JPN Gallade
New Member
Name: Karol Nowak (a.k.a. JPN Gallade)
Tournament: States
Format: Modified (MD-on)
Location: Wisconsin
Division: Seniors
After the end of cities, I started to prepare for states. During that time, I was taking a good look at the metagame for the competition due to the fact Lost World was released, and that card made Lostgar playable. I was thinking about Lostgar since many people were saying that it would be the the new best deck in the format, but at the same time, I looked at Luxchomp and knew that the deck would still be playable, so I figured that I should start practicing against other decks using Luxchomp.
For practice, I went to the Chicago League, where I fought a wide array of metagame decks. Against these many decks, I used Luxchomp. After playing a lot of games, I soon figured that yet again, Luxchomp was going to be the play for states.
All of the games I played for practice weren't bad at all, but Lostgar brought me the most attention. Since I have decided to play Luxchomp, I had to somehow fix the deck around so that it would be ready for the upcoming states metagame, especially for Lostgar. Due to this, I decided to drop out the Drifblim UD for Honchkrow SV just in case there would be a lot of Lostgars; however, if that was not the case, then I would still run Drifblim.
The first states I went to was Illinois States, which took place the week before Wisconsin States. When I arrived, I went around looking at the metagame to see if Lostgar was popular. It turned out Lostgar had little to no play, so I decided to run the Drifblim variant, which ended up being a good move since the metagame that day had lots of Machamps. Despite the good move, I ended up getting a 2-3 record that day, where I ended up taking 14th place (being the highest out of all the 2-3s). All of my losses were basically due to luck. I walked out disappointed with such a record, and so I decided to make it up in the next state championships that I'd be going to, in Wisconsin. I continued practicing, and all of the practicing made me soon realize that the Drifblim variant of my Luxchomp would certainly be the play for the next state championships.
So it is March 19, 2011, the day of Wisconsin States. Dad and I wake up around 5:30 A.M, eat breakfast, and go off to Wisconsin. We arrive at the tournament area at around 8:00 A.M. We turn in our decklists, and we wait. I played Jeremiah W. for a practice battle against his Gyarados, and I ended up winning.
As for the Luxchomp, it was practically the same Luxchomp I used for cities. It had the same Pokemon line, Energy line, and Trainer line, just like the build I used for cities. OK, back to the tournament.
Shortly after, the rosters go up, and eventually pairings go up, and we go to respective tables. The juniors have 5 rounds and a top 4, the seniors have 6 rounds and a top 8, and the masters have 7 rounds and a top 16. I was actually glad to hear that the seniors were going to have a top 8 due to the fact that in Illinois States, the seniors had a top 4, which was quite disappointing, but the fact we were going to have 6 rounds and a top 8 was actually great news. Now let's get to the tournament action!
Round 1: Jack H (Flygon/Nidoqueen)
He starts with an active Trapinch along with a Nidoran Female on his bench, while I ended up starting with Lucario GL. He starts by attaching a Psychic Energy to his Trapinch. Then, he uses Grind on my Lucario for 10. I go and use a Bebe's to grab a Uxie. I play down Uxie and manage to draw out some needed cards, among them being a Garchomp C and a Double Colorless Energy. I play down the Garchomp and attach the DCE and an Energy Gain to it. I then Poke Turn my Lucario to pull out the Garchomp and knock out his Trapinch. He then pulls out his Nidoran Female and evolves to a Nidorina. He also plays down a Uxie around this time, but I Power Spray it, stopping him from drawing anymore cards. He attacks with the Nidorina, but it doesn't do a lot. I go and level up to Garchomp C Lv.X, where I soon follow up with a quick KO on his Nidorina. He pulls out Uxie and passes since he can't do a lot. I go and pull out Luxray GL to KO the Uxie for the win. Good game Jack!
1/0
Round 2: Eli M (Gyarados w/ Exeggutor LA)
He starts with an active Exeggcute along with a Regice and a Magikarp on his bench from what I remember. The Exeggute got me surprised, especially since it was active and my opponent was going to go second. Luckily, I was aware about what was to come. I have faced Exeggutors in league long before this happened, so I knew the situation.
Sadly, I wasn't able to do much on my first turn. He ends up going, and he is able to get out the Exeggutor, brings his hand down to 0, and then uses Psychic Strategy, leaving me handless. I didn't get any lucky top decks either. As for him, he manages to set up his Gyarados, where he then uses it to KO all of my field, and with nothing to counter back, I end up losing. Oh well, good game Eli!
1/1
At this point, I need to win the next four rounds in order to make it into top cut.
Round 3: Dillon B (Kingdra/Magnezone)
He started with a Spiritomb with a Horsea on his bench. "Great," I thought, "That's not good." Luckily, I have some needed supporters in my hand, so everything was all right. He uses Spiritomb to look for a Seadra to evolve the Horsea, but to no avail, so next turn, he ends up retreating the Spiritomb so that he could use a Rare Candy to evolve his Horsea into a Kingdra Prime, and he does just that. He hits my active Crobat G for 60 using it. I Poke Turn the Crobat, and then I pull out my Luxray GL. I play down the Crobat G and Flash Bite his Kingdra. I attach an energy to my Luxray and then use Bite for 60 on it due to weakness. He goes and once again does 60 to my Luxray GL.
Now at this point, he has a Kingdra Prime active and a Spiritomb on his bench, and I knew well that if I knocked out the Kingdra Prime, he would pull out the Spiritomb and trainer lock me from there, so I had to think about what I was going to do. I decided that I would have to get rid of the Spiritomb, but first, I needed to heal the Luxray so that it wouldn't be knocked out next turn, so I attach an energy to my Luxray, where I end up discarding that energy card to retreat my Luxray. I pull out my Garchomp C, leveling it up and using Healing Breath to heal my Luxray. I Poke Turn the Garchomp and then pull out Luxray once again. I level up to Luxray GL Lv.X and use Bright Look on his Spiritomb, where I proceed to use Flash Impact to KO it. He then plays down a Magnemite and evolves it to Magneton quickly and again attacks me with Kingdra. I go and retreat my Luxray to pull out Garchomp C and level it up yet again, only this time, I use it to Dragon Rush his Magneton for the KO. Next turn, I pull out Luxray and Bite it for the win. Good Game Dillon!
2/1
Around this time, we had lunch break to 2:00 P.M. Dad and I go out and have some sushi outside the hotel. We then walk around the nature behind the hotel. We are back inside by 1:45 P.M, just in time for round 4.
Round 4: Matt D (Gallade 4/Dialga G)
This person tells me that he never actually fought a Luxchomp, so today, he was going to be in for one well-played game against one.
We didn't do a lot for the first few turns, but eventually, I manage to get my Garchomp C Lv.X out and Dragon Rush his Gallade for the KO. He proceeds to play down some more basics. As for me, I continue using Garchomp to gain a few more prizes. He then pulls out Dialga G, which soon made the game pretty tricky from there on. For the next several turns, I start setting up my Drifblim so that I can simply use Take Away on it in order to make things easier for me. Eventually, I manage to fully set up my Drifblim and use Take Away on his Dialga G to get get rid of it.
He then goes and pulls out a Honckrow G. He plays down a Crobat and uses Flash Bite on my Smeargle to KO it. He then attacks with Honchkrow G and passes. I go and use Luxray GL to KO the Honchkrow. He then pulls out a Gallade and levels up to Gallade 4 Lv.X and attempts Blade Storm, but I Power Spray it, stopping the spread. From there on, he focuses on the Gallade and keeps on using Chop Up.
Shortly after, time is called, and I'm at turn 0. I use my Garchomp to KO one of his bench Pokemon to get another prize. He doesn't do a lot for the next several turns, allowing me to win the game by time. Great game Matt!
