Pidgeotto Trainer
New Member
Sorry for the delayed report, I've been visiting family all week.
I had a very successful season going in with a 75-13 record including a great cities season, 1st and 3rd at states and top 64 at nationals. (Didn't play regs). I spent most of the season in the top 2 in rankings, finishing at 5th. I was pleased to not be playing in the grinder on Thursday, my birthday, yet it was still a stressful day. At different points of the day on Thursday I was thinking about playing Palkia/Luxray, Luxray/Infernape, Flygon/Palkia lock and Machamp. Never before at worlds was I so unsure of my deck the day before the event. Machamp was so tempting and I had tested it enough to know it could actually beat Flygon, but it was still 5050 with Palkia even though you think it would be better. My friend Tyler went 8-0 thru the grinder with Flygon, but others didn't do as well and I never thought it was that great. Gordon (slimeygrimey) was set on Luxray/Palkia and beat me playing Flygon 2-0 and me playing Machamp 2-1. Even though I beat him 2-0 using Luxape, it was midnight and I had to choose a deck. I loved Luxape as its so consistent and really liked my list (4 Call, 2-2 Claydol, 2 Lux Ball, 4 Spray-very consistent). However, my testing over the summer led me to believe Palkia variants were better vs Flygon and Machamp and the Luxape vs Palkia matchup was 5050 in my mind. I did come in thinking I would play one of the SP decks, so in the end I stuck to that.
After deciding on Palkia/Luxray, Gordon and I debated for a long time if we needed a Mewtwo counter or not. That meant adding a 1-1 Mismagius and 1 Bebe, 3 cards that could be various things, 1-2 Premier Ball, 4th Uxie, 4th Power Spray. It was very up in the air which way we'd go. We even took out a calculator that happened to be in my backpack from school and started calculating things like if there's 15 mewtwo decks in the field, and those 3 cards make our deck 5% more likely to lose every other game, what's statistically more likely to win? Our math involved a lot of estimates but it did suggest we should play a Mewtwo counter though that isn't really why we decided on it lol. I was still awake I think til 3 am thinking about it and just having trouble falling asleep (I had a cough all week). Even as we both woke up, we were asking each other what we were thinking about it. We both ended up playing the Mismagius.
Pokemon 24
3 Palkia g
1 Palkia g x
2 Luxray gl
1 Luxray gl x
1 Bronzong g
1 Crobat g
1 Toxicroak g (promo)
1 Azelf la
1 Azelf mt
4 Mesprit la
3 Uxie la
2 Unown G
1 Chatot md
1 Misdreavous sf
1 Mismagius sf
Trainers 25
4 Cyrus
4 Roseanne
1 Bebe
1 Aaron
1 Luxury Ball
2 SP Radar
4 Energy Gain
3 Power Spray
4 Poketurn
1 Night Maintenance
Energy 11
4 Water
2 Lightning
1 Psychic
4 Call
Gordon and I both hated the list ironically. Two days earlier we were still at a 62 card list with a nice SP Energy, 4 Spray, 4 Uxie, 2 Premier Ball. Now we had bare minimum energy and what I hated the most, no Premier Ball. If I played no Mismagius, I would put in 2 Premier and 1 Spray I think. I thought about taking out Luxray for Raichu for space, even though I had suggested the Luxray in the first place, but after the tournament I know this would have been bad. Luxray adds so much flexibility. You're not stuck in the same rigid palkia strategy every game, you can go with what your hand and opponents setup dictate which is great. And unlike Dialga/Palkia, with free retreat you can easily get a Palkia x and start Mespriting every turn a couple turns later. I was really worried that I would have troubles with only 4 hours sleep, less than I think I've ever gone into a tournament with, but it turned out to be a non factor. I was well focused all day.
Round 1 vs Andy Meier (TX) Luxray/Sunyshore
I have a very favorable start and get the Azelf combo going. Early on he gets a Sunyshore in play which makes things very difficult, but I still have a good position. I ko one Luxray x with Palkia and he's able to get it back with Aaron. He is able to Bright Look my Azelf mt but I stop Claydol so he retreats to Chatot. He tries to Mimic but I stop him as he forgot the Azelf makes it cost something. So he's at a 1 card hand and I am able to Mesprit him this turn. I decide to also Roseanne for Azelf la as I know there's an Uxie and a Mesprit in there and this looks like a good turn to have time to get those. Unfortunately, this play messes me up as I end up with a full bench and can't replay my Crobat to Splashing Turn too. So I just do 20 and stay. I didn't think about it too long as the chances of him koing me with a 1 card hand aren't too likely. But sure enough, he topdecks something and plays the only 2 cards in his hand, a 2nd energy to Luxray and Energy Gain to ko my Palkia x. From this point on I have 4 pixies on the bench which really cramps my bench space. I still would have easily won if it was not for his Sunyshore. But his Luxrays were able to live and his Claydol caught him up. I started running out of stuff and at 2-2 he took the last prize as time was called. I had nothing left in hand anyways. 0-1
Round 2 vs Nicolas Harle (FR) Gyarados SF
He starts with a Toxicroak g fighting and I have a good start with Luxray. Anyways I get off to a good start I think koing the Toxicroak and then Bright Looking a Baltoy a couple turns later for ko. He gets off a couple Sableye attacks though which set up his Magikarps felicity'd into the Discard Pile. I ko that and he ko's me with the Toxicroak that I think he got back (or maybe I didn't ko it, idk). Anyways I had the early lead getting to 3 prizes quick. The Toxicroak leaps away after that and he gets the Gyarados and Felicities another Magikarp to the discard. He starts catching up a lot now as my hand is running out of stuff. I need to cycle level x's to not get ohko'd which I just don't have enough to do. Quickly it gets to like 3-3 before I ko the Gyarados with Luxray and get up 2-3. I remember he hit an SSU on something down the line but I was never able to ko the 2nd Gyarados as I was just out of stuff. 90 for 0 with 130 HP is just brutal. He had the Pokemon Rescue and BTS ready when I ko'd the first Gyarados and it was just too much to deal with, and all without him ever getting a Claydol out. 0-2
I am super furious at being 0-2. Or as Mikey put it, 'you were so on tilt'. It all fit with how poor all the choices seemed the night before, and now the deck was doing terribly. I had lost two games with good hands, and even though there was a misplay in the first game, it was really more that I couldn't beat a Luxray with Sunyshores too well. My deck was just beaten twice despite good hands. Those decks were just able to beat it, they were ready for it.
I spend the lunch break trying to get some sleep and being angry and pretty much resigned to having a terrible day. Of course I'm going to play it out though. As long as there's a chance, I'm going to do everything possible to keep going, although I definitely wasn't too optimistic about it.
Round 3 vs Ian Brander (CO) Palkia/Mewtwo x
Although I was very frustrated at the time, in hindsight this game was pretty amusing. Ian beat me round 7 of last year's worlds on a flip, which left me at 33rd. He beat me again at nationals though I still made top cut. As we sit down, Ian is very laid back as we're probably both out of it at 0-2 so he just decides to tell me of his last game. He says he was playing Palkia mirror and got out his Mewtwo. Then his opponent played a Mismagius or something that discards tools. And he couldn't remember how much damage it did or exactly what it did, and it ended up beating him. Fortunately I was way too focused and serious after the 0-2 to give any kind of smile or something that would be revealing.
