When Tord Reklev talks, Pokémon Buying and selling Card Sport gamers pay attention.
Tord Reklev is broadly accepted as being top-of-the-line Pokémon TCG gamers ever. He’s a 5-time Worldwide champion, with 14 top-8 finishes to his title, and 18 top-8 finishes on the Regional tier of competitors.
His title has dominated the final 15 years of aggressive Pokémon, and he’s influencing the longer term, too. This yr’s profitable deck, performed by Dutch participant Edwyn Mesman, was described by the commentators as “from the thoughts of Tord Reklev.”
Final weekend, throughout Pokémon’s greatest match of all time, VGC spoke to Reklev after he’d completed taking part in for the weekend. The Norwegian veteran completed thirteenth, utilizing the extraordinarily well-liked Mega Absol Field deck, the identical archetype that took Mesman to victory.
“I’m fairly pleased with it. I believe it was a good end. You already know, I’d like to go all the best way, however I’m very pleased with the best way issues turned out,” Reklev stated.
“With so many gamers, it’s fairly unreasonable to count on to all the time make it to the very finish, so I believe I’m glad.”
However now that EUIC is finished for an additional yr, TCG gamers face a brand new problem. The rotation. For these unfamiliar, that is when The Pokémon Firm modifications which playing cards may be legally utilized in a match. Which means well-liked decks fall out of legality, and new playing cards come into play.
For a aggressive scene that may see large prize swimming pools on the road, shakeups of this nature may be tense for gamers, as their profitable decks are instantly taken out of competition.
“I’ve combined emotions,” Reklev stated. “On the one hand, we’ve been in the identical format for a very long time now, and I really feel we desperately want some type of shakeup. We’d like new decks, new matchups and new playing cards. The rotation is often a great way to shake issues up.
“However, this rotation here’s a little bit painful, as a result of we’ve got some actually good, skill-expressive playing cards within the format proper now. There are good counter playing cards like Iono and Counter Catcher, and we’re dropping each of these.
“Meaning subsequent format it will likely be quite a bit much less punishing to simply rush forward in [Prize Cards] and be very aggressive towards the opponent.”
Within the Pokémon Buying and selling Card sport, the purpose is to knock out your opponent’s Pokémon, which earns you a lot of prize playing cards, relying on the Pokémon that was knocked out. Declare all 6 of your prize playing cards, and also you win the sport.
“It’s very easy to punish that now, which I believe is an efficient factor, as a result of now it’s a must to suppose much more concerning the timing of your knockouts and every thing. So I believe there will likely be a draw back, however I’m excited for the brand new playing cards and new play archetypes and new methods to mess around with.”
Having performed by way of so many rotations in his time, and being identified for his skill to craft championship-winning decks for himself and different gamers, we requested if Reklev most popular to play when the format was contemporary, or after he has had time to check it.
“My favorite codecs are all the time when one thing new is occurring. I all the time thrive quite a bit higher after we all have to adapt and work out what’s going on. I believe like there’s quite a lot of talent expression there, and that’s often when I’ve my finest match outcomes as effectively.”
A singular wrinkle to the Pokémon Buying and selling Card Sport is the position that the Japanese playing cards play within the worldwide variations of the sport. Sometimes, Japan will get new playing cards a number of months earlier than the remainder of the world.
Japan’s units are additionally a lot smaller than English units, with a number of Japanese units usually being mixed to kind only one English growth. Within the web age, this has meant that gamers outdoors of Japan have studied up on new playing cards coming to the English scene lengthy earlier than they hit retailer cabinets.
“I all the time attempt to be one of many front-runners,” Reklev stated. “I prefer to put the work in myself. That’s the toughest half when you attempt to be in entrance, proper? It’s a must to work out every thing your self once more. There’s much more work than letting another person do it, after which latching onto that and making an attempt to innovate from that time.”
Regardless of this, Reklev tells us that he doesn’t spend an excessive amount of time obsessing over English translations of Japanese playing cards. “I don’t need new playing cards to cloud my imaginative and prescient for what’s happening proper now,” he chuckles.
The following Japanese set, Ninja Spinner, will likely be launched in March and have 124 new playing cards. On the English facet, Mega Evolution – Good Order, will likely be launched on March 27.
“For instance, as quickly as I heard that Ascended Heroes wasn’t authorized, I simply utterly blocked it out of my thoughts.”
Forward of EUIC 2026, it was anticipated that the newest particular set, Ascended Heroes, can be tournament-legal for the occasion.
Nonetheless, on account of Ascended Heroes receiving a staggered launch throughout 2026, this might imply that just one product that includes the playing cards – the Tech Sticker assortment, which incorporates 2 packs – can be on sale earlier than the EUIC, making it tough for gamers to compile decks in time.
The Pokémon Firm Worldwide finally made a rule change, which meant that Ascended Heroes, and all future particular units, will solely develop into authorized two weeks after the set’s Elite Coach Field is launched.
Tord Reklev isn’t slowing down. As we’re talking and EUIC is coming to a detailed, he’s already serious about what’s subsequent.
“I’m going to Japan to play subsequent weekend within the Fukuoka Champions League, so then I get a bit head begin on put up rotation and the brand new playing cards.”
The Pokémon Buying and selling Card sport has exploded in reputation over the previous few years. Since 2020, the variety of Pokémon playing cards being printed has by no means been increased, and now The Pokémon Firm has a number of warehouses operating 24/7 in an try to fulfill demand.
“We’ve excessive progress in the neighborhood, and lots of extra persons are becoming a member of. I believe it’s true what you stated, there are quite a lot of collectors, and the market has positively exploded. It’s bringing much more individuals to the sport.”
The halls of Excel London are packed, not solely with gamers making an attempt to guide their technique to the Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco, California, but additionally with collectors.
The occasion’s vendor part, which features a choice of pre-approved buying and selling card retailers, is consistently busy.
EUIC was additionally full of gamers of all ages. Households decked out in matching customized soccer shirts that includes the title of a participant and his sponsors.
Reklev tells us that on the aggressive scene, the following technology is rising up the ranks quicker than he’s ever seen it.
“The general talent degree throughout all divisions is quite a bit increased, however particularly in junior and seniors. It’s skyrocketed due to the assets we’ve got out there, and there’s a complete teaching tradition now as effectively,” he stated.
The Junior Division is made up of gamers born in or after 2013, the Seniors Division is made up of gamers born between 2009 and 2012, and the Masters Division is for anybody born earlier than 2008.
“I coach a ton of juniors and seniors myself, to attempt to assist them enhance and get higher, so I believe that’s positively an enormous a part of it. Again within the day, when that tradition wasn’t frequent, individuals had been left to themselves so it took quite a bit longer to enhance.
“You see it already with the individuals which are the very high of seniors now, after they age up into Masters, they’re instantly higher than virtually all of the common Masters gamers, they usually’re competing for the highest spots immediately,” he stated.
As we head into the following rotation, we requested Reklev his ideas on the sport total, as he appears again on 15 years of taking part in the Pokémon TCG competitively.
“The sport is in an excellent spot. I believe it is a pure consequence of how lengthy the sport has been round, and it’s all the time being pushed to its limits, proper?
“In a number of years, we’ll in all probability look again at the place we’re proper now and say, ‘It was quite a bit simpler again then, proper?’” Reklev says with a chuckle.
Tord Reklev’s significance to the Pokémon TCG can’t be understated. Few can declare to be as influential to a number of totally different eras of play as Tord, and he has no intentions of slowing down.
As we concluded our dialogue, we requested what he considered the occasion scene in 2026, which might now shut down one in every of London’s largest venues for a weekend, whereas 20 years in the past, the vast majority of occasions came about in resort convention halls.
“There’s a complete totally different expertise attending an occasion as of late than it was after I began,” Reklev remembers. “For higher, and for worse. The manufacturing worth is superb now, in comparison with what it was earlier than, proper? The place there was near none, or a single digicam pointed at a desk,” he laughs.
“Now all of those are large spectacles, proper? It’s virtually extra like attending a present than a match with so many issues happening round it. In order that’s actually cool.
“I’d say that a few of the appeal has perhaps been misplaced through the years due to the size of every thing now. It’s a bit bit much less private. There’ll all the time be professionals and cons to explosive progress like this. I’d say total, it’s positively a web optimistic, however there’s actually some nostalgic issues that I miss generally.”
Pokémon’s subsequent main match, the North American Worldwide Championships, takes place from June 12 to June 14 on the Ernest N. Morial Conference Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana.
