"CARD GRABBING" - kids and parents love it...

[Rogue Archetype]

The Pokemon Playing community never ceases to amaze me.

When we started our Warsaw League, it consisted of ALL NEW PLAYERS; noone around here was even aware that it was an actual card game!

So, I found myself teaching mass classes at weekly scheduled times (as opposed to having a free-play league) just to get to the point where our league members could just sit and play.

Well, all of the kids had theme decks and, in time, they were itching to make changes.

There's NOWHERE to buy Pokemon cards around here and Walmart had stopped stocking them for awhile (I've since learned that they were switching distributors).

My wife and I (both Players and Professors), ordered Boxes of theme decks, card sleeves, deck boxes, and packs from a distributor and carrying them to league to sell at cost (we just prayed we'd break even).

The kids bought everything up and had more cards and were happy. The parents however started to feel that taking their kids to Pokemon meant they had to spend money weekly!! I didn't like that at all.
We didn't order anymore cards for the kids to buy and started thinking of ANY other way to get more cards in these kids hands.

We combed through our own extra piles of cards and gave them away as "sportsmanship" prizes for anyone who played with good SOTG (i.e. handshake at beginning and ending of games, kept their cool and was jovial throughout their matches, NEVER attempted to cheat... etc)

The kids had more cards, but many of them had enough cards to build out new deck ideas or even
develop a modified theme deck.

So, I grumbled to the mods here and BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Evil Psyduck and others mailed us a slew of Commons/Uncommons/Trainers/Supporters from all playable sets. To them, they were just cards that were piling up, to us... it was a GODSEND!!

All of the sudden, we had LLLLOTTS of cards to give away.

We were, both, overjoyed and overwhelmed ... HOW are we going to handle this?

After spending a couple of weeks batting around ideas we came up with a simple game.

"CARD GRABBING" - Game

There's nothing complicated here.

We simply put 8 BIG stacks of cards facedown on a vacant table.

During league play, we radomly call our players to the table and give them the following rules:

1. You have 1 minute to grab all of the cards you want.

2. You can't grab more than 2 copies of any given card.

3. There are 8 stacks available (about 200 per stack), but you can only look through one stack at a time.
-- You can look through all of the stacks you want.

4. Whenever you're done looking through a stack, you have to return it to it's original place in facedown position.
-- If you make a mess (drop a stack), you'll have to fix the mess before pulling anymore cards (this will affect your time!).

5. You have 1 minute... go.

Note: I, totally, do NOT time them. The "one minute" rule just adds excitement and they THINK they're being timed. Pretty much, when they've accumated a big stack of cards I say "TIME!" and send them off to celebrate :smile:

It's SO funny to hear a sibling ask "Hey, how'd she pull 57 cards??!" :lol:

My parents that pull are so slow and methodical (I usually end up giving them 5 - 7 minutes and they end up with like... 11 cards or less.. lol)

New kids are FUN to watch because they simply don't care what they grab. They just FLY through the stacks counting out two copies of each card and walk away with 50 - 100 cards.. .LOL !!! :lol:


WHAT FUN ways of distributing cards to new players have you experienced?

I'd love to read about new/fun ways to keep my players excited about Pokemon cards.

RA

 

[bullados]

My kids absolutely love this. A while ago, I came across a 5,000 count box, and I wasn't going to use it for anything. I've seen other Leagues have something called a "pennybox", where every card within cost only a penny. Now, my League is at a library, where I can't sell anything. So, I modified the rules a little bit. Whenever you take a card from the box, we ask you to leave a card. Every once in a while, I'll toss in some kind of "chase" card. Whether it's an elusive Unown G, a good Trainer card, or some random Rare or Holo, the kids have fun looking through the cards. In truth, the box is unregulated. It just sorta sits out in the middle of an unused table, and I'm not really looking at it most of the time. The kids can generally just take whatever they want, but they'll usually put back stuff.

At the end of the year, I'll take out all the non-Modified cards from the Box, and try to sell them at Nationals. I'll use the money to fund something nice for the League. Whether it's a Modified tournament, a cookout, or maybe something a little more expensive, depending on what the kids decide to give me.

 

[Rogue Archetype]

A cookout!

That's a GREAT idea!

Thanks for droppin in Ryan.

 

[dogma]

Wow that sounds awesome...

I know they're only commons/uncommons, but do cards get damaged as people knock cards around in excitement?

 

[SmeargleMe]

I recently had a few "draft parties" with my 6 and 9 yr old kids to help prepare us for the HGSS prerelease (our 1st ever), using a box of random D&P cards I purchased. After dealing out 60 cards each, we went over how to organize the cards and make a 40 card deck. I definitely think it helped them learn some basic deckbuilding skills (and much easier too without the time limits of the prerelease). And then we battled to see who went first in a snake draft of all the cards that we dealt out. I have some cards left and was thinking of expanding it to some of my kids' friends who have started coming to the league, though I'd probably skip the snake draft part (too long) and let them keep the 60 cards. I'm also thinking of doing one of the "take one card, pass the rest to the left/right" drafts too.

 

[Medaforcer]

I tried doing a little free raffle with a randomizer I found in the behind the counter at the league I run with the poster from two seasons ago as a prize (as I replace it with the new). It was really fun watching them get all excited every time a ball popped out.

As for giving out cards it is an iffy subject as it is a store and I did set up singles for sale recently.

 

[silverst31n]

i give most of my bulk commons uncommons away at league its just really awesome to expand our community

 

[Rogue Archetype]

Wow that sounds awesome...

I know they're only commons/uncommons, but do cards get damaged as people knock cards around in excitement?

Not at all. They really look at the cards because they're picky about what they get.

Since we've been giving cards away almost every other league day, there's no "MAD DASH" sort of half-hazard thing goin' on. They pick up a stack, look through it, set cards aside, move on to the next stack and continue until I say "TIME!"

I recently had a few "draft parties" with my 6 and 9 yr old kids to help prepare us for the HGSS prerelease (our 1st ever), using a box of random D&P cards I purchased. After dealing out 60 cards each, we went over how to organize the cards and make a 40 card deck. I definitely think it helped them learn some basic deckbuilding skills (and much easier too without the time limits of the prerelease). And then we battled to see who went first in a snake draft of all the cards that we dealt out. I have some cards left and was thinking of expanding it to some of my kids' friends who have started coming to the league, though I'd probably skip the snake draft part (too long) and let them keep the 60 cards. I'm also thinking of doing one of the "take one card, pass the rest to the left/right" drafts too.

I've thought about doing this too. But, we determined it's gonna take time away from leauge play; my kids only have one night a week to meet and play so...

I tried doing a little free raffle with a randomizer I found in the behind the counter at the league I run with the poster from two seasons ago as a prize (as I replace it with the new). It was really fun watching them get all excited every time a ball popped out.

As for giving out cards it is an iffy subject as it is a store and I did set up singles for sale recently.

That's a cool idea to find a way to give away the poster! I like that :smile:

 

[Arcanine2264]

wow man thats awesome, I hosting a tournament with a group of kids that I'm leading at school and it's tough business because I can't moderate them play. Any advice?

I actually enjoy giving cards out to kids, though like you said it's not worth much, it's still fun to see the look on there faces when they get some common or uncommon card that they have never seen before. It makes my day lol

 

[Squidwina]

We once did a big "memory" game where the LL laid out pairs of cards in a big grid on the table and people got to keep any cards that they matched. He threw in some rares for the "wow" factor.

My kids absolutely love this. A while ago, I came across a 5,000 count box, and I wasn't going to use it for anything. I've seen other Leagues have something called a "pennybox", where every card within cost only a penny. Now, my League is at a library, where I can't sell anything. So, I modified the rules a little bit. Whenever you take a card from the box, we ask you to leave a card. Every once in a while, I'll toss in some kind of "chase" card. Whether it's an elusive Unown G, a good Trainer card, or some random Rare or Holo, the kids have fun looking through the cards. In truth, the box is unregulated. It just sorta sits out in the middle of an unused table, and I'm not really looking at it most of the time. The kids can generally just take whatever they want, but they'll usually put back stuff.

We tried this, but strangely, it proved unpopular. I think the kids didn't want to give up any of their cards to put back. I like the idea of doing it as a penny box, though.

 

[bullados]

We tried this, but strangely, it proved unpopular. I think the kids didn't want to give up any of their cards to put back. I like the idea of doing it as a penny box, though.

It really depends on how closely you regulate it. If you sorta play it fast-and-loose, the kids absolutely love the idea! The adult and competitive players will pay careful mind to the rules, while the kids will generally take a stack of cards they don't want and grab a stack of cards they do want (most of the time, the put-backs are fewer than the takes, and I'm generally kool with that).

 

[Squidwina]

It really depends on how closely you regulate it. If you sorta play it fast-and-loose, the kids absolutely love the idea! The adult and competitive players will pay careful mind to the rules, while the kids will generally take a stack of cards they don't want and grab a stack of cards they do want (most of the time, the put-backs are fewer than the takes, and I'm generally kool with that).

It was fast-and-loose. So who knows why it didn't go over well. Maybe it's worth another try. :smile:

 

[Rogue Archetype]

We once did a big "memory" game where the LL laid out pairs of cards in a big grid on the table and people got to keep any cards that they matched. He threw in some rares for the "wow" factor.

I'm TOTALLY gonna borrow that idea!

I love that one alot man!

Thank you for sharing :smile:

I think I'll make it head-to-head to add excitement!

 

[dogma]

I did that memory card idea with a few collector friends when we bought a load of cards... good times. :thumb:

 

[Medaforcer]

I'm TOTALLY gonna borrow that idea!

I love that one alot man!

Thank you for sharing :smile:

I think I'll make it head-to-head to add excitement!

Haha, me too. I love this idea a lot.

 

[Ninjask88]

All these are awesome ideas. I am looking to start a league (once we get the buildings Okay) and I can definitely use these ideas. I expect for most of the players to be juniors and new all new kids so this is going to be great ideas. How did you ever come up with that idea Rogue Archetype?

 

[duanojo]

Two things:

I use a Blastoise bookbag I got from Nationals a couple of years ago. After they've turned in there league score cards, the kids get to pick out two cards from the bag. There are mostly commons/uncommons in there, but I throw in a few rares and such to keep it interesting. I recently put an extra bottom half of Ho-oh, for example. Some of the older players will occasionally dump some of their cards into the bag, too. I also use these cards for randomizing when I give door prize for the night. Everybody gets to pick a card and then the person who drew the heaviest, highest numbered, etc. Pokemon gets the door prize or sometimes I have it be who ever comes closest to the type of card I draw gets the door prize. Every player keeps the card they drew out of the grab bag then, too.

Evil Psyduck is great. He gave a lot of cards to me for the two leagues I support. I gave many of them out at our Christmas party, so every kid went away with something. It was awesome.

Okay, three things: My special promo this week, in celebration of National Library Week, is to give every league member who shows me his/her library card a special Pokemon card (one of my extra league promos). The library where I hold one of my leagues loved it.

 

[Rogue Archetype]

Don't forget the PARENTS!!

They, secretly, enjoy random giveaways too and it really brings the family aspect of the game to the forefront.

"Coax" them on up to give it a try and walkaway with some cards! It's so great to see the child/parent interaction afterwards (i.e. "Whatcha get dad? oooo I have the stage 2 for him! Look! I'll trade you for it!")

 

[jpulice]

What a cool idea. I normally just give away my common/uncommons to the juniors. I'll need to keep them for this type of game, for added fun.

So I just started a League Leader challenge at my league. A bit of backstory: Our league has a good core of jr's and sr's but they don't always have the means for extra cards. So I had an extra unopened box of Arceus cards I just hadn't opened, pretty much had everything I needed. I just didn't want to give booster packs away, so I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. I have also been playing through my Soul Silver in the past few weeks and really been enjoying it. As I was battling through the gyms in Johto and I thought there is nothing like a gym battle for trading cards.

On to the League Leader Challenge!
Rules-
1. This is only opened to Jr's and Sr's.
2. They may only challenge me "officially" once per week.
3. When they come to challenge me they must have pre-selected their deck and may not change it.
4. Normaly modified constuction rules apply. I do let some of them play unlimited (the ones who only have a few cards).

My set up.
I bring to league 4 decks (listed below) which are each no push overs. Each deck I try to focus on only a few types.

Now for the random element and a bit of chance!
The challenger then gets to select the deck they play by rolling a single six sided die. If they roll a:
1. I tell them what is in each deck and they chose which one they play.
2 - 5. Each of the 4 decks are pre-assigned a number so they play against the one they roll. They don't know what I'm playing until we flip over starters.
6. They must show me their deck and i get to decide what I play.

The Prize!
If they defeat me they win a booster pack. They can only win once per month to give everyone a chance (and so I don't run out to quickly). No matter what I still sign their league card for the battle.

I must say I haven't had this much fun at league in a long while and everyone really gets into it. Every week they are lined up ready to battle. The little ones get really pumped for a chance to win a pack. The competitive juices flow and you can see the excitement as they play. Even when they lose they running off to practice or retune decks. Sometimes they just watch and cheer on their friends.

My current decks:
1. Fire type (Charziard with Ninetails / Typholsion)
2. Ghost Dark (CurseGar with Nidoqueen)
3. Ghost Steel (EctoTrap... At least it's what I call it. It's Dusknoir with DGX. Strategy is to get a Noir set up and Xed and let it get knocked out. Then spam the deffen so they can't replace the Dusk X.)
4. Grass / Normal (Cradilly/flygon with Cherrims) Cradilly is soooooooo fun! Drain down can just be miserable without a g'ed pokemon.

Decks on the bench.
1a. Grass - Speedrill.
2a. Water - Kingdra.
3a. Ghost - Suppett.
4a. Electric - Luxray X with Manetric.
More decks to follow to keep the challenge fresh.

So far one Sr. has won, but I think the flood gates are about to open. They kids are really looking forward to "next week" and like I said they are coming in gunning for me.

Just as an aside, our league is in a game/comic store, so prior to doing this I check and obtained approval from the store prior to offering free product.

Thank you for posting this thread. I like the other ideas so far.

 

[gallade]

Wow, I like the idea above me!