After four fun-filled days of battling and trading, results are in for the first-ever Ruby & Sapphire–Power Keepers EX format event held in the United States.
Day 1: EX Format (EX Ruby & Sapphire–Power Keepers)
17 players participated in the Day 1 EX event. After seven rounds of Best-of-1 Swiss, four players advanced to the second phase of the tournament, where they then played Single Elimination Best-of-3. Narrowly squeaking in as the only 4–3 player to advance, Tord Reklev won a tough match-up in Top 4 against Yosha Riley’s Gardevoir ex δ deck, advancing to the Finals. There, he played against Alex Brosseau, who himself battled back from an 0–2 start to capture the 3rd Seed. Brosseau’s Rayler deck had beaten Tord in Round 6 of Swiss.
In an intense chess-like match that is sure to be remembered as one of the greatest series of Pokémon ever played, Brosseau and Reklev took nearly four hours to finish their Best-of-3 series. In the end, Brosseau failed to find the cards he needed to mount a comeback from a slow start in Game 3, and Tord Reklev was crowned our champion.
Full Results & Deck Lists for Day 1
Day 2: EX Format (EX Ruby & Sapphire–Power Keepers), 2-on-2 Format
No one knew what to expect going into Day 2 given that the 2-on-2 format received almost no attention since its international debut in 2003. We saw some clever ideas from players, like Isaiah Cheville’s Sand Damage Dark Tyranitar deck that attacked with a Spinning Tail Dark Tyranitar, and Alex Brosseau’s Electrode ex/Delcatty “Bombcatty” deck that tanked a Metal Pokémon in the Active spot before attacking with Delcatty’s Max Energy Source.
Just as he did at the 2006 World Championships, Jason Klaczynski again piloted a Manectric ex deck into the Finals, this time relying on Manectric ex’s Disconnect attack to lock a Cessation Crystal on to a partner Pokémon. There, he faced off against Matthew Kuhl’s Banette ex deck, which had been taking advantage of its ability to do two Shady Moves each turn.
In an anticlimactic final match, Kuhl attempted to slow Klaczynski’s start with an Ascension attack into a Safeguard Banette, but was immediately met with a Turn 2 Cessation Crystal adjacent to a Disconnecting Manectric ex. Under Trainer lock, Kuhl could only survive one more turn, and Klaczynski was the winner.