Hey all, my name if you do not know me is Simon Brundage. I have been playing pokemon for a little over a year now, and I would like to say it is likely one of the greatest things I have ever embarked on in my entire life. The people I have met, the friends I have made, and the games I have played have all found a special place in my mind, and I will likely never forget them.
So, this year has been an interesting year, since it is my first full season playing this game. I top cut at a lot of Battle Roads and Cities winning one Battle Road and one City (not that impressive
), and Top 16ed at Oregon States, and barely scrubbed Top 8 at Washington. I then proceeded to head to Regionals more experienced, and took 4th in a field of 81 seniors. It was a huge buildup for me, and I felt ready to compete on the National level, so I asked my parents to take me to Indianapolis, and they agreed!
Heading in to Nats, my rating was 1785.23, 41st in North America. -_-. I knew I needed to perform decently to reach an invite, so I tested out many decks. I started with Cinccino/Zoroark. I loved the deck, but in the end, it just didnt work, and failed to Donphan even with the Yanmega/Umbreon tech. I then moved onto a deck Eleki R. introduced to me, Samurott/Donphan/Zoroark. I played the deck for the longest time, and I was extremely comfortable with my build. Then, I realized the MagneBoar matchup was absolutely and utterly terrible. Taking this in mind, I moved on from the deck and found myself in a state where I could not decide on a deck I felt comfortable with. One night, I was chatting with Liam W. on FB, and I came across the idea of playing Donphan/Machamp. I REALLY loved the deck as a whole, I just didnt feel comfortable with the Yanmega matchup. However, I outgrew this fear, and decided to run the deck anyway. After a lot of testing, I came to think of the deck as one of the best decks in the format, and I was really comforable with the list I played. The list consisted of a lot of draw supporters, which was followed by 4 Collector and 4 Communication. I was excited, and ready.
Day 1, Thursday, Pre-Registration
When we arrived in Indy, I quickly strode the convention center. I was not feeling well at all but I knew it would be in my best interests to test. So I met with Eleki, Liam, Hayden, Percy, and Olliver and we all chilled and playtested. I also met a bunch of people I had tested and chatted with online. This group consists of JPN Gallade, Amt, Box of Fail, and HenryP. It was so great to play/speak with them because they were all high level players and I felt really happy to be with such great people. I pre-registered, tested, and then went to bed for a long rest that I definitely needed.
Day 2, Friday, Rounds 1-5
It was time for the tourney. I arrived early in order to get some morning playtesting in as I wanted to be positive my list would do well. I was very worried about my performance because I really wanted to earn the invitation. We all went to our seats and the numbers were revealed.
x>300 Seniors
x>200 Juniors
x>800 Masters
I'm not even going to attempt to guess the numbers as I know I'll be off. But anyway, onto the rounds!
R1 vs. Gabriel H. w/ Magnezone/Emboar
I started this game with a decent hand consisting of Cleffa, Machop, Fighting, and Professor Oak's New Theory. I was able to oak into a phanpy and stuff so I got phanpy and machop on the board fast. I passed. He went collectered to get 2 Reshirams and a tepig in play and attached/passed. I then proceeded to Juniper into 2 Donphans and candy champ so I had the Turn 2 double donphan and machamp. After this I got the kill on his magnemite and then went off on reversaling both his tepigs and he could never fuel the energies he needed to set up. At one point, the score was 2-6 me, and he killed my Donphan with Reshiram. He benched RDL and attached to it so I assumed he would attack with it. It took me two reversal flips, but I brought up the RDL and revenged it with buffalo for game. GG
1/0
R2 vs. Matthew B. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
This was a really great game. I open with a less than decent start with Phanpy/Collector, but no way to retreat and eeek. I topdeck a DCE, so I was able to get the Eeeekkk off. After the eeeek, I have no trouble setting up and I'm able to set up a field of a couple donphans and machamps. We trade prizes as he had a great start with Collector/Juniper and build up his field of 3 yanmega and 1 Donphan. I reversaled zoruas and phanpy's to get early prizes, and then was able to one shot all of his yanmegas with Machamp. It gets down to 1-2 me, and I have seven cards in my deck and a Donphan active and a cleffa with twenty on it on the bench. I have to take my last prize this turn or else he will kill my active Donphan with his Yanmega, and the Earthquake damage will kill my cleffa. I know I have one reversal and one junk arm left in my deck. I drop juniper, and get them. I hit the reversal to bring up his tyrogue and I kill it for game. GG
2/0
R3 vs. Samuel H. w/ Samurott/Feraligatr
This wasn't really a good game, as he got a terrible start and my start led me to a Turn 2 Donphan and a Turn 3 Machamp taking me a prize every turn. Sorry :/ GG
3/0
R4 vs. Joshua B. (Mama Luigi) w/ Magnezone/Emboar
This was a pretty interesting game as I know Josh is a good player. I have a horrendous start and he has a pretty good one. I buy time by attacking with tyrogue and slowly powering a Donphan and Machamp on the bench. Then, its 2-6 Josh, and I mount a comeback as he has used all of his resources and is now decking out. He runs out of evergy and I take a prize every turn. He then turns to using Flower Shop Lady to refill his deck a bit, but unfortunately my Champ was on a roll and he was still decking out. Realizing this, he scooped. Sorry Josh, hopefully next time we can have a better game. Nice job on Top 64! GG
4/0
At this point I psyched. I am 4/0 at the biggest tournament in the world and my deck was surpassing my expectations. What could make my day go bad?
R5 vs. Rahul R. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
I flip Cleffa, he flips Zorua. He wins the flip, attaches DCE and flips heads to do 30 and donk. GG
4/1
Oh, that.
Well, I tried not to get to disappointed, but it was hard not to I was thinking about 5/1 drop, but my mom and Olliver convinced me not to. Well, I went to bed and tried to get as much rest as possible.
Day 3, Saturday, Rounds 6-9 and Top 64-32
I looked at the pairings to see I was paired up against Michael D. , last years champ, and when I sat down, I directed my friend jacobs attention to my opponent and he mouths "NO BIG DEAL BRO! NO BID DEAL!"
R6 vs. Michael D. w/ Kingdra/Yanmega/Jirachi
I get a great start, and his is only decent. I manage to take the early lead with a Donphan and two machamps on my bench. He takes a couple cheap prizes but I am able to hold onto my lead with reversals and being able to one shot yanmegas with Machamp. It was relatively close in the end to my knowledge, but I was able to take my last prize because he couldnt get enough damage on the board to kill my last Machamp and Donphan. Really GG and I'm sure he would have destroyed me had he a better start. GG
5/1
R7 vs. Anik V. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
She starts Zorua, I start Phanpy. I T2 Donphan the Zorua for game. GG
6/1
R8 vs. Ty W. w/ Kingdra/Yanmega/Jirachi
Well, I saw I was paired against him and I was immediately flustered as I was hoping to avoid this matchup and this player. The game starts and my start is pretty good and so is his... other than the fact he flips like >9000 tails on Reversal. The game gets really close as I'm up 2-4 when he sends up a Jirachi with a DCE. I dont know how it got by me and why I didnt reversal and kill it but I guess my mind blanked and he got the psychic on it to kill both my machamps with time hollow. I was pretty mad. I ended up sending up a 3-energied Donphan and almost took a prize but he triple spray slashed a tyrogue and killed my donphan for his lat to prizes and the game. Lame. GG
6/2
R9 vs. Kevin C. (Box Of Fail) w/ Yanmega/Vileplume/Jumpluff aka anti simon.dec
I was kind of sad to play against him, as he's really cool and a really great player. This game is pretty foggy but I knew I reversaled up glooms and oddishs while he was trying to set up and I took a lot of KOes. He then gets vileplume, and all my cards are rendered useless and he sets up pluff and wrecks my field. We go to 1-1 till I get buffalo on my bench and with juniper in hand and a six card deck, I was ready to buff his pluff for game. I play juniper... DCE PRIZED! WAHHHHOOOOOOO!!!! Oh well, nbd. Kevin deserved the win becuz of my haxing on 3/3 on reversal. GG
6/3
I make cut at 45.
T64 vs. Nathanial L. w/ Straight Donphan
G1: He gets a good start to my okay. I am up 1-4 since I was pretty much dominating his field and he really had nothing. But then, I ran out of energy, and cant stop his donphan, and I lose. GG
0-1
G2: I get another good start and I am able to stomp through his field with Champ. He tries to mount a comeback but his reshiram start kills him.
