WOTC CHAT FOR 6/15/00
Wow!! This was some chat today! In addition
to the regular Q&A, the big buzz was about the preliminary details for
the Super Trainer Showdown (STS) on July 22 at the Queen Mary in Long
Beach CA. All the details have not been finalized yet, but here are
the main points from the opening announcements courtesy of
Master_Trainer_Mike (aka “the Weedle guy”):
·
“There will be NO admission fees charged for this
event.”
·
“There will also be King of the Hill Tournaments and
various other side events.”
·
“You must bring your badge book with three stamps, or an
invitation from a tournament win to participate in the main event.”
·
“The main event is swiss format.”
·
“Three age categories: 10 & under, 11-14, and 15 and
up.”
·
“The 15 and up catagory can use cards up to and including
the Team Rocket set.”
·
“The 10 and under and 11-14 catagories will be required to
play with Base set and Jungle cards only.” {NOTE: This really got the
most buzz on the chat; I’ll explain later...}
·
“Every player in this tournament will receive a minimum
gift of a tee-shirt and Tournament certificate.”
·
“Three fist place winners ( one from each age division)
will receive a Gold Medal, 32 boosters, and a “Master Trainer
Champion” Event Jacket and Cap.”
·
“Three second place winners ( one from each age division)
will receive a Silver Medal, 28 boosters, and an Event Jacket and Cap.”
·
“Six third place winners ( one from each age division)
will receive a Bronze Medal, 20 boosters and an Event Jacket and Cap.”
·
“Twelve fourth place finishers (four from each division
will receive a Tournament Plaque, 16 boosters, and an Event Cap.”
·
“Twenty-four fifth place winners (eight from each
division) will receive a Tournament Certificate and 12 boosters.”
·
“Forty-eight sixth place winners (16 from each division)
will receive a Tournament Certificate and 8 boosters.”
·
“Four hundred Sixteen runners up will each receive a
Tournament Certificate.”
There was also some info on a Mall Tour date
change:
·
“The June 24-25th Mall Tour stop in Oklahoma
City has been changed to Houston, TX.”
·
“The correct location for this event will be: The
Woodlands Mall, 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr., Houston”
“(281)363-3363.”
* {NOTE: Later he said that “The Mall
that it was scheduled in for
Oklahoma City canceled it on us so we had to relocate
it quickly.”}
And some info on the upcoming Pokemon Movie 2000
promo cards:
·
“The Pokemon 2k movie promo cards will be: Ancient Mew,
Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. During the movie’s first week of release only
the Ancient Mew will be given out while supplies last.=20
·
After the first week, the Legendary Bird promo cards will be
given out. Once again while supplies last. The Legendary Bird
promos all look unigue as far as artwork and card text are concerned.”
Here are some additional tidbits that were not part
of the “official announcements”, but were part of the regular chat
questions:
New Gym information:
Q: When will Gym Leader sets come out?
A: Master_Trainer_Pat says, “Gym:Heroes-August
and Gym:Challenge:October.”
Q: In the upcoming Gym Series, will there be holo
and non-holo forms of the same card?
A1: Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Nope.”
A2: Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Looks like it will
be more like the Base set with different holo and non-holo rares.”
Q1: Wll there be a holo in each gym pack
Q2: Will there be always a holo or 1/3 like now on
the gyms? A:
Master_Trainer_Pat says, “No, the holos will be distributed as normal;
it will be one out of 3 like before.
Movie Promo Cards:
·
Ancient Mew has no number on it, Moltres will be #21, and
Zapdos is #23. They haven’t seen the Articuno yet, but they’re
guessing that it will be #22.
·
The Legendary birds will not be available until after the
first week of the movie.
STS:
A lot of people were really frustrated to hear that
the under 15 age classifications can only play with Base (1 or 2) &
Jungle cards. The explanation for this was because the STS is going
to have participants from the European Tournament winners and Fossil &
Team Rocket have not been released over there yet. When several
people complained that “it’s unfair” and “we’ll be ruined”,
the debate got rather heated. Here are some of the things the MT’s
had to say about it:
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Why is it tourture? A good
player should be able to compete in a variety of formats. Take it as a
challenge to out think and out create your opponents.”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Gang, you have had the Base and
Jungle cards for over 1 ˝ years, they just got the cards within the last
6 months.”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “To be a true competitor in
tournaments you should be able to build decks and compete in a variety of
limited formats. This has always been the case with Magic and the other
major TCG’s.”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “If you want Pokemon to be taken
seriously for competition, this is the way it is sometimes done.”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Keep in mind gang, that the
rules on the event (as far as what cards can or can’t be played) MIGHT
change. If it does, of course we will tell you about it.”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “If you would rather that we
DON’T say ANYTHING until it is confirmed (so we don’t have to keep
defending ourselves) then we can just keep silent .”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Kay??”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Let’s all play nicely in the
sand box together shall we??”
·
Master_Trainer_Mike says, “Next question.”
Now having a Rocket-based deck myself, I can
understand why people can get frustrated about it. But on the other
hand, like they said, you have to be able to compete in a variety of
different formats (now where did I put that old Farfetch’d...).
The Japanese contenders had to deal with the same thing in last years
“Tropical Mega Battle” when dealing with the Americans; think about
that for a moment.
And here’s a description of one of the side
events that will be at the STS:
Q: What is the King of the Hill Tournament?
A: Master_Trainer_Mike says, “It starts with 48
players, 24 will win. Those 24 stay to play another 24. This continues
until each person loses once (and they are done) or they win 3 games. Then
the best records and score will win overall.”
Other highlights:
·
Holo Eevee Promo #11 will be available through Pokemon Leage
beginning with Season 7 (Volcano Badge).
·
Biggest unconfirmed rumor is that they may be working plans
for an English version of Birthday Pikachu (“There are possible plans
yes” and “Maaaybe......”)
·
They are working on organizing another “Tropical Mega
Battle” (US vs Japan) like last year, but no details yet.
·
Still no details on an East Coast trainer tour, but
they’re working on it and there will eventually be one.
· There was one Guest chat account (Qu. #146) that claimed to be “Scott Gerhardt, Assistant Webmaster for Pojo.com” (hmm, “Imposter Professor Scott” <grin>).
(Pojo
Note: no .. I don’t think
it was an imposter … I was on the phone with Scott when he decided to
log in. ;)
That’s all for
this week,