Splashing Regionals with Keldeo and Kyogre – Or a Tempest in a Teapot?

Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svgen.wikipedia.orgI’m no man of big words, so as this being my first article, I simply want to introduce myself. I am a Masters player in Switzerland and have been playing the game for about one year without any tournaments or even regards to Modified format.

However… my first tournament was in May last year as I went to our Nationals with a Donphan/Dragons deck where I went 1-5 in Swiss, winning my first match and losing all the following. A few weeks later I got my first Victory Cup with a 2nd place finish in a Battle Road – this fall I repeated that after going X-0 in Swiss.

So, no big achievements or anything to rely on, however I hope you can still enjoy this report and maybe get some additional input. At the beginning of this past December I went to a Regional in Lausanne, Switzerland. I had the following list with me:

Pokémon – 14

4 Squirtle BCR
1 Wartortle BCR
3 Blastoise BCR
3 Keldeo-EX
1 Kyurem NVI
1 Mewtwo-EX NXD
1 Kyogre EX

Trainers – 33

4 Professor Juniper

4 N
3 Bianca

3 Skyla

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

3 Rare Candy

3 Ultra Ball

3 Super Scoop Up

2 Energy Retrieval
1 Super Rod

1 Computer Search

 

2 Tropical Beach

Energy – 13

13 W

Card Explanations

kyogre-dark-explorers-dex-26pokemon-paradijs.com
Scrapping Tools? No, Splash them away.

You may wonder about the presence of Kyogre EX and the lack of Tool Scrapper – well, here is why:

The format was different over here before. We had BLW – DEX and then went directly to BLW – BCR, thus no RayEels, no Garbodor, no Darkrai/Hydreigon, no Garchomp (well, not that this one really mattered). This means I simply had little idea what to expect and had to be prepared for anything.

However, at Battle Roads there was almost no talk about Garbodor and it didn’t win much anywhere, so I didn’t expect to see it.

Thus, the night before the tournament, I was going through my binder of cards and saw Kyogre EX. Double snipe of 50…? Why not. I removed the Tool Scrapper and inserted the Kyogre EX instead. Eviolite didn’t really bother me, since I could 2-shot or even 1HKO everything else with Keldeo and enough Energy anyway.

Otherwise, the list is fairly standard; with 3 Skyla and 2 Beaches and 11 draw Supporters I wanted to ensure to never draw dead in the game.

Small tidbit: There was only one match where I didn’t get a Tropical Beach during my first turn, so in most games, setup went smoothly.

Off to the tournament I go, trying to see what will be played – amongst those I’m friends with, there were RayEels, Darkrai/Hydreigon, Blastoise/Keldeo… So I felt good about dropping the Tool Scrapper. However, there were people coming from Germany and France, where I had no idea what they were playing, so I was bound to get surprised.

Though I’m not good with names, here’s my report – there might be some minor errors, as I didn’t take any notes, but I’m doing my best to be as accurate as possible.

Round 1 vs. Petra w/ Garbodor DRX/Durant NVI/Terrakion NVI

durant-noble-victories-nvi-83pokemon-paradijs.com
That ant? Still here?

I win the flip starting Kyogre EX and Squirtle and she flips her cards showing… Terrakion and Trubbish. My first thought was “damn,” as Garbodor shuts down my whole deck.

I get a fairly good start, though I have to live with manual attachments as I don’t get Blastoise out before she gets her first Garbodor with Rescue Scarf. However, my mood drops further once she attaches her first non-F Energy: Metal.

I soon had my suspicions confirmed as she plays down a Durant the next turn. After a few turns and a Splash Turn for 30 on the Terrakion and promoting a Keldeo this way, I finally get a Catcher + Secret Sword for the knockout on the Garbodor.

This one turn gave me enough time to power up another Keldeo, retreat to Kyogre and Dual Splash on the new Trubbish and a Terrakion. Next turn I get a double KO, though she can revenge kill Kyogre with a Retaliate from another Bull.

Promoting the Keldeo, I thought I would easily win – however, she put down another Trubbish and with me whiffing on the Catcher, I know that I won’t stand a chance if she Catchers my Blastoise and sets up Garbotoxin (since she had gotten 4 Durants in the meantime).

Next turn, she plays a Town Map and reveals a Garbodor and Super Rod in her 4 Prizes – which I believe won me the game.

Card of the Match: Kyogre EX for setting up a KO and killing Garbodor and Terrakion in one turn.

