KingGengar
New Member
Hello neighbors and friends!
I decided at the last minute to "sneak" into Nationals by leaving Friday morning and arriving in time to register on Friday evening, and then to check into a hotel, test a little, and sleep. Every part of this plan happened except the sleep :lol:
Saturday morning, I walked the two miles from the hotel to the Convention Center and found my friends, Matt (Prime), David, and his son, Matthew.
OK, so I decided to go with Mario, plain and simple, with the Sableye tech for Banette.
ROUND 1 Linda Malik (mirror match)
I actually played Linda first round at *last* year's Nats also! What are the odds? She went ahead on prizes early because I started with the tech, but she didn't use the Holon engine, so I was able to speed past her, and win.
1-0
ROUND 2 Peter Ortiz (Flygon)
Not really a bad matchup, but I couldn't get the energy when I wanted it. There was a Mew* with 30 damage in front of me, and a Ray d EX on the bench with 90 damage and I couldn't capitalize Aura Sphere, so it was from there easy for Peter.
1-1 (DON'T PANIC!)
ROUND 3 Linda (Empoleon)
Not the "secret deck" but a decent one. She tried to snipe, but I kept KO'ing here Pokemon, so that was that.
2-1
ROUND 4 Roy (Infernape)
Good deck, and he played well, but I kept shutting down the cats with CC and hurting them with Cursed Stone. Finally, his ape KO'd a Lucario, but I Revenge'd with 3 Plus Power I was hoarding. I'll say it again - Ape is autowin for Mario.
3-1
ROUND 5 Eggs (can't remember your name, sorry)
Basically, this was autowin anyway, but it didn't help that all of his Exeggutors were prized!
4-1
ROUND 6 Christian Ortiz (Speed Spread/Lucario ... I think)
It was a good game, but once I turned the momentum, I didn't lose it.
5-1
ROUND 7 Lucario/something (didn't see the whole deck)
We both start Riolu. I go first. Heads. He goes. Heads. I lay Machop and retreat Riolu, lay Energy, then Plus Power. He kinda stormed off.
6-1
ROUND 8 Delta 2 (Jeremiah J.)
He played Kingler/Raichu/Ray, and it was a good deck, but it was an easy win. Very nice fellow... good meeting you.
7-1
OK, it looks like I'm in... I just have to make sure by winning the next game.
ROUND 9 (drum roll) Banette (Adam Capriola)
He did donk-o-rama.
7-2
There was tension in the air, because we weren't sure if all the 7-2's would make it. They didn't... but *I* did! Number 23! :biggrin::thumb: BTW, another Mario made Top 32 also (Emmanuel).
SUNDAY
TOP 32 Delta 2 (Jeremiah J)
Yep, a rematch from yesterday. The games were closer than Saturday's, but I won both pretty quickly.
8-2
TOP 16 Speed Spread [Absolutions, if you like] (Chris Fulop)
Game 1. He starts Celebi EX and loses it in 3 turns. He takes the next 3 prizes. I take an EX for 2. He then takes 2 more. I'm down to my last Pokemon, Machamp (my other Machop is prized, and Sableye was discarded for Holon engine). It's fully powered and ready to go, and everything he has is damaged or weak to Fighting. He brings up Holon Voltorb, and paralyzes Machamp! If he misses, I most likely win, but he gets it. He misses next turn's Paralysis, and I have no choice but to KO the Voltorb. I also place Energy Root on Machamp. Chris Windstorms the Root, moves a damage counter to Machamp with Absol EX, then Revenges with Mew EX FTW.
Game 2. This went better for me. The first game was 1/2-hour mega-battle. This one went to the wire. I had 4 prizes left with less than 10 minutes. He sacrificed 2 non-EX in order to power up other things. I had Cursed Stone running and he couldn't stop it. He Windstorms the Cursed Stone, drops Vaporeon EX to bring my enormous hand down to 4. Luckily, I drew Cursed Stone again. Final turn, I use Aura Sphere and Cursed Stone to KO a Jolteon EX on his bench.
Game 3. Time was called after the second game. So, sudden death. Chris elects to go first. I have Riolu, Energy, Celio's, Castaway, Holon Transceiver, Plus Power, and Holon Lass. Basically, a perfect setup for a 6-prize game, but this ain't no six-prizer. I wish greatly for his Active to be an Eevee or something wickedly cool for me, but it's Mew EX. He places Psychic Energy, and lays Lunatone. Instead of 20+ flip Paralyze, he elects to get Transceiver. My turn, I have to decide on a plan. I know I need Lucario with a Cessation Crystal, and I formulate my plan. But I misplay. I'm so deep in thought about my second turn, that I play Celio's instead of Castaway and get Lucario. I even try to lay Lucario down! Only when the judge reminds me that it's only first turn do I get the picture. So all I have left is Wild Kick, which I do for 30. Chris uses Tranceiver to get Mentor to get Celebi EX and Jolteon*. He lays the Jolteon*, which adds a damage to Riolu, SSU fails, 2nd SSU (!) succeeds, and he lays Jolteon* AGAIN for another damage on Riolu. Then, second Energy to Mew, lay Celebi, hit for 30, weakness, gg.
So, it was a GREAT match, and I have the privilege to know that I *almost* moved to Top 8 through our new National Champion.
Chris is not only to be admired for his championship, but also his SOTG. When he had the opportunity to stall out the 2nd game, and thus win the match, he did *not* do any such thing, but played at a speed favorable to me. I believe in karma, and Chris deserves his trophy for both skill and poise.
