I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m a fraud. What started out as something to pass the time ended up being something FAR more serious. I won the North America 2011 Professor Cup Championship. And I’m NOT a Professor.
To get into the Prof. Cup, you had to BE a Professor and rack up points by running a league or judging events. It’s a competition to award the hard-working men and women who make this game possible; and I soiled its good name.
So, why am I saying this now? Why can’t I stay quiet and pretend I was always a Professor? Well, here’s some reasons:
- It’s a winning National tournament report and I think it’ll be interesting.
- I feel guilty winning expensive prizes when I shouldn’t have.
- I’m taking a 4 year break from Pokemon since I’m depressed from what I did. (Actually, it’s college. :D)
- I think it’s pretty cool I ended up winning. ;)
- And most importantly, it’s been a while since I’ve written an article.
The Professor Cup
There were certain rules for this special tourny. Skip this section if you know the rules.
- All of the Pokemon must be one type only.
- “I choose you” allows each player to choose their starting Pokemon. This was amazing!
- 25 minute rounds and 60 Card Deck.
The first rule hindered the play of Tyranitar and Scizor since both of their earlier forms aren’t the same type as they are. Also, Legends were counted as dual types and could be played in decks that had their type.
How I Cleverly Got In Registration
It was Sunday, the day everyone leaves from Nationals. It was also my dad’s birthday. However, we weren’t leaving early. My ride and buddy, were in the Professor Cup. I had helped him with his Blastoise/Floatzel water deck for the Cup so I knew the basic rules.
Nationals was decent for me. I went 6-3 with a Yanmega/Vileplume/Spinarak Deck. Yeah, you know I’m evil if I used Spinarak! Well, I did “Spider Web” in 2 matches and enjoyed it! Well, not really, it made me feel bad. :( But, gotta do whatever it takes to win.
My friend and I talked about me attempting to enter the Prof. Cup. Why not? I had nothing else to do while I waited. My friend/mentor who was with us, wanted to use my Yanmega Vileplume Deck.
He told me that if I managed to get in, then I’d use his deck. My friend did awesome at Nationals with his deck! He was playing Reshiram/Typhlosion or “Reshiphlosion” and made top cut!
My thought on Reshiphlosion before Nationals:
Ha, I’d rather use Emboar than that “Afterburning”- 2nd rate card!
How I Cleverly Got In Registration (cont.)
I had never played a Reshiram variant before so I thought it would be fun. And let me tell you, it’s a VERY fun deck. We only needed to take out 3 cards that I couldn’t use for the Cup. These were 2 Cleffas and a Tyrogue. I think we replaced it with a Magby (the starter), a PlusPower, and a Fire Energy.
Anyways, I went up to registration and wrote my name down. I told the registers that I was new to all of this and held my own league (which I do!). They said they would look into the matter to make sure I was a judge. I thanked them knowing that if I was unable to play then it wouldn’t be a big deal to me.
We all joked what would happened if I would eventually win the Professor Cup… haha…
When pairings went up, my name was on the list and Aydan Aires was ready to wreak havoc in the Professor Cup!
7 Swiss Rounds and Top Cut of 16
Round 1 – Reshiphlosion vs Blastzel (Blastoise/Floatzel) WATER
There were a lot of these decks here. I chose my starter as Magby and realized the ultimate problem. Magby is horrible and automatically loses to Tyrogue! Out of fear, this was the last time I used Magby the entire day.
My opponent started Buizel, a way to get out a turn 2 Floatzel. I was able to use a Pokemon Collector to grab the basics. Reshiram, Cyndaquil, and Vulpix. I powered up my Reshiram quickly while my opponent had a few turns where he would draw and pass. By turn 4, I was taking a prize a turn and there was no way for him to catch up.
I was able to beat my weakness! Thank goodness. Water type decks didn’t do too well. It was thought to be good to counter the Fire decks rampaging around. But, there were a lot of Lightning decks here too. And in the end, Reshiphlosion doesn’t care what type you are.
1-0
Round 2 – Reshiphlosion vs Blastzel WATER
When this round started, I knew I wasn’t going to put Magby as a starter. I chose to start with one of my Reshirams. My opponent started with a Manaphy.
