FGG Journey Together $1K Results
After a long wait, Full Grip Games is back with their release weekend events - this time bringing us the Journey Together GLC $1k! There was lots of talk about the Hop's Colorless Engine and unconditional double energies leading up to the event, and this event showed just how strong both of those are.
125 players battled it out to see who could take down the top prize in the Full Grip Games GLC $1k! Of all the types in attendance, Colorless and Dragon definitely shone above the rest in terms of results, but the top 8 still featured a relatively diverse composition of types.
Meta
The meta was over 25% Colorless players which is not the least bit surprising. The Hop’s engine release in Journey Together proved to be incredibly strong for Colorless and resulted in many high placements for the type. Psychic, Water, Grass and Darkness all had good turnout in the field, but Metal, Lightning, Fire and Fighting disappointed. I’m personally surprised there wasn’t more Fighting and Lightning played to counter the Colorless players.
Top 9-24
Colorless and Dragon absolutely dominated the Top 24, taking up all 16 spots that did not reach the top 8. 10 Colorless players and 6 Dragon trainers comprised the entirety of slots 9-24 in this event. This definitely lends credence to recent discussions around the power of unconditional double energies in the format - Double Colorless, Twin, and Double Dragon Energies - which have been ongoing in the run-up to this event. Out of the top 24, 21 decks played copies of these unconditional double energies (2 Darkness, 7 Dragon and 12 Colorless).
Top 8 Bracket
Top 8
Brooke English
Munkidori Psychic
Brooke played a variant of Zman’s popular Munkidori Psychic list which has the ability to heavily manipulate the damage counters in play using Munkidori and Giratina. Brooke played on stream in round 4 and put in a great showing against Lightning Spread, clearly having mastery of the Munkidori deck!
Cole Stellato
Lightning Spread
Cole’s played Full Grip’s famous favorite spread list, originated and played by Alex Carpenter at the tournament as well. Cole made a great meta call into a Colorless heavy field where Lightning Spread really shines, though Turbo Dark got the best of him in Top Cut - still a great showing!
Joseph Novak
Hydro Pump
Joseph played the new 240 HP Wailord in a standard and very consistent Hydro Pump list. With Wailord’s raw 2 for 1 power, this list is favored against the high-performing Dragon and Colorless matchups. Joseph fell to Trevor’s unique Colorless list in the Top 8. Trevor’s list could play Hex or Boss many turns in a row as needed - powerful for turning the tide against the Ability- and support-heavy Water.
Thomas Roe
Classic Dark
Thomas played the classic variant of Darkness utilizing Stand In Zoroark, Galarian Weezing and Galarian Moltres. I really like the inclusion of Reset Stamp in his list to help seal a win in the late game. This variant of Dark has been around for quite some time and even won one of the last FGG 1Ks before they went on hiatus. Guzzlord taking 2 prizes will always be strong!
Top 4
Spencer Batton
Dragobox
Spencer made Top 4 with this Basics-only Dragon list with tons of churn and draw power, and the ability to attack turn 1 going second, sniping benched Pokemon with Raging Bolt. This deck streams powerful attackers like no other and is incredibly consistent due to the lack of Evolution Pokemon. The secret Kyurem tech was ultimately Spencer’s downfall in Top 4, but he played very well all tournament piloting a CBW-special originated by himself, Lee and Ghouls to the 1k and proving its power.
Connor Cockerham
Turbo Dark
Connor played a 2 year old list created by Phoenixfire, another CBW old-timer, to the Top 4 with some spectacular routing. This is a challenging list to play with very tight lines, so placing so well really demonstrates Connor’s game sense and judgment. One of the best parts of GLC is building a powerful deck like this and maintaining its relevancy for years with just a little upkeep.
Finalist
Trevor Redding
Hop’s Colorless with Pelipper
Trevor, OG Gym Leader Challenge master, played Colorless with his own special sauce of Pelipper and Dubwool combined with Scoop Up Net and Devolution Spray to reuse their effects multiple times in a game. This strategy gave him great control over the board state while the low-to-the-ground nature of the Hop’s Engine provided attackers turn after turn. While many FGG locals played a similar Colorless list, it was really great to see a unique cook show up and make it all the way to the Finals.
Champion
Ben Morse
Hop’s Colorless
Ben Morse, longtime GLC player and FGG local won with a very teched out Hop’s Colorless list. This list was a perfect meta call, aiming to consistently win the Colorless mirror match as he did in the finals against Trevor. Two Tool removal cards, Enhanced Hammer, Reset Stamp and Counter Catcher proved important in his incredible run. 12 hours of GLC gaming is mentally taxing and draining, so taking down the whole tournament with a best of 3 Top Cut is very impressive. Props to Ben for cracking the right 60 and taking down the 1k!
Conclusion
It’s wonderful that Full Grip Games brought back the release weekend tournaments. A chance to watch GLC gamers from across the country compete, with great casting and a huge draw, pushes the GLC format further into the spotlight and provides a ton of entertainment for all of us GLC fans. Special thanks to Riley and Andrew for the brilliant casting, and Natalie and all the rest of the FGG crew for running the tournament! I look forward to the Destined Rivals weekend!