Battle Roads Report – 2nd Place, Charleston SC

So, yeah. Just to say a little about myself, I have been playing this game off and on for the last ten years, officially making a return last September after a 4 year hiatus. Even still, I have been playing inconsistently since returning because of school, and now because of a work (I am a school teacher). So, the format is still pretty new to me, but I am enjoying the learning process.

This was my first tournament in the past 5 years, called a “Battle Roads.” So, without further ado, here is my decklist, and what happened.

The list as follows:

Pokémon
4 Rampardos PL
3 Cranidos PL
1 Baltoy GE
1 Claydol GE
1 Whismur SV
1 Exploud SV
2 Uxie LA
1 Relicanth SV
1 Chatot MT
Trainers
4 Skull Fossil
3 Bebe’s Search
3 Roseanne’s Research
4 Fossil Excavator
3 Broken Time-Space
4 Rare Candy
4 Pokédex HANDY910is
2 Warp Point
1 Cynthia’s Feelings
2 VS Seeker
4 Poké Drawer +
1 Palmer’s Contribution
1 Luxury Ball
Energy
9 F (Basic)

Rampardos Platinum PL 13 Pokemon CardI’ve never been one to play top tier/ archetype decks, even during the old Feraligatr, Magcargo days (you old schoolers know what I’m talking about) but this was the most consistent deck I could build aside from Speedrill, and I definitely wasn’t playing that.

Round 1 VS Leafeon LV.X/ Shaymin LV.X

The guy playing this is actually one of the better players in my league and part of the reason why I teched in Exploud. Grass is popular in my area, believe it or not.

So we started the game both with Uxies and no bench. Could of been worst for me, but whatever. I attached a fighting to Uxie, and Psychic Restored for 40, due to weakness on my opponents end. He drew, attached to Uxie, played Volkner’s Philosophy and burned a card from his hand to draw two. I could tell he was in dire straights, judging by his facial expressions, and the fact that he didn’t play any bench Pokémon. He then ended his turn with a Psychic Restore of his own. From this point, I believe I top decked a fossil, played BTS, attached to the fossil, played a Cranidos and then a Rampardos, retreated Uxie, and “Head Smashed”.

Now some of you are thinking “He could of just Psychic Restored for the win,” however, I did this just to annoy the kid. He’s cool though, no hard feelings.

(1-0)

Round 2 VS Darkrai LV.X/ Honchcrow LV.X

This round was quick as well. He opened up with a Darkrai MD, and I with Skull Fossil. He went first, drew, attached a basic D Energy to Darkrai MD, then swung with “Dark Slumber”. I take ten. On my turn I draw, played down two Pokédex HANDY910is to obtain a Poké Drawer + and a fighting Energy card (being that I didn’t have any F Energy in my opening hand). I then proceeded to play down BTS, attached to Skull Fossil, played down both Poké Drawer + to retrieve a Rampardos and a Fossil Excavator, BTS into Rampardos, then swung with “Head Smash.”

This guy is really cool and wasn’t upset. He ridiculed me for telling him earlier I was playing a slow deck.

(2-0)

Skull Fossil Platinum PL 120 Pokemon CardRound 3 VS Gyarados w/ techs

Sooooo, I lost this one due to a game changing error. We both had horrible starts; he started with one Magikarp and no bench, I with a Whismur and no bench. I can only remember that key moment (my epic mistake) after his second turn when he played a BTS, a Sableye on his bench, retreated Magikarp for Sableye, then “Impersonated” for Roseanne’s Research. I draw, played down Uxie, attached to Uxie, retreated Whismur and sent Uxie up.

Then my mouth dropped. I totally had two Warp Points, Luxury Ball, Skull Fossil, and a Rampardos in my hand and instead had attached to the wrong Pokémon and lost the chance to kill his Karp on the bench before Gyarados the terrible would rear its ugly head. Ugh. I also figured he didn’t have any Pokémon Rescue in his hand due to a remark he made when he drew one several turns later in the match. He had already discarded two Karps with one being prized along with a Gyarados or two (not sure). I managed to take a prize next turn, then the turn after with Warp Point and kill his Claydol (which he cringed over), but along with Azelf, a Uxie, and a lone Gyarados, he managed to get his other Gyarados (I’m assuming he was maybe running 3), then took a prize against my first Rampardos and drew out his fourth Karp.

I managed to hang in there, but over all, the repeated swarming of Gyarados doing 90 for no Energy, with the occasional Crobat G and PlusPower, caught up with me. In then end, we both only had 1 Prize left before he took his last against Rampardos, after utilizing Crobat G’s “Flash Bite,” Poké Turn, and two PlusPower for the 1HKO win.

Afterward, I told him what I had done and he replied that “Had you done that, I would of lost.” He then told me my mistake would “Eat at me for the rest of the day and thanks, for not doing that,” as we shook and went on to the next round. Lol, cool guy though, hopefully will get to play him again soon.

GG

(2-1)

We had a break here so that door prizes and all that other fun jazz could be dealt with. The Juniors and Seniors were finished now, with some 7 year old girl going undefeated with “GeChamp” in Juniors, and my friend, Angela, winning Seniors with an “SP Toolbox” deck. Congrats to both!

I ended getting my raffle called to win some sort of theme deck with Arcanine G on the box. I gave it to a six year old boy who didn’t have any cards. Charitable, aren’t I? Lol.

Uxie Legends Awakened LA 43 Pokemon CardRound 4 VS Mighty Muktank

I knew this kid from league, and I also knew he has a lot of potential to be a great player. This match is kinda a blur to me, because it lasted so long, and I was still being “eaten” by the fact that I made such a dumb play error in my previous round.

His deck started off just as quickly as mine, due to the fact I had a slightly slower start with Rampardos, yet again. I took a small lead against him because of the fighting weakness of Mightyena. He actually tried to get around that by stating that Rampardos’ “Iron Skull” ignored weakness, which resulted in a judge’s decision, but the answer was obvious.

However, he actually managed to take the lead with Mightyena and the infamous Toxicroak G Promo, getting heads with key flips on “Leap Away.” This is when I realized I should be running PlusPowers in my deck, or at least a 1-1 Diglet/ Dugtrio PL tech. Would of made this match and the next a whole lot different.

I almost folded because I felt as though my deck was loosing steam, being that I had burned through all my Warp Point, 3 Fossil Excavator, all my Rare Candy, a VS Seeker, and a BTS (with one apparently being prized and the inability to draw the next), when I realized that, I had teched in Relicanth SV, and used Roseanne’s Reasearch to grab it and a F Energy. With Relicanth, I started spreading onto key Pokémon of his like the Toxicroak G Promo and Mightyena to set up for “Mold Breaker,” hitting for a whopping 60 damage, before it got ko’d.

I managed to turn the game around and pull ahead by 1 Prize in the last five minutes of the match. The kid ending up folding right as time was being called.

(3-1)

Sooooooo, managed to make top two because of something being called “Resistance,” which I don’t remember from back in the WOC days, but apparently it did exist, according to the judge. The Gyarados guy lost to BlazeRay earlier, so we were both 3-1, but he got bumped to 3rd due to resistance.

Broken Time-Space Platinum PL 104 Pokemon CardFinals: Round 1 VS BlazeRay

This kid was super sure of himself, and was apparently from NC. Wasn’t much of a talker either. We did the shuffling thing and started.

This was short and sweet. I whiffed on the turn one which would of been excellent being that I went second and all he had was a Luxray GL start with no bench. You could tell he was super nervous. However, I started with Whismur, and this allowed him time to set up next turn, gust up one of my fossils I had played down, and whack it. I then proceeded to draw into Baltoy, drop it on the bench, then Roseanne for a Uxie and a Energy. He Power Sprayed the Uxie, and I folded being that my hand only consisted of 3 Rampardos and a Cranidos, with him being already set up by turn 3 and me drawing into nothing.

Round 2

Again, he had a crap start and I missed the turn one donk, yet again. I managed to hang in there though, swarming with 3 Rampardos before he actually set up. After gusting up my Baltoy again and whacking it, he slowed me down considerably. I had already played 2-of my Roseanne’s for energy and a Chatot; I didn’t draw into any more nor a VS Seeker.

He managed to get two key flips with the Toxicroak G Promo that cost me the match. We were both down to 1 Prize before he pulled the victory with another “Bright Look” on one of my recycled fossils. I was kicking myself for not running PlusPowers in my deck after this one.

(3-2)

So lesson learned: PlusPower has a lot more clout now than it did back in the day.

Afterward, I got my four packs and pulled a Palmer’s, VS Seeker, and a Staraptor FB LV.X along with some random rares. I ended up trading the Staraptor for a Gardevoir LV.X.

All in all I had a fun time and it was a great learning experience, and am proud of myself for placing 2nd after 5 years of not playing. I am glad I got back into the game.

We were one person short in Masters of having a top 4, but regardless, here are the ranking from the BR.

Top Decks:

(1) BlazeRay

(2) Rampardos w/ techs

(3) Gyarados w/ techs

(4) Rhyperior LV.X/ Delcatty

Thanks for reading!

Reader Interactions

36 replies

  1. gelio the white

    nice! just two objections:

    could of –> could have
    drew –> draw

    congratulations on nearly winning your first tournament after such a long time!

  2. Drew Stillwell

    nice report! and welcome back :]

    It seems like the exploud tech only hurt you in these matches, so I’m curious to see if it would help you at all against the leafeon deck. Ideally you can out-speed that and won’t even need the exploud, but it’s something to look into I suppose.

  3. Alex Williams

    Thanks, bud.

    Yeah, that tech did hurt me. I was terrified of grass, especially since the Saturday before I lost to a leafeon/ Shaymin variant, and nearly lost to Yanmega/ Shaymin.

    But the tech did hurt me a lot. So I removed it promptly afterwards and added in Plus Power instead.

    Your right about out-speeding the opponent, but if you don’t…

  4. gelio the white

    nice! just two objections:

    could of –> could have
    drew –> draw

    congratulations on nearly winning your first tournament after such a long time!

  5. renfield89

    Congrats on to cutting your first tourney in so long. I have a friend who plays Rampardos, and it can be a tough matchup for SP’s in the early game, especially now that Dialga G is played much less these days.

    I’m going to have to agree on both the -Exploud and + Plus Power changes. Edits I’d recommend are:
    -1-1 Exploud, -1 VS Seeker, -1 Relicanth
    +3 Pluspower, +1 Unown G

    The Unown will help against archetype matchups like Gengar with “Shadow Room” and Flygon/Memory Berry using “Inviting Trap” to try to deck you out with Flygon Lv.X’s “Wind Erosion.”

    Again, great job!

  6. renfield89

    Congrats on to cutting your first tourney in so long. I have a friend who plays Rampardos, and it can be a tough matchup for SP’s in the early game, especially now that Dialga G is played much less these days.

    I’m going to have to agree on both the -Exploud and + Plus Power changes. Edits I’d recommend are:
    -1-1 Exploud, -1 VS Seeker, -1 Relicanth
    +3 Pluspower, +1 Unown G

    The Unown will help against archetype matchups like Gengar with “Shadow Room” and Flygon/Memory Berry using “Inviting Trap” to try to deck you out with Flygon Lv.X’s “Wind Erosion.”

    Again, great job!

  7. Drew Stillwell

    nice report! and welcome back :]

    It seems like the exploud tech only hurt you in these matches, so I’m curious to see if it would help you at all against the leafeon deck. Ideally you can out-speed that and won’t even need the exploud, but it’s something to look into I suppose.

  8. Alex Williams

    Thanks, bud.

    Yeah, that tech did hurt me. I was terrified of grass, especially since the Saturday before I lost to a leafeon/ Shaymin variant, and nearly lost to Yanmega/ Shaymin.

    But the tech did hurt me a lot. So I removed it promptly afterwards and added in Plus Power instead.

    Your right about out-speeding the opponent, but if you don’t…

  9. Adam Capriola

    Thanks for the report man! Seemed like a successful return to the game. It’s also cool to see a deck that isn’t talked about much perform rather well. I have actually been considering fooling about with Rampardos with Machamp, seems like it might be good.

  10. kwisdumb

    Good report! I don’t have the time to critique the list, but…

    Resistance just means that the players that you beat were better than the players that the other 3-1 guy beat. This is determined by calculating your own win percentage, your opponent’s win percentage, and your opponent’s opponent’s win percentage.

    Good job on getting 2nd!

  11. kwisdumb

    Good report! I don’t have the time to critique the list, but…

    Resistance just means that the players that you beat were better than the players that the other 3-1 guy beat. This is determined by calculating your own win percentage, your opponent’s win percentage, and your opponent’s opponent’s win percentage.

    Good job on getting 2nd!

  12. Alex Williams

    Thanks to all!

    Kwisdumb, since I hadn’t played in a tourney for so long there was nothing to gain from me in terms of resistance, I guess.

    I just took out the Exploud tech and added in a couple of Plus Powers thus far.

    Adam, Machamp and Rampardos, eh? The donk kings together in one deck. That would be interesting!

    I have so much to learn about the metagame since it has changed DRASTICALLY. Some of the rules have changed as well. I also don’t like the fact that trainer based draw power has been replaced by Pokemon. But, meh.

  13. Adam Capriola

    Thanks for the report man! Seemed like a successful return to the game. It’s also cool to see a deck that isn’t talked about much perform rather well. I have actually been considering fooling about with Rampardos with Machamp, seems like it might be good.

  14. Alex Williams

    Thanks to all!

    Kwisdumb, since I hadn’t played in a tourney for so long there was nothing to gain from me in terms of resistance, I guess.

    I just took out the Exploud tech and added in a couple of Plus Powers thus far.

    Adam, Machamp and Rampardos, eh? The donk kings together in one deck. That would be interesting!

    I have so much to learn about the metagame since it has changed DRASTICALLY. Some of the rules have changed as well. I also don’t like the fact that trainer based draw power has been replaced by Pokemon. But, meh.

  15. Mike Reynolds (Super Tyranitar

    Interesting report with a good deck choice for the day…but the t2 match-up? Kind of offending, if you ask me (example “super sure of himself…”) ;/

    • Alex Williams  → Mike

      Didn’t mean to offend at all. He was sure of himself (confident), and that isn’t a bad thing! You can tell he’s played continuously through the years (that’s my guess anyways), he kinda reminded me of a machine, lol. I think he’s used to winning a lot of battle roads so it comes with the territory.

      However, I did post the top 4 decks wrong. The following is correct:

      1. BlazeRay
      2. Rampardos w/ techs
      3. Gyarados w/ techs
      4. Leafeon/ Shaymin
  16. Mike Reynolds (Super Tyranitar)

    Interesting report with a good deck choice for the day…but the t2 match-up? Kind of offending, if you ask me (example “super sure of himself…”) ;/

    • Alex Williams  → Mike

      Didn’t mean to offend at all. He was sure of himself (confident), and that isn’t a bad thing! You can tell he’s played continuously through the years (that’s my guess anyways), he kinda reminded me of a machine, lol. I think he’s used to winning a lot of battle roads so it comes with the territory.

      However, I did post the top 4 decks wrong. The following is correct:

      1. BlazeRay
      2. Rampardos w/ techs
      3. Gyarados w/ techs
      4. Leafeon/ Shaymin
  17. hunter cordes

    I am actually using Machamp/Rampardos for states . I might post the deck list (P.S. new to site want to get into it.)

  18. hunter cordes

    I am actually using Machamp/Rampardos for states . I might post the deck list (P.S. new to site want to get into it.)

  19. full movie downloads

    I can see you are an expert at your field! I am launching a internet site soon, and your info will probably be very intriguing for me.. Thanks for all your aid and wishing you all of the success.

  20. designer replica handbags

    It may be a small block engine, but it is worthy for your car. Try the LS7 crate engine today. LS crate engines are a gift from above. More ponies than the tripple crown!

  21. replica panerai watches

    You have a fantastic blog here, extremely helpful. Very well written I will be bookmarking the website and subscribing to your feed so i can always read articles of this quality.

  22. replica designer bags

    Pussssyyy I am thirteen and I can drink higher then this girl

  23. gucci handbags

    I recently decided to make a short video about this, I would be appreciative if you would maybe take a second to watch it and perhaps leave a message about what you think, I left the video url in the “website” field, hopefully you can access it, thank you a lot

Leave a Reply

You are logged out. Register. Log in.