clifton snorlax
New Member
Hi everyone my name is Alex Northey and this is my first report on the ‘gym so I’ll probably write too much (sorry). As the name suggets this is my report on UK Nationals on 29th May 2011 at Wickstead Park, Kettering.
I'm not a very well known player - in fact there are probably about 10 people on the 'gym who vaguely remember me. This is mainly because I live in Exeter and we almost never have the big tournaments like states. I have travelled to Bournemouth for Cities and States where I've placed respectably (3rd and 7th) but aside from that not much else. There are only about 5 of us who play competitively so we don't get much practice and we have no clue what the meta is. All this season I’ve played Gyarados despite having bad matchups against Luxchomp, Vilegar and the new kid Magnezone/Machamp. It's been tweaked so much I can't remember what the original list was like. So I stuck to my guns and decided to play Gyarados, even though we were expecting a lot of Luxchomp and maybe Magnezone/Machamp, for my first National Championship as a Master.
Here's the final list:
Pokemon-21:
4x Sableye
4x Magikarp (SF)
3x Gyarados
2x Uxie
2x Azelf
1x Mesprit
1x Crobat G
1x Regice
1x Smeargle
1x Combee (SF)
1x Unown Q
Supporters/Trainers/ /Stadiums-32:
4x Pokemon Collector
2x Seeker
2x Copycat
1x Bebe’s Search
1x Black Belt
1x Twins
1x Cynthia’s Feelings
4x Junk Arm
4x Pluspower
2x Warp Point
2x Pokemon Rescue
1x Luxury Ball
1x VS Seeker
1x Expert Belt
1x Lost Remover
4x Broken Time-Space
Energy-7:
4x Rescue Energy
2x Warp Energy
1x Cyclone Energy
Some noticeable inclusions are the 2x Azelf and 4x Pluspower. In a previous game against Jack Stewart-Armstead (sorry if I spelt that wrong) at Cities my prizes consisted of an Azelf and Magikarp so I could do a max of 60 damage – I lost pretty quickly. Ever since then I’ve run 2 so that if one is prized there is almost always one still in the deck. The pluspowers replaced the super scoop-ups because I wanted something more reliable to junk arm and give me that extra 20 damage against Luxchomp and made the matchup either 50-50 or 55-45. Some other techs I tried were 1-1 Donphan and Toxicroak G promo for Luxchomp and Mightyena LA back when Lostgar was hyped madly – needless to say they all failed miserably.
Anyway here’s the report: (Apologies if I got your name wrong, please correct me.)
Representing Masters for Team Exeter was Me (Gyarados) and Branoc (Gyarados).
For Seniors was Chris (Gyarados) and Philip (Magnezone/Machamp).
For those wondering where Danny Dowling was – he couldn’t be bothered to go.
Registration started from 9:00 to 10:00 but rounds didn’t start until about 11:15 because of computer issues. There were 7 rounds followed by a top 16.
Round 1 – Kelly N with Magnezone/Yanmega.
I’ve never practiced this deck so I didn’t know what to expect. I started with Sableye to her Yanma and proceeded to impersonate collector for the obvious Karp,Karp,Ice. Her turn and she did a bunch of crazy stuff adding Yanmega prime to her hand putting down another Yanma and a Magnemite then Uxie for about 6. She attaches to the Magnemite and passes. I get a Gyarados on the bench and regimove putting two Karps in the discard. I then impersonate for more Karps. She gets two Yanmega primes out then judges me – great. She knocks out Sableye with ‘sonicboom’. Eventually, I get three Magikarps in the discard pile and begin damaging/knocking out Yanmega Primes after she keeps hitting me with ‘Gyro Ball’ from Magnezone SF. Whilst this is happening she’s using Giratina’s ‘Let Loose’, Copycat and Judge to constantly have the same hand size. At 1 point it’s my 3 prizes to her 2 (I think) when I black belt + double pluspower a belted magnezone prime levelled up to put her on 10 damage left . After a couple more knockouts I drop the Crobat G to knock out the Magnezone for the game when she had 1 prize to my 2. A very close and enjoyable game - that woobat was so cute!
1-0
Round 2 – Janet Williams? with DialgaChomp.
Yet another matchup I hadn’t playtested against. This game when badly for her as she made a lot of misplays like retreating a Dialga G LvX with a poketurn in her hand and belting an active Garchomp C LvX which I then knocked out with my own expert belt and 2 pluspowers. After that I just swung with Gyarados repeatedly for the game. Unlucky Janet with those misplays but you still made the game enjoyable nonetheless which I’m thankful for.
2-0
Round 3 – Alan Barber with Vilegar/Slowking tech.
I knew what he was playing because Branoc lost to him in the previous round so I wanted revenge. I started Combee to his Spiritomb but I topdecked the Sableye, attached warp energy and set up a Gyarados. His set up was slow getting out a Vileplume turn 4-5 but he took out my regice early on with shadow room so I couldn’t discard all my trainers. He levelled up his Gengar which stopped me from attacking with Uxie so I tested my luck and rammed the Gengar luckily flipping tails. He got his Slowking tech out late game but by then I had 2 prizes left whilst he had 4 so it didn’t make much difference – had he of got it out sooner I would have been in real trouble. At one point in the match he knocked out my Gyarados with an Azelf because it already had 120 from poltergeist which we both found hilarious. I eventually knocked out his Gengar for the game. Fun game Alan but revenge is mine!
3-0
Round 4- Anthony Gallian with Gyarados.
His was the only other Gyarados deck I saw that day which surprised me. I got Sableye out first and set up before him but he took a cheeky prize by knocking out my Unown Q with Sableye and special dark which I did not see coming. Unfortunately for him, I had Twins in my hand and set up further getting out a Gyarados and attaching rescue energy to it. We both traded a couple of ‘tail revenge’s with each other but he needed Combee and pokemon rescue to recover whilst I had a steady stream of rescue energies in my hand. Late game he sacrificed a Sableye to impersonate a seeker and pick up his Combee again but by then I had already won. Unlucky Anthony, I’m glad to see there’s still someone who hasn’t given up on Gyarados yet!
4-0
Round 5 – Ross Gilbert with Donphan.
He was the nicest player I have ever met. I cannot stress how friendly he was. Unfortunately, Sableye got me donked because he started with 2 pokedrawer + and I had to go first!. Typical, the one time I have a favourable matchup I get donked. Still he apologised and wished me luck in my next game. Curse you overeager pokebody!
4-1
Round 6 – Tamao Cameron with Vilegar.
I misplayed incredibly badly early on in the game. I decided to hit for 30 damage with ‘tail revenge’ instead of setting up. It was after that that I realised I had no way of getting or discarding Magikarps. He got two Gengars and a Vileplume out by turn 3. I scooped after he had 2 prizes left to my 5. Sorry for the awful game!
4-2
Round 7 - Andrew S with Luxchomp
The first Luxchomp I had seen all day. I started with a brilliant hand of Sableye, Smeargle, Magikarp and BTS. I got Gyarados turn 2 with 2 Magikarps in the discard. I warp point and knock out his Azelf or Uxie with a pluspower. At some point he knocked out my Sableye with his Luxray GL LvX but I responded with 2 pluspowers for the knockout. He then dragon rushes my Gyarados but I knock it out by using 2 junk arms for 2 pluspowers. He knocked out Gyarados with Weavile G but I had rescue energy attached and knocked it out for the last prize.
5-2
Rankings were put up and I was seeded 14th – I made top cut! For no reason someone
said to me ‘I’ve seen you play mate and I’m not worried’ which I thought was mean. Is that what top cut does to people?
Top 16 – Karl Blake with Luxchomp.
Game 1: I get donked with a lone Magikarp to his Garchomp C with a DCE. Not a good start.
