Pokémon TCG: Tournament Report - August 28th League Cup with Gardevoir ex

The Pokémon TCG competitive scene is more alive than ever. After the Pokémon World Championships, which featured many creative new builds, some players became interested in tournaments again. Many of us were motivated to understand what it takes to compete at this level.

Of course that includes me, though I was already investing in the competitive scene even before the Pokémon World Championships. In the little spare time I have, I try to play one or two tournaments to get a few points or at least grow as a player. This was the second Cup I played this season, this time at Magic Raiz. The first Cup I played this year, I didn't make it by a hair. I lost my last match, an "Win an In" to the Top 8. Now, I'll share with you everything that went through my head as I played and how my second attempt went!

The first time I wrote a tournament report for Cards Realm, I mentioned I struggled a lot with picking a deck for important tournaments because the cards I liked playing had already rotated out. For this League Cup, I spent a whole week training with something I had never played before as a competitive player: Charizard ex sv4pt5 54 and Pidgeot ex sv3 164 to prey on Gholdengo ex sv4 139 and Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29.

However, though I believed in this deck's potential, I still wasn't winning as consistently as I wanted. I couldn't decide on how to build it correctly, lacked experience, and, as a result, the frustration of not simply getting it right even a single time made me give up on it for now.

My second option was the N's Zoroark ex JTG 98 variant from the World Championship, which plays Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 58 to improve a few matchups. I was much more used to this one than the one above because Zoroark's "Trade" ability is exactly the same as Kirlia's previous ability, "Refinement". As a sort of test, I played this deck in two weekly league events in local stores and went 2-1 in both, which wasn't spectacular but still a positive outcome. The issue was that the matches I lost always left me feeling like more experience or a little bit more care would make sure I won, and so I was discouraged again.

Finally, I returned to my faithful Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29. However, I didn't train all week with it and used the list that won the World Championships, which plays a lot more tools for each matchup than usual. This actually ended up punishing me significantly, but I still managed to do quite well in this tournament.

I need to give a shoutout to Flutter Mane PRE 43 and Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177 in this list, as well as Drifloon sv1 89, which was left out of it. Flutter Mane makes the Iron Thorns ex PRE 32 matchup even more favorable and considerably disrupts Gholdengo ex sv4 139.

In each matchup, this deck will lean into its "spread" strategy, and it does that incredibly well. Because of Devolution, we now have a way to go around matchups that were quite difficult before.

Round 1: Gholdengo (Tie)

Before we discuss this round, I need to give you some extra context: my opponent was a very dear friend who I play with regularly, and I had just discussed my strategy for this matchup with them before we played! The fact we had to face each other on the very first round was comical, to say the least.

In game 1, I followed the plan above. I slowly dealt damage to their Gholdengos and let my opponent get Prize cards. In a crucial turn, I played Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177 and got 3 Prize cards in a single turn. This left them with no attackers, and that's why they conceded.

In game 2, my opponent played around my strategy really well with Picnic Basket sv1 184 and Munkidori SFA 72 and managed to defend themselves against my game 1 strategy, which made this matchup quite difficult. This time, when I played the same strategy as above, I couldn't kill all their Gholdengos, and they still had a Gimmighoul left on the board to evolve. However, I did manage to play an Iono sv4pt5 80 before that, and my opponent only drew one card from their deck. This card was more than enough for them to win, though: they drew their single copy of Professor Turo's Scenario sv4 171, which allowed them to maneuver their Active Pokémon and Knock Out the Pokémon they needed.

Even if you play the best cards in the right order, sometimes you're just vulnerable to a single good draw, and that's part of the game! I congratulated them after that round because they definitely deserved this tie.

Round 2: Armarouge (Loss)

I believe my inexperience made a huge difference in this round. My opponent was playing an unusual list with Munkidori ex SFA 37 to Knock Out Gardevoir. Both games were quite close, but I ended up making a rather crucial mistake: I set up the board to get 4 Prize cards and win the game on the next turn, and I ended up leaving Munkidori ex set up as their Active Pokémon. I ended up following this plan through and then regretted it because I didn't realize I didn't have any Iono sv4pt5 80 in hand to play. Next turn, my opponent surprised me by playing Pal Pad sv1 182, shuffling their Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 back into their deck, and drawing to win the game.

In game 2, I got severely unlucky: I had everything to play Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178 on turn 1, but my two Kirlias were in my Prize cards! When I finally managed to set up a Gardevoir ex with Rare Candy sv4pt5 89, my opponent had already gotten a huge advantage, and I couldn't turn it back around. I did everything I could in this matchup, but my Prize cards set me back considerably.

Round 3: Crustle Iron Thorns (Win)

Once again, my opponent was a dear friend, and both me and them already knew this matchup was quite favorable for me, so they decided not to even play and conceded. So, I'll briefly tell you why this matchup is so easy to win.

If the opponent only plays Iron Thorns ex PRE 32 to stop Gardevoir's ability, you can play around with Flutter Mane PRE 43's "Midnight Fluttering". This allows you to use Gardevoir's ability temporarily, and, in turn, you'll have an attacker that, with Munkidori SFA 72's Adrena-Brain, will be practically invencible. As for their Crustle game plan, it is even worse because your attackers are mostly non-ex basic Pokémon, so their main ability is nearly completely useless. In this matchup, the only chance Gardevoir loses is if you draw useless Prize cards or if you "pseudodonk".

Round 4: Joltik Box (Win)

Once again my luck carried on, and I got another unfavorable matchup. In game 1, my opponent also won the coinflip and couldn't have opened better. After playing Jolting Charge to put 4 energies on Iron Hands EX, they got 2 Prize cards by Knocking Out my active Pokémon on turn 2. Then, after two Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172, they got the last 4 Prize cards and left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

In game 2, they started playing, and that was already a relief to me: I played the perfect turn one. I discarded 3 Psychic energies and used a Munkidori SFA 72 in my Active Spot to play TM Evolution and set up two Kirlias on my bench. The next turn, my opponent used Jolting Charge, and I Knocked Out Joltik SCR 50 with Munkidori's Adrena-Brain and dealt 190 damage to a Miraidon EX they put in their Active spot. The next turn, I Knocked Out their Active Pokémon and the Miraidon I had already dealt damage to and won the game. Apparently, I was the one making turbo plays this time.

Anyway, in the fateful final match to decide the round, we both opened really well. They ended up failing in a crucial turn when just one Boss's Orders could solve the game for them, right after I Knocked out a Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 and prevented them from drawing cards. So, we move on to the final round, and if I won it, I'd make it into the Top 8!

Round 5: Zoroark (Loss)

Unfortunately, in my final round, I got an incredibly unfavorable opponent. In fact, it was the most difficult matchup Gardevoir can face by far: Zoroark Ex is consistent, and Gardevoir's weakness to Darkness Pokémon makes their average attacker a Prize-card machine.

Your only out is using Munkidoris to try to win the game with a Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177, but this opponent also plays them, which makes everything even harder. In game 1, in the same turn I had to play Devolution, it was at the bottom of my deck, and I didn't draw it. It cost me the game.

In game 2, I drew 10 cards, and the same thing happened. Once again I didn't draw Devolution, and the game ended, which also put an early end to my tournament run. This matchup was unfavorable, but my opponent was also quite experienced and played really well. So, this round was interesting, and we even discussed it after it was over.

In anything in life, you'll have good days and bad days, and grinding tournament matches can be tiring and frustrating. That was what happened at this tournament. I gave it my best, fought tough matchups, and, when my deck could make it a little easier for me, it didn't. But it's all in the past. What matters is what is happening now and how I can turn these bad memories into energy so I can get better in the future.

Once I got over my frustration, I understood why I lost a little bit better and worked on preparing myself a little more for the next tournament! And that's what it's all about: carrying on every day!

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Thank you for reading, and see you next time!