Both our starts are pretty good. Mine starts a little quicker but he uses Honchkrow and gets up to a couple Power Spray in hand which worries me as I'll need to Uxie soon most likely. He makes a mistake at some point in not rebenching a Honchkrow and only has 2 sps in play. I Bright Look his Palkia with 2 energy and ko (maybe the 2nd time I had Luxray ko'd a Palkia). Anyways, I guess he was struggling because both of his SP Radar were prized so he decides to just get Mewtwo and hope I don't have a counter. He takes a prize or two with it and I snipe his other Palkia with my Palkia x and bench a Misdreavous with Bebe in hand. He ko's the Palkia x and I topdeck Mismagius in hand anyways and ko the Mewtwo to go up like 2-4 and he just concedes. Good game Ian, great seeing you again. And thanks for staying in to boost my resistance. 1-2
Round 4 vs Omar Izzaguire (FL) Gardy/Gallade
Another well known player. I don't remember the details but I get a good start with strong power locking. I Hydro Shotted a Kirlia with energy at some point. Anyways he finally gets a Gardy going which makes it harder and I have to allow either Claydol or a Gardy for a couple turns. He had gotten the Gardy and the Upper without any powers so I was in a bad position for a bit under Psychic Lock and depended on the Sprays. Anyways, I still had a large lead and after I ko'd the first gardy with Uxie and hiding behind Crobat, he Cynthias. He can't get a Candy/Gardy or Gallade off of it and I easily take my last couple prizes. 2-2
Round 5 vs Dexter Pizzey (Canada) Palkia/Luxray
So I know this guy grinded in with nearly the same deck as Gordon and I. His start is definitely better with the Azelf mt combo coming out and he ends up Mespriting me like 4 turns in a row. I had to use Chatot and my position was still tough under the lock. He wasn't drawing much either though and I was just waiting the end of the Mesprit lock. Not sure the sequence of events, but I think I ko'd his Palkia with Luxray perhaps. Anyways some scenario happened so that I was going to have to Toxicroak him. It was evident I would do this since I attached one energy there and needed 2 vs Azelf. He attached to an Uxie and it was evident to me he would use Uxie x. So I ko'd and then he ko'd. Now here was a key position. He had used his last Mesprit. He had a full bench with 4 pixies on the field and a Palkia with no energy on the bench. I had Luxray active and a Cyrus. I wanted to Luxray x his Azelf mt next turn. The only thing that could stop me is if he retreats, levels up and Poketurns Palkia x after Lost Cycloning to put more sps into play. This scenario could also allow him a Crobat+Poketurn and 80 ko on my Luxray. I can stop all this with a Power Spray on Lost Cyclone and he'll have no way of stopping the gust next turn. But, I have 2 Cyrus prized! None left in the deck. I must get the SP Radar this turn then and can't get a Spray so I have to hope he can't do all that. He does none of that though and just does 20. Next turn I come roaring back as I Bright Look the Azelf and ko. A couple turns later I have Palkia x and my Azelf combo and Mespriting him back. It gets close to time and we're still at 2-2 but I have firm control over the game now and win. Can't ever give up in sp mirror, the one that's down early always has the important power stopping resources and stuff like the azelf combo available later if the tides turn. 3-2
Round 6 vs Herve Marcant (FR) Machamp/Ampharos
I have another solid start and he opens with Baltoy. I hit the Baltoy for 20 t1 with Palkia. He gets a Machop on the bench. To be safe, I Crobat the Baltoy, Guard the Crobat and do 20 for ko and switch to Crobat t2. He gets the Machamp and Hurricane Punches with 3 heads but can't ko Crobat. I Poketurn and hit him with Uxie for 50 and put up a fresh G'd Crobat again. He has to play Champ x and gets 2/4 on Hurricane Punch just to get his first ko. I ko with Palkia and he never gets another Machamp going. He would also get Mareeps and attach energy to them but I'd snipe them as well, using a Bronzong to get 2 snipes in a row at some point and Sprayed an Uxie somewhere in there as well I think.
Soooo, after 4 must wins in a row, I indeed am back to the same scenario as last year. 4-2 needing a win for the final round. As I mentioned before, last in this scenario I lost on a single flip and wound up 33rd. The pressure is on.
Round 7 vs Sergio Ortiz (MX) Weavile/Gardy/Flygon?
I go first and my turn is pretty good with supporters and a Lightning attached to active Crobat. He starts with Sneasel and his turn is BTS, Weavile and charge 2 Dark to it. That's it. I attach Energy gain to Luxray and am going to Uxie. I have a Poketurn I believe and if I get 2 energy I win with Trash Bolt. I get one and attach it and Bronzong the 2nd energy to Luxray. I pass. On his turn I realize I forgot to play my hand out of the Weavile discard attack. I only have 6 and I have the Cyrus for the energy and game next turn if he plays nothing. Only a 1 in 6 chance he nails the Cyrus. He announces the attack and has me lay out all my cards and nails the Cyrus. I couldn't believe it. I was only in shock for a few seconds though as I topdeck Roseanne and Trash Bolt ftw. 5-2
Incredible. 0-2 to 5-2. The dream was dead, I had spent the whole lunch break furious, thinking I was never going to win a Worlds, how terrible the list was etc. etc. Now I had made the top cut after coming so close a year ago (and I started that tournament 2-0). I found it very ironic that as bad as the Mismagius was most of the day, it was the difference between 0-3 and making top cut.
I have a long wait as my game was so short before the round ends and the standings/pairings for the top 32 come up. I placed in 24th seed, a little higher than I expected honestly. Then I had a 'wow, are you serious?' moment when I saw I was playing 9th seed Tsugoyoshi Yamato. It was such a crazy day, it figured to just get crazier lol. For those of you that don't know, my probably most famous moment in Pokemon was beating the 2004 World Champion Yamato in the 2005 Worlds top 8 on my way to placing 2nd. He was still invinceable in many player's eyes then as no one had beaten him yet in either worlds. (I remember it was said back then his one loss in 05 swiss was conceding to another JP player.) And to top it off, that match was in San Diego as this tournament was.
Yamato and I had a random deck check so we had a long time just sitting there. I was able to practice my japanese and talk with him some about various things, though he mostly answered in English which probably would have been necessary anyways lol. He remembered we had played twice before (he beat me in 07 swiss although we both ended up making top cut). We also talked about differences between Japanese OP and USA OP. Apparently Japan does a lot of single elimination and 20 min rounds. Yamato said that people make a lot of mistakes under such time constraints and he liked the US style better. Finally we get started.
Top 32 vs Tsugoyoshi Yamato (JP) Flygon/Weavile/Pachirisu/Dusknoir
Game 1
I start with a Luxray and not too much else. He starts out rough and needs to Psychic Balance. He gets a Claydol and retreats but I gust+crobat/turn ko it after one turn. From that point on I'm in a good position as he doesn't get another Claydol. He Chatots or finds some way to get a Flygon up but I'm able to take it down eventually with Palkia. I get up to 2-5 but he's getting another Flygon up and my hand is running short of stuff. I decide to use Luxray x to ko Azelf and just take another prize. I'm really not in a position to ko another Flygon x but he's still got a Pachi on the field I can ko later. (He attacked with it midgame which kind of hurt but I had enough attachments down to be okay). He one shots the Luxray x and I really need the NM or the Aaron's to get energy etc. to setup the last ko. He doesn't have much on the field, just 2 Flygon and the Pachi. I Chatot for 7 and get the Aaron. I have a Luxray with Gain on the bench so I just need my last Crobat to get a ko on the Pachi after I Aaron for Lux x and a Lightning. I'm either out of Cyrus or can't get one though. I have several turns to draw this last Poketurn as it takes him a couple turns to ko Palkia since he's only doing 70. I get my final Uxie for 3-4 and still can't get it. He erosions my NM and things are looking bad now. Without the NM I absolutely need the Poketurn as I can only get back 1 energy now (and the Luxray x with Aaron). There may have been Calls left in the deck, I don't remember, but I didn't have any in hand. It gets to 1-3 or 1-2 when I put up Crobat. He still has no Claydol so he just does 70 when I draw the Poketurn! Flash Bite Uxie (which he had played, but I couldve targeted Pachi), Aaron, Lightning Luxray x Bright Look for game. Whew. That one almost got away after 1-5. It was pretty lucky to draw the Poketurn at that point as he was milling 2 of every 3 cards, though there was a high chance of drawing it on the Chatot or Uxie earlier too. 1-0
Game 2
My opening hand is awful. Misdreavous, Unown G, Mesprit and Poketurns and stuff. I get a Palkia and stall a bit using a couple Poketurns on it. Interestingly, Yamato doesn't even go for a Claydol this game. IMO it's a bit overplaying to not even try for the Claydol as me getting what I need to stop it is certainly not a sure thing, and forces me to keep searching for ways to stop it etc. It depends a lot on the situation, but he clearly just was set on not getting it this time and focused his supporters on just the Flygon line. At 6-4 or 6-3 I finally draw a Roseanne's which is key. I know I will lose this game, but I must make this game as long as possible. The shorter the game, the more likely the SP deck is to beat Flygon. Ideally I could drag this game out long enough to get only a 5 minute game 3. It is incredibly easy for me to take the first prize with Luxray or even a Palkia compared to a Flygon which has no way of taking a quick prize unless it gets a quick Weavile AND Flygon. 40 minute game, it's a close match, but 5 minute game SP has a huge edge and I was going to use this. Anyways I play it out powering up Palkias and taking down 1 Flygon x. My prizes were pretty bad with a Crobat and a couple other things prized. (It might've been Palkia x). Anyways I didn't get the Crobat off of Azelf and a few turns later this made me take an extra turn to ko the Flygon x. It briefly looked like I could make a real comeback since he still didn't have Claydol but he did get a 2nd Flygon x going. My Roseannes and making it into a game certainly took up an extra 10-15 minutes at least which was key. I had thought of this strategy earlier and decided to go for it now. After taking I think my 2nd prize finally, I got the NM (which I knew from Azelf). I got the Azelf la I had sacrificed back earlier. He was up 1-4 with a Flygon x. Then I bright Looked his Claydol and Called for Azelf. He attaches one energy to Claydol and passes. Next turn I bronzong the Psychic to Azelf and Lock up. I bought 4 more turns out of this game with the gust and 3 Lock Ups. Played some Roseannes for Water energy etc. on these turns to eat up some time. Let's make it clear, I was not 'stalling' or anything, I thought my moves were very very well paced and I had no complaints from the judges. At 60 damage I don't attack the Claydol hoping maybe he has no energy left in the deck (he did have some powered Flygons and used a NM already). But he attaches and ko's for game. I really could've conceded 20ish minutes earlier, but that would've been a straight out misplay. 1-1
Game 3
I'm happy about the situation as by my watch there's about 8 minutes left. After we shuffle for a couple minutes, it should definitely be the sudden death game I planned for and I'll get choice of who goes first which is key. (Some hands are so much better first or second). I have Unown G and a Call energy and a Mesprit I think and a Roseanne so I can get an Uxie. We lay out 6 prizes and I was about to look at my hand more carefully for a second before officially choosing who to play first (I almost certainly was going to go first). Right as we finished laying out prizes the judge called time. I looked at my watch and there should've been 5 minutes left. I was shocked, as I'm fully aware that if the game doesn't get started it becomes a flip to decide who goes first. If I had been closer to time I would've conceded to make the game start a couple minutes before time so I get the choice. I try to argue that the game has started as we had already laid out 6 prizes and drawn hands. Eventually I'm told that the game is not 'official' until someone has drawn a card. I didn't know what was the rule about all this, so this ruling really is fine. But being off of by 5 minutes was really frustrating because I definitely looked at my watch on the first turn of the match and memorized the minute the match would end. I don't know which of us made a mistake. The judge certainly believed he was right, he was doing his job, and he shows me his math of adding up the deck check time and shuffle time etc. but it was frustrating that I had planned this out to get the choosing advantage and somehow it didn't work.
Soooo, we have to reshuffle and setup for sudden death. Everyone is watching now as with the deck checks we started 15 min late and now this situation has probably taken 5+ minutes and shuffling to setup a 4th time now overall.
Sudden Death
I have a Luxury Ball which is great but my only starting options are Mesprit or Azelf mt so I start with the Azelf. He mulligans twice and I get a Palkia which I play down. I have call energy too and I win the flip which turns out to be great. He starts with Pachirisu which would normally be great for him. I have Lightning and Energy Gain in my hand too now. I Mesprit lock, and Call for Uxie and Luxray. Such a good starting hand. His Pachirisu can't even get basics t1 now. He Roseannes for Baltoy and Trapinch and attaches Upper to Pachi and passes. I draw Poketurn. I play Crobat and Poketurn it putting 10 on Pachi. (Uxie was going to be my 5th bench space). I Luxury Ball for Uxie, play Gain and Lightning on Luxray and Set Up for 4. Cyrus, SP Radar or Luxray x wins the game. I whiff on everything. I can still win next turn with Trash Bolt so I just pass. In hindsight, I could've put up Luxray and Bite for 30. He would've had to retreat Pachi then, but he has to do that anyways or I Trash Bolt win. Anyways it shouldn't matter. He can do so little on t2, especially with Azelf combo in play. He draws, apparently topdecking Claydol. He Cosmic Powers. He plays or searches for Azelf and gets Dusknoir out of the prizes. I was thinking still, there's gotta be no way he has it ready t2. Duskull, Candy, Dusknoir. Wow. He shuffles in the Luxray. I couldn't believe it. How did he get that on ONE Cosmic Power on turn 2. Ridiculous. He attaches to Trapinch and passes. I draw and still have no supporters but my hand I realize can actually respond to this pretty well. A couple Water, Palkia x and two Mesprit. I put up Palkia x and Lost Cyclone to get out of Dusknoir range. I attach a Water and Psychic Bind. He had a 2 card hand. He Bebe's for Vibrava and has a 1 card hand. He thinks for a long time and decides to retreat the Pachi for Vibrava and hits me for 20 on the call I retreated the Azelf with. I would've ko'd the Pachi if I got an Energy Gain with the Crobat in my hand. And it would make sense for me to hide the Gain vs Pachi. I draw a Roseanne at some point around here and get Water and Uxie. I Set Up for 3-4 and get not much again! This entire game a Cyrus would've won, getting SP Radar on t2 for Lux x or now getting an Energy Gain for Palkia x. I attach a 2nd energy to Palkia and do 20 to Vibrava, and I had Psychic Binded again. He draws (he has 2 cards now). He plays down Flygon and passes. I draw, still nothing. A Gain/Cyrus would've won. I play the last energy in my hand to Palkia and do 50 to the Flygon putting it at 70. I still have a Power Spray but I realize I had screwed my Lost Cyclone a turn earlier. (I had removed one pixie to keep the Azelf combo I think). But now, I could only have 3 SPs in play by having 4 bench. I'll just Spray the Claydol and it doesn't matter if he Dark Palms unless his one card is Warp Point lol which he probably doesn't play. I realize seconds after my turn that if he Dark Palms first, I can't Spray the Claydol regardless. About a second or two after I realize that, he points to Claydol to Cosmic Power and I throw down the Power Spray. He screwed it up. He plays down Flygon x and passes. He discards....Water Energy. Ugh! I draw something bad again where an energy, Cyrus, Roseanne, or Energy Gain win. However, I was so focused on getting that winning energy that it took me a few seconds to realize in my 3 card hand was still Crobat and another Poketurn I had drawn along the way. Flash Bite, Poketurn, Flygon x to 90 and ko with 50. A million outs to an energy to win and instead I have to win with Double Crobat lol. The crowd cheers and the judges and Yamato shake my hand. What an epic game. Fwiw, I think I still win even if he had Cosmic Powered. He could only get a 2nd energy on Flygon x and 70 would ko anything unless he candied a new Weavile or something into play. And if he did that he wouldn't have milled my Water! A lot of players in the crowd give me thumbs up etc. as I get told the time etc. for tomorrow's top 16. 2-1 W
Wow, what a day! 0-2 to top cut and beating Yamato again! Yamato along with Jason are still bigger names than anyone else in the game. With Jeremy M never seen around and Tom Roos quitting, they were the only 2 World Champs anyone still really saw. It was awesome to have everyone watching as well. Our sudden death game went 6 very long turns on top of the deck check and argument making us later. Someone said the round had ended like 40-45 minutes earlier. But Yamato and I deserve the primetime spotlight all to ourselves anyways lol. It altogether was quite an experience.
My friends and I go out to eat and I get a lot of congratulations and hear who else has made top 16. I'm very thankful that I made it to day 2, just so I could have some down time to really enjoy the experience.
I find out my top 16 opponent is Tia from Finland who is just playing straight Flygon/Weavile. No Pachi or Machamp or anything. This is a great matchup considering there's still a couple Gyarados and a bunch of Flygons with Machamps left.
Top 16 vs Tia Toppari (FI) Flygon/Weavile
Fun fact: I faced LCQ qualifiers rounds 5, 7, top 32 and top 16, interesting
Game 1
My start is terrible, very similar to game 2 vs Yamato. I start with Misdreavous and Unown G. Her start is kind of slow and she even remarks we both have bad starts but she draws out of hers by about t3. All I have is Luxray x and Gust up Claydol and hit it for a whopping 30 lol. She gets the Flygon and Fighting for free retreat. Later a Flygon x comes up and discards the first supporter I saw. I eventually draw a Roseanne and start to setup stuff though I know I'll lose. With a similar strategy in mind to my match vs Yamato, I play it out to use up time and get a short 3rd game. It sucks playing for 30-35 minutes a game you know you will lose, but that's what you do. 0-1
Gm 2
I start with Palkia and Call, and I'm going to need to Uxie into something. I Uxie for 4 and get nothing. I Call and I want to get Chatot in case I continue to draw dead, or I can get 2 SPs and rely on the 2 Spray in my hand for a bit. I decide to get Chatot. She had started with Baltoy and there was no indication how good her hand was. Well she Uxie's, gets Claydol, Cosmics, gets Weavile and candy Flygon and charges. =/ I draw Roseannes next turn. My bench would've been full either way so I wouldn't have had an immediate Uxie. The Chatot turns out useless though as the next couple turns her hand ends at 2-3 cards after Cosmicing and playing out some stuff. I attack some with Palkia and it gets ko'd. Midgame I finally get some counter play. After an Uxie etc., I draw something to start a turn so I can Palkia x 80 and Crobat the Flygon x with 50 damage on it. I do this and Mesprit her. She has 6 cards in hand, but she has the Bebe+NM ready for another Flygon x ko. After this I really struggle. I stay in the game with a Toxicroak counter attack. On this turn I spray Claydol and Spray Weavile to avoid ko. Next turn I Leap Away and and am able to setup a Luxray ko on Flygon x. I think it's 3-3 now. On the turn I luxray (no x) ko'd her Flygon x, I Bebe for Mesprit. She has her 3rd Flygon powered but only a Claydol left (I had ko'd a Weavile which charged somewhere in here). I can't let her get another evo to do 80 and she only had a 3 card hand. She Cynthia's though and gets a Flygon and a Weavile into play. Wow. I'm basically out of energy at that point. I realize my Aaron's Collection is still prized (I had a lot of Galactic tools prized that I had to keep using to make my plays). Even with the Aaron I'm too far down in position and earlier she had milled my NM. I Uxie grasping for stuff, needing like a couple Call energy just to attack but it's hopeless. She'll take 2 prizes in 2 turns and actually I draw enough that I'll deck in a turn so I just concede with a couple minutes left. 0-2 Eliminated
A disappointing ending to an otherwise amazing tournament. I would've rather lost to a harder matchup, like Flygon with Machamps or Gyarados which had demonstrated it could beat me too. Straight Flygon/Weavile is a favorable matchup, but she got the starts and I didn't. Props to her for running pure consistency and getting thru the grinder and to top 8.
Overall I was very pleased with the tournament. I started 0-2 and thought this was going to be horrible, and I somehow made it all the way to top 16, with an epic top 32 match and won some scholarship money. It's definitely disappointing though losing to a good matchup, as next I would have had SP toolbox with Mewtwo which must be a great matchup for me. Then I would've faced Sami's Flygon/Machamp which definitely would've been hard, but if I got thru that somehow, a likely favorable matchup in the finals vs Beedrill. It's so hard getting that far, even getting into worlds in the first place, you never know when you'll get that close again, but hopefully I will. Since getting 2nd in 05, my only main goal in the game has been to place 1st.
Later Saturday I played in the Lafonte Softball game. I played a near flawless Shortstop, diving to make an unassisted double play and hit two homeruns including a 12th inning solo homerun winning the game for Team 420 11-10 in 12 innings. Winning the Worlds Softball game is pretty close to winning Worlds right?
Later I hang out with Team X-Files til 4 am, playing Liar's Poker and overanalyzing the Pokemon episodes that were playing on some channel lol.
Thanks to everyone who wished me luck along the way. I really do appreciate any support I get. I'm looking forward to next season.
Props
Team X-Files and friends
Everyone else who rooted for me or said good luck, too many to list, thank you all
Stephen, Sammi and Jay, congrats on the big finishes
Judging staff and PUI
Yamato for the chance to practice Japanese
Lafonte Softball players
San Diego (always been lucky for me)
A very international top 16
Gordon's pronunciations
The number of nano reports I wrote about Worlds
If you read the entire report, MAJOR props
Slops
Deoxys ex (@&#(@&(#*(&@#&
Staying up too late figuring out decks
Losing on bad starts
Mewtwo for forcing me to counter you
Uno
I had a very successful season going in with a 75-13 record including a great cities season, 1st and 3rd at states and top 64 at nationals. (Didn't play regs). I spent most of the season in the top 2 in rankings, finishing at 5th. I was pleased to not be playing in the grinder on Thursday, my birthday, yet it was still a stressful day. At different points of the day on Thursday I was thinking about playing Palkia/Luxray, Luxray/Infernape, Flygon/Palkia lock and Machamp. Never before at worlds was I so unsure of my deck the day before the event. Machamp was so tempting and I had tested it enough to know it could actually beat Flygon, but it was still 5050 with Palkia even though you think it would be better. My friend Tyler went 8-0 thru the grinder with Flygon, but others didn't do as well and I never thought it was that great. Gordon (slimeygrimey) was set on Luxray/Palkia and beat me playing Flygon 2-0 and me playing Machamp 2-1. Even though I beat him 2-0 using Luxape, it was midnight and I had to choose a deck. I loved Luxape as its so consistent and really liked my list (4 Call, 2-2 Claydol, 2 Lux Ball, 4 Spray-very consistent). However, my testing over the summer led me to believe Palkia variants were better vs Flygon and Machamp and the Luxape vs Palkia matchup was 5050 in my mind. I did come in thinking I would play one of the SP decks, so in the end I stuck to that.
After deciding on Palkia/Luxray, Gordon and I debated for a long time if we needed a Mewtwo counter or not. That meant adding a 1-1 Mismagius and 1 Bebe, 3 cards that could be various things, 1-2 Premier Ball, 4th Uxie, 4th Power Spray. It was very up in the air which way we'd go. We even took out a calculator that happened to be in my backpack from school and started calculating things like if there's 15 mewtwo decks in the field, and those 3 cards make our deck 5% more likely to lose every other game, what's statistically more likely to win? Our math involved a lot of estimates but it did suggest we should play a Mewtwo counter though that isn't really why we decided on it lol. I was still awake I think til 3 am thinking about it and just having trouble falling asleep (I had a cough all week). Even as we both woke up, we were asking each other what we were thinking about it. We both ended up playing the Mismagius.
Pokemon 24
3 Palkia g
1 Palkia g x
2 Luxray gl
1 Luxray gl x
1 Bronzong g
1 Crobat g
1 Toxicroak g (promo)
1 Azelf la
1 Azelf mt
4 Mesprit la
3 Uxie la
2 Unown G
1 Chatot md
1 Misdreavous sf
1 Mismagius sf
Trainers 25
4 Cyrus
4 Roseanne
1 Bebe
1 Aaron
1 Luxury Ball
2 SP Radar
4 Energy Gain
3 Power Spray
4 Poketurn
1 Night Maintenance
Energy 11
4 Water
2 Lightning
1 Psychic
4 Call
Gordon and I both hated the list ironically. Two days earlier we were still at a 62 card list with a nice SP Energy, 4 Spray, 4 Uxie, 2 Premier Ball. Now we had bare minimum energy and what I hated the most, no Premier Ball. If I played no Mismagius, I would put in 2 Premier and 1 Spray I think. I thought about taking out Luxray for Raichu for space, even though I had suggested the Luxray in the first place, but after the tournament I know this would have been bad. Luxray adds so much flexibility. You're not stuck in the same rigid palkia strategy every game, you can go with what your hand and opponents setup dictate which is great. And unlike Dialga/Palkia, with free retreat you can easily get a Palkia x and start Mespriting every turn a couple turns later. I was really worried that I would have troubles with only 4 hours sleep, less than I think I've ever gone into a tournament with, but it turned out to be a non factor. I was well focused all day.
Round 1 vs Andy Meier (TX) Luxray/Sunyshore
I have a very favorable start and get the Azelf combo going. Early on he gets a Sunyshore in play which makes things very difficult, but I still have a good position. I ko one Luxray x with Palkia and he's able to get it back with Aaron. He is able to Bright Look my Azelf mt but I stop Claydol so he retreats to Chatot. He tries to Mimic but I stop him as he forgot the Azelf makes it cost something. So he's at a 1 card hand and I am able to Mesprit him this turn. I decide to also Roseanne for Azelf la as I know there's an Uxie and a Mesprit in there and this looks like a good turn to have time to get those. Unfortunately, this play messes me up as I end up with a full bench and can't replay my Crobat to Splashing Turn too. So I just do 20 and stay. I didn't think about it too long as the chances of him koing me with a 1 card hand aren't too likely. But sure enough, he topdecks something and plays the only 2 cards in his hand, a 2nd energy to Luxray and Energy Gain to ko my Palkia x. From this point on I have 4 pixies on the bench which really cramps my bench space. I still would have easily won if it was not for his Sunyshore. But his Luxrays were able to live and his Claydol caught him up. I started running out of stuff and at 2-2 he took the last prize as time was called. I had nothing left in hand anyways. 0-1
Round 2 vs Nicolas Harle (FR) Gyarados SF
He starts with a Toxicroak g fighting and I have a good start with Luxray. Anyways I get off to a good start I think koing the Toxicroak and then Bright Looking a Baltoy a couple turns later for ko. He gets off a couple Sableye attacks though which set up his Magikarps felicity'd into the Discard Pile. I ko that and he ko's me with the Toxicroak that I think he got back (or maybe I didn't ko it, idk). Anyways I had the early lead getting to 3 prizes quick. The Toxicroak leaps away after that and he gets the Gyarados and Felicities another Magikarp to the discard. He starts catching up a lot now as my hand is running out of stuff. I need to cycle level x's to not get ohko'd which I just don't have enough to do. Quickly it gets to like 3-3 before I ko the Gyarados with Luxray and get up 2-3. I remember he hit an SSU on something down the line but I was never able to ko the 2nd Gyarados as I was just out of stuff. 90 for 0 with 130 HP is just brutal. He had the Pokemon Rescue and BTS ready when I ko'd the first Gyarados and it was just too much to deal with, and all without him ever getting a Claydol out. 0-2
I am super furious at being 0-2. Or as Mikey put it, 'you were so on tilt'. It all fit with how poor all the choices seemed the night before, and now the deck was doing terribly. I had lost two games with good hands, and even though there was a misplay in the first game, it was really more that I couldn't beat a Luxray with Sunyshores too well. My deck was just beaten twice despite good hands. Those decks were just able to beat it, they were ready for it.
I spend the lunch break trying to get some sleep and being angry and pretty much resigned to having a terrible day. Of course I'm going to play it out though. As long as there's a chance, I'm going to do everything possible to keep going, although I definitely wasn't too optimistic about it.
Round 3 vs Ian Brander (CO) Palkia/Mewtwo x
Although I was very frustrated at the time, in hindsight this game was pretty amusing. Ian beat me round 7 of last year's worlds on a flip, which left me at 33rd. He beat me again at nationals though I still made top cut. As we sit down, Ian is very laid back as we're probably both out of it at 0-2 so he just decides to tell me of his last game. He says he was playing Palkia mirror and got out his Mewtwo. Then his opponent played a Mismagius or something that discards tools. And he couldn't remember how much damage it did or exactly what it did, and it ended up beating him. Fortunately I was way too focused and serious after the 0-2 to give any kind of smile or something that would be revealing.
