Report by: Erik Nance
Deck: Charizard
Event: Mooresville, NC State Championship
Format: Modified (DP-on)
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, mostly because I'm tired. And it's 1:45 AM. I decided to play Charizard because I'm stubborn when it comes to trying to make tier 2 decks work in metagames that they should fail in.
Round 1 - Andrew (?) with Flygon/Donphan/Nidoqueen
I got a Spiritomb early to keep him from using Rare Candy to jump up to Flygon while I set up. Once I had a few fire Pokemon down and a Charizard, I retreated the Spiritomb and used Pokemon Reversal to bring up Claydol. Charizard does like 80 or 90 or something for one energy, KO. I land a hands on another Pokemon Reversal later in the game to OHKO his fully-powered Nidoqueen. He got a Donphan in play too, but I OHKO'd it. The lack of Claydol really slowed him down, so I take this one without much trouble. 1-0
Round 2 - Alex D. with Flygon/Machamp
Pretty much the same thing happened here, with me using a Pokemon Reversal to KO the Claydol. This fellow was able to get a few more things in play, but by that time my Charizards were doing 150 damage or something. He couldn't keep up. 2-0
Round 3 - Ryan K. with LuxChomp
Ryan's a great friend who rode to States with us. He's relatively new to the game, but he's a really good player. He also shares my affinity for felines, and has impressive poker skills, so I knew this was going to be a tough one. I have a decent start, though I end up sacrificing a few things in the beginning. After awhile, I'm able to set up and stay one step ahead of him for most of the game. I think I landed some Super Scoop Ups, though I'm not sure. My tech MT Ninetails gave him a bit of trouble. He played really well, but after awhile couldn't take the heat (haha, how punny). Ryan went on to play my brother in a later round, which was pretty lame. I felt bad for him, but he seemed to have a great time. Ryan, here's a cat for you: =(^o_o^)= ...3-0
Round 4 - Evan C. with Palkia Lock
This match goes like one would think. I got what I thought was a good start, but I could never get a bench down. I'm also weak, and my Poke-Powers are useless for the majority of the game. I umm, I took a prize? 3-1
Round 5 - Todd S. (Vanderbilt_Grad)
Todd's an awesome guy; I love playing him for the fact that he's always courteous, creative with his decks, and a really good player. So, I quickly realize that I have all my Charizards prized at the beginning of this one. What else can I do but start attacking with Typhlosion/Expert Belt combo. My first prize is a Charizard. I try to storm with that guy, but he doesn't last forever. The Donphans kept swarming, but fighting resistance and the ability to OHKO a Donphan without an Expert Belt becomes too much of a burden for Todd, and I pull out the win. Oh yeah, I used a Pokemon Reversal to bring up his Claydol and KO it at some point. Love that card. 4-1
Round 6 - Guy (?) with Luxray/Blaziken/Garchomp SP
Guy's an awesome player, and also relatively new to the game. He gets the jump on me for this one, but I had a plan. I Pokemon Reversal to bring up his benched Bronzong G, then send up Spiritomb to lock and set up. By the time his Bronzong G was gone, I had like a billion Charizards and Ninetails in play. I proceeded to OHKO everything he sent up. I think he had a hard time playing against my deck, since he had never played against it before. 5-1
Top Cut of 8
I should note right quick that there were a TON of Jumpluff decks at this tournament, as I suspected. None of them made it to the top cut, and I didn't play any of them in the Swiss. How sad... :frown: Also, my bro went 5-1 and made it in, so I was happy at this point.
Round 7 - Patrick W. with Gardevoir/Gallade/Nidoqueen
Game 1:
Patrick's an old school player who knows his way in and out of tournament play. Not only that, he's an awesome guy, so we chat it up a bit while we're playing. I got an insane start for the first game, essentially getting a 2nd turn Charizard in play with an Expert Belt to KO his Kirlia (he Rare Candied it) for 80. Quickly seeing where the game was going, he scooped.
Game 2:
This game was INTENSE. Probably one of the best games I've ever played. We both start setting up, though Patrick is able to start using Psychic Lock against me fairly quickly. That combined with a Team Galactic's Wager had me struggling to get cards (I lost at RPS). I do some wacky things to keep the dream alive, but without powers, it feels almost hopeless. The game progresses some until I have 4 prize cards left and Patrick has 1. I had just managed to suspend the Psychic Lock by knocking out his Gardevoir, so I finally got to use some Poke-Powers. By this point, though, I had barely anything in play. Patrick even mentioned something about me scooping - not that he was trying to gain an advantage, I was really in that bad of shape! On my turn though, I Roast Reveal for three cards, getting a Luxury Ball and a Bebe's. I Bebe's for Uxie, use Set Up, and spike a Rare Candy. I also got a Typhlosion in play somehow that turn, I guess I drew some awesome stuff off that Uxie! I was able to hit for 110. Through the use of bench cycling (sending heavily-damaged Pokemon to the safety of the bench) and placing down Expert Belts to prevent a KO, I'm able to mount a comeback. Patrick seems to run out of steam at this point, and couldn't get a whole lot going. I barely squeak by with a win on this one.
Round 8 - Steffan (?) with Gengar
Game 1:
I'm able to pick off a Claydol early-game with a Pokemon Reversal, and he can't set up. He scoops soon afterwards.
Game 2:
This game was more involved. I opted to get Spiritomb out to get everything properly set up. I remember using Typhlosion's Afterburner Poke-Power to KO my active Spiritomb, then getting a heads with Pokemon Reversal to bring out a Haunter with 2 energy attached to it. I decided to KO this instead of the Claydol, which I thought was the better decision. I'm guessing it was, since I stayed one step ahead of him for most of the game. He flipped tails on a Feint Spell at one time, which hurt him pretty bad. I kind of stormed with Charizards for the most part, doing 150 damage every turn. It was a good game though.
Round 9 - Kevin N. with Palkia lock
So I get to face my brother! ... Yeah, I just conceded. No use keeping everyone up late when we all knew the outcome. Kevin's Palkia can extinguish my Charmander's flame, which basically kills him. This saddens me. I also learn that Charizard is only 5"7 and weighs 195.5 pounds. This destroys my childhood belief that Charizard was a huge, awesome fire-breathing dragon. No - instead he's basically the lizard equivalent of Danny Devito; this crushes my self-esteem. Palkia weighs like a million pounds! How can I possibly compete with that?
So that's it. I got Charizard as far as it can possibly go. I felt good in performing well with a very troubled deck (given the current metagame). My opponent's were awesome, the judging was incredible, and the event itself had an excellent staff. They do a ton of work that they rarely get recognized for. Jeff, Toni, Keith, etc. etc etc... you all are just AWESOME! These events can't exist without you, so thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Okayyy... time for bed.
Props:
Char iz rad
Kevin for winning
Ryan for buying me some food
all my friends I got to see
my awesome wife for cheering me on
I can't remember who, but somebody traded me an Alph Lithograph for something. That was cool.
Seltzer water.
Fresh, hot cookies waiting for me when I got back home.
Slops:
I don't know.... umm... not playing against a Jumpluff deck.
Deck: Charizard
Event: Mooresville, NC State Championship
Format: Modified (DP-on)
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, mostly because I'm tired. And it's 1:45 AM. I decided to play Charizard because I'm stubborn when it comes to trying to make tier 2 decks work in metagames that they should fail in.
Round 1 - Andrew (?) with Flygon/Donphan/Nidoqueen
I got a Spiritomb early to keep him from using Rare Candy to jump up to Flygon while I set up. Once I had a few fire Pokemon down and a Charizard, I retreated the Spiritomb and used Pokemon Reversal to bring up Claydol. Charizard does like 80 or 90 or something for one energy, KO. I land a hands on another Pokemon Reversal later in the game to OHKO his fully-powered Nidoqueen. He got a Donphan in play too, but I OHKO'd it. The lack of Claydol really slowed him down, so I take this one without much trouble. 1-0
Round 2 - Alex D. with Flygon/Machamp
Pretty much the same thing happened here, with me using a Pokemon Reversal to KO the Claydol. This fellow was able to get a few more things in play, but by that time my Charizards were doing 150 damage or something. He couldn't keep up. 2-0
Round 3 - Ryan K. with LuxChomp
Ryan's a great friend who rode to States with us. He's relatively new to the game, but he's a really good player. He also shares my affinity for felines, and has impressive poker skills, so I knew this was going to be a tough one. I have a decent start, though I end up sacrificing a few things in the beginning. After awhile, I'm able to set up and stay one step ahead of him for most of the game. I think I landed some Super Scoop Ups, though I'm not sure. My tech MT Ninetails gave him a bit of trouble. He played really well, but after awhile couldn't take the heat (haha, how punny). Ryan went on to play my brother in a later round, which was pretty lame. I felt bad for him, but he seemed to have a great time. Ryan, here's a cat for you: =(^o_o^)= ...3-0
Round 4 - Evan C. with Palkia Lock
This match goes like one would think. I got what I thought was a good start, but I could never get a bench down. I'm also weak, and my Poke-Powers are useless for the majority of the game. I umm, I took a prize? 3-1
Round 5 - Todd S. (Vanderbilt_Grad)
Todd's an awesome guy; I love playing him for the fact that he's always courteous, creative with his decks, and a really good player. So, I quickly realize that I have all my Charizards prized at the beginning of this one. What else can I do but start attacking with Typhlosion/Expert Belt combo. My first prize is a Charizard. I try to storm with that guy, but he doesn't last forever. The Donphans kept swarming, but fighting resistance and the ability to OHKO a Donphan without an Expert Belt becomes too much of a burden for Todd, and I pull out the win. Oh yeah, I used a Pokemon Reversal to bring up his Claydol and KO it at some point. Love that card. 4-1
Round 6 - Guy (?) with Luxray/Blaziken/Garchomp SP
Guy's an awesome player, and also relatively new to the game. He gets the jump on me for this one, but I had a plan. I Pokemon Reversal to bring up his benched Bronzong G, then send up Spiritomb to lock and set up. By the time his Bronzong G was gone, I had like a billion Charizards and Ninetails in play. I proceeded to OHKO everything he sent up. I think he had a hard time playing against my deck, since he had never played against it before. 5-1
Top Cut of 8
I should note right quick that there were a TON of Jumpluff decks at this tournament, as I suspected. None of them made it to the top cut, and I didn't play any of them in the Swiss. How sad... :frown: Also, my bro went 5-1 and made it in, so I was happy at this point.
Round 7 - Patrick W. with Gardevoir/Gallade/Nidoqueen
Game 1:
Patrick's an old school player who knows his way in and out of tournament play. Not only that, he's an awesome guy, so we chat it up a bit while we're playing. I got an insane start for the first game, essentially getting a 2nd turn Charizard in play with an Expert Belt to KO his Kirlia (he Rare Candied it) for 80. Quickly seeing where the game was going, he scooped.
Game 2:
This game was INTENSE. Probably one of the best games I've ever played. We both start setting up, though Patrick is able to start using Psychic Lock against me fairly quickly. That combined with a Team Galactic's Wager had me struggling to get cards (I lost at RPS). I do some wacky things to keep the dream alive, but without powers, it feels almost hopeless. The game progresses some until I have 4 prize cards left and Patrick has 1. I had just managed to suspend the Psychic Lock by knocking out his Gardevoir, so I finally got to use some Poke-Powers. By this point, though, I had barely anything in play. Patrick even mentioned something about me scooping - not that he was trying to gain an advantage, I was really in that bad of shape! On my turn though, I Roast Reveal for three cards, getting a Luxury Ball and a Bebe's. I Bebe's for Uxie, use Set Up, and spike a Rare Candy. I also got a Typhlosion in play somehow that turn, I guess I drew some awesome stuff off that Uxie! I was able to hit for 110. Through the use of bench cycling (sending heavily-damaged Pokemon to the safety of the bench) and placing down Expert Belts to prevent a KO, I'm able to mount a comeback. Patrick seems to run out of steam at this point, and couldn't get a whole lot going. I barely squeak by with a win on this one.
Round 8 - Steffan (?) with Gengar
Game 1:
I'm able to pick off a Claydol early-game with a Pokemon Reversal, and he can't set up. He scoops soon afterwards.
Game 2:
This game was more involved. I opted to get Spiritomb out to get everything properly set up. I remember using Typhlosion's Afterburner Poke-Power to KO my active Spiritomb, then getting a heads with Pokemon Reversal to bring out a Haunter with 2 energy attached to it. I decided to KO this instead of the Claydol, which I thought was the better decision. I'm guessing it was, since I stayed one step ahead of him for most of the game. He flipped tails on a Feint Spell at one time, which hurt him pretty bad. I kind of stormed with Charizards for the most part, doing 150 damage every turn. It was a good game though.
Round 9 - Kevin N. with Palkia lock
So I get to face my brother! ... Yeah, I just conceded. No use keeping everyone up late when we all knew the outcome. Kevin's Palkia can extinguish my Charmander's flame, which basically kills him. This saddens me. I also learn that Charizard is only 5"7 and weighs 195.5 pounds. This destroys my childhood belief that Charizard was a huge, awesome fire-breathing dragon. No - instead he's basically the lizard equivalent of Danny Devito; this crushes my self-esteem. Palkia weighs like a million pounds! How can I possibly compete with that?
So that's it. I got Charizard as far as it can possibly go. I felt good in performing well with a very troubled deck (given the current metagame). My opponent's were awesome, the judging was incredible, and the event itself had an excellent staff. They do a ton of work that they rarely get recognized for. Jeff, Toni, Keith, etc. etc etc... you all are just AWESOME! These events can't exist without you, so thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Okayyy... time for bed.
Props:
Char iz rad
Kevin for winning
Ryan for buying me some food
all my friends I got to see
my awesome wife for cheering me on
I can't remember who, but somebody traded me an Alph Lithograph for something. That was cool.
Seltzer water.
Fresh, hot cookies waiting for me when I got back home.
Slops:
I don't know.... umm... not playing against a Jumpluff deck.
