So I haven't been to nationals since Diamond and Pearl sets were legal. I was just attending because I thought it would be fun. I never thought I'd have a chance at top cut in masters. Anyways, before the report begins, I would just like to say this statement right now.
Thursday before nationals, me and my buddies Tyson, Chuck (aka Chuckles) and Jordan get into the car and we drive down to nats. And by "we" I mean Tyson drives the whole way down with no cruise control because the car is that old. Yeah his shins hurt a bit after the 8 hour drive from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Indianapolis. Anyways, we all prereg and figure out what we're playing. Tyson and I are playing ZekEels, Chuckels throws together a ZekEels with cards from my binder because he lost his (rofl) and Jordan is playing CMT. All 4 of us are in masters btw. Afterwards we just do some side events and league play. Sell some stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sell my Darkrai EX or my Tornadus EX because people needed to borrow them and I'm too nice to say no. I playtest vs CMT back at the hotel room (super 8, about 10 minutes away from the convention center) and I smash it pretty badly against Jordan, 2-1 in a best of 3. I decide to drop my 2 Ultra Ball for 2 Dual Ball. Even though I absolutely hate Dual Ball because of the flip involved, and because people end up junk arming it a lot (I just feel like you could junk arm catcher or something instead), the only other things that can search Zekrom, Mewtwo EX, and Terrakion are Pokémon Collector and Pokémon Communication. I opted to pray to Jesus that I flipped 50% on Dual Ball all day. Then Tyson plays it and trolls me. Anyways, we go to sleep, wake up, meet up with everybody else from Green Bay (Yoshi, Ethan, Devin, Austin, and Alex), and we play some pokemon.
The List:
Round 1 vs some guy with Empoleon/Kingdra
I start Zekrom + Tynamo to his double Piplup. I got scared at first, because i had not tested vs Empoleon/Terrakion. Like at all. Never. Ever. But that scaredness soon faded away. I got a double heads off Dual Ball (I figured this was going to bite me in the butt later), and went for Tynamo/Smeargle. Attatched. Switched for Portrait into a PONT/Juniper, I don't remember which, but some really good draw supporter. He dropped Horsea on his first turn, and by about turn 3, I figured he didn't play Terrakion. I just set up a Zekrom and proceeded to Bolt Strike the bejeebus out of his field. I still remain undefeated in all round 1's of national championships I have attended.
1-0
Round 2 vs Samuel L with Darkrai/Smeargle
I really wish I could remember more of this game, because it was undoubtedly the most intense and best match I played all weekend. I remember going for Terrakion instantly, and me and my opponent end up in a prize trade. He uses N twice on me in this match, and both of them were HUGELY game-changing. I have to hand it to my opponent, he played absolutely flawlessly. I didn't. I made a small play mistake early that slowed my setup, and possibly caused him to win. But the fact that I made it a 2-0 in the end I was happy with. Again, my opponent, Samuel L played a great match, and he was a real great guy. I really hope he writes a more in-depth report on some kind of forums somewhere, so I can remember more of what happened. Anyways, it came down to the +4 turns, and he ended up winning 2-0.
1-1
Round 3 vs another guy with Darkrai/Terrakion
I get a quick Zekrom set up, and hit a Darkrai for 120. He tries to free retreat out and Night Spears me, but I catcher him back up and KO. He gets Terrakion out and Retaliates me for 90. I proceed to Bolt Strike + Pluspower him for the KO. He KO's back with another Retaliate, and I respond by Catchering for a Darkrai EX KO. He can't one-shot my Terrakion, so I end up catchering (possibly with a Junk Arm?) a smeargle for the last prize.
Round 4 vs Bryan L with Darkrai + techs
It was a Darkrai deck, but he ran Mewtwo and Terrakion. I don't remember much of this match either. I remember we had a short Mewtwo war, I KO'd a Darkrai, and he stalled for a bit by Catchering my eel. In the end, it came down to the last turn, I drew my last card on the turn that i won. Playing Juniper, and then Portraiting his Juniper almost cost me the match. But I was able to catcher stuff and KO for free prizes after the Mewtwo war.
3-1
Round 5 Vs somebody with googleLock/The Truth/whatever its called.
My opponent opens Mewtwo, Oddish and Solosis to my Zekrom. He has no supporters the whole game, so I just set up a Mewtwo and KO his Mewtwo, and then just sweep his field.
4-1
I was extremely surprised at this point. 4-1 in masters is something i never dreamed to accomplish. I was originally just going to play day 1, drop after doing bad, and play in VGC. That didn't happen. At this point, Tyson is also 4-1, Jordan is 3-2, Chuckles is 2-3. Ethan was 5-0, like a baws. Yoshi was 4-1, everybody else from Green Bay had basically lost out of top cut at this point. I heard Jason K was 5-0 with Meganium, although he played Vileplume/Mismagius, so it was a misconception. There were multiple 4-1/5-0 Meganiums, however. And to think everybody on this site said that deck was inferior to Klinklang. When I find the link i will post it in here I promise.
Day 2
Round 6 vs a dude with ZekEels
We both have good setups, but we both abandon Zekrom, and a mewtwo war actually breaks out almost instantly. He takes a prize early, and then I get his Zekrom with a Mewtwo. He X-Balls me for the KO. I get him back. He super rods Mewtwo back in, and gets me back. Prize count is 1-3, his favor. I Junk Arm, Dual Ball and...double...tails...I push up an undamaged eviolited Zekrom and pass. Fortunately he doesn't get a catcher, and just X-Balls me. I get the Mewtwo out a turn late and X-Ball for the KO making it 1-1. He goes "Mewtwo, Dynamotor, Dynamotor, retreat, X-Ball KO" and I'm like "....that only hits for 160...." He realizes his play mistake, and I just show him that i can catcher his smeargle for the game. He was real bummed by his play mistake, I felt bad for him, but he did point out that he would have lost if I hadn't flipped the double tails anyways. But I end up winning.
5-1
Round 7 Vs Tyson S with ZekEels
I end up getting paired against Tyson this round. I said "well, if I'm going to lose to somebody, it better be somebody from my own area." He felt the same way. Tyson had a better setup than I did, and I whiffed on an energy off of a PONT early on. That put him up 3-5 after I took the first prize. We trade prizes hereafter and go to 1-3, and I N him down to 1 card. Unfortunately, after 2 turns and one KO from me, he finally gets Junk Arm to catcher up an Eel for the knockout. I expected to lose about turn 4, but I almost managed to pull it off with the N. GG Tyson.
5-2
At this point, all luck forsakes me.
Round 8 vs Stephon with ZekEels (lol 3 mirrors in a row, also I forgot the last inital)
We both start only tynamos, but we also both start with 0 supporters. He draws, thunder waves, and passes. I Level Ball twice for Smeargle and Tynamo, but since he has 0 supporters, Smeargle is useless. My opponend topdecks Juniper. Off of the Juniper, the following happens: Mewtwo, Eel, Eel, Dynamotor, Dynamotor, Switch, Catcher, KO Tynamo. I'm like O_O. I push up Smeargle, drop Skyarrow, and Portrai. He has nothing. I retreat for somebody that's Eviolited to try and stall. He topdecks Juniper for the second time in a row. He sets up a 3rd eel, and a benched Zekrom, Catchers Smeargle, and hits the pluspower. I just scooped after 2 more turns of topdecking junk in disgust. 3rd loss means i'm on the bubble, and it came to a double Juniper topdeck where everything was beneath it.
5-3
Round 9 vs Sam E with ZekEels (rofl 4 mirrors in a row.)
All you need to know. I start Zekrom. My 2nd Zekrom is prized. I Quad Tails a Dual Ball. And he has a Turn 2 Terrakion with the ability to Land Crush. I really hated losing to this guy. I hate saying it, but he didn't deserve to win. He benched a Tornadus EX real early on without even thinking about it. If my second Zekrom wasn't prized, that's just a sitting free 2 prize cards. I don't know how, but I still manage to make this game go to the +4 turns, I'm attempting to KO his Tornadus with my Mewtwo at this point, the prizes are 3-5. I N him to 3 and X-ball his Tornadus for 80. Off of his 3, he hits the one Mewtwo in his deck, double dynamotors, and just KOs me.
Final Record: 5-4
So yeah. I play my way to 5-1, and then crash to 5-4. The loss to Tyson was legit, I will admit. However, I really feel there's no way that I should have gone to 5-4 on pure luck. It wasn't even that my draws were bad. I started with Smeargle in the 3rd loss, and got 2 Eels, a Mewtwo, and a Terrakion out in the 4th. I even got my Zekrom super rodded back in in a hope to KO Tornadus. I really didn't like going out of contention for top cut because my opponents had jesus draws. But overall, it was kind of encouraging. I didn't lose top cut because I play mistaked. I actually played my way to 5-1, which is really good in my opinion. I didn't expect to do half as good. I enjoyed this nationals most of all of the ones I have attended (despite the abhorrent luck), and if its my last nats, which it might be, (college in fall, but still undecided), I'm happy I know I can now play at a level that gives me a chance at top cutting.
Props:
~My deck worked. If I could have changed something, I would have added a 3rd Zekrom, I really wanted to, but I just couldn't force myself to take anything out. Thanks to all who helped the list out. Austin, Yoshi, [member]Glace[/member], [smod]Celebi23[/smod], and Tyson all saw my list completely layed out at some point, and tried to help me fix it. Your fixes worked, back luck just sucks.
~Chad for loaning me my 2 Mewtwos. They won me multiple mewtwo wars, and if I had won any boosters, he was getting half of them.
~Ethan for making it into top 128 (6-3 was his final record, 2nd 6-3 to get in. Baller resistance.)
~Devin for making Top 32 in seniors
~Converting Chuck
~Samuel (2nd round opponent) going 8-1 in swiss and making top 64
~Having a chance at top cut
~Not making very many play mistakes despite only playing in 2 Spring Battle Roads and Nats this year. (no other premier events lol)
~Do the Dolphin!
~Chuck's cats t-shirt
~Meganium for being boss
~Klingklang for winning nats
~Overall a great time
~Mountain Dew
~Side Events
~Getting a Darkrai Playmat
~Despite the attrocious basic format, it was well balanced. Top 4 was ZekEels, Klingklang, CMT, and Darkrai in masters, so there was a little bit of everything.
Slops:
~My opponent's Jesus draws
~Yoshi missing top cut with his mew/accelgor deck
~Collector's Cache selling out of Cynthia/Garchomp sleeves. I WANT THEM SO BADLY.
~Nobody from Wisconsin earning a Worlds invite
~Not being able to sell Darkrai or Tornadus
~Junk pulls from Side Events
~4 Excadrills in 8 packs that I bought for $15. OK, there's bad, and then there's 4 Excadrills in 8 packs. seriously?
~Pulling a 5th Excadrill in 1 booster that I won right after that. Lol what.
~Having to play against Tyson
~Seeing lots of beachers but being too shy/not having time to introduce myself. I saw Afro-G, AMT, and dragonexpert like 12 times, but never got to talk to any of them.
~Meganium not winning
~Jay Hornung not winning (but he did get top 4.)
~Not being able to find Zero, the guy in the bright green hat
I really hope I can continue TCG in college. Hope to see, and actually meet you all next year! Thanks for reading! Also please actually comment. If I played you, PM me or leave me a profile comment, or post here saying so! I'd like to meet you. Also I know I played a Chas M in here somewhere, but I don't know where. If you read this and recognize a match, LMK so I can edit your name in. Otherwise if you just read the thread because you were bored, comment anyways. All my reports get like 90 views an 2 comments. Thanks for taking the time to read, but do please still comment! ^_^
Thursday before nationals, me and my buddies Tyson, Chuck (aka Chuckles) and Jordan get into the car and we drive down to nats. And by "we" I mean Tyson drives the whole way down with no cruise control because the car is that old. Yeah his shins hurt a bit after the 8 hour drive from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Indianapolis. Anyways, we all prereg and figure out what we're playing. Tyson and I are playing ZekEels, Chuckels throws together a ZekEels with cards from my binder because he lost his (rofl) and Jordan is playing CMT. All 4 of us are in masters btw. Afterwards we just do some side events and league play. Sell some stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sell my Darkrai EX or my Tornadus EX because people needed to borrow them and I'm too nice to say no. I playtest vs CMT back at the hotel room (super 8, about 10 minutes away from the convention center) and I smash it pretty badly against Jordan, 2-1 in a best of 3. I decide to drop my 2 Ultra Ball for 2 Dual Ball. Even though I absolutely hate Dual Ball because of the flip involved, and because people end up junk arming it a lot (I just feel like you could junk arm catcher or something instead), the only other things that can search Zekrom, Mewtwo EX, and Terrakion are Pokémon Collector and Pokémon Communication. I opted to pray to Jesus that I flipped 50% on Dual Ball all day. Then Tyson plays it and trolls me. Anyways, we go to sleep, wake up, meet up with everybody else from Green Bay (Yoshi, Ethan, Devin, Austin, and Alex), and we play some pokemon.
The List:
4-3 Eelektrik (2 Spark 2 Thunder Wave Tynamo)
2 Zekrom
2 Mewtwo EX
2 Terrakion
1 Shaymin
1 Smeargle
4 Juniper
4 Junk Arm
3 PONT
3 Level Ball
3 Catcher
2 Random Receiver
2 Skyarrow Bridge
2 N
2 Dual Ball
2 PlusPower
2 Eviolite
2 Switch
1 Super Rod
1 Energy Search
9 {L}
3 {F}
2 Zekrom
2 Mewtwo EX
2 Terrakion
1 Shaymin
1 Smeargle
4 Juniper
4 Junk Arm
3 PONT
3 Level Ball
3 Catcher
2 Random Receiver
2 Skyarrow Bridge
2 N
2 Dual Ball
2 PlusPower
2 Eviolite
2 Switch
1 Super Rod
1 Energy Search
9 {L}
3 {F}
Round 1 vs some guy with Empoleon/Kingdra
I start Zekrom + Tynamo to his double Piplup. I got scared at first, because i had not tested vs Empoleon/Terrakion. Like at all. Never. Ever. But that scaredness soon faded away. I got a double heads off Dual Ball (I figured this was going to bite me in the butt later), and went for Tynamo/Smeargle. Attatched. Switched for Portrait into a PONT/Juniper, I don't remember which, but some really good draw supporter. He dropped Horsea on his first turn, and by about turn 3, I figured he didn't play Terrakion. I just set up a Zekrom and proceeded to Bolt Strike the bejeebus out of his field. I still remain undefeated in all round 1's of national championships I have attended.
1-0
Round 2 vs Samuel L with Darkrai/Smeargle
I really wish I could remember more of this game, because it was undoubtedly the most intense and best match I played all weekend. I remember going for Terrakion instantly, and me and my opponent end up in a prize trade. He uses N twice on me in this match, and both of them were HUGELY game-changing. I have to hand it to my opponent, he played absolutely flawlessly. I didn't. I made a small play mistake early that slowed my setup, and possibly caused him to win. But the fact that I made it a 2-0 in the end I was happy with. Again, my opponent, Samuel L played a great match, and he was a real great guy. I really hope he writes a more in-depth report on some kind of forums somewhere, so I can remember more of what happened. Anyways, it came down to the +4 turns, and he ended up winning 2-0.
1-1
Round 3 vs another guy with Darkrai/Terrakion
I get a quick Zekrom set up, and hit a Darkrai for 120. He tries to free retreat out and Night Spears me, but I catcher him back up and KO. He gets Terrakion out and Retaliates me for 90. I proceed to Bolt Strike + Pluspower him for the KO. He KO's back with another Retaliate, and I respond by Catchering for a Darkrai EX KO. He can't one-shot my Terrakion, so I end up catchering (possibly with a Junk Arm?) a smeargle for the last prize.
Round 4 vs Bryan L with Darkrai + techs
It was a Darkrai deck, but he ran Mewtwo and Terrakion. I don't remember much of this match either. I remember we had a short Mewtwo war, I KO'd a Darkrai, and he stalled for a bit by Catchering my eel. In the end, it came down to the last turn, I drew my last card on the turn that i won. Playing Juniper, and then Portraiting his Juniper almost cost me the match. But I was able to catcher stuff and KO for free prizes after the Mewtwo war.
3-1
Round 5 Vs somebody with googleLock/The Truth/whatever its called.
My opponent opens Mewtwo, Oddish and Solosis to my Zekrom. He has no supporters the whole game, so I just set up a Mewtwo and KO his Mewtwo, and then just sweep his field.
4-1
I was extremely surprised at this point. 4-1 in masters is something i never dreamed to accomplish. I was originally just going to play day 1, drop after doing bad, and play in VGC. That didn't happen. At this point, Tyson is also 4-1, Jordan is 3-2, Chuckles is 2-3. Ethan was 5-0, like a baws. Yoshi was 4-1, everybody else from Green Bay had basically lost out of top cut at this point. I heard Jason K was 5-0 with Meganium, although he played Vileplume/Mismagius, so it was a misconception. There were multiple 4-1/5-0 Meganiums, however. And to think everybody on this site said that deck was inferior to Klinklang. When I find the link i will post it in here I promise.
Day 2
Round 6 vs a dude with ZekEels
We both have good setups, but we both abandon Zekrom, and a mewtwo war actually breaks out almost instantly. He takes a prize early, and then I get his Zekrom with a Mewtwo. He X-Balls me for the KO. I get him back. He super rods Mewtwo back in, and gets me back. Prize count is 1-3, his favor. I Junk Arm, Dual Ball and...double...tails...I push up an undamaged eviolited Zekrom and pass. Fortunately he doesn't get a catcher, and just X-Balls me. I get the Mewtwo out a turn late and X-Ball for the KO making it 1-1. He goes "Mewtwo, Dynamotor, Dynamotor, retreat, X-Ball KO" and I'm like "....that only hits for 160...." He realizes his play mistake, and I just show him that i can catcher his smeargle for the game. He was real bummed by his play mistake, I felt bad for him, but he did point out that he would have lost if I hadn't flipped the double tails anyways. But I end up winning.
5-1
Round 7 Vs Tyson S with ZekEels
I end up getting paired against Tyson this round. I said "well, if I'm going to lose to somebody, it better be somebody from my own area." He felt the same way. Tyson had a better setup than I did, and I whiffed on an energy off of a PONT early on. That put him up 3-5 after I took the first prize. We trade prizes hereafter and go to 1-3, and I N him down to 1 card. Unfortunately, after 2 turns and one KO from me, he finally gets Junk Arm to catcher up an Eel for the knockout. I expected to lose about turn 4, but I almost managed to pull it off with the N. GG Tyson.
5-2
At this point, all luck forsakes me.
Round 8 vs Stephon with ZekEels (lol 3 mirrors in a row, also I forgot the last inital)
We both start only tynamos, but we also both start with 0 supporters. He draws, thunder waves, and passes. I Level Ball twice for Smeargle and Tynamo, but since he has 0 supporters, Smeargle is useless. My opponend topdecks Juniper. Off of the Juniper, the following happens: Mewtwo, Eel, Eel, Dynamotor, Dynamotor, Switch, Catcher, KO Tynamo. I'm like O_O. I push up Smeargle, drop Skyarrow, and Portrai. He has nothing. I retreat for somebody that's Eviolited to try and stall. He topdecks Juniper for the second time in a row. He sets up a 3rd eel, and a benched Zekrom, Catchers Smeargle, and hits the pluspower. I just scooped after 2 more turns of topdecking junk in disgust. 3rd loss means i'm on the bubble, and it came to a double Juniper topdeck where everything was beneath it.
5-3
Round 9 vs Sam E with ZekEels (rofl 4 mirrors in a row.)
All you need to know. I start Zekrom. My 2nd Zekrom is prized. I Quad Tails a Dual Ball. And he has a Turn 2 Terrakion with the ability to Land Crush. I really hated losing to this guy. I hate saying it, but he didn't deserve to win. He benched a Tornadus EX real early on without even thinking about it. If my second Zekrom wasn't prized, that's just a sitting free 2 prize cards. I don't know how, but I still manage to make this game go to the +4 turns, I'm attempting to KO his Tornadus with my Mewtwo at this point, the prizes are 3-5. I N him to 3 and X-ball his Tornadus for 80. Off of his 3, he hits the one Mewtwo in his deck, double dynamotors, and just KOs me.
Final Record: 5-4
So yeah. I play my way to 5-1, and then crash to 5-4. The loss to Tyson was legit, I will admit. However, I really feel there's no way that I should have gone to 5-4 on pure luck. It wasn't even that my draws were bad. I started with Smeargle in the 3rd loss, and got 2 Eels, a Mewtwo, and a Terrakion out in the 4th. I even got my Zekrom super rodded back in in a hope to KO Tornadus. I really didn't like going out of contention for top cut because my opponents had jesus draws. But overall, it was kind of encouraging. I didn't lose top cut because I play mistaked. I actually played my way to 5-1, which is really good in my opinion. I didn't expect to do half as good. I enjoyed this nationals most of all of the ones I have attended (despite the abhorrent luck), and if its my last nats, which it might be, (college in fall, but still undecided), I'm happy I know I can now play at a level that gives me a chance at top cutting.
Props:
~My deck worked. If I could have changed something, I would have added a 3rd Zekrom, I really wanted to, but I just couldn't force myself to take anything out. Thanks to all who helped the list out. Austin, Yoshi, [member]Glace[/member], [smod]Celebi23[/smod], and Tyson all saw my list completely layed out at some point, and tried to help me fix it. Your fixes worked, back luck just sucks.
~Chad for loaning me my 2 Mewtwos. They won me multiple mewtwo wars, and if I had won any boosters, he was getting half of them.
~Ethan for making it into top 128 (6-3 was his final record, 2nd 6-3 to get in. Baller resistance.)
~Devin for making Top 32 in seniors
~Converting Chuck
~Samuel (2nd round opponent) going 8-1 in swiss and making top 64
~Having a chance at top cut
~Not making very many play mistakes despite only playing in 2 Spring Battle Roads and Nats this year. (no other premier events lol)
~Do the Dolphin!
~Chuck's cats t-shirt
~Meganium for being boss
~Klingklang for winning nats
~Overall a great time
~Mountain Dew
~Side Events
~Getting a Darkrai Playmat
~Despite the attrocious basic format, it was well balanced. Top 4 was ZekEels, Klingklang, CMT, and Darkrai in masters, so there was a little bit of everything.
Slops:
~My opponent's Jesus draws
~Yoshi missing top cut with his mew/accelgor deck
~Collector's Cache selling out of Cynthia/Garchomp sleeves. I WANT THEM SO BADLY.
~Nobody from Wisconsin earning a Worlds invite
~Not being able to sell Darkrai or Tornadus
~Junk pulls from Side Events
~4 Excadrills in 8 packs that I bought for $15. OK, there's bad, and then there's 4 Excadrills in 8 packs. seriously?
~Pulling a 5th Excadrill in 1 booster that I won right after that. Lol what.
~Having to play against Tyson
~Seeing lots of beachers but being too shy/not having time to introduce myself. I saw Afro-G, AMT, and dragonexpert like 12 times, but never got to talk to any of them.
~Meganium not winning
~Jay Hornung not winning (but he did get top 4.)
~Not being able to find Zero, the guy in the bright green hat
I really hope I can continue TCG in college. Hope to see, and actually meet you all next year! Thanks for reading! Also please actually comment. If I played you, PM me or leave me a profile comment, or post here saying so! I'd like to meet you. Also I know I played a Chas M in here somewhere, but I don't know where. If you read this and recognize a match, LMK so I can edit your name in. Otherwise if you just read the thread because you were bored, comment anyways. All my reports get like 90 views an 2 comments. Thanks for taking the time to read, but do please still comment! ^_^
