Location: Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Attendance: 751 Masters
Format: Standard BRT-BSH
Statistics
Day 2 CP share
- Igor Costa, Volcanion
- Michael Long, Greninja BREAK *
- Ian Robb, Drampa-GX/Garbodor
- Sam Chen, Gardevoir-GX
- Ryan Sabelhaus, Volcanion
- Peter Kica, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor
- Rukan Shao, VikaBulu
- Patrick Van Story, Ho-Oh-GX/Salazzle-GX
- Kenny Britton, Gardevoir-GX
- Ryan Tongue, Golisopod-GX/Octillery
- Benjamin Behrens, Drampa-GX/Garbodor
- Pablo Meza, Gardevoir-GX
- Justin Bokhari, Drampa-GX/Garbodor
- Jon Eng, Greninja BREAK
- Greg Minklei, Drampa-GX/Garbodor/Tapu Koko
- Connor Peavey, Volcanion
- Steve Zhang, Gardevoir-GX
- Ryan Allred, Volcanion
- Jacob Lesage, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor
- Austin Hanna, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor
- Zach Lesage, Golisopod-GX/Octillery/Gumshoos-GX
- Greg Kerien, DeciTales
- Mark Dizon, Drampa-GX/Garbodor
- Athavan Balendran, Solgaleo-GX/Rayquaza
- Noel Totomoch, Gardevoir-GX
- Andrew Mahone, DeciTales
- James Colwell, VikaBulu
- Chris Wilkinson, Xerneas BREAK/Gumshoos-GX
- Spencer Nalle, Gardevoir-GX
- Tim Patton, Gardevoir-GX
- Anthony Bulone, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor
- Jacob Mechaber, Gardevoir-GX
* Has been banned indefinitely by TPCi for cheating; denies accusations.
- Probably the most unexpected deck in Day 2 was Athavan Balendran's Solgaleo-GX/Rayquaza. Balendran made a bit of a name for himself playing the deck at a couple of League Cups in the New York area, and had clearly tested the build extensively prior to Hartford.
- Gumshoos-GX was the spicy tech Pokémon of the weekend: Round 2 on stream saw Dakota Gillanders using it in his Golisopod-GX deck, turning his matchup with Ryan Sabelhaus's Volcanion from a near-autoloss to a fairly close series. Chris Wilkinson added the card to his Xerneas BREAK deck to make the 6th seed entering Day 2. What made Gumshoos-GX so good? It wasn't just its Search the Premises Ability, which was why it had been previously hyped - there was also its Gumshoe Chance GX attack, which allowed it to KO big attackers such as Gardevoir-GX, Ho-Oh-GX, Volcanion-EX, and Drampa-GX for a single Energy.
- Gumshoos may have been the big Pokémon tech, but counting all types of cards, Enhanced Hammer was the hottest tech of the tournament. An uber-consistent version of Volcanion crafted by Azul Garcia Griego, Rahul Reddy, Michael Pramawat, Igor Costa, and Ryan Sabelhaus performed extremely well at the tournament due to a pair of Enhanced Hammers. With lots of Special Energy in the format (DCE, Rainbow, and even Splash, as seen in the finals vs. Greninja), the Hammers put in a lot of work and ultimately sent Costa to victory, Sabelhaus to Top 8, Griego and Pramawat to Top 64, and Reddy to 85th.
- The top two decks in PokeStats's Power Rankings prior to the event finished with relatively low D2Es (Day 2 Efficiency, the average CP earned by a deck that has qualified for Day 2): Gardevoir-GX (73.6) and Golisopod-GX/Garbodor (70.0). Of the eight Gardevoir-GX decks in Day 2, only one - Sam Chen's - advanced to Top 8.
Stream matches
A stream was provided by CLASH Tournaments: https://www.twitch.tv/clashtournaments. Casters were Ray Cipoletti and Cora Giorgio, with guest commentary from Mike Fouchet and Pablo Meza during Day 2.
-- VODs are not currently available. --
Round 1: Sam Chen (0-0-0, Gardevoir-GX) def. Eric Eldredge (0-0-0, Drampa-GX/Garbodor/Espeon-GX/Espeon-EX) W watch
Round 2: Ryan Sabelhaus (1-0-0, Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) def. Dakota Gillanders (1-0-0, Golisopod-GX/Gumshoos-GX) WLW watch
Round 3: Justin Bokhari (2-0-0, Drampa-GX/Garbodor) def. Christopher Schemanske (2-0-0, Ho-Oh-GX/Salazzle-GX) LWW watch
- The first two games of this match were not streamed due to technical issues.
Round 4: TIE - Jimmy Pendarvis (3-0-0, Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) & Pablo Meza (3-0-0, Gardevoir-GX) watch
Round 5: Igor Costa (3-1-0, Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) def. Gustavo Wada (3-1-0, Volcanion/Kiawe) LWW watch
Round 6: TIE: Michael Long (5-0-0, Greninja BREAK/Tapu Fini-GX/Espeon-EX) & Ryan Sabelhaus (5-0-0, Volcanion) watch
Round 7: Xander Pero (5-1-0, Ho-Oh-GX/Salazzle-GX) def. John Chimento (5-0-1, Golisopod-GX/Gumshoos-GX/Tapu Koko/Octillery) WW watch
- Giorgio was joined by guest commentator Chris Leandro for this match.
Round 8: TIE: Jon Eng (6-0-1, Greninja BREAK/Tapu Fini-GX/Espeon-EX) & Peter Kica (Golisopod-GX/Garbodor) watch
Round 9: Igor Costa (6-1-1, Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) def. Sydney Morisoli (6-1-1, Gardevoir-GX) WW watch
Round 10: TIE - Chris Wilkinson (7-1-1, Xerneas BREAK/Gumshoos-GX) & Greg Kirien (7-1-1, DeciTales) watch
Round 11: Ian Robb (8-2-0, Drampa-GX/Garbodor) def. Rukan Shao (8-2-0, VikaBulu) WW watch
- Guest caster: Mike Fouchet
Round 12: TIE - Sam Chen (7-0-4, Gardevoir-GX) & Jon Eng (7-0-4, Greninja BREAK/Tapu Fini-GX/Espeon-EX) watch
- Guest caster: Eric Gansman
Round 13: TIE - Kenny Britton (8-1-3, Gardevoir-GX) & Connor Peavey (9-3-0, Volcanion) watch
- Guest caster: Mike Fouchet
Round 14: TIE - Greg Minklei (8-0-5, Drampa-GX/Garbodor) & Peter Kica (8-0-5, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor) watch
- Guest caster: Tristan Macek. Minklei gave Kica the win because he was ahead on Prizes in game 3, sending Kica into Top 8.
Top 8: Sam Chen (5-Gardevoir-GX) def. Ryan Sabelhaus (4-Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) WLW watch
- Guest caster: Pablo Meza
Top 4: Igor Costa (1-Volcanion/2 Enhanced Hammer) def. Sam Chen (5-Gardevoir-GX) WW watch
- Guest caster: Pablo Meza
Finals: Igor Costa (1-Volcanion) def. Michael Long (2-Greninja BREAK/Tapu Fini-GX/Espeon-EX) WLW watch
- Guest caster: Pablo Meza
- First-year Masters took down this tournament! Michael Long finished 2nd, Jon Eng took 14th, Connor Peavey was the 1st seed after Day 1 and finished 16th, and Sydney Morisoli finished 50th and defeated Michael Pramawat in Round 8.
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