Pooka
Master Trainer
Before I start, I just want to say... this was the most fun I've EVER had.
Well, I got to Orlando on Wednesday, went to the Wyndham on Thursday. Went to Disney World, etc. Nobody cares about that though. I met a few people that night. Chad (Scizor), Levi (MonkeyMan88), Drew (JediDrew), John (YJ), and probably a few more. I played a few games and got destroyed. Mostly because of 1) Bellossom in Blaziken and 2) John's turn 1 Shiftry BOTH games. I was a little worried about the deck now.
Friday I met up with a lot of people. Martin, Pat (nikePK), Colin (swanton1717), Chris (Tyranitar666), Sean (ProfessorCFK), Jon (Croc), John (Patriarch), Sebastian (GrandmaJoner), Pablo (Mudkip), Jimmy (Banginbox), Dave (AXE), Newman and MANY more. I was considering using Arcanine with Walrein, considering a lot of Blaziken added HL Bellossom to their deck for Walrein. However, the idea bombed horribly and I just tried Walrein/Milotic again. The banquet they had was AMAZING.
Afterwards, I headed up to Martin's room to do some playtesting. I tried Arcanine again, but it was terrible. Then I tried Al Gore (Aqua Lanturn/Gorebyss), but that was horrible as well. So I just decided to stick with Walrein/Milotic. I finally went back to my hotel at 2:30, and woke up at 6:30 to register my deck the next day.
I made some last second changes to the deck, and here's how it looked in the end.
Pokémon 18
4 Spheal
3 Sealeo
4 Walrein
3 Dunsparce
2 Feebas
2 Milotic
Trainers 26
4 Oracle
3 Copycat
3 TV Reporter
3 Steven's Advice
3 Desert Ruins
3 Rare Candy (1 French or something ;x)
2 Crystal Shard (EXTREMELY happy I added the second one)
1 Warp Point
1 Mr. Briney's Compassion
1 ATM Rock
1 Town Volunteers
1 Fast Ball (THANK you Martin =D)
Energy 16
14 Water
2 Double Rainbow
I thought this was pretty much the best list I could put together. The only thing I could have changed was maybe adding 2 Reversal somehow. Anyway, here's how my matches went.
Round 1 - Thundercatz (AXE)
First round and I have to play someone I know... oui. For those of you who don't know what this deck is, it's Gorebyss/Espeon/Magneton/Delcatty. The thing I remembered the most about this game is he had to go to the bathroom the whole time lol. I look at my opening hand (after mulliganing 3 times) and see nothing good except a Dunsparce. I fill my bench and turn 3 I draw a Sealeo finally. From there I got setup and swarmed him with Walrein. I got what I thought was a meaningless flip at the end with Walrein, but it turns out he could have ATM Rocked me to KO one Walrein and bring the other down to a Spheal. OOPS. ;x
1-0
Round 2 - Medicham/Gore... ohh wait we got repaired. Team Magma
Yeah, originally I was facing Psycodad, but they screwed up the pairings. After we started playing, they repaired us and I had to face a Magma deck... ugh. I got a pretty good setup here. Turn 1 I Paralyzed him with Spheal, he attaches a Rainbow to Zangoose, which probably wasn't a bright thing to do. Next turn I evolve to Sealeo, hit everything for 10. Third turn I evolve to Walrein and KO his Zangoose. This match was very long and involved me getting a lot of flips for Walrein. Me having to attack with a DRE'd Walrein was made up for with Sheer Cold flips. ;x In the end I Oracled for a Warp Point just in case he Briney'd a Groudon and sent it up to stall, and he did just that. I played Warp Point and everything on his board could be KO'd by Milotic. Good game.
2-0
Round 3 - Thundercatz (Banginbox)
ANOTHER person I know from Chicago. His version was different (and a little better =P) than the first one. It played Mewtwo ex instead of Espeon. I go first and use my Fast Ball, then Strike and Run. He uses TV Reporter, absorbs with Mewtwo. Ugh, turn 2 is coming. I evolve to Sealeo and attack with Dunsparce... heads whew. I remember using Sealeo twice to get everything in range for Walrein during this match, but I don't remember a whole lot else. It was very close, like all our games are. It was my turn, I have 2 prizes and he has 1. The only way I can survive this game is to evolve my Feebas on the bench, because otherwise he can just Warp Point and KO me. I attach to Feebas, Copycat for 5... got it! Evolve the benched Feebas, KO his Gorebyss with the active Milotic. That was pretty much the end. He Warp Points, I retreat next turn and KO his Magneton. Great game.
3-0
So at the lunch break, I'm undefeated. Pretty amazing to me. I talk with some people, see how they're doing. Seems like me, Levi, Drew, Colin, and Chris are the only ones doing good so far. I had some pizza, talked to some people, and the next round was starting.
Round 4 - Swampert/Magneton (TheAnswer3)
GOD, another person I know. All I have to say about this match is... I'm lucky. =p First turn I start with Spheal, paralyze his Dunsparce. He benches a Skitty or something and passes. I decide to take my chances. Rare Candy to Walrein. Crush Draw... got the water. Wow. Attach, KO his Dunsparce. That pretty much screws him. By the end I have 3 Walrein and he has nothing.
4-0
Now that I'm 4-0, it seems like I'm pretty much guaranteed to make Top 32.
Round 5 - Team Magma (Tsuguyosi Yamato)
I heard he was the Japan Nationals winner, and has gone undefeated since. I don't think much of it though, as I'm confident my deck can take him. However, with my start... I could barely take down a Spoink. I start with lone Feebas, Fast Ball, Crystal Shard, and 4 Energy. I go first and use Fast Ball, get my Milotic. I love Fast Ball lol. Attach to Feebas, TACKLE FOR TEN!!!11 He attaches to Groudon, benches like 4 Pokemon and I'm just screwed from there. Next turn I get out Milotic, and there was a debate over whether or not I had to use the Power. They ruled in my favor, so the TEN DAMAGE stayed on him. Lol. So yeah, I attacked for 30. He hit me for 20 with Groudon. I get a Spheal and bench it, hit him for 30 again. He Reversals for my Spheal, Heads. =| KO. I KO his Groudon next turn. He sends up another one, uses Claydol to shift an energy, attaches a Dark and KO's my Milotic.
4-1
Round 6 - Wailord ex/Bellossom (swanton1717)
We both wanted to ID, but not if nobody else that was 4-1 would. Eventually Colin convinced the two matches around us to ID (took forever to convince Adam =P), even though the judges WOULD NOT let us see the standings because we "should have looked at them before the round started." So the 6 of us decided to draw, and then between rounds we worked out whether we would make it if we drew again. Turns out we would. So that was good.
4-1-1
Round 7 - Medicham/Gorebyss/Banette (Psycodad)
Hey, I remember him from 2nd Round... =P We just ID'd. He thanked me for it, but I know he would've done the same thing if he was playing Sceptile or something. ;x We talked a little and played a game. I beat him pretty badly, but that didn't matter. The ironic thing is this was the exact same table. Weird.
So I check the Standings... and I'm 18th. I just have to win this match and I get the scholarship. Looks like I'm paired with a Japanese player. There's about a 20 minute break, and we finally play.
Top 32 - Team Ma.... Blaziken =D (Koujiro... don't know his last name)
Game One:So yeah, I was completely expecting Team Magma here. He flips over his Pokemon... SKITTY! My first Blaziken of the day. FINALLY. My hand doesn't look too promising, but he's starting with a SKITTY. So yeah, I won this one pretty fast.
Game Two: I look at my opening hand... 2 Dunsparce, 3 Water, Ruins, Shard. Ugh. He flips over his Pokemon. RAYQUAZA. How lucky can I get? He attaches and passes. I play Ruins, play the second Dunsparce. SAR for 2 Spheal and Feebas, switch to the Sparce with no energy. He plays a HPS, KO's my Dunsparce. I send up the other one, and eventually my Dunsparce swarm finishes off the Rayquaza lol. Over time I got a Walrein and I finished off his Rayquaza with a Shard for the game.
I actually made it to Top 16. I never expected it to make it this far. Now that I did, I wanted to go as far as I could and make an impact. They took our decks and we had to come back at 8:30 the next morning. I hung out with everyone in the lobby all night and we ordered pizza. I found out I had to play Drew (JediDrew) tomorrow, and that wasn't good. He was testing with his friend's deck (which was his exact list) against a Magma deck, and got beat like 3 times. I guess anyone can use Magma and succeed, not just the Japanese. =x
The next morning finally rolls around, and I'm ready to go. I really didn't want to face Drew, but I had to. It was starting...
Top 16 - InSaNiTy (Drew)
For you people who don't know what this is yet, I'll tell you. It's basically as teched out as you can get with a deck. Same basic Blaziken line, but 3-3 Delcatty, 1-0-1 HL Bellossom line (for Walrein -_-), and 1-1 Magneton line. I still felt I had the upper hand, though.
Game One: First game starts, and I look at my opening hand. It's HORRIBLE. 2 Spheal and GARBAGE. I get nothing the whole game, and he gets a T2 Bex. UGH.
Game Two: This game I had a little better start, but still not one I'd really want. I'll skip to the good part basically. He sends up Rayquaza, hoping I use my Shard to KO it and make a mistake. The reasoning? He thought I only played ONE Shard. So I send up Walrein, KO it. He sends up Bellossom. He can't attack because 1) Warp Energy neutralizes Multi and 2) His 2nd Multi was prized. So he passes. I retreat to Milotic, he gets the 5 on his die ready. CRYSTAL SHARD. The look on his face was priceless. 80 to his Bellossom. I figured I had the game won right there. He gets a Magneton and KO's my Milotic. I send up a Walrein, attach an Energy, Crush Draw failure, and ATM Rock. He does 80 with Magneton. I try to Crush Draw again, FAIL AGAIN. Evolve the other Sealeo to Walrein, attach to that one and pass. He KO's me. I send up Walrein. This time I'll make sure Crush Draw works. I have about a 4 card deck. Fast Ball to get my Milotic. Town Volunteers, put 5 Water back into my deck. Crush Draw... I GET A RARE CANDY. .. .. .. wow. So from there I really couldn't do anything. In the end, I only had one chance to win it. Paralyze him with Dunsparce 3 turns in a row, then KO him with Milotic for my last prize. First one, Heads. He passes. Second Flash, Tails.
So, it ends there. I didn't mind losing to Drew, it's just the way I lost. He ends up losing to a Magma deck the next round. Team Magma sweeps every division. Simply amazing.
I had a GREAT time. I have to thank everyone for helping me have so much fun. Martin, Croc, Pat, CFK,
Chad, Levi, Sebastian, Pablo, EVERYONE. I can't remember everyone. =P
Props:
-The people I hung out with the whole time. Martin, YJ, Joner, Chad, etc. You know who you are. Thanks for making this fun.
-Nintendo for running such a great event. Honestly, no other company would go out of their way to do this much for one tournament. It was amazing.
-Chris, every one of the Japanese players, and everyone who Top 16'd. They were truly amazing players.
-My deck doing so well for most of the tournament. I got very lucky at times. =P
Slops:
-Us not paying attention to the Japanese metagame. We were too concerned trying to beat each other that we completely ignored them. They have the unity that we don't. We have to work on that. =P
-Drew for beating me.
Thanks for reading this. I hope to be able to make it to Worlds next year. It was truly amazing.
Well, I got to Orlando on Wednesday, went to the Wyndham on Thursday. Went to Disney World, etc. Nobody cares about that though. I met a few people that night. Chad (Scizor), Levi (MonkeyMan88), Drew (JediDrew), John (YJ), and probably a few more. I played a few games and got destroyed. Mostly because of 1) Bellossom in Blaziken and 2) John's turn 1 Shiftry BOTH games. I was a little worried about the deck now.
Friday I met up with a lot of people. Martin, Pat (nikePK), Colin (swanton1717), Chris (Tyranitar666), Sean (ProfessorCFK), Jon (Croc), John (Patriarch), Sebastian (GrandmaJoner), Pablo (Mudkip), Jimmy (Banginbox), Dave (AXE), Newman and MANY more. I was considering using Arcanine with Walrein, considering a lot of Blaziken added HL Bellossom to their deck for Walrein. However, the idea bombed horribly and I just tried Walrein/Milotic again. The banquet they had was AMAZING.
Afterwards, I headed up to Martin's room to do some playtesting. I tried Arcanine again, but it was terrible. Then I tried Al Gore (Aqua Lanturn/Gorebyss), but that was horrible as well. So I just decided to stick with Walrein/Milotic. I finally went back to my hotel at 2:30, and woke up at 6:30 to register my deck the next day.
I made some last second changes to the deck, and here's how it looked in the end.
Pokémon 18
4 Spheal
3 Sealeo
4 Walrein
3 Dunsparce
2 Feebas
2 Milotic
Trainers 26
4 Oracle
3 Copycat
3 TV Reporter
3 Steven's Advice
3 Desert Ruins
3 Rare Candy (1 French or something ;x)
2 Crystal Shard (EXTREMELY happy I added the second one)
1 Warp Point
1 Mr. Briney's Compassion
1 ATM Rock
1 Town Volunteers
1 Fast Ball (THANK you Martin =D)
Energy 16
14 Water
2 Double Rainbow
I thought this was pretty much the best list I could put together. The only thing I could have changed was maybe adding 2 Reversal somehow. Anyway, here's how my matches went.
Round 1 - Thundercatz (AXE)
First round and I have to play someone I know... oui. For those of you who don't know what this deck is, it's Gorebyss/Espeon/Magneton/Delcatty. The thing I remembered the most about this game is he had to go to the bathroom the whole time lol. I look at my opening hand (after mulliganing 3 times) and see nothing good except a Dunsparce. I fill my bench and turn 3 I draw a Sealeo finally. From there I got setup and swarmed him with Walrein. I got what I thought was a meaningless flip at the end with Walrein, but it turns out he could have ATM Rocked me to KO one Walrein and bring the other down to a Spheal. OOPS. ;x
1-0
Round 2 - Medicham/Gore... ohh wait we got repaired. Team Magma
Yeah, originally I was facing Psycodad, but they screwed up the pairings. After we started playing, they repaired us and I had to face a Magma deck... ugh. I got a pretty good setup here. Turn 1 I Paralyzed him with Spheal, he attaches a Rainbow to Zangoose, which probably wasn't a bright thing to do. Next turn I evolve to Sealeo, hit everything for 10. Third turn I evolve to Walrein and KO his Zangoose. This match was very long and involved me getting a lot of flips for Walrein. Me having to attack with a DRE'd Walrein was made up for with Sheer Cold flips. ;x In the end I Oracled for a Warp Point just in case he Briney'd a Groudon and sent it up to stall, and he did just that. I played Warp Point and everything on his board could be KO'd by Milotic. Good game.
2-0
Round 3 - Thundercatz (Banginbox)
ANOTHER person I know from Chicago. His version was different (and a little better =P) than the first one. It played Mewtwo ex instead of Espeon. I go first and use my Fast Ball, then Strike and Run. He uses TV Reporter, absorbs with Mewtwo. Ugh, turn 2 is coming. I evolve to Sealeo and attack with Dunsparce... heads whew. I remember using Sealeo twice to get everything in range for Walrein during this match, but I don't remember a whole lot else. It was very close, like all our games are. It was my turn, I have 2 prizes and he has 1. The only way I can survive this game is to evolve my Feebas on the bench, because otherwise he can just Warp Point and KO me. I attach to Feebas, Copycat for 5... got it! Evolve the benched Feebas, KO his Gorebyss with the active Milotic. That was pretty much the end. He Warp Points, I retreat next turn and KO his Magneton. Great game.
3-0
So at the lunch break, I'm undefeated. Pretty amazing to me. I talk with some people, see how they're doing. Seems like me, Levi, Drew, Colin, and Chris are the only ones doing good so far. I had some pizza, talked to some people, and the next round was starting.
Round 4 - Swampert/Magneton (TheAnswer3)
GOD, another person I know. All I have to say about this match is... I'm lucky. =p First turn I start with Spheal, paralyze his Dunsparce. He benches a Skitty or something and passes. I decide to take my chances. Rare Candy to Walrein. Crush Draw... got the water. Wow. Attach, KO his Dunsparce. That pretty much screws him. By the end I have 3 Walrein and he has nothing.
4-0
Now that I'm 4-0, it seems like I'm pretty much guaranteed to make Top 32.
Round 5 - Team Magma (Tsuguyosi Yamato)
I heard he was the Japan Nationals winner, and has gone undefeated since. I don't think much of it though, as I'm confident my deck can take him. However, with my start... I could barely take down a Spoink. I start with lone Feebas, Fast Ball, Crystal Shard, and 4 Energy. I go first and use Fast Ball, get my Milotic. I love Fast Ball lol. Attach to Feebas, TACKLE FOR TEN!!!11 He attaches to Groudon, benches like 4 Pokemon and I'm just screwed from there. Next turn I get out Milotic, and there was a debate over whether or not I had to use the Power. They ruled in my favor, so the TEN DAMAGE stayed on him. Lol. So yeah, I attacked for 30. He hit me for 20 with Groudon. I get a Spheal and bench it, hit him for 30 again. He Reversals for my Spheal, Heads. =| KO. I KO his Groudon next turn. He sends up another one, uses Claydol to shift an energy, attaches a Dark and KO's my Milotic.
4-1
Round 6 - Wailord ex/Bellossom (swanton1717)
We both wanted to ID, but not if nobody else that was 4-1 would. Eventually Colin convinced the two matches around us to ID (took forever to convince Adam =P), even though the judges WOULD NOT let us see the standings because we "should have looked at them before the round started." So the 6 of us decided to draw, and then between rounds we worked out whether we would make it if we drew again. Turns out we would. So that was good.
4-1-1
Round 7 - Medicham/Gorebyss/Banette (Psycodad)
Hey, I remember him from 2nd Round... =P We just ID'd. He thanked me for it, but I know he would've done the same thing if he was playing Sceptile or something. ;x We talked a little and played a game. I beat him pretty badly, but that didn't matter. The ironic thing is this was the exact same table. Weird.
