Author: Professor Zack

With the release of the new Pokemon Sword & Shield cards right around the corner, we are making some exciting new changes to the Western Slope Pokemon League!

Starting February 8, we will be adding new promo cards featuring brand new Pokemon found in the Galar region. Each player that attends a league session will receive one of these cards just for coming! And by completing certain special activities (see below*), players will have the chance to earn a second copy of the card! With two league sessions per month, players will have the opportunity to earn up to 4 copies of this exclusive Pokemon League promo!

We will also be adding more structured activities designed for younger players to have a good time regardless of if they play the video game or card game. We will have coloring pages, activity sheets, Pokemon trivia, and more!

In addition to the new promos, we will continue to have our leaderboard program, where players can earn points towards receiving other exclusive league promos by battling against other players in the Trading Card Game, the Video Games (3DS and Nintendo Switch), and/or Pokemon GO! Players can choose to earn points via the Casual or Competitive tracks. Casual players earn 2 points on the leaderboard for each game they play with a different person that week, regardless of whether they win or lose. Competitive players only earn points when they win a game against a different person, but will get 4 points per win! Every 5 points on the board gets you a promo card, with the chance to earn up to 4 copies of each card.

I’m very excited about this new direction we’re taking the Western Slope Pokemon League, and I hope you’ll join us at our next league session! Click here to view our upcoming schedule.

*Activities to Earn Additional Promos

(While supplies last)

• Bring a friend to league
• Catch 40 Pokemon in Pokemon GO that month (start and end totals must be verified by Professor Zack)
• Battle every person present at league that week
• Teach a new player how to play the game
• Complete a Pokemon Trivia session (for Junior Division players, i.e. those born 2009 or later)

I’m so excited to announce that the Western Slope Pokemon League is back! After a hiatus over the winter due to our old venue closing, we’re back to meeting on a regular basis at the Montrose Regional Library in Montrose, Colorado! (320 South 2nd St)

We will be meeting on Saturdays in the large meeting room from 2-5pm. Please note that due to the room being open to the public, there are other events in the same space that prevents us from meeting every week. Please check our Upcoming Events page for the most up to date meeting schedule.

Here is the current schedule for April, May, and June:

April 7th – 2-5pm

April 14th – 2-5pm

April 28th – 2-5pm

May 12th – 2-5pm

May 26th – 2-5pm

June 23rd – 3-5pm

June 30th – 2-5pm

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at league again! Train on!

–Professor Zack

I’m excited to announce that the Western Slope Pokemon League has finally found a new permanent home! Starting Saturday November 5th, we’ll be meeting every Saturday from 1pm – 4pm at The Mail Room in Montrose!

This move also means we’ll finally be able to have tournaments again! Our next tournament will be November 26, 2016. Format will be Standard, $5 entry fee with Prizes for 1st-4th places. Registration from 1pm-2pm Tournament starts at 2pm. Decklist forms will be provided, but bringing your own completed decklist will help speed up registration!

The Mail Room is located at 1414 Hawk Pkwy, Unit H2, Montrose (across the street from Wal-mart, next to Alpine Floral). Hope to see you there!

Sorry, this update is long overdue! With the impending closure of Hastings, we’ve had to relocate league to a new venue. We are now meeting at the Montrose Regional Library at 320 South 2nd Street in Montrose in the large meeting room at the front of the building.

Important Note for September!

Due to scheduling difficulties with the meeting room, we will be meeting on Thursdays for the month of September! We will only be able to meet on the 8th, 15th, and 29th. We’ll still meet at 4:00pm on all three days, though we have to be out by 6:00om on the 15th.

Until attendance can come back up, we won’t be sanctioning any tournaments for the time being. Hopefully when we can get back into a good equilibrium and back to our normal attendance numbers, we can start having tournaments again!

We hope to see you at league!

Here are some vlogs from our last day at Hastings and our first day at the Library. Enjoy!

Pokemon.com has announced the new set rotations for the 2017 season, and it’s HUGE news!

For the new Standard Format, only sets from XY – Primal Clash and forward will be legal. That’s right: no more Night March! A lot of tool cards, such as Muscle Band and Focus Sash, will also be rotating out. Also, only Promos XY36 and higher will be standard legal now!

Unlike Standard, however, the Expanded format will remain unchanged. Everything from Black and White base set onward will be playable in that format.

There has also been a change to when sets become tournament legal! New sets become legal the third Friday after their North American release date (which will mean that XY-Steam Siege will be played at Worlds this year. Should be fun to watch!).

The 2017 season officially begins July 11, 2016, but the set rotation does not come into effect until September 1, 2016. Click here to see the official set list, and click here to read Pokemon’s official analysis of how these changes will affect gameplay in the future.

Tournament Recap

First off, thank you to everyone who came to this month’s tournament! With another record-breaking attendance (9 players), it’s so exciting for me to see the Pokemon community here on the Western Slope continue to grow! Hopefully next time we won’t have to start so late as we wait for enough players to show up! (Thanks for everyone’s patience with that, by the way.)

BREAKthrough Prizes

EDIT: 1/9/15 – Information below has been updated to reflect actual quantaties of charms received.

As we start the final season of the BREAKthrough cycle, it’s time to talk about the much anticipated quarterly prizes! As you know, instead of the old gym badges, we’ll be giving out some awesome Pokeball charms! Be sure to read this post all the way to the end for important details on how to win these.

At our league on January 27th, we’ll be giving the charms out. Since we opted for the Casual award system, the charms will be awarded as follows:

• Master Ball – The player who finishes the most matches during the three month BREAKthrough cycle. PLEASE BRING YOUR SOOTOPOLIS SCORECARD on the 27th so I’ll be able to tally up your matches! (Next cycle, we’ll be using a different method of tracking matches played vs. wins)
• Luxury Ball – The player who has the best all-foil deck, as voted on by their fellow League players. On the 27th, everyone who wants to try to win the Luxury ball can either bring an already constructed 30 card foil deck, or build it at league. Extra points will be awarded for playability and creativity!
• Premier Ball – The player who brings the most new players to League. This one could possibly be the easiest to win! There are still three more weeks to bring your friends, so hop to it!
• Poke Ball – The player who best represents the Spirit of the Game, as determined by the League Owner. Yes, I’ve been watching everyone who comes to league for this award! As it says on the official Pokemon website, the Spirit of the Game keeps these principles in mind—fun, fairness, honesty, respect, sportsmanship, and learning.

Now, the BIG, IMPORTANT requirement for winning any of these charms: You MUST have an activated Trainer Club account on Pokemon.com! This is mandated by TPCi, and is required for all leagues everywhere.

The good news is, I can see who in our league has activated accounts… and most of you are all set! But there are a few who do not, so if you’re not sure, ask me at league, or email me using this website’s contact form. The instructions for activating your Trainer Club account can be found on the Player ID card given to you when you joined the League. If you need help, please let me know, and I’ll walk you through it!

And that’s all! I look forward to seeing what 2016 brings to the Western Slope Pokemon League, and hope you all have fun on the journey with us!