News

Recently, we’ve announced 5 additions to the Wolves Esports Pokemon VGC team, expanding the team to a total of six players and making sure that Ben Wood isn’t the only VGC player represent Wolves anymore

The thought process behind this decision was to create a team of players from different nations and continents, and play styles, to help facilitate their growth as competitors in official Pokemon competition and trying something new at Wolves. This expansion is also our next step into Asia and North America while it’s our first into Australia.

To recap all the player announcements, here’s the #WolvesPokemon VGC lineup:

Ben Wood
Renaud “Otark” Dutarque
Heny “Hobbit” Rich
Meaghan “ResidentUnleashed” Rattle
Zach “Moone” Gray
Suwoong “WarHyang” Cheong

Stay tuned for more Pokemon related content in the future!

#KeepHowling

A new Howl is here! With the new Pokemon season starting in September we decided to ask some question to Christian Fontenot, one of our Pokemon Trading Card Game players, as well as Benjamin Wood, our Pokemon Video Game Championship player. Here’s what they have to say about Pokemon and some other stuff!

1) Hello! To kick this interview off, please tell us a little bit about yourself!
Christian: Hi, my name in Christian Fontenot. I am 17 years old, and have been playing the Pokemon TCG since 2016. I am from Denmark.

Ben: Hello! My name is Benjamin Wood. I’m 16 years old and I am a Pokemon VGC Player for Wolves Esports. I have been playing Pokémon since 2014 and competitively since 2016. I live in Manchester, United Kingdom

2) Since you are part of our #WolvesPokemon section we need to talk about Pokemon. Let’s start simple: What is your favorite Pokemon and why? 
Christian: My favorite Pokemon is Torchic. No real reason, it’s just the one I liked as a kid, but it has stuck with me. Whenever I would go to events in America, I’d always buy any Torchic merch I didn’t already have.

Ben: One of my favourite pokemon is Regeleki. This is because of its typing which is electric and is the fastest Pokemon in the game as it hits 277 at Max Speed . For example, it can outspeed the likes of Dragapult which hits 194 Speed at Max Speed and Calyrex- Shadow which hits 187.

3) The Pokemon franchise has been around for a very long time and a lot of games and cards have been released. There is a huge audience for them so we want to know what your favorite card and game is.
Christian: My favorite Pokemon game is Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. I got into the series in 2013, with Pokemon X and Y, but I think ORAS (Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire) is what really made me love the franchise. As for the card, it’s probably “Max Elixir” from the set “Break Point”. It’s an Item card that lets you look at the top 6 cards of your deck, and pick any basic energy you find, and put it straight onto one of your benched basic pokemon. This was fun for me as it lets the player using it speed up the pacing of the game by a lot. 

Ben: In terms of the game, my favourite game has always been Pokemon Omega Ruby as that is what got me into Pokemon and its competitive scene and it has my favourite legendary Groudon. In terms of my favourite TCG Card, it would have to be Marshadow from Shining Legends due to its Let Loose ability which caused havoc for my opponents as the ability forced them to shuffle their hand into the deck and draw 4, potentially downsizing their hand and ruining their game plan.

4) You’ve both been around some time competing. What is your biggest achievement so far? Also, what has been your most fun event you attended?
Christian: I think I would have to say Worlds 2018 for both. It was my first ever World Championship, and also the first ever event I made day 2 at. 

Ben: My biggest achievement so far would have to be getting Top 16 in Europe in 2019 because it was only my second season of competitive play I have participated in. In terms of the most fun event i have ever been to, that would have to be the Pokemon World Championships 2019 where I made day 2 as it was my first ever out of europe event and I was seeing my friends from all over the world.

5) With the new season approaching in September, what are you looking forward to the most?
Christian: Seeing friends and meeting new ones. This has always been the best part of Pokemon for me, and something that has been lacking, while being locked at home for events. 

Ben: With the new season approaching, I am looking forward to seeing friends I have not seen for ages. I am also looking forward to getting back into high level competition especially now as I have just transitioned from being a senior to a master.
 

6) What can we expect from you and the team in the upcoming season?
Christian: For TCG, I would expect consistency. This is something the TFG (Team Freezing Gaze) roster has been good at since its founding back in 2019. Expect at least one, but often a lot of the players on this team to be at the top end of the standings by the end of every event. 

Ben: Hopefully, in the upcoming season, we will have picked up some more VGC Players. Another thing you can expect to see is to see us travel to high level events such as Regionals and Internationals around Europe and hopefully see us perform consistently and highly.

7) What do you think about our idea to bring Pokemon closer to esports through picking up TCG and VGC players?
Christian: I have said this before, and I will say it again. I love the idea, and am happy to be working with Wolves to make it more common in the future. I truly do think Pokemon has a lot of potential as an Esport. 

Ben: It is a very good idea especially in the VGC where over the last few years Pokemon has started to become more like an esport through becoming more accessible to newer players and making this team brings us that step closer to Pokemon becoming a popular esport.

8) How did you learn about your respective games and competitions? Was there any outside influence that pointed you in the direction you have taken?
Christian: I used to be more interested in the video games, but after I learnt to play the TCG back in 2015 I started being more interested in the TCG. Half a year later, I learnt that there were Pokemon TCG tournaments in Denmark and never looked back.

Ben: I first started playing Pokemon when I was 10 in 2014 with the Omega Ruby game. However, my interest in competitive Pokemon started when I attended a league session near me playing TCG. Then i learned about the VGC on Omega Ruby and it stuck with me from there on.

9) How do you prepare for upcoming events and how long does it take? I imagine it takes quite some time to create a new deck or team. Do you have a routine for this or something you do before the match?
Christian: Going into a major, I like to get together with a group of friends, both online and offline (often teammates), to deck build and meta game for the tournament. It’s not a process that always needs to take long, but most of the time, putting in the work to prepare for every match up is worth your time. 

Ben: It would depend on the type of the tournament. For example if it was a Premier Challenge or MidSeason Showdown, then I would start making the team about 5 days in advance as that gives me enough time to think of a team, calculate stats and damage and test it. However, for Regionals, Internationals and Worlds I would prepare for about a month in advance as I need to think of the team, theory test it, work out matchups, calculate stats and damage and then create it in game.

10) What’s your opinion on the new Pokemon game releases “New Pokemon Snap”, “Pokemon Legends: Arceus”, and the recently released “Pokemon Unite”?
Christian: I haven’t yet gotten the chance to play Pokemon Unite but from looking at it I am pretty sure we can expect it to be joining Pokemon TCG, VGC, and Pokken Tournament as a staple game of the Play! Pokemon line up. Don’t have major opinions on the other two games, but I’ll probably end up getting Pokemon Legends: Arceus at some point.

Ben: Like Christian said, I believe that Unite will join the Play! Pokémon line up. However I don’t see it becoming as major as the TCG and VGC. I don’t have any opinions on the other two games as at the moment I’m more focused on Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as they will probably become the game that VGC tournaments will play on.

11) Real talk now: What do you think about the other competition? TCG vs VGC, what’s the real deal?
Christian: I mean I’m sure we could go back and forth on what is better but I’ll just let the money do the talking. In the 2019 World Championship, the winner in the Pokemon TCG earned $25,000 whereas the winner in VGC only got $10,000. Now, you tell me which one is better. 

Ben: Now I have experience with both VGC and TCG. Even coming first at a league challenge once. I concede that TCG has a bigger prize pool but at least we don’t have to shell out hundreds of pounds every time a set comes out and we only have to invest £60 every two years. And we also don’t have to deal with scalpers, though that problem has been getting less and less.

12) Apart from playing and competing in Pokemon, what are some of the things you do in your free time?
Christian: I have a lot of different hobbies. I like doing outdoors stuff like climbing, parkour, and camping. I also like playing sports like basketball, I just kinda suck at it. I of course also play a lot of video games, and enjoy hanging out with friends, again, both online and offline.

Ben: Some of the things I like to do in my spare time include: Going to the Gym, going Boxing and to Karate practice, grinding Rainbow Six: Siege and going out with friends. Another thing I also like doing is collecting sneakers and sometimes selling them.

13) Last but not least: Is there anything else you want to say? Where can people follow you and learn more about Pokemon TCG/VGC?
Christian: Hope you guys will support TFG/Wolves Pokemon in the upcoming Play! Pokemon season. If you ever want to know what I’m up to, you can follow me @prosticks64 on Twitter, as this is the platform I use the most. 

Ben: Hopefully you guys follow us along as well as our TCG counterparts TFG/Wolves Pokémon in the next Play! Pokémon Season. My Twitter is @ben_wood836 if you want to follow. Thank you for reading and remember to stay safe!

#KeepHowling

As promised, we are back with more Pokemon Trading Card Game content! Today, we take a look at a Vikavolt & Shedinja deck by Christian F.

“Hello again everyone! Today I am here to talk a bit about one of my all time favorite decks, Vikavolt/Shedinja.

This deck is a bit odd, as it was only legal for play in the Ultra Prism to Darkness Ablaze format. This effectively means that this deck was only legal for POG 2020 (Pokemon Online Global), aka, Worlds 2020.

The deck is all about messing up your opponents set up with Vikavolt-V’s “Paralyzing Bolt” attack, that prohibits your opponent from playing Item Cards during their next turn (This effect is often referred to as “Item lock”). Combine this with cards like Crushing Hammer, that discards your opponent’s energy, and Marnie, that can reset your opponents hand, your opponent won’t exactly be having a good time as you spam all these effects to stop your opponent from playing the game altogether.

Most of what I have said so far is pretty standard Vikavolt stuff, however what makes this deck special is the 2-2 line of Nincida and Shedinja. For those who don’t know, Shedinja’s Ability “Vessel of Life” lets you attach Shedinja as a tool card to one of your Pokemon. The tool’s effect is that when you are knocked out, your opponent takes one less prize card. This basically means your opponent has to get 4 knockouts throughout the game, instead of 3. This is often referred to as forcing a “7 prize game”. In short, Shedinja effectively gives you an extra turn to win the game. This is often enough to completely change a match up, and is the core reason the ever hated “ADPZ” deck is so good. No matter how you do it, changing the way prize cards are taken is one of the most powerful effects in the game, and it works wonders with Vikavolt-V’s Item lock effect.

My story with this deck is kinda funny looking back, as I built it during a time where I wasn’t really playing that much and didn’t really care about the game. I remember wanting to play in POG just for the fun of it and decided that I might as well bring my meme deck, as it was the only thing I had been playing, when I was even playing at all that is.

To everyone’s surprise, I ended up dominating with the deck going 7-1 in Day 1 of the event. I had no idea what the meta was going into the event, but the more rounds I played, the more I started to understand that this deck was a lot more than just a meme. You see, the core problem with Vikavolt-V in this format was that it often couldn’t keep up with decks like Eternatus-VMAX and Centiscorh-VMAX (VMAX are evolutions of Pokemon-V cards), as their big one-shot attacks didn’t really care all that much about Item lock and therefore, would simply overpower you.

However with the added Shedinja, you can easily outlast a VMAX Pokemon, as they now have to spend more turns to win the game. Turns out that just one extra turn and a bit of disruption (Crushing Hammers, Marnie, and Item lock) can turn the whole game upside down. As you are often the faster deck, you can simply out speed them, and set up situations where they are forced to play more defensive. While I didn’t do as well in Day 2 of the event, 6-3 is still a respectable score. I think if I had tested the deck a bit more going into that event I might have been able to make a deeper run, but oh well.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, if we ever get a chance to play this format again, I highly recommend giving the deck a try, as it is not only powerful, but also extremely fun.”

#KeepHowling

Yes, you read that correctly. Wolves Esports is entering the Pokémon Trading Card Game community. No, we are serious. Hear us out!

Pokémon has been a part of our lives ever since Pokemon came to Europe. To us, Generation 1 Pokémon are still the best. However, that’s not what we are here to talk, or rather write about.

As of today, Wolves Esports will be represented by former “Team Freezing Gaze” in the Trading Card Game. The one with the real cards. This is meant as the first step towards our Pokémon engagement as we aim to add a couple of players for the Pokémon Video Game Championships, the Virtual Card Game, further down the line as our efforts to combine Pokémon with esports.

Unfortunately, the scene is currently on hold due to the ongoing pandemic but we are eager to experience events once it is safe to do so.

Players for #WolvesPokemon:
Christian F.
Julius K.
Alfred K.
Alexandre S.
Rune H.
Lucian H.
Jake B.
Lorenzo F.
Leon K.

We’ve sat down with Christian F. to talk about the game, the team and the ambitions.

Q: Hey, great to have you on board! Would you mind to introduce yourself and the team, please?
A: My name is Christian Fontenot, and I am the Owner/Leader of Team Freezing Gaze. I have played with TFG since it was formed back in September 2019. While I didn’t orgionaly run the team, I took over in mid October that same year, and never looked back. The team as a hole is made up of some of Europe’s best teen players, who all have a lot of experience and success in the game.

Q: How long have you been playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game and why?
A: I have been playing Pokémon TCG since January 2016, so 5 years now. The main reason I have kept to Pokémon, instead of switching to play other games, is mainly because of the community aspect of it. Meeting up with both new and old friends from around the world to play Pokémon for a whole weekend, really is like nothing else out there.

Q: Apart from Pokémon – do you play any other TCGs, or have you tried different ones before?
A: I have tried both Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh, but i couldn’t really get into any of them.

Q: If you are not in the mood for Pokémon or can’t attend events, do you play any other games on PC or consoles?
A: I do play a lot of games. For the most part I stick to PC, but I do have a switch that I use quite a lot. As for specific games I have played quite a bit, I would say Smash Ultimate and Overwatch. I also love following the esports scene in both of them.

Q: What was the biggest and/or most loved event you attended so far?
A: That would have to be Worlds 2018. It was my first time playing in the World Championship, and one of the best weekends of my life. I made my first major day 2 at that event, and made a lot of friends who I still talk with to this day.

Q: What is your favorite deck of all times and your most loved Pokémon card of all times? Also, what was your very first card and do you still have it?
A: My favorite deck of all time would have to be Turbo Lapras, from the BREAKthrough to Forbidden Light format. The deck was all about hitting really hard really fast, back in a format where the game was a lot slower than it is today. My favorit card of all time was also played in Lapras, that being Max Elixir. Max Elixir is a card made for decks that want to go fast, helping you with getting energy into play very early on in the game. To be honest, I have no clue what my first card was, but I most likely don’t have it anymore.

Q: A very important question – What is your favorite Pokémon Generation?
A: I got into Pokemon with XY and ORAS (Omega Rubin and Alpha Sapphire) is my favorite game in the series, so Generation 6 is an easy answer for me.

Q: Do you think more Esport organization should give the Pokémon TCG/VGC a chance?
A: I think it’s worth a shot. Some Esports organisations already have VGC players, so I don’t see why TCG shouldn’t work. I do of course have to bring up the fact that it is a card game, but i don’t think that’s a real problem. While I can’t say for sure if it would work in the end, I do for sure think more teams should try to get into Pokémon in general, as I do think there is a lot to gain.

Q: When do the Tournaments start again?
A: The IRL tournaments will most likely start up again when Covid is long gone. It will take a while from now for sure, but I think a safe guess is around June.

Q: What do you want to achieve with the team and Wolves Esports?
A: I have a lot of goals, but my main one with Wolves is to make esports teams more normal in the Pokémon TCG. Right now, basically no major organisations have touched the TCG, but I hope that can change. As for personal stuff, my goal is the same as it always has been – win worlds. I know this is a big goal and all but I personally don’t see a point to playing at a high level if my goal isn’t to be the best. I don’t know how long it will take but expect me to be around until i’m on top.

Q: I think that is enough for now, let’s keep some content for the next few months. Are there any final words for this interview?
A: Me and the team are really looking forward to playing under, and working with Wolves. The opportunity really means a lot to us and now more than ever we can’t wait for IRL events to come back.