Author: Erik Nance
Deck: Varied
Tournament: Fall 2010 Battle Roads
Format: MD-on
Asheville, North Carolina Battle Roads
I went with Luxchomp...
:fighting::fire:Round 1 - vs. Zach B. (tarheel_bivens) with Machamp/Infernape 4
For this specific tournament, I went over my deck options very carefully, and when Zach flips over an Infernape 4 as we started, I knew that I had made a good choice. I could have played Steelix (and really wanted to), but I had a feeling I would see some fire Pokemon played. I suppose this is something I've developed after 5 years of experience -- a keen intuition. As I'm congratulating myself for realizing this, I'm soon baffled when Zach plays a Pokemon Communication and shuffles in a Machoke to grab an Uxie. All his deck was missing was a Palkia Lv.X tech in case I decided to play Charizard, haha.
So Zach gets a psychological jump on me with his interesting deck choice, but I still have some answers for the Machamp matchup (most noteably Uxie Lv.X and Shuppet/Banette from PL). Zach's a great guy, and he had an awesome deck for this tournament, so I felt bad for how this game played out. Basically, Zach has trouble running into some fighting energy, even though he was able to get his Machamps up and running. By the time he's ready to start hitting, I have an Uxie Lv.X ready to get the OHKO (as well as a Banette on bench). Time is called, then we get our three turns and I'm able to tie the game up with an E-belted Banette. Zach levels up Machamp, swings with Hurrican Punch, and only hits one heads, leaving Banette with 20 HP and the chance to take the last prize. Good game Zach, tough luck on that last move.
1-0
:dark::colorless::fire:
sychic:Round 2 - vs. Devin (?) with Sablelock/Blaziken FB/Mewtwo Lv.X
My opponent is going second, using Pokemon Collector to grab a Sableye, a Blaziken FB, and a Mewtwo. I'm thankful once more that I didn't play Steelix, but now I'm worried about the Mewtwo. I have a pretty bad start and have to sacrifice something in order to play a Cynthia's Feelings. My Banette OHKO's the Mewtwo Lv.X, but by this time I've given up 3 prizes. Fortunately, my opponent had to waste some resources to try and take the game with the Mewtwo, so I'm able to make a generous comeback, disarming his Garchomps before they become a threat and playing Power Sprays at the right times to kill his mid-game setup. Unfortunately, I have to send a Banette up with an Expert Belt attached to try and take my remaining two prizes. This was kinda risky since the Banette had 30 damage on it and my opponent had a Blaziken FB in play (not leveled up though and without any energy). I take the risk, seeing it as my only option (I had run out of steam by this point). I get my KO, and my opponent brings up the Blaziken and plays a PONT. Off his six cards he gets the Blaziken FB Lv.X, the Energy Gain, and a Fire Energy. I calmly accept my loss, telling myself that I did the best I could. Instead of KO'ing the Banette, however, my opponent uses Luring Flame to bring up a Bronzong G. I couldn't believe it. In retrospect, I think my opponent just missed that my Banette had the E-belt attached. I win this one because of those last three turns as well.
2-0
:lightning::colorless:Round 3 - vs. Tom Wise (KingGengar) with Luxchomp
Tom had an interesting tech in his Luxchomp, but I won't give it away. In any event, he started with it, and I was able to KO it pretty quickly. A lot of this game was a blur, though I remembered that I played the "you take a prize, I take a prize" game pretty well, using Ambipom G to KO a Garchomp C, then an E-belted Shuppet to KO the Toxicroak G, then using my own Toxicroak G to KO the Luxray GL, etc. Tom played it well, but I just had better resources at my disposal throughout the game with a nice Cyrus chain. Good game Tom!
3-0
Afterwards, we had an interesting discussion about luck. We didn't get to talk all that much about it, so I thought I'd address it here. "Luck" is something that I've thought about A LOT because of the Pokemon TCG. As anybody who's played this game for a long time will tell you, sometimes things just seem too good (or bad) to be true. An opponent flipping 18 heads in a row to win a game certainly seems lucky (and unlucky for the other player), but what of it? If I sat down and flipped coins all day long, I'll find some pretty "lucky/unlucky" strings of heads and tails. But the nature of luck is that it's much more situation-defined than anything. If a person flips 8 heads in a row while I'm walking around the office, it's no big deal. When that same person flips 8 heads in a row with Speed Stadium, however, then it gets some attention. The fact is, "random" actually doesn't seem so random, and given a particular situation, more weight is placed on this fact.
The other thing about luck is the perception of luck. A lot of people see themselves as being unlucky. When they flip those 4 tails in a row, they blame their bad luck. And when they have an awful starting hand, they blame their bad luck. I've had entire major tournaments where I didn't start off with a Supporter in my opening hand at all (Nationals 2006, Regionals 2010), but I've tried very hard to not think of myself as unlucky. When a person sees themself as unlucky, that's how things play out. They focus on those unfortunate circumstances more than anything else, and so the only thing they perceive is themselves getting unlucky. If, for instance, I had disengaged myself for a moment during the earlier match with Zach -- had I essentially told myself that I was just unlucky -- there's a good chance that I would have lost my focus and made a misplay that would have cost me the game (then, of course, I would have been unhappy with the result, talking about how unlucky I was). Instead, I picked my head up and played with confidence.
With that thought, I try to see myself as being lucky rather than unlucky. I'm more willing than most to talk about my good luck as well. Tournament reporters who win will talk about skill long before they ever talk about luck, but random events in Pokemon simply can't be ignored. It takes both skill and luck to win a tournament, and I think more people should consider acknowledging that. Conversely, almost every "sour grapes" report explains in precise detail all the unlucky reasons why that person didn't win the tournament. It's more than just being lucky or unlucky, it's the perception/acknowledgement of how those random events play out.
And with that said...
:water::fighting:Round 4 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
... Guy is able to get a first-turn Machamp on me, KO'ing my active Luxray GL. From here, I think I hit with an Uxie and sacrifice another Pokemon, then get the KO with a Garchomp Lv.X. I'm not sure this is how it played out, so Guy, correct me if I'm wrong. Around mid-game, I'm able to Power Spray a critical Uxie drop, leaving Guy with little to work with. This game also felt kind of like a blur to me, but I was able to make a comeback and win.
A quick note. Guy's a great friend of mine, and it wasn't but just a year ago that I met him. Considering the time that Guy's been playing, I was very impressed with his performance (he went on to get second in the tournament). Not only that, Guy's been getting some of his friends into the game, so it was awesome to see him again and hang out with friends (shout out to Ryan, Kali, Ethan, etc.). I have a feeling that the competition in the NC/SC area is only going to get tougher as more people come into the game and get involved. This, of course, is awesome... awesome to the max.
4-0
:fire::colorless:Round 5 - vs. Ryan Gouge with BlazeChomp
Again - glad I didn't play Steelix. My start for this game was atrocious. I started with no energy, no Supporters, and nothing good on the field (Bronzong G start or something like that). I'm ready to accept my quick loss when I topdeck a Cynthia's Feelings. I sacrifice something, then use Feelings for 8 -- no energy still. Ryan opts to play a Judge to try and slow me down. Afterwards, we kinda flounder around until I can get a Cyrus chain going. I focus on using Luxray GL Lv.X to pull things up (like Garchomp C) and grab some KO's. We trade a couple of prizes here and there until I get a Banette up and running. It takes like 3 prizes or something like that while Ryan continues to suffer from a lack of resources.
5-0
----------------------------------------------
:fire::colorless:TOP 4 - vs. Ryan Gouge with BlazeChomp
Game 1 -- This match played out pretty fast. Ryan used a Judge early-game, but we're both able to recover. We trade prizes here and there, but Ryan misses an Expert Belt attached to my Garchomp X and I take the game from there.
Game 2 -- Ryan opts to go first, leaving me to go second (first time all tournament!). He flips over a Blaziken and using Call Energy to grab some Basics. I'm able to avoid the Power Spray and still setup, but that's about all I remember from this match, haha. I end up winning.
6-0
:water::fighting:TOP 2 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
Game 1 -- Guy gets a bit unfortunate on this one, flipping tails on all of his Super Scoop Ups. Meanwhile, I'm able to setup responses to Machamp while I'm KO'ing Kingdras. It's too much for him, and he eventually scoops.
Game 2 -- This game was a bit weird. I get a quick start, but Guy is able to keep up. I overestimate Guy's resources as he gets in a couple of Machamps, and he's able to make a great comeback from mid-game on. My hand is huge, but nothing seems to help me out (Power Sprays never get used, and my options all seemed clunky). Finally, I realize my option of trying to somehow sweep with a Banette (provided that Shuppet can keep the Machamp asleep for a turn). The sleep goes through, and I get a Banette up, but it's unable to last and we go to game 3. Great game Guy!
Game 3 -- So, for the first time throughout the entire tournament, I get to go 2nd. Well, okay, Ryan Gouge let me go 2nd earlier, but I don't count that because he willingly went first. Not only do I get to go 2nd, my hand is awesome (Luxray, Luxray, Garchomp, DCE, Expert Belt, Bebe's Search, Crobat G). I put my Crobat G active, announce that I'm going 2nd, and hope for the best. Guy flips over a lone Horsea and hits my Crobat G for 10. I attach the DCE and Expert Belt to my Luxray and swing for the game.
7-0
After the tournament we all go out to eat at an awesome Mexican restaurant and I had some enchiladas covered in hot green sauce... it was awesome. Paige and I stayed in Asheville the following day to go shopping a little bit (I found Platinum and Rising Rival packs for 2 bucks each, sweet!) and enjoy the mountain air. All in all, a great weekend.
:thumbrops:
- Bannette
- a well-run tournament at a nice location (thanks Jeff, Toni, all!)
- a cooler-looking Victory Medal
- meeting up with friends, making new ones
- Brian Leary's fully-holo'd Luxchomp deck (mine's not holo, but just looking at his brought a tear to my eye, haha)
- not running Steelix (everyone should stop playing fire Pokemanz!)
- seeing Matt Riddle for the first time in ages
- Mexican food... mmm...
- Asheville
- wifey for supporting me
:nonono:Slops:
- going 2nd only once (okay, okay, twice)
- starting with a Luxray or Garchomp only, like, twice
- having to borrow a Luxray X from my brother
- not running Steelix
- Infernape 4 Lv.X (quickly approaching Pidgey in terms of my least favorite cards of all time)
- out of all the PL/RR packs I opened, two Floatzel Lv.X's (and nothing much else)... for real?!
- Luxchomp
________________________________________________________________________________________
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Battle Roads
I went with Vileplume/Gengar...
:grass:Round 1 - vs. girl (?) with Cherrim/Leafeon
This game wasn't too difficult, though my opponent played very few Trainers or Supporters, so when I Poltergeist a nine card hand and see only a Moomoo Milk and a Premiere Ball, I'm like "meh." Fortunately, my opponent has a hard time setting up and I take this one pretty easily.
1-0
:colorless::fighting:Round 2 - vs. Ben S. with Flygon/Donphan
We both start out slow, but only due to Spiritomb starts. Ben played a Slowking Prime tech in his deck, which meant that I gave him an extra trainer card every turn. What really hurt Ben, however, was a massive energy drought. With his Spiritomb stuck in the active position, I start using Shadow Room on his benched stuff (including two Donphans, a Slowking, a Flygon, and a Vibrava). I get an AR Gengar in and use Curse to move damage counters around, then I go with Compound Pain to spread more damage. By the time Ben gets the Flygon Lv.X up, I'm able to OHKO it with Poltergeist. Same thing with the Donphans, and that's pretty much it. Good game!
2-0
:metal:Round 3 - vs. Ferrell B. with Scizor Prime/Metagross
So this was a weird game. Ferrell starts with a Beldum, I with a Spiritomb. I get a quick Gengar in play and Poltergeist his lone Metang while he has 9 cards in hand. He shows me a Metagross, another Metang, and 7 Metal Energy... 0 damage. He gets the UD Metagross up, swinging for 70 with Strength. I work on getting another SF Gengar in play, realizing how this game should play out. I play a Broken Time-Space and let Ferrell KO the first Gengar. Does Fainting Spell work? No, I flips tails. I would have won easily had I got heads on that one. I send up the next Gengar and KO a Beldum on the bench I had used Shadow Room on before. Ferrell proceeds to draw into two Scizor Primes and a Skarmory. He starts piling Metal Energies onto Scizor and then KO's the second Gengar with Metagross. I try for Fainting Spell and land a heads. Whew!
From here, I have to get in an AR Gengar and work on the Scizor. Since I note that Ferrell plays absolutely no support in his deck, cycling in the SF Gengar to Poltergeist is pointless. My Vileplume keeps him from playing Moomoo Milks or Life Herbs, so between using Curse and Shadow Skip, I'm able to take down the first Scizor (which had a bajillion metals on it). Of course, the prize count is looking scary at this point, seeing as everything I sent up after using Shadow Skip got KO'd. The second Scizor goes down a bit easier. Finally, Ferrell sends up a Skarmory and uses the Metal search attack after attaching a Special Metal Energy; the prize count is 1-1. My Shadow Skip hits for 20 four times before I win the game (Ferrell had nothing on the bench for me to Curse with). A really good game!
3-0
:dark::fire:Round 4 - vs. Mike Reynolds with Sablelock/Blaziken FB
This game was pretty good, though I remember at the beginning Mike landed two tails on an Initiative. Even if he got two heads, it wouldn't have mattered much - my hand had two Uxie in it along with a Copycat and a PONT. Mike pulled up a Gloom early on with Blaziken, but I surprise him with a second Unown Q for the retreat. Mike realizes pretty quickly that the Luring Flame trick won't keep Vileplume active, so he tries to set up some Pokemon to damage me (Honchkrow G specifically). After a few Poltergeists with Mike having enough trainers for the OHKO, Mike sends up a Sableye and searches for a Judge. It's a nice play, but I Poltergeist again and Mike reveals two Poketurn, a VS Seeker, and a Pokemon. From there he can't catch up and I Poltergeist until I win. Good game Mike!
4-0
:lightning::colorless:Round 5 - vs. (?, I forgot your name, sorry!) with Luxchomp
I was explaining to my wife the other night how this matchup goes. If the opponent starts with a Luxray and has quick access to Luxray Lv.X with a Bebe's, it can cause a real panic. Almost any other start for the Luxchomp player puts them in a bad spot, especially if they have to spend multiple resources (Pokemon Collector, Cyrus's Conspiracy, Bebe's Search) to pull out the Luxray Lv.X. For this game, my opponent had that dreaded accessibility to the Luxray X, giving him the chance to play his Trainers, etc. He tries to trap a Vileplume up, but I use Warp Energy to get out of it. As I struggle to set up, he gets a Garchomp in play and starts using Dragon Rush. After using a PONT, he draws into two Warp Energy himself to repeat Dragon Rush (even under trainer lock). I never even attack with Gengar this game... boo hoo. Great game though, and well played!
4-1
:water::fighting:Round 6 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
I'm playing Guy again and I Con Le him (he flips over Unown Q going first against my Uxie).
5-1
-------------------------------------------
:lightning:sychic:TOP 4 - vs. Jon S. with Luxray GL/Gallade 4
Game 1 - So I get to go second on this game. I started with an Azelf, but use a Luxury Ball to grab a Spiritomb, then Warp Energy to get the 'Tomb active for the trainer lock. Later on, Jon confirmed to me that this shut him down pretty badly. Jon's deck is really interesting, with a surprising amount of counters to the Vileplume/Gengar matchup (Gallade 4, Drifblim SP, etc.). Unfortunately for Jon, I use a Looker's Investigation at one point to see that he had a 7 card hand full of trainers and no way to get energy. Seeing as he had a Gallade 4 Lv.X active with no energy on it, I proceed to Shadow Room his bench, including a Drifblim with 2 energy on it. I KO the Drifblim while Jon struggles with a dead end hand. This game goes downhill for Jon quickly afterwards, as my Poltergeist is swinging for a OHKO every time and his Drifblim got KO'd before it could do anything.
Game 2 - Jon has a good start this time, using a Call Energy to get stuff in play while having decent resources. I also have a beautiful hand, playing a Pokemon Collector to grab Gastly/Oddish/Uxie, laying down a Broken Time-Space, jumping up to a Gengar, dropping an energy, then using Set Up with Uxie. I evolve to Gloom, then use my active Spiritomb to get up to a Vileplume, all in one turn. Jon eventually gets stuck with the same situation as game one, with an active Gallade X and no energy to retreat. I'm able to Shadow Room his Pokemon, but he eventually retreats and uses Drifblim to hit the benched Vileplume for 80 and get a KO, freeing him from the trainer lock. By this time, however, my Shadow Rooms have put 3 Pokemon to KO range with Compound Pain, so I do that to snag 3 prizes. Jon runs out of resources soon afterward, and I'm left using Shadow Room/Curse to take my last couple of prizes. Great games Jon!
6-1
:water::fighting:TOP 2 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
Game 1 - This game was epic. Guy's deck is actually quite suited for countering Gengar/Vilplume, as he only needs to use the LA Kingdra to discard trainers, etc. and put me in a tough spot. With proper damage calculation, the Kingdra can put Gengar within the 20 HP KO range needed for an Uxie to hit and avoid Fainting Spell. Or, he can also Crobat/Splash Spray to get the KO. Either way, this is not an easy matchup. I realize early on that SF Gengar is almost useless here, but I manage to put some damage on his benched Uxie and UL Kingdra with Shadow Room. Eventually, I get a AR Gengar going, which can actually damage the LA Kingdra. This puts Guy in a tough spot, but he's still taking prizes. With Guy only needing one prize to go, I'm able to use Azelf's Lock up his Crobat G. I need to take two prizes, so my plan is to Lock Up and use Curse until I can KO a benched Horsea and the Crobat G in one turn. This plan fails, as Guy gets the Horsea up to another UL Kingdra. With my heavily damaged AR on the bench, I have to break the lock. I send up the AR Gengar and level up to avoid the Spray Splash KO. I use Shadow Skip to KO the Crobat G, then send up my benched Vileplume with two energy on it. Since Guy can't OHKO the Vileplume, he hits it for 60. I'm able to get in another SF Gengar and Shadow Room one of his two Uxies after using Curse for the win. Great game Guy!
Game 2 - This game found us both struggling to set up. I don't draw a Supporter for 6 turns, while Guy can't play any trainers because of my Spiritomb (and thus can't set up). We piddle around until I topdeck a Pokemon Collector. From here, I get all of my stuff set up, but Guy still struggles. I can see why when I finally Poltergeist him and his hand is 2 Pokemon Communication, 1 Poketurn, and some Pokemon. Guy topdecks a Cyrus's Conspiracy to grab a PONT and a water, so I get another KO. He PONTs, but his returning hand is still not very helpful (and trainer-heavy). I take this one without much of a problem. Tough luck Guy.
7-1
So that's it! I won with Vileplume/Gengar and hopefully proved that it's a decent deck (I didn't believe for a long time either). It was nice playing slower games this time, and I like the complete 180 the deck is from Luxchomp. It was also great seeing friends again and hanging out. And as always, thanks to the judges and staff for hosting another well-run tournament.
:thumbrops:
- Nacho Daddy's
- Puzzle Quest 2
- Sleigh Bells
- The Long Lost Kevin Nance
- blueberries
- hologram shotgun
- Laura Lineberry
:nonono:Slops:
- laundry
- fall that feels like summer
- meat
- Infernape Lv.X
Deck: Varied
Tournament: Fall 2010 Battle Roads
Format: MD-on
Asheville, North Carolina Battle Roads
I went with Luxchomp...
:fighting::fire:Round 1 - vs. Zach B. (tarheel_bivens) with Machamp/Infernape 4
For this specific tournament, I went over my deck options very carefully, and when Zach flips over an Infernape 4 as we started, I knew that I had made a good choice. I could have played Steelix (and really wanted to), but I had a feeling I would see some fire Pokemon played. I suppose this is something I've developed after 5 years of experience -- a keen intuition. As I'm congratulating myself for realizing this, I'm soon baffled when Zach plays a Pokemon Communication and shuffles in a Machoke to grab an Uxie. All his deck was missing was a Palkia Lv.X tech in case I decided to play Charizard, haha.
So Zach gets a psychological jump on me with his interesting deck choice, but I still have some answers for the Machamp matchup (most noteably Uxie Lv.X and Shuppet/Banette from PL). Zach's a great guy, and he had an awesome deck for this tournament, so I felt bad for how this game played out. Basically, Zach has trouble running into some fighting energy, even though he was able to get his Machamps up and running. By the time he's ready to start hitting, I have an Uxie Lv.X ready to get the OHKO (as well as a Banette on bench). Time is called, then we get our three turns and I'm able to tie the game up with an E-belted Banette. Zach levels up Machamp, swings with Hurrican Punch, and only hits one heads, leaving Banette with 20 HP and the chance to take the last prize. Good game Zach, tough luck on that last move.
1-0
:dark::colorless::fire:
sychic:Round 2 - vs. Devin (?) with Sablelock/Blaziken FB/Mewtwo Lv.XMy opponent is going second, using Pokemon Collector to grab a Sableye, a Blaziken FB, and a Mewtwo. I'm thankful once more that I didn't play Steelix, but now I'm worried about the Mewtwo. I have a pretty bad start and have to sacrifice something in order to play a Cynthia's Feelings. My Banette OHKO's the Mewtwo Lv.X, but by this time I've given up 3 prizes. Fortunately, my opponent had to waste some resources to try and take the game with the Mewtwo, so I'm able to make a generous comeback, disarming his Garchomps before they become a threat and playing Power Sprays at the right times to kill his mid-game setup. Unfortunately, I have to send a Banette up with an Expert Belt attached to try and take my remaining two prizes. This was kinda risky since the Banette had 30 damage on it and my opponent had a Blaziken FB in play (not leveled up though and without any energy). I take the risk, seeing it as my only option (I had run out of steam by this point). I get my KO, and my opponent brings up the Blaziken and plays a PONT. Off his six cards he gets the Blaziken FB Lv.X, the Energy Gain, and a Fire Energy. I calmly accept my loss, telling myself that I did the best I could. Instead of KO'ing the Banette, however, my opponent uses Luring Flame to bring up a Bronzong G. I couldn't believe it. In retrospect, I think my opponent just missed that my Banette had the E-belt attached. I win this one because of those last three turns as well.
2-0
:lightning::colorless:Round 3 - vs. Tom Wise (KingGengar) with Luxchomp
Tom had an interesting tech in his Luxchomp, but I won't give it away. In any event, he started with it, and I was able to KO it pretty quickly. A lot of this game was a blur, though I remembered that I played the "you take a prize, I take a prize" game pretty well, using Ambipom G to KO a Garchomp C, then an E-belted Shuppet to KO the Toxicroak G, then using my own Toxicroak G to KO the Luxray GL, etc. Tom played it well, but I just had better resources at my disposal throughout the game with a nice Cyrus chain. Good game Tom!
3-0
Afterwards, we had an interesting discussion about luck. We didn't get to talk all that much about it, so I thought I'd address it here. "Luck" is something that I've thought about A LOT because of the Pokemon TCG. As anybody who's played this game for a long time will tell you, sometimes things just seem too good (or bad) to be true. An opponent flipping 18 heads in a row to win a game certainly seems lucky (and unlucky for the other player), but what of it? If I sat down and flipped coins all day long, I'll find some pretty "lucky/unlucky" strings of heads and tails. But the nature of luck is that it's much more situation-defined than anything. If a person flips 8 heads in a row while I'm walking around the office, it's no big deal. When that same person flips 8 heads in a row with Speed Stadium, however, then it gets some attention. The fact is, "random" actually doesn't seem so random, and given a particular situation, more weight is placed on this fact.
The other thing about luck is the perception of luck. A lot of people see themselves as being unlucky. When they flip those 4 tails in a row, they blame their bad luck. And when they have an awful starting hand, they blame their bad luck. I've had entire major tournaments where I didn't start off with a Supporter in my opening hand at all (Nationals 2006, Regionals 2010), but I've tried very hard to not think of myself as unlucky. When a person sees themself as unlucky, that's how things play out. They focus on those unfortunate circumstances more than anything else, and so the only thing they perceive is themselves getting unlucky. If, for instance, I had disengaged myself for a moment during the earlier match with Zach -- had I essentially told myself that I was just unlucky -- there's a good chance that I would have lost my focus and made a misplay that would have cost me the game (then, of course, I would have been unhappy with the result, talking about how unlucky I was). Instead, I picked my head up and played with confidence.
With that thought, I try to see myself as being lucky rather than unlucky. I'm more willing than most to talk about my good luck as well. Tournament reporters who win will talk about skill long before they ever talk about luck, but random events in Pokemon simply can't be ignored. It takes both skill and luck to win a tournament, and I think more people should consider acknowledging that. Conversely, almost every "sour grapes" report explains in precise detail all the unlucky reasons why that person didn't win the tournament. It's more than just being lucky or unlucky, it's the perception/acknowledgement of how those random events play out.
And with that said...
:water::fighting:Round 4 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
... Guy is able to get a first-turn Machamp on me, KO'ing my active Luxray GL. From here, I think I hit with an Uxie and sacrifice another Pokemon, then get the KO with a Garchomp Lv.X. I'm not sure this is how it played out, so Guy, correct me if I'm wrong. Around mid-game, I'm able to Power Spray a critical Uxie drop, leaving Guy with little to work with. This game also felt kind of like a blur to me, but I was able to make a comeback and win.
A quick note. Guy's a great friend of mine, and it wasn't but just a year ago that I met him. Considering the time that Guy's been playing, I was very impressed with his performance (he went on to get second in the tournament). Not only that, Guy's been getting some of his friends into the game, so it was awesome to see him again and hang out with friends (shout out to Ryan, Kali, Ethan, etc.). I have a feeling that the competition in the NC/SC area is only going to get tougher as more people come into the game and get involved. This, of course, is awesome... awesome to the max.
4-0
:fire::colorless:Round 5 - vs. Ryan Gouge with BlazeChomp
Again - glad I didn't play Steelix. My start for this game was atrocious. I started with no energy, no Supporters, and nothing good on the field (Bronzong G start or something like that). I'm ready to accept my quick loss when I topdeck a Cynthia's Feelings. I sacrifice something, then use Feelings for 8 -- no energy still. Ryan opts to play a Judge to try and slow me down. Afterwards, we kinda flounder around until I can get a Cyrus chain going. I focus on using Luxray GL Lv.X to pull things up (like Garchomp C) and grab some KO's. We trade a couple of prizes here and there until I get a Banette up and running. It takes like 3 prizes or something like that while Ryan continues to suffer from a lack of resources.
5-0
----------------------------------------------
:fire::colorless:TOP 4 - vs. Ryan Gouge with BlazeChomp
Game 1 -- This match played out pretty fast. Ryan used a Judge early-game, but we're both able to recover. We trade prizes here and there, but Ryan misses an Expert Belt attached to my Garchomp X and I take the game from there.
Game 2 -- Ryan opts to go first, leaving me to go second (first time all tournament!). He flips over a Blaziken and using Call Energy to grab some Basics. I'm able to avoid the Power Spray and still setup, but that's about all I remember from this match, haha. I end up winning.
6-0
:water::fighting:TOP 2 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
Game 1 -- Guy gets a bit unfortunate on this one, flipping tails on all of his Super Scoop Ups. Meanwhile, I'm able to setup responses to Machamp while I'm KO'ing Kingdras. It's too much for him, and he eventually scoops.
Game 2 -- This game was a bit weird. I get a quick start, but Guy is able to keep up. I overestimate Guy's resources as he gets in a couple of Machamps, and he's able to make a great comeback from mid-game on. My hand is huge, but nothing seems to help me out (Power Sprays never get used, and my options all seemed clunky). Finally, I realize my option of trying to somehow sweep with a Banette (provided that Shuppet can keep the Machamp asleep for a turn). The sleep goes through, and I get a Banette up, but it's unable to last and we go to game 3. Great game Guy!
Game 3 -- So, for the first time throughout the entire tournament, I get to go 2nd. Well, okay, Ryan Gouge let me go 2nd earlier, but I don't count that because he willingly went first. Not only do I get to go 2nd, my hand is awesome (Luxray, Luxray, Garchomp, DCE, Expert Belt, Bebe's Search, Crobat G). I put my Crobat G active, announce that I'm going 2nd, and hope for the best. Guy flips over a lone Horsea and hits my Crobat G for 10. I attach the DCE and Expert Belt to my Luxray and swing for the game.
7-0
After the tournament we all go out to eat at an awesome Mexican restaurant and I had some enchiladas covered in hot green sauce... it was awesome. Paige and I stayed in Asheville the following day to go shopping a little bit (I found Platinum and Rising Rival packs for 2 bucks each, sweet!) and enjoy the mountain air. All in all, a great weekend.
:thumb
rops:- Bannette
- a well-run tournament at a nice location (thanks Jeff, Toni, all!)
- a cooler-looking Victory Medal
- meeting up with friends, making new ones
- Brian Leary's fully-holo'd Luxchomp deck (mine's not holo, but just looking at his brought a tear to my eye, haha)
- not running Steelix (everyone should stop playing fire Pokemanz!)
- seeing Matt Riddle for the first time in ages
- Mexican food... mmm...
- Asheville
- wifey for supporting me
:nonono:Slops:
- going 2nd only once (okay, okay, twice)
- starting with a Luxray or Garchomp only, like, twice
- having to borrow a Luxray X from my brother
- not running Steelix
- Infernape 4 Lv.X (quickly approaching Pidgey in terms of my least favorite cards of all time)
- out of all the PL/RR packs I opened, two Floatzel Lv.X's (and nothing much else)... for real?!
- Luxchomp
________________________________________________________________________________________
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Battle Roads
I went with Vileplume/Gengar...
:grass:Round 1 - vs. girl (?) with Cherrim/Leafeon
This game wasn't too difficult, though my opponent played very few Trainers or Supporters, so when I Poltergeist a nine card hand and see only a Moomoo Milk and a Premiere Ball, I'm like "meh." Fortunately, my opponent has a hard time setting up and I take this one pretty easily.
1-0
:colorless::fighting:Round 2 - vs. Ben S. with Flygon/Donphan
We both start out slow, but only due to Spiritomb starts. Ben played a Slowking Prime tech in his deck, which meant that I gave him an extra trainer card every turn. What really hurt Ben, however, was a massive energy drought. With his Spiritomb stuck in the active position, I start using Shadow Room on his benched stuff (including two Donphans, a Slowking, a Flygon, and a Vibrava). I get an AR Gengar in and use Curse to move damage counters around, then I go with Compound Pain to spread more damage. By the time Ben gets the Flygon Lv.X up, I'm able to OHKO it with Poltergeist. Same thing with the Donphans, and that's pretty much it. Good game!
2-0
:metal:Round 3 - vs. Ferrell B. with Scizor Prime/Metagross
So this was a weird game. Ferrell starts with a Beldum, I with a Spiritomb. I get a quick Gengar in play and Poltergeist his lone Metang while he has 9 cards in hand. He shows me a Metagross, another Metang, and 7 Metal Energy... 0 damage. He gets the UD Metagross up, swinging for 70 with Strength. I work on getting another SF Gengar in play, realizing how this game should play out. I play a Broken Time-Space and let Ferrell KO the first Gengar. Does Fainting Spell work? No, I flips tails. I would have won easily had I got heads on that one. I send up the next Gengar and KO a Beldum on the bench I had used Shadow Room on before. Ferrell proceeds to draw into two Scizor Primes and a Skarmory. He starts piling Metal Energies onto Scizor and then KO's the second Gengar with Metagross. I try for Fainting Spell and land a heads. Whew!
From here, I have to get in an AR Gengar and work on the Scizor. Since I note that Ferrell plays absolutely no support in his deck, cycling in the SF Gengar to Poltergeist is pointless. My Vileplume keeps him from playing Moomoo Milks or Life Herbs, so between using Curse and Shadow Skip, I'm able to take down the first Scizor (which had a bajillion metals on it). Of course, the prize count is looking scary at this point, seeing as everything I sent up after using Shadow Skip got KO'd. The second Scizor goes down a bit easier. Finally, Ferrell sends up a Skarmory and uses the Metal search attack after attaching a Special Metal Energy; the prize count is 1-1. My Shadow Skip hits for 20 four times before I win the game (Ferrell had nothing on the bench for me to Curse with). A really good game!
3-0
:dark::fire:Round 4 - vs. Mike Reynolds with Sablelock/Blaziken FB
This game was pretty good, though I remember at the beginning Mike landed two tails on an Initiative. Even if he got two heads, it wouldn't have mattered much - my hand had two Uxie in it along with a Copycat and a PONT. Mike pulled up a Gloom early on with Blaziken, but I surprise him with a second Unown Q for the retreat. Mike realizes pretty quickly that the Luring Flame trick won't keep Vileplume active, so he tries to set up some Pokemon to damage me (Honchkrow G specifically). After a few Poltergeists with Mike having enough trainers for the OHKO, Mike sends up a Sableye and searches for a Judge. It's a nice play, but I Poltergeist again and Mike reveals two Poketurn, a VS Seeker, and a Pokemon. From there he can't catch up and I Poltergeist until I win. Good game Mike!
4-0
:lightning::colorless:Round 5 - vs. (?, I forgot your name, sorry!) with Luxchomp
I was explaining to my wife the other night how this matchup goes. If the opponent starts with a Luxray and has quick access to Luxray Lv.X with a Bebe's, it can cause a real panic. Almost any other start for the Luxchomp player puts them in a bad spot, especially if they have to spend multiple resources (Pokemon Collector, Cyrus's Conspiracy, Bebe's Search) to pull out the Luxray Lv.X. For this game, my opponent had that dreaded accessibility to the Luxray X, giving him the chance to play his Trainers, etc. He tries to trap a Vileplume up, but I use Warp Energy to get out of it. As I struggle to set up, he gets a Garchomp in play and starts using Dragon Rush. After using a PONT, he draws into two Warp Energy himself to repeat Dragon Rush (even under trainer lock). I never even attack with Gengar this game... boo hoo. Great game though, and well played!
4-1
:water::fighting:Round 6 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
I'm playing Guy again and I Con Le him (he flips over Unown Q going first against my Uxie).
5-1
-------------------------------------------
:lightning:
sychic:TOP 4 - vs. Jon S. with Luxray GL/Gallade 4Game 1 - So I get to go second on this game. I started with an Azelf, but use a Luxury Ball to grab a Spiritomb, then Warp Energy to get the 'Tomb active for the trainer lock. Later on, Jon confirmed to me that this shut him down pretty badly. Jon's deck is really interesting, with a surprising amount of counters to the Vileplume/Gengar matchup (Gallade 4, Drifblim SP, etc.). Unfortunately for Jon, I use a Looker's Investigation at one point to see that he had a 7 card hand full of trainers and no way to get energy. Seeing as he had a Gallade 4 Lv.X active with no energy on it, I proceed to Shadow Room his bench, including a Drifblim with 2 energy on it. I KO the Drifblim while Jon struggles with a dead end hand. This game goes downhill for Jon quickly afterwards, as my Poltergeist is swinging for a OHKO every time and his Drifblim got KO'd before it could do anything.
Game 2 - Jon has a good start this time, using a Call Energy to get stuff in play while having decent resources. I also have a beautiful hand, playing a Pokemon Collector to grab Gastly/Oddish/Uxie, laying down a Broken Time-Space, jumping up to a Gengar, dropping an energy, then using Set Up with Uxie. I evolve to Gloom, then use my active Spiritomb to get up to a Vileplume, all in one turn. Jon eventually gets stuck with the same situation as game one, with an active Gallade X and no energy to retreat. I'm able to Shadow Room his Pokemon, but he eventually retreats and uses Drifblim to hit the benched Vileplume for 80 and get a KO, freeing him from the trainer lock. By this time, however, my Shadow Rooms have put 3 Pokemon to KO range with Compound Pain, so I do that to snag 3 prizes. Jon runs out of resources soon afterward, and I'm left using Shadow Room/Curse to take my last couple of prizes. Great games Jon!
6-1
:water::fighting:TOP 2 - vs. Guy Bennett with Kingdra/Machamp
Game 1 - This game was epic. Guy's deck is actually quite suited for countering Gengar/Vilplume, as he only needs to use the LA Kingdra to discard trainers, etc. and put me in a tough spot. With proper damage calculation, the Kingdra can put Gengar within the 20 HP KO range needed for an Uxie to hit and avoid Fainting Spell. Or, he can also Crobat/Splash Spray to get the KO. Either way, this is not an easy matchup. I realize early on that SF Gengar is almost useless here, but I manage to put some damage on his benched Uxie and UL Kingdra with Shadow Room. Eventually, I get a AR Gengar going, which can actually damage the LA Kingdra. This puts Guy in a tough spot, but he's still taking prizes. With Guy only needing one prize to go, I'm able to use Azelf's Lock up his Crobat G. I need to take two prizes, so my plan is to Lock Up and use Curse until I can KO a benched Horsea and the Crobat G in one turn. This plan fails, as Guy gets the Horsea up to another UL Kingdra. With my heavily damaged AR on the bench, I have to break the lock. I send up the AR Gengar and level up to avoid the Spray Splash KO. I use Shadow Skip to KO the Crobat G, then send up my benched Vileplume with two energy on it. Since Guy can't OHKO the Vileplume, he hits it for 60. I'm able to get in another SF Gengar and Shadow Room one of his two Uxies after using Curse for the win. Great game Guy!
Game 2 - This game found us both struggling to set up. I don't draw a Supporter for 6 turns, while Guy can't play any trainers because of my Spiritomb (and thus can't set up). We piddle around until I topdeck a Pokemon Collector. From here, I get all of my stuff set up, but Guy still struggles. I can see why when I finally Poltergeist him and his hand is 2 Pokemon Communication, 1 Poketurn, and some Pokemon. Guy topdecks a Cyrus's Conspiracy to grab a PONT and a water, so I get another KO. He PONTs, but his returning hand is still not very helpful (and trainer-heavy). I take this one without much of a problem. Tough luck Guy.
7-1
So that's it! I won with Vileplume/Gengar and hopefully proved that it's a decent deck (I didn't believe for a long time either). It was nice playing slower games this time, and I like the complete 180 the deck is from Luxchomp. It was also great seeing friends again and hanging out. And as always, thanks to the judges and staff for hosting another well-run tournament.
:thumb
rops:- Nacho Daddy's
- Puzzle Quest 2
- Sleigh Bells
- The Long Lost Kevin Nance
- blueberries
- hologram shotgun
- Laura Lineberry
:nonono:Slops:
- laundry
- fall that feels like summer
- meat
- Infernape Lv.X
Last edited:
