By Kohrok
Hey guys, update on the Tournament Season! So, I know that I said I wasn’t going to be playing Autumn Battle Roads, but situations changed, and after I got a ride courtesy of one of my friends, I ended up being able to play at the Pittsburgh, PA Battle Road. I deliberated between several decks, and ultimately, because of one card choice, ended up losing, missing top cut, and having a very disappointing finish. I’ll be going over the other decks I didn’t play in another article, so stay tuned for that!
October 8, 2011. Pittsburgh, PA. CCG’s Card Shop.
It’s a small venue, but the attendance is high. After doing some background research, I learn that there hasn’t been anything too crazy; Reshiram/Typhlosion Prime and Gothitelle/Reuniclus being the two biggest decks, which doesn’t surprise me too much. I also note that there are two players playing “High-tier” metagame decks, but neither one seems to have too much focus on that. One is playing a Zekrom donk deck. With 27 energy (“It’s down from last event!” He tells me proudly). The other is playing the infamous “Ross.dec” utilizing Vileplume, Reuniclus, and Suicune/Entei Legend. Famous for coming in second at Masters Worlds 2011, it’s a very strong deck, and to say the least, both decks worried me a bit. I was choosing between using a deck with Magnezone, and my eventual decision, Zekrom. I flipped a coin and decided to go with Zekrom, believing in my build, and noting that my Black Belt tech would help against the Gothitelle player if I ran into him.
So I arrived to the venue with time to spare, met a player new to the area who was from Singapore (Purple Strawberry props to you!) and we chatted a bit. I practiced against one of the kids from league who was playing in Seniors (he ended up getting 2nd) and got myself set. I checked in with my deck, and we got ready to roll. Other props include to the pair who brought in EX decks and tried to deck-check. I’m sorry that you couldn’t play, but that’s a total flashback!
Round 1 v. ? (Darkrai/Cresselia/etc.)
Round 1 was relatively uneventful. I started with Shaymin, which was unfortunate, but I got a Turn 1 Collector and got set up quickly. He was playing a deck that seemed to revolve around Darkrai/Cresselia Legend, but he said it was his first tournament. He knocked out my first Shaymin, and I brought out Zekrom and swept from there, knocking out Sigilyph, Bronzong, two other Pokemon, and eventually, Darkrai/Cresselia Legend. It wasn’t a terribly crazy game, and I wished him good luck for the rest of the day (He would end up beating my record, going 3-1).
It was a pleasure to meet you! I’m sorry that I didn’t take your name down, but you’re a new face, and it’s good to know that there are still new players each event! Please keep up with the game!
1-0
Round 2 v ? (Serperior/Reuniclus/Beartic/Zekrom/Reshiram)
Round 2 was against a girl who I hadn’t seen before, but I was nervous, having seen her Reuniclus. I assumed she was playing a trainer-lock, which would’ve spelled trouble. Luckily, I managed to get a first-turn Bolt-Strike, and that was basically game. She tried to mount a comeback, but a PlusPower, combined with a Juniper into a Junk Arm allowed me to knock out her T2 Serperior, and that was basically game.
We played a game for fun afterwards, and she set up and got me into trouble, so I definitely think that her deck has potential. I wished her good luck and we got set for Round 3, which was, and hopefully, will be one of my worst rounds ever.
2-0
Round 3 v. ? (Scizor Prime/Klingklang)
Let me begin by saying that this guy was incredibly nice. He asked me questions about the Professor Program and how to get involved, and I was really happy to see him. However, I also felt incredibly confident. Bad mistake. Let me begin by saying that I was playing the Unown DARK tech in my deck, with a SPECIAL Darkness energy. I had thought it was a good choice, because it allowed for a Tornadus to be set up with Special Dark/DCE, allowing for “Hurricane” to not have any energy movement, making it a more suitable Donphan counter.
However. My opponent started a lone Scyther, attached a Special Metal energy, and passed. I had Zekrom active, and I had Dual Ball, which I hit one heads on, grabbing Unown Dark (and subsequently, Special Darkness energy). I was up to the three energy I needed, but unfortunately, I was forced to use Pokemon Collector, so I couldn’t get the T1 Bolt Strike for game. He got Scizor turn 2, with 2 Special metals, and did 70 damage to my Zekrom. At this point, all I could think about was getting the Special Dark off of Zekrom and P-S’ing the 2 Lightning and using PlusPower for 100. “Wait, 100? I thought Scizor had 2 Special Metals?” Oh. That. Well, I forgot that. And so I ran my combo, exhausting my hand resources, doing 80 damage, and sealing my fate. He knocked out Zekrom on the next turn, and I proceeded to fail to draw anything for the remainder of the (short) game, getting 3 Tornadus and all 4 of my DCE’s before hitting a single lightning energy. Disaster. Absolute Disaster.
2-1
At this point, my ride was looking to leave, and I calculated my ability to make Top cut. If I won my next match, and all of my previous opponents won, I could theoretically have had 3 resistances of 3-1, which would have certainly gotten me in. However, I had no such luck.
Round 4 v. Alan E (Reshiram/Typhlosion/Kingdra)
Alan’s someone I’ve played quite a bit, and he’s a great guy. He’s been playing Typhlosion Prime for what feels like forever, using it with Ursaring Prime last season to good success, and he’s back again. I get out to a quick 6-2 lead, but he manages to use Twins, and in one turn, get 2 Typhlosion Primes, 2 Kingdra Primes, and 2 Reshirams. And knock out my Zekrom. So, problem. I try to work around this, but he’s far too set up to get uprooted, and he ends up winning 0-2.
2-2
So it wasn’t a great day, I won’t lie. However, it was good to get the game on. I won’t be playing any more Battle Roads, but hopefully there’ll be some more insight from Megapoola, who got 1st and 3rd at BR’s. Also, if anyone is interested, I’m currently playing the PTCGOnline, and my user name is AP_Frank. I’ll be playing Expert matches indefinitely, so please feel free to try and snag a match if you’d ever like.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and remember – if you’re in the State College area, you can check out Penn State’s Pokemon Society, meeting from 8 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights for all of your Pokemon action! You can also get in touch with my at PennStatePokemonLeague@gmail.com