I thought ya'll might be interested in a tournament report, so here goes...
European Professor Cup – 2007
Frankfurt, Germany
May 5, 2007
Total Players: 39
Disclaimer: Please forgive any inaccurate information. I tried my best. However, a 9 hour time change will wreak havoc on the mind and the body.
We get start reg at 11:00 and get rolling at 12:00. I make some announcments (including that I’m a huge bonehead and didn’t get DS Lites for 9th-16th) and hand the tournament over to the fine folks at Amigo (the German distributor for PTCG), who are running the tournament for me. I’m playing a deck that I’ve been very excited about for a couple months now.
Deck: SpeedHax
2 Seedot (LM)
1 Nuzleaf (CG)
2 Shiftry ex (PK)
2 Eevee (DS)
2 Espeon ex (UF)
2 Professor Elm’s Training Method
2 Master Ball
2 Great Ball
2 PokeNav
2 Rare Candy
1 Warp Point
1 Holon Farmer
2 Darkness Energy
2 Cyclone Energy
2 Rainbow Energy
3 Psychic Energy
This deck was built for pure speed. The 30-card format really lends itself to fast decks, as once you draw your hand and set your prizes, 1/3 of your deck is gone. The goal is to get a first turn Shiftry ex (ideally going first), and try to start taking prizes right away. Obviously there are several changes that I’d make to this deck with the Diamond & Pearl rules.
Round 1 – Sven Schroyens (Belgium)
I go first and my deck does what it is supposed to do. My opening hand is Shiftry ex, Shifty ex, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Darkness Energy, Rare Candy, Master Ball. He has an Eevee and no bench. I attach Dark, Rare Candy to Shiftry ex, Master Ball for another Seedot and Skill Hack. He has an Alakazam * (which he didn’t play to his bench during set up) and a Flareon d. I copy Return Burn and KO Eevee.
1-0
Round 2 – Silvia Landis (Switzerland)
Silvia tells me at the beginning of the game that she has to drop after this round, as she is going to drive 360km (roughly 225 miles for those unfamiliar with the metric system) so that she can make it to Swiss Nationals. Dedication.
She’s playing Metanite, and starts with a Beldum and a benched Dratini and Beldum. I start with a lone Eevee and I’m worried that she’ll have sufficient time to get set up. She attaches to Beldum and passes. I Call for Family for a Seedot, as I already have the Nuzleaf in my hand. She attaches to Beldum and swings for 30, plus 10 to herself. I evolve to Espeon ex and Nuzleaf, attach and Snap Tail the Beldum for 30. She retreats and brings up a Dratini and misses the Paralyze flip. I drop Shiftry ex and a Rainbow, retreat Espeon and Skill Hack. She’s got a Latios * and a Dragonite d in hand, so I Heavy Impact the Dratini. She brings up the damaged Beldum and drops the Lati*. She attacks again for 30, knocking out her own Beldum in the process. She brings up her other Beldum and I Hack Heavy Impact again for the win. I was holding a Dark Energy in case she had advanced the Lati*.
2-0
Round 3 – Michael Kalla (Germany)
Michael is playing a deck with two different Shiftry ex (LM and PK) as well as Milotic d. I mulligan twice, giving him a couple more cards to start out with. However, we both get off to a slow start. I manage to build up a Shiftry ex with 3 energy on it, and Dirge his active Feebas, knocking out the one on the bench as well. He Rare Candys to Shiftry ex (LM) and attacks. I Warp Point, bringing up his Seedot and my Eevee. I evolve to Espeon ex, devolving his benched Shiftry, retreat Espeon, and Dirge his Seedot, knocking out the benched on as well.
3-0
Round 4 – Marcos Marin-Galiano (Germany)
Markos is playing a Lati deck, using Lati d, Lati ex, and Lati *. I get a really bad start, and don’t even get a Seedot until mid-game, which quickly knocks out. I rally a bit with Espeon ex (most of his guys are weak to Psychic), but he manages to get the energy he needs to win the game.
3-1
Round 5 – Simone Soldo (Italy)
I get the turn 1 Skill Hack off again. However, he’s got an Onix active, and only has a Holon’s Electrode in hand, so I Dazzle Blast for 30 and confusion. He draws a Steelix ex and has no way of getting any Basics for his empty bench. I Hack Steelix’s Metal Charge for the win.
4-1
Round 6 – Herlinda Quintiens (Belgium)
Herlinda was playing a deck very similar to the one that Marcos was playing. It was a super close game, and I ended up with Espeon ex active, stuck behind Latios ex’s Ice Barrier. I had one prize left to take, and she had two guys on her bench that were weak to Psychic and one that was resistant to Psychic. I drew a Cyclone and knew that it would be the key to the win. I Snap Tailed her Latias d to get 30 on it, she Ice Barriers again, I attach Cyclone. Because she’s got a Power Tree in play, Psyloop is going to hit for 90, so even with Latias’s resistance, I’ve still got enough to KO anything that she brings up.
5-1
With the top cut, we switch to 60-card, 2-on-2 decks. I’ve done some tinkering with a 2-on-2 Flaredos deck with the help of John “the_sniper” Silvestro. I’m pretty pleased with the deck, but quickly discover a flaw in the deck. I’m not gonna post a list, as I might play it again at the North American Cup.
The standings look like this:
1) Marcos Marin-Galiano
2) Mike Liesik
3) Stephan Schoele
4) Guiseppe Canto
5) Simone Soldo
6) Kristel Helskens
7) Marko Uimonen
8) Herlinda Quintiens
Because I’m technically the organizer of the event, it seemed to be a bit of conflict of interest for me to win any prizes (other than a trophy). So, the DS Lite that I won rolled down to 17th place, and the portfolio rolled down to 9th place. If I win the top 8 match, the Wii would roll down to 5th place.
Top 8
Marcos v Herlinda
Mike v Marko
Stephan v Kristel
Guiseppe v Simone
We get started and, a few minutes in, find out that Simone’s match record is incorrect. The folks running the event look at the outcome of the change, and determine that the top 16 remains unchanged by the fix, but a couple of the pairings in the top 8 do change. They decide that it is best to just proceed as is. I’m not sure that I necessarily agree with the change, but that was their call, so I supported it.
Top 8 v Marko
Game 1
Marko is playing Manectric ex and Chansey (UF). Chansey is slightly annoying, as it heals status conditions and removes 1 damage counter from each of his Actives. I get a pretty bad start as it is, so that doesn’t help matters. It goes from bad to worse when he attaches a Cessation Crystal to his Chansey. A Holon Transceiver reveals that I’ve got no Windstorms in the deck, so I fight a losing battle.
Game 2
Marko learns the hard way that Jirachi’s Wishing Star puts BOTH of his Actives to sleep when he uses it. I let him reverse the play and we move on. Later on I announce an attack without enough energy and he lets me back out to attach. Sportsmanship FTW! His Chansey comes back and annoys me even more. He manages to roll heads on like 95% of the flips he has to make. I manage to pull it our in the end with some creative play and Flareon ex swinging for 70.
Game 3
We’ve got 14 minutes left to play. We both get pretty slow starts but an early Cessation Crystal puts a crimp in my plans. Time is called and Marko has 5 prizes left to my 6.
Top 4
Marcos v Guiseppe
Stephan v Marko
Guiseppe had to run to catch his plane home after winning his Top 4 match, so he conceded his Finals game to Stephan, taking 2nd, and ran off to catch the shuttle to the airport.
Marcos and Marko played a hard fought match for 3rd place. Marko was finally able to pull off the win.
The final standings for the 2007 European Professor Cup looked like this:
1 – Stephan Schoele
2 – Guiseppe Canto
3 – Marko Uimonen
4 – Marcos Marin-Galiano
5 – Mike Liesik
6 – Simone Soldo
7 – Kristel Helskens
8 – Herlinda Quintiens
9 – Michael Kalla
10 – Oliver Durr
11 – Ken Van Schoor
12 – Toni Lampert
13 – Andrea Leoni
14 – Susanne Andersen
15 – Angelika Seeburger
16 – Frederic Lohr
17 – Michael From
18 – Ola Perman
19 – Dave Schwimmer
20 – Alexander Durner
21 – Zdenek Rys
22 – Jeffrey Verdickt
23 – Sergio Leoni
24 – Alvaro D’Occhio
25 – Sven Schroyens
26 – Michel Delhausse
27 – Christoph Stevens
28 – Petra Mantzel
29 – Elsa Wagner-van Zijp
30 – Fabrizio Cremascoli
31 – Timmy Claes
32 – Inne Helskens
33 – Juriaan Wagner
34 – Brian Nykjaer
35 – Hape Wagner
36 – Mia Petersen
37 – Pete De Shaw
38 – Marcello Murgia
DNF – Silvia Landis
Props:
Sarah and Torsten from Amigo
All of the Professors that showed up and played
All of the German Professors that made top 16 that were willing to wait on claiming their DS Lites until German Nationals so that (almost) everyone else could take theirs with them.
