Winners of July TCG Cup Crowned! Deck Lists and Interview!
PokeBeach’s July TCG Cup is over and the winners have been crowned!
The tournament was played in the Standard format at the time — XY through Fates Collide.
Interview with the Champion
Coming in first place is Logan Davis from Ohio! Because he is a premium subscriber, he will walk away with a booster box of Steam Siege from TCGplayer.com.
He was also able to earn a skill-based prize by playing a creative deck! This marks the first time a premium member has both won the main tournament as well as a skill-based prize — so props to Logan for this accomplishment!
Here’s our interview with him:
How well are you performing in Play! Pokemon tournaments this season?
I just started this year and have only made it to a couple of tournaments. I did fairly well at both and had a great time.
Why did you decide to participate in this tournament?
I don’t have much time to travel to tournaments but I love playing in a competitive environment. So the PokeBeach tournaments are perfect for me.
What deck did you play for the July TCG Cup?
I played Zygarde-EX / Carbink BREAK / Vileplume. I chose to play it because I played against it at Nationals and really liked the play style of the deck.
What kind of decks did you play against?
I played against Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX (both with and without Garbodor), Greninja BREAK, Metal, Yveltal-EX / Vileplume, and Night March.
What was your favorite card in your list?
So many cards in this list put in a lot of work. Carbink, Vileplume, and AZ probably bailed me out the most. That being said, the third Lysandre was my favorite card in the list. I’ve recently increased it to four. Being able to Lysandre up threats or simply using it to stall while I build up a board is an integral part of the deck.
What was your most exciting game or match?
My most exciting game was against Metal when I was able to deck my opponent out by just sitting a carbink in the active because they had used all their Lysandres and Hex Maniacs and I had targeted down all their non-EX Pokemon.
Would you make any changes to your deck or list?
I’d probably take out the Fighting Fury Belts. They are nice but I found myself discarding them often. I’d probably add in a fourth Lysandre and maybe a Steven. Sometimes all you need is an Energy, so being able to search for one while also grabbing a supporter for next turn is pretty strong under item lock.
What kind of decks give yours trouble? Which are good matchups?
My best matchups are heavy EX decks or Evolution decks that are very clunky without items. My worst matchups are against things with Fighting Resistance like Yveltal (all forms) and most things with Grass typing.
How do Steam Siege and the rotation affect your deck? Is it still viable?
Steam Siege gives the deck Ninja Boy which is a fun alternative to AZ. It also introduces a new threat in Yanmega which is easily splashable. The bigger threat to the deck will be the rotation of AZ and Korrina. I definitely think it is still strong because of all the inherently powerful cards in the deck, but it’ll come down to revamping the list to the new format, which is something I’m diligently working to do.
Congratulations, Logan!
Here is the deck list he used to win the tournament:
Other Top Finishers
Coming in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places were Greg Minklei (Gengar master), Luke Ly (lukkel) and Austin Bennett (Gabking5458). All three won a bunch of booster packs from the newest sets, including Greg who earned double the normal amount of packs thanks to his premium membership. Greg and Austin’s deck lists can be seen below:
Greg Minkei
Austin Bennett
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.
danglesmcjangles, Sabaku, seodor, andrew smith and Coolpilot each walked away with several booster packs or a specially-selected Pokemon promo product from TCGplayer.com. The decks we saw these players use include Zygarde-EX / Vileplume, Huntail / Giratina-EX, Houndoom-EX / Bunnelby, Greninja BREAK and Giratina-EX / Reshiram.
For every tournament, the five premium members who come up with the most creative decks will win booster packs and promo products.
Want to Become a Premium Member?
September’s tournament will be posted on September 1st, and August’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 “TCG” 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.)