Game 2: I once again topdeck a much needed Sableye and get things going. He cyrus’ for a power spray, places down a Luxray GL, attches to it and passes. His field is Garchomp C active and a Toxicroak G promo and Luxray GL on the bench. I draw; play a seeker with him picking up Toxicroak. I get Gyarados out with 3 Magikarps in the discard thanks to junk arms. I warp point and knock out the Luxray. I take another prize before he takes out my Smeargle with Unown Q attached. I warp point for another prize and he dragon rushes a Sableye with warp energy on it. It came down to me having 2 prizes to his 4 before things went badly wrong. He bright looks up an Azelf and uses Garchomp C LvX to take another prize. My hand consists of Gyarados, black belt, twins and Gyarados. It’s not until he has 1 prize left that I twins for a warp energy and remove the Azelf but by then it’s too late and he has a Garchomp C on the bench ready to dragon rush. He dragon rushes for the game.
Karl eventually goes on to make the top 2 where he loses to Yacine Sekkoum (spelt right?) so I don’t feel too bad about losing.
In the end I came 14th overall out of 96 masters – pretty good for my first year as a master. As for the rest of team Exeter both Philip and Chris went 3-3 whilst Branoc went 4-3 which is really good for his first tournament outside of Exeter. I was surprised by the large amount of DialgaChomp being played and no Magnezone/Machamp except for 1 guy whose name eludes me. There was also a Flygon/Vileplume deck running around too but I don't know how well it did.
Props:
• Gyarados for being an amazing card.
• The amount of friendly people at such a high-level tournament.
• Ian for hosting the event and choosing a great venue! Thanks!
• Team Exeter t-shirts looked awesome! Thanks go to Branoc's Dad and Branoc.
• Coming 14th overall
• Branoc, Philip and Chris for doing so well despite not making topcut.
Slops:
• Missing out on top 8
• Getting donked – twice
• The long car journey up here (5hrs!)
• That guy who insulted me just before top 16 – you know who you are.
Congratulations to Yacine Sekkoum for winning Nationals and also to Tom Hall for beating Sammi Sekkoum in top 16! Well done all of you.
Special thanks to Branoc, Chris, Philip and Danny Dowling for helping me with the perfect Gyarados list – couldn’t have done it without you.
Hope you enjoyed this report even if it was really, really long and I hope to see you next year at Nationals 2012!
I'm not a very well known player - in fact there are probably about 10 people on the 'gym who vaguely remember me. This is mainly because I live in Exeter and we almost never have the big tournaments like states. I have travelled to Bournemouth for Cities and States where I've placed respectably (3rd and 7th) but aside from that not much else. There are only about 5 of us who play competitively so we don't get much practice and we have no clue what the meta is. All this season I’ve played Gyarados despite having bad matchups against Luxchomp, Vilegar and the new kid Magnezone/Machamp. It's been tweaked so much I can't remember what the original list was like. So I stuck to my guns and decided to play Gyarados, even though we were expecting a lot of Luxchomp and maybe Magnezone/Machamp, for my first National Championship as a Master.
Here's the final list:
Pokemon-21:
4x Sableye
4x Magikarp (SF)
3x Gyarados
2x Uxie
2x Azelf
1x Mesprit
1x Crobat G
1x Regice
1x Smeargle
1x Combee (SF)
1x Unown Q
Supporters/Trainers/ /Stadiums-32:
4x Pokemon Collector
2x Seeker
2x Copycat
1x Bebe’s Search
1x Black Belt
1x Twins
1x Cynthia’s Feelings
4x Junk Arm
4x Pluspower
2x Warp Point
2x Pokemon Rescue
1x Luxury Ball
1x VS Seeker
1x Expert Belt
1x Lost Remover
4x Broken Time-Space
Energy-7:
4x Rescue Energy
2x Warp Energy
1x Cyclone Energy
Some noticeable inclusions are the 2x Azelf and 4x Pluspower. In a previous game against Jack Stewart-Armstead (sorry if I spelt that wrong) at Cities my prizes consisted of an Azelf and Magikarp so I could do a max of 60 damage – I lost pretty quickly. Ever since then I’ve run 2 so that if one is prized there is almost always one still in the deck. The pluspowers replaced the super scoop-ups because I wanted something more reliable to junk arm and give me that extra 20 damage against Luxchomp and made the matchup either 50-50 or 55-45. Some other techs I tried were 1-1 Donphan and Toxicroak G promo for Luxchomp and Mightyena LA back when Lostgar was hyped madly – needless to say they all failed miserably.
