PMJ Returns to Competitive Play (New: WI Regionals Report)

PMJ

Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
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IL State Championships March 21, 2015

This is not my first tournament, but it may as well have been. I have been absent from the tournament scene for a long, long time (the last time I went, Medicham ex was terrorizing the format). This tournament marks my triumphant? return to Pokemon Organized Play Play! Pokemon Pokemon Organized Play.

I almost didn't go. I wasn't looking forward to trying to find lodgings on top of the 90-minute trip there and back when it was all done. Then I learned that day two was only for top cut, so there was a new goal: go, but scrub out and therefore have no reason to go to day 2 \o/

I decide to play Night March, because it's what I've done the most testing with. I'm familiar with it. I don't have Mr. Mime, which makes the Landorus matchup, shall we say...a little difficult. My draw is almost all items, so I was afraid of Seismitoad, so I considered adding Leafeon, but I decided against it, and if I ran into Seismitoad I would simply Quaking Punch the hell out of him. I checked out this one thread that was linked in the PB Night March thread and read about Hard Charm and Manectric-EX, and thought those were good additions so I tried adding them in, but the result was so odd-feeling to me that I simply reverted it back to the item-heavy way it was before. I did end up keeping the change to my basic Energy; that is, from P/L to straight L. I never really know what type to play. It never seems to matter in the long run, since there aren't many times I wouldn't want to use Night March, and if I couldn't, most attacks I could do for one or two energy of a very specific type would not mean much. Then again, attacking is attacking; a few times I swang for 10 when I whiffed the energy or stadium or whatever else I needed.

Speaking of 10, that is the magic number for my run. You'll see why as you read.

Along with me on this journey of amazingness is my roommate, who is playing Gengar/Trevenant, and my little brother, who is playing Groudon. None of us have any idea what to expect, but they're all aware of the top Pokemon.

During our testing the night before, I found out that Gengar/Trevenant kicks the crap out of Night March. I hope to god I don't face him, because in the few games we did, I got steamrolled.

So we get there, sign in and check out the venue. They've got some cards and merch for sale, and there's a table set up with some minigames in the back for players to do between rounds. Cool. Lots of people. Lots of energy. Everyone is excited to be here. I'm ready to crush everyone. My roommate and I do a fun battle, but I don't want to lose so I use Groudon. I start Groudon, and it's then I realize that we didn't put Switch in this deck. Whoops. Some kid comes over and gets an attitude because we're battling at his table, and tells us the pairings are posted. I go check me out. Table something-or-other. I go sit. My opponent is already there. I greet him and start to shuffle. We're ready to go and this dude comes up and says "uh, [opponent's name?]" and my opponent says "that's me" and I'm like what the hell so I go check and suddenly everything is different and everyone is actually paired and I'm at a completely different table? I guess that's how it works.

I greet my actual opponent, shuffle, and draw. Time to win.

ROUND 1: vs. Aaron F. w/Groudon

I liked fighting this guy. He was cheerful, friendly, and I like to think that the excitement made it easier to converse. After I saw he was using Groudon, I prepared for an easy win.

Game 1: He starts with a lone Landorus and gets nothing. I whiff the t1 Night March, but he gets nothing on his next turn and on t2 I nail it and that's game. :)

Game 2: ...I start with Jirachi, four Energy, Silver Bangle, and Lysandre's Trump Card. He gets a great start, and on the next turn I scoop after drawing dead again.

Game 3: We laugh about the status of our last two games and hope for a good game 3, which we actually got. He only managed to get one Groudon set up, which he switched to the bench after I hit him for 150. I later N'd him to 1, but it wasn't enough to save me.

0-1-0

ROUND 2: vs. Teagan P. w/Dragonite-EX + Victreebel + Mewtwo-EX

Chubby girl decked out in Pokemon gear. She was kinda cute and I thought about hitting on her, but then I remembered she could be 15. Yikes. She sat next to me during round 1, so I knew what she was using. Got slaughtered by a dude using VirGen + Blockade (I hereby dub this combo chastity.dec). Anyway, as soon as I saw her I knew I was gonna win. I mean it this time.

Game 1: She starts the game with 3 Dragonite-EX, benched nothing else, and probably played 1 supporter the whole game.

Game 2: She starts Bellsprout, benches a Dragonite, and actually plays some supporters. I'm slow to start, but she's even slower. By the time she starts powering up Dragonite-EX I'm swinging for 190 and I Lysandre all her Pokemon-EX. She didn't attack once in either game.

1-1-0

Pretty sure lunch was then, w/e

ROUND 3: vs Jason O. w/Primal Kyogre-EX + Kyurem

I was intrigued when I saw his deck, because I'm a Kyogre fan and would love to play it. He was also very friendly.

Game 1: He opens with 3 Kyogre-EX and Joltik starts to salivate. I'm slow to start and he sets up a Primal Kyogre, but not before I take four prizes off his Kyurem and spare Kyogre. It comes down to one final turn. My hand is Ultra Ball + junk card. I don't remember the specifics, but the plan was to draw, Ultra Ball for Jirachi (who, along with Computer Search, hadn't been seen all game long), Stellar Guidance for Sycamore, and hope to get my last Energy + other things to secure the KO and game. I draw for my turn and it's the last Energy in my deck. Had like 12-15 cards left and the card I drew was the only card in my deck that would cost me the game. Man.

Game 2: Total domination. OHKOed his Kyurem on t2, taking all of his Energy out of play. Thanks to Lysandre and 150+ damage a turn, he never gets going again.

Game 3: Our first two games took so much time that we only get a few turns in before time is called.

1-1-1

ROUND 4: Reimi J. w/Landorus + Crobat

Damn it. The one deck I wanted to avoid. I knew it would be tough, but I have beaten this deck before, even without Mr. Mime. I was determined to show him and pull out a win.

GAME 1: I made a major misplay in this game. I told myself not to bench Joltik, so of course what do I do? Bench the Joltik. The 90 + 30 from Hammerhead is ruthless. The best I can manage is to hit Lando for 170, through resistance, eat it chump. Whoops, he's down to 10, and my game is sealed. He hit the heads on a SSU early on after being hit for 140 or so which really hurt.

GAME 2: He prizes all his Landorus, but I can never seal the KO on his guys. Late game he hits the heads on a Crobat, evolves a Zubat, and drops a Zubat. He puts the 20 on Joltik and I know I gotta do something or he's gonna Crobat me to death. Knowing he doesn't run Rare Candy, I burn through my deck at the speed of light and whiff the Lysandre. I do, however, draw my one N, which I do to put him to 1. There goes Crobat. I feel like I'm in a safer spot, but he topdecks Lysandre, gusts out Joltik, and finishes him off with Swoop Across.

1-2-1

ROUND 5: vs Andrew w/Mega Aggron-EX + Aegislash-EX

I sit down and wait for my opponent when this little girl who can't look no more than 12 or 13 sits across from me. I glance at our match slip to make sure I didn't read her name wrong. Nope. Andrew. I glance up at him again and yeah, okay I can see it now. This kid was by far the most depressing player I have ever fought in my life. He played slowly, like someone told him that as soon as our match was over, he would be executed. The look on his face was just saddening.

Game 1: He starts with a lone Aggron, and I miss the KO by 10 damage. He still gets nothing and Joltik runs him over.

Game 2: Aegislash is making life hell for me. I try to Lysandre around it, which works for a while, but he manages to get Mega Aggron up and running. The game comes down to a lone Joltik. Play a bunch of cards out and hit the DCE and Night March for 230 damage. I missed the KO by 10. He slams Joltik and his brain squishes everywhere. My one remaining prize was a Night Marcher, which means if I had had it in my deck, I would have won.

Game 3: Time is called a few turns in and there's no way he can kill all my pokes by then.

I shake his hand after the game and it was literally the driest thing I have ever touched. It was like shaking hands with a desert. Was this kid too sad and depressed to go find some lotion? I guess. You shoulda been there. It was horrible.

1-2-2

After this round we joke that my brother, who is 2-3-0 at this point, has more points than my roommate and I, who are both 1-1-2. That gives me an uneasy feeling because that means we can get paired together, and if we do, I may as well just scoop.

ROUND 6: vs Trevor P. w/Gengar-EX + Trevenant + Sigilyph

So of course we get paired up together.

Game 1: He makes the mistake of trying to keep Phantump safe rather than go on the offensive, and Pumpkaboo runs through all his Gengar with Lysandre's help.

Game 2: I started with Jirachi. Since Gengar can hit the bench and I have to attach an energy to Jirachi to retreat it, I couldn't Night March on the same turn which proved to be disastrous. I couldn't catch up and was quickly destroyed.

Game 3: The turn two item lock plus Gengar OHKOing all my Pokemon meant I couldn't even respond.

1-3-2

ROUND 7: vs Robert W w/Articuno-EX + Dusknoir + Deoxys-EX

Watched this guy play last match, where he faced another Mega Aggron. Only two metal decks I saw all day. This guy was as quiet and depressing as Andrew was. He was also black.

Game 1: Fortunately for me, Joltik and Pumpkaboo can easily one-shot Articuno-EX and he ends up using Blizzard exactly once.

Game 2: same as above

Final standing: 2-3-2, 69th place out of 80-something Masters


Props:
+ Night March rustles a lot of jimmies
+ Almost no one was playing Night March
+ Lots of favorable matchups
+ Seismitoad everywhere; not paired against it once
+ Average 9 out of 10 heads on Roller Skates over the course of the day
+ Friendly opponents
+ learned google Cawthon and Jason Klaczynski were both there
+ won a booster pack (AT Medicham) from a minigame and also won a Mudkip hat from random raffle
+ coming in 69th place (giggity)
+ not facing the one guy at this whole tournament who used Pyroar, crushing the poor other Night March guy who was 1-3-2 with me
+ getting Trump Carded in almost every match and was swinging for at least 80-100 on the next turn, every time

Slops:
- missing several key KOs by one component, which more often than not cost me the game
- the dry hand kid
- roommate finished 68th (brother finished 74th)
- Lightning resistance
- Psychic resistance
- paired up with my roommate, who basically sails to an easy win

Closing thoughts: It was fun. It made me realize that I also don't like that Night March's success largely depends on how many Night Marchers you have prized and how fast you can get them out. Your Night Marchers literally take up a fifth of your deck, so chances are pretty good that you'll prize at least one. One time it literally cost me the game. I want to run something more consistent for WI states, but my options aren't many. Thought about Dialga or Medicham, but what I know for sure is that I'm done with Night March.

Hope to see at least one of you at WI states. I'll be the person in the Mudkip hat. :>

WI State Championships March 28, 2015

This states was going to be the states to beat all states because I was gonna finally pop my pb member cherry and meet one of you lucky dudes. Teapot and I were determined to go balls out and kill everyone, him with Yveltal/Seismijerk, me with the man himself, Lord of the Goddamn Earth...

PRIMAL ****ING GROUDON
http://http://google.com/.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/primal-groudon-ex.gif
**** YEAH

I had done a few battles with a personal build of mine early last week and decided that since my brother, who doesn't really know the intricacies of the game, disgraced the might of Primal Groudon last week, I'd give him a try - especially since he tells Seismibutt to bend over, and that was pretty much the deck to beat. I also considered playing Kyogre, because I've always been a Kyogre fan, but it's slow and extremely vulnerable to item lock. Night March was out of the question since I was disappointed with my performance last week, and I'm too afraid of Fighting to play Manectric and Friends, so that left Groudon. I'm fairly used to playing it, since I had tested it previously, so I decided pretty early to play it for WI states.

Blah told me about a nifty thing called Silver Mirror, which would crap on Flareon, who would otherwise maul this deck, and Terrakion NVI, who makes a handy mirror holder because Empoleon--Flareon's only non-Plasma attacker--can't OHKO because not weak to Water. I'm down for auto-wins, so I added a 1-1 FA Terrakion@Mirror (FA because that art is top tier).

Friday afternoon, I decided to do some testing, and I had like six bad games in a row. A few were from Seismignoramus, a couple were from scrub decks with crap like no-Ability Samurott in it, and even VirGen, who I lose to anyway so it's not _that_ depressing. Still, all these bad matches in a row so close to the tournament messed with my head something fierce. I questioned playing Groudon, or even going anyway, because Seisminerd is super ducking fumb. My roommate, who played Gengar/Trevenant last week, told me that many an opponent was frustrated with Trevenant's item lock, and suggested I play it with something like Donphan.

I had a goofy idea of Trevenant/Crobat, and so I built it and tested it. It actually worked. It sounds goofy as hell on paper, but those two have amazing synergy together. I won like half a dozen games and I'm like... do I really want to take this to states? I fought exactly one deck with dark pokes in it and none of them were Yveltal (I still lost because dropping a Dark-type makes this deck fold faster than two-seven off-suit). I hadn't sleeved Groudon yet, I was winning with Trevenant/Crobat, and I had to be up and ready in four hours (I drove to the event Saturday morning).

In the end, I decided to man up and stick with Groudon. I'm glad I did. Funnily enough, google Cawthon played Gengar/Trevenant ft. Raichu + Electrode, but I can't help but think he was just trolling since the dude probably already has an invite. My build is an eccentric one, if Camoclone's proposed fixes were any indication. One of my absolute favorite cards in this deck is Battle Compressor. It's mostly used for throwing away a couple Fighting so I can Shout them onto Groudon, but if I don't get them until the mid/late game I can use them to throw away stuff I don't need anymore just to maximize my chances of hitting something not dumb from an N to one or two. Pokemon-wise, I'm using three Hawlucha, four baby Lando, a 3-3 Groudon (with only two links, which was an oversight and not a choice), and the one Terrakion.

So I get there and the internet is garbage. I end up spending all day resetting my phone's connection to the hotel's internet because it must be powered by monkeys on a treadmill. Teapot messages me saying that he's wearing a jersey of some scrub from the GB Packers or whatever. I don't see him.

I buy a pink playmat because it looks nice with my purple sleeves, and it was only seven dollars. It was covered in hair and dirt by the end of the event, which is why you need to have a tube at all times.

They announce that Masters will have eight rounds instead of seven. It's... it's gonna be a long day. This time I didn't go to the table they put next to my name, like a pleb, and find my way to the correct table. I sit down across from my round one opponent and get ready to stomp. I'm hoping for Seismigarbage/Garbodor, which is p much an auto win for me. Night March and VirGen are both disastrous matchups for me and I am hoping I don't run into either of them.

ROUND 1: vs. Briana K. w/Night March

God damn it.

I saw her wandering around before the event started. She was wearing a short skirt and it made me feel comfortable knowing she was in Masters. Still, she could have been fifteen, so I kept quiet.

Game 1: I win the flip and choose to go first. As soon as she flipped her basics over, I realize what a huge mistake that was. She gets a turn and that's pretty much all she needs to run me down.

Game 2: I go second (natch) and I start slowly picking off her Night Marchers, leaving all her Mew as sitting ducks. Hard Charm is clutch as I whiff the Strong and Joltik survives Shout of Power. She gets down to her last seven or so cards in her deck, quickly uses her items to burn through them, Bicycles for the last few, and plays Lysandre, targeting Primal Groudon for the Night March KO and her last two prizes. I cringe at the loss BUT WAIT, I realize, YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO HIM HAHAHAHAHAHA I point this out to her and she's like "well damn, I lost" and I'm like "yep, you sure did." Since she had more than 1 prize left, killing anyone else wouldn't get her the game, so she scooped.

Game 3: Lone Hawlucha start, went first, you can guess how violently this ended for me

0-1-0

ROUND 2: vs. Dave M. w/Victini-EX's Burning Metal Fun Time

Random PokeDad who was here with his kids. The guy was super new to the game and didn't know what most of the cards did. I had to explain a lot of them, including the relationship between Escape Rope, Lysandre, and Omega Barrier. Anyway, he was a nice guy, and his deck had a decent enough plan, but he went about it all wrong. His strategy was to use Victini-EX's Turbo Energize to power up his big basics. His Pokemon of choice: Dialga-EX, Camerupt-EX, and Delphox-EX. Yeeeeeeah.

Looking over my results from round 7, he actually won a match at some point in the day, which just blows my mind. Well, maybe it doesn't; his deck idea was solid if not poorly planned, and if he kept losing, eventually he would have fought someone just as bad as he is. Oh well.

Due to problems with match slips, some people in Masters got repaired. Teapot was a lucky victim and wound up next to PokeDad, so that was when I decided to break the ice and call Teapot a nerd. :)

Game 1: He opens with Delphox-EX, and he gets the Float Stone t1 to switch to Victini and I think something might happen here, but this guy barely has a clue what he's doing so
tumblr_m5gzp1lIFF1qd87hlo1_500.gif


Game 2: He misplayed Blacksmith, trying to attach them to Dialga-EX. Towards the end I saw him bust out Plasma Leafeon and I thought I was in trouble but then I realized that four energy means I don't get KOed and I was confident this guy didn't even know what Silver Bangle was so I ignored it and kept Lysandreing his dudes.

1-1-0

om nom nom lunch

ROUND 3: vs. Jeremy P. w/Mega Aggron ft. Seismitoad-EX

Game 1: He either wins the flip and goes first or I win and go second, either way at this point I'm going second for the rest of the day which I am 100% cool with. He opens with Aggron and drops Aegislash early, warning me about playing recklessly with my Strongs (I have Silent Lab, but still). I have a fabled Perfect Start and I'm using Gaia Volcano on turn three. He tries to catch up, even dropping Seismitoad late game to try to stall, but once Groudon gets going, He cannot be stopped.

Game 2: He opened with Seismitoad. Normally, Seismitoad is (or should be) cake, but when he's used in combination with one of the only cards in the format that can OHKO Primal Groudon, it's a problem. I got the primal out quickly enough, but I couldn't draw into the Energy and I was locked out of my letters. By the time I got going, he already had two Mega Aggron out and fully charged, and I didn't even have the two Strongs I needed to OHKO the first one.

Game 3: He opened with Seismitoad again, but my belief in the Heart of the Cards pays off and I start putting it to him. Terrakion was clutch here, surviving a whiffed Victory Star reflip on Heavy Slam. The twenty damage to his field came into play later on when I was able to follow a Shout of Power up with a 2HKO from Hawlucha@Strong. I actually haven't said much about Terrakion because I don't remember the details about every single match, but there were a lot of times that Terrakion helped save the match over the course of the day with a clutch Retaliate or just being a beast and bulldozing through things with 130-damage Land Crashes. If Groudon is unavailable, Terrakion also makes a great Scramble Switch recipient. He's a great addition and I'm glad I added him (thanks again Blah). At any rate, after a kill I was down to Primal Groudon on his own, with three fighting and a strong on, against a full health Mega Aggron. I have the Stadium in play but if I can't get the second strong I won't OHKO and I will probably die. Fortunately for me, I topdeck the strong, and swing for 240 and the game.

2-1-0

ROUND 4: vs. Danny O. w/Medicham ft. Landorus-EX & Lucario-EX

This guy sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I have seen or heard his name. Oh well.

Game 1: I started with a lone Groudon and got no supporters to help me out. Two turns in, I was done.

Game 2. Much better start for me, but I realized that in this matchup, I should not try for the Groudon when Medicham has 90 HP and both Landorus and Terrakion can hit that number easily (another match that Terrakion was immeasurably helpful in). It's late game and he's got no Energy. I give him a taste of his own medicine by gusting up his lone benched Lucario-EX and using Hawlucha to hit him for 100. When he doesn't play the Energy to simply KO me outright and take his last prize, I think I have this match won since I can take my last two prizes off him, but he hits the heads on Super Scoop Up, preventing me from killing him before he kills me. Damn.

2-2-0

ROUND 5: vs. Matt C. w/Landorus-EX + Crobat

So I head over to my table and I see this junior sit in the seat across from me. I figure he's there to get a card from his big brother but no, this is my opponent and he can't be more than four foot nothing. I guess there has to be one weirdo at every tournament. Who will my Round 5 Weirdo at Regionals be? No one knooooooooows :eek:

This kid kept slapping the cards in his hands together like you cool kids do. You know, how you keep shuffling the same two or three cards together in your hand, like doing it over and over will suddenly transform your useless card into one you need? Except he did it really loud and obnoxiously. It's hard to describe, but I wanted to hit him in the face. Also, he kept putting his filthy, disgusting, non-sexy dice on my Pokemon. Like, is that a thing people do? I have my own dice. You can clearly see them; I have plenty. I know how to play this game, I know how damage works, just say your attack and the damage and I will add the damage myself. Keep your shitty non-matching dice to yourself. Ugh.

Game 1: I believe that the Landbats matchup is probably 55-45 or 60-40 in Groudon's favor, maybe even as high as 70-30 if you run Mr. Mime (which I didn't). Let them blow through their bites to try and kill Groudon as you continue to power him up. Then Scramble up a new one, OHKO Landorus-EX, and watch them fold as they're left with a weak Lucario (maybe) and a field full of bats who swing for 30. This game... did not go that way. It did not go anywhere near that way. I got nothing and Landorus ate me for breakfast.

Game 2: I was a little slow to start in this game. At the pivotal moment, I had a Landorus with 100 damage on him and a single Energy. I have a Primal Groudon with 3 on him, and a clean Hawlucha. He tries to gust up Primal Groudon (I can't make this up). I tell him he can't and he tries to take it back, and I'm like no, you played it, you have to pick Hawlucha. So I send up Hawlucha and he does Hammerhead. Instead of killing Landorus, he chooses to put 30 on Groudon. Next turn I retreat into Lando, scramble into Groudon, and stomp his stupid flying dog ass into oblivion. [x] REKT [ ] NOT REKT

Game 3: I play three Switch in this deck, which allows me to play very conservatively with Groudon, bullshit item lock notwithstanding. If you can't KO the target you want, get out and send up a foot soldier. What's your opponent gonna do, Lysandre your Groudon back out? So it's during this fight that I start a hit-and-run strategy with Groudon. If I can't get the Stadium, I simply switch out and try again later. Because of this, he struggles to get any KOs. I'm confident that with maybe five or six more turns, I can wipe his board, but time is called and neither of us can eliminate the other in the time allotted.

2-2-1

ROUND 6: vs. Joe B. w/Yveltal-EX + Seismitoad-EX

His deck box is a custom one with some guy screaming about stuff being janky, pure jank, etc probably some dumb meme crap that I would find hilarious if I knew at all what the joke was. He was sick and coughed a lot during our fight. To his credit, he tried to play with his shirt covering his nose, but it didn't help. Full disclosure: I went despite being on the ass end of a cold, popping extra strength menthol cough drops like they were my lifeline, but I wasn't as bad as this guy was.

Game 1: No sign of Groudon. I've got the Scramble in hand, waiting for a way to get Groudon so I can power it up, but on the turn after I attach the third energy, he Lysandres the Landorus I was parking the energy on and kills him, removing all energy from my field. At this point he's got two birds@Muscle Bands each with like 3 energy and there's nothing I can do to stop them.

Game 2: Return of the King. I get Primal Groudon out immediately and start stockpiling Energy. I sac a turn so I can attach Yveltal Insurance aka Focus Sash to Groudon. He plays super conservatively, trying to buff his big birds with baby bird, but I do a one-two knockout on his two Yveltal-EX and he scoops.

Game 3:
giphy.gif


3-2-1

ROUND 7: vs. Yakira T. w/Fairy Toolbox (Mega Gardevoir, Combustion Blast Charizard, Manectric-EX, Landorus-EX, Suicune)

I saw her play previously so I know she's playing fairies. She was cheerful at first. I mulligan at the start and reveal a strong, and she guesses I'm running Landbats. She mentions that she hates Groudon variants, and it's like her worst matchup.

tumblr_mfcuokQJ8s1r3d8abo1_r2_250.gif


Game 1: Since I know she's running fairies, I force her to go first and she gets an explosive first turn. We're both building up our boards. She quickly gets Suicune out, like Safeguard actually means something to Groudon decks. She was cool until she started sullying my Pokemon with her stupid, tiny, unmatching dice. She also didn't speak above a whisper and rarely announced her attack, instead preferring to announce the damage, and sometimes even forgoing that and just stuffing her disgusting damage markers all over my Pokemon cards. I think I heard her heart sink when I dropped the Groudon because she knew it was the beginning of the end. By this point in the day, I'm in complete control of my deck and I'm biding my time until I get Silent Lab because okay I guess Safeguard means a little bit to Groudon decks. She searches out Landorus-EX and I'm completely confused until she transfers two Rainbow to it, and it's then I realize that she's not playing straight fairies, but a toolbox, a lesson I learned much too late as I am blasted to hell by Land's Judgment. I send up a Landorus and Shout one to a waiting Groudon. She does 50 to Lando, putting him in KO range, and 30 to a benched Hawlucha. I attach and Shout two more energy to my Groudon, but on the next turn she Lysandres Primal Groudon Hawlucha and gets the twofer for the game.

Game 2: She has a much rougher start than the first game despite still going first. She gets Mega Gardevoir going pretty quickly, but after I kill her, Xerneas, and Aromatisse, her deck falls apart and she can't catch up.

Game 3: Same situation, but time is called during our match. This is unfortunate because I would have won with a few more turns. She wasn't kidding when she said Groudon was one of her worst matchups.

3-2-2

ROUND 8: vs. Joseph G. w/Landorus-EX + Crobat ft. Lucario-EX

Game 1: My opening hand is Groudon-EX, two Battle Compressor, two Primal Groudon-EX, VS Seeker, and Groudon Spirit Link. This is by far the worst hand I had all day. Battle Compressor let me discard the N, but all it gave me was another Groudon, a hand full of crap, and no Energy.

Game 2: I start lone Groudon. He goes first and plays Strong, Band, and Fighting Stadium for that extra 20. On my turn, I Korrina for Switch and Hawlucha, swoop swoop swoop, attach a strong and hit his Luke for 100. He flips tails on SSU (first one all day!) and can't secure the second strong for the KO, allowing me to get the KO. Fighting Stadium lets Hawlucha run rampant and I don't even bother focusing on Groudon past evolving him.

Game 3: We know time is imminent so we question playing out the third game. In the end, we decide to just play it, and if time gets called and there won't be a winner, we'll scoop it up. He manages to get a big-ass Lucario up and running, while I've got Primal Groudon ready to stall. Time is called, and I'm on turn 2. I panic and realize that my dino has 190 HP left, a number which is easily hittable thanks to Fighting Stadium, Muscle Band, and 2 Strong already on Lucario, combined with a bench full of Zubat. I do the safe option and play Sycamore, hoping for more basics. I hit two of them, preventing him from taking all his prizes and confirming the match as a tie. This battle is one that I might have lost, so I'll take the tie.

3-2-3

Final standing: 3-2-3, 48th place out of 75 Masters

Props

+ MDIF (Manliest Deck In Format)
+ Switch
+ Terrakion
+ Scramble Switching from a dino with 230 damage on it to a clean one
+ Scramble Switching from anything to anything else, actually, the card is great
+ not paired with Donphan which I guess also gives this deck a hard time
+ Met Teapot, probably made him feel weird in front of his real life friends
+++ if I did
+ not paired with VirGen
+ had fun


Slops
- tying battles I would have won more than the ones I would have lost
- when 5-2-1 still isn't good enough for top cut
- not paired with Flareon so I could test the mirror's true power
- Quaking Punch for [C][C] is [C]ancer
- Seismitoad is dumb and is worth mentioning here again
- Teapot did better but he used Seismitoad so it's okay
--------- SOMEONE TOOK ONE OF MY DICE SO NOW I ONLY HAVE 11, THIS IS HUGELY UPSETTING TO ME

Since I'm not gunning for a worlds invite and regionals should get me the CP I need to get into nationals (if I go), I'll probably skip MN and IA states since I don't know about driving five hours for either of those. Regionals is only about half an hour away so hopefully I can meet more of you then.

WI Regional Championships May 30, 2015


For the second time in my tournament history, Midwest Regionals was being held in Wisonsin. Since Madison is only about 45 minutes from me, I would have no excuse not to go, especially since it was such a large tournament. This Regionals was also important because it was the first one at which Roaring Skies was legal. Both Mega Rayquaza were getting hyped (though the Colorless one, far more so) and expectations for it were high.

I didn't want to play Mega Rayquaza, even though I had the cards for it. Playing Groudon was out of the question because not only does Mega Rayquaza outspeed me like eighty turns to one, Mega Rayquaza resists Fighting and I ain't down for that. I thought about playing Manectric/Seismitoad/Garbodor and was almost sold on that until I realized about another gem that, thanks to Wally, was back to being viable:

klinklang-plasma-storm-90-212x300.jpg
(pb scans not used because they're GIGANTIC)​

His Ability, Plasma Steel, is the focal point of the deck. It looks like Safeguard, but it has the bonus of protecting not just Klinklang, but every Metal Pokemon you have in play. It tips a lot of matchups in my favor since it forces decks with EX attackers to rely on their techs to beat me. If they can't get them out, they get steamrolled.

"But PMJ," you say. "Klinklang's attack sucks!" and to that I would say yeah, it does. Fortunately, with a Muscle Band, Heavy Bullet does 2HKO all relevant non-Mega Pokemon. Unfortunately, it still takes three Energy. I still need time to power up my Pokemon, which brings me to the deck's main attacker:

180px-AegislashEXPhantomForces65.jpg

In this format where DCE and Strong (and DDE, if dragons ever rise to popularity) are everywhere, Aegislash-EX is a popular one-of card in certain decks to put a stop to certain attackers. In this deck, he is the main hitter most of the time, with limitless damage potential and none of the coming into play problems that Klinklang has. Yes, his attack takes three energy, too, but the point of the deck is to stall, not rush. As long as I have the lock up, I can attach energy at my leisure, and attack when I'm ready as my opponent draws and passes every turn.

Of course, this deck is not perfect and, in hindsight, I'm not sure if I would have played it had I realized what I should have expected from this tournament. Since both attackers in my deck take three Energy to attack, Crushing Hammer is devastating. Head Ringer combined with Crushing Hammer is even worse, and it's because of those two cards that I didn't do as well as I could have. Manectric-EX and Raichu XY, the top two Lightning Pokemon to be played, also resist Metal. Aegislash@Muscle Band still OHKOs Raichu, but Klinklang falls short thanks to Resistance. The deck also struggles against Safeguard and Garbodor, so my new pal MyLittleKeldeo suggested adding in a Miltank tech. With a Muscle Band she hits 100 for a single Energy, letting me OHKO both Safeguarders as well as Garbodor. Miltank also doubles as a quick backup attacker if I can't get Aegislash going. Unfortunately, Miltank isn't protected by Plasma Steel or Steel Shelter, and she falls short of OHKOing the 110-HP Trevenant XY, which is a shame. Despite the good matchup I have against Seismitoad variants, Quaking Punch is still as [C][C]ancerous as ever and not being able to play VS Seeker or Ultra Ball is really annoying. Since my deck focuses on locking down Pokemon-EX, this deck struggles against non-EX decks that don't rely on Special Energy.

Nine rounds, top 32 make it in. I'm confident that I will do well. I sit down across from my opponent and get started.

ROUND 1: vs. Omar R. w/Groudon-EX/Shaymin-EX/Landorus-EX

Game 1: I mulligan once, revealing Klinklang. There goes the surprise. I start with Jirachi-EX, which is normally disastrous. In this deck, it's no big deal. Since Klinklang protects him, I can actually attack with him. Steel Shelter stops me from putting myself to sleep, too. The point is that I don't care if they take an early two Prizes because once Klinklang hits the field, they won't be taking any more. I use N and get a nightmarish hand: three Klink, two Klang, and some other useless card I don't remember. I'm getting no supporters and I'm down to 0 cards in my hand. I'm down to a lone Klang in play and he's on his last prize. I believe in the Heart of the Cards as I draw for turn and it's Wally. I get Klinklang out and there's nothing he can do to kill it. A few turns later, he scoops.

Game 2: I get the T2 Klinklang and he scoops a turn later.

1-0-0

After this round I met up with Teapot who I think is secretly ashamed of being seen around black people because every time I went to talk to him he was like okay I'm going to talk to my white friends now.

ROUND 2: vs Jason O. w/Seismitoad-EX/Crawdaunt

I played against him in round 3 at IL States. He was cool so I didn't mind playing him again.

Game 1: He mulligans once and I get no information on his deck. He opens with Shaymin and he plays Dive Ball and I seriously think he's playing Kyogre again. He takes Corphish and I know what deck he's playing. I feel pretty confident. He plays Head Ringer, too, so my attacking is reduced to a minimum. Fortunately he can't do much outside of Laserbank me (which is promptly stuffed by Steel Shelter), but thanks to Crushing Hammer, Head Ringer, and Unruly Claw, I almost never attack. We never get past this game and we're pretty sure it's going to time but he miscounted his VS Seekers and misplayed his last one to AZ a Crawdaunt rather than save it for the Trump Card and he decks himself out as soon as time is called.

2-0-0

ROUND 3: vs. Corrinne W. w/Colorless Mega Rayquaza

Game 1: She managed to kill an Aegislash with a Mega Rayquaza thanks to Mega Turbo, but once her Raichu was dead she scooped.

Game 2: She prized one of her two Pikachu and scooped when I Lysandre killed her first one.

3-0-0

Break for lunch now. I'm feeling great, having won my first three games, but I know that my luck can't last forever...

ROUND 4: vs Carington H. w/Seismitoad-EX/Shaymin-EX/Garbodor

Game 1: He has a 1-1 Garbodor tech which completely undoes this deck. Since both my Lysandre are discarded I can't VS Seeker for them and he runs me down.

Game 2: He throws away his Garbodor early, then benches his Trubbish. He plays Town Map and I see that he prized his Trump Card and think I've got the game won but he manages to hit the Laserbank and Quaking Punch my Klang the turn before I was going to evolve with the Klinklang in hand. Once he got the Trump Card back, Garbodor was out two turns later and that was good game.

3-1-0

ROUND 5: vs. Bob Z. w/Trevenant XY/Wobbuffet/Gengar-EX

So this tournament's Round 5 Weirdo is some Asian guy named Bob. I can't understand him very well and Teapot (who sat next to me) had to translate. He also said "yup" literally after every play I made and it got kind of annoying.

Game 1: Aegislash was clutch here since he used Mystery Energy as well as DCE, making it even easier for me to wall him. Gengar didn't show up until late game but Steel Shelter meant he was all but useless anyway. Night Attack does get through the lock, though.

Game 2: He went heavy on the Gengar this time and was careful not to attach the Mystery Energy when he didn't need to. I ended up whiffing a Steel Shelter at a key moment and that was gg.

Game 3: We didn't get far into this game since time was called. He had a slight advantage, but he couldn't kill off my Pokemon in the two turns he was given so it was a tie.

3-1-1

ROUND 6: vs. Mark M. w/Colorless Mega Rayquaza

Game 1: He gets an explosive start and I can't get Klinklang out in time before he runs through my field.

Game 2: Klinklang stopped him cold and his Raichu was prized. Since he had already won a game, he played it out anyway, hoping to win on time. I took four Prizes in two turns off his Shaymin. Got N'd to two and hit a Sycamore off it. Time is called on his turn. On turn 1 I hit his Virizion-EX for 140. On turn two he retreats hoping I don't have the VS Seeker, but I hit it on the Sycamore and got the Virizion on turn 3 for the game.

3-1-2

ROUND 7: vs. Dennis D. w/Seismitoad-EX/Slurpuff

There was nothing he could do outside of the occasional laser. Once Klinklang hit the field, he was done.

4-1-2

ROUND 8: vs. Nikolas C. w/Primal Groudon-EX/Wobbuffet

I note that his record is 5-2 and I wonder what he's gonna have.

Game 1: He opens Wobbuffet and gets an amazing start. He gets Groudon going by T3, I miss the Klinklang, and he kills off my only Pokemon.

Game 2: I get Klinklang out T2 and he scoops immediately.

Game 3: Same deal, only one turn later. He just packed up his stuff and left; didn't even wait for the judge. LOL he mad, enjoy your third loss, loser.

5-1-2

I meet up with Teapot again and ask him how he did, and he said that he conceded to a guy who needed the win since Teapot wasn't gonna make top cut anyway and I thought that was pretty noble. I tell him my record and he says if I win my next match I am definitely in top cut. I'm a little hesitant to believe him since my record isn't X-1, and I tell him I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.

ROUND 9: vs. Matthew P. w/Trevenant XY/Shaymin-EX

So my opponent, who is also 5-1-2, is really worried about making top cut. Since we're both at 17 points, he's wondering if 18 is enough to guarantee a spot and asks me if I want to draw. I tell him I don't know enough about how many points are required to make an informed decision (which is the truth) and we play it out. He also mentioned that he had been hearing about a Plasmaklang at the top tables and congratulated me on how well I did. I didn't really consider 5-1-2 to be the top tables since there were plenty of people who had better records, but I thanked him anyway.

Game 1: He uses the T1 item lock strategy with Wally, and it's pretty damn frustrating. He also plays Ghetsis which is a pretty good idea when combined with Trevenant. The combination of the item lock, Head Ringer, and Crushing Hammer means I can't do much and I scoop.

Game 2: I get Miltank out this time but it's not good enough. I managed to get an Aegislash@Muscle Band out but on the next turn he Xerosic'd the tool and replaced it with Head Ringer =[ I whiffed an energy on a critical turn which sealed the game for me. Thanks, Head Ringer, you ass.

5-2-2

Final standing: 5-2-2, 40th place out of 166 Masters

I didn't make top cut, but since I placed in the top half, I got my $25 entry fee back in store credit, and since I placed in the top 64, I won fifteen ROS packs. Cool.

Props

+ Klinklang did his job
+ Pulled Gallade-EX and Shaymin-EX from the 15 packs
+ Not playing against nine Rayquaza decks
+ Got to see Teapot again
+ The guy I played in R9 made top cut
+ Someone left a die behind (I think they thought it was mine) so I'm back up to 12 again, it's not a match but it's still neat
+ Didn't have to deal with anyone who has ever joked about spanking children

Slops

- Teapot ran away every time I tried talking to him
- Pulled Gallade-EX from the 15 packs when I already have like seven of them
- Didn't meet any other beachers
- forgot my Mudkip hat D:
- whiffing key cards at key moments

I don't think I have enough points to qualify for Nationals and I really don't know if I will be going in any case. This might be my last tournament for this season, but we'll see. Until next time, everypony!
 
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RE: PMJ Returns to Competitive Play (IL States Report)

Glad to see you're playing the game again! Maybe someday I'll get to meet you at a tournament. Nationals maybe?

Sorry to hear you didn't do so well. Although since it was your first tournament in 10 years, that's somewhat understandable. :p I did really bad in tournaments when I first started playing, so I know how it feels. If you keep at it, you'll definitely start improving. Good luck in the future!
 
RE: PMJ Returns to Competitive Play (IL States Report)

What a great report, I need to get back into this lol.

Anyways, really excited you decided to return! (Wow, your TCG experience predates even me o_O) I will see you at Wisconsin states, where we shall defend our home turf until the bitter end together n_n
 
RE: PMJ Returns to Competitive Play (IL States Report)

Nice to hear you're getting back into the game! A lot has changed in the last ten years as I'm sure you know, so getting use to the format must have been tough. Regardless, I'm glad you had a good time, and it's awesome that you won a Mudkip hat! :D I'm looking forward to reading your future reports! Sadly I'm far away from you, but maybe we'll have a chance to play at Nationals! Best of luck to you!
 
Updated with my WI states report.
 
Please don't stop Black God. Please win Nats and come to worlds <<<<<33333
 
Updated with my WI Regionals report.
 
- Teapot ran away every time I tried talking to him

I'm scum of the earth, what did you think would happen? n_n

In all honesty, it was great to see you again, and I'm really happy that you managed to almost cut with something other than Seismitoad. Steel was an undercover good play I think.
 
I agree. I'm not sure I needed 4-4-3 Klinklang; I could probably have gotten away with 3-2-3 which would have left some room for some more draw, or maybe even a Shaymin lel

Anyway, I apparently have 9 play points which means I can't go to nats :[ time to trade all my pre xy shet
 
Anyway, I apparently have 9 play points which means I can't go to nats :[ time to trade all my pre xy shet
You could go to some Pokemon league :p.

Congratulations on your finish! You were very close to making Top Cut with a very unusual deck.
 
Congrats on doing so well! In all seriousness, one League Challenge is all you need to quality for Nat. Regardless of your placing, you'll get the last Play! point just for participating. It would be a blast to see you and everyone else from PB at Nationals.
 
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