badganondorf
New Member
This is my first English report so forgive my spelling errors. So here we go.
After losing a top8 match in our Nats to a burn flip I was pretty frustrated and took a month long break from Pokemon. I built my Worlds deck almost immediately after Worlds but didn’t test it too much before Finnish Pokemon Camp and August when I went to Miska every third day. So I play tested very small amount compared to Worlds 2006, 2005 and 2004. Maybe it was because very predictable metagame or just pure laziness but anyways I got a proper non-metagame deck together.
We came to Hilton Wednesday evening with my big brother (Finnish translator) and my friend who doesn’t play pokemon. We were so tired after 11 hours of flying that we fell asleep as soon as we got to the bed.
Thursday:
We woke up and went for a breakfast. After that we went to Open Gaming room with all Finnish players to play test match-ups. I didn’t want to spoil my Worlds deck there yet so I decided to play with GG. I also met my 2 years trading and MSN Messenger friend Matijs from The Netherlands. I played against him like 10 matches with different decks and after that I played against some Senior U.S. Player GG mirror.
After lunch we went to an Outlet and spent 800$ in 1½ hours. It was about a time to buy some new clothes. We came back to Hotel and playtested all over again until the evening when we went to bed again.
Friday:
So my plan was to scout Japanese decks in Grinders and play it or Glaceon. After seeing Yoneda playing Garchomp.LV.X with all kinds of teches my conclusion was to play Glaceon because I just couldn’t think of better deck to beat GG. Japanese Senior played Empozong and after seeing Alex Brosseau going 8-0 in Grinders I was pretty concerned about the match-up. We went to hotel room, tested 1 game against EmpoZong and even though I had a pretty bad start I won the game so I was confident for THE tournament.
Saturday:
So the big day. I woke up at 6 AM and I had a horrible headache and sore throat. But I didn’t take any medicine because I thought they would distract my concentration. Anyways I think people are interested in my list so here it comes. I couldn’t come up with a good name for this deck so now it goes with name which Miska came up: “Frozen hope”, it describes the deck pretty well.
Pokemon:
4x Absol(SW)
3x Eevee(MD)(Sand Attack)
2x Glaceon(MD)
2x Glaceon LV.X(MD)
1x Jirachi ex(CG)
2x Baltoy(GE)
2x Claydol(GE)
=16
Trainer:
4x Energy Removal 2
3x Cessation Crystal
3x Crystal Beach
4x Team Galactic’s Mars
2x Island Hermit
1x Team Galactic’s Wager
3x Bebe’s Search
2x Celio’s Network
2x Night Maintenance
2x Roseanne’s Research
3x Castaway
1x Strength Charm
=30
Energy:
4x Call Energy
7x Water Energy
1x Psychic Energy
2x Multi Energy
=14
Idea of this deck is pretty simple. Don’t let your opponent get his/her set-up. When your opponent doesn’t play Cessation Crystals you have the power to control when you can use the powers and when you don’t. I also noticed that many players were playing Warp Points instead of Windstorms so Glaceon + Cessation Crystal was something sooo good. Usually Crystal Beaches, Absol+Cessation and Jirachi ex are enough to bring down a GG. I only lost against GG 3 times in IRL testing with this deck so if I was going to face a GG every second round or more often I should be in the next day.
The deck’s worst match-ups are Blissey variants. I really can’t find a way to win Blissey without Lucksackin with Snow Cloaks and Absol Discardings.
In Empozong match-up ER2s are more than crucial. You can win the Empozong match-up without flipping heads if you get a good start and got discarding their set-up cards but it’s hard. But when you flip 50% or more heads with ER2s the match-up is on Glaceons side.
So after fine introduction to Worlds I can face my first opponent.
1. Round Matthew Chin(U.S) Scizor/Empoleon
I had no idea what he was playing but after he laid 3 Basics it was a good sign to me because it meant a small hand. He flipped Piplup, Baltoy and Scyther. After seeing the Scyther I was like “why did I have to play against Scizor in the first round”. Empoleon is a tough match-up against Glaceon even with Bronzong so additional OHKO with 1 energy really doesn’t help things… But I got a pretty decent start with Eevee and Call Energy. So I had T2 Claydol and Absol w/ Cessation. I started discarding his 4-5 card hand and didn’t hit anything too good. He searched for Chatot as he saw my Absol but I kept my hand size in 3-5 so it didn’t help him too much. I got a Glaceon with 3 Energies on bench but didn’t manage to get 3 Waters to it so it would be in OHKO range for Scizor. I flipped heads for Avalanche and started building 2nd Eevee on my bench. He didn’t get a Metal Energy yet, so I got the 2nd Glaceon on the Bench and 2 Energy to it. After that he did get a Metal to Scizor and OHKOed my Active Glaceon. But I was ready with my Night Maintenance and Bebe’s Search and KOed him right back. After that I just ran through his Basics. Good game!
1-0
I can’t describe how relieved I was after beating a Scizor deck. I predicted that if I won the first match-up my chances getting against GG were higher than if I went 0-1. So here comes the first GG.
2. Round Argentine player (Sorry don’t remember your name =( ) GG.
I hand a pretty decent start again. I went first and used Psychic Balance for 1 with my active Baltoy. He got a T1 Gardevoir and I was suddenly “yes”. He only had 3 or 4 cards in his hand, so next turn I was ready to search a Jirachi ex and Psychic Energy and just kill his pokemons before he couldn’t even attack. I Roseanned and noticed that Jirachi was prized. Oh well, I still got Claydol and Absol Cessation again with Crystal Beach. next turn he attached a Call Energy to Gardevoir and searched for Pachi and Chatot. I flipped ER2 heads and used Celio for bench Glaceon and attached Water. So he had 1 card in hand and Gardevoir with Call Energy and bench Pachi, Chatot and Baltoy. From now on I just discarded his hand and loaded Glaceon again with Energy. It was a bit ridiculous game because I flipped 4/4 heads from ER2 and just run through his Pokemons. It really feels great to go 6-0 against GG after GG getting a T1 Gardevoir with DRE.
2-0
So it seems like my playtesting matches weren’t so off after all.
3. Round Tomi Sjöblom(Finland) Honchkrow/Palkia LV.X/Absol
So the only Finnish player who was in 2-0 against me on 2nd round -.- there were 30 other players and we are against each other, bad luck. You can look this match from Dennis Hawk’s report. I was 10 damage away from winning the game. Very close game.
2-1
I just hoped that I’ll play against GG again so I can get myself to 3-1.
4. Round (U.S. Player) GG
My starting hand was semi-good. 2 Crystal Beaches, Roseanne, Jirachi ex, Celio’s Network, Energy Removal 2 and TGM. So if he is playing GG the start would be pretty good. I’ll go first and he flips Ralts. I topdeck Multi and Lolled. I was pretty sure in this point that the game was mine already. He uses Call and searches for Baltoy and Chatot. I use Roseanne, flip ER2, heads, searched for Water and Baltoy and Psychic Shield. He retreated to Chatot and got 5 cards. I started searching Eevees to bench and attaching Energies while Psychic Shielding. I tried to keep my hand as small as possible so his set-up slowed down with no Powers. After all I got Glaceon LV.X going and got 40 to bench with Avalanche. Then he got a first Psychic Lock and I tried using Claydol through it. He noticed it after I was drawing the cards so we called the judge. I only got a warning so I had to concentrate better in the future. After that I KOed Gardevoir and all his pokemons which were left. Again 6-0 against GG.
3-1
With 3-1 I was pretty sure that I’ll face a GG again and with Tomi going 4-0 and Tom going 3-1 in Masters, Finnish Masters were in pretty good positions. I checked the pairings and I knew that the next player were playing GG because he was…
5. Round Gino Lombardi(U.S) GG/Muk/Cresselia LV.X
I knew that Gino is probably one of the Best GG players in the Worlds so here would come the real test with this match-up. I knew Gino was playing Muk but it really doesn’t do anything against my deck. I start with Eevee and he gets 3 Basics so good for me again because he had a pretty small hand. Again with Roseanne/ Call Energy I got a T2 Absol and Claydol but I didn’t have to attach the Cessation yet because Gino didn’t have Baltoy yet. After discarding I attached the Cessation to Absol and kept on discarding. Then Gino brought Pachirisu to an active spot and hit 40 to my Absol while discarding Cessation Crystal. So he gave me my powers back, nice. After that I brought Jirachi ex Psychic Shielding while I had problem drawing my Celios , Bebes and Glaceons from my deck. I noticed that 1 Glaceon was prized so I had to use Island Hermit to find it. After Psychic Shielding Gino brought Ralts Hypnosising my Jirachi ex. If I had flipped tails he would have got a Cosmic Power next turn but I weren’t too worried about it because I still would’ve had a very good chance of winning. Anyways I flipped heads. So I just gave my Glaceon the 3rd energy and Psychic Shielded the Ralts away. After that Gino started building his Benched Muk while I was Psychic Shielding. I got 1 Heads from 2 ER2 so I got 1 turn more before the Muk was coming. With no Warp Points in my deck I was forced to attach a Cessation to My Glaceon so I could heal my confuse with Level Upping after Muk hit the Glaceon. So I brought my Glaceon with Cessation in the active spot and used Speed Slide for a KO. Gino came with Muk and hit 50. I level upped and hit 70. Then Gino Killed my Active Glaceon and I brought my 2nd to the active spot. Next turn Gino used Warp Point and I brought my Absol with Cessation to the active spot and Gino pointed out that he didn’t notice it. So I retreated with Absol and just ran through his last pokemons. Good Game.!
4-1
So I won the National Champion and I was 18-1 against GG. I can say that I was pretty happy with the result. I was confident that I’ll make the top cut so I relaxed a bit.
6. Round Sami Sekkoum(GB) Empoleon/Dusknoir/?
I know Sami is a good players and I thought he was playing Empoleon so a hard match coming up. I got a Jirachi start. That isn’t too good against Empoleon. But in my opening hand I had too much supporters and Stadiums so I would’ve got myself a small hand. Not much to say. Sami Mimiced for 7. I flipped ER2 tails and went through 70% of my deck without drawing a 2nd ER2. After I lost scooped the match, I checked the top2 cards of my deck, which both were ER2. If the first Er2 would’ve been heads the game would’ve been very much tougher.
4-2
So I had to win the next round. I would’ve preferred winning the last match because playing under pressure is fun but exhausting.
7. Round Simone Soldo(Italy) Bronzong/Ampharos/Gardevoir/Absol ex/Claydol
I knew what he was playing and after thinking what do the spread decks to against this I thought it was an autowin like a Gardy. Too many Scrambles and too many stage2. But after my opening hand which had: 2 TGMs, Baltoy, 2 Crystal Beaches, Celio and Bebe I wasn’t so confident no more. I went first and passed. he used Call and Bebe for Claydol. I got an energy search for Absol and retreat the Baltoy for Absol. He then uses Claydol, Rare Candies Ampharos and Gardevoir on T3 and I like “ok, byebye topcut”. I discarded his hand, but he drew 4 prizes before I got something playable in play. After flipping all Er2 and Snow Cloaks tails it still looks like I have a chance but he topdecks night Maintance and uses Bronzong/Candy/Bronzong for the last prize.
4-3
After this I’m sure that I won’t get to the top cut. Tomi also lost his last match so he doesn’t help my opponent’s percent. I’ve gave up the hope and go to talk other Finnish players. After 2 hours the standings are finally up and Tomi shouts that I’m the 32nd. Whoa, I couldn’t have imagined that after this year’s 5th and 9th place in Citys and Regionals I got lucky at Worlds. But then I realized that I would have to face Alex who was in 15-0 at this point. So he has to be a great player with a great deck.
I go to bed and knew that I had to flip at least 50% heads from ER2 against Empoleon if I want to win it.
Sunday(Top32)
I’ll wake up at 6 AM and noticed that the headache was gone. It was of course a good mark even though I still had the flue. I went down and ate breakfast. After that I go to register on the top32 and wait for the matches to begin.
Top32 Alex Brosseau (U.S.) Empoleon/Bronzong
Alex talked a lot with Augusti and asked me something in Spanish which I of course didn’t understand. They announced that we could start the round even though we haven’t even got the set-up yet so we got a 2 minutes time extension.
1. Game
I got my 2nd Absol start of the tournament exactly where I needed it. I Got Absol with Cessation and destroyed his hand. I also got good cards in my hand so I could keep my hand size small until I’ve KOed the Chatot. This one was over pretty fast because I just through his Basics with Glaceon LV.X.
5-3(1-0)
2. Game
I got an Absol start but my hand was total rubbish. He got Empoleon out and I couldn’t flip heads or even got the Glaceon going. So this was also a pretty fast game.
