:frown: All right, another long informative CA States report from me. It takes long to do deck reports, but it gives me a chance to reflect upon my choices, strategy, other decks' strategies, etc.
I don't let people know what I'll exactly play - until they see it. Wow so many great decks, so much variety. Also, my report focus on strategy and match-ups as well - because they are extremely important - just as important as the deck you choose to play.
Based on what I saw, I predicted the main decks to beat will be:
1) Rayquaza ex DX/Zapdos ex - with either Pidgeot and Magmar. The strategy is quite different though.
-With Pidgeot, you're trying to take early initiative with Recharge Voltorb, and beatdown with Zapdos ex and only using Rayquaza ex DX and Claw Fossils as back-up mechanisms. Thus, the deck needs Warp Points, ATM [Rock] (1x), Super Scoop Ups, and probably Strength Charm.
-With Magmar, it's more versatile, but a) you're trying to Dump and Draw quickly early, and load up the Energies in your discard pile and blow up with Electrode ex to overwhelm opponent with POW! Hand Extension, or b) start with Voltorb Recharge and take initiative with Zapdos ex, or c) use Claw Fossil early on for stalling - again to acheive a) or b). This is not an easy deck to play properly. It seems obvious, but it's still not that obvious in an actual game.
2) Blaziken/Slaking/Pidgeot - okay this is simple. Get Slaking out to stop all opponent's Poke-Powers, like Quick Search. Blaziken keeps fueling Slakings.
3) Dark Dragonite/Dark Electrode - I think every one should know how this works. But key thing I want to mention - need to tech correctly. (Tech = put in cards that can stop your opponent's cards/threats that you cannot handle well) For instance, a good Drag/Trode deck today would have Ancient Tomb and Crystal Shard for obvious reasons.
4) Random Tech Deck, formerly known as [mod edit: "Formerly know" for a reason, right? As in; don't use that name!It doesn't really have anything to do with the actual deck]- okay, it sounds absurd to a lot of CA players, but it stands for "Super ...Tech". It is a deck started off and built by Patraich, with all stage 1's that can exploit opponent's Weaknesses and match-ups. You can find this deck by searching in deck forums and read about it yourself. The key cards in this deck are Swoop! Teleporter and Celio's Network, allowing a surprise KO anytime.
There are a variety of decks - including Rock Lock (Dark TTar/Dark Amphy), Blaziken, Salamence, Gardevoir, Shiftry/Zapdos ex, Metagross/Deoxys ex (Attack), and Blastoise ex/Delcatty/Magneton.
I quickly chose Vileplume ex today. It is an easy choice. There is only one Gardy that is a high-threat (well-built) and two Metagross decks. But I've changed my list a bit so here's my original list:
Pokemon (20):
4x Oddish
3x Gloom
3x Vilemplume ex
2x Bellossom
3x Dunsparce
2x Pidgey
1x Pidgeotto
2x Pidgeot
Trainers (22):
4x Steven's Advice
3x Copycat
3x TV Reporter
2x Team Aqua's Hideout
2x Celio's Network
4x Rare Candy
2x Switch
2x Pokemon Reversal
Energies (18):
18x Grass
This has been consistent in playtesting, but it loses to Ray/Zapdos and Blaze/Slaking in playtesting. So I've adjusted to the following:
Pokemon (21):
4x Oddish
3x Gloom
3x Vilemplume ex
2x Bellossom
4x Dunsparce
2x Pidgey
1x Pidgeotto
2x Pidgeot
Trainers (22):
4x Steven's Advice
3x Copycat
3x TV Reporter
2x Team Aqua's Hideout
2x Celio's Network
4x Rare Candy
2x Switch
2x Crystal Shards (against Ray and Dark Dragonite)
Energies (17):
15x Grass
2x Boost (nice to have for any unfavorable match-ups)
I need consistency. But maybe I should have tweaked the draw and search engine a bit. Oh well, round 1 is starting - let's go!
Round 1: vs. Daniel - Blastoise ex
I got an Oddish and he got a Squirtle and Skitty. I went first. I did Poison Powder and it worked - forcing the opponent to react quick. He Paralyzed me with Bubble, and I got a Turn 2 Pidgeot. He didn't get anything - I Clutch 3 times in 3 turns for an easy win.
