Wow, where to begin? Nats. weekend is THE tournament Steve and I so look forward to
but for me to say this was the best Pokemon experience I've ever had would be the
understatement of my life.

We leave Wed. night, treck a 1000 or so miles and get to Ohio Thurs. afternoon.
After checking things out we find Ken, John and Wes to playtest and prepare for the
Professor Cup ( which- for the record- was the MOST fun I've had playing cards this year!).
We all had solid 30 card decks from 2 months of talking about the format, I just
happened to be the ONLY one of us who didn't have the prizes from h-e double hockey sticks
for prizes any games lol.Anyways, i 7-0 w/ Jim Roll .dec ( my boy =D) . Jim showed
me his "basic instinct" deck months ago, and i just knew it would be devastating in
30 card. Guess i was corect ;).

So i make cut, have the privilege of playing Pop 1st round :) who almost got me
( damn sydney's stadium, a.k.a dick bug . card lol) and i make it to t-4. I notice
i play the winner of delta vs. another bug. I have tropius and 2 brineys in my
2-2 bug so obv. i want mirror. Doesn't happen. I get delta. Win game 1 , lose game 2
and 3 was a close one. Back and forth, it comes down to me bringing up Jolteon ex
w/ 60 to ko an eggs and go down to one prize. He has a naked riachu as his other actve
and eggs jr and pika benched. Even if he has the scramble or dre to ko jolty, that
brings him to 1 prize and deactivates the rest of his scrambles- a good thing.
Instead, the genious I am i decide to attach another multi to jolty making both now colorless
( obv.) . I reached for the grass if that counts for anything lol.
Doesn't matter though- nobody was beating Celio in 2-2. Congrats. Eric!!!
I end up 3rd and had a blast!!! GREAT event w/ amazing support Mike. Thanks :)

We do Buca's again, then retreat to John's room to prepare for the big show
w/ Ken , Wes and Heidi. I want to play speed spread SO bad, but Steve just got
too many bad sets playtesting for me to play it. So I find myself writing up 2
" Silvestrodos" lists at about 5:00 am.I ended up beating on Heidi's door at 5:15 AM screaming,"I need an umbreon!!"
Nice. I don't think i got 8 hours sleep
the entire time i was there- but that's Origins.

Pete asked me to help out w/ deck checks(with Juniors/Seniors) and crowd control ( which i was more than happy to do!) so i get to the hall around 8:00 am , turn in my deck and work until
the main event starts.Anyways, now it's showtime.

Round 1: Colin Moll w/ r-gon

Colin is a solid player so i know this will be a battle. We both get good sets,
but he has a bit of a hard time getting the green guy up so he has to delta draw
a few times . This cost him 2 easy prizes for me via dead buttcheecks. Being
smart, he focuses on getting cloyster d out to negate spider trap. Smart.
Seeing this i focus on getting a flareon ex ready so i can umby ex it up
and 1 shot it. After this happens i end up getting board control and
the win. Good playing Colin!

1-0


Round 2 : Old man w/ ape

Didn't take long to see the ape now did it. He gets a kind of slow set, me
so-so. But he has a terrible time finding dre's and throwing heads. My jolty ex is huge
this game as w/ the 10 damage and the gimmick a tails on burned means dead monkey.
That, and trapping up cattys means i'm not getting dre'ed that turn.Eventually
he runs out of apes and i take the win. Old man is a solid old school player
and always a hard game.

2-0


Round 3 : ? w/ typhlosion/ Camerupt

Not sure what else was in the deck because he gets a horrid start
( lone numel),I draw, attach to eevee and call. He draws, cowboys
for 3, attaches and passes. I decide to go for the win, evolve
flar. ex , attach and flame screen. Tails and i win. Heads ;(
He draws, evolves and smokescreens. I draw , attach and go for it. Heads :)
G/G

3-0


Round 4: The great Jimmy Ballard w/ ambush

Jimmy has shared his ambush list w/ Steve so i have a good idea what's
coming. We both get decent
sets, his flick booger rosilia is a pain, but i have my jolty just waiting
in the wings. He aqua showers me, i kill the little penguin, but
forget to evolve jolty. Jimmy exploits my mistake and brines my eevee
w/ 2 energies. Smooth move exlax. Anyways , i never recover from my
misplay and Jimmy rolls over me. G/G Jimmy. Just remember what
payback is my friend lol . Will get to that later.


3-1



Round 5: Dawn Marie w/ bannette / evolutions

I love Johnny Blaze in a non you know what way lol, but business is
business. I get a good set, she doesn't get crap and can't throw a
heads to save her life. Enough said. Sory Dawn <3 , you guys are
great peeps!


4-1



Round 6 : " The Chad" w/ m AND m

Love him , Hate him, Chad is the real deal guys!And he has obv.
playtested vs. bug alot ( unlike most of you lol) as he just
carved me up like a Thanksgiving turkey. I tried to umby up
his chick t-2 and kill it w/ flame screen. He just
stockpiles the cards he needs ( where's my damn rocket's admin. lol)
and when the time was right brineys,
drops the groudon ex i was hoping was prized and that was that.
Good game Chad- your a GREAT player!


4-2

Now we have issues. My resistance is solid, but one more loss
and the dream is dead. Not good.Instead of pouting I suck it up
and decide not to lose again. Easier said than done.


Round 7 : Heather Lynch W/ R-gon

Another favorable match up - except she goes off. Another Cloyster to
deal with and it takes a turn or 2 longer than it needed to. Eventually
i get board control and can see how this game is gonna end( in
my favor). Then she totally shocks me by playing a second switch card
( her 1st was a warp point) to save her mew star and ko my bug.
WHO plays 2 switch cards in r-gon!!! As much as I've destroyed her dad
w/ the bug i should have figured lol
Anyways, THIS is a problem . I start trapping like crazy and instead
of 5 heads in a row
( like she threw the 1st 5 coin tosses) she throws 4 straight tails.
But i still have no outs. She has a vibrava w/ 2 energies, trapinch
w/ 2 energies and a hand full of cards. Just waiting to evolve
the ex guy and get her last prize :( No outs. Then for some unknown
reason to me she can't leave well enough alone and drops latios ex d on her
bench and flips for sleep check. Heads. I draw and announce spider trap
the lati in about 2 seconds. Right away she realizes what she has done.
Grabs that BEAUTIFUL purple dice and rolls a 1. I draw, gimmick and
steal a win. Divine intervention! I point to the sky.


5-2


Now i'm starting to believe.


Round 8 : Mrs. Shawn Gettys ( i forgot your 1st name sweetheart, sorry) w/ mario

To be honest , 2 things came 2 mind. Steve and i aren't fans of the deck and
haven't tested it at all. He assured me it's a solid match up for our
list and that's good enough for me, but i hate games i haven't prepared for.
Second, the wife of " Mr. Nationals" himself Shawn Gettys isn't gonna be a
push over. I was right. I get a solid set, have windstorms when i need them ,
but every damn time I'd get board control she would have an answer( like
a strenth charm and 2 plus powers ;( - things like that. In the end it was just a matter
her throwing a tails or 2 and i was able to pull this one out. Easily the toughest game
i won in swiss. You've taught your wife well Shawn !!


6-2


Time to **** or get off the pot .


Round 9 : ? w/ ape

I see what he is playing and i smile inside. My ape match-up
is so easy most of the time. This was one was a thing of beauty!
He sets, me too. He mentors and discards a skitty. Interesting.
He benchs little ape ,budew, skitty, attaches to active skitty,retreats
and budews for whatever. Now i am gonna make his life miserable for
a while. I draw, evolve my bug, attach to an eevee, evolve jolty and drop stump.
OOOPS! lol . Now - unless they play brinys, warps, switchs- i just trap a
naked poke and even if they wake up I'm not getting dre'd. This gives me the time to
prepare the return k.o on the ape. Bottom line, I had board control
the entire game . He made a good comeback towards the end via some
key heads flips but it was too little too late. That beautiful stump
never left the field ;)

7-2



Along w/ everyone else i anxiously wait for t-32 to be posted. Does it!!!
Mr. Multi goes into Sunday in 22nd! My friend Jim Roll made it- GREAT
job my friend! Heidi made it, Aaron Curry, of course Eric- good stuff guys.

Steve proceeds to tell me that after seeing the brackets he is 90% positive that
as long as I beat Jimmy I will win my trip to worlds because Capriola and Chuck both
have positive matchups and of course I love playing bannette!

We do Barleys, chill out the rest of the night .



T-32: Jimmy w/ ambush

Remember what i called payback in our swiss match? Exactly.

In all honesty. Jimmy drew SO dead both games it was sick :( Too
bad, Jimmy is one guy I'd really enjoy having a real game with.

Game 1: I get great hand, mentor, windstorm, evols., and i know
he plays the flick booger guy, so i play smart. He starts w/ it
so i just attach to the little bug and miss stun for fun. I don't remember
the sequence but the game was over in 4-5 turns.

Game 2: Worst hand ever for Jimmy. I get another solid set, Jimmy plays
maybe 2 turns and scoops. And was a class act about it. Sorry Jimmy.
W/ Jolty ex and my array of windstorms/ gyms the match-up is solidly in my favor
imho, but i still wish we could of had a game my friend :(

ps, thanks for the shirts- they rock!




t-16 :Adam Capriola w/ bannette

I sooo love playing vs. bannette ex.

Game 1 : I get a horrid set, him so-so. I manage to gimmick a bannette
and he throws tails for 2 prizes. Second card is trans. Thank you.
Scientist for 12 next turn and didn't look back.

Game 2: i was due for a set like this :(
bug JR, 5 energies and a scoop . I draw marys, whiff and get
t-2 ed.

Game 3: Decent set, hit a draw card, mentor and do my thing. To be honest, umby ex
makes this match so easy . I get a shuppet w/ one and that along w/ the gimmick
and windstorms to remove buffer pieces makes it almost un fair lol
I think i won this game 6-4.
Good showing Adam.




T-8: Big Chuck w/ bannette/ lunatone/solrock

And they say match-ups aren't everything.
Still, Chuck is as advertised,cyclones and reversals can
make things tough and he is GOOD!

game 1: I get a solid set, him not. He tries to forsight lock me
while he got going , but i had draw and he couldn't hit a heads
to save his life. Gimmick got me 4 prizes and a topdeck umby ended it.
game 1 was mine.

Holy ****- 1 win from the dance.


Game 2: Amazing set- except for a trans. or mentor :(
I have flar. ex, bug, draw, energies, scoops.
He gets t-2 bannette, i draw, marys for 3, whiff on mentor
trans and call.He t-2's my eevee. I bring up eevee, draw,
cowboy for 3 , whiff.Evolve umby.Do 40. Chuck is working on a second bannette
as well as killing my umby.Now i'm out of draw and topdeck crap twice.
As i knock out his 1st bannette i hit trans. and mentor as my
prizes. Nice. Chuck kills umby and i have no basics left.


Game 3 : we both mentor,get set. The key here was chuck having
a handfull of cards but i guess no energy. He tv's for 3. Only energy
he gets was a cyclone. This was HUGE as a psychic would have killed my only
bug. Instead he gets a naked eevee. i Gimmick him next turn ( and had
the windstorm if he buffered) "Flip for burned chuck" and he threw tails. It went back and forth
with me taking the win.

DOES IT!!!


I pound the table in excitement ( causing Chrisbo to almost
go off on me lol) and start to get hugs and handshakes from
everyone around. I hug my wife and almost lose it. Same
when i saw Steve. Good stuff.

Aloha baby!!!!




T-4 : Fulop w/ speed spread ( eric craig.dec)

Game 1: I get horrid start , he gets a couple joltys off, absols
me- you know the drill. A big scientist gets me back in business and
i start to come back. Eventually a kill jirachi ex and he misses
some flips. I pull it out.

Game 2 : I get horrid start,play maybe 4 turns of draw pass and
knowing how fulop controls the clock i scoop.

Game 3 : Only 19 minutes left and i know this game isn't getting
done.I make 30 second turns to offset his clock games but you do what you must.
He gets voltorb start, me eevee. He benches a lunatone i think 2
avoid being t-2 ed.A few turns go by, we exchange prizes and
I decide to try something. As soon as mew ex
goes down i drop stump and umby up mew ex and black cry.I even
burn and confuse the thing but have no bug. Chris donks a scoop and brings up
jolty, evolves vappy ex ,retreats and fastwaves for 40 w/ a mew.. Nice. we are close on time
and it gets called w/ us tied at 2 prizes each/ My turn. He has mew w/ a
buttcheecks, clean active jolty ex and an eevee. I have a flar ex w/ 20 active
and 1 energies, a bug and an eevee . I farmer back my umby and 4 other cards, attach
to flareon and do flame screen . He retreats for mew , swirls me to 4(had the petm too) and
spider traps me ( the nerve lol) . My 4 cards were flare ex, fire, scoop and
c-cat. Pretty good. Sleep check, tails. draw energy, scoop tails :(,
attach and c -cat for 6 and whiff on my 3 scoops. The dream is over.......
Live by the coin, die by the coin- it's ALL good!
Congrats fulop, you deserve your National Championship.
I hope Eric Craig at least gets a Christmas card from you ;)



Consolation match ( 3rd/4th) : Robert Downs w/ Destiny.

Game 1: I get great start, total board control picking on those
2 retreat ray ex d's and go up 3 prizes to 0. Then he hits ELEVEN
straight heads on er 2's and 7-8 paralasis flips!! No ****!
Needless to say i lost board control . But not my composure.
Eventually the coin evened out and i got my 6th prize.
I look up at the clock ( as this game took FOREVER!) and i see
there is only 18 minutes left. I know i now have 3rd. No Silvestro
would EVER stall to win, it's just Robert plays to slow to get a
game played in 18 minutes. Robert , your a great guy and this
is NOTHING personal. Your playstyle is your business not mine.

Game 2 : I get solid start, he doesn't. Sees the writing on the wall and
scoops after maybe 3-4 turns.

Congrats. Robert on your accomplishment. Aloha baby!



A few thoughts. 1st, to Steve. I cannot thank you enough for what you
did and said to me before i started playing Sunday
( you know what i'm talking about). Nobodys business
what you said, but i would have NEVER done this w/ out you.I mean
that. IMHO we are the best father / son tandom in this country
and i love you son. Sunday was for you ;)

To the rest of the community, I can't thank you enough for all
the thoughts and prayers i received from you this past winter.
Twice i came this close to meeting my maker. Too close. Wasn't
sure i'd live to attend Nats.- let alone this. This game has the
BEST group of families and people out there . Really something special.

To PUI, what an amazing job you did w/ this one. So smooth for the
amount of people that attended. The Professor Cup was a blast ( Take a bow Mr. Liesik ;)
w/ amazing prize support and this was the best run nats. I've seen.
You've come a long way since 04 lol

Mike, you are a great guy and i am privileged to know you. We all
are very lucky you have the job you do! Your a good caring person
and a blast to be around. Thanks for everything bro.

Dave, take a bow my friend. Great event. You have a thankless
job sometimes I'm sure but you always rise to the occasion.
Always a pleasure seeing you and thanks for everything.

Pete, as usual, all class. Thanks for everything and it was great
seeing you. Looks like i'll see you in a month for a little
event you guys have planned ;)

To bds, Richard you not only are one of my favorite people in this game
but your also a very special man- someone I'm glad to call a friend.
Great job doing what you do- your the best at it my friend.

Ken, John and Wes- there is NOBODY Steve and i enjoy
spending time with at these events than you guys. Your
like family to Steve and I guys <3
Let's do it again in a month.
Wes, our prayers are w/ you my friend. Be strong
and i hope you feel better quick. God bless you.

One more thanks- All the staff that make these events happen.
Very special that you all donate so much time to keep the ride going!
this one was a home run!!

And now it's time for everyone's favorite... PROPS AND SLOPS!


props:

PUI
Steve
Ken
John
Wes
"Silvestrodos" - I'm gonna miss ya!
My wife for doing all the work so we can do these trips
Jim Roll
ALL my fellow Florida players. We play each other SO hard
down here yet we get along great when we travel. Best damn
collection of master players in the country. PERIOD! Thanks guys.
The profesor cup ftw!
Again , everyone who worked the event!
Foisy for 33rd lolol
The Schell Family
Mike and Garret Farrington(Great Job kid!)
Bobby Malec for getting a rating invite!!
Dave Christrian(AKA the gorn), for being the only person I know who actually plays this game for the sheer enjoyment of it and has success.
My "piason" Lawman and getting to spend some time ( not enough :( w/ you Sunday.


Slops:
Foisy
Seena- for just being seena
" What do you mean i can't attach 2 multi energies to my Jolt ex " ?!?! lol
Curry getting stalled
Jessings missing a rating invite =[



Aloha from "Mr. Multi"