ugly psyducky
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After missing top cut all around at Ontario Provincials, there was some desparation in Ugly Land as we looked for the missing ingredient to put up a respectible showing at Regionals and event which certainly has been less then kind for the past two years. It was here that Quinn rejected my idea of playing Dialga G / Palkia G and showed me the tech he wanted to use -- Metagross. I know deck building is suppose to concentrate on the main cards in the deck and tech for the metagame, but Quinn's thinking was to build from the tech out. No amount of discussion, appeal to expert opinion (thx Matt K. -- at least the adviced lead to Patrick's deck) would convince him to take it out. It seemed to fit into Machamp, but Champ was a disaster against Toxictank of which there are plenty. Over time it morphed into GeChamp with more and more focus on Gengar, but it still couldn't seem to beat a good G build. As the clock wound down to Regionals, I tried to convince Quinn to give up on the deck and on the night before tried to get him to give Dialga G/ Palka G a try. We played a couple of games of which he soundly beat his own deck with it and then when I asked if he'd play it. He said in so many words if I liked it so much I should play it myself. OK I said, dropped two Crows for Switchs and the Multi Energy for a 3rd Dialga G.
OK Kere's the list
Pokemon (20)
3 Dialga G
1 Dialga G Lvl X
2 Palkia G
1 Palkia G Lvl X
2 Honchcrow
1 Crobat
3 Uxie
3 Mespirit
1 Azelf
1 Bronzong G
2 Unknown G (at least some token protection against Champ)
Trainers (30)
4 Cyrus
4 Energy Gain
4 Poke Turn
4 Power Spray
4 Roseanne's
1 Luxury
1 Bebe's
2 Premier Ball
2 Snowpoint (What a waste of two deck spaces!!)
2 Switch
2 Night Maintenance
Energy (10)
5 Water
3 Metal - Basic
2 Dark -Basic
And with that prolouge here's how it went.
Quinn and I arrive at the venue at start of registration and registar for the Crew who show up 10 - 15 minutes prior to openning announcements. One quick practice game (about my third with the deck) for me with Matt K. which I win and the tourney starts. There were 75+ in the Masters 7 Rounds with T16 in the Juniors 38 6 Rounds with T8. A little over 150 total participants.
Round 1: Me vs. Stephen Cain -- Raichu / Zong Quinn vs. Sophie -- Torterra/Sceptile
I really didn't want to see an electric deck, should have guessed they'd be more prevalent and to top it off Raichu is Metal Resistant and my start has Dialga nowhere in sight. The game was slow mainly because I was getting use to the deck and this wasn't helping me as he got ahead by two prizes but finally I got Dialga up. There was about 5 minutes left in the game and Stephen get a huge turn going looking like he's going to drop a second Raichu X and take out my Dialga X and something on my bench putting the game out of reach. Along with other plays that turn he had Uxied for 1, played a search supporter and then Dusk Ball. I noticed that there was a small pile of cards that were neither in his hand or deck. When I asked he said they were part of his hand picked them up and put them into his hand. Now I'm thinking with 11 cards in his hand how could he have Uxie'd for a card. I call for a judge and after a protracted discussion Stephen is assessed a game loss penalty as the game state was just too confused to figure out where those cards had come from, how long they had been there. As such the judges ruled a Broken Game state and gave Stephen a Game Loss. On this topic I have three comments. One Stephen took the penalty with extreme grace especially over the disappointment of almost clearly having me beat. Secondly the judging here was very professional. Third I really hated winning this way -- if anything tarnished my day it was this win. I called a judge as soon as I saw where this was heading to try and prevent the state from becoming worse, but once we went down the path it became clear that there was no remedy.
Quinn's game has a lot less drama. He reports the list was good but the player unfamilar with the deck and started with Treeko rather than Turtwig. He was able to knock out the Treeko and without Sceptile to support Torterra it was just too slow.
