Day One:
Well, if there was a time for last minute stuff, now was the time. I met up with Henry and King Arceus and did some testing with Henry. I thought my deck (Zekrom/Eels) needed a Smeargle and some N, so I made some adjustments there. I saw Shaymin was a popular choice, but had 0 space for it. Maybe I should've taken out Tyrogue for it, since I hardly found it useful in day 1. I also decided to take out my second Zekrom EX for a second Zekrom. Regular Zekrom was better against Durant (which I never played against, but still no regrets) and was a better start. Just to make sure, I looked around for Zones, but I couldn't find enough for my rogue. I was scared, but I made it, and instead of fearing all of the Zekeel mirrors, I should've been thankful that I made it.
Day 2:
I woke up with my overprotective mom, who insisted on coming with me to the event before registration. She walked me to the event, gets me registered, AND WALKS ALL THE WAY BACK FOR SNACKS LATER ON. But it was in good intentions anyway
Turns out if we had one more Senior we would've had T16. KA and I were saying that if I don't cut, it's Nigel's fault for not coming
R1 vs. Mark (noob deck):
He at first rolls with a states die, but it's actually not allowed so we switch to mine. I won the flip, but he thought it didn't roll well enough. I roll again, it rolled worse, but he thought it was fine because he won the flip. You know what, do-do-do-do-demo-i desu yoooo ("whatever, it doesn't matter" if you don't get references or know Japanese.)! Trubbish is like his engine, and Reuniclus, Volcarona, and others are his main attackers. Eeeyup.
1-0
R2 vs. Brandon? I think? (Reshiboar EX):
He starts like, Tepig or something, I don't know what I started. I almost have the T2 with Thundurus but he can Heavy Ball for Ram EX. He attaches and passes. I KO the active withThundurus next turn, and then he responds with Glinting Claw heads. I Volt for 80 and let him KO. I put down Mewtwo and DCE X ball for game.
2-0
R3 vs. William (CMT):
He goes first with Celebi and Tornadus benched, I have no clue what I started again. I think he pulls off one Hurricane KO but lands himself a very bad hand afterwards, allowing me to Bench him eventually with Thundurus.
3-0
R4 vs. Ty W (Zekeels):
Crap, I'm up against last year's first in the world ranking...He starts Tynamo, and he goes first and hits my Thundurus for 10. I attempt to Juniper into Tyrogue but whiff and Charge. He evolves, whiffs Dual Ball and passes. I'm like GOGOGO PLUSPOWER but I whiff that. He attaches double and Catcher KOs Tynamo after he whiffs another Dual Ball. With my lucky dice from States too. I feel bad, but I X Ball for game.
4-0
R5 vs. Brian H (Zekeels):
Hey, I know this guy from Florida states, he won too! Maybe now I'll get a real game...well he goes first and gets the T1 charge. That alone is a decent advantage. Eventually I try and catch up but I could only take one prize on Thundurus. I don't even care, it was actually a good game for once!
4-1
R6 vs. Kaitlin (CMT with 3 Terrakion):
Welp, this is it. I think I pulled off a first turn Charge and a Portrait, so what a hand. She gets a turn two Retaliate for 100 to my Thundurus. I realize what she's trying to do, so I prepare for my strategy. For now I hit for 80 and take the KO. I was able to luckily get Mewtwo, DCE and Eviolite with a big thanks to Smeargs. After that she can't do much. The game changer was Catchering Shaymin EX that she started with and Bolt Striking it. For the last two prizes, I Catcher Mewtwo with a fighting and KO with my own. Great game, and she actually made cut so I'm glad.
5-1
1st Brian H w/ Zekeels
2nd ???
3rd Matias S w/ Zekeels (me)
4th ???
5th ???
6th William w/ CMT
7th ???
8th Kaitlin w/ CMT/Terra
There was also a Goth/Gardy, a Tyram, and another Zekeel but forgot the exact places. Ty W made cut with Zekeels, but forgot what place he made. 4th or 5th I think.
Day 3:
Yaaaay for waking up at 7:40. Erm, nothing interesting happened beforehand. :\
Top 8:
Game 1 vs. William (CMT):
These rounds are hard to remember, so bear with me. I think I must have gotten a decent start, but he took the first few prizes. The deck can catch up though, so I ended up winning that round thanks to late game prizes.
Game 2:
Gets really close in the prize trade, and he needed his last DCE, a Switch, and a Grass Energy to revenge my Mewtwo. Of course he lands them.
Game 3.
I get a terrible hand, but I'm first with Smeargle. I Portrait, he has a bad hand too. I decided not to N, and we just drew and passed for a few turns, and then time was called and we used our turns. I could tell he slowplayed a bit before, shuffling instead of cutting, taking a LONG time on some turns, etc. I decided that now was the time to win, because I had just enough cards in my hand to attempt my game winning strategy. I had a Tyrogue, but the only way to take the last prize was to chain 3 PlusPowers on his active Celebi. I had the Junk Arm and the PlusPower, along with a DCE to retreat my Smeargle. I used up my whole hand (the Plus, the Junk Arm and the two cards to use it in the first place, and the DCE) and played N. All I needed was a single Junk Arm to reuse my PlusPower.
First card is a Junk Arm.
He signs the match slip and storms out with his cards. At least he wished me good luck.
6-1
Top 4:
Game 1 vs. Devin (Tyram):
I know what you're thinking. Tyram is dead. Well this Tyram was simply amazing. Unfortunately I used up a lot of my resources in attempt to set up, but kept drawing dead to his 2 Typhlosions on the field. I actually caught up eventually but it wasn't enough to win.
Game 2:
This game was a lot better. I got out Thundurus early game, Disaster Volting his two Cyndaquils, and his other two were prized. He puts up a fight, but I seal it with Zekrom EX in the end.
Game 3:
This game was pretty hot for me. He got a much better start this time, but I was able to consistently draw into my DCE's to keep going aggro Zekrom EX.
7-1
Top 2:
Game 1 vs. Ty W (Zekeels):
I was glad I get to play Ty in the Top 2 to at least play more fair games. He Charges his Thundurus T1, and I Catcher Tynamo and Collect for my Tyrogue...SIR Y U PRIZED?! Well that sort of sucked, so he just used Thundurus and abused Catcher while we prize traded until I had no Eels to his three. This is NOT good in the mirror match. Fortunately, I eventually set up the regular Zekrom (Glad I ran 2 now!) with Eviolite and was able to catch up, Bolt Striking for the last few prizes, while he couldn't do anything back. He admitted he probably used too many Catchers and thought he sealed game because I had no Eels. To be honest...so did I.
Game 2:
Very similar to last game, except it was a lot more nerve racking for me. I had so many options the whole game, and I was glad I made the right ones. Choosing the right supporters in my extremely consistent build, where I almost always have a Supporter or Smeargle, was intense, but the game winner was revenging his Zekrom with Mewtwo, and ruining his hand with N. He sends up Zekrom, passes. I have the catcher and a Zekrom able to KO dat Eel.
8-1
A winner is ME!
So in the end, I was really thankful that everything fell into place, that I made only one misplay the entire event (I retreated my Tynamo to Zekrom on accident against Tyram), and I made the right plays on the build. I learned that if you go into an event with a negative attitude about life like I did, something good will happen. Happens to me every time.
Overall, I thought Wisconsin was a lot different than Florida in terms of play style. A lot of the players were really aggressive, using PlusPowers left and right almost hoping they'll hit more for cheap KO's, Catchering almost too much, etc. I guess I play really defensively, in most games I almost always fall behind and catch up in the end. This was my list:
#
Name
Edit
3 Eelektrik (NV 40)
1 Zekrom EX (ND 97)
2 Zekrom (BW 114)
3 Tynamo (NV 39)
2 Thundurus (EP 97)
2 Mewtwo EX (ND 98)
1 Tynamo (NV 38)
1 Tyrogue (HGSS 33)
1 Smeargle (UD 8)
16
#
Name
Edit
4 Junk Arm (TR 87)
1 PlusPower (BW 96)
2 Pokegear 3.0 (HGSS 96)
3 Pokemon Catcher (EP 95)
4 Pokemon Collector (HGSS 97)
2 Professor Juniper (BW 101)
3 Professor Oak's New Theory (HGSS 101)
3 Sage's Training (UD 77)
1 Super Rod (NV 95)
2 Switch (BW 104)
2 Level Ball (ND 89)
2 N (NV 101)
2 Eviolite (NV 91)
31
#
Name
Edit
4 Double Colorless Energy (ND 92)
9 Lightning Energy (BW 108)
13
What was interesting about my list is no Skyarrow with Smeargle. You could say I was dumb, I didn't have the room, or I just felt that most matches they would play it first anyway. Another thing that I learned is that if you can Dynamotor, Dynamotor to Smeargle by all means if you're short of the Switch. That way you can send it up after the KO.
My mom, aunt, uncle, and little cousin came to congratulate me, and my mom signed my travel allowance thing. My only chance to make it to Nationals SCORED.
Still considering opening my boxes. Thinking about selling both, buying a Mewtwo, some Vanguard stuff (Maybe a box), and some Dark Explorers singles that I sort of want. Or I could open one and sell one for Vanguard and Dark Explorers stuff. Do I make more money selling singles? Decisions, decisions...
After that we went to meet up with my grandma (she couldn't get over it lol) and uncle for pizza celebration and drove back to good ol' St. Paul that I only really got to spend a few hours in before the next morning when I had to leave for WI
I feel sort of weird being a Floridian representative and winning a Regionals...in Wisconsin. I heard that the fact that a Floridian was doing well spread pretty fast through the TCGers. I hope nobody was upset about that...
Props:
Winning
Adam. He lent me a Mewtwo.
New people yayz.
GONNA GO TO NATS BOO YA
Family for supporting me
Last minuteness
TYROGUE YEEEEEAAH
Mark for judging
Slops:
No Nigel
No Nigel's friend
No Adam
Slow playing
Well, if there was a time for last minute stuff, now was the time. I met up with Henry and King Arceus and did some testing with Henry. I thought my deck (Zekrom/Eels) needed a Smeargle and some N, so I made some adjustments there. I saw Shaymin was a popular choice, but had 0 space for it. Maybe I should've taken out Tyrogue for it, since I hardly found it useful in day 1. I also decided to take out my second Zekrom EX for a second Zekrom. Regular Zekrom was better against Durant (which I never played against, but still no regrets) and was a better start. Just to make sure, I looked around for Zones, but I couldn't find enough for my rogue. I was scared, but I made it, and instead of fearing all of the Zekeel mirrors, I should've been thankful that I made it.
Day 2:
I woke up with my overprotective mom, who insisted on coming with me to the event before registration. She walked me to the event, gets me registered, AND WALKS ALL THE WAY BACK FOR SNACKS LATER ON. But it was in good intentions anyway
Turns out if we had one more Senior we would've had T16. KA and I were saying that if I don't cut, it's Nigel's fault for not coming R1 vs. Mark (noob deck):
He at first rolls with a states die, but it's actually not allowed so we switch to mine. I won the flip, but he thought it didn't roll well enough. I roll again, it rolled worse, but he thought it was fine because he won the flip. You know what, do-do-do-do-demo-i desu yoooo ("whatever, it doesn't matter" if you don't get references or know Japanese.)! Trubbish is like his engine, and Reuniclus, Volcarona, and others are his main attackers. Eeeyup.
1-0
R2 vs. Brandon? I think? (Reshiboar EX):
He starts like, Tepig or something, I don't know what I started. I almost have the T2 with Thundurus but he can Heavy Ball for Ram EX. He attaches and passes. I KO the active withThundurus next turn, and then he responds with Glinting Claw heads. I Volt for 80 and let him KO. I put down Mewtwo and DCE X ball for game.
2-0
R3 vs. William (CMT):
He goes first with Celebi and Tornadus benched, I have no clue what I started again. I think he pulls off one Hurricane KO but lands himself a very bad hand afterwards, allowing me to Bench him eventually with Thundurus.
3-0
R4 vs. Ty W (Zekeels):
Crap, I'm up against last year's first in the world ranking...He starts Tynamo, and he goes first and hits my Thundurus for 10. I attempt to Juniper into Tyrogue but whiff and Charge. He evolves, whiffs Dual Ball and passes. I'm like GOGOGO PLUSPOWER but I whiff that. He attaches double and Catcher KOs Tynamo after he whiffs another Dual Ball. With my lucky dice from States too. I feel bad, but I X Ball for game.
4-0
R5 vs. Brian H (Zekeels):
Hey, I know this guy from Florida states, he won too! Maybe now I'll get a real game...well he goes first and gets the T1 charge. That alone is a decent advantage. Eventually I try and catch up but I could only take one prize on Thundurus. I don't even care, it was actually a good game for once!
4-1
R6 vs. Kaitlin (CMT with 3 Terrakion):
Welp, this is it. I think I pulled off a first turn Charge and a Portrait, so what a hand. She gets a turn two Retaliate for 100 to my Thundurus. I realize what she's trying to do, so I prepare for my strategy. For now I hit for 80 and take the KO. I was able to luckily get Mewtwo, DCE and Eviolite with a big thanks to Smeargs. After that she can't do much. The game changer was Catchering Shaymin EX that she started with and Bolt Striking it. For the last two prizes, I Catcher Mewtwo with a fighting and KO with my own. Great game, and she actually made cut so I'm glad.
5-1
1st Brian H w/ Zekeels
2nd ???
3rd Matias S w/ Zekeels (me)
4th ???
5th ???
6th William w/ CMT
7th ???
8th Kaitlin w/ CMT/Terra
There was also a Goth/Gardy, a Tyram, and another Zekeel but forgot the exact places. Ty W made cut with Zekeels, but forgot what place he made. 4th or 5th I think.
Day 3:
Yaaaay for waking up at 7:40. Erm, nothing interesting happened beforehand. :\
Top 8:
Game 1 vs. William (CMT):
These rounds are hard to remember, so bear with me. I think I must have gotten a decent start, but he took the first few prizes. The deck can catch up though, so I ended up winning that round thanks to late game prizes.
Game 2:
Gets really close in the prize trade, and he needed his last DCE, a Switch, and a Grass Energy to revenge my Mewtwo. Of course he lands them.
Game 3.
I get a terrible hand, but I'm first with Smeargle. I Portrait, he has a bad hand too. I decided not to N, and we just drew and passed for a few turns, and then time was called and we used our turns. I could tell he slowplayed a bit before, shuffling instead of cutting, taking a LONG time on some turns, etc. I decided that now was the time to win, because I had just enough cards in my hand to attempt my game winning strategy. I had a Tyrogue, but the only way to take the last prize was to chain 3 PlusPowers on his active Celebi. I had the Junk Arm and the PlusPower, along with a DCE to retreat my Smeargle. I used up my whole hand (the Plus, the Junk Arm and the two cards to use it in the first place, and the DCE) and played N. All I needed was a single Junk Arm to reuse my PlusPower.
First card is a Junk Arm.
He signs the match slip and storms out with his cards. At least he wished me good luck.
6-1
Top 4:
Game 1 vs. Devin (Tyram):
I know what you're thinking. Tyram is dead. Well this Tyram was simply amazing. Unfortunately I used up a lot of my resources in attempt to set up, but kept drawing dead to his 2 Typhlosions on the field. I actually caught up eventually but it wasn't enough to win.
Game 2:
This game was a lot better. I got out Thundurus early game, Disaster Volting his two Cyndaquils, and his other two were prized. He puts up a fight, but I seal it with Zekrom EX in the end.
Game 3:
This game was pretty hot for me. He got a much better start this time, but I was able to consistently draw into my DCE's to keep going aggro Zekrom EX.
7-1
Top 2:
Game 1 vs. Ty W (Zekeels):
I was glad I get to play Ty in the Top 2 to at least play more fair games. He Charges his Thundurus T1, and I Catcher Tynamo and Collect for my Tyrogue...SIR Y U PRIZED?! Well that sort of sucked, so he just used Thundurus and abused Catcher while we prize traded until I had no Eels to his three. This is NOT good in the mirror match. Fortunately, I eventually set up the regular Zekrom (Glad I ran 2 now!) with Eviolite and was able to catch up, Bolt Striking for the last few prizes, while he couldn't do anything back. He admitted he probably used too many Catchers and thought he sealed game because I had no Eels. To be honest...so did I.
Game 2:
Very similar to last game, except it was a lot more nerve racking for me. I had so many options the whole game, and I was glad I made the right ones. Choosing the right supporters in my extremely consistent build, where I almost always have a Supporter or Smeargle, was intense, but the game winner was revenging his Zekrom with Mewtwo, and ruining his hand with N. He sends up Zekrom, passes. I have the catcher and a Zekrom able to KO dat Eel.
8-1
A winner is ME!
So in the end, I was really thankful that everything fell into place, that I made only one misplay the entire event (I retreated my Tynamo to Zekrom on accident against Tyram), and I made the right plays on the build. I learned that if you go into an event with a negative attitude about life like I did, something good will happen. Happens to me every time.
Overall, I thought Wisconsin was a lot different than Florida in terms of play style. A lot of the players were really aggressive, using PlusPowers left and right almost hoping they'll hit more for cheap KO's, Catchering almost too much, etc. I guess I play really defensively, in most games I almost always fall behind and catch up in the end. This was my list:
#
Name
Edit
3 Eelektrik (NV 40)
1 Zekrom EX (ND 97)
2 Zekrom (BW 114)
3 Tynamo (NV 39)
2 Thundurus (EP 97)
2 Mewtwo EX (ND 98)
1 Tynamo (NV 38)
1 Tyrogue (HGSS 33)
1 Smeargle (UD 8)
16
#
Name
Edit
4 Junk Arm (TR 87)
1 PlusPower (BW 96)
2 Pokegear 3.0 (HGSS 96)
3 Pokemon Catcher (EP 95)
4 Pokemon Collector (HGSS 97)
2 Professor Juniper (BW 101)
3 Professor Oak's New Theory (HGSS 101)
3 Sage's Training (UD 77)
1 Super Rod (NV 95)
2 Switch (BW 104)
2 Level Ball (ND 89)
2 N (NV 101)
2 Eviolite (NV 91)
31
#
Name
Edit
4 Double Colorless Energy (ND 92)
9 Lightning Energy (BW 108)
13
What was interesting about my list is no Skyarrow with Smeargle. You could say I was dumb, I didn't have the room, or I just felt that most matches they would play it first anyway. Another thing that I learned is that if you can Dynamotor, Dynamotor to Smeargle by all means if you're short of the Switch. That way you can send it up after the KO.
My mom, aunt, uncle, and little cousin came to congratulate me, and my mom signed my travel allowance thing. My only chance to make it to Nationals SCORED.
Still considering opening my boxes. Thinking about selling both, buying a Mewtwo, some Vanguard stuff (Maybe a box), and some Dark Explorers singles that I sort of want. Or I could open one and sell one for Vanguard and Dark Explorers stuff. Do I make more money selling singles? Decisions, decisions...
After that we went to meet up with my grandma (she couldn't get over it lol) and uncle for pizza celebration and drove back to good ol' St. Paul that I only really got to spend a few hours in before the next morning when I had to leave for WI
I feel sort of weird being a Floridian representative and winning a Regionals...in Wisconsin. I heard that the fact that a Floridian was doing well spread pretty fast through the TCGers. I hope nobody was upset about that...
Props:
Winning
Adam. He lent me a Mewtwo.
New people yayz.
GONNA GO TO NATS BOO YA
Family for supporting me
Last minuteness
TYROGUE YEEEEEAAH
Mark for judging
Slops:
No Nigel
No Nigel's friend
No Adam
Slow playing
