Tourney Report

Pikkdogs’ Toledo Battle Road Report: Running the Richards Gauntlet

Pikkdogs October 9, 2011 2 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs and his extra dimensionary sidekick Pedro here with a Battle Roads report.  I decided to run Donphan and Dragons again at this

tournament because I had done well with it in my last tournament.  I won’t post a list because it is basically the same one that I shared last time.  The only change was that I replaced a Lost Remover with another Max Potion.  After today I don’t think I would change anything about this deck.  So enough about the deck, let’s set up the tournament.

Hey, we usually do a little schtick before we get to the article.  Why are you getting into the article so fast.

Well, I can’t think of anything to talk about.

We can talk about Frank’s weird snake scarf in the picture to the right.

I think we already said that we think he is compensating for something, let’s just to the article.

This past Saturday there were two options for Michigan players.  We could either get up early and go to a BR in Hartland, Mi (located kind of between Ann Arbor and Flint), or we could head south to the border town of Toledo, Ohio.  Despite my pact to stay out of Ohio as much as possible (yes the University of Michigan and Ohio State rivalry has driven me crazy), I decided to go to the Toledo event since it allowed me to sleep in a little more.  I was hoping that most of the better Michigan players would have stayed in state, but alas they all thought like me and decided to come to Toledo.   I can’t describe everyone who was there, but there were some great players like 2^nd place state finisher Matt K., perennial Ohio top cutter Jack I., Team Warp Point power houses Ryan G. and Collan B., and the contingent from Team Bertolli which includes the Richards brothers (and father) and Mike, A.K.A. Bertolli.  The tournament today would be 6 Swiss rounds with a top cut of 4, since there were 34 players the 3^rd and 4^th place kicker points did “kick” in.

I was nice (and foolish) enough to bring with me fellow Onehitko.com writer Mark M. and my favorite Ukrainian, Bohdan P.

Bohdan is Ukranian?  Did you ever tell him that “the Ukraine is weak” while you were playing a game?

Well no, but I think all Ukranian’s would have to smash the playing surface whenever they hear that phrase when a game is going on.

That’s what I think too.

So I got up extra early and went North to Detroit to pick up the guys.  We get held up a little downtown and run into some traffic along the way, but we still entered Toledo on time.   I had not been to this location before, so I used my G.P.S. to get us there.  I had entered “Sylvan Road” into the GPS, but was puzzled when the road turned out to be more like an alley.  I double checked my printed directions and

found out that I was supposed to be at “Slyvania Avenue.”  Ooooops.   It only took us an extra 10 minutes to find the right place, and we were able to get registered in plenty time.

So you got lost again?  How dumb do you have to be to get lost with a GPS?

You would be suprised, I can get lost  very easily.

The venue for this tournament was not the best.  It was a small game room at a card shop that was very hot and smelly.  But, it wasn’t too bad and it was nice to just be in a decent spot.  I slipped away from the tournament for a while to get me and Mark a pizza, then came back to the shop and ate some pizza and talked to the many of my buddies that were there.  It took a little too long, but the pairings were posted before the peasants got too rambunctious.

Round 1- I forgot his name but he was from Mansfield, Ohio.  LostGar.

I usually get a tough first round game, but  I wasn’t too afraid of Lostgar.  I haven’t played against it for a while but I know that my deck is faster and can OHKO or 2HKO anything he has.

I start with Phanpy (the only time I had this good of a start all day) and he starts with a Gastly and a benched Slowpoke.  He starts first and puts 1 damage counter on Phanpy.  On my turn I attach a fighting energy and then use Pokemon Catcher to bring up the Slowpoke (hoping to stall my opponent out), I then “Flail” for 10.  He cannot retreat the Slowpoke, so he has to pass after he used a Pokemon Collector.  I then was able to use Pokemon Communication to get a Donphan Prime, and I used a Pokemon Catcher to knock out a Mew Prime.

I decided to target Mew Prime because I know that using Mew is a quick and easy way to put Pokemon in the Lost Zone.  I also knew that if he didn’t “See Off” a Gengar Prime next turn, he would be unlikely to use Mew to any great effectiveness.  Being a former Mew Prime player myself, I know that if you do not “See Off” on turn 1 or 2 you will be unlikely to use Mew effectively.

But, because I knocked out Mew, he was able to use Twins.  With Twins he was able to setup his first Gengar Prime with a Rare Candy and a Gengar Prime.  He then used Spiritomb’s “Spooky Whirlwind” to put a Pokemon in my hand, and was able to put it in the Lost Zone.  On my turn I “Earthquake” the Gengar Prime for 60.  On his turn he uses Seeker to Lost Zone a Zekrom and t

hat puts the number of Pokemon in my Lost Zone to 2.  On my next turn I use a Plus Power to knock out the Gengar Prime with “Earthquake.”  After he lost the Gengar he is not really able to do anything much.  He ends up “Seeing Off” a Gengar Prime, but I am able to knock out the Mew’s before

th

ey could really do anything.

1-0 So I start the day on the right foot for the first time in the tournament season.  I usually have to play from behind the eight ball.  Maybe I am too used to playing from behind that it is hard for me to lead throughout the day.

Round 2- Dan R. with Zekrom

Today I experienced something really weird, I played 3 straight games against members of the same family.  This round was the first of the 3 rounds.  It seems like I got stuck running the Richards gauntlet.  I used to be a big wrestling fan when I was younger.  And whenever one face (or good guy) was feuding against a stable of heels (a group of bad guys) he would usually have to fight a gauntlet match.  This meant that the one good guy would have to wrestle all members of the bad guy group either at one time or in quick succession.  Well this is what I felt like in Toledo.

The Richards are a really nice family, but more importantly they are very talented.  Dave is fresh of his Nationals victory (in Seniors) and has gotten a lot of good testing done. Dan has always been a good player, but I think recently he has been bitten by a radioactive spider.  He has gone on a tear lately beating everyone he has matched up against, except yours truly (in fact at one point I think he was 20-2 with both losses being to me).  And their father is a good knowledgeable player who always runs some cool rogue decks.  Anyway, let’s get to my 2^nd round match.

I start with Zekrom and Reshiram ending Dan’s hope of a donk.  I am able to get a DCE and “Outrage” a Tornadus for 40.   Dan starts his turn and begins to load up a Tornadus.  On my turn I am able to get a Phanpy in play and then I attack the Tornadus again.  He starts his turn and tries to knocks out the Phanpy, but is unable to.  So on my turn I am able to get a Donphan Prime, and finally knock out that Tornadus.

So at this point I have a slight lead and have a Donphan going.  I had 3 dragons in play and had 3 Phanpys in my deck.  I know that this is 6 prizes and would lose me the game if he knocks them all out, because he usually tries to avoid attacking the Donphans.  I decide to bring out the Phanpys and hope that I can get at least 1 Phanpy evolved to a Donphan instead of trying to face Dan with only 1 Donphan.

On his next turn he does use a Tornadus to knock out a Phanpy, and I am unable to evolve the next Phanpy on my turn.  But lucky on his turn he again whiffs on getting the Pokemon Catcher, and the Phanpy survives long enough to evolve to Donphan Prime.

While this game was going on, I was able to get a knock out on Pachirisu and a Zekrom, while he took down one of my Zekroms.  He then proceeds to knock out all my dragons with Tornadus, and is able to tie the score up with 1 prize a piece.  On the previous turn I had used Pokemon Catcher to bring up a Shaymin, and I “Earth Quaked” it for 40.  All I needed to do is use a catcher to bring the Shaymin back up, because he retreated it  next turn.  Dan attacks and asks if I have the catcher, I say “no”, but then I have to say “yes” as I revealed a Pokemon Catcher from my top deck for the win.

2-0. I have done what no player in the region had yet  done in the entire Battle Road Season, beat Dan, and I did this twice.  Dan is a great player and has an awesome deck that has stopped everyone like a Justin Verlander curve ball, but he has yet to beat the Pikkdogs this season.  But, I cannot celebrate for too much longer because this is just round 1 of my gauntlet, I have another Richards waiting in the wings, and this one has won Nationals.

Round 3 Dave R. with Zekrom

The Richards Gauntlet moves forward with Dave, and he is running a similar deck to what Dan runs.  Although the decks are the same, I can tell that Dave has a different play style.  Dave was basically only using his Tornadi, while Dan used Zekrom as well.  I don’t know whats better, Zekrom gives them a lot more choices, but its also an easy knockout.

I start again with Zekrom and Reshiram, and he starts with Tornadus.  Dave does not get the donk, but he gets Tornadus going early.  I am able to Dual Ball for two Phanpy’s.  On Dave’s next turn only 1 Phanpy survives, which is evolved on my turn.  I have a decent time using Zekrom and Donphan very effectively.

The problems start when I try to use Pokemon Collector for the other 2 Phanpy’s.  I found out that they are both prized, meaning I will have no more Donphan’s in the game.  Dave see’s his and goes for the dagger.  He starts targeting Donphan Prime, but I am able to use Max Potion on my turn to keep Donphan alive.  I get a knock out on my turn, but I do not get a Phanpy from the prizes.  I then scoop next turn after I am unable to get another Max Potion.

2-1.  So this one is kind of frustrating.  I think I would have been fine if I did not have those 2 Phanpy’s prized.  Sure Dave would have been a tough out, but I think I could have squeaked it out.  But alas, it was not meant to be.

Round 4. Eric (I think that’s his name) R. with Stage 1 Rush.

I always have a nice time talking to Papa Richards, and am actually glad to be playing another Richards.  I was comforted by the fact that the gauntlet would soon be over since there were no more Richards left to play.   He usually plays a cool rogue deck, but today he has a more traditional Stage 1 Rush deck.  Well the only thing that is rogue about this deck is the inclusion of Terakkion instead of Donphan, I guess he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t change the deck a little bit.

I start the game with Zekrom, get a Phanpy and then pass.  He has a very poor start.  He starts with Hoothoot and uses “Hypnosis”  to put my Zekrom to sleep.   It seems that his opening hand was kind of scattered, and he didn’t have a great start at all.

Unfortunately for him, my Zekrom woke up and had 2 Rainbows Energies on it, so I was able to “Outrage” for the knock out.  He then promotes a Yanma, but decides to get a Terrakion and bring it active to try to stall.

I then attach a fighting to my Zekrom and am able to “Bolt Strike” 2 Terrakions for the knock out.  He is able to get a revenge kill, but by this time my lead is to big for me to lose.

3-1. Well I survived the Richards gauntlet.  But it did put me in a corner, I need to win out to have a chance with two rounds left.

Round 5 Ryan G. with Stage 1 Rush (C.M.T. version-Cincinno, Mew, and Tornadus)

Ryan is a good buddy and a very nice guy.  I only played him once and that was in state’s last year when he donked me.  So I was looking forward to a  nice long game.

I start with Zekrom and attach a DCE so I can “Outrage” for 40 on his Tornadus.  Unfortunately, it was now that I found out that Ryan plays Lost Remover.  He used it on his first turn to take away the DCE.  On my turn I am able to get a Donphan Prime without the help of a supporter, but am not able to get the energy, so I pass a couple times while he sets up.  My supporter drought ends 3-4 turns later, but the only energy I get is a Rainbow Energy.  It works for one turn before Ryan uses Lost Remover to take it away.  He then uses Mew to poison Donphan Prime with Crobat Prime’s attack.  I then use a Switch to bring the Donphan back to the bench, but by this time Ryan is up about three prizes.  I pass and he tries to use a Pokemon Catcher to bring up the Donphan, but I refuse.  Now I know I can’t refuse so I use this time to scoop and congratulate my buddy on a win.

3-2- I learn that there are two 5-0 players, so I know that my day is now over, no top cut for me.  Though I don’t feel bad about losing to Ryan, I just had some bad luck and he had some what he needed.  I really needed a supporter early in the game, and he was deadly with the Lost Remover.  I am happy that he had a chance at getting to the top cut.

Round 6. James H. with Zekrom.

James is my buddy from Fort Wayne I have tested with him for over a year now.  So it’s nice to play a game with a friend, especially when we both know our day is over.

James does play Zekrom, but he does not play the fast version like the Richards boys do.  He plays a version that emphasizes defense and uses a lot of Defenders.  While I can’t say one strategy is better than the other, I only fear Zekrom decks that can win early (and all decks when I prize my Phanpys).

I again start with Zekrom, but this time I can’t get a Donphan quickly.  Instead I am able to get my Tropical Beach and use it two times to get setup.  James had to use his resources early to prevent me from attacking early, and then did not have the Defenders when he needed it.  I was able to use Donphan to get a couple knock outs on Zekrom.  James was able to get a couple prizes to keep it close.  But eventually I am able to pull away and am able to clinch a winning record for the day.

4-2.  Yeah I feel like I didn’t get as much luck as I needed, but it was overall a good day.  I got to see a lot of friends, and ended up winning 4 games.

After the tournament me and Mark had to wait around for Bohdan, who went 6-0.  Unfortunately he met up with Dan R. the first round.  Dan and Bohdan played a long first game, but Dan was able to win it.  Bohdan controlled the flow of the second game, and evened It up to 1 game a piece.  Dan started first in the third and deciding game.  He started with Shaymin, but was able to throw a lot of Dual Balls around and somehow get all the energy, Plus Powers, and Pokemon he needed for a the knock out on Bohdan’s lone Phanpy.

When you say “he was able to throw a lot of Dual Balls around”, is that code?

No.

Anyway, Bohdan took his packs and he stopped at Wendy’s for some lunch.  After lots of bacon I made my way back to the motor city and dropped off the black guy and the Ukrainian.   Overall, I say it was a successful day.  Dan ended up losing in the finals to Matt K.  While I am happy to have had fun, hopefully soon  I will be able to win it all once or twice.  And I have a chance to next weekend with two Battle Roads in my home state of Michigan.

You wanna bet that you will win next weekend?

No

That’s what I thought.

So look for those reports next weekend.

Thanks again to all the judges and those who made all the tournaments possible.

Battle Roads Report and Deck Analysis: Donphan and Dragons

Pikkdogs September 25, 2011 9 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a battle roads report and a deck analysis of the Donphan and Dragons deck.  I also have my inter dimensional sidekick Pedro with me.  Pedro, would you be kind enough to tell all the kids out there how I chose the Donphan and Dragons deck for this battle roads.

Sure, well if you read Pikkdog’s article about a week ago, first we apologize, and second you would know that all of the Michigan and Indiana players got together and kicked his a-

Hey, you can’t say that word here.

I was going to say Acidophilus.

They, kicked my Acidophilus?

Yeah, it’s a bacteria, Ed can’t yell at us for saying the name of a bacteria.

I suppose he can’t, go on.

As I was saying, at your last two Battle Roads you got your Acidophilus kicked around, so you decided to change decks.  And I think you chose Donphan and Dragons because it is a very simple deck, and it takes a real imbecile to screw it up.  All ya gotta do is set up 1 thing, nothing should go wrong.

The Deck

Okay, I get it Pedro.  Maybe I’m not a fan of complicated decks.  I did get tired of losing with my Mew deck, so I decided to use Donphan and Dragons instead.  As you said it is a simple deck.  All you gotta do is set up an active Donphan Prime.  For one energy, “Earthquake” does 60 damage and puts 1 damage counter on each of your benched Pokemon.  So you put up a bunch of Zekrom’s and Reshiram’s on the bench and absorb all of those damage counters.  When needed you can bring up one of the dragons and use “Outrage”.  This attack does 20 damage plus 10 for every damage counter on Reshiram or Zekrom, so that means Donphan’s attack will power Reshiram and Zekrom’s attacks.  The emphasis will be on Zekrom because both Yanmega Prime (the most popular Pokemon in the format) and Tornadus (the most popular Donphan counter this week) are both weak to lightning.

The matchups for this deck are pretty good.  Donphan is very good against Pokemon like Cincinno, Zekrom, and Magnezone.  When you play against a bad matchup like Yanmega Prime or Torandus, you can just use Zekrom.  The only thing that this deck doesn’t like is Beartic, and nobody plays Beartic.  Gothitelle is not a very good matchup, unless you decide to run Mew Primes and a Jumpluff.  Reshiboar and Reshiphlosion are decent matchups, if you get a good start you should be able to win, but the matchup is just about even. 

As you can probably tell because Donphan and the dragons only take about 25 spots in your deck including the energies, there is a lot of room for techs.  A lot of your 35 other spots will be dedicated to cards that improve consistency, there is room for techs against certain decks.  My friend Bohdan, who inspired me to write this article, techs in 2 Mew Primes and a Jumpluff to go against Gothitelle.  I like the card Lost Remover because it is a very disruptive card that can be used again with Junk Arm.  Max Potion is also a great tech to use in a Donphan deck, an easy way to heal a Donphan Prime is a no brainer.

A no brainer that reminds me of someone.

Are you gonna make fun of me again Pedro.

No, I would never do that. I wasn’t thinking of you, ………………………….  I was thinking of ………………………… Tom Bosley.

The guy from Happy Days, why are you making fun of him?

Not a fan man, not a fan.

Well I love Tom Bosley, and we must finish the article. Lets go on to the list that I used for the tournament. 

The List

Well I was not able to spend half as much time testing this deck as I would have liked to, so I must say that my list is not very good.  However, this list can be a good starting point if you guys wanna start testing with this deck.  It is a very good deck now, and once Kyurem comes into the format the deck will be much better.

Pokemon-12

• 4 Phanpy HGSS (I kind of like the CL one better, but you need every single HP you can get with Pokemon Catcher out there)
• 4- Donphan Prime (I would stick to a 4-4 line and not go down to 3-3)
• 3-Zekrom Bw
• 1-Reshiram Bw

Trainers-37

• 3-Pokemon Collector
• 2-Dual Ball
• 4- Professor Juniper
• 3-Professor Oak’s New Theory
• 3-Sage’s Training
• 1-Cheren
• 1-Max Potion-awesome card, I wish I would have ran 1 more.
• 1-Lost Remover
• 1-Tropical Beach (1/2 playing this card because it does work in this deck, and 1/2 playing it because I spent so much money on it that I need to use it a couple times to justify the purchase) It actually does work in this deck
• 4-Pokemon Catcher
• 4-Junk Arm
• 4-Pokemon Communication
• 2-Switch
• 2-Plus Power

Energy-11

• Double Colorless Energy-4-May sound kind of weird, but it lets you attack with the dragons, and it lets you “Outrage” faster.
• Rainbow Energy-4- used to put more Damage counters on the dragons.
• Fighting Energy-5.

The Tournament

So that is what I played going into the tournament, let’s see how it went. 

I bet I can guess that you got enough championship points to fit into a donut hole.

Why are you always so cynical of my performances?

Well if you would ever win something, I might give you an “addaboy.”

It’s sad that I need to seek approval from my own sidekick.  Anyway, today’s tournament was in Tecumseh, Mi.

Is that town named after  the Native American chief who fought against the American’s in the war of 1812?

Either that or the company that sells small engines and air compressors.

Anyway, the tournament was held in Tecumseh.  It is always held at the Masonic Temple there, which is a fairly nice place for a tournament.  I like going to Tecumseh because it is only an hour away, so I don’t have to get up too early.  Anyway, I woke up a little earlier than I wanted to, and ate a little bit of left over pancakes for breakfast before leaving.  As I was driving down there I decided that I was just playing for fun today.  My testing from the previous night didn’t go too well, I couldn’t even beat my own crappy Reshipholsion deck.  So I decided that my goal today was just to get some feedback on my deck and talk to a lot of my friends.

I got to the venue a little later than I wanted, but it all worked out fine.  I said “hi” to all my Team Warp Point buddies and met some new friends from Ann Arbor.  It was great seeing everyone again, I love talking to all my buddies.  Anyway, I filled out a decklist and talked to friends while waiting for the first round tournaments.

Round 1- Mike (from team Bertoli) Donphan Prime, Zoroark, and Tornadus.

The day pretty much started like I thought it would.  I got a decent start with a Donphan Prime and Zekroms, but my opponent just used Pokemon Catcher to bring up the Zekroms and knock them out with Donphan.  Without Zekrom I was unable to counter Tornadus, so the game only lasted about 15 minutes, he had control of the game pretty much the whole time.

0-1. Not very surprising, I only expected a couple wins today, and I didn’t get one here.  The matchup was pretty much auto-loss, but I was distracted by the fact that I was not very hopeful about my record on the day.  I thought my day was over, but I soon found out that the only person that circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills is Pikkdogs.

Round 2- Leavanny/Belossom

This game was against a beginner who had kind of a hodgepodge grass deck.  He started first with Sewaddle and Metapod, I started Phanpy.  I got a turn 2 Donphan Prime and knocked out 3 straight basics for the win.

1-1– After this game I helped the guy improve his deck.  I hope he continues with the game and keeps improving.

Round 3- Reshiboar

I start this game really poorly.  I don’t think I got a turn 2 Donphan, and he was able to get “Blue Flaring” fairly quickly.  But I was able to withstand a couple “Blue Flares”, and I twice used Pokemon Catcher to bring up the Emboar.  By this time I was down 2-3 prizes and was feeling pretty defeated.  I did have his Emboar stuck for a couple turns and thought I might be able to deck him out.  He was using 2 “Roast Reveal”s per turn, and usually used a Cheren.  So that meant he was drawing 10 cards a turn!  But once he noticed I was waiting for him to deckout so he used a PONT and started passing.  So I ended up knocking out the Emboar with Donphan Prime and knocked out every Tepig that he tried to lay down on the field.  I also knocked out a Cleffa to bring me pretty much even in prizes.  At this point he started to rely on a Bad Boar that he setup early in the game, and he was able to get a couple knock outs with it.  However he was not able to get enough fire energies to use Bad Boar again.

2-1-I was somehow able to pull off another victory.  I should have never won this game, I just somehow was able to throw a Hail Mary pass, and it was answered.  I was really lucky here

Round 4- Cincinno/Zoroark (maybe Tornadus)

This round was against another Team Warp Point friend.  I started with a Zekrom and he started with something like Hoot Hoot.  He started first and used a Pokemon Collector.  Since I started with Zekrom he thought I was playing ZPS, so he got 2 Zorua’s and another Hoot Hoot.  The problem was that I was not playing Zekrom and he took 3 Pokemon that are not good against Donphan Prime.  I took advantage of his misplay and used Pokemon Catcher to knock out some Cincinno’s and the Zorua’s.  He could never really recover from the misplay and I ended up winning fairly easily.

3-1-Feeling pretty good here.  I did a lot better so far than I ever thought I would.  I thought I would win a couple games here and there, but I thought that my list just wasn’t tight enough.  But, so far I was doing pretty well, I knew that the rest of the day would be much harder so I was not very optimistic.

Round 5- Jack Iller with Stage 1 Rush

Today was the first time I actually got to talk with Jack, he seems like a really nice guy.  He is also a really good player, he is always one of the top cut players in Tecumseh.  As we were shuffling I looked at some of my buddies who were also playing at the same table with 3-1 records and told them that we each control our own destiny, we just needed to win out.  Now I am not sure exactly what happened early in this matchup, but I know it was not good.  I don’t think I could get a Donphan out fast and started attacking with Zekrom. I actually used Tropical Beach early in the game because I couldn’t attack that much.   I think he was able to get a couple knock outs with Yanmega and then was able to use Cincinno to finish up a Zekrom.  I finally got a Donphan out and started to take care of some Cincinnos. All of a sudden the Donphans were knocking out everything in sight, and got me back in the game.  I was able to use a Zekrom to knock out the Yanmega’s when I needed it.  Somehow I was able to come back and win this game.  It was really thrilling to come back from so many prizes to a great player.

4-1– So on a day that I thought I was just going to get some good testing done for the next tournament, I end up making it to the last round with a chance to make top cut.  All I need is one more win, and I get a championship point and prove Pedro wrong.

Round 6-Tracey with Reshiphlosion.

I’ve seen this show before, I have a good day and Tracey comes along and gives me my final loss.  If you guys don’t know Tracey is probably the most accomplished female who ever played the game.  And in my opinion she probably still is the best player in the state.  She was a long time SP user and has always done very well.  I think I might have beaten her 1 time before in a best of three game, but she ended up winning the 2 other games.  So I never really have beaten her before, she is just that good.  So on to our game here.

She starts with a Cyndaquil and “Beat”s my Phanpy.  I end up getting a Donphan Prime the next turn but she gets a Reshiram on her next turn and is able to “Blue Flare” for the knockout.  I then get another Donphan Prime and Catcher up the Typhlosion twice, and eventually knock it out.  It was here that Max Potion came in very handy.  I was able to use it twice to keep Donphan alive.  After the Typhlosion goes down Tracey ends up getting 1 more.  There was one time where I loaded up Zekrom with Rainbow Energies and tried to use “Bolt Strike”, but Zekrom was catchered and knocked out before I could attack.  I used Catcher again to knock out the Typhlosion, and her hands were tied.

Ohhh kinky.

Stop it Pedro! that’s my friend, don’t say things like that.  Well I won’t be expecting a Christmas card from her, but lets get back to the report.

She was able to “Outrage” a couple of times, but she was not able to take the last two prizes.  I was able to win on turn 3.

5-1–  Forget the Buffalo Bills, nobody circles the wagons like Pikkdogs.  I finally beat my friend Tracey and am able to make Top Cut.

How the heck did you top cut, and how did you beat all those good players?

I think its the power of negative thinking.  As long as I think I’m going to lose I can somehow come back and win.

Top Four-Dan with ZPS

Dan is a great guy that I have played in a couple of great matches in the past.  Most notably we played a great game at Indiana states last year.  I played Uxie donk and he played Machamp.  We ended up going back and forth a lot of times and he was somehow able to pull it off.  He ends up coming into this matchup undefeated.

I start with a Phanpy and he starts first with a Zekrom.  He ends up finding a Pachirisu and 2 Plus Powers, the problem was he had accidentally Junk Armed one of his electric energies and did not have the energy to Pachirsu donk me.  The trouble was that next turn I still had only 1 Pokemon active.  All Dan needed to do was use a Super Scoop Up to get the energies from Zekrom and then use them on Pachirisu, but he ended up flipping tails.  He then  Junk Armed and flipped tails again.  After this string of really bad luck I end up setting up Donphans and use them to knock out the Zekroms.  If he tried to use Tornadus, I would just “Outrage” with Zekrom and knock them out.  I end up winning a close 1st game.

In the second game Dan again whiffs on a Donk, and I am pretty much able to control the field.  I then go on to wait for the winner of the other game.  That game featured my buddy Matt Kish versus Mike, the guy who beat me in the 1st round.  Unfortunately for the me and Matt Mike ends up winning fairly easily.  Matt was playing Magnezone and those guys don’t do well against Donphan.

6-1-Very happy with what I got out of today.  I did not expect to do this well, and I ended up making it to the finals.  I knew that if I were to win I would need to do something weird like donk a Phanpy two times.

Top 2- versus Mike with Donphan/Zoroark/Tornadus

Game one was actually a lot closer than I thought it would be.  I use Donphan Prime and Max Potion to knock out some Tornaduses (Tornadi?), and am able to get a wash on the Donphan war.  We end up spending about 35 minutes on this game and I scoop when we are tied on prizes at 3-3.  I scooped because my deck was just about empty, so I would have decked out before anybody could have won.  In game 2 I play through a couple turns and find out that I could not get the easy win.  So I end up throwing my hand on the table and congratulating him on the extra championship point.

6-2– Overall very happy with what happened on this day.  I haven’t gotten into a championship game since Cities last year, so it is a rare treat to be invited to play for so long.  Both Mike and Dan are really great guys, so it was a treat to play with them, as it was top play all my opponents.  A really big thanks to my buddy Bohdan for convincing me to play this deck.  He also gave me a lot of tips during the week, so thanks for everything Bohdan, this ones for you!

I had a tough time going home.  I had a headache after the tournament, and that made the drive very uncomfortable.  I eventually got home and opened my 4 prize packs, and ended up pulling squadoosh.  Man I can’t seem to pull anything from EP packs.  In fact I didn’t just get squadoosh, I got full art squadoosh.

Today I did learn a couple things.  I did learn that this deck is pretty good, and a good play for anyone who likes simple decks.  I also learned that my Tropical Beach, Max Potion, and Lost Remover techs were pretty good.  Lost Remover wasn’t as good as the others, but they were all still good.  You probably need 2 Max Potions in every deck like this, it is that good.  And while not everyone has a Tropical Beach, if you have it and you don’t expect to find Gothitelle, I would play it.  One last thing that I learned is that everyone who said that the winner of the coin flip is the winner of the game is a complete liar.  I only started once all day, and that was the 2nd game of the championship game (so there was not even a coin flip).  Though I did go behind in just about every game (except the Leavanny game) there is still enough time to come back.

But anyway I had a decent day, wouldn’t you say Pedro?  Don’t you have something to say to me?

Well I guess I could say “Addaboy”!

Yay! Thanks Pedro.  Well I’m done here, how do you think we should end this article.

I think we should say thanks to all the Judges.

I agree, thanks Judges!