CardRaider
New Member
What's up? I don't remember much from the tournament, so don't expect it to be in specific details, unless it's a really good part. If there is anything that you disagree with, please PM me so I can edit it.
So a few weeks before the tournament, I was debating hard on what to use. I had no idea of the metagame, because I was had been sort of MIA for a couple of months.:tongue: In the end, my choices had boiled down to two: EspyCham and LBS. I have much experience with EspyCham, and on the other hand, I had never played LBS, and I was still missing a Steelix and a Lugia for it. =( Prior a week and a half before the event, I heard that Spencer, (Papazit canada) aka my 2nd bestest bud in North America who is a Canadian, (1st being Katrina) had won his Gym Challange with my LBS list. XD Now I am determined to use the big turtle. I told Spencer to send me a Mew EX just in case, since it had helped him in a couple of matches.
On the day before the tourney, I was still in deep panic because I still haven't gotten the cards. Then a good friend of mine told me that he couldn't make it because he had a speed-reading contest to go to, (cough*LAMEA$$*cough) and that I could use his LBS deck. I suddenly went from :frown: to :clap: . I talked to Spencer about the final decklist, and we (me, mostly) decided to use five stadiums. (A BIG THANKS to Blizzard for the inspiration) I also added in 2 Holon's Castform instead of Holon's Magneton. And, well, let's just say that I worship Castform now. XD
So on the day of the tourney, I got up at 8am, while regretting going to sleep at 1am. I went to check my mails, but the Mew EX that Spencer sent me is still not there! So I ended up playing 2 Lugia EX instead, which saved me a couple of games later on. I got everything in order, and was picked up by my good buddy Russ. We got to the location pretty early, which is the same place that we had our Gym last year. I filled out a decklist, while telling everyone that I was playing VenuBliss.:biggrin: I waited around until the pairings were posted.
*I have decided not to post a copy of my list, but if you want it, you could PM me, and I will send it to you, if I'm in a good mood. XD
Round 1 vs. Lori R w/ Machamp & LunaSol
I start with a Pidgey, while she started with a Machop. I went first, and all I could do was corner. She goes, benches a Lunatone. And I was like =/ I played Mentor the next turn, and got out my setup fairly quickly. Meanwhile, she wasn't able to setup an evolution. I killed the Machop, and by the time she had gotten out the LunaSol combo, my deck was already going at full speed. I clean up the field with Steelix.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Chris w/ Rocklock
I drew my opening hand, and my only basic was a... Pidgey. >< Chris starts with a Mareep, and does Minor Errand Running. I draw, Mentor, got out my full setup, and the game ended pretty quickly.
2-0
After the second round, I found out that Chris, my second round opponent, had a bye his first round. So I thought "Great, there goes my resistance." And indeed, I was correct. I had the lowest place in all of the 2-0s. I didn't worry that much though, because I knew that if I win enough games, my resistance wouldn't matter at all.
Round 3 vs. Martin M w/ Mewtric
I go into the third round with a very low confidence, because it's a bad matchup for me, and I had never played against Mewtric before. I draw my opening hand, and I saw a DX Jirachi, so I thought "FINALLY! A good start!" But then Martin flips over his two basics: Mew EX and a Girafarig. *WTF FACE* He attaches to Mew and Foresights. I play Mentor, got Squirtle, Pidgey, and Latias*, then passed, since I had no draw cards. He goes, benches a Electrik, and Recharges. I draw, play PETM for a Pidgeotto, while having a Pidgeot in my hand. His turn, he lays down a Manectric EX, BF, and does Disconnect.
I was thinking "Oh great, first loss." I drew a Power Tree the next turn, but couldn't play it, so I passed like an idiot. He proceeds to kill the Jirachi the next turn. I wanted to lure him into using Mega Shot, so I sent out Latia* to stall, since he can only do 10 to it with Disconnect. And indeed my plan worked. He used Mega Shot on my Squirtle. And the next move by me was the stuff of legends. I draw, and with my 5 card hand, I played down Power Tree, used Retriever to get back the Squirtle, Quick Seach for a Blastoise, RC the Squirtle, used Power Tree and got back a water, then I did the Holon + Energy Rain combo and killed his Mew. (Yeeaaaauuuuhhzzz) =) He lays down another BF, and killed Latias* two turns later. I sent out my Steelix to stall. He admins me down to 4 cards, and out of those 4 cards, I drew Admin, Mentor, Water, and Water. So on my turn I played Mentor to get Holon's Castform and a Lugia, Rain, Rain, Holon, Rain, 100 to the benched Mew. He admins me down to two the next turn, and used an ER2 on my benched Lugia instead of my Steelix, which was a trap that I set. And guess what? Out of the two cards that I drew, I got a PETM. So the next turn, I fetched a Holon's Trode and sniped the benched Mew FTW.
3-0
Lunch Break vs. heavy traffic
I went with Russ and 2 other friends to get something to eat, and I made it back just in time for the 4th round pairings. (I didn't get to eat my food though)
Round 4 vs. Drew K w/ LBS (11-14)
Since he was 3-0, and there were 3 undefeated players in 15+, I was paired down. We know each other's decks because we had played before the tourney, but I knew what to do in mirror matches from the beginning while he, uhm, didn't. I sniped his bird early along with an Admin, but he pulled a surprise turtle and almost made a comeback. However, my better setup proved to be too much for him. GJ, Drew!
4-0
Round 5 vs. Aaron M w/ Rocklock & Techs
Aaron is a good friend of mine and a very tough competitor. I knew that this match was gonna be hard, because I was sitting next to him last round while watching him tear through an unfortunate LBS deck. Luckily, though, I saw his secret Tech and was ready for it. The game started with me having a semi-god hand versus his so-so. I sniped his bird early, and then killed his powered up Tyranitar with Lugia. At that point, my benched Steelix had 110 on it. So I played down Giant Stump and discarded it, along with a Jirachi with 50 on it. :biggrin: Eventually, he made a terrific comeback with Ampharos and a couple of ATM Rock. The prizes eventually got down to 4-3, my favor, when the time is called. Awesome match, man!
5-0
By this time I am guaranteed a spot in the top 8, along with another Team Heat member, Brad P, who was also undefeated. I know that Aaron would make it as well, because he has the best resistance in the 4-1s.
Round 6 vs. Brad P w/ Flariados
I knew even before the tourney that Brad was playing Flariados, because he has asked me to lend him a BF and Flareon prior to the tournament. I figured that it didn't matter who wins this one, and that I have a tough matchup, so I pretty much played this game for fun.
I draw my staring hand, and the only basics were a Lugia and an Onix. =( I put the Lugia active and the Onix on the bench. He goes first, uses Eevee's CFF. I go, played down Mentor, and passed. Brad's turn, he plays down Full Flame, evolves into Flareon and Ariados, 70 to Lugia, I flip tails on burn = T2 dead Lugia.:frown: Later on in the game, I slowly began to setup. Everytime Brad uses Spider Trap on my turtle, I would always counter it with a Switch/Warp Point/Island Cave, until my turtle had 110. I retreated Blasty, sent out Jirachi, and tried to setup another Blasty. He sent out Yanma, used Spinning Tail, hits a heads, and put my turtle to 130. I immediately killed the Yanma the next turn, which led the prizes to 1-2, my favor. His turn, he sent out a Flareon with a Multi and a Grass, POW up my Blasty and KOed it. GG! Even though I wasn't expecting to win anyways...:thumb:
5-1
Top 8 Cuts:
Brad P (Flariados) vs. Chris (SMP)
CardRaider (LBS) vs. William H (Flariados)
Russ R ("Party In The Box") vs. Chung (Mynx)
Aaron M (Rocklock) vs. Martin M (Mewtric)
Yeah, nice matchups for me, aren't they? ><
Top 8 vs. William H w/ Flariados
Game 1
Close game. We both got setup pretty fast. Then came the stadium war. Luckily, he played down a Full Flame first, then I would counter it with one of my own. Eventually, he got down to his last BF, while I still have my Giant Stump in my deck. I have about 10 cards left in my deck. I go to draw... Giant Stump! I play it, and took the game from there.
6-1
Game 2
I start with a Jirachi HL, while he starts with a lone Spinarak. I have a Holon's Castform and two Water in my hand, so I was hoping for a T2 win. but no dice. On his turn, he benches another Spinarak, plays 2 Dual Ball, and got 3 heads. He then got out a swarm of Ariados, so I conceded with about 10 min left on the clock.
6-2
Game 3
Don't remember much, except that Will had a serious drought on draw cards. As time is running out, Will begins to Spider Trapping my Pidgeot, but I would keep on flipping heads on sleep check, then retreat and kill the Ariados with my Blasty. Time was called when the prizes were at 3-6, my favor.
7-2
Top 4:
CR (LBS) vs. Aaron M (Rocklock)
Russ R ("Party In The Box") vs. Brad P (Flariados)
Great, one bad matchup after another... But, on the bright side, all the people in the top 4 are from AZ! We take a short break, and got ready for top 4.
Semi-Finals vs. Aaron M w/ Rocklock & Techs
Game 1
I don't remember much about this match, but it was very close. The prizes were 1-2, my favoe, and then I took my last prize with Lugia.
8-2
Game 2
Very close game as well. In the end, it was 1-2, my favor, then the time was called on my turn.
*incomplete*
8-2
Top 2
CR (LBS) vs. Russ R ("Party In The Box")
Finals vs. Russ R w/ "Party In The Box"
Game 1
He couldn't get setup, while I quickly got out the combo. In the end, he Boosted his lone Espeon and killed my Latias*, but then I Quick Searched for Mentor, got out Lugia and Holon's Castform, Power Treed a Water, and killed his only poke.
9-2
Game2
I couldn't get out a Pidgeot to save my life. And when I RCed my Squirtle, Russ evolved Eevee into Espeon and Devo Flashed it. Meanwhile, I manually setup a Steelix to take some prizes. When it got down to my 2 vs. his 5, I Switched the Steelix with a Holon and a water attached to it for a HL Jirachi in order to setup a Blasty to secure my win by getting out a Wartortle. But Russ brilliantly countered that by Devo Flashing my Wartortle, and then Admined me. =( He then killed my Jirachi with his Jolteon. Luckily, I managed to topdeck a Warp Point from the two cards from Admin, so i sent out Jirachi, Power Tree back a Water, Warp Point his Jolteon to the bench and my Steelix Active, and did 100 to the Jolteon FTW.
10-2
PROPS:
Russ, for giving me rides, and going so far with your own rogue!
The judges, Trish, John, and Ken, for organizing such a smooth tourney!
The Barths, for being so Canadian! (and supportive, I guess)
Desmond, for letting me use your deck!
Me, for lucksacking so much!
All the people I played, for such great games!:thumb:
New Zelanders! Danny and Martin, Asian Pride FTW!
HOLON'S CASTFORM!!!
Chipotle, for PWNing so much!
And anyone else I might have forgotten to mention!
SLOPS:
Not getting the Mew EX in time.
Almost late for Round 4.
Pulled crap in my box.
LM Girafarig
Alright, I'm getting sleepy now. Peace Out!
AZ FTW!
So a few weeks before the tournament, I was debating hard on what to use. I had no idea of the metagame, because I was had been sort of MIA for a couple of months.:tongue: In the end, my choices had boiled down to two: EspyCham and LBS. I have much experience with EspyCham, and on the other hand, I had never played LBS, and I was still missing a Steelix and a Lugia for it. =( Prior a week and a half before the event, I heard that Spencer, (Papazit canada) aka my 2nd bestest bud in North America who is a Canadian, (1st being Katrina) had won his Gym Challange with my LBS list. XD Now I am determined to use the big turtle. I told Spencer to send me a Mew EX just in case, since it had helped him in a couple of matches.
On the day before the tourney, I was still in deep panic because I still haven't gotten the cards. Then a good friend of mine told me that he couldn't make it because he had a speed-reading contest to go to, (cough*LAMEA$$*cough) and that I could use his LBS deck. I suddenly went from :frown: to :clap: . I talked to Spencer about the final decklist, and we (me, mostly) decided to use five stadiums. (A BIG THANKS to Blizzard for the inspiration) I also added in 2 Holon's Castform instead of Holon's Magneton. And, well, let's just say that I worship Castform now. XD
So on the day of the tourney, I got up at 8am, while regretting going to sleep at 1am. I went to check my mails, but the Mew EX that Spencer sent me is still not there! So I ended up playing 2 Lugia EX instead, which saved me a couple of games later on. I got everything in order, and was picked up by my good buddy Russ. We got to the location pretty early, which is the same place that we had our Gym last year. I filled out a decklist, while telling everyone that I was playing VenuBliss.:biggrin: I waited around until the pairings were posted.
*I have decided not to post a copy of my list, but if you want it, you could PM me, and I will send it to you, if I'm in a good mood. XD
Round 1 vs. Lori R w/ Machamp & LunaSol
I start with a Pidgey, while she started with a Machop. I went first, and all I could do was corner. She goes, benches a Lunatone. And I was like =/ I played Mentor the next turn, and got out my setup fairly quickly. Meanwhile, she wasn't able to setup an evolution. I killed the Machop, and by the time she had gotten out the LunaSol combo, my deck was already going at full speed. I clean up the field with Steelix.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Chris w/ Rocklock
I drew my opening hand, and my only basic was a... Pidgey. >< Chris starts with a Mareep, and does Minor Errand Running. I draw, Mentor, got out my full setup, and the game ended pretty quickly.
2-0
After the second round, I found out that Chris, my second round opponent, had a bye his first round. So I thought "Great, there goes my resistance." And indeed, I was correct. I had the lowest place in all of the 2-0s. I didn't worry that much though, because I knew that if I win enough games, my resistance wouldn't matter at all.
Round 3 vs. Martin M w/ Mewtric
I go into the third round with a very low confidence, because it's a bad matchup for me, and I had never played against Mewtric before. I draw my opening hand, and I saw a DX Jirachi, so I thought "FINALLY! A good start!" But then Martin flips over his two basics: Mew EX and a Girafarig. *WTF FACE* He attaches to Mew and Foresights. I play Mentor, got Squirtle, Pidgey, and Latias*, then passed, since I had no draw cards. He goes, benches a Electrik, and Recharges. I draw, play PETM for a Pidgeotto, while having a Pidgeot in my hand. His turn, he lays down a Manectric EX, BF, and does Disconnect.
I was thinking "Oh great, first loss." I drew a Power Tree the next turn, but couldn't play it, so I passed like an idiot. He proceeds to kill the Jirachi the next turn. I wanted to lure him into using Mega Shot, so I sent out Latia* to stall, since he can only do 10 to it with Disconnect. And indeed my plan worked. He used Mega Shot on my Squirtle. And the next move by me was the stuff of legends. I draw, and with my 5 card hand, I played down Power Tree, used Retriever to get back the Squirtle, Quick Seach for a Blastoise, RC the Squirtle, used Power Tree and got back a water, then I did the Holon + Energy Rain combo and killed his Mew. (Yeeaaaauuuuhhzzz) =) He lays down another BF, and killed Latias* two turns later. I sent out my Steelix to stall. He admins me down to 4 cards, and out of those 4 cards, I drew Admin, Mentor, Water, and Water. So on my turn I played Mentor to get Holon's Castform and a Lugia, Rain, Rain, Holon, Rain, 100 to the benched Mew. He admins me down to two the next turn, and used an ER2 on my benched Lugia instead of my Steelix, which was a trap that I set. And guess what? Out of the two cards that I drew, I got a PETM. So the next turn, I fetched a Holon's Trode and sniped the benched Mew FTW.3-0
Lunch Break vs. heavy traffic
I went with Russ and 2 other friends to get something to eat, and I made it back just in time for the 4th round pairings. (I didn't get to eat my food though)
Round 4 vs. Drew K w/ LBS (11-14)
Since he was 3-0, and there were 3 undefeated players in 15+, I was paired down. We know each other's decks because we had played before the tourney, but I knew what to do in mirror matches from the beginning while he, uhm, didn't.
I sniped his bird early along with an Admin, but he pulled a surprise turtle and almost made a comeback. However, my better setup proved to be too much for him. GJ, Drew!4-0
Round 5 vs. Aaron M w/ Rocklock & Techs
Aaron is a good friend of mine and a very tough competitor. I knew that this match was gonna be hard, because I was sitting next to him last round while watching him tear through an unfortunate LBS deck. Luckily, though, I saw his secret Tech and was ready for it. The game started with me having a semi-god hand versus his so-so. I sniped his bird early, and then killed his powered up Tyranitar with Lugia. At that point, my benched Steelix had 110 on it. So I played down Giant Stump and discarded it, along with a Jirachi with 50 on it. :biggrin: Eventually, he made a terrific comeback with Ampharos and a couple of ATM Rock. The prizes eventually got down to 4-3, my favor, when the time is called. Awesome match, man!
5-0
By this time I am guaranteed a spot in the top 8, along with another Team Heat member, Brad P, who was also undefeated. I know that Aaron would make it as well, because he has the best resistance in the 4-1s.
Round 6 vs. Brad P w/ Flariados
I knew even before the tourney that Brad was playing Flariados, because he has asked me to lend him a BF and Flareon prior to the tournament. I figured that it didn't matter who wins this one, and that I have a tough matchup, so I pretty much played this game for fun.
