I decided to go with Eelektrik for this tournament. I played it throughout Battle Roads and went a total of 21-5 with it. For me, that's a pretty great win/loss record, and I felt confident in all of my matchups except Vileplume/Accelgor/Chandelure and Terrakion/Mewtwo-EX. However, I could win on time against Vileplume and I wasn't expecting mono-Fighting to be a very big deck.
I did play the deck with a focus on Terrakion over Mewtwo-EX. I was still expecting Darkrai to be the biggest deck, and Terrakion just runs through it. I was wrong in this assumption, and ultimately I probably shouldn't have played Terrakion. I won't be going to Worlds because of money (and because I missed the invite), so I don't have any problem with sharing my list.
The only things I would have wanted in there are a 3rd Juniper and a 2nd Super Rod. I actually had the 2nd Rod until the morning before the tournament, but [member]Zero[/member] and my friend Polo both thought I should cut it. So I dropped it for a 3rd Dual Ball. Having that extra Dual Ball was very nice, but I missed the extra rod at the same time.
Past that, my list is pretty standard for this build. I run a slightly lower energy count than most, but I never have energy problems, and it's nice to have extra free space so I cut a couple Lightning. I use more Skyarrow than most people, simply because the deck really needs a free retreater every turn it can get one, and in many situations you just can't afford to Dynamotor to Smeargle. Spark Tynamo was for an extra option against Vileplume and mono-Fighting, and it was quite helpful, theoretically landing me a spot in top cut.
Round 1 vs Bye
Round 2 vs Bye
Round 3 vs Celebi/Tornadus-EX/Mewtwo-EX/Terrakion
I get off to a pretty bad start. I open Mewtwo-EX and Tynamo to her T1 Mewtwo X-Balling for 80 on my Mewtwo. I don't run DCE, so I have to Switch it out of the active spot for Tynamo and PONT. I don't hit anything except off Smeargle + Skyarrow off the PONT, and hit nothing off Smeargle. So I Catcher her Terrakion and pass. I'm glad to see, however, that she used Juniper T1 to discard two Junk Arms and a Switch. Furthermore, she can't retreat the Terrakion, so she's forced to pass her second turn.
On my second turn, I drop PlusPower and attach a Fighting Energy to Mewtwo-EX. Then, I Catcher her Mewtwo and PONT. I'm assuming that I'll be able to hit the Eelektrik between PONT and Smeargle, but I whiff badly. I'm able to get two more Tynamo out through Dual Ball, but on her T3 she Catcher + KOs my Mewtwo with her own. On my T3, I'm finally able to get rolling enough to get my 2nd Mewtwo, 2 energy, and a PlusPower. So I KO it.
I'm not sure if she hadn't tested the matchup much or what, but on her next turn, she drops two Tornadus-EX. I'm able to Catcher and KO both of them with my Zekroms to seal the game. She's left with two prizes.
Round 4 vs Vileplume/Klinklang/Cobalion/Darkrai-EX/Terrakion
This was a very interesting game; the best I played all day. I go first and we both get off to rocky starts. His only Supporter is a Collector, but he's able to hit a T2 Vileplume. However, before that happened, I Catchered his lone Klink and he didn't have the energy to retreat it. He evolves it and on my T3, I'm able to Bolt Strike his Klang. He still doesn't have much in his hand, so he Collectors for Smeargle, retreats into it, and Portraits, hitting my Juniper. From there, he hits Twins and gets rolling. However, he obviously doesn't run Switch, so my Zekrom is able to finish off his Smeargle for a two-prize lead before it's met with Terrakion.
I return fire with a new Zekrom, leaving him with 10HP. He doesn't have enough energy to be able to afford to keep it active, so he promotes a Cobalion, Shift Gears to it, drops Special Metal and Iron Breakers. I think that play ultimately won me the game. I'm able to retreat Zekrom for Tynamo and use Spark to KO his benched Terrakion.
Zekrom is now able to OHKO his field with Outrage, so his only good play is to promote Darkai and Night Spear to KO Tynamo and Zekrom. However, I'm able to Retaliate to remove three of his energy from play and put myself at one prize. He Iron Breakers my Terrakion, but I retreat it.
From here, my best play is to build up Mewtwo for a big X-Ball. I had one on it from a previous turn, so I attach and double Dynamtor. I have another energy in my hand, so I'll be able to X-Ball his entire field except Klinklang. So, he promotes Klinklang and uses Gear Grind on my Smeargle, hitting a heads on the second coin for KO. This puts me in a bad position because I don't have anything on my bench except two Eelektrik and a Mewtwo. I have two cards in my deck and one of them is Shaymin, but I'm not sure which it is. So I play safe and promote Eelektrik, since I have two energy in my hand. I miss the Shaymin, so I drop one energy on Eelektrik, double Dynamotor so my Mewtwo has six energy, and pass my turn.
During his turn, time is called and it's 1-2 prizes in my favor. He makes another great play by using Playground to try to deck me. And he flips tails. I draw my Shaymin, and fortunately, I have N to stop the deckout. I attach the second energy to Eelektrik but don't retreat it yet for fear of his benched Mewtwo. I also drop a Tynamo, so I'll be able to get the 7th energy on Mewtwo if he does KO Eelektrik. He wakes up for Playground and can KO my Eelektrik, but he realizes I can KO whatever he has with Mewtwo, so he scoops.
Round 5 vs Darkrai-EX/Terrakion
This is a fast game. I draw a perfect hand, but it doesn't have a basic. I reshuffle into a bunch of useless cards and a Tynamo. He goes first and drops Terrakion with energy. I topdeck Dual Ball but whiff, so I have to pass. He plays a second energy on Terrakion, whiffs on the SSU to pick up Smeargle, and doesn't play a Supporter. So his hand is dead too. I draw nothing, so basically evolve into Eelektrik, attach a Fighting, and pass. He topdecks Juniper to hit Darkness Energy + Energy Switch for game.
Round 6 vs Zekrom/Eelektrik/Terrakion
He seemed a little nervous going into the game. I'm able to take the first prize but he has a Terrakion benched so I opt to Catcher that and put a lot of damage on it before it can become a threat. Next turn, I'm able to KO it with Zekrom. He's able to get his other Terrakion out to KO me. But I have the PlusPower + Bolt Strike ready, so that takes both his Terrakion out of the game. I wreak havoc on his Eelektriks for two turns, but he then hits Super Rod to get his Terrakion in the deck. It's just too late for him at this point, though, as I'm already just Land Crushing every turn. I'm able to maintain my two-prize lead to ultimately win.
Round 7 vs Darkrai/Mewtwo
He eventually took 3rd place, and he's got quite a few other notable accomplishments, so it was cool getting play against him. He takes a prize very quickly with Darkrai and I can't get the Retaliate up, so I'm forced to Bolt Strike for 100. He goes up a 2nd prize by using X-Ball to KO my Zekrom. I'm in a really bad position now, because I'm basically forced into a Mewtwo war and I'm effectively down by a turn. Furthermore, he Portraited to see my hand was dead so he Junk Armed his Supporters away for a Random Receiver and didn't play it for a couple turns. We continue this Mewtwo exchange it's 2-4 on prizes in his favor. I return the KO with Mewtwo after dropping an N to tie it at 2-2. On this turn, I also topdeck Junk Arm for Random Receiver. The next part of the game is pretty fuzzy, but ultimately the field ends up with both of us having benched Mewtwo with a combined total of 5 energy on them and a free retreater active. So whoever gets the Catcher first wins the game, and neither of us have played a single Catcher over the course of the game. It's my turn first; I play a draw supporter and whiff. He plays Random Receiver but hits N, which he obviously doesn't want to play when looking for one specific card. So he uses Portrait, but the only Supporter in my hand is N. He N's me into a Random Receiver and a Catcher. So if I survive the turn, I win. He N's himself into a Juniper, plays it, and by some miracle whiffs! He retreats into his other Smeargle, Portraits to see my game-winning hand, and scoops.
Round 8 vs ???
I don't remember what I played against this round. I just remember drawing dead the entire game and never seeing a Supporter or way to get Smeargle. I'd say odds are very high it was against mirror, though.
Round 9 vs Zekrom/Eelektrik/Terrakion
The details of this game are unfortunately fuzzy as I'm writing it a few days after the event. However, we both get off to decent starts. We end up at two prizes each and it's my turn. He's got a Zekrom active that just Bolt Striked. However, it's Eviolited. I have a Zekrom and Mewtwo on the bench, but he took out all my Eelektrik. My energy are split between them, so need to play Shaymin. I PONT to draw into it, 2 more PONT, a PlusPower, a Junk Arm, and an N. Ideally, I would have Junk Armed away the PONTs, used Shaymin to put my energy on Zekrom, and played PlusPower to Bolt Strike for the KO. This wouldn't risk him having the Mewtwo + DCE for game. However, for whatever reason I was thinking I'd need to play Mewtwo when I started the turn, so I don't see this until it's too late. I also rush and don't Junk Arm the PONT away. He Portraits into PONT to hit the Mewtwo for game. A loss I definitely could have avoided, and it was somewhat disheartening to be going into Top 128 after making a stupid misplay like that. Especially since it was the first play I'd regretted so far.
Top 128 vs Terrakion/Mewtwo/Tornadus-EX
My opponent is Curran Hill, the guy who won a State Championship with Mono-Terrakion. So I assumed that's what he's playing. It's one of my worse matchups, but at the same time, it's one of the ones I've tested the most, and I tweaked my list a little to focus on beating it.
Game one he opens Tornadus-EX, which gives me a very good chance of winning the game. However, I get off to a somewhat slow start and he's able to get up a couple prizes and hold all his energy on the field. So there's not much I can do. We basically exchange KOs until he takes his last prize while I have two remaining.
As we start Game 2, I'm relieved to see him flip over Tornadus-EX again. This game, however, I get off to a much better start. I KO Tornadus-EX almost right away. He meets that with a Retaliate to KO my Zekrom. I get out another attacker and soften up his Terrakion. He's forced to attach another energy to Terrakion to do anything to me, but he doesn't have any Exp. Share in play. So after I take out that Terrakion, the game really goes downhill for him. I'm able to use Zekrom + Catcher to prevent him from ever having more than one energy in play, and I take easy prizes at the same time. I really think he should have scooped this game up when his energy left the field, because I was also up a few prizes at that point. Instead, however, he plays out the game.
This comes back to hurt him game three, as time gets called basically as soon as he draws a card. He opened Hitmontop to my Zekrom. And he's already attached to the Hitmontop. He gets some Terrakion and Smeargle out, then uses Hitmontop's attack, flipping one heads to do 40 damage. I Dual Ball for Mewtwo-EX, put an energy on it, and Switch into Mewtwo. I'm basically holding the win in my hand; I have everything I need to KO Hitmontop with Mewtwo next turn unless he retreats it. I even have Junk Arm for Switch if he Catchers the Zekrom back up. I just don't have Catcher, and he does retreat to Hitmontop. He puts a Smeargle up, then Catchers my Zekrom. He's definitely going for the KO on it, but I'm not particularly worried because I'll be Turn 3 and get the revenge KO on Hitmontop to tie the prizes again. He'll have no other energy in play. Furthermore, I'm able to Eviolite both Mewtwo and Zekrom, so he still needs three heads to KO the Zekrom unless he can find two PlusPower. And Mewtwo won't be going down any time soon unless he hits Mewtwo + DCE. Even though the odds of him KOing Zekrom on Turn 2 are unlikely, it's incredibly stressful sitting across from a card that might or might not cost you the match. He drops a PlusPower right away and Portraits my PONT (maybe it was Juniper), but he whiffs the second PlusPower. He uses Switch to use another Portrait, but this time he whiffs the second Switch to get Hitmontop back up. I topdeck Catcher for game.
I have to give him props, though, because he was very nice and it was relaxing talking to him over the course of the match. We even talked about some of the plays we made during the game as we were still playing, haha.
Top 64 vs Celebi/Tornadus/Mewtwo-EX/Tornadus-EX/Terrakion
Game one, I start off in a pretty good position. I go first and actually go up a prize, which theoretically puts me in a good position since I'm playing against a rush deck. However, he's running Terrakion. His Terrakions can OHKO pretty much everything in my deck, whereas my Terrakion don't do much against him. He gets a Terrakion going right away. And after I finally get rid of it, he drops another one. He has both the Grass and Fighting Energy in his hand to land another Retaliate, which will put me in a pretty bad position and potentially allow him to come back. However, he accidentally attaches both energy to Smeargle instead of to Terrakion. We each have one of those "wtf..." moments, then he realizes his mistake and just scoops the game.
Game two he gets a T1 KO with Tornadus and I don't get the return KO until T3. From here we trade prizes pretty evenly, but I started out down two. My N don't stick, so he's able to maintain that lead for the rest of the game.
Game three he opens Shaymin and I go first. I open Zekrom, but am able to Level Ball + Switch to get Smeargle. I Portrait to reveal his pretty unideal hand of N, Juniper, PONT, and 4 energy. I use PONT and draw into a Junk Arm. I Junk Arm away a Lightning Energy for Level Ball to grab Tynamo. He draws, plays PONT, and just has to pass from there. I topdeck a Lightning Energy, attach it to Zekrom, evolve into Eelektrik, Dynamotor to Zekrom, play Skyarrow, retreat, and Bolt Strike for game.
Neither of my last two matches felt like very legitimate wins, so I'm hoping to play some better games in top 32.
Top 32 vs Zekrom/Raikou-EX/Mewtwo-EX/Eelektrik
Game one, my hand is dead, and he gets off to an early lead. It gets to the point where I have one Pokémon in play and if I don't topdeck something, I'll lose. I topdeck Random Receiver, and after revealing about 25 cards, I hit a PONT. I shuffle very well then play PONT and start to get set up. He dropped both his Raikous right away and put energy on a Mewtwo, so I'm able to use Terrakion and Mewtwo to catch up on prizes very quickly. I actually take a lead, ultimately having one prize remaining to his two. However, I didn't focus on taking out his Eelektriks since I hadn't played this exact matchup before. He Catchers one of my Eelektrik, N's me to 1, and uses Volt Bolt to KO my other Eelektrik. If I don't topdeck something and he has Switch, I'll lose next turn. I topdeck Level Ball, so I go in to grab Shaymin. However, it turns out that I Junk Armed it earlier in my hurry to catch up on prizes. So there goes my chance to retreat Eelektrik. He's able to get one more KO next turn for game.
Game two I run much better and am able to dominate with Terrakion since he's only using Raikou to attack. There's really not much he can do, especially since he decides not to even drop Zekrom.
Game three I open Shaymin and he X-Balls T1, going first. I have two Eelektriks and a Juniper in my hand, but if I don't get any basics this turn, I'll lose. So I have to Juniper. I hit Dual Ball, and the deck search reveals that my 3rd Eelektrik and both my Smeargle are prized. Furthermore, I don't have a Supporter in my hand. I can't even Shaymin to Mewtwo since I opened Shaymin, so the rest of the game basically consists of me throwing whatever attackers I topdeck at his Mewtwo with a billion energy. There was nothing I could do, unfortunately. It was a pretty frustrating way to go out, since the last time I played in Nationals, I prized 2 Weedle and 2 Beedrill in the last match I played of top cut. Plus, I was the last Washington player standing, so a lot of people were hoping I would go further.
Props:
~Well-run event; staff was good and everything started on time.
~Top 32.
~Pulling Tornadus-EX from prizes.
~Ian (see below).
~Alan getting Top 8.
~Polo and Charlie cutting.
~Side events.
~Noodles and Company.
~Nice venue, decent hotel.
~Not having anything big or important to complain about in slops.
Slops:
~Not being on the winners list for Regionals, so having to find the judge of the Regional I won for proof.
~Polo getting taken out by Tom, the Nats legend.
~Power going out in the hotel.
~The rest of Washington scrubbing out.
~Extreme heat.
Just for some comic relief, I have to share what my friend Ian did during his last round of swiss. He was 4-4 going into it, and the person who beat him the previous round was really rude. So he didn't want to boost his resistance, but he didn't want to drop either. So he just threw the game. He went first, and his opponent had a lone Smeargle active. His opening hand was Celebi, Tornadus-EX, DCE, Grass, Skyarrow, Smeargle. He opens Celebi and drops Tornadus-EX and Smeargle. Then, he Forest Breaths and attaches DCE to Smeargle to use Tail Rap. A little later in the game, he has Junk Arm, PONT, Juniper, and some random crap in his hand. So he Junk Arms away PONT and Juniper for Dual Ball, flips heads, looks through his deck, and fails the search. Then he looks at his hand for a little and complains about how it's dead and there's nothing he can do. After the match ended, his opponent gave him a strange look then said, "Better luck next time. You know, you could have had the donk, though." Ian just looks at him and says, "No way! How?!"
I did play the deck with a focus on Terrakion over Mewtwo-EX. I was still expecting Darkrai to be the biggest deck, and Terrakion just runs through it. I was wrong in this assumption, and ultimately I probably shouldn't have played Terrakion. I won't be going to Worlds because of money (and because I missed the invite), so I don't have any problem with sharing my list.
| Pokémon (16): | Trainers (33): | Energy (11): |
3 Eelektrik (NV40) 2 Tynamo (NV38) 2 Tynamo (DE45) 2 Zekrom (ND50) 2 Terrakion (NV73) 2 Mewtwo-EX (ND98) 2 Smeargle (UD8) 1 Shaymin (UL8) | 4 Professor Oak's New Theory 3 N 2 Professor Juniper 2 Skyarrow Bridge 4 Junk Arm 3 Level Ball 3 Dual Ball 3 Pokémon Catcher 2 Switch 2 PlusPower 2 Random Receiver 2 Eviolite 1 Super Rod | 7 Lightning Energy 4 Fighting Energy |
Past that, my list is pretty standard for this build. I run a slightly lower energy count than most, but I never have energy problems, and it's nice to have extra free space so I cut a couple Lightning. I use more Skyarrow than most people, simply because the deck really needs a free retreater every turn it can get one, and in many situations you just can't afford to Dynamotor to Smeargle. Spark Tynamo was for an extra option against Vileplume and mono-Fighting, and it was quite helpful, theoretically landing me a spot in top cut.
Round 1 vs Bye
Round 2 vs Bye
Round 3 vs Celebi/Tornadus-EX/Mewtwo-EX/Terrakion
I get off to a pretty bad start. I open Mewtwo-EX and Tynamo to her T1 Mewtwo X-Balling for 80 on my Mewtwo. I don't run DCE, so I have to Switch it out of the active spot for Tynamo and PONT. I don't hit anything except off Smeargle + Skyarrow off the PONT, and hit nothing off Smeargle. So I Catcher her Terrakion and pass. I'm glad to see, however, that she used Juniper T1 to discard two Junk Arms and a Switch. Furthermore, she can't retreat the Terrakion, so she's forced to pass her second turn.
On my second turn, I drop PlusPower and attach a Fighting Energy to Mewtwo-EX. Then, I Catcher her Mewtwo and PONT. I'm assuming that I'll be able to hit the Eelektrik between PONT and Smeargle, but I whiff badly. I'm able to get two more Tynamo out through Dual Ball, but on her T3 she Catcher + KOs my Mewtwo with her own. On my T3, I'm finally able to get rolling enough to get my 2nd Mewtwo, 2 energy, and a PlusPower. So I KO it.
I'm not sure if she hadn't tested the matchup much or what, but on her next turn, she drops two Tornadus-EX. I'm able to Catcher and KO both of them with my Zekroms to seal the game. She's left with two prizes.
Round 4 vs Vileplume/Klinklang/Cobalion/Darkrai-EX/Terrakion
This was a very interesting game; the best I played all day. I go first and we both get off to rocky starts. His only Supporter is a Collector, but he's able to hit a T2 Vileplume. However, before that happened, I Catchered his lone Klink and he didn't have the energy to retreat it. He evolves it and on my T3, I'm able to Bolt Strike his Klang. He still doesn't have much in his hand, so he Collectors for Smeargle, retreats into it, and Portraits, hitting my Juniper. From there, he hits Twins and gets rolling. However, he obviously doesn't run Switch, so my Zekrom is able to finish off his Smeargle for a two-prize lead before it's met with Terrakion.
I return fire with a new Zekrom, leaving him with 10HP. He doesn't have enough energy to be able to afford to keep it active, so he promotes a Cobalion, Shift Gears to it, drops Special Metal and Iron Breakers. I think that play ultimately won me the game. I'm able to retreat Zekrom for Tynamo and use Spark to KO his benched Terrakion.
Zekrom is now able to OHKO his field with Outrage, so his only good play is to promote Darkai and Night Spear to KO Tynamo and Zekrom. However, I'm able to Retaliate to remove three of his energy from play and put myself at one prize. He Iron Breakers my Terrakion, but I retreat it.
From here, my best play is to build up Mewtwo for a big X-Ball. I had one on it from a previous turn, so I attach and double Dynamtor. I have another energy in my hand, so I'll be able to X-Ball his entire field except Klinklang. So, he promotes Klinklang and uses Gear Grind on my Smeargle, hitting a heads on the second coin for KO. This puts me in a bad position because I don't have anything on my bench except two Eelektrik and a Mewtwo. I have two cards in my deck and one of them is Shaymin, but I'm not sure which it is. So I play safe and promote Eelektrik, since I have two energy in my hand. I miss the Shaymin, so I drop one energy on Eelektrik, double Dynamotor so my Mewtwo has six energy, and pass my turn.
During his turn, time is called and it's 1-2 prizes in my favor. He makes another great play by using Playground to try to deck me. And he flips tails. I draw my Shaymin, and fortunately, I have N to stop the deckout. I attach the second energy to Eelektrik but don't retreat it yet for fear of his benched Mewtwo. I also drop a Tynamo, so I'll be able to get the 7th energy on Mewtwo if he does KO Eelektrik. He wakes up for Playground and can KO my Eelektrik, but he realizes I can KO whatever he has with Mewtwo, so he scoops.
Round 5 vs Darkrai-EX/Terrakion
This is a fast game. I draw a perfect hand, but it doesn't have a basic. I reshuffle into a bunch of useless cards and a Tynamo. He goes first and drops Terrakion with energy. I topdeck Dual Ball but whiff, so I have to pass. He plays a second energy on Terrakion, whiffs on the SSU to pick up Smeargle, and doesn't play a Supporter. So his hand is dead too. I draw nothing, so basically evolve into Eelektrik, attach a Fighting, and pass. He topdecks Juniper to hit Darkness Energy + Energy Switch for game.
Round 6 vs Zekrom/Eelektrik/Terrakion
He seemed a little nervous going into the game. I'm able to take the first prize but he has a Terrakion benched so I opt to Catcher that and put a lot of damage on it before it can become a threat. Next turn, I'm able to KO it with Zekrom. He's able to get his other Terrakion out to KO me. But I have the PlusPower + Bolt Strike ready, so that takes both his Terrakion out of the game. I wreak havoc on his Eelektriks for two turns, but he then hits Super Rod to get his Terrakion in the deck. It's just too late for him at this point, though, as I'm already just Land Crushing every turn. I'm able to maintain my two-prize lead to ultimately win.
Round 7 vs Darkrai/Mewtwo
He eventually took 3rd place, and he's got quite a few other notable accomplishments, so it was cool getting play against him. He takes a prize very quickly with Darkrai and I can't get the Retaliate up, so I'm forced to Bolt Strike for 100. He goes up a 2nd prize by using X-Ball to KO my Zekrom. I'm in a really bad position now, because I'm basically forced into a Mewtwo war and I'm effectively down by a turn. Furthermore, he Portraited to see my hand was dead so he Junk Armed his Supporters away for a Random Receiver and didn't play it for a couple turns. We continue this Mewtwo exchange it's 2-4 on prizes in his favor. I return the KO with Mewtwo after dropping an N to tie it at 2-2. On this turn, I also topdeck Junk Arm for Random Receiver. The next part of the game is pretty fuzzy, but ultimately the field ends up with both of us having benched Mewtwo with a combined total of 5 energy on them and a free retreater active. So whoever gets the Catcher first wins the game, and neither of us have played a single Catcher over the course of the game. It's my turn first; I play a draw supporter and whiff. He plays Random Receiver but hits N, which he obviously doesn't want to play when looking for one specific card. So he uses Portrait, but the only Supporter in my hand is N. He N's me into a Random Receiver and a Catcher. So if I survive the turn, I win. He N's himself into a Juniper, plays it, and by some miracle whiffs! He retreats into his other Smeargle, Portraits to see my game-winning hand, and scoops.
Round 8 vs ???
I don't remember what I played against this round. I just remember drawing dead the entire game and never seeing a Supporter or way to get Smeargle. I'd say odds are very high it was against mirror, though.
Round 9 vs Zekrom/Eelektrik/Terrakion
The details of this game are unfortunately fuzzy as I'm writing it a few days after the event. However, we both get off to decent starts. We end up at two prizes each and it's my turn. He's got a Zekrom active that just Bolt Striked. However, it's Eviolited. I have a Zekrom and Mewtwo on the bench, but he took out all my Eelektrik. My energy are split between them, so need to play Shaymin. I PONT to draw into it, 2 more PONT, a PlusPower, a Junk Arm, and an N. Ideally, I would have Junk Armed away the PONTs, used Shaymin to put my energy on Zekrom, and played PlusPower to Bolt Strike for the KO. This wouldn't risk him having the Mewtwo + DCE for game. However, for whatever reason I was thinking I'd need to play Mewtwo when I started the turn, so I don't see this until it's too late. I also rush and don't Junk Arm the PONT away. He Portraits into PONT to hit the Mewtwo for game. A loss I definitely could have avoided, and it was somewhat disheartening to be going into Top 128 after making a stupid misplay like that. Especially since it was the first play I'd regretted so far.
Top 128 vs Terrakion/Mewtwo/Tornadus-EX
My opponent is Curran Hill, the guy who won a State Championship with Mono-Terrakion. So I assumed that's what he's playing. It's one of my worse matchups, but at the same time, it's one of the ones I've tested the most, and I tweaked my list a little to focus on beating it.
Game one he opens Tornadus-EX, which gives me a very good chance of winning the game. However, I get off to a somewhat slow start and he's able to get up a couple prizes and hold all his energy on the field. So there's not much I can do. We basically exchange KOs until he takes his last prize while I have two remaining.
As we start Game 2, I'm relieved to see him flip over Tornadus-EX again. This game, however, I get off to a much better start. I KO Tornadus-EX almost right away. He meets that with a Retaliate to KO my Zekrom. I get out another attacker and soften up his Terrakion. He's forced to attach another energy to Terrakion to do anything to me, but he doesn't have any Exp. Share in play. So after I take out that Terrakion, the game really goes downhill for him. I'm able to use Zekrom + Catcher to prevent him from ever having more than one energy in play, and I take easy prizes at the same time. I really think he should have scooped this game up when his energy left the field, because I was also up a few prizes at that point. Instead, however, he plays out the game.
This comes back to hurt him game three, as time gets called basically as soon as he draws a card. He opened Hitmontop to my Zekrom. And he's already attached to the Hitmontop. He gets some Terrakion and Smeargle out, then uses Hitmontop's attack, flipping one heads to do 40 damage. I Dual Ball for Mewtwo-EX, put an energy on it, and Switch into Mewtwo. I'm basically holding the win in my hand; I have everything I need to KO Hitmontop with Mewtwo next turn unless he retreats it. I even have Junk Arm for Switch if he Catchers the Zekrom back up. I just don't have Catcher, and he does retreat to Hitmontop. He puts a Smeargle up, then Catchers my Zekrom. He's definitely going for the KO on it, but I'm not particularly worried because I'll be Turn 3 and get the revenge KO on Hitmontop to tie the prizes again. He'll have no other energy in play. Furthermore, I'm able to Eviolite both Mewtwo and Zekrom, so he still needs three heads to KO the Zekrom unless he can find two PlusPower. And Mewtwo won't be going down any time soon unless he hits Mewtwo + DCE. Even though the odds of him KOing Zekrom on Turn 2 are unlikely, it's incredibly stressful sitting across from a card that might or might not cost you the match. He drops a PlusPower right away and Portraits my PONT (maybe it was Juniper), but he whiffs the second PlusPower. He uses Switch to use another Portrait, but this time he whiffs the second Switch to get Hitmontop back up. I topdeck Catcher for game.
I have to give him props, though, because he was very nice and it was relaxing talking to him over the course of the match. We even talked about some of the plays we made during the game as we were still playing, haha.
Top 64 vs Celebi/Tornadus/Mewtwo-EX/Tornadus-EX/Terrakion
Game one, I start off in a pretty good position. I go first and actually go up a prize, which theoretically puts me in a good position since I'm playing against a rush deck. However, he's running Terrakion. His Terrakions can OHKO pretty much everything in my deck, whereas my Terrakion don't do much against him. He gets a Terrakion going right away. And after I finally get rid of it, he drops another one. He has both the Grass and Fighting Energy in his hand to land another Retaliate, which will put me in a pretty bad position and potentially allow him to come back. However, he accidentally attaches both energy to Smeargle instead of to Terrakion. We each have one of those "wtf..." moments, then he realizes his mistake and just scoops the game.
Game two he gets a T1 KO with Tornadus and I don't get the return KO until T3. From here we trade prizes pretty evenly, but I started out down two. My N don't stick, so he's able to maintain that lead for the rest of the game.
Game three he opens Shaymin and I go first. I open Zekrom, but am able to Level Ball + Switch to get Smeargle. I Portrait to reveal his pretty unideal hand of N, Juniper, PONT, and 4 energy. I use PONT and draw into a Junk Arm. I Junk Arm away a Lightning Energy for Level Ball to grab Tynamo. He draws, plays PONT, and just has to pass from there. I topdeck a Lightning Energy, attach it to Zekrom, evolve into Eelektrik, Dynamotor to Zekrom, play Skyarrow, retreat, and Bolt Strike for game.
Neither of my last two matches felt like very legitimate wins, so I'm hoping to play some better games in top 32.
Top 32 vs Zekrom/Raikou-EX/Mewtwo-EX/Eelektrik
Game one, my hand is dead, and he gets off to an early lead. It gets to the point where I have one Pokémon in play and if I don't topdeck something, I'll lose. I topdeck Random Receiver, and after revealing about 25 cards, I hit a PONT. I shuffle very well then play PONT and start to get set up. He dropped both his Raikous right away and put energy on a Mewtwo, so I'm able to use Terrakion and Mewtwo to catch up on prizes very quickly. I actually take a lead, ultimately having one prize remaining to his two. However, I didn't focus on taking out his Eelektriks since I hadn't played this exact matchup before. He Catchers one of my Eelektrik, N's me to 1, and uses Volt Bolt to KO my other Eelektrik. If I don't topdeck something and he has Switch, I'll lose next turn. I topdeck Level Ball, so I go in to grab Shaymin. However, it turns out that I Junk Armed it earlier in my hurry to catch up on prizes. So there goes my chance to retreat Eelektrik. He's able to get one more KO next turn for game.
Game two I run much better and am able to dominate with Terrakion since he's only using Raikou to attack. There's really not much he can do, especially since he decides not to even drop Zekrom.
Game three I open Shaymin and he X-Balls T1, going first. I have two Eelektriks and a Juniper in my hand, but if I don't get any basics this turn, I'll lose. So I have to Juniper. I hit Dual Ball, and the deck search reveals that my 3rd Eelektrik and both my Smeargle are prized. Furthermore, I don't have a Supporter in my hand. I can't even Shaymin to Mewtwo since I opened Shaymin, so the rest of the game basically consists of me throwing whatever attackers I topdeck at his Mewtwo with a billion energy. There was nothing I could do, unfortunately. It was a pretty frustrating way to go out, since the last time I played in Nationals, I prized 2 Weedle and 2 Beedrill in the last match I played of top cut. Plus, I was the last Washington player standing, so a lot of people were hoping I would go further.
Props:
~Well-run event; staff was good and everything started on time.
~Top 32.
~Pulling Tornadus-EX from prizes.
~Ian (see below).
~Alan getting Top 8.
~Polo and Charlie cutting.
~Side events.
~Noodles and Company.
~Nice venue, decent hotel.
~Not having anything big or important to complain about in slops.
Slops:
~Not being on the winners list for Regionals, so having to find the judge of the Regional I won for proof.
~Polo getting taken out by Tom, the Nats legend.
~Power going out in the hotel.
~The rest of Washington scrubbing out.
~Extreme heat.
Just for some comic relief, I have to share what my friend Ian did during his last round of swiss. He was 4-4 going into it, and the person who beat him the previous round was really rude. So he didn't want to boost his resistance, but he didn't want to drop either. So he just threw the game. He went first, and his opponent had a lone Smeargle active. His opening hand was Celebi, Tornadus-EX, DCE, Grass, Skyarrow, Smeargle. He opens Celebi and drops Tornadus-EX and Smeargle. Then, he Forest Breaths and attaches DCE to Smeargle to use Tail Rap. A little later in the game, he has Junk Arm, PONT, Juniper, and some random crap in his hand. So he Junk Arms away PONT and Juniper for Dual Ball, flips heads, looks through his deck, and fails the search. Then he looks at his hand for a little and complains about how it's dead and there's nothing he can do. After the match ended, his opponent gave him a strange look then said, "Better luck next time. You know, you could have had the donk, though." Ian just looks at him and says, "No way! How?!"