3/1
Round 5: Zak B (Machamp)
He started with a Machop, while I started with Smeargle. I ended up going first, and I was afraid he had a hand that could pull off a donk, so I played down a Crobat G and used Flash Bite on his Machop. I then used Portrait, where I ended up using a Bebe's to grab a Uxie. I used the Uxie to draw some good cards (among them being a Luxray GL, a Garchomp C, and a DCE) and pass. He goes and starts setting up, and luckily, he doesn't get out a turn 1 Machamp, so I was safe for a little bit. I go and I continue setting up my field, where I begin setting up my Drifblim due to an impending Machamp. I also manage to pull out Garchomp C Lv.X to KO a Pokemon his bench. Next turn, he manages to pull out the Machamp and KOs my Garchomp using it, and then my Smeargle the turn after.
After that, I managed to pull out Drifblim. I knew that the Machamp had an Expert Belt attached, so I wasn't able to KO it one shot, even with the help of Lucario GL, so what I ended up doing was risking two Poke Turns in order to Flash Bite the Machamp 3 times to put the Machamp within KO range. I then proceed to use Balloon Tackle on it to KO it and take two prizes due to the Expert Belt.
He then manages to play down another Machop, only this time, he evolves it into a Machoke and leaves it on his bench so that he could set it up. He attacks my Drifblim shortly afterwards. Since I didn't want to deal with another Machamp, I retreated my Drifblim to pull out my Luxray GL. I leveled up and used Bright Look on his Machoke. I then Poke Turned the Luxray to pull out my Drifblim and then KOd the Machoke using it.
From this point, he wasn't very lucky enough to get out a Machop, so he ends up attacking with Uxies and Azelfs throughout the rest of the game. In fact, he managed to KO my Drifblim with an Expert Belted Uxie. Luckily, I manage to use my Garchomp and Luxray to take the last two prizes to win the game. Great game Zak!
4/1
Round 6: Josh S (Mirror Match: Luxchomp)
He started with a Garchomp C to my Garchomp C. He starts the game by playing down a Crobat G and Flash Bites my Garchomp. He then uses Claw Swipe on my Garchomp for 60 and passes. I go, and I play down my Crobat G to Flash Bite his Garchomp back. I use a Bebe's to pull out a Uxie, and I end up drawing lots of good cards using it. I end up Poke Turning my Garchomp to heal it, where I then pull out my Crobat G and retreat it to bring back Garchomp to the active slot. I play down several basics, attach an Energy Gain and a DCE to it, and use Earthquake on his Garchomp to KO it. Now that was one lucky move.:lol:
He goes and plays down a Regice and a Uxie, but I manage to Power Spray the Uxie, hindering him. Due to this, he doesn't do a lot, so he passes. I go and level up my Garchomp to the Level X. From there, I decide to KO his Crobat G since it can be PokeTurned compared to Uxie or Regice. He goes and pulls out Uxie and then plays several more basics, among them being another Garchomp. I go and manage to get another DCE to Dragon Rush his Garchomp for another KO. He manages to pull out a Uxie Lv.X on his next turn, so he starts using Trade Off but doesn't get lots of good cards. I go and manage to pull out my Luxray GL Lv.X to Bright Look his Regice, leaving it trapped. From there, I start using Bite on it until it is KOd.
By this point, he isn't having much luck, and he ends up pulling out his Ambipom G and Tail Codes my Lightning Energy off my Luxray to my Uxie. At the same time, he also has a Luxray on his bench, and I have a Garchomp C ready to KO it, so I had to get out some needed cards. What I ended up doing was grabbing out a Toxicroak G so that when I KOd the Luxray with Garchomp, he would counter it back with the Ambipom G, to which I would then use Toxicroak G to counter it back for another KO. I manage to KO his Luxray with my Garhomp C, but he knows about the Toxicroak G that I have, and since he couldn't do much else, he scoops and I win the game. Good game Josh!
5/1
So I ended up getting a 5-1 record, and I felt pretty happy about it since I knew I was in top cut. The standings eventually come up, and it turns out I got the 2nd seed, which meant I was going to battle the 7th seed, Eric S. I'm hearing that he is running something with Exeggutor LA, so it looks like I might be in for another tough match.
So all of the seniors that made top 8 had to turn in their deck lists for deck checks. We all had a dinner break until 6:00. During this time, I had a hamburger and some chips for my dinner. I then played some DDR S+ on my iPhone for a little bit, and eventually, I come back down just in time for the top 8 matches to start. Well, here it goes!
Top 8: Eric S (Blaziken FB Toolbox w/ Exeggutor LA)
I have actually fought Eric S. before. We faced each other during Midwest Regionals last year (we were both playing Gyarados), where he ended up winning against me. He is a pretty good player, and has a great poker face during matches. This time, he was running a very interesting deck: A Blaziken FB Toolbox using Exeggutor LA as a tech. It is actually a pretty good deck from what I saw. What I mean by this? Well, you'll see.
Game 1:
I really couldn't do a lot in this game. I couldn't KO the Exeggcute early on, so he ended up getting out the Exeggutor. He brought his hand down to 0, and then he uses Psychic Strategy to leave me handless. From there on, he had the advantage, being able to KO a bunch of my Pokemon very easily using Blaziken FB without any worries. He also manages to use Chatot G to control my top decks, so I was practically locked the entire game.
The only KO I really made this whole match was one on the Chatot G using my Luxray, but he manages to get the Chatot G and continues to KO even more of my Pokemon to win game 1.
0/1
Game 2:
This match was a lot better than the last one. I started with my Ambipom G to his Smeargle. I attach a DCE to my Ambipom; the only problem is, since I chose to start, I couldn't actually donk the Smeargle turn 1, so I ended up doing 60 to it. He goes and starts setting up and then he passes. I go and manage to pull out a Crobat G to KO his Smeargle. Then, I proceed to pull out my Garchomp C Lv. X and KO His Exeggcute, making me perform a double KO that turn.
Since I KOd the Exeggcute, there was no way he could get out the Exeggutor now, but he still managed to do well nevertheless. He pulls out Blaziken FB and attacks me with it, knocking out a Pokemon of mine. From there on, we basically exchange prizes back and forth.
It soon comes down to a 2 prize-left tie for both us. In the end though, it was his favor, primarily because he had all of the needed cards to win. He manages to KO my benched Drifloon with several Flash Bites thanks to several Poke Turns (one of which he got out via a Junk Arm). He then proceeds to Jet Shoot my active to take the last prize. Oh well, Great games Eric!
0/2 (5/2 overall)
So I ended up losing in Top 8, where I ended up getting 6th Place. Not too bad at all! I got 4 packs for making top, and I get some decent pulls out of it. Well, how ironic that my two losses in this tournament were against decks that used Exeggutor LA.:lol:
Shortly after the top 8 matches, Dad and I decided to go home since it was pretty late. Indeed, what a fun day it has been!
Props:
Making Top 8 Cut
Getting 6th Place Overall
Getting some very good draws with Uxie
Drifblim UD (helped me out in two of my games)
Winning a Binder as a door prize
Lots of TCG Friends coming as usual
Lots of good players showing up
The Tournament Staff for doing a great job hosting the tournament
Eli M. for winning seniors, and Nick D. for taking 2nd in seniors
Eric S for taking 3rd in seniors, and Caleb G. for taking 4th in eniors
Jeremiah W. for taking top 8 in seniors
Xander P. for winning juniors, and Joey R. for taking 2nd in juniors
Cody W. for winning masters, and JWittz for taking 2nd in masters
Slops:
Exeggutor LA (such a killer card against SP decks)
Breaks being a bit too long
Well, so that marks the end of states. Now with states over, its time for me to start preparing for regionals. With that in mind, I wish everyone the best of luck for regionals!:thumb:
Tournament: States
Format: Modified (MD-on)
Location: Wisconsin
Division: Seniors
After the end of cities, I started to prepare for states. During that time, I was taking a good look at the metagame for the competition due to the fact Lost World was released, and that card made Lostgar playable. I was thinking about Lostgar since many people were saying that it would be the the new best deck in the format, but at the same time, I looked at Luxchomp and knew that the deck would still be playable, so I figured that I should start practicing against other decks using Luxchomp.
For practice, I went to the Chicago League, where I fought a wide array of metagame decks. Against these many decks, I used Luxchomp. After playing a lot of games, I soon figured that yet again, Luxchomp was going to be the play for states.
All of the games I played for practice weren't bad at all, but Lostgar brought me the most attention. Since I have decided to play Luxchomp, I had to somehow fix the deck around so that it would be ready for the upcoming states metagame, especially for Lostgar. Due to this, I decided to drop out the Drifblim UD for Honchkrow SV just in case there would be a lot of Lostgars; however, if that was not the case, then I would still run Drifblim.
The first states I went to was Illinois States, which took place the week before Wisconsin States. When I arrived, I went around looking at the metagame to see if Lostgar was popular. It turned out Lostgar had little to no play, so I decided to run the Drifblim variant, which ended up being a good move since the metagame that day had lots of Machamps. Despite the good move, I ended up getting a 2-3 record that day, where I ended up taking 14th place (being the highest out of all the 2-3s). All of my losses were basically due to luck. I walked out disappointed with such a record, and so I decided to make it up in the next state championships that I'd be going to, in Wisconsin. I continued practicing, and all of the practicing made me soon realize that the Drifblim variant of my Luxchomp would certainly be the play for the next state championships.
So it is March 19, 2011, the day of Wisconsin States. Dad and I wake up around 5:30 A.M, eat breakfast, and go off to Wisconsin. We arrive at the tournament area at around 8:00 A.M. We turn in our decklists, and we wait. I played Jeremiah W. for a practice battle against his Gyarados, and I ended up winning.
As for the Luxchomp, it was practically the same Luxchomp I used for cities. It had the same Pokemon line, Energy line, and Trainer line, just like the build I used for cities. OK, back to the tournament.
Shortly after, the rosters go up, and eventually pairings go up, and we go to respective tables. The juniors have 5 rounds and a top 4, the seniors have 6 rounds and a top 8, and the masters have 7 rounds and a top 16. I was actually glad to hear that the seniors were going to have a top 8 due to the fact that in Illinois States, the seniors had a top 4, which was quite disappointing, but the fact we were going to have 6 rounds and a top 8 was actually great news. Now let's get to the tournament action!
Round 1: Jack H (Flygon/Nidoqueen)
He starts with an active Trapinch along with a Nidoran Female on his bench, while I ended up starting with Lucario GL. He starts by attaching a Psychic Energy to his Trapinch. Then, he uses Grind on my Lucario for 10. I go and use a Bebe's to grab a Uxie. I play down Uxie and manage to draw out some needed cards, among them being a Garchomp C and a Double Colorless Energy. I play down the Garchomp and attach the DCE and an Energy Gain to it. I then Poke Turn my Lucario to pull out the Garchomp and knock out his Trapinch. He then pulls out his Nidoran Female and evolves to a Nidorina. He also plays down a Uxie around this time, but I Power Spray it, stopping him from drawing anymore cards. He attacks with the Nidorina, but it doesn't do a lot. I go and level up to Garchomp C Lv.X, where I soon follow up with a quick KO on his Nidorina. He pulls out Uxie and passes since he can't do a lot. I go and pull out Luxray GL to KO the Uxie for the win. Good game Jack!
1/0
Round 2: Eli M (Gyarados w/ Exeggutor LA)
He starts with an active Exeggcute along with a Regice and a Magikarp on his bench from what I remember. The Exeggute got me surprised, especially since it was active and my opponent was going to go second. Luckily, I was aware about what was to come. I have faced Exeggutors in league long before this happened, so I knew the situation.
Sadly, I wasn't able to do much on my first turn. He ends up going, and he is able to get out the Exeggutor, brings his hand down to 0, and then uses Psychic Strategy, leaving me handless. I didn't get any lucky top decks either. As for him, he manages to set up his Gyarados, where he then uses it to KO all of my field, and with nothing to counter back, I end up losing. Oh well, good game Eli!
1/1
At this point, I need to win the next four rounds in order to make it into top cut.
Round 3: Dillon B (Kingdra/Magnezone)
He started with a Spiritomb with a Horsea on his bench. "Great," I thought, "That's not good." Luckily, I have some needed supporters in my hand, so everything was all right. He uses Spiritomb to look for a Seadra to evolve the Horsea, but to no avail, so next turn, he ends up retreating the Spiritomb so that he could use a Rare Candy to evolve his Horsea into a Kingdra Prime, and he does just that. He hits my active Crobat G for 60 using it. I Poke Turn the Crobat, and then I pull out my Luxray GL. I play down the Crobat G and Flash Bite his Kingdra. I attach an energy to my Luxray and then use Bite for 60 on it due to weakness. He goes and once again does 60 to my Luxray GL.
Now at this point, he has a Kingdra Prime active and a Spiritomb on his bench, and I knew well that if I knocked out the Kingdra Prime, he would pull out the Spiritomb and trainer lock me from there, so I had to think about what I was going to do. I decided that I would have to get rid of the Spiritomb, but first, I needed to heal the Luxray so that it wouldn't be knocked out next turn, so I attach an energy to my Luxray, where I end up discarding that energy card to retreat my Luxray. I pull out my Garchomp C, leveling it up and using Healing Breath to heal my Luxray. I Poke Turn the Garchomp and then pull out Luxray once again. I level up to Luxray GL Lv.X and use Bright Look on his Spiritomb, where I proceed to use Flash Impact to KO it. He then plays down a Magnemite and evolves it to Magneton quickly and again attacks me with Kingdra. I go and retreat my Luxray to pull out Garchomp C and level it up yet again, only this time, I use it to Dragon Rush his Magneton for the KO. Next turn, I pull out Luxray and Bite it for the win. Good Game Dillon!
2/1
Around this time, we had lunch break to 2:00 P.M. Dad and I go out and have some sushi outside the hotel. We then walk around the nature behind the hotel. We are back inside by 1:45 P.M, just in time for round 4.
Round 4: Matt D (Gallade 4/Dialga G)
This person tells me that he never actually fought a Luxchomp, so today, he was going to be in for one well-played game against one.
We didn't do a lot for the first few turns, but eventually, I manage to get my Garchomp C Lv.X out and Dragon Rush his Gallade for the KO. He proceeds to play down some more basics. As for me, I continue using Garchomp to gain a few more prizes. He then pulls out Dialga G, which soon made the game pretty tricky from there on. For the next several turns, I start setting up my Drifblim so that I can simply use Take Away on it in order to make things easier for me. Eventually, I manage to fully set up my Drifblim and use Take Away on his Dialga G to get get rid of it.
He then goes and pulls out a Honckrow G. He plays down a Crobat and uses Flash Bite on my Smeargle to KO it. He then attacks with Honchkrow G and passes. I go and use Luxray GL to KO the Honchkrow. He then pulls out a Gallade and levels up to Gallade 4 Lv.X and attempts Blade Storm, but I Power Spray it, stopping the spread. From there on, he focuses on the Gallade and keeps on using Chop Up.
Shortly after, time is called, and I'm at turn 0. I use my Garchomp to KO one of his bench Pokemon to get another prize. He doesn't do a lot for the next several turns, allowing me to win the game by time. Great game Matt!
3/1
Round 5: Zak B (Machamp)
He started with a Machop, while I started with Smeargle. I ended up going first, and I was afraid he had a hand that could pull off a donk, so I played down a Crobat G and used Flash Bite on his Machop. I then used Portrait, where I ended up using a Bebe's to grab a Uxie. I used the Uxie to draw some good cards (among them being a Luxray GL, a Garchomp C, and a DCE) and pass. He goes and starts setting up, and luckily, he doesn't get out a turn 1 Machamp, so I was safe for a little bit. I go and I continue setting up my field, where I begin setting up my Drifblim due to an impending Machamp. I also manage to pull out Garchomp C Lv.X to KO a Pokemon his bench. Next turn, he manages to pull out the Machamp and KOs my Garchomp using it, and then my Smeargle the turn after.
After that, I managed to pull out Drifblim. I knew that the Machamp had an Expert Belt attached, so I wasn't able to KO it one shot, even with the help of Lucario GL, so what I ended up doing was risking two Poke Turns in order to Flash Bite the Machamp 3 times to put the Machamp within KO range. I then proceed to use Balloon Tackle on it to KO it and take two prizes due to the Expert Belt.
He then manages to play down another Machop, only this time, he evolves it into a Machoke and leaves it on his bench so that he could set it up. He attacks my Drifblim shortly afterwards. Since I didn't want to deal with another Machamp, I retreated my Drifblim to pull out my Luxray GL. I leveled up and used Bright Look on his Machoke. I then Poke Turned the Luxray to pull out my Drifblim and then KOd the Machoke using it.
From this point, he wasn't very lucky enough to get out a Machop, so he ends up attacking with Uxies and Azelfs throughout the rest of the game. In fact, he managed to KO my Drifblim with an Expert Belted Uxie. Luckily, I manage to use my Garchomp and Luxray to take the last two prizes to win the game. Great game Zak!
4/1
Round 6: Josh S (Mirror Match: Luxchomp)
He started with a Garchomp C to my Garchomp C. He starts the game by playing down a Crobat G and Flash Bites my Garchomp. He then uses Claw Swipe on my Garchomp for 60 and passes. I go, and I play down my Crobat G to Flash Bite his Garchomp back. I use a Bebe's to pull out a Uxie, and I end up drawing lots of good cards using it. I end up Poke Turning my Garchomp to heal it, where I then pull out my Crobat G and retreat it to bring back Garchomp to the active slot. I play down several basics, attach an Energy Gain and a DCE to it, and use Earthquake on his Garchomp to KO it. Now that was one lucky move.:lol:
He goes and plays down a Regice and a Uxie, but I manage to Power Spray the Uxie, hindering him. Due to this, he doesn't do a lot, so he passes. I go and level up my Garchomp to the Level X. From there, I decide to KO his Crobat G since it can be PokeTurned compared to Uxie or Regice. He goes and pulls out Uxie and then plays several more basics, among them being another Garchomp. I go and manage to get another DCE to Dragon Rush his Garchomp for another KO. He manages to pull out a Uxie Lv.X on his next turn, so he starts using Trade Off but doesn't get lots of good cards. I go and manage to pull out my Luxray GL Lv.X to Bright Look his Regice, leaving it trapped. From there, I start using Bite on it until it is KOd.
By this point, he isn't having much luck, and he ends up pulling out his Ambipom G and Tail Codes my Lightning Energy off my Luxray to my Uxie. At the same time, he also has a Luxray on his bench, and I have a Garchomp C ready to KO it, so I had to get out some needed cards. What I ended up doing was grabbing out a Toxicroak G so that when I KOd the Luxray with Garchomp, he would counter it back with the Ambipom G, to which I would then use Toxicroak G to counter it back for another KO. I manage to KO his Luxray with my Garhomp C, but he knows about the Toxicroak G that I have, and since he couldn't do much else, he scoops and I win the game. Good game Josh!
5/1
So I ended up getting a 5-1 record, and I felt pretty happy about it since I knew I was in top cut. The standings eventually come up, and it turns out I got the 2nd seed, which meant I was going to battle the 7th seed, Eric S. I'm hearing that he is running something with Exeggutor LA, so it looks like I might be in for another tough match.
So all of the seniors that made top 8 had to turn in their deck lists for deck checks. We all had a dinner break until 6:00. During this time, I had a hamburger and some chips for my dinner. I then played some DDR S+ on my iPhone for a little bit, and eventually, I come back down just in time for the top 8 matches to start. Well, here it goes!
Top 8: Eric S (Blaziken FB Toolbox w/ Exeggutor LA)
I have actually fought Eric S. before. We faced each other during Midwest Regionals last year (we were both playing Gyarados), where he ended up winning against me. He is a pretty good player, and has a great poker face during matches. This time, he was running a very interesting deck: A Blaziken FB Toolbox using Exeggutor LA as a tech. It is actually a pretty good deck from what I saw. What I mean by this? Well, you'll see.
Game 1:
I really couldn't do a lot in this game. I couldn't KO the Exeggcute early on, so he ended up getting out the Exeggutor. He brought his hand down to 0, and then he uses Psychic Strategy to leave me handless. From there on, he had the advantage, being able to KO a bunch of my Pokemon very easily using Blaziken FB without any worries. He also manages to use Chatot G to control my top decks, so I was practically locked the entire game.
The only KO I really made this whole match was one on the Chatot G using my Luxray, but he manages to get the Chatot G and continues to KO even more of my Pokemon to win game 1.
0/1
Game 2:
This match was a lot better than the last one. I started with my Ambipom G to his Smeargle. I attach a DCE to my Ambipom; the only problem is, since I chose to start, I couldn't actually donk the Smeargle turn 1, so I ended up doing 60 to it. He goes and starts setting up and then he passes. I go and manage to pull out a Crobat G to KO his Smeargle. Then, I proceed to pull out my Garchomp C Lv. X and KO His Exeggcute, making me perform a double KO that turn.
Since I KOd the Exeggcute, there was no way he could get out the Exeggutor now, but he still managed to do well nevertheless. He pulls out Blaziken FB and attacks me with it, knocking out a Pokemon of mine. From there on, we basically exchange prizes back and forth.
It soon comes down to a 2 prize-left tie for both us. In the end though, it was his favor, primarily because he had all of the needed cards to win. He manages to KO my benched Drifloon with several Flash Bites thanks to several Poke Turns (one of which he got out via a Junk Arm). He then proceeds to Jet Shoot my active to take the last prize. Oh well, Great games Eric!
0/2 (5/2 overall)
So I ended up losing in Top 8, where I ended up getting 6th Place. Not too bad at all! I got 4 packs for making top, and I get some decent pulls out of it. Well, how ironic that my two losses in this tournament were against decks that used Exeggutor LA.:lol:
Shortly after the top 8 matches, Dad and I decided to go home since it was pretty late. Indeed, what a fun day it has been!
Props:
Making Top 8 Cut
Getting 6th Place Overall
Getting some very good draws with Uxie
Drifblim UD (helped me out in two of my games)
Winning a Binder as a door prize
Lots of TCG Friends coming as usual
Lots of good players showing up
The Tournament Staff for doing a great job hosting the tournament
Eli M. for winning seniors, and Nick D. for taking 2nd in seniors
Eric S for taking 3rd in seniors, and Caleb G. for taking 4th in eniors
Jeremiah W. for taking top 8 in seniors
Xander P. for winning juniors, and Joey R. for taking 2nd in juniors
Cody W. for winning masters, and JWittz for taking 2nd in masters
Slops:
Exeggutor LA (such a killer card against SP decks)
Breaks being a bit too long
Well, so that marks the end of states. Now with states over, its time for me to start preparing for regionals. With that in mind, I wish everyone the best of luck for regionals!:thumb:
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