Introduction, A New Path, and The Klaczynski Open!
by Mike Lesky ~ September 9th, 2013.Greetings readers of OneHitKO, my name is Mike Lesky (or Choncey as some people may know me ).  I am 21 years old and graduated from Culinary School last winter. I am also a veteran of the Pokemon TCG and have had quite a bit of success in the game since 2003. I have never written anything for a website before so this is a whole new experience for me, and I am very grateful that Ed is letting me do this. I have always wanted to be a role model for players of the Pokemon TCG ever since I started helping locals in my area build decks, understand strategy, and win tournaments. I am a very competitive player when it comes to this game so I tend to take it very seriously.
I have been following OneHitKO.com for quite a while now and have always kind of thought of it as a more casual Pokemon website because of the lack of “Big Names†writing for it. As everyone has probably noticed the best way to get traffic nowadays is to put some big flashy titles and names on things to spark interest and draw in new crowds. So some of you are probably wondering, who is this guy and how do we know that he knows what he is talking about?
I’m not some big name like 3 time world champion Jason Klaczynski or consistent nationals player and worlds qualifier Kyle “Pooka†Sucevich, but I do feel that I am a strong contender at any tournament I go to no matter who is there.  Some of my top accomplishments are:
2x Minnesota State Champion
1x Iowa State Champion
3rd Place 2007 Midwest Regionals
2nd Place 2007 Mississippi Valley Regionals
9-10th Place x3 Midwest Regionals 2010 2011 2012
23rd Place World Championships 2012
2x Top 128 National Championships 2012 and 2013
11x Battle Road Champion
6x City Champion
So it isn’t the most impressive list of accomplishments, but I do like to think that I know what I’m doing.
So anyways, the whole point of why I am here is to bring the competitive scene back to OneHitKO. I feel that this is the best way to bring traffic back to the site. I think this is the best way to go if we want to ensure the future of this community. And to get it started, I want to go over my experience I had this past weekend (8/30/13) at the Klaczynski Open!
The Klaczynski Open is a buy in tournament ($40) that is non-sanctioned, which means it is not officially organized by Pokemon International.  However as the name suggests, it is run by one of the biggest names in the game, Jason Klaczynski. The prizes for this event were enormous with first place in the main event receiving 1 case (6 boxes) of Plasma Blast and a huge trophy. The tournament was also the first to be played in the current format of NXD-on so it was quite an interesting experience and outlook into the rest of the season. Turns out it would be the largest non-sanctioned event ever held. The tournament was run with the new rules for the upcoming season including best of 3 swiss rounds. The only difference was we had 75 minute rounds instead of 50 to allow for 3 full games to be played out. Honestly this turned out to be the perfect amount of time and I am kind of worried now to see how 50 minute rounds will play out.
Leading up to the event I wasn’t able to playtest much because of work, so I just stuck with what I knew was good. And that was my plasma list I had worked on here and there since worlds.
4 Deoxys Ex
3 Kyurem
2 Thundurus Ex
2 Absol
1 Keldeo Ex
12
4 Juniper
4 N
4 Catcher
4 Float Stone
3 Colress
3 Colress machine
3 Bicycle
3 Silver Bangle
2 Tool scrapper
2 Plasma ball
2 Ultra ball
1 Dowsing machine
35
4 Prism
4 Plasma
3 Blend WLMF
2 Blend DPGF
13
It’s a fairly standard list, I liked the high float stone count to sort of bait my opponents tool scrappers and get a silver bangle to stick for a few turns.  It also gave me one more spot in my deck as opposed to running 2 stone and 3 switch, which allowed the Keldeo. It came in handy because quite a few people were running laser at the event.  The deck turned out to be fairly weak to enhanced hammer as expected, resulting in two of my losses at the event. But every single game I played except for maybe one, I felt like I had a good shot at winning. There are a few cards I would change, but overall the list played well, it just wasn’t the deck for this tournament.  Anyways, on to the report!
Round 1 vs Plasma Mirror
Game 1: We both get sort of slow starts, and I remember missing energy attachments for the first two turns of the game even after playing two supporters. Eventually the game starts rolling in his favor but then he fills his bench, so I set up an Absol and start making a come back. I take the lead after taking all of his energy out of play two turns in a row. I check his discard and he has only used 2 colress machine and 2 plasma energy at this point, so I know the game is not over. All of the sudden he drops a Lugia Ex out of nowhere and I need to change the way I play the game. I had not seen a DCE or Lugia Ex all game so I had no idea he even played it. Turns out a lot of people were running one of Lugia Ex techs at this event. Eventually I have no way to deal with the Lugia Ex other than Ning him to 2 and hoping he can’t attack with Lugia the next turn. He gets what he needs to bring up a non-EX Pokemon (I think Absol?) and knock it out with Lugia to win the game.
Game 2: So now that I know about the Lugia in his deck, I play this game a little different, but honestly it doesn’t change my main strategy at all. I get a better start this time and start going after his energy that he gets in play with catcher and blizzard burns. Eventually I am up so far and he has not drawn much all game he just scoops for game 3. Sorry it was a little lackluster but I don’t remember much from this game at all.  Plasma mirrors are fairly skill based so there were a lot of decisions to be made each game, and it’s hard to remember every detail.
Game 3: This game I remember getting behind early, but I am able to catcher stall one of his Deoxys for a bit and start getting energy in play. The biggest problem I am having at this point is I prized 3 Pokemon Catcher so I can’t really knock out anything I want at certain points, so he is just choosing what I get to KO and put damage on each turn. The game eventually ties up at 3-3 on prizes and my last 3 prizes are my 3 Pokemon Catcher. I know I have to get at least one of them to win this game. Another problem I have is I am out of float stones so my Deoxys EX are vulnerable to his 2 remaining catchers. I make a risky yet smart play and dowsing machine for my 1 catcher and bring out his Kyurem for a prize to get one of my catchers so that I have the game in my hand. He catchers up one of my Deoxys and plays N. I end up drawing a Keldeo Ex and an energy saving me a turn allowing me to rush in attach and pass. He just attacks with Thundurus Ex and gets an energy on his benched Kyurem. I draw a bicycle and play it, which gives me the Catcher and a Juniper. I catcher up a damaged Deoxys EX and Juniper only needing an energy to retreat Keldeo EX for Kyurem and win the game.  I hit the energy and win my first match of the KO.
1-0
Round 2 vs Plasma Mirror
Game 1: Surprise, another Plasma deck. This time my opponent was heavily teched for this matchup. I had a quick start to this game, with two kyurem spreading damage on turn 2.  However his onslaught of enhanced hammers at the perfect times, tool scrappers, and a single silver mirror really made it a difficult match. The game was really close but it got to the point where no matter what I did, I just couldn’t win the game.
Game 2: This game was also really close, and he literally had to go through his entire deck to win the game. There wasn’t much I could do about this one except sit back and watch him draw his enhanced hammers at the perfect times to completely set me back a turn each time. Not much I can do about this one.
1-1
Round 3 vs Eeveelutions/Sawk/Drifblim
Game 1: This game I start with a lone Kyurem and don’t really draw anything for the 5 turns this game lasted. I really didn’t even know what the full extent of his deck was because all he used to win was a single Sawk. Guess that’s how it goes sometimes.
Game 2: He starts Sawk again and my start is mediocre. He starts doing 50 to all of my Deoxys early with Sawk but I just keep knocking them out with Deoxys. After I knock out the 3rd Sawk he benches down two Drifloons and evolves to a Flareon, reatreats, silver bangles his Flareon and knocks out my Deoxys. I proceed to bring up a Kyurem and knock out Flareon. The next turn he catchers a Deoxys, evolves a Drifloon, and knocks out a the Deoxys. At this point I realize another catcher and a Drifblim wins him the game. I N him to two cards and then knock out his drifblim, putting me at 1 prize and him at 2. He proceeds to draw Juniper getting him the Drifblim and the catcher on my last Deoxys for the game.
1-2
So this is not how I expected to start this tournament at all, but I figure I can win out and have a shot at some prizes as long as I don’t hit any more hard counters to my deck.
Round 4 vs World War Z (Jimmy Ballard)
For those of you not familiar with Jimmy Ballard, he is the runner up for the 2006 World Championship and is considered one of the greatest rogue deck builders of all time. He also happens to be a great friend of mine so I knew this would be a fun match either way.
Game 1: He gets a slow start and prizes two Zoroark and a Sawk, so I am able to overpower his field fairly easily with my two Absol and a Kyurem. The one time I lost an attacker I was able to take a knockout with Thundurus EX on a Zorua and power up a second Absol which pretty much sealed the game.
Game 2: I started with nothing and scooped by like turn 4. There really isn’t much to say about this one.
Game 3: And to end this exciting series, I donk his lone Zorua with Thundurus EX and two Deoxys EX on turn 1. I really wish this wasn’t a mechanic in the game, because it allows players to steal games. He reveals an incredible hand as well that would allow him to set up 3 Zoroark on turn 2. However, it doesn’t happen, and you just have to deal with it or play a deck that doesn’t get donked.
2-2
Round 5 vs Darkrai EX/ Garbodor
Game 1: The inconsistencies of his deck came out in this game, as he didn’t really have much other than tools and the occasional energy and catcher+laser. Also, I think he ran either a very low count of enhanced hammer or did not run any at all. Either way, he flipped a lot of heads on lasers but I was able to get an early Keldeo out and just keep getting out of his attempts to keep me asleep. There was a few times where He got a free 90 damage on a Deoxys because of it, but it didn’t matter too much.
Game 2: I got a quick start this game and took the first three prizes, but was taking a lot of damage from lasers because I was staying asleep and couldn’t get Keldeo. Eventually it got to the point where he knocked out two Deoxys EX in one turn with a night spear, which was fine because I was holding onto N. Two turns later after putting his Darkrai EX in knockout range I was able to catcher it up and take three prizes with frost spear that I had set up earlier in the game by putting 40 on a Sableye. Although the game looked close, I was never in too much danger of losing.
3-2
So I end the first day at 3-2, not quite what I was hoping for but at least I’m still in the running for some prizes. Sunday is the final two rounds for swiss and then the top 8 get to play off for first.
Round 6 vs Plasma Mirror
Game 1: Another plasma mirror, which is fine with me because it’s literally the only matchup I tested going into this tournament. I believe this guy also ran an enhanced hammer in his deck but I was able to play around it with straight consistency, while his deck also ran a Lugia EX and a few DCE. I was able to take advantage of this with a quick Kyurem while also getting a Keldeo EX benched to keep the damage flowing. He scoops fairly early into this game and we go to game 2.
Game 2: I get a slow start and he gets a Lugia EX attacking by turn 2 or 3. I can’t really do much about this game and although I do start to make a comeback, I N him into the catcher he needs to win the game with an attack from Lugia EX on a damaged Deoxys EX. Not much I can do about it.
Game 3: I get a quick start and put pressure on his energy attachments. I don’t remember much from this game but I know I get really ahead and he isn’t able to do much for a few turns, and ends up scooping when I have the game next turn and he can’t N me.
4-2
Round 7 vs Lugia EX based Plasma
Game 1: So I need to win this match if I want to get any prizes, only one 5-2 makes it into the top 8 so I don’t think I can make it, but I want to get the best possible placing I can so this win is make or break. I get a very bad start with a lone Deoxys EX and she goes first. She is able to get up a Thundurus EX with an energy and a Lugia benched with 2 energy on it. I don’t do much other than getting a Kyurem out with an energy on it and pass. She catchers a different Deoxys EX and does 50 to it. Then the next two turns she powers up two Lugia’s and catcher KO’s both of the Deoxys EX for 6 prizes and wins the game. It was really disappointing because I really only got to attack twice the entire game.
Game 2: Pretty much the exact same thing this game as last where I can’t get much going and she gets a turn 2 Plasma gale on my Kyurem that I had benched with energy on it. I do take out a Lugia EX again, but she just has another one and a catcher off the N to 2 to win the game.
I was a little upset about by last loss by how my opponent pretty much had a perfect start in both games and never missed anything she needed, but I guess it happens.
Anyways, I end at 4-3 and miss the prizes by quite a bit. Still had a great weekend overall and got to hang out with people I don’t get to see very often because they are from multiple states away. Thanks for reading guys, I really hope to write an article each week for you to enjoy (it will be much easier once the season gets going). Please let me know what you guys would like to hear from me in future articles, I will try my best to provide what the readers at OneHitKO need!
Category: Tourney Report | Tags: