Celebi23's First Cities as a Master
I'm just going to type a short version, since this won't be going up in the portal or anything. None of the games were interesting, anyway.
I decided to go with Reshiphlosion, since it's a consistent deck. That's great in an untested format. I used the exact list I posted in my Cities article.
Round 1 vs Chandelure/Yanmega
I draw a crap hand, and open Reshiram. I go first, attach, and pass. We were playing outside in the cold, without chairs, because they didn't want to turn players away. So, I was a little tilted both physically and mentally. I could have attached a Rocky Helmet to Reshiram before passing, but I didn't. It wouldn't have made any difference since he didn't damage me first turn and I attached it the next turn. This was my only misplay of the entire day, so it's all good. Anyway, after a couple turns of desperate stalling, I hit Communication, grab Cleffa, and draw a crappy six cards. I wake up, of course. Not that it mattered. I still have the lone Reshiram benched, with 70 damage on it. He Junipers into seven, free retreats his Yanma for Chandelure, knocks my Cleffa out with its Ability, plays Switch, burns one card, and Sonicbooms my Reshiram for game. At least this crap hand was against my friend, who ended up cutting. We play again for fun, and I run through him.
Loss. 0-1.
Round 2 vs Donphan/Machamp/Magnezone
The person I played in round one came up with this deck, and he made top eight at Regionals with it, as well as cutting at Battle Roads with it a few times. It's cool to see that it's catching on a bit. My start is pretty average, but his is horrible. He can't get anything setup. When I'm down to three prizes, he finally gets out a Machamp, but he has no energy on it and nothing benched. I Juniper+Roast for the triple PlusPower and take game.
Win. 1-1.
Round 3 vs Reshiram/Emboar
I'm sitting next to a friend of mine, and we show each other our hands. He's going 2nd without anything in his hand. I'm going first with the godliest hand imaginable. He says to me, loud enough for my opponent to hear, "dude, you're set!" I wanted to say, "[insert sentence enhancer here] you! N is in the format now." But, he didn't run it, so it doesn't matter. I get out turn two double Typhlosion, double Reshiram, and Ninetales. The third Typhlosion gets out T3. I completely decimate anything he even attempts to get setup, and easily sweep him, dominating the whole time. So easy, but so much fun. I did end up having to Juniper away a Junk Arm T1, and use another for Rare Candy, and discard a PlusPower off of Sage's Training, so I almost ran out of resources. I was still up by four prizes, so it wouldn't have mattered.
Win. 2-1.
Round 4 vs Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin/Tornadus (paired up)
I get the same hand I did in round one. Ironically, I get less donked, and eventually manage to get out double Typhlosion. Unfortunately, it's too little too late, and he takes his two remaining prizes quickly, even though my board is more setup. I stay in so that the guy I played in round one can cut.
Loss. 2-2.
Round 5 vs Yanmega/Magnezone
He goes first, but can't hit a Yanmega until T4. He ends up having to attack with Magnezone T2 in order to KO a Ninetales he Catchered. Unfortunately for him, it's not enough to stop my setup. I get the double Typhlosion out, even though I do dead draw mid-game because of the Ninetales KO combined with a prized Vulpix and a well-timed Judge from him. I still manage to take the prize lead back, and keep it the entire game. I do a good job of denying him charged Magnezones, and he attacks with them in some situations I wouldn't have. I take full advantage of that, and he can't get enough late-game power to do anything to me.
Win. 3-2.
So yeah, I miss cut. I didn't bother sticking around to see what place I got. I stand by my deck choice, though, and there's not a lot I could have done in either of the games I lost. They were just dead hands. I guess the list could have been a little more consistent, though; I had a Magby in my opening hand Round 1 that could have been a Juniper. On the other hand, it's important to be prepared for everything. That's why this format is so awesome; it's hard to decide on a deck, and even harder to make a good list for it.
I also got a good number of compliments on how well I played the deck, and I completely dominated all the games I got a playable hand.
Props:
-Everything.
Slops:
-3-2 and missing cut.
-Boring, one-sided games.
-Bad hands.
-Connor bombing out with CaKE (see what I did there?), but being convinced that it's good.
-Me bombing out with Reshiphlosion, but being convinced it's good.
