I am going to keep
this report short
and sweet. I
thought about
running Dustox ex/Muk,
but Dark TTar and
Dragtrode really
made me reconsider.
Thus, I chose a
"safe" deck -
Flariados. It turns
out it's not safe at
all,
because people
are really prepared
for it, and
secondly, out of the
18 players in my age
group 15+, 3 others
ran it. (!)
No decklists -
sorry. Again, check
out
other
sites and
forums. (Big hint
already, since I may
make a few tweaks
and use this in my
other Gym
Challenges.) I will
describe Flariados
as a deck that takes
advantage of speed
and special
conditions, with
both Ariados UF and
Flareon ex.
There were a few
Anti-Flariados decks
to boot! Yay! I am
in for a roller
coaster.
Round 1: vs. Bianchi
- DragTrode
This is one of the
more difficult
matchups. I had an
early lead, with a
decent start, but he
caught up in prizes
3-3 when he Warp
Point, and I decided
to sacrifice my
Flareon ex. I
focused on Rocket's
Sneasel ex the
entire game, and
managed to KO 2 of
them. Nevertheless,
he got a lot more
HEADS than TAILS,
like 10/13. That
really hurts me,
because every turn
the game extends,
the more likely he
draw stadiums to
counter my Battle
Frontier and get set
up. He eventually
did, and I had to
keep using Spider
Trap on main
attacking Pokemon.
I thought I made a
really bad play at
the end, when prizes
are tied 1-1. I
decided to Spider
Trap Dark Dragonite
with 40 damage. He
has another Dark
Dragonite, and I
couldn't counter
Desert Ruins. I
thought it was
awful, but it
wasn't. Because he
had 3 Darkness and a
Rainbow. If he
stayed Asleep, which
is 50%, then he will
remain Poison when
it's my turn, takes
20 more damage with
2 damage counters,
with 2 in between
turns, and 100-30 =
70 (Reactive Poison,
Burn+Confuse+Poison),
so he would be KO'd
for the last prize.
Heartbreaking loss
for me.
Loss 0-1 0pts.
I haven't won a
Premiere Event or
made top cuts when I
lost my first game.
The resistance score
is on the low end,
so it really puts me
in a bad spot where
I probably have to
win out all of the
remaining 4 or 5
games.
Round 2: vs. Linda -
Flariados
Fun mirror. Good
thing I go first,
and she never got
started with little
or no draw power. I
focused on her
Ariados, and never
looked back.
Win 1-1 3pts.
Round 3: vs. Omar -
Nidoqueen and
Pidgeot d
He plays plenty of
Holon Energy GL.
It's like the
ultimate anti-Flariados.
Flariados needs
Special Conditions,
and Holon Energy GL
prevents that when
you have a Grass
Energy attached
already to a non-ex
Pokemon. I got ahead
again, and wanted to
find a way to keep
that lead for 30
minutes, but I
sensed that I can't
do it without
winnning the entire
game, taking all 6
prizes. I played
accordingly.
However, toward the
end, his draw cards
like Steven's
Advice, KO on my
last Ariados, and a
perfectly-timed
Rocket's Admin
sealed my fate
today. Today is not
meant to be, with
only a cut to top 4.
Loss 1-2 3pts.
I am pretty sure I
can't make it,
because with 18
players and 5
rounds, I am 95%
certain that only
4-1's will make it.
But I played it out
anyway.
Round 4: vs. Patrick
- Turn 2 Arcanine
ex, Lunarock
It wasn't easy for
me to settle into
the game. He got a
pretty good start,
and start attacking
both my Active and
Bench with Overrun.
He focused on my
Eevees, so his
gameplan was smart.
I carefully evolved
to Flareon ex and
attack hard with
Ariados with
Reactive Poison. I
also used one of my
Flareon ex to get
some KOs with Heat
Tackle. I dominated
and won relatively
easily. Energy
Removal 2's help a
lot.
Win 2-2 6pts.
Round 5: vs.
Straight Dark TTar
He never drew enough
Energies. I used my
Energy Removal 2 to
enhance his problem.
He's pretty
"stubborn" with 3
Mr. Briney's
Compassion (!), but
he had a hard time
keeping Energies in
play. That
ultimately costed
him.
Win 3-2 9pts.
Well I certainly saw
interesting decks,
including new
versions of Lugia
ex/Blastoise ex/Steelix
ex, and Crawdaunt
ex/Claydol. I'll
just keep my head
up some more GC's
next weekend.
Finished 8th and got
4 boosters as
consolation.
Pulling Crawdaunt ex
and Holon's Castform
is quite useful.
As usual, please
post comments or
suggestions at
wilhung53@aim.com.
Best Wishes,
William Hung
