Jolteon101
New Member
Don’t be intimidated by the length of this report, you can skip to the bottom if you just want to see the results/winning decks =/
So where do I start? I guess it all begins with the fantastic news we received that NZ would be having a separate event, rather than the combined Australia + NZ Nationals that was originally planned. Two trips to be won, one for 15+ and one for 14-. This would be one of the biggest events NZ had ever seen…
I got there early on Saturday morning after picking up Tao, and we helped Kristel (from Croftminster) set up tables etc. Tim from Wellington was there as well, and people gradually started streaming in. We ended up with a turnout of 39 players, of which about half were 15+. We went through registration etc, and then it was straight into the competition. There were six rounds (all best of three games), then a top 16 cut, with all age groups combined.
After a limited amount of playtesting in the previous week, I eventually decided to play LudiCargo/Lanturn with Frontiers, since it had virtually no autolosses and I knew that no-one would be playing Medicham. It turns out that Rhydon would have helped me more in the semis and finals, but I think I still prefer Lanturn in this deck…
Round 1 – Jonathon with Four Corners
Game 1 was close all the way through, since he had Rhydon to counter my Lanturns, and Lanturn to counter my Ludis. We traded prizes for a while, and eventually it came down to him with two prizes left, and me with two. I think he sent up a Lanturn to ko my active, leaving him on last prize. I sent up Lanturn with a Scramble and another energy to ko, leaving him with only a Cargo and Dunsparce in play. He sent up Cargo and did 40 with DRE, but I had the last DRE in my hand for the win.
Game 2 was also quite a long game, but after a while I managed to gain an advantage and pull away, I think he had two prizes left at the end. At one point in game 1 he had surprised me with a Glalie, which I had trouble taking out, but in game 2 I was ready for it and had a Ludi with three waters waiting. I think the Glalie was an interesting tech which helped him out in several other games throughout the day.
1-0 (2-0 games)
Round 2 – Marty with Rocklock
He played a version with Magcargo instead of Pidgeot, and about five gyms which rendered my Frontiers useless =/ Game 1 he got stuck with a lone Jirachi HL, and literally drew nothing for three turns, even after playing a Steven for about five cards. Eventually I got out a Lanturn on turn three and got the ko.
Game 2 was much closer, we both got set up, but the fact that I could play Frontier during my turn to avoid taking Amphy damage made it more difficult for him, and rendered his Rocks ineffective. The match ended up with me playing Admin when he was on three prizes, then killing his Amphy leaving him with virtually nothing. I hit both of my Reversal flips in this game, crucially killing a Cargo and then a Flaaffy which stopped him setting up.
2-0 (4-0 games)
Round 3 – Andrew with Dragonite
Game 1 was very close. He played a speed version with no Dunsparce, using Lanette and Dual Balls, and he played a couple of Rocket’s Sneasel EX, and a Rocket’s Scyther EX as well as a random Regirock EX. I got a prize lead early, but he managed to comeback by getting an Electrode out and koing my Ludi. I burned my Shard relatively early on a Dragonite, which meant it was harder for me later on in the game. With me on two prizes, I had Lanturn active, and I attempted to Reversal up his Scyther for the game, but failed. A few turns later I tried the same thing and also failed, and in the end I ran out of options to deal with his threats.
Game 2 I set up and he couldn’t draw a countergym which slowed him down a lot. In the end I just overpowered him since Frontier shut his whole deck down, and we moved into game three with about 10 minutes left.
Game 3 he got off to a good start, and I was a bit slow setting up. That ended up being the deciding factor, since he got a prize lead and kept drawing countergyms to stop my Frontiers. In the end I think I lost because I was down on prizes when time was called, but he would have gone onto win anyway.
2-1 (5-2 games)
Round 4 – David W with Wigglytuff EX
This was a rogue deck based around the old Wiggly/Furret idea, with four Boosts and several Energy Charges, using Pidgeot to search out the Boosts. Fortunately for me he never saw any Wigglies in either game, and I had a pretty easy time running through a whole lot of basics for two quick wins.
3-1 (7-2 games)
Round 5 – Danny with Rocklock
This was the matchup I didn’t want to face. Danny played the Spinning Tail based version of the deck, with Scrambles and fewer ATM Rocks than traditional RL. He also had four countergyms, which made my task harder.
Game 1 I got up on prizes early, but he started making a comeback once he countered my Frontier and got Pidgeot out. Since he still had a lot of prizes left, my Admin wasn’t very effective at stopping him drawing the gyms. At one point in this game I made a crucial misplay, when I had a chance to ko his Pidgeot, but I attached an energy to something else before I realised I could have retreated Ludi and got the ko with Lanturn =/ In the end I couldn’t stop his Pidgeot, and RL tends to win when it has all its options available.
Game 2 I was forced to burn a couple of DREs early on cheap kos, which left me with fewer options later on. He started piling up the damage on my side of the field, and once again Pidgeot pulled him through. I couldn’t make a comeback, and although we almost used up the whole hour, I took a 0-2 loss.
3-2 (7-4 games)
Round 6 – Kylie with Vileplume EX
At this point I wasn’t sure if I would make it in with 3-3, even though I had the highest resistance of anyone by far. She played Vileplume T2 style, with Jirachi, ER2, Swoops etc. The problem was that Vileplume can’t attack on T2, which gave me an extra turn to setup, and that it’s Stage 2 and an EX so she couldn’t simply Swoop/Wally it out. In game 1 we both got setup, and in the end her Vileplume swarms couldn’t hold up against the efficiency of my deck. She also missed a couple of Reversals which hurt, but Ludi followed by Lanturn to finish was more than enough to ko enough Plumes to win.
Game 2 was similar, I got a good start, and she missed a couple of ER2 flips that would have set me back a bit. I was somewhat surprised at one point when she played a Mt Moon, since it shuts down her own Jirachi. This game was sort of a repeat of the first one, except I had to burn a few more DREs to ko Plumes, but in the end she ran out of options and was stuck with a lone Oddish, with no Gloom or Candy/Plume in hand.
4-2 (9-4 games)
The top 16 looked like this, but since Andrew couldn’t make it on day two, everyone else moved up one place, which is why there are 17 names…
1 Andrew (Dragonite)
2 Marty (Rocklock)
3 Thomas (Dark Slowking)
4 Danny (Rocklock)
5 Me (Ludicargo) – I had the highest resistance of all 4-2s
6 Liam (Blastoise EX with Quagsire)
7 Matthew (Dragonite)
8 Marvin (Spinning Tail Tyranitar)
9 David Y (David Y.dec)
10 Jonathon (Four Corners)
11 William (Blaziken)
12 Ming (Dragonite)
13 Edwin (Gardy)
14 Tim (DPG Unit with Gorebyss/Cargo/Dugtrio/Pidgeot)
15 Kylie (Vileplume EX)
16 Teawhi (Blaziken)
17 Elizabeth (Team Aqua)
We finished the day a bit later than expected, and that night I stayed out late at a friend’s 21st party, and ended up only getting three hours sleep =/ I picked up Tao in the morning (who had agreed to help Kristel with side events after missing the cut), and it was straight into the top 16.
Top 16 – Tim with DPG Unit
Game 1 we were both relatively slow to setup (my Jirachi was asleep for eight straight turns thanks to a string of tails in a row =/), but I had my Frontier out so when he finally got a Pidgeot there was nothing he could do with it anyway. He made a misplay by leaving his Pidgeot out because he had miscalculate the damage my Ludi could do, so I got that ko and a few turns later he conceded the game because he had nothing.
Game 2 we both got better starts, and he found countergyms which meant he got a few turns out of Pidgeot before I Reversaled it and got the ko. After that he had trouble recovering, and ended up trying to build up enough DREs and Scrambles in play to ko Ludi with a Gorebyss. Eventually he did manage it, but I had Lanturn waiting on the bench to clean up the remainder.
5-2 (11-4 games)
In the other top 16 matches, all of the 11-14 players had lost, which left Ming and David Y (both 11-14 players) fighting for the trip. Game 1 was incredibly long and took almost 50 minutes to finish, and David Y took it. Game 2 started with only about 10 minutes left, and after several accusations of stalling, Kristel decided to let them play it out rather than stick with the time limit. I believe this was the correct call to make, since there was so much on the line and she had observed a lot of questionably slow play already. After a while Ming had reached the point where he was ready to pack his cards up in game 2, but somehow he managed to use Pidgeot to search out a Voltorb, then get out Electrode for a crucial Gorebyss ko, and took the game. In game 3 it was also close, and near the end Ming sealed the match with a well-timed ATM Rock which removed two DREs and a Scramble from David Y’s side of the board, as well as sending a Candied Pidgeot back to his hand. So in a match lasting almost an hour and 45 minutes, Ming took the title to become 11-14 champion and win the trip ^_^
The top 8 looked like this:
Marty (Rocklock) vs Ming (Dragonite)
Me (Ludicargo) vs Liam (Blastoise EX)
Thomas (Slowking) vs Marvin (Spinning Tail Ttar)
Danny (Rocklock) vs Jonathon (Four Corners)
Quarterfinals – Liam with Blastoise EX/Magneton/Quagsire
Game 1 I got out a turn one Ludi, and began beating him down quickly before he could set up properly. He managed to get his stuff out eventually, but by that time I had Lanturn ready and waiting to ko his Quagsire. The next turn I Reversaled out a Blastoise to take my last two prizes.
Game 2 I also got a good start, with an early Ludi and a fast setup. I got out Cargo on about turn four, at which point I realised that I had been forgetting to draw cards with Ludi for the previous three turns =/ In the end it didn’t matter, since he never had enough energy in his hand to produce many threats, and even when Blastoise came out he couldn’t power it enough to be effective.
6-2 (13-4 games)
In the other matches, Ming put up a good fight against Marty in a difficult matchup before going down 2-1, Danny came through some tight and very close games to beat Jonathon, and Marvin’s huge deck advantage managed to overcome Thomas, even though he lost game 1 and started game 2 with both Pidgeys prized.
The top 4 looked like this:
Marty (Rocklock) vs Marvin (Spinning Tail)
Me (Ludicargo) vs Danny (Rocklock)
Semifinals - Danny with Rocklock
Over the past few years the semis have usually been the point at which I make an unglorious exit from major events, having finished third at the last three big tournaments I played in, including Nationals last year =/ And I knew that I would not get an easy run through to the finals against Danny either…game 1 he started slowly, and I got ahead on prizes but still couldn’t set up my bench properly. Of course, a prize lead led straight into him pulling out Tyranitar + Scramble to start owning my bench. I managed to knock it out, but not before taking heavy damage (although it was helpful that Lotad/Lombre could heal themselves). In the end I ran out of options, and I had too much damage built up so that his ATM Rock took about three prizes and left me with virtually nothing.
The first game took about 30 minutes, and I knew that he had his sights set on stalling me out =P Game 2 didn’t start very well for either of us, but I managed to pull ahead by getting a couple of cheap kills early on. I landed a Reversal flip to kill a Flaaffy which slowed him down a bit, since only Amphy can take Ludi out in one hit. He had use of Pidgeot for most of the game because he kept topdecking gyms to counter my Frontiers =/ I managed to get down to one prize, and he had three left but a sizeable board advantage. I made a mistake because I thought he had used his second Scramble on Pidgeot, but it was actually a Heal Energy and he surprised me by dropping a Scramble on Tyranitar and using Spinning Tail for a ko, leaving two of my bench with only 20 HP left. I thought I was screwed, until I realised that I could search out a Heal Energy to remove 10 from my benched Dunsparce, denying the match-winning double ko next turn. I did 70 with Ludi, forcing him to retreat and try and stall with Dunsparce. He got the first flip to paralyse me, but next turn his luck ran out and I took out Dunsparce for the game.
There was virtually no time left, and time was called during the first turn of game 3, so we were playing next prize wins. This ended up being crucial, because it meant we each had six prizes instead of one. Neither of us had a gamewinning combo to start off with, so we played cautiously for a few turns. He had Dunsparce active and so did I, with Swoop and Lanturn in hand, but I needed the DRE. He tried to Admin to get what he needed, but in the end it was his downfall. After Admin, my hand consisted of Ludi, Candy, Magcargo, Celio, DRE and something else…so next turn I searched out the Swoop and Lanturn I needed to complete the combo. GG Danny, I admit I savaged you, and I wish we could have met in the final instead of the semis, but that’s just the way the pairings went…
7-2 (15-5 games)
In the other semifinal, Marvin somehow managed to beat Marty with Spinning Tail vs Sand Damage Tyranitar =/ I wasn’t really watching, but I think Marty got pretty unlucky in both games. Which meant that in the most unlikely of situations, Marvin had made the final, and it was against me…
Final – Marvin with Spinning Tail Tyranitar
Game 1 I got a good start, and he couldn’t find what he needed. He ended up leaving a Dark Pupitar active, and I took the opportunity, by killing it with Ludi although I needed a Strength Charm to do it. After that he really had nothing and I finished the game pretty quickly.
Game 2 he also didn’t get a very good start, but I couldn’t setup quickly and he got Pidgeot out, and kept drawing countergyms to stop my Frontiers. For most of the game it was impossible to tell who had the advantage, but the constant Spinning Tails wore me down, and when he took out my Lanturn and Magcargo in one turn, things went downhill rapidly and we packed things up for game 3.
There were about 15 minutes remaining when we started game 3. We both had decent starts, but I managed to get two early kos, one of which was with a Reversal I think. With less than 10 minutes left, and me up on prizes, I was surprised that he wasn’t playing a bit faster. The good thing about Ludi is that it’s very easy to legitimately take 5 minute turns, and I was certainly in no hurry to speed things along. I didn’t have the best setup, and he managed to take one prize, but in the end time was called on his turn with the prize count in my favour by one…he couldn’t get the ko he needed, so it was all over ^_^ If the game had been allowed to go the distance, I’m not sure who would have won…
Final record 8-2 (17-6 games)
Afterwards, there were a few side events still in progress, and I decided to just help Kristel judge rather than play any more games. After packing up, we eventually left the complex at about 8:30 and then went out to dinner. For the record, here are the final standings:
Overall (and 15+)
1st Me (Ludicargo)
2nd Marvin (Spinning Tail Tyranitar)
3rd Marty (Rocklock)
4th Danny (Rocklock)
11-14
1st Ming (Dragonite)
2nd David Y (David Y.dec)
3rd William (Blaziken)
4th Not sure…I think it might have been Tim or Edwin
Props & Slops
Props
~Croftminster for holding a separate Nationals event!
~Croft for providing wonderful prizes, including two trips, piles of boosters, $500 scholarship, and really cool looking trophies.
~Kristel for judging/TOing and virtually singlehandedly dealing with everything. I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was an awesome event, you ran it very well, we all had a great time and we look forward to seeing you next year! ^_^
~New Zealand for getting a bigger Nationals turnout than Australia (they only had 24 apparently)
~Unlimited, for being a great format despite what anyone else says
~Auckland players for a pretty good turnout, almost 40 players is definitely respectable and thanks for making the event so memorable.
~Neo for the online support, I may not know all of you guys that well yet but NoScrubs has helped me tremendously in choosing the right deck and playing the right tech.
~Danny for beating Teawhi
~Jeff’s Hard Bone/Metapod Unlimited deck, and David W for owning Jeff’s Dark Marowak with Fossil Ditto
~Walking through town at 10pm carrying bright yellow bags with Pikachu on them
~Not running into anyone I know while doing so…
~Zapdos/Moltres/Articuno sleeves for looking so awesome
~Team Metapod taking three out of four semifinal spots
~Ludicargo for pulling me through so many difficult situations. If I was playing in Nationals again tomorrow, I wouldn’t change a single card from my list.
~Oversized dice that almost make a dent in the table when you roll them
~Kristel for taking every opportunity to mock David Y
~Ashleigh for being the youngest player there and going 3-3, even after getting paired against 15+ guys three times your height =P
~Marvin for proving that you can compete at the highest level, you gave me a tough match in the final and did really well with a deck that a lot of people underestimate.
~Kyle, and miniskirts, and furry tails…
~Battle Frontier
~Elizabeth for making top 16 as a 10- player, and almost beating Marty
~David W for winning the sealed tournament on Sunday
~Ming for taking out the 11-14 title, and winning the trip
~Ming for beating David Y in the longest match I have ever seen
~Danny for being a good sport and a really cool guy in general…and for his Wang skills =P
~In-jokes that no-one else understands
~Tao for helping judge even though I know there were times on Sunday when you really didn’t feel like being there…thanks for sticking around man, it meant a lot to me that you were there when I won.
~All the Wellington guys and Rob for making the trip up, great to see so much representation from around the country.
~Teawhi for coming…you may not be the most popular guy up here, but I think you earned some respect from everyone by turning up.
~David Y for almost winning…despite all the mocking, you played some good games and almost pulled it off with the roguest of rogue decks. Well done, and thanks for helping pack up stuff at the end.
~Me, for finally WINNING and not being the bridesmaid again – and for getting the chance to finally meet some of the people on this board!
Slops
~Modified decks owning Unlimited decks…how does Blaziken beat Raindance =/
~George for being savage all weekend, almost losing your deck, trying to cheat against Matthew, and generally annoying Kristel =/
~Playing five gyms in a deck =/
~Tao and Jeff missing the cut, when Teawhi just made it in with the same record =/
~Three hours sleep the night before I was playing for a trip to -_-
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all at Worlds!
