Hello there. I share my third in-person local Pokemon Trading card game report. This was in Toronto.
I started playing around Paldea Evolved so around six/seven months. Most of my games are online and with a regular practice partner/sibling. I did not start playing in-person until late December 2023.
Topics
- The Venue
- Prizing
- More People Than Usual Appeared
- My Gholdengo ex Deck
- Three Rounds Best of One With Close Games
- Results & Prizes
- Bonus Game
The Venue
I went to the same store for this third local tournament as I did in the second local tournament. The Sunday schedule fits my availability and there is free entry. It is a bit far as it is in the Toronto area but I go to Toronto as a Sunday day trip plus shop around. The place is called A & C Games.
Prizing
In the second tournament there were 7 people and we all got free promo cards. This time around not so much. The prizing was still the same. This tournament was 3 rounds
The prizing structure was as follows.
- 3-0 (3 wins & no losses) gave you 3 Play! Pokémon Prize Pack Series Three (TCG) packs.
- 2-1 (2 wins & 1 loss) gave you 2 Play! Pokémon Prize Pack Series Three (TCG) packs.
- 1-2 (1 win and 2 losses) 1 pack of Play! Pokémon Prize Pack Series Three (TCG)
A best of one round win got you a free pack.
More People Than Usual Appeared
I went to the second tournament two weeks ago on January 7, 2024. In this one on January 21, 2024 there were more than 8 players. There might have been 12 or 13 players here. It was mostly guys with 1 girl. I kinda got nervous seeing more than 8 people at the venue.
I thought it would be 4 rounds but it was three rounds in a best of one Swiss format. You would play someone with the same wins and losses record as you in each round.
My Gholdengo ex Deck
For my deck I played Gholdengo ex again. Instead of having Scizor as the backup attacker I went with the trending build that has Origin Forme Palkia VStar.
Image from here.
Origin Forme Palkia VStar is a great attacker for the early game and helps with saving energy card resources for Gholdengo ex's Make It Rain attack.
The decklist was something similar to one of these from the Japanese website Pokecabook without the Battle VIP Passes and Cross Switchers along with a few card variations.
Screenshot of decklist with card pictures below.
Three Rounds Best of One With Close Games
As there were more people this time around I expected some tough games. Although I was confident in my deck and in my own abilities I expected tough games.
Round One - The Charizard ex Guy Again For Third Time
The store associate and organizer read out the match pairings. As both our names were called we laughed out loud in disbelief. We play each other again for the third time. I was 2-0 against him.
I used Pokestop on the first turn hoping to get items and at least some Nest Balls to start. A Radiant Greninja got discarded. I thought to myself Aw man.. It was not a great start and this round would be kind of tough.
When it come to details I don't remember exactly. I do remember hitting a 50 HP Pidgey with Gholdengo ex along with Boss's Orders. I had to two hit the opponent's Charizard ex with a Origin Forme Palkia VStar and with a Gholdengo ex. The next knockout was on his Radiant Charizard. After that I think he ran of Fire Energy and Super Rods to set up the next Charizard ex. He conceded the game.
This first game was not easy. I am at 1 win and 0 losses.
Round Two - Mew VMAX with Fusion Strike Energy
I kind of arrived late to round two as I had to take a quick washroom break. The round two opponent was a Mew VMAX player with both Fusion strike energy and Double Turbo Energy.
I removed Path to The Peak in a few turns after he placed it. After the removal of that Stadium I was able to attack well against him. A combination of my Origin Forme Palkia VStar & Boss's Orders knocked out his Genesect V giving me two prizes.
The details after were fuzzy. I think I hit a Mew VMAX with Origin Forme Palkia VStar for something like 180 damage and finished it off with Gholdengo ex. He had two prize cards left to my one prize card left.
This round was nearing the end of 30 minutes. I wanted the play to be somewhat faster. Time was called so I won the tie but the organizer was okay with one extra turn starting with my opponent. My opponent could not knock me out or go for the win. On my extra turn I had 2 Superior Energy Retrieval in hand and at least 7 Basic Energies in my discard pile. The active Gholdengo ex on my side was able to hit a full HP Mew VMAX for at least 310 damage for the giant game winning knockout. I had spectators/other players waiting and watching this knockout.
The opponent's brother or something was nearby and saw the game as he was waiting. When my opponent lost he rubbed it in by saying "You got beat by the chessestring.". The thing is Gholdengo ex decks are on the rise somewhat.
It was a very close game. My record goes to 2-0. At this point I am really happy with my standing thus far. This game was really close though.
Round Three - Mew VMAX with Double Turbo Energy
In the final round I faced another Mew VMAX player. I don't think he had Fusion strike energy.
The opponent went first and landed 2 Battle VIP Passes giving him the ultimate first turn setup with I think 3 Genesect Vs and one Mew V plus a Mew V in the active spot.
My first turn was okay as I was able to get a Radiant Greninja, a Spiritomb to counter the Genesect Vs and a few Gimmighouls to start.
I don't remember the full details but I remember not being able to use Origin Forme Palkia VStar as my Origin Forme Palkia V got knocked out early. With that loss I had to pivot to just Gimmighouls and Gholdengo ex. I do remember taking a double knockout where I knockout a full HP Mew VMAX with a Box of Disaster on it. The Box of Disaster knocked out my own Gholdengo ex.
This resulted in one prize card left in the game for both of us.
The opponent's next turn was the last turn of the game and he had Boss's Orders in hand to knockout a Gimmighoul I think for his win.
It was a close loss. I end 2 wins and 1 loss.
Results & Prizes
As I ended with 2 wins and 1 loss I get 2 packs of Play! Pokémon Prize Pack Series Three (TCG) packs. There was a surprise additional raffle draw for those who did not go undefeated. I got lucky and got another pack lol.
I was happy with the outcome and more importantly how I played. There were a few moments where I was not sure on what the good play was but I played with not so many huge mistakes overall. I could have went 3-0 or even 0-3. No easy games at this place this time around.
Bonus Game
There was a bonus game at a different store. I was at this store called Banana Games on Thursday. I bought some full art cards for gift giving and I chatted with the store owner. He asked me what deck I play. I told him I play mainly Gholdengo ex. He was surprised as he has never seen a Gholdengo ex player at all at his store tournaments. He was open to having me play at the store with one the staff. I returned again after this tournament on Sunday.
I played one of five staff members there at this card store. The staff member asked me which deck I wanted to face against. It was either Giratina VSTAR, Chien-Pao ex or Miraidon ex. I chose to play against Miraidon ex. Looking back I should have picked the Giratina VSTAR matchup as that deck is hard to beat.
I don't want to make this match report long. It took a while for me to remove his Path to The Peak stadium that was shutting off abilities on my side. When I got into attack mode I was losing in the prize race. It was unlucky on my side. I should go to 4 Workers instead of 3 Workers.
This day was great overall. I think I played well with very few errors.
Thank you for reading.