Thanks Bret for the "nice deck" comment.
After playtesting Friday night, and my inability to get Garchomp to play consistently, I worked out a Torterra/Celebi combo that seemed to consistently beat Mario. My kid took the Mario deck, and off we went to Westmister with JaredC who decided to play Magmortar.
Round 1: vs Rampy/stuff (RonP)
I really enjoy playing Ron because his decks are always something out of the ordinary. However, I got Celebi out early and started loading up on the energy quickly before his Rampy KO'd my Celebi (loosing zero energy of course). With a fully powered Torterra, Rampy (weak to grass) was no match. Ron couldn't get the cards needed to get his benched Squirtle evolved to Blastoise. At one point, he did get a glimmer of hope when he flipped 6 straight heads after I KO'd his Skull Fossil. But, with a switch and another powered up Torterra, I was in decent shape, winning by about the 10th turn.
Win 1-0
Round 2: vs InferCatty (DanielL)
Daniel goes by Roberto at tournaments, so I wasn't sure who I was facing until he arrived. Knowing Daniel played a mean version of Infernape, I know this match was probably hopeless, unless I got lucky. Well, it started lucky because I got the good draw I needed and went first. After he KO'd my Celebi quickly, I only had 3 energy on Grotle. I needed to pull the energy. But, I got junk, but that was enough to KO'd his Manferno. That's when I realized that Daniel had 2 Infernapes prized. He eventually got out his sole Nape but failed to draw the right prize. I KO'd the fire-monkey and beat down his Catties with ease, healing all my damage in the meantime. Not much of a match after that.
Win 2-0
Round 3: Quikatune (NickJ)
I knew if I got past the initial onslaught, I might win this one, that was until he played Scott and got the Crystal Beach. I was on the ropes the entire game until he made a fatal mistake in order to play a Steven's. He benched LatiosEX...(see the rest of what happened in the props below).
Win 3-0
Round 4: Mario (MichaelP)
All Friday night, I had been playtesting with my kid against this version of Mario, consistantly beating it. However, he went first, got a quick god start, and beat me down before I could set up. I struggled, and started to come back near the end, but I had given him one too many prizes, so I came up just short.
Loss 3-1
Round 5: vs Empoleon (Acen)
This was the matchup I was praying for all day - the deck that looses easiest to Torterra - a version of Empoleon WITHOUT that crazy 1-1 Infernape tech used by Yamato and Go at Worlds. Nevertheless, Acen was not going to go down easily, and masterfully used his skill and the clock to go up on prizes, trying to eek out the win. But, I was able to turn the game back into my favor just minutes before time was called, and the match was all mine. Early in the game, Acen was able to Supreme Command my Torterra LvX twice, which hurt badly. Those stupid curved foils!
Win 4-1
So, my resistance is looking good and I'm guessing third, maybe fourth. Standings - 3rd.
Top4: vs Mario (BretB)
I knew I could beat Mario if I could survive the initial quick hits. My setup was a bit slow, but eventially, I survived long enough to depleted Bret's energy. Even ahead on prizes 3-2, Bret scooped game 1 knowing I'd eventually win the long game. Game 2 goes well for Bret and he's gets a turn 3 kill with a Stanced Lucario and my failure to draw Torterra and do the much-needed healing. Game 3, only about 10 minutes left. My only hope was to go ahead on prizes and stay there. The critical point in the game came with Bret thought he did enough damage with Machoke to KO my Torterra. However, after he drew a prize, and after I passed my turn and nearly conceded, I realized the error and asked the judge for a ruling. He unwinded without any penalties, allowing me to hit the Machoke big. With only 2 energy, Machoke couldn't KO me, so he evolved to Machamp and pecked away, hoping for more energy, and the win, next turn. However, I was able to paralyze him a couple turns, and when he did try to KO me, he flipped tails. Time was called. I won 5 prizes to 6.
Win 5-1
Top2: vs Mario (MichaelP)
In the interests of getting home to my board gaming group, I conceded to my kid, knowing I could just beat up on him later at home, like I did the night before. Plus, the Trophy card was going to stay in the family anyway.
Loss 5-2
Final standing: 2nd place
Just a few props/slops for the Westminster HobbyTown BR.
PROPS:
- WayneC for correcting the tournament to Top4 despite a TMS tournament setup mistake. At 3rd place after swiss, I miss a Top2, so Top4 was a blessing, allowing me to win in the semis and finish 2nd.
- Mr & Mrs C for running a quality Battle Roads.
- RonP for his ability to listen to my rantings and be able to use a "more gentle" approach to "make things right."
- BretB for being as good a sport as possible after I flipped 2 consecutive paralysis heads at critial points during game 3 (after he flipped 2 consective tails for Machamp's attack), turning the game to my favor when time was called.
- JoshR's Blissey/Catty deck, despite Mario being everywhere.
- RyanR's anti-Mario deck that would've beaten MichaelP had time not been called. Ryan is a "class" player.
- NickJ's Quickatune/Carnivine tech deck. That match could've gone either way. His Crystal techs (Beach & Cessasion) had me "on the ropes" most of the match until I was able to turn it around for the win when he benched LatiosEX and didn't put Cessasion on the active, and I was able to use Torterra's "Forest Murmurs" to gust the EX and snipe the bench for 3 prizes.
- Daniel's InferCatty deck that would've beaten me in any other game. With 2 prized Napes, he couldn't win against my god start (Celebi, Turtwig, Celio, Rare Candy, 2 grass, draw - or something like that). We then played 2 "fun" matches and he "cleaned" me.
- Acen's Empolean deck. Despite my best matchup of the day, Acen played brilliantly until I was able turn the game around just before time was called, allowing me to finish 4-1 and a good position to make Top4.
- MichaelP (my son) for winning a BR Trophy card for my collection, my first (though I did concede to him in the Finals in the interests of getting home for my board gaming group - though Torterra/Celebi usually beats Mario in a long match).
SLOPS:
- 45-minute playoffs
- Pentium-II laptop running TMS
Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
Hey Chris,
How about changing the title of this post to something like:
Colorado's Battle Roads
That way, we can just have one topic covering every CO BR.
