As the title says, I made Top 8 at the Pokemon TCG US National Championships! Yay! So yeah I decided to type a report up, so here it goes. I wake up at 4:30 AM Friday Morning to drive to St. Louis and arrive there just in time to compete in the Practice Modified Tournament at 10. I end up going 6-1 only losing to a T1 Rampardos Donk. So I feel pretty confident about my deck. My friend Nick also decides to switch to Nidoqueen/Gengar on Friday, and only loses 1 game or so and we’re both feeling really ready. Wake up early on Saturday and nervously get my stuff together for the tourney. Right before finishing up my decklist I add in another Uxie, among other things, which I’m not sure I needed, but I depended on it so much that I had to put it in. They announce the amount of players in each division, how many rounds we’ll have, and the top 64 cut. I really don’t like the idea at first, because if you get donked in top 64 then the end! But then later on they change that to best of 3 so it’s all good. Now, on to round 1.
~Round 1 VS Dude with Gengar~
Naturally, I’m really nervous just because it’s the first round and everything, and he keeps me trainer locked with pitch dark for a good 5 turns. I eventually set up, and then from there I remember I don’t have much trouble.
1-0
~Round 2 VS Dude with Flygon/Weaville~
Alright! I didn’t lose the first round! We start out, and the guy is talking about how bad his start is. I get a pretty decent start, and get going pretty well for my first game against Flygon. I have never played against a Flygon before, so I was feeling pretty good about it. It gets down to 4-1 in prizes or something like that. He sends up an Uxie and attatches a special Dark, Dark Engage, and then Psychic Restore for the KO on my Gengar. I congratulate him on avoiding fainting spell, and then go on with my turn. Shortly into my turn, he asks to see my discard pile so I’m like yeah sure. He asks “Where’s the Gengar I just KO’d?” I reply that it’s in my discard pile, and he says no it’s not. I take my discard pile back, and its not there. I look around my field and in my hand, and its not there. I only have 1 Prize Card left so that can’t be it. I call over a judge, and we explain the situation, then he takes my deck and asks if we remember what was attatched to the Gengar. I say a Psychic and a Call. My opponent agrees, and then the judge reveals that it was on the bottom of my deck, with all cards attatched to it. I have NO IDEA how it got there and start to sort of freak out because that really does look suspicious. The judge tells us to keep playing, which I disagree with, but continue anyway, and then he goes to get the head judge. I put 6 damage counters on his benched weaville, and I was going to win next turn. Then it’s his turn, and the Head judge arrives. We explain what happened to him, and then the judge, the head judge, and another judge go off and talk. I just keep thinking stuff like “FML”, “How the heck did it get there?” and “Why did he ask to see my discard?” The judges take me off to the side, and give me what seems like a chance to “Fess up” So I tell them the truth, that I don’t know how it got there, and that I thought that I would have had to have been conscious about putting the Gengar on the bottom of my deck if I did so, and they agree with me that’s why they can’t figure it out. I go sit back down, and then the judges say those 2 four letter words that NO player ever wants to hear: GAME LOSS. They explained that it was a severe offense, and the penalty for a severe offense is a Game Loss. I’m pretty upset and frustrated, so I pack my cards up pretty quickly after offering my opponent a hand shake. I don’t know if that was the right call, I understand that it was a severe offense, and that the penalty was a game loss, but it seemed completely reversible to me and that we could have just taken the Gengar and put it in the discard pile, and maybe a prize penaltly would have been more appropriate. BUT, I also understand that it looked like cheating, but It was 1-4 in prizes! What reason would I have for cheating if I won next turn? I dunno, it wasn’t my call. Oh well, I have 6 more rounds to go.
1-1
For Lunch I go with Nick to this Pizza Place that he’s heard is right around the corner from the Convention Center, but it turns out it doesn’t exist. XD! So we end up walking around for a while and then we find some people and finally end up at a Panera Bread Company. I love that place. But we have to wolf down our food in just about 10 minutes, and then run back to the Convention Center in the Heat. Man am I stupid for wearing a Jacket to Nationals, but after last year, can you blame me? Lol.
~Round 3 VS Dude with GeChamp~
My stomach kinda hurts from running in the heat right after eating lunch, but we made it back in time so it’s all good. I go first. Attatch to Ghastly and Pitch Dark. Next Turn: Rare Candy Gengar Psychic and then Poltergeist for a Billion Damage on that poor Machop. Lol.
2-1
~Round 4 VS Dude with Gallade 4/Bronzong/Dusknoir/Flygon/Other Stuff~
This was a crazy deck he was playing. It had like 1 of everything in it. Lol. He did catch me off guard with Dusknoir, but then I got out Nidoqueen and everything so that his spread didn’t work much at all, and then I took all of these easy prizes off of everything that he played down with powers like Azelf and Uxie. I go on to win it.
3-1
~Round 5 VS ??? with ???~
Umm, sorry, this Round has just vanished from my mind. Lol. I won though!
~Round 6 VS Jacob L with GeChamp~
I am hyped for this match! Jacob beat me out in Top 32 last year at Nats, so I’m ready for a shot at revenge! Lol. So we setup and everything, and I tell you, this guy is fun as hell to play, we were crackin jokes and laughing the entire match, even though there was no apparent winner. It started out that I had a Ghastly going second, so I pitch dark, and then he plays a BTS and goes Machoke, Machamp, Take out! So I’m just like crap… but then I make a quick recovery and get back in the game, and he can’t really do anything after I kill his Claydol T3. I remember that he gets 1 out of 4 heads on Hurricane punch twice in a row, and then on the third time flips all 4 heads. I start to get a bit too causual though, and he starts to catch up, but in the end I win and it’s all cool. GG.
5-1
~Round 7 VS Curran H with Palkia/Dialga G~
So I’m playing against not only the hardest matchup for my deck, but Curran! He’s like my pokemon Idol! Lol. We setup, and I think that I T2 him with Poltergeist, but then he has a Dialga G with an Unown G ready to go. He never plays down a bench pokemon, and keeps all trainers out of his hand. I have pretty much no options because he has resistance to Nidoqueen and has Special Metals attatched on the LV X, so I’m in a pretty tight situation. I manage to take 4 prizes off of random cards he plays down every once in a while, and eventually he breaks the deafen lock and starts using Remove Lost because time is getting close. Also, while he kept Deafen locking, he couldn’t get out any stadiums which meant that he couldn’t poison me with Skunktank G and that really had an impact on the game. If he could have gotten out the stadium earlier I think that I would definitely have lost. He gets it to 2-2 in prizes, and then I finally KO his Dialga G X. He sends up Crobat, drops a Palkia G with an Energy and an Energy Gain, and then asks the Judge if he used Splash Turn on Gengar would I get to flip for fainting spell. The judge says that he can’t tell him because that would be coaching. I end up telling Curran that I would still get to flip according to the Errata because I didn’t think that it was fair that the judge wouldn’t tell him. I forget what happens from here, lol I know, that’s pretty bad, but I’m sorry. All I remember is that I pull off the win.
6-1
Yes! 6-1! I’m guaranteed a spot in the Top Cut! W00T! Me and Taylor start a 6-1 Club. And, speaking of that, I’m watching Taylor’s match and as soon as she wins it, Clay walks over, asks if she won, and then gives her $100 and says, “How many players can say that if they win 6 matches their Dad will give them $100?” Lol.
~Round 8 VS Christian M with Palkia Lock from Colorado~
Oh great! I’m playing Christian! I played him at Worlds last year and had one of the closest games of my life and he barely won it, and so yeah… But anyway we setup and then he keeps me locked for 4 turns with 4 Mesprits and I had a T2 Claydol!!! Sheesh! Well, anyway, I end up attatching a Call to the Claydol, and Call for a Ghastly and another basic for a couple of turns, because I have no hand, and then everytime he uses Flash Bite, Honchkrow Snipe on my Ghastly. Good god… Oh well, I finally get out a Nidoqueen and start Ruthless Tailing him for a good 80 Damage, but it’s not enough and he just Poketurns his Lv X. /Sigh… I end up scooping after realizing that there is NO way to comeback from 4 ghastlys KO’d and no powers. He had plenty of Power Sprays. And the first person to beat me by means other than a Game Loss! GG.
6-2
And, Yet again, I am 6-2 at Nats. Yay! I made top cut! Woohoo!!!
~Top 64 VS Timmy B with Speedrill with 3 Unown G~
Game 1:
Yes! I get to play against Timmy! Rematch time! Timmy beat me at a CC and never lets me forget it, so I was really wanting to win this match more than anything. They say all the rules and everything, and we setup, and then Timmy’s going first. He starts with Weedle, attatches, and then says pass. I’m pretty happy about this but then I draw and take a closer look at my hand. I started with Unown G, and in my hand I have a Rosseanne, Luxury Ball, Warp Point, Rare Candy, Haunter, and Poketurn. So I Rosseanne for a Crobat G and an Energy, Lux Ball for Ghastly, Rare Candy Ghastly to Haunter and attatch, Warp Point, Crobat G, Poketurn, Crobat G, Hoodwink for the KO YES!!! What a way to start off the top cut!
Game 2:
This game is different, he gets setup uber fast like any good beedrill would, but he plays a duskull on the bench after I have a full bench on my side. Crap. I attack with one of my benched Uxies, and then he gets out Dusknoir and shuffles in my Claydol. I have a pretty decent hand though, including a Rosseanne to get back the Uxie I shuffled in. We do a bunch of Prize trade offs and he never seems to NOT be able to get back a Beedrill after I KO it. He also plays 3 Unown G to protect his Dusknoir, Claydol, and RR Beedrill. Geeze. I got a few prizes off of stuff like Uxies and an Azelf, but for the most part it was hard to do stuff. He would hit my Gengar for 90 with Beedrill, and then send up an uxie with like 2 Plus Powers to kill it. I never really got to do any fainting spell flips. It came down to me having 2 prizes left, him having 2. I send up Nidoqeen and use Ruthless Tail on his active Beedrill for 90, and then he does 90 to me after retreating, but then I retreat and attatch to my Gengar and Shadow Room for the KO on the Beedrill and GAME! GG Man.
~Top 32 Match against Kevin A with Palkia Lock~
Great! Not only am I playing against a deck I haven’t beat yet, and a player from Colorado which I am 0-2 against Colorado Players, but he also beat Curran so I know this guy is good from the start.
Game 1:
We set up, and I’m really nervous, but Kevin is a cool guy and we get along. I get Pitch Dark T1, and then he really can’t do anything. No supporters, nothing. He does keep my power locked with 2 Mesprits from the biggining. Eventually, we both get set up, and the game starts getting good. He mainly attacked with Honchkrow G and Crobats, because with my Queen out Palkia wasn’t too good for anything but its power. I remember that I flipped about 1/3 heads on fainting spell, but it was when I didn’t really need it that the dice decided to be nice. Lol. Anyway, it gets down pretty close, and I end up winning. Sorry I don’t remember more, that was a really great game.
Game 2:
I try to hurry and setup, because I don’t want to win/lose on time. Opening hand: 2 Crobat, 2 Ghastly, Baltoy, Warp Point, Psychic. Ouch. I’m so mad at myself for not shuffling better! Well anyway, He just snipes off whatever I play down with Honchkrow/Crobat, and I didn’t draw into anything until he had already taken 3 prizes and it was pretty pointless. So I scoop so that we can have plenty of time for Game 3, and plenty of time to shuffle better.
Oh yeah, and he went second, and on his first turn he plays down 3 Crobats and 2 Poketurns for the KO on my Baltoy. That was pretty funny. Lol.
Game 3:
My start isn’t glorious, but he started with Bronzong G. I started with Ghastly. I realize that that stupid thing has 3 Retreat, and I can just pitch dark until he’s forced to attatch 3 energy to it if he wants to retreat. He sees this too, so after I pitch dark he plays a Rose to Get out Uxie and Azelf MT. He plays them down, as well as a Mesprit he had benched last turn, and I go oh crap. I only run 10 Energy and don’t have any way to get one right now! DANG! So he passes, and I play down 2 Uxie and manage to get out a Claydol, and pull a Call Energy! Thank God! So I keep Pitch Darking while setting up. He sets up too, but my setup is a bit better. Finally, he has 2 Energy attatched to Bronzong. I think about what would be smarter to do: let him waste a poketurn on the bronzong and KO one of those Pixies on his bench, or Poltergiest? I end up going with the Snipe a Pixie Plan. Then he’s so thrilled to get the Bronzong out of the Active, He plays poketurn before using Galactic Switch. Not a big misplay, but it could have affected the game somehow. He then takes a prize, and I take another prize, and then its his turn. He’s thinking when time is called. He has Palkia G X active, with 2 energy and an Energy Gain. He has Bronzong G on the Bench as well as another Palkia with 2 Energy. He plays a Mesprit, so no powers for me, and then uses Lost Cyclone, moves the Energy to the Palkia X, and snipes my Claydol. I have another Claydol on the bench, so I’m thinking its over. All he has to do is move the energy and Use Palkia X’s attack once more on my other Claydol. I can’t kill his Bronzong. I examine all of my options, and then figure out what to do. I go ahead and use Shadow Room on his Bronzong. He can’t move the energy or else he gets KO’d and I win. He plays down a Crobat, and then uses Lost Cyclone away the Bronzong. Then he uses Pearl Breath for 40 to my Gengar. I have pretty much crap in my hand, but I have 2 Warp Point. His bench is Palkia, Azelf, and Crobat G. I play Warp Point, he sends up the Palkia and I send up my fully charged Nidoqeen. I use Ruthless Tail for 80 to his Palkia. He doesn’t have the Poketurn, or else he would have won. He needs to attatch an energy to his palkia to retreat, or an Energy to his Palkia X to Snipe my Claydol. He attatches to Palkia X, and then Uses Palkia’s first attack to switch it with the Palkia X on the Bench. YES! I have the game! I play Warp Point, Retreat Gengar, and then Ruthless Tail for the win! Man, These Colorado players, they’re tough! So I tell Kevin GG and good luck at Worlds, and then go out and receive congrats from some people and eat lunch before Top 16. One of the toughest games of my life, I swear.
