Async Season 7 Playoff Report
As the 7th Async League concluded on May 23rd, all the collected badges were counted.
A badge was won for 4 consecutive wins with one type in the span of one week. During playoffs only one deck and only of a won badge type may be used. The seeding is as follows: The player with the most badges – congratulations to Lee Hoffman (6 badges this season, with 2 in one week) – plays against the player with the least amount of badges. Player with the second most number of badges is paired with player #15 and so on.
This leads to the following best of 3, 90 min match pairings. Matches needed to be scheduled to accommodate time zone differences, as well as be finished 1 week after announcement.
You can find deck lists for each player at the bottom of this article!
Quarterfinals:
5 Psychic, 3 Water, 2 Metal, 2 Fighting, 2 Dark, 1 Colorless, 1 Dragon
After all player’s lists have been posted, the participants were able to see what strategy their opponent chose among their badges. Psychic and Water are the forerunners, while the other half is a mixed bag of different types.
How did these games play out?
LeeHoffmanSr. (Psychic) vs Ron (Water)
2-0 VOD
Game 1: After both players took some time to set up, Lee’s Iron Boulder smashed through Ron’s ‘mons
Game 2: Wobbuffet stalled Ron’s game plan long enough for Lee to set up and win with Iron Boulder
jordanM (Fighting) vs Espio (Psychic)
1-2
Quoting Jordan: “I played against psychic with fighting kekw”
Game 1: Jordan was able to donk Espio’s Inkay with a 2 Fighting Energy Okidogi
Game 2: After an extremely close prize trade, Jordan wanted to use Avenging Knuckle, but forgot that Sableye puts damage counters, which lost him the game
Game 3: Espio’s Giratina steamrolled Jordan, who had to face Fighting resistance and bad prizing
Spence_72 (Psychic) vs Count Sliggoo (Metal)
2-1 VOD
Game 1: Sliggoo had what seemed an unplayable hand, but luckily his opponent didn't have any easy attacks. Eventually, he was able to set up and trade KOs, barely surviving an Iron Boulder KO to take the last prize.
Game 2: An early Iron Boulder by Spence pressured and overran Sliggoo, who wasn’t set up in time
Game 3: Spence was able to establish Gallade fairly early, allowing him to choose the perfect supporters to counter Sliggoo’s strategies. With Dusclops securing a KO on Archaludon, but no additional prizes taken from Togekiss, Sliggoo was forced to attach more energy to Reversal Melmetal, which lead to his game plan crashing.
Subject 00-147 (Psychic) vs Wheatr (Dark)
2-0
Game 1 and 2: Not very eventful, both were donks
victinity (Dragon) vs castela (Metal)
2-1
Game 1: Vic was able to get online fast with Turbo Energize and overrun castela
Game 2: castela got his resource loop going, causing Vic to concede
Game 3: Vic got the upperhand while castela bricked on his hand
GhoULS (Water) vs ItzSpooky (Colorless)
2-1 VOD
Game 1: ItzSpooky donked with Fan Rotom for a quick win
Game 2: The big whale outchonked the big sleepy eepy boi
Game 3: Both players were trading KOs, until Spence got ahead and finished off this match
Ravi (Water) vs Revereseholo (Dark)
2-0
Game 1 and 2: Ravi managed to set up by turn 2, despite having Drizzile prized in both games. Wailord was too bulky for his opponent’s damage outout, while Guzzlord wasn’t able to equalize Ravi’s rush.
MickeyB313 (Fighting) vs Stakatattack (Psychic)
Due to scheduling conflicts, 0-2
Quarterfinals
With Psychic not only having the biggest representation in the Octos with no match losses and their big share at the recent FGG Destined Rivals event, one can clearly see that this type is a force to be reckoned with. Iron Boulder has been a very, very overperforming card, which – together with Dimension Valley – can deal insane damage for just 1 energy.
Who will pass on to the semis?
LeeHoffmanSr. (Psychic) vs Espio (Psychic)
2-0 VOD
Game 1: Lee was able to get ahead very fast, however, Espio was able to flip the game and take the win with his Sableye
Game 2: Though a strong card, Wobbuffett sadly doesn’t do much in the mirror match, so Lee was not able to stall Espio’s setup. The second Pokémon in line, Togekiss, also wasn’t able to dish out much damage. Espio took advantage of the slow start and set up his lost zone, which led to Lee conceding the match.
Spence_72 (Psychic) vs Subject 00-147 (Psychic)
2-1 VOD
Game 1: As many Psychic games before, Iron Boulder crashed though Subject’s defenses after a quick setup phase
Game 2: Subject’s Giratina got powered up very quickly and knocked out Iron Boulder under Lost City, which lead Spence to scooping
Game 3: The players traded prizes until they both had 2 prizes left. Spence’s Gallade proved to be a very good consistency card and attacker in the late game and got him the win.
victinity (Dragon) vs GhoULS (Water)
0-2 VOD
Game 1: Vic got a great start by quickly accelerating energy, however, he overextended too much and made himself very vulnerable to Ghouls
Game 2: Ghouls got the Wailord online very quickly and Vic could not offer anything to counter it
Ravi (Water) vs Stakatattack (Psychic)
2-0
Game 1: Ravi was able to get his Wailord online by turn 2, while Stak had a very bad PokeStop mill
Game 2: Due to Stak’s prizes, he didn’t have enough recovery, so Ravi was able to win this match
Semifinals
With only 4 players remaining, the stakes keep getting higher and higher.
Both games are same type matches, which player will pilot their deck better to get to the final?
Spence_72 (Psychic) vs Espio (Psychic)
0-2 VOD
Game 1: A quick back and forth got both players down to 3 prizes. Spence scooped at the 28 min mark, since he anticipated that he loses this game. He did this because his Cursed Kiss deck is designed to close games quickly. Conceding early lets him play a second and potentially third match, instead of wasting time.
Game 2: Spence’s plan paid off at first, getting a 3 prize lead on Espio, who struggled to fill his Lost Zone. Espio switched his game plan and went into the offense, since he would lose the match by setting up even longer. Both players got 1 more prize each, but Spence ran out of gas and Espio did an insane triple KO turn with his Sableye, knocking out Spence’s active and 2 benched Pokémon.
GhoULS (Water) vs Ravi (Water)
0-1 VOD
Game 1: Both players set up very fast and traded prizes. The highlight was Ghouls’ loaded Wailord knocking out Ravi’s loaded Wailord, after which both players were down to only two prizes. Both Wishiwashis tried to stall in favor of their trainers, but in the end, Ravi got his Wailord back online and was able to take the win after a long game.
Game 2: Ghouls had an insane start with his Wailord, taking three prizes, while Ravi was still at six. Sadly, Game 1 took too long, so Ghouls wasn’t able to finish Ravi off in time.
Grand Final
Espio (Psychic) vs Ravi (Water)
0-2 VOD
(Huge thank you to Espio who wrote this game’s report)
In Game 1, Espio went first, leading Shuppet and getting Chimecho on the bench.
Ravi had a poor Feebas lead, and was only able to bench and attach to Wishiwashi, using Guzma to bring it Active to avoid a Giratina ping.
Espio attacks with Chimecho for Colress's Experiment and Comfey, and Ravi responds with a simple attachment, bench Sobble, and pass.
Espio is able to get 5 cards in the Lost Zone, and even evolve into Banette for the following turn, but with no ability to attack, and no Ralts or Inkay in sight, it's not looking ideal. He does bench Giratina and attach for turn.
Ravi attaches a third energy to Wishiwashi, gets Remoraid and Snom on the field, and plays down Hex Maniac, shutting off Banette for a turn and taking the KO on Comfey.
With no Abilities, Espio is forced to simply promote Chimecho and get Inkay and Raihan
Sadly, they are swiftly shuffled to the bottom by a timely Iono, followed by Lux Cape on Drizzile, setting up a second attacker.
With Abilities regained, Espio uses Banette for Colress Experiment, gets to 9 in the Lost Zone and benches Ralts. Thanks to Dimension Valley, can attack into Wishiwashi with Giratina to force it off the field after a tails on Scatter. However, with Blender, Vacuum, and Banette spent, Espio will need to find a VS Seeker or a way to recover Comfey to get that final card in the Lost Zone.
Ravi evolves and attaches onto Inteleon and gets Octillery and Frosmoth established. He plays Guzma on the Sableye, setting up 20 damage on Giratina for later.
Espio, now down 3 Prize Cards, is forced to dig aggressively with PokeStop, manages to find Buddy-Buddy Poffin for Comfey and Inkay, and evolves into Kirlia. The board is finally getting established, but the best he has is 130 into Inteleon with Giratina.
Ravi responds with an easy KO on the Giratina. He benches and attaches 3 Energy to Wailmer.
However, Espio's fortunes are finally turning. Comfey gets the 10th card into the Lost Zone, and Espio can use Mirage Gate to establish Munkidori, getting a free KO on Feebas. He is forced to attack with Giratina into the Wailmer to prevent the indomitable Wailord from hitting the field.
Ravi recovers Wailmer, attaches two energy to it again, and takes his 5th Prize with Inteleon.
With 4 Prizes to go, Espio has to find a way to prevent Ravi from taking a KO next turn. He finds Field Blower, and with Munkidori's ability, KOs the Inteleon mid-turn. He uses Counter Catcher to KO the Wailmer with Gardevoir, which crucially has 140 HP.
With only Octillery and Frosmoth on the field, Ravi will hard pressed to find the final KO he needs. However, after an Avery, he manages to find Wishiwashi, Superior Energy Retrieval, and Escape Rope, taking Game 1 in a photo finish.
Unfortunately, in Game 2, Espio leads Ralts, only finds Battle Compressor for Giratina and no other draw options, as PokeStop hits zero items. Ravi, who got Snom and Sobble on turn 1, evolves both and is able to swing with Wishiwashi on turn 2 going first.
Espio promotes Giratina, uses PokeStop for zero items again, and the game is over.
Both players showed an incredible knowledge of their decks as well as the matchup at hand. Ravi's use of Wishiwashi and Inteleon allowed him to take KOs with minimal risk, thanks to the low HP totals in Renegade.
Additionally, key Guzmas and Hex Maniacs were able to slow Espio's setup and allow Ravi early board control. Espio, on the backfoot, identified that he had to keep Wailord off the field to make sure he could remove attackers faster than they could be established. With threats like Natu and Sableye, Renegade can easily take 2 Prize cards a turn and make major comebacks with the right disruption.
Deck Lists
Jordan
Ravi
Lee Hoffman
Mickey
### Pat
Stakatattack
Count Sliggoo
ItzSpooky
Victinity
Castela
Wheatr
Espio
Subject 00-147
Ron
Ghouls
Spence
