Hi all, Jamie here and today I'm writing to you about a very different topic. One that doesn't relate to any specific trading card game but is about TCGs in general.
This topic is very close to my heart as I have personally founded a TCG team – a team in the Pokémon TCG called Team MCR.
I would like to share with you the reasons I did this and what benefits forming a team can create.
The main reason I did this was to bring together a group of players with a common aim – to improve, have fun and represent what we believe in our local TCG community.
A group of friends who are not necessarily close in terms of location, but instead are close personally and enjoy spending time with each other on the circuit of their chosen TCG.
The main bonus of being part of a team is support.
As a team, you should test together, build decks together and be successful together. It's also important to remember that you need to be there for the person standing at your side when they need uplifting too, and this for me is the most important part. To get through a tournament as a team you will need to support each other, no matter how strong your performance. Don't forget that everyone needs an arm over their shoulder every now and again. When you feel supported you will want to work harder and get better at the game. Trust me when I say that being part of a team really pushes you, and that's amazing!
As a team you should be willing to share ideas. What is the play? Does anyone have a list? I hear these questions a lot in and around our team. If you are a person that wants to keep your list private to give you a minimal percentage advantage, a team probably is not for you. We are in a world with so many talented players sharing their winning lists on the internet, which means that the chances are someone has probably already cracked your secret combo or spicy idea. On this section you need to keep an open mind and give everyone in your team an opportunity to be heard. Ultimately, if the idea is bad you will find that out through testing.
Representing a team is huge. The feeling you get when you are at an event with the players you call your teammates all with the same shirt, same play mat but more importantly the same common goal, knowing you are here with an X number of people who support and believe in you is an unreal feeling. Truly indescribable.
These points are some of the key reasons I created a TCG team and I would never look back. Team MCR has all this and more and it is one of the best things I have ever done.
I hope you enjoyed this article of 'Why Create a TCG Team', and if you think creating a team is for you, go for it. Aim as high as you want to go, or be as casual as you want to be, but make sure you are doing it for the right reason.
Thanks for reading and I will be back again soon.
My name is Jamie Brian Arthur Turner; I have been playing Pokémon competitively for around 2 years. I am the founder of Team MCR a competitive Pokémon team from the UK. My favorite thing about Pokémon is traveling around the world competing in the game I love.