malikhisyam
New Member
I really did not have a deck to play for States, being totally honest here, I haven't been playing a lot lately as I've had numerous personal reasons and have been filled with a super busy schedule. Had a big test the day before States too, in which I passed. 
And so, going into a tournament after a successful Cities run, I had high hopes on keeping my record up, if only I had the right deck. Steelix has been my favourite deck up till now, but I just thought of playing something different. Steelix is a big risk too, it's quite hard to play against time.
I did help Curran playtest over Skype against Steelix, with him using a MachamPlume deck which he took to a 19-2 run in the States so I thought to myself, why not run it myself ? I was expecting very little Gengar here and loads of SP, especially after the recently concluded Singapore State Championships which saw a lot of Luxchomps in the Top16. And so, I came into the tournament only with knowledge of playing AGAINST the deck I would be running, which I know is a big gamble, but it paid off and I had known most of the deck's tricks after being demonstrated to me by Curran. I have to admit though, I learned a lot of new things about the deck itself during the course of the tournament.
Round 1 vs Adwin L. (LuxChompDialga)
I had a pretty good start, getting Vileplume up quite early but struggled a bit in getting the cards I need for my attackers. I managed to get one Machamp out but struggled in getting a second. Rescue energy was key in this game, and we traded KOs until at one point he couldn't do much against my side of the field. I noticed he struggled to get his Dialga GX back to the bench too ; he only level'd up twice to use a bunch of trainers, before PokeTurning it back. Pretty straightforward game, and I took the win.
1-0
Round 2 vs ? (Scizor/Umbreon)
Most annoying deck ever. -.- I took my time setting up two separate Machamps, had to use SF Champ to handle Umbreon, and Champ Prime with no Specials for Scizors. He took the first prize but after that it was pretty straightforward, we traded KOs but in the end he ran out of resources and couldn't do much damage against my field. Champ Buster swept his side, until he slowed things back down with an Umbreon. Annoying lol. Had to seeker up a benched Champ Prime and replace it with Takeout Champ, and knocked the Umbreon later on, before proceeding to sweep his field with Champ Busterrrrr.
2-0
Round 3 vs Jit How C. (LuxChomp)
I start second to his lone Bronzong G. This was pure luck, my opening hand had Machop, Fighting Energy, Machoke and BTS. My first card I drew into was Machamp SF. I started with Smeargle and potrait'd into a Collector, fetching Unown Q to retreat into a Takeout. Sorry man. It's okay we had better games in Top2.
3-0
Round 4 vs Belp F. (LuxChomp)
He donked me at Singapore Cities haha, so it's nice to play against him again, and maybe redeem myself.
I set up finely with Spiritomb, getting Vileplume and Machamp pretty early. He uses his Luxchomp X to Bright Look Vileplume out and KOs it with Uxie X's Zen Blade. I believe this is what gave me game, as taking his Uxie X out early was very crucial. I returned with a Takeout on the Uxie X and it went pretty downhill for him from then on, although he played with no trainer lock, I think I won by 3 prizes.
4-0
Round 5 vs Swee Kim Y. (DialgaChomp)
He didn't wanna play this game ; his hand was pretty trashy. =.='' I got early Machamps out and started sweeping fast. Finished this game up pretty quickly.
5-0
Undefeated into topcut. Wheeeeeee. So topcut looks something like this :
1st Me ChamPlume
2nd Belp LuxChomp
3rd Jit How LuxChomp
4th Dennis Gyarados
AND I FACE THE ONLY GYARADOS IN THE TOURNAMENT LOL. I'm up for a really good game, matchup is pretty much 50-50.
