So as is my style for tournament prep in other games, be it a TCG or mini war game, I like to type up a journal of sorts that outlines my preparation leading up to the tournament and then a report of the event it's self. I do this because I find it helps me, as it allows me to get my thoughts out of my head and it also lets me crowd source ideas.
So, for those of you who are unaware, I live in Australia.
Australia is a land with a growing gaming community. I like to attribute this to the fact we live in a country where the wildlife will kill you...
Sharks, Crocs, Snakes, Jellyfish, Spiders, Ants, Drop Bears, Back-packer murderers, Warney and Russell Crowe.
It's got a lot better over the years... We took Warney's mobile off of him and threw away Russell's guitar... So we are now a land that is welcoming... But I digress...
Australia's emerging gaming community has lead to an increase in tournaments being held for the various games and Pokemon is no exception.
I played the Pokemon TCG back in the days of Base set. I saw of the early expansions before life dragged me away from the game. Recently, I have come back to the game and what a change it has under gone... Pokemon with more than 120HP... Attacks that do in-excess of 50 damage for very little resources spending... It's a whole new world.
As with most of the games I play, I soon grew tired of the casual play. I wanted something more competitive. Something that would give me a real challenge. So I talked to a couple of the competitive players and they told me about tournaments that were held for Pokemon.
Which leads me here, to this journal and report about my prep for my first real Pokemon tournament and then a report of the event proper.
So currently I am playing a Darkrai Hydreigon deck, yes I can already hear the "You and everyone else" being said... I'm not just playing it because it's a strong deck. I love the feel of the deck and the way it plays. The considerations you need to make to pilot it correctly have lead to some of the best games I have had in a TCG.
I have had a brilliant run with this deck, but recently I have hit a bit of a sticky patch. Has Lady Luck forsaken me (probably), are my opponents getting better (definitely) or is my deck a build that is less than optimal (a disconcerting possibility)?
After suffering a couple of losses that rattled my faith in the deck and the build I had, I have decided to look at the deck to see if I can't regain the consistency and confidence that I had not that long ago.
Firstly, let's take a look at my deck as it is now:
Now, this is the current build of the deck.
Past iterations have had cards like Dark Patch and Cheren as 3 of's and other cards having more or less copies too, in fact at one stage I wasn't running a Mewtwo EX, instead relying on the 3 Sigilyph's that were in the deck to be my hard counter to it.
I spent some time looking at the deck and wanting to go for consistency. This build has been tested a few times and it's looking promising. I can get the turn 2 nightspear with no real difficulty and usually have a Hydreigon on the bench on turn 2 or at least 3.
Even with my changes to the deck, it is still pretty standard fare. It does what it is supposed to do. I do still have some thoughts on the deck, in the case of the trainers I won't list each one separately but I'll try to give an overview of them as a collective.
My thoughts on the deck:
Do I think I have the perfect deck, no. Do I have a deck I feel comfortable playing, yes and I think that is half the battle. I feel that my build gives me the best chance for the deck playing consistently and that is my goal.
Now after all that rambling, you are probably asking, Pope... Where are the results of the test games? And the answer to that is, they are coming. Right now however, it's about time I had lunch
After lunch, I'll edit this post with some thoughts I have had during testing.
Thanks for reading,
Pope.
So, for those of you who are unaware, I live in Australia.
Australia is a land with a growing gaming community. I like to attribute this to the fact we live in a country where the wildlife will kill you...
Sharks, Crocs, Snakes, Jellyfish, Spiders, Ants, Drop Bears, Back-packer murderers, Warney and Russell Crowe.
It's got a lot better over the years... We took Warney's mobile off of him and threw away Russell's guitar... So we are now a land that is welcoming... But I digress...
Australia's emerging gaming community has lead to an increase in tournaments being held for the various games and Pokemon is no exception.
I played the Pokemon TCG back in the days of Base set. I saw of the early expansions before life dragged me away from the game. Recently, I have come back to the game and what a change it has under gone... Pokemon with more than 120HP... Attacks that do in-excess of 50 damage for very little resources spending... It's a whole new world.
As with most of the games I play, I soon grew tired of the casual play. I wanted something more competitive. Something that would give me a real challenge. So I talked to a couple of the competitive players and they told me about tournaments that were held for Pokemon.
Which leads me here, to this journal and report about my prep for my first real Pokemon tournament and then a report of the event proper.
So currently I am playing a Darkrai Hydreigon deck, yes I can already hear the "You and everyone else" being said... I'm not just playing it because it's a strong deck. I love the feel of the deck and the way it plays. The considerations you need to make to pilot it correctly have lead to some of the best games I have had in a TCG.
I have had a brilliant run with this deck, but recently I have hit a bit of a sticky patch. Has Lady Luck forsaken me (probably), are my opponents getting better (definitely) or is my deck a build that is less than optimal (a disconcerting possibility)?
After suffering a couple of losses that rattled my faith in the deck and the build I had, I have decided to look at the deck to see if I can't regain the consistency and confidence that I had not that long ago.
Firstly, let's take a look at my deck as it is now:
Darkrai Hydreigon:
3 Darkrai EX
3 Sableye
1 Mewtwo EX
1 Shaymin EX
1 Sigilyph
3 Deino
1 Zweilous
3 Hydreigon
Pokemon - 16
4 N
4 Prof Juniper
4 Cheren
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Max Potion
4 Dark Patch
4 Ultra Ball
2 Rare Candy
2 Eviolite
Trainers - 32
8 Darkness Energy
4 {P}{R}{G}{D} Blend Energy
Energy - 12
3 Darkrai EX
3 Sableye
1 Mewtwo EX
1 Shaymin EX
1 Sigilyph
3 Deino
1 Zweilous
3 Hydreigon
Pokemon - 16
4 N
4 Prof Juniper
4 Cheren
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Max Potion
4 Dark Patch
4 Ultra Ball
2 Rare Candy
2 Eviolite
Trainers - 32
8 Darkness Energy
4 {P}{R}{G}{D} Blend Energy
Energy - 12
Now, this is the current build of the deck.
Past iterations have had cards like Dark Patch and Cheren as 3 of's and other cards having more or less copies too, in fact at one stage I wasn't running a Mewtwo EX, instead relying on the 3 Sigilyph's that were in the deck to be my hard counter to it.
I spent some time looking at the deck and wanting to go for consistency. This build has been tested a few times and it's looking promising. I can get the turn 2 nightspear with no real difficulty and usually have a Hydreigon on the bench on turn 2 or at least 3.
Even with my changes to the deck, it is still pretty standard fare. It does what it is supposed to do. I do still have some thoughts on the deck, in the case of the trainers I won't list each one separately but I'll try to give an overview of them as a collective.
My thoughts on the deck:
Mewtwo EX:
I wanted to get away from using this card originally. Mewtwo is strong and is a great attacker, but it's biggest weakness is Mewtwo, making it a glass-hammer.
At first I thought the best way to win the Mewtwo war was not to participate, but rather use Sigilyph as a hard counter. Mewtwo can't hurt him, but he is vulnerable to non-EX pokemon with only 90HP. So after a bit of trial, I settled on a single Mewtwo. I reasoned that I do have a Sigilyph to help combat the X-Balling pain in the a*** and Darkrai is resistant to Mewtwo as well... I just couldn't get away from using Mewtwo though. It is a cheap and efficient way to deal with an opponents Mewtwo and if played correctly, I shouldn't lose it. The ability to move my energy and heal it off with no draw back is a real advantage.
Shaymin EX:
Probably the Pokemon I am least certain about in it's place in the deck.
It helps deal with the biggest problem the Darkrai decks have, Terrakion, but in my experience, only if you are behind or the game is close. Sure Shaymin can dish out the hurt to the popular rock type of choice, but with only 110HP, Shaymin is it's self a weaker attacker. With the rise of Ho-oh and some people in my local meta playing decks running Reshiram, I find that more often than not, Shaymin is Ultra ball fodder in place of that second Dark energy,
It's still in the deck at the moment, because I am still apprehensive towards running a Giratina in a meta that has a few FluffyChomp decks...
Sigilyph:
This card was originally my best tool to defeat Mewtwo EX and help me stall in times where I needed to set up, Safeguard is a great ability that has only been beaten a couple of times. It was a 3 of in my deck in the beginning, but it has now been reduced to 1 copy.
My reasoning behind this is that it only has 90HP and can be very easily picked off by the more common non-EX attackers. That, and if I need to find it, I have plenty of chances to draw into it or straight up search it out.
Trainers:
So during the time I spent reflecting on the deck, I had a couple of discussion with other players and finally came to the build you see above.
4 N and 4 Juniper are pretty self explanatory. They work really well in this deck. N can be used offensively at pretty much any time, even if you are down to 2-3 prizes or on it's a good play when you are behind. Juniper is a great card that my only real complaint is that she always seems to be in hands that I would rather N, than discard... She also seems to love showing up in pairs...
The 4 Cheren are what some people might question.
In testing, I have found Bianca to be good at times but less good at others. For example, the other day, I had a hand of 5 cards, one was Bianca, 2 were Catchers, a Dark patch (with no dark energy in the discard pile) and a Hydreigon.
Playing the Bianca then would mean I draw two cards. If I play a catcher, basically wasting it at the time, I'd draw 3. Waiting the turn meant that I could evolve my Zweilous in to Hydreigon, but I'd also have to either have my opponent play a card that I could catcher out or be able to play the card I drew on my next turn, leaving me with a best case scenario of I draw 4. Pretty good value, but it would mean I spend a turn essentially doing nothing. After some thought I decided to wait it out and see what happened. When it came back to my turn, I drew into a third catcher and could only wonder what if...
After testing, I have found that I feel the consistency of drawing 3 cards each time, regardless of my hand size, is better than having situations like I had above. Some might disagree and I welcome all thoughts on the matter. I was thinking a 2-2 split between the two might be an idea, but I am not sold on it.
Bumping up the Dark Patches to 4 only came at the same time I increased the Ultra Ball count to 4 as well. I felt I needed more search and ways to discard Dark energy to maximise the use of the Dark Patches and then thought an extra Dark Patch makes sense. Maybe I am wrong, but on paper and the few test games I have played, it works.
Finally, the 2 Rare Candy and 2 Eviolite round out my trainers. 2 Rare Candy mean I am basically running 3 Zweilous, but they allow me the speed this deck needs and the 2 Eviolite make Darkrai or Shaymin at a pinch that little harder to knock out.
The only other items I had considered and would like to include are Random Receiver and Tool Scrapper. Just as 2 of's. I think I am running enough Supporters to warrant the Receiver, but at the same time think that I have enough draw to escape using them. They make Sableye more useful as it means he can basically Junk Hunt for a Supporter, but I am not a fan of the random nature of the card...
As for Tool Scrapper, well Garbodour really hurts if his ability gets active. I can still push through it and deal with him, but it is a real equaliser. My deck needs to be able to fight on it's own terms to win and Garbo-Toxin stops that dead... That said, I am not really expecting to see it played and I feel confident enough that I can play around Garbo-Toxin if needed.
I wanted to get away from using this card originally. Mewtwo is strong and is a great attacker, but it's biggest weakness is Mewtwo, making it a glass-hammer.
At first I thought the best way to win the Mewtwo war was not to participate, but rather use Sigilyph as a hard counter. Mewtwo can't hurt him, but he is vulnerable to non-EX pokemon with only 90HP. So after a bit of trial, I settled on a single Mewtwo. I reasoned that I do have a Sigilyph to help combat the X-Balling pain in the a*** and Darkrai is resistant to Mewtwo as well... I just couldn't get away from using Mewtwo though. It is a cheap and efficient way to deal with an opponents Mewtwo and if played correctly, I shouldn't lose it. The ability to move my energy and heal it off with no draw back is a real advantage.
Shaymin EX:
Probably the Pokemon I am least certain about in it's place in the deck.
It helps deal with the biggest problem the Darkrai decks have, Terrakion, but in my experience, only if you are behind or the game is close. Sure Shaymin can dish out the hurt to the popular rock type of choice, but with only 110HP, Shaymin is it's self a weaker attacker. With the rise of Ho-oh and some people in my local meta playing decks running Reshiram, I find that more often than not, Shaymin is Ultra ball fodder in place of that second Dark energy,
It's still in the deck at the moment, because I am still apprehensive towards running a Giratina in a meta that has a few FluffyChomp decks...
Sigilyph:
This card was originally my best tool to defeat Mewtwo EX and help me stall in times where I needed to set up, Safeguard is a great ability that has only been beaten a couple of times. It was a 3 of in my deck in the beginning, but it has now been reduced to 1 copy.
My reasoning behind this is that it only has 90HP and can be very easily picked off by the more common non-EX attackers. That, and if I need to find it, I have plenty of chances to draw into it or straight up search it out.
Trainers:
So during the time I spent reflecting on the deck, I had a couple of discussion with other players and finally came to the build you see above.
4 N and 4 Juniper are pretty self explanatory. They work really well in this deck. N can be used offensively at pretty much any time, even if you are down to 2-3 prizes or on it's a good play when you are behind. Juniper is a great card that my only real complaint is that she always seems to be in hands that I would rather N, than discard... She also seems to love showing up in pairs...
The 4 Cheren are what some people might question.
In testing, I have found Bianca to be good at times but less good at others. For example, the other day, I had a hand of 5 cards, one was Bianca, 2 were Catchers, a Dark patch (with no dark energy in the discard pile) and a Hydreigon.
Playing the Bianca then would mean I draw two cards. If I play a catcher, basically wasting it at the time, I'd draw 3. Waiting the turn meant that I could evolve my Zweilous in to Hydreigon, but I'd also have to either have my opponent play a card that I could catcher out or be able to play the card I drew on my next turn, leaving me with a best case scenario of I draw 4. Pretty good value, but it would mean I spend a turn essentially doing nothing. After some thought I decided to wait it out and see what happened. When it came back to my turn, I drew into a third catcher and could only wonder what if...
After testing, I have found that I feel the consistency of drawing 3 cards each time, regardless of my hand size, is better than having situations like I had above. Some might disagree and I welcome all thoughts on the matter. I was thinking a 2-2 split between the two might be an idea, but I am not sold on it.
Bumping up the Dark Patches to 4 only came at the same time I increased the Ultra Ball count to 4 as well. I felt I needed more search and ways to discard Dark energy to maximise the use of the Dark Patches and then thought an extra Dark Patch makes sense. Maybe I am wrong, but on paper and the few test games I have played, it works.
Finally, the 2 Rare Candy and 2 Eviolite round out my trainers. 2 Rare Candy mean I am basically running 3 Zweilous, but they allow me the speed this deck needs and the 2 Eviolite make Darkrai or Shaymin at a pinch that little harder to knock out.
The only other items I had considered and would like to include are Random Receiver and Tool Scrapper. Just as 2 of's. I think I am running enough Supporters to warrant the Receiver, but at the same time think that I have enough draw to escape using them. They make Sableye more useful as it means he can basically Junk Hunt for a Supporter, but I am not a fan of the random nature of the card...
As for Tool Scrapper, well Garbodour really hurts if his ability gets active. I can still push through it and deal with him, but it is a real equaliser. My deck needs to be able to fight on it's own terms to win and Garbo-Toxin stops that dead... That said, I am not really expecting to see it played and I feel confident enough that I can play around Garbo-Toxin if needed.
Do I think I have the perfect deck, no. Do I have a deck I feel comfortable playing, yes and I think that is half the battle. I feel that my build gives me the best chance for the deck playing consistently and that is my goal.
Now after all that rambling, you are probably asking, Pope... Where are the results of the test games? And the answer to that is, they are coming. Right now however, it's about time I had lunch
After lunch, I'll edit this post with some thoughts I have had during testing.
Thanks for reading,
Pope.
