The newest Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, Sword & Shield: Lost Origin is out now, and promises to shake up the Pokemon TCG, including Gym Leader Challenge. Notably, Lost Origin brings the Lost Zone mechanic back to the TCG, which was first seen in Platinum back in 2009, and briefly seen again in Sun & […]
Pokémon GO & GLC
The Pokémon Company international usually releases four “main” sets per year – most recently, Sword & Shield: Brilliant Stars and Sword & Shield: Astral Radiance. But at least once a year, we get a special collector’s set, such as Shining Fates or Champion’s Path. This year’s collector’s set is Pokémon GO, but don’t let the […]
One Year of Gym Leader Challenge
July 14, 2022 is the first anniversary of the Gym Leader Challenge format. It started with a simple discord message: What prompted this? Let’s look back to a year ago: Chilling Reign had been released about a month prior, and the Standard format meta was being dominated by two degenerate decks: Arceus & Dialga & […]
GLC Update 1.2
BANNED: Chip Chip Ice Axe (UNB 165/214) BANNED: Hiker (CES 133/168 & SV85/SV94) Hello Gym Leaders! I hope that you are all enjoying the addition of Astral Radiance to Gym Leader Challenge format! It was an absolute joy to watch the intense battles unfold at the recent Full Grip Games GLC 2.5K event, which featured […]
Astral Radiance GLC Set Review
One of the most exciting aspects of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is keeping up with new card releases. Every few months, players will have to consider how these new cards will affect their play style and deck construction – whether they’re adding new cards to their lists or finding ways to play around their […]
Brilliant Stars GLC Set Review
Every three months or so, Pokémon releases a new expansion with over a hundred cards to add to a player’s collection and, more importantly, to their decks. The ninth Sword & Shield set, Brilliant Stars, will be released this month, introducing powerful new Pokémon VSTAR. But in Gym Leader Challenge, we’re much more interested in […]
Getting Colorful with Colorless
Hello all! My name is Kyle (aka xMertaugx)! Today I am going to be talking about my favorite deck that I have ever constructed: the rainbow Colorless Gym Leader Challenge deck! This deck is a variation of the attacking style Colorless deck that utilizes Colorless Pokemon’s unique ability to to use any type of basic […]
GLC Update 1.1
Effective Monday, January 10, 2022 Forest of Giant Plants from Ancient Origins 74/98 will be banned from Gym Leader Challenge format. Forest of Giant Plants creates an unfair advantage by allowing Grass Gym Leaders to bypass the rules of evolution to set up their board faster than any other deck, often creating “check mate” positions […]
Ominpoke’s Intro to GLC
Joe Bernard of Omnipoke has compiled ONE FULL HOUR of introductory Gym Leader Challenge gold where he briefs every Pokemon TCG type and showcases some of the strongest cards available to them. This video is an incredible resource for anyone looking to dive into Gym Leader Challenge and learn more about this exciting new format! […]
Fighting with Rage
Ever since the dawn of Gym Leader Challenge, Steelix has been infamous for being unplayable. Most of its cards are Metal type and so cannot be put into play without a Metal Onix (disregarding Dream Ball shenanigans, of course). Out of all the GLC-legal Steelix cards, there was just one Fighting type, from Unified Minds. […]