The 2025 Pokémon season has certainly started with a bang for me over the first quarter of the season from attending more league cups in the first month than I did all of last season and attending two regional championships across two continents in September.

With the changes to qualification for the 2025 World Championships which sees the top 125 players in Europe qualify at the end of season this means that results in Regional Championships are more important than ever.

This season has seen me working with my fellow ambassador Louis Mowatt in regards to deck lists and play testing prior to events which has seen us playing the same 60 card decks in the events we have both attended which has resulted in some good success in the first few months of the season which resulted in wins in a League Cup and a League Challenge on my way to recording 4 finishes in Cups and Challenges which I can improve throughout the season using a variety of decks.

I decided in August that I wanted to attend the first regional event in Baltimore, Maryland as I wanted to play in the format that was used for the 2024 World Championship using the cards released in the Shrouded Fable mini set.

In the lead up to Baltimore I had been discussing what the expected format would be and what the best deck to play with Louis. We discussed many decks but felt that the expected meta would involve a lot of Raging Bolt Ex decks, Regidrago Vstar decks and Charizard Ex decks so we decided that the best play for the event would likely be Charizard, which was a deck that I did not have a lot of success with during the few events we had piloted it during the early parts of the season.

BaltimoreRegional Championships

I flew out to Baltimore on the Thursday prior to the event and after a long day of travelling I checked into my hotel, grabbed dinner and then proceeded to get some sleep. Friday was early registration for the event so after grabbing a warm drink and some breakfast I made the short walk to the convention centre.

I spent a little while looking around the convention centre once it had opened in order to pick up some last minute things just in case I wanted to amend the decklist and to pick up the competitor kit which included the Bloodmoon Ursaluna playmat and the Carmine promo card. I then proceeded to grab food at a bar across the road from the event where I started talking to a parent of another competitor. After a little while I made it back to the hotel to relax before submitting my decklist for the event.

Saturday saw me play Day 1 of the main event. I arrived at the venue to see a long queue outside of people who still needed to register for the event which made me wonder if the event would start late. A few minutes after 8:30am round 1 was announced which saw me paired with Alex Schemanske. After a brief chat whilst we waited round 1 started.

Alex was playing Darkrai with Roaring Moon Ex which was certainly was not what I was expecting to play against. I started Lumineon V and passed my turn. Alex was unable to get the turn 1 knockout for game. I however did not draw a supporter, Pokémon or way to find a Pokémon and the game was finished soon after. Game 2 was a bit more closer in terms of the match as I managed to get a Charizard Ex out and managed to get some knockouts, well timed hand disruption however put me behind to much and Alex took the win. 0-1 was not how I wanted to start the day but Alex is a top level player so I could not be to disappointed.

Round 2 saw me play a Charizard mirror match with them playing the Binding Mochi & Pecharunt Ex. This was a close game but I managed to get set up a bit quicker overall to take the win. Round 3 saw me against Gardevoir Ex with me losing a close game 1 to Drifloon with Bravery Charm. Game 2 went to time meaning I only had two turns to take the final prizes that I needed. I managed to win the game with an attack with Pidgeot Ex that had a Double Turbo Energy attached.

Going into Round 4 on 1-1-1 still meant I had a chance to make day 2 of the event but I needed to win every round to do so. Round 4 saw me play against Raging Bolt Ex which was a match up I was expecting to see throughout the day. Game 1 saw my opponent take a turn 1 KO on my only Pidgey. I was able to get to a turn 2 Charizard with Defiance Band to KO their Raging Bolt Ex but they were able to respond with a knockout the following turn I was unable to get another attacked set up during this game. Game 2 saw me prize both of my copies of Charizard Ex meaning my only way of attacking early game would be with a Radiant Charizard. Once Radiant Charizard went down I knew the game was pretty much over so scooped up.

I decided to play the rest of the event just to play more games with Charizard Ex with my match ups being:

Round 5 Charizard Ex Tie
Round 6 Lugia Win
Round 7 Regidrago Vstar Loss
Round 8 Lost Box Tie
Round 9 Gardevoir Ex Tie

I finished 2-3-4 overall for 1234th place out of 2314 players overall. I felt that Charizard was the right play for the even just some unfortunate variance at times and me not being fully confident with the list just meant it was not my day.

Sunday saw me enjoy a nice day down the harbour of Baltmore which included going to a small festival with live bands and great food and watching the American Football.

Dortmund Regional Championships

Two weeks after the Baltimore Regional Champions saw me attend Dortmund, Germany for the Regional Championships. Unlike Baltimore which I travelled to solo I travelled with the majority of the Bath TCG ambassadors as well as my friends from Hereford!

Prior to the event I was having discussions about what deck to play for the event as Louis was not attending. I decided based on the success I have had with the deck in the early parts of the season that I would play Dragapult Ex with a 1 Charmander & 1 Charizard Ex.

We travelled to Dortmund on the Thursday on a very early morning flight which saw us get into Dortmund at 9am. Thursday saw us getting some nice food prior to checking in at the apartments. The evening involved grabbing some essentials for the next few days and playtesting for the event on Saturday.

Friday saw the group go into town for a little bit where we visited local card shops in order to get some cards that might be needed as well as German language cards for some of the group we then headed to the venue for early registration for the event. Friday night saw the group playtesting for the event on Friday whereas my friend Bon & I decided to go grab a few drinks to relax before the event.

Saturday morning we made the journey to the convention centre and I certainly felt a bit more confident in the deck choice than I did in Baltimore. We caught up with a bunch of people that I have met during the early stages of the season and then round 1 was paired.

Round 1 saw me paired against another Dragapult Ex deck but they were playing Dusknoir as opposed to Charizard. As we were shuffling for the game my opponent and I were having a chat where he advised that he had been playing Chien Pao Ex for the last few months and this was his first event with the deck he decided to use today. I won the dice roll and opted to go first which saw me end turn two with a Dragapult in the active which I could attack with that allowed me to take two prizes. My opponent was unable to get going after this. Game 2 saw me have a turn two Charizard ready which allowed me to take some early prizes whilst my opponent again started slowly. I managed to get down to 1 Prize with an active Dragapult. I attached an energy and played Boss’s Order on his Dreepy which allowed me to attack with Jet Headbutt for game putting me on 1-0 for the day.

Round 2 I was paired against Lugia Vstar which can be a hard match as they play Mist Energy and have the chance to one hit knock out a Charizard or Dragapult. Game 1 I managed to take quickly as I managed to get quick knock outs on my opponents Archeops meaning they only had a Lugia Vstar to attack with for the rest of the game. Game 2 my opponent was able to set up his attackers quickly meaning I could not deal with all the threats set up. Game 3 we go to time and I look at the board to see that I cannot take 4 prizes in my final turn as my opponent has Mist Energy on both Lugia Vstar which had 200 damage on it and Bloodmoon Ursaluna which had 200 damage on it. When I went to offer the handshake for the tie my opponent said I could win by putting the 60 damage onto the Ursaluna I advised them I could not and after a brief chat he realised I was right.

Round 3 was against Regidrago Vstar which is a match up that I feel can go either way depending on set up. Game 1 saw my opponent win the dice roll and opting to go first. They managed to get a turn 2 knock out on a Dreepy and my only Pidgey using Dragapults attack. I conceded the following turn when the other potential attackers got knocked out. Game 2 my opponent took some more risks which saw them turn 1 knock out one of my Dreepys using a Teal Mask Ogrepon. I was unable to get an attacker established in the game.

Round 4 saw me play against another Regidrago Vstar deck. Game 1 saw me stuck behind a Rotom for the first two turns as I started Rotom which they were not able to knock out. I managed to evolve two of my benched Drakloaks into Dragapults and attach Sparkling Crystal & a Psychic Energy to a benched Dragapult. My opponent managed to set up a Regidrago Vstar to attack and they opted to use Kyurem to target my benched Dragapults & Lumineon V, as they are benched my Dragapults were safe. I was then able to retreat my Rotom and manged to take the game from there. Game 2 saw me go behind quickly in the game. My opponent managed to get a Regidrago Vstar set up quickly which saw them get down to 1 prize card where as I still had 5. I managed to get a Dragapult set up to attack which saw me Counter Catcher a Regidrago V with no energy to the active, play Iono to one and hit for 200 damage with me sprinkling damage, they were unable to retreat the Regidrago that turn so I was able to play Boss’s orders on a benched Teal Dance Ogrepon which allowed me to knock out a Regidrago V, Regidrago Vstar and a Teal Dance Ogrepon in one turn.

Round 5 I was paired against another Lugia. I was not expecting to see so much Lugia during the tournament. Games 1 & 2 were very much games where one of our decks did what it was meant to do whilst the other did not which resulted in two very quick games allowing us enough time to play a 3rd game. Game 3 was very back and forth overall with it looking at points that either of us could win the game. I managed to get to a point where I was down to 1 prize and my opponent 2 prizes with enough damage on their Lugia Vstar and Bloodmoon Ursaluna that I could attack with Radiant Charizard for game.

This put me on 3-1-1 going into round 6 knowing that I needed to win the final 3 rounds to make day 2 of the event. As I sit down for round 6 my opponent pulled out a playmat, deckbox and sleeves with Snorlax on them. We had a laugh on how they are probably trying to psych people out and that they are really playing Roaring Moon Ex. When the game started he flipped over Snorlax which we both laughed at. I managed to get my board set up with a Pidgeot Ex, 1 Dragapult, 1 Drakloak, 1 Dreepy & 1 Charmander. They trapped the Charmander in the active with Counter Catcher which saw me use Professor’s Turo Scenario to remove the Charmander which I then discarded with Ultra Ball for another Drakloak. My opponent looked to trap the Pidgeot Ex in the active but I used Kieran in order to switch Dragapult back into the active I then played Pal Pad to get both Turo and Kieran back to the deck. My opponent conceded shortly after. My opponent advised they was happy to conclude the match at 1-0.

Round 7 was against another Snorlax deck. Game 1 I went first and started Charmander with buddy poffin for Dreepy & Pidgey. They started with just a Snorlax and passed. They asked if I had the pieces for the win and I said I did not. I managed to candy into Dragapult that turn and attached an energy and pass. They unfortunately did not draw anything and the game finished soon after when I was able to play Kieran to get the Dragapult in to the active. Game 2 they unfortunately had some really bad prizing including Secret Box and again started really slow meaning I was able to take the win pretty quickly.

This meant I was in a win and in situation for day 2 for the second time this calendar year in Dortmund. I lost my win and in for day 2 in February to my now friend Lutz Voss. Round 8 was paired and I was nervous. In the final round I played against another Lugia deck. Game 1 I started slowly which my opponent recognised that they could take advantage of which saw them Lugia Vstar for 1 Archeops I scooped up after a couple of turns. Game 2 I decided to go first as I wanted to try and get set up quicker. I open with Nest Ball which I use. When looking through the deck I see that both Rotom V & Lumineon V are prized which means it is going to take a bit longer to set up as I would be unable to Ultra Ball for Lumineon V next turn as I had no supporter. I was unable to get set up quick enough in this game which meant I finished 5-2-1. I wished my opponent the best of luck in day 2. I saw that they finished 73rd overall after day 2. I went to check the standings after day 1 to see that I finished 201st out of 1815 players

Saturday evening I went to dinner with my friends Ben, Fin, Bon, Katy & Lutz with Lutz showing us a really nice place to eat. We had a nice meal and a lot of laughs.

Sunday saw the group go to the venue where some played in the cup. I picked up my prize packs from my placement, spoke to people I had met over the weekend and watched some of the stream games. A small group of us then went out for dinner on the Sunday evening before we headed back to England on the Monday.

Beyond

After the first 3 months and first 2 regionals of the season I currently sit on 225 Championship Points which currently has me in the top 125 for Europe for the race to the World Championship 2025. The next few months will see me attend the Regional Championships in Gdansk, Poland and Stuttgart, Germany as well as trying to improve on some of my Cup & Challenge placements.

With the Gdansk Regional Championships still using the same format as we are currently in I am not expecting a big change in the metagame over the next few weeks. This means I can use the upcoming events I am playing as testing for the Gdansk.

I would like to thank all of my opponents not only at Baltmore & Dortmund but to all of the events I have played in this season, to my fellow ambassadors for being great travel buddies, to Louis Mowatt for collaborating on decklists and to everyone at Bath TCG for the support.

Hope to catch you at an event soon!