Absolution
New Member
Been awhile since I've actually DOCUMENTED one of my tournament performances, since most have been sub-par or hardly memorable, but finally there's one worth writing about IMO. And it was at [perhaps] the premier State Championship event of the year, with elite players from MI, IL, WI, OH and IN all in the mix. We would have 54 people in the 15+ age division, for 6 rounds, and a T16 cut.
My friends Tracy, Eddie and I woke up around 7 in Milford, MI, groggy on about 2 hours sleep after a night of deckbuilding, playtesting and videogamery. We head out on the 3-4 hour drive to the La Quinta (Spanish for "The Quinta") Inn in Auburn, IN and arrive about 10:45ish, then decide we have time to get McDonnulz. Eddie and I order foodstuffs while Tracy goes to the bathroom, once we get our food a huge line forms, long story short, Tracy ends up waiting in line for 20 minutes for A SMALL ORANGE JUICE. We head to "The Quinta" with time to spare, meet up with Snowball, Brandon, Tommy AND Paris (GANG'S ALL HERE) and hand out decks to Brandon and Tomas.
I had decided before the tournament that I'd play the same deck as MI States which I had moderate success with, Pow-Block, as I felt it has solid [and very winnable] matchups against the day's popular decks (Rock Lock, Nidoqueen, just about anything T2.) The most difficult matchup for the deck IMO is LBS, which would have been my choice from our deckpool if Brandon didn't play it (but that worked out for the best anyways). SO anyways, let's get to the games.
Game 1 v. Mrs. Stump (TRR Furret/Clefable EX/Togetic)
Basically this served as a warmup match for me (hate to say that). I start with a lone Larvitar and a Dark Energy, Holon's Mentor and I'm going first; she has an active Clefairy and various colorless Pokemon on the bench. I attack for 10 and end my turn. She does the same after playing a Bill's Maintenance. I play the mentor, get Jirachi DX, Pidgey and Slugma. I retreat for the Jirachi and Wishing star into my Rare Candy'd Pidgeot, QS for the Dark Pupitar, attach a Scramble and pass. She gets a T2 Clefable EX and Moon Kicks the Jirachi for 40. I get T-Tar up next turn with 2 Scrambles, kill the Clefable EX. She gets some Togetics up after that, but I Spin-Tail everything else to death for the win.
Win 1-0
Game 2 v. ??? (Armaldo EX)
He gets set up quickly with the help of the LM Gym that lets you lay Fossil basics, and has two Armaldo EX out by around T5. I have my Pidgeot and T-Tars up by this point, I believe I Troded myself to Pow up one of his Armaldo EXes, then Spin-Tailed everything down while he built another Armaldo on the bench. He couldn't get enough energy down in time to stop the rock, he asked me if I had it and conceded. GG.
Win 2-0
Game 3 v. Dani S. (EspyCham)
This game was a bit rough for me, as I couldn't pull much search off early, and she had T2 Cham shutting down any hopes of Pidgeot or Magcargo immediately. She Pure Powers for two turns for 60 onto my benched Dark Pupitar, but luckily I get the T-Tar next turn to save it. I beleive at this point I actually blow up a Trode with little or no energy in my discard to Pow up a Jirachi or something to enable some search. I get my T-Tar active with D/Scramble to put 30 on her Jirachi and 20 on the Cham. My hand size at this point is quite small and she's holding a 9+ card hand, so I'm thinking Holon Scientist next turn. On my turn I get the Transciever but I make what could have been the biggest misplay of my life and search my deck while the Scientist IS ALREADY IN THE DISCARD as I had played it like second turn. So my hopes of drawing in the Rock are slim and none - I spintail again, so she has 50 on her new active Cham and 50 on another Cham that was Jirachi the turn before (I was sort of confused as to why she did this.) I can only hope for a miracle topdeck - and on my turn I DRAW THE ROCK. Donksolution is born. She has no basics left, I win this. GG.
Win 3-0
Game 4 v. Eddie C. [InfestedTassadar] (BLS)
Definitely the worst matchup I can expect at this tournament, he gets set up first or second turn, and I can't draw into anything. I think my prizes owned me this game, and he finishes me off pretty early with Steelix EX killing any hopes of an early T-Tar. I hold a bunch of cards in my hand in hopes of pulling off a 6-3 comeback, Rare Candying a T-Tar, a Trode EX (with a bunch of Energy in the discard) and holding two POWs in my hand with his Lugia EX benched. I would have had to have gotten an Admin to stop him but I never found it. GG Eddie.
Loss 3-1
Game 5 v. ??? (MetaNite)
I don't know the guy, but it was evident there was little to no search power in his deck, as all he would bench was either Dratinis or Beldums, no sign of any Pidgeot or Magcargo. Basically bombed a bunch of energy onto T-Tar and picked off any Metagross DS he had out with OHKO's through POWs so nothing could OHKO me. I think he benched a Lunarock lategame but it didn't do much to me at that point. I Spintailed some stuff for the win.
Win 4-1
Game 6 v. Adam V. [Ice'Cold] (Rock-Lock)
This matchup can go either way, it's usually about 50/50 for me depending on who has more struggles late game, but Adam's a seasoned Rock-Lock player who T32'd Worlds, so he had me a bit worried. We traded prizes back and forth for a time, and I eventually POW'd up his Pidgeot and Grinded it for a OHKO while he had a small hand, which basically crippled his search. Theprize I draw is my lone ATM Rock.
Tied 2-2, I force him to go for the Rock to kill my Pidgeot or to KO my heavily damaged (but not completely rockable) active T-Tar. The turn previous I had Spin-Tailed, putting 60 on both a Rare Candied Amphy and Rare Candied Sand Damage T-Tar. He KO's the T-Tar, not thinking about the Rock, and I bring Pidgeot active, QS an Energy and Rock him for the win. He made a couple costly misplays, where he could have Briney'd something the turn before, and when he Copycatted away his (last?) ATM Rock. GG though Adam.
Win 5-1
So finally I make a cut, end up at 6th seed out of a diverse T16 of very skilled players. I get paired up with Eric R. and he's been playing the same deck all season, and it was a matchup I was pretty concerned about.
Top 16
Game 1 (T16) v. Eric R. [psycodad] (DS Draggy/Lugia)
This match was sort of odd, and we both opted to leave both of our Jirachi DX active for upwards of 6 or 7 turns while we each set up our bench. He had two D-Nites up, a Pidgeot and a Lugia EX (ready to attack with D-Nite's Power+Holon's Pokemon.) The trouble for T-Tar against this deck comes into fruition because of his steady draw through TVRs and Holon Ruins (which discards L Energy, helping his combo not unlike Blaze/Delcatty) and my inability to stop his Pidgeot without suffering the loss of a valuable T-Tar. I knew his deck played at least 1 Retreiver and he had played at least 2 Lugia EX in the deck in the past, and the speed of the deck kept me from getting ahead. We exchanged prizes back and forth for the longest time until it was 1-1, but I couldn't come up with another OHKO or TTar at the end, and he finished me off.
Loss 0-1
Game 2
My opening hand was the grossest thing I'd seen all day, and my opening hand was something like, Larvitar, Voltorb, Dark Pupitar, Dark Tyranitar, Dark Tyranitar, Scramble, Scramble. I basically struggled to get anything going while he Candied his D-Nites while he pounded me with Agility/Heavy Impact.
During the middle of the game some joker burnt a bag of popcorn somewhere in the hotel and set his microwave on fire, so the fire alarm was going off and we had to step outside for a minute.
We got back in after a few minutes, and I gained a bit of steam, and somehow I brought it down to 1-1 prizes, but I was out of T-Tars at this point - I had Pidgeot active and a Voltorb on my bench, his active D-Nite had 30 damage on it, and I believe he was out of switch cards, so my only play is to bring my LM Voltorb active, attach my L Energy to it, QS the Trode EX, and hope for a heads on the paralysis flip, enabling me to QS another energy next turn for the Crush and Burn KO (time was nearly out at this point I believe, down to 5 minutes maybe). So I flip for the potential win and, sadly, it comes down Tails. He kills Voltorb next turn, and I'm out, 1 prize short of a comeback. Well played Eric, probably the best two games I played all day.
Loss 0-2
So my luck ran out, although had I won I would have had to play the completely unstoppable Matt Moss who went on to win it all with BLS, congrats to that guy.
Props:
-Pow-Block, for getting me a legitimate top cut without the help of DX Shiftry
-Brandon for winning 11-14 and becoming IN State Champion in his last tournament in that age group
-All of Team Monkey, for finishing with a convincing winning record on the day.
-ATM Rock, for being the godly tech that it is and coming through in two crucial matchups
-All of the Tournament Staff, ran even faster than what was expected even with a T16 cut
-Moss for helping the little people. CLASS.
-Clean hotel pools
-ShowDogs that look like barrels
-ShowDogs that look like giant horses with spots
-Paris for showing up all gangster (w3rd)
Slops:
-Paris for playing LUDICARGO
-Eddie for winning at Pokemon Master Trainer G/S with a freaking PRIMEAPE while I should have won with my Feraligatr
-Burnt popcorn fire alarms
-Foisy
-Me, for being jumping on that bandwagon
-Absolution
My friends Tracy, Eddie and I woke up around 7 in Milford, MI, groggy on about 2 hours sleep after a night of deckbuilding, playtesting and videogamery. We head out on the 3-4 hour drive to the La Quinta (Spanish for "The Quinta") Inn in Auburn, IN and arrive about 10:45ish, then decide we have time to get McDonnulz. Eddie and I order foodstuffs while Tracy goes to the bathroom, once we get our food a huge line forms, long story short, Tracy ends up waiting in line for 20 minutes for A SMALL ORANGE JUICE. We head to "The Quinta" with time to spare, meet up with Snowball, Brandon, Tommy AND Paris (GANG'S ALL HERE) and hand out decks to Brandon and Tomas.
I had decided before the tournament that I'd play the same deck as MI States which I had moderate success with, Pow-Block, as I felt it has solid [and very winnable] matchups against the day's popular decks (Rock Lock, Nidoqueen, just about anything T2.) The most difficult matchup for the deck IMO is LBS, which would have been my choice from our deckpool if Brandon didn't play it (but that worked out for the best anyways). SO anyways, let's get to the games.
Game 1 v. Mrs. Stump (TRR Furret/Clefable EX/Togetic)
Basically this served as a warmup match for me (hate to say that). I start with a lone Larvitar and a Dark Energy, Holon's Mentor and I'm going first; she has an active Clefairy and various colorless Pokemon on the bench. I attack for 10 and end my turn. She does the same after playing a Bill's Maintenance. I play the mentor, get Jirachi DX, Pidgey and Slugma. I retreat for the Jirachi and Wishing star into my Rare Candy'd Pidgeot, QS for the Dark Pupitar, attach a Scramble and pass. She gets a T2 Clefable EX and Moon Kicks the Jirachi for 40. I get T-Tar up next turn with 2 Scrambles, kill the Clefable EX. She gets some Togetics up after that, but I Spin-Tail everything else to death for the win.
Win 1-0
Game 2 v. ??? (Armaldo EX)
He gets set up quickly with the help of the LM Gym that lets you lay Fossil basics, and has two Armaldo EX out by around T5. I have my Pidgeot and T-Tars up by this point, I believe I Troded myself to Pow up one of his Armaldo EXes, then Spin-Tailed everything down while he built another Armaldo on the bench. He couldn't get enough energy down in time to stop the rock, he asked me if I had it and conceded. GG.
Win 2-0
Game 3 v. Dani S. (EspyCham)
This game was a bit rough for me, as I couldn't pull much search off early, and she had T2 Cham shutting down any hopes of Pidgeot or Magcargo immediately. She Pure Powers for two turns for 60 onto my benched Dark Pupitar, but luckily I get the T-Tar next turn to save it. I beleive at this point I actually blow up a Trode with little or no energy in my discard to Pow up a Jirachi or something to enable some search. I get my T-Tar active with D/Scramble to put 30 on her Jirachi and 20 on the Cham. My hand size at this point is quite small and she's holding a 9+ card hand, so I'm thinking Holon Scientist next turn. On my turn I get the Transciever but I make what could have been the biggest misplay of my life and search my deck while the Scientist IS ALREADY IN THE DISCARD as I had played it like second turn. So my hopes of drawing in the Rock are slim and none - I spintail again, so she has 50 on her new active Cham and 50 on another Cham that was Jirachi the turn before (I was sort of confused as to why she did this.) I can only hope for a miracle topdeck - and on my turn I DRAW THE ROCK. Donksolution is born. She has no basics left, I win this. GG.
Win 3-0
Game 4 v. Eddie C. [InfestedTassadar] (BLS)
Definitely the worst matchup I can expect at this tournament, he gets set up first or second turn, and I can't draw into anything. I think my prizes owned me this game, and he finishes me off pretty early with Steelix EX killing any hopes of an early T-Tar. I hold a bunch of cards in my hand in hopes of pulling off a 6-3 comeback, Rare Candying a T-Tar, a Trode EX (with a bunch of Energy in the discard) and holding two POWs in my hand with his Lugia EX benched. I would have had to have gotten an Admin to stop him but I never found it. GG Eddie.
Loss 3-1
Game 5 v. ??? (MetaNite)
I don't know the guy, but it was evident there was little to no search power in his deck, as all he would bench was either Dratinis or Beldums, no sign of any Pidgeot or Magcargo. Basically bombed a bunch of energy onto T-Tar and picked off any Metagross DS he had out with OHKO's through POWs so nothing could OHKO me. I think he benched a Lunarock lategame but it didn't do much to me at that point. I Spintailed some stuff for the win.
