Hey everyone. I haven’t written a report in a while because I haven’t played any cool decks in a while, haha. I think the last time I wrote anything was for my Fall Regionals and BRs Garbodor deck.
For cities, I primarily played Blastoise (which wasn’t that fun but I did well with it), Ho-Oh/Mewtwo/Zekrom/Ninetails/Roserade/Virizion/Terrakion/Stuuuuff (which was fun, but I kept bubbling out), and Klinklang (which was SUPER fun but I freaking bubbled with it as well!). So I felt kind of discouraged because it seemed like I had to choose between having fun or being competitive, which sucked. I chose the competitive option for Winter Regionals, playing Blastoise, and did not have ANY fun at all, and as a result did pretty horrible.
So I was really discouraged until I came across an article about Empoleon/Dusknoir/Landorus on Colin Moll’s pokemon site (I hope that’s ok to say here..), and it really inspired me to give the deck a try. The deck grabbed my attention for a few reasons: 1. Aesthetically, I like evolution decks more than basic decks, always have, and always will. Decks that require set up feel like more of a challenge to me, and I always appreciate a deck that takes a lot of in-game thought. Plus I’ve always wanted to utilize Dusknoir’s ability. I think it’s one of the greatest abilities ever printed. 2. Strategically, the deck just makes sense! With EXes being as popular as they are and Empoleon’s hp being as high as it is, in most situations you take 2 prizes every 2 turns while your opponent takes 1 prize every 2 turns, which just works out in your favor in the end (as long as you maintain your setup). And 3. Consistency. With Emolga early game, Tropical Beach for emergency situations, and Empoleon to keep you fresh mid-late game (especially after N), I like this deck’s ability to avoid the bad draw situation that basically every deck faces in the current meta. With consistency like that and the favorable prize trade, I thought it would be a great play for States.
So here’s the list:
4-1-4 Empoleon
2-0-2 Dusknoir
2 Landorus
1 Ditto
1 Emolga
17
A little bit about card choice here.
Ditto was MVP(okemon) all day for me. It’s sooo easy for this deck to drop a Ditto, then use Colress/Diving Draw to get Duskull, Candy, Dusknoir in one turn. I did it 5/7 games in Swiss, and it won me every game. If I had to make any changes at all to this deck, I would drop the Trop Beach (it never really helped) for a 2nd Ditto.
I say Ditto was MVP, but that’s only because it was the foundation for the deck’s real MVP, Dusknoir, to get on the field. Dusknoir moved about 500 damage during the tournament. One game he moved 240 damage for 4 prizes in one turn, one game he moved 20 damage to ko 2 pokemon and win the game. I love everything about Dusknoir.
1 Emolga is really nice too since it sets up the deck and helps Empoleon’s attack as well. Besides, this deck runs 2 Escape Rope and sending up Emolga is always nice.
4 Colress
4 N
3 Skyla
2 Juniper
3 Communication
1 Ultra Ball
1 Energy Search
1 Tropical Beach
4 Candy
4 Catcher
1 Gold Potion
1 Max Potion
2 Switch
2 Escape Rope
33
Gold Potion was my Ace Spec of choice in this deck because healing Landy/Empoleon can really swing matchups in your favor. If you can out-heal Darkrai (assuming they have a Max Potion or 2), then you have a greater shot of winning.
I only ran 2 Juniper because Colin Moll’s article suggested it, haha. The reasoning behind low Juniper/Ultra Ball counts is because this deck already discards a ton of cards with Diving draw, so it’s better to put stuff back in the deck sometimes.
4 Blend WFLM
4 Water
2 Fighting
10
So I went 6-1, finishing in 6th place out of 75, then losing in top 16 to my good friend Robert Shipp.
In swiss I beat 2 Ray Eels (which is basically an auto-win for this deck), 2 Darkrai (which is 50-50), 1 random Eels deck, and 1 Gothitelle Accelgor. My loss came to Hydreigon.
In top cut I lost to Big Basics (Tornadus Mewtwo Landy Bouf). I was donked G1 and then my set up was absolutely Blown Through (punpunpun) G2.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my little report and I hope you all have the best of luck and fun at your upcoming States. I really do wish the game could harken back to a time where games were determined by in-game strategy, because it was assumed that you would set up and stay consistent. It seems like now-a-days (old ppl use that phrase..) games are determined by who draws a supporter, rather than actual deck vs deck strategy to each deck’s full potential. But oh well, the game goes through these phases sometimes. We just have to learn to work through them. Evolve or die, right?
For cities, I primarily played Blastoise (which wasn’t that fun but I did well with it), Ho-Oh/Mewtwo/Zekrom/Ninetails/Roserade/Virizion/Terrakion/Stuuuuff (which was fun, but I kept bubbling out), and Klinklang (which was SUPER fun but I freaking bubbled with it as well!). So I felt kind of discouraged because it seemed like I had to choose between having fun or being competitive, which sucked. I chose the competitive option for Winter Regionals, playing Blastoise, and did not have ANY fun at all, and as a result did pretty horrible.
So I was really discouraged until I came across an article about Empoleon/Dusknoir/Landorus on Colin Moll’s pokemon site (I hope that’s ok to say here..), and it really inspired me to give the deck a try. The deck grabbed my attention for a few reasons: 1. Aesthetically, I like evolution decks more than basic decks, always have, and always will. Decks that require set up feel like more of a challenge to me, and I always appreciate a deck that takes a lot of in-game thought. Plus I’ve always wanted to utilize Dusknoir’s ability. I think it’s one of the greatest abilities ever printed. 2. Strategically, the deck just makes sense! With EXes being as popular as they are and Empoleon’s hp being as high as it is, in most situations you take 2 prizes every 2 turns while your opponent takes 1 prize every 2 turns, which just works out in your favor in the end (as long as you maintain your setup). And 3. Consistency. With Emolga early game, Tropical Beach for emergency situations, and Empoleon to keep you fresh mid-late game (especially after N), I like this deck’s ability to avoid the bad draw situation that basically every deck faces in the current meta. With consistency like that and the favorable prize trade, I thought it would be a great play for States.
So here’s the list:
4-1-4 Empoleon
2-0-2 Dusknoir
2 Landorus
1 Ditto
1 Emolga
17
A little bit about card choice here.
Ditto was MVP(okemon) all day for me. It’s sooo easy for this deck to drop a Ditto, then use Colress/Diving Draw to get Duskull, Candy, Dusknoir in one turn. I did it 5/7 games in Swiss, and it won me every game. If I had to make any changes at all to this deck, I would drop the Trop Beach (it never really helped) for a 2nd Ditto.
I say Ditto was MVP, but that’s only because it was the foundation for the deck’s real MVP, Dusknoir, to get on the field. Dusknoir moved about 500 damage during the tournament. One game he moved 240 damage for 4 prizes in one turn, one game he moved 20 damage to ko 2 pokemon and win the game. I love everything about Dusknoir.
1 Emolga is really nice too since it sets up the deck and helps Empoleon’s attack as well. Besides, this deck runs 2 Escape Rope and sending up Emolga is always nice.
4 Colress
4 N
3 Skyla
2 Juniper
3 Communication
1 Ultra Ball
1 Energy Search
1 Tropical Beach
4 Candy
4 Catcher
1 Gold Potion
1 Max Potion
2 Switch
2 Escape Rope
33
Gold Potion was my Ace Spec of choice in this deck because healing Landy/Empoleon can really swing matchups in your favor. If you can out-heal Darkrai (assuming they have a Max Potion or 2), then you have a greater shot of winning.
I only ran 2 Juniper because Colin Moll’s article suggested it, haha. The reasoning behind low Juniper/Ultra Ball counts is because this deck already discards a ton of cards with Diving draw, so it’s better to put stuff back in the deck sometimes.
4 Blend WFLM
4 Water
2 Fighting
10
So I went 6-1, finishing in 6th place out of 75, then losing in top 16 to my good friend Robert Shipp.
In swiss I beat 2 Ray Eels (which is basically an auto-win for this deck), 2 Darkrai (which is 50-50), 1 random Eels deck, and 1 Gothitelle Accelgor. My loss came to Hydreigon.
In top cut I lost to Big Basics (Tornadus Mewtwo Landy Bouf). I was donked G1 and then my set up was absolutely Blown Through (punpunpun) G2.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my little report and I hope you all have the best of luck and fun at your upcoming States. I really do wish the game could harken back to a time where games were determined by in-game strategy, because it was assumed that you would set up and stay consistent. It seems like now-a-days (old ppl use that phrase..) games are determined by who draws a supporter, rather than actual deck vs deck strategy to each deck’s full potential. But oh well, the game goes through these phases sometimes. We just have to learn to work through them. Evolve or die, right?
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