Brent: 0:04

Welcome to the Trashlanch podcast. It's the only podcast about the Pokemon trading card game. Attendance is 100%. It's a bond. It's Liam. It's me, Brent Halliburton. I have returned. I know all of you are thinking, what happened to last week's podcast? And I'm just gonna, I'm gonna tell you guys the saddest lost episode. There are two lost episodes, I feel like, in Trashlanch history. This is the sad one, we had Henry Chao on, and talked about Henry's winning list and his strategies, and the mind of a champion for an hour, and the content was so good,

abaan: 0:40

two and a half

Liam: 0:40

It was like two hours. It was like two and a half hours.

abaan: 0:42

was like way longer than that.

Brent: 0:44

the content was so good the internet broke, And all of the audio was, like, corrupted by the cloud host that we use to host the clouds. And they're like, there's no salvaging it. I'm a little bit of a loss of what to do. So, like, I could theoretically make a podcast that doesn't have a bond in it at all. It's just Liam and Henry talking. Would it be really weird? Would there be, like, huge gaps?

abaan: 1:08

Yes. But,

Brent: 1:10

Yeah, it'd be weird, right? Yeah, yeah, that'd be weird. Nobody wants that. So, so the moral of the story is there's a lost episode on the internet where you could learn how to win a regional playing Gardevoir, and and people will never get to hear that. Because that that episode was all about Henry, the, the weekend after, or the week after Baltimore, I thought that with the format being kind of so unformed as of yet, and people not yet needing to freak out, we could spend this episode talking about you guys tournament runs in Baltimore.

abaan: 1:38

I mean, we can talk about Liam's run. I mean, I'll, I'll briefly talk about mine, I guess, but I didn't really

Liam: 1:43

Oh, I love a Bonds run. That's my favorite run to talk about.

abaan: 1:47

bruh. Alright, alright. I

Brent: 1:50

you know, I tried to, I tried to get Walker to come on to talk about his run, because his run had, like, maybe the most epic ending. But we'll have to, we'll have to try to do it justice because he is not here. So this is our first chance to really talk about Baltimore besides the Henry Chow's run and all the things that we, you guys will never know about. I want to start off talking about the number of ties because I felt like there was a bunch of Twitter fire about that last week before we recorded the Henry Chow episode. And, and I never really got to hear you guys hot take on that. Worlds had 8 percent tie rate, Baltimore had 11 percent tie rate, that is down from, you know, 15 percent at NAIC, 17 percent at Bologna, 16 percent at LA, 19 percent at Santiago, 18 percent at Stockholm, like, ties are way down and I'm sure the Pokémon people are like, ah, we solved the format, I assume you guys have opinions on how much gentlemen's agreements were a key part of Baltimore?

abaan: 2:44

don't know, my issue, my thing was like Worlds, I was playing Goldengo, so like, we played three games like over and over and over again. And then, I didn't tie once. And then, at this tournament, I won, like, every single game one, except one. So, like, no one really had the opportunity to, like, try to tie me. And I think the thing, the real thing about this whole situation is that since ties are so not valuable, people don't, like, when they lose game one, they're not in the mindset of, like, I'm gonna try to squeak a tie out here. They're going, like, trying super hard to win a game two, and then, like, they often, like, Either make, like, egregious mistakes, like, trying to play the like, I was playing Pidget specifically, so, like, they often, like, go too hard, trying to win, and then they just, like, lose the game in, like, a really obvious way, and, like, it's really, it's really easy, or, like, don't know, that's, like, the only situation that really came up, and the other, other times that I, like, came close to tying, I guess, like, I played two Dragos, and I guess Ian, like, I got destroyed Game 3 in, like, seconds, so that wasn't an issue, and then I guess Grant, that was, like, the only Gentleman's I've actually done since coming back to Pokemon last year the only Gentleman's I've had to, like, Do it. And honestly, it was like, it really didn't even, like, need that many more turns. He had no outs. Like, he would skip that game naturally, too. So, I don't know, it's fine. Pads are not an issue, for me at least.

Brent: 3:57

How about you Liam? Opinion on gentlemen's agreements?

Liam: 4:00

I don't know. I thought the system was like fine. I actually kind of enjoyed it. I think more so than most people, so. Yeah, I mean,

Brent: 4:09

L Liam was not planning on IDing Round 9 anyway, so he's like, it makes no difference. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

abaan: 4:18

think the biggest

Liam: 4:18

yeah, I like, I didn't have any ties, which I thought was, like, wonderful. I I don't really know, know how much that's, like, attributed to, like, getting, like, 2 0'd and doing 2 0's, but like, I guess, I guess my, like, of the rounds that I lost, like, we both knew that we were not going to tie that round. We, we didn't even, like, make any agreement, but, yeah, he, like, he was telling me after the match, I'm like, Hey, because I know this guy, it was Varesco. He was telling me after the match, like, yeah, he was just gonna, gonna show me everything in his deck and ask me if I was gonna get there or not, but

abaan: 4:49

crazy.

Brent: 4:51

ha! Voreska's a good guy, Voreska's a good guy.

abaan: 4:54

That's really funny.

Brent: 4:55

That's hilarious. D Did you guys feel like there were a lot of gentlemen's agreements going on around you?

abaan: 5:02

Yes, yes. I thought it

Liam: 5:04

yeah,

abaan: 5:04

I like, you sit down, Gentleman's Talk, because, like, it kind of, I don't know, I just don't like it. I understand that it might be, like, I don't know, it might be good to get out of the way right at the start, but I think it's like a in between Game 2 conversation. Like, when you know a Gentleman's isn't in play, like, I swear, like, people just play so slow, and, like, You need that little bit of uncertainty to keep the game going, you know? Like, ooh, what's gonna happen if we go to Game 3? Is he gonna Gentleman's with me or not? I'll just play fast. see. Like, I don't know.

Liam: 5:35

that makes sense, I, I don't know, I've never felt, like, super comfortable gentleman zing, not even, like, it's, it's probably not, like, a rational opinion, right, like, oh, like, you know, I, I assume all the diehard You know, instant gentlemen's people would like, Oh my God, bro. You know, it's plus EV, bro. You got to just like instantly gentlemen's every single time you sit down. But like, I don't know. I've never felt like super comfortable or like, I like needed to do it. Maybe like if I felt like there was more time pressure, but I don't know. I, I felt like it's been like fine. And then, yeah, like I'll, you know, before two and three, I guess. So

abaan: 6:08

if I don't know their name, like, I don't recognize their name at all, I feel insanely uncomfortable even thinking about Gentleman's. I'm like, I'm going with the mindset of like, man, I have to win this game in regulation. Cause like, I don't know, it's just, it's, it, they have no consequence, like if they're kind of a no name, like, I mean, I'm also like relatively a no name, like I feel like, but I still feel like I would get called out on Twitter and like, suffer some like social consequence to not upholding the Gentleman's, like, someone who you don't recognize, who you, like, who's no one's ever heard of, that

Liam: 6:35

yeah, I know when they're, they have like no platform to lose kind of, right. Mm hmm. Yeah, I

abaan: 6:43

it's like, it's not a good look, like, if I didn't, like, I would never do this, but like, if I didn't uphold the Gentleman's, like, yeah, of course, I'm like, I'm getting called out, and like, it's just not a good look, and it's not really like, I don't know, it's just not a good look. It's like not aligned with my principles, you know? Like, I don't know. I have, you have way more to lose than the other person who you don't know. Which is why I'm so down. I, like, I, Gentleman's, for example, like, Round 9, I was playing against Grant. I was like, dude, like, first of all, we're out of Day 2 condition anyways, but, like, even if we weren't, or, like, regardless, if he doesn't uphold it, like, that's so, that's so bad for him if, like, I actually, like, you know, like, say, like, oh, he did not uphold the Gentleman's with me. This is what happened.

Brent: 7:20

Yeah, yeah. You know, I I did think it was telling. Like, wh when you go back and look at NAIC, Juniors and seniors both had lower tie rates than masters. And everybody's like, oh yeah, it makes perfect sense. Makes perfect sense.'cause like masters, juniors, seniors just play faster'cause they're idiots. Right.

abaan: 7:36

No, no, no, that's not what's happening. I don't think. I think they're 0 ing each other. I think they're just egregiously 1 0 ing each other, dude. Like, some of these juniors, like, man, they play

Brent: 7:44

man, they like, they play, they play super fast.

Liam: 7:47

don't know. I know it's been a while since you played in juniors, but like, man, the 1

Brent: 7:51

Juniors don't think about what they're playing, man, they're just playing cards, you know?

Liam: 7:54

like,

abaan: 7:55

swear. Okay, I remember

Brent: 7:56

Like, you got a Pokemon? Bench it. Let's go. There's the, like, it doesn't even take a brain cell for them.

abaan: 8:02

dude, I watched Polaris play like, this is so long ago, but this was at Pittsburgh last year. This is like, I think I've had this opinion since then, but maybe I just need to update it by watching more games, but like, I watched this one game of you versus Guardi, where I swear, like, it was just, it's like, it was, I was like, pulling teeth, man. Like, every refinement, then Polaris, I thought he was like, oh, I thought Polaris was like, crap, he's gonna play really fast or something. He's like, taking forever with his muses and stuff, and I was like, this game is taking an hour, and I could have played this game in like 10 minutes. 10 15 minutes.

Brent: 8:29

I, so I, I,

abaan: 8:30

Maybe that was a one off. I, I shouldn't generalize. I don't actually

Brent: 8:33

I looked at, I looked at a couple of tournaments, I looked at LA and I looked at NAIC and juniors and seniors both had lower tie rates than masters and I feel like historically that's always been true. Like, the average tie rate for juniors, especially, like, maybe it's because, like, if you think about it, Yvonne, like, the bottom 60 percent of the tables for juniors, they're playing Lightspeed, right?

abaan: 8:52

Oh,

Brent: 8:53

Like, they have nothing to live for, right?

abaan: 8:55

I, that, that much I, I know for sure. Like, the bottom, like, pro is probably more than 60 percent. Any, like, like five to ten juniors, or like, five to ten seniors who are trying to, like, win the tournament, who are, like, actually trying to win, right? Like, every other table is, like, probably playing, like, they're having a result

Brent: 9:11

Yeah, they're playing

Liam: 9:12

that's what I if you ask them to think, they'd probably take longer, but like, I think there's not as much thinking happening.

Brent: 9:19

Yeah,

Liam: 9:19

Jesus, you know?

Brent: 9:21

100%, yeah, like, maybe it's as much as like, the bottom 80 90 percent of tables, like, they're playing Blitz Pokemon. And Juniors, because they're like,

abaan: 9:29

I, I, with that in mind, their tie rate should naturally be lower. That, like, makes perfect sense.

Brent: 9:34

yeah, so, so, the tie rate, the tie rate's much lower at Baltimore, the tie rate for Juniors was higher than Masters.

abaan: 9:42

Yeah,

Brent: 9:43

How could that be? Because Masters were like, we will not tie.

abaan: 9:48

minus EV to tie. I think, with Henry, but the only time, like, you can really tie in this format now, is like, game one, banger. Or like, one of the games, complete banger, the other guy gets washed, so that's like 40, like, the banger game's like 40 minutes, or like 35, and then the guy gets washed, like, 10 minute game, and it's like a 5 minute game, and it's like, what are you gonna do? Like, there's, there's no gentleness to be had, like, you set up, you like, look at your deck, and like, oh, time's called, like, like, the only, only like, possible recourse is like, Flipping for it like at this point like there's literally like which obviously you can't do so it's like I guess you just Like there's no agreement that we can make that's like at all fair to either of us I guess it's just time to slip like there's nothing to do

Liam: 10:28

Yeah, I agree. That's

Brent: 10:30

yeah,

Liam: 10:31

Henry had a bunch of ties at Baltimore, but he said, yeah, that's exactly his his games went. He had no Game 3 info to go off of, and so they just tied.

Brent: 10:41

yeah, you're just, you're just ruined. All right, so the next question I had for you guys was like, I mean, I know you guys know that I'm the most checked out person in the universe. How much was the, just like, sheer amount of Neuvern a surprise? Like, I felt like there were people who were just playing, like, all in on Neuvern decks, and I was like, oh, I didn't, I didn't really think of it as being, like, that big a thing.

Liam: 11:03

like hard to consider something like a surprise, like, ooh, this was, oh my god, like, like, you're not scared to hit it. Like, you have to go the whole tournament, you're like, bro, there's like 10 people, and they're all on this deck, and like, if I hit one of these people, I'm just like, cooked, oh my god. That's like, really scary. That's when you're like, oh my god, these guys have like, the secret deck. The whole time, I was like, I desperately need to hit one of these people. Like, thank god. I, like,

abaan: 11:29

did you wait by the way did you can what do we decide? It was like the cleanest convert to being an Oiverd. I don't think it's like the getting three shot plan Like obviously we have Erika's plans to

Liam: 11:38

No, bro, we had the, we had the Geocomo, and I, I think like,

abaan: 11:42

four Cornerstones, or like, just keep,

Liam: 11:45

I mean, yeah, you just, you just try to get like, a few basics, and then

abaan: 11:48

But then you can always Audible to the plan where you just sit there with a Bear Charm and

Liam: 11:53

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Brent: 11:56

So, so what, I mean, was that the secret deck, quote unquote, for Baltimore? Like

Liam: 12:00

Like, I think it wasn't a secret deck. It was like, not that good.

abaan: 12:05

But it

Liam: 12:05

don't know. I like,

abaan: 12:06

They didn't, no

Brent: 12:06

It was secret. Yeah, like, like, I felt like, I felt like, you know, yeah, like, there, there was a lot of people playing Neuvern, and, like, I heard zero mention of Neuvern prior to the tournament, and to your point, like, apparently it was kind of Mid? Not super mid, but like, kinda mid?

Liam: 12:25

I feel like it was like targeting, like, I guess like, the bottom, like half of players or something, you know? Because it kind of was just like, you're like dunking on these like only basic decks, like two price beat sticks, right? And like,

abaan: 12:36

they claimed they like, matchup, but I just don't believe

Liam: 12:39

Yeah, I, I don't know, like, this was also the thing too, right, because like, most of the, most of the, like, good players were playing Drago, right, like, at this event, and like, you know, so, so I'm like talking to them in between rounds, and they're like, bro, I, I'm trying to farm this, this Noivern thing too, bro, like, like, everybody wanted to hit it, bro, and I was like, who do these people want to hit? And like,

abaan: 13:02

the other good players they were on Lugia for some reason. And they deck too. Like,

Liam: 13:08

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

abaan: 13:09

the Cornerstone people were trying to beat, but,

Liam: 13:11

No, dude, I literally, the only thing, I, like, I know they were trying to beat Ancient Box, bro, because every time I saw this deck, somehow they were playing against the Ancient Box. I was like, damn, bro, like

Brent: 13:23

I mean, that's how you have a good tournament run, right? Hit the right matchups. So you're like, you're like, who are these people in Day 2? It's people in Agent Box every round. Good luck.

abaan: 13:32

I

Liam: 13:32

I didn't hit a single Ancient Box.

abaan: 13:34

the problem is that like, you play a lot of the good decks in the format, and you'll beat the matchup spread of that deck. Like, like you're trying to, like, that deck was super targeted towards Beast Sticks, which I guess was like, all we talked about before Baltimore was like, oh, this is like, Beast Stick format, people are gonna pick their favorite Beast Stick or whatever. Which for, for a weird reason, by the way, was Moon. I feel like Moon was like, the Beast Stick that people like, Like, the best. But anyway, the point is, like, they, like, that was their answer to targeting B6, but it's like, I thought most good decks in the format just beat B6 naturally by just, like, clean play, and, like, just understanding your deck, and, like,

Liam: 14:04

No, yeah, I mean, like, the Beat Sticks never have, like, that good of a matchup, right? Like, As long as, you know, you're, you can take two prizes every turn, you're just like a little bit slower to it. Like, you, you have solid win percentage into the Beat Sticks, always. Like, it's, it's just It's very hard to build, like, a consistent turn one, two prizes, right? Like,

abaan: 14:22

can you Raging Bull was 15%, by the way? Like, I, it was so

Liam: 14:26

I I can, bro. I can. Only with the context that none of the Raging Bolt players made it to, bro. Like Yes. That makes so much sense to me.

abaan: 14:37

I, I, I don't know, like, sure, I can, I can kind of see, like, 12%. Dude, how did 15 percent of people play this deck? Like I can't even, like I can't, I can't understand like I, the, like, at 10% is my cap of like, oh, I don't understand this deck being good, but like people will play it. Like after that point I'm like, what is going on here? Because I just don't, I don't realize, or, or maybe

Liam: 15:02

There was some, some shift in the the mindset of, like, the masses that, like, we're somehow not privy to, right?

abaan: 15:09

yes, exactly. Like I thought everyone was like hyped about Asian box, bro is an Asian box, like an auto loss.

Liam: 15:15

Yeah.

abaan: 15:16

How do you up? Okay.

Liam: 15:20

I mean, honestly, like, this Raging Bull deck is unbelievable, like, I think about all your matchups in the meta, and I'm like, good ones are like, eh, you might lose them still, and like, the bad ones are like, Jesus Christ, like, you are a side character, you're just watching them go to town on you the whole time, and like, There's like a pretty, pretty balanced number of those, like, a good number of bad matchups, I think.

Brent: 15:46

Alright, so, so, I think the next thing I wanted to do was really, like, talk about you guys deck a little bit. I sent you the Google Doc where I tried to, like, break down all the differences between the list that you guys ran versus the list that Kremaskoli ran and the list that Tord ran. So but, but like, before we grind through, like, card by card by card and give people, like, old fashioned, trashy like direction any, any, like, you guys want to talk about your runs a little bit?

abaan: 16:10

Sure, I think I should go first because my run is, like, short. So, round one, I beat something pretty easy to beat. I don't even remember what it was. Oh, I beat a moon. He went 0 5 after beat playing me, so it wasn't too hard. And then round two, I lost to Amun. Game one, I got judged and got, ran over. Game two, I won. And then game three, I prized my second miss, bottom two just ran out of energies at the end. You, like, need to set up a final board of, like, Missed in Pidgeot, Missed in Bear. And it wasn't even just the fact that the bear, Didn't have a miss at the end to not be protected. That was actually not the relevant factor. There was a clean moon, so I needed a non DTE energy to do 240 for game, or I need to hit like boss, because we're tied at 2 2. Anyways, lost that one. It was tough. And then round three, played against Bolt, who made a misplay in turn one, didn't vessel away their squawk, and then I just raw arrogant it and just won instantly. In game two, they started Greninja, so. Pretty free. And then round four, I played against a Maridon, where I was like, actually making, like, doing No, no, round four, I played against a Raging Bull, who was a nice guy, Alex Rubin. He started Bundle, full benched himself, then, with no Mimikyu out, and I just left the Mimikyu active. And then I just pass. And he scooped up instantly and goes, I just needed you to demonstrate you were not going to bench our stuff and mimic you. Because I don't play a mimic you out. But I only did that because he had bundle acted, so he bench locked himself. So I was like, you like, he like, if you didn't bench one more thing, I would have like played the game more. But I would have eventually like figured out there's no mimic you out. Because like, at some point, you get to a point where you just like have the two mimis and you're just like, show me what you're gonna do next. Like, and I think at that point, I would have like won the game. So anyways, he

Liam: 17:39

Yeah, no, like, you, I think people like sometimes approach these matchups where they're like, the out is that like, they never, they just keep benching stuff, right? But like, that never happens, bro. Like, you gotta, you gotta prove it at some point.

abaan: 17:52

except our boy Henry bro at worlds bro gets nada. Just kept benching

Liam: 17:56

Oh, oh, oh,

abaan: 18:00

Unlucky, unlucky one.

Liam: 18:01

yeah,

Brent: 18:02

Yeah, you, you, you gotta, you gotta force them to kill the Mimikyu to play the game. Like, it's just that, there's no, there's nothing going on if they don't

Liam: 18:07

gotta prove it. I

Brent: 18:09

it.

abaan: 18:10

but I also played against a Moridon, Luke Smith, who I lost on his Zapdos, and then jammed a Mimmy, and he kept playing, and like, there's two types of people when they keep playing. There's the one where they're just playing to like, deck out, and they're playing for some like, weird timeout that only exists in their head, and you're like, okay, I don't know what's going on. And there's the other one who has like, the different pos it's a whole different posture, and damn outs, bro. You don't know what it is, but they have outs. So I'm sitting there with my misted Mimmy, and I'm like, Dude, I need to like, pay a little bit of attention, because he's like, not giving up, you know? And then he benches second Zapdos, and then we have like, a banger game where I just run him out of energies. And then next game, like, I don't even know, like, it was it was another banger. He also had Vacuum, too, and he could have like, he could have disguised the Vacuum more, but game one, he just armed it for the Vacuum, like, for no reason, and then just like, sat there, and I just Eared it away. And then, I don't know, And then game two, like, we had a banger, but it comes down to, like, I just bear sw I, like, it wasn't a bear sweep, but I basically had to evolve into Pidgeot to play the game, because my hand, I prized Rotom, so I nestballed for, like, a Pidgey, I had Pidgeot out, and I, like, somehow maneuvered with bear to, like, get the game. I don't know. It was

Liam: 19:11

wonder if they were like mentally prepared for that. Like, I feel like if I was If I went for this like Arban Vacuum, and it like, and then it just got Eerie, and I was like, dude, I forgot about Eerie. If I forgot about the Eerie, I would like actually just lose it. Like, my mental would be like completely broken there, bro.

abaan: 19:26

I, got into the bottom of my deck, and I was just sister spamming him. So, like, I kind of understand what, I don't know, I don't even know, like, why he, like, his

Liam: 19:35

I don't know, depends on what the sister spam is, like, if the

abaan: 19:39

time, bro.

Liam: 19:39

The Sisters is in the discard, like, the VAC is like, safest in the deck, right? Like,

abaan: 19:44

Yeah, I don't know. It it was a crazy, crazy,

Liam: 19:47

Dude, you can only I don't know, yeah, alright, whatever.

abaan: 19:50

Anyways, Round 6, I played a friend of the podcast, Michael Bayou, Game 1. He's playing crazy Charizard Dusknoir list. It's like the Palkia Dusknoir engine with the stretchers and stops. And Game 1, I get him easily. It was really funny, there was a moment where he listens to the pod, but apparently he was at a meeting at work, and so he heard the word Devo, so he was like, he was sure there was a Devo in the deck, and then, like, he was thinking, like, oh, does he play Second Eerie or Devo? So then at some point he, like, candies to, like, play, or sorry, he holds the candy after ripping it off a stall to play around Devo, and I just, like, searched for Second Eerie, but I could have, like, padded back my First Eerie. Anyways, and then later, he, like, doubled Candies, and I just Devo, and he scoops it up, like. Instantly. So that was that was my game against Michael. Game one. And then game two, he get we get into this mission where I thought I, like, locked him up, you know? I have this Lax active, like, Cornerstone on the bench. I'm, like, sitting there with this Mew active, and first of all, I found out his list only made four fire, and there was two on the Rad Zard. So I could have just been water ponding, but I was too scared to water pond, because if I water pond, and then he evolved into Zard, and shipped my Pidget with Mew, and chucked the energy back in, I'd feel like such an idiot. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna go water pond. But then, like, he pisses me off with the craziest combo ever, like, he double Dusk Lord kills the Cornerstone, Glopses to put 50 on the Pidgeot, and I didn't bench extra Laxus, like an idiot, and then I get bundled, like, dude, I just, like, I knew there was a bundle of decks in game one, but I wasn't, like, thinking clearly, like,

Liam: 21:09

Ooh.

abaan: 21:10

and, like, the bench was, his bench was full, but that's obviously idiotic, because,

Liam: 21:14

Yeah, the Duskops, right?

abaan: 21:15

But I just didn't, like, it just didn't, like, click, you know? And it only clicked after the first Dusk Lord popped, and I was like,

Liam: 21:21

Yeah, I know, and, ooh, you feel the doom is coming, bro, oh my god.

abaan: 21:24

then we came down to a 50 50 to win, and he he got the, the, I guess wrong on where the Catcher was. I could either Sisters, I could Eerie, or I could Iona. I chose Iona. If I just Eerie'd, I'd hit the Prime for game, but whatever, like, that's like, that's a complete made up scenario that shouldn't even come to like, shouldn't even happen, right? Because I had the game, like, so locked.

Brent: 21:44

Yeah, man. And

abaan: 21:47

fast. Of

Brent: 21:48

you know what, I appreciate that logic, because we all talked about this logic in Baltimore, how like, bad players are like, Oh, that was a 50 50 and like, just bad luck happened. And you're like, I could play better, you know?

abaan: 22:01

course, like, of course I that was terrible! allowing that is, like, criminal. Like,

Brent: 22:05

Yeah.

Liam: 22:06

funny, bro. He Obama was telling me, like, just last night, bro, every single time he gets into a 50 50 to wave after he misplays, it never goes his way, bro.

abaan: 22:14

single

Liam: 22:15

so funny, bro.

abaan: 22:16

never gotten bailed out in my life. Every s like,

Liam: 22:19

Biblical punish.

abaan: 22:20

Like, there's certain times where, like, I must actually, that's there's one time where Piper, like, I messed up, and then Piper double tailed Sylene, so I guess I got bailed out then, but, like, general, like, every time I get misplayed, I get punished, bro. It's disgusting. Like, and it's deserved, though. I shouldn't misplay. Like, that's my own fault. Like, on but I just I swear it doesn't go the same way for other people. Like, I see them make a huge misplay, and then I'm my own

Liam: 22:45

Shannoy is a bailout merchant, bro. I feel like this guy is just never punished. Every single time.

abaan: 22:50

I mean, until round six, bro. Until round six. That's when it all starts crumbling down.

Liam: 22:56

Bro,

abaan: 22:58

But

Liam: 22:59

dude, no, I swear, it's about the confidence in your play. Like, you make a mistake, You start, you start doubting yourself, and then like, you can like, feel it all crumbling down, right?

abaan: 23:09

know,

Liam: 23:09

like, these players who can't tell,

abaan: 23:11

knew what happened, and I knew what to do next, and I just lost. Like, natural.

Liam: 23:15

yeah, that's crazy. I don't know, I feel like I start doubting myself, and that's what causes me to get punished, and I'm like, like, these people who are just like, they're blind to it, like, cause if you don't, if you didn't make a mistake, you can't get punished, right? It just happened. So like, these people who are blind to it, they just never get punished. Like

abaan: 23:32

Dude, anyways, so then game three, Michael like rolls me over, pretty just, like just, just, I don't know, he just ran me off the board, I had no

Liam: 23:38

Yeah, hit them Dusners, hit the Tsar, then you have like a slightly stinky start, unfortunate.

abaan: 23:43

I had no chance. And then, next round, I played against a Maradon where I will say, like, he was, he was a really nice guy, like, I think at one point, was like, one of my sleeves that was like, extremely damaged, you know? And like, I don't know, he picked it up, and he was like, Oh, this sleeve is like, cooked, you know? And he just like, let me switch it out. I mean, I don't know, maybe that was like, not very nice, like, maybe that's like, a normal thing to do, but like, I was glad they didn't like, make a huge deal out of it, bro, because it was kind of bad, like, there was like, a huge like, thumbnail mark on it, and I was like, I don't know why this happened, bro, and he just like, randomly when he was shuffling my deck, he was just like, oh. This seems like cooked, and I switched it out, and like, that was it. There was nothing else said. I thought that was like, pretty reasonable, and I appreciated that. 2 0'd him, but it was it was a good series. Dude, I didn't know any way to transition. Like, I got him with the classics, like I lost him to Zapdos one game, and the other game I like just mimicked. I don't even know. I just

Liam: 24:33

A classic. Yeah,

abaan: 24:36

was pretty free. then the next round, I'm 5 Is this when I do it? Is this when I do the thing? I think it is, yeah. I think it's when I played Ian Robb. 1, he's not playing Cologne, but at the time, I didn't know this, okay? So like, there's a little bit

Liam: 24:50

Ubun's feeling out the waters.

abaan: 24:52

Yeah, this is all I will say is that me losing to Ian Robb is way less egregious than Jeremy losing, but the way I lost is more egregious. Like, what I did was more egregious, but like, the

Liam: 25:00

Yeah, going in.

abaan: 25:02

Yeah, I was like a bigger underdog, or not underdog, I'm the favorite, a huge favorite, but I was like

Liam: 25:07

You had a lower chance to win than Jeremy did going into the round, right?

abaan: 25:12

Game one, I I get it done, but I didn't really like, peace that there was no Cologne, because I I Syleene'd and I hit double heads for two missed, two mimis, and he'd already V starred. So I just assumed like, oh, he knows that he can't get through, Two Mimikyus, because he has one Cologne, and he's out of the stadiums, so I was like, okay, like, that's, that's a reasonable scoop from Ian, I respect that. Game two, we get into this weird situation where I burn a switch naturally, and dude, to lose this game, by the way, is like, just disgusting work. First of all, Ian throws from minute one. He starts Radzard, and he has Cleffa in hand. He just, like, I guess because he knows that he doesn't

Liam: 25:47

Donates a three retreater.

abaan: 25:49

Dude, I have no clue, like, he's like, talking about it, like, in the middle of his turn one, and he's like, yeah, you can't just, like, start Cleffa in this matchup, and Well, that's a beautiful starter! That's like a,

Liam: 26:00

Top five.

abaan: 26:01

what? But, anyways, he doesn't start it, and I was like, okay, bro, I'm feeling great, and then all of a sudden he hits me with like a double E switch attack with Radzard, like, he's actually a couple times, I'm like, okay, gotta keep this on the horizon, and then all of a sudden he just hits me, and I was like, hmm, this 5 there must be a punish, you know, and like, I am sacking this guy. I, I actually, like, the more I think about it, the more lucky I got. Like, there was one turn where he researched into both his switchouts, and I just Eerie'd away the Prime. And then CC'd something, and I started waterpawning. And, like, game is locked up. All I have to do Okay, what I assumed was gonna happen was that he's down both switchouts, so he's gonna V Star for both, use one, take two on the waterpawn sorry, use the Prime, Take two on the Pidgeot, have the switch left so I can't waterpon again, and then my counterplay to that, because he's out of gusts as well, is just to jam the lax, use lax for the first gust, and then waterpon for game. So I'm building my deck in a way that that's going to happen, and like, I am locked in on that that's my plan. Then he just hits me with something I've never seen before, which, I literally wrote a guide for people who were picking up this deck, like, last second, like, for everyone, and I, like, talked about the strategy explicitly. When they leave Prime as their only switching out, that shit is not a real switching out, because you could pick up your last basic, and Prime doesn't even work. But I just didn't see it, I don't even know. So anyways, he just uses the switch, leaves Prime in deck, Ionos, and then I just, like, freak out, I'm, like, trying to figure out how I can discard his Prime, because he decked himself with Ionos, so half his hand is in his hand, and half is in his deck. And I don't have sisters. So, like, I have to opt into Eerie if I'm going for this plan. So I go for the 50 50 to win instead of the guaranteed. I pick up my Lax. If I just pick up my Lax, left the Pidgeot active, a blank Drago on the bench, like, no energy attached. So instead of, like, locking into this, like, I need to, like, get his Hawlucha active or something like that, I just had to CC the Lax. Er, sorry, CC the blank Drago, pick up my Penny, there's no Prime left. Or like, he can't use Prime and I win the game. I don't see that, I go for the Eerie, I miss it, and I just lose. Oh, I didn't even lose right then! I could have just passed with the Pidgeot active, but I was looking at his head and doing the math, I was like, oh, he has Prime guaranteed, and I didn't even think about the next step of like, what if I just like, leave this Pidgeot active? I just win. Like, I just, ah, dude, it's so bad. It was maybe the most disgusting mistake

Liam: 28:10

It's different, bro. When you're not in the sandbox, it's different.

abaan: 28:14

Oh my goodness, bro. And then Game 3, he just, like, ran me over. Like, that I have no regrets about Game 3.

Liam: 28:18

Yeah, no, the game theory was terrible. Yeah.

abaan: 28:20

it's not

Liam: 28:20

Yeah, okay.

abaan: 28:21

it's just what it is what it is, right? Anyways, I'm playing against Grant Manley, and I'm, like, lowkey still tilted about the series before. Just frustrated. So, so frustrated. I lose Game 1, and then Grant just starts talking, bro. He's like, Oh my goodness, like, this matchup, I was trying to play Pidgeot myself, and this Draugr matchup was too abysmal. I was like, this guy is, like, lost, bro. Game 2, completely, like, rinsed him. Like, that matchup was it was, like, Disgusting what I did, you know? And, like, I'm, like, getting all those resources, like, and in game three, I drew the perfect hand. So good that going second, I'm he discards a Research with an Ultra Ball, and I managed to Luxray and I have the T2 Pidgeot. And still, like, Grant Grant literally sacks me so hard. He should, like this Luxray lock, by the way, should basically, like, give me, like, two or three turns to, like, sisters a bit, like,

Liam: 29:06

Just breathe.

abaan: 29:07

like, actually, I should, like, have, like, so much time on my hands. No, absolutely not. Like, he within, like, two turns, he's Still attacking me and like just like cooking meat. And then he gets unlucky at the end. Like he researches for nine cards and prime pictures bottom two. So he loses. But like, I don't know, he was complaining hella about this whole thing, man. Like that luxury lock should have been the dagger, bro. There, there was actually like the fact that he was

Liam: 29:26

Should've been the dagger!

abaan: 29:31

so I don't know. Whatever man. He was nice enough that we were in time. He scooped it up after the research missed the prime. So fair enough, fair play, you know, can't complain too much because you're so gracious about it. But I was like, dude, this is like, you got lucky to be in a position to get unlucky, you know? Oh, well,

Brent: 29:50

I like that he was able to lock you back in after you were like on tilt against Ian. You gotta go to Grant for a pep talks. Yeah, you gotta go to Grant for a pep talks at future tournaments. Grant, tell me how I'm trash. Tell me how I'm trash.

abaan: 30:01

No, but it, it had to be, it had to be so natural and raw. Like it had to be like him, like legitimately saying like, this matchup is like so terrible for pi. I was like, bro, I can't, dude, if I, if I exit this tournament going oh two to Dragos, like that would be such a bad look for my, like, for everything,

Liam: 30:15

Yeah, dude, Grant was telling me, like After, like, round 7, I told him I was on, like Pidgeot was like, Ugh, I desperately want to hit you, bro. This is I'm gonna show you how this Drago matchup goes.

abaan: 30:26

he lost a camera Kawasaki right before that. Playing Dango, and apparently, like,

Liam: 30:30

Oh, yeah, he, like, ass pressed the Red Zard, right? Oh,

abaan: 30:36

prized it Game 1, and Game 3, he got, like, he got donked by Dango, bro. He started Mew, and just passed. And just knocked out. And then, Cameron told me, because Game 2, apparently, was just a Kyurem game. He told me that Grant, he didn't know Grant played Radzard until after Grand Theft Auto when Grant just told him. Like, imagine like a series of Dango vs. Radzard and, or sorry, Dango vs., exactly, Dango vs. Drago, but, and not seeing the Radzard the whole time. Like, wow. Crazy. But yeah, we hit him with one too. Knocked him out.

Brent: 31:09

Liam, you ready to tell us a little about your run?

Liam: 31:13

sure, yeah, I forgot about that. I don't know. Yeah, I guess I'll go through it pretty fast. Round Drago you know, just converted. Round 2, I hit Block. W matchup converted after game 1. Bro said, I'm not gonna waste our time. We're gone.

abaan: 31:25

this Drago guy, it wasn't just as simple as you converted, bro. He was he was doing crazy stuff to himself. It was like, two people were Heh heh.

Liam: 31:33

forgot, yeah, this was, this was the one where I think like both games, like, this guy like hit the V Star on turn two and then missed the attack. That's criminal work, like, you're gonna pop the V Star on turn two, you have to win on like turn three, basically, right? Like,

abaan: 31:45

prize attack right there, and then hit another three prize attack right

Liam: 31:47

yeah, exactly, you gotta just like run me off the board, right when I hit the attack, I was after the V Star, so yeah, I was cooked and I think I was like both games or something, right? Like, it was like crazy work. Round three I hit a lot. Raging Bolt, and I actually lost the first game, like, I don't even know how, it was like, just some like, crazy wizardry, like, I like, hit the Eerie on turn one, and like, I see this guy's hand is like, all energy. And I'm like, bro, like, what? And There we go, a guy like, attaches and passes, and like, he has like a bolt active and he like doesn't hit the burst roar for some reason, I think there was like good reason, I didn't think that was like an egregious mistake, right, but like, yeah, or, no, this guy's like attach, pass, attach, pass, and then I rip the Eerie, and he has two energy down, and there's like nothing in his hand, and so like, I like, I thought I was like fine, And then, he like, topdecks boss and like, takes two prizes, and I like, hadn't really built my board, like, I, I like, benched the Pidgey at that point, cause I thought I was like, I thought I was gonna breathe for a little bit, and like, just like, bosses and takes two prizes, and then basically just like, plays the game normally, and I like, kind of like, overbenched to give him like, too many easy prizes, you know and then, and then he just like, gets there, and I'm like, dude, like, you're gonna like, attach pass, attach pass, attach, and then like, I like, lost, I don't even know how, but, you know. Yeah, game two and three I like locked in and I was like, bro, I'm not, I'm not like giving you any easy stuff anymore, bro, and like, turn one of like both games, this guy like benched the ninja, and then I just like, you know, blocked up, CC, CC, CC, got him,

abaan: 33:16

you know what's crazy, Liam? I think there's, like, something to be said for, like, the way he won that game. It was so confusing to him, that he just, like, thought, like, he could do whatever he wanted to beat you, like, a little bit. Like, I wonder if Game 1, like, in a very, like, classic Blockbox versus Bolt way, and then he, like, He won Game 2 like something similar to how he did win. If Game 3, his mindset's so different. Like Game I bet he like won Game 1, lost Game 2, and was like, that was a fluke. I'll just do it again. And then he won

Liam: 33:41

yeah,

abaan: 33:42

I don't know. The

Liam: 33:43

maybe, maybe but yeah, I was round three, round four I hit Lost Pulse, I'm like, the matchup's fine, but you have to get a Pidget out, I didn't get a Pidget out, like, I like, I got my Pidgey, like, Prime KO'd on my turn 2, and then like, you know, I kind of just got like, run off the board. You know, it's whatever. round 5, I hit Dark Ride Duskner. That matchup's terrible. It's terrible, like. Dude, the worst part is, Avant, they're, they're basically playing like, the the Moon Moon.

abaan: 34:15

oh, oh.

Liam: 34:16

No, they play like, Moon Moon, and then they just pop a Duskner at the end and go, set you to 1, and hit with a Pekka. Alright. it's

abaan: 34:24

Yeah, yeah.

Liam: 34:25

like super cool, but you can't stop it and that's like if they don't like run you off the board,

abaan: 34:29

You have to go for stuff for sure, right? you Dusknoir

Liam: 34:33

yeah, I mean, obviously in that spot, but yeah, that matchup sucks, bro and

abaan: 34:38

the worst matchup, dude, that's like one of our worst matches, probably. It's like, Ride

Liam: 34:42

I think it's already the worst one. I got there actually one game, I won the first one, and I was like, dude, like, this is exactly what you get, like, I already got my loss for the day, and like, now I just have to like literally lock in, and like, get it done, like, sheer force of will, like, I'm hitting with the Blood Moon, like, so fast, and like, somehow just get it done on this guy, but I did not get it done either of the next two games, unfortunately. And so I was, yeah, I was, Peace. 3 at that point, I was like, super tilted. But, hit a, I hit a Moon Moon with the Enhanced Hammer, and that's when I was getting it done, bro. Like, that matchup I think is pretty bad. Like, they,

abaan: 35:18

we

Liam: 35:18

they're gonna win, and like,

abaan: 35:20

like, it was dicey.

Liam: 35:21

yeah. But, Aura up, get it done, I I ripped the Sisters, like, Game 2. I ripped the Eerie Game 1, just ripped the Hammer. Er, no, no, I ripped the Sisters Game 1, and I ripped the Hammer, and I was like, ooh, damn, that was close. Like, haha. I almost just lost to that. And then game two, like, oh, game two I like hit this guy with an Eerie, and like, the Eerie was literally just checking like the first prize this guy took, like, because I'd already like pre attached a mist, I was

abaan: 35:54

like, my would think like, going

Liam: 35:56

I got it!

abaan: 35:58

I would literally, like, I wouldn't, I normally don't suspect foul play, but if I drew my e hammer and my opponent instantly e hammered, I'd be looking behind me like, bro, this guy got, like, a, like, a guy out there or what, bro? This is crazy.

Liam: 36:10

But yeah, I got it. So yeah, that was, I ended up getting it done, bro. Yes.

Brent: 36:16

Dude, dude, Eerie ing when a guy picks up prizes is just smart work, cause like, he doesn't, like, he couldn't plan ahead for it, cause like, it's a surprise for him as well, right? I love it.

Liam: 36:26

maximum stuff the Eerie could get was, was a prize, right? Cause like, I, I already had a missdown, so as soon as he sees the E Hammer.

abaan: 36:33

yeah, so, would say the only counter argument I would have is like, if you could Pidgeot, you would probably should just Pidgeot for the sisters, right? But, fine, if, if you

Liam: 36:42

Yeah, I, the, the Erie was natural. It was like, it, it was a good Erie. It was, it was not like, I desperately hope that this E hammers there. I was like, that's like, that's one reason. But I also wanna like, hit Gus and like, I have the Erie in the hand raw or something like that. Like, it, it was a good Erie.

abaan: 36:58

sure, I, I'm willing to just saying like, I would be tweaking out if I was your opponent. Genuinely, like,

Liam: 37:03

I, I know that, that was like super rough, bro. And he was on like X two, but Guy took it like a champ and then, you know, hit him with the sweep.

abaan: 37:10

it like a champ. Alright,

Liam: 37:12

yeah. Took it like a champ. Round 7, I hit Drago. Oh, this was the round that I was like, late to, bro. So this guy like, made me like, prove it Game 1. And then Game 2, like, he kind of just had like, a slow start. Oh, and then I like, hit like a, I hit like an Eerie, and like, there was like, no supporters in his hand. There was the Drago V, and like, I got like, something off the Eerie too. I like, got the Cologne, and like, the guy like, draws the next card, and there's like, you know, no supporter or something. Like, I know I'm getting the Erika next turn, and he just scoops it up. That was Game 2.

abaan: 37:41

the

Brent: 37:41

Th

Liam: 37:42

no, but I, I, I think he knew I had the Erika, so it didn't matter.

Brent: 37:46

th this is worth taking a, a moment to do like a, a dead digression. I mean, I can't, what would I, what did, what did I have? There was something I needed to give you. I can't remember what it was, but I'm, so, I, I'm hanging around multiple regionals. Round seven starts, there was something I had to give Liam, I dunno if it was like a bottle of water that I like. I picked up a bottle of water for everybody that were around before, like he'd asked me to pick up a bottle of water or something like that. So I walk over to his table to give it to him.

abaan: 38:14

And

Liam: 38:15

Oh, not

Brent: 38:16

right when pairing's coming out, and he's not even there. And then they're like, you may begin, and he's like, not even there, and I'm like, oh my god. And then like, Liam runs over, and I'm like, this is a disaster, like he's X2, he's playing a, a Block Lax deck, and Like, he's late to the round? How did we come out of this, and literally, like, 20 minutes later, he's the first person done, in the entire building. He walks back over, he's like, Yeah, I got it. It was crazy business. Crazy business.

abaan: 38:49

it's a

Liam: 38:50

it's fair, yeah, dude, I, I would have been so tilted if I lost because I was late that round, like,

abaan: 38:55

What if he like, randomly, and then he hits you with the Ian Robb? Oh yeah, I'll V Star for two Iotos.

Liam: 39:01

yeah, exactly, like,

abaan: 39:02

tell people about that. Against Jeremy, Ian apparently, game one, he, like, knew his code, and us immature mortals.

Liam: 39:10

Ooh,

abaan: 39:10

grab, like, Ioto and, like, Sinnoh or something. So we have Alce, not Ian. He just grabs two Iotos. He's, like, literally with a

Liam: 39:18

he knows he's cooked, and ooh,

abaan: 39:20

And then game two,

Liam: 39:21

maturity maxing. Okay.

abaan: 39:25

had no clue. None. He was like, I don't know, I Mew at one point, we're like, KO'd a Mew? That, that can't be right. That can't, what, what are you, you can't unmute? He's like, yeah, bro, it made sense at the time. I was like, I don't think it did, but that's okay. And then game bro.

Liam: 39:42

like, I, I actually, I'm so interested in what happened in that game. Like, Jeremy can't even describe it. He, like, he has, like, no recollection of this. His, like, brain, like, instantly wiped it. From his like, memory drive, bro.

abaan: 39:55

it's we can understand what happened if we like, look at like, level trauma research. Like, we can

Liam: 40:01

yes, exactly. Yes. But, yeah, I'm like, get me in there, bro. Like, I, I would, get me in there. Like, I, I, I want to play that match up so bad, bro. Like, lost city to Cologne at the start of the match, bro. That's what a bot said, bro. That's

abaan: 40:22

It's unbelievable I lost.

Liam: 40:24

unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Brent: 40:25

and, anyway, anyways, so you were, you, you, late for round 7, wins round 7 in like 5 minutes.

abaan: 40:31

Good

Brent: 40:32

business.

Liam: 40:33

Round 8, I hit a Drago. I forget exactly what happened at

abaan: 40:35

so many Draugos and there weren't even like, high level Draugos?

Liam: 40:39

I know, I,

abaan: 40:40

name I even recognize is, like, Round 10, Kamal Cooks Valdes, and he, like, fluted himself. Ugh.

Liam: 40:45

yeah, Jesus, oh, I was so close to this event, bro, holy Jesus

abaan: 40:52

You, you gotta draw a it's, like, quick

Liam: 40:54

round 9, this was my favorite IDD event, I had Zard, no Dusknoir, and it's also, also exactly where I want to be, I love, I love the bubble, bro, I love it, right, like, yeah.

abaan: 41:07

by the way. I've, I've literally, the only events, like, I do good at is when I'm playing for extra credit, bro. I hate the bubble.

Liam: 41:13

Same. I mean, you're playing for extra credit?

abaan: 41:18

when you, like, already have your Day 2, and then you're playing one more round. Yeah.

Liam: 41:22

Oh, yeah, no, I ex I mean, yeah, the,

abaan: 41:24

They, I, I never lose that round. They're always so lax. Like, I swear, I only play like, no aspiration in that round, and they're always like, ah,

Liam: 41:31

that's, that's so funny. Oh my god. I love it, though. No, but yeah, like, I, like, that's what I'm saying, bro, like the light in their eyes doesn't go out when they Like X one. Right?

abaan: 41:43

Yeah.

Liam: 41:45

lose at X two. Whoa. Whoa.

abaan: 41:47

You're a life stealer? Oh my

Liam: 41:49

Yeah. And yeah, this was, I mean, this was brutal. This guy had d like was

abaan: 41:56

outs, zero outs.

Liam: 41:58

was, yeah.

abaan: 41:58

like, you're just cornerstanding for minute one, or like, we're just doing a million different things?

Liam: 42:02

no, I, I don't know. I was going into the lux, right, bro. Because I mean, it's a mortal. So, you know, I was hitting the lux ray.

abaan: 42:08

I hope he,

Liam: 42:09

Oh, oh, and then, like, I, yeah, I hit, I hit, like, a Luxray, and then I also, like, dude, I ripped, like, three things off the flute on, like, turn three, and then, so, yeah, I went into the lax, like, I don't know, I was just doing whatever, yeah, I mean, that was cuck, bro, and, like, you see, I was on the bubble, spirit broken, bro, yeah, you, you, you didn't want to play, like You just scooped the whole match, like, basically, like, like, four turns into game one. I was like, damn. But, hey, respectable. I, this guy was not gonna get it done, bro. Like, I was, that was cooked. Yeah. That was

Brent: 42:42

I mean, that's a lot of breaking people's spirits in day one. There's a lot of, like, people saying, oh, I don't like this.

Liam: 42:49

I love it.

Brent: 42:50

It's a beautiful thing.

Liam: 42:51

Eban?

abaan: 42:52

I was gonna say like, I don't know how I feel about that as a, like my perspective if I was sitting there, but it's like, someone I could trust is gonna get it done against me, and the matchup is like a complete 100 0, and it's not even about, like it's a real 100 0, where they don't even have to draw well, they have to draw like a Nessball, and like, it's over. I don't know, like, I want to say that, oh, I would look for outs, and I would sit there, and I would grind it out for 50 minutes. I think, I think that specific matchup, in that configuration, it's okay. You're allowed to go home. You don't have to. You don't have to sit and wait it out. You can just go home.

Liam: 43:26

Yeah, I, I don't know.

abaan: 43:27

it. And with that context, I think maybe you scooping to Ross is also okay, now that I think about it. It's

Liam: 43:35

Yeah,

abaan: 43:36

but still. Maybe it's

Liam: 43:38

yeah, I mean, I don't know, yeah. That Ross, no, yeah, that scooping the Ross was the right move there. Oops.

abaan: 43:45

I've come full circle. I was claiming you before, but I've come full circle. It's actually like, just go home, bro. It's okay. Like, it wasn't your event. Take it on the chin.

Liam: 43:55

Your time is better used preparing for the next one. I'll prepare for the next one.

abaan: 43:59

no next one, by the way. like the last round of the day, but still. Just go

Liam: 44:03

No, no, the next event, bro! So your world's prepped right then, bro.

abaan: 44:06

oh, sure, sure, sure. Sorry.

Liam: 44:09

I was watching this Thorns guy, like, Thorns you, bro.

Brent: 44:11

Yeah. Alright, so you're on to day two. 7 2. Feeling okay? Because you know you have to win out, right?

Liam: 44:18

I, I was feeling elite, dude. I was like, I, I was feeling the same way I felt after round 3, bro. When I was 3 0 with this deck, I was like, Please, now, the Metadex, right? Like, please, please, please, I've escaped all the, all the garbage, bro. And then I hit the Lost Bolt in the Dark Ride Duskner, but now it's like, bro, I've, I've gotten to day two. This is where I want to be. I look around, and there's literally only good matchups. Everything is good. Like, my left, my right, across from me even, is good. And, yeah, like, literally, I was telling Obann this last night, bro, like, there was, I was like, knew there was, like, only, something could go wrong. That's the only way I was gonna lose, like, like, you know, just some insane variants, right, and like, this was capped to one round, one single round. I, like, I knew I was, I was not gonna go worse than 3 1 on the day, but I was like, deciding factor for me will be whether or not I lose one, right? Ugh But yeah, round, so round 10 I hit Drago. This was, yeah, this this was Kamala Crooks, and he I mean he, he played like pretty, pretty well game 1, but I think he, I think he overbenched game 2 or something.

abaan: 45:32

no, no. It was game one. I remember it clearly, because I was trying to watch your game, but I was like, I'm not on day two, bro. I can go to the bathroom if I want to. So I went to the bathroom. I come back, and there's literally all in Liam's discard is a nest and a flute. I look over, there's a Radzard and two Dragos. I was like, did this did this guy hit the flute of

Liam: 45:48

Is this a Heaven Week loot?

abaan: 45:50

then I asked Liam later, and he's like, no, bro. Kamala just, like, benched both Dragos on the flute. Hit the Rad just the Zard. yeah, okay, that's like I thought Liam was a mega sack, dude. Kamal, like, how did Liam just hit me with a flute for three? How is it possible?

Liam: 46:06

Yeah, I maybe, maybe that was game 1, I, I have no idea, but I, I thought he played like pretty well aside from that. Like, I don't know

abaan: 46:13

I

Liam: 46:13

I feel like

abaan: 46:14

was

Liam: 46:15

he was present with the board.

abaan: 46:16

sure, but like, he was like, he had

Liam: 46:18

Oh, I think he had a bad V Star one of the games, like, it was a slightly early V Star.

abaan: 46:23

yeah.

Liam: 46:24

that was bad.

abaan: 46:26

that, because, dude, that one I also walked away and I came back and I assumed V Start must have still been up because

Liam: 46:30

I don't know, like,

abaan: 46:31

had been made. Like, no

Liam: 46:32

the thing is, though, I like, when you're playing against someone, you can, like, understand their thought process, right, like, you, you know what they're thinking. It's like you gain some respect for them, right? Like, can tell that they're trying to leave the forest, right? Like, you can tell that they're, like, what they're seeing in the forest, and like, that they're making, like, reasonable choices. It's very different when, like, you look at someone and you can tell they're blind in the forest. They're just like, headless chicken running around.

abaan: 47:00

yes, yes. okay, I'm sure that if I was playing that game, I would think, okay, some of these decisions are reasonable, but, like, from, like, being able to see both hands, and, like, seeing the board and stuff, I didn't think that much of how he played it, because he was, like, never even close. He was, like,

Liam: 47:12

I don't know, like, I got the sense that he was able to, he was able to feel the flow of the game. In the sense that, or like, the one time I thought, I thought that he was out of touch with the flow of the game was when he thought he needed to, like, V Star. But, like, like, I felt like he had an accurate sense of how close the walls were to, like, closing in, you know? Like,

abaan: 47:31

Okay, okay. Sure, sure, sure. Fine. I understand what you're getting at. And, like, well, like, yeah, maybe I'm playing him too hard. He played, he played, the matchup's not good. The matchup's, like, not he made

Liam: 47:40

I mean, like, I agree. I think there were some, like, practical mistakes but, like, I was like, this guy has a good sense of where the game is at, right? It's not, like, made some mistakes, but, like, good head on his shoulders.

abaan: 47:59

What the hell, you just bro? Like, what are you talking about?

Brent: 48:03

I like, I like, you know what? I'm always saying we gotta be more of a force for positivity in the community, and I like it. I like it. But then you have to play Voreskill, right?

abaan: 48:12

Good head, shoulders.

Liam: 48:15

dude, I, I literally lost it, like, when I saw I paired Bresco, because I was like, this is, this is the beginning of the end, bro, like, this is maybe, like like the worst pairing in my entire bracket, bro, like, literally anything else, give me anything else, like, and this Lugia matchups is not even bad, so I was not like, it's not like, it's not like I thought the run was over, but I was like, Jesus Christ, bro, like, they're preying on my downfall with this pairing, bro You're doing everything they can to stop me right now. and, and we, I, I lost that round. But, we, we went to three games. The first one, he just like, ran me over. And, and yeah, I, I, I knew what, I knew what this guy was thinking. He told me the same thing. Same thing afterwards, he was like, yeah, dude, after the first game, I thought your deck was just like, blockbacks, and I was just gonna like, jet, boss, you know, run you over, like, the entire time, and then he like, tried to do the same thing game two, but he got a little bit greedy with the run me over, where I, I like, had a, a lax up, and I, dude, I was so proud of this play, because this is not something that like, you know, the the Jake Gearheart pilled, Liam from like you know, like, a year ago would have done, which is like, I had an option to like, CC the Squawk, or CC a an Archeops, and I was gonna go into the Lax, and I was like, I might wanna just like, feel like CCing the Squawk is like, the right move, because it like, shuts down like, any activity like, permanently, if I wanted to go into like, the Mimikube or something long term, but I was like, if I just CC this Lax? I was like, what if I just CC this Lax and see if this guy wants to hit me, bro? he wanted to hit me, and then, yeah, so you like attach some energy to the Archeops, and this was like a game losing mistake, I like, hit the Geocomo the next turn, and then boom, there's like, you know, a ton of energy in the discard pile, and it's like, ooh, ooh, now this like, Archeops is locked, and like, the Geocomo is it just discarded a bunch of energy, and it's saying like, Palpat Geocomo next turn, bro, like, It's cooked.

abaan: 50:00

Dude, Liam,

Liam: 50:01

so he scooped, I think, like, right after that turn.

abaan: 50:03

seen situations like that a lot, and I actually opt to go for what you do too, where you just bait

Liam: 50:09

The Stroke check.

abaan: 50:11

I like, it's really a bad thing, but like, you do just have to like, watch them, and like, think about like, how good are they, like how patient are they, like you have to like, really like, I guess Ian and Rob bro, I'm taking the squawk all day, like, I'm taking the squawk like 30 times in a row, bro but against, like, anyone else, like, ooh, I don't know, let's, let's see if they make

Liam: 50:31

Yeah, I don't know, I thought, I thought Varesco was playing, like, really well because he I, sign led to him being a maturity maxer, bro, because I, I think, like, early on in or yeah, in the first game, bro, he he had the opportunity, I, like, started the Mimikyu, and he started the Lugia, the opportunity, like, Retreat, and then Primal Torport to the Archeops, and, like, Archeops KO'd the Mimikyu, and I was, like, really want to see that, you know? Like, that's, that's something I want to see. I, I don't exactly remember why, but I was like, you know, throw, throw this, like, Archeops in the active, right? Throw a bunch of energy on it. Desperate need. And he did not do that, like, ooh, we got a maturity maxer over here. It's, it's actually, like, maybe, like, 90 percent of the population, if they have an opportunity to take a prize, versus not take a prize, they will, like, always take the prize. Like, there's, like,

abaan: 51:13

not in a blanket way, but, like, definitely in the Pidgeot like, every prize is so earned, like, every prize is everything, like, I need a prize, like, every time I see a potential, right?

Liam: 51:23

I don't know, I, I think so in the blanket way.

abaan: 51:25

No, bro, I don't think, I don't think people are that bad, like, let's say they're in bold or something, and they're playing against Zard, like, they got,

Liam: 51:30

Oh. Yeah,

Brent: 51:34

particularly like the LAX matchup, if they're like, I'm able to take a prize without playing a boss or a switch, I should take that prize. We gotta like, take all the prizes we can

abaan: 51:41

Yeah,

Brent: 51:42

don't cost us bosses and switches.

abaan: 51:43

matchup. You're not in their head, Liam. In the lax matchup, they're obsessed, bro. They must take every single prize

Brent: 51:48

Yeah, yeah.

abaan: 51:51

Which is fine, but he's using a resource, right? He's using two energies and putting three more on a chop, so like, he's not getting a free kill. He's actually, like, paying a premium for this kill. It's

Brent: 52:00

you were charging him a different set of resources. for joining us.

Liam: 52:18

I like, dude, I like, almost got there. was like a weird game, like, it was, it was like a pretty middle of the road draws, I think, like, he, like, opened with, like, a read the wind or, like, he had to, like, turn to read the wind, so, like, I had, like, a little bit of room to breathe, but then, like, from there, it's just, like, go, go, go, you know, and, like, he, he got, like, the cincino down, I didn't cheese him with the flute, like so he, so he got to, like, a good board. But I got to a good board as well, right? And like,

abaan: 52:42

I favored them in that spot, right, like, obviously.

Liam: 52:47

yes, I think so, and also this was like, I said this before, this was like particularly bad, because it was like a four boss list, so like, it's like raw boss draws are just like, every time, every time, you know? Like, I just had it like that,

abaan: 53:01

you don't, have to loot me for it, ah, dude, going right over.

Liam: 53:04

And so, yeah, I, but I like almost got there, I like, my Pidget got chipped, I went CC to KO Minccino, but then I was able to like, bench lock him the following turn. And, and so I bench locked him out of any ways to hit for harder than 220, but my Pidget got chipped, and then,

abaan: 53:25

were you trying, were you trying to bear sweep or no? Because, like, I guess that

Liam: 53:27

no, no, no, because I had the Giacomo, so I can like play for like like inevitability in that sense, right?

abaan: 53:32

was, like, maybe, like, throw in the second Pidgeot and, like,

Liam: 53:34

Yeah, like, if I got a second Pidget up, I, like, instantly win the game, bro, but I, I, like, pried the Thorn in that game, so.

abaan: 53:41

Oof.

Liam: 53:41

I was, like, not in the cards, but I had the Bear and, like, the Mimmy, so I was, like, pretty close to getting it done. Yeah, I, I got, like, really close, but,

abaan: 53:49

Oh kind of do like some weird, like bear, like promote bear, like cc like chops maybe. I don't know, like, or maybe,

Liam: 53:57

Yeah, no, no, yeah, like, I can, like, spread his energy around, like, he has, like, he has, like, two Lugias down now, right? Like, like, you don't get benchlocked with, like, nothing, right? There's, there's no Woomy. Or no, I think I, I think there was a Lummi, but just hit with the hands. So the legacy was locked, right?

abaan: 54:11

ooh,

Liam: 54:11

he, he hands the kato the pitch.

abaan: 54:13

not allowed of ha. I don't think you're yet. Gets they just get, they just gusted like six times in a row. Like you have

Liam: 54:19

that, that's what I did the next turn.

abaan: 54:21

yeah

Liam: 54:22

I don't know. It, it got to like a really weird spot and I, yeah, I made a mistake because I, I basically, yeah, I like geo that I promoted like the miq. I promoted the miq and he had one prize left and then like, he just had the jet to hit with the Archie ops. But, I was like,

abaan: 54:37

I think that match of just, it just sounds like if you had second pitch out, you'd just win. Right.

Liam: 54:41

yeah, yeah,

abaan: 54:42

seeing that board, like, ooh.

Liam: 54:43

I was like, dude I was so close, like I would have hit the second Pidget if I had the Thornton in deck, and then like, I would have removed the Mimmy, right, with the Thornton, so like, my board would have just been like, big guys, and I you know, I'd have the Pidget, I'd do whatever I want, right?

abaan: 54:56

three balls at that point too, so, like, even if he uses, like, one boss to chip, he can't, like, finish.

Liam: 55:00

I didn't, I don't think so, but like, there's, chips were gonna cost too much, you know, like, it was and, yeah. if I got the pitch it down, I was gonna get it done right. But I, I did not. And then like, ugh, I was, I was like so close. I think if I, if I, if I push the bear, I have like a chance, but I didn't wanna push the bear because I wanted to like, I dunno, I wanted to see if I could like end it like right there with like the mini shove, but, Mm-Hmm. Because I didn't have another CC in hand, so I was like, I just like, yeah, like I was hoping like energy or something, but I was really hoping have raw energy hand, I guess. Because I was like, if I push the bear, like his hands have like three energy, he just retreats and CC. And like, that's like locked, you know. But, I don't know. I don't know, it was really hard. But, yeah. I was so close, Jesus Christ. AHHHHHH! Round 12. Round 12 I hit a Drago. and yeah, I farmed it. Like game two I got, I dealed. I like, you know, the Drago got set up without like any resources gone. and a like. Beat to like, not good, but got him one in three. And then last round I hit a D. But I dunno, I just got with this this guy's bro, I I talked to him. He, he lives in like New Jersey, I think, and I talked to him in the Hawaii airport when we were flying back. a super chill guy. He didn't wanna play game two, which was fair. Shoutout to that guy though. Yeah, that was my tournament. I like I was so close bro, I was so close. Like, ugh, Pult, Dark Ride Duskner, and that Lugia game bro. Those are the losses. A

Brent: 57:02

Alright guys, let's, let's, let's jump into the list, because I, I, I, I don't want to give a short shrift to this, because I think it's really interesting. Big picture, do you guys have strong feelings? About, towards list when he published it compared to you guys.

Liam: 57:15

No bro, every knows that I'm a D1 Tordglazer, bro, but every single time I see one Tord's list after the event, I like, I don't understand any of it, you know, I just like, I see it and I'm like, mm, what is he doing, bro? Now, like, this is what always happens, and then like, over the course of the next two weeks, I'm like, you know, I'm building my decks and whatever, and like, I like, encounter these issues, and I'm like, how can I fix this? And then, boom, I've already seen the idea. So like, idea pops to mind, I'm like, oh, Tord had this in his list, I was like, ah, throw that in. And like, slowly but surely, I just like, add all the junk that was in his list, bro.

abaan: 57:50

I stand

Liam: 57:50

and yeah, his list is elite, bro. dude,

abaan: 57:53

list for this event specifically, like,

Liam: 57:56

maybe, don't know, I, dude, Tord's list was elite, bro. This everything about that list is amazing. Incredible.

Brent: 58:02

Alright, so let, let, let's talk, let's talk specifics, right? So I, I, I went to the trouble of like breaking all this down. He runs a Pidge and Lumion and you guys did not. Pgy, right?

abaan: 58:14

sure. I think, I was asked this many times, like, personally, like, throughout the event, like, this one Pidgeot, or, like, especially after the event, when they saw the list, like, this one Pidgey idea, I think, Arlist, it doesn't really care about the second Pidgey because you have Seeker Box, so when they snipe the Pidgey, like, a lot of times you can, like, Seeker Box and pull out the whole combo, like, Thorin, Candy, Sealstone for Pidgeot, or, Whatever, and like, you can, you don't really need the second Pidgeot in our list specifically, and then about the Lumi, same kind of concept, like, because we often revert to being like a straight block lex deck in like very specific matchups, like, this Lumi card is like a huge liability a lot, especially since we

Liam: 58:47

Yeah, I, I, I think the most important way to think about this deck is like, we're like we're like a block Pidget deck, right? It's not a like a, like a Pidget box that, like, you, like, have to get the Pidget up, like, very fast, and then, You know, you kind of just run with it the entire game, and like, throw these attackers, hit the penny every single turn. Like, no, this is like like, opening with hands that are like, block, block, Rotom is like, very good, right? Because you have you know, block locks, those are like, every game, and like, you know, it works out pretty well for them, right? This so like, we're not, we're not as aggressively, like, trying to get the Pidget out. We don't have to lean on the Pidget, like, as heavily, like, if the Pidget dies, you actually have, like, winning chances still in a lot of games. As opposed to like, the other list, where like, sometimes you can get there if your like, hand is like, perfectly prepared and stuff, but like, if that Pidgeot dies really fast, you're just like, cooked with the the other list.

abaan: 59:29

there's two core philosophies about Pidgeot that like, are competing here. Our philosophy is that Pidgeot dies too fast in this format and too easily, that there's just no reason to like, put all your eggs in getting Pidgeot out and hoping it saves the whole game. Their logic is like, actually, your Pidgeot doesn't die that easily, and there's like a lot of counterplay. Like, their idea is like, they're gonna Genesect to stop Prime, and they have Cape for like, Stardom Mansion 4, and they can't get through the Caped Pidgeot. Like, they can't get through Caped Mystic Pidgeot. So like, I think, there's a lot more merit to the other logic than I gave credit for. Like, I didn't really consider how good, like, Cape, Mystic Genesect is, but I, wouldn't want to play Pidgeot without Seeker Box now that I've, now that I've played it. Like, it might not be correct, but like, man, I love playing with Seeker Box. It's just the most fun card ever to play with. And like, not just fun, it's just like, so functional.

Liam: 1:00:16

I, know, I, I think I kind of agree, but I, I think it's like they're like very different decks in the sense that like, our deck is like a stall deck, and their deck is like, block decks, right? Like, they're like, trying to hit like a very, very fast block, and like, In that sense that like, you can see it more as like a combo deck kind of too, right? Like, those are the games where like the Pidget, like, doesn't matter where like you somehow like wrote them into all the combo pieces, and like, you know, the Pidgey dies, but then boom, you're there with like, you know, Cape, Ogre Pawn, Genesect, CC. Like, you can get it done without the Pidget, right? It's all about just like making this like combo happen. And, and

Brent: 1:00:52

Yeah. I mean obviously the biggest difference between you, you guys decking towards is toward cut all the snla and he runs the Vern and he runs the Gerace and he runs the maw and then like just a pilotage stuff, right? Gensec, Chiu, REI San. True.

abaan: 1:01:07

the problem for me is like, like, this Noivern plan against these Beast Tic Tacs sucks. Like, it's like, 1 1 Noivern, like, they have

Liam: 1:01:14

No, dude, that Netherrealm plan is really good. Bro, I think you're missing the idea here. Like, this plan is actually eat wheat. He puts Jirachi active, and like a Mimikyu on the bench, and the Jirachi grabs the whole thing, and he just passes, bro. And he doesn't even just pass, because you sometimes get there with the Gus, he just hits with the Jirachi every turn. Boom, boom, boom. And then if you ever kill the Jirachi, he just like, instantly wins.

abaan: 1:01:37

Oh, I see. So you don't have to, like, grab Turo and stuff. Oh, the Jirachi is, like, you don't have to Pidgeot to get oh, I was like I guess I am kind of missing that. I didn't really process that his board is going to be Jirachi Mimi, so, like, and he just keeps benching Mimis because he plays three.

Liam: 1:01:51

Yeah.

abaan: 1:01:52

Dude, I was thinking also against the Draugr matchup, he has the side plan of, like, he just has the triple Mimi three miss plan that we always, like, talked

Liam: 1:01:59

Yeah, yeah, exactly, right?

abaan: 1:02:01

on.

Liam: 1:02:02

I don't know, I, I feel like it's incredibly sus now, because I feel like Temple is like, such a lock. It's like, Temple is so annoying to deal with. But,

abaan: 1:02:10

especially because you don't have Secret Box, you have the one Artisans, like you, like, ooh, that thing's sticking, bro. That thing is sticking for a while. He plays two charms, so he gets to do that, but like, enough bubs, bro. Not

Liam: 1:02:22

And the cape, but like, yeah, I, I don't know, it's like, it's like super sus if the, when the Temple sticks, bro. Yeah.

abaan: 1:02:29

if, if you cape, he, they, if they're playing Cologne still, they can decide, okay, this is the Mimei Cologne, and then when you like, do the other stuff, like, he'll, he'll like, Sinnoh and do nonsense around that, right?

Liam: 1:02:39

no, and like, the, the mimi board is not very, not very safe if you have like, second mimi on the bench and the temple's in play. Like, it just dies, right? Yeah.

abaan: 1:02:49

yeah, I'm

Liam: 1:02:49

yeah, it, like, it exists, like, the insane.

abaan: 1:02:53

Fire is terrible, bro. I'm sorry,

Liam: 1:02:55

No, the Chi Fi. I love the Chi Fi. I love, I love the Chi Fi. I think that, I think that's actually like, for the deck. I, I think that's like a staple card.

abaan: 1:03:04

because, because like your pennies can actually like, progress, right? Like, when they have a bad hand, you

Liam: 1:03:09

No, no, it's like, it's the way you get them to play the game, bro. Instead of playing like the Ericas and like the Sisters, you just, you just throw the Chi Yu active and you're like, we're not gonna play the game until you prove to me that you can like, or basically until you give me a board that hits for 290. Like, until you hit for 290, like, I'm just gonna sit here and like mill your stuff. like, I think that's like so elite, like very different from the Luxray, because the Luxray doesn't, like rip into the deck as aggressively, and you have this like Iona Luxray trick, but like, the Chiyu's just like,

abaan: 1:03:45

Tor

Liam: 1:03:46

it's much more devious.

abaan: 1:03:47

I just looked, there's no sisters at all?

Liam: 1:03:49

there's no

Brent: 1:03:50

No,

Liam: 1:03:51

and I think this Chiyu card lets you get away with it.

abaan: 1:03:55

I don't know, man. I'd rather play my dude.

Liam: 1:03:57

Like, I actually like it so much more, I really hate the like, The gambling cards, like, I don't know, I've like, kind of come full circle on the sisters with this Ogre Pawn Genesect idea, where I was like, you know, you like Ogre Pawn, you Genesect, and you race them to the switches, right? But like, like, on earth am I trying to race people, bro? Like, I should just lock it up, bro, I'm playing this Pidget deck. Pidgets that you eat. Like, I,

abaan: 1:04:20

I

Liam: 1:04:20

should be something for guaranteed.

abaan: 1:04:22

but like, Chiyu, like, when they like, just jammy tower you, the thing about Chiyu that's like, sick, is that you sometimes just, you are still racing them. Like, I don't know what you're talking like, you're still racing them, it's just like, less, like, obvious. Like, you just hit the jammy tower randomly, and you're like, oh, wow, I'm, I'm like,

Liam: 1:04:37

No, yeah, yeah, but like, the, the point of the Chi Yu, I think, is not, it's not like, I can guarantee you get, like, resources, right? It's, like, you don't approach it the same way as you do with, like, the, like, the Ogre, Pawn, Genesect, where you're, like, Bro, if they hit this switch before me, I'm, like, cooked, you know? Like, it's more, like, like, accomplishes its goal for sure, and then, like, you know, you have the potential for, like, even more upside, right?

abaan: 1:05:04

Yeah, but it doesn't accomplish its goal for sure, because they can sometimes do just like, hit Research, hit Good Hand, and then blow up your

Liam: 1:05:09

No, no, no, like, like, it's goal, though, is to, like, force them to hit for 290. And, like, there's not a lot of decks that can do that, like, super easily. Like, the goal is to, like, make some weakness by forcing 290.

abaan: 1:05:24

I see. Yeah, yeah, it's not like

Liam: 1:05:28

Like, cause he doesn't have like the,

abaan: 1:05:29

it out to

Liam: 1:05:29

he doesn't have the Eirikas, right, so like he, he can't like make these weaknesses on his own, but like the way he makes the weakness is through the Chi Yu. You know what,

abaan: 1:05:37

I liked the Erika flute, as the Weakness Maker. I thought that, like, the flute was, like, the one flute was, like, a great play, like, I just liked doing it, and, like, maybe I was hitting too hard with it, and,

Liam: 1:05:46

I thought the Flute was the elite, bro, I like,

abaan: 1:05:49

I thought that

Liam: 1:05:49

I wanted to play two Flute, bro. I ripping that card, bro. But, like, I don't know, it's,

abaan: 1:05:57

it's different. It's a whole different plan, right? It's a whole different philosophy on

Liam: 1:06:00

exactly, right, mhm.

Brent: 1:06:04

so, so he, he cuts the Erie, he cuts the saline, he cuts the Giacomo.

abaan: 1:06:09

still has

Liam: 1:06:09

Dude, the other thing

Brent: 1:06:10

Oh, he, he, he, he ran one Erie instead of two.

abaan: 1:06:13

yeah.

Brent: 1:06:15

Yeah.

Liam: 1:06:15

The other thing too that I I didn't understand about Tord's List, but I like see it now, is the, the Maulwile. I like,

abaan: 1:06:22

it. Mawile's insane.

Liam: 1:06:24

yeah for, for this Draugr plan, right?

abaan: 1:06:27

because all we Dude, like, we're sitting there with our like, water pond on their Hawlucha like an idiot bro, and we just and we just get mauled, like they switch knockouts out for two prizes, it's terrible. But when it's like a Mawile, ooh,

Liam: 1:06:39

exactly, exactly. also, the other thing about the Maulwile too, is it lets you cut the stretcher, right? Because, basically the only thing the stretcher does is for this Ogre Pawn back to back play.

abaan: 1:06:51

Or double Pidgeotting sometimes. Sometimes.

Liam: 1:06:53

Yeah, like, the stretcher is like a good card with like some versatile use, right? It's like, it's there because you need it.

abaan: 1:07:01

no, no, it wasn't just for this water pond thing, the reason we had to place stretchers was laxes, bro. Like,

Liam: 1:07:06

Yeah, no, I,

abaan: 1:07:07

it was sus.

Liam: 1:07:07

for us, the stretcher made more sense, right? Like, I don't think you need to cut the stretcher for like a motwile, right?

abaan: 1:07:12

yeah

Liam: 1:07:13

like, in Tord's deck, like, elk. Eat.

abaan: 1:07:16

The Smallwell card is one of the things I saw on Torrid's list and I was like like, I totally forgot about this card because of Water Pawn, but that's lit. Sure. Like, Torrid had, like, good ideas on the list. I still think our list was better. Like, I, I, if I could run it back, I would, I would either play it, I would still play our list, like, just run it. I would even play

Liam: 1:07:33

Yeah. I, I dunno, I, I, I really liked El List as well. Like, I thought we were, we were like,

abaan: 1:07:37

Alessandro is hating on it so hard, bro. Like, it's not

Liam: 1:07:39

we we were really good list.

abaan: 1:07:41

Alessandro is just hating, bro.

Liam: 1:07:43

yeah, bro, he said didn't like the Snor and I, I get it, bro, because like dude, it, when he said it, bro, I was like, I guess that makes sense, right? He was like, I don't know it, it's because Alessandro thinks he gets it dunk against racing boat, bro. I think like he thinks he gets it done against raising Bolt and he gets it done against Guardian. Like, with just like, this like, straight Pidget. Yeah, I will, I agree with that. I think like, if the Maraadon deck does not play Raichu, you just, you just bench the Rotom and do like, whatever you want to them, bro. You know? Like You have to pidget, bro. Like,

abaan: 1:08:14

They, like,

Liam: 1:08:15

if there's no, no hand disrupt, no,

abaan: 1:08:17

Vacuum, Double Zapdos, I play against

Liam: 1:08:19

yeah,

abaan: 1:08:20

The VitBat, I play, dude, neither person I play against on Maridon would just let my Rotom sit there and be invincible. They have, like, actually, like, six different allies. They have the

Liam: 1:08:28

sure, yeah, if it's against that, I don't, I don't know what you do, bro. I like, I don't know. think, I don't know, he like, he believes strongly, I think, in this like this Genesect idea to like, protect his board, and like, I don't know, I see it, bro. Like, you know, I watch this guy's streams, bro, he gets it done. He gets it done all the time, bro. But like, at the same time, dude, every single time I watch the streams, I'm like, Aw, dude, he's against Guardi, bro. Like, how's he gonna get it done, bro? Because, you know, I've had trouble with this matchup. And then, like, the Guardi player just, like, draw passes. And he, like, just has his way with them. Like, like, bro, like, I thought I was gonna, like, get to see some elite gameplay. And he's just like,

abaan: 1:09:06

I think I like Taur's more. The Mawile goes crazy, bro. The Mawile is insane in the Guardian matchup.

Liam: 1:09:12

I don't know, dude, I've been trying, I've been trying that and I still struggle into Gardea, like, it's just like,

abaan: 1:09:19

He doesn't have Eirika's or Flute, though, so actually, how does he even make them put the basics down in the first place?

Liam: 1:09:23

yeah, like, you don't get a basic and you can't lock the Curlias without the Snarl Axe, like, you like, kinda can, because,

abaan: 1:09:32

They

Liam: 1:09:32

you know, the Gardea EX Evolve is not that good, and like, you also like,

abaan: 1:09:36

prize, though, so it's like maybe allowed. Maybe you just out.

Liam: 1:09:40

don't know, like, I like always think it's fine, because I like think about the matchup and I'm like, oh, I guess it's like, You can just do this and this and it's like fine but like the other thing is too when you're not when you don't start the blockbacks or like get into it like very quickly they like the screentail hits the active spot like that bro and then like boom your pidget's like dead in like two shots and like

abaan: 1:10:00

you

Liam: 1:10:00

there's like some idea like

abaan: 1:10:01

to get it out, right? Like, it's oh, that's the worst part. You

Liam: 1:10:04

yeah and like

abaan: 1:10:05

and you're just like it's hitting everywhere for everything. I'm losing

Liam: 1:10:08

yeah like so like this like screentails in the active and like there's like some idea of like you got like a second pidget bro and like as soon as they take it you just like you have the other one up already but the thing is too they also play the devo bro like so like Just setting up the Pidges is like,

abaan: 1:10:23

don't play He Hammer or you just missed it, bro. I I literally always miss it out of

Liam: 1:10:27

I don't know, dude, I like,

abaan: 1:10:29

You got Sinnohed, bro? You got Sinnohed or something?

Liam: 1:10:32

I mean, I don't know, but like, it's, it's like, yes, it like sometimes works, but like, I don't know, it's like, there's like so much room for those, just like, oh, dude, they like,

abaan: 1:10:42

box for Sinnohed. Oh,

Liam: 1:10:44

I, I also like, yeah, I don't know, it just, it just like seems very hard, and the other thing too is, Henry thinks he gets it done against like these kinds of Pidget builds, right, without the Snorlax, the Snorlax. He's like, yeah, I farmed that. It's like a 100 0 matchup for me, right? Like, here's some weight for me.

abaan: 1:11:01

some weight, that like Henry, dude Henry does he, like we talked about this on the episode, I miss that episode, it was published, but yeah. Henry like, like literally refused to play us after some point, he was like, Raj, can you play

Liam: 1:11:10

We were playing the Snorlaxes, bro. Like, I think, I think getting that one was a good start.

abaan: 1:11:14

was like a wrong decision, I'm just saying like he was very worried. about hitting

Liam: 1:11:19

I know, bro. I was like, damn. You get me in this top cut, Henry is sweating now.

abaan: 1:11:25

but I think we, we, we, I, he had a lot of bodyguards, bro. Varesco, like,

Liam: 1:11:28

I know. I know.

abaan: 1:11:29

was

Liam: 1:11:30

First, we gotta go through, like, those, like, Lugia, this, yeah, exactly.

abaan: 1:11:33

e hammer moon, bro. bro. He had plot armor, even if we made it a cut. We were not seeing the president, bro. We were not

Liam: 1:11:40

I know, I know, I was like, I was actually like so mad at that, but, I don't know, I'm like someone in denial about how like bad that cut was for us, right?

abaan: 1:11:49

Yeah, of course, like if you just, if we got to like carve it out and we got to play like the, the first we got to play like the, the guy with the bat deck, not bat, like the Neuvern thing, be him. play Henry, or I don't know, we play someone else. Somehow like things go differently and we get to play against like I don't

Liam: 1:12:03

something not Lugia or

abaan: 1:12:04

we

Liam: 1:12:05

Palkia doesn't ever help.

abaan: 1:12:06

run it

Liam: 1:12:06

Yeah, ugh,

abaan: 1:12:07

we gotta play Ian Robb, I don't know how, and then we get to play Henry in the finals in front of everyone, the, the classic three man

Brent: 1:12:14

This is some butterfly effect action, right?

abaan: 1:12:17

Yes. Oh, we were close.

Brent: 1:12:20

Just like, the slightest bit of difference, and then you guys are both in the finals, closing it out.

Liam: 1:12:24

Like,

Brent: 1:12:25

And that's all there is.

Liam: 1:12:26

yeah, like, I don't know, he,

Brent: 1:12:28

If you did French fries for lunch.

Liam: 1:12:30

like, like, I think he thinks he just beats like everything, so like, like, you know. Messing with the,

abaan: 1:12:35

anything else? Yeah. Why are you

Liam: 1:12:36

yeah, like, yeah,

Brent: 1:12:39

I was watching an Archer episode on Netflix the other day, and Archer was like, Yeah, it just seems like everything's so much easier than I thought it would be. That's Henry, just like, absolute confidence that things are gonna work out.

abaan: 1:12:53

And he is totally it makes sense, bro. It makes sense.

Brent: 1:12:56

Yeah, yeah, that's Aura for you.

Liam: 1:12:57

yeah, I don't know, and then I it

abaan: 1:12:59

That's hella funny. That's Aura.

Liam: 1:13:03

like, it like makes sense, but I, I don't know, there's like something that like always manages to go wrong whenever I like try it, like, like, damn, bro, like, this like Pidgey is like under fire, like instantly, bro, and like, like, yeah. My punish is like, 7 different cards, bro. I have to have like a 7 card combo here. punish the aggression when I could just be like, Black CC. Terrible Prime Catcher, bro. Like,

abaan: 1:13:27

We'll be going for like an

Brent: 1:13:28

Alright guys, we could spend more time talking about the list, but I think we gotta call it. It sounds like League Challenges, or League Cups this weekend?

Liam: 1:13:36

yeah, I'm playing the playing a more aggro Pidgetless. I'm playing the Chi Yu for sure, bro.

abaan: 1:13:41

I'm just playing the the exact

Liam: 1:13:43

Tord is, Tord is a demon, bro. He's a demon. Like, he's, he understands the game at the highest level. It's, it's incredible. Incredible.

abaan: 1:13:52

goodness, man. All right, all right.

Mike: 1:13:54

the John Palserer outro.