DaytonGymLeader
New Member
I was actually tossing between a few different things to play, but decided on Matrix. Was up until 2:30AM putting the deck together. Up at 6 to get ready and go. Picked up John’s mom at 7:15 after breakfast. Made the trek to Toledo (what a familiar drive that is) and arrived around 9:50AM. Did some begging for cards I needed to round out my deck from John and Liz and dropped of some for other people who hadn’t arrived yet (and decided to change decks anyway, not a biggie). I BS’ed shortly with some of the folks I haven’t seen in quite awhile – AJ, Jeff, Ron, Brian, Tracey & Justin (Eddie’s got to get his priorities in order), Moss & Seena (good to see old school quality players coming out of retirement), “The Davis Clan”, “Clyde” & Josh (too bad Mark couldn’t make it), Ted & Alex, Liz and Austin, Dustin, Jason, Ajay, Chris, Sam, Mike, and Rich O. Rich & Fulop - very nice ensembles BTW. Drew shows up in his girl pants and Elton John shades (sorry we didn’t have the cane, fedora, and pimp daddy coat for you), along with Tom and David, and ended up not needing anything we brought. I turn in my deck list, get deck checked, sign my list and go wait for R1 pairings. At this point, everyone is shocked beyond belief that I’m flopping cards in this event. Wow, what an event to come back to playing at – lots of quality talent. In all honesty, I expected a 2-4 finish on the day, but that remained to be seen. After a long delay between the end of registration and the Round 1 pairings (along with the mirror fiasco – but enough about that for now), it’s time to see how rusty things were.
R1 – Blastoise EX/Emerald Swampert/Milotic EX. I start with a lone Feebas and manage to build up from there. We play cat and mouse on prizes for a bit, but then he gets caught in an energy drought after I knock out his Blastoise EX. Prize count is 2-3 in my favor when time is called.
1-0
R2 – Dark Slowking (very similar to Primetool). Again with the Feebas start. I had a really slow build. Turn two he drops a Strength Charm and Dark on a Slowking and says “60”. I have no idea if he’s dropping the Charm for the attack or to do the extra 10 – but since he’s not being very communicative, I go for the latter. He’s also playing extremely fast, not announcing anything he’s doing. So I slow him down by letting him know that I’d like him to at least tell me what he’s doing with the tools he’s using and place 40 on my active. He calls the judge over and I just reiterate that he needs to announce what he’s doing. The Judge agrees. The game goes on. He’s getting ahead a bit and I decide to slow him down some by doing something unexpected…attacking with Metagross for a KO. I knew I was going to lose it next turn but the Steelix was ready to go off next turn anyway. He’s draw screwed with 2 in the grip and no tools. He Steven’s for 3, no success on Tools or Basics. Steelix cleans up his last Poke.
2-0
R3 – Ted D. with Lanturn/Breloom. I wasn’t too worried about this match, because I had a much better start. We do some trading of prizes. He uses a very strategic Warp Point to smack my Magcargo. We both make some big misplays that ended up canceling each other out. I was worried about losing the Steelix as my other two Onix were prized. This one came down to time with me being up a prize.
3-0
Going into R4, I was waiting for the crack to open between my feet signaling the end of the world because I’m doing pretty well at this point. Between rounds, I’m asked by a whole bunch of people where I think the cut line is going to be. I did some quick math and figured that all of the 4-2 players would make it. This would come back to bite me later.
R4 – Jackie with Blaze & EX Swarm. I get a lone Steelix set and can’t draw the energies I need to set it off. She’s pulling EX Birds left and right. I eventually get Moltres’d and it’s downhill from there as I never could get set up.
3-1
Talked to a few people between rounds who asked me about cuts again. AJ asks me about my record, same as his. He prophetically calls the next match.
R5 – AJ with Lanturn. I get spanked…..hard. I can never get anything running and he’s rolling like the machine he is. It would have been quicker had he not missed the Reversal flips.
3-2
I’m really up against the wall here. I’ve got to pull the win in the next round in order to at least have a chance of making T16 considering my resistance is in the toilet after R4 (44%).
R6 – Justin with LudiCargo/Shiftry. This match would be the toughest and best of the day. Justin’s a really good player and we were both in clutch positions to try and make T16. During the pre-game portion, I noticed that standings after R5 aren’t up anywhere. So I asked Tux if they could be posted. A couple minutes later, up they go. Thank you very much, sir. So begins the match. He goes up….way up, 3-6 in his favor. I finally get set up and get rolling with the Steelixes. He’s Fan Actioning my bench around which makes it hard for me to catch up. I did notice that his Shiftry is Candied and his active Ludi had 80 on it. I Smooth Over for the ATM Rock and Top Deck that for the next turn’s draw. He wasn’t expecting it. I ended up catching up and taking last prize with about 30 seconds to spare. This was a really well played match and I enjoyed immensely that was against a quality player.
4-2
I spend the time at the end of the round trying to figure the cut line. There’s four 4-2 players that won’t make it. My Resistance is up at 56%, but last round resistance shifts are the norm. 20 point swings aren’t uncommon, so I know I’m on the bubble.
T16 is announced and final standings after swiss go up. Sure enough, I hit a 14 point drop and am at the bottom on the 4-2 players. Not too bad a showing in this environment considering I haven’t played competitively in almost 2 years.
Played in an impromptu tournament with some of the NEO peeps where I got spanked again…badly.
Battle Frontier was not out in force. I saw maybe 4 in play all day long. If there would have been more Neverland or Dragtrode, I seriously think the Top Cuts in each age group would have been significantly different.
Take the next as you will, however there’s no ill intent, just my observations.
Mirrored tiles on the ceiling. It didn’t take any serious craning of the neck to utilize these, I know, a groups of us tested this out before the event started. The threat of a Game Loss to me, seemed excessive, especially given that the PG lays out that Game Losses are a last resort for the younger age groups. I happen to be one of those who stretches their neck during games, so how is a judge to prove intent? Other measures could have been taken, such as allowing players to request table reassignments (as there was plenty of space, about half of what the seating capacity was) or covering them.
Delays. Every event has them. At least announce that you’re in the beginning phases of them and how long you anticipate them to be.
Lack of consistency on time remaining and public time calls. I personally witnessed two instances where Judges, not score runners, did not know how much time was left. I’ll cite the bigger example: Player A asks for the time remaining. The Judge announces, “Less than 10, but more than 5.” No more than 10 seconds later, another Judge announces over the PA, “3 minutes remaining.” – A very large inconsistency – anywhere between a 7 and 2 minute swing. Personally, I’d give time to the closest minute. Everyone here knows my stance on public time calls – halfway thru. I still feel that making a call that close to time (5 minutes or less) tends to really promote stalling. However, if that’s what the judges decide, then so be it. I don’t have to agree with it, but I do have to cope with it.
Posting of Standings between rounds. I did notice that this was either not done or was done only after someone asked. Players need to be able to verify that their match results were entered correctly. Also, in the later rounds, Resistance becomes more critical. Players need to see where they stand. The more information that a player has, the happier that player is.
Staff delineation and competency. If you’re going to have different roles for your staff, such as Judges and Score Runners, put them in different uniforms. You could also have the Score Runners server as fixed point Score Keepers. By doing this, you don’t have Judge Calls answered by the wrong people. This also helps to get players out of the active play area, which was pretty rigidly enforced. Staff should NEVER admit that they don’t know the game or don’t know a ruling, no matter what their capacity. The correct answer should be, “Let me get someone who can answer that question.” or “Let me double-check.” or "Let me find you a Judge who can help you."
Overall, not too bad of a day.
R1 – Blastoise EX/Emerald Swampert/Milotic EX. I start with a lone Feebas and manage to build up from there. We play cat and mouse on prizes for a bit, but then he gets caught in an energy drought after I knock out his Blastoise EX. Prize count is 2-3 in my favor when time is called.
1-0
R2 – Dark Slowking (very similar to Primetool). Again with the Feebas start. I had a really slow build. Turn two he drops a Strength Charm and Dark on a Slowking and says “60”. I have no idea if he’s dropping the Charm for the attack or to do the extra 10 – but since he’s not being very communicative, I go for the latter. He’s also playing extremely fast, not announcing anything he’s doing. So I slow him down by letting him know that I’d like him to at least tell me what he’s doing with the tools he’s using and place 40 on my active. He calls the judge over and I just reiterate that he needs to announce what he’s doing. The Judge agrees. The game goes on. He’s getting ahead a bit and I decide to slow him down some by doing something unexpected…attacking with Metagross for a KO. I knew I was going to lose it next turn but the Steelix was ready to go off next turn anyway. He’s draw screwed with 2 in the grip and no tools. He Steven’s for 3, no success on Tools or Basics. Steelix cleans up his last Poke.
2-0
R3 – Ted D. with Lanturn/Breloom. I wasn’t too worried about this match, because I had a much better start. We do some trading of prizes. He uses a very strategic Warp Point to smack my Magcargo. We both make some big misplays that ended up canceling each other out. I was worried about losing the Steelix as my other two Onix were prized. This one came down to time with me being up a prize.
3-0
Going into R4, I was waiting for the crack to open between my feet signaling the end of the world because I’m doing pretty well at this point. Between rounds, I’m asked by a whole bunch of people where I think the cut line is going to be. I did some quick math and figured that all of the 4-2 players would make it. This would come back to bite me later.
R4 – Jackie with Blaze & EX Swarm. I get a lone Steelix set and can’t draw the energies I need to set it off. She’s pulling EX Birds left and right. I eventually get Moltres’d and it’s downhill from there as I never could get set up.
3-1
Talked to a few people between rounds who asked me about cuts again. AJ asks me about my record, same as his. He prophetically calls the next match.
R5 – AJ with Lanturn. I get spanked…..hard. I can never get anything running and he’s rolling like the machine he is. It would have been quicker had he not missed the Reversal flips.
3-2
I’m really up against the wall here. I’ve got to pull the win in the next round in order to at least have a chance of making T16 considering my resistance is in the toilet after R4 (44%).
R6 – Justin with LudiCargo/Shiftry. This match would be the toughest and best of the day. Justin’s a really good player and we were both in clutch positions to try and make T16. During the pre-game portion, I noticed that standings after R5 aren’t up anywhere. So I asked Tux if they could be posted. A couple minutes later, up they go. Thank you very much, sir. So begins the match. He goes up….way up, 3-6 in his favor. I finally get set up and get rolling with the Steelixes. He’s Fan Actioning my bench around which makes it hard for me to catch up. I did notice that his Shiftry is Candied and his active Ludi had 80 on it. I Smooth Over for the ATM Rock and Top Deck that for the next turn’s draw. He wasn’t expecting it. I ended up catching up and taking last prize with about 30 seconds to spare. This was a really well played match and I enjoyed immensely that was against a quality player.
4-2
I spend the time at the end of the round trying to figure the cut line. There’s four 4-2 players that won’t make it. My Resistance is up at 56%, but last round resistance shifts are the norm. 20 point swings aren’t uncommon, so I know I’m on the bubble.
T16 is announced and final standings after swiss go up. Sure enough, I hit a 14 point drop and am at the bottom on the 4-2 players. Not too bad a showing in this environment considering I haven’t played competitively in almost 2 years.
Played in an impromptu tournament with some of the NEO peeps where I got spanked again…badly.
Battle Frontier was not out in force. I saw maybe 4 in play all day long. If there would have been more Neverland or Dragtrode, I seriously think the Top Cuts in each age group would have been significantly different.
Take the next as you will, however there’s no ill intent, just my observations.
Mirrored tiles on the ceiling. It didn’t take any serious craning of the neck to utilize these, I know, a groups of us tested this out before the event started. The threat of a Game Loss to me, seemed excessive, especially given that the PG lays out that Game Losses are a last resort for the younger age groups. I happen to be one of those who stretches their neck during games, so how is a judge to prove intent? Other measures could have been taken, such as allowing players to request table reassignments (as there was plenty of space, about half of what the seating capacity was) or covering them.
Delays. Every event has them. At least announce that you’re in the beginning phases of them and how long you anticipate them to be.
Lack of consistency on time remaining and public time calls. I personally witnessed two instances where Judges, not score runners, did not know how much time was left. I’ll cite the bigger example: Player A asks for the time remaining. The Judge announces, “Less than 10, but more than 5.” No more than 10 seconds later, another Judge announces over the PA, “3 minutes remaining.” – A very large inconsistency – anywhere between a 7 and 2 minute swing. Personally, I’d give time to the closest minute. Everyone here knows my stance on public time calls – halfway thru. I still feel that making a call that close to time (5 minutes or less) tends to really promote stalling. However, if that’s what the judges decide, then so be it. I don’t have to agree with it, but I do have to cope with it.
Posting of Standings between rounds. I did notice that this was either not done or was done only after someone asked. Players need to be able to verify that their match results were entered correctly. Also, in the later rounds, Resistance becomes more critical. Players need to see where they stand. The more information that a player has, the happier that player is.
Staff delineation and competency. If you’re going to have different roles for your staff, such as Judges and Score Runners, put them in different uniforms. You could also have the Score Runners server as fixed point Score Keepers. By doing this, you don’t have Judge Calls answered by the wrong people. This also helps to get players out of the active play area, which was pretty rigidly enforced. Staff should NEVER admit that they don’t know the game or don’t know a ruling, no matter what their capacity. The correct answer should be, “Let me get someone who can answer that question.” or “Let me double-check.” or "Let me find you a Judge who can help you."
Overall, not too bad of a day.