This past weekend I traveled to New Mexico with a couple friends for the 2009 New Mexico State Championships for Pokemon Trading Card Game. The weekend before that Colorado held theirs, but I chose not to participate as I was well behind in the rankings and felt like it would be a waste. We left denver around 11pm on friday night and arrived in New Mexico around 6:30 am. We got some breakfast from McDonalds and proceeded to the convention center where the tournament was being held to sign in. There was 69 players in the my age group having 7 rounds and then playoffs. I won the first 4 games then lost to a fellow friend/colorado player. I won the next 2 and ended up 6-1 after swiss. I won the 4 matches played in playoffs as the tournament lasted all day & night and I kept going and going all the way to 1st place! My record at the end was 10 wins 1 loss, for winning I got a 1st place trophy, a box of Pokemon Platinum cards, a playmat, and a $300 travel allowance which they will give me at Nationals. This was really exciting because I had no intention of getting even close to the top, and with those wins I bolted up to 2nd in Colorado, and top 50 in North America. We're guessing top 35-40 in North America will get invites, and I'll have to do good at regionals in April to get a chance of an invite to Worlds.