5-4(1-1)
3. Game
Alex was frustrated because of my 2 Absol starts so he was happy when I opened with Baltoy. I could also see from his face that his hand was pretty good. I think I went Aggro Glaceon after flipping 2 Heads from ER2s and that was all I needed for the win. I also used TGM in the 2nd turn and Alex’s looked a bit shocked when I took the card. I was pretty sure that it was an important one. After that he didn’t draw anything so he stalled with Bronzongs Hypnosis for 3 turns because I flipped all the time tails. After I flipped heads I just run through the Basics which were left.
6-4(2-1)
I was very excited after this victory. I won one of the worst match-ups against probably a Winner candidate of the whole tournament. After that I just watched my future opponent’s match and good for me: GG won. So:
Top16.
Augusti Pugliese(Did I spell it right?) Argentina, GG.
1. Game
Before this I had only lost 1 prize against GG so I thought it was going to be an easy match. I looked my hand and it was pretty much perfect. Absol, Call, Eevee, Castaway, Crystal Beach, Roseanne and something. I went first and started discarding. He immediately searches for Chatot with Call so I start making my hand smaller. After discarding and getting Claydol and Glaceon for set-up I noticed that the Jirachi ex is prized again. It makes the things more complicated against GG. I start Avalanching but I kept flipping tails.After 4 KOs and 2 Acalanche Heads Augusti gets Topdeck Gallade for his 0 card hand and KOs my Glaceon. I noticed that he was pretty excited because I only had Jirachi with 1 Energy on the bench, because the other Glaceon was prized too. I then proceed for Castaway, Water, Strength Charm and Super Psy Bolt Gallade for the KO. Augusti didn’t see that coming so he scooped.
7-4(1-0)
2. Game
He started with Ralts and Call. I start with Eevee, but no Call or Roseanne, only Celio, Energies and Crystal Beach. The start was the 2nd worst in the tournament. I couldn’t find Bebe or Roseanne so I could search for Jirachi ex. After he got Gallade going and 2 Er2 tails I scooped.
7-5(1-1)
3. Game
I was nervous about this until I saw my opening hand. It was similar to the first game so I just run through his deck again. I don’t think he got a single prize in this game.
8-5(2-1)
Top8, nice, I have only been once on the next day in Worlds and that was when I was playing in seniors. So here we go top8.
Top8 Jimmy O’Brien(U.S) Empoleon/Bronzong
Jimmy played against GG in the top16 match so if the GG player would’ve won the match, I would’ve been more than happy =P But anyways top8.
1. Game
Again, I got a perfect start. Start discarding his hand. He has nothing and I go Celio for a Glaceon. Check my deck, double check my deck and then I was pretty disappointed. My both Glaceon were prized -.- I got Jirachi ex, use an Island Hermit and still don’t see any glaceons. I didn’t get a KO with Jirachi but if I had got I still wouldn’t have drawn a Glaceon from prizes -.- Yeah pretty bad luck for top8 match. But that’s the risk with only 2 Glaceons in deck and it was worth it.
8-6(0-1)
2. Game
We both got a semi start. The game was very though. But Jimmy misplayed when he searched for water and attached a Call. Then I pointed to Crystal Beach so I got the 1 extra turn I needed for the victory. Closest game of the day.
9-6(1-1)
3. Game
I look my starting hand and it’s pretty good but I don’t start with Absol. I can get a T2 Claydol, but Jimmy gets a Cessation to Prinplup which slowed me down too much. After continuous tails from ER2s and Snow Cloaks I really couldn’t do anything. If some of the flips would have been heads I could’ve had a decent chance in winning the match but flipping tails is part of the game.
9-7(1-2)
So I got to top8 with a non-metagame deck and won 4 different GGs. I can’t be nothing but very happy for my effort. Finland didn’t win this year the Worlds but at least I have proved myself that I’m almost as good player as deck builder.
Props:
+ Team Finland
+ Glaceon LV.X being underrated
+ Facing many Worlds class Players
+ Heikki going to top16 with the same deck in Juniors
+ Tomi Going top32 with Honch
+ Top8 placement
+ Meeting Matjis
+ Andceo for signed Glaceon
+ Cool Nintendo DS Lite
Slops:
- Our National Champion going 1-6
Any comments about the deck and the report are welcome. Thanks for reading.
After losing a top8 match in our Nats to a burn flip I was pretty frustrated and took a month long break from Pokemon. I built my Worlds deck almost immediately after Worlds but didn’t test it too much before Finnish Pokemon Camp and August when I went to Miska every third day. So I play tested very small amount compared to Worlds 2006, 2005 and 2004. Maybe it was because very predictable metagame or just pure laziness but anyways I got a proper non-metagame deck together.
We came to Hilton Wednesday evening with my big brother (Finnish translator) and my friend who doesn’t play pokemon. We were so tired after 11 hours of flying that we fell asleep as soon as we got to the bed.
Thursday:
We woke up and went for a breakfast. After that we went to Open Gaming room with all Finnish players to play test match-ups. I didn’t want to spoil my Worlds deck there yet so I decided to play with GG. I also met my 2 years trading and MSN Messenger friend Matijs from The Netherlands. I played against him like 10 matches with different decks and after that I played against some Senior U.S. Player GG mirror.
After lunch we went to an Outlet and spent 800$ in 1½ hours. It was about a time to buy some new clothes. We came back to Hotel and playtested all over again until the evening when we went to bed again.
Friday:
So my plan was to scout Japanese decks in Grinders and play it or Glaceon. After seeing Yoneda playing Garchomp.LV.X with all kinds of teches my conclusion was to play Glaceon because I just couldn’t think of better deck to beat GG. Japanese Senior played Empozong and after seeing Alex Brosseau going 8-0 in Grinders I was pretty concerned about the match-up. We went to hotel room, tested 1 game against EmpoZong and even though I had a pretty bad start I won the game so I was confident for THE tournament.
Saturday:
So the big day. I woke up at 6 AM and I had a horrible headache and sore throat. But I didn’t take any medicine because I thought they would distract my concentration. Anyways I think people are interested in my list so here it comes. I couldn’t come up with a good name for this deck so now it goes with name which Miska came up: “Frozen hope”, it describes the deck pretty well.
Pokemon:
4x Absol(SW)
3x Eevee(MD)(Sand Attack)
2x Glaceon(MD)
2x Glaceon LV.X(MD)
1x Jirachi ex(CG)
2x Baltoy(GE)
2x Claydol(GE)
=16
Trainer:
4x Energy Removal 2
3x Cessation Crystal
3x Crystal Beach
4x Team Galactic’s Mars
2x Island Hermit
1x Team Galactic’s Wager
3x Bebe’s Search
2x Celio’s Network
2x Night Maintenance
2x Roseanne’s Research
3x Castaway
1x Strength Charm
=30
Energy:
4x Call Energy
7x Water Energy
1x Psychic Energy
2x Multi Energy
=14
Idea of this deck is pretty simple. Don’t let your opponent get his/her set-up. When your opponent doesn’t play Cessation Crystals you have the power to control when you can use the powers and when you don’t. I also noticed that many players were playing Warp Points instead of Windstorms so Glaceon + Cessation Crystal was something sooo good. Usually Crystal Beaches, Absol+Cessation and Jirachi ex are enough to bring down a GG. I only lost against GG 3 times in IRL testing with this deck so if I was going to face a GG every second round or more often I should be in the next day.
The deck’s worst match-ups are Blissey variants. I really can’t find a way to win Blissey without Lucksackin with Snow Cloaks and Absol Discardings.
In Empozong match-up ER2s are more than crucial. You can win the Empozong match-up without flipping heads if you get a good start and got discarding their set-up cards but it’s hard. But when you flip 50% or more heads with ER2s the match-up is on Glaceons side.
So after fine introduction to Worlds I can face my first opponent.
1. Round Matthew Chin(U.S) Scizor/Empoleon
I had no idea what he was playing but after he laid 3 Basics it was a good sign to me because it meant a small hand. He flipped Piplup, Baltoy and Scyther. After seeing the Scyther I was like “why did I have to play against Scizor in the first round”. Empoleon is a tough match-up against Glaceon even with Bronzong so additional OHKO with 1 energy really doesn’t help things… But I got a pretty decent start with Eevee and Call Energy. So I had T2 Claydol and Absol w/ Cessation. I started discarding his 4-5 card hand and didn’t hit anything too good. He searched for Chatot as he saw my Absol but I kept my hand size in 3-5 so it didn’t help him too much. I got a Glaceon with 3 Energies on bench but didn’t manage to get 3 Waters to it so it would be in OHKO range for Scizor. I flipped heads for Avalanche and started building 2nd Eevee on my bench. He didn’t get a Metal Energy yet, so I got the 2nd Glaceon on the Bench and 2 Energy to it. After that he did get a Metal to Scizor and OHKOed my Active Glaceon. But I was ready with my Night Maintenance and Bebe’s Search and KOed him right back. After that I just ran through his Basics. Good game!
1-0
I can’t describe how relieved I was after beating a Scizor deck. I predicted that if I won the first match-up my chances getting against GG were higher than if I went 0-1. So here comes the first GG.
2. Round Argentine player (Sorry don’t remember your name =( ) GG.
I hand a pretty decent start again. I went first and used Psychic Balance for 1 with my active Baltoy. He got a T1 Gardevoir and I was suddenly “yes”. He only had 3 or 4 cards in his hand, so next turn I was ready to search a Jirachi ex and Psychic Energy and just kill his pokemons before he couldn’t even attack. I Roseanned and noticed that Jirachi was prized. Oh well, I still got Claydol and Absol Cessation again with Crystal Beach. next turn he attached a Call Energy to Gardevoir and searched for Pachi and Chatot. I flipped ER2 heads and used Celio for bench Glaceon and attached Water. So he had 1 card in hand and Gardevoir with Call Energy and bench Pachi, Chatot and Baltoy. From now on I just discarded his hand and loaded Glaceon again with Energy. It was a bit ridiculous game because I flipped 4/4 heads from ER2 and just run through his Pokemons. It really feels great to go 6-0 against GG after GG getting a T1 Gardevoir with DRE.
2-0
So it seems like my playtesting matches weren’t so off after all.
3. Round Tomi Sjöblom(Finland) Honchkrow/Palkia LV.X/Absol
So the only Finnish player who was in 2-0 against me on 2nd round -.- there were 30 other players and we are against each other, bad luck. You can look this match from Dennis Hawk’s report. I was 10 damage away from winning the game. Very close game.
2-1
I just hoped that I’ll play against GG again so I can get myself to 3-1.
4. Round (U.S. Player) GG
My starting hand was semi-good. 2 Crystal Beaches, Roseanne, Jirachi ex, Celio’s Network, Energy Removal 2 and TGM. So if he is playing GG the start would be pretty good. I’ll go first and he flips Ralts. I topdeck Multi and Lolled. I was pretty sure in this point that the game was mine already. He uses Call and searches for Baltoy and Chatot. I use Roseanne, flip ER2, heads, searched for Water and Baltoy and Psychic Shield. He retreated to Chatot and got 5 cards. I started searching Eevees to bench and attaching Energies while Psychic Shielding. I tried to keep my hand as small as possible so his set-up slowed down with no Powers. After all I got Glaceon LV.X going and got 40 to bench with Avalanche. Then he got a first Psychic Lock and I tried using Claydol through it. He noticed it after I was drawing the cards so we called the judge. I only got a warning so I had to concentrate better in the future. After that I KOed Gardevoir and all his pokemons which were left. Again 6-0 against GG.
3-1
With 3-1 I was pretty sure that I’ll face a GG again and with Tomi going 4-0 and Tom going 3-1 in Masters, Finnish Masters were in pretty good positions. I checked the pairings and I knew that the next player were playing GG because he was…
5. Round Gino Lombardi(U.S) GG/Muk/Cresselia LV.X
I knew that Gino is probably one of the Best GG players in the Worlds so here would come the real test with this match-up. I knew Gino was playing Muk but it really doesn’t do anything against my deck. I start with Eevee and he gets 3 Basics so good for me again because he had a pretty small hand. Again with Roseanne/ Call Energy I got a T2 Absol and Claydol but I didn’t have to attach the Cessation yet because Gino didn’t have Baltoy yet. After discarding I attached the Cessation to Absol and kept on discarding. Then Gino brought Pachirisu to an active spot and hit 40 to my Absol while discarding Cessation Crystal. So he gave me my powers back, nice. After that I brought Jirachi ex Psychic Shielding while I had problem drawing my Celios , Bebes and Glaceons from my deck. I noticed that 1 Glaceon was prized so I had to use Island Hermit to find it. After Psychic Shielding Gino brought Ralts Hypnosising my Jirachi ex. If I had flipped tails he would have got a Cosmic Power next turn but I weren’t too worried about it because I still would’ve had a very good chance of winning. Anyways I flipped heads. So I just gave my Glaceon the 3rd energy and Psychic Shielded the Ralts away. After that Gino started building his Benched Muk while I was Psychic Shielding. I got 1 Heads from 2 ER2 so I got 1 turn more before the Muk was coming. With no Warp Points in my deck I was forced to attach a Cessation to My Glaceon so I could heal my confuse with Level Upping after Muk hit the Glaceon. So I brought my Glaceon with Cessation in the active spot and used Speed Slide for a KO. Gino came with Muk and hit 50. I level upped and hit 70. Then Gino Killed my Active Glaceon and I brought my 2nd to the active spot. Next turn Gino used Warp Point and I brought my Absol with Cessation to the active spot and Gino pointed out that he didn’t notice it. So I retreated with Absol and just ran through his last pokemons. Good Game.!
4-1
So I won the National Champion and I was 18-1 against GG. I can say that I was pretty happy with the result. I was confident that I’ll make the top cut so I relaxed a bit.
6. Round Sami Sekkoum(GB) Empoleon/Dusknoir/?
I know Sami is a good players and I thought he was playing Empoleon so a hard match coming up. I got a Jirachi start. That isn’t too good against Empoleon. But in my opening hand I had too much supporters and Stadiums so I would’ve got myself a small hand. Not much to say. Sami Mimiced for 7. I flipped ER2 tails and went through 70% of my deck without drawing a 2nd ER2. After I lost scooped the match, I checked the top2 cards of my deck, which both were ER2. If the first Er2 would’ve been heads the game would’ve been very much tougher.
4-2
So I had to win the next round. I would’ve preferred winning the last match because playing under pressure is fun but exhausting.
7. Round Simone Soldo(Italy) Bronzong/Ampharos/Gardevoir/Absol ex/Claydol
I knew what he was playing and after thinking what do the spread decks to against this I thought it was an autowin like a Gardy. Too many Scrambles and too many stage2. But after my opening hand which had: 2 TGMs, Baltoy, 2 Crystal Beaches, Celio and Bebe I wasn’t so confident no more. I went first and passed. he used Call and Bebe for Claydol. I got an energy search for Absol and retreat the Baltoy for Absol. He then uses Claydol, Rare Candies Ampharos and Gardevoir on T3 and I like “ok, byebye topcut”. I discarded his hand, but he drew 4 prizes before I got something playable in play. After flipping all Er2 and Snow Cloaks tails it still looks like I have a chance but he topdecks night Maintance and uses Bronzong/Candy/Bronzong for the last prize.
4-3
After this I’m sure that I won’t get to the top cut. Tomi also lost his last match so he doesn’t help my opponent’s percent. I’ve gave up the hope and go to talk other Finnish players. After 2 hours the standings are finally up and Tomi shouts that I’m the 32nd. Whoa, I couldn’t have imagined that after this year’s 5th and 9th place in Citys and Regionals I got lucky at Worlds. But then I realized that I would have to face Alex who was in 15-0 at this point. So he has to be a great player with a great deck.
I go to bed and knew that I had to flip at least 50% heads from ER2 against Empoleon if I want to win it.
Sunday(Top32)
I’ll wake up at 6 AM and noticed that the headache was gone. It was of course a good mark even though I still had the flue. I went down and ate breakfast. After that I go to register on the top32 and wait for the matches to begin.
Top32 Alex Brosseau (U.S.) Empoleon/Bronzong
Alex talked a lot with Augusti and asked me something in Spanish which I of course didn’t understand. They announced that we could start the round even though we haven’t even got the set-up yet so we got a 2 minutes time extension.
1. Game
I got my 2nd Absol start of the tournament exactly where I needed it. I Got Absol with Cessation and destroyed his hand. I also got good cards in my hand so I could keep my hand size small until I’ve KOed the Chatot. This one was over pretty fast because I just through his Basics with Glaceon LV.X.
5-3(1-0)
2. Game
I got an Absol start but my hand was total rubbish. He got Empoleon out and I couldn’t flip heads or even got the Glaceon going. So this was also a pretty fast game.
5-4(1-1)
3. Game
Alex was frustrated because of my 2 Absol starts so he was happy when I opened with Baltoy. I could also see from his face that his hand was pretty good. I think I went Aggro Glaceon after flipping 2 Heads from ER2s and that was all I needed for the win. I also used TGM in the 2nd turn and Alex’s looked a bit shocked when I took the card. I was pretty sure that it was an important one. After that he didn’t draw anything so he stalled with Bronzongs Hypnosis for 3 turns because I flipped all the time tails. After I flipped heads I just run through the Basics which were left.
6-4(2-1)
I was very excited after this victory. I won one of the worst match-ups against probably a Winner candidate of the whole tournament. After that I just watched my future opponent’s match and good for me: GG won. So:
Top16.
Augusti Pugliese(Did I spell it right?) Argentina, GG.
1. Game
Before this I had only lost 1 prize against GG so I thought it was going to be an easy match. I looked my hand and it was pretty much perfect. Absol, Call, Eevee, Castaway, Crystal Beach, Roseanne and something. I went first and started discarding. He immediately searches for Chatot with Call so I start making my hand smaller. After discarding and getting Claydol and Glaceon for set-up I noticed that the Jirachi ex is prized again. It makes the things more complicated against GG. I start Avalanching but I kept flipping tails.After 4 KOs and 2 Acalanche Heads Augusti gets Topdeck Gallade for his 0 card hand and KOs my Glaceon. I noticed that he was pretty excited because I only had Jirachi with 1 Energy on the bench, because the other Glaceon was prized too. I then proceed for Castaway, Water, Strength Charm and Super Psy Bolt Gallade for the KO. Augusti didn’t see that coming so he scooped.
7-4(1-0)
2. Game
He started with Ralts and Call. I start with Eevee, but no Call or Roseanne, only Celio, Energies and Crystal Beach. The start was the 2nd worst in the tournament. I couldn’t find Bebe or Roseanne so I could search for Jirachi ex. After he got Gallade going and 2 Er2 tails I scooped.
7-5(1-1)
3. Game
I was nervous about this until I saw my opening hand. It was similar to the first game so I just run through his deck again. I don’t think he got a single prize in this game.
8-5(2-1)
Top8, nice, I have only been once on the next day in Worlds and that was when I was playing in seniors. So here we go top8.
Top8 Jimmy O’Brien(U.S) Empoleon/Bronzong
Jimmy played against GG in the top16 match so if the GG player would’ve won the match, I would’ve been more than happy =P But anyways top8.
1. Game
Again, I got a perfect start. Start discarding his hand. He has nothing and I go Celio for a Glaceon. Check my deck, double check my deck and then I was pretty disappointed. My both Glaceon were prized -.- I got Jirachi ex, use an Island Hermit and still don’t see any glaceons. I didn’t get a KO with Jirachi but if I had got I still wouldn’t have drawn a Glaceon from prizes -.- Yeah pretty bad luck for top8 match. But that’s the risk with only 2 Glaceons in deck and it was worth it.
8-6(0-1)
2. Game
We both got a semi start. The game was very though. But Jimmy misplayed when he searched for water and attached a Call. Then I pointed to Crystal Beach so I got the 1 extra turn I needed for the victory. Closest game of the day.
9-6(1-1)
3. Game
I look my starting hand and it’s pretty good but I don’t start with Absol. I can get a T2 Claydol, but Jimmy gets a Cessation to Prinplup which slowed me down too much. After continuous tails from ER2s and Snow Cloaks I really couldn’t do anything. If some of the flips would have been heads I could’ve had a decent chance in winning the match but flipping tails is part of the game.
9-7(1-2)
So I got to top8 with a non-metagame deck and won 4 different GGs. I can’t be nothing but very happy for my effort. Finland didn’t win this year the Worlds but at least I have proved myself that I’m almost as good player as deck builder.
Props:
+ Team Finland
+ Glaceon LV.X being underrated
+ Facing many Worlds class Players
+ Heikki going to top16 with the same deck in Juniors
+ Tomi Going top32 with Honch
+ Top8 placement
+ Meeting Matjis
+ Andceo for signed Glaceon
+ Cool Nintendo DS Lite
Slops:
- Our National Champion going 1-6
Any comments about the deck and the report are welcome. Thanks for reading.
