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You know, as much as I have been working on the Pojo, it's been forever since I've written a Killer Report. Well, that changes now. It was last Saturday and I decided to play at Games. I had nothing better to do and I needed to peel myself away from the computer for a while. I took my new Escalator deck, looking to give the tournament a Y2E problem. I guess I should spill my guts as to what is in the deck. Here ya go:

The Escalator; Scott Gerhardt

Basic Pokemon:
4 Gastly (Fossil)
4 Electabuzz
3 Mr. Mime
3 Clefairy

Evolutions:
2 Clefable
3 Haunter (Fossil)
3 Gengar

Trainers:
4 Bill
2 Professor Oak
1 Gambler
3 Pokemon Trader
2 Energy Retrieval
3 Super Energy Removal
2 Gust of Wind
1 Item Finder

Energy:
13 Psychic Energy
7 Electric Energy

Okay. Let me get something out in the open here. This deck is not complete yet. It is still very much in the beta test stages. The premise is very simple. Use a hard hitting basic like Electabuzz to hit hard and early, giving you a chance to evolve. Against most decks, attempt to race to 1 or more Gengars, then drop the Mime into play. This gives you a chance to do massive damage in one shot thanks to Gengar's curse. Clefairy/Clefable serve the purpose of dealing with other colorless Pokemon as well as Psychic Pokemon. The trainer mix is okay, but needs some work too. Okay, enough self-bashing; on to the report

Hey - I've got an idea: how about I start the tournament out by giving it a great test. *groan* This was gonna be rough. Chris is running a Haymaker variant. Simply put, I got some horrible draws in the two games here. One game I started with Clefairys and Mime's only. He jumped on a 4 prize advantage before I could recover. The other game he, reminiscent of the other time we met in the swiss of Games, drew like 4 Energy Removal in a row in the mid-game, and I did not recover. "I'll see you in the finals" was all I had to say. I like to talk trash. Now to see if I could back it up.
Matches (0-1) Games (0-2)

How's THIS for an 0-1 match-up? Guess it was not my day. Chipmunk is running a deck with Dodrios. I wish I could tell ya more, but I've slept since then (hey Chippy - what else was in your deck?). I remember by Electabuzzes being VERY good against him in the 2 games. I would get down a couple of Gengars and go swap nuts. The deck was Haymakerish. This SHOULD be a good match-up for me.
Matches (1-1) Games (2-2)

Yep, now it's official. It's "we're out to get Scott" day. Josh is running Rain Dance. I'm not worried. As long as I get my start, I'm fine. If I see my Mime, he HAS to see something to deal with it. Well, game 1 he goes off. He drops me down to nothing but a Gastly, and does it in a hurry thanks to some good top-decking. He Oaks, and is able to deal 70 to my Electabuzz in one turn. That's bad for me. Luckily, I go off next turn, slapping a few basics down on my bench, and bringing out a Mr Mime. I then proceed to strip Blastoise of 4 energy ala 2 Supers. This is bad for him, as with no hand, I get all the time in the world to set up. Rain Dance has to win fast. I win slow. Guess I get to win this one. Game 2 my draw is good, and I'm able to keep an Articuno active as my little damage whore. Swap it from him to stuff like Jigglys on the bench. Just slap him around with Dark Mind and deal with Jiggly. Safe, effective, and very destructive.
Matches (2-1) Games (4-2)

That's cold - I can't remember his name. Sorry. I am not commenting much on this. I will only say this: his opening Pokemon was a Bellsprout. Hmmmm.. Well, with the exception of the slowly evolving Venusaur on the bench, this was uneventful. I brought out Kangiskhan, then used him as a damage magnet, attacking with Electabuzz and swaping with Gengar. Big damage magnets that can't hurt me make me happy. =)
Matches (3-1) Games (6-2)

Well, wouldn't you know it, I make Top 4. Drop the 1st, then start rolling with the "W"s. Two more victories was all I needed. Other Semifinal was Josh vs Chris

This is a rematch from the previous weekend. He is running a weird damage swap deck (see his report). He has too much stuff Psychic weak in his deck. Gengar, Mime, and even Gastly/Haunter get in on the party. Eventually, he drops down Chansey, but it doesn't matter. I start swaping damage, getting 6 on Chansey, and Meditating for 40. Not enough to kill Chansey, but enough to do some REAL bench damage considering I got up to 3 Gengars fast. He conceeds once he realized he's locked (and yes, this deck can get a NASTY soft lock). Game 2 is pretty much a repeat. Chansey is my magnet, and I swap from there.
Matches (4-1) Games (8-2)

Well, I guess it's not trash talk if I back it up. Time to put up or shut up. Game 1 he starts with a Puff to my lone Clefairy. He wants the kill, and goes for it. 2 Oaks yields only a DC and 1 Plus Power. Luckily, I had trader, Bill, and Oak in hand. I recover from this nicely by getting a gastly, and sticking him out. I figured out the route to victory was saying screw Gengar, and screw trying to win on prizes - I'll deck him. Haunters were key. Get them out, get Hitmonchan out to the front with Gusts, keep it at bay with SER, and win that way. He's already oaked twice, so things look grim. I only draw 1 prize the whole game, but they key thing was he did not draw six. Game 2 my deck craps on me. Weird Mime/Clefairy start, and I lose. Game 3 back to old faithful. I go for the deck, his deck just can not deal with a Haunter as long as I get decent draws. Keep Hitmo active and I win. I was able to do so, and he decked himself trying for the win. Gambler insured I did not deck.
Matches (5-1) Games (10-3)

Well goodness. I win the tournament. Store credit is about nil, so I pick up a few packs of magic because I don't wanna pay their prices on Pokemon. This was a solid deck test.

Bah. I don't wanna do this section. At least for this time around, I'm gonna rename it:

What this time? How about this store selling 1st edition Fossil for $9.99 a pack. Excuse me? I can get this $3.29 a pack, no matter what you lie to your customers and tell them, Bill. Now, past that, 1st edition Fossil Holos were $20 a pop. *GASP!* I about croaked. This is why I don't like buying from this store now that they do Pokemon for real. Just like they did with Magic, they have now jacked up all the prices. They give crappy store credit, and then you have to spend it on overpriced foils. I need another Saturday gig. That's my rant of the week.