Fireborn
New Member
Last week I got first with my Machamp deck, so I thought, why change a winning deck? I replaced two cards (a Quick Ball and a Warp Point) for 2 Buck's Training to help the Gengar matchup (which is about 30-70 I'd say), which was the only match I lost last week.
We (= me and 6 others) got there at 10 in the morning, after a train trip of 2 hours, and watched a LOT of people come in. In the end, we had 4 Juniors, 11 Seniors, and I think around 35 Masters, which meant that we would ALL be playing 6 rounds, best of 3, with a top 8 cut for the Masters. Rounds of 45 minutes, add some extra time for Sudden Deaths, and do the maths - the tournament would last over 9 hours... And we didn't start until 11.45. Nice.
Round 1 - Marco - Dusknoir/Gengar
I saw a Dusknoir while he was shuffling, and I've played dozens of games against Dusknoir, so that was alright. In the end, he didn't get anything for 2 games straight, forgot to flip for Gengar's power once, and didn't attach the Unown G to his active basic Pokemon (which would've prevented me from using Take Out for a KO). We were done in 10 minutes.
1-0
So I had 50 minutes left til the next round, and I spent it playing Guitar Hero =D
Round 2 - Martin - Gengar
Another Gengar. I don't like Gengar... I don't really get a good set-up, and he gets a bit unlucky with Gengar's power. I don't remember exactly how the first game went down, but I think it took about 25 minutes before he takes the last prize. The second game was also slow, because we were both doing so many things during a turn. I thought for sure I was going to lose, until I got 4 heads on Hurricane Punch against his Gengar without any damage. And he gets tails for Gengar's power. When time was called, I had taken 4 prizes, and he had taken 2 I think, so we had to play Sudden Death. We shuffle and set up, I start with a Machop, I think, he with an Unown G. He uses Pitch Dark, so I can't play the trainers in my hand. He's got a hand of about 5 cards, and if he gets a Rare Candy, a Gengar, and a Psychic energy, I lose. I do a Low Kick for 20 damage, and it's his turn. He does some stuff, but can't get the Gengar he needs. I'm scared he'll do Pitch Black again, because that means I won't be able to play any trainers for another turn again... He retreats for a Uxie with an Unown G attached and does 30 damage to my Machop. Phew. By this time, we're the only ones playing, and there are like 15 people watching our game. Pretty cool =D I draw, and play some trainers. In the end, I get two Poke Drawer + which I play for a Buck's Training and a Rare Candy. I do Candy for Machamp, play the Buck's (and get 2 trainers in my hand, which I didn't want). I attach an energy and call out Hurricane Punch. I need two heads to win. If not, I'll probably lose. So I roll 4 dice at the same time...2 heads. Woot. Great games though!
2-0
Round 3 - Matthew - Gengar/Dusknoir
Wow, so much variation. My third Gengar of the day. It doesn't matter though, cos after the first two rounds, I feel pretty good. He gets a really slow set-up. Mine is alright, and I take a few quick prizes. He gets back into it with a Dusknoir lv X which does Rapid Spin for 2 turns, but it already had 100 damage or so because of his power, and I manage to KO it with a Machamp with 3 energies. We start the second game with about 15 minutes to spare. I get a slow start, but manage to take 2 prizes anyway, to his 2 prizes. Time is called on his turn, and there's no way he can take 2 prizes, so I win.
3-0
Round 4 - Douwe - Machamp
Yay, a Machamp mirror. Douwe is playing almost exactly the same list as me, but I believe my list was more consistent. It's his first year in Masters, and his first big tournament in Master, so it's great he's 3-0 as well =) He goes first, but I can't get a Machamp in my first turn. He told me he had a bad hand, and I don't think he was bluffing, so I attach to my active Machop. It turns out I was right, as he can't get a Machamp in his second turn either. I get a Machamp in my second turn, though, which proves crucial. I take a few prizes by the time he gets going. I play my lv X at the right time, and he scoops about 15 mins in. The second game is actually much the same. This time he does get a T2 Machamp, but so do I, and my list is just slightly more consistent. I win in about 20 minutes.
4-0
Of course, we need to wait another 15 minutes for a few Sudden Death games to finish. Seriously, whoever thought best of 3 during Swiss rounds was a good idea...
Round 5 - Manuel - Kingdra
We're the only two undefeated, so I finally get to play him. I'm actually excited, I'm determined to go 6-0 now, and I believe the Kingdra match-up is winnable. He's a great player, I played the 2005 Nationals final against him. He gets a fairly bad start, and I get a quick Machamp. I take out his Horsea, and he tries a few things, gets back pretty well, but in the end I take my last prize. The second game is worse for him, he starts with a Suicune, and I get a T2 Machamp again. I KO a few basics, and he never really gets into the game, so I win this one too.
5-0
Round 6 - Kristel - Moltres/Blissey/Rayquaza
It's always fun to play against Kristel, and I finally get to play an original deck! Although we both agree that this is pretty much an autoloss for her. The first game, I have a good setup, and KO a few basics, and then a Blissey for a fairly quick win. The second game I get my first bad opening hand of the day, which consists of 3 Machop, 1 Unown R, 2 Energies and a Warp Point. I proceed to draw into NOTHING for 2 straight turns, but luckily she's taking the time to set up. If she had gone straight for the Moltres beat down, I probably would've lost. As it turns out, I draw a Roseanne in my 3rd or 4th turn, search for a Uxie, and set up from there. After that, it's over pretty quickly. They were fun games to play though!
6-0
By now it's past 6 PM. I'm thinking about dropping because we need to travel home for over 2 hours, and the kids who're with me have school in the morning. But I'm 6-0, and David has to play the T2 in Seniors, so I decide to just play on because 3 of the kids who didn't make the T8 could get a ride home with 2 parents who were also going back up north. So now it's just Douwe, David, Olaf, Rinne and me. Douwe's in the T4 immediately, cos his T8 opponent drops to go home.
Top 8 - Arco - Raichu lv X
I haven't played against Arco's Raichu, so I have no idea what to expect. I know better than to underestimate Arco though, even though I believe this shouldn't be that difficult. I win the flip, but he's got a Sableye and has to start. He draws, stares at his hand, and then passes. I draw a card, at which point he sighs and realises he forgot to attack with Sableye. Ah well, it's been a long day. I try to get a Rare Candy to KO is lone Sableye, but I can't find it, so I just do 20 damage with Machop. He plays a Roseanne, gets a Baltoy and a Sneasel, plays down a Pikachu, attaches, and attacks. I play a Warp Point, he promotes Baltoy, but I STILL can't get a Rare Candy. In the end, I do manage to find a Machoke, and flip heads so I do 40 damage to the Baltoy. He retreats, Bebe for Claydol, and proceeds to set up. I finally get a Machamp turn 3, and KO his Sableye. He gets back into the game pretty well, taking 3 or 4 prizes. In the end, Raichu's x2 weakness is too much, though, because I keep flipping 2 or more heads on my Hurricane Punch. He gets the lv X back 3 times in a row, but it's no use. I win in about 20 minutes. The second game is over pretty quickly. He gets a horrible set-up, and I don't think I've seen a Raichu lvl X in the game. In the end, he manages to take one prize with his Sableye against my Machamp lv X and I flip tails for Strong-Willed after which I KO his Sableye for my last prize. Sorry Arco!
7-0
Top 4 - Martin - Gengar
From here on things get a bit fuzzy. We're forced to play in the cafeteria because the room we were in is closing. They're playing music in the background, which really annoys me :K I believe he starts with a Ghastly so I can't play my trainers the first turn. I don't remember entirely how it went down, but I don't get a good set-up and he does, so he wins. He does get a warning for shuffling Uxie into his deck instead of putting it at the bottom. A few turns later, he does it again which gives him a prize penalty (which we hear AFTER the game). The second game I get to start by taking 1 prize because of the prize penalty. I get a great setup against his slow one, and I take 3 prizes pretty quickly. He scoops with about 5 minutes to go. The third game is pretty intense. He can't get what he needs, and I take the prize, although I can't remember for the life of me what I KO'ed and how...
