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Regional Championships

Topping Midwest Regionals with Andy Wieman

Andy Wieman 8 Comments

After a very disappointing run at states (6-1 then losing in Top 8 at MN States, then going 3-3 in NV) I was sure of two things: 1) I would be playing LuxChomp again and 2) I was going to fit Dialga in my list.  Dialga was only a 1-1 tech, but it helped with a tremendous number of matchups.  Some of the matchups that I want Dialga in against are: Mewperior, Donphan, Uxie/Shuppet donk, Charizard, Machamp/Vileplume and Vilegar.  Add all of these plus the fact that I refused to scoop to Mewtwo (as I did in round 6 of MN States to Radu) and Dialga was going to make the cut.  I was debating a few other spots in the deck, but never questioned the deck itself.  I also had one spot built in because I had determined I wasn’t going to run Weavile G (something I would later regret).  The Lostgar threat turned out to be non-existent and I felt Dialga helped the Vilegar matchup more.  The other change to the deck since states that I LOVED was the inclusion of Twins.  It can tilt the mirror single handedly, and is an all around great card.

That's Andy To the Right (next to Mike and across from Pooka and Nick)

The week before the event, I had my list settled except for three slots.  I was questioning my Energy Gain/Power Spray/Junk Arm count.  I currently had it at 4/2/1.  If felt the extra energy gain helped a lot in the mirror, and the Sprays would be less than optimal against Spiritomb and Vileplume decks.  I later switched it to 3/3/1 and felt that the more well-rounded approach would be better, but I would later regret this change.  I was also debating my Bebe’s/Communication count; I was currently at 2/0.  Jay Hornung advocated Communication, but I felt that the chance of prizing the single Bebe’s that I needed to get Dialga G Lvl. X against trainer lock was too much, so I decided to stick with 2/0.  My last question was whether I would cut my 3-1 Uxie line down to fit 1 Chatot.  I felt that the 3rd Uxie helped so much against the possible wave of Machamp that I needed to leave it in.

I get to the tournament a half hour before registration ends, turn in my final list (I switched the Gain/Spray count that morning) and wait a LONG time before the event gets under way.
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State Championships Tourney Report

Another Michigan State Championships Report!

Joel 4 Comments

Hello everyone in Omar Nation! This is Joel here with a report on the Michigan State Championships that took place over the weekend in Lansing, Michigan.

Before I go on any further with my report, I’d like to thank Pikkdogs and the rest of the Team Omar staff for inviting me to write for you guys. Here is a little bit about myself, I have been playing since the Base Set, took a hiatus when the first e-reader set came out, then got back into the game around Diamond and Pearl. But enough about me, let’s go on with the article!

I decided to run Luxchomp for this event because that was the deck I felt most comfortable with. Luxchomp has an excellent track record and hasn’t really disappointed me. I’ll post my deck list at the end of the article. For this event, there were 76 Masters, with 7 rounds and a top 16 cut.

Round 1 vs Marvin P with Luxchomp

My first round match was a mirror. I have never met Marvin before but our pre-game talks give off the impression that he is a really nice guy. The game starts and I go first. I start with an Ambipom G and a Bronzong G on my bench, with a Double Colorless Energy, Energy Gain, and Cyrus in my hand. He has a Garchomp C active, Luxray GL and Dialga G on his bench. I go first and get a quick knockout first turn with Ambipom’s “Snap Attack”. He goes, benches a Crobat G, and uses Flash Bite to drop a damage counter on my Bronzong G, then passes. I draw, and get a Pokemon Collector. I get Uxie, Luxray GL and Crobat G. I drop Crobat, Flash bite his Crobat, attach a lightning energy to Luxray, then Snap Attack his active Luxray for 60. He goes, draws, and attaches to his active Luxray and passes. It seems he didn’t have anything playable in his hand, which is odd because there is usually something playable. I Poke-turn my Ambipom and Crobat, I flash bite his Bronzong, and promote Luxray to Bright Look his Crobat. I bite to get a 2 prize lead. It was after this turn that the game started to go downhill for me. He finally draws a Cyrus which allows him to catch up. I made my terrible misplay here as I played Professor Oak’s New Theory over Cyrus, and end up getting a terrible hand followed by terrible draws. He finally catches up and gets a prize lead over me. As soon as he gets his prize lead, time is called. After realizing that there isn’t much I can do in the next 3 turns, I scoop and get a terrible case of the first round jitters. It was a good game though.
0-1
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Uncategorized

The Techs of Luxchomp

Pikkdogs No Comments

Hey all members of Omar-Nation, Pikkdogs here with a little bit of a strategy article.  This site hasn’t had a Luxchomp article posted here for quite sometime, and I am pretty proud of it.  But alas, we can’t ignore it forever, so here is an article about Luxchomp.                       

We all know that since it became popular, Luxchomp has been the winning-est deck in the format.  It is a great deck that is lightning quick and features a lot of elements of disruption.  Of course it features the Pokemon Luxray Gl and Garchomp C, which gives the deck a lot of advantages.  But to give it even more advantages, Luxchomp players have teched out their decks with a lot of different cards.  There are too many cards to include them all in every deck.  So to make things easier, this article will tell you a little more about the techs, and you can include the techs that fit your metagame the best.

