By JC
Hey guys! I’ve wanted to write a review about my Emerging Powers Pre-Release ever since I went back in September. I’ve been putting it off partly due to my forgetfulness and partly due to being busy. I’m going to start now before I start to forget all the details. This was actually my first event to anything regarding Pokemon, so I was anxious because I didn’t know what to expect. I arrived shortly after 11:00 for registration and to my surprise, there was a line outside of the venue. There must have been around 25 people there and more continued to trickle in.
Once inside, I helped put down chairs and waited patiently as the organizers were setting everything up. I waited about 30 minutes after I registered. I made my Pokemon Play card and received a deck box and a promo Gigalith. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough deck boxes and Promo cards for everyone. They did have some extra Black and White deck boxes from the previous Pre-Release as replacements for those who couldn’t get the Emerging Powers deck boxes. I made some small talk with others around myself as I waited. I felt a bit anxious at first because I was in a new environment revolving around a children’s anime, but eased up as the day went on. All of us were given 6 Emerging Powers booster packs at around 12:00 and it was off to the races. I quickly learned from the others as they opened up their packs quickly and organized them into piles based on types. My childhood memories of getting bad pulls came back to me as I opened each pack. I actually spent a long time looking at the new cards in my first pack, but had to pick up the pace because everyone else were on their 3rd or 4th. I really like the artwork and the reverse-holo style.
I can’t remember all the contents of my 40 card deck, but I know I decided to make a metal and grass deck. My single holographic was a Cobalion and I knew I had to put him in my deck. The only other metal Pokemon were Ferroseed and Ferrothorn.
The cards I remember: 2-1 Petilil and Lilligant; 1-1-1 Sewaddle, Swadloon, Leavanny; 1-1 Cottonee and Whimsicott; 1-1-1 Pidove, Tranquill, and Unfezant; 1 Bianca; 2 Max Potion; 1 Great Ball; Grass and Metal energy cards
I also threw in a Basculin and a water energy at the last minute. This turned out to be a bad decision. I think there are only like 4 Fire-type Pokemon cards in the set, so I shouldn’t have been worried about fire weakness.
I played 4-5 matches and only won once. The one time I did win was because of Lilligant. Everyone else I played got Tornadus, Thundurus, or one of the legendary beasts out within 2 turns. It was ridiculous! One guy I played pulled all 3 legendary beasts (and used them too). I didn’t stay for the entire thing, but I was glad I went. I was really disappointed at my pulls, but it was still exciting. Out of my 8 booster packs, I didn’t pull a “good” Beartic, a Pokemon Catcher, any version of the genies, and only 1 holographic. I pulled a “bad” Gothitelle out of my final pack, which kind of sums up the entire day. If you’re thinking about getting into Pokemon, going to a Pre-Release is a great way to get introduced to the environment and atmosphere of competitive play. There are no prizes for winning at Pre-Releases, so you only have to worry about having a good time.
Tags: Card Collecting