The 2025 World Championship Decks for the Pokémon TCG were revealed earlier this week, and one of them just wasn't quite like the rest. "KSI's Gardevoir" is a variant of the Gardevoir ex deck that's currently got the whole of the standard format locked in its Psychic Embrace, at least until rotation comes for Gardevoir ex in April. Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, or "KSI", is a YouTuber and a hip-hop artist. While he does collect Pokémon cards, he wasn't piloting this deck, so why is it named after him?
The real mastermind behind KSI's Gardevoir is Riley McKay, a Canadian pro player who used the deck to pull off a win in the Pokémon TCG 2025 World Championship.
In an interview with the official Pokémon YouTube channel, McKay talked a bit about how KSI's music is important to him.
When asked if he had any good luck charms, McKay responded: "I listen to this one song, Thick of It. I listened to it once, and I did pretty good at this tournament, and now it's just a ritual for me. The song released a year ago, and I've probably listened to it 3000 times or something".
The KSI song Thick of It (not to be confused with the similarly named Armando Iannucci Sitcom The Thick of It) released on the 3rd October 2024, 441 days prior to McKay's interview. This means that to reach that total of 3000 listens, McKay would have needed to play the song roughly seven times a day. A feat that seems more than possible, particularly for someone with the patience and determination to battle their way to the top of the Pokémon TCG world.
However many times McKay has listened to Thick of It, though, he's clearly a massive KSI fan, as he's chosen to name the deck after the singer rather than himself.
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You can also check out our analysis of the Gardevoir ex deck, along with some other contenders from the 2025 World Championship.