Dave for winning 3 times more games this year than he did last year
Pete for winning one game
Torsten and Sarah from Amigo
Slops:
Me for not getting enough DS Lites
Pete for only winning one game
Cessation Crystal
The airline that made a few of the Italian Professors super late
European Professor Cup – 2007
Frankfurt, Germany
May 5, 2007
Total Players: 39
Disclaimer: Please forgive any inaccurate information. I tried my best. However, a 9 hour time change will wreak havoc on the mind and the body.
We get start reg at 11:00 and get rolling at 12:00. I make some announcments (including that I’m a huge bonehead and didn’t get DS Lites for 9th-16th) and hand the tournament over to the fine folks at Amigo (the German distributor for PTCG), who are running the tournament for me. I’m playing a deck that I’ve been very excited about for a couple months now.
Deck: SpeedHax
2 Seedot (LM)
1 Nuzleaf (CG)
2 Shiftry ex (PK)
2 Eevee (DS)
2 Espeon ex (UF)
2 Professor Elm’s Training Method
2 Master Ball
2 Great Ball
2 PokeNav
2 Rare Candy
1 Warp Point
1 Holon Farmer
2 Darkness Energy
2 Cyclone Energy
2 Rainbow Energy
3 Psychic Energy
This deck was built for pure speed. The 30-card format really lends itself to fast decks, as once you draw your hand and set your prizes, 1/3 of your deck is gone. The goal is to get a first turn Shiftry ex (ideally going first), and try to start taking prizes right away. Obviously there are several changes that I’d make to this deck with the Diamond & Pearl rules.
Round 1 – Sven Schroyens (Belgium)
I go first and my deck does what it is supposed to do. My opening hand is Shiftry ex, Shifty ex, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Darkness Energy, Rare Candy, Master Ball. He has an Eevee and no bench. I attach Dark, Rare Candy to Shiftry ex, Master Ball for another Seedot and Skill Hack. He has an Alakazam * (which he didn’t play to his bench during set up) and a Flareon d. I copy Return Burn and KO Eevee.
1-0
Round 2 – Silvia Landis (Switzerland)
Silvia tells me at the beginning of the game that she has to drop after this round, as she is going to drive 360km (roughly 225 miles for those unfamiliar with the metric system) so that she can make it to Swiss Nationals. Dedication.
She’s playing Metanite, and starts with a Beldum and a benched Dratini and Beldum. I start with a lone Eevee and I’m worried that she’ll have sufficient time to get set up. She attaches to Beldum and passes. I Call for Family for a Seedot, as I already have the Nuzleaf in my hand. She attaches to Beldum and swings for 30, plus 10 to herself. I evolve to Espeon ex and Nuzleaf, attach and Snap Tail the Beldum for 30. She retreats and brings up a Dratini and misses the Paralyze flip. I drop Shiftry ex and a Rainbow, retreat Espeon and Skill Hack. She’s got a Latios * and a Dragonite d in hand, so I Heavy Impact the Dratini. She brings up the damaged Beldum and drops the Lati*. She attacks again for 30, knocking out her own Beldum in the process. She brings up her other Beldum and I Hack Heavy Impact again for the win. I was holding a Dark Energy in case she had advanced the Lati*.
2-0
Round 3 – Michael Kalla (Germany)
Michael is playing a deck with two different Shiftry ex (LM and PK) as well as Milotic d. I mulligan twice, giving him a couple more cards to start out with. However, we both get off to a slow start. I manage to build up a Shiftry ex with 3 energy on it, and Dirge his active Feebas, knocking out the one on the bench as well. He Rare Candys to Shiftry ex (LM) and attacks. I Warp Point, bringing up his Seedot and my Eevee. I evolve to Espeon ex, devolving his benched Shiftry, retreat Espeon, and Dirge his Seedot, knocking out the benched on as well.
3-0
Round 4 – Marcos Marin-Galiano (Germany)
Markos is playing a Lati deck, using Lati d, Lati ex, and Lati *. I get a really bad start, and don’t even get a Seedot until mid-game, which quickly knocks out. I rally a bit with Espeon ex (most of his guys are weak to Psychic), but he manages to get the energy he needs to win the game.
3-1
Round 5 – Simone Soldo (Italy)
I get the turn 1 Skill Hack off again. However, he’s got an Onix active, and only has a Holon’s Electrode in hand, so I Dazzle Blast for 30 and confusion. He draws a Steelix ex and has no way of getting any Basics for his empty bench. I Hack Steelix’s Metal Charge for the win.
4-1
Round 6 – Herlinda Quintiens (Belgium)
Herlinda was playing a deck very similar to the one that Marcos was playing. It was a super close game, and I ended up with Espeon ex active, stuck behind Latios ex’s Ice Barrier. I had one prize left to take, and she had two guys on her bench that were weak to Psychic and one that was resistant to Psychic. I drew a Cyclone and knew that it would be the key to the win. I Snap Tailed her Latias d to get 30 on it, she Ice Barriers again, I attach Cyclone. Because she’s got a Power Tree in play, Psyloop is going to hit for 90, so even with Latias’s resistance, I’ve still got enough to KO anything that she brings up.
5-1
With the top cut, we switch to 60-card, 2-on-2 decks. I’ve done some tinkering with a 2-on-2 Flaredos deck with the help of John “the_sniper” Silvestro. I’m pretty pleased with the deck, but quickly discover a flaw in the deck. I’m not gonna post a list, as I might play it again at the North American Cup.
The standings look like this:
1) Marcos Marin-Galiano
2) Mike Liesik
3) Stephan Schoele
4) Guiseppe Canto
5) Simone Soldo
6) Kristel Helskens
7) Marko Uimonen
8) Herlinda Quintiens
Because I’m technically the organizer of the event, it seemed to be a bit of conflict of interest for me to win any prizes (other than a trophy). So, the DS Lite that I won rolled down to 17th place, and the portfolio rolled down to 9th place. If I win the top 8 match, the Wii would roll down to 5th place.
Top 8
Marcos v Herlinda
Mike v Marko
Stephan v Kristel
Guiseppe v Simone
We get started and, a few minutes in, find out that Simone’s match record is incorrect. The folks running the event look at the outcome of the change, and determine that the top 16 remains unchanged by the fix, but a couple of the pairings in the top 8 do change. They decide that it is best to just proceed as is. I’m not sure that I necessarily agree with the change, but that was their call, so I supported it.
Top 8 v Marko
Game 1
Marko is playing Manectric ex and Chansey (UF). Chansey is slightly annoying, as it heals status conditions and removes 1 damage counter from each of his Actives. I get a pretty bad start as it is, so that doesn’t help matters. It goes from bad to worse when he attaches a Cessation Crystal to his Chansey. A Holon Transceiver reveals that I’ve got no Windstorms in the deck, so I fight a losing battle.
Game 2
Marko learns the hard way that Jirachi’s Wishing Star puts BOTH of his Actives to sleep when he uses it. I let him reverse the play and we move on. Later on I announce an attack without enough energy and he lets me back out to attach. Sportsmanship FTW! His Chansey comes back and annoys me even more. He manages to roll heads on like 95% of the flips he has to make. I manage to pull it our in the end with some creative play and Flareon ex swinging for 70.
Game 3
We’ve got 14 minutes left to play. We both get pretty slow starts but an early Cessation Crystal puts a crimp in my plans. Time is called and Marko has 5 prizes left to my 6.
Top 4
Marcos v Guiseppe
Stephan v Marko
Guiseppe had to run to catch his plane home after winning his Top 4 match, so he conceded his Finals game to Stephan, taking 2nd, and ran off to catch the shuttle to the airport.
Marcos and Marko played a hard fought match for 3rd place. Marko was finally able to pull off the win.
The final standings for the 2007 European Professor Cup looked like this:
1 – Stephan Schoele
2 – Guiseppe Canto
3 – Marko Uimonen
4 – Marcos Marin-Galiano
5 – Mike Liesik
6 – Simone Soldo
7 – Kristel Helskens
8 – Herlinda Quintiens
9 – Michael Kalla
10 – Oliver Durr
11 – Ken Van Schoor
12 – Toni Lampert
13 – Andrea Leoni
14 – Susanne Andersen
15 – Angelika Seeburger
16 – Frederic Lohr
17 – Michael From
18 – Ola Perman
19 – Dave Schwimmer
20 – Alexander Durner
21 – Zdenek Rys
22 – Jeffrey Verdickt
23 – Sergio Leoni
24 – Alvaro D’Occhio
25 – Sven Schroyens
26 – Michel Delhausse
27 – Christoph Stevens
28 – Petra Mantzel
29 – Elsa Wagner-van Zijp
30 – Fabrizio Cremascoli
31 – Timmy Claes
32 – Inne Helskens
33 – Juriaan Wagner
34 – Brian Nykjaer
35 – Hape Wagner
36 – Mia Petersen
37 – Pete De Shaw
38 – Marcello Murgia
DNF – Silvia Landis
Props:
Sarah and Torsten from Amigo
All of the Professors that showed up and played
All of the German Professors that made top 16 that were willing to wait on claiming their DS Lites until German Nationals so that (almost) everyone else could take theirs with them.
Dave for winning 3 times more games this year than he did last year
Pete for winning one game
Torsten and Sarah from Amigo
Slops:
Me for not getting enough DS Lites
Pete for only winning one game
Cessation Crystal
The airline that made a few of the Italian Professors super late
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