In November, when the ECC 2011 was announced, i was really upset from the fact that the tournament period (19-20/02) was exactly the week in which my graduation was set (21-23/02).
As the flight was really cheap (I paid 4€ + 10€ taxes) I booked it, even if I was quite sure I would not have had the opportunity to play the tournament.
When in January my graduation was moved from February to July, I was a bit disappointed, but this gave me the opportunity to take part at the tournament!
After a wonderful CC season (I took 2 CCs out of 5 and did quite well in the other 3), I started to build some Lost World deck, but the results were really bad. I have tried Absol G LVX/Chatot G/Mew Prime/Gengar Prime without winning more than 2 games after dozens of them, and I didn’t win a single game with Speed LostGar.
When the world was talking about banning Gengar Prime or Lost World, I was quite sure the deck wouldn’t have seen so much play because LuxChomp can easily beat it, and if not, it can always tech against it and then win.
Magnezone/Machamp was an option, but It revealed to be a deck too weak to contrast a skilled LuxChomp player. Steelix was too dangerous because it cannot win versus Magnezone Prime. Gyarados…I simply don’t like it, after having played it at tournaments for months and months.
LuxChomp was the only decent choice.
The last deck I wanted to try was VileGar. I have always loved it, but it showed to be a really bad choice because of its LuxChomp match-up and its impossibility to win games if it has a bad start. BTW, if the people were thinking like me, they would have choiced a LuxChomp deck with mirror techs (Dragonite, Ambipom, Energy Exchanger, Premier Ball, etc.), maybe Dialga-less, or Machamp/Gyarados builds with a lot of trainers to contrast LuxChomp, so a VileGar build could have found a nice field.
When I was building it, it happens to me to listen to some nice reports in playing LostGar-Vileplume, and Fulop’s article on 6P convinced me that the deck was playable.
For these reasons, I decided to test a LostGar-VilePlume deck with Gengar SF used as Dialga-tech and as a back-up attacker in top cut.
I had very few days to test it (it was built one week before the tournament), but the results were incredible! The deck autowins Machamp, Magnezone and Gyarados (you just have to pay attention at the Regice) and can do something against LuxChomp.
I asked my team mates (my brother and Martina) to help me in balancing the deck just to beat LuxChomp, as it was the only thing I needed, and even if I was discouraged by the fact that my brother’s LuxChomp was really difficult to contrast (the results were really bad), they did a great testing work and convinced me that the deck had a potential. Thanks to their suggestions and to a VERY hard testing work LuxChomp-variants-oriented, which sometimes made me cry for hours (it happened to lose 3-4 games in a row versus LuxChomp due to Roserade, Dialga G LVX, Weavile, Ambipom and everything that can disrupt your field), I built a balanced list and was convinced by Martina, who decided to play it no matter what happens, to risk it.
So, Martina and me go for LostGar, and my brother go for LuxChomp.
The list will not be revealed as I don’t want it to be public domain being States starting in a few weeks. I’m really sorry, but I’m trying to do a detailed report so you can try to reconstruct it by reading carefully.
On Thursday 17 we took our flights, arrived in Weeze (DE) and reached our hotel in Goch. We looked for something to eat but it seems that in Germany after 10.30PM all you can find is BEER. We visited every bar in the city asking “Do you have something to eat?” and the anwers were “Well, we have beer, and we have… [silence]”. The best moment was when we faced a really old barman, and after asking “Do you have a KITCHEN?” we got as anwer “Yes, we have the DEE JAY!!”.
After 3 beers, we went to sleep, and moved on Friday to Amsterdam (NL). That city is amazing. Streets are made by “Sex Museum – Coffee Shop – Erotic Shop – Casinò – Sex Museum – Coffee Shop – Erotic shop – Casinò – Sex Museum….” and so on. Very cool. We bought some stuff and then we reached Arnhem and helped the tournament staff in arranging the location with tables, chairs, posters. Then, beers again and then bed.
Saturday morning we went to the location and deck checked (my brother was found with 61 cards, LOL).
193 Masters with 8 rounds and top32. Funny!
And now it’s time for…the TOURNAMENT!!!!
1st round vs a girl from NL (I don’t remember her name, sorry!!) (Donphan)
She starts with Uxie alone, 20 to my Spiritomb. I Darkness Grace to evolve my Gastly in Haunter after having dropped a Rescue Energy. She plays Buck’s and attacks for 30, KO my Spiritomb. I Twins for the Gengar SF and Poltergeist for the GG!
1-0
2nd round vs Matteo Laici, IT (LuxChomp / ERL)
Unown Q start. I have to start. Topdeck or I lose. I ask help to S.Gennaro and S.Antonio and draw my card…CALL ENERGY!!!!! Yuhuhuhuhuhuh!!! I Call for Spiritomb and Gastly, then I’m able to setup without any problems and I Hurl Into Darkness a lot of funny things (ERL bottom, Luxray Gl LVX, Uxie and so on). He can draw some prizes but I can Lost zone 6 Pokèmon in a few turns. Lost World for the win.
2-0
3rd round vs Manuel (NL) (Straight Magnezone w Pachirisu COL)
Finally I meet Manuel…I have been talking to him for years on MSN but I never had the occasion to meet him! It was a wonderful surprise. BTW, its deck was an autowin. I setup myself, spread some damage with Gengar SF through Shadow Room and then Cursed Drop to Lost Zone a whole Magnezone line and a Spiritomb. He cannot use his trainer, and so it’s very difficult for him to replace his attackers. After he lost 2 Magnezone Prime, he has 4 Pokèmon in the Lost Zone, 0 Magnezone in play and only trainers in hand….he scoops.
3-0
4rd round vs Vincent Azzolin (FR) (Gyarados)
I setup with a double Spiritomb (because of Regice) and build a Gengar SF to disrupt his game. I Shadow Room a Regice, he Seeker it, and the turn after I’m able to Lost Zone it. His Gyarados dies to my Fainting Spell (or I KOed it? I don’t remember) and I’m able to Cursed Drop to draw prizes and Lost Zone something. At a certain points he draws a Magikarp, but he cannot play it because Cursed Drop would KO it. He doesn’t have the Gyarados in hand. It keeps it in hand, but after Mr.Mime revealed it, I Hurl Into Darkness to send it to the Lost Zone. He scoops.
4-0
5th round vs Nico Alabas (DE) (LuxChomp)
Another LuxChomp! My start is poor and I must give him many prizes. As I posted on my Facebook profile, I just have a Spiritomb which stays active for 3-4 turns doing basically nothing, and so I attached him a Warp Energy, then a Rescue Energy (in order to be able to rescue him) and finally a Call Energy to find some basics. BTW, I’m able to keep the trainer lock, and the rescued Spiritomb can evolve my bench. It’s 4-0 for him when I build my Gengar SF and, after checking through Mime that everything is OK, i started Poltergeist. He can draw 1 prize, but he cannot do anything to get the last one. I Poltergeist 6 turns for the win.
5-0
6th round vs Cedric Gouion (FR) (Gyarados w Exeguttor LA)
This guy is amazing!!! He plays Gyarados with Exegguttor and a lot of trainer to send to 0 the opponent hand! My start is Oddish + Call. I Call Energy for Spiritomb/Gastly. On turn 1, he is able to play all his trainers, build an Exeguttor and send my hand to 0 °___°. I hope to draw a Collector/Uxie/Twins/Bebe’s…and I get a COLLECTOR! Yuhhuuhuh! What a topdeck! After I have a VilePlume and a Gengar SF he cannot do anything. I easily draw my prizes through Poltergeist and it’s GG.
6-0
7th round vs Simone Soldo (IT) (Gyarados)
Bad start on both sides. He has Smeargle and Crobat G, I just have Uxie LA and then draw a Mr.Mime on my 1st turn. I Psychic Restore for 20 his Smeargle. He Portrait for nothing and pass. I draw a Gastly and start Pitch Darking as long as I can. He keeps Portraiting for nothing. Then at a certain point I’m able to topdeck an Uxie and I set a Gengar SF with a Psychic and a Seeker °_°. Shadow Room for the win!
7-0
8th round vs Morten (DK) (Magnezone Prime/Regirock)
This match is really difficult. Morten’s strategy is to play 2 Regirock on the bench and having a deck with 18 energies and Energy Adjustment he is able to drop 4 energies a turn (Regirock, Regirock, Magnezone SF). My problem is that thanks to Regirock he can discard all its trainer (if I start to Poltergeist) and all its Pokèmon (if I start Hurling Into Darkness). I start quite well and I play BTS, in order to put as fast as I can Gengar LVX in play (he has Skuntank + Sunyshore to KO it without any problems), but this move helps him in building its Magnezone Prime and its Magnezone SF in play. I decide to Shadow room its Regirock and keep a Rescue on Gengar SF in order to recycle it, forcing him to risk its Magnezone Prime against Fainting Spell (I guess Gengar Prime is too difficult to play, because he can do 150 each turn without any problems and I don’t have the time to Lost 6 Pokèmon). I flip 2 tails/2, and so I cannot do anything. I think I couldn’t have done anything even if I flipped 1 or 2 heads, because he had too many way to disrupt my game plans. Congrats to him for thinking at such a good deck!!
7-1
I’m 2nd seeded and Martina is 7th (lost to Morten and lost due to benching vs Karl Blake turn 3).
We are waiting for my brother’s tie-breaker, because he is 5-3, and when the standings are published we see he’s 31st!!! 2/2 Team mates in top!!! It sucks because I’ll be forced to face him in T32.
I was very lucky on day1 because the deck revealed to have a really nice field and even if I had some bad starts, i also had some fatal topdecks in round 2/6/7. The list revealed to be really balanced, and the last-minute adding of Call Energy helped me in winning many games.
Unfortunately I’m forced to play against my brother, and I’m pretty sure that without the surprise effect, knowing exactly what cards I have in my deck and having tested the match-up 20+ games vs its LuxChomp, he is the favourite one for the victory. BTW, he is scared of me for the same reason, LOL
After McDonald, shower and Ghost Rider in English with subtitles in Dutch, we went to sleep.
Then, day2: it’s time for the Top Cut.
T32 vs Alberto “Kenta” Ceolin (LuxChomp)
I’m really depressed for the match-up but, anyway, one of us will at least make T16.
We both start well and he is able to constantly attack my Vileplume, even if I’m able to drop my Rescue Energy on it. He is accumulating its Power Spray and preparing a Dialga G LVX, but I cannot arrange to build a Gengar LVX in a few turns. When finally it stops to threaten my Vileplume, I start Lost Zoning something, but he promotes Dialga G LVX, retreats it and started attacking my Gengar. I’m able to build another one, but even if I have the LVX, I need 4 Level Down to remove it. As I don’t have the control of the field, I just prefer to scoop to save some time. 0-1
Second game is easier. I have a decent setup and I’m able to start Lost Zoning some of its Pokèmon. As he plays its 2 Uxie in the first turns, I have the opportunity to Hurl Into Darkness its 3rd Uxie. He plays its Dialga G LVX, but I’m able to Level Down it after some turns, while building the other Gengar on the bench. Now, he has a really short hand (he played all its trainers and hided its Pokèmon) and after its first Collector he checks he has no more Uxie in the deck. I begin to play my Seeker and after he has seen its 6 pokèmon Lost Zoned, he scoops for the 3rd game. 1-1
Now it’s game 3. I know I don’t have any possibility to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon and the only way I can win is going Poltergeist. This is what I do, and the thing worked because I build a Gengar SF and a Vileplume and I start to Poltergeist really soon. He prepares its Dialga G LVX but has to give me 2 prizes. He is able to topdeck a Power Spray at a crucial point (I checked through Mime he doesn’t have one to Spray my Level Down on its Dialga G LVX), but anyway even if he tries to control the board he cannot do many prizes. When time is called it is 4-3 for me and I can easily to the 5th prize. We ask for a Time Extension but the judge tells us we haven’t wasted the time necessary to get one. I’m really disappointed because I think that winning through time is something which should never exist…anyway, he scoops. GG Bro! Too bad we met on T32.
8-1
T16 vs Esa Juntunen (LuxChomp w Honchcrow SV)
All the luck I had in the whole tournament vanished in the content of the first two opening hand of this round.
The first game, I opened with Spiritomb/Gastly and nothing in hand. He starts and do nothing, I retreat for Spiritomb and Darkness Grace for Haunter (attaching him a Rescue). He KOs my Haunter through Luxray Gl LVX. I’m able to play Gastly again and use Darkness Grace again to get another Haunter. He KOs Spiritomb. All I can do is to attack with Haunter’s 2nd attack and play a Mr.Mime on the bench (he flipped heads on the sleep check, LOL). He attacks again. I don’t remember what I drew but I scooped. 0-1
Second game was even worse °_°. Mr.Mime, Oddish and nothing else. I used my Oddish LA, the one who can Poison (i had also the one who Paralyzes…as Stephen Silvestro showed, even a String Shot can make you win games!!!) but I failed in that °_°. He KOs it as it KOs another thing I drew (maybe it was a Gastly).
Then finally I get on turn 4….A COLLECTOR! I have been playing 20 minutes without Bebe’s/Collector/Call/Twins/Uxie and now I’m able to setup!!! I just need 2 turns to build, on the 0-4, a Gengar SF and start the Poltergeist swarm. Differently from round 5 vs Nico, as I wasn’t able to trainer lock since the beginning of the game I have to pay attention to everything he played on the bench. Mr.Mime revealed that fortunately he has a lot of trainers in hand, so I started Poltergeist. He is able to score a KO with the Luxray G LVX and draw its 5th prize, but I keep doing 1 prize a turn. On the 5-4 for him, he drops a Garchomp C and a DCE, and as I was waiting for it, I send my fully prepared Gengar Prime to Lost Zone both Garchomp C LVX and Luxray G LVX. He Cyrus for a Darkness and give it to Honchcrow. I’m able to reach the 5-5 and as he doesn’t have a DCE in hand I’m quite OK. The problem is he has a Bronzong G in hand and I don’t see its Bronzong + DCE from Garchomp to Honchcrow coming. So, he attacks my Gengar SF and we have to flip. Even if it’s tails, it doesn’t matter: I wanted to scoop after 20 minutes and I was able to recover a lost game, so even if I’ll got kicked out of the tournament, i would be proud anyway. Even if it’s heads, I need to win one Sudden Death (to determine the winner of game2) and another game in which I’ll not be able to winning through Lost Zone because of time. Flip: HEADS! Thanks god of Pokèmon. As game 2 is tied, we have to play a Sudden Death to see if I’m still in or not.
As I have seen its Ambipom, I have to play really carefully because a Spiritomb with 10 damages and no energy on it can always be KOed by Ambipom + Crobat (and Unown Q to get rid of the active Pokèmon). So, even if I start with Spiritomb-Gastly, I drop a Psychic to Gastly but DIDN’t Darkness Grace. He has no energy in hand, he has an active Garchomp. He pass. I have an Uxie and a Bebe’s in hand, so I Bebe’s Search for the Haunter, give Spiritomb a Call Energy and Darkness Grace for the Gengar SF. He isn’t able to do 50 on my Spiritomb with an energy on it, so I can Poltergeist the turn after for the win. YEEEEEES! Its 1-1. Unbelievable.
I won an impossible game2, and then nothing can stop me!!! I just need 1-2 turns at the beginning to setup and then I must Poltergeist until the end. The god of Pokèmon helps me again because Esa’s start is, again, really poor, without Cyrus/Bebe in hand (only a bunch of Premier Ball/Communication he cannot use). My setup is regular, and the Poltergeist swarm starts at the end of turn 3. He cannot effort that and I’m able to get my 6 prizes. I DID IT!!!
9-1
So, I don’t realize how but I’m in Top8. I was quite sure to be out of the tournament, especially after my 2nd hand opening, but then my bad luck was compensated by the sudden death and the 3rd game, in which Esa had a really bad start.
In Top8 I’m paired against Matteo Laici from Italy (another Italian…bleah!) but I’m overconfident (Sableye FTW) because he doesn’t play Dialga and darkness tech. The only thing I have to take care of is Entei/Raikou Legend, which gives him a very cheap way to draw a couple of prizes. This is the way he won over Martina in T32. So my goal is to Lost Zone one of the two part of the legend to gain a nice advantage.
T8 vs Matteo Laici (LuxChomp w ERL)
My start is really nice, with Spiritomb and Collector, and I can setup regularly. He has in hand ERL bottom + Bebe’s Search and use it to play the two cards. At this point, I have to think if it’s better to go with Gengar Prime and to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon (even if I don’t have any possibility to Lost Zone the two dogs) or to Poltergeist swarm to force him to use its Entei/Raikou and risk the Fainting Spell. The regular thing is to go for the Prime, but now that he has Entei/Raikou and that Mr.Mime reveals he has no Pokèmon, I make the choice, checking that he has enough trainer, that I have Gengar SF in my hand, and that he doesn’t play Dialga, to go for Poltergeist. I’ll regret it later. Gengar SF gives me two prizes. I’m trying to find a Rescue Energy but I don’t get one. By the time he is out with Entei/Raikou, he is forced to give me an extra prize and to flip the Fainting Spell. I flip heads and I’m like WOW!!! 5-2 for me. Even if the situation is ok, I have one big problem. The Gengar SF goes to the discard pile because it has no Rescue and my hand is not that good. I have a Gengar Prime line, Vileplume and Twins but I don’t have anything else. With the Twins being unplayable, with Uxie not being able to draw anything because of the size of my hand, I badly need to topdeck something playable. I don’t have BTS in play so he is able to KO an Haunter on my bench. I waste all my Supporter but I don’t get the Psychic Energy I need to Cursed Drop x2 for the win. It’s incredible, but as I don’t get anything to stop its active Luxray G LVX, he can draw all its prizes and win the game. 0-1
I’m a bit disappointed about my performance because I could have done better. Going aggressive with Gengar SF revealed to be a bad choice for a deck which is not built to do that. BTW, I have to do it again because I’m pretty sure I’ll not have the time to win through Lost World and, even if I can, he’ll just stall a bit in order to win on time.
Game2 starts again regularly for me and I can setup my field. He has Luxray Gl LVX and is looking to KO my Vileplume. I drop a Rescue Energy on it and even if I don’t have the BTS, as I have the 2nd Oddish in hand and I checked I have my 2nd Vileplume in the deck, I can play my Oddish and, after the KO, I just evolve it into the Gloom I rescued and Darkness Grace for my 2nd Vileplume. Before taking it, I have to make sure that Gengar SF is in the deck. I find that it is in the deck and then, in a foolish moment, I take it and PUT IT ON THE BENCH. I realized after one second what I did and say “I wasn’t gonna evolve Haunter, I wanted to evolve Gloom!” but well, when a card lies on the bench it is played. Shame on me, this misplay will ruin all my game plans. Matteo can break the trainer lock through Bright Look and play some trainers. In that moment I wanted TO DIE but well, my hand is quite good and I must go on. I have a Twins and so I play it for BTS + Gloom in order to set my 2nd Vileplume, and I set my Gengar SF to start Poltergeist. When we are 3-3, he kills my Gengar active (but Rescue restored it) and I’m able to play it again (I think I flipped another Fainting Spell, but I think it didn’t matter at the time). I remember that at a certain point, on the 4-4 he has a Luxray Gl LVX active and I cannot Level Down it (because I have just played Gengar SF that turn). I checked his hand through Mr.Mime and he didn’t draw through prizes/deck the 4th trainer I was hoping for. The 90 damages I did to Luxray G LVX are healed by Garchomp C LVX. The turn after, I Level Down Garchomp C LVX and Poltergeist 90 damages for the KO. It’s 5-4. I think it’s done and he’ll scoop for the 3rd game. But the turn after he outplays me another time. He gets Twins, plays Entei/Raikou Legend and drop an energy on it. He sends it active and pass. I don’t have the Seeker, but I can Level-Up my Uxie LVX through Warp Energy in order to stay over the 80 quota and I Shadow Room his Luxray G LVX. Then, he reveals me Crobat G (where the hell was it taken from?!?!) and, incredibly, he is able to use ERL attack to tie the game. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! In the same moment, time is called.
This means just one thing. If I want to win the whole game, I must win two Sudden death in a row. This is a mission impossibile. But well, impossible is nothing.
At that point, I didn’t matter anything. Matteo deserved to win because he played better than me and I deserved to lose because I lost what was an autowin thanks to my misplay and my lack in controlling the field. BTW, it’s a game and so let’s play.
Sudden Death Game 1 starts with me Pitch Darking. On turn 1, he plays an energy on his Garchomp C active and pass. On turn 2, I’m able to evolve my Gastly and Collector for Spiritomb, Mr.Mime and Uxie. I checked his hand. He is full of trainers, but has an Uxie and a Bebe’s Search. He needs the DCE. All I can do is retreat my Haunter, drop an energy on Spiritomb (I have also a Psychic in the hand) and Darkness Grace for Gengar SF hoping he doesn’t draw the DCE. He Bebe’s a Garchomp C LVX and drop Uxie to draw 4 cards. I implore him to reveal its four cards. NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING and…..NOTHING!!!! Yes, that’s mine! Poltergeist FTW! 1-1
Sudden Death Game 2 it’s very difficult to remember because there are some points I forget. When the video will be published, it would be clear. I think that I have a Gastly + Psychic start and I Pitch Dark. On his turn, he has an active Garchomp. He uses Collector for Luxray and Azelf and Unown Q and pass. I think I draw Mr.Mime (or maybe I have had it since the beginning) and I’m able to see he has a Psychic ready to Lock Up my Spiritomb active when it will be promoted to find Gengar SF. I need a Warp Energy. I play my Azelf to check what’s in the prize and I reveal a Gloom. I take it for Twins. After some crazy moves that I don’t remember at all, I’m able to play a double Uxie LA and to find a BTS, a Warp and a Haunter. They are enough to retreat for free my Haunter, play Oddish + Gloom and Darkness Grace it into a Vileplume (I didn’t look for a Gengar SF and I don’t remember why, maybe I was scared about a Bebe’s he had in hand), while having an Haunter on the bench with 2 energies, a Warp Energy in hand and a Spiritomb active. It seems impossible, but it was. (even if it’s clear I’m missing something, if I was able to play Spiritomb + Mime + Gastly + Azelf + Vileplume + Uxie + Uxie…maybe I’m missing a Seeker).
In his turn, he attaches Unown Q to the active, retreat for free and send Azelf to lock my Spiritomb. I’m able to play my Warp Energy and send my Haunter, but I don’t have any way to find a Gengar SF and I remember I played my Gengar Prime to Cursed Drop his Azelf. He hasn’t anything to do and he is forced to pass doing nothing. The turn after, I can Cursed Drop for the win. MIRACLES HAPPEN!!! 2-1
10-1
So, I don’t know how I did it BUT I WON THE 3RD SUDDEN DEATH IN A ROW WITH MY LOST GAR! LOL
This is one of the time you have to admit that this game is not based only on your skill, but also on your luck, because if in Top16 I won because of luck, but a little was made by the fact that I performed well, here I won only due to it. I played two really bad games misplaying in strategy and control but I was able to win anyway, even if my opponent deserved to do it more than me. I’m sorry for Matteo and I’ll not stop to congratulate with him for his excellent performance.
Now I’m in top4 and from what I heard I’ll face a turbo Machamp. That is great!
Top4 vs Maurice “Raichu88” (Speed Machamp)
Finally a nice match-up! I have to stay concentrated but I think I’m the favourite one to win the game. And Maurice is a cool guy…LOL! BTW, my start is really bad: I have a Uxie and I must start first. All I can do is giving it a Warp Energy and doing 20 to his active Smeargle. In its turn, he burns all the cards he has in hand in order to be able to set a Machamp but he cannot do it. In my turn I play my Collector and I realize that both my Azelf and my 2nd Uxie are prized °_°. It sucks! BTW, I play 2 Spiritombs (I was scared of the Regice) and start to set a Vileplume and a Gengar. My setup is really slow because I don’t have access to the 2nd Uxie and I don’t find any Twins, and I must give him many prizes. Anyway, I can play a Uxie LVX and after some turns I find the Twins. He is 4 prizes ahead when I start the Poltergeist swarm. As I didn’t have the time to play Mr.Mime, I started Poltergeist with him having a bunch of cards in hand and I thought it was really simple to find 4 T/S/S, but he has only three, and so he’s able to take 120 damage and then to attack with Machamp 3rd attack to KO my Gengar (he has a Rescue attached and a Haunter was in the bench ready to replace it). Here I don’t remember if the Fainting Spell was Heads or Tails, but anyway after I got rid of his Machamp he’s not able to set another one (I played all the Supporters in my hand in order to prevent his Smeargle). And so, even if I was 1-5, I’m able to do my five Poltergeist in a row to draw all my prizes. 1-0
Second game is easier: my start is very good with Spiritomb + Collector and once I have a Gengar SF and a Vileplume in play he cannot do anything. After some Poltergeist I win the 2nd game and make it into final! 2-0
11-1
Now I have some time to relax myself after having played for 2 hours without stopping (my Top8 ended very late and I was forced to play T4 immediately).
As I don’t know anything about the list that will make T2 (even if I know it’ll be a LuxChomp), everything I do is setting my mind to fight the last LuxChomp of the day and, after having failed in strategy in T8, now I know for sure that I have to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon in game1 and go for Poltergeist only in game 2.
The final between Steven Mao and Martin Van Der Vis ended with the first one winning, so I know I must face him in the final.
T2 vs Steven Mao (LuxChomp w Weavile G)
I don’t know anything about Steven and his LuxChomp, so I just concentrate myself in the game.
My setup is again really cool and I can play my Vilepume, my Gengar Prime and my Mr.Mime to check his hand. He starts with a very good hand, with Luxray G LVX and Uxie (I think) and I’m able to Lost Zone both them by the end of turn3. He begins to attack my Gengar Prime, but I have a Rescue on it and so after it Lost Zoned the 3rd pokèmon (a Dragonite) it dies, but it is replaced immediately by a new one. As there’s a Weavile G in play, I Cursed Drop it in two turns in order to get rid of it, and I do the same against the Roserade Gl. With five Pokèmon in the Lost Zone and the Lost World in my hand, he decides to scoop and go to the 2nd game. 1-0
In the 2nd game, my start is with Gastly, but anyway I have a Collector to find a Spiritomb on turn2. His start is REALLY good as he has both Luxray Gl LVX and Uxie LVX (he plays 2x) in hand, and so he’s able to KO a Gloom on T2 and PokèTurn the Luxray GL LVX to break the lock also the turn after. I don’t have a Twins to build a Vileplume, but I have a Rescue energy, so I attach it to my 2nd Oddish and evolve into Gloom. He Bright Look my Gloom again, but this time he does just 30 damages. In this turn I have a big problem: I don’t have the energy to retreat Gloom, or better, I have a Psychic but I have no ways to find a 2nd Psychic to start Poltergeist the turn after. For this reason, after having thought for 10 seconds, I decided to burn my Rescue and to attach my Psychic to Haunter, as I bet he will not be able to call my Vileplume in the active position and KO it in a few turns. So I retreat it and Darkness Grace to get a Vileplume. At this point, he plays Looker’s Investigation to disrupt my hand (which was big) and even if I have a Uxie LVX in play that will help me, the card has the effect to make me lose my Bebe’s Search, and I’m not able to find a new one in the 5 + 1 + 2 (Trade Off) cards I see the turn after (nor Twins, nor Gengar SF). This means he can have another Spiritomb prize for free (he already drew 2 Spiritomb prizes and 1 Gloom). BTW, the turn after I get Gengar SF and on the 0-4 I start the Poltergeist swarm. At this point, it gives me few prizes, including his Luxray G LVX that requires me to play my Gengar LVX, as he has only 3 trainers in the hand. This was something I didn’t want to do because I wanted to preserve that to heal the poison of Roserade Gl. We are 3-4 for him when the turn of the misplay comes. After I have drawn my 3rd prize, Steven uses his Roserade to lock my Gengar LVX in the active position, while preparing a Weavile G on the bench. He was trying to KO Gengar LVX through poison to cover both the Rescue and the Fainting Spell problems. To contrast this move, I need a Warp Energy and a BTS, and I can access at them without any problem thanks to my Twins, but I want to make sure to access also at the cards I would need the turn after. I decide that a Seeker is needed to be able to heal my Gengar LVX before Weavile tries to get rid of him, and that also a 2nd Warp is, just in case he is able to retrieve his Roserade and lock Gengar again. I couldn’t let him KO my Gengar SF as it is my only hitter. As I’m thinking at these things, the judge forces me to play a card because I’m taking too much time, and so I do all the moves I have planned and Poltergeist the Roserade for the KO to go 4-4. But in doing this, I make two CRUCIAL errors. The 1st one is that during my strategy study, I was so concentranted in the Weavile-Bronzong-Roserade triangle that I totally forgot to check he played a Luxray Gl on his bench, and so I haven’t see his Bright Look + Uxie LVX plan to KO my Vileplume. And the 2nd, the most important, I FORGOT TO LEVEL DOWN HIS UXIE LVX. And this misplay costs me the tournament. The turn after, he is able to promote his Luxray Gl, to Trade Off to get his Luxray GL LVX, to call my Vileplume active and to KO it through Uxie LVX + DCE. 5-4 for him and I’m done. 1-1
A single turn of black out ruins me the whole game and the whole tournament.
Time is called and I could not hope to win my final Sudden Death as I have already been too luck to win the other threes. After my Gastly start, he has T2 Luxray G LVX and GG. 1-2
11-2
And so in this way my tournament ends. I’m pretty satisfied because I was really close to be out both in T16 and in T8 and, over this, I wouldn’t have bet anything in such a great performance.
The deck I have played was definitely one of my best decks ever, and considering the testing work we did and the fact I reached the final in the biggest tournament Europe has ever had, it was a dream that come true.
But well…when you lose a final due to a misplay…I think that even if it is the Worlds final….well, it’s hard to effort.
The list and the deck worked perfectly…the player little less.
And now, it’s PROPS time:
- MegaPROPS to Mr. Hapè Wagner and his staff. When I think at the fact that a single person can organize an event such big and such successful in the way he did, making happy so many people, it seems to be like an important lesson to learn. So I want to thanks him for the fact that he has been an important teacher for me. (LOL, I hope what I have written has a sense in English).
- PROPS to my team-mates Martina, Kenta (testing support) and Gatsu (moral support) for helping me in becoming every day a better player and a better person.
- PROPS to Pino and Mara: my Pokè-family!
- PROPS to Matteo Laici for making such a big performance: I’m pretty sure he’ll win our Nationals in one year or two.
- PROPS to Nico, Cedric, Simone, Morten, Esa, Maurice and Steven for being such awesome players!
- PROPS to the other players I haven’t mentioned.
- PROPS to all my Italian supporters who supported me during the event
- PROPS to the luck I had
And a few SLOPS:
- SLOPS to Gedis S.R.L. Italia which didn’t put a single box in the tournament
- SLOPS to P!P which didn’t put any invite/trips in such a big event (but well, maybe they are thinking about doing it next year, so I shouldn’t be that negative). It’s the time to let Europe have his big tournament to qualify for Worlds!
- SLOPS to my poor English (I need some Mods to correct my errors)
- SLOPS to the luck I had, because when I’ll play important tournaments (National?) it will say “Hey, I was with you all the year, now I wanna go holiday!!”
See ya at Worlds (if we win Nats!) and thank you for the reading.
As the flight was really cheap (I paid 4€ + 10€ taxes) I booked it, even if I was quite sure I would not have had the opportunity to play the tournament.
When in January my graduation was moved from February to July, I was a bit disappointed, but this gave me the opportunity to take part at the tournament!
After a wonderful CC season (I took 2 CCs out of 5 and did quite well in the other 3), I started to build some Lost World deck, but the results were really bad. I have tried Absol G LVX/Chatot G/Mew Prime/Gengar Prime without winning more than 2 games after dozens of them, and I didn’t win a single game with Speed LostGar.
When the world was talking about banning Gengar Prime or Lost World, I was quite sure the deck wouldn’t have seen so much play because LuxChomp can easily beat it, and if not, it can always tech against it and then win.
Magnezone/Machamp was an option, but It revealed to be a deck too weak to contrast a skilled LuxChomp player. Steelix was too dangerous because it cannot win versus Magnezone Prime. Gyarados…I simply don’t like it, after having played it at tournaments for months and months.
LuxChomp was the only decent choice.
The last deck I wanted to try was VileGar. I have always loved it, but it showed to be a really bad choice because of its LuxChomp match-up and its impossibility to win games if it has a bad start. BTW, if the people were thinking like me, they would have choiced a LuxChomp deck with mirror techs (Dragonite, Ambipom, Energy Exchanger, Premier Ball, etc.), maybe Dialga-less, or Machamp/Gyarados builds with a lot of trainers to contrast LuxChomp, so a VileGar build could have found a nice field.
When I was building it, it happens to me to listen to some nice reports in playing LostGar-Vileplume, and Fulop’s article on 6P convinced me that the deck was playable.
For these reasons, I decided to test a LostGar-VilePlume deck with Gengar SF used as Dialga-tech and as a back-up attacker in top cut.
I had very few days to test it (it was built one week before the tournament), but the results were incredible! The deck autowins Machamp, Magnezone and Gyarados (you just have to pay attention at the Regice) and can do something against LuxChomp.
I asked my team mates (my brother and Martina) to help me in balancing the deck just to beat LuxChomp, as it was the only thing I needed, and even if I was discouraged by the fact that my brother’s LuxChomp was really difficult to contrast (the results were really bad), they did a great testing work and convinced me that the deck had a potential. Thanks to their suggestions and to a VERY hard testing work LuxChomp-variants-oriented, which sometimes made me cry for hours (it happened to lose 3-4 games in a row versus LuxChomp due to Roserade, Dialga G LVX, Weavile, Ambipom and everything that can disrupt your field), I built a balanced list and was convinced by Martina, who decided to play it no matter what happens, to risk it.
So, Martina and me go for LostGar, and my brother go for LuxChomp.
The list will not be revealed as I don’t want it to be public domain being States starting in a few weeks. I’m really sorry, but I’m trying to do a detailed report so you can try to reconstruct it by reading carefully.
On Thursday 17 we took our flights, arrived in Weeze (DE) and reached our hotel in Goch. We looked for something to eat but it seems that in Germany after 10.30PM all you can find is BEER. We visited every bar in the city asking “Do you have something to eat?” and the anwers were “Well, we have beer, and we have… [silence]”. The best moment was when we faced a really old barman, and after asking “Do you have a KITCHEN?” we got as anwer “Yes, we have the DEE JAY!!”.
After 3 beers, we went to sleep, and moved on Friday to Amsterdam (NL). That city is amazing. Streets are made by “Sex Museum – Coffee Shop – Erotic Shop – Casinò – Sex Museum – Coffee Shop – Erotic shop – Casinò – Sex Museum….” and so on. Very cool. We bought some stuff and then we reached Arnhem and helped the tournament staff in arranging the location with tables, chairs, posters. Then, beers again and then bed.
Saturday morning we went to the location and deck checked (my brother was found with 61 cards, LOL).
193 Masters with 8 rounds and top32. Funny!
And now it’s time for…the TOURNAMENT!!!!
1st round vs a girl from NL (I don’t remember her name, sorry!!) (Donphan)
She starts with Uxie alone, 20 to my Spiritomb. I Darkness Grace to evolve my Gastly in Haunter after having dropped a Rescue Energy. She plays Buck’s and attacks for 30, KO my Spiritomb. I Twins for the Gengar SF and Poltergeist for the GG!
1-0
2nd round vs Matteo Laici, IT (LuxChomp / ERL)
Unown Q start. I have to start. Topdeck or I lose. I ask help to S.Gennaro and S.Antonio and draw my card…CALL ENERGY!!!!! Yuhuhuhuhuhuh!!! I Call for Spiritomb and Gastly, then I’m able to setup without any problems and I Hurl Into Darkness a lot of funny things (ERL bottom, Luxray Gl LVX, Uxie and so on). He can draw some prizes but I can Lost zone 6 Pokèmon in a few turns. Lost World for the win.
2-0
3rd round vs Manuel (NL) (Straight Magnezone w Pachirisu COL)
Finally I meet Manuel…I have been talking to him for years on MSN but I never had the occasion to meet him! It was a wonderful surprise. BTW, its deck was an autowin. I setup myself, spread some damage with Gengar SF through Shadow Room and then Cursed Drop to Lost Zone a whole Magnezone line and a Spiritomb. He cannot use his trainer, and so it’s very difficult for him to replace his attackers. After he lost 2 Magnezone Prime, he has 4 Pokèmon in the Lost Zone, 0 Magnezone in play and only trainers in hand….he scoops.
3-0
4rd round vs Vincent Azzolin (FR) (Gyarados)
I setup with a double Spiritomb (because of Regice) and build a Gengar SF to disrupt his game. I Shadow Room a Regice, he Seeker it, and the turn after I’m able to Lost Zone it. His Gyarados dies to my Fainting Spell (or I KOed it? I don’t remember) and I’m able to Cursed Drop to draw prizes and Lost Zone something. At a certain points he draws a Magikarp, but he cannot play it because Cursed Drop would KO it. He doesn’t have the Gyarados in hand. It keeps it in hand, but after Mr.Mime revealed it, I Hurl Into Darkness to send it to the Lost Zone. He scoops.
4-0
5th round vs Nico Alabas (DE) (LuxChomp)
Another LuxChomp! My start is poor and I must give him many prizes. As I posted on my Facebook profile, I just have a Spiritomb which stays active for 3-4 turns doing basically nothing, and so I attached him a Warp Energy, then a Rescue Energy (in order to be able to rescue him) and finally a Call Energy to find some basics. BTW, I’m able to keep the trainer lock, and the rescued Spiritomb can evolve my bench. It’s 4-0 for him when I build my Gengar SF and, after checking through Mime that everything is OK, i started Poltergeist. He can draw 1 prize, but he cannot do anything to get the last one. I Poltergeist 6 turns for the win.
5-0
6th round vs Cedric Gouion (FR) (Gyarados w Exeguttor LA)
This guy is amazing!!! He plays Gyarados with Exegguttor and a lot of trainer to send to 0 the opponent hand! My start is Oddish + Call. I Call Energy for Spiritomb/Gastly. On turn 1, he is able to play all his trainers, build an Exeguttor and send my hand to 0 °___°. I hope to draw a Collector/Uxie/Twins/Bebe’s…and I get a COLLECTOR! Yuhhuuhuh! What a topdeck! After I have a VilePlume and a Gengar SF he cannot do anything. I easily draw my prizes through Poltergeist and it’s GG.
6-0
7th round vs Simone Soldo (IT) (Gyarados)
Bad start on both sides. He has Smeargle and Crobat G, I just have Uxie LA and then draw a Mr.Mime on my 1st turn. I Psychic Restore for 20 his Smeargle. He Portrait for nothing and pass. I draw a Gastly and start Pitch Darking as long as I can. He keeps Portraiting for nothing. Then at a certain point I’m able to topdeck an Uxie and I set a Gengar SF with a Psychic and a Seeker °_°. Shadow Room for the win!
7-0
8th round vs Morten (DK) (Magnezone Prime/Regirock)
This match is really difficult. Morten’s strategy is to play 2 Regirock on the bench and having a deck with 18 energies and Energy Adjustment he is able to drop 4 energies a turn (Regirock, Regirock, Magnezone SF). My problem is that thanks to Regirock he can discard all its trainer (if I start to Poltergeist) and all its Pokèmon (if I start Hurling Into Darkness). I start quite well and I play BTS, in order to put as fast as I can Gengar LVX in play (he has Skuntank + Sunyshore to KO it without any problems), but this move helps him in building its Magnezone Prime and its Magnezone SF in play. I decide to Shadow room its Regirock and keep a Rescue on Gengar SF in order to recycle it, forcing him to risk its Magnezone Prime against Fainting Spell (I guess Gengar Prime is too difficult to play, because he can do 150 each turn without any problems and I don’t have the time to Lost 6 Pokèmon). I flip 2 tails/2, and so I cannot do anything. I think I couldn’t have done anything even if I flipped 1 or 2 heads, because he had too many way to disrupt my game plans. Congrats to him for thinking at such a good deck!!
7-1
I’m 2nd seeded and Martina is 7th (lost to Morten and lost due to benching vs Karl Blake turn 3).
We are waiting for my brother’s tie-breaker, because he is 5-3, and when the standings are published we see he’s 31st!!! 2/2 Team mates in top!!! It sucks because I’ll be forced to face him in T32.
I was very lucky on day1 because the deck revealed to have a really nice field and even if I had some bad starts, i also had some fatal topdecks in round 2/6/7. The list revealed to be really balanced, and the last-minute adding of Call Energy helped me in winning many games.
Unfortunately I’m forced to play against my brother, and I’m pretty sure that without the surprise effect, knowing exactly what cards I have in my deck and having tested the match-up 20+ games vs its LuxChomp, he is the favourite one for the victory. BTW, he is scared of me for the same reason, LOL
After McDonald, shower and Ghost Rider in English with subtitles in Dutch, we went to sleep.
Then, day2: it’s time for the Top Cut.
T32 vs Alberto “Kenta” Ceolin (LuxChomp)
I’m really depressed for the match-up but, anyway, one of us will at least make T16.
We both start well and he is able to constantly attack my Vileplume, even if I’m able to drop my Rescue Energy on it. He is accumulating its Power Spray and preparing a Dialga G LVX, but I cannot arrange to build a Gengar LVX in a few turns. When finally it stops to threaten my Vileplume, I start Lost Zoning something, but he promotes Dialga G LVX, retreats it and started attacking my Gengar. I’m able to build another one, but even if I have the LVX, I need 4 Level Down to remove it. As I don’t have the control of the field, I just prefer to scoop to save some time. 0-1
Second game is easier. I have a decent setup and I’m able to start Lost Zoning some of its Pokèmon. As he plays its 2 Uxie in the first turns, I have the opportunity to Hurl Into Darkness its 3rd Uxie. He plays its Dialga G LVX, but I’m able to Level Down it after some turns, while building the other Gengar on the bench. Now, he has a really short hand (he played all its trainers and hided its Pokèmon) and after its first Collector he checks he has no more Uxie in the deck. I begin to play my Seeker and after he has seen its 6 pokèmon Lost Zoned, he scoops for the 3rd game. 1-1
Now it’s game 3. I know I don’t have any possibility to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon and the only way I can win is going Poltergeist. This is what I do, and the thing worked because I build a Gengar SF and a Vileplume and I start to Poltergeist really soon. He prepares its Dialga G LVX but has to give me 2 prizes. He is able to topdeck a Power Spray at a crucial point (I checked through Mime he doesn’t have one to Spray my Level Down on its Dialga G LVX), but anyway even if he tries to control the board he cannot do many prizes. When time is called it is 4-3 for me and I can easily to the 5th prize. We ask for a Time Extension but the judge tells us we haven’t wasted the time necessary to get one. I’m really disappointed because I think that winning through time is something which should never exist…anyway, he scoops. GG Bro! Too bad we met on T32.
8-1
T16 vs Esa Juntunen (LuxChomp w Honchcrow SV)
All the luck I had in the whole tournament vanished in the content of the first two opening hand of this round.
The first game, I opened with Spiritomb/Gastly and nothing in hand. He starts and do nothing, I retreat for Spiritomb and Darkness Grace for Haunter (attaching him a Rescue). He KOs my Haunter through Luxray Gl LVX. I’m able to play Gastly again and use Darkness Grace again to get another Haunter. He KOs Spiritomb. All I can do is to attack with Haunter’s 2nd attack and play a Mr.Mime on the bench (he flipped heads on the sleep check, LOL). He attacks again. I don’t remember what I drew but I scooped. 0-1
Second game was even worse °_°. Mr.Mime, Oddish and nothing else. I used my Oddish LA, the one who can Poison (i had also the one who Paralyzes…as Stephen Silvestro showed, even a String Shot can make you win games!!!) but I failed in that °_°. He KOs it as it KOs another thing I drew (maybe it was a Gastly).
Then finally I get on turn 4….A COLLECTOR! I have been playing 20 minutes without Bebe’s/Collector/Call/Twins/Uxie and now I’m able to setup!!! I just need 2 turns to build, on the 0-4, a Gengar SF and start the Poltergeist swarm. Differently from round 5 vs Nico, as I wasn’t able to trainer lock since the beginning of the game I have to pay attention to everything he played on the bench. Mr.Mime revealed that fortunately he has a lot of trainers in hand, so I started Poltergeist. He is able to score a KO with the Luxray G LVX and draw its 5th prize, but I keep doing 1 prize a turn. On the 5-4 for him, he drops a Garchomp C and a DCE, and as I was waiting for it, I send my fully prepared Gengar Prime to Lost Zone both Garchomp C LVX and Luxray G LVX. He Cyrus for a Darkness and give it to Honchcrow. I’m able to reach the 5-5 and as he doesn’t have a DCE in hand I’m quite OK. The problem is he has a Bronzong G in hand and I don’t see its Bronzong + DCE from Garchomp to Honchcrow coming. So, he attacks my Gengar SF and we have to flip. Even if it’s tails, it doesn’t matter: I wanted to scoop after 20 minutes and I was able to recover a lost game, so even if I’ll got kicked out of the tournament, i would be proud anyway. Even if it’s heads, I need to win one Sudden Death (to determine the winner of game2) and another game in which I’ll not be able to winning through Lost Zone because of time. Flip: HEADS! Thanks god of Pokèmon. As game 2 is tied, we have to play a Sudden Death to see if I’m still in or not.
As I have seen its Ambipom, I have to play really carefully because a Spiritomb with 10 damages and no energy on it can always be KOed by Ambipom + Crobat (and Unown Q to get rid of the active Pokèmon). So, even if I start with Spiritomb-Gastly, I drop a Psychic to Gastly but DIDN’t Darkness Grace. He has no energy in hand, he has an active Garchomp. He pass. I have an Uxie and a Bebe’s in hand, so I Bebe’s Search for the Haunter, give Spiritomb a Call Energy and Darkness Grace for the Gengar SF. He isn’t able to do 50 on my Spiritomb with an energy on it, so I can Poltergeist the turn after for the win. YEEEEEES! Its 1-1. Unbelievable.
I won an impossible game2, and then nothing can stop me!!! I just need 1-2 turns at the beginning to setup and then I must Poltergeist until the end. The god of Pokèmon helps me again because Esa’s start is, again, really poor, without Cyrus/Bebe in hand (only a bunch of Premier Ball/Communication he cannot use). My setup is regular, and the Poltergeist swarm starts at the end of turn 3. He cannot effort that and I’m able to get my 6 prizes. I DID IT!!!
9-1
So, I don’t realize how but I’m in Top8. I was quite sure to be out of the tournament, especially after my 2nd hand opening, but then my bad luck was compensated by the sudden death and the 3rd game, in which Esa had a really bad start.
In Top8 I’m paired against Matteo Laici from Italy (another Italian…bleah!) but I’m overconfident (Sableye FTW) because he doesn’t play Dialga and darkness tech. The only thing I have to take care of is Entei/Raikou Legend, which gives him a very cheap way to draw a couple of prizes. This is the way he won over Martina in T32. So my goal is to Lost Zone one of the two part of the legend to gain a nice advantage.
T8 vs Matteo Laici (LuxChomp w ERL)
My start is really nice, with Spiritomb and Collector, and I can setup regularly. He has in hand ERL bottom + Bebe’s Search and use it to play the two cards. At this point, I have to think if it’s better to go with Gengar Prime and to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon (even if I don’t have any possibility to Lost Zone the two dogs) or to Poltergeist swarm to force him to use its Entei/Raikou and risk the Fainting Spell. The regular thing is to go for the Prime, but now that he has Entei/Raikou and that Mr.Mime reveals he has no Pokèmon, I make the choice, checking that he has enough trainer, that I have Gengar SF in my hand, and that he doesn’t play Dialga, to go for Poltergeist. I’ll regret it later. Gengar SF gives me two prizes. I’m trying to find a Rescue Energy but I don’t get one. By the time he is out with Entei/Raikou, he is forced to give me an extra prize and to flip the Fainting Spell. I flip heads and I’m like WOW!!! 5-2 for me. Even if the situation is ok, I have one big problem. The Gengar SF goes to the discard pile because it has no Rescue and my hand is not that good. I have a Gengar Prime line, Vileplume and Twins but I don’t have anything else. With the Twins being unplayable, with Uxie not being able to draw anything because of the size of my hand, I badly need to topdeck something playable. I don’t have BTS in play so he is able to KO an Haunter on my bench. I waste all my Supporter but I don’t get the Psychic Energy I need to Cursed Drop x2 for the win. It’s incredible, but as I don’t get anything to stop its active Luxray G LVX, he can draw all its prizes and win the game. 0-1
I’m a bit disappointed about my performance because I could have done better. Going aggressive with Gengar SF revealed to be a bad choice for a deck which is not built to do that. BTW, I have to do it again because I’m pretty sure I’ll not have the time to win through Lost World and, even if I can, he’ll just stall a bit in order to win on time.
Game2 starts again regularly for me and I can setup my field. He has Luxray Gl LVX and is looking to KO my Vileplume. I drop a Rescue Energy on it and even if I don’t have the BTS, as I have the 2nd Oddish in hand and I checked I have my 2nd Vileplume in the deck, I can play my Oddish and, after the KO, I just evolve it into the Gloom I rescued and Darkness Grace for my 2nd Vileplume. Before taking it, I have to make sure that Gengar SF is in the deck. I find that it is in the deck and then, in a foolish moment, I take it and PUT IT ON THE BENCH. I realized after one second what I did and say “I wasn’t gonna evolve Haunter, I wanted to evolve Gloom!” but well, when a card lies on the bench it is played. Shame on me, this misplay will ruin all my game plans. Matteo can break the trainer lock through Bright Look and play some trainers. In that moment I wanted TO DIE but well, my hand is quite good and I must go on. I have a Twins and so I play it for BTS + Gloom in order to set my 2nd Vileplume, and I set my Gengar SF to start Poltergeist. When we are 3-3, he kills my Gengar active (but Rescue restored it) and I’m able to play it again (I think I flipped another Fainting Spell, but I think it didn’t matter at the time). I remember that at a certain point, on the 4-4 he has a Luxray Gl LVX active and I cannot Level Down it (because I have just played Gengar SF that turn). I checked his hand through Mr.Mime and he didn’t draw through prizes/deck the 4th trainer I was hoping for. The 90 damages I did to Luxray G LVX are healed by Garchomp C LVX. The turn after, I Level Down Garchomp C LVX and Poltergeist 90 damages for the KO. It’s 5-4. I think it’s done and he’ll scoop for the 3rd game. But the turn after he outplays me another time. He gets Twins, plays Entei/Raikou Legend and drop an energy on it. He sends it active and pass. I don’t have the Seeker, but I can Level-Up my Uxie LVX through Warp Energy in order to stay over the 80 quota and I Shadow Room his Luxray G LVX. Then, he reveals me Crobat G (where the hell was it taken from?!?!) and, incredibly, he is able to use ERL attack to tie the game. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! In the same moment, time is called.
This means just one thing. If I want to win the whole game, I must win two Sudden death in a row. This is a mission impossibile. But well, impossible is nothing.
At that point, I didn’t matter anything. Matteo deserved to win because he played better than me and I deserved to lose because I lost what was an autowin thanks to my misplay and my lack in controlling the field. BTW, it’s a game and so let’s play.
Sudden Death Game 1 starts with me Pitch Darking. On turn 1, he plays an energy on his Garchomp C active and pass. On turn 2, I’m able to evolve my Gastly and Collector for Spiritomb, Mr.Mime and Uxie. I checked his hand. He is full of trainers, but has an Uxie and a Bebe’s Search. He needs the DCE. All I can do is retreat my Haunter, drop an energy on Spiritomb (I have also a Psychic in the hand) and Darkness Grace for Gengar SF hoping he doesn’t draw the DCE. He Bebe’s a Garchomp C LVX and drop Uxie to draw 4 cards. I implore him to reveal its four cards. NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING and…..NOTHING!!!! Yes, that’s mine! Poltergeist FTW! 1-1
Sudden Death Game 2 it’s very difficult to remember because there are some points I forget. When the video will be published, it would be clear. I think that I have a Gastly + Psychic start and I Pitch Dark. On his turn, he has an active Garchomp. He uses Collector for Luxray and Azelf and Unown Q and pass. I think I draw Mr.Mime (or maybe I have had it since the beginning) and I’m able to see he has a Psychic ready to Lock Up my Spiritomb active when it will be promoted to find Gengar SF. I need a Warp Energy. I play my Azelf to check what’s in the prize and I reveal a Gloom. I take it for Twins. After some crazy moves that I don’t remember at all, I’m able to play a double Uxie LA and to find a BTS, a Warp and a Haunter. They are enough to retreat for free my Haunter, play Oddish + Gloom and Darkness Grace it into a Vileplume (I didn’t look for a Gengar SF and I don’t remember why, maybe I was scared about a Bebe’s he had in hand), while having an Haunter on the bench with 2 energies, a Warp Energy in hand and a Spiritomb active. It seems impossible, but it was. (even if it’s clear I’m missing something, if I was able to play Spiritomb + Mime + Gastly + Azelf + Vileplume + Uxie + Uxie…maybe I’m missing a Seeker).
In his turn, he attaches Unown Q to the active, retreat for free and send Azelf to lock my Spiritomb. I’m able to play my Warp Energy and send my Haunter, but I don’t have any way to find a Gengar SF and I remember I played my Gengar Prime to Cursed Drop his Azelf. He hasn’t anything to do and he is forced to pass doing nothing. The turn after, I can Cursed Drop for the win. MIRACLES HAPPEN!!! 2-1
10-1
So, I don’t know how I did it BUT I WON THE 3RD SUDDEN DEATH IN A ROW WITH MY LOST GAR! LOL
This is one of the time you have to admit that this game is not based only on your skill, but also on your luck, because if in Top16 I won because of luck, but a little was made by the fact that I performed well, here I won only due to it. I played two really bad games misplaying in strategy and control but I was able to win anyway, even if my opponent deserved to do it more than me. I’m sorry for Matteo and I’ll not stop to congratulate with him for his excellent performance.
Now I’m in top4 and from what I heard I’ll face a turbo Machamp. That is great!
Top4 vs Maurice “Raichu88” (Speed Machamp)
Finally a nice match-up! I have to stay concentrated but I think I’m the favourite one to win the game. And Maurice is a cool guy…LOL! BTW, my start is really bad: I have a Uxie and I must start first. All I can do is giving it a Warp Energy and doing 20 to his active Smeargle. In its turn, he burns all the cards he has in hand in order to be able to set a Machamp but he cannot do it. In my turn I play my Collector and I realize that both my Azelf and my 2nd Uxie are prized °_°. It sucks! BTW, I play 2 Spiritombs (I was scared of the Regice) and start to set a Vileplume and a Gengar. My setup is really slow because I don’t have access to the 2nd Uxie and I don’t find any Twins, and I must give him many prizes. Anyway, I can play a Uxie LVX and after some turns I find the Twins. He is 4 prizes ahead when I start the Poltergeist swarm. As I didn’t have the time to play Mr.Mime, I started Poltergeist with him having a bunch of cards in hand and I thought it was really simple to find 4 T/S/S, but he has only three, and so he’s able to take 120 damage and then to attack with Machamp 3rd attack to KO my Gengar (he has a Rescue attached and a Haunter was in the bench ready to replace it). Here I don’t remember if the Fainting Spell was Heads or Tails, but anyway after I got rid of his Machamp he’s not able to set another one (I played all the Supporters in my hand in order to prevent his Smeargle). And so, even if I was 1-5, I’m able to do my five Poltergeist in a row to draw all my prizes. 1-0
Second game is easier: my start is very good with Spiritomb + Collector and once I have a Gengar SF and a Vileplume in play he cannot do anything. After some Poltergeist I win the 2nd game and make it into final! 2-0
11-1
Now I have some time to relax myself after having played for 2 hours without stopping (my Top8 ended very late and I was forced to play T4 immediately).
As I don’t know anything about the list that will make T2 (even if I know it’ll be a LuxChomp), everything I do is setting my mind to fight the last LuxChomp of the day and, after having failed in strategy in T8, now I know for sure that I have to Lost Zone 6 Pokèmon in game1 and go for Poltergeist only in game 2.
The final between Steven Mao and Martin Van Der Vis ended with the first one winning, so I know I must face him in the final.
T2 vs Steven Mao (LuxChomp w Weavile G)
I don’t know anything about Steven and his LuxChomp, so I just concentrate myself in the game.
My setup is again really cool and I can play my Vilepume, my Gengar Prime and my Mr.Mime to check his hand. He starts with a very good hand, with Luxray G LVX and Uxie (I think) and I’m able to Lost Zone both them by the end of turn3. He begins to attack my Gengar Prime, but I have a Rescue on it and so after it Lost Zoned the 3rd pokèmon (a Dragonite) it dies, but it is replaced immediately by a new one. As there’s a Weavile G in play, I Cursed Drop it in two turns in order to get rid of it, and I do the same against the Roserade Gl. With five Pokèmon in the Lost Zone and the Lost World in my hand, he decides to scoop and go to the 2nd game. 1-0
In the 2nd game, my start is with Gastly, but anyway I have a Collector to find a Spiritomb on turn2. His start is REALLY good as he has both Luxray Gl LVX and Uxie LVX (he plays 2x) in hand, and so he’s able to KO a Gloom on T2 and PokèTurn the Luxray GL LVX to break the lock also the turn after. I don’t have a Twins to build a Vileplume, but I have a Rescue energy, so I attach it to my 2nd Oddish and evolve into Gloom. He Bright Look my Gloom again, but this time he does just 30 damages. In this turn I have a big problem: I don’t have the energy to retreat Gloom, or better, I have a Psychic but I have no ways to find a 2nd Psychic to start Poltergeist the turn after. For this reason, after having thought for 10 seconds, I decided to burn my Rescue and to attach my Psychic to Haunter, as I bet he will not be able to call my Vileplume in the active position and KO it in a few turns. So I retreat it and Darkness Grace to get a Vileplume. At this point, he plays Looker’s Investigation to disrupt my hand (which was big) and even if I have a Uxie LVX in play that will help me, the card has the effect to make me lose my Bebe’s Search, and I’m not able to find a new one in the 5 + 1 + 2 (Trade Off) cards I see the turn after (nor Twins, nor Gengar SF). This means he can have another Spiritomb prize for free (he already drew 2 Spiritomb prizes and 1 Gloom). BTW, the turn after I get Gengar SF and on the 0-4 I start the Poltergeist swarm. At this point, it gives me few prizes, including his Luxray G LVX that requires me to play my Gengar LVX, as he has only 3 trainers in the hand. This was something I didn’t want to do because I wanted to preserve that to heal the poison of Roserade Gl. We are 3-4 for him when the turn of the misplay comes. After I have drawn my 3rd prize, Steven uses his Roserade to lock my Gengar LVX in the active position, while preparing a Weavile G on the bench. He was trying to KO Gengar LVX through poison to cover both the Rescue and the Fainting Spell problems. To contrast this move, I need a Warp Energy and a BTS, and I can access at them without any problem thanks to my Twins, but I want to make sure to access also at the cards I would need the turn after. I decide that a Seeker is needed to be able to heal my Gengar LVX before Weavile tries to get rid of him, and that also a 2nd Warp is, just in case he is able to retrieve his Roserade and lock Gengar again. I couldn’t let him KO my Gengar SF as it is my only hitter. As I’m thinking at these things, the judge forces me to play a card because I’m taking too much time, and so I do all the moves I have planned and Poltergeist the Roserade for the KO to go 4-4. But in doing this, I make two CRUCIAL errors. The 1st one is that during my strategy study, I was so concentranted in the Weavile-Bronzong-Roserade triangle that I totally forgot to check he played a Luxray Gl on his bench, and so I haven’t see his Bright Look + Uxie LVX plan to KO my Vileplume. And the 2nd, the most important, I FORGOT TO LEVEL DOWN HIS UXIE LVX. And this misplay costs me the tournament. The turn after, he is able to promote his Luxray Gl, to Trade Off to get his Luxray GL LVX, to call my Vileplume active and to KO it through Uxie LVX + DCE. 5-4 for him and I’m done. 1-1
A single turn of black out ruins me the whole game and the whole tournament.
Time is called and I could not hope to win my final Sudden Death as I have already been too luck to win the other threes. After my Gastly start, he has T2 Luxray G LVX and GG. 1-2
11-2
And so in this way my tournament ends. I’m pretty satisfied because I was really close to be out both in T16 and in T8 and, over this, I wouldn’t have bet anything in such a great performance.
The deck I have played was definitely one of my best decks ever, and considering the testing work we did and the fact I reached the final in the biggest tournament Europe has ever had, it was a dream that come true.
But well…when you lose a final due to a misplay…I think that even if it is the Worlds final….well, it’s hard to effort.
The list and the deck worked perfectly…the player little less.
And now, it’s PROPS time:
- MegaPROPS to Mr. Hapè Wagner and his staff. When I think at the fact that a single person can organize an event such big and such successful in the way he did, making happy so many people, it seems to be like an important lesson to learn. So I want to thanks him for the fact that he has been an important teacher for me. (LOL, I hope what I have written has a sense in English).
- PROPS to my team-mates Martina, Kenta (testing support) and Gatsu (moral support) for helping me in becoming every day a better player and a better person.
- PROPS to Pino and Mara: my Pokè-family!
- PROPS to Matteo Laici for making such a big performance: I’m pretty sure he’ll win our Nationals in one year or two.
- PROPS to Nico, Cedric, Simone, Morten, Esa, Maurice and Steven for being such awesome players!
- PROPS to the other players I haven’t mentioned.
- PROPS to all my Italian supporters who supported me during the event
- PROPS to the luck I had
And a few SLOPS:
- SLOPS to Gedis S.R.L. Italia which didn’t put a single box in the tournament
- SLOPS to P!P which didn’t put any invite/trips in such a big event (but well, maybe they are thinking about doing it next year, so I shouldn’t be that negative). It’s the time to let Europe have his big tournament to qualify for Worlds!
- SLOPS to my poor English (I need some Mods to correct my errors)
- SLOPS to the luck I had, because when I’ll play important tournaments (National?) it will say “Hey, I was with you all the year, now I wanna go holiday!!”
See ya at Worlds (if we win Nats!) and thank you for the reading.
Last edited:
