Norwich is a place that really has a place in my heart, it was their I played my first OP event last year and the few times I can make it up every year I’m welcomed by a group of great players. No doubt if I hadn’t played in the states there last April I would not be in the game now. So I make it up there for the first time since September, and meet up with all the old faces and friends. Play a friendly against Richard with my Lunarock, and he drops a Aggron ex T1
Then I loose with my Metanite against Bruce K’s Flygon ex d, so I’m loosing confidence.
I decide to continue with the Team Metanite assisted build of Metanite that got me 2nd in London. On the morning I see one of the dudes with a Draggy ex d, and in a fit of madness I buy it for £15 ($30) and throw it in my deck completely untested.
Round 1 – Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
He flips over the Cyndaquil and I’m like ahh! I know this is a tough match up so I have to play it perfectly. I get a decent setup and delta draw a few times. I exchange like 2 Metagross for 3 Typhlosion which was fine by me – then out of no-ware he drops in a Typhlosion ex. I drop in and power up my own Latios*, and 1HKO. From there he doesn’t have the energy and I clean the board with Draggy ex. Bad luck to Matt though he’d do well in the tourney.
1-0
Round 2 – Richard - Typhlosion Liability.
So Richard flips over a Koffing and a Cyndaquil and I laugh out loud. I know Liability inside out have done so well with it at Regionals last year – it’s a very tough match up for Metanite. I sit behind a Castform for a long time, trying to force out a Typhlosion. When he does I drop in a Latios* and KO. I counter all his cursed stones and he gets like no energy from here on in and I’m able to win as I build a pool of energy. I tried attacking with Draggy ex and late game he pulled off a Liability trick to KO my ex. It was too late though and I successfully played around the deck. Good game Richard and hope to play you again.
2-0
Round 3 – Simon – Ludicargo
Finally I get an OK match up, but against a very good player. It was a repeat of a very good Battlenet challenge final in September that I won, but this Ludicargo was teched like mad against Metanite. He opens with a Lotad, I have a Beldum. If I remember rightly I Mentor and fill the bench and delta draw retreats and puts up Tauros and fetches Aipom and Slugma. He gets a turn 3 cargo and sets up and Ludi d. I know hes running an Arbok d 2-2 tech which is a really threat, so I strike early to his surprise, KO a Tauros, a Ludi, and by then IU have the Draggys set up to recover energy and KO a final Cargo and he has no backup. He played like 3 BF but I had a counter to each one. Unlucky to Simon but he went on to do well.
3-0
Round 4 – Steven – Shiftry ex/Medicham ex
You have got to be kidding me. This is a real horror match up with power lockdown and damage. I start out with a Dratini, and have a Draggy ex in hand. He gets a pair of Meditites. I adventurered and hoped for a Candy – Nothing, I attach and do 10, he gets like nothing, I donk a Trans>Adventurer>Candy. I candy the Draggy and Deafen over and over Mewtric style. Without candy he doesn’t get anything even resembling a Shritry set up, and I go through his basics for the win.
4-0
Round 5 – George – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
So that’s 4/5 games that most people would see as auto losses! We have slow starts but I get 2 Metagross in play and setup well. I see like 2 of his Typhlosion, and exchange prizes. He gets bad flips and I Latios* his Typhlosion ex that he’d just dropped in with Candy with perfect timing. My setup basically beat his and it was a tough game from there
5-0
So I make T4 along with;
Simon H – Ludicargo 4-1
Bruce K – Flygon ex/Flygon
Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex
Top 4 - Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
Game 1
This is just surreal! That’s 4/6 Typhlosion based decks It goes a little better for him after than round 1. He gets very fast Typhlosions and I have to dump all my energy twice. I’ve really been hit for the count when he drops in Typhlosion ex and boosts with energy, Latios* is prized so I stall behind Draggys building a pool of energy and I’m able to KO and it’s all my way from their
1-0
Game 2
I start with a large bench and he has a dream start doing T1 80 of a Candied Typhlosion ex. I Candy a Draggy and Stall, power up Latios* (I’m confident he’s not running Reversal) and I attack and Crush and burning closes the game form there. Bad luck Matt, you’re a good guy and player and best of luck at the next CC.
2-0 (6-0)
Final – Bruce K – Flygon ex d/Flygon d
So this is a repeat of the Sugarland, Texas final between Absoltrainer and Blazi~king. Bruce is a player who I admire a lot and he’s one of those people who on his day could easily win any tourney. His build was simple but very fast and I knew I was in for a tough match.
Game 1
We start off – my hand has Mew ex, Castform, and no Transceiver. He has a god start, T3 I’m trying to switch about between my Mew and Castform, I just don’t have the right feeling here and I scoop to his surprise.
0-1
Game 2
We both have horror starts, he has T1 Flygon ex and no energy, I have Beldum and no evos. I Mentor out a Latios* and a Castfrom and make an audacious play – I send Latios* up front and aim to 3 turn build him. Then we had a play that really demonstrated the power of poker in Pokemon. I act confident and cocky and he assumes I have an energy to do the 150, and he falls for the bluff and attaches to the bench. This gives me a bonus turn to setup, He attaches the energy he should have and then I KO for 150. Eventually I have a Draggy ex, Draggy and Metagross out and he has 2 prizes to take and me 3. I KO a Flygon ex and have just 1 prize left. He gives me a problem with the lightning resistant Flygon and I switch/retreat to try and keep my chances alive. Eventually I get the Mento I need, pull a mew to get round resistance, and copy crush and burn to make a crucial game winning 110 damage. This was one of the most tense games I’ve played in years, and Bruce was unlucky to loose. We move to game 3 with 20 minutes left.
1-1
Game 3
I know I was pretty lucky last game, and to win I’ve got to try something different. I convert a Beldum start into Dratini, and make a bold move doing T2 Deafen lock. It works a charm, he confuses me with a Vibrava and I have my poker play to make. If I lost the coin toss I’d have 80 HP, and if he had a Flygon ex and an energy in his 3 card hand he could KO and basically win. However I take the gamble and call his confident bluff, roll the dice, and get a heads and a KO. Next turn I'm confused again - I switch, delta charge the Draggy ex, retreat and Dragon Roar a second Vibrava. He’s left with Spearow and Trapinch and is forced to scoop as I can set 40 on each to close the game. Bruce honestly played a good game and really deserves a lot of credit for a very fast and consistent build.
2-1 (7-0)
So I take the title and the Nationals invite in a close final, many thanks to all for a good tourney!
Props
Martin and Nigel for judging and TOing.
Team Metanite for huge support.
The Norwich crew for being good company again and making a bunch of trades.
Getting the Nats Invite.
Basically everyone I played, particularly Bruce in the final.
Slops
No prizes as of yet because of what as far as I know is some administrative error.
Then I loose with my Metanite against Bruce K’s Flygon ex d, so I’m loosing confidence.I decide to continue with the Team Metanite assisted build of Metanite that got me 2nd in London. On the morning I see one of the dudes with a Draggy ex d, and in a fit of madness I buy it for £15 ($30) and throw it in my deck completely untested.
Round 1 – Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
He flips over the Cyndaquil and I’m like ahh! I know this is a tough match up so I have to play it perfectly. I get a decent setup and delta draw a few times. I exchange like 2 Metagross for 3 Typhlosion which was fine by me – then out of no-ware he drops in a Typhlosion ex. I drop in and power up my own Latios*, and 1HKO. From there he doesn’t have the energy and I clean the board with Draggy ex. Bad luck to Matt though he’d do well in the tourney.
1-0
Round 2 – Richard - Typhlosion Liability.
So Richard flips over a Koffing and a Cyndaquil and I laugh out loud. I know Liability inside out have done so well with it at Regionals last year – it’s a very tough match up for Metanite. I sit behind a Castform for a long time, trying to force out a Typhlosion. When he does I drop in a Latios* and KO. I counter all his cursed stones and he gets like no energy from here on in and I’m able to win as I build a pool of energy. I tried attacking with Draggy ex and late game he pulled off a Liability trick to KO my ex. It was too late though and I successfully played around the deck. Good game Richard and hope to play you again.
2-0
Round 3 – Simon – Ludicargo
Finally I get an OK match up, but against a very good player. It was a repeat of a very good Battlenet challenge final in September that I won, but this Ludicargo was teched like mad against Metanite. He opens with a Lotad, I have a Beldum. If I remember rightly I Mentor and fill the bench and delta draw retreats and puts up Tauros and fetches Aipom and Slugma. He gets a turn 3 cargo and sets up and Ludi d. I know hes running an Arbok d 2-2 tech which is a really threat, so I strike early to his surprise, KO a Tauros, a Ludi, and by then IU have the Draggys set up to recover energy and KO a final Cargo and he has no backup. He played like 3 BF but I had a counter to each one. Unlucky to Simon but he went on to do well.
3-0
Round 4 – Steven – Shiftry ex/Medicham ex
You have got to be kidding me. This is a real horror match up with power lockdown and damage. I start out with a Dratini, and have a Draggy ex in hand. He gets a pair of Meditites. I adventurered and hoped for a Candy – Nothing, I attach and do 10, he gets like nothing, I donk a Trans>Adventurer>Candy. I candy the Draggy and Deafen over and over Mewtric style. Without candy he doesn’t get anything even resembling a Shritry set up, and I go through his basics for the win.
4-0
Round 5 – George – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
So that’s 4/5 games that most people would see as auto losses! We have slow starts but I get 2 Metagross in play and setup well. I see like 2 of his Typhlosion, and exchange prizes. He gets bad flips and I Latios* his Typhlosion ex that he’d just dropped in with Candy with perfect timing. My setup basically beat his and it was a tough game from there
5-0
So I make T4 along with;
Simon H – Ludicargo 4-1
Bruce K – Flygon ex/Flygon
Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex
Top 4 - Matt – Typhlosion/Typhlosion ex.
Game 1
This is just surreal! That’s 4/6 Typhlosion based decks
It goes a little better for him after than round 1. He gets very fast Typhlosions and I have to dump all my energy twice. I’ve really been hit for the count when he drops in Typhlosion ex and boosts with energy, Latios* is prized so I stall behind Draggys building a pool of energy and I’m able to KO and it’s all my way from their1-0
Game 2
I start with a large bench and he has a dream start doing T1 80 of a Candied Typhlosion ex. I Candy a Draggy and Stall, power up Latios* (I’m confident he’s not running Reversal) and I attack and Crush and burning closes the game form there. Bad luck Matt, you’re a good guy and player and best of luck at the next CC.
2-0 (6-0)
Final – Bruce K – Flygon ex d/Flygon d
So this is a repeat of the Sugarland, Texas final between Absoltrainer and Blazi~king. Bruce is a player who I admire a lot and he’s one of those people who on his day could easily win any tourney. His build was simple but very fast and I knew I was in for a tough match.
Game 1
We start off – my hand has Mew ex, Castform, and no Transceiver. He has a god start, T3 I’m trying to switch about between my Mew and Castform, I just don’t have the right feeling here and I scoop to his surprise.
0-1
Game 2
We both have horror starts, he has T1 Flygon ex and no energy, I have Beldum and no evos. I Mentor out a Latios* and a Castfrom and make an audacious play – I send Latios* up front and aim to 3 turn build him. Then we had a play that really demonstrated the power of poker in Pokemon. I act confident and cocky and he assumes I have an energy to do the 150, and he falls for the bluff and attaches to the bench. This gives me a bonus turn to setup, He attaches the energy he should have and then I KO for 150. Eventually I have a Draggy ex, Draggy and Metagross out and he has 2 prizes to take and me 3. I KO a Flygon ex and have just 1 prize left. He gives me a problem with the lightning resistant Flygon and I switch/retreat to try and keep my chances alive. Eventually I get the Mento I need, pull a mew to get round resistance, and copy crush and burn to make a crucial game winning 110 damage. This was one of the most tense games I’ve played in years, and Bruce was unlucky to loose. We move to game 3 with 20 minutes left.
1-1
Game 3
I know I was pretty lucky last game, and to win I’ve got to try something different. I convert a Beldum start into Dratini, and make a bold move doing T2 Deafen lock. It works a charm, he confuses me with a Vibrava and I have my poker play to make. If I lost the coin toss I’d have 80 HP, and if he had a Flygon ex and an energy in his 3 card hand he could KO and basically win. However I take the gamble and call his confident bluff, roll the dice, and get a heads and a KO. Next turn I'm confused again - I switch, delta charge the Draggy ex, retreat and Dragon Roar a second Vibrava. He’s left with Spearow and Trapinch and is forced to scoop as I can set 40 on each to close the game. Bruce honestly played a good game and really deserves a lot of credit for a very fast and consistent build.
2-1 (7-0)
So I take the title and the Nationals invite in a close final, many thanks to all for a good tourney!
Props
Martin and Nigel for judging and TOing.
Team Metanite for huge support.
The Norwich crew for being good company again and making a bunch of trades.
Getting the Nats Invite.
Basically everyone I played, particularly Bruce in the final.
Slops
No prizes as of yet because of what as far as I know is some administrative error.
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