I participated in three Battle Roads in the Chicagoland region this year, and of course each time played rogue.
Day one was Saturday, June 2. Like usual, I took the "L" toward Midway, and met Manny and Tim to ride to Top Cut Gaming at their new store in Plainfield. It was a pretty pleasant ride, and nothing to really write home about. My deck was Little Buggers (i.e. Volbeat/Illumise), as I thought it would be fun to go really off-the-wall.
1) Noah vs. Carl (Quad Entei): Yikes. I started Illumise to his Entei EX and went second. Although I hit heads on my early Crushing Hammers, he got Energy off his Junipers and Oak's New Theories. With his Eviolite, I decided my best chance was Firefly Light for Burn and Confusion, even when I fielded four Volbeat for the chance at 100 from Vulcan Beats. Earlier in the game, I had also fielded Shaymin EX, which got Catchered... and though he flipped a lot of tails on Burn, he flipped the critical heads when he needed them for attacks. Thus, I ended up losing. Noah loses the match 2-6 and is now 0-1.
2) Noah vs. Jonathan (Zeel): He started with Zekrom, and I led off Illumise. This game, I chose to pick off his Tynamo and Eelektrik, which was a great move, as he had Energy trouble early in the match. This was further assisted by his play of Skyarrow Bridge. Later in the game, he used Raikou EX and Mewtwo EX, but got himself in trouble without any Eelektrik in play. Shaymin EX propelled me to the victory. Noah wins the match 6-3 and is now 1-1.
Lunch was at Binnie's Dog House across the plaza, and the chili dog and fries tasted great. However, they messed it up the first time: adding mustard when I specifically requested it omitted. I still got back in time for the next round.
3) Noah vs. Daniel (Gothitelle) Winning the flip, Victini faced Gothita and Ralts. I got my Bug-types out quickly and went for a quick KO on his Gothita. He had to go on the defensive, but eventually set up a Gothitelle and a Mewtwo EX. The latter proved too much for me, despite earlier emptying his Energy and taking a big lead. Unfortunately, I did not expect the deck to perform stellarly, but I am still having a great time! Noah loses the match 5-6 and is now 1-2.
4) Noah vs. Nik (Darkrai EX/Tornadus EX): I started a solo Illumise, drew nothing after he went first, and then he got a turn-two Dark Spear for the quick end. Noah loses the match 0-1 and is now 1-3.
5) Noah vs. Rose (Quad Entei): Yikes... again! However, she didn't get any Eviolite out until later, so my Vulcan Beat attacks did 30-60 damage early. She manually retreated (!), but I wasn't able to put pressure with the Illumissiles, as she saved it with an Eviolite and then a Max Potion. Long story short, my shenanigans were useless again. Noah loses the match 0-6 and is now 1-4.
As is probably well known, I have never dropped from a tournament, and I wasn't about to either.
6) Noah vs. Alex (Reshiram EX/Emboar/Audino): She set up quickly with a Reshiram EX, and its Glinting Claws were easy one-hit KOs. By removing its Energy and Catchering up the Tepig to prevent Emboar, I stayed in the game, but then she spammed Powerful Slaps from Audino to finish my team. Noah loses the match 4-6 and finishes with a 1-5 record.
Day one: props and slops...
PROPS:
* The new store is a nice venue!
* Not going 0-6 with a deck that I feared might do poorly.
SLOPS:
* The Binnie's error.
* The return trip to Evanston was a bit of a bearcat.
June 3: Des Plaines
Today, I chose to play 247. It is a Round deck, and named 247 as the numerical value for the Hebrew word for song (zemer). The ride to the tournament took about 55 minutes, due to a headwind and my chain popping loose in Skokie. Thankfully, I know how to fix that.
1) Noah vs. Amber (Zeel): I opened Tympole to her Raikou EX, with Zekrom and Thundurus on her Bench. I got a Collector and started setting up my Bench, as she drew no Energy for the first 4 or 5 turns. Thus, I got Round set up unperturbed, swinging for 150 damage each turn, en route to a sweep. The only damage that I took was one late Bolt Strike that didn't KO Seismitoad since it has Grass Weakness! Noah wins Round One 6-0 and is now 1-0.
YAY! That's the first time all season that I have started a tournament at 1-0.
2) Noah vs. Colin (Terrakion Quad +) He started with 2 Terrakion, and I led off with one Jigglypuff. I got other Pokemon into play, but he flipped heads on each Sleep check, taking a quick 2-0 lead. I KO'd the first Terrakion with a 90-damage Round, before Mewtwo EX came. It lost the Prize battle 1-2 to tie the match at 3-3. However, I wasn't able to finish the comeback, as he kept forcing out my Wigglytuff to be Crushed. Noah loses Round Two 4-6 and is now 1-1.
3) Noah vs. Ken (Tornadus/Darkrai EX): I started Tympole to his Tornadus EX and Darkrai EX, and luckily went first in order to be able to use Collector and not get donked. Both of us had Energy trouble, but he got the first attack. The first Darkrai went down after a Round that did 130 damage after its Eviolite, and both sides then did some pussyfooting. As time was called, Prizes were tied 2-2 still, yet both decks had less than 7 cards in them. I could have Junipered for the Energy, but instead hoped that he didn't have an Energy. Unfortunately, he did, and Night Speared my Wigglytuff for the loss. Noah loses Round Three 2-3 in overtime and is now 1-2.
4) Noah vs. Nick (Tornadus/Darkrai EX): He started Shaymin and I had 2 Tympole, but he got Skyarrow Bridge, Tornadus EX, and used PONT to find a Double Colorless Energy to put me on the defensive immediately. He took 3 Prizes in 4 turns (one was a tails on Sleep check), and I only got one offensive attack off the whole game. Noah loses Round Four 0-6 and is now 1-3.
5) Noah vs. (NAME?) (Donphan/Tornadus): He led off Cleffa to my 2 Tympole. Tornadus EX and Phanpy filled his Bench, and I forced out his regular Tornadus. He forced out my Palpitoad a turn or two later to Hurricane it into submission, but a turn or two later, I Junipered into a Round for 120 damage from Seismitoad. He sent out a Donphan army which fell by 220-damage Round attacks, and I hung on for the win with Tornadus EX unable to do enough damage. Noah wins Round Five 6-2 and is now 2-3.
6) Noah vs. TJ (Zeel with weird stuff): I started Jigglypuff to his Minccino and regular Tornadus. I whiffed on Energy early, and he built up his Bench. He took the first Prize from Hurricane, but two Round attacks then KO'd Minccino and Tornadus. After he used Strong Volt to KO my Seismitoad, I sent out Wigglytuff instead of my next Seismitoad, a terrible misplay! He was able to KO Wigglytuff with a PlusPowered Hurricane, and to make a long story short, I fell short after rallying from a 3-5 deficit. Noah loses Round Six 5-6 and finishes at 2-4.
The headwind on the way there meant a tailwind on the way back... and I got home in just 42 minutes of real time! WHOOSH!
Day 2 props and slops:
Nothing in particular on either end. These are tough for me to honestly do.
June 17, Top Cut Comics Chicago
The travel to the tournament this time was a nightmare! I got on the Purple Line like always, which wasn't a problem, but then the Red Line was going on the "wrong" side of the track until Thorndale, due to track maintenace. It crawled until it got to Thorndale, putting me behind. Then, on the Brown Line that I normally wouldn't take (I did this time because it changed to an Orange Line), there was a major signal problem at Roosevelt! I didn't get to Pulaski until 09:55, and the bus didn't appear until 10:20, with the registration set to close at 10:45. Thankfully, I got there just in time, with One-Two ready to go. (This was a Bisharp Finishing Blow deck).
There were only 19 Masters here, likely due to Father's Day. Smallest tournament I have been to in Chicago!
1) Noah vs. Vladimir (Dark.dec): He started with 2 Sneasel, and I started Pawniard and Terrakion. He attached DCE to Sneasel (!), and then ran out of Energy for a while until Cleffa came out. After I went up 2-0 off attacks from Bisharp, Terrakion ran his team down. Noah wins Round One 6-0 and is now 1-0.
2) Noah vs. Manny (Empoleon): I drew into nothing, and Empoleon had no trouble one-hit KO'ing my side. Noah loses Round Two 1-4 and is now 1-1.
3) Noah vs. Phil (Electrode/EXs): I started Sableye and Pawniard to his Terrakion. It got Confused, and I set up my side. A battle of Ns came, and he got Electrode out. After blowing it up, he KO'd Bisharp, but on the next turn, gave me a free shot after flipping tails on Retaliate. Through the rest of the match, he used one more Energymite, and I kept him on his toes with Sableye and Hammer Time. Time was called, and I controlled the endgame to win. Noah wins Round Three 6-4 in overtime and is now 2-1.
4) Noah vs. Jeremy (Zeel): I got one heads on my opening Iron Head with a Dark Claw, and on the next turn, got N for the Bisharp and the KO on Thundurus. A few turns later, he pulled even with a few Bolt Strike attacks, and then brought out Mewtwo EX and Terrakion. Sableye and Bisharp didn't stand up to it, but late in the match, after I had played N, I could have KO'd his Mewtwo EX to pull to 4-5, or Catchered his Energy-less Pokemon. Since I didn't draw a Hammer, I had to do the latter. But, he drew into PONT, and drew the last Prize from a Switch. Noah loses Round Four 2-6 and is now 2-2.
5) Noah vs. Vince (Meganium/EX Toolbox): I was way too impatient. I took the first Prize when he had Oddish in play, which started his Twins and Trainer lock. From there, it was a slow and painful defeat. Noah loses Round Five 1-6 and finishes 2-3.
So I never managed to go north of .500 during this season of Battle Roads. That's fine--I didn't expect to excel, and I just have fun always playing off-the-wall decks! It makes people think.
PROPS:
* The draft after this tournament, where I drafted both Tornadus and Raikou EX.
* The expressness of the tournament, as usual.
SLOPS:
* The travel, as mentioned at the start.
None of the decks I played at Battle Roads will be my Nationals deck, but I will obviously be playing something rogue. I'm looking forward to it!
Day one was Saturday, June 2. Like usual, I took the "L" toward Midway, and met Manny and Tim to ride to Top Cut Gaming at their new store in Plainfield. It was a pretty pleasant ride, and nothing to really write home about. My deck was Little Buggers (i.e. Volbeat/Illumise), as I thought it would be fun to go really off-the-wall.
1) Noah vs. Carl (Quad Entei): Yikes. I started Illumise to his Entei EX and went second. Although I hit heads on my early Crushing Hammers, he got Energy off his Junipers and Oak's New Theories. With his Eviolite, I decided my best chance was Firefly Light for Burn and Confusion, even when I fielded four Volbeat for the chance at 100 from Vulcan Beats. Earlier in the game, I had also fielded Shaymin EX, which got Catchered... and though he flipped a lot of tails on Burn, he flipped the critical heads when he needed them for attacks. Thus, I ended up losing. Noah loses the match 2-6 and is now 0-1.
2) Noah vs. Jonathan (Zeel): He started with Zekrom, and I led off Illumise. This game, I chose to pick off his Tynamo and Eelektrik, which was a great move, as he had Energy trouble early in the match. This was further assisted by his play of Skyarrow Bridge. Later in the game, he used Raikou EX and Mewtwo EX, but got himself in trouble without any Eelektrik in play. Shaymin EX propelled me to the victory. Noah wins the match 6-3 and is now 1-1.
Lunch was at Binnie's Dog House across the plaza, and the chili dog and fries tasted great. However, they messed it up the first time: adding mustard when I specifically requested it omitted. I still got back in time for the next round.
3) Noah vs. Daniel (Gothitelle) Winning the flip, Victini faced Gothita and Ralts. I got my Bug-types out quickly and went for a quick KO on his Gothita. He had to go on the defensive, but eventually set up a Gothitelle and a Mewtwo EX. The latter proved too much for me, despite earlier emptying his Energy and taking a big lead. Unfortunately, I did not expect the deck to perform stellarly, but I am still having a great time! Noah loses the match 5-6 and is now 1-2.
4) Noah vs. Nik (Darkrai EX/Tornadus EX): I started a solo Illumise, drew nothing after he went first, and then he got a turn-two Dark Spear for the quick end. Noah loses the match 0-1 and is now 1-3.
5) Noah vs. Rose (Quad Entei): Yikes... again! However, she didn't get any Eviolite out until later, so my Vulcan Beat attacks did 30-60 damage early. She manually retreated (!), but I wasn't able to put pressure with the Illumissiles, as she saved it with an Eviolite and then a Max Potion. Long story short, my shenanigans were useless again. Noah loses the match 0-6 and is now 1-4.
As is probably well known, I have never dropped from a tournament, and I wasn't about to either.
6) Noah vs. Alex (Reshiram EX/Emboar/Audino): She set up quickly with a Reshiram EX, and its Glinting Claws were easy one-hit KOs. By removing its Energy and Catchering up the Tepig to prevent Emboar, I stayed in the game, but then she spammed Powerful Slaps from Audino to finish my team. Noah loses the match 4-6 and finishes with a 1-5 record.
Day one: props and slops...
PROPS:
* The new store is a nice venue!
* Not going 0-6 with a deck that I feared might do poorly.
SLOPS:
* The Binnie's error.
* The return trip to Evanston was a bit of a bearcat.
June 3: Des Plaines
Today, I chose to play 247. It is a Round deck, and named 247 as the numerical value for the Hebrew word for song (zemer). The ride to the tournament took about 55 minutes, due to a headwind and my chain popping loose in Skokie. Thankfully, I know how to fix that.
1) Noah vs. Amber (Zeel): I opened Tympole to her Raikou EX, with Zekrom and Thundurus on her Bench. I got a Collector and started setting up my Bench, as she drew no Energy for the first 4 or 5 turns. Thus, I got Round set up unperturbed, swinging for 150 damage each turn, en route to a sweep. The only damage that I took was one late Bolt Strike that didn't KO Seismitoad since it has Grass Weakness! Noah wins Round One 6-0 and is now 1-0.
YAY! That's the first time all season that I have started a tournament at 1-0.
2) Noah vs. Colin (Terrakion Quad +) He started with 2 Terrakion, and I led off with one Jigglypuff. I got other Pokemon into play, but he flipped heads on each Sleep check, taking a quick 2-0 lead. I KO'd the first Terrakion with a 90-damage Round, before Mewtwo EX came. It lost the Prize battle 1-2 to tie the match at 3-3. However, I wasn't able to finish the comeback, as he kept forcing out my Wigglytuff to be Crushed. Noah loses Round Two 4-6 and is now 1-1.
3) Noah vs. Ken (Tornadus/Darkrai EX): I started Tympole to his Tornadus EX and Darkrai EX, and luckily went first in order to be able to use Collector and not get donked. Both of us had Energy trouble, but he got the first attack. The first Darkrai went down after a Round that did 130 damage after its Eviolite, and both sides then did some pussyfooting. As time was called, Prizes were tied 2-2 still, yet both decks had less than 7 cards in them. I could have Junipered for the Energy, but instead hoped that he didn't have an Energy. Unfortunately, he did, and Night Speared my Wigglytuff for the loss. Noah loses Round Three 2-3 in overtime and is now 1-2.
4) Noah vs. Nick (Tornadus/Darkrai EX): He started Shaymin and I had 2 Tympole, but he got Skyarrow Bridge, Tornadus EX, and used PONT to find a Double Colorless Energy to put me on the defensive immediately. He took 3 Prizes in 4 turns (one was a tails on Sleep check), and I only got one offensive attack off the whole game. Noah loses Round Four 0-6 and is now 1-3.
5) Noah vs. (NAME?) (Donphan/Tornadus): He led off Cleffa to my 2 Tympole. Tornadus EX and Phanpy filled his Bench, and I forced out his regular Tornadus. He forced out my Palpitoad a turn or two later to Hurricane it into submission, but a turn or two later, I Junipered into a Round for 120 damage from Seismitoad. He sent out a Donphan army which fell by 220-damage Round attacks, and I hung on for the win with Tornadus EX unable to do enough damage. Noah wins Round Five 6-2 and is now 2-3.
6) Noah vs. TJ (Zeel with weird stuff): I started Jigglypuff to his Minccino and regular Tornadus. I whiffed on Energy early, and he built up his Bench. He took the first Prize from Hurricane, but two Round attacks then KO'd Minccino and Tornadus. After he used Strong Volt to KO my Seismitoad, I sent out Wigglytuff instead of my next Seismitoad, a terrible misplay! He was able to KO Wigglytuff with a PlusPowered Hurricane, and to make a long story short, I fell short after rallying from a 3-5 deficit. Noah loses Round Six 5-6 and finishes at 2-4.
The headwind on the way there meant a tailwind on the way back... and I got home in just 42 minutes of real time! WHOOSH!
Day 2 props and slops:
Nothing in particular on either end. These are tough for me to honestly do.
June 17, Top Cut Comics Chicago
The travel to the tournament this time was a nightmare! I got on the Purple Line like always, which wasn't a problem, but then the Red Line was going on the "wrong" side of the track until Thorndale, due to track maintenace. It crawled until it got to Thorndale, putting me behind. Then, on the Brown Line that I normally wouldn't take (I did this time because it changed to an Orange Line), there was a major signal problem at Roosevelt! I didn't get to Pulaski until 09:55, and the bus didn't appear until 10:20, with the registration set to close at 10:45. Thankfully, I got there just in time, with One-Two ready to go. (This was a Bisharp Finishing Blow deck).
There were only 19 Masters here, likely due to Father's Day. Smallest tournament I have been to in Chicago!
1) Noah vs. Vladimir (Dark.dec): He started with 2 Sneasel, and I started Pawniard and Terrakion. He attached DCE to Sneasel (!), and then ran out of Energy for a while until Cleffa came out. After I went up 2-0 off attacks from Bisharp, Terrakion ran his team down. Noah wins Round One 6-0 and is now 1-0.
2) Noah vs. Manny (Empoleon): I drew into nothing, and Empoleon had no trouble one-hit KO'ing my side. Noah loses Round Two 1-4 and is now 1-1.
3) Noah vs. Phil (Electrode/EXs): I started Sableye and Pawniard to his Terrakion. It got Confused, and I set up my side. A battle of Ns came, and he got Electrode out. After blowing it up, he KO'd Bisharp, but on the next turn, gave me a free shot after flipping tails on Retaliate. Through the rest of the match, he used one more Energymite, and I kept him on his toes with Sableye and Hammer Time. Time was called, and I controlled the endgame to win. Noah wins Round Three 6-4 in overtime and is now 2-1.
4) Noah vs. Jeremy (Zeel): I got one heads on my opening Iron Head with a Dark Claw, and on the next turn, got N for the Bisharp and the KO on Thundurus. A few turns later, he pulled even with a few Bolt Strike attacks, and then brought out Mewtwo EX and Terrakion. Sableye and Bisharp didn't stand up to it, but late in the match, after I had played N, I could have KO'd his Mewtwo EX to pull to 4-5, or Catchered his Energy-less Pokemon. Since I didn't draw a Hammer, I had to do the latter. But, he drew into PONT, and drew the last Prize from a Switch. Noah loses Round Four 2-6 and is now 2-2.
5) Noah vs. Vince (Meganium/EX Toolbox): I was way too impatient. I took the first Prize when he had Oddish in play, which started his Twins and Trainer lock. From there, it was a slow and painful defeat. Noah loses Round Five 1-6 and finishes 2-3.
So I never managed to go north of .500 during this season of Battle Roads. That's fine--I didn't expect to excel, and I just have fun always playing off-the-wall decks! It makes people think.
PROPS:
* The draft after this tournament, where I drafted both Tornadus and Raikou EX.
* The expressness of the tournament, as usual.
SLOPS:
* The travel, as mentioned at the start.
None of the decks I played at Battle Roads will be my Nationals deck, but I will obviously be playing something rogue. I'm looking forward to it!