State Championships

State’s Preview + Info On Your First States Trip.

Pikkdogs March 6, 2012 12 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs with an introduction to States/Province/Territory Championships 2012.  I will also add a bit about going to your first tournament at the end of the article.

An Introduction to States

Before we get to States, let’s take a look at how Cities ended.  I have already recapped Cities, so I won’t go too far into this.  But, we gotta cover it a little.  Cities started with strong performances by Zekrom and  some of the newer Noble Victories decks like Chandelure and Vanilluxe.  As Cities wore on, only Chandelure stayed on as a great deck.  We started seeing newer decks like Six Corners and CaKE.  While familiar decks like Donphan and Dragons and Reshiphlosion still saw some play.  The season ended with a domination by Durant.

We still expect some decks like Durant and Reshiphlosion to see some play, but the most talked about decks right now have cards from Next Destinies in them.  The most hyped card was of course Mewtwo EX, he is slated to be in almost every non-Durant deck that has a shot to win States.  Mewtwo is a fast card that can take over the game before most decks get off the ground.  But, that is not the only big card to come out of ND.  Zekrom EX and Reshiram EX also came out, and they are set to revitalize the existing Reshiram and Zekrom decks.  The other EX cards, Regigigas, Shaymin, and Kyurem, are also good, just don’t expect them to have as big of an impact.  You can also expect trainer cards like Skyarrow Bridge and Battle City to see some play.

What will Win at States.

Though I will admit that I don’t know exactly what will win at States, I can give you a guess.  Here are my top 5 decks.  These are just based on my feelings and may or may not be how things end up going.

1. CMT (Mewtwo EX)

The deck that will win the most States championships is CMT.  It can just outclass every other deck in the format.  It is fast enough to cripple any deck that will try to evolve, and it can  hit hard enough to OHKO an EX.  You will see this deck all over the top tables, just like Snooki is all over this plant in the picture to the right.  The only thing that might limit the number of CMT decks is the number of people who own the cards to make this deck.  It costs about $220 just for the C and M parts of this deck.

CMT works by attacking on the first and 2nd turns of the game and using Pokemon Collector to knock out anything you are trying to setup.  Mewtwo EX will single handily stop decks like Chandelure and Ross Deck.  Nothing that relies on evolutions can stand against Mewtwo if it has a good start.  If CMT doesn’t have a good start, than that is where the door might open.  If you get setup against CMT, all they can do is try to use your energies against you.  If that doesn’t work, there really isn’t a back up plan.  Tornadus is nice, but 80 damage can only go so far.  If you are playing against this deck, hopefully they will make a mistake and leave a Metwo EX or two vulnerable to a knockout.  If you can take out 2 Mewtwo’s, you should win.

Although this deck is beatable, it will be the most successful deck at States.

2.  Durant

From the the best deck at States to the deck that will get the most play.  Durant is the anti-Mewtwo EX.  The deck is cheap money wise and it is very hard to make mistakes with it.  While it is easy to leave your Mewtwo EX vulnerable to a knockout, it is very hard to screw up Durant.  You just gotta setup and say the word “Devour.”  If you can do that you can win with Durant.  It will be a deck that will get a lot of play because it is so cheap and easy to play, all the newer players will be playing it.

Durant should have a decent chance of winning some States.  It will no doubt get the most wins in the Swiss Rounds at States because of the crazy amount of players that will pick the deck up.  If you want to win like 4 games at States, just bring an Anti-Durant deck and you will probably get to .500.  It and its players will probably get out-classed in the Top Cut rounds, but it will win a couple States for sure.

In playing against this deck you are going to want to attack fast without burning through all of your deck.  You are going to need to do about 100 damage by turn 2 or 3, and keep that going for 6 more turns.  Just watch on how fast you burn your deck early, that is just going to play into the Durant players hand.  Try to not rely on cards like Professor Juniper, that will just make their job easier.  You also need to watch how they remove energy.  They will take away your energy, so don’t let that catch you by surprise.  Always have a couple more energies in your hand.  You can also forget about setting up techs like Reuniclus and Eelektrik, you will not need a lot of techs in this game, just straight forward attacking is all that needed.

3.  Zekrom (Zekrom, Zekrom EX, Mewtwo EX, Eelektrik)

These decks will be good and they are vary different.  You might see a Zekrom deck that is kind of like the Cities version of the ZPST decks, or you may see a Zekrom EX only deck.  These decks are kind of different, but are basically the same, so we can group them together. They will be successful at Cities, making it to a lot of the top tables.  They probably will even take a couple, if not more, States.

These decks are here for one reason, to hit hard.  They will be doing 120 damage, 150 damage, 150 damage, and more turn after turn.  Your Magnezone Prime is no longer safe after Zekrom EX hits the table.  Using Eelektrik, this deck can keep on hitting for 120 damage plus for an almost unlimited number of turns.  This deck will out hit all of those defense decks like Ross Deck. It is also good enough to have a good match-up against Durant.  It can also use its Mewtwo EX to hit CMT for weakness.  So it has a lot of good things going for it.

The downside of the deck is that it is not as fast as CMT.  If you are playing against it, you might be able to take it down before it gets going.  On your first turn, you should try to use Pokemon Catcher to get Tynamo active.  Just keep playing with Tyanamos and Eelektriks until you can knock them out.  And once they lose these guys, it will be hard for them to keep doing all that damage.  They will eventually run out of energy.  So keep targeting those Eelektriks, that is the weak point of this deck.  If you wait until they setup it will be too late, so target them early.

4. Magnezone

Magnezone and Eelektrik return from a decent Cities season and try to make a run at States.  Although Magenzone will see some action at the top tables and during Top Cut, it will not win a lot of States.  It will probably not win any.  It is a hard hitting deck, but it just is out classed by Mewtwo EX.  THe drop-off between numbers 1 and 3 on this list isn’t huge, but the drop off between numbers 3 and 4 is a big gap.  Don’t expect Magnezone Prime to do as well as CMT, Durant, or Zekrom. 

Magnezone Prime is all about the OHKO, and that’s why we like him we at www.onehitko.com.  The premise of this deck is very simple, get as much energy in play as possible, and then blast all the energy and the defending Pokemon away with the “Lost Burn” attack.  It is the most hard hitting deck in the format.  The deck will use Pachirisu and Eelektrik to get more energy on the field.  The deck is also the only deck that has a built in draw engine.  Magnezone does have the “Magnetic Draw” Poke-Power that will always make sure that you have a good hand.  Watch out for the card N, because it works well with Magnezone.  The draw power is nice because as long as you setup, the power will keep you in the game. Now with EXs out, Magnezone has a slight advantage because it can get 2 prizes for every knockout.  What I mean by this is instead of getting rid of 6 energies by knocking out 2 Zekrom BW’s, you can Lost Zone 4 energies by knocking out 1 Zekrom EX.  That means you save 2 energies, that is very important in this deck.

There are a couple weaknesses to this deck.  The main weakness is that it relies on Evolutions, and as we all know, Mewtwo EX feeds on evolutions.  If CMT gets a good start, this game is over before it even starts.  Another weakness is that this deck is famous for running out of energy when time is called.  Since you have to send energies to the Lost Zone you will always be running out of energies.  You have to be careful that you don’t waste energies.  Make sure to use Pokemon Catcher so you can cut down on the wasting of energy.

If you are playing against this deck remember to hit it hard early.  If you have a fast deck, you should be able to knock out Magnemites and Tynamos before they evolve.  Also, remember to keep low HP Pokmeon out of play.  Make them waste energies by taking out the big HP attackers instead of the small one.  If you play down Thundurus instead instead of Cleffa, you are making your opponent waste 2 more energies.

5.  Reshiphlosion

This is the deck that won’t die, but it isn’t very far away from death right now.  It first entered the scene by coming out of nowhere at U.S. Nationals 2011.  It did well during Battle Roads, and then did okay at Cities.  It is still the same basic deck that was played during the summer, just with a couple different cards.  It will do decent by feeding on all of the Durant players, but won’t be able to out-play CMT or Zekrom decks.  It should have a decent States season, and might even make some Top Cuts, but it won’t win any States.

The deck is based on attacking for 120 damage with Reshiram’s “Blue Flare”, and using Typhlosion Prime to keep the energies on him.  If you are able to get a couple Typhlosion Primes out, you will be able to out hit almost any deck.  This deck is also a little better with the inclusion of Reshiram-EX.  This card won’t change the deck, but might help it a little bit.  It also usually has a decent draw engine in Ninetales HGSS.

If you are playing against this deck, the key to beating the deck is in the first 3-4 turns.  You need to limit the number of Typhlosion Primes they have.  Keep on using Pokemon Catcher to get them active and chip away at the HP.  If you limit them to less than 2 Typhlosions, they don’t really have a decent shot of winning the match.  They need 2 or 3 out, and if don’t get it they can’t keep the 120 and 150 damage up.  Aside from the setup, try to take advantage of the Reshiram EX.  If they play it down, you can get 2 prizes with a knockout.  That might be able to be be enough to turn the tide of the game.

Conclusion

This states look like it is all about 3 decks.  Durant, CMT, and Zekrom.  These decks are the only decks that have a shot at winning, so be on the look out for those decks.  Also, be on the look-out for a surprise.  There is always some deck that comes along and surprises us.  There will be a deck that comes out of nowhere to be good, so don’t get too cocky because you think you know it all.  Now let’s go to the 2nd part of the article.

Tips for Your First States

Now we come to the part of the article where we talk about being at your first states.  I know there are a lot of people who have started the game since worlds.  That means there are a lot of players who have never played in a big tournament.  Playing in a big tournament is different than a smaller one, so it is helpful to know some helpful hints.  Here are some good tips for your first State Tournament.

1.  Prepare For the Whole Day.  If you think that you even have a small chance at making it to the Top Cut, than you should prepare like you will be there for a long time.  Depending on the number of players, how organized the staff is, and how long the matches go; the winner of States could be at the event until early in the morning.  So prepare for being there late.  If you can it will be nice to get a motel in the area if you don’t live near the venue.  If you can’t afford a motel, you can still do other things to prepare.  Make sure you either bring enough food or enough money for Lunch, a snack, and dinner.  Sometimes the venue will have a snack bar on site, so its always nice to have a little money for a  small snack in-between rounds.  Also, make sure to bring plenty of fluids.  If your stomach is empty all day you will not have the concentration to focus on your game.  Your mind will wander and you will start to make stupid mis-plays.  So make sure you have enough food and fluids for the day.
2. Get Your Preparations Done the Week Before.  The importance of practicing cannot be under-estimated.  Make sure to get together with people from your area and test your decks out against each other.  You might be tipping your hand a little, but the experience you gain will be more than worth it.  Along with getting your testing it, you should get some decent amount of sleep in.  I know that States start really early and you will probably be travelling a long way to go there, so recommending 8 hours of sleep will probably not do a lot of good.  But, at least try to get enough so you are not sleep-walking the whole day.  If possible, try to catch up on your sleep on Thursday and Friday, so even if you only get a couple hours on Saturday you should still be able to get enough sleep to maintain your concentration during your matches.  You don’t need 10 hours of sleep, just get enough so you are at your normal level, this will greatly enhance your odds of winning later in the day.
3. Make Your Deck Consistent.  At Battle Roads or Cities it was to your advantage to play a risky deck that could win 5-7 games.  You knew you were not going to see every deck that day, so you didn’t tech against everything.  You could hope you would get lucky and still have a decent chance of winning.  States is a whole nother animal.  To win you will have to play around 11-13 matches, that means you can’t just hope for good luck or tech against just 1 matchup.  You have to plan for consistency.  There may have been a chance that you could get lucky 6 times, but its not going to happen 12 times, so you need to build an even deck that can win against any other deck.  Make sure to build a deck that has good all around match-ups, because you will see a lot of different decks.  So, you should try to have a deck that works a majority of the time, and one that doesn’t have a lot of bad match-ups.
4. Keep Focused.  In the same vein as the last tip, this tip has to do with the length of States.  To use some metaphors, Battle Roads and Cities are like sprints.  You have to be at your best for the entire race because it doesn’t last very long, one slip up and you could be done.  States is a lot different, it is more like a marathon.  People come from hundreds of miles around to go to States, so you can be sure that you will have a lot more rounds than you played before this year.  Just because you  may have started 0-2 does not mean anything, you just have to stay positive and be focused on winning.  It is easy to psych yourself out and eliminate yourself before you are really out of it.  During States, you can probably lose 3 games and still have a shot at making it.  The chances are that you will probably drop a game, but don’t let that get to you.  States are a marathon, no matter how you start the day it will be about how you finish the day.  So don’t pay attention to your record until at least round 5, just try to win each game no matter what your record is.

Those are the four major points that you should think about leading up to States.  Also, make sure you come prepared with something to keep you occupied.  You could be waiting for some time, so make sure you bring your DS or something.  It is also important to arrive in a timely fashion and prepared.  Make sure your deck is ready before the registration starts, so you don’t have to wonder if you are going to be able to register in time.  This season I have become famous for arriving late and still trying to fix my deck, that is not a good thing.  I also understand that a limited amount of players will receive States Dice, so make sure that you aren’t running late.

So, that’s all I got for ya.  I hope you guys have a good States tourney, and I wish you guys luck.

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!