Ok so ever since I have heard about Kingdra Prime I had an insatiable itch to try it with Gengar SF because it just made sense. Through much testing and waiting it was finally released and I immediately started collecting the cards for it. The rest is history…
Ok so, Bentonville Arkansas, never been there until today, never even knew Arkansas had Pokemon players outside of Hot Springs (Team Moon Shadow!). So naturally I wasn’t expecting any meta, and I figured it would be easy pickings (yeah I’m ashamed to admit that), none the less I was excited to see how things would turn out.
As soon as we walk through the door I knew I had severally mis-judged the players and their capacity to build meta decks, everyone with the exceptions of a handful was running amazing decks, most where perfect lists IMO. This was going to be a tough one.
PRE GAME WARM UP: Blaziken FB/ Garchomp C
Ok so I noticed a kid playing Blaziken and Garchomp and as I watched him write out his deck list I also noticed his list looked very solid so I initially decided he would probably be a tough match up for me seeing as how if I’m forced to attack with Kingdra it would do a total of 20 due to Blaziken being in play but with weakness 40 and if I was fortunate enough to pull the one and only Expert Belt I would hit for a solid 60.
After completing his deck list I proceeded to inquire about a possible pre-game match and he agreed so we both sat down to what would be a pretty decent match. I think he only drew one prize off of me, but it was a while before I could draw all of mine seeing as how he poke turned everything I couldn’t one hit or he would simply Healing Breath all my hard earned damage the very next turn.
ROUND 1: Flygon
First match was to Flygon with a heavy Donphan line it would have been a tough customer had I not donked his terrible Uxie start. I felt awful but I offered some shuffling tips and techniques, seeing as how everything in his hand was stacked something awful.
ROUND 2: Torterra
This guy actually made me nervous, he was running Torterra but far better than I anticipated. My decks worst match ups almost all involve tanking Pokémon, and seeing as how he was healing like 100 damage a turn with a whopping 180 health he was no exception. Fortunately he played massive amounts of Uxie/Claydol and a stray Azelf ensuring I could KO his bench every turn, until he was forced into rushing into a feinting spell which rolled in my favor thus causing a scoop on his part. Very well thought out deck, and overall an amazing player.
ROUND 3: Nidoqueen/Crobat Prime
Kenny actually started playing Pokémon with me, and so he has suffered Gengar’s wrath for far too long, and knows all of my decks, inside and out, and it’s never fun having to play a friend after you drive all that way, but none-the-less we knew we had to do it. Kenny usually tears stuff up with Garchomp (SV) but at 4 o’ clock this morning he decided to switch his deck around to something completely different and run that instead, and I have to say overall he did amazing with it.
I ended up destroying everything before he could set up and won. I felt so terrible because he just couldn’t get set up in time.
ROUND 4: Donphan
Ok this kid ran a Donphan donk, much (if not completely) in the image of that of J-Witz’s build. He was the only other player undefeated at the time, and rightly so, he was rushing you with Donphan’s, with the quickness. I get a mediocre set up and start to set up Kingdra Prime when I realize I can’t seem to get a Gengar going, upon looking through my deck with a luxury ball I find that all of my Gaslty’s except one have been prized, I choose the only one I have and set it on the bench after publicly announcing the rest were prized.
He then precedes to PKMN Reversal my only Gastly and KO it with Donphan. GREAT…so now it’s up to Kingdra Prime to carry its weight, and boy does it, I KO a belted Donphan, draw 2 prizes, one is Gaslty and then just one shot all four of his Uxies on the bench with Gengar thereafter, so far undefeated, Good Game and we are off to finals!
Ok so somehow the kid that played Donphan and went undefeated until his last round against me ended up getting fourth and Kenny was then promoted to 2nd which meant we would be facing off in the finals. WOW, I couldn’t believe it, if I had to lose to anyone I would much prefer it be Kenny.
FINALS: Kenny Hood – Nidoqueen/Crobat Prime
If you’re interested in finding out what happened in the finals please feel free to watch the following video below because our awesome judge (Michael Kendle, the very same guy whom created and took Gengar SF/Garchomp C to victory at states) recorded the entire finals match for your viewing pleasure.
PROPS:
– Bentonville being an amazing area for pokemon
– Kenny Hood for coming in 2nd
– Andy Strange because Jumpluff is still BOSS
– Team B-Side
– Everyone on 6P for helping me do this!
– All the help and support of friends and family
SLOPS:
– The heat index
– Having to donk (truely sorry about that)
– Not remembering the names of all of the great players.