So I check the Standings... and I'm 18th. I just have to win this match and I get the scholarship. Looks like I'm paired with a Japanese player. There's about a 20 minute break, and we finally play.
Top 32 - Team Ma.... Blaziken =D (Koujiro... don't know his last name)
Game One:So yeah, I was completely expecting Team Magma here. He flips over his Pokemon... SKITTY! My first Blaziken of the day. FINALLY. My hand doesn't look too promising, but he's starting with a SKITTY. So yeah, I won this one pretty fast.
Game Two: I look at my opening hand... 2 Dunsparce, 3 Water, Ruins, Shard. Ugh. He flips over his Pokemon. RAYQUAZA. How lucky can I get? He attaches and passes. I play Ruins, play the second Dunsparce. SAR for 2 Spheal and Feebas, switch to the Sparce with no energy. He plays a HPS, KO's my Dunsparce. I send up the other one, and eventually my Dunsparce swarm finishes off the Rayquaza lol. Over time I got a Walrein and I finished off his Rayquaza with a Shard for the game.
I actually made it to Top 16. I never expected it to make it this far. Now that I did, I wanted to go as far as I could and make an impact. They took our decks and we had to come back at 8:30 the next morning. I hung out with everyone in the lobby all night and we ordered pizza. I found out I had to play Drew (JediDrew) tomorrow, and that wasn't good. He was testing with his friend's deck (which was his exact list) against a Magma deck, and got beat like 3 times. I guess anyone can use Magma and succeed, not just the Japanese. =x
The next morning finally rolls around, and I'm ready to go. I really didn't want to face Drew, but I had to. It was starting...
Top 16 - InSaNiTy (Drew)
For you people who don't know what this is yet, I'll tell you. It's basically as teched out as you can get with a deck. Same basic Blaziken line, but 3-3 Delcatty, 1-0-1 HL Bellossom line (for Walrein -_-), and 1-1 Magneton line. I still felt I had the upper hand, though.
Game One: First game starts, and I look at my opening hand. It's HORRIBLE. 2 Spheal and GARBAGE. I get nothing the whole game, and he gets a T2 Bex. UGH.
Game Two: This game I had a little better start, but still not one I'd really want. I'll skip to the good part basically. He sends up Rayquaza, hoping I use my Shard to KO it and make a mistake. The reasoning? He thought I only played ONE Shard.
So I send up Walrein, KO it. He sends up Bellossom. He can't attack because 1) Warp Energy neutralizes Multi and 2) His 2nd Multi was prized. So he passes. I retreat to Milotic, he gets the 5 on his die ready. CRYSTAL SHARD. The look on his face was priceless. 80 to his Bellossom. I figured I had the game won right there. He gets a Magneton and KO's my Milotic. I send up a Walrein, attach an Energy, Crush Draw failure, and ATM Rock. He does 80 with Magneton. I try to Crush Draw again, FAIL AGAIN. Evolve the other Sealeo to Walrein, attach to that one and pass. He KO's me. I send up Walrein. This time I'll make sure Crush Draw works. I have about a 4 card deck. Fast Ball to get my Milotic. Town Volunteers, put 5 Water back into my deck. Crush Draw... I GET A RARE CANDY. .. .. .. wow. So from there I really couldn't do anything. In the end, I only had one chance to win it. Paralyze him with Dunsparce 3 turns in a row, then KO him with Milotic for my last prize. First one, Heads. He passes. Second Flash, Tails.So, it ends there. I didn't mind losing to Drew, it's just the way I lost. He ends up losing to a Magma deck the next round. Team Magma sweeps every division. Simply amazing.
I had a GREAT time. I have to thank everyone for helping me have so much fun. Martin, Croc, Pat, CFK,
Chad, Levi, Sebastian, Pablo, EVERYONE. I can't remember everyone. =P
Props:
-The people I hung out with the whole time. Martin, YJ, Joner, Chad, etc. You know who you are. Thanks for making this fun.
-Nintendo for running such a great event. Honestly, no other company would go out of their way to do this much for one tournament. It was amazing.
-Chris, every one of the Japanese players, and everyone who Top 16'd. They were truly amazing players.
-My deck doing so well for most of the tournament. I got very lucky at times. =P
Slops:
-Us not paying attention to the Japanese metagame. We were too concerned trying to beat each other that we completely ignored them. They have the unity that we don't. We have to work on that. =P
-Drew for beating me.
Thanks for reading this. I hope to be able to make it to Worlds next year. It was truly amazing.
