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Tourney Report

Pikkdogs Spring Battle Road Report- Tecumseh, Mi

Pikkdogs 5 Comments

Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with a tournament report.  This Sunday I was fortunate enough to head to a SpSableye - SFring 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. Read More

State Championships Tourney Report

Another Michigan State Championships Report!

Joel 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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Tourney Report Uncategorized

Best Set Ever, For Pre-Releases: Call of Legends Tourney Report and Tournament Advice.

Pikkdogs 7 Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with a Pre-Release tourney Report and some advice for anyone going to Pre-Release tournaments next weekend.

A lot of people are saying that this is the worst set ever, while I don’t know Pokemon TCG history from Base Set to Diamond and Pearl, I do know that there are not many good cards in this set.  There are 2 good trainer cards, maybe 2 good Pokemon, and a handful of good re-prints; thats it.   No good Primes, Level X’s, or Legend Cards!  These reasons make this set not hugely impactful, but it also does make it one of the best sets ever for Pre-Releases.   

Guide to Winning a Call of Legends Pre-Release

Consistency

This set is full of re-prints of supporters that help in consistency including; Proffesor Oaks New Theory, Copy Cat, Professor Elms Training Method, Sages Training, and Cheerleaders Cheer.  When you combine this with good search/draw Pokemon like Smeargle, Mawile, Pidgey, Ninetails, Relincanth, Skarmory, and Pachirisu; you will get quite the consistent deck.  This means that if you get just a couple good attacking Pokemon, you should be able to get them out fairly quickly.  If you pull any of these cards that I mentioned, it would probably be a good idea to run them in your deck.

Attacking

This set doesn’t have the attacking power like other sets have, but this is sure to make it a fun and competitive tournament.  Most sets have a good basic or stage one Prime or Level X, not this time, you will have to rely on evolution cards.  Here are some good options.

  1. The Eeveelutions– If you get enough Eevee’s and some of its evolutions, they are not a bad play.
  2. The Stage 2 Guys– If you pull a decent line of one stage 2, it is to your advantage to play it.  Ampharos can provide a good attack and great energy acceleration.  While the three GS starters aren’t bad in this format.
  3. Seviper– Possibly the best starter of the bunch.  If you want an early prize leader, Seviper will give it to you.  If its poisoned it can do 80 damage, but it usually takes too long to get it poisoned late game.
  4. The Stage 1’s– There are several stage 1 Pokemon that are good and easy to evolve.  Donphan doesn’t have great stats but he can hit for weakness on a lot of good Pokemon.  Ursaring isn’t great but only uses Colorless energy, so he is very versatile.  And finally, Houndoom is a good card because a lot of people will play with fighting Pokemon, “Fire Counterattack” attack is almost un-matched.  Gyarados takes a lot of energy, but he can come in later for your last knock-out, if needed.
  5. The Big HP basics–  No they aren’t very attractive for Modified play, but they do work well here.  Pokemon like Snorlax, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Palkia, and Dialga; aren’t great but can be built up all game when Pokemon like Seviper are attacking, and can provide your 4th and final Knock Out.

Basic Rules for Pre-Releases

Here are some basic rules that you can apply to all pre-releases that you go to.

  1. Use all the use-able trainers you have.  If you pull 6 PONT, then put them all in your deck.  Make room for any trainer or supporter that you can use to improve consistency.  The only drawback is that if you pull a card like Lost World you shouldn’t play it, because theres no way that you could use it to win the game.
  2. Run about 12 energies.  Usually 12 energies is pretty good for this type of tournament, its just enough so that you will seldom be in need of energy, but won’t always draw it.  This pre-release is a little different, there are so many drawing supporters that you don’t have to run this many.  You could probably get away with about 10 or so.
  3. Keep your Pokemon types fairly low.  Its usually best to stick to about 2 or 3 types of Pokemon.  It can be tough to have consistency when you are running 5-6 types of energies.  Pokemon that take only colorless energies are always nice.
  4. When choosing your cards keep consistency in mind.  Try to make a deck that will setup as fast as possible every time.  If you pulled a 1-1-1 line of Feraligatr, its probably not the best idea to run it.  Its better to have a Pokemon that can hit for 50 damage, but sets up faster, then a Pokemon that you will only be able to setup once the entire game.  But, you can only make the deck that you pull, so just try to build the most consistent deck you can.

Pikkdog’s Call of Legends Pre-Release- Okemos (Lansing), Mi.

I go to the event early and meet Cheffords for some play-testing.  He plays a Vespiquen deck against my Absol G Lost World deck (expect a good deck article once I get the deck perfected).  I get, I think, 4 in the lost zone, when the packs start coming to the tables.

Of course I was more excited to pull some good cards, rather then cards for the tournament.  But, I only pulled 1 Lost World and no Mr. Mimes or anything like that.  I did pull Ninetails, Ursaring, Seviper, Mismagius, and Weesing; so those were my main Pokemon.  This let me only run 2 types of energies, and still have a fairly balanced deck.  Before pairings were up, I played Cheffords and he set up Ampharos and made quick work of me.  Thats why I was nervous when I saw the pairings.

Round 1.  vs. Cheffords Ampharos/ Gyarados

I sat down and told Cheffords that now we will see if our decks are consistent.  I start with a lone Pidgey and he starts witha Pidgey and something else.  He uses a Supporter and finds that he has prized a Flaffy, so his strategy is kind of shot.  I then get Ursaring setup and take 3 prizes fairly easily.  Then as I was about to take my last prize, he brings up this Totodile with 4 energies, and just owns everything.

Totodile has an attack, called “Aqua Tail” that for WCC does 30 damage plus 20 more for each heads you get from each water energy you have attached to Totodile.  Cheffords gets like 7 heads in a row, and knocks out everybody he sees.  As he has two prizes left I look at what I have in my hand, and what I have on the field.  I see Weezing on the bench, and a bunch of energies in my hand.  I look at Cheffords and ask him if he’s ready for sudden death.  I load 2 energies on Weezing and do “Super Explosion” for 90 for both actives, and we each take our last prize.  This takes away his Totodile and gives me an advantage, because I have two Sevipers in my deck.

So we shuffle everything and tell Cheffords that I need a Seviper start.  I take 7 cards, and thats exactly what I got.  I start with Seviper and a psychic energy, I start first and poison Seviper.  Next turn I use PONT and find the last energy I need to knock out the defending Pokemon with “Poison Effect.”

1-0, hands down the most exciting Pre-Release game I have played up to this point.  What an amazing game, a great comeback and then sudden death.

Round 2- Robert with Lugia and Houndoom.

I have talked to Robert before, but I have never played him.  He is a Poke-Dad, and is more of a collector then a player. He got a good win over my buddy Andrew last round because of Houndoom.  Too bad for him that I don’t use any fighting Pokemon in my deck.

I start with Seviper and get an early 3 prize lead.  There is nothing he can really do early game.  His Houndoom doesn’t do much against me and Lugia takes about 27 turns to get loaded up.  He stalls with Pineco and knocks out Seviper.  I switch to Ursaring and knock out the Pineco.  But, he brings out Lugia with 2 energies, he attaches 1 and then snipes for 30.  I “Confront” Palkia for 20.  Then he attaches again and hits Ursaring for 30, I miss the coin flip on “Cross Chop” and hit Lugia for 50 more.  Next turn he attaches, and knocks out Ursaring.  Just like last game, I look at my bench, but this time I see a Mismagius.  By this time we have gone to time, and on turn 2 he takes his third prize.  On turn 3 I attach my last energy to Mismagius and hopes he has 1 trainer in his hand.  He then shows an “Interviewer’s Question”, and I jump for joy.                                                 

2-0. I am informed that this is the first Pre-Release game in Michigan to go to +3, so its nice to be a part of history. So far my blood pressure has been rising with a lot of close and intense games.

Round 3- Bruce the Judge with Mightyena and Donphan.

I don’t get a great start here, so I attempt to load a bunch of energies on Snorlax.  I eventually knock out his Houndoom with “Clomp Clomp Clobber” (excellent name for an attack), but then notice that all the attacking Pokemon I have out are weak to fighting, and he has a Donphan out.  I know that I need to stall until I can get something else, but I never can get anything else, but I do stall.  I call out my Mime Jr. and put him to sleep.  His Poke-Body makes him invulnerable to attacks when he his asleep, and since his attack puts him to sleep, he just needs to stay asleep during turns.  Amazingly enough, he stays asleep during each of Bruce’s turns, it must been like 5-8 times.  But I eventually deck myself out.

2-1. I don’t know why, but I feel somewhat of a victory in getting decked out.  Its weird that I didn’t have a normal victory this whole day.  One win in sudden death, one after the +3, and a loss by decking out.  This was no doubt the most fun I had in a pre-release, it was a great day.

After the tournament, I stuck around and made some trades.  Before the game I told Jona that I had a premonition that I was going to pull a RH Lost World.  When I got back to him after my third game, he had a RH Lost World waiting for me.  I then traded him a Jirachi UD and Abamasnow (both RH) for it, awesome trade for us both.  I then trade a get a Lost Remover, a DCE, 2 Junk Arms, and a bunch of other stuff.

When I was driving home I had another Premonition, that of a certain Ghost type Pokemon.  So I stop at the Target by my house and make a purchase of a Porygon 2 Blister pack and 2 Triumphant Booster Packs.  The Boosters turn out to be nothing, and I get nothing in the Platinum pack that was in the Blister pack.  But, in the first Triumphant pack that was in the Blister I got a Gengar Prime, I was really pumped because those things are selling anywhere from 30-50 bones now a days, so I was pretty pumped.  It was a great day, and I had fun with my Michigan pals.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Tourney Report

Pikkdogs guide for a successful tournament.

Pikkdogs 4 Comments

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here.  Since its tournament season, I think we should have some tournament related advice for our younger players.

When people see me they always say, “Pikkdogs, what are you doing in my closet?”, then after that they say, “how can I become a better tournament player?”While I haven’t had the best success in tournaments, I have learned a couple lessons that I can share.                                                                                                                                                           

1.  Prepare Your Way

Every article that gives you tournament advise always starts  by telling you to get a good nights sleep and get a good breakfast.  While I agree that this is good and will improve concentration, it is impractical for most people.  Most tournament goers are college age and just never get a good sleep or a good breakfast.  So lets not change the routine, just do whatever it takes to make you normal.  Eating a big breakfast when you normally don’t, can get you a big stomach ache, so just do whats normal.  This step isn’t as important as people think it is.

2.  Don’t change your shuffling routine.

This is a huge step in entering a tournament, and is a piece of advice that is rarely given.  I have seen it a lot of times, people test their deck and it works great, then they arrange their decks to make their list.  While this is fine, in practicing you don’t arrange your deck first before you shuffle.  This inconsistency in shuffling can cause your deck to have a different starting hand then you normally do.  A similar effect can happen when you shuffle your deck for a longer period of time then normal or switch from normal shuffling to pile shuffling.  In theory shuffling your deck makes sure that your deck is randomized, this does not always happen, and different shuffling techniques get different results.  I have seen many people, even myself, fall victim to a different shuffling routine. To combat this I usually play a practice game before the tournament, or just play a solitaire game to get your deck like it would be if this were practice.

3.  Focus

During the tournament, your first few games will be fairly easy in regards to focus.  You will most likely be interested in the game and have fun with it, you won’t have any trouble concentrating.  But if you make it to the top cut rounds, the story could change.  You will most likely be playing a great player who knows you and your deck inside and out, on top of that, you will probably be tired, hungry, and thirsty.  This makes it very important, and very hard to concentrate.  To combat this, bring a couple bucks to get water and snacks from the candy machine.  In an ideal world, you would have some friends who will go to a restaurant and bring you back some good food.  Another thing you can do to improve concentration is to find a comfy seat to sit in between tournaments.  If thats not possible, climb into the backseat of your car and get a 10 minute break between games, if time allows.

4.  Follow the rules

This may seem like an easy thing to do, but I can tell you some horror stories.  The most famous recent case was the player who wrote on his deck list “3 Magikarp, and 4 Gyarados.”  No Pokemon player who has been to a tournament would believe that anyone would play a 3-4 line of Gyarados.  The player obviously just mixed up the number of Karps and Dos’s, because there is nothing to gain from mixing them up on the deck sheet.  This player made top cut, but was disqualified for a simple mistake.  So, things like this do happen. Also make sure you know what cards are legal, if you bring an illegal card you will have to replace it with a basic energy card.   Be careful when you fill out a decklist and make sure you follow other rules.  Like don’t make a lot of noise, repeated offenses could get the judges to penalize you.  Another thing is to make sure your sleeves are in mint condition.  Not all judges care about the condition of sleeves, but there are some Sleeve Nazi’s out there.  I have taken a penalty for this before.   And, of course don’t cheat this won’t help you do well.

5.  Get in the zone.

One important thing to remember is to maintain a good game psychology.  I have came into many games in which I was sure I was going to win, needless to say, I didn’t come out of those games happy.   Other people have told me that if they don’t think that they can win the game, then they might as well not even try.  Different players have different states of mind that they have to be in, it is important to choose the one that lets you relax and remain focused.  It is often helpful just to think of the game as a turn by turn affair, and not to think of who your opponent is or what other disadvantages you have.  This allows you to think about your weakness’s in the current game, and not to fool with other emotions.

6.  Get the Prep Work Done and Have Fun.

Once you have internalized the other tips, just sit back and have fun.  Don’t worry about your next match-ups, just retain your focus.  Say Hi to some friends and have a good time, don’t take it the tournament too seriously.  Always make sure that you are having fun, this is the most important part of a tournament.

Well thats all my advice.  I invite other people to leave advice on this topic in the comment box.  Good luck in the tournaments that you go too.

So long and Thanks for all the fish.

Tourney Report

A Season of Ups and Downs. A Report of Pikkdogs’s Fall Battle Road Season

Pikkdogs 12 Comments

Hey everyone in Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here to give you a report of my entire fall Battle Road season.  I thought that instead of writing 4 BR reports, I would just write 1 big one at the end of it.  So here it is.                            

As you can tell from this article’s name, I had an up and down roller coaster ride of a Battle Road season.  It consisted of 4 BR’s, one in Angola, Indiana and three in Michigan.  I really enjoyed the season because of the time I spent playing the game i love, and hanging out with some cool people.

I started out the BR season playing Gengar Viletomb.  Gengar Viletomb is a deck that is supposed to lock trainers all the way through the game.  I won’t explain the strategy because I have talked about it in the past.  I will share my current list of my Gengar Viletomb deck, and then talk a little about it.

Pokemon- 31

  • Gastly Sf-4
  • Haunter Sf-3
  • Gengar Sf-3
  • Gengar Lv.X-1
  • Oddish La-2
  • Gloom Ud-2
  • Vileplume UD-2
  • Spiritomb Ar-4
  • Unown R-3
  • Unown Q-2
  • Azelf la-1
  • Poocheyena pt-1
  • Mightyena la-1
  • Uxie la-2
  • Uxie X-1

Energies-10                                                                                                                         

  • Psychic-7
  • Rainbow-2
  • Warp-1

Supporters- 19

  • Bebes Search-4
  • Pokemon Collector-4
  • Sages Training-3
  • Palmer’s Contribution-2
  • Lookers Investigation-3
  • Copycat-1
  • Broken Time Space-2

So here is a little bit about my list that is diferent from most other decks.

Unown R- A great draw engine.  Since Claydol is gone and Uxie is Power-Spray bait,  you need some kind of draw engine.  Most decks decide to use trainers or draw supporters instead, but this not an option here.  You can’t play any trainers, so your supporters have to do all the searching, so using draw supporters is not an option.  All thats left is Unown R.  Most people don’t like to spray it, so its good in that regard.  And it helps you thin your deck quickly.

Mightyena La–  This is one of the better techs in the format.  I gotta give it to my friend Cody B. for showing it to me.  Its first attack is “BIte-On,” for 1 Darkness energy you can do 30 damage, and if the defending Pokemon is un-evolved the defending cannot retreat, attack, or use any powers.  So that means if you are playing SP, and use “Bite On” the defending won’t be able to do anything in trainer lock, unless they can Level-Up or play a Warp Energy.  It second attack “Harass”  does ten damage for each Pokemon you have in play for CC.  This means that if you are playing against a Gengar deck, you can just Harass the other Gengar for 90 damage (with weakness), then retreat for Uxie and Psychic Restore for Knock Out, and then put Uxie on the bottom of your deck to avoid “Fainting Spell.”  Mightyena is a really great card, and is a must play for any Gengar Viletomb deck.

Sages Training–  As mentioned, this deck is pretty slow, and needs some more speed.  Sages will give you this speed, allowing you to almost always get an energy.  It allows you to look at the top 5 cards of your deck, choose 2 to go to your hand, and the rest get discarded.  Some people don’t like this card, if you are one of them you can substitute Underground Expedition, or Cheerleaders Cheer.

BR #1-Angola Indiana

Alright now we are to my first Battle Road in Angola Indiana.  This was about a 2 and a half hour drive for me, but I went because I was pretty bored.  This was probably the smallest BR that I went to, but the members of Team Warp Point Good Game were there to liven things up.  I also got to meet the great Chris Fulop, at this BR, and made some trades with him.

First Round- James Hall BLG + Dialga G
Ever-since this game James has became a good friend of mine. We have spent many hours play testing on skype.  James is a beginner at the game, so he was still getting used to his deck.  He got a decent setup, and so did I.  He was able to break the trainer lock a couple of times and did enough to stall me out, but could not stop a couple of the kills I got with “Shadow Room.”  I grabbed my sixth prize on the second turn of the +3.
1-0

Second Round-Robert Hall: Luxchomp +Dialga G
Robert was a guy I have seen before, and have grown to to socialize more with.  He’s a great guy and I enjoy talking to him everytime we meet at a tournament or on Skype.  We shared an epic battle in Round 2.  He got set up faster then I did, he had 3 or 4 top decks of whatever he needed.  He got up 3 prizes on me, but I was able to come back.  One turn I was able to “Level-Down” Garchomp C for a knockout and then Shadow Room Crobat G for a knock-out.  Late in the game, the only thing Robert could do was “Flash Impact” with Luxray Gl, but the 30 damage he did to his bench each turn helped me pick up many knock outs with Shadow Room.  We end up going into the +3 rounds, and I tie it on turn 0.  On turn 2 I gave Robert a Lookers knowing that if I give him 4 Trainers Supporters and Stadiums, I win.  I give him the Lookers, then use “Poltergeist” and look at his hand to find only 3 trainers.  Next turn he knocks out Gengar and I roll tails on “Fainting Spell” and Robert wins.
1-1

Cody Badgley. Mirror
This game wasn’t  very exciting.  Cody ran Mightyena for the mirror and I didn’t (at this time).  So he had a huge advantage, I still might have had a chance, but I prized two of my Gengars and I didn’t run Azelf (at this time).  Cody “Harassed” my Gengar and then knocked it out with “Shadow Room.”  After that, I decided to scoop.
1-2

???????- with Donphan ERL
This is one of the decks that don’t really care that I’m locking trainers.  He used Donphan to knock out a couple Spiritiombs, then used ERL to knock out some Uxies.  He actually knocked out 1 Gengar with ERL, and I forgot to flip for “Fainting Spell.”  It could have been helpful for me if I had remembered, but I don’t think it would have mattered overall. 1-3

???????-with Luxchomp
This game was the protype game of trainer lock.  We both setup fast, but with me locking trainers, there was nothing he could do.  I was able to “Poltergeist” several times to take all six prizes, and he was unable to take 1.
2-3

So a 2-3 showing isn’t that great.  I was disappointed, but was still happy to see some friends who I haven’t seen for a while.  I did learn some tricks to help me at the next BR.

2nd  Br- Rochester Hills, MI

This was the biggest BR in Michigan this year.  There were 6 Swiss rounds and a top cut of 4.  A lot of people showed up with some Meta decks and some rogue decks.  I think two Giratina decks were able to go 4-2, causing some trouble.

First Round- Joel Howe- Luxchomp with Dialga G
Another great Trainer lock versus SP matchup.  Joel is a good player and is a fun guy to talk with.  We each get set up at the same time and go back and forth.  I “Polterguist” for a couple prizes, and he responds with a couple “Dragon Rush’s.”  The game goes until time is called, and is pushed into the +3 format.  On turn 1 he knocks out my Gengar for his 5th prize.  On turn 2 I have a benched Gastly with two energies on it, and a BTS in play.  I Copycat for a new hand and I know I need a Haunter and a Gengar for a change at winning.  I end up only getting the Gengar.  I also get an unown R, so I play it and I “retire,” but the Haunter still alluded me.  I am about to scoop and then I look down and see my Uxie X active, so I use “trade off” and get a Haunter!  I evolve, retreat, and “Poltergeist” for a prize.  Next turn he fails to top deck a DCE, and next turn I “Poltergeist” for the win.  What a great win, it was a great game.
1-0

Second Round- Jumpluff
I get a Spirtomb start, and my opponent gets a bad start.  She can’t seem to draw into anything except trainers that she can’t use.  I get a Gengar and knock out her only Jumpluff, and apologize for being a jerk with my deck selection.
2-0

Third Round- Kingdra, Gyarados, Donphan.
This game is against a nice guy that I first met on this day.  His deck was kinda slow, but it worked because mine was slow.  The trainer lock really didn’t hurt him as he got a Kingdra and Gyarados out.  He used “Spray Splash” to get around Fainting Spell, and I scoop. Good Game.
2-1

Fourth Round-  Tyranitar
I still don’t know how I won this game.  I went into this game knowing that I was at a real disadvantage, because Tyranitar can hit Gengar for weakness.  I also knew that if I wanted to top cut, I had to win out.  But, somehow I was able to prevail.  I set up pretty fast, and got two Gengars Out.  I was able to “poltergeist” one Tyranitar, and took another one out on “Fainting Spell.”  After this he had no more basics and lost.
3-1

Fifth Round- SP kitchen sink
This is against another friend from “Team Warp Point Good Game.”  I believe this was against Collin, but I could be wrong.  Im not sure what Collin’s strategy was, but he had a lot of different SP Pokemon, and Shuppet.  I was able to setup the trainer-lock all game and slowly take 6 prizes.
4-1

Sixth Round- Mirror
This one I think was against Sean Foisy, another good player.  He probably had the better Gengar deck on this day, but mine was teched for the mirror, and his wasn’t.  I set up faster and used Mightyena to my advantage.  When time was called, I was ahead, and he was not.
5-1

Round of 4-Luxchomp with Dialga G
This was against the best  player in Michigan, Tracey Key.  Tracey went to a couple of Worlds Tournaments and is a great SP player.  I know that if I want to beat her I need to be on top of my game.

Game 1-
In the first game I set up fast, and her Dialga G is prized or something.  I get a chain of “Poltergeist’s” going and combo that with Mightyena.  She scoops when I have 2 prizes left.

Game 2-
She sets up faster this game and gets up a couple prizes.  In the middle of the game I misplay by knocking out a Garchomp C with Mightyena,  leaving him active.  The next turn she knocks it out,and am unable to respond.  If I were able to retreat Mightyena and knock out the Garchomp with Gengar or uxie I could stall next turn with Mightyena and maybe turn the game around.  The game goes on and I come back a little bit, but she is able to grab the second game as time is called.

In between games the judges take a long time setting up rules for the third game.  Meanwhile, Tracey and I talk about what a ride we  both had today.  We were both exhausted after a long day of playing cards, my neck and back were sore and she claimed she was both hot and cold (I don’t know how this can be, but thats Women for ya).  Then the person that won the other Top Cut game came to our table and said that he would love to play us, but he must leave to go play in his band.  So me and Tracey knew that who-ever wins this game will win the victory medal.

Sudden Death-
The judges finally come back and announce that the next game will be Sudden Death.  At this announcement I’m ready to pack it up.  No Gengar Viletomb deck has a chance against Luxchomp in Sudden Death. Luxchomp is meant to do one thing, get cheap prizes early, and thats what wins Sudden Death.  After a couple turns, I stall and she promotes Uxie and shows me a DCE and an Uxie Lv.X when  I have Spiritomb active.  I tell her to say no more and congratulate her on another Victory Medal.

Sure I was proud of my play that day, and happy for Tracey, but it was really hard to see someone take a picture of her and the victory medal, knowing that the medal could have easily been mine.  I should have scooped early in game 2, so I could have had a better chance in Game 3.  I went home that day physically drained and emotionally spent.  I literally had nothing left to give, and limped home and tryed to recover for the BR the next day.

BR #3-Tecumseh, Mi

I woke up that day and knew I was in trouble.  I was still tired from yesterday and found it hard to concentrate.  But I went to the next BR anyway.  There, I met Robert Hall and my friend Jonah. I got some good trading in and had fun talking to the guys.

Round 1- Luxchomp +Dialga
This first game was against a guy who ended up winning this tournament.  I set up a little slower then him, and he was able to break the trainer lock for most of the game.  Because I was still drained from the previous day, I made some mistakes and didn’t play my best.  He was able to win before time was called.
0-1

Round 2- Jumpluff
This was against the girl that I played the previous day.  This time she got a great start and was able to get going.  I still had a chance to win, but flipped tails on two fainting spells. She gets her revenge fairly easily.
0-2

Round 3- Garchomp SV
This round I finally woke up and started playing.  We had a great back and forth matchup trading KO’s each turn.  I got just enough Fainting Spells to stay in the game.  A game changing moment was when he played Ruins of Alph, negating my resistance.  When time was called I was able to shadow room a Garchomp Lv.X for a knock-out.
1-1

Round 4- Honchkrow UD
Kind of a weird deck. I got a trainer lock on him early and thought that I would make easy work of this deck.  But the weakness of Gengar made this an interesting deck.  At the end of the game he makes a misplay and I end up winning.
2-2

At this point I had recovered from my bad start and was at 500.  I looked at my phone and realized it was time to go.  I had to go to a meeting in Detroit for school, so I dropped after round 4.

BR #4- Okemos (Lansing), Mi

This BR was about two weeks since my last tournament.  In these past two weeks I have changed some of my decks around and began experimenting with some Machamp and Steelix builds.  I decided that I was too tired of playing the trainer-lock deck to play that again.  So I decided to play either Machamp or Steelix.  Either deck would have preformed well in my Meta, but I decided with Steelix because I feel Machamp decks are luck based and a little cheap, while Steelix decks make for fun games.  I will post my Steelix deck here later, but for right now I will just explain it a little.                                                

The objective of playing Steelix, is to set up Steelix with Blisseys on the bench to heal him.  When you get an expert belt with 4 Special Metals on Steelix, it is hard to knock him out.  His attacks  can do 30 damage for CC and 100 damage for MMCCC.

Round 1-v.s. BLG (Blaziken Fb, Luxray Gl, and Garchomp C_+ Dialga G)
I set up pretty well and was able to get Steelix going with special metals.  He was playing Blaziken FB, but since I got the special metals, I was able to survive, heal, and knockout the blaziken next turn.  He had a hard time using Jet Shoot more then once, and tried to stall with “Luring Flame.”  But I am able to retreat and use Warp Points to get knock outs.  I finish the game on a “Warp Point, Good Game.” Always been a goal of mine to do that.
1-0

Round 2-Shuppet and walls
One of the funnest games all day.  I start Chansey and am able to donk his Nincada (with Pulled Punch), but he has a benched uxie.  He sets up spirtombs and slows me down with those.  The tombs block my expert belt, so that hurt. He ends up using dunsparce and cyclone to knock out some benched Uxies and Chansey’s.  I was able to get 5 energies two Steelixes, so he forgoes the tombs for Shedinja.  I then am able to bring up a chansey, attach a DCE and belt and get a knock on the shedinja,  With his main walls either knocked out or proven useless, he plays out a couple more rounds and then scoops.
2-0

Round 3- Donphan ERL
I am a little nervous because if I don’t have 4 special metals on steelix, ERL is a problem.  But, my nervousness is not needed because he prizes the bottom half of ERL.  He sets up a couple donphans and ends up “Earthquaking” for 40, but when I heal 2, it only ends up doing 20 each turn.  And with that low damage output and my pokehealers, he starts to get mad and just scoops.
3-0                                                                                                                                         

Round 4- Robert Hall-BLG
This game goes much like my first game with BLG, but this time I can’t find ANY special metals, so Blaziken gets the OHKO.  This happens twice, and I scoop.
3-1

Round 5- The Younger Faust-BLG
This game was against the son of a regular Michigan player, since Seniors are grouped with Masters today.  In this game, the Younger Faust makes a deal with the devil and gets a good start (your welcome, 2 people that got that reference.)  This game has a similar result as last game, except this time I find 2 special metals, but he gets a  good draw and uses flash bites to make up for the difference.  I have 2 pokehealers in my hand, but it does no good, if Steelix can’t take the hit.
3-2

So I end the tournament with 2 losses, and don’t get to Top Cut.  I didn’t lose because of the Blaziken Fb’s,but I lost because I couldn’t get Special Metal’s at the right time.  Steelix is a great deck and is not played half as much as it should be.  Blaziken Fb is a matchup that the Steelix player can deal with.  The only two decks that are a problem for Steelix are Scizor Prime and Charizard SV, the rare Infernape 4 matchup is also tough.  I encourage you all to give it a shot, it is a great deck and is really fun to play.

So my Fall Battle Road Season is over.  I did not end up getting any Victory Metals, but I did get a top cut.  But, I think I sent a message to the Michigan players that Im going to come to a tournament and play you tough.  I did meet a lot of new people and had fun talking to everyone.  I also learned a little more about the game, and became a little better player.  So I guess those are all good things.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Tourney Report

Deck Analysis: Gyarados (1st Place BR report included)

Austino 68 Comments

Austino's GyaradosYes, the angry dragon/eel/fish is STILL here and kickin’ (or splashing, rather)! Over the past few weeks of going through old tournament reports and decklists, I remembered how well Gyarados has treated me every time I’ve played it. However, I had a small issue with the deck concerning the recent rotation. The exclusion of Claydol (GE), Night Maintenance, and Felicity’s Drawing were something of a hindrance to the efficiency of the deck. Sure, there are cards like Uxie and Volkner’s Philosophy that could fill in, but would it work? Some….no, MANY have completely written of Gyarados until Junk Arm and Rescue Energy are released. While I agreed with the assumptions that the deck won’t work without Felicity’s/Claydol for a while, I quickly found that the deck can not only still fully function without them, but THRIVES in a format with trainer lock where using supporters is required as well as a pokemon that can FISH (har har, puns) them out of your deck.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What are you going to do against Vileplume, scrub? Good luck winning when you can’t play SSU, Communications, Poketurns, and most importantly, your rescues, which Gyarados hinges on.” This is a very valid argument for not running the deck, but the key to victory lies in Dialga G Lv. X. Yeah, DGX as some call it gives Gyarados the edge it needs in a meta full of trainer locks whether it’s from Spiritombs or Vileplumes. I initially thought Floatzel GL Lv. X was a more solid play, not requiring me to run recovery cards, but G’dos is also about NOT being KO’d (thanks to super scoop ups), and another pokemon with Lightning weakness is no fun. When you combine the 1-1 DGX along with 3 warp energy, you can get it out relatively quickly and continue your beatdown on some of the most played decks in the format right now. While it doesn’t help the SP matchup in the slightest, you should be able to do well against them anyway, considering you OHKO them while they are typically forced to take cheap prizes around gyarados as well as the occasional Trash Bolt/Lucario OHKO. The SP matchup hasn’t really changed as much post rotation, I’d put it at an even 50-50 because so much of the matchup depends on who can keep up the stream of KO’s as well as the use of Expert Belt on G’dos’ side of the field. Regimove also plays a huge factor, allowing Gyarados to take a prize nearly every turn, barring Power Sprays.

I was also asked to discuss the relevance and efficiency of Volkner’s Philosophy as a Felicity’s Drawing substitute. Yes, Volkner is a moody guy, nowhere nearly as cheerful as Felicity, and he makes it clear that he doesn’t care that you can only discard one Magikarp with his “Philosophy”. Aside from the 1 card discard, Volkner’s can do wonders for the deck. Judge is a commonly played card right now, and getting rid of G’dos’ large hand for a measly 4 can suck, especially when holding onto those recovery cards you need. Volkner’s can not only get rid of a trash card from your hand, but also let you keep the good cards while drawing until you have 6, which is pretty good for not having claydol. The other reason it still works is because you need 3 magikarp in the discard. Regice can take care of 2 while Volkner’s drops the 3rd, still getting the same amount of discard *required* to set up, but not necessarily drawing as many cards mid-late game as Felicity’s would.

One last note before posting the list is the importance of Warp Energy. Between Bright Looks, Luring Flames, Sleep Inducers (Froslass GL), Reversals, and starting with Regice or Dialga G X, Warp Energy has saved my bacon several times. It can also be used to get out of a Status Condition such as Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Confusion, etc. It also comes in handy when getting Gyarados back to the bench so that you can Psychic Restore back into the deck for late-game Set Up. The main reason it’s so essential in the current list is really to get your DGX to the bench safely after you level up, though. Read More

Tourney Report

A Tale Of 2 Roads (The Battle Type)

Ed 34 Comments

Blaziken FBEh, there’s not much to say, but I figure that I ought to write something up. This weekend, there were 2 BRs in the area. Ava, Abdi, and I went to the first one. Abdi played Machamp, I played “Hot TOSSED” (as it was dubbed), and Ava played Donphan. Ava and Abdi couldn’t make Sunday’s tourney, so Gyarados and his pals accompanied me.

We had a higher than normal turnout at both events, thanks in part to a group of guys that road tripped it from South Dakota. It seems that the Sioux Falls league is poorly run, and they never receive their proper promos or prerelease swag at the events there. Someone ought to do something about that, because if these guys are that into the game attending a mismanaged league, just think how well things could be going (and how many people they could get into the game) if league and other events were run properly.

Well, on to the reports. Read More

Tourney Report

Machampion

Austino 51 Comments

Throughout this budding season, the format has undergone a massive fluctuation in speed. Some decks have sped up while some have slowed down. Claydol (or lack thereof) is mostly to blame.

With Stage 2 decks getting the shaft by relying on trainers such as Rare Candy, Pokemon Communication, Luxury Ball, etc, Stage 1 and Basic pokemon are picking up rapidly. The format is starting to clutter with sablechomps, luxchomps, dialgachomps, Legends, and a few fiery stage 1’s such as scizor and donphan. These SP decks have picked up massive popularity lately simply because they work! Why not run a deck that does everything you want without having to evolve your pokemon? The real question is “What can I do to topple these giants?” Here’s your answer:

Take Out

Get your pick-up lines ready ’cause you’re about to take SP’s on a date they won’t forget (and you won’t return their calls later). Machamp (Stormfront) is once again a deck to be reckoned with, and yes, I’m talking about “straight” Machamp. The ability to win a game on the first turn is still a strong possibility as well as “super-effective” to gaining the points or Victory Medals you’re after. Many may call it a cheap win, but if you can design your deck to win on the first turn 9/10 games, then your skill is still there, but more in your deck building rather than playing (Yes, there is a difference!). In this article I want to share with you how you can take Machamp and turn him into an SP-smashing, turn 1 donking, late-game killer of a deck. After the list, I will give a brief strategy on how the deck works, followed by a tournament report.

