2K GLC Tournament at CCG

2K GLC Tournament at CardBoard Castle Games

June 10, 2023

On Saturday, June 10 one of the largest GLC tournaments in terms of prize support took place in Augusta, GA. The crew at Cardboard Castle Games put together an excellent event which offered a MoonBreon and a box of the Paldea Evolved to the champion as well as a large payout to the Top 8 trainers of the tournament. A payout which totaled roughly $2,000 in total.

20 of the best of the GLC players from the region battled it out to take home the top prizes. The tournament was well run, competitive yet welcoming, and a great time to play and discuss the best format that Pokémon TCG has to offer.

The event consisted of a 5 round swiss of Bo1 before cutting to the Top 4. Top 4 was played as a Bo3 to decide the champion and the new owner of the VMAX Umbreon from Evolving Skies.

Here are the top performers on the day:

1st Place - Shaq - Dark Red Banquet

Shaq piloted Guzzlord Red Banquet to perfection to take home the 1st place prize package. Making a strong meta call, Shaq’s list took advantage of the large number of psychic decks in the room to go 4-1 in the swiss before taking the deck to the finals.

The deck list focuses on using Guzzlord’s Red Banquet to take multiple prizes in the late game. In the early game the deck focuses on using cheap efficient attackers like Spiritomb and Hoopa to take quick knockouts or to soften-up beefier mons for the all important 2-prize turns. With disruption in the form of Galarian Weezing and a strong late-game attacker in Galarian Moltres, this dark deck is one of the best decks in the GLC format.

2nd Place - Bryan - Psychic Lost Zone

Psychic Lost Zone has been tearing up the GLC scene recently racking up victories in tournaments all over. Bryan’s list is similar to other popular LZ using the Lost Zone Mechanic to take advantage of LOR’s Sableye which can put 12 damage counters on the opponent’s Pokémon granted he has at least 10 cards in the Lost Zone. Taking advantage of Colress’ Experiment, Lost Blender, Lost Vacuum and LOR’s Comfey, Bryan’s list has little difficulty reaching the LZ limit.

To go alongside its Lost Zone core, the deck plays other key attackers such as Gengar and Blacephelon to take the load off of Sableye in the early game. Disruptive cards like Chimecho and Marshadow help to slow the opponent as well while Bryan sets up his main game plan. To add some spice to the list, Bryan opted to play Roaring Skies Natu which takes 2 prizes if it KOs the opponent's Pokémon; a bold inclusion for sure, but one that seemed to pay off.

3rd Place- Evan - Water Rain Dance

Water Rain Dance finds itself in third place piloted by Evan Boley. The deck takes advantage of “rain dance” effects in the form of Deluge Blastoise and Ice Dance Frosmoth to power up some of the best attackers in the format. Although it requires more set up than other decks, once the engines are moving it is difficult to stop.

Recent Includes like Jumbo Size Wailord and the CRZ Kyogre allow the deck to take prizes while holding on to valuable resources. Evan’s deck also boasts some of the best type specific cards in the form of Nessa and Irida giving him access to key Pokémon and the all important water energy necessary to chain attackers.

4th Place - Randy - Colorless Crazy Code

While the GLC community continues to focus on Colorless builds centered on Archeops, Randy is out here showing that the Crazy Code variants aren’t anything to scoff at. Porygon-Z’s Crazy Code ability allows the trainer to attach multiple special energies to attackers from hand, quickly pushing out large chunks of damage often before the opponent has set up. This iteration of Colorless plays the Slaking line over the fossil package which hits hard while disrupting opponents with its Lazy ability that turns off opposing Pokemon’s abilities.

The deck boasts other powerful attackers such as Snorlax, Kangaskhgan and Lugia as well. These attackers work well with Porygon-Z’s ability, but the deck can just attach some powerful energy and attack as a plan B. With 4 energy cards that can provide 2 energy at a time, Randy’s Colorless build can take early prizes and stay ahead, frustrating opponents with his big basics and draw engines.

Rounding out the Top 8 are the following trainers and decks:

5th Place - Teddy - Psychic Lost Zone

6th Place - Jeff - Fighting HitmonBros

7th Place - Gilberto - Fighting Earthquake

8th Place - Andrew - Psychic Lost Zone