To me the 2007 tournament season already seems long past. I'm already immersed in gearing up my deck lists for the 2008 season, but there may be some lessons that we can all learn by taking the time to look back over the previous season.
Many of you may be aware of the threads I started over the course of the 2007 season to report and keep track of three players whom I and many others consider some of the best players in the world, Alex B. (BigChuck01), Jason K. (Ness), and Jimmy B. (BANGINBOX). So this will be a quick look at their records in 2007 and they've all been kind enough to answer a few questions that I believe will benefit us all if keep them in mind.
Above is the chart of all their wins and losses and their deck choices throughout the season.
1. Looking back, is there any deck choices that you wish you had made differently? (which/why)
Alex –
I would have used Banette earlier in the season to sweep up Cities. It was the best deck the entire season, took me half of it to realize it though :-D.
Jason –
(I'm assuming you're talking about Worlds.) I stand by my deck choice. I didn't practice enough last year and played poorly at Worlds. With better play, I could have won Worlds in 2007.
Jimmy –
I would not have run destiny at worlds. I was more comfortable with eevee/lucario but chickened out at the last minute.
2. Are there any tech cards you wish you had or had not used? (which/why)
I would have liked to fit Warp Points in decks, but never could find the space.
1 Crystal Shard is the only change I could have made to make my deck better. I didn't expect Flygon ex LM.
Destiny was a SUPER TECH deck. I am happy with the results until the DP cards came out.
3. With consideration to the invite structure were there any tournaments you wish you had or had not played in? (which/why)
I probably should have played Battle Roads since their K-Value was so high, but I didn’t. Thank god it worked out.
No, because I had already earned my trip to Worlds in 2006.
Not really. The invite structure is a disaster. I'm Glad I did not have to worry about it.
4. As the season progressed, did you ever find yourself sticking with a deck because you were more comfortable with it than a deck you actually thought might have had a better chance of winning? If so were you happy with that decision?
Yea, towards the end of the season I stuck with Banette knowing it was most consistent. I felt there were some tourneys Sally/Gross may have played well in, but never had the stones to run it.
Yes, Banette ex - which I felt I played so well that it would always, always be my best choice, even if I would have several difficult match-ups.
Destiny and Ambush were my decks. I cornered the metagame with both. I am extremely happy with the results of both.
5. Did you ever adjust your deck between tournaments to perform better in a tournament because of what you interpreted the metagame for that region to be or would you consider any adjustments you made solely to help your deck perform better against what ever you may encounter?
Yea, I threw 3 Buffers and Lunasol into Banette when Ape became popular.
Yes, I constantly adjusted my Banette ex deck. I took out Houndoom when people started playing Latios ex d/Latias d, then added Buffer Pieces to deal with Raichu d + Scramble and the mirror match.
The only change I made was adding eggs to destiny. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! It turned all my horribly hard matchups into winnable ones. Good call all around.
6. If you had to pick one thing to recommend players when making deck choices throughout a season, what would it be?
Play something consistent. Most losses are due to your deck not even getting going in the first place.
Stick with what you are comfortable playing. Don't over think things!
Understand the current metagame. You can’t really build a counter unless you got a grip on what’s being played.
7. What percentage of your ability to win the tournaments that you have won would you attribute to your ability to make deck choices as opposed to your playing skill during a game?
I think it's 10% deck choice and 90% skill. I feel I could have top cutted Nats/Worlds with any decent archetype.
This is very difficult to determine. I would say about 75% deck and 25% skill.
100%, a great deck will overcome any lack in playing ability. Look at the current Gallade deck. Even people with little to no skill are winning with it. A horrible day for Pokémon OP indeed!
And in the end their final rankings were ...
World Rank
12 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
57 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
70 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
US Rank
5 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
38 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
46 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
IL Rank
1 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
2 Rob D. 1950.91 MA IL US
3 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
4 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
Reading through their answers and examining the chart you can pick up several tips on how to improve your game play. You can also tell that there are several different ways in which you can approach this game with respect to deck choices and playing style. My favorite thing to do is to look at how they and their deck choices performed against each other. I wish Jimmy had been able to play in more CC's so we could have a better sample to study.
It all seems to be telling me that as long as you practice a lot, know your deck, and know the meta game, you'll perform well. What I think may be the most interesting is how some of their answers seem to be in complete opposition to each other. I'm certain that these great players do agree on at least one thing, Pokémon TCG is here to stay!
Thanks to all three of these great players for their help and cooperation.
Thank you for reading,
Dave II
Many of you may be aware of the threads I started over the course of the 2007 season to report and keep track of three players whom I and many others consider some of the best players in the world, Alex B. (BigChuck01), Jason K. (Ness), and Jimmy B. (BANGINBOX). So this will be a quick look at their records in 2007 and they've all been kind enough to answer a few questions that I believe will benefit us all if keep them in mind.
Above is the chart of all their wins and losses and their deck choices throughout the season.
1. Looking back, is there any deck choices that you wish you had made differently? (which/why)
Alex –
I would have used Banette earlier in the season to sweep up Cities. It was the best deck the entire season, took me half of it to realize it though :-D.
Jason –
(I'm assuming you're talking about Worlds.) I stand by my deck choice. I didn't practice enough last year and played poorly at Worlds. With better play, I could have won Worlds in 2007.
Jimmy –
I would not have run destiny at worlds. I was more comfortable with eevee/lucario but chickened out at the last minute.
2. Are there any tech cards you wish you had or had not used? (which/why)
I would have liked to fit Warp Points in decks, but never could find the space.
1 Crystal Shard is the only change I could have made to make my deck better. I didn't expect Flygon ex LM.
Destiny was a SUPER TECH deck. I am happy with the results until the DP cards came out.
3. With consideration to the invite structure were there any tournaments you wish you had or had not played in? (which/why)
I probably should have played Battle Roads since their K-Value was so high, but I didn’t. Thank god it worked out.
No, because I had already earned my trip to Worlds in 2006.
Not really. The invite structure is a disaster. I'm Glad I did not have to worry about it.
4. As the season progressed, did you ever find yourself sticking with a deck because you were more comfortable with it than a deck you actually thought might have had a better chance of winning? If so were you happy with that decision?
Yea, towards the end of the season I stuck with Banette knowing it was most consistent. I felt there were some tourneys Sally/Gross may have played well in, but never had the stones to run it.
Yes, Banette ex - which I felt I played so well that it would always, always be my best choice, even if I would have several difficult match-ups.
Destiny and Ambush were my decks. I cornered the metagame with both. I am extremely happy with the results of both.
5. Did you ever adjust your deck between tournaments to perform better in a tournament because of what you interpreted the metagame for that region to be or would you consider any adjustments you made solely to help your deck perform better against what ever you may encounter?
Yea, I threw 3 Buffers and Lunasol into Banette when Ape became popular.
Yes, I constantly adjusted my Banette ex deck. I took out Houndoom when people started playing Latios ex d/Latias d, then added Buffer Pieces to deal with Raichu d + Scramble and the mirror match.
The only change I made was adding eggs to destiny. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! It turned all my horribly hard matchups into winnable ones. Good call all around.
6. If you had to pick one thing to recommend players when making deck choices throughout a season, what would it be?
Play something consistent. Most losses are due to your deck not even getting going in the first place.
Stick with what you are comfortable playing. Don't over think things!
Understand the current metagame. You can’t really build a counter unless you got a grip on what’s being played.
7. What percentage of your ability to win the tournaments that you have won would you attribute to your ability to make deck choices as opposed to your playing skill during a game?
I think it's 10% deck choice and 90% skill. I feel I could have top cutted Nats/Worlds with any decent archetype.
This is very difficult to determine. I would say about 75% deck and 25% skill.
100%, a great deck will overcome any lack in playing ability. Look at the current Gallade deck. Even people with little to no skill are winning with it. A horrible day for Pokémon OP indeed!
And in the end their final rankings were ...
World Rank
12 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
57 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
70 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
US Rank
5 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
38 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
46 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
IL Rank
1 Alex B. 2018.97 MA IL US
2 Rob D. 1950.91 MA IL US
3 Jimmy B. 1896.03 MA IL US
4 Jason K. 1873.89 MA IL US
Reading through their answers and examining the chart you can pick up several tips on how to improve your game play. You can also tell that there are several different ways in which you can approach this game with respect to deck choices and playing style. My favorite thing to do is to look at how they and their deck choices performed against each other. I wish Jimmy had been able to play in more CC's so we could have a better sample to study.
It all seems to be telling me that as long as you practice a lot, know your deck, and know the meta game, you'll perform well. What I think may be the most interesting is how some of their answers seem to be in complete opposition to each other. I'm certain that these great players do agree on at least one thing, Pokémon TCG is here to stay!
Thanks to all three of these great players for their help and cooperation.
Thank you for reading,
Dave II
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