Austino
New Member
When starting this article, I knew what I wanted to put down, but not how I wanted to convey the message. I wanted to write what was on most player's minds during their journey though the ranks of casual play through "Official Play." From buying packs for trading with siblings/friends to playing in premier events, everyone's experience is different, yet strikingly similar. If you will, come along on this ride through one player's story. I'm sure you'll find several correlating segments that you can relate to and share your experience as well.
Through the Eyes of the Casual Player
It's 1999, I'm 10 years old and just a kid in elementary school. The latest craze is this new game called "Pokemon Trading Card Game". I remember seeing all the kids with Nidokings, Alakazams, Venusaurs, and this amazing red dragon called, "Charizard." I had to get myself some of these trading cards. Luckily, my neighborhood friend was into Pokemon and ended up giving me a couple cards to get started including my first rare card, Nidoking. From this point on, I was hooked. Shortly after that, I found myself buying booster packs, theme decks, and trading with everyone. Between the gameboy games and the card game, I was spending all of my time playing Pokemon. This new hobby held an abundance of detailed creatures that had their own special abilities and a fan-base that was my age, so all of my friends had them too. I expanded my collection, trying to get the entire set and eventually succeeded.
I knew very little about how to play the game at the time; collecting the cards was my focus. Sure, my friends and I tried playing, but never read the rulebook completely and couldn't get a grasp on the playing aspect of the game. Every day held new trades and the beginnings of a snowball that would lead to an avalanche later in life. Later on in the year, the Jungle expansion was released. My step-father took my sister and me up to the local mall to pick up 1st Edition packs from Babbages. Around this time, I was hearing about the Pokemon Leagues, but never took initiative to find out more about it. Later on, Fossil and Team Rocket sets came out in the US, but the fad that was sweeping the nation started to die out. As more and more sets came out, including Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and Neo Genesis, my interest faded due to the expanding amount of cards to collect and the lack of budget to obtain the new sets. This seemed to be the end of my run in Pokemon TCG.
In 2004, my younger brother and sister were getting at the age where they could read the cards and collect. I had given them a majority of my previously mentioned collection seeing as Pokemon wasn't "cool" anymore. While out one day, they ended up getting EX: Magma vs Aqua decks. Of course, they came to me to teach them how to play with their newly purchased decks. Seeing these new cards that were much more powerful and detailed than the base-set, I was drawn back into the game for a brief stint that ended up not lasting very long. All three of us ended up getting several of the current EX series packs that were out at the time, pulling quite a few of these rare, Pokemon EX cards. I had Gardevoir EX, Magcargo EX, Lapras EX, Mr. Mime EX, Ampharos EX, Latios EX, Latias EX, and others. Even at this point, I was just a collector with a theme deck; I still had no idea that this game was taken seriously and had actual competitions. Not knowing how or where to play competitively is what ended this brief excursion back into the world of Pokemon TCG. We (my siblings and I) ended up playing each other for a few months, but again, it died out. I sold my cards on eBay for who knows what kind of deal, and I was again left with only my base-set holographs that had a bit of sentimental value.
In early 2007, my brother and I picked up Emerald and Ruby. I am still not quite sure what got me to play the game, but it ended up leading into the Pokemon TCG player I have become today. Being hooked to another Pokemon game was something I hadn't experienced since Pokemon Blue and Yellow. The new adventure, pokemon, and overall experience led me to purchasing a Nintendo DS and Pokemon Diamond shortly after beating Emerald. My brother followed suit later on in the year. We played Diamond and Pearl from 07-08, leading him to trying out the TCG once more. We each bought Great Encounters Theme decks to get our feet wet again. This experience was different. Not only did we find an interest in improving our rather weak theme decks, we began looking for ways to get better. This led us to go-pokemon.com looking for a league. Luckily, we found a local league that was only about 20 minutes away and decided to try it in the fall of 2008.
That Saturday was the beginning of something that has become a part of our lives each week. It was the first week of the rotation, so many of our cards weren't legal, but our leader allowed it that day because of others still with older cards. I lost horribly that first day not knowing many rules or procedures in league play. We were introduced to the use of dice and an entirely new trading environment. Unfortunately, being the new guys had its downsides; being ripped off for some of our better cards and being shuffled to the bottom of the rankings. Over the next few weeks, we grasped the concepts and procedures of League Play and started hearing about Premier Events. With Fall Battle Roads around the corner, we prepared our decks. Like all new players, we had inner expectations of stealing the show with our newer decks and being the top dog. Like all new players, we didn't steal the show or be the top dog, but we learned a lot that day. We learned how to make better decks and what to do to improve our skill and knowledge of the game.
Throughout the following months, we prepared for City Championships through trading, testing, and losing...yes, losing. We spent hours upon hours throughout the week getting ready for Saturday leagues. My brother cycled through decks every couple of days trying to see what he could do, while I was another player trying to prove that an underrated deck could do well. Like most newer players, I would come with decks that I thought would work great, but didn't hold their own against the seasoned veterans. Trying everything from a Garchomp/Metagross/Heatran/Regigigas list to a Darkrai/Mewtwo list, I thought I was hot stuff ready to be top cutting each week. I remember the first time I top cut with my Togechomp list (stolen from Garch of course). I took second to another Garchomp player. With the release of Stormfront, we began to grow as players, but still weren't near top cut material. Between net-decking our lists and learning the ins and outs of strategy, top cut started getting closer and closer. Once City Championships were here, it was time to show what I had learned over the previous months of trial and error. My brother and I had put so much effort into our decks for the three City Championships we would be attending.
For CC's, we made our trips two weeks in a row to see how we stack up against the best that Oklahoma (and some Texans and Kansas players) had to offer. My younger brother ended up sweeping the Senior division taking 2nd, 4th, and another 2nd place at the three CC's with decks I made for him. He was the youngest in his division, too! While I ended up missing top cut each time, I found that I had improved immensely. I was 3-1 at one CC, but had to leave early for a family event. These premier events were the motivation I needed to become the better player I have become today. Being able to play against some of the best players (including Johnny Kettler) helped tremendously in my journey to improve my deck building as well as playing skills.
Seeing these great players in action and seeing how they played gave insight on what to do in situations that may seem un-winnable. This was truly something that all new players need to see; watch the great players in your area play. I see so many new players (like myself at the time) act arrogant and stubborn. Several are persistent at being different to the point that they can't win. There's a reason that archetype decks are archetypes; they win. Yes, a good rogue deck is a sign of excellent deck building, but when rogue decks are that great, they become the archetypes.
After City Championships, I took my newly gained knowledge and put it to good use. I began to make my own decks and understand how draw engines and synergy worked. In a metaphorical sense, I learned the ways of the "force". There seemed to be a clear line that I crossed after that point that propelled me from the below average to average player. While I wasn't top cutting, I was putting up a fight against the top players and wasn't getting run over anymore. In a matter of a couple months, I began finding myself top cutting as well as beating some of the best players in the area. Making my own decks and play-testing against other players outside league play boosted my abilities as a player to where I was able to play the game like I had hoped six months before. While I'm in no position to call myself a great player, I am a decent player who is on a journey to improve, teach others, and follow Spirit of the Game. Every week is a new adventure leading to larger venues to play at. With States and Nationals around the corner, many of us casual players trying to get our name out there have our work cut out for us.
I look forward to learning even more and diving deeper into the community through places like this where we can gather through technology to share thoughts and ideas on the game we have all grown to love. Throughout this learning period, I have made friends, found something to work on, and become a part of a community that is generally there to support each other. The world of Pokemon TCG welcomed me with open arms as it does for almost all players. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me as a player in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Feel free to share your experiences or journey from the beginning of your early PTCG days to now.
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