2018 Philadelphia Regionals

Dates: September 15-16
Location: Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Organizer: Yeti Gaming
Attendance: 802 Masters
Format: Standard SM-CES

Decklists

Statistics

Day 2 CP share
View raw data

 Day 2 statistics - SPAS decks
Day 2 placements
Day 2 final standings
  1. Caleb Gedemer, Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
  2. Rukan Shao, Malamar/Marshadow-GX Toolbox
  3. Xander Pero, Zoroark-GX/Banette-GX/Garbodor
  4. Aaron Rucker, Metagross-GX/Solgaleo-GX
  5. Isaac Milaski, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX
  6. Alex Schemanske, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  7. Dean Nezam, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  8. Poet Larsen, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  9. Jimmy Pendarvis, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  10. Gustavo Wada, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX with Magcargo
  11. Nicholas Moffitt, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  12. Ethan Hegyi, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  13. Caleb Doucet, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX with Dhelmise and Lysandre Labs
  14. Edwin Lopez, Malamar
  15. Andrew Mahone, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX with Shining Lugia
  16. Justin Bokhari, Buzzwole/Weavile
  17. Beckett Pierce, Buzzwole/Weavile
  18. Nick Race, Zoroark-GX/Garbodor
  19. Jason Annichiarico, Malamar
  20. Zachary Cooper, Malamar Spread
  21. Ahmad Akhrass, Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
  22. John Orgel, Metagross-GX/Ultra Necrozma-GX
  23. Simon Trottier-Lacasse, Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
  24. Jacob Mastin, Garbodor Spread
  25. Ciaran Farah, Magnezone/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX
  26. Brandon Johnson, Malamar Spread
  27. Jose Marrero, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX/Dhelmise
  28. Robert Rodkey, Malamar Spread
  29. Franco Takahashi, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX with Dhelmise
  30. Jimmy Taylor, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  31. Matthew Reenalda, Naganadel-GX/Stakataka-GX
  32. Alex Smetana, Buzzwole/Tapu Koko
  33. Michael Kohanim, Malamar/Ultra Necrozma-GX
  34. Zachary Bokhari, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX with Zygarde-GX
  35. Dalton Didelot, Malamar/Ultra Necrozma-GX
  36. Hector Ibarra, Zoroark-GX Toolbox
  37. Isaiah Williams, Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
  38. Adam Harris, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX
  39. Richard Rogers, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX with Zygarde-GX
  40. Jeff Smith, Magnezone/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX with Shining Lugia
  41. Grant Manley, Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu-GX with Dhelmise and Shining Lugia
  42. Michael Dolan, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX
  43. Ryan Bruckner, Malamar/Psychic
  44. Zach Lesage, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  45. Will Stevens, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  46. Main Ahmed, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX
  47. Daniel Altavilla, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  48. Christopher Venier, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX
  49. Frank Percic, Buzzwole/Garbodor
  50. Nicholas Freda, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX
  51. Anthony Bruno, Ho-Oh-GX/Salazzle-GX with Shining Lugia
  52. Bryan Hunter, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX
  53. Darin O'Meara, Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
  54. Andrew Martin, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX
  55. Jordan Nelle, Zoroark-GX/Golisopod-GX
  56. Mike Newey, Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu-GX with Dhelmise
  57. Jarrett Mescher, Gardevoir-GX/Swampert
  58. Joey Ruettiger, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  59. Manuel Jorach, Magnezone/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX
  60. Joey Nawal, Empoleon/Swampert
  61. Benjamin Sauk, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  62. Mark Dizon, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  63. Andrew Nunez, Magnezone/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX with Shining Lugia
  64. Nicholas Roscoe, Malamar Spread
  65. Tristan Macek, Malamar
  66. Noel Totomoch, Passimian/Counters
  67. Derek Villagrana, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
  68. Muhammad Zamet, Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX
  69. Alex Baker, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX with Magcargo
  70. Carl Sitavi, Sylveon-GX
  71. Thomas Fitzgerald, Zoroark-GX/Golisopod-GX
  72. Colin Fischer, Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX
  73. Edward Doherty, Zoroark-GX/Gardevoir-GX
  74. Stephen Hogan, Zoroark-GX/Golisopod-GX
  75. James Dorsey, Ho-Oh-GX/Salazzle-GX with Po Town
  76. William Woodard, Malamar Spread with Garbodor
  77. Michael Dones, Empoleon
  78. Tommy Desjardins Pettinicchio, Zoroark-GX/Weavile

Notes
  • This was the first North American Regional of the 2018-19 season. It was the first event to use a new Day 2 system in which all players with 19 or more Match Points at the end of Day 1 advanced to Day 2, as opposed to the previous system in which only the top 32 players advanced.

Streamed matches
The event was streamed by Critical Hit TCG with commentary from Brent Halliburton, Chip Richey, and Michael Slutsky. 

Full VODs: Day 1 / Day 2 / Top 8

 Round 1 / watch
Round 2 / watch
Round 3 / watch
Round 4 / watch
Round 5 / watch
Round 6 / watch
Round 7 / watch
Round 8 / watch
Round 9 / watch
Round 10 / watch
Round 11 / watch
Round 12 / watch
Round 13 / watch
Round 14 / watch
Round 15 / watch
Top 8 / watch
Top 4 / watch
Finals / watch
Decklists

SPAS: Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile - 1st, 37th, and 47th
Caleb Gedemer, Isaiah Williams, and Daniel Altavilla all played this list.
Player notes:
  • Altavilla: "The deck rewards good play by giving you the card you want every turn [via Smooth Over], so you can just outplay your bad matchups a lot of the time. When you can't, the one-Prize trade can work out in your favor if your opponent whiffs."
  • Altavilla: "Counter Energy was probably [the] best card in the deck." 
  • Altavilla: "If you play around one [of Garbodor and Weavile] you usually can't play around the other or you are probably not playing the game and the Buzzwole damage gets too out of hand."
  • "No chance" Altavilla would consider a second copy of Sneasel or Weavile to avoid Prizing issues. 

 Rukan Shao, 2nd - Malamar/Psychic
Player notes:
  • "The list was flawless for this event. I would not add or cut anything." 
    • "Mimikyu is a potential cut, for a third Deoxys. Doing this would improve the [SPAS] matchup and dramatically worsen the [Malamar/Ultra Necrozma-GX] matchup (along with a few other matchups)...it's an option if the meta goes in a certain direction." 
  • "[Escape Board] lets you attack earlier and more consistently than Altar of the Moone or Switch." 
  • "[Against SPAS decks,] don't Bench GXs. Attack with Deoxys, Mimikyu, and Malamar.... The matchup honestly feels 50-50 depending on how each player sets up.... [SPAS: Malamar] is bad if they set up before you, but you usually set up [first] since you have [two] Friend Ball and Lele." 
  • "Psychic Necrozma GX and Dawn Wings Necrozma GX are NOT the main attackers of the deck. Marshadow-GX is. 1 Retreat Cost is more important than [an extra] 30 HP most of the time. Plus, Marshadow GX can use any attack. [Setting up two attackers instead of discarding them and using Marshadow-GX to use both their attacks) takes 2 Bench slots. [Using] Marshadow-GX takes 1 Bench slot. Eating a second Bench slot is equivalent to killing one of your own Malamar."
    • "Only bench Necrozma-GX or Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX if you risk whiffing an attack if you don't or if you are 100% sure the HP will matter in the coming turns."
  • "...manage your bench... Just because your opponent used Steven's Resolve or Algorithm GX and you have access to Marshadow [SHL], doesn't mean you use it. I use Let Loose very infrequently. I value my own setup more highly than my opponent's since Malamar has a more powerful late game than most decks... I will frequently allow my opponent to keep an Algorithm GX if it means preserving a single Bench slot." 
    • "[Marshadow SHL is in the deck] primarily...for [the SPAS] matchup." 

Xander Pero, 3rd - Zoroark-GX/Banette-GX/Garbodor
Player notes:
  • "Rahul Reddy...handed me the list on Friday." 
  • "[Lusamine] is bad, add another Trubbish instead or something. I have not played Pal Pad [instead] but I assume it's bad." 
  • "I would not [play this again]... It is inherently weak, autoloses to [Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX], and does not comfortably beat everything else. It's incredibly tough and mentally taxing to play.... Off the top of my head can't think of any [other deck] that was this difficult in terms of planning multiple turns ahead, managing resources with Trade, and recognizing win conditions." 

Aaron Rucker, 4th - Metagross-GX/Solgaleo-GX

 Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX - Isaac Milaski (5th), Jose Marrero (27th), and Franco Takahashi (29th)

Alex Schemanske, 6th - SPAS: Buzzwole/Garbodor

Poet Larsen, 8th - Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX
Player notes:
  • "This had the potential to beat everything in the format, with no matchup worse than 45-55." 
  • "...Marshadow is really only used for messing with setup decks like [Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX] and Metagross-GX. [If you ran Judge] you'd tend to go [Tapu Lele-GX] for Judge which means Lele would be a liability. Marshadow lets you play [a different] Supporter."
  • "Sudowoodo...is good against literally every deck, but you don't need to get it down ASAP." 
  • Finalist Rukan Shao on Larsen's list: "[Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX] SHOULD be running [Sudowoodo]... all my Zoroark-GX opponents didn't at Philadelphia, but that's just because their lists weren't as good as Poet's. The community needs to stop ignoring him, he had busted [Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX] lists...early [in the 2017-18 season], and he kinda just flew under the radar then too." 

Edwin Lopez, 14th - Malamar/Psychic

Nick Race, 18th - Zoroark-GX/Garbodor
Player notes:

Zachary Cooper, 20th - SPAS: Malamar

John Orgel, 22nd - Metagross-GX/Ultra Necrozma-GX
Player notes:
  • "I could see a Steven's Resolve moving forward. I didn't really consider it and I should have in hindsight. Apricorn Maker was my preferred turn 1 Supporter if I had another draw Supporter in hand as it guaranteed two Beldum or Beldum and Vulpix but I could see just using Lillie. If I went first I would often Lillie instead of Maker as the Vulpix wasn't relevant."
  • Maybe...put in a non GX attacker.... Maybe Heatran [UPR] or Dhelmise [GRI]." 

Ciaran Farah, 25th - Magnezone/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX
Player notes:
  • "Deck was a lot of fun to play but I don't think it is consistent enough to cut a tournament as big as a Regionals. It has strong matchups vs [SPAS and] Zoroark-GX decks that [don't play] Lycanroc-GX, and then a bunch of even matchups across the board. Its biggest issue is setting up."
  • "Cards I would consider cutting:
    • "Volkner: I don't think I used this card effectively once the whole weekend... the card is too slow since you usually can't attach enough Energy the turn you play it. If I played Energy Retrieval maybe I would consider keeping this card.
    • "Celesteela: This card was surprisingly decent over the weekend as a counter to [SPAS] decks and to one-shot other GXs, if you ever get to kill a GX for 1 Energy you usually win the game. That being said, the card is a horrible starter and 5 Energy is really hard to get sometimes. If I were to cut it I would definitely swap it out for another non-GX attacker like Solgaleo♢, Heatran, or Shining Lugia.
    • "Choice Band: This card is really only in the deck so you can Timeless GX for 180 and kill things like Rayquaza-GX. The card feels really dead in 75% of matchups, but I think it might be too important to cut."
  • "Cards I would consider adding: 
    • "A thicker Ribombee Line: When ever this deck sets up both Ribombee and Magnezone it feels unstoppable. I cut my line down to 1-1 to make more space for techs but I wouldn't be opposed to going back to 2-2. [Note] that you can't Bench the Cutiefly vs Buzzwole-GX since it only has 30 HP.
    • "A second Fisherman: I think I used Fisherman in every single one of my matches. You mainly use it to take your last Prize after fishing it out with Lele but the card is very strong mid-game after you have attacked with Dusk Mane already." 
    • "Pal Pad: One of the best plays this deck can make is to use 2 Guzma and Timeless GX to swing the game. Sometimes you have to discard Guzma early or use them too quickly. I think it would also help smooth out mid-game consistency if you can shuffle back some Cynthias." 
  • "If [the opponent doesn't] Judge or Marshadow you win 75% of the time if you use [Steven's Resolve] turn 1." 