Anyway here’s the report: (Apologies if I got your name wrong, please correct me.)
Representing Masters for Team Exeter was Me (Gyarados) and Branoc (Gyarados).
For Seniors was Chris (Gyarados) and Philip (Magnezone/Machamp).
For those wondering where Danny Dowling was – he couldn’t be bothered to go.
Registration started from 9:00 to 10:00 but rounds didn’t start until about 11:15 because of computer issues. There were 7 rounds followed by a top 16.
Round 1 – Kelly N with Magnezone/Yanmega.
I’ve never practiced this deck so I didn’t know what to expect. I started with Sableye to her Yanma and proceeded to impersonate collector for the obvious Karp,Karp,Ice. Her turn and she did a bunch of crazy stuff adding Yanmega prime to her hand putting down another Yanma and a Magnemite then Uxie for about 6. She attaches to the Magnemite and passes. I get a Gyarados on the bench and regimove putting two Karps in the discard. I then impersonate for more Karps. She gets two Yanmega primes out then judges me – great. She knocks out Sableye with ‘sonicboom’. Eventually, I get three Magikarps in the discard pile and begin damaging/knocking out Yanmega Primes after she keeps hitting me with ‘Gyro Ball’ from Magnezone SF. Whilst this is happening she’s using Giratina’s ‘Let Loose’, Copycat and Judge to constantly have the same hand size. At 1 point it’s my 3 prizes to her 2 (I think) when I black belt + double pluspower a belted magnezone prime levelled up to put her on 10 damage left . After a couple more knockouts I drop the Crobat G to knock out the Magnezone for the game when she had 1 prize to my 2. A very close and enjoyable game - that woobat was so cute!
1-0
Round 2 – Janet Williams? with DialgaChomp.
Yet another matchup I hadn’t playtested against. This game when badly for her as she made a lot of misplays like retreating a Dialga G LvX with a poketurn in her hand and belting an active Garchomp C LvX which I then knocked out with my own expert belt and 2 pluspowers. After that I just swung with Gyarados repeatedly for the game. Unlucky Janet with those misplays but you still made the game enjoyable nonetheless which I’m thankful for.
2-0
Round 3 – Alan Barber with Vilegar/Slowking tech.
I knew what he was playing because Branoc lost to him in the previous round so I wanted revenge. I started Combee to his Spiritomb but I topdecked the Sableye, attached warp energy and set up a Gyarados. His set up was slow getting out a Vileplume turn 4-5 but he took out my regice early on with shadow room so I couldn’t discard all my trainers. He levelled up his Gengar which stopped me from attacking with Uxie so I tested my luck and rammed the Gengar luckily flipping tails. He got his Slowking tech out late game but by then I had 2 prizes left whilst he had 4 so it didn’t make much difference – had he of got it out sooner I would have been in real trouble. At one point in the match he knocked out my Gyarados with an Azelf because it already had 120 from poltergeist which we both found hilarious. I eventually knocked out his Gengar for the game. Fun game Alan but revenge is mine!
3-0
Round 4- Anthony Gallian with Gyarados.
His was the only other Gyarados deck I saw that day which surprised me. I got Sableye out first and set up before him but he took a cheeky prize by knocking out my Unown Q with Sableye and special dark which I did not see coming. Unfortunately for him, I had Twins in my hand and set up further getting out a Gyarados and attaching rescue energy to it. We both traded a couple of ‘tail revenge’s with each other but he needed Combee and pokemon rescue to recover whilst I had a steady stream of rescue energies in my hand. Late game he sacrificed a Sableye to impersonate a seeker and pick up his Combee again but by then I had already won. Unlucky Anthony, I’m glad to see there’s still someone who hasn’t given up on Gyarados yet!
