So fresh off the heels of last month's BC and Seattle states where I went 4-4 in both I was ready to take down Regionals. I had a real hectic week so I didn't have much time to playtest as much with my zekeel deck as I liked, but I was confident that it was good. I built it the week after the Seattle states because I felt like CMT was a too inconsistent starter.
The night before Regionals one of my favorite bands, Sigur Ros, had their new album leak online, so getting to listen to it for the first time on the 120 mile drive up made the drive soooo much better. Also, no trouble at the borders. I get there really early so I go to a restaurant attached to the mall and get some poutine, which is steak fries, cheese curds and gravy. I know it sounds disgusting, but it's amazing!
Get my registration set up, scope out the scene, say my hellos to the Mulkiteo Phoenix Games league crew and here we go!
Round 1 vs Suzanne (Fighting rogue)
She arrived late because she was there for her kids, who had built her a deck. When shuffling she flashed a terrakion and I'm just like "you've gotta be kidding me" , She mulligans a couple times before starting with Phanpy and Tyrogue to my Zekrom EX and Tynamo. She gets a smeargle and another donphan and I'm just so annoyed at this point. I Collectored to get both my mewtwos and a smeargle and benched them. My Smeargle didn't help because she KO'd him right away. After that I managed to get 2 eels up and tried to accelerate as much energy onto my mewtwos as possible. She made a couple very costly misplays but it was still a tough battle since most of my deck was useless. We went to OT with the prizes at 2-3 with me in lead. I got a KO on a phanpy on turn 1 and she could have taken out my mewtwo but she didn't, so I one shotted a Landorus to get my final prize. 1-0
Round 2 vs Marc H. (CMT w/ Virizon & Smeargle)
This was the most ridiculous match I've ever played. He mulliganed 3 times to give me a 3 card advantage. I start Tynamo and Zekrom. He put down Smeargle and after debating with himself (because I think he thought I was running CMT) he put down Shaymin UL also. I collectored for 2 tynamos and a mewtwo, benched them all and eviolated Mewtwo mostly as a defensive measure. I thunderwave paralyzed his Smeargle Turn 1. He followed up by catching a 30 HP tynamo and Celebration Wind KO'ing it. At this point we were busting up laughing at the ridiculousness of our game and how it should be filmed so people could laugh at us on youtube. After that it was pretty standard, we built up our armies. I miscounted damage on his mewtwo and left it with 20 HP because I forgot about eviolite and I knew that would be the deciding factor. We went to OT with the score 3-3. On turn 1 I made the biggest mistake I've ever made in meta when I used Sages and should have grabbed a catcher and a dce, but I saw my other mewtwo in there and thought I'd need it so I forgot I needed the catcher. I DCE + double motored onto Mewtwo that already had one energy and he was like "you've got to be kidding me" . I junk arm for my switch and bring Mewtwo out and look for my catcher but it's not there. All I can do is KO his tornadus. Next turn he KO's my mewtwo to go up 1-2. I needed to top deck something to have a chance since my hand was 2 energy at that point. I top decked eviolite and couldn't return KO a fresh Mewtwo. 1-1
Round 3 vs Hiroshi (Mewtwo, Tornadus, Terrakion, Regigigas, Tyrogue)
He had energy troubles early. I don't remember a lot about this match other then He ended up attacking with Tyrogue 4 or 5 times and staying asleep every time. Pretty straight forward game, I one shotted his terrakion with Zek EX pretty early and shocked him later in the game when we he was up 3-4 when I dropped a mewtwo + DCE and dynamotor x 3 to one shot his Gigas to go up by 1. He KO'd my mewtwo with his but I was able to get the win by following up with my own mewtwo. 2-1
Round 4 vs Andrew (Reshisplosion)
I knew what deck Andrew was using because I sat next to him last month at states and was about 100% sure he was using the same deck. He thought I was using CMT I believe so starting with Zek EX and Tynamo probably threw him off a little. We both set up fast thanks to his Pichu but then I went through a supporter drought halfway through the game. I Ko'd a couple Typholsions and 2 regular Reshirams, he got my Zek EX and Mewtwo. At the end of the game he dropped a Reshiram EX and my second Zek EX was active with 120 damage and an eviolite. He gambled with glinting claw needing to hit heads for the win knowing that I could One shot his Reshi EX with my Mewtwo. It came up heads. 2-2
Round 5 vs Sebastion (Vileplume/Vanilluxe/Houndoom/Fliptini)
I should have lost this match. I'll repeat. I SHOULD HAVE LOST THIS MATCH. He tables two Oddish and a Vanillite turn 1. I set up as fast as I can with Tynamos and Mewtwo. I KO a gloom my next turn but then he just used twins for rare-candy to evolve oddish into Vileplume. Ugh! My basic strategy at this point was to overload energies onto mewtwo and Zekrom EX and KO as fast as possible. His first double freeze before he got fliptini out worked and I was pretty down about him getting setup. He even got Fliptini out the next turn. Then something amazing happened. He rolled Quad-tails 4 times out of 5 allowing me to OHKO his active every time for the game. Like I said, the dice gods were on my side for this game, probably to make up for the last game! 3-2
Round 6 vs Stephen (Celebi, Virizion, Gigas, Mewtwo)
He seemed very inexperienced to meta-game but still had a pretty good deck. He made a mistake early with damage thinking that 3 energy between our mewtwos + a PP would be enough to KO mine. Obviously it wasn't and it let me return fire KO onto his. I Setup two eels and a regular zekrom. He Ko'd my mewtwo finally but I had a second one and was able to dynamotor energy onto it to KO his second metwo. He spent about 5 minutes on his last turn and the judge told him he had to make a move so he KO'd my Zekrom with his Gigas. I hit gigas for the final 140 damage for the win. 4-2
Round 7 vs Kyle (Quad Terrakion)
I couldn't believe I came this far for a shot at top cut only to run into my worst matchup in round 7. He mulliganed 4 times. I started with Smeargle and no bench and went first. I collectored for two mewtwos and a tynamo. He said no to tynamo right off the bat and KO'd him. Didn't matter because I knew I was hitting him with 3 mewtwos from this point forward assuming my super rod would make an appearance since I run only two mewtwo. I abused Portrait a lot and only used my junk arms for switch. Got lucky and got all 4 of my DCE's pretty early. One of his Terrakions was prized and I was able to KO the other three. I was in shock after the win, I had to top cut after this, right? 5-2
After 20 minutes they started calling names for prizes for places 17-32. My name got called at #25. MY OPPONENTS DIDN'T WIN ENOUGH! It's so frustrating to come so close only to lose based on that. My round 1 opponent finished 2-5, and I know two of my other opponents finished 3-4. My only two losses came to guys who made top cut also. I took home 7 packs for finishing 25th. I waited to open my packs until I got home knowing that an EX would make me feel a little better. No luck though, although I did get a reverse holo Zekrom and a reverse holo prism energy.
PROS
- Listening to the new Sigur Ros album for the first time and 5 times total
- Poutine!!!
- 5-2 in my third event ever
- Winning packs!
- Not getting pulled over after passing someone doing 75+ mph in a 60mph zone as my lane was ending when a cop was just up ahead sitting the other direction in his car
CONS
- My opponents not winning enough
- Waiting an hr at the border to go home
- No EX's in packs
More pros then cons! I'll take it! Bring on Dark Explorers!
The night before Regionals one of my favorite bands, Sigur Ros, had their new album leak online, so getting to listen to it for the first time on the 120 mile drive up made the drive soooo much better. Also, no trouble at the borders. I get there really early so I go to a restaurant attached to the mall and get some poutine, which is steak fries, cheese curds and gravy. I know it sounds disgusting, but it's amazing!
Get my registration set up, scope out the scene, say my hellos to the Mulkiteo Phoenix Games league crew and here we go! Round 1 vs Suzanne (Fighting rogue)
She arrived late because she was there for her kids, who had built her a deck. When shuffling she flashed a terrakion and I'm just like "you've gotta be kidding me" , She mulligans a couple times before starting with Phanpy and Tyrogue to my Zekrom EX and Tynamo. She gets a smeargle and another donphan and I'm just so annoyed at this point. I Collectored to get both my mewtwos and a smeargle and benched them. My Smeargle didn't help because she KO'd him right away. After that I managed to get 2 eels up and tried to accelerate as much energy onto my mewtwos as possible. She made a couple very costly misplays but it was still a tough battle since most of my deck was useless. We went to OT with the prizes at 2-3 with me in lead. I got a KO on a phanpy on turn 1 and she could have taken out my mewtwo but she didn't, so I one shotted a Landorus to get my final prize. 1-0
Round 2 vs Marc H. (CMT w/ Virizon & Smeargle)
This was the most ridiculous match I've ever played. He mulliganed 3 times to give me a 3 card advantage. I start Tynamo and Zekrom. He put down Smeargle and after debating with himself (because I think he thought I was running CMT) he put down Shaymin UL also. I collectored for 2 tynamos and a mewtwo, benched them all and eviolated Mewtwo mostly as a defensive measure. I thunderwave paralyzed his Smeargle Turn 1. He followed up by catching a 30 HP tynamo and Celebration Wind KO'ing it. At this point we were busting up laughing at the ridiculousness of our game and how it should be filmed so people could laugh at us on youtube. After that it was pretty standard, we built up our armies. I miscounted damage on his mewtwo and left it with 20 HP because I forgot about eviolite and I knew that would be the deciding factor. We went to OT with the score 3-3. On turn 1 I made the biggest mistake I've ever made in meta when I used Sages and should have grabbed a catcher and a dce, but I saw my other mewtwo in there and thought I'd need it so I forgot I needed the catcher. I DCE + double motored onto Mewtwo that already had one energy and he was like "you've got to be kidding me" . I junk arm for my switch and bring Mewtwo out and look for my catcher but it's not there. All I can do is KO his tornadus. Next turn he KO's my mewtwo to go up 1-2. I needed to top deck something to have a chance since my hand was 2 energy at that point. I top decked eviolite and couldn't return KO a fresh Mewtwo. 1-1
Round 3 vs Hiroshi (Mewtwo, Tornadus, Terrakion, Regigigas, Tyrogue)
He had energy troubles early. I don't remember a lot about this match other then He ended up attacking with Tyrogue 4 or 5 times and staying asleep every time. Pretty straight forward game, I one shotted his terrakion with Zek EX pretty early and shocked him later in the game when we he was up 3-4 when I dropped a mewtwo + DCE and dynamotor x 3 to one shot his Gigas to go up by 1. He KO'd my mewtwo with his but I was able to get the win by following up with my own mewtwo. 2-1
Round 4 vs Andrew (Reshisplosion)
I knew what deck Andrew was using because I sat next to him last month at states and was about 100% sure he was using the same deck. He thought I was using CMT I believe so starting with Zek EX and Tynamo probably threw him off a little. We both set up fast thanks to his Pichu but then I went through a supporter drought halfway through the game. I Ko'd a couple Typholsions and 2 regular Reshirams, he got my Zek EX and Mewtwo. At the end of the game he dropped a Reshiram EX and my second Zek EX was active with 120 damage and an eviolite. He gambled with glinting claw needing to hit heads for the win knowing that I could One shot his Reshi EX with my Mewtwo. It came up heads. 2-2
Round 5 vs Sebastion (Vileplume/Vanilluxe/Houndoom/Fliptini)
I should have lost this match. I'll repeat. I SHOULD HAVE LOST THIS MATCH. He tables two Oddish and a Vanillite turn 1. I set up as fast as I can with Tynamos and Mewtwo. I KO a gloom my next turn but then he just used twins for rare-candy to evolve oddish into Vileplume. Ugh! My basic strategy at this point was to overload energies onto mewtwo and Zekrom EX and KO as fast as possible. His first double freeze before he got fliptini out worked and I was pretty down about him getting setup. He even got Fliptini out the next turn. Then something amazing happened. He rolled Quad-tails 4 times out of 5 allowing me to OHKO his active every time for the game. Like I said, the dice gods were on my side for this game, probably to make up for the last game! 3-2
Round 6 vs Stephen (Celebi, Virizion, Gigas, Mewtwo)
He seemed very inexperienced to meta-game but still had a pretty good deck. He made a mistake early with damage thinking that 3 energy between our mewtwos + a PP would be enough to KO mine. Obviously it wasn't and it let me return fire KO onto his. I Setup two eels and a regular zekrom. He Ko'd my mewtwo finally but I had a second one and was able to dynamotor energy onto it to KO his second metwo. He spent about 5 minutes on his last turn and the judge told him he had to make a move so he KO'd my Zekrom with his Gigas. I hit gigas for the final 140 damage for the win. 4-2
Round 7 vs Kyle (Quad Terrakion)
I couldn't believe I came this far for a shot at top cut only to run into my worst matchup in round 7. He mulliganed 4 times. I started with Smeargle and no bench and went first. I collectored for two mewtwos and a tynamo. He said no to tynamo right off the bat and KO'd him. Didn't matter because I knew I was hitting him with 3 mewtwos from this point forward assuming my super rod would make an appearance since I run only two mewtwo. I abused Portrait a lot and only used my junk arms for switch. Got lucky and got all 4 of my DCE's pretty early. One of his Terrakions was prized and I was able to KO the other three. I was in shock after the win, I had to top cut after this, right? 5-2
After 20 minutes they started calling names for prizes for places 17-32. My name got called at #25. MY OPPONENTS DIDN'T WIN ENOUGH! It's so frustrating to come so close only to lose based on that. My round 1 opponent finished 2-5, and I know two of my other opponents finished 3-4. My only two losses came to guys who made top cut also. I took home 7 packs for finishing 25th. I waited to open my packs until I got home knowing that an EX would make me feel a little better. No luck though, although I did get a reverse holo Zekrom and a reverse holo prism energy.
PROS
- Listening to the new Sigur Ros album for the first time and 5 times total
- Poutine!!!
- 5-2 in my third event ever
- Winning packs!
- Not getting pulled over after passing someone doing 75+ mph in a 60mph zone as my lane was ending when a cop was just up ahead sitting the other direction in his car
CONS
- My opponents not winning enough
- Waiting an hr at the border to go home
- No EX's in packs
More pros then cons! I'll take it! Bring on Dark Explorers!
