Hi guys,
happy to be back again with another quarterly write-up where I give updated insights of my season as a ‘’Pro’’ Pokemon player. During quarter #3, I’ve continued taking part in Challenges and Cups with varying success. I have mostly played Pedro’s Zapdos / Jolteon than he has been playing with good results for a long time. I won two League Challenges and Top 4’d two Cups. Although it is not the best performance, it also is not terrible by any means.
I was unable to attend either of the two Special Events that were held in that time due to school being super tough and my money running a bit low. I have begun to believe that I won’t be playing in any more Special Events in the future. From the underwhelming prizes to the fierce competition, I think they’re a concept that should be abolished.
I have played most of my tournaments in the Standard format, but had a chance to go with my parents to Daytona Beach, Florida to play the Expanded Regional that was held there. Regardless of the location, I was confident I could still perform well.
For Daytona Beach Regionals, I literally had no insight into the Expanded format, and made the safe pick to play Zoroark / Garbodor. Unfortunately, my performance again was not too great. It was obvious I was punished for my poor preparation and I now know that the Expanded format is a wild west of meta calls. I finished 5-4 with a deck much like the one Alex Schemanske piloted at Greensboro Regionals (- Oricorio + Special Charge).
Before Daytona Beach Regionals, I tested more of the Standard format in preparation for EUIC. However, perhaps it was this very preparation that caused such heartbreak in the end. I decided on a list much like Philip’s and unfortunately had another sub-optimal performance. I was fortunate to walk away with 80CP, but could not shake the gross feeling of losing yet another win an in at 5-2-1.
I was on stream in the second round, and lost to Zororoc, a match I think I played terribly. However, you can learn more from bad gameplay than good gameplay, so I’ll post a link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47rMcd653dg
Unfortunately, there was a lot of negativity from people commenting on my current health situation in a bad light. For those of you who do not know, I was hospitalized with Mono before Worlds 2018. Mono can last anywhere from a month to several months, and I am still experiencing the draining effects of the condition. I do not want to use this as the only reason for my poor performance lately, but it has been a significant contributing factor. This experience has shown me that we as a community need to do a better job of supporting one another through these strifes rather than creating more negativity.
Also wanted to leave a link for everyone who doesn’t know what Mono is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_mononucleosis
The next significant tournament I played in and will discuss was Bristol Regionals. I played Zapdos / Jolteon again. Similarly, I finished at 5-4. I did not get any CP from this event since we missed a Top 128 cutoff by roughly 30 players.
However, the early rounds of the tournament were truly crazy. I lost a frustrating series to a Zororoc in Round 1 due to dead drawing, but quickly won my second round vs Koko spread. I then saw my pairing for round 3 and was surprised to be playing vs my fellow teammate, Philip Schulz. I won a very close series where I pulled off a KO on a Jolteon by playing triple Electropower, Choice Band, Escape Rope and Guzma after he used the Swift Run GX attack. While being 2-1, I got paired against yet ANOTHER teammate, Pedro Torres. I lost a close 3 game series of the mirror to bring my overall record to 2-2.
The rest of the tournament was a familiar story of whiffing cards at crucial moments and feeling one step behind, but I’m glad that Nico Alabas went on to get second at the event (losing against Stall in the finals). I also wanted to shout out myself for having a sick ‘’stream’’ for top 4 and the finals on Heyfonte.
I ended the season with 720 CP after finishing 4th at the Dreamhack Regionals, and then not attending NAIC due to my parents not being invited as judging staff.
Jönköping Tournament Report
I also wanted to include a short tournament report of said Dreamhack Regionals in this article. I had a total score of 6-2-1 since this was the smallest Regionals this season.
I’ll give a quick resume of my rounds before I go into the list. [clear]
R1 vs Reshizard
This series went all the three games where I in the end was able to snag the win. All three games were decided by bad draws as Judge and Marshadow either made himself or me deaddraw ourselves into losses. Luckily, I was the one on the better end of the deaddraw show this time.
R2 vs Zoroark
I had fast starts and Zoroark in the current Standard before NAIC wasn’t playing Naganadel GX so I could easily win, it also helped that he didn’t set up either of the games. I won 2-0.
R3 vs Reshizard
So these games were more interesting, but long story short, he Let Loosed himself into terrible hands and whiffing energies multiple turns in both games helped me a lot to secure the 2-0 win.
R4 vs ZapBeasts (Nico)
I was talking to him about how many points he needed. If he had needed better than a top 32 position at the tournament I would probably have scooped vs him, but looking at the matchup I didn’t give it too much of a thought since he had such a strong advantage against me. The games were the opposite. I tried to play around both Sledgehammer from Buzzwole and Nihilego, but it didn’t end up mattering as he simply deaddrew without me even playing a Marshadow. I won 2-0.
R5 vs Stall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87rAoOtl2_U
This match was played on stream. I know Sander well and I also knew the matchup very well. I’d say I was probably one of the only Pika players knowing how to beat the matchup, but he got out of the Let Loose both games and I struggled a lot even with setting up, and Stall just really punishes you. I lost 0-2.
R6 vs Stall
Simon, my brother was playing almost the same list as Sander and we ID’d, simply because we didn’t want to knock each other out from top cut.
R7 vs Reshizard
I was worried about the matchup before the tournament but really got confident once I started playing. I was going faster than she could keep up with. I won game 1 with Tapu Koko GX aftet she forgot to retreat away the Energies on her Arcanine. Game 2 ended quickly after she used Let Loose. Game 3 she had really bad draws and much like my top 8, I had near flawless draws and could KO Charizard before it even got relevant.
Top 8 vs Reshizard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0xiDHhAMHI
Him starting with a game loss definitely helped. I was Judged + Power Planted Game 2 and lost very quickly. Game 3 was just AMAZING from my side. Starting with a dead hand and top decking my way into setting up, I was able to KO a Charizard turn 2 and there was no looking back. He didn’t have a shot of winning after I had that crazy turn 2 in game 3. Watch it, it’s a treat!
Top 4 vs Reshizard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaz4hmIZ0r0
My opponent here, Bert, is a good friend of mine and my brothers. We had three good games were it came down to me prizing my Tapu Koko GX for the game and ultimately the series. Watching the match is easier than explaining it, and you even will have Philip and Lydia as the commentators.
My list was fairly standard, I really liked it and a build like this is also what I’m testing the most going into Worlds. There isn’t much explaining to do, it’s all about going as fast as possible, but if there are any questions, drop a comment!
I want to end with a huge thank you! Firstly, to all of my followers, my Twitter exploded this season, and of course Limitless TCG for being so supportive. I’m really happy for the opportunities that the team has given me and I want to use the negative experience from this season to accomplish all my goals that are to be obtained next season – I’ll post these on my Twitter after Worlds.
Having to play day 1 again hurts of course, but it’s another learning experience and if I make it to day 2, I’ll at least do it with some momentum heading in.
Thanks to everyone for reading, and be sure to follow me on twitter @JesperKEriksen.
If you are invited to Worlds or you are just looking for coaching heading into next season, shoot me a message, I’d be happy to help out everyone as much as possible. Until next time!