SuperWooper
New Member
Several Edits later, I'm done editing. Fixed full names, deleted negative comments, fixed T8 seeds. I'm sure it's riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, but if you point them out, I will unleash my Magma's Groudon on you. =/
Yeah, so here’s my piece o' teh pie. Since I’m so bad at this game, and I actually did well at this tournament, I thought I would post a lil’ report type thingy. Here goes.
I wake up, grab a shower and breakfast, and Mrs. C. shows up at our front door around 8:30, ready to give us a ride. Her three boys, Daniel, Devon (registeel on the Pokegym), and Ryan, are all in the van and are ready to go. My little brother stays behind; he’s having a friend over. I grab my deck, damage counters and binder and we set off for Stafford. Mapquest, as usual, is a total bust, so she stops at a 7-11 for directions. While she’s in there, she buys us each a TRR booster pack. Mrs. C, you’re the coolest mom ever! lol, I got a Delibird in mine. -_- Daniel got a Togetic, though, so that’s pretty good.
We arrive at about 10:10 or so, and everybody is already there. We get Ryan and Daniel registered, since they were new, and Devon and I signed up too, both of us getting extra raffle tickets for the DS since we both brought a new person. I’m frantic about getting their decklists in on time, but CFK comes over and asks if we need help. He offered to write down Ryan’s decklist, because he’s not a very fast writer, and while I helped Daniel and Devon get their decks together, he started on mine. We had to borrow 3 Celio’s Network from him to scatter amongst our decks, so he ends up really saving our behinds. Props, Sean.
I am the last one to get my decklist in, and just barely at that. If not for CFK I probably wouldn’t have made it by the deadline. Major props, man. Sensei goes over the rules because there are a lot of new people, and then describes the prizes. The raffle prize is a Nintendo DS, (which Sensei paid for himself) and he raised 1st place to a full box instead of 36 packs. Does it get any sweeter?
Ryan is 10-, and he’s playing a fairly thrown-together deck consisting of Pidgeot, Dark Magneton, Raikou ex, and Persain. He has his heart really set on playing this deck, and I have a WalreinMilotic ready for him which I try to get him to play, but he declines. He is a really great player, and if this game is going to be successful a few years down the road, look out for him.
Devon (registeel) is in my age group and is playing Flygon. Daniel is 15+, and he’s playing a Gardevoir deck. Along with Gardevoir, he plays Sandstorm Steelix. His strategy is to load Steelix up with metals, then psy shadow a few times. It will get a lot of pebbles on it, so Rage will do a lot of damage, and after he picks off a bunch of their pokemon with Gardevoir ex, Steelix will sweep through their random basics.
I was playing Magma. The list is below:
Pokemon: 14
4 Team Magma’s Zangoose
4 Team Magma’s Groudon
2 Team Magma’s Baltoy
2 Team Magma’s Claydol
1 Team Magma’s Numel
1 Team Magma’s Camerupt
Energy: 17
7 Fighting
1 Psychic
1 Rainbow
4 Darkness
4 Magma
Trainers: 29
4 Steven’s Advice
3 TV Reporter
3 Magma Conspirator
3 Magma Ball
1 Copycat
1 Celio’s Network (props to CFK)
3 Pokemon Reversal
2 Magnetic Storm
2 Maxie
2 Mr. Briney’s Compassion
2 Swoop! Teleporter
1 Warp Point
1 Switch
1 Strength Charm
This list was much more concerned with consistency than with tech. I only played 1 Strength Charm, which did save me game 3, but 3 Reversal turned out to work like a Charm. 1 Switch and 1 Warp Point did turn out to be very valuable, and the Swoop! Teleporter, which I had earlier criticized, in the Magma decks of my peers, did come in handy. Storm over Ruins because I knew nobody in my age group was playing Blaziken (Matt LeBlanc had moved up to 15+). Only 1-1 Camerupt because of the Celio.
Sensei does a head count and sees that there aren’t enough people at the tournament to justify a Top 8 in each age group. Instead, there would be only one Top 8, and it would be overall, for all 3 age groups. He tried to keep swiss organized by age group, and for the most part it would work, but there were some difficulties.
I shuffle and talk with Mike Pramawat, who would be judging because he won a CC already, and some others like CFK, David and Melody A (younger siblings of Jon A, aka Physics Squirrel), Matt LeBlanc, and TrueGamerX, while meeting some new faces like mollymotes, and supertyranitar. Finally it’s time to start!
Round One: Melody A (Blaze on Pokegym) with Zapdos
This was going to be fun: I was at Table Number 13.
Melody and I had played in a few of the same tournaments before, but had never battled. I had watched her games, however, and I had never seen her flip tails. And since she was going to rely on Dual Ball, Pokemon Reversal, and Super Scoop Up (she was playing Zapdos), I was basically screwed. I went first, and she topdecked an Elekid. She would have started with a Zapdos, but I mulliganed twice and she got a Super Scoop Up in one of her draws. She plays ‘Kid, flips heads on the Super Scoop Up and ‘Kid, and proceeds to pwn my first Groudon a few turns later with Zapdos ex. I start to come back, but she has another Zapdos in her hand and just crushes me.
0-1
LUNCH BREAK!
Daniel and Ryan, the two beginners that we brought, had won their first matches. Ryan was so ecstatic over his win that he remembered basically every detail and told me the whole match. Devon and I, who usually got similar tournament records, had both lost. The four of us and CFK trek over to McDonalds (my mom had packed a lunch for me, but I left it in Mrs. C’s car and she thought the lunch break was after the 2nd round, so it was locked in there). Only CFK and I have money, so I pay for the three others and we sit down to eat while Sean talks about some music he was listening to (which no one had heard of) that made him want to take over Poland. Apparently the music also had some side effect on his brain, because he put his fries in between the buns of his burger and ate it with ketchup....
David and Melody had followed us, so we talk a bit about strategy and stuff. CFK leaves with about 10 minutes left until second round. Ryan (the youngest, who also ate the most food), wolfed down the rest of his fries and we run over to Comic World for Round 2.
Round Two: Megan T with Slaking/Xatu
I had played this girl at the Eastern Coast Stadium Challenge a half a year or so ago. She was apparently obsessed with Pokenav at the time, and now she was obsessed with VS Seeker. Interesting pattern. Anyway, she started with a Dunsparce but didn’t get any energy for two turns. I get a Groudon start but I go first and attach, then she goes and does nothing except play a Slakoth. I draw and Conspirator and Magma Ball for 3 more basics and attach a Magma. I basically own her right there, seeing as how my second prize was another Magma energy. She attempted a comeback by eventually getting a Slaking up with 2 Psychic energy and a DRE, and playing Ancient Tomb to cover her weakness, but I countered with a Magnetic Storm and it was over.
1-1
Daniel and Ryan are both 2-0 now. Devon won his match, so we’re both 1-1. It’s weird how the new players are owning this tournament upside-down. Anyway, Sensei puts up the pairings for the next round, and to my horror, I find I am facing the winner of the 11-14 division at last year’s Eastern Coast Stadium Challenge:
Round Three: David A (Raichupichu) with Dark Dragonite
I get a Baltoy start, and he has Dark Dragonair active with a Dark Electrode, Dunsparce, Pidgeot, Voltorb, and Dratini benched T2. I Swoop Teleporter for Team Magma’s Zangoose, because I have three basics in play plus Strength Charm. Niiice. He just puts up Dratini, candies, uses Dark Navigation, moves up the Dark, plays a Rocket energy, and OHKOs me. I put up a Groudon and stall for a bit, getting my bench built so I have a Camerupt, 2 Claydols, a Groudon, and another Zangoose waiting. I have a Magma ball in my hand, so I figure that when he KOs my Groudon, I can Magma Ball for a basic and I’ll have six basics so I can OHKO his Dragonite. He puts all his Darkness energy back on his other pokemon and KOs me, and I put up Team Magma’s Zangoose. I use Magma Ball, and flip tails. I search through my deck, and there are no basic pokemon left. None. This was a huge misplay that almost cost me the match. I did 100 to him, but he KO’d my Zangoose with a Dark Electrode with 4 Dark energy after switching. I KO’d his Dark Electrode with Magma’s Groudon, so the prizes were even again, but he KOs my Magma’s Groudon with Rocket’s Sneasel ex. There are only about 2 minutes left in the game now, so I draw and topdeck a Maxie. I play it, bring back Groudon, use switch for TM Groudon, move an energy to it from Camerupt, and play a Magma energy. This Groudon now has full health, so a Dragonite with 4 Darkness energy can’t OHKO me. And David doesn’t play Strength Charm. Once I KO his Rocket’s Sneasel ex, I go up in prizes. Sensei calls time. “Whoever’s turn it is, finish it now!” he announces. David searches his deck with Pidgeot, his hand, and his discard about five times each, but can’t find any possible way to win. He scoops and I win on prizes. I was so psyched that I slammed my hand down on the table really loudly, which caused it to ache for the next 30 minutes, lol. Incredible game, David!
2-1
Afterwards, Mike P, who was watching our match really closely, points out to David that he could have used Pokemon Retriever for his Sneasel again and OHKO’d me to win. He’s in disbelief that he didn’t see that, and he still seems shocked after the tournament is over.
Daniel C is now 3-0. I had first scoffed at the idea of playing Gardevoir/Steelix, but I was now reassessing my previous judgment. It did seem like an okay strategy, and Daniel was owning the place. It looked like he would play CFK now, since they were both undefeated at 3-0. Ryan had lost his first match, but he was still excited.
Round Four: Nick H (Psy Master) with Dark Dragonite/Dark Ampharos
This guy came into the round pretty confident. He had beaten Devon last round and thought he was made of some pretty tough stuff. Unfortunately, he didn’t know me, so he didn’t know what my deck was. I had seen his game before, however, so I knew what he was playing. I had the advantage by a longshot. I got a Groudon start, but got enough basics to attack, and Reversal his Dark Ampharos and T2 it with Strength Charm. He definitely wasn’t expecting that. He was using Rocket’s Mission, and I needed to see the card because it’s not too commonly played. He kinda scoffed, but it was all in good fun. Anyway, he gets another Dark Ampharos, and after tearing through all his random Dratinis and stuff (thanks, Magnetic Storm), I get to his Ampharos, which can only do 70 to my Groudon. I KO it for the win. He was complaining afterwards that he would have won if he had “just a few more turns”. Devon is avenged, but it wasn't that close a game.
3-1
Sometime during this match, Sensei walked by, and I apparently had some really ugly concentrating look on my face, because Sensei snapped me with his digital, and said, “Oh no, my lens broke.” lol
Turns out Daniel lost to CFK, putting Sean at 4-0 and basically guaranteeing him a spot in T8. This is where Daniel began his losing streak, unfortunately. Devon did win his match, however, so he was 2-2. Unfortunately, we got paired up somehow in the next round. Here’s how it went down...
Round Five: Devon C (registeel) with Flygon
There really wasn’t too much to say about this game. I got a Goose start and KO’d his Dunsparce turn two. He was energy bankrupt, and did manage to get Delcatty’Ton going on, but he ran out of basics to stall with. Near the end of the game he did Energy Shower, but I dominated his Flygon with Goose. He KO’d Goose with Magneton, but I get a Groudon and Overheat/Magma Switch and attach a Magma Energy to Groudon, so it was good game because all he had left was a Delcatty. I get a pretty easy win here. The sad thing was that this match that would determine which of us would be going on to T8. If he would win out he would have made it, but luck decided to take my side. Devon, if you’re reading this, I’m really sorry, man. You played tough, but Magma has the advantage over Flygon and my start was next to perfect. Thanks so much for being cool about the loss.
4-1
One really annoying thing that happened during this match was that supertyranitar, from these boards, was playing a table up from us. Devon’s relatively new to sanctioned play, and I was trying to get him to play a little faster. One of his biggest flaws is that he second-guesses everything he does, especially in pokemon. I told him, in the friendliest way I could possibly do it, that he needed to speed up play a bit because he was taking a wee bit too long with play, and I said that Magma always took a quick lead, so he needed to get some prizes fast if he wanted to stay in it. Supertyranitar kinda coughed loudly in dissaproval. Is everybody in North Carolina just not concerned with slow play at all? o.o
So I need to win my next match to stay in it, I figure. My resistance is poor, since that only person I lost to wasn’t T8’ing. (Melody, how couldja let me down?) I found out, from either Daniel or Devon, that he had beaten them previously, so I was completely focused on winning this game.
Round Six: Johnny R with Gardevoir/Xatu
It’s too bad that I gave the wrong first impression with this guy, being uptight and all. We talked after the tournament and he was ubercool. He was just starting organized play, and he was 4-1 so far. With a Gardy/Xatu deck, that’s not too bad. Anyway, I get a Zangoose start and basically cream him. Sorry to say it, but Magma basic swarms > Natu and Sentret swarms. He eventually got a Gardevoir ex built, but couldn’t draw the fourth energy for Psystorm, and kept Feedbacking me. Unfortunately, my hand was HUUGE, and so he ripped through a few Groudons while I draw 2 Magnetic Storms in a row (which he was playing anyway -_-). But what may seem like a series of unfortunate events can actually be a series of fortunate events...or something. I don’t remember exactly how the movie commercial goes. I Topdeck a Darkness energy (Claydol already had one darkness energy attached) and attach it, then Overheat/Magma Switch my psychic energy back from my discard. Just enough to OHKO Gex. I take my last two prizes. GG Johnny. I gave the wrong first impression, glad we got to talk afterwards and play a few extra rounds. This game will only stay alive if new players like you step up. Really enjoyed meeting you!
5-1
Daniel loses to mollymotes to put him @ 3-3, Devon loses to David to put him @ 2-4, and Ryan loses to some random 19-year-old Primeape/Mega-crud-load-of-tools player. LOL, Ryan’s whole frikkin’ deck is weak to the monkey besides Pidgeot, who got KO’d early game. Just peachy keen. ¬_¬
Anyway, the Top 8 sits down at the “Top 8 Table” and Sensei announces the door prize winners. I get a Minun Plush (YESS!!!!1) and trade it for a Dark Electrode later. Hmm, do you think I got the worse end of the deal? Some person I’d never heard of before wins the DS, and we had 8 chances at it. Oh well, I got the Minun Plush. I got my picture taken with it, so please, NOBODY look at the pictures Sensei posts on the Stafford VA CC thread...
Oooooops... ^_~
Anyway, the 10- are announced since none of them made the overall T8, which Sensei decided to go with because of an attendance of only like 40-45, ‘cuz Gymbo and the Barlocks weren’t there. Oh well, that just proves that they have lives outside of this game. The rest of us are losers I guess.
Ryan, the little guy I brought with me, got 3rd place in 10- overall. He was so excited that it looked like his smile would stretch out his face so far that it would stay that way forever. He got his four boosters and went back with his brothers to do the 3-round booster draft of TRR that Sensei had scheduled afterwards. They ended up hauling a few Dark Electrode, a Dark Dragonite, a Kingdra, a Jumpluff, a Togetic, and quite a few Delibirds that nobody wanted. 13 bucks per 6 packs isn’t too shabby, if I do say so myself, so they all entered and Devon ended up getting 5th of 12 participants. He got one pack for it, which he opened and got something not-so-good in. Probably a Delibird. They’re like Heracross from Hidden Legends: you always get them and you never want them. =/
Anyway, after getting our decks checked, the T8 looked like this:
1st seed: Sean G (CrossFormatKid) 6-0
2nd seed: Daniel M (TrueGamerX) 5-1
3rd seed: Alex S 5-1
4th seed: Myself, of course ;p 5-1
5th seed: Luke R 4-2
6th seed: Matt LeB (Lugia EX) 4-2
7th seed: Brett McD 4-2
8th seed: Johnny R (he barely made it on resistance, GJ dude) 4-2
There isn’t much time left in the day. Sensei decides to do single elimination, which is definitely Magma’s favorite kind of elimination. Yummy. =) Everybody gets paired up, myself with Luke Reed, since we’re 4th and 5th seeds, respectively. Before this Luke had already figured out that he would be playing me, so he tried to seduce me...or something. Luke definitely wins the most disturbing player of the year award for the 2006 Pojo Awards, Patriarch. I don’t even need to see the candidates. Needless to say, I was a little bit weirded out sitting across from Luke, I don’t care how good an actor he may or may not be. ;p
Top 8: Match One: Luke R with Dark Amphy/Xatu
Rip off of Colin’s deck, eh Luke? lol, Anyways, I go first with an ownage Groudon start, and get a quick lead with a Magma energy after KOing his Dunsparce. He puts up Xatu and decides to start hitting for pebbles and trade back and forth between alternate Xatu heal healing. I also try to Reversal his Dark Amphy twice, but flip tails both times. I figure I’ll draw maybe a fighting energy or something, and I do draw Magma’s Conspirator. Looking through my deck carefully, I see that BOTH of my Magnetic Storm are in my prizes, so I can’t OHKO Xatu, and BOTH of my other Pokemon Reversal are in my prizes, as well as something else I wasn’t too concerned about after witnessing that awful start. It was a Maxie or something, IDK. Sooo, I get my fighting energy and attach it to Groudon and start hitting away at his Pidgeot, not being able to hit anything else besides Dark Ampharos, which I could OHKO anyways after I draw a Reversal. =/ Even if I had hit the Xatu, all I had attached was 2 fighting, and 2 Healing Winds would have solved that. I scare away his Dark Amphy for the rest of the game with a Groudon that had a fighting energy on it from way beforehand, but the pebble-placing was too much. He picked off my Baltoy and Numel by ATM Rock, returning Claydol and Camerupt to my hand. Luke Brineys up his Pidgeot when it has 80 damage on it and Candies right back, which makes me want to puke allll over the table. lol, In the end, the better player won. Luke went on to win the entire tournament, so that means I got 5th place overall and 2nd in my age group.
Sensei took my picture (for about the 50th time that day) with my 9 boosters, POP packs, City Championship pin, Machop Promo, and LATIOS TATTOO!!1 Sean, after receiving his, promptly ran into the bathroom to put it on. He’s so much cooler than all of us. I gave my tattoo to CFK too, and Luke offered to put it on CFK for him. I decided to take my tattoo back (guess why?) but I ended up losing it (it wasn’t on purpose...). I do a couple of trades afterwards and I’m able to score a Dark Draggy and a Pidgeot from Mike Pramawat (SHPanda) by trading an RH Magma’s Groudon, RH Magma Energy and TV Reporter regular. I know both Pidge and Draggy come in theme decks, but so does Magma’s Groudon, so I think it saved me about 10 bucks. I trade my Minun Plush for a Dark Electrode, and when Devon, Ryan, and Daniel pooled our cards afterwards, we had Draggy completely built except for about 5 cards. Good haul!
I play a few extra games with Johnny afterwards. I gave him the award for Most Hyper Player on the East Coast a few months in advance. He earned it. I tried to help him with his deck a bit, and he listened to everything I had to say. He’s actually a really great player, he just needs help metagaming and such. I talk to some other people I had never met before and Ryan is running up to me yelling about what cards he got in his packs. Meanwhile, Daniel calls his mom’s cell while we say goodbye to everybody.
Mrs. C rolls by and cramps us all into her extremely tiny car (I barely made it home without my ankles falling off) and Daniel, Devon and Ryan give me back the cards they owe me. They all wanted to trade the packs they got in the draft for the packs I got from the tournament, but I waited to open them until I got home. After doing so (and pulling a Rocket’s Admin, Dark Hypno, Dark Electrode, and about 7 Delibirds), I started writing this thing at around 8:00 pm and crashed at around 9. I was mentally exhausted, but satisfied all the same.
Time for props and slops...yeah, there are some slops =(
Before that though, I want to thank everybody who went through my deck with me and talked strategy, shuffling, and soccer, and some of whom stayed up until 4 AM some nights (because they’re insomniacs like me) to test and talk ’n stuff. Patriarch, YoungJohn06, Magnechu, Registeel, the people @ WAKA, TrueGamerX, and the rest of you, you know who you are. You guys are no small part of my success. Thanks for what you contributed.
Props: :thumb:
-Sensei, for throwing this wild party. It was well planned, well organized, well run. The DS as a door prize (and the Minun) and the box for 1st were awesome. Anybody who is reading this, come to the State Championships! Yes, even you, Barlocks!
-Sean Gagnon, for being so awesome with the new kids and helping us meet the registration deadline. Without you I wouldn’t even have competed. Thanks SO much, dude.
-TrueGamerX, who broke his 9th seed curse. Keep on keepin’ on, Daniel.
-Mollymotes, for being a cool guy IRL. Was Sensei really thinking about kicking you out? I wouldn’t blame him, LOL.
-Mrs. C, for being such a cool mom and driving us, even if it did take up almost all of your day. You can’t begin to imagine how much your boys love this game, Ryan especially. Keep supporting them in it, they’re all good players and will only continue to improve.
-Ryan C, for getting 3rd place in his age group in his first tournament and being so enthusiastic about this game. The game screams for new players like you, man.
-Daniel C, for going 3-0 his first three games and then having to face CFK and starting a losing streak. Do not be disappointed, you show more promise than a lot of players I know.
-Devon C, for finally ending up with a different swiss record than me. Now I can brag about how my ranking is higher! We should hang out more often and we can play, you’re getting better every day. Keep going forward.
-Melody and David A for finally not T8’ing and letting me in. David, especially you for a fabulous game, one I’m not likely to forgot in a long time.
-Johnny R for winning the Most Hyper Award and being so cool about losing. Hey, you did get 3rd in 11-14. See you soon, dude.
-Matt L for turning 15 so I wouldn’t have to compete with him for a Top Whatever seeding. ;p
-Everybody that I forgot, including those who I battled and traded with. You guys are all so cool (except Luke) that it’s amazing that Comic Worlds can hold so much pwnage in such a small area.
-The Judges, especially Mike P for being really cool and pointing out my misplays after the tournament was over. I’m slowly but surely transforming into a great player.
-Comic World, thanks for hosting these things, please keep doing it! You guys provide a great atmosphere to play in, and the 50 cent sodas CAN’T BE BEAT.
-The Booster draft afterwards, and Devon for getting 5th in that.
-Minun plushies > Nintendo DS’s.
-Latios tattoos
-Me, for placing second. I was hoping for first, but you can’t have everything you want.
-Everybody and everything else I forgot. This was a fabulous event!
Slops: :nonono: / :lol:
-CFK for listening to Valkner or whatever made him want to take over Poland and eat his fries INSIDE his burger. *shudder*
-Devon for taking about 30 minutes to put his deck together and always second-guessing himself. Get some confidence about the game, you’re better than you think!
-Daniel for losing out after his huge start.
-No slops to Ryan. He’s cool like that.
-Luke, drop the act, you’re so good at it that you could scare people into comas and probably rule the world or something. Sooo...yeah. ;p
-Sensei for snapping my picture 50 bajillion times.
-Me for not making first, and always being in the picture, no matter HOW hard I tried to avoid it.
-Overall T8 and not Age Group T4. C’mon, Sensei!
-Sensei for telling me the lens broke after he snapped my picture. =( rofl
-The Barlocks, Gymbo, Lanturn1234, Physics Squirrel (your brother and sister came), and everybody else who wasn’t there that should have been. Where was that NC invasion? Speaking of North Carolina...
-supertyranitar, for not T8’ing so we could duke it out. Wanted to play you, man. I think you can trust my judgment when it’s me telling one of my own personal friends to hurry up. I wouldn’t rush a total n00b or anything. Don't worry, I don't have a terminal illness! ^_^
-TrueGamerX for not getting farther than he did. One step at a time, I guess. And BTW, Wooper needs no evolution. P|-|33® 73|-| ƒ15|-||-|34|)!!
-Myself for being so much of a nerd that I typed a whole frikkin’ sentence in 1337 speak.
-Brett and Matt for playing Blaziken. Ewww, I’m sickovvit!
-The DS because I didn’t get it.
-Ketchup. It just tastes really bad, especially inside your burger. (CFK, why put fries inside your burger too?)
-Everybody else for chickening out when I started to sing Sensei Happy Birthday. Don’t worry, Mike, we’ll set up a chat. ^_^
-Delibird. -______________-
-Wow, this was shorter than the props, by just a bit!
-I’m running out of things to write.
-Well, thanks for reading my report.
-Hope it wasn’t too boring.
-Thanks again to Sensei for throwing this gigantic party!
-See you all at the State Championship.
-It’ll be the last tournament I can enter while I’m still 14.
-OH! THAT’S A GOOD SLOP!
-I’d better write it again.
-It’ll be the last tournament I can enter while I’m still 14.
-There.
-Now it’s official.
-Okay, I’m done now.
-Thanks for reading!
~Wooper
Yeah, so here’s my piece o' teh pie. Since I’m so bad at this game, and I actually did well at this tournament, I thought I would post a lil’ report type thingy. Here goes.
I wake up, grab a shower and breakfast, and Mrs. C. shows up at our front door around 8:30, ready to give us a ride. Her three boys, Daniel, Devon (registeel on the Pokegym), and Ryan, are all in the van and are ready to go. My little brother stays behind; he’s having a friend over. I grab my deck, damage counters and binder and we set off for Stafford. Mapquest, as usual, is a total bust, so she stops at a 7-11 for directions. While she’s in there, she buys us each a TRR booster pack. Mrs. C, you’re the coolest mom ever! lol, I got a Delibird in mine. -_- Daniel got a Togetic, though, so that’s pretty good.
We arrive at about 10:10 or so, and everybody is already there. We get Ryan and Daniel registered, since they were new, and Devon and I signed up too, both of us getting extra raffle tickets for the DS since we both brought a new person. I’m frantic about getting their decklists in on time, but CFK comes over and asks if we need help. He offered to write down Ryan’s decklist, because he’s not a very fast writer, and while I helped Daniel and Devon get their decks together, he started on mine. We had to borrow 3 Celio’s Network from him to scatter amongst our decks, so he ends up really saving our behinds. Props, Sean.
I am the last one to get my decklist in, and just barely at that. If not for CFK I probably wouldn’t have made it by the deadline. Major props, man. Sensei goes over the rules because there are a lot of new people, and then describes the prizes. The raffle prize is a Nintendo DS, (which Sensei paid for himself) and he raised 1st place to a full box instead of 36 packs. Does it get any sweeter?
Ryan is 10-, and he’s playing a fairly thrown-together deck consisting of Pidgeot, Dark Magneton, Raikou ex, and Persain. He has his heart really set on playing this deck, and I have a WalreinMilotic ready for him which I try to get him to play, but he declines. He is a really great player, and if this game is going to be successful a few years down the road, look out for him.
Devon (registeel) is in my age group and is playing Flygon. Daniel is 15+, and he’s playing a Gardevoir deck. Along with Gardevoir, he plays Sandstorm Steelix. His strategy is to load Steelix up with metals, then psy shadow a few times. It will get a lot of pebbles on it, so Rage will do a lot of damage, and after he picks off a bunch of their pokemon with Gardevoir ex, Steelix will sweep through their random basics.
I was playing Magma. The list is below:
Pokemon: 14
4 Team Magma’s Zangoose
4 Team Magma’s Groudon
2 Team Magma’s Baltoy
2 Team Magma’s Claydol
1 Team Magma’s Numel
1 Team Magma’s Camerupt
Energy: 17
7 Fighting
1 Psychic
1 Rainbow
4 Darkness
4 Magma
Trainers: 29
4 Steven’s Advice
3 TV Reporter
3 Magma Conspirator
3 Magma Ball
1 Copycat
1 Celio’s Network (props to CFK)
3 Pokemon Reversal
2 Magnetic Storm
2 Maxie
2 Mr. Briney’s Compassion
2 Swoop! Teleporter
1 Warp Point
1 Switch
1 Strength Charm
This list was much more concerned with consistency than with tech. I only played 1 Strength Charm, which did save me game 3, but 3 Reversal turned out to work like a Charm. 1 Switch and 1 Warp Point did turn out to be very valuable, and the Swoop! Teleporter, which I had earlier criticized, in the Magma decks of my peers, did come in handy. Storm over Ruins because I knew nobody in my age group was playing Blaziken (Matt LeBlanc had moved up to 15+). Only 1-1 Camerupt because of the Celio.
Sensei does a head count and sees that there aren’t enough people at the tournament to justify a Top 8 in each age group. Instead, there would be only one Top 8, and it would be overall, for all 3 age groups. He tried to keep swiss organized by age group, and for the most part it would work, but there were some difficulties.
I shuffle and talk with Mike Pramawat, who would be judging because he won a CC already, and some others like CFK, David and Melody A (younger siblings of Jon A, aka Physics Squirrel), Matt LeBlanc, and TrueGamerX, while meeting some new faces like mollymotes, and supertyranitar. Finally it’s time to start!
Round One: Melody A (Blaze on Pokegym) with Zapdos
This was going to be fun: I was at Table Number 13.
Melody and I had played in a few of the same tournaments before, but had never battled. I had watched her games, however, and I had never seen her flip tails. And since she was going to rely on Dual Ball, Pokemon Reversal, and Super Scoop Up (she was playing Zapdos), I was basically screwed. I went first, and she topdecked an Elekid. She would have started with a Zapdos, but I mulliganed twice and she got a Super Scoop Up in one of her draws. She plays ‘Kid, flips heads on the Super Scoop Up and ‘Kid, and proceeds to pwn my first Groudon a few turns later with Zapdos ex. I start to come back, but she has another Zapdos in her hand and just crushes me.
0-1
LUNCH BREAK!
Daniel and Ryan, the two beginners that we brought, had won their first matches. Ryan was so ecstatic over his win that he remembered basically every detail and told me the whole match. Devon and I, who usually got similar tournament records, had both lost. The four of us and CFK trek over to McDonalds (my mom had packed a lunch for me, but I left it in Mrs. C’s car and she thought the lunch break was after the 2nd round, so it was locked in there). Only CFK and I have money, so I pay for the three others and we sit down to eat while Sean talks about some music he was listening to (which no one had heard of) that made him want to take over Poland. Apparently the music also had some side effect on his brain, because he put his fries in between the buns of his burger and ate it with ketchup....
David and Melody had followed us, so we talk a bit about strategy and stuff. CFK leaves with about 10 minutes left until second round. Ryan (the youngest, who also ate the most food), wolfed down the rest of his fries and we run over to Comic World for Round 2.
Round Two: Megan T with Slaking/Xatu
I had played this girl at the Eastern Coast Stadium Challenge a half a year or so ago. She was apparently obsessed with Pokenav at the time, and now she was obsessed with VS Seeker. Interesting pattern. Anyway, she started with a Dunsparce but didn’t get any energy for two turns. I get a Groudon start but I go first and attach, then she goes and does nothing except play a Slakoth. I draw and Conspirator and Magma Ball for 3 more basics and attach a Magma. I basically own her right there, seeing as how my second prize was another Magma energy. She attempted a comeback by eventually getting a Slaking up with 2 Psychic energy and a DRE, and playing Ancient Tomb to cover her weakness, but I countered with a Magnetic Storm and it was over.
1-1
Daniel and Ryan are both 2-0 now. Devon won his match, so we’re both 1-1. It’s weird how the new players are owning this tournament upside-down. Anyway, Sensei puts up the pairings for the next round, and to my horror, I find I am facing the winner of the 11-14 division at last year’s Eastern Coast Stadium Challenge:
Round Three: David A (Raichupichu) with Dark Dragonite
I get a Baltoy start, and he has Dark Dragonair active with a Dark Electrode, Dunsparce, Pidgeot, Voltorb, and Dratini benched T2. I Swoop Teleporter for Team Magma’s Zangoose, because I have three basics in play plus Strength Charm. Niiice. He just puts up Dratini, candies, uses Dark Navigation, moves up the Dark, plays a Rocket energy, and OHKOs me. I put up a Groudon and stall for a bit, getting my bench built so I have a Camerupt, 2 Claydols, a Groudon, and another Zangoose waiting. I have a Magma ball in my hand, so I figure that when he KOs my Groudon, I can Magma Ball for a basic and I’ll have six basics so I can OHKO his Dragonite. He puts all his Darkness energy back on his other pokemon and KOs me, and I put up Team Magma’s Zangoose. I use Magma Ball, and flip tails. I search through my deck, and there are no basic pokemon left. None. This was a huge misplay that almost cost me the match. I did 100 to him, but he KO’d my Zangoose with a Dark Electrode with 4 Dark energy after switching. I KO’d his Dark Electrode with Magma’s Groudon, so the prizes were even again, but he KOs my Magma’s Groudon with Rocket’s Sneasel ex. There are only about 2 minutes left in the game now, so I draw and topdeck a Maxie. I play it, bring back Groudon, use switch for TM Groudon, move an energy to it from Camerupt, and play a Magma energy. This Groudon now has full health, so a Dragonite with 4 Darkness energy can’t OHKO me. And David doesn’t play Strength Charm. Once I KO his Rocket’s Sneasel ex, I go up in prizes. Sensei calls time. “Whoever’s turn it is, finish it now!” he announces. David searches his deck with Pidgeot, his hand, and his discard about five times each, but can’t find any possible way to win. He scoops and I win on prizes. I was so psyched that I slammed my hand down on the table really loudly, which caused it to ache for the next 30 minutes, lol. Incredible game, David!
2-1
Afterwards, Mike P, who was watching our match really closely, points out to David that he could have used Pokemon Retriever for his Sneasel again and OHKO’d me to win. He’s in disbelief that he didn’t see that, and he still seems shocked after the tournament is over.
Daniel C is now 3-0. I had first scoffed at the idea of playing Gardevoir/Steelix, but I was now reassessing my previous judgment. It did seem like an okay strategy, and Daniel was owning the place. It looked like he would play CFK now, since they were both undefeated at 3-0. Ryan had lost his first match, but he was still excited.
Round Four: Nick H (Psy Master) with Dark Dragonite/Dark Ampharos
This guy came into the round pretty confident. He had beaten Devon last round and thought he was made of some pretty tough stuff. Unfortunately, he didn’t know me, so he didn’t know what my deck was. I had seen his game before, however, so I knew what he was playing. I had the advantage by a longshot. I got a Groudon start, but got enough basics to attack, and Reversal his Dark Ampharos and T2 it with Strength Charm. He definitely wasn’t expecting that. He was using Rocket’s Mission, and I needed to see the card because it’s not too commonly played. He kinda scoffed, but it was all in good fun. Anyway, he gets another Dark Ampharos, and after tearing through all his random Dratinis and stuff (thanks, Magnetic Storm), I get to his Ampharos, which can only do 70 to my Groudon. I KO it for the win. He was complaining afterwards that he would have won if he had “just a few more turns”. Devon is avenged, but it wasn't that close a game.
3-1
Sometime during this match, Sensei walked by, and I apparently had some really ugly concentrating look on my face, because Sensei snapped me with his digital, and said, “Oh no, my lens broke.” lol
Turns out Daniel lost to CFK, putting Sean at 4-0 and basically guaranteeing him a spot in T8. This is where Daniel began his losing streak, unfortunately. Devon did win his match, however, so he was 2-2. Unfortunately, we got paired up somehow in the next round. Here’s how it went down...
Round Five: Devon C (registeel) with Flygon
There really wasn’t too much to say about this game. I got a Goose start and KO’d his Dunsparce turn two. He was energy bankrupt, and did manage to get Delcatty’Ton going on, but he ran out of basics to stall with. Near the end of the game he did Energy Shower, but I dominated his Flygon with Goose. He KO’d Goose with Magneton, but I get a Groudon and Overheat/Magma Switch and attach a Magma Energy to Groudon, so it was good game because all he had left was a Delcatty. I get a pretty easy win here. The sad thing was that this match that would determine which of us would be going on to T8. If he would win out he would have made it, but luck decided to take my side. Devon, if you’re reading this, I’m really sorry, man. You played tough, but Magma has the advantage over Flygon and my start was next to perfect. Thanks so much for being cool about the loss.
4-1
One really annoying thing that happened during this match was that supertyranitar, from these boards, was playing a table up from us. Devon’s relatively new to sanctioned play, and I was trying to get him to play a little faster. One of his biggest flaws is that he second-guesses everything he does, especially in pokemon. I told him, in the friendliest way I could possibly do it, that he needed to speed up play a bit because he was taking a wee bit too long with play, and I said that Magma always took a quick lead, so he needed to get some prizes fast if he wanted to stay in it. Supertyranitar kinda coughed loudly in dissaproval. Is everybody in North Carolina just not concerned with slow play at all? o.o
So I need to win my next match to stay in it, I figure. My resistance is poor, since that only person I lost to wasn’t T8’ing. (Melody, how couldja let me down?) I found out, from either Daniel or Devon, that he had beaten them previously, so I was completely focused on winning this game.
Round Six: Johnny R with Gardevoir/Xatu
It’s too bad that I gave the wrong first impression with this guy, being uptight and all. We talked after the tournament and he was ubercool. He was just starting organized play, and he was 4-1 so far. With a Gardy/Xatu deck, that’s not too bad. Anyway, I get a Zangoose start and basically cream him. Sorry to say it, but Magma basic swarms > Natu and Sentret swarms. He eventually got a Gardevoir ex built, but couldn’t draw the fourth energy for Psystorm, and kept Feedbacking me. Unfortunately, my hand was HUUGE, and so he ripped through a few Groudons while I draw 2 Magnetic Storms in a row (which he was playing anyway -_-). But what may seem like a series of unfortunate events can actually be a series of fortunate events...or something. I don’t remember exactly how the movie commercial goes. I Topdeck a Darkness energy (Claydol already had one darkness energy attached) and attach it, then Overheat/Magma Switch my psychic energy back from my discard. Just enough to OHKO Gex. I take my last two prizes. GG Johnny. I gave the wrong first impression, glad we got to talk afterwards and play a few extra rounds. This game will only stay alive if new players like you step up. Really enjoyed meeting you!
5-1
Daniel loses to mollymotes to put him @ 3-3, Devon loses to David to put him @ 2-4, and Ryan loses to some random 19-year-old Primeape/Mega-crud-load-of-tools player. LOL, Ryan’s whole frikkin’ deck is weak to the monkey besides Pidgeot, who got KO’d early game. Just peachy keen. ¬_¬
Anyway, the Top 8 sits down at the “Top 8 Table” and Sensei announces the door prize winners. I get a Minun Plush (YESS!!!!1) and trade it for a Dark Electrode later. Hmm, do you think I got the worse end of the deal? Some person I’d never heard of before wins the DS, and we had 8 chances at it. Oh well, I got the Minun Plush. I got my picture taken with it, so please, NOBODY look at the pictures Sensei posts on the Stafford VA CC thread...
Oooooops... ^_~
Anyway, the 10- are announced since none of them made the overall T8, which Sensei decided to go with because of an attendance of only like 40-45, ‘cuz Gymbo and the Barlocks weren’t there. Oh well, that just proves that they have lives outside of this game. The rest of us are losers I guess.
Ryan, the little guy I brought with me, got 3rd place in 10- overall. He was so excited that it looked like his smile would stretch out his face so far that it would stay that way forever. He got his four boosters and went back with his brothers to do the 3-round booster draft of TRR that Sensei had scheduled afterwards. They ended up hauling a few Dark Electrode, a Dark Dragonite, a Kingdra, a Jumpluff, a Togetic, and quite a few Delibirds that nobody wanted. 13 bucks per 6 packs isn’t too shabby, if I do say so myself, so they all entered and Devon ended up getting 5th of 12 participants. He got one pack for it, which he opened and got something not-so-good in. Probably a Delibird. They’re like Heracross from Hidden Legends: you always get them and you never want them. =/
Anyway, after getting our decks checked, the T8 looked like this:
1st seed: Sean G (CrossFormatKid) 6-0
2nd seed: Daniel M (TrueGamerX) 5-1
3rd seed: Alex S 5-1
4th seed: Myself, of course ;p 5-1
5th seed: Luke R 4-2
6th seed: Matt LeB (Lugia EX) 4-2
7th seed: Brett McD 4-2
8th seed: Johnny R (he barely made it on resistance, GJ dude) 4-2
There isn’t much time left in the day. Sensei decides to do single elimination, which is definitely Magma’s favorite kind of elimination. Yummy. =) Everybody gets paired up, myself with Luke Reed, since we’re 4th and 5th seeds, respectively. Before this Luke had already figured out that he would be playing me, so he tried to seduce me...or something. Luke definitely wins the most disturbing player of the year award for the 2006 Pojo Awards, Patriarch. I don’t even need to see the candidates. Needless to say, I was a little bit weirded out sitting across from Luke, I don’t care how good an actor he may or may not be. ;p
Top 8: Match One: Luke R with Dark Amphy/Xatu
Rip off of Colin’s deck, eh Luke? lol, Anyways, I go first with an ownage Groudon start, and get a quick lead with a Magma energy after KOing his Dunsparce. He puts up Xatu and decides to start hitting for pebbles and trade back and forth between alternate Xatu heal healing. I also try to Reversal his Dark Amphy twice, but flip tails both times. I figure I’ll draw maybe a fighting energy or something, and I do draw Magma’s Conspirator. Looking through my deck carefully, I see that BOTH of my Magnetic Storm are in my prizes, so I can’t OHKO Xatu, and BOTH of my other Pokemon Reversal are in my prizes, as well as something else I wasn’t too concerned about after witnessing that awful start. It was a Maxie or something, IDK. Sooo, I get my fighting energy and attach it to Groudon and start hitting away at his Pidgeot, not being able to hit anything else besides Dark Ampharos, which I could OHKO anyways after I draw a Reversal. =/ Even if I had hit the Xatu, all I had attached was 2 fighting, and 2 Healing Winds would have solved that. I scare away his Dark Amphy for the rest of the game with a Groudon that had a fighting energy on it from way beforehand, but the pebble-placing was too much. He picked off my Baltoy and Numel by ATM Rock, returning Claydol and Camerupt to my hand. Luke Brineys up his Pidgeot when it has 80 damage on it and Candies right back, which makes me want to puke allll over the table. lol, In the end, the better player won. Luke went on to win the entire tournament, so that means I got 5th place overall and 2nd in my age group.
Sensei took my picture (for about the 50th time that day) with my 9 boosters, POP packs, City Championship pin, Machop Promo, and LATIOS TATTOO!!1 Sean, after receiving his, promptly ran into the bathroom to put it on. He’s so much cooler than all of us. I gave my tattoo to CFK too, and Luke offered to put it on CFK for him. I decided to take my tattoo back (guess why?) but I ended up losing it (it wasn’t on purpose...). I do a couple of trades afterwards and I’m able to score a Dark Draggy and a Pidgeot from Mike Pramawat (SHPanda) by trading an RH Magma’s Groudon, RH Magma Energy and TV Reporter regular. I know both Pidge and Draggy come in theme decks, but so does Magma’s Groudon, so I think it saved me about 10 bucks. I trade my Minun Plush for a Dark Electrode, and when Devon, Ryan, and Daniel pooled our cards afterwards, we had Draggy completely built except for about 5 cards. Good haul!
I play a few extra games with Johnny afterwards. I gave him the award for Most Hyper Player on the East Coast a few months in advance. He earned it. I tried to help him with his deck a bit, and he listened to everything I had to say. He’s actually a really great player, he just needs help metagaming and such. I talk to some other people I had never met before and Ryan is running up to me yelling about what cards he got in his packs. Meanwhile, Daniel calls his mom’s cell while we say goodbye to everybody.
Mrs. C rolls by and cramps us all into her extremely tiny car (I barely made it home without my ankles falling off) and Daniel, Devon and Ryan give me back the cards they owe me. They all wanted to trade the packs they got in the draft for the packs I got from the tournament, but I waited to open them until I got home. After doing so (and pulling a Rocket’s Admin, Dark Hypno, Dark Electrode, and about 7 Delibirds), I started writing this thing at around 8:00 pm and crashed at around 9. I was mentally exhausted, but satisfied all the same.
Time for props and slops...yeah, there are some slops =(
Before that though, I want to thank everybody who went through my deck with me and talked strategy, shuffling, and soccer, and some of whom stayed up until 4 AM some nights (because they’re insomniacs like me) to test and talk ’n stuff. Patriarch, YoungJohn06, Magnechu, Registeel, the people @ WAKA, TrueGamerX, and the rest of you, you know who you are. You guys are no small part of my success. Thanks for what you contributed.
Props: :thumb:
-Sensei, for throwing this wild party. It was well planned, well organized, well run. The DS as a door prize (and the Minun) and the box for 1st were awesome. Anybody who is reading this, come to the State Championships! Yes, even you, Barlocks!
-Sean Gagnon, for being so awesome with the new kids and helping us meet the registration deadline. Without you I wouldn’t even have competed. Thanks SO much, dude.
-TrueGamerX, who broke his 9th seed curse. Keep on keepin’ on, Daniel.
-Mollymotes, for being a cool guy IRL. Was Sensei really thinking about kicking you out? I wouldn’t blame him, LOL.
-Mrs. C, for being such a cool mom and driving us, even if it did take up almost all of your day. You can’t begin to imagine how much your boys love this game, Ryan especially. Keep supporting them in it, they’re all good players and will only continue to improve.
-Ryan C, for getting 3rd place in his age group in his first tournament and being so enthusiastic about this game. The game screams for new players like you, man.
-Daniel C, for going 3-0 his first three games and then having to face CFK and starting a losing streak. Do not be disappointed, you show more promise than a lot of players I know.
-Devon C, for finally ending up with a different swiss record than me. Now I can brag about how my ranking is higher! We should hang out more often and we can play, you’re getting better every day. Keep going forward.
-Melody and David A for finally not T8’ing and letting me in. David, especially you for a fabulous game, one I’m not likely to forgot in a long time.
-Johnny R for winning the Most Hyper Award and being so cool about losing. Hey, you did get 3rd in 11-14. See you soon, dude.
-Matt L for turning 15 so I wouldn’t have to compete with him for a Top Whatever seeding. ;p
-Everybody that I forgot, including those who I battled and traded with. You guys are all so cool (except Luke) that it’s amazing that Comic Worlds can hold so much pwnage in such a small area.
-The Judges, especially Mike P for being really cool and pointing out my misplays after the tournament was over. I’m slowly but surely transforming into a great player.
-Comic World, thanks for hosting these things, please keep doing it! You guys provide a great atmosphere to play in, and the 50 cent sodas CAN’T BE BEAT.
-The Booster draft afterwards, and Devon for getting 5th in that.
-Minun plushies > Nintendo DS’s.
-Latios tattoos
-Me, for placing second. I was hoping for first, but you can’t have everything you want.
-Everybody and everything else I forgot. This was a fabulous event!
Slops: :nonono: / :lol:
-CFK for listening to Valkner or whatever made him want to take over Poland and eat his fries INSIDE his burger. *shudder*
-Devon for taking about 30 minutes to put his deck together and always second-guessing himself. Get some confidence about the game, you’re better than you think!
-Daniel for losing out after his huge start.
-No slops to Ryan. He’s cool like that.
-Luke, drop the act, you’re so good at it that you could scare people into comas and probably rule the world or something. Sooo...yeah. ;p
-Sensei for snapping my picture 50 bajillion times.
-Me for not making first, and always being in the picture, no matter HOW hard I tried to avoid it.
-Overall T8 and not Age Group T4. C’mon, Sensei!
-Sensei for telling me the lens broke after he snapped my picture. =( rofl
-The Barlocks, Gymbo, Lanturn1234, Physics Squirrel (your brother and sister came), and everybody else who wasn’t there that should have been. Where was that NC invasion? Speaking of North Carolina...
-supertyranitar, for not T8’ing so we could duke it out. Wanted to play you, man. I think you can trust my judgment when it’s me telling one of my own personal friends to hurry up. I wouldn’t rush a total n00b or anything. Don't worry, I don't have a terminal illness! ^_^
-TrueGamerX for not getting farther than he did. One step at a time, I guess. And BTW, Wooper needs no evolution. P|-|33® 73|-| ƒ15|-||-|34|)!!
-Myself for being so much of a nerd that I typed a whole frikkin’ sentence in 1337 speak.
-Brett and Matt for playing Blaziken. Ewww, I’m sickovvit!
-The DS because I didn’t get it.
-Ketchup. It just tastes really bad, especially inside your burger. (CFK, why put fries inside your burger too?)
-Everybody else for chickening out when I started to sing Sensei Happy Birthday. Don’t worry, Mike, we’ll set up a chat. ^_^
-Delibird. -______________-
-Wow, this was shorter than the props, by just a bit!
-I’m running out of things to write.
-Well, thanks for reading my report.
-Hope it wasn’t too boring.
-Thanks again to Sensei for throwing this gigantic party!
-See you all at the State Championship.
-It’ll be the last tournament I can enter while I’m still 14.
-OH! THAT’S A GOOD SLOP!
-I’d better write it again.
-It’ll be the last tournament I can enter while I’m still 14.
-There.
-Now it’s official.
-Okay, I’m done now.
-Thanks for reading!
~Wooper
Last edited:
