Round 1 VS Flygon / Gengar

I started out with a Unown G and my opponent started out with a Baltoy I think. I went second and I used Call Energy to search for a Baltoy and a Trapinch. My opponent put down a Spiritomb and he started his set up. I draw a Bebe’s Search and search for Claydol. I drew Rare Candy and Flygyn, but I couldn’t use it because of Spiritomb’s Poke-body “Keystone Seal”. I attached an energy to Unown G an hit him for 50 and I KO’d his Spiritomb. After that KO I was able to take control of the match. My Flygon was hitting 90 per turn and he had trouble powering up; I ended up winning the match.

1-0

Round 2 VS Shuppet DONK

I knew from the beginning that I would have trouble with this match; my opponent was a world championship competitor. I won the coin toss and went first. I started out with a Gastly. I had a Call Energy in my hand. I attached it and searched for a Gastly and a Baltoy. It was my opponent’s turn and he took like 10 minutes doing nothing but searching for Plus Power, Expert Belt, Mr. Mime, and Shuppet. He knocked out my Gastly by dropping a Crobat G and attacking with “Fade Out”. I brought out my Gastly, used Rare Candy into Gengar and evolved Baltoy into Claydol and draw nothing but supporters. I only knock out one Pokemon. From that point on he knocks out all my Pokemon and takes six prizes.

1-1

Round 3 VS Shuppet DONK

Once again I played another Shuppet deck and the player also had gone to World Championships. He went first and passed without attaching an energy. I started out with Ditto and used Call Energy to search for a Mewtwo and a Gastly. On his turn he plays 2 Poke Blower + and brings in my Mewtwo. He attaches an Expert Belt and one shots my Mewtwo and now I’m not sure what my next move is.

I bring in my Gastly, Rare Candy into Gengar and attach an energy and I pass. He retreats his Mr. Mime, attaches an energy to Shuppet, attaches Expert Belt, and 2 Plus Power. He drops 2 Crobats and uses “Flash Bite”, then uses 3 TGI Poke Turn. He plays Speed Stadium and rolls a heads and draws another TGI Poke Turn and does exactly enough to knock out my Gengar.

1-2

After every senior player finished they announced the results. I placed 3rd and got 4 Platinum Arceus Packs. 1st Place was a kid with a Gyarados deck and second place was the kid with the Shuppet deck.

Props: To all the players for attending the tournament and having a good time.

Leave Ritchie a comment or view the discussion.

My friend and Estrada teammate Jeremy also known as jesus69 has already won a Cities and decided to be head judge at this event instead of playing. I decided to go with the deck that I thought had the best shot at winning, and that choice was Blaziken FB / Luxray GL / Garchomp C. I chose this deck because it’s really fast early and provides so many options mid to late game it’ll drive your opponents nuts. Also I believe it’s a good match up call because it has favorable match ups withh two of the more popular and successful decks in Dialga G/Garchomp C and Gengar variations.

So for Masters division there were 6 rounds so that mean there were at least 32 people. Some notable players entered included fellow Lafonte players: Kyle Sucevich (Pooka), Jason Klaczynski (Ness), Matt Alvis, Seena Ghaziaskar, James Flint and other notable quality players including fresh from a cities win the day before Rob A. from Green Bay and Rob Downs. So the field included some accredited players and up and comers, making it a tough field.

Round One vs. K Silva w/ Fire??

I don’t remember this opponent’s first name but remember she looked very young for her age but was very nice and hopefully wasn’t offended that the first thing she sat at the table was “You’re in Masters!?” Any way, the match lasted 4 turns total because she only ever had a lone Growlithe and my turn 2 I was able to attach a 2nd energy, an Energy Gain, and Claydol Cosmic Power for 5 for an Energy needed with the last card to Trash Bolt for the KO and Bench Out.

1-0

Round Two vs. J Coleman w/ Gengar(Fainting Spell)

This match I went first with a lone Uxie attached a Fire Energy and attacked for 30 with no bottom deck of course to his Unown G. On his turn he was able to use a variety of moves including playing a Ghastly with a Psychic Energy, Rare Candied into Gengar, Uxie for like 4 cards, Super Scooped Up the Unown G, Super Scooped Up the Uxie to setup again, benched a Baltoy, and Guarded his Gengar. He was just one Crobat G from getting the turn 1 donk, but I was able to survive barely after a Shadow Room.

The turn leading up afterward was a struggle as I was down 2 prizes for awhile trying to setup while he was going to town on my Uxie and Azelf. I was able to stay in the game with the signature move of attacking with a recently leveled up Luxray GL with Expert Belt and 2 energies to Flash Impact knockout a Bright Looked Claydol. At this time I was able to control the amount of Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums in my hand so I wouldn’t be wrecked by Poltergeist.

As from many tested games vs. Gengar, it loses a lot of steam after Claydol is taken out. After many more turns of scrapping by I was able to take the prize count to 1-1, and had a Power Spray for Level Down and my turn I PokeTurn said Luxray GL with Expert Belt promoted my fresh played Uxie. I attached an Energy and the Expert Belt and Psychic Restored bottom decking to get the exact knockout on his injured Gengar Lv.X for game.

2-0

I was happy with this comeback win but from so much slouching from the past game my back was really starting to hurt and I heavily contemplated dropping or conceding so I can lie down and rest, but my friend and Teammate Javier kept telling me to “Man Up” and least start the match and maybe I’ll get the donk and I was like I can at least do that.

Round 3 vs. Rob A. w/ Gengar(Curse)/Spiritomb

I started with a Luxray GL and Call Energy and used it going first to setup my bench. He started with Baltoy attached a Call of his own, played a Nidoran F and got out a Gastly and Spiritomb. I leveled up next turn and Flash Impacted his Baltoy for knock out. This alone was too much damage too early for the Gengar deck and I kept the pressure on with repeated knockouts and Power Spray a crucial Dark Palm attempt and had a Dragon Rush for last prize. Afterward Rob told me had several crucial cards prized and I was very happy that I decided to play and by the end my back’s pain was bearable and I managed to get a zip lock bag and filled it with snow as a makeshift icepack.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Ryan Alperstein (Bullados) w/ Flygon/Dusknoir

I don’t remember too much about this game besides the fact he opened with a Trapinch and drew and benched another one. I took a very early lead from Trash Bolt on a Trapinch and leveling up and Flash Impact a Baltoy. Out of nowhere he got out 2x Claydol, a Dusknoir (Shadow Command), and a Flygon. I let him drew tons of cards with his 2 Claydol because I knew I had to save Power Sprays strategically for Shadow Command so he won’t do anything too funny with Damage Even. I just made sure I never attacked into that Dusknoir unless it was for the knockout and I eventually won with a Dragon Rush. Things never got too out of hand because I was up so far ahead on prizes and energy.