8-0
Top 2 - Manuel - Kingdra
Woot, by now it's like 9 PM. I wanna go home. Everybody wants to go home. But I have to play it. The first game I get a good start, and it's over fairly quickly. The second game he starts with 1 basic, but I can't get the Rare Candy I need (I had 2 prized). I really don't wanna play long games cos I'm too tired. He gets a really good start and KO's my Machop and T3 a Machamp. My last 2 Machops were in my prizes, so I scoop. The third game is actually really good. It comes down to 1 prize each. I needed to draw my Warp Point to win. There were about 10 cards left in my deck, and I play a Uxie for 5, but I don't get it. I decide to try Hurricane Punch, hoping for 3 heads. Tails, heads, heads, and...tails. He KO's the Machamp lv X, and my last prize is my last Night Maintenance, which means I can't win anymore. In retrospect I probably should've retreated the Machamp even though that would've cost me all the energies, but I could've charged it on the bench. I don't think it would've mattered though, because I only had 3 energies left in my hand/deck, which wasn't enough to power up Machamp's Rage attach, which was the only thing left to KO a Kingdra in one go. Ah well, 8-1 isn't bad. And it was a really good game!
8-1
Sooo it's now 10 PM. We take a bus to the station, buy icecream, and take the last train home at 10.42 PM. I get home at 1.15 AM... For a flipping City Championships... Nice.
Props to everyone for making it through the day, though! And props to the judging team for making the best of the situation. I just hope next time they'll see the light and have us play 5 rounds. And maybe next year we can just go back to Swiss rounds so we won't have this 15 minutes after rounds in which 50 people needs to wait for ONE Sudden Death game to finish.
Props
- Mees and Bas for coming up with the Machamp list idea
- Machamp
- Douwe for doing so well in his first big Masters tournament
- David for getting second, and beating Martin in the last Swiss round
- Minde for winning Juniors with Machamp
- All the kids who made it to 6.30 PM, through all 6 rounds even though they were tired and had to play many games out of their age group.
- All my opponents for great games
- Playing 21 (21!!!) games in a tournament
- All judges and staff!
- Players from Belgium and Germany
- So many players. Pokemon is awesome in the Netherlands.
Slops
- 45 minute best of 3 Swiss rounds
- ending at 10 PM
- Age Modified Swiss
We (= me and 6 others) got there at 10 in the morning, after a train trip of 2 hours, and watched a LOT of people come in. In the end, we had 4 Juniors, 11 Seniors, and I think around 35 Masters, which meant that we would ALL be playing 6 rounds, best of 3, with a top 8 cut for the Masters. Rounds of 45 minutes, add some extra time for Sudden Deaths, and do the maths - the tournament would last over 9 hours... And we didn't start until 11.45. Nice.
Round 1 - Marco - Dusknoir/Gengar
I saw a Dusknoir while he was shuffling, and I've played dozens of games against Dusknoir, so that was alright. In the end, he didn't get anything for 2 games straight, forgot to flip for Gengar's power once, and didn't attach the Unown G to his active basic Pokemon (which would've prevented me from using Take Out for a KO). We were done in 10 minutes.
1-0
So I had 50 minutes left til the next round, and I spent it playing Guitar Hero =D
Round 2 - Martin - Gengar
Another Gengar. I don't like Gengar... I don't really get a good set-up, and he gets a bit unlucky with Gengar's power. I don't remember exactly how the first game went down, but I think it took about 25 minutes before he takes the last prize. The second game was also slow, because we were both doing so many things during a turn. I thought for sure I was going to lose, until I got 4 heads on Hurricane Punch against his Gengar without any damage. And he gets tails for Gengar's power. When time was called, I had taken 4 prizes, and he had taken 2 I think, so we had to play Sudden Death. We shuffle and set up, I start with a Machop, I think, he with an Unown G. He uses Pitch Dark, so I can't play the trainers in my hand. He's got a hand of about 5 cards, and if he gets a Rare Candy, a Gengar, and a Psychic energy, I lose. I do a Low Kick for 20 damage, and it's his turn. He does some stuff, but can't get the Gengar he needs. I'm scared he'll do Pitch Black again, because that means I won't be able to play any trainers for another turn again... He retreats for a Uxie with an Unown G attached and does 30 damage to my Machop. Phew. By this time, we're the only ones playing, and there are like 15 people watching our game. Pretty cool =D I draw, and play some trainers. In the end, I get two Poke Drawer + which I play for a Buck's Training and a Rare Candy. I do Candy for Machamp, play the Buck's (and get 2 trainers in my hand, which I didn't want). I attach an energy and call out Hurricane Punch. I need two heads to win. If not, I'll probably lose. So I roll 4 dice at the same time...2 heads. Woot. Great games though!
2-0
Round 3 - Matthew - Gengar/Dusknoir
Wow, so much variation. My third Gengar of the day. It doesn't matter though, cos after the first two rounds, I feel pretty good. He gets a really slow set-up. Mine is alright, and I take a few quick prizes. He gets back into it with a Dusknoir lv X which does Rapid Spin for 2 turns, but it already had 100 damage or so because of his power, and I manage to KO it with a Machamp with 3 energies. We start the second game with about 15 minutes to spare. I get a slow start, but manage to take 2 prizes anyway, to his 2 prizes. Time is called on his turn, and there's no way he can take 2 prizes, so I win.
3-0
Round 4 - Douwe - Machamp
Yay, a Machamp mirror. Douwe is playing almost exactly the same list as me, but I believe my list was more consistent. It's his first year in Masters, and his first big tournament in Master, so it's great he's 3-0 as well =) He goes first, but I can't get a Machamp in my first turn. He told me he had a bad hand, and I don't think he was bluffing, so I attach to my active Machop. It turns out I was right, as he can't get a Machamp in his second turn either. I get a Machamp in my second turn, though, which proves crucial. I take a few prizes by the time he gets going. I play my lv X at the right time, and he scoops about 15 mins in. The second game is actually much the same. This time he does get a T2 Machamp, but so do I, and my list is just slightly more consistent. I win in about 20 minutes.
4-0
Of course, we need to wait another 15 minutes for a few Sudden Death games to finish. Seriously, whoever thought best of 3 during Swiss rounds was a good idea...
Round 5 - Manuel - Kingdra
We're the only two undefeated, so I finally get to play him. I'm actually excited, I'm determined to go 6-0 now, and I believe the Kingdra match-up is winnable. He's a great player, I played the 2005 Nationals final against him. He gets a fairly bad start, and I get a quick Machamp. I take out his Horsea, and he tries a few things, gets back pretty well, but in the end I take my last prize. The second game is worse for him, he starts with a Suicune, and I get a T2 Machamp again. I KO a few basics, and he never really gets into the game, so I win this one too.
5-0
Round 6 - Kristel - Moltres/Blissey/Rayquaza
It's always fun to play against Kristel, and I finally get to play an original deck! Although we both agree that this is pretty much an autoloss for her. The first game, I have a good setup, and KO a few basics, and then a Blissey for a fairly quick win. The second game I get my first bad opening hand of the day, which consists of 3 Machop, 1 Unown R, 2 Energies and a Warp Point. I proceed to draw into NOTHING for 2 straight turns, but luckily she's taking the time to set up. If she had gone straight for the Moltres beat down, I probably would've lost. As it turns out, I draw a Roseanne in my 3rd or 4th turn, search for a Uxie, and set up from there. After that, it's over pretty quickly. They were fun games to play though!
6-0
By now it's past 6 PM. I'm thinking about dropping because we need to travel home for over 2 hours, and the kids who're with me have school in the morning. But I'm 6-0, and David has to play the T2 in Seniors, so I decide to just play on because 3 of the kids who didn't make the T8 could get a ride home with 2 parents who were also going back up north. So now it's just Douwe, David, Olaf, Rinne and me. Douwe's in the T4 immediately, cos his T8 opponent drops to go home.
Top 8 - Arco - Raichu lv X
I haven't played against Arco's Raichu, so I have no idea what to expect. I know better than to underestimate Arco though, even though I believe this shouldn't be that difficult. I win the flip, but he's got a Sableye and has to start. He draws, stares at his hand, and then passes. I draw a card, at which point he sighs and realises he forgot to attack with Sableye. Ah well, it's been a long day. I try to get a Rare Candy to KO is lone Sableye, but I can't find it, so I just do 20 damage with Machop. He plays a Roseanne, gets a Baltoy and a Sneasel, plays down a Pikachu, attaches, and attacks. I play a Warp Point, he promotes Baltoy, but I STILL can't get a Rare Candy. In the end, I do manage to find a Machoke, and flip heads so I do 40 damage to the Baltoy. He retreats, Bebe for Claydol, and proceeds to set up. I finally get a Machamp turn 3, and KO his Sableye. He gets back into the game pretty well, taking 3 or 4 prizes. In the end, Raichu's x2 weakness is too much, though, because I keep flipping 2 or more heads on my Hurricane Punch. He gets the lv X back 3 times in a row, but it's no use. I win in about 20 minutes. The second game is over pretty quickly. He gets a horrible set-up, and I don't think I've seen a Raichu lvl X in the game. In the end, he manages to take one prize with his Sableye against my Machamp lv X and I flip tails for Strong-Willed after which I KO his Sableye for my last prize. Sorry Arco!
7-0
Top 4 - Martin - Gengar
From here on things get a bit fuzzy. We're forced to play in the cafeteria because the room we were in is closing. They're playing music in the background, which really annoys me :K I believe he starts with a Ghastly so I can't play my trainers the first turn. I don't remember entirely how it went down, but I don't get a good set-up and he does, so he wins. He does get a warning for shuffling Uxie into his deck instead of putting it at the bottom. A few turns later, he does it again which gives him a prize penalty (which we hear AFTER the game). The second game I get to start by taking 1 prize because of the prize penalty. I get a great setup against his slow one, and I take 3 prizes pretty quickly. He scoops with about 5 minutes to go. The third game is pretty intense. He can't get what he needs, and I take the prize, although I can't remember for the life of me what I KO'ed and how...
8-0
Top 2 - Manuel - Kingdra
Woot, by now it's like 9 PM. I wanna go home. Everybody wants to go home. But I have to play it. The first game I get a good start, and it's over fairly quickly. The second game he starts with 1 basic, but I can't get the Rare Candy I need (I had 2 prized). I really don't wanna play long games cos I'm too tired. He gets a really good start and KO's my Machop and T3 a Machamp. My last 2 Machops were in my prizes, so I scoop. The third game is actually really good. It comes down to 1 prize each. I needed to draw my Warp Point to win. There were about 10 cards left in my deck, and I play a Uxie for 5, but I don't get it. I decide to try Hurricane Punch, hoping for 3 heads. Tails, heads, heads, and...tails. He KO's the Machamp lv X, and my last prize is my last Night Maintenance, which means I can't win anymore. In retrospect I probably should've retreated the Machamp even though that would've cost me all the energies, but I could've charged it on the bench. I don't think it would've mattered though, because I only had 3 energies left in my hand/deck, which wasn't enough to power up Machamp's Rage attach, which was the only thing left to KO a Kingdra in one go. Ah well, 8-1 isn't bad. And it was a really good game!
8-1
Sooo it's now 10 PM. We take a bus to the station, buy icecream, and take the last train home at 10.42 PM. I get home at 1.15 AM... For a flipping City Championships... Nice.
Props to everyone for making it through the day, though! And props to the judging team for making the best of the situation. I just hope next time they'll see the light and have us play 5 rounds. And maybe next year we can just go back to Swiss rounds so we won't have this 15 minutes after rounds in which 50 people needs to wait for ONE Sudden Death game to finish.
Props
- Mees and Bas for coming up with the Machamp list idea
- Machamp
- Douwe for doing so well in his first big Masters tournament
- David for getting second, and beating Martin in the last Swiss round
- Minde for winning Juniors with Machamp
- All the kids who made it to 6.30 PM, through all 6 rounds even though they were tired and had to play many games out of their age group.
- All my opponents for great games
- Playing 21 (21!!!) games in a tournament
- All judges and staff!
- Players from Belgium and Germany
- So many players. Pokemon is awesome in the Netherlands.
Slops
- 45 minute best of 3 Swiss rounds
- ending at 10 PM
- Age Modified Swiss
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