Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

A disapointing St Louis Master's report

Spirit Of Mew

Spirit Of Mew

New Member
I went into St Louis regionals playing M&M's (magmortar and manectric) I was very excited as I was told to expect at least 300 people(yeah we went over that). From what I have read online this is supposed to be an amazingly fun tournament. There were a LOT of problems.

I ended up going 5-3(where did 8 rounds come from?)

So not bad at all for this deck and it being my first year in masters.
Before I get to the problems I will get a to a very brief description of the rounds.

Round 1: Cacturn/Houndoom G
I got magmortar out turn 2 and burned everything down from there.

1-0

Round 2: Beautifly
He could not set up and I kept using fireball bazooka

2-0

Round 3: Raichu/Vire
I got a manectric out early and got multiple prizes at a time. He also played a claydol so my secret tech was able to take it's effect on the deck.

3-0

Round 4: Magnezone
I don't even want to begin on all the mistakes I made

3-1

Round 5: PoryPromo
let's just say manectric hit EVERYTHING. I ended up taking four prizes in a turn.

4-1

Round 6: Dialga G
We went into over time and I ended winning on a flip. The kids was a huge jerk the whole game

Round 7: Abamosnow
We went back and fourth but a mistake cost me my game

5-2

Round 8: Giratina and blah
This man was hispanic(not being racist here) and pretended he really couldn't understand what was happening it was just terrible beyond reason.

5-3

So, a lot of the people I met were VERY nice and I had a great time playing them. But like a said their were many problems.

Starting the Tourny:
The registration time was set at 9:30. decks were not checked only deck list were simply turned in.
We did not get started until 11:00 and that was just the rosters.
Finally once pairing go up they found that they numbered table wrong or something and just sent us of for lunch break.... I'm growing very impatient at this point.

Pairings:
Finally the pairings went up and we sat down and started at about 1:20.
The juniors, seniors, and masters times became unsynchronized very quickly.
Many of the judges(at least the ones I had) were very lazy and not very helpful.

Events:
We were told side events would be running all day, no such thing happened.
The trivia contests and pokeball challenge ect... Were not easily located. They were at tables off to the side.

Finish:
Masters finally finished swiss rounds at 8:30 which I have to say is very untimely.
not long before our last round was done the juniors top 16 just started....

Other:
It was very unorganized the structure of the even was terrible. I don't mean anything personal against the Judges but it was the worst I have seen yet.
A judge tried to take my deck box that my brother was using(saying that is belonged to another player) my MOM had to step in to get my deck box back, and when the head judged was approached he just said that the situation seemed to be resolved to him.


I did have fun playing and was happy to meet knew people, but my expectations were all destroyed before we even played.

Again, I am not trying to attack anyone personally here but I was very very disappointed in the way things were run and now hesitate to return.
 
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Remember that a player always has the chance to leave a comment about the tournament on the official website. I believe you can access it by logging into your My Pokemon account, clicking on "My Stats", then scrolling down to the "Tournaments" section, and clicking on the X icon next to the tournament number.
 
I was in masters, but my brother was in seniors. Sorry I will fix what ever it was confusing you.

Also prime I do plan on leaving a comment.
 
Okay sorry but I do feel the need to respond to this post (btw I do believe I was your 7th round opp.).

First off Registration was closed at 10:30 like it was supposed to be however some computer problems and the judge that operates the computer was late to the event due to some unforseen circumstances so there was some catching up to do that delayed the start time. After already running behind the table numbering situation was confusing but it was fine to take lunch then start instead of waiting another 20-30 mins for them to fix the table numbers then start and take lunch after round 2 (which would of been a 2-3pm lunch) so they did the right thing. And trust me I have played competitive Magic and now Pokemon and starting delays are something to be expected when dealing with several hundred people...trust me delays are apart of life that we just have to deal with sometimes. Look at all the problems there were last year at nationals at orgins not everything can run smooth and precise as we would like when dealing with people.

The next thing is the art, trivia, and name that pokemon contest they ran were located running along the walls which were in plain sight and easy to access so not sure what the problem you forsaw with that situation would be.

I am sorry to hear there was a mix up and situation with your brothers deck and deckbox but it was a mistake I am sure. We had plenty of judges and mighty fine ones I would have to say. They were always in plain sight and walked around the tables observing like they are supposed to and were ready and available when someone needed them. I give props to the staff for handling such a large number of people.

