Turtle Power

OshaWaterBottle’s 2nd Place Arizona Regionals 2015 Seniors Tournament Report
archie-team-magma-vs-team-aqua-ma-71pokemon-paradijs.com
This Archie, right?

Hey guys, I’m back with another article. This time I’ll be recapping my Arizona Regionals experience, where I managed to place 2nd at with Archie’s Blastoise.

The week leading up to event I was sick and I ended up in the hospital since my medicine was not very effective, so I couldn’t test as much as I would have liked to because of a lack of internet access. I finally got out of the hospital on Wednesday the 30th, so I was cutting it close to the event. Luckily, I was now feeling great so my Regionals dreams lived on.

I thought “the play” was going to be Archie’s Blastoise, but I was worried about the deck giving me trash hands and not having any way to play out of them. On Thursday night, I built a Vespiquen list a few cards off from Dylan Bryan’s and I was liking it a lot. Ultimately, I gave up on it though because of poor Archeops matchups. Yveltal was also an option due to how strong Dark Patch is, but after testing its Night March matchup on Friday night at the hotel, it wasn’t as solid as I would’ve liked.

I then started talking to a friend of mine Christopher Schemanske about what he was going to play, and he told me Archie’s Blastoise with a Victini. I wasn’t really that comfortable with my other two options, so I decided to follow Christopher’s lead at around 11:30 PM Friday night.

This was the list I played:

Pokémon – 15

3 Keldeo-EX

2 Shaymin-EX ROS

2 Jirachi-EX

1 Wailord-EX

2 Blastoise BCR

2 Articuno ROS 17

2 Exeggcute PLF

1 Victini LTR

Trainers – 34

2 Archie’s Ace in the Hole

2 Professor Juniper

1 N

1 Lysandre

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Battle Compressor

4 Ultra Ball

4 Trainers’ Mail

4 Acro Bike

4 Superior Energy Retrieval

1 Muscle Band

1 Float Stone

1 Computer Search

 

1 Rough Seas

Energy – 11

11 W

Pretty close to the original list — I just cut 1 Rough Seas and the Mewtwo-EX for two tech cards: Victini LTR and a 2nd Articuno.

Day 1: Super Saturday

I got to the venue around 8:15, snagged my VIP package and then checked out the vendors. I bought a few Reverse Holo cards for my deck, then waited impatiently for the rosters to be posted.

At around 9:30, the rosters finally went up and there are 80 Seniors! That is the most I’ve ever been a part of for a Regional event, which is probably depressing for those of you living on the East Coast. After a bit, online pairings went up and I found my table.

Round 1 vs. Thomas Y. w/ Sceptile-EX/Ariados AOR/Virizion-EX

Game 1 I set up Archie’s T1 — after having to burn 2 Superior Energy Retrieval in the process — but I don’t miss a beat throughout the whole game and win. Game 2 I whiff all outs to Archie’s so I scoop quickly. Game 3 I get T1 Archie’s and steamroll.

1-0 — That was scary.

Round 2 vs. Matthew P. w/ Yveltal-EX/Darkrai-EX/Seismitoad-EX/Garbodor LTR

Game 1 I get T1 Archie’s then Lysandre his Garbodor and KO it. Laser flips almost lose me the game because of my 3rd Keldeo being prized, but I end up using another Lysandre on a Shaymin and Wailord saves the day with a High Breaching for game. Game 2 I start with Exeggcute, 4 W Energy, Superior Energy Retrieval, and Archie’s. He whiffs the LaserBank for the donk, but all I topdeck is another W Energy, so there isn’t anything I can do to prevent Oblivion Wing from KOing me. Game 3 I get the T1 Archie’s and he cannot keep responding with Yveltal so I take it relatively easy. Articuno also takes 2 Prizes on a Trubbish, which is nice.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Bryan B. w/ Seismitoad-EX/Giratina-EX AOR

james horvath arizona regionals 2015
Rocking my 6P tee.

Game 1 I whiff the Archie’s but he has an awful hand so I don’t get Quaking Punched. I get the Archie’s and take the game within a few turns. Game 2 I get T1 Archie’s but Hypnotoxic Laser Sleep flips combined with Hex Maniac and Silent Lab not letting me Rush In with Keldeo lose me the game. I think Laser kept my 6-Energy Keldeo Asleep for 3 straight turns (6 flips). Game 3 I get T1 Archie’s but I cannot draw into W Energy and he hits Hex Maniac repeatedly so I cannot even Deluge or Rush In.

2-1 — Frustrating loss since I knew I was so close to winning.

Round 4 vs. Nick H. w/ Dark Stuff

Not a very competitive match at all. His deck wasn’t really top tier and I hit T1 Archie’s both games.

3-1 — Relaxing to hit a quick win.

Round 5 vs. Bryan H. w/ Primal Groudon

Game 1 I hit T1 Archie’s and he doesn’t start Wobbuffet or draw into any Supporters, so I take it quickly with Wailord-EX’s High Breaching. Game 2 he starts Wobbuffet but I have the Archie’s combo without having to use any Abilities. He keeps draw/passing and I use Articuno on Wobbuffet and hit a very lucky 3/3 heads on Tri Edge. I am down to 2 Prizes at that point and it is too late for him to come back.

4-1 — I got super lucky that game; I don’t think I flipped one tails.

Round 6 vs. Jared K. w/ Vespiquen AOR/Flareon AOR/Flareon PLF/Wobbuffet PHF

Game 1 he starts Wobbuffet but I hit the T1 Archie’s without Abilties. I eventually Lysandre a Vespiquen with a DCE, then Deluge 3 Energy onto a Keldeo for a KO. He then misplays thinking he has a KO — he uses Level Ball for a Combee instead of an Unown. With 160 damage on my Keldeo, I go for the Articuno Tri Edge play with Victini and hit 2/3 heads after using Victory Star. After that I am too far ahead for him to come back.

Game 2 I get N’d out of my T1 Archie’s and draw a ton of W Energy and nothing else. I try to stall with Chilling Sigh, but it doesn’t work. Game 3 I get T1 Archie’s and he cannot get anything going so I just use Tri Edge three times for game.

5-1! — Now I can ID my last round provided my opponent wants to as well.

Round 7 vs. Micah S. w/ Rayquaza-EX DRX/Eelektrik NVI

ID. We are both 5-1 so drawing guarantees us top cut.

Top 8 hype! I get my deck in order then wait the hour for the final standings to be posted.

senior division top 8 arizona regionals 2015
5th seed. Alright!

I turn in my deck, then the judges tell everyone to return at 8:00 AM the next morning. I then head back to my hotel with my mom.

I am a little bit worried about Top 8, knowing my opponent is playing Hex Maniac in his Yveltal list, but I am happy to hear he does not run Seismitoad-EX. I am really more worried about Top 4 though, since I knew I was almost certainly going to play against the newly-crowned World Champion, Patrick Martinez. He is playing a Sableye DEX/Garbodor LTR deck, which is a iffy matchup for Archie’s. I decide to get some rest after messaging a few friends.

Day 2: Sunday, Fun Day

I get there at around 7:50 AM and wait until the staff finally says, “If you are here for Day 2 of TCG, come on in!” When I get to my table with my deck, the judge tells me that there were no problems with it. He could not say the same to my opponent, however. Turns out my opponent had a marked Darkrai-EX, so I started off the series 1-0 and he had to find another Darkrai-EX to replace it.

Top 8 vs. Connor P. w/ Yveltal-EX/Darkrai-EX

keldeo-ex-boundaries-crossed-bcr-142
7 × 20 + 50 = 1HKO on Darkrai

Game 2 he doesn’t draw much, and I get T1 Archie’s. He makes a little bit of a comeback, but after a while, I get a 6-Energy Keldeo to nab my last Prize. I feel I misplayed a few times that game, like being weird and not putting down the 7th W Energy on my Keldeo to 1HKO a Darkrai-EX for game when I knew the N to 1 was coming. Oh well, I won the game anyway. This is just something I’d like to point out so you can tell me how bad I am.

That game finished in about 15 minutes. I message my friends in excitement about making Top 4, then watch the other Top 8 matches conclude. Patrick won 2-0 as expected, but the 2nd game was very close from what I heard.

Top 4 vs. Patrick M. w/ Sableye DEX/Garbodor LTR

Game 1 I whiff the T1 Archie’s, and he gets the T2 Garbodor. He goes draw/pass one turn, so I decide it’s time to try to get a Blastoise in play. He Lysandres up Blastoise the next turn and it is basically over from that point. I play it out to try to get a feel for his list, but know I am going to lose. Game 2 I get T1 Archie’s and 2 Energy on a Keldeo. He draws then says, “Looks like this will be a quick game.” He passes, I draw and thin out my deck with a Battle Compressor, then play Professor Juniper into my W Energy for game. Game 3 I get T1 Archie’s again, and I hit a Lysandre on Garbodor to KO it. He doesn’t draw much, so I take it quickly.

Well then, I beat the World Champion thanks to some luck. The other Top 4 match is Night March vs. Seismitoad/Giratina. I am fine with either of those matchups, but I would rather face Night March. The Seismitoad player of course won though, so here we go …

Finals vs. Jacob C. w/ Seismitoad-EX/Giratina-EX AOR

live stream arizona regionals 2015 seniors finaltwitch.tv
“Look, Mom — I’m on TV!”

To recap if you do not want to watch the games, I hit T1 Archie’s both games, but I could not draw into my W Energy or Supporters. He also went 4/4 on Super Scoop Up in the first game, which was annoying. I lost 0-2, but it was very fun to play on stream and using the precious double-sided Worlds mat.

That wraps up my Regionals report. I got a lot of cool stuff, including 135 Championship Points and 2 Byes at Nationals which I may attend now.

Shout-Outs

  • Christopher Schemanske for the Victini idea.
  • Kenny Wisdom for the 6P and OTB dice.
  • John D’Alotto for discussing decks and stuff.
  • Michael Stromp for testing the night before and making Day 2 in Masters.
  • Patricia for the well-run tournament! There were little to no issues and Seniors finished by 11:30 AM on Sunday.
  • Israel Sosa for being a boss and winning a 4th Regional.
  • People that I am forgetting.

Thank you for reading my tournament report! I will not be at any more Regionals this fall unless someone wants to sponsor me to get to San Jose. I will be ready for the Cities grind in December; they are always fun events.

See ya next time!

James

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

You are logged out. Register. Log in. Legacy discussion: 14