My first instinct in this tournament was to play a trusty Dragtrode list. It seemed to be a great pick for the metagame, and I was very familiar with the deck. However, the day before, my parents had informed me that they didn’t want to take the trip to Worlds, even if I won the trip. So, instead of Dragtrode, I decided to play a deck that I had always wanted to play:
Pokemon (16)
4 Magmar
3 Voltorb (HL)
3 Electrode ex
3 Mewtwo δ
2 Ho-Oh ex
1 Latios *
Energy (18)
3 Electric Energy
3 Psychic Energy
3 Fire Energy
3 Fighting Energy
3 Water Energy
3 Grass Energy
Trainers (26)
4 Mary’s Request
3 TV Reporter
3 Rocket’s Admin
4 Pow! Hand Extension
3 Super Scoop Up
3 Swoop! Teleporter
3 Dual Ball
3 Giant Stump
I believe the strategy is self-explanatory. The ZRE engine run with a better pokemon.
Round one vs. Brent S. (spazcrackers) [Ludicargo]
He opened up with a Slugma; I had a Magmar. Although he dropped the second turn Magcargo, he still struggled to get anything working. I had my engine up and running quite early. I bombed the Electrode earlier than usual in order to get a quick upper-hand on his poor start. I quickly picked off his only Magcargo and his only Lotad. This basically forced the win as he saw nothing but basics for the remainder of the game.
1-0
Round two vs. Joann C. [stall]
This is probably among the top 5 most annoying decks I have ever faced. She used fossils as a stall first off. Then, she would use Celebi ex to place any dead fossils on top of her deck. She then used the POP Pidgeot to recycle the Celebi. Luckily for me, I had Pows on my side. I was able to gust up and take out her Pidgeots early so she couldn’t recycle very many fossils. Without that ability, she easily ran out of fossils and I was able to claim the win.
2-0
Round three vs. Chris S. (Prof. Chris) [Jumpluff/Pidgeot δ]
I don’t remember a lot from this game. However, this was a tough matchup for him. I was able to get Electrode ex off before his Pidgeot δ hit the field. This was crucial considering that the bird didn’t stop my Mewtwo from moving energies around. His Jumpluff couldn’t do very much against Ho-Oh (I kept my energy count very low, I didn’t bomb for five energies) and he was never able to get his Pidgeots up and running due to a constant flow of Pows. I was easily able to claim the win.
3-0
Round four vs. Michael W. (Rokman) [Flariados]
He made a very critical mistake at the beginning of this game. Obviously he got Ariados up and running quickly, but he used a Flareon ex to burn and confuse my opening Magmar. Following him KO’ing the Magmar, I played a Ho-Oh, bombed an Electrode, and Mewtwo’d for 4 energies on Ho-Oh and one on a benched Voltorb. I then proceeded to Admin him. Due to the opening KO, he was down to a mere three cards. This Admin also took away his Elm’s Training Method (or something like that) so he couldn’t pull a second Flareon. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite over. He fought back well. Although by then I had played a second Ho-Oh by then, he KO’d my first one by a perfect Reactive Poison (I think, the actual details may have eluded me a bit). Now he had only one prize remaining and my second Ho-Oh didn’t have enough energy to KO the Flareon. For the next few turns I just basically hoped for an energy, drew a card, didn’t get an energy, and sent up a pokemon that could survive another Flame Screen. I eventually top decked the energy and won the game.
4-0
Round five vs. Jorel (maybe not his name… it was kind of hard to remember) [Arcanine ex]
The beginning of the game was almost completely in his favor. However, I got a lucky Super Scoop Up heads that saved my Magmar, and probably saved me the game too. He took two prizes before I had the necessary cards in my hand to pull off the engine… and even then I was staring at a Lunatone and a Solrock on the field… blocking my Mewtwo. I then saw a small chance of victory. I played a Giant Stump. He was stick staring at a four-man bench of an unpowered Arcanine, an Arcanine with two fires, and his Lunatone and Solrock. Luckily for me, he discarded the Solrock, now allowing me to use Mewtwo’s power. At this point I did the usual play, along with a two Pows (one moved his Holon’s to the benched Arcanine with two fires and the other one brought that Arcanine active) which stuck him with two cards in his hand and no energy on the field. There wasn’t a lot he could do as he was simply forced to send up pokemon to be OHKO’d.
5-0
Round six vs. Shaun [Lunarock]
This one was such a boring game I cannot remember many details. All I remember was that he had two Lunatones and four Solrocks out. I played Giant Stump to cut out the Lunatone that shut me down (I believe he also thought that Mewtwo was psychic, and personally I don’t blame them). Afterwards he was forced to use Scorching Light over and over again to try and stall my Ho-Oh, but that didn’t work over too well.
6-0
Yeah, that’s right, 6-0 with Ho-Oh ex.
Top 8 (not in the correct order)
Me (Whicker) [Ho-Oh ex]
Brent S. (spazcrackers) [Ludicargo]
Chris S. (Prof. Chris) [Jumpluff/Pidgeot δ]
Michael W. (Rokman) [Flariados]
Jorel [Arcanine ex]
Shaun [Lunarock]
Glen P. (BrandonJMatt) [LBS]
Kevin J. (Hwkeye2) [Dragtrode]
Haven’t I seen like… five of those before?
Top 8 vs. Brent S.
Of course, my worse matchup in top 8... why wouldn’t that happen to me?
Game 1:
A close game. His Ludicolos, unlike the first game we played, didn’t avoid him, so he was able to take advantage of type advantage well. He was also very good at keeping my Giant Stumps out of play, so Electrode ex also became a quick meal for him. I played around his constant attack force as well as I could, and I really thought that I had made no mistakes this entire game… but his deck advantage got the better of me.
Game 2:
This was a quick one. I start off with Magmar against Lotad. I Dump and Draw. He does 20. He only has one basic, so I Swoop for a Voltorb, evolve, and attach an electric for the quick win.
Game 3:
Another great one. I started off with the worst hand I had all day. A Mewtwo, a Giant Stump, and five energies. He gets a set up right off the bat, but he has a bit of a trouble finding a sufficient amount of energies. I finally draw a Swoop around turn three and being to Dump and Draw. For the rest of the game, I am able to avoid any Ludicolos but he plays well with his Moltres and Lanturns. I get it down to 1-3 in his favor when I am able to Rocket’s Admin and then KO his Tressy. His draw: Warp Point (or it may have been a DRE) and then he is able to get the other off a Smooth Over combined with an Aipom. He attaches is to his Lanturn and Warp Points, forcing me to send up a Mewtwo. GG =/ (it always has to end like this for any of my tournament runs).
I’m not exactly sure who the winner is, because I am writing this as the tournament continues. However, when I left, Kevin and Shaun were still playing, and Chris and Jorel had both won their matches.
Props:
- To whoever wins… because you deserve it, probably the toughest tournament we’ve had in Oklahoma in a long while…
- To Brent S. (spazcrackers) for actually being pretty cool… better than what I had assumed from his posts on Gym
- To Roy Sr/Jr, Glen, and Alex for allowing me to borrow cards
- To a well-run tournament.
- To me, for basically playing nothing but top 8 finalists in Swiss… and beating them
- And to a 6-0 record with HO-OH EX!!!!!
Slops:
- To Brent, for top decking in our top 8 game =(… hurts a lot man.
- To Johnny K. (Patriarch) and Ryan S. (evilcacturne666) not making top cut (I love you guys =))
And I must quickly apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes... I'm rather tired.
Pokemon (16)
4 Magmar
3 Voltorb (HL)
3 Electrode ex
3 Mewtwo δ
2 Ho-Oh ex
1 Latios *
Energy (18)
3 Electric Energy
3 Psychic Energy
3 Fire Energy
3 Fighting Energy
3 Water Energy
3 Grass Energy
Trainers (26)
4 Mary’s Request
3 TV Reporter
3 Rocket’s Admin
4 Pow! Hand Extension
3 Super Scoop Up
3 Swoop! Teleporter
3 Dual Ball
3 Giant Stump
I believe the strategy is self-explanatory. The ZRE engine run with a better pokemon.
Round one vs. Brent S. (spazcrackers) [Ludicargo]
He opened up with a Slugma; I had a Magmar. Although he dropped the second turn Magcargo, he still struggled to get anything working. I had my engine up and running quite early. I bombed the Electrode earlier than usual in order to get a quick upper-hand on his poor start. I quickly picked off his only Magcargo and his only Lotad. This basically forced the win as he saw nothing but basics for the remainder of the game.
1-0
Round two vs. Joann C. [stall]
This is probably among the top 5 most annoying decks I have ever faced. She used fossils as a stall first off. Then, she would use Celebi ex to place any dead fossils on top of her deck. She then used the POP Pidgeot to recycle the Celebi. Luckily for me, I had Pows on my side. I was able to gust up and take out her Pidgeots early so she couldn’t recycle very many fossils. Without that ability, she easily ran out of fossils and I was able to claim the win.
2-0
Round three vs. Chris S. (Prof. Chris) [Jumpluff/Pidgeot δ]
I don’t remember a lot from this game. However, this was a tough matchup for him. I was able to get Electrode ex off before his Pidgeot δ hit the field. This was crucial considering that the bird didn’t stop my Mewtwo from moving energies around. His Jumpluff couldn’t do very much against Ho-Oh (I kept my energy count very low, I didn’t bomb for five energies) and he was never able to get his Pidgeots up and running due to a constant flow of Pows. I was easily able to claim the win.
3-0
Round four vs. Michael W. (Rokman) [Flariados]
He made a very critical mistake at the beginning of this game. Obviously he got Ariados up and running quickly, but he used a Flareon ex to burn and confuse my opening Magmar. Following him KO’ing the Magmar, I played a Ho-Oh, bombed an Electrode, and Mewtwo’d for 4 energies on Ho-Oh and one on a benched Voltorb. I then proceeded to Admin him. Due to the opening KO, he was down to a mere three cards. This Admin also took away his Elm’s Training Method (or something like that) so he couldn’t pull a second Flareon. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite over. He fought back well. Although by then I had played a second Ho-Oh by then, he KO’d my first one by a perfect Reactive Poison (I think, the actual details may have eluded me a bit). Now he had only one prize remaining and my second Ho-Oh didn’t have enough energy to KO the Flareon. For the next few turns I just basically hoped for an energy, drew a card, didn’t get an energy, and sent up a pokemon that could survive another Flame Screen. I eventually top decked the energy and won the game.
4-0
Round five vs. Jorel (maybe not his name… it was kind of hard to remember) [Arcanine ex]
The beginning of the game was almost completely in his favor. However, I got a lucky Super Scoop Up heads that saved my Magmar, and probably saved me the game too. He took two prizes before I had the necessary cards in my hand to pull off the engine… and even then I was staring at a Lunatone and a Solrock on the field… blocking my Mewtwo. I then saw a small chance of victory. I played a Giant Stump. He was stick staring at a four-man bench of an unpowered Arcanine, an Arcanine with two fires, and his Lunatone and Solrock. Luckily for me, he discarded the Solrock, now allowing me to use Mewtwo’s power. At this point I did the usual play, along with a two Pows (one moved his Holon’s to the benched Arcanine with two fires and the other one brought that Arcanine active) which stuck him with two cards in his hand and no energy on the field. There wasn’t a lot he could do as he was simply forced to send up pokemon to be OHKO’d.
5-0
Round six vs. Shaun [Lunarock]
This one was such a boring game I cannot remember many details. All I remember was that he had two Lunatones and four Solrocks out. I played Giant Stump to cut out the Lunatone that shut me down (I believe he also thought that Mewtwo was psychic, and personally I don’t blame them). Afterwards he was forced to use Scorching Light over and over again to try and stall my Ho-Oh, but that didn’t work over too well.
6-0
Yeah, that’s right, 6-0 with Ho-Oh ex.
Top 8 (not in the correct order)
Me (Whicker) [Ho-Oh ex]
Brent S. (spazcrackers) [Ludicargo]
Chris S. (Prof. Chris) [Jumpluff/Pidgeot δ]
Michael W. (Rokman) [Flariados]
Jorel [Arcanine ex]
Shaun [Lunarock]
Glen P. (BrandonJMatt) [LBS]
Kevin J. (Hwkeye2) [Dragtrode]
Haven’t I seen like… five of those before?
Top 8 vs. Brent S.
Of course, my worse matchup in top 8... why wouldn’t that happen to me?
Game 1:
A close game. His Ludicolos, unlike the first game we played, didn’t avoid him, so he was able to take advantage of type advantage well. He was also very good at keeping my Giant Stumps out of play, so Electrode ex also became a quick meal for him. I played around his constant attack force as well as I could, and I really thought that I had made no mistakes this entire game… but his deck advantage got the better of me.
Game 2:
This was a quick one. I start off with Magmar against Lotad. I Dump and Draw. He does 20. He only has one basic, so I Swoop for a Voltorb, evolve, and attach an electric for the quick win.
Game 3:
Another great one. I started off with the worst hand I had all day. A Mewtwo, a Giant Stump, and five energies. He gets a set up right off the bat, but he has a bit of a trouble finding a sufficient amount of energies. I finally draw a Swoop around turn three and being to Dump and Draw. For the rest of the game, I am able to avoid any Ludicolos but he plays well with his Moltres and Lanturns. I get it down to 1-3 in his favor when I am able to Rocket’s Admin and then KO his Tressy. His draw: Warp Point (or it may have been a DRE) and then he is able to get the other off a Smooth Over combined with an Aipom. He attaches is to his Lanturn and Warp Points, forcing me to send up a Mewtwo. GG =/ (it always has to end like this for any of my tournament runs).
I’m not exactly sure who the winner is, because I am writing this as the tournament continues. However, when I left, Kevin and Shaun were still playing, and Chris and Jorel had both won their matches.
Props:
- To whoever wins… because you deserve it, probably the toughest tournament we’ve had in Oklahoma in a long while…
- To Brent S. (spazcrackers) for actually being pretty cool… better than what I had assumed from his posts on Gym
- To Roy Sr/Jr, Glen, and Alex for allowing me to borrow cards
- To a well-run tournament.
- To me, for basically playing nothing but top 8 finalists in Swiss… and beating them
- And to a 6-0 record with HO-OH EX!!!!!
Slops:
- To Brent, for top decking in our top 8 game =(… hurts a lot man.
- To Johnny K. (Patriarch) and Ryan S. (evilcacturne666) not making top cut (I love you guys =))
And I must quickly apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes... I'm rather tired.
Last edited:
