400th Gym Leader Challenge Is Almost Here!

The Gym Leader Challenge is the Fincastle Gym’s longest running tradition.  Shortly after beginning our league, Gym Leader Joel went to work on taking the core concept of every Pokemon video game to date and incorporating it into our gym.  That concept is having Gym Leaders and type-specific decks available for its trainers to test themselves against.  Originally, we scrounged the web for a supply of the 2008 league promo badges to reward our trainers for wins over gym leaders.  That supply soon dried up, so we went to our trainers, held a contest and eventually created our own gym badges based on the design of Kelli Bowen, a trainer that was part of one of the many great families that have come and gone over the years at the Gym.  We have documented every challenge we’ve ever taken… every win, every loss, every battle that came down to the wire.  Those who have prevailed are immortalized on our Wall of Fame.

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2016 Worlds Photos!

Well, to highlight the point that we made yesterday about Georgia’s match-ups and the strength of the Japanese contingent… here’s how Georgia’s last 3 Day 1 opponent’s stood at the end of Day 2.  Asaki Hasegawa (her 4th round opponent) is in 4th place overall with a record of 5 wins, 0 losses and 2 ties, entering the Top 8 playoffs as the #4 seed.  Hajime Imura (her last round loss) finished in 9th place (1 spot out of the Top 8 playoff) with a record of 5-1-1.  Iori Kato (her 5th round loss) finished 32nd with a record of 4-3.  Georgia was dialed in yesterday, crushing every US players she faced.  How she drew this trio of amazing players is beyond us.  We assume Top 8 matches are underway and we don’t know how they are progressing, but 5 of the 8 are Japanese.

2016 TCG States Come To A Close

As the TCG State Championship series wraps up this weekend, so does a very impressive run from the Fincastle Pokemon Gym’s best.  Gym Leader Georgia entered the series with her World Championship invitation already in hand, so for her, the State Championships were a chance to test out some different ideas.  Gym Leader Logan, on the other hand, entered the series looking to secure an invitation to Worlds, a concept that he was not even on his radar as he began this season.  As they frequently do (a fact that we sometimes take for granted), both Georgia and Logan went above and beyond.

Congratulations Robbie, v5.0!

Sunday at the Fincastle Pokemon Gym was a pretty standard, uneventful day at league.  Uneventful for everyone except Gym Leader Logan.  Gym Leader Logan had his hands full in his role as the Water-type gym leader (TCG).  We made some changes to the water deck, trying to transition it towards the coming rotation.  Most of the strong water-type cards, outside of Seismitoad EX and Primal Kyogre EX, fall out of the Standard Format on September 1^st.  Many of the Gym Leader’s mainstays like Suicune, Plasma Kyurem, Keldeo EX, Empoleon and Blastoise, leave the format without any worthy successors in the upcoming Ancient Origins set.  What the new set does provide, however, is a huge boost to Grass-type pokemon, which spells trouble for the Water-types. 

Congratulations Robbie, v4.0!

Ask Gym Leader Joel what his favorite movie is and without hesitation, he will tell you that it is “The Matrix”.  So it follows, that his favorite movie line is, “…I can only show you the door.  You’re the one that has to walk through it.”  This has special meaning for Joel, not only because it is from an incredible movie, but more so because his father said this same phrase, almost word for word, often to Joel as he grew up in the late 70’s/early 80’s, years before the film.  His father’s point was to teach Joel that while he could guide him and offer advice, Joel had to decide things for himself, taking responsibility for his actions, but also feeling the true sense of accomplishment that only comes when you do something on your own.  It is this same mantra that Joel lives by that was the driving force behind his creation at the Gym, the Gym Leader Challenge.

Logan’s 2014 Nats/World’s Deck – Dark Rush

When discussing the rotation in earlier posts, Gym Leader Joel likened the loss of Rayquaza EX from the Standard Format as the loss of a long-time friend.  If “Ray” was Joel’s friend, then the deck Logan played at this summer’s Nationals and Worlds LCQ was more akin to a brother.  Since its release in Dark Explorers, Darkrai EX has been at the center of Logan’s competitive deck arsenal.  Darkrai EX hit the scene in the Spring of 2012.  To chronicle the history of how Logan (and Joel, from time to time) have played this deck since 2012 would take a week-long series of posts.  Both gym leaders have come up with some unique and interesting twists on Darkrai based decks.  As the 2014 National Championships approached, Logan went back to the basics, going with his most consistent build.  Logan narrowly missed trips to the top cut at Nats and final rounds of the LCQ with the deck.  Come join us on the dark side as we first look at the evolution of the deck and then at his final list.  One thing we’ve learned about Darkrai is that you never want to underestimate the power of the dark side (add your own menacing voice here).

2014 Pokemon World Championships Day 1 – LCQ

The Fincastle Pokemon Gym, in its 3rd trip to the Pokemon World Championships, made the short trip (for once) to our nation’s capital on Thursday.  We went early, to give us time to check in and relax and even do a little sight-seeing before diving into a weekend of intense pokemon competition.  Once settled in, it was early to bed, as the Gym’s original Gym Leader had to get up early on Friday to check in for the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), which was to begin at 9:00am on Friday.  Thanks to the convenient location of this year’s Worlds, 2 of the Gym’s trainers were also able to try their hand at their 1st ever World Championship competition.  There is a lot to cover from this weekend, so lets get right to it.

Isiah M Completes Challenge #300 At Gym!

THIS…. IS…. FINCASTLE!!!!!!  And we are a peaceful folk.  Tonight, we dine in… probably Country Cookin or Subway.  The other place is a little hot for our tastes.  Sorry, Leonidas.  No “Hot Gates”, no sending young warriors off into the wilderness to toughen up or die, and definitely no running around in leather underwear and a cape.  We don’t have the abs for that.  What we do have is the Fincastle Pokemon Gym, one of the most unique leagues in the country, possibly the world.  The centerpiece of the Gym is the Gym Leader Challenge.  After completing 2 rows on a league/season scorecard, any trainer is eligible to sign up for the challenge of his choice, a best 2-of-3 match against a single type deck (grass, fire, water, etc.) that could net you a custom designed badge, if you win, and put you on the path towards becoming League Champion, a task that no one has achieved yet.