NAIC 2026 Was a Doozy (RIP Bourbon Street)

Wahguan Generals. Welcome back to another episode of the Shift Gear Podcast. World cup edition this time. NAIC Edition World cup edition. There's a lot of stuff going on. It's. I will say it's very nice that at any time of day, like, I'm like, I got somewhere to be and that place to be is in front of my TV watching the World cup, like just. I love the three to midnight thing. Yeah, it is really nice. I mean, I was a bit, I guess, I guess FOMO's right. We're Neil watching like the Vibes in Toronto on the, the Friday when Canada played their opener. Not being the city for that, but I mean, we saw some more games left, so maybe I'll do my best to be around the stadium the next time there's some games going on, but no, it's like awesome. It's like I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I just love sports. So just like, like you're saying just being able to throw it on the tv, like at any point in the day and just like enjoy. It's been really sick. So. Yeah, you should. You can't really see in the background, but my entire table is filled with stickers. I'm just trying to like, do my album. Like, I'm like getting, getting the fever now. Finally, now that we're back in the city. Like, I didn't really. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, while we were in New Orleans for an asc, but now that I'm back in the city, I drove by BMO today. I'm like, yeah, it's actually here. Like, it feels like it's, it's pretty legit. I am excited to watch Canada Qatar on Thursday there. I think there's like a, right now there's like a 25 chance Davies plays, so we'll see. Fingers crossed. We got to win that game. Yeah, that's. It's big time now. So. I mean, I, I, yeah, I have faith. I mean Canada, like, I mean, it sounds like they didn't play that well during the first half of their game because I was obviously playing. We were both playing nsc. I actually was watching between rounds. I saw them scored the goal, their goal. But oh yeah, I think they got to step it up if they, they want to make out of the group. So I think in all truthfulness, like, Canada hasn't been the same team in like two, three years. Like, it's just, it's fallen off from that magical run. Like, we haven't been all that good. I still think we're ranked pretty high. We're like top 30, but we cope. America, I think it was in 2024 and since then it's been kind of downhill. So I'm hoping the boys figure it out, get it together. I mean, like, even like our best players have always struggled. Like, recently, like, Jonathan David has not been good. Davies has been injured. So it's like, I don't know, we're kind of fighting demons. But it seems like a lot of the good are not as, like, dominant in this World cup as we thought they'd be. Like, Spain got shut out, which is crazy. What's it. Argentina's playing right now. They got scored on first, actually, and it got called back from an offside. So, yeah, Messi just scored a worldy. I don't know, man. World Cup. I'm excited. I'm having fun, but hope you guys are too. In the comments. I got multiple comments this weekend, like in person, of people saying, like, we can't wait to hear you guys, like, break down the World cup or whatever. So, yeah, I got a lot of sports talk stuff as well, fans. Yeah, the segment is well needed. Yes. I mean, also talking about sports and yellow. The Knicks won the chip. I mean, another game where the spurs just kind of collapsed in the fourth quarter. So that was exciting. I was cheering for the Knicks, obviously. I was actually at a bar. I was like at a. Yeah, it was like a bar slash restaurant, you know, I was getting my jambalaya, getting my gumbo before I was leaving, and the guy next to me was like, going crazy for the Knicks, right? So. And like, this guy, like, just did not know ball, like, did not understand, like, the rules. Didn't understand, like, what you're supposed to do. But I like, love the enthusiasm. And my friend who I was with asked him like, he's like, oh, where are you from? He's like, I'm from Missouri. I'm like, missouri? Like, why are you such a big Knicks fan? He's like, oh, geez. From Missouri. I'm like, okay, cool. He's like. He's like, yeah, my. My best friend is OG, his cousin. I'm like, oh, sick. What? I thought OG was British, bro. Oh, MO. He was born there, but he. I think he moved to America when he was young. Or this guy could just be captain. I'm pretty sure that's OG's background. Yeah, MO sounds really random. I don't remember there. Maybe that's. That's what he was. He meant. Yeah. Where'd he go to college? I Actually don't know where he went to college. Then he goes to Indiana, though. Let's see. Yeah, he went to Indiana. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Missouri sounds right. I think that guy was just pulling stuff out of his. Oh, no. It says he grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri. He moved from England at the age. Okay, all right. So there could be some validity, dude, like, learning OG Was from England was, like, the same as, like, learning 21. Savage was from England. I was like, bro, like, what the hell do you mean? Like, this guy's from England. It just feels off. Like something is. It doesn't feel right about it. I don't know what it is, but, you know, whatever, man. Each teach their own. I was happy to see the Knicks win as well. We were at the casino. There was, like, Bear man's at the casino watching on this, like, giant screen. And everyone just started going berserk. And I was just thinking, I'm like, I actually felt bad for, like, my New York friends that were there for Nic. I'm like, you guys just miss, like, the day, the night of a lifetime. Whether it was safe or not is another story. I don't know if I'd go out out there after the next win because it's probably not very safe, but to watch me reopen or something would probably be pretty lit. Well, I mean, I saw, like, photos of, like, the streets the day after. They were completely clean. So it seems like a good party. I mean. I mean, Zoron's New York right now is just, like, non stop dubs. It feels like, bro, like, every time I say headline from New York, it's just like. Like, good stuff. So. No, that was sick. I think they have the parade on Thursday. I believe so. I'm sure we'll see some crazy stuff going on there as well. But, like, yeah, New York's like a sports town. Like, New York has two teams for every sport. But, like, they don't really have two teams for basketball. Like, no one cares about the Nets. I don't think so. I saw a tweet. Some guy was like, I think the hardest job in the world right now is being the Brooklyn Nets. Director of sales. Yeah, director of ticket sales for the Brooklyn Nets. How do you, like, sway anybody to come watch that stuff after watching the Knicks? And, like, I don't know, man. Hats off to Brunson, bro. Greatest Knick of all time, in my opinion. Now, I think, like, taking. Taking that pay cut is so, like, monstrous. And, like, even though he took what I don't even know how much he took in the pay cut? Was it 10 mil or something? It was like 30. Well, okay, it was like 34 million. He could have waited next year and got more money, but now he gets to go for the super max. A bit earlier, but it was around 34 million is, is how much he basically gave up. And what he lost, he gained right back in endorsements and everything. Like times 10. Like, he's literally royalty in that city till the day he dies. So. Yeah, well, when you think of the Knicks on paper, it's like, it is insane if you don't know that he took a pay cut. Like, just looking at that, that roster, like, how do you fit that under the cap? And I guess that is the reason he did not get paid as much. And they made some good deals, right? Like they had, they picked up a couple guys for cheap. But man, what a run. That was crazy. And I think, I think the spurs will be back. Like, it's one of those things where I think like a lot of good teams take a year to just like they need to learn how to win. Like, that's just what it is. And they blew multiple double digit point leads. Like, they'll come back. They'll be all right. I think the spurs are here to stay. But. Yeah, I mean, but you never know, right? Like, sports is one of those things. Like, you know, I mean, the team that everyone compared them to is like the Thunder from like 15 years ago where like everyone thought they were gonna run the league and they never made it back. I mean, like Oklahoma is ironically in their other challenger, right? Like they, Oklahoma's a bit banged up this year, so it's not a given that they'll, they'll make it back. And it feels like they, they really squandered an opportunity where like all four games, like they were up like in the fourth and they just like couldn't close. I mean like that game On Wednesday, the 29 point comeback was like absurd. Like, I don't think I've ever, I'll probably never see a comeback like that again in my life in basketball or maybe any sport. Viana. So, yeah, that was tough, especially in the West. It's even harder in the west to get back, right? Like, you can't take that for granted. I agree with you, 100. But you know what, man? Like, this guy is so generational, I don't know if anyone can stop him. Anyways. Yeah, I think, dude, I just think of like the Yanis trajectory. Like, I think he's gonna go down the honest trajectory where one year he's just gonna go like super beast mode and nobody's gonna stop him and they're just gonna win a chip and then maybe he'll get tired or whatever and then never get back there again. But this guy is something, man. Yeah. I was surprised that Mr. Robinson was able to stop him. Yeah, I mean, he's shown flashes of that, right? Like that one game, the first game against Oklahoma. I think he definitely, like, that was his coming out moment. I feel like where people were like, oh, this guy could be like the. The goat one day. I think maybe we're a bit premature on that, but. Yeah, I agree. I think long term, like, I would bet that Wemby's probably gonna win multiple championships, but, you know, you gotta convert while you're there, so they didn't do it this time, so we'll have to see long term how they do. So. Yeah, good. Yeah. I'm scared of. I'm scared of the Lakers. Scared of the Lakers getting back. If LeBron walks and they open up all that cap space, Lakers might be kind of scary. I don't know. The west might be a little. Little different next year, but, yeah, we'll see. Sorry we're ranting about sports. I know people don't really care that much. Well, no, some people do care. And I mean, we put. We're. We put timestamps where we're nice to our listeners so they can skip the sports talk if they want to skip the sports talk. So I'm just glad we're past the point. I remember in the early days of shift gear where we would have to, like, make these, like, long run on episode titles so people knew what we were talking about. I'm glad that people know the expectation of. When you click on this, the first 10 minutes is going to be absolute garbage. And just like. Well, not garbage, but not like Pokemon education. And people just realize that and understand that it's what comes with this. And like, because I remember back in, like, the early days of shift gear, we'd be like. Our titles would be awful. They'd be like, breaking down any I see. Plus James Harden, plus this, plus Cristiano Ronaldo signed my boots. And you're just like, what the hell is this? How do I even fit this under, like, 100 characters? But now the expectation is there. People like the. I think the most common, like, comment that I get is like, oh, I have a long commute, or I have a long, like, whatever. I work a lot of times and I would just listen to you guys. Guys talk sports, even though I know nothing about it. A lot of people say that just because apparently it's entertaining. So, yeah, educate my listeners on some sports for sure. On some questionable takes sometimes. For sure. Yes. So, yeah, there's that. I mean, if any. Anything else crazy happened. I mean, oh, the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. I was. I didn't tune in, but I saw they won. Seemed like they had a pretty dominant run from what I was reading. So. Yeah, no means no, man. Karma comes back to bite him in the ass. No means no. Exactly. Right. We're so back. I think the Vegas Golden Knights might be the most hated franchise in. Well, definitely in the NHL. Yeah. But maybe in pro sports right now, I think the Vegas School Knights are the most hated franchise. They just. Yeah, I think so. Just controversies after controversies. And like, you know what, man? Like, in all fairness, like, it's worked out for them so far. They've all. They've been, like, the most successful expansion team in recent memory. But, yeah, at some point, it's like, all right, you guys are doing a little bit too much. And I thought Carolina dominated them. I thought, like, I don't know. I thought they were just, by far, the better team. They had a lot of grit. Carolina is one of those, like, defense, first teams, right. So they wouldn't let out a lot of shots on goal. Their goalie got hot at the right time, and thank God Mitch Marner didn't win the Stanley Cup. I don't know what the hell I would do if that guy won a Cup. Yeah, Okay. I don't. I don't watch hockey, though. But I saw that one highlight where he scored the goal, like, between his legs. I was like, okay, that was actually pretty sick. Like, that was a very impressive goal, but I do. He's a greasy player. Yeah, dude. He's a great player. Like, there's. I don't think anybody denies that he had the most points in the playoffs this year. Like, by a large margin, too. Like, he had, like, 26 points or something, but it was like games four, five, and six after he had that, like, between the legs roll, he literally did nothing. And I think that's what, like, least fans is beef were. It's like he just kind of disappears. So. I don't know. I get what you mean. Like, you know, a player on your team who didn't leave on the best terms. Like, you wish the worst for them, honestly. So even though it sounds bad, I feel bad for the guy because I Know, he has, like, mental health issues with, like, dealing with the criticism in Toronto and stuff. Like, he, like, he recently opened up on that, like on an interview, like, literally today about, like, how he was just getting abused so bad that he's like, like. And like, that makes you feel like the human side of. Yeah, yeah. Like you do feel bad for the guy, but, like, just for my own peace of mind, if Mitch Marner won a Cup, I would have just been like, so down bad. So I am happy he did not win a cup. Things in Leafland are actually looking very positive these days, which is very, very strange. So we'll see where that goes. Another blockbuster trade today. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens, man. Nice. So cool. I mean. All right, that's our Sports talk segment. We hit three of the major sports. We over that talk much about baseball. Blue Jays have been just really struggling, but up five. One right now, baby. One. Okay, good. Because they've lost the last couple to the Yankees, so. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I guess, Neil, this was, well, maybe transition a little bit to Pokemon. So this was our last year of New Orleans, Naic. We're moving to Chicago next year and I'm guessing for the next few years from how they do the contract. So what is your initial take on that? That we're moving to Chicago? Happy? Sad? Indifferent, I think. Indifferent. I mean, I'm not really, like, too opinionated on Chicago versus New Orleans. Like, New Orleans has been fun, man. Like, don't get me wrong, I know you were out there, too, on Saturday night. Like, it's a great time, but, like, in general, it's not the cleanest or safest city. Like, there's a lot of things that come with the good and the bad. And you can't leave your hotel without being soaking wet and sweat, which is disgusting as well. Right. Like, you combine that with, like, Pokemon players and like, 10,000 people in a venue, and you can get some unpleasant sense at times. So I think there are reasons to be happy about this. I'm not sure about the location, so I saw in the video that it looked like the convention center was like, right downtown, which might be like, super duper expensive, but the Chicago people are telling me it's not downtown. They're telling me it's like kind of like a London situation, is what they told you. Okay. Because it looks like if you in this video, that it highlights a building by Soldier Field. Well, isn't Solar Field, like, not downtown, though. It's off the highway. Right. It's on the shore. Like. Yeah, like, right there on the shore. All right, maybe not. I don't know. Chicago convention. I assume it's just called something. Computer Center Chicago. McCormick Place. Where'd it go? It's over here. You know what this is? This is. This is an Ontario Place situation. Yeah. Kind of live, actually. Right. This is such an Ontario Place, BMO field type of situation. Toronto and Chicago are sister cities. They're laid out very similarly. This looks like Ontario Place. So you have, like, the main downtown core. And this could be completely wrong, but from what I've seen on this map, you. The main downtown core, all the busyness kind of happens there. And then a little bit to the west, you have the convention center. Yeah. Very similar to actually where it was held in Toronto. Yeah, exactly. If you came to Toronto regionals before we moved to the big convention center, like, that's kind of what we're talking about. Interesting. Okay, well, I'd be too bad then. Yeah. I mean, for me, it's like, obviously I wish that they would put it in Canada. I think it's, like, overdue for that to happen. But if it's not in Canada. Actually, Chicago is probably my favorite American city that I've been to. At least I haven't been to New York since I was a kid. I'd probably like New York the best. But no, I like Chicago. The one time I went, actually, I went with you and Adam that one time. We weren't there long, but, yeah, I enjoyed it when I was there. So for me, this is a big upgrade over New Orleans. My biggest gripe with New Orleans is just the weather. Like, it's ridiculous. Like you're saying. It's like, I just feel gross all the time. Like, you have to shower, like, twice a day, like, at minimum. And then, like, you go inside and the air conditioning is, like, too cold. It feels like I'm always, like, in between, so. And also, New Orleans is not a very convenient place to fly to for most people. It's not like a big international airport. It's like, so Chicago, major transit hub as well. And I couldn't find the article, but I read one Chris Brown, the guy who's had an organized play, he said that they're moving. He said they're moving to the convention center partly to accommodate how much growth they've had. So it does sound like they're getting ready to make NAIC like a 5,6000 competitor type of event. And from what I was reading, McCormick places the biggest convention center in America. So, yeah. So seems overall, I think like a good change. I mean, the game has grown so much that I guess we do need something like that. So, you know, I'm. I'm here for it. I'm excited to see a Cubs game while I'm down there or something. Like, Chicago's weird because Chicago's like really close to us in Toronto, but we don't visit much, and they don't visit much. Like, we just kind of like coexist and like, it's. It's weird because it's like an hour and a half flight, but it's like an eight and a half hour drive just because, like, the way the lakes are laid out. So it's like. I don't know, Chicago is like one of those places where it's like, it's right here, but it's really not. So I'm like, I am excited to like, actually go there with a purpose besides, like transiting through or whatever. Like, I've been there like three, four times. But I have. Sorry, I'm saying the one time at least I went with you so we could go to Peoria. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Not going through Peoria. Like, I've been there a few times. I think I've like, driven out in the city like three or four times, but I've never stayed for more than two nights. So I'm excited. Just like, just be there and chill, you know? So we shall see. We shall see. Yeah. I guess the biggest thing we're losing from New Orleans, I guess, is just Bourbon street, if you're into that. Which I know when you last saw, you were saying that you were a bit sad to lose that. So. Out and about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This was, you know what, man, Something about New Orleans. And I can't tell any of these stories on the pod, but something about New Orleans make people. Makes just people act pool. Like, it's crazy. Some of the stuff I was doing out there, out and about. I was out Friday and Saturday. I wasn't planning on going out on Friday, but I met up with like Azul and a couple of the guys at the casino and he was like, yo, let's go. I'm like, all right, bro. If Azul's tell me, I'm going to Burberry Street, I'm going to Burn street, whatever, right? So we pull up like 10 guys and like that place has like a magical power of making you forget what time it is. Like, you get there and you lose track of time. So fast. I think we got back to the hotel like 2:30. And yeah, I was going into day two with a pretty good record and I was like, oh, there goes that, like, oops. But then the next day we stayed up to like 4am and I didn't even realize that we were out until 4:00am you know, like, I don't know, you just kind of lose track of time. I think it's one of those things where like, there's always like that one pocket on the street where like every Pokemon player is. And it's like, for me at least, it's like, I don't see these people that often. Especially, you know, I kind of like scaled down off and I was playing the NA events this year. So it was like just everywhere you look, you're just writing to someone, like, oh, I haven't seen you like a year. Like, what's up? So I really enjoy that. Like, I think you're like me, right? You don't drink that much. Like, I'm not huge into like drinking and like partying and all that. Like, I mean, I got my one slushie and I just like had that for the night. But it was just like really nice being out there and you know, running some people, running into some people. And he's gonna stop there. I guess this is up to you. This is. If you want to tell the story, I'm gonna let you know the story. You know, I'll give you a few seconds to ponder while I talk about list story so you can think about it. Make an educated decision. Those grape drinks at the end of the. At the end of the thing at the end of the street. I don't know if you had any. They were next level. It's literally just called grape drink. It's. It's next level stuff. But yeah, so, yeah, we were commenting on that. You're like, yeah, it's like, I probably go to Pokemon. That is the only time I like actually drink, go out, have fun, whatever. And you know, those drinks were expensive, but I just bought you 20 seconds. So what do you want to do? I'll say this gets funny. Like, I don't think it's bad actually. Like, I was like on Burberry street hanging out with my friends. I'm like, I'm having my one little slushie there and all of a sudden like, like all of the Japanese players just like walk up to me and you know, my guy who I've had some unpleasant experiences with in the past, Kaido, came up and he started apologizing. I was like, oh, okay. And, you know, his English is not the best, which is not an issue. Right. Like, I don't speak Japanese, So he brought, like, someone to translate with him, and he was trying to broker peace and apologize for past transgressions. And from what I was understood, he was going around and doing that on Bourbon street to everyone he saw who there's been some conflict with in the past. So it was, like, really funny, actually. And, you know, like, I. You know, I started business a little bit. I just said, like, look, like, you know, this has been going on for years. It's like, we'd love to see some improvement, you know, in the approach to the game, the sportsmanship, all that good stuff. And, like, once we see that happen, I think everyone would be happy to, you know, interact with you and welcome you to the events and all that stuff. So it was a productive, I think, conversation. There was a promise for improvement, which I loved. So that was just, like, a really funny thing that happened. It was just, like, so jokes. I think my friends who are all around us are, like, just taking photos because they're, like. It was, like, funny, dude. I wish I was there at that moment. That sounded, like, so lit. I would have loved to just instigate that a little bit. Yeah. Okay. So this means one of two things, and I think you. You mentioned this at first. Either somebody was not happy with what he did, made him go around and kind of, like, audited him and like, yo, do this and this and that, or someone's translating the Shift Gear podcast and sending it to bro every time you talk badly on his name, and he knows that you don't like him. It's one of the two. I don't know what it is. Definitely the point. From what I was told from the translator, the organization that he's a part of has told them, you know, to scale back on the slow play and to be more. A bit more pleasant. I think so. Okay. Yeah. I mean, like, I'm. I mean, I guess a lot of people don't know me personally, but I'm, like, a very cordial person. One thing I think I'm good at is, like, I. I'm fine with confrontation. So I thought it was productive. You know, we shook hands. In the end, there were smiles all around, and a good night was had. So it was just, like, a really funny thing. And then, like, people sent me the photos after, just, like, me and him just, like, chatting. That is funny. That is funny. You guys should have Went and had a drink together or something. Take a shot together. So, you know, announce the. You're not ops anymore. I mean, okay, I shouldn't say that. We don't know that. I got to see the improvement first. But, you know, it was. It was good to. To see that for sure. So that is surprising to me, too, because, like, the Japanese Pokemon culture is just obviously so different from ours. And, like, the Japanese players I' met have been such a mixed bag. Like, I get the nicest human beings in the world, and then you get that sometimes, right? It's like, it's really hard to understand what, like, what is the normalized human being that plays Pokemon out there look like? Are they nice? Are they not? It's impossible to figure out because Japanese people are really, really nice, generally, and very respectful and all that stuff. But sometimes you get, like, a couple bad apples. So it's. It's very interesting to see that this organization is saying, hey, man, please clean up your act a little bit. I like it. I'm just curious if that's a widespread thing amongst Japan, is like, is it his peers in Japan saying, hey, I don't like the way you act and the organization's putting it up or. I don't know. But it's interesting, for sure. I mean, there's also a lot of Americans, Canadians, like, every region who, like, there's, like, people I feel like I had the most pleasant experiences with. But, yeah, I mean, it was just. It was nice. I mean, I'm glad that it happened. So I was debating we should talk about it. I thought it was pretty funny, actually. Like. Like. Like, the people who witnessed it enjoyed it. So I think. I mean, I'm not saying anything bad, so I don't think it's anything bad to share about it. So, yeah, that happened on my Burger street experience, which was fun. And then, yeah, I witnessed a lot of wild activity as well afterwards. So I was like, I'm always like, all right, I'm not going to ever get drunk at, like, a Pokemon event. I mean, this is kind of like my job also. I just don't want to be. You definitely got to be a little more careful. Exactly. Right? So. But no, it was a good time. I went. We also went to this, like, random, like, voodoo, like, vampire tarot bar, like, randomly. Like, I was with my friends, and then her friend is like, oh, come to this place where I'm at. So this guy, he looks like kind of like a witch doctor. Like, opens this, like, door, like, secret door. Like, we Walk up the stairs, and we're just in this, like, Tarot bar. It was like, like. And, like, all the. It's vampire themed. And, like, it was fun. Good vibes. We went to a place last year. Oh, my God, man. We never. I'll never forgive Austin for this. He was like, all right, I found a spot. And he's like, it's called the Dungeon. I'm like, all right, whatever. And we go 12 man's deep to this dungeon, whatever the hell is, bro. We walk in, the guy, like, puts stickers on our phones, like, on the camera, like, tapes our phones, and he says, welcome to the dungeon. Like, and he's like, yo, behave. And we walk in, and I. I can't even describe what I saw on the podcast. Like, don't look this up. It is a bad, bad place. Okay, I'll stop for the first photo, bro. Yeah, get out of there. It was exactly what you think it was. Just a scary, scary place. And after that, in New Orleans, I was like, oh, I gotta look up any bar I walk into. So that's where I kind of thought you were going with this voodoo thing. I'm glad you didn't go down that path. But if you're in New Orleans, stay away from the dungeon. Or maybe go to the dungeon, maybe. It sounds like it has 4.4 stars, so people obviously like it. So. Yeah, maybe it's your cup of tea. It wasn't mine, I'll tell you that. Well, one thing I do actually like is, like, putting the stickers on the camera phones. Have you ever been to Berlin? No. Berlin has a really big club scene. I was there a while ago, and I went out while I was in Berlin. And, like, the clubs there are crazy. They open on Friday, they don't close till Monday. So, like, some people legit stay there the whole weekend. But every club there, like, they put stickers on the phone because there's a bit of more, I guess, alternative style or, like, scene, I guess, when you go clubbing. So I don't know, it's, like, more fun. I feel like. I think, you know, a lot of people, especially people our age, like, growing up with, like, phones and social media, like, they don't want to, like, dance or let loose or, like, you know, feel, I guess, free, for lack of a better term. Just because, like, everything gets filmed and posted online, right? Like, I saw a bunch of clips from people on Bourbon street, you know, on my Twitter timeline over the week, weekend. So I do like that. Like, the places that put the Stickers on the phone. Like, I actually think there's like, normal bars or clubs should adopt that as well, so. See, I would love that too, if every single year I wasn't getting like a quality video of LDF doing something dumb. Like, every year I get like such incredible quality content that it's just like, all right. Like, I don't know how much you can see this. Like, he, turn it up. Bro's going crazy. And every year I get a video like this. And so, like, I wouldn't be able to live without that. Me personally. Yeah. I mean, actually I saw LDF on Bourbon street also having some fun. And he actually brought up the other, like, you guys. He's like, where's Anil? Yeah, he referenced last year. You guys had such a good time. So I was like. I was like, oh, I don't know where you were actually. So it sounds like you were at. You're at the dungeon instead of on Bourbon Street. Anil. Yeah, I don't know if he had such a good time last year. We paid some girl to give him a shot and it was very disturbing. So I don't know. He. You just imagine little LDF be like, put in a chair, being fed shots is hilarious. It's another video I can't show on the pod. But if he's like, that's what he referenced. Yes. I wasn't gonna bring it up. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're gonna. You're gonna take my word for it. It's pretty good. So LDF is quality content, man. Not only on YouTube, but in IRL too. He's always good content. Everyone loves Matt. Like, he's definitely one of the life of the party on Bourbon Street. So. Yeah, lots. All right. Lots of off topic stuff. Hopefully you got. I know. I think people probably enjoyed the. The talks about all the random stuff we did in the old. But let's maybe hop into some more Pokemon news and then we'll actually break down any. I see. Maybe what that means going forward. And we don't have a term to worlds, but the first thing I thought might be cool to go over was there's the Pokemon company PTCG AI Battle Challenge. I don't know how much you check this out, Anil. I thought it was pretty interesting. So basically there's a challenge where you have to build an AI to play Pokemon. It's hosted on this website. Do you know Kaggle, Neil? Are you familiar with them? No, I'm not. They host a lot of like data science competitions. They've been around for a while. A lot of companies just, like, put challenges up on here, and whoever does the best, like, gets a prize. So I think, like, hackathon stuff like that kind of. Yeah, like a hackathon is more like you're in person, like, doing it, but, like, this is kind of like they just post challenges and they have, like, leaderboards. Whoever gets the best, I guess, score, I kind of win. So they had prizes. I think it was like 30, 000 for the top eight teams when I was looking at it earlier. Yeah, here 30, 000 if you make top eight, and then 50, 000 if you win. So, yeah. So pretty big prizes on the line. And this is actually, like, hosted by the Pokemon company. So basically they want people to make an AI that can play Pokemon. And it's actually something I've discussed a lot with some of my friends who are kind of in the tech space is like, when is an AI going to be good enough to, like, beat Tord? I don't know how well versed you are in chess and Yield, but there's like, a really famous match, like, with one of the chess engines, where it played against Gary Kasparov, who was, you know, he's like, debatably the goat of chess. I think this is before Magnus went on his rise to fame. It actually beat him. So I think Pokemon is harder to make an AI for because, like, each deck is unique. Like, there's way more situations that can come up. Like, chess has millions of permutations, but it's the same board, same pieces every time. So it seems pretty cool. So, Anil, are you going to be joining the AI battle challenge? I do not think I will be joining the AI battle challenge, but those prizes do look quite juicy. I will say it is. Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's a lot harder to code like, an AI or LLM or anything for Pokemon, just because there's so much more variance in the game. Right. It's really hard to train something to say, hey, look at these top 15 decks and be and. And understand them and beat them. And then when the 16th deck comes up, the AI has no idea what to do. Yeah. So it gets a little, little weird. But this is cool. Like, this is definitely something that I did not see coming. So I am excited to see what people come up with for this. Yeah, actually, for people who don't know, like, my background actually is in, like, data science before I started doing a bunch of Pokemon. So, I mean, I haven't dipped my toes in the tech world a couple years, I'd probably be a little rusty, but, I mean, maybe I'll have to find a team tries. Maybe I need to go through my network and find some of the wizards I know who are, like, crazy at this stuff and team up, be like, all right, you guys handle the code and all that. Like, I'm the Pokemon expert if you guys need the Pokemon expert. So I was actually thinking doing the same thing because, like, I work in tech now, too, but I'm not a. I'm not a developer, but some of the guys I work with are, like, huge into Pokemon. They might find this very, very interesting. So maybe we can put a team together. Exactly. Get at it. Get at it. I mean, that's a lot of money on the line. So one thing I think is cool. I haven't looked at the data sets actually, yet, but one issue I've always had whenever I've tried to do any, like, Pokemon, like, data project, even when I was, like, younger in high school, is, like, there's not enough data to work with. So I'm curious. The data sets that they. They have here that they're giving you to work with to train your model? Yeah, it looks like. Actually, wait, there's just the cards. Or maybe you don't have your own data set. I'll have to look at this later. But, yeah, it's super cool. I'm curious what's gonna happen. I saw some prominent people on Twitter saying they're probably gonna try and partake. So, yeah, I'm sure, like, in a few months we'll hear about this. And, you know, maybe one day we can have, like, Tord versus Pokemon AI. And then, I mean, once Tord gets beaten by the Pokemon AI, then it's like, all right, this is real, so it's time to quit. The AIs play the tournaments instead of us. So. Yeah, exactly. Just train your AI and send them to the tournament. Yeah. Okay. The other thing I saw get revealed was they have the Pokemon XP promo cards. Yep. There's the Paradise Resort, which, you know, we get every year for Worlds if you compete. So it's the same card. And, like, I mean, I think some people said the Pokemon are, like, references to the street they're on. Like, Archaladon is, like the Golden Gate Bridge. Someone told me there's, like, a famous bakery. I think there's, like, crabs or something on the street. Like, there's Gimmeagoul here because we're getting robbed. I mean, Cyclops always in the car, because, yeah, it's a psyducks effect, so, yeah, that was cool. And then they released the competitor kits. I don't know why I can't enlarge this. Oh, dude. I actually forgot. Just seeing that made me remember. I was supposed to play Paradise Resort in my deck for Naic, and I forgot. Why were you supposed to play? I wanted. Because I wanted to get a limitless page at Paradise Resort. I don't think that's been done before. Ah, damn it. I totally forgot. But this looks. This looks all right. I don't. I don't hate this design. Yeah, it looks okay to me. In terms of, like, world designs. I said it's, like, average. Like, it's like, whatever. Yeah. So, yeah, I think we've just been to too many now. We're just, like, kind of like, nothing is exciting us anymore, which is unfortunate, but it does. Does feel that way. I felt the way about Worlds last year. I'm like. Like, the design is, like, cool, but, like, I know five years ago, I would have been over the moon about getting that stuff. Last year, what was the theming? I can't even remember. Oh, he was just like, Varsity Pikachu, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah, that was a decent design. Well, what's your favorite world design of the world you've been to? Are the worlds I've been to. Oh, that's a tough one. I really like Japan. I thought that design was awesome. I thought it was a good one. I mean, Vancouver, obviously I'm biased, but I thought Vancouver had a good one. Yeah, Overall, I think. Sorry, you go ahead. You're good. You're good. I was gonna say, overall, I think Hawaii 2010 takes the cake for me, but I didn't go to that world. Yeah, the mat's a classic when my phone's too and had it like. Yeah, like this theming, dude. Like, how can you beat that? Yeah. That's so sweet. Actually, I actually really, like, the last time we're in sf, the. The world itself was horrible, but I like the theming. Like, some of the art looked really nice. Like. Yeah, like, this was the art. Like, oh, yeah, Pikachu's on the trolley. And then you had, like, the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, like, Snorlax. Like, the Pikachu itself was not that nice, but, like, I really like this specific image. I really like. Yeah, I feel like we've gotten away a little bit from, like, the thematics being this Place that it's held. Like, it feels like the. The design is just the design. Like it doesn't have much connection to where it's actually being held. Where, like in Japan, in. In London, in Hawaii even. We had a little bit more, you know, connection in the design to where it's being held. I thought that's what made. What was the London design? London was cool. It was the Pikachu with the top hat. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. With rose rain. So I really like the rosary. I thought it was so cool. Yeah. And Vancouver had, you know, poles. Yeah, Totem poles. This artwork was very questionable, but very questionable. With the earth string in the meowth. Very questionable. Everyone remembers that. But. Yeah. How did this get approved when. But it was actually, you know, I mean, we're biased. We're Canadian. But I thought it was a cool design. So. Yeah. And then the other thing that I thought was cool was they have the. I have it on Poke beach, like the. Oh, they also had this for Pokemon xp. You get a Rayquaza. So I guess everyone we're all going to get this. So this looks cool. They had though, if you play your league, they had another card. Yeah, this one, like every year they've been doing this where like they give out the promo where they put like last year's deck Pokemon. So there's Gardevoir, but they apparently also have like stamped winner ones now for people who win these like, events. So maybe the week of Worlds in Sanford, like the locals are gonna be super hard. So all the world's players will be there getting practice trying to win the Pikachu card. So that'd be sick. Like, I have a lot of concerns and we'll talk about this in the coming weeks. I'm sure we have tons of time to talk about it, but I have a lot of concerns about this game over the summer. Like a lot. I know they're doing these like mid summer celebration things, but they're pausing challenges and cups for two and a half months in a place where the game isn't really that fun right now anyways. Like, I am concerned. I am concerned for the longevity and the continued continuity of the game between now and between September and who will see and who we will not see because it doesn't seem like there's much reason to play the game right now. And I was even thinking, like, it's weird because you go from like sweating your ass off going up to Naic to the week after. You're like, what the hell do I do now. I'm not playing Pokemon right now. I have no reason to. But in years past you're like, okay, we'll go play a cup or a challenge starting July 1st, but we just, we just don't have that this year. So I'm sure we'll talk about this to death, but maybe this will be a good thing for the game. Yeah. They also said they're releasing sleeves and deck boxing for locals, which is kind of cool. They haven't done. I don't think they've done that before. No. Yeah. Also like the, the cloth with the type charts on it. So there's that and then the other thing that they always. This is actually really cool that they started doing this. I think since Japan, maybe London had it is like the champion gets like their own kit. I mean, obviously, like very few people get this, but it's like super clean. So the win Worlds. Riley still didn't buy a Bugatti, even though I told him to buy. He told me, he told me on the weekend. He's like, yo, I didn't buy a Bugatti or a whip yet. Are you kidding me? Like, what are you doing? Buy your Bugatti, bro. Yeah. Why are you in Worlds? You're not buying the Bugatti. So you know, you know, if we, if you or I win Worlds, like I guess we have to buy the Bugatti and then you can wear your champion sweater with the bag. So. Hell yeah, dude, if I win Worlds, I am buying a Bugatti with the license plate world champion on the back wearing my bomber jacket and then just like rocking all this stuff all the time because it's like crazy drip. But then like, I think I'll leave the tags on and sell it to some guy for like 100k once I'm done taking pictures with it. I think that's the play, that's motivation to win. So yeah, yeah, rent the Bugatti. Just rent the Bugatti, take the pictures and then get back to Bugatti and sell the jacket. That's the play. Forward to having a ride in the Bugatti. If you win, I. I do too, hopefully. There we go. So I think that is the non competition part of NAIC stuff. A little longer than normal today, but hopefully everyone enjoyed hearing our thoughts. But Neil, there was a tournament and it was won by Mr. All Out Blitzel farmership gear guest and great, great young kid in the game with his Lily's clefairy deck. But maybe Neil, before we jump there, you did Better than I did. So, Neil, how was your Naic? You finished top 256 here, decent start, but it looks like the wheels fell off a little bit on day two. Yeah, I mean, no, I don't have too much to say about this. I started 71 1, which is always good. You always take that. I gotta give. I gotta give credit to my round seven opponent, Thomas. I don't know if he ever listens to this, but he. He had a couple situations where he was gonna get, like, a dpl, like drawing extra cards under Watchtower or whatever early in the game. And I let him. I stopped him and, like, whatever, and we were cool. But then later in the game, game three, were rushing to get it done, and I said pass instead of itchy pollen on a turn that was like, yeah. On a turn that was, like, actually very, like, influential if he had items or not, because he's playing B drill. So you go bug catching set and go crazy. And he let me itchy pollen, which honestly respects, like, mad respects. You didn't have to do that, and I respect that heavily. And we were both kind of being nice about it throughout the set. So I just want to give him his flowers because he deserves it and he's an awesome guy to play against. Other than that, not a whole lot to say. I kind of hit bad mashup roulette at the start of day two. I hit the Mewtwo, the Rockets Mewtwo, which is really, really hard for Dragon Ball to beat into the Cynthia's garchomp, which is another, like, you know, really tough. And then I just had a probably the most unlucky set of my Life in round 12. My opponent was super cool, though, wearing a Brazil jersey and Brazil one later that day. So he had a good day and that's what mattered. And by the end of it, I was top two, whatever. It didn't really matter. I was out of cash. And once I was out of cash, I stopped caring. The good news was I only got half a box for my efforts, which sucked. But I got the Greninja. So we're back and we're good. All is well in the world, and I don't have to feel bad about another day to Naic, where I lost more money than my friends made outside events, because that has been. That has been the story last few nic's. I've actually never missed an NAIC Day 2. And every year I do. I like. I do great in day one, and then I absolutely just crap myself day two and I end up just losing money compared to everyone else who just farm side events. So I'm just happy that we were even. It was fun. We had a good time. My list was very, very standard, very vanilla. I played in honor of Austin, who got stuck in the Chicago airport. This was not the 60 I was gonna play. Yeah, I was gonna play. I was gonna play handheld fan instead of judge. And there's another change as well. But I was like, I gotta honor, bro. So I played his build with the judge and it felt okay. I mean, it was. Is it Dragon Ball 60? So. Yeah. That much to say? Well, on the opposite, you know, I'm not a good NAIC player. I did not do that well. I have to go talk. I mean, I started well. I was 4. 01. Yeah. And then the wheels kind of fell off. I mean, I'll keep it light, but I was not. The round six, the first game, my opponent went 4 for 4 on flips. I went 0 for 4 on hammers. I wasn't super thrilled with how the. My opponent was rolling a die. There's a interesting judge call on that one. Yeah. But he's not. He's not here to give his side, so I'll just stop there. Then I lost to David Cohen, 2011 world champion. Really nice guy. Really, really enjoyed our set. I flipped like two tails on hammers. I need like one heads to like secure the win in game three so that he couldn't play boss. You played Rashibor, right? Yeah. Rushy board to beat Ross in the finals or sorry, not. Yeah, Rushy. No, Magna Boar, I think, right? Magazine Prime. Magnavore. Yeah, Magnavore. Yeah. Yeah. Then my last round, I lost to Asher, a really nice kid as well. He's cool. Yeah, I played him too, bro. It was like, it's so dumb. Like game three, like there was like time was about to get called and we were basically like in a stalemate where like I was going to Itchy Pollen a million turns. Like he was just going to like sit there and wait. I was like, okay, well, we need someone to win. So I said to him, like, look like I will attack instead of Itchy Pollen. And then next turn, like, I'm like, if I get the red card, like we see if you draw out of it. And then like, that's our gentleman. I thought that was actually a pretty fair gentleman's to make. Yeah. And then like I played like lilies and like did all my draws and like I had three cards left in my deck. I just like didn't draw red cards. So I'm like, okay, well we don't even get to see if you're gonna brick or not. So then I just scooped it up. So yeah, unfortunate for go from 4.01-431, but it didn't really feel like I could have played any differently. I also played a fairly vanilla dragapult list. Yeah, just the hammer build. There was a judge in there, double watchtower, so no moltres. And you took the third stretcher. I like this. So yeah, a lot of people I know played this list. Actually, one of the guys in my Discord's name is Nick Jermaine. Great season. He. He also played this list alongside us. So yeah, pretty pedestrian tournament from me. But still, I had a really fun weekend. I mean I had actually had my first ever NAIC camp. So that was great. I had Liam and Jackson and Matt out there helping me. So we had a good showing there and then good time on Bourbon. Actually yesterday I was coming back, I had a 10 hour layover in Philadelphia. So I spent the day with my boy Mike Maddo. I didn't stay at the airport. Don't worry. Actually good. Mike was there. Yeah. Another funny story though. I almost had the canine dogs called. What? I'm a moron. So like, so I landed pretty early. My flight was 6am from New Orleans to Philadelphia. Then my flight home was at like 7 or 8. So I got there and Mike said, cool, I'll finish work around like 2, 2:30. I'll pick you up. So I just went to like the lounge, like chill. Do you work? Do whatever, right? So when I got to the lounge, like it was crazy busy. So like I got a seat kind of like on. I don't know how to respond. Like the high top kind of like, you know, the chairs just aren't that comfortable. So I was there and then like a seat opened up that had like outlets and stuff. So I moved there and I brought my backpack and I forgot to bring my like roller bag with me. Right? Okay. And then so I was like there for like probably a couple hours, right? And apparently over the loud system, they're like, yo, whose bag is this? But I'm wearing these headphones. They're like noise cancer, like something. I'm not hearing any analysis, right? And eventually I was like, I'm okay. I'm like, wait, where's my bag? And I'm like, oh, I left it like where I first was. So I go to go grab the bag and I grab it and then like like, literally, like, three managers are just come up with me. Like, sir, is this your bag? I'm like, yes. They're like, well, the cops with canine dogs are, like, ready to, like, check it because it's been unattended for over an hour. And I was like, whoops, my bad. So I explained there. I'm like, oh, well, like, yeah, I just moved seats and I forgot it. I'm like, yeah, they could check it. And then she's. She's like, have you left the lounge? I'm like, no. She's like, oh, it's chill. I'll go tell them to leave. I was like, she's actually, like, so, like, nice about it. Like, I'm like, I just, like, made this, like, Women's Day harder. Like, she, like, had, like, call, like, the security team in, and she's like, no, it's chill. So. But she's like, if you didn't grab it, literally. And, like, like, the time I grabbed it, like, there's about to be a bunch of, like, dogs in the lounge, like, checking it out. Wow, bro, the ops were about to pull up on you. That's crazy that you had, like, a bomb in there or something. That's wild. Well, I always see the ads, too. They're like, don't leave your bag unattended, like, in the airport. Right? But, like, obviously it was a mistake, and, like, I guess it happens, like, often enough because, like, they didn't, like, press any further, but it was kind of funny. And lesson learned to be more careful for me because I normally am a pretty responsible person. But I guess maybe I was tired or something. I forgot, so. Yeah, fair enough. I mean, I'm glad you got your bag and there wasn't anything suspicious in there. I wish I could say I was a responsible person. I lost my badge on day one. They tried to make me 30. Pay me 30 bucks or. Sorry, they tried to make you. Yeah, they tried to make me pay 30 bucks to reprint the thing. I'm like, 30 eagle bucks to reprint my badge. Like, get out of here, dude. But I ended up going to pay it, and I eventually found out that a good Samaritan turned it into the lost and found, so got my badge back and didn't have to pay 30 bucks. So shout out to whoever that was, mad respect and thanks for not stealing my kit. They could just went upstairs and scanned and took my kid and ran away. Well, you need. I need to get a kit. No. Oh, yeah, I guess I. I don't know. Maybe you just, like, Flash it at them like, yo, it's me. And I don't know, really check too hard. That was like when I went to the. So Sunday night, I left Monday morning. So I was hanging out with like our boy Mo and like some of the, some of the casters and like Pokemon people. And we all had like 6am, 7am flights. So we just like didn't go to bed. We just like stayed up playing like games all night. And like the only place open was like the pizza place in the casino. So Mo and I place was so bad. Yeah, Mo and I went to go and my id, I forgot it's expired because I just like renewed it, my license and I don't, I didn't have like, I'm not sure on camera in case there's data on it, but like there's this piece of paper you get when you renew your license that says like if you show it with your license is valid. My license has a state sticker. So the girl at the casino is like, well your license is expired. And I'm like, yeah, I was trying to explain to her and she's like, it's like a Canadian license too. It's like they have no idea like what the hell is going on. Yeah. And they're like, okay, well it's obviously expired and I'm explaining. I'm like, well I just got it like renewed and I showed them my health card that has like a hole in it. I'm like, I also got this renewed and my health card expired in 2020. I literally just renewed it like last week. Yeah. So then eventually she was just like, I'm like, yo, like look, I'm just going to the pizza restaurant. You can watch me. Because literally she could see her there. She's like, whatever. Like just go. So super chill. ID checker at the casino. That is wild. Dude, you're. That's. Yeah, that is something. He had quite a weekend. Well, they're more serious about ID checking in the States. Like I feel like maybe it's because we live in Toronto. Like whenever I go to a bar in Toronto, like they like don't even like check your id. And then like New Orleans, like, well, it's also like a three year difference, right? Like it's 18 for us, 21 for them, which is crazy. Like you can go to. I don't know, I don't know how it works. I think casino is 18 or whatever and Alhal's 21 or something like that. Where in the US it's not 21 for both. I have no idea. But they had some weird rules going on down there, so I think they're more strict for a reason. But that. That casino has some weird people in it, man. There were some like, snappy, strange individuals in that place. I was happy to get out of there when I did, to be honest. Yes. I didn't gamble. I literally just went straight to the pizza restaurant, which, you're right, it was kind of mediocre. It was, bro. It was like the cake boss's pizza restaurant, buddy. Whatever. They blast nasty, bro. So I mean, there's only place open. So we had pizza there and then that was a lot of fun. And then slept a lot on the flight home. So there you go. Anyways, derailed a little bit. That's more of our NIC experiences. But yeah, we can look at the top. Mr. James Kowalski, aka All Out Blitzel taking the tournament down with the Lily's clefairy box. You know, he did well with this at Indianapolis. I think he got top 32, right. And then Emma Hagen took it to top eight at where was this turn? Special event. And then now obviously he won Naic. So Danielle, is this. Have we been sleeping on this deck? Have we been sleeping on slot box in general? Is this now like the deck to beat heading into Worlds? I guess so. I mean, it can't not really be. At this point, it seems like it's doing really well and I don't know, it seems like it beats what it's supposed to be and it kind of loses to a lot of junk. You got to get on the right run. You got to start hot. You gotta start 340. Dodge all the jank in the tournament because like, this is tough. Like when you start playing against junk, this gets really, really difficult. Like that Metagross matchup. It's Josh. That's hilarious. I don't know. Josh is playing Metagross. I think they want to stream round two, actually. That's hilarious. Like, that couldn't have been an easy matchup. But then the rest of it looks fairly status quo. Besides, like, you don't want to deal with crustle. But it seems like it's. It's pretty winnable. I am concerned over the fact that all of Blitzel edits my Anneal TCG videos and I'm afraid his rate might have gone up now. So that's not good. But congrats to him, man. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving. He deserves it for real. He's a good, certified good Ute. He's a good you. Not a waste. Yeah, sweeter men's. All right, so, yeah, I mean, like, I think, like, he hit a lot of dragonfold, which is kind of what you need with that deck. You get 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. He went 110 against Dragon Pulp. I mean, his deck is built to be Dragon did that. And I mean, not take anything away from him, like. But to win a tournament like Naic, you need a lot of things to go your way, like, matchup wise. Right? So, I mean, it was easy to predict. I think that Dragon was gonna be the most popular deck. Like, you obviously still have to win the games play well, which he obviously did. You know, I watched the finals. He played pretty well in that. So big dub or Mr. All Out Blitzel. And, you know, maybe this deck picks up a little bit. When I was looking earlier, if you click on this clefairy thing, there was a decent amount of people playing it, but, like, not a crazy amount in day two, right? Like, there's 42 people play this in the tournament. It's win rate overall, pretty good. It's dragapult win rate was probably the highest I've seen out of almost any of the decks here at like 73. It's like the straight Dragon Ball 11 in the damn. Nice. Yeah, that makes sense. You're getting bothered by a single price strategy. Yeah. Soul 6%. Holy Zork is 12. I mean, the sample size is small, but, I mean, that's what I mean though, right? Like, you're gonna beat what you're supposed to beat and probably lose to everything else. But you know what? Like, you know, in Blitzel's credit, like, the deck is not as easy to play as I think it seems on paper. Like, when you look at the decklist, you're like, all right, this is like, brain off. Like, just go. It's not really that simple. There are a lot of cool plays you can make as, like, a good player. Like, you can see you saw on stream a couple times. You played made, like, some really cool cipher plays. You have saw blocks all the time. You play moltres. You have Chen pow to heal your guys when you need to. I think there's a lot of, like, cool niche plays you can make with it, which, like, honestly attracts me to it a little bit. Like, I kind of do want to try it now that it's. It's done and dusted nasc, but it's not like, the sexiest deck to play. Like, it's not like anyone's like favorite deck, I don't think. And I think that's probably why it's a little bit of a lower win or sorry, low play rate combined with some of these matches being a little bit sketchy. But now it's on the radar. You gotta hope people don't adjust to it. But I mean at this point we're not really playing for anything anymore until Worlds anyways. So yeah, I mean, I guess the other deck that's gonna get popular potentially the world's format is the Ghost Fail deck, which I imagine Lily's clefairy doesn't do the best against, but I mean I'd have to try it and see. Yeah, I mean big meta call from him and it paid off really well. And then second place was Nettie who actually played a similar build to what Justin Neudorf who also got top four this tournament was playing in Indianapolis. The Hammer Polt nor deck. And he had some modifications. There's a handheld fan in here, there's a jamming tower in here. And then like I don't know what else is different from Justin's list, but only two boss actually, which I think is like super low in Dragapult actually. I can't remember last time I seen two bosses. I guess maybe with Dusk Snore you have a little bit more control. So really going for this energy denial package I guess with the fan and the hammer really trying to target mirror. I guess so I mean this is back to back tournaments now where you know, the hammer pull nor has done well. So I don't know, is this just the best way to play dragapult? I mean like it seemed like the most popular consensus was straight hammer pull, but maybe it's dust nor hammer pull. What do you think? You definitely have a lot more reach with this, right? And even in the mirror, if you're able to get your duskle to evolve to dust clops and like you play dawn, like if you start with dawn in your hand you or you can be out for it. Like the deck is actually really good in the mirror as well. You do pretty good in the Dragon Ball designs. You can not make your Dusk's liability. I do think this version is doing better right now just because you have that extra reach and a lot of decks game plan around straight pulse. So they're like kind of thinking like they know when they're safe and when they're not. For the most part like you know, Dragon ball hits for 200 and that's kind of what it does. But with. With Dust, Nord adds kind of an extra layer to that kind of preparation. So I don't know. I think Dust Nor covers a lot of the bases that straight pulp can't cover. Right. You handle Crustle a little bit better. You handle Zoroark a little bit better. You handle Mirror. Lot of senses as well. And some of the Mega Pokemon as well that you're normally out of range for. You do pretty good into. So there's I think a higher pop off potential with this deck. But I definitely think it's a little bit less consistent. Yeah, I think that's just the way to put it. So the handoff fan is also pretty nice. You get that down in mirror. It's basically a guaranteed heads on a fan if they hit into you. His matchups were pretty actually varied. I think compared to like a lot of people we saw in day two, not that much dragapult six out of 14 rounds, which is a lot, but not actually a lot for if you're at top tables all day. So. So six zero in phase two. It's impressive. That is impressive. Yeah. He went to day two at six and two and then just rattled off six in a row. And look at that, right? Two crossles along the way. Beat a slow king and a DNC Dust Nor. Like all these like sketchy ass. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that I am. And even in top eight he played Mewtwo. He played against Rocks and Mewtwo, which is not a good matchup either. And like you can only like just by looking at that list. You can only imagine how much work Dust Nor put in. Like I'm sure he'll have an interview somewhere where he kind of explains it. But given that matchup spread, he gets nowhere close to sniffing top cut without a dustin or in his deck. I don't think. I think so for you. Dust Nor just covers the field so well. So really impressive. I was very impressed with this play. Actually I was doing some mod reviews of one of his. I think his top four match against Ross, he like had a six prize turn. He attacked with Fez like four times or something. I was watching that too. Yeah. So that was pretty cool. I. I couldn't figure out at the end why he did something that I was like, why did you do that? But I think Ross did something questionable too. So it kind of bounced out. I just remember watching it and just thinking like, what the hell happened here? But in general, the play was really, really clean. And it's got to be at anyic, you gotta, you gotta be playing right on top of your game. So yeah, he almost impressive for him for sure. He almost won game two with that pass instead of which is a pretty cool line that he, he saw. So we had Gumi who traded in his Dustner line for the Dunsparce line and Hammers. So Justin Newdorf, bro, did you see his stat on Twitter that he didn't lose a single game of Swiss in anytime this year in phase one? Wait, that is wild. Dude, how is that even possible? Like that is absurd. He went 43,05 in phase one. Like that just doesn't seem possible to me. Like how is that possible? That's crazy. No, that is crazy. And like I sat next to him a couple rounds, we had a couple conversations. Like he's not what you would expect him to be. Like when you watch him on stream, he's actually like very laid back. Like he's kind of just like having fun chatting to his opponent. Like he doesn't seem like the type of like 43. 0, I'm gonna sweat the hell out of my opponent. He was fun. Like he was just chilling. Talking about like I think he's a Wizards fan. Time with the Wizards with his opponent and stuff like, like I, I was generally very impressed with his ability to play the game at a really, really high level and kind of take the piss of it too. So very impressive stat. Very, very impressive. This is insane. Like this is actually probably one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. So I mean I think he's establishes himself as one of the top players in the game. He's second at Worlds top four. Any IC he got top four at whatever Indianapolis. I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure he had some other top cuts this year. So. Justin Newdorf aka Gumi, 35, one of the best, not just young players, one of the best players in the game right now, I think. For sure. Yeah, I think cool to see Ross Cawthon getting top four. Speaking about legends of the game, the only man or woman with an invitation to all however many world championships there's been like 20, I think so. Yeah. Really cool to see Ross back at the top. I mean, I think in the modern era he's, I don't know, struggle is the right word, but he hasn't had as many placements compared to I think like the past. I mean like Ross is like a pretty busy guy. He's like a professor. He does all this like crazy research. Like super, super impressive guy. But Always a treat, I think, to see him go on a run. I mean we saw him innovate with that moltres or not ultra sorry. The Roaring Moon deck a few years ago, the. The radiant Charizard deck at Worlds as well in London. And now here, just playing Slow King, taking the top four. So I mean Slow King is low key. Like maybe risen to like top of tier 2 type of deck. It seems like we had a lot of success with SLOK in the past few weeks. Yeah, no, it's been, it's. It's real. Like I, I mean I played a shaman in my deck, dude. Like I. I still think you can beat Slow King without shaming your deck with the fez line and all that stuff. But I was so scared of Slow King that I'm like, there's gonna be a time where I prize my fez or something happens. I'm gonna just lose the Slow King. It's just gonna piss me off. So I was like, all right, I'm playing a shaman because I respected Slow King that much. Going to the weekend, don't ask me how many I played against. It wasn't a very fun weekend for my shaman. It was a paperweight most of the time. But I think people do need to respect it. And I think as long as you don't see Shaman, this deck is really, really good. Even if you do see Shaman, you can still win. Right. And it's just gone to a point where like Slow King used to have these limitations. Right. Like you couldn't find your academies or you couldn't find. You couldn't chain like back to back attacks or whatever. But the deck now just has so many different tips and tricks. Like your cipher, kind of like pseudos as an academy of me, your boomerang energies bounce back to your hand. So you're not always like getting rid of all your energies, wonders, patches, helping a lot. Metagross