Pokemon

After starting up hobby leagues in 2 different stores, we've heard a lot of the same questions time and time again, so we aim to address some of these questions today so you can have a better understanding of what's going to happen before you turn up to your first Pokemon Tournament! What is a Pokemon Tournament? It sounds a bit big and scary when called a tournament, so think of it more as a Pokemon event. Basically these events are where people can come together to play some games with some new people and hopefully make some new friends...

Today we will have a brief look at the Evolutions theme decks so you can work out if they're a suitable product for you! What's in it? As with all theme decks, this comes with a full 60-card deck, ready to play straight away with all the Pokemon, Trainers and Energies you need to start. It also comes with rules, the paper playmat, damage counters and poison and burn counters.  What's good about it? It has everything you need to get started, so it's perfect for new players It hits the nostalgia factor - they've used the same card art...

Another month has gone past, meaning it's time for another Fun Deck Friday! With the new Evolutions set coming out in a week, I thought it would be a good opportunity to add in some of these new cards into a deck. Remember, while this may not be the best deck in the format, it should be a lot of fun and reasonably cheap to build. What's the deck? This month, I'll be making a colourless deck, using a bunch of quick attackers. Unlike most Fun Deck Friday decks, this one will have a few EXs and very few evolutions....

This will be our final blog update for what's going on at Armageddon for us this year. I've also re-condensed all the info from the previous blogs after the new announcements, so if you missed anything in previous updates, it's all in this blog. There will be some info on some of the deals we'll have there, so make sure you keep reading! Firstly, I want to say we haven't forgot those who aren't in Auckland! So you guys don't miss out completely on this exciting weekend, I've decided not to take down any of the daily deals that go...

It's time for another update about some of the things happening at the Card Merchant stall for Auckland Armageddon! I can't believe it's only a week away now! As I said in the first blog, we have a stall that is 3x the size of our previous stalls and I'm very excited to reveal the reason for this! This year we will be running a Yu-Gi-Oh learn-to-play booth, where you can come and learn the game and then get exclusive deals on intro decks to get into the game. This is a great opportunity for anyone who doesn't currently play...

We are very excited to announce that we will be opening a new store! This will be in Pakuranga Plaza in Auckland. This is a MUCH bigger store than our Glenfield one and is kit out with heaps of awesome Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: the Gathering cards. We will be opening from Saturday 8th October at 9am so come down and check it out! Below is a map to help you find us. We have a dedicated play area set up, so you can come down any time to play games with your mates. We will be starting Pokemon hobby...

Another month has passed, but you know what that means, we're one month closer to Christmas! Oh and it's time for another Fun Deck Friday! This month we're looking at a deck that one of my good friends plays, which he started off making just to have some fun at hobby league, but it does have real potential. I'm talking about Typhlosion! So shout out to Kezza for the idea. Remember that this is a fun deck and while it won't win every match, it's a lot of fun and won't break the bank How does it work? Basically you want...

Time for some more info about where we'll be and what we'll be up to! If you missed our first announcement, you can see it here. Where are we? Again this year, we're in the main hall. We're up by EB this year, see the map attached. Once the official map is released, we'll be able to give you an exact stand number and location. Cosplays In the last announcement, we mentioned that both Chloe and Matt will be cosplaying, so for anyone who's interested, Chloe will be going as Umbreon (and Misty on one day) and Matt will be...

Today we will have a look at the new 3-pack blisters that came out with Steam Siege. There is one with Azelf and one with Rayquaza. Each of these comes with 3 Steam Siege booster packs, a promo (either Azelf or Rayquaza) and a coin. These are good for players getting into the game as it gives you the coin if you don't have one yet and you can also grab one with a promo that will help out your deck. Which one's better? Azelf seems to be the more versatile promo. If you're using anything in your deck that...

We are very excited to announce that we will be at Auckland Armageddon again this year! Armageddon will always be a special event for the Card Merchant team, because it was at Armageddon last year that we first went live. This year we have bigger and better things planned, but you'll have to wait a little longer to hear about those. With only 7 weeks to go until the event, we thought we'd start letting you in on some of the things we'll have going on. I'll be doing updates every few weeks up until the event and let you...