2008-2009 Modified Format Document Up!

Check out the "What is Modified" section on the website.
It's a document with all the set symbols so it will be perfectly clear what sets will be legal in the Modified Format.

Podcast Episode 17 and 18

http://www.southernmarylandpokemon.com/assets/podcast/8-10-08.mp3
http://www.southernmarylandpokemon.com/assets/podcast/8-17-08.mp3

Go to somdpokemon.com/vote
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We are so close to being the #1 Games and Hobbies podcast in the World! Your one vote can make a lot of difference.

Aardvark Gym Championship 2008 Photos

They're up, in the photos/videos section.

I don't have a list for the"limited pool of cards" that the top 4 used to build a deck, but here's a photo of it:

Aardvark Gym Championship 2008 Results

Yesterday I organized an invite-only tournament at Aardvark Gym. It is an annual tournament that I started in 2006. I named it "Aardvark Gym Championship". It consisted of three stages: an unlimited-constructed tournament, a modified-constructed tournament, and a special format tournament in which players build a sixty card deck out of a limited pool of identical cards provied by the tournament organizer.

I will put up photos tomorrow. Here are the final standings, along with what deck they played in unlimited and modified and then how many matches they won (out of a possible nine). Some players played the same deck for both Unlimited and Modified.

1st: Chris N (Kingdra[LA]) 8
2nd: Rob P (Bellossom/Vileplume[LA]) 6
3rd: Steven V (Gardellade) 5.5
4th: Jacob L (Exeggcutor[RG]/Gardevoir[PK]) (Gardellade) 4
5th: Ryan S (Empoleon/Bronzong) 2.5
6th: Dylan A (Absol/Houndoom[MD]) 2
7th: Sue S (Torterra/Sceptile) 1.5
8th: Tara M (Absol/Houndoom[MD]) (Torterra/Sceptile) .5

Congrats to Chris, who won 6 rounds in a row for the Unlimited-Constructed and Modified-Constructed (he ID'd twice and never lost a match). Congrats to Chris N and Rob P, who have been invited to every AGC since 2006 and just happened to get to the top 2! Also, thanks to Billy Frazier, the winner of the AGC 2006, who helped me judge this event, and was very observant as usual!

This tournament allowed IDs (Intentional Draw). This allowed some matches to end early which allowed the tournament to run smoothly. Of the 30 matches, played, IDs were used 4 times. Only two matches continued after time was up. The length of each round was 25 minutes + 3 turns (once 25 minutes is called, all remaining matches finish the current turn and continue for an additional 3 turns). If you have any opinions on intentional draws or "x minutes + y turns" round length, you can leave a comment; I'd love to hear your input. Discussing tournament formats/styles and other Pokémon-related issues should be much easier once we get a forum set up on this website. I can't say when, but we will be getting a forum some time soon.

But anyway, I do intend to run the fourth Aardvark Gym Championship in 2009, so look forward to info regarding that, once I have it ready.

Worlds 2008 Reports/Photos?

See that tournament reports section? It's kind of empty at the moment. Help us fill it up with articles! If you went to the World Championship or the LCQ, tell us about your experience!
For those who have never been to Worlds, it will be sure to be something they can learn from.

Have photos from Worlds/LCQ? We'd love to have some. Just contact the webmaster. Thanks!

Aardvark Gym Championship 2007 Video

It took me a while, but it is here! An account of what occured on August 19, 2007 at Aardvark Gym. An invite-only tournament for seven of our top players.

http://www.southernmarylandpokemon.com/assets/eventphotos/agc2007/

Worlds 2008 Progress #2

Here it is. Standing for all SoMD players I can account for:
Jacob LeJeune 100/115
Arron Sanyer 106/115
Steven Yun 37/104
Dean Nezam 15/104

The top cut for all age groups is 32.

