Pre tourney
So I met up with my ride at around 3PM on Friday and I live in Nothern Virginia, so the trip would take on usual 90 minutes, but Friday was Veterans Day so people were either going on vacation or driving home from work and we got stuck in traffic. My car had some pretty cool people and I would like to give a special shoutout to Timothey Foley for driving me down there and keeping the peace in our hotel room. So the drive that should have taken 90 minutes eventually became 150 minutes and we still had around 20 miles to go. We decided that we would stop for a drinks break and we did. That took around 15 minutes and by the time we were back on the road the traffic had magically disappeared and we made the remaining 20 miles in 15 minutes. We went to our hotel room at the Comfort Suites Inn and settled in.
6:30 PM, Night before regionals means endless testing. I was on the fence about what to play the next day. I had google.dec, google with KGL, Stage 1’s and Liligant.dec built and was debating what to play. I started testing with google with KGL and played against Lanturn/Noctowl/Electrode. I was 0-2 at this point with google with KGL because the Electrode made my Twins Engine Useless. I played against a TyRam next and when I was 0-3 I realized this deck isn’t what I want to play. I then picked up Liligant and played against TyRam, and the Lanturn deck and went 1-1. I decided that I would see if I run hot with my most comfortable deck Stage 1’s. I played against Zorork/ Donphan/ Tornadus/ Weezing, TyRam, Goth/Clus, and the Lanturn deck. I went 3-1, losing only to the Gothitelle deck, so I felt pretty comfortable. We ended up goofing around and playing till around 3 AM, forgetting that since the only driver in our room was a judge and had to be at the judges meeting by 7AM. So we were awoken in turn to take showers and to head down to the lobby and eat breakfast. That Saturday I was tired and realized I had virtually no sleep, Mistake #1. I went out to get into the car with everybody and it was frozen and iced over everywhere and I left my jacket in my hotel room, Mistake #2.
I chose to stick with my Stage 1’s and my pokemon line was a 3-3 Donphan, 3-3 Yanmega, 2-2 Zoroark, 1 Reshiram, and 1Cleffa. After getting there, I saw a lot of TyRam in Masters, so I cut the Reshiram and Cleffa and played a 3-3 Zoroark. Rosters went up after a while and I sat at the table I was instructed to sit at. I conversed with the people around me and they were friendly and the judges were amazingly friendly and had some pretty chill senses of humor. Masters had 139 Players, so we got 8 Rounds and a Top 32. Top 16 would take place on Sunday morning, and my goal was to make it that far. I was joking around and playing a couple more games before we started and even though I went 2-2, I was confident in my ability and my deck. So pairings go up and I get paired up with someone that I had just become friends with.
Round 1 vs Kyle Sablehaus (MegaZone w/ Kindgra)
So we set up and I have a virtually good start. I open a Yanma and Phanpy to his double Magnemite, and I go first. I used collector and got another Yanma, Zorua, and Zorua. I benched all three and attached a Double Colorless to my Zorua. Retreated and used lunge for 30. He drew attached to his benched Magnemite and passed. I draw evolve to Donphan, attach an energy to Donphan. Evolve to Yanmega and active Zoroark. Then I use Juniper and I get the switch and I catcher up his benched Magnemite and use Earthquake to KO it. He promotes his Magnemite with 30 on it and plays collector and gets Double Yanma and a Magnemite. He Rare Candies into the active Magnezone and magnetic draws for 3. He attaches to his benched Magnemite and passes. I draw and communicate something in and get another Yanmega out and attach to the active Donphan again. I proceed to Earthquake for a KO. He promotes his Yanma and evolves into Double Yanmega and Candies into Magnezone. He Magnetic Drawsfor 3-4 and benches a Horsea, and attaches again to his Magnezone and hits my active for 50. I draw bench Yanma and from here things end up becoming a blur until we get to a point in which the board looks like the following. He has an active Kingdra with 10 damage on it and a Rainbow on it and a benched Yanmega with 70 damage on it and I have 3 Yanmegas with 60 damage each. He has no deck and I have 4 cards left in my deck, 2 of which are Judge, 1 being a Collector and the last being a Copycat. I have 1 prize left and he has 3 to take. I draw and get the collector and pass, and he extends his hand for the game and I realize that he decked out at that point. GG Bro
Record at this point: 1-0
Times I went first: 1
Round 2 vs Ryan Webb (TyRam)
Long story short, he explodes and I get a slow start. It comes down to me having an active Yanmega and him with 2 Typhlosions and a Reshiram with 130 damage on it and the prize count was that he had taken 5 and I had taken 3. I couldn’t match handsizes and he ended up taking the game from there. Did I mention that I went second.
Record at this point: 1-1
Times I went First: 1
Round 3 vs Pokedad (Magnezone/Floatzel)
I forgot this man’s name, but he was fun to play against. He knew what he was doing and at one point the field looked like this. He had 2 Floatzels and 2 Magnezones and I had a bunch of basics and 2 Donphans. I had 2 prizes to take and he had 6 to take. I had 2 Plus powers in my hand and for 6 turns, I didn’t get one of the 15 draw supporters in my deck or one of the 6 energy in my deck, and he took all 6 prizes he needed to win. I knew going to lunch that I would need to win out if I wanted to make cut. Also I went second and that seems to reoccur throughout this tournament.
Record at this point: 1-2
Times I went first: 1
Lunch
We went to Burger King and the line was crazy so we had like 15 min left to get back to the round after we were done eating. The food was good though, but the place looked like it was something out of a Roller Disco movie from the 80’s.
Round 4 vs google Gill (google.dec)
He won the flip and got a T2 Vileplume without the use of Twins. I exploded with Double Yanmega and Double Zoroark, and a Donphan on T2 and his field was just a Zekrom and a Vileplume. I Foul Played Bolt Striked his active and he made the crucial error of attaching a DCE to his active, benching a Phanpy and knocking me out. I brought up my Yanmega and returned the KO. He brought up Phanpy and benched a Solosis and passes. I draw Judge to match handsizes and knockout the Solosis. He uses Twins to get another Solosis and passes. I go and Judge and knockout his Solosis again. He proclaims that his last one is prized and he uses Twins to get SEL and he benches it. And attaches a fire and passes. I go use a Copycat and knockout the active. He then scoops up his cards and says that he can’t do anything at all and that I can just use his Torrent Blade twice for the game, because he had no energy or draw supporters. Really Nice guy, fun playing you man.
Record at this point: 2-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 5 vs Pokedad (Beartic/Vileplume/Siilyph)
I knew this guy from my league and I knew his son and the other two people that they had brought and he said that the only reason he was still playing was because one of the kids in his car was in T4 of Seniors and I knew that kid, and had played him before and helped him out with his deck. This match was kind of just for fun as he was going to drop after this round and leave, but long story short, I used Zoroark to hold his Beartics in place and I could retreat easily and keep it going. He also went first and I was at the lowest 2-2 table, so I knew win out is what I gotta do.
Record at this point: 3-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 6 vs ? (TyRam)
I forgot this guy’s name, but he was a really nice conversationalist. I got 3 Zoroarks out with DCE’s and 2 Yanmegas on my bench and he didn’t see much energy all game, so I swept him comfortably taking all 6 prizes before he could take one. He later told me he finished 5-3 and missed cut at 34th, but he enjoyed himself.
Record at this point: 4-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 7 vs Aaron Sanyer (Donphan Prime/ Tornadus/ Zoroark/ Weezing)
So the one guy I tested with the night before and thought I don’t want to play against, I end up playing against. He goes first and gets out all 4 Tornadus in his deck and drops a DCE and passes. I go Collector out 2 Yanma and a Zorua, I had opened 2 Phanpy. I attach to my Zorua and use Switch into Yanma and pass. He drops a fighting energy and catchers up a Phanpy and knocks it out and I promote my Yanma. I eventually exploded getting everything I needed out and the board looked like this. I only had an active Yanmega and he only had an active Tornadus with 3 Energy and I had 100 damage on my Yanmega, and we both have one prize left to take. I draw and use Max Potion to heal off all the damage and all he said was “I knew that was coming, WHY YOU PLAY THAT CARD!?!?!?!?!?!” I was able to Match handsizes twice giving me the game.
Record at this point: 5-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 8 vs LJ Wenger (Yanmega/ Weavile/ Cincinno)
So for the second time today, I go first. I open Phanpy, Yanma, and Zorua to his Mincinno and Sneasel. I draw, bench a second Zorua, use Professor Juniper and Draw into the best hand for that situation. I also bench a Yanma, attach a DCE onto Zorua and use Lunge for 30 on his Sneasel. He went and got 3 Yanma onto his bench, and retreated into a Yanma and passed. I drew evolved into Donphan attached an energy, evolved into Double Yanmega and Double Zoroark and used another Juniper and got the Switch. I used Catcher and brought up the Sneasel and knocked him out. He evolved into triple Yanmega and hit my active for 50. I drew and used catcher and brought up Mincinno, then I attached a DCE to my other Zoroark and passed. He hit my active for 50 again and I drew. I used Max Potion and reattached to my Donphan. From there the game was pretty much won for me and again I had to beat a friend whom I had tested with the night before.
Record at this poin: 6-2
Times Going first: 2
Top 32 vs Curran Hill (MegaZone w/ Jirachi and Boufalant)
So I sneak into Top 32 at 13th seed making this my Second Top Cut match ever, my first was Nationals last year as a Senior and I lost out in Top 64. I sat down and got ready to play and we start.
Game 1
The coin flip goes down and he goes first. I end up getting a Donphan with 3 Energy out and catcher all his Magnemites and Magnezones as soon as he attached energy to them. The game went completely in my favor and I won that no problem.
(1-0)
Game 2
He chooses to go first and I already know that my start is good, because I open Double Yanma and have a collector in my hand. He puts down 4 Yanmas as his opening basics and passes. I go collector for Phanpy, and Double Zorua and attach to the Phanpy and pass. He goes and passes. I go evolve into Donphan and Zoroark and attach a DCE to Zoroark. I proceed to play a Pluspower and knockout the active Yanma. He then collectors for Magnemites, attaches to one and passes. I catcher it up, attach again to my active and knockout his Magnemite. He can’t come back and I proceed to sweep from there.
dec)(2-0)
Record at this point: 7-2
Times Going First: 2
So I chilled and kind of celebrated that night with notable people like Jimmy McClure (2nd National Championship 2010-2011 Season) and Stephen Varesko (2nd Regionals 2011-2012 Season). We booster drafted the packs that some of my roommates had won and we played until around 12 AM. We then stopped and headed back to the room. I went to bed at around 12:30 AM and was ready to rock and roll the next day.
Day 2
Top 16 vs Chris Coffman (ZPST w/ Zoroark and Boufolant)
Game 1
DONKED BY TORNADUS
(0-1)
Game 2
This game was a lot longer and drawn out, with him using his Tornadus to his advantage, while I continued to Max Potion on my Yanmegas and Donphans and he was eventually depleted of resources and I took the game from there
(1-1)
Game 3
Not much to say about this one. He opens Zekrom and I open Zorua. I was expecting the Turn 1, but all he does is attach and pass. I draw into a Phanpy and I bench it and attach a Fighting to it. He draws and Catchers up my Phanpy and passes. I draw, communicate Zoroark in and get Donphan. I then proceed to attach energy to the active and pass. I did that because if he gets set up off the Outrage, I can’t recover because of my horrible hand. He benches 2 Tornadus and a Zekrom and passes. I draw and attach a fighting to my active and Heavy Impact for a Knockout. He then promotes a Tornadus and attaches to the other one and passes. I draw attach to Zorua, and collector out 2 Yanma, and a Zorua and hit the active for 70. He can’t hit anymore energy and my lone Donphan does the deed.
(2-1)
Record at this point: 8-2
Times going first: 2
Top 8 vs Luke Reed (MegaZone w/ Pachirisu)
Game 1
I didn’t draw anything and lost
(0-1)
Game 2
Same thing happened and I ended up losing even harder
(0-2)
Final record: 8-3
Times gone First: 2
So I finished 5th based on standings and I was a little bitter because my deck had just stopped working in Top 8, but I was also happy that I had gotten that far. I hope you guys enjoyed my report and I wish you all good luck at Cities. Rahizzle says Peace Out.
So I met up with my ride at around 3PM on Friday and I live in Nothern Virginia, so the trip would take on usual 90 minutes, but Friday was Veterans Day so people were either going on vacation or driving home from work and we got stuck in traffic. My car had some pretty cool people and I would like to give a special shoutout to Timothey Foley for driving me down there and keeping the peace in our hotel room. So the drive that should have taken 90 minutes eventually became 150 minutes and we still had around 20 miles to go. We decided that we would stop for a drinks break and we did. That took around 15 minutes and by the time we were back on the road the traffic had magically disappeared and we made the remaining 20 miles in 15 minutes. We went to our hotel room at the Comfort Suites Inn and settled in.
6:30 PM, Night before regionals means endless testing. I was on the fence about what to play the next day. I had google.dec, google with KGL, Stage 1’s and Liligant.dec built and was debating what to play. I started testing with google with KGL and played against Lanturn/Noctowl/Electrode. I was 0-2 at this point with google with KGL because the Electrode made my Twins Engine Useless. I played against a TyRam next and when I was 0-3 I realized this deck isn’t what I want to play. I then picked up Liligant and played against TyRam, and the Lanturn deck and went 1-1. I decided that I would see if I run hot with my most comfortable deck Stage 1’s. I played against Zorork/ Donphan/ Tornadus/ Weezing, TyRam, Goth/Clus, and the Lanturn deck. I went 3-1, losing only to the Gothitelle deck, so I felt pretty comfortable. We ended up goofing around and playing till around 3 AM, forgetting that since the only driver in our room was a judge and had to be at the judges meeting by 7AM. So we were awoken in turn to take showers and to head down to the lobby and eat breakfast. That Saturday I was tired and realized I had virtually no sleep, Mistake #1. I went out to get into the car with everybody and it was frozen and iced over everywhere and I left my jacket in my hotel room, Mistake #2.
I chose to stick with my Stage 1’s and my pokemon line was a 3-3 Donphan, 3-3 Yanmega, 2-2 Zoroark, 1 Reshiram, and 1Cleffa. After getting there, I saw a lot of TyRam in Masters, so I cut the Reshiram and Cleffa and played a 3-3 Zoroark. Rosters went up after a while and I sat at the table I was instructed to sit at. I conversed with the people around me and they were friendly and the judges were amazingly friendly and had some pretty chill senses of humor. Masters had 139 Players, so we got 8 Rounds and a Top 32. Top 16 would take place on Sunday morning, and my goal was to make it that far. I was joking around and playing a couple more games before we started and even though I went 2-2, I was confident in my ability and my deck. So pairings go up and I get paired up with someone that I had just become friends with.
Round 1 vs Kyle Sablehaus (MegaZone w/ Kindgra)
So we set up and I have a virtually good start. I open a Yanma and Phanpy to his double Magnemite, and I go first. I used collector and got another Yanma, Zorua, and Zorua. I benched all three and attached a Double Colorless to my Zorua. Retreated and used lunge for 30. He drew attached to his benched Magnemite and passed. I draw evolve to Donphan, attach an energy to Donphan. Evolve to Yanmega and active Zoroark. Then I use Juniper and I get the switch and I catcher up his benched Magnemite and use Earthquake to KO it. He promotes his Magnemite with 30 on it and plays collector and gets Double Yanma and a Magnemite. He Rare Candies into the active Magnezone and magnetic draws for 3. He attaches to his benched Magnemite and passes. I draw and communicate something in and get another Yanmega out and attach to the active Donphan again. I proceed to Earthquake for a KO. He promotes his Yanma and evolves into Double Yanmega and Candies into Magnezone. He Magnetic Drawsfor 3-4 and benches a Horsea, and attaches again to his Magnezone and hits my active for 50. I draw bench Yanma and from here things end up becoming a blur until we get to a point in which the board looks like the following. He has an active Kingdra with 10 damage on it and a Rainbow on it and a benched Yanmega with 70 damage on it and I have 3 Yanmegas with 60 damage each. He has no deck and I have 4 cards left in my deck, 2 of which are Judge, 1 being a Collector and the last being a Copycat. I have 1 prize left and he has 3 to take. I draw and get the collector and pass, and he extends his hand for the game and I realize that he decked out at that point. GG Bro
Record at this point: 1-0
Times I went first: 1
Round 2 vs Ryan Webb (TyRam)
Long story short, he explodes and I get a slow start. It comes down to me having an active Yanmega and him with 2 Typhlosions and a Reshiram with 130 damage on it and the prize count was that he had taken 5 and I had taken 3. I couldn’t match handsizes and he ended up taking the game from there. Did I mention that I went second.
