Okemos, Michigan State Championship Report!

I dread waking up early. Mostly because I never sleep, thanks to my rigorous work schedule and the fact that college annoyingly rules my life. But this Saturday was different. I didn’t mind waking up early because I knew I would be playing Pokémon. I arose at 8:15 AM to get ready for the day, and to make my hour trek to Okemos, Michigan’s Pokémon TCG State Championships.

I was excited because I was playing a deck I’ve never played in this format (I’m used to playing SP, BlazeRay/LuxChomp), and I thought I would fare quite well. I chose to go with Gyarados, a deck that had devastated my chances at Cities a month or two back. I saw how powerful, quirky and quite consistent it could be, and I liked that. Although I’m a very competitive player, I really like to use decks that are fun, and Gyarados was just that.

I play tested him pretty thoroughly, and knew it was the right choice. My only fear was the dreaded “Poltergeist”, on account of the massive hand that Gyarados seems to acquire. I have only been playing the Pokémon TCG since the release of Arceus, so you could say that I’m fairly new, but I picked right up on the metagame, and learned the strategy fairly quickly. Michigan has some very tough competitors in the Masters Division, so I knew I was in for a handful. So, let’s get to it.

Match 1: C.J. Gregory with Gengar/Spiritomb

Of course! I attended States with four of my buddies, and of course, the first round I would be facing one of them. I knew exactly what CJ was playing, and he knew what I was playing, on account of us play testing together for the weeks prior to States. I knew it was going to be a pretty tough match, just because I was scared of Gengar. I can’t stand “Fainting Spell,” mostly because I run 3 expert belts, and usually choose to equip my Gyarados with one for the extra damage and HP, and like I mentioned, “Poltergeist” destroys me.

Luckily, he had a Baltoy start, and I was right off to the start I had hoped for: Sableye. I quickly Pokémon Collector’d my way to three more Magikarps, as one made its way to the bench. I was a Felicity’s Drawing away from a donk. He top decks a Spiritomb, locks me and “Darkness Graced” his way to a T1 Claydol. My next turn I swiftly evolve to a Gyarados, Unown Q my Sableye back to the bench, discard two Magicarps via “Regimove” and have myself a quick kill. He brings Claydol active, and I believe top decks a Gastly, grabs a Mr. Mime, and warp points me out of there.

The next couple of turns, I Pokémon Reversal his bench, and get quick and easy kills. I usually have pretty good luck with rolls. All he had left was Mr. Mime. This was another arch enemy of Gyarados. He “Airy Walled” me for a while. It was actually pretty hilarious, because all he could do was attack with “Trick Play.” It went his way once, doing 50 damage, but the other two times, he took 20 damage a piece. Having only 70 HP, he was a few Crobat drops away from being Knocked Out. It didn’t take long to finish off the match. C.J. is a terrific player, and ended up going 6-1 for the rest of the day, me being his only loss.

1-0

Match 2: Todd with Empoleon?

Todd is a fairly new player to the Pokémon TCG world, and this was his first tournament. I had the pleasure of meeting him before the tournament started, not knowing that he would be my opponent later on.

The match started fast. I had a Crobat start and used a Call Energy for a Sableye and a Magikarp. He started with a Piplup and a Meowth. I figured this was some sort of rogue deck, or just something thrown together. But I soon realized this would be a quick match. To make a long story short, I got Gyarados to its full potential by T3, and that was all she wrote. Todd took the loss in stride, and was a great sport. Hopefully he learned a little about the metagame and new Pokémon strategy at this years States.

2-0

Match 3: Tracy Key with LuxChomp and Dialga G.

I was incredibly apprehensive about this match because I knew how great of a player Tracy is. She scares just about everyone. Not in a scary way, but just because everyone knows she can probably whoop their butt. Well anyway, this match got off to a pitiful start. An Azelf start to be exact. I honestly thought about scooping, but I didn’t want to be a poor sport so I stuck it out. I knew Tracy was a smart player, and she takes her time so she knows that she is making the right moves, so I had to play just as smart.

Luckily, to avoid the donk, I went first and attached a Call Energy for a Magikarp and Sableye. She started with Garchomp C and Luxray, and I believe played a Roseanne’s Research to secure another Pokémon and a L Energy. T1, she attached a Lightning and an Energy Gain to Luxray, leveled up, and “Bright Looked” my Karp. knockout. Secretly I was saying thank you. Even though she took a prize, I wanted him in the discard.

I promote Sableye, use Pokémon Collector, grabbed two Karps and a Regice. I played Luxury Ball to get the third, Broken Time-Space to Gyarados, and “Regimoved” her Garchomp C active to discard two Magikarps. Things started looking up. I just couldn’t get Sableye out of the Active Spot, so I Impersonated a Felicity’s for the extra draw. She had Lucario GL on the bench, which secured the 1HKO of Gyarados if I couldn’t get rid of either of them. I was nervous.

Lo’ and behold, although she went up 3 Prizes quickly, I stormed back into it, by 1HKOing her Luxray GL LV.X with the help of a Crobat, PokéTurn, Crobat. I wasn’t swift to drop an Expert Belt against a tough player like her, unless I knew I had it in the bag. She brought Garchomp C active, and Dragon Rushed some weakling on the bench. I did the exact same thing as last turn, thanks to Garchomp C LV.X’s 110 HP. She played Aaron’s Collection to bring the Luxray back, but I realized there wasn’t much hope left for her, so I attached the Expert Belt and 1HKO’d the son of a gun again. She only had 1 Prize left at this point, so I figured why not?

We each had 1 Prize left, and then I saw Dialga G. I thought originally she played Blaziken FB, but I was mistaken. Dialga G sucked for me, because he has 120 HP, which is just out of my reach, on account of my Crobat’s being all used up. I attacked for the 110, and hoped she couldn’t do 150 to my fresh Gyarados. She PokéTurned, and sat him back on the bench, but she and I knew it was over next turn. She promoted, used Deafen and I put it in the books. She was a good sport, and shook my hand. I was embarrassed, because they were dripping wet with sweat. If you’re reading this, sorry about that! Tracy went on to take 1st place overall and took home the trophy and the cash. Great job.

3-0

Match 4: Dan Richard with LuxChomp

I’ve seen Dan play in the past couple of City Championships I’ve been to, but never had the pleasure of meeting him. I knew he was tough, and he was 3-0 at this point as well. This game shouldn’t even get the dignity of being typed out. I started out actually pretty well, with two Magikarp in my hand, and a Sableye active. I knew he was playing SP, but I still put down the Magikarp, in the hopes that he wouldn’t get wrecked quickly.

By T2, I had all three Magikarp in the discard pile, but I could NOT get a search card, or a Gyarados to save my life. He quickly realizes this when I utter a pitiful “pass” and proceeds to “Dragon Rush” my last Magikarp. I was not happy. I top deck a Bebe’s Search, of course, now I can get Gyarados and I have no Magikarp. I Pokémon Rescue a Magikarp, but because I didn’t have a Broken Time-Space in play, I didn’t want to put him back down, in fear of what just happened, happening again. So, I pass.

The next two turns go by, and I still cannot get a BTS. Knowing he has a Luxray GL LV.X in hand, and a fully powered Garchomp C ready to snipe, I cannot get Magikarp back to the bench. The rest of the game is history. He put me out of my misery fairly quickly, and I was glad to be over and done with that game. Great match.

3-1

Match 5: ? With BlastCatty

I couldn’t remember this guy’s name, but he was a really nice player. I had never seen him before, but I figured he must be playing pretty decent today being 4-0 (he got paired down). I had to be on top of my game. We both had awful starts. He had a Baltoy start, he drew and passed. I started with Uxie and had an Expert Belt and a Crobat in hand, but no energy for the donk. Just my luck.

I didn’t know what he was playing, but I proceeded to get set up with my Pokémon Collector. The next four turns we each passed, because we could not get ANYTHING going for us. T5 rolls around and he starts getting set up very fast. I then realize he is playing Blastoise with Delcatty. I remember seeing a form of this at Cities with Rhyperior, and thought it was a cool idea, but nonetheless, wasn’t very intimidated. But by the time I could get Gyarados rolling, he had his Pocket Monsters stacked with energy galore. At one point, I think he had 3 W Energy on Claydol!

I finally got Gyarados active, and attached a Cyclone Energy. He just brought up another Blastoise. “Great,” I thought. I noticed he had a Beldum on the bench, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was for. Next turn I found out in the hardest way possible. He Rare Candied into a Metagross SV with the Poké Body “Gravitation.” My Gyarados was unbelted, and had 110 damage on him, so having 20 less HP, he was Knocked Out.

I promote Crobat, sacrificing him just in case I have to retreat for free next turn. Smartly, he used Blastoise’s attack “Double Launcher,” which does 60 to two of my benched Pokémon. Unfortunately, I had Uxie and Azelf on the bench, both having 50 HP because of “Gravitation,” and they were Blastoise bait. TRIPLE KILL. It was over from there. One moment, I thought I had it all figured out. Next thing I know, he drew 3 Prizes and said “Good game.” What a fun deck.

3-2

Match 6: Steven with Mother Gengar

I knew beforehand what Steven was playing because one of my friends had fallen to his deck earlier in the day. But luckily, he had quite an awful start. He played Jirachi from Rising Rivals, and I started with a lone Magikarp. I though it was going to be donk city, but he couldn’t get a supporter. I went first and used Call Energy for Sableye and Regice. Luckily, since he didn’t have a supporter, I played a Luxury Ball to fish out another Magikarp, evolved to Gyarados, discarded two with Felicity’s Drawing and did 60 damage for the T2 donk.

I felt bad winning that cheaply, but, thus is life. He proceeded to tell me that he was a Yugioh and Magic player, and that was the one thing that he hated about Pokémon (only playing 1 round, compared to best out of 3). Oh well. Good game.

4-2

Match 7: A pretty girl with straight Gengar

This match was back and forth. The kind that I hate. Earlier on, I told you my fear of Gengar, and I hadn’t had to deal with it much at all that day. But now, my fear was being realized in the final match. I Expert Belted my Gyarados early on in the game to get a cheap kill, but now I had to find a way around “Fainting Spell.” Luckily the first Gengar she got out, I used Crobat to “Flash Bite” kill it and avoid the Spell. The second time she got Gengar out, I used Uxie with an Expert Belt to kill it off and avoid the Spell. At this point, the prize count was 2-2, she was ahead.

Her Gengar LV.X had 110 damage on it, and I had a plan. I was saving a Crobat to “Flash Bite” for 10 damage and then Uxie my way to avoid the “Fainting Spell” for the THIRD time of the match, but I would never get a chance. Time was called during her turn, and she was 20 damage away from using “Shadow Room” on my Crobat for the victory. I was really, really bummed out, but I took the loss in stride and shook her hand on a match well played.

4-3

Although I started the day incredibly strong going 3-0, I hit some bumpy spots along the way ending my first experience at Michigan States with 4 wins and 3 losses. But all in all, for only playing for a maximum of 5 months, I’ve got to say I’m pretty proud of myself. I’ve made Top Cut in one Cities, with an SP toolbox, and was just shy of making the Top 16 at States. I landed in 19th out of, I believe, 79 players in the Masters Division. I made some new friends, gained some experience and had an overall great time. I’m so glad Michigan is one of the best places to play Pokémon. It’s one of the only things we’ve got going for ourselves.