I’d settled on Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise since the New Jersey Marathon, where it took 2 of the 4 events. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any of the cards to play it during Cities, as I had dismissed Blastoise as mediocre in the early stages of City Championships (which the early builds were), so I’d have to buy and trade for everything. PokeGym trades and eBay provided everything for the deck, except 1 Tropical Beach which PokePop was kind enough to sell to me. The first list I drew up would end up being just 2 cards different from the one I would end up playing at Regionals (-1 N, -1 Skyla, +1 Blastoise, +1 Bianca).
Miro and I played in the weeks leading up to the event to try out various cards like Super Scoop Up, Max Potion, Cilan, Level Ball, Heavy Ball and Kyurem, as well as different supporter and item counts. I decided healing cards were too situational and maximizing consistency was the way to go. The last list I had while playing at the open game room in the hotel had a Level Ball and Heavy Ball over 2 Water Energy, but I decided they, too, were situational. Miro would go with Eelektrik because he loves Eels (if he loved winning more, he would’ve played a different deck lol).
We left for Virginia early Friday morning, with Raymond, Sam and his girlfriend joining us in the car. Raymond and Sam would play Darkrai EX/Hydreigon and she would play Mewtwo EX/Tornadus EX/Bouffalant/Eelektrik. Miro had a Zekrom and Zekrom EX in the deck, as well.
Funny story. Friday night Miro asks Jason Klaczynski for a game. They start a conversation which leads to Jason making a remark about how Miro looks like a typical New York guy (not untrue, since he was wearing a sleeveless shirt at the time). Then he asks if Miro is a well known player and says something to the effect of “yeah, then how come I’ve never heard of you?” Then Jason asks every person in the room if they know Miro and since they are all from the Northeast area, everyone says yes. Jason is stumped that he is unable to find a single person who doesn’t know him. It’s all in good fun and they play a game afterwards, in which Jason beats the bejeezus out of him (not really, it was a close game).
Saturday morning we meet with Mark Garcia, who came all the way from California to scout a college in the area. He is a multiple Worlds competitor and one of the big names in the field IMO. He’s playing Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant and we have time for a few practice games before the tournament starts.
My list and deck choice were partially influenced by Mark Garcia’s and especially Kenny Britton’s success with Blastoise in the SoCal Marathon. Kenny went on an unbelievable tear with it, making finals 3 out of 5 times winning 2 of them and top 4 at another. Thanks for your help!
Here is the deck I used. As usual in my reports, I don’t mind giving it out because the release of Plasma Storm makes it completely obsolete. Not that it’s groundbreaking or anything, but so many players get caught up in adding cards for every deck and situation under the sun and end up diluting the main strategy. I was 100% satisfied with this list before and after the tournament, which is something I can say for only a few events in the last 2 seasons.
Pokemon (13)
4-0-3 Blastoise
3 Keldeo EX
2 Mewtwo EX
1 Keldeo #47 (Hydro Pump)
Trainers (33)
4 Professor Juniper
4 N
4 Skyla
2 Bianca
4 Rare Candy
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Ultra Ball
4 Energy Retrieval
1 Computer Search
2 Tropical Beach
Energy (14)
14 Water Energy
Tournament: Virginia Winter Regional Championship
Deck: Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise
Age Division: Masters
Attendance: 280
Structure: 9 rounds of swiss on Saturday and top 32 through finals on Sunday
Day 1: Swiss
Round 1: Tyler Zikorus (Darkrai EX/Terrakion/Mewtwo EX)
I go first with Keldeo EX to his Mewtwo EX, get a couple of Squirtle in play and Tropical Beach for more cards. He is only able to N without getting any Pokemon or energy in play. I Rare Candy into Blastoise, but don’t have the energy to Secret Sword yet. He plays N again, doesn’t get anything of importance and passes the turn. I Secret Sword Mewtwo EX for 110. He retreats to Darkrai EX, attaches a Dark Energy to it and passes. The rest of the game is Keldeo EX knocking out the Mewtwo EX, Darkrai EX, a Terrakion and Sableye as he is unable to set up any sort of offense. GG
1-0
Round 2: ??? (Darkrai EX/Hydreigon)
He goes first, gets a Sableye, Darkrai EX and Deino in play and either passes or Junk Hunts if Sableye was active. I get a Keldeo EX and a couple of Squirtle and Beach. He doesn’t get a second Deino with a search card, leaving me to believe the rest are prized. I set up Blastoise turn 2 or 3, Catcher the Deino and Secret Sword. He begins powering up a Sigilyph with Eviolite while I take a prize on Sableye. I spend the next few turns using Tropical Beach to draw the energy needed for Blastoise to OHKO Sigilyph because Keldeo #47 wasn’t accessible at the time. This gives him time to build up energy on his field. The turn he attacks with Darkrai is the turn I decide to go for Hydro Pump. I Catcher the Sigilyph and N, needing to draw a Single Water Energy or Energy Retrieval to get the 5th energy for Blastoise, but miss, allowing him to retreat after a hit for 80. My board and prize position is still much superior, as I am able to take advantage of Hydreigon’s absence to 2HKO Darkrai EX with Keldeo EX. In addition, I get another Catcher to finish off the damaged Sigilyph. He is finally able to get Hydreigon into play after a Super Rod/Ultra Ball combo and make a last effort Shaymin EX play, but my lead is insurmountable at that point and I am able to Secret Sword for the last prize. Definitely one of the better games of swiss I played that day. GG
2-0
Round 3: Nicholas Allmon (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
I go first with a perfect setup, getting Rare Candy Blastoise turn 2, along with 3 energy and Catcher from my N to KO his only Squirtle in play. The following turn I KO another Squirtle, then Secret Sword 2 EX’s for 170 to win the game 6-0. GG
3-0
Round 4: Austin Reed (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Pretty much the exact opposite. I go first, but don’t get a turn 2 Blastoise. That turn I had a decision whether to N or Juniper. He used my Tropical Beach for 7 on his first turn, meaning he wasn’t holding onto any cards like Rare Candy or Blastoise. I decided to Juniper. My reasoning was that the likelihood of him having Rare Candy + Blastoise was about as probable in 7 random cards as in the 8 random cards he would get from Beach + draw for the turn. My hand also consisted of nothing meaningful, only a Squirtle, Keldeo #47 and a couple of Water Energy. I go for it and draw Blastoise, Energy Retrieval, 4 Water Energy and a Juniper. I can’t even Beach for any cards because I already attached for the turn in anticipation of drawing the right cards. Unless I draw Rare Candy or Skyla next turn, I would have to Juniper all this away. To make things worse, he does Rare Candy into Blastoise turn 2, along with Juniper to end up with a Keldeo EX with 6 Water Energy OHKOing mine. I draw another Water Energy, Juniper away a lot of resources and still don’t get Blastoise. At this point, I’ve resigned to the fact that I lost. There’s no coming back from a turn 2 170 without a Blastoise of your own. He 6-0’s me. GG
3-1
Round 5: Jacob Swiney (Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX)
I go first and get a turn 2 Blastoise, but don’t have the energy to attack, so I Beach. He doesn’t get a turn 2 Night Spear and when I’m attacking before a Darkrai EX is, it’s usually bad news for my opponent. This is the case as my Keldeo EX 2HKO’s a Darkrai EX. There was one awkward spot where he had both an Eviolited Mewtwo EX and a Darkrai EX with one energy on the bench. Both will take 7 Water Energy to OHKO and my Keldeo EX is already damaged, so I decide to go for Darkrai EX. I Catcher and Juniper, needing 2 or 3 energy, but miss by 1, settling for a 150 hit after attaching the energy I got to a benched Keldeo EX. It went down after that, but there was already too much damage on his field to mount any sort of comeback. I X-Ball his Mewtwo EX for the last 2 prizes. GG
4-1
Round 6: Eric Smith (Darkrai EX/Hydreigon)
This game is hard to describe because so many things happened. I tried to eliminate his access to Hydreigon, but he got 2 into play so I gave up on that strategy. His Eviolited Sigilyph also gave me trouble, as I had to go out of my way to knock it out with Blastoise because Keldeo #47 wasn’t available again. We maintain a close prize exchange until time is called. I’m turn 0. The prize count is 1-2 in my favor and I’m pretty sure he’s out of Catchers. I am as well. I have 2 Blastoise in play, 1 with 30 damage and another fresh one with 5 Water Energy. My bench consists of a Keldeo EX with 100 on it, a fresh Keldeo EX and 2 Mewtwo EX. Assuming he can’t hit my bench for more than 30, I bring up Blastoise and Hydro Pump an Eviolited Darkrai EX. He retreats to another Darkrai EX and Night Spears, putting 30 on 1 of the Mewtwo EX. I think for a minute and realize I can just bring up the undamaged Mewtwo EX and he would have no way to OHKO it with a full bench lacking a Mewtwo EX of his own. He sees the mistake in not simply taking the KO on Blastoise with Dragon Blast last turn and I win a very close game. GG
5-1
Round 7: Dylan Bryan
He refused to have his top 16 match against another player recorded, probably for deck secrecy reasons. If that’s the case I’ll respect that and not divulge what was in it. I’ll simply state that I had a commanding lead until I impulsively used my 4th Catcher without checking how many were left and without being able to take the KO. There’s a good chance I would’ve won without that mistake, but that play certainly sealed the game. GG
5-2
Round 8: Kim (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
I go first and Rare Candy into Blastoise before her with the energy for a 110 Secret Sword on her Keldeo EX, but decide to Tropical Beach for 4 because my hand was so bad and I would have no follow-up play. The extra cards may also give me 3 more Water Energy that would OHKO the Keldeo EX anyway. Also, the previous turn she N’d and just used Beach for 1 with 2 Squirtle in play. I thought it was unlikely that 2 extra cards would get her the Blastoise. My decision to Beach did give her the turn she needed to set up a Blastoise and get on even footing in board position. The game came down to her missing an energy or two from a Bianca to take the game and me having the Catcher and energy to OHKO a Keldeo EX for my last 2 prizes. We talked about the Tropical Beach play and I reasoned it was correct from my perspective without knowledge of her hand, but I can see her argument for attacking that turn as well. GG
6-2
Round 9: Brad Gustas (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Pretty much identical to my round 3 game. I go first and get a turn 2 Blastoise with 3 energy and a Catcher to KO his only Squirtle in play. I deny him Blastoise until it’s too late and sweep 6-0. I really hate being in this position, as we were both 6-2 and the loser was probably going to bubble out of top cut. I should’ve checked my resistance to see if I would’ve made it at 6-3. Going undefeated is much less stressful; I should’ve done that again. GG
7-2
We finish around 10 PM, which is the latest I’ve ever stayed at a tournament besides NY States 2012. I end up as 21st seed and find out I’m playing Jimmy McClure in top 32. It’s going to be a mirror match. Mark just barely missed top cut after a round 9 loss to Dylan. Miro (who played against 7 Blastoise decks throughout swiss lol) and Raymond were one game away from potentially making top cut and Sam missed on resistance. We talk about our day over Chinese food and McDonalds and go back to the hotel, where I get a few hours of sleep. I had very little sleep over the course of the whole tournament, but it never affects my concentration. Top cut begins at 8 AM and it’s held in a smaller room where the juniors and seniors were playing.
Day 2: Top Cut
Top 32: Jimmy McClure (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Game 1: I go first with a much better setup and he misses energy at crucial stages of the game that seals any chance he had of making a comeback. GG
Game 2: I set up faster despite going second and it’s very similar to the first game. I doubt our lists were that much different, it just came down to who drew better. Once you go down 2 prizes in this match up there’s virtually no coming back. GG
8-2
Top 16: David Sun (Rayquaza EX/Eelektrik)
This match was recorded by The Top Cut. You can watch it here. For the record, I didn't know David played no Catchers in his deck throughout the entire match, but after the first game I suspected he only played 1 or 2. GG
9-2
Top 8: Jimmy Pendarvis (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Game 1: I get the first prize, but he gets the first EX KO, so I am a turn behind in the prize race overall. That’s what it comes down to and I lose the game by 1 turn despite having everything needed to win. Jimmy, or the_cheating_bidoof, as he goes by on these forums, knocked me out of top 16 in Philadelphia this Autumn. Was I about to lose to him again? If you look at the title closely, no I wasn’t.
Game 2: We get similar setups, but my advantage of going first allowed me to maintain a prize lead through the entire game. GG
Game 3: We maintain a close exchange until he misses 2 Water Energy off a Juniper to KO an EX, which shifts the momentum in my favor. I’m able to OHKO a benched 3 energy Keldeo EX with my damaged 6 energy Keldeo EX to take the lead 2-4. He has the return KO with Blastoise, but that puts him in an awkward situation with no other energy in play. He also didn’t have an N that turn to shuffle in the Juniper I got with Skyla, allowing me to draw a bunch of Water Energy and Retrievals to Secret Sword the Blastoise for 170 and removing all energy from his field. There’s no possible response for this and he concedes. GG
10-2
Top 4: Dylan Bryan
Game 1: I have a slow start allowing his Kingler to suck out the innards of all my Squirtle. There was hope for a comeback, but he flips heads on Parasect’s ability to KO both Mewtwo EX at once. GG
Game 2: I take an early lead with a turn 2 Secret Sword KO on Krabby followed by a KO on Paras the turn after. However, I would’ve liked to have a Catcher that turn to prevent his Dewgong tech from having its way with my Pokemon. Of course the Dewgong comes out and since my cards are all full art and reverse holo I can’t damage it, allowing him to sweep the rest of the game. GG
10-3
OK, maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. It was closer to a 0-2 loss with me taking only a single prize throughout the match. I have to compliment Dylan on doing so well with a different deck. The run ended there, but I was happy to have made another stellar Regionals performance and get 90 CP, putting me at 327 total. I took Blastoise farther than anyone else in the tournament, which is awesome considering it was by far the most popular deck in presence. Congrats to Ray “cheese and macaroni” Cipoletti (that may not be the correct nickname) on winning the tournament with Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant. I’m excited for the next set and look forward to playing in a new format. This one wasn’t that great. If you see me at states say hi and I will passively respond with a generic response as if we met before.
-Michael Skoran (Hamster)
Miro and I played in the weeks leading up to the event to try out various cards like Super Scoop Up, Max Potion, Cilan, Level Ball, Heavy Ball and Kyurem, as well as different supporter and item counts. I decided healing cards were too situational and maximizing consistency was the way to go. The last list I had while playing at the open game room in the hotel had a Level Ball and Heavy Ball over 2 Water Energy, but I decided they, too, were situational. Miro would go with Eelektrik because he loves Eels (if he loved winning more, he would’ve played a different deck lol).
We left for Virginia early Friday morning, with Raymond, Sam and his girlfriend joining us in the car. Raymond and Sam would play Darkrai EX/Hydreigon and she would play Mewtwo EX/Tornadus EX/Bouffalant/Eelektrik. Miro had a Zekrom and Zekrom EX in the deck, as well.
Funny story. Friday night Miro asks Jason Klaczynski for a game. They start a conversation which leads to Jason making a remark about how Miro looks like a typical New York guy (not untrue, since he was wearing a sleeveless shirt at the time). Then he asks if Miro is a well known player and says something to the effect of “yeah, then how come I’ve never heard of you?” Then Jason asks every person in the room if they know Miro and since they are all from the Northeast area, everyone says yes. Jason is stumped that he is unable to find a single person who doesn’t know him. It’s all in good fun and they play a game afterwards, in which Jason beats the bejeezus out of him (not really, it was a close game).
Saturday morning we meet with Mark Garcia, who came all the way from California to scout a college in the area. He is a multiple Worlds competitor and one of the big names in the field IMO. He’s playing Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant and we have time for a few practice games before the tournament starts.
My list and deck choice were partially influenced by Mark Garcia’s and especially Kenny Britton’s success with Blastoise in the SoCal Marathon. Kenny went on an unbelievable tear with it, making finals 3 out of 5 times winning 2 of them and top 4 at another. Thanks for your help!
Here is the deck I used. As usual in my reports, I don’t mind giving it out because the release of Plasma Storm makes it completely obsolete. Not that it’s groundbreaking or anything, but so many players get caught up in adding cards for every deck and situation under the sun and end up diluting the main strategy. I was 100% satisfied with this list before and after the tournament, which is something I can say for only a few events in the last 2 seasons.
Pokemon (13)
4-0-3 Blastoise
3 Keldeo EX
2 Mewtwo EX
1 Keldeo #47 (Hydro Pump)
Trainers (33)
4 Professor Juniper
4 N
4 Skyla
2 Bianca
4 Rare Candy
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Ultra Ball
4 Energy Retrieval
1 Computer Search
2 Tropical Beach
Energy (14)
14 Water Energy
Tournament: Virginia Winter Regional Championship
Deck: Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise
Age Division: Masters
Attendance: 280
Structure: 9 rounds of swiss on Saturday and top 32 through finals on Sunday
Day 1: Swiss
Round 1: Tyler Zikorus (Darkrai EX/Terrakion/Mewtwo EX)
I go first with Keldeo EX to his Mewtwo EX, get a couple of Squirtle in play and Tropical Beach for more cards. He is only able to N without getting any Pokemon or energy in play. I Rare Candy into Blastoise, but don’t have the energy to Secret Sword yet. He plays N again, doesn’t get anything of importance and passes the turn. I Secret Sword Mewtwo EX for 110. He retreats to Darkrai EX, attaches a Dark Energy to it and passes. The rest of the game is Keldeo EX knocking out the Mewtwo EX, Darkrai EX, a Terrakion and Sableye as he is unable to set up any sort of offense. GG
1-0
Round 2: ??? (Darkrai EX/Hydreigon)
He goes first, gets a Sableye, Darkrai EX and Deino in play and either passes or Junk Hunts if Sableye was active. I get a Keldeo EX and a couple of Squirtle and Beach. He doesn’t get a second Deino with a search card, leaving me to believe the rest are prized. I set up Blastoise turn 2 or 3, Catcher the Deino and Secret Sword. He begins powering up a Sigilyph with Eviolite while I take a prize on Sableye. I spend the next few turns using Tropical Beach to draw the energy needed for Blastoise to OHKO Sigilyph because Keldeo #47 wasn’t accessible at the time. This gives him time to build up energy on his field. The turn he attacks with Darkrai is the turn I decide to go for Hydro Pump. I Catcher the Sigilyph and N, needing to draw a Single Water Energy or Energy Retrieval to get the 5th energy for Blastoise, but miss, allowing him to retreat after a hit for 80. My board and prize position is still much superior, as I am able to take advantage of Hydreigon’s absence to 2HKO Darkrai EX with Keldeo EX. In addition, I get another Catcher to finish off the damaged Sigilyph. He is finally able to get Hydreigon into play after a Super Rod/Ultra Ball combo and make a last effort Shaymin EX play, but my lead is insurmountable at that point and I am able to Secret Sword for the last prize. Definitely one of the better games of swiss I played that day. GG
2-0
Round 3: Nicholas Allmon (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
I go first with a perfect setup, getting Rare Candy Blastoise turn 2, along with 3 energy and Catcher from my N to KO his only Squirtle in play. The following turn I KO another Squirtle, then Secret Sword 2 EX’s for 170 to win the game 6-0. GG
3-0
Round 4: Austin Reed (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Pretty much the exact opposite. I go first, but don’t get a turn 2 Blastoise. That turn I had a decision whether to N or Juniper. He used my Tropical Beach for 7 on his first turn, meaning he wasn’t holding onto any cards like Rare Candy or Blastoise. I decided to Juniper. My reasoning was that the likelihood of him having Rare Candy + Blastoise was about as probable in 7 random cards as in the 8 random cards he would get from Beach + draw for the turn. My hand also consisted of nothing meaningful, only a Squirtle, Keldeo #47 and a couple of Water Energy. I go for it and draw Blastoise, Energy Retrieval, 4 Water Energy and a Juniper. I can’t even Beach for any cards because I already attached for the turn in anticipation of drawing the right cards. Unless I draw Rare Candy or Skyla next turn, I would have to Juniper all this away. To make things worse, he does Rare Candy into Blastoise turn 2, along with Juniper to end up with a Keldeo EX with 6 Water Energy OHKOing mine. I draw another Water Energy, Juniper away a lot of resources and still don’t get Blastoise. At this point, I’ve resigned to the fact that I lost. There’s no coming back from a turn 2 170 without a Blastoise of your own. He 6-0’s me. GG
3-1
Round 5: Jacob Swiney (Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX)
I go first and get a turn 2 Blastoise, but don’t have the energy to attack, so I Beach. He doesn’t get a turn 2 Night Spear and when I’m attacking before a Darkrai EX is, it’s usually bad news for my opponent. This is the case as my Keldeo EX 2HKO’s a Darkrai EX. There was one awkward spot where he had both an Eviolited Mewtwo EX and a Darkrai EX with one energy on the bench. Both will take 7 Water Energy to OHKO and my Keldeo EX is already damaged, so I decide to go for Darkrai EX. I Catcher and Juniper, needing 2 or 3 energy, but miss by 1, settling for a 150 hit after attaching the energy I got to a benched Keldeo EX. It went down after that, but there was already too much damage on his field to mount any sort of comeback. I X-Ball his Mewtwo EX for the last 2 prizes. GG
4-1
Round 6: Eric Smith (Darkrai EX/Hydreigon)
This game is hard to describe because so many things happened. I tried to eliminate his access to Hydreigon, but he got 2 into play so I gave up on that strategy. His Eviolited Sigilyph also gave me trouble, as I had to go out of my way to knock it out with Blastoise because Keldeo #47 wasn’t available again. We maintain a close prize exchange until time is called. I’m turn 0. The prize count is 1-2 in my favor and I’m pretty sure he’s out of Catchers. I am as well. I have 2 Blastoise in play, 1 with 30 damage and another fresh one with 5 Water Energy. My bench consists of a Keldeo EX with 100 on it, a fresh Keldeo EX and 2 Mewtwo EX. Assuming he can’t hit my bench for more than 30, I bring up Blastoise and Hydro Pump an Eviolited Darkrai EX. He retreats to another Darkrai EX and Night Spears, putting 30 on 1 of the Mewtwo EX. I think for a minute and realize I can just bring up the undamaged Mewtwo EX and he would have no way to OHKO it with a full bench lacking a Mewtwo EX of his own. He sees the mistake in not simply taking the KO on Blastoise with Dragon Blast last turn and I win a very close game. GG
5-1
Round 7: Dylan Bryan
He refused to have his top 16 match against another player recorded, probably for deck secrecy reasons. If that’s the case I’ll respect that and not divulge what was in it. I’ll simply state that I had a commanding lead until I impulsively used my 4th Catcher without checking how many were left and without being able to take the KO. There’s a good chance I would’ve won without that mistake, but that play certainly sealed the game. GG
5-2
Round 8: Kim (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
I go first and Rare Candy into Blastoise before her with the energy for a 110 Secret Sword on her Keldeo EX, but decide to Tropical Beach for 4 because my hand was so bad and I would have no follow-up play. The extra cards may also give me 3 more Water Energy that would OHKO the Keldeo EX anyway. Also, the previous turn she N’d and just used Beach for 1 with 2 Squirtle in play. I thought it was unlikely that 2 extra cards would get her the Blastoise. My decision to Beach did give her the turn she needed to set up a Blastoise and get on even footing in board position. The game came down to her missing an energy or two from a Bianca to take the game and me having the Catcher and energy to OHKO a Keldeo EX for my last 2 prizes. We talked about the Tropical Beach play and I reasoned it was correct from my perspective without knowledge of her hand, but I can see her argument for attacking that turn as well. GG
6-2
Round 9: Brad Gustas (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Pretty much identical to my round 3 game. I go first and get a turn 2 Blastoise with 3 energy and a Catcher to KO his only Squirtle in play. I deny him Blastoise until it’s too late and sweep 6-0. I really hate being in this position, as we were both 6-2 and the loser was probably going to bubble out of top cut. I should’ve checked my resistance to see if I would’ve made it at 6-3. Going undefeated is much less stressful; I should’ve done that again. GG
7-2
We finish around 10 PM, which is the latest I’ve ever stayed at a tournament besides NY States 2012. I end up as 21st seed and find out I’m playing Jimmy McClure in top 32. It’s going to be a mirror match. Mark just barely missed top cut after a round 9 loss to Dylan. Miro (who played against 7 Blastoise decks throughout swiss lol) and Raymond were one game away from potentially making top cut and Sam missed on resistance. We talk about our day over Chinese food and McDonalds and go back to the hotel, where I get a few hours of sleep. I had very little sleep over the course of the whole tournament, but it never affects my concentration. Top cut begins at 8 AM and it’s held in a smaller room where the juniors and seniors were playing.
