It was a momentous weekend for Pokemon TCG player Piper Lepine, and lovers of the Hearth-Style Kanto starter, as the participant from Minnesota received the Baltimore Pokemon TCG Masters Division Regional Championship with a deck that includes the admirer-favorite Charizard. And this was not just any Charizard. It was the new Radiant Charizard from the Pokemon GO established sporting artwork of the hearth lizard in its shiny kind.
Image credit history: pkmncards.com
The tournament was the major regional event in the historical past of the modern day era for Pokemon with 1091 players. It spanned two days and noticed Lepine dominate the Swiss rounds with her Inteleon/Charizard deck to the issue where her report was so powerful that she experienced the luxurious of conceding to an opponent recognizing she’d however make it into the Leading 8 playoffs. Her last 12-3- record designed her the 2nd seed heading into prime slice and from there she blazed a path immediately to the crown, not dropping a single video game in any of her very best of a few matches. Alongside with the 1st area medal Lepine’s prizes involved 3 booster boxes and $5,000.
Wow. I am speechless. This weekend was insane, thank you to everybody for the help especially @noahlesak @JakobF27766905 Mikey, Iain, Andrew, Bodhi, and Alex and Gamerelated. 1st spot at the biggest regionals ever? Deck was insane, wouldn’t transform nearly anything. pic.twitter.com/a0sjfKORK8
— Piper Lepine (@piperlepine) September 19, 2022
Even though Charizard playing cards are dear collectors’ things, they usually aren’t very superior in the activity simply because inspite of their significant damage output they have prohibitively expensive attacks. That pattern has altered in current several years, with Reshiram & Charizard GX proving to be one of the most effective Tag Group Pokemon and obtaining a area in several event-successful decks. But now Radiant Charizard may have cemented itself as the finest solo Charizard card at any time printed.
Radiant Pokemon are so sturdy that gamers may possibly only contain 1 in their deck. Radiant Charizard’s electricity degree is clear when you appear at its huge attack selection and game-swinging Ability. Its Combustion Blast attack does 250 damage for the cost of a person Fireplace Power and 4 Colorless Power, which would ordinarily be prohibitively high priced (sound common?), but many thanks to its Energized Heart Capacity the expense is lessened by a single Colorless Power for each Prize card the opponent has taken. That suggests that immediately after heading down a couple Prizes, Charizard can begin swinging for enormous figures with the enable of Twin Electrical power or Energy-acceleration cards this kind of as Raihan and Magma Basin, and by the close of the recreation, it can assault for just a solitary Fireplace Electrical power.
Most decks enjoy two-Prize Pokemon V with up to 220 HP and Pokemon VStar with up to 280 HP, so with the support of Decision Band (which adds +30 destruction) Radiant Charizard can knock them all out in a person strike. The 3-Prize Pokemon VMAX have up to 330 HP, a little bit out of Charziard’s OHKO selection, which is why the deck employs Inteleon to soften up targets right before bringing in Charizard to clear things up.
Radiant Charizard’s 160 HP is reduced in comparison, and normally opponents will knock it out in one particular hit, but with Klara and Normal Rod in the deck, it can easily be recycled many instances, enabling a player to regularly swing for huge damage convert after transform. Inteleon and Drizzile’s Shady Dealings Ability is the foundation of the deck’s method, allowing the player to hand choose crucial cards out of the deck to consistently pull off the combo. This strategy can falter if the opponent disrupts the Radiant Charizard player’s hand, but no matter how many times her opponents performed Marnie, Lepine was often in a position to locate a way to rally back and take the dub.
For far more perception on Lepine’s deck, test out the latest Lage of Rage Pokemon TCG podcast episode in which she appeared as a visitor and explained her strategic thinking going into the tournament.
If you want to learn to enjoy the Pokemon TCG, or are returning immediately after a long time, check out out our online video with specific visitor Keith Habersberger where we educate you how to perform.