I'll start by introducing myself incase many of you don't know me. My name is Hamza Khan, I'm a master(Canadian) who just moved up from seniors last year. I had some success as a senior (winning a regionals in VGC, top 4'ing nats TCG, winning bunch of battle roads and cities), however as a master it's been a lot tougher. This year hasn't been much of a success other then the past 2 tournaments I've been to (this and Michigan states). However let's just get onto the report.
Friday morning, I wake up get ready and leave for Boston with my brothers. It was a really enjoyable ride except for the bad weather (raining, snowing, and foggy). After 9-10 hours of driving we arrived at our hotel and unloaded everything and went to applebee's to grab a bite to eat. We then get back to the hotel and I'm debating what deck to play, I was pretty much set on Klingklang because I expected there to be a bunch of big basics due the success it had during states.
(My list for it)
4-1-4 Klingklang (2 plasma, 2 shift)
3 Cobalion EX
1 Cobalion
1 Durant (pull out)
= 14
4 Juniper
4 N
2 Beach
3 Skyla
1 Bianca
4 Candy
4 Max Potion
2 Ultra ball
3 Heavy Ball
1 level ball
4 Switch
1 Dowsing Machine
3 Pokemon Catchers
=36
10 Metal energies
=10
However after testing for about 2 hours with my brothers I decided I shouldn't risk it, due to the fact that you can have a lot of bad draws (which indeed it did happen during testing) and I didn't want to risk it for the tournament. So I decided to pick the deck the next morning because I usually tend mess up my lists because of how much I edit it. So in the morning I wake up, eat breakfast and decided to make my old Garbador list and tweak it up because I felt confident in the matchups incase I mispredicted. I decided to put in 2 max potion and a scramble switch to better my odds against mirror match and big basics. I didn't have enough time to test out the 2 max potions and scramble switch changes, I decided to hope for the best. My brothers decided to play Mewtwo Eels (with lasers) and Garbador.
My Garbador list:
3-3 Garbage
3 Mewtwo
2 Landorus EX
1 Tornadus EX
= 12
4 Juniper
4 N
2 Skyla
1 Colress
2 Bianca
3 Laser
1 Virbank
4 Catcher
1 Scramble Switch
3 Ultra Ball
1 Heavy Ball
3 Switch
2 Rescue Scarf
3 Eviolites
2 Max Potions
=36
8 Fightnig
4 DCE
=12
Day 1
So we get to the venue, and let me tell you it was absolutely the best venue I have ever been to for a tournament. The gilette stadium was just amazing, the way the tournament was set up and such, felt like I was dreaming or something haha. Anyhow we get registered for the tournament, and just chill before it starts.
Over 250 master meaning 8 rounds of swiss and cut to the top 32!
Round 1: No Opponent?
No one showed up, kind of surprised. why would you register if you don't end up playing? I can't complain though.
1-0
Round 2: Nancy (Darkrai Lasers)
I start off Tornadus EX to her Darkrai, I decided not to get out Garbador this game. Instead I decided to bluff it until I take enough prizes and be completely safe so it doesn't get catchered stalled and run me out of my switches. This match didn't go her way, she got set up late, and I get a great start. She ran out of her lasers and catchers early, which gave me completely control on where her damage output goes, and max potion definitely saved me this game. Game ended with a X'Ball on her 3 energy Keldeo. GG
2-0
Round 3: ??? (Garbador)
I start off Landorus to his Landorus. I start by hammer heading everything to his field, and he responds with his hammer heads. and we just continue to hammer head each other because both our starts were poor. I end up winning with a big mewtwo via scramble switch. After I found out he played only 1 Mewtwo! (which he discarded early game)
3-0
Round 4: ??? Big Basics
I start off Landorus EX to his Landorus EX. He goes first by hammer heading my Landorus EX. I opt not to bench anything down so I can prevent my field from getting damaged via hammer heads. So I just hammer head him until I'm forced to bench something down. I manage to pull off a scramble switch to a fresh Landorus, max potion the damange off my previous Landorus that play just pretty much set the tone for the game. He couldn't really respond. GG
4-0
Round 5: Con Lee (Garbador)
I start off Landorus EX to his Landorus EX, I win by turn 5, because he only played a Skyla the whole game and couldn't get another supporter. Sorry man.
