Fort Wayne Regionals 2023 - 89th Place
R14: Arceus/Duraludon LL
R1: Rotom VSTAR (1-0-0)
Double bricked game 1, he took the first prize by lost zoning 7 tools to ko my active to fuel his Porygon2 on the bench. I ko the active Rotom VSTAR and he brings up his benched Porygon2 for the return ko. In the process of setting up he benches 2 additional Rotom V which allows me to win the prize trade. Game 2 I set up like normal and win promptly. Path stunted his setup a lot across the 2 sets.
R2: Arceus/Duraludon (1-1-0)
Game 1 I fail to take a prize and scoop. Game 2 we both get down to final prize but he takes the game. Overall a lot of dysfunction although at the end of game 2 I was mounting a comeback. A common theme among these (several) Duraludon games is that I probably should've been focusing on always having a means to getting a path back via ASR Eleki and that probably would've saved me in some situations I was locked down by Collapsed Stadium. I realized this a little too late.
R3: Palkia/Inteleon (2-1-0)
Great set all around, we both played to our outs and it was a very back and forth series. Game 1 he gets an Eiscue set up after I had already taken two prizes, and I had Serena, Boss, and Escape Rope in deck to grab the remaining four on his Palkia VSTAR and two other pokemon. Based on his remaining resources he couldn’t have scooped up enough pokemon to ensure a lone Eiscue board state, and recognizes my Eleki/Cape/Net loop, so he scoops and we go to game 2. Game 2 he gets an Eiscue as early as the second turn, with Cape attached, so I Target Bolt it to try and 2HKO it before it can get to the active. It gets promoted to the active and I devote all my resources to getting the Rope/Boss play, the Palkia he brings to the active gets stuck for a long time, as he used his VSTAR power early on. He attaches 2 water to a Manaphy on the bench in what I assumed was a Thorton play, so I Sonar back Boss and ko it the following turn. He concedes shortly after and we wish each other best of luck on our nest rounds.
R4: LZ Goodra (3-1-0)
The Goodra mu I had long since been anticipating finally arrived. My strong start, combined with his relentless drawing through his deck to power up a Goodra leave him with little resources once he got one powered up. In the meantime, I continuously target bolted his Goodras to force him to use his VSTAR power quicker and be more susceptible to damage in the lategame. That, combined with Path, made it hard for him to get going. Once he had one powered up he had few cards remaining in deck and was faced with constant Blizzard Binds. He concedes and we go to game 2. This game plays out much like it normally should, with Joe establishing 2 fully powered Goodras in short order while I struggle to keep up with his assault. I buy time with Blizzard Bind and gusting to deprive him of resources but I’m slowly losing the battle. Time is called on my turn while I’m using Ordinary Rod while he has 3 prizes left. On turn 3 of time, he has no way of taking his 2 remaining prizes at the same time, so the match win goes to me.
R5-6: Lugia (4-1-1)
The Lugia Trilogy. These sets somewhat blend together but they involve Blizzard Binding and doing Regi things. I snuck away a win in round 5 game 1 and win on time in game 2. In round 6 I lost game 1, won game 2, and didn't have time to finish the third game so we tied. Nothing really of note, but the third Lugia set was much more interesting.
R7: Lugia (5-1-1)
This was a weird set. He takes a 2-prize lead so I consider scooping and going to game 2 but I felt it was too early to call it so I play it out. Later in the game he benches a Lumineon under my Path, so he doesn’t get to use its ability. So, he powers it up with Archeops and KOs my active EVS Eleki. But, instead of shuffling the pokemon into his deck, he places it into his discard pile. We neglect to notice this and I proceed with my turn as normal, taking a KO and getting myself down to 2 prizes. The next turn, he draws and uses Evolution Incense before noticing his mistake. Wanting to get the correct ruling, I call over a judge and a head judge comes over to explain the circumstances. Vincent is subjected to a 2-prize penalty, which awards me the game. He goes first game 2, but I have a strong start which prompts him to concede. A set I thought I had no business of winning completely turned around, and he’s understanding of his error and my judge call.
R8: Arceus/Duraludon (6-1-1)
This round I face a Duraludon player I become quite familiar with. Game 1 he builds his Duraludon vs while I struggle to cope with his Collapsed Stadium, so I scoop and we go to game 2. This game he takes 3 mulligans, which is enough for me to find enough resources to get the turn 2 KO on his lone Arceus. Game 3 I set up extremely well while he fails to find a path counter, and I take out his Duraludon Vs promptly with help from Blizzard Bind. He concedes, and I’m locked in for day 2.
R9: Mew (6-2-1)
I was debating asking for the ID this set, but was convinced to play it out because of how good of a position it would out me in if I won. So I elect to play the match, and my opponent is Michael Pramawat playing Mew. This was an extremely lopsided set, and Michael played everything perfectly. Game 1 he set up an impenetrable board state complete with a Mew VMAX with Big Charm. I try to set up the best I can, but prizing a Regigigas and Hisuian Heavy Ball restricted my options. I have to leave Gigas on the bench for a turn to pull off a Teraspark to get damage on the board, but he bosses up the Gigas and lost zones it, so I scoop. Game 2 I get the turn 1 Path and lock him down turn after turn, getting every Regi on board and massive amounts of energy in the discard in the process. I Heavy Slam his active Mew VMAX after KOing his Oricorio start, and he benches a Mew V. I boss up the Mew V and OHKO it, leaving his heavily damaged VMAX in the active. He scoops and we go to game 3. This game was one of, if not the worst start I’ve had in my history with the deck. Double Regice, double Net, EVS Eleki, Aurora Energy, an Ordinary Rod, and a Path (roughly off the top of my head). He goes first and sets up, while my first turn consists of nothing but Path and Regi Gate for Drago. He bumps the Path immediately and Boss/lost zones the Drago on the bench. I draw, still no supporter, and attempt to Regi Gate for Drago again to try and draw cards. The next turn he uses Escape Rope to lost zone the second Drago, and at that point the game is over. Oh yeah, and I get deck checked immediately after. Sweet.
Day 2:
R10: Lugia (7-2-1)
I hit the once in a lifetime perfect Regis game that made it look like the unquestionable BDIF. I drew into just the right amount of ball search, energies, and draw supporters and never had less than 2 Regis fully set up at all times, including manually powering up an Eleki on the bench. Maybe it was because it was early in the morning but we did have some slip ups, like me forgetting that Dunsparce removed weakness on Stoutland and him (and me) forgetting whether or not he drew a card at the beginning of his turn. Even with the misplays he determines he can’t make it back and scoops. Game 2 was a different degree of crazy. He starts Yveltal and gets a Lugia and Dunsparce on the bench, after a slightly longer amount of time performing his first deck search. I start Regice, drop Path, and start setting up like normal. The next turn he searches but can’t find his Pumpkaboo. Now something’s up. On my turn I misplay and have to wind up attacking into Yveltal with Regice, which honestly helped me out. After a couple more turns of him struggling with a 2 card hand and ASR Eleki now sniping his bench, I say “bro if Vacuum is prized I’ll buy you a hot dog”. Then he reveals his prizes:
He didn’t want that hot dog.
Bro was super chill though, we wished each other luck and moved onto the next round.
R11: Arceus/Flying Pikachu/Tapu Koko (7-3-1)
And coming off one of the most ridiculous sets of my career comes another ridiculous set, but for the wrong reasons. He was playing Flying Pikachu so I already know it’s gonna be rough. I start setting up like normal, but neglect to do a proper prize check during my first search. My next search I realized I had prized both Regigigas AND Hisuian Heavy Ball. The game was a lost cause, so I scoop. Next game I start setting up like normal, and almost had a chance to escape rope his benched Flying Pika V, but I didn’t have the energy on EVS Eleki to do it. He gets the VMAX set up, and I attempt to gather the resources with ASR Eleki to gust it up and OHKO it. But getting Rope, Serena, Gigas, and Belt is an enormous ask, and he figures out what I’m trying to do and sets up another Flying Pikachu V in the meantime. I scoop.
R12: Arceus/Duraludon (7-3-2)
Rematch! The Dura player I clinched my day 2 to made it as well, and since top 8 was out of contention at this point, we were super chill. Game 1 he prizes both Duraludon V but I still manage to fumble this opportunity thanks to Collapsed. Game 2 he had a rough time getting started and I do Regi things. Game 3 both of us had a brickfest starting out, but eventually it was 4 prizes against 4, my assembled board against his 2 fully loaded Duraludon Vs when time was called. Both of us wanted to play it out but the judge sitting next to me wouldn't have it. So unfortunately, it was a tie. Sorry Austin, wish things could've ended better.
R13: Eldegoss Control (8-3-2)
Control. I can't remember specifically what happened in each game but I recognized his general strategy of achieving a lone Flying Pikachu board state. Game 1 I had a cracked start and start swinging with Drago turn 2 and a belted Steel on the bench to OHKO Eldegoss. Unfortunately, the Cape on the second Eldegoss put me 30 damage shy of an OHKO, and he jumps back in the game setting up an unsubtle Flying Pika Thorton play. I dump my hand with the Quick Balls I was stocking up to Dragon's Hoard into some disruption cards and Marnie him. I take enough prizes where his wincon can't be recognized anymore and he scoops to go to game 2. Game 2 starts slower, I ko his Snorlax start and he promotes Eleki with Cape, and to prevent him from getting any resources back I respond with Regirock. Later I'm faced with an important decision as to whether I should ko his active Eldegoss when he had one on the bench with a DTE. I do it, and he doesn't pull off the Thorton play. I took another KO this game by sticking Path to prevent his benched Pidgeot V with a Cape from being shuffled back into the deck. and using Serena to take a free 2 prizes with a belted Eleki. I was wary of his Pidgeot/Thorton loop to remove unwanted pokemon from play, but he had too many pokemon on the bench to fully take advantage of it. I end up using ASR Eleki to grab back resources to put him in a checkmate boardstate (details are fuzzy on this one but I remember I attached Aurora to Eleki and had an attacker ready on the bench), and he scoops. During the set I was mostly aiming to be careful of putting myself in an unwinnable gamestate, and although the details are a little muddy I think I went over all of the strategies.
R14: Arceus/Duraludon (8-4-2)
If you would've told me I'd be hitting as many Duraludons as I did Lugias this weekend I wouldn't believe you. Shoutout to Kevin for being one of the chillest dudes all weekend in one of the most interesting sets I had all weekend. I had a slow start but I successfully tanked a hit from Arceus VSTAR using Regigigas + Cape, so I wasn't at a huge prize deficit. Still, it took a while for me to ko his Arceus, and there were 2 Duraludon Vs waiting for me. However, they were powered up awkwardly, and combined with how fast we were going through our decks, deckout seemed to be the most probable win condition, we pass for a few turns before I draw my Escape Rope as my last card in deck to bring up my benched ASR Eleki, Ordinary Rod 2 pokemon back, and Sonar for another rod. I do this for a few turns until he's at risk of decking out. After I Sonar for a Path to counter Collapsed, he Marnies me into a hand of pokemon. After he KOs my Eleki, I go in with a fully powered up Regigigas to do some damage and take a hit. Unfortunately, he has the Rope and Boss for game on the following turn. The whole first game took about 40 minutes, so the odds of me running it back for a tie were slim. We play it out, and he takes the set. I had never played the mu like that before, and we both agreed it was an exciting set.
R15: Lunatone/Solrock (8-5-2)
My final swiss round of the weekend was against none other than the lone Lunatone/Solrock deck in the room. I never got to play the Regis mirror this weekend, but this was certainly close. Before we started we agreed to forego tying so that one of us would get packs, although that wouldn't end up mattering. As usual with most single-prize MUs, whoever takes the first prize ends up winning. Cape didn't end up mattering because of the boardstate situations I found myself in, and although I was taking kos, I couldn't stop his stream of Lunatones. Even when I thought he didn't have enough resources for the next ko, after what seemed like an endless amount of Trekking Shoes, he scrounges together enough energy to keep up the pressure. I scoop and elect to go first game 2. The second game didn't fare much better. Even with turn 1 Path he still managed to get the first prize, and after a poor Research on my next turn, my last ditch effort is to use his Pokestop to hopefully dump 2 Auroras for the ko. Speed Lightning energy, Quick Ball, Scoop Up Net. I extend my hand to concede.
Props:
DAY 2 BAYBEE
Orange dragon shield mattes W
Not selling to goodra or eiscue
Regidrago playmat
Energy drinks 🙏
Free hot dog (thanks john)
Bad eleki
BEAST western hotel + magic pancake machine
Clutch saturday night culver's
Signing evan cole's metal energy
Backpack bananas
Netdecking
Slops:
Selling to duraludon
Potential tornados
One-way streets
Stadium wars
1 hour of sleep friday night (possible W?)
Deck checks 😡
No headshot photo for twitter
Attack first to win mirror
Netdecking
My second ever regionals was very eventful, I was pretty satisfied with how the list ran (thanks Rahul) and did well against the mus I practiced. I should've played better against Duraludon and thought further ahead to get around Flying Pikachu, but overall my gameplay was solid, and I shouldn't be complaining after getting my first day 2 finish. I was also happy to give my favorite deck a proper sendoff (?). Oh yeah, and bad Eleki was the real good Eleki all along. Who would've thought?
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