Common Concern: No place to play

[Agent K]

There's a league near me. I just don't play because all of the leagues collide with Guides for me. I don't want to give up Guiding, so I don't play.

I do want to play, seeing as I want to face tough competition. The best competition near me is my father, who is alright at the game.

 

[Politoed666]

Leagues often won't provide you with especially tough competition... at some Leagues, there are usually a couple good people, but for the top-tier players, tournaments are where it's at.

 

[Kutomba]

Also, with the new online Pokemon TCG game, you can play against people. But you can't exactly make decks as well. XS

 

[Palbert6393]

Also, with the new online Pokemon TCG game, you can play against people. But you can't exactly make decks as well. XS

yet... hopefully we'll be able to soon

 

[vuvuzela2010]

A possible way to get round this problem would be to play online (with a webcam & instant messaging). I've brught it up in the development forum:

There is a sub-forum for Pokemon battles, but there doesn't seem to be one in the TCG sub-forum, so a sub-forum or thread for those of us who may want to play the TCG would be good (over webcam probably). Great if you live nowhere near a tournament, or want to make your own rules, use cards no longer legal, like Base Set or Imakuni? cards, etc.

 

[christophervigliotti]

Considering starting a league...not much in Western Maryland. My son and I will be driving for an hour to check a league out this Saturday.

 

[Mandychuu]

I used the League Locator a few days ago and found that one had finally been established in my hometown.

We actually used to have three different leagues back in the day. Toys R Us had one early on Saturday mornings at 8am, so my friend's mother would take us there and then to lunch afterward. There was also another league at Books-A-Million that started at noon, but we didn't go to it because apparently my friend had bad experiences with the people there. Her mother didn't like them much either. Later on down the road, Hastings started one that met on Sundays at 3-5pm. By that time, the ones at Toys R Us and Books-A-Million were defunct. Toys R Us hasn't had one running since, but Books-A-Million has had several come and go.

When I started getting back into Pokémon during my senior year of high school (I had a brief disenchantment with the series influenced by its declining popularity with people in my age group), I started getting back into card collecting. I taught my nephew and his friends how to play the game because they created rules on the fly since no one ever taught them how to play the game, and when I found out our league at Hastings finally came to an end, I decided to do something about it. I applied for my own league, but it never got off the ground because I couldn't find a space to play in. The economy's been so bad that the places I asked wanted some sort of compensation - in the hundreds - that I didn't have. Instead, my parents piled the kids (and me) into the car on a couple Saturdays during my first semester of college and drove 45 minutes away to a league at a comic book store. We attended a few pre-release tournaments, the Battle Roads, and during my second semester of college, I ended up attending the 2010 Texas State Pokémon Championship in Dallas. It was loads of fun, but subsequent semesters left me with absolutely no time to play. I haven't been to one since...

But the other day, when I used the League Locator, I found a new one at Books-A-Million that's been through three league cycles already and contacted the League Leader. He's really excited to hear that I'm coming to play Monday nights, and I've offered my old league materials to him for use as prizes and such.

 

[Griknot]

Starting a league requires a certain number of people to get recognized doesnt it? Is there a minumum number? Cuz if there is I'm pretty much screwed, only kids in my town play the tcg.

 

[58384]

@Griknot; Leagues are for everyone, usually there is one per viable game store in the local area. I would suggest not starting a League if you're considering being exclusive to Master Tier Players (18 and Up). There is no minimum to start a League, they will send you league materials in packs of 10 however, so if you have 11 players registered via POP Pins to your League, than you will receive 20 players worth of materials.

There is Background check and you should have a space already planned out for it (Family Friendly) such as a Gamestore, Local Library, so on and so forth. Leagues are not only TCG but VG as well, so talk to your friends, interest juniors through masters, set up non-sanctioned tournaments. Get people involved however you can, this includes making things interesting. Being a League Organizer/Leader can be a bit of work, but over all I really enjoy it.

 

[Jerbuta]

I wish someone would start a League in my area, but, the TCG franchise is very unpopular here in the South East of London. I will most defiantly start one when I'm old enough though!

 

[chella182]

Yeah my nearest is Huddersfield, which is 80+ miles away from me if I had the money, I might travel down and check it out, but I can barely afford to travel around locally, never mind filling the car up to travel down there.

I'd love to set up my own league, but it seems quite complicated. I'm reading this piece of literature on it, and it's so lengthy. And I'm not sure I'd be able to generate enough interest to really make it work. I should've done this while I was at university, I bet I could've gotten a fair amount of interest there!

 

[TokoTamer]

Yeah my nearest is Huddersfield, which is 80+ miles away from me if I had the money, I might travel down and check it out, but I can barely afford to travel around locally, never mind filling the car up to travel down there.

I'd love to set up my own league, but it seems quite complicated. I'm reading this piece of literature on it, and it's so lengthy. And I'm not sure I'd be able to generate enough interest to really make it work. I should've done this while I was at university, I bet I could've gotten a fair amount of interest there!

Getting the league set up really isn't all that that difficult, the real worry for someone starting from scratch is the venue. Do you have any local hobby shops you could talk to about being the host?

 

[Icike]

There's a League not for from me, but I never go to it on principle - I'd much rather play with just friends and family because, tbh, I simply find it more fun and we're not restricted to what cards we can use - I love combining some old Base Set cards in a deck with HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion cards. I hate the whole rule of now being about to use cards that I've not only had for over a decade but also the fact that, way back when I was ten and it all started, I've spent a fortune over the years and I'm certainly not gonna waste it by not using them how and when I want to use them.

Don't get me wrong, I think a League can bring a lot to it, especially for younger players who maybe don't have the same concerns as me.

the League I go to lets us use cards from old sets such as base set since a lot of people like using older cards than newer cards, we may have to use the format at times when we do tournaments or challenges, I've found it to be more fun to go to leagues than to play with family members it has taught me a lot more about the game and I've been able to build multiple decks with some help


edit: plus going to leagues let's you earn these beauties and who could not love these

Spoiler

 

[Lavy]

Uwehh I didn't realize that forming a League was so complicated! I was thinking about doing it, but I wouldn't want to even attempt it if there wasn't already an obvious interest in my area. There is one about an hour or so from me, but that just doesn't work for the casual play I want. I wish more game and comic stores would do Pokemon events like they do Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh.

 

[Cat Luver]

I am new to playing the card game and wonder how you go about finding a place to play the game? I also will have to learn the game as well.