~Martin/Jolteon 101
So where do I start? I guess it all begins with the fantastic news we received that NZ would be having a separate event, rather than the combined Australia + NZ Nationals that was originally planned. Two trips to be won, one for 15+ and one for 14-. This would be one of the biggest events NZ had ever seen…
I got there early on Saturday morning after picking up Tao, and we helped Kristel (from Croftminster) set up tables etc. Tim from Wellington was there as well, and people gradually started streaming in. We ended up with a turnout of 39 players, of which about half were 15+. We went through registration etc, and then it was straight into the competition. There were six rounds (all best of three games), then a top 16 cut, with all age groups combined.
After a limited amount of playtesting in the previous week, I eventually decided to play LudiCargo/Lanturn with Frontiers, since it had virtually no autolosses and I knew that no-one would be playing Medicham. It turns out that Rhydon would have helped me more in the semis and finals, but I think I still prefer Lanturn in this deck…
Round 1 – Jonathon with Four Corners
Game 1 was close all the way through, since he had Rhydon to counter my Lanturns, and Lanturn to counter my Ludis. We traded prizes for a while, and eventually it came down to him with two prizes left, and me with two. I think he sent up a Lanturn to ko my active, leaving him on last prize. I sent up Lanturn with a Scramble and another energy to ko, leaving him with only a Cargo and Dunsparce in play. He sent up Cargo and did 40 with DRE, but I had the last DRE in my hand for the win.
Game 2 was also quite a long game, but after a while I managed to gain an advantage and pull away, I think he had two prizes left at the end. At one point in game 1 he had surprised me with a Glalie, which I had trouble taking out, but in game 2 I was ready for it and had a Ludi with three waters waiting. I think the Glalie was an interesting tech which helped him out in several other games throughout the day.
1-0 (2-0 games)
Round 2 – Marty with Rocklock
He played a version with Magcargo instead of Pidgeot, and about five gyms which rendered my Frontiers useless =/ Game 1 he got stuck with a lone Jirachi HL, and literally drew nothing for three turns, even after playing a Steven for about five cards. Eventually I got out a Lanturn on turn three and got the ko.
Game 2 was much closer, we both got set up, but the fact that I could play Frontier during my turn to avoid taking Amphy damage made it more difficult for him, and rendered his Rocks ineffective. The match ended up with me playing Admin when he was on three prizes, then killing his Amphy leaving him with virtually nothing. I hit both of my Reversal flips in this game, crucially killing a Cargo and then a Flaaffy which stopped him setting up.
2-0 (4-0 games)
Round 3 – Andrew with Dragonite
Game 1 was very close. He played a speed version with no Dunsparce, using Lanette and Dual Balls, and he played a couple of Rocket’s Sneasel EX, and a Rocket’s Scyther EX as well as a random Regirock EX. I got a prize lead early, but he managed to comeback by getting an Electrode out and koing my Ludi. I burned my Shard relatively early on a Dragonite, which meant it was harder for me later on in the game. With me on two prizes, I had Lanturn active, and I attempted to Reversal up his Scyther for the game, but failed. A few turns later I tried the same thing and also failed, and in the end I ran out of options to deal with his threats.
Game 2 I set up and he couldn’t draw a countergym which slowed him down a lot. In the end I just overpowered him since Frontier shut his whole deck down, and we moved into game three with about 10 minutes left.
Game 3 he got off to a good start, and I was a bit slow setting up. That ended up being the deciding factor, since he got a prize lead and kept drawing countergyms to stop my Frontiers. In the end I think I lost because I was down on prizes when time was called, but he would have gone onto win anyway.
2-1 (5-2 games)
Round 4 – David W with Wigglytuff EX
This was a rogue deck based around the old Wiggly/Furret idea, with four Boosts and several Energy Charges, using Pidgeot to search out the Boosts. Fortunately for me he never saw any Wigglies in either game, and I had a pretty easy time running through a whole lot of basics for two quick wins.
3-1 (7-2 games)
Round 5 – Danny with Rocklock
This was the matchup I didn’t want to face. Danny played the Spinning Tail based version of the deck, with Scrambles and fewer ATM Rocks than traditional RL. He also had four countergyms, which made my task harder.
Game 1 I got up on prizes early, but he started making a comeback once he countered my Frontier and got Pidgeot out. Since he still had a lot of prizes left, my Admin wasn’t very effective at stopping him drawing the gyms. At one point in this game I made a crucial misplay, when I had a chance to ko his Pidgeot, but I attached an energy to something else before I realised I could have retreated Ludi and got the ko with Lanturn =/ In the end I couldn’t stop his Pidgeot, and RL tends to win when it has all its options available.
Game 2 I was forced to burn a couple of DREs early on cheap kos, which left me with fewer options later on. He started piling up the damage on my side of the field, and once again Pidgeot pulled him through. I couldn’t make a comeback, and although we almost used up the whole hour, I took a 0-2 loss.
3-2 (7-4 games)
Round 6 – Kylie with Vileplume EX
At this point I wasn’t sure if I would make it in with 3-3, even though I had the highest resistance of anyone by far. She played Vileplume T2 style, with Jirachi, ER2, Swoops etc. The problem was that Vileplume can’t attack on T2, which gave me an extra turn to setup, and that it’s Stage 2 and an EX so she couldn’t simply Swoop/Wally it out. In game 1 we both got setup, and in the end her Vileplume swarms couldn’t hold up against the efficiency of my deck. She also missed a couple of Reversals which hurt, but Ludi followed by Lanturn to finish was more than enough to ko enough Plumes to win.
Game 2 was similar, I got a good start, and she missed a couple of ER2 flips that would have set me back a bit. I was somewhat surprised at one point when she played a Mt Moon, since it shuts down her own Jirachi. This game was sort of a repeat of the first one, except I had to burn a few more DREs to ko Plumes, but in the end she ran out of options and was stuck with a lone Oddish, with no Gloom or Candy/Plume in hand.
4-2 (9-4 games)
The top 16 looked like this, but since Andrew couldn’t make it on day two, everyone else moved up one place, which is why there are 17 names…
1 Andrew (Dragonite)
2 Marty (Rocklock)
3 Thomas (Dark Slowking)
4 Danny (Rocklock)
5 Me (Ludicargo) – I had the highest resistance of all 4-2s
6 Liam (Blastoise EX with Quagsire)
7 Matthew (Dragonite)
8 Marvin (Spinning Tail Tyranitar)
9 David Y (David Y.dec)
10 Jonathon (Four Corners)
11 William (Blaziken)
12 Ming (Dragonite)
13 Edwin (Gardy)
14 Tim (DPG Unit with Gorebyss/Cargo/Dugtrio/Pidgeot)
15 Kylie (Vileplume EX)
16 Teawhi (Blaziken)
17 Elizabeth (Team Aqua)
We finished the day a bit later than expected, and that night I stayed out late at a friend’s 21st party, and ended up only getting three hours sleep =/ I picked up Tao in the morning (who had agreed to help Kristel with side events after missing the cut), and it was straight into the top 16.
Top 16 – Tim with DPG Unit
Game 1 we were both relatively slow to setup (my Jirachi was asleep for eight straight turns thanks to a string of tails in a row =/), but I had my Frontier out so when he finally got a Pidgeot there was nothing he could do with it anyway. He made a misplay by leaving his Pidgeot out because he had miscalculate the damage my Ludi could do, so I got that ko and a few turns later he conceded the game because he had nothing.
Game 2 we both got better starts, and he found countergyms which meant he got a few turns out of Pidgeot before I Reversaled it and got the ko. After that he had trouble recovering, and ended up trying to build up enough DREs and Scrambles in play to ko Ludi with a Gorebyss. Eventually he did manage it, but I had Lanturn waiting on the bench to clean up the remainder.
5-2 (11-4 games)
In the other top 16 matches, all of the 11-14 players had lost, which left Ming and David Y (both 11-14 players) fighting for the trip. Game 1 was incredibly long and took almost 50 minutes to finish, and David Y took it. Game 2 started with only about 10 minutes left, and after several accusations of stalling, Kristel decided to let them play it out rather than stick with the time limit. I believe this was the correct call to make, since there was so much on the line and she had observed a lot of questionably slow play already. After a while Ming had reached the point where he was ready to pack his cards up in game 2, but somehow he managed to use Pidgeot to search out a Voltorb, then get out Electrode for a crucial Gorebyss ko, and took the game. In game 3 it was also close, and near the end Ming sealed the match with a well-timed ATM Rock which removed two DREs and a Scramble from David Y’s side of the board, as well as sending a Candied Pidgeot back to his hand. So in a match lasting almost an hour and 45 minutes, Ming took the title to become 11-14 champion and win the trip ^_^
The top 8 looked like this:
Marty (Rocklock) vs Ming (Dragonite)
Me (Ludicargo) vs Liam (Blastoise EX)
Thomas (Slowking) vs Marvin (Spinning Tail Ttar)
Danny (Rocklock) vs Jonathon (Four Corners)
Quarterfinals – Liam with Blastoise EX/Magneton/Quagsire
Game 1 I got out a turn one Ludi, and began beating him down quickly before he could set up properly. He managed to get his stuff out eventually, but by that time I had Lanturn ready and waiting to ko his Quagsire. The next turn I Reversaled out a Blastoise to take my last two prizes.
Game 2 I also got a good start, with an early Ludi and a fast setup. I got out Cargo on about turn four, at which point I realised that I had been forgetting to draw cards with Ludi for the previous three turns =/ In the end it didn’t matter, since he never had enough energy in his hand to produce many threats, and even when Blastoise came out he couldn’t power it enough to be effective.
6-2 (13-4 games)
In the other matches, Ming put up a good fight against Marty in a difficult matchup before going down 2-1, Danny came through some tight and very close games to beat Jonathon, and Marvin’s huge deck advantage managed to overcome Thomas, even though he lost game 1 and started game 2 with both Pidgeys prized.
The top 4 looked like this:
Marty (Rocklock) vs Marvin (Spinning Tail)
Me (Ludicargo) vs Danny (Rocklock)
Semifinals - Danny with Rocklock
Over the past few years the semis have usually been the point at which I make an unglorious exit from major events, having finished third at the last three big tournaments I played in, including Nationals last year =/ And I knew that I would not get an easy run through to the finals against Danny either…game 1 he started slowly, and I got ahead on prizes but still couldn’t set up my bench properly. Of course, a prize lead led straight into him pulling out Tyranitar + Scramble to start owning my bench. I managed to knock it out, but not before taking heavy damage (although it was helpful that Lotad/Lombre could heal themselves). In the end I ran out of options, and I had too much damage built up so that his ATM Rock took about three prizes and left me with virtually nothing.
The first game took about 30 minutes, and I knew that he had his sights set on stalling me out =P Game 2 didn’t start very well for either of us, but I managed to pull ahead by getting a couple of cheap kills early on. I landed a Reversal flip to kill a Flaaffy which slowed him down a bit, since only Amphy can take Ludi out in one hit. He had use of Pidgeot for most of the game because he kept topdecking gyms to counter my Frontiers =/ I managed to get down to one prize, and he had three left but a sizeable board advantage. I made a mistake because I thought he had used his second Scramble on Pidgeot, but it was actually a Heal Energy and he surprised me by dropping a Scramble on Tyranitar and using Spinning Tail for a ko, leaving two of my bench with only 20 HP left. I thought I was screwed, until I realised that I could search out a Heal Energy to remove 10 from my benched Dunsparce, denying the match-winning double ko next turn. I did 70 with Ludi, forcing him to retreat and try and stall with Dunsparce. He got the first flip to paralyse me, but next turn his luck ran out and I took out Dunsparce for the game.
There was virtually no time left, and time was called during the first turn of game 3, so we were playing next prize wins. This ended up being crucial, because it meant we each had six prizes instead of one. Neither of us had a gamewinning combo to start off with, so we played cautiously for a few turns. He had Dunsparce active and so did I, with Swoop and Lanturn in hand, but I needed the DRE. He tried to Admin to get what he needed, but in the end it was his downfall. After Admin, my hand consisted of Ludi, Candy, Magcargo, Celio, DRE and something else…so next turn I searched out the Swoop and Lanturn I needed to complete the combo. GG Danny, I admit I savaged you, and I wish we could have met in the final instead of the semis, but that’s just the way the pairings went…
7-2 (15-5 games)
In the other semifinal, Marvin somehow managed to beat Marty with Spinning Tail vs Sand Damage Tyranitar =/ I wasn’t really watching, but I think Marty got pretty unlucky in both games. Which meant that in the most unlikely of situations, Marvin had made the final, and it was against me…
Final – Marvin with Spinning Tail Tyranitar
Game 1 I got a good start, and he couldn’t find what he needed. He ended up leaving a Dark Pupitar active, and I took the opportunity, by killing it with Ludi although I needed a Strength Charm to do it. After that he really had nothing and I finished the game pretty quickly.
