I finished 10th at Portland Regionals! I think Tina is BDIF, but it is very(!) hard to play effectively, quickly, etc. The deck functioned very erratically across the event, but it did well enough. Most of my ties would have concluded with 1-2 extra turns.
This past weekend was insane, and I can share that I placed 6th/1985 players at the San Antonio Regional Championship! I went 11-0-4 in swiss before losing in Top 8. I was able to end day 1 undefeated at 8-0-1, and I won my win-and-in to Top 8 on stream.
Congratulations to
@DanTheTrainer25
for achieving his Worlds invite just a week into 2024, after finishing 10th place at Portland! Dan has made Day 2 at every Regional he has attended this season, and has made a name for himself as an expert on Lost Zone Giratina.
#NRGwin
This is seriously the best worst deck I've ever played, and I placed 47th/1200+ at LAIC in Sao Paulo! The deck did get stronger with counter catcher, and I think it still is one of the best decks in the format. My opponents were awesome people, and I loved getting to meet them.
So, um, I should have played Manaphy....
58th/1700+ at Peoria Regionals with Lost Tina! This was my same 60 from Pittsburgh, just dropping a Pokegear for a Snorlax. I was punished exactly zero times in Pitt for dropping manaphy, but I was punished exactly MANY times in Peoria.
21st at Pittsburgh Regionals with Lost Tina! My deck refused to function relatively often, but I had some luck to help me win a few games I had no business winning. Vacuum was huge, waters aren't needed. Would 100% recommend this 60. Thanks
@Nerd_RageGaming
for the support!
I’ll do a post later, but NRG had a heck of a weekend.
@Ely_gPTCG
and
@NRGJustinT
are real good at this game. And I got to do something cool. What a fantastic weekend.
Congratulations to
@DanTheTrainer25
,
@Ely_gPTCG
, and
@NRGJustinT
for their finishes at San Antonio Regionals this weekend!
Dan went undefeated in Swiss, making Top 8 with Giratina VSTAR, Justin made Top 8 in Seniors with Mew VMAX, and Ely made Top 64 with Charizard ex!
#NRGwin
I am super excited
@Mellow_Magikarp
had me on to talk about this. I don’t think there’s a ton of conversation about those who got into the game as adults, so really recommend giving this a listen.
(Also, check out our charity event this Saturday!)
Got another BANGER for you this week, especially my fellow 30+ TCG players
@DanTheTrainer25
&
@Mellow_Magikarp
discuss how to be competitive while working full-time & maintaining relationships
We also discuss how to quickly improve without all the free time these dang kids have
Well, you can't contend for top 8 at every event, and I ended up bubbling out of top 128 at Charlotte Regionals (135th). Tina is still BDIF, but I disliked almost every change I made to the list. I made a few mistakes, and my opponents just hit it sometimes.
I placed in the Top 32 (29th) at the Milwaukee Regional this past weekend! I did not prep very much, as I got home from traveling Wednesday night, so I decided to do my standard best practice and just play a straightforward Tier 1(ish) deck. I net-decked current ArcTina 1/?
Seriously, you all rock. We raised $2,011 today during the stream for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Absolutely incredible.
The link is still live for a few more days if anyone is interested, and we’ll post about the final results on Thursday.
Thank you all so much.
Always keep this game in context: we are having shiny cardboard with colorful monsters punch each other. At the end of the day, it’s a game. Enjoy it however you see best, and no one else’s results change your own.
Very excited to start streaming locals again! We have some great local players and a really great stream set-up, so come list to Ely and I talk about the games and our recent runs (Ely Day 2ing San Antonio and my Top 8 in SA and Top 16 in Portland)!
Our locals will be streaming live on Twitch tomorrow with live expert commentary from
@DanTheTrainer25
and
@Ely_gPTCG
. Follow us for updates when we go live and future event information!
Top 4 at the
@NRGTCG
$1k today. Palkia is a good deck, and carried me when I made bad choices. Did not remember how much brain power intel decks take.
Please vote between
@Ely_gPTCG
's and
@ICheville
's layouts below.
Ciaran and Aneil were kind enough to have me on the podcast this week to talk about my San Antonio Top 8. You should give it a listen, since apparently I’m good at Pokémon?
We are joined this week by
@DanTheTrainer25
fresh off his top 8 in San Antonio. Dan goes through a lot of helpful tips for Giratina and his approach to the game. Be sure to check it out! We got web cams now too!
Yt:
Spotify:
Turns out Taylor Swift has concerts in Rio while LAIC is happening. My wife is coming with, and she’s probably going to take advantage and go see her while I am pokemoning (tickets are like 90% cheaper).
Any poke-partners interested in tagging along? So she has a friend?
This has been an awesome day, and we have raised over $1,800 for charity!
Since we are so far over our original goal of $1,000, we are to increase giveaways!
At $1,900 donated we will giveaway a booster box, and at $2,000 a Mewtwo&Mew Championship mat and 2 boxes!!
Any Pokémon people going to be in London early? My wife will be businessing, so I’ll be free to play once we get there Monday before euic. Would love to meet up and test (maybe have a pint)
Obligatory "I don't suck at Pokemon" post: I got Top 4 at the
@NRGTCG
$1k today, playing Lugia with GMAX CHEEKS. This will be a surprise to people, but Lugia is really good. Deck worked fine, and I like Greedent over Stoutland. Everyone check out NRG for the next $1k on 3/11!
It makes me really happy that we are doing some good for people via Pokémon.
We’ll have donation link and such posted soon, but please come check out this awesome event on March 9th. It’s going to be a blast
NRG and
@LostZoneKitchen
are VERY excited to announce a charity drive for
@FoodDepository
, culminating with a team battle IN STORE on March 9! The stream will include giveaways, fun formats, and more!
Follow us for updates! A donation link will be posted soon!
#nrgwin
#wecookin
@Jonner909
10 of the top 50 in NA are Chicagoland. Not getting into the “which area is better” debate, but pretty clear there are areas with a dense collection of strong players
@VaughnPTCG
@boofling_
I’ll leave it to a judge to determine whether this was “illegal” or manipulating the game. Regardless, this is kind of classless and a jerk move. You don’t need to tell them what their cards do, but implying that they may not have an out isn’t OK.
We started back up last week, and we are going to keep streaming every Thursday! We’d love to have you join the stream, so come hang with
@Ely_gPTCG
and me tomorrow evening!
Excited to stream the NRG $1k SPE….er, league cup! There are a ton of excellent players here, so really excited to get to show some great games. Stream starts in about 15 minutes!
Our 70+ player League Cup goes LIVE on at 11:00am CST, featuring many of the best players in North America!
@DanTheTrainer25
and Trevor T will be casting the event and we hope to see you in chat!
Listen, the event will be fun, games will be interesting, commentary will be solidly mediocre, and this is all for a really good cause.
But we are also giving away a TON of awesome stuff if we hit our donation goals. So share, tell people, help us help people in need!
Do you want BOOSTER BOXES, WORLDS MERCH, and MORE? Join us for our charity team battle vs
@LostZoneKitchen
this Saturday, with donations going to the Chicago Food Depository! If donation goals are met, Twitch viewers will be treated to some great raffle prizes! See you Saturday!
Day 2 at Pittsburgh Regionals with the big lost bro. Also, these people we play with are just awesome. Loved gaming with all my opponents. Thanks to
@Nerd_RageGaming
for the support, and let’s make something happen tomorrow
Nerd Rage Gaming is now streaming Pokemon TCG! We would love to see you there, but if you can't attend in person, you can listen to an incredible player (
@allezliverpool
) and someone who knows what most of the cards do (me) commentate over some unnecessarily strong locals.
Tomorrow around 7 PMCST(8 EST, 5 PST)
@DanTheTrainer25
and I will be commentating
@NRGTCG
Nerd Rage Gaming locals stream! It will be our first time streaming locals so hope to see you there, here’s the link:
Rafal and I will be talking through some games from those trying to move closer to their invite to the World Championships.
Come watch some excellent prep for Knoxville Regionals!
Our January League Challenge goes LIVE on Twitch at 6:30pm CST on Thursday, Jan 25 with commentary from Dan Hugar (
@DanTheTrainer25
) and Rafal Gladysz (
@RZGladysz
)
See you there!
Our team is back from RC San Antonio, and WOW did they do well! We'll have teammate
@Ely_gPTCG
and Michael Storms in the booth tonight for locals doing commentary. Come hang out and ask questions; 6:30pm @ ttv/nrgstore. See y'all there!
@Celios_Network
Coaching and playing are two very different skill-sets. Usually have to be decent at playing to be good at coaching/teaching, but not "top 8 every event." All I've ever seen from your videos and talking in person is that you're an excellent communicator and have great insight.
Thanks to PJ for having me on the video! It was awesome getting to talk with everyone about Portland, so give it a listen if you want some solid insight. Thanks to
@Nerd_RageGaming
for the support (and sick hoodie you can see in the video)!
@OkamiAstra
Id say those people’s opinions don’t matter. You get to decide if you’re happy with your results, or if you’d want to work towards something else. Also, don’t feel like you need a result to prove you’re skilled. Tons of variance in the game, so be confident in yourself
I definitely learned something from everyone on the forecast, so give it a listen prior to Charlotte. Thanks to PJ for having me on, and thanks to
@Nerd_RageGaming
for the support as always.
Focus on the process more than the results; those will follow if you commit to learning and growing.
Also, it’s a game! I know I always want to win, but this is first and foremost a game and hobby. Focus on the fun parts, including the community and friends you’ve made.
POKEMON TCG TIP OF THE DAY- winning and losing are such miniscule parts of this game and community. Once you understand that, the real growth starts. You will surprise yourself how much more success you find when you actually enjoy playing the game with the people around you.
Palawan fates is here and legal! So we are prepping for the last couple regionals before rotation. Come listen to Ely and I talk about how the format developed and whatever other stuff we think of
Our post-rotation coverage continues tonight! Join us for our Weekly Locals stream this Thursday, where Temporal Forces will be legal! We will have commentary from
@ryan_prusak
and
@RZGladysz
and are going live at 6:30pm CST!
Hi all, For my master's thesis, I am studying how people of different religions perceive mindfulness practices. If anyone is willing to complete an 8-minute survey, they'll receive a $5 Amazon gift card, and my undying gratitude. 1/2
Our locals stream is BACK TONIGHT!!! We'll be going live tonight at 6:30pm CST with commentary from
@DanTheTrainer25
and
@RZGladysz
! We will be casting great matches and giving some updates about our team battle on March 9!
Congratulations to our teammate, the (Twitterless) Mo Ideis for winning his third League Cup of the season! After winning with Lugia and Mew, Mo won yesterday's Cup with Chien-Pao! In addition, our teammate
@NRGJustinT
won the same Cup in Seniors!
Just as a reminder for those attending the
@Nerd_RageGaming
$1k today; Round 1 starts at 11:00am CST.
Which also means stream will be starting at 11:00am CST!
@beccabaddest
I think that’s the part of realistic. If you have high tier testing partners, previous TCG or competitive game experience, access to excellent deck builders, and time and financial capability, then sky’s the limit. If you don’t, then “realistic” may mean something different.
@Nerd_RageGaming
has a $1,000 league cup today, and we’ll be streaming! I’ll be commentating with a bunch of different co-commentators ranging from local players to regional champions.
We’ll be starting right around when Barca SPE is finishing, so come check it out!
Just a reminder that this Saturday is the
@Nerd_RageGaming
$1k! Come play and win some sweet guaranteed prizing. And if you can't attend,
@FMintmire
and I will be streaming the event! We'd love to have you there or listening in, so hope to see you all!
@ChaoticMeatball
To be clear, I am reading that you are criticizing something in a reply to someone celebrating an accomplishment. And you are saying that what they are doing is "bad," and people should watch videos.
And you're on Youtube. To be honest, subbed to BC for Celio, unsubbed for this.
Really excited to add Ryan and Rafal. Ryan has been hugely successful with off-meta decks, and Rafal is an excellent player and GLC wizard. It’s going to be a fun year
Nerd Rage Gaming would like to announce our updated roster for the 2023/2024 Pokemon TCG Season! All players will be returning from last season, with the additions of
@ryan_prusak
@RZGladysz
after their strong locals and regional performances last season.
@TeamAbra87
Just remember each round is a new, clean match. Don’t worry about your record or place; just go win games. Make sure you have snacks and a ton of water. I try to have protein and carbs to keep my blood sugar up and sustained. And lots of coffee lol
@LAX_Station
I think Tina is BDIF. That being said, it can easily fall to pieces, so it needs to be played extremely well to win consistently. And it sure doesn’t feel like BDIF when you’re playing it
Hey all, if you're in the Chicagoland area, come play some Pokemon in the Nerd Rage Gaming $1k! Play starts at 12:00pm CST.
No stream today unfortunately, so you just have to come join in person!
Join us tonight at 6:30pm for our Pokémon Challenge! Battle it out for Championship points and more. Can't make it? Watch the stream over at for fantastic coverage and commentary!
If anyone is interested in learning about Pokémon (and it’s awesome), come by
@Nerd_RageGaming
on Thursday nights. We would 100% be happy to help you learn the game, and there’s a whole group of people who’d love to welcome you to the community.
I’m MIA for the night, but listen to
@ryan_prusak
and Mo give some entertaining and valuable commentary! 151 is legal for the evening, so it’ll be a great starting point for Peoria
After a thrilling finish to our League Cup, we're back to our regularly scheduled program with Thursday Night Pokemon! Join
@ryan_prusak
and teammate Mo Ideis tonight at 6:30pm for a recap and commentary of tonight's matches. See you in chat at 🥳
The next match we want to highlight for our charity team battle with
@LostZoneKitchen
is between
@NickCRobinson
and
@DanTheTrainer25
! They will be facing off in a gauntlet of post-rotation decks! Who will come out on top? Find out March 9th!
I think I’m supposed to talk smack: this isn’t US Nationals, so at least I’ll have a chance
@NickCRobinson
?
Legit, we are going to have a really cool IRL series, so come watch and help us do some good for people in need.
After a couple week break,
@Nerd_RageGaming
is streaming their locals again! If you can't make it out to the store, come by and listen to me co-host with an actually skilled player! Tournament starts shortly after 6:30pm CST.
We are actually doing this two weeks in a row, so we are streaming locals tonight at
@Nerd_RageGaming
! Come listen to me help Greg Smith read all the cards while watching some awesome PAL action!
@alexwilsonTCG
Came into day 2 with 21 match points in Portland, went 4-0-2 in day 2, and bubbled out of top 8. On me for not playing out the last round, but that’s kind of absurd.
It’s just very, very difficult to make cut in general.
@JoeMommyTCG
@mrdarthbean
What would a phenomenal finish be? Top 16 at a 1500-2200 person event is insane; I’d be willing to say top 10% of an event is excellent, and anything greater than top 5% of an event is phenomenal
Our January League Challenge goes LIVE on Twitch TONIGHT at 6:30pm CST with commentary from Dan Hugar (
@DanTheTrainer25
) and Ryan Prusak (
@ryan_prusak
)
See you there!
Very excited for another big event at
@Nerd_RageGaming
! Would love to have everyone down, but if you can’t play, we will be streaming the event! So hope to see you there!
Pre-registration for our Q3 Cup + 1K on Sunday February 18th is up!
This event WILL SELL OUT so register ASAP!!
Start Time: 11am (10am registration/check-in)
Masters entry fee: $30
JR/SR entry Fee: $15
*Cash prize is for Masters Division players only*
Join us tonight at 6:30pm for our weekly Pokemon stream! Lovely commentators
@DanTheTrainer25
and
@allezliverpool
will be in the booth, come keep them company in chat at
Pokémon good, post rotation good, not stressing about Purdue today also good. We’re trying some new stuff today, so come listen to Brian and I prep for EUIC
Going to EUIC or Orlando? Join us for our Weekly Locals stream this Thursday, where Temporal Forces will be legal! We will have commentary from
@DanTheTrainer25
and
@briandeveza
and are going live at 6:30pm CST!
The main changes from San Antonio were adding more gust and Iono. Both were fantastic, but maybe Iono is better as another gear. Manaphy, Jirachi, Tomb, and other techs could be good, but weren't worth it.
Need some last minute testing for NAIC? The
@Nerd_RageGaming
$1k and league cup is today! Prereg is full, but we do have walk-in spots available! Walk-in sign up starts at 11:00am, so hope to see you there!
For all who helped with my Master's Thesis, THANK YOU AGAIN!!! The study is complete and approved as of Thursday, so I have sent all the gift cards.
As a note, some people won't get one, as I couldn't use their data (completed incorrectly, same email for multiple responses, etc)
It's been a minute, but
@Nerd_RageGaming
will be streaming Pokemon tonight! Come watch some great games, and listen to me asking Limitless Series Champion
@KruegerTcg
for wisdom for upcoming regionals!
@Sininchi
@ZanderBennett
@pedrosk0v
This is exactly what I’ve been dealing with (well, less dramatically). I play fast, my opponents play slower, we finish 2.5-2.9 games.
Weird as hell finish, but still awesome to be undefeated!