So I decided to play Vilegar at FL Regionals this year, after placing a mediocre 4-4 at States with Dialgachomp. To tell you the truth, I am actually more comfortable with Gyarados than anything, having topped a States and Regionals with it last year. I just thought Vilegar would be a better meta choice with a few notable players opting for Gyarados themselves. Honestly, I had only tested the deck once, a couple of weeks ago. I expected to do absolutely terribly. I apologize in advance for forgetting a few people’s names in this report. Also, I might have gotten the order of one or two of my matches incorrect. If anyone sees any errors, please let me know!
The games:
Round 1 vs. Some really unfortunate guy w/ what appeared to be Sablelock.
I flip over a Spiritomb and he flips over a Uxie. I play a Gastly, and use a Lookers’ to refresh my otherwise mediocre hand. I see that he is holding nothing but energy, a Uxie X, and some SP trainers. No Cyrus’, no Collectors, no Bebes’. Ouch! I take advantage, and KO the Uxie with a Poltergeist about turn 3. GG and sorry!
1-0
Round 2 vs Peddles w/ Luxchomp.
This is really a textbook example of a Luxchomp vs Vilegar matchup gone wrong. I set up Vileplume and Gengar in a fairly decent amount of time, but he soon follows with a tech Dialga. Naturally, I set up the X, and try to level him down. He abuses Power Spray for like, 2-3 turns, and I can’t get to a Rescue Energy fast enough. He forces a Fainting Spell if I recall correctly, and I flip tails. Oh well! GG!
1-1
Round 3 vs a Donchamp player
There really isn’t much to say about this game. I set up beautifully, and impede his setup. He plays a very trainer heavy draw engine, with Pokedexes and the like. I think he is only able to attack me with a single Donphan once or twice, and he couldn’t really set up well afterwards. I was Poltergeisting for a solid amount of damage every turn. I suppose he just got his worst matchup. I felt kind of sorry for him. GG!
2-1
Round 4 vs Chenlock (Since I played 3 Sablelock players, I might have gotten this and the next match mixed up in terms of which I actually played first.)
This guy gets a much better start than the Sablelock player from game 1. He makes a solid effort to control my hand, but I keep drawing either Looker’s or Bebe’s for Uxie to bail myself out. He uses just about all of his available resources to set up Honchkrow at one point, but I am able to snipe his Murkrow a few times before he was able to attach enough energy, retreat his active, and Riot. He eventually tries to Luring Flame Vileplume out to stall, but I was able to draw a Warp energy from his last Judge. GG!
3-1
Round 5 vs. yet another Sablelock player
This one actually gets quite close at one point. I was able to set up at a respectable pace, but he was able to get a Honchkrow fully loaded and ready to go. I couldn’t remember exactly how this game went from there, but Harrison, the guy I played in round, 8 tells me that the Honchkrow forced a Fainting Spell, I flipped heads, and I proceeded to take control from there. GG!
4-1
Round 6 vs. Jim R. with Yanmega/Magnezone (a.k.a. “Megajudge”)
Oh great… It’s Jim, who had already caused me some serious problems at Cities top cuts this year. For some reason, I had never really been able to figure this matchup out very well up until now. Truth be told, my previous experiences against good rogue decks have been less than stellar. If I recall correctly, I start with complete garbage. He opens well, and sets up at a pretty brisk pace. He takes an early lead in prizes, but I am eventually able to topdeck well and get my act together. I get a few prizes from snipes, but he is able to keep his lead throughout all of the midgame. Eventually, I take a gamble and Poltergeist a Yanmega when I am not entirely sure how many Trainers he has in hand. I thought I made a huge misplay at the time, but it turned out okay. I get a decent amount of damage, but not enough to KO him. Towards the end of the game, I am down 2 prizes to his 1. He has that Yanmega active with a good amount of damage on him, and a Crobat that had been sniped. I set up Compound Pain, and proceed to take those 2 prizes at once before he could finish off the active Gengar. Really, really, GG!
5-1
Round 7 vs. Corey R. with Gyarados.
In terms of the games I had lost, this one was probably the least close. He starts Sableye, and sets up a Gyarados hitting for 90 ridiculously fast (T2, I think). By the time I set up Gengar, he has already discarded most of the trainers in his hand with Regice, rendering Poltergeist useless. By the time I KO Regice, it was too late. I really have to give this guy props for having one of the slickest Gyarados builds I have ever seen. He just outsped me so much, I wasn’t able to compete at all. He also deserves props for impersonating Cyrus to search Collector instead of impersonating Collector for Magikarp directly, leaving him less vulnerable to tech Gengar Primes. I see too many Gyarados players make that mistake in this matchup. GG!