adds like a whole new layer to the deck. I think it's. I think it's a very, very serious deck that needs to be taken seriously. Yeah, I think so too. Heading into worlds, we'll see if the ghost fails. Play the shavings. Otherwise like, this could be a really good deck. Let me run back to Crustle. I mean, I don't really have much to say. It's like you hit six dragon balls day one. He didn't Slow King around eight. That's actually impressive because that matchup seems like it would be hard to me. Yeah. And then like, you know, like his orc, I Mean, I mean like I don't know what to say. Like he literally just hit like auto wins almost every single round until top eight. It's Crustle, dude. It's Crustle. Like there's nothing else to say about it. Yeah. So lots of dragonfold. Like some ogre pot or like the slot box which looks. I don't think they play counter. I mean this list had one Pacinian so I think yeah, Blitzel's list had zero counter at all. So yeah, I mean back to back tournaments for him where cross will treat him well. So yeah, good for. Good for holding in the top eight. We did have a dragon ball Blaziken. I mean this deck is also on the rise. And we can talk about Jackson's list as well. Having some success. The Chiu in here. So I guess the John was respecting crustle. I wonder if he hit me. Let's see. No crustle but some overpower Meganium. I still lost. He beat. Okay. He beat three of them actually. So that looks like that baby. She probably put in some work for him. Oh yeah. The blaze can I think is you know, sneakily rising a little bit from. You know, everyone kind of wrote it off. But now I think there's like three events in a row where we've seen one top cut. So I mean two. Yeah. Deck is back. It feels like I like blaziken man. You're not relying on crushing hammers. The. The deck is just a little bit more stable I find even though you're playing rare candies and you're relying lot. Jackson's build was very, very cool with the secret box. The one Lily's pearl. You like box pearl clefairy. And then you got that. So lots of innovation from Mr. Ford. I think he didn't. Did he pass Liam for number one at the end of the year? I don't think he did. No. He finished six points below. What a scrub. Oh yeah. Great. Great year for the boy. Good friend of both of us here. So, so super cool. He's been like the secret box this year. So really good to see that. I. I'm actually. I gotta ask him if that Lily's or Lily's pearl actually did anything or if he was just taking the piss. I'm curious. Well, I mean, I know a lot. I'm sure. I'm sure it's something a lot of people are talking about playing like heroes, cape and blaziken. So you go like clefairy cape against mirror. So I guess like the pearl probably does something similar where it's like you give up one prize because that is the issue with clefairy and temerity is knock it out. So. So yeah, I think it's pretty cool. Maybe give you some other lines and other matchups as well. So very, very cool innovation there. Also, before we skipped over Slow King, I was going to say Ian Rob had an interesting list for Slow King. He kind of fell off a little bit, but he had like the cough Agrigus monkey package that was his shaman counter. So you. You cough Agrigus, put six on shaman, six on your monkey, then you Adrena brain and then that knocks out the shaman. Then you can use Kyurem on your turn. So I thought that was a pretty cool tech. I mean he had like the drapion as well, which we'll get to when we look at like Liam's list of Zorc, but. But you know, paralyzing stuff. So a cool Take the catcher instead of the secret box as well. I thought this was. I actually want to try this. This looks really cool. Yeah. So I don't know if this is better than the secret box build, but obviously had some decent success with. I saw you post a YouTube video today about it, which I need to go watch. Maybe you better educate myself on the list. Yuho. This is his third IC top cut. He has one at Laic, one at uic, one at Naic. So he's cut all of them, I guess exist though with the rockets Mewtwo. And I think, you know, the innovation here is the Prism Tower. I mean, one thing that this deck struggles with sometimes is like getting energy in the discards. He was charging up. So cool to kind of see him like, you know, cut a couple of the factories and then just put the Prism Tower in there. I mean, this is a deck that I think we all acknowledge is like a decent deck. It struggles with consistency sometimes on paper, your dragon pull matchup's pretty good. Obviously he did fall to the Dinetian top eight, but. But I don't know, are we. Were we sleeping on rockets? Nietzsche, what do you think? Yeah, I think with the into straight. Paul, you have a great matchup. I don't know really outside of that, I'm not really too versed on this deck to really comment on it too much, but it definitely has a place somewhere. And I guess the place is here. And I saw a couple players do very well with it, so maybe it's back on the radar. Yeah, I mean, Yuho also has to be One of the best aggro players of all time. So this guy's always playing whatever the best aggro deck is and always been. Well, well. So I mean, after him, there's not one Kotal 256, but really good showing from him. We had a couple other dragapults in here. We had Miguel. Let's see. I didn't look at his list. Yeah. Any special? No, just a hammer pull one one one stadium line. And there's an evil tall in here. I guess so, like, I guess that's a little special. A Bon and Henry Chow played the Alakazam in their dragonfold. This was pretty unique. So I guess the idea is, you know, like, it's kind of like the Dunsparce line that a lot of pull hammer decks run, but it's not countered by Watchtower. And then also Alakazam can actually attack. So you get that like one prize attacker. I mean, if you play into something like the slot map, slot box matchups that like they don't play disruption normally. And I guess you can use powerful hand, take a knockout, maybe make a single prize board. They had the Chiu in here as well for some more coverage. So I thought this is a pretty cool list with the zero zix and all that. Like a little controller pulp deck, no hammers, instead of playing like all these other cards. So I don't know, what are your thoughts on this? What's that? I was gonna say Abra is really cool too. Like just you start with it. Teleport. Yeah, teleport it out. So what are your thoughts on this? Is this like just the top player diff type of list, or do you think there's a list that could maybe be adopted by the masses? I do think it's a top player list. Top player diff kind of list. To be honest with you, I don't. I just don't see the need for a 1, 1, 1 Al Kazam line as much as others. Maybe especially if you're playing risky ruins yourself. I always. I almost always feel like the Dunsparce is better, but then again, I haven't tried this. I haven't seen it. I don't know anything about it. Just my hunch is just like, just as someone who's played a lot of Dragon Ball, like it just feels like you're taking an extra step to kind of do the same thing and you can't recycle it very well. I do like the fact that it's one prize option to attack with and obviously There isn't a lot of hand refresh in the format, but there's a lot of times in Dragon Ball where you need to refresh your own hand. You have no choice, like you're stamping or your lilies. Like the powerful hand can't be that good. But I guess it does cover Crustle, which is something that it looks like he hit a lot of. Yes. The Chiu is probably carried there and a festival lead because she was really good against festival lead because they need a stadium to knock it out. Then you get rid of their stadium and like they have to cross or choose 110. So probably carrying that matchup form as well. So pretty cool. I think Henry got top 32. If I'm not mistaken. He lost Jackson. He started 011 and then just rattled off a bunch of wins. Yeah. He had Daichi round one that's right there on stream. So yeah, I mean, Henry, like, he hasn't gotten a top cut without Gardevoir, but I think he has like three top 32s in the top 64 or top 16. Two top 32s and 64. So obviously still doing really well. Very formidable. Yeah. He's like definitely do you a top cut I think soon. So he feels like he just picked up Dragapult, which makes sense. It's kind of like the most similar gardevoir. Yeah. And then we did have a lot of Zor from the top players. I mean, Tord obviously the most notable lost in Asim. I saw he tweeted that he thinks he threw a little bit. I don't know if it was streamed or anything, but really cool build. We had the transformation tomes with the Darmanitan. So I mean, you can Darmanitan out of nowhere. You can clean up your board. You can get patched out or to patch out of the game. You get me out of the game. And there was the Ruffian to counter Crustle, which I did see Tord hit back to back crustles on the last two phases. And then I see it when the Swiss is phase one. It seemed like there was a lot of crosswell at the top tables actually. Yeah. So being prepared for that. Good call from Torrid. Daniel, what do you think about Zork? We'll get to Liam and Cruise list as well. But they played the tombs as well. So is Zorc maybe slept on? Is this actually a deck that's better than we gave it credit for going in? Is this maybe a deck that can go toe to toe with with Dragon Pole? Well, we were sitting here last week doing the NAIC preview. I remember saying. I was like, someone's got the list. Somebody has the cracked list. It's not me. And somebod did indeed have the crack list, which I was surprised about. Like, I. I almost thought I was coping a little bit with that comment, but it did actually seem like him and Liam just cracked a list. And I don't know. I think the biggest issue, and I've ranted about this before on the pod with Zork right now is your inability to kind of scoop your stuff up and maintain the board state that you actually want to transformation tome is sick. That is a card that's definitely going to help your boards a lot. And once we get into Liam's list, you'll kind of see what it's really, really good for. But I like the tattoo. I like the way this is played. And obviously it's toward. Right. Like, at the end of the day. Like, with anything like this, you do have to. To factor in the player that's playing it. And it's very similar to this Al Kazam Dragon Ball thing. Like, I think this list is good, but I think if the random person off the street picks up this list, they probably don't do as well as Tor did with it. So tomes are sick. You got to be very careful in managing them. But they're. They're obviously pretty awesome. And then this is even cooler. I really like this. This came out the night before it leaked from, like, Liam's Discord or whatever. And, like, nobody had drapions, so no one was able to play it. But the drapion with the tomes with the mega Absol. Like this. This strategy is so cool. You're using purloin as a pseudo Cyrano, so you're okay under item lock. You're just able to set up your zorks faster. And this is the way that Zorro Control kind of used to play, if you remember. Right. Like, your. Your primary thing was always to get up your Zorg gx. And then you can just trade through your deck and get what you need and play all these, like, toolboxy cards. This is. This reminds me heavily of that, that that's kind of what we're doing here. You got your tomes, just like the old puzzles of time, but even better, I guess. And you can transfer into whatever you need to. So Drapion can steal you some prizes. With the paralysis, you can obviously just stick something active and then catch up on your prize trade or something. That zork struggles with a lot. The one thing that I was surprised about with this. Oh, actually no, I don't need to be surprised. I was like, I don't know why you don't play patch to build up some damage on your drape you on to transfer over so you don't have to kill going to their turn, but you literally damage yourself with the attack. Yeah. Then monkey. Yeah. This is a brilliant innovation. Yes, go ahead. I would say it was like funny like the night before. On Thursday, I went down to my hotel lobby, I was meeting up with some people from my discord and Liam was just there and I'm like, why are you here? He's like, oh, I'm picking up a purloin. I was like, nice. Yes. There were some rumblings about purloin going into it, but there were not any rumblings about drapion. Like I did not hear a thing about drapion until the night before. Like, I don't know, man. All those Zoroark guys like kind of stick together and like there is a definitely like a band of guys that like just always theory crafting and stuff. Like this proline thing has come up a lot of times. But drapion, like that's just insanity. And like shout out to Liam or whoever came up with that. Yeah, that is insane. I know a lot of people. Yeah, I know a lot of people were playing the Mega Absol with the tomes. Like that was known technology. But drapion, dude, like I cannot, I cannot overstate how impressed I am with, with this kind of iteration. It's so cool. Really, really cool. And the monkeys to heal it off so you can get multiple uses out of it. So, so super, super impressive stuff for sure from. From Liam and his, his crew. Yeah. After that, not anything too crazy. I think in the top 32, I mean, Al Kazam's best placement being 36, maybe a bit surprising. Hydropola did okay in the top 32 and didn't really compete for cut. But yeah, I mean I think the meta was more or less as expected. I think the 36% Dragapult, like we said, like this is a term where a lot people are trying to lock up points, get all that good stuff. The next most played deck only being six and a half is pretty funny. So it's like 1/6 of like the main deck. Yeah, I guess heading into worlds, I don't really know how much the effects of Maic are going to translate. We obviously have pitch black coming out. I think the Ghost Fail deck is interesting. I think Zoroark doing so well. It's a deck that a lot of the best players like to play. So I think heading into World, like that's the deck on my radar is like, okay, like, are like, the Piper's gonna pick this up or like the. Is Liam and crew gonna keep playing this? Is this towards World deck? Some European players, right? Or some of the Latam players actually like playing it as well. So to me, that's the biggest takeaway from my preparation going to Worlds. Otherwise, like, I wasn't that surprised, but I think anything I saw at anyic. I don't know if you have a different take than me. No, I agree with you. I think there's still, until proven otherwise, no reason to not play Dragon Ball to Worlds as as far as I'm concerned at this current mom, obviously I'm not the one to speak on future iterations of sets. I don't know any cars until they come out and they're right in front of me or you tell me about it on this podcast. But I don't know. Dragon Ball is just so strong that it's hard to see anything really overtaking it right now. And going into Worlds especially, you want to play something you're comfortable with, something that's really good. And Dragon Ball's like that rare S tier deck that actually has a ton of skill in it. So getting really, really good with Dragon Ball is never a bad idea. So that's kind of. Kind of my game plan for the next couple months and we'll see where it goes from there. Yeah, I think I agree. I was testing the Ghost Fail deck today. That deck actually does feel like it has a very, very good DragonFL matchup, so. So we'll see. But it's the type of deck that I don't know how popular it's gonna be at Worlds, but have to see. So another. Another season of Pokemon in the books. Do you consider this the end of the season? Do you consider Worlds the end of the season? I kind of consider this the end of the season. Like, I think this is the end of the season. It's just because, like, the masses aren't playing in Worlds, right? It's just like a few of us or whatever. Like, it's. It is really, really cool to, like, obviously have this exclusive event at the end of the year that we can be a part of and test for and stuff and. But I have, like, so much sympathy for people who aren't going to Worlds. Like, what are You. What is there to play for now? It sucks. Like, I think that's so stupid that they canceled challenges and cups in the summer, and I'm really pissed off about it. I. It doesn't even affect me, and I'm really pissed off about it. So let me know how you. Let me know if you echo my sentiments down below. Am I overreacting? I might be. I mean, I think, you know, back in the day, that's what it used to be like for us, right? There was just. No, there was only, like, cups, I guess, during one part of the year, so. But, yeah, I agree. We've talked about the pottery. I thought it was a very strange change to get rid of the summer cups and challenges, but that's why the game, like, lacked so much. Like, just. It just lacked. I don't know what the word is. Like, continue. Continuity. Is that a word? Continuity? Continuation. I don't know. Continuity. That's the word I'm looking for. I feel like it lacked that throughout the year back in the day, because you had cities within two weeks. And then the other half of the year, not even half, but the other, like, 9% of your people. What am I doing? You won regionals. 1 National months between tournaments. Like, I think there was, like, some years, like, I'd lose. Go four months playing a tournament, right? Because I wasn't flying, and that's why the game just wouldn't grow. Like, yeah, like, people did. Like, people would want to play the game, and, like, you're so itchy to play, and whatever you do well at, like, cities, and you're like, what the hell do I do now? Right? So I think any breaks in the game is. It's not good. You want to keep people in. And again, we've talked about this. Maybe we talk about this every week, but they have no issues getting people out, right? They have no issues with that. But I do want to see the game continue in the right direction. I think continuity is important for that. I think you want to always have. Have. Especially people coming off Nasu maybe didn't do too well, or people like. Like, who want more, and they're like, I want to get back in the lab. I want to work. I mean, I like the summer locals because I don't play locals that much. Like, that's the easiest time for me to do it, actually. Neil, really funny, like, running gag. This is the third year in a row I missed top 16 because I didn't do locals. I didn't see that. I wasn't gonna Be the one to bring it up. I left, like 40 or 50 points local points on the table, and then I missed top 16 points points, so. Oh, man. Tough. Brutal. I mean, Endgame man, like, three points because he got second at a league challenge that was invite. Did you see a tweet? No. What do you say? So he goes this league challenge and there's. There's only five minutes. And like, okay, sure. Like, it is kind of like on him for not going to another league challenge or you're that close. But there was five mans at the lead challenge, and two of them went two in one. So him and the other guy went two and one. They had the exact same opponent's persistence and the exact same opponent's opponent on his resistance. And, like, he just, like, randomly came second and, like, we don't know why. And maybe he lost head to head. I'm not really sure. But Endgame man missed his invite by three points and it was off of that. Yeah. Which is brutal. He is gonna look really good bald, though. So we, for those who don't know, we made a bet at the beginning of the year that if Endgame man doesn't get his invite that he is going to have to shave his head and his beard. So he's gonna look really, really good bald. But, like, it's, you know, it's too soon. I can't bring it up yet. So I'll give him a. Give him a week to cool down. Yeah, I gotta pamper him up a little bit and get him a few drinks or something. Yeah, he's gonna be going about his day being like, yo, let me listen to Shift Gear podcast. And it's at the end, it's just gonna be like. Like, try to escape. No, someone's gonna. Someone please send this to him. Like, he's gonna. He doesn't listen to Shift Gear Podcast, bro. Someone's gonna send this to him and he's gonna be like, oh, nice. They're just dogging me for, like, two minutes. But it's. It's not dogging you. We feel bad for you and we want you to go bald. It's. I think you look great bald, dude. Also, I saw. I mean, kind of related, but I think it was like, Richard Yano, like, sent in a support ticket and Pokemon said they're actually not letting everyone in who has 720 points. Did you see that? I did. I did. So crazy play points, right? Yeah. These play points as a tiebreaker. So, I mean, I. I think it should be the inverse where it's like, the less play points you have, the higher you are because that means that's more impressive. But I mean, when you give play points for stuff like league or like cups or pre releases, I guess it doesn't matter as much. So that is tough for the people on the bubble if they, they don't let them in. But I don't know, I think it's really stupid. Yeah, I think it's really stupid that there's a bubble. Like, I just, I don't like it if you've that many points. I just think you should get in. Like, if I understand we need to be able to predict how many people are at worlds, but if the tiebreaker is that ass, like, we don't have a good tiebreaker in any, any shape or form, then I think it's only fair to let people in. Like, that's just the way I look at it. And I, I am of the mind that, like, whenever there's an eligible tiebreaker that makes sense that we should use it. And I think it's like, you see that a lot in soccer. Like in the World cup, you'll see a lot of these groups will just get like, like log jammed. And like, the tiebreakers will be very similar because you only play three games, but it's going to come down to, like, who has less yellow cards or something. That makes sense because you want to reward the teams that play cleanly and stuff like that. Like, that actually makes sense, sense play points. To me, especially when, like, guys like you and I come on this podcast and we have a significantly better argument for the inverse. It's very clear that play points is not a good tiebreaker. Yeah, it's very evident. I mean, at the end of the day, it's like, well, like, just do better at like one more tournament, get the points. But I do think it feels really bad when it's like, like you're saying play points is just not a good tiebreaker. I think if you're gonna add a tiebreaker, it should be highest placement at, like a major. I think that's a fair tiebreaker. I like that. So, like, you know, if someone got top four or some, or top cut, right, like, you know, that pushes you over. Because to be at 720, that's normally a season where, like, you have a bunch of day twos and stuff, but not one big finish. Because I think if you get a top eight at a tournament, that's pretty much like enough points to push you into the 8, 900 range, right? So I think like, that's probably like your best finish, like a 128 and IC or something like that. That's kind of what that looks like. The problem is with the top cut thing. Like, this is you're gonna get like some guy who like, flew to like South Africa. Sbe right, like, and like, this is, again, we're gonna have tons of time to talk about this over the summer. We need to nerf that SB thing. That thing needs to go down to the ground. I'm, I'm, I'm over that. Because some of these people that are getting screwed off these invites are losing the people who flew to South Africa, which, like, by all means, I guess, where it's like you're at the back of the leaderboard. So it's like if you're world's caliber, like, you will make worlds, like, if you attend enough events. Like, I mean, jw, right? Like, obviously he's a great player, multi time regional champion. Like, I don't doubt, like, he didn't play that many turns. Probably, like, that's someone who I expect to make worlds. He plays a lot of events. But it's like if you're on the margins, it's like, I don't know, I feel like if you just had a great season, you should be comfortably in. Like, if you, if you don't make worlds because a couple people passed you because they went to South Africa, sp, it's like, I don't know. I don't think it's like that ridiculous. So I, I mean, I've always been advocate that. Like, I agree with you. Like, sps are very broken in the grand scheme of things. Like, I think they should switch to, like, I don't have any match points. You get. That's how many championship points you get. Or just like lower the points for an sb. I think this just still exists. I think it's important that like underserved communities or areas get events. But yeah, it's, it kind of goes against the spirit of competition when, like you can fly to South Africa, go to like a, a very small event that's basically like a league cup in terms of attendance. And like, that's the same as someone attending like a 3,000 person regional. So it is, it is tough. Really? Yeah. It doesn't feel fair. That's, that's my issue with it. Like, it does. Again, it's another thing. It doesn't really affect me in the slightest. Like, I don't, I don't have any personal vendetta. To anybody who goes to South Africa. But it's just like. Yeah, yeah, it's just like, I just don't think it's fair for people on the leaderboard trying to compete. And, like, not everybody has the time or the job or, like, the. The ability to just fly to South Africa to go play Pokemon. Like, I just wish the. The field was a little bit more balanced. We've come a long way, man, since, like, the start of, like, world's invites and stuff and, like, how it used to be, even coming out of COVID dude. Like, most people got their invites off of, like, top 128s with arc intel. Like, they just get, like, six top 128s with arc intel, which was like, 63 back then, or 54. Even got top 128. And they would just spam them because you, like, endlessly do it. So that was, like, legit pay to win. But this is, like, at least a little bit better what we have now. And I think. I think the format we do have now is probably the most fair we've had in a while. Like, top 135, like, feels comfy. I know we had our. Our issues with this, like, top X system when it first came out, but I think after two years, like, we can conclude that it's not as toxic as we thought. Yeah, I mean, Europe had a lower. Lower number, I think, than we did. I think North America had probably the. Or oceanic might have had the highest, actually. Yeah. They have 20 spots, right. For masters, so I think theirs was similar to ours. 740, it looks like. I know juniors and seniors. It was ridiculous in Oceania, Like, I think for seniors, it was like, yeah, like 800. Like 10th place. Or this is juniors, but 10th place was 820. I think they had three auto invites. So 800 seniors. What they have? Yeah, like, look at seniors. Oh, my God. Like, the person in 10th had 1180. Right? So, like, this is an issue with the system where Australia is, like, an isolated. Or Oceania, I should say, is an isolated region. It's crazy expensive to fly out of region and very time consuming. So if some kid's parents, like, doesn't have the money or time to take them to, like, NAIC or euic. Like, you just can't make worlds unless you, like, top cut, like, all your regionals. So definitely, I think still some bad things about the system. I mean, I've talked about this before. Like, I think juniors and seniors should just go back to a bar. But I think for masters, I Think the Top X system has been good overall, I think I've preferred it to what we had before. So, yeah, it's either you go back to a bar for juniors and seniors, or you alter it to say, like, if you live in these certain regions, your best finish limit is less. Or just like, I, I think that's Australia. Yeah. Or. Yeah, exactly. Or just make the best of it less. Like, like what if you just said, hey, if you're based in Oceania, your best limit is two instead of five because you get four regionals in a year and you better take your two and go well with it. I don't think anybody would complain with that because that's is, that is fair. Like, that is all right. I can compete and if I do well in my local region, I'm one of the top players. I will go to Worlds and I think that is all we want. And then if the real try hards then still want to fly to Naic to get extra points, then that's, that's enough. Another thing, right? Like, I think that's, maybe that defeats the system a little bit, but if you go to Naic, you're gonna have a lot harder of a time getting a first or second place than you will at like, I don't know, like Melbourne regionals. Right. So I don't know. Food for thought. We got lots of feedback for, I think in the summer. And I think most importantly actually we gotta start planning the, the award ceremony. We'll have to get the votes going. Like maybe not next week's episode, the week after or it depends, like I guess how much work we put in. Hey, I mean, I think it's been such a hit that I'm willing to put in the words. Yeah, no, for sure, for sure. I guess like voting. And then we have to get the graphic ready. It's a more high production episode of the Shift Gear podcast. But yeah, we look forward to. I think, you know, I've had some people in mind for who's gonna win the awards this year. So it'll be interesting. We'll have to get the ballots out. I just got my suit dry cleaned. Oh, nice. Okay, so you ready for that? All right, do like a banquet hall or something. That'd be sick. We like rent out a banquet hall. Yeah, just, just rent out a banquet hall and print out cutouts of all of our winners and walk them down the aisle or something. I don't know, like, I can like pay like Toronto locals to dress up like the people who won, but then it might get a little, like, too, like, stereotypy. We might get in trouble. So I don't know if we can do that. Yeah, we'll think of something. We'll pass on that, but, yeah, we will. Dog in the hot water. Yeah. So we'll. We'll have that episode soon. I mean, we might even be able to reuse the thumbnail from last year. Year. Let's put 2026 on it. I'm down. I'm down. I'm down. Definitely down. Big shout out to palace, the peak who hooked us up last year with those. So let us know in the comments if there's any new categories you think we should have. I mean, I think we'll have the classics, you know, the mvp, the opera of the year. What else do we normally have? Breakout player. We have rookie. Yeah. Rookie. Yeah. Player of the Year. We had some cool ones. We'd like to waste man of the Year. We got to bring back waste man of the Year. I got some good contenders for that one, actually. Yeah. Let us know down below what some new categories we should introduce this year. I think this is, like, the most fun video we have, definitely in the year. And, like, it's crazy if you're still here. It's like an hour plus into the episode. After a weekend I was. I spent literally roasting Azul. But how he makes his podcast so long, it's like, dude, how the hell do you talk that long? What was his answer, actually, because you and I are always like, how are they doing? Do it. He said, I really love Pokemon. And, like, fair, I guess. Yeah. He said, I really love Pokemon respects. But I don't know how that makes the episode longer, but. Well, he just. He just yaps about Pokemon, dude. Like, I don't know. Like, I. I feel the fatigue sometimes. And we'll talk, like, 20, 30 minutes about Pokemon, and I'll be like, all right, I'm over this. Like, and I think you probably feel the same way for most of it. Like, there's only so much Pokemon you can really break down before it's getting redundant. So he loves Pokemon. So he talks a lot of Pokemon. We like other things. I love Pokemon, too. I. Sometimes. Okay, like, we're talking about a topic. I'm like, is this still interesting? I guess it is, because people still like listening. But, yeah, we. Maybe that can be a goal for us and y' all for, like, next season is we can try and find a way to make these episodes longer with good content. I hate that. I hate that goal. Already we're vetoing that goal. You. We cannot talk more Pokemon. I was. I was hoping you go the other way. I was hoping you say we just, like, ditch it all together. We talk about, like, you know, how Zool and Chip do, like, the bonus episodes. Like, you and I do, like, the bonus episode. Or they're just, like, zero Pokemon. Yeah, that's what I was saying. Like, I was actually talking to Rowan because Rowan's, like, taking a step back from Pokemon or whatever. I'm like, dude, when you quit, if you want to hop on with us and, like, we'll talk, like, nonsense. Like, we could just have a good episode where we literally just talk nonsense the entire time. And I, like, low key, think it'll do better than, like, the main episodes. So if you're still here after an hour and whatever of us yapping about nonsense, let us know down below and let us know what categories we should add to the shifties. I'll buy a new suit maybe this year. That'll be cool. Yeah. Pokemon suit. Nice. I have a Pokemon dress shirt. Maybe I should wear that. So. Hey, you can wear that. There you go. There you go. So cool. I mean, a great season, I think, for both of us. I mean, I appreciate everyone who, you know, listened to us, supports the pod. It's a lot of fun for the both of us. And, I mean, we're in. I don't know how many episodes we've done now, but almost three years yapping. So I could tell you. Actually, I could tell you how many episodes. This is our 133rd episode of the Shake your podcast. I mean, that's impressive to be able to make that many episodes. You know, from when we. Bro. When we start, I actually sometimes when I'm bored, I listen to our first episode. Bro. It's, like, so bad. And. Oh, really? I've never listened to it. I don't think I ever wanted. We used to always have production issues because, like, our mics would always be different, like, volume. We tried to, like, sync tracks. I used to record everything in my old YouTube videos, like, on my MacBook, right? Yeah. Until I got this computer. So it is funny. I mean, it's like, dude, it's still ass. But we came from, like, the bottom of the bottom, so it was crazy. And, like, yeah, there was, like, a stat. I read that, like, I think it was, like, a 99.2% of podcasts don't get past episode 10 or something. So I think we did okay. So we did okay. I mean, anyone who Wants inspiration. Go watch my very first YouTube video, the Champao one. Like, it's like literally the worst thing ever, like in terms of production. So that's why I say just start if you want to make content. Don't worry about like getting a good setup. I mean you and I still have pretty low tech setups, so yeah, just, just go for it, dude. You know you want to know my setup? My setup is a cardboard box that I put my, I put my mic on every week. That's it. I got a USB mic, a cardboard box and this like Amazon camera we ordered. So it's like, like it doesn't take much. I think the best thing to do is just start and figure it out. You don't, you're, if you're ever doing it to see dollar bills though, like you're, it's not going to work out immediately, right? Like it's easy to get demotivated. Like you kind of just got to go and hope that things work out. And I think for like you and I, like, we still don't see direct profits from shift gear. Like it's not a thing. But like everything else we do sees an uptick in popularity because of shift gear, right? So there's like other avenues. Like when you do your coaching and you do your stuff like that, you get a lot more because we have a lot of traffic through here and like, like when I write guides or whatever, like I do, like I get more traffic even though Pokemon's on my full time thing. It helps drive people from here to there. And so like there's always a point to doing these things and like all cloud is good cloud, I guess. But you're not necessarily going to see dollar bills from like this kind of stuff, right? Yeah, I mean I actually think I'm coming up on my two year anniversary of being Pokemon full time. I make a video or write an article like detailing it all because I think people might find it interesting for sure. I mean I definitely found it interesting navigating it and like figuring out like how to do things like yeah, how to use content or I'm not doing enough right now, but all that good stuff. We are, right? Like it's, I mean you and I do this because I think we have fun doing it. That's the main reason. I think if it wasn't fun, you and I wouldn't be doing it. So yeah, we appreciate everyone who listens to the shift Gear podcast. We need, we need a name for the fan base. Anil, what are shift gear Listeners called. See, I don't like doing this because, like, it always ends up being so cheesy. But I agree with you. We need, like, something. The Swifties. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, it ends being either cheesy or really insulting. We call them, like, the waste mans or something. But that's not nice. Like, it's not. I mean, let us know what you guys want to be called down below. I don't know, man. I. Like, is there, like, a term for that? I just feel like everyone just comes up to us and just starts speaking, like, broken patois. And I think it's a beautiful thing for the amount of times, like, says Wagwan, I don't clock it. Like, right away, that's what they're saying. I'm like, what? And then I'm like, oh, yeah, dude. My. My Jamaican friends roast me all the time for this. And, like, it's fair. Like, it's. Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah. It is a terrible rendition to. To what a beautiful language patois. But, like, damn, bro, we need, like. We need an intro so bad, because, like, it was so hard making those different language intros. So Wagon Generals works really well, and there's, like, a meme video to back it up. It all just kind of. It kind of just flows. And, like, even though one day I'll look back on this and be like, I can't believe I said Wagon Generals into a mic for two and a half years. It was worth it. Yes, agreed. So. But, yeah, thank you, everyone, for not only sticking around this episode, sticking around around the whole season. We look forward to another season with you guys. Also, if you have ideas for summer content, let us know. We might take a couple weeks off, I think, in the summer. Yeah. Yeah. Let us know when you want to see from us. Yeah, I think that's all we got. Now, thinking about the origination of where Wagwan Generals came from, and I remember it came from that guy who made an Ogre Pond card on Twitter, and he called it Ogremon. And then the Ogre Mon had, like, a. Like, a blunt in his mouth, and we can never post it because it was so foul, but that's where Generals came from. Patois, Ogre pot. So Jamaican. I thought you started doing it one day. Yeah, no, I didn't know. No, no, it's like, because it started because Ogre Pond became Ogre Mon, and then we just started talking about that, and then the John Stones video came up with Wagwan Generals, and then that was the week that I introed in patois, and then it just caught on like fire. I don't know why. It just did. And then now we're here. All right, that is the true origin story of Wah Wan Jet. Nice. Actually, you know what was really cool? One of my students, I teach, her mom is, like. She has, like, a jewelry company. All this, like, she's really talented with, like, like, making stuff. She made her a custom, like, Ogre Pond shirt and bag. It's actually sick. That's sick. Yeah, because Ogre Pond's her favorite Pokemon, actually. So I saw one of your students in the Pokemon center, and they stopped me to say, hey, Kieran's my coach. I forgot their name, but they were wearing a really sick, like, goomy stitched hat, and their mom made it for them. Yes, yes, I know who that is. I won't, like, say. Yeah, no, no, you don't have to. But that. That was sick, too. Really, really nice. She's actually very easy to identify because I see the. The goomy hat always, like, from a distance. Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah. I'll have to send you the photos of the. The Ogre Fon bag because it is really, really cool. Yeah, I need some ogremon merch. We stopped making the shift gear bucket ads. Well, they released ogrepon, like, playmats and stuff, so. Actually, I sent it to you on Facebook. Y' all look real quick before the episode's over. Over. Yeah, let me do. Oh, that is actually pretty sick. Yeah. So really, really cool. Nice. Lots of talents around. I like it. Yeah. So cool. I think. All right. I think now we're done. I think. Thank you, everyone. This is ridiculous. I can't believe we've been on here for so long. Anyways, we're like Azul, Gigi, and Chip. Just, like, light, I guess, if you've been here this long. We appreciate you all. Let us know down below. New new categories for the shifties. How you're feeling about all this stuff this break over the summer, let us know. We like to interact, give us some video ideas, but most importantly, stay safe. Thank you for being around with us. We appreciate y' all for another year. And we'll be back with the shifties in a couple weeks and probably some jank next week, but we'll see you then. Peace. Later.