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From: Anna Schipper
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:30 AM

Subject: Dutch Nationals report by Anna Schipper

Ludicargo/Lanturn by Anna Schipper
Dutch National Championships
Nationaal Denksportcentrum, Utrecht
Sunday, July 3rd, 2005
About 170 participants, 51 in the 15+ catagory


After two weeks of lots of practice in between my exams (it's been aaages since I've played Pokemon everyday, and I can't believe how much fun it is
again!) and a trip to the Stadium Challenge in Austria I believed I was sort of ready for our nationals. I would be playing Ludicolo/Lanturn, since that's the deck that beat me in the semi-final in Austria the week before, and I play-tested it a bit, and looooved playing it. I won't list the complete deck, cos I might be playing it at the Worlds, and I'd like the complete list to stay secret for a little longer =)

So 3rd of July came, and I rose at 6 AM to prepare and head over to the place of the Olaf and David, the kids I always play with, because their dad offered to take me and another kid they're friends with, with him. They were all excited about it, so the ride didn't take too long. We registered and I met up with many of the players I know, and who'd also be competing. After some last-minute trading/lending, all decks were completed, and.we got to wait a joyous 3 hours before the event actually started -_-;;

Olaf would be playing Dark Tyranitar in 10-, David was playing Gardy in 11-14, and Jetze (the other kid) Blastoise EX/Articuno EX in 11-14. Erik and Jeroen (my fellow team LG members) would also be playing in the 15+, with Dark T-Tar and Milotic/Gorebyss, respectively.

So finally, at around 1.30 PM or whatever, we start.

Round 1 - vs. Marlies (Gardevoir/Medichamp/Pidgeot)

She was really nice, and we chatted for a bit during the 20 minutes before we were actually allowed to begin. I like playing against girls, cos I usually only play against guys in my local league/tournaments ^^;; After an eternity everything is settled, and we're allowed to begin. I start horribly with a lone Chinchou, and she starts with Pidgey, I think. We both get a really slow set-up, and as she doesn't know many cards, play is really slow, cos she keeps needing to read my trainers and Poke-powers and stuff. Finally I get my deck going, and my Battle Frontier stops her Pidgeot, so I manage to take all my prizes fairly easy. After the game she tells me I'd better go on to win it now, so she can say she lost to the champion, and she wanted a girl to win =)

1-0

Round 2 - vs. John (Exploud, Metagross, Pidgeot)

I get an early Battle Frontier against his Pidgeot, he counters it with Magnetic Storm, I drop another Battle Frontier. He uses a Scott, only to find out his other Magnetic Storm was in his prizes, and the only stadium he had left in his deck was.a Battle Frontier. So basically, he doesn't get a lot going, and I kill two Explouds and Beldums/Metangs to take all prizes.

2-0

Round 3 - vs. Jeroen (Dark Raticate/Dark Crawdaunt/Raichu/Togetic or
something)

He only gets one Dark Raticate out all match, because the others are in his prizes. His Pokemon don't have enough HP to survive my Lanturn attacks, so I

win fairly easily.

3-0

Round 4 - vs. A guy whose name I forgot ^^;; (Raticate/Crobat (EX??) He never got beyond Golbat, so I don't know :P)

He gets a fast Raticate, and keep flipping heads on the quick attack, killing my Sparce and Chinchou, but by then I'm sort of setting up nicely, and after I kill the Raticate he doesn't get anything anymore. At one time he even plays a Masterball and doesn't have any cards he can choose among the 7 ><

4-0

Round 5 - vs. Joey (Muk EX/Dustox/Togetic)

I don't think he draws a single energy card all game, and my set-up is
rather alright, so needless to say it didn't take long, and I win after
about 10 turns or so. I felt really sorry for him, especially when we looked

at his deck, and there were like 2 groups of about 6 energy cards in the
deck ^^;;

5-0

Round 6 - vs. Kristel (Jumpluff/Ninetales/Zapdos EX/Moltres EX/Rayquaza EX)

She starts with an Igglybuff and uses set song to search for a Hoppip. I
start with a Lotad, and keep using Surprise to remove her best cards. At
some turn she uses Set Song for a Zapdos EX, so next turn I use Rocket's
Admin, heh. This happens next turn as well (when she searched for Moltres
EX), and by then I had a nice set-up, so I kill the Igglybuff. She sends up
a Jumpluff, and flips like 4 heads in a row for the power against my
Magcargo and later my Lanturn attacks >< But she can't get her EX Pokemon in

play (didn't see a single one), and when I finally kill her 2nd Jumpluff,
she doesn't get anything running again anymore, so I take my last prize
against a Ninetales, I think. Good game!

6-0

Top 8 - vs. Maurice (Dragtrode)

Game 1: I wasn't looking forward to playing Dragtrode at all, but he looked
even more nervous than I was. He starts the first game, and draws a card in
his first turn. I sort of thought he'd be slightly irritating, because of an

incident in the swiss rounds he was involved in, and I was nervous as well,
so I call over a judge, and he gets a warning. Looking back, I feel really
guilty about calling the judge, cos he turned out to be a really sweet guy,
who wasn't all that experienced yet, and we could've just worked something
out ourselves. After that mistake he kept asking me if it was alright to
play this or that card now, which made me feel even worse :(
So then we actually start playing, and he draws absolutely nothing for about

3 turns, by which I've got a full bench with two Ludicolo, 1 Magcargo, and 2

Lanturn. I retreat my Dunsparce for Ludicolo, and start killing all his
Pidgeys and Dunsparces, after dropping a Battle Frontier. I think I took all

6 prizes in 8 turns or so.

7-0

Game 2: This was very much like the first one. I get a great start, and he
gets absolutely nothing. He wasn't really playing very smartly either, so in

the end I felt sorry for him, and sort of helped him by telling he could
still use Pidgeot's power, etc. He eventually draws 1 prize against my 6.
Battle Frontier totally stopped his deck, because he only played 2 counter
stadiums, one of which he played 2nd turn, when I hadn't played a Battle
Frontier yet. But he was really nice, and wished me luck, and I told him to
download Apprentice so he could playtest his deck better next time, since he

came from a region where he knew no other 'experienced' players he could
play against.

8-0

Top 4 - vs. John (Exploud, Metagross, Pidgeot)

Game 1: He gets out an Exploud turn 3 or 4, with 2 Double Rainbow on it. So
basically, it doesn't do any real damage anymore >< I give it 80 with
Lanturn, then ATM rock it, so his rare candied Pidgeot goes to his hand as
well. From there on I take all 6 prizes pretty fast with Lanturn, en then
Ludicolo to finish it.

9-0

Game 2: He starts with a Beldum, and Pidgey on the bench. Rare Candies to
Pidgeot, quick searches. I think I started with Sparce, cos I got a fast
setup, and drop a Battle Frontier, which he can't get away all game. He
eventually gets an Explaud out with his Jirachi (Make a Wish), but two
Lanturn attacks kill it, and then he gets nothing anymore.

10-0


Finale - vs. Manuel (Blastoise EX/Articuno EX)

Game 1: So I was unbeaten so far, but I knew that I had a lot of luck at
times, especially with my opponents. This was gonna be the toughest match
I've ever played, and by now it was 9 PM, so I wasn't at my fittest anymore,

and made a LOT of mistakes, which was sort of frustrating. Onto the game; I
get the lousiest start ever with a lone Slugma against his Squirtle ^^;;
Luckily I manage to get a Magcargo first turn with rare candy, but tiredness

is kicking in, and I stupidly use his power for a switch instead of a
Sparce. Luckily he can't kill the Cargo cos he doesn't get his Strength
Charm, so from there on things get easier. I switch for a Dunsparce I got
through my Steven's, and fill up my bench. Eventually my Lanturn kills a
Blastoise, and he drops an Articuno. I give it 90, he drops a second one and

kills my Lanturn. By now he's got a full bench, and somehow miscalculated
Ludicolo's attack, so I give him an exact 110 damage, and from there he
doesn't really recover. I think he got another Blastoise with 4 energies,
but I switch for my other Lanturn to kill the Blastoise as well.

11-0

Game 2: I get the worst start with a lone Chinchou. I think I managed to
kill one Blastoise and maybe a Jirachi or something, but he's got the upper
hand all game, so I lose, also because I make the mistake of not removing 50

damage from Ludicolo at one time with Healing Steps, because I thought
removing 40 would be enough, but he plays a strength charm on his Blastoise
EX to kill it, and I didn't have the right cards to replace the Ludicolo
with a new one.

11-1

Game 3: With about 6 minutes left, we play a third round. I start with three

mulligans, and thought that was it, he must've had a Blastoise/candy in his
hand with enough energies in an 10-card-hand. I luckily start with a
Dunsparce, which is what saves me. I SAR for Slugma, Chinchou, Lotad. He
rare-candies, Blastoise EX, 4 energies, kill >< I send up my Lotad, evolve
to Lombre, attach DRE, and retreat (for free) for another Dunsparce, get a
Magcargo and smooth over for a Ludicolo, I think. He kills the Sparce, and
is now 4-6 up in prizes with 2 minutes to go >< But I use the Ludicargo
combo to search for a Scramble Energy, evolve Chinchou to Lanturn, and kill
the Blastoise EX so we're now tied in prizes with about 1 minute to go.
Phew. He gets an Articuno active, and does 50 damage to Lanturn. He's got a
60 HP Jirachi and a Wartortle with 20 damage on his bench (from Blastoise's
power). So I draw a card, and time runs out. Sudden Death.
I'm thinking about a way to kill his Articuno, which just wasn't possible
this turn, when suddenly I notice his bench. Two Pokemon with 60 HP left
each. I take a look at my hand, and see 2 Pokemon Retriever, and suddenly I
see the winning move. I Smooth Over/Happy Dance for a. Warp Point. Use the
two retrievers to get back the 2 Dunsparce he killed, to fill my bench. I
drop a Water Energy on Ludicolo, which already had a DRE. He thinks I used
the cargo/colo powers for a Switch (hehe), so he keeps making remarks along
the lines of 'come on, play the Switch already'. I re-count the damage I
would give (70) a million times, cos I just couldn't believe that if I
played the Warp Point I would actually *win* the game. Finally I'm sure I do

that 70 damage, so I play the Warp Point, and win the match.

12-1

Soooo, I win the trip, 2 boosterboxes, Pokemon sleeves, a Nintendo DS bag,
and $500 scholarship award. All of my fellow Team LG members came in T16 in
their respective categories as well, with Olaf (10-) and David (11-14)
losing closely mostly due to tiredness because they were playing their top 8

matches at 8 PM or so =( Erik came in 6th in the end, I think, and I think
everyone was suffering from tiredness in the final knock-out games, and
Jeroen 14th or so... But we had lot of fun, and lots of boosters to open on
the way back ^^

Props:
- The HUGE attendance =) 166 people!
- Erik, David, Jeroen, Olaf for being the coolest team members ever, for all

the practice games, and for finishing T8/T16 =)
- Manuel for the most exciting game I've ever played =)
- Martin for the advice and for dropping out of the tournament to solve part

of the judging problem. And for taking my POP cooling bag with him after I
forgot it in the train last week, LOL.
- Warp Point for being my winning card, hehe.
- Girls doing so well =) 11-14 had two girls in the final, and 15+ had 2
girls in T8.

Slops:
- The tournament starting 3 hours late due to computer errors and many more
players than expected
- The enormous confusing over doing Top 8 or Top 16 in the 11-14 category
- The huge entrance fee (18 dollars)

Comments and other email can be directed to:
Anna Schipper
kop_this@hotmail.com