Report By: Noir
Deck: Palkia G
Event: S/P/T Championships
Location: Albuquerque Convention Center, NM
So, woke up at around 11am friday and got stuff ready to go. Met up with 3 of my friends (Aacen, Jery, Christina) as we were going to drive out to NM together, left around 11pm and arrived in NM around 630am. Got some breakfast, wrote out decklists, and went to the Convention Center to register and all that good stuff. We knew a lot of players from CO going and also some of the judging staff so that was pretty cool. This was my first S/P/T that I was playing in, and there were 122 total players there, 69 of them being in my division, masters and a top 16 cut. With the lack of sleep somehow I was able to focus and have a pretty "misplay free" day which was key in a lot of games, and after the first 4 games I was getting more nervous as each game started. I Played/met a lot of cool people from all over and Ended up winning masters with a 10-1 record on the day. sweet.......lulz Let me tell you that after this tournament I was so exhausted and mentally drained that it probably seemed like I wasn't happy to win lol, but I was.
Decklist: I ended up playing a "common" Palkia G deck with some techs of my own, with the basic strategy of stopping powers and doing damage with Palkia G. Anyway onto the matches, and I apologize to my opponents that I have forgotten their names.
**Round 1, ? w/ Leafeon/Glaceon**
I was a little worried because of Leafeon's resistance to water, but it was a fairly short game, I got the power lock going early and proceeded to K.O. his pokemon before anything harmful was set up. Hydro Shot his Claydol for the game.
1-0
**Round 2, Ben w/ Shaymin/Sceptile/Torterra**
Another grass deck with resistance to water...great....I set up the Normal Palkia and He gets a Sceptile, Shaymin Lv. X, and Claydol set up and I get a little worried, however I started the power locking at this point and it hurt him bad, really bad. With some Flash Bite's, Pearl Breath, and Hydro Shots, I end up taking out Shaymin and Sceptile in 1 turn. Then I got lucky and managed to OHKO his grotle, after that with him lacking draw & set up, I took the last couple prizes.
2-0
**Round 3, ? w/ Gallade/Togekiss**
He starts with 2 Ralts and T2 has a benched Gallade with 2 energy and at that point I thought it was going to be game over for me, but he proceeded to keep ralts active and keep using Future Sight. I took advantage of this to set-up Palkia's. The next play was key in the game. After splashing turn to K.O. Ralts, I switch and bring Crobat G active and he brings up Gallade. After playing a couple things down he calls "Psychic Cut, flip over 1 to do 80" and flips a prize over, however as he's about to draw a prize I inform him of Crobats resistance and he tries to flip another over but I tell him the attack was already called. I poke turn the crobat and proceed to Splashing turn 2 turns while bringing up basics to sacrifice. Then I Flash Bite the gallade and Hydro shot it to K.O. it, after that I didn't let him get much set up and took the rest of prizes.
3-0
**Round 4, Alan w/ Gengar/Mesprit**
I start out with a terrible hand including 3 mesprits to start and he starts with gastly + psychic bind, at that point I'm like this game is over...boo...I try to set up on the bench w/ palkia G, and he takes 3 prizes pretty quick as I'm sacrificing pokemon and he flipped a heads on Super Scoop Up with a gengar that had 100 dmg on it...QQ I proceed to shift the game in my favor and tie the game at 3 prizes each. He plays down a mewtwo and does energy absorb. My turn comes and I have no real clue on the time left, but knew it was soon. I time walk and get an Unown G and attach so he can't OHKO something with gengar and drop a psychic bind and use Lost Cyclone. Right when I put my Pokemon into the Lost Zone time is called and I Flash Bite Mewtwo and Hydro Shot it for the game.
4-0
**LUNCH BREAK**
**Round 5 Ian B. w/ Palkia G**
I didn't want to play any fellow CO players until top cut but with as many as we had in the top tables it was bound to happen. We both get set up pretty much the same with Palkia's and Crobats and trade attacks for a few turns. Then he drops his tech (can't say because he wouldn't want me to sorry), anyway I see it, and my brain decided I didn't know what to do so he ended up taking the rest of prizes before time. GG
4-1
**Round 6 ? w/ Magmortar/Ape**
I didn't realize there was another 5-0 besides Richard so I was kind of worried until he flipped over Magmar and I get a little excited inside. Weakness hurt him bad, really bad. I used attacks to K.O. things and he drops an unexpected Infernape (SF) and uses his power. Of course I didn't have a Spray and it could have been huge, He flips a Heads, attaches 4 Energy to his Infernape but ends up being 10 dmg short of K.O. my palkia, when he declared an attack I let out a huge sigh of relief and K.O. the Infernape with Hydro Shot + Flash Bite, then K.O. more pokemon and take the rest of my prizes.
5-1
**Round 7 Albert w/ Palkia G**
First off, this was one of the more enjoyable matches I've played in a tournament. We were both playing, having fun, and joking around like it was a normal league match. We trade splashing turn a long time...like a long time hahaha somehow I was able to K.O. more pokemon and take the rest of my prizes. I was glad to see Albert made top cut as well even after that loss.
6-1
I end up 4th in standings after swiss, and was happy to see more CO players in the top cut. 6/16 were CO. Onto Top Cut matches.
**Round 8-Playoffs Top 16 Jose H. w/ Kingdra**
I heard he was running kingdra and know the speed and donk possibliites of Kingdra so I had that in my mind a little.
Game 1:
He starts with Baltoy and 2 Horsea and I start with Crobat. I get the Power Lock going fast and long and he couldn't trainer/supporter draw enough in time. I end up taking the game shortly. 1-0
Game 2:
Kind of the same start except he used Smokescreen instead of Reverse Thrust which changed things. He gets 2 Kingdra out and K.O.'s 2 of my palkia, with those out and 1 Palkia left I scooped and gave him the game for time reasons and the fact that I wasn't going to win that one. 1-1
Game 3:
I get to choose who's going first and it ends up being key. I start with Palkia G and he mulligans two or three times, after he gets his 1 basic to start, I see my hand and decide to go second. He attaches to Baltoy and uses psychic balance. I draw, attach a water energy + energy gain, drop the crobat G in my hand to flash bite, roseanne's for 2 more crobat, drop those and splashing turn for the game. Good games Jose.
7-1
**Round 9-Playoffs Top 8 Adrian M. w/ Dialga**
I figured i was going to be playing Adrian but I really didn't want to. We shake hands and wish good luck to each other then sit down to play. As I'm shuffling, Im nervous...really nervous. I was 2 wins away from a trophy and also I have a history of misplaying against Adrian which has cost me games lol.
Game 1:
Dialga v. Palkia and he proceeds to deafen lock + attach. I proceed to set up and damage his dialga anyway that I can which resulted in him poke turning his dialga g twice. The game drags on and I'm up 1-2 prizes, I believe it was around 40 mins gone and he decides to scoop and give me the game due to time. 1-0
Game 2:
At this point we both know, and he even said he needs a very fast set up to wreck though my pokemon fast with limited time left. He gets Dialga with 2 Special metals on it so my attacks are limited, I continued to try and damage it anyway that I could and play smart without stalling. We both took 1-2 prizes but unfortunatley time was called and the game went down and incomplete. 2-0. Great job Adrian on making it that far, and those were tough games where I knew I couldn't misplay. Sorry it came down to time man.
8-1
**Round 10-Playoffs Top 4 Richard T. w/ Mewtwo/Garde**
I thought I was nervous the last game, well this game I was like 3x as nervous and even a little scared haha. I was in Top 4, however Richard's deck had been wrecking through all the SP decks he faced and no one could beat him. This match report will be short as I don't want to give out everything that he had in his deck becuase I doubt he would like that as it was an excellent deck, and also other deck build issues. So here goes...
Game 1:
I power lock him early and often and hinder his set up even though he gets some mewtwo out. After the first few turns I get the game in my favor and stick to the plan I had thought of knowing He was in top cut. I eventually take more prizes and I can't recall if he scooped or I took the rest of prizes. Either way 1-0.
Game 2:
He starts with Baltoy but cant psychic balance as I had less or same amount of cards every time he was going to use it. I don't get an amazing set up but it was sure better than he had, and I got lucky that he couldn't top deck anything of use in about the first 4-5 turns. Eventually were both set up but Lost Cyclone and power locks hurt him later on I feel like. We trade some K.O.'s but I had the perfect set-up going and proceeded to take the last prizes. 2-0. WOW great job Richard, you put fear into a lot of players with your deck. It was a great deck build, and I had to play/draw the perfect games to beat your deck. I'm sure we'll play again sometime soon.
9-1
**Round 11/Playoffs Finals Joshua w/ Gardelade**
After the last match I'm kind of dumbfounded at how good I had done up to this point, and also that I was 2 wins away from being a State Champion....I heard what he was playing and I was actually suprised, really suprised.....Again, I'm not listing everything due to Deck Build reasons..Game on...
Game 1:
This game was short. I get set up really fast with Palkia and power lock him from T1 to the point where he scoops to not waste time on that game, I believe there was 47 mins left for the last 2 games. 1-0.
Game 2:
The game start was almost exactly the same except for the power lock and he got a fast gallade out. I got Set up and took 3-4 prizes until I couldn't really stop his power sources between claydol, gardevoir and some other things. He came back and with 10-15 minutes left it was 2-2 on prizes, then 1-2. I thought I had the game in hand until I found out about the 1 misplay of the day on my part. I had miscalculated my water energies for the Hydro Shot i had planned. He K.O.'s the Palkia and it's 1-1. At this point I'm upset in my head because of that and I thought we were gonna go to a Game 3. I came down to my last card and proceeded to use Psychic restore + place on bottom + switch to crobat active so he couldn't OHKO it with his active Gallade. I don't know if he just gave up or what but I ended up Psychic Restoring for the game on the next turn and winning. 2-0 Great job Joshua, at first I didn't understand how your deck got that far but upon playing it, it was a very solid deck and your techs worked amazingly. Hope to play against you in the future.
10-1....New Mexico State Champion- Masters Division....Its Unbelievable and I'm so tired and exhausted. What a day.....
Props:
Judging staff/TO for running a great tournament
Winning States in my first particpation
Bret, Ian, Adrian and whoever else originally made this deck that I got the idea off of
My techs <3
Colorado players doing well for most of the tournament
William S. for winning Juniors division for Colorado
Christian M. for taking 2nd even though he didn't complete the CO sweep lol
Me wearing a shooters sleeve that made me win hahahahaha
My Trophy lol
Richard & Joshua's Deck Builds
All my friends that supported me throughout the tournament
Colorado taking states :thumb:
Slops:
Mewtwo Lv. X
The boring 7 hour drive there and back
38-40 hours w/o sleep lol
Aacen, Jery & Kevin for not doing great....
That its 4am and I'm writing this report....
Expensive food at the Convetion Center
Listening to Taylor Swift about 100 times on the way there...I dont know if thats a slop lulz
How long this report is...sorry
Good Luck to everyone at Regionals
Deck: Palkia G
Event: S/P/T Championships
Location: Albuquerque Convention Center, NM
So, woke up at around 11am friday and got stuff ready to go. Met up with 3 of my friends (Aacen, Jery, Christina) as we were going to drive out to NM together, left around 11pm and arrived in NM around 630am. Got some breakfast, wrote out decklists, and went to the Convention Center to register and all that good stuff. We knew a lot of players from CO going and also some of the judging staff so that was pretty cool. This was my first S/P/T that I was playing in, and there were 122 total players there, 69 of them being in my division, masters and a top 16 cut. With the lack of sleep somehow I was able to focus and have a pretty "misplay free" day which was key in a lot of games, and after the first 4 games I was getting more nervous as each game started. I Played/met a lot of cool people from all over and Ended up winning masters with a 10-1 record on the day. sweet.......lulz Let me tell you that after this tournament I was so exhausted and mentally drained that it probably seemed like I wasn't happy to win lol, but I was.
Decklist: I ended up playing a "common" Palkia G deck with some techs of my own, with the basic strategy of stopping powers and doing damage with Palkia G. Anyway onto the matches, and I apologize to my opponents that I have forgotten their names.
**Round 1, ? w/ Leafeon/Glaceon**
I was a little worried because of Leafeon's resistance to water, but it was a fairly short game, I got the power lock going early and proceeded to K.O. his pokemon before anything harmful was set up. Hydro Shot his Claydol for the game.
1-0
**Round 2, Ben w/ Shaymin/Sceptile/Torterra**
Another grass deck with resistance to water...great....I set up the Normal Palkia and He gets a Sceptile, Shaymin Lv. X, and Claydol set up and I get a little worried, however I started the power locking at this point and it hurt him bad, really bad. With some Flash Bite's, Pearl Breath, and Hydro Shots, I end up taking out Shaymin and Sceptile in 1 turn. Then I got lucky and managed to OHKO his grotle, after that with him lacking draw & set up, I took the last couple prizes.
