One Hit KO

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report.  This Sunday I was fortunate enough to head to a Spring Battle Road in Tecumseh.  I like going to Tecumseh because it is a smaller town that takes me away from the urban sprawl of Detroit.  The tournaments there used to be held at a boy scout cabin, they are now held at a Masonic Temple.  It is a pretty cool place, nice and big, it even overlooks a lake.  The turnout this day was not very good, there was only around 20 masters.  Because of the stale format a lot of players decided not to come today.  This led to only 5 rounds, and a top cut of 4.  Anyway, lets get to the good stuff.

I wasn’t really into this format so I didn’t prepare for the tournament very much.  Instead, I spent most of my time with the HGSS-on format.  Before the new rules came into effect I played Uxie Donk.  I loved playing Uxie Donk because it is a deck that requires a lot of skill and experience, and has a good matchup against SP decks.  But because of the rule changes regarding Plus Power,  Uxie Donk is no longer playable.  Instead of using Uxie Donk I decided to play Sabledonk.  It is not the same deck, but it is similar.  It has a higher donking ability, but is worse later in the game.  I wanted to play another deck like Gyarados, but there wasn’t any deck that I tried that could consistently beat Sabledonk.   I knew that with some luck, Sabledonk could get me a Victory Medal.

I got to the Masonic Temple just after registration.  There weren’t many people around, so I had to wait to see anyone I knew.  I got my deck registered and sat down at a table.  When everyone arrived I walked around to get a good look at what people were playing.  I mostly saw players add Sableye to the kind of decks they ran at States and Regionals.  I also saw some new decks like Reshiboar and Reuniclus/Serperior.  There were not a lot of Sabledonk players around.  The best players in Michigan were not really at this tournament.  Team Warp Point did not send a single representative, and perennial State Champion Tracey K. was no where to be found.  There were however some good players around.  Ohioan Jackson. I was there.  He looks like a little kid that you would want to give a swirly to in high school, but is actually a fearsome player who trains with Chris Fulop.  Michigan State runner-up Matthew Kish was also there.  Since I played him at Indiana States, I always try to talk to Matt.  He seems like a really nice guy and a great Trainerlock player.  Even though there were a lot of good players absent, we still had some good ones around.

I started the day playing a couple fun games.  So I will start the report with the fun games.  The second game was actually after the first round, but I will put it in before the tournament to avoid confusion.

Fun Game #1 Cincinno (me) versus Serpior/Semipour (Missy the Judge’s son).   

As I was shuffling Sabledonk, a little kid of about 5-6 years of age approached me for a game.  I didn’t wanna donk him so, I played what I think was the worst deck I had, which was Cincinno.  He started with 3 Panpour’s, and I started with 2 Micinno’s. I set up quickly, but let off the gas so I didn’t steamroll a 5 year old.  It took several turns to knock out all the Semipours, and then he set up a Serperior.  Serperior was able to knock out about 4 of my Pokemon before I knocked it out for my last prize.

Fun Game #2 Mew’s Lost World (me) versus Sablelock (Matt Kish)

I got a chance to test my Mew Lost World skills against a great player, even if it was to a deck that is on its last legs.  This turned out to be the best game of the day.  He started first and used Pokemon Collector, and then “Impersonated” for Cyrus’s Initiative (he got 2 heads).  I started with Relicanth and top decked a Pokemon Communication to get a Gengar Prime, so I was able to put the Gengar in the Lost Zone.  On his turn he again tried to disrupt but didn’t do too much.  On my turn I got a Pokmeon Collector and pulled a Mew Prime, Mime Jr., and Slowpoke.  I again had to attack with Relicanth.  Matt put an energy on Luxray Gl and got another heads on Cyrus’s Intiative, putting a Juniper back in my deck.  He then had to “Impersonate” for a Bebe’s to get an Azelf.  At this point I guessed that his Luxray X was prized, and that I had a good chance to make sure that he stayed there.  I retreated Relicanth and used “Hurl Into Darkness” to put Azelf in the Lost Zone.  On his turn he put another energy on Luxray and used a POkemon Collector.  On my turn I added another energy to Mew and put both Garchomp C and Luxray Gl into the Lost Zone.  Now fast forward a couple of turns and I put 2 more Pokemon in the Lost Zone.  Matt finally got attacking and knocked out 3 Mime Jr.’s and 2 Mew’s.  It was my turn and I just needed to Lost Zone 1 Pokemon.  The problem was that Matt’s disruption made sure that I didn’t have any hand refresh cards, he was also able to Power Spray the Poke-Powers of Slowking and Mr. Mime.  I also had a full bench so I couldn’t use Spiritomb TM, so without any way to Lost Zone, Matt took his last prize.

It was a good game and it showed me that this deck has some promise.

Game #1- versus Matt Kish and Vilegar  

Now finally we can get on to some real games.  We both start Crobat G and he goes first. He uses Lookers to get a fresh hand, and gets a Spiritomb, so I scoop.

0-1 My only solace is the fact that I kinda like Matt.  He’s a nice guy who I knew could win it instead of some Ohio players. Matt went on to get 2nd in the tournament.

Game #2- versus Luxchomp

He starts Sableye to my Uxie, but he cannot get the donk.  But, he does setup fairly well.  He ends up leaving a belted Sableye active.  So, I decide that I cannot possibly knock everything out, so I have to knock out the Sableye and play a longer game.  So I get just enough to take 2 prizes with the Sableye.  On his turn he plays Lost Remover to knock out my energy, but he again cannot get an attack off.  The Lost Zoning of my energy catches me off guard.  I know I have 1 more energy, but it is towards the bottom of the deck and I don’t wanna deck myself out trying to get it.  So we both pass a bunch of times waiting for energies.  Later in the game we are tied at prizes and I try put damage on a Lv.X, setting it up  for  a Sableye Knockout, but he keeps Poketurning anything that is damaged, so I can never knock out the active. Because of this I scoop.

0-2 I know my day is about over, but I might as well stay around to have fun.  I am kinda mad, not because I’m 0-2, but because I could easily have been 2-0.  If I would have started Sabelye in each of my first games I would have been undefeated.

Game #3-Missy the Judge with Charizard

As her name implies, Missy is a Judge, she is also a Poke-Mom.  She usually judges, but she is playing today.  She knows she doesn’t have a great deck, but she was just playing to be near her sons.  She starts with 2 Charmanders, and I start Sableye.  I play for about a minute or two and get the Seeker and the Donk.

1-2.  1 Sableye start and 1 win.

Game #4- Mike with Sabledonk and Zoroark.  

Mike is not known as a great player, but in this format you never know what could happen.  Mike is a great guy to talk to, however.  We both start Sableye and I win the flip.  Since I start first I am able to win.  I just cycle through the deck, “Flash Bite” an Unown R, seeker another R, and then knockout a Sableye.

2-2. 2 Sableye starts and 2 wins.  I see a pattern developing.

Game #5 Gyarados (I Think)

This game is against another Michigan regular, and we know that if we win and get a little help from other people, we could sneak into top cut.  We both start Sableye and I win the coin flip.  I am able to get a couple Flash Bites on the active, and use a Double Poke-Drawer to get a Seeker and an energy.  Thats game.

3-2. I still have a small shot at making top cut.  So I stick around hoping against hope that I can make it in.  About a half an hour later the final standings are up and I am just among 5 guys who went 3-2 but will not make it in.  There was one 3-2 player that did make it.

Thoughts About the Format

This tournament proved to me that the format is one of the worst ever.  I played 5 matches and in each match the person who started first won.  The game should not be about who starts first, it should be about experience and skill.  If I would have started first in each of my games I would have easily gone 5-0.  If I would have started second each time, I would have gone either 0-5 or 1-4.

I was pleasantly surprised that not everyone played Sabledonk.  For the most part the best players were playing the same decks they always played.  And even though that can be a good thing, it is still a stale format that needs changing.

So please Play Pokemon, change the format for Nationals.  If you want anyone to go to Nats, you guys better give us a decent format.

How was your BR experience?  Did you guys find that the player who goes first always wins?  I’m anxious to hear how you guys did.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Category: Tourney Report | Tags: Sabledonk