With it being out final Battle Road weekend, most of the NW portion of Team B-Side headed up to Mukilteo, WA to play at Phoenix Games (which is a great shop, my first time playing there). My fiance Ashley, B-Side members Gage and Alex, and myself all spent the night before playtesting at Gage’s lovely home, as we have for the entirety of the BR season.
I knew that there would be heavy Machamp, and more importantly, heavy Sableye w/ Blaziken. The latter, combined with the fact that I had already played it and I wanted to try a variety of decks, is the reason why I didn’t go with what I believe is the BDIF — DialgaChomp. I haven’t tested the Machamp match-up too much, but I’d assume that Dialga is a bit too slow to handle it (although Alex did win Seniors beating a Machamp in top 2, so what do I know), and I didn’t feel comfortable battling Blazikens all day.
In the end I decided to go with the only relevant SP deck I hadn’t played — Sableye. I won’t disclose the whole list here, but it was pretty standard (big ups to Trevor W. for hipping me to it!). A Blaziken line and all the normal stuff was there. Probably the most interesting part of the deck is that it didn’t play any Honchkrow G, which I still see most lists playing. Other than that it was your basic Sable-stuff.
I only had a night to test with it, and although it did me well, there were a few things I would’ve liked to do different. Firstly, I think a 3 Special/3 Basic split on the Dark energy is the play. The donk, although nice, isn’t as important/realistic anymore, and I’d much rather be able to Cyrus up a dark energy that I have more than enough of, than something Pokemon-specific, like a Psychic or Fire. I also would’ve liked to see Bronzong G added, but I’m not sure how that grooves with the deck. One more Initiative (I only ran one), and an Energy Exchanger or two would’ve been nice as well, but alas, that’s what I get for waiting for the last minute.
Round 1 Paul N. w/ Machamp
This is a game I shouldn’t have won.
We both got off to relatively slow starts, although I believe he was able to rip a Machamp on turn two or three. He started taking prizes almost immediately after that, and I was forced to sit back and build up a Honchkrow SV (this is where Energy Exchanger would’ve been nice to have), as I have literally no other defense. I believe I sac’d a total of three Pokemon before I could get Honch up and running.
Once I did though, the game swung back in my favor. He had a Uxie or two as well as a Smeargle on the bench, and of course my bench was fully loaded with basics. That, along with three special dark energy, allowed me to swing for well over 100 damage pretty consistently. After knocking out two Machamp and a chump-blocker in Chatot, things were tied back up.
He was finally able to rage his way to the KO of Honchkrow, to which I was immediately able to respond with a KO of his Machamp via my Garchomp C LV.X. Time was called, and we were even at 2-2 prizes. He had a Uxie active, with a Sableye, an Azelf, and a Machoke on the bench. I had a Garchomp C LV.X active, with a Uxie w/ Unown Q, and I believe a Blaziken benched.
On his turn, he plays a Warp Point, which is what I thought was going to cost him the game, as it would allow me to Dragon Rush again on my next turn for the win (I had the DCE in hand). However, he promotes his Sableye, and uses a Looker’s and, seeing that I have the victory, decides to shuffle my hand in. I know that if I don’t hit the DCE again, he’ll be able to rip the Machamp and Take Out for the win, so with that, I draw my 5 cards…
Blaziken FB LV.X
Sableye
Sableye
Uxie LV.X
….Double Colorless!
I retreat the Uxie, attach to Garchomp, and Dragon Rush something on the bench for a comeback win.
1-0
Round 2: Wyatt W. w/ LuxChomp
This match is forever going to haunt me.
I’ve played the LuxChomp match-up plenty, so I’m fairly confident. He goes first, with a Luxray active and a Garchomp on the bench. I believe I started with a lone Crobat. He attaches a DCE to Garchomp, and passes the turn. I Collector, only to find out that 1 of my Garchomps is prized. I end up taking a Uxie, a Garchomp, and a Dragonite FB. I drop the Uxie and get some randomness. Preparing for my Garchomp to get sniped, I attach a DCE to Dragonite, and think I’m in pretty good shape.
Next turn he Bright Looks my Dragonite, to which I have no response for. He then Cyrus’ for an SP Radar, and is able to Earthquake my Dragonite. With a sigh I draw a card to start my turn, reflect back on my hand and, oh, what’s that? A POWER SPRAY. I still don’t know how I overlooked being able to Power Spray the Bright Look, as I even checked my hand to see if I had one. Ugh.
From there it all goes downhill for me. I’m unable to revenge kill his Garchomp, and he’s able to take all six prizes in just as many turns. If anything, this match taught me the importance of giving yourself time to make decisions, especially early game, and when they’re important. Perhaps if I had been a little less tilted and took more time to look at my hand and spread out the cards, I would’ve seen the Spray.
Ah well.
1-1
Round 3: Alex B. w/ Machamp/Spiritomb
Another Machamp, how fun!
He starts Spiritomb to my Crobat, and drops a Machop to Darkness Grace into a Machoke. I know I’m in trouble here, but all I topdeck is a Dragonite, and having no Cyrus/not being able to play trainers, I decide to attach a DCE to Dragonite, and use my only supporter — Cyrus Initiative. I can’t remember exactly what his hand looked like, but it was something like…Premier Ball, BTS, Machamp, Bebe’s, Energy. I hit two heads and put both the Machamp and Bebe’s on the bottom, hoping to save myself a turn.
He’s forced to draw and Darkness Grace into Machamp. I can’t remember the exact details of how this match played out from here. I remember KOing a Machamp with a Giant Tail from Dragonite FB (best attack in the game btw), and doing the same to a Spiritomb a turn later, after a Judge that left him with only an Unown Q to promote.
He promotes the Q, looks at his hand, and attaches a Rainbow Energy, doing Hidden Power for 20. Luckily for me, the damage from Rainbow Energy puts him in Mach Blow range, so I swing 20 for the game. Another Machamp down feels good.
2-1
Round 4: Lyle w/ Donphan Luxray
Lyle is a new player, and I believe this was his second tournament. Very nice guy, and bright for a new player. He opens w/ a Phanpy active and a Luxray on the bench, and passes. I open with Ambipom and am able to Snap Attack + Flash Bite to kill his Phanpy. I also start getting a Dragonite and Garchomp set up, although I can’t quite remember how.
The next turn he over-extends a bit, and drops another Phanpy, a Crobat, and an energy onto Luxray, hoping to be able to Set-Up for seven. I quickly Power Spray the set-up, and unfortunately he’s never seen the card before, and looks pretty disappointed. He has to pass the turn, allowing me to take another cheap prize, pulling two ahead.
He eventually gets a Donphan set-up w/ an Expert Belt to kill my Crobat, which I was planning to wall for a few turns. Luckily I top deck a DCE and am able to respond w/ Honchkrow on his Donphan for the double prize KO. He concedes shortly after that, as he can’t hit the Trash Bolt to KO my Honchkrow, and it’ll take him a few more turns to re-stabilize a Donphan.
3-1
Round 5: Jaron w/ Regigigas
Although Jaron is 2-2 at this point, he’s been up-paired twice, so assuming that a few players drop (a few players are known to drop out of top cut for various reasons), if he wins this match there’s a good possibility he could slide into the top. With that in mind, and knowing that Gigas can usually wreck SP, I’m not very confident going in.
He goes first with a lone Uxie to my Toxicroak G Promo. He has no energy in hand, and passes the turn. My hand looks something like…
SP Radar, Energy Gain, Energy, Bebe’s, Power Spray, Poke Turn, and another card I can’t remember.
I fetch an Ambipom G with SP Radar, and attach the Energy and the Gain to it. I Bebe’s, putting in the Power Spray to get a Crobat G, and Flash Bite his Uxie, leaving it with 60 HP. I then Poke Turn my Toxicroak and Snap Attack for the game.
A terrible way to win, especially with the possibility of keeping him out of top cut. However, being able table three, and knowing that at least one of the players higher than me is going to drop, I’m confident I’ll have made the cut.
After a few minutes the top cut gets announced, and it looks like this…
1st: Samwise w/ LuxChomp (B-side what)
2nd: Trevor w/ Sableye
3rd: Me w/ Sableye
4th: Michael C. w/ Sableye
I feel bad having to play Trevor, as he’s the one who gave me the decklist in the first place, but it’s nice to X-1 or X-0 every tournament I’ve gone to this season, and having a teammate in the top cut is also nice (especially considering he’s X-0 and has had to play three Machamp builds).
Top 4: Trevor W. w/ Sableye
Game 1: Can’t remember exactly how this goes, but I know we both get pretty meh starts. He’s able to get the Garchomp, Dragonite, etc. out first, and just steamrolls through me. I have no defense, and scoop after he’s taken 3 or 4 prizes to my none.
Game 2: This game was just like the first, but the opposite. I get everything I need while he’s left in a drought, and he scoops early, although a little bit later than I would’ve. Shortly after this game I see that Sam has lost, but Alex has won his division, so I’m pretty content, but still hoping to take the win.
Game 2: This game goes a lot better for me, as I get the first Garchomp snipe. I can’t remember the details of this game, but there were two critical factors:
- After I had revenge killed something (winning the war of Garchomp/Dragonite/Ambipom shenanigans). He sent up a Uxie, which I was able to kill with my own Uxie LV.X, not having to waste a Dragon Rush, or leave my Garchomp active. This doesn’t seem like that important of a play, but in the long run it was.
- On turn 2 of time being called (meaning his last turn). He Poke Turns a Garchomp, leaving a Garchomp on the field with only 80 HP. In any other circumstance this probably would’ve been a neutral play, but since it was his very last turn, it was a misplay, as it gave me a target for Dragon Rush. I rip the DCE and am able to take my last prize.
5-1
Top 2: Michael C w/ Sableye
Game 1: This game goes horrible for me, as I am just simply outclassed. I can’t remember all of the details as I’m hitting the tail end of what’s been a very long day. I scoop after he’s taken a few prizes, knowing the game isn’t going anywhere.
Game 2: Unfortunately, as with a few of my other matches I don’t exactly remember the specifics, but I get ahead in this game, and am able to take the first few prizes. A well-timed Ambipom to my Garchomp, and then another well-timed Dragonite to my Dragonite bring him back into the swing of things. Time is called and we’re tied on prizes, but he’s able to Luring Flame up my Sableye. The only option I have now is to use a Cyrus Initiative, and hope I can prevent him from getting an energy. So I cup my dice and…
TAILS TAILS
I pass, telling him if he shows me the energy we can call it a game, and he does. GG. I learn shortly after that even if I would’ve hit double heads on Initiative it wouldn’t have made a difference, so I guess that makes me feel a bit better. All in all finals had some great games, I was simply outplayed by one of the best players in the area. Big ups Michael!
So, I finish the Autumn BR season without a Victory Medal to call my own, but collectively the team has earned 4, with another 4 top cuts, so I’d like to think we did well.
Props:
Team B-Side
Phoenix Games
Sableye
Trevor for giving me the list
Slops:
Donks
The numbers 1, 3, and 5.
Thanks for reading!
