12.30.04  Award categories in Patriach's Palace 12-22

THE CONCLUSION OF POJO AWARDS 2!!!

First off, I'd like to thank you all who voted! I must say that it was a big success, with nearly 50 individuals voting! Yet, despite the large turnout, it was amazing to see how close some matches were...and how not-close others were. So, without further ado, here are your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places for the Second Annual Pojo Awards!!!

1. BEST DECK (E-ON):

1st: Blaziken. It dominated Cities. It dominated States. It dominated Gym Challenges. Heck, it dominated the West Stadium, and almost dominated Worlds! But yes, Blaziken was voted as "best deck" by a very wide margin; over 50% thought that Blaziken was the top E-on deck.

2nd: Gardevoir. A consistent deck that managed to do okay during the cc, state, and gc series, won the National Championships, and placed 2nd at the South Stadium Challenge. The deck pooped out, with only a couple T32 showings at worlds in all three divisions, but is still remembered as one of the best.

3rd: Magma. Barely edging out Swampert in votes, the absolute winner of the World Championships, in each age group, was recognized by our voters.

2. BEST DECK (RS-ON):

1st: Blaziken. The voters chose Blaziken for the E-on award, and just BARELY chose it for the RS-on award. With cards like Pidgeot adding a much-needed boost to a format with no Oracle, Blaze is still considered the best in a balanced format.

2nd: Dark Dragonite. This deck is a fast, consistent beast shown to be popular throughout city championships. Combined with cards like Pidgeot and Dark Hypno, Dragonite is actually able to gain an advantage over Blaziken! Dragonite lost the first place by 2 votes.

3rd: Blastoise ex. A deck extremely hyped before its initial release, Stoise ex was still able to gain much fan support. Whirpool your opponent to victory!

3. BEST ROGUE DECK (RS-ON):

1st: Lanturn. This vote was, without a doubt, the closest out of any other, with not even the winner breaking into double digit votes (Lanturn won with 9). Many remember the new rogue upset Nike PK started with this deck, and it has since evolved into an underground success,

2nd: Dark Ampharos. In combination with the basic-beating Dark Tyranitar, an Amphy can absolutely rip apart another deck. We may see more of this soon...

3rd: Flygon. Still a popular card ever since its release, players have a newfound reason to run it, with the rise of Dark Dragonite.

4. BEST EVENT (03/04 Season):

1st: World Championships. This tournament was jam-packed with an insane amount of activity...300 of the world's top players fighting to show their worth...the prerelease of a new set...heck, they even had Pokemon Rocks America outside (and it was pretty enjoyable before the storm came in -_-). I wouldn't mind going to Florida again. Hopefully us Americans won't be run down by the Japanese next time ^_^"""

2nd: South Stadium Challenge. Held at the Arlington Convention Center, it was run by two of America's best PTO's, Charles (Richard) Collinsworth, and Vince Krekeler. There was a high level of competition down south, yet there were surprises at every corner, including Crobyss taking top honors, and two Exploud decks (run by Colin Moll and, obviously, William Hung =p) annihilating Swiss.

3rd. National Championships. Although Nationals was an event with several mishaps, it was a fun time when it started going, with great gamers literally fighting into the night.

5. LEAST WASHED-UP:

1st: Chris Fulop. 2nd at a City Championship, 4-3 record at nationals, T8 at a Gym Challenge, 2nd at a Stadium and 2nd at Worlds...I must say that he had quite the successful season!

2nd: Jason Klaczynski. Having not played in a year, he decided to play just for the heck of it, and T8'ed the National Championships...insane!

3rd: Martin Moreno. Tournament after tournament, Martin missed out on a top placing or prize by just a bit...the curse ended at the San Diego GC, where he won. Is he back???

6. BIGGEST UPSET:

1st: Magma Winning Worlds. Tsugoyoshi Yamato probably had the toughest competition out of ANYONE at worlds. He played Patriarch, Martin Moreno, Pablo Meza (Mudkip on Pokegym), Pooka, Newman, Tom Dolezal, Eric Craig, Colin Moll, and Chris Fulop...and beat us all with a deck nobody expected to be the best of the day. This was the absolute biggest blowout vote than any other in the Pojo Awards.

2nd: Nationals. Also a big upset...in more than one sense. With software busting, the winner of a side event playing the same person three times in a row, and Gardevoir winning...the event was an absolute surprise.

3rd: Wailord ex. The deck that got blasted by so many, and eventually revived, and allowed to T8 the World Championships. Wailord ex isn't that bad! =(

7. BEST POKEMON SITE:

1st: Pokegym. After the decline of Wizards, only one site's popularity was unaffected, and that was the Pokegym. Run by Team Compendium, it is the premier message board of the Pokemon community.

2nd: Poke-Neo. Owned by Mr. Levi Canfield, and now moderated by Eric Brooks, it had major support in this contest...a board of only 50 people was just four votes away from beating a message board with 2000!

3rd: Pojo. This message board is still considered a force, and with the return of many old writers, and the rise of new ones, this could reclaim its award in this category next year.

8. MOST OUTSPOKEN:

1st: Lia Van Bemmelen. So much has been revolving around what she says about international OP, it's insane. The condition of Netherlands OP, earning the much-criticized "sportsmanship award" at worlds, and officially retiring her professor connections with PUI. If you hear worldwide controversy, then you know Rainbowgym is around.

2nd (tie): Martin Moreno. Definitely one of the more animated members of the group of good players nowadays, he is the center of all sorts of controversy, including nearly all of the "pranks" in the 11th category.

2nd (tie): Matthew Riddle. If he has something to say, he'll say it! Considered by some to have been as vocal as Pojo's former Pokemaster1110, "Prime" has made his opinions well-known on his tournaments and deck ideas.

9. BEST PLAYING AREA IN THE USA:

1st: Ohio/Michigan. This area is home to many of the game's big names, and a center stage for challenges from out-of-area players like Alex Brosseau and Jason Klaczynski. These quality players are varying from the nicest folk you'd ever meet, to cutthroat pros who will use all legal means to their advantage.

2nd: Texas/Oklahoma. This region is a high-quality one that hosted the South Stadium, and will hopefully host it again. The center of Southern Pokemon, it is home to many great players, most of which are still unknown in the Pokemon world.

3rd: East. This area of the country is also home to many top-notch deckbuilders and players, from North Carolina, all the way up to Pennsylvania! It's always exciting to see these guys have at it!

10. FUNNIEST POKEMON-RELATED PRANK:

1st: CFK's Pichu Scavenger Hunt. Sean Gagnon/Crossformatkid, arguably one of the most bizarre people ever to play the Pokemon TCG, has had his Pichu doll stolen from him SEVERAL times, and the results of what happens when he hunts for it...are hilarious =P

2nd: Dumping a Bag of Unown A's from the 14th story of a building. So you've been collecting an outright AWFUL card for no apparent reason...for several years. Well, what do you do with them??? You CHUNK THEM ON SOMEBODY'S HEAD!!!! Aaaaahahahah!!!

3rd: Sucking on an officer Jenny figurine. At the South Stadium Challenge, I actually did this, and in front of several people...however, I need not worry, 'cause they know I'm weird already! Insanity makes this game go around and around, though. =)

11. SEXIEST PLAYER:

1st: Colin Moll (Swanton1717). Evanescence, Pink fingernails, and, in Patrick Kewley's opinion, a, "soft n' sweet voice." The Moller of St. Louis, with his flamboyant playing of the rogues, and of the community, he has won the title of the sexiest player in the game of Pokemon.

2nd: John Kettler (Patriarch). Lol, when the panel nominated me (not to mention me nominating myself =P), I was surprised that I didn't get last place. I mean god, Freddy K and Levi are so much sexier =(

3rd: Kyle Sucevich. A friend once told me that Walrein was sexy in the morning...well, with Kyle, it's sexy all day long!

12. BEST PTCG ERA:

1st: 03/04. Nintendo has brought back much which we lost, and rolled it all into one season; SBZ's through city championships, Gym Challenges from 2002, and a World Championships, much like the level of competition in old STS days. Yes, the great times that were 03/04 will still be remembered for quite some time.

2nd (tie) 04/05. It's barely any of the 04/05 season yet, and people are already looking forward to the bright things ahead of us! It was just two votes short of winning, and tied 13 to 13.

2nd (tie) STS days. Although the format may not have been the best necessarily, the STS times were the absolute most active for the game, and had a high level of competition always.

So, congratulations to our winners, and I hope to see even better attendance for the third Pojo awards!!! Ciao ^_^

~Patriarch

 

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