William Hung [whung@uclink.berkeley.edu]

Worlds 2004 Report

TCG World Championship 2004
Wyndham Spa and Resort
Orlando, FL
8/21/2004
132 participiants in my age group 15+

Preparations: I don't have a lot of time to test my deck physically with other people. 
So I use the computer program Apprentice to do most of my playtesting. I made a lot of 
viable decks, but didn't come up with Magma as one of them. I've tested against Swampert, 
Blaziken, Lightning Strike Deck (LSD), Crobyss, Metabyss, and various other decks. It 
has done well - over 60% over every one of the above except Swampert. I agree that 
Machamp is an auto-loss as well.
However, I can 50/50
against Swampert if I get a faster start and time my ATM Rock properly.

Pokemon (23):
4x Seedot
3x Nuzleaf
4x Shiftry
4x Dunsparce
2x Skitty
2x Delcatty
2x Sentret
2x Furret

Trainers (21):
3x Oracle
4x Copycat
2x Desert Shaman
1x Switch
2x ATM Rock
3x Rare Candy
2x Desert Ruins
2x Steven's Advice
2x Mr.Briney's Compassion

Energies (16):
5x Grass Energy
4x Darkness Energy
3x Double Rainbow Energy
1x Warp Energy
3x Boost Energy

Strategy: I don't assume everyone know how to operate the deck. The obvious goal is to 
match the opponent's hand size every turn you can attack with Shiftry with Supernatural. 
Not so obvious is you should also Push Aside at every opportunity you get. That means if 
you can KO with Push Aside without slowing you down, for example, after a Supernatural, 
that would be important. I choose to keep 2 Desert Shaman because it gives me a chance 
when I'm behind or I can shut the opponent down with it.
The Warp Energy is also good because it's a "solid" energy. I'm not a fan of Boost Energy, 
but I know it can win me games. A lot of times a turn 1 Dunsparce setup leads to a turn 2 
Shiftry, thus a Boost Energy and a Copycat will ensure an early KO. It's a comeback card 
when I'm behind. ATM Rock is actually important because whenever there's an energy shortage 
in the late game, and I have a prize or two left to go, that is a game winning card.

The reason I'm writing my strategy is because my strategy could be completely wrong and 
therefore not do well at all. I know that my perception of Magma decks, like a lot of 
other American players, is that it can't win a World Championship. I didn't know the 
strategy to make it work - forget the deck building. 

Anyway, I talk to others after I turned in my final Shiftry decklist at 9am, and I heard 
some people told me that there's quite a bit of Tech against Shiftry because Shiftry swept 
through the Grinders. I can't do anything anyhow, except to do my best against my opponents.

P.S. I'm just trying to remember and report the match as accurately as possible. If it's 
wrong, you can correct me as well.

Round 1: vs. Matthew Yuen [Magma deck]
Okay, he went first and got a TM's Zangoose and TM's Numel. He went Call for Family for TM's 
Groudon. I had 2 Dunsparce and use one of them to do Strike and Run for Skitty, Seedot, 
Sentret. I switch with the Dunsparce on the bench. He promptly get a TM's Baltoy and another 
Magma basic, played Magma Energy for a KO. I send up the other Dunsparce, set up Delcatty to 
draw some cards, and try to Sudden Flash. Tails. He got another Magma Energy, and pulled a 
TM's Claydol - KO on another Dunsparce. I forgot what happened for the next couple turns, 
but I finally used Oracle to fetch Rare Candy and Shiftry. I dropped a Boost and matched his 
hand for a KO. He got the TM's Camerupt and he charges up the TM's Groundon, he passed. Then 
I feel that I don't want waste all my Boost, so I went for Double Rainbow - Push Aside - 
hoping to get Darkness Energy next turn for Supernatural for another KO. Not only that didn't 
happen, he drops a Darkness Energy on his TM's Groundon for OHKO on my Shiftry. I went Steven's 
Advice (6) and Energy Draw, and managed to pull off another Seedot - Rare Candy - Shiftry. But 
his second TM's Groundon is looming on the Bench. 

He also gets another TM's Claydol. It's very bad because he can Magma Switch his Energies to his 
benched TM's Groundon, leave a single energy and invest a Magma Energy to KO my second Shiftry. 
Guess what - that's exactly what he did. He left the Darkness Energy on his 80 damage TM's Groundon 
and Magma Energy for OHKO. I know I was losing. I was trailing 5-2 in prizes, and his TM's Groundon 
will keep coming. Making a mistake in hand size calculation didn't help either. I wasted a ATM 
[Rock], and burned a Desert Shaman to make his hand size the same as mine. 
Nevertheless, my 3rd Shiftry drew some prizes and it went to 3-1 in favor of my opponent. He 
tried to get a cheap final kill with Pokemon Reversal, but it failed. I saw his hand size was 
huge. I had my 3rd Shiftry out and a Mr. Briney on my hand, along with a 3rd and final Rare Candy. 
My strategy was keep him from drawing another Darkness Energy and use Mr.
Briney's to make the game
even closer. That didn't work because his TM's Groundon simply Linear Attack my 40HP Skitty twice 
for the game. Very frustrating.

Loss 0-1 0pts.

Round 2: vs. GymLeaderBlaine [Blaze with Regirock ex!] He started with a Dunsparce and went first. 
He got out Torchic, Skitty, and a Regirock ex. I started with only a Sentret and a Skitty. I went 
for my Sentret as Active and did like 10 damage to his Dunsparce. I got my Furret on my 2nd turn, 
but I thought of using my Skitty to search my Grass Energies to improve my chances. So I ended up 
using a Boost and a Double Rainbow respectively in those two turns to finally KO the Dunsparce. 
Great I drew a Seedot. Regirock ex, however, comes in the next turn to KO my Furret. I have no 
chance. I simply scooped when I saw a 2nd Regirock completely ready to go with Rainbow Energies 
and Fire Energy from Blaziken's Firestarter. [I don't have a choice as he KO's my Shiftry and I 
have no more Pokemon.]

Loss 0-2 0pts.

Round 3: vs. Swampert
Finally got a good start with my Dunsparce. I went straight for Seedot, Skitty, Sentret. Then 
another Dunsparce and Seedot. Delcatty was out by turn 2 or 3 along with Furret. That made it 
easy to get my Shiftry to overrun his Mudkips. I went for two Darkness Energies and Push Aside 
to make sure he can't Rare Candy to the Swamperts. He eventually did, but I was already leading 
2-6 prizes, and he finally got his first KO. I put an Energy on Shiftry and did ATM [Rock] on 
his Rare Candied Swampert and Swampert ex. No chance for comeback.

Win 1-2 3pts.

Lunch Break

Round 4: vs. Martin Moreno - Blaze with Bellossom Tech Okay, I playtested against his deck the 
night before and totally dominated like 2 or 3 times. I did the same thing and I was leading 
like 2-5 prizes. However, I made a HORRIBLE mistake and send up a Nuzleaf to ATM Rock his 
Blaziken ex with 50 damage. I didn't check there was a Combusken underneath it. Ouch! My Nuzleaf 
got KOed and he came back very quickly. He got all the way down to his last prize until I pulled 
my last Seedot - Rare Candy - Shiftry together. In the process, he Pokemon Nurse his Blaziken ex 
and got the Bellossom out. Desert Ruins wasn't effective. I got some major problems when my last 
Shiftry is out though. I had only a Boost Energy and Double Rainbow Energy left in my entire deck. 
I used up my 2x ATM Rocks earlier during the match. Time is not on my side as I'm trailing 2-1 in 
prizes. I eventually lost when time is called. I blew my chance to Top 32 right here. I was 
considering dropping, but I want to try to finish strong anyways.

Loss 1-3 3pts.

I washed my face and try to forget about that match.

Round 5: vs. Swampert
Well, I once again jumped to a good start, but he's a smart player. As soon as he got out his 
Swampert ex, the game turned around quickly. He OHKO my Shiftry and then he did Crushing Wave 
to my poor Seedot. I should have known better. I should wait to put my Seedot down - after I 
Oracle for Rare Candy and Shiftry. It was a close match going down 2-2 in prizes late in the 
game. I was hoping to win with another turn as time is called, but the judge wouldn't.

Draw 1-3-1 4pts.

Okay, another bad play. Just one bad play! It has already been a long day and I'm mentally 
exhausted. Without the same motivation and inner fire after lunch break, I need to simply 
regroup myself and tell myself every game is a championship game. Can't make stupid mistakes 
like these.

Round 6: vs. Metabyss
We both had a slow start without Energies. I had the upper hand however, because he "uses up" 
his hand for the Copycat by using Rare Candy - Metagross ex. Yet he only got enough to power 
up its Metal Reversal much later. I took advantage of this with Desert Ruins as his Metagross 
ex sat there for like 3 or 4 turns without being able to attack with it. When I finally get my 
Energies and my whole deck going, Metagross ex was an easy KO, and everything was easy to KO 
after that. He did explore his options carefully each turn - taking his time. But I'm in no 
hurry because I'm way ahead with 1-4 lead in prizes. Time was called and he knows he would have 
lost next turn.

Win 2-3-1 7pts.

Round 7: vs. Swampert
I actually have a very good chance in beating Swampert ex, but I do need to get setup before the 
opponent does. I can - it takes less cards for a Shiftry deck to setup than a Swampert deck. Okay
- I believe he went first and I only had a poor 40 HP Skitty as Active and Sentret on the Bench. 
He got a Dunsparce and did Strike and Run. I did Minor-Errand Running. He popped out his god hand 
with Steven's Advice and pulled Rare Candy - Swampert ex, Rare Candy - Swampert. He KOed my Skitty 
easily. I send up a Sentret and topdecked a Dunsparce. I put an energy on Sparce and passed. He 
KO my Sentret (6-4). I use Sparce to get Sparce, Sentret, and another Skitty.
No swap. I want him to
KO Skitty to simply buy a turn for my Active Sparce. He chose to KO Sparce instead (6-3). I send 
up the other Sparce and topdecked a Furret. Great ! I used Furret to fetch a Grass Energy to 
Sudden Flash. No good. He KO that as well (6-2) and I send up Furret, Topdecked a ATM Rock! 
I promptly used that, but he has Marshstomps in his hand, so I'm not going to get much time 
to get Seedot, Rare Candy, and Shiftry out. I didn't get them in time and finally lost.

Loss 2-4-1 7pts.

Even though I lost this match, I did everything I can to try to win the match. No bad plays. 
This is what I've looking for when I play every game. I proudly shake his hand and go back up 
to my room to get some rest.

I'll talk about the Prerelease on my upcoming Prerelease report.

PROPS:
To Chris Fulop for representing US very well. I'm very proud of you.
To Denise (remember the Crobyss player that won the South Stadium
challenge?) and others around me
for helping me with cards I need to build this deck.
To Nintendo and all the staff for putting together a great event. I've had lots of fun.
To Japanese players for bringing a very underrated Magma deck into our metagame. They are very 
good players.

SLOPS:
To myself, for playing so poorly at Worlds. I have no excuse for it. I must learn from it.

Thanks for reading my report! Please feel free to post any comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,
William Hung