Hi there. I share another Pokemon TCG tournament blog with Raging Bolt ex and Solrock.
This is a long post. Read what you want.
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Tournament Event
This tournament was more in the north Toronto area. The store was called Hairy Tarantula. It is a weird name but the large playing area is good. I've played there in the past.
This store has Magic The Gathering TCG items, Warhammer toys, comic books, card supplies and Pokemon cards. It is located north of Lawrence Toronto subway station. It is a ten minute walk from the station.
There are tiers in competition with the Pokemon TCG. From lowest stakes to higher stakes it is:
- Local Casual Tournaments With Best of One Matches
- League Challenge Tournaments (Best of One, Usually Less Than 30 Players)
- League Cup Local Tournaments (Best of One Swiss Rounds Stage 1 with Best of 3 Matches in Elimination Bracket/Top Cut, Less Than 100 Players Usually)
- Regional Tournaments With Best of Three Formats At 1000+ Players
- World Championships (Invite Only After Accumulating A Threshold Amount of Championship Points)
At this Hairy Tarantula place, the tournament fee was 10 CAD. You get one Prize Pack Series 7 upon entry. Here is the prize list.
At the event, you can send in paper decklists or e-mail them your decklist. This option of being able to e-mail your decklist is nice. I can copy and paste my deck from the PTCGL online game client and then e-mail the list to the event organizer.
It turned out that there were 13 Masters Players (ages 18 and up), 2 or 3 Seniors Players and a few Juniors players (ages 12 and under). There were a few parent, child duos playing at this event. This store and tournament caters well with families.
This tournament is setup where everyone regardless of age plays against each other. Those in their specific age division don't play against each other but they need wins to upgrade their standing in their respective division.
Decklist
I play an alternative off-build of Raging Bolt ex. The support engine is Solrock + Lunatone instead of the Noctowl line. This is the same deck as last week's. If last week's deck worked, then why change it was the thinking.
Decklist
Pokémon: 10
1 Latias ex SSP 76
3 Raging Bolt ex TEF 123
2 Lunatone MEG 74
1 Slither Wing PAR 107
3 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 12
1 Iron Leaves ex TEF 25
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
2 Solrock MEG 75
1 Sandy Shocks ex PAR 108
1 Squawkabilly ex PAF 75
Trainer: 15
3 Fighting Gong MEG 116
1 Energy Retrieval SVI 171
1 Prime Catcher TEF 157
1 Night Stretcher SFA 61
1 Pal Pad SVI 182
1 Penny SVI 183
4 Nest Ball SVI 181
2 Boss's Orders SHF 58
2 Iono PAL 185
4 Professor Sada's Vitality PAR 170
1 Super Rod PAL 188
3 Area Zero Underdepths PRE 94
1 Crispin SCR 133
3 Ultra Ball SVI 196
3 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
Energy: 3
3 Basic {L} Energy SVE 4
5 Basic {G} Energy SVE 9
5 Basic {F} Energy SVE 6
Total Cards: 60
Round One Versus Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex
My round one opponent was against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex. I knew the deck as he was kind of showing it as we were waiting the tournament to start.
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I don't want to put too much detail here but I end up losing this one. They say this matchup is favoured for Raging Bolt ex but I dunno.
Maybe back to the drawing board in understanding this one. Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex tend to not take the first knockout. They play more passive and try to do the counterattack win and stall with Froslass, Munkidori, Counter Catcher and Yveltal.
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The Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex does enter the field as it is a liability and vulnerable to Raging Bolt ex. They play the trap and control game instead. For me personally, I really don't like Counter Catcher abuse. People complain about Munkidori, it is more Counter Catcher for me. It enables passive gameplay.
I am 0 wins, 1 loss here. Winning 3 in a row could be okay to possibily get first if I really wanted to. My goal was to test this deck out.
Round Two Versus Joltik Box & Miraidon ex
Last week I have played against Joltik Box against a different player. I did win as the opponent rushed and misplayed. This Joltik Box player did shuffle fast.
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My first turn going first was not great. No Nest Ball, no Ultra Ball, no Fighting Gongs, no secondary Pokemon. I had a bunch of Supporters in hand. I just attach 1 Grass Energy to Teal Mask Ogerpon ex and pass the turn.
This lack of action from me was not great from a setup point of view. However, the opponent was very confused with what potential deck I was playing. He was verbalizing it too. Little did he know of my off build of Raging Bolt ex.
Joltik Box decks like to start second going first and it is an aggressive deck. Iron Hands ex had to be eliminated ASAP before it takes more knockouts with its Amp You Very Much attack. Then Pikachu ex comes in to knock out any 2 Prize Pokemon you have.
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My knockouts had were Iron Hands ex with Teal Mask Ogerpon ex then Pikachu ex with a Slither Wing. Slither Wing was crucial then otherwise I am more likely to lose here.
With my knockout on Pikachu ex with Slither Wing, the opponent did not have energy to setup a third attacker the next turn. He had to stall a bit. I did not win in my next turn but the turn after. I had Prime Catcher and enough Energy to knockout a Miraidon ex with my Raging Bolt ex.
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Round 3 Versus Charizard ex + Terapagos + Noctowl
My round 3 opponent and I get deck checked. In my previous visit at this store a year ago, deck checks were mostly for people who were 2 wins and 0 losses heading into the third and final round. I guess deck checks are random now.
Both of us passed the deck checks. We get 10 minutes added onto the 35 min timer.
My opponent played Charizard ex + Terapagos ex + Noctowl. It may have been this Stuttgart, Germany regionals winning list. This deck was netdecked/copied. I did not know at the time.
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In the early game, Klefki was kind of annoying to deal with. As long as Klefki is in the Active Spot, abilities of Basic Pokemon cannot be used for both players. This Klefki was actually hurting the opponent than me lol.
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As the game went on, I was hitting my knockouts and doing okay. Then near the late game I get hit by an Iono and an unexpected Prime Catcher and a knockout on my Fezandipiti ex.
The next turn was my final turn. I actually threw the game and missed a knockout. The line of play was kind of unusual with a Penny and Sandy Shocks ex.
My round 1 is friends with this round 3 opponent and saw my game. He said I should have brought up the Raging Bolt ex to the Active Spot after the knockout instead of Teal Mask Ogerpon ex. Looking back, the play was actually to use Penny on Sandy Shocks ex not on Teal Mask Ogerpon ex. That way I can pick up the Fighting Energy and get the winning attack.
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I think in Brazilian Jiujitsu (BJJ), there is something that says you either win or you learn. In this case, I did learn.
I am at 1 win and 2 losses here.
Round 4 Versus Gholdengo ex + Mega Lopunny ex
In round 4, I am paired against a Juniors player. He might have been 8 or 9 years old. I later find out that he is the son of my round 2 opponent. When it comes to playing against kids, I don't take it lightly. They have lots of time on their hands.
The deck he played was Gholdengo ex + Mega Lopunny ex. In the early parts of this match, the kid smelled something fishy as he should. He told me after I did my turn one setup that he does not like my deck lol.
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In the early game, I did target down a few Gimmighouls to prevent Gholdengo ex from appearing. Then in the mid game, I start to get some bad draws. His Mega Lopunny ex had a Vitality Band to reach the 240 damage amount.
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I did have an out to win this game. The plan was to bait in a Mega Lopunny ex so I can one hit knockout it with a surprise late game Sandy Shocks ex. I had the chance to do it and get my final 3 Prize cards but I whiffed an Energy in the end. There was a strong feeling by me that I if don't win on this turn, then he wins next turn. I was right.
The kid was saying he was good at this game as I missed my Energy card. I guess the kid was joking. Or taunting. Silly kid.
I did almost win while having bad draws mid to late game. That is something I could be somewhat happy about with how I played.
Post-Tournament
One win and 3 losses is not great but I did not go last! Short summary.
- Round 1: Back to the drawing board and study Marnie Grimmsnarl ex matches.
- Round 2: I played well against Joltik Box. Bad luck early game reversed later in game.
- Round 3: Missed an unusual line of play late game and missed winning knockout.
- Round 4: I did what I could but got unlucky near the end.
Round 1 & 3 opponents were friends. Round 2 and 4 were father and son respectively. What are the chances?
If I got 2 wins and 2 losses, there was a good chance of making top 8 and get some prizing. Oh well.
I should consider coming back to this Hairy Tarantula store more often. Their play area is nice as there is a good amount of space. At the main store I go to, no one wants to sit near the wall and it is hard to get through tables.
For my deck, I do think some changes need to be made. I still stick with the Solrock and Lunatone engine but tinker with some energy counts and some supporters. I use Pokecabook for Japanese deck list ideas. Some of these Japan decklists are cool and they ain't afraid to explore stuff.
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What made up for the losses was getting a Stamped version of Latias ex. I have 2 regular Latias ex so a third is not needed but nice to have for playtesting. This Latias ex could be good for selling or trading to some guy obsessed with playing with Stamped cards.
Overall, I had a great time here. The level of decks and competition is higher than last week and the vibes here are friendly. They do have league Challenge events every month. The main store I go to does not have regular League Challenges. I would rotate between stores possibly.