88 Cardhouse

Today is the DAY! Our first BIG tournament of the year! OP14 Double Case tournament in reparation for Nats is happening today! If you’re in the area, come say “Hi” and join our in-person waitlist. Or if you’re too far away, there will be a stream with exception commentators for our matches today as well on Youtube! Might the best Pirates win the treasure! Link and Address in the replies below:

More prestigious than a worlds invite btw 🤩 Thanks to YOU guys 🫵🏼🤓 WE UP

Back from my off season break and back into the content grind! Today in the Ruins we talk all things Slop Box, teaching you everything you need to know about the 4 main decks that fall under this label🦘⚡️🎭 Link Below⏬

END OF SEASON RECAP This season has genuinely been incredible. I started off the season "retired", judged my first regional at Vegas, and skipped out on LAIC to explore Brisbane. It wasnt until I found Absol Box that I just felt it all click again and I started really enjoying competing again. 2 top 8s, 11k in cash, 2 Stipends( and possible stipend/award for LAIC next year) and an interview segment. It really felt like this was my breakout season. Its incredble because I really felt like last season was where I had more success than I ever would have dreamed of and I was able to surpass that being 17th in all NA?!! Im just so grateful for my friends, family, and every person I have met at every event this year. You all make it so easy/fun to travel this much. I have made friends all over the world and am inspired to keep travelling and seeing you all next year. Excited to see what next season will bring, maybe itll finally be my time to win one of these events. Until then, see you all at worlds and I hope to continue to make yall proud. 😇 S/o @88Cardhouse for everything all season and @playpokemon / @GamingGen for hosting and letting me judge.

My third season has finally concluded and it was a great one. I hit some goals, missed some goals, made some great friends, and lost some too. I played in 9 majors (in 5 different countries) and made day 2 in 7 of them (could have been 8 but I played it out at 5-2 for fun and got smacked) - I also managed to make top 64 or better in 4 of them so that was pretty good! This was easily my best season competitively, I finished with 840 points (83rd in NA), even after missing NAIC (thanks Southwest) 🥲🤷🏼‍♂️ But overall, I was consistent! Highlights of my season: - top 32 Milwaukee with Lucario/Dengo - Winning the FGG 3k with Blaziken - Starting 8-0-1 in Indy I also did a lot for the social side of the game/community. I started streaming on Twitch, posting some on Instagram/Tiktok, and gained over 6000 followers here in X. That makes it all worth it imo regardless of results at majors. Not to mention streaming has forced me to play Live more and I definitely was seeing the results of that later in the season. The later half of my season was much stronger than my early half and I’m excited to bring that momentum into Worlds and next season! I’m ready to play in some invitational events this summer, stream more weekends, and of course: compete in my 3rd World Championships! (Managed to qualify each season I’ve played!) Goals for the 26-27 season for me: -Make top 8 (not assym) - Replace my decade old PC I’m streaming off of (it’s really bad) -Qualify for Worlds again -travel to 1 regional in Europe (at least) Again, none of this would be possible without you guys. I work a full time corporate job that is pretty stressful at times + run a lot so managing to accomplish what I did was no easy task. I have sacrificed a lot for it in many other areas of my life people don’t see. I love to compete and I love what I do and absolutely love getting to meet people at events I’ve only met online. What a cool hobby. I’m just a normal guy who talks too much. Cheers 🥂 Special shoutout to my Dayton/Akron locals, @TCG_Aneil for traveling with me this season, @LostZoneKitchen and @88Cardhouse for supporting me, and a million others I won’t tag but you know who you are

Closed NAIC as 16th and 2026 season as No.6 global ranking. It’s been a lot of trips and games since my first competitive season in 2024. Can’t wait to seeing all my friends at SF worlds! S/O to @88Cardhouse for the support, @Ian__Robb & @Wet_Goose for the coaching as always!

The 2026 season has come to an end and I've been struggling to write my closing thoughts. It's been a great year for Ethan. He finished in the top 10 globally, top cut in 4 different regions, 2x T8, 2x T4 and 2x finalist. It was such phenomenal experience to have competed all around the world. And yet, it doesn't feel complete. Maybe it's because this was Ethan's last year as a junior. Maybe it's travel withdrawal, or the abruptness of change, or the finality of it all. This year came with a full range of emotions from immense happiness, to disappointment and sadness, to outrage and shock. We're not sure if we're going to continue competing in Pokemon. The circuit demands so much sacrifice out of families and we're feeling exhausted. We're going to take the summer to figure that out. I look back on photos, and to me, Ethan still looks like he did 3 years ago. Maybe my immense sadness is just coming to terms with him growing up. Thank you to everyone that helped us along this season: - @88Cardhouse, @SVCardArt for being the best card shops and teams in the bay - The 88 juniors team, @RanCharles58055 and @JoshuaLeeWarner, all finishing in the top10 of NA and always raising the bar - @rowan_stavenow, @IsaiahBradner, @KianNakano, @SaumitTcg for coaching and guidance - @LynnOono and family for lobby parties, pool days and our intensive travel experiences - All the bay area families and their dedication to the grind. Congratulations to the dozen or so that qualified! - All the other families for your words of encouragement, your support and kindness and your dedication to your children

Thank you for holding me down on these Cross Force boxes @88Cardhouse! 💙✨ Just to give folks an idea of Fusion World pre-order timeframes, most Fusion World pre-orders open ~5 months before the release of the set. For reference, I placed this pre-order on February 3, 2026 🙇‍♂️

Beckett started 1-2 and finished in assym. So proud of the determination of this kid but a GL in cut was too much to overcome. S/O to the sponsors @88Cardhouse and @DuelSpecTCG, the coaches @ciaran_tcg and @Jctfordd, and all the friends.

We had a rare and incredible opportunity to compete in the Pokemon Japan Championships #PJCS2026! Ethan started out 0-2, climbed out to 5-2 and lost the final round to end 5-3. Not much in terms of expectations other than to experience and compete in a massive field of 826 juniors! Earned the exclusive stamped Mewtwo promo and learned some Japanese! All of this would not have been possible without the incredible support from the community and friends: - @88Cardhouse, @SVCardArt and @EbisuCollection who provided the majority of playables for us, even the newly released Abyss Eye set. - @KianNakano for HGSS energy and the cool 🍬🍬 - @drapult for additional cards and teaching us the Japanese playing customs 👊✋✌️ - @thefleeee for the Meowths and advice on foreigners competing - @DuelSpecTCG for sleeves - @LynnOono for fueling crazy ideas and Pokemon Center shopping lists Thanks to all the friends we got to practice with and hang out with today, and best of luck to @anxiouspapa @ayapiyo20 and Reo in cut tomorrow! Next up, NAIC! 🛫

Good luck to our trainers competing at NAIC: @Taxi__cabbage @NicolaiStiborg @emothann @SticksPTCG Shoutout to @88Cardhouse and @DragonShield_ for being the best in the game!

What a rollercoaster ride in Indy! Slow start > high rolling > being high rolled > DPL in R14 G3 🥈 S/O to my dad @CupertinoTCG for the goated on-site coaching. @Ian__Robb for the guide (already sold 1k?), and @88Cardhouse for the support. #PlayPokemon NAIC - we are coming for 🏆

100% Phase 2 conversion rate for the team in Indy! Records ⬇️ @amcharles0 8-0-1 @DefconTCG 7-2-0 @FamousCyy 7-2-0 @SticksPTCG 7-2-0 @Taxi__cabbage 6-2-1 @Flynoid 6-2-1 Shoutout to @88Cardhouse and @DragonShield_ for being the best in the game!

Made top 32 at the Indianapolis Regional with BIG FUNCTIONING APPLES 🍎 Festival Grounds was the MVP Thank you to the sponsors @DragonShield_ (used black) @88Cardhouse @LostZoneKitchen also had the pleasure of meeting @JoeyPokeaim !

Indianapolis Regionals top512🥲 Played pretty sloppy from my mediocre hand. Have to play for the outs! List was good. Thanks @88Cardhouse for your support!

38/1974 in Indy Took the dream start and threw it all away. Some really unfortunate happenings in day 2… I’ll win one of these things eventually 🫠🙏🏼 Thanks for all the support from everyone, it means the world to me ♥️ s/o @LostZoneKitchen @88Cardhouse 🫶🏼

85th w/ @drapult DuskPult. As much as I wanted the Dawn, I couldn't justify it over the 2nd Munki for the mirror, to which I hit a ton. Weekend motto has really been "this game sucks" with how much it's just trying to scam with Budew/Stamp S/O: @88Cardhouse & @LostZoneKitchen

Indianapolis was so fun! Heres the Absol list I built for this event. It was so fun to play and getting to do a player and deck profile was also an insane experience. Thank you to Pokemon production for making it happen. Thank you to all my friends and supporters ❤️. See you all at NAIC! S/o @88Cardhouse

DAY 2 with Bellowing Thunder and friends! Deck started to have some rough starts + some sloppy plays!Ggs to all my opponents this weekend everyone was a pleasure! Was happy to see all the squad do well this weekend! Love the squad! @88Cardhouse @LostZoneKitchen @DragonShield_

Lemme say something, and it’s not in bad taste or in a bragging kinda way I just want to make a point (no it’s not twitter drama stfu) Yesterday morning at 4 am I was picked up at my hotel by my guide. I spent the next 8 hours hiking 8.4 miles up to Rainbow Mountain in Cuzco. 21k steps ish. Last night my flight to Lima boarded at 10pm and we sat on the runway until 11. I ended up getting to Lima around 1 am and my hotel at 2 am. Now mind you I was up for 22 hours. My feet were killing me as I don’t have hiking boots, and my ears are currently more burnt and swollen than they’ve ever been (critical mistake in the sunscreen application process). And alas I slept last night from 2:30 am to 6:30 am. A solid 4 hours after a 22 hours day. And it was time to wake up and go play in the Lima Special Event. My deck was sitting in my deck box still in the same order I put it in there last week after the Campinas decklist photo. I didn’t touch a single card, play a single game of live, or shuffle my deck a single time last week. Total disconnect. Just believing in the 60 cards I brought to South America. I knew immediately it was bad this morning. Everything was spinning a bit, my head hurt, and I could barely think through sequences as I played a few test hands. I added a moltres to my deck yesterday after some theory in the Airport and ran it. I lost round 1. Stamped into a dead hand during game 3. Not ideal. I feel like shit. I had a (lime?) monster and a Red Bull in my backpack and about 3 granola bars. I won game 2. He was a new player and was just there for vibes. Ok I’m 1-1. All I neee to do it push through to day 2 but man I can’t even focus my vision. Then I hit SLOWKING and you know (if you’ve read my guide) that I don’t play Shaymin and am OK with sacking that matchup. And sack it I did. 15 minutes the set is over now I’m 1-2 and feel like I’m 1-7. I thought about dropping and going and taking a nap. I considered it. I told myself I’m all the way here why not play until one more loss? So alas the chicken locked in. Let me be clear: I did NOT lock in. I physically could not. Everything hurt and everything was out of focus but I started winning and hit a string of good starting hands + winning dice rolls. Win, win, tie, win, and BOOM just like that I had clawed my way back into the tournament. With nothing but that aforementioned ref bull and 2 chicken empinadas in my system from the gas station across the street I sat down for my win and in against a very pleasant opponent. He had teal mask Ogerpon in his deck but still won game 1 and I brought it back to a W in game 3 on the final turn of time. And just like that I get to keep playing tomorrow. My opponents were amazing, even the Slowking guy, and I got some pictures and had fun despite my AWFUL sleep deprived mental. I’ve never played this bad. Literally throw after throw being hard carried by the deck yet again. This was Devine intervention and on everything that is good PLEASE TAKE SLEEP SERIOUSLY. I shouldn’t be here but that’s enough yap. I’ll be back tomorrow for some more chicken Pult gaming and let’s be real, the views in Cuzco are worth it. That was easily the most mentally taxing day of Pokemon I’ve ever played but we do indeed take those. Should cross 800 points with this one marking me safe from the dreaded worlds bubble 🫧🐓 🐉 ✌🏼 s/o @LostZoneKitchen @88Cardhouse and @DragonShield_ for making it all possible and marking the 4th country I’ve played pokemon in! 🇵🇪

Won a challenge earlier this week and got top 4 at a 35 person cup today at @SVCardArt with Absol Box. Trying new things in the deck and updated the guide with the list I ran today! S/o @88Cardhouse Now at 1044cp this quarter and 1300 overall 😇 metafy.gg/guides/view/po…