For once, I decided to play a deck that was more well-known than stuff I frequently play at tournaments. It was "Scourge," i.e. Ninetales/Amoonguss with Emolga as a starter.
I was excited for the two-day States, because on the chance that I would cut, having a second day for the matches was really appealing.
I biked to the venue at 08:30 on Saturday morning, and the ride was quite pleasant as I used a video camera mounted to my helmet. (However, my deck contained no Bicycle cards
)
ROUND ONE: Noah vs. Kristin K. (Klinklang Plasma/Metal): She won the coin flip and had 2 Klink in play to my 2 Vulpix. She inexplicably played Colress turn one, and as a result, self-inflicted a huge disadvantage on herself. But, I couldn't fully take advantage since all my Supporter cards in hand were N. Even so, if I couldn't Hexed Flame with any Special Conditions, it still did 40 damage to her Metal-types as I cruised to the "auto win". Noah won 6-2 and is now 1-0.
ROUND TWO: Noah vs. Isaac S. (Garbodor/Big Basics): From an auto-win matchup to an auto-loss matchup. He won the coin flip, and had Trubbish on the Bench with a Tool, naturally creating a hard lock for me on turn two. In addition, two of my Hypnotoxic Laser were Prized, and since I ran no Tool Scrapper or Pokemon Catcher in my deck, I had no out to unlock myself. Noah lost 0-6 and is now 1-1.
There was a lunch break, and I biked over to Wendy's. They didn't have a bike rack, so I had to lock to the railing outside the restaurant. Come on!
ROUND THREE: Noah vs. Ross C. (Garbodor/Big Basics): I finally won the coin flip, and had Emolga as a starter, so on turn two, I was able to get a Hexed Flame off a Sporprise to KO his leadoff Trubbish. But, he had another on his Bench, and locked me on turn two. This time, though, Lasers were in my deck, but just as in the previous match, having the Abilities locked prevented me from controlling the board. He had some Energy trouble, which gave me some chance, but since I couldn't one-hit KO anything, it went to time, and I was stuck. Obviously, I know what I need to do to improve this deck if I play it again this season! Noah lost 1-3 in overtime and is now 1-2.
ROUND FOUR: Noah vs. Matt G. (Lightning/Dragons): He started with two Black Kyurem EX and I thought I was going to be facing Keldeo-stoise. But no, that was not it. He fielded Zekrom EX and Tynamo as well. Naturally, I KO'd the Tynamo with a turn-two Hexed Flame, and then he brought up Rayquaza. I got heads on Hypnotoxic Laser and KO'd Rayquaza, and he was on the defensive. His only two Prizes were off Glinting Claw and Hypnotoxic Laser when I failed to wake up, but I had firm control of the match. Noah won 6-2 and is now 2-2.
ROUND FIVE: Noah vs. Jeremy P. (Landorus/Mewtwo/Tornadus): I started with Foongus and lost the coin flip. He had everything he needed for the donk with Tornadus except for the DCE. Though I managed to set up after that, the immediate pressure that he put made me lose... I did successfully KO one of his EXs, though. Noah lost 2-6 and is now 2-3.
ROUND SIX: Noah vs. Vince B. (Landorus/Mewtwo/Tornadus): I lost the coin flip again, and he had a Landorus EX opening. Tornadus EX hit his Bench, and got a DCE. On turn two, he used Scramble Switch, and KO'd my Foongus. Though I got a Hexed Flame going, again he got the Switch and retreats to prevent me from taking Prizes. Even though this matchup isn't an autoloss, I am cursed in that against both Landorus variants I played without Garbodor, I lost the coin flip for an immediate disadvantage. Noah lost 2-6 and is now 2-4.
As you know, I never drop due to my results. It's not starting today!
ROUND SEVEN: Noah vs. Matthew R. (Metal): I again started with a lone Foongus, but won the coin flip, and managed to field my Pokemon. He used Durant early in the game, and though it milled some of my deck, I took 3 Prizes off them, and he never mounted any offensive threat after Klinklang and miscellaneous Metal-types were all he had. Another auto-win matchup. Noah won 6-0 and is now 3-4.
ROUND EIGHT: Noah vs. Cody S. (Infernape): I won the coin flip and his Chimchar was Burned on turn one. Though he got a turn-two Infernape from his Benched Chimchar, I got the Sporprise to KO it. Mewtwo EX was his last line of defense, but all he could do was 60 damage and then it fell from Poison amplified in Virbank City. Noah won 4-0 and finishes at 4-4.
I then biked back to Evanston, and had falafel for dinner: it was good! I built some decks for League play the next day, and hit the hay at 23:00, in standard time. (That lost hour was really irksome.)
On Sunday, I again rode the 17 kilometers to the tournament venue, and played, in League matches, Bellossom/Jellicent, Zoroark rush, and DarMAXitan. Combined, they went 1-11 on the day, always running into bad matchups like Darkrai. Ha--go figure! That's the problem: I like playing off-the-wall decks, but they're not fast enough for the format... or with Bellossom, it auto-loses to pretty much everything competitive.
In the main event, I finished 71st of 132 that started. In order of rank, here were the other finishes of my opponents: 1 (yep, Ross won it all), 21, 53, 76, 89, 101, 102, drop.
PROPS:
* To Jimmy for making the two-day event happen. I certainly think it was less stressful as a two-day event (even though I didn't make the cut).
* To the venue being in Des Plaines instead of Countryside.
* To the weather, for not including snow or sleet.
* To my opponents, for all being courteous.
* For the side events on Day 2.
SLOPS:
* To Wendy's, for not having a bike rack.
* To the matches, for all (except the one against Ross) being one-sided. I didn't feel that I was thinking as hard as I normally do at tournaments.
I was excited for the two-day States, because on the chance that I would cut, having a second day for the matches was really appealing.
I biked to the venue at 08:30 on Saturday morning, and the ride was quite pleasant as I used a video camera mounted to my helmet. (However, my deck contained no Bicycle cards
)ROUND ONE: Noah vs. Kristin K. (Klinklang Plasma/Metal): She won the coin flip and had 2 Klink in play to my 2 Vulpix. She inexplicably played Colress turn one, and as a result, self-inflicted a huge disadvantage on herself. But, I couldn't fully take advantage since all my Supporter cards in hand were N. Even so, if I couldn't Hexed Flame with any Special Conditions, it still did 40 damage to her Metal-types as I cruised to the "auto win". Noah won 6-2 and is now 1-0.
ROUND TWO: Noah vs. Isaac S. (Garbodor/Big Basics): From an auto-win matchup to an auto-loss matchup. He won the coin flip, and had Trubbish on the Bench with a Tool, naturally creating a hard lock for me on turn two. In addition, two of my Hypnotoxic Laser were Prized, and since I ran no Tool Scrapper or Pokemon Catcher in my deck, I had no out to unlock myself. Noah lost 0-6 and is now 1-1.
There was a lunch break, and I biked over to Wendy's. They didn't have a bike rack, so I had to lock to the railing outside the restaurant. Come on!
ROUND THREE: Noah vs. Ross C. (Garbodor/Big Basics): I finally won the coin flip, and had Emolga as a starter, so on turn two, I was able to get a Hexed Flame off a Sporprise to KO his leadoff Trubbish. But, he had another on his Bench, and locked me on turn two. This time, though, Lasers were in my deck, but just as in the previous match, having the Abilities locked prevented me from controlling the board. He had some Energy trouble, which gave me some chance, but since I couldn't one-hit KO anything, it went to time, and I was stuck. Obviously, I know what I need to do to improve this deck if I play it again this season! Noah lost 1-3 in overtime and is now 1-2.
ROUND FOUR: Noah vs. Matt G. (Lightning/Dragons): He started with two Black Kyurem EX and I thought I was going to be facing Keldeo-stoise. But no, that was not it. He fielded Zekrom EX and Tynamo as well. Naturally, I KO'd the Tynamo with a turn-two Hexed Flame, and then he brought up Rayquaza. I got heads on Hypnotoxic Laser and KO'd Rayquaza, and he was on the defensive. His only two Prizes were off Glinting Claw and Hypnotoxic Laser when I failed to wake up, but I had firm control of the match. Noah won 6-2 and is now 2-2.
ROUND FIVE: Noah vs. Jeremy P. (Landorus/Mewtwo/Tornadus): I started with Foongus and lost the coin flip. He had everything he needed for the donk with Tornadus except for the DCE. Though I managed to set up after that, the immediate pressure that he put made me lose... I did successfully KO one of his EXs, though. Noah lost 2-6 and is now 2-3.
ROUND SIX: Noah vs. Vince B. (Landorus/Mewtwo/Tornadus): I lost the coin flip again, and he had a Landorus EX opening. Tornadus EX hit his Bench, and got a DCE. On turn two, he used Scramble Switch, and KO'd my Foongus. Though I got a Hexed Flame going, again he got the Switch and retreats to prevent me from taking Prizes. Even though this matchup isn't an autoloss, I am cursed in that against both Landorus variants I played without Garbodor, I lost the coin flip for an immediate disadvantage. Noah lost 2-6 and is now 2-4.
As you know, I never drop due to my results. It's not starting today!
ROUND SEVEN: Noah vs. Matthew R. (Metal): I again started with a lone Foongus, but won the coin flip, and managed to field my Pokemon. He used Durant early in the game, and though it milled some of my deck, I took 3 Prizes off them, and he never mounted any offensive threat after Klinklang and miscellaneous Metal-types were all he had. Another auto-win matchup. Noah won 6-0 and is now 3-4.
ROUND EIGHT: Noah vs. Cody S. (Infernape): I won the coin flip and his Chimchar was Burned on turn one. Though he got a turn-two Infernape from his Benched Chimchar, I got the Sporprise to KO it. Mewtwo EX was his last line of defense, but all he could do was 60 damage and then it fell from Poison amplified in Virbank City. Noah won 4-0 and finishes at 4-4.
I then biked back to Evanston, and had falafel for dinner: it was good! I built some decks for League play the next day, and hit the hay at 23:00, in standard time. (That lost hour was really irksome.)
On Sunday, I again rode the 17 kilometers to the tournament venue, and played, in League matches, Bellossom/Jellicent, Zoroark rush, and DarMAXitan. Combined, they went 1-11 on the day, always running into bad matchups like Darkrai. Ha--go figure! That's the problem: I like playing off-the-wall decks, but they're not fast enough for the format... or with Bellossom, it auto-loses to pretty much everything competitive.
In the main event, I finished 71st of 132 that started. In order of rank, here were the other finishes of my opponents: 1 (yep, Ross won it all), 21, 53, 76, 89, 101, 102, drop.
PROPS:
* To Jimmy for making the two-day event happen. I certainly think it was less stressful as a two-day event (even though I didn't make the cut).
* To the venue being in Des Plaines instead of Countryside.
* To the weather, for not including snow or sleet.
* To my opponents, for all being courteous.
* For the side events on Day 2.
SLOPS:
* To Wendy's, for not having a bike rack.
* To the matches, for all (except the one against Ross) being one-sided. I didn't feel that I was thinking as hard as I normally do at tournaments.