Hey everybody, I just returned from the GA marathon and wanted to give a brief recap about how everything went. My first section is going to be a brief summary of each day (no long reports, I don’t like reading or writing those), and the 2nd section is just going to be some random stuff, so if you read nothing else, read the 2nd section!
Part 1. – Tournament report
Day 1 Statesboro – Samurott/Donphan (3-3)
For some reason, I thought Samurott/Donphan would be a good play. It wasn’t. End of this story, haha.
Day 2 Macon – FARM (Foltorb….Alectrode…….Robalion…kyureM) 5-2 top 8 - lost to Durant
*note- This deck is called FARM because Kyurem looks like a chicken, Cobalion looks like a horse, Shaymin is the farm dog, Electrode is the sunshine, Voltorb is the chicken eggs, etc… Thanks to Ann-Marie for pointing this out. Farm is also a much better name for the deck than Cake. And if you play Landorus…well, just expect your harvests to be abundant…
So my list differed each time I played Cake. This time I ran 4 Kyurem, 3 Cobalion, 0 Landorus, 2 eviolite, and 0 communication. I ran 3 Research Record all 3 days I played it. This list worked well but I lost games I couldn’t find Electrode…more on that on day 4.
Day 3 Newnan – Zone/Eels (3-4)
So I played the EXACT list that a friend of mine did really well with and I bombed HARD with it. I opened Thunderus, 4 Lightning energy, Junk Arm, and Poke Comm FIVE GAMES . . . Needless to say, ZONE hates me. I tried to help that same friend test against Zone later in the week and I prized 2 Zone and 2 Eel. . . Sometimes, you run across a deck that just doesn’t like you….
Day 4 Franklin – FARM (5-2 top 8 – lost to Durant…*starts to see pattern*…)
This time I ran 4 Cobalion 3 Kyurem 0 Landorus, 2 Poke Comm (so I could find Electrode) and 0 Eviolite and I actually really liked it. I did win a game by attacking with Electrode, which was fun. There was also a really cool Vileplume, Reuniclus, Typhlosion, Reshiram deck that went 5-2 and bubbled out.
Day 5 Douglasville – Chandy Beach (4-3)
So I’ve never played Chandelure before, and I realized that it needs to be played fast so you can have enough time to win. So I decide that if I play it again, I’ll play it faster
Day 6 Duluth (I think) – FARM (5-2 top 8 lost to Zone/Eels)
This time I ran 3 Kyurem, 3 Landorus, 2 Cobalion, 4 Pokegear, 0 eviolite. If I could do it all over again I would run 3 Cobalion and 2 Landorus. The Zone I lost to in top 8 was just so overwhelming. By the time I could energymite he had a Zone, Eel, and 3 energy so I was pretty messed up.
This could be debatable, but I think Cake has a 50/50 or worse matchup vs Zone, even with Landorus in the deck. Landy GREATLY improves your Zekrom/Eels match and it helps v Durant, but it seems like if Zone sets up then it still overpowers Cake. . . That’s the sense that I get from testing, if you have another opinion or way to go about the matchup, I’d love to hear it.
Day 7 Marietta – Chandelure (5-2 16th place)
I misplace 1 damage counter game 1 and lose, which pairs me up against T-Tar Yanmega, which was a really good deck, but I can’t hang so I lose. Basically ONE misplaced damage counter nets me 2 losses, lol. I win out tho, and learn a lot about playing Chandy.
Day 8 Canton – Chandy (5-1 2nd place lost to Durant)
I left the Marietta tournament with the feeling that I was going to win the next day. I carried that feeling throughout the day, so even though I was happy to get 2nd, I was still a little disappointed. In top 2 vs Durant, all my Plumes were devoured in game 1, I won game 3, and 3/4 of my N and 3/4 of my Chandelure were devoured in game 3. Game 3 was still VERY close, as in he had 1 energy left in his deck, and about 20 cards left with an energyless Durant active. I’m just Eeking to put cards in my deck (I had 3 after every Eek) and I needed to wake up to have a chance. I stay asleep on the turn I need to wake up, wake up going into my next turn, forcing me to Eek again, then stay asleep going into my 3rd turn of Eeking. I think I had 2 prizes left, and only needed to drop 7 damage counters and attack once (so 2 turns) to win the game. Then he top decks the energy, so it all ends as he devours my last few cards, haha. It was against Ryan S., and he’s a good friend of mine, so no big deal, congrats to him!
Also, in the first round of Swiss, I faced that Tyranitar deck again and fell behind by 5 prizes, so I N him to 1, level down with Jirachi for 2 prizes, Luring light up an energyless Pupitar, and with some unlucky topdecks for my opponent, I come back to win
So throughout the week I played Cake 3 times, top 8'd all three times. Played Chandy 3 times, got top 2, and 16th, and did bad with Zone and Samurott/Donphan.
Part 2 – Random Stuff
So I was really happy with my week, I top cut 4 times, placed 2nd, and gained 14 championship points. Team MissingNo. did really well too. We got 8 top cuts out of Zach, myself, Candace, and Jonathan, and we got 1 win and 1 2nd place.
To the best of my knowledge NC/SC players won 3 tournaments, got 4 2nd place finishes, and top cut at least 18 times throughout the week. Good job Carolinas, way to represent!
In my own opinion, if I had to rank the 5 best decks in the format right now, I would rank them as follows:
1. Durant – When I lost to it in top 2 with Chandy, my opinion was solidified.
2. Chandy Beach – If it sets up, it really has no bad matchups
3. FARM (or Cake, for those of you who don’t appreciate creativity) – I understand that it won 3 of the tournaments, and consistently represented in top cut, but it has pretty bad (to iffy) matchups with Durant (although it’s definitely winnable), Chandelure, if the list runs 2 Cobalion, and Zone if both decks set up properly. Cake pretty much beats everything else, but I just don’t like that it has iffy matchups with some of the best decks in format. It’s why I went 5-2 every day. I would win 4 or 5 of my first 5 matches, then lose to Durant, or Chandelure, or Zone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s my FAVORITE deck in this format, and I wish I had won with it, but I just can’t rank it higher than 3rd at the moment. Feel free to disagree, and congrats to Jayson and Emre for finding success with it!
4. Zone/Eels – It’s just too efficient and overpowering when it sets up.
5. Zekrom/Eels – The Lopez bros. of Florida represented the mess out of this deck. They top cut like 4-5 times with it and really impressed me with their builds and ability to play it. It’s a VERY scary deck, and with Zekrom EX it just looks to get scarier.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to all my friends from the Marathon:
Zach, Candace, Jonathan, Alex, Vic, Kyle, Ryan, JR, Bobby, Carter, Nathan, Jayson, Emre, Mike, David, Perry, Jose, Joshua, Hobson, Billy, Mike, Justin, and Zachary
And new friends: Ann-Marie, Daniel, and David!
(The best thing about the Marathon is making friends…
Thanks to Gary, Tymon, Greg, and Craig for running the tournaments, and to everyone who judged! It was a great experience!
Props:
Me, for not getting sick for the first time in 3 years, which allowed me to make it to all 8 tournaments.
Hand sanitizer, my own home cooked food, and vitamin C for keeping me from getting sick
Team MissingNo
Philip and Austin for testing the Cake list out
Zack for perfecting Chandy
Alex for coming back for the last few and doing well
Georgia for letting me and Alex stay at his place
Jayson and Emre for winning with my favorite deck
Barnes and Nobles for having the Batman trade I was looking for
Rodger the travel cat for sitting on my dash for 1000 miles
Ann-Marie for knowing how to make a farm!
Slops:
There really weren’t any…
Part 1. – Tournament report
Day 1 Statesboro – Samurott/Donphan (3-3)
For some reason, I thought Samurott/Donphan would be a good play. It wasn’t. End of this story, haha.
Day 2 Macon – FARM (Foltorb….Alectrode…….Robalion…kyureM) 5-2 top 8 - lost to Durant
*note- This deck is called FARM because Kyurem looks like a chicken, Cobalion looks like a horse, Shaymin is the farm dog, Electrode is the sunshine, Voltorb is the chicken eggs, etc… Thanks to Ann-Marie for pointing this out. Farm is also a much better name for the deck than Cake. And if you play Landorus…well, just expect your harvests to be abundant…
So my list differed each time I played Cake. This time I ran 4 Kyurem, 3 Cobalion, 0 Landorus, 2 eviolite, and 0 communication. I ran 3 Research Record all 3 days I played it. This list worked well but I lost games I couldn’t find Electrode…more on that on day 4.
Day 3 Newnan – Zone/Eels (3-4)
So I played the EXACT list that a friend of mine did really well with and I bombed HARD with it. I opened Thunderus, 4 Lightning energy, Junk Arm, and Poke Comm FIVE GAMES . . . Needless to say, ZONE hates me. I tried to help that same friend test against Zone later in the week and I prized 2 Zone and 2 Eel. . . Sometimes, you run across a deck that just doesn’t like you….
Day 4 Franklin – FARM (5-2 top 8 – lost to Durant…*starts to see pattern*…)
This time I ran 4 Cobalion 3 Kyurem 0 Landorus, 2 Poke Comm (so I could find Electrode) and 0 Eviolite and I actually really liked it. I did win a game by attacking with Electrode, which was fun. There was also a really cool Vileplume, Reuniclus, Typhlosion, Reshiram deck that went 5-2 and bubbled out.
Day 5 Douglasville – Chandy Beach (4-3)
So I’ve never played Chandelure before, and I realized that it needs to be played fast so you can have enough time to win. So I decide that if I play it again, I’ll play it faster
Day 6 Duluth (I think) – FARM (5-2 top 8 lost to Zone/Eels)
This time I ran 3 Kyurem, 3 Landorus, 2 Cobalion, 4 Pokegear, 0 eviolite. If I could do it all over again I would run 3 Cobalion and 2 Landorus. The Zone I lost to in top 8 was just so overwhelming. By the time I could energymite he had a Zone, Eel, and 3 energy so I was pretty messed up.
This could be debatable, but I think Cake has a 50/50 or worse matchup vs Zone, even with Landorus in the deck. Landy GREATLY improves your Zekrom/Eels match and it helps v Durant, but it seems like if Zone sets up then it still overpowers Cake. . . That’s the sense that I get from testing, if you have another opinion or way to go about the matchup, I’d love to hear it.
Day 7 Marietta – Chandelure (5-2 16th place)
I misplace 1 damage counter game 1 and lose, which pairs me up against T-Tar Yanmega, which was a really good deck, but I can’t hang so I lose. Basically ONE misplaced damage counter nets me 2 losses, lol. I win out tho, and learn a lot about playing Chandy.
Day 8 Canton – Chandy (5-1 2nd place lost to Durant)
I left the Marietta tournament with the feeling that I was going to win the next day. I carried that feeling throughout the day, so even though I was happy to get 2nd, I was still a little disappointed. In top 2 vs Durant, all my Plumes were devoured in game 1, I won game 3, and 3/4 of my N and 3/4 of my Chandelure were devoured in game 3. Game 3 was still VERY close, as in he had 1 energy left in his deck, and about 20 cards left with an energyless Durant active. I’m just Eeking to put cards in my deck (I had 3 after every Eek) and I needed to wake up to have a chance. I stay asleep on the turn I need to wake up, wake up going into my next turn, forcing me to Eek again, then stay asleep going into my 3rd turn of Eeking. I think I had 2 prizes left, and only needed to drop 7 damage counters and attack once (so 2 turns) to win the game. Then he top decks the energy, so it all ends as he devours my last few cards, haha. It was against Ryan S., and he’s a good friend of mine, so no big deal, congrats to him!
Also, in the first round of Swiss, I faced that Tyranitar deck again and fell behind by 5 prizes, so I N him to 1, level down with Jirachi for 2 prizes, Luring light up an energyless Pupitar, and with some unlucky topdecks for my opponent, I come back to win
So throughout the week I played Cake 3 times, top 8'd all three times. Played Chandy 3 times, got top 2, and 16th, and did bad with Zone and Samurott/Donphan.
Part 2 – Random Stuff
So I was really happy with my week, I top cut 4 times, placed 2nd, and gained 14 championship points. Team MissingNo. did really well too. We got 8 top cuts out of Zach, myself, Candace, and Jonathan, and we got 1 win and 1 2nd place.
To the best of my knowledge NC/SC players won 3 tournaments, got 4 2nd place finishes, and top cut at least 18 times throughout the week. Good job Carolinas, way to represent!
In my own opinion, if I had to rank the 5 best decks in the format right now, I would rank them as follows:
1. Durant – When I lost to it in top 2 with Chandy, my opinion was solidified.
2. Chandy Beach – If it sets up, it really has no bad matchups
3. FARM (or Cake, for those of you who don’t appreciate creativity) – I understand that it won 3 of the tournaments, and consistently represented in top cut, but it has pretty bad (to iffy) matchups with Durant (although it’s definitely winnable), Chandelure, if the list runs 2 Cobalion, and Zone if both decks set up properly. Cake pretty much beats everything else, but I just don’t like that it has iffy matchups with some of the best decks in format. It’s why I went 5-2 every day. I would win 4 or 5 of my first 5 matches, then lose to Durant, or Chandelure, or Zone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s my FAVORITE deck in this format, and I wish I had won with it, but I just can’t rank it higher than 3rd at the moment. Feel free to disagree, and congrats to Jayson and Emre for finding success with it!
4. Zone/Eels – It’s just too efficient and overpowering when it sets up.
5. Zekrom/Eels – The Lopez bros. of Florida represented the mess out of this deck. They top cut like 4-5 times with it and really impressed me with their builds and ability to play it. It’s a VERY scary deck, and with Zekrom EX it just looks to get scarier.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to all my friends from the Marathon:
Zach, Candace, Jonathan, Alex, Vic, Kyle, Ryan, JR, Bobby, Carter, Nathan, Jayson, Emre, Mike, David, Perry, Jose, Joshua, Hobson, Billy, Mike, Justin, and Zachary
And new friends: Ann-Marie, Daniel, and David!
(The best thing about the Marathon is making friends…
Thanks to Gary, Tymon, Greg, and Craig for running the tournaments, and to everyone who judged! It was a great experience!
Props:
Me, for not getting sick for the first time in 3 years, which allowed me to make it to all 8 tournaments.
Hand sanitizer, my own home cooked food, and vitamin C for keeping me from getting sick
Team MissingNo
Philip and Austin for testing the Cake list out
Zack for perfecting Chandy
Alex for coming back for the last few and doing well
Georgia for letting me and Alex stay at his place
Jayson and Emre for winning with my favorite deck
Barnes and Nobles for having the Batman trade I was looking for
Rodger the travel cat for sitting on my dash for 1000 miles
Ann-Marie for knowing how to make a farm!
Slops:
There really weren’t any…
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