Introduction:
Sorry for getting this article out kinda late but I got some kind of weird week long illness that delayed me from writing my epic masterpiece. (See below for epic masterpiece.)
Introduction #2:
Firstly, I would like to apologize for my horrid memory through out the tournaments (so I will probably get some small details wrong). I also forgot a lot of names, so sorry people that I forgotten the names of.
Anyway, in this intro I’m not gonna go on about how I stayed up for three days straight play testing or something, I’ll just tell what you need to know and then get on with the list and the report.
So anyway, I live in the UK which means all the best players usually come to the same events. The first event was my first ever city championship so I was very nervous. I’m a senior so there was four best of three rounds with a top cut of just two.
Oh yeah, and I was playing Shuppet. Yeah, the deck that is outclassed in every way by Uxie donk…… NOT! (I could rant all day about why I chose Shuppet donk over Uxie donk but I’ll save us all alot of time and get on with the list. Sound good?)
THE LIST:
| Pokemon – 16
3 Shuppet PL |
Trainers – 40
2 Warp Point |
Energy – 4
4 Psychic |
Now I’m not going to go in to detail about why I used this list, so I’ll just say this: It works. Really well. Anyway, on to the report:
January 2nd @ Bexley Heath – Four Best of Three Rounds with a Top Two Cut
This was the biggest Cities that I would be attending this season and like I said this was my first ever tournament that had a K-value higher than Battle Roads so I was kinda nervous. Anyway, NOW lets get on to the report:
ROUND 1 vs Gyarados
I was looking forward to this round as Gyarados is possibly Shuppet’s best matchup (apart from those Magikarp SF Unown Q MD Hoppip HS tank decks you see from time to time. I’ll do an analysis on that later.)
Game 1
My opponent starts with an active Chatot and a benched Magikarp, goes first and passes. I get a “Flash Bite” or two on Chatot and load up the mighty Shuppet, after that its Seeker GG.
Game 2
I go first and get an absolutely terrible start drawing into very few basics while he gets a amazing one. He just runs through everything I have and after a few turns he plays down a Seeker and “Tail Revenges” for game.
Game 3
I go second, Seeker his only benched Pokemon and “Fade Out” his active with Shuppet FTW. Sorry for my bad memory this round….
1-0
After 3 very short games I waited around for everyone else to finish and was eventually paired against another…
ROUND 2 vs ??? w/ Gyarados
Having already donked a Gyarados twice I was feeling very confident about winning this round.
This guy had also beaten me on the second round of Swiss at my last Battle Roads, so it was PAYBACK TIME!
Game 1
My memory kinda stops working here but I believe I got the T1 or T2 win with Shuppet. Sorry, I really can’t remember.
Game 2
I go first and miss the donk while he gets set up extremely quickly. The game drags on with us trading prizes but him keeping slightly ahead most (if not all) of the way… I scoop shortly after hoping to donk him in the next game before time was called.
Game 3
I go absolutely nuts with ‘Bats, ‘Turns, ‘Blowers on the first turn then say: “Fade Out, good game.”
2-0
Two rounds and two wins, things were looking good! Myself and two others (Jamie, a LuxChomp player and Liam who was a Mother Gengar player) were all 2-0 at this point, so we knew one of us would face someone that was 1-1 and the other two would have to face each other.
I did NOT want to face LuxChomp or Mother Gengar so I was hoping to get paired against a 1-1 player. Luckily…
ROUND 3 vs Emily (I think that’s her name) w/ Machamp/KGL/Feraligatr (non- Prime)
I was very happy when I found out I was facing this player because I had beaten her at my first ever Battle Roads in the first round of Swiss. And it also meant not having to face LuxChomp or Mother Gengar yet.
Game 1
I go first to her Totadile Machop start but unfortunately miss the donk… Oh well, I still manage to quickly run through everything she puts out with Shuppets Fade Out to take the win.
Game 2
Same as above pretty much. I never saw a Machamp, KGL or a Feraligatr. Heh.
3-0
Wow, that was easy. Bring on the next rou- Oh no…… Wait… No… NOT THAT!!!!
ROUND 4 vs Liam w/ Mother Gengar
Can't touch this.
Oooooooooooooooooooh dear. I’m paired against Mother Gengar with Judges, Spiritombs, “Pitch Dark” Gastly and a 2-2 Mewtwo LV.X line. Phooey. Going into this round I had already settled for 2nd place but I happened to do something that surprised everyone…
Game 1
We lay our cards down. Then things go wrong. I was Pitch Darked T1 and he got a belted Gengar with a Nidoqueen set up, by the time I could do anything I was 6-4 down with nothing set up. I scoop soon afterwards.
Game 2
I was going in to this game knowing I was going to lose, but then he says “Stupid Uxie!” and I suddenly had a mysterious change of heart. =) But anyway, I go second and swiftly donk his lone Uxie start FTW. WOOHOO!
Game 3 (My memory isn’t so good for this round, sorry.)
What. A. Fantastic. Game. I go first with my decent (I think) start to their Mewtwo (???) start and pass. On his turn he fills his bench with a load of Gastlys and Uxies then passes as well. From then on, I go to town with Shuppet grabbing 3 cheap prizes and downing a belted Gengar thanks to my Judged hand having a Uxie and some burnable cards in it.
At this point I was 1-2 up on prizes and was declaring how I was going to win on the next turn (He had a active Uxie that I could KO) but then…
He used judge.
So after feeling like an utter fool for saying I had the win, I drew my opening hand and…….
Dude you totally cheated.
PlusPower,
PlusPower,
PlusPower,
and Psychic Energy
Wow.
And no, I didn’t cheat. No really, I didn’t. Yes! Really! Sheesh!
Then he passed or attacked or something (I’m not sure) and it was my turn. I top decked a Shuppet, free retreated Crobat G and attached a Psychic and 3 Plus Powers for game! I bet he wished he cut my deck now. lol.
4-0 M G.
Some people may say I got lucky, but actually it was skill that got me through that round. I’m not quite sure how yet, but I’ll think of something!
TOP CUT ROUND 1 vs. Luke w/ Gyarados
Game 1
My opponent starts Q, I go second. GG.
Game 2
I go first with an average-ish start while he gets a Gyarados set up and puts 3 magikarp in the discard pile to hit for a consistent 90, while Shuppet couldn’t keep up throughout most of the game. My opponent got a crazy amount of heads with Super Scoop Up to heal Gyarados every turn I attack it and eventually takes all sixprizes.com and win.
Game 3
Okay, it all comes down to this game…
I go second and miss the donk (I’ve forgotten why though, to many basics out I think) so I know the game might take awhile. It did. The event was supposed to be finished at 5 PM, but it was already 7:30 PM… Anyway, he gets his 3 ‘Karp in the discard and his Gyarados set up in about the same amount of time I could manage to get Shuppet hitting for just 60.
He gets yet more heads on Super Scoop Up to constantly heal Gyarados, forcing me to take cheap prizes by Warp Pointing and double Poke Blower +ing to drag up benched Pokemon. Eventually time is called and I’m 1-2 up on prizes but he can KO everything I’ve got and I can’t get the return KO on Gyarados, meaning I need to win THIS turn!
So I Warp Point out Gyarados and he sends out Regice (his highest HP Pokemon besides Gyarados) meaning I need do 90 damage to win my first Cities. I can only Fade Out for 60 so I drop 2 Crobats for 2 damage leaving just 1 damage short then put a Expert Belt on a Crobat then drop a Uxie for two and draw….
PLUS POWAAAAA!!!!!!!
(and a Poke Blower +)
GG
5-0
Props:
- I won my first ever cities!
- My parents for making me an awesome lunch, driving me there and paying half of the entry fee =D
- Liam (the Mother Gengar player) for lending me 2 Pokedrawer +
- Alex (who didn’t attend) for lending me a Pokemon Collector
- Poliwag!
- Everything else.
Slops:
The event finished at 7:50pm when it was supposed to finish by 5pm =/
Hope you enjoyed my cities report. Now on to the next one! (Just to let you know in the UK we have Cities up until the end of January.)
January 15th @ Crawley – Three Best of Three Rounds with a Top Two Cut
Ok, I was ready for my second ever cities! I’ve got my dice, I’ve got my trades, I’ve got my burn/poison markers, I got my de-WHERES MY DECK OMG! OMG! ITS TOO LATE TO DRIVE BACK! NOOOOO- Oh wait here it is! Heheh.
Anyway I had made some changes to my deck list since Bexley, namely taking out 1 Psychic Energy and 2 Poke Drawer + (couldn’t re-borrow them) and the addition of 1 Dual Ball (this Helped me A LOT) and 2 Pokemon Rescue.
I knew that without Drawers I was gonna have a much tougher time getting through my deck but unfortunately I had no choice…
Round 1 VS. Christopher w/ Gyarados
YAAAAAAY! More Gyarados! I get to beat more Gyarados! Must be my lucky day…
Game 1
I had another case of bad memory-itis but I do know I got the donk.
Game 2
I start with a lone Unown R and have to go first so I just draw and pass. On his turn however something like this happened: Junk Arm to discard 2 Magikarp then BTS to Gyarados then Tail Revenge game. I was the donk deck that was donked by a ‘Dos. How embarrassing.
Game 3
In this game I just managed to get enough damage out to get the donk I needed to secure a quick first round victory! (Sorry, I don’t remember much about that round.)
1-0
Yay! I’m 1-0! The best possible score. Okay, so its only out of two possible scores, but still, I couldn’t be doing any better than I am now!
Round 2 VS. Alistair w/ Donphan
Going in to this round I didn’t know what to expect as I had never seen or heard of Alistair before and I also didn’t know what deck he was playing. I guess I should have looked at this tournament report before I came =/
Game 1
Now here’s where my memory completely goes – I don’t even remember who won…
Game 2
Same as above except whoever won the 1st game lost the 2nd one. (I think…)
Game 3
Now THIS I remember! He managed to set up 2 Donphan Primes and keeps on healing ‘em and sending out a new one, but I did manage to down a belted one and then drop 10 damage counters on a benched one which I KOed next turn.
The winning move came when I was on my last prize but he had screwed with my hand somehow so I had very limited resources to work with. I managed to use some draw cards to get Shuppet, Psychic Energy aaaaaannnnnd a double Poke Blower +!
So I dragged up a “Eathquake” damaged Chatot (How is Chatot damaged by Earthquake anyway?) and used Fade Out for a good game.
2-0
2-0. I like 2-0. Especially in tournaments with 2 rounds and no top cut. So with my metaphorical 2-0 in hand I eagerly awaited the pairings… I just hope I’m not paired against Vilegar. Man, that would be bad luck.
Round 3 VS. ??? w/ Vilegar
Oooooooh no. My auto-loss match up. Ah well, might as well get it over with.
Game 1
There’s no point in saying what happened, I just got steam rolled.
Game 2
See above.
Game 3 (That may or may not have been.)
If there was a game 3 its because I donked him on one of the other games. I lost anyway if this happened or not.
2-1
Awww… And things were going so well for me. Ah well, bring on the next round!
Round 4 VS. Harry w/ Luxchomp
The final battle was a great game. In fact, it was so great I’m just gonna skip the mini intro and get right to it!
Game 1
As we were about to start, Sir Isaac Newton came crashing through the window on king Arthur’s horse while wielding Excalibur! He gave me the mighty sword and I deftly struck down my opponent! (So in short: My memory gets fuzzy here but I know I donked him.)
Game 2
Sigh… More bad memory… All I know is he got very well set up and won using a Expert Belted Ambipom G.
Game 3
I miss the donk so I know I’m going to actually have to play a game – but what a game it was! He gets his Ambipom set up again and it wreaks havoc – Snap Attacking left and right. I do manage to score some quick KOs around his Ambipom, but then get a Belted Luxray LV.X out with 2 Energy on it.
Every time I came close to KOing it He Poke Turned it away And used Bronzong G to get the energy back on it. I eventually Managed to do enough damage to OHKO it and it all went down hill for him from there. I then proceeded to easily take the rest of my prize cards for game.
3-1
So I missed cut by 1 place coming 3rd, which ain’t bad considering its only my second cities!
Props:
- Good Games.
- 3rd.
- Pulling A DCL bottom half and other cool stuff in my packs.
- Poliwag!
- Everything else.
Slops:
- Vilegar.
January 16th @ Rainam – Three Single Game Rounds with a Top Two Cut
Wow. This isn’t a Cities! This is a Mc-Cities! This is shorter than Battle Roads! Only 3 single games! Ah well… I guess a Cities is a Cities even if it is just a Mc-Cities. A tiny one at that… [/sulk]
Anyway I had the same list as last time and was hoping for at least 4th so I could get more than 1 pack.
ROUND 1 VS. ??? w/ SP Toolbox (?)
After Shuppets performance at the last two Cities I was feeling pretty confident going in to this battle. Well, y’know how they say “Pride comes before a fall”? That saying did not apply to any aspect of this battle at all.
My opponent starts Darkrai G to my lone Regice and I “win” the toss, draw a card, drop a ‘Bat and pass. On his turn he attaches a SP. Dark to his SP Darkrai (See what I did there? Didya? Didya? Hehe.) then puts a Crobat G down and Flash Bites my own – after that he passed.
On my second turn I Warp Point away Regice while also pulling up his Crobat G and then get Shuppet set up with all his bells (PlusPowers) and whistles (Expert Belt). After hitting his Crobat with a bunch of Flash Bites and Poke Blowers I eventually play Seeker and Fade Out for game.
1-0
Woooooo!!! 1-0! I just hope I don’t get paired against…
Round 2 VS. Liam w/ Mother Gengar
That. Spiritombs, Mewtwos, and Pitch Dark Gastlys. Just what I need to play against…
Oooooooooooh dear. I know if I don’t get the donk I lose. I don’t get the donk… I even forget to put out my prizes and my penalty was me getting 7 prizes and Liam getting 5.
I messed about a bit by using Fade Out on his Gengar with Dunsparce for nothing and using a Collector when there was 1 card in my deck (which I knew was Energy) and then shuffling it (Liam then cut) but eventually I lost by 3 prizes. GG.
1-1
Ah well… ‘Twas a fun game I guess. (Apart from me forgetting to put out my prizes. -_-)
Round 3 VS. Emily? (Can’t remember if that’s your name.) w/ KGL/Machamp/Feraligatr (Non-Prime)
Ah, yes… My opponent from my first ever Battle Roads and Bexley Heath. Let the games begin… Mwahahahahahahaha!!!
I can’t remember this one very well but I’m pretty sure I donked with Shuppet FTW.
2-1
Sorry for my terrible memory again…
So I ended up missing top cut and getting 4th which isn’t bad for 2-1 as there were a few seniors with that score.
Props:
- 2-1.
- Getting 4 packs.
- Pulling mostly crud from the first 3 packs, then looking down the borders of the cards from the final pack and seeing only yellow….. Then I see an Alph Lithograph.
- My new Alphs Illustrators first name is Milky which is awesome.
- 4th.
- Poliwag!
- Everything else.
Slops:
- Losing.
- 3 Meh packs.
- I seem to be getting worse: 1st then 3rd then 4th. Hmmmmm…
I hope you enjoyed my first Cities reports! And if you have any questions, comments, or death threats e-mail me at sibonsam@gmail.com (Or just shout really loud and hope I hear).
