Hi!
here´s a tournament report for publishing. it should be of interest for
all those who play the basic set (many countries only got poké´d last
month)
Tourney report: 29.12.99, Serious Games, Berlin, Germany
The tournament was limited to 16 participants, and organized and
supervised by Jonas Bodmann-Dukker.
Prizes were 3-2-1 booster packs of German 1st. Edition for the three
top players, registration fee was 3 DM.
Here´s the deck I played (I went 3-2):
Water energy 22
Blastoise 2
Gyarados 1
Magikarp 2
Doduo 3
Chansey 2
Squirtle 4
Pokémon Trader 1
Super Potion 2
Gust of Wind 3
Prof. Oak 3
Bill 4
Super Energy Removal 2
Computer Search 4
Pokémon Breeder 3
Energy Retrieval 2
I built this deck purely from the cards I own. They are all German 1st
edition. For previous tourneys, I had borrowed a few cards from a
friend.
We played 5 rounds of "best of 1" with semi-finals and finals for the
best 4 afterwards.
Here´s how my games and the most important others went:
Game 1: I play Martin. He plays a Psycho/Fighting deck with basic
pokémon. He uses Jynx and Mewtwo as well as Hitmonchan as his main
assets. We hit each other hard for a long while, saving pokémon with
potions. In the end, I lose by decking myself (drawing the last card
first). Tough game.
Game 2: I play Jagoda, one of two girls participating. She uses a
mixture of Blastoise and Hitmonchan. I fail to draw anything valuable
until it´s too late, and she beats me quickly and painfully.
Game 3: My opponent is Paul, with a colorless/Psycho deck. His
objective is to evolve Abra, but my early Gyarados eats the two Doduos
he manages to get out rather quickly. Paul would like me to mention
that he was "merely unlucky".
Game 4: My opponent Jan plays a Psycho/Damage Swap deck heavy with
Energy Removal. He doesn´t draw one of his two Alakazam, so I can beat
him soundly, employing my Gusts to their fullest. I played a deck
almost identical to his in my first tourney, and lost most games due to
game time then. This type of Psycho deck uses Chanseys to collect
damage through Alakazam´s Power, and then removes the whole damage with
Pokémon Center. It needs much time to develop.
Game 5: Here is my youngest opponent yet (most players are 13-16 here),
Marcus. He uses a water-only deck with Dewgong and Poliwhirls. I
energize Gyarados and k.o. his pokémon with a little help from Gust.
It´s notable that Gyarados´ Bubble Beam paralyzed Marcus´ critters
every single time I used it (and that was much). I win.
I decide to watch the ongoing top match, with my friend Jun Kim (3-1)
and last tourney´s winner, Azad (4-0). Jun plays an Electric/colorless
deck (Zapdos, Electabuzz, Farfetch´d), and Azad uses a basic-pokémon
deck with many Removals. They basically take turns Removing their
energy, but Jun´s Electabuzz beats several opponents during a long
exchange of beatings. While Jun moves closer to victory, our friend
Paul from game 3 comes along. He would like me to point out that he
lost again and is fairly demoralized by now. I guess some people enjoy
misery :).
After Jun takes this match, the four top players are announced.
My 3-2 record doesn´t qualify me for the semi-finals, so I watch their
games with scrutiny.
Game I. Azad (1) vs. Chris (4)
Game II. Jun (3) vs. Martin (2)
In game II., Martin, my opponent from game 1, wins over Jun´s electric
forces by cleverly Switching wounded and weak pokémon, and attacking
with Mewtwo.
Game I. takes longer. Azad´s deck consists of only basic pokémon with
none or low retreat cost and strong fighters (Hitmonchan). Chris tries
to build up his Psychic pokémon (Abra-Kadabra-Alakazam) with the help
of Mewtwo and Raticate. Alakazam´s Power buys him some time. In the end,
Azad wins by having taken more prizes when time runs out.
The semi-finals
Game I. Jun vs. Chris
Game II. Martin vs. Azad
Game I. Jun´s farfetch´d goes hyper, taking out 4 opposing pokémon in
short order. After Farfetch´d has enough damage, Chansey gives Jun time
to build up Zapdos. Chansey receives 4 energy in this period, while
Zapdos also collects 4. Chris protects his Raticate with Defender, but
his options are only to lose Raticate (Jun has one prize left) to
Chansey´s Double-edge or to Zapdos. Chansey does it.
Game II. Azad´s match goes as I have foreseen. Martin´s pokémon survive
Azad´s relentless assault, but he draws his last card and loses at the
beginning of his next turn. This is the right time to curse Bill.
All in all, I was pleased with the broad spectrum of decks. All colors
except Grass were used (at least I didn´t see any), and Blastoise and
Hitmonchan were frequent, but nobody played a pure Haymaker or
RainDance archetype deck. Azad´s winning base-pokémon deck would have
likely suffered heavily had he encountered RainDances.
In the RainDance deck I would have used with enough cards, there would
have been 4 Blastoise and Breeders.
questions, comments, ideas: mail to Felix Hoefert