I went to the City Championship's in North Ridgeville on Sunday, I went 4-2 and 11th out of 47(?) in Masters. I thought it'd be fun to throw together a quick report of how it went down. Just a few notes before I start though:
1. I haven't played the TCG competitively (or at all really) since about 2007, the last time I remember playing was the Mysterious Treasures Prerelease.
2. I did not playtest my deck at all, partly because I was kinda doing it "for teh lulz", and partly because i wanted to see how an unprepared player can do.
3. I did no studying of the local metagame, only the metagame as a whole. So I was still familiar with many of the decks played.
Anyway this was the deck I played:
Played this basically because it was cheap (only paid about 40 bucks, sans some trainers I still had), I liked the strategy of it, and it seemed good against the lightning-heavy metagame.
Also, I didn't remember the names of anyone I played against (sorry), and didn't really take notes or anything, so this is all from memory. :X Rather than a turn-by-turn it'll be more of an overview (thus the Quick City Report)
Game 1: vs. Strip Bare/Fliptini/Disruption
Lost the flip, started out with a Landorus, opponent started with a Carvanha and a Victini, and I could quickly see where this was going. Thankfully he didn't get his Sharpedo 'til a few turns in, and I managed to set up Landorus and Machamp Prime, and tagged over the energies successfully. He did get two Strip Bares off, but one was when I only had 2 cards in hand (and immediately drew a PONT), and the other was too late in game for it to matter. 1-0
Game 2: vs. Durant Deck-Out
Lost the flip, can't remember what I started with exactly, but opponent started with 1 Durant and quickly collected to 4. Managed to set up a few turns in, nothing tooo vital was milled. Machamp's Champ Buster was able to tear through the Durants, and a Mime Jr. defense unfortunately did not help. Won with about 7 cards left in my deck. 2-0
Game 3: vs. Resploshion and surprise guest Magnezone Prime
Thiiis was an interesting game. Won the flip, started with Landorus and Machop, opponent with Reshiram and Cyndaquils. Made a really stupid mistake right here, and forgot to place prizes. Luckily a judge was hovering over my shoulder and saw the prize I drew instead of placed, and I got a warning issued and my prizes shuffled. Anyway, we both setup decently, had some good steam going at first but then we traded off prizes to 3 left.
Can't remember exactly when what happened after this, since it got rather... interesting. He popped out a Magnezone Prime late game and Lost Burned my Machamp for 150. (I guess that was his 3rd prize drawn). Time was called, and we had our last 3 turns. I can remember knocking out something and going to 2-3 for prizes left. Then turn 3, a judge noticed that he had no Lost Zone from Lost Burn. My opponent already seemed pretty frantic, constantly shifting around, and in this state accidentally picked up and looked at his prizes while looking for his Lost Zone. After talking it over with a few judges for about 5 or so minutes (in overtime btw), his prizes were shuffled and he got off with a warning. He Magnetic Drawed his last energy needed, Afterburned his others, and KO'd me with Reshiram to tie it back to 2-2. And then I didn't have anything to play and I lost. 2-1
Game 4: vs. Durant Deck-Out
Let me just say this went down pretty quickly. Opponent only had one Durant, never had more than three out at once, and I manage to set up and burn down with no problems. He said after the match that he started with a Durant, Evolite, and 5 energies, so I felt kinda bad for him. 3-1
Game 5: vs. Resploshion featuring Kingdra Prime
Can't remember a lot of this game. Had a mediocre set-up while he got everything just fine and dandy. Managed to get 3 prizes if I remember correctly, but I didn't get any hand refreshers later in game when I needed it, and was just dead in the water the last few turns. But it happens. 3-2
Game 6: vs. Eelzone
Finally, this is the deck I wanted to face this tournament. I skipped the Landorus setup here and basically went straight to Machamp Prime. Fighting Weakness really killed the Zekroms, and there were a few Tornadus thrown out too but were knocked over even with resistance. By the end of the game I had 3 Machamps set up, and managed to tag out a few times to use Max Potion on the benched Machamp. Was a pretty nice way to end my tourney. 4-2
Pros:
-Didn't absolutely suck after not playing forever
-Not playtesting didn't come back and bite me in the $!@
-I won a free booster pack from a raffle
Shoulda maybe picked a theme deck though.
-My friend Lauren came with me to cheer me on and so I wasn't alone with no one I knew
-Switch is now my best friend after all those Catchers
Cons:
-Not as many lightning decks as I was hoping to face
-Not having Catcher or Collector (but mostly Catcher)
-Being super-nervous the first round, kinda shaky, but got over it as the tournament went on
-Holy *^@$ that place was cramped, one of my opponents joked that we can only have 3 benched due to lack of room
So, I didn't make top 8, but I came pretty darn close, and I was definitely proud of myself. Had a great time and figured I'd share a bit with people on the internet. And I think I'll be going to States too "for teh lulz", but I think I'll sharpen up my deck before then. Aaand I suppose this was a bit longer than I thought it would be, heh, so much for Quick?
1. I haven't played the TCG competitively (or at all really) since about 2007, the last time I remember playing was the Mysterious Treasures Prerelease.
2. I did not playtest my deck at all, partly because I was kinda doing it "for teh lulz", and partly because i wanted to see how an unprepared player can do.
3. I did no studying of the local metagame, only the metagame as a whole. So I was still familiar with many of the decks played.
Anyway this was the deck I played:
4-2-4 Machamp Prime
4 Landorus
1 Terrakion
15 Pokemon
3 Professor Juniper
3 Sage's Training
3 Professor Oak's New Theory
(9)
4 Rare Candy
4 Dual Ball
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Switch
2 Max Potion
2 Super Rod
(24)
33 Trainers
12 Fighting Energy
4 Landorus
1 Terrakion
15 Pokemon
3 Professor Juniper
3 Sage's Training
3 Professor Oak's New Theory
(9)
4 Rare Candy
4 Dual Ball
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Switch
2 Max Potion
2 Super Rod
(24)
33 Trainers
12 Fighting Energy
Also, I didn't remember the names of anyone I played against (sorry), and didn't really take notes or anything, so this is all from memory. :X Rather than a turn-by-turn it'll be more of an overview (thus the Quick City Report)
Game 1: vs. Strip Bare/Fliptini/Disruption
Lost the flip, started out with a Landorus, opponent started with a Carvanha and a Victini, and I could quickly see where this was going. Thankfully he didn't get his Sharpedo 'til a few turns in, and I managed to set up Landorus and Machamp Prime, and tagged over the energies successfully. He did get two Strip Bares off, but one was when I only had 2 cards in hand (and immediately drew a PONT), and the other was too late in game for it to matter. 1-0
Game 2: vs. Durant Deck-Out
Lost the flip, can't remember what I started with exactly, but opponent started with 1 Durant and quickly collected to 4. Managed to set up a few turns in, nothing tooo vital was milled. Machamp's Champ Buster was able to tear through the Durants, and a Mime Jr. defense unfortunately did not help. Won with about 7 cards left in my deck. 2-0
Game 3: vs. Resploshion and surprise guest Magnezone Prime
Thiiis was an interesting game. Won the flip, started with Landorus and Machop, opponent with Reshiram and Cyndaquils. Made a really stupid mistake right here, and forgot to place prizes. Luckily a judge was hovering over my shoulder and saw the prize I drew instead of placed, and I got a warning issued and my prizes shuffled. Anyway, we both setup decently, had some good steam going at first but then we traded off prizes to 3 left.
Can't remember exactly when what happened after this, since it got rather... interesting. He popped out a Magnezone Prime late game and Lost Burned my Machamp for 150. (I guess that was his 3rd prize drawn). Time was called, and we had our last 3 turns. I can remember knocking out something and going to 2-3 for prizes left. Then turn 3, a judge noticed that he had no Lost Zone from Lost Burn. My opponent already seemed pretty frantic, constantly shifting around, and in this state accidentally picked up and looked at his prizes while looking for his Lost Zone. After talking it over with a few judges for about 5 or so minutes (in overtime btw), his prizes were shuffled and he got off with a warning. He Magnetic Drawed his last energy needed, Afterburned his others, and KO'd me with Reshiram to tie it back to 2-2. And then I didn't have anything to play and I lost. 2-1
Game 4: vs. Durant Deck-Out
Let me just say this went down pretty quickly. Opponent only had one Durant, never had more than three out at once, and I manage to set up and burn down with no problems. He said after the match that he started with a Durant, Evolite, and 5 energies, so I felt kinda bad for him. 3-1
Game 5: vs. Resploshion featuring Kingdra Prime
Can't remember a lot of this game. Had a mediocre set-up while he got everything just fine and dandy. Managed to get 3 prizes if I remember correctly, but I didn't get any hand refreshers later in game when I needed it, and was just dead in the water the last few turns. But it happens. 3-2
Game 6: vs. Eelzone
Finally, this is the deck I wanted to face this tournament. I skipped the Landorus setup here and basically went straight to Machamp Prime. Fighting Weakness really killed the Zekroms, and there were a few Tornadus thrown out too but were knocked over even with resistance. By the end of the game I had 3 Machamps set up, and managed to tag out a few times to use Max Potion on the benched Machamp. Was a pretty nice way to end my tourney. 4-2
Pros:
-Didn't absolutely suck after not playing forever
-Not playtesting didn't come back and bite me in the $!@
-I won a free booster pack from a raffle
Shoulda maybe picked a theme deck though.-My friend Lauren came with me to cheer me on and so I wasn't alone with no one I knew
-Switch is now my best friend after all those Catchers
Cons:
-Not as many lightning decks as I was hoping to face
-Not having Catcher or Collector (but mostly Catcher)
-Being super-nervous the first round, kinda shaky, but got over it as the tournament went on
-Holy *^@$ that place was cramped, one of my opponents joked that we can only have 3 benched due to lack of room
So, I didn't make top 8, but I came pretty darn close, and I was definitely proud of myself. Had a great time and figured I'd share a bit with people on the internet. And I think I'll be going to States too "for teh lulz", but I think I'll sharpen up my deck before then. Aaand I suppose this was a bit longer than I thought it would be, heh, so much for Quick?