Pokemon TCG Worlds Celebration Local Tournament Blog
Published on HivePostify by @dkmathstats · Fri Aug 28 2026
Hi there. Another Pokemon TCG local tournament blog here.
This one is a unique one. I attend a Pokemon TCG Worlds Celebration event. This event is free at A & C Games near Toronto's Chinatown.
Note: This post is long.
Pokemon World Championships & Tournament Format ---
Every year in August, there is a Pokemon World Championships in the Pokemon TCG, Pokemon VGC, Pokemon GO and Pokemon UNITE.
At this event at A & C Games, the entry fee is free. Top 8 players in each age division gets one Prize Pack.
https://www.pokebeach.com/news/2026/06/HKUZpFFXYAA137P.jpg
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The first place winner in each division (Masters age 18+, Seniors and Juniors) wins a stamped Pikachu Promo card. It will also have a WINNER stamp on the card. First place and second place get 2 Prize Packs each.
Image Source
This local tournament has 3 best of one rounds. For first place, you pretty much have to win every game. Going 3 wins and 0 losses is not first place guaranteed as the opponents' win percentages is a tiebreaker and then opponent's opponent's win percentage.
With 3 best of one rounds, I know that there are players that go hard to try to win promo cards. Best of one rounds also has luck and variance. Winning will not be easy. Getting top 8 is still not bad. Top 8 is most likely 2 wins and 1 loss at least.
When I arrive at the venue, we find out some bad news. The Pokemon Company has not sent the promo cards to the store in time. Whoever wins the promo card has to pick up their prize next week or get in mailed to them (if they are not a regular and live far).
Deck Choice & List ---
For this event, I went with Hydrapple ex. It is a slightly modified version of the [Japanese list that got 3rd](https://limitlesstcg.com/decks/list/26794) a Champions league. I cut out Briar and some other card for a Special Red Card and Judge.
I know Briar is popular in many Hydrapple ex builds. However, I think that Briar is too niche and too limited in use. Judge is good hand disruption for early game once you have a setup. Special Red Card is just good for mid/late game hand disruption.
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Team Rocket's Petrel is good for finding any Trainer card (including Stadiums) but I think Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking is better. You can manipulate what the 2 cards you draw with Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking before drawing cards. Petrel finds 1 card.
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Decklist
Pokémon: 11 1 Tapu Bulu SFA 6 1 Meowth ex POR 62 2 Bayleef MEG 9 2 Chikorita ASC 8 2 Hydrapple ex SCR 14 4 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25 2 Dipplin TWM 18 2 Applin SCR 12 1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 142 2 Meganium MEG 10 2 Celebi MEG 12
Trainer: 13 1 Judge DRI 167 2 Night Stretcher ASC 196 4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119 1 Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking TEF 145 1 Poké Pad POR 81 1 Lana's Aid TWM 155 2 Boss's Orders MEG 114 1 Special Red Card CRI 82 3 Forest of Vitality MEG 117 3 Ultra Ball MEG 131 1 Dawn PFL 87 1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165 4 Bug Catching Set TWM 143
Energy: 1 14 Basic {G} Energy MEE 1
Total Cards: 60
Round One ---
I may have seen this opponent before but have never played. From his 2 mulligans, I draw 2 extra cards before my first turn going first.
The opponent's active Pokemon is a Honedge. It is a Doublade deck. I later find out that there is a Eelektrik engine behind it too.
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My setup turns were okay and the opponent's was okay too. What caught me off guard was that my opponent somehow was able to one hit Knockout my 330HP Hydrapple ex. He managed to get 6 of any combination of Honedge, Doublade and Aegislash in hand for the Doublade attack. Kind of impressive and made this game weird quickly. This deck is kind of dangerous and I could lose this.
The flaw in the opponent's deck is that energy attachments were not great. It was Basic Lightning Energy only. Me not seeing Ignition Energy at all in this game made me wonder if there were any in deck. I end up winning this one comfortably in the end.
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Round Two ---
For round two, I face a familiar opponent. This guy is a regular almost every time I make the trip to this Toronto store. He plays non-metagame decks but plays really well for the most part. Facing him is never easy.
This time I am up against Tera Box or some version of Terapagos with Dusknoir. It is an old deck archetype that was kind of popular last year but it is now a rogue deck.
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Our first 3 or 4 turns were not very good. Both of us bricked and could not get good draws. When both players have bad draws, whoever gets a good setup first usually wins.
Around turn 5, I start to get decent setup and get a first knockout on a Fan Rotom. My opponent eventually Knocks out my Tapu Bulu.
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I think my next Knockout was on his Fezandipiti ex. Then he gets my Meganium with his Terapagos ex.
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My response is get enough setup to knockout his Terapagos ex with my Hydrapple ex with a new Meganium in play.
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