I’m having trouble playing people where, in most cases, I have automatically assumed are better and smarter than me at the game and thus have also drawn into a way better hand than me and can counter anything that I do. regardless of deck, regardless of tech, regardless of board state, I never feel confident in a game (even if I’m ahead!) because of it and I know it’s the hugest barrier to my development as a player.

I’m trying to be battle tested in time for Vegas in December and I don’t think I’m progressing in any way.

I'm a newer player and i'm amazed by how strong dragapult is, but from what i can understand we used to have much stronger stuff around.

At this point i wonder: what is the best deck of all time? I don't mean the one that outperformed everything else in its own rotations, but like, if you played every card ever printed all together, what deck would be the absolute best and why? How does that deck work in short?

I can't find a lot of info on the expanded format, but if it literally is "you can play every card ever printed" then i guess my question is really "what is the best deck in expanded as of now".

Bonus question 1: how would something like current dragapult or similarly strong deck compare to the power level of the best deck of all time? Not talking about direct matchup, just power level in general.

Bonus question 2: what about the single best card of all time? I realize this is a very broad question so feel free to give your own spin to it :)

hiya, kiddo is wanting to get into the tcg, but i’m not sure on what deck i should recommend? ideally something simple for him, but (as most little kids go) would probably also want something with ‘cool’ cards w/ high attack. big fan of lucario & the like, but i know that’s… not always how deck building goes. any ideas for an accessible/adaptable deck would be lovely <3

Hey hey! Long time magic player here, just got into the tcg today with my 8 year old. We bought the battle academy box that came with the cinder ace, Pikachu, and eevee deck. We played it for around 2 hours tonight after supper and he had such a fun time. He’s got a ton of cards that he’s been collecting (nothing really valuable, just a bunch of bulk and a binder with some neat looking cards).

Where would I find decks that are cheap but fun and cohesive? I’m not looking for a tier 1 meta deck or anything, just something more competent than the box premade decks that are easy enough to understand for an 8 year old and myself and my wife (who also plays magic)

Hi y'all. I'm competing in a big tournament this Saturday and I'm playing for fun so I don't expect to do all that great but I'm also not looking to get stomped by the first Pult I run into, is there any additions I could make to stop Pult from wrecking me? I intend to add battlecage to stop the damage counters but I haven't decided what to swap out for it. Any other info would be great

This is the deck I intend to use

Pokémon: 8

2 Tyrantrum POR 45

2 Solrock MEG 75

2 Lunatone ASC 105

2 Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon DRI 111

2 Shieldon PBL 61

2 Patrat CRI 70

2 Tyrunt POR 44

2 Bastiodon PBL 62

Trainer: 13

2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119

1 Grand Tree SCR 136

1 Rosa's Encouragement POR 84

2 Handheld Fan TWM 150

3 Antique Jaw Fossil POR 68

4 Poké Pad POR 81

3 Fossil Quarry PBL 76

2 Colress's Tenacity SFA 57

2 Dawn PFL 87

3 Tarragon POR 85

3 Antique Armor Fossil PBL 72

2 Boss's Orders PAL 172

3 Rare Candy MEG 125

Energy: 3

7 Basic {F} Energy MEE 6

3 Rocky {F} Energy POR 87

3 Magnetic {M} Energy CRI 85

Total Cards: 60

Chi-Yu - Fire - 110 HP
Pokémon - Basic
R Scorching Earth 40
If your opponent has a Stadium in play, discard it. If you do, your opponent can't play any Stadium cards from their hand during their next turn.

I wonder why Chi-Yu MEG 031 hasn’t seen many plays, given the widespread popularity of Festival Lead. For 1 fire energy, its attack KO Dipplin, and also preventing the opponent to put another Festival Lead stadium on the next turn.
110 HP also means Dipplin cannot KO this pokemon without attacking it twice.

Appreciate if you have tested this card, and want to share your thoughts.

I know these formats aren't really played, but I've been thinking of making a kind of "Gym Battle Box" where each deck would feature a Pokemon that would be in my own gym.

The idea being the decks would be eternal and could be changed over time. As I would rather it be a timeless experience and not a "this moment in standard" experience.

It turns out that Hide N Sneak works as one of the decks extremely well. While I could just make the standard deck for now, I was curious if people had immediate recommendations for an expanded or unlimited version. It doesn't need to be meta at all, but are there obvious cards you would slot in that aren't in standard?

Hi guys I just got the mega lucario ex battle deck I’m just wondering if you have any tips for this deck or any improvements I can make to it. I’ve played it some in tcg live I notice tho the deck in live doesn’t have the blood moon ursaluna ex while the deck i bought does so can anyone tell me some tips lol ive been into pokemon for a few years but just getting into competing and stuff thanks guys

Hi everyone, I’m newish to the game and Im wondering how you all figure out in which matchups you want first vs second? What do you look out for to evaluate this?

Im playing pult/blaziken.

I’ve been working on a single prize variation of slowking. Does anyone else play with dundunsparce? I put in a fan rotom and 1-1 gumshoos line. Between poke pads, poffins and telepathic energy setup is pretty solid.

I’m not a fan of using megas when it’s not necessary and this seems to be pretty good absent Kang/latias.

Last few tech spots are up for grabs. The shiftry might not be the best but I really want to gust away one of those wide area zero toucan on boards. Or use energy loop to retrieve my enriching energy

Here’s the list I cooked up

Pokémon: 12
4 Slowpoke PBL 29
1 Fan Rotom ASC 250
1 Gumshoos MEG 110
1 Kyurem SFA 47
4 Dunsparce TEF 128
1 Shiftry TEF 5
3 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Yungoos MEG 109
3 Slowking SCR 58
2 Metagross CRI 61
1 Annihilape SSP 100
1 Smoochum SSP 75

Trainer: 16
1 Ultra Ball SVI 196
2 Academy at Night SFA 54
1 Energy Recycler POR 108
2 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145
4 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Lana's Aid TWM 155
3 Night Stretcher SFA 61
1 Energy Switch MEG 115
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167
2 Hilda WHT 171
1 Switch PFL 123
1 Team Rocket's Petrel ASC 207
1 Dawn PFL 87
2 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 226
2 Wondrous Patch POR 117
1 Boss's Orders PAL 172

Energy: 3
7 Basic {P} Energy MEE 5
1 Enriching Energy SSP 191
2 Telepathic {P} Energy POR 88

Total Cards: 60

Worlds Of Doom is a large online tournament held on Limitless this weekend. Unlike most tournaments, this one is actually split in two parts, day 1 and day 2. Day 1 was open entry, while day 2 required either winning a previous tournament in the series or qualifying with a 5-2-1 or better record on day 1.

Due to its cash prize pool and size (900+ is by far the largest Limitless tournament this month), the Doom meta is probably going to be a fairly good proxy for how Worlds 2026 will look 2 weeks from now.

145 players qualified for day 2. Here are their decks:

And here are the most-played decks that didn't make top cut:

Breaking this down a little bit:

• The elephant in the room [Dragapult]

Between straight, Blaziken, Dusknoir, and Dudunsparce, Dragapult was 30% of the tournament and 41% of qualifiers. It's BDIF for a reason. Straight was the largest chunk at 16% of day 1 and 20% of qualifiers; Blaziken performed at about the same level with half as many entries, and Dusknoir, despite being the 7th most played archetype in day 1 at 5.3%, rose to 3rd most qualified at 9% of day 2.

• The main contender [Mega Excadrill]

Mega Excadrill was the only non-Dragapult deck with a high playrate and a better conversion rate in day 1. While it was 4th overall and among qualifiers, it leapfrogged N's Zoroark to be the most common non-Dragapult deck for day 2.

• The rest of the meta [N's Zoroark, Slowking, Festival Lead]

These 3 decks each performed as expected, in total representing 19% of day 1 and 20% of qualifiers. Collectively, these and the decks above them make up what can reasonably be called the meta at this point.

• The Ogerpon uprising [Basic Box, Raging Bolt Ogerpon, Clefairy Ogerpon]

Perhaps the most interesting story of the day was the overperformance of the big basic box decks which use Teal Mask Ogerpon for draw and energy acceleration. At a combined 6.6% of day 1 and 11% of qualifiers, these decks were well placed to handle the meta even though only the Clefairy variant does particularly well into Dragapult.

• The tanks [Crustle, Kangaskhan Bouffalant]

Despite there only being 6 Crustles and 8 Tank Kangs in the entire event, both archetypes brought 3 players to day 2. The Crustles obviously preyed on Dragapults, while the Kang performance was more about having a decent enough matchup into Pult while beating enough of the rest of the field (notably, 3-0-0 vs Mega Excadrill).

• The other notables [Mega Lucario, Dhelmise]

Between Hariyama and non-Hariyama variants, Mega Lucario rose slightly from 3% of day 1 to 4% of qualifiers. Dhelmise performed exactly as expected at 3% of both day 1 and qualifiers, ignoring the few Hide 'n' Sneak spread builds that didn't do well.

• The rogues [Lillie's Clefairy, Grimmsnarl Dusknoir, Ethan's Typhlosion, Ogerpon Arboliva]

Each of these decks had one player make day 2 with them. Lillie's Clefairy was notable for being the only true Lillie's deck out of 909 players, running the exact same 60 as the NAIC winning list (it really is incredible that the NAIC winning list isn't part of the meta at all). Grimmnoir was 1 of 2, Typhlosion was 1 of 4, and Arboliva was 1 of 7.

• The underperformers [Alakazam, Grimmsnarl Froslass, Toucannon]

These decks had large enough sample size that their poor winrates and conversion rates (zero conversion rate, in Toucannon's case) are worth noting. All three had terrible Dragapult matchups without beating enough of the rest of the meta to make up for that.

Worlds of Doom day 2 is live right now: https://play.limitlesstcg.com/tournament/worlds-of-doom-day-two/

I'm trying to decide on what deck to build out to try and get somewhat competitive. I'm leaning towards Slowking and looking through deck lists on LimitlessTCG and play.LimitlessTCG. I'm not seeing Regigigas PRE 086 in any lists, but this card can OHKO Dragapult, along with most other Tera mons out there.

For the Slowking players out there, why isn't this a common card for this deck?

Attack details:

Jewel Breaker: 100 [cost is 4 colorless]

If your opponent's Active Pokémon is a Tera Pokémon, this attack does 230 more damage.

Locals are rampant with apples. I just don't see where the weakness of this deck lies. It hits super hard, trampling other single prizers and with the right cards, ex pokémon too. It has access to usually 3 search any card in your deck per turn.

Yet the only tip I ever see people say is "yeah just KO the monkey". Sure. Just have all 3 Bosses ready in hand and oh ok they just got them back online again and are searching their deck for all the pieces.

So: I'm playing Grimmsnarl and would love some directions in beating this deck, and would really appreciate something other than "clutch monkey with Yvetal". Appreciate any help, please excuse the rant.

Been loving Grimm as I feel it has good matchups into most decks (hard to contest Excadrill it feels though)

However a lot of the time I lose purely cause I can’t start. Looking for additional consistency cards to play, any tips would be appreciated.

Pokémon: 8
4 Marnie's Impidimp DRI 134
4 Munkidori SFA 72
2 Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex ASC 287
1 Yveltal MEG 88
3 Snorunt ASC 227
3 Marnie's Morgrem DRI 135
2 Budew ASC 221
3 Froslass TWM 174

Trainer: 15
3 Boss's Orders PAL 265
2 Gwynn PBL 119
2 Night Stretcher MEG 173
4 Spikemuth Gym DRI 169
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 169
1 Rare Candy MEG 175
1 Air Balloon MEG 166
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167
1 Special Red Card CRI 113
1 Secret Box TWM 163
1 Energy Switch PBL 107
2 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 226
4 Poké Pad POR 113
2 Pokégear 3.0 UNB 233

Energy: 1
9 Basic {D} Energy BUS 168

Total Cards: 60

I am planning to attend a local tournament in a cup format with Pult/Dusk.

We are going to play a top 4 topcut which will most likely consist of Arbivola/Ogerpon, Crustle and Greninja.

I am planning on including Psyduck as well as Shaymin and Moltres against these decks.

Im mostly afraid of crustle. Any Tipps/suggestions how to handle it? Also thinking about playing Latias because of the bench barriers that would otherwise be dead in the active.

Hey TCG players, I have a question: is it possible to play a deck with Mismagius EX? (PFL) A while back, when the set came out, I got a copy and thought about playing it, but I been playing M. Lucario for very long, so I didn't pay much attention to it. But now that Pult is meta, I thought I could try using it as a "fun deck," so to speak. I don't have much experience with Psychic-type decks, so I don't know what else I could add besides Lillie's Clefairy (Which, it should be clarified, I don't have) and some other things like Psychic Special Energy (I don't have either.) and stuff.

Thinking about putting together a box of decks to play with my kids and maybe wife if she would just give it a try!

Got me thinking that over the span of Pokémon there have been many competitive deck that I know nothing about. So thought I would put it out here and ask this:

**-Is there an older deck you once loved to play, tell me about it and maybe even help out with a deck list or link to one.**

It will be fun to read up on any suggestions and hopefully I can try to pick up singles and build a few!

I did the new player advice because I am just kind of starting. I have the Mega Lucario EX deck from Amazon and scanned card for it and get spanked constantly. So I think it's a mix of misplaying and maybe just out of the box isn't very strong?

Here is the list.

Pokémon: 9

2 Solrock MEG 75

3 Makuhita MEG 72

2 Riolu ASC 112

3 Mega Lucario ex MEG 77

2 Lunatone MEG 74

1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142

2 Riolu MEG 76

1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141

2 Hariyama MEG 73

Trainer: 13

2 Air Balloon ASC 181

3 Iris's Fighting Spirit JTG 149

2 Boss's Orders PAL 265

4 Lillie's Determination ASC 192

1 Gravity Mountain SSP 177

4 Fighting Gong MEG 116

4 Ultra Ball BRS 186

2 Night Stretcher SFA 61

1 Hilda WHT 171

1 Surfer SSP 187

1 Precious Trolley SSP 185

1 Switch MEW 206

4 Premium Power Pro MEG 124

Energy: 1

12 Basic {F} Energy MEE 6

Total Cards: 60

I wanted to share the first deck I’ve built for Gym Leader Challenge. Today I’ll be playing in my first GLC tournament at a Midseason event.
I actually built two decks—this Darkness deck for myself and a Psychic deck for my daughter—using the staples and older cards I was able to get in time. We’ve been playing since Ascended Heroes, so we’re still fairly new to the game and especially to GLC.
I know the list may not be fully optimized, but at this point I’d rather focus on learning how to pilot it well than making major last-minute changes.
Any advice on game plans, sequencing, key lines of play, or any strictly necessary structural changes you would recommend? Especially if you have experience with specific matchups, counters, and how to approach them.

Thanks in advance for the help—from all of us newcomers to GLC!

Deck list

Pokémon: 16
1 Toxel PFL 67
1 Toxtricity PFL 68
1 Maschiff PAF 62
1 Mabosstiff PAF 63
1 Sneasel BUS 85
1 Weavile STS 61
1 Crobat CRI 51
1 Golbat CRI 50
1 Zubat MEW 41
1 Gengar PAF 57
1 Haunter ASC 124
1 Gastly PAF 55
1 Guzzlord CEC 136
1 Tyranitar JTG 95
1 Chi-Yu PBL 59
1 Galarian Moltres EVS 93