This battle was extremely tough. Possibly the third hardest battle of the day! By turn 3, he had a Blastoise and 2 Floatzels on the field. Remember, this is my FIRST time playing this deck so I felt like a genius when I realized Blastoise was 1 Blue Flare and 1 PlusPower away from dying. At this moment, I figured that Reshiram can absolutlely blow through this deck once it was set up.
We traded Reshirams for Blastoises (Blastoisei?). When he brought out his 3rd Blastoise, I had a loaded Typhlosion ready to use its attack that discards Blastoise’s Double Colorless Energy. Believe me, Typhlosion can OWN a Blastoise because of its “Flare Destroy” attack.
I finally took my last prize after tanking with Typhlosion (haha) for a bit. It was a very good match and my opponent certainly knew how to play the game. He went all the way to Top 4 and he deserved it!
2-0
Round 3 – Reshiphlosion vs Tyrogue???? FIGHTING
There isn’t too much to talk about here. I started Reshiram to his Tyrogue. I went first, attached energy and played a Collector to begin setting up. On my opponent’s turn, he drew, then “Mischievous Punches” me for 30. Then, next turn, I attach and… Outrage for knockout?
Without any other Pokemon out on the opponent’s field, I won my 3rd match!
3-0
Lunch Break and the Aiming for Top 4
During lunch, my friends and I head over to the mall. I was at 3-0, and my friends were at 3-0 and 1-2. We talked about the awesome diversity at the Professor Cup; there were so many variants! Even a Steel deck! There was one type, however, that seemed to be dominating…
Dark. These decks would start with Absol Prime to put damage counters on your Pokemon whenever you laid them on the bench. Then, the opponent would build Zoroark, Mandibuzz, and Weavile for disruption and easy prizes. It was an awesome combination.
We then talked about the prizes. This year, there was some cool things. For Top 16, a very expensive Professor backpack was given out. For Top 4, a Kindle was given. Wow! Plus, Top 4 had very nice one-of-a-kind trophies! Because it was my dad’s birthday, I figured I should try to win him a Kindle. :)
When we came back to the event hall, pairings were being handed out to the tables. Something cool about the Professor Cup is that children are the judges during these events. It was very cool to see kids not all that much younger than me running an event. They were awesome and very helpful!
Round 4 – Reshiphlosion vs Zekrom/Magnezone/Electrode THUNDER
This was the hardest match of the day. I believe my opponent started with a Minun to my Reshiram. He went first and used Minun’s first attack to put 2 Pokemon on his bench. A Magnemite and a Zekrom, I believe. I had a pretty good set up, getting a Reshiram/Typhlosion/Ninetales combo running by Turn 3. My opponent had a Magnezone and a charged Zekrom ready.
We traded blows and prizes and were fairly equal for the majority of the match. Then, when we both had 4 prizes left, he chained 2 Defenders on his Zekrom making it a 130 HP Tank with 40 defense. This gave me trouble since it took 2 Blue Flares to knock it out. And when I finally knocked him out, he had plenty of Junk Arms ready to bring back those darn Defenders!
When I took out his 3rd Zekrom, I found myself down a Prize. However, he used his Electrode Prime‘s Poke-Power to give me a free prize and get some energy acceleration. He then used his Magnezone Prime to Lost Burn my final Reshiram.
With a Revive, 2 “Afterburners”, 2 PlusPowers, and 1 Fire Energy, I revived a Reshiram and 1HKO’d his Magnezone Prime. When his ‘Zone was gone, I was able to take out the other Pokemon since his resources went dry. I took my last prize and won the hardest match of the day. Whew.
4-0
Round 5 – Reshiphlosion vs Cinccino COLORLESS
This deck used Cinccino as the main attacker, and Noctowl as the draw power. This was another tough match but I didn’t think it would give me much trouble since Reshiram has a pretty good match up against Cinccino. However, I had a pretty bad hand at the beginning and had trouble finding draw power.
When I finally got Reshiram/Typhlosion up and powered, I was pretty far back on prizes. I steamrolled through many of his Pokemon, trying to catch up to his lead.
This match came down to a coin flip, sadly. He needed only 10 more damage to knock out my Reshiram. He used a Good Rod to attempt to retrieve a PlusPower but whiffed. Had he gotten back the PlusPower, it would’ve been Game Over for me since the Prize lead would be overwhelming.
One thing to note is Typhlosion helped me greatly when I “Flare Destroyed” a lot of his Double Colorless.
After going through this match, I was happy that I was able to catch up and win!
5-0
Round 6 – Reshiphlosion vs DARK Tool Box
Finally, I got my chance to play against this deck and I knew it would be a tough one. This woman I was playing had beaten my friend earlier so this deck would be tricky. I started Reshiram to her Absol.
I don’t remember too much about this match but I know it wasn’t that tough. I was able to take out her Absol early on so it would stop spreading the damage. From there, we traded Reshirams for Zoroarks, and luckily, since I had 4 Reshirams in my deck, I was able to out number her.
We both knew we were going to make top cut regardless since we were 5-0 before this match so it was very casual and fun to play against her. It wouldn’t be the last time I’d see her though…
6-0
Round 7 – Reshiphlosion Mirror Match FIRE
Before this match, I thought I was the only undefeated but I was wrong. Another Reshiphlosion player had the same record. My opponent was nice and the pressure was off both of us since we knew we’d make top cut (and get seeded fairly high!)
Now, although my opponent had a similar deck, he used a very unique starter I had never seen. Numel.
Numel’s first attack for one colorless allowed you to discard a fire energy and draw 3 cards. It was a great starter! Very similar to Ninetales.
Anyways, he set up faster than me, getting up THREE Typhlosions in the first few turns. We started the prize trading with him in the lead.
I should’ve lost this match. But, my opponent made a crucial mistake of retreating a weakened Reshiram instead of knocking out my 4th Reshiram. Had he knocked it out, it would’ve put me in a bind of trying to find a Revive and bringing back a 5th Reshiram. Instead, he gave me the one extra turn I needed to apply more pressure and turn the tables in my favor.
Luckily, I was able to win. With a 7-0 record, I was the only undefeated and the #1 seed for top cut. :)
Top Cut
Top cut was very diverse. From then on, there would be 50-minute rounds. All 16 of us had won a Professor backpack, thankfully too. People who were watching the event offered some of us $100 for the specially made backpack.
Oh, I forgot to say this earlier, but in every match of the Professor Cup, the winner would get 2 booster packs from Black and White. So, I had 14 packs to my name. All of which I would be selling on later since I don’t plan on playing in college.
I just need 2 wins and I’ll be in top 4! Which means I get a Kindle. I figured after I made Top 4, I would just drop since I got the prize. The trophy didn’t seem like it would be that important to me.
Oh, here’s a line up of what types made top cut:
- 2 Fire
- 4 Dark
- 3 Lightning
- 2 Grass
- 2 Fighting
- 2 Water
- 1 Colorless
Top 16 Match – Reshiphlosion vs Dark Tool Box
My opponent wasn’t the same person from my round 6 match, but he shared an almost identical deck! With 2 young judges who sat around us,
Game 1:
I was turn 2 donked by his Zoroark. I couldn’t find anymore Pokemon to back up my Reshiram. I began to get nervous!
0-1
Game 2:
I chose to go first and used Collector to get Reshiram, Cyndaquil, and Vulpix. This match was more in my favor as we traded Reshirams for Zoroarks. I pulled ahead and was able to storm through the rest of his deck.
With this matchup, when the Zoroarks have been taken care of, the opponent can only snipe for small amounts of damage. With 25 minutes left on the clock, we continued on.
1-1
Game 3:
My opponent went first and quickly set up multiple Zoroarks. This match continued similarly to Game 2. It was close as we continued bashing each other’s Reshirams and Zoroarks. I believe my opponent got set up early and it was quite tough to deal with the swarming Zoroarks.
In the end, we believe this match came down to a coin flip. My opponent failed a Pokemon Reversal that could’ve put him ahead 2 prizes. Luckily for me, I was able to pull through and win!
2-1 | 8-0
Top 8 Match – Reshiphlosion vs Yanmega/Vileplume GRASS
Top 8 matches began… except my opponent wasn’t around. I asked the judges and they kindly told me that my opponent’s son had won Nationals in Juniors. Congratulations! I waited for around 10 minutes patiently but when my opponent arrived, they told him he would have a Game 1 loss unfortunately. Alright, only this man stood between me and my beloved Kindle! Let’s go!
Game 2:
I had a pretty good start but my opponent had trouble setting up. I remember him having two Yanmas, an Oddish, and a Sunkern on his bench when I had almost been completely set up. I proceeded to do Blue Flare turn after turn and secured the win. IUt was kind of sad that he had to forfeit the first game but having his son win Nationals is probably worth it.
2-0 | 9-0
Should I end this lie and Quit?
Finally, I won my Kindle. Now, I could give it to my dad for his birthday. I was almost ready to drop out of the Professor Cup when my friends told me they were doing a “mutant draft”. They said I might as well go all the way. After all, 2 out of the 3 opponents in Top 4, I had beaten soundly earlier in the day. I decided I would attempt to go all the way and win this crazy tournament.
Top 4 Match – Reshiphlosion vs Donchamp FIGHTING
Game 1:
My opponent was this kind woman from the southern states. Being an old player on Donchamp, I knew it was a very smart choice for this tournament. I figured if she got out a turn 2 Donphan, I could be in a huge pickle.
I had a pretty bad starting hand during this game and she was able to get out an army of Machamps and Donphans out. I scooped within the first 10 minutes to preserve time.
0-1
Game 2:
I had a better set up this time. My opponent seemed to focus on setting up her Machamps in this game. Once I had 2 loaded Reshirams ready for battle, I continued to take prizes left and right.
1-1
Game 3:
I had a fair start in this match and got set up a little bit faster in this game. This time, my opponent focused on swarming with Donphans. With the help of early Plus Powers and Junk Arms, I was able to 1HKO most of them giving me the Top 4 win!
2-1 | 10-0
The other match was still continuing and it was played by 2 people I had played earlier. The Round 2 man (Blastzel) and the Round 6 woman (Dark Toolbox). The dark deck ended up winning that.
Top 2 Match – Reshiphlosion vs Dark Tool Box Revenge
Game 1:
We greeted and congratulated each other for making it all the way this far. I was happy to be playing her again because she was a very laid back individual. She set up Zoroarks and attempted to take out my Reshirams but I was able to outswarm her with both Reshiram AND Typhlosion. Winning this Game, we moved to the final Game of the night.
1-0
Game 2:
This game was very fun. We both set up pretty fast. Something unique happened though; my opponent brought out her Darkrai & Cresselia Legend early on. I read it and decided I should probably get rid of it this turn. I had a Reversal, 2 PlusPowers, and a Junk Arm in my hand.
I was able to Reversal the Legend up, and play 3 PlusPowers due to the Junk Arm. This gave me a HUGE lead and opened the path to victory. I took that path and didn’t look back.
2-0 | 11-0
I was the 2011 Professor Cup Champion?
The Coin I Earned
- 22 Black and White Pokemon Packs – I ended up selling all of these for $30
- Amazon Kindle – My Dad has it to this day but we’re probably selling it for Laptop money.
- A Professor Backpack – I gave this to my friend who, in return, paid for my gas and hotel costs.
- A NICE Trophy – It’s being sold on eBay. I know this might get flamed.
- An Invitation to Worlds 2011! – I’m kidding.
Deck List (Not exact, but what I recall)
| Pokemon – 174 Reshiram BLW3 Cyndaquil HS
2 Vulpix HS/CL 2 Ninetales HS/CL 1 Magby TM/CL (Useless!) |
Trainers – 284 Pokemon Collector3 Professor Juniper
3 Revive 4 Junk Arm |
Energy – 15
15 Fire |
Final Revelation
Hands down, don’t do what I did. I’m sure there’s going to be some sort of consequence for my actions and I’ll accept it. I don’t expect anybody to honor me for what I did but I felt like it should’ve been said.
Now, it might be low that I’m selling the trophy, but my family is having some money issues right now. Kent State University is very expensive. So, I’ve been selling all of my Pokemon merchandise so I can pay for my food plan and get a laptop.
I’m going to be on hiatus status for the next 4 years. I’ll probably be at every Nationals, but I’ll just borrow a deck from some of my good friends.
That being said, I’ll probably still be active in the Pokemon community doing research for my friends for future tournaments.
All in all, this was my first Nationals and I loved it. I can’t wait to see all fo you next year. And until then, See ya!
Ohhhhh, wait a sec. Who wants to buy the trophy? It’s very nice and one of a kind. Here’s the link: http://r.ebay.com/V0dtcu
Congratulate me or diss me. I’ll take all comments to heart. :)
Aydan Aires
