- Joined Jul ’11
3 articles written
Pokémon TCG Tips & Strategy
Bio: My name is Kennan and I’m a Master from Washington State. Like most younger people who play the game, I started playing when I was about seven because my friends introduced me to it. I played casually with them for a couple years, then eventually lost interest as I grew older. About a year after that, I was exposed to the competitive side of the game by a different friend and got into it all over again, now playing to win but having just as much fun as before.
It took me awhile to get into the game enough to want to spend money on a Tier 1 deck. For a couple years, I just played with whatever I had cards to build and without much success. It wasn’t until the ’08-’09 season that I finally invested in staples like Roseanne’s Research and Claydol and started building “good” decks. It was my second year as a Senior then. This is also the season I started to do well in tournaments. I started the season off with a Battle Roads win, which gave me the confidence to take 2nd at States and win Regionals soon afterward. This got me a paid trip to Nationals, where I placed Top 16 and secured my Worlds invite. I went a disappointing 4-3, but learned that I had a lot to learn before truly being good at the game – an important lesson.
The next season, there weren’t many good Seniors in my area and most events – even large ones – cut to a Top 2 or Top 4. I quickly got bored and took another break from the game after placing 3rd at the first weekend of States.
It wasn’t until the LCQ of the ’10-’11 season that I picked the game back up again. Thanks to my parents being amazingly supportive, I was able to fly down there and play one last tournament as a Senior. I ended up losing in the final round to the ’10 National Champion, but I had a blast anyway.
Although this season isn’t over yet, I’ve already been very successful in my first year as a Master. I secured my second Regionals win in the fall, and placed Top 4 and Top 8 at Regionals on top of many cuts and wins at Battle Roads and Cities.
Aside from playing Pokémon, I play soccer, run cross country (not to say I’m that great at either, though), and spend time with friends.