Winter Cup

Kicking off February in the thick of the Winter-iest Winter to hit Pittsburgh in a generation, our third League Cup of the 2026 Season featured 15 brave souls (14 Masters, 1 Senior) facing off in a Pittsburgh Classic.

Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex was the surprising standout deck in usage, making up just over a quarter of the room (special mention to Deven R. (3-2-0) for playing the mirror three times in Swiss). Dragapult ex and Gholdengo ex were the other archetypes with multiple players, both with three pilots. Gardevoir ex technically had the highest win rate as an archetype, but lone pilot Brendan A. bubbled 5th with a 3-1-1 record, starting Swiss with a loss to Avery M. (3-2-1) on Charizard ex.

Avery had a successful event, losing only to the other Top Four finisher, Edward X. (3-1-2) in Swiss. Tyler F. (4-2-1) previously played N’s Zoroark ex to a 1-2-1 finish in last month’s League Challenge, but Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex proved to be an enduring choice, making it all the way to Finals despite losing to Bloom R. (2-3-0) Round 1.

It was brooke e. (5-0-2) who rode the momentum of the Round 1 bye into Top Cut and overcame a game 2 loss to Avery in Top 4, and game 1 loss to Tyler in Finals to claim victory with Dragapult ex with Dusknoir (“PultNoir”).

DRAGAPULT EX (with Dusknoir)

Top Four	Record	Deck
brooke english	5-0-2	Dragapult ex (with Dusknoir)
Tyler Funk	4-2-1	Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex (with Froslass/Munkidori)
Edward Zhao	3-1-2	Gholdengo ex (with Solrock/Lunatone)
Avery Murphy	3-2-1	Charizard ex (Dawn Suite)