1-0

Round 2 vs. Robin w/ Darkrai/Hydreigon

617px-Shaymin_Sky_Forme_AdventuresBulbapediaWe get a fairly even setup, though he is slightly faster as I whiff on a Supporter on my 2nd and 3rd turn, however I still get a Prize lead in the beginning. Once I’m down to 3 Prizes (he had 4 left), I have 2 Keldeos (one with three Energy, one without Energy), and a Mewtwo. He plays Shaymin EX to kill my 3-Energy Keldeo.

I promote Mewtwo with my hand consisting of one Energy, a Juniper, a Catcher, and some useless stuff and I had a tough decision to make. I go the “safe” route, attach to Mewtwo, Catcher a Deino with an Energy attached, play the Juniper, and get 2 Energies.

If I knew that I’d draw the Energies, I’d have killed the Shaymin with the Keldeo. I thought, well, go for the 60 X Ball and then for the Shaymin the next turn. What completely eluded me, was the fact that he only had 2 Prizes left – I somehow thought it was three.

It came to an end the way it had to: Catcher for the benched Keldeo, Revenge Blast, game over. Lesson learnt: Keep an eye on all aspects of the game state.

Card of the Match: Shaymin EX, 4 Prizes within 2 turns.

1-1

Round 3 vs. ??? with Terrakion NVI/Terrakion-EX/Garbodor DRX

garbodor dragons exalted drx 54pokemon-paradijs.com
Garbodor DRX – the returning nemesis.

He flips his cards: a Terrakion and a Trubbish. My first thought: “Oh no, not again.” However, I was lucky enough to start with Kyogre EX, getting a Tropical Beach out on turn 1, and Blastoise on turn 2.

By Dual Splashing for three turns, I KO’d the Garbodor he had in the meantime, put 100 on the Terrakion-EX, 50 on each regular Terrakion… and there just wasn’t much he could do afterward.

Though he killed Kyogre with a Retaliate and a Land Crush, I was down to 2 Prizes the following turn by finishing his EX with a Keldeo and with him having 3 Energies left on the field on his Active Terrakion.

Card of the Match: Kyogre EX. Getting rid of that trash bag on the Bench and setting up the rest for a 3-Energy Keldeo.

2-1

Round 4 vs. Vanessa with Eels/Tornadus EX/???

I had the (almost) perfect opening hand. Tropical Beach, Computer Search, Rare Candy, Ultra Ball, Kyogre EX, Squirtle and a W Energy. However she wins the flip starting Emolga DRX and Ns me.

Not too bad though, as I draw almost equally well, just with a second Squirtle in Hand, a Skyla for Tropical Beach and a Juniper for the second turn. From there on, she doesn’t get any Supporters and uses CFF for Tornadus and yet another Tynamo, though this is just another free Prize lying on the Bench for Dual Splash.

Shortly after, that’s the 6-0 game for me, with Keldeo Catcher-finishing her Tornadus she had on the Bench.

Card of the Match: Kyogre EX as it won me the whole game almost single-handedly by denying any Tynamo.

3-1

Round 5 vs. Patrick with RayEels

raikou-ex-dark-explorers-dex-105pokemon-paradijs.com
Sniping? Sooo overrated.

Patrick was head judge at Nationals, and we regularly meet at tournaments and he’s one of my best Pokéfriends. I knew what I will have to face and how to win this matchup, but made one terrible mistake.

I forgot Kyogre’s Weakness.

I started with it, and started spreading damage, watching for his Rayquazas. He was smart enough not to play down any Tynamo, and I continued spreading – without realizing his Raikou-EX. I knew it does 100 and can target anything.

I simply didn’t think of the Weakness, since almost everything in the deck is Weak to Grass. However, he 1-shots my Kyogre as soon as he got the switch, which was one turn early since it was at 30 HP left. It went downhill from there, as he then started the Eelektrik engine – I just couldn’t keep up catchering Eels or crushing his Rayquaza EX fast enough.

Trading prizes with Rayquazas, Keldos, Mewtwo and some SSU shenanigans, it comes down to a situation where going into his turn, we both have 2 Prizes left. I have a Keldeo with enough Energies and a Pokémon Catcher in my hand to pick off my last 2 Prizes, while he has a Rayquaza with 1 Fire, 2 Eelektriks and something with 1 Retreat Cost active.

14 cards in his the deck, and he needs either: Switch + Lightning or Skyarrow Bridge + Lightning. He Ultra Balls to scout the deck, and reveals he has 2-of each and the comp Search should he get one part of the combo. 2 Dynamotors to Rayquaza and Juniper. Lightning + Skyarrow. Game.

This was by far the closest match I played that day, and it was real fun playing against him, though the outcome was not to my liking.

Cards of the Match: Kyogre EX and Raikou-EX. Simply put, it was these two cards that decided the game. Kyogre, on one hand, prevented any Tynamos from entering the field and thus made the most important part of his deck useless, whereas Raikou on the other hand was his only opportunity to come back into the game.

3-2

Round 6 vs. Stephane with Garbodor/Beartic EPO 30/Mewtwo EX

pokemon-catcher-dark-explorers-dex-111pokemon-paradijs.comI really like the concept of the deck, since it can lock many things once it is set up. Garbodor blocking Eelektriks, free retreat from Darkrais (thus blocking from attacking without discarding Energies for retreat), blocking Keldeos from attacking with Rush In… However, I was fast enough not to let him do anything.

Whenever he placed a Trubbish, I had a Catcher in hand. With 4 Catchers in 5 turns, there were 4 Trubbish gone resulting in 4 Prizes for me. The rest was just playing to the end.

Card of the Match: Catcher. It saved me from the trouble Garbodor eventually could have brought to me, as Kyogre was nowhere to be seen.

4-2

Overall, there were 33 Masters with a Top 8 Cut – which I didn’t come in due to bad resistance as I ranked 10th; whereas 3 out of 6 players (iirc) with a 4-2 record got in. However, in the 3 Prize boosters, there was a Dark Trance Hydreigon and a Registeel-EX. Not too bad.

Reflections

So for last, as this is supposed to be slightly more than a report only, I’m looking back at the decklist and what I would change. Though Kyogre EX did win me some games and is not a bad card overall, I think it just doesn’t make the cut entirely.

keldeo-boundaries-crossed-47trollandtoad.com

Double 50 is good, but just not quite good enough. In the state of the game with the numbers that close, imagine 60 + 60 snipe:

Deino-KO, Squirtle-kill, setting a Keldeo or Mewtwo to 120 making it possible to Secret Sword with 3 Energies only, hitting two Eelektriks with 60 just to knock them both out the next turn with Kyurem NVI, etc…

However, it is what it is, and 50 is just a tad too low, but still leaves the card somewhat playable.

What else to change? As mentioned above, I think about removing Kyogre and definitely Kyurem, adding in a second Mewtwo and Hydro Pump Keldeo, as well as toying around with the SSU/Max Potion/Energy Retrieval count and probably reducing the Ns to two for a 4th Bianca and a Cilan. Testing and time will tell.

One last thing about the deck: If you want to play this, I’d highly recommend to run 2 Tropical Beach. It makes it so much easier to get set up together with Skyla, and can be used as a counter against SABs or Aspertia.

The Good

  • My first Regionals.
  • Getting an EX and a Hydreigon out of 3 boosters.
  • The TO lending me a Tropical Beach.

The Bad

  • Bubbling with 4-2.
  • My friend and main play-testing partner going 2-4 with a Darkrai/Hydreigon.
  • The location. Though it worked in terms of seats and participants, the stuffy air and quite crowded place wasn’t very convenient.

The Ugly

  • Miscounting opponents’ Prizes.
  • A player marking his 3 Hydreigon by bending the cards. Fortunately, this was uncovered, and he received a game loss (only?).

Reader Interactions

3 replies

  1. Andy Pandy Poodle Kay

    I don’t like this list very much. You should be playing more energy retrieval, and I don’t think Kyogre does anything for you. If you can actually get a t2 blastoise and 3 energy on a kyogre vs RayEels, then you are simply drawing the nuts. Also, wartotle isn’t neccessary. I’d cut it for a 4th candy.

  2. Micah Smyth

    Thank you! I’ve been playing kyogre in my keldeo deck since keldeo came out. The fools laughed at the whale as he killed them. It’s nice to see someone else playing it.

  3. theo Seeds

    I really like Kyogre, but I don’t think now is the time for it to work. JR2 played it to deal with Oddish, there is no Oddish now.

    If it were double 60 snipe, it wouldn’t be able to kill 2 Squirtles unless you had some way to block the Ability (i.e. Garbodor).

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