Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Iron Chef-Tournament of Champions ENDGAME

Status
Not open for further replies.
Cyrus

Cyrus

Iron Chef - Master Emeritus
Wow, what a competition! To think...it's been over two years since the last Iron Chef champion, Jasonthepwnda, was crowned (I still have sour grapes over that :p). Dendrobatida is now officially the king of deckbuilding, trouncing Gymbo ex in the finals. Pooka and Slimeygrimey take third and fourth, respectively, by a narrow margin. Now, what all is to be covered now?

#1: What are the final prizes for the Iron Chef-Tournament of Champions?

For the Tournament of Champions, the top four will earn the following:

-Ultra rare "Grand Party" promotional card. (Claimed by Pooka)
-Worlds 2006 Staff Promo. (Dendro)
-The mysterious "Demo Pack" (as mentioned in Pokepop's "history of Pokemon TCG: Part 1). (Claimed by Gymbo ex)
-Shining Celebi from Neo Destiny. (Pooka by default)
-Set of twelve (12) holographic EX: Emerald energy cards (Claimed by Dendrobatida).
-Set of six (6) holographic EX: Emerald energy cards. (Slimeygrimey)
-Stamped Worlds 2004 promo card. (Gymbo ex)

1st Place:
-Gets first and fifth choices at the prizes.

2nd Place:
-Gets second and sixth choices at the prizes.

3rd Place:
-Gets third and seventh choices.

4th:
-Gets fourth.

This will take a little cooperation between the five of us, so I need to get into communication with you all, starting with Dendrobatida (and hopefully Jim at the same time). Since I have all of your AIMs on my list, send me an instant message and we'll talk. Send me in your mailing addresses privately, guys!

#2: What were the final standings in the competition?

Extrapolated, here is the final list...

1st: Dendrobatida
2nd: Gymbo ex
3rd: Pooka
4th: Slimeygrimey
5th: CRIMINAL (score of 16)
6th: Pidgeotto Trainer (13, one point difference)
7th: Acutin89 (13, three point difference)
8th: Magnechu (12)
9th: Flipsarecool (15)
10th: Superwooper (14, one point difference)
11th: Venusaur (14, two point difference)
12th: Mr. Meches (13, two point diff+lost to third)
13th: Blazi-King (13, two point diff+lost to seventh)
14th: Hypnosproject HQ (Drop)
15th: Whicker (Drop)
16th: Metagross (Drop)

#3: Scores

I figured I'd add this after a couple of judging issues throughout the tourney. While I do my best to make the scores reflect how I feel under such limited circumstances (even at this level I didn't expect to need 200 points to accurately convey this), I chose every deck that I thought was the better creation in all aspects: a good build, unique idea, and an abusive strategy for the card.

Also, this isn't school, guys! A score of a 70 (14/20) or above is not only passing...it's great! See the new addition to "Iron Chef Help" for more info on grading definitions.

#4: Will there be any more Iron Chef competitions?

To be honest, I'm not too sure of this contest's future. As you all saw with the abnormally long delay of the ToC, I have had a couple issues with timely grading. Obviously, anyone may go and start up their own deck contest in this forum, but for now, there will be no "official" contests run by me. Maybe later!


Well, thanks to all of you for your comments, support, and competing! This has been more successful than anyone could have ever imagined.

~Patriarch
 
Last edited:
Congratulations Jake. Couple things though.

I'll agree with you on Windstorm, but that's it Kettler. I chose to leave Windstorm out because of increased help versus MetaNite with BF. Also, the deck is up so fast that I'm KOing Pokemon fast. Cessation stops Absol, but I'm KOing Pokemon fast, that Windstorm really isn't needed. In hindsight, LunaSol is perhaps outdated, but Lunatone is a decent starter that allows for setup. Which brings me to my "unfocused Pokemon" point. I already addressed LunaSol. Absol LM is good for setup as well, by getting the Arcanine or Absol ex. I thought I had addressed this point earlier in my deck strategy. I addressed the Energy issue also. Fire Energy is the most needed energy to enable Overrun so Absol can do its work. I do not Flame Swirl until I need a Big KO which is why I cut the 4th React in favor of the additional Fire, to enable Natural Cure.

I was perhaps most irritated with my creativity score. 3/5. I cannot help there are a lot of Arcanine variants on the Pokegym. A month ago, would Jake have lost points because Flygon ex d/Jolteon was everywhere? If you consider grading based on decks already on the gym, that's pretty bad. I created this deck shortly after the ingredient was revealed due to my hectic schedule. I do not have the time to sit back and read through decklists on the Boards then copy. The insinuation that I would do so is insulting. I believe that Jolteon ex was a more uncreative approach than Arcanine ex. Slapping down a Pokemon to place damage everywhere, then Psychic Pulse.

A hate to come across as a poor sport, but I believe my deck should have scored higher than a 15. I spent a lot of time on this and to be downgraded simply based on other decks that are currently in the Pokegym is ridiculous. My list is consistant, I've tested. But whatever.

~Jim
 
Been struggling with whether to respond to this or not, but I guess I should, since it involves me directly. I'm sorry you feel snubbed by what happened here, Jim, and I'll admit that I found it shocking that you seemed to think I was somehow at fault when we spoke on IM. I'm hoping your accusations there are something we can hash out in a different venue, maybe when you see this, because quite frankly, the anger was a total surprise.

Patriarch's review of both of our decks, and all the other decks in this competition, have been overwhelmingly positive. He's glowing with praise for every good point he can find about each deck, and has openly lamented in multiple threads the difficulty and subjectivity of grading these. It is entirely possible that he undervalued your creativity score. You have a fine deck up there. A deck to be proud of. You made it to the finals of a tournament of champions, and along the way beat some of the biggest names in pokemon - names far more widely recognized than mine (Last time I checked, nobody was shouting DENDROOOOOOOO! at Nationals...Pooka, on the other hand); thus, I think you can rest assured that this wasn't a Jake ego-feeder-fest. You did really, really well, in a competition that every single person involved - me, Kettler, the entire boards community, acknowledges as inherently flawed and, thus, inherently for fun. Winning this doesn't make me a better deckbuilder than anyone else, just as losing (in the finals, no less) doesn't say one darn thing about Kettler's opinion of you as a deckbuilder, my opinion of you as a deckbuilder, or anyone else's, for that matter. There's lots to be upset about in this world; Iron Chef losses ain't one of them. You put a bunch of time into this, and everyone appreciates that, but so too did everyone else who competed; in effect, it was a prerequisite to playing. If you had fun making your deck, if it opened your eyes to the potential of a card or two, if it helped you learn more about the game, that was time well spent

What I've got to take issue with, though, is this:

Jim Ferrell said:
I created this deck shortly after the ingredient was revealed due to my hectic schedule. I do not have the time to sit back and read through decklists on the Boards then copy. The insinuation that I would do so is insulting. I believe that Jolteon ex was a more uncreative approach than Arcanine ex. Slapping down a Pokemon to place damage everywhere, then Psychic Pulse.
~Jim
Click to expand...

It doesn't take much to get the implication of what you're saying here. You feel that Kettler, by saying your deck was less creative, insinuated that you copied from the boards, and you find that insulting. And you feel that my idea was less creative than yours. How insulted, then, should I be?

I don't know if this will reach you as good or bad news, but I'm not insulted much. Everyone knows neither of us netdecked our decks, and nobody is insinuating that we did; they use a brand-new-as-yet-unreleased pokemon, for heaven's sakes. Do a search for decks on Absol EX, and the only lists you'll find on the boards are ours. Jolteon EX and Arcanine Ex are, independently of Absol, pretty decent pokemon. Sure, people will have used them in decks before. We both had comments in our reviews about how Kettler had seen them before; I'm sure that I'd have got a 3/5 too if there weren't other little nuances about my deck to bump the creativity up to a 4 - the umbreon in there is what Kettler cited. Nobody's throwing accusations of netdecking at you, and there's no need to turn around and throw them at me; in fact, I'm hoping that wasn't your intent in the first place, and that the way you've got it worded up there is just an unfortunate coincidence that makes it read like you are. Vagaries of internet communication and whatnot.

Anyoldway, you done good to get this far, I loved the idea of both of us being in the finals, and I'm sorry it soured for you after it was all said and done. I'm hoping you'll see that nothing too terribly bad happened here, that you had a heck of a run in this tournament to be proud of, and neither the judge of the thing or your final-round opponent deserve any untoward venom.

Oh, yeah, and Happy New Year.

Cheers,

Jake
 
I guess Jim shoulda been a Cardiologist to get a fair shake.....

Nice lists both ways.... I know Kettler tends to be as fair as possible, but the possibility of overlooking some key things Jim used that were a little more Creative and both are Similar Variant Decks.. Jolteon Ex is Splashed in so many decks..... and I understand the "Marriage" comment, but there is no Real Creativity there if they are "Married".. that is an OBVIOUS choice.... not very Creative IMHO....

Overall a nice tourny.. but when everything is based on a SINGLE persons Opinion (more-or-less), it is hard to get a "REAL FEEL" of multiple play styles!

THansk Kettler for taking your time out and doing this.. as always your an asset ot the Community when you aren't preoccupied!

~FISH~
 
IMO, a slightly larger panel would be more fair for this competition in general. Older Iron Chefs I've seen had a committee of 5. (?) It really is subjective of which deck is more creative and such.
 
I hope everybody's buddy-buddy. Now for my comment!

Mr. Meches is right to say that this contest is tough to judge easily when there is ONLY one judge. If this was worth more than a few rare cards, then I'd guarantee that there'd be several judges in the mix. However, I don't have multiple judges because if you use even ONE extra person, then it takes just that much longer. During the first tournament I've organized, I invited Jasonthepwnda to join me, and the length between rounds rivaled that of the dead time for round one. However, in the past I've invited several different people (Pooka, Chris Schell, among others) to create judging panels, and the end result was higher quality than simply one person doing the work. Ross is right: three-five experienced minds are the ultimate check and balance for this kinda thing.

I can safely say that I didn't overlook anything big in either of these lists: both involve pretty simple, yet unique and high-quality strategies. Just because I say it fits together like a puzzle doesn't mean it's not creative...just the opposite! What I saw were two top tier decks, built by two top tier players, that made for a great finals match. You have to choose one deck, though, and I chose Jake's for the reasons stated in the critique. As explained in past posts, you have to take the grades with a grain of salt (in relation to how I feel) because A: they aren't nearly as accurate as a 200 point system, and B: it's just about who wins or loses the match, and little more.

The key difference between the old and new Iron Chefs is that I put my credibility on the line by posting write-ups for all (well, almost all) matches. If people take their time to compete, then I should take my time to explain why I vote for certain ideas. However, regardless of the critiques and grades, I will choose what I think should win, and to this day I haven't changed my mind.

Hmmm, I guess that I was fair throughout the whole contest. In addition to always voting how I honestly feel about decks, there's no such thing as giving bruthahs (i. e. Blazi-king, Mr. Meches, Rokman) an extra leg up in Iron Chef. Rokman found himself right behind Gymbo in grinder judging, and Mr. Meches/Blazi-King fell to Pooka/Acutin in the first round, respectively.

Well that's about it. Now that we're finally done with this thing, if you have any extra complaints, take them to the Sour Grapes forum plz...just kidding :D
 
I have fixed my computer connection again. My brother keeps disrupting it. I apologize for my lack of being on, especially if I am holding up prizes.

In response to what has been said, I will respond to you privately Jake. But, what I will say is that I was irritated regarding my deck score, and how based on Kettler's grading, he simply carved through my deck because it had Arcanine in it. I overreacted, I admit it. But the real fuels to my fire were added when I see a comment such as how Dendro presumably jokingly said "I'm so good, I should be listed twice." just rubbed me the wrong way at the time, especially how I was feeling about the grading.

I did overstep my bounds with you Jake personally on AIM. I was frustrated with the contest and the remarks given to my deck, and did not intend taking it out on you until provocation occurred. (I will talk more with you about this if I have the chance - assuming you allow it.)

I did enjoy this contest. It just seems there were several other people involved whom were very close in scores and were eliminated and did not know why/feel they should have been. (Pooka, Ross?) I apologize to the boards, and to you Johnny and Jake for my responses.

~Jim
 
Jim Ferrell said:
Dendro presumably jokingly said "I'm so good, I should be listed twice." just rubbed me the wrong way at the time, especially how I was feeling about the grading.


~Jim
Click to expand...

Actually:

Superwooper said:
You listed Dendro twice in the Top 16.
Click to expand...

Dendrobatida said:
I'm just that good? Think he means Jeremy - he's the only one I don't see up there.
Click to expand...

Perhaps your ire about the thing caused you to read far more into everyone's statements than was actually there? Big difference between suggesting that I think so much of myself that I demand to be listed twice in the rankings, and making a little joke, then offering the correction that, in fact, removes my name from the rankings that second time. Nobody, particularly not me, was trying to irritate you, to provoke you, or to attack you in any way.


...okay, so maybe Patriarch could have avoided using the word "trouncing" to describe my victory in the finals; I can see that being a little irksome. Bad Kettler!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top