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2011 Southern Plains Regional Report (First Place)

By Alex F. ("Butlerforhire")

The Deck

In a departure from the way I usually approach a season, I have been running Vilegar since the first weekend of States (and I also ran it for 2 of my last 4 Cities). I normally dislike running the same deck from event to event for a number of reasons, such as the increased odds of being teched against, the possibility of the metagame unexpectedly shifting and leaving me a bit behind, and the desire to test different top-tier decks under the intense pressure of a high-level event so that come National, I have experience with several options.

 I have stuck with Vilegar because it has good matchups against most of the format and, like Dialgachomp, it has very few outright autolosses, especially when techs are factored in (and as you’ll see from the report, I do run some matchup-correcting or clinching techs). I am also very comfortable with the deck and I am addicted to the feeling of safety it gives me in a format with so many chances to get donked. With an abundance of Basics, 8 of which block trainers from the outset, and the ability to lock trainers for the remainder of the game, I don’t feel vulnerable going into many games. The amount of options available to the deck are also a huge draw for me; contrary to what some people mistakenly believe, Vilegar is not an autopilot deck that simply repeats the “draw, attach, Poltergeist, wait for the Fainting Spell flip, Rescue and BTS Gengar back down” pattern. My report contains proof of that.

 I’ll end the intro with some background on the way the techs in my list have changed since States. For week one, I ran Mewtwo, Froslass GL and Gengar Prime. I didn’t use the Prime much that day so I dropped it for week 2 and experimented with a Cursegar instead, which was not a good choice as it did even less than the Prime had done the week prior. I just liked the idea of having a back-up attacker that could do reliable damage, spread, and hide behind things (good in matchups like Magnezone, potentially, which I had lost to in top 16). I still used Froslass GL and Mewtwo, both of which had won me games in OK and continued to do so in TX. Froslass in particular was an MVP, allowing me to lock several Bronzongs, Regices, and a Giratina over the course of both events. For Regional, I kept Froslass and dropped Mewtwo, with the rationale being that I already had a positive SP matchup (barring Dialgachomp, which negated Mewtwo’s usefulness anyway unless I could lock in Level Down before it got KOed). I debated between running Blissey PL and Shedinja SV in its place. Blissey is great in any matchup that doesn’t involve the opponent consistently netting OHKOs (e.g. Mew, Magnezone) and especially useful in mirror. It also lets me discard extraneous Spiritombs, Vileplume line components, Pokémon Collectors, etc. so that whenever I use (or am hit by) shuffle draw, I’m not putting those unneeded cards back into the deck and redrawing them. However, as good as Blissey is, it doesn’t fix any bad or potentially difficult matchups aside from mirror; Shedinja, while a much more specialized card, does. Those matchups include, but are not limited to, Steelix, Magnezone, Mew, Donphan, Scizor, and Yanmega. Because I loved the idea of giving the aforementioned decks either a hard time or a straight autoloss all with a grand total of 2 cards, I ended up running Shedinja. Spike Wound’s synergy with Cursed Drop and Shadow Room was an additional draw.
In the end, I went with this list:

Butlergar

Pokémon  (28):

4 Spiritomb AR
4 Gastly SF
2 Haunter SF
1 Haunter TM
2 Gengar SF
1 Gengar TM
1 Gengar lv. X AR
2 Uxie LA
1 Azelf LA
1 Unown Q MD
2 Oddish LA (Psychic)
2 Gloom LA (Psychic)
2 Vileplume UD
1 Nincada SV
1 Shedinja SV
1 Froslass GL RR

Trainers/Stadiums/Supporters (20):

4 Pokémon  Collector
4 Bebe’s Search
3 Looker’s Investigation
3 Broken Time-Space
2 Seeker
1 Judge
1 Copycat
1 Twins
1 Palmer’s Contribution

Energy (12):

7 Psychic
3 Rescue
2 Warp

The Event

The number of Masters was somewhere over the 200 mark, giving us 8 rounds of swiss and a top cut of 32. We were playing the event out over 2 days, with day 1 devoted to swiss and the first two rounds of top cut. Of course John K./Heytrainer was in attendance looking to defend his title, along with a number of other past Regional winners and/or esteemed players such as Martin Moreno and Brent Siebenkittel. A few Floridians—Ryan Vergel and Chris Bianchi that I know of, maybe more—and a New Yorker (?!), Christian Ortiz, surprisingly also showed up.

Round 1: Donphan/Machamp with Regirock—Nikkei F.

Right away I was up against a deck that Shedinja could almost singlehandedly shut down. Even though this is a good matchup anyway due to trainer lock, weakness and Earthquake’s self-damaging drawback, I decided to abandon the usual Poltergeist strategy and lock him with Shedinja. I got out Vileplume first, giving up a Spiritomb to a turn 2 Donphan in the process, and then brought out Shedinja to begin Spike Wounding his bench of 4 with Earthquake damage. I had the Shedinja Quicked so I could alternate between it and Gengar whenever I needed to place counters on fresh  Pokémon that my opponent benched, such as Machop (which was of course going to become the Machoke/SF Machamp which could KO Shedinja). At one point I gave up Gengar Prime to a fully-powered Machamp Prime doing Champ Buster for something between 130-150. This Machamp was met by a Poltergeist OHKO. On the bright side for my opponent, he was now able to use Regirock to discard trainers for 4 turns. I didn’t care about his trainer count though with Shedinja back in the active spot, walling and Spike Wounding. Due to his inability to get a Machoke or SF Machamp out, Shedinja never died. My opponent helped me out by damaging his own bench a few more times with Earthquake against a Gengar lv. X I brought up to Shadow Room when there was no threat of a KO on it; on his last turn, he KOed his own Regirock and Uxie lv. X and set up another Pixie for the Shadow Room that would be my final prize.

1-0

Round 2: Steelix Prime/Metagross SV with Steelix SF

My opponent had clear penny sleeves and the demeanor of someone who did not play competitively (e.g. he did not know what a lot of my cards did—tried to play trainers under Vileplume, unfamiliar with Shadow Room—and he ran subpar Supporters like Professor Oak’s Visit, Team Rocket’s Trickery (?) and Interviewer’s Questions). I figured that as such, this would be a simple game. This impression was reinforced when I saw I was playing against another deck that runs off Bodies. I repeated my process from round 1 and got out Vileplume and Shedinja immediately. I thought I had the game for a while as my opponent kept evolving right through his stage 1s and draw-attach-passing to me due to Shedinja’s invincibility. Then during one game-shifting turn he unexpectedly benched an Onix, Bebe’sed for the SF Steelix and got it down immediately thanks to my own BTS. I knew I had lost my advantage right then. Once it had 2-3 energy on it, he retreated his active Steelix Prime and started spreading. My bench was a bit overextended and weak, with only one spot for Gengar, I believe, and due to Metagross lowering the HP of everything by 20, he was able to get several prizes with that Steelix, including a Shedinja that I fortunately had a Rescue attached to, before I could KO it. By the time Steelix finally went down, my opponent only had a few prizes left and was able to get that number down to 1 with Steelix Prime. I still had 3 and time was called, leaving me unable to tie the game up. If time wasn’t called, my opponent would have been locked permanently with Shedinja, barring a Palmer’s or a surprise drop of some other non-Body attacker, and decked out (he only had about 5 cards left in his deck). Disappointing end to a game I thought I had won from the outset.

1-1

Round 3: Leafeon/Arcanine HGSS/Tangrowth CoL

No disrespect intended to my opponent, but this basically appeared to be a theme deck with a few good cards in it such as Uxie and Pokémon Communication. I assume his strategy was to get Leafeon lv. X out and attach two energy per turn to Tangrowth to deal big damage with Grind, although I never actually saw any Leafeon. I am not sure how Arcanine factors in. Like my opponent from round 2, he did not know what a lot of cards did, including his own (ie. he thought Psychic Restore let you place Uxie on top of the deck. Haha—how broken that would be). I got out a quick Vileplume and Gengar and sniped off an Eevee that I thought may be the precursor to Umbreon and from there it was Poltergeisting for OHKOs until I could Seeker him into a bench out.

2-1

At this point I feel lame for losing to a random deck played by a beginner, beating a random deck played by a beginner, and getting a lucky round 1 matchup. I wanted some “hard wins.”

Round 4: Charizard

My opponent opened with Charmander and nothing else and used Call for Friends to get a Vulpix. I had Spiritomb and began developing Vileplume. On his next turn he Collectored for a 2nd Vulpix, Charmander and Uxie or Cyndaquil, I believe, and began setting up his bench. He ended with another Call for Friends. Vileplume eventually put him into a bad situation—huge hand due to Ninetales (which I Shadow Roomed away after a few turns), no chance to drop any of his trainers, no way to get more than one Charizard into play after I KOed one Charmeleon and one manually-evolved Charizard (I assume he ran 4-2-4), and two Pixies (Uxie and Azelf) clogging his bench. Typhlosion never came out. At the end of the game we were joking about how he could still “Beat” me with Cyndaquil. A desperate PONT on his last turn gave him nothing but a new hand of trainers and I took my last prize with Poltergeist.

3-1

Round 5: Luxchomp—Andy Meier

My opponent was Andy Meier, one of the best players in the state of Texas. He has been running/top cutting/winning with Luxchomp and nothing else since last season and I know that he knows the deck inside and out plays a legitimate list. As confident as I am in the Luxchomp versus Vilegar matchup, I realize I am likely in for one of those hard games I had been craving.

    I Darkness Graced into a Gloom on my 2nd turn, with a Haunter holding 2 Psychic energy sitting beside it on my bench. Andy was able to Bright Look the Gloom up, Premier Ball for an Uxie lv. X, and Zen Blade it for the KO. Before he attacked me, though, he took the opportunity to play trainers to get his only Garchomp C lv. X out of the deck with SP Radar and Poketurned his Luxray GL lv. X. On my turn, I promoted Haunter, evolved to the Prime, Seekered to force him to return a Garchomp C to his hand, attached a 3rd psychic, and Hurled away Luxray GL lv. X, Garchomp C lv. X and Garchomp C, eliciting a groan from Andy. That crippled him a great deal, especially since now he would be unable to Dragon Rush or Healing Breath all game. I forget how he responded on his turn, but I know I was able to Cursed Drop to 2 Uxies and an Azelf before I lost my Prime. 

    Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t get Vileplume out; I believe my 2nd Oddish was prized. Andy also fell on hard times, never drawing into a Cyrus. I was able to take advantage of his poor hand and eventually locked an Azelf active for several turns with Froslass GL. During this time, I was Shadow Rooming his bench, KOing a Luxray GL lv. X, I believe. I eventually used Compound Pain to leave Azelf with 10 HP and set the 2 Uxies I had Cursed Dropped earlier up for KOs on my next attack. I did that, and a bit later time was called with us both at 2 prizes, I believe. He promoted Luxray and leveled up (thanks to Aaron’s), Bright Looking a damaged Spiritomb that he thought he could KO with Snap Attack from a benched Ambipom G. However, he needed to Poketurn his Luxray to do that (it had an Energy Gain he needed to attach to the Ambipom), and of course he couldn’t Poketurn with Spiritomb active. Andy’s plan was to KO the Spiritomb via Snap Attack and then Bright Look again to bring up something else for the game on his next turn, but that lack of Poketurn ability which he overlooked let me take the win (I believe I just Poltergeisted twice in a row).

4-1

Round 6: Luxchomp—Miguel Escutia

My opponent top 4ed TX State with the same deck. I had played against his Gyarados list twice earlier in the season and knew he was a solid player. Before this event had even begun, Miguel had approached me with his Senior brother’s Vilegar list to get some advice since he knew I had a lot of experience with the deck. In our discussion, I ended up revealing a few of my deck’s secrets, such as Shedinja replacing Mewtwo, although I wasn’t really concerned at his extra knowledge since Shedinja doesn’t do much to SP anyway.

    I don’t remember most of the specifics of this game. I do remember that I got set up without much issue and eventually used Froslass GL to bring up a Bronzong G, which allowed me to do enough damage to his bench with Shadow Room to put me ahead before he was able to free himself from the lock. Between that and several huge Poltergeists, I took all six prizes before time was called.

5-1

Round 7: Luxchomp—Travis Madaris

Travis is a player from my area. His list ran at least 2 Weavile G, one of which he was able to use to OHKO a Gengar lv. X many turns into the game. For most of the turns prior to this, he was forced to draw-pass due to a hand full of nothing but Pokémon and locked trainers. I got heads on Fainting Spell to take down that Weavile G (although I also had another Gengar waiting to Poltergeist it if I had gotten tails) and that left him without anything to hit me with. He tried to delay me from getting my sixth prize by Bright Looking an energyless, Q-less Vileplume, but I had the Warp energy for game.

6-1

Round 8: Sablelock with Blaziken FB—Aaron Harris/Nekizalb

This was my first time seeing Nekizalb in real life. I didn’t realize that he was a Master; I had read reports and posts from him on Pokegym/Heytrainer since he was a Senior and never noticed his graduation into the upper division.

    He did not open with Sableye, giving me time to get set up before he could disrupt me. I got Vileplume out as well as Gengar and began Poltergeisting for OHKOs. He Luring Flamed Vileplume at one point only to be met with a Warp + Poltergeist KO. He had to repeatedly sacrifice things to me in order to try and get something going in his hand and on the bench. On the last turn of the game, he KOed my Gengar with Target Attack and I got heads on Fainting Spell to take my last prize (although as in the case with the previous round, I had another Poltergeist waiting if I had gotten tails).

7-1

I ended up as 5th seed going into the cut.

Top 32: Gyarados—Casey Burks

Casey is a player who, like me, played long ago and eventually came back; this was only his second event of the season. I had played him during the last round of swiss at TX State and he had been running the same deck. In that game, I got down 2 prizes in the beginning as he set up perfectly with Smeargle and then took over with a surprise Froslass GL, bringing his Regice active where it remained for the rest of the game as I methodically set up 4 Pokémon with Powers on his full bench to be KOed in one massive Compound Pain, followed by three more turns of Shadow Room x 2 and a final Compound Pain for my last two prizes. I say all that to let you know that he knew about my Froslass, which usually seals the win against Gyarados, so there would be no element of surprise there. However, even without Froslass, the matchup against a trainer-heavy Gyarados list like his (and most others out there) is already very positive, so I wasn’t concerned.

Game one: I donked his Magikarp with Hoodwink on my first turn via BTS.

Game two: Casey opened with Magikarp again but wasn’t donkable, so I took my time getting completely set up with double Spiritomb to prevent Regice from temporarily breaking the trainer lock. He set up a Gyarados on his bench with the initial Magikarp still active, not foreseeing the Prime’s Cursed Drop to put it in the Lost Zone. Following a Tail Revenge for 30, I brought out Regice with Froslass and proceeded to get prizes off of his bench while he failed to top deck Warp energy. Once the Gyarados (with Rescue, by the way) was within range for a Cursed Drop KO, I sent it and the Magikarp beneath it to the Lost Zone. He never got Regice out of the active spot and I took the remainder of my prizes from his bench.

8-1

Top 16: Luxchomp—Alec Noah

I had also played Alec during swiss at TX State, winning that game in spite of his Dialga G tech. I was glad to discover he wasn’t running it this time.

Game one: I don’t remember the specifics of the game. I do know I got set up fine and took a lead that led to Alec scooping after 15-20 minutes.

Game two: I believe I had to play catch-up here, either losing an Oddish/Gloom/Vileplume early and sacrificing Spiritombs to get the other out, or just not being able to get Vileplume out at all until later than usual. Eventually once I did get a Vileplume to stick, I took control of the board. I remember one two-turn sequence where I first hit a fresh Luxray GL lv. X for 90 with Poltergeist and then top-decked either a Bebe’s or the lv. X on my next turn, allowing me to Level Down for a prize and OHKO a 2nd Luxray GL lv. X with a Poltergeist for 120. At the end of the game, all of Alec’s level Xs were in the discard pile and he couldn’t do anything to stop the constant OHKOs which netted me 6 prizes.

9-1

Top 8: Luxchomp—Len Deuel
 
Len had beaten an obnoxious Uxie donk player who snuck into the cut in his top 16 game, which in my opinion catapults Len into the realm of heroes.

Game one: Speaking of Uxie donk, I opened with Spiritomb to Len’s lone Unown Q, going 2nd. He wasn’t able to get any other basics out via topdecking and I was able to get my own Q plus Uxie out to bench him immediately.

Game two: Here, I walked into a bizarre revenge donk. Len opened with Smeargle while I had Spiritomb and Oddish. I had no Supporters other than Seeker and Twins. On my turn, I dropped a BTS and evolved into Gloom and then Darkness Graced into Vileplume, knowing Len would Portrait my Seeker to put Vileplume in my hand but not being concerned about it because my Spiritomb had only 1 damage counter on it and I didn’t think he could deal 50 to me with anything in the absence of trainers. Unfortunately I overlooked the double Flash Bite that he was allowed to do with the aid of my own Seeker, which was followed up by a DCE-ed Luxray GL using Bite to supply the final 30 damage to donk Spiritomb.

Game three: This game started off badly for me. I lost an Oddish to a turn 2 or 3 Bright Look and had to spend time and Spiritombs getting my other Oddish into Vileplume. Meanwhile, Len had gotten set up well, with access to both of his essential lv. Xs and possibly an Uxie lv. X as well. When he had 2 prizes left, I was able to turn the game around with a Sleep Inducer on his Bronzong G, which allowed me to begin Shadow Rooming threats off his bench unopposed. He eventually KOed himself with Galactic Switch. Before he did, though, I used Looker’s on him to put back a Garchomp and a Luxray level X. He drew into the Garchomp and sniped my Froslass for his 5th prize. I responded with an OHKO via Poltergeist. I was very concerned that he would eventually draw into his Luxray GL lv. X and Bright Look a Spiritomb with 50 damage on it to win; he had a Luxray GL with 2 lightning on his bench. Fortunately for me, he had already burned both of his Bebe’s and only ran a single Luxray GL lv. X, rendering his odds of getting it back out slim.

He resorted to promoting a Smeargle in the hopes of Portraiting a Bebe’s of mine to retrieve it, but I had none. I did have Seeker, which he used, allowing me to pick up my damaged Spiritomb while he returned a Toxicroak G with a psychic energy on it. I still had 2 Uxies down (as well as Vileplume), so I wasn’t safe from the Bright Look threat yet. I made a misplay by not using the Seeker on one of my Uxies and then Restoring the other to clear my field of targets (Vileplume wasn’t a target; I had Warp energy and it couldn’t be KOed in one hit by anything on his field). I also neglected to go for the Poltergeist KO on the Smeargle because I wanted Len to waste an energy retreating it, disallowing the Trash Bolt option should he get lucky and top deck the Luxray GL lv. X following my KO. Because of my two misplays, Len got to use the Seeker again, this time picking up Crobat G. I was sure he had the Luxray and was about to win by retreating, Bright Looking my remaining Uxie, Flash Biting and then Flash Impacting, but he did not have the lv. X and I nearly collapsed in relief. On my turn I finally used my own Seeker to return my last Uxie and Poltergeisted the Smeargle, revealing enough trainers and supporters to get me an OHKO on anything Len brought up for my final prize.

10-1

Top 4: Luxchomp with Dialga G—Amalio O.

I had never played or spoken to Amalio before, but I did know him as the guy who gave a player from my area 21 prizes with DPL at my first City championship of the season. I think that qualifies as legendary.

Game one: He smartly got out a quick Dialga G lv. X, neutralizing Vileplume, and attacked me with it, eventually running headfirst into Fainting Spell. A heads would have put him in a bad position—no energy on board, trainer lock reinstated—but I got tails instead. After a while I was able to Poltergeist it for enough damage to net me a KO with Shadow Room once he benched it (he had held on to some trainers/supporters because if he had dropped them all down to negate Poltergeist, he would have had little to work with). Before I could take Dialga out, though, he made a nice play involving Warp energy, Bright Look and Zen Blade to KO Vileplume, freeing him of the need to have Dialga in play. Because the Vileplume wasn’t equipped with a Rescue energy, it left the field and the trainer lock was off. I was able to stay in the game due to his evaporation of resources and the sturdiness/disruption of Gengar lv. X. I believe I also used Froslass in this game to stall him out at his last prize while I tried to get my last 1-2. He was ultimately unable to get the lv. X he needed to pick something off my bench and I took a close game.

Game two: Game one took most of the time for the round—about 55 minutes—so my goal in game two was simply to prevent him from taking 4 prizes. This approach seemed like it was not going to work when, after a few turns, I had already given up 2 Spiritomb and he had once again gotten a quick Dialga G lv. X out. The Dialga G was all he had going for him though, with a supporter/energy drought hurting his board development. He took a chance with Fainting Spell for the 2nd time; on this occasion I got the heads I needed.

In the absence of Time Crystal, Vileplume took its toll. After KOing my Gengar, the prize count was 5-4. He had a Garchomp and Luxray benched as well as Ambipom, which he used to try and stall with Tail Code while he built up Garchomp. I got Gengar Prime into play and, assuming he had Garchomp C lv. X in his (large) hand, Hurled. He did have it, and my decision ended up saving me. Amalio then began setting up a Luxray, Cyrus’ed for a Bebe’s and moved the only energy on Gengar over to an Azelf. I Seekered a Spiritomb with an energy (Tail Coded earlier) to remove the only target on my field that could be killed solely by Flash Impact and reattached the energy to the Prime, Hurling again to take away the Crobat G which was his only shot at taking a 4th prize (Bright Look plus Flash Bite plus Flash Impact on a Pixie/Frolass GL). Time was called somewhere in this sequence of turns and he was unable to take the 4th prize that would have led to sudden death, giving me the game and the series.

11-1

Top 2: Luxchomp with Dialga G—Michael Weldon/Rokman

Last year I was an unintentional accomplice in the creation of Rokman’s HOUSTON NIGHTMARE, and this year I am tangled up with him in the HOUSTON DREAM. (Everyone should go read Rokman’s Regional report from last year to understand what I am talking about when I reference the Houston Nightmare.) As Rokman said in his own report from this year, both of us wanted this title a great deal. I didn’t care about the trip to National as I knew I had enough points to be invited to World—I just wanted to win Regional.

Game one: This was a strange game. I remember Rokman burned his entire hand down at one point after getting Dialga G lv. X out to KO my Unown Q via Flash Bite (Junk Arm was involved). Somehow his hand got replenished—Uxie lv. X was part of it, and I may have used Seeker to let him pick up Uxie—but his board remained underdeveloped. I had a crucial (lucky) turn where I used Level Down on Dialga G, Judged, and then hit the level X I had just made him shuffle back in via Hurl into Darkness. Even if I hadn’t hit anything with the attack, I think I had him in a bad situation anyway with Level Down and the hand disruption. He scooped either right after the Dialga was Hurled or a few turns later.

Game two: I had a great opening—Gastly, Oddish, Uxie all on turn one—but I ran into an unexpected Chatter lock which forced me to start the process of KOing myself with Darkness Grace. Meanwhile, Rokman was building his hand high with Cyrus, Sprays, etc. and energizing a Dialga on the bench. He had gotten a Bebe’s with one of the Cyrus and when my Spiritomb was left with 10 HP, he broke the Chatter lock, searched out Dialga G lv. X, and Deafened for the KO. I had been building up a huge hand of my own during the 5 turns of Darkness Gracing; because I had not been playing Supporters or energy, Rokman assumed my hand was terrible, although in actuality I was holding on to a Looker’s and a Gengar lv. X for when Spiritomb was KOed. On my turn I promoted a SF Gengar, leveled up, used Looker’s to flush away his Sprays, and successfully Leveled Down. He got the level X back out a few turns later but then allowed me to Hurl it away for the 2nd game in a row after Poketurning it. He scooped shortly thereafter.

12-1

Although our games weren’t the greatest, Rokman was a gracious sport and had a good attitude throughout the series. I can actually say the same about all of my opponents from Swiss through  top cut; everyone was polite and friendly and I saw no hostility or rudeness. I appreciated the positive atmosphere that permeated the event and I’m already looking forward to next year.
 

 

(Is this worse than Call of Legends? Probably not, but it's a lot more fun.)

 

So I hear you like Magnezone/Regirock?

If you do, then you…Probably won't like this deck much: it's just a strange thing I threw together on the spur of the moment at league. However, it's a ton of fun, and has a lot of options. 😉

Warning (if you haven't gotten the hint yet): this deck may or may not be horrible. For all you netdeckers and lurkers out there…Be cautious about this one. 😉

Pokemon (31):

3 Cyndaquil HGSS
3 Quilava HGSS
3 Typhlosion Prime
2 Oddish LA (psy)
2 Gloom LA (psy)
2 Vileplume UD
3 Spiritomb AR
1 Chatot MD
1 Uxie LA
1 Azelf LA
1 Vulpix PL (secret holo)
1 Ninetales HGSS
1 Magnemite TM
1 Magneton TM
1 Magnezone Prime
1 Deoxys/Rayquaza LEGEND (Top)
1 Deoxys/Rayquaza LEGEND (Bottom)
1 Entei/Raikou LEGEND (Top)
1 Entei/Raikou LEGEND (Bottom)
1 Unown Q MD

Trainers/Stadiums/Supporters (13):

4 Bebe's Search
4 Pokemon Collector
2 Broken Time-Space
1 Looker's
1 Judge
1 Copycat

Energy (16):

10 Fire
4 Lightning
2 Warp

First off, let me go on record and say that running two different legends…Is horrible. Absolutely, positively horrid. But ANYWAYS…

Your primary strategy here is to usually begin a game swarming Typhlosions (plus the Plume lock), followed by late game KOs from Magnezone Prime and whatever legend you run. In the ten or so games that I've played with this deck, Rayquaza/Deoxys LEGEND has been far, far more useful than Entei/Raikou LEGEND, but on the other hand, I haven't had many opportunities to do the Thunder Fall "nuke" (KO'ing three of more of your opponent's Pokemon).

Three Spiritomb may be weird, and…You may be right. However, in order to fit all of these crazy things (seriously, a 1-1-1 Magnezone and 1-1 Ninetales?!), something had to give. If I were to play this, I would probably work my hardest to up the Spiritomb to four. Not right now, though, since this is my way to unwind from the inevitable "Sabledonk" fest (assuming there are no bans, restrictions, or mid-season rotations).

Although this is a very fun deck, I honestly would not use this in a premier event as-is. However, a more viable alternative could be focusing on just the Typhlosion, Magnezone, and Ninetales. It deals out just as comfortably as Magnerock does, and yet it provides a nice secondary attacker to the 'Zone.

Have fun, guys! Hopefully we can hook y'all up with some more stellar tournament reports.

The Houston Dream: Second Place Southern Plains Regionals 2011 Report

By Michael “Rokman” Weldon
 

 

First of all, be glad I’m even writing this article and not something for my site (rokmanfilms.com), which has been neglected for almost a week! Since that’s all I’ve been doing for this year (just moved from tumblr to blogger) beside working, I haven’t had time this season to really get down to testing (which is like 100+ appr games a week usually).

Regardless, this entire season I’ve been tweaking the same LuxChomp list. And I’m super confident with it and every tech imaginable… Here’s what I played in Houston:

Pokémon (21):

3 Garchomp C
1 Garchomp C lv.x
2 Luxray GL
1 Luxray GL lv.x
1 Dialga G
1 Dialga G lv.x
2 Uxie
1 Uxie lv.x
1 Ambipom G
1 Bronzong G
1 Crobat G
1 Dragonite FB
1 Lucario GL
1 Toxicroak G promo
1 Azelf
1 Chatot
1 Unown Q

Trainers/Stadiums/Supporters (28):

4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
4 Pokémon Collector
2 Bebe’s Search
1 Aaron’s Collection
1 Seeker
1 Twins
3 Poké Turn
3 Energy Gain
3 Power Spray
2 SP-radar
2 Premier Ball
1 Junk Arm
1 VS Seeker

Energy (11):

4 Double Colorless energy
2 Warp energy
3 Lightning energy
1 Psychic energy
1 Metal energy (basic)

Before the Tournament

I made arrangements (so that I don’t have to rely on people who abandon other people in Houston at 4 AM…), and rode down with Team Hooters: myself, Justin S., JJ D., David W., and Casey B!), and the rest of my Wednesday league. Represent!

The night before the tournament, I was thinking about taking out Mewtwo lv.x because it only net me a single win at States, and lost me another. Between Mewtwo, Dialga, and Honchkrow, John K. recommended Dialga G LV.X. Although it was "the worst of the three versus Gyarados," he claimed it to be the most well-rounded of them. With this advice, as well as my own hunches, I went with it.

(Casey, about to get pummeled by Justin)

After many shenanigans, including the above (and even a rap session on the way down), we reach our hotel and stay up almost all night talking and debating about life, the universe, and everything. Eventually, we had to stop talking about things that actually matter so we can get some sleep for a Pokémon event. Ha.

Once we were actually at the tournament, I was really surprised by the players who showed up! Christian O. (New York), Ryan V. and Chris B. (Florida) all came out of state to our Regionals! Awesome! In attendance were also the regulars who are just as good, John K. and Martin M. I have never had the opportunity to play Ryan V. of Florida so literally right before the tournament started, I told Team Hooters I wanted to play Ryan really badly. Pairings go up…

Round 1 – Ryan V. (Lostgar)

– When the match started, he opened with Gastly. At first I thought he was running Vilegar so I opened towards a Dialga. Very early he thinks about his Pokémon for Communication and starts to show a Lost Gengar and I totally sink in my chair, it isn’t Vilegar!
– So, he spooky whirlpools my hand and hurls. The 6 cards I drew were a beautiful hand with no Pokémon.
– I return by committing to a Garchomp for Dragon rush and retreat, play gain/DCE, setup and then get Cyrus for a SP-radar, use the radar, Chomp X is prized! I felt like an idiot because I was so sure he was in the deck! Now that I think about it, I saw it in my very first opening hand, which I had to mulligan away.
– I have to make a huge decision after that epic fail, I’m up by one prize (I drew the Chomp X!) from some trash and have to choose, he can either portrait for a twins and see I have the chomp or let him setup huge, or let him spooky whirlpool me. Obviously I had to spray the Smeargle, which he responded with a Spooky Whirlpool, sending the Chomp away!
– After the full 30 minutes, He’s got 5 of my Pokémon in the lost zone and time is called on his turn (which is turn 0). He has to get a rare candy to play down the last Lost gengar he has to win, he sets up twice to draw 8, whiffs…. Because he has to use turn 1 in the +3 to declare himself the winner. So, after he realizes he can’t do it, he scoops! And he checks his next two cards, BOTH rare candies! Ugh, great game, barely snuck it. I think I could have gone up and Deafened to stop him from dropping the Lost World though, can’t remember my field.
– Turns out, Dialga X won me this game anyway. The whole time, I had a Bronzong G hovering at 40,60, and 80 hp, which is a KO from Cursed Droplets and Gengar’s body sends it to the lost zone. If he could have done that, he would have won for sure.
1-0

Round 2 – Josh S. (Gengar/Kingdra)

– I open with Dialga, AGAIN! And I am not sure what he is playing because he starts with Gastly and I think it’s a vilegar just like I did last round! Once I have the Dialga X on the bench I watch him get out two Kingdra’s and I feel a lot better, it’s just Gengar/Kingdra.
– It’s entirely one sided since I end up Azelf Locking Up one of his Pokémon and spraying his Spray splash three turns in a row so he can’t draw a prize to get out of a trash hand he got from Judge. He continues to draw trash until I sweep the board .
– Come to find out he plays mewtwo lv.x but never got it out since I had Dialga X benched the whole game! Already, Dialga has won me two! Ha!
2-0

Round 3 –Nikkolas (Gyarados)

– Really terrible start, just a Luxray and a DCE, nothing else of note. I attack for a cheap prize on Magikarp (he has another benched) hoping to draw anything useful.
– He Mentors (Regice, Karp, Uxie), regimoves 2 karps, Plays some trainers including Junk Arm, sets up huge, plays BTS and Gyarados, donked.
2-1

Round 4 – Chris B. (Lostgar)

– So, turns out I’m playing the other awesome Floridian running Lostgar. I start off so terribly, open Dragonite FB with no supporters. I go first and draw a COLLECTOR, yes!
– On his first turn, he spooky whirlpools and gets a Gengar, uses hurl, nabs Garchomp Lv.X! How can I win this now?!
– He sneaks another Pokémon in the lost zone while I draw a few prizes. We go back and forth for a bit until he plays spooky whirlpool again, this time getting THREE POKÉMON, he can only remove two though. So, I burn everything and setup for 6 new cards, all great stuff, 0 Pokémon!
– Time is running short and I know I have to protect my hand, he already has lost world out. So, I play it safe at the end. Time is called on his turn, and he is in the same spot Ryan V was. He has to pull something off but also whiffs on it after some big draws. He ends up scooping as well.
3-1

Round 5 – Christian O. (Magnarock)

– Awesome! I have now played all the major players that were really out-of-state. I played Christian in a pickup game before, but never in a tournament. I wanted to win so I can say I defended Texas even if I don’t top cut!
– I start off SO TERRIBLY. I literally draw pass for the first good to 4-6 turns. I have a hand full of trainers, shut down by a Spiritomb! All that is playable is a Twins, so I’m patiently waiting for his KO.
– Once he Kos me with a Magnazone (finally, no more lock), I twins for a Toxicroak G promo and a Cyrus! And Finally get the ball rolling! After the KO, he TOPDECKS Sunnyshore gym, ugh, sorry man!
– When the game begins to wind down, I have 3 prizes remaining to his 4, he is becoming energy drought with nothing in the discard and everything that was on the field in the lost zone, it’s mostly over and I take board control.
4-1

Round 6 – Oliver F. (Vile-Lostgar/Palkia G)

– I get a garbage start… He has drawn 2 prizes and lost world 4 Pokémon before I even have an energy to attack (which I had to twins to get!)
– He wins with Lost World because I haven’t had a spray for his Palkia G all game!
– It was very valuable to play Oliver in swiss because I end up having an epic top cut match against him later.
4-2

Round 7 – Miguel E. (LuxChomp)

– I get a similar start as last round and draw complete trash. I don’t have anything to do, no supporters, no energy, nothing.
– After this loss, I’m really discouraged. I know a couple 5-3’s will slide in, but I’m not sure all my losses will maintain a good record. We’ll just have to see…
4-3

Round 8 – Steve M. (Magnarock/Vileplume)

– Since I am 4-3, I have to win here and hope for good resistance to make it in. I’ve actually played Steve, a really nice and great player, at Texas States a couple weeks prior and pretty much know his list.
– I start the game with Dialga G, use Azelf and see three DCEs prized, so I’ll be able to get them after each KO and have plenty of resource.
– I end up using warp energy and leaving the Dialga on the bench when I see him Pokémon Communication an Oddish away, I didn’t know he ran Vileplume in his list! Thank god I ran Dialga and got him on the bench!
– He gets a decent roll going but he expert belts a Magnazone without a Sunnyshore Gym out, and Toxicroak KOs him. That’s when I pretty much won the game.
5-3

Top 32
1) Jordan B (Vilegar)
32) Henry B. (Luxchomp)

16) Amalio O. (Luxchomp)
17 Jose E. (Magnerock)

8) Paul W. III (Luxchomp)
25) Rudy (Dialgachomp/Luxray)

9) Michael S. (Jumpluff)
24) Kaitlyn W. (Gyarados)

4) Chris P. (Regigigas)
29) Len D (Luxchomp)

13) Caleb C. (Luxchomp)
20) Andrew G. (Uxie)

5) Alex F. (Vilegar)
28) Casey B. (Gyarados)

12) Alec N. (Luxchomp)
21) Dana L. (Honchkrow/Garchomp)

2) Austin B. (Luxchomp)
31) Josh H (Gyarados)

15) Brent S. (Blazechomp)
18) Matt L. (Vilegar)

7) Travis M. (Luxchomp)
26) Randall H. (Gengar/Gliscor)

10) Aaron H. (Chen Lock)
23) Joe G. (Tangrowth)

3) Adam G. (Magnerock)
30) Michael W/Rokman (Luxchomp)

14) David W. (Sablelock)
19) James D. (Vilegar)

6) Oliver F. (Vile-lostgar)
27) Miguel E. (Luxchomp)

11) Dale L. (BLG)
22) Nikkei F. (Machamp/Donphan)

Take a look at all the Team Hooters players who made the cut! I’d like to just say, the Wednesday league in Haltom City probably has the highest top cut % of any league in the world. We only have like 5-8 players at this league each week, and 4 of us top cut!  ( BTW, we're called Team Hooters because that's were we eat after league 😉 )

I'm also very proud of the Watauga League players(right next door to Haltom League) players for doing so well! You guys did awesome!

Top 32 vs. Adam G. (Magnarock)

Game 1

– I've known Adam a long time and enjoyed playing him. He has placed third at every Regionals the past like 3 years. So, he was wanting to break the curse! We actually had a great time playing, it wasn't too serious because we would both be happy with either playing winning.
– I get an incredible start and gain board control almost instantly. I think after a couple crucial sprays and on every Judge I would draw a Cyrus or a bebe for an uxie, he had lost all hope in that game.
5-3 (1-0)

Game 2

– This time he starts with a Regirock and is repeating to me, "How did you get so good at this game?" and we're both laughing. Unfortunately since he had a bad start against my average one, I gain board control and ride it out the entire match. He did get a very early Sunnyshore out to protect from toxicroak, but I didn't even need it.
– His first two judges didn't do anything to me, because I drew out of it, but his last one was crippling, but it was far too late for him to mount a comeback.
6-3 (2-0)

The match next to me, which was David W. vs JJ D., they were goofing off too, just having a good time since they are both Team Hooters players.

Top 16
1) Jordan B (Vilegar)
16) Amalio O. (Luxchomp)

8) Paul W. III (Luxchomp)
24) Kaitlynn W.(Gyarados)

29) Len D (Luxchomp)
20) Andrew G. (Uxie)

5) Alex F. (Vilegar)
12) Alec N. (Luxchomp)

31) Josh H (Gyarados)
15) Brent S. (Blazechomp)

26) Randall H. (Gengar/Gliscor)
10) Aaron H. (Chen Lock)

30) Michael W/Rokman (Luxchomp)
14) David W. (Sablelock)

6) Oliver F. (Vile-lostgar)
22) Nikkei F. (Machamp/Donphan)

Of course Team Hooters is way too good for Pokémon, and we are forced to knock each other out… I'm still really proud of our crew for doing so well! 😉

What's really funny is that there was a long break between Top 32 and Top 16…This is when the fatigue began to really set in. So, in my top 16 match against David, neither of us were actually upbeat or goofing around because we were both pretty tired. We didn't say anything besides the cards and occasionally say something sarcastic.

Top 16 vs. David W. (Sablelock)

Game 1

– I actually made the list for David W. months ago, and since we all play and hang out together, I've seen the progress of his list and know it card for card, as he does mine.
– The match is pretty short, only lasting around 10 minutes. He opens with a Cyrus Initiative, hitting both! Unfortunately my opening hand was very solid and he couldn't cripple me. After I draw into everything in a few turns, he has to go for a huge Chip-off from Purugly to try and slow me down, but he doesn't get it.

6-3 (1-0)

Game 2

– My opening hand is really bad. I have only 1 cyrus Conspiracy to try and dodge his initiative and get a board going, but he chooses to Impersonate collector over the initiative, he said his hand had nothing in it. I don't really know how bad his hand is, but I have a feeling it was infinitely better than mine.
– Since he didn't kill my Cyrus, I'm able to get a decent setup going and get board control, again he is forced to go purugly, but it's too late in the match and my hand is far too good.
– Still, I'm really proud of David W. because this is his first Pokémon season and he is top cutting the biggest Regionals in the nation and made it to top 16! Way to go, bro!
7-3 (2-0)

After top 16, day one is over. I was handed a piece of paper with instructions on how to get to the venue for top 8 matches, I didn't really think about putting the address in or anything to see how far it is, everyone was pretty tired. 4/5 of the car on the way back to the hotel all top cut and it was only me going into day 2. I was actually going to stay up and party with Ryan V. and Martin M. but Martin never texted me back – it was pretty late when I got out of my top cut matches and I hear he was already partying it up. So, the guys in our crew stayed up partying/playing Call of Duty while I passed out, ready for tomorrow.

My top 8 match was against Oliver F. and since I saw most of his list, I knew what I was getting into. It's hard to prepare for because I can go Dialga lv.x, use sprays to protect it from Level Down, while I try to keep my bench small so Palkia doesn't get me. Or, I can go straight for the cheap kills without using trainers, fill my bench up, and use the sprays for Palkia. So, really, he is countering whatever I do, it just comes down to opening hands really.

So, I wake up (on my own) at 8 AM, take a shower and head down for some breakfast. Turns out, the place was 45 minutes AWAY and if I had woken up any later, I could have been late! After I get the other guys up and they eat breakfast, we head on over to the best comic book store I've ever seen for top 8…

Top 8
16) Amalio O. from DFW, TX (Luxchomp)
24) Kaitlyn W. from LA (Gyarados)

29) Len D from DFW, TX (Luxchomp)
5) Alex F. from Killeen, TX (Vilegar)

31) Josh H from DFW, TX (Gyarados)
10) Aaron H. from LA (Chen Lock)

30) Michael W/Rokman from DFW, TX (Luxchomp)
6) Oliver F. from DFW, TX (Vile-lostgar)

So, the top cut is a pretty standard cut. 4 SP, 2 Vilegar, and 2 Gyarados… I feel like my list has the potential to win against any of the other decks in the cut and I feel very confident, but I know it won't be easy…

Top 8 vs. Oliver F. (Vile-Lostgar)

Game 1

– This game is so terrible I have no idea what was going on. Within like 15 minutes, he's got Garchomp lv.x, Luxray lv.x Unown Q, and Bronzong G in the lost world. I'm just flabbergasted and scoop. I didn't take any notes because I forgot to and can't remember how this atrocity took place.
– But… I find out he isn't running Gengar lv.x!!!
6-3 (0-1)

Game 2

– Before the match I'm pretty discouraged, but once I see my hand and realize the potential to donk him and have 1 match left with like 45 minutes remaining, I feel a lot better.
– His hand is terrible and I get the donk!
6-3 (1-1)

Game 3

– So, this is it. I have a really bad hand to his great start. Since he has Spiritomb active, I can't get the trainers out of my hand for a fat setup. So, on my second turn, I have to setup for 1… COLLECTOR! Yes! With this collector I'm able to get a decent board and get a Dialga out.
– He isn't able to hurl anything and gambles one turn to see my hand. He didn't hit anything and wasted his turn. That misplay is super crucial because I'm about to make an unbelievable misplay…
– Once I get my Dialga lv.x on the field, I can finally play my trainers. This turn lasts a good 6 minutes as I burn everything away (He hasn't poltergiested yet and if he did it would be a good 300 damage lol). I use 2 Poké turns and a junk arm-Pokéturn on a garchomp on my bench and keep playing it back down. I do some other stuff, throwing out trainers with Sp Radar for no Pokémon (because he can lost remove it) and then I look at my field and hand. I've got a garchomp in my hand that I scooped up like fifty times and can Dragon rush this turn with another garchomp on my bench, alright. SO, I bebe's for a chomp lv.x and promote the garchomp on my bench, attach gain, and DCE and level up. NOPE! The garchomp on my bench was the one I was Pokéturning the whole time! I thought I had 2 down, but I only had one! What an IDIOT!
– So, he goes. And I know he will just hurl the chomp lv.x in my hand. But… he retreats? I guess he had nothing in his hand and if he let me KO his lost gengar, he'd have been in a really bad spot. So he let's me keep the chomp lv.x? Okay… He decides to keep using lock up on my crobat. But, if he KO's it, I can twins huge (and he knows it, he saw it with a Hurl at the beginning of the game). We're tied on prizes at this point.
– I've got 3 sprays in my hand ready for level downs and palkia. I feel really good. But, I'm in a tough spot, I have nothing to attack with for a cheap KO on his active. I guess I can setup for one and see what I get. BASIC METAL! I can second strike with Dialga, yes!
– Time is called on his turn. I've got 2 prizes remaining to his 3. I have nothing in my lost zone. He shadow rooms a random Pokémon to tie it up.
– I go, have nothing in my hand for poltergiests or lost worlding and I decide to hit his Fainting spell gengar for a solid amount, he is 30 or 40 from being KO'd if I remember correctly.
– He goes, retreats the gengar and uses psychic restore.
– On turn 3, before I even draw, I call it like I see it and say it'll come down to a flip. Only after the match did I realize, even if he hits the heads on fainting spell, all he has left is Lost gengar with no energy. While I've got a Dialga X and Luxray safe on the bench. So, I end up Dragon rushing his benched fainting spell and he hits tails. That's it. Great game Oliver, really proud of you, man! Also, glad you're out of the Hospital 😉
8-3 (2-1)

A lot of people didn't think I could pull that one out after that terrible misplay. But, looks like lucky topdecks prevailed.

Top 4
16) Amalio O. from DFW, TX (Luxchomp w/Dialga)
5) Alex F. from Killeen, TX (Vilegar)

31) Josh H from DFW, TX (Gyarados)
30) Michael W/Rokman from DFW, TX (Luxchomp w/Dialga)

I'd like to say I think it's pretty cool Josh and I both made top 4 even though we were 30th and 31st seed!

Top 4 vs. Josh H. (Gyarados)

Game 1

– This game is really, really one sided. He plays down a karp with a belt (he knows my Lux is prized) and sets up huge, He really gets the ball going and has to judge, hoping to send my collector away (Luxray lv.x is prized and I need to azelf to get it) and hope I can't bright look the karp up.
– He judges and I draw pretty good. I remember the hand, it was DCE, Gain, Cyrus, and like Seeker. I TOPDECK an Uxie play the DCE on Luxray, gain on random thing (didn't have Garchomp out obviously), and setup for 5. He says, "wow, if you draw the collector" right before I actually draw the collector. After I get the azelf, timewalk a Luxray out, and bright look his belted karp, it was pretty much over.
 I've got sick board control and am dominating the match. He goes for a Pokémon Reversal, and he really needed to hit it to try for a comeback, but missed.
– After a solid 20 minutes, I win by taking 6 prizes to his 1.
8-3 (1-0)

Game 2

– We both have silly openers, his Regice to my Bronzong. Of course, his is much worse. About turn three, we both say out loud what we think I'm going to do. It seemed like the right idea to dragon rush his magikarp (w/ rescue) and just kill it, leaving his Regice stuck active. But then I think for a second, he doesn't have trainers in his discard to use junk arm (to discard karps) and if he doesn't have regice, he can't regimove karps in there either! So, I just trash bolt his Regice.
– The match continues like last round because he can't get karps in there to hit me with damage. He ends up drawing his first prize after I've drawn like 5.
– (He ended up going 0 for 3 Super Scoop Ups and 0 for 1 Pokémon Reversal in our best of 3. Flip cards are bad, children!)
9-3 (2-0)

Finals
5) Alex F. from Killeen, TX (Vilegar)
30) Michael W/Rokman from DFW, TX (Luxchomp w/Dialga)

Well, this is it Rokman. You've come all this way and have a chance to win the biggest Regionals in the nation. You've got the deck to do it. You know the matchup. You can win this.

And I really did want to. I'd be in the league with John K. and Martin M., previous winners of this Regionals. But Alex wanted it just as bad as I did. Plus, neither of us cared THAT much about the prizes – we just want the title of FIRST! He doesn't care about the trip that much because he wants to skip Nationals (he went like 12-1 on the day) and protect his rating for a world invite, so it was pride on the line, and nothing more.

Finals vs. Alex F. (Vilegar)

Game 1

– We've been talking all day about our matches, I knew he ran a Froslass, a tech 1-1 Shedinja, 1 Gengar Prime, and max Looker's. He basically runs lockgar, not really focusing on prizes with poltergiest or lost world. I knew I'd have a hard time beating him because he is easily the best Vilegar player, performing very well at both states this year, OK and TX. Anyways…

– He gets a really great start. Like a turn 2 Vileplume and Gengar…
– I really don't remember the matches turn for turn, but I know he pretty much dominated my hands with Looker's and would snag my Dialga lv.x with Lost Gengar. He would level down it, Looker's me, I would freaking DRAW it, and then he would just go for a random hurl and get it. He claims I gave it away with my face, but I was pretty focused and didn't react to the draws.
– After he got my Dialga away, I was just joking around and making goofy remarks for like 10 turns. A couple of times I had the judges and spectators laughing. That was nice at least, hahaha. Eventually I scoop to save time.

9-3 (0-1)

Game 2

– I have a chance for a donk, but he gets another ridiculously perfect start.
– And I really had a chance to win this, I open with a solid chatter lock on his spiritomb (he put a warp on a gengar randomly) and began setting up my board, getting sprays ready, without drawing too many trainers, and working on getting Dialga lv.x powered up.
– Eventually he gets enough damage on the spiritomb to kill it's self by Darkness Gracing.
– After all those turns of just using Darkness Grace, he never played a psychic energy or a supporter. He claims he was bluffing a bad hand, but I don't think he was.
– He promotes his Gengar. Looker's my hand away. Levels up. Levels DOWN Dialga X. Plays a psychic on Gengar…. And then just completely dominates me for the rest of this game. After I've used all my Cyrus conspiracy he Looker's me again. I draw trash and realize time is ticking down, there's no way I can come back in this game, I joke for a few turns before I unfortunately and slightly frustratingly scoop.
9-4 (0-2)

I'm really happy for Alex F. (which is Butlerforhire online, give him some props for owning me in top/winning the tournament) and I wish him the best of luck at Nationals if he goes and Worlds if he makes it.

(Me, with my prizes!)

 

Props on the tournament
– Team Hooters for almost everybody in it topcutting
– DFW players for doing so good
– Everybody, including Judges and Staff
– The comic book store
– Meeting Ryan V. and Chris B. from FL
– Kettler's singing in the deck check line
– Austin C. getting donked by a Swallow up from a Wailord.

Slops on the tournament
– Not partying with Martin M. and Ryan V.
– Team Hooters having to play each other in top.
– Don't think I'll ever be at a finals table in a Regionals again. I required too much luck to get there. 🙁

(Team Hooters being adults and playing with Pokémon figurines.)

-Rokman