*NOTE: Since this is a Prerelease, you use a 40-card deck with 4 prize cards.

I thought it looked horrible, and I was going to lose, lose, lose. But, as I later find out, this is an awesome combination!

There are about 13 – 15 Seniors (I’m not sure what the exact count was), and we had 4 Rounds. So I can;t wait to begin.

Round 1: Dane vs. Albert

I remember this kid from Regionals (I never played him, but I saw him there), and he didn’t do so well there (0-6, I think :P), so I wasn’t that freaked out. I started Oshawott as active, and a benched Alomomola & Oshawott. I forget exactly what he started out with (sorry, my memory’s blurry).

I do remember, however, that I went first, attached a Water Energy to Alomomola and passed. He went and passed, I’m pretty sure. I drew, attached another Water to Alomomola and passed again. He drew and attacked for 20 or so.

This goes on for a while until he KO’s my active Oshawott, and then I bring up Alomomola and start hittin’ for 70 a turn with Hydro Pump. I grab two prizes with him, making the prizes 2-3 in my favor. He is able to KO Alomomola, but I send up a decoy and topdeck another Alomomola, and with the help of Energy Retrieval, I’m able to get 5 energy on Alomomola (all water) and pound for 90 for the last 2 prizes.

It was a close game though, as he ends up having 1 prize left in the end. Good game, Albert, and hope you do better next round!

1-0

What a great way to start off the day!!!

Round 2: Dane vs. Max (I think… sorry if I got your name wrong!)

I start with a lone Lillipup (the one with “Pickup”). He starts Minccino and what I think was a Purloin. He goes first, and attaches a Fire Energy to Purloin and passes. I attach a Fire Energy to Lillipup and Bite him for 10. He draws and attaches a Fire Energy to Minccino and uses Tail Slap for 10.

I get lucky and topdeck an Alomomola, bench it, attach a Water to it, and use Lillipup’s Bite for 10. He draws, attaches a Fire Energy to Purloin and Tail Slaps me for another 10. I draw, use Energy Search for a Water Energy and attach it to Alomomola, then I use Pickup to bring Energy Search back to my hand.

He draws and uses Pokemon Communication for an Alomomola and attaches a Water to it. Then he Tail Slaps for a massive 0 damage. :P I draw, use Energy Search for another Water and attach it to Alomomola again, then use Pickup for the Energy Search again.

He draws, attaches a Water to Alomomola and Tail Slaps for 10. I topdeck a Pokedex, and arrange it so I get some more Water Energy next turn, and I use Pickup for Pokedex.

He draws, attaches yet another Water to Alomomola and Tail Slaps for 0. I draw my Water Energy and attach it to Alomomola. Then I use Pokedex again to put Reshiram on top of my deck. He draws and finally KO’s my Lillipup, and I bring up my powerhouse (a.k.a. Alomomola), bench Reshiram, attach a Fire to Reshiram, and I use Hydro Pump for KO. We’re now even on prizes.

He brings up his Alomomola and Hydro Pumps me for KO. I draw, attach a Fire to Reshiram, and pass. He KO’s my active (I forget specifically what it was), and I bring up Reshiram. I draw, attach a Fire to him, and I use Blue Flare for game.

2-0

*NOTE: the Round 2 report only showed the key parts in the game that I remember.

Now I’m 2-0, and pretty happy. There are only 2 other 2-0 people, and one of them is my friend from league, Matthew. Aw, great, I get paired up against him. I almost never beat him.

Round 3: Dane vs. Matthew

I start Scraggy with Alomomola on Bench to his active Reshiram and benched Tepig. I believe that here, Matthew made his biggest mistake by putting Reshiram active. He probably would’ve won if he benched Reshiram instead. Well anyway, he goes first, draws, and attaches a Fire to Reshiram.

I draw, attach a Water to Alomomola, and pass. He draws, attaches a Fire to Reshiram, and does Outrage for 20. I draw, evolve Scraggy into Scrafty, attach a Darkness Energy to Scrafty, and I use Spit Acid for 20, and Reshiram is now Burned and Paralyzed. He benched Tepig, and attached a Fighting to Tepig. He flipped tails on Burn, so he was at 90 HP left.

I draw, bench Bouffalant, attach a Water to Alomomola, and used Spit Acid for 20 and he’s Burned and Paralyzed again. He draws and attached a Fire to his Energy’d Tepig and passed. He flipped heads on Burn. I draw, attach a Fire to Bouffalant, and used Spit Acid to do 20 and Burn & Paralyze him again! He flips heads again on Burn. He evolves his Energy’d Tepig into Pignite and passes. He flips tails on burn.

I draw, attach a Water to Alomomola and used Spit Acid for 20 to Burn him (no Paralyzing this time), and he flips tails on burn. He brings up Tepig, uses Revive for Reshiram again, and attaches a Fire to him. I use Spit Acid for 20. He attaches a Fire to Reshiram and passes.

I attach a Fire to Bouffalant and use Spit Acid. He draws, attaches and retreats Tepig to bring up Reshiram, and he used Outrage for the KO. I bring up Alomomola, attach a Water to it and use Hydro Pump for the Revenge KO. It all goes downhill for him from there on.

I’m 3-0, and feelin’ awesome!

There are only two 3-0 people in Seniors, so I’m obviously paired up against the other. The other actually walked up to me and said “Do you know who Dane Carlson is?”, so that was pretty cool. :) So let the Championship match begin!

Round 4: Dane vs. ??? (If you read this, please comment your name below!)

This match was actually pretty simple not much to say. I get Alomomola out and hit hard, but he revenge KO’s it with Darmanitan, but I bring up Bouffalant for the literal “Revenge” (attack) KO. He brings up a Darumaka, attaches a Fire to it and attacks. I bring up another Alomomola and win.

4-0

This was the first tournament I ever won, but unfortunately you don’t get any extra prizes. But it is really cool to say that you went undefeated one time! :D

I’m sorry if not all matches were accurate. I was really tired when I wrote this, so I’m sure I got at least one or two things wrong.

There was one thing that I noticed here at the Prerelease… all the decks that performed well used Fire Pokemon. Whether it be Reshiram, Darmanitan, or Emboar, I think that the Black & White set will increase the power of Fire decks, which have never really performed that well.

As soon as the HGSS-On rules come out (Nats, LCQ, and Worlds), Fire will become dominant, I’m sure. So stock up on your Emboars and Reshirams now. They’ll be crazy pretty soon!!!

Thanks for readin’, and I’ll see ya next time (probably with a CoTD). Bye! :D

http://dcdane.webs.com/

Winning Prerelease Report – Fire Dominates! is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Jeff looking on contemplatively. I am in the background rocking my SixPrizes T!

My two main Pokemon lines for the tournament.

Out of the four of us, Jeff’s deck impressed me most. It included a 2-2 Raticate, which I felt was one of the strongest cards available (free retreat, and two decent attacks for only C each!), and some kind of Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan stuff.

On to the tournament:

Round 1: vs. Slugma deck

This kid actually built a very strong deck around Slugma. By using its “Active Volcano,” he was able to get his Slugmas energized very quickly, dealing a decent-sized 40 damage with type so I could not play my Scizors. However, his “Active Volcano” discarded his only Magcargo, capping his damage output and HP. I use Weavile’s snipe abilities and Honchkrow’s weak attack to finally take care of the Slugma threat. I win, 1-0.

At this point, my friends and I all won. However, the next round, we were paired together. Scott against me, Aaron against Jeff.
1-0

Round 2: vs. Scott with some Murkrow/Raticate/Eeveelutions deck

I started out with Togepi, and he starts with Murkrow. He plays down many cards and uses Energy Exchange Unit for a Special Dark. This was his downfall; he lost a huge card advantage, and I was able to play Weavile and take out his Umbreon. I then stall a while until I hit a Sage’s Training, which nets me Scizor Prime. Scizor pretty much cleans up his field after that.
2-0

Round 3: vs. Scizor/Jolteon/Raichu

He starts off by placing Energies seemingly randomly, while I start off with the lone Scyther. My opening hand was amazing: Scyther, Scizor Prime, 2 Metals, and some other stuff. Turn 2, I do 70 to knock out his Sableye. Turn 3, he gets out his own Scizor (non-Prime) for 50, but I am able to topdeck another Metal for a 90 HP KO. He sends up Jolteon, and fails Agility – I cannot topdeck another Metal, so I hit for only 70. He succeeds on Agility, and I retreat to Togepi to tank. He fails another Agility, and Sneasel and Scizor clean up.
3-0

I found out that Jeff lost to an Espeon deck. I had seen Espeon from a League Leader that attended and I was amazed at the power of its attack in Sealed – Psychic Energy to move 4 damage counters from your Pokemon to your opponent’s – healing, snipe, AND cheap damage in one attack, which is basically unstoppable in this format. And sure enough, Jeff faces this guy, and manages to do a grand total of 20 net damage during the entire game. He ends up 1-2 I believe, Aaron loses to go 2-1, and Scott wins to go 2-1. I thought their decks were very well built and if we didn’t have to play each other, we probably would have done a lot better.

After the tournament I try to trade, but cannot get a deal for the Shiny Vulpix or Vileplumes I wanted. I did get a Kyogre/Groudon Top for a Crobat Prime which I thought was worth it – but now I have two of the top half! Props to Kim Cary (bulbasnore) for running a great event and being very friendly to me, I know most other mods on PokeGym do not like me, my friends for coming and having a great time, and for the church people for letting us use such a great venue.

I am sure that was not so interesting, but as a special treat for reading this far I will share my thoughts about the top 5 best, and top 5 most overrated cards I saw today.

Overrated (no, not the Eeveelutions, because everyone knows that they are overrated):

5: Scizor Prime
While this card was the champion of my sealed deck, and could be VERY strong in the format, it seems to me to lack the HP and attack of a game-breaking card. No doubt that this is a solid card, but I see it more as a surprise Tech than an actual attacking option in a deck. Its Steel-type makes it more difficult to even use in that regard.

4: Legend Box
This card is another great one, with the ability to summon Legends out of nowhere. Many people have already realized one fact though: It’s hardly reliable, even with a multitude of combos to get Legends in the top 10 cards of your deck. Furthermore, it’s blocked by Vileplume. The upside will be how fun it will be to bust out some of these Legends. I can’t say it will be bad, and I am sure it may see play. I just think it’s highly overrated and can only work in maybe one deck EVER.

3: Energy Exchange Unit
Sure, this card can search out Double Colorless Energies. But the big thing is that it makes you lose card advantage, and you must have an Energy in your hand to use it. The average deck plays around 22 Pokemon and about 13 Energies, making it almost twice as hard to use as Communication. Roseanne’s is gone, making it hard to get basic Energies to use as fodder. And if you aren’t needing a DCE at any particular time, it’s pretty much a dead draw. Vileplume blocks this, and while a decent card, I don’t really have an idea of what deck I would play it in.

2: Sage’s Training
I don’t understand why people are even hyping this. It’s just not that good.

1: Combee
30 HP, a very conditional attack (reminiscent of a bad Ursaring Prime), Memory Berry is blocked by Plume, and a much stronger Combee exists. This card is just flat out bad, and doesn’t deserve half the hype it’s getting.

Best:

I have two of the top now, and none of the bottom!!

5: Bellossom
Similar to Nidoqueen, but slightly less healing. However, if you run 2 you can bring them both for a smidge more healing than Queen. The big advantage is in its lower Retreat Cost, and the fact that it shares the evolution line with Vileplume.

4: Unown (Dark)
While its Power may seem somewhat bad, in a format without Roseanne, this gives decks a new way to search out Special Darks. While not the greatest Pokemon perhaps, it has almost no hype and is severely underrated. I will definitely be playing this card.

3: Dodrio
Basically, this card gives -2 Retreat Cost to all of your Pokemon. It is somewhat like Moonlight Stadium, that can be searched with Spiritomb or Bebe’s, and works for all types. While similar cards have seen the printing press, and have been utterly forgotten in dusty binders, the format seems to be ripe for this kind of card.

2: Weavile
Its attack is weak, but its basic and its Power are extremely strong. This is one of the best disruption cards ever made; it is to Rocket’s Sneak Attack what Luxray GL LV.X was to Gust of Wind. And I always preferred the RSA over the Gust! But only time can tell if any deck can fit in its Stage 1 line, non-SP nature, and mediocre attack.

1: Vileplume
An obviously game-breaking card. SP is finished in my opinion as Vileplume is pretty much a hard counter to it. I would be very surprised if SP even makes it past this upcoming set of Battle Roads, but Plume’s biggest test is how it fares against non-SP decks.

Jason at the Granada Hills Undaunted Prerelease is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Anyway, things begin at home, debating on going to Tae Kwon Doe or going to the prerelease.  As you might expect, I went to the prerelease, but almost had to call it off.  The reason?  Wind, cold temperatures, and ice of the Canadian winter caused the roads to become so slippery we almost didn’t make it.  Thank you American engineering for all wheel drive!  

I get there and pay my 35 bucks and then realize that the the event started in an hour.   So what to do?  Some of my friends had gotten there before me with their own decks and I wanted to try out my new Dialga Garchomp deck, so I battled for an hour.  When registration was closed we had over 50 people in the entire store.  We finally got our packs and I was PUMPED up and ready to build my deck.  We got the green light to go ahead to start opening.  I open my first packs and was very disappointed.  I got no Primes or Legend cards; just okay cards and only 1 holo.                    

I put my deck together and this is what it looked like:

Anyway after counting my friend’s cards (because he can’t really count), pairings were up and I was up against my friend Stefan.

Round 1: Meganium and Friends vs Random water deck.

I had the advantage on this match. He open up with a Magikarp and a Slowpoke while I opened up with a Jynx and Chikorita.  I used Jynx’s Mimic because it was the only thing I could do.  I got a Unown Flash and a Bayleef with 2 energies.  He drew his card and I was sweating bullets.  He puts down a Jynx and attaches an energy and Splashes.  I start my turn, fearing a potential Gyarados, evolve into a Bayleef and threw down Unown Flash. I looked at the top five cards and what do you know…a Meganium! I put it as the first card. 

After that things went south for Stefan.  He drew nothing that he needed and stalled.  I drew Meganium, evolved and then Mimic’ed to draw only a mere 3 cards.  He then drew his card and evolved into Slowbro and attached an energy.  So to make a very very long story short he ended up coming 10 damage short from KO’ing my Meganium and me doing the 60 damage that I needed to win. 

1-0

Now after that first victory I had almost no time to rest because we took so long.   Next round I was against my rival, Connor.

Round Two: Meganium and Friends vs Jumpluff and Friends.

How ironic.  I’m facing my rival Connor.  He is using Jumpluff with other cards like Dunsparce and Clefable.  So we both open up with me having a Jynx and Chikorita, while he opened up with a Hoppip and a Dunsparce.  He goes first and draws a Skiploom.  He only throws down Grass energy and Bounces me.  I draw a Professor Elms Training Method  and search for my Bayleef.  Then attach an energy to Chikorita and end. 

He draws and guess what he draws.  Jumpluff!!!  In the back of my head I hear “Red Alert, Red Alert”.  That’s a BAD sign!  Anyway he evolves to Skiploom and throw down another Pokemon and hits me with knock away.  Again to end a long story short he got Jumpluff out and took out 3 of my Pokemon using Mass Attack before I took it out with Parasect. He then KO’ed Parasect with his Clefable with a Double Colourless Energy attached.

1-1

After that round it was lost to crunch time with Connor after playing some fast games with Connor with our metagame decks then round three was up. I sprang to my feet and headed to my next opponent.  

Round Three: Meganium and Friends vs Donphan

Yes the mighty Donphan.  I was scared silly when i heard that it was Donphan.  When I was told that he didn’t have the Prime it was a relief.  It was an easy match.  Parasect tanked with its Sleep Drain and to keep it asleep I used Hypno’s Poke Power, “Sleep Pendulum”, to keep his Donphan at bay. Then knocking it out with Slash.  He conceded knowing that he could not make a dent into Parasect.

2-1

At this point, I just want to go home to get away from some of the people for being so rude.  Let me tell you, that 50 people crammed into a tiny comic book store is not fun.  So round 4 is about to begin and I find out I am facing another one of my friends, Andrew.

Round 4: Meganium and Friends vs Donphan Prime.

Uh oh, I’m in a little bit of trouble here…wait no that was a lie.  A LOT OF TROUBLE!!!  Red Alert, Red Alert!  Anyway, I managed to take him out with out being killed by Donphan Prime.  He opens up with a Phanpy and that’s it. I open up with a great hand a Chikorita, Staryu, and Paras.  He goes first and draws a Corsola he throws an energy onto Corsola and passes. I draw a Professor Elm’s Training Method and search for a Bayleef. I put a Grass energy onto Chikorita and Tackle him.

He draws another Corsola and puts it down, throws his energy onto Phanpy and Flails me. I start my turn by drawing a Meganium, evolve to Bayleef, and throw an energy onto Bayleef.  I use Hammer In and put another 20 damage on Phanpy.  He turn starts by drawing nothing but a Fighting energy.  He then Flails me.  Opening my turn I pull my Starmie and evolved Staryu and Bayleef.  I attach an energy to Meganium and heal and Destroyed his Phanpy. It was an easy match from there.  His Corsola couldn’t hit me that much without me healing and killing. 

3-1 

So that was my experience at the HeartGold SoulSilver prerelease. I got 2 packs for my trouble but the cards I pulled they weren’t the best.  I at least had fun!

My very delayed HeartGold SoulSilver prerelease is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

I attended my Local Heart Gold/ Soul Silver prerelease on Friday 13th February.

I came out of it with great pulls and had a great time (and an empty wallet).

Upon paying I received 8 packs and some sleeves and the prerelease Pichu. I then sat near I friend of mine and tore open my packs. I pulled Typhlosion Prime and Meganium Prime in my first 2 packs! I was so happy! I then opened the last 6. I pulled Holo Hitmontop, Holo Noctowl, Reverse Hypno and some basic rares and some uncommons and commons.

I quickly set up my deck and it turned out like this as I didn’t get the cards I needed to be able to use Primes:

When you take a look at this deck your first thought would be…hmm…looks okay, but I don’t think it will do too well. So let’s see how I did with it.

Match 1

My opponent hadn’t turned up yet so I played someone in Juniors who didn’t have an opponent. I taught them how to play…I was nice and tried to lose but won anyway. LOL

1-0

Match 2

This was a really fun match as it was so tight. I had gotten out Hypno, Azumarill, and Noctowl with Pichu asleep in the active position. I was using Noctowl to boost my hand and I switched it out with Pichu when it woke up as we each had 1 prize left. I damaged him, but he evolved out Blissey Prime! I thought “I’M SCREWED!”. It did 60 to my Noctowl and I decided to retreat for my Jynx. I then used Energy Switch and put a Psychic Energy on it and used Lick, getting heads for paralyze. My turn came again and I did it risking everything on one dice roll with Lick…I got HEADS! I won the match on my next turn using one more Lick for the KO.

2-0

Match 3

This was between me and a guy named Richard who was also competing for the 1st place spot with 2 wins and 0 losses.  It instantly became a tight match when I had Hitmontop owning the field and ended up with 2 prizes to his 4. He then played the dreaded Slowbro. It decimated 3 of my Pokémon, however I got it down to 10 HP. I played out Noctowl and knocked out his prize Slowbro. He drew a Prime, but I never found out what it was as he never used it. I then used Copycat which boosted Noctowl’s “Extrasensory” to 80 damage.

I had an unbeaten streak. 3-0

When I looked at Richard’s deck I was amazed he had Blissey Prime and Feraligator Prime in it. I thought to myself PHEW glad he didn’t get to play them.

Match 4

This match was against my friend Alex.

We started off and he drew no basics so I drew another and played down another basic Pokémon. He finally got his hand and we began. Three turns later I won as I knocked out both his Pokémon using just Hitmontop and one fighting energy and getting 3 heads both times.

I had won the Masters and gotten an unbeaten streak. I received free 2 packs for participating until the end and I got a free folder for winning.

I then searched around and did some trading.

By the end of the night I had another Lugia bottom half, Ho-oh Top-Half, and all Primes except Donphan!

Overall I was really happy with how I did and looking back at when I saw my opponents decks after the matches I thought …hmm I’m very lucky getting the cards I needed when I needed them and that all my matches could have gone either way.

Let me know how good you thought my deck was and check out my YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/banditclay2

Thanks!

HunterJ OUT

Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Prerelease – Horseforth LEEDS UK is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

My main effort was to try and get Pinsir, Cherrim, and Masquerain. Pinsir for its “Gripthrow” attack, Cherrim for its “Petal Dance” attack, and Masquerain for it’s “Skim Attack” attack, and Poke Body. For those who don’t know, “Gripthrow” allows a 50/50 chance of the defending Pokemon getting returned to your opponent’s hand, “Petal Dance”, for one energy, allows you to flip 3 coins, dealing 30 damage for each coin flipped. Lastly, “Skim Attack” does 30 damage for one energy, and also allows you to draw 2 cards. Masquerain’s Poke-Body, Intimidating Pattern, reduces all damage done to your Pokemon by -20 as long as Masquerain remains active.

I got lucky and was able to pull 2 Pinsir, a 2-2 line of Cherrim, and a 3-1 line of Masquerain. I didn’t get any Level X’s or other Super Rares, but I did get some Rare-Foils, and some Reverse Foil trainers that I didn’t have before. All in all, I was pretty satisfied, as this is the first time I’ve drafted to actually play (rather than just ninjaing all the rares), and I pulled what I wanted. Would that luck turn into wins, though?

Round 1 vs Janice R.

I can’t remember all of the exact details of this match, but I started with a Mudkip and couldn’t get any of my main 3 guys out. Still, I was able to take 3 prizes before she could take 1, making me feel a bit more confident. After my Marshtomp got KO’d, I was kind of stuck, and she fired back by taking 3 prizes. During that time I did have a Cherubi and a Surskit out, but couldn’t get their evolutions. On the turn it was about to be game, I drew into a Cythnia’s Guidance, and was able to get a Cherrim, and luckily flipped all 3 heads for the win. A very hard-fought win, and at this point I wasn’t feeling too confident.

1-0

Round 2 vs. David N.

David N. is the PTO for our area, and is a super nice guy. When I first got into Pokemon and started running a league, he’s the one who answered all of my stupid questions, haha. Which made it even worse when I donked him with a T3 Masquerain. =[. We played 3 more games, 2 of which I donked in, and one of which he completely owned me.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Elva B.

This was another hard-fought match. I took the lead drawing 3 prizes, but then, as with my round 1 opponent, she came back to take her first 3 prizes, and it was on from there. She had a Garchomp out, and was using it’s “Speed Impact” attack to hit for 100-110 damage each turn, which was insane. Luckily I was able to ping it for 10-20 damage every few turns. On the last turn of the game, I draw into an Energy, attached it to Masquerain (leaving it with 2 energy), and attacked with “Skim Attack”. With 2 energies and a Poke Body, “Speed Impact” is only doing 60, which Masquerain can withstand. Next turn, she Speed Impacts for 60, I draw into an energy, retreat Masquerain, and bring up Dragonite FB for the K.O., a very close game.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Gregory R.

This was probably the most lucksack game I’ve ever done. He got Garchomp C Lv.X out very early, and was running through me. He drew his first 3 prizes before I could do anything, unfortunately. Again, in one of those last-ditch efforts, I brought up Pinsir and used “Gripthrow” to put Garchomp C Lv.X back into Greg’s hand, and win the game.

4-0

So there it is. My first tournament win and it’s not even a premier event, haha. Cherrim and Masquerain are definitely the play for prereleases and drafts, though.

Here was the final haul, after Batmylashes’ prerelease packs, my judge support, our draft packs, and our winnings (Batmylashes got 3rd).

Garchomp C Lv. X
Rayquaza C Lv. X
Charizard G Lv. X
Articuno Re-Print

Props:
Niki N. for organizing
Debbie B. for judging
Olympic Cards & Comics
All the players
SVs great ratio

Slops:
Nothing, really. :D

Hope you enjoyed the report!
- Kenny (twitter.com/kwisdumb, facebook.com/kennywisdom, kennywisdom.com)

Supreme Victors Prerelease Report by Kenny Wisdom (@kwisdumb) is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.