mozartrules
New Member
I have been judging at the NY and NJ States but finally got a chance to play at the PA States. NJ States ended around 11pm on Saturday – top 16 with 2 of 3 and no time limit – so it was a very tired Pokemon player who got up Sunday morning for the 2-hour drive to Pennsylvania.
I have not played at all since the City Championships so my game was rusty and it showed. I made a number of embarrassing mistakes that I nevertheless managed to survive. I also had to build the deck with no play testing, all I had was 5 games in a tournament almost two months ago.
I had no idea what the metagame would be in PA, so I just took the Vileplume deck that I had used at the last City Championship and tweaked it a bit. I did expect a lot of Rock-Lock and Dark Dragonite, so I made the deck to give me optimal speed for disruption. That meant that I would have serious trouble with psychic decks (particularly Metagross), but I build the deck to win in top-8 and just hoped that I didn’t face too much psychic on the way. I have tried to play with a 1-0-1 Kingdra line but I can’t find the room and I have started with a single Horsea too many times.
4 Oddish
3 Gloom
2 Vileplume EX
2 Bellossom
4 Pidgey
1 Pidgeotto
2 Pidgeot
4 Rare Candy
4 Celio
3 Professor Oak
3 Steven
2 Mt Moon
2 ATM Rock
2 Great Ball
2 Crystal Shard
2 Strength Charm
2 Pokemon Retriever
1 Surprise!
10 Grass
4 Heal
1 Scramble
If I were to play thus deck again (I won’t, I need a new challenge now) I would take out two Heal energy and put in another Grass and another Scramble, but the deck worked well. Some people will think that I am crazy for not playing Dunsparce, but this deck doesn’t have time for SAR and I am OK with having a bit more mulligans than average (I had 8 in 13 games).
I had though that I needed a third Vileplume, but I only have two. So I compensated by adding an extra Retriever and that worked like a charm. I was also very happy with the 2/2/2 Shard/Charm/Rock, just enough of each to be useful.
Round 1: Dark Hypno, Rocket’s Mewtwo EX
Just what I wanted, a psychic deck! I go second, mulligan 3 times and then get a crappy setup. Stephanie starts with a Rocket’s Mewtwo and start pummeling me and I am just never in the game. 0-1.
Round 2: HL Jirachi, HL Starmie, Gorebyss
Perfect, another psychic deck and one that isn’t even harmed much by trainer denial. It looked mostly like a Wishmaker theme deck with Gorebyss instead of Metagross and better trainers. I forget how I manage to win, but I did. 1-1.
Round 3: Gardevoir with Mime EX and Wobbuffet
Not just a psychic deck, but also one with Wobbuffet. I fall badly behind but just manage to get 30 damage on Gex. I then perform the miracle comeback: Rare Candy an energyless Oddish to Bellossom, Scramble energy and Strength Charm for the knockout. Despite a later misplay on my behalf (forgot to use Bellossom’s power) the opponent never recovered! 2-1.
Round 4: Wigglytuff EX, DX Claydol
Imagine my horror when the first energy card I see is psychic! Things get better when I realize that he has no psychic Pokemon and the energy is just there for Claydol. I have a horrible start and looks at this wonderful picture after a couple of rounds: 3 Oddish in play, hand is one Pidgeot and 4 Rare Candy! I finally topdeck a Pidgey (a Celio or Great Ball would have worked too, so my odds were not bad) and RC to Pidgeot, seach for Vileplume EX and the deck takes off. 3-1.
Round 5: Rock-Lock
I am finally back with the good decks that I build the deck to beat and this is one of my best matchups. I am never in trouble despite a so-so start. 4-1.
Round 6: Dark Heart
I am pretty certain that I have to win this since my resistance must be horrible. It is bad enough to lose in the first round, but the decks I played in rounds 2-4 were not great and are unlikely to have a great record. I quickly establish the active Vileplume with a benched Pidgeot and Mt Moon in play and the opponent never really got a chance to get setup. This was the first of a long string of Dark Dragonite decks! 5-1.
I am fifth. One player is undefeated, five players at 5-1 and the best two 4-2 players sneak in including the guy I beat in the last round. The playoff field consists of 5 Dark Dragonite decks (!!!), one Blaziken, one Vileplume and one I don’t know. I fancy my chances against the Dragonite decks despite their resistance. My friends Joe and Drew are also in the playoffs, but they both lose in the first round.
Quarterfinal: Dark Heart
The first game is very long with me having the upper hand throughout. I am energy starved – have to use Pidgeot to get energy – but the lock works and the opponent cannot get anything going. He doesn’t know that he should forfeit the first game to get a chance to win the second, but the reality is that we start the second game with only 8 minutes left. I get a decent start to the second game and is up on prizes and in control when time is called.
Semifinals: Dark Heart
This is the undefeated player from the Swiss. The first game is also long and difficult, but the lock works well enough to give me the upper hand. I get a dream start to the second game: Pidgey active, Celio, Great Ball, Rare Candy and Vileplume in hand. Since I go second I can Celio for Pidgeot, RC, Ball for Oddish, search for RC, evolve to Vileplume, retreat Pidgeot. I was happy having Vileplume there even though I had no energy yet, it is simply too difficult for the opponent to get going when Mt Moon was tabled next turn.
Finals: Dark Heart
This is the guy I beat in the last round of the Swiss. I feel good when he comes to our table and my just defeated opponent says “You are in for a rough time” and he answers “I know”. My deck is not performing too well in the first game which I lose, but the lock is perfect in the next two games and it doesn’t even help him that he manages to KO Vileplume with a confused Dragonite because the Dragonite dies next turn with all the Dark energies and it is too late for him to recover even though he can play the trainers now.
Props:
· To my deck which was dominant enough to cover for my mistakes. I am glad I went for the second Crystal Shard and went for the Stadium that would hurt the Dark Dragonite deck.
· Joe Poms for driving. Joe, Jesse, Drew and Brian for being good company
· A well run tournament
· A great prize package – remember this is a free tournament! The Rayquaza deck protectors are absolutely awesome.
· My competitors for being good sportsmen and for showing lots of grace in defeat. Vileplume can be a depressing deck to play against!
Slops:
· The computer for putting me up against so many psychic decks.
I have not played at all since the City Championships so my game was rusty and it showed. I made a number of embarrassing mistakes that I nevertheless managed to survive. I also had to build the deck with no play testing, all I had was 5 games in a tournament almost two months ago.
I had no idea what the metagame would be in PA, so I just took the Vileplume deck that I had used at the last City Championship and tweaked it a bit. I did expect a lot of Rock-Lock and Dark Dragonite, so I made the deck to give me optimal speed for disruption. That meant that I would have serious trouble with psychic decks (particularly Metagross), but I build the deck to win in top-8 and just hoped that I didn’t face too much psychic on the way. I have tried to play with a 1-0-1 Kingdra line but I can’t find the room and I have started with a single Horsea too many times.
4 Oddish
3 Gloom
2 Vileplume EX
2 Bellossom
4 Pidgey
1 Pidgeotto
2 Pidgeot
4 Rare Candy
4 Celio
3 Professor Oak
3 Steven
2 Mt Moon
2 ATM Rock
2 Great Ball
2 Crystal Shard
2 Strength Charm
2 Pokemon Retriever
1 Surprise!
10 Grass
4 Heal
1 Scramble
If I were to play thus deck again (I won’t, I need a new challenge now) I would take out two Heal energy and put in another Grass and another Scramble, but the deck worked well. Some people will think that I am crazy for not playing Dunsparce, but this deck doesn’t have time for SAR and I am OK with having a bit more mulligans than average (I had 8 in 13 games).
I had though that I needed a third Vileplume, but I only have two. So I compensated by adding an extra Retriever and that worked like a charm. I was also very happy with the 2/2/2 Shard/Charm/Rock, just enough of each to be useful.
Round 1: Dark Hypno, Rocket’s Mewtwo EX
Just what I wanted, a psychic deck! I go second, mulligan 3 times and then get a crappy setup. Stephanie starts with a Rocket’s Mewtwo and start pummeling me and I am just never in the game. 0-1.
Round 2: HL Jirachi, HL Starmie, Gorebyss
Perfect, another psychic deck and one that isn’t even harmed much by trainer denial. It looked mostly like a Wishmaker theme deck with Gorebyss instead of Metagross and better trainers. I forget how I manage to win, but I did. 1-1.
Round 3: Gardevoir with Mime EX and Wobbuffet
Not just a psychic deck, but also one with Wobbuffet. I fall badly behind but just manage to get 30 damage on Gex. I then perform the miracle comeback: Rare Candy an energyless Oddish to Bellossom, Scramble energy and Strength Charm for the knockout. Despite a later misplay on my behalf (forgot to use Bellossom’s power) the opponent never recovered! 2-1.
Round 4: Wigglytuff EX, DX Claydol
Imagine my horror when the first energy card I see is psychic! Things get better when I realize that he has no psychic Pokemon and the energy is just there for Claydol. I have a horrible start and looks at this wonderful picture after a couple of rounds: 3 Oddish in play, hand is one Pidgeot and 4 Rare Candy! I finally topdeck a Pidgey (a Celio or Great Ball would have worked too, so my odds were not bad) and RC to Pidgeot, seach for Vileplume EX and the deck takes off. 3-1.
Round 5: Rock-Lock
I am finally back with the good decks that I build the deck to beat and this is one of my best matchups. I am never in trouble despite a so-so start. 4-1.
Round 6: Dark Heart
I am pretty certain that I have to win this since my resistance must be horrible. It is bad enough to lose in the first round, but the decks I played in rounds 2-4 were not great and are unlikely to have a great record. I quickly establish the active Vileplume with a benched Pidgeot and Mt Moon in play and the opponent never really got a chance to get setup. This was the first of a long string of Dark Dragonite decks! 5-1.
I am fifth. One player is undefeated, five players at 5-1 and the best two 4-2 players sneak in including the guy I beat in the last round. The playoff field consists of 5 Dark Dragonite decks (!!!), one Blaziken, one Vileplume and one I don’t know. I fancy my chances against the Dragonite decks despite their resistance. My friends Joe and Drew are also in the playoffs, but they both lose in the first round.
Quarterfinal: Dark Heart
The first game is very long with me having the upper hand throughout. I am energy starved – have to use Pidgeot to get energy – but the lock works and the opponent cannot get anything going. He doesn’t know that he should forfeit the first game to get a chance to win the second, but the reality is that we start the second game with only 8 minutes left. I get a decent start to the second game and is up on prizes and in control when time is called.
Semifinals: Dark Heart
This is the undefeated player from the Swiss. The first game is also long and difficult, but the lock works well enough to give me the upper hand. I get a dream start to the second game: Pidgey active, Celio, Great Ball, Rare Candy and Vileplume in hand. Since I go second I can Celio for Pidgeot, RC, Ball for Oddish, search for RC, evolve to Vileplume, retreat Pidgeot. I was happy having Vileplume there even though I had no energy yet, it is simply too difficult for the opponent to get going when Mt Moon was tabled next turn.
Finals: Dark Heart
This is the guy I beat in the last round of the Swiss. I feel good when he comes to our table and my just defeated opponent says “You are in for a rough time” and he answers “I know”. My deck is not performing too well in the first game which I lose, but the lock is perfect in the next two games and it doesn’t even help him that he manages to KO Vileplume with a confused Dragonite because the Dragonite dies next turn with all the Dark energies and it is too late for him to recover even though he can play the trainers now.
Props:
· To my deck which was dominant enough to cover for my mistakes. I am glad I went for the second Crystal Shard and went for the Stadium that would hurt the Dark Dragonite deck.
· Joe Poms for driving. Joe, Jesse, Drew and Brian for being good company
· A well run tournament
· A great prize package – remember this is a free tournament! The Rayquaza deck protectors are absolutely awesome.
· My competitors for being good sportsmen and for showing lots of grace in defeat. Vileplume can be a depressing deck to play against!
Slops:
· The computer for putting me up against so many psychic decks.
Next time I'll be playing. Good luck at regionals.