u ready 4 nats?
Hey everybody, it’s Josh here with what is likely to be my final article before the Canada and United States National Championships. With just one week until Canada and two weeks until the US, it’s crunch time! Decks should be completed (spare a few techs), bags should be packed soon, and before we know it the biggest tournament of the year will be done and gone. With such little time left to prepare, what should we talk about?
Because both Kettler and Jay have put out some great articles concerning really important aspects to testing before Nationals, whether it be testing theory or mirror matches, I was pretty stumped on what to work out for you guys as my final bit of advice.
However, thanks to you guys, plenty of you answered my forum post in the UG Hideout, and I’ve got plenty to work with! This article is geared to be an answer to everything you guys wanted to hear last minute before the tournament, and I’m hoping that even if you didn’t submit a question you wanted answered that you take something valuable from this article.
While I received close to 20 different requests, most of your questions seemed to gravitate around 3 central points: Preparation at Nationals (outside of just deckbuilding), “Rogue” concepts, and helping your Junior succeed in tournament play. Chances are if you’re a player you’re interested in one of these three topics, and I hope you get something great out of the article before Nationals has come to an end.
Nationals Prep
Train... like Sage.
I got a few requests that had to deal with things at Nationals outside of testing or building lists, and I think it’s a pretty important subject. For many of you, getting into Underground was due to your interest in getting into the competitive game, and I know that this is the first Nationals for many of you!
It’s hard to think that Underground has almost been around for a year now (probably closer to ¾, but who’s counting : P), and believe me when I say that I was in your guys’ boat. Last year was MY first Nationals, and I’d love to share the things that I learned to help you new first-timers out.
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Mr619: Probably wouldn’t write a whole article, but a snippet maybe, but I know I’d like to read this. Basically a run-down on what to expect at nationals for a first time player there. It’s my first year at nationals, and I only hear so much since not a whole lot of people end up going there around here. Just a small amount really on what to expect and what to do in between rounds or something.
Curtmina: How to stay calm throughout a large tournament
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This is a pretty broad topic, but I’d love to tackle it. Your first time at Nationals can be pretty intimidating! Even if you’re showing up to the lobby to mess around the day before the actual event, that moment where you enter a room and realize that there are thousands of other people playing some form of Pokémon is pretty intense!
It’s also, in my opinion, a very rewarding experience: it’s the culmination of all the work that you’ve put in, and also the game’s greatest testament to how strong its community is. You’ll meet awesome people all over the country over the next 3-4 days, and it’s a pretty unforgettable experience.
One question that should undoubtedly be on your mind is — What do I do on the first day?
Look for the ginormous line of people.
First I recommend you register as quickly as possible on Thursday — it’s a pain to do it the next morning (Friday) from what I’ve heard, and the lines are usually pretty reasonable as long as you’re not trying to get in the minute they open up registration. Beyond there you can get a view of the grounds for the event itself, and there are plenty of open rooms available for free and league play.
I recommend taking a trip in here and seeing if you can meet somebody new and test some games out. This is a good way to meeting new friends across the country, and just a generally good way to get yourself familiar with playing entirely new people.
It’s during these games that you can get a feel for what’s floating around in players’ minds for the main event. Just because you play 5 Donphans on the first day might not necessarily mean that you’re going to face 5 Donphans to start off the tournament, but it should at least give you a grasp on what kind of decks to prepare for.
This is also a good time to decide and finalize those last 2-3 slots for your techs. If you play 5 Donphans and lose all 5, you might want to seriously consider examining why you lost, and how you could at least make the matchup slightly better. While changing up some techs is fine, I STRONGLY disagree with making a last-minute deck switch on the day before the tournament.
I saw a handful of players do it at Nationals last year, and almost all of them regretted it. Too often you’ll hear “I built X, was expecting Y, but I got matched up against Z all day”. Even if there’s an unfavorable matchup out there, you’ll always play better with the deck you’ve tested the most and know the best.
I know I probably say this in EVERY SINGLE article, but it’s my best bit of advice, and I really recommend you stick to it. There will also be lots of talk before the event about how “SECRET DECK X HAS BEEN REVEALED, NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO PLAY AGAINST IT, IT BREAKS THE META, HAS NO WEAKNESS, ETC”.
Some people like to fall into this last minute hype, too. Some players who bring a big card pool get so intimidated and so interested in this “NEW DECK” that they build it immediately. They play a game or two which it wins, then reaffirm to themselves that it is indeed “THE PLAY”, only to find that having zero comfort with the deck leads to their downfall.
