One Hit KO

Choose deck at 4:00 am. Begin sleep at 4:30 am.  End sleep at 8:30 am. 

Apparently it’s been too long since SixPrizes published a “How to Prepare for Tournaments” article because I sure blew it this time. 

Here’s the (untested) list I decided to go with.

Pokemon – 16

4 Mew TM
2 Terrakion NV
1 Zorua BW
1 Zorua MCD
2 Zoroark BW
1 Tornadus EP
1 Mewtwo ND
1 Shaymin UL
1 Crobat UL
1 Chandelure ND
1 Jumpluff HS

Trainers – 30
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
4 Professor Juniper
2 N

3 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 PlusPower
2 Switch
2 Pokemon Communication
2 Revive
1 Super Rod

Energy – 14
4 Rainbow
4 Prism
4 Double Colorless
2 Fighting

I felt weird about having only one of each See Off target, but having more than one also felt pretty gross.  I decided to take my chances there. I also realized how badly I folded to Lost Remover, but with Zekrom being the deck everyone seems to be countering, I hoped people would be playing a little less Lost Remover.

I headed groggily out from East Lansing with Texas friends David Reichenberger and Trinh Nguyen and fellow MSU Pokemon Club member JW Kriewall at around 9:15, and we made it in time to get  some dice! Woo!

Round 1 – Dallas Odom (Zekrom/Eels with Zebstrika)

I went first. I got a turn one See Off and decided to Lost Zone my boy Chandelure.  He certainly ended up being the hero of this match.  I took two prizes on my first Flame Burst, knocking out a Cleffa and a Tynamo.  I think he probably got a return knock out on that Mew, but I was able to get another one up with energy the next turn.

My second Flame Burst knocked out another Tynamo and put 30 on Blitlze.  He wasn’t able to evolve Blitzle next turn, so I took a fourth prize.  At this point, I started to struggle to keep up my lead.  He started taking prizes while I tried to get anything set up enough to get anything done.  I think I used Flame Burst again, but the 40 HP Tynamo survived the hit, and he was able to evolve it next turn.

He had a Zekrom EX on the bench and I knew my best bet would be to knock it out for the last two prizes.  I kept reaching into my deck for things I needed to get the knock out, but I couldn’t get the right combination of cards.  Thankfully, he was having an equally hard time disrupting my slow set up, and I was eventually able to get three energy on Terrakion and Catcher his Zekrom EX for the win.

WIN 1-0

Round 2 – David Reichenberger (Zekrom/Eels with Mewtwo)

I wasn’t happy to see that name on the pairings list. I was playing one of the people I came with, an old friend from my middle school days in Texas!  Crazy. 

I went first and, hyped on Chandulure’s success from last game, decided that would again be the See Off target.  He had a Zekrom start, though, and only benched one Pokemon: a 30 HP Tynamo with an Eviolite attached. Yikes.  He certainly knew how to play this matchup.  Putting 30 at a time on Zekrom is bad news for me, especially when the energy I used on Mew was a Rainbow.

On my turn, I Catchered his Tynamo and played a PlusPower.  I then played an Oak’s or and N or something, but I didn’t get a Junk Arm or another PlusPower to get the knock out on the Tynamo.  I used Flame Burst anyway, but it might have been a better idea to try to See Off Jumpluff.  I didn’t think of that at the time, and I guess it probably wouldn’t have made a huge difference. 

He was able to get multiple Eelektrik set up, and started blowing through my set up with Zapdos.  Little baby McDonald’s Zorua fell to the 50 snipe, as did my Mew with Rainbow attached.  I was able to take a couple prizes throughout the game, but he had control throughout the whole thing, and I couldn’t come back.

LOSS 1-1

Round 3 – James Hall (ReshiPhlosion with Mewtwo/Regigigas)

James is a nice guy from Indiana whom I had the pleasure of meeting and playing at a Battle Road down there earlier in the year.  I went first again and used See Off to put Jumpluff in the Lost Zone.  He had a Cyndaquil and a Reshiram out.  I was able to Mass Attack for 60 the next turn on his Cyndaquil, but he was able to get another out and eventually set up Typhlosion. 

He took a couple prizes with Typhlosion, and I was forced to knock it out with Zoroark, discarding my Double Colorless.  Energy was a bit of an issue for most of this game.  He also had a Mewtwo on the bench for most of the game, but every time there were enough Pokemon in play for me to get the knockout on it with my Mew, I didn’t have the Catcher, and every time I had the Catcher, I couldn’t get enough damage. 

It eventually came down to me having two prizes left to take to his one.  I had a Mewtwo and a Double Colorless in my hand, and he had his Mewtwo on the bench stacked with energy.  I had to get a Catcher or a Junk Arm from the win, and I had only played one of each.  The odds were pretty good, but I drew for turn and didn’t get anything I could play.  He had played Battle City, so I attempted that, flipped tails, and couldn’t really do anything else.  After the game, I saw that the next card would have been a Catcher.  I guess that’s Pokemon though!  Good game!

LOSS 1-2

Round 4 – Sean Klena (CMT with Virizion)

I went first AGAIN and got a first turn Jumpluff Lost Zoning.  He started Celebi and Tornadus, but he went 0/4 on Dual Ball flips.  I knocked his Celebi out the next turn.

He set up a Virizion and used Sacred Sword to knock out my Mew, but I returned the knock out with Foul Play on Sacred Sword.  He got moderately set up towards the end of the game, but it was pretty much too late.  I took prizes with Mew and Zoroark and eventually won the game.

Virizion seems like a great Terrakion counter, but it couldn’t be much worse against Zoroark.  Certainly not a matchup Sean was hoping for.

WIN 2-2

Round 5 – Brian Dagley (VVV)

I went first to his Victini start.  Things already weren’t going his way.  I started with the classic garbage hand of everything I might need later and a Juniper, but I decided I had to take advantage of his rough start and play aggressively.  I drew into enough stuff to get a turn one See Off and put Chandelure in the Lost Zone.

He put a Vanillish on the bench, and I started Flame Bursting his field.  I took out his Victini on the next turn, but he evolved his Vanillish so I didn’t get a prize there.  He was having a lot of trouble setting up and had to get Cleffa, which woke up at the turn passing and gave me another prize.  I was able to Catcher the Oddish he benched a bit later and Flame Burst that for the knockout. 

He got a Vanilluxe set up eventually, but he was just using Frost Breath for knock outs since Paralysis doesn’t accomplish much on a 60 HP Mew with no Trainer lock out.  I returned the knock out on Vanilluxe with a Foul Play on Frost Breath and a PlusPower, as that Vanilluxe had 60 damage from earlier Flame Bursts. 

He finally Paralyzed my Zoroark with a Vanillish, but I was able to bench Mewtwo, Celebration Wind all of my energy onto that Mewtwo, Junk Arm for a Switch on my Paralyzed active, and get the final prize with Mewtwo.

WIN 3-2

Round 6 – Trinh Nguyen (Donphan Dragons)

Paired again against someone I drove with! C’mon.  I wasn’t feeling great about having to play her or about having to play Donphan Dragons.

I went first (to continue my all day streak) after she mulliganed at least three times though, so things were looking up for me.  She started Zekrom active with Coballion on the bench.  I got a first turn See Off and decided to put Crobat in the Lost Zone.  I was pretty torn between that and Jumpluff, but I think it was a fine call. 

She benched a Phanpy, which I Catchered and Severe Poisoned.  She retreated it, but I used Skill Dive on it for the knock out.  Her Zekrom had 10 damage on it from a Rainbow Energy, and I Catchered that up and Foul Played its Bolt Strike for a knock out. 

She did eventually get a Donphan set up, but I got a Tornadus by then and was able to Celebration Wind energy over to it with Shaymin to get the two hit KO on it.  I Foul Played Blue Flare later in the game for another prize. 

She took a few prizes and had me scared at plenty points throughout the match (like when she Lost Removered me three or four times!!), but she hit a pretty severe energy drought and wasn’t ever able to really get a solid set up.

WIN 4-2

Round 7 – Douglas Lough (Durant)

I saw this kid playing Durant earlier, so I wasn’t too hyped about this game, especially when it was the one that determined if I had a shot at top cut or not.

I got a Tornadus start, which is very much not what I wanted, and I finally went second.  Off to a good start!  He started Devouring for four on turn one. 

I drew a Mew and benched it, and attached a Rainbow to it.  I had no way of retreating Tornadus though, so I had to pass.  On my next turn, I had no way of retreating Tornadus, so I had to pass.  On my next turn, I had no way of retreating Tornadus, so I had to pass.  On my next turn, I had no way of retreating Tornadus, so I had to pass.  On my next turn, I had no way of retreating Tornadus, so I had to pass.  On my next turn, I had no way of retreating Tornadus, so I had to pass…

By the time I got my turn twenty See Off, I was very doomed.  Crobat had just been Devoured, but I had a Super Rod in hand to get him back in there.  THANK GOODNESS.

I decided it was time to start Junipering and having a good time, and I got myself down to one card.  He decided to be a great guy and play out the longest and flashiest next turn possible, to finally Devour my last card for the win.

LOSS 4-3

So no top cut.  Oh well. Car-mates David and JW both ended up making top cut, along with my buds Andy Milad and Evan Baker.  Congratulations to those guys.  I ended up finishing 44^th.  I had been a little bit out of the game for a while, playing Round for a few weeks for fun and not really putting much thought into Pokemon, so I felt okay about finishing with a positive record with a fairly unique deck. 

Throughout the day, a couple necessary changes were made pretty obvious.  First, four Juniper was way too brutal in a deck with almost exclusively special energy.  Sitting on hands like “Rainbow, Rainbow, Prism, Junk Arm, Juniper” was the worst and happened too frequently.  I could see bringing N up to four and playing two Juniper. 

Another problem caused by the high special energy count was that Super Rod became pretty useless.  Maybe it’s a necessary card to have for the Durant matchup, but I’d be into trying a list without it. 

The last big thing I noticed was that I never really ended up needing Mewtwo.  There were times when it would’ve been great if things had been going just a tiny bit differently, but in a deck with absolutely no acceleration, things needed to be too ideal for Mewtwo to really work.  And if things were going ideally, I probably could get the job done with other cards.

I think the deck is at least competitive, and while I might not have discovered anything close to the perfect list, I think the idea is definitely worth working with.

Category: State Championships | Tags: Mew deck, Mew Prime deck