I am not sure if you also know the actual amount of prize support and give aways that were offered for the kids and other players. My childern walked away with handfuls of prizes just for playing the Poke Dodgeball and entering the art contest even if their entries were not the greatest pieces of artwork to grace the walls. Vince bends over backwards for his players and staff whether it be giving away free decks to new players or buying lunch for his staff or in the case of MO States everyone that played that day. He is a great ambassador to the game of Pokemon doing whatever he can to make the experience more enjoyable and for that Vince I say thank you and you are much appreciated.

The only major problem I have with the day was whatever the deal was with air as at times it got very hot in there but there were alot of people in a enclosed area and after rounds going out into the mall or outside was nice and refreshing, but any problem with that is a problem with the Mall and nothing that could of been avoided by the staff.

We had a really good match and you seem like a great kid so I hope you do not think I am attacking you cause that is certainly not my intentions I am just giving my thoughts on the daily events and responding to some of the problems you had with the event. It was not a perfect day FAR FROM it but it was not as horrid as some may try to make it sound either. I only ask if you would have won round 7 with me or round 8 and made top cut, would all the little pet peeves of the day meant nearly as much to you?

Just want to say GG round 7 and Good Luck in Battle Roads and if you are able to attend Nats.
 
Wow, sour grapes FTL.

Regarding round 6: You flame blustered two turns in a row (the card reads you can't use it on your next turn) to "win" the game and you're lucky as heck that nobody caught it before the game was scooped up.
 
Jayson said:
Wow, sour grapes FTL.

Regarding round 6: You flame blustered two turns in a row (the card reads you can't use it on your next turn) to "win" the game and you're lucky as heck that nobody caught it before the game was scooped up.
Click to expand...

I used switch which makes magmortar a new pokemon.

EDIT:

Also I did not post that I did this twice so I'm assuming you were there. The judge watching the whole part of that could tell you that I used it once and the next turn I used switch and my Manectric had free retreat so I retreated in the the now new magmortar. Again I saw the judge was their watching that whole factor
 
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Hey...the day was far from perfect...but we rolled with the punches.

280+ players take quite a while to enter into any system>

The heat was an issue that cropped up for the first time on Saturday. Was fine that week, and on Friday...early Saturday morning we realized we had a problem, and did what we could with it.

As for the late start...the table number thingy was a problem, hitched to a computer issue that noone realizes how close we came to disaster (read MAJOR delay), so we took the safe path and kicked everyone for lunch, which ALSO let the room cool down for 45 minutes...it really saved us...but did put us 45 minutes behind "ideal" schedule.

Once we got going, the event rocked just like it should have.

Little warm still, but without that break, we would have hit 85 in that room.

I think the side events went very well...the Pokeball Dodgeball was elite, the art contest entries were elite, the trivia, who's that Pokemon, and other stuff went well.

Gave away over 1000 items to all participants through the day.

Was it perfect. No. Do I credit my staff, HJs, super-man Mike Schell, and my wife for helping keep the wheels on...YES!

It was fun to meet you and a lot of the other travellers. Next year I promise 12 degrees cooler in the room. Yes, we are already prepping for NEXT year!

Vince
 
I can't believe that everyone complains so much!!!
I call you out to step into Vince's, the Head Judges, and Judges shoes! While you guys were sent to lunch to cool down and eat, we frantically ran around trying to fix things for YOU, THE PLAYERS! We took 15 mins instead of 45 mins to eat because, we as judges, commit to making your play experience as good and smooth as we can! We were wearing the Pokemon lab coats, sweating our butts off, but we were still doing our job and running around the whole time trying to fix the problems.

Start time was delayed because we had to get everyone entered into the system, and the computer issue with the table numbers. These things were not purposly done. You can't expect to come in and sit down right at 10:30 when registration ends and start playing. Registration ended on time, and we were catching up on entries. You complained that we didn't physically deck check. Well, had we deck checked...start time wouldn't have been until after 2pm AFTER the issue with table numbers. So, chew on that for a moment.

As far as where the Art, Guess that Pokemon, and other games were located...Vince's wife did a wonderful job and I think instead of complaining you should say Thank You for them even doing those events because it isn't required. It is something that Vince does for THE PLAYERS.

So, before so much complaining...think about what Vince does for YOU, THE PLAYER, that he doesn't have to do. Think about the Judges, and how much effort it takes to walk the floor for 15 hours trying to make sure that YOU, THE PLAYER, is getting a fair match. I am done now.

I think before people post, they need to think about what the issue was, if it could have been avoided, and the people on the other side of that problem.
 
Please don't get me wrong I had a great time because of the many nice people, and I'm not attacking vince at all, but I just felt the organization could have gone better.

Also Kiss N Fire don't pull the whole you don't what you got thing because I understand how hard he has to work to get this stuff going, and if they would have wanted more help I would have been more than happy. I'm only playing mainly because I'm not yet old enough to become a judge to get that experience.

I did meet some very nice people and had a good time, but it did get frustrating
 
I wanted to go to St. Louis regionals so badly but it was my sisters b-day party and I didnt know regionals was so close[timewise] and did not have my deck tested and ready.
 
Jayson said:
Wow, sour grapes FTL.

Regarding round 6: You flame blustered two turns in a row (the card reads you can't use it on your next turn) to "win" the game and you're lucky as heck that nobody caught it before the game was scooped up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after I thought he did that and asked you about it, Jayson, I went over and asked my opponent about it, and can confirm he did switch. Sorry for the confusion. :[

I am your round 6 opponent, and while I know I wasn't being a jerk that game, I will admit to the fact that I did call a judge when you said, "Go ahead", signaling a turn end. I apologized afterwards wishing you good luck and telling you it was nothing personal and that I knew at that point that I was most likely going to lose, and that I needed that advantage that you did infact offer up ,albeit by mistake.

You can't please everyone I guess.
 
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1000 Prizes? Lucky you. Our tournament was great, I didn't win anything or get anything, but it was still fun. I don't know why you would post things about other players on POKEGYM that actually will read this. That brings enemies.

JMHO
 
Sorry about my post earlier, I was misinformed. You played a great deck and from what I saw of your games you played it very well.

Sorry you didn't enjoy Vince's tournament. Please understand that regionals are a ton of work to organize, staff and run. Everyone did their best and to the best of my knowledge, everyone had fun (except you apparently).
 
Head judge here,

Its good to get feedback from an event. There are always things we can improve on in the future and will always appreciate suggestions as to how things could be made better versus telling us something was wrong and we probably already knew it.

We all have mistakes during our day (as you mention in your tournament matches). I made the mistake on the table numbers by not remembering when setting the events numbering for the age groups tables that they began at 1 for each age group. This is has to be reset manually on TOM and with all the other things occuring while trying to make things go faster, this one slipped thru the crack.

Rather than make a bad situation worse, everyone was sent to lunch 1 hour earlier than planned so we could resolve the issue quickly without 300 players grumbling to us when were we going to have the problem fixed. No rounds were lost, the event still ended when it would have anyway, regardless of the table number issue.

The deck box issue was handled as well and discussed with the senior head judge. Could it have been handled differently yes? and it will not happen in that manner again. Had you been on the other side of the situation that the judges were trying to resolve, you might have been grateful they gave it any concern at all given the number of other jobs they were performing. It was hot and tempers were rising, as well as people being tired.

Like I said, if you have criticisms, that is great, but please be responsible enough to also include what you perceive to be possible fixes for these issues so we can consider them.

Overall the event was great...lots of new faces, new Champions!!, and a great literal warm up for Nats in June.
 
Ryne, you know I've judged pretty much every type of tournament under the sun (Pre-releases, cities, battle roads, states, and nationals). As a judge, we do exactly what we can to keep an event running as smoothly as possible. There are times that things won't always go our way, such as a room size, the number of people that unexpectedly show up, computer failures, mispairings, etc. We are only human. As long as I've been playing, I understand that things don't always go right on that end. I think once you become a judge, you will understand that a little bit better and have a little more tolerance to the mistakes that can be made, since we're all only human.

If you constantly fret with the problems, you'll never truly enjoy events.
 
I have Grapes myself because my deck didnt perform at the tourney whereas it did in testing. 5 Games I had 2 Pory Z Prized, energy droughts for 5 Turns....playing unfavorable matches. I had fun even though it was hot.

I think the one person who has the most grapes would be my friend Jesse Egan who was literally cheated of victory thx to a Judging error. It happens, and if he would have won the top 16 match, he would have won Regionals based on opponents decks. It Happens, so if anyone should have grapes, he should.

Judging Errors happen, she/he is not perfect...just shows you, if your not comfortable with the ruling, ask another judge.
 
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