Nevada 3rd Place States Report with… Troll?

Hello all and welcome to yet another tournament report. How original right? Luckily for you guys I’ll be discussing a deck that is not widely known outside of the southwestern United States.

Now just to set things straight from the start; I won’t be providing a list for the deck, but I will try to be as detailed as possible in my report. This should help you get a general feel for the deck and hopefully help inspire your own skeleton list.

The main attackers in the deck are Tyrogue HS, Tornadus EPO, and Terrakion NVI. The theory behind the deck is to get as many cheap KOs as possible with the use of Catcher, PlusPower, or Rocky Helmet; without giving away cheap prizes to your opponent with the use of Super Scoop Up and high HP Basics.

Right now you may be questioning the credibility of this deck, but I assure you it is a solid contender. This deck was originally conceived by a player from California by the name of Alfred Han and was later picked up by local players, most notably Matt Souerbry, Mark Garcia, and Edmund Kuras (current #1 in North America), all former Worlds Qualifiers.

This deck went on to win multiple Cities in California. Most recently this deck was piloted to a first place finish by Edmund Kuras at California States, and took 3 of the top 8 spots at Nevada.

Ok that’s enough blabbering on the validity of the deck, let’s move on to some of its features. The deck runs only Fighting and Double Colorless Energy, and runs no energy acceleration. The deck also utilizes Mewtwo EX and Bouffalant BLW 91 as back up attackers.

With the formalities out of the way, let’s finally get to the tournament report.

Player Meeting

It is announced that there are 118 Masters, and due to the venue we will be flighted and will have to cut a round. So, we would only be playing 6 rounds of Swiss meaning a lot of the x-2’s would not make cut… crap.

Round 1 vs ???? w/ CMT

For the life of me I cannot remember who I faced in round 1 or what the match was like; all I remember is that I won. What a great way to start the report, huh?

1-0

Round 2 vs Nick w/ Zek/Eel

I go second, but he starts off pretty bad. He does not hit Collector for the first couple of turns, so he manually powers up a Zekrom. Meanwhile I get a turn 2 Gaia Hammer on his Zekrom with Landorus and eliminate all his energy in play. He tries to kill my Landorus with Mewtwo, but he whiffs on the Switch to send out his Mewtwo.

I Catcher his Mewtwo and kill it with mine for 2 Prizes. He finally sets up Eels and kills my Mewtwo. I respond with my second Mewtwo. And after that the game is pretty much over.

2-0

Round 3 vs Dustin Collins w/ Mew Prime/Vanilluxe NVI

pokemon-paradijs.comDustin is a fellow player from California who has been playing Vanilluxe since Cities, and what’s most frightening is that he consistently top cuts with it. I manage to start Tyrogue and I Catcher kill his first Oddish. He uses Collector and only grabs one Oddish, meaning his 3rd one is prized.

He benches it and passes. Luckily I have the Catcher to Knock it Out. From there the game becomes one-sided. Without Plume he can’t establish the paralysis lock and I win.

3-0

Round 4 vs Mark Garcia w/ CMT

Another fellow player from California and a damn good one as well. He won Arizona states 2 weeks prior. All I remember is him trying to kill my Pokémon, but I kept scooping them up. And I kept taking cheap prizes off Celebis and Smeargle.

We get called into time at 2-2 Prizes he is at turn 2 and manages to power up a Mewtwo with 5 energy to Knock Out my Terrakion with 2 energy. At 1-2 Prizes I got N’d into a terrible hand and couldn’t get a revenge KO on the Mewtwo. I lose on time.

3-1

Round 5 vs. ???? w/ Eel Techs

He goes first and starts Audino EPO and Powerful Slaps my lone Tornadus for 80. I use Lost Remover on his DCE and Super Scoop Up my Tornadus, nullifying his turn 1. I take cheap KOs on Tynamos with Tyrogue and rid his field of all Eels. Mid-game I sweep with Mewtwo.

4-1

Round 6 vs. Brandon Jones w/CMT

pokemon-paradijs.comThis becomes a very fast paced game. I go first and start setting up KOs with Tyrogue by using Catcher and doing 30 damage on Tornadus. He kills my Tyrogue, but turn 2 I kill a Celebi. We continue the prize exchange until the game is at 2-2 Prizes.

He eventually promotes Mewtwo EX loaded with energy and N’s me to prevent me from getting the revenge KO. Off the N I top deck a Shaymin UL and Mewtwo EX for the win. Even I have to admit that I luck sacked that game.

5-1

Top Cut

Standings are announced and I am seeded 3rd. After a quick food break we are back and ready for top cut.

Top 16 vs Doug Hopkins w/ CMT

Game 1

We start off the regular prize exchange and I end up taking the lead with the usual combo of Rocky Helmets and Super Scoop Ups. In the final moments of the game he has a Mewtwo EX active and I use Scoop Up to pick up a Tornadus with a DCE and attach it to my own Mewtwo EX, and proceed to X Ball for the game.

1-0

Game 2

pokemon-paradijs.comIt pretty much goes the same way. We are at 1-2 Prizes in his favor, and he has a benched Mewtwo with 1 energy. I count my resources and I should have exactly 1 Shaymin, 1 Mewtwo EX, 1 Pokémon Catcher, and 1 DCE left in deck and I have 5 cards left in deck. I Juniper my entire hand and… die a little inside because my Catcher is prized. I lose by deck out.

1-1

Game 3

Sudden death, 1-1 Prizes. We flip and he goes first. He starts Celebi and benches Mewtwo. I start Terrakion. He draws crap. My turn I manage to bench Tornadus and Scoop Up Terrakion, but I don’t have Energy so I pass. He plays N… fml. It turns into a several turn sudden death.

We draw pass until finally I top deck Juniper and begin attaching energy. He powers up Mewtwo and retreats Celebi, but is ten damage shy of Knocking Out my Tornadus. Next turn I use a Supporter and draw into the Catcher and energy for the win. An awesome game all around.

2-1

Top 8 vs Dustin Collins w/ Mew Prime/Vanilluxe NVI

I once again have to face Dustin and his Vanilluxe deck. My only hope in this match up is to out speed him; we setup and begin.

Game 1

I go first and start Tyrogue. I attack the first couple ofturns with the mischievous little baby and manage to pick off his Oddishes. He manages to setup Vileplume when we are at 4-6 Prizes but he can’t seem to hit energy. He can never fully setup and I win.

1-0

Game 2

pokemon-paradijs.com

Tyrogue stays asleep for 5 turns in a row allowing him to setup. He tricks me into promoting a Mewtwo and takes the last 2 Prizes. Once Vileplume UD and Kingdra Prime are out, the game it becomes pretty one-sided.

1-1

Game 3

I’m scared to attack with Tyrogue; so I opt to go aggro Mewtwo and pick off his Oddishes with X Ball. He ends up having his 3rd Oddish prized, so the game becomes pretty one-sided in my favor. He had terrible hands against me; sorry Dustin.

2-1

Top 4 vs. Mark Garcia w/ CMT

Here we are, 5 rounds and several hours later, and I am once again facing the only person to beat me in Swiss. Even though he goes on to beat me again I have no hard feelings; I know he’s a good player and more importantly he’s someone I consider a friend… bromance at its best!

Game 1

He goes first and I get a terrible start, in 5 turns I hit no energy. I survive off Tyrogue by setting up future KOs on Tornadi (what’s the plural form of Tornadus?) by using Mischievous Punch. He attempts to do the same, but I get lucky enough to hit 2 heads off Super Scoop Up and pick up my damaged Tornadi.

This buys me enough time to get energy on board, then I begin to take cheap prizes while he has to two shot Everything on my field. I take Game 1.

1-0

Game 2

This game went exactly like Game 1, however he uses a late game N when I’m up on prizes and he is forced to go aggro Mewtwo. The N hurt me a lot; he manages to take the last 2 Prizes with Mewtwo while I’m left with no way of Revenge KOing the Mewtwo for the win. He takes Game 2.

1-1

Game 3

This one ends pretty much the same way. We get called into time tied at 2-2 Prizes, our three turns are up, and he takes the sudden death prize.

1-2

This ends my States run. I’m not disappointed at all; each of the games I played against Mark were extremely close and could’ve gone either way. It all came down to who top decked better off the N, something I’m pretty sure you are all familiar with.

Now that I’m done with the report, let me enlighten you all with some matchups and tricks behind the deck.

Matchups

vs CMT – 55/45

This matchup is actually a lot closer, maybe even 50/50 when you factor in N. Without N, it’s a matchup you should win most of the time. Your best friends in this matchup are Rocky Helmet, PlusPower, and Super Scoop Up.

Rocky Helmet helps kill opposing Tornadi with a single plus power or a Bouffalant’s revenge. If you cannot 1-shot an opposing Tornadus there is always the option to Catcher Celebis. It’s harder for them to 1-shot Tornadi, allowing you to take full advantage of Super Scoop Up.

vs Zekrom/Eels – 60/40

pokemon-paradijs.comTyrogue and Terrakion are your go to guys in this matchup. A turn 1 Mischievous Punch on a baby eel is often times crippling. If they do manage to setup, Bouffalant and Terrakion 1-shot everything in their deck, with the exception of Zapdos NXD, which hasn’t seen much play.

vs Durant – 45/55

I was fortunate enough to not run into any Durants. There are two possible strategies against thisdeck. You can start Landorus and turn 1, Harvest, and sweep from there, or turn 2 Hurricane and Catcher around Durants to guarantee the 1 shot. Other than that, it’s not a matchup I would be happy to play.

I hope this helped you all better understand the deck known as Troll and I wish you all the best of luck at Regionals.

Now for the obligatory Props and Slops section…

Props

• 3rd Place
• Fellow teammate Kenny Britton top 8’ing with the exact same list
• Overall a good time

Slops

• Teammate Andrew Knack missing the event due to unforeseen circumstances. :(
• Teammate Edmund Kuras scrubbing out at the event and losing his number 1 NA rank.
• Teammates Ruben Cisca and Kristy Britton for also scrubbing out. :(