2-0
**Round 3, ? w/ Gallade/Togekiss**
He starts with 2 Ralts and T2 has a benched Gallade with 2 energy and at that point I thought it was going to be game over for me, but he proceeded to keep ralts active and keep using Future Sight. I took advantage of this to set-up Palkia's. The next play was key in the game. After splashing turn to K.O. Ralts, I switch and bring Crobat G active and he brings up Gallade. After playing a couple things down he calls "Psychic Cut, flip over 1 to do 80" and flips a prize over, however as he's about to draw a prize I inform him of Crobats resistance and he tries to flip another over but I tell him the attack was already called. I poke turn the crobat and proceed to Splashing turn 2 turns while bringing up basics to sacrifice. Then I Flash Bite the gallade and Hydro shot it to K.O. it, after that I didn't let him get much set up and took the rest of prizes.
3-0
**Round 4, Alan w/ Gengar/Mesprit**
I start out with a terrible hand including 3 mesprits to start and he starts with gastly + psychic bind, at that point I'm like this game is over...boo...I try to set up on the bench w/ palkia G, and he takes 3 prizes pretty quick as I'm sacrificing pokemon and he flipped a heads on Super Scoop Up with a gengar that had 100 dmg on it...QQ I proceed to shift the game in my favor and tie the game at 3 prizes each. He plays down a mewtwo and does energy absorb. My turn comes and I have no real clue on the time left, but knew it was soon. I time walk and get an Unown G and attach so he can't OHKO something with gengar and drop a psychic bind and use Lost Cyclone. Right when I put my Pokemon into the Lost Zone time is called and I Flash Bite Mewtwo and Hydro Shot it for the game.
4-0
**LUNCH BREAK**
**Round 5 Ian B. w/ Palkia G**
I didn't want to play any fellow CO players until top cut but with as many as we had in the top tables it was bound to happen. We both get set up pretty much the same with Palkia's and Crobats and trade attacks for a few turns. Then he drops his tech (can't say because he wouldn't want me to sorry), anyway I see it, and my brain decided I didn't know what to do so he ended up taking the rest of prizes before time. GG
4-1
**Round 6 ? w/ Magmortar/Ape**
I didn't realize there was another 5-0 besides Richard so I was kind of worried until he flipped over Magmar and I get a little excited inside. Weakness hurt him bad, really bad. I used attacks to K.O. things and he drops an unexpected Infernape (SF) and uses his power. Of course I didn't have a Spray and it could have been huge, He flips a Heads, attaches 4 Energy to his Infernape but ends up being 10 dmg short of K.O. my palkia, when he declared an attack I let out a huge sigh of relief and K.O. the Infernape with Hydro Shot + Flash Bite, then K.O. more pokemon and take the rest of my prizes.
5-1
**Round 7 Albert w/ Palkia G**
First off, this was one of the more enjoyable matches I've played in a tournament. We were both playing, having fun, and joking around like it was a normal league match. We trade splashing turn a long time...like a long time hahaha somehow I was able to K.O. more pokemon and take the rest of my prizes. I was glad to see Albert made top cut as well even after that loss.
6-1
I end up 4th in standings after swiss, and was happy to see more CO players in the top cut. 6/16 were CO. Onto Top Cut matches.
**Round 8-Playoffs Top 16 Jose H. w/ Kingdra**
I heard he was running kingdra and know the speed and donk possibliites of Kingdra so I had that in my mind a little.
Game 1:
He starts with Baltoy and 2 Horsea and I start with Crobat. I get the Power Lock going fast and long and he couldn't trainer/supporter draw enough in time. I end up taking the game shortly. 1-0
Game 2:
Kind of the same start except he used Smokescreen instead of Reverse Thrust which changed things. He gets 2 Kingdra out and K.O.'s 2 of my palkia, with those out and 1 Palkia left I scooped and gave him the game for time reasons and the fact that I wasn't going to win that one. 1-1
Game 3:
I get to choose who's going first and it ends up being key. I start with Palkia G and he mulligans two or three times, after he gets his 1 basic to start, I see my hand and decide to go second. He attaches to Baltoy and uses psychic balance. I draw, attach a water energy + energy gain, drop the crobat G in my hand to flash bite, roseanne's for 2 more crobat, drop those and splashing turn for the game. Good games Jose.
7-1
**Round 9-Playoffs Top 8 Adrian M. w/ Dialga**
I figured i was going to be playing Adrian but I really didn't want to. We shake hands and wish good luck to each other then sit down to play. As I'm shuffling, Im nervous...really nervous. I was 2 wins away from a trophy and also I have a history of misplaying against Adrian which has cost me games lol.
