Pokemon let’s go! Capital Teens ready to compete in world card championships

Ottawa’s Owen Hills and Gatineau’s Jack Moore will head to London to take on the world’s best for a chance to win $25,000

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Like many elite competitors, Owen Hills gets a mix of nerves and excitement when he thinks about his next competition.

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In a matter of days, he’ll be overseas, drawing on years of practice and tournament experience as he goes toe-to-toe with the world’s best in his chosen target, Pokémon.

Not to be confused with the sets most people are familiar with, or the video games many know and love, top players of the trading card game will compete for bragging rights, and a $25,000 box, at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, which takes place in London.

Sixteen-year-old Hills developed her passion for the card game about five years ago, along with friends at Sunday afternoon tournaments at the local Carta Mágica card shop. Unlike other hobbies he’s picked up that he later grew tired of after a few months, Hills said playing Pokémon has never stopped being fun. And if he was going to keep playing, he thought, “I might as well try to be the best I can be.”

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Fellow players from the area he has come to know have kept Hills engaged in the hobby, he said. They have group chats where they work on decks, frequent visits to each other’s homes, and tournaments where they compete, both side by side and against each other, with the goal of reaching the world championships.

Owen Hills, left, and Jack Moore will compete in the Pokémon Card Game at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships in London on August 18.
Owen Hills, left, and Jack Moore will compete in the Pokémon Card Game at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships in London on August 18. Photo by Cathy Jo Noble /photo provided

On Thursday, the Brookfield high school student will compete in London alongside his close friend, Gatineau’s Jack Moore, and around 500 others who have climbed to the heights of the Pokémon card game through ranking points accumulated in competitions. lower level.

“One thing I always say is there’s a difference between … what your goal is and what you’ll be happy to accomplish,” Hills said, when asked about his mindset heading into the championship. “I don’t think someone should go into a tournament with the goal of not winning it all. I don’t think anyone’s goal should be anything other than that. But I would be happy to get to the second day of the tournament.”

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It will take four days to crown the winner, and the field of competition will narrow as players are eliminated. Hills is one of a group of local Pokémon card game players who travel to England. Three qualified for the championships, while others signed up for a tournament called the “Open” where Hills plans to play if he is eliminated on day one.

“I think no matter how I do it, I won’t be so disappointed just because getting to the world championship has been like a big goal of mine for a long time,” Hills said. He will travel to England with his father, with a proud mother at home.

“Most kids when they … compete at this kind of level, it’s in a sport. And this is really unique. But Owen and Jack are unique young men,” said Cathy Jo Noble.

“The time they put into it and the thought they put into building their deck. It’s…I don’t know if I mean inspiring, but I would say it’s really nice to see someone find her passion so young in life and just stick with it.”

the Pokémon World Championships Trading Card Game Matches Will Stream on Twitch beginning at 4 a.m. ET Thursday.

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