pokemon again
Not playing competitive Pokemon for the last few years left us with some time to do other fun things, but when we hear that there's a chance to play again that doesn't matter: we need to be back in it! The only problem is that, since we weren't playing, we've barely gotten any new cards for the past couple years! Not being collectors, we only either buy singles that we need to make particular decks, or open packs that we get as prizes from events. OK, so there are some packs from birthdays and Christmas. And we did three or four prerelease tournaments at home when the new sets released during the pandemic. But that's nowhere near enough to build competitive decks, so when I heard that Omar's in Lexington was hosting a tournament on Saturday it was kind of a scramble to get decks ready in time! To get three decks ready, even, since Zion wanted to play too. But with a lot of money thrown at TCGPlayer.com and some help from friends, we did it. And then it was so delightful to be back in the scene!
some of the Poké kids
Stores still aren't able to host events that give out Championship Points, so this one was only for prizes... but that was alright because we've made the sad decision that we're not able to go to London this year for Harvey to compete in the World Championships (the World Championships that he qualified for back in 2019). Since we paid $10 each to enter the event our goal was to get at least six packs in prizing—they cost about $5 each on the open market so that way we're breaking even, plus getting in some fun games with awesome people. As it happened we walked away with eight, thanks to Zion taking first place in the Juniors division. Harvey and I didn't do as well—we each only won a single game—but we both got a bye and thanks to resistance both ended up in third place for our age categories. So we contributed our share of the family pot too.
Of course, the real draw was getting to play with people again! There was a good mix of kids and adults, and of good players and beginners—fewer competitive adults than we're used to seeing, but then again Omar's has never really been able to draw them. While I wished I was able to win more than the one game, the two that I lost were close and competitive and actually more fun than my one win, which was easy and quick. And the good games didn't end with the tournament! In order to get ready we needed to do some practice sessions, among ourselves and with friends, and that was lots of fun on its own. And now everyone is excited for the next event in July, so you can bet there'll be lots more playing to come.