So, in the week leading up to the tournament, I was planning on playing Darkrai with Sableye and Hammers. However, it started running really poorly for me, and eventually I went back to playing Eel. I had played Eel for 4 BRs, out of the 8 I played in, so I was more comfortable with it than anything else. Basically, to me, there were three main versions of Eel: Eel w/ DCE, Eel w/ Fighting, and Eel w/ both. I'd used all 3 versions, and my favourite was definitely the faster, more consistent Eel without Terrakion. I changed my list up a lot from the BR I played it at, basing it off my friend Bidier's list. Key things were 2 Super Rod, 2 Max Potion, and 2 Tornadus EX. I felt pretty confident going into the tournament, even though last minute I switched the second Random Receiver out for a Smeargle.
My goal for this Nats was to get to Top 2 and get a Trip. I had 61 Championship Points before this tournament, so I was almost for sure locked in regardless of how I did. GEtting a paid trip would be fantastic though. Aside from that, getting Top 12 and getting CP would be great, to remove any doubt of getting my Invite. The night before, I was not expecting to get any byes. Even though I had won Regionals and States, I only won them in the US, and I didn't think I could get byes in Canada. However, the night before we (Connor, Ricky, Kabir, and I) were eating supper when Zach Lesage shows up and tells me I will get byes. :O Hopefully he's right!
Saturday:
I actually manage to get some sleep, mostly because I was so tired, having not slept that night due to my flight leaving so early. I go down the elevator and fill out my decklist with Kabir. Last minute decision to cut a Receiver for a Smeargle, because the night before there was a situation I needed a Smeargle. Ended up being pretty useful.
I check the list of people who get byes, and I apparently have one bye. All right, one bye's better than the none I was expecting, but why don't I have 2? I won Regionals and States. So I ask, and I had to go up to my room to get my laptop and prove that I won Regionals back in the Fall in order to get my byes. Worked out fine though, thankfully.
Round 1: BYE
Hang out, eat breakfast, etc.
Round 2: BYE
Hang out, etc.
Round 3: John L. w/ Darkrai/Terrakion
Oh boy, Darkrai. I didn't really expect too many Darkrais, so I didn't play Terrakion. I knew the matchup was okay without Terrakion though, so I wasn't too worried. It was during this game that I discovered how broken Tornadus EX and Max Potion are. Even though he took the first Prize, once I set up I pretty much just overwhelmed him by using Power Blast, and once he hit into me I'd Max Potion the damage off, Retreat for free to my other Tornadus, Dynamotor the Energy back on, and swing again. Potentially also using Zekrom to KO Eviolited Darkrais. I didn't know how strong this combo was until this game, and I won pretty easily by 4 Prizes. GG.
3-0
Round 4: Hamza K. w/ Eel/Terrakion
I open really badly, and my turn consists of attaching to Mewtwo and passing. The Energy attachment was a risk, but I figured I needed to increase my chances of getting SMeargle next turn, or Catcher + Energy to KO a Tynamo. The chances of him getting X Ball with DCE and 3 Plus Powers with a Terrakion start is pretty low. He has a slightly better turn and gets his Tiny Moes out. I pretty much need to topdeck here... and I topdeck PONT! WHOO! I PONT, needing some kind of set up. I draw... the exact same hand, except with a Dual Ball. I Dual Ball for a Smeargle, then Junk Arm away Tonadus and Raikou for Dual Ball again, grabbing my first Tynamo. This Tynamo is bait. I whiffed the Energy to Retreat Mewtwo, and I'm still in topdeck mode. So I needed a Tynamo to tempt him into Catchering it up and Retaliate KO, allowing me to Portrait. He takes the bait and KO's my Tynamo, allowing me to start getting my set up. Eventually the Prize count is 2-1 in his favour. He has no Eels on board, he's out of Supporters, and he's used 4 Junk Arm and 3 Catcher. I have two options. I can either Thunderfang with Raikou, forcing him to have Switch + Fighting to win assuming I hit a heads. If I hit a tails, all he needs is the Fighting. Seems like a pretty bad option. My other choice is to use Blow Through. This means he needs a Catcher and either a Fighting or a Plus Power to win. Considering he's used 3 Catcher and 4 Junk Arm, I figure this is my better choice. Most lists only play 3 Catcher, so I should be safe... right? Wrong. He topdecks his 4th Catcher to win.
