Naki Feralkin
New Member
So despite having a spectacular opening to this season (explosive 2nd place beginning), I've kind of struggled quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, being unable to find any deck that really met my fancy. Machamp worked the one time for me because it was favorable, I went from losing hardcore the week after to trying crazy things. I went with Raichu, I went with Gliscor, and nothing could get the job done. So I took a new tool from my bag of tricks and went with Obama. I played it last week and it did quite well, but didn't quite make it off the ground. Going with the elements (8-10 inches of snow in Ohio), I figured it was the play today. And I did have quite a number of favorable matchups. Lets begin.
Round 1 Vs. Doug Ferrell (Magmortar feat Rayquaza)
One thing about this match that really put me ahead was that he couldn't get a Claydol out to save his life so he had a very hard time getting anything going immediately. I managed to get out Obama really fast and I began spreading damage across the field. The weakness didn't effect me nearly as it badly as it had him, as I had a huge field set up very quickly to recover from problems like that. He did manage to get a late Magmortar Level X up, but he went down as soon as he came up. Most of the game he fell behind with energy, being unable to flip any successes on Speed Gain to try to get that critical Flame Bluster.
Obama was too much for him in the end, the spread and Below Zero temperatures hurting him.
1-0
Round 2 Vs. Scott Doolittle (Gliscor/Weavile)
More weakness plus Unown G does pull this in my favor, but I knew what he was playing (I showed him and vice versa before the tournament began) and I really believed this was gonna be an absolutely fun game, and it was. I did manage a really early Obama to his early Gliscor, and it did not help that Unown G came out really fast against him to turn off the status effects that Gliscor needs so badly. He did get out Darkrai after a period of time getting rid of a couple of Obama's so he stayed solid for a while, but eventually the spread became too much for him and ended it abruptly.
2-0
Round 3 Vs Chris Fulop (Kingdra)
I would like to state that this is one of the best games that I've had in many months. Most of the most fun games I have had have been against Chris and my adrenaline pumps almost every time because of how close and competitive they are. Chris is a fantastic player who knows how to exploit weaknesses and make some very great moves off of them. I thought this game was in my favor for a very long period of time, but a couple of misplays and some great heads flips pushed it back in his favor at the end.
Early game, I have a superb hand that gets me started on the aggressive end quite fast. He's unable to really do any serious damage for a while, so he starts with Mewtwo aggro to keep me in check, so I try to get one ready myself. I get a few early prizes and take a good lead with the walling I'm capable of doing with Obama. However, he manages to get some good spread off of my Obama's during some Bronzong aggro I do for a little while (which ended up being way too little for me in the long run.). The game pretty much goes down to time with us tied at 2 apiece. I make a bit of a misplay in which I could have taken the game to another turn but I again, get a little bit too ahead of myself and finish myself off. Great game, nontheless.
2-1
Round 4 Vs. Chris Russo (Tsunami Gatr)
I hate to admit it, but I liked this matchup going in. Gatr might be a water type, but I would much rather deal with this because it plays so many powers and non-water techs as opposed to Kingdra which can just wall my spread all over the place. I manage some early spread damage and he can't get an early Gatr going. (He has to Shining Fang T2. O.O), this gives me an early advantage to start getting rid of his benched Claydol and SF Bronzong, two critical parts of a new age Gatr deck. I outrun him and he can't keep the aggro going as he relies on top deck near the end.
3-1
Round 5 Vs. Ajay Sridhar (Mirror)
Oh god. This was the one matchup that I absolutely dreaded. The only other ones that really tick me off are any random Torterra's that might show up (Thank god Dusknoir and Gigas keep that in check) and Sceptile/Tangrowth's that can show up. Sceppy/Growth is a possibility as it is annoying as sin to Kingdra decks, and it makes Obama cry.
Of course, both me and Ajay were groaning going into this game. Not because of each other. I greatly respect Ajay as a player as he is a really nice guy and I enjoy my games with him, but because both of us just didn't want this to happen, and it did.
So... I get an Unown G start. Normally, I'd be ticked about this. On the upside, he has a Mewtwo start. 2X weak unable to aggro by T2..? Happy face, for sure. So I try something a tad risky. Start with Call, get out a bit of a bench, and then go for a Psychic energy. T3 did come around and I did end up getting that Psychic to HP off the Mewtwo (Sorry, as embarrassing as it might sound, it was probably one of the most amusing things I'd done all day.), he has an absolutely terrible hand cave on him, unable to get Claydol going until T4-T5. By this time, I have enough aggro to keep wind on him for quite a while. After a long and arduous game, I'd finally put enough out to end it. Ajay scoops and the game goes out.
4-1
Round 6 Vs. Michael O'Donnell? (Spelling?) (Dusknoir)
I had never played Mike to this day, but I've heard many things about him being a good player. However, this was his first time I believe playing Dusknoir. My chances of sneaking into tops were very good as well, as Mike's only loss also was to Fulop, so win or loss, both of us were pretty much in regardless.
I think this might have also been his first time playing against Obama, I didn't see that infernal Spirit Pulse till near the games end, so I was kind of pleased with that. Early game, he starts with Finneon, I get out Bronzor to open, but manage a good enough hand to sneak him out and get Obama in relatively quickly. The spread begins and really looks in my favor as everything in play is pretty much taking the blizzard head on. He does keep me at bay with a DP Dusknoir for quite some time (I kept my bench small for a reason, thank god Obama can play with a small bench if I do it properly.) He does Fin Luster out a Baltoy later on, getting rid of a Bronzong (My favorite card against the Dusknoir matchup) which kind of slowed me down a bit, but he was unable to keep the aggro going as I was consistantly taking multiple prizes a turn.
5-1
Pretty good for having a rough cities appearance, but then, its far better than last year where I just sucked it up all over the place. I go in at 2nd seed, playing the #7. I blast some music and trade playmats with my girlfriend (Both myself and her got our custom ones from JulieFooJojo today, both of which came out spectactular!), because she didn't manage to get in (4-2, but bad tie breakers didn't help her situation.
) So I took a piece of her in with me into top cut. Unfortunately, its Kingdra, the one thing that gives me a hard time.
Top 8 Vs. Austin Reed (Kingdra)
I knew Austin came in here with a purpose, to beat my face in for the game we had last week. He had an abysmal hand last week, unable to get anything going for 5-6 turns, granted, my hand was just as terrible, but I managed to get out of the mess faster.
Game 1:
Not so much here. I have a... playable hand, to speak. Austin has something short of a god hand. Thank god I had a benched pokemon, but he's able to start the aggro by his second turn, efficiently slowing me down by KO'ing Snover before he is even able to begin his blizzard. I flail and struggle to get anything going, but by the time it comes down to it, I can't grab enough prizes to keep going. I scoop to save time.
Game 2:
Similar disgusting crap here. He didn't have a god hand, but he double Uxie'd into it. Again, another great hand by myself, unfortunately, his was superior. MUCH superior. I was starting to zone out by this game too, which sucked too, so I can't remember much here.
Needless to say, good day nontheless, definitely bumped my rating back up a bit, and again, theres always tomorrow.
Props:
- My girlfriend, for as always being there and being the great and loving person she is, as well as coming out with an impressive record and being able to rock in snowy weather (despite my paranoia)
- Juliefoojojo for the awesome playmats. I enjoy being able to see Flygon and Dragonite on my playing field every time I play now!
- John Lathem for holding another superb event even in dire weather.
- The 36 people who turned a potentially slow day into a day of 6 round Top 8.
- Liz Reed (and company), Pamela Orenbaun (and company) and Joey Gannon for being incredibly brave and weathering this storm coming from far off distances to play Pokemon (Columbus, Dayton, Pittsburgh! Wow!)
- Great Northern Mall's McDonalds not failing at life.
- The weather letting up finally so I don't have a heart attack coming home.
- Unown G for fun times.
Slops:
- Kingdra (lol...after a great week against it last week, not so hot this week.)
- Ohio Weather
- Unable to find anyone with Rhyperior's.. I just need one more!!
- My girlfriend is going back down to OU for college this week.
- My car for not starting
Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with another report. Till next time!
Round 1 Vs. Doug Ferrell (Magmortar feat Rayquaza)
One thing about this match that really put me ahead was that he couldn't get a Claydol out to save his life so he had a very hard time getting anything going immediately. I managed to get out Obama really fast and I began spreading damage across the field. The weakness didn't effect me nearly as it badly as it had him, as I had a huge field set up very quickly to recover from problems like that. He did manage to get a late Magmortar Level X up, but he went down as soon as he came up. Most of the game he fell behind with energy, being unable to flip any successes on Speed Gain to try to get that critical Flame Bluster.
Obama was too much for him in the end, the spread and Below Zero temperatures hurting him.
1-0
Round 2 Vs. Scott Doolittle (Gliscor/Weavile)
More weakness plus Unown G does pull this in my favor, but I knew what he was playing (I showed him and vice versa before the tournament began) and I really believed this was gonna be an absolutely fun game, and it was. I did manage a really early Obama to his early Gliscor, and it did not help that Unown G came out really fast against him to turn off the status effects that Gliscor needs so badly. He did get out Darkrai after a period of time getting rid of a couple of Obama's so he stayed solid for a while, but eventually the spread became too much for him and ended it abruptly.
2-0
Round 3 Vs Chris Fulop (Kingdra)
I would like to state that this is one of the best games that I've had in many months. Most of the most fun games I have had have been against Chris and my adrenaline pumps almost every time because of how close and competitive they are. Chris is a fantastic player who knows how to exploit weaknesses and make some very great moves off of them. I thought this game was in my favor for a very long period of time, but a couple of misplays and some great heads flips pushed it back in his favor at the end.
Early game, I have a superb hand that gets me started on the aggressive end quite fast. He's unable to really do any serious damage for a while, so he starts with Mewtwo aggro to keep me in check, so I try to get one ready myself. I get a few early prizes and take a good lead with the walling I'm capable of doing with Obama. However, he manages to get some good spread off of my Obama's during some Bronzong aggro I do for a little while (which ended up being way too little for me in the long run.). The game pretty much goes down to time with us tied at 2 apiece. I make a bit of a misplay in which I could have taken the game to another turn but I again, get a little bit too ahead of myself and finish myself off. Great game, nontheless.
2-1
Round 4 Vs. Chris Russo (Tsunami Gatr)
I hate to admit it, but I liked this matchup going in. Gatr might be a water type, but I would much rather deal with this because it plays so many powers and non-water techs as opposed to Kingdra which can just wall my spread all over the place. I manage some early spread damage and he can't get an early Gatr going. (He has to Shining Fang T2. O.O), this gives me an early advantage to start getting rid of his benched Claydol and SF Bronzong, two critical parts of a new age Gatr deck. I outrun him and he can't keep the aggro going as he relies on top deck near the end.
3-1
Round 5 Vs. Ajay Sridhar (Mirror)
Oh god. This was the one matchup that I absolutely dreaded. The only other ones that really tick me off are any random Torterra's that might show up (Thank god Dusknoir and Gigas keep that in check) and Sceptile/Tangrowth's that can show up. Sceppy/Growth is a possibility as it is annoying as sin to Kingdra decks, and it makes Obama cry.
Of course, both me and Ajay were groaning going into this game. Not because of each other. I greatly respect Ajay as a player as he is a really nice guy and I enjoy my games with him, but because both of us just didn't want this to happen, and it did.
So... I get an Unown G start. Normally, I'd be ticked about this. On the upside, he has a Mewtwo start. 2X weak unable to aggro by T2..? Happy face, for sure. So I try something a tad risky. Start with Call, get out a bit of a bench, and then go for a Psychic energy. T3 did come around and I did end up getting that Psychic to HP off the Mewtwo (Sorry, as embarrassing as it might sound, it was probably one of the most amusing things I'd done all day.), he has an absolutely terrible hand cave on him, unable to get Claydol going until T4-T5. By this time, I have enough aggro to keep wind on him for quite a while. After a long and arduous game, I'd finally put enough out to end it. Ajay scoops and the game goes out.
4-1
Round 6 Vs. Michael O'Donnell? (Spelling?) (Dusknoir)
I had never played Mike to this day, but I've heard many things about him being a good player. However, this was his first time I believe playing Dusknoir. My chances of sneaking into tops were very good as well, as Mike's only loss also was to Fulop, so win or loss, both of us were pretty much in regardless.
I think this might have also been his first time playing against Obama, I didn't see that infernal Spirit Pulse till near the games end, so I was kind of pleased with that. Early game, he starts with Finneon, I get out Bronzor to open, but manage a good enough hand to sneak him out and get Obama in relatively quickly. The spread begins and really looks in my favor as everything in play is pretty much taking the blizzard head on. He does keep me at bay with a DP Dusknoir for quite some time (I kept my bench small for a reason, thank god Obama can play with a small bench if I do it properly.) He does Fin Luster out a Baltoy later on, getting rid of a Bronzong (My favorite card against the Dusknoir matchup) which kind of slowed me down a bit, but he was unable to keep the aggro going as I was consistantly taking multiple prizes a turn.
5-1
Pretty good for having a rough cities appearance, but then, its far better than last year where I just sucked it up all over the place. I go in at 2nd seed, playing the #7. I blast some music and trade playmats with my girlfriend (Both myself and her got our custom ones from JulieFooJojo today, both of which came out spectactular!), because she didn't manage to get in (4-2, but bad tie breakers didn't help her situation.
) So I took a piece of her in with me into top cut. Unfortunately, its Kingdra, the one thing that gives me a hard time.Top 8 Vs. Austin Reed (Kingdra)
I knew Austin came in here with a purpose, to beat my face in for the game we had last week. He had an abysmal hand last week, unable to get anything going for 5-6 turns, granted, my hand was just as terrible, but I managed to get out of the mess faster.
Game 1:
Not so much here. I have a... playable hand, to speak. Austin has something short of a god hand. Thank god I had a benched pokemon, but he's able to start the aggro by his second turn, efficiently slowing me down by KO'ing Snover before he is even able to begin his blizzard. I flail and struggle to get anything going, but by the time it comes down to it, I can't grab enough prizes to keep going. I scoop to save time.
Game 2:
Similar disgusting crap here. He didn't have a god hand, but he double Uxie'd into it. Again, another great hand by myself, unfortunately, his was superior. MUCH superior. I was starting to zone out by this game too, which sucked too, so I can't remember much here.
Needless to say, good day nontheless, definitely bumped my rating back up a bit, and again, theres always tomorrow.
Props:
- My girlfriend, for as always being there and being the great and loving person she is, as well as coming out with an impressive record and being able to rock in snowy weather (despite my paranoia)
- Juliefoojojo for the awesome playmats. I enjoy being able to see Flygon and Dragonite on my playing field every time I play now!
- John Lathem for holding another superb event even in dire weather.
- The 36 people who turned a potentially slow day into a day of 6 round Top 8.
- Liz Reed (and company), Pamela Orenbaun (and company) and Joey Gannon for being incredibly brave and weathering this storm coming from far off distances to play Pokemon (Columbus, Dayton, Pittsburgh! Wow!)
- Great Northern Mall's McDonalds not failing at life.
- The weather letting up finally so I don't have a heart attack coming home.
- Unown G for fun times.
Slops:
- Kingdra (lol...after a great week against it last week, not so hot this week.)
- Ohio Weather
- Unable to find anyone with Rhyperior's.. I just need one more!!
- My girlfriend is going back down to OU for college this week.
- My car for not starting
Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with another report. Till next time!