4-0

Round 5 vs. Colin Peterik w/ Machamp/Flygon

This match he was able to get a quick Machamp on his turn 2, but luckily I started first with a Lucario GL and a Call Energy. He was able to Take Out my Lucario, but I did get a critical Power Spray on his Uxie to stem the bleeding. I responded with a Toxicroak G (Leap Away) with 2 energies and an Unown G attached and Poison Revenged for 60 and poison. After this point Colin had to play real tight because he didn’t have any access to card draw and I was able to take controland took many prizes with a Guarded Blaziken FB Lv.X. Eventually I won with an Uxie Lv.X with 2 energies and an Expert Belt to knock out a Nidoqueen with an Expert Belt followed up with what might have been a Dragon Rush.

5-0

Round 6 vs. Kyle Sucevich (Pooka) w/ Gyarados/Luxray GL

I never played against Gyarados before, but I have played my own version of it a lot. My whole strategy was to do what Pooka did to me in an earlier City in which I played Gyarados and he played Blaziken FB/Blaziken/Luxray GL. Even though I started well and got a lot of pressure, his masterful use of one Luxray GL worked me over the whole game resulting in my loss due to burn flip when both on final prize.

He started first with Sableye to my Blaziken FB and got a Magikarp and something else with Call Energy. I Call of my own to setup a Luxray GL and a Lucario GL. After vapor Kicking for knockout next turn I was able to cut down on Pooka’s draw and he wasn’t able to setup a Gyarados for awhile.  Critical point was Pooka trying to buy a turn by tanking with a Luxray GL Lv. X with 2 damage counters and an Expert Belt. I was saving 3 Poketurn in my had to get a funny Magikarp kill, but I had to use them all right there to go with Jet Shoot to go down to one prize and was able to secure the game; if not, next turn he was able to finally get out the Gyarados and Poketurn the Luxray GL Lv.X and bulldozing his way back.

6-0

Top 8 vs. Matt Alvis w/ Dialga G/Garchomp C

Game 1: Was a disaster I didn’t get any energies yet I was still hopeful of getting one Roseanne’s Research to turn the game around, but by my turn 7 I scooped after drawing 5 trainers in a row that didn’t help, also the fact that 15 minutes passed already didn’t help.

Game 2: I was able to start well but not realizing my Claydol was prized led me to waste a VS Seeker for a Bebe’s Search so I had to settle for an Uxie Lv.X. I was ahead 3-5 for awhile and was trying to setup something more substantial. Also time was passing by real fast this game and I knew my number 1 priority was to take one more prize so this game would count and force a sudden death. Somehow Matt’s deck was not providing much energies or at least search able ones so he never mounted a full comeback. I tried to Flash Bite and setup a dragon Rush to knock out his benched Bronzong G to take 4th prize but I noticed he did have Snowpoint Temple out and after realizing that I had to Poketurn Crobat G and Flash Bit an Uxie on his bench and proceeded to Dragon Rush that to go up 2-4 with time running pretty low. Time was called soon and I held the lead to get a win.

Game 3 Sudden Death: Ness made a very good point that Matt should have scooped so he could go into game 3 with his choice of who goes first instead of the rule of flipping. I won the decision and started with Luxray GL and used Call Energy for another Luxray GL and a Blaziken FB. He started with an Unown G and after a SP Radar for a Garchomp C which he benched he attached a Call Energy to Unown G and decided it was better to retreat into Garchomp and Guard it up. My turn I drew Crobat G and with a Poketurn in my hand I Flash Bite it 2x and used Cyrus’s Conspiracy for Lightning Energy and a SP Radar in which I got Luxray GL Lv.X and took the game. My friend Javier afterward told me why I didn’t just go into Blaziken FB Lv.X instead since it would have also won and didn’t have to go through all of that, and I was like “I guess because I own a $40 card I should use it as much as I can.”

7-0

Top 4 vs. Seena Ghaziaskar w/ Gengar/Spiritomb.

Game 1: This was a very long game. I was able to surprise him early and knocked out a Haunter with 2 energies early with a Blaziken FB Lv.X because he decided to use Hoodwink on my Azelf thinking it would be safe instead of retreating into Spiritomb in which he was contemplating . I don’t remember the exact details but I was only able to get another prize out of that Blaziken before it was knocked out by Gengar(curse) with Shadow Skip and Expert Belt into a Spiritomb with an Unown Q attached. I try to get slick by sending up my Azelf with 6 damage counters attached a Psychic Energy to Psychic Bind the Spiritomb for 20 and preventing it from retreating. Next turn he use Curse to knock out the Azelf.

I follow up with a Luxray GL and proceed to Level it up and Bright Look up the loaded Gengar attached a 2nd Energy and an Expert Belt I also Cyrus’s Conspiracy and noticed I had no more basic energies so I took another Cyrus and debated between Power Spray and SP Radar. I ended up taking SP Radar and got a Crobat G with it and used it to Flash Bite the damaged Spiritomb to put it at 3 damage counters. I attacked Gengar for 80 with Flash Impact and next turn he leveled up, Level Down my Luxray GL and used Crobat+Poketurn to knock for 2 prizes.

So things were starting to look really bad. Now I’m down 4-2 and decided to just send and Uxie and bottom deck with Psychic Restore to put the Spiritomb with Q equipped at 50 and promoted a Blaziken. I had a Garchomp C with an Energy and Energy Gain on the bench and could have used Bebe’s for the Lv.X but did have an energy so I decided to use Aaron’s Collection for a Luxray GL and a Lightning Energy that I attached to Uxie. He Shadow Skips my Blaziken next turn to go up 1-4 and things were looking bad.

I promoted the Luxray GL and leveled up to Bright Look Claydol then I Poketurn my Crobat G and replayed him to Flash Bite to knock out a Spiritomb and got a Fire Energy from my prize. I attached the Fire energy to Garchomp and used my Luxury Ball for Claydol and evolved and Cosmic Power into 5 new cards and I was able to Bebe’s Search into the Garchomp C Lv.X, retreated into Garchomp C Lv.X and Dragon Rushed the damaged Gengar Lv.X with Expert Belt for 2 prizes tying it 1-1 after I Poketurn and relay my Luxray GL with an Energy Gain. Seena drops a Relicanth and tried to get into a Fighting Energy and a way to get Claydol out of active through a Cosmic Power that I Power Sprayed and a Cynthia’s Feelings but he didn’t get it and next turn I retreated leveled up and Bright Looked a Spiritomb and Cyrus for the Lightning Energy I bottomed early with Uxie for game. Very exciting.

Game 2: Only like 10 minutes left and Seena decided to concede and give me the match.

8-0

Finals vs. Kyle Sucevich(Pooka) w/ Gyarados/Luxray GL

Game 1: I don’t remember too much about this game besides going aggressive with a Luxray GL to Trash Bolt and that I used Power Spray on Luxray GL 3 times and me knocking out Luxray GL 3 times. I made sure Luxray GL Lv.X could not beat me and it paid off. It took him a long time to setup Magikarps in the discard pile and by the time it tuned into a threat I was able to have backup Luxrays GL to respond.

Game 2: Pooka got a really bad hand and had to keep using Sableyes to Impersonate into some cards while I got out an early Luxray GL and used Flash Impact repeatedly to keep knocking out Sableyes with him using Pokémon Rescue 3 times for Sableye and retreating a Crobat G into Impersonate. After my bench was littered with 3 damage counters all over the place I finally managed to take the last prize on a Gyarados I believe and won.

9-0

So I’m pretty happy that I finally won a City Championship. So my 4 City Championships showing this year got progressively better and I knew I was due. In chronological order I had a missed cut, top4, finals, and finally a win. I would like to thank my friends in the Pokémon Community for being such outstanding people and tough competitors.

Props:

My ghost busting abilities

Team Estrada

Javier for telling me to man up through pain

Jeremy for an excellent head judging job and driving the group

Jimmy Ballard for owning the best card store, Collect a Card N’ Comics and a fantastic tournament organizer

Follow Lafonte members that continues to be the apex of sportsmanship, and all around great people to be around with

Cons:

Back Pain

Losing $1 to Javier that the Patriots would beat the Ravens

Once again not winning a mat from door prizes

Thank you all for reading and I wish everybody good luck for States and beyond.

Leave Spadeace a comment or view the discussion.

I stuck with my Flygon/Machamp/Nidoqueen deck that I have been running all season. I won’t type my deck list, but a few key techs included: Relicanth, Ditto, Machamp Lv.X, and Lucian’s Assignment. I feel like this season of an ever-changing deck list accumulated in the most powerful, most consistent one yet, and I go into the tournament feeling pretty confident, but sad that it was the last of the year.

Round 1 vs. Richard Lucas (Gengar/Ampharos Jam)

This is the second time this season I got paired up against Mr. Lucas in round 1. I sighed because I know how great of a player he is, and I had lost to him previously at Chicago CC’s. He was actually the very first person I played against after my 10 year hiatus from the game; needless to say he taught me almost everything I know. He was playing Gengar with Ampharos. Ampharos’ PokeBody “Jamming” places 1 damage counter on each of your opponents Pokemon whenever they play a Supporter. This is obviously a fantastic combo for Gengar Lv.X. We exchange a few early prizes before things start to heat up. I manage to keep his damage output fairly low by GUARDing my Claydol and keeping my hand size Trainer-free. He levels up Gengar and starts agro-spreading with “Compound Pain”, dealing 30 to everything on my side. Unfortunately, he forgot to “Level-Down” my Flygon Lv.X, and I was a Warp Point and “Extreme Attack” away from taking my last prize. Great game Mr. Lucas!

1-0

Round 2 vs. James Flint (Gengar Powerlock)

James and I have been paired up at almost EVERY CC’s this season. It always leads to a fantastically challenging game with all sorts of twists and turns that have never led to me claiming victory over him. I knew he was playing Gengar, but he told me it changed a lot. He used to run it with Metagross to get easier KOs with “Compound Pain”, however I knew this was not the case when he flipped over his Pokemon to reveal Abra on the bench. We were both starting to get set up when I noticed he had GUARDed his Claydol, Expert Belted his Gengar, AND played Miasma Valley.

I then noticed my deck starting to move strangely up and down, like it was vibrating. This strange movement continued until it was my turn and I said, “Okay I HAVE to figure out what that is.” I play Roseanne’s and find out it was my Relicanth dancing!! Funny how he does that. I used “Grand Swell” for at least 3 prizes that game, including the death of his Claydol. The rest of the game played out well, but it was that early Relicanth blitz that sealed my fate as I took my last prize. Good game.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Jason Klaczynski (Gengar Hit and Run)

Jason is a 2-time World Champion, but we also grew up playing Pokemon together in a local shop back in the day. It was a bit intimidating, but also just felt like the god ol’ days. We both open with Unown G, I attached and Call for Baltoy and Machop. He Roseanne’s for Baltoy and Spiritomb, attaches to retreat Unown G, and promotes Spiritomb to use “Darkness Grace” to evolve Baltoy. I top-deck Claydol and evolve Baltoy, evolve Machop and attach a Psychic energy to Unown G, (a WTF? moment) and use “Hidden Power” to KO the Spiritomb. He promotes Unown G, and starts using Claydol to build up his Gengar line.

I thought I might get ANOTHER prize with Unown G, but he drops a Crobat G to put a single damage counter on my now useless One-Eyed Alphabet Monster. He eventually starts getting his CurseGar powered up, while I am busy building a Machamp, Nidoqueen, and Flygon. We exchange a few prizes via Relicanth on my side and CurseGar on his side. Eventually I get my Machamp built up with 3 energy and “Take Out” an Uxie. He uses “Shadow Skip” next turn to deal 110 with Expert Belt and promotes a GUARDed Luxray GL. I Level-Up and use “Strong Willed” for the KO. Next turn he Uses “Shadow Skip” to deal 180 damage but I flip heads on Strong Willed, leaving me with 10 HP. Eventually time is winding down and I have 1 prize left and he has 3. I desperately try to get my Relicanth back out for an easy snipe FTW when time is called. Great game.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Clinton Chan (Lady Gaga)

All day I was dreading the SP match-up. I know Clinton from my local shop, (Collect-a-Card n’ Comics, owned by Jimmy Ballard), and battled him at my first CC’s this season. Back then he was playing Gyarados, but now it was Lady Gaga. I don’t remember many of the details from this match, I know he had a speedy set up and mine was average. I may have gotten a few prizes from a very desperate Machamp Lv.X, but ultimately he claims all 6 in just over 20 minutes. Good game.

3-1

Round 5 vs. Matt Alvis (Lady Gaga/SP toolbox)

My second SP match-up of the day, and again I was a little worried. Matt was also a familiar face from the Midwest area CC’s and a very funny guy. The game starts chugging along slowly, he fails to draw into a Cyrus until about turn 4. He has enough Energy Gains and GUARDs in play for my Relicanth to OHKO anything on his side. He has a Toxicorak Promo, Dialga, and Garchomp C. I choose to snipe the Garchomp, because I figured he was the most threatening.  I knew he would retaliate by sending up Promo-Croak for an easy KO, which I would then follow up with a Machop-Rare Candy-Machamp “Take Out”.

Time is winding down and I have one prize to his two. I have an active Machamp, and a benched Flygon and Machamp. He manages to get Toxicroak G (PL), with the help of Skuntank to OHKO my active Machamp last minute to tie the game. Time is called. By now, both our hearts are beating pretty hard. I promote my benched Machamp and realize I can’t simply “Take Out” for the win because of Toxicroak’s body that has an Unown G effect. All I have on my bench is a Memory Berry equipped Flygon with a single fighting energy attached. I retreat Machamp using Flygon’s “Rainbow Float” and promote Flygon.

I think for a minute. ‘Let’s see… I can’t use any of Trapinch’s attacks because Toxicroak’s body prevents both of them…’ I think for a little longer.. ‘Maybe I can try to stall while I build up Machamp…” when BAM! Light Bulb moment. I start rifling through his discard pile. TEN ENERGY CARDS. I use Vibrava’s “Energy Typhoon” for 200 damage and the win. Wow… After the game, we had a good laugh about how I might not have realized that, and whether or not he would have told me afterwards. He said he purposely hadn’t looked through, or AT his discard pile the last 5 turns so as not to give me any hints. Awesome game!

4-1

Round 6 vs. Ryan Alperstein (Flygon/Dusknoir)

Ryan is another familiar face, perhaps better known for running some great tournaments in the Midwest. It was a welcome change seeing him actually playing, though. I knew he was playing “FlyClops” and figured my best bet was to focus on a couple of Flygon lines. I knew I had to manage my bench space because of the Dusknoir “Dark Palm” threat, so I just got my 2 Flygons, Machamp and Claydol going. He hesitates using Dusknoir’s power, because he anticipated the KO next turn without having Dusknoir Lv.X activate. Therefore, “Damage Even”s output was never over 40. He levels up Dusknoir and places 6 counters on my Machamp. I have a fully loaded Flygon on the bench, play Warp Point, Level-Up Flygon and “Extreme Attack” Dusknoir on the bench to get around his “Ectoplasm” PokePower. From there I use “Power Swing” and “Take Out” to claim the rest of my prizes. Good game!

5-1

Here was the top 8 after Swiss:

1. Clinton Chan

2. Colin Peterik

3. Jozell Friend

4. Seena Ghaz

5. Brandon Tilton

6. Kyle Sucevich

7. James Flint

8. Matt Alvis

Top 8 vs. James Flint (Gengar Powerlock)

Game 1:

I was happy when I found out I was paired with James again in the top-8. Like I said, they are always very strategic and fun games. This time he is actually able to Rare Candy into Alakazam MT to start “Power Canceling” me. Luckily I had some pretty great top decks and a revenge Cynthia’s Feelings so I didn’t have to rely on Claydol. I forced him to “Power Cancel” every turn, making him discard 2 cards from his hand each turn. This plus “Cosmic Power” thinned out his deck pretty quickly. I figure my best bet at this point was to deck him. So I promote my Flygon, Level-Up, and “Inviting Trap” his Blissey using Memory Berry. “Wind Erosion” activates and he is forced to discard the top card from his deck between turns. He has an Expert Belt on Blissey, so he could hit my Flygon for a hefty 60 damage with “Return”. The only drawback is he has to draw until he has 6 cards in his hand. Once he realized the lock he was in, he scooped.

Game 2:

By this time there was already less than 10 minutes left. We pile shuffle and set up like mad men. He gets set up much more quickly and I can see the determination in his eyes. I got set up very quickly too, and we both had pretty much anything we needed by turn 3 or 4. We exchanged a couple prizes each, but time is called and he failed to draw 4. Great games as always James. See you at States!

(Meanwhile, during the sudden death match between Matt Alvis and Clinton Chan…)

Clinton is able to get a T-2 Donk with Luxray GL Lv.X: “Hey, I paid 20 bucks for this and I’m gonna use it!” -Clinton Chan

Great quote. haha…

Top 4 vs. Kyle Sucevich (Gyarados Honey)

“Don’t worry, it’s just the reigning National Champion!” -Jimmy Ballard

By this time I was freezing, starving, and just plain tired of playing Pokemon. 9 hours in a row can really take a toll on your brain! I was a bit nervous due to Pooka’s credentials, but I didn’t let it get to me. I didn’t know what to expect, because I know he had played SP most of the season, and today he was playing Gyarados. I figured I would rather take my chances with Gyarados than a straight up SP smack-down.

Game 1:

Gyarados is just such a fast deck. A good player will swing for 90 starting T-2, and this was no exception. I managed to build up a couple Flygons, taking early hits while I healed and rotated with Nidoqueen. When he is finally able to KO Flygon, I promote a Machamp with 4 energy, Level-Up, Attach Expert Belt, and use “Rage ” for the 140 damage KO. “That is one angry Machamp” -Pooka. I try to go an entire tournament not having to use “Hurricane Punch” if I can help it. It is such a BAD attack. So now I figure, “Cool, I went all out, but I got rid of Gyarados.” Next turn, Pooka benches a Combee and says “Honey.” Everyone watching enjoys a good laugh. Combee’s Held-Item “Honey” lets him search his discard pile for a basic Pokemon on put it on the bench. This plus a Rare Candy into Gyarados sealed my fate for game 1. Ouch.

Game 2:

This game started out similar with both of us having very quick set ups. Here’s a good quote: “Man if I ran as good as either of you I’d be the two-time World Champion.” -Jason Klaczynski. This game gave me better field advantage, I “Inviting Trap”ed his Regirock and locked him for a while while I got set up. He flipped tails on two Super Scoop Ups in row. he finally got a Warp Point and started hitting hard with Gyarados. I had a plan to break even in prizes and go into sudden death by killing his Gyarados with my Machamp the same way I did last time, then using Relicanth the next turn to snipe the heavily damaged Regirock. Unfortunately, time was called and he was up on prizes. Great tournament.

The finals were between good friends Clinton Chan and Kyle Sucevich. They both wanted to go home and were trying to negotiate a way for them not to have to play the final match. I think Kyle ended up handing the win to Clinton, but I’m not positive. I end up in 3rd place, which was my best placement yet. For my rookie season, I think I did very well. My final record from all CC’s this season is 42-28. I would tell you my ranking, but Go-Pokemon.com is severely down. I think I finished somewhere in the 1670′s. I had my doubts about returning to the TCG after all these years, but after having so much fun with the very best of people, and seeing the amount of camaraderie, I know I had made the right choice. What a fun game. Plain and simple.

Props:

Jimmy Ballard for hosting a fantastic CC’s like always.

Jeremy Adams for being a great head judge.

Everyone that showed up and packed the place.

The dude that let me borrow Machamp Lv.X. (Sorry I forgot your name! I’ll trade you something good for it next time I see you, States?)

Clinton Chan for going undefeated in Swiss and claiming his first medal of the season.

Jason K. for staying until the end to watch the finals matches.

Honey. hahahaha…

Slops:

NONE!

-Colin

Leave cpeterik89 a comment or view the discussion.

Round 1 vs ??? (Machamp/Mewtwo)

So my first round is against some sort of “Anti-SP deck.” Great. I have a Dialga G start, and “Deafen” for 10. He starts with a Mewtwo and uses Roseannes Research to take a Machop and a Fighting energy. Good thing I Deafened because by the look on his face I knew he had a Machamp and a Rare Candy, so I do not want to break the “Deafen” lock. I decide to grab 2 Uxies and use “Set Up” to start building up my hand. I also attach an Unown G to my Uxie, so that I can dent the Machamp early on. Eventually he manages to get up a Mewtwo Lv.X and two Machamp, which I smash with Dialga G Lv.X’s “Remove Lost” and defeat Machamps using Toxicroak G and Skuntank G’s “Poison Structure” Poke-Power to seal the game.

1-0

Round 2 vs Sheldon P. (Blaze/Ray)

Great. Another very unfavorable matchup. I start just like I want to, with a Garchomp C, an Energy Gain, and some other notable cards, Luxury Ball, Cyrus’ Conspiracy, etc. I am able to use Cyrus Conspiracy to set up extensively, and then just “Claw Swipe” for 30. Sheldon starts with 2 Shiny Vulpix, and uses Roseannes Research to search out 2 Blaziken FB. He then uses Vulpix’s free move to search his deck for 2 Fire Energies.

Now I attach another energy to Garchomp, use SP Radar to search for Garchomp C Lv.X, and use “Dragon Rush” to KO his Blaziken FB. Eventually, I am up by 3 prizes, and have a Garchomp C Lv.X on the bench with 5 energies on it, and a Dialga G Lv.X with 4 Special Metal Energies on it! He only had a Blaziken FB active with 60 damage on it, and a Ninetails, which I ended up sniping. When he failed to KO my Garchomp C Lv.X, I just retreated, brought up Dialga G Lv.X, and finished with “Remove Lost” for the game.

2-0

Lunch Break:

I end up hitching a ride with Team R as they go to Chipotle. They’re really awesome guys, seriously. The steak bowl is amazing; I could eat it all day haha. We make some jokes and make it back to the venue with plenty of time to spare.

Round 3 vs Will B. (Gengar)

I have never tested this matchup, but was almost positive that it was even. I saw a Haunter while he was shuffling, (sorry!) and asked him if he was playing Gengar. I already knew that he was but I was just playing around. He replied “you’ll see” and we started the game. When he mulliganed 3 times in a row, I had confirmed that he was indeed playing Gengar.

I start ready to donk with Toxicroak G, Skuntank G, a psychic energy, an Energy Gain, two Poketurn, and a Crobat G. “Gah! I said annoyed.” No stadium! I decide to start with Toxicroak G, and bench Skuntank G, and hit Baltoy active for 20. He top decks a Gastly and passes. I top deck a Conductive Quarry amazingly, play it, and use Crobat G’s “Flash Bite” Poke power, and KO it after using 3 Poketurns. I then activate Skuntank G’s “Poison Structure” to poison Gastly, and finish with Toxicroak G’s “Deep Poison” to KO Gastly.

3-0

Round 4 vs Greg C. (LuxChomp)

Great. Greg’s an awesome player, and one of my good friends, so I’m very nervous here. I do not have a Toxicroak G Promo, which I know is one of the key cards against this matchup, as Luxray GL and Luxray GL Lv.X resist Dialga’s attacks. The game drags for awhile, as we exchange prizes. Evetually Greg is up by 3 prizes, and I am out of steam, so I just scoop. “Deafen” for 0 was what was really killing me, and the fact that I could not use Skuntank G’s “Poison Structure” since his Pokemon were also SP Pokemon.

3-1

Round 4 vs Chris B. (Gyarados)

Greaaaaat. Chris B is one of the best players in Florida, and he’s really cool, and he’s good. This matchup is easy, too bad he plays Combee, and I do not play Expert Belt, which makes the matchup about five times harder. He starts incredibly well, and gets a T3 Gyarados, not to mention he gets a top deck Expert Belt, which is just enough to KO my active Garchomp C Lv.X. I have nothing and draw into garbage, while he takes 5 prizes to my 1. Hopefully I’m still in the top cut.

Top Cut:
(So I make top cut as the 7th seed. Unfortunately, I now play Greg. If I would’ve came in as the 8th seed, I would’ve played Anthony C, who was playing Shuppent Donk, a ridiculously easy matchup for me).

Round 1 vs Greg C.

The game is very close. We start exchanging prizes about 20 minutes in, and the game comes down to 2-2 prizes. I almost have him scooped, but somehow he escapes and drags up a Luxray GL Lv. X to stall out my Dialga who only has enough energy to “Deafen.” I scoop

Game 2:

This game is so horrible. I start with nothing and draw into nothing. He just sweeps me with Luxray.

So I lose in the top 8, but I am proud of how I did. The event was filled with good players (Justin S, Chris B, Omar I, Ryan V, Greg C, etc) and I ended up top cutting, even after having bad matchups. I had so much fun and cannot wait until states.

Props:
The Broward Army
Team R
Dialga for being a tank
Skuntank G for being a boss
Dialga G again for telling Mewtwo that he can’t stop me
Chipotle
Sixprizes.com for helping me decide on what I was playing.

Slops:
Galactic HQ dealing a total of 20 damage out of 7 games.
Not playing Toxicroak G Promo

Jeez

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We arrive more early then we hoped so we decided to go across the street and replenish our caffeine levels at the local star bucks, seeing as how McAlister’s wasn’t opened yet. An hour later the doors open and we make our way in to signup and deck registration. As I await the parings I am approached by a kid that looks to be playing in the seniors division and he of course challenges me to a quick game.  

I accept and start to regret accepting it almost immediately. Seeing as how I have only been playing for a month, I’m almost positive this kid is going to cream me. Turns out he is playing Torterra / Sceptile, and I happen to start with Blaziken FB and Tangela. He rolls and I get to go first. I attach an energy and luring flame one Treecko for another. He sets a tadium (Contest Hall), rolls for it, gets tails, so he searches for Grovyle with Luxury Ball, attaches an Energy to his benched Treecko and passes. I draw a card, level up Blaziken FB, roll for the stadium get a heads and so I pull out Infernape 4 and attach an Expert Belt, add an Energy to Blaziken Lv. X and proceed to KO his Treecko.

He sends up Treecko with an Energy, then evolves to Grovyle, rolls for the stadium, gets another tails, seeing as how he doesn’t have any trainers to pull a basic and no basics on his bench he tries to use Grovyle’s “Detect” attack it also fails so he concedes.

Round 1: Strange Fellow with Garchomp / Dragonite          

He starts with a lonely Gible, I start with Tangela, Surskit, and another Surskit up front. I go first, and attach an Energy to Surskit and attack for 10 plus another ten because I rolled a heads. He draws and adds another Gible to his bench. Sand Attacks with Gible and ends his turn. I draw, evolve Surskit to Masquerain, and Tangela to Tangrowth attach an energy to Tangrowth and attack with “Skim Attack”, roll for the attack and get heads knocking out his Gible and drawing two cards and a prize.

He sends up Gible from his bench evolves into Gabite, attaches an Energy, sets Dratini on the bench, and uses Gather up, to pull the energy from the discard. I draw, attach an Energy to Tangrowth, Roseanne’s Research a Paris and a Energy, set Paris on the bench and attach an Expert Belt to Masquerain and Skim Attack for 50 and draw two cards. After that everything went pretty quickly. He tried to cheat a couple of times and the judges caught him; I didn’t mind because I don’t think he even drew a prize on me.

1-0

Round 2: Giratina

It’s sad I can’t remember this guys name because he was by far my favorite match. He played extremely well and was an excellent sport. He started off really strong and ended up leveling up his Giratina quickly and had me discarding cards every time I wanted to attack. I ended up getting out Parasect and putting him to sleep where he had to roll two heads in order to wake up, which didn’t happen, then I proceeded to send out Tangrowth and level him up and pretty much cleaned up after that. He never could keep damage on me long enough to do anything so I took my final prize and won. Excellent game, I hated winning against him because the match was just awesome.