1-1
G3: He gets another Reshiram start and while my start is horrible, I am able to get a supporter in the late game and I set up my field to the point that my champs are to much. He scoops after he whiffs 3 reversal flips. EDIT: He also drew 9 cards straight through stuff... and STILL WHIFFED AN ENERGY! That sorta sealed it
2-1
Sorry for the vague matchup, my mind turned off.
T32 vs. Joshua M. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
G1: I get a great start to his good one. We trade prizes while I have the T2 Donphan to give me the advantage. Eventually, I reversal Zoroark and kill it before he can kill champ so in the end he didnt have really any response left.
1-0
G2: Sadly pretty much like game 1, he really didnt have a good start and I had a really good one. He also kept whiffing on energy. Sorry bro GG.
2-0
I was pretty psyched for Top 16 as I knew I had the invite. I made it to day 4 which was pretty cool to lol.
T16 vs. Anthony O. w/ Zekrom/4-4 Yanmega
I dont have really much to say about these games sorry.
G1: I get a really bad Buffalo start, and have to champs prized. The game goes on until its 2-2, but his multiple yanmegas and zekroms ended up beating me.
0-1
G2: Same as Game 1, except for the fact... I HAD 3 CHAMPS PRIZED! This game is fail
0-2
..
I lost to my best matchup. Cool story bro.
I'm gonna skip conclusions and go to props and slops.
propsz:
Worlds invite gg bro
Chris, Koichi and other oregon friends at home
Olliver
Eleki
Hayden
Percy
Jason
Jacob
Liam
Ian
Colter
Sandi and Trevor
Kevin
Amt
Karol
Ryan M.
Nick
Josh
Henry
Noah (didnt get to talk to you much :0)
Porii
mommmmyyyyy for taking me to INDY
nats, it was cool
Jacob L for cheering for me via Olliver's phone lol
and others, cant remember all, im tired
slops:
zps/yanmega
jacob dropping,(((((((((((, you'll win grinders bro, I promise.
Almost all NW people missing cut
Nationals was an unforgettable experience and I have to say was one of the greatest times of my life. See yall at worlds, becuz my ranking is 1815 nao, and 28th in NA and do you know what that equals? WORLDZ!
kthxbye
-Simon
So, this year has been an interesting year, since it is my first full season playing this game. I top cut at a lot of Battle Roads and Cities winning one Battle Road and one City (not that impressive
), and Top 16ed at Oregon States, and barely scrubbed Top 8 at Washington. I then proceeded to head to Regionals more experienced, and took 4th in a field of 81 seniors. It was a huge buildup for me, and I felt ready to compete on the National level, so I asked my parents to take me to Indianapolis, and they agreed!Heading in to Nats, my rating was 1785.23, 41st in North America. -_-. I knew I needed to perform decently to reach an invite, so I tested out many decks. I started with Cinccino/Zoroark. I loved the deck, but in the end, it just didnt work, and failed to Donphan even with the Yanmega/Umbreon tech. I then moved onto a deck Eleki R. introduced to me, Samurott/Donphan/Zoroark. I played the deck for the longest time, and I was extremely comfortable with my build. Then, I realized the MagneBoar matchup was absolutely and utterly terrible. Taking this in mind, I moved on from the deck and found myself in a state where I could not decide on a deck I felt comfortable with. One night, I was chatting with Liam W. on FB, and I came across the idea of playing Donphan/Machamp. I REALLY loved the deck as a whole, I just didnt feel comfortable with the Yanmega matchup. However, I outgrew this fear, and decided to run the deck anyway. After a lot of testing, I came to think of the deck as one of the best decks in the format, and I was really comforable with the list I played. The list consisted of a lot of draw supporters, which was followed by 4 Collector and 4 Communication. I was excited, and ready.
Day 1, Thursday, Pre-Registration
When we arrived in Indy, I quickly strode the convention center. I was not feeling well at all but I knew it would be in my best interests to test. So I met with Eleki, Liam, Hayden, Percy, and Olliver and we all chilled and playtested. I also met a bunch of people I had tested and chatted with online. This group consists of JPN Gallade, Amt, Box of Fail, and HenryP. It was so great to play/speak with them because they were all high level players and I felt really happy to be with such great people. I pre-registered, tested, and then went to bed for a long rest that I definitely needed.
Day 2, Friday, Rounds 1-5
It was time for the tourney. I arrived early in order to get some morning playtesting in as I wanted to be positive my list would do well. I was very worried about my performance because I really wanted to earn the invitation. We all went to our seats and the numbers were revealed.
x>300 Seniors
x>200 Juniors
x>800 Masters
I'm not even going to attempt to guess the numbers as I know I'll be off
. But anyway, onto the rounds!R1 vs. Gabriel H. w/ Magnezone/Emboar
I started this game with a decent hand consisting of Cleffa, Machop, Fighting, and Professor Oak's New Theory. I was able to oak into a phanpy and stuff so I got phanpy and machop on the board fast. I passed. He went collectered to get 2 Reshirams and a tepig in play and attached/passed. I then proceeded to Juniper into 2 Donphans and candy champ so I had the Turn 2 double donphan and machamp. After this I got the kill on his magnemite and then went off on reversaling both his tepigs and he could never fuel the energies he needed to set up. At one point, the score was 2-6 me, and he killed my Donphan with Reshiram. He benched RDL and attached to it so I assumed he would attack with it. It took me two reversal flips, but I brought up the RDL and revenged it with buffalo for game. GG
1/0
R2 vs. Matthew B. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
This was a really great game. I open with a less than decent start with Phanpy/Collector, but no way to retreat and eeek. I topdeck a DCE, so I was able to get the Eeeekkk off. After the eeeek, I have no trouble setting up and I'm able to set up a field of a couple donphans and machamps. We trade prizes as he had a great start with Collector/Juniper and build up his field of 3 yanmega and 1 Donphan. I reversaled zoruas and phanpy's to get early prizes, and then was able to one shot all of his yanmegas with Machamp. It gets down to 1-2 me, and I have seven cards in my deck and a Donphan active and a cleffa with twenty on it on the bench. I have to take my last prize this turn or else he will kill my active Donphan with his Yanmega, and the Earthquake damage will kill my cleffa. I know I have one reversal and one junk arm left in my deck. I drop juniper, and get them. I hit the reversal to bring up his tyrogue and I kill it for game. GG
2/0
R3 vs. Samuel H. w/ Samurott/Feraligatr
This wasn't really a good game, as he got a terrible start and my start led me to a Turn 2 Donphan and a Turn 3 Machamp taking me a prize every turn. Sorry :/ GG
3/0
R4 vs. Joshua B. (Mama Luigi) w/ Magnezone/Emboar
This was a pretty interesting game as I know Josh is a good player. I have a horrendous start and he has a pretty good one. I buy time by attacking with tyrogue and slowly powering a Donphan and Machamp on the bench. Then, its 2-6 Josh, and I mount a comeback as he has used all of his resources and is now decking out. He runs out of evergy and I take a prize every turn. He then turns to using Flower Shop Lady to refill his deck a bit, but unfortunately my Champ was on a roll and he was still decking out. Realizing this, he scooped. Sorry Josh, hopefully next time we can have a better game. Nice job on Top 64! GG
4/0
At this point I psyched. I am 4/0 at the biggest tournament in the world and my deck was surpassing my expectations. What could make my day go bad?
R5 vs. Rahul R. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
I flip Cleffa, he flips Zorua. He wins the flip, attaches DCE and flips heads to do 30 and donk. GG
4/1
Oh, that.
Well, I tried not to get to disappointed, but it was hard not to
I was thinking about 5/1 drop, but my mom and Olliver convinced me not to. Well, I went to bed and tried to get as much rest as possible. Day 3, Saturday, Rounds 6-9 and Top 64-32
I looked at the pairings to see I was paired up against Michael D. , last years champ, and when I sat down, I directed my friend jacobs attention to my opponent and he mouths "NO BIG DEAL BRO! NO BID DEAL!"
R6 vs. Michael D. w/ Kingdra/Yanmega/Jirachi
I get a great start, and his is only decent. I manage to take the early lead with a Donphan and two machamps on my bench. He takes a couple cheap prizes but I am able to hold onto my lead with reversals and being able to one shot yanmegas with Machamp. It was relatively close in the end to my knowledge, but I was able to take my last prize because he couldnt get enough damage on the board to kill my last Machamp and Donphan. Really GG and I'm sure he would have destroyed me had he a better start. GG
5/1
R7 vs. Anik V. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
She starts Zorua, I start Phanpy. I T2 Donphan the Zorua for game. GG
6/1
R8 vs. Ty W. w/ Kingdra/Yanmega/Jirachi
Well, I saw I was paired against him and I was immediately flustered as I was hoping to avoid this matchup and this player. The game starts and my start is pretty good and so is his... other than the fact he flips like >9000 tails on Reversal. The game gets really close as I'm up 2-4 when he sends up a Jirachi with a DCE. I dont know how it got by me and why I didnt reversal and kill it but I guess my mind blanked and he got the psychic on it to kill both my machamps with time hollow. I was pretty mad. I ended up sending up a 3-energied Donphan and almost took a prize but he triple spray slashed a tyrogue and killed my donphan for his lat to prizes and the game. Lame. GG
6/2
R9 vs. Kevin C. (Box Of Fail) w/ Yanmega/Vileplume/Jumpluff aka anti simon.dec
I was kind of sad to play against him, as he's really cool and a really great player. This game is pretty foggy but I knew I reversaled up glooms and oddishs while he was trying to set up and I took a lot of KOes. He then gets vileplume, and all my cards are rendered useless and he sets up pluff and wrecks my field. We go to 1-1 till I get buffalo on my bench and with juniper in hand and a six card deck, I was ready to buff his pluff for game. I play juniper... DCE PRIZED! WAHHHHOOOOOOO!!!! Oh well, nbd. Kevin deserved the win
becuz of my haxing on 3/3 on reversal. GG6/3
I make cut at 45.
T64 vs. Nathanial L. w/ Straight Donphan
G1: He gets a good start to my okay. I am up 1-4 since I was pretty much dominating his field and he really had nothing. But then, I ran out of energy, and cant stop his donphan, and I lose. GG
0-1
G2: I get another good start and I am able to stomp through his field with Champ. He tries to mount a comeback but his reshiram start kills him.
1-1
G3: He gets another Reshiram start and while my start is horrible, I am able to get a supporter in the late game and I set up my field to the point that my champs are to much. He scoops after he whiffs 3 reversal flips. EDIT: He also drew 9 cards straight through stuff... and STILL WHIFFED AN ENERGY! That sorta sealed it
2-1
Sorry for the vague matchup, my mind turned off.
T32 vs. Joshua M. w/ Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
G1: I get a great start to his good one. We trade prizes while I have the T2 Donphan to give me the advantage. Eventually, I reversal Zoroark and kill it before he can kill champ so in the end he didnt have really any response left.
1-0
G2: Sadly pretty much like game 1, he really didnt have a good start and I had a really good one. He also kept whiffing on energy. Sorry bro GG.
2-0
I was pretty psyched for Top 16 as I knew I had the invite. I made it to day 4 which was pretty cool to lol.
T16 vs. Anthony O. w/ Zekrom/4-4 Yanmega
I dont have really much to say about these games sorry.
G1: I get a really bad Buffalo start, and have to champs prized. The game goes on until its 2-2, but his multiple yanmegas and zekroms ended up beating me.
0-1
G2: Same as Game 1, except for the fact... I HAD 3 CHAMPS PRIZED! This game is fail
0-2
..
I lost to my best matchup. Cool story bro.
I'm gonna skip conclusions and go to props and slops.
propsz:
Worlds invite gg bro
Chris, Koichi and other oregon friends at home
Olliver
Eleki
Hayden
Percy
Jason
Jacob
Liam
Ian
Colter
Sandi and Trevor
Kevin
Amt
Karol
Ryan M.
Nick
Josh
Henry
Noah (didnt get to talk to you much :0)
Porii
mommmmyyyyy for taking me to INDY
nats, it was cool
Jacob L for cheering for me via Olliver's phone lol
and others, cant remember all, im tired
slops:
zps/yanmega
jacob dropping,
(((((((((((, you'll win grinders bro, I promise.Almost all NW people missing cut
Nationals was an unforgettable experience and I have to say was one of the greatest times of my life. See yall at worlds, becuz my ranking is 1815 nao, and 28th in NA and do you know what that equals? WORLDZ!
kthxbye
-Simon
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