I’d like to start off by thanking the guys who put this together. Erich, (Pokedok) thank you for taking the time to organize it, and thanks to Windy City Comics who sponsored. We had 30 people come, which wasn’t a bad turnout. We were expecting more, but there were a lot of last minute cancellations.
I did indeed play Dark Blastoise as most people were expecting. I felt that it was the best decision I could make, because that was the deck I was most skilled with. If I had another chance to play in the tournament, I would still play Dark Blastoise, only I’d add in a few cards. Steelix, for example. On to the decklist…
Arithmestoise Version 1.5
Squirtle EX x4
Dark Wartortle x4
Dark Blastoise x3
Cleffa x3
Tyrogue x2
Pichu x2
Water x10
Darkness x4
Metal x2
Professor Elm x4
Copycat x4
Double Gust x4
Gold Berry x4
Pokemon Trader x2
The Boss’ Way x2
Healing Field x2
Focus Band x2
Switch x1
Time Capsule x1
I was psyched going into the tournament. My pre-tournament observations showed a huge amount of Kingdra, along with quite a bit of Hybrid Kingdra. Very little Entei/Cargo. Quite a few rogue decks. It looked to be interesting.
I came with my best friend, who was home from military school for two weeks. He decided to go Dark Blastoise as well. After I met up with Jason, Alex, Matt, Jen, and the rest of the gang, the first round pairings were announced. I looked, and found myself against Tom Pullar… who at the time I thought was playing Ampharos!
Round 1 vs. Tom Pullar w/ Kingdra
Turns out everyone was playing “Let’s scare RaNd0m” and telling me they were playing Ampharos. *sighs* He actually had sleeved an Ampharos and put it face up on top of his deck. I seriously expected lightning, but was fooled. Badly.
I won the roll. He opened with a lone Horsea, and I had Cleffa and Tyrogue. I joked saying that it was a good thing he didn’t play Ampharos, or that would’ve been a Mareep! Anyway, he got a slow setup, which gave me an advantage because I could allow myself to set up slow. I continued to Eeeeeeeek, while loading up two dark blastoises. I ended with a 4 water, 2 darkness Dark Blastoise killing off every Kingdra in sight, and a 4 water, 1 darkness, 1 metal Dark Blastoise on the bench ready to go in (as if the active would get killed ;/). This basically was a murderous game, but we had fun. I told him I was rooting for him to make top 8, but he told me I was just saying that so I’d get a good opp-win percentage. ;)
1-0-0
Round 2 vs. Vince (Im A Living Legend) w/ Espeon/Umbreon
I joked about his screen name throughout the game, which didn’t last long. Espeon is a horrible match up for me. I opened with two Cleffas and a decent hand. However, this was when the bad luck of the tourney started to hit me. I failed on Eeeeeek attempts 5 times straight, and never got any good draws after my first Elm, which ended in horrible results. Near the end of the game, I finally got a Squirtle with 2 waters, which he gusted and killed. Not a good game at all, but definitely the deck to beat Dark Blastoise.
1-1-0
Round 3 vs. Jason (Ness) w/ Kingdra
He actually considered offering a draw because we had play tested before the tournament via apprentice, with heavy results in my favor. I would’ve probably declined anyway, so that really didn’t matter.
This was horrible. Honestly, I think this was the worst game that I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t stop laughing about it either. It wasn’t like I didn’t have draw power, because I did. I even copycat’d him for 15 once. However, it was like all the energy was on the bottom of the deck when I needed it, and all the Pokemon were at the bottom when I needed them. Oh, add on the fact that my flips were 15-20% heads.
Wow… what do I say to something like this…
1-2-0
Ok now I thought I was out of the top 8 for good. I was really disappointed because I know the deck can do a lot better than it has. Before the tourney, I had about a 90% win percentage against Kingdra. I just lost to one which didn’t even have the greatest of draws or luck to begin with. I was really frustrated.
We went to lunch, where Jason and Alex repeated threw fries at me. Wow… what HORRIBLE aim these guys have! ;) Anyway, I realized my friend (Chris, the military school guy) was having just as bad of luck. 1-2. I knew something had to be wrong with the deck, but it was a little to late for that. With a HUGE lack of confidence… I went into the fourth round.
Round 4 vs. Joseph w/ Electabuzz and Shining Kabutops
This was a really interesting idea for a deck, and gave me some trouble. Ok, a LOT of trouble. Again, a lack of setup. Three out of Four games with a horrible setup? Either it’s the WCSTS all over again (inside joke), or something is wrong with the way I setup my deck. However this time, Tyrogue got me out of death. Smash punching Electabuzz is deadly, and forced him to play conservatively. This allowed me to buildup (getting a Squirtle on 6th or 7th turn) and finally start killing him off. He told me afterwards he only played one double gust. If he would’ve played 3, he would’ve won.
2-2-0
Round 5 vs. Ben w/ Dark Feraligatr
Dark Gatr? Crap. I lost 2/3 games to that at Worlds, so I was nervous. However, while he built up Dark Feraligatr on his bench, I built up Dark Blastoise on mine. I actually got a good setup this game. Anyway, I built “Blasty” up to 4 water and a darkness, and double gusted the Gatr up, killing it off. That was about it. I started picking off babies one by one, gusted up a dark croconaw killing it off, and virtually won the game easily.
3-2-0
My resistance was really good, and I was ranked 9th after 5 rounds. I knew for certain I would make top 8 if I won this game. Plus, it helped that I went against someone who was ranked 6… who I would kick out of the top 8 if I won.
Round 6 vs. Zack (Track Runner) w/ Kingdra
This game was identical to the one I had with Jason, only this guy had great luck. He flipped heads about 70-80% of the time. I didn’t get a setup. Four out of Six games with bad setup means the deck’s synergy is off. I knew after this game I had to go back to the deckbuilding table.
3-3-0 (15th)
“Ness” and Alex Brosseau ended up in the finals, and split the money. (100 a piece) “Pooka” did a VERY nice job with a VERY rogue deck, using Meganium and picking up wins against Jason AND Alex during the initial 6 rounds, however losing in the semifinals. Still, his deck was the most original there, and it did really well.
The tourney was good. I hope next time we can hold it in a place that doesn’t charge us, or kick us out. That way more of the pot can go out to the players who paid the relatively high entrance fee.
Right now, I’m testing by adding in Steelix. With some new Aquapolis cards coming out that can really assist this deck (along with Steelix in it), I think it will still remain a force to be reckoned with. I never did figure out what was wrong with the synergy, so I guess it really was bad luck that made me lose. Wow…
I’ll get an article into you guys next week. This Friday, I turn 15, making me become a Professor! Wow… I feel great. Maybe I’ll do an article on rulings. =\ Can’t wait to show my girlfriend my new professor card… *forgets he’s lacking in Girlfriends* …Ooooooh.
~ The Real Single RaNd0m