The group met up in Dillman 202 on Wednesday, Oct. 15, to play some games and view the Milwaukee Regionals, which is a competition the club has previously participated in. Currently, the club is playing casual tournaments online on Pokémon Showdown or battling with the 4 new decks they got through club funds.
When asked if interest in competing has grown, Noah Strekow, president of MTU’s Pokémon League, said, “I think for sure, because there have been other games that have been released recently that they’re slowly introducing into the official competitive circuits. So, attention has been growing a lot more on Pokémon from a lot of the casual games that are being officially made competitive…”
Strekow was also asked about the hardest part of the game, to which he said, “Definitely the competitive aspect because it’s kind of like chess, but with thousands of extra rules you have to remember and interactions you have to remember… No one really ever can understand every possible scenario, so it’s always a challenge of having to constantly adapt.” Although Pokémon can have complex strategies involved, Strekow stressed that all levels can stop by to play, “I want everyone to understand that it doesn’t matter what you’re into. Even if you just play Pokémon Go, if you have any amount of interest in Pokémon, you’re welcome here. Or, even if you don’t know anything about Pokémon, if you want to know something about Pokémon, this is where you go.”
There are two types of competitions, physical cards (TCG) or online (VGC), and the rules are different for each. TCG Pokémon battles use decks with 60 cards, each deck utilizing different Pokémon, items, and energy cards. You can win in three ways: defeat your opponent’s Pokémon on the board, take all the prize cards, or if your opponent is out of cards to draw. VGC Pokémon battles only use four Pokémon per player, and there are two main ways to win: knock out your opponent’s Pokémon or have the game timer run out. If you are interested in learning more, visit the Pokémon League’s weekly meeting, which is every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m.
