Sedalia, MO 1st Place Cities Report

By Brit Pybas AKA Matamune

Gardevoir Secret Wonders SW 7 Pokemon CardI am a relatively new player to the Pokémon world. I began shortly after Stormfront came out and begin competitive play shortly after. I played in a States, but still understood very little of the game. Battle Roads Spring 09 was where I started to understand the game more, but I had no victories to my name, but I consistently did well and topped at one. I was able 5-3 Nationals and didn’t break. I began this year off to a pretty rough start. I did well at a couple of battle roads and then bombed like three in a row which sunk my rating to below 1600, so I knew my cities would have to go well if I expected to be taken seriously. My first City Championship was Eureka, MO and I 4-2ed with Luxiken and was unfortunately Mewtwoed out of the top cut.

I travel with three others (Burglar Matt, Fletcher and Burmy) and on the way back from Eureka; we discussed GardyGallade, the deck that apparently was the best thing since sliced bread back in the day. We wondered how big the deck could get with Double Colorless coming back in HGSS and Spiritomb came up as a potential tech. The following Tuesday at one of my leagues, I was asking Fletcher about his list for GGW, which he played for a few battle roads. He then told me that he had built GG with Spiritomb and it was really good. I was of course intrigued and he sent me his list and we tweaked it throughout the week and I decided to play it for Sedalia, MO Cities. We arrive at the location, and we are going to have 5 rounds of Swiss and top 4.

Round 1: Shaun ? (Tangrowth/Sceptile)

I open ok, but thankfully he doesn’t open very well. By the time he sets up, I am very well set up and have an answer for all of his plays. Psychic Locking for 80 and not letting Tangrowth heal wins be the game very fast. Shaun is a very nice guy and I was glad to begin the day with a win.

1-0

Spiritomb Arceus AR 32Round 2: Chris O. (Machamp/Palkia)

I open with a call start, but he also opens very well and gets T2 Machamp and attaching/passing T1 which allows him to “Take Out” my Unown G. I promote a Spiritomb and guard it while I set things up. He whiffs on “Hurricane Punch” that turn, so I’m able to get another turn with Spiritomb and then I Looker’s Investigation away his hand and run through his Pokémon with good ole Gardy and win easily.

2-0

Round 3: Nathan M. AKA Fletcher (Mirror)

This is my far the worst matchup in the history of forever. It involves very little skill and really depends on who draws into what. He gets off to a faster Gardevoir start, but I pick up the Mesprit before him. I am forced to promote a Ralts and “Future Sight” my own deck to guarantee a supporter, but after that I Looker’s away his hand and take control of the board. He isn’t able to get anything and scoops before I take my last few prizes.

3-0

Round 4: Zach ? (Luxiken)

I open this game very poorly and he opens with Roserade and gets going long before I am even close of locking him. I honestly don’t think I attacked till he had taken three or 4 Prize cards, but eventually I get a Gallade going with garners me a few Prize cards. If feel that I was about to take control, but I knew time would be called before that, so I try to hurry his play, which makes me feel like a jerk in the end. I apologized later, but again if you are reading this, I’m sorry. I almost come back, but he is able to Roserade lock me when I’ve burned all ways of getting out of it. I concede with 2 Prizes left.

3-1

Looker's Investigation Platinum PL 109 Pokemon CardRound 5: Marcus M. AKA Burmy (Luxray/Garchomp/Honchkrow)

Now I’m a little uneasy because I know I probably won’t break if I don’t win this game, and unfortunately it’s against Marcus, a person who is in my shoes and a person I played and beat at Eureka in a game for an ideal top spot. I have an amazing early game and his is average, but my deck does what it’s suppose to do, which is beat SP. Spiritomb and Mesprit shut him down while I set up and I Looker’s away his hand and am able to run through all of his guys, winning the Game 6-0. Sorry man.

4-1

I make the cut as the 4th seed along with a Gyarados, Luxiken and FlyChamp.

Top 4: Matt H. AKA Burglar Matt (Gyarados)

Game 1: I get another great start, but this matchup is very hard, thankfully I’ve tested with him and have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. With both get set-up, but he is unable to ever KO me because “Psychic Lock” prevents him from “Flash Bite” with Crobat G and I have a response for most of his Tail Revenge. It ends up coming down to 1-1 Prizes and I “Bring Down” for game. Something I planned far in advance, but I’m not sure if he saw it coming.

Game 2: We both open strongly again, but most of the game ends up going like last. Unfortunately though, mid-game I can’t “Cosmic Power” to save my life and he gets a slight advantage. I Looker’s Away his hand and get the lock down going and take advantage of Upper and bring the game into my favor. I set up another “Bring Down” for game, but draw into a warp point when its 2-1 on prizes to win. GG

Top 2: Jesse E. (FlyChamp)

Game 1: Before the game begins, he tells me that the deck is more of a Machamp focus then a Flygon, which certainly makes the matchup a bit more in my favor, but I wasn’t jumping to any conclusion. I open moderately, as does he, but “Psychic Lock” is just too good against Machamp. I Looker’s away his hand, preventing him from getting a Flygon X to even up the game and he concedes when he realizes he has nothing.

Game 2: I open ok, it took a call energy to make things ok, but it turned out fine. Unfortunately, he gets T1 Machamp and gets a quick prize with “Take Out”, but after my Round 2 match, I am not too concerned. I Mesprit lock him as I set up and guard my Spiritomb and like Chris, he whiffs on “Hurricane Punch” to kill the Tomb right away. I start the “Psychic Lock” and Looker’s his hand twice, so was aware it wasn’t good. He concedes shortly afterward. GG

5-1

Props:
Winning my first big event and getting a nice medal
Fletcher for giving me this amazing deck
Car Rides with Hall and Oates
Kason for winning Mountain Grove (I judged this one)

Slops:
Playing Marcus when it matters
Lance getting unlucky
Not studying for a chemistry test
Here’s to a great season

Reader Interactions

49 replies

  1. I wish I had such luck with GG. Maybe my list just sucks. Nice job.

  2. M OTL

    This is my far the worst match-up in the history of forever. It involves very little skill and really depends on who draws into what.

    I stopped reading at that point. Wow, just wow.

  3. CFab

    Really awesome to see decks that arent so typical to win. I myself just started a couple weeks back, and just bought some cards yesterday. I just have to say though, I had no idea that pokemon cards were so expensive. I think Magic was cheaper overall X_X

    I can’t wait to get into the tournament scene! Thanks for hyping it up for me.

    Also, keeping deck lists a secret makes me sad =(, but its understandable.

  4. Really awesome to see decks that arent so typical to win. I myself just started a couple weeks back, and just bought some cards yesterday. I just have to say though, I had no idea that pokemon cards were so expensive. I think Magic was cheaper overall X_X

    I can’t wait to get into the tournament scene! Thanks for hyping it up for me.

    Also, keeping deck lists a secret makes me sad =(, but its understandable.

  5. Jeremy Bushey

    I wish I had such luck with GG. Maybe my list just sucks. Nice job.

  6. Jeremy Bushey

    I wish I had such luck with GG. Maybe my list just sucks. Nice job.

  7. Joshua Pikka

    do you care to tell us how many spirtombs you played?

    thanks

  8. Nick

    Congratulations on the win! I played GG at a CC in Orlando, FL two weekends ago. I went 4-2 in Swiss, losing to 2 SP decks, then lost in top 8 vs… another SP deck. In game 2 of T8, I got out a fresh, fully-powered Gallade 2 turns in a row, but he was OHKO’d both times, once by Banette’s Loneliness (his tech for Mewtwo) and once by Uxie LV.X’s Zen Blade, both coupled with Crobat G’s Flash Bite and Lucario GL’s Boundary Aura. There was just no coming back from that.

    IMO, GG is just too slow to deal with SPs. Maybe it can be big again when DCE comes back out and the hype around SP decks (hopefully) dies down with all the new HG/SS stuff, but SPs really just killed me when I was running it. I did play Spiritomb, but I didn’t play any Mesprit. Bench space was very tight as it is for me.

    • Matamune  → Nick

      SP is actually a very good match-up imo. It is by no means an auto-win, but if you start with Spiritomb, you are keeping them from getting their level x unless they start with it or have Bebe’s since you’ll prevent, the T2 Cyrus, radar chain. Looker’s can break SP, especially late game when their deck has been thinned out by Cyrus and they are sitting on the Level Xs in their hand.

      • Nick  → Matamune

        Yeah, it sounds like your list is a bit different than mine and may be better suited for that matchup. I only play 1 Spiritomb (I figured you’d only really search out one early-game and let your opponent kill him while you set up, and didn’t want to clog my hand with them mid/late-game), I play a 1-0-1 Nidoqueen, I play 2 Expert Belt, I play 3 Upper, and I play one of the Psychic Connect Gardevoir as well (since energy seems more “precious” in the deck now without DRE/Scramble). I see you played Mesprit, Looker’s, and 3 more Spiritomb than I do, so there’s definitely some differences.

        Anyway, congratulations again on the win! Maybe I’ll look into some of the techs that you mentioned to better improve my SP matchup. Thanks for the report!

  9. Nick

    Congratulations on the win! I played GG at a CC in Orlando, FL two weekends ago. I went 4-2 in Swiss, losing to 2 SP decks, then lost in top 8 vs… another SP deck. In game 2 of T8, I got out a fresh, fully-powered Gallade 2 turns in a row, but he was OHKO’d both times, once by Banette’s Loneliness (his tech for Mewtwo) and once by Uxie LV.X’s Zen Blade, both coupled with Crobat G’s Flash Bite and Lucario GL’s Boundary Aura. There was just no coming back from that.

    IMO, GG is just too slow to deal with SPs. Maybe it can be big again when DCE comes back out and the hype around SP decks (hopefully) dies down with all the new HG/SS stuff, but SPs really just killed me when I was running it. I did play Spiritomb, but I didn’t play any Mesprit. Bench space was very tight as it is for me.

    • Matamune  → Nick

      SP is actually a very good match-up imo. It is by no means an auto-win, but if you start with Spiritomb, you are keeping them from getting their level x unless they start with it or have Bebe’s since you’ll prevent, the T2 Cyrus, radar chain. Looker’s can break SP, especially late game when their deck has been thinned out by Cyrus and they are sitting on the Level Xs in their hand.

      • Nick  → Matamune

        Yeah, it sounds like your list is a bit different than mine and may be better suited for that matchup. I only play 1 Spiritomb (I figured you’d only really search out one early-game and let your opponent kill him while you set up, and didn’t want to clog my hand with them mid/late-game), I play a 1-0-1 Nidoqueen, I play 2 Expert Belt, I play 3 Upper, and I play one of the Psychic Connect Gardevoir as well (since energy seems more “precious” in the deck now without DRE/Scramble). I see you played Mesprit, Looker’s, and 3 more Spiritomb than I do, so there’s definitely some differences.

        Anyway, congratulations again on the win! Maybe I’ll look into some of the techs that you mentioned to better improve my SP matchup. Thanks for the report!

  10. M OTL

    This is my far the worst match-up in the history of forever. It involves very little skill and really depends on who draws into what.

    I stopped reading at that point. Wow, just wow.

  11. M OTL

    This is my far the worst match-up in the history of forever. It involves very little skill and really depends on who draws into what.

    I stopped reading at that point. Wow, just wow.

  12. Adam Capriola

    Interesting deck idea! Awesome job pulling through with it. :)

  13. Does anyone else get freaked out my Gardevoir’s picture?? At a glance it looks like some sort of strange magical swan, with a big beak, red tongue sticking out, white wings, and a neck tie. Upon further inspection, its just Gardy in a strange pose…. Does anyone else see the swan???

  14. jason beck

    WOULD LIKE TO SEE A DECKLIST OR IF THERE IS ONE I CAN’T SEE IT

  15. Joshua Pikka

    do you care to tell us how many spirtombs you played?

    thanks

  16. Colin Peterik

    Does anyone else get freaked out my Gardevoir’s picture?? At a glance it looks like some sort of strange magical swan, with a big beak, red tongue sticking out, white wings, and a neck tie. Upon further inspection, its just Gardy in a strange pose…. Does anyone else see the swan???

  17. Joshua Hall

    Nice win, the 4 spirit bombs and lookers were the obvious factors for most of your victories. GG’s still got legs, you just gotta know how to play it.

  18. jason beck

    WOULD LIKE TO SEE A DECKLIST OR IF THERE IS ONE I CAN’T SEE IT

    • Matamune  → Ben

      Roserade has a colorless attack that does 10, poisons and makes it so they can’t retreat.

    • Matamune  → Ben

      Roserade has a colorless attack that does 10, poisons and makes it so they can’t retreat.

  19. Joshua Hall

    Nice win, the 4 spirit bombs and lookers were the obvious factors for most of your victories. GG’s still got legs, you just gotta know how to play it.

  20. CoMiT

    awesome dude! nice deck idea!!! it5 worked 4 you even better

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