spidersthatbite
New Member
So I get to the hotel the night before, (confident, since I made top eight with the build I brought at States) and decide to try my hand at the side event that was going on at that time. I don’t do as well as I may have liked. My peppiness quickly sinks, and I completely lose confidence in my Gyarados build.
Anyway, I get up the next morning, eat some cinnamon rolls, drink some coffee, shower, and go into the freezing cold conference room with wet hair, wearing short sleeves and shorts. Despite my performance the night before, I pack my Gyarados build. I hang out with some buddies, color, and get ready for round one.
Round 1: vs. Really enthusiastic guy w/Luxchomp
I open Uxie, and start with a ‘Karp in my prizes. By the time I actually managed to set up the ‘Dos T3, he has a Lucario GL and a Trash-Bolting Luxray set up. This guy was really cool, though. Very chipper.
0-1
Round 2: vs. Some girl w/ Cursegar
Luckily, she begins with one of her Mimes prized, without any way of getting it out. She tries to wall me with just one Mime, but Regice took care of that problem until I attached three energy. She had a difficult time setting up the ‘Gar. After awhile, she started complaining about my dice rolling, and claimed that was the only reason she lost. My roll was fine, open palmed, and about shoulder height, but this still wasn’t enough. I didn’t really appreciate the rampage that followed.
1-1
Round 3: vs. Sean w/ Palkia Lock.
I open Sableye, he opens Palkia G. We both have great starts, but the matchup was heavily in my favor. Let’s face it… Gyarados doesn’t have too many crucial powers to lock.
2-1
Round 4: Scott W. w/ Rampardos
This guy is our league leader back home. I already knew he was playing Rampardos with two Mimes and (I think) with Unown Q. Like the Cursegar player, he starts out with a Mime in his prizes. T1 I start setting up energy on a ‘Dos, and keep Regi-moving away his active Mime. I land heads on a couple of SSUs, and I kept spamming resistance on him. After the game, he claims he made a few misplays. Concidentally, the guy to my left was also playing Gyarados, and was also playing a Rampardos matchup. I laughed heartily.
3-1
Round 5: pretty funny guy w/Gyarados
Oh boy, the mirror! I teched a random Ditto just for this occasion! Luckily, I didn’t even need it… he had a bad start, couldn’t get to Sableye, and had no Supporters or draw support. I set up T2, and he scoops. We joked for awhile about ridiculous techs.
4-1
Round 6: THE Jason K. w/ Sablelock
The night before, I was just telling the dude sitting next to me how much I wanted to play this guy. Luckily, I got up-paired, and got to play him. Sablelock accounted for both of my two losses in Swiss at FL States (Played by Steven S. and Aaron C.), and I wanted to see if I could take it down this time. I accidentally drop a card from my hand onto my bench when setting up, and I pick it up. Jason thought I tried to cheat and stealthily pick up the Pokemon I set when I realized that he didn’t start with Sableye. This was not the case, but Jason claimed that he would be keeping his eye on me for suspicious activity throughout the match. I start with my Ditto tech, bench my topdecked Regice, and attach call. He also starts well, but cannot donk, and does not control with Giratina/Initiative. I can’t get ‘Dos ready T2, when Jason sets up 'Chomp and goes on a sniping frenzy. By the time Gyarados is hitting for 90, he already has 3-4 prizes taken. I do manage to mount a pretty amazing comeback, but he still takes the game with some bench whacking. Very good game!
4-2
Round 7: Awesome rogue guy w/ Turtwig GL tank.
I have an absolutely terrible start. Azelf with a prized ‘Karp. He opens Turtwig, and sets up some damage-reducing Cherrim on his bench. When I finally managed to SSU Azelf, he has two Turtwigs with Expert Belts, a Cherrim, 20 resistance, and the ability to heal about 80 damage per turn. There is absolutely nothing I can do. At one point, I manage to save up and use 2 Crobats with 3 Poketurns and a Gyarados attack to KO a ‘Wig, but he just Aarons’ and sets up another one. Throughout the game, we exchanged various puns and one-liners. I began to wonder if we were in a contest of Pokemon or joke-telling. Anyway, this guy was awesome, and had a pretty funny rogue build.
4-3
Round 8: Bearded donk fanatic from Team Upset w/ Shuppet
There was a long pause before the match, due to a seating error. At this point, all of us are shivering and turning blue due to the ice-cold temperature of the room. My opponent starts talking about donks in Unlimited-format Magic, when we finally begin our game. I open with Ditto again, and he starts with Unown Q. Since I had stuff on my bench, and he was having consistency issues, he was unable to attain the donk. He did, however, set up Shuppet and a double Mime wall pretty quickly. He takes about 4 prizes before I get three energy on ‘Dos. We get down to about one prize apiece, and he needed a Crobat with a Poketurn or SSU to KO my active. He used Hypnoblast to put ‘Dos to sleep to stall a turn. I flip heads for sleep, and attack the Shuppet for game. Even if I did flip tails, I had Warp Energy in hand. Still, it was a great game.
5-3
Since there were very few 7-1s and 8-0s, and they cut top 32, a large number of 5-3s had a chance to make it. I kept my hopes up, and bolted towards the standings board. 19th!!! Yay!
They gave free pizza to everyone in tops, which was pretty nice. Unfortunately, this pizza gave my stomach issues, and I felt sort of sick for the rest of the night.
Top cut round 1: Miranda C. w/ SablePLOX
This matchup was very…interesting. I was not familiar with this Gardy variant before going into the matchup. It used Sableye, Giratina, Wager, and Cyrus’ Initiative in a manner similar to Sablelock for hand control, while using Gardevoir to spam supporters for setup. Game 1, I set up a T2 ‘Dos, and KOd about 5 Gardevoirs. Game 2, I start acting strange and lethargic, due to the sleep depravity, cold, and stomach problems. I think this freaked out my opponent, and she shuffled her hand into her massive discard pile during a Wager. We called the head judge, and she tried her best to fix the game state. Unfortunately for her, we only remembered one card she accidentally discarded, so the rest had to stay in the discard pile. I take the win.
Top cut round 2: Orion C. w/ Jumpluff
Me and Orion have always had ridiculously close matches, and this one was no exception. Game 1, we both get great starts, and set up as fast as our decks possibly could. I get the first KO, however, which ultimately made the difference. We went back and forth, one-shotting ‘Pluffs and ‘Doses. I take the first game. Game 2, I have a lousy start, and his is great. He gets a prize or two before I can set up ‘Dos, and we start going back and forth on the KOs again. At this point, he started making fun of my habit of forming names into one syllable contractions. Game 3 was a little less close, as he set up his ‘Pluff much faster than I possibly could get ‘Dos set up. Fantastic match!
Props:
Jumpluff match of the century.
Rogue Turtwig lolz.
Having a close game against Ness.
Lol! Tropius.
Slops:
Cold room.
Indigestion.
Sleep depravity.
Flipping three tails on SSU game 2 of the Jumpluff matchup.
Anyway, I get up the next morning, eat some cinnamon rolls, drink some coffee, shower, and go into the freezing cold conference room with wet hair, wearing short sleeves and shorts. Despite my performance the night before, I pack my Gyarados build. I hang out with some buddies, color, and get ready for round one.
Round 1: vs. Really enthusiastic guy w/Luxchomp
I open Uxie, and start with a ‘Karp in my prizes. By the time I actually managed to set up the ‘Dos T3, he has a Lucario GL and a Trash-Bolting Luxray set up. This guy was really cool, though. Very chipper.
0-1
Round 2: vs. Some girl w/ Cursegar
Luckily, she begins with one of her Mimes prized, without any way of getting it out. She tries to wall me with just one Mime, but Regice took care of that problem until I attached three energy. She had a difficult time setting up the ‘Gar. After awhile, she started complaining about my dice rolling, and claimed that was the only reason she lost. My roll was fine, open palmed, and about shoulder height, but this still wasn’t enough. I didn’t really appreciate the rampage that followed.
1-1
Round 3: vs. Sean w/ Palkia Lock.
I open Sableye, he opens Palkia G. We both have great starts, but the matchup was heavily in my favor. Let’s face it… Gyarados doesn’t have too many crucial powers to lock.
2-1
Round 4: Scott W. w/ Rampardos
This guy is our league leader back home. I already knew he was playing Rampardos with two Mimes and (I think) with Unown Q. Like the Cursegar player, he starts out with a Mime in his prizes. T1 I start setting up energy on a ‘Dos, and keep Regi-moving away his active Mime. I land heads on a couple of SSUs, and I kept spamming resistance on him. After the game, he claims he made a few misplays. Concidentally, the guy to my left was also playing Gyarados, and was also playing a Rampardos matchup. I laughed heartily.
3-1
Round 5: pretty funny guy w/Gyarados
Oh boy, the mirror! I teched a random Ditto just for this occasion! Luckily, I didn’t even need it… he had a bad start, couldn’t get to Sableye, and had no Supporters or draw support. I set up T2, and he scoops. We joked for awhile about ridiculous techs.
4-1
Round 6: THE Jason K. w/ Sablelock
The night before, I was just telling the dude sitting next to me how much I wanted to play this guy. Luckily, I got up-paired, and got to play him. Sablelock accounted for both of my two losses in Swiss at FL States (Played by Steven S. and Aaron C.), and I wanted to see if I could take it down this time. I accidentally drop a card from my hand onto my bench when setting up, and I pick it up. Jason thought I tried to cheat and stealthily pick up the Pokemon I set when I realized that he didn’t start with Sableye. This was not the case, but Jason claimed that he would be keeping his eye on me for suspicious activity throughout the match. I start with my Ditto tech, bench my topdecked Regice, and attach call. He also starts well, but cannot donk, and does not control with Giratina/Initiative. I can’t get ‘Dos ready T2, when Jason sets up 'Chomp and goes on a sniping frenzy. By the time Gyarados is hitting for 90, he already has 3-4 prizes taken. I do manage to mount a pretty amazing comeback, but he still takes the game with some bench whacking. Very good game!
4-2
Round 7: Awesome rogue guy w/ Turtwig GL tank.
I have an absolutely terrible start. Azelf with a prized ‘Karp. He opens Turtwig, and sets up some damage-reducing Cherrim on his bench. When I finally managed to SSU Azelf, he has two Turtwigs with Expert Belts, a Cherrim, 20 resistance, and the ability to heal about 80 damage per turn. There is absolutely nothing I can do. At one point, I manage to save up and use 2 Crobats with 3 Poketurns and a Gyarados attack to KO a ‘Wig, but he just Aarons’ and sets up another one. Throughout the game, we exchanged various puns and one-liners. I began to wonder if we were in a contest of Pokemon or joke-telling. Anyway, this guy was awesome, and had a pretty funny rogue build.
4-3
Round 8: Bearded donk fanatic from Team Upset w/ Shuppet
There was a long pause before the match, due to a seating error. At this point, all of us are shivering and turning blue due to the ice-cold temperature of the room. My opponent starts talking about donks in Unlimited-format Magic, when we finally begin our game. I open with Ditto again, and he starts with Unown Q. Since I had stuff on my bench, and he was having consistency issues, he was unable to attain the donk. He did, however, set up Shuppet and a double Mime wall pretty quickly. He takes about 4 prizes before I get three energy on ‘Dos. We get down to about one prize apiece, and he needed a Crobat with a Poketurn or SSU to KO my active. He used Hypnoblast to put ‘Dos to sleep to stall a turn. I flip heads for sleep, and attack the Shuppet for game. Even if I did flip tails, I had Warp Energy in hand. Still, it was a great game.
5-3
Since there were very few 7-1s and 8-0s, and they cut top 32, a large number of 5-3s had a chance to make it. I kept my hopes up, and bolted towards the standings board. 19th!!! Yay!
They gave free pizza to everyone in tops, which was pretty nice. Unfortunately, this pizza gave my stomach issues, and I felt sort of sick for the rest of the night.
Top cut round 1: Miranda C. w/ SablePLOX
This matchup was very…interesting. I was not familiar with this Gardy variant before going into the matchup. It used Sableye, Giratina, Wager, and Cyrus’ Initiative in a manner similar to Sablelock for hand control, while using Gardevoir to spam supporters for setup. Game 1, I set up a T2 ‘Dos, and KOd about 5 Gardevoirs. Game 2, I start acting strange and lethargic, due to the sleep depravity, cold, and stomach problems. I think this freaked out my opponent, and she shuffled her hand into her massive discard pile during a Wager. We called the head judge, and she tried her best to fix the game state. Unfortunately for her, we only remembered one card she accidentally discarded, so the rest had to stay in the discard pile. I take the win.
Top cut round 2: Orion C. w/ Jumpluff
Me and Orion have always had ridiculously close matches, and this one was no exception. Game 1, we both get great starts, and set up as fast as our decks possibly could. I get the first KO, however, which ultimately made the difference. We went back and forth, one-shotting ‘Pluffs and ‘Doses. I take the first game. Game 2, I have a lousy start, and his is great. He gets a prize or two before I can set up ‘Dos, and we start going back and forth on the KOs again. At this point, he started making fun of my habit of forming names into one syllable contractions. Game 3 was a little less close, as he set up his ‘Pluff much faster than I possibly could get ‘Dos set up. Fantastic match!
Props:
Jumpluff match of the century.
Rogue Turtwig lolz.
Having a close game against Ness.
Lol! Tropius.
Slops:
Cold room.
Indigestion.
Sleep depravity.
Flipping three tails on SSU game 2 of the Jumpluff matchup.