It was an important weekend for Pokémon TCG player Piper Lepine and fans of the Firetype Kanto starter, as a player from Minnesota won. Baltimore Pokemon TCG Masters Division Regional Championship Comes with a deck featuring fan-favorite Charizard. And this wasn’t just any Charizard. It was the new Radiant Charizard in the Pokémon GO set, sporting artwork of a fire lizard in shiny form.
Image credit: pkmncards.com
The tournament was the largest regional tournament in Pokémon’s modern history, with 1091 players participating. It spanned two days, and Lépine dominated the Swiss rounds with her Intelion/Charizard deck, allowing her to luxuriate as her record was very strong. concession to the other party She knows she can still make it to the Top 8 playoffs. Her final record of 12-3-0 made her the second seed in the top cut, and from there she blazed her way directly to the crown, best in any of her three bouts. She didn’t drop a single game of hers. In addition to the first place medal, Lepine’s prizes included her three booster boxes and $5,000.
Wow. I’m at a loss for words.It’s been a crazy weekend, especially thanks to everyone for their support @noahlesak @Jacob F27766905 Mikey, Ian, Andrew, Bodie, Alex, Game related. First place in the biggest regional competition in history? The deck was insane, nothing could be changed. pic.twitter.com/a0sjfKORK8
— Piper Lepine (@piperlepine) September 19, 2022
Charizard cards are expensive collector’s items, but they usually don’t do very well in games, as they have prohibitively expensive attacks despite their high damage output. That trend has changed in recent years, with Reshiram & Charizard GX proving to be one of his best tag team his Pokemon and featured in many tournament winning decks. But now Radiant Charizard may have cemented itself as the best solo his Charizard card ever printed.
Shining Pokémon are so powerful that players can only have one in their deck. Radiant Charizard’s power level is evident in its sheer number of attacks and game-changing abilities. Her Combustion Blast attack does 250 damage at the cost of 1 Fire Energy and 4 Colorless Energy. This is usually very expensive (sound familiar?), but thanks to its Excited Heart ability, the cost of each prize card he reduces by 1 Colorless Energy. opponent took. That is, after Charizard wins some prizes, he starts swinging a huge number with the help of Energy Acceleration Cards such as Twin He Energy or Laihan or Magma He Basin, and by the end of the game he Only one can attack. fire energy.
Most decks play 2 Prize Pokemon V with max 220 HP and Pokemon VStar with max 280 HP, so with the help of Choice Band (which adds +30 damage), Radiant Charizard can be knocked out all in one hit . The 3-prize Pokemon VMAX maxes out at 330 HP, which is a little out of Charziard’s OHKO range.
Radiant Charizard’s 160 HP is comparatively low, typically knocking out opponents in one hit, but with Clara and Ordinary Rods in your deck, you can easily recycle multiple times, allowing players to deal massive damage per turn. You can keep swinging for His Shady Dealings ability of Inteleon and Drizzile is the cornerstone of the deck’s strategy, allowing players to hand-pick key cards from the deck for repeatable successful combos. This strategy can fail if the opponent interferes with his Charizard player’s hand, but no matter how many times the opponent plays Marnie, Lépine will always find a way to heal. is ready. take a dub.
More information on Lepine’s deck can be found in the recent Rage of Rage Pokémon TCG Podcast Episodes She appeared as a guest and explained her strategic thinking towards the tournament.
If you’re looking to learn how to play the Pokémon TCG, or are back for the first time in a while, check out our how-to video with special guest Keith Habersberger.
