One Hit KO

Following my good showing at the Michigan State Championship (we won’t mention my meltdown in top-cut), I knew for sure that I would be taking the same deck to Regionals. The problem I had was I wanted to do a little tweaking but wasn’t able to do any play testing at my local league. Fortunately I have a group of friends at work that like to play during our lunch. I built Pikkdog’s Flyperior deck and a typical CurseGar to play against. I figured out a nice tactic against the Flyperior deck, but wasn’t realy consistant in winning. Testing against CurseGar was really tough on me (I don’t think I won a single game) and it taught me a lot about how that deck works.

Based on my testing, I decided on the following tweaks to my deck:

-2 great ball
-1 pokedex
+1 Copycat
+1 Unown G
+1 Cyclone energy

I didn’t get to test these tweaks, but I printed my deck list, packed my bags, and hoped for the best in the morning. We live in Michigan and the event was held in Indiana, this meant we were in for a drive that Google Maps says is 2 hours long. This of course didn’t count the construction underway on our route, so make it 2 hours and 30 minutes.

We arrive, get registered and wait for the day to get underway. Age division rosters get posted and masters has 146 players, 8 rounds of swiss parings with a top cut of 32. I planned on taking notes throughout the day and did pretty well, but as the day wore on I got more and more disctracted so the details of my later matches aren’t as strong as my earlier ones. Here’s how my day played out:

Round 1 vs. Galen M. from Ohio with CurseGar (Dusknoir, Mr. Mime techs.)
I win the toss and open with Crobat G active, I bench Dunsparce and pass. He has a Baltoy active and a benched Unown Q; he attaches energy to Baltoy and uses Psychic Balance. I am able to knock out his Baltoy with Dunsparce on my second turn and am thinking to myself that this is going too well. Turns out I was right, he top decks a Team Galactic’s Wager and we both suffle our hands. He wins Rock-Paper-Scissors and benches a Spiritomb, a Gastly and an Azelf; Time Walk gets another Gastly from the prizes before retreats the Unown Q promoting Spiritomb which uses Darkness Grace to evolve the Gastly. At this point I realize I am facing a CurseGar deck and that I need to play smart or it is game over. A few turns go by and his Spiritomb has 50 damage on it, he retreats and promotes an Uxie. On my next turn I knock out the Spiritomb with Crobat G’s Flash Bite and also knock out his Uxie with Shuppet. I’m feeling pretty good but I know that the game isn’t over yet because he has a fully charged Gengar that he levels up and attaches Expert Belt to. Right now he can do 80 damage to my active, 10 damage to any Pokemon on the bench and then switch out to the bench. To top this off, he also has 2 Mr. Mime in play making my Cyclone Enrgy worthless. This is where my play testing against this deck comes in handy. I learned that I need to go after the Gengar instead of the easier knock outs, and so that’s my plan. I look at my hand and see a single Poke Blower +, I play my hand desperate to find the second Poke Blower + and on my very last draw card, I get it. My deck is now down to 4 cards, but I am able to force his Gengar LvX active and knock it out for the double prize because of Expert Belt. He responds with a Poltergeist from his second Gengar which leaves him open for my Shuppet to blast him. I take my last prize and breath a sigh of relief.

1-0

Round 2 vs. James from Ohio with Jumpluff (Luxray GL LvX, Regice techs.)
James wins the toss and goes first, he has a Baltoy active and attaches energy to use Psychic Balance to draw a card or two. We both are thinking about the donk and he cringes with every card I play. It turns out I end up 10 damage short of the knock out and this opens the door for a pretty good game. James is using a standard Jumpluff with Luxray GL LvX with a Regice tech. He gets a Jumpluff, Claydoll, and Regice out pretty quickly and off to a 3 prize lead on me. I know I need to knock out the Regice in order for my Mr. Mime to stall effectively so this is how I play my next few turns. I am able to use 2 Poke Blower + to force his Regice active and hit it for 60 damage. I am hoping he doesn’t have a Warp Point leaving the Regice active. My gamble pays off and he sets up some more, but leaves his Regice in the line of fire. My next turn I add 10 more damage to Regice with Crobat G and then knock it out with Uxie’s Psychic Restore sending Uxie to the bottom of my deck in then promoting Mr. Mime. Upon reflection, I feel this knock out is the one that turns the tide in my favor. He is unable to get past my Mr. Mime and I knock out his Jumpluff. I get a knockout per turn for a few turns and it is game over. This game prepares me for a game later in the day and I am thankful it didn’t end in a turn one donk.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Eddie C. from Michigan with Jumpluff
I first met Eddie way back at the Legends Awakened pre-release event. This was the first official event I attended and Eddie was the first player I ever traded cards with. I see and talk to Eddie at nearly every event I go to and have to say his friendly disposition is one of the reasons my daughter and I have enjoyed the game so much.

Eddie wins the toss and opens with a lone Hoppip. He attaches energy and Bounces for 10 damage on my Crobat G. I look at my hand and realize I have everything I need to knockout the Hoppip. I bench Dunsparce, attach energy and 2 Pluspowers and end the game.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Scott D. with Jumpluff (Luxray GL LvX, Regice tech.)
Scott’s Jumpluff is a carbon copy of the one that James played in round two. This game is easier for me because I already know to go after the Regice as soon as I see it. I get a turn one knock out on Azelf and am able to get a knock out each turn thereafter. I knock out the Regice, and Uxie, 2 Jumpluff and then Luxray LvX. I think I win by 3 prizes.

4-0

Round 5 vs. Johnpaul from Ohio with CurseGar (Mr. Mime, Mewtwo LvX techs.)
Johnpaul and I had been seated next to each other several times before getting paired for this match so we each knew what the other’s deck was. Johnpaul is sounding confidant during setup telling me how I have an uphill battle. I win the toss and start with a Crobat G active and an Unown R benched. I draw and pass. He does some stuff, including Time Walk from Azelf which get’s him a third Gastly from the prizes (he already has 2 on the bench). My deck is working like clockwwork and I am able to the cards I am looking for quickly. I get ahead in prizes by 4 before Johnpaul breaks out the Mewtwo. This is the first time I have seen this card in a tournament match and I know it spells trouble if I don’t deal with it quickly. I decide that Mewtwo can’t do anything against my Mr. Mime until it has 3 energy cards attached to it and in the meantime I should be able to get another prize card and I am correct. He levels up Mewtwo and then uses Energy Absorption to get a quick 2 energy attached to the Metwo LvX. On his next turn he knocks out my Mr. Mime. I use 2 poke blower + to force his Fainting Spell Gengar active. I attack to put 90 damage on it. Johnpaul does some stuff again and ends with Poltergeist for at least 180 damage on a Crobat G. On my next turn I knock out the Gengar with Uxie’s Psychic Restore sending Uxie to the bottom of the deck avoiding Fainting Spell (Johnpaul called over the judge to make sure). He sends up Mewtwo. At this point he knows what’s in my hand because of Poltergeist so he feels confident (although I am thinking that even if he is able to stall me with Mewtwo or Mr.Mime, I am still up in prizes by 4 and the round is close to being called for time). I decide to let it ride and bench Dunsparce, attach 4 Pluspowers and Expert Belt, retreat Crobat G, send Dunsparce active, attach Cyclone Energy. Predictably he sends up Mr. Mime instead of Spiritomb. I have a Pokemon Reversal in my hand and I play it. As soon as the die revealed heads, Johnpaul shakes my hand and says good game.

5-0

Round 6 vs. Drew H. from Ohio with Luxray GL Lv.X, Garchomp C LvX
Drew is a real smart player and he reveals nothing with his body language and facial expressions. I find this match to be real tough, and the deck matchup doesn’t make it any easier. We get setup andd Drew only has 1 pokemon in play. I am hoping he is playing Jumpluff and this is a Hoppip but I was dead wrong.

He wins the toss and opens with a Luxray GL active, he benches a Baltoy and attaches energy to it then passes. I don’t get much going and am only able to damage Luxray a little. On his turn he levels up the Luxray and retreats, then he uses Baltoy for Psychic Balance to draw a few cards. I am able to knockout the Baltoy on my next turn, but my setup is still floundering. I think this is the turn where Garchomp appears. Like I said before Drew is a very smart player and he doesn’t rush into anything that isn’t going to be good for him later in the game. He is able to get some knockouts with Garchomp and Luxray using Healing Breath a total of 3 times erasing my damage and all of my resources in the process. It comes down to my final turn when I realize that he doesn’t have enoough energy in play to hurt my Mr. Mime and this could stall as long as I have nothing else on the bench. I use a Roseanne’s Research to get Mr. Mime and Unown Q. I know Drew has a Power Spray in his hand because he got it out of the deck with Cyrus’s Conspiracy but I have to try. I bench the Mr. Mime and the Unown Q, I then attempt to use the Poke-Power Quick but Drew wisely sprays it. I use a Super Scoop Up hoping to scoop Unown Q but get tails; its game over. In hind sight, if I hadn’t of benched the Unown Q at all my Mr. Mime stall plan would have bought me another turn at least. Drew will go on to take second place overall for the master’s division.

5-1

Round 7 vs. Samantha B. from Ohio with Gyrados (Regice tech.)
I arrive to the table just as they were starting the clock. I appologize to Samantha and she seems real nice when she brushes it off as no big deal. I make some small talk while shuffling and from the sounds of it she is really happy to be 5-1 so far.

She wins the toss and turns over a Sableye with Ditto and Magikarp on the bench. She impersonates for Pokemon Collector and gets 2 more Magikarp and a Luxray GL. I have a great starting hand and am able to Flash Bite 3 times on the Magikarp for a knockout and then I knockout the Sableye too. She promotes Ditto and while she draws and then searches her deck I read Ditto to make sure how I want to approach knocking it out on my next turn. She gets Regice and another Magikarp on the bench and passes. I get the Ditto with Shuppet and 2 Pluspower, not attaching Expert Belt to lower Ditto’s HP to 50. Her next turn she gets a Gyrados out and uses Regice to discard 2 Magikarp; she is now attacking for 90 damage with no energy attached. I know I have to get the Regice out of play as soon as I can. On my next turn I use either Poke Blower + or Pokemon Reversal to force Regice active. I then knock it out with Shuppet and all of his junk. She follows with a Combee to the bench and uses Honey to get Regice back onto the bench. She then uses Regice to move my Mr. Mime again and takes another knockout with Gyrados. I am able to follow up with a knockout on her Luxray and then her Combee. I walk away from this one thinking to myself about how well my deck was working for me and how much I needed a win like this following the loss against Drew in the previous round.

6-1

Round 8 vs. Ricky B. from Illinois with Jumpluff
If I loved my deck at the end of round 7, I hate it at the end of round 8. This is the round that my deck decides to totally breakdown and leave me on the side of the road with no triple A card. Ricky is a nice kid who is real polite and has a great t-shirt on with a hand painted Diddy Kong picture (my daughter has taken a picture or two of this shirt earlier in the day). I know Ricky has Jumpluff before we start because I saw him playing earlier, he seems to know what I have too so there aren’t any surprises when we start our match.

I win the toss and open with an Unown R active and Unown G on the bench. My starting hand is made up of 2 Super Scoop Up, 2 Poke Turn, 1 Poke Blower +. I draw into an energy, thanks a lot! He opens with Hoppip active, Unown Q, and Baltoy on the bench. He attaches to Hoppip and drops Uxie for Set Up and more cards. He Bounces for 10 damage and promotes Uxie. I draw a third Poke Turn and pass. He attaches Unown Q to Uxie and retreats promoting Hoppip. Then he evolves to Jumpluff with Rare Candy, he also evolves his Baltoy to Claydol. This is probably the best first 2 turns I have seen from a Jumpluff deck all day. He Mass Attacks for the knockout. I promote G and draw another useless card, did I mention my deck took a vacation during this match? I pass thinking he might not be able to get the Mass Attack again since there are only 4 Pokemon in play but he plays Pokemon Collector and I shake his hand.

6-2

Swiss pairing are over and I am pretty sure I made top cut. While we wait for the rankings to get posted I hang out with my daughter and her friends and also mingle with the players who are waiting to see the rankings.

