Cities came and went this year and I was only able to attend two. At the first I played Scizor/Cherrim and the second I had really wanted to play Regigigas but due to some freak circumstances I had to settle playing Abomasnow. After that disappointing finish (with Regigigas winning the tournament) I felt a strong desire to play Regigigas for States. With Platinum arriving, I stuck in Dialga G and began testing. It lost to Rampardos and struggled with Toxitank, but I figured that every deck had an auto-loss and I hoped that by the time my State came around people would realize how bad Toxitank was. However, with the advent of Palkia and Dialga, I had to dump Regigigas, but I had no idea what to move to. After a lengthy discussion with some of my friends about the metagame, I decided that Ampharos/Manectric was a good counter to our metagame because of its advantage over Palkia and Blastoise, as well as other power-reliant decks. However, after only an hour or two of testing, I decided that the deck wasn’t good because it was too vulnerable to Machamp, non-Palkia G decks, Rampardos, and other random decks. I was lost for the next couple of days, trying stupid things such as Giratina and Garchomp, but none of them were good. Finally, the Friday before the tournament, I decided that AMU with Leafeon was the best overall play. It had the OHKO ability needed to beat decks such as Dusknoir, Machamp, Rampardos, Regigigas, Blastoise, Kingdra, and Dialga, MT Azelf to counter the Energy Gain advantage of G, and Leafeon to reduce Pearl Blast to a mere “10 to everything” attack with Leaf Guard. I went to sleep Friday knowing that Saturday morning would be a mad dash for cards, but I was able to get everything together in time for registration.
Round 1 vs someone with Rampardos
I started with Mesprit MT and he started with Skull Fossil. I went first and drew an Eevee and benched it. I attached to Mesprit and passed. He played Broken Time Space and then a Quick Ball. He ripped the Rampardos and evolved all the way to it and KO’d my Mesprit. I promote Eevee and draw. I look over and realize that Rampardos was weak to grass (for some reason I always thought it was water) and then I knew this game was mine. I Luxury Ball’d for a Leafeon and attached a Multi. I Roseanne’d for an Azelf and a Uxie and used Bind Down for 60. He played a Chatot and hit me for 80. I leveled up my Leafeon and played a Mesprit to begin charging it up. I KO the Rampardos. He then plays Cynthia’s and exclaims that his hand is so good that he can’t mimic. I Looker’s away his hand (which contained 2 Fossil Excavator, 2 Cranidos, and 2 Rampardos) and so he’s slow to recover. He only sees one more Rampardos the remainder of the game
1-0
Round 2 vs Grant with Dusknoir/Gengar
He gets a quick set up and begins using Shadow Command by turn 2. I got a fairly decent start and I primed to Surpreme Blast by the time he sends up Dusknoir to attack. He levels up and uses Damage Even to almost KO Mesprit. I try my best to find a Snowpoint, but I fail despite a Set Up, Trade Off, and Felicity’s. I then try and find a way to do something that doesn’t involve KO’ing the Dusknoir until I realize that I have Azelf LA in my hand. I Time Walk and find a Snowpoint in my prizes. I make a mental note of its location and KO the Dusknoir, picking up the Snowpoint in the process. Next turn he whiffs on an energy needed to KO my Mesprit, so retreats for a Gastly and uses Pitch Dark. I play the Snowpoint, retreat for Leafeon, level it up, and using Leaf Guard on it. He draws the energy but can’t retreat his Gastly. Next turn I KO his Gastly. He brings up Dusknoir, attaches to a benched (putting 5 energies in play) and KO’s Mesprit. Next turn I retreat for Azelf and Deep Balance his Dusknoir, keeping the X in the discard. He’s stuck for the remainder of the game with some Gengars that don’t have any energy as he beings drawing dead. He finally gets his Dark Palm Dusknoir out late in the game but it was too late and I was able to recover.
2-0
Round 3 vs Will B. with Palkia
We both got horrendous starts. We both went “draw…pass” for 3-4 turns before I drew a Felicity that got me going. He misplays a couple turns later when he drops two straight Uxies (along with 2 Mesprits, he only had room on his field for 2 G pokemon) so I could use powers freely until he dropped the Palkia X. However, by then I had Leaf Guard going so his Palkia couldn’t deal much damage. His Dialga came way too late in the game and he scooped.
3-0
Round 4 vs Jordan B. with Rampardos/Machamp
He, much like my first round opponent, got a quick Rampados, but I was able to respond with a quick Leafeon. After about 3 Rampardos, he dropped a Machamp (which completely caught me off guard; I hadn’t seen any evidence of Machamp at all) and KO’d Mesprit. I then had to Guard an Uxie X while I tried to replace Mesprit. I wasn’t able to replace it, but he was only able to get that one Machamp on the field for the rest of the game.
4-0
Round 5 vs someone with Gengar
A lot of people struggle with Gengar because they fear Fainting Spell. When explaining their matchup against it they always try to find little ways to avoid it like “oh you should KO with Psychic Restore and then put Uxie at the bottom of your deck” and whatever, but I think that’s a waste of time and effort. While you’re finding a way to do 90 to the Gengar so you can set up your Psychic Restore, the Gengar player is setting up two more while pounding away at you with Shadow Room. I say “bring it on, Gengar. I’m coming at you full speed and if you can flip four heads, then it’s your game, but if you can’t, then you better have a plan B because there’s no way you’re going to win.”
He got a pretty good start but I made my field Shadow-proof by leveling up the MT Azelf and MT Mesprit and Guarding my Uxie. I kept my trainer-count low and I Time Walked so I always drew a non-trainer prize. I think the most he ever did all game was 60. He flipped two heads out of three with Fainting Spell but I recovered the Mesprit quickly. He started misplaying (IMO) late in the game when, instead of going for the two-hit against Mesprit, he started to Shadow Room my benched non-leveled-up Uxie and Azelf. This allowed me to KO his Gengar and survive a hit from his Haunter on the following turn.
5-0
Round 6 vs Robbie W. with Dialga
He began by saying that I was making a bold move by playing AMU at this tournament (I still don't know what this means) so I figured he was pretty confident in this match. I started off with two Level Max in my opening hand. On turn 2, I dropped an Uxie and tried to Level Max it. Tails. Try it again. Tails. With no Trade Off, I drew dead for a couple of turns and let him get set up. Once he got out his Dialga X I struggled to stay in the game. I had a shot near the end of the game when I made a huge misplay and sacrificed my Azelf X instead of letting my Leafeon absorb a hit. With the X in the discard, he simply used Deafen for the remainder of the game and I couldn’t get it back out. I scooped when I saw I had three cards left in my deck.
5-1
Round 7 vs Roy R. with Machamp
I felt pretty confident against Machamp with this deck assuming I could get Unown G out relatively quickly before Take Out really started to do some damage. I failed on two Level Maxes early in the game again which kept me from using Trade Off for awhile, delaying my set up quite a bit. Soon, I Time Walked and almost died when I saw my prizes. I had both Unown G prized, the other Azelf LA, and the Mesprit X. I was forced to take the Mesprit in order to score a KO and I picked up one of the Unown G. He used Take Out on the Mesprit and I guarded an Uxie, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to KO it. He ripped the 3 heads with Hurricane Punch and played keep away for the rest of the game so I never took another prize until he only had one left. He played Cynthia’s for a Warp Point to end it.
5-2
Before the cut I took a reasonable guess at who made it, and I decided that as long as I avoided Clay (who was playing Luxray) I had a good chance of winning it. But, of course, by saying this, I jinx myself and I’m playing him in top 16.
Top 16 vs Clay C. with Luxray/Manectric/Abomasnow
Game One:
We both got legitimate set ups but he had trouble drawing into his counter stadiums to default Snowpoint. With Snowpoint in play, the pixies could survive a hit from Plasma so I was always able to win the prize trade. I made sure to keep my field as Manectric-proof as possible, and he simply couldn’t keep up.
Game Two:
I got one of my better set ups all day (I actually hit Level Maxes!) and a couple of turns in he had one energy in play while I had my entire set up with enough energy/Roseannes in my hand to ensure that I could get a KO a turn for the next five turns. I was in prime position to take the game, when I did one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. He had a Pachy active with 20 damage. Not wanting to waste energies using Surpreme Blast, I retreated for Uxie X and Zen Bladed. He discarded the Pachy, promoted another Pokemon, and began his turn. I drew a prize. However, Snowpoint Temple was in play and so therefore Pachy shouldn’t have been KO’d. I received a GAME LOSS for this. However, I argued then and still contend now that this was the INCORRECT penalty for this situation. I’ve witnessed this situation MANY times before and most of the time it is a warning and sometimes a prize loss, but never a game loss.