GG!
3-1
At this point I'm really worried, because this is where I started losing every other Nats. Uh-oh!
Round 5: Kabir V. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Good news: I play up. Bad news: I play against Kabir, who I test a lot with. I open pretty bad again, without Supporters until he Night Spears on T3. Fortunately I manage to set up after he takes the first Prize on my Zekrom, and just go in with my Double Tornadus set up, Power Blasting away. His Crushing Hammers are pretty much pointless, because I'm just going to Max Potion the damage (and Energy) off anyway, so they're only a mild annoyance. I manage to win by quite a bit, 4 or 5 Prizes. GG.
4-1
Round 6: Robert M. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Whoo another person from BC. -_-' It's okay though, this game goes a lot like the previous Round, except we both get better starts and he hits almost all heads on Crushing Hammers. But again, the Crushing Hammers don't really matter that much, because I'm prepared to simply discard the Energy anyway. I win by 4 or 5 Prizes again. GG.
5-1
Standings go up, and I'm in at 4th seed. Top Cut looks like this:
1: Chase M. w/ Darkrai/Tornadus
2: ????? w/ Entei/Terrakion/Mewtwo
3: Joey G. w/ Klinklang/Vileplume/EXs
4: Jack P. w/ Eel/Tornadus EX
5: Andrew E. w/ Celebi/Terrakion/Mewtwo
6: Hamza K. w/ Eel/Terrakion
7: Josh P. w/ Darkrai/Tornadus
8: Kabir V. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Kabir, Ricky, Connor, and I rebuild our decks and test. I'm ready for tomorrow, figure it's about a 50-50 matchup. I have to lead with Tornadus and when he uses Mewtwo I use mine. I can't Bench too many easy Prizes either, otherwise he can win a Prize race.
Sunday:
I get less sleep, but it's fine. I get down and hang out till we have to go play.
Top 8: Andrew E. w/ Celebi/Terrakion/Mewtwo
Game 1: I have two Eels Prized this game. :/ I start like usual, getting all my Tynamos out and such, along with 2 Tornadus EX. Soon enough, that turns into a field of 2 Tornadus EX. He's taken 3 Prizes and has the lead, but now he can't really hit my Tornaduses, and when he does, I can just Max Potion the damage off. I take cheap Prizes until I have 2 Prizes left, and then I X Ball his Mewtwo for 160. He can KO my Mewtwo, but then he has a 10 HP Pokemon Active that gives up 2 Prizes, and I only have 2 Prizes left. I have the Catcher regardless of what he does for game. GG.
1-0
Game 2: I have 2 of my 3 Tynamos Prized this game. :/ So I don't even bother Benching my last Tynamo, figuring I might be able to get it out later assuming I can draw them from my Prizes (turns out they were my last two Prizes, so I wouldn't be able to do that). I just go with the strategy of having 2 Tornadus out, but now he can use his Tornadus too. I also whiffed Energy a couple times earlier on, allowing him tog et some damage down with Terrakion before I could do much. I make the game pretty close, and might have had a chance of winning, but there was only 5 minutes left and I didn't want Game 3 to come down to a flip. So I scoop with 5 minutes left and we go to Game 3. GG.
1-1
Game 3: I open Tornadus against his Tornadus. I don't open so hot, without any Energy, so I just PONT my hand away. I hit Raikou and Lightning, not much else though. This puts me in a tricky situation. I have two choices: Attach to Tornadus and pass, or Bench Raikou and attach pass. In my mind, attaching to Tornadus means that if he has DCE and Skyarrow, he's in a much stronger position, and at that point my out is to get a Max Potion and DCE to heal and then Blow Through. My other choice is to Bench Raikou and attach. This risks a T2 Land Crush + Catcher, but I didn't think that was too likely, and in order to get that, he'd have to Bench a Celebi, which is such a huge risk I don't think he'd do it. Also if I have Eviolite, I can force him to have a Plus Power as well. Ultimately, I Benched the Raikou and passed. He gets a T1 Retaliate for 10. I PONT, needing Catcher and DCE, but whiff. Also whiffed Eviolite. It's okay though, he has a 3 card hand and needs Catcher and FIghting to win. Of course he has it though. GGs!
1-2
So yeah, my run ends there. That's okay, I get 10 CP for my efforts, putting me up to 71 CP and securing my Invite for sure. And I finally managed to Top Cut a Nats!
Props:
Friends
Opponents
Judges
Tornadus EX
Max Potion
Invite
Klinklang!
Old decks with Connor
YOSO
Getting byes
Liam for giving me updates on US Nats
Slops:
Not winning of course
My goal for this Nats was to get to Top 2 and get a Trip. I had 61 Championship Points before this tournament, so I was almost for sure locked in regardless of how I did. GEtting a paid trip would be fantastic though. Aside from that, getting Top 12 and getting CP would be great, to remove any doubt of getting my Invite. The night before, I was not expecting to get any byes. Even though I had won Regionals and States, I only won them in the US, and I didn't think I could get byes in Canada. However, the night before we (Connor, Ricky, Kabir, and I) were eating supper when Zach Lesage shows up and tells me I will get byes. :O Hopefully he's right!
Saturday:
I actually manage to get some sleep, mostly because I was so tired, having not slept that night due to my flight leaving so early. I go down the elevator and fill out my decklist with Kabir. Last minute decision to cut a Receiver for a Smeargle, because the night before there was a situation I needed a Smeargle. Ended up being pretty useful.
I check the list of people who get byes, and I apparently have one bye. All right, one bye's better than the none I was expecting, but why don't I have 2? I won Regionals and States. So I ask, and I had to go up to my room to get my laptop and prove that I won Regionals back in the Fall in order to get my byes. Worked out fine though, thankfully.
Round 1: BYE
Hang out, eat breakfast, etc.
Round 2: BYE
Hang out, etc.
Round 3: John L. w/ Darkrai/Terrakion
Oh boy, Darkrai. I didn't really expect too many Darkrais, so I didn't play Terrakion. I knew the matchup was okay without Terrakion though, so I wasn't too worried. It was during this game that I discovered how broken Tornadus EX and Max Potion are. Even though he took the first Prize, once I set up I pretty much just overwhelmed him by using Power Blast, and once he hit into me I'd Max Potion the damage off, Retreat for free to my other Tornadus, Dynamotor the Energy back on, and swing again. Potentially also using Zekrom to KO Eviolited Darkrais. I didn't know how strong this combo was until this game, and I won pretty easily by 4 Prizes. GG.
3-0
Round 4: Hamza K. w/ Eel/Terrakion
I open really badly, and my turn consists of attaching to Mewtwo and passing. The Energy attachment was a risk, but I figured I needed to increase my chances of getting SMeargle next turn, or Catcher + Energy to KO a Tynamo. The chances of him getting X Ball with DCE and 3 Plus Powers with a Terrakion start is pretty low. He has a slightly better turn and gets his Tiny Moes out. I pretty much need to topdeck here... and I topdeck PONT! WHOO! I PONT, needing some kind of set up. I draw... the exact same hand, except with a Dual Ball. I Dual Ball for a Smeargle, then Junk Arm away Tonadus and Raikou for Dual Ball again, grabbing my first Tynamo. This Tynamo is bait. I whiffed the Energy to Retreat Mewtwo, and I'm still in topdeck mode. So I needed a Tynamo to tempt him into Catchering it up and Retaliate KO, allowing me to Portrait. He takes the bait and KO's my Tynamo, allowing me to start getting my set up. Eventually the Prize count is 2-1 in his favour. He has no Eels on board, he's out of Supporters, and he's used 4 Junk Arm and 3 Catcher. I have two options. I can either Thunderfang with Raikou, forcing him to have Switch + Fighting to win assuming I hit a heads. If I hit a tails, all he needs is the Fighting. Seems like a pretty bad option. My other choice is to use Blow Through. This means he needs a Catcher and either a Fighting or a Plus Power to win. Considering he's used 3 Catcher and 4 Junk Arm, I figure this is my better choice. Most lists only play 3 Catcher, so I should be safe... right? Wrong. He topdecks his 4th Catcher to win.
GG!3-1
At this point I'm really worried, because this is where I started losing every other Nats. Uh-oh!
Round 5: Kabir V. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Good news: I play up. Bad news: I play against Kabir, who I test a lot with.
I open pretty bad again, without Supporters until he Night Spears on T3. Fortunately I manage to set up after he takes the first Prize on my Zekrom, and just go in with my Double Tornadus set up, Power Blasting away. His Crushing Hammers are pretty much pointless, because I'm just going to Max Potion the damage (and Energy) off anyway, so they're only a mild annoyance. I manage to win by quite a bit, 4 or 5 Prizes. GG.4-1
Round 6: Robert M. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Whoo another person from BC. -_-' It's okay though, this game goes a lot like the previous Round, except we both get better starts and he hits almost all heads on Crushing Hammers. But again, the Crushing Hammers don't really matter that much, because I'm prepared to simply discard the Energy anyway. I win by 4 or 5 Prizes again. GG.
5-1
Standings go up, and I'm in at 4th seed. Top Cut looks like this:
1: Chase M. w/ Darkrai/Tornadus
2: ????? w/ Entei/Terrakion/Mewtwo
3: Joey G. w/ Klinklang/Vileplume/EXs
4: Jack P. w/ Eel/Tornadus EX
5: Andrew E. w/ Celebi/Terrakion/Mewtwo
6: Hamza K. w/ Eel/Terrakion
7: Josh P. w/ Darkrai/Tornadus
8: Kabir V. w/ Darkrai/Sableye/Crushing Hammer
Kabir, Ricky, Connor, and I rebuild our decks and test. I'm ready for tomorrow, figure it's about a 50-50 matchup. I have to lead with Tornadus and when he uses Mewtwo I use mine. I can't Bench too many easy Prizes either, otherwise he can win a Prize race.
Sunday:
I get less sleep, but it's fine. I get down and hang out till we have to go play.
Top 8: Andrew E. w/ Celebi/Terrakion/Mewtwo
Game 1: I have two Eels Prized this game. :/ I start like usual, getting all my Tynamos out and such, along with 2 Tornadus EX. Soon enough, that turns into a field of 2 Tornadus EX. He's taken 3 Prizes and has the lead, but now he can't really hit my Tornaduses, and when he does, I can just Max Potion the damage off. I take cheap Prizes until I have 2 Prizes left, and then I X Ball his Mewtwo for 160. He can KO my Mewtwo, but then he has a 10 HP Pokemon Active that gives up 2 Prizes, and I only have 2 Prizes left. I have the Catcher regardless of what he does for game. GG.
1-0
Game 2: I have 2 of my 3 Tynamos Prized this game. :/ So I don't even bother Benching my last Tynamo, figuring I might be able to get it out later assuming I can draw them from my Prizes (turns out they were my last two Prizes, so I wouldn't be able to do that). I just go with the strategy of having 2 Tornadus out, but now he can use his Tornadus too. I also whiffed Energy a couple times earlier on, allowing him tog et some damage down with Terrakion before I could do much. I make the game pretty close, and might have had a chance of winning, but there was only 5 minutes left and I didn't want Game 3 to come down to a flip. So I scoop with 5 minutes left and we go to Game 3. GG.
1-1
Game 3: I open Tornadus against his Tornadus. I don't open so hot, without any Energy, so I just PONT my hand away. I hit Raikou and Lightning, not much else though. This puts me in a tricky situation. I have two choices: Attach to Tornadus and pass, or Bench Raikou and attach pass. In my mind, attaching to Tornadus means that if he has DCE and Skyarrow, he's in a much stronger position, and at that point my out is to get a Max Potion and DCE to heal and then Blow Through. My other choice is to Bench Raikou and attach. This risks a T2 Land Crush + Catcher, but I didn't think that was too likely, and in order to get that, he'd have to Bench a Celebi, which is such a huge risk I don't think he'd do it. Also if I have Eviolite, I can force him to have a Plus Power as well. Ultimately, I Benched the Raikou and passed. He gets a T1 Retaliate for 10. I PONT, needing Catcher and DCE, but whiff. Also whiffed Eviolite. It's okay though, he has a 3 card hand and needs Catcher and FIghting to win. Of course he has it though.
GGs!1-2
So yeah, my run ends there. That's okay, I get 10 CP for my efforts, putting me up to 71 CP and securing my Invite for sure. And I finally managed to Top Cut a Nats!
Props:
Friends
Opponents
Judges
Tornadus EX
Max Potion
Invite
Klinklang!
Old decks with Connor
YOSO
Getting byes
Liam for giving me updates on US Nats
Slops:
Not winning of course
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