butlerforhire
New Member
The week before the tournament, I was fortunate enough to catch a Magikarp with my Old Rod in a lake on the edge of town. It was utterly pathetic, but I knew that it had potential to become great through the miracle of evolution. With that in mind, I trained it day and night up until the Friday of my departure for Oklahoma, and on the car ride there, it finally evolved into a Gyarados. I told it lies about how everyone who was going to be at the tournament had played a part in this massive anti-Magikarp conspiracy that led to the murder of an entire sea of flailing fish, and its hunger for revenge was born. It slept in the bathtub, but barely-- the rage kept it tossing and turning all night. I had created a true monster.
Round 1: Luxray/Garchomp
I believe I started with Sableye and began the usual process of collecting the tools to send Magikarps up the River Styx. However, one of my Magikarp was prized, and a later Time Walk retrieval attempt was Power Sprayed, leaving me with no way to OHKO Luxrays at all whereas he could OHKO me with the aid of Lucario GL. My opponent initially had a small hand-- 2 or 3 cards-- with no Claydol in play and a full bench and an active, damaged Garchomp C lv. X that I proceeded to KO. I felt like possibly I could take advantage of his small hand, KO some weak Pokemon and draw into my prized Magikarp, but my KO allowed him to Cynthia's and from there he pulled a Cyrus, which gave him full control of the match-up. Luxray/Garchomp with Lucario GL wrecks Gyarados when it has no way to return KOs.
0-1
Everyone loves taking a first-round loss!
Round 2: Gardevoir/Gallade/Dusknoir
I think I started with Sableye here as well, or at least was able to get one into play immediately, if I didn't open with it. I prized a Magikarp again, but I was able to Time Walk it out on the 2nd or 3rd turn. My opponent began with Spiritomb and Baltoy and used Darkness Grace to bring out Claydol. I Regi Moved to force the Claydol up and probably Impersonated; I know I didn't Tail Revenge yet because I didn't have the means. He was able to Warp Point Claydol back to the bench, bench Ralts, attach to it, and Darkness Grace into a Kirlia. I had a Luxray GL in play and I believe I brought that up when he Warped, allowing me to Bright Look the Kirlia and Tail Revenge it for the KO. I used Bright Look later on a benched Ralts with an energy, and then again on Claydol. He got Dusknoir into play before I was able to do that final Bright Look, and my bench was full, but for some reason he neglected to Dark Palm. Gardevoir/Gallade never came out and I was not attacked all game; I think this meets the definition of "blow-out."
1-1
Round 3: Garchomp SV
Another blow-out. My opponent had a Gible start with a benched Baltoy, which I was able to Regi Move active and KO with Tail Revenge on my second turn. He actually managed to stall me with Sand Attack for several turns, which could have been avoided with some assistance from the Unown G that was sitting on my bench, but I overlooked it for a while. He had a Supporter and Pokemon drought, topdecking another Gible but nothing else. Both Gible were Belted. I broke through Sand Attack eventually via Warp energy or SSU and also Guarded Gyarados to prevent getting hit by it again and took both Gible out for the win. I dislike "games" like this, but I'm capitalizing when they do occur.
2-1
Round 4: Gyarados
I was playing the mirror, as manned by Billy Kettler, and I was confident due to my inclusion of Ditto that I had the advantage and would take the game given an appropriate set up. However, my heart sunk when I pulled a lone Magikarp with Call energy. I asked him if he had the Sableye and he affirmed, leaving me sitting there nervously wondering if his list ran Dark energy and, more importantly, if he had one in hand for the turn 1 win. As soon as we began, I asked him if he had the energy, and he said that he had energy, but not the energy; my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. Even though I wasn't in danger of losing turn 1, he still had the advantage due to getting the first Impersonate off, and I knew I would be playing catch-up for a while. I Called for a Regice and Sableye and feared that he would Regi Move me next turn and be able to KO either of the Pokemon I just benched, with the aid of Felicity's. He didn't do that though, opting to continue Impersonating/setting up Tail Revenge, and I was able to retreat for Sableye next turn and begin my own belated set-up procedure.
Eventually we both got fully set up with 3 discarded Magikarp and the war began. He got a KO on Sableye and I got the first strike on his Gyarados, which was important. He didn't run SSU, but I was worrying that he did the entire game; I didn't want to lose KOs on flips and then have to try my own luck at flips for Gyarados preservation. He did run Reversal, and he got a heads to KO a Luxray GL which-- while inconsequential in hindsight-- bothered me in the moment.
The game came down to him with 1 prize with a fresh, Expert-Belted Gyarados and me with 2 prizes and a Gyarados with Expert Belt and 20 damage. I used Collector to grab Crobat G and Ditto, dropped Crobat G and hit his active, and benched Ditto. I SSUed and got heads, bringing my Gyarados and the Belt back to my hand. Ditto came up. I Regi Moved to discard the 4th Magikarp that had just gone back to my hand off the SSU and Belted Ditto, allowing me to Tail Revenge for 140 and the game. I was ecstatic, and Billy admitted that he was stunned. That play completely validated running Ditto, and I wouldn't drop it for anything as long as the threat of the mirror is prevalent (and I see no sign indicating that the threat will go away anytime soon). I consider this game to be the most memorable I've ever played; its epic nature made up for my previous 3 lackluster rounds and I knew that even if I bombed from then on out, I could walk away with memories of a great game.
3-1
Round 5: Jumpluff/Cherrim SF
My opponent's list didn't run Shaymin, had PlusPower, Chatot, multiple Uxie, Looker's, and I never saw an Expert Belt. He got several Jumpluff in play as well as Claydol and one Cherrim, but I took out the Claydol early on after a Bright Look and gave him the grief that usually accompanies that loss, although the effect took awhile to settle in since he had a large hand from Mimicing mine. He dropped 2 Looker's over the course of the game, if my recollection is accurate, although they didn't matter because I drew well from them. I played most or all of the game with a bench of 3 in order to prevent him from OHKOing my Gyarados. He was able to take 3 or 4 prizes but suffered a return KO every time until he ran out of Jumpluff altogether and I took the game.
4-1
Round 6: Luxray/Garchomp
His variant featured Skuntank G and Lake Boundary over Lucario GL. This was a smart anti-Gyarados choice-- albeit less reliable than Lucario GL-- since it didn't require constant Flash Biting or Trash Bolting to enable a OHKO and it also countered my Broken Time Space.
He started with Crobat G and I had Sableye, which was followed by a benched Magikarp (I feared the donk on Sableye via Bite plus Belt plus Flash Bite/Bite plus 3 Flash Bites). I went through the usual motions and he Called for Luxray GL and Bronzong G. I was able to Regi Move and Felicity's to get 3 Magikarp in the discard AND force up his Bronzong G. I had the energy to retreat Sableye and got a KO with Tail Revenge. He couldn't deal with the speed of my set up and I managed to KO 1 or 2 Luxray GL lv. Xs before he scooped.
5-1
I made top 8 as the 4th seed, which led to me being paired with the friend whom I traveled to the event with/whose deck I helped construct/whom I playtest with, etc.. I had the advantage of knowing his exact list, which wasn't fair, although he also knew mine. Knocking out a friend is never cool.
Top 8: Curse Gengar with inventive techs
His list runs the expected 4 Spiritomb and only one Mime over two, which was a huge factor in this match-up as it became irrelevant due to Regi Move every time he Shadow Skipped to it. He also decided to try two rogue techs-- Giratina with Broken Space Blow, and PL Gardevoir (1-0-1). The idea was to drop the Giratina and the Gardevoir out of nowhere after hitting something essential like a level X for 80 with Shadow Skip, bring up Giratina, move all the needed energy over to it with Psychic Connect, and send that Pokemon and everything attached to it to the Lost Zone. He didn't manage to get that combo off against me, but I did see him do it earlier in the day. Psychic Connect is also a nice way to keep multiple Gengar attacking without having to have a full field of energy.
Game 1: I had a Magikarp start that was agonizingly slow, having to resort to Sea Spray several times. His start was Spiritomb and he used my delayed set up to get a Curse Gengar built behind it. Eventually I was able to get into the usual Gyarados position and I was able to avoid being locked out of using Rescue after KOs due to his lack of Spiritomb swarm/Bright Look/maybe Combee. He missed an important Feinting Spell flip against a Belted Gyarados either here or in the next game-- I believe it was here-- and I got down to 1 prize when he decided to take a risk and isolate a Mime against me, using Trick Play. I guessed the coin placement correctly twice in a row, putting him at 30 HP, and was able to Flash Bite 3 times on my next turn for the win.
1-0
Game 2: I had a better start this game and things went back and forth. He countered my BTS with Moonlight repeatedly until I was at a point where my active Gyarados got KOed and I had no way to get it back into play immediately. I had 2 prizes and he Shadow Skipped for that KO with a Belted Gengar lv. X that had 120 on it; obviously it went to the bench. I brought up Luxray GL, dropped an Uxie, played Warp energy on it as well as Expert Belt, leveled up Luxray and brought forth the Gengar lv. X, and retreated into a Psychic-Restoring Uxie for my last two prizes and the game.
2-0
6-1
Top 4: Luxray/Garchomp (same opponent as round 6)
Game 1: This game was bizarre. I missed 3 important SSU flips, all in an effort to rescue a Belted and highly damaged Gyarados, but my opponent offset this misfortune by making at least one huge misplay involving the promotion of a Belted Luxray GL with one energy attached to it and the announcement of an attack that he couldn't pay for, giving me the chance to OHKO it with Gyarados next turn and grab two prizes. The game was incredibly close from there, and I pulled it out with a Belted Gyarados against a fresh Garchomp C lv. X at the end for my last prize.
1-0
Game 2: My opponent didn't misplay this round, or at least not noticeably, and I couldn't keep up with the Lake Boundary/Luxray GL/Skuntank G triple threat, partially because 2 of my BTS were prized.
1-1
Game 3: This game was similar to game 2, except I almost took it to sudden death when time was called on my turn with him at 1 prize and me with 4. He had an active, damaged, Belted Luxray GL lv. X and I had a Gyarados that was likely Belted. I had enough Poketurns and SSUs in my deck to Flash Bite his active for a KO and two prizes, and then I could just OHKO whatever he brought up for my 3rd, leaving us with one each, but an Uxie for 5 or 6 that surprisingly didn't get Sprayed only netted me one Poketurn and I couldn't pull that combo off. He may have been able to Dragon Rush me for the last prize anyway even if I had been able to do it, but it would've been quite a spectacle anyway.
1-2
I took 3rd and pulled a DCE, reverse holo DCE, and Jumpluff all in the same pack-- THAT deserves special mention. Andy M. went on to beat Will B. (my round six/top 4 opponent) in the mirror match.
Consult rew's tournament report at heytrainer.org for more info on what went on after cut. He is a natural-born storyteller.
Round 1: Luxray/Garchomp
I believe I started with Sableye and began the usual process of collecting the tools to send Magikarps up the River Styx. However, one of my Magikarp was prized, and a later Time Walk retrieval attempt was Power Sprayed, leaving me with no way to OHKO Luxrays at all whereas he could OHKO me with the aid of Lucario GL. My opponent initially had a small hand-- 2 or 3 cards-- with no Claydol in play and a full bench and an active, damaged Garchomp C lv. X that I proceeded to KO. I felt like possibly I could take advantage of his small hand, KO some weak Pokemon and draw into my prized Magikarp, but my KO allowed him to Cynthia's and from there he pulled a Cyrus, which gave him full control of the match-up. Luxray/Garchomp with Lucario GL wrecks Gyarados when it has no way to return KOs.
0-1
Everyone loves taking a first-round loss!
Round 2: Gardevoir/Gallade/Dusknoir
I think I started with Sableye here as well, or at least was able to get one into play immediately, if I didn't open with it. I prized a Magikarp again, but I was able to Time Walk it out on the 2nd or 3rd turn. My opponent began with Spiritomb and Baltoy and used Darkness Grace to bring out Claydol. I Regi Moved to force the Claydol up and probably Impersonated; I know I didn't Tail Revenge yet because I didn't have the means. He was able to Warp Point Claydol back to the bench, bench Ralts, attach to it, and Darkness Grace into a Kirlia. I had a Luxray GL in play and I believe I brought that up when he Warped, allowing me to Bright Look the Kirlia and Tail Revenge it for the KO. I used Bright Look later on a benched Ralts with an energy, and then again on Claydol. He got Dusknoir into play before I was able to do that final Bright Look, and my bench was full, but for some reason he neglected to Dark Palm. Gardevoir/Gallade never came out and I was not attacked all game; I think this meets the definition of "blow-out."
1-1
Round 3: Garchomp SV
Another blow-out. My opponent had a Gible start with a benched Baltoy, which I was able to Regi Move active and KO with Tail Revenge on my second turn. He actually managed to stall me with Sand Attack for several turns, which could have been avoided with some assistance from the Unown G that was sitting on my bench, but I overlooked it for a while. He had a Supporter and Pokemon drought, topdecking another Gible but nothing else. Both Gible were Belted. I broke through Sand Attack eventually via Warp energy or SSU and also Guarded Gyarados to prevent getting hit by it again and took both Gible out for the win. I dislike "games" like this, but I'm capitalizing when they do occur.
2-1
Round 4: Gyarados
I was playing the mirror, as manned by Billy Kettler, and I was confident due to my inclusion of Ditto that I had the advantage and would take the game given an appropriate set up. However, my heart sunk when I pulled a lone Magikarp with Call energy. I asked him if he had the Sableye and he affirmed, leaving me sitting there nervously wondering if his list ran Dark energy and, more importantly, if he had one in hand for the turn 1 win. As soon as we began, I asked him if he had the energy, and he said that he had energy, but not the energy; my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. Even though I wasn't in danger of losing turn 1, he still had the advantage due to getting the first Impersonate off, and I knew I would be playing catch-up for a while. I Called for a Regice and Sableye and feared that he would Regi Move me next turn and be able to KO either of the Pokemon I just benched, with the aid of Felicity's. He didn't do that though, opting to continue Impersonating/setting up Tail Revenge, and I was able to retreat for Sableye next turn and begin my own belated set-up procedure.
Eventually we both got fully set up with 3 discarded Magikarp and the war began. He got a KO on Sableye and I got the first strike on his Gyarados, which was important. He didn't run SSU, but I was worrying that he did the entire game; I didn't want to lose KOs on flips and then have to try my own luck at flips for Gyarados preservation. He did run Reversal, and he got a heads to KO a Luxray GL which-- while inconsequential in hindsight-- bothered me in the moment.
The game came down to him with 1 prize with a fresh, Expert-Belted Gyarados and me with 2 prizes and a Gyarados with Expert Belt and 20 damage. I used Collector to grab Crobat G and Ditto, dropped Crobat G and hit his active, and benched Ditto. I SSUed and got heads, bringing my Gyarados and the Belt back to my hand. Ditto came up. I Regi Moved to discard the 4th Magikarp that had just gone back to my hand off the SSU and Belted Ditto, allowing me to Tail Revenge for 140 and the game. I was ecstatic, and Billy admitted that he was stunned. That play completely validated running Ditto, and I wouldn't drop it for anything as long as the threat of the mirror is prevalent (and I see no sign indicating that the threat will go away anytime soon). I consider this game to be the most memorable I've ever played; its epic nature made up for my previous 3 lackluster rounds and I knew that even if I bombed from then on out, I could walk away with memories of a great game.
3-1
Round 5: Jumpluff/Cherrim SF
My opponent's list didn't run Shaymin, had PlusPower, Chatot, multiple Uxie, Looker's, and I never saw an Expert Belt. He got several Jumpluff in play as well as Claydol and one Cherrim, but I took out the Claydol early on after a Bright Look and gave him the grief that usually accompanies that loss, although the effect took awhile to settle in since he had a large hand from Mimicing mine. He dropped 2 Looker's over the course of the game, if my recollection is accurate, although they didn't matter because I drew well from them. I played most or all of the game with a bench of 3 in order to prevent him from OHKOing my Gyarados. He was able to take 3 or 4 prizes but suffered a return KO every time until he ran out of Jumpluff altogether and I took the game.
4-1
Round 6: Luxray/Garchomp
His variant featured Skuntank G and Lake Boundary over Lucario GL. This was a smart anti-Gyarados choice-- albeit less reliable than Lucario GL-- since it didn't require constant Flash Biting or Trash Bolting to enable a OHKO and it also countered my Broken Time Space.
He started with Crobat G and I had Sableye, which was followed by a benched Magikarp (I feared the donk on Sableye via Bite plus Belt plus Flash Bite/Bite plus 3 Flash Bites). I went through the usual motions and he Called for Luxray GL and Bronzong G. I was able to Regi Move and Felicity's to get 3 Magikarp in the discard AND force up his Bronzong G. I had the energy to retreat Sableye and got a KO with Tail Revenge. He couldn't deal with the speed of my set up and I managed to KO 1 or 2 Luxray GL lv. Xs before he scooped.
5-1
I made top 8 as the 4th seed, which led to me being paired with the friend whom I traveled to the event with/whose deck I helped construct/whom I playtest with, etc.. I had the advantage of knowing his exact list, which wasn't fair, although he also knew mine. Knocking out a friend is never cool.
Top 8: Curse Gengar with inventive techs
His list runs the expected 4 Spiritomb and only one Mime over two, which was a huge factor in this match-up as it became irrelevant due to Regi Move every time he Shadow Skipped to it. He also decided to try two rogue techs-- Giratina with Broken Space Blow, and PL Gardevoir (1-0-1). The idea was to drop the Giratina and the Gardevoir out of nowhere after hitting something essential like a level X for 80 with Shadow Skip, bring up Giratina, move all the needed energy over to it with Psychic Connect, and send that Pokemon and everything attached to it to the Lost Zone. He didn't manage to get that combo off against me, but I did see him do it earlier in the day. Psychic Connect is also a nice way to keep multiple Gengar attacking without having to have a full field of energy.
Game 1: I had a Magikarp start that was agonizingly slow, having to resort to Sea Spray several times. His start was Spiritomb and he used my delayed set up to get a Curse Gengar built behind it. Eventually I was able to get into the usual Gyarados position and I was able to avoid being locked out of using Rescue after KOs due to his lack of Spiritomb swarm/Bright Look/maybe Combee. He missed an important Feinting Spell flip against a Belted Gyarados either here or in the next game-- I believe it was here-- and I got down to 1 prize when he decided to take a risk and isolate a Mime against me, using Trick Play. I guessed the coin placement correctly twice in a row, putting him at 30 HP, and was able to Flash Bite 3 times on my next turn for the win.
1-0
Game 2: I had a better start this game and things went back and forth. He countered my BTS with Moonlight repeatedly until I was at a point where my active Gyarados got KOed and I had no way to get it back into play immediately. I had 2 prizes and he Shadow Skipped for that KO with a Belted Gengar lv. X that had 120 on it; obviously it went to the bench. I brought up Luxray GL, dropped an Uxie, played Warp energy on it as well as Expert Belt, leveled up Luxray and brought forth the Gengar lv. X, and retreated into a Psychic-Restoring Uxie for my last two prizes and the game.
2-0
6-1
Top 4: Luxray/Garchomp (same opponent as round 6)
Game 1: This game was bizarre. I missed 3 important SSU flips, all in an effort to rescue a Belted and highly damaged Gyarados, but my opponent offset this misfortune by making at least one huge misplay involving the promotion of a Belted Luxray GL with one energy attached to it and the announcement of an attack that he couldn't pay for, giving me the chance to OHKO it with Gyarados next turn and grab two prizes. The game was incredibly close from there, and I pulled it out with a Belted Gyarados against a fresh Garchomp C lv. X at the end for my last prize.
1-0
Game 2: My opponent didn't misplay this round, or at least not noticeably, and I couldn't keep up with the Lake Boundary/Luxray GL/Skuntank G triple threat, partially because 2 of my BTS were prized.
1-1
Game 3: This game was similar to game 2, except I almost took it to sudden death when time was called on my turn with him at 1 prize and me with 4. He had an active, damaged, Belted Luxray GL lv. X and I had a Gyarados that was likely Belted. I had enough Poketurns and SSUs in my deck to Flash Bite his active for a KO and two prizes, and then I could just OHKO whatever he brought up for my 3rd, leaving us with one each, but an Uxie for 5 or 6 that surprisingly didn't get Sprayed only netted me one Poketurn and I couldn't pull that combo off. He may have been able to Dragon Rush me for the last prize anyway even if I had been able to do it, but it would've been quite a spectacle anyway.
1-2
I took 3rd and pulled a DCE, reverse holo DCE, and Jumpluff all in the same pack-- THAT deserves special mention. Andy M. went on to beat Will B. (my round six/top 4 opponent) in the mirror match.
Consult rew's tournament report at heytrainer.org for more info on what went on after cut. He is a natural-born storyteller.