Expecting the Cards

It's been two weeks since the localized TCG was formally launched, and attention to them has been quite steady, apart from the initial hiccups I mentioned in the previous post. The trading card game in general has been around for quite some time, but with this localization, it has become an "old new thing", in a way. Even with that, it still seems to be a great thing.

One of the ways that is so is that there seems to be no shortage of tournaments. A preliminary list of the competition system has been issued, and things look good enough up to May next year, when the international championship is held in the country. That's how important it is. There are still other competitions, of course, and one of them happens to take place today, in a place I could stand to go to... but I didn't, because I had other things to do. Plus, even with a deck, I'm not really "ready for prime time"; I want to build up my mettle before I actually compete. That means having a deck that I trust myself playing with and being capable of sparring with others.

To that end, I turn back to the TCGO for some assistance. It turns out a couple of friends I know do play the TCGO, and I've added their names to my friend list. It's a meager amount, but since the ultimate goal is playing the physical cards, it suffices for now. And today, I just had my first matches with one of them. Even though I lost all the matches, it was great to be able to do so. The practicality aspect of the electronic game makes things neat. How I can translate this experience to the physical cards when I start to play and work with them will be the real challenge.

As for myself, I've decided to put my foot down and obtain a physical deck. I was supposed to be able to get it today, but it turns out that I couldn't due to technical reasons, mostly not on my end. In a way, I was expecting to be able to try sparring with the deck immediately, but this may or may not have been able to be realized. This week, I may have answers to at least some of these issues. It should be noted that if I actually went to that competition, I could have gotten a deck right then and there (and, needless to say, start playing), but understandably, things didn't work out. So the waiting game begins.

The Pokémon TCG has to be appreciated, and with the way things are looking, a lot more of that appreciation may be due real soon in my localized sphere. It's a real way to start playing Pokémon, even if some of it is aided electronically - but that's hardly a problem. What is a problem is if things don't work, but one way or another, they should work out, especially with me joining in. With that, new ways should present itself as I begin my local exploration of the TCG.

One year ago: PokéMusicians
Two years ago: Wallpaper: Ash XY Tribute Style