Day 2: Top Cut
Top 32: Jimmy McClure (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Game 1: I go first with a much better setup and he misses energy at crucial stages of the game that seals any chance he had of making a comeback. GG
Game 2: I set up faster despite going second and it’s very similar to the first game. I doubt our lists were that much different, it just came down to who drew better. Once you go down 2 prizes in this match up there’s virtually no coming back. GG
8-2
Top 16: David Sun (Rayquaza EX/Eelektrik)
This match was recorded by The Top Cut. You can watch it here. For the record, I didn't know David played no Catchers in his deck throughout the entire match, but after the first game I suspected he only played 1 or 2. GG
9-2
Top 8: Jimmy Pendarvis (Keldeo EX/Mewtwo EX/Blastoise)
Game 1: I get the first prize, but he gets the first EX KO, so I am a turn behind in the prize race overall. That’s what it comes down to and I lose the game by 1 turn despite having everything needed to win. Jimmy, or the_cheating_bidoof, as he goes by on these forums, knocked me out of top 16 in Philadelphia this Autumn. Was I about to lose to him again? If you look at the title closely, no I wasn’t.
Game 2: We get similar setups, but my advantage of going first allowed me to maintain a prize lead through the entire game. GG
Game 3: We maintain a close exchange until he misses 2 Water Energy off a Juniper to KO an EX, which shifts the momentum in my favor. I’m able to OHKO a benched 3 energy Keldeo EX with my damaged 6 energy Keldeo EX to take the lead 2-4. He has the return KO with Blastoise, but that puts him in an awkward situation with no other energy in play. He also didn’t have an N that turn to shuffle in the Juniper I got with Skyla, allowing me to draw a bunch of Water Energy and Retrievals to Secret Sword the Blastoise for 170 and removing all energy from his field. There’s no possible response for this and he concedes. GG
10-2
Top 4: Dylan Bryan
Game 1: I have a slow start allowing his Kingler to suck out the innards of all my Squirtle. There was hope for a comeback, but he flips heads on Parasect’s ability to KO both Mewtwo EX at once. GG
Game 2: I take an early lead with a turn 2 Secret Sword KO on Krabby followed by a KO on Paras the turn after. However, I would’ve liked to have a Catcher that turn to prevent his Dewgong tech from having its way with my Pokemon. Of course the Dewgong comes out and since my cards are all full art and reverse holo I can’t damage it, allowing him to sweep the rest of the game. GG
10-3
OK, maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. It was closer to a 0-2 loss with me taking only a single prize throughout the match. I have to compliment Dylan on doing so well with a different deck. The run ended there, but I was happy to have made another stellar Regionals performance and get 90 CP, putting me at 327 total. I took Blastoise farther than anyone else in the tournament, which is awesome considering it was by far the most popular deck in presence. Congrats to Ray “cheese and macaroni” Cipoletti (that may not be the correct nickname) on winning the tournament with Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant. I’m excited for the next set and look forward to playing in a new format. This one wasn’t that great. If you see me at states say hi and I will passively respond with a generic response as if we met before.
-Michael Skoran (Hamster)
Last edited:
