What I learned at the 2011 Pokemon World Championships:
Tourney Report by Cetra
So after a killer season of Pokemon, I landed myself with a rating 1863.01, putting me in the top 25 in North America. A crazy barrage of travel plans later made possible by Bob Rowan and his wife, I found myself in sunny California.
This was my first worlds and I was determined to do well. Having a ton going on in my personal life, I actually had to cram most of my HGSS-on format testing into my last week before the actual tournament. I set myself to play Yanmega Magnezone with a heavy 2-1-2 Kingdra line. I'd built the deck after Canadian Nationals and found it fit my personal play style very well and in my honest opinion I believe it to have the most versatility and well rounded matchups across the board. Knowing I needed to go with what I knew, I actually only took 3 decks with me: Magnezone Yanmega, Reshiphlosion and Regigigas (for kicks and Giggles).
The day before the tourney, I focused heavily on the Grinder, bouncing between free play and the Saphire Ball room to keep me up to date on what I could. In testing, my Magnezone list was actually starting to tank pretty bad. It was inconsistent, slow and clunky and generally started feeling like a bad play despite my metagame beliefs. After talking with a friend from OR, however, I manned up and changed up the list a little:
4-3 Yanmega
3-2-3 Magnezone
2-1-2 Kingdra
1 Tyrogue
1 Manphy
4 Collector
4 Comm
4 Candy
4 Junk Arm
4 Judge
3 Reversal
2 Copycat
2 Juniper
1 Switch
6 Lightning
2 Rescue
2 Water
I went for a very Vanilla List, well rounded in both speed and consistency. Playing 2 Magneton and 1 Seadra boosted my consistency for getting both Kingdra and Magnezone into play heavily, and the 2 Juniper is actually what pushed the deck back into the action. I chose not to play Jirachi. I was really inexperienced with the concept and though I liked it on paper, I felt I didn't have the time to learn how to execute it well enough and didn't want to throw it in and risk messing up the list itself. Having lost only 1 game since the changes in testing the night before I was pretty confident.
At breakfast I was really on the ropes with Tyrogue. I had a couple options for taking it out, Elekid, Jirachi and Lost Remover being the top 3, but I didnt want to make any last minute changes that I hadn't been able to test. Looking back, I should have gone with my gut instinct and traded Tyrogue for a single Lost Remover. The card is simple, yet effective and doesn't shift the deck's overall focus in any extreme ways.
After opening ceremonies and the player meeting I get set to play at table 2
Round 1 vs Stage 1s:
I groan a little on the inside when I start with a lone Tyrogue. The lady next to me gives me a look as well. He flips to go first and turns over zorua, drop and dce and junipers for 7. He hits tyrogue among the cards he draws, shows it to me and I agree to game.
I'm not feeling so hot having just been donked out of round 1. The game didn't even last long enough for us to get our match slip. He offers to play again for fun and I accept, beating him 3 prizes to nothing. With no Kingdra counter in his deck, I was free to go Agro Kingdra and mop his Donphans after I was fully set up. My deck executed perfectly, but the match was irrelevant.
0-1
Round 2 vs Reshiphlosion:
My Reshiphlosion matchup is the only thing that gets me uncomfortable. I set up knowing that if I can't take the early lead and disrupt well enough, the odds of me winning the match are slim. My hand is good and I'm able to set up a yanmega t2 and start hitting the reversals hard, landing my second to pull up his only benched Cyndaquil for KO. My deck is fast and I land all my reversals to continue to nuke his Cyndaquils as they hit, judging and such to keep him from setting up. I hit a snag on my last prize while he's stuck at three. I had to use my Magnezones and spray splashes to KO his Reshirams, having run out of reversals. Now I can't easily take my last prize. With 2 Kingdra in play I go for something I started doing the night before. I double spray splash his benched typhlosion. Had I been remembering to spray splash earlier in the game, I would have been able to pick off the cyndaquil, but now I have to face that the mistake could actually cost me the match. Walling with Zones, I go turn for turn spray splashing Typlhosion just enough to get into the OHKO range with Yanmega's Linear Attack. He winds up playing a second supporter and the judges rule a prize penalty in my favor which wins me the game, but we play on anyways. My spray splash strategy winds up paying off, and 2 turns later I have enough damage on Typhlosion to promote Yanmega, judge and linear attack for game.
1-1
Round 3 vs Reshiphlosion:
I groan at my Tyrogue start again, but his Mulligan lands me a horsea to bench. I flip to go first to his lone Horsea which confuses me a little. I attach to horsea and swing for 30, flipping to wake up. He benches quil with an energy and passes. I draw into another energy and am faced with 2 options: A) I can swing with Tyrogue and take the prize or B) Play the reveral in my hand to drag up Cyndaquil then attempt a KO with my horsea's Fin Beat attack. I decide to play it safe and take the free prize hoping to stay asleep on Tyrogue. I fail to draw any other pokemon search cards in my prizes and wake up as he promotes quil. He attaches and evolve into quilava and hits me for 30 and KO leaving me with my sole Seadra and knowledge that if I can't draw into more Pokemon, the game's over. I draw Lightning energy. So all I can do is Fin Beat to hope for a double heads and OHKO. I whiff and land only one, he attaches and flamethrowers for knock out.
He flashed me his bad hand, then flips the top 10 cards of his deck to show how bad he was going to drawing, and I kick myself for not trying to go at his Cyndaquil with reversal and Horsea.
1-2
Round 4 vs Reshiphlosion:
By now I'm feeling pretty done. Another tyrogue start doesn't help. This time I go first and copycat myself into another basic. Regardless, he goes off faster than me and by the time I get anything good on the board he's 4 prizes in. I do my best to catch up but at 3-4 prizes in he's able to get the win.
1-3
Round 5 vs Zekrom
This was a weird match because I'd never played against Zekrom before. I open with a decent hand set for yanmega my next turn and he collectors for 3 more Zekrom. A little confused I snipe a benched Zekrom and he returns with a switch and a dce to the damage Zekrom before proceeding to plow into me with outrage. Suddenly I realize that 20+40 with a 2x weakness to lightning means there's nothing I can do and I lose round 5 relatively quickly.
1-4
Round 6 vs Stage 1s:
I open tyrogue again with him going first. He starts Zekrom and attaches dce. I'm almost 99.9% sure the game is going to end right there. He throws down a Juniper for 7 fresh cards...but misses the plus power. I'm able to collector and start my set up, getting my foot through the door faster and just enough to outspeed him. He ran Rshiram unlike my round 1 opponent, but reversals and Magnezone were able to clear it from the board leaving me free to mop with Kingdra.
2-4
Round 7 vs Stage 1:
I get a good set up and and play the field well enough to take a quick lead and game 7 with it,
3-4
And I finish 80th in Worlds.
I honestly wish I could have done better but have to accept that there wasn't much I could do about my losses. I also stand by my deck choice, and seeing Sammy and Jwittz in top 16 with the same archtype only solidifies that. I have however learned a new distaste for babies.
Now I get to look forward to a new season, and a new fight to the top for an invite back to Worlds 2012 in Hawaii.
Props:
First and foremost to Bob for letting me stay in his room for free and for providing me testing opportunities before the trip. Without him, the trip wouldn't have even happened.
Regigigas for getting me my invite in the first place
David for winning and Ross for taking second and showing me that there really was space for a rogue deck to do well in a format previously thought to be locked on only a few decks.
Everyone at Phoenix and the Water Gym for signing my Congratulations card.
To my awesome prerelease skills keeping my record for mopping at prereleases x-0.
Slops:
Tyrogue
Things that kill tyrogue
Not trusting my gut
Regigigas not being viable
Here's to seeing you all next years in Hawaii. I'll be the guy playing Regigigas EX like a boss >.>
Tourney Report by Cetra
So after a killer season of Pokemon, I landed myself with a rating 1863.01, putting me in the top 25 in North America. A crazy barrage of travel plans later made possible by Bob Rowan and his wife, I found myself in sunny California.
This was my first worlds and I was determined to do well. Having a ton going on in my personal life, I actually had to cram most of my HGSS-on format testing into my last week before the actual tournament. I set myself to play Yanmega Magnezone with a heavy 2-1-2 Kingdra line. I'd built the deck after Canadian Nationals and found it fit my personal play style very well and in my honest opinion I believe it to have the most versatility and well rounded matchups across the board. Knowing I needed to go with what I knew, I actually only took 3 decks with me: Magnezone Yanmega, Reshiphlosion and Regigigas (for kicks and Giggles).
The day before the tourney, I focused heavily on the Grinder, bouncing between free play and the Saphire Ball room to keep me up to date on what I could. In testing, my Magnezone list was actually starting to tank pretty bad. It was inconsistent, slow and clunky and generally started feeling like a bad play despite my metagame beliefs. After talking with a friend from OR, however, I manned up and changed up the list a little:
4-3 Yanmega
3-2-3 Magnezone
2-1-2 Kingdra
1 Tyrogue
1 Manphy
4 Collector
4 Comm
4 Candy
4 Junk Arm
4 Judge
3 Reversal
2 Copycat
2 Juniper
1 Switch
6 Lightning
2 Rescue
2 Water
I went for a very Vanilla List, well rounded in both speed and consistency. Playing 2 Magneton and 1 Seadra boosted my consistency for getting both Kingdra and Magnezone into play heavily, and the 2 Juniper is actually what pushed the deck back into the action. I chose not to play Jirachi. I was really inexperienced with the concept and though I liked it on paper, I felt I didn't have the time to learn how to execute it well enough and didn't want to throw it in and risk messing up the list itself. Having lost only 1 game since the changes in testing the night before I was pretty confident.
At breakfast I was really on the ropes with Tyrogue. I had a couple options for taking it out, Elekid, Jirachi and Lost Remover being the top 3, but I didnt want to make any last minute changes that I hadn't been able to test. Looking back, I should have gone with my gut instinct and traded Tyrogue for a single Lost Remover. The card is simple, yet effective and doesn't shift the deck's overall focus in any extreme ways.
After opening ceremonies and the player meeting I get set to play at table 2
Round 1 vs Stage 1s:
I groan a little on the inside when I start with a lone Tyrogue. The lady next to me gives me a look as well. He flips to go first and turns over zorua, drop and dce and junipers for 7. He hits tyrogue among the cards he draws, shows it to me and I agree to game.
I'm not feeling so hot having just been donked out of round 1. The game didn't even last long enough for us to get our match slip. He offers to play again for fun and I accept, beating him 3 prizes to nothing. With no Kingdra counter in his deck, I was free to go Agro Kingdra and mop his Donphans after I was fully set up. My deck executed perfectly, but the match was irrelevant.
0-1
Round 2 vs Reshiphlosion:
My Reshiphlosion matchup is the only thing that gets me uncomfortable. I set up knowing that if I can't take the early lead and disrupt well enough, the odds of me winning the match are slim. My hand is good and I'm able to set up a yanmega t2 and start hitting the reversals hard, landing my second to pull up his only benched Cyndaquil for KO. My deck is fast and I land all my reversals to continue to nuke his Cyndaquils as they hit, judging and such to keep him from setting up. I hit a snag on my last prize while he's stuck at three. I had to use my Magnezones and spray splashes to KO his Reshirams, having run out of reversals. Now I can't easily take my last prize. With 2 Kingdra in play I go for something I started doing the night before. I double spray splash his benched typhlosion. Had I been remembering to spray splash earlier in the game, I would have been able to pick off the cyndaquil, but now I have to face that the mistake could actually cost me the match. Walling with Zones, I go turn for turn spray splashing Typlhosion just enough to get into the OHKO range with Yanmega's Linear Attack. He winds up playing a second supporter and the judges rule a prize penalty in my favor which wins me the game, but we play on anyways. My spray splash strategy winds up paying off, and 2 turns later I have enough damage on Typhlosion to promote Yanmega, judge and linear attack for game.
1-1
Round 3 vs Reshiphlosion:
I groan at my Tyrogue start again, but his Mulligan lands me a horsea to bench. I flip to go first to his lone Horsea which confuses me a little. I attach to horsea and swing for 30, flipping to wake up. He benches quil with an energy and passes. I draw into another energy and am faced with 2 options: A) I can swing with Tyrogue and take the prize or B) Play the reveral in my hand to drag up Cyndaquil then attempt a KO with my horsea's Fin Beat attack. I decide to play it safe and take the free prize hoping to stay asleep on Tyrogue. I fail to draw any other pokemon search cards in my prizes and wake up as he promotes quil. He attaches and evolve into quilava and hits me for 30 and KO leaving me with my sole Seadra and knowledge that if I can't draw into more Pokemon, the game's over. I draw Lightning energy. So all I can do is Fin Beat to hope for a double heads and OHKO. I whiff and land only one, he attaches and flamethrowers for knock out.
He flashed me his bad hand, then flips the top 10 cards of his deck to show how bad he was going to drawing, and I kick myself for not trying to go at his Cyndaquil with reversal and Horsea.
1-2
Round 4 vs Reshiphlosion:
By now I'm feeling pretty done. Another tyrogue start doesn't help. This time I go first and copycat myself into another basic. Regardless, he goes off faster than me and by the time I get anything good on the board he's 4 prizes in. I do my best to catch up but at 3-4 prizes in he's able to get the win.
1-3
Round 5 vs Zekrom
This was a weird match because I'd never played against Zekrom before. I open with a decent hand set for yanmega my next turn and he collectors for 3 more Zekrom. A little confused I snipe a benched Zekrom and he returns with a switch and a dce to the damage Zekrom before proceeding to plow into me with outrage. Suddenly I realize that 20+40 with a 2x weakness to lightning means there's nothing I can do and I lose round 5 relatively quickly.
1-4
Round 6 vs Stage 1s:
I open tyrogue again with him going first. He starts Zekrom and attaches dce. I'm almost 99.9% sure the game is going to end right there. He throws down a Juniper for 7 fresh cards...but misses the plus power. I'm able to collector and start my set up, getting my foot through the door faster and just enough to outspeed him. He ran Rshiram unlike my round 1 opponent, but reversals and Magnezone were able to clear it from the board leaving me free to mop with Kingdra.
2-4
Round 7 vs Stage 1:
I get a good set up and and play the field well enough to take a quick lead and game 7 with it,
3-4
And I finish 80th in Worlds.
I honestly wish I could have done better but have to accept that there wasn't much I could do about my losses. I also stand by my deck choice, and seeing Sammy and Jwittz in top 16 with the same archtype only solidifies that. I have however learned a new distaste for babies.
Now I get to look forward to a new season, and a new fight to the top for an invite back to Worlds 2012 in Hawaii.
Props:
First and foremost to Bob for letting me stay in his room for free and for providing me testing opportunities before the trip. Without him, the trip wouldn't have even happened.
Regigigas for getting me my invite in the first place
David for winning and Ross for taking second and showing me that there really was space for a rogue deck to do well in a format previously thought to be locked on only a few decks.
Everyone at Phoenix and the Water Gym for signing my Congratulations card.
To my awesome prerelease skills keeping my record for mopping at prereleases x-0.
Slops:
Tyrogue
Things that kill tyrogue
Not trusting my gut
Regigigas not being viable
Here's to seeing you all next years in Hawaii. I'll be the guy playing Regigigas EX like a boss >.>
