Carrying on with our "Ten in '10" series, here are the next two in my list of top ten events for the Pokemon TCG community this season…
#8: U.S. Nationals Moving Back to Indianapolis
(…Why are we all sitting Indian Style in Indianapolis?)
Apologies for the disgusting pun – just thought I'd bring that to your attention.
Why it mattered: After U.S. Nationals vacating the Origins Game Convention, the event's uncertainty was left up in the air. In 2009 we saw it in the (poor) location of downtown St. Louis, Missouri; and in 2010, we saw it arrive in Indianapolis, although not without a long wait.
This year, after much positive feedback, Play! Pokemon was pleased to quickly announce Nationals would – again – be in Indianapolis, Indiana. Does this mean that Nats's new "permanent" location will be this city? Only time will tell…
#7: Sixprizes Underground
(What, you mean it's NOT free?!)
Why it mattered: Unlike the other two leading trading card games, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh, high-quality Pokemon Trading Card Game information is unusually scarce, and consistent quality is even scarcer. As a result, many new, independent organizations sought to remedy this void in the community, including SixPrizes.com (ranked as the second most significant event of 2009 by me), HeyTrainer.org (ranked fourth), and Jwittz's youtube videos (ranked tenth).
However, the great challenge faced by any community older than a year is keeping its content fresh and strong. Since the youtube market was relatively untapped, Josh W. didn't have to do much work at all to keep things fresh; however, Sixprizes and HeyTrainer faced this issue in spades. The latter's answer – our answer – was this blog, which seeks to offer an extremely consistent stream of high-quality content, which doesn't require filtering through a message board. SixPrizes's answer?
"Underground": the first Pokemon TCG pay site in over two years. For $15/month, you can read content written by some of the best and/or most recognizable names in the community, including yours truly. From the latest cutting-edge lists, to more long-term principles, the staff is well equipped to make this a worthwhile service…
…For those who want to pay. The preceding pay site, thetopcut.com, charged its members a mere $5/month, which was considered well below peoples' "pain threshold." But is $15 per month worth it? Many of the site's subscribers swear by Underground, but several others…Not so much.
Regardless of whether it's a product worth buying (I hope you buy it, because I get paid more if you do!), the fact of the matter is that it is catching attention, and has revived a previously untapped element in the card community. Whether it will remain is unknown…