I went to a friend's house today to play in a BST-PAF retro tournament. This format is from right before I started playing, so I asked my wise elders for help preparing. Blitzle sent me a couple lists from mickeys as well as an hour long YouTube video guide. I watched the video two times and decided to play the Radiant Charizard version because I wanted to have a prize taker and finishing the game with Chi-Yu is decent in Bo1.
Quick Search
The original list had two Pokegears and a VIP pass seeming to lean into slamming a t1 Arven, but I cut those for second Rotom, another Blocklax, and an echoing horn because I like that card. I didn't know whether to expect Mew or not so I left the Spiritomb/Giacomo package alone.
I put out some requests for cards but no one could get me a Sidney so I went to FedEx at noon and printed off some proxies, including full art Supporters for the old ones before my time. Somehow I managed to be outside during like a 20 minute torrential downpour, so I was stuck with my rain jacket for the rest of the day because I had to go straight from printing to catch my train. I get off at Damen and walk to the house, trailing silently behind one of my friends for a few blocks. Host welcomes us and we wait for everyone else to arrive. We end up with 14 people and 4 rounds, with very exciting signed(!) Larry cards for the top 4 finishers.
Round 1
Torterra W
Wasn't really sure how to play this matchup but my opponent donates a lot of information during the game. I learned that the Torterra doesn't do a threatening amount of damage with Evopress without a wide bench, but there isn't enough energy to support this wide bench, so it's very awkward to manage their board. After attempting to scam me with an Iono to 6 (my pre Iono hand was insanely loaded, but the next hand has Candy Pidgeot raw so I will not complain) the squad they try to go with is 2 Torterras and a Beautifly for draw power. Luckily for me only swinging for 150 means I can sit there and Penny loop my Luxray while I Fang Snipe looking for super rods. At one point I take a turn to Giacomo two Reversal energies off the board - this more or less ruins the energy situation and lets me go into gust blank turtle + Chi-Yu. A third Turtwig ends up in the hand then on the bench and there just isn't enough energy to support attackers while I continue milling away cards with fire fish. My opponent concedes and I'm 1-0!
Round 2
LZB W
My opponent flips over a Manaphy into my Snorlax and has to spend a couple switches on Comfeys to play the game. He ends up with 3 flowers which seems like too many. I'm a bit hesitant to go into the Luxray because I'm pretty happy sitting behind my Snorlax building my hand with Quick Search and Instant Charge, but eventually I charm my guy up and start Fang Sniping. They try to slow me down by gusting my Snorlax back into the active which is admittedly annoying, but I've managed to ruin their board with Erika, putting a Sableye on the board instead of the Raikou or Iron Hands that I'm much more afraid of. A few lost mines 120s go on Pidgeot and get swiftly Cheryl healed away, then Pal Pad gets me another use of Cheryl and they decide this isn't going to work. I continue chipping away at their deck count with Miss Fortune Sisters and Luxray every other turn to check if they've drawn a rod or gate. Eventually they aren't able to keep their deck size above two so I Chi-Yu their last two cards and end the game.
Round 3
LZ Tina L
I watched the section of the guide on Lost Tina multiple times and still don't really understand the matchup, but it doesn't really matter because Path to the Peak is dropped frame 1 and I'm never able to bump it the entire game, smile. This is especially tragic because my opponent's approach only involves a single Giratina V Star using Lost Impact/Star Requiem on whatever is in the active, so if I ever bumped the Path and play the game my Radzard is going to be a huge problem. One of my Stormy Mountains is prized but I still have 4 Arvens, my FSS, and the other 3 stadiums in the deck but I just don't find any of them. I flail around doing nothing with my dead hand for a bit and we do get to a weird board at the end after my opponent graciously lets me rewind and put a Bravery Charm on my Mimikyu to avoid just losing the game to Cramorant (which I did think about but then forgot to actually attach the charm.) Unfortunately I still don't have any playable cards because of the Path and I get Bossed for game, which apparently is and has always been the best play in the Pokemon TCG.
Round 4
Entei Valiant
My opponent wins the flip and chooses second, which confuses me because I thought this was a donk deck. I open Snorlax again and get down a Pidgey but don't have a Bravery Charm so I pass the turn and clench hoping my baby bird lives. They churn through a bunch of cards but only find 2 switch pings so on my turn I get to Candy Pidgeot and play the game. I shove a few Snorlaxes trying to get them to go to 4 while I build a massive hand, and they oblige me. After they take out the second Snorlax I ultra ball away the fire energy in my hand and string together the Radiant Charizard DTE Magma Basin combo using their stadium. They have no great response to this because my bench is too thin so I switch cart and take another two. With no danger to my Pidgeot and an unused FSS there isn't much they can do besides take another knockout and walk back into the Radzard for my last two prizes.
There wasn't a single Gardevoir, Mew, or Charizard in the room which is a bit disappointing because those are pretty good matchups for Pidgeot, but that's okay. Maybe next time I'll figure out how to hate tech this Lost Tina matchup or just draw better. This deck is really fun! I end up in second off resistance and get my signed Larry cards for a decklist photo.
Post Tournament Activities:
A friend offers to drive if I'll go to a new Indonesian restaurant Garuda with them, so I hop in the car and ride up to Argyle. We arrive before they open so we pivot to loitering in a Miniso for 20 minutes. We head back to the restaurant at 4:30 and order two of the same recommended item -Rendang Fried Rice. I initially tried to order something else (Indonesia Mie Ayam Bowl) but they were out of it 10 minutes after opening? Anyway the meal was delicious, it reminded me of when I intentionally burn my fried rice but way better, with a lot more cumin.
Yihao asked for pictures but I don't photograph my food normally so I ripped these from the restaurant webpage. Left Fried Rice, Right Mie Ayam Bowl.
I had initially planned to get my long overdue haircut tomorrow, but since I was already up at Argyle I managed to sneak in for my barber's last haircut of the day while he watched the World Cup game (a mess). Afterward I head to the nearby grocery store and pick up a refill on cooking wine, some Bok Choy and Gai Lan, and some frozen steamed buns before catching a train home so I can write about my day. Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment