Jim Ferrell
Member
My City Championship Weekend Report
By: Jim Ferrell
Friday
After getting off work Thursday night, I went home and packed my suitcase of things. You know, clothes, toothbrush, the essentials. And of course I remembered my deck, damage counters, and extra trading cards as well. So I am excited because I knew that the next day I would be flying to Raleigh and get to hang out with the Barlocks. So I wake up and have a crazy morning. I end up getting locked in my room by my bro and had to climb out the window (don’t ask; my brother is a moron) then having to drive to Cleveland, find the long term parking (lemme tell you how fun that was on a FRIDAY), wait in line for 45 mins to get my bag checked, then another 20 mins through security (women with 4 small children really shouldn’t be put ahead of me again -_-) So I get to my gate and it’s about an hour and a half flight to Raleigh from Cleveland. So on my flight when they were passing out sodas, I grabbed a Japanese Sprite. It was so hot. So I landed and ran to the baggage check to meet Denise. I swear to God, my bag was one of the LAST to come out, it made me very nervous. So, Denise drives me to her home and we just kinda chill while waiting for Stephanie and Michael to get out of school. I remember Denise being on the computer and talking to PokeSensei asking what I thought of doing Top 8. I was like 200% for it since it gave 8 people a chance to win the medal in their age group instead of the one person who went undefeated all day. So, Denise and I go pick up Stephanie and by this time I am soooo excited to see Steph. ^_^ So Steph gets in the car and we hang out together. So next up on the agenda is taking Earline (Stephanie’s g-ma) to the bank, picking Michael up from school, and renting movies from Blockbuster to watch on the drive up there. So, Denise drops Steph and I off at Blockbuster and we picked out Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Cabin Fever, Seabiscuit, and Freaky Friday. So after we all rejoined each other we went back to the Barlock home and Stephanie and Michael finished packing up their things and get the decks and everything ready. I, of course, am designated packer. XD So we load up the trunk in Stephanie’s dad’s Pathfinder and are on the road about 3:40ish or so. So we drive for a little bit and each of us (Denise, Michael, Stephanie, and I) take turns at being random before Michael busts out his laptop and put Seabiscuit in and hooks up the car stereo to the volume of the laptop (THAT was soooo HOT). So after the movie’s over we’re all hungry, and Steph’s g-ma has wanted Cracker Barrel the whole way, so we find one and stop to have some dinner. Just for your sake of reference: Cracker Barrel’s fish fry OWNS you, case closed. So while we wait for our table, I go to the bathroom and wash up while Stephanie and Michael play each other in checkers. So after we get to our table, Stephanie and Michael play paper football and it’s cool until Stephanie flicks it and it flies and hit’s the guy behind us. Oh man it was so funny because the guy was a really nice elderly guy who thought it was funny. So then afterwards I played that peg game where you try to leave only one peg, I left two, but oh well. So we eat dinner and yes, Steph you ARE the dirtiest female ever (she burps worse than me, I am NOT kidding) So we get back in the car and drive to the hotel (I believe it was a Fairfield) and get one of those baggage carts and wheel everything up to our room. So by this time it’s a little after 9 and Denise and Earline are both tired so they go to sleep fairly quickly. So, Stephanie, Michael, and I watched TV till about 11:30 or so then went to bed. Of course, Lady Stephanie: Queen of All, took the other bed while Michael and I slept on the floor. ROFL
Saturday
I wake up about 7:20 or so the next morning and wait my turn and let everyone else shower ahead of me. So after we all showered and got ready we drove to Comic World. Or actually, it was STEPHANIE who drove. OH GOD NO, not a woman DRIVER *dies* Good thing it was only like 25 mins or I might have lost a limb. So we get lost and find the shopping center where the place is, but it moved, so Denise calls Sensei and we were like 2 mins from finding the place. So we find the place and park the same time Sean’s mom parks and Stephanie proceeds to do the WORST park job _EVER_. It was quite hilarious actually. (God, I am so dead when she reads this) So we meet Luke, Michael P, and Sean (huge treat there) So after some goofing off we register and get our free pack for registering and I pulled a MINUN!! I am soooo good, lemme tell ya. So, I grab a deck list sheet and separate my deck out and start to list my deck which I will do for you now too actually…
Gymbo’s Mastery
E-On Format
Pokemon: 22
4 Torchic (Dragon)
3 Combusken (Lunge)
4 Blaziken (Firestarter)
4 Dunsparce (Sandstorm)
2 Skitty (Sandstorm)
2 Delcatty (Energy Draw)
2 Rayquaza ex
1 Ditto (Skyridge)
Energy: 17
13 Fire
4 Electric
Trainers: 21
4 Oracle
4 TV Reporter
3 Professor Oak’s Research
3 Rare Candy
2 Switch
2 Warp Point
1 Professor Elm’s Training Method
1 Pokemon Nurse
1 Town Volunteers
I’ve already listed this deck before, it was exact, card for card to my Blaziken post from like last week as far as strategy and reasoning for playing cards over others. I believe in super consistency, and this deck has it. Now, the weekend before last at the Delaware, Ohio CC I played a CRAP load of Mirror and had heard from Stephanie that the CC she went to on February 7th in NC was loaded down with Gardevoir, so I had planned to play one way. However, I played 10 rounds. Seven swiss, and three for T8. I played seven Blaziken/Rayquaza decks. I strongly believe that because of the heavy experience I had against some super tough opponents in the Ohio CC I gained the Mirror Match Experience I needed. So after checking my deck in, and helping Steph and Luke with theirs, we hung out a little more. Luke proceeded to hug and grope me (guess Origins was just too long without seeing me), but hey that’s Luke, right? *cowers* The tournament actually started pretty close to on time…WOW *world ends* XD So the pairings went up and my opponent was…
Round One: Sean Gagnon with Dragonite ex/Swampert/Magneton
Now, I had heard rumors that Sean was playing Dragonite ex, but with Swampert and Magneton? That confused me to no end. Yeah, I saw the combo, but whatever. Anyways, I got set up extremely quickly, hit the first turn Dunsparce and powered up my Rayquaza and Blaziken(s) and just took the game over. He hit my Rayquaza with EX Dratini’s attack for 80, and that was pretty much all he could do until I just picked off everything he had. He had energy problems early, and by the time he sorta, maybe recovered I had like 2 prizes left, it was over quickly. 1-0
Round Two: Dave Russel (?) with Holo Salamence/Mewtwo ex/Wobb
This guy was a really great guy, he had on a fisherman’s hat with glasses and I want to say either his first or last name was Russel, but I just can’t be sure. Anyways, just after my Ohio CC I had started seeing deck lists containing Salamence and Psychic support like this. My opponent this round actually made Top Eight with this deck, so it is very good. Anyways, we start and I won the toss. He started with a Mewtwo ex to my Active Dunsparce and Benched Torchic. Now, at this point I had no idea what he was playing. Because I had saw a Mewtwo ex and didn’t realize he was using Salamence, so I searched for the Trinity (Skitty, Torchic, and Rayquaza ex) with Dunsparce. Again, I had nice setup. I Oracled next turn for the Delcatty and Rare Candy (as I had Blaziken in my hand) I saw the Bagon hit play and instantly knew what he was playing. Now I was stuck for a couple turns having to attack the Shelgon with my Blaziken, but I was more interested in hitting the Bench up with Damage. He got a Salamence in play and Dragon Winded my Rayquaza for the KO. So, I knew the best way to beat this deck was to use Delcatty from previous metagame studying. So I loaded up a Delcatty with 4 energy and proceeded to take over the game, once his Salamence was Knocked Out, I powered up my other Rayquaza and just cleaned up his Psychic support. He couldn’t get another Salamence going because of Rayquaza and Delcatty. Great guy, great game 2-0.
So after the second round we had a Lunch Break for 45 minutes. So Stephanie, Mike, Luke, and I all walked down to Subway and grabbed some subs. Luke and I each got foot long Meatball subs, Steph got Classic Italian, and Mike got something soft for him to eat because he had just had his wisdom teeth pulled. So we headed back to the store and ate our lunches. So after getting to hug and spend some of the little one on one time with Stephanie, lunch break was over and it was time for Round 3.
Round Three: Luke Reed with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, so I had to play Lulu next. I knew he was playing Mirror, I even knew the list because he wrote it while sitting right next to me. Pretty typical here actually, he and I each got going, however, I did get going a little quicker. Blaziken vs. Blaziken. His Ray OHKOing my Blaziken, I Ditto his Ray, and charge one of my two Rayquazas. It was a war of attrition, literally. I pull my Nurse and heal my damaged Blaziken and power it up again and finish the game. It was a very good game. Close, but I just lasted a little longer. 3-0.
Round Four: Michael P. with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, another mirror match against a cool guy that had reeeally puffy cheeks (hehehe. Sorry. Wisdom teeth thingie again) In this game we each got going, but he got a little better start than me. I got the Blaziken, Delcatty, and Rayquaza, but ran into some energy problems, and he was able to get set up a little quicker. He and I battled back and forth, back and forth. Blazikens vs. Blazikens vs. Delcatty vs. Rayquaza. I Ditto his Rayquaza. He Blaziken’s my Ditto and charges another Ray. It comes down to where I OHKO his Rayquaza with my Rayquaza leaving me with one Prize to his two, but he attached the Crystal Shard to his last Blaziken and OHKOed my Rayquaza for the game. 3-1
Round Five: Stephanie Barlock with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Okay, after my loss to Michael I was bummed because Stephanie had lost too, and I knew that I’d have to play her and that one of us would be eliminated from Top 8. I offered to just give her the win because I didn’t have the heart to play and possibly beat her. I was hoping that we could both ID down the line. Anyways, we play it out and each of us get great starts. It’s another battle of Attrition and Stephanie and I battle back and forth, I had to use all the strategy I could versus her. She and I had been discussing strategy and everything for weeks before the weekend. So, it comes down to like two prizes a piece and I just squeak ahead of her, beating her when she only had one prize left. I took the loss a lot worse than she did…4-1
Round Six: Random Kid with Blaziken/Rayquaza
I was still bumming over beating Stephanie while playing this kid, but I knew this was the last round I would have to win, so I tried my best to focus on the game. This kid was in the 11-14 division, and had a horrid start. I pulled off a successful Trinity with Dunsparce. I attached an Electric to Rayquaza next turn and hit his Torchic with Sudden Flash. He attached and passed. I Rare Candied to Blaziken, Firestartered the only Fire I had in my Discard to Rayquaza. I TV Reportered hoping for a Fire Energy, to end the game against his Combusken with Rayquaza, but I didn’t get it. Instead, I got another Electric. Which worked the same for me. I attached the second Electric, retreated Dunsparce and Knocked Out the Combusken for the game. 5-1
Round Seven: Michael Barlock with Gardevoir ex
Michael was number one in his age group, and I knew that neither of us needed to win another game. So we Intentially Drew for the tie. Locked us in our respective Top 8 finish. 5-1-1
Alright, so after the seven rounds of Swiss I ended up 3rd overall with a total of 16 points. I believe the Top Eight broke down into 4 15+, 3 11-14, and 1 10 and under. So the judges re-checked out decks for the Top 8 deck checks. We were paired up and the first round began.
T8: Semifinals Versus Same Random Kid From Round Six with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, each of us get going, but he gets going a little slower than I did, but I ran into huge energy problems that lasted like 4 turns which is disastrous in Mirror Match. So he takes the upper hand and continues to chip away at my Blazikens and my Bench. I had to waste an Oracle just to stay alive by grabbing evolutions instead of cards to help for extra turns so my Bench wouldn’t die. I came back by finishing off some of his Pokes with Delcatty than finally was able to pull together my Blazikens. The game was more about the Blaziken vs. Blaziken with Bench Damage than about Rayquaza vs. Rayquaza. I had a Blaziken with 90 damage and another on my Bench with 80 and another with 50. I had already burnt my Nurse earlier on my Delcatty, so I was disabled in the Blaziken battles. We each had 2 Prizes left and time was running out. He had a Blaziken active that had 90 and one with 50. So he retreated the damaged Blaziken and Knocked Out my 90 damaged Blaziken, dealing 10 more to my Benched Blaziken, taking it to 90 damage. He had one prize left. However, I had already won. I sent up the damaged Blaziken, and finished off both of his Blazikens, drawing my last two prizes for the game. 6-1-1
T4: Quarterfinals Luke Reed with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Oh boy another match with Luke, lucky me. And hey ANOTHER Mirror match. However, this time I got going like super fast. And Luke struggled the whole game. I had everything going for me, and Luke struggled terribly. It was just academic, I trashed him bit by bit until I had taken all of my prizes. Wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to win, but hey, I’ll take it vs. a player like Luke. 7-1-1
T2: Finals Michael P. with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Hey, whaddya know? A finals match with the only person who’s beaten me all day with another Mirror -_-. He wins the flip which is just EVEN better for me. He starts with Torchic, and I started with Ditto hoping he had a Dunsparce, but he didn’t. This time I benched AFTER I started. He cost me some valuable turns in the Swiss Match by Warp Pointing my Skitty active switching my Dunsparce away. I powered up my Benched Torchic. I then Oracled for the Rare Candy and the Blaziken. I used Delcatty to Energy draw, discarding a Fire drawing my Rare Candy, Blaziken, and SWITCH. Now this was insane because the one card I needed for that third card, I pulled. I attached to Torchic, Candied to Blaziken, Firestartered to Blaziken. Then I played Switch, getting rid of Ditto for Blaziken, Koing his Torchic with 2 energy. From that point on, I just took the game over. I got another Blaziken, and Rayquaza. He resigned and it was over. 8-1-1
After the round we went up and grabbed our prizes and posed for about one thousand pictures. So Stephanie played with my medal and tried fixing it certain ways. So, Michael Barlock also won the 11-14 in his age group. So we signed the paperwork and got all of our stuff together and left for the hotel. So we were all hungry and Stephanie and I had half of our subs left over from Subway. Denise and Michael were hungry so they ordered food from Hooters which was like close to the hotel. So after we got back to the hotel, Stephanie and I changed into our PJ pants and went downstairs to a conference room. Denise had grabbed a room for a Dragons draft we were going to have. So we went downstairs to the conference room and ate. We had Luke, Mike P, Chris Pak, and Sensei join us for the Draft. So we had eight players and drafted six packs of Dragon. I had a decent deck. I’ve always been pretty good at drafting, so here’s what my Deck was…
Fiery Dragon
Draft Format
Pokemon: 20
5 Bagon (3 Paralyzing Gaze/2 Risky Kick)
4 Shelgon (2 Rolling Attack/2 Rock Head)
1 Salamence (Rare)
2 Slugma (Luring Flame)
2 Magcargo ex
2 Torchic
2 Houndour
2 Trap inch (Rock Smash)
Energy: 18
10 Fire
8 Water
Trainers: 2
1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion
1 Buffer Piece
Now, I was sooooo tired at this point. My brain was like mush. I had played all day. Several of my games took a lot out of me mentally. We played 4 rounds, and I am not even 100% sure who I played and when. But I know I played Denise, Michael P, Luke, and Michael B.