Win 1-0 3pts.
I got to watch 2 nice matches between Gardy and Salamence, and Blaze vs. Dark Steelix/Pidgeot/Bellossom.
Round 2: vs. Gabriel - Zapdos ex (standard turn 2 Zapdos ex - Electrodes and Raichu)
I went first again with Dunsparce. He started off with Voltorb. He got a good start, so I go ahead and Strike and Run for Oddish, Pidgey, Oddish. Then I go Oddish, Dunsparce - and sacrifice my Dunsparce.
I sacrificed another one next turn (6-4 prizes in his favor). But I got set-up with Vileplume ex and Pidgeot. Soon after, I got out a 2nd Vileplume ex because I have to Copycat. However, because he played a 2nd Zapdos ex to get rid of status and did 70, so I need to Quick Search for Boost. But he can't wake up from Special Formula, and from that point on, no trainers means he can't do anything about his 2 Zapdos ex.
Win 2-0 6pts.
Lunch Break. I'm feeling pretty good so far. I saw a crazy match between (Leo Orta) Shedinja Insanity vs. (Scizor) Pidgeot/Lanturn/Tech. I talked to a father and son playing the game, and talked a bit about strategy. I'm also hearing some people are in for a long (losing) day already. My buddy Flare Starfire with Salamence start stong and going 2-0 as well. I know first 2 rounds is just a warm-up for me.
Round 3: vs. Dark Dragonite/Dark Electrode/Pidgeot
He started with Dunsparce and I started with Oddish. I went first again. I go for Poison Powder two turns in a row, so I can disrupt my opponent. First time, he had to Switch up a Voltorb RG. Second time, he had to attach a Darkness Energy to retreat, evolve to Dark Electrode, and use Dunsparce to stall. Sudden Flash worked and paralyzed my Oddish. So I thought about my options, and I want a quick win so I played a Celio's for Bellossom, and Rare Candy. Charge it up and KO. (5-6 prizes) in my favor. It turned out he had nothing else worthy, no draw or search. He topdecked a Rocket's Sneasel ex a few turns later, but Dratini's Dragon Song didn't slow me down, so I took advantage of that with 2 Crystal Shards throughout his match. (3-6 prizes) Rocket's Sneasel ex Drag Off didn't do much either, because I made sure that there are only Oddish, Gloom, and Pidgeotto. I KOed that and he had no chance with Dark Electrode.
Win 3-0 9pts.
Wow, I'm glad I had the 2 Crystal Shards. I believe my 2 Team Aqua's Hideout is justified as well, because it'll be very hard for Dark Dragonite and anything in general to retreat from Status. Anything but Mr. Briney's wouldn't work. So moving on...
Round 4: vs. Chung Ly - Ray/Zapdos/Pidgeot (Finished Swiss 7-0, I think!)
This was a tough game for me. I thought I had a serious advantage by going first - yeah - except I got no Energies with like 2 Oddish, 2 Gloom, 1 Vileplume ex, Copycat, and Rare Candy. Wow - I pile shuffle and shuffle pretty good - I thought. Ok - so I passed, and he got a quick start with a Voltorb HL (Recharge), Pidgey, and Claw Fossil. I had no choice but to play 2 Glooms and Copycat for 6. Okay, I do have a choice in terms of Rare Candy into Vileplume ex. And if I did that, I can hope for an Energy and a Boost the turn after. However, I still couldn't get a Grass Energy. This is just wrong!
Okay, so he KOed my Gloom. I wasn't going to go away quietly on this one. So as soon as I had a chance to attack, I go for the Grass and Boost to Special Formula on Electrode ex. I put it to Sleep, but he got out of it. He retreated it (has 60 damage), and Blow Up. He had the 5 Energies and a 2nd Electrode ex, so a One-Hit KO. (4-3 prizes in his favor) I stalled with Dunsparce for a turn (if I remember correctly) and paralyzed it, but a Warp Point was played. I can't send in my Pidgeot or my developing Oddishes, so a Pidgey was KOed. (4-2 in his favor) This is not over yet, I remember something else was KOed (4-1 in his favor) - as I got another Vileplume ex out and a 2nd Boost. Unfortunately, it only Confused him. So he manage to retreat and stall with Claw Fossil. And then a misplay happened from my opponent. He tried to Rare Candy for Pidgeot and Warp Point. The judge came over and it'll be reasonable to just shuffle back the Warp Point - take back Pidgeot and Rare Candy with a caution. It was over for me though and I know it. Because I know he has yet another Electrode ex in his hand. All he has to do is to draw an Energy - Blow Up, and attach for 6 Energies.
Crash and Burn = 150 damage.
Loss 3-1 9pts.
This was a tough loss. I got a very bad start - and still almost had it within a couple flips - especially the occasion when I put Electrode ex to Sleep.
Round 5: vs. Exploud and Aggron ex
I got a bad string of cards, because I started with Oddish - and then had to use a Celio's for Dunsparce and Switch. He got a quick Exploud and got all the way to 2 prizes before I got an evolution. Good lord - I pulled a Vileplume ex. My Rare Candy sit in my hand for a long while. I drew cards any way I can as well. But once Vileplume ex was out - status on Exploud and my 2 Crystal Shards finished his Lairon and the game.
Win 4-1 12pts.
Ok, that was much tougher than it supposed to be. I reflected a bit on these two games - and game 4 I wish I had a Rocket's Admin, game 5 a Celio's Network. I'm keeping these in mind when I have to fix the deck.
Round 6: vs. Kevin Tran - Gardy
This is the worst possible match-up. I almost want to scream why? Why do I have to play against it? Oh well - my strategy is still somewhat the same. But use Boost Energy to avoid giving the opponent easy KO on my Vileplume ex. The first time I have to fully charge it up, and not getting an Energy with Stevn's for like 5 the 2nd turn doesn't help my setup either from Dunsparce's Strike and Run the 1st turn. He KOed my 1st Vileplume ex easily with regualr Gardy easily. I don't remember all the details of this one, but I remember I stalled with Dunsparce for a turn and got KOed because Sudden Flash failed. Then I was able to get a 2nd Vileplume ex up and play Boost on Vileplume ex to Special Formula on his Gardy ex. He woke up and got out of it - and because I have Team Aqua's Hideout, he had a hard time retreating. As a result, he KOed my 2nd Plume, but I got just enough damage to KO Gardy ex with Poison at the end of my turn (3-2 prizes in his favor), because I KOed a Dunsparce early on. Okay, his Gardy with 2 Psychic Energies is still sitting there with 50 damage. I had no choice but to Strike and Run into a Pidgeot. This allowed him to do various things that come back to cost me the game as well, including Rare Candy and Pokemon Retreiver. My only viable choice is to draw up a Gardy ex vs. my Bellossom. So I did Miracle Powder against his Pidgeot, but didn't work. So his Pidgeot Clutched me with DRE. But I didn't play very smart. The next turn, I Heal Dance on my Bellossom (10 damage) I have exactly 9 cards in my hand. If I burn a Switch, I would have 8 cards instead. I can't burn anything else, because I already play a Supporter that turn, and others were Grass Energies and a 2nd Boost. I know he burned 2 Boost Energies already. So if I'm going to lose my Bellossom, I should make him do either Psy Shadow attach or a Boost to KO. Because either way, I'll at least give myself a chance to win in this late stage of the game. But because I didn't, he got an easy Rare Candy into Gardy ex and Feedback for KO. I did Special Formula on his 2nd Gardy ex and Special Formula worked perfectly. He stayed asleep with Sleep and Posion, then time was called. Kevin wins by 2 prize lead. (1-3 in his favor)
Honestly, I would have lost because of my misplay on Bellossom. But we called a judge to resolve the result anyway - because I learned something important. Special Conditions doesn't resolve if time is called. His Gardy ex that is Poisoned had only 130 damage, but it's an important point to keep in mind.
Loss 4-2 12pts.
Another tough loss, and another tough match coming up. The top 16 cut is actually very tough. Believe it or not, there were 1 person undefeated with 6-0, and 11 others were 5-1. Those are almost certain to make it. That means from a 4-2 record, there are only 4 spots left. 9 players will end up with 5-2. Andrew and I both know, however, based on resistances if either of us win we can get into top 16.
Match of my Destiny!
Round 7: vs. Andrew Smith - Shiftry/Zapdos ex
Well, I know about his deck before I face him. So this was just a long game where I couldn't get more than one key Evolution out. I really tested my first original Vileplume list with 2 Celio's and it worked fine, but not here. Also, the fact that he doesn't play a lot of Pokemon and small to medium hand size doesn't help either. So it was a tough match because Shiftry's Fan Action outright defeats the whole purpose and power of my deck - Block the Dust. I ended up losing by time, as he only had 1 prize, to my 3 prizes. But the game may not be over easily - because he almost ran out of Pokemon to attack with. So we finished the game just to see who would have won, and I ended up decking myself - lol.
Loss 4-3 12pts.
Obviously couldn't make it into top 16. But if I had to do it again based on the metagame today, I would have change my deck a bit: like -1 Dunsparce, -1 Steven's, +1 Rocket's Admin, +1 Celio's.
This was yet another tough learning experience. My problem is that I didn't play the best Vileplume ex deck possible. Also, if I knew Rock Lock was that fragile today (none made top 16), I would have chosen Blaziken/Slaking variant. Anyway, Rocket's Admin would have won Round 4 90%, help me both in Round 6 and Round 7. Celio's for Steven's is a preference thing - so I'm not as sure. Afterwards, I played some fun games with my Random Tech deck and watched some of the top 16 action.
Props:
To Flare Starfire for making top 8. You played exceptionally against Leo's Shedinja Insanity to take back the 2nd game to force sudden death.
To all the TO's and Judges - it was a great tournament and we all had lots of fun.
To Water Pokemon Mater - finally making top 16 cut. See the difference - you took my advice on Ancient Tomb and Crystal Shard, and Rocket's Sneasel ex, and you have a legitmate shot at winning.
Slops:
To myself - I don't want make bad plays at all - and Round 6 I made a crucial bad play. Not that I would have won the game (because of time), but I expect myself to play optimally.
Overall, I've seen some great players played well. I will take this as a stepping stone to become a great player.
I don't let people know what I'll exactly play - until they see it. Wow so many great decks, so much variety. Also, my report focus on strategy and match-ups as well - because they are extremely important - just as important as the deck you choose to play.
Based on what I saw, I predicted the main decks to beat will be:
1) Rayquaza ex DX/Zapdos ex - with either Pidgeot and Magmar. The strategy is quite different though.
-With Pidgeot, you're trying to take early initiative with Recharge Voltorb, and beatdown with Zapdos ex and only using Rayquaza ex DX and Claw Fossils as back-up mechanisms. Thus, the deck needs Warp Points, ATM [Rock] (1x), Super Scoop Ups, and probably Strength Charm.
-With Magmar, it's more versatile, but a) you're trying to Dump and Draw quickly early, and load up the Energies in your discard pile and blow up with Electrode ex to overwhelm opponent with POW! Hand Extension, or b) start with Voltorb Recharge and take initiative with Zapdos ex, or c) use Claw Fossil early on for stalling - again to acheive a) or b). This is not an easy deck to play properly. It seems obvious, but it's still not that obvious in an actual game.
2) Blaziken/Slaking/Pidgeot - okay this is simple. Get Slaking out to stop all opponent's Poke-Powers, like Quick Search. Blaziken keeps fueling Slakings.
3) Dark Dragonite/Dark Electrode - I think every one should know how this works. But key thing I want to mention - need to tech correctly. (Tech = put in cards that can stop your opponent's cards/threats that you cannot handle well) For instance, a good Drag/Trode deck today would have Ancient Tomb and Crystal Shard for obvious reasons.
4) Random Tech Deck, formerly known as [mod edit: "Formerly know" for a reason, right? As in; don't use that name!It doesn't really have anything to do with the actual deck]- okay, it sounds absurd to a lot of CA players, but it stands for "Super ...Tech". It is a deck started off and built by Patraich, with all stage 1's that can exploit opponent's Weaknesses and match-ups. You can find this deck by searching in deck forums and read about it yourself. The key cards in this deck are Swoop! Teleporter and Celio's Network, allowing a surprise KO anytime.
There are a variety of decks - including Rock Lock (Dark TTar/Dark Amphy), Blaziken, Salamence, Gardevoir, Shiftry/Zapdos ex, Metagross/Deoxys ex (Attack), and Blastoise ex/Delcatty/Magneton.
I quickly chose Vileplume ex today. It is an easy choice. There is only one Gardy that is a high-threat (well-built) and two Metagross decks. But I've changed my list a bit so here's my original list:
Pokemon (20):
4x Oddish
3x Gloom
3x Vilemplume ex
2x Bellossom
3x Dunsparce
2x Pidgey
1x Pidgeotto
2x Pidgeot
Trainers (22):
4x Steven's Advice
3x Copycat
3x TV Reporter
2x Team Aqua's Hideout
2x Celio's Network
4x Rare Candy
2x Switch
2x Pokemon Reversal
Energies (18):
18x Grass
This has been consistent in playtesting, but it loses to Ray/Zapdos and Blaze/Slaking in playtesting. So I've adjusted to the following:
Pokemon (21):
4x Oddish
3x Gloom
3x Vilemplume ex
2x Bellossom
4x Dunsparce
2x Pidgey
1x Pidgeotto
2x Pidgeot
Trainers (22):
4x Steven's Advice
3x Copycat
3x TV Reporter
2x Team Aqua's Hideout
2x Celio's Network
4x Rare Candy
2x Switch
2x Crystal Shards (against Ray and Dark Dragonite)
Energies (17):
15x Grass
2x Boost (nice to have for any unfavorable match-ups)
I need consistency. But maybe I should have tweaked the draw and search engine a bit. Oh well, round 1 is starting - let's go!
Round 1: vs. Daniel - Blastoise ex
I got an Oddish and he got a Squirtle and Skitty. I went first. I did Poison Powder and it worked - forcing the opponent to react quick. He Paralyzed me with Bubble, and I got a Turn 2 Pidgeot. He didn't get anything - I Clutch 3 times in 3 turns for an easy win.
Win 1-0 3pts.
I got to watch 2 nice matches between Gardy and Salamence, and Blaze vs. Dark Steelix/Pidgeot/Bellossom.
Round 2: vs. Gabriel - Zapdos ex (standard turn 2 Zapdos ex - Electrodes and Raichu)
I went first again with Dunsparce. He started off with Voltorb. He got a good start, so I go ahead and Strike and Run for Oddish, Pidgey, Oddish. Then I go Oddish, Dunsparce - and sacrifice my Dunsparce.
I sacrificed another one next turn (6-4 prizes in his favor). But I got set-up with Vileplume ex and Pidgeot. Soon after, I got out a 2nd Vileplume ex because I have to Copycat. However, because he played a 2nd Zapdos ex to get rid of status and did 70, so I need to Quick Search for Boost. But he can't wake up from Special Formula, and from that point on, no trainers means he can't do anything about his 2 Zapdos ex.
Win 2-0 6pts.
Lunch Break. I'm feeling pretty good so far. I saw a crazy match between (Leo Orta) Shedinja Insanity vs. (Scizor) Pidgeot/Lanturn/Tech. I talked to a father and son playing the game, and talked a bit about strategy. I'm also hearing some people are in for a long (losing) day already. My buddy Flare Starfire with Salamence start stong and going 2-0 as well. I know first 2 rounds is just a warm-up for me.
Round 3: vs. Dark Dragonite/Dark Electrode/Pidgeot
He started with Dunsparce and I started with Oddish. I went first again. I go for Poison Powder two turns in a row, so I can disrupt my opponent. First time, he had to Switch up a Voltorb RG. Second time, he had to attach a Darkness Energy to retreat, evolve to Dark Electrode, and use Dunsparce to stall. Sudden Flash worked and paralyzed my Oddish. So I thought about my options, and I want a quick win so I played a Celio's for Bellossom, and Rare Candy. Charge it up and KO. (5-6 prizes) in my favor. It turned out he had nothing else worthy, no draw or search. He topdecked a Rocket's Sneasel ex a few turns later, but Dratini's Dragon Song didn't slow me down, so I took advantage of that with 2 Crystal Shards throughout his match. (3-6 prizes) Rocket's Sneasel ex Drag Off didn't do much either, because I made sure that there are only Oddish, Gloom, and Pidgeotto. I KOed that and he had no chance with Dark Electrode.
Win 3-0 9pts.
Wow, I'm glad I had the 2 Crystal Shards. I believe my 2 Team Aqua's Hideout is justified as well, because it'll be very hard for Dark Dragonite and anything in general to retreat from Status. Anything but Mr. Briney's wouldn't work. So moving on...
Round 4: vs. Chung Ly - Ray/Zapdos/Pidgeot (Finished Swiss 7-0, I think!)
This was a tough game for me. I thought I had a serious advantage by going first - yeah - except I got no Energies with like 2 Oddish, 2 Gloom, 1 Vileplume ex, Copycat, and Rare Candy. Wow - I pile shuffle and shuffle pretty good - I thought. Ok - so I passed, and he got a quick start with a Voltorb HL (Recharge), Pidgey, and Claw Fossil. I had no choice but to play 2 Glooms and Copycat for 6. Okay, I do have a choice in terms of Rare Candy into Vileplume ex. And if I did that, I can hope for an Energy and a Boost the turn after. However, I still couldn't get a Grass Energy. This is just wrong!
Okay, so he KOed my Gloom. I wasn't going to go away quietly on this one. So as soon as I had a chance to attack, I go for the Grass and Boost to Special Formula on Electrode ex. I put it to Sleep, but he got out of it. He retreated it (has 60 damage), and Blow Up. He had the 5 Energies and a 2nd Electrode ex, so a One-Hit KO. (4-3 prizes in his favor) I stalled with Dunsparce for a turn (if I remember correctly) and paralyzed it, but a Warp Point was played. I can't send in my Pidgeot or my developing Oddishes, so a Pidgey was KOed. (4-2 in his favor) This is not over yet, I remember something else was KOed (4-1 in his favor) - as I got another Vileplume ex out and a 2nd Boost. Unfortunately, it only Confused him. So he manage to retreat and stall with Claw Fossil. And then a misplay happened from my opponent. He tried to Rare Candy for Pidgeot and Warp Point. The judge came over and it'll be reasonable to just shuffle back the Warp Point - take back Pidgeot and Rare Candy with a caution. It was over for me though and I know it. Because I know he has yet another Electrode ex in his hand. All he has to do is to draw an Energy - Blow Up, and attach for 6 Energies.
Crash and Burn = 150 damage.
Loss 3-1 9pts.
This was a tough loss. I got a very bad start - and still almost had it within a couple flips - especially the occasion when I put Electrode ex to Sleep.
Round 5: vs. Exploud and Aggron ex
I got a bad string of cards, because I started with Oddish - and then had to use a Celio's for Dunsparce and Switch. He got a quick Exploud and got all the way to 2 prizes before I got an evolution. Good lord - I pulled a Vileplume ex. My Rare Candy sit in my hand for a long while. I drew cards any way I can as well. But once Vileplume ex was out - status on Exploud and my 2 Crystal Shards finished his Lairon and the game.
Win 4-1 12pts.
Ok, that was much tougher than it supposed to be. I reflected a bit on these two games - and game 4 I wish I had a Rocket's Admin, game 5 a Celio's Network. I'm keeping these in mind when I have to fix the deck.
Round 6: vs. Kevin Tran - Gardy
This is the worst possible match-up. I almost want to scream why? Why do I have to play against it? Oh well - my strategy is still somewhat the same. But use Boost Energy to avoid giving the opponent easy KO on my Vileplume ex. The first time I have to fully charge it up, and not getting an Energy with Stevn's for like 5 the 2nd turn doesn't help my setup either from Dunsparce's Strike and Run the 1st turn. He KOed my 1st Vileplume ex easily with regualr Gardy easily. I don't remember all the details of this one, but I remember I stalled with Dunsparce for a turn and got KOed because Sudden Flash failed. Then I was able to get a 2nd Vileplume ex up and play Boost on Vileplume ex to Special Formula on his Gardy ex. He woke up and got out of it - and because I have Team Aqua's Hideout, he had a hard time retreating. As a result, he KOed my 2nd Plume, but I got just enough damage to KO Gardy ex with Poison at the end of my turn (3-2 prizes in his favor), because I KOed a Dunsparce early on. Okay, his Gardy with 2 Psychic Energies is still sitting there with 50 damage. I had no choice but to Strike and Run into a Pidgeot. This allowed him to do various things that come back to cost me the game as well, including Rare Candy and Pokemon Retreiver. My only viable choice is to draw up a Gardy ex vs. my Bellossom. So I did Miracle Powder against his Pidgeot, but didn't work. So his Pidgeot Clutched me with DRE. But I didn't play very smart. The next turn, I Heal Dance on my Bellossom (10 damage) I have exactly 9 cards in my hand. If I burn a Switch, I would have 8 cards instead. I can't burn anything else, because I already play a Supporter that turn, and others were Grass Energies and a 2nd Boost. I know he burned 2 Boost Energies already. So if I'm going to lose my Bellossom, I should make him do either Psy Shadow attach or a Boost to KO. Because either way, I'll at least give myself a chance to win in this late stage of the game. But because I didn't, he got an easy Rare Candy into Gardy ex and Feedback for KO. I did Special Formula on his 2nd Gardy ex and Special Formula worked perfectly. He stayed asleep with Sleep and Posion, then time was called. Kevin wins by 2 prize lead. (1-3 in his favor)
Honestly, I would have lost because of my misplay on Bellossom. But we called a judge to resolve the result anyway - because I learned something important. Special Conditions doesn't resolve if time is called. His Gardy ex that is Poisoned had only 130 damage, but it's an important point to keep in mind.
Loss 4-2 12pts.
Another tough loss, and another tough match coming up. The top 16 cut is actually very tough. Believe it or not, there were 1 person undefeated with 6-0, and 11 others were 5-1. Those are almost certain to make it. That means from a 4-2 record, there are only 4 spots left. 9 players will end up with 5-2. Andrew and I both know, however, based on resistances if either of us win we can get into top 16.
Match of my Destiny!
Round 7: vs. Andrew Smith - Shiftry/Zapdos ex
Well, I know about his deck before I face him. So this was just a long game where I couldn't get more than one key Evolution out. I really tested my first original Vileplume list with 2 Celio's and it worked fine, but not here. Also, the fact that he doesn't play a lot of Pokemon and small to medium hand size doesn't help either. So it was a tough match because Shiftry's Fan Action outright defeats the whole purpose and power of my deck - Block the Dust. I ended up losing by time, as he only had 1 prize, to my 3 prizes. But the game may not be over easily - because he almost ran out of Pokemon to attack with. So we finished the game just to see who would have won, and I ended up decking myself - lol.
Loss 4-3 12pts.
Obviously couldn't make it into top 16. But if I had to do it again based on the metagame today, I would have change my deck a bit: like -1 Dunsparce, -1 Steven's, +1 Rocket's Admin, +1 Celio's.
This was yet another tough learning experience. My problem is that I didn't play the best Vileplume ex deck possible. Also, if I knew Rock Lock was that fragile today (none made top 16), I would have chosen Blaziken/Slaking variant. Anyway, Rocket's Admin would have won Round 4 90%, help me both in Round 6 and Round 7. Celio's for Steven's is a preference thing - so I'm not as sure. Afterwards, I played some fun games with my Random Tech deck and watched some of the top 16 action.
Props:
To Flare Starfire for making top 8. You played exceptionally against Leo's Shedinja Insanity to take back the 2nd game to force sudden death.
To all the TO's and Judges - it was a great tournament and we all had lots of fun.
To Water Pokemon Mater - finally making top 16 cut. See the difference - you took my advice on Ancient Tomb and Crystal Shard, and Rocket's Sneasel ex, and you have a legitmate shot at winning.
Slops:
To myself - I don't want make bad plays at all - and Round 6 I made a crucial bad play. Not that I would have won the game (because of time), but I expect myself to play optimally.
Overall, I've seen some great players played well. I will take this as a stepping stone to become a great player.
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