Winners of December’s TCG Cup Crowned! Deck Lists and Interview!

PokeBeach’s December TCG Cup is over and the winners have been crowned!

The tournament was played in the Standard format at the time — XY through Evolutions.

Interview with the Champion

Coming in first place is Fernando Santacruz from Pasadena, California! He will walk away with 18 booster packs from TCGplayer.com.

Here’s our interview with him:

How well are you performing in Play! Pokemon tournaments this season?

I have not gotten any points this season. I have been indecisive with my deck choice at first maining Volcanion but then testing the waters with Kyurem-EX and now trying this Yveltal deck.

Why did you decide to participate in this tournament?

I decided to participate to practice what I should be playing for Regionals and upcoming League Cups. It’s great practice and you get free packs depending on your performance, plus I love competing in tournaments.

What deck did you play for the December TCG Cup?

I was playing Yveltal-EX and decided to play it due to consistency. I have been playing Volcanion since the release of Steam Siege and always had a problem with consistency and matchups. Recently though I started to see a lot of Garbodor and quickly realized Volcanion wouldn’t be fun to play, so I came in with Yveltal to test it out and decide if I like the deck. Sure enough, I do.

What kind of decks give yours trouble? Which are good matchups?

As for good matchups I would say anything that requires time to set up because Yveltal-EX has an attack which does 20 damage plus 20 more for each Energy, and if you are able attach a Dark Energy and a Double Colorless Energy on turn one, it’s a solid 80 damage or 100 if they have an Energy attached, then on the next turn it’s a Knock Out. By far though my favorite match up is versus Volcanion. It just doesn’t seem fair if I’m able to set up my Garbodor and Yveltal.

What kind of decks did you play against?

I played versus a variety of decks. I can’t really remember them off the top of my head, but the two that gave me the hardest time were M Rayquaza-EX with Jolteon-EX and M Mewtwo-EX.

What was your most exciting game or match?

By far my favorite set was my final match versus Mega Rayquaza. It was down to the wire. On game three he had one Prize card remaining and I had two damaged Yveltals on my Bench. All he needed was a Lysandre or a DCE to end it, but luckily enough I never wasted any VS Seekers throughout the game, so I was able to N him to one about four times in a row and he could not find his DCE. Little did I know though it was his final Prize but it was a very exciting match as I had to make a comeback from six Prizes.

What was your favorite card in your list?

My favorite card in the list is a tie between Delinquent and the third Parallel City. I love when my opponent plays his hand down to three and has a Professor Sycamore in hand then I would Delinquent it on my turn. I also love limiting my opponent’s Bench so he is locked to only three Benched Pokemon.

Would you make any changes to your deck or list?

The only change I have made so far is -1 Ultra Ball and -1 Delinquent for 1 Yveltal BREAK and 1 Team Flare Grunt. I added the Yveltal BREAK so I don’t get Jolteon locked and added the Flare Grunt for the mirror match as I can Flare Grunt the Dark Energy and he would be forced to put another Dark Energy instead of a DCE.

How does Sun & Moon and affect your deck? Is it still viable?

I believe the deck will still be viable but I think there will be better choices when Sun & Moon is released.

Congratulations, Fern!

Here is the deck list he used to win the tournament:

Other Top Finishers

Coming in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places were Arne Van Braeckel (Arneboy11), Michael Shane (Twixz) and Alex Mei (TheAnticipationEevee). All three won a bunch of booster packs from the latest expansions. Their deck lists can be seen below:

Arne Van Braeckel

Michael Shane

Alex Mei

The top finishers also earned Prize Wall points on TCGplayer.com, which allows them to exchange their points for even more products like booster packs and promo boxes.

Everyone in the Top 32 of PokeBeach’s monthly tournaments will also receive Prize Wall points via e-mail. Be sure to check your inboxes!

Creative Deck Winners

As part of every tournament, PokeBeach’s article writers voted for the five premium members whom they felt used the most creative deck lists, and each of them earned some additional booster packs or a promo product.

BKRapper, Coolpilot, Tomg713, Wil Yates and jbcheshire each walked away with several booster packs or a specially-selected Pokemon promo product from TCGplayer.com. These players used decks such as Volcanion-EX / Dodrio, Golduck BREAK / Wailord-EX / Regice / Swampert / Archie's Ace in the Hole, Rainbow Road, Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX / Zoroark, and Vespiquen respectively.

Want to Become a Premium Member?

February’s tournament will be posted on February 1st, and January’s tournament is currently underway. Each tournament awards up to four booster boxes of product to top finishers plus promo products and additional booster packs to premium members.

If you’re interested in becoming a premium member, be sure to check out this link. All premium members get reserved slots in the tournaments, double the amount of booster packs, double the amount of Prize Wall points, a chance to win even more product for using creative decks, and of course all the other benefits that go along with having a premium membership, including weekly articles from the game’s top players and deck help from said players. A premium membership is extremely diverse!

Thanks, TCGplayer!

All of these prizes are brought to you by TCGplayer.com. Their online store offers the cheapest Pokemon cards on the Internet from thousands of different sellers — you will find no better deals! So be sure to check them out any time you want to purchase or sell Pokemon cards!

You can always check the “Sets” tab at the top of our website to access their store.

(Note: The Pokémon Company International is not a sponsor or endorser of PokeBeach’s tournaments, contests, or prizes, nor does the company or its affiliates have any formal association with PokeBeach. Our activities are by fans, for fans, and are not sanctioned or approved by TPCi.)