Round 1: Vs Denise
She was running Grass, and I quickly had a Shelgon using Rolling Attack, and I drew my second Prize and pulled my Salamence and evolved to Salamence and just picked off the rest of her basics. 1-0
Round 2: Vs Michael B.
In this game, I had to be wary because he had Magnetons. However, I started with a Trapinch and Slugma. So my Trapinch had a field day with his Magnemites. I was able to power up and evolve to Magcargo and just finished him off slowly after he Koed my Trapinch. Just in case, I had powered up a Shelgon on my Bench. 2-0
Round 3: Vs. Luke
This game was close. We both had Salamence lines and had to go back and forth because of the Colorless weakness. I would stall with Buffer Piece and the Rock Head Shelgon while building my Salamence on my Bench. I brought it to one Prize, but he finished me. It was a good game. 2-1
Round 4: Vs. Michael P.
He also had a Salamence line and some Water Basics like Mudkip and Corphish. So I started with two Slugma and a Bagon. I powered up the Slugma and Luring Flames out his Pokemon then powered up to Shelgon and evolved my Slugma to Magcargo ex and it was just a matter of time before I melted through all of his Pokemon. 3-1
So, at this point I am exhausted and really tired. Luke ended up going 4-0 and undefeated over the whole tournament and got first. I grabbed second behind Luke. After everyone packed up and left, I went back upstairs and watched some TV with Steph until I fell asleep and of course Lady Stephanie: Queen of the World gets the bed to herself again. But hey, I certainly don’t mind. I mean, ladies first, right?
Sunday
Okay, so I woke up Sunday and helped the Barlocks’ repack everything so we could get going and check out. So Michael and I grab some donuts and head out and pack the SUV up. So we get going on the road for the about 45 min drive to Dream World. So we drive and get there reeeeally early. So Stephanie and Michael do their homework while we wait for the store to open. And when it does, I meet Sensei again and tell him that I won’t play like I had promised him the night before at the Draft. I mean, I wanted to give someone else a chance to win, especially someone who lives in the state. So, Michael and I do deck checks and help the tournament get going a little faster. So the round starts and after two rounds we have another Lunch break again and go over to Wendy’s. I’m not very hungry and I just hang out with Stephanie while everyone else eats. So after lunch, we head back to Dream World. The third round starts and the rounds continue to go through and by the end of the last round Stephanie is 5-1 and makes Top 8. So we deck check the Top 8 again. I sit and watch Stephanie’s games and she comes down to the Finals against Luke. Stephanie had a GARBAGE hand and Luke just beats her. The day dragged on because I didn’t play, and boy did I gain a huge respect for the judging crews. Be THANKFUL for them. So after we finish the games we pack up and drive home. And on the ride home Stephanie and I sit close together and watch Freaky Friday and Cabin Fever (GOD that movie was GROSS) After awhile, everyone’s hungry and we pull off for some Hardee’s. I got a 1/3 pound Bacon Cheeseburger with fries. Now, Stephanie, Michael, and I made our own drinks. My drink MIZED all. I mixed a drink and it was mainly Coke, with some Dr. Pepper, and a little Orange Soda in it. It was soooo good. After eating, we finished watching the movie and finished the ride home. Stephanie and I went to bed and thus ended my weekend. I got up Monday, spent some quality time with Stephanie before she left for school, then flew home.
Props and Slops:
Props
*To me winning the CC
*To Stephanie for being so great
*To Denise for always welcoming me
*To Michael because he’s so cool (when he’s not random)
*To Sensei because it was so great meeting him again
*To Luke and Michael P. It was so cool hanging out with you guys over the weekend.
*To everyone at the City Championships for being so great.
*To meeting Rainbow Richards and being such a nice guy.
*To the tournaments being so well run.
*To such a great weekend.
Slops
I really don’t have any except I wish that a certain someone would quit being a liar and fess up to their actions and stop blaming other people for his own shortcomings and they know who they are.
Thank you for reading my report. It was so great seeing you again Stephanie, I am so proud of how well you did. I love you!
