TheDarkTwins
Active Member
I managed to squeak into worlds by grabbing the 24th of 25 US invite spots after having a complete meltdown at US Nationals by starting 5-0 and finishing 1-4 and losing in T64 after winning game 1 of top cut. I played 6 GG's, 3 Empoleon, and 1 Rogue. So, I was talking to my friend and he was asking me what I was thinking about playing as a counter to GG and Empoleon. I said that I was very interested in Ampharos/Bronzong. He liked the idea and started testing it out. We each decide to go in different directions, however I was still having issues with my version. I decided to then go with his version. To test it out I went to a local tournament. I played 1 game before the tournament vs Empoleon and won. I played then in the tournament proceeding to go 3-0 with it playing against 2 GG and an Empoleon. I decide that it was going to be my deck for Worlds.
So anyways, I get to FL and decide to do some more playtesting on Thursday. I played a total of 15 games going 13-2 with it losing to a GG and an Empoleon. With the testing done, I go to sleep for the night.
On Friday my friend uses almost the same deck (1 card difference) and gets T1'd by a Togekiss. He then goes 6-2 and barely misses also earning an invite.
Here is my list -
Pokemon - (21)
4 Bronzor MD
4 Bronzong MD
3 Mareep SW
2 Flaaffy SW
3 Ampharos SW
2 Baltoy GE
2 Claydol GE
1 Absol Ex PK
Trainers - (24)
4 Bebe's Search
3 Rare Candy
3 Roseanne's Research
3 Steven's Advice
3 Warp Point
2 CopyCat
2 Windstorm
2 Lake Boundary
1 Celio's Network
1 Night Maintenance
Energy - (15)
4 Call
4 Lightning
4 Double Rainbow
3 Scramble
So anyways, on to the tournament report.
Round 1 - Sami S. (UK) - (EmpoZong w/ Dusknoir)
I don't really remember much about this matchup other than I got a really good start to his Mediocre. I know I got T2 Ampharos and that hurt him. He did end up koing two of his pokemon on his turn. I believe I took my last 3 prizes on the last turn of the game with Absol Ex, Bronzong's Body, and Attacking.
Win (1-0)
Round 2 - Gino L. (US) - (GG w/ Muk & Cresselia Lv. X)
I get an eh start but I am still manage to get up a Ampharos T2. This hurts him through out the game. He does telekensis my Claydol twice early game which hurts me. However, I end up needing to draw a Bronzong + Scramble from my deck. I copycat for 10 and I get the scramble (which meant I would be ko'd next turn). I can't keep it close after that and he proceed to win a very close game.
Loss (1-1)
Round 3 - Kyle S. (US) - (GG)
We both mulligan twice. I then get a basic (Baltoy) while he mulligans again. I draw a Mareep and play it. I am going to Copycat the first chance I get because my hand is horrible. He starts after his 3 mulligans with Chatot. He goes first and proceeds to mimic my 6 card hand. I top deck the RC and get a T1 Ampharos. I then copycat into candy and another Ampharos. He goes and has to Mimic again. I top deck a Mareep this time and get a T1 and T2 Ampharos up. His draw just craps out on him and I pretty much run right thru him after my amazing start.
Win (2-1)
Round 4 - Paul J. (US) - (GG)
This was my best match all day. I get a HORRIBLE start to his T2 or T3 Gallade. I have a horrible start but I manage to flip a heads with Mareep to paralyze his active. He warp's out of it. I don't remember what exactly happened my next turn, but he ends up getting Gallade out as I stated. I the proceed to got 2/2 on my next two flips for Paralyzation on his active Gallade. This gives me enough time to get setup up enough to try to put up a fight. He ends up taking 4 of the first 5 prizes. I am losing 5 prizes left to 2. He however Mimic to get better cards in his hand. I proceed to have Bronzong's Body KO his Claydol in between turns then I use Absol Ex to move counters from his Gardy Lv. X to Gallade which ko's that and then I coating his active to take another prize giving my 3 prizes on pretty much one turn. He can't recover from this and I end up taking 2 of the next 3 prizes giving me the win in a VERY good game.
Win (3-1)
Round 5 - Tom R. (FI) - (Jirachi Ex/Gallade/Electrode)
So, now I am paired up against the former World Champ. He gets a good start as do I. I get up a Bronzong and ko his active Jirachi, however his deck is really good (he played beach). I am spreading with jamming. He has 2 prizes to my 3. I am in serious trouble. He uses his Gallade to ko my active Bronzong who used Coating last turn by doing 80 by flipping one. Only problem is he said Psychic Cut for 80 without announcing how many prizes he is flipping over before he flipped. I call over the judge and he ends up having to flip the prize down and only do 60 which prevents the KO on my active Bronzong. I proceed to Warp Point and then play Absol Ex moving 2 damage from his active Voltorb to his Jirachi Ex on the bench with 6 already on it. I ko his active tying the game. He can't prevent my next turn from doing Pain Amplifier so I win.
Win (4-1)
Round 6 - Anna S. (??) - EmpoZong
She has a very good Empoleon list. I don't remember much other than I use my Ampharos to take out her Empoleons with Bronzong's help. I end up using Absol Ex to move damge to her Claydol and then proceed to Pain Amp to ko both her Claydol on her bench to win. I now know I am in top cut. However I want to get a good seed.
Win - (5-1)
Round 7 - Frankie D. (US)
I see I am playing my friend in R7 but we are both in, so we have a fun game. He gets a crap start to my very good start. I proceed to 6-1 him and win the game.
Win - (6-1)
I end up getting the 3rd seed just above Yamato. I am playing against John S. in T32. John went 4-3 and had the highest resistance. He is playing Empoleon/Bronzong with 4 Cess. I then head up stairs and go to sleep.
T32 - John S. (Speed EmpoZong)
Game 1 - I end up getting a great start however he is smart and takes out my Claydol that I got T2 really quickly as he gets a T2 Empoleon up. I end up having issues drawing anything good and lose pretty quickly.
Game 2 - I go first and end up getting a T2 Claydol for the 2nd straight game. He gets a T3 Empoleon which doesn't help me. I am keeping the game even until he gets his Lv. X out and hits me twice with Empoleon Lv. X on two straight turns by Warp Pointing and hitting my Ampharos with 3 damage counters for 80 putting me up to 110. I then proceed to Warp Point and play down Absol Ex to ko his Empoleon Lv. X. I end up needing a warp point for two straight turns to win the game. If I can get it I can win however if I can I can't win. I don't draw in the first time and the second time I only have 4 cards left in my deck. I fail a Bebe's Search. I then play all the cards I can so I can Claydol for 1. I whiff and proceed to lose next turn. My 3rd Warp Point was my next card. I also had times mid game when I steven's (like twice) for 6 and drew nothing I needed and when I copycat'd for 10 and 12 and drew a hand that was worse then my 3-4 card hand that I began with.
Loss (6-2)
I really wanted the Scholarship Money and the DS Lite they gave out, but going 6-2 with a rogue deck is pretty impressive. I congratulate John and wish him the best of luck. He later tells me that those were his two best starts and that I would of gave Jason a run for his money as my deck has a favorable matchup vs. GG. I am pretty bummed out but I get a box of LA, two Top Thirty-Two cards, a Top Thirty-Two Hat, and the 10th anniversary Ash and Pikachu statue. I cheer on my two friends in top cut who manage to get T8 and 4th.
I did end up getting 18th which was one spot higher than Yamato this year, which is impressive.
Thanks for Reading,
Drew
Props -
Dustin, Eddie, James, Kettler, Mikey F., Tommy, and Matt G. for helping me with the deck and playtesting with me
Getting T32
The Staff and POP/PUI for running a GREAT EVENT.
My friends
Anything else I might be forgetting.
My friends getting T8 and 4th.
Jason K. winning Worlds for a 2nd year.
Slops -
Losing in T32.
No DS Lite this year.
Missing a Playmat. :frown:
No Sleep.
Anything else may have forgot.
So anyways, I get to FL and decide to do some more playtesting on Thursday. I played a total of 15 games going 13-2 with it losing to a GG and an Empoleon. With the testing done, I go to sleep for the night.
On Friday my friend uses almost the same deck (1 card difference) and gets T1'd by a Togekiss. He then goes 6-2 and barely misses also earning an invite.
Here is my list -
Pokemon - (21)
4 Bronzor MD
4 Bronzong MD
3 Mareep SW
2 Flaaffy SW
3 Ampharos SW
2 Baltoy GE
2 Claydol GE
1 Absol Ex PK
Trainers - (24)
4 Bebe's Search
3 Rare Candy
3 Roseanne's Research
3 Steven's Advice
3 Warp Point
2 CopyCat
2 Windstorm
2 Lake Boundary
1 Celio's Network
1 Night Maintenance
Energy - (15)
4 Call
4 Lightning
4 Double Rainbow
3 Scramble
So anyways, on to the tournament report.
Round 1 - Sami S. (UK) - (EmpoZong w/ Dusknoir)
I don't really remember much about this matchup other than I got a really good start to his Mediocre. I know I got T2 Ampharos and that hurt him. He did end up koing two of his pokemon on his turn. I believe I took my last 3 prizes on the last turn of the game with Absol Ex, Bronzong's Body, and Attacking.
Win (1-0)
Round 2 - Gino L. (US) - (GG w/ Muk & Cresselia Lv. X)
I get an eh start but I am still manage to get up a Ampharos T2. This hurts him through out the game. He does telekensis my Claydol twice early game which hurts me. However, I end up needing to draw a Bronzong + Scramble from my deck. I copycat for 10 and I get the scramble (which meant I would be ko'd next turn). I can't keep it close after that and he proceed to win a very close game.
Loss (1-1)
Round 3 - Kyle S. (US) - (GG)
We both mulligan twice. I then get a basic (Baltoy) while he mulligans again. I draw a Mareep and play it. I am going to Copycat the first chance I get because my hand is horrible. He starts after his 3 mulligans with Chatot. He goes first and proceeds to mimic my 6 card hand. I top deck the RC and get a T1 Ampharos. I then copycat into candy and another Ampharos. He goes and has to Mimic again. I top deck a Mareep this time and get a T1 and T2 Ampharos up. His draw just craps out on him and I pretty much run right thru him after my amazing start.
Win (2-1)
Round 4 - Paul J. (US) - (GG)
This was my best match all day. I get a HORRIBLE start to his T2 or T3 Gallade. I have a horrible start but I manage to flip a heads with Mareep to paralyze his active. He warp's out of it. I don't remember what exactly happened my next turn, but he ends up getting Gallade out as I stated. I the proceed to got 2/2 on my next two flips for Paralyzation on his active Gallade. This gives me enough time to get setup up enough to try to put up a fight. He ends up taking 4 of the first 5 prizes. I am losing 5 prizes left to 2. He however Mimic to get better cards in his hand. I proceed to have Bronzong's Body KO his Claydol in between turns then I use Absol Ex to move counters from his Gardy Lv. X to Gallade which ko's that and then I coating his active to take another prize giving my 3 prizes on pretty much one turn. He can't recover from this and I end up taking 2 of the next 3 prizes giving me the win in a VERY good game.
Win (3-1)
Round 5 - Tom R. (FI) - (Jirachi Ex/Gallade/Electrode)
So, now I am paired up against the former World Champ. He gets a good start as do I. I get up a Bronzong and ko his active Jirachi, however his deck is really good (he played beach). I am spreading with jamming. He has 2 prizes to my 3. I am in serious trouble. He uses his Gallade to ko my active Bronzong who used Coating last turn by doing 80 by flipping one. Only problem is he said Psychic Cut for 80 without announcing how many prizes he is flipping over before he flipped. I call over the judge and he ends up having to flip the prize down and only do 60 which prevents the KO on my active Bronzong. I proceed to Warp Point and then play Absol Ex moving 2 damage from his active Voltorb to his Jirachi Ex on the bench with 6 already on it. I ko his active tying the game. He can't prevent my next turn from doing Pain Amplifier so I win.
Win (4-1)
Round 6 - Anna S. (??) - EmpoZong
She has a very good Empoleon list. I don't remember much other than I use my Ampharos to take out her Empoleons with Bronzong's help. I end up using Absol Ex to move damge to her Claydol and then proceed to Pain Amp to ko both her Claydol on her bench to win. I now know I am in top cut. However I want to get a good seed.
Win - (5-1)
Round 7 - Frankie D. (US)
I see I am playing my friend in R7 but we are both in, so we have a fun game. He gets a crap start to my very good start. I proceed to 6-1 him and win the game.
Win - (6-1)
I end up getting the 3rd seed just above Yamato. I am playing against John S. in T32. John went 4-3 and had the highest resistance. He is playing Empoleon/Bronzong with 4 Cess. I then head up stairs and go to sleep.
T32 - John S. (Speed EmpoZong)
Game 1 - I end up getting a great start however he is smart and takes out my Claydol that I got T2 really quickly as he gets a T2 Empoleon up. I end up having issues drawing anything good and lose pretty quickly.
Game 2 - I go first and end up getting a T2 Claydol for the 2nd straight game. He gets a T3 Empoleon which doesn't help me. I am keeping the game even until he gets his Lv. X out and hits me twice with Empoleon Lv. X on two straight turns by Warp Pointing and hitting my Ampharos with 3 damage counters for 80 putting me up to 110. I then proceed to Warp Point and play down Absol Ex to ko his Empoleon Lv. X. I end up needing a warp point for two straight turns to win the game. If I can get it I can win however if I can I can't win. I don't draw in the first time and the second time I only have 4 cards left in my deck. I fail a Bebe's Search. I then play all the cards I can so I can Claydol for 1. I whiff and proceed to lose next turn. My 3rd Warp Point was my next card. I also had times mid game when I steven's (like twice) for 6 and drew nothing I needed and when I copycat'd for 10 and 12 and drew a hand that was worse then my 3-4 card hand that I began with.
Loss (6-2)
I really wanted the Scholarship Money and the DS Lite they gave out, but going 6-2 with a rogue deck is pretty impressive. I congratulate John and wish him the best of luck. He later tells me that those were his two best starts and that I would of gave Jason a run for his money as my deck has a favorable matchup vs. GG. I am pretty bummed out but I get a box of LA, two Top Thirty-Two cards, a Top Thirty-Two Hat, and the 10th anniversary Ash and Pikachu statue. I cheer on my two friends in top cut who manage to get T8 and 4th.
I did end up getting 18th which was one spot higher than Yamato this year, which is impressive.
Thanks for Reading,
Drew
Props -
Dustin, Eddie, James, Kettler, Mikey F., Tommy, and Matt G. for helping me with the deck and playtesting with me
Getting T32
The Staff and POP/PUI for running a GREAT EVENT.
My friends
Anything else I might be forgetting.
My friends getting T8 and 4th.
Jason K. winning Worlds for a 2nd year.
Slops -
Losing in T32.
No DS Lite this year.
Missing a Playmat. :frown:
No Sleep.
Anything else may have forgot.
Last edited: