ShadowGuard
<a href="http://pokegym.net/forums/showpost.php?p=
OK, it's a little late but here my Nationals report. ^^
Please excuse my English, it's only my second language and I didn't put too much effort on fixing everything. =/
On Friday, my league mates and me went to Bochum, to play some games and have last tests and changes on the decks. I stayed in Bonn at Richard's home that night, and slept well until the next morning where the big event started. Because I had good experiences at CCs and STPCs with it, I chose to play my Magnezone/Steelix decks one last time. Since some of you may not know what it's about I'll give a decklist and some explanations for my choice.
The first time I played Magnezone/Steelix aka iSnake was a City Championship in Netherlands. After my first experiences at City Championships I found Magnezone and Steelix both very strong cards and tried to put them together. It worked and I won the CC, after that I played the deck at ECC and almost all SPT Championships. Even if it wasn't absolutely overwhelming at all of them, it gave me one first and one second place.
Since I knew that the best choice for Nationals would be - unless there is new set - the deck you have most experience and success with, I decided to play iSnake, even if many German players started to tech Blaziken into their Luxchomp decks.
3x Magnemite SF (metal)
3x Magneton SF (metal)
2x Magnezone Prime
1x Magnezone SF (lightning)
1x Magnezone Lv.X
2x Onix UL (without Body)
2x Steelix Prime
1x Chansey PL
1x Blissey PL
1x Skuntank G
1x Ditto LA
1x Uxie
1x Azelf
2x Spiritomb
~22
4x Pokémon Collector
3x Bebe's Search
3x Judge
2x Twins
1x Palmer's Contribution
1x Broken Time-Space
1x Ruins of Alph
1x Sunyshore City Gym
1x Luxury Ball
1x Pokémon Communication
1x Energy Exchanger
2x Expert Belt
1x Warp Point
~22
4x Call Energy
2x Double Colorless Energy
2x Warp Energy
1x Rainbow Energy
4x Metal Energy (special)
3x Lightning Energy
~16
It's not a very popular deck, so I give some explanations. The combination of Magnezone and Steelix is designed to have an edge over the three most played decks - Luxchomp, Gyarados and Vilegar. Magnezone provides great consistancy and can be used as a hitter who deals OHKOs quickly if necessary. Steelix is a tank and sweeper, once it's set up most decks can't stop it. With help of some other cards in the deck (Skuntank, Expert Belt, Ruins of Alph) it overruns most of the common meta decks. Magnezone SF and Magnezone Lv.X are for energy management, cause both of my hitter need lots of them and it's often not enough to attach them manually, even with help of Steelix' first attack Energy Stream. Blissey can heal Steelix and make him even more bulky, it can get rid of cards and make Magnezone draw more. This is the main strategy, now I'm going to talk about some of the techs.
Skuntank - matchwinner against Vilegar unless they play Nidoqueen, it works around Fainting Spell and Rescue Energy, also useful against Gyarados, Machamp etc
Ditto - tricky tech, the main purpose is to serve as additional hitter in the difficult Magnezone/Regirock matchup, but thanks to Rescue Energy it can also hit a Gengar; copying Impersonate on Judge can be good against Gyarados, as well as Dragon Rush against Luxchomp
Energy Exchanger - works as joker energy, cause the deck plays many different special energy and there are situation where you need one specific (Warp, Call, DCE etc)
Ruins of Alph - helps Steelix to bypass Luxray's resistance and completely overrun a normal Luxchomp in lategame since they usually don't play kickgyms
Sunyshore City Gym - useful against Luxchomps with Blaziken tech where I have to fight with Magnezone, it stops Promocroak revenge killst, can also be good against Machamp, Donphan etc
Round 1 vs Angelika S. [Jumpluff]
She plays just for fun and borrowed a deck last minute. I've a good start and after a few rounds she scoops.
1-0
Round 2 vs Nils S. [Yanmega]
I'm a little anxious because he plays Fire Energy, but after the game he tells me they're just for Ninetales draw. Lightning weakness makes things easy for Magnezone SF and Magnezone Prime, even with his 170 HP Yanmegas thanks to Shaymin and Expert Belt.
2-0
Round 3 vs Benjamin C. [Luxchomp]
My start is acceptable, but with a Judge I throw myself into several turns of dead draw where I can do nothing but 30 with my Steelix. He doesn't have everything either but can net a few prizes, until I finally draw into Twins and bring my Steelix to an OHKO level with five energies and Belt. Thanks to BTS, I also get my Magnezone Prime later, and when he puts an Expert Belt to his Luxray Lv.X and drags off my unequipped second Steelix, I can play Warp Energy, Magnezone Lv.X and Lost Burn for two prizes to get the lead.
3-0
Round 4 vs Denny F. [Blazeray]
This was the featured match for that round. He played 2-2 Blaziken which not only made my Steelix almost worthless, but also forced me to keep Warp Energy and Warp Point ready in case of Luring Flame on Magnezone. Twins help me a little to get my setup. When he puts Mew active and lost zones Ambipom, I can get my Rainbow Energy with Energy Exchanger and lock it with Azelf to buy one more turn where he can't take a prize. With better setup, I can almost keep up, but a the end a Power Spray on his hand prevents me from using Magnezone SF to get the next prize in time.
3-1
Round 5 vs Cemal Y. [Gengar+Techs]
Normally Gengar is an easy matchup for me, but he runs both Aerodactyl MD and Shedinja LA and I seriously feel a little trolled. Because of Aerodactyl's Body I suffer some damage and he gets the knockouts more quickly. I kill his first Gengar with a highly damaged Magnezone Prime, he flips tails on Fainting Spell but then of course does the revenge KO. Some time I have Steelix and Skuntank to get rid of the second Gengar, but then Shedinja stalls me and attacks my second Magnezone Prime. I have to poison it down to 20 and then finish it with Magneton. I get a free prize because he has to sacrifice something, then he can set up another Gengar but doesn't have the energy. I just attack with Steelix because I have only two prizes left and a new Magnezone Prime ready on my bench.
4-1
Round 6 vs Sabine G. [Vilegar]
Difficult start, I have to use both Uxie und Blissey to draw into something before I can set up my hitters. She needs some time as well, but gets to attack first, one knockout and then Shadow Room spam. To beat the first Gengar I have to poison my Magnezone. Damage adds up while I can get another prize, but then I'm out of energy in play and have to retreat with Warp Energy. Steelix hits her second Gengar twice for 30, then Ditto comes up with Shadow Room and the game is almost won.
5-1
Round 7 vs Rudolf H. [Luxchomp]
Magnemite and nothing useful on my starting hand, T2 I've lost. =(
5-2
A score of 5-2 should be enough to be in the top cut, and when they published the standings we made some brackets to see who's playing who. Unfortunally, my first opponent would be David Sturm, my friend and the Nationals Champion of 2010. It was an unfavorable matchup for me, so I felt a little uncomfortable that night.
Top 32 vs David S. (National Champion 2010) [Magnezone/Machamp]
a) He starts and I give him T1 Judge with Spiritomb and Magnemite on my field. He has only Machop and doesn't draw anything until I can eventually knock it out.
b) Very intense game, we both get our setup and fight with smaller amounts of damage at the beginning, like Steelix vs Machamp SF. When he takes his first Magnezone Prime active to begin the showdown, he can take use of his matchup advantage and keep the lead at the final prize rush.
c) I have five Mulligans but can compensate them by a T1 Judge. We get a decent setup, but when it comes close to timeout he doesn't draw well for one turn and has to sacrifice an Uxie, which gives me the decisive prize lead.
Top 16 vs Dennis S. [Machamp/Vileplume]
a) I've a solid start, but his isn't bad either. With neat use of different hitters and the healing ability of Blissey I can prevent some knockouts, while my leveled up Magnezone Prime hits heavy and takes two of his Machamp Primes.
b) We're in our setup phase but when he realizes that two Machoke and two Machamps are prized and that he can't get four prizes during the remaining time that way, he scoops.
Top 8 vs Thomas W. [Luxchomp]
a) Thanks to Judge I can keep him small while Magnezone deals some knockouts. Don't know too much about this, he pulls out some hard strikes, but eventually I clearly win.
b) His draw isn't the best so I can set up my Steelix. He pulls Blissey active and attacks, I can't retreat and he tries to knock it out with Giant Tail, but it misses. After that, Steelix with Expert Belt and Ruins of Alph completely sweeps him.
Semifinals vs Sebastian G. [Vilegar]
a) He obviously doesn't know how to play against my deck which makes things very easy. I can use Gaia Crush + Poison Structure to get rid of the Gengars, and when he comes up with Gengar Prime I have enough energy stored to retreat and attack with Lost Burn.
b) This time he's prepared a lot better. It doesn't look too bad for me at the beginning, but after I attack with Magnezone Prime + Poison, I got four trainers on my hand and he can knock me out with Poltergeist. The loss of Magnezone leaves me with no hitter and draw issues, I also have a full bench. He can take some prizes while I have to attack with Magnezone SF, but he can heal with Seeker. Later I can finish one of his Gengars with Ditto. It's timeout and he got the prize lead, but thanks to Judge he ran out of attackers and I can get equal on prizes on my last extra turn, then take the next one.
Finals vs Rudolf H. [Luxchomp]
a) I have to start with a lone Magnemite and almost get donked, but after it survives I get a solid setup while he has problems to disrupt me. Some turns later he scoops because my field is a lot better.
b) He's a lot faster this game, and at some point he forces me to build up Steelix as my last option. He attacks with BLaziken for 140, I can get the revenge kill and try to heal Steelix while he has some issues getting supplies, but at the decisive moment he topdecks DCE and knocks out my Steelix, leaving me in a hopeless position.
c) Skuntank Start, but I can get a Warp Energy. We both aren't that fast to in getting our cards and it is close to timeout. When I attack with Magnezone I make the crucial mistake to overlook the Warp Energy attached to Skuntank, and burn both energies attached to Magnezone. So next turn I can't attack and his Garchomp survives, from his moment he gets better draw and takes the lead until time is called. gg & congrats!
So at the end I got the second place once again. =) While my misplay in finals is annoying, I'm really happy to have the trip to Worlds which I really didn't expect at the start of the tournament. After the award ceremony and some gratulations we headed home. =)
Props:
+ 2nd place for the third time
+ Worlds =)
+ iSnake cause it rocks
+ Top 32 in Masters for the first time at a European Nationals
+ interesting decks in top cut
+ nice and skilled opponents
+ Merlin for becoming National Champion in Seniors
+ Tom for making 3rd place in Juniors
+ Amy for playing very well, missing the top cup very close and then beating three Masters a the side event
+ Tobias J. and Leander for winning the side event
+ Richard for going 6-0 at the side event
+ my HGSS-on Tyranitar list that made Emanuel go 5-1 at the side-event
+ Richard for housing, driving, testing and everything
+ David for the last-minute-changes that improved my consistancy
+ Thomas just because he's a good and nice player
+ Sebastian for beating Denny who would be almost autoloss for me
+ Staff and Amigo for the organisation and the additional trip
+ never have to play against SP, Gyarados and Gengar again!
+ you for reading this
Slops:
- less total players than past years
- many Blaziken techs in Luxchomp decks
- Tobias J., Leander, Nico, Kay, Basti etc didn't make the cut
- beat two good frieds out of the tops
- stupid misplay at finals
- many good players like Steven and Marc were kicked out early
- Tom loses semifinals in spite of his good matchup
- lost the bag with the Nationals promo and participant prizes
See you in San Diego. ^^
Please excuse my English, it's only my second language and I didn't put too much effort on fixing everything. =/
On Friday, my league mates and me went to Bochum, to play some games and have last tests and changes on the decks. I stayed in Bonn at Richard's home that night, and slept well until the next morning where the big event started. Because I had good experiences at CCs and STPCs with it, I chose to play my Magnezone/Steelix decks one last time. Since some of you may not know what it's about I'll give a decklist and some explanations for my choice.
The first time I played Magnezone/Steelix aka iSnake was a City Championship in Netherlands. After my first experiences at City Championships I found Magnezone and Steelix both very strong cards and tried to put them together. It worked and I won the CC, after that I played the deck at ECC and almost all SPT Championships. Even if it wasn't absolutely overwhelming at all of them, it gave me one first and one second place.
Since I knew that the best choice for Nationals would be - unless there is new set - the deck you have most experience and success with, I decided to play iSnake, even if many German players started to tech Blaziken into their Luxchomp decks.
3x Magnemite SF (metal)
3x Magneton SF (metal)
2x Magnezone Prime
1x Magnezone SF (lightning)
1x Magnezone Lv.X
2x Onix UL (without Body)
2x Steelix Prime
1x Chansey PL
1x Blissey PL
1x Skuntank G
1x Ditto LA
1x Uxie
1x Azelf
2x Spiritomb
~22
4x Pokémon Collector
3x Bebe's Search
3x Judge
2x Twins
1x Palmer's Contribution
1x Broken Time-Space
1x Ruins of Alph
1x Sunyshore City Gym
1x Luxury Ball
1x Pokémon Communication
1x Energy Exchanger
2x Expert Belt
1x Warp Point
~22
4x Call Energy
2x Double Colorless Energy
2x Warp Energy
1x Rainbow Energy
4x Metal Energy (special)
3x Lightning Energy
~16
It's not a very popular deck, so I give some explanations. The combination of Magnezone and Steelix is designed to have an edge over the three most played decks - Luxchomp, Gyarados and Vilegar. Magnezone provides great consistancy and can be used as a hitter who deals OHKOs quickly if necessary. Steelix is a tank and sweeper, once it's set up most decks can't stop it. With help of some other cards in the deck (Skuntank, Expert Belt, Ruins of Alph) it overruns most of the common meta decks. Magnezone SF and Magnezone Lv.X are for energy management, cause both of my hitter need lots of them and it's often not enough to attach them manually, even with help of Steelix' first attack Energy Stream. Blissey can heal Steelix and make him even more bulky, it can get rid of cards and make Magnezone draw more. This is the main strategy, now I'm going to talk about some of the techs.
Skuntank - matchwinner against Vilegar unless they play Nidoqueen, it works around Fainting Spell and Rescue Energy, also useful against Gyarados, Machamp etc
Ditto - tricky tech, the main purpose is to serve as additional hitter in the difficult Magnezone/Regirock matchup, but thanks to Rescue Energy it can also hit a Gengar; copying Impersonate on Judge can be good against Gyarados, as well as Dragon Rush against Luxchomp
Energy Exchanger - works as joker energy, cause the deck plays many different special energy and there are situation where you need one specific (Warp, Call, DCE etc)
Ruins of Alph - helps Steelix to bypass Luxray's resistance and completely overrun a normal Luxchomp in lategame since they usually don't play kickgyms
Sunyshore City Gym - useful against Luxchomps with Blaziken tech where I have to fight with Magnezone, it stops Promocroak revenge killst, can also be good against Machamp, Donphan etc
Round 1 vs Angelika S. [Jumpluff]
She plays just for fun and borrowed a deck last minute. I've a good start and after a few rounds she scoops.
1-0
Round 2 vs Nils S. [Yanmega]
I'm a little anxious because he plays Fire Energy, but after the game he tells me they're just for Ninetales draw. Lightning weakness makes things easy for Magnezone SF and Magnezone Prime, even with his 170 HP Yanmegas thanks to Shaymin and Expert Belt.
2-0
Round 3 vs Benjamin C. [Luxchomp]
My start is acceptable, but with a Judge I throw myself into several turns of dead draw where I can do nothing but 30 with my Steelix. He doesn't have everything either but can net a few prizes, until I finally draw into Twins and bring my Steelix to an OHKO level with five energies and Belt. Thanks to BTS, I also get my Magnezone Prime later, and when he puts an Expert Belt to his Luxray Lv.X and drags off my unequipped second Steelix, I can play Warp Energy, Magnezone Lv.X and Lost Burn for two prizes to get the lead.
3-0
Round 4 vs Denny F. [Blazeray]
This was the featured match for that round. He played 2-2 Blaziken which not only made my Steelix almost worthless, but also forced me to keep Warp Energy and Warp Point ready in case of Luring Flame on Magnezone. Twins help me a little to get my setup. When he puts Mew active and lost zones Ambipom, I can get my Rainbow Energy with Energy Exchanger and lock it with Azelf to buy one more turn where he can't take a prize. With better setup, I can almost keep up, but a the end a Power Spray on his hand prevents me from using Magnezone SF to get the next prize in time.
3-1
Round 5 vs Cemal Y. [Gengar+Techs]
Normally Gengar is an easy matchup for me, but he runs both Aerodactyl MD and Shedinja LA and I seriously feel a little trolled. Because of Aerodactyl's Body I suffer some damage and he gets the knockouts more quickly. I kill his first Gengar with a highly damaged Magnezone Prime, he flips tails on Fainting Spell but then of course does the revenge KO. Some time I have Steelix and Skuntank to get rid of the second Gengar, but then Shedinja stalls me and attacks my second Magnezone Prime. I have to poison it down to 20 and then finish it with Magneton. I get a free prize because he has to sacrifice something, then he can set up another Gengar but doesn't have the energy. I just attack with Steelix because I have only two prizes left and a new Magnezone Prime ready on my bench.
4-1
Round 6 vs Sabine G. [Vilegar]
Difficult start, I have to use both Uxie und Blissey to draw into something before I can set up my hitters. She needs some time as well, but gets to attack first, one knockout and then Shadow Room spam. To beat the first Gengar I have to poison my Magnezone. Damage adds up while I can get another prize, but then I'm out of energy in play and have to retreat with Warp Energy. Steelix hits her second Gengar twice for 30, then Ditto comes up with Shadow Room and the game is almost won.
5-1
Round 7 vs Rudolf H. [Luxchomp]
Magnemite and nothing useful on my starting hand, T2 I've lost. =(
5-2
A score of 5-2 should be enough to be in the top cut, and when they published the standings we made some brackets to see who's playing who. Unfortunally, my first opponent would be David Sturm, my friend and the Nationals Champion of 2010. It was an unfavorable matchup for me, so I felt a little uncomfortable that night.
Top 32 vs David S. (National Champion 2010) [Magnezone/Machamp]
a) He starts and I give him T1 Judge with Spiritomb and Magnemite on my field. He has only Machop and doesn't draw anything until I can eventually knock it out.
b) Very intense game, we both get our setup and fight with smaller amounts of damage at the beginning, like Steelix vs Machamp SF. When he takes his first Magnezone Prime active to begin the showdown, he can take use of his matchup advantage and keep the lead at the final prize rush.
c) I have five Mulligans but can compensate them by a T1 Judge. We get a decent setup, but when it comes close to timeout he doesn't draw well for one turn and has to sacrifice an Uxie, which gives me the decisive prize lead.
Top 16 vs Dennis S. [Machamp/Vileplume]
a) I've a solid start, but his isn't bad either. With neat use of different hitters and the healing ability of Blissey I can prevent some knockouts, while my leveled up Magnezone Prime hits heavy and takes two of his Machamp Primes.
b) We're in our setup phase but when he realizes that two Machoke and two Machamps are prized and that he can't get four prizes during the remaining time that way, he scoops.
Top 8 vs Thomas W. [Luxchomp]
a) Thanks to Judge I can keep him small while Magnezone deals some knockouts. Don't know too much about this, he pulls out some hard strikes, but eventually I clearly win.
b) His draw isn't the best so I can set up my Steelix. He pulls Blissey active and attacks, I can't retreat and he tries to knock it out with Giant Tail, but it misses. After that, Steelix with Expert Belt and Ruins of Alph completely sweeps him.
Semifinals vs Sebastian G. [Vilegar]
a) He obviously doesn't know how to play against my deck which makes things very easy. I can use Gaia Crush + Poison Structure to get rid of the Gengars, and when he comes up with Gengar Prime I have enough energy stored to retreat and attack with Lost Burn.
b) This time he's prepared a lot better. It doesn't look too bad for me at the beginning, but after I attack with Magnezone Prime + Poison, I got four trainers on my hand and he can knock me out with Poltergeist. The loss of Magnezone leaves me with no hitter and draw issues, I also have a full bench. He can take some prizes while I have to attack with Magnezone SF, but he can heal with Seeker. Later I can finish one of his Gengars with Ditto. It's timeout and he got the prize lead, but thanks to Judge he ran out of attackers and I can get equal on prizes on my last extra turn, then take the next one.
Finals vs Rudolf H. [Luxchomp]
a) I have to start with a lone Magnemite and almost get donked, but after it survives I get a solid setup while he has problems to disrupt me. Some turns later he scoops because my field is a lot better.
b) He's a lot faster this game, and at some point he forces me to build up Steelix as my last option. He attacks with BLaziken for 140, I can get the revenge kill and try to heal Steelix while he has some issues getting supplies, but at the decisive moment he topdecks DCE and knocks out my Steelix, leaving me in a hopeless position.
c) Skuntank Start, but I can get a Warp Energy. We both aren't that fast to in getting our cards and it is close to timeout. When I attack with Magnezone I make the crucial mistake to overlook the Warp Energy attached to Skuntank, and burn both energies attached to Magnezone. So next turn I can't attack and his Garchomp survives, from his moment he gets better draw and takes the lead until time is called. gg & congrats!
So at the end I got the second place once again. =) While my misplay in finals is annoying, I'm really happy to have the trip to Worlds which I really didn't expect at the start of the tournament. After the award ceremony and some gratulations we headed home. =)
Props:
+ 2nd place for the third time
+ Worlds =)
+ iSnake cause it rocks
+ Top 32 in Masters for the first time at a European Nationals
+ interesting decks in top cut
+ nice and skilled opponents
+ Merlin for becoming National Champion in Seniors
+ Tom for making 3rd place in Juniors
+ Amy for playing very well, missing the top cup very close and then beating three Masters a the side event
+ Tobias J. and Leander for winning the side event
+ Richard for going 6-0 at the side event
+ my HGSS-on Tyranitar list that made Emanuel go 5-1 at the side-event
+ Richard for housing, driving, testing and everything
+ David for the last-minute-changes that improved my consistancy
+ Thomas just because he's a good and nice player
+ Sebastian for beating Denny who would be almost autoloss for me
+ Staff and Amigo for the organisation and the additional trip
+ never have to play against SP, Gyarados and Gengar again!
+ you for reading this
Slops:
- less total players than past years
- many Blaziken techs in Luxchomp decks
- Tobias J., Leander, Nico, Kay, Basti etc didn't make the cut
- beat two good frieds out of the tops
- stupid misplay at finals
- many good players like Steven and Marc were kicked out early
- Tom loses semifinals in spite of his good matchup
- lost the bag with the Nationals promo and participant prizes
See you in San Diego. ^^