I draw my staring hand, and the only basics were a Lugia and an Onix. =( I put the Lugia active and the Onix on the bench. He goes first, uses Eevee's CFF. I go, played down Mentor, and passed. Brad's turn, he plays down Full Flame, evolves into Flareon and Ariados, 70 to Lugia, I flip tails on burn = T2 dead Lugia.:frown: Later on in the game, I slowly began to setup. Everytime Brad uses Spider Trap on my turtle, I would always counter it with a Switch/Warp Point/Island Cave, until my turtle had 110. I retreated Blasty, sent out Jirachi, and tried to setup another Blasty. He sent out Yanma, used Spinning Tail, hits a heads, and put my turtle to 130. I immediately killed the Yanma the next turn, which led the prizes to 1-2, my favor. His turn, he sent out a Flareon with a Multi and a Grass, POW up my Blasty and KOed it. GG! Even though I wasn't expecting to win anyways...:thumb:
5-1
Top 8 Cuts:
Brad P (Flariados) vs. Chris (SMP)
CardRaider (LBS) vs. William H (Flariados)
Russ R ("Party In The Box") vs. Chung (Mynx)
Aaron M (Rocklock) vs. Martin M (Mewtric)
Yeah, nice matchups for me, aren't they? ><
Top 8 vs. William H w/ Flariados
Game 1
Close game. We both got setup pretty fast. Then came the stadium war. Luckily, he played down a Full Flame first, then I would counter it with one of my own. Eventually, he got down to his last BF, while I still have my Giant Stump in my deck. I have about 10 cards left in my deck. I go to draw... Giant Stump! I play it, and took the game from there.
6-1
Game 2
I start with a Jirachi HL, while he starts with a lone Spinarak. I have a Holon's Castform and two Water in my hand, so I was hoping for a T2 win. but no dice. On his turn, he benches another Spinarak, plays 2 Dual Ball, and got 3 heads. He then got out a swarm of Ariados, so I conceded with about 10 min left on the clock.
6-2
Game 3
Don't remember much, except that Will had a serious drought on draw cards. As time is running out, Will begins to Spider Trapping my Pidgeot, but I would keep on flipping heads on sleep check, then retreat and kill the Ariados with my Blasty. Time was called when the prizes were at 3-6, my favor.
7-2
Top 4:
CR (LBS) vs. Aaron M (Rocklock)
Russ R ("Party In The Box") vs. Brad P (Flariados)
Great, one bad matchup after another... But, on the bright side, all the people in the top 4 are from AZ! We take a short break, and got ready for top 4.
Semi-Finals vs. Aaron M w/ Rocklock & Techs
Game 1
I don't remember much about this match, but it was very close. The prizes were 1-2, my favoe, and then I took my last prize with Lugia.
8-2
Game 2
Very close game as well. In the end, it was 1-2, my favor, then the time was called on my turn.
*incomplete*
8-2
Top 2
CR (LBS) vs. Russ R ("Party In The Box")
Finals vs. Russ R w/ "Party In The Box"
Game 1
He couldn't get setup, while I quickly got out the combo. In the end, he Boosted his lone Espeon and killed my Latias*, but then I Quick Searched for Mentor, got out Lugia and Holon's Castform, Power Treed a Water, and killed his only poke.
9-2
Game2
I couldn't get out a Pidgeot to save my life. And when I RCed my Squirtle, Russ evolved Eevee into Espeon and Devo Flashed it. Meanwhile, I manually setup a Steelix to take some prizes. When it got down to my 2 vs. his 5, I Switched the Steelix with a Holon and a water attached to it for a HL Jirachi in order to setup a Blasty to secure my win by getting out a Wartortle. But Russ brilliantly countered that by Devo Flashing my Wartortle, and then Admined me. =( He then killed my Jirachi with his Jolteon. Luckily, I managed to topdeck a Warp Point from the two cards from Admin, so i sent out Jirachi, Power Tree back a Water, Warp Point his Jolteon to the bench and my Steelix Active, and did 100 to the Jolteon FTW.
10-2
PROPS:
Russ, for giving me rides, and going so far with your own rogue!
The judges, Trish, John, and Ken, for organizing such a smooth tourney!
The Barths, for being so Canadian! (and supportive, I guess)
Desmond, for letting me use your deck!
Me, for lucksacking so much!
All the people I played, for such great games!:thumb:
New Zelanders! Danny and Martin, Asian Pride FTW!
HOLON'S CASTFORM!!!
Chipotle, for PWNing so much!
And anyone else I might have forgotten to mention!
SLOPS:
Not getting the Mew EX in time.
Almost late for Round 4.
Pulled crap in my box.
LM Girafarig
Alright, I'm getting sleepy now. Peace Out!
AZ FTW!
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