I got off work at 8AM after a hard night's day working graveyard. And seeing as I had some free time, $20, and a full tank of gas, I figure I'd brave the two hour drive to Modesto for the Pokémon TCG FireRed/LeafGreen Prerelease Tournament.
The Power Windmills of the East Bay.
At a rest stop after trying to figure out how to correct a wrong turn. Fortunatly I still made it in time for the tournament.
See! Silly me forgot to take a picture of the card shop (though I doubt it'll be my last time there)... fortunatly I did snag one of this poster. Pretty...
This shop must be a hot spot in Modesto... this place was packed by mid-day. Lord how I wished there was a place near my house that was nearly as popular as this place.
Lots of people from all over came. There were quite a few from Modesto itself (duh), some from the League in Cupertino (home of HyperEevee and ToysRUSKid), and even some from Sacramento. I was the only one from San Francisco (natch).
Reading over a card... hell, the tournament was worth the trip... mostly because I got to meet a lot of really cool people! :D
Our judge was Rabid Raichu, a fairly well know name in the world of Bay Area tournament organization. The guy in the middle of the shot pulled one of the two Blastoise ex's in the entire event.
21 people eventually made it to the Prerelease. Here we are sitting and waiting while they pass out our packs.
My deck. Few people were able to pull good Pokémon, I was of no exception. In fact, what you see is pretty much all I could use. Mostly 1-1 lines... fortunatly the 3 Oaks Research, 2 Celio's Networks and Bill's Maintenance is was saved my butt in the end.
Tournament MADNESS! I managed to win most of my games (4-1), losing only to the fellow in the lowe left hand corner of this shot. I had some very good opponents though!!
Ghetto Boyz from Sac. All of them ranks pretty high (the one holding the box won the 11-14 age group), James in the center won third in 15+, and the guy to the left got second.
Guess who won first in 15+. This guy's such a jerk.
This guy managed to kick butt (and beat me) using his bloody Cloyster. CLOYSTERR!!!
The gentleman bottomed out in the tournament, but got his revenge by royally stomping in a side Unlimited battle. You my friend are GOOD. :D
There were s'more side events after the main tournament, but after having been awake for 24 hours, I figured it would be a good idea to head back home. At least not without taking an hour nap in the parking lot of a Longs Drugs in Pleasentville. The end.