Oklahoma Pokemon Battle Roads

By JC

Hey Guys! I know it’s a little late, but I attended and competed at my very first Battle Roads in Oklahoma. I have never been a part of the meta-game. My only experience came back in ’98-’99 when the series started. I pretty much just battled friends with my Rain Dance and Haymaker decks. I used an Reshiboar deck because it was my cheapest option and I had already bought the Red Frenzy Starter Deck. Reshiphlosion is also one the cheaper decks out there, but I personally like Reshiboar better. I like to call my deck “Budgetboar,” because of the low cost contents. I was only able to run 2-2 of Pokemon Collector and Rare Candy. Most of the cards in my deck I pulled from packs, except for 2 Ability Emboars and HeartGold SoulSilver Ninetails, which I bought. There were over 20 Masters participants, and we played 5 rounds of Swiss.

Match 1: My start really drained my confidence. I had hopes to make Top Cut, but I mulliganed 3 times and went second. I shrugged off the competitive nerves and looked forward to enjoy myself. Afterall, this was my very first event. My first match would be against a MegaZone variant. By Turn 2, he had a Magnezone, a Yanmega, and pretty much a full bench. Luckily, I was able to use Pokemon Collector to get a Reshiram, Tepig, and Vulpix. He seemed like he was in a good position, but mentioned that he wasn’t getting what he needed. I kept my hand large (10+ cards) thanks to a good Interviewer’s Question to prevent his Yanmega from attacking.

I was waiting for the inevitable Judge or Copycat, but I never recall him using one. They may have been discarded with Sage’s Training. Our battle was the last of Round One, and eventually the Judge called time. On Turn 1, I was able to knockout one of his Pokemon, and tied the game (we both had 2 or 3 left). On Turn 2, he used Linear Attack on my Ninetails. On the last turn, it looked like the game was going to go to sudden death because I couldn’t knockout his active Magnezone. I knew I had a Junk Arm in my deck. If I were able to get it, I’d be able to win the game by getting my one and only copy of Pokemon Catcher in my discard pile. I used a PONT, and drew the game-clinching Junk Arm. This game was a cliffhanger and I shook my opponent’s hand for a great first game.

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Match 2: My second match start went better as I only mulliganed once. He flipped over his cards showing an Active Phanpy and already had Kyougre-Groudon Legend on the bench. I was intimidated, but I pressed on. On my first turn, I used 2 Pluspowers, and used Professor Juniper. I forgot what I ended up discarding, but I know that I struggled with my decision. I was able to set up a fast Emboar, but I lost my Vulpix to a Pokemon Catcher. We traded prizes as his Donphan took out a Tepig and a Vulpix, but I was able to knockout his Donphan with one Blue Flare (the one shot was possible because I previously used 2 Pluspowers and attacked his Phanpy with Tepig). He didn’t get a single Energy on his Legend and I was able to knock it out for 2 prizes. I was able to get Reshiram going and ended up winning.
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Pokemon 2012 Season Overview

By Kohrok

Greetings everyone! I hope that you followed Worlds as eagerly as I did, and are ready for the 2011-2012 tournament season just like me! We’ll go through the new Battle Roads Promo, the structure of events, and conclude today’s article with some thoughts on possible deck ideas for this coming year. Without a pause, let’s go!

We were fortunate enough to get our first scans of the new promo – “Victory Cup” today. It is available in 3 versions – a “Bronze” version with Victini, “Silver” with Victini and Snivy, and a “Gold” with Victini and the three starters. Like previous “Victory Medal” cards, it is stamped with the tournament season and year. Unfortunately, the promo is not a unique effect like Victory Medal, instead coming as what amount to a “Poke Ball” reprint. The card, although thrice as available as the old promo, now has almost no competitive value in a deck, although, admittedly, it looks incredible and would be fun to pull out in a league deck.

The next topic of discussion revolves around the tournament schedule for this year. Although not yet set in stone, our Battle Roads will run from Mid-September until Mid-October, with Regionals taking place in November. Wait, Regionals in November? Yes, for the first time, Pokemon will have 2 separate “seasons” of Regional tournaments. The first set will be followed by the post-Thanksgiving City Championships, the tentative March State championships, and, if the schedule follows last year’s, July Nationals. The season will, of course, culminate in the World Championships in August. We’ll also have Prerelease events sporadically placed throughout the season, with our first, Emerging Powers, already having come and gone, we look to our third Black and White set, which should be released in November, and according to my information, AFTER the first Regionals events. We also have the return of the Gym cycle, this time looking at Unova’s 10 Gym Leaders. The 8 seasons will each feature a different Energy Type, with promo cards including basic energy and Pokemon of the corresponding type. Unfortunately, there will be no Collector print as a promo, at this time.

However, that all is for the future, as even the first official week of league does not start until September 26th. September 17th brings the first Battle Roads – Fall, and with it, the deck ideas can commence. Any follower of the current HGSS-EP metagame will recognize key contenders for this fall, including Typhlosion Prime/Reshiram, Magnezone/Emboar, the Worlds-winning deck, Yanmega/Donphan/Zoroark, and with the release of Emerging Powers, the use of Vileplume or Gothitelle to block the infamous Gust Of Win(d)/Pokemon Catcher. Just as Power Spray was key in stopping Luxray GL Lv. X’s “Bright Look” Pokemon Power when it was in play, these two Stage 2’s offer a solution to Pokemon Catcher.
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