Florida States- Cocoa Beach-109 Masters and somewhere around 240 total.
My boys insisted that I do a report so forgive me if I get your name or round wrong. We did not get done until after 3:00 am this morning and everything is still foggy!!
Preperation for the tournament started with a trip last weekend to Georgia for States there. I had planned on playing Gengar/Manetric/Palkia X for about two weeks but after seeing how well the Galactic pokes did in Europe and consulting with John Silvestro a few nights before the tourney I decided to build a G deck myself to test against. It was fun to play and I took it to Atlanta. Short story....the deck went 5-1 but I went 3-3 with several misplays. Deafen Lock ruled and it gave the boys and myself 7 hours worth of stuff to talk about on the drive back home.
I thought that the second week would not see as much Deafen and probably more all around G decks based more on Palkia/Dialga/Honchcrow and lots of Machamp and Gigas. We decided that to run anything else you had to have speed and the ability to set up without trainers and powers. Right!! We looked at strong basics like Rayquaza, Kyogre and even Groudon but felt they would fall to the rest of the field. We looked at Kabutops and even playing Magmortar for weakness on the Dialgas. In testing we could beat the G decks but had bad matchups against everything else. I kept looking at Gengar especially since Carson had gotten 4th place with it at Georgia. Then I read Chris Fulop's report where he played Kingdra with a Machamp tech. I played Kingdra all through the cities with much success but just could not see the energy working for me with that combination and was afraid Amphy might finally make an appearance.
We also noticed that everyone had taken out or dropped their Unown Gs especially since they could not be attached with an energy gain. Dusknoir and Gengar were not being focused on and the G decks had Toxicroaks do deal with Machamp.
The boys were both leaning towards Gengar also and we started discussing how a Machamp line of some size might work for the format. Over the next couple of days all three of us worked in different Machamp lines in our decks. Each of us had our own ideas on the trainer lines as well. We headed to Cocoa on Friday for the practice tournament and decided to play the lists because we figured no one would actually think we were going to play it and even if they did what were they going to do? We had only played a few games against the G decks and we needed to know how we did against random stuff that we might see in the early rounds on Saturday.
I went 5-0 and Carson went 4-1 on Friday night. 9-1 record to start the weekend. Feeling a little better about the choice but still not heavily tested and all of us had different trainer lines had me worried. Grafton sat out the tourney to trade and I was really worried about him going into a tournament with a deck he had not even played a game with but he played Gengar in cities and was ranked very high. We stayed up until 2 or so in the morning and I ended up with a heavy supporter builed that included 3 Cynthias and 4 Lookers. Only ran 1-1 Claydol and 1 Uxie set up. The other keys were 4 Pokeblowers and a 1-1 Cresselia. All of us went in with 2-1-2 Machamp lines but we had about 8 cards that were different between the decks that fit each of our play styles better. I don't think I got any sleep that night...just laid there thinking we were crazy!!
Saturday morning finally came and we headed to the tournament area. All the big guns were there and I told Carson this would be one of the hardest tournaments to win that we had ever competed in. Deck checks and all went well and we got started around 11.
Round 1- Sharon Barnett- Grass deck
I started with just one poke and was going first. Thought for sure I was going to get T1d but she turned over a Bulbassor I think and I had time to set up. She did not get much but those big green guys are always hard to kill. Finally got through them though. GG 1-0
Round 2- Sean Connelly- G Deck
Started out slow again but Sean said he had been out of Pokemon for a while with school and not up to speed. I don't think he had Croak or Unown G so it was just a matter of time. GG 2-0
Round 3- Eugene Pastorius- Magmortar/Heatran/Rayquaza
I had played Eugene in a few tournament earlier this year and he has always played this deck. However, in the past I was using water and pretty much ran over him. It was his turn to get revenge. I got a Gengar up quick and used Blowers to lock him up to snipe but he kept topdecking switch cards to get out of the lock. I made a couple of misplays that might have cost me the game but he played a great game and got his revenge. GG 2=1
Round 4- Richard Forrest- Electivire
I have known Richard for years and have always thought him to have one of the best minds for this game. Always comes up with great decks and he really knows and understands the metagame. This was a bad matchup for him and I got a good start on him. GG 3-1
Round 5- Santiago Rodriguez- Palkia G
I started with Cresselia and Baltoy so I put up the Cress. He started Palkia G and attached a dark energy to it. I used Lookers to see that he did not have a hand and then drew five dream cards. After that I used Foresight on him and gave him Palkia, Dark energy and a couple more dead cards. That allowed me to run through him. He ends the game by using 2 Poketurns to pick up both of his Pokeman. LOL Always a tough battle with Santiago and he was a good sport. GG 4-1
So at this point I know that Galactic decks are all around me and although I am not 100% sure of the matchup since we did so little testing I was liking my chances. Grafton was 5-0 in the seniors and Carson was 4-1 and we had avoided each other in the large field. So the deck was 22-3 so far and we were getting used to how to play it better.
Round 6- Chris Bianchi- Dialga G
Chris had just won GA states and had knocked me out in top 4 of GA last year. One of the best players in the country for sure. I don't remember all the details on this one. I was able to get past deafen lock and manually evolve I think and then used warp points and blowers to take control late game. It was a good game and getting to play him in swiss would end up helping later in tops. GG 5-1
Round 7- Omar I - PalkiaG/ DialgaG/ Gigas
Two Team R members in a row!! But that was to be expected at this point in the tournament. Silvetros and Craigs on either side of me. Throw in a Nick Harper and others like Greg Chisolm and whoever you get at that point is going to be tough. I got out on Omar pretty quick and then I think my hand went dead for a while. He played well to avoid me flipping for fainting spells and took control of the game in the middle. Omar is really good at game play and I never know what he has planned. I also forgot that he was going to use Palkias power to remove damaged Pokes to the Lost Zone. That set me back a couple of turns. The game changed when he brought a Gigas active that he had just benched and went to level it up by accident. Then he was stuck and passed. That allowed me to take my last couple of prizes. GG 6-1
Carson and I both make it in at 6-1 and Grafton is 7-0. Deck record is now 28-3 for the weekend.
Top 16- Jorge C.- Gengar
This had been Carson's only loss in swiss and I felt it was probably my worst matchup. He played it with Crobats and Poketurns. I won game 1 pretty quick and was feeling good. He got the first Gengar out game 2 and took charge. I tried to turn the game but he played a good game and I finally scooped to get to the third game as we only had a few minutes left. Game three we both started with Pitch Dark. Turn 2 he gets up a Claydol instead of getting the Haunter and killing me with Crobats and 30 from Haunter. He realized it after getting Claydol. I could not kill him either and took a chance with getting Haunter for the 80 HP. I could not get an Uxie in fear of him sniping it with a Crobat damage for the win. Next turn he does everything he can but comes up 10 damage short and I show him the Gengar. Great Match and sorry you made the mistake- 7-1
Top 8- Nick Harper- Kingdra/Machamp
I playtest sometimes twice a week at our league with him and he is one of my favorite people in the game. We talked about what to use at States but both of us came in with Champ techs without the other one knowing it. I wish we had this match on tape. It went three games and each one was a war. Back and forth each game. I played this match up probably a 100 times during city testing with Grafton so I knew what had to happen to win. Flips were going to be crucial and both of us hit heads at critical times. He took game one. I took games 2 and 3 each time using Cresselia to take two prizes with Pokeblowers. Up to that point I wondered why I had the Cress in the deck. I was also able to move a damage to Uxie for easy snipes with Gengar. One of the best matches I have ever played and I know Nick really wanted it. He works hard at it. GG 8-1
Top 4- Orion Craig- Dialga G
Well it did not get any easier. Orion is last year's senior National Champion and ranked high in his first year in the masters. I felt good about the matchup but he took game one and put me in the hole. Game two went back and forth as I remember. I think at one point with him up 4-2 I warped pointed up a Poke without a G to use Take Out on but first used a Pokeblower and got heads to take out the Dialga G with an Unown G on it. I think this was this game and it turned everything. We went to game three and I got the best hand from start to finish I have ever had with a deck. After taking a couple of quick prizes and using blowers to pull up and kill his threats he scooped. Orion you showed some real class with what you got dealt with in game 3 and you have my respect for that. I know you me and Grafton will battle for years and I will not always be that lucky. GG and good playing for top 4. 9-1
Top 2- Chris Bianchi- Dialga G
Rematch from swiss but I had faired well in the matchup and knew most of the tricks by now. Does not matter when you get one Pokemon though and you get Deafen Locked. If I go second first game I win but not the case and I am down one after just 3 minutes. Game 2 I get a great hand and get out fast taking prizes. Chris does everything he can with all the G tricks and his great game play to make it almost impossible to take the last two prizes. I make a couple of misplays with it being after 2:00 am and Grafton playing right behind me in finals but I was finally able to pull off game 2. We have thirty minutes left for game 3 so we are not feeling to pressed on time which was good. 75 minutes for 2 out of 3 is so much better than 60. Game three was pretty much like game 2. I got a full bench and made sure to get set up. Once they break the Deafen Lock then I use the Warps and Pokeblowers to take charge. I got out fast and when time was called I was up 5-1 on prizes with two blowers in my hand. Chris was still trying to find a way to win up to the last minute.....and I was not too sure he couldn't do it. LOL GG Chris and great playing over two weekends. 10-1
So at 3:15 am in the morning I am in total shock. A few hours earlier there were over 300 people in the room and now there were just a handful of die hards staying up to see the end. After getting hugs from the boys and finally getting to celebrate Grafton's 11-0 perfect day I got my trophy. My mentor in this game was there with a big smile and hug too. Thanks John.....I could hear you in the crowd rooting for me and I knew you wanted this one so part of me was playing for you too. I did not have to play either of the Silvestros all day and that was good/bad. I wanted to see how GeChamp would do against there monster. Carson lost in top 16 by a coin flip or probably would have gotten to T4 too. So a deck that we all committed too in the biggest tournament of the year so far and I thought we were all crazy to do so went 36-4 for the weekend and got us 2 First Place trophies. Not bad. Did we break the format? I guess Regionals will tell. I do expect to see more Unown G again there though.....LOL.
Props
Randy and Ro for working their butts off to put on a great tournament
All the judges that came from AZ and GA
All the volunteers for making things run smoothly
Ken for singing at the opening....I need a link!!
Fulop for the inspiration
Grafton going 11-0!!
Carson for making two top cuts at States while not knowing what half the Pokemon in the format do
Celebration drinks until 4:30 in the morning
Dlynn's shirts being a big hit
Silvestro being there for me....maybe as not as much going into this tournament....LOL
GeChamp going 36-4
Slops
Spurlock getting mugged by cowards
Grafton filling out his deck list wrong and having to use a Claydol without a Baltoy but still winning
Not getting to play either Silvetros in Tops and now having a target on my back for a year!!!!
Long winded reports
My boys insisted that I do a report so forgive me if I get your name or round wrong. We did not get done until after 3:00 am this morning and everything is still foggy!!
Preperation for the tournament started with a trip last weekend to Georgia for States there. I had planned on playing Gengar/Manetric/Palkia X for about two weeks but after seeing how well the Galactic pokes did in Europe and consulting with John Silvestro a few nights before the tourney I decided to build a G deck myself to test against. It was fun to play and I took it to Atlanta. Short story....the deck went 5-1 but I went 3-3 with several misplays. Deafen Lock ruled and it gave the boys and myself 7 hours worth of stuff to talk about on the drive back home.
I thought that the second week would not see as much Deafen and probably more all around G decks based more on Palkia/Dialga/Honchcrow and lots of Machamp and Gigas. We decided that to run anything else you had to have speed and the ability to set up without trainers and powers. Right!! We looked at strong basics like Rayquaza, Kyogre and even Groudon but felt they would fall to the rest of the field. We looked at Kabutops and even playing Magmortar for weakness on the Dialgas. In testing we could beat the G decks but had bad matchups against everything else. I kept looking at Gengar especially since Carson had gotten 4th place with it at Georgia. Then I read Chris Fulop's report where he played Kingdra with a Machamp tech. I played Kingdra all through the cities with much success but just could not see the energy working for me with that combination and was afraid Amphy might finally make an appearance.
We also noticed that everyone had taken out or dropped their Unown Gs especially since they could not be attached with an energy gain. Dusknoir and Gengar were not being focused on and the G decks had Toxicroaks do deal with Machamp.
The boys were both leaning towards Gengar also and we started discussing how a Machamp line of some size might work for the format. Over the next couple of days all three of us worked in different Machamp lines in our decks. Each of us had our own ideas on the trainer lines as well. We headed to Cocoa on Friday for the practice tournament and decided to play the lists because we figured no one would actually think we were going to play it and even if they did what were they going to do? We had only played a few games against the G decks and we needed to know how we did against random stuff that we might see in the early rounds on Saturday.
I went 5-0 and Carson went 4-1 on Friday night. 9-1 record to start the weekend. Feeling a little better about the choice but still not heavily tested and all of us had different trainer lines had me worried. Grafton sat out the tourney to trade and I was really worried about him going into a tournament with a deck he had not even played a game with but he played Gengar in cities and was ranked very high. We stayed up until 2 or so in the morning and I ended up with a heavy supporter builed that included 3 Cynthias and 4 Lookers. Only ran 1-1 Claydol and 1 Uxie set up. The other keys were 4 Pokeblowers and a 1-1 Cresselia. All of us went in with 2-1-2 Machamp lines but we had about 8 cards that were different between the decks that fit each of our play styles better. I don't think I got any sleep that night...just laid there thinking we were crazy!!
Saturday morning finally came and we headed to the tournament area. All the big guns were there and I told Carson this would be one of the hardest tournaments to win that we had ever competed in. Deck checks and all went well and we got started around 11.
Round 1- Sharon Barnett- Grass deck
I started with just one poke and was going first. Thought for sure I was going to get T1d but she turned over a Bulbassor I think and I had time to set up. She did not get much but those big green guys are always hard to kill. Finally got through them though. GG 1-0
Round 2- Sean Connelly- G Deck
Started out slow again but Sean said he had been out of Pokemon for a while with school and not up to speed. I don't think he had Croak or Unown G so it was just a matter of time. GG 2-0
Round 3- Eugene Pastorius- Magmortar/Heatran/Rayquaza
I had played Eugene in a few tournament earlier this year and he has always played this deck. However, in the past I was using water and pretty much ran over him. It was his turn to get revenge. I got a Gengar up quick and used Blowers to lock him up to snipe but he kept topdecking switch cards to get out of the lock. I made a couple of misplays that might have cost me the game but he played a great game and got his revenge. GG 2=1
Round 4- Richard Forrest- Electivire
I have known Richard for years and have always thought him to have one of the best minds for this game. Always comes up with great decks and he really knows and understands the metagame. This was a bad matchup for him and I got a good start on him. GG 3-1
Round 5- Santiago Rodriguez- Palkia G
I started with Cresselia and Baltoy so I put up the Cress. He started Palkia G and attached a dark energy to it. I used Lookers to see that he did not have a hand and then drew five dream cards. After that I used Foresight on him and gave him Palkia, Dark energy and a couple more dead cards. That allowed me to run through him. He ends the game by using 2 Poketurns to pick up both of his Pokeman. LOL Always a tough battle with Santiago and he was a good sport. GG 4-1
So at this point I know that Galactic decks are all around me and although I am not 100% sure of the matchup since we did so little testing I was liking my chances. Grafton was 5-0 in the seniors and Carson was 4-1 and we had avoided each other in the large field. So the deck was 22-3 so far and we were getting used to how to play it better.
Round 6- Chris Bianchi- Dialga G
Chris had just won GA states and had knocked me out in top 4 of GA last year. One of the best players in the country for sure. I don't remember all the details on this one. I was able to get past deafen lock and manually evolve I think and then used warp points and blowers to take control late game. It was a good game and getting to play him in swiss would end up helping later in tops. GG 5-1
Round 7- Omar I - PalkiaG/ DialgaG/ Gigas
Two Team R members in a row!! But that was to be expected at this point in the tournament. Silvetros and Craigs on either side of me. Throw in a Nick Harper and others like Greg Chisolm and whoever you get at that point is going to be tough. I got out on Omar pretty quick and then I think my hand went dead for a while. He played well to avoid me flipping for fainting spells and took control of the game in the middle. Omar is really good at game play and I never know what he has planned. I also forgot that he was going to use Palkias power to remove damaged Pokes to the Lost Zone. That set me back a couple of turns. The game changed when he brought a Gigas active that he had just benched and went to level it up by accident. Then he was stuck and passed. That allowed me to take my last couple of prizes. GG 6-1
Carson and I both make it in at 6-1 and Grafton is 7-0. Deck record is now 28-3 for the weekend.
Top 16- Jorge C.- Gengar
This had been Carson's only loss in swiss and I felt it was probably my worst matchup. He played it with Crobats and Poketurns. I won game 1 pretty quick and was feeling good. He got the first Gengar out game 2 and took charge. I tried to turn the game but he played a good game and I finally scooped to get to the third game as we only had a few minutes left. Game three we both started with Pitch Dark. Turn 2 he gets up a Claydol instead of getting the Haunter and killing me with Crobats and 30 from Haunter. He realized it after getting Claydol. I could not kill him either and took a chance with getting Haunter for the 80 HP. I could not get an Uxie in fear of him sniping it with a Crobat damage for the win. Next turn he does everything he can but comes up 10 damage short and I show him the Gengar. Great Match and sorry you made the mistake- 7-1
Top 8- Nick Harper- Kingdra/Machamp
I playtest sometimes twice a week at our league with him and he is one of my favorite people in the game. We talked about what to use at States but both of us came in with Champ techs without the other one knowing it. I wish we had this match on tape. It went three games and each one was a war. Back and forth each game. I played this match up probably a 100 times during city testing with Grafton so I knew what had to happen to win. Flips were going to be crucial and both of us hit heads at critical times. He took game one. I took games 2 and 3 each time using Cresselia to take two prizes with Pokeblowers. Up to that point I wondered why I had the Cress in the deck. I was also able to move a damage to Uxie for easy snipes with Gengar. One of the best matches I have ever played and I know Nick really wanted it. He works hard at it. GG 8-1
Top 4- Orion Craig- Dialga G
Well it did not get any easier. Orion is last year's senior National Champion and ranked high in his first year in the masters. I felt good about the matchup but he took game one and put me in the hole. Game two went back and forth as I remember. I think at one point with him up 4-2 I warped pointed up a Poke without a G to use Take Out on but first used a Pokeblower and got heads to take out the Dialga G with an Unown G on it. I think this was this game and it turned everything. We went to game three and I got the best hand from start to finish I have ever had with a deck. After taking a couple of quick prizes and using blowers to pull up and kill his threats he scooped. Orion you showed some real class with what you got dealt with in game 3 and you have my respect for that. I know you me and Grafton will battle for years and I will not always be that lucky. GG and good playing for top 4. 9-1
Top 2- Chris Bianchi- Dialga G
Rematch from swiss but I had faired well in the matchup and knew most of the tricks by now. Does not matter when you get one Pokemon though and you get Deafen Locked. If I go second first game I win but not the case and I am down one after just 3 minutes. Game 2 I get a great hand and get out fast taking prizes. Chris does everything he can with all the G tricks and his great game play to make it almost impossible to take the last two prizes. I make a couple of misplays with it being after 2:00 am and Grafton playing right behind me in finals but I was finally able to pull off game 2. We have thirty minutes left for game 3 so we are not feeling to pressed on time which was good. 75 minutes for 2 out of 3 is so much better than 60. Game three was pretty much like game 2. I got a full bench and made sure to get set up. Once they break the Deafen Lock then I use the Warps and Pokeblowers to take charge. I got out fast and when time was called I was up 5-1 on prizes with two blowers in my hand. Chris was still trying to find a way to win up to the last minute.....and I was not too sure he couldn't do it. LOL GG Chris and great playing over two weekends. 10-1
So at 3:15 am in the morning I am in total shock. A few hours earlier there were over 300 people in the room and now there were just a handful of die hards staying up to see the end. After getting hugs from the boys and finally getting to celebrate Grafton's 11-0 perfect day I got my trophy. My mentor in this game was there with a big smile and hug too. Thanks John.....I could hear you in the crowd rooting for me and I knew you wanted this one so part of me was playing for you too. I did not have to play either of the Silvestros all day and that was good/bad. I wanted to see how GeChamp would do against there monster. Carson lost in top 16 by a coin flip or probably would have gotten to T4 too. So a deck that we all committed too in the biggest tournament of the year so far and I thought we were all crazy to do so went 36-4 for the weekend and got us 2 First Place trophies. Not bad. Did we break the format? I guess Regionals will tell. I do expect to see more Unown G again there though.....LOL.
Props
Randy and Ro for working their butts off to put on a great tournament
All the judges that came from AZ and GA
All the volunteers for making things run smoothly
Ken for singing at the opening....I need a link!!
Fulop for the inspiration
Grafton going 11-0!!
Carson for making two top cuts at States while not knowing what half the Pokemon in the format do
Celebration drinks until 4:30 in the morning
Dlynn's shirts being a big hit
Silvestro being there for me....maybe as not as much going into this tournament....LOL
GeChamp going 36-4
Slops
Spurlock getting mugged by cowards
Grafton filling out his deck list wrong and having to use a Claydol without a Baltoy but still winning
Not getting to play either Silvetros in Tops and now having a target on my back for a year!!!!
Long winded reports
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Steve did too. But it was your day. 
