I Heart Hartford – Jay’s Regional Championship Recap

By: Jay Lesage · Posted Posted onOct 22, 2017 at 5:24 PM · 0 Comments

[cardimg name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Top of the morning, PokeBeach readers! I feel like all of my articles get written either immediately after a class or, in this specific instance, during a class. Which class am I taking, you may ask? Public relations, of course! As many of my readers know, I study advertising and marketing at a college near Toronto, and more often than not I find myself drawing parallels between my major and my hobby. Much like recent metagame shifts, they’re all a result of prominent advertising schemes. This can be demonstrated from my last article I had posted on PokeBeach — I was discussing how I thought [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] was an amazing play, given the field had a small amount of [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] to counter the deck’s Bench-hitting attacks. We’ll get into this later, but to spoil the answer for you, this Alolan Ninetales deck was underrepresented at the recent Hartford Regional Championships. Due to an impressive meta call from Igor Costa, he was able to win the whole thing with his [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] deck, but this deck has an absolutely terrible matchup against Ninetales due to its natural Water-type Weakness.

So why did I opt to not play Alolan Ninetales? That answer is simple: Russell Laparre is an online sensation within the Pokemon community, and while he may not be regarded as “the greatest of all time”, his insight into the game is stellar, as well as his vast knowledge of trends. At the tournament where Alolan Ninetales had popped up alongside its pilot, Michael Pramawat, Russell ended up taking him down in the finals with his [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] deck. The catch? Russell included a copy of Mr. Mime in his deck. My bet is that if Russell wasn’t there to prevent Pramawat from winning, Alolan Ninetales would be a much more popular deck! One trend that has correlated in Pokemon throughout the years is that people tend to not look at the second-place deck, because the first-place deck always outshines it. Why this phenomenon exists, I have no clue, but we can use this to our advantage to plan for upcoming tournaments given they exist within the same format (ex. Standard, Expanded, new set blocks, etc). Today, we’re going to dive into what I played for the tournament, why first place doesn’t always mean first, and then talk about the winning Volcanion deck!

Jay’s Golisopod-GX / Garbodor

For Hartford, I decided to play [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. Below is the list I used to pilot myself to a 19th place finish:

[decklist name=”Golisopod-GX/Garbodor” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”148″][pokemon amt=”18″]3x [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Wimpod” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”16″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Fini-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Heavy Ball” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Overall, this list worked wonders for me — it had barely any hiccups, and was already proven since my friend Marc Lutz had piloted it to a first place finish at the Regionals in Bremen, Germany. I found most card counts were optimal, but there were a few looming card choices that could have pole vaulted me further ahead of the competition. If I had a chance to redo the list, I’d make the following changes:

  • Remove: one Trubbish, one [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”from”][/card], one [card name=”Tapu Fini-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card], four Rainbow Energy
  • Add: One [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], One [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM13″ c=”name”][/card], One [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], Four Grass Energy

[cardimg name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While these are slightly unorthodox views for the deck, I felt as if this version would’ve combated the field much better. Tapu Fini-GX was underwhelming, only being used once or twice the entire tournament. When I did use Tapu Storm GX, it was usually because I was losing the game anyway. This goes hand in hand as to why I’d cut Rainbow Energy as well; it’s too susceptible to [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card], which was included in all sorts of decks over the course of the weekend! Due to this sudden uprising in Energy denial, it’s best to play it safe with higher counts of Basic Energy. In my match against Michael Long, he was playing a [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] variant that included two copies of Enhanced Hammer in order to prevent crucial attacks from connecting. Michael was banking on the chance I wouldn’t draw into an Energy after a late game [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] — much to my luck, I was able to draw out of it, but sometimes this isn’t the case!

The fourth [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] would’ve been clutch in matchups where they aren’t able to KO Golisopod-GX in one shot. A few of these matchups would include against [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM28″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card], and many more. Acerola is one of the many reasons why Golisopod-GX is so popular, and that’s because it’s good. Being reminiscent of [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], Acerola is a card that creates a hill so tall that some decks just can’t climb up it! By playing the fourth copy, it also makes the deck more fluid and have a lower maintenance cap — all you need to do to keep a steady damage flow is pack an Acerola in hand. Late game N to bring you down to one card? Playing the extra copy of this card will allow you to have higher odds of drawing into it in dire scenarios. It also has niche uses with [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], being able to reuse Wonder Tag if this support Pokemon ever gets damage on it. This is the only scenario where I truly love Rainbow Energy, but besides that I wouldn’t miss it.

Excluding [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM13″ c=”name”][/card] was an oversight that I could’ve included the night before; I was in my hotel room testing against a few good friends, and they told me I should be inclined to add it in. My opposition was that I thought using Oranguru would conflict with the strategy of the deck! Why would I use Oranguru when I would have [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in play? Could I afford the Bench slot for Oranguru? Probably not! But throughout the tournament, I came to realize all of the scenarios that I would’ve utilized this ape. One common scenario was when my opponent used a Field Blower to discard my Tool on Garbodor — I could have used Instruct to draw into a fresh Tool, or even to draw extra cards, pre-Tool attachment. I also could have used Instruct in a matchup where I didn’t need Garbodor out, or when I was too slow to get Garbotoxin into play. Lastly, I felt as if Oranguru was missing – most of the games I lost were because I took an early lead, and was unable to draw out of a late game N. Sure, there may have been some scenarios where I would’ve had both Oranguru and Garbotoxin in play (rendering it a borderline useless Bench spot), but I’d rather have it there just in case! Coupled with the second copy of Field Blower I would’ve played, even in the late game N stages, Field Blower would then become a live card by being able to remove the tool from Garbodor, thus shutting down Garbotoxin, and allowing you to use Instruct for the game-winning cards. Also, Oranguru makes a pretty sweet attacker in some scenarios! The ape is excellent against Alolan Ninetales, as well as Fire-type decks.

The second [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] was a lapse in judgement based on my metagame prediction for the event. I didn’t expect [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Po Town” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] to be so successful, and boy was it ever! I ran into this deck two or three times and, while I know Golisopod-GX is favoured, the deck is ridiculously consistent due to Big Wheel GX, and they also are able to mop the floor with you if they get a Po Town into play turn one. When you evolve your Wimpod, they’ll instantly take 30 damage, which allows a Drampa with a Choice Band to OHKO a Golisopod-GX given they have a damaged Benched Pokemon! The only solution we have to OHKO a Drampa-GX on a rampage is with Crossing Cut GX, but that requires us to have an Energy on our main attacker already. This is difficult in this matchup since we rely on Acerola to heal almost every other turn, and the use of Acerola sets us back an Energy attachment every turn! The best way to rid them of Po Town is by adding in an additional Field Blower to remove it from play promptly. If you opt to keep Garbodor in your deck list, the second Blower also aids in racking up damage for Trashalanche! I ultimately just decided to cut [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] from my hindsight list because I felt like it hindered the deck’s consistency and overall objective. It’s a fine addition, I’d just prefer it without.

[premium]

My Swiss Rounds

[cardimg name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

  • R1 – [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R2 – [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R3 – [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R4 – [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] (LWW)
  • R5 – [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] (WLT)
  • R6 – [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R7 – [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R8 – [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] (LWT)
  • R9 – [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] (ID)

Final Record: 6-0-3 (21)

Top 32:

  • R10 – Volcanion (LL)
  • R11 – [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] (WLW)
  • R12 – [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] (WLL)
  • R13 – [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] (WW)
  • R14 – [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] (WLL)

Top 32 Record: 2-3-0 (+6)

Overall Final Record: 8-3-3 (27)

You can see from my first day performance, it was a fairly good day for me! After going 6-0-1, I planned to make my eighth round count by going for an extra win. This would not only soften up my bracket in Top 32 the next day by dodging all the Volcanion at 21 points, but I’d also have a much easier time to make Top 8! Ultimately, my eighth round opponent managed to tie me in a crazy match that went to time, and that put me at 6-0-2. The final round would be against none other than Peter Kica playing the mirror match, so he and I ultimately decided to go for the tie instead of playing Acerola after Acerola against each other. While the mirror has elements of skill to it, Peter and I both respect each other enough as players to realize that we’d be banking on the opponent making a misplay in order to win. We move onto the second day with a modest 21 match points!

[cardimg name=”Clefairy” set=”Evolutions” no=”63″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In Top 32, I ran into Ryan Sabelhaus right off the rip playing one of his signature decks, straight Volcanion. I’m not enthused at this point, and have to think quick on my toes — every second of this match counted if I was going to bring it to time, which I unfortunately wasn’t able to do. Nonetheless, I tried as hard as I could to win game one (which was insanely close), and then bricked in the second game halfway through. Ryan’s a great player, however, and piloted this matchup well regardless of it being a near auto-loss for me. My next loss came from a Tapu Bulu-GX deck that was able to pop off and hit Field Blower (which I later learned that he played three of). His deck was interesting — it played a [card name=”Clefairy” set=”Evolutions” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] in order to copy other attacks, as well as a [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] for his one-Prize attacker. In that matchup, Vikavolt is definitely the control deck — they control the pace of the matchup, and if they draw hot enough, they completely manipulate the Prize-trade.

I entered the 14th round against Decidueye-GX, and let me tell you, this is a scary matchup! Lucky for me, my opponent didn’t draw too well, and I was able to get off an insane amount of Flying Flips with [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card]. By the time he was able to attack, all of his Decidueye-GX were within one-shot range with First Impression. Garbotoxin was also in play, and most games he was forced to use Hollow Hunt GX in order to recover precious resources. In my first official games against the deck, I can already draw the conclusion that it’s clunky in Standard, but also inherently powerful in the late game. Hollow Hunt became buffed with the rotation of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], because Supporters are now a resource that we can not easily retrieve! The ability to get Guzma back to your hand is one of the craziest card mechanics Standard currently has. I was pleasantly surprised by how functional Decidueye-GX was in the late game after setting up (even after [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] rotated), and I’m tempted to try it out at a Standard event soon!

My last round was against Benjamin Behrens from Norway, piloting Garbodor / Drampa-GX. He also played a slim line of Espeon-GX in his deck, which didn’t aid him much in this matchup. I ended up donking him game one, with him winning a close second game! Things started to heat up in game three; both Benjamin and myself were fighting for a Top 16 spot. Initially, before game one I offered to tie him, but Benjamin declined with the thought that his resistance wasn’t good enough. He also brought up a good point — a win could potentially bring one of us into the Top 8 if something odd occurs at the top table, which is something that hadn’t crossed my mind. We ended up having a nail-biter of a game three, where I ended up falling short of a win by bricking for multiple turns on end. This was an acceptable outcome given I didn’t include Oranguru in my deck, so I’ll accept any and all consequences that follows as a result of that. Now, let’s examine the finalist and champion deck lists, and see what they decided to play!

Igor’s Volcanion

[decklist name=”Igor’s Volcanion” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM13″][pokemon amt=”13″]4x [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Turtonator-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”18″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM13″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”15″]15x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”15″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Igor Costa is one of the most impressive players the world has seen, and his success is virtually unprecedented — what makes him so good? Well, besides his in game piloting, his deck choices are sensational. Just by peeking at this list, I can already tell that he’s thought of several factors when constructing this monster — he plays the correct amount of consistency, as well as the correct amount of diverse attackers. His ideal list is simplistic, and is just as dynamic as it is streamlined. Let’s take a look at Igor’s more unorthodox deck choices:

Zero Ho-Oh-GX

This deck played a simple lineup of attackers, and opted to not use [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. This is most likely due to the exclusion of Kiawe, rendering Ho-Oh-GX as too expensive of an attacker to power up. By playing just Turtonator-GX, Volcanion-EX, and Volcanion, it ensures that Igor would be able to draw into his attacker of choice at any given time.

Zero Kiawe

[cardimg name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”144″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] is an obvious inclusion in most Fire-type decks, but Igor decided to fall by the wayside on this front and exclude it from his list. This was because he opted to include [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] in his list, and go for a more aggressive play style. By avoiding Kiawe, he instead wants to get off a turn one Power Heater, and immediately place Energy on his attackers while placing heavy pressure onto the opponent. I enjoyed this principle of his deck, because it allows for more versatility — when you’re locked into a turn one Kiawe, sometimes this stunts your deck from flourishing because you aren’t able to play a draw Supporter.

One Lillie

[card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] is a Supporter that doesn’t see a crazy amount of play in Standard, but here it was an excellent addition for multiple reasons. For one, this deck doesn’t do the typical turn one [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] play most decks do because it uses a heavy amount of Pokemon-EX. Second, Volcanion-EX is able to discard Fire Energy from your hand with its Steam Up Ability, which will allow you to draw more cards with Lillie. This will usually be your turn one Supporter of choice if given the opportunity.

Two Enhanced Hammer

If you were watching the stream this past weekend, you would’ve seen Igor manhandling [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] by removing their [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] from play left and right. This helped to keep monsters like Gardevoir-GX in check, all the while providing disruption to decks that abuse Special Energy cards.

15 Fire Energy

This is a fourth of a deck, and it’s all fuel for your deck! Fire Energy are the equivalent of ammo in this deck since you can abuse Steam Up so much, so it would be silly to not play at least a count of 12 Energy or so. I personally believe 15 is too much, but clearly it was able to work for these guys at the top so everything I know is out the window! As long as there are ample outs to draw Supporters, then there is truly no downside to playing this many Energy. It also contributed to their success rate with Max Elixir.

Now that we’ve seen what it took for Igor Costa to become the Hartford Regional champion, we can now take a look at what his opponent ran…

Michael’s Greninja

[decklist name=”Michael’s Greninja” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″][pokemon amt=”20″]3x [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Frogadier” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”39″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Froakie” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Starmie” set=”Evolutions” no=”31″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Staryu” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Fini-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”39″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]6x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]4x [card name=”Splash Energy” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Michael Long is an aged-up Master, who was the best senior of the 2016-2017 season! With that comes his recent success in the 2017 – 2018 season, and boy is he taking Masters by storm. Due to his innovation and unique deck choices, he’s recently been able to take home some impressive finishes at these avidly attended Regionals. He piloted the above Greninja deck to a second place finish, only losing to Igor Costa’s timely topdecks, so it’s just as important to look at Igor’s list as much as it is to look at Michael’s. Here are some interesting things from Michael’s list:

Two-Prize Pokemon

Greninja has consistently been ran without two-Prize Pokemon until this season, where players are needing to get craftier in their decisions! The whole premise of Greninja is to deny Prizes with timely [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and catching up in the late game, but with the inclusion of two-Prize Pokemon, it makes it much easier for the opponent to win. However, the accent that these Pokemon provide the deck allow it to stitch up poor matchups, or smooth over any consistency issues. For example, Michael played Tapu Lele-GX in order to search out Supporters with ease. Perhaps people were looking at Greninja the wrong way the whole time!

One Lillie

[cardimg name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”147″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Once again, Lillie pops up into another deck! It’s important to notice this as a trend — trends like this can sometimes carry over the course of a season. Michael didn’t include [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] into his deck since [card name=”Frogadier” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card] uses enough Bench space already, so Lillie makes a great go-to Supporter with the aid of [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card].

Two Enhanced Hammer

This once again is a popular meta game trend! [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] was also played by Igor Costa, but Michael played it for a different purpose; Michael played Enhanced Hammer in order to combat [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] by discarding their Rainbow and Double Colourless Energy. By running them out of Energy, they won’t be able to attack sometimes. It also aids in the Gardevoir-GX matchup, as well as the Drampa-GX matchup.

Four Evosoda

With the absence of alternatives, [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] was included into Michael’s list with the negative impact of [card name=”Po Town” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] in mind. Po Town would usually hinder Greninja to the point of self-destruction, but Evosoda provides an incredible answer to that problem. Instead of evolving Frogadier from the hand, it actually evolves it from the deck — which means 30 damage isn’t placed! It can also fish [card name=”Starmie” set=”Evolutions” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] out of the deck!

Four Splash Energy

This might be a short-lived trend since Enhanced Hammer is becoming more popular, but Michael’s idea was to have a consistent chain of Greninja. Typically, this would be a three-count, but Michael upped his count to four.

Igor had a severe disadvantage against Michael due to his Water-type Weakness, but Igor was able to put enough pressure onto Michael’s Greninja in order to sustain a positive board state. This is the only reason why Igor was able to stay in the game! By staying on top of things and taking out the threats that truly mattered, he was able to take down the Pokemon-EX in the late game, thus taking Michael by surprise. The resource management that also occurred on Igor’s side was also fantastic, because he knew that all of the game would come down to N. I’d also like to lament on Michael’s play — he played fantastically, but it’s not much of a surprise when Greninja beats Volcanion. It’s naturally a horrible matchup for Volcanion, so I’d rather focus on what Igor did correctly to beat it. Likewise, Igor won because he got lucky in the last turn of game three by topdecking both a [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and a Fire Energy. If he had drawn any other combination of cards, it would have been over for Igor, and Michael would’ve been the Hartford Regional Champion. This is why it’s just as important to look at the runner-up deck as it is the champion’s deck.

Connecticut the Dots

I had a blast in Hartford — whether it was the unreal food, the great tournament venue, or just the northeast in general, everything ran smoothly, and I got to see all of my eastern friends once again! Though it’s only being the second Regionals of the season, I have to say that Pokemon is going the extra mile to improve how the game is played out, and how tournament organizers can learn from past mistakes. I feel as if tournaments keep on getting smoother and smoother, and will eventually get to a point of flawlessness. On another tangent, I know Daytona Beach, FL, Regionals just happened, and that Regionals was also ran excellently by the Krekelers. Kudos go out to the people who work day in and day out to give us the best experience possible, because it shows. I’ll be competing in local League Cups for a while, as most Regionals are quite far from me in the next recent bit. I think my next big tournament will be Memphis, as I’ll have to miss European Internationals because of school. I can’t wait to see all of my friends from all over North America at the next Regionals, but until then, enjoy the fall (and for Canadians, Thanksgiving)! Remember guys, get lucky and run hot!

-Jay Lesage

#PlayPokemon

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