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Reviewing Round 4: Malamar Hoopa (Me) VS ZoroPod (Jimmy P.)

I analyzed my streamed match against Jimmy because I was not so confident in my play after the match was over and some people were telling me they thought I played it incorrectly. I’m going to go over everything that I now think was and was not a mistake. The funny part is that, in my opinion, I actually did not misplay in the ways people were telling me I did; instead there was one turn Nathian Beck pointed out to me where I misplayed and one mistake on my first turn. This is the video for reference:

Our game starts at 4:54:00

https://m.twitch.tv/videos/281472989

Turn 1 ( 4:56:30 )

I wish I had retreated into Hoopa. I had known that one Inkay was prized and still let the Inkay up to get knocked out, basically because I wanted to keep damage off of my Hoopa and have one energy in play. In hind sight, it’s more important to not let Jimmy take the prize and keep Inkay safe. I figured I had two Super Rod to get Inkay back, but I didn’t run into Rod when I needed it. I should have retreated.

Psychic Recharge onto Lele / trying to dodge Psychic for OHKO ( 5:03:00 )

There was a turn where I Charged to Lele instead of Necrozma GX. This was because I knew Jimmy had a big hand and could most likely Guzma my Necrozma GX and use Psychic to knock it out if there was two energy on Necrozma. 20 (base) + 40 (two energy on Necrozma) + 30 (Choice band) * 2 (weakness) = 180. He ends up doing this to me later on in game one, which pretty much sealed up the game for him. I took the risk at that point because I knew the game was over unless he either misplayed or didn’t have what he needed. So I took the risk, since it was my only out to win the game. Putting an energy on Lele is nice because it means I don’t have to hit Float Stone to retreat. I do this play frequently because Zoroark decks have several Blowers, so it’s very helpful to keep Floats off the field until I need them. If I remember, I also think I had a Float prized; just one more reason to put the energy on Lele. I still don’t think either of these choices were misplays.

Not attaching before using Cynthia ( 5:14:10 )

The reason I did not attach to Hoopa in game 2 on my second turn was because I knew that if I drew into a necrozma GX and a Float Stone, I would want to attach to necrozma GX and use prismatic burst to take the KO. There was actually only one scenario where I would want to attach to Hoopa: if I drew Dawn Wings Necrozma GX, a Malamar, and Float Stone. If I drew Dawn Wings, no Float, a Malamar and an energy, I could attach to Dawn Wings from hand, Charge twice, Invasion and then KO. This was probably the most likely scenario actually and if I had attached to Hoopa, that would not have been an out. Again, I still believe I did the right thing here.
Not using Super Rod before playing Sycamore ( 5:25:00 )
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