Tag: Magnezone Prime

Skeletons in the Closet: Magnezone Prime Yanmega Prime

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: MAGNEZONE PRIME/YANMEGA PRIME SKELETON

By HeyTrainer

Ever since Justin's fearless Nationals win, all the hype has centered around the "Megazone" deck used to win. But for those of you not familiar with how a proper Magnezone Prime/Yanmega Prime build should look, here's a starting point…Something many of us in the game like to call a "skeleton list."

[Note: for those unaware of what a "skeleton" is, it's basically just a partially-complete deck list with the core essentials.]

Pokemon (14):

3 Magnemite TM
1 Magneton TM
3 Magnezone Prime
3 Yanma TM
3 Yanmega Prime
1 Cleffa HS

Trainers/Stadiums/Supporters (21):

3 Copycat
3 Judge
3 Pokemon Collector
3 Junk Arm
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
1 Switch

Energy (10):

10 lightning

OPEN SPOTS (15):

15 Open spots! You can use these for anything you want!

This is not too explanatory of a post: you have many decisions you need to make on your own, such as card quantities, techs, and additional attackers. However, this should point you in the right direction if you were confused earlier. Best of luck at the LCQ, Worlds, and the 2011-2012 tournament season!

 

 

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Nationals 2011 First Place Masters Report

2011 Nationals Reports, Part Two: A Not-So Detailed (Yet Nevertheless AWESOME) First Place Report

By Justin "Blisseyrocks" S.

      I felt like those of you who don't read the forums would be quite interested to see this gem of a report. It may not be very detailed (as Justin disclaims); however, it's definitely one of the most interesting accounts from the event, and offers a great perspective on the HeartGold/SoulSilver on format. Enjoy!

-HeyTrainer

"So before I get into a report, I want to thank everyone I met this weekend for giving me the best weekend of my life. Without you guys, I would undoubtably not be in the position I'm sitting in right now. ILYGUISE! <3

So monday morning I get a call from my boy Jorge saying,"…what are you doing this weekend?" From then on, I knew I was attending U.S. Nationals. I scream for joy, run to my mom asking her for money, and quickly dart back to my room to pack. I'm going to fastforward to the pre tourney, because there is WAY too many funny, jumbled memories to tell you guys about regarding the drive up to Indianapolis.

Anyways, I was determined to do well at this nationals, so I tell Orion Craig and Jorge Ramirez that no matter what crazy deck idea I come up with, a good deck will be my play. After going x-3 bubble out both years, I was crazy determined.

Zach, a GREAT senior player from Florida comes into our room to testplay and whips out Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime, which was a very odd-looking deck. It seemed to keep up with everything we thew at it, though, and it had something I LOVED: consistency. Decks love to crap out on me, but this one, I felt, would not.  So at 2:00 AM on Friday, I say, "GUYS, I'M PLAYING YANMEGAZONE! NIGHT." I then built it and fell asleep.

I Woke up early in the morning, got down to the convention center before Jorge and Orion, and felt GREAT about this. Eventually rosters and pairings go up, aaaand…

ROUND 1- Yanmegazone vs Donchamp

I win the coin flip, and he flips over Cleffa. I Communication for Tyrogue, and offer the hand shake with an active Yanma to Free Flight into a Mischievous Punch KO.

(Ironically enough, the guy was talking about how good Tyrogue is right before this happened.)

1-0

Round 2-Yanmegazone vs RDLBOAR

I setup MUCH faster than him in this match, hit a couple key Reversals, and there's just nothing he can do.

2-0

Round 3-Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

I go first with a STELLAR hand, and that's usually all my deck needs to win the mirror match. By the time he took his 2nd prize, I took my last.

3-0

Round 4-Yanmegazone vs Zekrom

He flips over Pachirisu going first, and I'm like, "crap!!!!!!" Zekrom always has a good advantage vs me going first, and while he got out a bunch of stuff, there was no Shaymin. Eventually the game became really close, but Zekrom seemed to run out of resources to win the game…And that's exactly what happened: it Didn't have the resources to take the last prize on a clean Magnezone.

4-0

Round 5-Yanmegazone vs Donmegacinno

I start with lone Cleffa and lose the flip; he flips over Tyrogue, GG.

4-1

Round 6-Yanmegazone vs Reshiphlosion

I start off so bad, mulliganning about 6 times with no Judge or Copycat in hand…I smell a loss!
He got a bunch of stuff setup, but suprisingly the game came down to him having to double pluspower bouffalant to take the last prize, winning 0-1 in prizes left.

4-2

I'm feeling rocky about the last two losses, but I know I'll do well.

Day TWO

Round 7-Yanmegazone vs Megaturn

I setup WAYYYYY too fast with, like, turn two double Zone/double 'Mega, and she cannot recover.

5-2

Round 8-Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

My start is pretty sick, especially to his mediocre start. I have a good advantage throoughout the couple turns the game lasted before he scoops.

6-2

Round 9-Yanmegazone vs Megaphan

He starts Cleffa, and I just Pokemon Collector for Tyrogue.

7-2

I rip my deck, find out im 28th seed, and wait for 128 pairings.

TOP 128 – Yanmegazone vs Mew/Vileplume

Game 1- I start misplaying for some reason by asking hand size AFTER I played cards down. I lose in a close game.

I was SO mad at myself, but at least I knew to be more careful in the next game…

Game 2- A different story: the prize tradeoff just isnt fair, and so I win.

Game 3- He Copycats into all of his attackers, meaning he can't use See Off. I win shortly thereafter.

8-2

TOP 64 – Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

This is one of the matches I barely remembered. All I know is that I won game 1, lost game 2, and won game 3 – it's all very blurry right now.

9-2

I start talking to Martin M (Nationals winner 2006), who seems to be cheering me on. This was quite inspirtational!

Top 32 – Yanmegazone vs Emboarzone

Game 1- He starts cleffa; I get tyrogue.

Game 2- He started off super poorly, while I had a great hand. There's not much else I can say, really.

10-2

DAY THREE

Top 16 – Yanmegazone vs Mewplume

Game 1- This was a close game, but Yanmega is just unfair against any Vileplume variant.

Game 2- See Game 1.

11-2

Top 8 – Yanmegazone vs Yanmegazone

Game 1- I won in a game where he tried mounting a comeback, but it was too late.

game 2- I started with Magnemite, but he went first, dropping Pachi with energy, and then Copycats for second energy, along with the win.

Game 3- He starts Cleffa; I grab Tyrogue.

12-2

Top 4 – Yanmegazone vs Megaking

Game 1- He completely wiped the floor with me due to him going first. Great start.

Game 2- He scooped mid game to save time, I guess.

Game 3- He scooped when he realizeed that I had the last prize.

13-2

FINALS – Yanmegazone vs Donphan/Yanmega Prime/Zoroark

Game 1- He hit a key Reversal coin flip to kill my double energied Magnezone Prime.

Game 2- I topdecked Pokemon Circulator to kill his benched Donphan.

[Editor's note: I think Kyle also whiffed some game-winning flips near the end of the game. Not sure if Justin did, but I do remember that.]

Game 3- He started Zorua versus my LONE Yanma, going first. He dropped Pluspower, Junk Armed for it back, Professor Oak's New Theoried, benched a Pokemon, dropped Double Colorless Energy on Zorua, and then flipped for Lunge to WIN THE GAME…..TAILS! THE DREAM IS ALIVE!

I quickly drew my card, Collectored, and then started setting up. As the game went on, time was eventually called with the prize count 6-5 in his favor. I as able to take a prize to even the count, while he wasn't. He knew he had to put Tyrogue to sleep in order to prevent him from losing the game by time: this worked for him, as he flipped tails to activate Sweet Sleeping Face. I was thinking to myself that he MIGHT have a Judge in hand, so I grabbed my own Tyrogue: if he woke up and I remained asleep, then I would remain safe. So I attacked, and in between turns…I flipped tails, and SO DID HE! YES!!!

He is forced to pass…And how do we flip? He got heads to wake up…AND I DID TOO!!! The last turn, I ended by attacking with Mischievous Punch, and just like that, I became the United States National Champion.  I jumped up out of excitement, but since I felt like that may have seemed unsportsmanlike , I was SURE to shake Kyle's hand, congratulating him for placing in the top three of Nationals for three years in a row.

The crowd was jumping on me, and the Pokemon representatives were trying to talk to me…All of that excitement. But after all of it was over, I could barely grasp that I had just won the Masters Division National title.

PROPS

ORION, JORGE AND ZACH FOR THE TESTING GROUP

All the people who have supported me over the years. You guys got me here!

SLOPS

*LOSING THE SOFTBALL GAME BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT!

~Blisseyrocks"
 

The Defeat of Our Glorious Leader

2011 Nationals Reports, Part One: The Defeat of Our Glorious Leader


By HeyTrainer
 

This is a "baby" tournament report for those of you guys interested. I used Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime:

Round 1: vs Feraligatr Prime/Kyogre-Groudon Legend. Interesting deck, but it didn't setup, and got run through fairly quickly.

[1-0]

(I went second)

Round 2: vs Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin. 0/9 flips on Reversal/Junk Arm/SSU sealed the deal against me – both my opponent and I were amazed that it happened that way, but she was a great sport no matter what happened, and it was a fun game. (I lost via deck-out, actually, due to having to get rid of Zekrom one too many times with Magnezones, and two too many energy remaining in my last three prizes. Plus, due to my horrendous late game top decks and prizes, I was literally unable to Insight to start KO'ing for the win!) [1-1]

(I went second)

Round 3: vs Yanmega Prime/Magnezone Prime mirror. I whiffed the attachment on my Magnemite on T1, so he got way too much of a jump on me. I made it a six prize/five prize game, but that wasn't enough. However, I think the only reason I was ever "in" this in the first place was becaue he went an appaling 0/8 on Pokemon Reversal flips.

It later turned out that this fellah was a friend of the one and only "Monster of the Lake," as well as a poster on HT! [1-2]

(I went second, which made the whiffed attach even harder!)

Round 4: vs Emboar/Magnezone

He looked like he was getting off to a decent start, but unfortunately, his two Tepig were prized, so the deck lost quickly. Sorry, man. [2-2]

(I went second)

Round 5: Mew/Yanmega/Vileplume/techs

A relatively bearable matchup made even easier due to a god start on my part, and mediocre draws on my part. He also got some ridiculous draws, such as two Jumpluff HS/one Umbreon UD off of a Copycat. [3-2]

(I went first)

Round 6: vs Kingdra/Yanmega

He Eeeeeeek'd turn one, which was later responded to with my option to gambit with a Tyrogue KO, thus sending us both wayyyyy back on setup. As expected, this worked out heavily in my favor, since he had a Yanmega/Judge waiting the next turn, and any setup attempt made would have just been disrupted. He looked to be gaining board control, but thanks to some good flips on Thundershock, I was actually able to KO his Yanmega, and regain the lead. Eventually I got out a 'Zone Prime to his complete lack of a setup, and benched him about four prizes in. [4-2]

(I went second)

Round 7: vs Reshiram/Typhlosion Prime/Ninetales

He started Reshiram to my Yanma, and we both worked on setup. However, my setup wasn't fast enough to his, and so despite a close game, he was able to edge me out 6-4. No taking away any credit from him, though, since he played excellently. However, he got out very quick Ninetales/Typhlo (turn two I think?), so if I went first, it would have been very different due to a probable Reversal kill on the Vulpix + Judging away the doable elements in his hand.[4-3]

By the way, this was against yet another HT member: colts!

(I went second)

Round 8: vs Mewgar

I know every lostgar variant backwards and forwards, so alongside my great start and going first, this was an easy win that I've tested into oblivion. His draws were poor, though. [5-3]

(I went first)

Round 9: vs Magneboar

For the first time all tournament, I flipped heads like nobody's business, and got a very decisive win against a decent matchup. Since he had three Magnemites out by turn one and one ton/one zone by T2, my approach by default became one centered around Tepig kills. This worked like a charm, as I was able to send him into a grinding halt by T5-T6, and slowly but surely secured the win. [6-3]

(I went first)

Now, some brief commentary:

The State of the Format

*When played on a big stage, HGSS-on has quite a bit to it that I find appealing; however, going first is so monstrously unfair for most decks, it's unreal. Out of my three losses, I feel like at least two would have been won had I gone first; and for my round nine win, going second could have turned things around completely. The results of my testing have been pretty much confirmed by my experience at Nats. I can't have too many grapes, though: it was a fun event, and a very fun weekend overall. (Plus, my rating actually went up after going 6-3 for a change!)


HT's Performance

*I am absolutely amazed at how well HeyTrainer players performed! Although the glorious leader of the nation was felled, there were several long-time board members at all levels of the Masters top cut, from top 128 all the way up to first! It was also very cool to see both Jayson H. and Justin S. reppin' the shirt in the final four: Jayson's been a friend for a while, so it was great to see him do so spectacularly; and as for Justin, he not only graciously accepted the offer to rep HT with a shirt, but even seemed a bit excited about doing it! In Martin (Head of Internal Affairs) said to me over the phone, "this is the best thing that could have happened for HeyTrainer next to you winning." While I don't know how absolute that may be, I _do_ know that three HT shirts in the top four of Nationals over the past two years definitely shows that this website's forum has the highest average player skill level out of just about anywhere. This is definitely the place to be right now.

[We'd also like to congratulate our friends at thetopcut.net for a stellar showing of their own. Great job, guys, and major props to Kyle "Pooka" S. for another legendary top cut run!]

What's next for HeyTrainer.org?

With all that cheering for our most successful members this Nationals season, that leaves one question unanswered: what's next for the site?


1) More consistent /blog posts. That's why you're seeing this report today!
2) As previously mentioned, Butlerforhire and I are working on a collaborative effort to study the entire history of competitive Pokemon TCG. However, I'm currently looking to get every former and current Masters U.S. Nats winner on board with the project in meaningful ways, ranging from interviews to full-out playthroughs of their winning lists.
3) More donate button requests! The one thing that I would eventually like to give to our best and most consistent contributors is some sort of incentive for all their hard work. So even if it's a dollar or a grand, if you see an article that you like, then click that baby! I plan to be very transparent with this process too, so this is most likely not going to make me a Pokemon mogul. ;]
4) More fun stuff on the forums, such as a more frequent CotD
5) Revitalization of our site image, including a new site banner, and more Chinpokomon lovin'.

So that's that from me for now. So until the next Nationals report…Take it easy!

~J "HT" K