Game 2 he also didn’t get a very good start, but I couldn’t setup quickly and he got Pidgeot out, and kept drawing countergyms to stop my Frontiers. For most of the game it was impossible to tell who had the advantage, but the constant Spinning Tails wore me down, and when he took out my Lanturn and Magcargo in one turn, things went downhill rapidly and we packed things up for game 3.
There were about 15 minutes remaining when we started game 3. We both had decent starts, but I managed to get two early kos, one of which was with a Reversal I think. With less than 10 minutes left, and me up on prizes, I was surprised that he wasn’t playing a bit faster. The good thing about Ludi is that it’s very easy to legitimately take 5 minute turns, and I was certainly in no hurry to speed things along. I didn’t have the best setup, and he managed to take one prize, but in the end time was called on his turn with the prize count in my favour by one…he couldn’t get the ko he needed, so it was all over ^_^ If the game had been allowed to go the distance, I’m not sure who would have won…
Final record 8-2 (17-6 games)
Afterwards, there were a few side events still in progress, and I decided to just help Kristel judge rather than play any more games. After packing up, we eventually left the complex at about 8:30 and then went out to dinner. For the record, here are the final standings:
Overall (and 15+)
1st Me (Ludicargo)
2nd Marvin (Spinning Tail Tyranitar)
3rd Marty (Rocklock)
4th Danny (Rocklock)
11-14
1st Ming (Dragonite)
2nd David Y (David Y.dec)
3rd William (Blaziken)
4th Not sure…I think it might have been Tim or Edwin
Props & Slops
Props
~Croftminster for holding a separate Nationals event!
~Croft for providing wonderful prizes, including two trips, piles of boosters, $500 scholarship, and really cool looking trophies.
~Kristel for judging/TOing and virtually singlehandedly dealing with everything. I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was an awesome event, you ran it very well, we all had a great time and we look forward to seeing you next year! ^_^
~New Zealand for getting a bigger Nationals turnout than Australia (they only had 24 apparently)
~Unlimited, for being a great format despite what anyone else says
~Auckland players for a pretty good turnout, almost 40 players is definitely respectable and thanks for making the event so memorable.
~Neo for the online support, I may not know all of you guys that well yet but NoScrubs has helped me tremendously in choosing the right deck and playing the right tech.
~Danny for beating Teawhi
~Jeff’s Hard Bone/Metapod Unlimited deck, and David W for owning Jeff’s Dark Marowak with Fossil Ditto
~Walking through town at 10pm carrying bright yellow bags with Pikachu on them
~Not running into anyone I know while doing so…
~Zapdos/Moltres/Articuno sleeves for looking so awesome
~Team Metapod taking three out of four semifinal spots
~Ludicargo for pulling me through so many difficult situations. If I was playing in Nationals again tomorrow, I wouldn’t change a single card from my list.
~Oversized dice that almost make a dent in the table when you roll them
~Kristel for taking every opportunity to mock David Y
~Ashleigh for being the youngest player there and going 3-3, even after getting paired against 15+ guys three times your height =P
~Marvin for proving that you can compete at the highest level, you gave me a tough match in the final and did really well with a deck that a lot of people underestimate.
~Kyle, and miniskirts, and furry tails…
~Battle Frontier
~Elizabeth for making top 16 as a 10- player, and almost beating Marty
~David W for winning the sealed tournament on Sunday
~Ming for taking out the 11-14 title, and winning the trip
~Ming for beating David Y in the longest match I have ever seen
~Danny for being a good sport and a really cool guy in general…and for his Wang skills =P
~In-jokes that no-one else understands
~Tao for helping judge even though I know there were times on Sunday when you really didn’t feel like being there…thanks for sticking around man, it meant a lot to me that you were there when I won.
~All the Wellington guys and Rob for making the trip up, great to see so much representation from around the country.
~Teawhi for coming…you may not be the most popular guy up here, but I think you earned some respect from everyone by turning up.
~David Y for almost winning…despite all the mocking, you played some good games and almost pulled it off with the roguest of rogue decks. Well done, and thanks for helping pack up stuff at the end.
~Me, for finally WINNING and not being the bridesmaid again – and for getting the chance to finally meet some of the people on this board!
Slops
~Modified decks owning Unlimited decks…how does Blaziken beat Raindance =/
~George for being savage all weekend, almost losing your deck, trying to cheat against Matthew, and generally annoying Kristel =/
~Playing five gyms in a deck =/
~Tao and Jeff missing the cut, when Teawhi just made it in with the same record =/
~Three hours sleep the night before I was playing for a trip to -_-
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all at Worlds!
~Martin/Jolteon 101
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