We're Back! Discussing the State of the Game

Log 1. General. It's been a while since I said that. Feels actually like almost unnatural to say that now. It was Carabana last weekend. So I did, I did hear a lot of the word and a lot of like the, the phrases. But I haven't heard the phrase wagon generals in a minute. So it's been a hot minute since we've been. We've been out here recording. We're back for now trying to figure out and navigate this very slow summer of Pokemon. But we figured it's been long enough that we should probably come back and do a little yappy app. So we've returned from our hiatus, I guess. What have you been up to? What's been going on? I mean a lot of work. Getting, getting myself ready for Worlds, getting my students ready for Worlds. I did a lot of reading. I've read like seven books the past month. That's odd. So definitely that's one of my favorite hobbies. Just. I gotta give a shout out. Neil. This book I just read, this book was so good. It's called the Poet Empress. Highly recommend if you like fantasy books. It's a little dark, but one of my favorite reads of the year. So I read that. Yu-Gi-Oh it's about this like girl, she's like a concubine, then like rises to try and become the empress with this like abusive guy. But it's, it's very good. Nice. What else have I been doing? Been playing a lot of basketball. Good. So that's been good. Stay in shape. Exactly. What else? What else I've been doing just hanging out with friends and enjoying summer pretty much. What about you, Neil? I know you just got back from a little quick trip to Montreal. Yu-Gi-Oh I was out there for a festival that was fun. My first festival. Enjoyed that. A lot of concerts for me this summer, a lot of, A lot of sports. Trying to get back like on a really strict like kind of workout routine. So I, I downloaded a few apps and stuff from tracking my calories and like doing all this like calisthenic stuff in my Zebra time. So trying to really like get back into it because I feel like during the year with Pokemon, I, I don't all the time. Like I, I try to play my three nights a week but it's not enough when you're, when you're getting older. So trying to really lock in. I don't know. We have, we've a lot of stuff that we've missed for the last three weeks like Pokemon wise. But at the same time it a lot at all. So it feels like it's been quite, quite slow. And I personally, I mean, we kind of had this conversation off air, but I've been finding this game to be a bit of a chore lately to play. So I'm sure we'll get into that, as in due time, but it is currently 23 days away from Worlds and I have no idea what I'm doing, so that's gonna have to change. Nice. Unfortunately, I mean, I think that's the classic. I was talking with one of the. The moms, the kid I teach, and she's, like, freaking out because her kid, like, is having trouble picking a deck for Worlds. Oh, my God. This is like the most normal thing, like, ever. Like, this will never change. For most years, I mean, I can count maybe on like, one finger or one hand. Well, I guess I haven't played that many Worlds, like, how many times I've been like, I know a deck I'm gonna play, like, more than like a month out type of thing. Yu-Gi-Oh I agree with that. It's only happened once for me actually, too. So it's not. It's not often that you actually know this early. Yu-Gi-Oh I'm trying to think how many years I'd say my first world, I knew what deck I wanted to play for sure. My son was, what, 2013. 2013. I played Klinklang. Right. I think the next three years I wasn't sure what to play. I think the Champao year I knew for sure I wanted to play Champao. I think that was it. I think maybe two out of my nine Worlds I've known for sure, like, what I wanted to play. It's always hard. Right? Like, and like, this year is very interesting. We'll get into it eventually where it's like, there's one deck that's just head and shoulders above the rest, but it's like, do you believe you're gonna one-of-one Worlds if you're. If you're playing Dragonfold or not? But then, like, all the other decks have, have issues with them. So, Yu-Gi-Oh the game's definitely in a. An interesting spot right now. I mean, we've been talking about this ever since rotation, but Yu-Gi-Oh it's been, it's been interesting that, like, Worlds is like, so deep in August. Like, I got on my phone, like, I think this week, it's like, oh, you were in, like, Anaheim last year. Because it really has felt, especially, I think, with no cups and challenges, like, the offseason has felt like Zebra long to me. I don't know if you felt the same way. But Yu-Gi-Oh that's. That's kind of how it's been feeling to me and it's been nice. Like I've had a good summer, but I don't know. I don't know if I like having this much time off. Like, it's like I'm excited for Worlds and then now, like we'll get into it when we talk about the new season. Like, it feels like the new season just starts like so soon after Worlds because of how late it is this year. So. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh definitely. There's pros and cons, I guess. Right? Like, I mean, we get to enjoy the summer for what it's worth and like that's always fun. There are certain things that you just don't have time to do in a normal Pokemon filled the year. So it is really nice just to scale it back and not have anything to do on. On some of the nights and just chill out a little bit. But it definitely feels like a part of my life at least because I completely dissociate. I'm not like, I don't work like you in the game right. Where you can. You kind of always have to be associated. I completely go ghost. Like last three weeks I've been a complete ghost. Not on my Twitter or anything. Like just trying to enjoy summer photos Worth. So it does feel like it's shifting a lot. Like at least for me just not having cups and challenges, I feel like that would have kept me a little bit engaged, so feels like it definitely pushed me away from the game a little bit, which I'm sure we'll talk about. But Yu-Gi-Oh they've had. I forget what they called them. Was it like end year celebrations or some end of year celebration tournaments? Yu-Gi-Oh like they've had those mid year tournaments. Mid year tournaments, Yu-Gi-Oh Like I haven't gone to one, but a lot of people I talked to have been going to them and like I. It sounds like that's been scratching the itch. Maybe I'll go to one this weekend because I haven't been playing enough paper, I think. Pokemon. Yu-Gi-Oh So I actually knew I got my live account Arceus today, which doesn't happen often. I mean, I have to give a shout out to my friend Arjun for also helping me get the account up, but. So there's that. But Yu-Gi-Oh I don't know. I think. I don't know. I think we kind of discussed that you and I weren't a huge fan of like pausing league cups and challenges in the summer and Like I still feel that way after experiencing for the summer. So Yu-Gi-Oh it's like it's Worlds is creeping up on us. We got three, three weeks to go. So Neil, you said you're, you're unsure of what you're gonna play. You've kind of been disassociating. Like, are you locking in now? Are you still gonna give yourself like another week grace before you really start from the powder? I'm a big opponent of when the game doesn't feel fun. Don't force it. And it just. I don't have it yet. I don't have it yet. I'm hoping at some point it becomes real. Like, I'm hoping it, I'll like lock in like. So Austin's coming to my place in a couple weeks or maybe next weekend I think for a little like just to hang out in Toronto. But I'm sure that'll turn out into like a little mini boot camp. So I'm hoping that weekend like the 14th or whatever, like I'll lock in a little bit just because I have like a Pokemon influence around me. But other than that, man, like none of my boys this year are going to World. Like, like none of like my close group that I hang out with. It seems like everyone else is completely dissociated. They don't care. Like, because for the average person, what do you have to play for right now? Like, what are you really testing for mid year tournaments? Like you don't care, right? Well, I guess they announce regionals for the fall. I guess it's the same format as Worlds, but Yu-Gi-Oh I guess it's just love of the game type of thing, so. And the problem is too though, we don't even know where Worlds is next year. Half these people that are going to these regionals, we don't know whether they want to even go for the world's chase. I'm sure if they come out and announce, hey, we're going to Tokyo For Worlds 2027, you'll get a lot more people like suddenly interested in the game that you do right now. So I think it kind of ebbs and flows a little bit in that sense where it's like, all right, we're testing for Worlds, but who are we testing with? Where are we testing? Like, it gets a little, it gets a little murky. And that was one of my concerns going into the off season with no cups and challenges, that you would lose a large AM player base. So it seems like we're kind of going through that right now. But we shall see. Yu-Gi-Oh we'll see for sure. I mean, actually I stopped by one of those mid year challenges, like, I didn't like, say to play like last week, and it was like, full. It's like, okay, maybe people are still. I think there is an appetite for people to play. Like, people like playing. So I think, like, Yu-Gi-Oh you could have kept the cups and challenges, but I mean, the end of the day, it's not like that big of a deal. But Yu-Gi-Oh I played into them just because it was like on a Friday night. So I was like, why not go play? I qualified for the Manta Trading Invitational, which is very prestigious, so I'm excited to play in that. But it did seem like those nights were like the nights where people really, like, came out and played. But then leaving the tournament, people like, oh, Yu-Gi-Oh I remember why I don't play Pokemon anymore. So I don't know how positive this whole thing really was. It doesn't help us. Sorry I'm ranting, but it doesn't help as well. Like, Riftbound and all these other games are taking off right now. So people are kind of going over there. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I think we all love to complain about the game. To me at the end of the day, like, even when the format's not great, I still do enjoy sitting down, like, playing, like, Pokemon. Some people, Yu-Gi-Oh people just yearn for it. Like, some people don't play other card games. Like, I don't play other card games, so that's funny. Actually, one of my high school friends messaged me. He's like, Yu-Gi-Oh look, I'm at Panini games. Like, I'm doing so Riftbound. I'm like, I have no idea. Like, he's like, you should come play. I'm like, okay, maybe I'll try it out one time. I mean, I heard it's fun. Yu-Gi-Oh I heard it's fun too. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I used to play League of Legends back in the day, so I would know a lot of the characters, but I just, like, I have no temptation to want to go into another time zone right now. Exactly. Or it's like, I think I've said this on the Paul before, but I think I would be frustrated. Like. Like, I wouldn't just be like a tall player at Rift Bell. Like, I'd have to learn the game again. Like, I don't think I have enough time to put into to do that. So I'm sure it's fun. But Yu-Gi-Oh I think Pokemon enough for me to scratch that itch. For card games. I think I play so much love it. I'd rather just have other hobbies like playing basketball. So. Yu-Gi-Oh maybe we can start. They announced the new season. They actually announced like almost all the regionals. Like I think only North America didn't get all theirs announced. Maybe there's one more for like Oceania or Europe or latam, but it seemed like they. The whole season schedule is there besides like maybe like five North American regionals. So is that the first time they've actually given us dates this far in advance. Like we even have stuff all the way until like I think like June next year. Right? Yu-Gi-Oh I think we did a couple years ago too if I remember correctly. Because I remember planning out my entire season one year. And it was, it was doable right from the job and we. It included Toronto from the jump. Which I'm assuming they are going to add in here. Yes. And if they don't, we're gonna have some real problems. Yu-Gi-Oh well, maybe I was gonna say Toronto is naic, but no, we have Chicago. Maybe Toronto is Worlds. And you know, maybe that's why they didn't put that. Okay, so actually I'm interested to have this con with you. I was talking about this with someone else. So I thought about this deeply. Like very, very deeply. Toronto Worlds. What is the possibility of Toronto Worlds? And then I established that it is legitimately zero percent ever because the. The world's dates always coincide with the X. And the Enercare Center I think is the only venue that has an outdoor space big enough for them to host their outdoor portions of Worlds. And that would always have to happen during the Canadian National Exhibition. For if you don't live here is the biggest carnival in Canada. Really. And you can't cancel that. Not even Pokemon money could cancel that. So I was thinking about it. Is it possible to actually host Toronto World? I want to see like brand or something. Well, I mean I think. Well, where are they doing XP this year? I don't think you need like the fairgrounds to have it, do you? Like you can do it in different parts around the city. Like you could, but they all have outdoor like. Like parts to them. Right. Like Worlds is so big now that you Goldin host the Metronic Convention Center, I don't think. Well the hall. But the area around it is not. Well, I think the way they're doing it this year is like. Like the only the competition is happening. The commercial center, I think. Right. And like the rest of the stuff is around the city. From what I Understand? I mean, we'll see it this year, I guess, when we go to sf. But that is a good point about the X. I mean, like, maybe they could do stuff like, you know, like use like the parks Downtown, like Trinity Bellwoods or like, like Stacked Market or something. I know you can like do activations there. I never actually thought about that, Neil. That's a good point. You know what I mean? Like, I. Because I was thinking about it and I was like, why hasn't this happened? It just feels so obvious. So I really sat down, dove into my bag and I thought about all the places that Worlds have been and I'm like, they're always in cool places, but off to the side a little bit, right? Like, and with the exception of Honolulu, like Japan was in Yokohama, Anaheim's obviously a little bit off to the side. London, the convention center is nowhere near the city center. Like, it's always a little bit off. So I don't know. Very interesting things to think about. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I crushed my own dreams. And then I realized I don't actually think I want Worlds to be in Toronto. So I kind of was happy about that. I feel like I would want to do it in Toronto one time. I think that'd be pretty cool, like to get the Canadian Worlds going again. Because I think Vancouver's not like the games. I've grown. Vancouver for Worlds and then Montreal, I think is all the French language stuff. So I don't think we'll ever get Worlds there. So, like, Toronto's really. If you want Canadian Worlds, I think the only city that could really do it, someone. You're all gambling laws too, right? That's what, that's what screws them. I think they also have rules that if you have events there, like, all your signage has to be in French. Like you have to also do. If you a broadcast, you have to also have things in French. So I don't think Pokemon wants to do all that stuff. So. But Yu-Gi-Oh we got all this. Exactly. We got all these dates. Neil, anything new on the schedule that appealed to you? Places you're gonna maybe check out next season? Absolutely not. I Goldin be less excited about any of these locations, to be honest. I hate to be Debbie Downer. I just. We've been to all these places before. There' nothing here that's really striking out to me. San Diego is cool. That is a cool city that I really actually did enjoy last year afterwards. Padres games are very expensive, is what I learned last year. But San Diego, that the city Is quite cool. So that is a place that, I mean if it was more than a regional I would go. But I kind of have like my limits for where I'll travel for regionals. I think that's outside my little. Yu-Gi-Oh it's expensive to fly to San Diego from Toronto. I've looked before. Yu-Gi-Oh it's not fun. So for me, no, not really. I think we'll dive into this more as time allows. But world, the world's location next year is gonna kind of dictate a lot of what I do and don't do. I think. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean I was looking at the schedule and it's like the only North American events they have, they have Baltimore and Louisville. I'm not that excited to go to those but I'm like, if I don't go to them, like I guess my first regional wouldn't be until like maybe like Pueblo or like Nice, which they added that this year, which is. I've never been to Nice but I know it's like a nice little beach town in France so that might be nice little vacation people want to go over. I think there is no back to back European regionals this year. So like last year there was the lil good dance combo. But I think this year they're all two years apart or two weeks apart. I'm glad they kept the Buenos Aires into laic. Like I'll definitely do that one again assuming I can register for Buenos Aires. They brought back Vegas. I mean I didn't go last year but you went. It sounds like it was a big success and that's the vibes I've been getting. So I think that's probably going to be like, I just think a mainstay on the circuit now. Yu-Gi-Oh it might even be hard to play down there. Man, you're so distracted. But it was cool. It might even be an NAIC city one year maybe. Like, you know, I think what we have Chicago, I think for the next few years. But it seems like the type of city is big enough. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh They brought up. They brought back almost all the regional locations from last year. There's not like a lot of new ones. I saw this was kind of appealing to me. Like the Santiago into Rio, like that might be a fun. Yu-Gi-Oh that's cool. Like I think I might do that. Like, but EUIC is also the week for Santiago. So it'd be like EUIC into Santiago into Rio, which Yu-Gi-Oh it's nasty. You know, it could be fun. Go to Chile, go to Patagonia for a Bit go to Rio. I mean, you've been to Rio, right? The coolest places I've ever been. Yu-Gi-Oh I liked Rio a lot. It's really good vibes. Like, the city's really beautiful. The energy is, like, amazing there. Like, I really enjoyed Rio when I was there. It's like. It's like Toronto summer, but all the time, you know. I get what you're saying. Yu-Gi-Oh July, August in Toronto, like, everything's peak. Everyone's smiling, everyone's happy. Rio is just like that all the time. Except you got to watch your wallet a little bit more than you do here. But it's pretty cool. Otherwise. Everything's cheap for us. Maybe. Maybe you got to reach Rio with me next year. Yu-Gi-Oh honestly, I would. I would be open to going to something next year. That's. I've never been to a regional outside of the US And Canada, so maybe next year is the time. And I've, like, I've thought about it a lot. I've done a lot of reflecting lately. It's like, maybe I don't play seriously next year and I just go to places I actually want to go. Maybe I don't go to Louisville, Kentucky. Right. Like, what am I going to do there? Maybe you go to Merida, Mexico, and you. Yu-Gi-Oh exactly. Go to places I've never been. Go to, like, three regionals. If I qualify, cool. If I don't, whatever, I don't really care. Like, Yu-Gi-Oh maybe that's the vibe. That's the vibe. Yu-Gi-Oh For sure. Yu-Gi-Oh They added Lisbon this year. I love Lisbon as a city, but it's only an sp. If they ever upgrade that to regional, I think I'd for sure go. And actually it's very. Not very, but it's fairly cheap to fly to. To Portugal from Toronto. Yu-Gi-Oh They had a Prague again. San Diego. Yu-Gi-Oh So, Yu-Gi-Oh more or less. A lot of them similar. I think last year, actually, I wrote this big reflection article on my website. I don't think I ever actually, like, shared it out on Twitter or. We haven't had pods. I haven't wrote it, but I was looking at all the tournaments I went to. I think I went to 12 last year. Also, side note, if you guys want to read that, I'll link it in the description. It was. It was fun for me to write. I think people would enjoy it. Yu-Gi-Oh it's kind of like the season's so long. Like, it feels like there's so many tournaments now. It's like, how many do I really want to do? Right. Like, you look at the schedule. It's like. It's like, it's. I love playing, but it is a grind sometimes to like, travel so much and do so many. So. Yu-Gi-Oh With a lot of the cities being recycled as well. Like. Like, for example, last year I went to Europe a lot for regionals. Like, I don't think I'm gonna do that as often this year, especially since it's some of the same cities. Like, I don't think I'll hit Utrecht again or I don't really think I'll go to Gdansk again, maybe. Nice. I've never been there. I'll maybe go to Prague. So I didn't go last year. But Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, it's. It's great though, how many events we do have now. I mean, you think about, you know, when we started playing, there'd be like regional weekends. It was like twice or. No, three times a year. Right. So it's like there'd be like a block. Like they would put all the regional on the same weekend. So you Goldin go to multiple. Yu-Gi-Oh So no, it's great that now if you really want to play, it seems like there's. There's lots of opportunities and it seems like they've done a better job, I think, of like, putting it across the different continents. Like. Like the. I guess the different communities are better served now. So. Yu-Gi-Oh my early theory to this whole thing is that these locations suck. Well, they don't suck. Sucks a strong word. They're. They're reused. Yu-Gi-Oh right. They're. We've been there before. So, like, it loses a lot of the appeal. I remember I was really excited to go to like, Louisville the first time. I was like, this is so cool. Now I'm like, I Goldin care less. But I do think they are doing this and you can see like, the games at a very low point right now. I do think they're gonna drop a bomb for where Worlds is. I feel like that is the only way this makes sense. Like, if they were hosting Worlds in Washington, D.C. with the game in the place that it is, I think they would probably pick some. Some exciting regional locations to get people out. It's either that or my other side of the theory is that they realize the game is so big that they legit do not care. Well, I think that's the main thing. The game is so big now, no matter where it is, people. Yu-Gi-Oh that is going to be a problem if they stop caring about like the organized play. Not that they would entirely, but if they were like, all right, we're going to all these lame places. You guys are going to show up anyways. That's, that's going to be a tough cookie for sure. So let's hope it's not going that way and that they're just dropping a bomb for Worlds. But that's my theory. All right, where's your guess then? Where? Worlds is going to be Anil 30th anniversary, right? Yu-Gi-Oh isn't it? Do you think we're going to Tokyo? I would love to go to Tokyo, man. Yu-Gi-Oh I could see it. I mean, I think Worlds in Japan was successful last time. I don't. I mean, like, China has organized play now. I don't know if they put Worlds in China, but I was like, oh, maybe like Shanghai Worlds. Like, maybe it's too soon. I guess with how, how Pokemon only had organized play there the past couple years. I mean, like, besides Japan, like, where would you consider, like a very exciting location though? Like, because we've done, we've done Europe anywhere. I've never been, like, honestly, like, that's kind of where I'm at. Like, even in Europe. I know you've done a lot of the Europe travel. I've only been to like, I think three, four countries in Europe. I haven't done the whole thing. So anywhere in Europe, I'd be cool. I know it's. It's hard out there just because everything's so crammed. But I mean, we were hearing some rumblings about, like, Singapore. We're hearing some rumblings about, like, some other places. Like, I am down for that. That sounds great to me. And anything. I think at this point I'm starting to sound like you a little bit, but I think at this point, anything outside of the continental U.S. and I'm there, like, I feel like that's where I'm at at this point. I love the US man. I love going down there and hanging out and eating barbecue and doing stuff. But God damn, it's way too many years of continental US United Worlds. I'm over it. Yu-Gi-Oh I was thinking this the other day and you're like, how many times do you think you've been to the US in your life? And how many times do you think it's been for Pokemon? Like, I think for me it's like over 50, I think, like 50 different instances or 50%. I think over 50 instances, maybe. Yu-Gi-Oh I think I'm close. Yu-Gi-Oh I don't think I've been that many times. I don't Think it's. Yu-Gi-Oh maybe that's a bit too many, but. Yu-Gi-Oh like, I put it at, like, 30, 35. I. You know what I was thinking about the other day? I miss passport stamps. Used to be able to get a passport. I also miss that so much in your. I hate that now you just, like, scan your thing, like. Yu-Gi-Oh I. I renewed my passport last year in the fall. And, like, I was so sad because my old passport was so cool because I had it since I was a kid. I had, like, the stamps, like, some of my visas from countries I've been to. Like, not. Yu-Gi-Oh Now you go. It's like. I don't know. They barely stand. Not the same. Yu-Gi-Oh Not the same. Definitely miss that a lot. So. Yu-Gi-Oh we'll see the new season, I think. I think a lot of it, too, will be kind of like how I'm feeling during the year, especially when we get to the back half, like, if the. When rotation happens, how excited I am for some of those events, like, all that. But, I mean, for sure, I think I'll at least do probably around 10 events again, like, all the ICs. I'll do all three Mexican regionals because I definitely enjoy doing that. I'll do Toronto when it gets added to the schedule, obviously. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh We'll kind of go from there, so. Cool. Yu-Gi-Oh Anything else new on the new season you want to talk about? I don't think anything else, like, big happened. I think you and I were talking. There was, like, they had, like, five more spots for, like, Worlds, I think, at least for N A. I think Europe as well. And in Oceania, they actually had five more for juniors and seniors, which was nice because that was a big pain point. I know a lot of parents were talking about last year. Yu-Gi-Oh And then I think they. Oh, we also. The tiebreaker now. They, like, explicitly said it was for the highest finishing position at a previous regional or international, which I think we suggested actually one of the episodes. Not that it was a hard. It wasn't like. Yu-Gi-Oh it wasn't a genius idea. I think it's kind of obvious, but I think kind of cool they added this now so there's no more, like, you know, at the end of your ambiguity, if everyone's tied at, like, 720 points or whatever. Now it's like, okay, like, there's a. A cutoff. I actually prefer this. I think this is the better way to do it. Like, I. I don't. I actually, like, think it's like, you know, like, if you're tied, like, There should be a tiebreaker if you want to make worlds, like, get one more championship point type of thing. But, Yu-Gi-Oh I don't think it matters that much during the day. What's his face? I think Chris Brown's listened to us because we keep calling him C. Breezy. He's gonna see. He, like, I'm actually going to the real C. Breezy concert next week. Why are you going to that guy's concert? See Breezy and Usher. I was like, bro, I don't care about whatever. He makes good music. What he does off on the side is definitely very questionable, but he makes great music, so I'm cool. Yu-Gi-Oh So next Tuesday, August 11th, I guess I'm going to be visiting C. Breezy and Usher, so I will. We'll have to record on Monday if we have an episode again. I. I will record on Monday. I'm doing my camp next week, actually, in Toronto, so. Be a busy, busy week for me. I'm cooking the ship here. I mean, what are we talking? Like, even today, we're like, what are we talking about? I think that people just enjoy having a Shift Gear episode. Ideal. Yu-Gi-Oh I guess so. I mean, I. If I was. If I was one of the people, I don't know if I'd want to hear anything about Pokemon right now. It just feels like it's just like, you know, one-of-one I mean, like, Pokemon gives us a vehicle to record the Shift Gear podcast and have, which I think the people. I would be nowhere without my $20 income a month. You're right. 20amonth. I think I was looking the other day. I mean, I guess if you offset our subscription cost to the podcast thing, Maybe it is $20 a month. We profit. Yu-Gi-Oh it's not much. We're. We're having fun, though. That's what matters. That's what matters. Exactly. It adds. This is the longest we've ever gone without recording a Shift Gear episode. Episode or actually, no. We had a hiatus earlier in the year. But, like, I mean, like, generally with, like, without any sort of me not wanting to do things. This was the longest it's ever been without Shift Gear. So that is. That's a stat. That's a stat. We almost like, rarely ever missed weeks, like the first couple years. Yu-Gi-Oh I. I do remember, like our first year or two. I think there was one week maybe we missed. And then now I guess I remember we had like some, like. We were like. I don't know what happened. We had like some technical issues or something. I think it was. And we just weren't able to release an episode. We were pissed. Like, God damn. That's how the streak ends. Well, now I guess we're seasoned podcasters and you. So we. We feel more okay. Yes. We skip whenever we want. Yu-Gi-Oh We're coming up on, what, three years in the fall. Yu-Gi-Oh We're on the veterans minimum contract now. We can, like, sit out games and load, manage and stuff. Exactly, exactly. Because we started, I think, fall of 20, 23. Damn. Crazy. That's wild, man. That's wild. We were like completely different human beings back then, too. It's like, think about how much you can grow in three years. It's. It's insane. It is insane, bro. Three years, I'll be 30. Damn, bro, don't say that. Two years, I'll be 30. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh You're holding me by a year. This is tough. I mean, like, I'm. I'm really starting to feel my age lately, man. It's like, it's not good. I, like, will go entire days. Like, I'll go, like, I don't know, eight hours while I'm working or whatever, and I'll get up and I'm, like, sore and I'm like, I did nothing. Why the hell am I sore? And like, I don't know, man. I'm starting to get some grays in my beard. I have a couple. And like, geez, is this it? Is the end? Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I've had. I've had gray since I was young, but, like, now I know I have, like, patches of gray. I'm like, damn, it's catch. Yu-Gi-Oh we're getting up there. A lot of my boys are, like, balding ferociously now. It's getting bad. Like, we're all. We're all hitting that yu-gi-oh. Gotta get the trips to Turkey going. Hell Yu-Gi-Oh As soon as I. Bro, as soon as I, like, start balding or go ball or whatever, I am first one on that trip, I'm gone. I can't live without hair, man. Are you kidding? No chance. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I think I'd be the same, bro. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh Definitely feeling the age recently, though. I don't know what it is. Like, it takes me a little bit longer to recover when I go, like, have a couple drinks or whatever, too. It's like, Yu-Gi-Oh that's what I'm trying to fight it. I think that's what's, like, making me lock in this summer and just, like, try and work out every day, try and do stuff. Because I'm like, I cannot go down like this. Not a 28, man. Yu-Gi-Oh I think you were saying earlier. I agree, too. Like, whenever it's during the season, too, like, especially when I'm traveling, like, it's so much harder to, like, you know, like, be, like, exercise, like, eat well. Especially when you have to go to some of these, like, tournaments. Like, you just grab convenience stuff, like, so. No, definitely with you there. I've definitely been focusing on fitness more this summer as well, so. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh Cool. All right. We talked about all that stuff. Neil, maybe we can talk about some actual Pokemon for a bit. Just a little bit. This is a Pokemon podcast, after all. Yu-Gi-Oh So, I mean, we've had some online tournaments is basically the main thing for us to go off of. Blitzel had his World Cup a few weeks ago, which was interesting. And then people have been tinkering with Pitch Black, I'd say. Overall, I don't think the set has been Zebra impactful. I think the biggest thing is Mega Excadrill and, like, obviously festival, we got a bit of a buff, but Mega X Control Drill is the one new archetype that I think has some. Some steam. I think Hide and Sneak hasn't really performed to the level. Maybe people were expecting. It did get second that Japan championship, but I think it hasn't really translated. Most people I talked, to, myself included, haven't been Zebra impressed with the deck yet. I think it's just. The problem with it is, like, there's just not enough good attackers or the damage is capped a little bit. So, you know, where's your head at in terms of, like, the world's meta game? Is it just gonna be like, dragonfl mirrors all day? Or you think there's some room for one of these maybe, like, tier two decks to surprise everybody and. And, you know, maybe go on. Not even go on a run, but really, like, cement itself as, like, a tier one deck with Dragapult. Or is it. No. Is the Dragonfold just too far ahead? That's what I'm playing for, to be honest. I'm playing with the idea that 50 of my games are going to be Dragon Ball at this point. I. I don't know, man. So I, like, I put a little bit, like, I'm trying to force myself to at least stay in the loop a little bit. And, like, I have found that, like, Dragapult is undeniably really, really good. But like you said earlier in the podcast, like, it's like, you're gonna take Dragon Ball to worlds and, you know, you're the most like targeted deck in the room, you're gonna be playing like 50 mirrors. It's like, do you really think you can one-of-one worlds with that? And the answer for a lot of people is yes. And that's how it should be. Right. But for me, as someone who is not playing that much right now, I. That doesn't really appeal to me. And so like I personally have been going off the radar a little bit trying to look at like some other decks. So like maybe like down in your like 10-15s. Like stuff that isn't really targeted by the world's crowd that maybe I can find, you know, an upper leg on. So that's kind of been my mentality recently, which is completely different how I've approached past worlds. But I have noticed that Dragon Blue Ice just that much better. And I do think that it is going to be heavily played. I just don't want to be the most targeted deck in the room. And especially if I'm being real with myself and I know I'm not going to be the most tested person in that room, I'm going to need to find an edge somewhere and I think that edge is going to be a deck choice. So that's where we're going. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I think that's a fair assessment. I guess. My follow up question is do you think Dragapult will be like over under 40% of worlds? Like it sounds like you're like gearing up for like an above 40 type of meta share. I got on over, Yu-Gi-Oh I would take the money on over here. If you think of worlds in years past, it's always best deck inflated times 1.22. Like that's normally what you see. Yu-Gi-Oh I think also Dragon Ball has different variations, so I think that also maybe like can add to it getting a little bit higher. I mean blaziken on online tournaments has actually overtaken the other two versions. I think it worlds if I had to guess whole nor will be number one in terms of play rate. But Yu-Gi-Oh if people think extra drills, a real thing, maybe blaze skin goes up and play a little bit. It just almost feels like everyone's just gonna have like their dragapult deck. That's like text from mirror somehow and then like that's what you play. Yu-Gi-Oh I'm the same as you. It's just like it just feels hard for me to want to play Dragapult like even if objectively it's the best deck and like I feel like I can play it well. It's like how much if I just sit across another good person playing Dragonfold, even if I consider myself, like, slightly better than them, like, what really is my one-of-one percentage, right, versus, you know, if I'm playing one of these other decks, it's like, okay, can I maybe get a bit of an edge there? I mean, also, like, we have to talk about, like, if Dragonfold is going to be like 40 something percent. Like, like, do you just play like a deck, like Blitzel's Naic deck, and it's just like, all right, well, I'm just gonna hit dragon pole like 12 times and just one-of-one worlds. Like, is that, is that the Strat, right? Like, I don't know. I guess it's like, it's very interesting when one deck reaches like this level because, like, the metagame, the metagame feels extremely predictable. It just feels like it's very hard to do anything about it because all these decks in the second tier just feel like they have so many inherent flaws, right? Like, you have like the decks like Festival and Alakazam that they beat pretty much the field, but then they kind of struggle a little bit into Dragapult. You have decks like Zork where you do well into Dragapult or even like the Clefairy box deck, and it's like, well. But then you struggle against like, the rest of the stuff. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I've had a hard time for sure, like trying to, to narrow down my, my deck decisions. And most people I talk to, it kind of feels that way as well. I haven't talked to anyone who feels Zebra enthusiastic about their deck choice. Yes, I Goldin agree more. I think that makes a lot of sense. I do think though, there is value to like, the whole, like, buffed BDIF stat at Worlds. I think that's always a thing. Like last year I played Flareon thinking that Goldengo was going to be played a lot. And man, even when I got there, I was shocked. It went up by like 10 from the last tournament. Like, people always flock to what is perceived to be the best deck. We saw it with Drago the year before. We see it, we see it with everything. So that's why I think Dragon Ball's gonna be such a high played deck. But the promise, like, like, normally there's a counter, like, to Goldengo, right? There were decks that obviously beat Goldin There weren't really decks that obviously beat Drago, but there were decks that had a better time with Dragapult. It's like, dude, like, there doesn't really feel like there's like that one deck that just sweeps it away and has a decent matchup into the other two or three big decks. Right. So I'm on board with you, man. I'm thinking that, like, this is going to be like a world where you take, like, some like, out of left field, pick and try and just run the table. Like, that kind of feels how it is. And I've always prided, like, prided myself on being real with, with where I am as a player. And like, when I'm not playing, and I'm not playing particularly well because I'm not playing, I know when to put down the gun. And I have so much Dragon Ball experience under my belt. I have probably, like thousands of games on Dragon Ball. And even I am putting down the gun because I'm like, I'm just not gonna Blue Ice much as these guys. So I think it's important to be real with where you're at. And I think you touched on that as well. It's like, you know, you're a better player than a lot of people. You know, you can play the deck very well. But at the end of the day, what is your one-of-one percentage? This is a very kind of coin flip mirror that is scary if you don't attack in the right way. So I think we're, we're very much on the same page. It's also like, what's your goal at Worlds, right? If your goal is like top 32, like, maybe dragapult on average gets that the most often if your goal is to one-of-one or top cut, like, maybe you do, like, go a little bit out of the box, right? I mean, my goal is to one-of-one so, like, I'm more for optimizing, like, for that. Right? So, Yu-Gi-Oh we'll see. I mean, I have some decks definitely, like, on my mind that I'm like, like, like, if world was tomorrow, like, I'm like, I would feel okay picking like this deck, like, but I wouldn't feel Zebra confident about it type of thing. Like, like, for me, like, I've played like, a lot of festival. Like, I have like a million festival lead lists. Like, I feel like I know it inside and out. I know, like, every single line to pretty much every single single deck type of thing. But then I'm like, okay, well, like, am I playing a deck that just, like, loses the pull more? It's like, well, it's a little sketchy, but maybe that's just how you do it. You just gotta dodge that deck and then do well against a Lot of the other stuff or. Yu-Gi-Oh like that. I've been playing Alakazam recently. I've been enjoying that. It has some. Some flaws as well, I think, but game has been incredibly fun. I've also had a lot of fun with it. It's just sometimes you just lose to Dragapult. What do you do? You can't do anything about it. Yu-Gi-Oh So, Yu-Gi-Oh I guess the other thing maybe we can talk about. Neil, I don't know how much you've played this. I've played this deck a lot. Is like mega Excadrill. Like, that's the. I think the new archetype that could really make a splash at Worlds. So let's start there. Like, what's your familiarity with this archetype? How much have you played it? Do you think this is like a real deck or do you think this is just like a. I don't know, like, people are messing around with the new cards type of thing? Yu-Gi-Oh I actually haven't played it for myself yet. I played against it a lot, but I haven't played it for myself and I haven't played a lot online, so I haven't seen it a ton. But I will say in my testing, especially when I was being a bit of a indecisive deck chooser and I was trying a lot of different things, Extradril was sweeping everything. It just felt like the deck was so strong and it could just do anything. You lost to, like, very specific things. And those specific things are kind of outside of the top five, is what I felt. So I. I actually think the deck is very real. If I'm in a place where before the tournament I have no idea what I'm playing, I might just default to extra drill. It doesn't seem like a bad call at all. Yu-Gi-Oh I think so too. Like, the deck does feel real to me. Like, I think you boast slightly positive matchups into Pultener and Normal Pulp. I mean, your pulp blazing skin is obviously a little bit unfavored, but we can get into it. Like, you can play stuff like Heroes Cape to kind of try and shore up that matchup. But Yu-Gi-Oh other than like that, like your only matchup I've played against. Or I'm like, hey, this doesn't feel very good. Is like when I play against like, Alex Kazam, because that's like a single Prizm deck. And, like, they can one shot you Right. So, Yu-Gi-Oh otherwise, like, I think the deck is like, very real, in my opinion. I think festival lead, like, looking online data like it has a 53 one-of-one rate. In my experience, the one-of-one rate's higher than that if you play play it well. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think extra is definitely very real. I think there's no set way how to play it. Right now. I think, you know, day one of Pitch Black, it seems like everyone was playing Charlie. I think now I've seen people exploring secret box a bit more. I've seen people explore heroes cape. I mean, I've tried both of those as well. So as you haven't played as much, let me ask you some of my thoughts. But I think, like, the heroes cape, I think, is, like, a very appealing way to play it. I think, you know, you can have stronger turn ones. Like, you can, like, build the deck more towards, like, playing like, a max outside of puffins, like, playing lilies in the deck. Whereas sometimes you play the trolley build. Like, you have a very strong setup, obviously, initially, but then, like, you're not really drawing cards. You're kind of just like, whatever. You're opening hand delta. You're kind of working off that a lot of time, so. And also, if you're putting you and they, like, they make you go first, like, it can get sketchy sometimes. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I've been enjoying playing the heroes cape build lately. I haven't really put much time into the secret box build. I'll have to try that. But, Yu-Gi-Oh I think the deck is real, I guess. How played is it gonna be? Like, that's another question. I think the deck is quite linear. Like, there's not a lot of opportunity, in my opinion, to really, like, raise the ceiling of it. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But I think when you go to tournament, like, worlds, like, I don't know if extra drills, like, the type of deck that appeals to a lot of people who are gonna be playing World. Like, my take in Masters, at least. But I think the deck is strong enough that people would definitely pick it up. Like, if I had to guess, like, it'll be like a, like, meme, not intended, like, 6 to 7%, like, deck type of thing. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think I agree with that. It is. You're right. It is not a deck that World's players would generally gravitate to. So I agree with you there. I will say I've tested a lot of decks. The top two are the only decks I do not think I've played yet, so maybe I got to pick those up. And to add more fields of fire, I went and bought a booster bundle of. It's called Nuit Noir in French, because we can wear those. And I pulled two battle degladions or something, so, you know, it might be a calling. I might have to pick up Festival Lead because it does seem really fun and actually quite intricate for what the deck is on paper. So you might be selling me a dream here. I mean, I think there's a, like, misconception that Festival is a very simple deck. On the surface it is, but it's actually, like, extremely difficult because you have to plan all your turns in advance and you have to be like, especially okay. It's mainly difficult when you're playing as Dragon Ball because you have to be like, okay, like, how do I not get screwed over by, like, a million different things? It's still like, like, like playable and approachable, I think, for a lot of players. But Yu-Gi-Oh it's definitely fun and intricate and all that stuff. So, Yu-Gi-Oh we can talk about Festivally Forbidden. You know, I think if Dragon Ball did not exist, I think this would be like, the best deck in the game for sure. Like, not even close. Like, the matchup data for it is honestly, like, not that bad into Dragonfall. Like, you know, like, 40 one-of-one rate. Like, you could talk yourself into that. Like, I can take a 40 one-of-one into Dragon Ball, maybe. I guess. Yu-Gi-Oh right. It's a hard sell, but maybe it's a pull. Nor maybe into the. Okay. Into the other versions of Dragonfold. I actually think it's better than 40. I mean, here you can see it's 46 into Blaze again, 42 into the Hammer version. Yu-Gi-Oh I think it's. And like the rest of the matter, like, besides Excadrill, I think is pretty favored in my experience. I think the deck is really good. I think, you know, like, how you build it is part of the equation now. I mean, the main questions I've seen heading to worlds now is how many growing grass do you play? Because the Plus 20 HP actually is fairly relevant in a lot of situations, I think, especially protecting your rellor from, like, phantom dives. Do you play a heavier Sea King line? I mean, seeking was a card that I wasn't a fan of, like, previously in Festival, but now that you have Goldin like, you can actually one shot, like, pretty much all the exs, right? So now you have Sea King in the mix. Like, you play a thick line of it, like, because also Sea King, like, is not gonna get knocked out easily by Phantom Dive. So I think there's just like, small questions like that when it comes to building the deck. But I think the deck's very real. I don't know if it'll see like a huge play rate just because it does have that weak Pultener matchup, which I think would scare a lot of people. But Yu-Gi-Oh I think like, like after Dragonfall, it's like what are the next most played decks? Like, like if I ask you, so obviously 1, 2, 3, it's gonna be pulled nor pulled Pulsar can and Pull Hammers in some variation. What deck do you think is number four? Like, is it Festival Lead? Is it Excadrill? Is it Zor? Like I actually think it might be Zorark. Zora feels really, really strong. I don't know how many people are in like the know of that, but it is really good. The problem is with Zork is you need to play perfectly and I think a lot of people are going to be kind of turned off by that fact. And maybe that might be a reason why it doesn't have a Zebra high play rate. But I think in terms of what is the next best deck, quote unquote, I think it's works right up there. If I'm not allowed to choose Orc, then I'd probably choose Extra Drill in that slot. Yu-Gi-Oh Which is like. And again, like we're talking. I was saying like Maybe it's like a 7% deck. Like that's the next most played archetype. Like. Yu-Gi-Oh Which is crazy. Right? So I mean, Zork's interesting because like I think Extra Drill is a bad matchup for it actually. I know Extra Drills. Bad matchup for it. Festival. It is obviously a bad matchup for it. So those are two decks that weren't really like seeing a lot of play before that are now gonna see play. So I think the metagame's gotten a bit worse for Zork. But at the same time, if you really subscribe to the idea that like Dragon Ball's gonna be 40 whatever percent, it's like, well that's pretty good for Zork. So. And by agree with your point where like the deck does require fairly precise play, it's more punishing than a lot of other decks. So I don't know a lot of the best players in the game like playing Zorix, I wouldn't be Zebra surprised if like Torrid rocks up with some or like Liam or both walk up like show up with some like crazy like Zork Deck. So Yu-Gi-Oh I don't know though. I don't know if it'll be Zebra popular like My guess, I actually might guess the festival lead might be the most popular like non zoric deck. I think a lot of people like playing festival deeds. I think it has. That would be something. That's for sure. That would be something which is like again it's like after like Dragonfall, like what are like what is the best deck? Like I just feel like there's no clear answer that like I don't. I mean Alakazam I think might see some like play like a higher rate than maybe people expect. I think you know like the hide and sneak deck is probably not going to be very played in masters. So I think you can definitely talk yourself into playing Alakazam. I mean Slow King has been doing well at like recently did top four Naic. Like are people jumping on Slowkin? Like is that slept on? Like maybe, you know, you run that deck, you can play mega slowbro. The mega slowbro is very good against festival leads. So maybe that see some play. But it just feels like we have a bunch of decks that will be in that like 5 to 7, maybe 8% range. And it's just like I can't really like see one of them really like jumping ahead of the others. So you just gotta hope you're on the right side. Yu-Gi-Oh it does feel like if you're gonna play one of these tier two decks, you just like pick it and then hope you ride the matchup wave type of thing game. Yu-Gi-Oh I agree. But Yu-Gi-Oh I don't even think there's like there's not that much analysis we can really do on this. Like it's like it's gonna come down to who hits the right matchup. I don't know if there's room to really break a deck here. Like there might be a little bit of space to get creative in this meta game, but it's not a ton because you're gay. Kept so much by Dragon Ball and some of the other big decks. So maybe someone comes up with something crazy. But I don't have my fingers crossed as of right now. So I think any prediction we make is likely to be wrong at this point. Yu-Gi-Oh I think, I think so too. I mean maybe there's some swap box build or something or like but like maybe some creative text. Yu-Gi-Oh I'm not Zebra sold on anything going too crazy. So we have three weeks. A lot can change in these next three weeks and then Yu-Gi-Oh we'll see where we end up. Cool. All right. The other thing I want to show you, I mean they have all the cards from our next set, the Megaquaza set, you said you hadn't seen these, like, some of the new dual stadiums. So there was actually some, like, pretty interesting ones. I think the first one they revealed was this one that we already saw. The one where it's like if you're knocked out, if your colors Pokemon gets knocked out, you get one less Prizm But they have some new ones here. The main one was the legendary Lava Lake. I'm curious your thoughts on steel. It's yet to play both at once, but it's evolution. Pokemon play have no abilities. That is interesting. So is quite good. Is this good enough to make a dual stadium playable? I think so. I mean, this. This seems pretty good, right? You shut off a lot of your opponent's draw. Like, the Dunsparce is kind of out of the window and Dracula's out of the window. And you can almost time it with like a stamp or something so that when you play it, your opponent is like completely just out of the game. So it's like path kind of in its own way. Obviously you need both pieces, and obviously you cannot search stadiums very easily in this game. It's not like Legend cards where we could use like communication or something to go get those. But the benchmark I think I make for these cars are, are they as impactful as Legend cards? Because that's the only other example we've seen of this kind of mechanic. And a lot of times Legend cards are more work than it was worth. Given that these are stadiums, I have even less hope for them. Because if Legends were hard, imagine how hard these are going to be. But I guess contrarily you could just play four and hope you hit them at the right time. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I think the main thing is like the deck's basic commands. Right. But I mean, like Legendary Lava Lake plus stamp or red card does seem pretty good. Yu-Gi-Oh But I think, like, if this ever took off, like, maybe Chen Pao just goes up and play a lot like people start taking a Chen pal. So like you have stadium out or Chen Pao or Ultra Ball or Poppin. Right. Or not popping Pokey Pad. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think you. I think you need proactive effects, I think, to make them really, really good. But this one might be a good enough passive effect that it could work. Yu-Gi-Oh you just don't want to get pumped. Right. You go through all that work, you don't want to get. Exactly. There's this, like the legendary Ocean Trench as well. It says when a Pokemon plays healed, you double it. This might like this is a proactive effect. I could see some, like, tank decks. Like, maybe want to use this? Or, like, are these cards. Are they just, like, random, like, uncommons, or are they, like, ultra rares? That's my next question. So uncommon. Yu-Gi-Oh Interesting. I'm sure they might make. Well, actually, I was gonna say they make full art versions of it. Like, you could play, like, one half full or one not full art. That's sick. I mean, it kind of already is fully the card. Yu-Gi-Oh make. Make a gold one or something. Is there gold ones? I just don't know. Let me see if I scroll down. I don't think there are. Yu-Gi-Oh I don't know. So I just saw this card for the first time. This is horrible. Dayton lies a stream. Draw two cards. If there's a stadium, play with Legendary. Put this card back in your hand, Start discarding it. Nice. Not even draw three. We've come a long way from just Tate and Liza. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, that card was good. Tate and Liza. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, there's this guy I saw. It's like, search your deck for three supporter stadium cards. So, like, if you want to get them. I don't know if that's strong enough, but, Yu-Gi-Oh I don't know. We'll see. We don't need to do a full set review right now. I just thought it was interesting to look at the legendary stadiums. Is there a new mechanic? That do seem quite interesting to me. So we'll see if they see play. I mean, we. I think, like, for them to really be good, like, they'd have to reprint, like, you know, like, that nine tails that had, like, the effect where it's like. Like, stadiums can't be bumped or it's like your opponent can't play stadium something like. They would need to print that, I think then I think maybe the stadiums could get pretty good. These almost, like, are too strong to lock and play, though. Yu-Gi-Oh I was gonna say you could lock the ability. Lock you want to play, but I just realized that would shut off ninetales. They'd have to give the ability to, like, a basic. Which would be too good. Yu-Gi-Oh like, there's so many problems with this. And, like, I don't know. One of the stadiums that I do miss sometimes is Chaotic Swell. That was just, like, literally just like. I don't think you're playing at that time. Yu-Gi-Oh I like playing. I like. And then, like, I was, like, near the tail end of when I turned, took a break. I actually used to hate Chaotic Swell. That card was so. Oh, you hated chaos. Well, I think I hated it based off like the context of what cards. It was empowering. But I think like the. The effect itself is actually quite cool where it's just like a. It's just like a. A negative stadium. It's just like there's no stadiums. You're not doing it well for people. For people listening who don't know the card. The effect wise, like it's a stadium with no effect. Except when your opponent plays a stadium to bump it discard the stadium. They play. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh So they both bump and then you can't play another one that same turn. Yu-Gi-Oh So then like people were playing. There was. I think it was marshadow that had the ability that it was just like discard a stadium from play because like back then. Yu-Gi-Oh it was champao. Because it was what it was. But you could. Marshadow discarded itself when you used it, right? Yes, yes. So then there's a little bit better I think. But Yu-Gi-Oh basically the same thing. But that. Because there was one stadium that was. It was power plant, right. Which was just like shut off. The ability of GXs like you did not want your like mewtwo getting shut off. So like you would just put the chaotic spell in play. And I think, Yu-Gi-Oh I think that's why we don't like it just because like the context of what it was. But I think the effect itself is healthy. Ish. Because it was interesting. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh Stadiums like historically have often been like very, you know, suppressing in a lot of ways. Whereas like recently they've been quite the opposite. Like you have like your artisans and you had some of the other stadiums that were actually quite like progressive to the game. Right. But in times where you had like paths running around, you have power plants, you had so many of these like just like. Like jank stadiums that just make the game hard, chaotic swell. I think was. Was a necessary evil in that sense. So I don't know lots to think about, but I think it is very, very cool. And the stuff they're doing with stadiums is cool. Yu-Gi-Oh I like when they try stuff like new mechanics that like are actually like interesting or like challenge how you build decks or like stuff like this. Right? Like. Yu-Gi-Oh like maybe like you add to like the legendary stadiums that when it gets bumped your opponent's stadium, like, like you just add chaotic swallows. The sub effect. It's like Yu-Gi-Oh you can get rid of the legendary stadium, but it's a legendary stadium, so your stadium gets pushed out type of thing. That'd be cool. Yu-Gi-Oh So, but we'll have to see if they end up seeing play out of the three we've seen. I actually low key think the ocean might see the most play the one that doubles the healing. Like I think you could play this in a lot of like tank decks or stall decks. Right. So Yu-Gi-Oh But I'm pretty sure I saw a leak for the celebration set that there's a new Pokemon that says like you can't heal your active, your opponent can't heal the active or something. So they're already ready to counter it right away. So Yu-Gi-Oh so we'll see. Cool. All right. I don't think there's anything else pressing that we needed to talk about, Neil. I mean nothing in this episode was pressing to talk about, but nothing. Nothing else exciting, I guess that you and I want to go over. I mean we went over a little bit of Pokemon just kind of did some yapping. I think people enjoy look at some stadiums. So, you know, maybe have an episode next week. We'll definitely have one. Like again before Worlds. Yu-Gi-Oh for sure. So we were very transparent, I think at setting the stage at the start of the summer. We're like, Yu-Gi-Oh we'll take some weeks off. Like I think it's a kind of vacation for everybody. So it's not a, not a terrible thing to go a couple weeks without an episode, especially when there's nothing to talk about. But if something comes out between now and then, we will try our best to, you know, make that work. Yu-Gi-Oh for sure. Cool. Anything else non Pokemon related you want to go shout out to? The Blue Jays made a lot of, a lot of moves yesterday trying to puzzle and trade deadline from them. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh they're. Well, they're buying and selling I guess like kind of being like just punting for next year, I guess get some more controllable contracts if there is a season next year. So Yu-Gi-Oh true definition of a retool. I do think that it is very interesting that the CBA is probably going to go the distance and there one-of-one be even a season next year. So a lot of this like selling will be maybe accelerated by year even. Right. Because you get another year those prospects to develop and stuff. So that might be cool. But Yu-Gi-Oh it's just like a generally very disappointing season. So I think everyone's like kind of not necessarily ready to be over. We're only four car or four games out of a wild card spot. But it like you get in and like what noise are you making? Like vladi's slashing like 210 this year. It's like, Yu-Gi-Oh it's probably not happening, so. Yu-Gi-Oh very interesting. The Kawaii trade is still on pause. Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh that's. That's crazy, bro. Adam Silver, like, that's the op, man. Like, bro, you had the whole year to do an investigation. It's like you had your whole year to do your homework. You didn't do it. It's just crazy how it's like, how it's us getting shafted for this. Yu-Gi-Oh we got shafted to begin with. We're the ones who got screwed. Now we're getting screwed again, bro. Like, the fair punishment would literally be if they did capster convention. Like, we should get their picks because they stole our player. But then we should also. Then, Yu-Gi-Oh here's the thing. They get punished, we get their picks, his contract gets voided. Then he just signs with us for free. That's the dream, bro. Yu-Gi-Oh but every day I see more pictures of, like, bi working out in Clippers gear, so I don't think you can walk it back now. It's like. It's almost like, too far gone. Yu-Gi-Oh I don't know. It's weird though. It is definitely one of the most, like, unique things I've seen happen in sports in a long time where it's just like. There's just like an active warrant on this guy. No one knows the way it's gonna go. And then he gets traded. It's like, oh, my God, how much more complicated could this get? Yu-Gi-Oh exactly. Crazy. And we didn't even talk about LeBron to the Sixers either, actually. No, no, we didn't. That's. That's big news too. For 8 mil, bro, Gary Trent Jr. Makes 23 a year. LeBron went for 4 mil. It's crazy, bro. Well, Gary, that was low key, like some Capstar convention too, right there. But Yu-Gi-Oh shout out LeBron for putting. Putting winning above the bag. I mean, LeBron's worth like, over a billion dollars for sure. So, like, to him, it doesn't matter. Like, he's just trying to one-of-one one last ring, which it's gonna. I think it's gonna look really weird to see him in a Philly jersey. Yes. But honestly, the teams stacked, though. Yu-Gi-Oh the teams he was considering, like, that made the most basketball sense, I think for him. Like, Yu-Gi-Oh they're starting lineup, if everyone is healthy, is like very, very, very good. So. Yes. That is a scary team. We'll see. We'll see how they do. I Mean, there is only one ball. They have a lot of ball dominant guys. They're gonna have to have people, you know, be okay taking a step back. Like, Maxi and. And Brown are gonna have to have the ball a bit less. So we'll see. And they have Embiid, obviously. When Embiid's healthy, he's one, like, the best defensive players and obviously a huge offensive threat. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, we made that trade for Kawhi. I was feeling really good. I mean, I'm still feeling good. But, Yu-Gi-Oh now there's, like, another, like, big team in. In the east to try. And I do think they're gonna have some very glaring holes on defense. Like, obviously, they have a couple of very good defensive players, but then they got a couple guys where it's like, every time the other team gets the ball, you know, they're going straight at them. So, Yu-Gi-Oh their perimeter defense is gonna be horrible, but they have them beads healthy. Right. Like, the idea is, hopefully he can shore that up for them. Like, if you, like, funnel guys to the paint, like, he's there to. To contest. So we'll see. I mean, I'm excited for the new season of the NBA. It seems like it should be really good. Like, we're in the parody era. We're, like, heading to the season. It's not a foregone conclusion who's gonna one-of-one And even in both conferences, it's not even a foregone conclusion who's gonna make the finals, which is great. So really loving that. So cool. Okay, that was good episode. Felt good to be back in shift gear. We appreciate everyone, you know, for staying with us after a break. Hopefully your summer's been going well. Let us know. I know your thoughts. Pokemon, non Pokemon stuff. I don't know. Whatever. We look forward to seeing the comments again. Let us know what you're saying. Let us know what you're up to this summer. Five Sundays until NFL football is back, and that's the one that we got to mark on the calendar. So, in case you're wondering, Baltimore Regional does coincide with the Ravens game. I didn't know that. Yu-Gi-Oh Were they playing Ravens? The Saints aren't good, though. Right. But football. Football. And it's all good. So I will be at Baltimore just for that reason. But if any of you were on the fence, hopefully that sways you one way or another. But with that being said, thank you for being with us. Let us know down below what you're up to, and we'll see you either next week or maybe the week after. But until then, peace later.