PROPS
* well-organized
* great judges
* speedy starts to games
* my great friends, who supported me the whole way, especially our "drummer"
* Mike Reynolds, for never giving up
* everyone from Tennessee!~
SLOPS
* ratings system needs to be overhauled
:thumb:
I decided at the last minute to "sneak" into Nationals by leaving Friday morning and arriving in time to register on Friday evening, and then to check into a hotel, test a little, and sleep. Every part of this plan happened except the sleep :lol:
Saturday morning, I walked the two miles from the hotel to the Convention Center and found my friends, Matt (Prime), David, and his son, Matthew.
OK, so I decided to go with Mario, plain and simple, with the Sableye tech for Banette.
ROUND 1 Linda Malik (mirror match)
I actually played Linda first round at *last* year's Nats also! What are the odds? She went ahead on prizes early because I started with the tech, but she didn't use the Holon engine, so I was able to speed past her, and win.
1-0
ROUND 2 Peter Ortiz (Flygon)
Not really a bad matchup, but I couldn't get the energy when I wanted it. There was a Mew* with 30 damage in front of me, and a Ray d EX on the bench with 90 damage and I couldn't capitalize Aura Sphere, so it was from there easy for Peter.
1-1 (DON'T PANIC!)
ROUND 3 Linda (Empoleon)
Not the "secret deck" but a decent one. She tried to snipe, but I kept KO'ing here Pokemon, so that was that.
2-1
ROUND 4 Roy (Infernape)
Good deck, and he played well, but I kept shutting down the cats with CC and hurting them with Cursed Stone. Finally, his ape KO'd a Lucario, but I Revenge'd with 3 Plus Power I was hoarding. I'll say it again - Ape is autowin for Mario.
3-1
ROUND 5 Eggs (can't remember your name, sorry)
Basically, this was autowin anyway, but it didn't help that all of his Exeggutors were prized!
4-1
ROUND 6 Christian Ortiz (Speed Spread/Lucario ... I think)
It was a good game, but once I turned the momentum, I didn't lose it.
5-1
ROUND 7 Lucario/something (didn't see the whole deck)
We both start Riolu. I go first. Heads. He goes. Heads. I lay Machop and retreat Riolu, lay Energy, then Plus Power. He kinda stormed off.
6-1
ROUND 8 Delta 2 (Jeremiah J.)
He played Kingler/Raichu/Ray, and it was a good deck, but it was an easy win. Very nice fellow... good meeting you.
7-1
OK, it looks like I'm in... I just have to make sure by winning the next game.
ROUND 9 (drum roll) Banette (Adam Capriola)
He did donk-o-rama.
7-2
There was tension in the air, because we weren't sure if all the 7-2's would make it. They didn't... but *I* did! Number 23! :biggrin::thumb: BTW, another Mario made Top 32 also (Emmanuel).
SUNDAY
TOP 32 Delta 2 (Jeremiah J)
Yep, a rematch from yesterday. The games were closer than Saturday's, but I won both pretty quickly.
8-2
TOP 16 Speed Spread [Absolutions, if you like] (Chris Fulop)
Game 1. He starts Celebi EX and loses it in 3 turns. He takes the next 3 prizes. I take an EX for 2. He then takes 2 more. I'm down to my last Pokemon, Machamp (my other Machop is prized, and Sableye was discarded for Holon engine). It's fully powered and ready to go, and everything he has is damaged or weak to Fighting. He brings up Holon Voltorb, and paralyzes Machamp! If he misses, I most likely win, but he gets it. He misses next turn's Paralysis, and I have no choice but to KO the Voltorb. I also place Energy Root on Machamp. Chris Windstorms the Root, moves a damage counter to Machamp with Absol EX, then Revenges with Mew EX FTW.
Game 2. This went better for me. The first game was 1/2-hour mega-battle. This one went to the wire. I had 4 prizes left with less than 10 minutes. He sacrificed 2 non-EX in order to power up other things. I had Cursed Stone running and he couldn't stop it. He Windstorms the Cursed Stone, drops Vaporeon EX to bring my enormous hand down to 4. Luckily, I drew Cursed Stone again. Final turn, I use Aura Sphere and Cursed Stone to KO a Jolteon EX on his bench.
Game 3. Time was called after the second game. So, sudden death. Chris elects to go first. I have Riolu, Energy, Celio's, Castaway, Holon Transceiver, Plus Power, and Holon Lass. Basically, a perfect setup for a 6-prize game, but this ain't no six-prizer. I wish greatly for his Active to be an Eevee or something wickedly cool for me, but it's Mew EX. He places Psychic Energy, and lays Lunatone. Instead of 20+ flip Paralyze, he elects to get Transceiver. My turn, I have to decide on a plan. I know I need Lucario with a Cessation Crystal, and I formulate my plan. But I misplay. I'm so deep in thought about my second turn, that I play Celio's instead of Castaway and get Lucario. I even try to lay Lucario down! Only when the judge reminds me that it's only first turn do I get the picture. So all I have left is Wild Kick, which I do for 30. Chris uses Tranceiver to get Mentor to get Celebi EX and Jolteon*. He lays the Jolteon*, which adds a damage to Riolu, SSU fails, 2nd SSU (!) succeeds, and he lays Jolteon* AGAIN for another damage on Riolu. Then, second Energy to Mew, lay Celebi, hit for 30, weakness, gg.
So, it was a GREAT match, and I have the privilege to know that I *almost* moved to Top 8 through our new National Champion.
Chris is not only to be admired for his championship, but also his SOTG. When he had the opportunity to stall out the 2nd game, and thus win the match, he did *not* do any such thing, but played at a speed favorable to me. I believe in karma, and Chris deserves his trophy for both skill and poise.
PROPS
* well-organized
* great judges
* speedy starts to games
* my great friends, who supported me the whole way, especially our "drummer"
* Mike Reynolds, for never giving up
* everyone from Tennessee!~
SLOPS
* ratings system needs to be overhauled
:thumb:
