State Championships

Playing with fire at the Michigan State championship, 2011

Cheffords March 17, 2011 2 Comments

Following the fun I had playing a rogue SP based deck at Cities this Fall, I decided to try something similar for States. This time my deck is based around the synergy between Blaziken FB Lv.X and Blaziken PL. My Cities deck had a 1 – 1 tech line of Blaziken FB and I found it was very powerful and could get KOs when you need them. I decided to use Blaze as the basis of my deck. A full deck writeup is forthcoming so I won’t go into the details here. This article is primarily to report my day and the games that I played.

This year the event is in Lansing and we have a good turn out; 74 players in the Masters age division. This means 7 rounds in swiss with a top-cut of 16. I’m at the venue just before registration opens and find a Jimmy Johns nearby and buy my lunch. I’ve learned from experience to be prepared for long rounds and no breaks, so having food on-hand makes that one less thing to worry about. This year my buddy ‘Pinch’ decided to play and we meet up in line to register, do a quick deck check and sit down to a warm up game.

All my PokeFriends are rolling in; Pikkdogs, Evan, Collan, Cody, Ryan and the rest of Team Warp Point, Ryan, Ryan, Joel, Hunter and some folks that I always talk to but don’t know on a first name basis. It’s great to see everyone and to see the anticipation of good tournament on their faces.

The judges call the room to attention, lay out the rules and all of the announcements then give us the go ahead for round 1; the day is underway!
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State Championships Tourney Report

Another Michigan State Championships Report!

Joel March 16, 2011 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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State Championships

Gyarados ReRocks Minnesota State Championships (1st Place)

Ed March 14, 2011 16 Comments

I got back into the game a bit over a year ago, because I thought it would be something that my daughter, Ava, would be into. We started during Cities last season, which didn’t go so hot. By the time States preparation rolled around, though, I knew I needed a new deck, and I chose Gyarados based on several factors. After making that choice, I started looking for the right combination of cards for the meta, and that’s how I got in contact with Austino.

At the time, Team Omar was meeting almost weekly, so I got plenty of practice and experience against multiple decks. With Austino‘s deck help and Team Omar’s playtesting help, I was able to ride Gyarados to 5th place after Swiss in the 2010 MN State Championship. I then dropped before top cut, but it was a decision that I always wondered about. Should I have canceled my other plans? Should I have stayed and played. I felt like my top-8 matchup was favorable, and I think I could have made top4.

This season saw Omar depart the state and with him went the regular playtesting sessions. I hung onto Gyarados and still kept in contact with Austino, but I started playing much less Pokemon. Andy (the reigning State Champion) and I got together to try to get a regular playtesting thing going. It worked well, but as time went on the regular turned into irregular and seemed to fall apart completely in the month leading up to States.

I had thought of switching to a new deck. I had planned on making a new deck for Ava. I had even considered rebuilding Gyarados for Ava and coming up with something completely new for myself. With my hobbytime focus diverted to other things for a while, none of this happened. I decided that I would once again lean on my old pals Magikarp and Gyarados to get me through. I’m a big believer in playing what you’re comfortable with, and this tale just further solidifies my stance, but we’ll get more into that as things unfold.
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State Championships

Pikkdog’s Michigan State Report: If You Live by the Sword….

Pikkdogs March 12, 2011 4 Comments

One of my favorite quotes by Jesus is in Matthew 26 verse 52

“For those who take the sword, will perish by the sword.” (English Standard Version, 2001).

And you say, “Pikkdogs this is a Pokemon site not Sunday School, why are you talking about this verse?”

It is a verse that sums up my day at the 2011 Michigan State Championships. I tried to live by the sword, but I ended up dying by it.

The event was held at the Radisson in downtown Lansing, Mi. We normally play the states out in the burbs, so being in an urban area was kind of a shock. Besides some parking issues, this new venue wasn’t too bad, although the playing area is smaller than in our previous location.

I decided to play Uxie donk for this event, there were many reasons why I chose this. 1. I was tired of getting pushed around by Luchomp, so I thought I’d play something that could beat it. 2. Radu wrote a great article on this site that told people how to play the deck in a very easy to learn matter. With a couple reads through this article I felt I knew everything I needed to know about it. 3. I was getting tired of everything else, so why not try Uxie?

I will not post my list here, but not because I am keeping it secret. I will not post it because it is very similar to Radu’s decklist. I just took away 3 victory medals from this list, and added 2 Unown R’s and 1 Quick Ball. I have to apologize a little for this report. Uxie donk is a cool deck, but there is not much to talk about. The games will not sound to interesting, because in fact they weren’t. But theres not much we can do about that.

Through-out this article I will not post my usual pictures, but instead will post the incredibly medicore pictures that I took at States. These pictures are more inserted for comic relief than anything, except for the one of Cheffords that one is pretty cool. Man these pictures are terrible, I should take a class on pictures or something.

The event was very Luxchomp heavy. So much so that basically any deck other than Luxchomp was considered rogue. There were a couple Machamps, a couple Gyarados, and a couple trainer lock decks; but not very many.

So I get to the tournament about 20 minutes before registration, and hung out in the lobby for a while. I got my sleeves checked and turned in my decklist then went in to meet some of my Pokemon friends. I loved talking to all my Michigan Pokemon buddies, it was kind of better than the event itself. When the orgainizers finally get ready I get paired up for round 1.

Round 1 Magnezone

My English brother Pokmeon Dan was hyping up Magnezone ever since the European Challenge Cup, and at the event we find a couple Magnezone decks.

I think I go first and start with a Crobat G. I only have trainers in my hand, so I have to pace. He starts with two Magnemites, but doesn’t have any supporters. So all he can do is attach an energy and an expert belt, then end. This leaves me with 2 Magnemites to run over. I use trainers to get a Seeker, that takes care of one Magnezone. Then I get a couple flashbites on the active and “Psychic Restore” for the win.

1-0. Exactly how the game is supposed to be played.

Round 2 Regigas

This game was against my good Friend Ryan Graham. Even though I have known him for a while, I haven’t yet played him. He starts with something (maybe Crobat G) and a Giratina. I go first and I have an Unown Q, I draw but don‘t get anything. Ryan then plays a Collector and gets an Uxie and a Regigas. He retreats for Uxie, attaches an energy and then knocks out my Unown Q.

1-1. I play 11 other basics, but I have to start with the 30 HP Unown Q.

After this round me and Mat (Chefford’s friend) take a walk to Subway for a sandwich. We have a good lunch time chat, and then walk back to the hotel.

Round 3-Dialga Chomp

This was a really weird game, but I play through it.

I start with Crobat G, and my hand consists of 2 Super Scoop Ups, 2 Poketurns, 1 Expert Belt, and 1 Poke Blower +. What am I supposed to do with that? My opponent starts with Garchomp C, and I go first. I draw into another Poketurn (yay) and pass. He goes and Cyrus’s to find a Dialga G with a metal energy and an Energy Gain. But he does not have a Poketurn to get Dialga G active.

So he passes and I draw into a Luxury Ball. I play it for the Uxie, and have to setup for 1. I get an Unown R, and “Retire”. After getting another Super Scoop Up, I have to play all three of my Super Scoop Ups. On my last Scoop Up I finally get Uxie back in hand. I then Poketurn Crobat G and start “Flash Biting” the active. I eventually get a seeker, and find enough resources for the knockout on Garchomp C.

2-1. He got a fairly bad start, but Uxie is meant to take advantage of this.

Round 4- Luxchomp

This match was what Radu would call a “Game State Two.” He set up a lot of basics so I could not donk him. I did take a long turn and knockout two Pokemon, so I should have a good advantage. On the next turn he uses a Pokemon Collector and gets a Drapion 4. Who plays a Drapion 4?????????????? I don’t think anyone has ever played this card, ever. He played this card to tech against Gengar Prime, but he brillantly used it as a wall against me. It has 100 HP and a psychic resistance, this means that I need to do 120 damage for a knockout, which I can’t do. And because he also has a Luxray Lv. X, I can’t get a knockout on that Pokemon either. All he has to do is wait till time is called and he wins.

2-2. Who plays Drapion 4????????????????? Just my luck that I play the only person who has ever played Drapion 4.

Round 5- Machamp.

I start with an Uxie, and he starts with the double Machop. Since I only have 1 Pokemon, the person who goes 2nd will win this matchup. I luckily win this matchup. I play my hand out a little and get a Seeker and a Cyclone energy.”

3-2- I get Lucky

Round 6-Gyarados

I start with an Uxie and he starts with an Unown Q and a Crobat G. I again get lucky and go second. He can’t draw anything on his first turn so I go. I actually only play 1 trainer card this game. I play a Pokedex and get a Cyclone Energy. I then use the Seeker from my hand and take card of the Q with “Psychic Restore.”

4-2 I keep going. Now I am at a spot where there is 1 game left. If I win I go on, but if i lose I get to go home. Just like Michigan State, I am a bubble team.

Round 7-Luxchomp (I think)

This was against a guy who always has fun decks. This time his deck isn’t too fun. I start first for the 5th game out of 7, terrible luck for an Uxie deck. I only have a Unown R active, and he has an Ambipom G and a DCE, thats game.

4-3. Thats it, my day is over. I would have gotten in with a win, but I got donked myself. I end up getting #20, so I finish decent but not what I wanted.

This brings me back to my original Bible verse. When I played Uxie I made a commitment to live by the donk, but unfortunately I also had to die by the donk. When you play Uxie you can also get donked yourself, its all about luck. After the tournament I went out to dinner with my brother and his wife, who live in town. So, all things considered it was a good day, I just wish I had a little better luck.

Thats what happens when you live by the sword.

Now for some props and slops

Props

Judges- Michigan Judges always do a great job.

Radu- For the decklist and inspiration.

My Pokemon Friends- For a good day

My Brother Wayne- For buying me dinner

Slops

The regular Hotel that we play at- for being under construction

Parking in Lansing- Only decent if you got there early

Luck- For not being with me 100%

The Format- for being 99% Luxchomp.

State Championships Uncategorized

What European Challenge Cup Means to State Tournaments

Pikkdogs February 28, 2011 6 Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a report on the upcoming state championships.

So I had my preview of states all done and written, and I was ready to make some final tweaks to my deck, and then………………………….. The Europeans screwed it up.

Darn Euros! They had one tournament and with that turned the Metagame on its side.

In case you haven’t watched PokemonDan’s video on the ECC, the talk of the Benelux region was Italy’s Andrea C. and his Lostgar Lock deck. Its basically just a trainerlock deck but that exchanges 2 Gengar SF for 2 Gengar Primes. Even though he was very lucky in the tournament, he was at a place where he should have won the entire tournament, but misplayed at then end. So he basically should have won the tournament, and turned quite a few heads while he did it. You can bet this deck will migrate to the U.S. and become the biggest Italian import since the Pizza pie.

So what does this mean for State Championships?

Well I’m glad you asked that, because it is the topic of this article. We will examine this effect by analyzing what decks have gotten better because of this news, and what decks have gotten worse.

The Winners

Lostgar Lock– Of course one of the biggest winners of this news is the deck that is sweeping the metagame. This deck will be played a lot, now that Andrea proved that it can win. Andrea did not give us a list that can be easily copied, but everyone basically knows how to build a deck like this. He ran 2 Gengar Primes, 1 Gengar Sf, and 1 Gengar Prime; that seems to be the best play. A 2-2-2 Vileplume line is standard, as well is at least 3 Spiritomb Ar. You will also see some new cards like Mr. Mime Cl and Spiritomb Tm. The reason this deck is so good is because of the Rescue Energy + Broken Time Space Combo. An SP deck will mostly likely have to take 2 hits to knock out either a Vileplume or Gengar. When they do knock it out, it just goes back to the player’s hand, and they can lay it all back down thanks to Broken Time Space. This is an unstoppable combo.

On the downside, a Lostgar Lock player will have to make sure to build the deck so it does not have Split Personality Disorder. Lostgar Lock is a mix of two decks Lostgar and Vilegar. You don’t wanna take 3 prizes and put 3 Pokemon in the Lost Zone, that does you no good. Consistency is big on this deck.

Luxchomp– Luxchomp is a deck that can beat any deck consistently, it just needs to know what deck it will play so that it can tech against it. What Andrea did in Benelux was that he just tipped his hand and the hand of all Lostgarlock players. Now Luxchomp knows what the Lost World threat is, and can tech against it. So what can you put in your SP deck?

To me, there are 4 good techs that you can play to stop Lostgarlock. I assume that you are starting your deck with a basic Luxchomp list with a 1-1 Blaziken Fb line.

One tech is Dialga G. If you get an early lead against Lostgarlock, just rid your hand of trainers and use “Deafen” so that your opponent cannot play Lost World down. It is a simple tech that is useful against a lot of decks, the ability to also shut down Poke-Bodies is amazing. But, if you can’t rid your hand of trainers, Gengar SF is gonna run over you.

Another tech is Weavile G. Weavile G is a Dark Pokemon that has the “Team Attack” attack. For DCC you can do 10 damage plus 10 more damage for everyone Pokemon SP you have in play. That means if you have 4 Pokemon SP on your bench, you will be doing 120 damage to Gengar Prime (thanks to weakness), which leaves you just 1 “Flash Bite” away froma OHKO. Its “Call For Family” attack also is nice because it has a Call Energy like effect, so it is a good starter. If you need to get rid of Gengar Prime fast, Weaville G is probably the easiest way to do it, though Absol G Lv.X can also hit for 120.

Weavile G saw some play at the ECC, another card that did as well was Roserade Gl. Roserade is a card that can be used in conjuction with Luxray Gl Lv. X’s “Bright Look” or Blaziken FB’s “Luring Flame” attack. You would use these attacks to bring either Spritiomb or Vileplume to the active spot. Once they are there, you can use Roserade Gl’s “Poison Bind” attack to do 10 damage, plus a poison, and prevent a retreat next turn. The only way that your opponent would be able to free a Pokemon would be to use Warp Energy. Even if this does not get you a knock-out, it will help you. If the Lostgar player is going for the win with Lost World, you just need to get the prize lead, and then stall till time is called. So Roserade Gl can help you lengthen the game, which is good for you and bad for them.

The fourth and final tech against Lostgar Lock is Staraptor Fb Lv. X. In my opinion the best thing about Lostgar Lock is not Gengar Prime, nor is it Vilegar, nor is it Gengar Sf, but it is the Rescue Energy+ BTS combo. This combo is amazing and makes Lostgar Lock such a great deck. If you knock out a Gengar or Vileplume they just put it back down again and say, “can you do that 5 more times?” Well SP decks cannot do that 5 more times, so lets stop this combo. You can go at this 2 ways. You can get either get rid of the Rescue Energy, with Lost Remover. Or, you can get rid of the Broke Time Space. Because of trainerlock, the best way to do this is to get rid of the stadium card.

The easiest way to get rid of the stadium is with Staraptor FB Lv. X. Staraptor has the “Defog” attack that does 70 damage and discards a stadium for CCC. Unfortunately this attack only does 50 to Gengar Prime, thanks to resistance but the main part of this attack is the discarding of the stadium. Without BTS they will need 3 turns to get their Vileplume or Gengar back, which will buy you enough time do get more prizes. Also, Staraptor’s “Fast Call” Poke-Power will let you get any Stadium from your deck. This lets you setup a Cyrus Chain very quickly, or be able to get a PONT to refresh your hand.

Gyarados– This seems like a weird place to put Gyarados. How will this be good for Gyarados? It is a trainerlock deck, in which the opponent has a chance at Lost Zoning a Magikarp. This doesn’t sound good for Gyarados.

But if you build a decent Gyarados build, you can make a list that has at least a 50% chance of beating any Trainerlock deck. Where Gyarados really improves is the fact that SP is not thinking about it any more. We might see some decks losing their Lucario Gl, or at the very least losing consistency. And, if SP decks are not as consistent as possible Gyarados will be able to swoop in and beat SP decks. With the changing of SP lists, Gyarados now has the chance of winning a lot more tournaments.

The Losers

Vilegar– Vilegar was already losing to SP decks, now SP decks are really teching against them, this can’t be good. The number of traditional Vilegar players will drop because of the fact that Lostgar Lock is very similar. So, I would be surprised if traditional Vilegar does anything at S/T/P Championships.

Uxie Donk– If you build Uxie Donk really well you can easily beat any deck except any kind of Trainerlock or a deck with sustained Powerlock. The ECC did nothing if it didn’t reaffirm that trainerlock will be around for a long time. Unfortunately, Uxie Donk Players will be running into a lot of trainer lock decks.

Rogue Decks– A lot of rogue decks rely on trainers. And Lostgar Lock stops trainers, so Lostgar Lock will stop a lot of rogue decks. Its that simple. Although, there are some rogue decks that don’t rely on a lot of trainers these decks are mostly unaffected. Unfortunately, it seems like the rise of Lostgar Lock means a lot less original decks.

So thats what I think the ECC means for the Metagame. I may be over-reacting to the news a little, but I think Andrea’s good showing is a harbinger for things to come.

State Championships

An Introduction to State Championships 2011

Pikkdogs February 20, 2011 11 Comments

States are readily approaching and its time to get ready. You could just pick a deck you like, test it a lot, and then leave for the tournament. But, if you wanna read up on whats been happening in the game in the past couple months and what will happen, just continue reading this article.

In this article we will be looking at how cities ended, what changes have occurred since then, how good the most popular decks will do in states, and then I will throw in some tips for S/P/T Championships at the end.

Cities: A recap–

City Championships 2010-2011 did not have surprising results. One trend for cities was the dominance of LuxChomp. LuxChomp has now been going strong for a year, and has been the best deck in the format for all that time. Luxchomp won around half of the cities in the U.S. It dominates most of the other best decks out there. It is a great fast and disruptive deck that came strong after cities into States. The Cities version of LuxChomp included Lucario Gl for the Gyarados match-up, and we should be seeing a similar list coming into States. Anyone who plans to win a States and is not playing LuxChomp need the ability to beat it.

Another trend for cities was the return of Gyarados. Of course Gyarados first came on the scene at Worlds two years ago, thanks to the help of the French. “Tail Revenge” has invaded the Pokemon TCG scene like no other French attack has ever before (I’ll be here all week, try the veal, and tip your server). But it was absent from Battle Roads this season, but has came back thanks to the help of Junk Arm. Now with Junk Arm, Rescue Energy, and Volkner’s Philosophy Gyarados is ready to run over most decks. It preforms well against a lot of the best decks, but can never seem to consistently beat Luxchomp. Gyarados is ready to be a deck to be reckoned with for States, but I feel it won’t win too many because of LuxChomp. The Cities version of this deck should be very similar to what we will see at States.
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Deck Discussion Regional Championships State Championships

Austino’s Gyarados Decklist

Ed April 20, 2010 6 Comments

“Austino’s Gyarados” No, it’s not a new gym leader’s Pokemon, but maybe it should be. After all, Austino rode Gyarados to 3 top cuts in States/Regionals ultimately grabbing second place in the CO regionals earning him a 2 round bye at nationals and a $1000 scholarship. All it got me was 5th (after Swiss) in MN states and 17th in the WI regionals.

Let’s take a look at the deck that helped Austino and I get all those match wins, but first I should provide a little background on why I am posting about Austino’s deck in the first place. Leading up to states, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play. For a while, I had been thinking SP, but whenever I played it, it just didn’t feel right to me. I’m not saying that I didn’t have fun playing it or that I couldn’t play it well. It’s just not my style, I think. I could have worked it out, but I wanted something that felt more natural to me. I researched a lot, and I came to the conclusion that Gyarados would be a good fit for me. I started building the deck, but I got stuck on what techs to run in it. Lots of people were running Luxray. I tried that. Omar built a version with Blissey, but I wasn’t sold on it. I was really worried about the SP matchup and a bit worried about things like Mime and Spiritomb. I tried tossing in things like Combee, Promocroak, Relicanth, etc. I still wasn’t getting the feel that I was searching for.
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State Championships Tourney Report

2010 Michigan State Pokemon Championship – Okemos Convention Center

Cheffords March 22, 2010 18 Comments

Hey there, Cheffords here. This is my first tournament report, and first post to TeamOmar.com. I hope you get something out of this, because I know I do when I read other people’s reports.

A little about myself: this is my second season playing the Pokemon card game. I got into the game when my daughter asked if she could start collecting the cards and I said yes but we had to learn the game too. Since then she and I have been going to league and tournaments together pretty regularly. My first season was a huge learning opportunity and it took me a long time to get enough knowledge of the cards and various strategies to feel like I was able to compete. Things changed this year during the very first City Championship when I ran a vanilla Shuppet deck and won first place. My daughter has been running Kingdra since Legends Awakened came out and she took third place at the same city’s.
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State Championships Tourney Report

Michael’s MN State Pokemon Championship report!

Michael March 21, 2010 5 Comments

Hey everyone, this is Michael making my first post on Team Omar. Anyways, for the past few weeks I had been testing and perfecting a Flyphan list, but on the Wednesday before states at the Misty Mountain weekly Pokemon Tournaments, Radu told me it was trash and instead wrote me up Jay H’s GG list. I couldn’t resist such a good list, so I quickly set out to gather up all the cards. I finished the list on that Friday, and went to testing. Through testing, I found the lock GG puts out is one of the funnest things to do. Lukas came over and stayed the night, and I beat him 4/5 times while he used SP. That Friday night, I also playtested against Thomas V’s Gyrados, and beat it 2/3 times. Unfortunately, I would not have that same luck the next day.

Now, my friend Sabrina will also be included in this report. Why? Well, before a few weeks ago, Sabrina would play the worst decks. They would be pyramid lines, like 3-2-1, with like 20 energy and like 10 trainers, a few of those trainers being like Marleys Request and Rival. I could not stand by any longer, so I built her a 3-2-3-1 Mchamp 2-1-2 Nidoqueen deck, so she could do good, and to show her that pyramid decks suck, and that real competitive decks win. Thats the small story behind her, and it showed.

Michael Playing at the Top Tables Surrounded By the Big Boys — Michael Playing at the Top Tables Surrounded By Sharks

Moving onto the tourney:

Michael playing: GG

My friend Sabrina playing: A Machamp Nidoqueen deck I built her.

Round 1: Michael S.(GG) VS Ryan Westgard(SP)

I start with a Ralts, he starts with Garchomp C. He has a godly hand, and I TGW(Team Galactics Wager) it away. He still manages to take three prizes, but then, I have the Gardevoir set up, and under the lock, SP could not do a thing. He keeps trying to play Uxie for 4 or 5, and I am like “No stupid, power lock”. He couldn’t do anything while I beat down everything he had.
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State Championships Tourney Report

Gyarados Rocks Minnesota State Championships

Ed March 20, 2010 6 Comments

After cities, I built an SP deck. You may have read about the LuxApe deck I was building. I had thought it would be a deck that I could play at States, but the more I played it, the less I was confident with it as a tourney choice. A few weeks ago, I decided on playing Gyarados, and I feel that, in retrospect, it was a smart choice. Ava was ready to go with her Scizor/Cherrim deck that she’s been practicing with.

We woke up, watched a couple episodes of Indigo League, and then headed out for Misty Mountain Games. It’s about a 45 minute drive from our house, and we arrived around 9:30. I had our decklists ready, so registration was smooth sailing.

The Team Omar contingent consisted of Omar, Abdi, Tre, Louis, Ava, and myself. I hope I get this right. Omar played LuxChomp. Abdi played Jumpluff. Tre played Flygon. Louis played Typhlosion. Hopefully, one or more of them will add their report sometime. I know that Michael (who also posts here) is on the hook for a report, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s get to the action from Ava’s and my perspectives.

Round 1: Traci W. (Feraligatr Prime, Gyarados G, and other water Pokemon)
When I sat down, she told me that all I had to do was let her take at least one prize. I must be a jerk, because I didn’t. I actually wanted her to take a prize, but she really couldn’t. She played a Rain Dance deck, but she only got about 2 energy the entire game. That’s not enough for Feraligatr and his pals. I got set up rather quickly. I think I started with Crobat G active, went second, played Collector, and Impersonated Felicity’s and was set up by turn 2. It went fairly quickly after that.

The interesting part was that Ava played Traci’s son, Chris, at the same time. This was Ava’s second tourney, and her first was winless. Ava pulled out an awesome sudden-death victory to start the day, so we knew that she wouldn’t be winless this time.
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State Championships

Playing with fire at the Michigan State championship, 2011

Another Michigan State Championships Report!

Gyarados ReRocks Minnesota State Championships (1st Place)

Pikkdog’s Michigan State Report: If You Live by the Sword….

What European Challenge Cup Means to State Tournaments

An Introduction to State Championships 2011

Austino’s Gyarados Decklist

2010 Michigan State Pokemon Championship – Okemos Convention Center

Michael’s MN State Pokemon Championship report!

Gyarados Rocks Minnesota State Championships

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