Some of our newest subscribers might not know, but just as Fulop aims to be number 1 in the USA, I have been considered in the past Mexico’s number 1 player. Unfortunately school and other activities have led me to not be as up to date as I’d like to with the game and testing, but this season I wanted to make up for that and regain my title.
Before the tournaments I started testing Lost World a LOT. I made a big investment on the overhyped Gengar Primes and I knew full well I wanted to make the best out of them. I tested the deck so much in all its variations, but none of them convinced me.
VileLostGar just felt, as Fulop described it, two subpar strategies colliding in the same deck, and it just felt you were trying to accomplish so much at the same time. Turbo LostGar just dies to a Spiritomb start pretty much, and it just completely runs out of steam after a few turns against any non Spiritomb deck.
I at least knew if I could beat out LuxChomp I would be more confident in it, but all my testing only showed me the obvious, which I was trying to ignore. LuxChomp is the undisputed BDIF (best deck in the format) right now and I’d be better off knowing mirror matches inside and out and relying on my skill, than trying to figure out a deck to beat it.
With this I switched my focus to LuxChomp and after much deliberating and discussion, ended up with this:
| Pokemon – 203 Garchomp C SV 1 Garchomp C LV.X SV 2 Luxray GL RR 1 Luxray GL LV.X RR 3 Uxie LA 1 Uxie LV.X LA 1 Dragonite FB SV 1 Toxicroak G Promo 1 Weavile G PL 1 Bronzong G PL 1 Lucario GL RR 1 Crobat G PL 1 Azelf LA 1 Unown Q MD 1 Chatot MD |
Trainers – 284 Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4 Pokemon Collector 2 Bebe’s Search 1 Copycat 1 Twins 1 Aaron’s Collection 4 TGI Poke Turn 3 TGI Energy Gain 3 TGI Power Spray 2 TGI SP Radar 2 Premier Ball 1 VS Seeker |
Energy – 124 Double Colorless 3 Call 3 Lightning 1 Psychic 1 Darkness (Basic) |
D.F. States Report
I waaaaay overestimated Mexico’s metagame, having been out of it for quite some time, and I expected a lot of hyped up LostGar variants and lots of mirror. Of course as you will see in the first States report, this was NOT the case at all, which prompted me to make a few changes for the next couple of tournaments.
Anyways that was my list, and I was ready to make a comeback into the tournament scene after such a long time.
Round 1 vs Franciso A. (DialgaChomp)
We both start out strong, but fortunately for me he runs (I think) neither Ambipom G nor Dragonite FB, which IMO are essential SP techs. We exchange OHKO’s via Garchomp C’s and Garchomp C LV.X Dragon Rushing, but he decides not to have Dialga G really become a factor.
This made it essentially a LuxChomp vs Chomp matchup, and my Uxie LV.X managed to get me a crucial OHKO on a Toxicroak G which had an Expert Belt attached (he ran 3) which turned the game hugely in my favor.
1-0
Round 2 vs ??? (Eeveelutions)
My starting hand was the following: Luxray GL, Lightning, TGI Energy Gain, TGI Poke Turn x3, Luxray GL LV.X. I was hoping between my first turn draw and the first prize I would draw I could get something, anything out to give me a fighting chance.
He starts out with an active Eevee. I topdeck Luxray GL and bench it, attach energy and pass. He draws, doesn’t draw a Supporter, attaches energy and Calls for Family and benches more Eevee’s. On my turn I draw a Garchomp C and proceed to draw my first prize by KOing the active Eevee with Luxray GL LV.X.
This went on for the next 4 turns as I had 3 TGI Poke Turn while I topdecked useless cards like Lucario and Aaron’s, but I was way ahead when he finally managed to bring Umbreon into play. I wasn’t able to attack it but I easily OHKO’d via Crobat G and my last Poke Turn and Luxray GL to seal the game.
2-0
Round 3 vs Adriana C. (DialgaChomp)
A very friendly and nice PokeMom whom I had only seen, but never met. She was very talkative and kept saying how cool it was to play against me since she had heard about me but never met me. I got a pretty sub-par starting hand but she made a weird decision by not opting to KO my active Garchomp C and instead used Deafen with Dialga G.
This allowed me to level up and KO the Dialga, and I then just got way ahead and through prizes and a nice Uxie was able to fully set up and just dominate as she also didn’t run Dragonite nor Ambipom as far as I know. These 2 cards are crucial for any SP matchup.
3-0
Round 4 vs Abraham C. (UxieDONK)
I was clueless what he was running, but after he flipped over Unown R I knew right away. Thankfully I went 2nd this time around and had a Collector in hand, thus allowing me to bench 3 more Pokemon and draw stuff with Uxie, which meant he had a very hard time doing anything really.
He got a few quick kills, but he had a Sableye with an Expert Belt benched which was Garchomp bait, and I was just able to easily overpower him with my high HP Pokemon.
I like UxieDONK but it’s so sad to see it struggle so much after the 2nd turn of the game has gone by which makes it very unreliable. It was surprising to me though that he was 3-0 so far as the tournament was filled with DialgaChomp.
4-0
Round 5 vs Miguel Angel L. (SableLock)
Ever since day 1, Miguel and I have had a healthy rivalry and have both considered the best Mexican players at some point, so it really was no surprise to see us both undefeated so far. This was the last round before the Top 8 cut so we were both pretty relaxed and we both made 2 very crucial mistakes, but it’s better now than during Top Cut right?
