Rai
<a href="http://pokegym.net/forums/showpost.php?p=
Super delayed, probably because I'm still in shock that my crazy list actually worked XD (the deck being half Japanese probably didn't help the confusion). ...Oh, and watch out for the length.
For those who don't know, I am Patrick F.
From Seattle area, yes.
As for what I played... Well, Iono. It vaguely resembled a Palkia/Dialga deck in that it ran a 2-1 line of each, but had a lot of other stuff going on as well. I ran Dialga G Lv.X, Palkia G LV.X, Giratina LV.X, AND Uxie LV.X, so I guess the name "Random Basic LV.X" works. :[
~~~~~~~~
(3/14/09) Washington:
(Notes: Compared to my Oregon list, I was running more Honchkrow, no Skuntank/Toxicroak/Pachirisu. My idea for Washington was to try and Honchkrow donk, which only happened once so bleh.)
R1: Lisa Wade (Luxray and Amphy)
Figures I start with an awful hand... Bronzong G and just about every energy I run. My set up doesn't improve much later either.
Oh, and Luxray does 40 damage with its two energy attack. Lightning type 40 damage = unhappy honchkrows. Almost lost (she had 2 prizes left with 10 minutes to go, and I still had 5 prizes left!) then had Rotom charge up a Giratina from nowhere (also helped a LOT that I could pull energies off of an SP pokemon with Bronzong and put them on Giratina). Crobat+Poketurn abuse and a few turns later I spread her 'till everything she has is removed from the game. Scary match 1, which it honestly shouldn't have been ._.”
1-0
R2: Stephan ? (AMU)
I have... Giratina only start. Plus all of my Roseannes are prized. Not promising.
I wind up staring at a swarm of lvl x pokemon... With uh... Dialga G and a lot of sacrificial bait. Then he supreme blasts, has no energy and I seize the chance to level up (blocking mesprits body so he can't retreat his pokemon as well as stupid Azelf's Downer Material) and then spam deafen to lock up his Night Maintenances and Energy Pickups. He tries to Rotom to get back energies after Mesprit dies a slow death and... Misreads Rotom, thinking that he could only attach to the bench, leaving Rotom stuck active for the rest of the game. AMU player decks out and game over. ...Ow. I think I only took one prize all game and he certainly took many D=
2-0
...Lunch.
Matt scolds me for not getting movie quotes. D= And long lines at Subway are long. I'm also feeling sorta bummed 'cause frankly stalling someone until they deck out isn't a fun way to win. ...Though this really proved Dialga G's amazingness.
R3: Mike B (Gardevoir ?)
Poor guy. Ralts start, and I get turn 1 deafen lock... I Giratina quickly to force him to have no useful cards in hand, have Dialga lv.x in the next turn and Remove Lost everything he can find. Sad...
3-0
R4: Janet B (kingdra)
Well... This game was weird.
We start with my Uxie and her Baltoy. I'm first. So naturally I want to Giratina turn one to remove her hand and prevent a set up. She top decks Horsea, Broken Time Space, Something random, and... Uxie. Well so much for that. I steadily hit her with a Dialga G deafen, but can't do enough (though BTS was only in play for Turn 1; I had Galactic's HW every turn since). Might have gone different if my turn 2 level max attempt got a heads for Giratina LV.X but meh. On another note, we both kept on forgetting whether my Dialga had Deafened or not, causing me to freak out (panicking is NEVER good. ._.) and start flipping over our table number as a cue to both of us whenever I had Deafen in effect. Definitely a game where I was shaken.
3-1
R5: Michael C. (Palkia w/ Dialga. ...About as close to a mirror as I'm going to get XD)
Okay, this one is where things get interesting...
We trade off occasional Dialga G Deafens, though I pause more frequently to Second Strike to which he just Poketurns :[ (What I get for never testing the mirror).
We've both been using Lost Cyclone with our Palkia G LV.Xs every few turns, and I've lost my Uxies and all of my Crobats, he's lost his Uxies and Mesprits. He gives up on attacking with Palkia and starts flooding Dialgas with Special Metals, while I'm stubborn and keep trying to use Pearl Breath spread (only to watch him abuse poketurn, bronzong G, and leveling up a fresh pokemon each turn). His Dialga G LV.X has eventually only 10 HP left on it and a lot of his benched pokemon have been worn down by my Palkia's Pearl Breath. He has 2 prizes left at this point and I have... 5. Ow.
But now I see my chance for a comeback. I have a Giratina sitting on the bench, two energy thrown on it by a Rotom (which promptly dies right afterwards making remaining prize count 1 to 5 and me freaking out), and Galactic Switch + Normal Attach energies for the turn onto the Shadow Dragon thing. I whip out Giratina LV.X. Now his Dialga G LV.X is removed from play, I proceed to take two more prizes next turn with more Darkness Lost abuse. If I had another Crobat, I could have done another ten damage to a Toxicroak and KO it. Instead, it is his turn with him having one prize left and me having two. Time is called during his turn. He had no way to even attack, let alone survive me spreading yet another 30 to his bench, and I'm just a few seconds late (I doubt he remembered how much time was left, that's how intense this game was). ...There goes my chances of top cutting.
3-2
R6: ... ??? (...Castform?
With Houndoom too.)
...I will say this. I started with Dialga G. If I didn't bench an Uxie on the first turn, I would have been Ember (Sunny Castform) + Bucks Training donked. OW. Weakness really is painful with this deck. So despite me getting a turn one Deafen Lock, I watched my Dialga die just as fast. ._."
Hence why I play Palkia G, who came out rather quickly, did Pearl Breath Spread and never died. He honestly didn't have much to do after his almost Castform donk, though a Houndoom came out surprisingly (...And died super fast 'cause I had a Galactic's HQ stuck all game)
4-2
I check the standings and am... 23rd. Not even close with the tiebreaker (though quite a few 4-2s got in :/). My sister seemed to figure out how to make Regigigias inconsistent, so she's 3-3. Oooh well.
I joke around about playing Kabutops with one person, which almost seems like a solid idea. ...Almost. Dialga G's just too devastating though. I bounce around the idea of trying my own versions of Magnezone (which was epic fail) and Gardevoir (which was too slow for my tastes) and decide that I really like the tons of random troubleshooting methods that I have with an SP deck. After all, Giratina LV.X flipped around a third of the games that I'd played, Rotom and Bronzong G both let me switch attack methods super fast, and Dialga and Palkia are both too amazing on their own.
And to think I originally planned to have Honchkrow snipe be the main strategy... Honchkrow only happened against Michael C. Palkia turned out to be much more efficient at spreading then I had previously thought, Dialga and Giratina both completely surprised me with how good at attacking they were... Its really too bad though that I couldn't figure out how to add in one last Crobat G.
Oh, and I get the random idea that Skuntank and Dialga G make a good combo from someone (why it took so long to figure out, I'll never know), so I tech Skuntanks and some Toxicroaks just in case into the deck.
At least I wasn't running Purugly and Houndoom. :[
~~~~
(3/21/09) Oregon:
R1: Jennie N (...random)
Well, i saw a Tyranitar and Machamp in there after our game:/
I have Giratina + a ton of energies vs Stunky. Oh boy... This doesn't seem familiar at all. I top deck a Cyrus though to eventually get Dialga G, while she's only seeing a Skuntank all game. Not very nice for a new player, but she koed Giratina right after I finally get three energies on it, so meh.
1-0
R2: Alexander (Giratina/Darkrai)
So I have a Palkia start and he has Giratina (shadow force) start.
I lack an energy gain turn one, but have energies, 3 SP Pokemon in play before we flipped over our cards and 2 power spray in hand. Go figure, he doesn't use any powers all game.
I set up Palkia G LV.X really fast and alternate between hydro shotting his Giratinas and pearl breath spam. The only prize he came close to was a Bronzong G but I have Poketurn. Sad...
2-0
We have a reeeeeally long lunch break to let the Juniors and Seniors catch up to the masters.
R3: Janet B (Kingdra. ...again)
Ugh. I had a decent start with Dialga G, Galactic HQ and Skuntank. But no energy, no supporters... Nothing. And once again, I'm first. I try a Giratina and lo and behold, I draw nothing. On her next two turns she drops three Uxie, has two Kingdras coming after me and I never get anything besides one Skuntank smokescreen (which duds out due to her many warp points). I look at deck afterwards... 4 Cyrus clumped in the middle. I saw not a single supporter that game. UGH. Giratina's amazingly awesome, but having it too early just always bites me (...Even if I had no other option :[)
2-1
R4: Stuart B (Kingdra)
Uh so he started with Machop. Machamp tech was rather unexpected. I had a Honchkrow start with energy gain and a Luxury ball. So I could have Honcho's Command for Poketurns, Luxury Balled the Crobat G and gone nuts with Poketurn Abuse and then a Target Attack for game, but... I removed all of my basic dark energies since I shifted the focus away from Honchy. Sad. (He Roseanned right away anyway as I went first, meaning that donk still wouldn't work). I decide to abandon the Dialga and Palkia strategy fast seeing a Machamp coming fast, and throw Toxicroak and Skuntank at him. I get a Moonlight Stadium to stick all game and beat up even the Kingdras that he sets up with Toxicroak. Energy Gain really just makes Poketurn abuse way too cheep :[
3-1
R5 (Dusknoir)
Awesome game, if only I could remember who I played against. ._.”
I have a bunch of stadiums all game long, have Skuntanks so he never once gets Dusknoir LV.X into play. I even got Giratina lv x turn 2 (though I chose not to use its power in order to do so. Hey, not using Let Loose early on saved me~). I even Honchkrow snipe a bench sitting Dusknoir LV.X after he warp points. Yikes.
4-1
R6 Cody A (Kingdra)
Uhhh he had a baltoy only start. I had Dialga G. He drew... Nothing. Energy gain and two energies later, Second Strike donk. And then we're rewarded with a random deck check. Weird.
5-1
R7 (AMU)
Uh he had Azelf only, i have Pachirisu with energies and two power sprays in hand. He never sees another pokemon, while I've got a bench filled with Dialga G and two other random SP Pokemon. As soon as Pachi dies from Lock Up (._.) I second strike him for game. Sad... That's two rather... Bleh games in a row.
6-1
Where does that place me? ...8th! And who's 9th? ...Paul J. Oooooh dang.
I'm clearly exhausted by this point. I let David C. and other random seniors laugh at how much random stuff is in my deck, Mr. Raichu ominously predicts that I'll lose my next game (which is true), and here we go...
Top 16: Paul J. (Kingdra ~.~ That's the fourth one of the day)
Game 1:
...My strategy against Stuart earlier with the Toxicroaks and Skuntanks almost works once again, as I get all of the pokemon and energy just fine. ...But I can't seem to find any stadiums. I believe I had a Moonlight Stadium Turn 1 which I held off on playing because I was afraid of him removing my only Moonlight Stadium with Broken Time Space. ...So of course I Giratina away that Moonlight Stadium to get Skuntank G. Lovely. Never see a Honchkrow (believe it was prized) or any other stadiums, so now I'm stuck to attacking with Dialga G/Palkia G. My low Dialga G count though made it hard for me to attack constantly with it, so I'm firing off a Second Strike for a Kingdra KO every now and then, but I'm having to Poketurn it rather quickly so the next Kingdra doesn't KO it. So basically energies won't stay on the field. So I'm holding this game out for much longer then it needs to be, but have actually taken prizes between Dialga G's second strike, Palkia G's Pearl Breath, and I think I did a couple Darkness Losts from Giratina as well. ...Unfortunately his Machamp can attack with no fear due to my utter lack of Stadiums and that costs me the game.
Oh, and to make things worse, I definately remember playing a Crobat G, not saying anything, then realizing a turn later that I forgot to Flash Bites. ...Ugh.
0-1 with I believe somewhere around 20 minutes remaining.
Game 2:
So naturally I'm not holding up well at this point. Lateness, the fact that I actually was dealing quite a bit of damage to Paul in our last game, and just general exhaustion are really taking a toll at this point. I start playing as fast as I can (...which honestly isn't much different then usual XD), basically spreading like a nut with Palkia G's pearl breath. I actually do take 4 prizes, as does he. I've been charging up a Giratina on the bench just in case... I had a Giratina active somehow (I think he warp pointed during his turn), I have a crobat G on the bench. I draw and... Time is called. Everything on his bench has 60 or less HP. Sounds promising. So I Marley's Request, giving him the choice between Poketurn or Warp Point. His active pokemon's a full HP Kingdra. There's no way I'd ever OHKO that thing. So naturally he gives me the warp point. And this is where I'm freaking out. On the good side, I had two poketurns as well as a brand new Crobat in hand, he had a Claydol with 20 damage on the bench, an uxie with ten damage, and a horsea with ten damage. Oh, and Giratina's got 3 energy on it (LV.X was prized this game).
The smart move would have been Crobat Flash Bites three times onto his benched Horsea and then hope for at least one heads on Earth Power. I'm not being smart this late at night, so I play the first Crobat G and flash bites onto his active Kingdra (no idea why). I realize how I could win RIGHT after I declare where the damage counter goes. ...Dang. I play the next two Flash bites onto Horsea. It has 30 damage on it, so I need two heads on Earth Power to stay alive. Flip 1 heads and... 1 tails. Prizes are tied and he wins on time. :/
0-2
~~~~~~~~~~~
So I played 15 games over the weekends...
Of them:
5 were losses (...and I lost to two different people twice)
4 of them are what I'd consider donks (the other player never set up. I'm excluding Castform guy 'cause it seemed he got everything he had out of his deck)
Giratina was vital to 5 of those games (despite everyone telling me to take it out XD) and only caused irreversible problems against Janet. ...Both times against her.
I think I'm pretty happy with how I did XD (my ranking isn't but that's why I'm making sure to go to Nationals :/)
Props:
...Giratina for being beautiful.
Overall pretty good showing from Washington Players (...At Oregon)
Note taking after each match on the Ipod. Hurrah technology.
Some combination between Trevor W., Ian W., and Ted B. for last minute fixes for my mess of a deck (including re-adding Honchkrow :X)
Paul J. for getting second despite having played in no more then three tournaments this whole season.
Both Sheila R. and Matthew D. for doing awesome at the same time as their kids. Always cool to see families doing well together.
Huuuuuuuge turnout at Oregon States.
Sister actually cheering for me before my top 16 match
...Anyone who actually read all of this.
Slops:
All of the problems with Juniors and Seniors at both Washington and Oregon :/
Me being stupid with Crobat G.
...My sister refusing to practice and then wondering why she did poorly with Regigigias and Torterra. :[
Tyler N. going on and on about his secret deck in the Washington States thread, and then it turns out that I build out of nowhere an inconsistent version of it. :[
Not going to be there at Regionals to see the shaving
Oh, right. The deck list. This is what I used for Oregon. Any changes I made from Washington to Oregon that I could remember I tried to mention earlier.
Random Basic LV.X
1 Uxie LV.X
2 Uxie
1 Giratina LV.X
1 Giratina (Let Loose power)
2 Crobat G
2 Toxicroak G
2 Skuntank G
1 Dialga G LV.X
2 Dialga G
1 Bronzong G
1 Honchkrow G
1 Palkia LV.X G
1 Palkia G
1 Rotom
1 Pachirisu
1 Warp Point
1 Night maintenance
1 Premier Ball
1 Luxury Ball
2 Level Max
3 Energy Gain
3 Power Spray
4 Poketurn
2 Bebe's Search
2 Roseanne's Research
1 Cynthia's Feelings
1 Marley's Request
4 Cyrus's Scheme
1 Moonlight Stadium
2 Galactic HQ
4 Rainbow Energy
3 Psychic
3 Metal (Basic)
1 Water
For those who don't know, I am Patrick F.
From Seattle area, yes.
As for what I played... Well, Iono. It vaguely resembled a Palkia/Dialga deck in that it ran a 2-1 line of each, but had a lot of other stuff going on as well. I ran Dialga G Lv.X, Palkia G LV.X, Giratina LV.X, AND Uxie LV.X, so I guess the name "Random Basic LV.X" works. :[
~~~~~~~~
(3/14/09) Washington:
(Notes: Compared to my Oregon list, I was running more Honchkrow, no Skuntank/Toxicroak/Pachirisu. My idea for Washington was to try and Honchkrow donk, which only happened once so bleh.)
R1: Lisa Wade (Luxray and Amphy)
Figures I start with an awful hand... Bronzong G and just about every energy I run. My set up doesn't improve much later either.
Oh, and Luxray does 40 damage with its two energy attack. Lightning type 40 damage = unhappy honchkrows. Almost lost (she had 2 prizes left with 10 minutes to go, and I still had 5 prizes left!) then had Rotom charge up a Giratina from nowhere (also helped a LOT that I could pull energies off of an SP pokemon with Bronzong and put them on Giratina). Crobat+Poketurn abuse and a few turns later I spread her 'till everything she has is removed from the game. Scary match 1, which it honestly shouldn't have been ._.”
1-0
R2: Stephan ? (AMU)
I have... Giratina only start. Plus all of my Roseannes are prized. Not promising.
I wind up staring at a swarm of lvl x pokemon... With uh... Dialga G and a lot of sacrificial bait. Then he supreme blasts, has no energy and I seize the chance to level up (blocking mesprits body so he can't retreat his pokemon as well as stupid Azelf's Downer Material) and then spam deafen to lock up his Night Maintenances and Energy Pickups. He tries to Rotom to get back energies after Mesprit dies a slow death and... Misreads Rotom, thinking that he could only attach to the bench, leaving Rotom stuck active for the rest of the game. AMU player decks out and game over. ...Ow. I think I only took one prize all game and he certainly took many D=
2-0
...Lunch.
Matt scolds me for not getting movie quotes. D= And long lines at Subway are long. I'm also feeling sorta bummed 'cause frankly stalling someone until they deck out isn't a fun way to win. ...Though this really proved Dialga G's amazingness.
R3: Mike B (Gardevoir ?)
Poor guy. Ralts start, and I get turn 1 deafen lock... I Giratina quickly to force him to have no useful cards in hand, have Dialga lv.x in the next turn and Remove Lost everything he can find. Sad...
3-0
R4: Janet B (kingdra)
Well... This game was weird.
We start with my Uxie and her Baltoy. I'm first. So naturally I want to Giratina turn one to remove her hand and prevent a set up. She top decks Horsea, Broken Time Space, Something random, and... Uxie. Well so much for that. I steadily hit her with a Dialga G deafen, but can't do enough (though BTS was only in play for Turn 1; I had Galactic's HW every turn since). Might have gone different if my turn 2 level max attempt got a heads for Giratina LV.X but meh. On another note, we both kept on forgetting whether my Dialga had Deafened or not, causing me to freak out (panicking is NEVER good. ._.) and start flipping over our table number as a cue to both of us whenever I had Deafen in effect. Definitely a game where I was shaken.
3-1
R5: Michael C. (Palkia w/ Dialga. ...About as close to a mirror as I'm going to get XD)
Okay, this one is where things get interesting...
We trade off occasional Dialga G Deafens, though I pause more frequently to Second Strike to which he just Poketurns :[ (What I get for never testing the mirror).
We've both been using Lost Cyclone with our Palkia G LV.Xs every few turns, and I've lost my Uxies and all of my Crobats, he's lost his Uxies and Mesprits. He gives up on attacking with Palkia and starts flooding Dialgas with Special Metals, while I'm stubborn and keep trying to use Pearl Breath spread (only to watch him abuse poketurn, bronzong G, and leveling up a fresh pokemon each turn). His Dialga G LV.X has eventually only 10 HP left on it and a lot of his benched pokemon have been worn down by my Palkia's Pearl Breath. He has 2 prizes left at this point and I have... 5. Ow.
But now I see my chance for a comeback. I have a Giratina sitting on the bench, two energy thrown on it by a Rotom (which promptly dies right afterwards making remaining prize count 1 to 5 and me freaking out), and Galactic Switch + Normal Attach energies for the turn onto the Shadow Dragon thing. I whip out Giratina LV.X. Now his Dialga G LV.X is removed from play, I proceed to take two more prizes next turn with more Darkness Lost abuse. If I had another Crobat, I could have done another ten damage to a Toxicroak and KO it. Instead, it is his turn with him having one prize left and me having two. Time is called during his turn. He had no way to even attack, let alone survive me spreading yet another 30 to his bench, and I'm just a few seconds late (I doubt he remembered how much time was left, that's how intense this game was). ...There goes my chances of top cutting.
3-2
R6: ... ??? (...Castform?
With Houndoom too.)...I will say this. I started with Dialga G. If I didn't bench an Uxie on the first turn, I would have been Ember (Sunny Castform) + Bucks Training donked. OW. Weakness really is painful with this deck. So despite me getting a turn one Deafen Lock, I watched my Dialga die just as fast. ._."
Hence why I play Palkia G, who came out rather quickly, did Pearl Breath Spread and never died. He honestly didn't have much to do after his almost Castform donk, though a Houndoom came out surprisingly (...And died super fast 'cause I had a Galactic's HQ stuck all game)
4-2
I check the standings and am... 23rd. Not even close with the tiebreaker (though quite a few 4-2s got in :/). My sister seemed to figure out how to make Regigigias inconsistent, so she's 3-3. Oooh well.
I joke around about playing Kabutops with one person, which almost seems like a solid idea. ...Almost. Dialga G's just too devastating though. I bounce around the idea of trying my own versions of Magnezone (which was epic fail) and Gardevoir (which was too slow for my tastes) and decide that I really like the tons of random troubleshooting methods that I have with an SP deck. After all, Giratina LV.X flipped around a third of the games that I'd played, Rotom and Bronzong G both let me switch attack methods super fast, and Dialga and Palkia are both too amazing on their own.
And to think I originally planned to have Honchkrow snipe be the main strategy... Honchkrow only happened against Michael C. Palkia turned out to be much more efficient at spreading then I had previously thought, Dialga and Giratina both completely surprised me with how good at attacking they were... Its really too bad though that I couldn't figure out how to add in one last Crobat G.
Oh, and I get the random idea that Skuntank and Dialga G make a good combo from someone (why it took so long to figure out, I'll never know), so I tech Skuntanks and some Toxicroaks just in case into the deck.
At least I wasn't running Purugly and Houndoom. :[
~~~~
(3/21/09) Oregon:
R1: Jennie N (...random)
Well, i saw a Tyranitar and Machamp in there after our game:/
I have Giratina + a ton of energies vs Stunky. Oh boy... This doesn't seem familiar at all. I top deck a Cyrus though to eventually get Dialga G, while she's only seeing a Skuntank all game. Not very nice for a new player, but she koed Giratina right after I finally get three energies on it, so meh.
1-0
R2: Alexander (Giratina/Darkrai)
So I have a Palkia start and he has Giratina (shadow force) start.
I lack an energy gain turn one, but have energies, 3 SP Pokemon in play before we flipped over our cards and 2 power spray in hand. Go figure, he doesn't use any powers all game
. I set up Palkia G LV.X really fast and alternate between hydro shotting his Giratinas and pearl breath spam. The only prize he came close to was a Bronzong G but I have Poketurn
. Sad...2-0
We have a reeeeeally long lunch break to let the Juniors and Seniors catch up to the masters.
R3: Janet B (Kingdra. ...again)
Ugh. I had a decent start with Dialga G, Galactic HQ and Skuntank. But no energy, no supporters... Nothing. And once again, I'm first. I try a Giratina and lo and behold, I draw nothing. On her next two turns she drops three Uxie, has two Kingdras coming after me and I never get anything besides one Skuntank smokescreen (which duds out due to her many warp points). I look at deck afterwards... 4 Cyrus clumped in the middle. I saw not a single supporter that game. UGH. Giratina's amazingly awesome, but having it too early just always bites me (...Even if I had no other option :[)
2-1
R4: Stuart B (Kingdra)
Uh so he started with Machop. Machamp tech was rather unexpected. I had a Honchkrow start with energy gain and a Luxury ball. So I could have Honcho's Command for Poketurns, Luxury Balled the Crobat G and gone nuts with Poketurn Abuse and then a Target Attack for game, but... I removed all of my basic dark energies since I shifted the focus away from Honchy. Sad. (He Roseanned right away anyway as I went first, meaning that donk still wouldn't work). I decide to abandon the Dialga and Palkia strategy fast seeing a Machamp coming fast, and throw Toxicroak and Skuntank at him. I get a Moonlight Stadium to stick all game and beat up even the Kingdras that he sets up with Toxicroak. Energy Gain really just makes Poketurn abuse way too cheep :[
3-1
R5 (Dusknoir)
Awesome game, if only I could remember who I played against. ._.”
I have a bunch of stadiums all game long, have Skuntanks so he never once gets Dusknoir LV.X into play. I even got Giratina lv x turn 2 (though I chose not to use its power in order to do so. Hey, not using Let Loose early on saved me~). I even Honchkrow snipe a bench sitting Dusknoir LV.X after he warp points. Yikes.
4-1
R6 Cody A (Kingdra)
Uhhh he had a baltoy only start. I had Dialga G. He drew... Nothing. Energy gain and two energies later, Second Strike donk. And then we're rewarded with a random deck check. Weird.
5-1
R7 (AMU)
Uh he had Azelf only, i have Pachirisu with energies and two power sprays in hand. He never sees another pokemon, while I've got a bench filled with Dialga G and two other random SP Pokemon. As soon as Pachi dies from Lock Up (._.) I second strike him for game. Sad... That's two rather... Bleh games in a row.
6-1
Where does that place me? ...8th! And who's 9th? ...Paul J. Oooooh dang.
I'm clearly exhausted by this point. I let David C. and other random seniors laugh at how much random stuff is in my deck, Mr. Raichu ominously predicts that I'll lose my next game (which is true), and here we go...
Top 16: Paul J. (Kingdra ~.~ That's the fourth one of the day)
Game 1:
...My strategy against Stuart earlier with the Toxicroaks and Skuntanks almost works once again, as I get all of the pokemon and energy just fine. ...But I can't seem to find any stadiums. I believe I had a Moonlight Stadium Turn 1 which I held off on playing because I was afraid of him removing my only Moonlight Stadium with Broken Time Space. ...So of course I Giratina away that Moonlight Stadium to get Skuntank G. Lovely. Never see a Honchkrow (believe it was prized) or any other stadiums, so now I'm stuck to attacking with Dialga G/Palkia G. My low Dialga G count though made it hard for me to attack constantly with it, so I'm firing off a Second Strike for a Kingdra KO every now and then, but I'm having to Poketurn it rather quickly so the next Kingdra doesn't KO it. So basically energies won't stay on the field. So I'm holding this game out for much longer then it needs to be, but have actually taken prizes between Dialga G's second strike, Palkia G's Pearl Breath, and I think I did a couple Darkness Losts from Giratina as well. ...Unfortunately his Machamp can attack with no fear due to my utter lack of Stadiums and that costs me the game.
Oh, and to make things worse, I definately remember playing a Crobat G, not saying anything, then realizing a turn later that I forgot to Flash Bites. ...Ugh.
0-1 with I believe somewhere around 20 minutes remaining.
Game 2:
So naturally I'm not holding up well at this point. Lateness, the fact that I actually was dealing quite a bit of damage to Paul in our last game, and just general exhaustion are really taking a toll at this point. I start playing as fast as I can (...which honestly isn't much different then usual XD), basically spreading like a nut with Palkia G's pearl breath. I actually do take 4 prizes, as does he. I've been charging up a Giratina on the bench just in case... I had a Giratina active somehow (I think he warp pointed during his turn), I have a crobat G on the bench. I draw and... Time is called. Everything on his bench has 60 or less HP. Sounds promising. So I Marley's Request, giving him the choice between Poketurn or Warp Point. His active pokemon's a full HP Kingdra. There's no way I'd ever OHKO that thing. So naturally he gives me the warp point. And this is where I'm freaking out. On the good side, I had two poketurns as well as a brand new Crobat in hand, he had a Claydol with 20 damage on the bench, an uxie with ten damage, and a horsea with ten damage. Oh, and Giratina's got 3 energy on it (LV.X was prized this game).
The smart move would have been Crobat Flash Bites three times onto his benched Horsea and then hope for at least one heads on Earth Power. I'm not being smart this late at night, so I play the first Crobat G and flash bites onto his active Kingdra (no idea why). I realize how I could win RIGHT after I declare where the damage counter goes. ...Dang. I play the next two Flash bites onto Horsea. It has 30 damage on it, so I need two heads on Earth Power to stay alive. Flip 1 heads and... 1 tails. Prizes are tied and he wins on time. :/
0-2
~~~~~~~~~~~
So I played 15 games over the weekends...
Of them:
5 were losses (...and I lost to two different people twice)
4 of them are what I'd consider donks (the other player never set up. I'm excluding Castform guy 'cause it seemed he got everything he had out of his deck
)Giratina was vital to 5 of those games (despite everyone telling me to take it out XD) and only caused irreversible problems against Janet. ...Both times against her.
I think I'm pretty happy with how I did XD (my ranking isn't but that's why I'm making sure to go to Nationals :/)
Props:
...Giratina for being beautiful.
Overall pretty good showing from Washington Players (...At Oregon)
Note taking after each match on the Ipod. Hurrah technology.
Some combination between Trevor W., Ian W., and Ted B. for last minute fixes for my mess of a deck (including re-adding Honchkrow :X)
Paul J. for getting second despite having played in no more then three tournaments this whole season.
Both Sheila R. and Matthew D. for doing awesome at the same time as their kids. Always cool to see families doing well together.
Huuuuuuuge turnout at Oregon States.
Sister actually cheering for me before my top 16 match
...Anyone who actually read all of this.
Slops:
All of the problems with Juniors and Seniors at both Washington and Oregon :/
Me being stupid with Crobat G.
...My sister refusing to practice and then wondering why she did poorly with Regigigias and Torterra. :[
Tyler N. going on and on about his secret deck in the Washington States thread, and then it turns out that I build out of nowhere an inconsistent version of it. :[
Not going to be there at Regionals to see the shaving
Oh, right. The deck list. This is what I used for Oregon. Any changes I made from Washington to Oregon that I could remember I tried to mention earlier.
Random Basic LV.X
1 Uxie LV.X
2 Uxie
1 Giratina LV.X
1 Giratina (Let Loose power)
2 Crobat G
2 Toxicroak G
2 Skuntank G
1 Dialga G LV.X
2 Dialga G
1 Bronzong G
1 Honchkrow G
1 Palkia LV.X G
1 Palkia G
1 Rotom
1 Pachirisu
1 Warp Point
1 Night maintenance
1 Premier Ball
1 Luxury Ball
2 Level Max
3 Energy Gain
3 Power Spray
4 Poketurn
2 Bebe's Search
2 Roseanne's Research
1 Cynthia's Feelings
1 Marley's Request
4 Cyrus's Scheme
1 Moonlight Stadium
2 Galactic HQ
4 Rainbow Energy
3 Psychic
3 Metal (Basic)
1 Water
