PhadedPhione
New Member
3rd place - Idaho States
Disclaimer: I tried my best to remember what I played and how I played, but this report is to the best of my knowledge and memory since my note taking paper was soaked by the puncture of an energy drink can at some point. (My bag still smells like Rockstar, and no Pokemon cards were harmed at any point between the leaked drink and the matched played.)
Last year, I meta-gamed incorrectly at States and did badly. This year, I playtested correctly and played a deck I had experience with and felt great playing with. The episode started with leaving my Saturday morning Philosophy class early after realizing that the tournament time was an hour before I thought it was. My wife and I had car problems and made it to States with eight minutes to spare. Having had these kinds of debacles happen before, I always write out and separate my deck for deck checks in advance.
I played DIalga G, which should have been no surprise to anyone who plays in Idaho. I’ve been playing Dialga G for a year, and outside of playing other partially inconsistent decks. (Gyarados last season, Jumpluff without Claydol etc.). I briefly entertained the idea of playing Sablelock for a few weeks, but I didn’t feel the deck was a perfect fit. After the end of the last City Championship, I didn’t playtest much with sixteen semester hours for spring.
My decklist was unchanged from Cities:
1 Ambipom G
1 Bronzong G
1 Crobat G
2-2 Dialga G
2 Dragonite FB
2-2 Garchomp C
1 Lucario GL
1-1 Luxray GL
3-1 Uxie
1 Aaron’s Collection
1 Bebe’s Search
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
3 Pokemon Collector
1 Premier Ball
3 Professor Oak’s New Theory
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 Poke Turn
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar
1 Warp Point
4 Double Colorless
1 Lightning Energy
4 Metal Energy (Basic)
3 Warp Energy
Round One - Trenton
One of the best players in Idaho, he was playing Gengar (Prime and SF). He started with a weak draw and tried his best to hang in the game, pulling KOs with Shadow Room and Cursed Droplets, but I pulled away in prizes and he couldn’t recover. It’s always terrible in my opinion to start off an event with rounds like this one.
1-0
Round Two - Cameron
The Tournament Organizer’s son, a good player who now plays for fun. He was playing the Mewperior combo deck, and this game began and ended with a Dialga G Lv. X on my third turn and I took half the prizes in this game with a Luxray GL.
2-0
(After the second round, we had a break for lunch. We drove to McDonald’s and bought some cheap food. There were some highly inappropriate jokes about drugs and drug usage, and other things that aren’t kosher during a Pokemon event and will only be mentioned in passing.)
Round Three - A nice gentleman playing Ursaring
He had a questionable draw, and failed six straight rolls for Dual Ball, which if they had resolved would have won him the game. I had no Power Spray or Cyrus’s this game.
3-0
Round Four - Brandon - SP Mirror
I started with an Ambipom G and a Garchomp C, used Collector to get two Dragonite FB and an Uxie. I pulled ahead in the prize count/resource attrition war and stayed ahead. Brandon made the Top Cut as well.
4-0
Round Five - Adam playing Mewperior
I stuck Dialga G Lv. X early, used a Warp Energy to land it safely on my bench and Power Spray-ed Bright Look. Adam had Houndoom G for DIalga G, so I had to outrace it or lose the game. Historically in tournaments, aside from this win, I was 0-5 against Adam in Pokemon events. He made the Top Cut as well. In my opinion, Adam is the Roger Federer of Pokemon in Idaho.
Round Six - Leslie - SP Mirror
I’m not certain where in the playtesting cycle he had switched to Dialga G. Usually, he runs a Tyranitar with anti-SP techs (Honchkrow SV and Machamp SF). This was a bloody game, we traded Dragonite FB’s, Garchomp C’s. He went into top-deck mode after using his entire Cyrus chain, and I pulled myself back into the game with superb top decking of Professor Oak’s New Theory. He made the Top Cut also.
6-0
The top cut was comprised of the following deck archetypes (not in standings order):
1. Arceus - Jeremy
2. Dialgachomp - Myself
3. Dialgachomp - Karl Kitchin
4. Dialgachomp - Brandon
5. Raichu - A Utah player
6. Mewperior - Adam
7. Gliscor/Gengar - A Utah Player
Dialgachomp - Leslie
(We had an even 4-4 split between Idaho and Utah this year. In previous years, Utah has won out our States.)
Quarterfinals - Leslie - SP Mirror (One more time with Feeling)
After the deck checks and all that, we shuffle up. Game one, I broke away in prizes early and he never drew out of the hole from the early turns. Game two was bloodier than in the swiss. We traded prizes, I searched through my deck and realized what was in the prize cards, and I bluffed some Power Sprays throughout the game knowing exactly where they were. We were tied in prizes, he had Dragonite FB out to my Uxie Lv. X. He had an energy to attach. He could have gone for the Giant Tail coinflip, but opted instead to attach elsewhere and put himself at the mercy of my last draw. I had a benched Garchomp C Lv. X with a Double Colorless and only needed to draw an Energy, all my Energy Gain’s were used, as was my Aaron’s. I drew the Warp Energy, attached it to Garchomp C Lv. X, retreated Uxie Lv. X and Dragon Rush-ed for the game with three cards left in my deck.
