So, before I leave for states, I talk to some people about whether or not I want to play LuxChomp or CurseTomb. I've played LuxChomp for a while now, but I can't ever finish with it, I always make some stupid misplay endgame and then I lose. This caused me to lean more toward CurseTomb.
So we drive up to Kansas City without stopping, and get to our hotel. We're in a handicapped room so we have lots of space to playtest, and I decide that I like CurseTomb a lot better after I change up the techs. Brit tests a Gengar deck that a friend of ours built and later won IL States with, but opts for a Jumpluff deck that's pretty awesome. Nathan builds a Shiftry deck that Brit and him have been playing with and it's pretty solid, so he builds and tests it. Matt builds LuxChomp with almost all borrowed cards and loses the three testing games he plays, but decides it's still the play.
The next morning, we wake up, get to Collector's Cache and do decklists. Round 1 starts up and I'm ready to go.
Round 1: ??? (FlyChamp)
I slow down his already slow setup with Spiritomb and run through his two Machops, Trapinch, and Baltoy.
1-0
Round 2: Damian A. (GardyGallade/AMU)
I get a realllly slow start only being able to set up a SF Gengar, but eventually I draw into a supporter and the combination of Shadow Room prizes and Shadow Skip prizes takes the game.
2-0
Round 3: Joel (LuxChomp w/ Dialga)
This deck is by far my worst matchup. I run Mewtwo, but I can't use it because of Dialga, which he starts using very early. I use a Looker's, and he has no Cyrus, but he has all his Lv. X's and 2 DCE's, so I make him shuffle. Since we're both trainer locked, it's a little weird setting up, but we both do it eventually. I start to comeback from prizes he's taken off Tomb and Claydol, but I make a Level Down misplay, where I used it on his Garchomp and he got it right back to Dragon Rush two turns in a row on my belted Gengar. I wasn't really thinking I guess.
2-1
Round 4: Susan (Jumpluff/Shaymin)
I slow down her setup with Spiritomb, but she gets out a Roserade GL and starts killing off my Spiritombs, but I guard a tomb and am soon back in the game. I get out Dusknoir and Dark Palm her Claydol then KO her only Jumpluff, and I sweep from there.
3-1
Round 5: I can't remember her name, but she was cool. (Shuppet/Dunsparce)
I start with Spiritomb. She can't do anything. We talk during the game and after and she's really cool.
4-1
At this point I'm a little worried about next round because not all 4-2s will make it and I don't think I have the best resistance.
Round 6: Jay Hornung (Gardy/Gallade)
I have a good matchup against this deck, but my start isn't that great. I get out a SF Gengar and KO his Claydol, but I've used a Looker's and so he can just Telepass that all game. I have no way to set anything else up under power lock, so I really need to hit the Fainting Spell on his belted Gardy. There isn't a way he can get around it, so he just hopes for a tails, but I hit heads and I get back in the game with some supporters and another SF Gengar. I don't have a Haunter to set up my Curse Gengar, so I try to win with my SF Gengar, but he gets Queen out and I forget a Fainting Spell flip. He wins when I have 2 prizes left or so.
4-2
I look at the standings and I squeaked in as the 8th seed in Top 8, and Jay is the first seed, so I have to play him again.
Top 8: Jay Hornung (Gardy/Gallade)
Game 1 - I have a very bad starting hand and he gets 3-4 prizes before I even get a Gengar out. I scoop to Game 2.
Game 2 - This game I have a better hand and we both trade prizes off of each other. I've started to figure out that I have to resist the temptation to use early SF Gengars and just get a Curse Gengar out. I have no Claydol, and use next to no supporters, but get set up somehow and start evening out the game. We get to 3-3 prizes or so and he tells me afterwards that he debated playing a Wager but decided not to, unfortunately in my 4 card hand, I have Duskull Candy Dusknoir and in one turn I Level Down his active Azelf X, Dark Palm his benched Queen, and KO his Azelf. He gets some prizes on Tombs, but we get to 1-1 prizes and he has no energies in play. He tries to aggro Queen while I try to spread then Shadow Skip, which I eventually do to win. Time is called before we set up and we go to Sudeen Death.
SD - I luck sacked it up here starting with Azlef and a psychic to his Tomb. He concedes knowing he doesn't really have a way out of the Lock Up.
I'm playing my friend Chris in Top 4, and I'm fairly conifdent I can beat him as I did the night before.
Top 4: Chris O. (Gyarados/AMU for MT Azelf)
Game 1 - I get out an early SF Gengar and start Poltergeisting his set up of Sableye and Co. He starts to draw it up but I KO him into a Spiritomb and he started with Combee so he can't use it.
Game 2 - This is more or less the same as Game 1, except I Looker's him so he can't recover from a KO.
Top 2: Mr. Beaty (LuxChomp/Dialga)
Matt played against this guy in Top 4, and I was really hoping Matt would win, because he doesn't run a Mewtwo counter, and I would have won easily, but Matt gets a bad hand in his SD round and can't pull it off. 3rd place with a deck you built last night is pretty good though
Game 1 - He takes early prizes attacking my setup as best he can through trainer lock, but I eventually get set up and even up the game to 2-2 prizes, but he gets a Luxray out and breaks the trainer lock and explodes in one turn. Had I seen a Gengar Lv. X or a way to get it this game, I think I could have won from spread stuff, but I didn't have a way to get it out.
Game 2 - This game is similar to Game 1 except I don't get jipped on cards and I win even without Spiritomb.
Time was called at the end of Game 2 so we go to Sudden Death for the last game, which is super intense.
SD - I start with Mewtwo (yay) and he starts with Luxray or something. I attach a Psychic, Looker's him, and he has no supporters except for Bebe's, so I let him keep his hand and I shuffle, drawing no energies but I get a Mewtwo X and a Roseanne's. At this point I'm sure I've got the title in the bag, but after attatching my second energy, I drop basics to empty my hand and Set Up for 4 or 5 cards. I don't hit the energy I need for game, which is DUMB, but I don't lose yet. I candy into a SF Gengar and then next turn Level Down his Dialga. he's playing off the top, so I figure I'm safe, but he pulls a Dragon Rush out of his freaking butt the next turn and wins it. I check the top card of my deck. It's an energy.
So I get 2nd place, which is still awesome. Matt takes third and Chris gets fourth, and my little friend Kyle won Seniors, so overall Springfield represented :]
Props
Finally doing good at a premier event
Matt getting 3rd with a deck he built the night before
Wheatables
Springfield being awesome
Slops
Losing Top 2 because he top decked better than me
Brit not top cutting with a legit deck
Walmart being sold out of HG :[
Snow in the middle of spring break
Thanks for reading!
~Burmy
So we drive up to Kansas City without stopping, and get to our hotel. We're in a handicapped room so we have lots of space to playtest, and I decide that I like CurseTomb a lot better after I change up the techs. Brit tests a Gengar deck that a friend of ours built and later won IL States with, but opts for a Jumpluff deck that's pretty awesome. Nathan builds a Shiftry deck that Brit and him have been playing with and it's pretty solid, so he builds and tests it. Matt builds LuxChomp with almost all borrowed cards and loses the three testing games he plays, but decides it's still the play.
The next morning, we wake up, get to Collector's Cache and do decklists. Round 1 starts up and I'm ready to go.
Round 1: ??? (FlyChamp)
I slow down his already slow setup with Spiritomb and run through his two Machops, Trapinch, and Baltoy.
1-0
Round 2: Damian A. (GardyGallade/AMU)
I get a realllly slow start only being able to set up a SF Gengar, but eventually I draw into a supporter and the combination of Shadow Room prizes and Shadow Skip prizes takes the game.
2-0
Round 3: Joel (LuxChomp w/ Dialga)
This deck is by far my worst matchup. I run Mewtwo, but I can't use it because of Dialga, which he starts using very early. I use a Looker's, and he has no Cyrus, but he has all his Lv. X's and 2 DCE's, so I make him shuffle. Since we're both trainer locked, it's a little weird setting up, but we both do it eventually. I start to comeback from prizes he's taken off Tomb and Claydol, but I make a Level Down misplay, where I used it on his Garchomp and he got it right back to Dragon Rush two turns in a row on my belted Gengar. I wasn't really thinking I guess.
2-1
Round 4: Susan (Jumpluff/Shaymin)
I slow down her setup with Spiritomb, but she gets out a Roserade GL and starts killing off my Spiritombs, but I guard a tomb and am soon back in the game. I get out Dusknoir and Dark Palm her Claydol then KO her only Jumpluff, and I sweep from there.
3-1
Round 5: I can't remember her name, but she was cool. (Shuppet/Dunsparce)
I start with Spiritomb. She can't do anything. We talk during the game and after and she's really cool.
4-1
At this point I'm a little worried about next round because not all 4-2s will make it and I don't think I have the best resistance.
Round 6: Jay Hornung (Gardy/Gallade)
I have a good matchup against this deck, but my start isn't that great. I get out a SF Gengar and KO his Claydol, but I've used a Looker's and so he can just Telepass that all game. I have no way to set anything else up under power lock, so I really need to hit the Fainting Spell on his belted Gardy. There isn't a way he can get around it, so he just hopes for a tails, but I hit heads and I get back in the game with some supporters and another SF Gengar. I don't have a Haunter to set up my Curse Gengar, so I try to win with my SF Gengar, but he gets Queen out and I forget a Fainting Spell flip. He wins when I have 2 prizes left or so.
4-2
I look at the standings and I squeaked in as the 8th seed in Top 8, and Jay is the first seed, so I have to play him again.
Top 8: Jay Hornung (Gardy/Gallade)
Game 1 - I have a very bad starting hand and he gets 3-4 prizes before I even get a Gengar out. I scoop to Game 2.
Game 2 - This game I have a better hand and we both trade prizes off of each other. I've started to figure out that I have to resist the temptation to use early SF Gengars and just get a Curse Gengar out. I have no Claydol, and use next to no supporters, but get set up somehow and start evening out the game. We get to 3-3 prizes or so and he tells me afterwards that he debated playing a Wager but decided not to, unfortunately in my 4 card hand, I have Duskull Candy Dusknoir and in one turn I Level Down his active Azelf X, Dark Palm his benched Queen, and KO his Azelf. He gets some prizes on Tombs, but we get to 1-1 prizes and he has no energies in play. He tries to aggro Queen while I try to spread then Shadow Skip, which I eventually do to win. Time is called before we set up and we go to Sudeen Death.
SD - I luck sacked it up here starting with Azlef and a psychic to his Tomb. He concedes knowing he doesn't really have a way out of the Lock Up.
I'm playing my friend Chris in Top 4, and I'm fairly conifdent I can beat him as I did the night before.
Top 4: Chris O. (Gyarados/AMU for MT Azelf)
Game 1 - I get out an early SF Gengar and start Poltergeisting his set up of Sableye and Co. He starts to draw it up but I KO him into a Spiritomb and he started with Combee so he can't use it.
Game 2 - This is more or less the same as Game 1, except I Looker's him so he can't recover from a KO.
Top 2: Mr. Beaty (LuxChomp/Dialga)
Matt played against this guy in Top 4, and I was really hoping Matt would win, because he doesn't run a Mewtwo counter, and I would have won easily, but Matt gets a bad hand in his SD round and can't pull it off. 3rd place with a deck you built last night is pretty good though
Game 1 - He takes early prizes attacking my setup as best he can through trainer lock, but I eventually get set up and even up the game to 2-2 prizes, but he gets a Luxray out and breaks the trainer lock and explodes in one turn. Had I seen a Gengar Lv. X or a way to get it this game, I think I could have won from spread stuff, but I didn't have a way to get it out.
Game 2 - This game is similar to Game 1 except I don't get jipped on cards and I win even without Spiritomb.
Time was called at the end of Game 2 so we go to Sudden Death for the last game, which is super intense.
SD - I start with Mewtwo (yay
) and he starts with Luxray or something. I attach a Psychic, Looker's him, and he has no supporters except for Bebe's, so I let him keep his hand and I shuffle, drawing no energies but I get a Mewtwo X and a Roseanne's. At this point I'm sure I've got the title in the bag, but after attatching my second energy, I drop basics to empty my hand and Set Up for 4 or 5 cards. I don't hit the energy I need for game, which is DUMB, but I don't lose yet. I candy into a SF Gengar and then next turn Level Down his Dialga. he's playing off the top, so I figure I'm safe, but he pulls a Dragon Rush out of his freaking butt the next turn and wins it. I check the top card of my deck. It's an energy.So I get 2nd place, which is still awesome. Matt takes third and Chris gets fourth, and my little friend Kyle won Seniors, so overall Springfield represented :]
Props
Finally doing good at a premier event
Matt getting 3rd with a deck he built the night before
Wheatables
Springfield being awesome
Slops
Losing Top 2 because he top decked better than me
Brit not top cutting with a legit deck
Walmart being sold out of HG :[
Snow in the middle of spring break
Thanks for reading!
~Burmy