Record at this point: 1-1
Times I went First: 1
Round 3 vs Pokedad (Magnezone/Floatzel)
I forgot this man’s name, but he was fun to play against. He knew what he was doing and at one point the field looked like this. He had 2 Floatzels and 2 Magnezones and I had a bunch of basics and 2 Donphans. I had 2 prizes to take and he had 6 to take. I had 2 Plus powers in my hand and for 6 turns, I didn’t get one of the 15 draw supporters in my deck or one of the 6 energy in my deck, and he took all 6 prizes he needed to win. I knew going to lunch that I would need to win out if I wanted to make cut. Also I went second and that seems to reoccur throughout this tournament.
Record at this point: 1-2
Times I went first: 1
Lunch
We went to Burger King and the line was crazy so we had like 15 min left to get back to the round after we were done eating. The food was good though, but the place looked like it was something out of a Roller Disco movie from the 80’s.
Round 4 vs google Gill (google.dec)
He won the flip and got a T2 Vileplume without the use of Twins. I exploded with Double Yanmega and Double Zoroark, and a Donphan on T2 and his field was just a Zekrom and a Vileplume. I Foul Played Bolt Striked his active and he made the crucial error of attaching a DCE to his active, benching a Phanpy and knocking me out. I brought up my Yanmega and returned the KO. He brought up Phanpy and benched a Solosis and passes. I draw Judge to match handsizes and knockout the Solosis. He uses Twins to get another Solosis and passes. I go and Judge and knockout his Solosis again. He proclaims that his last one is prized and he uses Twins to get SEL and he benches it. And attaches a fire and passes. I go use a Copycat and knockout the active. He then scoops up his cards and says that he can’t do anything at all and that I can just use his Torrent Blade twice for the game, because he had no energy or draw supporters. Really Nice guy, fun playing you man.
Record at this point: 2-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 5 vs Pokedad (Beartic/Vileplume/Siilyph)
I knew this guy from my league and I knew his son and the other two people that they had brought and he said that the only reason he was still playing was because one of the kids in his car was in T4 of Seniors and I knew that kid, and had played him before and helped him out with his deck. This match was kind of just for fun as he was going to drop after this round and leave, but long story short, I used Zoroark to hold his Beartics in place and I could retreat easily and keep it going. He also went first and I was at the lowest 2-2 table, so I knew win out is what I gotta do.
Record at this point: 3-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 6 vs ? (TyRam)
I forgot this guy’s name, but he was a really nice conversationalist. I got 3 Zoroarks out with DCE’s and 2 Yanmegas on my bench and he didn’t see much energy all game, so I swept him comfortably taking all 6 prizes before he could take one. He later told me he finished 5-3 and missed cut at 34th, but he enjoyed himself.
Record at this point: 4-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 7 vs Aaron Sanyer (Donphan Prime/ Tornadus/ Zoroark/ Weezing)
So the one guy I tested with the night before and thought I don’t want to play against, I end up playing against. He goes first and gets out all 4 Tornadus in his deck and drops a DCE and passes. I go Collector out 2 Yanma and a Zorua, I had opened 2 Phanpy. I attach to my Zorua and use Switch into Yanma and pass. He drops a fighting energy and catchers up a Phanpy and knocks it out and I promote my Yanma. I eventually exploded getting everything I needed out and the board looked like this. I only had an active Yanmega and he only had an active Tornadus with 3 Energy and I had 100 damage on my Yanmega, and we both have one prize left to take. I draw and use Max Potion to heal off all the damage and all he said was “I knew that was coming, WHY YOU PLAY THAT CARD!?!?!?!?!?!” I was able to Match handsizes twice giving me the game.
Record at this point: 5-2
Times Going First: 1
Round 8 vs LJ Wenger (Yanmega/ Weavile/ Cincinno)
So for the second time today, I go first. I open Phanpy, Yanma, and Zorua to his Mincinno and Sneasel. I draw, bench a second Zorua, use Professor Juniper and Draw into the best hand for that situation. I also bench a Yanma, attach a DCE onto Zorua and use Lunge for 30 on his Sneasel. He went and got 3 Yanma onto his bench, and retreated into a Yanma and passed. I drew evolved into Donphan attached an energy, evolved into Double Yanmega and Double Zoroark and used another Juniper and got the Switch. I used Catcher and brought up the Sneasel and knocked him out. He evolved into triple Yanmega and hit my active for 50. I drew and used catcher and brought up Mincinno, then I attached a DCE to my other Zoroark and passed. He hit my active for 50 again and I drew. I used Max Potion and reattached to my Donphan. From there the game was pretty much won for me and again I had to beat a friend whom I had tested with the night before.
Record at this poin: 6-2
Times Going first: 2
Top 32 vs Curran Hill (MegaZone w/ Jirachi and Boufalant)
So I sneak into Top 32 at 13th seed making this my Second Top Cut match ever, my first was Nationals last year as a Senior and I lost out in Top 64. I sat down and got ready to play and we start.
Game 1
The coin flip goes down and he goes first. I end up getting a Donphan with 3 Energy out and catcher all his Magnemites and Magnezones as soon as he attached energy to them. The game went completely in my favor and I won that no problem.
(1-0)
Game 2
He chooses to go first and I already know that my start is good, because I open Double Yanma and have a collector in my hand. He puts down 4 Yanmas as his opening basics and passes. I go collector for Phanpy, and Double Zorua and attach to the Phanpy and pass. He goes and passes. I go evolve into Donphan and Zoroark and attach a DCE to Zoroark. I proceed to play a Pluspower and knockout the active Yanma. He then collectors for Magnemites, attaches to one and passes. I catcher it up, attach again to my active and knockout his Magnemite. He can’t come back and I proceed to sweep from there.
dec)(2-0)
Record at this point: 7-2
Times Going First: 2
So I chilled and kind of celebrated that night with notable people like Jimmy McClure (2nd National Championship 2010-2011 Season) and Stephen Varesko (2nd Regionals 2011-2012 Season). We booster drafted the packs that some of my roommates had won and we played until around 12 AM. We then stopped and headed back to the room. I went to bed at around 12:30 AM and was ready to rock and roll the next day.
Day 2
Top 16 vs Chris Coffman (ZPST w/ Zoroark and Boufolant)
Game 1
DONKED BY TORNADUS
(0-1)
Game 2
This game was a lot longer and drawn out, with him using his Tornadus to his advantage, while I continued to Max Potion on my Yanmegas and Donphans and he was eventually depleted of resources and I took the game from there
(1-1)
Game 3
Not much to say about this one. He opens Zekrom and I open Zorua. I was expecting the Turn 1, but all he does is attach and pass. I draw into a Phanpy and I bench it and attach a Fighting to it. He draws and Catchers up my Phanpy and passes. I draw, communicate Zoroark in and get Donphan. I then proceed to attach energy to the active and pass. I did that because if he gets set up off the Outrage, I can’t recover because of my horrible hand. He benches 2 Tornadus and a Zekrom and passes. I draw and attach a fighting to my active and Heavy Impact for a Knockout. He then promotes a Tornadus and attaches to the other one and passes. I draw attach to Zorua, and collector out 2 Yanma, and a Zorua and hit the active for 70. He can’t hit anymore energy and my lone Donphan does the deed.
(2-1)
Record at this point: 8-2
Times going first: 2
Top 8 vs Luke Reed (MegaZone w/ Pachirisu)
Game 1
I didn’t draw anything and lost
(0-1)
Game 2
Same thing happened and I ended up losing even harder
(0-2)
Final record: 8-3
Times gone First: 2
So I finished 5th based on standings and I was a little bitter because my deck had just stopped working in Top 8, but I was also happy that I had gotten that far. I hope you guys enjoyed my report and I wish you all good luck at Cities. Rahizzle says Peace Out.