Both our starts are pretty good. Mine starts a little quicker but he uses Honchkrow and gets up to a couple Power Spray in hand which worries me as I'll need to Uxie soon most likely. He makes a mistake at some point in not rebenching a Honchkrow and only has 2 sps in play. I Bright Look his Palkia with 2 energy and ko (maybe the 2nd time I had Luxray ko'd a Palkia). Anyways, I guess he was struggling because both of his SP Radar were prized so he decides to just get Mewtwo and hope I don't have a counter. He takes a prize or two with it and I snipe his other Palkia with my Palkia x and bench a Misdreavous with Bebe in hand. He ko's the Palkia x and I topdeck Mismagius in hand anyways and ko the Mewtwo to go up like 2-4 and he just concedes. Good game Ian, great seeing you again. And thanks for staying in to boost my resistance. 1-2
Round 4 vs Omar Izzaguire (FL) Gardy/Gallade
Another well known player. I don't remember the details but I get a good start with strong power locking. I Hydro Shotted a Kirlia with energy at some point. Anyways he finally gets a Gardy going which makes it harder and I have to allow either Claydol or a Gardy for a couple turns. He had gotten the Gardy and the Upper without any powers so I was in a bad position for a bit under Psychic Lock and depended on the Sprays. Anyways, I still had a large lead and after I ko'd the first gardy with Uxie and hiding behind Crobat, he Cynthias. He can't get a Candy/Gardy or Gallade off of it and I easily take my last couple prizes. 2-2
Round 5 vs Dexter Pizzey (Canada) Palkia/Luxray
So I know this guy grinded in with nearly the same deck as Gordon and I. His start is definitely better with the Azelf mt combo coming out and he ends up Mespriting me like 4 turns in a row. I had to use Chatot and my position was still tough under the lock. He wasn't drawing much either though and I was just waiting the end of the Mesprit lock. Not sure the sequence of events, but I think I ko'd his Palkia with Luxray perhaps. Anyways some scenario happened so that I was going to have to Toxicroak him. It was evident I would do this since I attached one energy there and needed 2 vs Azelf. He attached to an Uxie and it was evident to me he would use Uxie x. So I ko'd and then he ko'd. Now here was a key position. He had used his last Mesprit. He had a full bench with 4 pixies on the field and a Palkia with no energy on the bench. I had Luxray active and a Cyrus. I wanted to Luxray x his Azelf mt next turn. The only thing that could stop me is if he retreats, levels up and Poketurns Palkia x after Lost Cycloning to put more sps into play. This scenario could also allow him a Crobat+Poketurn and 80 ko on my Luxray. I can stop all this with a Power Spray on Lost Cyclone and he'll have no way of stopping the gust next turn. But, I have 2 Cyrus prized! None left in the deck. I must get the SP Radar this turn then and can't get a Spray so I have to hope he can't do all that. He does none of that though and just does 20. Next turn I come roaring back as I Bright Look the Azelf and ko. A couple turns later I have Palkia x and my Azelf combo and Mespriting him back. It gets close to time and we're still at 2-2 but I have firm control over the game now and win. Can't ever give up in sp mirror, the one that's down early always has the important power stopping resources and stuff like the azelf combo available later if the tides turn. 3-2
Round 6 vs Herve Marcant (FR) Machamp/Ampharos
I have another solid start and he opens with Baltoy. I hit the Baltoy for 20 t1 with Palkia. He gets a Machop on the bench. To be safe, I Crobat the Baltoy, Guard the Crobat and do 20 for ko and switch to Crobat t2. He gets the Machamp and Hurricane Punches with 3 heads but can't ko Crobat. I Poketurn and hit him with Uxie for 50 and put up a fresh G'd Crobat again. He has to play Champ x and gets 2/4 on Hurricane Punch just to get his first ko. I ko with Palkia and he never gets another Machamp going. He would also get Mareeps and attach energy to them but I'd snipe them as well, using a Bronzong to get 2 snipes in a row at some point and Sprayed an Uxie somewhere in there as well I think.
Soooo, after 4 must wins in a row, I indeed am back to the same scenario as last year. 4-2 needing a win for the final round. As I mentioned before, last in this scenario I lost on a single flip and wound up 33rd. The pressure is on.
Round 7 vs Sergio Ortiz (MX) Weavile/Gardy/Flygon?
I go first and my turn is pretty good with supporters and a Lightning attached to active Crobat. He starts with Sneasel and his turn is BTS, Weavile and charge 2 Dark to it. That's it. I attach Energy gain to Luxray and am going to Uxie. I have a Poketurn I believe and if I get 2 energy I win with Trash Bolt. I get one and attach it and Bronzong the 2nd energy to Luxray. I pass. On his turn I realize I forgot to play my hand out of the Weavile discard attack. I only have 6 and I have the Cyrus for the energy and game next turn if he plays nothing. Only a 1 in 6 chance he nails the Cyrus. He announces the attack and has me lay out all my cards and nails the Cyrus. I couldn't believe it. I was only in shock for a few seconds though as I topdeck Roseanne and Trash Bolt ftw. 5-2
Incredible. 0-2 to 5-2. The dream was dead, I had spent the whole lunch break furious, thinking I was never going to win a Worlds, how terrible the list was etc. etc. Now I had made the top cut after coming so close a year ago (and I started that tournament 2-0). I found it very ironic that as bad as the Mismagius was most of the day, it was the difference between 0-3 and making top cut.
I have a long wait as my game was so short before the round ends and the standings/pairings for the top 32 come up. I placed in 24th seed, a little higher than I expected honestly. Then I had a 'wow, are you serious?' moment when I saw I was playing 9th seed Tsugoyoshi Yamato. It was such a crazy day, it figured to just get crazier lol. For those of you that don't know, my probably most famous moment in Pokemon was beating the 2004 World Champion Yamato in the 2005 Worlds top 8 on my way to placing 2nd. He was still invinceable in many player's eyes then as no one had beaten him yet in either worlds. (I remember it was said back then his one loss in 05 swiss was conceding to another JP player.) And to top it off, that match was in San Diego as this tournament was.
Yamato and I had a random deck check so we had a long time just sitting there. I was able to practice my japanese and talk with him some about various things, though he mostly answered in English which probably would have been necessary anyways lol. He remembered we had played twice before (he beat me in 07 swiss although we both ended up making top cut). We also talked about differences between Japanese OP and USA OP. Apparently Japan does a lot of single elimination and 20 min rounds. Yamato said that people make a lot of mistakes under such time constraints and he liked the US style better. Finally we get started.
Top 32 vs Tsugoyoshi Yamato (JP) Flygon/Weavile/Pachirisu/Dusknoir
Game 1
I start with a Luxray and not too much else. He starts out rough and needs to Psychic Balance. He gets a Claydol and retreats but I gust+crobat/turn ko it after one turn. From that point on I'm in a good position as he doesn't get another Claydol. He Chatots or finds some way to get a Flygon up but I'm able to take it down eventually with Palkia. I get up to 2-5 but he's getting another Flygon up and my hand is running short of stuff. I decide to use Luxray x to ko Azelf and just take another prize. I'm really not in a position to ko another Flygon x but he's still got a Pachi on the field I can ko later. (He attacked with it midgame which kind of hurt but I had enough attachments down to be okay). He one shots the Luxray x and I really need the NM or the Aaron's to get energy etc. to setup the last ko. He doesn't have much on the field, just 2 Flygon and the Pachi. I Chatot for 7 and get the Aaron. I have a Luxray with Gain on the bench so I just need my last Crobat to get a ko on the Pachi after I Aaron for Lux x and a Lightning. I'm either out of Cyrus or can't get one though. I have several turns to draw this last Poketurn as it takes him a couple turns to ko Palkia since he's only doing 70. I get my final Uxie for 3-4 and still can't get it. He erosions my NM and things are looking bad now. Without the NM I absolutely need the Poketurn as I can only get back 1 energy now (and the Luxray x with Aaron). There may have been Calls left in the deck, I don't remember, but I didn't have any in hand. It gets to 1-3 or 1-2 when I put up Crobat. He still has no Claydol so he just does 70 when I draw the Poketurn! Flash Bite Uxie (which he had played, but I couldve targeted Pachi), Aaron, Lightning Luxray x Bright Look for game. Whew. That one almost got away after 1-5. It was pretty lucky to draw the Poketurn at that point as he was milling 2 of every 3 cards, though there was a high chance of drawing it on the Chatot or Uxie earlier too. 1-0
Game 2
My opening hand is awful. Misdreavous, Unown G, Mesprit and Poketurns and stuff. I get a Palkia and stall a bit using a couple Poketurns on it. Interestingly, Yamato doesn't even go for a Claydol this game. IMO it's a bit overplaying to not even try for the Claydol as me getting what I need to stop it is certainly not a sure thing, and forces me to keep searching for ways to stop it etc. It depends a lot on the situation, but he clearly just was set on not getting it this time and focused his supporters on just the Flygon line. At 6-4 or 6-3 I finally draw a Roseanne's which is key. I know I will lose this game, but I must make this game as long as possible. The shorter the game, the more likely the SP deck is to beat Flygon. Ideally I could drag this game out long enough to get only a 5 minute game 3. It is incredibly easy for me to take the first prize with Luxray or even a Palkia compared to a Flygon which has no way of taking a quick prize unless it gets a quick Weavile AND Flygon. 40 minute game, it's a close match, but 5 minute game SP has a huge edge and I was going to use this. Anyways I play it out powering up Palkias and taking down 1 Flygon x. My prizes were pretty bad with a Crobat and a couple other things prized. (It might've been Palkia x). Anyways I didn't get the Crobat off of Azelf and a few turns later this made me take an extra turn to ko the Flygon x. It briefly looked like I could make a real comeback since he still didn't have Claydol but he did get a 2nd Flygon x going. My Roseannes and making it into a game certainly took up an extra 10-15 minutes at least which was key. I had thought of this strategy earlier and decided to go for it now. After taking I think my 2nd prize finally, I got the NM (which I knew from Azelf). I got the Azelf la I had sacrificed back earlier. He was up 1-4 with a Flygon x. Then I bright Looked his Claydol and Called for Azelf. He attaches one energy to Claydol and passes. Next turn I bronzong the Psychic to Azelf and Lock up. I bought 4 more turns out of this game with the gust and 3 Lock Ups. Played some Roseannes for Water energy etc. on these turns to eat up some time. Let's make it clear, I was not 'stalling' or anything, I thought my moves were very very well paced and I had no complaints from the judges. At 60 damage I don't attack the Claydol hoping maybe he has no energy left in the deck (he did have some powered Flygons and used a NM already). But he attaches and ko's for game. I really could've conceded 20ish minutes earlier, but that would've been a straight out misplay. 1-1
Game 3
I'm happy about the situation as by my watch there's about 8 minutes left. After we shuffle for a couple minutes, it should definitely be the sudden death game I planned for and I'll get choice of who goes first which is key. (Some hands are so much better first or second). I have Unown G and a Call energy and a Mesprit I think and a Roseanne so I can get an Uxie. We lay out 6 prizes and I was about to look at my hand more carefully for a second before officially choosing who to play first (I almost certainly was going to go first). Right as we finished laying out prizes the judge called time. I looked at my watch and there should've been 5 minutes left. I was shocked, as I'm fully aware that if the game doesn't get started it becomes a flip to decide who goes first. If I had been closer to time I would've conceded to make the game start a couple minutes before time so I get the choice. I try to argue that the game has started as we had already laid out 6 prizes and drawn hands. Eventually I'm told that the game is not 'official' until someone has drawn a card. I didn't know what was the rule about all this, so this ruling really is fine. But being off of by 5 minutes was really frustrating because I definitely looked at my watch on the first turn of the match and memorized the minute the match would end. I don't know which of us made a mistake. The judge certainly believed he was right, he was doing his job, and he shows me his math of adding up the deck check time and shuffle time etc. but it was frustrating that I had planned this out to get the choosing advantage and somehow it didn't work.
Soooo, we have to reshuffle and setup for sudden death. Everyone is watching now as with the deck checks we started 15 min late and now this situation has probably taken 5+ minutes and shuffling to setup a 4th time now overall.
Sudden Death
I have a Luxury Ball which is great but my only starting options are Mesprit or Azelf mt so I start with the Azelf. He mulligans twice and I get a Palkia which I play down. I have call energy too and I win the flip which turns out to be great. He starts with Pachirisu which would normally be great for him. I have Lightning and Energy Gain in my hand too now. I Mesprit lock, and Call for Uxie and Luxray. Such a good starting hand. His Pachirisu can't even get basics t1 now. He Roseannes for Baltoy and Trapinch and attaches Upper to Pachi and passes. I draw Poketurn. I play Crobat and Poketurn it putting 10 on Pachi. (Uxie was going to be my 5th bench space). I Luxury Ball for Uxie, play Gain and Lightning on Luxray and Set Up for 4. Cyrus, SP Radar or Luxray x wins the game. I whiff on everything. I can still win next turn with Trash Bolt so I just pass. In hindsight, I could've put up Luxray and Bite for 30. He would've had to retreat Pachi then, but he has to do that anyways or I Trash Bolt win. Anyways it shouldn't matter. He can do so little on t2, especially with Azelf combo in play. He draws, apparently topdecking Claydol. He Cosmic Powers. He plays or searches for Azelf and gets Dusknoir out of the prizes. I was thinking still, there's gotta be no way he has it ready t2. Duskull, Candy, Dusknoir. Wow. He shuffles in the Luxray. I couldn't believe it. How did he get that on ONE Cosmic Power on turn 2. Ridiculous. He attaches to Trapinch and passes. I draw and still have no supporters but my hand I realize can actually respond to this pretty well. A couple Water, Palkia x and two Mesprit. I put up Palkia x and Lost Cyclone to get out of Dusknoir range. I attach a Water and Psychic Bind. He had a 2 card hand. He Bebe's for Vibrava and has a 1 card hand. He thinks for a long time and decides to retreat the Pachi for Vibrava and hits me for 20 on the call I retreated the Azelf with. I would've ko'd the Pachi if I got an Energy Gain with the Crobat in my hand. And it would make sense for me to hide the Gain vs Pachi. I draw a Roseanne at some point around here and get Water and Uxie. I Set Up for 3-4 and get not much again! This entire game a Cyrus would've won, getting SP Radar on t2 for Lux x or now getting an Energy Gain for Palkia x. I attach a 2nd energy to Palkia and do 20 to Vibrava, and I had Psychic Binded again. He draws (he has 2 cards now). He plays down Flygon and passes. I draw, still nothing. A Gain/Cyrus would've won. I play the last energy in my hand to Palkia and do 50 to the Flygon putting it at 70. I still have a Power Spray but I realize I had screwed my Lost Cyclone a turn earlier. (I had removed one pixie to keep the Azelf combo I think). But now, I could only have 3 SPs in play by having 4 bench. I'll just Spray the Claydol and it doesn't matter if he Dark Palms unless his one card is Warp Point lol which he probably doesn't play. I realize seconds after my turn that if he Dark Palms first, I can't Spray the Claydol regardless. About a second or two after I realize that, he points to Claydol to Cosmic Power and I throw down the Power Spray. He screwed it up. He plays down Flygon x and passes. He discards....Water Energy. Ugh! I draw something bad again where an energy, Cyrus, Roseanne, or Energy Gain win. However, I was so focused on getting that winning energy that it took me a few seconds to realize in my 3 card hand was still Crobat and another Poketurn I had drawn along the way. Flash Bite, Poketurn, Flygon x to 90 and ko with 50. A million outs to an energy to win and instead I have to win with Double Crobat lol. The crowd cheers and the judges and Yamato shake my hand. What an epic game. Fwiw, I think I still win even if he had Cosmic Powered. He could only get a 2nd energy on Flygon x and 70 would ko anything unless he candied a new Weavile or something into play. And if he did that he wouldn't have milled my Water! A lot of players in the crowd give me thumbs up etc. as I get told the time etc. for tomorrow's top 16. 2-1 W
Wow, what a day! 0-2 to top cut and beating Yamato again! Yamato along with Jason are still bigger names than anyone else in the game. With Jeremy M never seen around and Tom Roos quitting, they were the only 2 World Champs anyone still really saw. It was awesome to have everyone watching as well. Our sudden death game went 6 very long turns on top of the deck check and argument making us later. Someone said the round had ended like 40-45 minutes earlier. But Yamato and I deserve the primetime spotlight all to ourselves anyways lol. It altogether was quite an experience.
My friends and I go out to eat and I get a lot of congratulations and hear who else has made top 16. I'm very thankful that I made it to day 2, just so I could have some down time to really enjoy the experience.
I find out my top 16 opponent is Tia from Finland who is just playing straight Flygon/Weavile. No Pachi or Machamp or anything. This is a great matchup considering there's still a couple Gyarados and a bunch of Flygons with Machamps left.
Top 16 vs Tia Toppari (FI) Flygon/Weavile
Fun fact: I faced LCQ qualifiers rounds 5, 7, top 32 and top 16, interesting
Game 1
My start is terrible, very similar to game 2 vs Yamato. I start with Misdreavous and Unown G. Her start is kind of slow and she even remarks we both have bad starts but she draws out of hers by about t3. All I have is Luxray x and Gust up Claydol and hit it for a whopping 30 lol. She gets the Flygon and Fighting for free retreat. Later a Flygon x comes up and discards the first supporter I saw. I eventually draw a Roseanne and start to setup stuff though I know I'll lose. With a similar strategy in mind to my match vs Yamato, I play it out to use up time and get a short 3rd game. It sucks playing for 30-35 minutes a game you know you will lose, but that's what you do. 0-1
Gm 2
I start with Palkia and Call, and I'm going to need to Uxie into something. I Uxie for 4 and get nothing. I Call and I want to get Chatot in case I continue to draw dead, or I can get 2 SPs and rely on the 2 Spray in my hand for a bit. I decide to get Chatot. She had started with Baltoy and there was no indication how good her hand was. Well she Uxie's, gets Claydol, Cosmics, gets Weavile and candy Flygon and charges. =/ I draw Roseannes next turn. My bench would've been full either way so I wouldn't have had an immediate Uxie. The Chatot turns out useless though as the next couple turns her hand ends at 2-3 cards after Cosmicing and playing out some stuff. I attack some with Palkia and it gets ko'd. Midgame I finally get some counter play. After an Uxie etc., I draw something to start a turn so I can Palkia x 80 and Crobat the Flygon x with 50 damage on it. I do this and Mesprit her. She has 6 cards in hand, but she has the Bebe+NM ready for another Flygon x ko. After this I really struggle. I stay in the game with a Toxicroak counter attack. On this turn I spray Claydol and Spray Weavile to avoid ko. Next turn I Leap Away and and am able to setup a Luxray ko on Flygon x. I think it's 3-3 now. On the turn I luxray (no x) ko'd her Flygon x, I Bebe for Mesprit. She has her 3rd Flygon powered but only a Claydol left (I had ko'd a Weavile which charged somewhere in here). I can't let her get another evo to do 80 and she only had a 3 card hand. She Cynthia's though and gets a Flygon and a Weavile into play. Wow. I'm basically out of energy at that point. I realize my Aaron's Collection is still prized (I had a lot of Galactic tools prized that I had to keep using to make my plays). Even with the Aaron I'm too far down in position and earlier she had milled my NM. I Uxie grasping for stuff, needing like a couple Call energy just to attack but it's hopeless. She'll take 2 prizes in 2 turns and actually I draw enough that I'll deck in a turn so I just concede with a couple minutes left. 0-2 Eliminated
A disappointing ending to an otherwise amazing tournament. I would've rather lost to a harder matchup, like Flygon with Machamps or Gyarados which had demonstrated it could beat me too. Straight Flygon/Weavile is a favorable matchup, but she got the starts and I didn't. Props to her for running pure consistency and getting thru the grinder and to top 8.
Overall I was very pleased with the tournament. I started 0-2 and thought this was going to be horrible, and I somehow made it all the way to top 16, with an epic top 32 match and won some scholarship money. It's definitely disappointing though losing to a good matchup, as next I would have had SP toolbox with Mewtwo which must be a great matchup for me. Then I would've faced Sami's Flygon/Machamp which definitely would've been hard, but if I got thru that somehow, a likely favorable matchup in the finals vs Beedrill. It's so hard getting that far, even getting into worlds in the first place, you never know when you'll get that close again, but hopefully I will. Since getting 2nd in 05, my only main goal in the game has been to place 1st.
Later Saturday I played in the Lafonte Softball game. I played a near flawless Shortstop, diving to make an unassisted double play and hit two homeruns including a 12th inning solo homerun winning the game for Team 420 11-10 in 12 innings. Winning the Worlds Softball game is pretty close to winning Worlds right?
Later I hang out with Team X-Files til 4 am, playing Liar's Poker and overanalyzing the Pokemon episodes that were playing on some channel lol.
Thanks to everyone who wished me luck along the way. I really do appreciate any support I get. I'm looking forward to next season.
Props
Team X-Files and friends
Everyone else who rooted for me or said good luck, too many to list, thank you all
Stephen, Sammi and Jay, congrats on the big finishes
Judging staff and PUI
Yamato for the chance to practice Japanese
Lafonte Softball players
San Diego (always been lucky for me)
A very international top 16
Gordon's pronunciations
The number of nano reports I wrote about Worlds
If you read the entire report, MAJOR props
Slops
Deoxys ex (@&#(@&(#*(&@#&
Staying up too late figuring out decks
Losing on bad starts
Mewtwo for forcing me to counter you
Uno
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