Hi guys.
Tragicthesaddening (Scott) here and since I’ve not posted much on the beach lately, I’ve decided to do a report on my time at Nottingham States, which happened last Saturday.
For the event I used a Reshiram/Typhlosion deck, which had been performing well the week before whenever I tested it, usually against Zekrom, Stage 1 variants and Yanmega/Magnezone. I had already used the deck twice this season. The first was at Cumbernauld battleroads which ran a heavy Ninetales line and a lot of different item cards. I ended up 7th…out of 7.
The next time was a week later in Manchester. I made a lot of changes to deck, reducing the Ninetales to a 1-1 and adding more supporters, 2 pokegear’s and maxing out on Junk Arms to reuse items. I ended up doing a lot better, winning the first 4 games before losing to Gothitelle in the 5th round of swiss, ending up 5th out of almost 30 people. I decided to use pretty much the same deck, with some minor modifications (Great ball instead of Dual ball and a Rescue Energy in place of a Fire Energy).
So I travelled down the day before with Lauren, getting a train from Edinburgh to Newcastle. After killing an hour there we met up with Michael at the station before catching a bus to meet up with Dan, who then drove for the rest of the journey to Nottingham. When we get there I play a couple of matches against Dan’s Gothitelle deck and manage to win both.
We also begin joking that Lauren should change her Zekrom deck, the only deck she’s played with, to a Samurott/Feraligatr one instead (since between the four of us we had all the cards needed to make one). Initially we think it would be great since it’s likely Reshiram would be played a lot, but then we remembered that Magnezone and Zekrom would also be there, so we just left her with Zekrom.
The next day, we arrive at the shop shortly after 10 and meet up with the other players from Scotland (including Ali, the only other Scottish player in Masters) as well as a few people I know through Skype. I hand in my deck list and then spend the next hour and a half shuffling it to properly randomise the cards in the deck. At 12.15 the tournament starts. I don’t mind who I’m paired against first, as long as it’s not someone strong, someone I know, or someone with a deck that has a strong matchup against TyRam.
As it turns out, I’m playing a strong player I know playing Reshiboar.
Round 1: George with Reshiram/Emboar
Before the match there’s about a 5 minute wait between setting up and starting the match. I start Reshiram, and I think he starts the same. While we’re waiting, we start joking with the guys sitting next to us, over whether or not one of them would be able to donk the other (long story short, he did).
If I remember correctly this match started off with both of us setting up reasonably quickly. Unfortunately I make a couple of minor misplays by ending my turn without attacking instead of doing damage with Cyndaquil. Soon he’s taking out my Reshirams while I try to knock out what I can using catchers and pluspowers.
However, when he set’s up a bad-boar , the match soon turns in his favour as I can’t do anything to stop him taking 2 prizes for the price of 1. Shortly afterwards, he takes his last prize. 0-1
So I’m actually kinda pleased that my first match against a hard matchup actually went ok, despite losing. I’m hoping for an easier opponent in the next round, but when the parings go up, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Round 2: Sami with Yanmega/Magnezone
So yeah, my 2nd game of the day and it’s against a former worlds finalist. We start talking while setting up and I think most of what I said sounded like fanboy gibberish (“Oh god I heard about you and worlds and stuff….”)
Anyway, we both have slow starts, which I think in this matchup helps TyRam out the most . I get a Reshiram and some Typhlosions set up and am able to knock out his single Magnezone in two hits. This slows him down a lot and by the time he gets another one out, I already have a two prize lead. We start to exchange prizes a bit more while he gets another Magnezone out. With two prizes left I think I’m able to knock out a Magnezone, either by using 2 pluspowers or because it had already taken 20 damage earlier. On his turn he draws and then scoops. 1-1
I was a bit supprised I won that match and I think some of my friends seemed the same way (Lauren was more excited about it then I was). I end up going into the next round knowing there’s a good chance of playing someone I know. However, my 3rd opponent is someone I’ve not met before, playing a deck I’ve not played against before.
Round 3: Benjamin with MewBox
This game doesn’t go well for him, as he has to use 3 Judges in the first 3 turns to try and get out a Vileplume. He is able to prevent me from attacking me by confusing my Reshiram with a Muk-fuelled Mew, but I’m able to set up a little bit after every Judge and soon I have 2 Typhlosions and a fresh Reshiram to take prizes. By the time he gets the Vileplume out, I already have everything I need to ensure I don’t need more item cards. I’m able to knock out whatever he sends active and I end up getting the win. 2-1
After the round there was a 30 minute lunch break. I went with Lauren, Dan and Ali to a place across the road to get some Pizza. Then I went back to the shop to check up with Michael. He also won his last match so that’s both of us on positive records going into the 2nd half. And it turns out that for the 4th round I’m playing a mirror match.
Round 4: Dan with Reshiram/Typhlosion (Different Dan then the one I just had Pizza with).
I’ve only played Dan once before in Manchester. I had won then, but he’s playing a different deck today.
He wins the flip and we both try to set up Typhlosions, but he’s able to take prizes by knocking out my Cyndaquils, slows me down a lot. Eventually we’re both set up and it comes down mostly to having our Reshirams trying to knock out each others Reshirams and Typhlosions. With a couple of prizes left, he get’s his Ninetales out and Roasts Reveals into the cards he need to knock out one of my Typhlosions. I can’t set up anything to come back into the match, and he wins next turn. 2-2
So I think that was the first time my TyRam deck had lost a mirror match. I guess it had to happen sometime. But it was a really good game and I still feel I have a chance of winning the remaining matches in swiss. Unfortunately for me, I end up playing another Reshiboar deck in the next round so it’s going to be tough to win.
Round 5: Richard with Reshiram/Emboar
The game starts with my Vulpix against his Bellsprout, but he wins the coin flip and benches more pokemon on his turn. After that it becomes similar to the 1st match. I try to slow him down by using catcher on his Emboar, but he can get it back on the bench with little effort and soon he’s destroying my field with a bad-boar. I can’t do anything to it quickly enough to turn the match around, so I use a Juniper to draw the rest of my deck. 2-3
I’ll admit I was a little dissapointed after this match, since it effectively ended my chance of reaching the top cut. All I can do now is hope to end the day with an equal win/loss record. However the last match turns out to be one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played.
Round 6: Mike with Zekrom/Tornados
We start talking before the match and I find out that he has a son who’s in Seniors. It turns out he ended up 4th so congratulations to him.
I win the flip and I have a Reshiram and Cyndaquil to his single Tornadus. I have no way to get a collector but everything I need to get a turn 2 win so I attach an energy and pass. Unfortunately he has collector and catcher and knocks out my Cyndaquil straight away. This puts me in a very bad spot and it takes a while for me to set up, while he’s still able to take prizes. However, once I get a Typhlosion out, I’m able to slowly knock out most of his field (including at one point a Shaymin with outrage), while still needing to set up another Typhlosion.
Eventually with 3 prizes left, it comes down to getting either a Typhlosion or a Fire energy next turn in order to make a comeback. I take the knock out and my prize is a Typhlosion, and on my next turn I evolve and knock out the Zekrom he’s building up. He draws, then scoops. A very close game to the end and definitely one of the most exciting I played that day.
So I finish at 3-3, which I think is pretty good given the amount of strong players there. A lot people ended up 3-3 so I begin to think I’ll end up in the bottom half of the table. To my surprise I finish 18th in a field of 44. True I was a bit disappointed I missed out on championship points, but overall, it was a really fun day.
As for the rest of Scotland, Michael also finished at 3-3, Ali went 2-4 and Lauren finished 1-5. Dan (Lauren’s boyfriend) also finished on 2-4. Our juniors had more success with Adam reaching the final with his Lightning deck (epic win), and I think everyone from Scotland had a great time in Nottingham, which is awesome.
The next event for me is Cumbernauld Cities in 3 weeks time. I'll probably play something different for that if I can find something that works in time. If not, I reckon TyRam will still be just as good.
Thanks for Reading
Scott
Tragicthesaddening (Scott) here and since I’ve not posted much on the beach lately, I’ve decided to do a report on my time at Nottingham States, which happened last Saturday.
For the event I used a Reshiram/Typhlosion deck, which had been performing well the week before whenever I tested it, usually against Zekrom, Stage 1 variants and Yanmega/Magnezone. I had already used the deck twice this season. The first was at Cumbernauld battleroads which ran a heavy Ninetales line and a lot of different item cards. I ended up 7th…out of 7.
The next time was a week later in Manchester. I made a lot of changes to deck, reducing the Ninetales to a 1-1 and adding more supporters, 2 pokegear’s and maxing out on Junk Arms to reuse items. I ended up doing a lot better, winning the first 4 games before losing to Gothitelle in the 5th round of swiss, ending up 5th out of almost 30 people. I decided to use pretty much the same deck, with some minor modifications (Great ball instead of Dual ball and a Rescue Energy in place of a Fire Energy).
So I travelled down the day before with Lauren, getting a train from Edinburgh to Newcastle. After killing an hour there we met up with Michael at the station before catching a bus to meet up with Dan, who then drove for the rest of the journey to Nottingham. When we get there I play a couple of matches against Dan’s Gothitelle deck and manage to win both.
We also begin joking that Lauren should change her Zekrom deck, the only deck she’s played with, to a Samurott/Feraligatr one instead (since between the four of us we had all the cards needed to make one). Initially we think it would be great since it’s likely Reshiram would be played a lot, but then we remembered that Magnezone and Zekrom would also be there, so we just left her with Zekrom.
The next day, we arrive at the shop shortly after 10 and meet up with the other players from Scotland (including Ali, the only other Scottish player in Masters) as well as a few people I know through Skype. I hand in my deck list and then spend the next hour and a half shuffling it to properly randomise the cards in the deck. At 12.15 the tournament starts. I don’t mind who I’m paired against first, as long as it’s not someone strong, someone I know, or someone with a deck that has a strong matchup against TyRam.
As it turns out, I’m playing a strong player I know playing Reshiboar.
Round 1: George with Reshiram/Emboar
Before the match there’s about a 5 minute wait between setting up and starting the match. I start Reshiram, and I think he starts the same. While we’re waiting, we start joking with the guys sitting next to us, over whether or not one of them would be able to donk the other (long story short, he did).
If I remember correctly this match started off with both of us setting up reasonably quickly. Unfortunately I make a couple of minor misplays by ending my turn without attacking instead of doing damage with Cyndaquil. Soon he’s taking out my Reshirams while I try to knock out what I can using catchers and pluspowers.
However, when he set’s up a bad-boar , the match soon turns in his favour as I can’t do anything to stop him taking 2 prizes for the price of 1. Shortly afterwards, he takes his last prize. 0-1
So I’m actually kinda pleased that my first match against a hard matchup actually went ok, despite losing. I’m hoping for an easier opponent in the next round, but when the parings go up, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Round 2: Sami with Yanmega/Magnezone
So yeah, my 2nd game of the day and it’s against a former worlds finalist. We start talking while setting up and I think most of what I said sounded like fanboy gibberish (“Oh god I heard about you and worlds and stuff….”)
Anyway, we both have slow starts, which I think in this matchup helps TyRam out the most . I get a Reshiram and some Typhlosions set up and am able to knock out his single Magnezone in two hits. This slows him down a lot and by the time he gets another one out, I already have a two prize lead. We start to exchange prizes a bit more while he gets another Magnezone out. With two prizes left I think I’m able to knock out a Magnezone, either by using 2 pluspowers or because it had already taken 20 damage earlier. On his turn he draws and then scoops. 1-1
I was a bit supprised I won that match and I think some of my friends seemed the same way (Lauren was more excited about it then I was). I end up going into the next round knowing there’s a good chance of playing someone I know. However, my 3rd opponent is someone I’ve not met before, playing a deck I’ve not played against before.
Round 3: Benjamin with MewBox
This game doesn’t go well for him, as he has to use 3 Judges in the first 3 turns to try and get out a Vileplume. He is able to prevent me from attacking me by confusing my Reshiram with a Muk-fuelled Mew, but I’m able to set up a little bit after every Judge and soon I have 2 Typhlosions and a fresh Reshiram to take prizes. By the time he gets the Vileplume out, I already have everything I need to ensure I don’t need more item cards. I’m able to knock out whatever he sends active and I end up getting the win. 2-1
After the round there was a 30 minute lunch break. I went with Lauren, Dan and Ali to a place across the road to get some Pizza. Then I went back to the shop to check up with Michael. He also won his last match so that’s both of us on positive records going into the 2nd half. And it turns out that for the 4th round I’m playing a mirror match.
Round 4: Dan with Reshiram/Typhlosion (Different Dan then the one I just had Pizza with).
I’ve only played Dan once before in Manchester. I had won then, but he’s playing a different deck today.
He wins the flip and we both try to set up Typhlosions, but he’s able to take prizes by knocking out my Cyndaquils, slows me down a lot. Eventually we’re both set up and it comes down mostly to having our Reshirams trying to knock out each others Reshirams and Typhlosions. With a couple of prizes left, he get’s his Ninetales out and Roasts Reveals into the cards he need to knock out one of my Typhlosions. I can’t set up anything to come back into the match, and he wins next turn. 2-2
So I think that was the first time my TyRam deck had lost a mirror match. I guess it had to happen sometime. But it was a really good game and I still feel I have a chance of winning the remaining matches in swiss. Unfortunately for me, I end up playing another Reshiboar deck in the next round so it’s going to be tough to win.
Round 5: Richard with Reshiram/Emboar
The game starts with my Vulpix against his Bellsprout, but he wins the coin flip and benches more pokemon on his turn. After that it becomes similar to the 1st match. I try to slow him down by using catcher on his Emboar, but he can get it back on the bench with little effort and soon he’s destroying my field with a bad-boar. I can’t do anything to it quickly enough to turn the match around, so I use a Juniper to draw the rest of my deck. 2-3
I’ll admit I was a little dissapointed after this match, since it effectively ended my chance of reaching the top cut. All I can do now is hope to end the day with an equal win/loss record. However the last match turns out to be one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played.
Round 6: Mike with Zekrom/Tornados
We start talking before the match and I find out that he has a son who’s in Seniors. It turns out he ended up 4th so congratulations to him.
I win the flip and I have a Reshiram and Cyndaquil to his single Tornadus. I have no way to get a collector but everything I need to get a turn 2 win so I attach an energy and pass. Unfortunately he has collector and catcher and knocks out my Cyndaquil straight away. This puts me in a very bad spot and it takes a while for me to set up, while he’s still able to take prizes. However, once I get a Typhlosion out, I’m able to slowly knock out most of his field (including at one point a Shaymin with outrage), while still needing to set up another Typhlosion.
Eventually with 3 prizes left, it comes down to getting either a Typhlosion or a Fire energy next turn in order to make a comeback. I take the knock out and my prize is a Typhlosion, and on my next turn I evolve and knock out the Zekrom he’s building up. He draws, then scoops. A very close game to the end and definitely one of the most exciting I played that day.
So I finish at 3-3, which I think is pretty good given the amount of strong players there. A lot people ended up 3-3 so I begin to think I’ll end up in the bottom half of the table. To my surprise I finish 18th in a field of 44. True I was a bit disappointed I missed out on championship points, but overall, it was a really fun day.
As for the rest of Scotland, Michael also finished at 3-3, Ali went 2-4 and Lauren finished 1-5. Dan (Lauren’s boyfriend) also finished on 2-4. Our juniors had more success with Adam reaching the final with his Lightning deck (epic win), and I think everyone from Scotland had a great time in Nottingham, which is awesome.
The next event for me is Cumbernauld Cities in 3 weeks time. I'll probably play something different for that if I can find something that works in time. If not, I reckon TyRam will still be just as good.
Thanks for Reading
Scott