The Staples– Before we talk about techs, lets first look at staples.  I consider that Luxchomp has 5 staple Pokemon cards.  1. Luxray Gl (usually a 2-1. 3-1. or 2-2 line), 2.Garchomp C (usually a 2-2 or 3-1 line), 3. Bronzong G (just 1), Lucario Gl, and 4. The pixies (usually a 2-1 Uxie line and 1 Azelf).

Your Mirror Techs– Since the mirror matchup is one of the most important Luxchomp matchups, it is important that Luxchomp decks tech against each other.  Garchomp C and Luxray Gl are  great Pokemon but they are susceptible to revenge knock-outs.                               

Ambipom G– Ambipom G is a diverse little card, it can do a lot of things, but is not very flashy.  It has 80 HP and is weak to fighting.  Its first attack, called “Tail Code” lets you move an energy from your opponent’s active to a bench for just 1 energy.  Even though this is a pretty pitiful attack, it is fairly good against speed decks, because they don’t run many energies.  But, the reason this card is here is because its second attack, called “Snap Attack.”  For CC it can do 60 damage if the defending Pokemon has no energy attached to it.  That means you can do 120 damage to a Garchomp C for just 1 DCE, and “Snap Attack” adds donking ability.

Dragonite FB– Dragonite FB is also a diverse card.  It has 100 HP, and is weak to colorless.  It has more HP then Ambipom, it can always knockout Garchomp C, and can attack better then Ambipom; but it takes more energy, requires a coin flip on one of its attack, and can be hit by Garchomp C for weakness.  Its first attack, called “Mach Blow,” does 80 damage to any SP, this will be the attack you use the most.  It requires an energy gain and 1 DCE to attack, so it does take resources, but can be up and running in one turn.  Its second attack, “Giant Tail”, can do 100 damage, but it requires a coin flip, and another energy.         

Toxicroak G Promo– I feel like a broken record, but this card is very diverse.  Any time your opponent knocks out a Pokemon, Toxicroak can be called up and do 60 damage plus poison.  So this gives you a bunch of options, plus it is a fighting type so it can OHKO Luxray Gl.  As mentioned, “Poison Revenge” can do 60 damage and poison the defending for PC.  The bad part of this card is that you will need to include a psychic energy to use this card. Toxicroak G comes complete with his own built in Super Scoop Up, in the form of a Poke-Power called “Leap Away.”  Why I don’t like cards who’s sole purpose is to go away, it does have its uses.

If you don’t have Toxicroak G promo, you could use Mankey SV as a tech against Luxray Gl.  It can do 60 damage for just 1 fighting energy, but it only has 60 HP.  The problem with this card is that unless you use Mankey to take the last prize, your opponent will be able to knock out Mankey, so its use doesn’t really make any sense.

The other techs-

Dialga G– Last years worlds winner had a lot of people looking at his deck for obvious reasons, and one of the things they noticed was that he ran Dialga G and Warp Energies.  Dialga G is not a staple tech now adays, if you want Dialga G you might as well run Dialgachomp, but there are reasons to run this card in a Luxchomp deck.  It is an excellent card to go against decks that run a lot Pokebodies; like Trainerlock varieties, Donphan Prime, and Mewtwo techs.  It is an excellent play for bigger tournaments that have lots of deck variety.  Though you will need to include some Warp Energies.  If you use Dialga G, you would only use the Pokebody, you would most likely not want to attack with it.

Blaziken FB– Like Dialga G, Blaziken FB is very versatile.  For one fire energy you can pick your opponent’s benched Pokemon, make him active and burn him.  Then next turn you can level up and hit that Pokemon for 120 with “Jet Shoot” and the “Burning Spirit” Poke-Body.  It can help you do a lot of things against a lot of different decks.  It can be used against Gyarados, to bring up Regice and stall or snipe around.  It is also a good tech against Vileplume, you can make him active, then attach another energy next turn and knock him out.

Drifblim Ud– Drifblim is a card that is not versatile, it is only good against tanking cards.  If you don’t run Blaziken FB you will automatically lose to decks like Steelix Prime.  So to counter big tanking decks, you can use Drifblim to get rid of the tanking card.  Drifblim’s second attack, “Take Away” that costs CCC and its effect shuffles in both active Pokemon into their respective decks.  The bad thing about this tech is that you need two spots for this card you need to evolve.  Most Luxchomp decks should be able to work well without Drifblim, but you can include it in your deck if your format is full of tanking decks.

Mewtwo Lv.X– Mewtwo will be a good tech if you are playing a deck that does not have any evolution lines.  Its Poke-Body “Psybarrier” prevents all attacks from Pokemon that aren’t evolved.  It’s one attack, “Giga Burn”, does 120 damage for PPC, but you must discard all energy attached.  This means that you will need to include at least 2 Psychic energies to be able to use this card.  Though 120 damage is a good number.  The problem about using Mewtwo Lv.X is that there are too many ways for your opponent to play around it.  Some Luxchomp decks play an evolved Pokemon like Mismagius SF to counter Mewtwo, while others play Dialga G Lv. X.  Or, Garchomp C LV. X can be used to knock out Mewtwo before it can be a Lv. X.  I would only suggest Mewtwo if you know that most of the other SP decks in the format do not run a counter.

So that is all for this article.  There are a few more techs like Mismagius, Skuntank Gl, Staraptor FB, and Smeargle UD.  But these cards are either pretty self explanatory or not used very much.

Fortunately, SP decks will soon lose a lot of their luster, because a lot of the key cards will be rotated out next season.  But, until then you can learn how to play this Luxchomp deck and be successful at your State and Regional Championships with it.

City Championships

Gyarados, Gyarados, Gyarados : City Championships, MN, Jan 8+9, 2011

Pikkdogs 33 Comments

Regice - LAHey Everyone, this is Pikkdogs and Ed here to give you a dual article about the Cities we attended this weekend.  We’re going to see how merging the two reports works.  Pikkdogs played on Jan 8th, and Ed played both the 8th and 9th.  Pikkdog’s matches will be in blue and Ed’s in red.  The article intro is by Pikkdogs, and the wrapup is by Ed.

Jan 8th Misty Mountain Games in Burnsville

I was able to attend a tournament in Minnesota this weekend.  I normally play in Michigan, but I spend my time away from school in Minnesota so I was able to attend the tournament on Saturday in Burnsville, MN.  I was really excited to go to this tournament, because it was slated to be the reunion of Team Omar.  This is because both me and Omar will be in town, so the team will be able to get together for one more tournament.  I have fond memories of this past summer, when Omar won 3 cities so I was excited to see if we can take another victory medal.

I always like to play in Minnesota because the Metgame is much more relaxed.  It is a lot easier to just relax and have a good time with your friends.  I love playing in Michigan as well, but things are more competitive there.  First, you have a lot of really good players who like to win.  This is good but can take some of the fun out of it.  Second, the Metagame is a meat grinder; there are so many players there with good decks that it takes a lot to stand out.  Third, since things are bigger there the game is more official with match slips and stuff like that; its sometimes nice to have a friendlier atmosphere.  Then again Michigan does have some of my best buds like Jona and my Team Warp Point buddies, and there are a bunch of original decks.  So each metagame has different advantages, but it is nice to have a change of pace and play in a quieter environment.

I arrived at Misty Mountain games right at 10 a.m. and was the first T.O. member to arrive.  I turned in my decklist and patiently waited for the tourney to start.  Shortly after registering my team members all arrived, I greeted them and got ready for the tournament.

I stuck with my basic Gyarados list.  I used the same one as in my last tournament; but I switched out a Pokemon Communication for Ditto La, and the 3 Special Dark Energies were changed for 3 Rainbow Energies.  I decided to go with Ditto and the rainbows because of the myriad of 1 or 0 energy decks.  Ditto is not only great against Gyarados, but can work well against Jumpluff and Gengar SF.  So it is a very versatile card.  I do lose a little bit of my donking ability without the Special Dark Energies, but those rarely help anyway.  So without any more distractions, lets go to the report.

Round 1
Pikkdogs Vs. Card Selling Ed (Gengar Sf and Crobat Prime)
Officially I had a bye this round, but my buddy Card Selling Ed (not to be confused with Ed the owner of this site) had a good deck ready and wasn’t playing today, so he invited me for a game while I wait.  This was nice of him since I would be able to get warmed up.

He starts with lone Gastly and “Pitchdarks” the first turn.  I started Crobat G and Uxie then Bebe’s’d for a Sablye and began my setup.  He sets up a Gengar right away, and I knock it out with a “Tail Revenge” and Crobat G “Flash Bites.”  He then tries a Crobat Prime and the “Severe Poison” attack, but whenever he does that I either Scoop it up or warp it out.  I win this game after knocking out a couple more Crobat Primes and Gengar Sf’s.
1-0

Ed Vs. T. Andrew T. with Tyranitar
I don’t recall much, but I got set up fairly quickly. I was able to run through his Tyranitars, because he was unable to keep up with energy drops (which my Gyarados doesn’t even require).
1-0

Round 2
Pikkdogs Vs. Abdi with Jumpluff
I, of course, hate playing Team Members, especially Abdi.  He’s like one of the nicest guys ever.  But it was me and him, so I have to try to beat him.

I think he starts Uxie and I start Sableye.  I “Impersonate” for a collector and get rolling.  I use “Flash Bites” to knock out a benched Hoppip and then take out the active Uxie on turn 4.  About 4 turns later I use “Flash Bites” to knock out a damaged Jumpluff and “Regimove” up a belted Crobat G for the win.

2-0, easy win, sorry Abdi.

Ed Vs. Andy Wieman with LuxChomp
I Judge twice (thanks to VS Seeker). The first one wasn’t especially good for me. The second wrecked him and gave me the two cards I needed to win.
2-0

Round 3
Pikkdogs Vs. Ed with Gyarados
Just before this game I told Ed that I had a premonition that we would play today.  We had played together in 3 tournaments and had yet to face each other.  When I went to look at the parings I am not surprised to see me matched up against Ed.

I had actually not played the mirror matchup in a tournament before, so this was kinda new to me.  He gets setup first and gets a knockout on my Sableye.  I am unable to get a Broken Time Space and therefore a Gyarados.  To combat this I chuck all my Magikarps in the discard pile, attach an Expert Belt, and “Tail Revenge” for 140.  I could have avoided this by using a Crobat G, but I couldn’t find that either.  Ed responds by belting his Sableye and knocking out Ditto with “Over Confident”.  At this point I am 3 prizes down and don’t wanna have to play anymore, so I scoop.  I might have played it out, but since Ed was an undefeated Team Member I just scoop.

My weird draws cause me to not have much a chance against Ed, so now I need to win out to have a chance.

2-1

Ed Vs. Josh (Pikkdogs) with Gyarados
We run almost the same lists, except Josh teched for the Gengar/Mirror with Ditto and Rainbow energy. He immediately went for the Ditto strategy, and I think it hurt him when I was able to KO his belted Ditto with my belted Sableye.
3-0

Round 4
Pikkdogs Vs. Michael Slutsky with Luxchomp
Mike is a nice Bieberish looking kid who plays a lot better then he looks.  He previously have donked me with a Horsea, I still don’t know how.

I won’t go into too much detail here. I found out that unless Luxchomp starts bad, I lose.  Luxchomp started well here.

I am officially out of the running.

2-2

Ed Vs. Soari with LuxChomp
I dunno. It was LuxChomp. Actually, I think I came close to winning about 4 different times. Between him having well-timed Power Sprays and me getting tails on SSUs and such, I think it could have easily been a win if I had slightly better luck.
3-1

Round 5
Pikkdogs Vs. Collan with Gyarados
Another mirror matchup, good thing I included Ditto.  I never met Collan before today, but he seems like a nice guy.

We start fairly evenly, but I think I get the first G-dos.  I am able to stay in front of the Prize race through most of the game.  I kept Ditto on the bench, and after the game he mentioned that he never wanted to knockout my G-dos because he knew that I could just return the kill with Ditto.  After we exchange prizes, time gets called and I have a 1 or 2 prize lead.  I get scared when he says “Flash Bite” on Ditto and drops a Crobat G, 3 Turns and a Junk Arm.  But, after we count the damage, he is left 1 damage counter away from knocking him out.

3-2 Not the best record, but was just happy to play with some friends.

Ed Vs. Michael S. with LuxChomp
I’m not sure why, but when I play Michael with Gyarados vs his LuxChomp, I never seem to have a chance. I “hid” an Expert Belt on a Crobat at one point, and in hindsight, I’m not really sure why. After I didn’t PokeTurn it, he Bright Looked it and KO’d it. That was pretty much it.
3-2

After the Tourney
I sulk a bit while reflecting on my bad luck for pairing up against 3 LuxChomps. Just 3 days earlier, I had played Uxie Donk in a tourney and got matched up against the only 3 (as far as I know) people that played 4 Spiritomb in their decks. I got lucky against one of them and went 2-2 that day.

Today, I got lucky against Andy (who I can beat in Swiss but never in tops), and came out 1-2 versus LuxChomp. OHKOs on Gyarados is just too much for me to handle. So, I grab my daughter’s and my backpacks and toss them in the car. I come back in for the door prizes and find out that Soari (4-1) is dropping, because he has to be somewhere else. That means the top 4 is a 5-0, two 4-1s, and a 3-2. I think that I spy my name just after Andy (who was 4-1), so I think there’s a bit of luck streaming my way. Indeed, when the top4 is re-set, I’m in 4th. This means that I’m playing the 5-0 Jay Hornung.

Because I was done, and Ed was still playing (props to Sudi for dropping and allowing someone else to get in top 4), I decide to stick around, keep an eye on Ed’s daughter, and watch Ed play Jay H.

I end up playing a fun game against Ed’s daughter, and then watch the end of his game.  He holds everyone up by failing to take a prize when he knocked out a Pokemon, when we finally get the ruling, Ed is able to wrap it up and win game 3.

So I am thankful for just being able to hang out with Team Omar and being able to support Ed as he gets another Top 2 finish. Benny even won Senior’s with Gyarados, so that was cool.  It was no doubt a successful weekend.

From here on out, the report is all Ed’s, so we’ll just stick with black text.

Top-4 Game 1: Jay Hornung playing VileGar
I get a good lead, and as Jay is beginning to come back, I opt to risk a Fainting Spell. Jay gets tails, and scoops soonafter. I make a slight mistake at one point and forget to pull a prize off of my Flash Bite KO, but I grab it just after that, and Jay pretty much just says not to let it happen again.

Top-4 Game 2:
I do not get a good lead in this one, but it’s not too one-sided. About halfway through the game, Jay looks at me and says, “You take like thirty seconds to make every decision!” After that, I make an effort to play faster, but it has nothing to do with the outcome of the game. Jay ends up winning it.

Top-4 Game 3:
I don’t recall the details here, but I’m pretty sure that Jay never gets Vileplume set up. I’m able to Regimove or KO Spiritomb almost every time I need to. I get ahead, and he has a Mewtwo with 70 damage sitting on his bench. I Flash Bite it, PokeTurn, and Flash Bite it again. Jay puts it in his discard, and then I drop Uxie to Set Up to 7 in hand. I announce Tail Revenge, go to grab my prize, and after I grab one, I realize that I did it again. I think he already knew that I forgot to take my Flash Bite prize, so I figured that I’d just take it now. What I didn’t figure is that, because I played the Uxie, I drew an extra card from Set Up (because I “saved” my prize draw until afterward). The head judge (that’s sitting right next to me and watching our game, because the other one is already done) didn’t notice it, and doesn’t really know how to rule it. His first reaction seems to be that I just don’t draw my prize. Andy Wieman speaks up mentioning that I absolutely have to take a prize. When a Pokemon is KO’d, it is not an option whether you take the prize. The problem is that, while Andy is a professor, he plays the winner of the match in top-2. Because he has a stake in the outcome, he should not be making a ruling. Several calls are made to other Professors/TOs, and we get a ruling after about 20min. Jay gets to randomly remove 1 card from my hand and shuffle it back into my deck. Then, I take my prize. I get warnings, and play resumes. Jay hits tails on his second Fainting Spell of our 3 games (maybe this was before all the hoopla), and concedes after we’re in +3.

I don’t like this win. I mean, yeah, I like beating a player of Jay’s caliber, but it was very bittersweet. First, Jay is pissed that I play too slowly, and then my mistake makes us sit and wait 20min (at least what it felt like) for a ruling. Ultimately, I think this was a bad impression to make. He already thinks I’m a Nazi for banning Radu from this site (which never actually happened).

4-2

Top-2 Game 1: Andy Wieman playing LuxChomp
I think he gets a KO on Gyarados, and I can’t find BTS. Game.

Top-2 Game 2:
I lose. These games were a bit of a blur. I recall not being able to put Gyarados back together like I usually can, but maybe that was the lack of BTS in the first game. I really need Rescue Energy and Judge in this matchup. Oh well.
4-3

So, again, I can beat Andy in Swiss, but never in top cuts. This is the 3rd time I’ve lost to Andy in top-2 (both Cities I’ve played thus far this season and a Battle Roads last season). Andy wins all 3 MN Cities thus far with his LuxChomp. What is in store tomorrow?

Jan 9th Outpost 2000 & Beyond in Coon Rapids
Round 1: CJ with a preconstructed deck
Can you believe that he Beat me on his first turn (after I go first with Sableye)? Luckily for me, Beat only does 10 damage. I get set up fast. He has X2 weakness to Gyarados.
1-0

Round 2: Justin with the deck his son made (Masquerain, Shuppet, Sableye, etc.)
Justin has Sableye, but I don’t think he ever used it to Impersonate. He just keeps hitting with Overconfident + Special Dark (which only does 10 +SpDarks for him). He gets a Shuppet with 3 Plus Powers set up at one point, so I play Judge. That’s about the end of it. Really, that’s about the end of my tourney.
2-0

Round 3: Michael with LuxChomp
What did I tell you about me playing Gyarados against Michael’s LuxChomp?
2-1

Round 4: Nate with Machamp
This one was pretty silly. It’s one of those things that should be frustrating, but what can you do? I start Sableye to his Smeargle. I have a lone Karp on the bench, but I can’t do anything else (my hand is like Judge and a bunch of trainers), so I Impersonate. Now, I should expect him to Portrait, but I don’t really have anything else to do. I impersonate Collector and get Karp, Karp, and Regice. He starts his turn and calls Portrait. The only supporter I have is Judge. He’s kinda upset, because he has all the pieces to play Take Out that turn. He now has to Judge them away. I wish he hadn’t. I can afford to lose Sableye. I can’t afford to lose the rest of my hand. He Judges into a full Machamp Prime on his bench, but has to pass due to no Take Out. I draw and Impersonate (as my new hand from Judge is horrible with like Expert Belt and Junk Arm or some garbage like that). He sets up Machamp SF, plays a Seeker (returning my Karp), and KOs Sableye. Donk
2-2

Round 5: Ross playing Jumpluff
I’ve played against Ross and his Jumpluff before. I don’t know how much it’s changed since then. I’m pretty tired of thinking for 2 days straight. I ought to exercise my brain more, so that it’s ready for this sort of thing. I know I can’t top. I have a hard time caring. Ross starts Unown Q (Hoppip on bench) to my Sableye. I throw caution to the wind and drop SpDark to get a “Quick” KO (pun intended). From there, I get a good prize lead, but (thanks to Ross’s repeated use of Judge and Let Loose) I have no good recovery. My lack of caution in the match leads me to go for card drawing and the chance of winning instead of Impersonating to give Ross a prize (but me a better chance in upcoming turns). I recall wasting my hand to Junk Arm a SSU and getting tails. I think I got tails on all my SSUs in this match. I’m convinced that I wasted all my luck on the previous day (lucking into top 4 and then beating Jay on Fainting Spells). I finally get a Combee (which I seem to forget about, because I went SOOO long without playing it) and a Gyarados. The problem is that I need 2 bench slots to use Combee. I have to sacrifice something to use it, and that puts Ross in position to win. In fact, I think I get Gyarados back on my final turn, but Ross has the belted Jumpluff doing 140 (thanks to Combee filling my bench).
2-3

So, I go from 2nd one day to 2-3 the next only beating a preconstructed deck and the deck Justin’s kid tossed together the night before. Ick.

Now, on to the only redeeming part of the day. After Juniors is done (in which Ava went 0-3), they give out door prizes. The first prize is obviously (though we’ll revisit that in a few moments) going to be a mat. There are 8 Juniors, so the TO asks for 2 dice. I’m not really certain of what happening until I see it happen. The first roll adds up to more than 8, so it’s rerolled. The second roll adds up to 8, so the 8th name is announced as the winner. I have to step in. My first thought (which I voice) is, “How do you roll a ONE on 2 dice?” My daughter, Ava, is first in alphabetical order, and happens to be name number one. If this is the method, then there’s no way she can possibly win anything. They realize that I’m 100% right and quickly change the dice rolling. The first roll is odd/even (names 1-4 odd, names 5-8 even). The second roll determines the winner. They reroll, and it comes up odd then a one. I already said that Ava is kid #1, so she wins the mat. I’m so pleased!

Dice Roll DistributionIt occurred to me, afterward, that the original 2-die roll had WAY more wrong with it than just not having a possibility of rolling a 1. Have you ever heard of a Bell Curve or the game of Craps? Take a look at this picture (shamelessly stolen from anther website). So, if there were 8 players, and anything over 8 was a reroll, then player 1 has 0 chance of winning. We already established that. But look at how much higher probability it is for players 6, 7, and 8 to win compared to players 2, 3, and 4. It’s a combination thing. When you roll 2 (6-sided dice) there is only ONE way to get a two (1-1). There are 6 ways to get a 7 (1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, and 6-1). Player 7 would have 6 times more of a chance to win the mat than player 2 would have.

Now, back to the obviousness of the mat going to the first winner. In Masters, I recall there being 2 mats. The first winner took a playmatmat. The next winner was a girl named Frankie. She was there with someone else that was really prompting her to take the mat. She wanted a hat. They said it was her choice, and she grabbed the hat. The 3rd door prize was called, and the winner chose the mat. Here’s another lesson in odds. If there is a prize that’s obviously sought after more than others, odds are that people are willing to trade you for the more coveted prize. If you win a mat, but you really want a hat, you can get more than just a hat out of the deal. Take the mat, and while you’re doing it, announce that you really want a hat, and you have a mat for trade. There’s a high probability that your mat will fetch a hat PLUS. I bet some players would give a hat plus a $10 bill. Others might bid a hat plus the cards you need to finish your deck. Odds are in your favor, and if you really really want that hat and can’t get more than a hat, I have no doubt that the hat winner would trade straight-up.

So, Frankie, if you’re out there, you weren’t wrong for wanting a hat more than a playmat. It’s just that you could have done even better, and there’s Ed’s probability lessons for the day.

City Championships

A Tale of Two Cities (winning LuxChomp Report)

Andy Wieman 3 Comments

Luxray GL Reverse HoloIt was the best of times! and then the next day it was the best of times again.  Ugh, what a start.  Sorry about that

Ed asked me to write a tournament report about my weekend at the Source and Dreamers.  I usually tweet updates as the tournaments go on (www.twitter.com/wiem0014) so those notes helped a lot in writing this report.  Sorry if I don’t remember names or all of the details.

The previous weekend Emmanuel, Lukas, Nick and I traveled to Madison and LaCrosse for the first weekend of Cities.  I performed extremely sub-par that weekend, mostly due to bad luck, but also due to a costly misplay on Saturday.  I ended up 2-3 Saturday (after starting 0-3) with Luxchomp  This was the deck I was most comfortable with, winning States with it last year, and testing it heavily for Regionals and Nats.  It was the right deck in a field of Gyarados, but I started against two Machamp decks and couldn’t recover.  I finished 3-2 on Sunday while playing a Machamp deck focused on the Prime more than most.  Jay Hornung (from IA) ended up winning both days with Luxchomp and going 13-1 on the weekend.

The week in between, I was able to test a bit with Ed and Abdi and had basically decided that Luxchomp would be my deck.  Machamp couldn’t beat Gyarados, and I was very confident in my basic Luxchomp list.  I had a few spots to tweak depending on what I though the metagame would look like, so Friday night I spoke with Mike Lesky and we determined that teching for Gyarados and the mirror would be the correct play.  This turned out to be very good advice.

Saturday – Source, St. Paul, MN – 25 Masters 5 Rounds Top 4

I always like playing at the Source because Radu is banned from there (haha) which makes the field a bit easier.  However, that Saturday at the Source was terrible due to some bad planning on the store’s part.  They crammed almost 50 players into a space fit for 30, while allowing weekly miniature players free use of many other tables. I showed up list in hand, and visited with the South Dakota boys that traveled in.  I saw a lot of Gyarados and not much Machamp and was very happy with my list.

Garchomp C Regionals RHRound 1) Rahim w/Dialgachomp
I know that Rahim has played this deck before.  I saw him play it during Battle Roads and doing fairly well.  He is a bit rushed, still filling out his decklist as the round is about to start.  We set up, and I “win” the die roll.  I start Garchomp with a Call Energy in hand.  I top a Luxray, bench it and then Call for two more Garchomps.  He starts relatively poorly but sacrifices a lot of resources to get a turn two Deafen.  He starts to build up a Dialga but doesn’t realize that Luxray is resistant to Metal which allows me to 2-Hit KO the Dialga.  This leaves him with not much on his field but an Ambipom and a Garchomp which I quickly snipe.  I end up taking 6 prizes fairly quickly.
1-0

Round 2) One of the Yule’s w/Magnezone/Vileplume
Once again I “win” the die roll and have a great setup, except for the fact that I open with Dragonite and he opens with Spiritomb.  I attach and pass.  He basically does nothing but drop an Elektrike and use Darkness Grace to get a Magnemite.  He missed his first two energy drops with killed his setup, as well as prizing Magnezone X.  I use these turns to get plenty of energy on the field and end up having one turn of trainers, after manually retreating Dragonite, and KO his Tomb.  He goes the agro Manetric route and uses the second attack to get some energy on a Magnezone.  At this point he has a Plume setup, so I have to expend a lot of energy to KO the Manetric, then the Plume.  Then I 2-Hit his Magnezone and it feels pretty secure up 4-2.  However, on his last turn he drops ERL, but would end up killing two of his own as well, and scoops.
2-0

Round 3) Abdi w/Gyarados
I know that Abdi plays Blissey, so I will have to pick up cheap prizes and OHKO his Gyarados’s to win.  He starts off with Sableye and Collectors for two Karps and a Regice.  I don’t have much to do although I do have a Cyrus, and I end up calling for two more SP.  This allows me to Spray his turn 2 and 3 Regimove, and then Looker’s his hand away with his three Karps.  I then snipe his Chancey, bait an Expert Belt to kill a Garchomp, and OHKO the Belted Gyarados for my 5th and 6th Prize.
3-0

Round 4) Danyelle Simon w/Gyarados
Danyelle is playing my Gyarados deck, so I feel like I have an advantage knowing every card in her deck.  The truth is though, it didn’t matter.  I spray some early stuff, including Uxie two turns in a row, and she never even gets a Gyarados setup before I bench her.
4-0

Round 5) Michael Slutsky w/Gyarados/Donphan
His use of Donphan tilts this matchup a bit, but he does sacrifice consistency which shows here.  We both start awful, but I rip a Cyrus to get started and setup way faster than he does.  He prized Azelf and Regice (although I had Sprays aplenty), and he cannot discard any Karps.  At one point he Tail Revenges’ me for zero.  I make a terrible play and Looker’s away his terrible hand to get rid of his 3 Karp.  He draws a great hand and goes off, but he is too far behind at this point to catch up.
5-0

I’m feeling pretty good going into top cut, until I get hit with two pieces of bad news.  First, I find out we are playing best of one in the top cut, which I think is absolutely and completely wrong.  Secondly, I find out I am playing against Machamp while the two Gyarados Decks slug it out.

Top 4) Emmanuel Divens w/Machamp
Once again, we both draw awful, but I am able to Call for two SP which allows me to Spray an early Uxie.  He ends up getting a SF Machamp setup quickly, which I am able to OHKO with Uxie Lvl X and Lucario.  He sets up another and KO’s my Uxie.  I proceed to 2-hit KO that Machamp with Garchomp and Luxray.  At this point he runs out of steam a bit before setting up a Machamp Prime.  I am able to knock that Machamp out without it taking a prize and coast from there.
6-0

The other game is done by this time and I find out that I am playing another playtesting partner for the second round in a row.

Top 2) Ed w/Gyarados
In this game I follow the same formula for Gyarados that I have found to be effective.  I spray a few early Regimove’s, which slows him down because he cannot play Junk Arm.  I begin sniping around his Sableye.  I find out later that he does not have energy to retreat Sableye, which I finally knock out for my fourth prize.  At this point I use Luxray X to KO the Sableye, which baits the Belt on the Gyarados, which allows me to take the last two prizes with a Trash Bolt.
7-0

So I end up winning my second CC (first was in Chicago last year) and go undefeated in the process.  I was overall very happy with my deck choice and knew that I would play the same deck the next day, since I expected a lot of SP.  I wake up in the morning and pick Michael up for the ride to Dreamers.  On the way I find out Radu will be playing Vilegar w/Mewtwo.  I debate teching further for that matchup, but decide to just change one trainer to a supporter to allow setup under lock a bit easier.  e

Sunday – Dreamer’s, St. Louis Park – 26 Players 5 Rounds Top 4

I walk in and socialize a bit, but for the most part I was just anxious to get started.

Round 1) Aubrey w/Kingdra
This is obviously a good matchup for me due to weakness, but it gets better when she mulligans twice, and starts with a lone Horsea.  She “wins” the die roll, attaches, Smokescreen’s and it’s my turn.  I start Luxray with Garchomp on the bench.  I Flashbite the Horsea, Poketurn the Luxray, lay it back down (to get rid of Smokescreen) attach a DCE and bite for the donk.
1-0

Round 2) Abdi w/Gyarados
I am expecting Abdi to badly want revenge for my beating him the day before.  He misplays turn one by using Time Walk to free a pokemon, but putting back a Sableye which stunts his setup.  He also cannot find a BTS, and I pick up two easy prizes Bright Looking two Karps and Biting them for the KO.  I then let through a few Regimoves which warp my Luxrays to the bench, and I am able to easily OHKO his Gyarados’s for the victory.
2-0

Round 3) Alex Hauser w/Mewperior
I know that I have almost no way to win this game if it goes longer than a turn or two.  He “wins” the die roll and puts a Ryperior X in the Lost Zone with no other Pokemon.  I start Smeargle, Portrait his hand and see a Collector.  This allows me to grab Uxie, Crobat and Unown Q.  I then Cyrus for an energy and Poketurn, Flash Bite his Mew twice, retreat Smeargle and KO the Mew with Uxie.
3-0

Two Donks in one day and I am feeling pretty good about my chances with plenty of SP at the top tables.  I am heavily teched for the mirror and want nothing but SP for the rest of the day please.

Round 4) Mike Lesky w/Luxchomp
Right idea, wrong player.  Mike has a lot of mirror experience, and I know this should be tough.  I spray an Azelf turn two, then I rip a Cyrus, and end up Cyrus’ing four times before he does once.  Midgame, I have won the Garchomp/Dragonite war and have four energy on the field, while he has one.  He put up a good fight, but is too far behind to recover.
4-0

Round 5) Emmanuel Divens w/Machamp
Emmanuel must be feeling great with nothing but SP at the top tables.  I also know that he tweaked his deck for the SP matchup, playing 3-1 Take Out/Prime split.  Turn one I drop a Pokemon and Call for two more SP to allow a Power Spray.  He ends up Portraiting twice, Setup once, and gets two Machamp in play turn one.  Needless to say he runs through me.
4-1

I am feeling pretty darn good about my tiebreakers, but my worry is the Machamp and possibly Mewtwo in the Top Cut.  Luckily, Radu ends up missing, taking 5th with Vilegar.  This means Emmanuel vs. Michael, and Me vs. Mike Lesky.  I also find out that we are playing best of one again in Top Cut (total BS IMO).

Dragonite FB RHTop 4) Mike Lesky w/Luxchomp
This is a very close game all the way through.  The following exchange takes place early on in the game:

Mike: Snipe KO Andy’s Garchomp (0-1)
Andy: Return KO with Dragonite (1-1)
Mike: Return KO with Dragonite (1-2)
Andy: Return KO with Garchomp (2-2)
Mike: KO Crobat with Luxray (2-3)
Andy: Return KO With Promocroak (3-3)
Mike: Return KO with Uxie X (3-4)
Andy: Return KO with Uxie X (4-4)

I am then able to keep my Uxie on the field long enough to find an Aarons, bring my Dragonite and Garchomps back and find the last two prizes.  Great Games Mike.
5-1

Top 2) Emmanuel Divens w/Machamp
Emmanuel opens horrible again w/Lucario and goes second.  He proclaims that he needs to draw a basic or he loses.  He rips a Machop, but uses it to Communicate for a Uxie.  I spray the Uxie.  He Seekers, and uses Uxie again.  I can’t stop this one and he draws a bunch.  I can tell from his expression that he drew horrible.  The game goes very poorly for him, with me killing three Machops over the course of the game.  I end up taking four prizes, then killing my first Machamp, before sniping for the last prize and the Medal.
6-1

So, I end up going back to back, and end up 13-1 on the weekend.  I know that I only beat Emmanuel both days due to sub par draws on his part, but I still feel pretty good about my weekend.  I comment to a friend that “When the deck that I am most comfortable playing also happens to be the BDIF, it might allow good results.”  Next weekend will bring another tourney, and I will most likely show up with another version of the same deck, due to not having testing time for my Vilegar deck.  See you guys there.

Props
Ed: For prompting me to write the LONG report
Abdi: For testing the week prior
Mike: Having a late night idea bouncing partner is VERY helpful
Radu: For being banned form the Source
All RH Decks: For being amazing
Emmanuel: For Drawing poorly when it counted

Slops
Emmanuel: For playing Machamp both days
Best-of-One Top Cuts: Despite the fact that this worked out well for me, I am totally against it and voiced my opinion to our PTO.  As far as I know, we are the only state to do this.
LONG Tourney Reports: For being too long

Deck Discussion

What we learned from 2010 Fall Battle Roads

Pikkdogs 4 Comments

Greetings everyone.  This is Pikkdogs, here to give you a rundown of the results of the Fall Battle Roads.

This is of course the first tournament season of the new format.  There was a little amount of uncertainty coming into the season about how the loss of Claydol would effect decks.  There was also the big SP question.  Would it rule the format?  Or would trainer lock decks or Machamp decks run all over them? To answer these and other questions I will give you a list of things we learned from the Battle Road season.

Not that much has changed: SP still ruling

Based on statistics provided by Pokegym; Luxchomp decks have won 34 BR’s, and Dialgachomp decks have won 26 times.  These decks, which work similarly, have won many more times then any other deck.  The next closest deck is Gengar Viletomb with 15 wins.

Time and time again Luxchomp decks have proved to be the most consistent decks out there.  They mix in the best combination of speed and disruption to run the table.

The format has changed to make life a little tougher for SP players, so lets talk a little about that.
Read More

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