Me: 1-0
Quinn: 1-0
Game 2: Me vs. ?? / Quinn vs. Cam A. (Toxictank)
Sorry to whomever this was -- I was still stuck in thoughts over the last game. All I know is that I won this game in short order with Deafen Lock. OK this deck isn't the most creative. Deafen 10, Deafen 10, Repeat about 15 times. Good game.
I didn't even know that Quinn had pulled one of the 5 Toxictank's in the Juniors. Apparently it went pretty much to form with Quinn falling behind early. But a couple of luck Fainting Spell Rolls and Metagross Magnetic Reversals turns the tide and he squeaks out a win.
Me: 2-0
Quinn: 2-0
Game 3: Me vs. Reed (Leafeon / Vire) / Quinn vs. Kayla (Blastcatty)
I know that there's some electric in his deck and he starts out by benching a Pachi, so I'm going to need to be very careful. I'm able to use Crow and Bats early on to KO his benched Pachi to protect my Energy Gains on Dialga. And after a double heads on Remove Lost on his Vire, its pretty much over for him. I play carefully trying to make sure I don't get caught with the Vire X drop. But fortunately for me its prized. The game goes a few rounds longer than it probably should have, but I was being VERY careful not to squander my chance to go 3-0.
Kayla has come along way this season and is now one of the significant Junior's competitors. Quinn says he misjudged how strong his setup was in the game and went out early with Champ trying to score the win and as a result of a couple of strong turns. She got setup and started taking out his bench. Quinn was forced to rely on Hurricane Punch and luck was not with him. With both Beldum and Azelf prized there wasn't much chance on unleashing the only chance.
Me: 3-0
Quinn 2-1
Game 4: Me vs. Robin M. (Rhyperior/Catty) / Quinn vs. Paige (Mirror)
My game pretty much came down to Deafen Locking him T2, power locking with Mespirit /Power Spray and then cleaning up with Palkia. Pretty much the only game that the deck worked as advertized. There were actually some tight moments in keeping the jail door closed. I actually thought he was playing Blastoise up until about T10.
At the beginning of the season Paige was the only Junior that we really knew was going to be a significant competitor and I think the records pretty even this year with Quinn maybe having a slight edge. The game in Quinn's words "Dad I just got lucky -- I had a great start, set-up quickly. Her's just wasn't good".
Me: 4-0
Quinn: 3-1
I should bring up at this time that one of the neighbourhood kids (Mackenzy) who was running Quinn's Kingdra from Cities, was now 4-0. I joke with him between rounds which of the Georgetown Crowd was going to be the last to go undefeated.
Game 5: Me vs. Bin (Gengar) / Quinn vs. Alexander Little (G with Heavy Toxicroak)
My draw was absolutely perfect. 3 Turns 1 Energy Gain 1 Crow 1 Bat 1 Cyrus. And I'm second. He starts Bat and Drops Uxie for 1 card. I Cyrus for Roseannes, Dark and another Turn. Power up the Crow drop the Bat. Turn it 4 times leaving his Bat with 40 and his Uxie with 60. I target attack the Bat for the KO. He brings up Uxie attaches and Restores my Crow. I go get Dialga and Uxie. Pick up everything I need on my Uxie Drop. Target Attack the Uxie -- now 10 away from the KO (wish I could run 5 Turns). He draws, shrugs his shoulders and restores again. Crow FTW. Nice job Bin on placing 4th overall.
I'm finished my game fast so on my way out I peak at Quinn's game and I see he has no chance. He's down 3 prize cards. 5 minutes in. I'm feeling good about my chances now that I'll Top Cut for sure, but I figure his day is going to end without a Top Cut. I wait for him to come out, but time keeps on going. When I see him I can tell he's won. Apparently the turn after I saw the state, Alex's Weaville KO'd his Gengar but the fainting spell went Quinn's way. Quinn got the Metagross drop and the Magnetic Reversal, brought up the only powered up Toxicroak and used his last Gengar to Poltergeist for Huge Damage with mostly supporters in his hand. After this Gengar just cut through the deck before it could be powered up. Scarry times, but Alex is only 6 and he's got a lot of great games to play.
Me: 5-0
Quinn: 4-1
Game 6: Me vs. Koo (Gengar) Quinn vs. MacKenzy
OK we'll call this the Karma game. I laugh with Matt asking whether we can count the fun game early as my win and just move on. He suggests we play it out. He doesn't get 4 Poketurns on a single Bat, but if memory serves he gets 3 and two Bats. It looked like I might get him early, but I needed to get Bat or something to search for the early donk. But my deck goes south and hands me a Night Maintenance. After that he pretty much does unto me what I did to Bin the round before.
Quinn get's Kenzy and plays against a deck he played for half the season. He certainly has a huge psychological advantage in the teacher vs. student match-up It doesn't go long, and Quinn wins and we know that both he and Kenzy will Top Cut.
Me: 5-1
Quinn: 5-1 (2nd)
Game 7: Derk(Abomasnow/Manectric)
So I'm pretty relaxed for this game Top Cut is assured and #1 Seed is out of reach. I know from watching the round previously that there's some electric in the deck, so I know I'm going to need Dialga. I get a perfect start with Dialga / Energy Gain / Metal Energy / Roseannes and a Mespirit. This game was very quick. I got the Deafen Lock and Mespirits up quickly and could keep the lock with Power Spray until I was fully set up. Never did see a Manectric or an Abomasnow, I was able to just plow through the basics. Nothing fancy about this deck but it sure does work when I get the jail set-up.
Me: 6-1 (3rd)
OK, I must admit being 3rd after Swiss was not even in my wildest dreams as something I could accomplish and I'll be the first to admit that with the possible exception of my game against Robin, I don't think I showed any true skill. I think the build was good enough to be very stable, but at least two of my matches were won on shear luck. Also I didn't see a single Machamp and even though I play 3 Unknown Gs, I don't think I'd have gotten anywhere if I'd had to face one in the early rounds. Call me a lucksack if you like, but I'd rather be lucky than good.
Top Cut
So with the Swiss Over. The judges call up the Juniors first. They announce the Top 8. Quinn is 2nd and Mackenzy is 6th. Kayla finshed at 6-0 and is seeded 1st. Her brother Justin is 4th or 5th, so they are on the opposite side of the tree from Mackenzy and Quinn. It's about as good an outcome as possible. We're still playing our 7th round games when the Junior's top cut begins. So I'll cover my Top Cut Rounds First
Me
T16 vs. Rani - Kingdra
I think I may have faced Rani once before a couple of years ago. I have no idea what he's playing until he flips and then I see its a Kingdra. Game 1 I have a perfect Deafen Lock / Mespirit Lock starting draw and I'm going 2nd. I Lock early and control the game from the onset. I'm not sure with a commanding position, I should finish it early or simply try and keep the game going for the full hour because I know I have him in a pretty much no-win position. I opt for the former and win with about 25 minutes left on the clock. 1-0
Game 2 my start is even better, but I'm going first with Dialga G starter, Crow on the bench and I top deck a second Dialga G. I have no energy (just Cyrus) so I pass. He goes, candies his starting Horsea to Kingdra, energy, drop Uxie but I power spray. He drops a final Horsea and Hits my Dialga G for 60. My turn I Turn the active Dialga G. Cyrus for Power Spray, Metal and Cyrus. I bring up my second Dialga and attach Energy Gain and Energy and Deafen. He's only got two cards in his hand so he choose only to hit me for 40. I top deck a Crobat and decide to go for the early win and break the deafen lock and Second Strike his Kingdra. It turns out to be a bit of a mistake as he drops Felicities for 3 on his next turn and hits a baltoy. He retreats his active brings up Horsea, Rare Candy Kingdra and then Aqua Streams for 40. I have a good next couple of turns, but I make quite the misplay about T8 where I have the option of taking out his benched Baltoy, but mistaking think that the only thing I need to worry about is Claydol. I have 11 cards in my hand when he brings it up and draws 11 for an attack. Now we have a game. I have a fully charged Palkia and get my 3rd KO on Baltoy and set one of the Kingdra's up for a Target Attack. I never really need it as time called with it 4-2 prizes in my favour and he can only knock out my Palkia X for 1 prize by the end of my turn. Good Game
T8 vs. Kevin -- Dialga G Lose -0-2
What can I say, my deck packed up and went home. I lose the toss have no energy in my hand Game 1. We play about 5 turns of him Deafen lock with me top decking no energy, no roseanne's, no cyrus. I scoop with about 50 minutes left.
Second game pretty much the same story. A little more of a game, but I have no chance and with about 20 minutes left after he Remove Losts and sends 2 of my 3 metal energies to the lost zone, I scoop to give Kevin the Win. Sir I believe I have now given you the payback you think you deserved.
I lose to the eventual Champ no shame in that. No shame in losing to Kevin who is always a joy to play with.
Quinn
Although these games finished up earlier than mine, I really didn't get to hear about them until after, so they kinda fit as the ending to the story.
T8 vs. Tristan (Champ) -- Win 2-0
Tristan is only 5 years old, and it apparently took some convincing to get him to even play this final game. Game 1, Quinn goes second and gets his first and only Machamp donk of the day. Game 1 for Quinn. They set up again and Tristan has Quinn go first. This game goes a bit longer, but eventually Tristan flips tails for Fainting Spell and Quinn Brings up a benched Gengar and Poltergeists for the game. Simply amazing that Tristan would top cut in what was a pretty competative field.
T4 vs. Mackenzy (Kingdra) Win 2-1
Kenzy had moved through his T8 with a T1 Donk and a T2 Donk. This game was going to be unlike the Swiss games, because both kids knew the stakes on this game. Quinn says he doesn't remember much of Game 1, but it was reasonably long and it was characterized with Metagross missing on Reversal and Gengar hitting with Fainting Spell. Eventually however, Kenzy loaded his hand with too many trainers and failed to play a NM which allowed Quinn to take down his last Kingdra. After that it was easy for Gengar to Sweep up the Uxie X. Game 2, Kenzy chose to go first which seemed strange at the time, but Quinn had a single starter and no way to get out basics, and T2 Kenzy Candies to Kingdra and KOs the Machop. Game 3, Quinn choses to go first as he has Gengar and no supporters or trainers in his hand. Pitch Dark helps him survive two turns until he top decks a roseannes and the Uxie drop gets him everything he needs including a Baltoy, Candy and Claydol. He keeps the Pitch Dark up for another couple of turns until he's well set-up and then up come the Gengar Army to Sweep the field with massive Poltergeists.
T2 vs. Kayla Win 2-1
So this is as far as Quinn has ever got in a major event and the same goes for Kayla. We'd had a chance to talk after his first round Match and this time around he'd decided to take out her Cattys as soon as possible with Miasma and Shawdow Room. Game 1 she had a very fast start and although the Gengar Shawdow Room Strategy made it more of a game. It ended with Quinn losing.
Game 2, Quinn went second and started with Gastly. Pitch Dark locked her for a couple of turns and got an early Metagross on the bench. From there he set up pretty well and started going after Catty's with Shawdow Room. Soon enough he ran out of places to attach energy so he actually powered up Metagross. True to form Magnetic Reversals just weren't working again, so after Gengar was KO'd (with a heads on Fainting Spell) she brought up a Squirtle. With nothing much on his bench, out came Metagross and it mowed down everything hitting for 100 per turn after killing the Squirtle which had 20 damage on it to start. Yes he wins with Metagross and I have to listen to him crow about how much I tried to convince him this card was not worth putting in a binder let alone a deck!!
Game 3, Quinn went first and started with Chop and Baltoy and got up an early Claydol. With early draw and early Champ a couple of prizes came easy and after she KO'd the Champ. Up came Gengar and after taking one more prize with Shawdow Room it took down a fully powered Blastoise which had Aqua Pressed for the KO with a heads on Fainting Spell. Time was called on Kayla's turn with Quinn up 4 to 2 prize cards she could only kill one Poke with Double Launcher.
So Quinn wins his first major Pokemon Tournament 3 years after starting playing the tournament circuit.
PROPS
Great Venue
Really Good on Point Judging
Proving that 5th at Nats last year was likely not a Fluke
Quality of the Opponents SotG
My Wife for looking after all of the logistics associated with 4 kids / 4 decks / 4 lunches all on a day she would have much rather been outside
QUINN WINS
SLOPS
Energy deciding that it was happier to stay in my deck during my Top 8 match Game 1.
SLOW elevators
$23 for Parking!!
OK Kere's the list
Pokemon (20)
3 Dialga G
1 Dialga G Lvl X
2 Palkia G
1 Palkia G Lvl X
2 Honchcrow
1 Crobat
3 Uxie
3 Mespirit
1 Azelf
1 Bronzong G
2 Unknown G (at least some token protection against Champ)
Trainers (30)
4 Cyrus
4 Energy Gain
4 Poke Turn
4 Power Spray
4 Roseanne's
1 Luxury
1 Bebe's
2 Premier Ball
2 Snowpoint (What a waste of two deck spaces!!)
2 Switch
2 Night Maintenance
Energy (10)
5 Water
3 Metal - Basic
2 Dark -Basic
And with that prolouge here's how it went.
Quinn and I arrive at the venue at start of registration and registar for the Crew who show up 10 - 15 minutes prior to openning announcements. One quick practice game (about my third with the deck) for me with Matt K. which I win and the tourney starts. There were 75+ in the Masters 7 Rounds with T16 in the Juniors 38 6 Rounds with T8. A little over 150 total participants.
Round 1: Me vs. Stephen Cain -- Raichu / Zong Quinn vs. Sophie -- Torterra/Sceptile
I really didn't want to see an electric deck, should have guessed they'd be more prevalent and to top it off Raichu is Metal Resistant and my start has Dialga nowhere in sight. The game was slow mainly because I was getting use to the deck and this wasn't helping me as he got ahead by two prizes but finally I got Dialga up. There was about 5 minutes left in the game and Stephen get a huge turn going looking like he's going to drop a second Raichu X and take out my Dialga X and something on my bench putting the game out of reach. Along with other plays that turn he had Uxied for 1, played a search supporter and then Dusk Ball. I noticed that there was a small pile of cards that were neither in his hand or deck. When I asked he said they were part of his hand picked them up and put them into his hand. Now I'm thinking with 11 cards in his hand how could he have Uxie'd for a card. I call for a judge and after a protracted discussion Stephen is assessed a game loss penalty as the game state was just too confused to figure out where those cards had come from, how long they had been there. As such the judges ruled a Broken Game state and gave Stephen a Game Loss. On this topic I have three comments. One Stephen took the penalty with extreme grace especially over the disappointment of almost clearly having me beat. Secondly the judging here was very professional. Third I really hated winning this way -- if anything tarnished my day it was this win. I called a judge as soon as I saw where this was heading to try and prevent the state from becoming worse, but once we went down the path it became clear that there was no remedy.
Quinn's game has a lot less drama. He reports the list was good but the player unfamilar with the deck and started with Treeko rather than Turtwig. He was able to knock out the Treeko and without Sceptile to support Torterra it was just too slow.
Me: 1-0
Quinn: 1-0
Game 2: Me vs. ?? / Quinn vs. Cam A. (Toxictank)
Sorry to whomever this was -- I was still stuck in thoughts over the last game. All I know is that I won this game in short order with Deafen Lock. OK this deck isn't the most creative. Deafen 10, Deafen 10, Repeat about 15 times. Good game.
I didn't even know that Quinn had pulled one of the 5 Toxictank's in the Juniors. Apparently it went pretty much to form with Quinn falling behind early. But a couple of luck Fainting Spell Rolls and Metagross Magnetic Reversals turns the tide and he squeaks out a win.
Me: 2-0
Quinn: 2-0
Game 3: Me vs. Reed (Leafeon / Vire) / Quinn vs. Kayla (Blastcatty)
I know that there's some electric in his deck and he starts out by benching a Pachi, so I'm going to need to be very careful. I'm able to use Crow and Bats early on to KO his benched Pachi to protect my Energy Gains on Dialga. And after a double heads on Remove Lost on his Vire, its pretty much over for him. I play carefully trying to make sure I don't get caught with the Vire X drop. But fortunately for me its prized. The game goes a few rounds longer than it probably should have, but I was being VERY careful not to squander my chance to go 3-0.
Kayla has come along way this season and is now one of the significant Junior's competitors. Quinn says he misjudged how strong his setup was in the game and went out early with Champ trying to score the win and as a result of a couple of strong turns. She got setup and started taking out his bench. Quinn was forced to rely on Hurricane Punch and luck was not with him. With both Beldum and Azelf prized there wasn't much chance on unleashing the only chance.
Me: 3-0
Quinn 2-1
Game 4: Me vs. Robin M. (Rhyperior/Catty) / Quinn vs. Paige (Mirror)
My game pretty much came down to Deafen Locking him T2, power locking with Mespirit /Power Spray and then cleaning up with Palkia. Pretty much the only game that the deck worked as advertized. There were actually some tight moments in keeping the jail door closed. I actually thought he was playing Blastoise up until about T10.
At the beginning of the season Paige was the only Junior that we really knew was going to be a significant competitor and I think the records pretty even this year with Quinn maybe having a slight edge. The game in Quinn's words "Dad I just got lucky -- I had a great start, set-up quickly. Her's just wasn't good".
Me: 4-0
Quinn: 3-1
I should bring up at this time that one of the neighbourhood kids (Mackenzy) who was running Quinn's Kingdra from Cities, was now 4-0. I joke with him between rounds which of the Georgetown Crowd was going to be the last to go undefeated.
Game 5: Me vs. Bin (Gengar) / Quinn vs. Alexander Little (G with Heavy Toxicroak)
My draw was absolutely perfect. 3 Turns 1 Energy Gain 1 Crow 1 Bat 1 Cyrus. And I'm second. He starts Bat and Drops Uxie for 1 card. I Cyrus for Roseannes, Dark and another Turn. Power up the Crow drop the Bat. Turn it 4 times leaving his Bat with 40 and his Uxie with 60. I target attack the Bat for the KO. He brings up Uxie attaches and Restores my Crow. I go get Dialga and Uxie. Pick up everything I need on my Uxie Drop. Target Attack the Uxie -- now 10 away from the KO (wish I could run 5 Turns). He draws, shrugs his shoulders and restores again. Crow FTW. Nice job Bin on placing 4th overall.
I'm finished my game fast so on my way out I peak at Quinn's game and I see he has no chance. He's down 3 prize cards. 5 minutes in. I'm feeling good about my chances now that I'll Top Cut for sure, but I figure his day is going to end without a Top Cut. I wait for him to come out, but time keeps on going. When I see him I can tell he's won. Apparently the turn after I saw the state, Alex's Weaville KO'd his Gengar but the fainting spell went Quinn's way. Quinn got the Metagross drop and the Magnetic Reversal, brought up the only powered up Toxicroak and used his last Gengar to Poltergeist for Huge Damage with mostly supporters in his hand. After this Gengar just cut through the deck before it could be powered up. Scarry times, but Alex is only 6 and he's got a lot of great games to play.
Me: 5-0
Quinn: 4-1
Game 6: Me vs. Koo (Gengar) Quinn vs. MacKenzy
OK we'll call this the Karma game. I laugh with Matt asking whether we can count the fun game early as my win and just move on. He suggests we play it out. He doesn't get 4 Poketurns on a single Bat, but if memory serves he gets 3 and two Bats. It looked like I might get him early, but I needed to get Bat or something to search for the early donk. But my deck goes south and hands me a Night Maintenance. After that he pretty much does unto me what I did to Bin the round before.
Quinn get's Kenzy and plays against a deck he played for half the season. He certainly has a huge psychological advantage in the teacher vs. student match-up It doesn't go long, and Quinn wins and we know that both he and Kenzy will Top Cut.
Me: 5-1
Quinn: 5-1 (2nd)
Game 7: Derk(Abomasnow/Manectric)
So I'm pretty relaxed for this game Top Cut is assured and #1 Seed is out of reach. I know from watching the round previously that there's some electric in the deck, so I know I'm going to need Dialga. I get a perfect start with Dialga / Energy Gain / Metal Energy / Roseannes and a Mespirit. This game was very quick. I got the Deafen Lock and Mespirits up quickly and could keep the lock with Power Spray until I was fully set up. Never did see a Manectric or an Abomasnow, I was able to just plow through the basics. Nothing fancy about this deck but it sure does work when I get the jail set-up.
Me: 6-1 (3rd)
OK, I must admit being 3rd after Swiss was not even in my wildest dreams as something I could accomplish and I'll be the first to admit that with the possible exception of my game against Robin, I don't think I showed any true skill. I think the build was good enough to be very stable, but at least two of my matches were won on shear luck. Also I didn't see a single Machamp and even though I play 3 Unknown Gs, I don't think I'd have gotten anywhere if I'd had to face one in the early rounds. Call me a lucksack if you like, but I'd rather be lucky than good.
Top Cut
So with the Swiss Over. The judges call up the Juniors first. They announce the Top 8. Quinn is 2nd and Mackenzy is 6th. Kayla finshed at 6-0 and is seeded 1st. Her brother Justin is 4th or 5th, so they are on the opposite side of the tree from Mackenzy and Quinn. It's about as good an outcome as possible. We're still playing our 7th round games when the Junior's top cut begins. So I'll cover my Top Cut Rounds First
Me
T16 vs. Rani - Kingdra
I think I may have faced Rani once before a couple of years ago. I have no idea what he's playing until he flips and then I see its a Kingdra. Game 1 I have a perfect Deafen Lock / Mespirit Lock starting draw and I'm going 2nd. I Lock early and control the game from the onset. I'm not sure with a commanding position, I should finish it early or simply try and keep the game going for the full hour because I know I have him in a pretty much no-win position. I opt for the former and win with about 25 minutes left on the clock. 1-0
Game 2 my start is even better, but I'm going first with Dialga G starter, Crow on the bench and I top deck a second Dialga G. I have no energy (just Cyrus) so I pass. He goes, candies his starting Horsea to Kingdra, energy, drop Uxie but I power spray. He drops a final Horsea and Hits my Dialga G for 60. My turn I Turn the active Dialga G. Cyrus for Power Spray, Metal and Cyrus. I bring up my second Dialga and attach Energy Gain and Energy and Deafen. He's only got two cards in his hand so he choose only to hit me for 40. I top deck a Crobat and decide to go for the early win and break the deafen lock and Second Strike his Kingdra. It turns out to be a bit of a mistake as he drops Felicities for 3 on his next turn and hits a baltoy. He retreats his active brings up Horsea, Rare Candy Kingdra and then Aqua Streams for 40. I have a good next couple of turns, but I make quite the misplay about T8 where I have the option of taking out his benched Baltoy, but mistaking think that the only thing I need to worry about is Claydol. I have 11 cards in my hand when he brings it up and draws 11 for an attack. Now we have a game. I have a fully charged Palkia and get my 3rd KO on Baltoy and set one of the Kingdra's up for a Target Attack. I never really need it as time called with it 4-2 prizes in my favour and he can only knock out my Palkia X for 1 prize by the end of my turn. Good Game
T8 vs. Kevin -- Dialga G Lose -0-2
What can I say, my deck packed up and went home. I lose the toss have no energy in my hand Game 1. We play about 5 turns of him Deafen lock with me top decking no energy, no roseanne's, no cyrus. I scoop with about 50 minutes left.
Second game pretty much the same story. A little more of a game, but I have no chance and with about 20 minutes left after he Remove Losts and sends 2 of my 3 metal energies to the lost zone, I scoop to give Kevin the Win. Sir I believe I have now given you the payback you think you deserved.
I lose to the eventual Champ no shame in that. No shame in losing to Kevin who is always a joy to play with.
Quinn
Although these games finished up earlier than mine, I really didn't get to hear about them until after, so they kinda fit as the ending to the story.
T8 vs. Tristan (Champ) -- Win 2-0
Tristan is only 5 years old, and it apparently took some convincing to get him to even play this final game. Game 1, Quinn goes second and gets his first and only Machamp donk of the day. Game 1 for Quinn. They set up again and Tristan has Quinn go first. This game goes a bit longer, but eventually Tristan flips tails for Fainting Spell and Quinn Brings up a benched Gengar and Poltergeists for the game. Simply amazing that Tristan would top cut in what was a pretty competative field.
T4 vs. Mackenzy (Kingdra) Win 2-1
Kenzy had moved through his T8 with a T1 Donk and a T2 Donk. This game was going to be unlike the Swiss games, because both kids knew the stakes on this game. Quinn says he doesn't remember much of Game 1, but it was reasonably long and it was characterized with Metagross missing on Reversal and Gengar hitting with Fainting Spell. Eventually however, Kenzy loaded his hand with too many trainers and failed to play a NM which allowed Quinn to take down his last Kingdra. After that it was easy for Gengar to Sweep up the Uxie X. Game 2, Kenzy chose to go first which seemed strange at the time, but Quinn had a single starter and no way to get out basics, and T2 Kenzy Candies to Kingdra and KOs the Machop. Game 3, Quinn choses to go first as he has Gengar and no supporters or trainers in his hand. Pitch Dark helps him survive two turns until he top decks a roseannes and the Uxie drop gets him everything he needs including a Baltoy, Candy and Claydol. He keeps the Pitch Dark up for another couple of turns until he's well set-up and then up come the Gengar Army to Sweep the field with massive Poltergeists.
T2 vs. Kayla Win 2-1
So this is as far as Quinn has ever got in a major event and the same goes for Kayla. We'd had a chance to talk after his first round Match and this time around he'd decided to take out her Cattys as soon as possible with Miasma and Shawdow Room. Game 1 she had a very fast start and although the Gengar Shawdow Room Strategy made it more of a game. It ended with Quinn losing.
Game 2, Quinn went second and started with Gastly. Pitch Dark locked her for a couple of turns and got an early Metagross on the bench. From there he set up pretty well and started going after Catty's with Shawdow Room. Soon enough he ran out of places to attach energy so he actually powered up Metagross. True to form Magnetic Reversals just weren't working again, so after Gengar was KO'd (with a heads on Fainting Spell) she brought up a Squirtle. With nothing much on his bench, out came Metagross and it mowed down everything hitting for 100 per turn after killing the Squirtle which had 20 damage on it to start. Yes he wins with Metagross and I have to listen to him crow about how much I tried to convince him this card was not worth putting in a binder let alone a deck!!
Game 3, Quinn went first and started with Chop and Baltoy and got up an early Claydol. With early draw and early Champ a couple of prizes came easy and after she KO'd the Champ. Up came Gengar and after taking one more prize with Shawdow Room it took down a fully powered Blastoise which had Aqua Pressed for the KO with a heads on Fainting Spell. Time was called on Kayla's turn with Quinn up 4 to 2 prize cards she could only kill one Poke with Double Launcher.
So Quinn wins his first major Pokemon Tournament 3 years after starting playing the tournament circuit.
PROPS
Great Venue
Really Good on Point Judging
Proving that 5th at Nats last year was likely not a Fluke
Quality of the Opponents SotG
My Wife for looking after all of the logistics associated with 4 kids / 4 decks / 4 lunches all on a day she would have much rather been outside
QUINN WINS
SLOPS
Energy deciding that it was happier to stay in my deck during my Top 8 match Game 1.
SLOW elevators
$23 for Parking!!
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