Alex Smetana, 32nd - SPAS: Buzzwole/Tapu Koko/Counter Energy/techs

Michael Kohanim, 33rd - Malamar/Ultra Necrozma-GX
Player notes:
  • "Shining Mew's free retreat is very useful throughout the game, and its attack is amazing early on." 
  • "[Acerola] had a huge impact every time I used it." 

Dalton Didelot, 35th - Malamar/Ultra Necrozma-GX
Player notes:

  • "Switch was the best card in the list. I considered a fourth." 


 Adam Harris, 38th - Vikavolt/Rayquaza-GX

Grant Manley, 41st - Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu-GX/Shining Lugia/Dhelmise

Darin O'Meara, 53rd - SPAS: Buzzwole/Garbodor/Weavile
Player notes:
  • "Regirock SUCKS"
  • "Counter Energy wasn't really that helpful but it isn't terrible"
  • "I don't like 4 Lillie/2 Cynthia, would like 3/3 probably"
  • "The glared cards [between Ultra Ball and Choice Band] are Nest Ball and Acro Bike." 

Jarrett Mescher, 57th - Gardevoir-GX/Sylveon-GX/Swampert
Player notes:
  • "This list needs a lot of work."
  • "Shrine [of Punishment] puts in WORK against this deck unfortunately." 

Alex Baker, 69th - Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX with Magcargo
Player notes:
  • "The deck is super consistent at getting early attacks and Kukui provides a good replacement for the loss of Strong Energy, while synergizing with [Magcargo]."
  • "Prizing the Lycanroc-GX line hurt at times, especially when facing Psychic stuff, but thickening the line hurt the Buzzwole-start consistency too much and forced really painful cuts."
  • "I wish there was a better Stadium to use as Brooklet Hill doesn't really help this deck too much, but I needed a Stadium counter that wasn't an Item."
  • "The one change I would make is [cutting] an Energy for an Energy Switch, as I didn't ever find a lack of Energy and Energy Switch would help to Dangerous Rogue GX out of nowhere, which would have won me a couple games on day 2." 

Carl Sitavi, 70th - Sylveon-GX
Player notes:
  • "I had Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu-GX/Dhelmise/Shining Lugia with a [Rayquaza-GX] tech sleeved up the night before to join my friends Grant Manley and Blaine Hill...but after drawing some test hands...I...decided to swap off... Grant had suggested that Sylveon-GX beat [SPAS] decks..."
  • "The deck essentially wants to win a long game 1 and then not die in game 2 -- to do so you essentially take hits and slowly whittle away [the opponent's] Energy until it's safe to start taking Prizes. Alternatively you can deck them out if they have used too many shuffle Supporters... [use Team Skull Grunt] to provide hand knowledge [and use Wink Wink to discard] their remaining shuffle Supporters."
  • "The deck has favorable [matchups against] Zoroark-GX variant, [SPAS], Buzzwole/Lycanroc-GX, Naganadel-GX/Stakataka-GX, and anything else fringe without Energy accel/recovery." 

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