These are taken directly from the Penalty Guidelines. This was my first offense, so the first quote applies. Secondly, my offense was given as an example as an infraction that ISN’T recommended for a game loss. The Head Judge claimed that the game loss was given because I gained a significant advantage because I knew what one of my prizes was, which is shown with the asterisk. HOWEVER, I did NOT gain a significant advantage because I already knew what my prizes were due to Time Walk. Even IF that can’t be taken into account, the guidelines clearly state that the penalty should be escalated ONE step, which means I should have been given a prize penalty, not a game loss.
Game Three:
I got nothing. He got everything.
Props
Roy for winning
Everyone who let me borrow cards
Will, Matt, and Sidney for our discussion
Clay. You played a fantastic deck and you earned that top 4. I'm sorry I was angry during our game 3 but I'm glad you handled it well.
Slops
Wrong penalties FTL. Let us decide our important games at the tables, not off of them
Round 1 vs someone with Rampardos
I started with Mesprit MT and he started with Skull Fossil. I went first and drew an Eevee and benched it. I attached to Mesprit and passed. He played Broken Time Space and then a Quick Ball. He ripped the Rampardos and evolved all the way to it and KO’d my Mesprit. I promote Eevee and draw. I look over and realize that Rampardos was weak to grass (for some reason I always thought it was water) and then I knew this game was mine. I Luxury Ball’d for a Leafeon and attached a Multi. I Roseanne’d for an Azelf and a Uxie and used Bind Down for 60. He played a Chatot and hit me for 80. I leveled up my Leafeon and played a Mesprit to begin charging it up. I KO the Rampardos. He then plays Cynthia’s and exclaims that his hand is so good that he can’t mimic. I Looker’s away his hand (which contained 2 Fossil Excavator, 2 Cranidos, and 2 Rampardos) and so he’s slow to recover. He only sees one more Rampardos the remainder of the game
1-0
Round 2 vs Grant with Dusknoir/Gengar
He gets a quick set up and begins using Shadow Command by turn 2. I got a fairly decent start and I primed to Surpreme Blast by the time he sends up Dusknoir to attack. He levels up and uses Damage Even to almost KO Mesprit. I try my best to find a Snowpoint, but I fail despite a Set Up, Trade Off, and Felicity’s. I then try and find a way to do something that doesn’t involve KO’ing the Dusknoir until I realize that I have Azelf LA in my hand. I Time Walk and find a Snowpoint in my prizes. I make a mental note of its location and KO the Dusknoir, picking up the Snowpoint in the process. Next turn he whiffs on an energy needed to KO my Mesprit, so retreats for a Gastly and uses Pitch Dark. I play the Snowpoint, retreat for Leafeon, level it up, and using Leaf Guard on it. He draws the energy but can’t retreat his Gastly. Next turn I KO his Gastly. He brings up Dusknoir, attaches to a benched (putting 5 energies in play) and KO’s Mesprit. Next turn I retreat for Azelf and Deep Balance his Dusknoir, keeping the X in the discard. He’s stuck for the remainder of the game with some Gengars that don’t have any energy as he beings drawing dead. He finally gets his Dark Palm Dusknoir out late in the game but it was too late and I was able to recover.
2-0
Round 3 vs Will B. with Palkia
We both got horrendous starts. We both went “draw…pass” for 3-4 turns before I drew a Felicity that got me going. He misplays a couple turns later when he drops two straight Uxies (along with 2 Mesprits, he only had room on his field for 2 G pokemon) so I could use powers freely until he dropped the Palkia X. However, by then I had Leaf Guard going so his Palkia couldn’t deal much damage. His Dialga came way too late in the game and he scooped.
3-0
Round 4 vs Jordan B. with Rampardos/Machamp
He, much like my first round opponent, got a quick Rampados, but I was able to respond with a quick Leafeon. After about 3 Rampardos, he dropped a Machamp (which completely caught me off guard; I hadn’t seen any evidence of Machamp at all) and KO’d Mesprit. I then had to Guard an Uxie X while I tried to replace Mesprit. I wasn’t able to replace it, but he was only able to get that one Machamp on the field for the rest of the game.
4-0
Round 5 vs someone with Gengar
A lot of people struggle with Gengar because they fear Fainting Spell. When explaining their matchup against it they always try to find little ways to avoid it like “oh you should KO with Psychic Restore and then put Uxie at the bottom of your deck” and whatever, but I think that’s a waste of time and effort. While you’re finding a way to do 90 to the Gengar so you can set up your Psychic Restore, the Gengar player is setting up two more while pounding away at you with Shadow Room. I say “bring it on, Gengar. I’m coming at you full speed and if you can flip four heads, then it’s your game, but if you can’t, then you better have a plan B because there’s no way you’re going to win.”
He got a pretty good start but I made my field Shadow-proof by leveling up the MT Azelf and MT Mesprit and Guarding my Uxie. I kept my trainer-count low and I Time Walked so I always drew a non-trainer prize. I think the most he ever did all game was 60. He flipped two heads out of three with Fainting Spell but I recovered the Mesprit quickly. He started misplaying (IMO) late in the game when, instead of going for the two-hit against Mesprit, he started to Shadow Room my benched non-leveled-up Uxie and Azelf. This allowed me to KO his Gengar and survive a hit from his Haunter on the following turn.
5-0
Round 6 vs Robbie W. with Dialga
He began by saying that I was making a bold move by playing AMU at this tournament (I still don't know what this means) so I figured he was pretty confident in this match. I started off with two Level Max in my opening hand. On turn 2, I dropped an Uxie and tried to Level Max it. Tails. Try it again. Tails. With no Trade Off, I drew dead for a couple of turns and let him get set up. Once he got out his Dialga X I struggled to stay in the game. I had a shot near the end of the game when I made a huge misplay and sacrificed my Azelf X instead of letting my Leafeon absorb a hit. With the X in the discard, he simply used Deafen for the remainder of the game and I couldn’t get it back out. I scooped when I saw I had three cards left in my deck.
5-1
Round 7 vs Roy R. with Machamp
I felt pretty confident against Machamp with this deck assuming I could get Unown G out relatively quickly before Take Out really started to do some damage. I failed on two Level Maxes early in the game again which kept me from using Trade Off for awhile, delaying my set up quite a bit. Soon, I Time Walked and almost died when I saw my prizes. I had both Unown G prized, the other Azelf LA, and the Mesprit X. I was forced to take the Mesprit in order to score a KO and I picked up one of the Unown G. He used Take Out on the Mesprit and I guarded an Uxie, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to KO it. He ripped the 3 heads with Hurricane Punch and played keep away for the rest of the game so I never took another prize until he only had one left. He played Cynthia’s for a Warp Point to end it.
5-2
Before the cut I took a reasonable guess at who made it, and I decided that as long as I avoided Clay (who was playing Luxray) I had a good chance of winning it. But, of course, by saying this, I jinx myself and I’m playing him in top 16.
Top 16 vs Clay C. with Luxray/Manectric/Abomasnow
Game One:
We both got legitimate set ups but he had trouble drawing into his counter stadiums to default Snowpoint. With Snowpoint in play, the pixies could survive a hit from Plasma so I was always able to win the prize trade. I made sure to keep my field as Manectric-proof as possible, and he simply couldn’t keep up.
Game Two:
I got one of my better set ups all day (I actually hit Level Maxes!) and a couple of turns in he had one energy in play while I had my entire set up with enough energy/Roseannes in my hand to ensure that I could get a KO a turn for the next five turns. I was in prime position to take the game, when I did one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. He had a Pachy active with 20 damage. Not wanting to waste energies using Surpreme Blast, I retreated for Uxie X and Zen Bladed. He discarded the Pachy, promoted another Pokemon, and began his turn. I drew a prize. However, Snowpoint Temple was in play and so therefore Pachy shouldn’t have been KO’d. I received a GAME LOSS for this. However, I argued then and still contend now that this was the INCORRECT penalty for this situation. I’ve witnessed this situation MANY times before and most of the time it is a warning and sometimes a prize loss, but never a game loss.
These are taken directly from the Penalty Guidelines. This was my first offense, so the first quote applies. Secondly, my offense was given as an example as an infraction that ISN’T recommended for a game loss. The Head Judge claimed that the game loss was given because I gained a significant advantage because I knew what one of my prizes was, which is shown with the asterisk. HOWEVER, I did NOT gain a significant advantage because I already knew what my prizes were due to Time Walk. Even IF that can’t be taken into account, the guidelines clearly state that the penalty should be escalated ONE step, which means I should have been given a prize penalty, not a game loss.
Game Three:
I got nothing. He got everything.
Props
Roy for winning
Everyone who let me borrow cards
Will, Matt, and Sidney for our discussion
Clay. You played a fantastic deck and you earned that top 4. I'm sorry I was angry during our game 3 but I'm glad you handled it well.
Slops
Wrong penalties FTL. Let us decide our important games at the tables, not off of them
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