Win 4-1
Game 6 v. Adam V. [Ice'Cold] (Rock-Lock)
This matchup can go either way, it's usually about 50/50 for me depending on who has more struggles late game, but Adam's a seasoned Rock-Lock player who T32'd Worlds, so he had me a bit worried. We traded prizes back and forth for a time, and I eventually POW'd up his Pidgeot and Grinded it for a OHKO while he had a small hand, which basically crippled his search. Theprize I draw is my lone ATM Rock.
Tied 2-2, I force him to go for the Rock to kill my Pidgeot or to KO my heavily damaged (but not completely rockable) active T-Tar. The turn previous I had Spin-Tailed, putting 60 on both a Rare Candied Amphy and Rare Candied Sand Damage T-Tar. He KO's the T-Tar, not thinking about the Rock, and I bring Pidgeot active, QS an Energy and Rock him for the win. He made a couple costly misplays, where he could have Briney'd something the turn before, and when he Copycatted away his (last?) ATM Rock. GG though Adam.Win 5-1
So finally I make a cut, end up at 6th seed out of a diverse T16 of very skilled players. I get paired up with Eric R. and he's been playing the same deck all season, and it was a matchup I was pretty concerned about.
Top 16
Game 1 (T16) v. Eric R. [psycodad] (DS Draggy/Lugia)
This match was sort of odd, and we both opted to leave both of our Jirachi DX active for upwards of 6 or 7 turns while we each set up our bench. He had two D-Nites up, a Pidgeot and a Lugia EX (ready to attack with D-Nite's Power+Holon's Pokemon.) The trouble for T-Tar against this deck comes into fruition because of his steady draw through TVRs and Holon Ruins (which discards L Energy, helping his combo not unlike Blaze/Delcatty) and my inability to stop his Pidgeot without suffering the loss of a valuable T-Tar. I knew his deck played at least 1 Retreiver and he had played at least 2 Lugia EX in the deck in the past, and the speed of the deck kept me from getting ahead. We exchanged prizes back and forth for the longest time until it was 1-1, but I couldn't come up with another OHKO or TTar at the end, and he finished me off.
Loss 0-1
Game 2
My opening hand was the grossest thing I'd seen all day, and my opening hand was something like, Larvitar, Voltorb, Dark Pupitar, Dark Tyranitar, Dark Tyranitar, Scramble, Scramble. I basically struggled to get anything going while he Candied his D-Nites while he pounded me with Agility/Heavy Impact.
During the middle of the game some joker burnt a bag of popcorn somewhere in the hotel and set his microwave on fire, so the fire alarm was going off and we had to step outside for a minute.
We got back in after a few minutes, and I gained a bit of steam, and somehow I brought it down to 1-1 prizes, but I was out of T-Tars at this point - I had Pidgeot active and a Voltorb on my bench, his active D-Nite had 30 damage on it, and I believe he was out of switch cards, so my only play is to bring my LM Voltorb active, attach my L Energy to it, QS the Trode EX, and hope for a heads on the paralysis flip, enabling me to QS another energy next turn for the Crush and Burn KO (time was nearly out at this point I believe, down to 5 minutes maybe). So I flip for the potential win and, sadly, it comes down Tails. He kills Voltorb next turn, and I'm out, 1 prize short of a comeback. Well played Eric, probably the best two games I played all day.
Loss 0-2
So my luck ran out, although had I won I would have had to play the completely unstoppable Matt Moss who went on to win it all with BLS, congrats to that guy.
Props:
-Pow-Block, for getting me a legitimate top cut without the help of DX Shiftry
-Brandon for winning 11-14 and becoming IN State Champion in his last tournament in that age group
-All of Team Monkey, for finishing with a convincing winning record on the day.
-ATM Rock, for being the godly tech that it is and coming through in two crucial matchups
-All of the Tournament Staff, ran even faster than what was expected even with a T16 cut
-Moss for helping the little people. CLASS.
-Clean hotel pools
-ShowDogs that look like barrels
-ShowDogs that look like giant horses with spots
-Paris for showing up all gangster (w3rd)
Slops:
-Paris for playing LUDICARGO
-Eddie for winning at Pokemon Master Trainer G/S with a freaking PRIMEAPE while I should have won with my Feraligatr
-Burnt popcorn fire alarms
-Foisy
-Me, for being jumping on that bandwagon
-Absolution
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