Hey Underground! For all who went to State/Provincial/Territorial Championships this weekend, I hope that you all had a great time, and achieved what you wanted. Although I ultimately did not succeed at winning my most recent event, I still had a great time, and was, given my luck, satisfied with my 17th place finish – one off of the top sixteen cut.
Yet, as I’ve implied in countless articles and posts, “luck” is not as certain of a thing as people pretend it to be: my fate at this event was, at its core, caused by my own decisions.
Since the goal is to WIN, and not to merely bubble, this report sets out to not only show you typical “report stuff” (list, analysis, matches, etc); it also seeks to explain the deeper implications of your game, and help elaborate on why you may be performing below your expectations.
Pre-Tournament Preparation, and the Final List
Due to an extensive undergraduate thesis, as well as three mid terms in two days, this was likely the least time I have ever spent play-testing for an event. This lack of testing would manifest itself in subtle ways; but for most intents and purposes, it wasn’t even necessary, since Luxchomp is a strong basis for anyone to work off of.
Plus, we all know well that Call of Legends scarcely phased the metagame sans Lostgar.
Regarding my other choices for this event, short-listers included Lostgar and Dialgachomp. Since I felt like my primary competition would consist of SP variants, the slight edge you lose in the SP mirror with it was undesirable.
Furthermore, it has a fairly weak Gyarados matchup, which can’t be tolerated in a Gyarados-happy metagame like Oklahoma City. As for Lostgar, my decision to not play it was one of experience; that is, I do not yet feel ready to take on timed scenarios with it yet.
While it’s certainly a good deck, and very easy to use in a metagame where nobody knows how to counter it, Lostgar should not be used unless you’re confident in your ability to play QUICKLY!
With those two eliminated, and no interest at all in running Vilegar, I was left with my one tried-and-true this season: Luxchomp.
