We caught up with him right after his Top 8 win to get the inside story on tournament play so far as he moves into the Top 4 matches.

How does it feel to know that you are one of the Top 4 players?
It feels amazing. I’ve done okay in other years. In 2004, I got in to the top 16, and the top 8 in 2008, but this is definitely my best performance ever.

How long have you been playing?
I played when the Pokémon TCG first came out, but not competitively. I started playing competitively in 2004.

In your last matchup, you faced former World Champion Tsuguyoshi Yamato and won. How did that match go?
It was really tough, and it came down to the wire. We each won a game, and the third game went to time, so overall it was really tight match.

Does the language barrier ever become a factor in any way?
It only does once in a while. Usually everything is fine, but in the last round he had a card that I didn’t know exactly what it did, but he was able to explain it enough for us to move on.

Your brother, Michael Diaz, won the U.S. National Championships in the Senior Division. Did you both get into playing Pokémon at the same time?
I learned from the rule book, and he ended up learning from me a couple years later.

Do you guys work off of each other?
We play test a lot at home. He just finished today in the top 8.

Congratulations, Frank, and good luck in the Top 4!