Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

"The Immovable Object": An OK and TX State report

Cyrus

Iron Chef - Master Emeritus
-Oklahoma State Championship-

Location: Norman, Oklahoma. The “Red River Room” of the Super 8 Motel
Masters Division attendance: 54
Vital tournament info: six rounds, with a cut to the top eight


Planning: Headed into this event, I was furiously testing every deck I deemed viable for States, archetype or not. These include, but are certainly not limited to, Gallade variants, Magmortar variants, Blissey variants, Feraligatr, and just about every forgotten deck imaginable. Somewhere along the line, I began to realize what everyone else had: there isn’t, at this moment in time, a rogue effective enough to handle all ends of the metagame. So eventually I just settled on Gallade and Magmortar, the clear-cut safe plays of the season. Thanks to some stellar eleventh hour success, I decided that Gallade would be the wisest move for the Oklahoma State championship.

Before the Tournament: Since I live seven hours away from Norman, Oklahoma’s “Super 8 Motel” (the tournament venue), I flew to Dallas/Fort Worth international airport , and was ppicked up by my older brother, Billy. Since I was all but set on running Gallade, we did some testing of the matchup, and, almost inexplicably, “GGF” dominated with a 4-0 performance. With a significant edge over Magmortar established, I decided that it was time for some much-needed rest…Zzz…
Two hour road trips are no interesting to describe, so I might as well move onto the…

Metagame: For an often underrated state, Oklahoma had quite a few solid players and lists. Gallade and Magmortar were expectedly dominant, but I observed quite a few surprises: water decks (Empoleon/Feraligatr), Electivire, and even Shiftry. By my estimate, it seems as if the rogue players focused too “much” on the Magmortar, and too little on Gallade…Oh well, good for me, eh?
With not much else left to say, let’s get into the heart of the report: the matches!

Round one: VS Jose Eguia, from San Antonio (Gallade/Gardevoir/ex/Exploud)

Jose is one of Texas’s greater rogue minds, and this list was testament to that. He not only ran an Exploud line as an all-purpose alternate attacker, but a Gardevoir ex delta to combat the mirror and Claydol. Despite all of these little inventive twists, I felt confident due to my list’s consistency…Well, long story short, I encountered my biggest problem of the day: my basic count.
So anyways, I mulliganed once…And then twice…And then thrice…And again…And again, and then about two more times after that, giving him an eleven card hand with three basics in play. Despite the continuous hand resetting, I finally drew into a Ralts start with a few decent supporters. Unfortunately, I had no basic energy cards in the opening hand, and was forced to start the game. To make matters worse, he got out a turn one Exploud…WITH Ambient Noise! Well, as icing on the cake of doom, he flipped a heads (direct damage to the active) and a tails (no trainers/supporters) for Exploud. All I could do the following turn was evolve to Kirlia and pray that he would flip poorly on the next Ambient Noise. Fortunately, he did, and I was able to setup fairly well from there, fetching a couple of Sentrets with Roseanne. Inevitably I scored a strong setup, and began to operate super-aggressively, scoring an easy KO on his Exploud with a Gallade three turns later. It was around this time in the game where he began locking my powers with Gardevoir ex delta’s “Imprison” Poke-Power, but thanks to some wise evolution/level-up maneuvers, it made no difference. At long last, I baited him into sending out his only Gardevoir (Level X), Team Galactic’s Wagered, and then OHKO’d with Psychic Lock. The game fell into order from there, but still remained close. Great game, Jose! (1-0)

Round Two: VS Donovan Stapleton, from Dallas/Ft. Worth (Shiftry ex/Claydol/Darkrai)

This was not much of a game. Due to Fighting weakness, my Gallade was able to tear apart his Shiftries and Darkrais. Sorry! (2-0)

Round Three: VS Taylor Davis, from Oklahoma (Gardevoir/Gallade)

Taylor’s list was well-prepared for the mirror, with unique techs like a Mismagius line; however, the sheer firepower and speed of my list canceled out any of these issues. My setup was swift, and by about turn three I had a rather convincing Psychic Lock swarm against him. By carefully spending my Charm/Pluspower and Lake Boundary on appropriate situations, I prevented any comeback. To be fair, however, he had trouble seeing Rare Candy the entire game, and had two Kirlia prized, so it comes as no shocker that he failed to pull any prizes this game. (3-0)

Round Four: VS Will Berry, from Oklahoma (Banette)

In my opinion, he made a pretty wise metagame choice for the day, but still did not have enough weapons to combat his overwhelmingly bad Magmortar matchup. Regardless of that, his Gallade game was fairly solid.

Sadly, this just wasn’t much of a game: Will goes first and Ascends, while I am stuck with two Sentrets. The next turn, rather than make the safe move to just hit for forty, he Ghost Heads, OHKO’ing my Sentret for the price of six damage counters on himself. This gave me an instant turn two-KO opportunity via Furret’s Baton pass, but sadly, I was still lacking in the energy department. From there, I benched a top-decked Ralts, attached Strength Charm to Furret (due to Banette’s -20 C), and played Galactic’s Wager, hoping so very much to get a Double Rainbow or Scramble…So, did I win the Wager, and did I pull the energy?

No and no. Wow, what crummy luck, but I made the best of the situation by using Keen Eye to score a KO for the next turn; however, he top-decked a Galactic’s Wager against me, and won that one, as well! From thereon I had nothing, so he just did two consecutive Spiteful Pains to bench me, and take the game. (3-1)

Afterwards, we played a very intriguing fun game that I won 6-5. Nice, lol.

Round Five: VS Macon Clark, from Dallas/Ft. Worth (Electivire DP/SW/Delcatty)

His early game start was superb, while mine was only average. However, his playstyle was overly paranoid about my Scramble, and was therefore less effective than it could have been. Meanwhile, I simply prepared two Gallades to sweep his board, and sweep the board they did! I think he drew one prize the whole game, despite putting up a strong fight with Giga Impact late game. (4-1)

Round Six: VS Jordan Dupuis, from Oklahoma (Blisscatty)

While he scored two quick KO’s, I immediately rebounded with a Gallade and a Scramble. Although his setup didn’t crumble after that (he forced me to flip four prizes due to Holon FF), he was immediately put into a bind. After picking off a couple more Pokemon, he regained some momentum again due to Holon FF…However, that whole time I was setting up furhter, scored a surprising OHKO on Blissey, and then took the game. (5-1, end of swiss)

With all said and done, here is who made the top cut:

~~~TOP EIGHT~~~

Clay (1st seed 6-0; Magmortar VS Macon (8th seed 4-2; Electivire)
John (4th seed 5-1; GGF) VS Trevyn (5th seed 5-1; Infernape)
Will (2nd seed 5-1; Banette) VS Roy (7th seed 5-1; GGF)
Dana (3rd seed 5-1; Banette/Lucario) VS Kason (6th seed 5-1; Absol/Galladevoir)
As far as the most successful decks go, the elite eight had a very even distribution of everything:
-3 Gallade variants
-3 “other” (Magmortar, Electivire, and Infernape)
-2 Banette variants

TOP EIGHT MATCH: VS Trevyn Sergeant (Infernape)

Game One: I get FTKO’d, lone Ralts versus an Infernape with a Double Rainbow Energy (0-1)
Game Two: I get a horrible hand with a lone Totodile, and get Max Energy Sourced twice for the game. (0-2)

End result: 5-2, with a 16 point rating/ranking gain for the day.

What bad luck…And to think, it was only because I got benched! Oh well…Short and sweet at least, eh? Anyways, here’s what happened in the rest of the tournament:

~~~Top Eight Results~~~
Clay (1st seed) beat Macon (8th seed) 2-0
Trevyn (5th seed) beat John (4th seed) 2-0
Will (2nd seed) beat Roy (7th seed) 2-0
Kason (6th seed) beat Dana (3rd seed) 2-0

~~~Top Four Results~~~

Clay (1st seed) beat Trevyn (5th seed) 2-0
Kason (6th seed) beat Will (2nd seed) 2-0

~~~Final Result~~~

Kason (6th seed) beat Clay (1st seed) 2-0

What I could have done better for this event:As alluded to throughout the entire report, my basic count was my own undoing. If you’ve been particularly sharp, then you would also notice that I did not lose a single game on prizes, but on empty benches. Therefore, I feel that the fourth Sentret is critical, even if it does clutter your hand in the endgame...Oh well. Now, onto Texas:


~~~Texas State Championship~~~

Location: “Insanity Games and Comics,” in Mesquite, TX
Masters Division attendance: 77
Vital tournament info: seven rounds, with a cut to the top eight
Deck Choice: Gardevoir/Gallade/Furret


Planning: After a regrettable finish in Oklahoma’s State Championship, I knew that I had to return to a concept often neglected in this game: consistency. Since all of my losses in that tournament (one in swiss, two in top cut) were the result of me getting benched, it became painfully clear that I would have to A) up my basic count, and B) up my trainer search count.
With all of that said, it should come to no surprise that my deck choice was an easy one to make: Gardevoir/Gallade Furret…So therefore, “planning” was easy. While I took my losses the previous weekend with good humor, it was kind of hard to stomach, so I had to get a last shot at success. I guess in short you could say I only planned “little” things, as opposed to larger-picture topics.


Before the Tournament:
Since I had a much understanding of my list, I had the ability to build my brother a new concept: Magsol-Claydol, which he quickly took a liking to, and tweaked to his liking. He also invited a good friend of his, Vanessa, to come play with us. Since this was her first time, I immediately suggested my Straight 4-4 Blissey list, which turned out to be awesome for a newcomer!


Metagame:
Just like every other state this season, Texas was swarming with Gallade/Gardevoir and Magmortar variants. All of the other notable decks were there as well: Banette, Blissey, and Infernape all immediately come to mind. However, as predicted, “Galladevoir” counters were in full force, ranging from poorly-conceived concepts (various Psychic decks), to well-oiled machines (Crystal Beach/Cessation decks, including a very solid Banette/Lucario and even an Exploud), to mere techs. I wasn’t too worried, though, because the metagame resembled Oklahoma, in that Magmortar would conveniently shut all of that down, leaving the path wide open for a superb Gallade list to sweep. I just hoped that that was “my” superb Gallade list…lol

So…Good to go? All right then…Let’s start playing.

Round One: VS Christine Mitchie, from Houston (Gardevoir/Gallade/Furret/Claydol)


Tina is another good friend, so I wasn’t worried about helping her prepare for this tournament by broadly deck doctoring a few days prior. This of course was a double-edged sword for me: while she was wielding a list I had a good idea of how to play against, it was also a slightly better-oiled machine than what I would otherwise be facing.

Anyways, we both started the game with Sentret, and prepared to setup. My Furret came out much quicker than hers, and as a result, I was able to aggressively approach this game. By about the third turn she got our her Claydol, and began to setup a bit better, but that made little difference as I had a Gardevoir swarm in the works. Eventually, with a energized benched of two (soon to be three) Gardevoir SW’s, I Baton Passed just to do some damage to her current Furret. Expectedly, this broke the stalemate, and she promoted a Gallade for the KO. The following turn I responded with a Psychic Lock . While she was quick to respond, hitting me for a nice deal of damage the next turn with her own Psychic Lock, it meant little, since I would OHKO that one as well. While she began to make a bit of a comeback later with a second Gallade, my Gardevoirs were too much, and I sealed the game on prizes just after time was called. (1-0)

At this point, Billy and Vanessa were also 1-0, getting two easy wins.

Round Two: VS Taylor Davis, from Oklahoma (Gardelade/Mismagius)


Is this name a little familiar? If so, then you probably recognize him from my third round of the Oklahoma State report. It was kind of weird that I was paired against him early on in two considerably large events, but oh well!

I started with Sentret again, going first, and almost had the chance to turn two KO him with a Furret! By a stroke of luck, he avoided it, fetching a Holon Mentor to start setting up. With the “luck” win out of possibility, I dedicated myself to a similar strategy as last game, only I also had to juggle Mismagius in my planning. Therefore, I allowed myself to be a little more aggressive with the Gallade attacking, although still dedicate myself to coming behind with Scramble. I did just that, and watched the sparks fly, with his Gallade killing my Furret, and with me Psychic Locking right back with Boundary/Charm. The next turn, he made a rather confusing play, which can only be interpreted as either a miscalculation or paranoia of Psychic Lock: he KO’d my Gardevoir right back, with a Gardevoir Lv. X/attached Buffer Piece! Since this was his only Gardevoir on the board, all I had to do was promote Gallade, play my wager (I lost), and flip over five for a 130 damage Psychic Cut…After the Buffer’s reduced twenty. I then pulled a couple nice prizes, and near the end he was able to slaughter Gallade with Mismagius, but I simply responded with an easy KO. Good game, Taylor. (2-0)

My brother won yet again, narrowly edging out a Magphlosion, and Vanessa was surprisingly able to win her second game of the day! It just comes to show you how simple this game (and more specifically, Blissey) is to play!

Round Three: VS Eric Cloninger, from Houston (Absol/Blissey/Empoleon)


This was a very unique deck, manned by a good player, and what I consider a great list of the build. I start with a Ralts to his Absol, and begin getting Baleful Winded. While he hits some major cards early on, such as a Celio and a Bebe both at once, I miraculously get my setup going, including a turn three Keen Eye. I then gear into my planned strategy to cope with Absol: Keen Eye for energy, to reduce their odds of good Baleful Winds, and just setup necessary cards. His Cessation meant no powers, but that wasn’t an issue for me, since I knew a Gallade would pull a minimum of three prizes for me. After a bit more, I promoted Gallade, won a Team Galactic’s Wager, and began to tear apart his (lack of a) setup. From there, he countered with a Blissey I believe, but that too was met with an easy kill. One Prinplup, an Absol, a Blissey, and a Piplup later, I had won the game 6-0 in prizes. (3-0)

My brother had a much closer game this round, narrowly edging out a Gardelade thanks to some key Baleful Winds on his part, while Vanessa’s beginner’s luck caught up with her versus Dana, a veteran player who had type advantage. The day was far from over for all three of us, however, as I was about to get a major wakeup call…

…But before that wakeup call, I think it’s appropriate to explain why today’s article is called, “The Immovable Object.” So anyways…I challenged my friend, Adam Garcia, to a fun game between our tournament decks. About half-way into it, another friend of ours, Ty Walraven, came by and said “it’s the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object…Who will win?!” Well, he didn’t care to say just who was who, so…Despite Adam claiming to be fat enough, I decided to be the immovable object. Why? Well, being an unstoppable force is overrated, ‘cause you can never slow down and relax…Whereas if you’re unmovable, you’ll always be ingrained. Just a little food for thought! ; D

(One short lunch break later…)

Round Four: VS Jorel Ker, from Denton (Exploud/Furret/Omastar with 4 Cessation and 4 C. Beach)

Going into this game, I had a very good working knowledge of his deck list, as he is yet another person who tests with my brother and me. Although you would (and should) feel good about this kind of a matchup with a standard list, mine had very little in the ways of stopping Beach and Cessation.
My start was very, very so-so this game, while he received a speed Exploud with Cessation. Confusion flips messed up my Furret, and I’m stuck desperately preparing a Gallade. By the time I got one out, though, he was already in a decent position. I then went up and pulled a KO, but was met with another Exploud, this time with a Holon FF. He draws, drops a beach/another Cessation (no powers for Garde? Boo), and I’m stuck floundering for a bit more time. Finally, I have planned everything accordingly, thanks to a second Furret Keen Eye’ing later for stadiums…And just when I announce “Psychic Cut” for a KO on Exploud…
“Can’t. Crystal beach is in play.”
At this point, I am absolutely baffled at what I had just done: I actually allowed myself to announce the attack without the (cue horrible expletives) counter to Beach in play! Per the rules, it counted as essentially PASSING, and I was then put into a horrible position: I had gone from having little hope of winning…To almost none. I was disgusted at myself, and was even more so ashamed when I allowed ANOTHER procedural error to happen: Telepass Copycat for seven…With a Cessation in play. Although in normal circumstances this would be ruled as a game loss, Spirit of the Game permitted my opponent to just take a free prize. From there, he just tore me apart with Pull Down, and I lost. (3-1)

Something about this game horrified me beyond belief: after playing three games perfectly, I let this happen…For the first time in over three years, I farted a game away due to amateur carelessness. It’s just worth keeping in mind that we’re all fallible, especially when we can go from planning twenty turns in advance…To illegally using powers with Cessation Crystal in play.

After the fact, I complimented Jorel for being a class act. “Spirit of the Game” may just be a cheesy pseudonym for “sportsmanship,” but whatever you’d like to call it, Jorel embodied it-and more. Also, after the fact I assured Danny F., the head judge, that I was not rules lawyering when I automatically assumed that I would receive a game loss for my procedural error. I also left a good word for Jorel, and that was that: learn from the past, and head into the future with a clear head.

Oh yeah, Billy lost on time, and I think Vanessa lost one outright. Bummer.

Round Five: VS Trevyn Sergeant, from Dallas/Fort Worth (Infernape/Delcatty)


Quite unlike the previous game, there was no drama, and also unlike the previous “weekend,” there was no bad luck…For me. All that happened was just me stomping about four or five lone basics. Sorry, Trevyn! (4-1)

Round Six: VS ???, from ??? (Garchomp/Delcatty)


Another decent Sentret start, going first versus a lone Smeargle. I Groped, and then he benched a Gible. At this point I’m thinking “SCORE,” as I had a Warp Point in hand, and could Baton pass it for a KO. I do just that, and put him into a real bind. Later, I setup comfortably, and prepared to lay the beat down on some Chompies. For some obscure reason, however, he says (paraphrased), “show me your Double Rainbow Energy translation.”

I reached for my deck box, passed it to the presiding judge, and then he said, “it’s not in here.” I then panicked, and realized that the translation must have fallen out of the box shortly after my fourth round. It was then ruled like an unexcused bathroom break: I must find a translation, but if the game went to time, then I would automatically lose as a result of wasting time. My main man, Adam G., is luckily able to pass me a translation from across the room, and I’m good to go! That “G.” as his last initial doesn’t stand for “Garcia”: it stands for “God,” plain and simple.

The game continued, and with only three prizes to go, I engineered several good Bring Downs; however, with less than ten minutes to go, his pace of play suddenly slowed down. Again, by a stroke of luck, a judge was nearby to observe said pace of play, and guarantee that we both moved reasonably. A few fifteen second energy attachments later, I won the game. (5-1)

Drama 2.0 aside, I have to thank Danny F. for a fair ruling, the available judge for observing us, and especially Adam G. for a timely save.

On an awesome note, Billy won yet again, meaning that we were both in a position to top cut! Vanessa also pulled a fourth win against a previous Worlds invitee, Matt Shepherd, showing not only the quality of my list, but her own natural talent at this game. Very nice!

…Unfortunately, someone up there (no, not Adam, but the other God) must not like me, because T.O.M. spit the following out for round seven: a sibling matchup…

Round Seven: VS Billy Kettler, from Denton (Magmortar/Absol/Claydol)

Billy started aggressively with a Magmar doing 20 T1, while I had an average one, opening with lone Ralts. I then Roseanne’d for Furret, and prepared my typical setup. The Furret went down very fast, about turn four I believe, so I responded with a Scramble/Gallade. Then, he promoted his Sableye…And the fun began. My board at that moment in time was unprepared for it, so I just Sonic Bladed. We kept flailing for a while, but I finally scored the KO on Sableye after a messy couple of turns. He then promoted another Magmortar for the KO, while I just promoted another Gallade to respond: three flipped prizes for 110. After a significant chunk of prolonged dueling, I finally won the game. (6-1)

After all was said and done, Vanessa shockingly went 5-2, for 13th place, Billy the same record, for 10th, and I made the top cut for the second weekend in a row.
Due to this event being on the lower attendance end for a seven rounder, three 5-2’s made the cut; however, they were all well-deserving of it (including last year’s winner, Kyle St. Charles, who used my favorite deck, Infernape).

Anyways, here’s how the bracket stacked up:

~~~TOP EIGHT~~~

Dana (1st seed 7-0; Banette/Lucario) VS Jordan (8th seed 5-2; Magmortar/Typhlosion/Delcatty)
Cory (4th seed 6-1; GGF) VS Johnny (5th seed 6-1; GGF)
Vincent (2nd seed 6-1; techy GGF) VS Jorel (7th seed 5-2; Exploud)
Adam (3rd seed 6-1; Magmortar) VS Kyle (6th seed 5-2; Infernape/Delcatty)

This week’s elite eight, despite being in a more random, field, had more archetypal qualifiers. The rogues that did make it are worth raising an eyebrow over, though:

-3 Gallade variants
-3 “Other” (Bancario, Exploud, Infernape)
-2 Magmortar variants

Once again, Gardelade, Magmortar, Banette, and Infernape did well, with only one “surprise” deck cutting (Electivire last week, and Exploud this week).
When I find out that my opponent, Cory, was playing mirror, I knew that I was in for yet another long game. I didn’t mind, though, because my mirror record was, and still is, stellar…

TOP EIGHT MATCH: VS Cory Dickman, of Waco/from Oregon (Gardelade/Furret/Dusknoir)


Game One: Like my first game of the day, we both started with Sentret, and also like that first game, I spent a lot of time engineering each and every one of my combos. He seemed to be pretty sharp as well, although I could certainly tell that his list wasn’t as geared towards blatant setup, relying on more random search cards alongside Celio (i.e., Dusk Ball). As a result, he didn’t get out Furret quite as fast.
After a long time, he declared the first KO: Lv. X’s Bring Down on one of my two benched Ralts. The next turn, I promoted a Gardevoir with a Scramble, and then Psychic Locked for a major edge in board Control. The following turn, I believe he Night Maintenanced that line back, Roseanne’d for the Ralts, and then hit me for a Psychic Lock, which I responded to with a Psychic Cut. That got Psychic cut right back, but then I Psychic Locked with a Strength Charm, dealing 140. At this point he promotes a second Gallade, and when he Rare Candied to Gardevoir, I was very worried about a Scramble, but fortunately he didn’t have it, and so the game just really fell in place for me from there. Gardevoir SW was ready to go after a night maintenance, and after a forty five minute duel, I won. (1-0)

Game Two: I have had bad experiences with time, and as a result, was conscious about playing considerably fast for this game. He didn’t have the same sense of urgency until it was too late, though, so it ended on time in my favor. While we didn’t complete the game, my board was primed to win the second game…Although we would have been playing for another twenty minutes, I’m sure. Great games, man. (2-0 time)

~~~Top Eight Results (winners in bold)~~~

Dana (1st seed) VS Jordan (8th seed) 2-0
Cory (4th seed) VS Johnny (5th seed)2-0 time
Vincent (2nd seed) VS Jorel (7th seed)2-0 time
Adam (3rd seed) VS Kyle (6th seed)2-0

FINAL FOUR: VS Jordan Dupuis, from Oklahoma (Magphlosion)


Game one:
both of our starts were good, so the course of the game depended somewhat on who declared the first KO. He was the aggressor, opting to spread some Fireball Bazooka damage early on, but that gave me a perfect chance to just go up and swipe the Maggy for 110. Jordan then was forced to stall for a bit before bringing up the next Magmortar, which allowed me valuable time to mess with his bench via Warp Point/Gallade and Bring Down. Mag #2 came roaring, but since he didn’t have the Level X, I just smacked it with another 110. Other than one really clever play he made with a tech Typhlosion delta (superb play-the only one that genuinely caught me off guard all day), I had comfortable control the whole time. He then scooped, and on to game #2! (1-0)

Game two:
weaker start for me, whereas so-so start (with good damage) for him. Since he opted to go first, his opening Magmar hit my opening Ralts for a nasty twenty. Knowing that the little bugger was an inherent target to Fireball Bazooka, I geared my setup towards compensating for it; that is, I had to Keen Eye pretty creatively. He does just that, so I later responded with a charm/scramble on my Gallade, scoring a simple KO. We shot back and forth for a bit, but I believe I was able to hit 130 with his second Magmortar (a Lv. X) came up. (2-0)

~~~Top Four Results~~~

Jordan (8th seed) VS Johnny (5th seed) 2-0
Vincent (2nd seed) VS Adam (3rd seed) 2-0

TOP TWO: VS Vincent Ochoa, from San Antonio (Gardevoir/Gallade/Furret/1-1 [?] Porygon 2/Cessation Crystal teched)

As you can tell from the deck description, this was a pretty wacky take on GGF, compared to his wife’s less complex, more straightforward Absol/Gallade. While he focuses a bit less on Gardevoir and Gardevoir Level X than most versions do, he actually made Cessation work really well in tandem with Download and Telepass, thanks to his high Windstorm count.

Anyways…Onto the game:

Game One:
I know this leg of the report may seem like a let-down, but I honestly don’t have a lot to say about it. By now you’ve seen how all of my mirror matches have gone, and this one was no different. An interesting thing to note, though, was that I used his own Scott against him, searching for the game-winning Lake Boundary. Oh well, though, because Scott is the play in Porygon 2-anything. Sitting behind Furret made the Cessation quite easy to deal with, also. (1-0)

Game Two:
with about 25 minutes left, this game mirrored the second in my top eight match versus Cory: me playing pretty quickly, wanting to conserve time whenever I could, while he was a bit less considerate of it. He was, however, extremely considerate about the most important part of the game: actual playing. He had a greater understanding of all the techs I ran, and adjusted his play style accordingly. This game quickly played out like the first one, with him having a bit more of an advantage than last time, but time was called. I simply extended the hand…But not before futilely requesting a time extension “just because,” he he. This was another that I felt was mine to win, but time brought that into question, and hey, when you’re having a good mirror match, time is of the essence. Excellent games, Vincent. (2-0 time)

~~~Final Result~~~

Johnny (5th seed) VS Vincent (2nd seed) 2-0 time

1st: Johnny (GGF)
2nd: Vincent (GGF)
3rd: Adam (Magphlosion)
4th: Jordan (Magphlosion)
5th: Dana (Bancario)
6th: Cory (GGF)
7th: Kyle (Infernape)
8th: Jorel (Exploud)

What I could have done better for this event: I corrected just about every problem from last week. Despite that, I also obviously could have been careful in my fourth round, and should have checked every round for my translation. Keep in mind, guys, that if you “use” translations, just checking for sixty cards every round is not enough! Eventually, someone will actually want to see it.

What I plan to do for next event: I am most definitely looking forward to next month’s Southern Plains Regional. Not only am I the defending champion, but I’m also now ranked #1 in Texas.

But yeah, what I’m getting at here is that I have a lot more work to do, so that I might keep this success rolling. With an 84% win record, a surprising ranking, and a slew of successful finishes, I have a lot to boast, but also a lot to watch out for, and certainly reasons to stay humble…Such as that round four loss. However, it was exactly what I needed to get a clear head.

As a special note, I have only played in Texas States three times...But of those times, I have always made finals, getting 2nd, 1st, and 1st…Now isn't that halfway decent? I guess I "am" immovable...

…But speaking of immovable objects, I really need sleep…So…G’night.

~John Kettler/Cyrus
 
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It’s just worth keeping in mind that we’re all infallible, especially when we can go from planning twenty turns in advance…To illegally using powers with Cessation Crystal in play.

I think you mean that none of us is infallible. ;)

First at States and first in NA! Not too shabby.
 
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Defending Texas States Winner?

Um, sorry but that was Kyle From '07.

Great Read, btw! Too bad my games decided to NOT show up, otherwise you would have had to battle my Anti-GG/GGF Magmortar :wink:. (Time to retire Mag and move onto my New Metagame Winng Deck for Regionals. (THANK GOODNESS no set was released before it))
 
RE rerisen: Thanks, and a very good job on your Oklahoma success! How did Missouri go?

RE Jason: Thanks, as well.

RE Clay: But I am the defending champion...Of the Southern Plains regional! But anyways, thanks go to you too, Clay, but even when it comes to Holon FF, well...We have ways to deal with these things (although it admittedly would've been the most difficult Mortar matchup of all) :)

RE Hitmonchan: TY. My luck wasn't "that" good last week, to be fair, but I corrected that, and as a result I had good starts every game.

RE Pablo: mwahaha.
 
Congrats kettler if i had to lose my 1st spot im glad it was to you. I still wish it was me and you in the finals, so we could see who was the real immovable object
 
RE rerisen: Thanks, and a very good job on your Oklahoma success! How did Missouri go?

RE Jason: Thanks, as well.

RE Clay: But I am the defending champion...Of the Southern Plains regional! But anyways, thanks go to you too, Clay, but even when it comes to Holon FF, well...We have ways to deal with these things (although it admittedly would've been the most difficult Mortar matchup of all) :)

RE Hitmonchan: TY. My luck wasn't "that" good last week, to be fair, but I corrected that, and as a result I had good starts every game.

RE Pablo: mwahaha.

I had other TecHs in their as well. :thumb:
 
GJ Kettler!! Glad to see you back in the Saddle and playing with more fervor than ever after those mistakes. As I told you at Mesquite, it didn't surprise me to see you buckle down and get back into business mode after Jorel.

I feel I did my best at allowing the situation to resolve itself also, to me this is important and SOTG is critical! Top Notch Players deserve this option to play it out, but unfortunately miscellaneous time extensions can't be given. However it would have been interesting to watch you and Vincent keep Keen Eyeing each other til on of you decked!

See you at SPR!

Prof. Fish
 
RE all with kind greetings and nothing too specific: thanks a lot!

Re Adam: due to the DRE save, you're immovable...in my heart. Epic lulz.

Re DCP: nope, but to be honest, I think it might find use if "certain" cards become popular. Also, if it wasn't prized vs Jorel, I could have spent a lot of that game just Dragging Off randomly.

Re Clay: this sounded like too exciting of a matchup to not get a shot at. Do you wanna test it somtime 'cause it sounds like it would be a really top-notch game.

Re Danny: Haha, you certainly did a good job! As for my extension request, I should be a little honest and admit it was more selfish than selfless. Ever since that 2006 incident, it irks me to ever end games on time, but eh, I guess that's just how intense Gardelade mirrors go. Ugh, I hope I can steal your job for Battle Roads so you can pull the 28-0 thing this year. :p

Re MK: ilulabfam
 
RE all with kind greetings and nothing too specific: thanks a lot!

Re Adam: due to the DRE save, you're immovable...in my heart. Epic lulz.

Re DCP: nope, but to be honest, I think it might find use if "certain" cards become popular. Also, if it wasn't prized vs Jorel, I could have spent a lot of that game just Dragging Off randomly.

Re Clay: this sounded like too exciting of a matchup to not get a shot at. Do you wanna test it somtime 'cause it sounds like it would be a really top-notch game.

Re Danny: Haha, you certainly did a good job! As for my extension request, I should be a little honest and admit it was more selfish than selfless. Ever since that 2006 incident, it irks me to ever end games on time, but eh, I guess that's just how intense Gardelade mirrors go. Ugh, I hope I can steal your job for Battle Roads so you can pull the 28-0 thing this year. :p

Re MK: ilulabfam

Too bad BR's are only 8k, otherwise that 28-0 Would be SWEET!

And yes, we'll hae to play that matchup sometime...:thumb:
 
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