Eventually registration begins and I hand in my decklist. The exact list shall remain secret but it was a Sceptile Ex/Slowbro deck.

Round 1 v. Dark Crobat/random grass stuff

This actually scared me because Sceptile Ex is weak to grass. However his deck wasnt built extremely well and I was able to abuse Jirachi to get a complete set up. Eventually he kills Jirachi and I KO his Dark Bat with a Boost Energy on a Sceptile Ex. He sends up some random grass basic that confuses my Sceptile. I try to attack for a couple turns unsuccessfully. Eventually I retreat and mow the thing down. By now he has a second bat which I KO with a Slashing Strike again. A couple turns later I eat up enough basics to win.

1-0

Round 2 v. Ajay w/Neverland

Ajay is an up and coming player at our league and his play continues to improve. This is the first of two games that I really stole when I won. I get a ridiculous hand of Treecko, Pidgey, 2 Grass, 2 Rare Candies and a Pokemon Retriever. I start with Treecko hoping for a quick Larvitar KO. He starts with a Jirachi and grabs a Dark Pupitar. I draw... another Rare Candy. I attach grass and pass. Now he makes what I consider a crucial misplay, instead of just grabbing the Dark TTar from his deck, Ajay goes for the heads on the attack to evolve. Of course he flips tails. My turn I attach grass and flip heads for a big 60. His turn he is stuck using the flip attack again...and yet another tails. To my joy I topdeck a Pidgeot. I immediately grab a Grovyle and KO his Pupitar. Now Ajay is pissed at himself and his luck. Its pretty much all over as the next turn I grab a Sceptile Ex and eventually he cant touch my play area with Sceptile Ex and two Slowbro. He concedes in disgust at my luckiness.

2-0

Now there was a lunch break and we all headed over for some McDonalds. We get back finish eating and fool around for awhile. Tom throws up the trash for the dunk and I slam it into the can. Too bad the can was full and ice shot all over the room. At this point only Fulop has really bombed with an 0-2 start with is what I considered to be one of the best decks in the format. A Blaziken deck and Vileplume deck (played by Jim Ferrell) are making a splash which is starting to scare me.

Round 3 v. Mike w/Neverland

Mike got an extremely bad start with a Pidgey and two Larvitar. I Sars for Jirachi and fully evolve my whole bench. There was nothing he could do as a Sceptile steamrolled his whole play area.

3-0

Round 4 v. Sean w/Neverland

The third Neverland game in a row. Its an autowin so Im not really minding. I get a first turn Dunsparce but am surprised to find my Jirachi is prized. This hangs me out to dry but his start is awful. I decide to go aggro with a Rare Candied Sceptile Ex. I KO about 4 Pokemon before he is able to ATMR for the KO. Its too late as by then I easily get another Sceptile to go with the two Slowbro on my bench. Sean realizes its impossible for him to keep any damage on the board and concedes after a couple turns.

Round 5 v. Laura w/Draggy

Laura probably gets the worst possible start for her TecHed out Dragonite list. A Sneasal and Regirock. I Sars finding no Jirachi yet again. Laura brings up my Treecko with Sneasal. I bench another and start to power it. She does 20 more to the active Treecko. I topdeck a Grovyle and evolve my Treecko, attaching a grass. Her turn she takes the free KO on my active. I promote Grovyle and evolve it. Then I do Poison Ring. Her turn she fails a Super Scoop Up and eventually is forced to Switch to Regirock. I attach a grass and POW the Sneasal for the KO. On her turn she benches another Sneasal and passes it back to me. I attach and KO the rock. Couple turns later the same happens to Sneasal.

5-0

Round 6 v. Russ w/Primetool

This was a match I didnt want to play either. I didnt feel Sceptile would be able to compete with OHKOs. This would be the second win that I stole from an opponent. My start was just terrible as I sacrifice stuff left and right. Eventually I just send up a Sceptile Ex to stall. He goes and is unable to OHKO and deals 40. I attach a second grass and heal. He deals 40 again. I send the 40 to a Slowbro and attach Boost for the KO. He sends up a Claw Fossil and passes it back to me. I POW his Mankey, attach an energy and KO it. His turn he attaches a Buffer to the Claw and passes again. I do 20. He has nothing left and passes. I KO Claw for the bench out.

6-0

We turn in our decks and hang out for awhile. The top 8 looked something like this:

1st Sceptile Ex/Slowbro

2nd Neverland

3rd Blaziken

4th Vileplume Ex

5th Dragonite

6th Primetool

7th Neverland

8th Metagross/Dark Steelix

Yes, thats an amazing seven different decks in a top 8. It shows how crazy this format is and how almost anything can win in it.

Top 8 v. John Wetz w/Metagross

Game 1:

We both knew this one was going to take forever as our decks were both built around healing. We both get pretty good set ups and I am able to poison his Steelix. Eventually he is forced to retreat which opens up a window for me to Boost KO whatever he brings up. I do, and he scoops so we can get a second game in.

Game 2:

He gets an Onix start with no energy. I abuse this by getting a full set up. Eventually I KO him with a Sceptile Ex. He is forced to play on even though he has no hope of winning, especially because two Milotic are prized. I deck him and draw my last few prizes all in the same turn.

7-0

Top 4 v. Russ w/Primetool

Game 1:

We both play slowly trying to play for a set up to just overpower the other. I stall with my Dunsparce well he sits with a Claw. Eventually he makes his move and the chain reaction of KOs occurs. It comes down to him needing the last of his tools to KO a second Sceptile Ex. He Steves but comes up two short. I move the damage around and heal. Having nothing left, he concedes.

Game 2:

This one starts out pretty much the same as game 1. His start is much worse and he spends a lot of time passing. He goes for his move and KOs my active. I send up a Sceptile and OHKO. As expected he KOs me back. Now he has like 7 cards in his hand and needs 5 to KO another Sceptile. I figure its safe to make a move with another Sceptile. Too bad he drops 5 and KOs me. I send up a Pidgeot and KO the Primeape. There isnt much time left and I did think about stalling but I continued to play on. I cant survive forever though and my Pidgeot dies a few turns later.

Game 3:

This one is pretty much a sudden death game as time is called immediately after we start. I get a quick Sceptile Ex and just send it out to stall. He has an awful start with a couple Mankeys. Russell draws into no answers and a Mankey dies.

8-0

Top 2 v. Seena w/Neverland

Game 1:

Now I figured this would be pretty easy but Seena turned it into a game. My hand is awful but I Sars for Treecko, Slowpoke, and Pidgey. Jirachi was prized again. Seena uses Sars for the usual stuff. My turn I topdeck a Pidgeot, which pretty much saves me. I evolve to Grovyle and Pidgeotto. Seena gets a Dark TTar with Bite Off on his bench so I cant use Sceptile Ex for pretty much the whole game. I get my Pidgeot and start evolving my bench. I go for a R/S Sceptile too so I can abuse my support pokemon for attacking. Eventually his Dunsparce kills mine and I POW up his TTar. Pidgeot locks it but he Brineys to save it and Amphy kills Pidgeot. I lock Amphy with Sceptile Ex while he starts to power TTar again. Amphy dies at the end of his turn so I get a free Dunsparce kill with a Slowbro to tie up the game again. He sends up TTar and uses grind for a KO. I attach a Shard to another Slowbro and hit it for 30. Tails on paralysis. He retreats and starts attacking my bench with the fighting TTar and a Tricky Gym. I do some damage moving and hit his TTar for 30 with Slowbro. He does some more bench stuff on his turn. I put 50 on Slowbro and move his energy to Sceptile. Then I Briney and bring my R/S Sceptile up. I use Tail Rap and get a heads for the KO. Having nothing left Seena brings up the TTar and Bites off for a KO. I send up Sceptile Ex and attach Boost for the KO. He has nothing left and is going to deck a turn ahead of me so Seena concedes. There are only 17 minutes left so he just gives me the whole match.

9-0

It was a great tournament and I appreciate everyone that played in it. I had some great matches in there too. Thanks to the Gillettes for running yet another great event.

The ride home was pretty uneventful with all of us being extremely tired. I got home and fell asleep immediately.