Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve written a tournament report, or any article for that matter. I always loved reading tournament reports back in the day on forums like Pokegym and Pokebeach so I thought it would be fun to write about Merida Regionals. I had a pretty good run and had some pretty interesting games so hopefully it makes for an entertaining read! I also think tournament reports are a great way to keep track of my events and reflect on my games. I always take detailed notes after every round at a major so I can review my play. Making a tournament report is basically just sprucing those up!

The Week Leading Up to the Tournament

The weekend before was Toronto Regionals, which is always one of my busiest weekends of the year. If I’m being honest, I spent most of the week recovering. I had a fairly disappointing tournament run with my Gholdengo Lopunny deck. A 4-0 start turned into an uninspiring 5-3 finish after a few rounds of dead hands. I was happy with my list and my play, but I wasn’t sure if Gholdengo was the right play for Merida. Gholdengo is in my opinion the most powerful deck in the game, and it is the deck I am the strongest at playing, but it has some problems when it comes to making deep runs at majors. The main one is that the deck has no comeback mechanics. If I have a poor opening and fall behind in the prize trade it is normally difficult to make a comeback. That being said, I think Dengo is fantastic if I can make it to the top tables. The best players in the game tend to favour decks like Gardevoir and Dragapult which are good matchups for Gholdengo. It also helps that it is much easier to play Gholdengo optimally than the other top decks. However, I find it is often difficult to make it to the top tables with Gholdengo, and I lose a lot of games to players weaker than myself since the deck lacks that comeback potential I mentioned earlier.

**The Gholdengo List I played to Toronto**

Heading into Merida I had three decks I was considering, Gholdengo, Gardevoir (Straight or Jelly), and Grimmsnarl. Gholdengo was the easy choice, I had played it in my last four majors and felt confident I’d be one of the best pilots in the room. Gardevoir and Grimmsnarl were my choices if I wanted something with a bit more agency. The main issue I had was I didn’t have much time to practice if I wanted to switch decks. It isn’t like I had no experience on them though, I have played both to majors this season already. One of the nice things about doing 30-40 hours of coaching a week is that I get reps on all of the major decks and keep my skills and matchup knowledge up to date for every archetype. So while I wouldn’t have the time to grind a bunch of games, I did feel like I’d be able to play both at a decent level.

I’d like to say I had some insane read of the meta or put a lot of thought into my choice, but I just defaulted to Grimmsnarl since it is my favourite deck to play. Part of the reason I love Pokemon is that the game is fun! The Pokemon season can be long, so I find it’s important not to burn myself out. Grimmsnarl is also a deck capable of going on a run, but I don’t think it is at the same level as Gardevoir and Gholdengo. I do think that Grimmsnarl was in the best spot it has been in for a long time leading up to this tournament, and the two Top Cuts in Toronto gave me some confidence. Gardevoirs have been cutting Diancie, Dengo cutting Basket, and Charizard massively on the rise have paved the way for a fairly kind metagame. Grimmsnarl still has to deal with the deck's inherent inconsistency, but with Lillie’s Determination the deck has a much easier time navigating the early game.

When it came to picking a list I just looked at the lists Jordan and Luis had used to Top Cut Toronto. I liked the idea of 3-3 Froslass to help with the Gholdengo matchup and to alleviate prizing issues. There are a lot of matchups where you want to go Double Froslass in the current format like Charizard and Gholdengo. Playing higher counts also lets me draw the pieces more often. A big issue with this deck is whiffing ™: Evo so I welcomed the chance to see Froslass in my hand more often. I messaged Jordan on Twitter to get his thoughts on the list after his run. Funny story, he and I actually played each other at 2013 Worlds when we were both Seniors! He told me he wouldn’t change a card and I should just run the deck as is. The main card I wanted to add was a Shaymin for the straight Gardevoir matchup. I knew if I wanted to go on a run I’d have to get through the top players on the Chao 60. I also anticipated a rise in Raging Bolt with Wellspring after it got 2nd in Toronto. I asked Jordan his thoughts on cutting the Tatsugiri for the Shaymin and he told me he got tons of value out of the card and he wouldn’t cut it. Historically I haven’t been a huge Tatsugiri fan in Grimmsnarl, but I decided to defer to Jordan’s opinion for now.

I wasn’t 100% locked into Grimmsnarl, but my heart definitely told me to play it. I spent some time on Wednesday and Thursday testing against myself on simulators. I mainly practiced the Gardy matchup with and without Shaymin. The Shaymin helped, but most games just came down to Iono anyways. I felt confident I’d be favoured if I hit an average Gardevoir player, but would probably be a slight underdog if I hit one of the top Gardevoir players such as Henry or Piper.

With some last minute testing done, I spent my Thursday night packing and doing adult chores before going to bed relatively early. My flight in the morning was at 10 am so luckily I didn’t need to get up any earlier than I normally do.

The Day Before

I woke up at 7 on Friday and did my morning routine before double checking I had everything packed that I would need. I normally bring my boxes filled with playable staples and multiple decks, but for this tournament I just packed my Gholdengo and Grimmsnarl decks, along with the tech cards I was considering for both. I did one final check of my apartment and debated if I should wear a jacket to the airport. I decided I would brave the cold and just wear a sweater, I was heading off to Mexico after all.

I got to Pearson an hour and a half before my flight so I went to the lounge to grab some breakfast and catch up on some work. When I got to my gate there were a lot of other Toronto players there, most notably my friend Jackson Ford. We chatted about the weekend and boarded the flight shortly after. We had a five hour flight to Mexico City before a one and a half hour connecting flight to Merida. It’s funny, I used to hate travel days, but I’ve come to really enjoy them. The nature of my work has me constantly online and reachable at any moment so I appreciate being disconnected from technology while I’m in the air. One of my favourite hobbies is reading, so flights give me lots of uninterrupted time to catch up on books. My book of choice for this trip was Jade War, the second book in the Jade City trilogy (which I highly recommend).

Our flight took a while to take off, but once we were in the air it was smooth. I read a couple hundred pages of my book and then watched a couple episodes of Abbott Elementary, one of my favourite comfort shows. After landing I went through immigration and security again before hopping on the next flight to Merida.

I landed around 7 pm local time and took an Uber straight to the venue. I got there just before check-in closed and picked up my wristband and swag. The lady checking my ID was very thorough, even holding up my passport next to my face to ensure I wasn’t an imposter lol.

After check-in I headed over to my hotel where I was staying with my friends Mo Ideis and Jesper Eriksen. Mo and I went for dinner at a sushi restaurant where we had a nice chat and had these delicious rolls that had fried bananas in them. They were so good Mo even got some more the following night after day one.

We headed back to the hotel around 9 pm and it was time for me to lock in my 60. I felt good about 59 cards, the last spot was going to go to either Tatsugiri or Shaymin. I decided to just go with Tatsugiri since consistency is king. I sleeved up my deck and added in some Spanish cards such as Damien (Arven), E-Nigma (Iono), and Nido Ball (Nest Ball) for some flair. I played a practice game with Mo since I haven’t played Grimmsnarl with physical cards since Lille Regionals. He had some bad Gardevoir hands so I won pretty easily, but I was too tired to play another game. I felt confident that I understood how to play the matchup so I valued my sleep over the extra practice. I try to go to bed fairly early the night before an event. I always say that if I need to cram the night before then I’m not prepared enough anyways. Being well rested will lead to sharper play over getting in a few more games.

I started my night time routine around 10:30 and by 11 I was in bed. I sometimes get nervous before an event, but I felt zero stress about the tournament the next day. I was excited to play Grimmsnarl and was ready to have some fun!

Day One

I woke up around 7, but didn’t get out of bed until 7:30. I hopped in the shower, shaved, moisturized, and did my hair. I definitely subscribe to the philosophy of look good, feel good, play good. I packed up my bag, threw on my Pokémon watch and Chien-Pao ring, and then headed downstairs for a quick breakfast. I wasn’t super hungry, but I know how hard it is to eat in the middle of a tournament day, especially when I was playing a deck that tends to take a long time. I made sure to eat enough to fuel me through the morning and hopefully into the afternoon.

Mo and I headed over to the convention centre around 8:15 and were greeted with a massive security line. The organizers announced that we were going to be starting round one 30 minutes later than the planned start time so I had time to chill in line and chat with some friends.

It was about 8:45 when I finally got inside. I was hanging around with some friends and saying hi to people I was running into. The nice thing about Pokémon tournaments is the amount of people old and new I get to see whenever I attend an event. I don’t like going to my table super early and having to sit there for a long time after I already set up, so I waited until 5 minutes before start time to make my way over to my table. I get there before my opponent and prepare my play area. Unlike the tournaments where I play Gholdengo, I make sure to pull out lots of dice so I’m ready to place Freezing Shroud Damage Counters. Shortly after my opponent shows up and we get set up before opening announcements. Soon after the judges give us the go ahead to start, and Merida Regionals gets under way!

Round One: David G. Typhlosion LWT 0-0-1

Game 1: I lose the coin flip and have to go first. I am quite surprised to see my opponent flip over Ethan's Cyndaquil, but I’m happy nonetheless since this should be a fairly easy round one. I haven’t played this matchup since Destined Rivals, but I know it is heavily favoured for Grimmsnarl. My opening hand disagreed with my sentiment since it was fairly weak for going first. I started with an Impidimp or Snorunt, but couldn’t do anything besides pass.

On David’s first turn he is able to get off an Ethan’s Adventure and doesn’t do much else. I use Lillie’s Determination on my turn, but don’t hit much. I get down some basics and a Munkidori with Dark Energy, but am forced to pass after that. David gets a Rare Candy Typhlosion and some Quilava in play before he takes the first KO. On my turn I finally get going with a Grimmsnarl and a Froslass, but I whiff a Marnie’s Morgrem so I’ll be in some trouble if my Grimmsnarl gets Knocked Out. I played Iono before KOing his Typhlosion and put some damage on a Quilava. He draws Secret Box and is able to get a Gravity Mountain down to KO Grimmsnarl and take a 3-5 Prize lead.

On my turn I just need to hit a second Froslass and I’ll have perfect math to board wipe him with ™: Devolution in two turns. My hand doesn’t have an Arven to grab ™: Evolution or Ultra Ball so I’m forced to Lillie’s and hope to find the Froslass. I unfortunately whiff and have to settle for an Itchy Pollen turn. David doesn’t play many cards and KOs Budew to go down to 2 Prizes. On my turn I again just need Froslass and I’ll be ready to ™: Devolution on the next turn, but I whiff off of another Lillie’s. I do my best to Adrena Brain onto a benched Typhlosion so I can KO it with Grimmsnarl on the following turn. David takes another Prize on his turn and I’m down 1-5. On my turn I make a Grimmsnarl and Iono him. He has three Typhlosion in play and I’m about to KO two. He also had a Shaymin on the bench that I’m going to KO with Adrena Brain. He has a Fire Energy on all three Typhlosion and four Ethan’s Adventure in the discard. I need him to whiff a damage modifier like Brave Bangle, and by extension Arven, in addition to him whiffing Boss. I take a three Prize turn before David promotes his last Typhlosion and top decks Black Belt’s Training for game.

Game 2: As we shuffle up for game two I contemplate whether I should have scooped. The game was super winnable, but I had just let 25 minutes come off the clock. I shuffle up quickly and mentally reset for the game in front of me.

I open with a fairly mediocre hand again and am quite annoyed when I do my first deck search and find both of my Grimmsnarl are prized. I don’t panic though and re-adjust my strategy. I’m going to have to play my deck as Munkidori Froslass in this game. I whiff the turn one ™: Evolution, but am able to get into double Froslass turn two.

David gets a pretty normal set up, but I’m not really too concerned with what he does. I just keep sacrificing random Pokemon in my active and spread as much damage as possible with Froslass and Adrena Brain. Eventually I have enough damage to do ™: Devolution and completely wipe him of attackers. He scoops as soon as I pull this off.

Game 3: As we shuffle up for game three we have about 12 minutes left. I’m ready to play with speed, I do not want to tie my first round of the tournament. I actually get a very good start in this game, getting a board of two Froslass and two Morgem turn two. On my turn three I make a Grimmsnarl and just need to draw a Dark Energy off a Lillie’s for 8 to be able to KO his active Typhlosion (might have been Cyndaquil) and a benched Quilava. If I hit this the game is pretty much over as he would only have one Typhlosion left and I’d be able to pick off any Cyndaquil he benches. Unfortunately I whiff the Dark Energy and he is able to make two Typholosions on the following turn, significantly slowing down my Prize map. A few turns later time gets called on his turn and I’m one turn short of being able to close the game out.

I was a bit frustrated to tie round one, but the silver lining was that hopefully being in the tie bracket meant I’d hit more of the slower decks like Jelly Gardy and Charizard and less aggro decks such as Gholdengo and Raging Bolt.

I didn’t have much time between rounds so I just stayed at my table and read a couple chapters of my book while I waited for round two pairings. I find reading between rounds helps me decompress and keeps my mind engaged. After about 15 minutes the next round is paired.

Round Two Francisco U. Gholdengo WW 1-0-1

Game 1: I win the flip and choose to go second. I open with Munkidori. My opponent has a fairly mediocre start, attaching a Fighting Energy to Lunatone and passing. I debated going for Budew, but my hand wouldn’t have a good follow up if he just Knocked Out Budew with Power Gem. I ended up using Arven for Poffin and ™: Evolution. I evolved a Snorunt and an Impidimp since I thought I could Prize Race. I didn’t anticipate him being able to Knock Out my Munkidori in the active, and if he did I could attack the Solrock and start pressuring the Lunatone. I also didn’t want to give him an easy KO on Munkidori with Solrock since two Froslass removes the need for him to hit Premium Power Pro. When Gholdengo gets a slow start it is actually quite easy to beat them in a Prize race, assuming you can get two Froslass and a Grimmsnarl online quickly. The Lunatone is always a free Prize and then you can take another single Prize on a Gimmighoul or Solrock. Then you normally KO a Gholdengo with Grimmsnarl, and close the game out with a Blood Moon Ursaluna or second Grimmsnarl.

On Francisco’s second turn he uses Arven for Precious Trolley and gets his board set up before passing over to me. I evolve into Grimmsnarl and play Lillie’s hoping to hit some more Munkidoris and a second Froslass. I whiff both, but still have my original Munkidori set up. I KO Lunatone and put some damage on a Gimmighoul. Francisco is able to KO my Grimmsnarl and I spend the next few turns using Budew and Adrena Brain to try to take Prizes and potentially set up a ™: Devolution play. Eventually I get down to three Prize Cards before he took a KO to get himself down to one, but I was able to make a Grimmsnarl and take a three Prize turn to close out game number one.

Game 2: I’m forced to go first and have a lot of basics, but a completely dead hand otherwise. Luckily I don’t have my active Munkidori taken down on Francisco’s first turn of the game. On my second turn I top deck Lillie’s and am able to parlay that into a double Froslass board. From there I am able to stabilize and set up multiple Munkidori. Once I was comfortable with my position I evolved into a Grimmsnarl and started taking Prize Cards. I’m pretty sure I won the game in two attacking turns, but this game was fairly one sided once I set up and Francisco couldn’t KO Froslass quickly.

Round Three Mateo M. Pultnoir WW 2-0-1

**I’m Always Happy to Pair Into Dragapult :)**

Game One: I win the flip and am happy to see Mateo flip over a Dreepy. I consider Pultnoir to be one of my easier matchups. As long as I can get to double Grimmsnarl the matchup feels difficult to lose. I get a great set up turn one with an Arven turning into a board of Munkidori, Froslass, Morgrem, and Impidimp. Mateo gets into Budew on his turn two, but I’m able to Adrena Brain KO it and then Shadow Bullet for another Prize Card. On my following turn I got a second Grimmsnarl set up and the game was smooth sailing from there.

Game Two: I get a fairly good start going first and am able to ™: Evolution on my second turn to create a board with two Morgrem and a Froslass. I actually forgot to use Adrena Brain to move the 10 damage on my board from Itchy Pollen, which could have been relevant to help me KO a Drakloak. I realized as soon as I announced ™: Evolution that I forgot. It didn’t end up mattering since I got two Grimmsnarl set up on the next turn and I cruised to victory, but that’s the kind of small mistake that can end up costing me a match.

After the round I ran into one of my students and had a nice chat with her and her friend. I hung out with them until the next round was paired.

Round 4 Joaquin G. Charizard Pidgeot Munki (No Dusknoir) WW 3-0-1

Game One: I got a ™: Evolution into Froslass and Grimmsnarl on my first turn. Turn two I started attacking with Grimmsnarl, but I think I should have probably gone for a second ™: Evolution to set up another Froslass. I wasn’t quite sure what his Ace Spec was, but he got a Boss’s Orders on Froslass during his next turn.

My hand was actually dead at this point, but I had Spikemuth in play and a couple of Munkidori. I went for Grimmsnarl again and then on his next turn he got Munkidori set up and a Max Belt to KO Grimmsnarl. Despite my hand being dead it had a Blood Moon Ursaluna in it so I knew if I could work my way down to two Prize Cards I could win if he didn’t Iono.

Eventually the board looked something like this.

I moved 10 Damage Counters to Joaquin’s active Charizard and 20 to Charmeleon before using Itchy Pollen to take the KO. I get hit with Iono on the next turn and have my Budew get Knocked Out by Charmeleon. I need either a Dark Energy, Ball Card (to grab Blood Moon), or an Arven to win. I draw for turn and hit a Dark Energy, allowing me to triple Adrena Brain onto the Charmeleon for the game.

Game Two: This game was a lot easier. I actually misplayed pretty badly on turn one by not grabbing Tatsugiri off of Buddy Poffin since my hand was fairly mediocre, but I got rewarded with an Iono on Joaquin’s first turn. From there I got double Froslass and Morgrem set up using an Arven. Joaquin made a misplay on his next turn by moving 30 damage onto my Munkidori with his own before attacking with Charizard. Since he did this I was able to Boss’s Orders his Pidgeot and KO it with Grimmsnarl after using two Adrena Brains. Without that extra 30 damage I would have been 20 damage short. With no Pidgeot the game became fairly easy. It was hard for Joaquin to put together any big combo turns and I won a few turns later.

Round 5: Jesus M. Dragapult Dusknoir LWW 4-0-1

Game One: This was probably my closest game of day one. Jesus could not have drawn more perfectly after turn one, but I was also drawing quite well so I was able to keep up. He went first and finished the turn with 2 Dreepy and a Duskull. I didn’t have ™: Evolution so I had to use Budew on my first turn. On Jesus' second turn he used Iono and hit Budew, Drakloak, Drakloak, Dusclops. I was able to set up a Froslass and some Morgrems on my next turn, and Jesus spends his next turn also setting up his board further.

On my third turn I start attacking with Grimmsnarl, but can only get one down. On Jesus’ turn he uses Boss’s Orders on my Froslass and uses Dusclops to KO Morgrem. I bench my last Impidimp and Iono before taking a KO on Dragapult and a Drakloak. On Jesus’s next turn he gets Hawlucha and then hits my Grimmsnarl and Impidimp for a KO. I get triple Munkidori to heal my Grimmsnarl out of Phantom Dive range (since Froslass is gone) and play Iono (If I had Boss’s Orders or Counter Catcher I had game). Jesus needs to hit a Boss’s Orders so he can take his last two Prizes, but he had no draw set up. Unfortunately for me he hits it off the Iono and takes game number one.

Game Two: I get an ok start with double Morgrem and Froslass turn two, but I whiff Grimmsnarl on my third turn. This lets him use Dusclops and Counter Catcher to wipe me of Grimmsnarl pieces. I thought the game was over from here, but I didn't give up. I made one of my best plays of the tournament on my following turn.

The board was something like this and Jesus put 50 damage on my Munkidori, Knocking it out between turns using my own Freezing Shroud, and then he made a slight misplay by putting 10 Damage Counters on my Tatsugiri. This unlocks a very strong next turn for me. On my turn I Buddy Poffin for my last Impidimp and Snorunt, Night Stretcher for a Morgem, attach ™: Evolution to Munkidori, attach a Dark Energy to a second Munkidori, and then play Iono, putting Morgrem to the bottom of the deck so I can use ™: Evolution to grab it. I move 50 Damage Counters to Drakloak and ™: Evolution into Morgrem and a second Froslass. Freezing Shroud takes care of the Drakloak and I’m back in this game.

Jesus hits Boss’s Orders on my Morgrem, but I have Blood Moon Ursaluna and a Counter Catcher in my hand. This lets me take a three Prize turn and take game number two without using Shadow Bullet a single time.

Game 3: We have around 10 minutes left for game three so I am playing super fast. Jesus gets a slow start, and I get Grimmsnarl fairly quickly. I’m rolling him, but I’m battling against the clock. Time gets called on Jesus’ turn when I’m at three Prize Cards left. He ends up benching Budew and using Itchy Pollen instead of pushing a fresh Dragapult to the active. This lets me use two Adrena Brains and the 30 from Shadow Bullet to win the game. I definitely got lucky since without Budew I would have been one Prize Card short.

Round 6: Jorge F. Gholdengo WW 5-0-1

**Jorge Was Definitely Cooking With His List**

Game One: I win the flip and my opponent just goes Solrock attach pass turn one. I use ™: Evolution on my turn and incredulously my opponent just passes again. I evolve to Grimmsnarl and get the very rare donk on Gholdengo.

Game Two: Jorge whiffs turn one KO so I get to ™: Evolution into double Froslass while he is still at six Prize Cards. After that I just spam Budew for a few turns while I let the Damage Counters build up on his board. Eventually I go for Grimmsnarl and wipe his board of all Gholdengos and Gimmighouls. I made a dumb error this turn grabbing a Night Stretcher off of Secret Box instead of Nest Ball since I thought there was a Munkidori in my discard (I used Night Stretcher on it the turn prior lol). It didn’t matter since I was so far ahead, but it was a very rookie mistake.

On Jorge’s turn he actually gave me a quick heart attack when he used Crispin onto a Mawile. For a second I thought I was going to lose my Grimmsnarl, but I realized he was at three Prize Cards so he wasn’t close to a KO. Crispin is definitely not a card I would ever think to play around in Gholdengo. I had enough Munkidori to finish the game on my next turn and achieved my fifth win of the day.

After this round I was locked for day 2, but my focus is still on winning the tournament. It’s easy to let your foot off of the gas, but it’s important to close out the day strong so I have more margin for error on Sunday.

Round 7: Axl A. Jelly Gardy WW 6-0-1

Game One: This was a very uneventful game for both of us, but I ended up having it a bit better. I have a fairly slow start with just an attachment to my active Impidimp before passing, but it’s actually good enough since I can evolve to Morgrem on my next turn and just KO his Frillish. He never really gets anything going and eventually I make Grimmsnarl and get too far ahead,

Game Two: I go first again and start Munkidori. I bench an Impidimp and pass. Axl doesn’t Frillish me so I can play Item Cards turn two. I went for Rare Candy Grimmsnarl and KO his active Ralts (his only one in play), but after further reflection I should have just gone for ™: Evolution and set up my board. He uses Mind Bend on me, but I flip heads on Confusion the following turn to KO his only Ralts again (I had two Munkidori set up). He prized his other Two Ralts and used a Super Rod the turn prior. He just can’t get set up and I end up winning the game a few turns later. Better to be lucky than to be good!

Round 8: Rafael D. Pultnoir WW 7-0-1

Game One: I get to go second and have a good start, using ™: Evolution to get a Froslass and Morgrem. On my next turn I use Grimmsnarl and pressure his board. Rafael had the opportunity to Dusclops my Morgrem and Phantom Dive my Grimmsnarl on his third turn, but held off on popping Dusclops. I think if he does this the game gets interesting if he can Iono and KO my only Grimmsnarl on the following turn. Since he didn’t, I set up a second Grimmsnarl and cruised to victory.

Game Two: This game was over fairly quickly. He whiffed Itchy Pollen turn one so I just used Rare Candy to make Grimmsnarl turn two. From there I just controlled the whole game and won quite quickly.

I ended day one with a record of 7-0-1, which was much better than I was expecting. Besides round one the deck functioned really well with me going 15-2 in individual games. My play felt pretty good for the most part despite some misplays here and there. I knew that X-2-1 was the cut off for asymmetric cut the next day so I would need to go 3-2 (or 2-0-3) to book my ticket to Top Cut. It is rare to have such a good start to a tournament so I didn’t want to waste the opportunity!

I went to dinner at this Korean restaurant with some friends, and then headed back to the hotel. My bracket was pretty stacked. Henry Chao, Jesper Eriksen, Fernando Cifuentes, and Brent Tonisson were all potential pairings for me in round 9. I joked with Jesper that I hoped I hit him before going to bed for the night.

Day Two

I woke up fairly early and did my classic morning routine. When picking a shirt I decided to go for my Pokémon Villains shirt. It’s what I wore when I got 2nd at Baltimore Regionals last season so I thought it might bring me some good luck.

I headed down stairs for breakfast and ran into my friend Maddox. I joined him at his table before walking over to the venue together.

When we got there the line for security was super long. I expected it to be shorter since it was day two, but I was unironically in danger of being late to my round. I saw that I paired Jesper while I was in line, which was comforting since if I was late and got a penalty at least it was a favourable matchup. I got through security five minutes before the round was scheduled to start and raced to my table to set up. I was greeted by a smiling Jesper and got prepared to start the day!

Round 9 Jesper E. PultZard WLW 8-0-1

Game One: I win the flip, but whiff ™: Evolution on my first turn. On turn two I get into a Grimmsnarl and one Froslass. His third turn he goes Counter Catcher a Froslass and needs to hit Dragapult plus Luminous Energy to take out Froslass and Snorunt. He plays Lillie's, but luckily for me he whiffs. He scoops and we go to the next game. If he had gotten the Knock Out the game would have gotten fairly interesting. I had two Munkidori set up so it still would have been very playable for me, but I’d have to be careful dealing with the Charizard.

Game Two: I go first and get a pretty ok board turn one. He gets his ™: Evolution on his turn. I go aggressive and Rare Candy into Grimmsnarl, and evolve into a Froslass. I think this turn I could have played it a bit more patiently and used ™: Evolution to make another Froslass and Morgrem, but I decided to put pressure. Jesper hits my Grimmsnarl and then on my turn I finish off his first Charizard. The next turn is super weird for me since he KOs my Grimmsnarl and I have to decide how many Prize Cards to take. If I attack with a new Grimmsnarl for a KO I open myself up to a new Charizard sweeping me, as well as activating Unfair Stamp. I actually end up passing with Grimmsnarl in the active and set up another Munkidori and Froslass.

On my following turn I attack with Grimmsnarl and then he KOs me back. From here we are both at two Prize Cards. I need two turns to win so I Iono him down to two cards. I need Jesper to whiff Boss’s Orders and Hawlucha. He hits the Boss off of a Recon Directive and already had Ultra Ball in hand. I lost a close game two, but it was my fault since I think I played it way too aggressively.

Game Three: Jesper opens Hawlucha which I am happy to see. He plays a Buddy Poffin and then passes. I don’t have ™: Evolution or Arven in my opening hand, but I hit Secret Box off of Lillie’s which leads to a very explosive turn one. Jesper’s turn two is super weak, he just does ™: Evolution into Drakloak and a Charmeleon. Since I have two Munkidori and two Froslass I can just KO Drakloak with Adrena Brain and Freezing Shroud. I also got another ™: Evolution this turn so my board added two Morgrems. Jesper has another weak turn, making a Charizard and benching a Dreepy. On my turn I evolve a Morgrem to Grimmsnarl and move 30 to the Dreepy. I make sure not to KO it and activate Unfair Stamp. From this spot Jesper is cooked and he concedes.

Round 10 Diego H. Greninja Dusknoir LWT 8-0-2

Before the game a couple of judges approached me while I was setting up and let me know that me and Diego had been selected to be streamed. I’m used to playing on stream, and Merida had a bit of a lower tech set up than TPCI broadcasts so I didn’t think it would be too different. The stream table they had was fairly simple, there was an overhead camera and some noise cancelling headphones. When I put on my headset I was greeted with the familiar static noise that I’ve become accustomed to. The white noise can be distracting, but I actually find it helps me lock in since there are no distractions. Playing on stream does add some nerves, but I enjoy being able to watch my games back after. If you want to check out this round here is the link!

Game One: When my opponent flipped over a Froakie I was quite surprised. I am familiar with the archetype, but I’ve never played against it. I tried to strategize on the fly, I knew I would need to evolve quickly to avoid a Mirage Barrage from wrecking my board. This game was weird since I couldn’t get any Munkidori set up, and Diego got Toedscruel set up to block my Night Stretchers. I had a decent start and got to Grimmsnarl pretty quickly. I actually put two Dark Energy on an Impidimp since I was anticipating the Grand Tree coming down so I would be able to evolve to a Grimmsnarl and be ready to attack since I can’t Punk Up unless Grimmsnarl comes from hand.

The game eventually got to this board, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

I ended up using Secret Box to get ™: Devolution, benched Tatsugiri with an Air Balloon, Rare Candy into Grimmsnarl, and then played Lillie’s. I used ™: Devolution to KO the Pidgeot and turned Greninja into Froakie. I knew Diego only had one Rare Candy left so I thought this play could help disrupt his set up. The Grand Tree also hadn’t come down yet so I guessed that it was prized (I was wrong).

Diego had a very strong turn where he used Dusclops to put 50 on Tatsugiri and then Iono me to one. He hits the Rare Candy Greninja and then got the KO on my Grimmsnarl and my Tatsugiri goes down to Freezing Shroud. I need to top deck an Energy or Boss’s Orders to win, but I hit neither. Diego grabbed his last Ignition Energy off of Shinobi Blade and won on the next turn. I spent some time analyzing the board and I think I should have gone for Lillie’s without evolving to second Grimmsnarl. This would have left more Darkness Energy in my deck. If I hit one I can attach to Munkidori and KO Duskull on the bench. From there I can use ™: Devolution on the next turn to win.

Game Two: Shuffling up for game two I knew I didn’t play the previous game well, but every game is a clean slate. I felt more comfortable going into game two, and started off strongly with a ™: Evolution. Diego has a really weak set up and ends his turn two using Itchy Pollen with a Pidgey and Froakie on the bench. On my next turn I Adrena Brain to KO Budew and then get Grimmsnarl to KO the Froakie he promoted. Diego is just too far behind from here and I cruise to victory.

Game Three: I have to go first and start with Bloodmoon Ursaluna, the absolute worst starter against a Greninja deck. I was actually quite lucky in this tournament, I only started with Bloodmoon once across my whole run, but started with Tatsugiri five or six times. The odds of starting Bloodmoon is 3.3%, so starting it once the whole tournament is actually fairly reasonable. This game was just horrible for me. I did not get a good set up and was just hanging on for dear life. I was fortunate that Diego did not feel the need to play quickly. He was in a very advantageous position and him playing at a slow pace favoured me. Eventually I got to Grimmsnarl and got a Shadow Bullet off on Diego’s Greninja ex. On the following turn I used Boss’s Orders on Frogadier and on the next turn was setting up to KO the only Greninja in play. I think I was still in a poor position, but time got called on Diego’s next turn. Neither of us would be able to win this game so we shook hands and accepted the tie. I was definitely fine escaping this round with the one match point since I could go 9-0-4 to make Top Cut.

Round 11 Henry Chao Gardevoir WLT 8-0-3

It felt like it was inevitable that I would run into Henry at some point. Him and I had the same record for so many rounds. This is my first time facing off against Henry since the finals of Baltimore Regionals, where he took me down to win his first of many Regional Championships. Henry and I have become good friends so the match was definitely lighthearted despite the stakes being high.

Game One: I win the flip and make Henry go first. He opens with Clefairy ex and Ralts on the bench. He attaches to the active and passes to me. I don’t get ™: Evolution, but I get an Itchy Pollen off. This helps me slow down his set up, but he just uses Clefairy to take it out on his turn. He also played Arven to put the Secret Box into his hand. My second turn I have my own Secret Box so I use it to get Rare Candy Grimmsnarl, an Air Balloon so I can retreat if I get Mind Bended, and an Iono to take away his Secret Box. I also had a Froslass so I was able to start building damage on my board. From here Henry is trying to buy some time and brings up my Froslass with Counter Catcher. He combined it with Iono and a Frillish. I hit a Dark Energy off of the Iono so I was able to retreat and get down to One Prize after a Shadow Bullet takes out Frillish and a Munkidori. He plays Iono again and I just need Dark Energy or something else that I can’t remember to win. I hit the Night Stretcher so I was able to attach to a Munkidori and use Adrena Brain to take my last Prize Card.

It felt good to get game one, but I definitely misplayed by putting down the Air Balloon preemptively. I should have left it in the deck so Arven is an out off of Iono when Henry tries to trap my Froslass. Henry ended up sending me this message at 1:28 in the morning letting me know about my misplay. While I question why Henry is thinking about this late at night, I appreciate him messaging me about it. I always message Henry with Gardevoir questions and he is fantastic to bounce lines off of and to learn how to approach the Gardevoir matchup with my decks.

**Shout Out Henry’s Legendary Screen Name**

Game Two: Game two I get a much worse set up than the first game. I started Budew and then had to get a Tatsugiri off of Buddy Poffin since my hand was unplayable. These two Pokémon would take up a lot of valuable bench space. I cringed when I went through my deck and saw that both my Grimmsnarls were prized for the second time this tournament. I contemplated scooping on the spot, but decided to play it out. I can play the deck as a Froslass Budew deck until I take a prize, and I wouldn’t be too upset if I end up tying this round. Henry is probably the best player at this tournament so I’m fine taking the tie and trying to beat a weaker player to get into cut in the following round. A tie would put me at 8-0-3, meaning I need a win and a tie to make it to assym. For these reasons I ended up playing the game out.

Henry got a turn three Gardevoir and played his position beautifully. My board was super clogged so instead of taking a KO Henry Adrena Brained 20 damage to a Morgrem and hit Munkidori for 80 with Scream Tail. This put my Munkidori to 100 after Freezing Shroud and blocked me from establishing another one on my turn. On the following turn he would be able to KO Munkidori with Adrena Brain and KO a Morgrem, which is what happened.

**The Board Before Scream Tail Attacked**

I eventually got a KO with Itchy Pollen and hit Grimmsnarl off of the Prize Cards. Henry took out my only Munkidori with Gardevoir and I was able to Iono him to two and KO his Gardevoir with Grimmsnarl. He ended up getting a second Munkidori set up and I had too many liabilities on the field so he had the game won on board for the next turn.

After game two we had eight minutes left for the third game. We agreed to tie to smooth out variance. The only way game three concludes is if someone bricks. We sign the slip and watch Brent’s game next to us while we wait for time to get called.

Round 12 Eder J. Gholdengo LWW 9-0-3

Game One: I was not pleased to hit Eder. There were a lot of Jellicents in my bracket, so I was disappointed to hit a Gholdengo. I won the flip and started Tatsugiri. My hand was perfect if I hit Arven off of Attract Customers, but I whiffed and had to settle for Lillie’s. I just struggled to set up this game and Eder got a huge lead by the time I had double Froslass. I tried spamming Budew and came kind of close to making a comeback, but he was able to draw out of Itchy Pollen enough times to take down game one.

Game Two: This game I get into double Froslass, but he gets a gust on one of them immediately. I spend my second turn setting up another Froslass and he gets off to a 4-6 lead. I decide to go for Iono and Grimmsnarl to KO both his rocks, hoping he whiffs a KO. His next turn was really weird and led to a judge call. I’m hoping it was just a miscommunication, but we had a weird situation.

Eder drew a bunch of cards and used Superior Energy Retrieval before flashing 6 Energies and attacking my Grimmsnarl for KO, the only problem was that his Gholdengo didn’t have a Metal Energy. I put my hand over his Prizes to stop him from taking any and drew to start my turn since he attacked. I was under the impression that he tried to take the Energy back and claimed he didn’t attack. I called over a judge to explain the situation and after a few minutes Eder said he knows it is my turn and he just wanted to keep the Energy in his hand. I’m happy with this and don’t press the issue further since him whiffing an attack just leads to me having an unlosable position.

The match got a bit hostile after this and Eder shuffled his deck lightning quick before offering me a cut to start game three.

Game Three: There was 8 minutes left on the clock plus a 3 minute time extension for us, so I knew it was possible for either of us to win. I got a great start going first, opening with one of my two Buddy Poffins. Eder whiffed a KO on his first turn which was massive for me. He ends up benching Genesect ex as well, signalling to me that his hand is weak and he is scared of Budew. From here I get Double Froslass and am ready to go for a full on Prize Trade. On my turn three I get a Boss’s Orders on Genesect ex and KO it with Grimmsnarl to take a rare early game Prize Lead in the matchup.

Eder is able to respond with a KO on my Grimmsnarl to go down to three Prize Cards, and time gets called at the start of my next turn. We have a three minute time extension and I am in a commanding position. I speed through my turn and set up another Grimmsnarl to KO a Gholdengo and go down to two Prize Cards. Eder took a good 40 seconds to start his turn, and I was a bit frustrated that we had a judge watching the game who didn’t say anything. I pressed Eder to promote the Gholdengo with Air Balloon and draw to start his turn so I don’t have my surefire victory turn into a tie. He draws before the judge calls time so I don’t press the issue further, but I would’ve escalated if time got called between turns.

I sat back and watched Eder take a bunch of actions knowing that I had a guaranteed victory in my hand through either ™: Devolution or Bloodmoon Ursaluna. He ends up taking the KO on my Grimmsnarl, but I just Nest Ball for Bloodmoon and take down the match.

I felt a huge wave of relief after winning. I was able to come back from a game down in an unfavourable matchup and punch my ticket to my first Top Cut since Toronto Regionals the season prior. That event led to my most heartbreaking loss of all time so I was hoping for a different result this time.

I wasn’t technically in Top Cut yet since I needed to ID, but if I ended up playing Round 13 it would basically just be assym, with a win advancing me straight to Top 8. If I hit a favourable matchup I was going to play it out, but if I hit a shakier one I was going to take the ID and hope I get paired into something better.

Round 13 Yerco V. Raging Bolt ID 9-0-4

I get paired into Yerco, who is playing Raging Bolt with Wellspring. This is a very bad matchup so I am relieved when he accepts my ID. I double check my sleeves before handing in my deck to be checked, and then go and relax for the rest of the round.

One of my students was in Top Cut so I went over to the spectator area and watched a bit with his mom Sarah. Also, shoutout to Sarah for getting me lunch while I was playing! I had a pizza waiting for me after my ID and I was able to refuel ahead of my next match.

Asymmetric Top Cut Joseph B. Jellicent Gardevoir WW 10-0-4

I used Limitless Labs to check my standings and saw I was paired into Joseph. I had sat next to him in an earlier round so I knew he was playing Jellicent. Out of all the decks and players I could have hit, I think this was one of the better ones for me.

Before I sat down a judge came over and told me I’d be getting a warning since the corner of one of my sleeves was bent. I’ll be honest, this was one of the most ridiculous warnings I’ve ever gotten. The card in question was a ™: Evolution, probably one of the most useless cards I could mark. He hands it to me and claims you can tell what it is when it is in the prizes. I take a look and the corner is not bent on the back at all, you literally couldn’t tell from the back of the sleeve. I had just passed deck check a couple rounds prior and there were no issues. I even laid out six cards and couldn’t spot it.

I knew that this was the last time I was getting deck checked in this tournament so I didn’t appeal, but if this was before Top Cut I definitely would have. It really felt like the judge was on a bit of a power trip or just trying to hit his imaginary warning quota (which I know doesn’t exist). I pulled out my phone and took some photos just in case this became an issue later on, and then just changed the sleeve and went to sit down for my match.

Pokémon had just implemented a new rule where we play with open deck lists during Top Cut so I exchanged my list with Joseph for a minute. The main things I wanted to check for were how many Bravery Charms (1) and Counter Catchers (1) he played, and if Mega Diancie was in his deck (it wasn’t). After looking at his list I knew I would be heavily favoured. Joseph was also a first year Master division player so I could tell he was a bit nervous. I had the experience and matchup advantage on him, but I didn’t want to take the match lightly since I knew he would make me work to advance.

Game One: I lose the flip and do not get off to a good start. I don’t draw ™: Evolution on either of my first two turns and am staring down a Jellicent after Joseph’s second turn. I drew a Boss’s Orders and an Arven off of one of his Iono so I played Arven for Secret Box preparing to Boss on the following turn to get out of Item lock.

Joseph takes a 3-6 Prize Card lead, but I’m able to Boss’s Orders his Gardevoir, play Secret Box for Rare Candy, and then use two Adrena Brains onto a Ralts in combination with a Shadow Bullet to eliminate the threat of Gardevoir ex on the following turn. On Joseph’s next turn I think he missed an opportunity to use ™: Devolution on my Grimmsnarl with Jellicent in the active. Had he done this I would have a hard time making another Grimmsnarl and it would have bought him time to reestablish his board. Instead, he just punched my Grimmsnarl and put 60 damage on my Morgrem. I played Iono and then healed my Morgrem back to full health. I had an interesting decision here where I could either move the damage to his only Ralts and KO it with the 30 from Shadow Bullet, or I could KO one of his two Munkidori. Joseph was down a lot of resources so I decided to go for the Ralts to prevent any big swing turns.
I actually made a massive oversight on this turn, and could have effectively set up a checkmate board. I had a Dark Energy in my hand and forgot to attach it to Froslass. This opened up a line where he could Counter Catcher it and play Iono to try and trap it. Of course he gets that on the following turn, but I’m still ok since I should be able to KO a Munkidori for my last prize with Adrena Brain over a few turns. I actually drew a Lillie’s, but whiffed the Dark Energy and had to pass for another turn. Joseph gets Ralts down again, but on my next turn I play another Lillie’s and hit the Energy to retreat and attack with Grimmsnarl.

I probably would have won even without hitting the Energy, but I was definitely frustrated at myself for such a simple oversight. I am normally super good at setting up end game boards, but I almost cost myself the first game of Top Cut. I always say every game of Pokémon is independent of one another so I shake off the misplay and focus for game two.

Game Two: This game was quick, but very interesting. I open with Munkidori and Joseph gets turn two Gardevoir and Scream Tail on my only Morgrem. Since I’m not Item Locked I am able to Secret Box for Rare Candy to set up a Grimmsnarl and play Lillie’s. Instead of going for Shadow Bullet I actually Adrena Brain 20 to Scream Tail and KO it with Budew. This ends up making the difference since Joseph isn’t able to establish a Munkidori on his turn and has to settle for Knocking out Budew with Mind Bend. From here I just Counter Catcher Gardevoir and play Iono. This was just too much for Joseph to come back from. He confuses my Grimmsnarl and I flip a few tails, but I had more Munkidoris set up so I just slowly won the game using Adrena Brain. Eventually I have him in a checkmate position and he spends a few minutes trying to find a way out before conceding.

It felt good to advance to Top 8, but my eyes were set on winning. I really felt like this tournament was lining up for me to take down my first major in Masters. I got paired into Rajveer (AKA Sunny) and knew we would be playing a mirror match.

Top 8 Sunny Singh LL 10-1-4

We sat down for the match and had a brief chat before it was time to exchange lists. I was not happy with what I saw. Sunny played 3 Boss’s Orders, 2 Counter Catchers, an Energy Switch, and Toedscruel. The mirror match normally comes down to who can gust their opponent’s Munkidori and he had two additional gusting cards. The Energy Switch would also allow him to set up multiple Munkidori in one turn. The Toedscruel was less of a big deal, but my deck does play 3 Night Stretcher so it could be annoying.

I know Sunny is a relatively newer player and Grimmsnarl hasn’t been that popular lately so I’m hoping my extensive knowledge of Grimmsnarl mirror can close the gap when it comes to my list disadvantage.

Game One: Nothing could have saved me in this game. I drew the worst hands of the entire tournament here. I used Adrena Brain a total of 0 times and Sunny just got a normal set up. I got steam rolled fairly quickly.

I was quite frustrated after this game, but didn’t dwell on it. I needed to reset mentally and focus on the next game. My tournament life was on the line, and I’d need to play good Pokémon to mount a comeback.

Game Two: My heart dropped when I saw my opening hand. It was truly unplayable. I drew two Munkidori, two Impidimp, and then some useless Items and Stadiums. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit tilted, but I quickly snapped myself out of it. I don’t care how slim my odds of winning from this spot were, I was going to do my best to pull it off.

Sunny had a decent turn one, but he put Artazon in play to bench Munkidori with Darkness Energy. This matchup is all about setting up Munkidori so it was definitely the right move. I use Sunny’s Artazon to get Tatsugiri, but sadly I have no way to retreat so I have to pass. Sunny plays Lillie’s on his turn and gets a nicely set up board. I top deck an Energy so I can retreat to Tatsugiri and use Lillie’s. I’m still crazy far behind since I have no Munkidori set up, but at least I’m in the game. Sunny gets Grimmsnarl set up on his turn and another Munkidori. This game is looking chalked, I can’t really see a way back unless Sunny makes a signifigant misplay. I play Arven for Secret Box to get Rare Candy and a Boss’s Orders before playing Counter Catcher to KO a Munkidori. From here I have to pray I can chain enough Knock Outs on Munkidori and Sunny bricks.

On Sunny’s next turn he throws me a massive lifeline. He plays Arven for Secret Box, gets Ultra Ball and Boss’s Orders and then puts Froslass into play! I could not believe my eyes, this game was pretty much over and Sunny had just given me a massive opening. The Froslass was going to allow me to stack damage on my board and his Munkidoris. Since he played Arven on his turn he couldn’t KO a Munkidori and just hit my Grimmsnarl (He might have passed, I’m not 100% sure). From here I am able to set up my second Munkidori and play the Boss’s Orders I got on my previous turn to KO a Munkidori. All of a sudden I have an even amount of Munkidori in play and Sunny’s Froslass is working massively in my favour.

On Sunny’s next turn he plays Boss’s Orders on one of my Munkidori, but doesn’t get another of his own set up. On my following turn I am able to Shadow Bullet his Grimmsnarl and KO his last Munkidori with Dark on the bench. A few turns ago a position like this had seemed impossible, but all of a sudden we were tied in Prize Cards and my board was starting to stabilize.

Sunny’s next turn is key for how the rest of this game is going to play out. He plays Arven for ™: Devolution, gets an Energy Switch, and benches a Munkidori. He plays Energy Switch off of his benched Grimmsnarl onto the new Munkidori and then uses ™: Devolution on my board. Leaving me with just a Munkidori and an Impidimp.

The board that followed that turn looked like this (I already did the Freezing Shroud before promoting).

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how I should have played my turn since I end up losing, but I think the play I went for gave me a fairly good shot at winning.

On my turn I push up the Munkidori, attach Air Balloon, play Poffin for Budew, evolve to Morgrem, Ultra Ball for Blood Moon, and then Iono. I then retreat to Budew and Adrena Brain 10 off of Munkidori to Sunny’s Grimmsnarl before using Itchy Pollen. I knew Sunny only played 8 Dark Energy and between his discard and board he only had one left. It was going to be incredibly difficult for him to draw the last one to use Grimmsnarl. As long as I faded the Dark I was going to win on my following turn. The board was as follows going into his turn.

Sunny hit Lillie’s off of the Iono and then used Adrena Brain off of Grimmsnarl onto my Budew. This is where I had to make the hardest decision of the tournament. I could promote Munkidori with the Air Balloon and then just win the next turn since I had the cards to make another Munkidori and Grimmsnarl. This play loses on the spot to Dark Energy though. The other option was to push up Bloodmoon and force him to retreat to Grimmsnarl and pass. If he hits my Bloodmoon I would be able to Adrena Brainn 60 damage and KO his Grimmsnarl with perfect math. I was scared to push the Blood Moon since I didn’t have Iono or Boss’s Orders in my hand. If Sunny had Arven in his hand he would be able to get Blood Moon and just KO mine for the game on his following turn.

I thought it over for a while and ended up pushing the Munkidori. Sunny flashed the Darkness Energy he told me he had just hit off of the Prize and I was eliminated from the tournament. I felt like I made a reasonable play, it just hadn’t worked out. Looking back, maybe I should have attached the Balloon to Bloodmoon before Iono and just retreated my Munkidori. This way I could safely push up Bloodmoon and retreat into a Grimmsnarl. This is the best play I’ve been able to come up with, but let me know if you see anything better.

I shook Sunny’s hand and wished him luck the rest of the tournament. Sunny was a super nice guy, and it was cool to see him take the whole tournament down with Mr. Grimmothy Snarl. A judge escorted me to get my prizes and then I quickly said goodbye to people in the venue before going back to my hotel to pack and get ready for my flight in a couple hours.

The Aftermath

If I’m being honest, I was super tilted after losing that match. I drew super poorly and I definitely had a much better understanding of how to play the mirror. I truly feel if Sunny whiffed the Dark Energy I was going to take the match. I know I could have taken the tournament down, but unfortunately Merida Regionals is just another Top Cut where I didn’t walk away the champion.

I’ve been in the Masters division since the 2014-15 season, and in that time I have made it to Top Cut 12 times at a major, and the finals three times. It weighs on me that I’ve never taken a major tournament down. I feel like I’m Chris Paul sometimes, a consistent top level performer my entire career, but have never been able to reach the mountain top. I’m probably up there with Rahul Reddy and Grant Manley for the most Top Cuts without a major win. I truly believe I am going to win one day, but it’s crushing every time I come close and have my run cut short. I know how hard it is to make it to Top 8 at a major and I never take it for granted when I get the chance to compete for a title. I went 13 months between this Top Cut and my last. Hopefully I don’t have to wait that long to get another chance, but I never know.

If any of you watched the Bills game last weekend and saw Josh Allen on the sideline after the Broncos hit the game winning field goal that is pretty much how I feel whenever I get knocked out of Top Cut. Whenever I watch sports and they pan to the losing player(s) I always empathize with them so much. Obviously professional sports is a way bigger deal than Pokémon, but it sucks so much to get knocked out, especially when you feel like there was more you could have done. I still lose sleep about how I played my last turn during my Top 4 match at LAIC a few years ago, and I’m sure I’ll think about this tournament for a while.

I remember watching Rory Mcilroy win The Masters last year and the level of unparalleled joy he had at finally taking down the tournament that eluded him for years. I imagined that is what it is going to feel like when I finally win one of these things. Until that day happens I have a lot of work to do.

I got back to my hotel and turned on the end of the Patriots and Broncos game. After watching the Patriots advance I hopped in the shower and reflected more on the match. That is when I thought more about my last turn of the Top 8 match. I concluded I should have played the turn the way I described earlier and potentially cost myself a chance at winning. Did I get unlucky in my top 8 match? Yes. Do I feel like I was the better player? Yes. But at the end of the day there was a better play than the one I went for and I didn’t find it, so I didn’t deserve to win. I always do my best to hold myself accountable and blame luck as little as possible. One of the biggest detractors to getting better as a player is blaming your losses on luck and not what was in your control. Sometimes there is truly nothing you could have done, but Pokemon is a very difficult game, there are normally improvements you can be making. I know there is still so much room for me to grow as a player. Throughout this tournament report you saw me make numerous misplays and I still made it to Top 8. In a weird way it excites me that there is still room for me to get better. It means I haven’t hit my ceiling, and there is still a lot I can work on to help me reach my ultimate goal.

I left for the Merida airport to catch my 8 pm flight to Mexico City before I had to catch a red eye back to Toronto. While I was enjoying 30 degree weather Toronto got hit with the largest snowfall in the city's history. I’d be returning to freezing cold weather, and snow everywhere. This is going to sound strange, but I actually had a bit of FOMO seeing all the photos of Toronto. I love when it snows, I think it creates such a picturesque environment. I always go for a walk through the city when it snows and take in the sights. There is a park near my house I particularly love going to after a fresh snowfall.

When I arrived at the airport I went to the lounge and started working on this tournament report. Soon after I went to my gate and ran into Pablo Meza (Tablemon). Him and I enjoyed a nice chat while waiting to board the plane. I spent the flight reading Jade War and that made the journey go by pretty quickly.

When I got to Mexico City I got caught up on some sports highlights and continued writing this report. I was a bit worried my flight was going to get cancelled, but there were no issues and we took off on time. I normally have a really hard time sleeping on planes, but I knocked out immediately on this flight. By the time I woke up there was only thirty minutes left in the flight. We touched down in Toronto just past 6 am and my dad came to pick me up from the airport (he’s the real MVP for that). I didn’t have a coat with me so I was definitely cold while I waited for the car's heating to warm me up. I got to my apartment a little before 8 am and was greeted to the sight of cars buried in snow. I ran inside and attempted to sleep, but I was too awake. I ended up going for a walk and enjoying the snow. I had a lot of lessons booked for the evening so I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon relaxing and meal prepping for the week.

With that, my Merida tournament report comes to a close. I always love going to Mexico, and this weekend was no different. My next event is EUIC in a couple of weeks. I’m not sure what I’m going to play, but I have the Froslass bug again. Who knows, you might even see me pull up with Froslass Munkidori. I definitely feel super motivated after this weekend. The feeling of playing high stakes Pokémon is one of my favourite feelings in life and I can’t wait to chase that high again!

If you made it this far in my tournament report, thanks for reading! Hopefully it was entertaining and you learned a thing or two. I have a super busy schedule, but I want to get back into writing more. Tournament reports are a fun way for me to journal my season and reflect on my tournaments. I won’t write one after every tournament, but if I think an event is interesting I’ll try to write one for it in the future.

Thanks for reading, hopefully I’ll be writing for you again soon!

Merida Regionals Top 8 Report