Well guys, we haven’t had much for new articles lately. I wanted to come up with something fun for the people that still stop by here, so I rounded up a bunch of in-browser games for you to play. Leave a comment at the bottom, and let everyone know which game is the best one!
Category: Action, Multiplayer, Strategy, Roleplay, Adventure, Game for Boys, Simulation, Middle Ages
Description: Goodgame Empire is a great strategy title by Goodgame Studios. Build your own castle, create a powerful army and fight epic player versus player battles on a dynamic world map. Crush your enemies, conquer land and rise to the ruler of a mighty empire!
Category: Simulation, Multiplayer, Game for Girls, Game for Boys, Roleplay, Time Management, Fun, Farm Game, Strategy
Description: Uncle George has left you his farm, but unfortunately it’s in pretty bad shape. Using business skills and the help of your neighbors, family and friends you can turn the overgrown barnyard into a beautiful and prosperous farm again. Plant the right crops, harvest and process them, care for your animals and make sure that your workers are happy – this is how your farm will grow successfully.
Category: Action, Multiplayer, Strategy, Galaxy, Adventure, Game for Boys, Simulation
Description: Become the commander of your own space station. Utilize the galaxy’s resources and enlarge your base. Research futuristic technologies and demonstrate your grasp of tactics. Ally yourself with other players from all across the world and rule the galaxy!
Category: Action, Multiplayer, Strategy, Adventure, Game for Boys, Crime, Simulation
Description: Goodgame Gangster is the brand new title from Goodgame Studios. Live the life of a gangster in a big city. Do missions for the godfather, duel with other players from all over the world and get new items at the black market to improve your character. Start your career right now and become the biggest gangster of all time.
Category: Cards, Multiplayer, Action, Social Games, Texas Hold’em
Description: Goodgame Poker presents a whole new poker experience to players. Goodgame Poker combines all the strategy, skill and excitement of Texas Hold’em with customisable avatars and a fresh and modern style. Raise the stakes, bluff with the best and look good while you do it! Buy exclusive items, send gifts to your buddies and raise your rankings. True Texas Hold’em rules with a new twist – GoodGame Poker.
Hey everybody, we are back for the second part of my 200 article celebration. I decided to break these interviews up
into two articles so they will be easier to read. Here is the interview with Ed. I recently got a chance to sit down with him for a half an hour or so and we chatted about the history of the site, his experience with the game, and my feud with Soren Kierkegaard. If you didn’t get the first part of the article, you can view it here. Here is nearly our entire conversation. One note before we get started, Ed did swear once in the interview, so to be nice I replaced it with the word “Jigglypuff.”
Interview with an Ed
Pikkdogs: Thanks for being a part of my 200th article. I know you are busy with the 5 girls running around.
Ed: The wife doesn’t run around as much lately.
P: woops I mean 4. Lol. You almost have enough for a basketball team now. Was that your plan all along?
E: I keep hearing the basketball comment. Can’t we make it a hockey team? Maybe without goalies.
P: you Minnesota people. B-ball is where it’s at.
E: Anyway, I dunno. The Wife came from a family of 4 kids. I was an only child. 1 kid was plenty for me. 2 seemed doable. 3 is crazy. 3-4 seems negligible.
P: My parents had 7 kids. You could give them a run for their money.
E: I wouldn’t mind having the money, but I’m not into running. Is this part of the interview? :) Read More
A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a bonus article for you guys.
Well, it has happened, I have reached the 200 article mark! I am actually at around 210 if you count some of the Pedro articles, but to be simple, we shall say I just reached 200 articles! Speaking of Pedro, we might as well bring him into this mix. Hey Pedro!
Hey Pikkdogs. Today is a sad day. You have officially tortured the nice people of the Pokemon TCG 200 times. Odds are that they would have picked up their pitchforks and revolted by now. They must be into pain or something.
Well, then I guess we have something in common.
Indeed.
200 articles is a really cool and prestigious mark. There are few other people that can say that they have 200 articles or videos related to the TCG! Although I still think I am probably the worst writer that Pokemon has ever seen, it is still nice to get to 200 articles.
I tried to think long and hard-
–haha, long and hard.
Thanks Pedro. Yes, I tried to think long and hard about how to celebrate this historic mark. I though about doing another contest, but those never bring out too many people. I also thought about sponsoring a concert at Nationals, but the money just wasn’t there for this year. So I guess we will have to make do with another boring article.
Well, they suffered through 200 boring articles, one more couldn’t hurt.
I guess. This article series features two interviews. The first article will include my Barbara Walter interview and some fun facts about the site. The second article will include a real interview that I had with OnehitKO founder Ed.
For an anniversary article I usually try to get a preview of an interview I had with a magazine, but this time I have an advanced script of an interview that I recently did with Barbara Walters. In fact, she was nice enough to pose for a picture with me. So here now we have an excerpt from that interview.
Barbara Walters: First of all, welcome and congrats on 200 articles!
Pikkdogs: Thanks Barbara, its an honor to be here.
BW: How does one stay for so long on one sight without much thanks or any pay?
P: I have no life.
BW: That explains it. Pokeman Dan has 67 episodes of Pokeclass along with more articles. Jwittz had 54 Episodes of Profit along with a bunch of other videos and articles. I don’t have the actual numbers, but I would assume that Pokemon Dan has just under 200 articles/video and that Jwittz has around 200. What makes you tick and to write more than almost anyone has before?
P: I love writing and I love doing what other people don’t. I don’t want to be known as just a guy who wrote 200 articles. I want to be someone who wrote 200 articles that are different from any other article out there. Even if that means they are complete crap. Sometimes things can be so bad that they are good.
BW: You mention that your articles are different. They feature comedy and news as much as Pokemon, what made you want to do something different like that?
P: Well, I started writing like a lot of other people did. I started by writing just whenever I had an idea, so I would write just a couple a month. Than, a lot of writers on onehitko.com started dropping out, and I knew that if I didn’t write at least 1 article a week, the site would die. Eventually 1 article a week turned into 3, and all of a sudden I got to 100 articles fast. As I started to write a lot of articles, I noticed that I sucked. I wasn’t a great writer and that other writers knew more about the game than I did. So I just thought that wouldn’t try to play a game I couldn’t win. I would still write, but I would write my own way. I would incorporate comedy that would be commonplace in a late night talk show, and put it into a Pokemon article. Ed gave me creative control to do what I want, so I took it and tried to make it as bazaar as possible. Anything to stand out and be different. I still love sharing my love of the game, but Im gonna share it the way I want to and to the audience that I want to.
BW: You have been called out before for your disdain towards Juniors and Seniors. How can you bring something so adult to a game for children?
P: We are not a site for children, we are a PG 13 site. Although historically this is a game for kids, most of the players now are adults. So we cater to the adults. I have had people yell at me for saying that Juniors and Seniors are nothing but dragging down the game, but that’s what I feel, and that’s what Im gonna stand for.
BW: Your articles are known for kind of being more towards the ADD side, having popular news and historical items as well as Pokemon news, how do you account for that.
P: Well, its all about emulating a late night talk show, that’s what they do, and so I decided to bring it in an article form. Sure it gets weird when I talk more about English literature, philosophers, and Stacey Keibler but that’s a good thing I think. If you don’t love English Literature and pretty looking girls, well I don’t want you to read the website. We aren’t just talking about Pokemon we gotta celebrate all aspects of life.
BW: And why is celebrating life and comedy so important to you, they do seem to be foreign concepts to Pokemon.
P: My philosophy is to always laugh, if you don’t laugh you will probably cry. Life is full of bad things and heartbreak, comedy let’s us escape from all of the problems that the world gives us. I live in Detroit, and here everyday I can see the bad things that can happen to people. Comedy is a great escape from all of that.
BW: You also are known to make fun of your website and call it “crap”. Why do you take such harsh tones?
P: Because I honestly believe it is crap, and that’s how I like it. Six Prizes is a great site, and it is like the eldest child in the Pokemon family. It went to Harvard and came back with a doctorate, and our parents speak highly of it. Onehitko on the other hand is like the drunken half-brother of the family. Nobody really takes us seriously or gives us any credibility, and we respond by making a lot of fart jokes and talk about boobies a lot. We aren’t looked at as a great site, so I think we should just run with it and act like the black sheep of the Pokemon family.