4-0
Round 5 – Ross Gilbert with Donphan.
He was the nicest player I have ever met. I cannot stress how friendly he was. Unfortunately, Sableye got me donked because he started with 2 pokedrawer + and I had to go first!. Typical, the one time I have a favourable matchup I get donked. Still he apologised and wished me luck in my next game. Curse you overeager pokebody!
4-1
Round 6 – Tamao Cameron with Vilegar.
I misplayed incredibly badly early on in the game. I decided to hit for 30 damage with ‘tail revenge’ instead of setting up. It was after that that I realised I had no way of getting or discarding Magikarps. He got two Gengars and a Vileplume out by turn 3. I scooped after he had 2 prizes left to my 5. Sorry for the awful game!
4-2
Round 7 - Andrew S with Luxchomp
The first Luxchomp I had seen all day. I started with a brilliant hand of Sableye, Smeargle, Magikarp and BTS. I got Gyarados turn 2 with 2 Magikarps in the discard. I warp point and knock out his Azelf or Uxie with a pluspower. At some point he knocked out my Sableye with his Luxray GL LvX but I responded with 2 pluspowers for the knockout. He then dragon rushes my Gyarados but I knock it out by using 2 junk arms for 2 pluspowers. He knocked out Gyarados with Weavile G but I had rescue energy attached and knocked it out for the last prize.
5-2
Rankings were put up and I was seeded 14th – I made top cut! For no reason someone
said to me ‘I’ve seen you play mate and I’m not worried’ which I thought was mean. Is that what top cut does to people?
Top 16 – Karl Blake with Luxchomp.
Game 1: I get donked with a lone Magikarp to his Garchomp C with a DCE. Not a good start.
Game 2: I once again topdeck a much needed Sableye and get things going. He cyrus’ for a power spray, places down a Luxray GL, attches to it and passes. His field is Garchomp C active and a Toxicroak G promo and Luxray GL on the bench. I draw; play a seeker with him picking up Toxicroak. I get Gyarados out with 3 Magikarps in the discard thanks to junk arms. I warp point and knock out the Luxray. I take another prize before he takes out my Smeargle with Unown Q attached. I warp point for another prize and he dragon rushes a Sableye with warp energy on it. It came down to me having 2 prizes to his 4 before things went badly wrong. He bright looks up an Azelf and uses Garchomp C LvX to take another prize. My hand consists of Gyarados, black belt, twins and Gyarados. It’s not until he has 1 prize left that I twins for a warp energy and remove the Azelf but by then it’s too late and he has a Garchomp C on the bench ready to dragon rush. He dragon rushes for the game.
Karl eventually goes on to make the top 2 where he loses to Yacine Sekkoum (spelt right?) so I don’t feel too bad about losing.
In the end I came 14th overall out of 96 masters – pretty good for my first year as a master. As for the rest of team Exeter both Philip and Chris went 3-3 whilst Branoc went 4-3 which is really good for his first tournament outside of Exeter. I was surprised by the large amount of DialgaChomp being played and no Magnezone/Machamp except for 1 guy whose name eludes me. There was also a Flygon/Vileplume deck running around too but I don't know how well it did.
Props:
• Gyarados for being an amazing card.
• The amount of friendly people at such a high-level tournament.
• Ian for hosting the event and choosing a great venue! Thanks!
• Team Exeter t-shirts looked awesome! Thanks go to Branoc's Dad and Branoc.
• Coming 14th overall
• Branoc, Philip and Chris for doing so well despite not making topcut.
Slops:
• Missing out on top 8
• Getting donked – twice
• The long car journey up here (5hrs!)
• That guy who insulted me just before top 16 – you know who you are.
Congratulations to Yacine Sekkoum for winning Nationals and also to Tom Hall for beating Sammi Sekkoum in top 16! Well done all of you.
Special thanks to Branoc, Chris, Philip and Danny Dowling for helping me with the perfect Gyarados list – couldn’t have done it without you.
Hope you enjoyed this report even if it was really, really long and I hope to see you next year at Nationals 2012!
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