Top4 vs Dennis P. (Gyarados)
Game 1
He managed to get Karps in his discard pretty fast, but struggled to get a Gyarados out. I took advantage of this and took early prizes with Machamp SF while setting up a Prime on the bench. Once he got the Gyarados out I went into a Machamp Prime loop, discarding his Rescue Energies twice on one Gyaradosm and eventually taking it out. He struggled in this game, flipping tails on almost every trainer in his deck. Oh btw, I believe he managed to bench his Dialga GX this game, which explains how he used all those trainers. He managed to come back a bit, but Rescue Energy was really good, getting my Champ Primes back, and Regirock supplying energies from the discard pile, and eventually I won this game by 2 prizes IIRC. 1-0
Game 2
He managed to rush me really early, and I didn't manage to setup at all. Didn't manage to set a Vileplume due to his early Gyarados striking, but I did manage to get 2 Machamp Primes running and going into a Machamp loop. I made a crucial misplay in this game though, attaching a fighting energy to a benched Choke instead of attaching Rescue energy to one of my two Machamp Primes. This probably cost me the game, as I had to play with one Machamp Prime against him. Regirock supplying energy and Rescue Energy on THAT Machamp kept me in the game though, as when he did KO my Machamp I would be able to evolve it right away on a Choke ready, and then get energies off Regirock. It wasn't an easy game though, one I believe I would have won had I attached that Rescue Energy instead. Playing with one Machamp Prime was not nice. :/ We brought prizes down to 1-1 and it was his turn. My Machamp Prime was still fresh, as he had used Reversals to pick targets off earlier. He took this game by Junk Arming a Warp Point and knocking out my benched Regirock. 1-1
Game 3
It was almost time, with around 7 minutes or so, we were told to play a normal game. At one point though, I had an active Spiritomb. It was his turn, and he uses Impersonate. The judge calls time, and next prize takes game. Therefore, he Impersonates a JUDGE to even things out, and cripple me pretty badly as I had already used an Uxie. Chances of getting another one would be slim but I was granted with the best hand anyone could ask for in the 4 cards. My hand was 1 fighting energy, 1 BTS, 1 Uxie and 1 Azelf. :O I can't recall what I drew into to start my turn, but I dropped the Azelf and fetched Unown Q from my prizes, throwing away the BTS (Had one in play). Used Quick on Spiritomb and dropped Uxie, drawing Machop, Bebe's Search, other cards and the last card was MACHAMP SF. Takeout gave me game.
And so, the deck again, while hating me during the course of ordinary games, it grants me with one of the dreamiest hands in my time of need. ONLY in my time of need lol.
6-0
Top2 vs Jit How C. (LuxChomp)
Game 1
This game was terrible haha. I managed to set Machamp up early but he Bright Look'd my Vileplume and LEFT IT THERE. Energy drought for me and I didn't manage to get it out of the active for a pretty long time. -.- He managed to set things up slowly and took targets off my bench, but at one point I came back with Machamp Prime, tagging the Vileplume for one energy it had earlier and started striking back. We traded prizes until it was 1-1 but he managed to take the last prize for game, Bright Looking something up for the knockout. 0-1
Game 2
I chose to go first, Gracing T1 for a Machoke, and attaching an energy to it. He benches and Uxie and doesn't do much under trainer lock. Next turn I seeker the Uxie back, retreat Spiritomb and Takeout for game, the Machamp coming from a Bebe. 1-1
Game 3
This was a REALLY fast paced game, I got a quick Champ, he got a quick Uxie X. I even got Rescue on Champ so that was a real bonus, and we traded prizes, but I had a single prize advantage as I took the Takeout first and eventually he started slowing back down. He Zen Blades my Machamp for the knockout and I send up Spiritomb with Q attached. I benched Machop, and evolve another Machop into Machoke, followed by using Copycat for 8 cards. I needed 3 cards to pile more pressure on him, Machamp, BTS and Fighting energy. And so I started drawing, first card, fighting energy. The next two cards were Machamp and BTS ! The whole crowd went "WOAHHHHHH !" and knowing what just happened, he scooped before I even drew my 5 remaining cards. I had 2 prizes left to his 4, and at losing his Uxie X, it probably wouldn't even be a game anymore. GG. 2-1
7-0
I won my first event in Masters ! I was ecstatic. My sister in Juniors was the lone junior, so she automatically won, but played against Seniors the whole day. She went 3-1 AGAINST SENIORS. So proud of her, 2 medals in the bag, a good double victory for the day although my sister technically won by default, but she still proved herself by beating 3 Seniors, so I'm very proud of her.
Maaaaajor props to Curran for the deck. Seriously man, you rock.
Props :
First win in Masters, undefeated
Double victory
Probably secured a rating invite now, I'm in pretty good position for it
Super friendly Singaporeans, you guys were really nice and it was great seeing some of the friends I made before, as well as making new friends
Ujin, for running a great tournament, and our first States tournament
Pulling 3 Smeargles from me and my sister's prizes lol
Machamp
Curran
Slops :
Late medals
No Worlds though, exams during Worlds. :'(
And so, going into a tournament after a successful Cities run, I had high hopes on keeping my record up, if only I had the right deck. Steelix has been my favourite deck up till now, but I just thought of playing something different. Steelix is a big risk too, it's quite hard to play against time. I did help Curran playtest over Skype against Steelix, with him using a MachamPlume deck which he took to a 19-2 run in the States so I thought to myself, why not run it myself ? I was expecting very little Gengar here and loads of SP, especially after the recently concluded Singapore State Championships which saw a lot of Luxchomps in the Top16. And so, I came into the tournament only with knowledge of playing AGAINST the deck I would be running, which I know is a big gamble, but it paid off and I had known most of the deck's tricks after being demonstrated to me by Curran. I have to admit though, I learned a lot of new things about the deck itself during the course of the tournament.
Round 1 vs Adwin L. (LuxChompDialga)
I had a pretty good start, getting Vileplume up quite early but struggled a bit in getting the cards I need for my attackers. I managed to get one Machamp out but struggled in getting a second. Rescue energy was key in this game, and we traded KOs until at one point he couldn't do much against my side of the field. I noticed he struggled to get his Dialga GX back to the bench too ; he only level'd up twice to use a bunch of trainers, before PokeTurning it back. Pretty straightforward game, and I took the win.
1-0
Round 2 vs ? (Scizor/Umbreon)
Most annoying deck ever. -.- I took my time setting up two separate Machamps, had to use SF Champ to handle Umbreon, and Champ Prime with no Specials for Scizors. He took the first prize but after that it was pretty straightforward, we traded KOs but in the end he ran out of resources and couldn't do much damage against my field. Champ Buster swept his side, until he slowed things back down with an Umbreon. Annoying lol. Had to seeker up a benched Champ Prime and replace it with Takeout Champ, and knocked the Umbreon later on, before proceeding to sweep his field with Champ Busterrrrr.
2-0
Round 3 vs Jit How C. (LuxChomp)
I start second to his lone Bronzong G. This was pure luck, my opening hand had Machop, Fighting Energy, Machoke and BTS. My first card I drew into was Machamp SF. I started with Smeargle and potrait'd into a Collector, fetching Unown Q to retreat into a Takeout. Sorry man.
It's okay we had better games in Top2. 3-0
Round 4 vs Belp F. (LuxChomp)
He donked me at Singapore Cities haha, so it's nice to play against him again, and maybe redeem myself.
I set up finely with Spiritomb, getting Vileplume and Machamp pretty early. He uses his Luxchomp X to Bright Look Vileplume out and KOs it with Uxie X's Zen Blade. I believe this is what gave me game, as taking his Uxie X out early was very crucial. I returned with a Takeout on the Uxie X and it went pretty downhill for him from then on, although he played with no trainer lock, I think I won by 3 prizes.
4-0
Round 5 vs Swee Kim Y. (DialgaChomp)
He didn't wanna play this game ; his hand was pretty trashy. =.='' I got early Machamps out and started sweeping fast. Finished this game up pretty quickly.
5-0
Undefeated into topcut. Wheeeeeee.
So topcut looks something like this :1st Me ChamPlume
2nd Belp LuxChomp
3rd Jit How LuxChomp
4th Dennis Gyarados
AND I FACE THE ONLY GYARADOS IN THE TOURNAMENT LOL. I'm up for a really good game, matchup is pretty much 50-50.
Top4 vs Dennis P. (Gyarados)
Game 1
He managed to get Karps in his discard pretty fast, but struggled to get a Gyarados out. I took advantage of this and took early prizes with Machamp SF while setting up a Prime on the bench. Once he got the Gyarados out I went into a Machamp Prime loop, discarding his Rescue Energies twice on one Gyaradosm and eventually taking it out. He struggled in this game, flipping tails on almost every trainer in his deck. Oh btw, I believe he managed to bench his Dialga GX this game, which explains how he used all those trainers. He managed to come back a bit, but Rescue Energy was really good, getting my Champ Primes back, and Regirock supplying energies from the discard pile, and eventually I won this game by 2 prizes IIRC. 1-0
Game 2
He managed to rush me really early, and I didn't manage to setup at all. Didn't manage to set a Vileplume due to his early Gyarados striking, but I did manage to get 2 Machamp Primes running and going into a Machamp loop. I made a crucial misplay in this game though, attaching a fighting energy to a benched Choke instead of attaching Rescue energy to one of my two Machamp Primes. This probably cost me the game, as I had to play with one Machamp Prime against him. Regirock supplying energy and Rescue Energy on THAT Machamp kept me in the game though, as when he did KO my Machamp I would be able to evolve it right away on a Choke ready, and then get energies off Regirock. It wasn't an easy game though, one I believe I would have won had I attached that Rescue Energy instead. Playing with one Machamp Prime was not nice. :/ We brought prizes down to 1-1 and it was his turn. My Machamp Prime was still fresh, as he had used Reversals to pick targets off earlier. He took this game by Junk Arming a Warp Point and knocking out my benched Regirock. 1-1
Game 3
It was almost time, with around 7 minutes or so, we were told to play a normal game. At one point though, I had an active Spiritomb. It was his turn, and he uses Impersonate. The judge calls time, and next prize takes game. Therefore, he Impersonates a JUDGE to even things out, and cripple me pretty badly as I had already used an Uxie. Chances of getting another one would be slim but I was granted with the best hand anyone could ask for in the 4 cards. My hand was 1 fighting energy, 1 BTS, 1 Uxie and 1 Azelf. :O I can't recall what I drew into to start my turn, but I dropped the Azelf and fetched Unown Q from my prizes, throwing away the BTS (Had one in play). Used Quick on Spiritomb and dropped Uxie, drawing Machop, Bebe's Search, other cards and the last card was MACHAMP SF. Takeout gave me game.
And so, the deck again, while hating me during the course of ordinary games, it grants me with one of the dreamiest hands in my time of need. ONLY in my time of need lol.
6-0
Top2 vs Jit How C. (LuxChomp)
Game 1
This game was terrible haha. I managed to set Machamp up early but he Bright Look'd my Vileplume and LEFT IT THERE. Energy drought for me and I didn't manage to get it out of the active for a pretty long time. -.- He managed to set things up slowly and took targets off my bench, but at one point I came back with Machamp Prime, tagging the Vileplume for one energy it had earlier and started striking back. We traded prizes until it was 1-1 but he managed to take the last prize for game, Bright Looking something up for the knockout. 0-1
Game 2
I chose to go first, Gracing T1 for a Machoke, and attaching an energy to it. He benches and Uxie and doesn't do much under trainer lock. Next turn I seeker the Uxie back, retreat Spiritomb and Takeout for game, the Machamp coming from a Bebe.
1-1Game 3
This was a REALLY fast paced game, I got a quick Champ, he got a quick Uxie X. I even got Rescue on Champ so that was a real bonus, and we traded prizes, but I had a single prize advantage as I took the Takeout first and eventually he started slowing back down. He Zen Blades my Machamp for the knockout and I send up Spiritomb with Q attached. I benched Machop, and evolve another Machop into Machoke, followed by using Copycat for 8 cards. I needed 3 cards to pile more pressure on him, Machamp, BTS and Fighting energy. And so I started drawing, first card, fighting energy. The next two cards were Machamp and BTS ! The whole crowd went "WOAHHHHHH !" and knowing what just happened, he scooped before I even drew my 5 remaining cards. I had 2 prizes left to his 4, and at losing his Uxie X, it probably wouldn't even be a game anymore. GG. 2-1
7-0
I won my first event in Masters ! I was ecstatic. My sister in Juniors was the lone junior, so she automatically won, but played against Seniors the whole day. She went 3-1 AGAINST SENIORS. So proud of her, 2 medals in the bag, a good double victory for the day although my sister technically won by default, but she still proved herself by beating 3 Seniors, so I'm very proud of her.
Maaaaajor props to Curran for the deck. Seriously man, you rock.
Props :
First win in Masters, undefeated
Double victory
Probably secured a rating invite now, I'm in pretty good position for it
Super friendly Singaporeans, you guys were really nice and it was great seeing some of the friends I made before, as well as making new friends
Ujin, for running a great tournament, and our first States tournament
Pulling 3 Smeargles from me and my sister's prizes lol
Machamp
Curran
Slops :
Late medals
No Worlds though, exams during Worlds. :'(
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