4.28.00
Dear Pojo,
Aside from the recent Team Rocket Craze, there has
been a recent development that is very exciting for the Pokemon CCG;
Pokemon is now reaching out and grabbing the children of European
countries. At first glance, this may mean very little...but now that
Pokemon has reached almost all the continents, possibilities for a
“Pro-Tour” style tournament is very likely.
Along with the Globalization of the game, comes the
next expansion after Team Rocket: Gym Series 1. This is a set that
will turn the game on it’s head, and will hopefully put a great deal
more strategy into the game. This is another reason a large scale
invitational tournament seemed out of the question. With out a
variety of decks out there, no one wants to see a large tourney. Who
wants to see hundreds of kids battle it out with nearly the same deck?
To be honest, though, a large number of players ARE
children which makes long trips to huge tourneys an almost impossible
task. But I think with parents and the adult players...the possibility
isn’t out of reach.
Currently, there is a “Super Trainer”
tournament in California this summer.
It is the first invitational style tournament to
hit the world of Pokemon, and its step in the right direction. Problem is,
though, the tourney's invitations don’t reach more east than Minnisota.
I hope Wotc will realize this error. With out including the whole
Pokemon player circle, you lose a great number of good, competitive
players.
Eventually, Pokemon will reach the same level of
competivness in Europe and beyond which will hopefully cause Wotc to
realize a Magic-style Pro-tour
could be even bigger for Pokemon. For years
Wotc has been crossing continents with its successful Magic:TG game, I
think its Pokemon’s turn.
When I first started playing Pokemon, I seriously
doubted the lasting ability of the game, but as of right now, I think
Pokemon has a good chance of staying on in popularity for many years to
come. Some day, our 1st edition Base set pokemon cards
will be seen like “beta” cards in Magic, and later years kids will
ooooh and aaah at our Super old collection while they hold Neo 2 cards and
beyond in their small hands.
Thanks for Reading
TYLER Grund