Pokemon VG Midwest Regional 2013: Masters Division Winner

Cory Moeller

Me: Hi, I’m Steven Reich, here at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, WI, at the Pokémon Video Game Midwest Regionals 2013. I’m here with Cory Moeller, who is the winner of the Masters division of the regional video game competition, and Cory, we have a few questions. First off, what was your team?

Cory: Garchomp, Cresselia, Tyranitar, Scizor, Ludicolo, and Gyrados.

Me: And it turns out you threw all of that together kind of hastily, but you had some help, some tools that you used to decide which Pokémon to put in, how did that all come together?

Cory: [I built my team] very early this morning-I went to bed around 6:00 pm after the TCG event yesterday-I used the team builder on Marriland’s website.

Me: And, as it turns out, the player you had to face in the finals actually was one of your losses in the swiss rounds, how did that play out in your first meeting?

Cory: He absolutely beat me in the swiss rounds-I couldn’t do anything.

Me: What was his team like?

Cory: He had a Thundurus-T [Therian Forme], which I’ve never faced before; he also had a Heracross, Cresselia, Excadrill, and Tyranitar on his team.

Me: What did you learn from the first time that helped you pull it out in the finals?

Cory: I realized that Thundurus Therian Forme doesn’t come with Prankster, so I could use my Tyranitar a little bit more. I also used Gyrados a little bit differently-I used him for his intimidate support and switching ability, rather than using him as a solid attacker.

Me: All right, well, thank you very much Cory, this has been Steven Reich, from the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, WI, at the Pokémon Video Game Midwest Regionals 2013.

Cresselia
Item: Expert Belt
Nature: Calm
Ability: Levitate
Hidden Power (Fire)
Psyshock
Ice Beam
Thunder Wave

Scizor
Item: Steel Gem
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Swords Dance
Protect

Garchomp
Item: Haban Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Veil
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Substitute
Protect

Tyranitar
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Stream
Rock Slide
Crunch
Fire punch
Low Kick

Gyarados
Item: Sitrus Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Intimitate
Waterfall
Thunder Wave
Taunt
Protect

Ludicolo
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ability: Rain Dish
Leech Seed
Scald
Giga Drain
Protect

Pokemon TCG Midwest Regionals 2013-Top 16 Masters

Here's an interview with a participant of the recent Pokemon TCG Midwest Regionals. In it, we go over the player's  "Big Basics" deck:




Cards featured in this video:



-Scramble Switch (PS)
-Energy Switch (BW)
-Revive (BW)
-Hypnotoxic Laser (PS)
-Max Potion (EP)
-Super Rod (NV)

Interview: Neal Coomer (It's Always you and Me-Pokemon Adventures in Unova Theme)

I recently got a chance in to interview Neal Coomer, co-performer of "It's Always You and Me", the Pokemon "Adventures in Unova" theme:

Anime Milwaukee 2013-Pokemon Video Game Tournament

John Williams

Me: Hi, I’m Steven Reich, here at the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee at Anime Milwaukee 2013. I’m here with John Williams-no, not that John Williams-one of the participants-he actually placed second-in the “Elite Four” Pokémon video game challenge here. First off John, this is sort of a specialty tournament-it doesn’t strictly follow the VGC rules. What were the basic rules for this tournament?

John: Well, they banned [some] legendaries, like Palkia, Dialga, Manaphy-you know, the casual legendaries that you’ll meet in game. They did allow Keldeo however, which I thought was pretty cool-I didn’t really use it, but going on, some of the rules were you couldn’t have a Drizzle team-you couldn’t have Drizzle and Swift Swim on the same team. Also, they didn’t have an item clause, which I thought was pretty interesting, and I did take that into consideration. Another thing is that you could use as many of each Pokémon as you like-you could use a full team of Tauros if you wanted to.

Me: Definitely some interesting rules there. So basically there was a preliminary stage where you had to battle against some of the [convention] staff members. What was that like and how did that go?

John: It went pretty well. I did have a close encounter with the psychic Elite Four person. It actually came down to me having [Impostor] Ditto. I ended up copying his Reuniclus, and my Ditto is Scarfed, so I ended up going first [and taking his Reuniclus out]. After that, we were both down to our last Pokémon, his last Pokémon Gallade had Shadow Sneak, but it didn’t do enough to KO Ditto, so I ended up Shadow Balling him and winning that match. I think Ditto was probably my VIP for this tournament.

Me: And after you finished off the convention’s Elite Four, you then had to face off against other people who had beaten them, how did that work?

John: Yes, what had happened was there was actually only one other person who had done it, so we had to face off for the champion’s spot. It could have gone better if I had led [with a better Pokémon]. He led with a Salamence with Intimidate, and I led with my Therian forme Landorus which also had intimidate, and it just got kind of messy.

Me: If you had a chance to do it over again, would you change anything on your team or something like that?

John: I probably should have led with my Zapdos, because it has Hidden Power ice, and I almost guaranteed would have been able to take out both of his Salamence with it.

Me: Well, all right, thank you very much John. This has been Steven Reich, at Anime Milwaukee 2013, with John, one of the top finishers of the Trainers Rendezvous  Pokémon Video Game Tournament.

John’s Team:

Landorus ~Therian Forme~
-Intimidate-
Outrage
Earthquake
Protect
Stone Edge
Item: Lum Berry

Zoroark
-Illusion-
Protect
Sucker Punch
Counter
Flamethrower
Item: Focus Sash

Gastrodon
-Storm Drain-
Stockpile
Recover
Earth Power
Scald
Item: Brightpowder

Zapdos
-Pressure-
Hidden Power -Ice-
Thunderbolt
Thunder
Heat Wave
Item: Choice Scarf

Infernape
-Blaze-
Fake Out
Close Combat
Mach Punch
Flare Blitz
Item: Focus Sash

Ditto
-Impostor-
Transform
Item: Choice Scarf

Ode to Arino (Parody of “Angry Video Game Nerd Theme” by Kyle Justin)

Notes:
-Song is referring to this.
-For the unaware, “Nihon” (pronounced “knee-hone”) is the Japanese word for Japan (much like how “Deutschland” is the German word for Germany).

Ode to Arino
Parody of “Angry Video Game Nerd Theme” by Kyle Justin

With new lyrics by Steven “PokePress” Reich

He’s gonna take you back to the past,

To play the classic games he #*! at.

He’d rather fight a buffalo

Than watch Dhalsim getting punched in his ear

He’s gonna fall for every trap hole

If you think he's sunk, I guess you're new here

It’s the gamiest center you’ve ever heard,

He’s the Nihon Nintendo nerd

He’s the Nihon Konami Sega nerd

He’s the Nihon video game nerd

Don’t you turn off your TV

He’s gonna make it-wait and see!

Arino’s thumbs may hurt, he may break a sweat

Although he’s cornered our guy will never back down

He’ll grab a cooling pad, no he ain’t done yet

Armed with his helpers he will take these games down

It’s the gamiest center you’ve ever heard,

He’s the Nihon Nintendo nerd

He’s the Nihon SNK Capcom nerd

He’s the Nihon video game nerd

He brings the worst game of all time

Pitiful annihilations blow my mind

But when he starts each marathon, he says:

Arino: GameCenter CX! Kacho-On!

From eight on up to sixty-four bit

This show is huge you know it’s a hit

Where did he learn to swim?

Why can’t he land a plane?

What were they thinking when they gave him this game?

His strategy’s always wrong

Let’s help him get along

Come on now ADs go do your thing!

It’s the gamiest center you’ve ever heard,

His game #*! so bad-hey watch out for that bird!

He’s the genkiiest most retro gaming nerd

He’s the Nihon Irem Namco Tecmo Sunsoft Hudson Soft

Sony Neo Geo Falcom Quintet Data East Vic Tokai Game Freak Nintendo Nerd

He’s the Nihon video game nerd

Preview: Anime Milwaukee 2013

We recently got a chance to ask Crystal Hampton a few questions about this weekend's Anime Milwaukee 2013:

PokePress: How did Anime Milwaukee get started?

Crystal: In 2007, the Anime Milwaukee convention was formed by the Japanese Animation Association, which is an anime club at UW-Milwaukee. It started off as a one day convention on the day of a blizzard. Only about 50 people attended. Since then, the convention has blossomed! The UW-Milwaukee club members, with the help of local anime clubs in Milwaukee and staff from nearby anime conventions helped the con grow to 3,500 attendees by 2012. Too large for campus, Anime Milwaukee moved to the Hyatt Regency hotel and Delta Convention Center in 2011. Anime Milwaukee is now the 6th largest of all conventions in Milwaukee and the largest anime convention in Wisconsin.

PokePress: What activities might be of interest to Pokemon fans?

Crystal: You will find tons of fun Pokemon related events in the Pokemon Trainers Rendezvous room, all weekend long! Wear your Pokemon cosplays because there is a cosplay contest! There will be a Pokemon Elite Four and Snap tournament, fun panels, and lots of gaming. Even challenge the Anime Milwaukee convention chair to the Pokemon Trading Card Game! Outside of the Trainers Rendezvous room, find more Pokemon fans at the cosplay meet-up at 1pm on Sunday.

PokePress: What are some of the other things going on at the convention? Which guests are back, and who are the new ones for this year?

Crystal: Anime Milwaukee partnered with the Distant Worlds Concert to welcome Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy composer) as a special guest. Special guest voice actors are Chris Cason, Todd Haberkorn, Alexis Tipton, and Ian Sinclair. Special guest comic artists are Trevor A. Mueller, Alan Evans, and Russell Lissau.

The Anime Milwaukee Rave has been extended and has more DJs for you to party with, Saturday night! Another dance option is the charity Masquerade Ball on Friday night! Continue to groove to the beat with the Pillowcases (The Pillows cover band) and Arc Impulse (video game rock synth). If you like chess, you're going to love Cosplay Combat Chess! Check out the Anime Milwaukee website to find out how to participate.

PokePress: Where can people find more information about the convention?

Crystal: Find out more information, check out the schedule and map, and more on the Anime Milwaukee website. To find out more about Pokemon Trainers Rendezvous, check out their website!

Pokemon TCG Plasma Storm Prerelease-Madison, WI

Here's an interview from a recent Pokemon TCG Plasma Storm Prerelease:


We go over a few cards from the set, plus her experience playing the TCG online.

Cards featured in this video:

-Hypnotoxic Laser
-Team Plasma Grunt

Additionally, here's one from Rockford, IL: