Hi there. In this post I cover a useful website for Pokemon TCG deck lists from Japan. It is called Pokecabook.
I also include a few Japanese Youtube channels that shows players playing various decks from recent Japanese Pokemon sets.
I write this in early August 2024. The site does change as new Pokemon cards, new decks change. The metagame changes often when new sets release and between major tournaments.
Topics
- Why Follow The Japanese Metagame?
- Pokecabook Website For Deck Ideas
- Japanese Pokemon TCG Youtubers
Why Follow The Japanese Metagame?
Japan is the headquarters place when it comes to Pokemon and the Pokemon trading card game (TCG). Any new Pokemon expansion sets goes to Japan first for the most part. The international audience outside of Japan get the cards one or two months later than Japan.
It is helpful to look at the Japanese metagame to see what cards and decks are popular and good before you get the English version of the cards. A lot of popular decks internationally are copied based from the Japanese metagame.
Japanese players do not have an online client like Pokemon TCG Live to test their decks for the new sets. Pokemon TCG Live is for the English international audience. Players in Japan would have to test and play their decks in person. Japan plays their major tournaments in a best of one format for the most part while international major tournaments are in a best of three format.
Pokecabook Website For Deck Ideas
Although I don't play much in-person Pokemon TCG events due to my location and work I still follow this website called Pokecabook. Pokecabook is a Japanese website dedicated to deck lists that perform well in local tournaments and in major Japanese & international tournaments. Pokecabook also has some guides on deck building, card reviews and metagame analysis.
Deck lists are in Japanese but you can look at the card pictures and recognize the cards. Use a website translator if needed. Note that the translations may not be accurate or come out weird. Discard pile is called trash when it is translated from Japanese I think.
To find decklists from Japan go to this link of Pokecabook. As of July 18, there are deck list categories starting from the latest Terapagos ex deck from Stellar Miracle/Crown. There is a category for Pecharunt ex decks, Charizard ex decks, Dragapult ex decks, Ancient Raging Bolt ex decks and so on. Deck categories near the top are either the new decks or popular decks in the metagame. Click on a deck category that you want to access deck lists.
The decklists featured in Pokecabook are decks that have won a local tournament or are featured. Decks that win larger tournaments may have something like TOP16, TOP8, TOP4, Runner Up or Winner in the blue clickable text.
If there are any decklists that you like I highly recommend that you save them. The Pokecabook website may remove past deck lists as new Pokemon sets appear. The deck categories may change as well depending on the metagame. A popular deck may turn bad after a certain set release. The reverse holds true where a certain deck might have not been known or was considered bad and then it turns into a top 10 or top 3 metagame deck.
Japanese Pokemon TCG Youtubers
Here are some Japanese Youtubers that I have found that focus on the Pokemon trading card game. These guys usually play and showcases cards from new sets on a table. You can take a look at cards released in Japan before they release in English for the international crowd.
The decklists from Pokecabook give a rough idea on what decks are good but how does the deck operate in practice in gameplay. Having Youtube content available for you to learn from is super helpful for new players, intermediate players, players returning to the games and for pros too.
PokecaCH Youtube Channel
This @PokecaCH Youtube channel is a very good channel when it comes to the Pokemon trading card game in Japan. For Pokemon TCG this channel is quite big at 269 000 subscribers.
The videos here feature Pokemon TCG news, card overviews, Japan metagame overview as well as tabletop deck gameplay. This channel tends to receive Japanese cards before its release.
Sometimes the channel shows Japanese Pokemon TCG major tournaments. As Japan has early access to cards before the overseas audience, the tournament videos give players an idea on how to play certain cards and gives deck building ideas. Japan gets the cards early but the overseas crowd tends to copy and possibly build upon the new decks from Japan.
Daichi Shimada
Daichi Shimada is a top level Pokemon TCG player from Japan. Here is a video of him from the 2022 World Championships. Daichi's Youtube channel is here. He uses the username @305. Why the number 305? I dunno. He has 106 000 subscribers with a lot of videos of him and a playing partner showcase different decks and gameplay.
Daichi's videos are all in Japanese. If you are familiar with the game then you can easily recognize the cards being played based on the card pictures. The video below is from July 18, 2024.
Shintaro Ito
Shintaro Ito is another high level Pokemon TCG player from Japan that has made it to the World Championships before. He is sometimes with Daichi Shimada in his videos. Shintaro's Youtube channel is kind of hard to find but here it is. It is called @PokemonIsLife. I guess he is a full time player with that kind of name.
His videos feature mostly first person videos of him playing various decks on the English client Pokemon TCG Live. With his videos you can learn some things from his first person viewpoint. Shintaro does a few tabletop gameplay footage with a practice partner from time to time. A good channel here.
Tier 4 Channel
The Youtube name with the @ symbol says @tier4channel. This Pokemon TCG channel features table top gameplay with different decks and new cards. I don't know if the players are competitive players or not. This channel is kind of popular at 90.6K subscribers at the time of writing.
Thank you for reading.