7-0 record, 2-0 game count.
(Dinner break - more McDonald’s, more inappropriate references, conversations were definitely not of the family-oriented Touched by an Angel stuff.)
Semi-Finals - Karl Kitchin - SP mirror
I didn’t know until after the match he did not play Power Spray, so I played both games carefully and didn’t go for some opportunities. Playing without Spray is a big gamble with a big payout. Game one, I was Deafen locked, staring at the useless SP Radars in my hand. He drew Collector and Dragon Rush-ed my lone Dialga G with the assistance of Flash Bites. Game Two, he did the usual SP mirror plays, got ahead and stayed ahead, utilizing Energy Exchangers to grab Double Colorless. He owned my bench with ease. Karl is a remarkable player and even though the match was lop-sided, it was definitely memorable and skill intensive.
7-1 record, 0-2 game count.
The top four was Arceus vs Dialga G, and Mirror Match. Karl advanced to the finals to play with winner of the Arceus vs. Dialga G match. Arceus won out in three games, I believe, against Brandon.
Finals - Arceus vs. Dialga G
The first game went to Karl and took thirty-six minutes. Game Two was short, with Arceus pulling ahead in prizes. Time was called, so game three was sudden death.
Karl started with Dialga G, Premier Ball-ed for Dialga G Lv. X, attached Double Colorless and passed the turn. Jeremy had the colorless Arceus in the active with an energy attached. Jeremy used Copycat, then attached a Double Colorless to his active Arceus and passed the turn. Jeremy used Collector for three Pokemon, the important one being Fire. He played them to his bench and waited. Karl played down another Dialga G, being unable to play any Pokemon with less than 90 HP due to Sky Spear.
He passed the turn. Everyone held their breath, Jeremy drew a fire energy, retreated his active Arceus, played Ultimate Zone, moving the Double Colorless on to the now active fire-type, attached the fire energy from his hand and bright flame-d for the match and the championship.
The finals match was the very essence of what Pokemon is all about. I came in third place overall, and I was more than satisfied with my performance as well as my deck’s nearly pristine run. Now I have to study for exams, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results from other State Championships as they happen.
Until Regionals, this is Idaho signing off.
---------- Post added 03/14/2011 at 01:35 PM ----------
Thread updated with tournament report.
---------- Post added 03/14/2011 at 01:36 PM ----------
Thread updated with tournament report.
Disclaimer: I tried my best to remember what I played and how I played, but this report is to the best of my knowledge and memory since my note taking paper was soaked by the puncture of an energy drink can at some point. (My bag still smells like Rockstar, and no Pokemon cards were harmed at any point between the leaked drink and the matched played.)
Last year, I meta-gamed incorrectly at States and did badly. This year, I playtested correctly and played a deck I had experience with and felt great playing with. The episode started with leaving my Saturday morning Philosophy class early after realizing that the tournament time was an hour before I thought it was. My wife and I had car problems and made it to States with eight minutes to spare. Having had these kinds of debacles happen before, I always write out and separate my deck for deck checks in advance.
I played DIalga G, which should have been no surprise to anyone who plays in Idaho. I’ve been playing Dialga G for a year, and outside of playing other partially inconsistent decks. (Gyarados last season, Jumpluff without Claydol etc.). I briefly entertained the idea of playing Sablelock for a few weeks, but I didn’t feel the deck was a perfect fit. After the end of the last City Championship, I didn’t playtest much with sixteen semester hours for spring.
My decklist was unchanged from Cities:
1 Ambipom G
1 Bronzong G
1 Crobat G
2-2 Dialga G
2 Dragonite FB
2-2 Garchomp C
1 Lucario GL
1-1 Luxray GL
3-1 Uxie
1 Aaron’s Collection
1 Bebe’s Search
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
3 Pokemon Collector
1 Premier Ball
3 Professor Oak’s New Theory
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 Poke Turn
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar
1 Warp Point
4 Double Colorless
1 Lightning Energy
4 Metal Energy (Basic)
3 Warp Energy
Round One - Trenton
One of the best players in Idaho, he was playing Gengar (Prime and SF). He started with a weak draw and tried his best to hang in the game, pulling KOs with Shadow Room and Cursed Droplets, but I pulled away in prizes and he couldn’t recover. It’s always terrible in my opinion to start off an event with rounds like this one.
1-0
Round Two - Cameron
The Tournament Organizer’s son, a good player who now plays for fun. He was playing the Mewperior combo deck, and this game began and ended with a Dialga G Lv. X on my third turn and I took half the prizes in this game with a Luxray GL.
2-0
(After the second round, we had a break for lunch. We drove to McDonald’s and bought some cheap food. There were some highly inappropriate jokes about drugs and drug usage, and other things that aren’t kosher during a Pokemon event and will only be mentioned in passing.)
Round Three - A nice gentleman playing Ursaring
He had a questionable draw, and failed six straight rolls for Dual Ball, which if they had resolved would have won him the game. I had no Power Spray or Cyrus’s this game.
3-0
Round Four - Brandon - SP Mirror
I started with an Ambipom G and a Garchomp C, used Collector to get two Dragonite FB and an Uxie. I pulled ahead in the prize count/resource attrition war and stayed ahead. Brandon made the Top Cut as well.
4-0
Round Five - Adam playing Mewperior
I stuck Dialga G Lv. X early, used a Warp Energy to land it safely on my bench and Power Spray-ed Bright Look. Adam had Houndoom G for DIalga G, so I had to outrace it or lose the game. Historically in tournaments, aside from this win, I was 0-5 against Adam in Pokemon events. He made the Top Cut as well. In my opinion, Adam is the Roger Federer of Pokemon in Idaho.
Round Six - Leslie - SP Mirror
I’m not certain where in the playtesting cycle he had switched to Dialga G. Usually, he runs a Tyranitar with anti-SP techs (Honchkrow SV and Machamp SF). This was a bloody game, we traded Dragonite FB’s, Garchomp C’s. He went into top-deck mode after using his entire Cyrus chain, and I pulled myself back into the game with superb top decking of Professor Oak’s New Theory. He made the Top Cut also.
6-0
The top cut was comprised of the following deck archetypes (not in standings order):
1. Arceus - Jeremy
2. Dialgachomp - Myself
3. Dialgachomp - Karl Kitchin
4. Dialgachomp - Brandon
5. Raichu - A Utah player
6. Mewperior - Adam
7. Gliscor/Gengar - A Utah Player
Dialgachomp - Leslie
(We had an even 4-4 split between Idaho and Utah this year. In previous years, Utah has won out our States.)
Quarterfinals - Leslie - SP Mirror (One more time with Feeling)
After the deck checks and all that, we shuffle up. Game one, I broke away in prizes early and he never drew out of the hole from the early turns. Game two was bloodier than in the swiss. We traded prizes, I searched through my deck and realized what was in the prize cards, and I bluffed some Power Sprays throughout the game knowing exactly where they were. We were tied in prizes, he had Dragonite FB out to my Uxie Lv. X. He had an energy to attach. He could have gone for the Giant Tail coinflip, but opted instead to attach elsewhere and put himself at the mercy of my last draw. I had a benched Garchomp C Lv. X with a Double Colorless and only needed to draw an Energy, all my Energy Gain’s were used, as was my Aaron’s. I drew the Warp Energy, attached it to Garchomp C Lv. X, retreated Uxie Lv. X and Dragon Rush-ed for the game with three cards left in my deck.
7-0 record, 2-0 game count.
(Dinner break - more McDonald’s, more inappropriate references, conversations were definitely not of the family-oriented Touched by an Angel stuff.)
Semi-Finals - Karl Kitchin - SP mirror
I didn’t know until after the match he did not play Power Spray, so I played both games carefully and didn’t go for some opportunities. Playing without Spray is a big gamble with a big payout. Game one, I was Deafen locked, staring at the useless SP Radars in my hand. He drew Collector and Dragon Rush-ed my lone Dialga G with the assistance of Flash Bites. Game Two, he did the usual SP mirror plays, got ahead and stayed ahead, utilizing Energy Exchangers to grab Double Colorless. He owned my bench with ease. Karl is a remarkable player and even though the match was lop-sided, it was definitely memorable and skill intensive.
7-1 record, 0-2 game count.
The top four was Arceus vs Dialga G, and Mirror Match. Karl advanced to the finals to play with winner of the Arceus vs. Dialga G match. Arceus won out in three games, I believe, against Brandon.
Finals - Arceus vs. Dialga G
The first game went to Karl and took thirty-six minutes. Game Two was short, with Arceus pulling ahead in prizes. Time was called, so game three was sudden death.
Karl started with Dialga G, Premier Ball-ed for Dialga G Lv. X, attached Double Colorless and passed the turn. Jeremy had the colorless Arceus in the active with an energy attached. Jeremy used Copycat, then attached a Double Colorless to his active Arceus and passed the turn. Jeremy used Collector for three Pokemon, the important one being Fire. He played them to his bench and waited. Karl played down another Dialga G, being unable to play any Pokemon with less than 90 HP due to Sky Spear.
He passed the turn. Everyone held their breath, Jeremy drew a fire energy, retreated his active Arceus, played Ultimate Zone, moving the Double Colorless on to the now active fire-type, attached the fire energy from his hand and bright flame-d for the match and the championship.
The finals match was the very essence of what Pokemon is all about. I came in third place overall, and I was more than satisfied with my performance as well as my deck’s nearly pristine run. Now I have to study for exams, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results from other State Championships as they happen.
Until Regionals, this is Idaho signing off.
---------- Post added 03/14/2011 at 01:35 PM ----------
Thread updated with tournament report.
---------- Post added 03/14/2011 at 01:36 PM ----------
Thread updated with tournament report.