~Top 16 VS Christian H with Luxraype~
Why!!! Why do the last 2 Team Hatter Players have to Play each other!
Game 1:
I had a good start, no lie, but his start was pretty decent too from what I remember. 2 or 3 Turns into the game his says if I show him that I can get a Claydol he’ll scoop. I’m surprised, but I show him a BeBe in my hand and he scoops. Wow.
Game 2:
I had a pretty good start again. I had an Uxie start, but I had the Resources to get a T2 Claydol. I play Rose, Lux Ball, Rare Candy Claydol, and then he plays Power Spray. Drat. I have nothing. I say oh well… I can just Cosmic Next turn. He Plays Infernape X, Roar, and then attatch, E-Gain, and Blast my Claydol is gone. I pretty much scoop from there because I really can’t do anything.
Game 3:
All I remember from this game is that we were both doing pretty well, I saved my Warp Points for when he dragged up my Claydol, and we had both taken a prize or 2. I send up Nidoqeen, Fully Charged, and then Ruthless Tail for the KO. He sends up Uxie, Levels up, attatches, Bronzong, and then doesn’t have the Poketurn to play down a Lucario GL for the KO. Aww man… Good for me but that just sucks. He Smacks me for 90, and I heal 20 between turns, but I Ruthless Tail for the KO on his Uxie X. He sends up Luxray X, and then I have 70 Damage. He uses Luxray X’s attack for 60, but didn’t realize that Nidoqeen is resistant to Lightning so I’m 10 Away from being KO’d. Ouch. The Qeen never dies! I KO his Luxray X and he doesn’t really have anything left so there’s really no point and he scoops. He was really cool about everything though. GG Christian!
Top 8!!! Yes!!! I have an invite for sure! Everyone is cheering for me, even people I don’t know, so I’m pretty excited. Oh well, here goes nothing.
~Top 8 VS Nathaniel L with Flygon/Nidoqueen~
Flygon. Great. The deck I have absolutely no practice against. I saw this dude beat Diaz last round, so I know I better figure something out fast.
Game 1:
I have a bad start. No lie. I don’t get set up until T 3-4 and he Already has out Claydol with Unown G, Flygon, Flygon X with Unown G, and Nidoqueen. Wow. He has no trainers in his hand, nothing to snipe, and if I do 80 with Nidoqueen He can just retreat and heal it off while KOing my Nidoqueen with his. Its pretty pointless. So after we’ve both only taken about 2 prizes and I realize that there’s nothing I can do, I scoop.
Game 2:
I get a bad start, AGAIN. Gosh. If I had been able to get out a T1-T2 Gengar, I might have won. He gets setup before I do, and then just hits me for a lot of Damage with flygon and cleans up with Uxie/Pluspowers to Avoid fainting spell the next turn. All the while, He’s decking me with Flygon X and I’m taking 10 Damage a turn from Flygon SW’s body. I try to keep from decking out, but I can’t damage him and he just starts passing every turn so that I can’t do a thing about it. Oh well. GG man.
And so, I get an invite to Worlds, a Box of RR, and a $750 Scholarship. Pretty decent if you ask me. I would do Props and Slops, but I’ve spent way to long on this report anyway. Lol. Thanks for reading!
Oh yeah, here’s my list if anyone wanted it. I would probably change around 4-5 cards, but here’s what it was for Nats:
Pokemon: 25
4-2-4 Gengar
2-1-2 Nidoqueen
2-2 Claydol
2 Uxie
2 Crobat G
2 Unown G
Energy: 10
4 Call
6 Psychic
Trainers: 25
4 Rose
4 BeBe
4 Rare Candy
4 Poketurn
3 BTS
2 Looker
2 Warp Point
1 Luxury Ball
1 Night Maintenance
Go Team Hatter!
Go Team Kevin and Sam!
Go Team Slugma!
~Round 1 VS Dude with Gengar~
Naturally, I’m really nervous just because it’s the first round and everything, and he keeps me trainer locked with pitch dark for a good 5 turns. I eventually set up, and then from there I remember I don’t have much trouble.
1-0
~Round 2 VS Dude with Flygon/Weaville~
Alright! I didn’t lose the first round! We start out, and the guy is talking about how bad his start is. I get a pretty decent start, and get going pretty well for my first game against Flygon. I have never played against a Flygon before, so I was feeling pretty good about it. It gets down to 4-1 in prizes or something like that. He sends up an Uxie and attatches a special Dark, Dark Engage, and then Psychic Restore for the KO on my Gengar. I congratulate him on avoiding fainting spell, and then go on with my turn. Shortly into my turn, he asks to see my discard pile so I’m like yeah sure. He asks “Where’s the Gengar I just KO’d?” I reply that it’s in my discard pile, and he says no it’s not. I take my discard pile back, and its not there. I look around my field and in my hand, and its not there. I only have 1 Prize Card left so that can’t be it. I call over a judge, and we explain the situation, then he takes my deck and asks if we remember what was attatched to the Gengar. I say a Psychic and a Call. My opponent agrees, and then the judge reveals that it was on the bottom of my deck, with all cards attatched to it. I have NO IDEA how it got there and start to sort of freak out because that really does look suspicious. The judge tells us to keep playing, which I disagree with, but continue anyway, and then he goes to get the head judge. I put 6 damage counters on his benched weaville, and I was going to win next turn. Then it’s his turn, and the Head judge arrives. We explain what happened to him, and then the judge, the head judge, and another judge go off and talk. I just keep thinking stuff like “FML”, “How the heck did it get there?” and “Why did he ask to see my discard?” The judges take me off to the side, and give me what seems like a chance to “Fess up” So I tell them the truth, that I don’t know how it got there, and that I thought that I would have had to have been conscious about putting the Gengar on the bottom of my deck if I did so, and they agree with me that’s why they can’t figure it out. I go sit back down, and then the judges say those 2 four letter words that NO player ever wants to hear: GAME LOSS. They explained that it was a severe offense, and the penalty for a severe offense is a Game Loss. I’m pretty upset and frustrated, so I pack my cards up pretty quickly after offering my opponent a hand shake. I don’t know if that was the right call, I understand that it was a severe offense, and that the penalty was a game loss, but it seemed completely reversible to me and that we could have just taken the Gengar and put it in the discard pile, and maybe a prize penaltly would have been more appropriate. BUT, I also understand that it looked like cheating, but It was 1-4 in prizes! What reason would I have for cheating if I won next turn? I dunno, it wasn’t my call. Oh well, I have 6 more rounds to go.
1-1
For Lunch I go with Nick to this Pizza Place that he’s heard is right around the corner from the Convention Center, but it turns out it doesn’t exist. XD! So we end up walking around for a while and then we find some people and finally end up at a Panera Bread Company. I love that place. But we have to wolf down our food in just about 10 minutes, and then run back to the Convention Center in the Heat. Man am I stupid for wearing a Jacket to Nationals, but after last year, can you blame me? Lol.
~Round 3 VS Dude with GeChamp~
My stomach kinda hurts from running in the heat right after eating lunch, but we made it back in time so it’s all good. I go first. Attatch to Ghastly and Pitch Dark. Next Turn: Rare Candy Gengar Psychic and then Poltergeist for a Billion Damage on that poor Machop. Lol.
2-1
~Round 4 VS Dude with Gallade 4/Bronzong/Dusknoir/Flygon/Other Stuff~
This was a crazy deck he was playing. It had like 1 of everything in it. Lol. He did catch me off guard with Dusknoir, but then I got out Nidoqueen and everything so that his spread didn’t work much at all, and then I took all of these easy prizes off of everything that he played down with powers like Azelf and Uxie. I go on to win it.
3-1
~Round 5 VS ??? with ???~
Umm, sorry, this Round has just vanished from my mind. Lol. I won though!
~Round 6 VS Jacob L with GeChamp~
I am hyped for this match! Jacob beat me out in Top 32 last year at Nats, so I’m ready for a shot at revenge! Lol. So we setup and everything, and I tell you, this guy is fun as hell to play, we were crackin jokes and laughing the entire match, even though there was no apparent winner. It started out that I had a Ghastly going second, so I pitch dark, and then he plays a BTS and goes Machoke, Machamp, Take out! So I’m just like crap… but then I make a quick recovery and get back in the game, and he can’t really do anything after I kill his Claydol T3. I remember that he gets 1 out of 4 heads on Hurricane punch twice in a row, and then on the third time flips all 4 heads. I start to get a bit too causual though, and he starts to catch up, but in the end I win and it’s all cool. GG.
5-1
~Round 7 VS Curran H with Palkia/Dialga G~
So I’m playing against not only the hardest matchup for my deck, but Curran! He’s like my pokemon Idol! Lol. We setup, and I think that I T2 him with Poltergeist, but then he has a Dialga G with an Unown G ready to go. He never plays down a bench pokemon, and keeps all trainers out of his hand. I have pretty much no options because he has resistance to Nidoqueen and has Special Metals attatched on the LV X, so I’m in a pretty tight situation. I manage to take 4 prizes off of random cards he plays down every once in a while, and eventually he breaks the deafen lock and starts using Remove Lost because time is getting close. Also, while he kept Deafen locking, he couldn’t get out any stadiums which meant that he couldn’t poison me with Skunktank G and that really had an impact on the game. If he could have gotten out the stadium earlier I think that I would definitely have lost. He gets it to 2-2 in prizes, and then I finally KO his Dialga G X. He sends up Crobat, drops a Palkia G with an Energy and an Energy Gain, and then asks the Judge if he used Splash Turn on Gengar would I get to flip for fainting spell. The judge says that he can’t tell him because that would be coaching. I end up telling Curran that I would still get to flip according to the Errata because I didn’t think that it was fair that the judge wouldn’t tell him. I forget what happens from here, lol I know, that’s pretty bad, but I’m sorry. All I remember is that I pull off the win.
6-1
Yes! 6-1! I’m guaranteed a spot in the Top Cut! W00T! Me and Taylor start a 6-1 Club. And, speaking of that, I’m watching Taylor’s match and as soon as she wins it, Clay walks over, asks if she won, and then gives her $100 and says, “How many players can say that if they win 6 matches their Dad will give them $100?” Lol.
~Round 8 VS Christian M with Palkia Lock from Colorado~
Oh great! I’m playing Christian! I played him at Worlds last year and had one of the closest games of my life and he barely won it, and so yeah… But anyway we setup and then he keeps me locked for 4 turns with 4 Mesprits and I had a T2 Claydol!!! Sheesh! Well, anyway, I end up attatching a Call to the Claydol, and Call for a Ghastly and another basic for a couple of turns, because I have no hand, and then everytime he uses Flash Bite, Honchkrow Snipe on my Ghastly. Good god… Oh well, I finally get out a Nidoqueen and start Ruthless Tailing him for a good 80 Damage, but it’s not enough and he just Poketurns his Lv X. /Sigh… I end up scooping after realizing that there is NO way to comeback from 4 ghastlys KO’d and no powers. He had plenty of Power Sprays. And the first person to beat me by means other than a Game Loss! GG.
6-2
And, Yet again, I am 6-2 at Nats. Yay! I made top cut! Woohoo!!!
~Top 64 VS Timmy B with Speedrill with 3 Unown G~
Game 1:
Yes! I get to play against Timmy! Rematch time! Timmy beat me at a CC and never lets me forget it, so I was really wanting to win this match more than anything. They say all the rules and everything, and we setup, and then Timmy’s going first. He starts with Weedle, attatches, and then says pass. I’m pretty happy about this but then I draw and take a closer look at my hand. I started with Unown G, and in my hand I have a Rosseanne, Luxury Ball, Warp Point, Rare Candy, Haunter, and Poketurn. So I Rosseanne for a Crobat G and an Energy, Lux Ball for Ghastly, Rare Candy Ghastly to Haunter and attatch, Warp Point, Crobat G, Poketurn, Crobat G, Hoodwink for the KO YES!!! What a way to start off the top cut!
Game 2:
This game is different, he gets setup uber fast like any good beedrill would, but he plays a duskull on the bench after I have a full bench on my side. Crap. I attack with one of my benched Uxies, and then he gets out Dusknoir and shuffles in my Claydol. I have a pretty decent hand though, including a Rosseanne to get back the Uxie I shuffled in. We do a bunch of Prize trade offs and he never seems to NOT be able to get back a Beedrill after I KO it. He also plays 3 Unown G to protect his Dusknoir, Claydol, and RR Beedrill. Geeze. I got a few prizes off of stuff like Uxies and an Azelf, but for the most part it was hard to do stuff. He would hit my Gengar for 90 with Beedrill, and then send up an uxie with like 2 Plus Powers to kill it. I never really got to do any fainting spell flips. It came down to me having 2 prizes left, him having 2. I send up Nidoqeen and use Ruthless Tail on his active Beedrill for 90, and then he does 90 to me after retreating, but then I retreat and attatch to my Gengar and Shadow Room for the KO on the Beedrill and GAME! GG Man.
~Top 32 Match against Kevin A with Palkia Lock~
Great! Not only am I playing against a deck I haven’t beat yet, and a player from Colorado which I am 0-2 against Colorado Players, but he also beat Curran so I know this guy is good from the start.
Game 1:
We set up, and I’m really nervous, but Kevin is a cool guy and we get along. I get Pitch Dark T1, and then he really can’t do anything. No supporters, nothing. He does keep my power locked with 2 Mesprits from the biggining. Eventually, we both get set up, and the game starts getting good. He mainly attacked with Honchkrow G and Crobats, because with my Queen out Palkia wasn’t too good for anything but its power. I remember that I flipped about 1/3 heads on fainting spell, but it was when I didn’t really need it that the dice decided to be nice. Lol. Anyway, it gets down pretty close, and I end up winning. Sorry I don’t remember more, that was a really great game.
Game 2:
I try to hurry and setup, because I don’t want to win/lose on time. Opening hand: 2 Crobat, 2 Ghastly, Baltoy, Warp Point, Psychic. Ouch. I’m so mad at myself for not shuffling better! Well anyway, He just snipes off whatever I play down with Honchkrow/Crobat, and I didn’t draw into anything until he had already taken 3 prizes and it was pretty pointless. So I scoop so that we can have plenty of time for Game 3, and plenty of time to shuffle better.
Oh yeah, and he went second, and on his first turn he plays down 3 Crobats and 2 Poketurns for the KO on my Baltoy. That was pretty funny. Lol.
Game 3:
My start isn’t glorious, but he started with Bronzong G. I started with Ghastly. I realize that that stupid thing has 3 Retreat, and I can just pitch dark until he’s forced to attatch 3 energy to it if he wants to retreat. He sees this too, so after I pitch dark he plays a Rose to Get out Uxie and Azelf MT. He plays them down, as well as a Mesprit he had benched last turn, and I go oh crap. I only run 10 Energy and don’t have any way to get one right now! DANG! So he passes, and I play down 2 Uxie and manage to get out a Claydol, and pull a Call Energy! Thank God! So I keep Pitch Darking while setting up. He sets up too, but my setup is a bit better. Finally, he has 2 Energy attatched to Bronzong. I think about what would be smarter to do: let him waste a poketurn on the bronzong and KO one of those Pixies on his bench, or Poltergiest? I end up going with the Snipe a Pixie Plan. Then he’s so thrilled to get the Bronzong out of the Active, He plays poketurn before using Galactic Switch. Not a big misplay, but it could have affected the game somehow. He then takes a prize, and I take another prize, and then its his turn. He’s thinking when time is called. He has Palkia G X active, with 2 energy and an Energy Gain. He has Bronzong G on the Bench as well as another Palkia with 2 Energy. He plays a Mesprit, so no powers for me, and then uses Lost Cyclone, moves the Energy to the Palkia X, and snipes my Claydol. I have another Claydol on the bench, so I’m thinking its over. All he has to do is move the energy and Use Palkia X’s attack once more on my other Claydol. I can’t kill his Bronzong. I examine all of my options, and then figure out what to do. I go ahead and use Shadow Room on his Bronzong. He can’t move the energy or else he gets KO’d and I win. He plays down a Crobat, and then uses Lost Cyclone away the Bronzong. Then he uses Pearl Breath for 40 to my Gengar. I have pretty much crap in my hand, but I have 2 Warp Point. His bench is Palkia, Azelf, and Crobat G. I play Warp Point, he sends up the Palkia and I send up my fully charged Nidoqeen. I use Ruthless Tail for 80 to his Palkia. He doesn’t have the Poketurn, or else he would have won. He needs to attatch an energy to his palkia to retreat, or an Energy to his Palkia X to Snipe my Claydol. He attatches to Palkia X, and then Uses Palkia’s first attack to switch it with the Palkia X on the Bench. YES! I have the game! I play Warp Point, Retreat Gengar, and then Ruthless Tail for the win! Man, These Colorado players, they’re tough! So I tell Kevin GG and good luck at Worlds, and then go out and receive congrats from some people and eat lunch before Top 16. One of the toughest games of my life, I swear.
~Top 16 VS Christian H with Luxraype~
Why!!! Why do the last 2 Team Hatter Players have to Play each other!
Game 1:
I had a good start, no lie, but his start was pretty decent too from what I remember. 2 or 3 Turns into the game his says if I show him that I can get a Claydol he’ll scoop. I’m surprised, but I show him a BeBe in my hand and he scoops. Wow.
Game 2:
I had a pretty good start again. I had an Uxie start, but I had the Resources to get a T2 Claydol. I play Rose, Lux Ball, Rare Candy Claydol, and then he plays Power Spray. Drat. I have nothing. I say oh well… I can just Cosmic Next turn. He Plays Infernape X, Roar, and then attatch, E-Gain, and Blast my Claydol is gone. I pretty much scoop from there because I really can’t do anything.
Game 3:
All I remember from this game is that we were both doing pretty well, I saved my Warp Points for when he dragged up my Claydol, and we had both taken a prize or 2. I send up Nidoqeen, Fully Charged, and then Ruthless Tail for the KO. He sends up Uxie, Levels up, attatches, Bronzong, and then doesn’t have the Poketurn to play down a Lucario GL for the KO. Aww man… Good for me but that just sucks. He Smacks me for 90, and I heal 20 between turns, but I Ruthless Tail for the KO on his Uxie X. He sends up Luxray X, and then I have 70 Damage. He uses Luxray X’s attack for 60, but didn’t realize that Nidoqeen is resistant to Lightning so I’m 10 Away from being KO’d. Ouch. The Qeen never dies! I KO his Luxray X and he doesn’t really have anything left so there’s really no point and he scoops. He was really cool about everything though. GG Christian!
Top 8!!! Yes!!! I have an invite for sure! Everyone is cheering for me, even people I don’t know, so I’m pretty excited. Oh well, here goes nothing.
~Top 8 VS Nathaniel L with Flygon/Nidoqueen~
Flygon. Great. The deck I have absolutely no practice against. I saw this dude beat Diaz last round, so I know I better figure something out fast.
Game 1:
I have a bad start. No lie. I don’t get set up until T 3-4 and he Already has out Claydol with Unown G, Flygon, Flygon X with Unown G, and Nidoqueen. Wow. He has no trainers in his hand, nothing to snipe, and if I do 80 with Nidoqueen He can just retreat and heal it off while KOing my Nidoqueen with his. Its pretty pointless. So after we’ve both only taken about 2 prizes and I realize that there’s nothing I can do, I scoop.
Game 2:
I get a bad start, AGAIN. Gosh. If I had been able to get out a T1-T2 Gengar, I might have won. He gets setup before I do, and then just hits me for a lot of Damage with flygon and cleans up with Uxie/Pluspowers to Avoid fainting spell the next turn. All the while, He’s decking me with Flygon X and I’m taking 10 Damage a turn from Flygon SW’s body. I try to keep from decking out, but I can’t damage him and he just starts passing every turn so that I can’t do a thing about it. Oh well. GG man.
And so, I get an invite to Worlds, a Box of RR, and a $750 Scholarship. Pretty decent if you ask me. I would do Props and Slops, but I’ve spent way to long on this report anyway. Lol. Thanks for reading!
Oh yeah, here’s my list if anyone wanted it. I would probably change around 4-5 cards, but here’s what it was for Nats:
Pokemon: 25
4-2-4 Gengar
2-1-2 Nidoqueen
2-2 Claydol
2 Uxie
2 Crobat G
2 Unown G
Energy: 10
4 Call
6 Psychic
Trainers: 25
4 Rose
4 BeBe
4 Rare Candy
4 Poketurn
3 BTS
2 Looker
2 Warp Point
1 Luxury Ball
1 Night Maintenance
Go Team Hatter!
Go Team Kevin and Sam!
Go Team Slugma!
