> FireFighter09 goes to the first ever world championships!
> By: Joe Mammano
>
>
>
>
> Friday:
> I get up at 11:L30 am to go to a car which will take me to the
> airport.  My mom gets me there in time to sign in with 1 hour. I
> luckully get through security wiuthout many problems but i make it
> there 10 minutes prior to boarding. I get on teh plane and get to
> Philadelphia without problems. Now the fun begins.  Finding the way to

> the terminal wasn't teh problem it was teh 1 hour delay that was.  I
> got on teh crowded flight to find my sat next to 2 italian speaking
> men so the whole way up i paid ton get headphones and listened to teh
> movie all the ay. Awesome film on,Spiderman. I enjoyed it and watched
> the 2 hours of shows after teh movie. By teh time i got in it was
> 10:06. I got my bags and called johhnyblaze. Found teh shuttle bus and

> hotel easily but i messed up because john said 2865 and i thought it
> was 2835 so when i got to teh hotel i got to floor 28 and
> had to go back down and get john's room so he can redirect my mistake.
I got to the room and
> decided to drop my stiff and check floor 3. Odd that it's a mess but
no one is there. I go to
> the
> rock bottom cafe and get dinner. I then went back to floor 3 and
decided to wait there but 30
> minute later a crowe plaza guy kicked me out so they can clean up the
disaster on the floor. I
> went to bed awaiting teh next day
>
>
> Saturday:
> I with john and nick and go to breakfast. Nice spread. I meet 3/4 of
> team compendium and get to show them my shirt. I got a roar of boo's
> when they saw the sneasel and saw it was my mascot :D.
> John had to hit rite aid so i went back up to find pokemon the movie
2000 was playing.   I
> brought
> my breakfast upstairs already so i sat and watched it. Nick and john
> came in 5 minutes later and we watched it for 10 minutes then left for

> the center. We got there to find teh crowd out teh door
> was longggggggggggg.   When we got in it was a great scene. King RaRa
was outside phyckiiing up
> the crowds. I screamed, "All hail King RaRa!"  It was funny we get in
> to see the massive site of The 2002 World Championships.  I loved it.
> The scenes were incredible. I was so amazed. I decided to go play a
> few games. I lost to johhnyblaze in a practice battle but not my alot.

> I lost due to Pokemon Tower. It stopped me from getting my discard and

> that weasel hit it after i did my oak run
> to build my bench so my item finders were cut off and my nightlys were
all used up.  I met with
> TR_Cassidy but everytime i tried to get a battle with her she kept
ducking and i was kinda angry
> because she was going undefeated and i wanted a piece of her. Id get
it later that day. I went
> to
> get my cards signed by my atira.  I got a reverse holo charmander,dark
vaporeon and
> houndoom(revelation) signed.    I got the vaporeon signed in japanese
but the rest in english
> After i got it signed by mr atira and torii i went to sit down and
chill. I found professor
> maple
> and talked a little about the MSO later that night back at teh crown.
I left shortly after to
> enter a legendary sealed. I lost first round to Gregory Sauk's kid due
to i wasn't too good with
> legendary sealed. Later in freedy k's tourney id learn how to do
better
> I entered a gym draft next and rocked the house.  Physcic power ruled
all.  I got 6 boosters and
> went to face RARA in practice battle.  He had to bolt to a meeting
with mr atira but he said he
> would if he had time later.I found a line to battle my torii with his
fire deck and i joined.
> Looked like he was very familiar with entei,magcargo,ho-oh. He lost a
total of 5 times in the
> weekend and when i faced him he broke me in half. I tried stopping him
but he got major luck
> with
> 6 energies in 2 howls.  I went on now to my judging jobs. I had fun
but my first draft went to
> long. 1 1/2 hours. EEEEEK!!  They said its ok but speed is the key
next time. I decided when it
> ended to ask for another draft but chris,a dci judge got the last one
just before i got there.
> Luckily the head of judging got Chris out for rest and i got to judge
it when teh drafting went
> at
> a steady pace.  That draft ended 20 minutes shy of 8 so when it was
all said and done i got 20
> minutes of rest with no dinner . :(
> Luckully MTM said for all judges who helped we have pizza and soda as
thanks so i ran to teh
> line
> and got food.  :)
>
> The pairings go up and we are up.
>
> Round 1:
> Me vs BigDaddySnorlax
>
> I started strong and he couldn't buy an energy for 6 turns. I
collected 3 prizes by the time he
> got going and this was bad.   The tables were switched.  I got sneasel
powered with the band but
> he hit me and my band failed.  I wm stuck. he got his sneasel pounding

> and he removed most of wiggly's energy. He won eventually with sneasel

> power. 0-1
>
> Me vs i dont remember
> I went in to face what i thought was funny but ended up to be my
> downfall. The MR.Mime wall.  I had my power set and he was stealing my

> air with Mr. mime. I tried getting through teh wall but teh mental
> mistake of tiredness i didn't see till it was a bit to late was i
> could of used jiggly to pound him but when i finally found it  was 5
> turns too late and he has the removal there to stop me and he
eventually won with erick's dratini tail strike and mr.mim's meditate.
>
> 0-2
>
> me vs again i dont remember
> This match i don't even remember at all. I do remember i lost it and
> was yelling for IPGeek21 and i want him in my 4th match.
>
> 0-3
>
> I didn't get IPGeek21 but this is my opponent
> Me vs. Lance313
> I thought lance saying i cant get a meant i had a good chance.  This
> was the craziest game ive had all night
> I couldn't buy an energy for over 8 turns. Lance got lucky.  After my
first run of  6 energy i
> went dry and his dark raichu ripped me in half. He eventually
annialated me with the effect
> killing off my bench.
> I went 0-4 and was laughing saying i want to go last place so i can
say woot! Im last and i did
> what LuMaga1 couldn't do at origins
>
> I sat there looking at myself when i got back before freddyk's tourney

> and said why am i saying to myself i want to lose??  Why do i look at
> myself and say i cant win??  I disgraced my pride, my game and myself
> in saying i want last. I went down to compete in was later known as
> the MSO3 We all got to get a room from the bar where freedyk and his
> group set up the great legendary sealed event.  I drafted a decent
> grass deck. Well 3/4 of my packs were grass so i had no choice. I went

> 2-2 Before it started professor maple came in and gave us alot of
> product for prizes and so it was deemed by him to be the MSO3.  I lost

> my first match because i sent up my nidorina with 2 energy and
> attempted the attack that needed 3 and put my energy down already so
it led to my opponent
> getting ivysaur and finishing me.   Im proud to say i fought to the
end but i lost none the
> less.Next 2 rounds i won but when i went into round 4 i faced jeremy
> brodeaux.  I thought i had a chance but there was a reason he said you

> will hate me for this next shot. He got a turn 2 venasaur up and i was

> shocked. I pulled off one hell of a match but he transed his ivysaurs
> 3 energy's to venasaur and after i knocked it down his venasaur came
> up and he won by a massive pounding.  I went 2-2 and got 2 packs for
> endurance.  I went to bed and hit teh hay hard that night.  The next
> day would be the deciding factor in the weakened
>
> Sunday:
>
> I got up with teh sun. John and nick headed down to breakfast and i
> followed. This breakfast was interesting because teh professor final
> round standings were up for the professor event and i was 90th. I was
> finished at teh time so i figured john and nick had to come up get
> ready anyways so i went up to think.  Think about my day that night
> and how it would end. I said i have to win my hell or high water i
> need one won so i don't fell disgraced.  I went with john and nick to
> the center a short time later. The day 2 events were good.  Nick went
> 17th so he had his shot at day 2 and john went to sign him
> up. I was down to $40 so i decided to walk around.   I went to look at
the movie at the little
> gym
> leaders area.  They were showing pokemon the movie 2000. What a
deserve story there. I saw each
> poke on movie 5 times and i own all of them so i watched the  pichu
brothers cartoon then drew a
> funny snorlax card and left to the side events. I got to meet some
people from the day before
> and
> signed up with johhnyblaze for a gym draft. This was so killer.  It
ended up that i beat him but
> we had to sign up for the theme deck challenge so i ran with him to
the line but the line was
> over
> 200 people long so we stayed there and i dropped from the draft and
got my destiny pack.  Got
> light pillsownie.  Thanks to MTM there were 3 theme deck challenges in
total.  I ended up with
> john in theme deck flight 2
> I did well. I got the devestation(team rocket) deck. I drafted a
poorly constructed theme deck,
> which was to my shock good. I went into battle knowing i have no shot.
I wish i knew how the
> rounds went.
> In round 1 i pulled out a back up game because my opponent made a
crucial mistake. I won by his
> mistake.
> Round 2 was a good match. I faced the goy i drafted across from. I won
after a massive amount of
> luck on flips.
> Round 3 was odd. I faced an STS matser champ and i won only by a
SLIMMMM margin.  He made a big
> mistake that cost him. he was running low on his deck and he put the
energy on the wrong
> pokemon.
> He ended up telling me after the loss if he put energy on abra he
would of won because kadabra
> and
> the energy was in his hand.  I decked him
> Round 4 was a close battle again Jeffrey mermelstien's kid.  He went
hostile on me and took my
> wekness for a spin. I stopped his omastar but he pulled espeon and won
it. 
> Round 5 and 6 were both close but 6 was closer.  I lost because
beofore i could stop eevee he
> got
> flareon and won by weekeness
> Hey 22nd place and 3-3 record with a devestaion deck was great by me.
> I get a few e card boosters and a smile.
>
> I went on next to face professor maple in a practice battle. I beat
> him but i made the error of not refixing my decks and i had 6 bills in

> my deck by accident. We still deemed it a win but i had to fix the
> deck. He gave me a 2nd match as a gunslinging match and he won when
> his deck finally worked right.  I never got a 3rd match with him but i

> did get some dinner.  I rested listening to rara entertain the kids
> till the professor tourney.  I wanted to face DMTM but oddly enough he

> was to go eat dinner but everyone on his list got a box topper. I got
> mew two which is 3 of 4 that i need.  I ended up later getting teh
> final one from a guy who got it for cleaningand already had his fair
> share. I thanked him so much. Now teh event is on.  I found out i got
> the one thing i never wanted. A BYE!  I went to MTM and asked why did
> you give this to me. I don't want a bye and he said hey we all have to

> take it sometime. I walled off in anger and went to subway for a soda.
> I returned to go into round 6 knowing who i face will probabily beat
me.  I had my shot to win
> in
> this one.
>
> Me vs. a guy i can't remember but ech sure knew
>
> I went on to get a close loss. This was just sickness art teh end. Try

> 14 tails in a row. I couldn't get past his cleffa and he kept eeking
to one card. He won by me decking.
>
> The last round.
>
> Me vs a guy i cant rememebr
> I will leave this short and sweet., I won by wrecking him. entei vs
cleffa but my hand got
> sneasel
> fully powered and banded so he was my wrecking crew. At teh end i
screamed. I got a standard
> win!!!  IPGeek21 was the only one that looked over at me. I went 2-5
and 72nmd place. My box of
> destiny was nice. I pulled some good cards and my favorite shining
celebi. I love celebi.
>
> We left for the hotels and i said goodbye to everyone. I ended up
> finding geek doing a legendary draft. I got into it and drafted a
> chezzy grass deck that failed miserably.  I went 0-2 and decided to go
to maples tourney the MSO4.
> I built a cool grass deck and went 3-2 with it. I lost to the guy who
i beat in the WCSC
> rochester
> and to bob callanan which had a massivly strong kindra deck.  I did
well and ended getting a
> fire
> badge for my endurance and meeting this awesome female artist who
creeted an invader zim image
> which i got signed by her. I wish i could meet her again.  Id like to
battle her sometime to see
> how good she is. Nick15 knew her well. She made this nasty rabid
mewtwo. The art was great but
> the
> picture was a dark picture and the nasty part was the bloody pikachu
coming from its tail. I
> stayed up till 4am and beat MOD BJJ???(I dont remeber the #'s) in a
battle and lost to IPGeek21
> when he borrowed Jeremy brodex's deck.  I cant spell jeremy's name
well but eh is teh winner of
> teh WCSTS2001 day 1
> I stayed up and got feddy k to sign my blaistiose for my deck.  Well
he actually asked if i
> wanted
> a card signed by him and i gave him my blaistiose. 
> When i got in i was so tired i was asleep within 2 minutes. 
> I got on the plane home and it was good.  I met this neat girl and we
talked 3/4 of the way
> down.
> I got her email and need to email her sometime.
> When i got into Philadelphia i found the plane was delayed an hour.
We got on and found we were
> in line to depart and delayed us 30 more minutes.  By teh time i got
home to Albany it was
> 11:30.
> I got back to my house and slept till 3 the next day
>
> ALL in all it was a great trip to Seattle and in had a blast.  It was
> great to meet everyone and to battle for many hours. I hope i get to
> go to worlds 2003
>
> See ya later and my last report will be from gencon
> Joe Mammano
> FireFighter09