Wednesday, September 19, 2018

September 2018 League Cup: Madison, WI

William Pierce
The following is an interview with William Pierce, who finished in the top eight of a recent League Cup in Madison, WI using a Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu deck.

Where are you from, and how did you get into the Pokémon TCG?

I’m originally from Dubuque, Iowa and have been collecting as long as the TCG has been around. I knew how to play because of the Game Boy Color game and the terrible PC game, but I did not know of a community who played where I lived, so I collected on and off for about twelve years. When Black and White came out, I began playing on PTCGO casually, but didn’t attend my first league until XY-BREAKthrough in 2015. After that, I continued to play casually and collect until Sun/Moon, when I began building more meta decks. I attended my first League Cup about a year later in January 2018 and have been to several cups and regionals since.

What's the basic strategy of Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu, and why did you choose it for this tournament?

The main idea is to use Vikavolt’s ability, Strong Charge, along with a manual energy attachment to power up Tapu Bulu’s Nature’s Judgment, which does 120 Damage + 60 more if you choose to discard all energy attached. That level of damage puts most commonly played Pokémon within one or two-shot range.

As for why I chose the deck, since it was so soon after rotation, I had no idea what to expect or even how to build without some of the key supporters that had rotated. Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu is a deck I am very familiar with, so it felt safe. Also, I feel it is one of the fastest decks in the current format due to its ability to hit for 210 damage on the second turn of the game. The main decks I was expecting at the event were Zoroark-GX, which has a terrible time against Tapu Bulu, and Rayquaza, which I had thoroughly tested against and was confident I could beat.

What are some other important cards in the deck?

The most important card in the deck for this tournament (aside from Vikavolt) turned out to be Tapu Koko. There was an unexpected amount of Buzzwole/Shrine decks, which kept me from benching too many GX Pokémon due to the buildup of damage from Shrine of Punishment. This forced me to use Tapu Koko, Oranguru, Vikavolt and even Dedenne to trade prizes evenly.

What worked well for the deck?

With Tapu Bulu’s ability to heal itself using its GX attack, if you can keep it out of one-shot range, it can take three prizes before going down. I realized that early in the tournament and made sure to play cautiously until both players were down to three prizes, at which point I could overwhelm my opponent with Tapu Bulu.

More broadly, I attribute much of my success in this tournament to my familiarity with Garbodor and Weavile and my ability to manage my Items and abilities accordingly.

What didn't work so well, and what might you change if you used this deck again?

The main thing I plan on changing with this deck is to add more dedicated one-prize attackers, such as Dhelmise. What ended up losing me the match in top eight was starting with Bulu and failing to set up before it took too much damage from Shrine of Punishment, giving my opponent a strong lead on prizes.

What are you anticipating in this new tournament season?

I am looking forward to the rest of the season because I really enjoy this format. It punishes players harshly for playing too aggressively and encourages players to weigh the pros and cons of every play. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

I'm headed to Anime Banzai in Utah!

Next month, I'll be headed to Utah to attend Anime Banzai 2018. Additionally, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and will be hosting a panel covering the end themes of the Pokemon movies:


Anime Banzai Website

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Geek.Kon 2018 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Tournament Winner

Jared Van Wormer
The following is an interview with Jared Van Wormer, winner of a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament at this year’s Geek.Kon.

Where are you from, and how did you get into competitive Smash?

I’m from Wisconsin and first started playing competitively when Smash 4 came out, though I’ve been playing Smash since I was 11 years old, starting with Smash 64. In fact, I’ve bought every Nintendo system specifically for Smash.

Which character did you use the most in this tournament? Why?

I mostly used Peach in the tournament because she is my main. I know she’s hard to master and even I can’t utilize her to the max, but she’s also rewarding to play as. Many people at this tournament complemented my Peach, and since many people almost never see her or don’t see her played at the level I’m at, it feels good.

During the finals, you switched characters several times. What prompted that?

When I was on stream, I first played Captain Falcon because I was against my roommate and we always start our games with a Captain Falcon mirror match. We also always taunt first because we like to think we are classy. In the finals, I don’t really know why I switched around. I played Marth, which is secondary of mine and ised Jigglypuff-I guess to get some extra hype, as I thought beating a good Cloud with Jigglypuff would be pretty awesome to do on stream.

What are your thoughts on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?

I am incredibly excited for Super Smash Bros Ultimate and expect to play it a lot! I am pretty much interested in everything new they have shown and can’t wait to see what else they have in store. I’m rooting for Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia to become a playable character, as he would be my new main for sure.

You cosplayed as Weiss from RWBY for this year's event. Why did you choose that character?

I really love Weiss from RWBY, so I decided to cosplay as a “gender bender” version of Weiss. I love her weapon, fighting style and her Semblance ability. She’s the character we see grow the most (in my eyes anyway), and she is one that most hate from early on since she acts so spoiled. At the same time, she’s fun, and I got to meet Kara Eberle, Weiss’ voice actor last year, who was really nice and you could tell that Kara and Weiss had a lot of similar characteristics.

What else did you do at this year's Geek.Kon?

I bought a few things in the vendor hall, went to panel, but mostly came for the Smash 4 tournament. In fact, I frequently come to Geek.Kon just for Smash tournaments.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Does Octopath Traveler have "better Shinji Miyazaki Music"?

I recently completed the main stories of Octopath Traveler, and noticed a loose similarity to some other music I'm quite familiar with. Is there some connection between the music of this game and Shinji Miyazaki's work on the Pokemon anime?

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 19-Zoroark Movie Music

In this single-segment episode, Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help cover the music of the 13th Pokémon movie, "Zoroark: Master of Illusions". Sukima Switch and Erin Bowman go head-to-head this time around, though there may be another entrant that comes in later. Also, it seems Anne had a somewhat different opinion of the movie than I did, so stay tuned after the outro:



Links:
Pikapi Podcast
Erin Bowman Interview