2-0

Round 3: Robert Long with Luxray

Robert Long is a great friend of mine that rode up with us from Oklahoma. Poor guy wasn’t having much luck that day but played very well despite only being a first time player like me. I started really well again and pretty much mopped him up before he could establish anything. At one point he almost took out my Tangrowth with a Manectric with too much Energy on it to count and an Expert Belt but I recovered for the win.

3-0

Round 4: Hariyama / Flygon

I don’t remember this guys name either but he started horrible with a single Trapinch and I immediately got my Tangrowth out and my Masquerain was helping my draw out the rest of my set up when he turned it around with Hariyama. I was down to my last prize after I KOed two of his Flygon and two of his Hariyama, and one stray Trapinch. He still had another Flygon and another Hariyama. I attacked with Tangrowth and used Stick and Absorb to keep him from retreating, but forgot to enforce it on his turn and he retreated Hariyama and knocked out my Tangrowth with an Expert Belt drawing his last two prizes. All I really had to do was either remember to tell him he couldn’t retreat or stall out for the last minute before time would have been called, but I didn’t want to stall and I forgot he couldn’t retreat so I ended up suffering my first loss of the day.

3-1

Round 5: Machamp / Leafeon

This match was won 100% by Machamp. There was nothing I could do and being the first time I had ever seen that particular Machamp I had no way of knowing what was about to happen. He took out everything in the first five minutes and won. I asked him to play again for fun and he agreed. This time I got down to my last prize but he still ended up taking the win. Excellent playing on his part and I was glad to have learned from the match.

3-2

So I didn’t make the top cut because one of the other guys in the master’s went 5-0 but I learned a lot about what other people were running, and that I needed many more trainers in my deck in order to set up quicker. All in all it was really fun and I look forward to playing in every other tournament I can travel too. Since this day I have completely changed my deck around and I now run Gengar SF / Tangrowth SF. I do well for myself but it would be nice if I could get a Claydol in there to draw with instead of using Masquerain and Uxie.

Here is the deck I was running for the tournament in Hot Springs:

Deck Name: Giant Growth

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Round 1 VS Henry C. w/ Speedrill

I know Henry for a while now. He’s a very very very very very very very nice person and player.

I go second starting with Crobat G, top deck Shuppet and put it down. Then I keep getting heads on Blowers and SSU and draw Pluspowers and an Expert Belt and of course a Psychic Energy. Then I use Great Ball to get Spiritomb PA and attach a Unown Q to it. After that I keep hitting with Shuppet. When he killed my Spiritomb with Band Attack, I just Roseanne’s for another Spiritomb and an Unown Q. When I had 1 prize left he scooped because he couldn’t get anything out.

1-0

Round 2 VS Griffin H. w/ Dialga / Dusknoir

I start with Spiritomb. I already know I will lose because the rest of my hand was Trainers. I passed for 2 turns. When he killed my Spiritomb I got out Shuppet with 2 PlusPowers and a Psychic Energy, then “Fade Out” for 50. Crobat G is then the only Pokemon out in play on my side. He goes evolve into Dusknoir Dusk Hide which had 2 Energies already on it then he puts a Psychic Energy and Expert Belt on Dusknoir and uses Reaper Pulse for 90 which kills Crobat G.

1-1

Final Round VS Estrella G. w/ Kingdra

She goes first attaches to Horsea which is her only Pokemon in play and uses Smoke Screen. My start is Shuppet active. I keep drawing cards with Uxie and PokeDex Handy 910is. I try to kill the Horsea by dropping blowers and Crobats because if I don’t get heads on Fade Out, the attack would fail, so I managed to get 2 counters on it and use Fade Out. I got heads. :)

2-1

So I managed to come in 3rd place. Here were the standings.

1. Andrew K. w/ Gyrados

2. Griffin H.w/ Dialga Dusknoir

3. Me w/ SHUPPET DONK!!

4. Henry C. w/Speedrill

Props:

SHUPPET!!

My friend being 1st

Great ball mat from door prizes

Slops:

Spiritomb in the beginning

Pulling bad cards in my packs

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So I wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning to do my hair like a woman with a pounding headache from staying up all night playing with myself (you know, when you really pathetically imagine someone’s in front of you playing, and you talk to yourself and pretend they put a Pokemon in front of you and you never get Power Spray’d and all your dice rolls are heads?) asking myself what was the better play: “Lady Gaga” (LuxChomp), DialgaChomp or BLG and decide to roll with DialgaChomp.  I pick up my girlfriend, we hit up McDonald’s, fill my tank up with $40 worth of gas to last me a couple mins of driving or so, and take off.

We get there and we meet all our PokeFamily, most notably my boy in Seniors that takes 1st at literally every single CC’s in Cali, and some other consistent players with plenty of new faces.  There were 20-some people in Masters and there were to be 4 rounds with a Top-2!  As for my deck list, it was really just the standard list minus Expert Belt because of my stigmatization of Blaziken FB…no names were remembered either I’m afraid. >_<

Round 1 VS Cherrim / ???

I’m afraid I don’t remember what happened next because it was a T2 donk.  I go 1st and start with Crobat G active and he flips over a Cherrim.  My hand is really situational; I remember a PokeTurn, Uxie, and Roseanne’s Research.  He has no other means of getting another Pokemon out and passes.  I draw another PokeTurn (bad shuffling?!) and activate Roseanne’s, search out my 2nd Crobat G and Bronzong G.  Drop my 2nd Crobat with 2 PokeTurn’s, use Bronzong G to switch the energy from the first Crobat to my Uxie, attacked with Psychic Restore and that was game.  Took me a minute to think that one out.  Sorry for the donk.  =/

1-0

Round 2 VS SP Toolbox

This guy’s really sweet, he starts with a Beedrill G, and I ask what it’s for and he said to KO Claydol, and at this point, I ask myself what I’m going to be in for.  It turns out, this guy has a plethora of basically every kind of SP there is in his deck.  I flip over Dialga G and start Deafening the first couple of turns and patiently wait and ask myself what this guy’s up to.  I see Roserade GL, Empoleon FB, Weaville G, Luxray GL, etc on his bench and he starts attaching Special Dark Energies to his Weaville G. 

We exchange prizes back and forth, and there was a certain point we were both stalemated and he used Empoleon FB to continuously move my energy drop from my Garchomp C Lv.X to my Uxie and my Uxie Lv.X is prized, so I end up all out of energy and having to Psychic Restore Uxie back into the deck and time gets called when I have 1 prize left and I believe he had 3.  Good game!!!