Game 1:
Dialga v. Palkia and he proceeds to deafen lock + attach. I proceed to set up and damage his dialga anyway that I can which resulted in him poke turning his dialga g twice. The game drags on and I'm up 1-2 prizes, I believe it was around 40 mins gone and he decides to scoop and give me the game due to time. 1-0
Game 2:
At this point we both know, and he even said he needs a very fast set up to wreck though my pokemon fast with limited time left. He gets Dialga with 2 Special metals on it so my attacks are limited, I continued to try and damage it anyway that I could and play smart without stalling. We both took 1-2 prizes but unfortunatley time was called and the game went down and incomplete. 2-0. Great job Adrian on making it that far, and those were tough games where I knew I couldn't misplay. Sorry it came down to time man.
8-1
**Round 10-Playoffs Top 4 Richard T. w/ Mewtwo/Garde**
I thought I was nervous the last game, well this game I was like 3x as nervous and even a little scared haha. I was in Top 4, however Richard's deck had been wrecking through all the SP decks he faced and no one could beat him. This match report will be short as I don't want to give out everything that he had in his deck becuase I doubt he would like that as it was an excellent deck, and also other deck build issues. So here goes...
Game 1:
I power lock him early and often and hinder his set up even though he gets some mewtwo out. After the first few turns I get the game in my favor and stick to the plan I had thought of knowing He was in top cut. I eventually take more prizes and I can't recall if he scooped or I took the rest of prizes. Either way 1-0.
Game 2:
He starts with Baltoy but cant psychic balance as I had less or same amount of cards every time he was going to use it. I don't get an amazing set up but it was sure better than he had, and I got lucky that he couldn't top deck anything of use in about the first 4-5 turns. Eventually were both set up but Lost Cyclone and power locks hurt him later on I feel like. We trade some K.O.'s but I had the perfect set-up going and proceeded to take the last prizes. 2-0. WOW great job Richard, you put fear into a lot of players with your deck. It was a great deck build, and I had to play/draw the perfect games to beat your deck. I'm sure we'll play again sometime soon.
9-1
**Round 11/Playoffs Finals Joshua w/ Gardelade**
After the last match I'm kind of dumbfounded at how good I had done up to this point, and also that I was 2 wins away from being a State Champion....I heard what he was playing and I was actually suprised, really suprised.....Again, I'm not listing everything due to Deck Build reasons..Game on...
Game 1:
This game was short. I get set up really fast with Palkia and power lock him from T1 to the point where he scoops to not waste time on that game, I believe there was 47 mins left for the last 2 games. 1-0.
Game 2:
The game start was almost exactly the same except for the power lock and he got a fast gallade out. I got Set up and took 3-4 prizes until I couldn't really stop his power sources between claydol, gardevoir and some other things. He came back and with 10-15 minutes left it was 2-2 on prizes, then 1-2. I thought I had the game in hand until I found out about the 1 misplay of the day on my part. I had miscalculated my water energies for the Hydro Shot i had planned. He K.O.'s the Palkia and it's 1-1. At this point I'm upset in my head because of that and I thought we were gonna go to a Game 3. I came down to my last card and proceeded to use Psychic restore + place on bottom + switch to crobat active so he couldn't OHKO it with his active Gallade. I don't know if he just gave up or what but I ended up Psychic Restoring for the game on the next turn and winning. 2-0 Great job Joshua, at first I didn't understand how your deck got that far but upon playing it, it was a very solid deck and your techs worked amazingly. Hope to play against you in the future.
10-1....New Mexico State Champion- Masters Division....Its Unbelievable and I'm so tired and exhausted. What a day.....
Props:
Judging staff/TO for running a great tournament
Winning States in my first particpation
Bret, Ian, Adrian and whoever else originally made this deck that I got the idea off of
My techs <3
Colorado players doing well for most of the tournament
William S. for winning Juniors division for Colorado
Christian M. for taking 2nd even though he didn't complete the CO sweep lol
Me wearing a shooters sleeve that made me win hahahahaha
My Trophy lol
Richard & Joshua's Deck Builds
All my friends that supported me throughout the tournament
Colorado taking states :thumb:
Slops:
Mewtwo Lv. X
The boring 7 hour drive there and back
38-40 hours w/o sleep lol
Aacen, Jery & Kevin for not doing great....
That its 4am and I'm writing this report....
Expensive food at the Convetion Center
Listening to Taylor Swift about 100 times on the way there...I dont know if thats a slop lulz
How long this report is...sorry
Good Luck to everyone at Regionals
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Good luck, and probably see you at regionals!