This is my first tournament I have played for Pokemon. I had played a
Magic one 5 years ago back in my short-lived phase of that game, so I
was out of practice and kind of nervous. I wanted to show my little
brother (age 10), and his two friends that came along as well, that I'm
good at this game, and I also didn't want to be out three bucks, but
instead get some mad store credit.

It was played at a local store called The Compendium, on September 4th,
1999. It was a DCI sanctioned tourney, played Swiss style; six rounds,
plus two final rounds. I was clearly the oldest "kid" there out of the
16 that were entered. (I'm 19. Don't laugh, my little brother got me
into it.) But, of course, Pokemon is a nerdy game, so the kids are smart
enough not to have total crap decks. But wow, they were almost enough to
make me not want to ever play again. It was like my magic days all over,
but somehow worse. Even though all of you older kids don't want to admit
it, all the kids who play Pokemon are hardcore nerds. I mentioned this
to my brother and his friends after the tourney, and one of the friends
said "We went to make Pokemon something for cool kids." I thought that
was very funny, indeed.

Here was my deck: (I did edit it some for each round [is that allowed or
what?], like swapping two Jigglypuffs for Hitmonchan when I played the
kid with the Psychic deck, adding an extra Hitmonchan when I played an
Electric deck. Hey, if they let me know what they are playing, it's
their problem.)

6x Fighting Energy
2x Double Colorless
19x Water Energy

4x Squirtle
3x Wartortle
2x Blastoise
3x Seel
2x Dewgong
3x Hitmonchan
2x Farfetch'd

4x Bill
4x Energy Removal
2x Gust of Wind
2x Professor Oak
1x Pokemon Trader
1x Super Energy Removal

(Looking back, I really had no need for 2x Double Colorless. If I wanted
to really win, I would have had more Traders and a few Breeders in there
as well. I just didn't have time to trade/buy all these cards.)

1st round.
I played a kid about age 15 or so. He was using a decently thought out
psychic deck, with the usual Mr. Mimes and such. I don't think he had an
Alakazam, though, so I don't really know what his strategy was. So we
played around a few turns, until I got a Blastoise out and whalloped all
his guys. I don't remember if I won from getting all my prizes or if he
ran out of basics. Either way, Psychic decks can't really be designed
around anyone but Alakazam, and this showed me why.

1-0-0

2nd round.
Played a 16-19 year old kid who really bugged me. He took, in a word,
forever. I couldn't tell what his strategy was, really, he had quite a
few pokemon in there.. fighting and colorless. He talked a lot about
what he was getting, and basically revealed his draws to me every turn.
It didn't really matter. I guess his goal was to get a Machamp out. But
we were both moving so slowly, all I did was keep putting my Hitmonchans
up as sacrifices, and prayed for a Blastoise to come out. By the time he
did, the time was almost up in the round. I activated the Blastoise, and
by that time my opponent had taken 5 of his prizes, and I only had 2 of
mine taken. I couldn't kill his guys fast enough, and we ended with a
draw.  Later, I noticed that everyone that played him ended up drawing
with him, or it ended very late into the round. Tip for players: Don't
take so long.

1-0-1

3rd round.
I played a kid, a small kid, who didn't have a real good grasp on the
game. He played a fire deck, and my deck being water based.. you can
guess how it turned out. It was really nasty. I felt kinda bad, but..
thats the way tournaments work.

2-0-1

4th round.
I was afraid of this 13-15 year old kid for more than just his deck. He
was psycho. One of those hardcore nerd kids that you try so hard not to
be if you are a 19 year old playing Pokemon. He was playing an electric
deck, and he loved to move fast and do everything for both players;
place damage counters, declare my attacks.. I had to tell him that I'd
put the counters on my own pokemon, and to quit rushing my turn.
Unfortunately, he got an Electrode out early and used his 20 damage
attack to take out all my water basics while I desperately hoped for a
Blastoise. I got a Watortle out, which was good, because he could do 40
damage, and I gust of winded up his Zapados, which had no energy on it
yet, so I thought that would last me awhile while I could draw a bit.
Yeah, too bad, he pulled a Switch trainer out, swapped the Zapados for
his Electrode and fried my Wartortle, who happened to be my last pokemon
out... my first loss.

2-1-1

5th round.
I played one of my little brothers friends, and I knew I would whup him.
He plays fire, and we all know what happens when people play fire
against a rain dance deck. Especially when I use so many Energy
removals. He was toasted fast, and I didn't even use my water guys that
much. Hitmonchan did most of it, he just couldn't put any energy on his
guys.

3-1-1

6th round.
I wish I could tell you I remember anything about this game. It must
have just worked and I won speedily. I seem to remember playing my
brothers other friend that was with us, and he just didn't get any
basics out early, and I schooled him.

4-1-1

(Rounds 5 and 6 may be swapped. But it dosen't matter.)

Finals.
That gave me 9 points, which was the second most in the tournament. They
paired me with the 3rd ranked guy, who was my bros friend with the
all-fighting deck. The 4th ranked kid, my 4th round partner, played the
#1 kid, who I had not played. I was afraid of facing him, so I hoped
that I would win this game, and play the nerdy kid, who frankly didnt
scare me, but just annoyed me. Unfortunately, the luck of the draw gave
me a single pokemon, Squirtle. Having drawn no more basics in a few
turns, and failing to paralyze with bubble, I was toasted and lost the
wussy way. But thats the way the game goes sometimes.

So I was in the loser finals game, where I could salvage 3rd by beating
my 4th round adversary, who lost to the #1 kid.  (By the way, the #1 kid
only lost once the entire day, and he was playing lightning, so I doubt
I would have won, either.) I got a Blastoise out early, thank heaven,
and just couldn't be stopped after that. He didn't have enough time to
fill out his bench, so he ran out fairly quickly. So I ended 3rd.

Score for the day: 5-2-1

Not bad for my first tourney, I thought. Just bad luck kept me from 2nd
place. I was pretty impressed with the prizes they gave out. Entery fee
was 3 bucks, first place got 24 in store credit, second 12, third 8, and
fourth 4. I got 2 boosters with my credit, and of course got absolute
crap. I haven't had a good booster in weeks.

I was also pretty impressed with my little bro and his friends. My bro
didnt make the finals because my fourth round opponent had beaten him as
well, so even though they both had 8 points, the other kid got in. But
his friend ended up second, so that was pretty cool. He even got a
Raichu holo out of a pack.

Here are some things I have to say about tourneys:
The conductors: play by the real rules. When time is up, whoever has the
most prizes left is the loser. (A "draw" was called if time ran out.
They didn't count prizes or anything.) Also, have more clearly defined
rules for the kids to follow. I had to stop some kids from doing things
totally wrong during their games. If the conductors made sure the kids
knew what they were doing, then there would be many fewer problems.
Kids: Why are you such nerds? Seriously. I need to know. Quit telling me
what I am doing during my turn, learn the rules,  and quit trying to
cheat the other kids. And quit collecting and not playing. I hate you
for all the Gyarados and beat-up Charizards you have. And get some
damage counters!!! (Like 5 kids had damage counters. I had to share
every game. Very annoying, and wasted some time.)
Older kids: be nice, yet firm to the younger kids that don't know what
they are doing. And don't try to cheat them because they believe
everything you say.

So there is my long tourney story. I am looking forward to my next. I'll
bring an all fighting deck to use when I play lightning decks. =)

Shane Beers
beerssl@email.uc.edu