5-0
Round 6: Nathaniel Kaplan (Klingklang)
Finally a good matchup! I start Landorus to his Cobalion EX, I start by hammer heading his field (klink). I then bench down trubbish, he searches for his durant and catcher stalls + pull out. I just decide to leave an energy on Trubbish and attach to Landorus EX then garbage collection for a skyla. I then used that skyla for a scramble switch to pull off a Lands Judgement to KO durant, and he just really couldn't respond. He didn't really have that great of a hand.
6-0
Round 7: ??? (Big Basics)
I start Landorus to his Landorus, he starts by hammer heading my field. He had a great setup, he managed to pull off some energy switch + max potion shenanigans to KO my Landy with Gold Breaker by his Boufflanat. I manage to respond and KO it with Mewtwo DCE Xball. He then is left with an energy Landorus and attaches and hammer head. My mewtwo is now at 60 damage. I just attach to my bench Landorus and laser to X Ball it for 90 damage (virbank was in play). He then attaches, plays laser and announces "Hammer Head". he knew he announced it and just said it's fine I annouced it and I just manage to X'Ball his field. And finish the game with Lands Judgement on his Tornadus EX.
7-0
Can't believe I'm 7-0 at this point! Pretty pumped.
Round 8: Dylan Lefavour (Big Basics, victini tech)
I start Tornadus to his Landorus EX, I just blow through for 30. I don't really remember how this match went after that its all a blur, he ended up beating me.
7-1
I finished second seed and both my brothers make cut in the senior division! Meaning all three of us would be playing the next day which was pretty sick. We all went to Chili's to celebrate and saw a lot of people from the tournament aha.
Day 2:
I wake up, have breakfast and we rush to the venue. We find out that all the top cut competitors get this sick Pokemon New England Play mats which was really cool. Me and my brothers just watched Pokemon at the venue until we were called to play. lol(yes they were playing Pokemon episodes, they had like 20 TV's all over the room it was sick!).
Top 32: Frank Diaz
Right off the bat facing off against someone I didn't want to. I know he's an amazing player and was afraid coming into this match.
Game 1: I start Landorus to his Sableye, he goes first. He benches down a Darkrai, I believe he then dark patches attaches to Sableye and Junk hunt. I catcher his Darkrai attach to it, bench down a mewtwo and trubbish and hammer head. He doesn't pull off the T2 night spear, so I manage to set up my board, however again I decide not to get my Garbador out. Due to catcher stalls, I decided to wait until he burned through his resources and to buy me time to take prizes until I felt it was the right time to get Garbador out. I don't remember how this went, but I know it was very close. I believe he had the game one turn, but I believe I max potioned the damage to ruin the damage count. I then catchered his bench darkrai with damange, decided to laser it(heads), and he did have a keldoe benched so I got out garbador with a tool to neglect the rush in. and I stayed asleep there for a good 3-4 turns? which saved me and won me the game. It was very close, but due to that HTL i won.
1-0
Game 2: I start lone trubbish and get donked.
1-1
Game 3: I completely blanked out how this game went, all I remember is that I knew he was out of N and his dowsing machine was prized which kind of gave me an opportunity to just set up game for next turn. I bianca'd all I needed was either a DCE, a fighting energy + laser, or even a catcher, I managed to get fightning and laser for game. gg
2-1
Top 16: Kevin Drolet
You can find the game somewhere here:
http://www.ggslive.com/2013-videos/2013/4/13/2013-pokemon-championships-ne-regionals.html
Quick Analysis of what happened:
Game 1: We both had terrible hands, and he ended up winning.
Game 2: We both had better hands, however I ended up winning with a Big Mewtwo.
Game 3: We both had terrible hands, however his hand was good enough to get him going through the game, my hand was just mediocre. But I had fun, glad I lost to Kevin he is a great/friend person!
My brother awais managed to finished 4th place! Meaning he is at 385 Championship points and only needs 15 more to qualify! My other brother Ashir finished 11th? (He had to play awais in top 16, and just gave him the win due to him needing it for his invite). He's at 237? So he get 63 from BR's and 100 from top 8 via nats. I'm however only at 205, meaning I have to top 4 my nats regardless or just try to grind in.
Pros:
Top 16
Brothers doing great
sick playmat
awesome venue
got to meet some awesome friends like, Aaron and Angel.
Cons:
Whiffing in top 16
Bad hands
Thanks for reading, and see you all at worlds! (If Canadian, then see ya at nats!)
Friday morning, I wake up get ready and leave for Boston with my brothers. It was a really enjoyable ride except for the bad weather (raining, snowing, and foggy). After 9-10 hours of driving we arrived at our hotel and unloaded everything and went to applebee's to grab a bite to eat. We then get back to the hotel and I'm debating what deck to play, I was pretty much set on Klingklang because I expected there to be a bunch of big basics due the success it had during states.
(My list for it)
4-1-4 Klingklang (2 plasma, 2 shift)
3 Cobalion EX
1 Cobalion
1 Durant (pull out)
= 14
4 Juniper
4 N
2 Beach
3 Skyla
1 Bianca
4 Candy
4 Max Potion
2 Ultra ball
3 Heavy Ball
1 level ball
4 Switch
1 Dowsing Machine
3 Pokemon Catchers
=36
10 Metal energies
=10
However after testing for about 2 hours with my brothers I decided I shouldn't risk it, due to the fact that you can have a lot of bad draws (which indeed it did happen during testing) and I didn't want to risk it for the tournament. So I decided to pick the deck the next morning because I usually tend mess up my lists because of how much I edit it. So in the morning I wake up, eat breakfast and decided to make my old Garbador list and tweak it up because I felt confident in the matchups incase I mispredicted. I decided to put in 2 max potion and a scramble switch to better my odds against mirror match and big basics. I didn't have enough time to test out the 2 max potions and scramble switch changes, I decided to hope for the best. My brothers decided to play Mewtwo Eels (with lasers) and Garbador.
My Garbador list:
3-3 Garbage
3 Mewtwo
2 Landorus EX
1 Tornadus EX
= 12
4 Juniper
4 N
2 Skyla
1 Colress
2 Bianca
3 Laser
1 Virbank
4 Catcher
1 Scramble Switch
3 Ultra Ball
1 Heavy Ball
3 Switch
2 Rescue Scarf
3 Eviolites
2 Max Potions
=36
8 Fightnig
4 DCE
=12
Day 1
So we get to the venue, and let me tell you it was absolutely the best venue I have ever been to for a tournament. The gilette stadium was just amazing, the way the tournament was set up and such, felt like I was dreaming or something haha. Anyhow we get registered for the tournament, and just chill before it starts.
Over 250 master meaning 8 rounds of swiss and cut to the top 32!
Round 1: No Opponent?
No one showed up, kind of surprised. why would you register if you don't end up playing? I can't complain though.
1-0
Round 2: Nancy (Darkrai Lasers)
I start off Tornadus EX to her Darkrai, I decided not to get out Garbador this game. Instead I decided to bluff it until I take enough prizes and be completely safe so it doesn't get catchered stalled and run me out of my switches. This match didn't go her way, she got set up late, and I get a great start. She ran out of her lasers and catchers early, which gave me completely control on where her damage output goes, and max potion definitely saved me this game. Game ended with a X'Ball on her 3 energy Keldeo. GG
2-0
Round 3: ??? (Garbador)
I start off Landorus to his Landorus. I start by hammer heading everything to his field, and he responds with his hammer heads. and we just continue to hammer head each other because both our starts were poor. I end up winning with a big mewtwo via scramble switch. After I found out he played only 1 Mewtwo! (which he discarded early game)
3-0
Round 4: ??? Big Basics
I start off Landorus EX to his Landorus EX. He goes first by hammer heading my Landorus EX. I opt not to bench anything down so I can prevent my field from getting damaged via hammer heads. So I just hammer head him until I'm forced to bench something down. I manage to pull off a scramble switch to a fresh Landorus, max potion the damange off my previous Landorus that play just pretty much set the tone for the game. He couldn't really respond. GG
4-0
Round 5: Con Lee (Garbador)
I start off Landorus EX to his Landorus EX, I win by turn 5, because he only played a Skyla the whole game and couldn't get another supporter. Sorry man.
5-0
Round 6: Nathaniel Kaplan (Klingklang)
Finally a good matchup! I start Landorus to his Cobalion EX, I start by hammer heading his field (klink). I then bench down trubbish, he searches for his durant and catcher stalls + pull out. I just decide to leave an energy on Trubbish and attach to Landorus EX then garbage collection for a skyla. I then used that skyla for a scramble switch to pull off a Lands Judgement to KO durant, and he just really couldn't respond. He didn't really have that great of a hand.
6-0
Round 7: ??? (Big Basics)
I start Landorus to his Landorus, he starts by hammer heading my field. He had a great setup, he managed to pull off some energy switch + max potion shenanigans to KO my Landy with Gold Breaker by his Boufflanat. I manage to respond and KO it with Mewtwo DCE Xball. He then is left with an energy Landorus and attaches and hammer head. My mewtwo is now at 60 damage. I just attach to my bench Landorus and laser to X Ball it for 90 damage (virbank was in play). He then attaches, plays laser and announces "Hammer Head". he knew he announced it and just said it's fine I annouced it and I just manage to X'Ball his field. And finish the game with Lands Judgement on his Tornadus EX.
7-0
Can't believe I'm 7-0 at this point! Pretty pumped.
Round 8: Dylan Lefavour (Big Basics, victini tech)
I start Tornadus to his Landorus EX, I just blow through for 30. I don't really remember how this match went after that its all a blur, he ended up beating me.
7-1
I finished second seed and both my brothers make cut in the senior division! Meaning all three of us would be playing the next day which was pretty sick. We all went to Chili's to celebrate and saw a lot of people from the tournament aha.
Day 2:
I wake up, have breakfast and we rush to the venue. We find out that all the top cut competitors get this sick Pokemon New England Play mats which was really cool. Me and my brothers just watched Pokemon at the venue until we were called to play. lol(yes they were playing Pokemon episodes, they had like 20 TV's all over the room it was sick!).
Top 32: Frank Diaz
Right off the bat facing off against someone I didn't want to. I know he's an amazing player and was afraid coming into this match.
Game 1: I start Landorus to his Sableye, he goes first. He benches down a Darkrai, I believe he then dark patches attaches to Sableye and Junk hunt. I catcher his Darkrai attach to it, bench down a mewtwo and trubbish and hammer head. He doesn't pull off the T2 night spear, so I manage to set up my board, however again I decide not to get my Garbador out. Due to catcher stalls, I decided to wait until he burned through his resources and to buy me time to take prizes until I felt it was the right time to get Garbador out. I don't remember how this went, but I know it was very close. I believe he had the game one turn, but I believe I max potioned the damage to ruin the damage count. I then catchered his bench darkrai with damange, decided to laser it(heads), and he did have a keldoe benched so I got out garbador with a tool to neglect the rush in. and I stayed asleep there for a good 3-4 turns? which saved me and won me the game. It was very close, but due to that HTL i won.
1-0
Game 2: I start lone trubbish and get donked.
1-1
Game 3: I completely blanked out how this game went, all I remember is that I knew he was out of N and his dowsing machine was prized which kind of gave me an opportunity to just set up game for next turn. I bianca'd all I needed was either a DCE, a fighting energy + laser, or even a catcher, I managed to get fightning and laser for game. gg
2-1
Top 16: Kevin Drolet
You can find the game somewhere here:
http://www.ggslive.com/2013-videos/2013/4/13/2013-pokemon-championships-ne-regionals.html
Quick Analysis of what happened:
Game 1: We both had terrible hands, and he ended up winning.
Game 2: We both had better hands, however I ended up winning with a Big Mewtwo.
Game 3: We both had terrible hands, however his hand was good enough to get him going through the game, my hand was just mediocre. But I had fun, glad I lost to Kevin he is a great/friend person!
My brother awais managed to finished 4th place! Meaning he is at 385 Championship points and only needs 15 more to qualify! My other brother Ashir finished 11th? (He had to play awais in top 16, and just gave him the win due to him needing it for his invite). He's at 237? So he get 63 from BR's and 100 from top 8 via nats. I'm however only at 205, meaning I have to top 4 my nats regardless or just try to grind in.
Pros:
Top 16
Brothers doing great
sick playmat
awesome venue
got to meet some awesome friends like, Aaron and Angel.
Cons:
Whiffing in top 16
Bad hands
Thanks for reading, and see you all at worlds! (If Canadian, then see ya at nats!)
