Report by: Erik Nance
Deck(s): DF Feraligatr/Milotic; Mario
Event: High Point, NC Battle Road; Greensboro, NC Battle Road
Format: Modified (HP-on)
I won't bore you guys with many details, so here are my reports from the first two NC Battle Roads of the season. I did terrible at High Point, but won at Greensboro.
High Point, NC Battle Roads:
(5 rounds with a top cut of 4)
Round 1: Feral vs. Josh W. (Mismagius/Mr. Mime)
I only played two Supporters during the entire game (two Celio's Network), so my setup was atrocious. I did, however, have a first-turn Feraligatr with Drag Off. Thinking that I could easily run through Josh's deck, I start hitting heavy with Gatr (not that there was much else I could do). After I knock out a Chimecho, Josh evolves to Mismagius and attaches a Strength Charm to do 100 damage to Gatr (30+60+10= boooo...). That plus earlier damage from Chimecho knocked me out, and things went downhill afterwards.
0-1
Round 2: Feral vs. Ryan S. (Blissey/Electivire)
I already knew that things would go bad with this matchup. I get setup pretty fast, getting a couple of Gatr's and a Milotic or two in by the 4th turn. It's not fast enough to take out his Electabuzz's early game, so I have to play defensively. I drag off his Blissey's, looking for the right moment to clean his bench with my tech Rayquaza d ex, but he always has decent stuff in his hand ("Sharing" told me so). I try with a Team Galactic's Wager or two, but it's not enough to shut his deck down. He's finally able to get a Blissey hitting for big, and I need 7 Energy in hand to OHKO the egg with my other tech -- the MT Feraligatr. After Milotic's Poke-Power and my own Supporter, I end up with 6 in hand (boooo...). He plays a Switch, and from then on he has the easy OHKO on everything in my deck. Good game though Ryan.
0-2
Round 3: Feral vs. Denise B. (Tsunamigatr, Hurricane, MT Gatr, whatever it's called)
She's playing my autowin, so I'm pretty glad about that. She goes first, flipping over a Magnemite to hit my Totodile for 20. All I have is a Team Galactic's Wager in hand. I play it and lose, but bench a Feebas. She evolves to Magneton and plays a DRE, knocking me out. I bring up Feebas and draw. With a Night Maintenance, a Lake Boundary, and a DRE, I pass. She knocks out Feebas for the game. : (
0-3
Round 4: Feral vs. David C. (Infernape/Magmortar)
This is David's first time playing in a Pokemon tournament, so I help him out and we have a fun game. I end up winning... finally...
1-3
Round 5: Feral vs. Linda H. (Gardevoir ex/Flygon ex)
I can't remember much of this game, just that I played a Team Galactic's Wager and won... also that my Memory Berry helped me knock out a Gardevoir ex. Good game Linda.
2-3
So no top cut for me. I went home later that night and dismantled Feraligatr, deciding to never play another Feraligatr deck again. My brother Kevin also did poorly with DuskQueen (which was my deck that I let him borrow), so I took that apart as well. : ( : ( : (
Greensboro, NC Battle Roads:
(4 rounds with a top cut of 4)
After doing so poorly the day before, I decided to start over from scratch by building my tournament deck on the day of the tournament. After seeing a bunch of Blissey/Electivire in High Point, I figured that Mario might be a decent play. I've had the deck built for quite some time, and it's never been inconsistent for me, so I decide to give it a go.
Round 1: Mario vs. Zeb M. (Parasect/Dunsparce)
Zeb's deck is pretty cool. He starts off with Dunsparce and begins benching a bunch of Paras. Not getting quite the setup he needs, he has to cycle a few more Dunsparce in to Snake Hook for more cards. All the while, I'm using Machops with Pluspowers/Strength Charm to put 40 damage on 3 of his Dunsparce. I get a bench together, setting up Lucario to Aura Sphere all of his Dunsparce away. He gets Parasects up and starts hitting pretty big, but I hit back with Machamp. He nailed a couple of Super Scoop Ups, and I bench the Machamp for a late-game Revenge. Lucario snipes the Dunsparce away until it gets knocked out, but Revenge eats up what's left of his deck.