5-2
Round 8 vs. Harrison L. with Gyarados.
Wow! I really didn’t want to play Harrison this game. I was pretty sure he was playing Gyarados, and that matchup didn’t exactly go so well the last time. We both knew our resistance was bad, so we were a little bit on edge about going 5-3. Of course, I happen to start with Chansey this game (I tech a 1-1 Blissey). Go figure! I was able to attach Unown Q and an energy, and retreat for the Spiritomb I topdecked. We both set up from there at about the same rate. I KO Regice, and he KOs my Gengar with a ‘Dos (because he couldn’t with Uxie or Crobat. I think I spammed Nurse Call or something, but IDK). Thankfully, I flip heads with Fainting Spell! I couldn’t remember if he set up another Gyarados or a Mew Prime after that, but I forced another Fainting Spell, and flipped heads again. I also Lookered his Combee out of his hand, hindering his recovery. Had I not flipped either one of those Fainting Spells, I’m sure this game would have gone quite a bit differently. There was also one point in this game when we both made a misplay apiece: I forgot to level up Gengar once to keep him from getting Psychic Restored, but he attached to something else when it would have saved him a Fainting Spell if he had attached to Uxie. Either way, GG!
6-2
I finish 7th in swiss. Go figure. Lucky number 7… It seemed fitting, considering all of the lucksacking I had done.
Regardless, top 32 got free pizza. I must say, it was some of the best pizza I ever ate. Too bad it was cold by the time I got it.
So anyway, Harrison, who I had played in top 8, was excited to realize that he cut too. He seemed a little less than enthused, however, when he realized he had to play me again…
Top 32 vs. Harrison w/ Gyarados
Game 1 is almost a freakish repeat of our last game. Of course, I happen to start Chansey again. Just like last time, I flip 2 Fainting Spell heads out of 2 to bypass his rescue energies. Everything else just fell into place. It was still a ridiculously close game.
Game 2 actually went quite a bit differently. I start amazingly well, and I believe I was able to get a Vileplume into play by the end of my first turn (he started Sableye). I was also able to have a fully loaded Gengar attacking soon after that. As odd as it sounds, I was able to take control of the board early. He scooped. GG!
Day 1 ended after that. I stayed up late, and got very little sleep for the third day in a row. Wonderful!
Top 16 vs. K. Kobayashi w/ Gigas
I had seen this guy on the Gym and Pokebeach, but I didn’t know who he was in person. I wasn’t able to draw the connection until I read his report when I got home. Either way, this was one weird match.
Game 1 was ridiculously close. I start Spiritomb, he goes second, attaches to Uxie, and passes. I’m somewhat confused at this point, thinking he might be playing Uxie donk, Speedchamp, or something lame like that. I got my hopes up after that, only to realize that he’s actually playing Gigas. We both set up after that weird turn, and trade a couple of prizes. I flip tails on a rather crucial Fainting Spell, and he came out ahead in the prize trade for most of the game, due to some very shrewd Abomasnow shenanigans. Towards the end of the game, he drops a Black Belt and drags off Blissey. At this point, however, I realize he only has 1-2 cards left in his deck. At that point, I intended to stall him for deckout. Anyway, I had a Rescue Energy in hand, but I needed either a Warp Energy or Unown Q to help me retreat that Blissey. I used Palmer’s to get the Q from my discard, since I only run 1. I use Uxie to try to draw into it, but I do not succeed. He retreats Gigas, and KOs Blissey with a Uxie, placing him on the bottom. He uses Sage’s next turn to draw the remnants of his deck, attaches the metal energy he finds there to Gigas, and drags off an already weakened Azelf for the game. Ow!
My luck game 2 is the absolute reverse of the good luck I had the day before. I try to Darkness Grace for Gloom T1, and realize that they are both prized. I also fail to draw a Psychic energy after both a Lookers’ AND a Set-Up, if I recall correctly. He takes 3 prizes with Abomasnow, and I keep whiffing energy (a good number of which were prized with the Glooms, I believe). I scoop after he Crobat KOs a Gengar, and I head home. GG!
Props:
Amazing pizza
Making top 16 in Florida 2 years in a row
Amazing luck day 1
Holding my own against some good players
An amazingly run event
Slops:
The pizza going cold
Bad continental breakfast
Worse luck day 2
Unfamiliarity with the Gigas matchup
Cheaply sacking Harrison.
The games:
Round 1 vs. Some really unfortunate guy w/ what appeared to be Sablelock.
I flip over a Spiritomb and he flips over a Uxie. I play a Gastly, and use a Lookers’ to refresh my otherwise mediocre hand. I see that he is holding nothing but energy, a Uxie X, and some SP trainers. No Cyrus’, no Collectors, no Bebes’. Ouch! I take advantage, and KO the Uxie with a Poltergeist about turn 3. GG and sorry!
1-0
Round 2 vs Peddles w/ Luxchomp.
This is really a textbook example of a Luxchomp vs Vilegar matchup gone wrong. I set up Vileplume and Gengar in a fairly decent amount of time, but he soon follows with a tech Dialga. Naturally, I set up the X, and try to level him down. He abuses Power Spray for like, 2-3 turns, and I can’t get to a Rescue Energy fast enough. He forces a Fainting Spell if I recall correctly, and I flip tails. Oh well! GG!
1-1
Round 3 vs a Donchamp player
There really isn’t much to say about this game. I set up beautifully, and impede his setup. He plays a very trainer heavy draw engine, with Pokedexes and the like. I think he is only able to attack me with a single Donphan once or twice, and he couldn’t really set up well afterwards. I was Poltergeisting for a solid amount of damage every turn. I suppose he just got his worst matchup. I felt kind of sorry for him. GG!
2-1
Round 4 vs Chenlock (Since I played 3 Sablelock players, I might have gotten this and the next match mixed up in terms of which I actually played first.)
This guy gets a much better start than the Sablelock player from game 1. He makes a solid effort to control my hand, but I keep drawing either Looker’s or Bebe’s for Uxie to bail myself out. He uses just about all of his available resources to set up Honchkrow at one point, but I am able to snipe his Murkrow a few times before he was able to attach enough energy, retreat his active, and Riot. He eventually tries to Luring Flame Vileplume out to stall, but I was able to draw a Warp energy from his last Judge. GG!
3-1
Round 5 vs. yet another Sablelock player
This one actually gets quite close at one point. I was able to set up at a respectable pace, but he was able to get a Honchkrow fully loaded and ready to go. I couldn’t remember exactly how this game went from there, but Harrison, the guy I played in round, 8 tells me that the Honchkrow forced a Fainting Spell, I flipped heads, and I proceeded to take control from there. GG!
4-1
Round 6 vs. Jim R. with Yanmega/Magnezone (a.k.a. “Megajudge”)
Oh great… It’s Jim, who had already caused me some serious problems at Cities top cuts this year. For some reason, I had never really been able to figure this matchup out very well up until now. Truth be told, my previous experiences against good rogue decks have been less than stellar. If I recall correctly, I start with complete garbage. He opens well, and sets up at a pretty brisk pace. He takes an early lead in prizes, but I am eventually able to topdeck well and get my act together. I get a few prizes from snipes, but he is able to keep his lead throughout all of the midgame. Eventually, I take a gamble and Poltergeist a Yanmega when I am not entirely sure how many Trainers he has in hand. I thought I made a huge misplay at the time, but it turned out okay. I get a decent amount of damage, but not enough to KO him. Towards the end of the game, I am down 2 prizes to his 1. He has that Yanmega active with a good amount of damage on him, and a Crobat that had been sniped. I set up Compound Pain, and proceed to take those 2 prizes at once before he could finish off the active Gengar. Really, really, GG!
5-1
Round 7 vs. Corey R. with Gyarados.
In terms of the games I had lost, this one was probably the least close. He starts Sableye, and sets up a Gyarados hitting for 90 ridiculously fast (T2, I think). By the time I set up Gengar, he has already discarded most of the trainers in his hand with Regice, rendering Poltergeist useless. By the time I KO Regice, it was too late. I really have to give this guy props for having one of the slickest Gyarados builds I have ever seen. He just outsped me so much, I wasn’t able to compete at all. He also deserves props for impersonating Cyrus to search Collector instead of impersonating Collector for Magikarp directly, leaving him less vulnerable to tech Gengar Primes. I see too many Gyarados players make that mistake in this matchup. GG!
5-2
Round 8 vs. Harrison L. with Gyarados.
Wow! I really didn’t want to play Harrison this game. I was pretty sure he was playing Gyarados, and that matchup didn’t exactly go so well the last time. We both knew our resistance was bad, so we were a little bit on edge about going 5-3. Of course, I happen to start with Chansey this game (I tech a 1-1 Blissey). Go figure! I was able to attach Unown Q and an energy, and retreat for the Spiritomb I topdecked. We both set up from there at about the same rate. I KO Regice, and he KOs my Gengar with a ‘Dos (because he couldn’t with Uxie or Crobat. I think I spammed Nurse Call or something, but IDK). Thankfully, I flip heads with Fainting Spell! I couldn’t remember if he set up another Gyarados or a Mew Prime after that, but I forced another Fainting Spell, and flipped heads again. I also Lookered his Combee out of his hand, hindering his recovery. Had I not flipped either one of those Fainting Spells, I’m sure this game would have gone quite a bit differently. There was also one point in this game when we both made a misplay apiece: I forgot to level up Gengar once to keep him from getting Psychic Restored, but he attached to something else when it would have saved him a Fainting Spell if he had attached to Uxie. Either way, GG!
6-2
I finish 7th in swiss. Go figure. Lucky number 7… It seemed fitting, considering all of the lucksacking I had done.
Regardless, top 32 got free pizza. I must say, it was some of the best pizza I ever ate. Too bad it was cold by the time I got it.
So anyway, Harrison, who I had played in top 8, was excited to realize that he cut too. He seemed a little less than enthused, however, when he realized he had to play me again…
Top 32 vs. Harrison w/ Gyarados
Game 1 is almost a freakish repeat of our last game. Of course, I happen to start Chansey again. Just like last time, I flip 2 Fainting Spell heads out of 2 to bypass his rescue energies. Everything else just fell into place. It was still a ridiculously close game.
Game 2 actually went quite a bit differently. I start amazingly well, and I believe I was able to get a Vileplume into play by the end of my first turn (he started Sableye). I was also able to have a fully loaded Gengar attacking soon after that. As odd as it sounds, I was able to take control of the board early. He scooped. GG!
Day 1 ended after that. I stayed up late, and got very little sleep for the third day in a row. Wonderful!
Top 16 vs. K. Kobayashi w/ Gigas
I had seen this guy on the Gym and Pokebeach, but I didn’t know who he was in person. I wasn’t able to draw the connection until I read his report when I got home. Either way, this was one weird match.
Game 1 was ridiculously close. I start Spiritomb, he goes second, attaches to Uxie, and passes. I’m somewhat confused at this point, thinking he might be playing Uxie donk, Speedchamp, or something lame like that. I got my hopes up after that, only to realize that he’s actually playing Gigas. We both set up after that weird turn, and trade a couple of prizes. I flip tails on a rather crucial Fainting Spell, and he came out ahead in the prize trade for most of the game, due to some very shrewd Abomasnow shenanigans. Towards the end of the game, he drops a Black Belt and drags off Blissey. At this point, however, I realize he only has 1-2 cards left in his deck. At that point, I intended to stall him for deckout. Anyway, I had a Rescue Energy in hand, but I needed either a Warp Energy or Unown Q to help me retreat that Blissey. I used Palmer’s to get the Q from my discard, since I only run 1. I use Uxie to try to draw into it, but I do not succeed. He retreats Gigas, and KOs Blissey with a Uxie, placing him on the bottom. He uses Sage’s next turn to draw the remnants of his deck, attaches the metal energy he finds there to Gigas, and drags off an already weakened Azelf for the game. Ow!
My luck game 2 is the absolute reverse of the good luck I had the day before. I try to Darkness Grace for Gloom T1, and realize that they are both prized. I also fail to draw a Psychic energy after both a Lookers’ AND a Set-Up, if I recall correctly. He takes 3 prizes with Abomasnow, and I keep whiffing energy (a good number of which were prized with the Glooms, I believe). I scoop after he Crobat KOs a Gengar, and I head home. GG!
Props:
Amazing pizza
Making top 16 in Florida 2 years in a row
Amazing luck day 1
Holding my own against some good players
An amazingly run event
Slops:
The pizza going cold
Bad continental breakfast
Worse luck day 2
Unfamiliarity with the Gigas matchup
Cheaply sacking Harrison.
