Hi there. In this Pokemon TCG blog post, I share my second experience at a Destined Rivals Prerelease tournament. This was a few hours later after the first prerelease tournament in Toronto.
Images are mostly Proxy images as Destined Rivals officially releases on May 30, 2025. (You will see some Youtubers/store owners get early with content on this set.)
Shopping Around After First Pre-Release Event
After the first prerelease Destined Rivals event (see previous post), I go shopping around for some playble Pokemon cards. I check out Interesting Things store and Go For Game TCG Store in Toronto's Chinatown.
There is a two hour break for me until the next pre-release event I am heading to. It is a day trip for me in Toronto for pre-release events.
Banana Games Venue
This second pre-release event was at Banana Games in downtown Toronto. It is below the IKEA Toronto place and is near the Eaton Centre Mall at Yonge & Dundas.
Banana Games generally has higher prices than the competitors for most cards. Their plushie prices are kind of high too. The play area is actually quite nice and organized. It looks more comfortable to play there than at A & C Games. Every seat at Banana Games has playmats which is helpful for beginners and for people who forget to bring theirs.
I know and have heard this place has some high-level players and Pokemon TCG pros. Some are affiliated with Banana Games or work there. (Note that some pros are kind of all-in on the game and treat the Pokemon TCG like an e-sport or something.) Although they have some high level players they do have a lot of pre-release events scheduled. Way more than their downtown Toronto competitor stores. I am talking about 6 pre-release events spread across May 17 to May 25. I think most stores do 1 or 2 pre-release events not 6. Banana Games does provide entry-points for people to get cards early and start playing.
Cost for this pre-release event is 45 CAD plus tax. This is higher than A & C Games at 40 CAD plus tax. I use store credit funds from selling my cards to them to reduce costs. You get 1 Build & Battle Box plus 2 packs.
Tournament Format + Deck Building
There are 3 best of one rounds in this tournament. You get 1 pack for each win. Ties result in no prizing for both players.
When you get your Destined Rivals Build & Battle Kit, you get 2 packs as well. These extra 2 packs can be used for deck building. In total you can a random pre-constrcuted set of cards in the kit, 4 booster packs plus 2 more Destined Rivals packs.
I could not really take many pictures during the event as that would take 30 seconds away from 30 minutes of deck building.
From the kit I got Ethan's Typhlosion and Team Rocket's Tyranitar. In terms of booster pack pulls I got a few Pokemon ex cards including a Regirock ex. The girl near me that I met at a previous event a few weeks ago pulled two Rocket's Mewtwo ex. One regular and one gold version. So lucky for her lol. Some of the pulls people get at this event is insane. If you get a special illustration rare Mewtwo or Cynthia's Garchomp ex then you can exit the event at 0 losses out of 3 and still come out happy.
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Round One Vs Store Employee
I had mixed thoughts about this first round opponent. She was a store employee. I was told that although she works here it was her first time playing. Her fellow female colleague helped build the deck. This colleague is someone I have seen many times when I visit Banana Games but I don't know what tips she provided. I am playing against a trained beginner here.
My opponent had Misty's Pokemon plus Ethan's Typhlosion. It is a powerful pre-constructed deck combo.
The opponent opened with Misty's Staryu and I had Ethan's Cyndaquil here. She had her first turn going second. Her Misty's Staryu attack hits for 20 times 2 due to weakness. She also gets the coin flip to be heads which is paralysis. Not a good start.
On my next turn I get some setup going and knock out the Misty's Staryu with my own Ethan's Typhlosion. This is a risky play as she can hit back with her own Ethan's Typhlosion.
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What made this matchup nearly unwinnable was that she had a 3rd Ethan's Adventure in her deck. (I only got 2 from my kit.) She must have got the 3rd one from her packs. Very lucky. With 3 Ethan Adventure cards in her discard she can hit for 220 damage (40 + 60 x 3 = 40 + 180). This is one hit KO damage on my own Ethan's Typhlosion.
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My only out was to hit for 10 from Team Rocket's Tyranitar then hit the Ethan's Typhlosion the following turn for 160. Then she would theoretically get a new attacker for her fourth knockout. Even though I tried drawing cards I missed a Fire Energy for the attack. I lose.
This loss was kind of annoying as I did not even play bad. It felt like it was luck which happens sometimes.
Round Two
My round 2 opponent played Misty Pokemon from the information I got this game. This game was fast as I got a lucky turn 2 Rare Candy with Ethan's Adventure. I can evolve Ethan's Cyndaquil into Ethan's Typholosion with Rare Candy and start attacking fast. I knocked out his Misty's Staryu early on. His next Pokemon was Misty's Magikarp.
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The opponent on his next turn then played Lacey to reset the hand and get 8 cards. Surprisingly he did not get anything to setup more Basic Pokemon or anything else. His hand was bad. Very bad.
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Then I knock out his remaining 30 HP Misty's Magikarp with no Benched Pokemon for the quick win. This lasted 2 minutes. I like winning but I sometimes feel bad for a super fast win like this. I am 1 win and 1 loss here.
Round Three
My round three opponent was someone I sat next to me in round one. The person was kind of loud in disbelief in my round 1 game. I guess it was a loss for that person. One of those expressive types that can be super annoying at times.
I was against Team Rocket's Tyranitar in this round.
When it came to setup my only Basic Pokemon was Regirock ex. This was the worst possible start to have. I regret putting it in my deck. I tried to be too fancy thinking it would be good in the late game while risking early game.
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The opponent had good setup with the Team Rocket's Tyranitar and worked up to getting enough energy on it to attack. It does 180 damage which one hits Ethan's Typhlosion when I get in play.
There is balance between putting in fancy stuff & power versus consistency. Regirock ex was my downfall in round 3.
Post-Tournament + Prizing
I am at 1 win and 2 losses again. This pre-release format for Destined Rivals is not easy. Putting in Regirock ex in my deck was a giant mistake.
Here are some of the pulls, bought cards plus free cards I got from shopping and the pre-release events (this post and previous post).
The Ethan's Adventure full art card pull (bottom right) is really nice.
I would have liked 2 wins here. Getting another set of Ethan's Typhlosion cards is nice. I traded an extra Ethan's Typhlosion for a Shaymin from my round 3 opponent. The opponent had 2 Shaymins and was okay trading the second one.
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One pack is better than none. I got the main cards I wanted. I have another pre-release event booked here for next Sunday. Store credit is used to make this next one free for me. See you soon.