One Hit KO

I forgot to bring my camera for both days this past weekend, so I don’t have my usual slew of unfocused pictures. Because of that, I thought that I wouldn’t write much, so I didn’t take any notes. This is all from (my poor) memory.

Here’s a micro report from The Source Comics and Games on Oct. 15th. I knew that there was another tourney the next day, so I thought that if Ava was done playing, I might drop. I didn’t want to drop if there was a chance I could still win, but in the back of my mind, I almost hoped I’d hit that 2 loss mark early. We had a party to attend as a family, so it would be good to get home a bit earlier.

Juniors had 8 players. Aiden wasn’t there with his Beartic deck which has beaten Ava’s Donphan deck in the 2 previous events. Unfortunately, Paul decided that Beartic was the clear best deck (as it had won the previous 2 events) and decided to play it. I think Ava lost to Paul and forgot about Exoskeleton to lose another one. In the end, she snuck in at 4th place and got her third top-4 in 3 events.

My only memorable match that day was against Curtis who was playing LostGar. He started with a lone Tyrogue. I went first, couldn’t get the donk, and then the lone Tyrogue slept through like 5 rounds or something. He finally got going a bit, but once he started benching guys, I could Catcher ’em up. He switched to Mime Jr (who also slept), but I was able to run through him without him LZing any Pokemon. After I won, he mentioned that I could have donked him on turn 1 if I had retreated for Pachirisu. Oh, RIGHT. That. :| Thanks for the tip. At least I won.

Anyway, I think that put me at 2-1. I lost my next one to Conner who had like 7 straight losses against me. In fact, we played TWICE at Nationals and he couldn’t beat me even when I was losing like crazy. Like Ava, I also kept my streak alive by going 2-2 and missing my third top-4 in 3 events.

Dreamers Oct 16th
Again, I didn’t bring my camera, and I didn’t take notes. Much of this is rather blurry in my mind, but I did jot some stuff down right after I got home, so there’s more of a report here.

Round 1: I recognize this guy as another Pokedad of a junior player, but I don’t recall his name.
I set up quick and get going right away. Unfortunately for me, he has all kinds of answers like Cincino, Bouffalant, and Sigliph. If he return KOs me, I’m out of energy. All he needs is a DCE for any of his attackers, but he never gets it. Each time he plays a single energy, I can Catcher it up and KO it. Win
1-0

Round 2: Guy from ND with Zoroark/Houndoom/other dark stuff.
I mulligan twice, I think. After the second one, I get an awesome hand. I set up on turn 1 and get a Catcher every time he has Zorua. Actually, I think he did set up a Zoroark once, but I return KO’d it after he Foul Play’d my Bolt Strike. He really had no chance in this game. We played a second one for fun, and he got going much better, but I ultimately won that one, too. Win
2-0

Round 3: I think this was the guy that said he was from Albertville, was moving to Brooklyn Center, and commutes to Eden Prairie.
I think he started with a lone Reshiram. I think I couldn’t one-shot it, so I may have opted to wait and set up a bit more methodically. Yeah, I think I remember, because I had a hand full of energy (like 2 DCE and a bunch of Lightning) and a Juniper. I didn’t want to Juniper it all away, so I think I waited until I could drop both DCE. I think he got a couple guys on the bench (which was good for me), so then I could Catcher around the Reshiram. I believe that he set up a Duosion on the bench (maybe even a Reuniclus), that I KO’d. When he was again down to a lone Reshiram, I think I loaded it up with damage. He got a KO on me, and then I KO’d it back for the win. I think it would have been my third prize. Win
3-0

Round 4: Soari/Sudi with Donphan
We sat for almost a half hour (no joke) while they repaired the round. We set up, and he was like, “You better not donk me after we just sat here for this long.” I had the donk, but he won the flip. He attaches an energy to Phanpy and passes. I donk. Win
4-0

Somewhere around this time, Ava got done with her 4 rounds of swiss. Her Donphan was matched against a Feraligatr Prime deck in round 1. She came back to 2-1 and got paired up against Aiden’s 3-0 Beartic for her 4th round. Ugh. Beartic every BR. Well, we prepared a bit this time. She was running 4 Crushing Hammer and 4 Lost Remover. On her 2nd turn (I think), she had removed all of Aiden’s energy. She had set up Donphan on her bench. Unfortunately, her Zekrom was stuck active, so she passed. Andy W. had been watching from behind her, and he came over to tell me that Ava had all the right cards, including a SWITCH. I don’t know. She was playing Pokemon Catcher very well (even to pull up guys to stall Beartic), but I guess she didn’t notice that Switch might be useful in that case. She ended up 5th. Her streak of top-4s was broken, but my streak of missing top cuts was still achievable.

Round 5: Jon (aka Jake Long) with Reshiram/Emboar
I ran through him. He had plenty of Tepig, Ninetales, and Reshiram, but he never got set up. He finally got 1 prize (and set up an Emboar). I won the next turn. It turns out he had prized both of his Emboar. Win
5-0

Round 6: Mike Lesky with MegaJudge (aka Primetime, aka MegaZone)
I didn’t feel like it was a close game, but I think it came down to 1 prize each. His deck is very consistent, and he plays it very well. Lose
5-1

That put me at 2nd place going in to top cut. My streak had ended. I guess the new streak was the family (Ava and myself) making top 4 at each BR.

Top 4: Jay Hornung with MegaZone
Game 1: Mulligan – Donk. To be honest, this was in jeopardy. Remember my previous day’s match where Curtis mentioned that I could have won if I would have retreated my Tornadus to donk with Pachirisu. Thanks to him, it struck my partway through my turn. After a bit of a longish turn, I retreat Tornadus to donk with Pachirisu. Win
Game 2: Mulligan – He chooses to go first with Magnemite active. I don’t have a great hand, and I opt not to bench Pachirisu with my lone Zekrom safely defending me. On his second turn, he sets up Magnezone and donks me thanks to Pachirisu’s extra energy. You might say this was a play error, but I think that even if I had benched Pachi without using his ability, it would only have prolonged my death. We’re like 7 minutes into the round, and we’re already moving to game 3. As we’re setting up, the other top-4 game 2 also ends. We’re now 9 minutes in, and both top4 games are on game 3.
Game 3: Mulligan – We set up, and I go first with Shaymin active (IIRC) which puts me out of donk range unless I can get Swich (which doesn’t happen). Jay uses Copycat, PONT, or some such and draws no basics. I retreat for the donk.
Jay is a great player, but somehow I think he just has bad luck against me. I guess he got a Championship Point, though. That ain’t all bad.

Top 2: Mike Lesky
I don’t feel like I put up much of a fight in either match. Mike pretty much ran through me. There’s not much else to say. My only chance was Energy Retrieval, and I didn’t get it. Also, in the second game, my only real out was the second Shaymin, and it was prized.

So, I pulled off second. Mike got his 6th Championship Point or some such. He’s on a serious roll. I think he won 3 in a row (one being the previous day).

Thanks to Colleen, Andy W., TAndrewT, Alex, Ray, and Steve for running our Fall Battle Roads. They were all fun, and I appreciate the effort you guys and gal put in.

Ava and I ended up taking home 3 second place Victory Cups and 14 packs. That’s not a bad haul at all, but Ava did the bulk of the hauling.

Category: Tourney Report | Tags: Donphan, Pachirisu, Tornadus, zekrom