Competitive Slang Glossary
Hello and welcome to the Competitive Slang Glossary. This thread includes the definitions of slang terms competitive players often use. If you're new or returning to the competitive scene, this thread will surely be helpful to you! If you know a term you'd like to be included in this thread, feel free to reply below.Acceleration / Energy Acceleration (n) - Attaching energy through the effects of Abilities, Trainers, attacks, etc., allowing you to attach more than just your "free" energy card for the turn.
Archetype (n) - A well-known deck that is commonly played in tournaments, and performs well at them.
Auto-loss (n, v) - A match-up so poor that one deck is practically guaranteed to lose to the other. For example, Vir/Gen has an auto-loss against Pyroar, due to Pyroar's fire typing and its Ability, Intimidating Mane that prevents Basic Pokemon from damaging it. In this sense, one could also say that Pyroar has an auto-win in this match-up. Taking an auto-loss against a particular deck is the practice of accepting that your deck is guaranteed to lose against a particular type and not including cards to counter it for the sake of consistency in other match-ups. This is a common tournament strategy, especially if the deck to which one auto-loses is seldom played or not popular locally.
Auto-win (n, v) - The other side of the "auto-loss." A deck with an auto-win against another is practically guaranteed to beat it.
Baby (n, adj) - The non-EX form of a popular Pokemon-EX. The term is most often used to differentiate if both the baby and the EX are played in the same deck. Baby Yveltal is a common example of this. Not to be confused with Baby Pokemon, an older mechanic that is no longer used.
BDIF (abbr) - Best Deck in Format. Exactly what deck constitutes the BDIF depends on player opinions, and is hotly debated.
Beach, The (n) - This very website, PokeBeach. Also refers to Tropical Beach, an extremely rare stadium that's only playable in Expanded.
Bench Out (v) - Winning a game by defeating an opponent's last Pokemon in play before all six prizes have been taken. A player is benched out if they have no benched Pokemon to replace their active when it is Knocked Out.
Bench Sitter / Benchwarmer (v) - A Pokemon that is played for its Ability or other support means rather than to attack. Garbodor DRX/PLF/LTR is a common example, as its attack is mediocre, and decks that run it don't even use Psychic energy, but its Ability Garbotoxin makes it very useful.
Big Basics (n) - A deck employing powerful, non-evolving Pokemon, especially Pokemon-EX with efficient, low-cost attacks. These decks are known for their speed and aggression. Most variants will play Garbodor to block the opponent's Abilities.
Broken (adj) - A card so strong that its mere existence has a tremendous impact on the metagame. The most broken cards require you to either use it yourself or have some consistent way to counter it, since nearly everyone else will be using it. See also OP below.
Burn (v) - Playing a card for the purpose of getting it out of your hand/deck rather than its effect. Note that you must still perform a card's effect when burning it and you cannot burn a card if it will not have an effect, with the exception of finding something with a search card. See also Failed Search. Not to be confused with the special condition, burned.
Bye (n) - In a tournament, a player given a bye gets a free win for the round. This is done in tournaments with an odd number of participants, since one person can't be paired in each round. The bye is usually given to a player in the lowest win/loss record bracket.
Cancer (n) - An unorthodox draw engine that runs no Supporters except for Professor Juniper / Sycamore, and Lysandre's Trump Card. It otherwise focuses on Item-based draw and using VS Seeker and Random Receiver to pull Supporters quickly, then use Trump Card to recycle the deck. Named because the draw power is extremely fast.
Catcher Effect (n) - The effect of a Trainer, Ability, etc. that lets a player choose an opponent's benched Pokemon and forcibly switch it with their active. Named for the card Pokemon Catcher, which was once the most commonly played card with this effect.
Cities (n) - City Championships, which occur in late fall and early winter. These are the smallest of the "main" competitive events, barring League Challenges. They are worth more CP than a League Challenge, but less than a States or Regionals. Most Leagues will host one Cities.
CP (abbr) - Championship Points. Ranking high in tournaments awards CP. The amount is based on the type of tournament (League Challenge, Cities, etc.) placing, and the number of players present. A set amount of CP is needed to get an invitation to the World Championships.
DCE (abbr) - Double Colorless Energy, a common and very useful special energy card.
Decklist (n) - Exactly that, a list of all the cards in a deck that is to be played in a given tournament. Before entering a tournament you will be required to submit a decklist. These are commonly printed out at home, but tournaments will also provide paper to write your decklist on.
Deck Out (v) - To run out of cards in your deck, and thus being unable to draw a card at the start of your turn. A player who decks out automatically loses the game at the start of their turn.
Ding (n) - Small creases on the corners of card sleeves from wear and tear. This is not a big deal if all sleeves are similarly worn and the creases aren't very noticeable. See Marked Card for a more serious and potentially unsporting version.
Donk (v, n) - Winning a game very early on, especially on a player's first turn. In the 2014 season, a ruling was issued that prevented the player who goes first from attacking on the first turn, reducing the frequency of donks. A player who loses in the first couple of turns is said to be donked.
Double Battle / 2-on-2 Battle (n) - An alternative format where each player has two active Pokemon at all times (unless they only have one Pokemon in play) and the bench is limited to four. While there is no official tournament support for team battles at this time, Play! Pokemon has outlined official rules for this format. See also Team Battle.
Draft (n, v) - A form of play in which players construct decks by opening booster packs one at a time, picking a single card and passing the rest to the next player. Decks are 40 cards and each player places four prizes.
Eels / RayEels (n) - A deck using Eelektrik NVI's Dynamotor Ability for energy acceleration. Ray/Eels is the same, but plays Rayquaza EX, a strong Pokemon-EX that can OHKO any Pokemon. Playable only in Expanded.
EX (n) - Pokemon-EX, a basic Pokemon (with the exception of Mega Evolutions) with high HP and usually very strong attacks and/or Abilities. Knocking out a Pokemon-EX rewards two prizes instead of one. Not to be confused with Pokemon ex (lower case), an older mechanic with some differences.
Expanded / Extended (n) - Format using all cards printed from Black and White onward. Used on the second day of large tournaments and for top cuts. To clarify, a player is essentially allowed (but by no means required) to use a completely different deck on Day 2.
Failed Search / Fail (n, v) - Playing a search card and either not finding a card that meets the criteria or intentionally not taking anything from the deck, even if something suitable is there. This is legal because the a player's deck is a private area, and thus its contents are not tracked by the game. Note that the deck must still be shuffled if a search fails, even if you decide not to actually look in the deck. See also Burn.
Flippy (adj) - A card or a strategy that relies heavily on coin flips to work, such as Pokemon Catcher or Roller Skates. Most competitive players will avoid using flippy cards to leave as little of their game to chance as possible, or if they must, play several copies to maximize the odds of success.
Fliptini (n) - Victini NVI/LTR, whose Ability allows you to redo a flip for an attack. In essence this gives flip-reliant attacks a better chance of success.
GG (abbr) - Good game. Has somewhat of a negative connotation when used in person, though much less so online.
Grinder, The (n) - The Last Chance qualifier held the day before the World Championships. This is a single elimination tournament with the top players scoring invitations to the main event. The 2015 World Championships does not have a Last Chance Qualifier.
Gust Effect (n) - See Catcher Effect above. Named for the Base Set card Gust of Wind.
ID (abbr) - Intentional Draw, when two players agree to tie rather than play out a match. This usually happens during Swiss rounds if two players know they will make top cut. This is legal according to Play! Pokemon's rules, so long as both players agree to the tie.
Laserbank (n) - Playing Hypnotoxic Laser and Virbank City Gym together. A common and very efficient tactic.
LC (abbr) - League Challenge, a usually small, sometimes casual, but sanctioned tournament. The Championship Points offered at these are meager, as LC's are intended to introduce new players to competitive play.
LCQ (abbr) - Last Chance Qualifier. See Grinder above.
League (n) - An organized and officially supported location where players gather to play the Pokemon TCG in a casual setting. These are usually held in gaming stores, but can also be done in other public places such as churches, libraries, etc.
LGS (abbr) - Local Gaming Store, a common venue for Leagues, tournaments and other events. It's a good idea to support your LGS, since most of them are mom-and-pop stores who need to compete with retail giants.
LTC (abbr) - Lysandre's Trump Card, a Supporter from the Phantom Forces expansion. This card is now banned in all sanctioned play.
March (n) - Short for Night March, see below.
Marked Card (n) - A card that can be identified by looking at its back while face down. Marks can be scratches, peels, creased sleeves, etc. This can occur simply through wear and tear, or if accidental mishandling causes a card or sleeve to be damaged during an event. Marked cards can typically be resleeved without issue, unless it is apparent that a player was using them to cheat.
Match Up (n) - How two particular deck types fare against each other. A deck with a good match up against another deck has a high likelihood of winning due to type advantage, some sort of immunity, conflict of strategies, etc. For example, Pyroar (fire) decks have a good match up against VirGen, a grass deck.
Meels (n) - Bronzong PHF, aka Metal Eels. Refers to Eelektrik NVI's Ability Dynamotor. Bronzong's Ability functions the same but with Metal Energy.
Metagame / Meta (n, adj) - The most efficient, well-known and therefore most commonly played competitive deck types. As new sets are released and old ones rotated out, and as players experiment, what decks are considered "Meta" and what isn't changes.
Metagaming (v) - Predicting what decks local players are using and planning your own deck and strategies in response, such as playing a deck with a good match up against them.
Mewtwo War (n) - A situation where a card's best counter is itself. Most commonly used to refer to its namesake, Mewtwo-EX, whose Psychic weakness and easily exploitable attack makes another Mewtwo-EX the best way to knock it out quickly.
Mill / Milling (n, v) - A card that discards the top card of a player's deck. A Mill deck refers to a deck that attempts to discard cards from your opponent's deck, eventually causing them to lose from not being able to draw a card at the start of their turn. Named for the Magic: The Gathering card Mill Stone, which has this effect.
Nats / Nationals (n) - Pokemon National championships, held early in the summer. These are the largest Pokemon events in their countries, with big rewards (Worlds invites, scholarships, and more) on the line.
Night March (n) - A popular deck archetype focusing on Joltik, Pumpmkaboo and Lampent from Phantom Forces. Each of these cards feature the Night March attack.
OHKO (abbr) - One hit Knock Out. Some decks are focused around getting OHKOs with each of their attacks, while others can only get them on rare occasions.
OP (adj) - Overpowered. Refers to a card that may be too strong. See also Broken above.
Plasma (n) - A deck focusing on Team Plasma Pokemon and Trainers that support them. Lugia and TDK are common variants.
PCL (abbr) - PCL stands for 3 things: Pokémon Center Lady, a supporter card that's very strong against Seismitoad decks; Pokémon Card Laboratory, the company that runs the Pokémon TCG, as well as designs the cards; and it sometimes stands for Primal Clash, the fifth XY Expansion.
Play! Pokemon / P!P (n) - The organization that oversees competitive Pokemon TCG events, prereleases, etc. Previously known as Pokemon Organized Play, aka POP.
Playset (n) - Four copies of a single card. Named because you will usually want to play four copies of a card that is important to your deck's strategy.
Playtest (v) - Practicing playing a deck that is planned to be used in a tournament, generally against friends, family, yourself, etc.
Prerelease (n) - An event held in the weeks before a new set is released to retail. Players are given packs from the new set and build decks from the cards they pull, then play in a tournament. 40 card decks are used, and only four prizes are placed. There are generally not prizes awarded for prerelease tournaments. Drafts often accompany prereleases.
Private Zone (n) - An area where cards are face down, and/or not accessible to all players, such as your hand, deck, and prizes (unless your prizes have been turned face up by an effect). The game does not keep track of cards, and any card that goes from a public to a private zone loses any effects on it. For example, if a Pokemon in play has an Ability that can only be used once per turn, but is returned to your hand somehow and then benched again, it can use the Ability a second time.
Prized (v) - When a card that you need is in your prizes rather than your deck. For example, if you can't find your ACE SPEC when searching your deck for it, you could say that it's been "prized." .
Public Zone (n) - An area where cards are face up, such as in play or the discard pile. Cards in a public zone, including your and your opponent's discard piles may be viewed by either player at any time. However, it is polite to ask your opponent before handling their cards.
Rain Dance (n) - Decks using cards such as Emboar or Blastoise that allow you to attach multiple energy cards from your hand per turn. Named for the Base Set Blastoise card.
Regionals (n) - Regional Championships, a tournament larger than States but not as big as Nationals. These are held throughout the year in the fall, winter, and spring in various locations.
Rogue Deck (n) - A deck that doesn't fit into one of the popular deck types, rogue decks tend to specifically counter the metagame, often taking an unprepared player by surprise. A well thought-out rogue deck can potentially win big at tournaments.
Scooping (v) - Voluntarily conceding a game to your opponent. As of Play! Pokemon's rules revisions, your opponent can no longer ask you to scoop. Also refers to putting a Pokemon in play into your hand. Named for the card Super Scoop Up, which does just that.
SER (abbr) - Superior Energy Retrieval, an item card from Plasma Freeze played in Rain Dance style decks. May also refer to Super Energy Removal, an infamous card from Base Set
Seventh Prize (n) - Using a non-EX in a deck that primarily focuses on EX attackers to offset how your opponent is taking prizes. Since other prizes are taken in pairs by knocking out Pokemon-EX, the opponent essentially needs to take seven prizes in order to win the game.
Snipe / Snipe Damage (v, n) - An attack that damaged your opponent's benched Pokemon, such as Landorus EX.
Splash / Splashable (adj) - A Pokemon either with a universally useful Ability or a solid attack for only Colorless Energy such that it can be played in almost any deck as a tech or supplement. Mewtwo NXD/LTR and Seismitoad FFI are common examples, both featuring useful attacks that need only a Double Colorless energy to use.
Spread / Spread Damage (n) - An attack (or Ability) that damages all of an opponent's Pokemon, active and benched, typically equally. Flygon's BCR Ability Sand Slammer is a good example of this.
Standard (n) - The "normal" Pokemon TCG format. Each year, older sets are rotated out of the format and deemed no longer legal for standard play. Currently, Standard includes Boundaries Crossed and newer sets. Used on the first day of large tournaments. See also Expanded.
Staple (adj) - Cards that are universally helpful in practically any deck. Typically these cards are Trainers, especially draw Supporters like Professor Juniper and N, as well as search cards like Ultra Ball.
States (n) - State Championships, known outside the United States as Province or Territorial Championships. Smaller than a Regionals but bigger than a Cities, there's only one per state. You don't actually have to be from that state to attend, and indeed some very competitive players will drive long distances to attend several of these.
Swiss (n) - A tournament where players with similar win-loss records are paired against each other. A set number of rounds is played, based on the total number of players. This tournament structure is used for nearly all Play! Pokemon tournament. Depending on the type of tournament, either the top player (typically the only undefeated player) is declared the winner, or a set number of the top players (see Top Cut) then play in elimination rounds to determine the winner.
Tank / Tanking (v) - Using a high HP Pokemon that is not expected to be knocked out, either used to absorb damage while stalling out a turn to wait for more resources or some effect, or to attack with that Pokemon and heal off any damages your opponent deals to it. Commonly used with Max Potion. See also Wall.
TDK (abbr) - Thundurus/Deoxys/Kyurem, a commonly played Team Plasma deck that focuses on early game pressure and creating a bad prize trade.
Team Battle / 2 vs 2 (n) - A variant of the game where two teams of two players battle each other, with each player placing three prizes. The fist team to take all six of their prizes wins. While there is no official tournament support for team battles at this time, Play! Pokemon has outlined official rules for this format. See also Double Battle.
Tech (n) - A card that isn't part of a deck's central strategy, but is included to improve one of the decks poor match ups. Since it's not going to be used in most games, tech cards are typically limited to one, maybe two copies. Using too many techs will clog your deck and keep you from including/drawing more important cards.
Theorymon (n) - The act of discussing the viability of card combos/strategies, while not actually having playtested the card(s). This is sometimes associated with inexperienced players, as players who have actually tested the cards will always have a better idea of how good they actually are.
Tier (n) - A grouping of metagame deck types, based on efficiency, popularity and win records. "Tier 1" includes the most competitive decks. "Tier 2" are less viable but still playable, etc. Exactly what deck fits into what tier can be hotly debated.
Top Cut (n) - After all Swiss rounds are complete, a set number of players with the top rankings (usually top four or top eight, but is bigger at very large events) play each other in single elimination rounds. The winner of these rounds is the overall tournament winner.
Top Deck (n, v) - The card you draw at the start of your turn, or the card(s) you are about to draw from your deck otherwise.
Topping / Topped (v) - Getting into Top Cut of an event. May also refer to a deck that has made Top Cut at recent events.
Tutor (n) - A card such as Computer Search or Reversal Trigger that allows you to search your deck for any card and place it in your hand. Named for the Magic: The Gathering card Demonic Tutor which has this effect. Note that these searches (search your deck for "a card" or "any card") cannot be failed, unlike cards with more specific requirements, because so long as there is at least one card in your deck, a card can be taken and put into your hand.
Type Symbols / Energy Symbols (n) - One or two letter abbreviations, generally in parenthesis or brackets to refer to Pokemon's types, especially when noting energy costs. Grass is (G), Water is (W), Fire is (R), Lightning is (L), Fighting is (F), Psychic is (P), Darkness is (D), Metal is (M), Dragon is (N) or (Dr) (note that Dragon only refers to a Pokemon's type; there is no Dragon energy), Fairy is (Y) or (Fa), and Colorless is (C). For example, an attack with an energy cost of two Dark and one Colorless would be written out as (D)(D)(C), followed by the attack name and effect.
Unlimited (n) - An unofficial format allowing all cards ever printed to be used, going back to Base Set. Currently there is no sanctioned support for Unlimited play.
U-Turn (n) - An attack that causes the Pokemon that used it to go back to the bench and switch with a benched Pokemon after doing damage. Some decks are built around this tactic. Named for the move U-Turn in the Pokemon video games.
Vanilla (adj) - An attack that does a fixed amount of damage and has no additional effect. Generally not a good thing unless the attack in question can be supported, or is very Energy-efficient.
Vir/Gen (n) - The Virizion/Genesect deck and its variants, a well-known competitive deck type. It's not as naughty as it sounds.
Wall (n) - A Pokemon with an ability or other effect that grants it immunity from a certain type of Pokemon, or perhaps some other effect that inhibits the opponent while it's active. Walls are used as a stall or defensive tactic. A good example would be Sigilyph DRX/LTR, whose Safeguard ability grants it immunity from Pokemon-EX.
Worlds (n) - Pokemon World Championships, the most prestigious Pokemon event worldwide. You need to be invited to play in this either by getting enough Championship Points or winning the Last Chance Qualifier.
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