JPN Gallade
New Member
Report by: Karol Nowak (a.k.a. JPN Gallade)
Deck: Luxchomp
Division: Seniors
Event: National Championships
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Format: Modified (DP-on)
I took advantage of this year's Spring Battle Roads as a great time to practice for the upcoming nationals tournament in the U.S. Throughout the entire Battle Roads, I was running Luxchomp. It won me two Battle Roads, as well as placing me 4th place in one Battle Road and 5th place in two others. After doing pretty well in Battle Roads, I had a feeling that Luxchomp would become my deck for nats, but it wasn't entirely the case.
I was at the same time thinking about Luxpluff. The reason is because I had a feeling that Luxchomp will be pretty popular, and Luxpluff stands up to the deck pretty nicely. I played around with Luxpluff. It was pretty good, but eventually, I thought that honestly, my Luxchomp should have a very nice chance for nats compared to Luxpluff. Plus, I was really used to Luxchomp's strategy, and I felt as if I had enough skill to play it. Thus, Luxchomp became my ultimate deck choice for nats.
As for the Luxchomp? Well, I'm not in the mood to post the list, so I'll just talk about this deck briefly. Basically, it is your average Luxchomp. It runs the usual trainer line and the usual energy line. It uses Luxray GL and Garchomp C as the main attackers, and it has the usual SP support, like Crobats for adding damage, Bronzong to move energy, and Lucario to make weaknesses times 2 . I also ran Uxie for draw power, and Azelf to grab Pokemon out of my prizes. I ran Toxicroak G and Ambipom G for the mirror, as well as a Mismagius just in case of Mewtwo. I even ran a Quagsire GL just in case I ran into Donphan.
Now with that all mentioned, it is time to talk about my time in this years U.S. National Championships.
Thursday
So Dad and I arrive at the Convention Center at around 6:00 P.M. Indiana Time. We both pre-register for the tournament and get ourselves the special National T-shirts. We then temporarily go back to our hotel to check-in (we are staying in the Cantebury Hotel by the way). Then, we go back to the convention center so that we can pick up some practice matches. My dad plays against Rob D and Quinn D, while I face Jay H (the master who came in 3rd place in Worlds 09). I had some awesome games with him that's for sure. Eventually, we go back to the hotel at around 10:30 P.M. and go to sleep.
Friday (Day 1 of the main tournament)
Dad and I arrive at the convention center at around 8:00 A.M. We check around for a little bit, and I buy myself a Darkrai mat. I eventually go into to the main tournament area, and the first thought that comes into my mind is, "Whoa! This place is huge! It's even bigger than Nationals in St. Louis last year!"
I sit down at one of the tables, and I play a match with one of my TCG friends, Nathan P (he is playing Mother Gengar by the way). The practice game ends in a draw after he flips heads on Fainting Spell. Eventually, the roster goes up, and then I sit down at my respective seat, and then I turn in my decklist. Then the pairings go up, and so it is time to start discussing about my matches.
Round 1: Micaela R. (Beautifly/Sceptile)
She starts with a Wurmple and a Treecko, while I kind of forgot what I started with. From what I remember, it certainly wasn't the best. I manage to attack the Wurmple several times, but eventually, she manages to evolve her Wurmple into a Beautifly PT in a matter of turns. At the same time, I kind of recover from my rather bad start. She eventually starts attacking with Beautifly, which becomes a pain because my active gets Asleep, Poisoned, and Burned thanks to its attack. She even manages to bring out a Sceptile GE, and this gives me a good chance to pull out a KO. I Flash Bit the Sceptile twice, and then I KO it with Garchomp. Of course, I end up suffering from the Beautifly again. Luckily, I pull out a Lucario GL and a Luxray GL, and eventually, I knock out her Beautifly with the help of Luxray. Very soon, she manages to bring out yet another Sceptile, and I KO it just like how I did earlier that match. I pull off some more KOs, and pretty soon, I'm one prize away from winning, while she is three prizes away from winning. Time is then called, and I end up winning the game by time. Regardless, she couldn't really catch up with me anyways. Still, good game Micaela!
1/0
Round 2: Billy H. (Machamp w/ Metagross LA tech)
He starts the game with a Machop from what I remember. As for me, I have a much better start compared to my last match. I manage to bring out 3 Pokemon SPs, allowing to have a chance to Power Spray.
You see, when I face Machamp, the first thing I often do is that I try to make sure that he/she won't get out the Machamp that fast, and in this match, I succeed by doing so. He manages to bring out a Uxie and a Baltoy. He attempts to use Set Up from his Uxie, but I manage to Power Spray it. Then, I eventually take down the benched Baltoy, and from this point, he is drawing absolutely nothing. In fact, the only thing he really does against me is that he's mostly using Machops SF's attacks and that's about it. I, myself, manage to KO his other Machop (as well as the active one), then the Uxie, and then his Beldum (all with the help of my Garchomps and Luxrays), allowing me to win the match. Good Game Billy!
2/0
Round 3: Jason P. (Straight Machamp)
Well, take a look at that. I'm against Jason P. For those who don't know, he's a kid that frequently visits Jimmy Ballard's League in Chicago, and pretty much likes to play Machamp. It was pretty surprising that I faced him in swiss because there is like a 1/300 chance that you will face someone you know from your own state here in this nationals tournament.
Basically, my start is absolutely terrible. I end up starting with a Uxie, while he starts with a Machop. I start the game, and I predict that he will get a Machamp on his first turn, so I play down another basic Pokemon I had in my hand. As it turns out, my prediction was correct. He manages to get a Machamp out on his first turn, and eventually knocks out my Uxie. I do manage to bring out some more basics, but I still can't do much. Eventually, he fully sets up and literally takes me down. As for me, I pretty much take almost no prizes since there is really nothing I can do. Pretty soon, he wins the match. Oh well, good game Jason!
2/1
Lunch Break! Dad and I take the Skywalk back to out hotel. We eat some sushi at out hotel room, and we are eventually back to the convention center, where we are ready to play some more rounds.
Round 4: Hunter B. (Kingdra/Machamp)
Like the last match, my start is pretty bad. To make matters worse, I notice that this is a Kingdra deck of some sort, something that I should usually win against. I hardly do much in particular in the beginning, but things would soon change. Midway into the match, I have only two cards in my hand, but then he plays Judge, and it helped a lot. I get a way better hand, and very soon, I catch up very nicely. As for him, he manages to get out a Machamp. Well, certainly, that was quite surprising I remember that. Eventually, I do manage to KO a few more Pokemon of his, especially with the help of my Garchomp C. After I KOd one of his Pokemon with my Garchomp, he plays Warp Point, so I pull out Crobat and then it pretty much gets KOd. Since he managed to put my Garchomp C back onto my bench, this gives me a chance to pull off yet another KO with Garchomp, so I do just that and I take my last prize. Yep, very good game Hunter!
3/1
Round 5: Zachary A. (Mother Gengar w/ Machamp tech)
Looks like for the fourth time in a row in this entire tournament, I have to go against another deck that uses Machamp in some sort of way. Man, there are certainly lots of Machamps.
From what I remember, he had a Gastly and a Machop on the bench, but I forgot what he opened with. I thought I was going to face a GeChamp deck, but it didn't turn out to be the case. It later turned out to be a Mother Gengar deck that is running a Machamp tech for SPs. Luckily, I manage to KO Machop before it got to a Machamp with the help of Garchomp C. Then, he eventually manages to get out his Gengar and start Shadow Rooming me, often my Bronzong G. Since I do need the Bronzong, I had to use a few PokeTurns several times in order to prevent him from knocking it out. Of course, he does manage to KO my Uxies, as well as Poltergeisting from time to time.
Rather than attacking the Gengar first, I focused on knocking out his bench Pokemon so that I could gain an upper hand, so I do just that. Claydols and Uxies mainly get KOd from my Garchomp or Luxray, thus allowing me to take some prizes. Then, I do 70 to his Gengar with Luxray GL, and then 2 damage counters are removed because of Nidoqueen. Luckily I KO the Gengar, but I don't recall if I was affected by Fainting Spell. Still, I did have an Aaron's just in case. I do manage to take a few more prizes, and finally I win the match. Good game Zachary!
4/1
Round 6: Lukas D. (Luxpluff w/ Mesprit)
He starts with a Mespirt and a Baltoy on the bench, while I forgot what I started with. Here, My start was definitely not too bad here. I start the game, but I really can't do much so I pass. He goes and apparently gets the Jumpluff God set up. He literally manages to pull off a turn 1 Claydol, as well as a Jumpluff, a Uxie, and an Azelf (not the MT one, because as it turns out, he never ran it). Now because of the absolute God start, I really can't do much. He plays through my bench with Warp Point a few times as well. As for me, I really can't do much in particular. Practically, I only pull off only about 2 KOs and that's about it (mostly by my Garchomp C). Eventually, he ends up winning it. Oh well, good game Lukas!
4/2
Round 7: Mike W. (Kingdra w/ Exploud SV tech)
I have a good start here, and I manage to have a rather nice set up throughout most of the match. Earlier in the match, I thought to myself, "Now that I have a Luxray GL and a Lucario GL out, I should be able to win since it looks like an average Kingdra deck." It soon turned out that this isn't an average Kingdra deck. This Kingdra is actually running Exploud.
When I noticed that he pulled out a Whismur, one thing hits my mind. "I have to take out the Whismur NOW," I thought. The reason? If he gets an Exploud out, my Luxrays won't be able to KO his Kingdras that easily. Luckily, I do manage to KO the Whismur with the help of my Garchomp. After that, I do manage to KO a few Pokemon of his with the help of my Luxray (and a little bit of Garchomp), but then he manages to grab yet another Whismur. This time, it eventually evolves into a Loudred. Once again, I know that the Loudred must go, as he also still has some Kingdras out. I manage to pull out my Garchomp C and knock out the Loudred. I proceed with another KO, but then he gets out the Whismur again, and then finally, he evolves into Exploud. Yep, so now my Lucario GL is useless since the Exploud is finally out, but luckily, I'm far more ahead in the match then he is, so I simply KO a Pokemon from his bench rather than a Kingdra and then take the last prize. Certainly, it was an epic match. Good game Mike!
5/2
Well, that's it for Day 1 of nats. I check the current standings and I find myself in 62nd place. Not too bad that's for sure. 5/2 is definitely an impressive record thus far.
With Day 1 over, I play around at the league for a little bit. Then, Dad and I leave, and we go have some dinner in the cafe of the Circle Centre Mall. After I ate my dinner, I go to the Gameworks within the mall and play DDR for a little bit. Afterwards, we go back to the hotel and sleep for the night.
Saturday (Day 2 of the main tournament)
Dad and I arrived back at the convention center at around 8:30 in the morning. We both stay around for a little bit until the round 8 pairings finally go up.
Round 8: AJ L. (Gengar SF w/ Mewtwo tech)
He manages to start with a Gastly and then he Pitch Darks me. Luckily, I do have a rather nice hand, so I play my Cyrus to grab some needed cards. Then, he apparently brings out a Mewtwo, and now I know that I need to bring out a Mismagius. Luckily, the Mewtwo Lv.X doesn't exactly come out until around mid-game to late-game. As for me, I manage to pull off some KOs on the bench, and of course, the Mewtwo kills me a few times. Of course, I eventually kill it back with Mismagius. Afterwards, he gets a Gengar active and Poltergeists me. Luckily, I somewhat manage to live through the Poltergeist.
Pretty soon, we are both one prize card away from winning. He has a Gengar out active, while I still have Mismagius active. He attempts to look for another Crobat G, but with no avail. He Poltergeists me again, but it only ends up doing 30, and this ends up putting Mismagius at around 10 HP from being knocked out. I go and use Horror Chant to knock out the Gengar, and then he flips for Fainting Spell. Want to know what happens next? He gets heads! Since now both my Mismagius and his Gengar are knocked, the match goes into a sudden-death.
So now it is sudden-death. My opening hand includes an Ambipom G and a Bronzong G. I choose to start with the Ambipom because of its donk potential, and I even have a Cyrus in my hand that could help me out as well. Now the thing is, I hope that I would come second, but that really wasn't the case. I end up starting the game, but I couldn't do much so I pass. As for him, he starts with a Crobat G, and then he uses another Crobat G to Flash Bite my benched Bronzong G twice. Then, he pulls out a Gastly and then Pitch Darks me. Now I really can't do much. I still use my Cyrus, but now that I have been trainer locked, I can't PokeTurn my Bronzong G to heal it nor can I attach an Energy Gain to my Ambipom. Thus, I end up using Tail Code on his Gastly, which ends up moving the Psychic Energy from the Gastly to his benched Azelf. Since I have Tail Coded, I hope that maybe he won't KO in some sort of way next turn, but sadly, he does. He uses a Warp Point in order for me to bring out my Bronzong. Eventually, he evolves into Haunter and then he KOs the Bronzong G, winning the sudden death.
Well, certainly, I have to admit, this was one pretty epic match all right. The heads from Fainting Spell was quite a surprise all right, but one thing is for sure, this was one great game all right. Very good game AJ!
5/3
Round 9: Sabrina K. (Cursegar)
She ends up with a Spiritomb start with a Gastly on the bench. She starts and manages to evolve the Gastly into a Haunter with the help of her Spiritomb. As for me, I have a Garchomp C on my bench, and I manage to set up. The only problem? Well, I can't attach an Energy Gain to the Garchomp now that her Spiritomb is active, so this is a problem. She eventually plays a Claydol and uses Cosmic Power, but I forgot about Spiritomb and Power Spray.
On my next turn, that's when we realized that I forgot about the Spiritomb and Power Sprayed, so we both call a judge to see how the problem can be solved. The Judge decided that the solution ends up being that the Power Spray goes back into my hand, and we are both at a caution for not paying attention to misplay right away. Ouch!:frown:
From that point on, she isn't really drawing much, even though she managed to pull out a Cursegar. If you think I had an advantage, you can still say that she had an advantage over me. Since the Spiritomb was still active, I really couldn't do much. I can't attach my Energy Gains, I can't Power Spray, I can't PokeTurn my Crobats, and I can't even search out other SPs with my SP Radar. Furthermore, my hand is literally filled with Trainers, so my hand is pretty much building up by the minute. However, now that I see the Cursegar is on the bench, I know that it must go since once it is fully set up, it won't be damaged a lot, so I manage to get some energies onto my Garchomp, and then I do 80 to the Gengar. Then, I manage to set up a Luxray GL, so I end up Bright Looking her Gengar, and then I knock it out. She pulls out Spiritomb and once again trainer locks for a turn. Once again, it is a problem, but I do manage to KO it. Eventually, I pull off a few more KOs and win it.
Well, certainly, this match taught me one thing: Pay better attention next time! Looks like I need to remember that that's for sure. Well, good game though.
6/3
Well, at this point, lots of people are 6/3, so I can't be sure if will make top cut or not. Then the standings go up. I look at the list, and eventually, I find out I'm in 64th place! Well, talk about lucky. It was surely a surprise that I actually made top 64 cut.:lol: Oh yeah, Also in top 64 cut is Ben M, Stephen M, Luke S, Damien H, Toby N, and Jeremy P. Ben, Stephen, Luke, Damien, Toby, Jeremy, and I are all representing Illinois in top cut seniors.
Now that I made top 64, I have to go in line for deck checks. I organize my deck, and then I sit around and chat for a little bit. Eventually, it is my turn, and I turn in my deck for the deck check. Then, Dad and I decide to leave for lunch break, so we go to the food court within the Circle Centre Mall and have a Subway meal. We manage to come back to the convention center at around 1:40. I hear people being called to re-sleeve their decks, and I wasn't sure if I was called, so I go in line to see if I need to re-sleeve my deck. It later turned out that I didn't need too. Well, that's at least good, so I end up waiting for a little bit, and eventually the top cut pairings are up, and I have to end up facing Spencer B.
Top 64: Spencer B (Mirror Match: Luxchomp)
Spencer is the senior that literally won swiss during nats. What do I mean by that? Well, let me put it this way. He came completely undefeated during swiss. He even beat Aylam R (the one that is right now number 1 in global seniors). Since he came undefeated at this point, I could tell that this was certainly going to be one tough match.
As for his Luxchomp, it wasn't exactly like mine, as it was actually one very unique Luxchomp. It ran an ERL (Entei & Raikou Legend) tech, Claydol (pretty rare in Luxchomp these days), Bench Shields, Pokemon Communications, and even a Judge. All right, onto the matches.
Game 1:
We both seem to have rather decent starts. I decide to draw some cards with my Uxies, but then he ends up Power Spraying both of my Uxies. Great, now I really can't do much. Now that my Uxies were Power Sprayed, I am really having cursed draw. As for him, he manages to bring out a Claydol, and he has a pretty good set up. Of course, he pulls of some KOs too. The game pretty much ends with having him win it, since after all, I couldn't even draw a thing this match.
0-1
Game 2:
I have a better start here. I start with my Luxray GL, and I decide to take advantage of this. I attach a DCE onto my Luxray and do 30 to his active. He goes and did his set up and passes. I go, and this time, I choose to burn through my Cyrus Engine because I don't want to make the same mistake with the Uxies like I did the last game. Thus, I decide to use all of my Cyrus cards early to have a good advantage.
Eventually, I have a Luxray that is ready to attack pretty well. I use an SP Radar to look for a Luxray GL Lv.X, but it turns out it is prized, so I end up grabbing something else. On my next turn, I feel as if I need Luxray GL Lv.X, so I manage to search out a Uxie and an Azelf. I play the Uxie down first so that he could use up a Power Spray, allowing me to safely use Time Walk. As it turns out, my prediction was correct. He does have a Power Spray, so he Power Sprays my Uxie. Now that Uxie was Power Sprayed, I decide that it would be safe to use Azelf now, so I play Azelf onto my bench and attempt to use Time Walk, but want to know what happens next? He had yet another Power Spray, so he ends up Power Spraying my Azelf. Great, there just went my Luxray GL Lv.X, so now I must go onto Plan B: Use Garchomp C instead.
I manage to pull out a Garchomp C and then I KO two of his Pokemon using it, thus allowing me to catch up. He also manages to pull off some KOs as well. Like me, he does attack with the Garchomp, and he even manages to consecutively use 2 Dragon Rushes in two turns by attacking me with Garchomp on one turn and then retreating the Garchomp on his next turn; he then pulls out his Luxray GL Lv.X, PokeTurns it, and then pulls out the Garchomp and knocks out another Pokemon of mine. That's when I soon realize that I will need the Toxicroak and the Ambipom, so I end up playing a Roseanne's to grab the Toxicroak and the Ambipom. I play both onto my bench, and then I pull out my Ambipom G as my active. I manage to set up the Ambipom quickly, and I manage to KO his Garchomp using it.
Soon, he is one prize away from winning, while I am about 3 prizes away from winning. He decides to pull out his ERL tech, so he uses a Pokemon Communication and a Bebe's to achieve just that. He then plays the ERL onto his bench and attaches a lightning energy to it and passes. I go, but I really can't pull off another KO, so I simply do 60 with Ambipom and pass. He goes and gets another energy onto his ERL tech. Then, he pulls out the ERL and knocks me out and takes the last prize. Certainly, these matches were epic. Great games Spencer!
0-2 (6-4 overall)
Thus, I end up with a 6-4 record overall. Though I lost in top 64, I wasn't alone. Ben, Stephen, Damien, Toby, and Jeremy also lost in top 64 like I did. Luke proceeds to top 32 cut, but sadly loses at top 32.
Yet, one thing is for sure. I will consider making top 64 as one of my biggest achievements.:smile:
After the top cut matches, I play around at the league for a little bit, and eventually, Dad and I leave to have some dinner. I once again play at the Gameworks in the mall, and we both eventually arrive back at the hotel and sleep for the night.
Sunday
Technincally, it is Day 3 of the main tournament, but I really didn't do much. I bring my DS to get myself the shiny Eevee. I stay around to watch the finals for both the juniors and seniors in the VGC, and boy were they fun to watch. I also go and watch the top 16 and top 8 matches in the TCG. Then, I look around and see the league for a little bit. Then, I drop by one last time to see the top 4 matches for all divisions, and then Dad and I leave the city of Indianapolis. We arrive back home at around 5:00 P.M. Chicago time.
Props:
Making Top 64 cut in Nationals
Lots of TCG Friends came as usual
Meeting some other TCG Friends in the tournament, like Nekizalb and Box of Fail
Skywalks: they are so convenient to use when getting to the convention center
The hotel I stayed in (so peaceful)
This years nats being so much better than last years nats
The tournament area being humongous
The tournament being very well organized
Playing with Spencer B.
Playing with Jay H. on Thursday
Getting a Darkrai Mat
Getting a special Giratina Binder as a League Prize
Taking pictures with Pikachu!
Judge UL (actually helped me for once)
Michael D. for taking first place in seniors, and Spencer B for taking second place in seniors
Meeting Adam C. (Administrator of Six Prizes) in person
Slops:
Facing something with Machamp four times in a row
Spiritomb (trainer lock can sure be tough to get through)
Gengar SF's Fainting Spell
Power Sprays (pretty annoying when my Uxies and my Azelf got affected by them)
Well, I have to admit, this year's nationals was amazing. Definitely, Indianapolis is a great place to host such a big tournament. In fact, nationals should be here next year as well.
As for people who wish to see me in worlds? Well, I may not go to Worlds this year because I have to attend a high school orientation on the day of grinders, so I'm doubtful I'll go this year. Oh well, that just means I will practice for next years format. Well everyone, see you next year (on September 1, 2010)!:thumb:
Deck: Luxchomp
Division: Seniors
Event: National Championships
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Format: Modified (DP-on)
I took advantage of this year's Spring Battle Roads as a great time to practice for the upcoming nationals tournament in the U.S. Throughout the entire Battle Roads, I was running Luxchomp. It won me two Battle Roads, as well as placing me 4th place in one Battle Road and 5th place in two others. After doing pretty well in Battle Roads, I had a feeling that Luxchomp would become my deck for nats, but it wasn't entirely the case.
I was at the same time thinking about Luxpluff. The reason is because I had a feeling that Luxchomp will be pretty popular, and Luxpluff stands up to the deck pretty nicely. I played around with Luxpluff. It was pretty good, but eventually, I thought that honestly, my Luxchomp should have a very nice chance for nats compared to Luxpluff. Plus, I was really used to Luxchomp's strategy, and I felt as if I had enough skill to play it. Thus, Luxchomp became my ultimate deck choice for nats.
As for the Luxchomp? Well, I'm not in the mood to post the list, so I'll just talk about this deck briefly. Basically, it is your average Luxchomp. It runs the usual trainer line and the usual energy line. It uses Luxray GL and Garchomp C as the main attackers, and it has the usual SP support, like Crobats for adding damage, Bronzong to move energy, and Lucario to make weaknesses times 2 . I also ran Uxie for draw power, and Azelf to grab Pokemon out of my prizes. I ran Toxicroak G and Ambipom G for the mirror, as well as a Mismagius just in case of Mewtwo. I even ran a Quagsire GL just in case I ran into Donphan.
Now with that all mentioned, it is time to talk about my time in this years U.S. National Championships.
Thursday
So Dad and I arrive at the Convention Center at around 6:00 P.M. Indiana Time. We both pre-register for the tournament and get ourselves the special National T-shirts. We then temporarily go back to our hotel to check-in (we are staying in the Cantebury Hotel by the way). Then, we go back to the convention center so that we can pick up some practice matches. My dad plays against Rob D and Quinn D, while I face Jay H (the master who came in 3rd place in Worlds 09). I had some awesome games with him that's for sure. Eventually, we go back to the hotel at around 10:30 P.M. and go to sleep.
Friday (Day 1 of the main tournament)
Dad and I arrive at the convention center at around 8:00 A.M. We check around for a little bit, and I buy myself a Darkrai mat. I eventually go into to the main tournament area, and the first thought that comes into my mind is, "Whoa! This place is huge! It's even bigger than Nationals in St. Louis last year!"
I sit down at one of the tables, and I play a match with one of my TCG friends, Nathan P (he is playing Mother Gengar by the way). The practice game ends in a draw after he flips heads on Fainting Spell. Eventually, the roster goes up, and then I sit down at my respective seat, and then I turn in my decklist. Then the pairings go up, and so it is time to start discussing about my matches.
Round 1: Micaela R. (Beautifly/Sceptile)
She starts with a Wurmple and a Treecko, while I kind of forgot what I started with. From what I remember, it certainly wasn't the best. I manage to attack the Wurmple several times, but eventually, she manages to evolve her Wurmple into a Beautifly PT in a matter of turns. At the same time, I kind of recover from my rather bad start. She eventually starts attacking with Beautifly, which becomes a pain because my active gets Asleep, Poisoned, and Burned thanks to its attack. She even manages to bring out a Sceptile GE, and this gives me a good chance to pull out a KO. I Flash Bit the Sceptile twice, and then I KO it with Garchomp. Of course, I end up suffering from the Beautifly again. Luckily, I pull out a Lucario GL and a Luxray GL, and eventually, I knock out her Beautifly with the help of Luxray. Very soon, she manages to bring out yet another Sceptile, and I KO it just like how I did earlier that match. I pull off some more KOs, and pretty soon, I'm one prize away from winning, while she is three prizes away from winning. Time is then called, and I end up winning the game by time. Regardless, she couldn't really catch up with me anyways. Still, good game Micaela!
1/0
Round 2: Billy H. (Machamp w/ Metagross LA tech)
He starts the game with a Machop from what I remember. As for me, I have a much better start compared to my last match. I manage to bring out 3 Pokemon SPs, allowing to have a chance to Power Spray.
You see, when I face Machamp, the first thing I often do is that I try to make sure that he/she won't get out the Machamp that fast, and in this match, I succeed by doing so. He manages to bring out a Uxie and a Baltoy. He attempts to use Set Up from his Uxie, but I manage to Power Spray it. Then, I eventually take down the benched Baltoy, and from this point, he is drawing absolutely nothing. In fact, the only thing he really does against me is that he's mostly using Machops SF's attacks and that's about it. I, myself, manage to KO his other Machop (as well as the active one), then the Uxie, and then his Beldum (all with the help of my Garchomps and Luxrays), allowing me to win the match. Good Game Billy!
2/0
Round 3: Jason P. (Straight Machamp)
Well, take a look at that. I'm against Jason P. For those who don't know, he's a kid that frequently visits Jimmy Ballard's League in Chicago, and pretty much likes to play Machamp. It was pretty surprising that I faced him in swiss because there is like a 1/300 chance that you will face someone you know from your own state here in this nationals tournament.
Basically, my start is absolutely terrible. I end up starting with a Uxie, while he starts with a Machop. I start the game, and I predict that he will get a Machamp on his first turn, so I play down another basic Pokemon I had in my hand. As it turns out, my prediction was correct. He manages to get a Machamp out on his first turn, and eventually knocks out my Uxie. I do manage to bring out some more basics, but I still can't do much. Eventually, he fully sets up and literally takes me down. As for me, I pretty much take almost no prizes since there is really nothing I can do. Pretty soon, he wins the match. Oh well, good game Jason!
2/1
Lunch Break! Dad and I take the Skywalk back to out hotel. We eat some sushi at out hotel room, and we are eventually back to the convention center, where we are ready to play some more rounds.
Round 4: Hunter B. (Kingdra/Machamp)
Like the last match, my start is pretty bad. To make matters worse, I notice that this is a Kingdra deck of some sort, something that I should usually win against. I hardly do much in particular in the beginning, but things would soon change. Midway into the match, I have only two cards in my hand, but then he plays Judge, and it helped a lot. I get a way better hand, and very soon, I catch up very nicely. As for him, he manages to get out a Machamp. Well, certainly, that was quite surprising I remember that. Eventually, I do manage to KO a few more Pokemon of his, especially with the help of my Garchomp C. After I KOd one of his Pokemon with my Garchomp, he plays Warp Point, so I pull out Crobat and then it pretty much gets KOd. Since he managed to put my Garchomp C back onto my bench, this gives me a chance to pull off yet another KO with Garchomp, so I do just that and I take my last prize. Yep, very good game Hunter!
3/1
Round 5: Zachary A. (Mother Gengar w/ Machamp tech)
Looks like for the fourth time in a row in this entire tournament, I have to go against another deck that uses Machamp in some sort of way. Man, there are certainly lots of Machamps.
From what I remember, he had a Gastly and a Machop on the bench, but I forgot what he opened with. I thought I was going to face a GeChamp deck, but it didn't turn out to be the case. It later turned out to be a Mother Gengar deck that is running a Machamp tech for SPs. Luckily, I manage to KO Machop before it got to a Machamp with the help of Garchomp C. Then, he eventually manages to get out his Gengar and start Shadow Rooming me, often my Bronzong G. Since I do need the Bronzong, I had to use a few PokeTurns several times in order to prevent him from knocking it out. Of course, he does manage to KO my Uxies, as well as Poltergeisting from time to time.
Rather than attacking the Gengar first, I focused on knocking out his bench Pokemon so that I could gain an upper hand, so I do just that. Claydols and Uxies mainly get KOd from my Garchomp or Luxray, thus allowing me to take some prizes. Then, I do 70 to his Gengar with Luxray GL, and then 2 damage counters are removed because of Nidoqueen. Luckily I KO the Gengar, but I don't recall if I was affected by Fainting Spell. Still, I did have an Aaron's just in case. I do manage to take a few more prizes, and finally I win the match. Good game Zachary!
4/1
Round 6: Lukas D. (Luxpluff w/ Mesprit)
He starts with a Mespirt and a Baltoy on the bench, while I forgot what I started with. Here, My start was definitely not too bad here. I start the game, but I really can't do much so I pass. He goes and apparently gets the Jumpluff God set up. He literally manages to pull off a turn 1 Claydol, as well as a Jumpluff, a Uxie, and an Azelf (not the MT one, because as it turns out, he never ran it). Now because of the absolute God start, I really can't do much. He plays through my bench with Warp Point a few times as well. As for me, I really can't do much in particular. Practically, I only pull off only about 2 KOs and that's about it (mostly by my Garchomp C). Eventually, he ends up winning it. Oh well, good game Lukas!
4/2
Round 7: Mike W. (Kingdra w/ Exploud SV tech)
I have a good start here, and I manage to have a rather nice set up throughout most of the match. Earlier in the match, I thought to myself, "Now that I have a Luxray GL and a Lucario GL out, I should be able to win since it looks like an average Kingdra deck." It soon turned out that this isn't an average Kingdra deck. This Kingdra is actually running Exploud.
When I noticed that he pulled out a Whismur, one thing hits my mind. "I have to take out the Whismur NOW," I thought. The reason? If he gets an Exploud out, my Luxrays won't be able to KO his Kingdras that easily. Luckily, I do manage to KO the Whismur with the help of my Garchomp. After that, I do manage to KO a few Pokemon of his with the help of my Luxray (and a little bit of Garchomp), but then he manages to grab yet another Whismur. This time, it eventually evolves into a Loudred. Once again, I know that the Loudred must go, as he also still has some Kingdras out. I manage to pull out my Garchomp C and knock out the Loudred. I proceed with another KO, but then he gets out the Whismur again, and then finally, he evolves into Exploud. Yep, so now my Lucario GL is useless since the Exploud is finally out, but luckily, I'm far more ahead in the match then he is, so I simply KO a Pokemon from his bench rather than a Kingdra and then take the last prize. Certainly, it was an epic match. Good game Mike!
5/2
Well, that's it for Day 1 of nats. I check the current standings and I find myself in 62nd place. Not too bad that's for sure. 5/2 is definitely an impressive record thus far.
With Day 1 over, I play around at the league for a little bit. Then, Dad and I leave, and we go have some dinner in the cafe of the Circle Centre Mall. After I ate my dinner, I go to the Gameworks within the mall and play DDR for a little bit. Afterwards, we go back to the hotel and sleep for the night.
Saturday (Day 2 of the main tournament)
Dad and I arrived back at the convention center at around 8:30 in the morning. We both stay around for a little bit until the round 8 pairings finally go up.
