January Schedule and Special Gift!

Happy New Year, league members!  I have a few schedule updates and something for everyone to be excited about!

• First and foremost, I want to give a big thank you to everyone that made these first few months with the league a smashing success!  The participation and dedication has been nothing short of amazing.  Because of this, I wanted to reward our members while motivating new members to register their Pokemon Player ID online:

 

All league members that have registered their Pokemon Player ID with Pokemon.com (and have attended at least two league meetings) will receive this gift pin set.  The pins themselves can be used as status markers for the card game and include (in order) Poison, Burn, Sleep, Paralysis, and Confusion, as well as an extra pin with the Pokemon at the Mills logo.

Remember, this gift is only for members who have registered their Player ID with Pokemon.com.

• If you are participating in the upcoming City Championship Tournament, the Century III Mall New Dimensions tournament is on Jan. 7, and the Clearview Mall New Dimensions tournament is on Jan. 8.  For more information on either of these tournaments, visit 330 Games here:
  http://home.earthlink.net/~ffmastershoe/pokemon/tournaments.html
  
• If you're not sure how to participate in a tournament, did not receive a tournament info packet, or have any other questions, send me an e-mail at millspokemonleague[at]gmail[dot]com.
  
• There is no league meeting on Jan. 8.
  
• The first meeting for the Insect season will be Jan. 15.
  Because there have been no league meetings for three consecutive weeks, all games in the Insect season will be worth double stamps.Alongside the Insect badge, the prize cards for this month are holographic Psychic Energy and Whirlipede from the Black & White set.
  
• Though not directly related to Pokemon or the league, New Dimension Comics is having Free Dice Days on Jan 20 & 21.  Get a free dice for coming in and another for every $5 you spend those days.

Once again, thanks for a great start, and I look forward to seeing you guys at the tournament or back at the league!

November Schedule and Noble Victories Pre-Release Event

Good evening, Pokemon at the Mills members!  The Trio season has officially ended, and I have a few important things to share pertaining to the upcoming Basic season.

• THIS Sunday marks the beginning of the new Basic Badge season.  A big thank you for everyone who participated in the Trio season!
  
  If you did not earn enough stamps to receive your Trio Badge or promo cards, you still have a chance to get it.
  I have decided that every game you play for previous seasons will be worth double-stamps.
  So if you come in on Sunday and play a game, you have the choice to either get one stamp towards your Basic badge, or two stamps towards your Trio badge!
  
  Two stipulations: first, all remaining prizes are first-come-first-serve.  If I run out of badges, there's little I can do to obtain more.  Second, you don't get quadrupedal stamps on double-stamp days.
  
• On a bit of a sad note, I made a mistake in reporting league members for the Trio season.  While there should be no errors in whose participation was reported, I was initially unaware of the exact process to finalize the season roster.  What this means is that I have just ordered the materials for the Basic season tonight, and it is possible they might not arrive for this Sunday's meeting.  If not, then I will be sure to provide temporary score cards until I can provide official ones.
  I apologize for this mistake on my part.  The league is still a big learning experience for me, and I will work to ensure this mistake doesn't happen again in the future.
  
• THERE WILL BE NO LEAGUE MEETING ON NOVEMBER 6.
  This is because I will be participating in the special Pokemon TCG Noble Victories Pre-Release Event.  Which brings me to my next point . . .
  
• There will be two Noble Victories Pre-Release Events in the Western PA area next month.
  
  Nov. 5
  12:00-12:30 registration for Flight A, 3:30-4:00 registration for Flight B
  
  CCGs Cards Comics and Games
  4020 Liberty Avenue
  Pittsburgh, PA 15224
  
  Nov. 6
  12:00-12:45 registration (only one flight for this day)
  
  New Dimension Comics (Inside Clearview Mall, in an alcove across from J.C.Penney's inside the mall, or the mall entrance beside the movie theater in back of the mall)
  101 Clear View Circle
  Butler, Pennsylvania 16001
  
  Pre-release events are special tournaments where you get to play with the cards from the latest upcoming TCG set before they're officially released!
  For a $25 dollar entry fee, you are provided with six booster packs.  Using ONLY the cards from those boosters (and energy cards lent to you by the tournament staff), you will have a set amount of time to build a 40 card deck.  After that, you will play a three-game tournament for fun.  Not only do you get to keep the cards from the boosters, you will also receive a special prize to go with the new set (while supplies last), and have the opportunity to win further prizes in a raffle.
  
  You DO want to bring your Play! Pokemon ID card with your Player ID number.
  You DO NOT need to bring your own deck or cards.  You can bring them if you want to trade or play for fun, but you cannot use them in the tournament.
  
  I will be going to the Nov. 6 event at New Dimensions at Clearview Mall.
  If you plan on going to either event, please let me know!  A.J., the gentleman who will be running the tournament, rewards new players and people who bring in new players!
  
  More information can be found at http://www.330games.com/
  
  If you have any other questions about the event, please do not hesitate to e-mail A.J. or myself.
  
• Nov. 13 will be a Double-Stamp Day.
  This is to make up for the cancellation on the 6th.
  
• The Noble Victories TCG set will be out next month.  Two new preconstructed decks will go on sale Nov. 2, and booster packs will go on sale Nov. 16.
  This set will feature over 50 new Pokemon from the Black and White games, the return of Pokemon Tool cards, and will include more full-art cards than any other previous set, including Victini and the notorious N.

Sorry for the long post, but next month is going to be really busy!  Take care, and I hope to see you on Sunday!

Double Stamp Day Tomorrow!

With league play underway, I just wanted to remind all league members that tomorrow (Oct. 9) is double-stamp day for Pokemon at the Mills.  This means that every game you play is worth two stamps on your score card instead of one, giving you a chance to fill your card up more quickly!

I also wanted to highlight the "Trio Badge Challenge" for this season:

• In the card game, if you play a game with a deck made of only Fire, only Water, or only Grass-type Pokemon (a few colorless pokemon mixed in is okay), then you can earn one extra stamp for that week.
• In the video game, if you play a Rotation Battle with a Pansear/Simisear, a Panpour/Simipour, or a Pansage/Simisage on your team, you can earn one extra stamp for that week.

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you tomorrow!