March of the Champion — A First Place U.S. National Championship Report

By: Nick Robinson · Posted Aug 11, 2016 at 12:10 PM · 0 Comments

Hello everybody! My name is Nick Robinson, and this is my first article for PokeBeach. I have just recently been accepted as a PokeBeach premium article writer. I am very excited to be working with PokeBeach and to get to share my opinions and views on the Pokemon Trading Card Game competitive scene. I hope to be bringing plenty of quality articles to you all soon.

Now to get into the article itself. This article will be covering my run at U.S. Nationals, the deck I picked, why I picked it, all of my rounds, and a little bit into my views on the upcoming World Championships. Now that we have all this silly stuff out of the way, let’s take a look at the deck.

The Deck

As many of you know, I piloted a Night March deck to victory at U.S. Nationals. From what many of my friends have told me, many people in the audience were very upset to hear that a Night March deck had made it to the finals. Many of these people were rooting against me, just praying to see Night March lose. But then they saw that I also played [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card].

[cardimg name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

For some reason, the inclusion of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck made the audience feel much more favorable towards me. Maybe it was seeing a Night March deck that wasn’t the generic “I’m going to blow through my deck in one turn and take a KO at the end every single time” Night March deck. Obviously there were games that did appear to be like this, but there was actually a lot of strategy and “metagaming” that was put into this deck. First, let’s talk about how I decided on playing this deck.

Originally, my testing partner, Kiernan, a high-level Senior player also from Iowa, and I decided to test Night March with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] due to its pure power. With the inclusion of Vespiquen, the deck was able to hit Pokemon that had Grass-type Weakness (a.k.a. [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card]) hard. In our testing the night before the event, we were expecting the Water Box deck to be very prevalent, which instigated playing Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] as opposed to a straight Night March deck. The original list that we tested was nothing close to the list that Kiernan and I both ended up using for the whole event. The list we first tested was very inconsistent, and we wrote it off as a bad deck. Later that night, we saw our friends Jon Eng and Ishaan Jagiasi testing and saw that Ishaan was playing Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. We started talking to him about it, and he felt that deck was incredibly strong. We looked at his list and mainly saw that it played four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] to help maintain consistency, especially against Item-lock decks. We felt the deck had strong matchups against most of the popular decks in the format and decided to include [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] to help deal with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] using Chaos Wheel to lock us out of Special Energy cards. After working with the deck list for many hours that night, this is what we came up with.

[decklist name=”a” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″][pokemon amt=”25″]4x [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lampent” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Combee” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”9″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

This is list is somewhat different than what is considered a “normal” Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] list, so I will take the time to go over some of those differences, and why we made them.

Card Explanations

3-3 Vespiquen

Some lists opted to play a 4-4 line of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] due to it being a main attacker in the deck. We built this list to be more of a Night March style and have [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] be a backup attacker to help deal with various Pokemon ([card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card]). [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] is also useful as a Pokemon with no Retreat Cost so it can be promoted to the Active spot after a Knock Out to retreat into whatever attacker you decide to use, or to promote when you use [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card] for the same reason.

Four Unown

Four [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] was very useful throughout the tournament. I believe that having four of these in the deck helps maintain a little bit of consistency while being able to help you draw after a lategame [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] to one or two cards. Having four [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck won me a couple of games over the weekend.

One Enhanced Hammer and One Xerosic

As many of you saw in my finals match on stream, having [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck were very useful and essentially my only way to beat [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. A [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] with two Special Energy cards on it can get completely shutdown with the combination of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] in the same turn. These cards are also still good when going up against a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] with a [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and two Basic Energy. The gameplan just tends be slightly different by forcing your opponent to waste all of their resources to keep attacking with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] throughout the game and then being left with nothing once you get rid of their last [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card].

One Escape Rope, Zero Float Stone, Zero AZ

[cardimg name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While testing the deck, we definitely felt like [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] was a very good card by forcing your opponent to switch their Active Pokemon with one of their Benched Pokemon while allowing you to switch at the same time. Sometimes this effect was similar to a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] by forcing your opponent to bring up a Pokemon that they definitely did not want in the Active spot. We did not include any [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] in our list because we felt that with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] having a zero Retreat Cost and already having a switching card would make it less useful. I think we all would have liked to include one [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] in the list, but we felt that the only possible cut could have been a [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and we did not want to tamper with the consistency of the deck.

One Town Map

[card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] is a card that has been hovering in and out of Night March decks for a long time. Very often it is considered to be the “61st card” because it is definitely a great card to have in the deck, but there is not always room in the deck list for it. When building the deck, my testing partners and I felt that this deck was not quite as explosive as a straight Night March deck, and we would often have to get the most valuable resources off the Prize cards. Playing [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] allowed us to be prepared to make the best possible play in the upcoming turns. Also, with how many one-of cards there are in the deck, it seemed very important to get an extremely valuable card like [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] or even your fourth [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] out of the Prizes.

One Lysandre

[card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] is a very powerful card that I wish we were able to fit two of into the deck. The deck list is very tight on space and like I said before, we did not want to tamper with the consistency of the deck.

Zero Fighting Fury Belt and Zero Muscle Band

Once again, this is another scenario in which we did not have the space for these cards. We also felt that the deck has so much power already that trying to push for more damage with [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] was not necessary for the deck to be successful. These cards were not a high priority for us when trying to build the deck.

Two Dimension Valley

Many Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] decks have opted out of using [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and tend to instead run one [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to get rid of extra Pokemon, like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], off the Bench and power up [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. While I do believe that [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] is a very card strong in this deck, I think that playing two [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] was the best play for this event. Being able to use [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] to attack with Night March instead of [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] is powerful in so many aspects. Since this deck does not play [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], attacking [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] means that your opponent can easily take a Knock Out by using Sky Return with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] or a simple Quaking Punch from [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] is definitely the best Night March attacker unless you need to attack a Pokemon for Lightning-type Weakness.

Tournament Report

Day One Swiss Rounds

Now it’s time to look at the tournament itself. Just as a reminder, I played a total of 18 rounds (15 Swiss rounds and three Top Cut matches) so my memory may not be perfect on the exact order that I played everybody or what exactly happened in the match, but I will try to give some insight into all of my matchups and how to approach them.

Round 1: Mikal Wyatt with M Manectric-EX / Water – WW 1-0-0

Round one I played Mikal Wyatt who I met at Ft. Wayne Regionals where I got Top 4. I knew that he was a really nice guy, and I was sad to see that I had to play him round one. In this matchup, getting a turn one Night March for a Knock Out on a [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] or really any Pokemon-EX is pretty crucial. Getting the first Knock Out quickly gives you a ton of momentum in the matchup and forces your opponent to try to keep up with you. Since I played [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck, his [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] was not as useful as it usually is in the Night March matchup. His only major threat was [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] since it could take multiple Prizes on my non-EX attackers. Game one went exactly how I need it to. I took a quick Knock Out on a [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] and set the pace of the game from there. He was still able to setup a [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench and setup an [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] to get a Knock Out on me in the following turn. I Knocked Out his [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] and went down to two Prizes. All I had to do was use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] on a Pokemon-EX on the following turn and get a Knock Out to win. He promoted his [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] to use Tri Edge but ended up flipping three Tails which prevented him from getting a Knock Out on my [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]. He scooped after that and we went into game two where he dead drew. It was funny because at the end of the round he said something along the lines of “well now you’re probably just going to go win the whole thing.” It turns out he was not wrong.

Round 2: Zach Kowalski with Greninja / Hard Charm – WW 2-0-0

[cardimg name=”Hard Charm” set=”XY” no=”119″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Zach Kowalski was a Pokedad of two kids, a Junior and a Senior, and he was playing [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card]. I do not remember a whole lot about this matchup except that it was a pretty close series and I won off a lategame [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] to one card for him in game two. The best strategy to use in this matchup is to attack with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] at nearly every chance and [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] if [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] is not an option at that particular point. The best play you can make throughout the matchup is try to use [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] whenever it seems they could possibly be using Water Shuriken or Giant Water Shuriken in the following turn. By attacking with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] and using [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] in the same turn, the [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] player is put at a low damage output and many times be forced into a position where a [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] is going to Knock Out two of their Pokemon, putting them behind on the Prize-trade. Another big determining factor is whether they play [card name=”Hard Charm” set=”XY” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] in their list because if they play [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] they have a chance of getting Knock Out on a [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] under [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] lock. Overall, this matchup can be considered very poor because you are forced to take six Knock Outs to win a game and it is not always possible to use [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] every single turn.

Round 3: Zach Benck with Night March – WW 3-0-0

Here it is, the first of many Night March mirrors for this tournament. I also won game two in this series from an [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] to one. As you’re probably starting to notice, a lategame N is very good when you may be in a losing position. This matchup can be very skill intensive and is probably considered one of the most difficult matchups to play. Many people often think that it is considered easy because you just use [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] to get Night March Pokemon in the discard pile and just take Knock Outs. It actually comes to doing that while trying to utilize the least amount of resources, getting a Knock Out every single turn, all while trying to avoid putting a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] onto your Bench at all costs. With a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] on your Bench, your opponent has the opportunity to use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and get a Knock Out on a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to put them ahead on the Prize-trade. I think the Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] has the advantage in this aspect since it plays four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and four [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] to draw through the deck more efficiently without having to utilize [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck is also able to fill up the Bench with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent your opponent from using [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] to put a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] onto the Bench to be brought up by [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] at a later time. [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] also allows you to help draw after a lategame N to prevent your opponent from winning based off you dead drawing. Overall, I think Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] has a lot of advantages when playing against other styles of Night March decks, but it is definitely a close matchup no matter what.

[premium]

Round 4: David Moore with Greninja / Miltank – LL 3-1-0

Round four I played against another [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] deck which I was honestly kind of surprised to see. With the rise of the [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] deck from the Origins event, I was expecting [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks to be far less popular due to their poor matchup against [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Nonetheless, I now had to play against it again, and it did not go well for me this time. A few things that were different about his deck compared to Zach’s deck.

He played [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] so he could OHKO my [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] without using any Abilities.
He played [card name=”Miltank” set=”Flashfire” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] which let him have multiple high damage attackers.
He played two [card name=”Greninja” set=”XY” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] from XY that have the Water Shuriken Ability so that he had an even higher damage potential when he had access to his Abilities.

All of these factors played a role in making sure that I had a very bad matchup unless he dead drew. Well as you can see by my record above, he did not completely dead draw. I’m pretty sure game one went pretty normally with him just being able to Knock Out one or two Benched [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] with a couple of Giant Water Shuriken to get him ahead on the Prize-trade. In game two, I remember that I was going to draw two cards of a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and I need to draw one of the two [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] left in my seven card deck so that I could use [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] that turn. Well, I did not draw into either of them and in his next turn he was able to use two Water Shuriken and two Giant Water Shuriken to take four Prizes in one turn. Needless to say, I lost that game.

Round 5: Desiree Janiga with Night March – WLW 4-1-0

I talked to Desiree a little bit about our matchup to try and remember as much as we could about the series, but neither of us could remember a whole lot. I believe I was able to play a lategame [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] against her game three to slow her down for a turn to win the series, but that’s about all I can remember. Either way, it’s another Night March matchup and they all tend to play about the same way. Desiree was a great opponent, and I’m very glad I met her.

Round 6: Ryan with Night March WLW – 5-1-0

This is the match that I remember the least out of the 18 matches that I played over the course of the weekend. I believe my opponent’s name was Ryan, and I’m pretty positive that he made it into day two. I do not remember the exact record of the series, but I do know that I won the series.

Round 7: Kevin Murphy with Vespiquen / Jolteon-EX / Glaceon-EX / Vileplume – LWL 5-2-0

[cardimg name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Kevin was playing a very interesting deck utilizing [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Glaceon-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] along with Item-lock from [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] to lock down his opponents. He also played a 2-2 [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] line to help hit for big numbers in the lategame. This series was a very close and interesting series. Turn one [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] was definitely difficult to deal with but luckily playing four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] was able to keep me in the game for the most part. Game one was pretty much a blow out with me being stuck with a bunch of Items in my hand after a turn one Item-lock. Games two and three were much closer and made for a very interesting series. Kevin gave me the complement of us having the closest series that he had the entire weekend which is pretty good to hear from a [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] player. He said that most of his wins were complete blowouts and so were his losses but our series was actually very back and forth and definitely a good one. Kevin was a nice guy and I’m glad that I got to play against him.

Round 8: Nathian Beck with M Rayquaza-EX / Jolteon-EX – WW 6-2-0

It seemed like Nathian’s deck was very similar to the [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] deck that won Canadian Nationals except Nathian decided to include [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] to help his Night March matchup. Sadly for Nathian, I played [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] which tends to do very well against [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card]. Night March is definitely one of the worst matchups to play against for a [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] player since [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] can easily Knock Out any of their Pokemon-EX for two Prizes. The main premise of this matchup is to just continuously Knock Out their Pokemon-EX, typically with [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], and use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] to get a Knock Out whenever they attack with [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Jirachi” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY67″ c=”name”][/card]. I was definitely happy to see that i was playing against this deck when I knew that I needed to win out to make it to day two.

Round 9: Thomas Phillips with Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX / Garbodor – WW 7-2-0

Many people would see this as a very scary matchup for a Night March player due to [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] using Chaos Wheel to prevent them from attaching [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] to attack with Night March or Bee Revenge. Like I talked about earlier, we were expecting to see a lot of [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] decks, especially paired with [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Knowing that this matchup would be very prevalent due to the rise of this archetype from the Origins event, we made sure to test this matchup extensively the night before. If I remember correctly, in our testing we found that this was actually a very good matchup for Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] due to the inclusion of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card]. As I mentioned previously, it is very difficult for your opponent to keep [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] attacking when they are losing a [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] every single turn. They are essentially forced into a position where they need to draw into [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] every turn or they will lose the game. To do this, the [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] player tends to waste a lot of their resources so when you finally get rid of their fourth [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], they are left in a position where they are unable to attack and will lose the game. In my round against Thomas, he approached the matchup with a little bit of a different strategy than going all out with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Instead, he started attacking with [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] while powering up a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench. Sadly, his strategy was ruined by [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and take a Knock Out. After that, Thomas was left in a position where it was nearly impossible to power up a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in one turn and I was able to take six Prizes very quickly. Game two he had a bad start with a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active spot but was still almost able to pull out a turn one win with a Fast Raid from [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] onto my Joltik. Unfortunately for him, he missed the [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and dead drew the rest of the game which got me the win I needed to make it into day two.

Day One Finished

With day one being completed, I was ecstatic to have made it into day two. Going into Nationals, I was sitting at 272 CP and needed a Top 128 finish to get my invite, so Top 64 was fantastic for me. I was super happy to have received my first ever invite to the World Championships in my first competitive season. I had only ever dreamed of making it to Worlds and now it was a reality. I went out to get some dinner and headed back to my hotel room to get a good night’s rest before day two.

Day Two Swiss Rounds

Round 10: Alex Koch with M Manectric-EX / Mew / Lugia-EX / Trevenant-EX / Jolteon-EX – WW 8-2-0

This matchup tends to be very much in the Night March player’s favor since Night March decks are easily able to Knock Out three Pokemon-EX to win the game. [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] can be difficult to Knock Out due to having 210 HP which forces you to have 11 Night March Pokemon in your discard pile to get a Knock Out, but with the inclusion of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck, it is very easy to maintain pressure after having your 12th Night March Pokemon get Knocked Out. I remember this series being incredibly easy for me because I drew into exactly what I needed every game. This was honestly the most perfect series I had ever played with any deck in a tournament. I got a turn one Knock Out on a Pokemon-EX both games and I drew into every [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] that I needed. If I remember correctly, Alex also did not draw very well throughout the series and I believe he was dead drawing in game two. I actually apologized to Alex multiple times throughout the match because I felt bad for having such perfect draws against him for the entire series. I’m very glad that I got to play against a fellow PokeBeach writer and I was happy to meet such an awesome guy like Alex. You can read about Alex’s national run in one of his latest articles.

Round 11: Chris Siakala with Night March – LL 8-3-0

This was a very bad series for me and my opponent. In game one, we both drew very poorly. I believe that neither of us actually got an attack off for multiple turns but sadly, Chris was able to take the first couple of Knock Outs and take the lead from there. In game two, Chris drew a lot better but I was stuck with an awful hand near the middle and end of the game, and Chris was able to destroy me from there. We both agreed that our match was absolutely horrible due to how poorly we were both drawing. Luckily for me, this was my only loss to Night March the entire tournament, and it was a loss to the Night March deck that finished first seed going into Top 8 so I did not feel too bad about this series.

Round 12: Bradley Curcio with Night March – WLW 9-3-0

I do not remember a whole lot about this series except that it was a very close series, and Bradley chose to go first whenever he could, which is very odd for a Night March mirror. Typically the strategy for a Night March mirror is to try to go second to get the first Knock Out and be ahead of your opponent on Prizes. If you end up going first, the best thing to do is try to play a [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] to hope that your opponent was relying on a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to draw through their deck and leave them with a dead hand for a turn. I can definitely see Bradley’s side in deciding to go first because going first guarantees that you get to take a turn to set up without any possible disruption from your opponent, which is why you typically always want to go first. As I and most other Night March players have found out, it is best to go second in the Night March mirror match because of the reasons that I stated before. Either way, Bradley Curcio is a great player, and I know that there will always be good logic and reasoning behind the decisions that he makes. This series was incredibly close with game three coming down to just one or two Prizes. I was glad that I got to play a greatly accomplished player like Bradley.

Round 13: Andrew Krekeler with Trevenant / Bursting Balloon – WLT 9-3-1

[cardimg name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Oh boy my first [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] deck. I was kind of hoping that the rise in popularity of the [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] type of decks would scare people away from playing [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] but I know that the deck is too strong for people to not play it. Seeing that I was playing against this deck, I felt like my run was over. I was almost positive that I was going to take a loss to this deck when I need to either win or tie against it. I do not remember the exact order of how the games went, but Andrew drew fairly poor in the game that I won by missing attacks while I was able to use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] onto [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] so that I could use my Item cards and take multiple Prizes. The game that I lost went how a typical match of [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] versus Night March goes where he gets a turn one Item-lock with [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] into [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] while I try to use Sky Return to loop my [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] so that I can slowly get a Knock Out while he is unable to do 110 damage to get a Knock Out. Sadly, he played [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] multiple turns in a row to make sure that I do not have [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] in my hand to continue the [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] loop and he won that way. Game three was incredibly horrible for my opponent. He was unable to set up [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] while I was Knocking Out multiple [card name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] leaving him with only two [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] on his field. We went to time and neither of us were able to win the game. I think if we had had more time, I most likely would have won the series due to how bad he was drawing in game three. Either way, I was glad to get a tie against an incredibly bad matchup. I did feel kind of bad though because I knew that Andrew needed to get Top 8 to get his Worlds invite, but I figured he still had a chance to make it with a tie. If he would have needed the win, I most likely would have scooped to him because he was a very nice guy and a phenomenal player who would have gotten his invite if he was able to play more throughout the season.

Round 14: Ahmed Ali with Night March / Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick – WW 10-3-1

I’m not 100% sure that I won the first two games against Ahmed, but I do know that I won the series. Going into it, we both knew that we had to win our next two games to make it into Top 8, which made the games a little more stressful. I do not remember a whole lot about this series except that it was very close and played similar to a typical Night March mirror. I know that [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] with its Premonition Ability was very useful for Ahmed because the Night March mirror is all about drawing incredibly well without using [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to draw cards. Being able to manipulate his top deck, he was able to set up for his next turn by making sure he had a good card to draw for his turn. This led me to use [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] multiple times to put him down to a low hand size and alter his top deck that he had previously manipulated. I believe in the last game that I won, I was able to draw out of an N to one or two cards which lead me to winning the series.

Round 15: Justin Aaron with Night March – WLW 11-3-1

Oh look, another Night March deck. I was not particularly excited to be playing another Night March deck for my final match that I needed to win to make Top 8, but nonetheless, that was where I was. This was probably one of the closest and stressful series that I had to play the entire weekend. I know that we both desperately wanted to make it into Top 8 for all the prizes and what not. Luckily, Justin was a very nice guy and kept the game feeling fun which helped me relax. Games one and two were both incredibly close with both of us winning our games just barely ahead of the other. Heading into game three, I knew that we had taken up a large amount of time, and I was worried about us finishing with a tie. In the first or second turn of the game, Justin was forced to use a [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] with many valuable resources in his hand. I believe he had three [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and possibly even a [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] in his hand. I knew from that point that I had a huge shot at winning the game, but just a turn or two later, time was called. There was no way that we were going to be able to finish the game, but we continued to play any way. He ended being turn zero and turn two while I was turn one and turn three of time. Turn zero, Justin took a Knock Out. Turn one, I take a Knock Out. Turn two, Justin seems to have nothing to do during his turn so he plays [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] to bring an [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] to the Active spot and passes. Turn three, I decide that I should continue to play as if I was trying to win the game so I retreat my [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] into my [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] with a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] on it and use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up his [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and before I can even announce my attack, he sticks his hand out and says “good game” and scoops the series to me. Justin and I both wanted one of us to make it into Top 8 and it was pretty obvious to both of us that I would have won the series if we had more time. I think that it was very nice of Justin to give me the win since it was blatantly obvious that I was going to win that series, and I know that if it had been the other way around, I would have done the same for him. Justin was a great opponent to play against, and I hope to see him in future tournaments.

Swiss Rounds Complete

Wow, finishing day two at 11-3-1 and guaranteeing me a spot in Top 8. I was super excited to be in the Top 8 players out of the 1,105 players that had competed in the Masters division. I looked over at the final rankings to confirm and saw that I was sixth seed going into cut. I finally got to take a little bit of a break to get a meal break at 4:30 in the afternoon and would be back at 6:00 to play my Top 8 match.

Top Cut

Of course, looking at the standings for Top 8, I made sure to look at who I was playing in Top 8. I saw that I was playing against Michael Bergerac playing [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]. I felt at that moment that my run was over. There was almost no way that I was going to be able to actually win against a [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] to continue on in my run. I was starting to accept my Top 8 finish when Josh Marking came up to me to talk with me about my match. Josh told me that a lot of his friends had been saying that Michael was not able to beat Night March for whatever reason and saying that Michael’s two losses for the tournament were to Night March. Josh had found out for me that Michael did not play [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and instead opted to play [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Red Card” set=”XY” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card]. This version of the [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] deck had a much worse matchup against Night March because it allowed the Night March player to attack with [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] without being instantly Knocked Out by [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] or Silent Fear from [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]. With this in mind, I felt a lot more confident going into my match.

Top 8: Michael Bergerac with Trevenant / Hammers – WLW 12-3-1

Like I said before, I was feeling a lot better about this matchup knowing that I could OHKO his Pokemon with Night March without worrying about getting Knocked Out by [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. Michael even admitted to me before the match that he had played against Night March three times throughout the tournament and had only beaten it once. Game one I was able to go first and play down a bunch of Item cards and get set up to prepare to attack with [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] next turn. He gets [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] out to Item-lock me, and I start using Night March to get Knock Outs. The game continues on and Michael is forced to use [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] multiple turns in a row and cannot draw into Energy cards leaving him unable to attack. I slowly Knock Out all of his [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and take the game. Game two goes how a typical Night March versus [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] match goes where he gets turn one Item-lock, and I am left unable to play the game and lose rather quickly. Game three I get to go first and get completely set up. During his turn he plays [card name=”Red Card” set=”XY” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] and then [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and is unable to draw into any other Pokemon or an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. Off of my four cards from [card name=”Red Card” set=”XY” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] I draw into a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] to get a Knock Out on his only Pokemon in play to win the series.

This was probably one of my most nerve-wracking games of the weekend, mostly because I did not think I was going to be able to win it. I watched the Top 8 match between Paul Johnston and Fred Hoban and was lucky enough to see Paul win since that meant I would be playing against Water Box in Top 4, one of my best matchups. I went back to the hotel that night to relax a little bit and get a good night’s sleep before my Top 4 match the next morning.

Top 4: Paul Johnston with Water Box – WLW 13-3-1

[cardimg name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I honestly believe that this was one of the worst series that I played all weekend. This game was played on stream, and I feel like I drew poorly two out of the three games and Paul drew exceptionally poor in games one and three, but I will still go over all the games. Game one Paul goes first, attaches a Water Energy to [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], plays [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up a [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] on my Bench and passes his turn. Knowing that I could win on my first turn, I dug through my deck as much as I could to try and get the turn one Knock Out, but unfortunately miss the [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and getting [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] to the Active spot. Paul then passes his second turn, so I hope I am able to capitalize on his poor hand. I dig through my deck some more and am still unable to get a Knock Out, once again not being able to draw one of the two [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck that I need to win the game. Instead, I use Sky Return with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to get it out of the Active spot and promote a [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] from my Bench. Paul’s third turn is again very anti-climatic, and he uses [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and passes his turn. With less than seven cards in my deck at this point and two of them being [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], I attach a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] to my Active [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to be able to Retreat, use [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] to draw through the rest of my deck and finally get the [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] I need to win the game. Game two Paul goes first again and gets set up pretty well, much better than he did game one and plays [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] before ending his turn. This leaves me in an awkward spot where I am unable to be extremely explosive by drawing with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and get completely set up. I set up as much as I can and am forced to pass the turn to Paul. Paul is able to get a Quaking Punch before I am able to play any [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] which leaves me in a position to not be able to take Knock Outs, and I eventually lose the game. Game three he starts with [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] again, but has a slightly better game than he did game one. He is still left leaving [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active spot which allows me to set up and take three easy Knock Outs to win the game and the series.

I think there are a few reasons why this series does not represent how the matchup goes. First, there was definitely some poor draws throughout the series for both me and my opponent. It seemed that both of us drew poorly at least two out of the three games in the series. This is definitely the largest factor. Second, Paul was never able to utilize [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] in our three games. [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] can definitely be a big game changer since it can take two Prizes on non-EX Pokemon or even three Prizes off a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] if you’re lucky enough. With Paul never being able to set that up, it kind of left out the possibility of him winning a game that I am drawing well during. Overall, I was glad to meet Paul, and I wish we could have had a better series than the one we had.

Finals: Marcos Garcia with Seismitoad-EX / Giratina-EX – WW 14-3-1

Wow, here I am in the finals of U.S. Nationals! If I was told at the beginning of the season that I would be in the finals of U.S. Nationals, I probably would have died laughing because there is no way I would have been able to believe that. But here I was, ready to play and excited to have my guaranteed day two invite to Worlds. For me, this series was essentially whether or not I was going to get $5,000 more to help pay for college.

Game one, I am able to go first and get a decent set up going, playing two [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to draw through my deck but only getting to play one or two [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] which is quite hindering when playing against an Item-lock deck. Marcos did start with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] but was still able to use [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] turn one to get a bunch of Pokemon-EX onto his board. Marcos then proceeds to get a turn one Quaking Punch Knock Out on my Active [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]. Luckily for me, I was able to draw [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] for my turn and get a guaranteed Knock Out with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] on his [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card]. Marcos then proceeds to attach a [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] to his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and play N, bringing me down to four cards in hand. He then retreats into [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] and passes his turn. I have the [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] in hand with a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] on [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] to get a Knock Out and go down to two Prize Cards. At this point I definitely felt like I was in a position to win the game. Sadly, Marcos is then able to play [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] to leave me with two cards in hand, get a heads on [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] to get rid of the Energy on my Benched [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent me from drawing with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], and gets a Knock Out with Chaos Wheel to lock me out of playing any Energy cards. I believe that this was probably the most perfect way for Marcos to start making a comeback. I was left in a horrible position and was forced to pass for multiple turns while he just loaded Energy onto a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. With so many Energy on his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], I was left in a position where I could not get rid of all his Energy with [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] so I had to find another out. It seemed that the only way for me to win was to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and bring up his [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent a Chaos Wheel for a turn. Well, it worked and he was forced to N me down to two cards and use Quaking Punch. Off my two cards, I drew a [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and then I top-decked a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card]. I attached the Energy to my Active [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] and used [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] to draw into my last [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] to win game one. Having won this game after it seemed like I could not win, I definitely felt good going into game two. Game two went incredibly well for me. I missed the attack going second which allowed him time to set up his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench. I took the game at a slower pace and decided to just use [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] to get rid of the one [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] on his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. He then proceeds to start using Quaking Punch with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] which puts me out of the game for a bit. At one point I am able to retaliate with a Bee Revenge Knock Out from [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] to keep me in the game. Marcos now has a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] fully powered up so he opts to lock me out of my Special Energy cards with Chaos Wheel. This game though, I was able to have access to both [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] with a huge hand of Item cards to counteract his Chaos Wheel and leave him without any Energy to attack with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] next turn. This leaves me in a very dominant position to get a Knock Out next turn. Sadly, I missed the Knock Out on the [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] he powered up on the Bench, but I still got a Knock Out and left myself with two [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] in hand to prepare for next turn. He uses Chaos Wheel and Knocks Out my [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] which I immediately respond to by using [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to get back [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] to stop his [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] for a second time this game. Marcos is then forced to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] up my [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to try and stall out, which is not going to work since Marcos has fewer cards in deck than I do. With so many good cards left in my deck, I retreat my [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] with a [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] on it and pass my turn. With Marcos having no cards left in deck, he is forced to N us both down to low hand sizes and Quaking Punch my [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] for 30 damage. My deck was filled with so many good cards that I was almost guaranteed to get the [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] which I did after I played [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] to draw through the rest of my deck.

After a long and stressful weekend, I had finally done it. I had won the 2016 U.S. National Championship. I had so many great experiences throughout the weekend, some incredibly close games, and I got to meet a lot of really awesome people.

What Now?

Now I wait for Worlds to come around while I test every possible deck that I can. I have been specifically looking at the four biggest decks: Night March, [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card], and Water Box, along with some other rogue decks. I am very excited for Worlds as this will be my first time attending, and I look forward to getting to see all of my friends and playing in the upcoming season. See you all at Worlds!

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