The rankings go up and I am 7th.

Top 32 vs. Ryan from Michigan with Porygon-Z LvX
Ryan and I have been friendly at tournaments for the past 2 seasons. We often check in with each other to see how the day is going. He has been rooting me on with my current streak since the City Championship I won and it is a bummer to be paired with him in our first round of top cut. We chit chat while deck checks are made and he tells me how badly the matchup will be for him. I have a Porygon-Z LvX deck to test against and I know that if the deck gets rolling it can be tough for me too. Despite this, Ryan seems certain that he is about to be eliminated.

Game 1: Ryan wins the toss and goes first. He has 2 basics in play and passes. I draw and am able to put together enough to knockout his active pokemon. He goes and I can tell that nothing is going right for him. He benches a pokemon and it is my turn; I get another knockout. He draws and still nothing good, I end the game by knocking out his last pokemon.

Game 2: He opts to let me go first which is okay with me. He opens with Azelf and nothing else. I have a Roseanne’s in hand and 2 Unown R on the bench. I pass and he is unable to do anything helpful and he passes. I use Roseanne’s to get Shuppet and an energy and it is game over.

We are the first pair to finish this round and there are about 45 minutes or so left. I am looking around for my daughter and checking in with Pikkdog and some others who are watching the top cut. Before I am able to talk to Ryan he is gone. I’m sorry to have ended your run and am glad you made it to the top cut with Porygon-Z.

This is where my first mistake rears its ugly head; I failed to reserve a hotel room in advance and promised my wife that we would be home tonight. Now that I am in the top cut, I know that to make good on my promise I will need to drop sooner or later.

After checking in with the wife I watch some of the pokemon video game tournament happening on the side. Time is passing pretty slowly and, while I am pretty sure I can afford to play the next round, I decide that win or lose I can’t play more than that.

Top 16 vs. Adam
The judges call the 16 remaining players back to the table and pair us up. While I am shuffling my deck Adam comes and shakes my and tells me he is dropping. He signs the match results slip and gives it to the judge.

I am a little stunned because this is what I planned on doing next round. I look at my watch, it is 10:25 PM, I call home and tell my wife we are heading back to Michigan.

Top 8
After checking in at home, I let the judges know what my plan is and while they don’t like it any more than I do, they understand. I sign a slip that says I forfeit in the top 8 round, collect my prize (16 HS booster packs) and shake everyone’s hand and thank them for a great tournament.

My daughter is ready to go too, we pile into the car and are off. It is 10:30 PM and I figure we will be home by midnight if I am lucky.
11:30 PM – we’re past half-way and are cruising along with little traffic, no construction and no patrol cars. My wife calls to check on us and chats with me a few minutes (to make sure I am not sleepy).
12:30 AM – we are home and in bed. It feels so good and I am out as soon as my head hits the pillow.
3:30 AM – I wake up from a stress dream about leaving my deck at the tournament hall. I tell myself it is just a dream and try to get back to sleep.
7:00 AM – I unpack the car and look through my bags only to find that my deck is missing. This turns out to be my second mistake of the day, I actually left my deck, play mat and dice tin on the table when I shook everyone’s hands the night before.
9:30 AM – I make a call to Pikkdog who had stayed in the hotel overnight. Thankfully he is up and about and happy to help me if he can. He asks around and finds one of the judges who lets him know that a deck was left on the table and that Rich, one of the other judges has it. He gets me the message and I send off a few emails to Derek and Rich.
2:00 PM – Rich calls me and confirms that he has my deck and we make drop off arrangements.

Slops:

• not learning from experience and reserving a hotel room to stay the night in
• leaving my deck, play mat, and dice tin on the table when leaving the venue
• not taking very good notes later in the day

Props:

• Derek, Matt, Rich, Missy, Vince, AJ, and all of the other judges for putting on a great tournament
• Pikkdog for palling around with me throughout the day and for helping me get my deck back.
• Rich for hand delivering my deck to my house; seriously, thank you Rich!
• making top cut at Regional with a deck that has gotten me a great win loss record this season

Category: Regional Championships, Tourney Report | Tags: Regionals, Shuppet, Tournament