BW: You mentioned that you live in Detroit. Do you like Detroit?
P: Sure, I love Michigan. And from Detroit, Michigan is only like 2 hours away by car.
BW: Has a cult of celebrity followed you in the Pokemon circles like it has to other writers like J-Wittz.
P: No, JWittz looks and acts a lot more rock star-y than I do. Plus, people don’t see my face too often, so its hard to bring a face to a name. There were a couple tournaments where people kept coming up to me and telling me that they loved the site, but for the most part I am still the same fat guy that sits in the corner that I always have been. Aside from all the Pokemon groupies of course.
BW: In your Pokemon career, what moment would you count as the most fun for you?
P: That’s a tough one. I think I had the most fun moment at a tournament was at Michigan States 2009. I barely made it into Top Cut as the 16th seed, and had to play my buddy Jonah who was undefeated at the time. I was able to sweep the best of three series and knock out the #1 seed in the first round. It was one of the best feelings that I have had in a while, to know that nobody else could beat him, yet I did in straight games as a 16 seed. The moment of adjulation was shortlived however, as I have my top 8 game won, and then I make a horrible misplay for no reason and lose the game. But, I still can say that I beat the #1 seed, and he would have had a really good chance to win out.
BW: Well, you do have 200 articles and 300 pounds under your belt, do you think that you will be riding off into the sunset any time soon.
P: Well, the sunset plan was in place after 200 articles, but things have happened so that I can stay on for some more articles. It seems that I will be writing for a little longer anyway, not sure for how long. Probably until I say something racist and everybody forces me to resign.
Fun Facts
We have one more interview to get to in this article series, a real one, with Ed that will be in the next post. But, before we end this article and start another one, let me tell you some fun facts about this site.
The original URL of this site was “www.teamomar.info”
The site was originally intended as a way to communicate between about a dozen people among one Pokemon team.
Pikkdogs and Ed actually met through www.sixprizes.com, kind of.
The first decklist that was posted on the site featured Blaziken FB.
The first article on the website featured artwork from Ed’s first daughter.
The first episode of The Noozles premiered 2 years before Pikkdogs was born.
Onehitko has had a total of 28 authors, most of which who have written 3 articles or less.
Ed will soon hit his 100 article mark, but the person who wrote the 3rd most articles for this site is our buddy PokemanDan.
Pikkdogs does not care for the thoughts of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
That is all for Part One. Part Two is published now, so make sure and read the interview I had with Ed, it is cool. You can get the link here. Just don’t follow this link, that is to a chicken soup recipe.
Hey guys, it’s Ed here to talk to you about something new going on at OneHitKO.com. Maybe you’ve noticed the new ads around the site, but maybe you’ve been conditioned to ignore all the advertisements. I really can’t blame you for ignoring the ads. I mean, I do appreciate when you guys have clicked on the ads in the past, but let’s be honest. They ads are rarely related to anything you care about and they can get annoying.
Lately, Pikkdogs has been busy providing you guys with plenty of entertaining Pokemon TCG content. As a side note, we really ought to thank him more for that.
While he’s been writing articles, I’ve been working on something new, The OneHitKO.com Store. I just got it working, and while I’m pretty proud that it’s up and running, I know that it still definitely needs work. As you can see from the look of it, it’s a low budget operation.
We are currently only selling Next Destinies cards, and the shop looks a bit weak. I know. I mean, take a look around here. The site works, and we are pleased to have so many loyal readers. We’re not kidding anyone, though. Aesthetics is not the focus. I’m working on the issues, though.
I want this new idea to work out, because I think it will be a good thing for our readers. Ultimately, I want us to be able to provide any cards you guys might need, but right now we have to start somewhere. I also want to make it look more professional, but I just think that it’s better for us to get something up and running ASAP than to get it perfect before launching.
What does this mean to you? Well, we’re hoping that OneHitKO readers will support the site by patronizing http://shop.onehitko.com. Whenever you need some cards, all we ask is that you check out the OneHitKO Store and see if we have the cards you’re looking for.
Please consider taking a moment right now to browse our Pokemon Card Shop. Leave us some feedback about what you think. I know the selection isn’t impressive yet, but we need to start somewhere. Also, keep in mind that I will be editing the store quite a bit in the near future. The look and feel of it will likely change.
If you experience any technical difficulties, be sure to let us know. If you don’t like something you see (layout, pricing, etc.), let us know. If you make a purchase, leave a comment here and let us know.
Thanks guys! I really think this will be a better way bring you both the information you need and the cards you need to act on that information. The process will require some growing and learning, but I’m excited about this new way for us to serve the Pokemon TCG community.
A big hello to all you OHKOers out there. This is Pikkdogs here with a special article. Today I am putting out a bonus article to celebrate my 150th article.
It seems like just a month ago I celebrated my 100th article, but now I have 150 articles already. A big thanks to all you readers out there, I never expected to write 50 article, nonetheless 150. I must say that I really enjoy writing article and interacting with you guys out there. To celebrate my 150th article, I will be sharing with you a part of my upcoming interview in the Pokemon issue of Pokerface Magazine. Enjoy the sneak peak of the interview.
Thanks for coming to the interview Pikkdogs, we have all been enjoying the articles you have been churning out lately. What do you think separates you from the other article writers and Pokemon commentators out there?
Well, thanks for having me. I think the difference between me and most of the big time personalities out there is that I don’t pretend to be anything that I am not. If you look at the first article or video of any author or Pokemon personality, you will see them listing their accomplishments. They do this to establish themselves as someone who is trustworthy, but it ends up as painting them as a little cocky. But, when you look at my articles I never once established myself as a good player. I think although it’s nice to get advice from the pros, it is also great to get advice from somebody who is just another guy, and that is what I have always provided. In fact I spend most of my time making fun of myself, and that really lightens the mood.
Speaking of making fun of yourself, tell us about Pedro and how he came about.
Pedro is just one of the changes that I have made in the last 50 articles or so. Along with me realizing that I am a different writer than everybody else out there, I realized that I needed to change my writing style. I don’t have the skill or knowledge that other writers like Jwittz and Jay H. do, so I had to add something that made me stand out, and that was comedy. While I am not a comedian, I knew I could add something to articles that were not out there before.
Geoff Peterson
I took inspiration for my recent articles from the late night talk shows. I love the late night talk show hosts like Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon; they are just really good and what they do and are funny with or without a show. So I decided I would model my articles on them. And Pedro was ripped right from that. Of course Johnny Carson had Ed McMahon, Conan has Andy Richter, Jay Leno has that black guy who plays the guitar and has a creepy laugh, and Craig Ferguson has Geoff Peterson. I would say Geoff is probably the biggest influence on Pedro. If you haven’t seen Geoff you have to look him up on the Youtube, Craig and Geoff are just hilarious together. Up until Geoff came out, sidekicks were just stooges that laughed at the right time. Geoff is different, he is not afraid to go against the grain and make fun of the host. I can see a lot of Geoff in Pedro. I also like the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, and Pedro kind of acts like some of his dummies. Besides those influences, I had already used someone I called a “Geeky Sidekick” in my articles. And Pedro was just an evolution from the geeky sidekick, it was just making him more deep. So that’s how Pedro got started.
One more Pedro question, can you give us an actual biography for him?
Well Pedro has always been guarded about revealing his past. Is that because he is ashamed of it? Or is it because he wants you to buy his auto-biography when it goes on sale? I don’t know, but I can compile a list of what was already revealed about him. Of course he is from a different dimension, and he lives on earth. So he lives on earth like most of us do, he just lives in a slightly different earth. Pedro has also revealed that he is half alien. We can assume from his name listed in the Onehitko.com profile that his father is an alien, but his mother is human. He can not travel to this dimension, but he uses a machine to communicate with us. The rest of his life is a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a tortilla.
Along with the comedy has come some controversy for bringing more adult language into what has traditionally been a kids card game. Don’t you think that you shouldn’t cuss on a kids site.
No, I need to cuss more. Pokemon has always played to the lowest common denominator, the kids. I think that tradition is really hurtful for growing the game. The best players are at least college aged and we don’t all watch the Teletubbies. We listen to rap and hardrock music and we watch shows that are not kid friendly, so why should we have to be PG when we communicate about the game. I wish the game did not have to have Juniors and Seniors to survive, but the young kids are here to stay. That does not mean that us adults have to like or go along with it. We can be who we are no matter where we are. Once at a tournament I received a bye and walked over to the bar next door and had a Miller Lite. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m sure Pokemon would not want to associate Pokemon with anything adult like that. I don’t think a bunch of adults should change our ways for a couple of kids, so I expect to read Pokemon articles like I would anything that is for adults. Make no mistake Pokemon is for adults, name me one great player that is ten years old. Pokemon is a game for college aged people or older, so let’s not bring things down to the lowest common denominator anymore.
On an un-related note, do you subscribe to the Freudian or Jungian schools of Psychology.
I’m more of a Freudian. One because it makes sense, and two because he says the word “penis” a lot.
At Nationals J-Wittz gets people following him like he’s Justin Bieber, do you get any sort of attention at tournaments?
Well I don’t get that much attention. J-Wittz is a good player and has made some good videos in his time, so he deserves attention like that. I don’t want or deserve that kind of attention. For the most part at local tournaments I am just one of the guys, not many people bring up the website. But at tournaments where there are a high percentage of newer players, I do get a lot of people saying how much they like the site, and Pedro. I love talking to readers and giving help to newer players, so I do like to get recognized and talk about the site and the game. At the same time I always feel weird when I get recognized. When I first entered the game I didn’t know anyone and I was just the fat guy who sat in the corner and looked creepy. Now as Pedro would say, I’m still fat and creepy but I just talk to a couple people.
Speaking of Justin Bieber, do you think that really is his baby, baby, baby ohhhhhh?
No, he has an album out right now. He just wants to promote himself. His guys probably hired that girl. Plus I don’t know if Bieber is old enough for coitis.
How long do you think you and Pedro will keep writing articles?
Well Pedro will last as long as I want him to. At first people called for Pedro’s death, and now people have started complimenting him. That all doesn’t matter, he’s my sidekick and when I get tired of him he will go. I kind of look forward to the day when I think about a new format and do something different. I don’t know if he will last forever, but I think he should be out here for a little more.
As far as for how long I will do this, I don’t know. I never asked to do what I currently am doing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t last forever. I currently am looking for a different job, so if I move to a smaller town (like I want to), I probably won’t be playing anymore (if nobody else is playing in that area). Also, right now the format is not making me happy. If the next couple sets don’t make the format more exciting I might have to drop out, but all that is just speculation. And for a final thing, I couldn’t do this site without Ed, so if he ever gives up on the site, I would too.
Any last words?
A big thanks to Ed. I have done some pretty risky things in the past couple months, and Ed has just sat back and let me do them. He gave me all the creative control I needed. I don’t think a lot of people out there would sit back and let me cuss and do stuff like that. He gave me enough rope, it was my turn to either wrangle up some cattle or hang myself with it. While I’m not ruling out that I might eventually say something racist or homophobic and sink the whole site, so far I have avoided hanging myself. Whether I make 150 more articles or screw up and only write 2 more, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I sometimes make fun of the site of how we have no paid writers and no sponsors, but I don’t think I would ever want to live up to the expectations of a sponsor or something like that. Something low key like this site is great with me, because I get to do whatever I want to do and nobody can tell me not to. So here’s to fighting the man!!.while writing articles about Charizard.
So Long and Thanks for 150 articles worth of fish everybody!
This is just Pikkdogs here to make a special announcement.
Don’t get your hopes up, I’m not retiring.
But, I guess you could say I’m retiring for one week.
Ed and I are proud to announce that during the week of August 8th-14th, www.onehitko.com will be introducing its first “Guest Writer Week.” During this week you will read articles from people who have never written on this site before. The writers will be from all different areas of expertise. From Nationals winners to league leaders, Guest Writer Week will have it all.
Ed and I have been working really hard on this week to try to get the best writers, and I think I can say that we got one of the best and most diverse groups of writers ever assembled for one week of articles. The authors who have currently signed on for Guest Writer Week are, in no practicular order:
Alan Traxler – Ann Arbor’s League Leader and player in Michigan.
Jay Hornung – the 3rd place finisher of Worlds in 2009 and winner of too many other tournaments to mention. He writes the “Jay’s Gym” article on sixprizes.com.
Kyle Sucevich – also known as “Pooka,” he is the 2009 U.S. Nationals 1st place winner, finished in the top 4 in 2010, and got second place in 2011. He currently is one of the masterminds of the show “The Top Cut.” It can be found on www.thetopcut.net.
Michael Slutsky – Competitive player in the Minneapolis area.
Jordan Baker – Member of Team Warp Point and competitive player in the Detroit Area.
Adam Capriola – Adam has many accomplishments including multiple Nationals top cuts (most recently this year) and multiple Worlds invites. Oh, and he has a little website you may have heard of called www.sixprizes.com.
Radu C. – Competitive player in the Minneapolis area. He top cut in this year’s U.S. Nationals and has won many other tournaments. He also has competed in Worlds. He has the distinction of being the first player I have ever lost to, which doesn’t really matter that much to anyone but me.
Hey all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here. Recently it came to my attention that I have passed the 100 article mark. I waited till now to celebrate it because I didn’t want to start this during our Nationals coverage. But now that Nationals is out of the way, we can party down.
To celebrate my 100th post, this article will be special. It contains information about a contest, short biography, an excerpt of my interview featured in the upcoming issue of The Rolling Stone, and some other fun stuff.
The Contest
Last winter we had a contest for the first anniversary of the site. That contest didn’t go so well, so I thought I would try it again. Perhaps the last contest was a little too difficult, so this contest will be easy. All you have to do is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com.” In this email we ask you to tell us something you like, or do not like about the website. Thats all you have to do. Everyone who submits a successful entry, will get their name placed into a drawing. When the contest is over, I will select two names at random. The winners will each receive one www.onehitko.com t-shirt, just like the ones that Team Omar wore at nationals. The shirt is an exclusive just for this contest, it features Zekrom on the front of the shirt, remember this is the only time we will be offering these.
Again, to win, all you have to do is send an email to “pikkdogs@teamomar.com” by midnight on Sunday July 24th. Unfortunately, because of shipping costs, we will not be able to send prizes outside of the contiguous United States. We also ask that you only send one email per person. Of cours, we reserve the right to change the contest at any time, although we do not see this situation happening.
The Bio
It recently came to my attention that when I never told you guys anything about me when I started writing on this website. So I figure after 100 articles, I can probably start the introduction.
I am a 24 year old who currently lives in the Detroit, Mi area, but was born and raised in a little town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called Wakefield. I recently graduated with a Masters in Library and Information Science, and currently work as a librarian in a Seminary in Detroit.
I started playing the game when it first came out. My friends Frank and Jerry picked up the game as well and all three of us learned how to play together. Frank and Jerry were okay players, however, I was not. They beat me in cards a couple times before they got tired of playing against me. I eventually lost touch with the game, because I didn’t really have the funds to play a TCG back then.
Then in Februrary of 2009 I was sitting at my apartment being bored. My roomate had just left for a card tournament, and I started thinking that I should start a hobby as well. At first I wanted to play Magic like them, but nasty memories of Frank and Jerry popped into my mind. So, I started thinking of other hobbies, while I was watching TV. I clicked through a couple channels until I found an old Pokemon movie on. At first I just watched the movie for a while, I started to think about the TCG and how fun it was. I decided to check if it was still around, it was.
I will leave any other biographical information for the Rolling Stone interview, but that is basically all you need to know about me. I am not a great player, my biggest accomplishments are finishing in the top 8 at Michigan States 2010 and finishing this season ranked 9th in the very competitive state of Michigan. I do not have the laundry list of accomplishments that other writers have, but I am an experienced writer who has a lot to offer beginners. I love writing on this site to help others and to connect with other players. It was nice seeing all you guys at Nats this year, and hope I can connect with more of you at other tournaments.
It's me about to go Pete Townshend on a guitar on the cover of the Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Excerpt
Below is an excerpt from my upcoming interview with the guys from Rolling Stone magazine.
Thanks for coming in for the interview Pikkdogs, what inspired you to write for www.onehitko.com?
Great to be here guys. Actually ever since I started playing this game I have been writing. I didn’t start writing for Ed and the guys until I was about a year into it, but I wrote from day one. I started with small stuff like “Card of the Day’s” on Pokegym. Then I honed my Pokemon skills by helping people with their decklists on www.pojo.biz. I responded to so many posts on there that it wasn’t even funny, it was time consuming but it helped me hone my skills. All of that writing led me to write my first article on www.sixprizes.com. Ed contacted me because of that article, and we could say the rest was history. But, if anyone out there wants to be a Pokemon writer I would say to start small on stuff like cards of the day, and work your way up.
You get a lot of negative feedback and some might say you don’t get the respect from a lot of other people in the community that other writers do. What is your response to that.
Well, I guess any respect I get has to be earned I don’t think I have earned respect on the top tables like people like J-Wittz has, so it just make sense that he is more respected than me. If you look at the 6P Underground they have writers with 100 times better credentials than I do. That part doesn’t bother me. As for the negative feedback, a lot of it is deserved, I’m not the best player or writer so it’s good to be put back into your place once in a while. But, a lot of the negative feedback is just haters hating, and you just gotta ignore that. I know I do good at what I do, that’s all that matters.
You have had a lot of epic matches in your 2 year career, what would you say was your best match.
Wow, there were so many good ones, that its hard to pick just one. I can say that some of my buddies like Robert Hall have given me great matches. One especially great one was against fellow writer Joel Howe and his SP deck at a BR this year. I played a Vilegar deck and narrowly took him down in the first round. But, I gotta say the match I am most proud of was my top 16 match at Michigan States 2010. I had barely squeaked into Top Cut as the 16 seed, and my real close friend Jona had skunked the competition on his way to an undefeated record. I came into the game just feeling lucky to be around when I saw Jona who was confident after his recent win at a Cities tournament. I didn’t think I would have a shot, but I was able to beat him in straight games to move on in the tournament.
What was your favorite deck to play?
I gotta say it was at that same State tournament when I played Flyperior. The object of the deck was to mill your opponent’s deck by discarding cards with Flygon X’s Poke-Body and Rhyperior DP’s Poke-Power. It was a real unique deck that was awfully fun to play. Whenever I locked someone with that deck I felt really powerful, and that’s a great feeling. I ended up having to put the deck away thanks to Garchomp C Lv. X, but still have the memories of striking fear into my opponents.
If you could change the game, how would you do it?
Great question. I think the game has gotten 100 times better in the past year, however there are always improvements to be made. It’s no secret that I don’t like having to play alongside Juniors, so getting rid of the kids would be nice, if a little too unrealistic. Aside from that, I don’t think this game is that broken right now. Pokemon Catcher scares me, but so have a lot of other things in the past, and the game has survived them. If I could change one rule, it would be about the first turn. Numerous people have suggested that the person who starts should be allowed to use Trainers and Supporters, but not attack. I think this one help balance out the luck factor a little. But, I think the system we have right now is good enough.
When it comes to the game, do you have any role models?
Well nothing comes to mind right away. I have learned a lot from a lot of people like Omar, my old roommate, and my opponents that I have played; but I wouldn’t say that they are my role model. I guess I try to model my performance on one of my sports heroes, Brett Favre. Favre was cocky and confident, but never over confident. He thought he could make every pass and used that confidence to make most of his throws. He didn’t think the play was over until the whistle was blown, and I think I try to play with the same spirit. For the most part, I don’t play meta decks, but still come to every tournament prepared to win it knowing that I will fight till my 6th prize to come out of the match victorious. I rarely get down on myself, and try to think that the game isn’t over until the judge pry’s me off of the chair. Also like Brett Favre, I like to text pictures of my genitals to women who work for the New York Jets…… okay so maybe he did not inspire me that much.
Thanks for the interview, before you go, can you tell us if you had any regrets about your Nationals performance and do you have a message for your readers/.
I didn’t win, so ya gotta regret that. Also, I still think in a way Reshiphlosion sure came out of nowhere, and man did it get to me. If I didn’t play so many of those, I’m pretty sure I would have topped no problem. I guess I didn’t test enough. Also, gotta thank my readers. If there wasn’t someone out there benefiting from these articles I would not be writing. Some of my fondest memories of the game were when someone took a deck I made up and posted here and won a Battle Roads, and when one of the readers said they got into the game partly because of me. I never thought I would have any effect on people, so I gotta give it up to the readers. Thanks for the interview guys.
You can pick up the full Rolling Stone article on news stands………ahhh…… probably never.
Top Ten Reasons Why You Lost U.S. Nationals
One last part of my 100th article celebration will be a top ten list. Yes I know I’m stealing it from Letterman and about half a dozen people who did it on Six Prizes, but I hope mine is…… well…..funny.
The Number 10 reason you did not win U.S. Nationals. Your Yanmega Prime got ran over by Omar’s Car.
Team Omar vs. Yanmega = One Hit KO
Don’t ya hate when that happens.
Number 9. Your team overslept because they stayed up too late watching re-runs of the Golden Girls.
Oh that Betty White.
Number 8. You were banned for tweeting pictures of your private parts to TPCI head David Schwimmer.
Ya don’t wanna do that.
Number 7. You were about to leave for U.S. nationals from your hotel, but you decided to stay with the waffle maker instead.
Mmmmm waffles.
Number 6. Your opponent was good.
Always tough.
Number 5. You were gonna play Magneboar, but you had to play Volbeat/Illumisile because your little brother traded your deck for a poodle.
I do like Poodles
The Number 4 reason that you didn’t win U.S. Nationals. They rotated Uxie.
Yeah, thats a problem.
Number 3. You wanted to play Primetime, but your Yanmega’s were abused by a Magnemite as Yanmas, and were totally afraid of its own bench.
Number 2. Lindsay Lohan walked away with both halves of your RDL.
Hey come back!!!
And the Number 1 reason why you didn’t win U.S. nationals. You didn’t make it to your top 64 match because you couldn’t let that big Pikachu that was walking around beat you at a league game.
Tepig maybe, but not Pikachu.
There you go. I hoped you liked this 100th article celebration. Ya probably learned a little about me, finally, and I hope ya laughed a little at the top 10 list. I wish you all good luck on the contest, and hope a lot of you guys choose to enter. Check back next time, same bat time, same bat channel, for a regular article.
Hey guys. When we changed the website to the new name/URL, I also created a new look for the site. Now, the new look was not something that we originally discussed as being a part of the change. I mostly just felt that it would be fun to have a new look and feel to accompany the new name, so I took it upon myself to create the new design. After a weekend of getting used to the new look, what do you guys think?
I would really like feedback on this, because I’m not necessarily attached to the new layout. I could be persuaded to go back to the old, stick with the new, come up with something in between, or try something entirely new.
I’m no graphic artist here, so I know that my artistic abilities and tastes are (well let’s lay it out there) virtually nonexistent. I could use some help. If you’re into designing stuff like this, maybe you want a shot at it. Maybe you just want to voice your opinion. Maybe you’re like me and don’t have a strong opinion, but that’s important for me to know, too.
Here are a few options that are on the table. Any of these are ready to roll. New designs are definitely doable, too (but maybe not by me?). At any rate, please comment and let’s figure this out together.
One Hit KO Representative, HitmonchanYou may have noticed, but I’ll say it anyway. Pikkdogs already alluded to it in his previous post. What was once TeamOmar.com is now OneHitKO.com. We’re hoping that the new name better represents what the site has become. It’s grown larger than just a place for a few guys to share their ramblings, and we’re really pleased with the site’s growth.
People from all over the world are reading and posting here, and we feel like they’re all part of the “team.” The problem is that we feel the name “Team Omar” might be too exclusive. People are reading, but we’d like to see more people contributing (commenting, writing articles, submitting videos, etc.). The new identity is our attempt at making this a place where everyone will feel welcome to participate.
This isn’t Omar’s website. This isn’t my team’s website. It’s a place where everyone can go to share information and read quality articles about the Pokemon Trading Card Game.
To help usher in the new name and URL, we’ve also given the website a facelift. I think it adds a freshness to the site. It definitely gives the site a new feel, but it’s still the same content you’ve come to expect. We hope you like the new look, the new name, and all that it represents.
Ed 
Pikkdogs 