0-1
Round 2: Mario vs. Tatiana M. (Mario)
I try to figure out the mirror match, but there's nothing you can do when you get one evolution in throughout the entire game. Tati takes 5 prizes off of Basics I have to sacrifice to Lucario before I get a single Machamp up. The only way I could possibly stay in is by getting a heads on Dynamic Punch. It doesn't work though. : (
1-1
Round 3: Mario vs. Linda H. (Drapion/Claydol ex)
This is my only donk of the entire day, and I didn't even T1 her. She goes first, flipping over a Skorupi and poisoning me. I have an active Riolu and bench another, then Wild Kick -- heads. She plays a Castaway, grabbing a Holon Mentor and some other stuff. She can see the potential KO, saying that she wished she could go ahead and use the Mentor. Pin Missile knocks me out, and I wild Kick for the win... heads. Linda, someday our games will go past the 3rd turn.
2-1
Round 4: Mario vs. Randy M. (Garchomp/Delcatty)
Randy's using an interesting deck, but it needs a bit of time to get set up. My Lucario doesn't allow that, eating a hole right into Randy's deck. I remember leveling up to Lucario Lv.X and using "Stance" right before the OHKO from Garchomp, forcing Randy to sacrifice a Delcatty. My Cessation Crystal keeps Garchomp from maxing out at 110 damage, and I take the win soon afterwards.
3-1
I make the top cut along with 2 other Mario decks and a Quicketune. @_@ I have a good discussion with Mike R. about how bland the format is right now. All of the good deck strategies are gone -- damage spread with Absolution, Cursed Stone (which I am still glad is gone); special condition decks like Flariados; disruption decks like Mewtric, ZRE, Bandoom. I could go on and on. Now, it's all about the attack that you're doing rather than the Poke-Power you're using. Blissey/Electivire and Blisscatty look to be the only decks right now that actually use an interesting strategy.
After eating some Sun Chips and talking to Tom Wise about his deck, I'm ready to go. The top cut looks like this:
1. Tatiana M. with Mario
2. Me with Mario
3. David C. with Mario
4. Brian L. with Quicketune
To go along with my discussion, I notice that there are absolutely no Poke-Powers or Poke-Bodies in the top cut (other than Lucario Lv.X's "Stance"). It looked to be a pretty dull top cut to be honest with you (more on that later).
TOP CUT:
Top 4: Mario vs. David C. (Mario)
Round 1: Another mirror match. This time, however, I get a decent setup. Lucario hits hard early game and I'm able to get two Machamps on board, waiting to Revenge. I remember prolonging Lucario's Aura Sphere by leveling up, which really stopped David in his tracks. I don't see any Crystal Beach (my only weakness), so my Machamps keep up the offensive and I eventually win pretty quickly.
Round 2: Same thing as before. I get a quick setup and cycle Machamps to reserve a OHKO with Revenge. David's a great guy and a great sport, and it was a joy playing against him. Good games David. : )
4-1
Top 2: Mario vs. Brian L. (Quicketune)
Round 1: In all of my playtesting with/against Mario, I've never done this matchup, so I'm a bit nervous about the game. Brian's actually using my own build of Quicketune, so I don't expect any surprises. I figure that Revenge will be my key to victory, but I'm still worried about Crystal Beach (which, once played, will stay in for the rest of the game... since I don't run Stadiums). I go first, hitting quick with Machop. He draws, plays a Supporter and gets three Kricketots in play, but doesn't have an Energy. I evolve to Machoke and Karate Chop for the KO. Brian draws, but again has no Energy. This basically decided the win for me, as I just went up to Machamp and ran through what he had left.
Round 2: This match was a lot closer. Seeing that we had around 35-40 minutes left, there's no rush for time. Brian goes first and is able to set up fairly well. I get up a couple of Lucarios, but hold off on getting out the Machamps for late-game. I have a plan. If I can time it just right, I can cut right through Brian's strategy by using my Pluspowers/Strength Charm. Instead of relying on Revenge, I steamroll with Aura Sphere, keeping a good amount of damage on the board. I planned right! Brian ends up retreating a Kricketune with 30 damage left, knocking out my next-to-last Lucario with Concerto. I bring up my last Lucario and, since his active Kricketune has 60 damage left from Aura Sphere, show him two Pluspowers for the KO. He realizes that without any Energy on board he can't come back. He asks if I have the Energy for Machamp's Revenge and I show him two Fighting Energy. He concedes.
5-1
---------------------
So yeah, it's my first tournament win in over a year. I'm really happy with myself, knowing that I played the deck to near-perfection. However, I do have to go ahead and spill my mind on Mario, seeing as people will probably underestimate my performance based on the deck I decided to play. @_@
I'm not personally fond of Mario because of its simplicity. I'm used to playing decks that require a great deal of thought and strategizing, something that Mario doesn't really have. This is not to say that Mario is a bad deck (or according to what many people have said, not a deck at all). Rather, Mario is a deck that relies on an extremely fast offensive push. Knowing when to Revenge or when to Aura Sphere becomes the strategy of the deck (which, well, makes it a deck). The same thing can be said of Empoleon/Lucario, a deck that resembles Mario quite a bit. For those people who will say that Empoleon/Lucario is a deck, consider the similarities between that deck and Mario. Many of my games were won simply by swarming with Lucario, and I think that many players of Empoleon/Lucario would say the same thing. How, then, is one deck a deck and the other one not?
Aside from all the complaining that Mario is "not a deck," I think that a great deal of respect should be paid to Tom Wise for touching upon something that cuts clean through a great deal of the format. While I'm still not a big fan of the simplicity that Mario offers, I am in no way ashamed to say that I won a Battle Roads with the deck. I didn't T1 anybody, and I strategized with how I handled the deck.
Props:
Tom Wiseguy
La Pagina
Kevin Nance Pants Dance
Prime Time
Leary
The Reynolds for all of their hard work
The Millers
Relicantthttthhth
Great opponents: Ryan, Linda, David, etc.
Brian for loaning me a table for my apartment
Halo 3 for being released today
SableyeHause brothers
Jake Burt for winning Saturday
Slops:
A pretty boring format so far...
Doing horrible with a deck I playtested with for months, then winning with a deck I built on the day of the tournament
Kevin Dance for not going Sunday
Having to go to work in 15 minutes
Not having Halo 3 or a 360 : (
Deck(s): DF Feraligatr/Milotic; Mario
Event: High Point, NC Battle Road; Greensboro, NC Battle Road
Format: Modified (HP-on)
I won't bore you guys with many details, so here are my reports from the first two NC Battle Roads of the season. I did terrible at High Point, but won at Greensboro.
High Point, NC Battle Roads:
(5 rounds with a top cut of 4)
Round 1: Feral vs. Josh W. (Mismagius/Mr. Mime)
I only played two Supporters during the entire game (two Celio's Network), so my setup was atrocious. I did, however, have a first-turn Feraligatr with Drag Off. Thinking that I could easily run through Josh's deck, I start hitting heavy with Gatr (not that there was much else I could do). After I knock out a Chimecho, Josh evolves to Mismagius and attaches a Strength Charm to do 100 damage to Gatr (30+60+10= boooo...). That plus earlier damage from Chimecho knocked me out, and things went downhill afterwards.
0-1
Round 2: Feral vs. Ryan S. (Blissey/Electivire)
I already knew that things would go bad with this matchup. I get setup pretty fast, getting a couple of Gatr's and a Milotic or two in by the 4th turn. It's not fast enough to take out his Electabuzz's early game, so I have to play defensively. I drag off his Blissey's, looking for the right moment to clean his bench with my tech Rayquaza d ex, but he always has decent stuff in his hand ("Sharing" told me so). I try with a Team Galactic's Wager or two, but it's not enough to shut his deck down. He's finally able to get a Blissey hitting for big, and I need 7 Energy in hand to OHKO the egg with my other tech -- the MT Feraligatr. After Milotic's Poke-Power and my own Supporter, I end up with 6 in hand (boooo...). He plays a Switch, and from then on he has the easy OHKO on everything in my deck. Good game though Ryan.
0-2
Round 3: Feral vs. Denise B. (Tsunamigatr, Hurricane, MT Gatr, whatever it's called)
She's playing my autowin, so I'm pretty glad about that. She goes first, flipping over a Magnemite to hit my Totodile for 20. All I have is a Team Galactic's Wager in hand. I play it and lose, but bench a Feebas. She evolves to Magneton and plays a DRE, knocking me out. I bring up Feebas and draw. With a Night Maintenance, a Lake Boundary, and a DRE, I pass. She knocks out Feebas for the game. : (
0-3
Round 4: Feral vs. David C. (Infernape/Magmortar)
This is David's first time playing in a Pokemon tournament, so I help him out and we have a fun game. I end up winning... finally...
1-3
Round 5: Feral vs. Linda H. (Gardevoir ex/Flygon ex)
I can't remember much of this game, just that I played a Team Galactic's Wager and won... also that my Memory Berry helped me knock out a Gardevoir ex. Good game Linda.
2-3
So no top cut for me. I went home later that night and dismantled Feraligatr, deciding to never play another Feraligatr deck again. My brother Kevin also did poorly with DuskQueen (which was my deck that I let him borrow), so I took that apart as well. : ( : ( : (
Greensboro, NC Battle Roads:
(4 rounds with a top cut of 4)
After doing so poorly the day before, I decided to start over from scratch by building my tournament deck on the day of the tournament. After seeing a bunch of Blissey/Electivire in High Point, I figured that Mario might be a decent play. I've had the deck built for quite some time, and it's never been inconsistent for me, so I decide to give it a go.
Round 1: Mario vs. Zeb M. (Parasect/Dunsparce)
Zeb's deck is pretty cool. He starts off with Dunsparce and begins benching a bunch of Paras. Not getting quite the setup he needs, he has to cycle a few more Dunsparce in to Snake Hook for more cards. All the while, I'm using Machops with Pluspowers/Strength Charm to put 40 damage on 3 of his Dunsparce. I get a bench together, setting up Lucario to Aura Sphere all of his Dunsparce away. He gets Parasects up and starts hitting pretty big, but I hit back with Machamp. He nailed a couple of Super Scoop Ups, and I bench the Machamp for a late-game Revenge. Lucario snipes the Dunsparce away until it gets knocked out, but Revenge eats up what's left of his deck.
0-1
Round 2: Mario vs. Tatiana M. (Mario)
I try to figure out the mirror match, but there's nothing you can do when you get one evolution in throughout the entire game. Tati takes 5 prizes off of Basics I have to sacrifice to Lucario before I get a single Machamp up. The only way I could possibly stay in is by getting a heads on Dynamic Punch. It doesn't work though. : (
1-1
Round 3: Mario vs. Linda H. (Drapion/Claydol ex)
This is my only donk of the entire day, and I didn't even T1 her. She goes first, flipping over a Skorupi and poisoning me. I have an active Riolu and bench another, then Wild Kick -- heads. She plays a Castaway, grabbing a Holon Mentor and some other stuff. She can see the potential KO, saying that she wished she could go ahead and use the Mentor. Pin Missile knocks me out, and I wild Kick for the win... heads. Linda, someday our games will go past the 3rd turn.
2-1
Round 4: Mario vs. Randy M. (Garchomp/Delcatty)
Randy's using an interesting deck, but it needs a bit of time to get set up. My Lucario doesn't allow that, eating a hole right into Randy's deck. I remember leveling up to Lucario Lv.X and using "Stance" right before the OHKO from Garchomp, forcing Randy to sacrifice a Delcatty. My Cessation Crystal keeps Garchomp from maxing out at 110 damage, and I take the win soon afterwards.
3-1
I make the top cut along with 2 other Mario decks and a Quicketune. @_@ I have a good discussion with Mike R. about how bland the format is right now. All of the good deck strategies are gone -- damage spread with Absolution, Cursed Stone (which I am still glad is gone); special condition decks like Flariados; disruption decks like Mewtric, ZRE, Bandoom. I could go on and on. Now, it's all about the attack that you're doing rather than the Poke-Power you're using. Blissey/Electivire and Blisscatty look to be the only decks right now that actually use an interesting strategy.
After eating some Sun Chips and talking to Tom Wise about his deck, I'm ready to go. The top cut looks like this:
1. Tatiana M. with Mario
2. Me with Mario
3. David C. with Mario
4. Brian L. with Quicketune
To go along with my discussion, I notice that there are absolutely no Poke-Powers or Poke-Bodies in the top cut (other than Lucario Lv.X's "Stance"). It looked to be a pretty dull top cut to be honest with you (more on that later).
TOP CUT:
Top 4: Mario vs. David C. (Mario)
Round 1: Another mirror match. This time, however, I get a decent setup. Lucario hits hard early game and I'm able to get two Machamps on board, waiting to Revenge. I remember prolonging Lucario's Aura Sphere by leveling up, which really stopped David in his tracks. I don't see any Crystal Beach (my only weakness), so my Machamps keep up the offensive and I eventually win pretty quickly.
Round 2: Same thing as before. I get a quick setup and cycle Machamps to reserve a OHKO with Revenge. David's a great guy and a great sport, and it was a joy playing against him. Good games David. : )
4-1
Top 2: Mario vs. Brian L. (Quicketune)
Round 1: In all of my playtesting with/against Mario, I've never done this matchup, so I'm a bit nervous about the game. Brian's actually using my own build of Quicketune, so I don't expect any surprises. I figure that Revenge will be my key to victory, but I'm still worried about Crystal Beach (which, once played, will stay in for the rest of the game... since I don't run Stadiums). I go first, hitting quick with Machop. He draws, plays a Supporter and gets three Kricketots in play, but doesn't have an Energy. I evolve to Machoke and Karate Chop for the KO. Brian draws, but again has no Energy. This basically decided the win for me, as I just went up to Machamp and ran through what he had left.
Round 2: This match was a lot closer. Seeing that we had around 35-40 minutes left, there's no rush for time. Brian goes first and is able to set up fairly well. I get up a couple of Lucarios, but hold off on getting out the Machamps for late-game. I have a plan. If I can time it just right, I can cut right through Brian's strategy by using my Pluspowers/Strength Charm. Instead of relying on Revenge, I steamroll with Aura Sphere, keeping a good amount of damage on the board. I planned right! Brian ends up retreating a Kricketune with 30 damage left, knocking out my next-to-last Lucario with Concerto. I bring up my last Lucario and, since his active Kricketune has 60 damage left from Aura Sphere, show him two Pluspowers for the KO. He realizes that without any Energy on board he can't come back. He asks if I have the Energy for Machamp's Revenge and I show him two Fighting Energy. He concedes.
5-1
---------------------
So yeah, it's my first tournament win in over a year. I'm really happy with myself, knowing that I played the deck to near-perfection. However, I do have to go ahead and spill my mind on Mario, seeing as people will probably underestimate my performance based on the deck I decided to play. @_@
I'm not personally fond of Mario because of its simplicity. I'm used to playing decks that require a great deal of thought and strategizing, something that Mario doesn't really have. This is not to say that Mario is a bad deck (or according to what many people have said, not a deck at all). Rather, Mario is a deck that relies on an extremely fast offensive push. Knowing when to Revenge or when to Aura Sphere becomes the strategy of the deck (which, well, makes it a deck). The same thing can be said of Empoleon/Lucario, a deck that resembles Mario quite a bit. For those people who will say that Empoleon/Lucario is a deck, consider the similarities between that deck and Mario. Many of my games were won simply by swarming with Lucario, and I think that many players of Empoleon/Lucario would say the same thing. How, then, is one deck a deck and the other one not?
Aside from all the complaining that Mario is "not a deck," I think that a great deal of respect should be paid to Tom Wise for touching upon something that cuts clean through a great deal of the format. While I'm still not a big fan of the simplicity that Mario offers, I am in no way ashamed to say that I won a Battle Roads with the deck. I didn't T1 anybody, and I strategized with how I handled the deck.
Props:
Tom Wiseguy
La Pagina
Kevin Nance Pants Dance
Prime Time
Leary
The Reynolds for all of their hard work
The Millers
Relicantthttthhth
Great opponents: Ryan, Linda, David, etc.
Brian for loaning me a table for my apartment
Halo 3 for being released today
SableyeHause brothers
Jake Burt for winning Saturday
Slops:
A pretty boring format so far...
Doing horrible with a deck I playtested with for months, then winning with a deck I built on the day of the tournament
Kevin Dance for not going Sunday
Having to go to work in 15 minutes
Not having Halo 3 or a 360 : (
