competing on Saturday
I like playing Pokemon. Of course, I like lots of other things too, so it isn't always—often—a priority. Also with competitive play still only slowly starting to come back after the pandemic, there aren't as many chances to get in there with the card game. And while our local store runs monthly events, I ended up having to judge for the last one rather than playing. So I was eagerly looking forward to the tournament this past Saturday, and with a careful eye on the metagame developing after the new set released a couple weeks ago ordered cards to make some fun new decks. When Saturday's mail arrived without the most important parts of the order, I was thrown into despair and ready to skip the whole thing. But Zion—now part of our family team—was still eager to go, and was bringing a friend along, so Harvey and I packed up the same old decks we made last month and headed to the store. And I'm glad we did!
who expected the lunarock meta?!
Not only did we have a great time with a fine bunch of folks who are obsessed with the same dumb thing we are, Harvey and I both finished first in our age divisions. It wasn't a super-competitive group, but it was still rewarding. Zion, who took down the last two events in the Junior division, was third this time, and his friend was fourth.
Most of the folks there were long-time players—it was especially nice meeting up with a family we had spent some time playing with before the pandemic but hadn't seen since. One junior was new to the scene, though, and besides being the only girl in the room she also wasn't entirely in the know about what makes a good deck. She came in with lots of energy and enthusiasm, but when the final round finished with her fourth straight loss she looked ready to give up on Pokemon entirely. I didn't want that! I had brought a box of spare trainer cards (in the distant hope that we could borrow the missing cards and put together the deck I had hoped to have) so I gave her a bunch of those, and then gave her one of the packs that I got as prizing. Hopefully that makes a difference, and we'll see her again at the next event. Because playing Pokemon is fun!