SoMD Pokemon TCG

Pokémon TCG Set Symbols Document (now more printer friendly!)

2010-03-11T22:21:00.001-05:00

A comprehensive list of the Pokemon TCG sets along with the set symbols. A great tool for collectors. "What's this card from, this thing shaped like a Pokeball on the corner?" "What's this trapezoid with six circles around it?"
I took the guesswork out of it.
http://www.southernmarylandpokemon.com/symbols/index.html
This document now prints across 5 pages. Much more printer-friendly!

New League in Accokeek Confirmed

2010-03-06T01:31:00.001-05:00

A new league is coming, at Comics MD in Accokeek. The first League session is Saturday March 27.

We'll have casual play from 12pm to 4pm and then a weekly tournament at 4pm. The tournament will be a booster draft. We will be using mostly HGSS.

Join us for this inaugural League day! We will be there to give out prizes and help out newcomers.

Where: COMICS MD
15901 INDIAN HEAD HWY
ACCOKEEK MD 20607

When: March 27th
League @12-4pm
Booster Draft Tournament @4pm
-Entry fee: $15, each player gets 3 boosters and basic energy to build a 40-card deck.
-Prizes: 1.5 boosters time the number of players. Boosters are distributed regressively to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

Aardvark Clarification

2010-03-06T00:38:00.000-05:00

I think a clarification is in order. Aardvark's is still open for business. Aardvark will be open, in Lusby, until March 28. The league sessions are on the 7, 14, 21, and 28 of March.

They expect to have everything moved to Leonardtown on March 31st. The first league session at the new location will be on Sunday, April 4th at 12pm, with the weekly tournament starting at 4pm.

Aardvark's Moving to Leonardtown

2010-03-04T18:42:00.001-05:00

Aardvark is moving to Old Town Leonardtown.

The new address will be:
22745 Washington Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650
Next to the Post Office

The league will be moving as well. Join us for this happy occasion. I will be there to help out, along with our League Leader/TO Ryan Simmons, and our newest League Leader, Ryan Webb.

We will be running casual play from 12-4pm with prizes for everyone and then a weekly tournament at 4pm.

This is a great new location for the league; I hope you will witness us make this league just as successful as it has been in Lusby

There are Prereleases, Battle Roads, and City Championships planned for the future.

Virginia States 2010

2010-02-27T00:34:00.000-05:00

Info for VA States is up!
From the PokeGym thread:

Plan on attending the 2009-2010 Virginia State Pokémon Championships coming March 13!!
We're back in Dale City this year (same site as the 2007-2008 State Championships)
Details:
Location: Dale City Volunteer Fire Department, Desanto Community Hall
13511 Hillendale Drive, Dale City, VA 22193
Registration Time: Decks will be checked against a completed decklist beginning at 8:30 AM. Players not in line with a completed decklist by 9:30 AM may receive a round 1 loss. Players are encouraged to complete their decklist legibly--the "SteveP" decklist generator found here on PokeGym is highly recommended by the PTO and staff.
Additional details and prizing will be announced here as information becomes available!

http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=119821

MD States 2010

2010-02-18T21:16:00.001-05:00

Info for MD States is up!

When: March 20, 2010. 9:00am
Where: Games and Comics and Stuff
7476 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd
Glen Burnie, MD 21061

Make sure to bring a 60-card Modified legal deck, and a smile on your face.

HeartGold SoulSilver Prereleases

2010-02-05T18:10:00.000-05:00

Here are the dates for some upcoming Prereleases in the area. Directly from the PokeGym thread:

Friday, February 12 rescheduled due to snow: Midlothian (Battle City Games)
Address: Victorian Square Shopping Center, 11031 Hull Street Rd, Midlothian, 23112 (between Anna's Pizza and Saigon Gourmet--look for Empoleon in the window!)
Registration time: 5:45 PM—6:30 PM
Give Cary or Daryl a call at (804) 276-7529 to preregister. (Store is CLOSED Mon and Tues!!) We can accommodate a lot, but it's nice to know how many tables to set up in advance!!

Saturday February 20 rescheduled due to snow: Warrenton (Hobbies, etc)
My friend and colleague PTO Mike Mattingly will be in the house to get you guys your HGSS cards!!
Address: 251 W. Lee Highway, Suite 699 , Warrenton, 20186
Registration time: noon—12:30 PM

New League Location

2010-01-17T20:59:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted here in a few months, so I hate to be the bearer of bad news with this one.

Aardvark Videos Comics, and Games, which is where the Aardvark Gym Pokémon League is held, will be shutting down on March 1. I appreciate all the folks who have helped me out over the past 4+ years (that includes players- without players, there would be no league at all!).

What does this mean for the League? We're not certain. What is certain is that there will be a League. We just don't know where.

Larry, the owner, is scouting new locations for Aardvark's. It is possible that Aardvark's will not be shutting down and will simply be moved to a new location, in which case, the new location for the League will simply be wherever Aardvark's is moved to.

In the event that Aardvark's is gone for good and not moving to a new location- well, this is a possibility that Ryan Simmons and I have prepared for. No matter what happens, there will be a Pokémon TCG League somewhere in SoMD.

We will post information about the new League location as soon as it is available. In the meantime, go to facebook and subscribe to the Aardvark page. Alternatively, you can send an email to nicholaskirkpatrick@hotmail.com to be put on the SoMD Pokémon TCG mailing list, and you will receive an email as soon as information is available about where the League will be moved to.

Thanks for playing!

Arceus Prerelease

2009-10-09T16:29:00.002-04:00

Sunday November 1, 11:00am. Be there for the Arceus Prerelease. What cards await you? Go-pokemon.com to find out!

Aardvark Videos, Comics, and Games
300 Clubhouse Dr
Lusby, MD 20657

League Leader Added

2009-09-25T14:03:00.002-04:00

Hello, Pokemon players. This is a message from me, the League Leader at Aardvark Gym. I was recently offered a full-time job. This new job will be consuming a significant portion of my time and this has led me to look for some assistants who can fill in for me on Sundays when I can't be there.

This Sunday, I will be at a work-related meeting and cannot be at League or run the weekly tournament this Sunday (September 27). Therefore, my assistant, Ryan Simmons, will be in charge of the League and tournament this Sunday. He has judged many tournaments with the SoMD PTO and I and he is the 2006 Maryland State Champion. He will be there to help players out with whatever they need and he will be organizing the weekly Modified-Constructed tournament at 4pm. Ryan's in charge- be nice- I'll be back next week on October 4!

Aardvark VCG- Very Important News

2009-09-01T11:16:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't heard already, Aardvark Videos, Comics, and Games is not going out of business. The store has been bought by Larry, the owner of Comics MD in Accokeek. Nothing has changed. The store hours and all the stuff inside the store remains intact. And yes, we still have ice cream. And it is good.

So, expect plenty of Pokemon TCG activity in Lusby (and Accokeek) in the future!

Lusby Autumn Battle Road September 20

2009-09-01T10:38:00.001-04:00

The Battle Road in Lusby is tentatively scheduled for September 20th.

Aardvark Videos, Comics, and Games
300 Clubhouse Drive
Lusby, MD 20657

Be there at 10:00am. Bring a 60-card Modified legal deck and a smile on your face. Have fun.

Aardvark Gym Championship 2009 Winners

2009-08-30T23:41:00.004-04:00

Here are the standings for this event, along with the number of matches each player won

1st- Robbie Price (8)
2nd- Chris Nugent (7)
3rd- Ben Potter (5)
4th- Rick Nodland (3)
5th- Ryan Simmons (3)
6th- Austin Brehm (1.5)
7th- Connor Craft (1.5)
8th- Jeff Henderson (1)

Photos of this event can be found here
http://picasaweb.google.com/cvramen/AardvarkGymChampionship2009

It seems that the players had lots of fun, especially those who made it to the top four. The final stage of the tournament, was a three-round round robin, in which the players built 60-card decks from identical pools of cards provided by the tournament organizer. People seem to like this format a lot, so I will most likely run a tournament using this format in the near future.

Stay tuned for info on Aardvark Gym Championship 2010!

Aardvark Gym Championship Rescheduled

2009-08-22T18:16:00.003-04:00

Sorry, guys, but I'm going to have to reschedule the Aardvark Gym Championship to to 1:00pm (it was originally 3:30pm).
Those of you who were invited and intend to play, show up to Aardvark's at 1:00pm on August 30th.

I wish I didn't have to change this so soon, but this is unavoidable. My apologies.

League Continues in SoMD

2009-08-22T13:25:00.002-04:00

Reposted from PokeGym:

I got a call from my boss Thursday and it was a shocker. I regret to inform you that effective 9:00pm, August 22rd, 2009, all operations at Aardvark, Videos, Comics, and Games will cease.

The good news: the store will no longer exist, but the Pokémon League will stay intact. Mike and Tara have been the most supportive anyone can be about Pokémon over the years, and that won't be stopping just because they don't have a store anymore. They have allowed me to continue running the League at the same place. This facility will continue to be used for Pokémon TCG League every Sunday until we find a new League location in Southern Maryland.

If anyone has said the League is gone, they are mistaken.

It has been a fun 5+ years since the store opened in Sept 2003, and we will miss you. However, if you're a Pokémon player, you can count on seeing me and your other Pokémon friends at Pokémon League! Pokémon has always been my favorite thing to do, and I'm not going away!

300 Clubhouse Drive
Lusby, MD 20657
League 12-4pm and then a Modified-Constructed swiss-style tournament at 4pm

As soon as the boss told me about Aardvark's I got in touch with my local Pokémon friends and we will be working together to formulate a game plan, as to what we're going to do with League, how we're gonna do it, and what the new League location will be. We've got a large network of people to get help from. Stay tuned: we've had a Pokémon League in Lusby for over four years and Southern Maryland will continue playing Pokémon for many years to come!
------------------
Another thing to note: Mike Mattingly is still a PTO. We are still working together to run Pokemon events. We will be running Prereleases for every set that comes out, and most likely at multiple locations. Battle Roads, Cities, States, we got you covered. Nothing is changing: you all have Premier Events and will all have a place to play in SoMD.

Aardvark Gym Championship Invited Players (all 8 of them)

2009-08-22T11:44:00.003-04:00

The post containing the list of all invited players and backups is here: http://southernmarylandpokemon.com/news/2009/08/aardvark-gym-championship-2009-invited.html

It was updated with the 8th person, but just a reminder, as to who has been invited. Here's the list:
Jorge Suarez
Rob Price
Ryan Simmons
Ben Potter
Antonio Pannone
Rick Nodland
Jeff Henderson
Zillah Peters

(if any person on the list does not show up, his/her invite will be passed down to the next person on the list)

Aardvark Gym Championship 2009 Prizes/Format

2009-08-20T20:56:00.003-04:00

Prizes for those who playing in the Aardvark Gym Championship
1st Place
• Pokemon TCG Kyogre tin
• Pokemon TCG World Championships 2007 Hat
• 100 Common/Uncommon cards
• Pokemon Battle Frontier Binder with 18 Rare cards
• 1 Entei Wizards of the Coast Promo card
• An invite to the next Aardvark Gym Championship

2nd Place
• Pokemon Professor Cup 2006 deck box
• 18 Rare cards
• 100 Common/Uncommon cards
• 1 Entei Wizards of the Coast Promo card
• 1 Ancient Mew card

3rd Place
• 4 Professor Oak’s Visit with the Pokemon Professor stamp
• 2 random Rare cards
• A set of Electivire card sleeves

4th Place
• 1 Entei Wizards of the Coast Promo card
• 2 random Rare cards

5th Place
• 1 Entei Wizards of the Coast Promo card
• POP 9 booster

6th Place
• 1 Entei Wizards of the Coast Promo card
• POP 9 booster

7th Place
• POP 9 booster

8th Place
• POP 9 booster

The tournament will be held in 3 stages:
Aardvark Gym Championship: Stage One:
The first stage is a swiss-style Modified-Constructed tournament.

Aardvark Gym Championship: Stage Two:
The first stage is a swiss-style Unlimited-Constructed tournament.

The 4 players with the highest combined scores for stage one and stage two will be allowed to move on to stage three.

Aardvark Gym Championship: Stage Three:
Four players will be given 15 minutes to build a 60-card deck from a pool of cards provided by the Tournament Organizer. They’ll play 3 Round Robin rounds.

Each of the stages is a separate tournament that will not be sanctioned. The player who has the most points at the end of the match wins the tournament. (win = 1, draw =.5, loss = 0)

Supreme Victors Prerelease a Success

2009-08-10T22:38:00.001-04:00

Total- 52
Junior- 9
Senior- 16
Master- 26

Congrats to winners Zillah P, Jac L, and Chris N

Aardvark Gym Championship 2009 Invited Players

2009-08-04T15:45:00.004-04:00

Aardvark Gym Championship 2009

The players whose names are in red have won the most sanctioned tournament matches (between May 24 and August 8) and have been invited to the invite-only tournament (Aardvark Gym Championship) on August 30, 2009 at 3:30pm. Any players who do not attend will have their invite passed down to the next eligible person.

16- Jorge Suarez

16- Rob Price

15- Ryan Simmons

13- Ben Potter

12- Antonio Pannone

10- Rick Nodland

9- LJ W

9- Chris N

9- Louis P

8- Dylan A

7- Zillah P

7- Nicholas S

6- Jeff H

6- Jac L

6- Mike M

5- Sue S

5- Michael P

5- Austin B

4- Connor C

3- Nicholas K

2- Jason H

2- Zack S

2- Alex F

2- Zach B

2- Joe N

2- Brian F

2- Daniel O

2- Nicholas D

2- Nathan B

1- Nicholas F

1- Brandon S

1- Noah B

1- Austin B

1- Thomas H

2- Tyler H

1- Braden B

0- Adam N

0- Cole C

This is a list of the number of sanctioned tournaments each player has played in. The one player who has played in the most tournaments has been invited.

[7- Rick N

6- Ben P

6- Ryan S

5- Jorge S

5- Antonio P

4- Rob P] These players have already been invited. Their invite passes down to the next eligible person.

4- Jeff H

4- Austin B

3- Dylan A

3- Sue S

3- Zillah P

3- Jacob L

3- Louis P

3- Connor C

3- LJ W

3- Chris N

3- Thomas H

3- Nicholas S

2- Mike M

2- Austin B

2- Adam N

2- Nicholas D

2- Tyler H

1- Braden B

1- Cole C

1- Zach B

1- Daniel O

1- Alex F

1- Brian F

1- Nicholas F

1- Nathan B

1- Brandon S

1- Noah B

1- Zach S

1- Joe N

1- Jason H

1- Nicholas K

------------

We voted on the eighth player:

Zillah Peters

Adam N

Summer M

Any invited players who do not intend to participate in the tournament, please let me know.

World Players Annoucned

2009-07-16T10:22:00.001-04:00

POP has announced the players who have been invited to the World Championship. Congrats to the SoMD players who will be going: Kenneth A, Steven Y, and LJ W.

New Pokémon League Days Confirmed

2009-07-13T01:28:00.003-04:00

You asked for it, and we're bringing it!
The league at Aardvark Videos, Comics, and Games is held every Sunday from 12-4pm, with a weekly Modified-Constructed tournament at 4pm. You probably already knew that. However, I ran league last Tuesday, and am read to do it again. From now on, league will be held every Tuesday at 5pm. So, the new league schedule for Aardvark Gym is:

Sunday, 12-4pm, Modified-Constructed tournament at 4pm.
Tuesday, 5-9pm

Some folks have asked me if there are any fees for participating in the league. I can answer this with- league is always free. Always has been, and always will be. We are a retail league venue: we make plenty of money from people buying cards (and other stuff) at our store. Donations are always welcome (we just had a player come in and give us 6,000 cards) but you do not have to pay to participate in the league. Tournaments may have an entry, but league is free.

Supreme Victors Prerelease

2009-07-09T16:38:00.001-04:00

Are you ready? The Prerelease at Aardvark Gym is just around the corner!

Location:
Aardvark’s Videos, Comics, and Games
300 Clubhouse Drive
Lusby, MD 20657
Time: Sunday, August 9, 2009- Be there at 11:00am. Late players will be given losses for the rounds they missed- no exceptions.
Contacts:
SoMD Pokemon TCG Page- somdpokemon.com
Aardvark VCG's Website- theanteater.net
Judges- ninetales1234 (HJ)
Format: Limited- Sealed Deck
You'll be getting boosters from the latest Pokemon TCG set- Supreme Victors. Aardvark's will provide basic energy, but you are encouraged to bring your own.
Tournament Style: Age-Modified Swiss
Admission: $25; you get six SV boosters. Each booster has 10 cards.
Prizes:
-Two SV boosters for those who complete the event, in addition to the origninal 6 you get for signing up
-We may augment the standard prizes depending on attendance. Bottom line: get as many people as you can to come with you, as the more people that show up, the more we can augment the prizes.
Make sure you come with:
-Something to write with (to record your wins/losses)
-Extra money if you want some food. We sell ice cream, soda, and sandwiches.
-Damage counters and coins (or dice) for coin-flipping.
Additional Info: Don’t forget to be there on time and don’t forget your POP ID#. If you haven’t become a POP member yet, come as early as you can so we can sign you up and give you a POP ID#. Membership is free. Our game room will be closed to all non-Pokemon activities on the day of the Prerelease. If you have any questions about the Prerelease or anything about Aardvark Gym, post in this thread or PM me.

US Nationals 2009 Results

2009-06-28T23:09:00.002-04:00

Here were the attendance numbers for US Nats:
Juniors: 225
Seniors: 283
Masters: 679
Total: 1187

Record-breaking numbers, just like last time, despite the tournament not being held at a convention like the last 5 years.

Congrats to LJ Wenger from St. Leonard, MD, for his placing in the US National Championship. 2nd place out of 283 players
Good luck at the World Championship!

There were also some other SoMD area players who made top 64 or top 32, I will post them here as soon as I can get some confirmation on who they are.

Experimental Decks Day a Success

2009-06-21T20:20:00.004-04:00

Today at the weekly Modified-Constructed tournament, players were encouraged to play with experimental decks for "experimental decks" day. The winners of the tournament were:

1st Ben P
2nd Jorge S
3rd Mike M

The players voted for the player who they felt brought the most creative deck. I gave prizes to the top three:

1st Brandon S
2nd Dylan A
3rd Sue S

Experimental Decks Day was a success. So be ready on July 19th. That's the third Sunday of July, and on that day, there will be another Experimental Decks Day.

Next week is Double Points day. See you there!

Every League Day Is Special!

2009-06-13T23:31:00.005-04:00

I've had this planned out a while ago, but now it's official! I've decided to go the extra mile and make every league day special! Aardvark Gym will be holding league from 12-4 and the regular weekly Modified-Constructed tournament every Sunday, as usual (this will not change). However, I’m going to add some new stuff- there’s something happening every Sunday! Something for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sunday of every month.:

1st Sunday: Casual Tournament Day- I will run a casual, free, Unlimited-Constructed tournament (the tournament is unsanctioned) during league. As the name implies, it's very causal, and anyone may play (it’s free).

2nd Sunday: Random Prizes Day- I will give out random prizes to players during league. I may also give out prizes to players who show up at league at 12:00pm. Prizes will consist of whatever stuff I have lying around.

3rd Sunday: Experimental Decks Day- I have Chris Nugent to thank for this one. One day, a few minutes before the weekly Modified-Constructed tournament started, he suggested that everyone play experimental decks for the tournament that day. It was a success; we all had a good time. I think it’s a good idea, so from now on, I am designating the 3rd Sunday of every month as “Experimental Decks Day”. Everyone who comes to the weekly tournament will be encouraged to try experimental decks. So, put down your standard/conventional/archetype decks and come to the tournament playing something new and different!*

4th Sunday: Double Points Day- On this day, all league activities that earn you points will earn you twice the amount of points they normally do.

These will apply to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sunday of every month, effective immediately. So, tomorrow, June 14th is random prizes day. I’ll give out prizes to everyone who shows up to league during opening and give out more prizes randomly. Next week, June 21st, I'm counting on you all to surprise me with new, experimental decks. I can't wait to see what you come up with! I'll even give out a prize to whoever brings the most experimental/unique/original/creative deck.

Thanks to all my loyal players, I hope you enjoy this change!

*yes, playing an experimental deck is optional. I have no way of enforcing this, nor would I want to. You may play whatever Modified-legal deck you want, but I guarantee if you jump the bandwagon on this, you’ll have more fun.