My UK Journey (Including Regionals Manchester)
A few weeks ago, Tom asked me if I would like to write an article for Dotdeck.co.uk. Of course I would, so I promised him to write a report of my UK journey last March.
Originally, I planned this journey to visit my friend Georg, who has been in England as an exchange student since last August. Later I got the idea to attend a Pokémon tournament there. I found the Manchester Regional Championships with the Event Locator on the Pokémon website and decided to go there.
At the European Challenge Cup in Arnhem last February, I met Tom for the first time. Dennis and I interviewed him for our website Cardleaders.de. He decided to go to Manchester, too, so we arranged to go there together.
London
My very first London experience started at Liverpool Street where the Stansted Express arrives. From now on, my feet would take me wherever I wanted to go. But I needed to find something to eat before. Ah, McDonalds over there! Okay, let the adventure begin!
There are three things about London that I remember best: At first, there are the business men in the streets: at least 50 % of the people between the station and the river was wearing a suit.
Second, the runners. When I reached the river, the people's clothes changed from suit to training wear. I tried to find the start of this marathon that the whole city seemed to participate in.
Third, the traffic lights. Not the traffic lights themselves, but the people ignoring them. Hey, this traffic light is red, so why are you crossing the street? Why does everyone here cross the street? Or is it just me, who is wrong here, the stupid tourist?
I soon got tired of exploring London... the Underground is expensive and walking isn't funny. Nonetheless I can tell you my most favourite place in London: Paddington station. I liked to watch the Paddington Bear stories on TV when I was a kid. I bought a plush bear for my sister with a tag: "Please look after this bear, thank you". It's really cute, isn't it?
Cardiff
I was very excited when I left the train at Cardiff Central. This is the city that I have wanted to visit for years! It's the home of one of my favourite soccer teams, Cardiff City. Originally I planned to attend their match against Coventry on Wednesday, but I decided not to do that because of time constraints. I preferred having enough time to explore London. Yeah, you already know that story...
Cardiff is one of the most beautiful places that I have visited so far. I walked from the station to the castle and the Cardiff University. I also went to Bute Park, Millenium Stadium and Cardiff Bay. I can recommend the Sleeperz hotel at the station - they have nice rooms, large TVs and free Wi-Fi! =D
Bristol
I went to Bristol on Friday where I met Tom and Georg. We did a little bit of playtesting. I decided to play MeesieMew, because I did well with that deck at German Regionals. Georg, who hadn't attended any tournaments this year, played the Durant deck I built for him.
Manchester
We all like diversity, but diversions aren't funny. There's nothing more to say about the drive to Manchester.
Round 1 vs Nick P (Celebi/Mewtwo/Tornadus) 1-0
Before the tournament, I changed the 2 Lost Removers to 2 PlusPowers for this matchup, hoping that I could get Surprise-K.O.s on Mewtwo EX. I didn't have a very good start, but my opponent gave me comeback-chance by benching his Mewtwo. I gained a prize advantage and won this close game. I don't remember if I needed the PlusPowers to win.
Round 2 vs Charles B (Celebi/Mewtwo/Tornadus) 1-1
Another CMT... okay, let's beat them all! My start was better, but my opponent was better, too. He used Tornadus for attacking and not Mewtwo. I should have used Yanmega and Terrakion instead of Mew, because they can't be OHKOed by Tornadus. But I was still hoping for a surprise-K.O. - at the end of the game, my strategy almost worked. Almost. One more PlusPower would have been a OHKO on Tornadus.
Round 3 vs Faisle K (Celebi/Mewtwo/Tornadus) 1-2
Yeah, three in a row! I had a terrible start - no T1 See Off is always a bad start. T2 and T3 I still couldn't attack with Mew, because I had all of my Jumpluffs in hand or no Energy or no Switch. I gave up very early. Faisle agreed to play a second match where he donked me. I think at least the third game was better. But hey, Faisle was a nice opponent and it was fun to talk with him. When I saw the match slip, I noticed his POP-ID, that starts with three 0! "How long have you been playing?" I asked. He started playing when the first sets came out. I remember that time, too... I was an 8-year-old boy playing and trading at school. Long, long time ago!
Round 4 vs David G (Zekrom/Eelektrik) 2-2
What a surprise! Not every English Pokémon player plays CMT. This game was quite easy... I had a good start and put pressure on my opponent by using Terrakion. ZekromEelektrik is one of the best matchups for MeesieMew.
Round 5 vs Ross G (Regigigas) 3-2
Somehow I thought that I had seen him before... ah, it was at the European Challenge Cup. I told him that I had read his tournament report. He didn't seem to be glad about that. My Terrakions turned this game into an easy one, because they could revenge-K.O. Regigigas. Ross, if you don't want your tournament report to be read, why did you write one? =)
Round 6 vs Lewis N (Zekrom/Eelektrik) 4-2
As I said before, Zekrom/Eelektrik is one of the best matchups for MeesieMew. Winning this game wasn't as easy as winning Round 4, but still no real problem. My opponent was only at 2-3, so I would definitely miss Top 8. Nonetheless, 4-2 is a good score!
Tom (4-2) and Georg (3-3) missed Top 8, too. We were tired anyway, so we decided to leave and went back to Bristol.
Axbridge / Cheddar
Tom took Georg and me to Axbridge where Georg lives. I have had two more nice days there, before I went back to Berlin on Monday.
Thank you Tom for taking Georg and me to Manchester and back to Axbridge! The tournament was nice. Good luck for Nationals and hopefully see you at Worlds!