Worlds 2008 Progress

Jacob Lejeune is currently 101/118 at the end end of round four.
Current standings are here:
http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/content/standings/worlds/#0_0_0

Additional Worlds 2008 Invitee

The World Championship LCQ is over. One player from the SoMD area, Aaron Sanyer, has been invited through the LCQ. He will be joining some other players from the area like Jacob LeJeune, Steven Yun, Michael Pramawat, and Dean Nezam, at the World Championship later today.

Good luck to them. I will give you updates when they are ready. Unitl then, check out the Worlds minisite: http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/

Legends Awakened and Pokemon at Otakon

I'm back from Otakon. According to early estimates, there were 26,324 people there (not including guests, dealers, staff, or hired contractors used to assist in running the convention). I took pictures. Not too much Pokémon stuff there, but you can believe there was tons of cosplay!

The pictures I have was not everything, as I was there Friday-Saturday, but not Sunday. Also, there were costumes I did not see. There were cosplayers I saw from the registration line, but couldn't get to (because I was in a line) and some cosplayers just walk too fast to catch up with. There were tons of people there dressed in Pokémon clothes but not wearing a costume. In addition, some costumes are just crap, and don't deserve to be photographed (if you wear a yellow shirt which you wrote "Pika" on with a permanent marker, you are not cosplaying).

Otakon Pictures.

I went as Professor Oak (forgot to take a picture) and was photographed 9 times. It sure is cool to go to conventions like this, where you can walk up to strangers and ask to take photographs with a near zero perecent rejection rate.

While you're on the photos section of this website, I added some more photos of US National Championship 2008

Legends Awakened comes out August 20. Make sure to buy a box as soon as you can, because this set is turning out to be very popular! Here's the prerelease attendance:

Total Attendance: 38

Junior: 9

1st- Keith B

2nd- Gabriel M

3rd- Shawn B

Senior: 13

1st- Jacob L

2nd- Zack A

3rd- Phillip M

Master: 16

1st- Billy "Racer X" Frazier

2nd- Emily K

3rd- Eric J

Photos the Prerelease are up! Expect us to have Legends Awakened scans soon!

Headed to Otakon!

Your webmaster shall be going to Otakon tomorrow. I will be there to with my camera. I'll let you know if there is anythingPokémon-related there. I'm not sure if I'll be able to log on to the internet from where I'm going to be, so no news posts from me over the weekend. I should have something for you Monday, however.

And don't worry, I'll be back in time for the Legends Awakened prerelease! If anyone from SoMD is going to Otakon, I'll be in a Pokémon costume (Professor Oak).

The musical guest JAM Project will be there. One of its members, Rica Matsumoto, is well-known for performing Mezase Pokémon Master (as well as Rival!, Type: Wild, OK!, Mezase Pokémon Master 2001, Challenger, and Spurt) from the Pokémon TV show.

Podcast Change

Here it is: episode 17 of the podcast. Make sure to vote or us on podcast alley! (while you're there, check out some of the other podcasts on that site- you can find some fun stuff!)
With episode 17, we've made a change to the format of the podcast. We are switching to a three-segment format to a two-segment format.
So, we are going from this:

• Opening Theme: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
• Segment One
• Break #1: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
• Segment Two Opening Theme: Mahna Mahna and the Snowths- Mahna Mahna
• Segment Two
• Break #2: Mahna Mahna and the Snowths- Mahna Mahna
• Segment Three Opening Theme: Toshio Masuda- Rock Lee's Theme
• Ending Theme: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train

To this:

• Opening Theme: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
• Segment One
• Break #1: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
• Segment Two Opening Theme: Mahna Mahna and the Snowths- Mahna Mahna
• Segment Two
• Ending Theme: Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train

I wanted to keep "Crazy Train" as the opening music for the show, but as for the opening theme for the second segment, I had to decide between "Mahna Mahna" and "Rock Lee's Theme". I think "Mahna Mahna" is better. Comment on what you think about the soundtrack if you have any opinions.

All Legends Awakened Cards So Far

A preview of things to come! Don't forget to come to the prerelease!