ShadowGuard
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01/25/2009 - City Championship Made (Netherlands)
After making a very close 3rd place at a small German CC and sleeping less than three hours, I headed to Cologne, where I met David and Roland, who was the driver at our way to Made. When we arrived there were already a lot of players.
I decided to play the iPlox (Gardevoir/Magnezone/Techs) deck created by David (Yoshi- @ PokeGym) cause the decks I planned to play didn't work that well, and I didn't want to run my Tyranitar deck again. So David and me had exactly the same decklist for that tournament.
We were 34 players in Masters, so fortunally we played 6 rounds in best-of-three (but 45 min) and top 8, which meaned lots of time, but also lots of games and lots of fun – and of course, no first-round-donk-tiebreaker-cuts.
Round 1 vs Lia v.B. [Gyarados/Garchomp/Bronzong]
So first round I had to play against a well-known player, but I was surprised when I saw her deck – it was completely non-meta but very interesting.
a) Because her deck wasn't about high speed, I was able to build up my field, being damaged only by her Bronzong's body. She got bad luck at coinflips and didn't hit with Garchomp Lv.X's Dragon Pulse, while my different Pokémon knocked out lots of her stuff. She needed extra turns to restore Gyarados, so there weren't too many attacks from her side and most of my Pokémon just got a few damage counters. At the end I paralyzed Garchomp Lv.X and took my last prize after that.
b) I got a bad start again vs her early Gyarados, but she missed a flip again which would have discarded the Claydol I got with One Desire. The turn after she discarded four cards, but they were rather unimportant at that moment. I managed to get the Pokémon I needed, still her Gyarados was exerting big pressure to me. Then timeout was called before any outcome of the current game could be decided.
1-0
Round 2 vs Roland Z. [Kingdra]
a) I didn't get a good start – Bebe on the opening hand is great, but three of them and nothing else that's useful? Not such much. So my setup was very slow, he built up two or three Kingdras and took some prizes before I could do anything. Using Palkia Lv.X, I got some time by bringing up his Claydol. My only shot was to stop his draw, so I restructured Claydol once again later and knocked it out with Cyber Shock. One of his Kingdras went down by Psychic Cut, then I continued with Psychic Lock, leaving him with a few hand cards and also knocking out his Uxie Lv.X. He couldn't recover or do any big damage except for a single Aqua Stream, so I won the game.
After ending the first game it's timeout so we didn't get to play a second one.
2-0
Round 3 vs David S. [iPlox]
a) He got a perfect start, I was a bit slower, but still able to setup. Before we started attacking, I searched for the wrong card with One Desire, so I wasn't prepared enough for the following Psychic Lock. Cause I didn't get energy and some other stuff in time to strike back, the game was pretty much lost.
b) This time I started much better and had the advantage at the beginning, but made a stupid mistake and forgot to attach the Unown-G I had played down at the beginning of my turn. I also stopped Psychic Lock to keep my Gardevoir safe that turn, so he was able to bring out Dusknoir DP and messed up my playfield for the loss.
2-1
Round 4 vs Marco G. [Kingdra]
a) As usual in the Kingdra matchup, I first had to sacrifice some Pokémon – Jirachi and Azelf – to build up. But as soon as I got my setup, I had the advantage. An already damaged Kingdra got knocked out by Gyro Ball, while another one got shuffled back into the deck with Dark Palm. Afterwards, he couldn't do much any more.
b) I lost Palkia at the beginning, but was able to setup, even if it was not as fast as I wished. Gallade knocked out a Kingdra with Psychic Cut, but then timeout was called when the game was still open.
3-1
Round 5 vs Sven S. (?) [AMU]
a) My Call Energy was blocked by Azelf MT, I needed a lot of time to set up and even had to sacrifice Magnezone SF. Cause I played both of my stadiums too early, he had the Snowpoint temple fixed in play and also removed his weakness with Azelf Lv.X. Later I could restructure and paralyze it, but he got a Switch to continue attacking. The next turn I finally managed to set up Dusknoir DP, and a few actions later he scooped, because AMU can't win against Dusknoir and Palkia at the same time.
b) My start was a little bit better, but again he prevented me from playing special energy like Call or Multi. I was able to build up my playfield, but lacked energy because of his Azelf attack at the first two turns. Then I got enough to bring a gamebreaking Psychic Lock knockout, but timeout was called before I could attack..
4-1
Round 6 vs Marcel O. [Magmortar/Mesprit]
He's been unbeaten in the Swiss rounds and played a dangerous rogue deck, which would be difficult to beat, since David has already lost to it some rounds earlier.
a) He put up a continuous lock with several Mesprits and Super Scoop Up, so I coudn't get many Pokémon out. Even Jirachi – teched for cases like this – was prized. When his Psychic Binds were over after six or more turns, I just had a Gardevoir left which couldn't stand his fully charged Magmortar.
b) His locks were flawy this time, so I got a better setup than in the game before. A Cyber Shock with paralysis he couldn't cure damaged one of his Magmortars. At the next turn it would be possible for me to knock it out and maybe even get a Rare Candy to evolve Dusknoir DP and shuffle his second Magmortar back, but timeout ended the game and I lose that match.
4-2
Some players with good scores had to drop, and I played against the unbeaten and other ones with good scores, so top 8 should be no problem this time. Indeed I made the cut, but unfortunally I ended at 5th place and had to play against my friend David.
Quarterfinals vs David S. [iPlox]
a) My starter was Palkia cause it was the best choice with this hand. I got a nice setup, while he had some problems and played both Azelf and Jirachi to his bench to solve them. That meaned my Dusknoir could mess up his bench, and in addition to my faster setup, the advantage was too big for me and he conceded.
b) This time my start wasn't that good – after a few turns we ended in a Psychic Lock duel, which I lost because I didn't get necessary cards like Lake Boundary in time. I didn't have enough Pokémon left to play on, so I scooped to have a more time for the third game.
c) Both of us could build up, but I needed Jirachi for this. After a few One Desire, I went on to fast attacks and used Gyro Ball to make Jirachi active, so he was forced to knock it out and clear my bench slot. While I got in prize advantage, he used his own Gyro Ball to beat Jirachi, but then he realized that he – whatever he would bring active – would get into trouble next turn. Magnezone Lv.X and Gallade didn't have Unown G and could be Cyber Shocked, Gardevoir and Claydol would suffer from Psychic Lock with Lake Boundary. He decided to sacrifice Gardevoir, but the game didn't go on because timeout has been called. I had fewer prizes left so I won the match.
Semifinals vs Matthew G. [Speed Machamp]
a) His start looked bad, I was able to build up my deck but wasnt fast enough for an early devasting Psychic Lock. He started to setup with Uxie and the huge damage output of his Machamp caused some trouble for me, however, with help of all my fully set up Pokémon and Dusknoir DP I stayed in advantage and won the game.
b) He put a lot pressure on me, and my Gardevoir Lv.X fell to an Uxie Lv.X with Buck's Training which I didn't expect when I left it active to use Evolutor. I still had some options, but the unpredictability of his attack's damage output stopped me from fighting efficiently. Short time before he could draw his forth prize card, timeout was called.
[Sorry again for that very close timeout. iPlox is a complex deck and I was very nervous, so I needed some time for my turns, but it wasn't my intention to stall. Even if I still could have won the second game (iPlox has proven to be able to), if it would have come down to sudden death, you'd probably won this.]
Finals vs Maurice v.d.B. [Speed Machamp]
a) Thanks to his mulligans I had two Ralts at the start, but he burned multiple Uxies, some Unown Rs etc but couldnt get a T1 Machamp. On my turn I played Rare Candy to evolve Gardevoir on the bench, played Kirlia on my active Ralts which had two energy now and evolved it to Gallade with evolutor. The next turn he still didn't draw enough to fight this and scooped.
b) He had a fast Machamp while I only got Duskull and Azelf, which took a Claydol out of my prizes with Time Walk. I searched a Baltoy with Bebe's Search to get it into play, but he first knocked out the Azelf I sacrificed and then played Warp Point two times, so I was forced to bench my Duskull and give him the other basics I just put on my bench the turns before. While he took one prize card after the other, Duskull at least was able to damage his Machamp, and when he leveled up to knock out something bigger, the small shiny Pokémon finished him for 110 damage. After that I had the opportunity to set up my field, but he still was in huge prize advantage and there weren't any signs that he would run out of hitters yet. I fought with Gallade for a time, which could knock out a Machamp and damage another one, but I made a mistake and used Sonic Blade the wrong time which could have caused trouble for me (but fortunelly he couldn't get an energy that turn). Finally I managed to get rid of all Machamps, and most of his options to draw new cards in time were already burned out. He only had one prize card left while I still had three, but he conceded.
It had been unexpected, but finally I got a City Championships victory this season. We got our prize boosters and they made a photo, then we talked a few words with the event staff and drove back to Germany. I realized there were no more trains from Cologne to my home, so I had to stay there, but Roland was nice enough to let me sleep in his house.
Props:
+ big tournament, 6 rounds b-o-3 and Top 8
+ players from Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy attended
+ skilled and friendly players
+ nice metagame – met 2 completely new decks
+ finally won a CC this season after beeing tiebreakcutted several times
+ no first turn donks in my games, despite having 2 Kingdras and 2 Machamps as opponents
+ iPlox
+ decent cards in our prize boosters
Slops:
- I did some really bad mistakes
- sleep isn't as overrated as I thought
- tournament ended very late and I had to sleep in Cologne
- some good players had to drop because it got so late
- David vs me already in top 8
Thx to:
* David for creating iPlox and checking this report
* Roland and Andre driving to Made and letting me sleep at their house
* TO/jugde team for the great tournament
* all my opponents for the exciting matches
* you for reading this
Please excuse any bad grammar and expressions, English isn't my first language. I also don't remember everything in my matches clearly, so some information may be incomplete or obscure.
After making a very close 3rd place at a small German CC and sleeping less than three hours, I headed to Cologne, where I met David and Roland, who was the driver at our way to Made. When we arrived there were already a lot of players.
I decided to play the iPlox (Gardevoir/Magnezone/Techs) deck created by David (Yoshi- @ PokeGym) cause the decks I planned to play didn't work that well, and I didn't want to run my Tyranitar deck again. So David and me had exactly the same decklist for that tournament.
We were 34 players in Masters, so fortunally we played 6 rounds in best-of-three (but 45 min) and top 8, which meaned lots of time, but also lots of games and lots of fun – and of course, no first-round-donk-tiebreaker-cuts.
Round 1 vs Lia v.B. [Gyarados/Garchomp/Bronzong]
So first round I had to play against a well-known player, but I was surprised when I saw her deck – it was completely non-meta but very interesting.
a) Because her deck wasn't about high speed, I was able to build up my field, being damaged only by her Bronzong's body. She got bad luck at coinflips and didn't hit with Garchomp Lv.X's Dragon Pulse, while my different Pokémon knocked out lots of her stuff. She needed extra turns to restore Gyarados, so there weren't too many attacks from her side and most of my Pokémon just got a few damage counters. At the end I paralyzed Garchomp Lv.X and took my last prize after that.
b) I got a bad start again vs her early Gyarados, but she missed a flip again which would have discarded the Claydol I got with One Desire. The turn after she discarded four cards, but they were rather unimportant at that moment. I managed to get the Pokémon I needed, still her Gyarados was exerting big pressure to me. Then timeout was called before any outcome of the current game could be decided.
1-0
Round 2 vs Roland Z. [Kingdra]
a) I didn't get a good start – Bebe on the opening hand is great, but three of them and nothing else that's useful? Not such much. So my setup was very slow, he built up two or three Kingdras and took some prizes before I could do anything. Using Palkia Lv.X, I got some time by bringing up his Claydol. My only shot was to stop his draw, so I restructured Claydol once again later and knocked it out with Cyber Shock. One of his Kingdras went down by Psychic Cut, then I continued with Psychic Lock, leaving him with a few hand cards and also knocking out his Uxie Lv.X. He couldn't recover or do any big damage except for a single Aqua Stream, so I won the game.
After ending the first game it's timeout so we didn't get to play a second one.
2-0
Round 3 vs David S. [iPlox]
a) He got a perfect start, I was a bit slower, but still able to setup. Before we started attacking, I searched for the wrong card with One Desire, so I wasn't prepared enough for the following Psychic Lock. Cause I didn't get energy and some other stuff in time to strike back, the game was pretty much lost.
b) This time I started much better and had the advantage at the beginning, but made a stupid mistake and forgot to attach the Unown-G I had played down at the beginning of my turn. I also stopped Psychic Lock to keep my Gardevoir safe that turn, so he was able to bring out Dusknoir DP and messed up my playfield for the loss.
2-1
Round 4 vs Marco G. [Kingdra]
a) As usual in the Kingdra matchup, I first had to sacrifice some Pokémon – Jirachi and Azelf – to build up. But as soon as I got my setup, I had the advantage. An already damaged Kingdra got knocked out by Gyro Ball, while another one got shuffled back into the deck with Dark Palm. Afterwards, he couldn't do much any more.
b) I lost Palkia at the beginning, but was able to setup, even if it was not as fast as I wished. Gallade knocked out a Kingdra with Psychic Cut, but then timeout was called when the game was still open.
3-1
Round 5 vs Sven S. (?) [AMU]
a) My Call Energy was blocked by Azelf MT, I needed a lot of time to set up and even had to sacrifice Magnezone SF. Cause I played both of my stadiums too early, he had the Snowpoint temple fixed in play and also removed his weakness with Azelf Lv.X. Later I could restructure and paralyze it, but he got a Switch to continue attacking. The next turn I finally managed to set up Dusknoir DP, and a few actions later he scooped, because AMU can't win against Dusknoir and Palkia at the same time.
b) My start was a little bit better, but again he prevented me from playing special energy like Call or Multi. I was able to build up my playfield, but lacked energy because of his Azelf attack at the first two turns. Then I got enough to bring a gamebreaking Psychic Lock knockout, but timeout was called before I could attack..
4-1
Round 6 vs Marcel O. [Magmortar/Mesprit]
He's been unbeaten in the Swiss rounds and played a dangerous rogue deck, which would be difficult to beat, since David has already lost to it some rounds earlier.
a) He put up a continuous lock with several Mesprits and Super Scoop Up, so I coudn't get many Pokémon out. Even Jirachi – teched for cases like this – was prized. When his Psychic Binds were over after six or more turns, I just had a Gardevoir left which couldn't stand his fully charged Magmortar.
b) His locks were flawy this time, so I got a better setup than in the game before. A Cyber Shock with paralysis he couldn't cure damaged one of his Magmortars. At the next turn it would be possible for me to knock it out and maybe even get a Rare Candy to evolve Dusknoir DP and shuffle his second Magmortar back, but timeout ended the game and I lose that match.
4-2
Some players with good scores had to drop, and I played against the unbeaten and other ones with good scores, so top 8 should be no problem this time. Indeed I made the cut, but unfortunally I ended at 5th place and had to play against my friend David.
Quarterfinals vs David S. [iPlox]
a) My starter was Palkia cause it was the best choice with this hand. I got a nice setup, while he had some problems and played both Azelf and Jirachi to his bench to solve them. That meaned my Dusknoir could mess up his bench, and in addition to my faster setup, the advantage was too big for me and he conceded.
b) This time my start wasn't that good – after a few turns we ended in a Psychic Lock duel, which I lost because I didn't get necessary cards like Lake Boundary in time. I didn't have enough Pokémon left to play on, so I scooped to have a more time for the third game.
c) Both of us could build up, but I needed Jirachi for this. After a few One Desire, I went on to fast attacks and used Gyro Ball to make Jirachi active, so he was forced to knock it out and clear my bench slot. While I got in prize advantage, he used his own Gyro Ball to beat Jirachi, but then he realized that he – whatever he would bring active – would get into trouble next turn. Magnezone Lv.X and Gallade didn't have Unown G and could be Cyber Shocked, Gardevoir and Claydol would suffer from Psychic Lock with Lake Boundary. He decided to sacrifice Gardevoir, but the game didn't go on because timeout has been called. I had fewer prizes left so I won the match.
Semifinals vs Matthew G. [Speed Machamp]
a) His start looked bad, I was able to build up my deck but wasnt fast enough for an early devasting Psychic Lock. He started to setup with Uxie and the huge damage output of his Machamp caused some trouble for me, however, with help of all my fully set up Pokémon and Dusknoir DP I stayed in advantage and won the game.
b) He put a lot pressure on me, and my Gardevoir Lv.X fell to an Uxie Lv.X with Buck's Training which I didn't expect when I left it active to use Evolutor. I still had some options, but the unpredictability of his attack's damage output stopped me from fighting efficiently. Short time before he could draw his forth prize card, timeout was called.
[Sorry again for that very close timeout. iPlox is a complex deck and I was very nervous, so I needed some time for my turns, but it wasn't my intention to stall. Even if I still could have won the second game (iPlox has proven to be able to), if it would have come down to sudden death, you'd probably won this.]
Finals vs Maurice v.d.B. [Speed Machamp]
a) Thanks to his mulligans I had two Ralts at the start, but he burned multiple Uxies, some Unown Rs etc but couldnt get a T1 Machamp. On my turn I played Rare Candy to evolve Gardevoir on the bench, played Kirlia on my active Ralts which had two energy now and evolved it to Gallade with evolutor. The next turn he still didn't draw enough to fight this and scooped.
b) He had a fast Machamp while I only got Duskull and Azelf, which took a Claydol out of my prizes with Time Walk. I searched a Baltoy with Bebe's Search to get it into play, but he first knocked out the Azelf I sacrificed and then played Warp Point two times, so I was forced to bench my Duskull and give him the other basics I just put on my bench the turns before. While he took one prize card after the other, Duskull at least was able to damage his Machamp, and when he leveled up to knock out something bigger, the small shiny Pokémon finished him for 110 damage. After that I had the opportunity to set up my field, but he still was in huge prize advantage and there weren't any signs that he would run out of hitters yet. I fought with Gallade for a time, which could knock out a Machamp and damage another one, but I made a mistake and used Sonic Blade the wrong time which could have caused trouble for me (but fortunelly he couldn't get an energy that turn). Finally I managed to get rid of all Machamps, and most of his options to draw new cards in time were already burned out. He only had one prize card left while I still had three, but he conceded.
It had been unexpected, but finally I got a City Championships victory this season. We got our prize boosters and they made a photo, then we talked a few words with the event staff and drove back to Germany. I realized there were no more trains from Cologne to my home, so I had to stay there, but Roland was nice enough to let me sleep in his house.
Props:
+ big tournament, 6 rounds b-o-3 and Top 8
+ players from Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy attended
+ skilled and friendly players
+ nice metagame – met 2 completely new decks
+ finally won a CC this season after beeing tiebreakcutted several times
+ no first turn donks in my games, despite having 2 Kingdras and 2 Machamps as opponents
+ iPlox
+ decent cards in our prize boosters
Slops:
- I did some really bad mistakes
- sleep isn't as overrated as I thought
- tournament ended very late and I had to sleep in Cologne
- some good players had to drop because it got so late
- David vs me already in top 8
Thx to:
* David for creating iPlox and checking this report
* Roland and Andre driving to Made and letting me sleep at their house
* TO/jugde team for the great tournament
* all my opponents for the exciting matches
* you for reading this
Please excuse any bad grammar and expressions, English isn't my first language. I also don't remember everything in my matches clearly, so some information may be incomplete or obscure.
Last edited:
I made the deck in the train to Made and the first round I played was the first match I played with the deck 