Memories of Pokemon TCG East Coast Super Trainer Showdown
Jim Roszel shares his memories of the time he attended the Pokémon TCG East Coast Super Trainer Showdown in June 2001
The Pokémon TCG East Coast Super Trainer Showdown was an official Pokémon TCG event that took place on June 23rd and June 24th, 2001, at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was the third large-scale gathering hosted by Wizards of the Coast, following the success of the Super Trainer Showdown events at Long Beach (California) and Secaucus (New Jersey, the same location as this event) in 2000. Players were divided into three age divisions: 10 and Under, 11 – 14, and 15 and Over. Sneasel from the Neo Genesis set was banned, marking the first time a trading card had been banned from official tournament play. Jim Roszel shared his memories of this event, which he attended with his friends.
Disclosure: Jim has been a part of the editorial team for Johto Times, but wrote this prior to joining us!
After the success of the West Coast Super Trainer Showdown, a giant gathering of TCG players for a big tournament and event, Wizards of the Coast, who owned the Pokémon TCG license at the time, planned events for the East Coast. As members of the Pokémon Zeo community, we were all heavily invested in the TCG (though my love was more for collecting and creating my own fake cards). A few members of the Zeo community planned to go: Purity, one of the webmasters with The Echidna, lived in the area and was going to go. I had been [online] friends with Pure and Ech for a couple years at that point and was a moderator on their message board (I don’t want to over inflate my importance; they were the site and I was just a kid who had time to contribute to something I loved.), and I loved the idea of being able to go to a big TCG gathering and meet some of my friends who I chatted with online in person for the first time.
The event was two days, June 23rd and 24th, 2001. I was 16 years old and my mom agreed to travel with me, driving up from Cincinnati, OH to Secaucus, NJ, a 9 or 10 hour drive, in the days before we all had smartphones or GPS. I remember printing the directions out from MapQuest ahead of time. I had never been to the New York adjacent area, and in the months leading up to September 11, 2001, as we approached the area I remember seeing the World Trade Center towers as they existed at the time. The city seemed enormous, even in the distance, larger than anything like it that I’d seen before.
The event was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus.
The night prior to the event, we arrived after our long car ride at the hotel, at the same time as Purity, Vash (another member of the Zeo community) and The Echidna were arriving, so I got to meet my friends right away!
The hotel was within walking distance of the expo center so in the morning I could walk right over. I had made a name tag with the Zeo logo and my handle, AngurisNeo, so I could be recognized by any other members (I remember Marril2k and PKMNX were also in attendance, and some others that I have forgotten their names and handles of now, sadly) of the Zeo community. Upon entering the event, every participant was given a Pokémon TCG East Coast Super Trainer Showdown T-shirt featuring Unown, Houndoom, Yanma, Natu and Xatu, which I put on (sadly I do not think I still have this shirt; if I do, it is well hidden in my boxes of junk). When I ran into Purity that morning she had a Pokémon Zeo shirt for me which I put on over that.
Other freebies were stickers of the energy type symbols and a large “Create Your Own Pokémon Card” sheet (which was not as good as the fake card resources that existed online!).
During the event there were also “Master Trainer” matches, where people could challenge some of the WotC pros like Master Trainer Mike, Dark Master Trainer Mike, and Master Trainer Pat (I think?). These guys worked on the game as it was localized for the USA and hosted a weekly chatroom with Q&A about the game, so they were well known entities in the TCG community at the time.
On a stage in the middle of the room were various contests. One that I recall was naming as many Pokémon as you could in a set time frame. The Echidna participated in that and did well, if I remember correctly.
A big source of controversy at the time was the Sneasel card, newly released with Neo Genesis. Based on it being overpowered versus the rest of the cards available in the game at the time, it was banned at the STS. There was a large Sneasel with “Banned at the STS” stamped on it that you could get your picture taken with.
There were large corrals set up with tables for the tournament. I played a deck that focused on Dark Golduck and Darkness Energy, if my memory serves. I won a match, maybe two, but did not go far. There were two tournaments run, one each day, and I think I was knocked out on the second day, right away.
After the event I remember going out to dinner with Pure, Ech, Marril2k, PKMNX and others at, I think, Sizzler (also walking distance of the hotel). It was a great time to be able to play so much Pokémon, see other people excited about the game, and meet some of my (now) oldest friends in person for the first time.
Looking back, I have nothing but fond memories of this event and the experience. It was the first, but not the last, out of state trading card/game event I attended and really set the stage for my expectations moving forward. On top of that, in the years to come I would remain close with people I now consider among my dearest friends and even got real jobs thanks to the friendships I made playing Pokémon, and a lot of it started right there in New Jersey, in June of 2001.
Additional Photographs
A huge thanks to Jim for sharing his memories of the Pokémon TCG East Coast Super Trainer Showdown 2001. It sounds like it was super fun, and meeting up with his online friends for the very first time in person to chat about Pokémon and spend quality time together over food sounds super special.