Thorton/Barrie, Ontario, Canada Battle Road Report

Hey guys, so I just got back from my second Battle Road of this format 30 minutes ago and am now writing this article.

I wrote an article about my first Battle Road where I top 4′d with Kingdra Donk so be sure to check that article out.

This Battle Road was a bit hectic. After school, I’d wait for my friend to pick me up, so that we could go pick up my cards from my other friend, then finally head over to Thorton/Barrie while making my deck in the car. I make my Dialga/Garchomp deck in the car while we scramble to find our way to there. We end up having to call the organizer to let them know that we are just 5 minutes away because we were really close to being late and he was nice enough to delay the Battle Road for us.

Anyhow, let’s get to the actual games!

Game 1
Me (DialgaGarchomp) vs. Daniel? (Some form of SP build with Blaziken FB)
This is my first game with my DialgaGarchomp which has never seen play since it was built in the car on the way to the event. I’m a bit worried about the overall consistency and the fact that I knew he was using Blaziken FB kind of added to the pressure. We start the game and we both have mediocre starts. He has a Toxicroak G PL vs my Bronzong G start.

However I “win” the dice roll so he goes first. With nothing to do he just passes. I start my turn, and used Pokemon Collector to get Dialga G, Garchomp C, and something else. I attach a metal to my Dialga G and end. He starts, drops Ambipom G and has nothing to do. From this point, I cruise my way through him.

I pull of some trickery with Warp Energies by attaching it to Bronzong G to retreat him than using his power “Galactic Switch” to move it to Dialga G, then attach Expert Belt to “Deafen”. He finally gets a Blaziken FB on the field with an Energy Gain and a fire energy. However, I snipe it out right away knowing that it will cause me huge problems. From this point, he can’t recover and scoops. Good Game, 1/0.

Game 2
Me (DialgaGarchomp) vs. Winston (LuxChomp)
This game also turns out to be pretty easy despite being a LuxChomp match up. I had a lone Garchomp C start while he had a Chatot MD, Garchomp C, and something else on the bench. I have a pretty garbage hand, however, I have the luck of “winning” the dice roll and I go second. I believe he just “Mimic”ed for new set of hand and ends.

I’m praying to god that I draw in to a good supporter like Professor Oak’s New Theory, but the deck says no. So I end up doing all I can which is to drop the Double Colorless Energy to “Claw Swipe” for 30 damage. At this point, I thought he had the donk with his Garchomp C, but however, he seemed to be missing something and ends up using “Mimic” again. Luckily this time I draw in to a Professor Oak’s New Theory and draw into a new hand that contains lots of useful cards.

I am able to snipe out all his Luxray GL’s before he could get it to LV.X and same thing for Garchomp C. Not being able to get set up, he scrambles to build up using Smeargle from UD. However, I am in far too much of a lead and I win the game. Good Game, 2/0

Game 3
Me (DialgaGarchomp) vs. Zach (DialgaGarchomp)
This match intrigues me instantly. First of all, it is a mirror match, which means that it would probably end up being whoever can snipe the right unit with Garchomp C and the tech choices. Also, Zach beat me in Nationals in July so I was eager to beat him. My game-plan all along was to snipe out his Garchomp C’s before it is set up.

I have a Dialga G start and he has his Garchomp C on the bench and something on the active. Luckily, getting a Dialga G start seems to have saved me as I was able to lock him with “Deafen” for a few turns and take prize lead. However, I make a huge misplay and end up losing that lead. My Dialga G LV.X had 1 Special Metal Energy, an Expert Belt, and 70 damage counters. I was almost certain that he did not have Garchomp C LV.X or just the right cards to knock out my Dialga G LV.X. So I took the risk of knocking out his Dragonite FB and leaving Dialga exposed.

He plays Cyrus’s Conspiracy, then uses the Poke-Power “Fast Call” from his Staraptor FB LV.X to get a Supporter. I thought that playing safe and stopping the power with Power Spray would have been the wise choice, but it was not. He ends up using Azelf to get his Garchomp C LV.X from his prize then retreating his active to get out his LV.X to snipe off my Dialga G LV.X for the knock-out, making the game even with 4-4 prizes.

From this point on the game goes back and forth as I KO his Garchomp C LV.X with Ambipom G, then he counters to get another prize. This goes on till the end when time is called and we are tied at 1-1. We are now on the edge of our seat trying to squeeze everything out possible to win. I am able to stall by using Dialga G as bait to take some damage and using Warp Energies in to Garchomp C to level it up to heal my Dialga G until I had the right cards to win.

He has a Staraptor FB LV.X with an Energy Gain and a Double Colorless Energy, a Dragonite FB with 1 Energy. He Poke-turns his Staraptor FB LV.X and attaches the Energy Gain and Double Colorless to Dragonite FB and attacks my Dialga G LV.X for 70 or 90 damage. At this point, I have 1 Crobat G in hand, 2 Poke-Turns, and enough energies on my Dialga G LV.X to do just 100 for the win.

I’m hoping that he doesn’t have Power Spray as he had a Crobat G on the bench. I use my Crobat G for “Flash-Bite”, then double Poke-Turn for 3 damage counters. After that, I use “Second Strike” with Dialga G LV.X for the win. Very good game, 3/0.

Game 4
Me (DialgaGarchomp) vs. ? (Arceus)
This game is another intriguing one. An Arcues deck. I thought I had an auto-win at first because my Dialga G LV.X’s Poke-Body would just shut off Arceus LV.X’s Poke-Body. However, I was wrong when he just overwhelms me. He will snipe off my Garchomp C with the attack “Sky Spear” so I cannot snipe. And when my Dialga G LV.X comes to the active, he will just OHKO it with the attack “Bright Flame” from the fire Arceus. I cannot get set up and I lose. Good Game, 3/1

Now we are just waiting for the top cut announcement. Things were taking a while since the computer crashed and we were doing things by hand. I’m almost certain that I made the Top Cut since I beat all of the 3-1s, and my tie breakers weren’t that bad. It turns out that I made top cut of 2 and I face the Arcues deck once again.

Final Match
Me (DialgaGarchomp) vs. ? (Arceus)

Game 1
So ya, I’m worried as my chance of winning this Battle Road is non-existent as I had nothing to counter the deck. I did not run any Stadiums to get rid of his Ultimate Zone, nor did I have any fast trainer support to speed the deck up as I thought I’d play more Vilegars. Like I predicted, it turns out like the Game 4 where he will snipe all my Garchomp C and OHKO my Dialga G.
0/1

Game 2
Nothing really to explain, my Dialga G is too late and the “Deafen” comes a bit too late as he has a full set up going now. I also make a mistake of dropping the “Deafen” lock for a knock out to grab a prize to better my garbage hand. However, no matter what I do, I cannot overpower or lock him to win and I scoop because I can’t see any way out.
0/2

Overall, I did well but I was very disappointed that I couldn’t win. I was very surprised that I did not play any Vilegars. However, I really enjoyed this Battle Road as the level of play was much higher than all of the other Battle Roads I’ve been to. I learned a lot from just this Battle Road and was able to walk out with 4 packs of Undaunted where I had a decent pull. I was also able to make some trades for my VileGar deck that I hopefully will finish for my next Battle Road article. :D

Deck List

My results thus far:

1st Place – Oshawa Battle Road (Spring 2009 – 2010) or is it 2010-2011? :P
Top 2 – Pickering Battle Road (Spring 2009-2010)
Top 4 – Brampton Battle Road (Autumn 2010 – 2011)
Top 2 – Thorton/Barrie Battle Road (Autumn 2010 – 2011)
????? – Pickering Battle Road (Autumn 2010 – 2011)
????? – Oshawa Battle Road (Autumn 2010 – 2011)