Jason’s US Nationals 2010 Report – Day 1

Well, I had a blast at Nationals, playing some great games and meeting some interesting people. I also have editor powers over the website now so I am helping to edit and publish articles. There is a lot of interesting stuff in the bin, some of which I put comments and suggestions in to help you get the best article you can write up there. Anyway, off to the report.

I arrived in Indianapolis at 8:30 PM, just missing the pre-registration. I was bummed because my friend Anthony couldn’t get on his stand-by flight and couldn’t make it. Through the night I test with Ian and Adam, losing all 6-ish games I played. I lose confidence in my deck and contemplate switching to Gardevoir Gallade, but in the end I decide to go with Blazichen FB Lock, commonly referred to as “Chenlock” (list at the end of the article!).

I spent the rest of the morning deciding whether to put in Shedinja or Mewtwo; I decide to go with Shedinja but later I determined that was probably a result of sleep deprivation. Ian also has a choice of what deck to play, Gardevoir Gallade or Luxchomp. He chooses Luxchomp after testing on Thursday night but by Friday morning he is back to GG (which is what Adam, Josh, and I thought he should play). By the tournament however we found he was playing Luxchomp.

Subsequently Adam went for a swim and I went for a brisk run. It’s always good to exercise to loosen up and to get you calmer for the tournament. The hotel we are staying at, Homewood Suites, has a great breakfast too. I indulge in a banana, Cheerios, several pounds of scrambled eggs topped with salsa, and eight pieces of sausage. I am not anticipating lunch so I get a big breakfast.

By the time I register at 7:30 AM tomorrow, I see a huge line and have Adam save my space for me. I also get a free SixPrizes shirt from Adam that I wear over my long sleeved T. Eventually I find out that the line was for the video game tournament, and I register very quickly. Props to the staff for running such a smooth event. Adam and I continue to test Chenlock v. Gdos, and I continue to lose.

On the recommendation of my roommates Ian and Josh, I change my 3 Cyrus 3 Roseanne to 4 Cyrus 2 Roseanne. I think I was right but it definitely does not change much about the game. But I show Josh my decklist and he immediately notices I do not have Shedinja!!! I am so grateful he found this error and I correct it in the nick of time.

Now, on to the tournament:

Round 1 vs. Don Roberts (Random.dec)

The guy was a lawyer looking to support his eight-year-old son at Nationals. I wasn’t sure what his deck was, it was clearly pretty random. Some cards I saw were Miltank HS, Gyarados HS, Totodile, Regigigas, Delibird, and Gyarados G. He played a lot of Moomoo Milk and Switches. I got out Blaziken and used constant Jet Shoots to KO everything in his deck. He could never attach the three Energy he needed on his Pokemon to attack.

1-0

Round 2 vs. Megan (G-dos.dec)

This girl who is apparently a friend of Seena’s, tells me she only plays in tournaments once every year. I tell her I only play in tournaments about once every six years. She drops her Sableye start against mine, but I impersonate for Judge and get the kill on her Sableye, crippling her setup greatly. I have only 1 Prize left by the time she gets out Gyarados.

But I misplay and Cyrus/Impersonate for Cyrus without getting any energy and not thinking to pick up my Aarons. I also try to Luring Flame but I Initiative her hand and find 2 Warp Point, and Warp Energy. In the end I stall by sacrificing two Pokemon and sniping for the kill.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Collan Baker, Team Warp Point’s brother (Gengar/Kingdra)

I asked this guy what Team Warp Point was; he told me that his brother was in a game where he said “Warp Point Good Game” without letting its effect resolve, and it became an inside joke. That’s why they all have “Good Game” on the back of their Tshirts.

Anyway, he started with Uxie and had nothing. I Initiative him to add more insult to injury and kill a bunch of his stuff with Psychic Restores and Vapor Kick (he had like Mime, Gastly out). I also Dragon Rushed his Gastly. Then I Judged him, he hit nothing. He hits Lux Ball but only ran 1 Uxie (which he started with), so he cannot draw anything. He gets Baltoy instead, with 1 card in hand; I immediately pick up a spray to stop his Claydol. He uses Bebe to find it but has no cards in hand to do use Cosmic; I then Dragon Rush his Claydol. He is stuck with no draw and no energy so I Jet Shoot his entire field for the win. This whole game I wanted to Chatot G – Disrupting spy him so badly, but I draw it as my final prize.

Later on we were deck checked, which took forever. The staff was kind of rude also. He said that we “deserved” the deck check. It also took forever and when we asked for updates, he said “I know how it is going but all I am going to say is that PUI has your deck.” Wow, thanks. I think he was trying to follow protocol/mostly kidding so I let it slide, but my opponent is very irked by this. Also, we saw some guy get really mad and start yelling at a judge after they resleeved his deck, lol.

What seemed to be like an hour later, my deck came back fine (but they asked me to resleeve at my convenience due to dimpled sleeves – mine are new though). I resleeved into my dark green Ultra Pro, but it had been sitting in a box for a while and was very bent. My deck was like 6 inches tall afterward, and would actually get TALLER as I drew cards, making it somewhat deceptive.

However, my opponent was not so lucky. He had written that he plays “1 Pokemon Rescue/2 Pokemon Rescue,” when in his deck there was 1 Rescue and 2 Communication. The judge tells us, “Legal deck, legal decklist, but you have to change the Communication to either Rescue or Basic Energy.” The guy is clearly flustered and asks the judge for a better explanation. The judge pulls out his iPad and and brings out the Floor Rules, and is like, “Legal deck, legal decklist.”

He then asks the judge why such a rule should be followed when it is clear that it was an honest mistake. The judge said that it was the player’s responsibility to write the decklist faithfully. I tell the judge that decklists are hard to fill out and there are so many cards, but then he untactfully says, “Use an online decklist generator, noob!!” (maybe not exactly like that but you get the idea). He then goes on to say some random stuff, like “3 Magikarp 4 Gyarados is an honest mistake too!” I was confused because he seemed to be saying random stuff, and my opponent was clearly very frustrated. He changed out the 2 Communication for Psychics.

From what I learned after it seems like the judge made the right call and probably was conferring with other judges during the very long deckcheck. I don’t think he was trying to be rude but I think the judge has to think a little more carefully. Here is a kid who traveled with his friends to the biggest tournament in the world, was 2-0 before facing the great Pwnda, and now has to completely screw up his deck for the remaining tournament.

You can’t try to be funny while delivering him the bad news. I used to have the same problem so I totally understand, but in working on the suicide hotline and in the hospital I’ve been able to have some more compassion at these critical times. Anyway, I find out later that Collan actually reaches Top Cut without the Communications in his deck, and I think he should be applauded for such a great effort.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Luxchomp (Some mexican-looking guy from PA apparently)

This guy played a decent deck; it was pretty close the whole way, I didn’t really get a lock on him. Eventually I just won the SP vs. SP shootout for the close-ish win. Luxchomp really isn’t turning out to be the auto-win I thought. I find out later that he is Ian’s friend when he tells Ian that he lost (and points at me). Ian is trying to help from laughing because he knows about the ridiculousness of Chenlock.

4-0

Round 5 vs. Dylan Bryan (Luxchomp)

This guy is a great player, but a little bit shy. First turn I use Sableye to greatly mess with his setup and attach onto Blaziken. He has Garchomp active and attaches Call/Energy Gain. I Level Up and Jet Shoot him, thinking this will give me a huge advantage. Unfortunately, he topdecks something I did not expect and gets out Toxicroak for the KO! I could tell this would be tough.

Eventually he gets out Uxie LV.X with a Premier Ball which takes a ton of Prizes for him. He also manages to Bright Look my benched Chatot to take some more Prizes. I think I am doing well but I glance over and see he only has two prizes to my 3!! I check my discard to make sure he killed 4 things, and to my disbelief he did!!

I am now in panic mode. After using Garchomp to kill his Garchomp with energies, he Ambipoms me. Prize Count: I have 2, he has 1. He has a Garchomp C. LV.X and a Garchomp C out, both with Energy Gain. I have two Garchomp C LV.X’s benched, one with DCE and one with 1 Energy and Gain. I ask him cards in hand; he tells me like 15 or so (he had been using Trade Off for at least 10 turns by now).

He has 2 DCE left and his deck is only about 5 cards, which I think were all Trade Off fodder, so I think I know he has the DCE (he later told me he didn’t). I use the Blaziken stall tactic to get some time by pulling up Azelfs and stuff, thinking I must hit VS Seeker or Looker’s (I Judged him earlier) and begin to take out his stuff. I eventually topdeck VS Seeker and Judge us, hoping for the best. I draw into Spray; he looks extremely nervous and I read that he has nothing. I Dragon Rush and hope for the best.

He draws and tries to go for the Trade-Off. I immediately Spray, and he can only Zen Blade me. I then switch to my other Garchomp and Dragon Rush for the win.

Very exciting match, I got a great start but cannot believe how close this was. In testing I thought I would have a huge edge vs. Luxchomp but in reality this guy was dominating me for the entire game. I found out later that he is #2 ranked in NA; unfortunately my official POP rating is 0.0 and I hope I don’t screw him out of a Worlds invite, if he needs.

5-0

Round 6 vs. Kyle Morris (Sableye/Garchomp)

This was a very good game. He opens up with the usual setup, missing both flips for Initiative though. I hit two heads and feel kind of bad; but then he gets two heads on me. I don’t remember how this went, but I went up big on prizes (I think I had 1 left, he had 4 left) using Jet Shoot repeatedly. I made a few misplays subsequently to let him back in the game. I also tried to get out Shedinja by benching a Nincada, in order to snipe followup after Jet Shoot, but I decided I was too scared to Jet Shoot and just Vapor Kicked instead.

Throughout the game this guy is trying to rush me. I know he is nervous about time but I take my own time to think. When you are losing and time is running out, I know it is very nerve racking and I know how bad it sucks to lose on time. I do stuff like check the discard pile and search through my deck, which takes a lot of time but I am really not trying to stall.

I also take a while to think about moves due to the complexity of my deck. He calls over a judge to watch the pace. By this point I am up 1-2 in prizes, when time is called on his turn.

Frustrated, he asks the judge that was watching for a time extension, because he thinks I was playing slow. The judge (and the onlookers) believe I was playing at the correct pace and refuse to give it to him. He finally asks me if I would agree to an extension. My first instinct is, no way! But I think about it and realize the time rules suck anyway, and if we can get an extension, might as well play it through.

So I agree to the extension, he tells the judge, and the judge decides to give us 5 minutes. I have Garchomp C with 1 Energy and Ambipom on Bench; he spends 3 minutes thinking about what to snipe and eventually picks Garchomp (the wrong play; I need DCE or Gain+Energy for both to return the kill but I would also need Garchomp C LV.X for Garchomp, but no matter, I had 2 Garchomp C LV.X in my 4 card hand).

It’s 1-1 on prizes and I rip DCE for the win, playing it in a calm fashion (in contrast to this dramatic game on Table 1) that had some onlookers talking. I also heard someone say my deck sucks. This guy played a great game, but the superiority of Chenlock prevails. Though he tried to rush me and called over a judge and was complaining greatly about my playing pace, I respect his competitive spirit and probably would have done the same thing.

I also do take a lot of time to think; Pokemon is a much more complex game than people give it credit for, if you are playing the right deck. My deck especially has so many offensive and disruptive options that it is hard to decide what the right move is. He was very courteous after the match and I think it was a great game.

6-0

Round 7 vs. ? (Luxchomp)

This guy was very friendly. I open with Toxicroak and DCE and can’t do anything; I pass. He has Crobat G and Calls for Luxray and Garchomp. I have 2 SP Radar and Communication in hand so I get my Garchomp and Uxie; he sprays my Uxie and I am concerned. For some reason he takes his time to set up while I am down, thinking I won’t draw into anything. But soon he kills my Toxicroak with triple Flash Bite (sprayed one) and Trash Bolt.

I pray Yu-Gi-Oh style to topdeck something good, and I hit Judge (right after I Initiative everything good in his hand). I am forced to Judge to pick up anything; I hit Conspiracy, two Roseanne, and VS Seeker. Nice! I use those cards to get a revenge kill on his Garchomp; later he uses two Flash Bites (sprayed one) and Trash Bolt I get Blaziken out and stall with it against his two Uxies (he hit A LOT of Uxies this game, and just Dragon Rushed me, using his last remaining energy).

For several turns I would just drag around Uxies and he would Psychic Restore on me. At this point I realize though I am down on Prizes and setup, I will probably win; he has already used all his PokeTurn to take just two Prizes.

I stall around a while using my Blaziken tactic until I hit enough to begin my attack. I then Jet Shoot his Crobat G with 80 damage already on me from Psychic Restore. I figure this move is good because it forces him to decide whether to kill my Blaziken and punish it for Jet Shoot, or kill my developing Garchomp on the Bench. He makes (what I think) is the right call and goes for my Garchomp. Unfortunately, he SP Radars for a Bronzong G to do it.

I Luring Flame it knowing he used all his Poke Turns, he attaches what seems to be his last energy to a Garchomp which I quickly snipe, I drop 4 DCEs to pick up 4 Prizes while he’s flipping heads on his Bronzong. When it finally dies I am up 1-4 on Prizes (5 Prize comeback!) and I PokeTurn some stuff on my Bench for the Gain and an Energy which I needed for my game-winning Dragon Rush. He seems to be more thrilled at my play than by losing, and leaves the table all smiles. What a nice and humble guy! I wish I could be as easy-going as he is.

7-0

I was exhausted and decided not to stay for the 30 card Charity tournament. I caught up with Matt Moss later and we had a great conversation. I also saw my friends Cory Goff, Kyle Sucevich, Mikey Fouchet, Alex Brosseau, and Derrick Krenke. Shout outs! And I can’t believe they all remembered/recognized me! John Kettler was there at Table 3 also but he seemed a little annoyed by me.

Overall I feel a lot more confident that I can win with the deck, but the matchups are a lot closer than I anticipated. Top Cut is a whole different ballgame than Swiss and I know I have to be on top of my game to do well. Good luck to everyone from the team on Day 2!

On Friday we hit up the PF Chang’s, on a recommendation from the rapper T.I. It was quite good but the portions were not very large, and Adam had some digestive problems afterward.

Click here for Part 2