Well, I had the luxury to attend two pre-releases here in Australia. But overall, I think Phantom Forces is definitely a hit.
First pre-release
So far, the store I attended this pre-release had been rather kind to me in terms of EXs and as well as useable cards really. Of course, that meant the pre-release had gotten full. We had about twenty compared to twelve and fourteen in Furious Fists/Flash Fire.
We all got our 6 packs and proceeded to open it. Had gotten 1 Malamar EX which isn't bad and as well as a couple of decent rares like Slurpuff. Bronzong was actually very rare for this pre-release as a total of 3 was pulled. Mega EXs were common as commons since we pulled about 6 in total there. However, the base EXs for those Megas were rare as only 3 were pulled.
The deck I built was a Malamar/Honchkrow/Slurpuff. So the basics is sleep and stay asleep for 120 damage. Bad thing was that I couldn't get a Trick Coin as everyone was using it for their flips.
Match 1 - pretty close but ended up winning due to Gengar being weak to Dark and the second match was quite easy with him only having 1 Pokemon for 4 turns. 1-0
Match 2 - Bad since Malamar was prized and Honchkrow couldn't carry. 1-1
Match 3 - Lost against a mirror match up. It ended up being quite a silly game with both our Malamars loaded with energy. 1-2
Match 4 - Opponent didn't show which was a shame but given what he ran before, I probably would have the advantage here. 2-2
Packs opened = junk. Nothing really good.
Second pre-release
This one was a lot more larger since this store had been renowned for their Pokemon events. So got our six packs and proceeded to get Florges EX FA, M Manetric EX and as well as AZ FA. Double bugger.
So I made a Grass/Fairy deck with Leavanny/Dedenne/Florges EX. Lent my M Manetric to my friend who somehow managed to collate a proper Manetric deck with 4 (yes, 4!) Manetric EXs.
Match 1 - Went up against a Fairy deck with Slurpuff. That was annoying but eventually my stream of grass kept wearing him down until I sent out Florges to sweep. 1-0
Match 2 - Not great as Florges was prized most of the time. And it didn't help that all my Pokemon needed 3 Energy to attack. 1-1
Match 3 - The Gigalith was scary if you let it be. But I fought hard to pretty much annihilate it. 2-1
Match 4 - A Full Metal Panic deck with Golbats (he showed he had 8!). It was no contest with the first game being a dead rubber, the second was good since his Dialga EX and Bronzongs were prized. The last I lost when he swept with Golbats but it was funny since Swadloon was just teasing him with his mighty Protect for 4 turns! 2-2
Match 5 - Feraligatr is the bane of my deck due to one energy attachments. Lost that very quickly. 2-3
My packs had Bronzong and Regigigas so it wasn't too bad overall. But at least my streak of pulling the crap EXs continues. Traded AZ and a couple of cards for other things, namely store credit.
First pre-release
So far, the store I attended this pre-release had been rather kind to me in terms of EXs and as well as useable cards really. Of course, that meant the pre-release had gotten full. We had about twenty compared to twelve and fourteen in Furious Fists/Flash Fire.
We all got our 6 packs and proceeded to open it. Had gotten 1 Malamar EX which isn't bad and as well as a couple of decent rares like Slurpuff. Bronzong was actually very rare for this pre-release as a total of 3 was pulled. Mega EXs were common as commons since we pulled about 6 in total there. However, the base EXs for those Megas were rare as only 3 were pulled.
The deck I built was a Malamar/Honchkrow/Slurpuff. So the basics is sleep and stay asleep for 120 damage. Bad thing was that I couldn't get a Trick Coin as everyone was using it for their flips.
Match 1 - pretty close but ended up winning due to Gengar being weak to Dark and the second match was quite easy with him only having 1 Pokemon for 4 turns. 1-0
Match 2 - Bad since Malamar was prized and Honchkrow couldn't carry. 1-1
Match 3 - Lost against a mirror match up. It ended up being quite a silly game with both our Malamars loaded with energy. 1-2
Match 4 - Opponent didn't show which was a shame but given what he ran before, I probably would have the advantage here. 2-2
Packs opened = junk. Nothing really good.
Second pre-release
This one was a lot more larger since this store had been renowned for their Pokemon events. So got our six packs and proceeded to get Florges EX FA, M Manetric EX and as well as AZ FA. Double bugger.
So I made a Grass/Fairy deck with Leavanny/Dedenne/Florges EX. Lent my M Manetric to my friend who somehow managed to collate a proper Manetric deck with 4 (yes, 4!) Manetric EXs.
Match 1 - Went up against a Fairy deck with Slurpuff. That was annoying but eventually my stream of grass kept wearing him down until I sent out Florges to sweep. 1-0
Match 2 - Not great as Florges was prized most of the time. And it didn't help that all my Pokemon needed 3 Energy to attack. 1-1
Match 3 - The Gigalith was scary if you let it be. But I fought hard to pretty much annihilate it. 2-1
Match 4 - A Full Metal Panic deck with Golbats (he showed he had 8!). It was no contest with the first game being a dead rubber, the second was good since his Dialga EX and Bronzongs were prized. The last I lost when he swept with Golbats but it was funny since Swadloon was just teasing him with his mighty Protect for 4 turns! 2-2
Match 5 - Feraligatr is the bane of my deck due to one energy attachments. Lost that very quickly. 2-3
My packs had Bronzong and Regigigas so it wasn't too bad overall. But at least my streak of pulling the crap EXs continues. Traded AZ and a couple of cards for other things, namely store credit.