Hi there Pokebeachers
So as I said in my introduction post i'm an European player and thought interesting to discuss with players from other coutries
I started playing in 2010 but hadn't got a lot of success so far, only scoring 1 BR top 2 in late 2011 and a narrow 4-3 playing anti-meta at '12 Nats.
This year started badly again, playing a Zekeels for 3 BRs and going 2-2 then twice 2-3. I then switched into Rayeels since I don't like to play Darkai decks but I built it wrong (2 Raikou, with Terrakion pretty popular) and went an appalling 2-4 for Regionals, early November.
Returning home with a mate from that Regional we spoke about Boundaries Crossed which we didnt play yet at the time (this Reg was the last BW-DRX tournament in our area).
I said him I was liking Keldeo/Blastoise a lot since it kinda reminds me of my old MagneBoar which got me my 2011 top 2 at BRs.
He kept basically telling me "Do it ! That thing is gonna be one of the BDIFs", so I decided to go ahead and test it.
Just two weeks before Cities were gonna start for us I got the chance of getting my hands on Tropical Beaches, meaning I had all the best I could get to build a Blastoise list.
I received my last cards just in time though, and as I already started testing with my backup deck I had no testing with Keldeo, and only had time to play 3 test games before the tournament.
Tournament was held 2 hours from our league and despite snowy weather we were able to get to the place safely so the event was maintained.
So I entered in Masters and we were to play 5 Rounds + top 4. From our league were 4 masters and 1 senior.
R1 vs Empo/Terrakion/Roserade
I was mad because this was one of my league mates and that kinda sucks.
I was stuck with a lone Keldeo and a handful of Energy, dead drewing 2 turns and leaving my lone Keldeo with 40 HP, as my mate had a good start. Fortunately at that point he had N'd and I was able to escape the empty field by getting a good hand and setting up other Keldeos and Squirtles.
OFC since I had only Squirtles at that point, I lost that first damaged Keldeo. But i just had unbelievable 2 next turns, being able to get Blastoise and throw 5 Energies on each of my two remaining Keldeo. But i was still 3 prizes behind.
I Ko'd his forst Empoleon out of 3, he hit my Keldeo for 100, i Rush In'd for the other Keldeo and Ko'd. We were down to 1-1 prizes at that point, but he had nearly no cards left in the deck, so despite his last Diving Draw he couldn't KO my damaged Keldeo and i won. Phew.
1-0
R2 vs Sigylliph/Mewtwo/Gardy
Again a league mate...
I didn't start that badly this time but he had an early huge-powered Mewtwo which started wrecking me. He just made an incredible misplay at one point by hitting my Blastoise instead of KO-ing my powered Keldeo: I KO'd his Mewtwo straight away and that basically cost him the game.
2-0
R3 vs Rayeels
A player from the tournament-hosting league.
He started with Emolga and 1 Tynamo, I was stuck with 2 Squirtles and another dead start. He set up fast due to Emolga and a Celestial Roar getting him 2 Electric energy but the game came to an abrupt stop when I noticed his Emolga wasn't on the board anymore... We called the judge and it turned out my opponent simply mistook his Emolga for a Tynamo and put an Eel on it.
He was given a Game Lost and I was given a warning. I won, but this time I totally didn't deserve it.
3-0
R4 vs Big Basics/Aspertia
I knew he was a very good player (he went runner-up once in Nats) so I prepared for a tough game.
He started not that bad but I was able to get two KOs by Skyla => Energy retrieval, so he was left with only 1 Pokemon and he finally scooped.
4-0
With 1 round left and knowing that 1 3-2 score was gonna top this meant I had just secured a top finish ! I was so happy, but as I was sick this day, also very tired... I knew the remaining of the tournament will be exhausting because of that.
R5 vs Big Basics/Aspertia w/Ho-Oh variant
I had a close game in BRs with him where my Rayeels lost in Time to his Dark/Hydreigon...
I had the Keldeo start but I was stuck with a horrible hand: Blastoise x2, Super Rod, RC, Level Ball, and Juniper.
This meant I could not use Juniper unless a Squirtle survives one turn. So I kept this hand and finally managed to RC Blastoise after 3 turns, having fallen 3 prizes behind. Just like in R1 I got all set up and came back in the prize race. At one point, I got a KO on his powered Mewtwo. He had another one in the field as his last Pokémon, but didn't find a DCE for it during his turn, so I won.
5-0
Top 4 decks were Keldeo Blastoise (me), Big Basics (the player from R4), Rayeel (player from R3) and Big Basics w/Sygilliph. I was afraid of facing the Rayeel again as I did feel it was probably the toughest remaining matchup, but he went 3rd so I faced the Big Basics w/Sygillyph instead.
Top 4 vs Big Basics/Sigylliph variant
On both games he had slightly quicker starts than me which was normal, but once I was set up I took the advantage.
Game 1 he went with Mewtwo and Sigylliphs hitting with Mewtwo first, but putting a third energy on it allowed me to OHKO it. Then I fueled a Blastoise to deal with the Sigylliphs and killed one. I was worried after that because his second Sigylliph managed to KO my Blastoise, but on my turn a Juniper got me another RC Blastoise and an Energy Retrieval, allowing me to KO Sigillyph. 1-0
Game 2 was of the same structure, except that this time I managed to KO his powered Sigylliph first, so he could not KO my Blastoise with the other one. 2-0
6-0
On the other Top 4 match, the Big Basics won vs. Rayeels, so my biggest fear was out of the race then.
Top 2 vs. Big Basics/Aspertia from R4
Game 1 lasted only 2 turns, I had Keldeo+Squirtle, he got an Eviolited Bouffalant (without stadium) and I had RC Blastoise and 5 Energies for the OHKO T2. 1-0
Game 2 I started badly, having trouble setting up Blastoise. After having discarded one RC previously, a Skyla told me why I had trouble: all the other RCs along with the Computer Search were prized. I decided to scoop immediately in order to save time for the last match. 1-1
Game 3 looked like our swiss round game, he had his Pokémon on the field but didn't find what he needed to power them correctly, while I could myself, so I finally went better than him and he scooped. 2-1
7-0
So, out of nowhere, on my very first outing with Keldeo/Blastoise, I got my first career win !
I just couldn't believe it ! I was just so happy because it's a deck I also really love to play, so as I said, "What a Blast" ! Plus, our Senior player also won his tournament, so it basically was a total success for us !
I'll be playing another City "at home" this weekend and, though I know it will be harder (the players I played with will all be there again) I really hope I will be a victory contender again
Ponyblaster
So as I said in my introduction post i'm an European player and thought interesting to discuss with players from other coutries
I started playing in 2010 but hadn't got a lot of success so far, only scoring 1 BR top 2 in late 2011 and a narrow 4-3 playing anti-meta at '12 Nats.
This year started badly again, playing a Zekeels for 3 BRs and going 2-2 then twice 2-3. I then switched into Rayeels since I don't like to play Darkai decks but I built it wrong (2 Raikou, with Terrakion pretty popular) and went an appalling 2-4 for Regionals, early November.
Returning home with a mate from that Regional we spoke about Boundaries Crossed which we didnt play yet at the time (this Reg was the last BW-DRX tournament in our area).
I said him I was liking Keldeo/Blastoise a lot since it kinda reminds me of my old MagneBoar which got me my 2011 top 2 at BRs.
He kept basically telling me "Do it ! That thing is gonna be one of the BDIFs", so I decided to go ahead and test it.
Just two weeks before Cities were gonna start for us I got the chance of getting my hands on Tropical Beaches, meaning I had all the best I could get to build a Blastoise list.
I received my last cards just in time though, and as I already started testing with my backup deck I had no testing with Keldeo, and only had time to play 3 test games before the tournament.
Tournament was held 2 hours from our league and despite snowy weather we were able to get to the place safely so the event was maintained.
So I entered in Masters and we were to play 5 Rounds + top 4. From our league were 4 masters and 1 senior.
R1 vs Empo/Terrakion/Roserade
I was mad because this was one of my league mates and that kinda sucks.
I was stuck with a lone Keldeo and a handful of Energy, dead drewing 2 turns and leaving my lone Keldeo with 40 HP, as my mate had a good start. Fortunately at that point he had N'd and I was able to escape the empty field by getting a good hand and setting up other Keldeos and Squirtles.
OFC since I had only Squirtles at that point, I lost that first damaged Keldeo. But i just had unbelievable 2 next turns, being able to get Blastoise and throw 5 Energies on each of my two remaining Keldeo. But i was still 3 prizes behind.
I Ko'd his forst Empoleon out of 3, he hit my Keldeo for 100, i Rush In'd for the other Keldeo and Ko'd. We were down to 1-1 prizes at that point, but he had nearly no cards left in the deck, so despite his last Diving Draw he couldn't KO my damaged Keldeo and i won. Phew.
1-0
R2 vs Sigylliph/Mewtwo/Gardy
Again a league mate...
I didn't start that badly this time but he had an early huge-powered Mewtwo which started wrecking me. He just made an incredible misplay at one point by hitting my Blastoise instead of KO-ing my powered Keldeo: I KO'd his Mewtwo straight away and that basically cost him the game.
2-0
R3 vs Rayeels
A player from the tournament-hosting league.
He started with Emolga and 1 Tynamo, I was stuck with 2 Squirtles and another dead start. He set up fast due to Emolga and a Celestial Roar getting him 2 Electric energy but the game came to an abrupt stop when I noticed his Emolga wasn't on the board anymore... We called the judge and it turned out my opponent simply mistook his Emolga for a Tynamo and put an Eel on it.
He was given a Game Lost and I was given a warning. I won, but this time I totally didn't deserve it.
3-0
R4 vs Big Basics/Aspertia
I knew he was a very good player (he went runner-up once in Nats) so I prepared for a tough game.
He started not that bad but I was able to get two KOs by Skyla => Energy retrieval, so he was left with only 1 Pokemon and he finally scooped.
4-0
With 1 round left and knowing that 1 3-2 score was gonna top this meant I had just secured a top finish ! I was so happy, but as I was sick this day, also very tired... I knew the remaining of the tournament will be exhausting because of that.
R5 vs Big Basics/Aspertia w/Ho-Oh variant
I had a close game in BRs with him where my Rayeels lost in Time to his Dark/Hydreigon...
I had the Keldeo start but I was stuck with a horrible hand: Blastoise x2, Super Rod, RC, Level Ball, and Juniper.
This meant I could not use Juniper unless a Squirtle survives one turn. So I kept this hand and finally managed to RC Blastoise after 3 turns, having fallen 3 prizes behind. Just like in R1 I got all set up and came back in the prize race. At one point, I got a KO on his powered Mewtwo. He had another one in the field as his last Pokémon, but didn't find a DCE for it during his turn, so I won.
5-0
Top 4 decks were Keldeo Blastoise (me), Big Basics (the player from R4), Rayeel (player from R3) and Big Basics w/Sygilliph. I was afraid of facing the Rayeel again as I did feel it was probably the toughest remaining matchup, but he went 3rd so I faced the Big Basics w/Sygillyph instead.
Top 4 vs Big Basics/Sigylliph variant
On both games he had slightly quicker starts than me which was normal, but once I was set up I took the advantage.
Game 1 he went with Mewtwo and Sigylliphs hitting with Mewtwo first, but putting a third energy on it allowed me to OHKO it. Then I fueled a Blastoise to deal with the Sigylliphs and killed one. I was worried after that because his second Sigylliph managed to KO my Blastoise, but on my turn a Juniper got me another RC Blastoise and an Energy Retrieval, allowing me to KO Sigillyph. 1-0
Game 2 was of the same structure, except that this time I managed to KO his powered Sigylliph first, so he could not KO my Blastoise with the other one. 2-0
6-0
On the other Top 4 match, the Big Basics won vs. Rayeels, so my biggest fear was out of the race then.
Top 2 vs. Big Basics/Aspertia from R4
Game 1 lasted only 2 turns, I had Keldeo+Squirtle, he got an Eviolited Bouffalant (without stadium) and I had RC Blastoise and 5 Energies for the OHKO T2. 1-0
Game 2 I started badly, having trouble setting up Blastoise. After having discarded one RC previously, a Skyla told me why I had trouble: all the other RCs along with the Computer Search were prized. I decided to scoop immediately in order to save time for the last match. 1-1
Game 3 looked like our swiss round game, he had his Pokémon on the field but didn't find what he needed to power them correctly, while I could myself, so I finally went better than him and he scooped. 2-1
7-0
So, out of nowhere, on my very first outing with Keldeo/Blastoise, I got my first career win !
I just couldn't believe it ! I was just so happy because it's a deck I also really love to play, so as I said, "What a Blast" ! Plus, our Senior player also won his tournament, so it basically was a total success for us !
I'll be playing another City "at home" this weekend and, though I know it will be harder (the players I played with will all be there again) I really hope I will be a victory contender again
Ponyblaster
