Lugia EX
Member
1999:
Pokemon was "cool" and pretty much all the other kids were into it too. I wanted to get into it, but
my mom wouldn't let me since she thought it was just a fad. Eventually some kid gave me a 1st
edition jungle Pikachu and my mom decided to let me start collecting the cards. So I got a bunch of
cards and started playing at my local Toys R Us league. I also got the Pokemon Red game for my
GBC.
2000-2001:
More sets started to come out and I was ecstatic about the 100 new pokemon coming in Gold and
Silver. Lugia became my favorite pokemon when I saw a friend's japanese Lugia card. Pokemon the
Movie 2000 probably had something to do with it too. Lugia remains my favorite pokemon to this
day(I have a level 138 runescape character named lugia0013). I had tried to play in a tournament
at my local movie theater, but I ended up crying because I got eliminated early. Upon getting my
copy of Pokemon Silver, I played for hours on end to get to Lugia like, the next day. When Neo
Genesis came out, I had saved up to buy 7 packs. Among the cards I pulled, was a 1st Edition
Lugia. I couldn't believe it, I'd pulled my dream card. My dad also bought me a whole box of
Gym Challenge somewhere in here which really boosted my collection. As more Neo sets came out,
my collection grew and grew.
2002:
By this point, my local Toys R Us had stopped running league so I played at a game keeper store
about 20 miles away. I was also able to run a fairly competitive Haymaker/Wigglytuff deck.
Expedition comes out and I get the E-Reader along with some of the new cards.
2003:
Aquapolis comes out and I used my saved up money to buy 2 BOXES of it. This really helped
me to be able to make half decent decks for Aquapolis and Skyridge Super Battlezones at my nearest
Wizards of the Coast store. Ruby and Sapphire also came out, and I was happy with the 135 new
Pokemon. Later on in the year, Sandstorm and Dragon come out, and I really start to like the prereleases.
2004:
My best year of pokemon by far, I try my hand at some tournaments and win the 11-14 Rockville,
MD CC with an Aggron EX/Wailord/Furret deck. As Magma/Aqua came out, I started to amass the
cards I needed to build a Blaziken Deck, truely the dominant deck of the time. With my Blaziken
deck I did well in many tournaments including winning the 11-14 MD State Championship, and
also winning the 11-14 Rockville, MD Gym Challenge. My pokemon won me a trip to DisneyWorld
to play at Worlds 04 . I also play in Nationals 04, which was an epic fail in terms of being run.
All the State Champion double byes and later people dropping really clogged the system. I went 6-0,
and was eliminated in T16, which caused me to cry, mostly due to the incredibly long day. At Worlds
04, I went 5-2 I think, and was then eliminated in T32 by some Gorebyss/Water/Ditto deck
specifically designed to beat Blaziken. The sad part, is I had beaten that same guy in swiss.
The year ended by me turning 15 and therefore moving up to the serious age group, and preparing
for a new tournament season.
2005-2007:
I remained a fairly decent player in the MD/VA/PA/DE area usually winning at least 1 CC a year,
however, the competition of the 15+ was just too much for my limited budget netdecking to do
really well. I did have a few good events though like 2nd at DE States after making T8 cut on a
3-3 swiss record, and T8 and T16 at two different Mid Atlantic regionals. Nationals 07 was
the last serious tournament I ever played in, went 5-3 with Infercatty, not enough for T32.
End of 2007 saw me getting a job at my local bowling alley which required me to work every
Saturday. Since I go to church on Sundays, I had to give up playing Pokemon.
2008-2009:
Nothing new until October 2008 when I moved from Maryland to Utah. I thought I could get back
into the game, I even had my dad send a bunch of my Pokemon supplies from MD to UT, and PMed
Superwooper, a friend from VA for advice about building competitive decks again. Unfortunately
the job I got in UT also required Saturday work, plus I ended up crashing my car into a road sign
in Salt Lake putting it in the shop for a month. Was fired from that job, but at that point, I figured it
was too late in the season for me to bother trying. I probably won't try to get stuff ready for 09-10
either considering my plans to serve as an LDS Missionary for 2 years. The Pokemon TCG will
always hold a special place in my heart though, and I might just try to make a comeback in like
2012 or so as a return missionary ;/.
Pokemon was "cool" and pretty much all the other kids were into it too. I wanted to get into it, but
my mom wouldn't let me since she thought it was just a fad. Eventually some kid gave me a 1st
edition jungle Pikachu and my mom decided to let me start collecting the cards. So I got a bunch of
cards and started playing at my local Toys R Us league. I also got the Pokemon Red game for my
GBC.
2000-2001:
More sets started to come out and I was ecstatic about the 100 new pokemon coming in Gold and
Silver. Lugia became my favorite pokemon when I saw a friend's japanese Lugia card. Pokemon the
Movie 2000 probably had something to do with it too. Lugia remains my favorite pokemon to this
day(I have a level 138 runescape character named lugia0013). I had tried to play in a tournament
at my local movie theater, but I ended up crying because I got eliminated early. Upon getting my
copy of Pokemon Silver, I played for hours on end to get to Lugia like, the next day. When Neo
Genesis came out, I had saved up to buy 7 packs. Among the cards I pulled, was a 1st Edition
Lugia. I couldn't believe it, I'd pulled my dream card. My dad also bought me a whole box of
Gym Challenge somewhere in here which really boosted my collection. As more Neo sets came out,
my collection grew and grew.
2002:
By this point, my local Toys R Us had stopped running league so I played at a game keeper store
about 20 miles away. I was also able to run a fairly competitive Haymaker/Wigglytuff deck.
Expedition comes out and I get the E-Reader along with some of the new cards.
2003:
Aquapolis comes out and I used my saved up money to buy 2 BOXES of it. This really helped
me to be able to make half decent decks for Aquapolis and Skyridge Super Battlezones at my nearest
Wizards of the Coast store. Ruby and Sapphire also came out, and I was happy with the 135 new
Pokemon. Later on in the year, Sandstorm and Dragon come out, and I really start to like the prereleases.
2004:
My best year of pokemon by far, I try my hand at some tournaments and win the 11-14 Rockville,
MD CC with an Aggron EX/Wailord/Furret deck. As Magma/Aqua came out, I started to amass the
cards I needed to build a Blaziken Deck, truely the dominant deck of the time. With my Blaziken
deck I did well in many tournaments including winning the 11-14 MD State Championship, and
also winning the 11-14 Rockville, MD Gym Challenge. My pokemon won me a trip to DisneyWorld
to play at Worlds 04 . I also play in Nationals 04, which was an epic fail in terms of being run.
All the State Champion double byes and later people dropping really clogged the system. I went 6-0,
and was eliminated in T16, which caused me to cry, mostly due to the incredibly long day. At Worlds
04, I went 5-2 I think, and was then eliminated in T32 by some Gorebyss/Water/Ditto deck
specifically designed to beat Blaziken. The sad part, is I had beaten that same guy in swiss.
The year ended by me turning 15 and therefore moving up to the serious age group, and preparing
for a new tournament season.
2005-2007:
I remained a fairly decent player in the MD/VA/PA/DE area usually winning at least 1 CC a year,
however, the competition of the 15+ was just too much for my limited budget netdecking to do
really well. I did have a few good events though like 2nd at DE States after making T8 cut on a
3-3 swiss record, and T8 and T16 at two different Mid Atlantic regionals. Nationals 07 was
the last serious tournament I ever played in, went 5-3 with Infercatty, not enough for T32.
End of 2007 saw me getting a job at my local bowling alley which required me to work every
Saturday. Since I go to church on Sundays, I had to give up playing Pokemon.
2008-2009:
Nothing new until October 2008 when I moved from Maryland to Utah. I thought I could get back
into the game, I even had my dad send a bunch of my Pokemon supplies from MD to UT, and PMed
Superwooper, a friend from VA for advice about building competitive decks again. Unfortunately
the job I got in UT also required Saturday work, plus I ended up crashing my car into a road sign
in Salt Lake putting it in the shop for a month. Was fired from that job, but at that point, I figured it
was too late in the season for me to bother trying. I probably won't try to get stuff ready for 09-10
either considering my plans to serve as an LDS Missionary for 2 years. The Pokemon TCG will
always hold a special place in my heart though, and I might just try to make a comeback in like
2012 or so as a return missionary ;/.
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