Articuno Makes a Big Splash
Aboard the Queen Mary
Devin Diamond’s “Killer Deck” Report from the
Long Beach STS
By Steven “Daddy-O” Diamond (July 2000)
My son,
Devin Diamond, participated in the 10-and-under division of the Super
Trainer Showdown on July 22, 2000 and finished among the top 8 players.
Since none of the STS qualifier events were held in our home town of
Albuquerque, Devin didn’t have a chance to earn an invitation –
however, he had earned 7 badges at Pokemon League (and each member of our
family has earned at least 6 badges) so we decided to begin our summer
vacation with a trip to Long Beach. Glad we did!
One of
the things I really liked about Devin’s deck is that most decent “deck
mechanics” would probably slice and dice it to shreds –yet it was good
enough to take him to the STS finals!
Eat Articuno dust, all you “deck experts” out there!
As others have said before me, it’s not so much what’s in the
deck as who plays the deck. Devin’s
idea was “just to get Scyther out first, with Hitmonchan, Chansey or
Articuno on my bench. Then I could retreat Scyther for free after putting
Water Energies on Articuno. If I pulled Fighting Energies I would put them
on Hitmonchan or Machop for quick damage.” The blue legendary bird was
Devin’s big hitter – a really good choice!
Devin’s
excellent showing at the STS was proof you didn’t need to be a
nationally-ranked well-known player to have a shot at the gold
(or silver or bronze) -- all you needed was a solid deck,
determination, a good knowledge of the game, and, of course, a healthy
dose of luck!
Devin’s
record before the finals was 6-1, giving him a total of 18 points for the
preliminaries. Here’s the
deck that enabled him to join the “Elite Eight:”
|
Devin Diamond’s deck:
“Super Splash” |
|
|
2 x DCE |
3 x Bill |
|
9 x
Fighting Energy |
2 x
Computer Search |
|
13 x Water
Energy |
3 x Energy
Retrieval |
|
= 24 Energy |
2 x Energy
Removal |
|
Pokemon |
3 x Energy
Search |
|
1 x
Chansey |
2 x GOW |
|
3 x
Scyther |
2 x
PlusPower |
|
2 x Machop |
2 x
Professor Oak |
|
3 x
Hitmonchan |
2 x Super
Energy Removal |
|
3 x
Articuno |
3 x Switch |
|
= 12 Pokemon |
= 24 Trainers |
For those of
you interested in the “meta-game” of the STS, here’s what Devin
faced, in game order: classic Haymaker deck, Exeggcutor-Electabuzz deck,
Clefable-Hitmonchan deck, Wigglytuff deck, another Haymaker (his first
loss!), yet another Haymaker, and yet another Haymaker deck. Devin’s
only loss in the preliminaries was to a Haymaker (played well by Ken
Knight) when Devin opened with only Hitmonchan active and lacking any
bench. Although Devin managed
to take one prize, he never recovered from that initial poor draw, and Ken
played his Haymaker perfectly.
Nevertheless,
Devin made it to the finals where he faced a Psychic deck featuring both
Nintendo Promo and Movie Promo Mewtwo. I thought at first Devin would have
the advantage, since he opened with Chansey active -- the Big Egg has
resistance to psychic attacks. But
his opponent got sufficient energies under his Mewtwos and used Gusts of
Wind well, knocking out Devin’s Hitmonchan and Machop.
Even Devin’s waterless Articuno fell to Mewtwo, a sad irony given
the abundance of water surrounding the Queen Mary.
Alas, the sea is a cruel mistress, and Devin returned to the high
desert of New Mexico with an ultra-cool STS hat, a load of boosters, and a
few ideas about getting his deck ready for the Gym Heroes pre-release
tournament we’ll be attending August 5th!
Trainers everywhere, beware...