Hey SixPrizes community. To help promote the SixPrizes Underground (which is really great), I have conducted interviews with some of the Underground writers. Today’s interview is with Pablo Meza. Enjoy!
What is your favorite thing about the Pokemon TCG?
I have met an incredible amount of awesome people with whom I share memories with and I have been able to represent Mexico in an international competition. I think it’s a very close tie between those two.
Where do you playtest the most?
My huge chunk of testing comes from Apprentice with my teammates, although if I ever have the chance I always prefer to playtest with the actual cards.
What is your most memorable match?
Definitely my top 4 match against Jeremy Maron at Worlds 2005. People remember that match as the only one to ever involve a win by ‘decking’ at such an important level, and the only reason I decked was because during the early game I got behind and thus started using unnecessary cards to thin my deck and have better odds of drawing the cards I needed at the time I needed them, but having such mentality ended up costing me what I believe would’ve been 1st place at Worlds.
Who is your favorite person to play against?
Back in the day I used to log hours of Apprentice with the aforementioned Jeremy Maron, but right now I always have very good and tense games with one of my friends here in Mexico whom some of you might know: Miguel Lopez.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
I’d say my 3rd place at Worlds 2005. It got me recognized as a top player, it was my minimum goal for that year after my team and I came up with such an incredible and ‘new’ deck, and it even had a good repercussion on the whole of Latin America as a few years later I found out little kids from Argentina and Chile and Mexico of course looked up to me and what I had achieved and was perceived as the best Latin American player so far.
Do you play the video games or watch the anime?
Not the anime, but yes I have always liked the video game, it’s how I got into Pokemon in the first place, and I’m very much looking forward to the new Black and White games and maybe attending US Nationals and participate in the video game event since I can’t play in the TCG main event, but I’ll know for sure as the date looms closer.
Did you have a mentor or someone who taught you Pokemon or did you learn on your own?
I learned on my own, I didn’t know any people who liked the Pokemon TCG besides me when I first saw an advert on it in a video games magazine, so being the curious person that I am, I wanted to learn all about the new shiny cards I had bought and started attending tournaments with my awesome no trainer Blastoise/Dark Blastoise/every water type Pokemon I owned hehe.
Do you play any other TCG besides Pokemon?
Nope, tried YuGiOh for a little while, but it was too expensive to keep up with at 15 years of age.
How does it feel to be regarded as one of the top Pokemon players?
It feels really nice. After I performed well at Worlds 2005, and being quite immature, the ‘fame’ kind of got to me and I started acting very cocky, but I’m glad I have matured and now I always try to be a good example for other players and promote the SotG.
Do you have any special talent other than being an top-notch Pokemon player?
Well my biggest passion in life I’d say is playing football (soccer) and I think I’m very decent at that, but I also enjoy playing Poker and most recently Starcraft 2, that game is addicting!
Thanks again Pablo for this awesome interview. If you want to know more about Pablo, feel free to leave questions for him in the comments section below.
