Pidgeotto Trainer
New Member
Well, I had been having my worst year in Pokemon in years and was looking at the strong possibility of not going to worlds this year. I only won 1 cc and only topcutted 3 out of 8, and then went 4-2 at Minnesota states. My rating was 1715. I was applying for internships and thinking if I got one, it would probably be best to not go to nationals, and try to just get away for worlds, meaning I should try to qualify without nats.
WA states I went 7-0, but lost in top 16. My rating was 1795. It seemed possible again, but still very hard. I got an internship right before regionals and again the plan was do everything I can to get the invite without having to go to nationals. That meant about 6-0 drop, 6-1 and top 4?, or 5-2 and win. A tall order.
I was testing Luxchomp which I used at WA States and Machamp/Vileplume. Machamp/Vileplume was originally doing really well, but was less successful when I tested Thursday night, so I went with Luxchomp, despite feeling that mirrors were often coin flips. (My friend Tyler goes on to win Northwest Regionals with Machamp/Vileplume, so that could have been good too!)
Round 1 Dane S. Exeggutor/Blaziken FB
I start with no supporters and just a pretty bad hand. He still goes for his Psychic Strategy though managing to give me a 0 card hand but he only gets a 3. I topdeck a Cyrus and leave my hand as just 1 Collector forcing him to Psychic Strategy again for 1 each. Eventually I 2 hit ko the Exeggutor with Ambipom. At some point I get Cyrus going and eventually Toxicroak ko his Blaziken. I was up by 2 prizes when time was called. 1-0
Round 2 Bob M. Eeveelutions
He belts his Eevee so he can survive t2, but I hit it for 50 with Dialga. He evolves to Umbreon and with Dark sp and Buck’s Training, he can ko me with a heads but he gets a tails. I had a return ko either way with Luxray x and he never gets anything from there. 2-0
Round 3 Greg S. Luxchomp
I again have an awful awful hand with no supporters. He gets a Collector and Uxies but then he gets nothing somehow as well. I Ambipom his one energy to an Uxie and he starts hitting me for 20 and I hit him back for 20. We both just draw very little for a long time. At one point I draw Communication and decide to get Dragonite (had DCE and Gain in hand) instead of Uxie for fears of Spray (which he turned out not to have). I’m up 3-4 when he gets out a Sableye and Impersonates Initiative 1/2 taking 1 of my 2 Cyrus. I Cyrus for Collector and just hope he gets 0/2 on the next one, while getting a psychic to Lock up his Sableye. He gets another 1/2 to take Collector, but I topdeck Uxie. Though it didn’t really matter as I Lock Up Sableye again and time is called on his turn and he can’t win since I’ll ko the Sableye to go up 2-4. 3-0
Round 4 Emmanuel D. Magnerock
I get a pretty good start Roserade trapping his Spiritomb. The Spiritomb eventually falls and it somehow gets into a position where I Poison Bind a Magnezone prime. He’s been failing to get a Lightning. He attaches a 3rd energy and tries to retreat but forgets that he can’t. I ko him with Garchomp C x and I really have a good position. He starts to come back though and I just start not drawing anything and I can’t get Uxie x. I made a mistake by breaking a Cyrus chain because I erroneously thought I had a Cyrus in my prizes I think because of the game before, which is a really dumb mistake, though I don’t know how much it cost me. Emmanuel starts taking prizes back and is able to tie it just before his 3 turns would run out. Honestly, I’m fairly certain time was called minutes late in this round and that almost certainly cost me the game as well. 1 turn earlier and he couldn’t have won. I have some outs left in my deck to take the lead but can’t draw what I need off of his Judge and he has the Lightning in hand to win after I Ambipom him. 3-1
Round 5 Ariel L. Luxchomp
He’s a dad who is telling me he’s only been playing for a year, but he’s 3-1 and playing Luxchomp so it is worrisome. He plays the mirror somewhat poorly though and I’m able to ko his active Garchomp c (not x) with a Gain+energy. Later I ko a Garchomp or a Dragonite thanks to a Luxray gust+turn+Garchomp C (not x myself) ko. All this while I drew just 1 supporter, a Copycat for 5 that proceeded to not give me any supporters. I did somehow draw 3 DCE though. I play my position just better than he does and win despite my lack of any other supporters for the entire game, though I had a situational Bebe on hand by the end. 4-1
I’ve started (and won) 3 games where I had no draw starts now.
Round 6 Mike L. Luxchomp
(with some help from his report ;p) I start with Garchomp C and hit his Toxicroak G for 30. He calls for Garchomp c and Dragonite. He didn’t play a supporter so I feel rushing him would be a decent play. Of course every time a player seems to not have any supporters on their first turn, they’re really sitting on a Twins, which he was. He gets Gain and DCE and return ko’s. It goes back and forth until he Mimics with Chatot. I originally think I should Roserade it, but I already have Azelf on the bench so I figure I’ll trap him with that rather than use up a supporter and bench space for Roserade. That still may have been the right play, but either way I forget that he can lock my Azelf back! Which he does. 3 Lock Ups and he’s ko’d. I forget what happens next but we get down to 2-2 in the last 3 turns. I copycat for 7 looking for 1 of my 3 remaining DCE. I get my Exchanger but no energy. I Bright Look his Uxie and Ambipom away its energy to try to buy one more turn. (I thought about Roserade, but I would have no way to retreat him and attach a DCE for Garchomp after he Psychic Restored). He turns his Garchomp C to get a gain back for Dragonite. I spray his Bronzong but he has a 2nd Turn to move an energy to Uxie for retreat and attach DCE to Dragonite to ko Ambipom for game. My next card was Call energy which I would have Exchanged for DCE. I was 1 card short. 4-2
Round 7 ?
My opponent decides to leave early for the long drive home. 5-2
After round 6, I figure I’m probably done. Lost a game I shouldn’t have for multiple reasons in round 4 and then a nail-biter in round 6. Same story all year. I was 5-2 whiff last year’s regional and figured few would get in.
Well, more x-2’s got in than I thought, and quite surprisingly I was 10th seed. My 2 losses were both 6-1 though I don’t think anyone I beat did particularly well. Anyways, I’m playing Radu who drove me here.
Top 16 Radu C. Luxchomp
We pretty much know each other’s lists, more or less, they are just a few cards different.
Game 1 I have a very good start with Ambipom active and Garchomp on bench and Uxie in hand. He goes first and attaches DCE to his Garchomp and Uxies for 2. Hits Ambipom for 30. I attach Gain to Garchomp and Uxie for 4. I have several options to ko it, DCE, Cyrus, for Crobat/Turn/Radar combination (I might have started with a Cyrus). Anyways, I get a DCE and ko his Garchomp. On his turn, his collector gets him Azelf for Unown Q Garchomp and Uxie and he return ko’s with that Garchomp and Bat+turn. I don’t have a return ko so I Ambipom his energy from Garchomp to Azelf. A turn or two later, he Bright Look ko’s I think my Crobat to go up 4-5. I Toxicroak Revenge ko him back. By this time we had both gotten out Uxie x and he ko’s my Croak with his Uxie x to put him up 3-4. I can choose to Roserade his Uxie x which will force him to Psychic Restore. I’ll be down a prize but have my Uxie x and he won’t. Or, I can ko his Uxie x with mine. He’ll Roserade me and I’ll psychic restore and it will be 3-3 with no Uxie x’s on the field. I choose that option, which turns to work well, as he had a Warp energy in hand he told me later. I ko and he Roserades me and I psychic Restore putting up Luxray with the prizes 3-3. I’m expecting a Dragonite ko, but the extra turn when I Psychic Restored has allowed me to have Dragonite and Garchomp x semi-powered up. To not make the first move of colorless guys, he just Poison Binds again. I ko with Dragonite to go up 2-3. He puts up Garchomp x and Judges me. I have a Garchomp x on the bench with DCE so I’m in alright position. I draw a couple energy but that’s basically all. He ko’s with Earthquake and I ko back with Dragon Rush to go up 1-2. Time is called while all he can do is Tail Code my Lightning to my Azelf. On my turn the best I can do is Tail Code his energy to Azelf as well. He needs at least a Poketurn and a DCE I think to get a ko, and Luxray x to ko my Garchomp x, but he has nothing and that’s game. GG Radu. 6-2
Top 8 Toby Luxchomp
Game 1- I don’t remember the exact details, but he got a fast start and one of those hands where he just had Cyrus chain going and not a whole lot else. Yet, he still kept having just enough to ko. He Power Sprayed Trade Off 3 times, which I normally would think is a bad move, and would leave him open for a big comeback. That was my thinking but before I know it I’m down 6-2 before I’m finally ready to comeback. I think I’d have a chance with many more resources left, but so far down it’s too risky so I concede to get time for the 2nd game.
Game 2- I get a quick start but kind of fizzle out quickly. His start isn’t that great either, and we get stuck at me up 4-5 as time ticks away. Since I had so little in my hand, and he didn’t have a Garchomp on the bench, I decide to just hit his active Luxray x for 50 with Earthquake instead of Dragon Rushing something. But time is called at the end of his turn as he hits me for 60. I have to get 2 prizes in 2 turns now, though I can easily do the first one. I have a 2 card hand and one is a DCE. I draw a Cyrus and Trade Off getting a Garchomp. I Cyrus for Gain and Aaron and Dragon Rush ko the Garchomp C he just benched on turn 1. He ko’s the Garchomp x with Luxray and I aaron it back and snipe for my 4th prize on turn 3 to get the game to count. Oddly enough, if he did not ko me, I would have to draw a Turn or Cyrus off my draw or Trade Off to ko that turn, but I guess he didn’t consider that.
Game 3
I start Garchomp and 2 Calls and have Cyrus. I go first and Call for Dragonite and Bronzong. He basically has nothing and benches some things and attaches a Lightning to his active Luxray. I can’t ko him yet but Bebe for Garchomp c x to heal 10 and do 30. I have a Spray waiting. I allow him to Bright Look Bronzong as I’ll just Cyrus for Turn and attach 3rd energy to garchomp c x. He has nothing else and I Turn and Dragon Rush for game. I escape. 7-2
Top 4 Quinn D. Magnerock
Game 1-I start with Luxray and 2 Calls. I have Collector and get to Uxie but fail to get much of anything off of that. A great start vs Magnerock is when you can manipulate the Spiritomb in some way via Roserade or Luxray x and get a ko on it and something else before Magnezone can start attacking, but I’m unable to do that and just Bite twice to ko the Tomb. He ko’s with Magnezone. I may have Uxie’d again or something, but I don’t have any energy (except a DCE) and no Gains. I want to Roserade his Magnezone and then ko it a turn later with Crobat+Dragon Rush but I can’t Roserade except with DCE. So I attach DCE to Garchomp and let him ko Azelf. Next turn, I Roserade him. He ko’s that. I finally Dragon Rush ko the Magnezone and I’m down 4-3. He attaches Belt and is able to ko the Garchomp x as well. He had to play BTS to get the Magnezone replacement down so I use Toxicroak to him for 130. He has 140 from a connectivity before. Too avoid dying from Poison he Warp energies and then comes back up and ko’s. He’s up 1-4. I can’t get Crobat and the Gain I need to snipe again with Garchomp so I just Claw Swipe ko to make it 1-2. He makes some weird attachments and passes with Smeargle active. Apparently, his 3rd Magnezone Prime was his last prize. On my turn, I am now able to search for Crobat and Crobat, Turn, Junk Arm do 30 to ko his Spiritomb on bench and then snipe something for game, taking 4 prizes in the last 2 turns. He probably would win if not for the prize, though I could’ve still drawn a Spray for Connectivity off of Judge.
Game 2-He elects to go 2nd I think. On his turn, he Bebe’s for Spiritomb, retreats Magnemite and evolves to Magneton. I forget what I started with, but I Collector for Crobat Ambipom and Unown Q, and have DCE in hand and retreat to do 50 to ko the Tomb. It was pretty much downhill from there for him and he conceded a couple turns later. 8-2
Still probably need to win the finals to get above the invite line. Now I face the one person I would want to avoid in a must-win game, Kyle (Pooka) and his Dialgachomp. I had seen a bit of his game round 7 and top 4 beating a Luxchomp, and he had beaten everything else that day, as well as winning Illinois states I know. It seemed like he must have the matchup down really well. I had not tested much vs Dialga, frankly because I wasn’t sure of the best ways to play it. It’s much less straightforward than Luxchomp.
It’s 12:30 AM, and we’re being kicked out of the convention center, so we go to a judge’s hotel room to play the final match, my make or break for worlds.
Top 2 Kyle (Dialga/Garchomp)
Game 1-I start with 2 Garchomp and I think a DCE but nothing else. On t2, Kyle Collectors and from his Uxie has DCE+Gain for Dragonite and Turns his active to ko me. =/ I draw a Cyrus a turn or 2 later, but don’t even have a big enough hand to use my Junk Arm to get a ko and Radar for something too, and concede about 10 minutes in.
Game 2- I start with Ambipom and DCE and elect to go first, but he flips over a Toxicroak. No t1 for me. I hit him for 60. He benches a Dialga and attaches sp metal to it and passes. I think I have Communicaton for Uxie. After Setup, I have all 3 Energy gain in my hand,a Turn and a Spray I think. I attach a Gain to Roserade, getting something down as I expect to be Deafened. I ko the Croak and of course he’s sitting on his 1 Twins. =/ He gets a DCE and Expert Belt and Deafens me for 30. I attach a different energy to Ambipom and retreat for Roserade and Poison Bind doing 0 but poisoning. He Deafens again for 30 (and does some other stuff, he has a bench by now). I poison bind again. His Dialga has 30 from poison at this point. He Warp energies for Chatot and Mimics me for 7 or 8. I Poketurn my Roserade and level up Garchomp. Retreat and do 60 with Ambipom to Chatot, but I forget that he has just played Snowpoint Temple…He doesn’t retreat the Chatot though and I ko it next turn. He ko’s the Ambipom with Dialga x now. I may have let him ko something else too after that but I can’t remember for sure. Some point before that, I had Sprayed Healing Breath. By this time, we both have Garchomp x and Dragonite on the bench waiting. Finally I’m ready to counterattack with Toxicroak G, not wanting to use either of my colorless guys. With his Dialga with 2 Metals, I do 50 after poison. Dialga x has 80 damage now (and 160 HP with 2 metals as well). I’m wondering if he will Poketurn it. Instead, he Poketurns his Garchomp x. Retreats Dialga for Garchomp and tries to Healing breath again, but I spray it again. He Poketurns the garchomp x again and puts up Uxie with Unown Q and passes. After counting a million times between his turn and my turn (to not get tripped up by Snowpoint again), I see I just need 2 Crobats+Dragon Rush to ko the Belted Dialga. I get a key Leap Away Heads and put up Garchomp x. I Radar for Crobat and Flash Bite. I Junk Arm for Poketurn but he sprays it. I play down my hand to 4 and Copycat for 7. I’ll be drawing about half my deck and there’s still 3 Turns in there. My 6th card is Poketurn. I Poketurn Flash Bite and he doesn’t have a 2nd Spray. I Dragon Rush ko the Belted Dialga to go up 2-3 or 2-4. I took down the tank! There’s around 10 minutes left and he concedes to get the option for game 3 I assume.
Game 3- I start with Ambipom, Dialga, Lucario, Uxie, Lightning. He makes me go first and I play down the basics and try to Uxie for a DCE against his Dialga to put pressure, but can’t draw it. I attach Lightning and pass. He attaches energy gain to Dialga and I spray his Uxie. He then Copycats for 5. He passes. I can hit him for 60 with Ambipom, but I’m afraid he’ll Poketurn away. Instead, I cyrus for metal+Gain and Deafen him. He draws and passes. Somewhere around here time is called, though it was already obvious it was sudden death. I have supporters but not enough to pull some Dragonite/Crobat ko, and I don’t have DCE. I attach to Dialga, and Deafen again. He topdecks Collector but I Spray Uxie again. He passes and I collector for Crobat and his 1 spray can’t beat Crobat+Turn (and I drew a Junk Arm too) and he concedes. 9-2
I took down Pooka! Worlds again!
I have not decided if I will attend nationals or not. I should have the invite without it, which was all I was hoping for. The free trip will obviously have to be considered, but I’m sure I’ll be busy enough with other things to wait for worlds. I’m not sure yet. Not losing the invite and what this new rules format will look like are other factors. But right now, I’m just thrilled to be in position for a worlds invite again after a very rough year in Pokemon.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks to Radu for driving me, and the judging staff.
The Truth Is Out There
You Play To Win The Game
WA states I went 7-0, but lost in top 16. My rating was 1795. It seemed possible again, but still very hard. I got an internship right before regionals and again the plan was do everything I can to get the invite without having to go to nationals. That meant about 6-0 drop, 6-1 and top 4?, or 5-2 and win. A tall order.
I was testing Luxchomp which I used at WA States and Machamp/Vileplume. Machamp/Vileplume was originally doing really well, but was less successful when I tested Thursday night, so I went with Luxchomp, despite feeling that mirrors were often coin flips. (My friend Tyler goes on to win Northwest Regionals with Machamp/Vileplume, so that could have been good too!)
Round 1 Dane S. Exeggutor/Blaziken FB
I start with no supporters and just a pretty bad hand. He still goes for his Psychic Strategy though managing to give me a 0 card hand but he only gets a 3. I topdeck a Cyrus and leave my hand as just 1 Collector forcing him to Psychic Strategy again for 1 each. Eventually I 2 hit ko the Exeggutor with Ambipom. At some point I get Cyrus going and eventually Toxicroak ko his Blaziken. I was up by 2 prizes when time was called. 1-0
Round 2 Bob M. Eeveelutions
He belts his Eevee so he can survive t2, but I hit it for 50 with Dialga. He evolves to Umbreon and with Dark sp and Buck’s Training, he can ko me with a heads but he gets a tails. I had a return ko either way with Luxray x and he never gets anything from there. 2-0
Round 3 Greg S. Luxchomp
I again have an awful awful hand with no supporters. He gets a Collector and Uxies but then he gets nothing somehow as well. I Ambipom his one energy to an Uxie and he starts hitting me for 20 and I hit him back for 20. We both just draw very little for a long time. At one point I draw Communication and decide to get Dragonite (had DCE and Gain in hand) instead of Uxie for fears of Spray (which he turned out not to have). I’m up 3-4 when he gets out a Sableye and Impersonates Initiative 1/2 taking 1 of my 2 Cyrus. I Cyrus for Collector and just hope he gets 0/2 on the next one, while getting a psychic to Lock up his Sableye. He gets another 1/2 to take Collector, but I topdeck Uxie. Though it didn’t really matter as I Lock Up Sableye again and time is called on his turn and he can’t win since I’ll ko the Sableye to go up 2-4. 3-0
Round 4 Emmanuel D. Magnerock
I get a pretty good start Roserade trapping his Spiritomb. The Spiritomb eventually falls and it somehow gets into a position where I Poison Bind a Magnezone prime. He’s been failing to get a Lightning. He attaches a 3rd energy and tries to retreat but forgets that he can’t. I ko him with Garchomp C x and I really have a good position. He starts to come back though and I just start not drawing anything and I can’t get Uxie x. I made a mistake by breaking a Cyrus chain because I erroneously thought I had a Cyrus in my prizes I think because of the game before, which is a really dumb mistake, though I don’t know how much it cost me. Emmanuel starts taking prizes back and is able to tie it just before his 3 turns would run out. Honestly, I’m fairly certain time was called minutes late in this round and that almost certainly cost me the game as well. 1 turn earlier and he couldn’t have won. I have some outs left in my deck to take the lead but can’t draw what I need off of his Judge and he has the Lightning in hand to win after I Ambipom him. 3-1
Round 5 Ariel L. Luxchomp
He’s a dad who is telling me he’s only been playing for a year, but he’s 3-1 and playing Luxchomp so it is worrisome. He plays the mirror somewhat poorly though and I’m able to ko his active Garchomp c (not x) with a Gain+energy. Later I ko a Garchomp or a Dragonite thanks to a Luxray gust+turn+Garchomp C (not x myself) ko. All this while I drew just 1 supporter, a Copycat for 5 that proceeded to not give me any supporters. I did somehow draw 3 DCE though. I play my position just better than he does and win despite my lack of any other supporters for the entire game, though I had a situational Bebe on hand by the end. 4-1
I’ve started (and won) 3 games where I had no draw starts now.
Round 6 Mike L. Luxchomp
(with some help from his report ;p) I start with Garchomp C and hit his Toxicroak G for 30. He calls for Garchomp c and Dragonite. He didn’t play a supporter so I feel rushing him would be a decent play. Of course every time a player seems to not have any supporters on their first turn, they’re really sitting on a Twins, which he was. He gets Gain and DCE and return ko’s. It goes back and forth until he Mimics with Chatot. I originally think I should Roserade it, but I already have Azelf on the bench so I figure I’ll trap him with that rather than use up a supporter and bench space for Roserade. That still may have been the right play, but either way I forget that he can lock my Azelf back! Which he does. 3 Lock Ups and he’s ko’d. I forget what happens next but we get down to 2-2 in the last 3 turns. I copycat for 7 looking for 1 of my 3 remaining DCE. I get my Exchanger but no energy. I Bright Look his Uxie and Ambipom away its energy to try to buy one more turn. (I thought about Roserade, but I would have no way to retreat him and attach a DCE for Garchomp after he Psychic Restored). He turns his Garchomp C to get a gain back for Dragonite. I spray his Bronzong but he has a 2nd Turn to move an energy to Uxie for retreat and attach DCE to Dragonite to ko Ambipom for game. My next card was Call energy which I would have Exchanged for DCE. I was 1 card short. 4-2
Round 7 ?
My opponent decides to leave early for the long drive home. 5-2
After round 6, I figure I’m probably done. Lost a game I shouldn’t have for multiple reasons in round 4 and then a nail-biter in round 6. Same story all year. I was 5-2 whiff last year’s regional and figured few would get in.
Well, more x-2’s got in than I thought, and quite surprisingly I was 10th seed. My 2 losses were both 6-1 though I don’t think anyone I beat did particularly well. Anyways, I’m playing Radu who drove me here.
Top 16 Radu C. Luxchomp
We pretty much know each other’s lists, more or less, they are just a few cards different.
Game 1 I have a very good start with Ambipom active and Garchomp on bench and Uxie in hand. He goes first and attaches DCE to his Garchomp and Uxies for 2. Hits Ambipom for 30. I attach Gain to Garchomp and Uxie for 4. I have several options to ko it, DCE, Cyrus, for Crobat/Turn/Radar combination (I might have started with a Cyrus). Anyways, I get a DCE and ko his Garchomp. On his turn, his collector gets him Azelf for Unown Q Garchomp and Uxie and he return ko’s with that Garchomp and Bat+turn. I don’t have a return ko so I Ambipom his energy from Garchomp to Azelf. A turn or two later, he Bright Look ko’s I think my Crobat to go up 4-5. I Toxicroak Revenge ko him back. By this time we had both gotten out Uxie x and he ko’s my Croak with his Uxie x to put him up 3-4. I can choose to Roserade his Uxie x which will force him to Psychic Restore. I’ll be down a prize but have my Uxie x and he won’t. Or, I can ko his Uxie x with mine. He’ll Roserade me and I’ll psychic restore and it will be 3-3 with no Uxie x’s on the field. I choose that option, which turns to work well, as he had a Warp energy in hand he told me later. I ko and he Roserades me and I psychic Restore putting up Luxray with the prizes 3-3. I’m expecting a Dragonite ko, but the extra turn when I Psychic Restored has allowed me to have Dragonite and Garchomp x semi-powered up. To not make the first move of colorless guys, he just Poison Binds again. I ko with Dragonite to go up 2-3. He puts up Garchomp x and Judges me. I have a Garchomp x on the bench with DCE so I’m in alright position. I draw a couple energy but that’s basically all. He ko’s with Earthquake and I ko back with Dragon Rush to go up 1-2. Time is called while all he can do is Tail Code my Lightning to my Azelf. On my turn the best I can do is Tail Code his energy to Azelf as well. He needs at least a Poketurn and a DCE I think to get a ko, and Luxray x to ko my Garchomp x, but he has nothing and that’s game. GG Radu. 6-2
Top 8 Toby Luxchomp
Game 1- I don’t remember the exact details, but he got a fast start and one of those hands where he just had Cyrus chain going and not a whole lot else. Yet, he still kept having just enough to ko. He Power Sprayed Trade Off 3 times, which I normally would think is a bad move, and would leave him open for a big comeback. That was my thinking but before I know it I’m down 6-2 before I’m finally ready to comeback. I think I’d have a chance with many more resources left, but so far down it’s too risky so I concede to get time for the 2nd game.
Game 2- I get a quick start but kind of fizzle out quickly. His start isn’t that great either, and we get stuck at me up 4-5 as time ticks away. Since I had so little in my hand, and he didn’t have a Garchomp on the bench, I decide to just hit his active Luxray x for 50 with Earthquake instead of Dragon Rushing something. But time is called at the end of his turn as he hits me for 60. I have to get 2 prizes in 2 turns now, though I can easily do the first one. I have a 2 card hand and one is a DCE. I draw a Cyrus and Trade Off getting a Garchomp. I Cyrus for Gain and Aaron and Dragon Rush ko the Garchomp C he just benched on turn 1. He ko’s the Garchomp x with Luxray and I aaron it back and snipe for my 4th prize on turn 3 to get the game to count. Oddly enough, if he did not ko me, I would have to draw a Turn or Cyrus off my draw or Trade Off to ko that turn, but I guess he didn’t consider that.
Game 3
I start Garchomp and 2 Calls and have Cyrus. I go first and Call for Dragonite and Bronzong. He basically has nothing and benches some things and attaches a Lightning to his active Luxray. I can’t ko him yet but Bebe for Garchomp c x to heal 10 and do 30. I have a Spray waiting. I allow him to Bright Look Bronzong as I’ll just Cyrus for Turn and attach 3rd energy to garchomp c x. He has nothing else and I Turn and Dragon Rush for game. I escape. 7-2
Top 4 Quinn D. Magnerock
Game 1-I start with Luxray and 2 Calls. I have Collector and get to Uxie but fail to get much of anything off of that. A great start vs Magnerock is when you can manipulate the Spiritomb in some way via Roserade or Luxray x and get a ko on it and something else before Magnezone can start attacking, but I’m unable to do that and just Bite twice to ko the Tomb. He ko’s with Magnezone. I may have Uxie’d again or something, but I don’t have any energy (except a DCE) and no Gains. I want to Roserade his Magnezone and then ko it a turn later with Crobat+Dragon Rush but I can’t Roserade except with DCE. So I attach DCE to Garchomp and let him ko Azelf. Next turn, I Roserade him. He ko’s that. I finally Dragon Rush ko the Magnezone and I’m down 4-3. He attaches Belt and is able to ko the Garchomp x as well. He had to play BTS to get the Magnezone replacement down so I use Toxicroak to him for 130. He has 140 from a connectivity before. Too avoid dying from Poison he Warp energies and then comes back up and ko’s. He’s up 1-4. I can’t get Crobat and the Gain I need to snipe again with Garchomp so I just Claw Swipe ko to make it 1-2. He makes some weird attachments and passes with Smeargle active. Apparently, his 3rd Magnezone Prime was his last prize. On my turn, I am now able to search for Crobat and Crobat, Turn, Junk Arm do 30 to ko his Spiritomb on bench and then snipe something for game, taking 4 prizes in the last 2 turns. He probably would win if not for the prize, though I could’ve still drawn a Spray for Connectivity off of Judge.
Game 2-He elects to go 2nd I think. On his turn, he Bebe’s for Spiritomb, retreats Magnemite and evolves to Magneton. I forget what I started with, but I Collector for Crobat Ambipom and Unown Q, and have DCE in hand and retreat to do 50 to ko the Tomb. It was pretty much downhill from there for him and he conceded a couple turns later. 8-2
Still probably need to win the finals to get above the invite line. Now I face the one person I would want to avoid in a must-win game, Kyle (Pooka) and his Dialgachomp. I had seen a bit of his game round 7 and top 4 beating a Luxchomp, and he had beaten everything else that day, as well as winning Illinois states I know. It seemed like he must have the matchup down really well. I had not tested much vs Dialga, frankly because I wasn’t sure of the best ways to play it. It’s much less straightforward than Luxchomp.
It’s 12:30 AM, and we’re being kicked out of the convention center, so we go to a judge’s hotel room to play the final match, my make or break for worlds.
Top 2 Kyle (Dialga/Garchomp)
Game 1-I start with 2 Garchomp and I think a DCE but nothing else. On t2, Kyle Collectors and from his Uxie has DCE+Gain for Dragonite and Turns his active to ko me. =/ I draw a Cyrus a turn or 2 later, but don’t even have a big enough hand to use my Junk Arm to get a ko and Radar for something too, and concede about 10 minutes in.
Game 2- I start with Ambipom and DCE and elect to go first, but he flips over a Toxicroak. No t1 for me. I hit him for 60. He benches a Dialga and attaches sp metal to it and passes. I think I have Communicaton for Uxie. After Setup, I have all 3 Energy gain in my hand,a Turn and a Spray I think. I attach a Gain to Roserade, getting something down as I expect to be Deafened. I ko the Croak and of course he’s sitting on his 1 Twins. =/ He gets a DCE and Expert Belt and Deafens me for 30. I attach a different energy to Ambipom and retreat for Roserade and Poison Bind doing 0 but poisoning. He Deafens again for 30 (and does some other stuff, he has a bench by now). I poison bind again. His Dialga has 30 from poison at this point. He Warp energies for Chatot and Mimics me for 7 or 8. I Poketurn my Roserade and level up Garchomp. Retreat and do 60 with Ambipom to Chatot, but I forget that he has just played Snowpoint Temple…He doesn’t retreat the Chatot though and I ko it next turn. He ko’s the Ambipom with Dialga x now. I may have let him ko something else too after that but I can’t remember for sure. Some point before that, I had Sprayed Healing Breath. By this time, we both have Garchomp x and Dragonite on the bench waiting. Finally I’m ready to counterattack with Toxicroak G, not wanting to use either of my colorless guys. With his Dialga with 2 Metals, I do 50 after poison. Dialga x has 80 damage now (and 160 HP with 2 metals as well). I’m wondering if he will Poketurn it. Instead, he Poketurns his Garchomp x. Retreats Dialga for Garchomp and tries to Healing breath again, but I spray it again. He Poketurns the garchomp x again and puts up Uxie with Unown Q and passes. After counting a million times between his turn and my turn (to not get tripped up by Snowpoint again), I see I just need 2 Crobats+Dragon Rush to ko the Belted Dialga. I get a key Leap Away Heads and put up Garchomp x. I Radar for Crobat and Flash Bite. I Junk Arm for Poketurn but he sprays it. I play down my hand to 4 and Copycat for 7. I’ll be drawing about half my deck and there’s still 3 Turns in there. My 6th card is Poketurn. I Poketurn Flash Bite and he doesn’t have a 2nd Spray. I Dragon Rush ko the Belted Dialga to go up 2-3 or 2-4. I took down the tank! There’s around 10 minutes left and he concedes to get the option for game 3 I assume.
Game 3- I start with Ambipom, Dialga, Lucario, Uxie, Lightning. He makes me go first and I play down the basics and try to Uxie for a DCE against his Dialga to put pressure, but can’t draw it. I attach Lightning and pass. He attaches energy gain to Dialga and I spray his Uxie. He then Copycats for 5. He passes. I can hit him for 60 with Ambipom, but I’m afraid he’ll Poketurn away. Instead, I cyrus for metal+Gain and Deafen him. He draws and passes. Somewhere around here time is called, though it was already obvious it was sudden death. I have supporters but not enough to pull some Dragonite/Crobat ko, and I don’t have DCE. I attach to Dialga, and Deafen again. He topdecks Collector but I Spray Uxie again. He passes and I collector for Crobat and his 1 spray can’t beat Crobat+Turn (and I drew a Junk Arm too) and he concedes. 9-2
I took down Pooka! Worlds again!
I have not decided if I will attend nationals or not. I should have the invite without it, which was all I was hoping for. The free trip will obviously have to be considered, but I’m sure I’ll be busy enough with other things to wait for worlds. I’m not sure yet. Not losing the invite and what this new rules format will look like are other factors. But right now, I’m just thrilled to be in position for a worlds invite again after a very rough year in Pokemon.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks to Radu for driving me, and the judging staff.
The Truth Is Out There
You Play To Win The Game
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