Report by: Erik Nance
Deck(s): HappyCat (Blissey/Delcatty)
Event: Greensboro, NC City Championship
Format: Modified (HP-on)
*Note: this is a report of my third City Championship. My reports for the first two are taking awhile to complete, but they should be posted on here before the end of the week, whereupon I will label this thread as “Updated.”
The entire week leading up to this tournament found me deciding between BlissCat and something else (Empoleon perhaps), simply because I figured people would be metagaming against the Bliss like crazy. I had an Empoleon/Dugtrio (flips anyone?) deck ready to go in case I decided to abandon BlissCat, but I finally decided to go with the same deck that had won me two City Championships so far.
Greensboro, NC City Championship
I got to Lucky’s Card Shop with plenty of time left before registration closed, which meant that I could hang around and relax a bit before having to play. I spent my time helping a newcomer to the game build a deck that wasn’t completely atrocious (all he had with him was a Dragon Frontiers theme deck). Mike R. (supertyranitar) helped as well, which was cool. I noticed that we had a pretty good crowd at this one as well; this was particularly good since it was the first City Championship at Lucky’s Card Shop.
(5 round with a top cut of 4)
Round 1: BlissCat vs. Kevin S. (Rogue Dewgong/Octillery)
Kevin’s a great guy who is always nice when I play him. He was apparently born in the same place in Canada that my girlfriend Paige was born in (small world I guess). He starts with a Seel and passes after playing an energy. I have a very nice T2 Blissey possibility after playing a Holon Mentor to get out some Basic Pokemon. After Kevin evolves to Dewgong I get out Blissey after using “Energy Draw” from a Delcatty. I hit for 40 and it’s his go. He plays a Remoraid to the bench and then uses a PlusPower to hit me for 70 with an added sleep effect. I get a bit worried after his Dewgong stays asleep since Dewgong’s Poke-Body reduces 40 damage with this special condition, but Kevin’s Dewgong continues to sleep after my turn is over with. I KO the Dewgong with no problem and then take the game soon afterwards.
1-0
Round 2: BlissCat vs. Brad E. (Rogue Bronzong/Bastiodon/Skarmory ex)
Brad’s a guy who worked at the now closed DJ’s Card Shop in High Point (either that or he was friends with people who worked there), and it’s also his first tournament ever. He had a very interesting deck that looks good on paper, but it had a hard time setting up. After getting an early KO on a Bronzor Brad sent up his Skarmory ex’s to do some damage. Since I always had a Blissey ready on the bench to hit hard I never had to retreat, completely nullifying Skarmory ex’s awesome Poke-Body. I took out two Skarmory ex’s before using a Boost Energy, a PlusPower, and a Strength Charm to KO a Shieldon reducing 30 damage for the win. Brad was a great sport and I offered him some advice and told him to visit this forum for help as well.
2-0
Round 3: BlissCat vs. Adam W. (Gardevoir/Gallade)
Up until we started Adam was talking about how he was going lose with such a horrible hand. I had two Chansey to start with and a really great hand, so I was optimistic about winning against a near-autoloss (I was 2-1 against this deck up to this point, so I knew I could pull out a victory). I go first and attach an energy then pass. Adam draws and goes, “Oh wow, that was a topdeck and a half.” My worst nightmare comes true as he uses a Rare Candy to jump up to a Gallade, then attaches a Double Rainbow Energy and uses Sonic Blade for 50 on my Chansey. I suddenly have a flashback of when I played Tatiana M. and she got a second turn Gardevoir Lv.X against me. What is it with Gardevoir decks and unbelievable starts? Nonetheless, I have to come back the entire game. I sacrificed a ton of stuff and finally get a Delcatty ex up to KO that dumb Gallade (at this point Adam only had 2 prizes left – I had 5). Adam sends up a Mr. Mime to stall, and it works. For some reason I simply can’t get any energy in my hand (even though my deck had over 15 and I had just used “Upstream”), so I take Mr. Mime’s “Trick Play” attack for 3 turns. I guess right twice and wrong once, putting Mr. Mime at 40 damage and Delcatty ex at 50. I finally get something set up and run through 3 more of Adam’s Pokemon after winning a Team Galactic’s Wager, putting us at a tie. Unfortunately, Adam has the win after using Stantler’s “Lead” attack to get a Celio’s Network, grabbing him a Kirlia and the chance to KO my Delcatty ex on the bench for his last two prizes. Though I wish I would have won (it would have been best comeback ever), I’m still glad we had an awesome game. Thanks Adam and great job!
2-1
Round 4: BlissCat vs. Josh R. (Lucario/Kingdra ex)
Josh was playing an interesting combo that seemed to be all about beating up on Blissey. I crossed my fingers and prayed for a Holon Energy FF or two going into this game. Josh starts off by hitting my Skitty for 20 and sleep from a Horsea. I use a Holon Mentor and discard a Scramble Energy to get some stuff out and then pass after putting a Fire Energy on my active Skitty. Josh is a good player and, upon seeing my Scramble Energy in the discard pile, decides to pass after evolving into a Seadra (even though he had the KO). I give him a nod and say, “Good play,” as I definitely had another Scramble with a Blissey and a Strength Charm in my hand ready to take the win. I continue to get set up while Josh gets out a Kingdra ex or two. After I take down the first Kingdra ex Josh sends up a Lucario and is unable to KO my Blissey. He leaves me with 120 damage after using “Feint,” and I get a OHKO on his Lucario. Things kind of wind down afterwards, as it’s taking Josh too long to set up his Kingdra ex’s against my Blissey, and I reserve a heavy-hitting “Upstream” for whenever I need to take that last prize. He tries stalling by putting my active Blissey to sleep with a Horsea, but he can’t avoid the inevitable. I play two Super Scoop Up and get a heads on the second one, sending up my Delcatty ex to “Upstream” for the victory. Good game Josh!
3-1
Round 5: BlissCat vs. Brian L. (Quicketune)
Out of everything that I expected to see at City Championships, I didn’t really expect Quicketune. Not because it isn’t powerful or anything, but with so many good deck choices out there right now, I don’t understand the logic behind picking a deck that is, in my opinion, mediocre at best. This wasn’t a problem to me, but the rest of the details were. I sit down with Brian already upset. He mutters something about how I’ve got him beat once again, so I just tell him there aren’t any autolosses and he shouldn’t count himself out just yet. He continues to talk, saying, “I’m not suggesting you should just concede to me without playing, but you do kind of owe me a win after knocking me out of the top cut at Fort Mill and Greensboro, and then keeping me from top-cutting at Mooresville.” I couldn’t really believe what I was hearing – once again, he was trying to weasel his way into a win. I mean, I have beat him a few times in tournaments, but I've never been disrespectful or arrogant to him. I know Brian takes this game a bit too seriously sometimes, but he was becoming very disrespectful. He showed a poor attitude as we got started by scoffing at the couple of plays I made and generally acting like he had already lost. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much at all and he KO’d a Skitty on the second turn, then KO’d a Blissey on the 4th. Good game? :nonono:
(3-2)
After this Brian’s attitude lightens up. He’s willing to give me a hug and actually talk to me, but I wasn’t really convinced. I gave him my congratulations and wished him luck in the top cut, but I kind of wanted to leave. Seeing such poor sportsmanship doesn’t really make my day, and I was kind of getting a loss rubbed in my face, so I decided to head out. Big mistake...
Apparently, I made it into the top cut going 3-2, but I was already in my car headed for church. Brian called me but I didn’t get my phone in time. He left a message saying that I was in the cut and that if I could get to Lucky’s in 10 minutes I’d be fine to go. I called him about two minutes later but never got in touch with him. I was already on my way back when he sent me a text message saying that Jeff had to drop me. Since Brian couldn’t get in touch with me Jeff had to go on with the tournament. This was totally understandable, and I didn’t really want people waiting on me anyway. I was a bit upset that I didn’t get the chance to play in the top cut since I would have made it to Lucky’s in 10 minutes easy, but it gave me the chance to go to church and enjoy a nice holiday dinner with friends and family. So all in all, it turned out fine.
____________________________
I have a final note to add. I understand what it’s like to do poorly in tournaments – I’ve been there before. For all of my accomplishments, there still stands my poor performance in the last season. I didn’t win a single tournament, I had horrible luck with great decks that I built, and I missed top cuts on multiple occasions. However, the person who ends up poor isn’t the person who does bad in a tournament – this is all beside the main idea behind the Pokemon TCG, to have fun. The person who is rich is the one who plays in a tournament and has fun no matter what. For all of my losses last season, I still had fun. That’s what matters to me, and I think it is that same idea that should matter to every person who plays this game. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself doubting your ability to win, or you’ll end up putting more emphasis on a win than whether or not you had fun. Of course, I have fun by competing as well, but when a loss or two means that you can’t still enjoy the game, something’s wrong. I’m not trying to single anyone out with this, I’m just simply stating what it is that I love about this game. Win or lose, it should maintain the fun factor.
Also, a big thanks to Jeff, Toni, and Josh W. for their help in running the tournaments. We should never just take things for granted, so when you get the chance (and if you’ve followed my report to this point), let your Tournament Organizers/judges/etc. know how much you appreciate them. I appreciate Jeff, Toni, and everyone else for running the smoothest tournaments I’ve ever been to.
Props:
– no more BlissCat?
– the awesome performance of a good Stage 2 deck once again (Gardevoir/Gallade), hopefully pointing to the return of decks that require setup.
– winning the grand prize in the raffle (12 packs of Secret Wonders cards) and pulling a Honchkrow Lv.X for Paige!!!
– getting the chance to help out a few new players.
– Guitar Hero 3.
– holiday dinner at church. Mmmm...
– again, the judges and organizers for their awesome work.
Slops:
– no more BlissCat?
– poor SOTG.
– my brother not being able to play (he just got out of surgery Friday for work on his knee).
– the new Absol, I don't like that card. :frown:
Deck(s): HappyCat (Blissey/Delcatty)
Event: Greensboro, NC City Championship
Format: Modified (HP-on)
*Note: this is a report of my third City Championship. My reports for the first two are taking awhile to complete, but they should be posted on here before the end of the week, whereupon I will label this thread as “Updated.”
The entire week leading up to this tournament found me deciding between BlissCat and something else (Empoleon perhaps), simply because I figured people would be metagaming against the Bliss like crazy. I had an Empoleon/Dugtrio (flips anyone?) deck ready to go in case I decided to abandon BlissCat, but I finally decided to go with the same deck that had won me two City Championships so far.
Greensboro, NC City Championship
I got to Lucky’s Card Shop with plenty of time left before registration closed, which meant that I could hang around and relax a bit before having to play. I spent my time helping a newcomer to the game build a deck that wasn’t completely atrocious (all he had with him was a Dragon Frontiers theme deck). Mike R. (supertyranitar) helped as well, which was cool. I noticed that we had a pretty good crowd at this one as well; this was particularly good since it was the first City Championship at Lucky’s Card Shop.
(5 round with a top cut of 4)
Round 1: BlissCat vs. Kevin S. (Rogue Dewgong/Octillery)
Kevin’s a great guy who is always nice when I play him. He was apparently born in the same place in Canada that my girlfriend Paige was born in (small world I guess). He starts with a Seel and passes after playing an energy. I have a very nice T2 Blissey possibility after playing a Holon Mentor to get out some Basic Pokemon. After Kevin evolves to Dewgong I get out Blissey after using “Energy Draw” from a Delcatty. I hit for 40 and it’s his go. He plays a Remoraid to the bench and then uses a PlusPower to hit me for 70 with an added sleep effect. I get a bit worried after his Dewgong stays asleep since Dewgong’s Poke-Body reduces 40 damage with this special condition, but Kevin’s Dewgong continues to sleep after my turn is over with. I KO the Dewgong with no problem and then take the game soon afterwards.
1-0
Round 2: BlissCat vs. Brad E. (Rogue Bronzong/Bastiodon/Skarmory ex)
Brad’s a guy who worked at the now closed DJ’s Card Shop in High Point (either that or he was friends with people who worked there), and it’s also his first tournament ever. He had a very interesting deck that looks good on paper, but it had a hard time setting up. After getting an early KO on a Bronzor Brad sent up his Skarmory ex’s to do some damage. Since I always had a Blissey ready on the bench to hit hard I never had to retreat, completely nullifying Skarmory ex’s awesome Poke-Body. I took out two Skarmory ex’s before using a Boost Energy, a PlusPower, and a Strength Charm to KO a Shieldon reducing 30 damage for the win. Brad was a great sport and I offered him some advice and told him to visit this forum for help as well.
2-0
Round 3: BlissCat vs. Adam W. (Gardevoir/Gallade)
Up until we started Adam was talking about how he was going lose with such a horrible hand. I had two Chansey to start with and a really great hand, so I was optimistic about winning against a near-autoloss (I was 2-1 against this deck up to this point, so I knew I could pull out a victory). I go first and attach an energy then pass. Adam draws and goes, “Oh wow, that was a topdeck and a half.” My worst nightmare comes true as he uses a Rare Candy to jump up to a Gallade, then attaches a Double Rainbow Energy and uses Sonic Blade for 50 on my Chansey. I suddenly have a flashback of when I played Tatiana M. and she got a second turn Gardevoir Lv.X against me. What is it with Gardevoir decks and unbelievable starts? Nonetheless, I have to come back the entire game. I sacrificed a ton of stuff and finally get a Delcatty ex up to KO that dumb Gallade (at this point Adam only had 2 prizes left – I had 5). Adam sends up a Mr. Mime to stall, and it works. For some reason I simply can’t get any energy in my hand (even though my deck had over 15 and I had just used “Upstream”), so I take Mr. Mime’s “Trick Play” attack for 3 turns. I guess right twice and wrong once, putting Mr. Mime at 40 damage and Delcatty ex at 50. I finally get something set up and run through 3 more of Adam’s Pokemon after winning a Team Galactic’s Wager, putting us at a tie. Unfortunately, Adam has the win after using Stantler’s “Lead” attack to get a Celio’s Network, grabbing him a Kirlia and the chance to KO my Delcatty ex on the bench for his last two prizes. Though I wish I would have won (it would have been best comeback ever), I’m still glad we had an awesome game. Thanks Adam and great job!
2-1
Round 4: BlissCat vs. Josh R. (Lucario/Kingdra ex)
Josh was playing an interesting combo that seemed to be all about beating up on Blissey. I crossed my fingers and prayed for a Holon Energy FF or two going into this game. Josh starts off by hitting my Skitty for 20 and sleep from a Horsea. I use a Holon Mentor and discard a Scramble Energy to get some stuff out and then pass after putting a Fire Energy on my active Skitty. Josh is a good player and, upon seeing my Scramble Energy in the discard pile, decides to pass after evolving into a Seadra (even though he had the KO). I give him a nod and say, “Good play,” as I definitely had another Scramble with a Blissey and a Strength Charm in my hand ready to take the win. I continue to get set up while Josh gets out a Kingdra ex or two. After I take down the first Kingdra ex Josh sends up a Lucario and is unable to KO my Blissey. He leaves me with 120 damage after using “Feint,” and I get a OHKO on his Lucario. Things kind of wind down afterwards, as it’s taking Josh too long to set up his Kingdra ex’s against my Blissey, and I reserve a heavy-hitting “Upstream” for whenever I need to take that last prize. He tries stalling by putting my active Blissey to sleep with a Horsea, but he can’t avoid the inevitable. I play two Super Scoop Up and get a heads on the second one, sending up my Delcatty ex to “Upstream” for the victory. Good game Josh!
3-1
Round 5: BlissCat vs. Brian L. (Quicketune)
Out of everything that I expected to see at City Championships, I didn’t really expect Quicketune. Not because it isn’t powerful or anything, but with so many good deck choices out there right now, I don’t understand the logic behind picking a deck that is, in my opinion, mediocre at best. This wasn’t a problem to me, but the rest of the details were. I sit down with Brian already upset. He mutters something about how I’ve got him beat once again, so I just tell him there aren’t any autolosses and he shouldn’t count himself out just yet. He continues to talk, saying, “I’m not suggesting you should just concede to me without playing, but you do kind of owe me a win after knocking me out of the top cut at Fort Mill and Greensboro, and then keeping me from top-cutting at Mooresville.” I couldn’t really believe what I was hearing – once again, he was trying to weasel his way into a win. I mean, I have beat him a few times in tournaments, but I've never been disrespectful or arrogant to him. I know Brian takes this game a bit too seriously sometimes, but he was becoming very disrespectful. He showed a poor attitude as we got started by scoffing at the couple of plays I made and generally acting like he had already lost. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much at all and he KO’d a Skitty on the second turn, then KO’d a Blissey on the 4th. Good game? :nonono:
(3-2)
After this Brian’s attitude lightens up. He’s willing to give me a hug and actually talk to me, but I wasn’t really convinced. I gave him my congratulations and wished him luck in the top cut, but I kind of wanted to leave. Seeing such poor sportsmanship doesn’t really make my day, and I was kind of getting a loss rubbed in my face, so I decided to head out. Big mistake...
Apparently, I made it into the top cut going 3-2, but I was already in my car headed for church. Brian called me but I didn’t get my phone in time. He left a message saying that I was in the cut and that if I could get to Lucky’s in 10 minutes I’d be fine to go. I called him about two minutes later but never got in touch with him. I was already on my way back when he sent me a text message saying that Jeff had to drop me. Since Brian couldn’t get in touch with me Jeff had to go on with the tournament. This was totally understandable, and I didn’t really want people waiting on me anyway. I was a bit upset that I didn’t get the chance to play in the top cut since I would have made it to Lucky’s in 10 minutes easy, but it gave me the chance to go to church and enjoy a nice holiday dinner with friends and family. So all in all, it turned out fine.
____________________________
I have a final note to add. I understand what it’s like to do poorly in tournaments – I’ve been there before. For all of my accomplishments, there still stands my poor performance in the last season. I didn’t win a single tournament, I had horrible luck with great decks that I built, and I missed top cuts on multiple occasions. However, the person who ends up poor isn’t the person who does bad in a tournament – this is all beside the main idea behind the Pokemon TCG, to have fun. The person who is rich is the one who plays in a tournament and has fun no matter what. For all of my losses last season, I still had fun. That’s what matters to me, and I think it is that same idea that should matter to every person who plays this game. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself doubting your ability to win, or you’ll end up putting more emphasis on a win than whether or not you had fun. Of course, I have fun by competing as well, but when a loss or two means that you can’t still enjoy the game, something’s wrong. I’m not trying to single anyone out with this, I’m just simply stating what it is that I love about this game. Win or lose, it should maintain the fun factor.
Also, a big thanks to Jeff, Toni, and Josh W. for their help in running the tournaments. We should never just take things for granted, so when you get the chance (and if you’ve followed my report to this point), let your Tournament Organizers/judges/etc. know how much you appreciate them. I appreciate Jeff, Toni, and everyone else for running the smoothest tournaments I’ve ever been to.
Props:
– no more BlissCat?
– the awesome performance of a good Stage 2 deck once again (Gardevoir/Gallade), hopefully pointing to the return of decks that require setup.
– winning the grand prize in the raffle (12 packs of Secret Wonders cards) and pulling a Honchkrow Lv.X for Paige!!!
– getting the chance to help out a few new players.
– Guitar Hero 3.
– holiday dinner at church. Mmmm...
– again, the judges and organizers for their awesome work.
Slops:
– no more BlissCat?
– poor SOTG.
– my brother not being able to play (he just got out of surgery Friday for work on his knee).
– the new Absol, I don't like that card. :frown:
and had a good time there. Right after I went to Brian and said "It's just a game"......