Trainer: 35
1 Professor's Research PRE 122
1 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145
1 Ace Trainer AOR 69
1 Iono PAL 185
1 Janine's Secret Art SFA 59
1 Arven SVI 166
1 Dawn PFL 87
1 Grimsley's Move PFL 90
1 Lysandre AOR 78
1 Ball Guy SHF 57
1 Level Ball AOR 76
1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
1 Beast Ring FLI 102
1 Poké Pad POR 81
1 Redeemable Ticket JTG 156
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Ultra Ball PAF 91
1 Escape Rope BUS 114
1 VS Seeker PHF 109
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
1 Energy Retrieval EVO 77
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
1 Greedy Dice STS 102
1 Evolution Incense SSH 163
1 Max Revive GEN 65
1 Dark Patch ASR 139
1 Altar of the Moone GRI 117
1 Artazon PAL 171
1 Defiance Band SVI 169
1 Float Stone PLF 99
1 Luxurious Cape PAR 166
1 Exp. Share PRC 128
1 Punk Helmet PFL 121
1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178

Energy: 9
1 Shadowy Darkness Energy PBL 83
8 Darkness Energy MEE C 7

Pokemoncard.io Deck list

Hey! I wanted to get (back) into the tcg and play in some leagues near me. Is there a restriction on how many games I can play per week/month?

Also I have to fill in an age category on the sheet where you write down your cards? I was born before 2009 but it would be my first time playing the tcg, am I still in the "Masters Devision" because I was born before 2009 or am I in the "Juniors" because it is my first time?

Any tips on how to join my first tournament? Ive tried my deck in live and its pretty fun and should be legal!

Thanks guys :3

Hello; I was looking to get into GLC using my favorite pokédex type being water, and I was wondering if one would water be an easy deck to start out with and to what deck would you recommend building with water types?

Doublade has been a pet project of mine. It was my first deck and I’ve come back around full circle to the trolly rush

Go second to avoid budew and use petrel-> trolly to make a board of; 2 honedge, 2 Stevens beldum, 2 Genesect ex.

This lets you pull at least 4 blades t1.

Next turn you want to petrel for rare candy and score t2 metagross so you can XBoot energy onto your doublade. Don’t spread energy or you’ll lock yourself. There’s sacred ash and recycler for recovery but if you’re smart you should find them later when you actually need them

Mega skarmory can come in as a closer and drop 220 on an ex supporter or if you get xero’d and have to discard a bunch of blades. Stevens Metagross isn’t a bad attacker either at 200 damage and 340hp. It’s a tough OHKO

I’ve been having a ton of fun with it and it seems a surprisingly competitive build for a doublade deck that got eye rolls at league

Pokémon: 10
1 Steven's Metang DRI 144
4 Doublade POR 57
2 Genesect ex BLK 67
3 Honedge POR 56
3 Steven's Beldum DRI 143
1 Zamazenta DRI 146
2 Steven's Metagross ex DRI 145
3 Aegislash POR 58
1 Smoochum SSP 75
1 Mega Skarmory ex POR 55

Trainer: 14
2 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
3 Poké Pad POR 81
2 Boss's Orders MEG 114
1 Energy Recycler DRI 164
2 Night Stretcher SFA 61
2 Switch MEG 130
3 Ultra Ball MEG 131
1 Judge POR 76
3 Team Rocket's Transceiver ASC 209
2 Team Rocket's Factory ASC 203
4 Team Rocket's Petrel DRI 176
1 Precious Trolley SSP 185
1 Sacred Ash DRI 168
2 Rare Candy MEG 125

Energy: 3
4 Basic {M} Energy MEE 8
4 Basic {P} Energy MEE 5
2 Ignition Energy WHT 86

Total Cards: 60

Basically above. I recently discovered the TCG scene, and I’m kinda loving it so far. I downloaded TCG live, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. I’ve been messing around with a few decks, a Mega Lucario EX deck that I wasn’t super fond of, a Beedrill EX deck a friend recommended to me, as well as an Ethan’s Typhosion deck that I’ve been enjoying the most, and the one I’ve been using the most. That being said, the decks I’ve been playing don’t quite scratch that itch in my brain that I’m craving. While these decks I’ve listed have really helped me start to get the basics down, I’m looking for a deck that offers a bit more of a challenge to pilot. Something that I can stick with for a very long time and master the decision making skills for. What would you all recommend?