Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

State Championships Reports

Ruiner

New Member
EDIT: I used Jumpluff Luxray.

Round 1 vs Scott w Blaziken Garchomp Luxray

Scott was friends with my friend Adam who I just got to see again a few months ago at Cities after years of him being up in Toledo. I go 2nd and open with a Hoppip while he opens with a Garchomp C going first. I sit through the opening announcements deathly afraid of him just dropping a Double Colorless Energy and ending the dream before I even get a turn. The rest of my hand was fantastic and ready to go. He does not have a Double Colorless, nor an energy even, and benches a Blaziken FB, guaranteeing a far more interesting match. I go, and I get a fantastic game, and get set up and get Jumpluff up and running. I Warp up Blaziken and take it out, and his start continues to struggle, supporterless as I get a very quick win. I found out after the fact, while talking with him, that he didn't run DCE, due to running so many different types.

Win

Round 2 vs Mike O'Donnell with Palkia Dialga Garchomp

I get paired against my friend who I drove out with, running SP. He goes first, opening Dialga, and attaches a special Metal. I go, and get a t1 Jumpluff, and have enough in play to do the 110 to OHKO the Dialga due to Crobats. I go to attack, and realize I do not have the energy attached. It was still sitting in my hand due to me focusing so much on the best way to handle the math of getting the 110 output. Therefore I'm stuck in the attack step, and have to pass the turn. He struggles a bit setting up, hitting pretty cold, and I continue to set up despite my horrible error, and win fairly convincingly once he fails to keep my powers locked for any substaincial time. He had a turn where had he hit a Crobat off his Cosmic Power that he'd be in good shape, but he wiffed on it, and that really blew the game wide open.

Win

Round 3 vs Stephen McGaffney with Gyarados

My hand here was atrocious but I like this matchup. I end up topdecking a Roseanne the turn before he gets to take his prize: This is crucial. If Gyarados takes the first prize, it usually wins. The problem is, it so very rarely does. I end up getting a cheap kill on Sableye, and he returns the favor. I continue to use my Luxray, and Warp Points, to pick guys off the bench. One of the turns, towards the end, he misses on having a means of both getting back a Magikarp and a Gyarados ( His bench was near full so my Crobats and Poketurns actually let me kill a few Gyarados. ) and I end up taking it on the last turn with an Expert Belt to drop his last Gyarados.

Win

Round 4 vs Ryan w Porygon Z

He goes first and flips up a...Frost Rotom? He explains its to give him type versitility and is a one of. He attaches a Rainbow to it. I go, and get Jumpluff up and running and get the first turn kill for the win. I found out after the fact he was running Porygon Z which I'd imagine is fairly good for me if I get set up fast enough.
Win

Round 5 vs Alex w Flygon Nidoqueen

This was the one X-0 I did not want to face. I was afraid of the matchup because all of his Pokemon had such huge hit points. He ran a full Flygon line, and a 3-2-3 Nidoqueen line, so he could realistically keep his bench limited to just guys I could not OHKO, while he chews through my Jumpluffs 90 HP with ease. His hand wasn't bad, but his draws were clunky and while he got up attackers, I got some quick prizes going and took a 2 prize lead before he got Flygon swining. He had to put an Expert Belt on a Flygon Lvl X, so I put one on my Jumpluff to put myself out of OHKO Range with Leaf Guard, and than scored the OHKO the next turn with a benched Jumpluff. His deck had no means of hitting the bench, so my Belted Jumpluff was safe from giving up 2 prizes. I end up gusting up Uxie and a Claydol to win by taking my last 2 prizes while I was 2-3 prizes ahead the whole game. Had he gotten a very strong hand I do not know if I could beat this deck very consistently.

Win

Round 6 vs Tracy Key w Blaziken Garchomp Luxray

This game is interesting. She had lost a very close game to Brandon Runyon the prior round, and was sitting 4-1 and got paired up to me. I get weak hand, and she opens Uxie to my Hoppip. She does not have a Crobat G. She smacks it for 20, and I had a benched Baltoy just in case. I go, and sadly have no real play. I have a Claydol in hand, but no Rare Candy or supporter or Broken Time Space. I attach an energy to Baltoy to enable a retreat the next turn, and pass. She drops a Crobat to kill Hoppip, and hits my Baltoy for 20. I go, and Roseanne which I topdeck, retreat, and Claydol. I don't get a KO as I wiff the Jumpluff, and she starts to get set up. I found out after the game that she had her Blaziken FB and her Uxie prized. Her hand was suspect until the Crobat kill got her a prized Cyrus that let her set up. The game goes back and forth from that point, and I end up losing by a prize because I wiffed any attacks for the first two turns and she had her Blaziken ready for me when I was forced to use an Expert Belt to get a KO. I would have been in fine shape but I had to burn a Warp Point, sparing Blaziken, in order to get access to an energy midgame to even get a kill which really set me back. Game wound up close despite us both having fairly awkward hands and draws.
Win

Round 7 vs Justin C w Gengar Dusknoir

I get a very quick start, and start taking prizes, while he overextends to get a Dusknoir against me. This cuts off his development, and Dusknoir doesn't really hurt me much. I continue to take prizes against him as my set up gets worse and worse before I finally draw a Claydol ( Uxie and Jumpluffs did the dirty work just fine. Due to Dusknoir's presence, the midgame state wound up with us having no energy in play, and no attackers. Me with a Baltoy, Crobat, Crobat and Uxie, and him with a Claydol and Dusknoir active. I finally get access to a Claydol and go off as he starts to power up a Gengar, and I am way too ahead on prizes by the time he puts any pressure on me.
Win

Top 16 vs Scott Faust with Luxray Garchomp

Going into round 7, Scott got paired against Jeanette who was also 4-2 using Gyarados and beat her, so she told me to get revenge! I look at my opening hand and see that revenge is likely out of reach...at least until games 2 and 3. My start is suspect at best, but the matchup is favorable. He opens Dialga, and his start is bad too, he claims. He topdecks a Luxray and starts to power that on his bench. I draw worthless, and effectively pass. He goes to try and get set up a bit, and hits a Poketurn so that he can Luxray me for 30. I draw...Roseanne. This leads to me setting up fully, and taking the first prize. A few turns later, he correctly scoops for the next game as I was up 2 prizes and had full set up. If anyone ever falls behind in prizes vs Jumpluff they are in for a very, very hard game.

Game 2, my hand is junk, and he makes me play first. I suspected he would so I opt to open Baltoy over Jumpluff as I have 2 energy in hand, and my hand is unplayable. Therefore I want the t1 Psychic Balance. I get it, and draw junk. He opens Luxray, and uses Cyrus for a Pokemon Collector, Energy Gain, and energy. He Bites me for 30. I draw...Claydol! I SLAM down the Claydol and the Multi Energy I was holding and take my t2 KO for the match win. Your welcome Jeanette :p

2-0 Win

I watch as Drew Holton wins his match, Dustin Zimmerman wins his match, Brandon Runyon wins his match, Eddy C wins his match, Alex Leachman wins his match over Tracy Key in a ridiculous Sudden Death game, and Rich Olsen wins his match. I believe the pairings go as follows.

Chris Fulop vs Alex Leachman
Drew Holton vs Brandon Runyon
Dustin Zimmerman vs Rich Olsen
Eddy C vs ???

I can't for the life of me remember who Eddy played vs in top 8, at this point I was very tired, had a headache, and everyone else wanted to leave already as we were all tired.



Top 8 vs Alex Leachman with Gengar Dusknoir

Ok so I get an amazing opening hand. Hes playing Gengar so I decide I can play it safe and do my best to restrict what information I give him, so I just open with Hoppip. I have Baltoy and Luxray in hand, plus a means of getting a t1 Jumpluff. We roll off, and he goes first. He flips over Shining Duskull, and does 30 to me for 0 energy for the win. I show him my hand and groan.

Game 2

I get a pretty bad hand, and he opens with Spiritomb and Gastly and Baltoy. I make him go first. Lovely, he starts to set up and I really struggle. I nod to my group how its not going to end well, as I really don't "have" anything. He starts to get set up, and I still draw dead. He misses an energy drop, and I topdeck a Roseanne and get myself back into the game. I get a few prizes with Jumpluff as his missed energy drops prevent him from applying much pressure. I keep taking prizes and somehow make the unrealistic comeback to take game 2 after my horrible start.

Game 3 I just get a monster start. I end up getting a t1 Jumpluff and jump(luff) way ahead on prizes before he gets out Dusknoir...and BOTH Mr Mime. I'd seen a Mime, and Dusknoir, prior, but Regice and Luxray and Warp Point made the first Mime easy to deal with. I was up 4 prizes when he got the soft-lock on me. With a full bench I was in bad shape, as he could keep Dark Palming my Luxray into my deck preventing me from ever Gusting up a non Mime. Luckily, PokeTurn, plus Psychic Restore, and him eventually having to actually kill things enabled me to get Luxray online. Also, with him having to Dark Palm Luxray, it allowed me to stack energy on a Jumpluff to eat through a Mr Mime. These manueverings allowed me to take my last two prizes even after he temporarily slowed my momentum to a stop.

2-1 Win

Top 4 vs Drew Holton with Luxray Garchomp

I have no idea how I won that last match, and this series started off rather poor as well. I end up getting an iffy hand, and his is pretty fast. He is able to keep up early and I eventually wiff on a Jumpluff and fall behind. I play it out, but lose behind a prize. I still feel this matchup is favorable, as with a good hand I'm very likely to win unless they draw literally perfect.

Game 2 I get the first kill and have enough momentum to just keep taking prizes. I really wish I had a better memory of most of these games, but honestly, Jumpluff is just about taking prizes regardless of inevitable game state. If I take the first prize, the game is nearly sealed unless something completely unreasonable happens. I end up maintaining my " up a prize" state and thus win the matchup despite him being able to keep up the whole game.

Game 3 I get ahead a few prizes and his draw is fairly subpar. I get up by 2 prizes this game I believe, but he plays it out in case he can somehow make it so I "miss" Jumpluffs midgame by using Power Sprays and trying to kill Claydols so I can't keep up the exchange. It hinders me but not enough to really make me fall behind enough, so I end up coming back from the 0-1 deficit again to take the match down. This is a welcomed win after a long string of losses to Drew. ( went 0-2 vs him at OH States 2009. Think I dropped a CC to him awhile ago as well )

2-1 Win

Top 2 vs Dustin Zimmerman with Jumpluff

This is my only issue with Jumpluff. It's mirror is just stupid. Anyways, game one, it looks like he was in good shape to take the prize lead, and the win, but he wiffs on the Jumpluff despite the first initial turn of " exploding " with Claydols/Uxies etc. I actually wind up with the first KO on something pointless, and he fires back and KOs Jumpluff. This exchange continues until the end of the game, where I mess up. I don't have a Warp Point or an Expert Belt, so if he uses Luxray to gust and kill one of my guys with Leaf Guard and a Belt, I potentially "lose". ( He had bench space for Luxray...I did not. His hand was " better" in that he didn't have to overextend to get a Pluffer out so he got to get Luxray down midgame where as I was full of Uxies and Azelf etc ) and I go through a huge chain of things to set up a bench space to Luxray him next turn to escape his potential Leaf Guard. Clearly, it doesn't happen, and he just KOs my guy. I then procede to wiff on the return Jumpluff because I used so much draw to get the Luxray set up. I was too worried about a longshot "potential win" from him that I cost myself the game. I was extremely tired and had a headache at this point, and felt I played the end game extremely poorly and should have taken this game. Props regardless to Dustin who played his end of the bargain flawlessly and capitalized on my errors. I'm still aggrivated at myself over the loss but I'm glad it was to a good guy and quality player.

Game 2 sadly wasn't very fulfilling. He takes the first prize, I can't even get a Jumpluff up to return the KO to at least pretend like I wasn't already a huge underdog, so I scoop so we can get food and go on the long quest back home.

0-2 Loss

Overall, I fell in love with Jumpluff at this event and am positive it is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best deck in the format. I'll have a big analysis of Jumpluff written up going into Regionals, and I'll post my OH tournament report as well in a little bit. Here is the list I used for Indiana States

4 Hoppip
2 Skiploom
4 Jumpluff
3 Baltoy
3 Claydol
2 Uxie
1 Azelf
1 Regice
1 Chatot
2 Crobat G
1 Luxray G
1 Luxray G Lvl X
1 Unown Q

4 Grass
2 Multi

4 Roseanne's Research
3 Bebe's Search
1 Luxury Ball
4 Pokemon Communicator
4 Broken Time Space
1 Palmer's Contribution
3 Rare Candy
2 Expert Belt
3 PokeTurn
3 Warp Point
 
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My definition of a bad hand would be "not a t1 Jumpluff ". I guess my "standards" are set by the typical games it gives during playtesting. This tournament's "sampling" was below par.
 
Chris: Since you've posted your decklist, would you care to write a Jumpluff article?
 
'Pop: Yep. I'd love to. I have a second States report, also with Jumpluff, for Ohio, coming up, and then I can do a more comprehensive article regarding the deck itself.

Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:

Ohio State Championships

We had 77 players show up. I drove down with Jeanette, Rachel, and "Misplay" Mike. I went with a slightly tweaked Jumpluff list, and Jeanette went with her new " anti Luxray" Gyarados list. Rachel picked up her Beedrill again, and Mike used Luxray Garchomp Blaziken.

I went with the following list which isn't too different from the prior weeks, but added even more consistency.

4 Hoppip
2 Skiploom
4 Jumpluff
3 Baltoy
3 Claydol
2 Uxie
1 Azelf
1 Regice
1 Chatot
1 Unown Q
2 Crobat G
1 Luxray GL
1 Luxray GL Lvl X

4 Grass
2 Multi

3 Roseanne's Research
2 Pokemon Collector
3 Bebe's Search
1 Luxury Ball
4 Pokemon Communicator
3 Rare Candy
4 Broken Time Space
4 PokeTurn
1 Expert Belt
2 Warp Point

I cut a Warp Point for a PokeTurn due to not wanting to deal with double Mime problems. I cut a Belt for an extra Supporter just to help out. I went with a 3/2 split on Roseanne/Collector. Collector is technically "better" but with only 6 energy we really wanted to make sure we had more outs to draw into it. Night Maintenance got the swap for Palmer, whose Supporter status became a bit of an issue, and the extra 2 cards rarely mattered.

Round 1 vs Dan D with Jumpluff

So I go first, and have 2 Baltoy down. I got seated next to Martin Moreno who'd been staying with me and Sammy the past week and a half, and he too was using Jumpluff. His opponent? Jumpluff. My opponent? Jumpluff. He gets a weak hand and missed the turn 1 Jumpluff, and stops at Skiploom. I go, and I wiff my Jumpluff too, but my hand was strong for the following turn. I also had a Crobat and 2 Poketurn ready to take out his Hoppip so I was STILL up the crucial prize. It didn't matter though as he was unable to get Claydol up and thus I was able to swing far ahead pretty easily. The best possible " mirror match " tech is to simply have the fastest, most consistant build, and I really feel mine had that going for it.

1-0

Round 2 vs Ryan B with Gallade Gardevoir

I get a very fast start, and his is much less so. I end up either turn 1ing him, or winning the game in a turn or two as he struggled to get going. I wish I had a better memory regarding these games, but a lot of games do boil down to " Jumpluff gets set up, wins in 6 turns ".

2-0

Round 3 vs Chris M with Gyarados

I had been talking to him prior to the pairings and learned he ran no Expert Belt or Plus Power effects as his friend gave him a "suspect" list. I knew I could DEFINITELY use this to my advantage, but I also felt very confident in my Gyarados matchup. In a recent trend, he struggles to get set up despite opening Sableye. I get a t1 Jumpluff up and going and I get way ahead on prizes. He doesn't get Gyarados up and swinging until turn 4, and by that point its way too late and I get such a prize lead that he can't possibly win the exchange as I utilize Warp Points and Luxray to grab the last of my prizes.

3-0

Round 4 vs Mark Jamieson with Gengar Dusknoir

I'd played vs Mark's dad numerous times and hes a strong player with very innovative deck ideas. Mark had just aged up this year. I get a fast start and get going, and his is slower. He misses a t1 energy drop, and Cosmic's for 5...of these 5, he gets Duskull, RC, Dusknoir to well, inform me he did in fact run Dusknoir like I suspected he might. I use Uxie's Psychic Restore to limit my bench size back to managable levels and work around his mr Mime as he has to get a Gengar going. He Wagers, which I win, as he misses a Gengar, and doesn't get it off that either. Next turn I Luxray that Haunter with 2 energy active and take it out. I'm way ahead on prizes as despite the lucky Dusknoir, he didn't get any real attackers going and I did my best to limit my bench. I overextend end game to get down to 1 prize and then have to " do the work" to minimize my bench and position either a Jumpluff with 3 energy or a Luxray to get past the Mimes, but I end up pulling it off for the win.

4-0

Round 5 vs Scotty Doolittle with Jumpluff

He was running Super Scoop Ups in his build. It never became relevent in the match but I just wanted to embarass him on a public forum about it. Anyways, I get a t1 Jumpluff and one hit KO him for the game. His hand was bad. But I bet it had Scoop Ups! ;) ILY Scotty.

5-0

At 5-0, I was walking in with an 1837 rating. 5-0 should place me between 1870 and 1880, so I dropped. My season is done until Worlds. I'll be sitting out Regionals and Nationals and see everyone in Hawaii :) Now that I'm not pressured to maintain a competitive advantage, I'll definitely be writing up an article on Jumpluff for the main page hopefully. It should be written in a day or two!
 
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I'll be showing up at both Regionals and Nationals. Too fun not to! ( competitive fixation will be dedicated to Magic for the time being until Worlds )
 
Okay, good. I think I am in the same boat as you Chris. I was 1806.15 going into the 2nd weekend and went 9-0. I figured for the first time I can not be the last one to get an invite. I expect to skip both Regionals and Nationals, but I am most likely going to show up to both. Congrats again and I will see you at Nationals. :thumb:

Drew
 
Nice reports Chris and congrats. Yeah, Dan (rnd 1 Ohio) wasn't even going to play but decided to at the last minute so we quickly updated the proxied Jumpluff deck we had been using for testing. I was judging so he had to register before other players and we couldn't try to trade for needed cards. Only while playing you did he realize that somehow we forgot Uxie.... Epic Fail. He thought it was really funny that everyone at that first table was playing Jumpluff.
 
Yeah, the lack of Uxie REALLY hurt him that game :p

And Swift: Ditto LA is iffy. Between Hoppip and Unown Q, its very easy to give it 30 hit points. At which point, Crobats + Poketurns can kill it without having to attack it. So while it seems like an "easier" Jumpluff to get out during the exchanges ( and its true and I can see it swaying some games as a result ) its SO risky due to the fact that it could give up a free prize without requiring an attack. While some people would argue using 2 turns to get that KO is "meh" thats not really true as you REALLY don't use PokeTurn in the mirror at ALL otherwise. "best case scenario" the Ditto dies to Unown Q + a Crobat, or a Skiploom+ Belt or an Uxie Restoring into an Unown/Hoppip making "both" players have the turn of an "easy KO" so it kinda neutralizes that advantage while putting you at "worst case scenario" risk of the triple bat.
 
Great reports, Chris. (I'm Alex from Top 8). Thanks for great games! Sorry bout the counting song, but I suppose you got me back with games 2 & 3!
 
Nice job Chris. Wish I could been there. It felt weird that saturday knowin I wasn't in bellville lol. Hopin my schedule lets me get to regionals so we can hav our usual good game! Again congrats man
 
I'm really sorry about the 2-week bump, but when do you think the jumpluff article will possibly be finished? thanks, and good job at states!
 
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