PVGC

The PVGC Spring Regionals 2014

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So sorry I haven’t written a blog in a while.  Specifically, a GAMING related blog.  I started a new job recently, and even MORE recently blew my back out so it’s been tough to find time to write.

Despite my back feeling like crap, last weekend JDubz and I took a trip up to Sturbridge, MA to attend the 2014 Spring Regionals of the Pokemon Video Game Championships (PVGC).  I had been preparing a team for a month so I wasn’t going to skip the competition!

Want to hear about my team/strategy?  If you have any suggestions please comment!

My PVGC Team

Introducing my team!!

  • Blastoise
  • Gengar
  • Kangashkan
  • Dragonite
  • Marowak
  • Zoroark

You might think… that’s kind of a weird doubles team.  I’m not a big fan of gimmicks or relying on status moves to win battles.  I’m more of a guns blazing, offense-only kind of player.  So my strength is in having Pokemon that either deal out hard hits or Pokemon that can really roll with the punches.  My team is a little misleading.  I only have Zoroark in there to throw people off of their game.  He’s not EV trained or anything, just there to make people wonder “Am I battling Zoroark right now?” during turn 1.  Dragonite, while awesome, is also just there for show.  Dragonite is my fairy-bait.  Since my Gengar is a fairy-killer, I have the popular Dragonite on my team so people will feel compelled to bring out their fairy types into battle in case I’m using a dragon type.

The four Pokemon I always use are Blastoise and Marowak (team A) and Gengar and Kangashkan (team B).  Marowak has Lightning Rod ability, which will keep Blastoise safe.  I keep Gengar and Kang together for fighting ghost types, plus Gengar has Levitate to keep him safe from Kang’s Earthquake.  Both Blastoise and Kang have their Mega Stones as held items so I have options against my opponents.  When fighting a team with ghost types, I keep Kangashkan with his Scrappy ability and Mega-Evolve Blastoise.  Otherwise, I go Mega with Kang for that extra hit that you get with Parental Bond, which really helps Power-Up Punch.

Of course, my team is vulnerable to many types and has plenty of holes.  But in this generation, there’s no real safe type combination, so everyone just goes with their personal style.  My team didn’t hold up well against the tough  competition at PVGC, but I did win my first match because of my team’s synergy.  My opponent didn’t account for Marowak’s Lightning Rod and got locked into a harmless Lightning Bolt attack with his Choice Scarf on Gardevoir.  It’s usually careless errors like that which determine who wins and who loses.  Unfortunately for me, that first win made me cocky and I made some questionable choices in my second two battles.

After 3 matches, they announced there would be a lunch break.  JDubz found out that if you had any losses by this point, you had no chance at Top 8, and since my back was killing me we decided to call it a day.  We still had a lot of fun and I know that while my team struggled a bit in doubles… it will be great for singles battles at PAX!  (Btw if you are interested in learning who won the regionals, check this link out!)

That’s right, this upcoming weekend is PAX East 2014.  My back is still messed up so I probably won’t be able to walk around all weekend at PAX.  However, since Nintendo isn’t showcasing at the convention, I probably won’t be missing too much.  But what I DON’T plan to miss is my panel… the Pokemon X&Y: Competitive Trainer Seminar!  I’m hosting a panel, along with JDubz, Pete from SPNYC, and KC and JV from the Pocket Players on Saturday, April 12 from 1-2pm.  I was really afraid I might miss the panel, but I think my back can survive for an hour.  I put too much work into making this panel happen, I refuse to not attend!  The only other thing I’m going to make sure to try out is the PAX Pokemon League.  It’s a popular singles competition where you can seek out and challenge gym leaders on a few different skill tiers.  If you beat the designated gym leaders, you get a badge.  Collect all of the badges in your tier and you can fight the PAX Elite 4!  How cool is that??  So I’m excited to try out my teams in a singles environment.

Wish me luck!

 

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2013 PVGC Recap!

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Editor’s Note:  Before I start this entry, I would like to make a statement.  Like most Americans, I was shocked and saddened by the senseless bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon this past Monday.  My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and I wish these violent attacks on innocent civilians would stop happening.  My father is from the Boston area, and after taking two trips to New England in the past weeks, I feel a deep emotional attachment to Boston.  I just wanted to show my support for Bostonians and Americans alike.  We must stay strong.

This past weekend was the 2013 Pokemon Video Game Championships!  This year it was being held in Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, in Foxboro, MA.  Having just been up there for PAX East a few weeks ago, JDubz and I were pumped to get on the road and visit our home away from home!  I took a bunch of photos so we are going to proceed in “Photolog Mode.”

We packed up the gang and got ready to drive up to Massachusetts!

I love driving up to Boston because we pass so many windmills! They look just like the one I have in AC:NL! 😀

We stayed at America’s Best Value Inn, which was a MUCH nicer hotel than the one we stayed at for PAX. This hotel even had a “night club” but DJ K.K. was nowhere to be found. 😛

Approaching Gillette Stadium! I really liked this eBay Tower. Not sure what it’s purpose is though.

Close up shot of Gillette Stadium. Pretty swanky!

I *think* we’re in the right place… XD

Talk about a Pokemon Stadium! While we weren’t actually competing in the stadium, they did have huge Pokemon logos up on the Jumbotrons! Imagine if we were able to play down on the field…?

Pokemon SWAG! All competitors were able to download a special Ludicolo, which was a replica of last year’s PVGC Champion’s Ludicolo that was on his winning team.

In addition, we also got these sweet Umbreon cards for the TCG!

Waiting for the Swiss rounds to get underway!

Even with my little Pokemon mascots cheering me on, I didn’t do so well. I went 0-4 in the Tournament before giving up. For those interested, my team was: Hydreigon, Gyarados, Drapion, Emboar, Glalie and Lucario. My main problem (I think) is that I approached this Tournament the wrong way – this team is probably better for a Singles battle. Most kids that had success had teams that worked together more harmoniously and had a theme, such as a Sandstorm team. For the next PVGC I’ll try to really focus on the dynamics of a Doubles battle and set my team up right!

*sad face* LOL this is after I decided to drop out of the Tournament.

JDubz did a little better than me and went 1-3 for the day. He’s the one on the left with the Umbreon hat. This photo was taken during his epic-ly long 20 minute battle with his opponent. If you’re interested, we have the footage from this Epic Steel Battle up on YouTube. Click the image to see the video!

I kinda felt like Emolga in this pic lol!

Don’t worry about me, I wasn’t expecting to do well at the PVGC.  I’m not really that competitive when it comes to Pokemon.  I really just went for the StreetPasses, Pokemon giveaways and for an excuse to take another road trip.  🙂  I am happy to report that I am now the Mayor of the Cracker Barrel in Connecticut on Foursquare!!  Hahaha!

That being said, I would be open if anyone has any Doubles teams suggestions for next year!  Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

The PVGC Report

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Yesterday was a long, exhausting, but awesome day!  JDubz and I took a road trip down to Philadelphia to participate in the Pokémon Video Game Championship Regional tournament.  I haven’t been to Philly since I was a kid, so I was also hoping to sneak in some sight-seeing while we were down there.

The registration for the Masters Division was set to start at 10 AM, so we woke up at the crack of dawn for our 2+ hour drive.  When we finally got to the convention center, I found my friends from the Pokémon DS NYC Meetup Group waiting in line to register, so we joined up with them.  They gave me a free t-shirt with the logo printed on it – the logo which I designed for them last year!  🙂

Once we were all registered, it became the waiting game.  We had to wait for the Junior and Senior Divisions to finish their tournaments before the Masters (aka old people lol) were able to compete.  We were supposed to start the Masters Division battles at noon, but once that time came around, there was an announcement that Masters wouldn’t be starting until 2pm.  While most people groaned and whined about all this waiting around, I was secretly happy – this meant I could squeeze in some tourism after all!

JDubz and I decided to head over to the Liberty Bell, which thankfully was less than 10 blocks away!  Here’s a picture of me with the bell, and you can see my Pokémon DS NYC shirt, as well as my new Ash Ketchum hat!

Glux & the Bell

Nevermind that I look like a zombie.  The lighting in there was just awful b/c it was so backlit.  You’d think they’d make the lighting a little better in an alcove containing a national landmark that people come to photograph all the time.  Or you’d think they’d at least turn the bell so that the cracked side would face the windows, so people could take better photos from that side of the room.  Oh well lol!

We also walked past Independence Hall, which is some kind of landmark… Sorry, I didn’t go inside and I don’t know what it is offhand.  Maybe that’s where they wrote the Declaration of Independence?  I dunno soo… here’s a photo!  lol

Independence Hall

We stopped by Dairy Queen on our walk back (we don’t have DQ’s in NY, so I was quite thrilled!) and by the time we arrived at the convention center, it was almost time to actually BATTLE!  The tournament was set up to have 7 rounds, with Swiss pairings.  This meant that even if you lost a match, it didn’t mean you were disqualified.  You could keep battling in each round, and only those with the best records overall would be given the prizes.  However, if you lose 3 battles or more… it was pretty much a sign that you weren’t going to win anything.

Inside the Tournament

Here’s a look at the room where the battling took place.  There were over 250 participants in the Masters Division, so it was pretty impressive how smoothly everything went, despite the waiting.  They posted two groups of people, matched them up and we battled away!  I was surprised at how FEW legendary Pokémon were in my opponents’ teams.  In fact, the only legends I battled were Zapdos and Cresselia.

OK time for the cold truth.  If you followed my tweets from yesterday, then you already know my record.  Basically, I performed terribly!  I am pretty weak in doubles battles, and since I’d done a huge overhaul of my team at the last minute, I wasn’t totally secure with my move set.  (I should have just kept my original team!  Dang it!)  My record for the day was 1-3.  That one win?  It was a win by default – my opponent didn’t show up, so they gave me a win for that round.

However, that’s not what I was disappointed in, really.  I knew I wasn’t going to be the top Pokémon battler.  But they were supposed to give us all a Shiny Shelmet trading card just for participating… but they ran out.  Luckily, I whined about it to some lady who was working the event, and she gave me a sheet of Pokémon stickers!  YES FOR SWAG!!

Golurk

Despite losing in an embarrassing fashion, having to wait around and not getting my shiny trading card, it was an awesome day.  I got to hang out with the Meetup group (we all wore the same shirt – it was so cute!), I got stickers, I picked up a card holder for my Kid Icarus AR cards, received over 65 StreetPass tags, we ate cheesesteaks after the tournament…  It was a great experience.  I only hope next year’s PVGC is a little closer to home – the drive home was over 3 hours and we were exhausted at the end of the day.

Did anyone else go to their regional tournament?  If you followed me on Twitter for updates on the tournament, how did I do?  What could I improve on?  I’m looking to improve my tweeting skills.  Should I have covered more general news about what everyone was doing?  Or did I do just fine?  Let me know, I’m curious!

So anyway… now I’m pretty much Black&White’d out, and I want to pick up one of the other games I’ve been neglecting.  Should I play SoulSilver, which I started last month?  Or what about Emerald, which I’m maybe half way through?  And let’s not forget about Kid Icarus and Harvest Moon, both games are awesome but I had to put them down to focus on Pokémon for this tournament.  Any suggestions on what I should play next?

IT’S CRUNCH TIME!

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Much to discuss today!  I’ve been so busy with the awesomeness that is Kid Icarus, I’ve barely had time to blog about all the other sweet games that are coming out soon.  And I haven’t even talked about Mario Party 9, which I’ve been playing off and on for a while.  ZOMG!  Not to mention the BIG DAY is fast approaching… the Pokémon Video Game Competition Regionals!

Spirit Camera

OK first things first:  Spirit Camera – Cursed Memoir.  If the above picture isn’t enough to convince you, then obviously you aren’t into this type of game.  I think this is a GENIUS idea for a game.  Spirit Camera is exclusively a 3DS game, and comes with an AR Book.  Much like the AR cards that accompany the 3DS console, this AR book contains certain images that, when scanned with the 3DS camera, brings ‘ghosts’ or ‘demons’ or something like that… to LIFE!  Basically this game turns your house into a ghost hunting journey!  You have to save your soul (I think?) from being trapped in the book (which they call a diary) forever!  Viewing your personal surroundings through the “Spirit Camera” aka your 3DS will show ghosts hiding in YOUR house and you have to deal with them!  OK I honestly have no idea what you actually have to do in this game other than run around with your 3DS… but honestly, that’s all the info I need to know to make me want to get this game!  Luckily my birthday is next week…  🙂

Spirit Camera is releasing on Friday, April 13th in North America.  Exciting!  Visit their hauntingly cool website for videos and more details!

Mario Party 9 is another game I’ve been playing lately.  This is a Wii console game, one of the few reasons for me to turn on my Wii these days.  I am enjoying the new take on the Mario Party style – instead of traveling around the game board on your own like in the previous versions, you are in a little car with your opponents, traveling together!  You have to fight Bowser’s minions along the way, and it’s a lot of fun.  However, I must honestly say that I’ve been playing the single player version of the game as well, and it’s kind of frustrating.  The new Mini Games are refreshing, but I do miss some of the fun items that you used to be able to acquire in the older versions.  In MP9, you only collect different types of dice, which is kind of boring.  But change is progress and I think the new style of gameplay works!  But it’s definitely more fun to play the multi-player mode.

B&W2

In other news, I posted something on my Facebook Fan Page (what?  You don’t like my page?  CLICK HERE NOW!) earlier today that had an actual RELEASE DATE for Pokémon Black and White 2.  This is only a release date for Japan mind you, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s accurate.  But people are saying June 23rd.  I am totally going to preorder the JP version of this game…  I can’t wait until the fall to get this game in English!  But I will wait for play-asia.com to actually have a release date listed on their site.  Then I’ll know it’s OFFICIAL and bite the bullet.  But I do enjoy procrastinating so I’ll do that for the next week or so lol!

Speaking of procrastinating, I’ve been doing that a lot in regards to my Pokémon team.  Despite the PVGC being less than a week away, I still haven’t fully assembled the team I will use to challenge my opponent[s].  In fact, I haven’t even printed out my official Player ID card or whatever I need to register for the event.  So I still have a lot of things to get done before Sunday!  But I am very much looking forward to going on a day trip to Philadelphia with JDubz!

As of now, my current team is:

  • ZAPRONG (Electivire)
    • A special Pokémon I received in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness!
    • Move set: Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Cross Chop
  • LUCARIO
    • He’s shiny!
    • Move set: Psychic, Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse
  • YABBA (Hydreigon)
    • Levitate ability!
    • Move set: Crunch, Hyper Beam, Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower
  • WHIMSICOTT
    • Another shiny!
    • Move set: Stun Spore, Grass Knot, Psychic, Hurricane
  • TOADETTE (Seismitoad)
    • Poison Touch ability!
    • Move set: Sludge Bomb, Drain Punch, Strength, Muddy Water
  • BATTY (Swoobat)
    • Fall in love with me!
    • Move set: Psychic, Attract, Fly, Shadow Ball

After writing this out… I wonder if I should sub in some other Pokémon.  A lot of people were using Haxorus at the last tournament I attended… should I swap him with Hydreigon?  Also, I realize I have doubled up on some moves.  Is that even allowed?  I should probably look into changing a couple of moves.  But I dunno if I have all the TM’s I’d need…

Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.  Does anyone have any recommendations or advice for my team?  All help is appreciated!!

The Big Reveal

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Well, it’s now Sunday, and as promised, a new game was revealed on the Japanese TV Show “Pokémon Smash!”  Or should I say, games?  That is because two titles were revealed:  “Pokémon White 2” and “Pokémon Black 2” and they are the sequels to the current games.

Most of the buzz surrounding these new games is based on the cover artwork.  It’s very similar to the cover art from B&W, however instead of Zekrom and Reshiram on their respective colors, we see two different (and NEW) forms of Kyurem!  Take a look:

It’s pretty cool!  It looks as though Kyurem is taking over Zekrom and Reshiram’s bodies or something!  I’m sure all that will be explained in the game and/or the movie.  B&W2 are slated to be released this June in Japan… no release date or anything for any other region.  (Of course!  Wah.)

Anyone else a little bit irked by the titles of these new games?  They just slapped a 2 on there?  What’s up with that?  Maybe they are saving Pokémon Gray for yet another game?  Or maybe they just don’t like Gray for a title?  I dunno.  What do you think?

Well that’s pretty much all the info that was revealed so far.  If you visit www.pokemon.com there’s a little video about B&W2 but not much else.  But as soon as more info is available, I’ll be sure to share it with you all!

While we wait for more info regarding the new games, I’ll be super busy playing B&W as I prep for 3 upcoming Pokémon Tournaments.  The first is the new International WIFI Tournament which will be held through the PGL this March.  Then I have a local tournament at a store called Play N Trade, here on Long Island.  April brings the official Pokémon Video Game Championships which is being held in Philadelphia.  Road Trip!!!  That’ll be fun.

Oh and of course, until then, I’ll have PokéPark 2, which releases TOMORROW!  Yeah!  So I will officially be all Pokémon’ed out after April.  Then I’ll probably be back to Harvest Moon, or maybe (by some miracle) Paper Mario 3D or AC3DS will come out.  Don’t hold me to that – I have no idea on the release dates for either one of those games!  If you see any info, please share it with me either here or on the Glux Box Facebook Page!  Thanks.  😀

Hiatus = Over!

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Hello my friends!  I am so sorry that I went on an unannounced hiatus during the holidays.  I know it’s not a big deal, but I had fully intended to post some cute holiday-oriented photos and had planned to like… wish you all a happy holiday and such.  So I apologize for not doing that.  I’m sure if you look through the blog archives you can find some holiday goodies from years past.

Anyway, so what have I been doing all this time?  Well DUH – when I’m not working, I’m GAMING!  Basically I’ve been too busy being a nerd to fulfill my nerdly duties of writing this blog!  Here’s what I’ve been working on lately:

  • Harvest Moon:  Tale of Two Towns – I’m at the end of Summer, Year 2.  Desperately trying to find an in-game husband, attempting to build up my farms, improve my lifestock, and all sorts of farmy stuff.  It’s super fun, but it’s a pretty girly game so it’s not for everyone.  But if you are playing this game, give me your friend code so we can take advantage of the WIFI capabilities!
  • Pokémon Emerald – My amazingly awesome friend Vella sent me a copy of the elusive Emerald GBA game, which I hadn’t been able to find in any GameStop in the Tri-State area.  Luckily, she found one in California, and sent it to me for Christmas!  (YOU ROCK!!!  Thank you!)  I’ve never played this particular title before, so for me its like, OMG NEW GAME!!  I’m only up to the third gym, and it’s so fun to start from scratch!
  • Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap – I always attempt to play Zelda games, but usually I end up getting stuck and/or frustrated with a particular part and eventually abandoning the game.  Thankfully, this game isn’t QUITE as difficult.  (Not to mention I downloaded a walkthrough guide for my new Kindle Fire which I consult when needed!)  The art style is very cute and it’s one of my favorite 3DS Ambassador games!
  • Swapnote – This is a free 3DS game/app that I really love.  If you are on my 3DS friend list, then you already know how much I enjoy drawing up notes and sending them to my friends.  I think it’s so cute!  I can attach photos, sound bytes and draw my own sketches… It’s just a lot of fun.  I’m into this kind of crap.  🙂
  • Pushmo – My new obsession.  I honestly just downloaded this game  from the 3DS eShop yesterday and I’m already addicted to it.  Part of me is worried that all my other games listed above will be put on the back burner until I completely beat this puzzle game.  (I am going to try to not let that happen!)  Pushmo really takes advantage of the 3D environment, it’s really cute and allows you to design your own puzzles too.  Plus you can save your designs to a QR code and share it with friends, and you can download other people’s creations too!  Yay!!

In other news…  

Now that the holiday rush is over, there aren’t too many big name games coming out right now.  Most popular is probably Kid Icarus: Uprising.  Honestly I have no interest in this game; it’s just not my thing.  But I did get a lot more interested when I saw that gamers in Japan will be getting a cool 3DS stand as part of a bundle when you buy the game!  Check it out here.

Now for some Pokémon stuff!  I don’t know when this was officially made available but there is now a free Toy Pokémon Collection Guide for Pokémon Rumble Blast that is free to download here.  It’s no walkthrough but it does serve as a checklist and tells you where/how you can obtain the Pokémon you might be missing.  Couldn’t hurt to check it out!

In addition, I’d just like to mention that I picked up a Pokémon TGC pack and I’m thinking about trying to get into the trading card version of the game now.  It’s a lot more complicated than I thought!  Does anyone have any good resources for learning how to play the TCG?  Figured I’d ask…

Now, before I go, there are two Nintendo events that are kind of happening now/coming up soon.  First is the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour.  I would LOVE to go to this concert, but there are none in the NY area scheduled.  So JDubz and I are considering our options and wondering if we’d like to travel to see the symphony.  Any suggestions?  View the Concert Schedule here!

The second event is the Pokémon Video Game Spring Regional Championships.  This event isn’t going to be held at as many places as the event last year, so if I go I will have to travel to Philly.  Which I am more than happy to do!  I have to start building up my team and making some travel arrangements!  If only the symphony was going to be in PA around that same time, that would have been perfect.  Ohhh well.

OK hopefully that was enough Nintendo goodness to make up for my disappearance for a little while.  And now… VENTURE FORTH!