$500 Game Haven GLC Tournament Results

On Sunday, June 29, Baltimore tried its hand at its first cash Gym Leader Challenge tournament, with prizing based on participation. Hosted by Game Haven, which has been hosting weekly tournaments for over 3 years, we had a 5 round swiss into a top 4 bracket with 19 participants, allowing a $500 payout, alongside 4 Destined Rival ETBs, and a boatload of prize packs. The latter was given for participation and an ETB was even raffled off, regardless of record. 

This article will cover the meta breakdown, top 4 decklists, and some quick thoughts.

Here is a breakdown of the meta:

Psychic was the story of the day. Beyond just the metashare, they were all at the top tables for the final two rounds. The only two outliers were the dragon and water deck that topped. Out of my 5 rounds, I played against 4 psychic mirrors. DJBackwardz, who played water and got top 4, also played against 4 psychic decks. If you’re looking to counter the meta, this is something to consider.

The top 4 decks were 2 psychics, 1 water, and 1 dragon. For GLC nerds, specifically it was extra prize tools psychic, munkidori psychic, hydropump, and dragobox. Here are the lists:

DJBackwardz - Hydropump - 4-0-1

The coolest thing - the deck is ENTIRELY Japanese. Hence the suboptimal 60 HP sobble and remoraid. John has used some of the money to upgrade them after this. He shared that he knows the energy count is “greedy” but it actually was completely fine, a little bit to his surprise, he admits. He even prized 2 water energy in one of his games and it was awkward, but fine. 

Notably, John plays Blastoise over Bax because the Squirtle has built in BB and he didn’t want to waste a slot on manaphy. Rough seas saved him a game versus psychic spread, where manaphy also wouldn’t have mattered, since PS does damage counters. He also has 2 tools, mallow and lana, and scoop up net for additional healing and tanking options. 

He noted that Kyogre and Washi were the stars of the day.

Hutch - Munkidori Psychic - 4-1

Hutch has been working on his own style of psychic since he started playing, about 2 years ago, and it’s been so neat to see it blossom into what it is today. Some notable differences from the traditional munkidori build: Gengar, to allow early counters and a quick attacker, Gapejaw Bog, an additional way to get counters, Special Energies and Necrozoma, Blacephalon, and some different tools and consistency supporters. This is a really strong build and James knows the deck inside and out from playing it for so many years. Since the field was mostly psychic, it paid off knowing the deck well in the mirrors. 

ZmanCuddles - Extra Prize Psychic

After seeing the NAIC winning list, I wanted to try the extra prize tools myself. Instead of netdecking their list, I removed munkidori, 2 darks, and crispin from my psychic deck, and then added the tools, devo spray, and recycle energy in their place. It actually fit really nicely. CEL Mew can find devo spray, my opening hands were always live, and I’m familiar and comfortable with my core psychic engine. 

People kept asking me which one is better in psychic - munkidori, extra prize tools, or dusknoir - and I don’t think there’s an actual answer. To me, it’s honestly the same deck. As long as you play the xatu malamar core engine, dedicate 4 cards so you have some way to do something unfair, and know the deck inside and out, you will have a good tournament run. This was a blast to play, and besides being the potential bdif, is just simply my favorite deck to play fun wise. 

Caleb - Dragobox - 4-1

We didn’t get a picture of Caleb’s deck, but he played Urtzub’s dragobox list that got second at NAIC. The card he felt was missing the most was Dragonium Z, which I know Tyler has added as well since the event. Shoutout to Lee, Spence, and the other CBW boys who made this monster of an archetype. 

After losing his round 1 to aggro water (double starmie, palafin), Caleb clawed back with 4 straight wins to earn his place in top cut. He also is the current badge leader this season at locals with I believe 7 of the types already done! If you’re from the DMV, you know this is a player to look out for! 

Results

Beyond psychic’s day, I think it’s worth noting that hydropump and dragobox are competitive. I also want to note that the Fire deck was a cool build: a combination of Blaziken with Skeledirge, and was actually holding its own with the meta too. I think the GLC community as a whole has more to explore with the new Fire cards and there may be something there. We had a lack of lightning and fighting, but I think that’s understandable given the amount of munkidori in the field.

The event went a little long, and the top 4 opted to split the prizing. The top 4 matches were going to be best of 3 and untimed, which I think is actually dope, but we were tired and hungry lol. 

If you’re in the DMV area, Game Haven was happy with the first time participation and anticipates doing another Sunday, multi-round event soon as GLC continues to grow. Feel free to contact me if you’re trying to play more locally. We all have extra decks and play religiously every Tuesday. 

Thanks for reading! Never stop brewing and playing.