I don’t post much on the gym, but after such a successful event for the Miami crowd last weekend and being their proud league leader, I wanted to share the story with you all.
First a big kudos to the whole crowd, for what probably has been the largest attendance from Miami to a regionals event, with over 15 players of all categories, some in their first major event, others in their second after States . Then of course the team of seasoned top players that attend most events, and after swiss rounds ended we had 3 juniors, 1 senior and 2 masters in top cut , 5 of which went on to win glass !
The trophy winners:
Juniors
2nd Place – Juan Pablo A
3rd Place – Andres A
(Both my kids ☺ )
Seniors
4th Place – Gabe A
Masters
2nd Place – me
3rd Place – Benji A
Now a few words on my own experience. I made T16 at States with Luxchomp, so I decided to go again with it, with a couple of new techs and a few bold decisions on the list that at the end paid off. I’m not so good with names ( apologies to my opponents for that ) or long explanations, so I’ll give you my summary of swiss and top cut play :
Swiss – 5-3 ( from around 10am until after 8pm )
My wins
2 Donphan / Mewtwo , 1 Donphan / Gyarados / Mewtwo , 1 Gengar / Garchomp C , and one Rogue multi-poke deck … boy am I happy I teched 1-1 Dialga …..
My looses
-1 to a very nice guy playing Gengar / Garchomp C .. he got the first dragon rush going to my active Garchomp, and got a Gengar X up .. was downhill for me from there.
-1 to a guy playing a Nidoqueen / Spiritomb / Crobat G deck , very clever build .. this one went down to the wire with 2-2 prizes when time was called, and I had the win with a belted Uxie X ready to zen-blade his belted Queen for the win .. but could not get Lucario GL benched .. lost next turn.
-1 to Miranda Craig with Plox, who donked my lone Luxray GL in turn 2 with a fully powered Gallade.
Top-Cut Play (from almost 10pm to almost 5am)
Top 32 – Alex with Cursegar
I also played Alex in swiss at States, fantastic guy and a good player; I got the first game with Garchomp C taking most prizes and dominating the field , I lost the 2nd one starting with Azelf and with my 2 Garchomps prized ( it happens … ) so I had to fight with Luxrays only .. and got the third on time after knocking down a Spiritomb with Dialga X when time was called .. great guy to play with and a lot of fun.
Top 16 - Jose ( I believe ) with Donphan
Jose took game one almost in turn one, with a T1 belted Donphan ready to take my lone Luxray , but he flipped 2 tails on scoop ups … then he went on to sweep my field with a fully powered & belted Donphan and Buck’s trainings to take my Dialga X twice … Second and Third I got a much better setup and Toxic Fang here was very helpful as in the swiss games , where I also was able to spray key Uxie drops and finish with Dragon Rushes . Great Games as well. I was sure I would have Donphan nightmares after my 4th one of the day.
Top 8 - Zachary with Luxchomp
I won the 2 matches in this one, but Zach put up a great fight in the first one despite having dead draw for some 5 or 6 turns with no supporters, and in the second one I was able to get the first Dragon Rush going, which in the mirror match is key to take a lead in trading prizes. GG’s Zach.
Top 4 - Benji A with Luxchomp / Sableye
I hated having to face a fellow Miami player and friend, but at least it was in top 4 and not before … this one went to 3 matches, among the most thrilling of the whole day. 1st one he got the first dragon rush going to my benched Garchomp, and a couple of heads on Initiatives to steal key cards from me.. so I scooped when prizes where 5-2 on his favor to save time . On the 2nd match I got a much better start, with Ambipom loading up his benched Sableye with DCE’s from active Pokemons with Tail Code, and with Garchomp being able to hit the first Dragon Rush to take the lead on prizes . Benji is going to rip his Ambipom cards after this ☺ … we started the 3rd one with 6 minutes remaining, and I went 2nd to take down honchkrow with a belted Luxray with DCE , He then Dragon Rushed something in my bench I believe, and had a lone Garchomp C in the bench .. Then I started my turn and time was called .. so I Bright Looked the benched Garchomp and Flash-Impacted for 80 thanks to the belt for the game … we had tournament matches before but nothing like these.. great games Benji.
Top 2 - Franco Puertas with Luxchomp
By now it was over 4am in the morning, so I had to go drink an orange juice to keep me going and not falling asleep … 1st match I donked his lone Garchomp C with a Dragon Rush.. so I thought I had the upper hand at this point , but I was not counting on Franco mounting a great comeback …. On the 2nd match he got the 1st dragon rush and did not allow me to set up another Garchomp again until it was too late .. I got prizes with Luxray and setup a Gachomp at the end but he took the last prize and we went to the 3rd match … it was horrible for me as I started with a lone Chatot , was ony able to bench Azelf to time walk nothing from prizes, and did Mimic for a bunch of cards on my 1st turn. Then with Chatot knocked out and Azelf active I got Bronzong G benched only and a bunch of crap for like 4 or 5 draws .. when I got going prize lead was too much, and he took the game when I still had 3 prizes left. GG Franco, and well deserved win.
So I was very close from winning 1st, a decent hand in my 3rd game would probably have given me a better chance to fight, but the trophy went to good and deserving hands as Franco is a great player and a good sport, so I’m happy for him.
Also congrats to Faron for his 1st place on Juniors, on a rematch from the States finals where Juan Pablo took the win then. I had the opportunity to meet and chat with his parents for a couple of minutes, who are also very nice people like him.
Props
Great tournament organization, good venue, good food deal, onsite store to buy and sell cards, great entertainment for the kids on the sides with drawing contests, smooth judging.. not much else to ask for. Great job Heidi, Michelle, Dave & the rest of the Judging and organizing crowd.
Great Miami showing and great experience for the newcomers, our league is growing in playing level and premier event presence!
Christian N with his first top cut ever in juniors
Ziad S with a solid show with only his 2nd premier tournament in juniors
Ambipom rocks, leaving Azelfs, Sableyes and Spiritoms fully loaded of DCEs throughout the day , and as a solid starter when paired with DCE as well
Lux and Garchomp .. people can love them or hate them, but with a good starting hand and a bit of luck you can take down almost anything
Slops
Almost 19 hours of pokemon .. a bit too much for one day
Darn Lucario, only really needed it once during the whole day, but could not get it when it mattered most
Thanks for reading, and hope to see more and more Miami players in premier tournaments in months to come, and also more in the winning tables!
First a big kudos to the whole crowd, for what probably has been the largest attendance from Miami to a regionals event, with over 15 players of all categories, some in their first major event, others in their second after States . Then of course the team of seasoned top players that attend most events, and after swiss rounds ended we had 3 juniors, 1 senior and 2 masters in top cut , 5 of which went on to win glass !
The trophy winners:
Juniors
2nd Place – Juan Pablo A
3rd Place – Andres A
(Both my kids ☺ )
Seniors
4th Place – Gabe A
Masters
2nd Place – me
3rd Place – Benji A
Now a few words on my own experience. I made T16 at States with Luxchomp, so I decided to go again with it, with a couple of new techs and a few bold decisions on the list that at the end paid off. I’m not so good with names ( apologies to my opponents for that ) or long explanations, so I’ll give you my summary of swiss and top cut play :
Swiss – 5-3 ( from around 10am until after 8pm )
My wins
2 Donphan / Mewtwo , 1 Donphan / Gyarados / Mewtwo , 1 Gengar / Garchomp C , and one Rogue multi-poke deck … boy am I happy I teched 1-1 Dialga …..
My looses
-1 to a very nice guy playing Gengar / Garchomp C .. he got the first dragon rush going to my active Garchomp, and got a Gengar X up .. was downhill for me from there.
-1 to a guy playing a Nidoqueen / Spiritomb / Crobat G deck , very clever build .. this one went down to the wire with 2-2 prizes when time was called, and I had the win with a belted Uxie X ready to zen-blade his belted Queen for the win .. but could not get Lucario GL benched .. lost next turn.
-1 to Miranda Craig with Plox, who donked my lone Luxray GL in turn 2 with a fully powered Gallade.
Top-Cut Play (from almost 10pm to almost 5am)
Top 32 – Alex with Cursegar
I also played Alex in swiss at States, fantastic guy and a good player; I got the first game with Garchomp C taking most prizes and dominating the field , I lost the 2nd one starting with Azelf and with my 2 Garchomps prized ( it happens … ) so I had to fight with Luxrays only .. and got the third on time after knocking down a Spiritomb with Dialga X when time was called .. great guy to play with and a lot of fun.
Top 16 - Jose ( I believe ) with Donphan
Jose took game one almost in turn one, with a T1 belted Donphan ready to take my lone Luxray , but he flipped 2 tails on scoop ups … then he went on to sweep my field with a fully powered & belted Donphan and Buck’s trainings to take my Dialga X twice … Second and Third I got a much better setup and Toxic Fang here was very helpful as in the swiss games , where I also was able to spray key Uxie drops and finish with Dragon Rushes . Great Games as well. I was sure I would have Donphan nightmares after my 4th one of the day.
Top 8 - Zachary with Luxchomp
I won the 2 matches in this one, but Zach put up a great fight in the first one despite having dead draw for some 5 or 6 turns with no supporters, and in the second one I was able to get the first Dragon Rush going, which in the mirror match is key to take a lead in trading prizes. GG’s Zach.
Top 4 - Benji A with Luxchomp / Sableye
I hated having to face a fellow Miami player and friend, but at least it was in top 4 and not before … this one went to 3 matches, among the most thrilling of the whole day. 1st one he got the first dragon rush going to my benched Garchomp, and a couple of heads on Initiatives to steal key cards from me.. so I scooped when prizes where 5-2 on his favor to save time . On the 2nd match I got a much better start, with Ambipom loading up his benched Sableye with DCE’s from active Pokemons with Tail Code, and with Garchomp being able to hit the first Dragon Rush to take the lead on prizes . Benji is going to rip his Ambipom cards after this ☺ … we started the 3rd one with 6 minutes remaining, and I went 2nd to take down honchkrow with a belted Luxray with DCE , He then Dragon Rushed something in my bench I believe, and had a lone Garchomp C in the bench .. Then I started my turn and time was called .. so I Bright Looked the benched Garchomp and Flash-Impacted for 80 thanks to the belt for the game … we had tournament matches before but nothing like these.. great games Benji.
Top 2 - Franco Puertas with Luxchomp
By now it was over 4am in the morning, so I had to go drink an orange juice to keep me going and not falling asleep … 1st match I donked his lone Garchomp C with a Dragon Rush.. so I thought I had the upper hand at this point , but I was not counting on Franco mounting a great comeback …. On the 2nd match he got the 1st dragon rush and did not allow me to set up another Garchomp again until it was too late .. I got prizes with Luxray and setup a Gachomp at the end but he took the last prize and we went to the 3rd match … it was horrible for me as I started with a lone Chatot , was ony able to bench Azelf to time walk nothing from prizes, and did Mimic for a bunch of cards on my 1st turn. Then with Chatot knocked out and Azelf active I got Bronzong G benched only and a bunch of crap for like 4 or 5 draws .. when I got going prize lead was too much, and he took the game when I still had 3 prizes left. GG Franco, and well deserved win.
So I was very close from winning 1st, a decent hand in my 3rd game would probably have given me a better chance to fight, but the trophy went to good and deserving hands as Franco is a great player and a good sport, so I’m happy for him.
Also congrats to Faron for his 1st place on Juniors, on a rematch from the States finals where Juan Pablo took the win then. I had the opportunity to meet and chat with his parents for a couple of minutes, who are also very nice people like him.
Props
Great tournament organization, good venue, good food deal, onsite store to buy and sell cards, great entertainment for the kids on the sides with drawing contests, smooth judging.. not much else to ask for. Great job Heidi, Michelle, Dave & the rest of the Judging and organizing crowd.
Great Miami showing and great experience for the newcomers, our league is growing in playing level and premier event presence!
Christian N with his first top cut ever in juniors
Ziad S with a solid show with only his 2nd premier tournament in juniors
Ambipom rocks, leaving Azelfs, Sableyes and Spiritoms fully loaded of DCEs throughout the day , and as a solid starter when paired with DCE as well
Lux and Garchomp .. people can love them or hate them, but with a good starting hand and a bit of luck you can take down almost anything
Slops
Almost 19 hours of pokemon .. a bit too much for one day
Darn Lucario, only really needed it once during the whole day, but could not get it when it mattered most
Thanks for reading, and hope to see more and more Miami players in premier tournaments in months to come, and also more in the winning tables!
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