I attempted to strand a Jirachi in the active Spot with Team Aqua’s Hideout, but the damage Jirachi had accumulated from Push Away allowed him to escape via a Swoop! Teleporter self-KO and he launched a Hydro Shot KO from Kyogre ex to take out my Camerupt. However, Hiuchi remained without a Blastoise ex in play, and as he attempted to manually rebuild his Kyogre ex one Energy at a time, I hit a huge ER2 on its only Energy (a Holon’s Castform). With 2 Cessation Crystal already down, Rocket’s Wobbuffet finally came up clutch, allowing me to recycle both of them and disable Kyogre ex’s Poké-Body long enough to strand it in the Active position. From there, Camerupt delivered a sequence of uninterrupted Split Bomb attacks until I drew all six Prizes.

Final Swiss Score: 5–2

Ten 5–2 records would advance to Top 16, while four would miss. I was fortunate enough to squeeze in as the 14th seed.

After the standings are posted, all attendees gathered on stage for a group photo.

That night, all players, including those that made Day 2, posted their Day 1 deck lists on the Double Rainbow Cup Discord server. This allowed players to see what everyone had used during the first day of the event, including what their Day 2 opponents had used. Remember, though, players were allowed to switch decks for Day 2!

Day 2 Preparation

My opponent for Day 2 would be Dadachiyo from Japan, who finished 6–1 with a Rocket’s Sneasel ex/Dragtrode deck. This deck scared me. Going all the way back to 2006, when Alex Brosseau used to smash my Mewtric deck with it, Dragtrode had always been a tough match-up for my favorite decks. This continued into the EX format today, with Dragtrode being one of the tougher match-ups for both Camler and Scrambled Eggs (my two favorite decks). Although I initially thought I might stick with Camler for Day 2, looking at Dadachiyo’s Dragtrode list, it appeared too well-equipped to beat my Camler. It had three Windstorms as well as three Desert Ruins to counter Cursed Stone. Rocket’s Sneasel’s ex was a convenient way to both slow me down and play around my Cessation Crystals, but he also played four R Energy, which meant anytime he had a single Dark Energy on Rocket’s Sneasel ex, my Pokémon would be in danger of a Dark Ring KO.

Since my opponent also had access to my deck list, I assumed he would see this as a favorable match and being 6–1 with the deck, I thought he was likely to feel confident enough with it to stick with it. Not wanting to be eliminated in the first round, I began weighing my other options, trying to determine what I could use that could handle his Dragtrode deck.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my article, Bombcatty was one of the decks I brought as an option for Day 2. Bombcatty should have a decent match against Dragtrode given the low HP of Rocket’s Sneasel ex and Dark Dragonite’s Colorless Weakness. However, Dadachiyo’s list had an answer for this as well: he ran Lunatone & Solrock, which disable Delcatty’s Energy Draw. Without access to Energy Draw, the deck quickly crumbles.

My Scrambled Eggs deck was unaffected by Lunasol, but Rocket’s Sneasel ex is difficult for Exeggutor to deal with. Not only does Sneasel resist Psychic, but Exeggutor’s modest 80 HP surrenders prizes easily to Dark Ring, even as quickly as the second turn thanks to R Energy.

This was tough. I had drawn an opponent with a deck that beat all three of my favorite decks. The only other decks I had with me were Rai-Eggs and my Dragtrode deck with Charizard . Rai-Eggs is usually decent against Dragtrode because both Cursed Stone & Cessation Crystal are good against it, but remember, my opponent had not just 3 Windstorms, but 3 counter Stadiums as well. This made the match seem unfavorable for me.

So what was left? Well, there was the final deck I had packed, the one I had no intention of actually using in the tournament: my wacky Dragtrode with Dunsparce & Charizard . But might this deck actually work for Day 2, I wondered. With a 1/1 Dugtrio line, it had a non-ex Pokémon that could OHKO Rocket’s Sneasel ex as well as provide an answer to Bombtar decks. Not only that, but Erik had finished Day 1 as the top seed with his Gardevoir deck and if he switched to Rat Lock, I felt like this was one of the few decks that could beat it. If he stuck with Gardevoir, though (something I thought he very well might do given his undefeated performance) my deck’s trio of Lunatone, Solrock & Girafarig might be enough to hinder his ability to set up and allow for some easy wins. I say might because I’ve barely played this deck. It was always just an idea, and every time I tried to play it, it was clear to me there were still issues with the deck list. These were the thoughts going through my head as I sat awake in my hotel room on Saturday night. Too tired to make a decision that night, I resigned myself to getting some sleep and figuring it out in the morning.

The next morning, I woke up and gave my Dragtrode deck more thought. I realized the decks I was likely to face (Dragtrode, Bombtar and Rat Lock) all might struggle against my list. And I already knew that all of my other decks had shaky match-ups against the Dragtrode deck I expected to play against in Top 16. I laid the deck out on my tiny hotel room floor, looking it over.

There were two issues I had with this deck whenever I had played it:

1. The deck is inconsistent because of a low Supporter count
2. The deck struggles to thin out dead cards late in the game, leaving it vulnerable to Rocket’s Admin.

Recognizing no one in Top 16 played a Stantler plus Cessation Crystal deck (other than me, of course), I decided I wouldn’t need the Meowth and cut it for a third Rocket’s Mission, which helps both issues above. I decided I could also cut one of my two Holon’s Electrodes, and though I still wanted one more Supporter card, I decided a second Pokémon Retriever would be more important considering how often the deck is forced to discard a valuable Pokémon with Swoop! Teleporter.

Pokémon (24)	Trainers (25)	Energy (11)
1x Charizard  3x Dunsparce 3x Dratini 3x Dark Dragonair 3x Dark Dragonite 2x Voltorb 2x Dark Electrode 1x Electrode ex 1x Diglett 1x Dugtrio 1x Lunatone 1x Solrock 1x Girafarig 1x Holon’s Electrode	1x Sidney’s Stadium 3x Rocket’s Admin. 3x Rocket’s Mission 3x Steven’s Advice 2x Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4x Windstorm 4x Swoop! Teleporter 3x Rocket’s Poké Ball 2x Pokémon Retriever	4x Darkness Energy 4x Dark Metal Energy 3x Rainbow Energy

After all of this thinking (and perhaps overthinking), I decided to go for it. I showed up to Day 2 with this Dragtrode deck, having never played it an any type of tournament before. I was confident my opponent would stick with his Dragtrode deck, and I thought I would have an advantage (albeit a tiny one) with my Dugtrio and a second copy of Mr. Briney’s Compassion. But when it came time to play my Top 16 match, my opponent would end up surprising me by switching to a deck I never expected.

Day 2: Sunday, June 30 (Single Elim. Top 16)

Top 16: Dadachiyo 🇯🇵 (Queendom) ✅

When my opponent flipped a Nidoran♀ over to start the game, I nearly jumped out of my seat I was so surprised. So many thoughts immediately began racing through my head: Nidoqueen??? Why would he switch to Nidoqueen? Is this match bad for me? Wait, does this even beat Camler? Forget about Camler! But as the game developed, it became clear that this was actually a good match for me. Solrock’s Luna Shade was one key reason for this. Like most Queendom decks, Dadachiyo’s deck had no way to target or attack Benched Pokémon, meaning once I got Lunatone & Solrock in play, my opponent was never using Quick Search at any point of the game. And though Nidoqueen can set up without Quick Search, relying simply on its Supporters and useful Pokémon-fetching attacks (like Nidoran♀’s Look for Friends and Nidorina’s Fast Evolution), trying to produce enough attacking Pokémon to compete with Dark Dragonite’s Fighting Resistance would prove difficult without access to it.

The biggest advantage I had in this match-up though wasn’t even the Lunatone & Solrock, but rather two copies of Mr. Briney’s Compassion. Because Nidoqueen can’t do much against Dark Dragonite (I usually will have enough Energy in play to simply retreat out of Toxic’s Poison and still attack), the deck relies on Pidgeot’s Clutch as its most effective way to attack my Colorless-weak Dark Dragonite. However, each time my opponent attempted to trap Dark Dragonite with Clutch, I was lucky enough to have Mr. Briney’s Compassion in hand, allowing my Dark Dragonite to escape after Dark Trancing my Energy to Dark Electrode to set up an Energy Bomb KO on the Lightning-weak Pidgeot. My opponent did play a single copy of Nidoqueen ẟ, and its Invitation Poké-Power allowed him to set up past my Lunatone & Solrock blockade, but at the end of the day, both Game 1 and Game 2 played out in the same fashion: his inability to Quick Search and my fortunate luck of having Briney at the right moments were too much for him to overcome.

2–0, Advanced to Top 8

Top 8: Negi 🇯🇵 (Bombchamp) ✅

Because I’ve played this deck so little, this is another match-up I’ve never played. But as soon as my opponent put a Machop into play, I realized I’ve likely hit one of the best match-ups I can hope for. Machamp needs a miracle to pull off a OHKO against Dark Dragonite (all 4 React Energy+Solid Rage), and his deck also relies not only on Pidgeot, but Jirachi DX as well. This means that on Turn 1, I can Strike & Run for the trio of Lunatone, Solrock & Girafarig, disabling all of the Poké-Powers he needs to set up. This is all theoretical, of course, as I drew a Supporter-less opening hand and quickly went down 0–1. However, in both Games 2 and 3, I played first and used Strike & Run to grab Girafarig, immediately removing his Wishing Star option. Game 2 ended quickly in my favor, but Game 3 Negi opponent managed to put up a good fight, landing a clutch (pun intended) Solid Rage KO from Pidgeot against Dark Dragonite. But after Pidgeot was knocked out in a follow-up attack by Dark Electrode’s Energy Bomb, my opponent was left with only a low-damage dealing Machamp to try to deal with Dark Dragonite, which could not get the job done.

2–1, Advanced to Top 4

Top 4: Jin 🇯🇵 (Queendom) ✅

I almost laughed when my opponent flipped Nidoran♀ up Game 1 because I didn’t expect to face a single Queendom deck in Top 16 and here I was playing against a second one. In Game 1, I prized Solrock as my Final prize, so my opponent had access to Quick Search throughout much of the game. However, just like in my Top 16 match, I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Briney’s Compassion in hand each time my opponent attempted to trap Dark Dragonite with Clutch, allowing me to KO Pidgeot with Dark Electrode’s Energy Bomb. These timely knockouts ended up being even more important than preventing him from accessing Quick Search. With a large amount of Energy accumulated in play, I was then able to close out Game 1 with back-to-back Dark Swirl KOs from Charizard  against two Nidoqueens. In Game 2 I was able to get Lunatone & Solrock into play, making things even harder on my opponent. My opponent evolved to Wobbuffet to increase Dark Dragonite’s Retreat Cost to 3, forcing me to spend an additional Energy card to retreat out of Toxic. But at the end of the game, I had just enough Energy to deliver a Dark Swirl attack from Charizard  for my final Prize.

2–0, Advanced to Finals

Finals: Tenten 🇯🇵 (Bombtar) ❌

Yet another match-up I hadn’t really played, so I wasn’t sure if I actually had an advantage going in. Dugtrio would of course be huge, as it both protects my bench and can deliver a OHKO against the Fighting-Weak Dark Tyranitar. Additionally, since Bombtar takes a lot of cards to execute its explosive turn, disabling Jirachi’s Wishing Star with Girafarig’s Rear Sensor is very effective against it. Some Bombtar decks run Pidgeot, so Lunatone & Solrock can come up big as well.

However, my opponent’s deck wasn’t built like the old-fashioned Bombtar lists; it was much better. Instead of relying on Jirachi DX, he relied more on Jirachi HL’s Make a Wish attack, something I cannot stop. He also did not play Pidgeot, so Lunatone & Solrock would be useless in the match-up. One other trick he had was Holon Energy FF + Fire Energy to remove Dark Tyranitar’s Fighting Weakness, which could prevent my Dugtrio from landing a OHKO.

Game 1 began and I proceeded with my typical game plan of Strike & Run, then evolving to Dark Dragonair and using Evolutionary Light to evolve to Dark Electrode to begin accumulating Energy in play. My opponent began using Jirachi’s Make a Wish to evolve his Pokémon, and I quickly faced a difficult decision with Dark Dragonair’s Evolutionary Light: should I use the Power to find Dugtrio and immediately evolve Diglett? Or should I use it to find a second Dark Dragonair and evolve my benched Dratini? I had no Dark Dragonite in hand, so my next turn’s Evolutionary Light would likely need to be spent on finding Dark Dragonite. If my opponent was able to Extra Energy Bomb on the next turn, Scramble Energy would allow him to attack with Spinning Tail, immediately dealing 20 damage to all of my Pokémon. I could protect against this with Dugtrio, but if I did, my benched Dratini would remain unevolved, meaning my opponent could then go straight into Grind against my Dark Dragonair, dealing enough damage to threaten a follow-up Grind on Dark Dragonite in the next turn. This would leave me without another Dark Dragonite to respond back. Ultimately, I decided to go with finding a second Dark Dragonair, forcing him to have the cards needed to pull off a Spinning Tail attack. He did, and executed an Extra Energy Bomb to recover a Scramble Energy that allows a Spinning Tail attack to deal 20 to everything. This immediately put me in a tough spot, as I realize I must get both Dark Dragonite and Dugtrio into play ASAP. I then used Evolutionary Light to find Dugtrio, then retreated to my second Dark Dragonair to use a second Evolutionary Light to evolve it into Dark Dragonite. From here, I was able to power up Dugtrio’s Double-edge to land a KO on Dark Tyranitar, but my opponent already had a second Dark Tyranitar ready to KO Dugtrio, removing my remaining Energy from play, and I lose Game 1.

Game 2 began as a total disaster for me. I opened with a lone Voltorb, no Supporters and no way to find Dunsparce. I attached Energy to Voltorb and passed as my opponent began to set up. I desperately attempted a Thundershock on Turn 2 with no luck, and stayed alive just long enough to get a second Voltorb in play. However, on my first deck search I got more bad news: I had prized all 3 Dratini. I managed to evolve Voltorb to Dark Electrode and started dealing damage with Energy Bomb, but with only one Benched Pokémon, all of my Energy cards were forced to this single Pokémon, making it a juicy target for Pow! Hand Extension. Tenten’s Extra Energy Bomb allowed me to nab a Dratini from the Prizes, but to my disappointment, before I could even bench it, Tenten had Pow, and was able to score this devastating KO with Dark Tyranitar that removed all of my Energy from play. By now, I was in full desperation mode, but had one thing going for me: my opponent’s self KOs had allowed me to get down to a single Prize card, so I scrambled to find a way to score just one KO. I benched Diglett, then used Holon’s Electrode to power up Girafarig’s Disorder attack, confusing his Dark Tyranitar. My opponent did have a second Dark Tyranitar on the Bench, but with only one Energy attached to it, if he retreated out of Confusion, his damage output would be low. My Hail Mary was to hope that Confusion would hinder my opponent long enough to allow me to build a game-winning Double-edge attack from Dugtrio. Though his Dark Tyranitar remained Confused, my opponent played Pow to target my Diglett, delivering a dagger with a successful confusion flip to KO Diglett and go down to 1 Prize. I played Retriever to recover Diglett, desperately trying to restart my game plan, but knew at this point I’d need a miraculous amount of coin flips to go my way to have enough turns to set up Dugtrio through my opponent’s Admins. to 1 card. But any hopes of a miracle were immediately ended by the next Confusion flip, which knocked out Girafarig and gave my opponent his Final prize. Congratulations, Tenten! Great deck and well-played.

0–2, 2nd Place

Though I’d have loved to win this event with Charizard , I cannot help but share the joy my opponent had in victory. This group of players was so wonderful to play with, and the experience is one I’ll never forget. A ceremony began on stage shortly after, with the finalists taking turns selecting cool Pokémon TCG prizes laid out on the tables for them to choose from. I selected a beautiful Generation 3 carrying case from the Pokémon Card Players Club in Japan as a Prize. In the hours that follow, I enjoyed trading English cards and playmats with the Japanese players in exchange for Japanese coins, deck boxes and cards, and I even manage to get the cards needed to build a traditional Dragtrode deck in Japanese. (I say traditional because I couldn’t track down a Japanese Charizard . 😜)

In the days that followed, friends and I got to experience more of Japan. Our first post-tournament destination was Tokyo Disney Sea, where my fellow American friends joined Kazuki and his two friends (Que and Oroshi) for some fun shows and rides. (Kazuki made sure to buy us all a set of mouse ears for our group photo.) In the remaining days I had left in Japan, we enjoyed some traditional Japanese restaurants (the food in Japan was incredible!), visited both a board game bar and a TCG bar, and enjoyed the view of Tokyo from 400 meters in the air inside the iconic Tokyo Sky Tree. Tokyo Sky Tree also had a Pokémon Center inside that we made sure to visit!

Thank you to everyone who made my trip to Japan so memorable, but especially Kazuki for organizing this event. I hope to return to Japan to see you all again!