Hello reader! I started the day off with an incomplete BlazeChomp deck that I had only practiced with sparingly. I had a Toxicroak G (Platinum), Skuntank G, Honchcrow G, and a couple of stadiums teched in for Machamp. However, from looking around the area, it didn’t look like Machamp was that heavy, and I saw quite a few Gyarados. I took those cards out and teched in a 1-1 Luxray line, but I still didn’t have anything for an occasional Machamp, other than Uxie Lv X. One of my friends came by and suggested I put in Drifblim UD, and lent me one. Problem was, I didn’t have a Drifloon! I checked with my friends and none of them had one on them either. Luckily, our league leader came by and when I asked him about it, he was able to find one. So with my complete deck, I turned in the decklist (and frowned at the Promo; really, a Poliwag?) and waited for the rounds to start.
Round 1 – Against our League Leader Roberto using Vilegar
Boy was I scared. He is an amazing player (he won cities the next day) and was running a deck I hated playing against. We both draw, he puts up the LA Oddish and I have a Garchomp C, he goes first, attached an energy, and attacks. I look at the Oddish’s weakness (+10) and back at the Uxie in my hand. I think I can donk him. I use Pokemon Collector and get a Lucario GL, Unown Q, and Crobat G. I play the Crobat G to flash bite him, 10hp down, 40hp to go. I play the Lucario GL, play the Unown Q, attach it to Garchomp. Play Uxie, attach an energy, retreat Garchomp and attack for the win! I was so excited my hands were shaking.
Round 2 – Against Arceus
I had read about Arceus many times before and knew that it was a good deck if built right and played well. I wasn’t exactly sure how to tackle one since I had never played against it before. The Arceus player had bad luck and didn’t draw into a basic 4 times! This match, at least in the beginning, was a bit of a back and forth. He didn’t Ripple Swell on his first turn, and after reading that card’s second attack, I made sure to take him out with Garchomp C Lv X ASAP. By mid game, his hand was dwindling, and I kept switching his active Arceus for another with high retreat, forcing him to lose his energies if he wanted to bring up his Arceus Lv X. Time was called, and after 3 turns, I had the lead by one prize and made it out alive.
Round 3 – SP Mirror
I knew this guy was a good player, and when I saw he was playing SP, I was a little scared. He started off with Lucario GL and a Manectric. During his turns he wasn’t doing much of anything… no Cyrus, no SP Radars, nothing. In the beginning my start was pretty bad as well; it took me 3 turns to get a Cyrus and finally start moving. I started taking out his Pokemon slowly with my Garchomp, which he eventually killed with his Dragonite FB. I brought up another Garchomp and took him out before it could do any more damage, and from then on, it was easy because he wasn’t drawing into much.
Round 4 – Against my friend Gio’s Gyarados
I did not want to play my friends! I knew Gio’s Gyarados was very well built (it had a Luxray tech too) and he plays that deck wonderfully. We both started off to rather slow starts. I tried to take advantage of his Gyarados’ weakness and brought out my Lucario GL, but before I could do much with my own Luxray, he used his own to take out my Lucario. I tried to snipe around his Gyarados early on, killing off his Luxrays on the bench, but he always got them back via Combee or Pokemon Rescue. We got called on time and he was ahead by 1 prize and took it; very well deserved!
Round 5 – Against Steelix
This girl was doing very well, she was the only undefeated person left. We both got a slow start; she only had a Jirachi and I didn’t have any interesting Pokemon. She went second and played a Professor Oak’s New Theory. Her hand was so bad she used Professor Oak again via Jirachi. On my turn I SP Radar’d into a Blaziken, attached a fire energy and energy gain, threw down a Lucario GL and attacked the Jirachi for the win.
Top Cuts!
Semifinals
Round 1/3 – Against Steelix Again
I was really hoping for more than a donk this time since I wanted to see this deck in action. It started well for the both of us, she had an Onix at the ready, Chanseys, and the Jirachi. I immediately use my resources to bring out a Blaziken FB Lv X. At one point she had a belted Steelix with 2 special metals, but with the help of Crobat I was able to one shot the Steelix using Jet Shoot. Whenever the Steelix wasn’t up, I sniped her Chanseys with Garchomp C Lv X before she could level them up. It was a quick match.
Round 2/3 – Steelix
This match went much the way of the previous, except this time I had my Luxray doing some attacking. It was able to sustain a couple of Steelix attacks thanks to its resistance, and once I had the Blaziken FB Lv X ready, I would one-shot the Steelix with Jet Shoot.
Finals
Round 1/3 – Against Gyarados/Mew
I did not want to play Gyarados again and I did not have very high hopes for this match. He starts out with the good ol’ signature card, his Mew, and puts a Gyarados onto the Lost Zone. The rest of the game I did whatever I could to snipe or spray his regice, as well as take out that Mew. He did get a Gyarados out and start dealing heavy damage, but I took him out with the help of a Luxray and Lucario GL. Towards the end, he got another Mew Prime to attack for 120 (wow), but I only had one prize left and a charged up Luxray GL Lv X, so that was game
Round 2/3 – Gyarados/Mew
I was excited about the win, but wasn’t expecting another. We both get off to incredibly slow starts (I only started off with Lucario GL… ouch), so slow that for at least 4-5 turns his Gyarados was only attacking me for 30. My Blaziken FB Lv X even sustained a hit from the Gyarados and lived to tell the tale. I took a couple of early prizes and used all of my Power Sprays to keep his Regice from discarding those Magikarps. He had Junk Arms, but couldn’t use them because he didn’t have any trainers in the discard. I eventually ran out of Power Sprays and he was able to start dealing heavy damage to me and the prize lead wasn’t so significant. I got down to 1 prize, and I knew that I could snipe his bench with Garchomp C Lv X, but I didn’t have the DCE I needed. I do what I can to thin out my deck, using collectors and cyrus to search out anything I could, as well as using Uxie Lv X. He takes out my active and he’s down 2 prizes. I use Trade-Off again and finally find the DCE I needed. I attach it to Garchomp C Lv X, and do the snipe I need for the win!
An exciting end to an exciting day! I gave some of my packs to my friends and open the rest, the pulls weren’t bad. Celebi Prime, Electrode Prime, Yanmega Prime, DPL Top, and DCL Bottom. Overall, I give mad props to my friends for being there. Gio, for doing great with G-Dos, Julio, for playing a totally rogue deck, and Robert and Grethel for driving. Robert went on to place 2nd in the cities the next day with his Uxie Donk deck. Also props to all of my opponents, who were all talented players and I wish them all well.
Round 1 – Against our League Leader Roberto using Vilegar
Boy was I scared. He is an amazing player (he won cities the next day) and was running a deck I hated playing against. We both draw, he puts up the LA Oddish and I have a Garchomp C, he goes first, attached an energy, and attacks. I look at the Oddish’s weakness (+10) and back at the Uxie in my hand. I think I can donk him. I use Pokemon Collector and get a Lucario GL, Unown Q, and Crobat G. I play the Crobat G to flash bite him, 10hp down, 40hp to go. I play the Lucario GL, play the Unown Q, attach it to Garchomp. Play Uxie, attach an energy, retreat Garchomp and attack for the win! I was so excited my hands were shaking.
Round 2 – Against Arceus
I had read about Arceus many times before and knew that it was a good deck if built right and played well. I wasn’t exactly sure how to tackle one since I had never played against it before. The Arceus player had bad luck and didn’t draw into a basic 4 times! This match, at least in the beginning, was a bit of a back and forth. He didn’t Ripple Swell on his first turn, and after reading that card’s second attack, I made sure to take him out with Garchomp C Lv X ASAP. By mid game, his hand was dwindling, and I kept switching his active Arceus for another with high retreat, forcing him to lose his energies if he wanted to bring up his Arceus Lv X. Time was called, and after 3 turns, I had the lead by one prize and made it out alive.
Round 3 – SP Mirror
I knew this guy was a good player, and when I saw he was playing SP, I was a little scared. He started off with Lucario GL and a Manectric. During his turns he wasn’t doing much of anything… no Cyrus, no SP Radars, nothing. In the beginning my start was pretty bad as well; it took me 3 turns to get a Cyrus and finally start moving. I started taking out his Pokemon slowly with my Garchomp, which he eventually killed with his Dragonite FB. I brought up another Garchomp and took him out before it could do any more damage, and from then on, it was easy because he wasn’t drawing into much.
Round 4 – Against my friend Gio’s Gyarados
I did not want to play my friends! I knew Gio’s Gyarados was very well built (it had a Luxray tech too) and he plays that deck wonderfully. We both started off to rather slow starts. I tried to take advantage of his Gyarados’ weakness and brought out my Lucario GL, but before I could do much with my own Luxray, he used his own to take out my Lucario. I tried to snipe around his Gyarados early on, killing off his Luxrays on the bench, but he always got them back via Combee or Pokemon Rescue. We got called on time and he was ahead by 1 prize and took it; very well deserved!
Round 5 – Against Steelix
This girl was doing very well, she was the only undefeated person left. We both got a slow start; she only had a Jirachi and I didn’t have any interesting Pokemon. She went second and played a Professor Oak’s New Theory. Her hand was so bad she used Professor Oak again via Jirachi. On my turn I SP Radar’d into a Blaziken, attached a fire energy and energy gain, threw down a Lucario GL and attacked the Jirachi for the win.
Top Cuts!
Semifinals
Round 1/3 – Against Steelix Again
I was really hoping for more than a donk this time since I wanted to see this deck in action. It started well for the both of us, she had an Onix at the ready, Chanseys, and the Jirachi. I immediately use my resources to bring out a Blaziken FB Lv X. At one point she had a belted Steelix with 2 special metals, but with the help of Crobat I was able to one shot the Steelix using Jet Shoot. Whenever the Steelix wasn’t up, I sniped her Chanseys with Garchomp C Lv X before she could level them up. It was a quick match.
Round 2/3 – Steelix
This match went much the way of the previous, except this time I had my Luxray doing some attacking. It was able to sustain a couple of Steelix attacks thanks to its resistance, and once I had the Blaziken FB Lv X ready, I would one-shot the Steelix with Jet Shoot.
Finals
Round 1/3 – Against Gyarados/Mew
I did not want to play Gyarados again and I did not have very high hopes for this match. He starts out with the good ol’ signature card, his Mew, and puts a Gyarados onto the Lost Zone. The rest of the game I did whatever I could to snipe or spray his regice, as well as take out that Mew. He did get a Gyarados out and start dealing heavy damage, but I took him out with the help of a Luxray and Lucario GL. Towards the end, he got another Mew Prime to attack for 120 (wow), but I only had one prize left and a charged up Luxray GL Lv X, so that was game
Round 2/3 – Gyarados/Mew
I was excited about the win, but wasn’t expecting another. We both get off to incredibly slow starts (I only started off with Lucario GL… ouch), so slow that for at least 4-5 turns his Gyarados was only attacking me for 30. My Blaziken FB Lv X even sustained a hit from the Gyarados and lived to tell the tale. I took a couple of early prizes and used all of my Power Sprays to keep his Regice from discarding those Magikarps. He had Junk Arms, but couldn’t use them because he didn’t have any trainers in the discard. I eventually ran out of Power Sprays and he was able to start dealing heavy damage to me and the prize lead wasn’t so significant. I got down to 1 prize, and I knew that I could snipe his bench with Garchomp C Lv X, but I didn’t have the DCE I needed. I do what I can to thin out my deck, using collectors and cyrus to search out anything I could, as well as using Uxie Lv X. He takes out my active and he’s down 2 prizes. I use Trade-Off again and finally find the DCE I needed. I attach it to Garchomp C Lv X, and do the snipe I need for the win!
An exciting end to an exciting day! I gave some of my packs to my friends and open the rest, the pulls weren’t bad. Celebi Prime, Electrode Prime, Yanmega Prime, DPL Top, and DCL Bottom. Overall, I give mad props to my friends for being there. Gio, for doing great with G-Dos, Julio, for playing a totally rogue deck, and Robert and Grethel for driving. Robert went on to place 2nd in the cities the next day with his Uxie Donk deck. Also props to all of my opponents, who were all talented players and I wish them all well.