Hey everyone, it's Wallysson here, and I'm really happy to tell you that James Kowalski, also known as Alloutblitzle, this year's NAIC champion, agreed to do an interview with us. Having a player at his level take the time to answer our questions means a lot. I tried to ask about things beyond the game itself, because that's what I like most about this kind of conversation: getting into how a real top player thinks, what he feels in a loss that hurts, what keeps him going when the title isn't coming.
If you don't follow him closely, here's the short version. A lot of us have been watching James for years, going back to the online tournaments on the TCG Live ladder, where he was already playing at a really high level. He's one of the hardest-working players I know, the type who builds his results through the grind, game after game. This year he put a crown on all of that by winning the NAIC with a Clefairy Box.
Some of you remember that on the first version of TCMG, the one where we lost the domain, we had already interviewed legends like Ryan Sabelhaus and Nick Robinson, a US National Champion. I've always loved doing this. So if you enjoy it, maybe we keep going and bring in more big names from around the world to talk to us here.
Hope you all enjoy it. Let's get to the interview.
1. To start, tell me a bit about yourself and your history with Pokémon: how did the TCG come into your life, and what pulled you into competitive play?
I started playing the Pokémon TCG in 2015, after my older brother and I got some cards and my dad wanted us to do something with them. My first ever tournament was a Legendary Treasures prerelease. I've always been a very competitive person, and even though I was terrible when I started, I loved the game so much that I couldn't stop playing it.
2. A lot of people have followed you since you started streaming the online tournaments, where you were already doing really well. How much did playing on TCG Live shape you as a player, especially the ladder?
At first I wasn't super well connected with other players, so grinding the ladder was the best way to find games against great players without having to be in a testing group. Without TCG Live I would have so many fewer high-quality games going into each tournament, and I'm sure I would feel a lot less confident in my deck and my play.
3. We've always followed you from afar and always saw you as someone who works really hard. Here in Brazil we love soccer, and there's a saying: Messi is talent, Cristiano Ronaldo is effort. Do you think grinding and training a lot really makes a difference in the Pokémon TCG?
Pokémon isn't like sports, where some people are just taller, faster, or stronger. Anyone has the ability to be a top Pokémon TCG player with enough time and dedication. Most of the best players in the game have been grinding for years and have so much experience banked up.
4. In these almost 10 years, was there ever a moment when you doubted yourself, or thought a big title might never happen for you? What made you keep going anyway?
A couple of times. Coming out of COVID I didn't have the means to travel, so I would just grind online tournaments. There was one format where I had a broken Arceus Gyarados deck I built myself, but I was unable to go to any major tournaments. It later got 2nd at a regional that format. I knew I was good enough, but I was afraid I would never get the chance to show it. This season I had a really rough start with a bunch of Top 256s. I was worried I might not even get my Worlds invite. I think in both of these cases, if I didn't love the game so much or have friends to support me, I maybe wouldn't have kept going.
5. What was the defeat that hurt the most in your career, and what did it teach you?
Round 9 of Worlds last year, against Nico Alabas. My bracket at 5-1-2 was almost all autowins, and with a win that round I likely top cut Worlds. In those games I double bricked, which really hurt, but I knew that if I had played better in my loss and my ties, I wouldn't have been in that spot, and maybe I would have had a shot at being the world champion.
6. On your streams, you always changed a lot of cards from one event to the next, even while keeping the same archetype. How do you work on the iterations of your lists?
A lot of trial and error. Deckbuilding is mostly identifying problems and trying to solve them as efficiently as possible. Usually, after playing a lot of games, I try to think about why I'm not winning as much as I think I could be, and try to come up with cards to fix those issues.
7. How was your preparation for this NAIC? Was there anything different this time that you feel made the difference in the result?
I played a lot less ladder than normal because I ran into a ton of glitches that made playing frustrating. I didn't feel like Clefairy was a great choice, so I would watch my friends play decks other than Clefairy, but nothing felt good. Luckily, my friend Emma Hagen had a great run with the deck a week before and had some new perspectives on how to play the matchups that convinced me to run it.
8. Your favorite archetype always seemed to be control. Then you switched to Raging Bolt ex, and at the NAIC you won with a kind of Clefairy Box, a much more aggressive deck. How was it to trust a style different from the one you enjoy playing the most?
I always like whatever the most consistent deck in the format is. For a while that was Pidgeot, then Bolt, and now Clefairy. I feel like I'm very good at managing the board, so if I'm given the chance to play the game, I have a good chance of winning.
9. Your list was a slightly different Clefairy Box, more consistent, with a higher Pokémon count. Why those choices, like running Fezandipiti, Latias, and so on?
I felt like the other basic box decks with more techs spread themselves too thin for matchups that weren't super relevant. The thick Pokémon counts ensure you find the important stuff early without playing Cyrano, which lets you be more aggressive. I liked how good Dusk Ball was for setup and for recovery off disruption, and it gets even better with the thicker Pokémon counts.
10. You started really strong. How was your head during the tournament? Was it taking it game by game? And once you made top cut, how was your confidence?
I was terrified for most of the run that I was inevitably going to hit Crustle and have the run derailed. I felt like, as long as I didn't sit across from the crab, I would win, and luckily, despite the odds, I kept dodging Crustle. Going into top cut, I saw I was in Tord's bracket. Not only is it a horrible matchup for me, but it's Tord, he's not going to make mistakes. Luckily for me, he lost, and I ended up in the Dragapult bracket.
11. Tell me a bit about your finals. You lost the first game: what was going on inside you in that moment?
I played pretty poorly, so I was frustrated with myself, but I knew the matchup was favored, so I wasn't too worried.
12. The second game went back and forth, super high level, one mistake could change everything. How did you hold your focus there? And in the third, when your opponent didn't go for the third Dreepy, what went through your mind?
Even though it's such a high-stakes moment, I don't really ever feel nervous playing Pokémon. I had my plan and my prize map, and luckily I had the cards to execute it. It took me a minute to process that he grabbed a Budew instead of a Dreepy, but once that set in, I knew I was winning no matter what.
13. When the last prize fell and you realized you were the champion, what was the first thing that went through your head, who did you look at or call first? And now, a few days later, has it sunk in, or does it still feel surreal to wake up as the number 1 of an event that big?
It's really hard to describe, but I've put so much time into this game and many times I've come up short, so when I finally won I was overwhelmed with happiness. Seeing all my friends and family in the crowd chanting my name after I won made me feel like I was dreaming. I'm not sure it will ever really sink in, but it sure does feel amazing to win such a big event.
14. Your community respects you a lot. People are saying things like "we won", as if the title belonged to everyone. Do you realize how many people your victory made happy along with you?
I try my hardest to always be a positive force in the community, so seeing people support me for that felt extremely rewarding.