TCG 101 is back... and different!

First post since the release of Flashfire... which is over two weeks now. I've been so busy with other things lately such as final exams, so I haven't been able to post much at all. I'm going to try to post more because school is almost done for me and I will be posting more often in the summer, and update the Deck Dumpster a little. On the blog I have decided to only really post free TCGO codes and updates in the TCG on the main page, and also focus on lists in The Deck Dumpster.

Sorry for the long wait between posts!

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

Free TCGO Code: April 6, 2014

Today's code is for:

1 XY Booster Pack

Code:

9XL-R8NN-EUT-XYP

I'm running out of XY Booster codes, so I have some Plasma Storm coming up soon.

Hope that whoever gets the code gets some good pulls :D

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

A Storm of Brains in Flashfire (Trevenant / Magnezone)

Hey everyone! This is an interesting deck idea that I found on Pokebeach, and since annoying the crap outta people using Trevenant is so fun to do, I loved this Magnezone variant so much. And Magnezone can attack Pyroar, so I approve.

Alongside Pyroar / Archeops, this deck seems like a deck that I will be playing next format due to its awesome (in my opinion) strategy. And since I think this deck is awesome, I'm sharing it with you guys to try out as well. Overall, I can't see a ton of people playing this deck like it's the #1 meta deck in the world or something, but I'm on quite the budget, so I approve.

The main thing I like about this deck is that it runs a healthy amount of Supporters thanks to Magnezone PLS's ability, Dual Brains, allowing you to play 2 Supporter cards per turn. Other than its ability, Magnezone PLS is also your main attacker with its Gyro Ball attack, forcing your opponent to switch into a benched Pokemon while you switch from Magnezone into Trevenant and lock up your opponent from using those items. Also, if you have Magnezone in play, you are allowed to use Lysandre and Juniper in one turn, so 4 Lysandre is essential.

I have 2 brains, automatically making me better than you.

Trevenant is for obvious reasons because your opponent simply can't play Item cards. Yup, no items for your opponent until the zombie tree becomes dead once again. No Scrapper. No Level Ball. No Ace Specs. Fun stuff!

Bother bother bother

Emolga EX is used as an alternate attacker when you can't set up a Magnezone fast enough, because its first attack, Energy Glide, allows you to search your deck for a Lightning Energy, attach it to Emolga, and then switch into Trevenant for 1 Colorless. It's fairly decent for when Magnezone just doesn't cut it, because its second attack, Electron Crush, can OHKO Yveltal EX and Lugia EX (if you discard a Lightning), where Magnezone requires a Muscle Band to do that. Emolga EX would have been great with Eels, my favorite deck ever before Plasma Storm came out.

Normally, I don't like the idea of Jirachi EX in decks because it's an EX with only 90 HP, so it can be KO'd easily, and also because of limited bench space. However, with the amount of Supporters that this deck consists of, Jirachi EX is a great idea. The other plus about it is that it can be searched out by Level Ball to get out a Supporter for world famous dead drawers like me. That's another thing about the supporters in this deck - less dead drawing, more consistency. I love this deck. Thank you Jirachi EX for being a thing... even if I didn't really like you that much at first, things can change once in a while.

The one good card from Plasma Blast that I actually have

Now for the Trainers. As I have already stated many times, this deck runs many Supporters thanks to Magnezone, but the one thing that really clicks is Lysandre. Lysandre is exactly like EPO Catcher, but it's a Supporter. However, with Magnezone, it's like the return of the good Catcher, and I'm probably going to say Catcher instead of Lysandre whenever I play it. Cause I can. All of the other Supporters in this deck are just draw and Skyla, but there's one more that you may be able to tech in.

"Switch 1 of your opponent's active Pokemon with 1 of his or her Benched Pokemon."

Lysandre Full Art print from Wild Blaze. Such amazing artwork, I applaud the illustrator of this card.

One more idea could be Iris, which you might be able to tech in and replace some draw Supporters such as Colress, or possibly run 1 of each. Still, Iris is a decent card, and the later the game, the better she gets. During your turn, when you play Iris, your Pokemon's attacks do 10 more damage for each Prize card your opponent has taken. Dependant on Prizes, Magnezone might be able to OHKO Pyroar with a Gyro Ball. Sure, Emolga EX can do that by just attaching a Muscle Band to it, but the only way to get back those discarded energys (now) is Super Rod. One more use for Iris is if you can't OHKO Pyroar with Magnezone, Trevenant could possibly be used as an alternate attacker for the Pyroar matchup.

Sorry bro, no more PlusPower for you

For most of the Items, it's quite obvious why you're running them, but there are a few that aren't just self-explanatory.

Run 1 Float Stone for each Trevenant you run so that you can retreat into your attackers, then simply just attack and switch back up to Trevenant. It gives Trevenant free retreat to make things awesome.

Because it sucks not to have free retreat, especially for decks that are very consistent and cheap at the same time.

Run 2 Muscle band for Magnezone to OHKO Yveltal EX and Lugia EX. This one is pretty self-explanatory, just not exactly essential for every deck.

The last thing I need to explain would be Computer Search over Dowsing Machine. You're probably thinking, "Just... why?" Well, Computer Search is indeed MUCH more useful when playing Trevenant with Accelgor to search out DCEs early in the game, but the 3 main reasons why I run Computer Search are because it's the second best Ace Spec since come on guys, you can get anything from your deck by discarding 2. The second reason is because of how everyone used it back when Boundaries Crossed came out, then I went on a 1-year TCG hiatus once Plasma Storm came out. Last reason is because I own 2 copies of this card while owning no copies of Dowsing Machine, and I'm on quite the budget here. Trevenant variants are really also the only decks nowadays that use Computer Search as their Ace Spec, with almost everything else running Dowsing Machine.

Well, now looking at what I just wrote, I can put together a list for this deck:

Trevenant / Magnezone

Pokemon: 17

• 4-4 Trevenant XY
• 3-1-3 Magnezone PLS 46
• 1 Emolga EX
• 1 Jirachi EX

T/S/S: 34

• 4 Professor Juniper/Sycamore
• 4 Lysandre
• 3 N
• 3 Skyla
• 2 Colress

• 4 Float Stone
• 3 Rare Candy
• 2 Muscle Band
• 2 Ultra Ball
• 2 Level Ball
• 2 Surprise Megaphone/Tool Scrapper
• 1 Energy Switch
• 1 Super Rod
• 1 Computer Search

Energy: 9

• 9 Lightning Energy

Find out more about this deck in Back to the Future!

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

Free TCGO code: April 5, 2014

Today's code is for:

1 XY Booster Pack

Code:

VT6-MFKS-UFD-LJR

Hope that whoever gets the code gets some good pulls :D

TCG 101 on YouTube

Hey guys! I just wanted to inform those of you that don't already know that I have 2 YouTube channels. My main channel, pokeblogger678 is where I post gaming stuff like Pokemon Showdown, Minecraft, and stuff like that. My second channel, Pokeblogger678 TOO (which I am considering making the official channel of TCG 101) is where I post stuff that isn't related to video games, such as Pokemon TCG, behind the scenes content from my main channel and maybe some stuff about my pets in the future.

I haven't been uploading much lately, but I'm trying to hang in there and make sure people know that I'm not dead, so I'm going to try to get back to uploading videos regularly again.

So, check me out on YouTube and be sure to subscribe! (Almost at 400 subs on my main channel! :D)

Pokeblogger678

Pokeblogger678 TOO

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

Free TCGO Code: April 3, 2014

Today's code is for:

1 XY Booster Pack

Code:

LSV-BJTR-DPK-A7S

Hope that whoever gets the code gets some good pulls! :D

Locking up the NXD-FLF format with Pyroar

We all know that Pyroar, alongside Charizard EX, will be one of the most played cards next format because of its ability, Intimidating Mane, which prevents all damage done to it by Basic Pokemon. The plus to that? ALL EX's (except for megas) are basic, and so are some of the most played cards today that aren't EX's, such as Kyurem PLF. Its attack, Scorching Fang is decent as well, and it will be best played with Blacksmith if that card gets released here in North America (as it was not actually part of the Wild Blaze expansion) and if it doesn't, (Superior) Energy Retrieval with Emboar could possibly be useful.

Screw you Yveltal!

Another thing that Pyroar would work well with is Archeops NVI (still legal because it was reprinted in DEX) with its ability which prevents each player from evolving their Pokemon. Here's the main point of the deck - once you get it set up, you've pretty much "locked up" your opponent from attacking unless they had already evolved their Pokemon prior to you setting up Archeops.

Trevenant or absolute failure?

Some Trainer cards that would be useful in a deck with Pyroar, Archeops and maybe Emboar would be Evosoda, Devolution Spray, Flame Torch, Twist Mountain and Silver Bangle

Evosoda is for obvious reasons.

Devolution Spray is used to devolve Archeops when you need to evolve another of your Pokemon, but can't because Archeops is in play.

The Fire Energies that you discard with Flame Torch can be retrieved with Blacksmith or (Superior) Energy Retrieval, and it's also useful because you draw 2 cards off it without playing your Supporter for the turn.

"Discard a Fire Energy card from your hand. Then, draw 2 cards."

Twist Mountain will be very useful in this deck for 2 reasons: To put Archen on your bench without having to use a Plume Fossil, and a great Stadium counter.

You can attach Silver Bangle to Pyroar for that extra 30 to EX's (which can't even attack it.) However, with Pyroar becoming a thing next format, EX's may not be as popular (especially Virizion / Genesect) so I wouldn't recommend running more than 2.

The one card that will counter this deck when you have Pyroar active is Lysandre, the new Catcher (kinda) so that your opponent can bring up Archeops on your bench and deal damage to it with a Basic Pokemon, which Pyroar is immune to. The old Catcher is slightly better than Lysandre being a Supporter, but I can still see Lysandre being played in many decks, it even has a possibility in a Pyroar / Archeops deck.

Full art Lysandre print from Wild Blaze.

In my opinion, this deck has a lot of potential. It may not be the most played deck out there, but I can guarantee that I will be playing this deck when Flashfire is released in North America. Also, knowing my luck at prereleases, I'm hoping to at least pull a Pyroar if I end up going to the closest one (pulled Secret Rare Rayquaza at the Dragons Exalted Prerelease and Moltres EX at the Plasma Storm Prerelease.)

This deck also seems fairly cheap, which is good for me because I'm on a smaller budget when it comes to Pokemon, but I can solve the tournament situation by borrowing cards from people or by techs. I love this deck's strategy and how cheap it is, and it will definitely appeal to those cheap people.

Now, after summarizing everything I just wrote, I've come up with deck lists for Pyroar / Archeops with Blacksmith and Pyroar / Archeops / Emboar.

Pyroar / Archeops with Blacksmith

Pokemon: 15

• 4-4 Pyroar FLF
• 3-3 Archeops NVI/DEX (PLB Archen)
• 1 Mr. Mime PLF

T/S/S: 36

• 4 Professor Juniper/Sycamore
• 4 N
• 3 Blacksmith
• 2 Lysandre

• 4 Flame Torch
• 3 Evosoda
• 3 Devolution Spray
• 2 Random Receiver
• 2 Surprise Megaphone
• 2 Ultra Ball
• 2 Silver Bangle
• 1 Super Rod
• 1 Dowsing Machine

• 3 Twist Mountain

Energy: 9

• 9 Fire Energy

Pyroar / Archeops / Emboar

(This list is very clunky and was made in case Blacksmith won't be released in North America.)

Pokemon: 17

• 3-3 Pyroar FLF
• 3-1-3 Emboar LTR
• 2-2 Archeops NVI/DEX (PLB Archen)

T/S/S: 32

• 4 Professor Juniper/Sycamore
• 4 N
• 2 Skyla

• 4 Flame Torch
• 4 Superior Energy Retrieval
• 2 Evosoda
• 2 Rare Candy
• 2 Ultra Ball
• 2 Devolution Spray
• 2 Surprise Megaphone
• 1 Dowsing Machine

• 3 Twist Mountain

Energy: 11

• 11 Fire Energy

Looking forward to the release of Flashfire here at TCG 101! :D

More info on this deck coming soon in The Deck Dumpster!

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

Free TCGO Code: March 30, 2014

Today's code is for:

1 XY Booster Pack

Code:

Q3F-CE43-M6C-LBW

Hope that whoever gets the code gets some good pulls :D

Free TCGO Code: March 29, 2014

Hey guys! Today, I attended my first sanctioned TCG tournament in over a year, going to a "Mini Battle Roads" as most of the people called it. I bought and won some packs there alike, and some of the Juniors were nice enough to give me some code cards from the packs they opened since they don't play the TCGO. Well, the thing is...

Neither do I, but I used to.

Anyway, whenever I get some TCGO codes, I will be sure to give away 1 per day. This only applies to days that I actually have TCGO codes with me, so this isn't daily, but it will be for the next 8 days or so.

Today's code is for:

1 XY Booster Pack

Code:

L95-85NL-T7K-UXC

Hope that whoever gets the code gets some good pulls! Enjoy! :D

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

XY3 Rising Fist announced

A few days ago, the next set in the XY series, Rising Fist, was announced. The release date is set for June 14th in Japan, and will likely be North America's August expansion. It looks like we will be seeing Mega Lucario in that set, and that it will also be focusing around Fighting-type Pokemon, just like Flashfire/Wild Blaze is centered around Fire-types. Not much is known about this set other than what is shown in this picture:

In this image I can see Mega Lucario on the pack art, which means that there is a 99% chance of a Mega Lucario EX. I can also see Hawlucha, some Basic Fighting Energy, Shauna, Tierno, and some weird-looking possibly special Fighting Energy.

Overall, based on what I can see so far, I'm really looking forward to the release of this set. More things are to be found out soon about this set, and whenever I find out about something, I will post it here. I hope I got you guys excited :D

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person

Welcome to Pokemon TCG 101!

BLOG INTRODUCTION: What is Pokemon TCG 101?

My name is Erik and I have been playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game since January 2012. In the TCG, I'm in the Seniors Division and I'm from Sooke, BC, Canada. This is my blog, where I focus on writing/posting about Deck Lists, future TCG expansions, and playing the Pokemon TCG at a competitive stage.

I like to play Pokemon because the game is so full of different options and strategies, and it's like your controlling your own team of Pokemon. I've collected the cards long before I actually started playing the game and got excited rather than disappointed about pulling Trainer cards in a pack, and actually, I still collect the cards to this date, but I only collect legal ones, and playing is the higher priority for me.

I think of being a Pokemon TCG player as kind of like being an actor, because you have to do a lot of travelling... and sure as hell this game is freaking expensive to keep up with, but that's part of the fun of it. I'm always looking forward to big events such as Battle Roads, Cities, Provincials, etc. I just love filling out my deck list and getting to meet tons of new people, make new friends, open packs, and discover what there is to be discovered within this game.

So hopefully, you'll enjoy my blog if you're a Pokemon TCG player, I will ensure that you won't be disappointed!

And if you are... then leave!

 - The TCG 101 team of 1 person