Well hey there. My name is Justin Florio. Before I get started with the report, let me tell you that going into this tournament, I wasn't very confident. In fact, I wasn't even going to attend this event for a multitutde of reasons. 1. Pokemon events are draining. They are long and sometimes very frustrating. Don't give me the "Don't get mad over card games." Everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about (at least in Masters).
*Also, so I avoid any flaming, this particular event (and mostly all run by Tymon) was completely awesome. In between rounds were speedy. I was not informed of ANY judging conflictions by players. The judges were all super friendly. Door prizes were awesome. And did I mention in between round were speedy? Kept everything rolling really well. I was very impressed how well the event was handled time-wise. I feel they did the absolute best they could, and the staff made it probably one of my favorite events ever.
-end-
*Back to the story...
I also got banned for a a year and a half after GA States 08 (sorry guys), so I wasn't really in the competitive scene. Still, I kept up with the sets and built decks. Mostly sidelined my main YuGiOh run (Ew). Then I didn't do too well at my first tournament (Cities 2009), going 2-2 with Palkia Lock (though I still call BS on this event... lookin at you Vic). I felt very rusty, but I gave it another shot at States. Then I placed well at States (Top 16), so I said "Why not?"and gave it a try.
So I start my drive up there with Logan Wolf (TheKnee) at like 8:30AM. Like I said, I was still even debating playing at the event. I wanted to do other things with friends. Saturday is pretty much my sacred chill day with my friends. I do work a lot, so spending time to just hang out on my weekend is crucial. Regardless, I was giving Logan a way to the event and to see what Regionals is like, since I've never attended anything bigger than States.
We get there and see familiar faces from Georgia. Paarth, Peter, Nick, Marc... pretty much the main GA scene. Logan also pointed out last year's GA Regional winner to me. Plus, Florida sent a smallish crew to represent here. Omar, Vergel, Aaron, and Bianchi were all present. It seemed like it was going to be a pretty difficult day, to say the least.
The previous night, I had printed out a multitude of decklists to be ready for the event for any last minute changes I wanted. I've been playing SP's since they were released, so that wasn't going to be changed. I just had to decide between HonchDonkSableock or my standard LuxChomp (which I've been playing since December, and Top16 at States). I would need cards back from Logan's PalkiaLock deck (Giratina Let Looses) to run my variant of the Sableye deck, so I went with LuxChomp. Face it. It's solid. Consistently solid. Plus, we have a saying for the deck. "What deck do you NEVER feel like you can't come back? LuxChomp." We turn in our decklists (super fast deckcheck), and go talk to players while we wait for the tournament to begin. This is what I played:
StupidElectricGustofWindingDevilDogsAndStupidSpeedingSnipingLandsharkDragons.dek (this is seriously what was written on the list...)
Pokemon - 16
2 Luxray GL
1 Luxray GL Lv. X
2 Garchomp C
2 Garchomp C Lv. X
2 Uxie LA
1 Uxie Lv. X
2 Crobat G
1 Azelf LA
1 Lucario GL
1 Bronzong G PL
1 Ambipom G
Supporters - 12
4 Cyrus' Conspiracy
2 Roseanne's Research
1 Pokemon Collector
1 Bebe's Search
1 Copycat
1 Aaron's Collection
1 Cynthia's Feelings
1 Team Galactic’s Wager
Trainers - 19
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-101 Energy Gain
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-105 Poke Turn
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-103 Power Spray
2 Team Galactic's Invention G-109 SP Radar
2 Warp Point
2 Premier Ball
1 Night Maintenance
Energy - 13
5 Lightning Energy
4 Call Energy
4 Double Colorless
It's about 10 AM, and we begin the first round.
*Before this begins, I don't remember most of the names of people I played. So, I'm only saying decks for those that I don't know, so I don't butcher them.
Round 1 - LuxChomp vs Gyrados
He starts with Sableye. I start with Luxray. He Impresonates Collector, gets 3 Karps. End. I draw. No Supporters. No other basics. DCE, Bite for 30. End. We exchange words. Me: "You got it?" Him: "Yea, I got it." Me: "K." Shows me Moonlight, BTS, Felicity's, 3 Karps, Belt. My next card was Collector. Oh well. GG.
0-1
Well crap. I lost my first round. So now I was REALLY considering being done with this tournament. Logan Wolf won his first round. So did Paarth. Peter Griffin got donked by Jumpluff. So now, I make a rule. As soon as I lose a second round, I was done with the tournament. Because I probably wasn't making it in with all those 5-2's with a first round loss.
Round 2 - LuxChomp vs Magmortar
Makes sense. I'm in the losers bracket, so rogue decks end up here. He couldn't get off to a good start, and LuxChomp just does what LuxChomp does.
1-1
Round 3 - LuxChomp vs DialgaChomp
This guy was hilarious. We start out the gate poorly. I have Lucario GL, and he has Crobat G. I start rolling with Cyrus. He does not. I win. It's fun to note that he flipped 3 Heads on Remove Lost to utterly **** my Garchomp.
2-1
Round 4 - LuxChomp vs Gengar
He couldn't get Gengar set up very quickly. I've said it so many times from playing Gengar on a multitude of occasions... While playing Gengar with LuxChomp, kill everything EXCEPT Gengar. Plus, he had an energy drought late game. Couldn't come back at all.
3-1
Round 5 - LuxChomp vs Machamp
Ugh. Of course I would play the random Machamp deck left that is winning. And of course I opted not to put Unown G in my deck. Oh well. I start with Bat and Call. He gets rolling with Machamp, KO's 2 Bats. I pretty much just set up Uxie X quickly and keep Lucario GL on the field to catch up. He can't capitalize as I snipe and kill everything he sets up. Only two Machamps get out.
4-1
Round 6 - LuxChomp vs Marc Perry with DialgaChomp
Well crap. A Georgia player. One who placed at States with me as well. I get rolling with LuxChomp. He has to abuse Turns to keep up with me. His counters seemed to be in the prizes. Luxray did his thing, tanking a couple Dialga hits, while Garchomp sniped and whatnot.
5-1
Round 7 - Luxchomp vs Logan Wolf with PalkiaLock
Again, crap. My longtime friend, Logan Wolf. Rode up with me, etc. Well, we are both kind of on the bubble, but he didn't lose first round. So I figured we both had a better chance of Top 16ing if I won, especially with his only loss thus far was to the only person who went undefeated in Swiss, Nick Fragnito. Thus, I didn't feel bad about stomping his face in with Luxray. Weakness turned out to be too much for the deck. Also, well timed Power Sprays are always fantastic.
6-1
Well damn. I guess I'm Top Cutting. After an abysmal first round, I won out. Pretty interesting day for me. I wasn't expecting to do so well again. Same record I had at States. Except I lost my first round of Swiss today instead of my last round, like at States. Go figure.
So, we see the Top Cut, and I'm 7th seed. Not too shabby. Nice to know I would have made Top 8 even if that was the cut. Paarth, Fragnito, Marc, and Logan all make it in. Peter Griffin is 17th. Sux. Also, Aaron, and Omar from Florida make the cut. So does Kevin, last year's GA Regional Champion. It's nice to see that 12 out of 16 players in the Top 16 were from Georgia this year. States had a phenomenal Georgia showing and win this year, and 3/4 of this year's Regional just shows how much the players have improved. Especially since the last time I played a big tournament before this season was States '08, and NOBODY from Georgia made it into the Top 8 Cut.
Top 16 Decks (No particular order)
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
DialgaChomp
DialgaChomp
SableyeHonchDonk
PalkiaLock
Gengar
Tyranitar
Gardevoir/Gallade
Kingdra
Jumpluff
Flygon/Machamp/Donphan
?
?
?
7th seed faces 10th seed... Logan Wolf... O crap.
Top 16 Match - LuxChomp vs Logan Wolf with PalkiaLock (Again)
Stupid. I played him in my last round of Swiss. Same thing happened to Omar and the Tyranitar guy next to us. They played last round of Swiss, first round of Top 16 as well. Haha.
Game 1- I start with Crobat and Call Energy. I have Sprays in hand. He Binds me, does some shenanigans. I get set up pretty quickly regardless of his lock. Weakness works too well against him, and I outsnipe and heal a lot. He scoops for the sake of time.
8-1
Game 2 - I think I get rolling more quickly than him, but he gets the lock in. It seems like he would be safe, but he underestimates my damage output on one of my turns with Bats and Poketurns, and it results in his fully charged Palkia being killed unexpectedly. I rip him apart from there.
9-1
Awesome. Going to Top 8. Definitely impressed with myself at this point. Got further than I did at States.
Top 8 Decks (No particular order)
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
DialgaChomp
DialgaChomp
HonchDonkSabelock
Jumpluff
Gardevoir/Gallade
Top 8 Match - LuxChomp vs Kevin with... LuxChomp
Again. Last year's GA Regional Champion. Never played him before. He definitely has his game face on. You know what I'm talking about. I think I saw him smile once.
Game 1 -I mulligan. Then I start with Bronzong G. He starts Garchomp C with Call Energy. Uhhhhh. I fight for a second, but I get slaughtered.
9-2
Game 2 - This game started much better (sarcasm). I start with... Bronzong G. I manage to get Luxray G Lv. X in for quick kills, but he destroys me with his setup.
9-3
So I end in Top 8. I get my 18 packs happily. Got 2 DCE's, 2 Legend Pieces, 4 Primes out of 'em. So, not a bad day at all. Logan and I both Top cutted, and it was just an awesome event. Georgia representation was awesome, and we had a Georgia player take it home. We all said we would. I hope to see you guys in future events. I'm sure I'll be around after a long absence again to invade the Toppish seats. Or scrub out. Who knows?
Peace.
*Also, so I avoid any flaming, this particular event (and mostly all run by Tymon) was completely awesome. In between rounds were speedy. I was not informed of ANY judging conflictions by players. The judges were all super friendly. Door prizes were awesome. And did I mention in between round were speedy? Kept everything rolling really well. I was very impressed how well the event was handled time-wise. I feel they did the absolute best they could, and the staff made it probably one of my favorite events ever.
-end-
*Back to the story...
I also got banned for a a year and a half after GA States 08 (sorry guys), so I wasn't really in the competitive scene. Still, I kept up with the sets and built decks. Mostly sidelined my main YuGiOh run (Ew). Then I didn't do too well at my first tournament (Cities 2009), going 2-2 with Palkia Lock (though I still call BS on this event... lookin at you Vic). I felt very rusty, but I gave it another shot at States. Then I placed well at States (Top 16), so I said "Why not?"and gave it a try.
So I start my drive up there with Logan Wolf (TheKnee) at like 8:30AM. Like I said, I was still even debating playing at the event. I wanted to do other things with friends. Saturday is pretty much my sacred chill day with my friends. I do work a lot, so spending time to just hang out on my weekend is crucial. Regardless, I was giving Logan a way to the event and to see what Regionals is like, since I've never attended anything bigger than States.
We get there and see familiar faces from Georgia. Paarth, Peter, Nick, Marc... pretty much the main GA scene. Logan also pointed out last year's GA Regional winner to me. Plus, Florida sent a smallish crew to represent here. Omar, Vergel, Aaron, and Bianchi were all present. It seemed like it was going to be a pretty difficult day, to say the least.
The previous night, I had printed out a multitude of decklists to be ready for the event for any last minute changes I wanted. I've been playing SP's since they were released, so that wasn't going to be changed. I just had to decide between HonchDonkSableock or my standard LuxChomp (which I've been playing since December, and Top16 at States). I would need cards back from Logan's PalkiaLock deck (Giratina Let Looses) to run my variant of the Sableye deck, so I went with LuxChomp. Face it. It's solid. Consistently solid. Plus, we have a saying for the deck. "What deck do you NEVER feel like you can't come back? LuxChomp." We turn in our decklists (super fast deckcheck), and go talk to players while we wait for the tournament to begin. This is what I played:
StupidElectricGustofWindingDevilDogsAndStupidSpeedingSnipingLandsharkDragons.dek (this is seriously what was written on the list...)
Pokemon - 16
2 Luxray GL
1 Luxray GL Lv. X
2 Garchomp C
2 Garchomp C Lv. X
2 Uxie LA
1 Uxie Lv. X
2 Crobat G
1 Azelf LA
1 Lucario GL
1 Bronzong G PL
1 Ambipom G
Supporters - 12
4 Cyrus' Conspiracy
2 Roseanne's Research
1 Pokemon Collector
1 Bebe's Search
1 Copycat
1 Aaron's Collection
1 Cynthia's Feelings
1 Team Galactic’s Wager
Trainers - 19
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-101 Energy Gain
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-105 Poke Turn
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-103 Power Spray
2 Team Galactic's Invention G-109 SP Radar
2 Warp Point
2 Premier Ball
1 Night Maintenance
Energy - 13
5 Lightning Energy
4 Call Energy
4 Double Colorless
It's about 10 AM, and we begin the first round.
*Before this begins, I don't remember most of the names of people I played. So, I'm only saying decks for those that I don't know, so I don't butcher them.
Round 1 - LuxChomp vs Gyrados
He starts with Sableye. I start with Luxray. He Impresonates Collector, gets 3 Karps. End. I draw. No Supporters. No other basics. DCE, Bite for 30. End. We exchange words. Me: "You got it?" Him: "Yea, I got it." Me: "K." Shows me Moonlight, BTS, Felicity's, 3 Karps, Belt. My next card was Collector. Oh well. GG.
0-1
Well crap. I lost my first round. So now I was REALLY considering being done with this tournament. Logan Wolf won his first round. So did Paarth. Peter Griffin got donked by Jumpluff. So now, I make a rule. As soon as I lose a second round, I was done with the tournament. Because I probably wasn't making it in with all those 5-2's with a first round loss.
Round 2 - LuxChomp vs Magmortar
Makes sense. I'm in the losers bracket, so rogue decks end up here. He couldn't get off to a good start, and LuxChomp just does what LuxChomp does.
1-1
Round 3 - LuxChomp vs DialgaChomp
This guy was hilarious. We start out the gate poorly. I have Lucario GL, and he has Crobat G. I start rolling with Cyrus. He does not. I win. It's fun to note that he flipped 3 Heads on Remove Lost to utterly **** my Garchomp.
2-1
Round 4 - LuxChomp vs Gengar
He couldn't get Gengar set up very quickly. I've said it so many times from playing Gengar on a multitude of occasions... While playing Gengar with LuxChomp, kill everything EXCEPT Gengar. Plus, he had an energy drought late game. Couldn't come back at all.
3-1
Round 5 - LuxChomp vs Machamp
Ugh. Of course I would play the random Machamp deck left that is winning. And of course I opted not to put Unown G in my deck. Oh well. I start with Bat and Call. He gets rolling with Machamp, KO's 2 Bats. I pretty much just set up Uxie X quickly and keep Lucario GL on the field to catch up. He can't capitalize as I snipe and kill everything he sets up. Only two Machamps get out.
4-1
Round 6 - LuxChomp vs Marc Perry with DialgaChomp
Well crap. A Georgia player. One who placed at States with me as well. I get rolling with LuxChomp. He has to abuse Turns to keep up with me. His counters seemed to be in the prizes. Luxray did his thing, tanking a couple Dialga hits, while Garchomp sniped and whatnot.
5-1
Round 7 - Luxchomp vs Logan Wolf with PalkiaLock
Again, crap. My longtime friend, Logan Wolf. Rode up with me, etc. Well, we are both kind of on the bubble, but he didn't lose first round. So I figured we both had a better chance of Top 16ing if I won, especially with his only loss thus far was to the only person who went undefeated in Swiss, Nick Fragnito. Thus, I didn't feel bad about stomping his face in with Luxray. Weakness turned out to be too much for the deck. Also, well timed Power Sprays are always fantastic.
6-1
Well damn. I guess I'm Top Cutting. After an abysmal first round, I won out. Pretty interesting day for me. I wasn't expecting to do so well again. Same record I had at States. Except I lost my first round of Swiss today instead of my last round, like at States. Go figure.
So, we see the Top Cut, and I'm 7th seed. Not too shabby. Nice to know I would have made Top 8 even if that was the cut. Paarth, Fragnito, Marc, and Logan all make it in. Peter Griffin is 17th. Sux. Also, Aaron, and Omar from Florida make the cut. So does Kevin, last year's GA Regional Champion. It's nice to see that 12 out of 16 players in the Top 16 were from Georgia this year. States had a phenomenal Georgia showing and win this year, and 3/4 of this year's Regional just shows how much the players have improved. Especially since the last time I played a big tournament before this season was States '08, and NOBODY from Georgia made it into the Top 8 Cut.
Top 16 Decks (No particular order)
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
DialgaChomp
DialgaChomp
SableyeHonchDonk
PalkiaLock
Gengar
Tyranitar
Gardevoir/Gallade
Kingdra
Jumpluff
Flygon/Machamp/Donphan
?
?
?
7th seed faces 10th seed... Logan Wolf... O crap.
Top 16 Match - LuxChomp vs Logan Wolf with PalkiaLock (Again)
Stupid. I played him in my last round of Swiss. Same thing happened to Omar and the Tyranitar guy next to us. They played last round of Swiss, first round of Top 16 as well. Haha.
Game 1- I start with Crobat and Call Energy. I have Sprays in hand. He Binds me, does some shenanigans. I get set up pretty quickly regardless of his lock. Weakness works too well against him, and I outsnipe and heal a lot. He scoops for the sake of time.
8-1
Game 2 - I think I get rolling more quickly than him, but he gets the lock in. It seems like he would be safe, but he underestimates my damage output on one of my turns with Bats and Poketurns, and it results in his fully charged Palkia being killed unexpectedly. I rip him apart from there.
9-1
Awesome. Going to Top 8. Definitely impressed with myself at this point. Got further than I did at States.
Top 8 Decks (No particular order)
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
LuxChomp
DialgaChomp
DialgaChomp
HonchDonkSabelock
Jumpluff
Gardevoir/Gallade
Top 8 Match - LuxChomp vs Kevin with... LuxChomp
Again. Last year's GA Regional Champion. Never played him before. He definitely has his game face on. You know what I'm talking about. I think I saw him smile once.
Game 1 -I mulligan. Then I start with Bronzong G. He starts Garchomp C with Call Energy. Uhhhhh. I fight for a second, but I get slaughtered.
9-2
Game 2 - This game started much better (sarcasm). I start with... Bronzong G. I manage to get Luxray G Lv. X in for quick kills, but he destroys me with his setup.
9-3
So I end in Top 8. I get my 18 packs happily. Got 2 DCE's, 2 Legend Pieces, 4 Primes out of 'em. So, not a bad day at all. Logan and I both Top cutted, and it was just an awesome event. Georgia representation was awesome, and we had a Georgia player take it home. We all said we would. I hope to see you guys in future events. I'm sure I'll be around after a long absence again to invade the Toppish seats. Or scrub out. Who knows?
Peace.
