Retro 2010: Deafen Time

I played in Good Games 2010 retro tournament today, going 2-2, but I had a lot of fun and an overall good day so I am writing about it.

 

Preparation: 

I play the format (my favorite, because I was 12 in 2010) at the shop usually once a week on Thursdays but my current theory for retro is that decks should mostly be time capsules and netdecks in the spirit of celebrating the past. I've tinkered with some of the decks in my box but teching for my own lists doesn't usually result in more fun/interesting games so most of the lists are stagnant. That said, I woke up slightly hungover with a stomachache at like 10:45 for an 11 am start time so I was definitely not changing anything for this tournament. I Uber to the shop because the train won't get me there on time and get there at exactly 11.

 

DialgaChomp, my favorite 2010 deck.

For readers more familiar with standard. this is probably comparable to something like Jellicent Gardevoir, shoving a massive item locker in the active and slowly grinding out the opponent. Taking the last prize or two with Garchomp is also reminiscent of Scream Tail. Anyway I really like playing this deck because tanking is fun and the SP cards are really cool. Deafen!

 

I'm going to include card images in addition to deck sprites for some of these old decks in an effort to provide informative context. 

Also, here's the super cool Heal Combo:

Attach Warp Energy to damaged Dialga and switch it with Garchomp. Use Bronzong's Galactic Switch to move the Warp Energy from Dialga onto Garchomp, placing 2 damage counters on Bronzong.

Level Up Garchomp and use Healing Breath to heal both Dialga and Bronzong, then use PokeTurn to pick up the Garchomp and the Warp Energy. Rebench Garchomp, watch the light disappear from your opponent's eyes. You can do this combo as long as you have more Poke Turns!

The Actual Tournament: 

Round 1

LuxChomp L

My head still hurts which is not good for me and I get paired into a friend who actually plays the format which is also not good for me. Their LuxChomp list has basically no tech or tricks in it in exchange for being very consistent at using Bright Look and Dragon Rush, which are really strong things to do.

 

I go down prizes trading Garchomps and feeding Uxies but am able to build a huge Dialga with an expert belt on 1-4.  Some energy issues on their side means that they've been attacking with Luxray and the 30 damage recoil from Flash Impact has really started to add up, especially after I Power Spray their Garchomp's Healing Breath and run them out of PokeTurns. My Late Snowpoint Temple drop catches them off guard and they don't have a great way to take their last prize since I have held onto 3 of my own PokeTurns and have managed to assemble the heal combo without any liabilities remaning on my board. I Remove Lost the energy off their Luxray and go to 3-1, but for some reason the round clock for this famously slow format was set to 30 minutes and we only get +3 and then winner is determined on prizes. 

I complain a little because I would definitely have won this game with a little more time but this is my friend and I was kind of playing slow because of alcohol so I just sign the slip. Future rounds are either 35 or 40 minutes, don't remember. 

Round 2 CurseGar W

 

My opponent draws a bit slow in this one so after I get Judged from a good hand into a bad hand I'm able to stabilize and build a large Dialga, despite the fact that both my Uxies are chased down with Shadow Room so I'm playing without Uxie Lv X this game. Dialga resists Psychic and it's very hard for Gengar to make progress with Shadow Skip through the Special Metal Energy damage reduction. Usually they try to cheese the big Dialga with Fainting Spell, but my list is pretty good at getting around this with Skuntank and Crobat. My Expert Belt Deafen lock sticks after I dodge Fainting Spell with Crobat's Flash Bite, and the lack of Moonlight Stadium makes it so my opponent starts to have energy problems after manual retreating Spiritomb a few times. I build up the heal combo after the last Judge is played, heal my huge Dialga and take the rest of my prizes with Deafen.

Round 3

SableLock L

 

This one isn't too interesting, my initial draw is kind of weak and then both of my Cyrus are removed from my hand and put on the bottom of the deck with double heads on Initiative. I feed a bunch of prizes while I attach to a Dialga but since my opponent gets to 1 before my Dialga gets in the active I'm not allowed to bench a Garchomp for healing since that will get sniped off the bench by their Garchomp. I ask nicely when they have game if they'll pass back to me so I can PokeTurn my only guy, which they do.

Round 4

Arceus W

This game was recorded, maybe that footage will show up at some point. 

I'm not really sure how to approach this matchup because I'm extremely scared of the Fire Arceus, but after I hit him a few times with Toxicroak we get in a position where my opponent isn't able to use the fire one on my Dialga because he's spread his energy out to avoid being chased down by my Garchomps, and Dialga G Lv X shuts off the text on Arceus Lv X, in addition to preventing him from moving energy using his Arceus Stadium. I get slowed down a bit by the Metal Arceus which is immune to damage/effects from my Lv X, but I chew through this one with Skuntank Poison, then I use Deafen a lot of times in a row until I can Dragon Rush to end the game.

I finish 2-2 for 6th but there's no top cut anyway so whatever. If I played better/faster in Round I might have had a better tournament. Maybe my deck is supposed to have a Judge in it? 

After: 

The group heads to Red Light Chicken for lunch which is a local restaurant that I like. Afterwards I get one of my promo Claydols signed by Whimsicast (who won the tournament) and play a few more games with a friend. 

I learn that Regigigas seems unplayable into CurseGar because my Gigas are constantly dying to Poltergeist, then I win a game with FlyTerra against the Arceus deck where he can't get the right Arceus on the board and I set up healing exodia. Finally I lose a tight game against Kingdra with Gyarados where my active gets KO'd by Spray Splash to dodge Floatzel recovery and I miss a new Gyarados off Judge, I'm not able to clean the board with Scoop Ups and lose to Warp Point. I take the train home and fall asleep in like two seconds when I walk into my room, I've been typing on my computer since I woke up.