As we approach the last weekend of June, September is fast approaching and thus a new format is upon us. By now every competitive player knows what this means to them, but what about the players who havent moved on to professional play yet. If you have been contemplating playing pokemon at the competitive level (Battle roads, Cities, etc.) then September 2012 is your year for sure.
This September the landscape of Pokemon TCG will change drastically. A set rotation will bring us only six sets, the smallest in the time i have been playing competitively. Not only does a smaller set mean less buying for those of use without tons of cash, but the fall also brings reprints of three powerhouse EX Pokemon.
September will mark the release of the fall tins, which this time around happen to be The Three Kings (Mewtwo EX,Darkrai EX,Rayquaza EX). Mewtwo and Darkrai are already proven powerhouses in most decks, and Rayquaza EX will also be just as dominate if used right.
So now that i have gotten your attention, how can one make the transition to a BW-On format.
1. Buy starter decks- With the exception of the Black&White and Emerging Powers Starter Decks, every set has had pretty decent Starter Decks. As i said in a earlier blog the Zekeel deck can be aquired through some Starter Decks and the Forces of Nature Collection. Now you can add on to that even more with the Mewtwo EX tin. The Dark Explorers Shadows Theme Deck can give you access to Zoroark and its brutual bash attack that when combined with the Darkrai EX tin can give you a hard hitting Dark deck.
2. Buy packs- Only having a six set rotation means less sets to choose from. In the last format if you wanted to get into a competitive play you needed so many cards from so many sets. A six set format makes getting a tournament ready deck easier and cheaper. The smaller format also means that if you dont get a card for your deck then you might get cards that other people need which you can then trade for what you need.
3. BUY THOSE TINS- I myself am aiming to buy a couple of boxes worth of these tins. The fact that a entire meta is going to have easy access to these three particular cards is amazing and a big kudos should be given to Pokemon International for the reprints.
4. Knowing what to build- This format is gonna be new for everyone and as we start testing. Some decks to be on the look out for are
Gothitelle/Gardevoir/Mewtwo
Empoleon Variants
Terrakion Variants
Zekeels
Darkrai Variants
Spend this time looking into all decks and what we have to work with. Playtesting is key to getting into the competitive portion of this game and now is the best time to experiment with the upcoming format.
Thursday 28 June 2012
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Pokeballing: Penguins for all
My teammates and I have started play testing for the bw-on format coming in September. Among the decks we have been play testing is Empoleon/Terrrakion, due to Empoleon being able to hit for massive damage and its ability to keep your hand active with Diving Draw.
My build
Pokemon (16)
4 Piplup
2 Prinplup
4 Empoleon
3 Terrakion
3 Lapras (NXD Call for Family)
T/S/S (31)
4 Professor Juniper
3 Cheren
3 N
4 Pokemon Communication
3 Rare Candy
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Switch
3 Plus Power
2 Random Receiver
2 EXP Share
1 Enhanced Hammer
1 Super Rod
Energy (13)
9 Water
4 Fighting
Strategy
This decks whole purpose is to get as many Empoleon out as fast as you can to start drawing cards and hitting hard with Attack Command. Terrakion combined with EXP Share fits nicely with this deck and covers Empoleons Electric weakness very nicely allowing Retaliate to one shot Darkai EX and all Electric threats. Lapras is a amazingly nice addition to this deck, seeing as the Bw-on format is lacking cards that search for multiple Pokemon at one time, a first turn Call for Family can get your Piplups out fast and allow you to begin evolving turn two.
The Supporter line is what you would expect to see in a Bw-On format, with focus on draw power. Juniper is hands down the best draw card we have in this game right now and will continue to see play until it is eventually rotated out. Cheren is good if you just need some cards but don't wanna lose your current hand. On a side note Cheren combined with a couple of Diving Draw's is amazing. N is good for early game hand refreshes and late game can really mess your opponent up if your behind in the prize race.
On the Trainer side of things the line up is what you would expect for this upcoming format if you run a deck with stage two Pokemon. I myself have included Plus Power into this build to one shot full hp Zekrom with both benches full. Pokemon Communication is just in this build until I am able to get more copies of Ultra Ball. Super Rod is a card I am considering adding more of to this build since I burn through cards really fast with all the draw power, being able to recycle Empoleons and Piplups will allow me to keep from decking out.
The energy line is really straight forward, nine water and four fighting. The Terrakions are only in this build for Retaliates so no more then four fighting energy are needed for this build. Nine water is a solid number seeing as all my Empoleons attack for one water and EXP share allows me to attach that one water to a Terrakion enabling a next turn Retaliate easier.
Final Thoughts
This deck is a very consistent deck that is going to get alot of play time in the next format. The massive damage that Empoleon can do with Attack Command makes it a massive threat once it enters the fray. Terrakion will deal with the big threats to this deck and counters nicely for Zekeels and Darkrai builds. In a format that looks to be slower this deck has the strong potential to dominate a unprepared tournament scene and is something i will continue to test until I find the perfect build.
My build
Pokemon (16)
4 Piplup
2 Prinplup
4 Empoleon
3 Terrakion
3 Lapras (NXD Call for Family)
T/S/S (31)
4 Professor Juniper
3 Cheren
3 N
4 Pokemon Communication
3 Rare Candy
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Switch
3 Plus Power
2 Random Receiver
2 EXP Share
1 Enhanced Hammer
1 Super Rod
Energy (13)
9 Water
4 Fighting
Strategy
This decks whole purpose is to get as many Empoleon out as fast as you can to start drawing cards and hitting hard with Attack Command. Terrakion combined with EXP Share fits nicely with this deck and covers Empoleons Electric weakness very nicely allowing Retaliate to one shot Darkai EX and all Electric threats. Lapras is a amazingly nice addition to this deck, seeing as the Bw-on format is lacking cards that search for multiple Pokemon at one time, a first turn Call for Family can get your Piplups out fast and allow you to begin evolving turn two.
The Supporter line is what you would expect to see in a Bw-On format, with focus on draw power. Juniper is hands down the best draw card we have in this game right now and will continue to see play until it is eventually rotated out. Cheren is good if you just need some cards but don't wanna lose your current hand. On a side note Cheren combined with a couple of Diving Draw's is amazing. N is good for early game hand refreshes and late game can really mess your opponent up if your behind in the prize race.
On the Trainer side of things the line up is what you would expect for this upcoming format if you run a deck with stage two Pokemon. I myself have included Plus Power into this build to one shot full hp Zekrom with both benches full. Pokemon Communication is just in this build until I am able to get more copies of Ultra Ball. Super Rod is a card I am considering adding more of to this build since I burn through cards really fast with all the draw power, being able to recycle Empoleons and Piplups will allow me to keep from decking out.
The energy line is really straight forward, nine water and four fighting. The Terrakions are only in this build for Retaliates so no more then four fighting energy are needed for this build. Nine water is a solid number seeing as all my Empoleons attack for one water and EXP share allows me to attach that one water to a Terrakion enabling a next turn Retaliate easier.
Final Thoughts
This deck is a very consistent deck that is going to get alot of play time in the next format. The massive damage that Empoleon can do with Attack Command makes it a massive threat once it enters the fray. Terrakion will deal with the big threats to this deck and counters nicely for Zekeels and Darkrai builds. In a format that looks to be slower this deck has the strong potential to dominate a unprepared tournament scene and is something i will continue to test until I find the perfect build.
Monday 25 June 2012
Pokeballing: The Art of Trainer
This September the Pokemon TCG rotates to a Black&White on format(BW-ON) bringing a huge change to alot of the game. The biggest part of this rotation will be the large amount of usable trainers it takes away. Cards like Junk Arm, Dual Ball, Pokemon Collector, Sage's Training and Professor Oak's New Theory will be leaving the game. This leaves us with a very limited trainer pool to work with.
BW-ON will only start its season with a slim total of six sets, which means we have a very slim selection of good trainers. The six remaining sets we have are
Black&White
Emerging Powers
Noble Victories
Next Destinies
Dark Explorers
Dragons Exalted (August release)
This is gonna be a small format at that start which is very small for a game with so much variety. Of these 6 sets only a handful of trainer/supporter/stadium cards are worth running in a deck. (This doesn't include cards from Dragons Exalted)
Supporters
Professor Juniper- Juniper is the draw card every deck will have to be running this format. With the loss of cards like Junk Arm and Sages Training, Professor Juniper is going to be the key card for decks like Zekeels and Darkrai builds to get those much needed energy into the discard pile.
Cheren/Bianca- With a lack of good Supporters in the BW-ON format, its time to give these two cards another go. Cheren lets you draw 3 cards, without having to shuffle your possibly good hand into your deck. While Bianca hasn't seen alot of play since its release, I feel its going to become a strong card in decks that can get rid of cards in their hand quickly without using their Supporter (in test games so far Bianca has got me 3-4 cards)
N- N will serve the same purpose it did last format, a reliable draw card that can shift games you are behind in back in your favour. A late game N in a match where your behind on prizes is a great way to stall out your opponent while you catch up, and without a large chunk of the good supporters/trainers from the HGSS-ON format the chances of your opponent drawing something off of N that will help them is very slim.
Trainers
The Ball Engine- With the departure of Dual Ball and Pokemon Collector, mass Pokemon searching through Trainers/Supporters has become extinct. However, this doesn't mean that you still cant put alot of Pokemon on the field. The ball engine (Ultra Ball, Level Ball, Great Ball, Heavy Ball) will shine this format since combined they can search for every Pokemon you put into your deck. With the only form of trainer lock being Gothitelle now, there is no reason not to run this engine in your decks.
Pokemon Catcher- Pokemon Catcher will always be one of the absolute best Trainers in the game, though in this new format one will require more timing and skill to run it. With the loss of Junk Arm you now only have the four catchers to work with and not the four plus your Junk Arms. This will lower the use of just randomly catchering up something to stall, as you will now wanna hold them for kills on set up Pokemon or weaker Pokemon in general.
Skyarrow Bridge- This card might see a drop in play with strong starters like Smeargle and Celebii Prime leaving the format. Since most decks will now try to run more beefy starters with some form of advantage (Thundurus, Virizion) or free retreat to begin with the need for the Bridge isn't as high as it was in the last format.
Dark Patch- Darkrai builds have become monsters thus far and with Rotation hurting decks like Zekeels and destroying CMT, Darkrai builds will become the meta. Dark Patch combined with Ultra Ball and Juniper is a broken combo that will shine in a format where the only other accelerators being Emboar and Eelektrik.
Stadiums
Skyarrow Bridge- This card might see a drop in play with strong starters like Smeargle and Celebii Prime leaving the format. Since most decks will now try to run more beefy starters with some form of advantage (Thundurus, Virizion) or free retreat to begin with the need for the Bridge isn't as high as it was in the last format.
Battle City- This is a strong counter stadium to Skyarrow Bridge but also serves as a great Stadium in general. In playtesting with my teammate Andrew we have found that Battle City has gotten us that one card we need to turn the game around very quickly (When combined with Empoleon its near broken). If Skyarrow Bridge sees a loss in play Battle City should see a rise in play.
Ruins of Alph- This is a interesting tech card, that some decks will run and some wont. Decks like Darkrai and Zekeels run Pokemon that counters their fighting weakness (Tornadus EX, Tornadus). Ruins of Alph would serve as a nice way to eliminate that threat and keep you hitting hard. (ex. a Tornadus EX with a Eviolite will only take 50 damage from a Terrakions Retaliate.)
With the exception of cards in the Dragons Exalted set these are just a few of the strong cards going into Septembers BW-ON format. Through my initial testing i am finding that this format has a nice balance of speed and strategy, and i hope to test with it alot more when we get Dragons Exalted.
BW-ON will only start its season with a slim total of six sets, which means we have a very slim selection of good trainers. The six remaining sets we have are
Black&White
Emerging Powers
Noble Victories
Next Destinies
Dark Explorers
Dragons Exalted (August release)
This is gonna be a small format at that start which is very small for a game with so much variety. Of these 6 sets only a handful of trainer/supporter/stadium cards are worth running in a deck. (This doesn't include cards from Dragons Exalted)
Supporters
Professor Juniper- Juniper is the draw card every deck will have to be running this format. With the loss of cards like Junk Arm and Sages Training, Professor Juniper is going to be the key card for decks like Zekeels and Darkrai builds to get those much needed energy into the discard pile.
Cheren/Bianca- With a lack of good Supporters in the BW-ON format, its time to give these two cards another go. Cheren lets you draw 3 cards, without having to shuffle your possibly good hand into your deck. While Bianca hasn't seen alot of play since its release, I feel its going to become a strong card in decks that can get rid of cards in their hand quickly without using their Supporter (in test games so far Bianca has got me 3-4 cards)
N- N will serve the same purpose it did last format, a reliable draw card that can shift games you are behind in back in your favour. A late game N in a match where your behind on prizes is a great way to stall out your opponent while you catch up, and without a large chunk of the good supporters/trainers from the HGSS-ON format the chances of your opponent drawing something off of N that will help them is very slim.
Trainers
The Ball Engine- With the departure of Dual Ball and Pokemon Collector, mass Pokemon searching through Trainers/Supporters has become extinct. However, this doesn't mean that you still cant put alot of Pokemon on the field. The ball engine (Ultra Ball, Level Ball, Great Ball, Heavy Ball) will shine this format since combined they can search for every Pokemon you put into your deck. With the only form of trainer lock being Gothitelle now, there is no reason not to run this engine in your decks.
Pokemon Catcher- Pokemon Catcher will always be one of the absolute best Trainers in the game, though in this new format one will require more timing and skill to run it. With the loss of Junk Arm you now only have the four catchers to work with and not the four plus your Junk Arms. This will lower the use of just randomly catchering up something to stall, as you will now wanna hold them for kills on set up Pokemon or weaker Pokemon in general.
Skyarrow Bridge- This card might see a drop in play with strong starters like Smeargle and Celebii Prime leaving the format. Since most decks will now try to run more beefy starters with some form of advantage (Thundurus, Virizion) or free retreat to begin with the need for the Bridge isn't as high as it was in the last format.
Dark Patch- Darkrai builds have become monsters thus far and with Rotation hurting decks like Zekeels and destroying CMT, Darkrai builds will become the meta. Dark Patch combined with Ultra Ball and Juniper is a broken combo that will shine in a format where the only other accelerators being Emboar and Eelektrik.
Stadiums
Skyarrow Bridge- This card might see a drop in play with strong starters like Smeargle and Celebii Prime leaving the format. Since most decks will now try to run more beefy starters with some form of advantage (Thundurus, Virizion) or free retreat to begin with the need for the Bridge isn't as high as it was in the last format.
Battle City- This is a strong counter stadium to Skyarrow Bridge but also serves as a great Stadium in general. In playtesting with my teammate Andrew we have found that Battle City has gotten us that one card we need to turn the game around very quickly (When combined with Empoleon its near broken). If Skyarrow Bridge sees a loss in play Battle City should see a rise in play.
Ruins of Alph- This is a interesting tech card, that some decks will run and some wont. Decks like Darkrai and Zekeels run Pokemon that counters their fighting weakness (Tornadus EX, Tornadus). Ruins of Alph would serve as a nice way to eliminate that threat and keep you hitting hard. (ex. a Tornadus EX with a Eviolite will only take 50 damage from a Terrakions Retaliate.)
With the exception of cards in the Dragons Exalted set these are just a few of the strong cards going into Septembers BW-ON format. Through my initial testing i am finding that this format has a nice balance of speed and strategy, and i hope to test with it alot more when we get Dragons Exalted.
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Pokeballing: Moving on to the Future
Changes to the Play! Pokemon Modified format for the 2013 tournament season have been announced.
Effective: 9/1/2012
In the interest of maintaining a healthy tournament environment, Pokemon Organized Play removes older sets from the Modified format at the beginning of each new tournament season. Each rotation challenges existing players to create new strategies while enabling new players to get into Organized Play with a minimal investment.
The 2013 season will be starting on July 9th so that players can get an early start on working towards the 2013 Pokemon World Championships, but in order to avoid confusion we will rotate sets on the more familiar date of September 1st.
The 2012 Pokemon World Championships being held on August 10th–12th in Waikoloa, Hawaii, will use the 2012 format and rules as are currently listed.
Its finally happening this September, we are rotating to a Black&White on format for the Pokemon TCG. This means that sets from Call of Legends (referred to crap set by me and my friends) to Heart Gold/Soul Silver, will no longer be used in the tournament scenes.
This changes the landscape of the current meta so much, as we will be losing alot of good Pokemon, Trainers and Supporters as well as Special Metal and Dark Energy. Japan is already in this format and if you have read my previous blog's you know that their meta is drastically different then what we have seen on this side of the world. Big decks such as Zekeels don't dominate the format like they do here, with stage 2 decks being able to shine.
The cardpool we are losing is probably one of the most significant to our game in a long time. Cards like Junk Arm, Pokemon Collector, Sages Training, Professor Oak's New Theory will bid the game farewell allowing cards like Cheren and Bianca to be used to their full potential.
The big thing I wanna discuss right now is the loss of two special energy, Dark and Metal. Special Dark and Metal energies have been in the Pokemon formats since their initial release back in December of 2000. For twelve years players have been able to incorporate these unique energies into their strategies and these cards have been in some powerful decks in those years (Dark Tyrannitar/Dark Electrode, Durant). While Dark decks will be able to live without the aid of Special Dark, the only real Metal deck that's played right now is Durant. Durant suffers greatly from this loss as the combination of Eviolite and Special Metal made those ants impossible to one shot for most decks. This rotation plus the release of Heatmor and the forthcoming release of Tool Scrapper will be the final nails that make Durant unplayable.
For Dark decks however the opposite will occur, as the playability of these decks will continue to be on the rise. The lack of Special Dark means that we have more room for Basic Dark energy which will fuel Dark Patch even more and Dark Claw will fill the void left by Special Dark's plus power ability.
We are about to embark on a much needed format change that will hopefully fix all the bugs this one had. If Japans Nationals are any indication of what we can expect (http://www.propokemon.com/deck-articles/japan-national-championships-winning-deck-info) then I for one am very excited for whats coming.
Effective: 9/1/2012
In the interest of maintaining a healthy tournament environment, Pokemon Organized Play removes older sets from the Modified format at the beginning of each new tournament season. Each rotation challenges existing players to create new strategies while enabling new players to get into Organized Play with a minimal investment.
The 2013 season will be starting on July 9th so that players can get an early start on working towards the 2013 Pokemon World Championships, but in order to avoid confusion we will rotate sets on the more familiar date of September 1st.
The 2012 Pokemon World Championships being held on August 10th–12th in Waikoloa, Hawaii, will use the 2012 format and rules as are currently listed.
Its finally happening this September, we are rotating to a Black&White on format for the Pokemon TCG. This means that sets from Call of Legends (referred to crap set by me and my friends) to Heart Gold/Soul Silver, will no longer be used in the tournament scenes.
This changes the landscape of the current meta so much, as we will be losing alot of good Pokemon, Trainers and Supporters as well as Special Metal and Dark Energy. Japan is already in this format and if you have read my previous blog's you know that their meta is drastically different then what we have seen on this side of the world. Big decks such as Zekeels don't dominate the format like they do here, with stage 2 decks being able to shine.
The cardpool we are losing is probably one of the most significant to our game in a long time. Cards like Junk Arm, Pokemon Collector, Sages Training, Professor Oak's New Theory will bid the game farewell allowing cards like Cheren and Bianca to be used to their full potential.
The big thing I wanna discuss right now is the loss of two special energy, Dark and Metal. Special Dark and Metal energies have been in the Pokemon formats since their initial release back in December of 2000. For twelve years players have been able to incorporate these unique energies into their strategies and these cards have been in some powerful decks in those years (Dark Tyrannitar/Dark Electrode, Durant). While Dark decks will be able to live without the aid of Special Dark, the only real Metal deck that's played right now is Durant. Durant suffers greatly from this loss as the combination of Eviolite and Special Metal made those ants impossible to one shot for most decks. This rotation plus the release of Heatmor and the forthcoming release of Tool Scrapper will be the final nails that make Durant unplayable.
For Dark decks however the opposite will occur, as the playability of these decks will continue to be on the rise. The lack of Special Dark means that we have more room for Basic Dark energy which will fuel Dark Patch even more and Dark Claw will fill the void left by Special Dark's plus power ability.
We are about to embark on a much needed format change that will hopefully fix all the bugs this one had. If Japans Nationals are any indication of what we can expect (http://www.propokemon.com/deck-articles/japan-national-championships-winning-deck-info) then I for one am very excited for whats coming.
Saturday 16 June 2012
Pokeballing: Last Major Tourney of the Season
Sorry bout the lack of reading material the past few weeks, a combination of more shifts at work and really there just not being alot of Pokemon news has kept me off the presses so to speak.
Anyway today the team and I headed to Pickering to play in the Battle Roads there. Due to a series of events I will not be able to attend nats this year (sad face) so i decided to just build a fun little Celebii variant and play for fun not caring if i did well or not, as it would be my last major event of the season.
My deck
Pokemon (15)
4 Virizion (2 EPO, 2 NVI)
3 Celebii Prime
2 Smeargle
2 Tornadus
2 Tornadus EX
1 Shaymin EX
1 Mewtwo EX
Supporters/Trainers/Stadiums (31)
4 Professor Juniper
3 N
3 Cheren
3 Pokemon Collector
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Ultra Ball
3 Skyarrow Bridge
2 Random Receiver
2 Eviolite
1 Enhanced Hammer
Energy (14)
10 Grass
4 Double Colorless Energy
I built this simply cause I love both Virizion and believe that they are both very good cards, and since I was just aiming to have fun, I was committed to the fact that I was either gonna do amazing or bomb.
The deck works very similar to CMT except I am swinging with Virizions all the time, outside of that everything works the same.
So we had 18 to 20 masters and that gave us a 5 round tournament with a top 4 finish. Of the twenty or so people there i get paired with a teammate first round.
Round 1 vs KyuremGATR
So i get paired up with my teammate Andrew first round, which saddens me greatly. I lose the die roll and he opens Totodile and a Kyurem EX to my lone Smeargle, fortunately he has no energy and cant do anything. I take my turn and play a Pokemon Collector and get a Tornadus a Virizion and a Celebii Prime. I play a skyarrow bridge and retreat my Smeargle for Celebii attached a Double Colorless and a Grass and say go. His next turn is the same as last time only with a energy attachment to Kyurem EX. I draw attach two grass energy to Virizion and retreat Celebii for Tornadus and use Hurricane to Knockout Totodile and take a prize moving my energy to Virizion. He promotes Kyurem EX and still cant get anymore basic. Two turns later this game is done, tough break for him.
1-0
Round 2 vs Entei EX/Volcarona
I am saddened by this match as due to the majority of Grass in my deck its a uphill battle. For the first few turns neither one of us are getting anything going (3 turns of N and Professor Oaks New Theory and i draw the same hands twice) finally he is able to speed ahead of me with the combination of Entei's first attack and Volcaronas Scorching Scales. I am able to get a Tornadus EX active but he starts playing Catchers on my Virizions and one shotting them. He plays Potion and Max Potions to negate any damage I was doing to him.GG
1-1
Round 3 vs VvV
A Bad start seals my fate pretty early as I am unable to Knockout both of his Oddishs, and he is able to get a turn two Vanniluxe. I cant do anything after this and even though I have several Virizion and other attackers ready I cant break the lock. Afterwards we were talking and he said if i had switch's I would have easily overpowered him,Something to keep in mind.
1-2
Round 4 vs Zekeels
This is my favourite game of the day and probably the best one I played. I opened strong and used Pokemon Catcher and N to keep his Eels off the field, finally he got one out and we traded prizes i used N and Catchers to keep him off balance but he finally pulled a catcher of his own and brought up my injured Mewtwo EX and Knocked it out with Zekrom EX.
1-3
So my two teammates had to play eachother and decided to drop so I did as well. I was actually very impressed with how the deck flowed and given the results of today I am really contemplating fixing it up while we still have certain cards in the format.
Now that my season is over I am gonna take some time over the next few days and weeks to sit and take a look at some foreign nats results, and I wanna start a indepth look at the future BW-On format.
Anyway today the team and I headed to Pickering to play in the Battle Roads there. Due to a series of events I will not be able to attend nats this year (sad face) so i decided to just build a fun little Celebii variant and play for fun not caring if i did well or not, as it would be my last major event of the season.
My deck
Pokemon (15)
4 Virizion (2 EPO, 2 NVI)
3 Celebii Prime
2 Smeargle
2 Tornadus
2 Tornadus EX
1 Shaymin EX
1 Mewtwo EX
Supporters/Trainers/Stadiums (31)
4 Professor Juniper
3 N
3 Cheren
3 Pokemon Collector
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Ultra Ball
3 Skyarrow Bridge
2 Random Receiver
2 Eviolite
1 Enhanced Hammer
Energy (14)
10 Grass
4 Double Colorless Energy
I built this simply cause I love both Virizion and believe that they are both very good cards, and since I was just aiming to have fun, I was committed to the fact that I was either gonna do amazing or bomb.
The deck works very similar to CMT except I am swinging with Virizions all the time, outside of that everything works the same.
So we had 18 to 20 masters and that gave us a 5 round tournament with a top 4 finish. Of the twenty or so people there i get paired with a teammate first round.
Round 1 vs KyuremGATR
So i get paired up with my teammate Andrew first round, which saddens me greatly. I lose the die roll and he opens Totodile and a Kyurem EX to my lone Smeargle, fortunately he has no energy and cant do anything. I take my turn and play a Pokemon Collector and get a Tornadus a Virizion and a Celebii Prime. I play a skyarrow bridge and retreat my Smeargle for Celebii attached a Double Colorless and a Grass and say go. His next turn is the same as last time only with a energy attachment to Kyurem EX. I draw attach two grass energy to Virizion and retreat Celebii for Tornadus and use Hurricane to Knockout Totodile and take a prize moving my energy to Virizion. He promotes Kyurem EX and still cant get anymore basic. Two turns later this game is done, tough break for him.
1-0
Round 2 vs Entei EX/Volcarona
I am saddened by this match as due to the majority of Grass in my deck its a uphill battle. For the first few turns neither one of us are getting anything going (3 turns of N and Professor Oaks New Theory and i draw the same hands twice) finally he is able to speed ahead of me with the combination of Entei's first attack and Volcaronas Scorching Scales. I am able to get a Tornadus EX active but he starts playing Catchers on my Virizions and one shotting them. He plays Potion and Max Potions to negate any damage I was doing to him.GG
1-1
Round 3 vs VvV
A Bad start seals my fate pretty early as I am unable to Knockout both of his Oddishs, and he is able to get a turn two Vanniluxe. I cant do anything after this and even though I have several Virizion and other attackers ready I cant break the lock. Afterwards we were talking and he said if i had switch's I would have easily overpowered him,Something to keep in mind.
1-2
Round 4 vs Zekeels
This is my favourite game of the day and probably the best one I played. I opened strong and used Pokemon Catcher and N to keep his Eels off the field, finally he got one out and we traded prizes i used N and Catchers to keep him off balance but he finally pulled a catcher of his own and brought up my injured Mewtwo EX and Knocked it out with Zekrom EX.
1-3
So my two teammates had to play eachother and decided to drop so I did as well. I was actually very impressed with how the deck flowed and given the results of today I am really contemplating fixing it up while we still have certain cards in the format.
Now that my season is over I am gonna take some time over the next few days and weeks to sit and take a look at some foreign nats results, and I wanna start a indepth look at the future BW-On format.
Monday 4 June 2012
Double Dose of Pokeballing: Volcarona/Kingston Battle Roads
So of all the decks at Battle Roads on Sunday I believe my friend Sal took perhaps the most interesting one. Sal played a Rocky Helmet Burn deck utilising Volcaronas (DEX) Scorching Scales ability to turn 20 burn damage into 40, also using Rocky Helmet to place damage counters on opponents Pokemon when they attack.
Here is the list he took to Battle Roads finishing with a 2-2 record
Pokemon (17)
2x Volcarona (Scorching Scales)
2x Larvesta (80HP, 3 retreat)
2x Vulpix (Fireworks)
2x Ninetales (Roast Reveal)
2x Pansear (Collect)
2x Simisear (Stadium Burn)
2x Moltres (Searing Flame)
2x Druddigon (Rough Skin)
1x Entei EX
Trainer/Supporter (29)
2x Bianca
2x Cilan
2x N
2x PONT
4x Rocky Helmet
2x Dual Ball
2x Heavy Ball
2x Level Ball
4x Ultra Ball
1x Energy Retrieval
2x Pokemon Catcher
2x Random Receiver
2x Switch
Energy (14)
10x Fire Energy
4x DCE
Summary
Like I said before this deck is designed to burn your opponents attacking Pokemon, then hopefully inflicting 40 damage on a failed flip in between turns. Rocky Helmet deals 2 damage counters when your opponent attacks the Pokemon Rocky Helmet is attached to (on Druddigon this is 40 damage when combined with Rough Skin). All of the attacking Pokemon in this deck burn your opponent except the Druddigon which makes Volcaronas ability active fast.
Now while I myself love this idea but the Entei EX is what stands out to me the most as the basis of what a deck like this can do. Entei has a easy to power first attack that burns your opponents active Pokemon, but his second attack will also help this deck keep pace with the faster decks of this format.Grand Flame will allow you to accelerate your benched Pokemon while keeping the pressure on your opponents Pokemon.
Magby would be a ideal starter for this deck since you can burn for free. Now while this may seem like a bad choice in comparison to say Cleffa which would refresh your hand, Magby is a excellent choice for this deck against fast paced decks that will start with a Smeargle or a Celebii Prime. Burning those Pokemon before they can get going will cancel out their Poke-Powers, forcing your opponent to waste resources to either get additional copies of that card or put themselves one turn behind you which is what you want.
So this would be my version of this deck
Pokemon (16)
4 Entei EX
3 Larvesta
3 Volcarona
2 Vulpix
2 Ninetales
2 Magby
Trainer/Supporter (30)
4 Professor Juniper
3 Professor Oaks New Theory
3 Sages Training
3 N
3 Dual Ball
3 Heavy Ball
3 Ultra Ball
3 Pokemon Catcher
2 Random Receiver
2 Super Rod
1 Enhanced Hammer
Energy
11 Fire
4 Double Colorless
Summary
Now at first 4 Entei may seem like a lot, but i disagree. Entei is a good turn two attacker for 30 (after a catcher on a Tynamo or a Celebii Prime that's a knockout) and Grand Flame is a amazing attack that allows energy acceleration on a basic Pokemon. Magby is a solid opening play against CMT and Zekeels that start Smeargle (or Celebii Prime) negating Powers with burn. Volcaronas Scorching Scales lets you score extra damage in between turns and also serves as a decent secondary attacker. Ninetales has so much synergy with Entei EX letting you get extra cards and supplying Entei with the energy to accelerate your bench.
The Trainer line is designed so that you always have options, while keeping you in control of the game. Your Supporters are all draw cards of some sort, While your Trainers will enable you to score knockouts and search for all your Pokemon.
The Energy line is straight forward with a deck like this. To make sure you have a fire energy almost every turn you need one I have opted for 11. Double Colorless Energy provides for Volcarona so Grand Flame can power up multiple attackers.
Final Thoughts
Where Sals build used both Rocky Helmet and Scorching Scales, mine opts to maximize the damage output you can do with attacks and Scorching Scales. Consistency with Entei EX and Ninetales is just to good to overlook and with some play testing and preparation for the meta, this deck could dominate very fast.
But wait theres more........
Speaking of the current meta Battle Roads Kingston yesterday showed a smaller version of what the meta is right now. Masters division had 11 players in total and of those 11 players there were
3 Zekeels (took 1st and 4th)
2 CMT (2nd and 3rd)
2 Terrakion (1 pure, 1 Donphan/Terrakion/Groudon EX)
1 Durant
1 KyuremGatr
1 Rocky Helmet Burn
1 Round
This is a good scale of what the meta will be like in bigger Battle Roads and Nationals and I just wanna say a few things about these decks while I have the floor
Zekeels
I am not shocked to see Zekeels as the most played deck in Kingston, the deck is just too fast and efficient has a great match against all of the other decks in the format, and is able to make strong comebacks at any point with some well played moves.
CMT
CMT is in a war with Zekeels for the title of best deck in the format and until Celebii is rotated out CMT will be a strong contender at all events. Forest Breath is perhaps the best form of Energy Acceleration we have right now cause its on a basic Pokemon making it faster to set up then Eelektrik. Tornadus and Tornadus EXs weakness to Lightning is troublesome and Mewtwo Wars can backfire easily. Builds with Terrakion should show up more in the future if CMT wants to be the top dog.
Terrakion
In my opinion pure Terrakion builds cant compete with Zekeels anymore. Tornadus EX owns this deck with its Resistance (when combined with Eviolite reduces Retaliate from 90 to 50) and a smart player will play around the weakness. I feel that Terrakion builds should implement either Landorus or Groudon EX which can deal massive damage late game if played in conjunction with Landorus. The other issue is the energy attachments, as Terrakion is slower to get rolling on its own. EXP Share helps a little bit but a combination with Landorus would help speed this up with multiple EXP Shares.
Durant
unfortunately it seems Durant is on the downward spiral so to speak. Heatmors presence as well as the addition of Raikou EX and Entei EX have limited the decks capabilities to take advantage of the Eviolite Special Metal damage reduction. I feel that a rotation in the fall will be the final nail in the ant hill so to speak, as we will lose Special Metal Energy.
The Rest
KyuremGATR is a solid deck if it can set up Rain Dance fast enough no matter what the meta is. Glaciate is an amazing attack early game and sets up Feraligatr Prime as a secondary attack. Volcarona is described in full above this part. Round is amazing if you can set up a Seismitoad fast enough and start swinging.
Sorry for the combination of blogs this week I couldn't make a choice for today so opted for both lol
Here is the list he took to Battle Roads finishing with a 2-2 record
Pokemon (17)
2x Volcarona (Scorching Scales)
2x Larvesta (80HP, 3 retreat)
2x Vulpix (Fireworks)
2x Ninetales (Roast Reveal)
2x Pansear (Collect)
2x Simisear (Stadium Burn)
2x Moltres (Searing Flame)
2x Druddigon (Rough Skin)
1x Entei EX
Trainer/Supporter (29)
2x Bianca
2x Cilan
2x N
2x PONT
4x Rocky Helmet
2x Dual Ball
2x Heavy Ball
2x Level Ball
4x Ultra Ball
1x Energy Retrieval
2x Pokemon Catcher
2x Random Receiver
2x Switch
Energy (14)
10x Fire Energy
4x DCE
Summary
Like I said before this deck is designed to burn your opponents attacking Pokemon, then hopefully inflicting 40 damage on a failed flip in between turns. Rocky Helmet deals 2 damage counters when your opponent attacks the Pokemon Rocky Helmet is attached to (on Druddigon this is 40 damage when combined with Rough Skin). All of the attacking Pokemon in this deck burn your opponent except the Druddigon which makes Volcaronas ability active fast.
Now while I myself love this idea but the Entei EX is what stands out to me the most as the basis of what a deck like this can do. Entei has a easy to power first attack that burns your opponents active Pokemon, but his second attack will also help this deck keep pace with the faster decks of this format.Grand Flame will allow you to accelerate your benched Pokemon while keeping the pressure on your opponents Pokemon.
Magby would be a ideal starter for this deck since you can burn for free. Now while this may seem like a bad choice in comparison to say Cleffa which would refresh your hand, Magby is a excellent choice for this deck against fast paced decks that will start with a Smeargle or a Celebii Prime. Burning those Pokemon before they can get going will cancel out their Poke-Powers, forcing your opponent to waste resources to either get additional copies of that card or put themselves one turn behind you which is what you want.
So this would be my version of this deck
Pokemon (16)
4 Entei EX
3 Larvesta
3 Volcarona
2 Vulpix
2 Ninetales
2 Magby
Trainer/Supporter (30)
4 Professor Juniper
3 Professor Oaks New Theory
3 Sages Training
3 N
3 Dual Ball
3 Heavy Ball
3 Ultra Ball
3 Pokemon Catcher
2 Random Receiver
2 Super Rod
1 Enhanced Hammer
Energy
11 Fire
4 Double Colorless
Summary
Now at first 4 Entei may seem like a lot, but i disagree. Entei is a good turn two attacker for 30 (after a catcher on a Tynamo or a Celebii Prime that's a knockout) and Grand Flame is a amazing attack that allows energy acceleration on a basic Pokemon. Magby is a solid opening play against CMT and Zekeels that start Smeargle (or Celebii Prime) negating Powers with burn. Volcaronas Scorching Scales lets you score extra damage in between turns and also serves as a decent secondary attacker. Ninetales has so much synergy with Entei EX letting you get extra cards and supplying Entei with the energy to accelerate your bench.
The Trainer line is designed so that you always have options, while keeping you in control of the game. Your Supporters are all draw cards of some sort, While your Trainers will enable you to score knockouts and search for all your Pokemon.
The Energy line is straight forward with a deck like this. To make sure you have a fire energy almost every turn you need one I have opted for 11. Double Colorless Energy provides for Volcarona so Grand Flame can power up multiple attackers.
Final Thoughts
Where Sals build used both Rocky Helmet and Scorching Scales, mine opts to maximize the damage output you can do with attacks and Scorching Scales. Consistency with Entei EX and Ninetales is just to good to overlook and with some play testing and preparation for the meta, this deck could dominate very fast.
But wait theres more........
Speaking of the current meta Battle Roads Kingston yesterday showed a smaller version of what the meta is right now. Masters division had 11 players in total and of those 11 players there were
3 Zekeels (took 1st and 4th)
2 CMT (2nd and 3rd)
2 Terrakion (1 pure, 1 Donphan/Terrakion/Groudon EX)
1 Durant
1 KyuremGatr
1 Rocky Helmet Burn
1 Round
This is a good scale of what the meta will be like in bigger Battle Roads and Nationals and I just wanna say a few things about these decks while I have the floor
Zekeels
I am not shocked to see Zekeels as the most played deck in Kingston, the deck is just too fast and efficient has a great match against all of the other decks in the format, and is able to make strong comebacks at any point with some well played moves.
CMT
CMT is in a war with Zekeels for the title of best deck in the format and until Celebii is rotated out CMT will be a strong contender at all events. Forest Breath is perhaps the best form of Energy Acceleration we have right now cause its on a basic Pokemon making it faster to set up then Eelektrik. Tornadus and Tornadus EXs weakness to Lightning is troublesome and Mewtwo Wars can backfire easily. Builds with Terrakion should show up more in the future if CMT wants to be the top dog.
Terrakion
In my opinion pure Terrakion builds cant compete with Zekeels anymore. Tornadus EX owns this deck with its Resistance (when combined with Eviolite reduces Retaliate from 90 to 50) and a smart player will play around the weakness. I feel that Terrakion builds should implement either Landorus or Groudon EX which can deal massive damage late game if played in conjunction with Landorus. The other issue is the energy attachments, as Terrakion is slower to get rolling on its own. EXP Share helps a little bit but a combination with Landorus would help speed this up with multiple EXP Shares.
Durant
unfortunately it seems Durant is on the downward spiral so to speak. Heatmors presence as well as the addition of Raikou EX and Entei EX have limited the decks capabilities to take advantage of the Eviolite Special Metal damage reduction. I feel that a rotation in the fall will be the final nail in the ant hill so to speak, as we will lose Special Metal Energy.
The Rest
KyuremGATR is a solid deck if it can set up Rain Dance fast enough no matter what the meta is. Glaciate is an amazing attack early game and sets up Feraligatr Prime as a secondary attack. Volcarona is described in full above this part. Round is amazing if you can set up a Seismitoad fast enough and start swinging.
Sorry for the combination of blogs this week I couldn't make a choice for today so opted for both lol
Sunday 3 June 2012
Pokeballing: Battle Roads Kingston
Today myself and 5 of my friends and teammates went to Kingston to partake in their Battle Roads as it was the first one we could go to. Throughout the week I had been testing a few ideas on what to play but in the end I decided to go with Zekeels as it was a deck I was very familiar with and I had traded for a Raikou EX on Friday.
3 Zekrom
3-3 Eelektrik
2 Thundurus
2 Smeargle
1 Mewtwo EX
1 Zekrom EX
1 Tornadus EX
1 Raikou EX
1 Stunfisk
(18)
4 Juniper
3 N
3 Sages Training
3 Collector
4 Junk Arm
4 Catcher
3 Level Ball
2 Random Receiver
2 Sky Arrow Bridge
(28)
10 Lightning
4 Double Colorless
(14)
This was the list I came up with for what I wanted to do and how I wanted to run the deck. I opted for Collector over Dual Ball for one reason, I forgot to test with Dual Ball this week. Other odd choices for this deck to me were my lack of Eviolite and Switch, the latter of which I couldn't find room for in the deck.
There were 11 masters and the people from Belleville made up over half of the tournament. This made me feel a little bit uneasy cause whenever I play my teammates I always draw horrible opening hands and that's fine at home.
Round 1 VS Mario (Zekeels)
Right off of the bat I am one of the two games that featured Belleville people paired up against each other. I start horrible and cant get energy going which lets him take two prizes early game. I play well timed Catchers on his Eelektrik to try and set a slower pace but he always gets answers off his draws. Now alot i can do but whatever sacks happen.
0-1
Round 2 VS Patricia (Zekeels/w Raikou EX)
Another mirror match and I open Zekrom to her Zekrom EX (she had a full art which made me very jealous). I am energy logged again (which never happened during play testing) and she scores 3 early prizes with Zekrom EX before I am able to get rolling. Plays with Tornadus EX and this games MVP Stunfisk allowed me to keep in the game dropping us down to a even two prizes each with my active Stunfisk KOing her Raikou EX and Zekrom. She had a few options here and instead of going with the active Zekrom and KOing Stunfisk she opts to bring her Zekrom EX with 100 damage on it to take out my Stunfisk. I really feel she forgot about my benched Tornadus EX here as I was able to promote it next turn and KO Zekrom EX winning a very hard fought game. Game of the day for me
1-1
Round 3 VS Glen (Donphan/Terrakion)
I get to go first and he flips over Phanpy to my Thundurus, making me very uneasy about how to play this game since Donphan can one shot all my non EX Pokemon and two shot my Lightning EX Pokemon. I use Random Reciever and it gets me a collector which I use to get Tornadus EX a Tynamo and a Smeargle, and I use Charge. He draws and places a Terrakion on the bench which makes me feel very bad cause this deck can now wreck my entire day. I attach a Lightning to Thundurus and use Disaster Volt for 50 and say go. He Evolved into Donphan Prime and KO'ed my Thundurus. The game gets a bit hard to remember from here, but Tornadus EX was easily what won this game for me. It kept me alive and landed four of my six knockouts, and was able to stay alive. Near the end of the game he was forced to use a Seeker to return a Terrakion with 30 HP left to his hand which allowed me to return my injured Tornadus EX to my hand keeping it alive to deal more damage. Mewtwo EX wins the game for me two hit KO'ing a Groudon EX that was Catchered up. Another close game
2-1
Round 4 VS Mitchell (Durant)
This pairing made me a little sad for two reasons, Mitchell is my teammate so whoever wins this would probably knock the other one out of top 4 and he is playing Durant. He starts Cobalion and Rotom to my lone Tynamo and I go first. I played Collector to get a Thundurus, a Smeargle and a second Tynamo. I promoted Smeargle played a Skyarrow Bridge and used Portrait for a second Collector getting Zekrom EX, Zekrom and Raikou EX. He played his Collector getting two Durant and a second Cobalion attached to his active and said go. I drew and evolved into Eelektrik and used Portrait again. For the rest of the game I use combinations of my Junk Arms and Catchers to maneuver around his active Cobalion (which had 2 special Metal and Eviolite) switching attacks from Raikou EX and Thundurus to keep ahead in prizes. He inadvertently gave me the game when his Random Receiver gave him his one Seeker, which i portrait'ed to return my injured Raikou EX to my hand. This allowed me to make harder decisions easier so to speak.
3-1
We had Top 4 placing with top 2 playing for 1st and 2nd. I came 4th which was good enough for me as i really wanted to put a horrible Cities championships behind me (didn't win a single game at cities)
the standings were:
1st Mario (Zekeels)
2nd Rob (CMT)
3rd Justin (CMT)
4th Me (Zekeels)
So I am off to a good start heading into my month of Pokemon hopefully i can adjust and have good finishes in Pickering and Oshawa on the 16th of June.
3 Zekrom
3-3 Eelektrik
2 Thundurus
2 Smeargle
1 Mewtwo EX
1 Zekrom EX
1 Tornadus EX
1 Raikou EX
1 Stunfisk
(18)
4 Juniper
3 N
3 Sages Training
3 Collector
4 Junk Arm
4 Catcher
3 Level Ball
2 Random Receiver
2 Sky Arrow Bridge
(28)
10 Lightning
4 Double Colorless
(14)
This was the list I came up with for what I wanted to do and how I wanted to run the deck. I opted for Collector over Dual Ball for one reason, I forgot to test with Dual Ball this week. Other odd choices for this deck to me were my lack of Eviolite and Switch, the latter of which I couldn't find room for in the deck.
There were 11 masters and the people from Belleville made up over half of the tournament. This made me feel a little bit uneasy cause whenever I play my teammates I always draw horrible opening hands and that's fine at home.
Round 1 VS Mario (Zekeels)
Right off of the bat I am one of the two games that featured Belleville people paired up against each other. I start horrible and cant get energy going which lets him take two prizes early game. I play well timed Catchers on his Eelektrik to try and set a slower pace but he always gets answers off his draws. Now alot i can do but whatever sacks happen.
0-1
Round 2 VS Patricia (Zekeels/w Raikou EX)
Another mirror match and I open Zekrom to her Zekrom EX (she had a full art which made me very jealous). I am energy logged again (which never happened during play testing) and she scores 3 early prizes with Zekrom EX before I am able to get rolling. Plays with Tornadus EX and this games MVP Stunfisk allowed me to keep in the game dropping us down to a even two prizes each with my active Stunfisk KOing her Raikou EX and Zekrom. She had a few options here and instead of going with the active Zekrom and KOing Stunfisk she opts to bring her Zekrom EX with 100 damage on it to take out my Stunfisk. I really feel she forgot about my benched Tornadus EX here as I was able to promote it next turn and KO Zekrom EX winning a very hard fought game. Game of the day for me
1-1
Round 3 VS Glen (Donphan/Terrakion)
I get to go first and he flips over Phanpy to my Thundurus, making me very uneasy about how to play this game since Donphan can one shot all my non EX Pokemon and two shot my Lightning EX Pokemon. I use Random Reciever and it gets me a collector which I use to get Tornadus EX a Tynamo and a Smeargle, and I use Charge. He draws and places a Terrakion on the bench which makes me feel very bad cause this deck can now wreck my entire day. I attach a Lightning to Thundurus and use Disaster Volt for 50 and say go. He Evolved into Donphan Prime and KO'ed my Thundurus. The game gets a bit hard to remember from here, but Tornadus EX was easily what won this game for me. It kept me alive and landed four of my six knockouts, and was able to stay alive. Near the end of the game he was forced to use a Seeker to return a Terrakion with 30 HP left to his hand which allowed me to return my injured Tornadus EX to my hand keeping it alive to deal more damage. Mewtwo EX wins the game for me two hit KO'ing a Groudon EX that was Catchered up. Another close game
2-1
Round 4 VS Mitchell (Durant)
This pairing made me a little sad for two reasons, Mitchell is my teammate so whoever wins this would probably knock the other one out of top 4 and he is playing Durant. He starts Cobalion and Rotom to my lone Tynamo and I go first. I played Collector to get a Thundurus, a Smeargle and a second Tynamo. I promoted Smeargle played a Skyarrow Bridge and used Portrait for a second Collector getting Zekrom EX, Zekrom and Raikou EX. He played his Collector getting two Durant and a second Cobalion attached to his active and said go. I drew and evolved into Eelektrik and used Portrait again. For the rest of the game I use combinations of my Junk Arms and Catchers to maneuver around his active Cobalion (which had 2 special Metal and Eviolite) switching attacks from Raikou EX and Thundurus to keep ahead in prizes. He inadvertently gave me the game when his Random Receiver gave him his one Seeker, which i portrait'ed to return my injured Raikou EX to my hand. This allowed me to make harder decisions easier so to speak.
3-1
We had Top 4 placing with top 2 playing for 1st and 2nd. I came 4th which was good enough for me as i really wanted to put a horrible Cities championships behind me (didn't win a single game at cities)
the standings were:
1st Mario (Zekeels)
2nd Rob (CMT)
3rd Justin (CMT)
4th Me (Zekeels)
So I am off to a good start heading into my month of Pokemon hopefully i can adjust and have good finishes in Pickering and Oshawa on the 16th of June.
Friday 1 June 2012
Pokeballing: Tournament Report 6/1/2012
Today we had a our second Pokemon tourney and I decided to get in practise for this Sundays Battle Roads in Kingston. Nearing the end of this week i decided to try a Gothitelle Gardevoir build to see how it would far in a fast paced meta.
My list
(20)
3-2-3 Gothitelle
3-2-3 Gardevoir
2 Cleffa
1 Heatmor (For Durant)
1 Mewtwo EX
(9)
3 Pokemon Collector
2 N
2 Professor Oaks New Theory
2 Professor Juniper
(20)
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Switch
3 Rare Candy
3 Ultra Ball
2 PokeGear 3.0
1 Enhanced Hammer
1 Super Rod
(11)
11 Psychic Energy
We had 8 people today and we played a three round 2 out of 3 (for the last week thank god) tournament with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes.
Round 1 Vs Mike G (Zekeels)
Game 1: He started with a lone Uxie and was having trouble getting started, and I had Gothitelle and Gardevoir set up turn 3 and was swinging for massive damage one shotting everything in my path.
Game 2: More or less the same with my Cleffa staying asleep during key parts of my setup. Again a third turn Gothitelle followed up with a Gardevoir let me one shot everything.
2-0
Round 2 Vs Stew (Reshiram/Reshiram EX/Zekrom/Chandelure NXD)
Game 1: I set up a early Gothitelle and stop him from making any big plays which allows me time to get Gardevoir out the hard way and start hitting him hard.
Game 2: Again I am able to set my Gothitelle up turn 2 and Gardevoir turn 3 well timed Catcher plays on his benched Reshiram EX allowed my Gothitelle to hit for 180 with 4 energy attached.
2-0
Round 3 Vs Andrew Lawrenson (KyuremGATR)
Andrew is my teammate so this is good practice for both of us since we might see eachother at Battle Roads Sunday pending on how the rounds go.
Game 1: I cant get a Gardevoir out to one shot his Kyurem and he Glaciates me to death.
Game 2: I cant get energy this time and am stuck hitting him with Kirlias Smack attack for 3 turns before finally getting Gardevoir out to KO a Kyurem only to suffer horrible death from the next one.
0-2
So I end up going 2-1 for the day which would have put me in top 3 but my first round opponent dropped out costing my in back points. Which was fine with me seeing as i am just happy to get Pokemon going strong in my area.
1st: Andrew Lawrenson (KyuremGATR)
2nd: Mario Filice (Zekeels)
3rd: Sal Oliviera (Rocky Helmet/Volcarona burn)
Taking a slower paced deck into a tournament with a variety of decent to good players made me realise two things
1. Gothitelle/Gardevoir if it can get set up fast enough is very hard to stop since I can use Items and you cant.
2. This deck will thrive I think in a BW-On format.
The advantage that Psychic Mirage gives Mad Kinesis is amazing, as I was one hit KO'ing massive HP basics like Zekrom and Reshiram EX for 3-4 energy.
My list
(20)
3-2-3 Gothitelle
3-2-3 Gardevoir
2 Cleffa
1 Heatmor (For Durant)
1 Mewtwo EX
(9)
3 Pokemon Collector
2 N
2 Professor Oaks New Theory
2 Professor Juniper
(20)
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Switch
3 Rare Candy
3 Ultra Ball
2 PokeGear 3.0
1 Enhanced Hammer
1 Super Rod
(11)
11 Psychic Energy
We had 8 people today and we played a three round 2 out of 3 (for the last week thank god) tournament with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes.
Round 1 Vs Mike G (Zekeels)
Game 1: He started with a lone Uxie and was having trouble getting started, and I had Gothitelle and Gardevoir set up turn 3 and was swinging for massive damage one shotting everything in my path.
Game 2: More or less the same with my Cleffa staying asleep during key parts of my setup. Again a third turn Gothitelle followed up with a Gardevoir let me one shot everything.
2-0
Round 2 Vs Stew (Reshiram/Reshiram EX/Zekrom/Chandelure NXD)
Game 1: I set up a early Gothitelle and stop him from making any big plays which allows me time to get Gardevoir out the hard way and start hitting him hard.
Game 2: Again I am able to set my Gothitelle up turn 2 and Gardevoir turn 3 well timed Catcher plays on his benched Reshiram EX allowed my Gothitelle to hit for 180 with 4 energy attached.
2-0
Round 3 Vs Andrew Lawrenson (KyuremGATR)
Andrew is my teammate so this is good practice for both of us since we might see eachother at Battle Roads Sunday pending on how the rounds go.
Game 1: I cant get a Gardevoir out to one shot his Kyurem and he Glaciates me to death.
Game 2: I cant get energy this time and am stuck hitting him with Kirlias Smack attack for 3 turns before finally getting Gardevoir out to KO a Kyurem only to suffer horrible death from the next one.
0-2
So I end up going 2-1 for the day which would have put me in top 3 but my first round opponent dropped out costing my in back points. Which was fine with me seeing as i am just happy to get Pokemon going strong in my area.
1st: Andrew Lawrenson (KyuremGATR)
2nd: Mario Filice (Zekeels)
3rd: Sal Oliviera (Rocky Helmet/Volcarona burn)
Taking a slower paced deck into a tournament with a variety of decent to good players made me realise two things
1. Gothitelle/Gardevoir if it can get set up fast enough is very hard to stop since I can use Items and you cant.
2. This deck will thrive I think in a BW-On format.
The advantage that Psychic Mirage gives Mad Kinesis is amazing, as I was one hit KO'ing massive HP basics like Zekrom and Reshiram EX for 3-4 energy.
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