JPN Gallade’s Illinois States Report

Okay, before I talk about my tournament report, I should start by introducing myself. For those who don’t know, I am JPN-Gallade. I have joined 6 Prizes recently, and I’m the same person from the Pokégym and Pokébeach with pretty much the same name, JPN Gallade. My real name however is Karol Nowak. I’ve been playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game for almost four years right now. I am from Illinois, and I live in a suburb of Chicago. I play competitively, but I’m not the best player out there obviously. I did however make top cut in several tournaments, so you can obviously see that I am a good player. Currently, I play in the senior division.

Now that I told you a bit about myself, I think it should now be time to get to the tournament. The deck I played at states was Gyarados. It basically ran usual support like Sableye and Regice, as well as Uxies and Azelfs. It also ran Crobat G (2 of them), 4 Pokéturns, and 2 Expert Belts to do extra damage. I even ran a 1-1 line of Luxray GL LV.X as a tech in order to take down something that I wanted to take down. I also ran 1 Relicanth for opposing Luxrays. A reason why I wanted to play Gyarados was that I really was attached to the strategy, and it would feel comfortable playing. My dad and I get to the tournament area at around 9:00 A.M. We are luckily ready with our decklists, so we turn our lists right away. I get to watch to see what other were playing. Eventually after some waiting, the tournament would begin.

Okay, now I think I should mention this. There were six rounds and a top eight for both juniors and seniors, and masters had seven rounds and a top sixteen. Yeah, that really stinks for the seniors because I seriously hoped that there would be a top sixteen for the seniors. Oh well, now lets get to the tournament.

Round 1: Vs. Donphan/Manectric (with Hippowdon LV.X tech)

So this match was pretty close if you ask me. He starts with Phanpy and I start with Regice with a Magikarp on the bench as well. I put Regice as the active in order to avoid my Magikarp to be Knocked Out since that Magikarp would become a Gyarados. After we start, most of the match would be pretty normal, but than my opponent pulls out something never really expected: Hippowdon LV.X. You may think that looks quite odd, but I can tell it did, well, wreck me. Luckily though, I do manage to recover a bit.

Then it comes down to 1 Prize card left from both sides. Unfortunately, he had a Warp Point prepared, which won him the game. I am forced to switch back my Gyarados and pull something out, and then he attaches a third F Energy to his Donphan Prime, and that now means any Pokémon from my bench would be Knocked Out. Oh well, it was a good match.

0/1

Round 2: Vs. Gyarados (Mirror)

Here’s yet another match that was very close and very good. Early in the game, we both didn’t have the best draw, but if you ask me, I had the better start compared to him. Of course, like the last match, it was pretty normal play, and the part that really disappointed me is that we both weren’t drawing Broken Time-Spaces, so it was kind of hard to recover.

Like that last match, it eventually comes down to pretty much 1 Prize card from each side. I use “Bright Look” from my Luxray GL LV.X on his Regice to slow my opponent down a bit, but unfortunately he had Warp Energies ready for this. The turn after that, I couldn’t do much because now he managed to bring back his Regice to the bench thanks to the Warp Energy, and I begin to hope that he won’t use another Warp Energy. Sadly, he does. He uses Warp Energy on his Gyarados, pulls out Luxray GL, levels up and uses “Bright Look” on my Combee and then Knocks it Out. Again, it was pretty close, but it was still a very good game.

0/2

Round 3: Vs. Dialga/Garchomp

Well, it wasn’t as close as the last two matches, but yet again, it was close too. I remember early in the game he managed to Knock Out my Magikarp with the help of Crobat G, so I simply grabbed another Magikarp. I also remember several times that he attacked with Honchkrow G, which was a card that really surprised me since that card is never even played in that deck. Sadly for that card, it would be taken down easily, but that didn’t hold my opponent back. He managed to use Dialga G quite well too. Eventually, Garchomp C is what helps him at the end.

We both are down to 3 Prize cards I think, and he manages to put 2 Double Colorless Energies onto his Garchomp. First he Knocks Out my Gyarados and takes 2 Prize cards because of my Expert Belt, and then he Knocks Out another Pokémon of mine and takes the last prize.

0/3

Yeah, that’s a pretty bad record so far, and I even had thoughts of dropping, but then I learn that if you drop, your rankings go down a lot so I decide to stay. Indeed, that did turn out to be the right choice because I would make quite a comeback.

Round 4: Bye

Yes that’s right, I got a bye this round, and thank goodness I get a bye because I really needed a win.

1/3

Round 5: Vs. Random Grass Deck

Well, finally, I really and truly get the right cards to easily get through this deck. There’s one point in the match I finally get quite lucky to draw a Warp Energy, and I attach the energy to my Gyarados to switch it to my Luxray GL LV.X to use “Bright Look” to bring out his Shaymin he was setting up, and then I retreat Luxray GL to my Gyarados to Knock it Out. From this point, he just brings out his Turtwigs since he can’t do much, and all easily go down due to the fact I already had a huge upper hand with my Gyarados compared to his deck, which eventually had no chance against my Gyarados.

2/3

Round 6: Vs Garchbox

Okay, now it is the final round, and I face a pretty cool deck. That deck I face is something I like to call Garchbox. Now you may now be thinking, “What kind of deck is that,” and that’s what I was thinking too, but it turns out this deck is quite good. Some in the tournament were playing this deck actually, and it did make it top 8 in seniors. Basically, this deck is like just like Luxbox, but the main difference is that it’s Garchomp C instead of Luxray GL.

So I start with Luxray GL to my dismay, and he starts with Garchomp C. Luckily, I manage to pull out a Magikarp early to get Gyarados, and of course he would make his play too; mainly it would be using Azelf and Uxies. Eventually, we both would manage to set up well enough to begin the action. He uses Garchomp C LV.X Knock Out 2-of my Pokémon early game, but I manage to recover quite fast.

From this point, I kind of held the upper hand. I manage to Knock Out his Garchomp C LV.X, and so from this point onward, I begin use Regice quite a lot, and my Regice, using “Regi Move,” pretty much Knocked Out mainly his Uxies, Azelfs, and a Skuntank G. Eventually, he can’t really do much, so he scoops and so I win the game. Indeed, it was both a very interesting match and a good game. Now I kind of see that Garchomp C can be quite a card on its own, but it seems my Gyarados deck got through it quite nicely.

3/3

Well, sadly, I came in 30th place. Yes, I know that this isn’t the best, but there were a ton of players who came 3-3. Afterward, I decide to watch some of the top 8 matches in the senior division, and I can tell you this. Pretty much half of the players in the senior division were playing Luxchomp. Sounds crazy right? Indeed it is, and I’m at least glad that I didn’t face a Luxchomp, although I did prepare my Gyarados for Luxchomp.

Props:
Getting Pokémon Battrio Chips: They became good luck charms for me, so that is quite a bonus.
Having lots of good games
Getting the states dice

Slops:
Snowy and foggy weather
All games in which I lost were just too close.
No real lunch break

Overall, I would like to thank you for reading my article. I now will work on my skills for Regionals. There, I hope that I can do better, even though I felt that I did quite well this tournament with my Gyarados. Well then, see you all at Wisconsin Regionals!