Round 8: AJ L. (Gengar SF w/ Mewtwo tech)
He manages to start with a Gastly and then he Pitch Darks me. Luckily, I do have a rather nice hand, so I play my Cyrus to grab some needed cards. Then, he apparently brings out a Mewtwo, and now I know that I need to bring out a Mismagius. Luckily, the Mewtwo Lv.X doesn't exactly come out until around mid-game to late-game. As for me, I manage to pull off some KOs on the bench, and of course, the Mewtwo kills me a few times. Of course, I eventually kill it back with Mismagius. Afterwards, he gets a Gengar active and Poltergeists me. Luckily, I somewhat manage to live through the Poltergeist.
Pretty soon, we are both one prize card away from winning. He has a Gengar out active, while I still have Mismagius active. He attempts to look for another Crobat G, but with no avail. He Poltergeists me again, but it only ends up doing 30, and this ends up putting Mismagius at around 10 HP from being knocked out. I go and use Horror Chant to knock out the Gengar, and then he flips for Fainting Spell. Want to know what happens next? He gets heads! Since now both my Mismagius and his Gengar are knocked, the match goes into a sudden-death.
So now it is sudden-death. My opening hand includes an Ambipom G and a Bronzong G. I choose to start with the Ambipom because of its donk potential, and I even have a Cyrus in my hand that could help me out as well. Now the thing is, I hope that I would come second, but that really wasn't the case. I end up starting the game, but I couldn't do much so I pass. As for him, he starts with a Crobat G, and then he uses another Crobat G to Flash Bite my benched Bronzong G twice. Then, he pulls out a Gastly and then Pitch Darks me. Now I really can't do much. I still use my Cyrus, but now that I have been trainer locked, I can't PokeTurn my Bronzong G to heal it nor can I attach an Energy Gain to my Ambipom. Thus, I end up using Tail Code on his Gastly, which ends up moving the Psychic Energy from the Gastly to his benched Azelf. Since I have Tail Coded, I hope that maybe he won't KO in some sort of way next turn, but sadly, he does. He uses a Warp Point in order for me to bring out my Bronzong. Eventually, he evolves into Haunter and then he KOs the Bronzong G, winning the sudden death.
Well, certainly, I have to admit, this was one pretty epic match all right. The heads from Fainting Spell was quite a surprise all right, but one thing is for sure, this was one great game all right. Very good game AJ!
5/3
Round 9: Sabrina K. (Cursegar)
She ends up with a Spiritomb start with a Gastly on the bench. She starts and manages to evolve the Gastly into a Haunter with the help of her Spiritomb. As for me, I have a Garchomp C on my bench, and I manage to set up. The only problem? Well, I can't attach an Energy Gain to the Garchomp now that her Spiritomb is active, so this is a problem. She eventually plays a Claydol and uses Cosmic Power, but I forgot about Spiritomb and Power Spray.
On my next turn, that's when we realized that I forgot about the Spiritomb and Power Sprayed, so we both call a judge to see how the problem can be solved. The Judge decided that the solution ends up being that the Power Spray goes back into my hand, and we are both at a caution for not paying attention to misplay right away. Ouch!:frown:
From that point on, she isn't really drawing much, even though she managed to pull out a Cursegar. If you think I had an advantage, you can still say that she had an advantage over me. Since the Spiritomb was still active, I really couldn't do much. I can't attach my Energy Gains, I can't Power Spray, I can't PokeTurn my Crobats, and I can't even search out other SPs with my SP Radar. Furthermore, my hand is literally filled with Trainers, so my hand is pretty much building up by the minute. However, now that I see the Cursegar is on the bench, I know that it must go since once it is fully set up, it won't be damaged a lot, so I manage to get some energies onto my Garchomp, and then I do 80 to the Gengar. Then, I manage to set up a Luxray GL, so I end up Bright Looking her Gengar, and then I knock it out. She pulls out Spiritomb and once again trainer locks for a turn. Once again, it is a problem, but I do manage to KO it. Eventually, I pull off a few more KOs and win it.
Well, certainly, this match taught me one thing: Pay better attention next time! Looks like I need to remember that that's for sure. Well, good game though.
6/3
Well, at this point, lots of people are 6/3, so I can't be sure if will make top cut or not. Then the standings go up. I look at the list, and eventually, I find out I'm in 64th place! Well, talk about lucky. It was surely a surprise that I actually made top 64 cut.:lol: Oh yeah, Also in top 64 cut is Ben M, Stephen M, Luke S, Damien H, Toby N, and Jeremy P. Ben, Stephen, Luke, Damien, Toby, Jeremy, and I are all representing Illinois in top cut seniors.
Now that I made top 64, I have to go in line for deck checks. I organize my deck, and then I sit around and chat for a little bit. Eventually, it is my turn, and I turn in my deck for the deck check. Then, Dad and I decide to leave for lunch break, so we go to the food court within the Circle Centre Mall and have a Subway meal. We manage to come back to the convention center at around 1:40. I hear people being called to re-sleeve their decks, and I wasn't sure if I was called, so I go in line to see if I need to re-sleeve my deck. It later turned out that I didn't need too. Well, that's at least good, so I end up waiting for a little bit, and eventually the top cut pairings are up, and I have to end up facing Spencer B.
Top 64: Spencer B (Mirror Match: Luxchomp)
Spencer is the senior that literally won swiss during nats. What do I mean by that? Well, let me put it this way. He came completely undefeated during swiss. He even beat Aylam R (the one that is right now number 1 in global seniors). Since he came undefeated at this point, I could tell that this was certainly going to be one tough match.
As for his Luxchomp, it wasn't exactly like mine, as it was actually one very unique Luxchomp. It ran an ERL (Entei & Raikou Legend) tech, Claydol (pretty rare in Luxchomp these days), Bench Shields, Pokemon Communications, and even a Judge.
All right, onto the matches.Game 1:
We both seem to have rather decent starts. I decide to draw some cards with my Uxies, but then he ends up Power Spraying both of my Uxies. Great, now I really can't do much. Now that my Uxies were Power Sprayed, I am really having cursed draw. As for him, he manages to bring out a Claydol, and he has a pretty good set up. Of course, he pulls of some KOs too. The game pretty much ends with having him win it, since after all, I couldn't even draw a thing this match.
0-1
Game 2:
I have a better start here. I start with my Luxray GL, and I decide to take advantage of this. I attach a DCE onto my Luxray and do 30 to his active. He goes and did his set up and passes. I go, and this time, I choose to burn through my Cyrus Engine because I don't want to make the same mistake with the Uxies like I did the last game. Thus, I decide to use all of my Cyrus cards early to have a good advantage.
Eventually, I have a Luxray that is ready to attack pretty well. I use an SP Radar to look for a Luxray GL Lv.X, but it turns out it is prized, so I end up grabbing something else. On my next turn, I feel as if I need Luxray GL Lv.X, so I manage to search out a Uxie and an Azelf. I play the Uxie down first so that he could use up a Power Spray, allowing me to safely use Time Walk. As it turns out, my prediction was correct. He does have a Power Spray, so he Power Sprays my Uxie. Now that Uxie was Power Sprayed, I decide that it would be safe to use Azelf now, so I play Azelf onto my bench and attempt to use Time Walk, but want to know what happens next? He had yet another Power Spray, so he ends up Power Spraying my Azelf. Great, there just went my Luxray GL Lv.X, so now I must go onto Plan B: Use Garchomp C instead.
I manage to pull out a Garchomp C and then I KO two of his Pokemon using it, thus allowing me to catch up. He also manages to pull off some KOs as well. Like me, he does attack with the Garchomp, and he even manages to consecutively use 2 Dragon Rushes in two turns by attacking me with Garchomp on one turn and then retreating the Garchomp on his next turn; he then pulls out his Luxray GL Lv.X, PokeTurns it, and then pulls out the Garchomp and knocks out another Pokemon of mine. That's when I soon realize that I will need the Toxicroak and the Ambipom, so I end up playing a Roseanne's to grab the Toxicroak and the Ambipom. I play both onto my bench, and then I pull out my Ambipom G as my active. I manage to set up the Ambipom quickly, and I manage to KO his Garchomp using it.
Soon, he is one prize away from winning, while I am about 3 prizes away from winning. He decides to pull out his ERL tech, so he uses a Pokemon Communication and a Bebe's to achieve just that. He then plays the ERL onto his bench and attaches a lightning energy to it and passes. I go, but I really can't pull off another KO, so I simply do 60 with Ambipom and pass. He goes and gets another energy onto his ERL tech. Then, he pulls out the ERL and knocks me out and takes the last prize. Certainly, these matches were epic. Great games Spencer!
0-2 (6-4 overall)
Thus, I end up with a 6-4 record overall. Though I lost in top 64, I wasn't alone. Ben, Stephen, Damien, Toby, and Jeremy also lost in top 64 like I did. Luke proceeds to top 32 cut, but sadly loses at top 32.
Yet, one thing is for sure. I will consider making top 64 as one of my biggest achievements.:smile:
After the top cut matches, I play around at the league for a little bit, and eventually, Dad and I leave to have some dinner. I once again play at the Gameworks in the mall, and we both eventually arrive back at the hotel and sleep for the night.
Sunday
Technincally, it is Day 3 of the main tournament, but I really didn't do much. I bring my DS to get myself the shiny Eevee. I stay around to watch the finals for both the juniors and seniors in the VGC, and boy were they fun to watch. I also go and watch the top 16 and top 8 matches in the TCG. Then, I look around and see the league for a little bit. Then, I drop by one last time to see the top 4 matches for all divisions, and then Dad and I leave the city of Indianapolis. We arrive back home at around 5:00 P.M. Chicago time.
Props:
Making Top 64 cut in Nationals
Lots of TCG Friends came as usual
Meeting some other TCG Friends in the tournament, like Nekizalb and Box of Fail
Skywalks: they are so convenient to use when getting to the convention center
The hotel I stayed in (so peaceful)
This years nats being so much better than last years nats
The tournament area being humongous
The tournament being very well organized
Playing with Spencer B.
Playing with Jay H. on Thursday
Getting a Darkrai Mat
Getting a special Giratina Binder as a League Prize
Taking pictures with Pikachu!
Judge UL (actually helped me for once)
Michael D. for taking first place in seniors, and Spencer B for taking second place in seniors
Meeting Adam C. (Administrator of Six Prizes) in person
Slops:
Facing something with Machamp four times in a row
Spiritomb (trainer lock can sure be tough to get through)
Gengar SF's Fainting Spell
Power Sprays (pretty annoying when my Uxies and my Azelf got affected by them)
Well, I have to admit, this year's nationals was amazing. Definitely, Indianapolis is a great place to host such a big tournament. In fact, nationals should be here next year as well.
As for people who wish to see me in worlds? Well, I may not go to Worlds this year because I have to attend a high school orientation on the day of grinders, so I'm doubtful I'll go this year. Oh well, that just means I will practice for next years format. Well everyone, see you next year (on September 1, 2010)!:thumb:
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