~Jim Ferrell
By: Jim Ferrell
Friday
After getting off work Thursday night, I went home and packed my suitcase of things. You know, clothes, toothbrush, the essentials. And of course I remembered my deck, damage counters, and extra trading cards as well. So I am excited because I knew that the next day I would be flying to Raleigh and get to hang out with the Barlocks. So I wake up and have a crazy morning. I end up getting locked in my room by my bro and had to climb out the window (don’t ask; my brother is a moron) then having to drive to Cleveland, find the long term parking (lemme tell you how fun that was on a FRIDAY), wait in line for 45 mins to get my bag checked, then another 20 mins through security (women with 4 small children really shouldn’t be put ahead of me again -_-) So I get to my gate and it’s about an hour and a half flight to Raleigh from Cleveland. So on my flight when they were passing out sodas, I grabbed a Japanese Sprite. It was so hot. So I landed and ran to the baggage check to meet Denise. I swear to God, my bag was one of the LAST to come out, it made me very nervous. So, Denise drives me to her home and we just kinda chill while waiting for Stephanie and Michael to get out of school. I remember Denise being on the computer and talking to PokeSensei asking what I thought of doing Top 8. I was like 200% for it since it gave 8 people a chance to win the medal in their age group instead of the one person who went undefeated all day. So, Denise and I go pick up Stephanie and by this time I am soooo excited to see Steph. ^_^ So Steph gets in the car and we hang out together. So next up on the agenda is taking Earline (Stephanie’s g-ma) to the bank, picking Michael up from school, and renting movies from Blockbuster to watch on the drive up there. So, Denise drops Steph and I off at Blockbuster and we picked out Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Cabin Fever, Seabiscuit, and Freaky Friday. So after we all rejoined each other we went back to the Barlock home and Stephanie and Michael finished packing up their things and get the decks and everything ready. I, of course, am designated packer. XD So we load up the trunk in Stephanie’s dad’s Pathfinder and are on the road about 3:40ish or so. So we drive for a little bit and each of us (Denise, Michael, Stephanie, and I) take turns at being random before Michael busts out his laptop and put Seabiscuit in and hooks up the car stereo to the volume of the laptop (THAT was soooo HOT). So after the movie’s over we’re all hungry, and Steph’s g-ma has wanted Cracker Barrel the whole way, so we find one and stop to have some dinner. Just for your sake of reference: Cracker Barrel’s fish fry OWNS you, case closed. So while we wait for our table, I go to the bathroom and wash up while Stephanie and Michael play each other in checkers. So after we get to our table, Stephanie and Michael play paper football and it’s cool until Stephanie flicks it and it flies and hit’s the guy behind us. Oh man it was so funny because the guy was a really nice elderly guy who thought it was funny. So then afterwards I played that peg game where you try to leave only one peg, I left two, but oh well. So we eat dinner and yes, Steph you ARE the dirtiest female ever (she burps worse than me, I am NOT kidding) So we get back in the car and drive to the hotel (I believe it was a Fairfield) and get one of those baggage carts and wheel everything up to our room. So by this time it’s a little after 9 and Denise and Earline are both tired so they go to sleep fairly quickly. So, Stephanie, Michael, and I watched TV till about 11:30 or so then went to bed. Of course, Lady Stephanie: Queen of All, took the other bed while Michael and I slept on the floor. ROFL
Saturday
I wake up about 7:20 or so the next morning and wait my turn and let everyone else shower ahead of me. So after we all showered and got ready we drove to Comic World. Or actually, it was STEPHANIE who drove. OH GOD NO, not a woman DRIVER *dies* Good thing it was only like 25 mins or I might have lost a limb. So we get lost and find the shopping center where the place is, but it moved, so Denise calls Sensei and we were like 2 mins from finding the place. So we find the place and park the same time Sean’s mom parks and Stephanie proceeds to do the WORST park job _EVER_. It was quite hilarious actually. (God, I am so dead when she reads this) So we meet Luke, Michael P, and Sean (huge treat there) So after some goofing off we register and get our free pack for registering and I pulled a MINUN!! I am soooo good, lemme tell ya. So, I grab a deck list sheet and separate my deck out and start to list my deck which I will do for you now too actually…
Gymbo’s Mastery
E-On Format
Pokemon: 22
4 Torchic (Dragon)
3 Combusken (Lunge)
4 Blaziken (Firestarter)
4 Dunsparce (Sandstorm)
2 Skitty (Sandstorm)
2 Delcatty (Energy Draw)
2 Rayquaza ex
1 Ditto (Skyridge)
Energy: 17
13 Fire
4 Electric
Trainers: 21
4 Oracle
4 TV Reporter
3 Professor Oak’s Research
3 Rare Candy
2 Switch
2 Warp Point
1 Professor Elm’s Training Method
1 Pokemon Nurse
1 Town Volunteers
I’ve already listed this deck before, it was exact, card for card to my Blaziken post from like last week as far as strategy and reasoning for playing cards over others. I believe in super consistency, and this deck has it. Now, the weekend before last at the Delaware, Ohio CC I played a CRAP load of Mirror and had heard from Stephanie that the CC she went to on February 7th in NC was loaded down with Gardevoir, so I had planned to play one way. However, I played 10 rounds. Seven swiss, and three for T8. I played seven Blaziken/Rayquaza decks. I strongly believe that because of the heavy experience I had against some super tough opponents in the Ohio CC I gained the Mirror Match Experience I needed. So after checking my deck in, and helping Steph and Luke with theirs, we hung out a little more. Luke proceeded to hug and grope me (guess Origins was just too long without seeing me), but hey that’s Luke, right? *cowers* The tournament actually started pretty close to on time…WOW *world ends* XD So the pairings went up and my opponent was…
Round One: Sean Gagnon with Dragonite ex/Swampert/Magneton
Now, I had heard rumors that Sean was playing Dragonite ex, but with Swampert and Magneton? That confused me to no end. Yeah, I saw the combo, but whatever. Anyways, I got set up extremely quickly, hit the first turn Dunsparce and powered up my Rayquaza and Blaziken(s) and just took the game over. He hit my Rayquaza with EX Dratini’s attack for 80, and that was pretty much all he could do until I just picked off everything he had. He had energy problems early, and by the time he sorta, maybe recovered I had like 2 prizes left, it was over quickly. 1-0
Round Two: Dave Russel (?) with Holo Salamence/Mewtwo ex/Wobb
This guy was a really great guy, he had on a fisherman’s hat with glasses and I want to say either his first or last name was Russel, but I just can’t be sure. Anyways, just after my Ohio CC I had started seeing deck lists containing Salamence and Psychic support like this. My opponent this round actually made Top Eight with this deck, so it is very good. Anyways, we start and I won the toss. He started with a Mewtwo ex to my Active Dunsparce and Benched Torchic. Now, at this point I had no idea what he was playing. Because I had saw a Mewtwo ex and didn’t realize he was using Salamence, so I searched for the Trinity (Skitty, Torchic, and Rayquaza ex) with Dunsparce. Again, I had nice setup. I Oracled next turn for the Delcatty and Rare Candy (as I had Blaziken in my hand) I saw the Bagon hit play and instantly knew what he was playing. Now I was stuck for a couple turns having to attack the Shelgon with my Blaziken, but I was more interested in hitting the Bench up with Damage. He got a Salamence in play and Dragon Winded my Rayquaza for the KO. So, I knew the best way to beat this deck was to use Delcatty from previous metagame studying. So I loaded up a Delcatty with 4 energy and proceeded to take over the game, once his Salamence was Knocked Out, I powered up my other Rayquaza and just cleaned up his Psychic support. He couldn’t get another Salamence going because of Rayquaza and Delcatty. Great guy, great game 2-0.
So after the second round we had a Lunch Break for 45 minutes. So Stephanie, Mike, Luke, and I all walked down to Subway and grabbed some subs. Luke and I each got foot long Meatball subs, Steph got Classic Italian, and Mike got something soft for him to eat because he had just had his wisdom teeth pulled. So we headed back to the store and ate our lunches. So after getting to hug and spend some of the little one on one time with Stephanie, lunch break was over and it was time for Round 3.
Round Three: Luke Reed with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, so I had to play Lulu next. I knew he was playing Mirror, I even knew the list because he wrote it while sitting right next to me. Pretty typical here actually, he and I each got going, however, I did get going a little quicker. Blaziken vs. Blaziken. His Ray OHKOing my Blaziken, I Ditto his Ray, and charge one of my two Rayquazas. It was a war of attrition, literally. I pull my Nurse and heal my damaged Blaziken and power it up again and finish the game. It was a very good game. Close, but I just lasted a little longer. 3-0.
Round Four: Michael P. with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, another mirror match against a cool guy that had reeeally puffy cheeks (hehehe. Sorry. Wisdom teeth thingie again) In this game we each got going, but he got a little better start than me. I got the Blaziken, Delcatty, and Rayquaza, but ran into some energy problems, and he was able to get set up a little quicker. He and I battled back and forth, back and forth. Blazikens vs. Blazikens vs. Delcatty vs. Rayquaza. I Ditto his Rayquaza. He Blaziken’s my Ditto and charges another Ray. It comes down to where I OHKO his Rayquaza with my Rayquaza leaving me with one Prize to his two, but he attached the Crystal Shard to his last Blaziken and OHKOed my Rayquaza for the game. 3-1
Round Five: Stephanie Barlock with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Okay, after my loss to Michael I was bummed because Stephanie had lost too, and I knew that I’d have to play her and that one of us would be eliminated from Top 8. I offered to just give her the win because I didn’t have the heart to play and possibly beat her. I was hoping that we could both ID down the line. Anyways, we play it out and each of us get great starts. It’s another battle of Attrition and Stephanie and I battle back and forth, I had to use all the strategy I could versus her. She and I had been discussing strategy and everything for weeks before the weekend. So, it comes down to like two prizes a piece and I just squeak ahead of her, beating her when she only had one prize left. I took the loss a lot worse than she did…4-1
Round Six: Random Kid with Blaziken/Rayquaza
I was still bumming over beating Stephanie while playing this kid, but I knew this was the last round I would have to win, so I tried my best to focus on the game. This kid was in the 11-14 division, and had a horrid start. I pulled off a successful Trinity with Dunsparce. I attached an Electric to Rayquaza next turn and hit his Torchic with Sudden Flash. He attached and passed. I Rare Candied to Blaziken, Firestartered the only Fire I had in my Discard to Rayquaza. I TV Reportered hoping for a Fire Energy, to end the game against his Combusken with Rayquaza, but I didn’t get it. Instead, I got another Electric. Which worked the same for me. I attached the second Electric, retreated Dunsparce and Knocked Out the Combusken for the game. 5-1
Round Seven: Michael Barlock with Gardevoir ex
Michael was number one in his age group, and I knew that neither of us needed to win another game. So we Intentially Drew for the tie. Locked us in our respective Top 8 finish. 5-1-1
Alright, so after the seven rounds of Swiss I ended up 3rd overall with a total of 16 points. I believe the Top Eight broke down into 4 15+, 3 11-14, and 1 10 and under. So the judges re-checked out decks for the Top 8 deck checks. We were paired up and the first round began.
T8: Semifinals Versus Same Random Kid From Round Six with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Alright, each of us get going, but he gets going a little slower than I did, but I ran into huge energy problems that lasted like 4 turns which is disastrous in Mirror Match. So he takes the upper hand and continues to chip away at my Blazikens and my Bench. I had to waste an Oracle just to stay alive by grabbing evolutions instead of cards to help for extra turns so my Bench wouldn’t die. I came back by finishing off some of his Pokes with Delcatty than finally was able to pull together my Blazikens. The game was more about the Blaziken vs. Blaziken with Bench Damage than about Rayquaza vs. Rayquaza. I had a Blaziken with 90 damage and another on my Bench with 80 and another with 50. I had already burnt my Nurse earlier on my Delcatty, so I was disabled in the Blaziken battles. We each had 2 Prizes left and time was running out. He had a Blaziken active that had 90 and one with 50. So he retreated the damaged Blaziken and Knocked Out my 90 damaged Blaziken, dealing 10 more to my Benched Blaziken, taking it to 90 damage. He had one prize left. However, I had already won. I sent up the damaged Blaziken, and finished off both of his Blazikens, drawing my last two prizes for the game. 6-1-1
T4: Quarterfinals Luke Reed with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Oh boy another match with Luke, lucky me. And hey ANOTHER Mirror match. However, this time I got going like super fast. And Luke struggled the whole game. I had everything going for me, and Luke struggled terribly. It was just academic, I trashed him bit by bit until I had taken all of my prizes. Wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to win, but hey, I’ll take it vs. a player like Luke. 7-1-1
T2: Finals Michael P. with Blaziken/Rayquaza
Hey, whaddya know? A finals match with the only person who’s beaten me all day with another Mirror -_-. He wins the flip which is just EVEN better for me. He starts with Torchic, and I started with Ditto hoping he had a Dunsparce, but he didn’t. This time I benched AFTER I started. He cost me some valuable turns in the Swiss Match by Warp Pointing my Skitty active switching my Dunsparce away. I powered up my Benched Torchic. I then Oracled for the Rare Candy and the Blaziken. I used Delcatty to Energy draw, discarding a Fire drawing my Rare Candy, Blaziken, and SWITCH. Now this was insane because the one card I needed for that third card, I pulled. I attached to Torchic, Candied to Blaziken, Firestartered to Blaziken. Then I played Switch, getting rid of Ditto for Blaziken, Koing his Torchic with 2 energy. From that point on, I just took the game over. I got another Blaziken, and Rayquaza. He resigned and it was over. 8-1-1
After the round we went up and grabbed our prizes and posed for about one thousand pictures. So Stephanie played with my medal and tried fixing it certain ways. So, Michael Barlock also won the 11-14 in his age group. So we signed the paperwork and got all of our stuff together and left for the hotel. So we were all hungry and Stephanie and I had half of our subs left over from Subway. Denise and Michael were hungry so they ordered food from Hooters which was like close to the hotel. So after we got back to the hotel, Stephanie and I changed into our PJ pants and went downstairs to a conference room. Denise had grabbed a room for a Dragons draft we were going to have. So we went downstairs to the conference room and ate. We had Luke, Mike P, Chris Pak, and Sensei join us for the Draft. So we had eight players and drafted six packs of Dragon. I had a decent deck. I’ve always been pretty good at drafting, so here’s what my Deck was…
Fiery Dragon
Draft Format
Pokemon: 20
5 Bagon (3 Paralyzing Gaze/2 Risky Kick)
4 Shelgon (2 Rolling Attack/2 Rock Head)
1 Salamence (Rare)
2 Slugma (Luring Flame)
2 Magcargo ex
2 Torchic
2 Houndour
2 Trap inch (Rock Smash)
Energy: 18
10 Fire
8 Water
Trainers: 2
1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion
1 Buffer Piece
Now, I was sooooo tired at this point. My brain was like mush. I had played all day. Several of my games took a lot out of me mentally. We played 4 rounds, and I am not even 100% sure who I played and when. But I know I played Denise, Michael P, Luke, and Michael B.
Round 1: Vs Denise
She was running Grass, and I quickly had a Shelgon using Rolling Attack, and I drew my second Prize and pulled my Salamence and evolved to Salamence and just picked off the rest of her basics. 1-0
Round 2: Vs Michael B.
In this game, I had to be wary because he had Magnetons. However, I started with a Trapinch and Slugma. So my Trapinch had a field day with his Magnemites. I was able to power up and evolve to Magcargo and just finished him off slowly after he Koed my Trapinch. Just in case, I had powered up a Shelgon on my Bench. 2-0
Round 3: Vs. Luke
This game was close. We both had Salamence lines and had to go back and forth because of the Colorless weakness. I would stall with Buffer Piece and the Rock Head Shelgon while building my Salamence on my Bench. I brought it to one Prize, but he finished me. It was a good game. 2-1
Round 4: Vs. Michael P.
He also had a Salamence line and some Water Basics like Mudkip and Corphish. So I started with two Slugma and a Bagon. I powered up the Slugma and Luring Flames out his Pokemon then powered up to Shelgon and evolved my Slugma to Magcargo ex and it was just a matter of time before I melted through all of his Pokemon. 3-1
So, at this point I am exhausted and really tired. Luke ended up going 4-0 and undefeated over the whole tournament and got first. I grabbed second behind Luke. After everyone packed up and left, I went back upstairs and watched some TV with Steph until I fell asleep and of course Lady Stephanie: Queen of the World gets the bed to herself again. But hey, I certainly don’t mind. I mean, ladies first, right?
Sunday
Okay, so I woke up Sunday and helped the Barlocks’ repack everything so we could get going and check out. So Michael and I grab some donuts and head out and pack the SUV up. So we get going on the road for the about 45 min drive to Dream World. So we drive and get there reeeeally early. So Stephanie and Michael do their homework while we wait for the store to open. And when it does, I meet Sensei again and tell him that I won’t play like I had promised him the night before at the Draft. I mean, I wanted to give someone else a chance to win, especially someone who lives in the state. So, Michael and I do deck checks and help the tournament get going a little faster. So the round starts and after two rounds we have another Lunch break again and go over to Wendy’s. I’m not very hungry and I just hang out with Stephanie while everyone else eats. So after lunch, we head back to Dream World. The third round starts and the rounds continue to go through and by the end of the last round Stephanie is 5-1 and makes Top 8. So we deck check the Top 8 again. I sit and watch Stephanie’s games and she comes down to the Finals against Luke. Stephanie had a GARBAGE hand and Luke just beats her. The day dragged on because I didn’t play, and boy did I gain a huge respect for the judging crews. Be THANKFUL for them. So after we finish the games we pack up and drive home. And on the ride home Stephanie and I sit close together and watch Freaky Friday and Cabin Fever (GOD that movie was GROSS) After awhile, everyone’s hungry and we pull off for some Hardee’s. I got a 1/3 pound Bacon Cheeseburger with fries. Now, Stephanie, Michael, and I made our own drinks. My drink MIZED all. I mixed a drink and it was mainly Coke, with some Dr. Pepper, and a little Orange Soda in it. It was soooo good. After eating, we finished watching the movie and finished the ride home. Stephanie and I went to bed and thus ended my weekend. I got up Monday, spent some quality time with Stephanie before she left for school, then flew home.
Props and Slops:
Props
*To me winning the CC
*To Stephanie for being so great
*To Denise for always welcoming me
*To Michael because he’s so cool (when he’s not random)
*To Sensei because it was so great meeting him again
*To Luke and Michael P. It was so cool hanging out with you guys over the weekend.
*To everyone at the City Championships for being so great.
*To meeting Rainbow Richards and being such a nice guy.
*To the tournaments being so well run.
*To such a great weekend.
Slops
I really don’t have any except I wish that a certain someone would quit being a liar and fess up to their actions and stop blaming other people for his own shortcomings and they know who they are.
Thank you for reading my report. It was so great seeing you again Stephanie, I am so proud of how well you did. I love you!
~Jim Ferrell
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