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Pokemon Tournament Reports MSN alt Q (an Ohio States Report, NOT a Budget Mega Report)
by Johnpaul Adams (aka Cardzmaster2004)
Well, my Ohio States started at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. Yes, I said 6:30. Also, yes, that’s really frickin’ early in the morning. The two and a half hour drive was the first of my Spring Break, and I probably wouldn’t have changed this Spring Break kick-off for anything. I arrived at 9:15 and ARMondak arrived around 9:30. He and I had been talking back and forth, working on my deck and, since I was missing a few key cards, he lent me about 15 cards for my deck. A few of those cards were even late additions because of some water and winter damage to a few of my cards. Bottom line: ARMondak is my saviour right now.
I decided to play MSN alt Q, the deck I’ve been working on since CG Pres. The deck started as a Mega EX/Venusaur CG deck but, after some help from Andrew (ARMondak), Kim (Kemony) and a few others, the deck changed direction completely. DF Nidoqueen splved a LOT of my searching problems and the TecH Lati line and H. Magnemite really tuned up the deck. Here’s the list (as, frankly, the report won’t make sense unless you know what’s in here):
MSN alt Q: (an eDeck)
3 Chicorita d 2 Bayleaf d 3 Meganium EX
3 Nidoran (Female) d 1 Nidorina d 3 Nidoqueen d
2 Onix 2 Steelix EX
4 Holon’s Castform 1 Holon’s Magnemite 1 Latias d (Holo from HP) 1 Latios EX d
4 Holon Transceiver 4 Holon Mentor 2 Holon Adventurer 1 Holon Scientist 1 Holon Researcher 1 Holon Farmer
4 Rare Candy 3 Windstorm 1 Giant Stump 2 Switch
7 Grass Energy 4 Metal Energy
The basic aim of the deck is to get a Steelix out ASAP with a Mega and a Nidoq benched so you can pump out 100 a turn. The Ohio Meta is filled with MetaNites, rogue Lightning decks, and other things, so I felt anything w/ Steelix EX would be safe. Ideal start is a Lati or H. Castform start w/ a Transceiver or Mentor (or both) in hand. The only problem this deck has is any Safeguard-type effects. Most of the damage comes from a Steelix Bomb and Safeguard effectively shuts that down. Nidoq helps out with that a bit, but it can be a bit of a hassle as then my opponents swoop in and kill one of the centerpieces of this deck.
Going into States, I had a cumulative total of 6 hours of sleep because of midterms and a massive term paper (on clowns, mimes, Comedia dell’Arte, and Arnold Schoenberg). So I wasn’t as prepared sleep-wise as I’d have liked. But coffee fixes sleep problems (remember kids: Coffee has caffeine, caffeine is a drug, and drugs are bad). After getting my deck checked (yay Orzova, the Church of Deals), I played a few practice games, shuffled my deck, participated in some light ‘Wolf talk, and more or less hung out until my first pairing came up.
It was a 60 person (62 later) six-round tournament with a Top 8 cut.
(NOTE: Just like my Nats. report last year, I lost all my notes. So, bear with me. ANesm aren’t going to exist, but if you are in this report, let me know. I’ll edit you in.)
Round 1 vs. Random Psychic Deck (Gengar, Gardevoir d)
I talked with this guy a bit and about how his soon was playing in one of the younger divisions. He also wondered how he got paired with me first round. I dunno how they do first round pairings, but I assume it went with tourney ranking. And, as this was my first major Constructed tourney of the season, that may have played into it a bit.
Or it could just be random, like I think it is.
In any case, I had a God start of Casform, Onix, Mentor, Transceiver. I went second and saw his active was…
…. ….
Celebi EX from POP 2.
Effing monkeys.
Well, I couldn’t power up Onix because of Celebi EX’s Psychic Shield. So I Mentored for the Lati’s and a Magnemite and D. Drew for 2. He used Poke Ball (?1?) to get a Gastly (in anticipation of Gengar EX, I guessed). Next turn, I powered up Latios EX d in hopes of stalling until I got a powered Nidoq. He hit my Castform for 30 the next turn. I retreated out Castform and hit w/ ‘Tos EX for 0 and protection. I figured he’d use the same tactic on me but, instead, he retreated and attacked with his Gastly. OK. He Poisoned me, so I retreated the effect off and hit for 30 while powering up my Steelix. Eventually I was able to take down the Celebi with a well placed Mud Slide and, from there, it was easy rolling.
Result: WIN (1-0)
I got done quickly, grabbed some more coffee, and shuffled for my next match .
Round 2 vs. Shiftry EX
This deck ran all three Shiftry EX and the Evolutionary Fan Shiftry ( I found out later). I got a different start this time, me with only a Nidoran d to his lone Rosalia. Yeah, fun times. He got stuck on Rosalia for four turns, which gave me time to Mentor for the another Nido, Onix, and Casform (all went to my hand), hit him for 10, Researcher for Nidorina, hit for poison, force him to retreat out for a Cacena (soon to be Cacturn EX), and then build my bench. By the time he did get out a Shiftry EX, I had taken down the Cacturn EX (annoying thing) and had a Nidoq, Chico, and Onix (I think) benched. He brought up Rosalia after the ‘Turn EX KO and Flicked up my Onix (or whatever). I switched out for Castform (recently benched), decided to avoid taking 20 from Shiftry’s body, and D. Drew for 3. I ended up getting the Mentor I needed to get out the Latis and then use my PP to grab the needed Castforms to power out my Steelix. Form there, it was smooth sailing (and Mud Sliding). Though he did get out the newest Shiftry for his last tow attacks and hit Delta Draw from my in-hand Castform, netting him zero cards both times.
Result: WIN (2-0)
LUNCH BREAK!
I hit up a Pizza Hut Express with the guy from Round 2 and John B., a cool guy from the Mansford area. We talked about decks (his and mine) over lunch and about the match-ups. I’d tested mine pretty heavily against his (Scizor EX w/ 2/2 Lati’s) and found that the matchup is pretty much in his favor with me having little to no chance against his speed. We also talked about how my deck would normally run against his and he against mine. E also talked about the Shiftry deck that I played in Round 2 (which John had built; btw, I’d say go 2 of the new one, 1 of the CG, and 1 of the Evo. Fan one for best consistency). WE also talked about a bunch of other stuff and joked about if we got paired in the next round, since we were both 2-0
Round 3: vs. John B. w/ ScizorEX/Lati’s/Rayquaza EX d
Eff…well, I knew I had little to no chance going into this, but I played hard. And it paid off eventually. I had to sack a bunch of Prizes and stall for a bit while he got a T3 Scizor. But I was able to deal enough damage (in sacking 3 prizes) to take down Scizor 1 and 2. He brought up Latios EX and but up a barrier, blocking me from KOing it this turn while he benched Rayquaza EX d and attached a dRainbow to it. I couldn’t KO any fo his EXs to get the last 2 of my prizes, so he simply attached another energy to ‘Quaza d EX the next turn and hit one of my benched pokémon for his last prize. I did learn how to work against this deck through this match, but by the time I could have pulled out the win, it was too late. Had I had on more turn, I probably would have had the in here. But, overall, I lost to the better player here.
Result: LOSS (2-1)
Round 4: vs. Kevin E. w/ Beedrill d/Rayquaza EX d
What is up with all these Rayquaza EX d’s? In the other deck, its apretty viable TecH, being a decent kill card. But a deck centered around it? I have to admit, I’d been looking at Beedrill d for a theoretical deck, but I didn’t think it was viable. I was proved wrong.
Kinda.
We had a Weedle start to my Castform. He did nothing first turn to my Mentor for Latis and Magnet and D. Draw for 2. On his second turn, I saw how the deck worked and got hit for para and poison, and him hitting me for 50 of whatever he wanted. After seeing this, I sacked a couple prizes and built up an Onix, avoiding the extra damage b/c of his Body. When I got Onix active, I had the game locked down. He took two prizes and I Slid everything thing out for the win. Only ahd to get 2 KOs because of the Beedrill’s dying so quickly (for a nice effect though).
Result: WIN (3-1)
At about this time, I was sitting in 11th place, which wasn’t bad. If I won my next two, I was guaranteed a top spot. If I lost one, I still had a good shot since my Round 3 loss was sitting at 4-0. I shuffled, grabbed more coffee (yay drugs), and checked the pairing for Round 5
Round 5: vs. Tracy K. w/ Banette EX/Mew EX/LunaSol
Tracy is from Michigan and came down for States. She was 4-0 (to my 3-1) going into this, and a win here would REALLY help my standing. I got there early and the Master’s head judge was already at the table. Why? Well…
RANDOM DECK CHECK!!!
I hadn’t shuffled much, so it didn’t bother me. I handed over my deck, translations, Student ID card and Orzova, the Church of Deals (the last two just for good measure) and waited. We made small talk while the decks got checked. Here deck was fine. Mine, on the other hand, had one torn sleeve. Monkeys…
I had extras in my car, so I ran out, grabbed a sleeve from my Alakazam Stall deck (yes, its still together) and started shuffling. We got an 8 minute extension, but didn’t really need it. this matchup is bad for me if I can’t get set up by turn 3.
She had a lone Lunatone start to my Castform. I D. Drew for 2 after a Mentor, and then she Mentored on her turn, got two Solrocks and a Shuppett, retreated, and Ascended. At this point, the only way I see a win is to get out and stall with Latios EX, but she drops a Crystal Beach, screwing me over. I can’t draw into a Windstorm until three turns later and 4 prizes down. From there, she just takes down my Steelix (which I can only Slide away 2 prizes with b/c of my slower set-up). She controlled this game from the get-go, and I didn’t get set up until thurn 6-ish because of having to throw some prizes to set something up. Good game though.
Result: LOSS (3-2)
Well, I figure there goes any chance of my getting into the top 8, but one 4-2 was going to make cut. And I wasn’t dropping anyway since there might be some AYaW?-ing going on later. So I headed into my last match.
Round 6: Nick K. (I think, correct me if I’m wrong) w/ RaiEggs
Well, this could be fun. We both had lone Castform starts. He went first and did nothing. I, not know what he was playing yet, Mentored for Nidoran, Chico, and Magnet then D. Drew for 2. He Mentored for Pika d, Eggs d, and a D. Drew for 2 himself. I had another Mentor in hand and, deciding that dropping a prize now was a decent idea, Mentored again for both Latis and an Onix, Candied out a Nidoq, and Invited a Bayleaf (for Evo) to my hand. I ended with a D. Draw for 4 this time. He retreated, brought out Exeggutor d, and Circled away my Castform. I brought out my half powered Onix, attached Metal, evoed, got out Mega EX and attached for the 70 and 1 to me. He Circled me for 50, plus Cessation Crystaled and Cursed Stoned me. I had Windstorm in hand, took them out, and KOed a benched Raichu with a Mudslide. He Bombed the next turn, hitting Latios EX and Nidoq. I took him out, then he came in and Zzapped with a new Raich and hit a bnech fo stuff. He also laid down another C.Stone, which took my Nidoq to 90. I had some bench room and a Nidoran, Candy, and Nidoqueen in hand. So I Slid away the active Raichu, took my prize, then allowed my ‘Queen to die. HE brought up ANOTHER Raichu, attached Scramble, and hit my steelix for 70, taking me to 90. He also Cessation Crytalled, stopping my Mega EX and Nidoq. I didn’t have a Windstorm, so I attached energy to Steelix and KOed the Raichu. He swept in with Exeggutor and hit my steelix for 60 after a Mentor for a couple more Delta pokémon. From there, I had another half power Steelix on my bench, but I was out of Castform’s in my deck. After inviting from ym dek for my last pokémon, I noticed that my Farmer wasn’t in there. Neither was it in my discard pile. The only card that could have saved the game for me was prized. He killed my other Steelix the next turn, netting him the win.
Result: LOSS (3-3)
Final Result: 22nd Place (3-3)
Well, I had a good, but not great, day overall. I was expecting the deck to perform much better and, with the exception of the Banette loss, all my losses were VERY close. The deck performed as expected, but I still feel like I made a few erroneous misplays during the course of then tournament. But, I’ve reflected on everything and am ready to prep for whatever event is next (either Regionals or Nats. For me).
Well, here’s a quick recap of Props and Not so Props from the tournament:
PROPS:
++Andrew M. for providing me with the cards I needed to run my deck. ++Andrew and Kim for helping me construct this great deck. ++Me for rediscovering the Joy of Coffee. ++MSN alt Q for running well. ++Discovering the buzz about H. Magnemite (I get it now!!!). ++The staff of the event for running it well. ++Dustin for not killing every time I asked a question about Mana, click count, D&D, Trap cards, or anything else not pokémon related during a tournament round. ++Getting to meet a lot of you guys at a major tourney. ++A frickin’ awesome turnout (63 total, w00tZ0rZ!!!1!!1!!1!!1!).
Not Sure:
+-Orzova, the Church of Deals (I think I need a new luck card; any suggestions? It has to be from M:tG though)
Not so Props:
--Going 3-3 with a deck that should have performed better. --Going 3-3 with another Meganium deck (Budget Mega last year). --Sleep depravation. --Reports on clowns, mimes, and 20th Century atonal composition technique. --Beedrill d. I won that match, but that card is darn annoying. --No top 16 cut. Eternal sadness. --Stallers. Enough said. --No money to participate in the Side Event draft. --Lack of live Werewolf event b/c I had to get home. --The three-and-a-half hour drive to southern Ohio.
SIDE NTOE: By the way, I’ll be starting up my deck garage again soon. I have one deck ready to be fixed, but I’d like to get a few more. Remember, I’m only doing MODIFIED decks, even though my main page says otherwise. So, send your decks to Cardz2004@hotmail.com and I’ll see what I can work out for them. Until the next article, best wishes and blessings!
~Cardz out.
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