The List:

4-3-3/1 Machamp
4 unown r
3-1 uxie
1 unown q

4 judge
3 collector
2 bebe
1 palmer
4 rare candy
4 poke drawer+
4 pokedex
2 warp point
3 communication
2 dual ball
1 lux ball
3 BTS

2 dce
5 fighting

The deck purely focuses on setting up Machamp turn 1 for Take Out, but also boasts 4 judges to disrupt your opponent and keep them from setting up their field as fast. Your goal as the operator of the deck is to take 2-4 prizes before your opponent is set up. Typically, you can get them to sacrifice a few prizes to machamp while they do. With the new 30 minute time limit, it’s much more important to hold onto a prize lead this season, so any chance you can jump out with a 3 prize lead, you’re *likely* going to win. Machamp will tend to “fizzle-out” late game if you’re playing against a Stage 1 or Stage 2 deck, so Machamp Lv. X, Warp Points, and DCE come in handy later in the game when you’re ready to Level Up for extra damage, Rage, or warp point a couple of prizes to finish off your opponent.

Oklahoma City Battle Roads – Sep 18th, 2010

Round 1: Gengar/Vileplume
He flips over lone uxie to my machop with him going first. He attatched and psychic restored. I play my hand out and end up with the rare candy/machamp/fighting energy for the donk.
1-0

Round 2: Sablelock
He starts with sableye and impersonates a Cyrus Conspiracy to start setting up. I collector for my Q, Machop, and an Uxie and pull the T1 Machamp again for the donk.
2-0

Round 3: Machamp
I’m playing Taylor who agreed to play Machamp with me today (almost the same exact list save for 2-3 preference cards). We’re both undefeated and we know it comes down to whoever goes second. He goes 2nd and gets the T1 champ as I managed to still set up my Machamp but he leveled up and hit the 3 heads to OHKO my machamp.
2-1

Round 4: Sablelock
He opens sableye to my lone machop, attaches SP Dark and overconfidents my machop for 20. I guess he didn’t think I had the ability to evolve or grab another poke, but either way I lux ball/rare candy into machamp, judge, and attach fighting energy for the Take Out. After 2 more turns of Take Out he scoops.
3-1

I tied for 2nd place in win% opp. win% and opp.opp. win %, but TOM gave the other player the spot in top 2, so I watched Taylor take the Victory Medal with our deck. All in all, it was a great tournament with the deck going a combined 8-1 with it’s only loss being to itself.

Tourney Report

Battle Road #2: Vanilla TOSSED Testing

Ed 13 Comments

After yesterday’s BR, I decided that I ought to try another version of TOSSED for BR #2. I opted for “Vanilla” TOSSED, because I thought it might be easier to play. I want to get an idea of the strength’s of each. I can’t say that I got a great idea of it. I can’t say that I did much at all today. I’m pretty unimpressed with my performance.

Ava, however, won another 2 packs. I think she got 3rd, but she may have been 4th. She actually won only 1 game (and lost 1), because she got a bye. Her first match was winable, but she forgot to lay the ExBelt. Her next match was the bye, and then she got a hard-fought win to claim her 2 packs.

I didn’t fare that well.

Round 1: Ryan W.
Ryan had LuxChomp with Blaziken. All I saw was Luxray. It didn’t make it past my first turn, partially thanks to an Expert Belt and a DCE.
1-0

Round 2: Peter (Senior)
Peter also had LuxChomp. Last night, I made the decision to tech in a Regice for Spiritomb. In this match, I realized my worse Regice fear, starting with it active and being unable to retreat it. Yeah, that sucked, otherwise I think I had a first-turn KO. Peter actually did me a favor by Bright Looking it to the bench, and the game went to sudden death. Each of us were like 10 away from a KO a couple turns in a row. I came real close on my final turn, but I was unable to draw the card I needed for the win.
1-1

Round 3: Nick
Nick had Gengar C. I started my first 2 turns with back-to-back KOs on Gastly and Toxicroak G. Nick actually almost conceded, but decided to play it out. After that, there was one turn when the juniors winners were announced (and my daughter got a prize) where I was fairly distracted. Nick asked me to please play faster, and I think that was the turning point. I started making hasty plays, and by then, I was kinda mentally spent anyway. I can’t say why. I really don’t know how I lost this. I do know that Nick got a couple important KOs, and I had a bad prize, but this should not have meant doom for me. I really think that I just rushed things assuming I had the win. I even got a KO on his Gengar and he flipped tails. I honestly wonder if I forgot to take a prize or something, because I dunno how it went downhill that fast. I think that Nick won on the 3rd turn of +3 (after time was called).
1-2

Round 4: Michael Slutsky
I start lone Unown Q. Michael starts Garchomp C. He wins the toss, he attaches DCE, I get up and leave. The day is over, and I’m a bit relieved to be done.
1-3

What did I learn? TOSSED surprises people. Regice is not a good tech unless you add in a good (more than just SSU) way to get it out of the active spot. Vanilla TOSSED is not easier to play (compared to the other variants) when you play SP all day. I think it can be a good meta choice, but it’s not the right one against this local MN meta right now.

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