A Full Circle — My 2024 Season-in-Review
June 13, 2024It’s been a bit, so some background on what this is: once upon a time, I played the Pokemon TCG pretty competitively. At one point, I wrote a whole bunch for SixPrizes.com, and even took a stint managing its day-to-day operations toward the end. This blog was the result of having some opinions and content that didn’t make sense for SixPrizes. I archived a whole bunch during the PTCG’s brush with national news, but once upon a time, I routinely made season reflection posts here. For quite a few years as I transitioned from player to staff member, it…
A 2022 Rearview: Favorites from the Renaissance Year
Happy almost-2023! It’s been quite a journey of a year, personally, and that’s something I know is true for many others as well. Really, for a lot of folks, I think it was the first year where 2019-type normalcy returned…
The Return Rotunda: Play! Pokemon’s 2022 Resumption
Are you excited? After the abrupt end to, you know, life, in March 2020, it’s been a slow road to something resembling the before times. “Normal,” how much of it we’ve attained, and how much of it we’re likely attain…
The Shortened Season: The 2020 Pokemon TCG Championship Series
Some months ago, during the lull between the 2019 Pokemon North America Championships and the 2019 World Championships, a friend-who-shall-remain-anonymous and I predicted that 2020 would be a wild ride, perhaps the season to end all seasons. We didn’t quite…
An Insight on Interventions: Perspectives from Pokemon TCG Judging
Spoiler alert: Sometimes, you don’t have all of the answers. I left behind a chapter of life behind as a competitive player in the Pokemon Trading Card Game behind after the 2018 World Championships. It sounds a little silly and…
The Wonder of Worlds: On Pokemon’s TCG World Championships
Competition: a driving ideal behind the pinnacle sporting events of modern times—the Olympics, Super Bowl, World Series, Champion’s League Final—and a whole host of other events known throughout the world. For participants and supporters of those participants alike, these events…
Exploring the Pokemon TCG’s Best Finish Limits in 2019
Exactly a year ago, I was headed into a rare “off” weekend on the Pokemon TCG World Championships grind. Bookended by trips to Sao Paulo, Salt Lake City, and Toronto on one end, and Roanoke (VA), Madison, Singapore, Mexico City,…
On “Everyone”
A common trope when a top name takes heat in a given circle is to spread the blame—”oh, everyone does it.” This manifests once in awhile in the Pokemon Trading Card Game competitive scene, and unfortunately, it’s one of those…
A Chapter in Endings and Beginnings
Everything ends. I want to announce one such ending today. In April 2017, I embarked on a journey with my friend Alex Hill over on SixPrizes.com, assuming joint responsibility for day-to-day operations of the site from its owner, Adam Capriola.…
A Reflection on My Community Involvement in PTCG
What a wild ride. I thought I might be able to get away without making this post, but I think it’s better that I wrap everything and put a proverbial bow on the last few years. Better for me in…
“The End of the Line” – Lessons, Experiences, and Memories of the 2017-18 Season
“PND”—Post-Nationals Depression. Dating back to the days of US Nationals, especially coming to prominence over the last few years of the tournament’s existence, it refers to the effect of spending 4 days at the biggest Pokemon event of the year,…