2-0

It’s lunchtime and the Sausage Egg McMuffin’s turning in my stomach, so I just suck down a Diet Coke and end up having to go poopoo right before the 3rd Round and almost get a loss.  =/

Round 3 VS Gengar

We both have a pretty crappy start, but I end up improvising and Deafen him to death.  He got things progressively set up but unfortunately didn’t draw one energy.  After the game he shows me his 3 Poke Drawers he had sitting in his hand and I tell him Dialga G’s a real jerk. =p

3-0

Round 4 VS LuxApe

We both start off REALLYYY BADDD!!!  I start off with Skuntank G, and he with Uxie.  He lets out a very subtle *sigh* and shuffles around the cards in his hand and dropped them in front of him and looked away.  I comment on how bad my hand is as well, and it didn’t seem to be much consolation to him.  I draw a Conductive Quarry and activate Poison Structure and ask myself if it’s really worth investing energy into Skuntank and if I can get the Smokescreen donk f…t…w on my next turn.  He draws into nothing, attaches, attacks, and passes.  I do Smokescreen again and win.  He showed me his hand full of Power Sprays, Night Maintenance, and some other non-playable stuff.

4-0

Top 2 VS LuxApe

The same guy again, except this time God didn’t call in sick for him and gave him an awful “God Hand”.  In other words, Deafen didn’t help at all, and Garchomp C Lv.X was a bit slower than his Luxray GL Lv.X putting out more damage per turn.  I had no chance.  X_X  The second game we exchanged prizes back and forth, but again, I have to wait an extra turn to attach enough energy to Garchomp C Lv.X to do some decent damage since Dialga G is out of the picture, he ends up taking board control right towards the end, and he wins. 

Slops:

-Poor gas mileage

-Hating Infernape4 more than Blaziken FB

-Pulling the Arceus Lv.X that just hit Wal*Mart’s department store floor with every kid in the neighborhood just ripping it out of the tin in the bathroom

-Awkward starts

Props:

2nd Place!!!

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I woke up around 7:30 Sunday morning and started my new morning routine where I try to drink a lot of fluids and stretch after I get up, just to kinda get myself going. I threw on a few layers as it had been frigid as of late, and waited for Ian to pick me up around 8:30. Ian got a new GPS gizmo from his girlfriend for Christmas, so we were sure to not get lost. Those things are incredible, definitely a sign of the future.

Anyways we got to the tournament about an hour before anyone else even showed up…don’t ask me why. We sat in the parking lot of a CVS and scribbled down our deck lists. Ian’s friend Bobby called and we had an interesting conversation with him on speakerphone. Anyone that knows Bobby knows that he is quite a character.

The store finally opened and we handed our deck lists in. This is what mine looked like:

I chatted it up with Brian of BebesSearch.com before the tournament started. We should be getting a custom 6P BebesSearch module for the site pretty soon, by the way. The pairings for round 1 were put up, and there were enough people for 5 rounds in the Masters division. I’m not sure how many rounds there were for Juniors and Seniors, but there were only about a total of maybe 10 Juniors and Seniors all together (maybe less). The Seniors had to be mixed in with the Masters, I do know that.

Round 1 vs Chad H. with Flygon / Nidoqueen / Dusknoir
This was the first game of Pokemon cards I’d played in a while to be honest. I’ve never used Beedrill before, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be too tough to use. I opened with a Weedle and some other Pokemon I think. Neither of us had a blazing start, but Chad at least was able to draw into Energies. I couldn’t draw an Energy until about turn 6 or so. Neither of us had taken a prize until about 20 minutes into the game, so though things appeared somewhat close, I knew he had complete control.

The only way I could possible win would be on time. It was 2 prizes taken each with about 10 minutes left and I knew I might have a shot, but Chad made a really nice move with Duskull (of all Pokemon) which was able to do 10 to the bench, thus knocking out my Beedrill RR that had 100 damage on it. That actually seemed to seal the game, as I couldn’t recover, and Chad took his remaining prizes from there. Nice playing!

0-1

Between rounds SMGausch introduced himself to me; it was awesome to meet you dude! Sam is a really cool guy and I hope to see him around at more tournaments. Anyone else from the site that sees me at a tournament, please say hi!

Round 2 vs Brian B. with Gyarados
Ah, fellow webmasters meet in a battle for the ages…well not really. Brian got a terrible start and I was just able to overpower him with an Expert Belt equipped Beedrill. Sorry Brian!

1-1

Round 3 vs Greg S. with Kabutops / Gengar / Spiritomb
Greg usually judges tournaments (and is the best judge I know), but he has apparently been duking it out the past few Cities. Today was no exception and I knew I’d be in for an interesting match. Greg’s kids are exceptional players and while he plays odd decks sometimes, he sure knows how to play them.

I started off with Weedle and an adequate, but not not awesome hand. Greg started with a lone Unown Q for apparently the second or third time of the day. (He ended up with lone Unown Q starts 4 out of 5 games…someone do that math on that!) I unfortunately had no way to search out Uxie and get the quick kill, so the game took longer than I would have liked. Greg drew nothing the first few turns, so he was forced to focus his resources onto the Unown Q so he could use Uxie and Looker’s Investigation to draw the most cards possible. It was pretty ridiculous; Unown Q with 3 Fightings and an Expert Belt. It even took out one of my Weedles! I doubt I’ll ever see anything like that ever again.

I didn’t even know what Greg was playing until about 5 or 6 turns into the game, but by then I had pretty much everything set up and Greg would be playing behind by far to much to come back. I think if he had an average start he probably could have beat me, as Kabutops preventing me from playing Expert Belts and Night Maintenance would be a huge issue. Sorry Greg, hopefully we’ll have a better game next time we play.

2-1

Round 4 vs Geoff S. with Flygon / Machamp
Geoff is in the Senior division, but could easily be in the Masters. He is a boy wonder; he got 2nd place at Worlds a few years back and survives on a diet consisting of only macaroni and ketchup.

I start off with a Baltoy or Unown G (I forget) and Geoff starts with a Machop. Unfortunately for me, I win the toss and have to go first. Luckily, I top deck a Weedle which I am able to bench it, otherwise Geoff would have won on his first turn of the game. I pass, Geoff evolves to Machamp and takes out my basic. All I have left is Weedle.

I luck out again and topdeck an Expert Belt. Geoff played a Broken Time-Space down I think, and I have Kakuna and Beedrill GE in play in my hand, so I evolve to Beedrill, attach Expert Belt, and pass. I don’t think I had any Energy. Geoff then searches out Machamp Lv.X and goes for the win with “Hurricane Punch”. He only lands 2 heads, so I am left with a meager 10 HP left again.

I then get another great topdeck, a Luxury Ball. I am able to search out Uxie, “Set Up” for a bunch of cards, hit a Super Scoop Up on my Beedrill, send Uxie out, get a bench of Pokemon in play, then “Psychic Restore” for 120. Ouch. I was on the brink for 3 straight turns, but after that final lucky break, I was able to take full control and win pretty easily. I did kinda luck out that I had a Multi attached to my Claydol at one point so that when it was dragged active by a Memory Berry’d Flygon, I was able to attack it, and so trying to deck me wasn’t a feasible option for Geoff. Great game.

3-1

Round 5 vs Anthony with Gengar / Gallade / Spiritomb / Nidoqueen
This game did not go well. He got Spiritomb out early, which stopped my key trainers like Poke Drawer, Luxury Ball, and Rare Candy. Then he sent out Gardy with an Expert Belt attached when he was set up and just Psychic Locked for 80 the whole game. Nidoqueen healed away any damage I was able to get in play. It was a slow, painful death. I had flashbacks to 2 years ago; it was not fun.

3-2

So I felt I did alright on the day. I made a few small misplays here and there, but the games I lost were unavoidable. The game vs Geoff made me feel like I still have some skills. ;)

I don’t know what won, but Anthony and Chad whom I play against both made the top 4 cut. I missed it, obviously. If anyone know what won, feel free to chime in.

Thanks for reading!

Leave Adam a comment or view the discussion.

I decided to stick with LuxApe with a splash of Garchomp and Dialga, but (spoilers!) have since moved onto LuxChomp. More on that later…

There are 38(?) players in the Masters division which means 6 rounds and a top 8 cut woohoo!

Round 1: Ross C. w/ LuxChomp

Oh boy, I get to play perhaps the best player at the tournament in the first round! Heh. I actually do better than I thought I would, taking the early lead by a prize or two, but Toxicroak G promo proves to be too much for my Luxray to handle. He ends up winning by one prize on time. Not much more to say really, your basic, stressful SP mirror match. Am I the only one who hates playing those? Oh, and I have two regrets about this game: Making a major misplay by spraying his Leap Away instead of Bright Look, and taking such a long turn that Ross thought I was slowplaying. I try not to do that too much and I hope it didn’t leave a sour taste in anyone’s mouth, as it was completely accidental.  0-1

Round 2: ?? w/ Infernape/Blaziken

Unfortunately I can’t remember this guys name, which is a shame as he was really great. Unfortunately the game we played was not as great. He opens with Infernape 4 and Blaziken FB, attaches, and passes.  I get a god start and within a couple turns he scoops as he has nothing he can do. Hey, at least it wasn’t a donk! 1-1

Round 3: Mike M. w/ Machamp

This is the guy who gave me a ride, and he, along with his family (B-Siiiiide!) were the first people within the community to really support us and our league, so we have quite the bond. I know he’s playing Machamp, so I prepare for the worst, but when he flips a Baltoy and goes first I get a strange feeling in my stomach. Yup, I donked again. I am so terrible at this game. 2-1

Round 4: Alex B. w/ Flygon

This is probably my first real game of the tournament. He opens with a Baltoy and Trapinch, and I’m able to get a pretty sweet set up with Garchomp to snipe most of his early game stuff and take the lead by a few prizes. He gets a Nidoqueen out and gets a prize or two. After taking the Nidoqueen out with Garchomp, he tries to set up a Flygon, and is successful until I drop Lucario GL to seal the deal. Winning 4 prizes to 2, I believe. I was actually kind of scared at this match-up and got very lucky by getting Garchomp out so fast. Always a pleasure to play Alex. 3-1

Round 5: Ryan M. w/ Rampardos

I have to admit that I raised my eyebrow a bit when I saw a fossil on the other side of the board, but that look quickly turned to horror as he takes out everything I have within just a few turns until all I can do is pray to get heads on “Remove Lost” flips. Which I don’t, heh. He runs through me and I think wins 6 prizes to 3.  An odd little Rampardos deck that runs similar to Kingdra spiked my interest, but unfortunately I didn’t get to speak with him about it much. 3-2

Round 6: Trevor W. w/ LuxChomp

Oh boy another SP vs. SP match! Ha, nah, Trevor and his family are great people and it’s always a joy to see and play against them. This goes about how you could expect, with me getting lucky with a few top decks and eventually making it 5-5 on prizes. It’s my turn and I know that I can drop an Uxie for 4 cards, potentially get a Poke Turn, and be able to give myself at least another two turns. So I play my cards right, check my discard pile, and play the Ux–I’M HAPPY FOR YOU AND I’MMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT POWER SPRAY IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CARDS OF ALL TIME!- 3-3

So I miss the cut at 13th or something like that, but I had a great time and played some really interesting games. As much as I love to win (and I do love winning), I also love when I can play well-thought out games that wear you out, as well as teach you something. What did this scenario teach me? Bronzong G and Toxicroak G promo can be your friends, heh.

Until next time!

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Round 1 VS. Sheila R. (Gengar)
It was a mirror match and she was a pretty good competitor. It ended up going to time and I was one prize up, but by some misunderstanding she ended up taking her next turn, after I had finished mine, and knocked out one of my Pokemon. When the judge came over to our table she saw that we were tied in prizes, and since I wasn’t sure of the rules regarding ending a game when time is called, I just continued to play. I ended up winning anyways by taking the next prize, overall it was a really fun game.
(1-0)

Round 2 VS. Ted B. (Gengar)
Another mirror match, and again he’s a great player. We were pretty closely tied for a bit, but I ended up drawing my last prize and winning  the game.
(2-0)

Round 3 VS. Jim L. (Regigigas SP’s)
This was a really interesting game because I had never played against this deck before. He had the SP Regigigas that does so much damage based on how many different types of SP’s that he had in play, and naturally he had a bench full of different types. I did manage to kill his Regigigas twice but he was pretty good about bringing him back fast and being able to do about 120 per turn to me…so I lost pretty hard, but it was a really fun game. :)
(2-1)

Round 4 VS. Mike M. (Leafeon/Sceptile)
Mike’s a good friend of mine, and it was a pretty fun game but I ended up taking it pretty quickly because he couldn’t get setup in time. I felt bad to have won like that, but I guess that’s just how it is sometimes.
(3-1)

Round 5 VS. Kenny W. (SP’s-Luxray/Infernape/Dialga/Garchomp)
My fiance…I swear we play each other at every event we go to. We’re pretty evenly matched in skill.

This was a pretty intense game because we were playing to see who would make the top cut…and who would be walking home that night, lol. We were both playing competitively and it was pretty close for a while. I think the only thing that saved me was that I had a 1-1 line of Mewtwo in my deck to counter his SP’s. Time was called and I was either 1 or 2 prizes up and I ended up in the top 4 along with Ross C., Zane N., and David C.
(4-1) Yay!

Top Cut – Game 1 VS. Ross C. (Luxray/Garchomp)
He annihilated me. I’m not even exaggerating, he’s an incredible player and not to mention I couldn’t draw into anything I needed. I tried to draw it out a little just to hold onto that last little bit of hope, but when he got down to his last two prizes, I conceded.

Top Cut – Game 2 VS. Ross C. (Luxray/Garchomp)
He annihilated me. I did better this time though! I lasted until he took his last prize because I didn’t want to call it and just give it to him in case I had any chance at saving myself…it didn’t happen though.
Again, he’s a great player, very calculated.

Everyone I played that day was  a good sport and I had a lot fun.
Besides, being able to make the top cut and win a few packs was more than I had expected, so I was happy. :)

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